I was a human.
Just a human.
And there lay the problem.
I was not accustomed to magic. Now that I had been directly exposed to it, it was seeping into my body, causing all sorts of troubles, and possibly killing me. Not helping was the fact that I didn't know what it was made of, and it didn't seem like the few ponies I'd met had any real answer other than "it's magic, that's all I can tell you".
Even if the ponies knew exactly what magic was and how it was affecting me, I seriously doubted they could do anything about it. Firefall and Celestia, being unicorns (well, Celestia was a winged unicorn), literally radiated magic, and as magic was apparently found in rocks, of all things, there was nowhere I could go to be free of magic. Unless I went back in time, which was impossible, or in outer space, which was probably impossible given the state of these ponies' technology and their belief in geocentrism.
Despite all of this, I sat on my bed, trying again to learn the Equestrian alphabet despite the fact that I might not be able to use the knowledge. I was doing this after my nap, of course; it had refreshed me at least a little bit. My head didn't feel like it was being crushed and I wasn't about to vomit.
Also, I could find a little bit of optimism in that I was starting to get the hang of the Equestrian alphabet, though I still had a ways to go before I could read it as readily as I could read English.
The door opened a crack and Firefall's head poked through. "Patrick, are you doing all right?" he asked quietly.
"Better than I was a few hours ago...however long ago that was," I responded, glancing up at the unicorn. "I don't have any cleaning supplies, though."
"Why do you need cleaning supplies?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"...Well, shortly after you left, my stomach decided it wasn't very happy..." I said, internally wincing, "and pony toilets are totally different from what I'm used to."
Firefall turned slightly more green than his usual color and his mouth twisted into a grimace. "Uh...don't worry about it. I'll clean it up," he said, sidling into the room and trotting off to the bathroom.
"Ugh...sorry about it," I apologized. "I did make it eventually, though..."
He disappeared into the bathroom, and seconds later, a flash of orange light filled the bathroom. I winced and a hand flew to my forehead as I felt my headache return for a second. "Ow!"
He emerged from the bathroom. "Are you all right?"
"Well, I'm not dead, so that's already a plus," I said dryly, looking back at my books and notes. "It'd be nice, though, if you tried to not use magic around me too much--but thanks for cleaning up in there anyway."
"You're welcome," Firefall said, "and sorry for the magic usage."
"It's fine," I said, my nose buried in my books and notes again.
There was an awkward silence, and I felt a slight prickling in my forehead. Damn it, I cursed inwardly without making a visible sign of discomfort.
"Uh, how is your alphabet learning progressing?" Firefall asked eventually.
"Fine," I said simply. After a few more seconds of silence, I added, "It's not like I can read Equestrian instantly, but I'm getting there."
"Well, that's good," Firefall said, trotting up to me and glancing at the book. "How many have you read through so far?"
"This is my third."
There was yet another pause as I continued reading despite my slight headache already returning. Again, Firefall broke it. "Okay," he said, pointing to a line, "what does this say?"
I quickly consulted my notes and looked at the line. "'Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down'?" I said, reflexively phrasing it like a question in case I was wrong.
"That's good!" Firefall congratulated, grinning slightly. "How long have you been doing this?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. A few hours, maybe? Hard to say when you don't have the time."
"I think it's close to five thirty," he said. "I'm surprised you're picking this up so quickly."
"When you don't have to learn to speak anything, cool..."
There was another silence, and I mentally reflected on how often that seemed to be happening. It's not like we know each other that well, but I know him better than I know anyone else who's alive...
"So how's Katherine doing?" I asked eventually.
"Fine, last I saw," Firefall said, frowning slightly. "She had a headache too, but she also decided to sleep it off."
"Hm." I turned a page idly. "So what's the prognosis?"
"Prognosis...?"
"Yeah. Do you know exactly what'll happen to me and Katherine--er, I mean, Katherine and I...?"
Firefall suddenly looked very uncomfortable as I looked at him. He shifted his hat to scratch his hair--or rather, mane. "Uh...I...how..."
"Come on. Be honest, okay?" I prodded, none too gently. "I don't care how brutal it is, I'm pretty sure I can take it."
"I don't know," he said flatly. "I don't know what the magic is doing and I don't know how to stop or reverse it."
I stared at him for a second, then glanced back at my books and notes. "Well, there's one way to deal with it. Just put me out in the wild somewhere and forget about me, that way you can go back to your normal life and I can die without causing you peo--ponies any fuss."
Firefall recoiled--actually stepped back--and winced. "What, you want to be left in the wild? What is wrong with you?!"
I raised an eyebrow at his reaction. "I was trying to joke, but maybe my delivery's off..."
"Why...why would you joke about something like that?"
"Humor can be a defense mechanism," I said, closing my books. "It makes the idea that I might be friggin' dying easier to deal with."
He stared at me for a few moments before mouthing something that I didn't catch. Then he said, "Well, anyway...I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do. If I try to use magic on you, that will probably just accelerate...whatever's happening to you. All I can think to do right now is wait and see what happens."
I sucked in a breath. Well, that didn't sound good. "Well, should I write out a will? I'll try to do it in Equestrian..."
"A will...? You mean a last will and testament?"
"Yeah. Actually, forget it. That was an even worse try at a joke." I flicked open one of the books again and started flipping through it without looking directly at it. "I guess all I can do now is keep trying to learn...it's more useful than reading something else."
Firefall simply nodded and stood up. "I should leave," he said as he moved toward the door, "and I'm guessing that if I stay around too long, you might absorb more magic than is healthy."
"I think I've already absorbed more magic than is healthy," I pointed out, rubbing my head.
"Yes, but even so...I believe you might get too much direct exposure to it," Firefall explained, "and that would speed up whatever is happening."
I shrugged and looked down at my open book. "Okay. See ya."
"Goodbye," he said, and as he stepped out through the doorway, he added, "and later, I'll bring you another meal."
"Thanks," I said, but he was already gone. I stared at the now-shut door for a few seconds, then at the books and notes on my bed, then towards the bathroom.
I suppose I should know what might have changed by now, I thought as I pushed myself off the bed and stepped into the bathroom. After a glance at the newly-cleaned toilet area, I stared into the mirror. Another stab of pain shot through my head for a split second and my hand went to my forehead.
...Well...I suppose it isn't that different yet...time will probably tell, though.