Fortunate Misfortune

~Chapter 2 – I Wish I Brought my Notebook~

Waking up, I shielded my eyes from the warm rays of sunlight shining through the window. Shutting the curtains with my magic to provide some comfort while I finished rousing myself from a tiredness induced by one too many nights spent curled up in bed reading a book until the first rays of sunlight crested the horizon, I pushed myself into a sitting position.

“That’s the last time I stay up to finish a book,” I muttered to myself, knowing all too well that this certainly wasn’t the last time.

I cast a sideways glance over the balcony central room of the library where a large pile of books still rested after yesterdays study session.

“Spike, I thought I told you to clean up this mess.” Hearing no response from the baby dragon I called again, a little louder this time. “Spike?”

This time my call was answered by a tired groan from the foot of my bed. Rolling onto my hooves I trotted over to where Spike kept his bed- a basket overstuffed with pillows and blankets –to see why he wasn’t up and doing his chores.

There spike lay, shivering and drenched in sweat, his blanket lying in a disheveled mess on the floor. I worriedly held my foreleg to his forehead.

“Oh Spike, you’re burning up!” I exclaimed as I covered him up with his blue blanket once again. “Stay in bed and get some rest, I’ll go visit Zecora and see if she has any medicine that can help.”

Receiving only a groan in response I hurriedly levitated a comb off my dresser and ran it through my mane. Setting it aside I practically flew down the stairs, and as I quickly went about making a quick sandwich I levitated the pile of books into a somewhat neat stack and secured my saddlebag across my back. Finally, with finished sandwich in mouth I galloped out the door while leaving the ‘closed’ sign in place.

Now outside, I slowed down to a brisk trot. I was still in a hurry, but why not enjoy this beautiful day? The sun was shining, the birds were singing, not a cloud in sight, and the streets were alive with activity. Ponies headed to and from the market, others simply enjoying the day. A couple young fillies galloping as hard as their little legs could carry them, running late for school.

The idea of sitting down at one of the restaurants along the roadside and grabbing a more substantial breakfast was tempting, but I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted from my goal.

It wasn’t long until I came upon a cozy little cottage. Fluttershy did live near the entrance to The Everfree Forest after all, and in effect, the path that led to Zecora’s hut. I could see the yellow pegasus, all ready busily feeding the animals that took residence near her home.

“Good morning Fluttershy,” I called in greeting once I was close enough.

The timid pegasus let out a quiet gasp before quickly turning around. “Oh, hello Twilight. Good morning to you too.” She trotted over from the family of bunnies she just finished feeding. “How are you doing today?”

“I’m fine, a little tired though. I was just on my way to Zecora’s to pick up some medicine for Spike.”

“Medicine?” Fluttershy gasped worriedly. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He came down with the flu over night. He’s in bed resting now,” I replied.

“Oh, that’s awful. Once I finish feeding the animals I’ll head over to the library and make Spike some soup.”

I gave her a smile, after all there was no point in trying to dissuade her. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

We said our good-byes and I left her to her work.

Stepping into the Everfree Forest was like walking into a whole other world. The dense foliage blocked out most of the sunlight and wisps of mist floated amongst the undergrowth. The atmosphere felt almost sinister, and as per usual I began to question why the zebra herbalist chose to live here. Despite my questioning, I knew why she took residence in the forest. Various herbs for her potions and remedies grew in abundance in the Everfree.

My thoughts drifted back to the first time I met Zecora. My friends and I were headed into the forest to confront the zebra about what we believed was a curse she had put on us. In actuality, the things we experienced were simply our reactions to a particularly annoying plant with the name ‘poison joke.’ The same blue plant that was just beginning to come into view ahead.

As I turned the corner my eyes became glued to what lay before me and I froze. I saw it and it saw me. A strange creature with a very pale pink-ish skin, something I had never seen or heard of before. It was lying there, it’s beady little eyes locked onto me… and it was smiling.

My body’s first instinct was to get away from the creature so I started to back up slowly. However I noticed it wasn't moving, it just stayed where it was and continued to smile. ‘Hmm, perhaps it isn't hostile,’ I thought.

Taking a tentative step forwards I said, “This… this is incredible! I've never seen or even read about a creature like this!” It made no move against me, which only helped confirm my previous thought.

“Whatever it is, it doesn't appear aggressive,” I began to examine it. “It has a similar appearance to that of a monkey. Forward facing eyes, flexible arms, legs and fingers, but it doesn't seem to have much hair on its body."

I paused. ‘Did it just chuckle?’ I shook my head and continued my inspection.

“Those clothes... they’re most likely compensation for the lack of fur covering it. Judging by the design of the clothing it- or others of its species –must have a fairly high level of intelligence.” ‘Though that jacket seems awfully heavy for this time of year, even for something without any fur…’ I then noticed a detail of its body that required me to reassess my previous statement. “Oh wait, it doesn’t have a tail. So if it’s not a type of monkey... more than likely it’s a closer relative to the ape family.”

I frowned inwardly, ‘I really should have packed my notebook and quill…’ I was startled out of my train of thought as the creature began to chuckle loudly.

"You’re close. I’m not a monkey, I’m a human. Though I guess you could call me an ape considering approximately ninety six percent of my DNA is the same as that of a chimpanzee,” it quickly stated before it started giggling once more.

My jaw fell open in amazement as he- I’m guessing that it’s a he considering its more masculine voice –suddenly stopped laughing as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position.

"You can talk? Well... I mean... of course you can talk. After all, taking into account your apparent intelligence it seems only logical.” I tapped my chin with a hoof, ‘Human… why does that name sound familiar?’

"Well I’m glad you think so," he said with a groan as he fell to his back once more with his hands clutching his side, his face contorted into one of agony.

"You're injured, what happened to you?" I exclaimed as I started to trot forwards to help him, only to stop when I finally realized what he was laying in. "And what are you doing sitting in the poison joke?"

His face briefly softened into one of thoughtfulness before saying through clenched teeth, "Sorry but I can't remember how I got hurt, As for sitting where I am, I can't tell you the answer to that either, I just woke up here."

‘Hmm, sounds like he has short term memory loss.’ “Well can you stand? I need to get you to somepony who can help.”

"I think so," the human replied slowly.

He paused, seemingly contemplating something before rolling onto his front and dragging himself out of the poison joke.

I trotted around the blue flowers to help him stand, “Here, you can lean on me for support."

"Thanks, I owe you for this," the human said as he pulled himself into a standing position. He quickly placed his hands on my back as his legs wobbled weakly.

I was mildly surprised by this, ‘So he’s bipedal… now that I look at him, it does seem sort of obvious.’

"What?" the human asked, regarding me with a quizzical expression.

‘Oops, I must have been staring.’ "Oh, I was just surprised to see you stand on two legs, though considering your anatomy it does seem sort of obvious.”

We started slowly making our way along the path further into the forest. After a few minutes of silence the human spoke up.

"So where are we going?"

"We're going to see Zecora. She's a zebra who knows a lot about healing and herbal remedies. If there's anyone who can fix you up its Zecora, she also knows how to make a cure for the effects of poison joke. I was heading to her house anyway to get some medicine for my assistant; he recently came down with the flu," I replied.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you your name. I'm Matthew by the way, Matt for short."

‘Matthew… that’s a strange name. Then again, he isn't a pony. It’s probably a normal name for his kind.’ "I'm Twilight Sparkle, but you can call me Twilight, that's what my friends call me."

"You mentioned something about having an assistant didn't you? Surely that must mean you're a pretty important pony."

"I wouldn't say important, Spike is more like a brother to me than an assistant. He mainly helps me clean up the library where I live; he also sends my letters to the Princess for me," I replied as my face grew a little warm.

"Wait, what do you mean Princess?"

‘He doesn’t know about the Princess? That can’t be right.’ I stared at him."Princess Celestia of course, she also happens to be my teacher. But surely you know who the Princess is."

"Actually no, I don't. You see, I came from a different world, or universe or dimension, whatever you want to call it," he replied almost nonchalantly.

'WHAT?!' I froze. There was no way he possibly came from another world… was there?

"Ow… could you warn me before you do that next time?" Matthew groaned from the ground.

"What do you mean another world? And if that's true, then how did you get here?" I spluttered as I watched him regain his feet.

"Again, I don't know how to answer your question, all I can assume is that my injuries are related to me being here somehow," he grunted from the effort of standing, and almost collapsed against me.

‘That can’t be it… I guess I’ll have to wait and see if his case of short term memory loss clears up,’ I finished thinking with a sigh. “Alright then," shaking my head I decided to give him an explanation. "Anyway, Princess Celestia rules Equestria, the land that you're in now, alongside her sister Princess Luna. Princess Celestia raises the sun into the sky every morning and Princess Luna lifts the moon at night."

Matthew gave me a disbelieving look, but didn’t say anything.

"What's with that look, doesn't it work the same where you come from?"

"No, back in my world the sun and moon rise and set on their own," he replied, and I gave him my own look of disbelief. "Their movement is caused by the orbit of Earth, the planet that I live on, around the sun, and the moon orbits in the same fashion around Earth. Also, we don't have any ponies like you back home, and humans are the dominant species on the planet."

"What do you mean there aren't any ponies like us in your world?" I asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Ponies and horses back home are generally larger than you and just like any other animal, unable to speak the way we do and they are usually taken care of on farms. Additionally, there are no unicorns or pegasi."

‘I can’t imagine that, everypony being taken care of on a farm like sheep or cows. And only earth ponies, no unicorns or… pegasi. Wait, if there aren’t any pegasi where he comes from, then how did he know there were any here?’ I fixed my eyes on him and he turned away nervously, almost as if he knew what I was thinking. ‘He’s hiding something.’

After that conversation we continued walking in silence. That is, until Matthew once again spoke up.

"Anyway, you said that your assistant sends your letters to Princess Celestia?"

"Yes, what about it?" I asked, unsure as to why he cared about the Princess so much.

"I was wondering if you could send a letter to Princess Celestia informing her of my appearance here."

I looked at him questioningly. However, before I could ask why he quickly explained his reasoning.

"If I was in her position and a strange creature claiming to be from another world suddenly appeared, I think I would want to know about it."

I turned away thoughtfully. ‘He does have a point, I’m fairly certain that the Princess would be interested in this development. Besides, Princess Celestia may know something more about humans.’  I turned to face him once again, "I see your point. All right then, I'll send the Princess a letter telling her about you."

Matthew nodded his head with a smile in response, a subdued glint of excitement in his small blue eyes.

As we continued along the path I asked Matthew some more questions about where he came from. He didn’t tell me much, but what he did mention was fascinating. The thought that humans have actually elected to try and travel to moon was astonishing, even more so was the fact that they actually succeeded. Apparently they used some form of giant vehicle Matthew referred to as a ‘rocket,’ I was somewhat disappointed when he told me he didn’t know much about how they worked though.

Sadly our conversation came to an end when we arrived at Zecora’s hut. An ancient tree decorated here and there by colourful masks with varied meanings of greetings and protection, and hanging from the limbs of the tree were vials filled with various substances. Zecora once mentioned that they were incenses that helped keep dangerous creatures like timber wolves away.

I knocked on the door and a moment later it opened to reveal Zecora. A zebra with a mane styled up in a mohawk, from her hears hung gold hoops, matching the ones around her neck and left foreleg. I smiled inwardly as I regarded these. Today she wore the golden bangles on her left, but I knew for a fact that she often switched which leg she had them on for no other reason than her enjoyment at seeing the quiet surprise on other pony’s faces when they ‘magically’ changed sides.

"Twilight Sparkle, what a pleasant surprise," Zecora greeted warmly, her eyes moved to regard Matthew, "And what is this creature I see before my eyes?"

I noticed Matthew was holding back a light laugh. Again I smiled to myself, I didn’t know if Zecora rhymed for the same reason, or if all Zebras spoke that way. Either way, Zecora enjoyed pony’s reactions to this as well. "His name is Matthew, and he is a… um, what did you say you were again?" I gave Matthew an apologetic smile seeing as my thoughts made me forget what he was for the time being.

"I'm a human, and it's a pleasure to meet you Zecora," he said while trying to stand on his own. Instead he gasped as he staggered backwards holding his side. He looked up to give us a feeble smile.

Zecora immediately trotted forward to help him. "You look like you're in pain, on your feet you mustn't remain." As the human took the support offered by the zebra, Zecora slowly guided him inside. "Now inside my hut to lie down you go, I will see if there is a remedy to your ailment I might know."

The three of us entered the herbalists hut. I waited near the door as Zecora led Matthew to a bed. He seemed to visibly relax as he took in the surroundings. Once he was lying down Zecora began her examination of the human, and was met with a fair amount of protesting.

"Wha-ouch… What are yo-ow! Doing? Ow!"

Zecora didn’t answer him however, she just continued to poke and prod at his side.

After a while she stopped and said, "There were no injuries or breaks that I could find, perhaps your affliction is all in your mind." Matthew rubbed his chin in seeming thought at this before Zecora continued, "If your pain is indeed only in your head," Zecora continued, "Then the only cure I can think of is some rest in bed."

As she started turning Matthew stopped her, "Oh, I'm sorry for sounding so needy, but there is one more thing. Twilight said that you knew how to make a medicine for poison joke. When I… arrived, in the forest I found myself in a patch of said plant. I don't think I've suffered any reaction from it yet, but it doesn't hurt to be careful right?"

Zecora nodded and said, "Very well I'll see what I can do, and lucky for you I just collected all the ingredients I need for the brew."

The human then thanked her and rolled over to get some rest.

Zecora trotted across the room and we fell into conversation for a while. My concentration wasn’t entirely on what we were saying though, my eyes would occasionally wander over to Matthew, the strange ape-like creature lying peacefully there. Once I thought I saw him watching us out of the corner of my eye.

Eventually I told Zecora about Spike’s flu. Once she knew the symptoms the herbalist quickly listed off the ingredients she would need, after making sure she had them all she went to work on the medicine.

A few minutes later Zecora trotted over with the finished potion. I took the vial with my magic and gently deposited it in my saddlebag. With a good-bye and a parting rhyme from the zebra, I left the herbalists hut and began my trek back to Ponyville.

‘I really wish I packed my quill and notebook…’