//------------------------------//
// Arrivals: Part 2 
// Story: Lost in Paradise 
// by leeroy_gIBZ 
//------------------------------//

I blinked my eyes repeatedly, trying to restore some focus and get rid of the dancing lights. If I didn’t know better, I would say that the teleporter had malfunctioned. That would be impossible though, Orichalcum had worked on it for months and we had double-checked that everything was in working order. Still, I didn’t have hands the last time I woke up.

Immediately, I checked if I was dreaming. I clapped my newfound appendages together and they made a believable sound. I felt it too so obviously I am awake. Somehow. I appeared to be lying in some kind of bed; if the pillows and blankets are anything to go by. The bed is surprisingly long though; almost twice the length of the average pony. It seemed to be situated in a fairly small and spare room with walls painted that weirdly common shade of pale green that supposedly aids the healing process. I doubted it was particularly effective at said task though. I turned my head to further inspect my surroundings and a dagger of pain shot through the back of my neck and I am not ashamed to admit that I screamed.

I screamed louder than I thought because I soon heard hoofsteps coming towards my room. Well, at least I can get some answers now. That and maybe some anesthetic – I feel like I have been kicked in the head. A pair of odd-looking creatures opened the door and stepped inside. They were over five feet tall, with short manes, no coats and strangely elongated limbs. Both were wearing clothes but one of the creature's outfits was unlike anything I had ever seen – Loose and decorated with some or other emblem. One of the creatures, the one with the short, pink mane, then spoke up. Yes, it actually opened its mouth and spoke. Very peculiar.

“Mirage! Are you alright, dearie? We had screaming.” It asked, walking close to my bed.

“Where am I?” I asked before the creature got any closer. I did not like the look of its claws. They were blood red and pointed right at me.

The other creature, this one was taller and possessed a beard, answered in a tone that suggested that it was clearly used to answering such questions – calm but somewhat tired. “Mister Nocturne, you are in the school sanatorium. You fell while playing basketball and hit your head.”

“Alright then.” Well, I had an answer now. Admittedly a bad one but at least these strange creatures seemed harmless. In fact, now that I look at it, they seem somewhat familiar. I think I heard a legend about them once. About a thousand years ago, a powerful unicorn had built a portal to their world in order to banish some threat that was plaguing some far off land. I reckon that was it, anyway. I did not care for Prince Imaginos’ endless lectures about Pony history.

“So are you in pain or something?” The clawed one asked, derailing my train of thought. Its face – It looked like a hairless, flattened version of a pony’s – had an expression of what was probably concern plastered across it.

“Yes. Yes, I am. My neck hurts a lot actually. That and I seem to have grown a pair of hands.” I respond, waving the limbs in question around for dramatic effect.

The two creatures, humans if my memory is correct, break out in laughter. When the pink-haired one recovered, she said, “Well, you can’t be that hurt if you’re still cracking jokes, Mirage.”

“You think that’s funny? Ponies do not just grow random appendages on accident. And how do you all know my name anyway? What’s happening?” I ask, the gravity of the situation finally getting to me: I was stranded in another dimension filled with mythical creatures. Mythical creatures with an extremely bizarre sense of humor.

The bearded one managed to stop chuckling after it heard that. In fact, it looked rather worried. After whispering something to its friend, it answered my question, “Mirage, we know your name because you are a student here, at Crystal Prep. You hurt yourself and you are in the school sanitarium. Do you not remember that?”

“No, of course I don’t remember that. It didn’t happen to me. The last thing I remember was standing on the teleporter after saying goodbye to Sunny. Something must have gone wrong. That’s why I am lying here with hands for hooves and a headache with the severity of an earthquake, you idiots!” I kindly explained to the humans.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. I am supposed to be a pony, a unicorn to be precise, and they did not acknowledge that. So either the unicorns have hands in this world – a pretty nasty thought considering that I have to walk on these things – or I am not a pony at all. That is an even worse thought actually.

Before the humans could recover from the last explanation, I decided to find out, “So alright. Am I a human now? Is that why you think I am somepony else?”

The pair looked worriedly at each-other again. Gulping, the blue haired one responded, “Mirage, My name's Sunny. Sunny Flare. We’re friends. And of course you’re human. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I think that you may have fallen harder than I thought, Mirage. You may have some amnesia. I ran some tests already but I think that you should stay here tonight so that we can see if it clears up. If not...” The bearded one chose to leave the last sentence to my imagination. If the asylums here are anything like those in Chevallia, I really should start to pretend to remember things.

After sighing, I agree. I am to stay here tonight. Doctor Crates – that was his name, apparently – would come back in a few hours but until then, the girl claiming to be Sunny Flare would keep me company. This was going to be a long night and certainly not in a good way.