//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Some Sense Please? // Story: The Impossible Choice // by FireMaster //------------------------------// ~ April 10th 1020 ME ~ Something felt off. Chase couldn't place it, but he just didn't feel like himself. What he could be certain of was the feeling like his head was going to explode. The throbbing from the front of his skull felt like he'd done more than just slept wrong. 'I don't know what happened last night, but I need to go see a doctor... and those dreams were beyond weird.' As Chase began regaining his senses the first thing he was aware of was his sense of feeling. Which in itself was giving his brain problems. 'Where's the wool blanket I always sleep with, and why are the sheets so silky?' Then came sounds. Foreign bird calls found their way into his room, but that wasn't the worst part. 'Did my ears just... Swivel?' Hold on, what time is it? His first attempts at sight came with a glance to where his bed stand should be only to find something foreign; red flags were blaring left and right. 'wait a second that's not mine, this bed is definitely not mine, and this room is most certainly not mine.' The events of his 'dream' began rushing back to him, playing out rather quickly. 'wait... I remember falling, and then I crashed into something hard and dusty, and then...' "Oh no..." It had all felt so real, and hurt immensely which is impossible unless... Chase stole a glance downward only to be met with a shiny golden coat and his arms... no that can't be right... hooves? No they were his hooves! 'This isn't real... It would take some form of genetic reformation, combined with structural repositioning of my bones and organs. There are so many impossibilities to it all.' Instead of even considering the possibility, Chase went right back to his former theory. "Nope I'm dead." "Oh I can assure you you’re not dead," came a soft feminine voice from over by the door. "You did hit your head pretty hard though." When Chase looked over to the person addressing him, all he could do was stare mouth agape at the pony walking through the door pushing a food cart. Besides her unique coloration of a white coat and a pink mane, she had a red cross on her backside? Flank? It looked like a medical symbol, and reminded Chase of the Red Cross logo. Why she decided to put a tattoo on her backside, who knows? He definitely wasn’t brave enough to ask. "How do you feel? You've been out for almost 2 days. Princess Twilight even took time out of her schedule to stay in Canterlot and check on you. You should feel lucky that you're in such good hooves." "uhhhh, excuse me? Two days! Who are you? What does that even mean? Who's Princess Twilight?!" "Woah so many questions! Calm down a little sir everything will be alright." "CALM DOWN?! the chances of me being... whatever I am right now are about one in never, and also I don't even know where here is! I think I have about 100% right to ask questions!" "Ummm let me see if I can go get someone who can answer your questions. Excuse me." Maybe he shouldn't have yelled at this creature he had never met, but at this point he felt that he would have to show some strength if he was going to get some answers and maintain his sanity. While he waited for something to happen, he began rotating his legs. Weird. He had more range of motion than any horse he’d ever seen. "I heard you were yelling at the kind mare that helped treat you while you were unconscious." the white alicorn he had encountered before pronounced, sounding rather displeased. Chase glanced up hoping her features didn’t match her tone, but she was rather stone-faced. “You gave her quite the scare. She doesn't often get yelled at by the patients she helps. Now can you please tell me what has distressed you calmly, so we don't have any trouble?" At this point Chase hadn't even tried to leave the bed he was in yet, but even from across the room, the presence of this being made him nervous. He decided rather quickly never to make her mad, because her nature seemed a little... intimidating. She radiated power, and how he could feel that, he would never know. It would just have to be chalked up with all the other irregularities in the last few minutes. "Can you... tell me what's going on?" Chase half whispered, feeling less anger and more worry with every passing minute. At that the alicorn’s expression seemed to soften just the slightest bit. “I was unsure when you asked such strange questions in our first brief meeting, but now I’m certain you aren’t from around here. Let me explain. My name is Princess Celestia, and you are in the medical wing of my castle. Unfortunately we believe that a magical failure is responsible for bringing you here, and the spell responsible will likely never see the light of day again. Can you give me the honor of knowing who I’m talking to?” “Mr. Waters, just call me Mr. Waters for now. I really want to believe you um Princess er I mean your majesty, but did you say magic? Sorry but that’s scientifically impossible, and I don’t think slight of hand tricks could have brought me into your presence.” “Pardon me Mr. Waters, but I’ve never heard of a unicorn who thinks magic is simply misdirection. Have you never tried to use your horn?” “I have a horn?! What next, am I going to grow wings!" ‘Oh dear this is worse than I thought.’ “Do you even know what Equestria is?“ Celestia asked with apparent concern in her voice. “Is that supposed to be a type of horse cuisine? No, I don't know what Equestria is! All I know is that I was working on my senior project, peacefully I might add, when I was interrupted by some irregular purple light. Since then everything I’ve experienced is madness!” “Mr. Waters, we will do everything in our power to get you home, but first I must know; where are you from?” “Um... Oregon in the United States?” “It’s just as I feared.” Celestia said under her breath. “I have some disturbing news for you. You’ve traveled a little farther than I anticipated. You are on the planet Equus, and it may take us a little longer than I thought to get you back home.” ‘Hopefully we can.’ She was not willing to say the last part aloud because the last thing this poor pony needed to hear is that it might be out of their ability. “Princess I don’t think you quite understand where I’m coming from... I’m not just far from home in a foreign land.... I’m literally living in an unfamiliar body right now!” “How is that possible? Twilight’s spell was even more complex than I thought!” “You're asking me? Just today I’ve been told that magic is somehow real, and you're asking me how a spell was strong enough to change my species!” “Slowdown Mr. Waters, from what I’m picking up, your world shares hardly any similarities with ours. Let me get this straight. A world without magic?" Even after a thousand years there’s still so much I don’t know. “Your majesty, I don’t even know what to believe as truth right now, but it’s taking every bit of my willpower to keep my composure. I still have thousands of questions as I’m sure you do as well, but can I have some time... alone. I have a lot to process.” “If that is your wish then so be it. I have afternoon meetings to attend to, and quite a busy schedule, but Mrs. Red Cross will be in to check on you. She’s the nurse from earlier, so please refrain from yelling at her. If you must send for me then I will do my best to come and help however I can. I believe Twilight would like to visit with you as well. She will no doubt be full of questions, so just tell her if she’s overwhelming you. She really does have the best intentions. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Waters.” “Yeah you too.” Just after Celestia had left out the door, Chase called after her "Wait who's Twilight?" but she was already gone. After she left, Chase sat in silence going over his conversation with Celestia over and over again. He didn’t want to accept the idea of magic being responsible for his situation, but the longer he thought about it, the more it became evident no other explanation made sense. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a scientific approach that would land him where he was at. So with little explanation Chase was forced to do something he hated. He had to believe everything Celestia told him. The illogical explanation seemed like the only one that could work. The fact that he was a unicorn, and no humans were around was a pretty good indication he wasn't on Earth anymore. All Chase wanted was answers, and now that he had a few, he didn’t want to accept it. “Why am I of all people the only one affected? Why am I a unicorn? Why am I here?” In the moments that followed Chase did something he hadn’t done for a long time. He cried. With no idea how much time had passed, a few things were becoming apparent. Chase’s stomach clock was long overdue, and his headache was beginning to lessen to more of a dull roar. How he was going to fix the first problem was still unsure, until a close inspection of the room revealed that the nurse had left that food cart earlier. Reluctantly Chase began scooting towards the edge of the bed by dragging his body with his hooves. This can’t be so bad right? ‘All I have to do is crawl over to the cart, and then what? One hurdle at a time. First I have to get off this bed.’ When he made it to the edge, and glanced over the side it became clear that yet another thing in this world wanted to see Chase fail. ‘This looks pretty high.’ He thought. Deciding to put his doubts behind him and just go for it, Chase began trying to crawl off the bed and put his front hooves on the ground. However, when he got that far he was stuck halfway between the floor and the ground. “Now what genius?” While he was trying to decide what to do, the sheets began sliding with him until his back hoofs came off the bed, and the floor became a lot closer. His position had caused him to flip over backward, and land on his back while staring up at the ceiling. “Ow” He could have laid on the floor for a while, but that would be letting circumstances win. He could adapt; he could win! After a few minutes of struggle, Chase rolled himself over onto his stomach preparing to attempt to walk like a quadruped. 'Wow that sounded weird.' His name, learning to walk, and quadruped in the same sentence? A shiver went down his spine making some of his fur stand on end. 'Don't think just do, right? I can do this!' "For the success, and for food!" The guards outside his door were told not to bother him, but man were they getting a kick out of the strange remarks coming from inside. 'If only the job were always like this' they thought. On the inside, Chase was in a match between extending his legs and plopping back on the floor. If he was going to win, he would have to solve this tactfully. Alright attempt number 6. 'If I get up on my hind legs at the same time, maybe I can push off with my forelegs.' After a lot more effort than expected to stand, Chase was up and wobbling on his hooves. Unsteady or not, he was proud. "Haha. Beat that floor!" 'What are the odds I fall over when trying to take a step? 60%? That good huh. Alright let's do this. Lets see... front left with back left? or was it front left with back right?' Ah screw it.' Chase began trying to take a step forward only to fall flat on his face, horn meeting floor. Remind me never to hit my horn again, he thought as his headache began to return. "Ok. Point taken floor." The next part of a half hour was filled with him trying to walk and failing miserably. "Urmsm… Try number 27. I can do this." Back up on his hooves, he steadied himself, and put one hoof in front of the other. To his astonishment... no floor! he had taken his first steps in Equestria. After 5 more awkward steps nearly causing him to topple a few times, he made it to the food cart. Ok step 1 complete. Now how to eat. Just as he was debating whether to lose his sense of humanity and stick his face in what appeared to be a salad and flowers he might have found in his lawn, Chase heard the door opening. Glancing to his right revealed the nurse. "Red Cross was it?" he asked "Yes. Glad to see you up and about. I heard about your odd predicament, Mr. Waters, but I want you to know we’re all here to help. How's that headache of yours?" Everyone here is so nice, and her genuine concern was heartwarming. No point hiding anything. "Well, my head feels like it's getting hit by a hammer instead of a truck, and I've been trying to walk for the last 30 minutes, but under the circumstances I suppose things could be worse. I apologize for my rude behavior last time, even if it was a little out of my hands." "Out of your hands? Here, take this medication for the headache, and make sure to eat something. I'm surprised you haven't touched the food I brought. Do you need some help with that." "Um... Could you tell me what I'm supposed to do with these flowers? Also, I hate to ask, but... how do you eat?" Nurse Red Cross began trying to help the stallion. She offered other food choices and tried to answer some of his peculiar fundamental questions. In the end he just asked for a few fruits. Whatever was going on inside this Stallion, nurse Red Heart was certain that either Mr. Waters had hit his head a few to many times, or he needed a lot more than medical attention to help him recover.