Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep
Beep
I open my eyes. The brightness hurts, but I fight it.
"You're awake..." I hear.
I look around the blur before me and I barely make out a pink blob.
I close my eyes and fall into the soft embrace of sleep… But after what seems like only a minute, I gain some strength and wake once more. Fate, it seems, is not done with me yet. I don't remember what happened, but even though I can hear I'm on the heart monitor again, I quickly decide that I have not had another heart attack, judging by how lucid I'm starting to feel. Enough to open my eyes again and squint at the blur in the bright light.
Trying to reach over to the table for my glasses isn't too easy, but the pink blur decides to help me.
"Here, let me get that for you," she says in a mellow tone, soaked in sadness.
Next thing I know, the blur has her forelegs on either side of me and I see pony teeth holding my glasses coming out of the fog and towards my face. I close my eyes, and feel a brush of soft fur against my nose as she nudges my spectacles into place.
Opening my eyes again, they focus on Pinkie… well actually… Pinkamena.
The straight-maned pink pony is sitting on a chair next to my bed, very close to me, ears laid back, staring back at me with depressed and droopy eyes. With a closer look, I see her hair is not perfectly straight. It's hanging down, having no volume to it at all, but it's a little wavy and very frizzy. And her coat is dull, reflecting not a drop of the sunlight that's pouring in through the window.
I clear my throat and croak, "Hi."
"Hi," she responds quietly, looking down.
"So, um," I clear my throat again, "what happened?"
"I, um…" Suddenly the wall is very interesting to her, as she turns her head so I can't see her eyes. "…startled you."
Oh yes… I remember now. She managed to sneak up on me, and pulled a Pinkie.
"I'm sorry." She sniffles and rubs her nose with the back of a foreleg.
"It's ok, I'm not mad."
"But I am… I'm mad at myself…"
"I forgive you, Pinkie." I smile as best as I can in my weak state.
She whips her head around and locks eyes with me, giving me a death stare. "But how can you? I can't even forgive myself! All I wanted to do was sing you the welcome song and make you happy…" she sniffs, "give you a cupcake maybe… but noooOOOO, I had to be a big dumb meanie pants and… scare you…"
"I…"
"And you know what the worst part is? It wasn't even an accident! I mean, it kinda was… but Twilight knew I would do that. Why else would she take me to meet you last, out of all her friends? I begged and I pleaded with her to take me here so I could say 'welcome to our planet, Mr. Alien,' but she kept taking everypony else first… Fluttershy kinda made sense because she found you, then Applejack, because Twilight said you like apples for some reason, then Rarity, because she said you needed clothes, then when she picked Rainbow Dash, I knew something was up, because she didn't even say why she had to go before me. But I waited and I waited, until this morning-"
This morning? Thank Celestia, I've only been out for a few hours.
"-when Twilight was supposed to take me here, but she wasn't home, and neither was Spike, so I just walked over here by myself… And then I… I…" she sniffles and rubs her watering eyes with a foreleg. "I'm such a bad pony!" She wails and sobs, burying her head in the edge of my bed.
Poor Pinkie. She didn't mean it…
I reach over and gently stroke her mane. "You're not a bad pony, Pinkie, you didn't mean it."
She keeps her face mashed into my bed. "But… but I DID! sob I wanted sob to surprise you! sob I knew sob you were sob sick, but I sob was so excited that I sob FORGOT!"
"Pinkie… we all make mistakes… and bad choices. It’s how you deal with them that defines you. Come on now… cheer up." I pat her on the head.
She just stays there, still face down. Breathing raggedly from all this crying, sobbing occasionally between breaths.
"Hey Pinkie…" I lean closer. "If you cheer up, I'll let you…" pause for dramatic effect, "throw me a party!"
Her ears perk up. She sniffles some more and pulls her head up. Wow, she's a mess. Bloodshot eyes and her face is soaked in tears. And so is a very large spot on the edge of my bed.
"Really?" She brings up a leg to rub her eyes. "You'd let me throw you a party?"
"Pinkie, I worked my whole life to come here, I wouldn't miss a Pinkie Pie party for the world," I finish with an honest smile.
Huh, it just dawned on me: what I just said is quite literal. I really did give up my own world for such things…
"You… wouldn't?"
I shake my head 'no' with a reassuring smile.
"Are you… sure?"
I nod. "As long as it's not a surprise party," I tease, gently nudging her with an elbow.
That earns a tiny chuckle from her. But that weak smile turns into frown again.
"I still don't think I can forgive myself," she sniffles.
"Hey, if a crazy old alien can forgive you, of course you can forgive you."
"Do you really forgive me?"
"Of course! How could I stay mad at you? All you ever want to do is make ponies smile, right?"
She looks down and sniffles, her lower lip quivers and her sad eyes start welling up with tears again. "It's TRUE!!" she cries.
She surprises me by jumping onto my bed and burying me in a fluffy pink hug while loudly sobbing on my shoulder. After my initial shock, I hug her back and pat her gently on the back.
"There, there, Pinkie. It's ok, just let it all out…"
I hear the door click open, and Nurse Redheart pokes her head in.
I recognize her presence with a small nod. She merely examines the scene I'm in with a raised eyebrow, but a small smile quickly graces her lips before she backs out of the door frame, gently pulling the door closed again.
Pinkie cries her heart out on my shoulder, and I continue to comfort her.
I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that I hugged Pinkie… It was a very tender moment, and the poor thing needed a hug right about then…
…But right now she's just being annoying.
"…And then she said I couldn't bring my welcome wagon in the hospital because it has explosives! I mean come on! They're just fireworks! They're not really…"
"Pinkie."
"…And the loud noises might wake the patients up, but it was in the morning! What kind of sleepy-heads are gonna miss breakfast?! It's the most important…"
"Pinkie."
"…Waffles and pancakes and fried hay and scrambled eggs and…"
"PINKIE!"
She blinks a few times at me. "Yes?"
"It's your turn."
"Oh! Sky five!"
Without even looking at the board… "Wow! You stung my bumblebee…" Pinkie's too good at this game. "How are you so good at this game?"
"I dunno!" She smiles innocently and shrugs.
Two soft knocks come from the door and it slowly opens, revealing a certain purple unicorn.
"Hi Dane, hi Pinkie." She looks curiously at Pinkie. "Well, you look a lot better, Pinkie."
Ah yes, she's become a lot more vibrant than earlier today…
"I KNOW! I feel SOOO much better now!"
…In more ways than one apparently. Not long after we broke our hug, the flat, lifeless strands of her mane poofed up to a big lively (and messy) bundle of pink curls on her head. Interestingly, her curls are rather small, her cotton candy mane almost looks like a big, messy pink afro. Almost. And her coat livened up too. Its healthy sheen now reflects tiny bits of the orange sunset filtering in through the window.
"And Daney-Waney here really helped me get me out of the dumps!"
I cringe at Pinkie's nickname for me.
"Not that I was really in a dump! That would be silly, it's just a metaphor! At least I think it's a metaphor…" She turns to me, "Was I in a dump?" she asks with her head cocked sideways.
"No, Pinkie. I'm pretty sure it's just a metaphor." I can't help but smile at her antics.
"So Dane," Twilight looks to me, clearly concerned, "the nurse told me you're doing fine, how do you feel?"
"Well for a guy that's had like five heart attacks since he got here? I'd say I'm doing pretty good."
"Good, good…" She responds in a neutral tone, my joke seemingly having gone right over her head. "Hey Pinkie, aren't you here a little late? Visiting hours are almost over…"
"Nurse Redheart said I could stay overnight if it was alright with Dane and Nurse Coldheart said I should probably be kept overnight for observation anyway! I wonder what she meant by that…?"
"I was kind of hoping to talk with you, Dane…"
"Actually, Twi, I need to talk to you too…"
"You do?"
"Yeah… if all is well, they're probably checking me out of here tomorrow, and, well, I don't exactly have a place to stay. I probably should have talked to you about this sooner…"
"You can stay at my place!" Twilight insists a little too fast, maybe hoping to beat Pinkie to the punch.
Pinkie does look a little down, "Aw…" she mumbles.
"Great! Thank you, Twi, This really means a lot to me. I uh… I-I'll try to repay you… somehow…"
"Oh, it won't be any problem at all, besides, I'd like to get to know you better." Twi manages a weak smile.
"Oh, would you…?" I wiggle my eyebrows.
Twilight shakes her head and nervously tries to correct herself, "W-What? No, I didn't mean it like that, I-"
Poor Twi, she looks pretty blue. So to speak. I mean, she's purple, after all. But my jest made no improvement to her mood…
I sigh. "I'm just teasing, Twi."
Pinkie's chortling into a hoof.
"Oh, right, of course…" She sighs and looks downtrodden. "I still want to talk to you though…"
Hmm… I wonder if she remembers what I told her last night. Maybe she did forget and she wants to ask me the same question all over again? Either way it'll probably be another disaster. I really need to think of a way to break it to her easier… I'll buy some time.
"Well I should get out of here tomorrow, we'll have plenty of time to talk then, right?" I offer with a smile.
At least we could be somewhere private. Maybe she'd be more comfortable and relaxed in the library anyway… She was so tense last night.
"Oh. Right. Sure." She nods slowly.
"I'm throwing him a party tomorrow!" Pinkie jumps into the air, throwing her forelegs up.
"But no surprises, right Pinkie?" I playfully ask.
"Right! No surprises! I promise!"
"Should be fun, right Twi?" I look around. "Twi? Huh. Where'd she go?"
Pinkie shrugs, "I dunno!"
Twilight's acting funny. Maybe she does remember after all… I'll have plenty of time to talk to her tomorrow, but I can only hope she doesn't start a riot until then…
"Hey Pinkie, it's still your turn."
"Tree two!"
Son of a… "You burned my phoenix…"
The next day…
"Say 'ahhhhh.' "
I comply and the standard over-grown popsicle stick touches my tongue and presses down, the magical field holding it tickles my tongue a little, a feeling that's kind of reminiscent of static electricity. Not the shock, but more like holding a statically-charged balloon against your skin.
Dr. Sutures, my main surgeon, is examining my throat with a penlight. He's an older stallion with an aqua green coat and a graying blue mane and tail. Nice fellow, almost always wearing a cheery little smile. Cutie mark of – you guessed it – a needle and thread making a stitch. It almost looks like someone was stitching up a cut on his flank and they left the needle hanging from the thread on it.
The wood stick lets off my tongue so I close my mouth.
"Alright, now let's listen to my work." He puts his stethoscope in his ears, levitates my hospital gown aside (totally invading my personal space), and he puts the–
"AH!" I jerk back a little.
"Sorry! Sorry! I forgot you haven't got a coat! Here…" He levitates the cold metal listening part to his mouth and breathes on it. He then places the less shockingly cold device to my chest. "See? I remember that trick you taught me." He looks away from me while he listens to my ticker, repositioning the stethoscope several times in between, and ordering me to breathe in certain ways.
He goes on to check my blood pressure, look in my ears, and other menial things like that. Thankfully, he doesn't grab my balls and ask me to cough… I'm not even entirely sure how that would work with hooves…
Satisfied with his work, he proclaims, "I think it's safe to set you loose. Just stay on the prescribed medications and we'll see you in a week for a checkup. Just relax until then, try to take it easy, and for Celestia's sake no more scares from your new friends! And after that we'll have to determine what kind of physical therapy would be best suited for a… stallion of your age, to improve your strength."
"Well, thanks for all the help Doc." I offer my hand for a shake.
"Pleasure was all mine." He puts his hoof in my hand and shakes. He pulls me closer. "You know, I'll be writing a paper on you, and they're having a big medical symposium at Canterlot University, they'll probably ask me to give a lecture!"
"Good for you! Glad I could help advance your career."
"Ha! I'm just a small town surgeon, I don't think that'll ever change. In fact I hope it doesn't. It'd just be nice to have some time in the spotlight, that's all. I like it here. Nice place, Ponyville. You're going to like it too. Sure, we've had more than our fair share of catastrophes, but everything always seems to work out in the end."
"So I've heard," I say with a smile.
"Well," he says as he hops off of his little doctor's stool, "I have to go make my rounds, but I should see you again before you leave. But just in case I don't: goodbye!"
"Goodbye, Doc. It's been good."
I'm finally getting out of here. Next stop, Ponyville!
I feel as giddy as a schoolgirl! I'm going to see the town, meet the ponies, go to Pinkie's party…
…I wish Patty could be here with me to enjoy this…
...Did I just delete an assload of comments because I deleted the fake chapter?
1851506 Yes. Dane kissed him when he gave him the good news, how did you forget that? lol. He was also the last to leave the room after Dane activated self-destruct.
1851548
eeyup
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can't explain how happy i am that this story didn't die
1851583 Aw, Merry Xmas to you too!
1851615 Maaaaaaannnnnn... I ain't about to drop a story this popular! What kind of a scumbag would I be if I did that?!
BEST JOKE EVER
1851619 honestly i love that picture so much i might just have to make it my profile picture.
1851621 lol
1851638 It is pretty D'AWWW.
Hmmm, I can't think of anything to say about this chapter, besides 'yay update' of coarse.
Guess I'll just take up space.
1851554 Sorry, it's been awhile and my memmory is like swish cheese. It stinks and is full of holes.
Glad to see you back, i really enjoy this story, you have interesting formating and I like the detail you put into it.
Are we going to get to see that Medical Symposium? I always like to see how the Ponies react to the physiology of humans in these types of stories
Lastly, a Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you my freind.
I wish you luck in finding inspiration and i'm looking forward to more.
.... I feel like i should post something festive for the holidays...
kxl.com/common/medialib/418/632103.jpg
That'll do it
Well this was a nice Christmas/Hearth's Warming Treat
I'm reading a lot of comedy lately and I don't know why
Dane is still a lovable sunova...and Pinkie Pie is the Game Master. Why is it that the only HiE fics I like are comedy ones with one exception.
Can't wait to see the adventures Dane will have in Ponyville
1851574
Don't know what's funnier, that response or this chapter :rainbowlaugh
Good chapter.
Ah, the most cruel joke in the world - to see Pinkie with that awesome straight hairs, you need to make her sad first... Awesome chapter and a heatwarming moment.
1851548 Seems like it...
Not sure since I have never uploaded but maybe editing the chapter would have been better than deleting and posting new one...
Thanks for posting a real update to this very fascinating story. I can't wait to see where it goes from here -- perhaps you might mention something about the massively improved tech from nearly 60 years into the future at some point. Looking forward to more, please!
1851653 Umm... ok... But hey, I appreciate that you took the time to comment anyway!
1851662 A medical symposium? My god that sounds like the dryest thing I could possibly write! Yea... this is a 1st person fic and unless Dr. Sutures manges to drag Dane off to Canterlot U, I don't think he'd be attending... sorry... And I'm glad you enjoy my work! Merry [whatever] to you too!
1851665 You're welcome! 'Loveable sunova...' actually sounds like a really good way to describe Dane lol! So... is this the one exception? Because it's kindof a comedy and kinda sad. EAT THAT, MODS! CONFLICTING TAGS MY ASS!
1851666
1851718 Wow lol. Awesome you say? Cool.
1851719 Well buck me.
I hope you keep enjoying this story, it would be sad to see you make a meh job because we force you to write it
AWWWWWWW I WANT MOAR
1851728
I'm sorry, did I sound insincere? I don't know if you remember any of my previous comments but I really do love this story.
1851748 I'll try my best either way. But, in fact, riding me to do stuff is what people usually do to make me do it, and hell it works. Like I said in the notes, about 1500 of those words were seriously just last 2 days only. I guess I just need a little extra motivation sometimes. If this chapter wasn't 'meh' then I guess that's working.
1851771 That'll be in like a few years or so.
LOL
1851791 I'm just fuckin with ya lol
Epicness.
1851835 Oh god, don't pull a Valve on us! PLEASE!
1851548
Yes you did, still the sight of an actual chapter update pretty much make this a moot point. Now off I go to read!
EDIT:
And I'm done.
Glad to see Dane got Pinkie out of Pinkamena mode.
And yes time to see Ponyville.
I'm guessing Twilight probably repressed the memory but she still "read from the Necronomicon". That's too hard to repress.
Yay! An update. I'll consider this a Hearth's Warming's present from you to me :D...Dane's finally set loose, this is gonna get good
1851862
1851926 It'll be worth the weight. lol Gaben.
Gaben.
1851934 w00t! Glad you're liking it!
1852032 Welp, Dane doesn't really know yet. But remember, even before he told her, she knew something was up, Dane telling her just helped her put 2 and 2 and 2 together.
1852035 Well Happy Hearthswarming!
1852142
I'm just glad Dane got a normal hug from Pinkimena instead of the one she gives in Fighting is Magic.
That scene just reminds me of her super move from the game, don't know why.
There was a fake chapter? I missed it, then...
Anyway... Merry Christmas!
And yay! Finally Pinkie!
Yay, new chapter Oh and Happy Hearths Warming to you too
Pinkie doesn't even realize that nopony else can see through solid matter. It likely confuses her immensely when people call out the wrong coordinates in... *looks it up* ....Whoa, they never actually named the game! Whatever, my point stands.
Aww, poor Pinkie Pie! That was a great chapter though, perfect thing to read on Christmas morning!
Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony!
HEY! That A/N bos has a purpose...so that we can use reader without hassle.
Pfft.
Anyway, nice chapter, keep it up!
I JUST LOVE IT... i wish that could happen to me
i dont know but i think the emotes arent working
also... NOT FIRST
1851726 You are quite welcome! About the tech, I personally don't believe we'll have too much new stuff in 60 years. If you look at history, we had an industrial revolution a little before the turn of the century, then we got electricity, telephones, radios, etc. Then from approx the 50s to the 80s, not much changed. Then we had another spurt with computers, and that's lasted about til now, and it's starting to taper off, in my opinion. So yea, I think not too much will change in the next 60. Maybe we'll get a reliable, efficient form of fusion energy, or a solar panel that has a reasonable efficiency and is cheaper, or maybe a way to extract energy from coal without burning it. But there should be a part where Dane shows Twilight his fancy cell phone, if that counts? If you have any ideas, feel free to suggest. Plus I'm also trying to make a point that a LOT of brilliant minds were working with Dane on the portal, and that may have hindered technological advances of the world in general. Granted, not by a whole lot, not everyone was working on it, but still, somewhat.
1852202 lol
1852339 Merry Xmas! And yea, I posted the last one like an hour after posting the picnic part. TROLOLOL
1852456 Oh??? I'm contending with REAL authors now? My goodness! (Yea, that book was kinda dry if I remember right, lol)
1852477 Well cool. Yea, me too, I often forget wtf happened and have to piece it together from reading the new chapter. I'll probably only do those summaries if it's been a while though. Unless you feel differently?
1852527
1852538 lol I didn't think about it that way!
1852542 You're welcome!
1852663 HeheheheheheheHEHEHEHEH!!!
1852982 Wow. Be careful what you wish for!
My life suks waddya expect
1852988 Okay, that's cool -- Just a thought, there.
1853001
1853004 No suggestions for tech? I'm listening.
1853015 If by some chance he gets an opportunity to take Twilight back to his realm (not likely, but Celestia might have something to say about that) he would be able to show her some stuff. Medical advances in 60 years might have hand-held CT scanners, probably about the size of an iPhone or iPad -- as for anything else, you might be able to get away with making some stuff up if not too outrageously unexpected -- but as for anything else, I'm not really sure. Like I said, it's just a thought.
but dude this is the best fanfic ive read so far in all seriousness you have like captured the characters perfectly its maddening
1853032 Oooooh... yea that might be limited to Dane telling Twi stuff about home. Hint Hint. Well, it's a good thought anyway. I'll probably slip some things in subtly.
1853033 Awww... thank you! I try
I was very excited to see this update last night, but sadly did not have the time to read it then. Now that I have... Huzzah for more old man in Equestria!
I sincerely hope to see this story completed. I recently went through my own bout of Writer's Block, and it's a tough beast to slay. I hope you've found a way around or through it, but if not... Send me a PM, and I'll give you the little advice that helped me. Along with any other help you may need, I'll be very glad to assist you.
Anyways, concerning this chapter... It was good. It's continuing to a build up to later events, but the one issue that did bother me was the... *Beep* and *Sob*. It didn't seem necessary for the asterisks to be around the beeps, but it wasn't that much of an issue, in my opinion. What did rustle my jimmies was the *Sob* in Pinkie's dialogue. It seemed to make the entire pacing and flow of the dialogue falter and halt every time one was inserted. However... This story continues to leave me fascinated and eagerly anticipating where it will end up. 6/5 Stars, 11/10 Points.
In the end, that's just my two cents. Make of it what you will it's merely my meager opinion.
Best of luck to ya and Merry Christmas!
1851619 Gilda
First error reported on a brandspaking new computer and a brandnew Logitec G510 Keyboard. Best Day Ever!
Oh damn! I haven't been following you.
I'll just fix that real quick.
1853252 Ah yes, writer's block. Yes, I get it occasionally. I'm not sure you could classify this as writer's block, so much as I simply had no idea where the story was going. But hey, people nagging me to do stuff seems to help with a lot of things. I tell you what. I did a little something with those sobs, tell me what you think. But the whole reason they are there IS to break up the flow of dialog. As for the beeps, well... eh, idk, maybe I'll lose the asteriks. Did anyone notice that the opening sequence of beeps is cloned from chapter 2? Repetition lol.
Wow. Damn. And a Merry Xmas to you too!
1853395 WOW! I like Gilda! Even she is a scumbag.
1853441 ...
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1853449 yay! Thank you!
static.quickmeme.com/media/social/qm.gif
FUCKING BRILLIANT
1853744
The change wasn't necessary, but it is better, and I thank you for the time it took you to change that.
But in the end you're the writer. You'll have a better idea of what is occurring in that scene, and perhaps know the best way to display it. In fact, I'm going to start appreciating the little quirks like that in this story. They seem fairly unique to me.
Anyways, have a good one partner.
"she sniffs, "give you a cupcake maybe… but noooOOOO"
> Give you a cupcake
> a cupcake
>Cupcake
>Cupcakes
FUUUUUUUUUUUUU