Captured by Queen Chrysalis, I was trapped in a magical barrier, surrounded by fire. She left to let me "die alone", but with my time almost up, Twilight found me. But no matter what she did, she couldn't put out the fire, couldn't teleport herself in the barrier to get me out or teleport me out to her.
Prepared to die, I told her how sorry I was for hurting her by my lying, and that Chrysalis was the real reason I was in Equestria, not hers or Starlight's.
I tried to tell Twilight to get out of there, since she couldn't get me out, and she'd risk passing out from the smoke herself if she stayed. But my big sister wouldn't leave me, and instead jumped into the flames to get in the barrier I was in. She put a barrier around herself, but it'd only last about a second in the fire. If Twilight could withstand four seconds of being in it, with nothing protecting her but some water she poured on herself right before she went in, she'd pass through the barrier I was in.
The barrier wasn't a "solid" type of barrier you'd probably think about when you think about barriers, so Twilight would just fall through this one, like it's a barrier made of water. Then, she could teleport us out, since that's the only place her teleportation can work on me.
If Twilight still had the strength to do it. If she didn't, she would die in there with me.
Once Twilight entered the fire, with her barrier still active, I wanted to turn away, but at the same time, I couldn't, knowing she was doing this for me. But once her barrier disappeared, and her body was in direct contact with that fire, and completely engulfed by it, that pony screamed in a horrific tone of pure agony that I hope she'd never have to do again.
That's when I covered my ears, turned away, and mentally started counting, "One...two...three...four."
Once I got to "four," something extremely heavy crashed onto the ground I was on, just behind me, with the thud strong enough to knock me in the air by a few inches. And because I was only a "few inches" tall, it was like a six-foot-tall person being thrown seven or eight feet in the air by a huge thud. I landed on my stomach, unharmed, and looked behind me, and there was Twilight, lying down, badly burned, grunting in pain, but with her horn glowing.
The next thing I knew, we were outside, on the ground, and alive! Guess the spell Chrysalis cast to enhance my vision wore off, since everything seemed to be the correct size to me.
"We're alive! Thank you so much, Twilight!" I yelled in pure joy, but that feeling ended when it sunk in just how bad Twilight's burns were: some were even as bad as third-degree burns. I gasped, and asked, "Are you all right?!"
All that made me feel faint, as I was still lightheaded myself from the smoke and lay down on my back to try and rest. But I heard Twilight, still lying on the ground, say something that not only assured me she'll be okay, but made me even happier than I was before.
"*pant*...*pant* don't worry...I'll be all right, but...you see? I...promised you that I would think of something...and that I wouldn't let you die in there...didn't I...little brother?"
I looked at Twilight's face, with a big 'ol smile on my own face, and I almost did a high-pitch "squee" from hearing what she just said.
While in pain, Twilight had a weary smile on her, and she nodded at me. I'd said to Twilight before that she was like my new big sister, but she's never said I was like her new little brother. Until that moment. I wanted to hug her, but because she was burned, I didn't want to touch her and risk putting her in any more pain. Especially not after what she just did for me.
Right after that, I heard Rarity call out, "Twilight! Eric! Are you two okay?!"
"I'll be fine, but Twilight's burned bad! She needs help!"
Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all ran to us, but they slowed down and walked slowly once they got close. They knew their hoofsteps would be like earthquakes for me on the ground if they kept running. Once got close enough to see Twilight's burns more clearly, they gasped, but didn't speed up their walking because of it.
"Twilight!" Pinkie screamed, and leaned her head down to Twilight with a big frown. "What happened to you?!"
To keep Twilight from trying to answer, and use up more of her energy, I quickly answered, "It's a long story, Pinkie, but we can explain once we get Twilight to a hospital."
With me on Rainbow's back -- it didn't feel right being on any other head but Twilight's -- and with Twilight herself on Applejack's back, we ran to the nearest hospital, and as soon as we got her in, Twilight got immediate treatment for her burns. Starlight was already there thanks to Fluttershy, recovering from her own injuries she got from the blast from Chrysalis.
In a waiting room of the hospital, with nopony else around, I now told Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy what happened to me in the caves with Chrysalis, and how Twilight risked her life by jumping into the fire Chrysalis set to save me. I also told them all I was sorry that I lied to them too, and they told me that they already figured it why I did, and they forgave me. Rainbow even liked the fact that those from other worlds had seen her "awesomeness". Ha, figures.
They also told me that they were sorry that they made me so nervous when they were pressuring me to talk; Applejack felt especially bad about it, and even had her hat off and held it when she apologized. They also apologized for not stopping Twilight right away after she picked me up with her magic, and that they really didn't think there was a danger of her actually hurting me, even if it was an accident. They felt really bad about that, but as bad as they felt, Applejack said that Twilight felt much worse, and I'd find out how bad she felt later on when she could tell me herself.
Because Chrysalis now knew where Fluttershy stayed (she probably took a page from Starlight's playbook, when she herself wanted payback on Twilight and the others) Applejack thought she should stay somewhere else, till we could build a new house for her, away from where she lived now. She decided to stay in Twilight's castle till it could be done. It also allowed her to keep an eye on me since I was still the Equestrian height of four inches, and I would be able to stay at Twilight's castle.
Three days after Twilight saved me from Chrysalis, Spike came back from the Dragon Lands. We told him all that happened while he was gone, and about me. Ha, safe to say he missed a lot! We became fast friends and got along great. Heh, I think he enjoyed not being the small one out of his friends anymore, which made him bond with me that much faster. Out of all our friends, he and I spent the most time at the hospital with Twilight and Starlight.
About a week later, in a well-lit hospital room made to fit one patient, I was alone with Twilight, who was laying on her side in a hospital-style bed, facing me. I was standing on a wooden table that was put right beside her bed, and it was meant specifically for me: Twilight's idea. Save for some places, like her mouth, eyes, a part of the top of her head, and a few random spots of her body, almost all of Twilight's body was in bandages because of her still-healing burns. However, thanks to the treatments given, she wasn't in any pain at that time.
Or she wasn't in physical pain at least. With her head tilted towards me, with big, sad eyes showing a lot of guilt, Twilight was about to tell me what she wanted to say right before she jumped into the fire I was trapped in to save my life. The only reason she didn't tell me sooner was that she wanted us to be alone, and this was the first time we were alone in the hospital. The room was quiet unless either Twilight or I said something, or she moved on her bed.
"Hey, Eric, I think it's time I finally told you what I was thinking back in that cave before I saved you."
"Oh, yeah, you said you had a lot to say, but you couldn't. What was it?"
"Remember when you said that you didn't think you deserve to be my friend or think of me as your big sister, and that you even deserved to be hurt by me?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"I want you to look at me in the eyes, and to promise that you'll listen to your big sister very carefully, okay, Eric?" Twilight asked in a more serious voice. She wanted me to make sure I listened to every word she was about to say.
I moved my face, so I was looking at her right in the eyes, just like she told me to do. "I will listen carefully, Twilight, I promise." I prepared myself for the waterworks from my big sister. Applejack and the others said this was coming.
"Okay. First, there was one thing you really were right about. I was hurt when I saw that you were still hiding a big secret from me, and I think that was why I acted the way I did."
Feeling a jolt of pain in my heart, I turned my head away from Twilight's eyes. "I know, Twilight, and I'm so--"
"Wait, Eric, please let me finish. I need to say this. And keep looking at my eyes."
I sat down, turned my face back to how I had it, so I was again looking in her eyes, and nodded. I wasn't gonna say another word till she finished.
"Now, it's true that I was hurt, but it wasn't until after Fluttershy left when I realized why you felt like you still needed to lie, thanks to Applejack, and I completely understand. Lying because you felt scared of what I might do, or wouldn't believe you, doesn't make you bad or an idiot. If anything, it's my fault for not making you feel safe enough. I should've thought more about how you could still feel nervous in such a huge world, tried harder to make you feel safer, and told you that you could tell me anything. I'm so sorry I didn't do it."
Part of me wanted to say that it wasn't her fault if I still felt nervous, but Twilight said to let her finish, so I stayed quiet as she kept talking.
"If you still have doubts that you're good, think of how bad you wanted to protect Starlight's feelings and cheer her up. In fact, back in those caves, you thought you were about to die, and yet you were thinking about how bad she would feel if you didn't make it. And all this came after Starlight tried to crush you, and you never once held it against her and it meant more to her than you know. I hate to admit it, but not even I can get fully over things that easily: just ask Discord or Trixie."
As I stayed still and quiet, tears were coming from Twilight's eyes.
"You do deserve to be my friend and to think of me as your big sister if you want to. I'm happy and proud that you do. In fact, maybe...*sniff*...it's me that don't deserve you."
I teared up too, hearing her say that.
"And -- this I want you to listen to the most -- you didn't deserve what I did to you, Eric. I know I was hurt by your lying, but the way I hurt you was way worse. I'm so huge when compared to you, and I will never forget how scared you looked, and...*sniff*...it was of me. That, on top of hurting you too, even if I didn't mean to, is...is something I'll regret forever, no matter how many times I might save your life. I should be the one pony to never hurt you or make you scared of them, and like I said in the cave, I can never tell you how...*sniff*...sorry I am..."
As she was talking, tears were just pouring from Twilight's eyes, and into the bandages closest to them. Then she just wept for several seconds. I've never seen Twilight, or anything, cry like that before. Starlight was right about Twilight feeling worse about hurting me than I knew, and seeing this Alicorn feel that bad about it, without a doubt, made any part of me that might have still been scared of her finally leave me for good. The only reason I didn't try to tell her it was okay was because she already said to let her finish, and she still wasn't done talking. After Twilight collected herself to stop weeping, she kept going again.
"But, I promise and...*sniff*...I will not forget or break this promise, that I will never, ever, hurt you like that again. I won't do it. At the very worst, I might yell at you but, no matter what, please, don't be scared that I'll try to hurt you, and please don't be scared of me. I know we've only known each other for only about a month, but with all the time we've spent together, you've really grown on me a lot, Eric, and I love you too much to even allow myself to harm you again. I'll even die before doing it again. Until I can send you back to your world, I want you to feel that you can never be hurt when you're near me, and that you can tell me anything you might have on your mind, all right? Can you forgive, and trust your idiot of a big sister again?"
"I already did, Twilight, and I fully trust you. I shouldn't have lied to you anyway, so I'm at fault too, and after what you did for me, how could I not forgive you? I guess I should've said this too, so I'll say it now. Part of the reason I still liked being on your head was because I felt I couldn't be hurt there, and I trust that you'll keep your promise, so I'll still feel safest there, and when just near you. And I'll help you keep your promise, by promising to try my best to never do anything to hurt you like I did again. I'm so sorry, Twilight. I love you too much to ever want to hurt you, and I promise to never do it again, okay? Not to my big sister."
Twilight smiled bigger than I'd ever seen her smile. "Thank you so much for telling me that, Eric, and I'm so happy that you feel that way, and I've already forgiven you too. I'll do my best to be a big sister you can be proud of, and I will do everything in my power to protect you. Not only that, but our friends will also protect you too, and especially Starlight will keep you safe. She really likes, no, loves you like how I do, even more than I thought she did. She hated how I hurt you and not long ago she gave me a big piece of her mind, and I deserved it. And, I'm sorry if I've been too bossy to you. I've just been trying to look out for you, and I might've overdone it sometimes. When I leave the hospital, I'll like you to be on my head as I'm leaving. Is that okay, little bro?"
"Yes, I'll love that, big sis."
This is where we would've hugged if Twilight weren't still so hurt from her burns. So we told each other that we'd do that later, after she's healed enough.
Two weeks after that talk Twilight and I had, Starlight recovered enough to leave the hospital.
Since she now knew the Nightmare Prevention Spell sending me to Equestria wasn't her fault, but Chrysalis's, and that I was happy, she was completely cheered up. She finally looked like the Starlight Glimmer I saw in the show...with one difference, which I'll get to in a second. Though she hadn't had any of the magical shenanigans she's known for, yet.
Because of the stronger bond between Starlight and me, very nearly on par with the one between Twilight and me, and the level of trust I gained in her, Starlight kept on feeling like a big sister. The only other pony I felt as safe as I did with Starlight was Twilight. I would sometimes even ask Starlight if I could be on her head, which she said she'd be happy to let me do, and she and Twilight were the only ponies I felt were my pony big sisters -- the others were more like my good friends -- so I never wanted to be on any other head but theirs.
But I only got on her head if Starlight and I were alone, with Spike, or with Twilight at the hospital. And she, Spike, and Twilight understood why I didn't want the others to see it. All other times, I would be on her back, or on something else, like a table.
About that "difference" I was just talking about. After how I was taken by Chrysalis right after she left Fluttershy's house, while she didn't show this right away, but Starlight soon became a lot more protective of me. She wouldn't want me to be too far away from her. Even when she wasn't yet fully healed, she would still sleep right outside my bedroom door like a personal guard and was often like a giant purplish-pink shadow I was stuck with: whether I wanted it or not.
Till Twilight got out of the hospital, Starlight acted like an overprotective big sister, and it did get annoying sometimes. It did beat the Unicorn being depressed at least, so I'd still taken the overprotective Starlight Glimmer over the depressed one, and at least I felt safe. But I did have to remind myself of that, a lot.
Five weeks after Starlight got out, Twilight recovered enough to leave the hospital. Not that I mind it, but I guess being an Alicorn meant Twilight can heal faster than "normal" ponies, because the third-degree burns she had normally require several months to heal from in my human world, though Twilight still wasn't fully healed. As she was leaving, I was on her head, just like we both wanted. It never felt so great for me to be there...and Twilight was the one to say that, but I was thinking it too.
Ever since we had that talk in the hospital, there was a change in how Twilight treated me. She was always really nice to me, so that part didn't really change much, other than maybe she was somewhat even nicer since we were closer than ever. But the real difference was that she started to make sure that I knew she now thought of me as her little brother. She'd sometimes call me "little bro" or refer to herself as my big sister much more often than she did before. Because she hardly ever called me her "friend" anymore, it truly felt like she meant that she thought of me as a brother; the pony wasn't just doing it to be nice, and she even seemed to embrace her role as my big sister. Knowing she was serious about it made me call Twilight "big sis" a lot more. Starlight, seeing Twilight do it, started doing it too. Though she didn't refer to herself my big sister or call me "little bro" as often as Twilight, and I called Starlight "big sis" too. If I were to guess, I started feeling like a little brother to Starlight when she was comforting me at Fluttershy's cottage.
And, as far as I was concerned at this point, Twilight Sparkle had never shaken or hurt me.
And in case you're wondering if Spike might get jealous, we were becoming like brothers ourselves, so that helped make him not feel like I was "taking his place" when it came to Twilight, because I wasn't. And both Twilight and I made sure that he knew it too.
By this time, Fluttershy's new home was built, and she was out of Twilight's castle. Since it looked just like her old one, she felt just as home in it, as she did in her old one.
With Twilight out of the hospital, Starlight finally stopped being so protective of me, but it was still there a bit, but not enough for it to sometimes be annoying.
For the first time, Twilight, Starlight, Spike, and I were at Twilight's castle at the same time, like one happy family. And boy, it felt so good not having to hold back or lie about what I knew about Equestria, so I felt happier now than I've been so far in Equestria. It also stopped being surreal here, and being friends with beings that I used to think were fictional. Even if they were still giants in my eyes. I even became quite used to being the Equestrian height of four inches tall too, though I still felt the safest when near Twilight or Starlight, especially when on one of their heads.
Twilight and Starlight were still trying to learn the counterspell to send me home, or at least to fix my size. I guess Starlight spoke too soon, since even knowing what I told her before, about me learning about Equestria from my world, she and Twilight still had a hard time learning the counterspell. They wouldn't be able to learn it anytime soon. But I didn't mind it, and I made sure to let them know that. I wasn't ready to leave them yet, anyway.
As for me missing my human family, I still did. But since my two human big sisters were always a little overprotective of me, having two somewhat overprotective pony big sisters, especially Starlight, did help it feel more like home. But after what's been happening anytime I was alone anywhere but my room, you can't blame them.
Twilight, though, would later think of a way to take her role as my big sister/best friend to another level, when she decided to have some "fun" with me, with a "big surprise". And I didn't see it coming.