*Starlight’s POV, first-person*
Twilight had something she always wanted to tell Sam? Whatever she was hiding, it must have been big, going by how Twilight’s ears were lying against her head, and how she kept rubbing a hoof against the floor. She was looking at Sam, yet it felt like she was struggling to keep eye contact with him; her eyes kept switching from being aimed at him and at something else.
“You do?” Sam asked, pointing at himself.
“Yes. You see, I…” Twilight fidgeted the edges of her wings. I had never seen her act THIS nervous.
Sam glanced at me, and I shrugged my forehooves. I didn't know what to say either.
It was the return of the awkward silence moments. For the first time, I was on opposite ends with Twilight during this one.
Sam managed to look toward Twilight again and started, “Uh...you sure you--”
She quickly shook her head. If I didn't know better, it was to both Sam and herself. “N-No, it’s okay. It is a bit of a long story, so you might want to sit down.”
Sam walked back to the couch. As he did, Twilight crept deeper into the living room and stopped in front of the table in the room, so that table was between Sam (and me) and Twilight. Her ears remained lying against her head. How nervous was this mare?!
Twilight fiddled her wings, sighed, and finally said, “I...know what brought you to Equestria.”
“Really?” Sam asked, leaning forward. “When did you find out?”
“About one and three-fourths years ago. I did say it was something I was keeping from you for a long time,” Twilight answered, then gave a smile. It was definitely an awkward smile.
“Oh, right.” Sam rubbed his hands. It's embarrassing to admit, but I would have asked that same question Sam did a moment ago. “A-Anyway, why am I here?”
She tapped the floor and gave a deep sigh. “Okay. Do you remember when I told you that my friends and I defeated Lord Tirek?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Then I showed up not long after it, right?”
“Right, but that wasn't the full story." She fidgeted the edges of her wings as she continued, “Now, what I left out of that story was this: after my friends used the ‘rainbow power’ to defeat him, the magic we used vanished.”
I rubbed my cheek. “Magic can’t just vanish, so did it somehow go into Sam’s world?”
“And somehow dragged me here?”
“Yes." Twilight stepped forward to stand right beside the table and rubbed off a stain, using a red rag on top of it. "Sam, I theorized it on the day we met, but after about two or three months of trying to find out for sure, I concluded that it was the case. The magic must have seeped out of Equestria without anyone even being aware of it at the time. The exact details of how I think the magic escaped, how it opened a portal, why it didn’t happen right away and only happened once, and even more questions are...complicated, to put it lightly. Rainbow doesn't call me an ‘egghead’ for nothing.”
Twilight actually giggled a little. Her ears even perked up. “However, in terms you don’t have to be especially knowledgeable in magic to understand, it’s because of both luck and how magic not only works in Equestria, but also how it likely works differently in your world. A bit of good news is, from what I learned, the magic isn't still active there, so it shouldn't cause problems." Twilight scratched behind her ear. "I informed all of this to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and even Zecora and my sister-in-law, Cadance. They all agree with my idea too.”
“That solves that old mystery, but why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Sam looked down to me. “Did you know, Starlight?”
“Nope. I had no clue.”
“Well, in your case, Starlight, it's because you and Sam grew so close. Until I could tell him, I didn’t want to risk you letting it slip by mistake.”
I would have kept it a secret if Twilight really wanted me to. But, the memory of how I accidentally told her and the gang about Sam’s friendship speech to me flashed in my head. She made the right call, so I stayed quiet about it and rubbed the couch with a forehoof. Still felt embarrassed about spilling that secret.
“So, what about ‘my case’?”
Twilight’s ears flopped for a second time, and she scraped the floor again. That nervousness, if not fearfulness, seemed to return in full force. “Well...I felt like it might have been my fault. I couldn’t learn how to re-open that portal, so there was that too. I was worried that you might have gotten mad at me or our friends if I told you, maybe even hated us.” Her pupils widened. Was there...sadness in them? “I know keeping such a big secret was wrong, especially for me, the Princess of Friendship. Applejack even told me over and over not to, but I couldn’t help it. I am so sorry, and I promise nothing else is being hidden. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight closed her eyes, leaned her head down, and stayed still. It was like the whole room was radiating her regret, not just Twilight herself.
Sam stood up from the couch and slowly walked around the table to reach Twilight. I was expecting him to say "it's alright" or otherwise reassure Twilight, but he stayed silent. He wasn’t actually mad at her, was he?
Once he was right in front of Twilight, a lump formed in my throat. If even I was feeling tense, I could only imagine how Twilight was feeling.
Sam got on a knee and...pulled Twilight to him in a hug.
Why didn’t I see that coming?
“For such a smart pony, you can be pretty dumb sometimes,” Sam said in a tease. “Of course I’m not mad at you or our friends.”
“You’re not?” Twilight asked with, probably, a combo of relief and confusion.
“Nope.” Sam let Twilight go and patted her head. The latter was something I never saw him do. “From what you said, you didn’t mean for that magic to run off to my world: it just happened. Plus, compared to Equestria, that world isn’t as peaceful, and the best friends I have ever had are here, including you.”
Twilight smiled, one of the biggest smiles I’ve seen from her. I even smiled too.
“You mean that? You’re really not mad?”
“Nope,” Sam answered, then gave Twilight a *bloop*. As she (and I) always does, she giggled from it, then embraced him in a hug. Naturally, he hugged her back.
“I’m so glad to hear that, and I’m still sorry for not telling you already. Rarity was a little worried too, so I know she’s going to be as relieved as I am that you’re not upset.”
Rarity was worried too? So that was why! The day Sam, Thorax, Lyra, and I received medals for saving our friends and the Princesses, Sam mentioned to Rarity and me how Twilight still hadn't learned what brought him to Equestria. When he did, Rarity looked away from him. Sam probably didn't think much of it, but I thought how Rarity acted was odd. Twilight gave the answer to a second mystery without even knowing it.
“Good. If any of our other friends are worried, tell them I’m not the least bit mad.”
“I will. Thank you for being so understanding.”
Sam and Twilight let each other go. Twilight trotted out of the house, almost with a little skip in her step. After she was gone, Sam closed the door and walked back to and sat beside me on the couch.
“You took that pretty well.”
“Yeah.” Sam chuckled and looked toward a picture hanging from the wall. It was a picture of Sam, me, and our friends; Sam was on his knees and had an arm wrapped around me. “I reckon even the Princess of Friendship will sometimes make bad judgment calls, will sh--”
My stomach growled again. Just like the last time it happened, my cheeks heated up.
He turned his head back to me. “Oh, yeah. I was about to fix dinner before Twilight dropped by to give her little confession. I’m going to have some fish and a salad, but what do you want? I got some hay, daisies, and other flowers that you love for sandwiches or a salad of your own, carrots for carrot dogs, and--”
“A salad sounds good, so I’ll have that.”
“Okay.” Sam walked into the kitchen.
I hopped off the couch and followed him.
He turned his head to me. “Hm? What’s wrong?”
“You haven’t been out of the hospital long, so I want to help out.” With my magic, I picked up two bowls -- one was small, about a fourth the size of my head, and the other was around twice its size -- from the cabinet. “I don’t know how to cook fish, but I can help with our salads.”
“In that case, I’ll take care of the fish. You take care of the salads.”
Sam grabbed one of the fish from the refrigerator, laid it onto a black pan on the stove, put a little cooking oil in the pan, and sat in one of the kitchen table’s chairs. I jumped on a different chair and grabbed some lettuce, tomatoes, a bottle of hoofmade, uh, handmade, salad dressing, carrots, and celery from the refrigerator. Next, I grabbed hay and flowers (including daisies) from the same cabinet I got the bowls from, and cut all the ingredients, save for the dressing. In both bowls, I threw in carrots, lettuce, and celery. However, in the larger bowl, which would be for me, I put in hay and the flowers. In Sam’s bowl, I added tomatoes and poured some dressing.
I shouldn't judge how another species like to eat; Sam doesn't judge how ponies eat some things humans don't, like hay. Still, I don’t understand the appeal of meat, or whatever fish is, since Sam said it technically isn’t meat*. That logic will never make sense to me.
I finished with the salads about a minute later, but Sam’s fish had a way to go.
“Oh, that fish smells great,” Sam said with a big smile while rubbing his hands. Did I see a bit of drool on the corner of his mouth?
I took a sniff of the air, the fish's strange odor filling my nostrils; this wasn’t the first time. It smelt oily, but also something else that I can’t put into words. It was a strong smell, but not overwhelming. It didn’t smell bad, yet not good either. It also felt like it should have made me feel nauseous, but it didn’t. What was even weirder, it smelt somewhat better when I was in the human world, but in Equestria, not so much.
“I know what you’re thinking: it doesn’t smell so good to you,” he said, looking toward his salad a little more intently. I bet he wanted to dig into it then and there, but wanted to wait for his fish to finish. He has a habit of spreading out how he ate, so he doesn’t finish one thing well before something else.
“No, but at least it smelled better when I was in human form on the other side of the portal.”
“That so?” Sam tittered and rubbed his chin. “Maybe you have a taste for meat in that form?”
“Maybe, but I’m not going to find out.” I pointed at myself and added, “No matter what form I’m in, this pony at heart will stick with eating flowers over fish, thank you very much.”
“Fair enough.” Sam pointed at himself with his hand in a fist. That would be the closest he could come to pointing with hooves. “This human at heart will stick with the fish over the hay and flowers.”
We both laughed. Maybe it would be worth trying a little fish if I could get Sam to try a flower or some hay?
Nah.
After Sam’s fish was done, he laid it on a plate, carried the plate to the table, and set the plate beside his bowl of salad. I was still on my chair waiting with my own salad in front of me. I would have already started eating, yet it felt like I should wait until Sam was ready to eat.
“Well, bon appétit,” Sam said, picking up a fork and digging into his fish.
I stuck my fork into a piece of celery and carrot, then practically inhaled them. They were so crunchy as I bit down and chewed, before finally swallowing them in one satisfying gulp.
I can make a pretty good salad.
Sam bit into his fish and said, “Hmm, this is good! You don’t know what you’re missing!”
“And you don’t know what you’re missing by not trying hay and flowers!”
He laid down his fork and looked at me with a smirk. What was he up to? “Okay, I'll tell you what.”
“What?”
Sam pointed at his fish. “If you eat a piece of my fish” -- He motioned to the flowers still on the cabinet -- ”I’ll eat part of a flower.”
My eyes widened. Me, a pony, eating meat, or whatever fish is?! Okay, some pegasi have eaten fish, but I've never heard of a unicorn doing it!
“Well?” he asked, that smirk growing wider.
I stared at his fish and grimaced. I couldn’t. “Uh...I’ll pass.”
He leaned his cheek against his hand. He bent his elbow and set it against the table. “Are you scared?”
“No! I’m not scared!”
“Then do it. Don’t worry: it can be the size of my fingernail.”
“But, I…” I whined, but Sam’s sneaky smile was too much. Couldn’t keep backing down. Blame the competitive streaks of Rainbow and Applejack.
“What do you say, BF?”
I groaned, and hoped I wouldn’t regret this. “You win. I’ll try a VERY small piece of fish if you eat part of a flower.”
“Deal.” He lifted his head off his cheek, so he wasn’t leaning on it now. “You want to go first, or should I?”
“You go first.”
I levitated one of the flowers, a blue one, on the cabinet and floated it to me. I tore off two of its petals and laid them in Sam’s now outstretched hand.
“Bon appétit,” I said playfully.
He threw the petals in his mouth and chewed. He wasn’t squirming or anything. If they had a bad taste to him, he wasn’t showing it. After a couple of seconds of chewing, he swallowed them.
Is it wrong to say that I was hoping he would have spat them out?
He patted his stomach. “They could have used some spice. Now, it’s your turn.”
I moaned. Now I would have to do my end of the deal!
He cut a piece of his fish and moved his plate to me. As he said, it was about only the size of his fingernail, but it felt like it was the size of his hand. Eating eggs or drinking milk is one thing, but that cooked piece of fish was once part of a living creature’s body! Gross!
“Bon appétit,” he said, just as playfully as I did before.
“Uh…”
His smile soured to a more serious frown. “Oh, don’t you try to get out of this. You agreed to do it.”
“I know, I know, I’m doing it. Just, give me a second.”
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t cannibalism. It wasn’t like I was eating something that was still alive -- that would have been a HARD no from me. Fish also aren’t sapient, so it wasn’t like I was about to eat and digest something that once had its own dreams and feelings...right?
So I could do this. I picked up the fish with my magic and slowly pulled it to my face. It might have been my eyes, but it looked like it swelled. I took another deep breath, closed my eyes, and tossed that thing into my mouth.
It took all of my willpower, but I bit down, and the fish made my stomach sour. It was like its guts spilled out as I mashed it. Then the flavor...my stomach turned so bad, it nearly turned inside out. It wasn’t having it. I spit that fish out in a flash, and kept spitting to get all the bits out of my mouth, mixed in with wiping my mouth. That fish, that meat -- I don't care if Sam said it's "not" meat -- was horrible!
Sam had one of the biggest laughs I have ever heard. The big meanie. “That bad, huh?”
I finally was able to stop spitting and wiping. “Yes it was! How can you stomach that?!”
“I suppose it’s an acquired taste, since even human babies don’t start off with a taste for meat.” After another laugh, he said, “I guess you’re not getting a taste for meat anytime soon.”
“Or at all.” I wiped my mouth again. I thought I was done with that wiping, but not yet.
Despite that taste of meat, it didn’t spoil my appetite, so I got back to my meatless salad. Sam got to his fish and his own salad, going between the two of them after every few bites.
Once Sam and I were done with dinner, we went back into the living room. I hopped on the couch, but Sam went to the CD player to turn on a song, then sat beside me on the couch.
“Well, isn’t this something?” Sam asked.
“What?”
“You don’t know? You’re not swaying your head this time, and you’re laying your head on my leg.”
I gasped. How didn’t I notice how I laid my head on Sam’s leg? That might have been the very first time I didn’t sway my head to the music!
“You’ve never done that. Are you in a more cuddly mood or something?” he asked, looking down at me with a teasing smile.
I lifted my head off his leg. “I...don’t know. I was thinking about when I saw you unconscious on the ground two weeks ago and...it just happened.”
He frowned, and it was like a cut to my heart. “Oh, I scared you back there more than I thought. Sorry.”
“B-But it’s okay! I’m fine!” I assured, making myself smile. He hates seeing me sad, but I hate seeing him sad just as much. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“Good,” he said, now with his more usual smile.
That’s the smile I love seeing.
“Maybe I should have taken Applejack’s suggestion about seeing a doctor sooner and--oh, I almost forgot. I want to show you something. Be right back!” Sam pushed himself off the couch, cut off the CD player, and ran out of the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom.
What was going on?
About fifteen seconds or so later, Sam came back into the living room wearing a collar. It was an aquamarine one, the same color as mine. It had a charm in the shape of a leaf, much like the charm on my collar.
Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.
He ran over to lower the CD player’s music, then came to me and pointed at the collar. “What do you think?”
“It looks good on you, but when did you get it?”
“You wear your collar all the time, so I thought I’d get one to match. Humans usually wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one of these, but it’s not like any can see me now anyhow. Oh, and check what the engraving says.”
He walked to me and got on his knees. I leaned forward to get a closer look at the charm’s engraving.
Sam, friend of Starlight.
“See? Your charm says, 'Starlight, friend of Sam', so I reckon mine makes us even." He stood up and took a glance at the picture of us and our friends again. "I was thinking we could get something like this for the others, but they might not be as willing to wear collars, even if you are.”
“Hee hee. Well, even if only you and I wear them, I think we look pretty good.”
He sat back on the couch. This time, I didn’t lay my head on his leg, but just lay close to him.
Suddenly, he reached for my ear and scratched behind it. He never did that before, but it felt great. It tickled and my ear kept twitching, yet I felt warm inside as he scratched it. I was almost disappointed when he stopped.
“How did you like that?” he asked with a little chuckle.
“I liked it, but what made you do it?”
“Trixie dared me to scratch behind your ear the last time I saw her, and I always take dares. You want me to do it more often, if you really do like it?”
“Yep. Can you do it again?”
Sam didn’t even say “okay”, and just skipped to the scratching behind my ear. He did it on and off as we talked, got back to listening to music (when he cut back on the CD player) and we overall relaxed for another couple of hours. Maybe I could have been more playful and pretended to resist the ear scratching.
This pony missed an opportunity.
After those couple of hours, Sam gave a big yawn. “I’m getting sleepy, so I’m going to hit the hay. You can keep listening to the CD player, but can you keep the volume low?”
“I can do without it on at all. I can solve some puzzles in my room or something to amuse myself.”
“Okay.” He stood from the couch again and gave me a *bloop* on my muzzle.
After my usual giggle, I asked, “What did I do that was cute this time?”
“Nothing. I just felt like it this time. Anyway...*yawn*...I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”
“Okay, sleep tight,” I said. For some reason, that felt like something he would have told me, not the other way around.
He walked up the stairs and into his room. A weak wave of uneasiness struck me, but where did it come from? That fish must have affected me more than I thought. I’m never trying to eat meat again for sure!
Since I didn’t have much else to do, I went up the stairs to my room and amused myself with puzzles, and then did some reading while in bed. Once I started yawning, I covered myself with my blanket, laid my head on my pillow, and closed my eyes.
Things were good, no, wonderful. Sam was back home. I had the best friends I could have ever asked for. I had loving parents. It just couldn’t get any better than this.
Even as I woke up, my good mood was still intact. It was just as sunny as the sun shining in my room.
I rolled off my bed, trotted down the stairs, and into the kitchen to get a sip of water.
“Sam? Are you awake?” I asked, but I knew the answer. He usually gets up and makes breakfast, but he must still be in his room this time. Although it was strange how he didn’t answer me.
I suppose I could be the one to make breakfast. Then again, I’d still have to know what he wants.
“Sam! What do you want for breakfast?”
Nothing again. He must be in a really deep sleep. It happened every once in a while.
I should just let him rest, but I didn’t think he'd mind me going up to ask what he’d want for breakfast.
I walked up the stairs, pushed open Sam's bedroom door, and peeked into his room.
My heart dropped. So did my jaw.
Sam was lying on the floor, face-down, motionless! What happened this time?!
I couldn’t panic. This would be alright. All I’d have to do is take him back to the hospital and they’ll fix him up, just like last time.
Still, to be sure this wasn't worse than it looked, I rolled him on his stomach and checked for breathing. The weak breathing tickled my ear. Good.
I picked him up with my magic and carried him out of the house and toward the hospital.
As I ran, a voice called out, “Starlight! What happened to Sam?!”
I looked to my left; Twilight was running toward us. After a couple of seconds, she was running right beside me, wearing a worried frown, for understandable reasons.
“I don’t know! I found him on the floor in his room, so I’m taking him back to the hospital.”
Sam’s weight seemed to drop in half. I glanced at Twilight’s horn and saw that it was now glowing. “I’ll go too. I don’t think we should worry too much, but I still want to be there in case you’ll need some company.”
“Thanks. I could use it, but I’m sure the doctors will take care of Sam, just like last time.”
“That’s good. Keep thinking positive.”
We made it to the hospital and zipped through the doors. Like before, the nurses and doctors took Sam in and started their examinations and treatments. They still had most of the books on human anatomy, so Twilight didn’t have to get them again.
Compared to the first time, I wasn’t nearly as tense, but I still couldn’t help but pace in the waiting room. This time, Twilight paced a little too.
Around three or so hours later, Nurse Redheart came to us.
I asked, "Nurse Redheart, how is Sam?”
“Did you find out what’s wrong?”
Nurse Redheart answered, “We did, but we should speak in private again. We can talk in the same room as last time."
Twilight and I followed the nurse down the halls, and into that same small room we were in two weeks ago.
Twilight and I each sat in one of the five chairs in rows, and Nurse Redheart sat in the chair facing it. Either it wasn't there before or I just didn't notice it, but a sign saying "Every patient counts" hung on a wall.
I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my belly as I looked into the nurse’s eyes. Sam was going to be alright, so why did I feel that?
Twilight took a deep, yet quiet breath, her eyes emitting...fear? Nervousness? Since she was hiding her real fears two weeks ago, perhaps she didn’t feel the need to do it again.
Nurse Redheart felt to be looking at not just me in the eyes, but Twilight’s as well. Is it even possible to look at two ponies in the eyes simultaneously? “Okay. Here’s what’s going on. Like two weeks ago, Sam’s body was shutting down with the cause unknown, so the doctors cast the same spell as before to reverse it. However, this time, it’s barely working, and we have no idea why. At best, the spell will have a brief palliative effect, but with our most powerful medical spells and non-magical treatments ineffective, we have next to no other options.”
I was about to ask what she meant, but her frown deepened before my mouth opened. The extra sympathy I thought I was sensing...no...no...it couldn’t be.
“I am so sorry to say it, but we believe Sam only has a few days left to live. The exact cause of all this is still unknown, and there is little more we can do.”
My jaw dropped to the floor; the same went for Twilight’s jaw. I skipped a breath and my chest tightened, yet the rest of my body went numb. Never have I felt such an awful, no horrible, pain in my heart. Not even when I thought I was all alone and nothing as a filly.
Sam only had a FEW DAYS LEFT TO LIVE?! The time we spent together, his life, it was going to end?! So soon?!