~Chapter 7: A Royal Invitation~
After we reach the hospital, I lay down in my bed, sighing contentedly. This. . . This was a good day. I think to myself, smiling. Met the full mane six now, got myself a job, I know were to find a place to stay for when checked out of the hospital. . . Very fruitful day.
I turn over in the bed, spotting the stack of books on the bedside table. I grin like a kid in a candy store. Lets get started on those, then, shall we?
~
After reading for a few hours, I put the book down and went to sleep. When I awoke, the day was bright, and everything seemed right. Except for one thing.
My wings were horribly, maddeningly, itchy. Not just the wings themselves; the bones and muscles and joints underneath. They continuously twitched and flicked out before I pulled them back in to my sides. Well, I guess I should figure out how these things work sometime soon.
I hopped out of bed and gave them a quick test. I moved them around, getting a feel for their limits, and did a couple test pushes down. I was fairly surprised when all the weight in them seemingly disappeared. Huh. I guess the fandom was right when they speculated that pegasus ponies channeled their 'inner magic' into their wings to grant easy flight.
I walk out the door and find Nurse Redheart walking down the hall. She looks up and smiles at me. "Well, that saved me the effort of waking you." I smile in response. "Now, this is some good news. It seems that, due to the rate at which you have recovered, you are free to check out of the hospital at any time." My head pulls back a bit, surprised. It only took me a week to get back in shape.
"Oh! And one more thing Mr. Ink. Twilight stopped by to invite you to the library. She said she wished to talk to you."
I smile again, but I feel slightly confused. What does she want to talk about? "Okay, thank you. I will get my stuff- well, Twilights stuff- packed, and get out of your hair as soon as possible." I walk up to the nurse smiling and offer a hoof to shake. "It was wonderful having you for a nurse. I hope to be able to call you a friend now."
She grins in return and accepts the shake. "Thank you. And it would be nice to have you as a friend. You are a great guy. Good luck with your life outside the hospital! I will see you around town." She said, waving and continuing down the hall to another room, entering and beginning to talk to another patient, closing the door behind her. I go back into the room, pulling the saddlebags onto my back with my teeth and gingerly place the books within them, being careful not to salivate on them as I did so. I left to the front desk and checked out, waving to the few other ponies working there that I grew to be associated with, and left the building for hopefully the last time for the next while. I started down the road to the library.
~
I reach the library, and already things seem off. The street is empty, which is weird enough, but then there seemed to be a disturbance in the air a little to the side of the building, like heat waves off the pavement during a hot summer day back on Earth. I knock on the door, answered by Twilight a moment later. "Ink! Glad you made it. Please come in." I thank her and step inside, and my jaw drops at what I see.
There, sitting on a cushion at the small table in the middle of the room sipping tea, was Princess Celestia.
The princess looks at me and smiles radiantly. "Why hello! I am assuming you are Mr. Ink, the new resident to Ponyville?"
I stammer for a second before I get my brain to function again. "Uh, yes, I am, your Majesty."
She waved a hoof at me. "Please, come, sit. I have been interested to meet you after Twilight mentioned you in her last letter."
I gulp and walk over, sitting delicately on one of the other cushions. "Yes Princess." I roll the thought around for a second though. Twilight mentioned me? Why? And even more, why was the Princess of the Sun so interested to meet me? Twilight suddenly appeared next to me, walking so quietly and I so entrenched in my thoughts, that I didn't even notice her. I jumped a little. She giggled softly and placed a cup of tea on a coaster in front of me on the table.
"So, Mr. Ink, I hear that you have no memories?" The princesses smile fades a little after saying this.
I kind of blush a little at this, not looking at Twilight. "Well, your majesty, thats not exactly the whole truth." I see Twilight start and look at me upset out of the corner of my eye. "You see, I. . . I have no memories of being a pony, but. . .
"Thats because I used to be a human."
Everything suddenly goes dead silent, the princess with shock clearly written across her face, cup stopped mid air on the way for a sip. I hear a crash behind me and wince as Twilight dropped her cup on the floor behind me, and the soft whump of her dropping to her rear, completely and utterly taken by surprise. "You. . . I. . . What? But humans aren't real! They're from stories!"
The princess sighed and lowered her tea to the table, setting it down gently. "Thats not entirely true."
Twilights head snapped to the princess, then back to me, and then again to the princess. "What? How? Buck, how did he even GET here, and WHY is he a PONY?! I thought humans were bipedal and didn't have fur and-"
"Hush, Twilight. I have the same questions as to why Mr. Ink is here in Equestria, not on Earth, and why he is a pony. But we can not answer this here. May I ask, what was your human name?"
I look down and drag a hoof in a circle on the floor, ashamed at hiding this from Twilight. "It was Connor."
The princess stood up and walked over to me, lowering her head to look me straight in the eye. "Well Connor, we need to go to Canterlot to find this out." She glanced to Twilight. "Twilight, it's best if you come along too. I could use your intuition to help solve this mystery."
The unicorn gulped and nodded. "Yes Princess."
The princess returned to examining me before raising her head and walking to the door. "Well, we should be off as soon as possible to reach the conclusion to this. Please come with me."
"Yes Princess." I say, standing up and walking over to the door. This. . . Is not going to be to pleasant, I don't think.