Full Metal Pony: The Re-Write

This time I woke up in a bed, much like the first time. Except this bed was normal, not one of those hospital ones with those pulley things that can adjust the angle. I got up and walked downstairs, noticing as I did that there was some sort of metallic sound as I walked. It wasn't till I

tripped and fell down the stairs that I realised what it was. I noticed as I got back up that I had my right foreleg back. Well, not exactly. This one was made of metal, yet it felt like it was a part of me. It felt so light, yet at the same time I could feel some sort of power coming from it. Like it had been made by..... and then it hit me.

Magic. Twilight must've managed to make this for me. But where did she even learn to make something like this? I decided to ask her myself. When she noticed me she smiled and asked me how I was feeling. I told her that I was alright and then I asked her about the leg. She turned away, as if she was ashamed of something.

And then she told me “I-I'm sorry, but when you were asleep I noticed something attached to your sword, so I removed it and it was actually blueprints for the leg I made for you. I didn't actually have all the parts I needed for it, so I had to make most of them myself with magic. But

because of that, it's actually a lot stronger and lighter than the original one from the blueprints, so you should be able to move faster than you would with the original and then I used my magic to make your sleep deep enough so that you wouldn't feel any discomfort when I attached it and...”

She stopped rambling as I wrapped my forelegs around her and said “Thank you”. She only blushed as I released her a moment later and apologised for embarrassing her like that. She only said that I hadn't embarrassed her, that she was glad to help. Then Spike called out that breakfast was ready from the kitchen. Our awkward moment forgotten, we proceeded to the kitchen for breakfast.

Breakfast apparently consisted of hay and milk. Twilight happily started eating, while I, unsure of how exactly I was meant to act, never having eaten as a pony before, sat there trying to figure out what I was going to do.

“Stephen, are you alright? You're not eating” Twilight's concern broke me out of my stupor and I apologised.

“Sorry. Just a little...lost in regards to Equestrian table manners”.

She looked at me once and gave a small chuckle. “Just use your magic to control the hay and bring it to you, it's easy. Anypony can...”

She stopped as she remembered what I'd told her, then immediately began to apologise while her face started to turn red from embarrassment.

“I'm so sorry, I forgot that you weren't a pony before and I should've realised that you wouldn't know how to use magic yet and...”

Once again, I stopped her saying that there was no harm done.

“Ok, so, can we just get to using it in a way that keeps me from starving for now” I asked with a smile. “Of course, just focus on the hay and imagine it floating in the air”.

I closed my eyes, did as I was told and sure enough, as I opened my eyes I could see the hay floating in midair, and there was a slight glow from my horn.

“Impressive Stephen” I smiled at the compliment.

If learning magic is gonna be this easy for me I thought maybe I can figure out a way home sooner than I thought.

“So, what're you gonna do now, Stephen?” I smiled at Spike and told him my plan.

“I'm gonna go get Christian out of that hospital, that's what. I'm not leaving him in there when I know for a fact he's probably scared out of his mind. And after all, he wouldn't leave me there. It's just not who he is. I can't call myself his friend if I'm willing to leave him behind”.

Spike actually grinned at me. “Well then, guess we've got a friend to help out, huh?”

I was a little taken back by his response.

“We? No way, this is my problem, not yours”.

“Yeah, but you're still recovering, and I happen to know someone who can get us in no problem”. I gave up the argument, feeling sure that there was no way I was gonna convince him not to get involved and instead just asked “Who do you have in mind?”

He smiled and whispered his plan to me. It was only sheer willpower that kept me from calling him crazy, but then again I still wasn't sure I was sane myself. I just walked and listened while he continued with explaining his insane plan.

_________________________________________________________

“Special Delivery! It's one of the patients birthdays, and the Cakes asked me to deliver this big scrumptious birthday cake to them” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with absolute glee in her voice.

This is so not gonna work I thought, hidden in the extremely large cart carrying the extremely large tray.

“Who is the patient?” The doctor asked.

Pinkie just smiled and said “Red Rocker of course silly filly”.

The doctor's heart actually seemed to skip a beat. “Oh, well alright then. I was sure his birthday wasn't until next week, are you sure...”

But Pinkie was already gone, bounding through the hospital doors with mirth.

“Okie dokie Lokie, so where's this Christian guy? Oh, I love a good rescue mission”.

“I don't know, but I think he was in the room next to mine”.

“Wait, so you don't even know which room he's in? Ugh, and here I thought you actually had a plan for when you got in”.

“I did Spike, if I had just gone by myself, as I had originally intended, I was gonna find the window I'd jumped out of, get back in, and from there, find Christian and get him out. I certainly had enough practice at being unremarkable back home to be able to get in without causing a panic”.

“Says the guy with a metal leg, and a sword?”

“Oh shut up”

Suddenly, the cart stopped. “Found him! So, did I win?”

I felt myself tense up. “Are you sure that it's his room Pinkie?”

“Yup, it says right here on the door that the patients name is Christian, and I've never heard of anyone named Christian before, or Stephen either, say what other funny names do you use, cause I could...”

I got out and shoved my biological hoof across her mouth and said “Calm down Pinkie. Now, let's just get Christian and get out.”

I opened the door, not knowing what to expect. What I saw somehow didn't surprise me that much. After all, Christian always did say he wanted to fly. So when I saw a dark red pegasus with a maroon mane and tail, I didn't freak out like I did when I first woke up. Instead I felt strangely calm, and relieved to know that he was alright.

I also noticed that I wasn't the only one who somehow got a weapon when he arrived. Christian had a hunting knife strapped to his neck, in a position that allowed him to draw it with his teeth. He always did like knives I thought as I went to wake him up. When I did, I half expected him to lash out. What I didn't expect was to be locked in a massive bear hug when he opened his eyes and somehow recognised me.

“Dude, what happened? And can we get some pie, I'm starving!” Yup, definitely Christian.

So there we were, me getting hugged until I almost passed out from lack of oxygen, Christian looking mortified and repeating “Guess I don't know my own strength” What is that his motto or something?, Pinkie with a now empty tray (She must've eaten it while Christian was hugging

me) and Spike, with a pretty good poker face in place. That was when I heard the doctor coming

to the room, and a shadow I recognised all too well, a shadow that made me think of what a jackass I'd made of myself after waking up in the hospital. And they were walking through the door right now.

“So you see Princess Celestia, we still haven't managed to find the other one, but never fear, we have everyone working on this, so it's only a matter of time before we...” And that's when he saw me. With my new leg and everything.

“What are you doing here? Guards, apprehend them at once!”

That was all I needed to hear before I repeated the action that made me look like a jackass the first time. The only difference was this time I actually took a moment to address the Princess.

“Sorry ma'am, places to go, ponies to see and stuff”. She chuckled, amused at my comment. Then the four of us (Me, Christian, Pinkie and Spike) were out the window and headed for the library.

`I finally convinced Pinkie to go home to Sugarcube Corner and to pretend that she'd been there all day (She only agreed once I made it sound like a game, she was more than happy to after that) while Spike and I brought Christian to the library. When we got there,

I heard Twilight talking to Applejack. “Are you sure that's a good idea AJ?” “Why ah'm more than sure Twilight. I'm absolutely positive. They should earn their keep after all, and this place is too small for you to have any more guests”.

They stopped talking when I came in the door with the semi-conscious Christian.

“Well, this is the second time I've jumped out a window in front of Princess Celestia. At least this time, I wasn't too terrified to actually say something to her”.

They both looked at me with mixed reactions. Finally, Twilight asked “What exactly did you say Stephen? I hope you didn't insult her....."

The look in her eyes was enough to convince me that if she thought I had insulted her, even indirectly, I was a dead man.

“Basically, I said sorry ma'am, but I had things to do, and that's when I jumped out the window”.

She seemed to accept my explanation, although she looked like she was about to blow a gasket. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Twilight went to see who was there and I caught the words “Princess Celestia” before I headed for the window with Christian, only to find they had suddenly locked. I turned around to see her staring at me with a look of amusement on her face.

And then she spoke. “So, I take it you're the two newcomers who've been causing trouble for everypony at the hospital. And may I ask why you're staying at my faithful student's home?”.

Suddenly, I got a really bad headache, and I started seeing...memories. But I wasn't the only one seeing them, judging by the looks on everypony's faces. It was as if the memories were a movie and I was the projector. Pretty short film, it just showed me and Christian getting knocked out, then me waking up in the hospital, and then it was over. My headache immediately disappeared after that. And then I fell asleep...

I woke up to hear Twilight talking with Princess Celestia. Applejack had gone home, and Christian was still asleep.

“Hmm, I see, and you say he is from another reality?”

“Yes, and we're trying to figure out how he could've gotten here And I'm also the one who made him that metal leg he uses”. I walked in at that moment and they both turned to look at me for a second, and then Princess Celestia continued.

“I see, well, don't worry, I hereby pardon your new friends of any and all misdemeanours they may have committed since their arrival. However, I want you and your friends to keep a close eye on them my faithful student, just to make sure they stay out of trouble”.

I was about to say something, but Twilight gave me a look, and I smartly kept my mouth shut, although I still had a question to ask the princess. I decided to go outside and wait until she had finished speaking. I brought my sword, feeling that if it appeared when I arrived, then I should learn how to use it. The only problem... How in the name of Celestia and Luna am I gonna use it? Am I gonna hold it in my mouth? Or what?

I then remembered what Twilight had said to me when she taught me how to levitate my breakfast. Ok, all I need to do is adapt that so that I levitate the blade instead. Simple.

I focused as hard as I could, imagining the blade sliding out of its sheath and floating in front of me. I felt as well as saw my horn glow and then my blade was in front of me.

“Quite impressive, I must say, young Stephen”.

I turned to see none other than Celestia herself looking at me in a way that suggested that she was impressed. I immediately lost my focus and dropped the blade.

“Uh, thank you ma'am. Although I think I still need to work on my concentration. After all, if I can get distracted enough to drop it after recieving a compliment, no doubt I'll drop it in a fight, and that's where I really need to keep my focus”.

She laughed and for a second, I saw something weird. I could've sworn that I saw my mom standing where Celestia was. But then the illusion ended, and my mom disappeared. Celestia looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What's wrong? You looked lost for a second”.

“I'm sorry, I-I have to go”. And I ran, ran before the painful memories could surface. I ran and didn't stop until I was just too tired to run anymore. And then I began to weep, remembering the most painful days of mine and my sister's lives. The deaths of our parents. I wept until there were no more tears. Afterwards, I just lay down and slept.