"Uhm.. can't we talk about something different?" Luna knew that she couldn't tell him the truth yet. After all he wasn't from their planet and they didn't know if there would be any race like themselves.
"Luna please, I need to know."
"I can't."
"You can't? But why?"
"Let us say it would be a small 'surprise'; I promise that I will tell you later."
"A surprise?" He cocked his head. "I better not ask; the surprise of waking up in a hospital without knowing what happened is already enough for me."
Applejack tipped on Luna's shoulder and whispered. "That was a lie, he knows what happened."
"Do you really have no idea?"
"Nope."
"What's the last thing you can remember?"
"I... uh..."
Gotcha... "C'mon tell us. I know that you were brought into a hospital wearing a burned space-suit."
Shit. I better not tell them about the teleporter, but I shouldn't lie as well; maybe a mix? "The last thing I remember was a bright light and that I was lying on the ground - there was something standing in front of me, but it wasn't human."
"Not human?"
"Yes, it was four legged and white. It looked like a horse or pony, something in this direction, but I could only see the shadow and the legs...."
So he has seen our race before. "Was there anything else?"
"Yes, I could have sworn that the 'pony' talked!" He laughed. "But that's ridiculous; I mean, a talking pony? How hard did I hit my head?"
They have non-talking ponies on their planet? "Pretty hard I think."
"There was something different I wanted to ask as well." The tone of his voice dropped. "What about my eyes? Am I blind?"
With that the doctor started to speak. "No Jan, your eyeballs are okay; the glass of your space-suit has only injured your eyelids."
"Oh, I already had the feeling that there were more in here."
"We can leave if you want." Twilight said.
"Hell no! I don't want to be alone."
"I am just kidding."
"At least I landed in a hospital with some kind and funny nurses."
"Oh we aren't nurses." Applejack said.
"You're not? Why are you here then?"
The doctor knew where this was going and before Jan got a shock from the truth, he put a hold to the conversation. "I am sorry, but you need to leave now. It's already evening and the patient needs to rest."
He opened the door and pushed them out of the room one by one out, even Luna.
"But-" Twilight tried to protest.
"No 'buts', you must go now; you can come again tomorrow." He closed the door. "You need to sleep Jan, you should be in coma right now. It's a miracle that you are still alive."
"A coma? Are my injuries really that bad?"
"Yes, you have several second to third degree burns all over your body."
"How long will I need to stay in bed?"
"This depends on the speed of the healing process. If your wounds keep on healing with the momentary speed, you should be able to get out of here in maybe one or two weeks."
"And my eyes?"
"A few days."
"I hope so, I can't stand seeing nothing. It reminds me... nevermind, good night doc."
"Good night Jan." He nodded to the nurses and went outside of the room where three ponies and one dragon were arguing.
"We must tell him Princess Luna! What if we make him mad?" Applejack stomped with a hoof on the ground.
"And when we start a war? We don't know how strong they are!" Spike was scared.
"He's finally awake and we want to ask him so many things!" Twilight said.
"You mean YOU want to ask him so many things!" Spike stated.
"Shut up Spike! Princess Luna, what do you think?"
Everyone turned to the moon goddess. "I would say that we leave him alone this night, he needs to sleep like us; I will ask Tia about it and waiting until tomorrow isn't that hard."
"The princess is right. The human is tired and needs to rest." The doctor said to them.
"I could use some sleep, too." Spike yawned.
"You ALWAYS want to sleep..." Applejack teased him in a sarcastic tone.
But he didn't answer and went to the elevator.
"Good night everypony, farewell." Luna left with a teleportation spell.
The others were going after Spike, only Dr. Whooves was still standing at the door. "A human..." he whispered to himself.
"Are you coming Dr. Whooves?"
"Uh... yes, I'm coming!"
— — — —
Canterlot Castle...
I wonder how Lulu is doing, hopefully she doesn't think about that nightmare anymore. Celestia was sitting in the throne room like every other day. Many of the citizens had asked her about the shaking last night and they wanted to speak with Luna. She knew that her lie at the announcement was terrible and she had seen Applejack in the crowd. Hopefully she didn't tell anypony that I lied, even if it was bucking obvious...
Suddenly someone teleported into the room, it was her sister. "Hello Tia. How was your day?"
"I made an announcement that didn't go so well."
"How's that?"
"Well, everypony asked me about the shaking last night - I told them you had a nightmare and yelled using the royal Canterlot voice."
Luna face-hoofed. "Sometimes I really wonder how you can be over 1000 years old..."
"You wouldn't have done any better", she smirked. "How was your day?"
"I don't know what to say, it was somehow good and somehow bad."
"What has happened? Please don't tell me that you thought of it again."
"That dream is nothing compared to the things I saw today."
"You are making me really worried right now Lulu; let me see your memories." Celestia walked over to her sister, lighting up her horn in magic.
Oh no! She will see it! "Uhm no, I think it's better if I just tell you."
The golden aura around the horn disappeared. "Why? Are you feeling bad?"
"You've already noticed that the human has no magic inside him, right?"
"Yes, but what has that to do with it?"
"When I used the dream spell, it felt like he was sucking my magic into his body."
"Like if he was feeding upon you? Lulu, that's not good! What if he's hostile?"
"He isn't hostile!" She stomped onto the ground and extracted her wings.
"Lulu, what is wrong? Have I said something wrong?"
"Everypony keeps saying that he's bad, hostile or a predator; just because of the things Starswill the Bearded wrote about his race and of his dreams!"
"Lulu, are you protecting him?"
Luna turned around. "You wouldn't understand."
"Why?"
"Because you wouldn't!"
"But he would?"
She turned back to her sister, tears started dropping from her eyes. "There was never anypony like me, who would understand how I felt all those years!" Her head sank down. "But he, he's somehow a bit like me. When I looked into his mind, I found confusion, friendship, hate, love...; but everything was in an endless fight."
"Lulu, please show me your memories, I want to see what happened."
"Only if you promise to not throw him into prison!"
"Okay I will promise, even Pinkie promise." The sun goddess tried to cheer her up.
"You don't have to, I believe you sister." She was smiling a bit.
Celestia lighted up her horn in her golden magic aura again and touched her sister's head, seeing the events of the day through her eyes. She saw everything, the human's drea,, how he woke up and she talked with him, even the feelings and her own nightmare...
"Lulu... is this how you felt all those years?" Her sister nodded. "I am so sorry, I won't do anything against him; but still, he worries me - even if he seems to be a good person."
"But why? What could he do to harm anypony?"
"From what I've seen in your memories, their race seems to have had a war not long ago and that war was against themselves. Aside from that, he lied when telling you about how he got here.
To top that all, their technology is by far more advanced than ours; what if they have weapons strong enough to destroy Equestria?"
"I see what you mean; but what do I do now? He's awake and already asking where he is! We don't know a single city name he would know."
"Play a game."
Luna cocked her head nearly 90° to the right. "What do you mean by that?"
"Question and answer: If he tells you how he got here, then you will tell him where he is."
"Hopefully he doesn't - what if he gets suspicious?"
"If it really comes to this, just tell him the truth. I think he can handle it."
"I hope so. I will better sleep a bit until I need to raise the moon. This day was pretty stressful."
"Sleep well Luna." Celestia walked back to the throne and sat down, her sister was heading for her private room.
She couldn't sleep, she wasn't even tired at all. The only thing going through her mind were the human and his dreams - what was she going to do tomorrow and what if he got behind all of this?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The following day, Ponyville Library...
It was early in the morning and Twilight wanted to visit Jan; she had received a letter from Luna that they would meet at the hospital at 10 o'clock. She had made copies of the paper sheets she and Spike had written yesterday and put them in a small box, so she could send them to Celestia later. She was currently packing her saddlebag when suddenly...
*knock* *knock* *knock*
"Twilight, didn't you say Applejack wouldn't come with us today?"
"Must be somepony else, can you open the door please? I am still gathering my things."
"Okay." Spike went to the door, but before he could even open it, the door nearly smashed him into the wall; it was Rainbow Dash.
"Hey Spike, where's Twilight?"
"Upstairs, she is packing her saddlebag."
"Huh? Is she going somewhere?" Without waiting for an answer she flied upstairs and opened the door. "Hey Twilight, where have you been yesterday? I wanted to get the newest Daring Do book, but when I was-... are you going to Canterlot?"
"Well, actually-" Twlight started to speak.
"Oh if you do, can you ask the Wonderbolts about my Sonic Rainboom I did at the wedding?"
"Rainbow-"
"Maybe I get an invitation..." She drooled.
"Rainbow!"
"What is it Twilight?"
"I'm NOT heading for Canterlot!"
"You are not? Then why are you packing your saddlebag?" The pegasus cocked her head.
"It is something really important."
"And what is so important?"
Twilight thought for a second. "Ugh, since you are the Element of Loyalty and I can trust you that you won't tell anypony: I am heading for the hospital."
"Because of that changeling they've captured?"
"Uhm, not really; I think that you should see it yourself."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It would take too long to explain, but if you want to know: A human has somehow managed to get to our world and is badly injured."
"A human? Awesome!"
"Woah, wait! You know what a human is?"
"Of course! In one of the Daring Do books something was written about them; cause in of them one Daring Do finds an old scroll written by Starswill with information about humans; but I thought that they weren't real and just a myth!"
"Apparently they live on a different planet and are far more advanced than we are."
"That's incredible! I can't wait to talk to him!" Rainbow Dash drooled again.
"There's something you should know Rainbow; there isn't anypony like us on their planet."
"Of course not, I am way too awesome!"
"What? No, you don't understand! I mean that they don't have talking ponies on their planet and at the moment he doesn't even know that he's on a different planet."
"Ohh! But what are we going to do there?"
"I don't know, but I got the feeling that Princess Luna is going to tell him today."
— — — —
Later at the hospital...
Luna had waited for Twilight at the entrance of the quarantine room; she had been thinking of the conversation she would have in a few minutes the whole morning. What if Jan asked about his location again? What would she tell him? Could he handle the truth? What would he do?
Deep in her thoughts she didn't recognized the two mares standing in front of her.
"Princess Luna! Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh yes, I am fine. I was just thinking about what to say when we get inside. Wait, what are you doing here Rainbow Dash?"
"Sorry, Princess Luna; I couldn't withstand the chance to talk with a human." Rainbow Dash said.
"I understand; by the way, you don't need to call me Princess all the time." She laughed. "You are my friends after all."
"Alright Luna, is Jan already awake?" Twilight asked
"Yes he is, we can go inside whenever we want."
"Then what are we waiting for?" The pegasus stated. "Let's go inside!"
"But remember: Don't tell him our names and say anything about Equestria." The unicorn warned her friend.
"Twilight, the whole way to the hospital you told me about that!" She groaned.
"Could you two spare that conversation for later? We have something important to do." The moon goddess declared.
"Yes." They both said and grinned.
"Good." Luna opened the door; everything was the same as yesterday, despite the fact that the human was now getting morphine through a needle against his pains.
Jan heard that they had opened the door. "Hello Luna, did you sleep well?"
"How did you know that it's me?"
"I heard you walking up and down the floor the whole morning and somebody called your name; I guess you brought some friends of yours?"
Rainbow Dash tried to speak, but Luna held her mouth shut with her magic. "Yes I did, you should remember one of them." She looked at Twilight.
"Hello Jan." She said.
"Hello." He replied.
"And somep- I mean somebody new." She released her magic grip on the pegasus.
"Hi Jan." She looked at his body and the injuries. "Doesn't that hurt? I mean, your injuries?"
He smiled. "Yes, it would. But they keep on pumping me with morphine, I'm not feeling a bit of it."
"Oh, that's good."
"Well Luna, I'm still expecting an answer for my question."
"Which question exactly?" She teased.
He tried to roll his eyes, but couldn't. "Where am I?"
"I don't know where you are."
"Ha, ha Luna", he laughed. "Let me guess, I need to tell you something first right?"
"Yes - how did you get here?"
"I already told you."
"You lied, I know that; you make exactly the same mistake as me when lying."
Jan was shocked and silent for a moment. "Okay you got me. But I can't tell you how I got here."
"And why is that?"
"I swear that it's nothing personal, it's just that I am not allowed to tell you."
"Not allowed? How do I have to understand that?"
"That's... a bit complicated. Anyways, why aren't you telling me where I am?" He paused. "It's not like I landed on a different planet and you are in fact aliens." He laughed.
The three ponies were shocked and their pupils were reduced to small black points. Luna laughed pathetically. "Uhhh...ha... well... about that..." She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.
"Wait, you don't want to say that..."
"Jan, I have to tell you something... that might shock you a bit." She dropped her head and inhaled some fresh air before continuing. "You aren't on your planet anymore. The country you are in is called Equestria and the city is called Ponyville."
"What?" Jan said in very flat tone. "You know how... well, crazy that sounds?"
"Hey! The princess is telling the truth! In fact you are an alien for us." Rainbow Dash said directly in Jan's face.
"Leave him alone Rainbow! What would you think when you were in his situation?" Twilight pulled her back.
"Guys, I am not falling for this prank."
"Then I will show you." Luna carefully grabbed the bandage Jan was wearing around his head with her magic.
"Wait, my eyes are still injured!"
"No they aren't. That was a lie to stop you from unwrapping the bandage." She started pulling the bandage; layer for layer it unwrapped, until his face could be seen.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes with his left hand; he blinked twice again and looked seriously, trying to focus on the things before him. After a few seconds he could see Luna standing in front of him, Twilight and Rainbow Dash standing on her sides. He looked at each of them and finally spoke. "Is this some kind of secret camera prank where everyone is laughing at me how ridiculous I am looking at three pony plushies? That's not funny, I thought that I would be dead!"
Luna sighed. "Sorry Jan, but this is real, we are real, this place is real."
His mouth opened widely, he stuttered some not incomprehensible words; his eyes began rolling upwards and his head hit the pillow with a small *thud*.
End of Chapter 6
So much for 'he can handle it'...