//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Hospitality // Story: And Then... My Life Changed // by frutineo //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Hospitality Princess Celestia stepped into her chariot heading toward Ponyville. It had taken her a while, but she managed to excuse herself from her court with the excuse of assessing damages and gathering information on account of a certain incident involving a hydra venturing too close to the town in question. But if she was to tell the absolute truth; she wanted to see if her student was truly safe and to check on the human that lay in the local hospital as stated in the latest letter that Spike had sent. It was a short flight from her castle to the town square of Ponyville and though she wanted to run straight for the hospital, she still had to put up a mask and listen to the eyewitness accounts before doing so to avoid getting frowned upon for showing any favoritism. An hour had passed before she could make way to the hospital herself leaving the guards to carry on with the rest of the work. Princess Celestia entered the hospital, in no time she was in the reception area of the medical facilities and after a short inquiry she made her way to the room where the human was located. Upon entering the room she saw that the only bed in the ample room was being used by the one who called himself Foraneo; around him the Elements of Harmony, the baby dragon, Arcane Knowledge, Trixie, Lulamoon and a zebra she had never met. The zebra was applying some ointments to his skin and Twilight Sparkle some drops in his eyes, as soon as they finished, the element of Honesty noticed her presence in the room “Princess!” she half-yelled and bowed, the rest of the occupants soon followed. “Arise, my subjects.” they complied. “It is good to see that you are all safe and sound. Now, before I inquire as to what happened, I’d like to make introductions, I am Princess Celestia of Equestria it is an honor to greet a member of the zebra tribes. If I recall correctly from my students’ letters, you are named Zecora.” “The honor is mine to meet and the fair Princess to finally greet.” The princess managed to quell a chuckle in her throat at this display but she formed a smile. “It seems that Twilight’s letters weren’t exaggerating, when she said you liked to rhyme when speaking.” The zebra smiled and excused herself so she could make way to her home. Once the zebra mare left the room Princess Celestia looked at her student. “Twilight, your letter was short and explained little. Can you tell me in more detail what happened?” “Of course Princess. The day started with me finding Foraneo writing a letter…” The tale of the actions the human took to ensure the safety of the ponies of her kingdom impressed her, mainly for how foolish and rash those actions were but it filled her with happiness to see how far he would be willing to go for the safety of those around him, even when he was not bound to this world nor its inhabitants. “And after bringing him here, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived. Applejack had gone to find Zecora to see if she had anything to fight the acid burns in and on his body (Though since the Hydra threw up, his internal injuries are almost non-existent)… I wish to say the wounds in his eyes are going to heal completely, but it is far too soon to tell.” Twilight Sparkle finished her tale and looked down to the floor with a heavy sigh. Princess Celestia saw this and it broke her heart. She was about to say something when somepony, or rather someone, beat her to it. “Twilight…” the now conscious human said in a coarse voice. “I can tell even without looking that you are incredibly sad. Please don’t be.” Twilight Sparkle’s face lightened up like flashlight and she turned her head to the human. “Foraneo! You’re awake!” She then leapt to hug the sick man. The human deadpanned. “No, I am actually reaching you through telepathy. What you are hearing are my thoughts.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Very funny.” “You walked into that one, but enough of that. How is everypony else?” “We are all fine, unlike you Foraneo.” The show mare answered as she made her way to the human. “Trixie! Glad you *SLAP*” He was cut off by a hoof making impact on his cheek. “What is wrong with you?” “YOU! That’s what! I mean did you even consider how dangerous that was? What do you think I-we would have felt if you had died out there?!” Even with the bandages, Princess Celestia could see the human had a regretful expression on his face. That expression soon transformed into one of annoyance. “Right back at you! You were all getting tired and that hydra was not! It would have eaten all of you had I not gotten myself between him and you!” “THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE THAT FOALISH ACT!” *EHEM* Princess Celestia had listened for quite a while and she did not need to see a romantic drama at the moment (she had had her fair share of them in the millennium she had been living without her sister). “While I do not approve of physical harm, Miss Trixie is right. Mr. Luis, you almost didn’t survive and you have quite a few chemical burns on your body, now would you care to tell me what transpired inside the body of the hydra?” “Yeah about that, remind me to study the digestive system of any other creatures that could actually swallow me whole without chewing. I am willing to bet the longer I stay in Equestria, the bigger the chances I will have of getting eaten alive…again.” “Anyways what happened was…” (Shameful cut of a useless scene here) “And that is how I got myself out of the body… I could have asked Twi where its organs were but I heard her saying that no pony has ever studied a hydra from the inside.” Celestia was astonished at how detailed he was, the other mares in the room where getting kind of sick, Fluttershy was crying with Rarity and Rainbow Dash were trying to console her after the gruesome tale. “So…” The human said. “I was thinking of doing something with that dead hydra.” Princess Celestia’s ears perked up. “Why would you think you have rights over the corpse?” “Simple hunting law Princess, whoever gets the kill is the owner of the body and now that I finally get myself into some meat I am NOT passing up that chance. I am sorry if you don’t like it, but spinach and peanut butter for protein just don’t cut it for me.” “I didn’t know you were having a hard time without meat, why didn’t you tell Twilight to send me a letter so I could have sent some from the castle?” The human and the ponies looked baffled except for Arcane Knowledge and Fluttershy who was shivering in fright. “You mean to tell me that you have meat in the castle?!” “Of course we have, what else do you think we feed the Griffin, Diamond dog and Dragon ambassadors? I even told Fluttershy to tell you so we could avoid you trying to hunt animals” It took a moment for the human to register that information but when it did. “FLUTTERSHY!” A ‘meep’ escaped the butter colored mare’s mouth as she tried to get out through the door of the room when the golden aura of Princess Celestia’s magic enveloped her and brought the shy Pegasus’s eyes to meet a stern looking princess. “Now young Fluttershy, what do you have to say in your defense?” “I… I-I just wanted him to avoid the meat, I thought a vegetarian diet would allow him to live better I… I’m sorry.” “Fluttershy.” the human said with a scornful tone in his voice. “While I appreciate that you are looking after my well-being and all that jazz, I will seriously need some meat sometime soon and it would have been good to know I could get it that easily.” “But in the train you said-“ “I said I could live without it yes, but matter of the fact is. It would be dangerous for me to not have it if I end up going back home.” All of the mares in the room minus the librarian and the Princess looked at him puzzled. “Look, when someone in our world of omnivores turns vegetarian for a really long time, they need to readjust to eating meat else there would be consequences, such as ending up in a hospital for three days in intensive care.” An understanding nod was given by all of the mares in the room, “That is why I told Flutershy to give you my message in case you wanted some meat, now let us go back to the body of the hydra; you did say you wanted the meat, anything else you want to do with it?” “Princess Celestia please call me Foraneo, now since we have established that the hunters have rights over the prey I have thought of quite a few things:” “First: It will the cutting of the meat; if you could get a chef from any other country that eats it to cut it you can give them a share of it in exchange for some other kind of meat or recipes.” “Second: The skin and scales; I can see that catching a hydra has been next to impossible for your kingdom, so the skin and scales could go to a leatherworker so I can get myself a set of clothes made with them, I am not giving any reasons for this. I just know they will look good in a cowboy, I mean cowpony suit; you know, the vest, the Stetson, jeans and boots.” “Third: The body; I want your scholars checking what remains of the body so you can get your facts correct about its body structure. The skeleton would look great in a museum and I will need the skull of one of the heads intact for myself.” “Princess Celestia, if you do not like any or all of these points, I am sure that in all of your wisdom you can come up with some other kind of arrangement, what do you think?” Perplexity invaded Princess Celestia’s expression. “I think that is a somewhat noble thing that you donate most of the body for science but do let me ask, what are you going to do with the skull?” “Proof that I killed a giant snake, and it will make a great stage decoration also a great story for a certain show mare that needs to go back to business” the human answered nonchalantly. “What?” Trixie half-yelled. “Are you serious?!” “Of course I am Trixie, I really want to see you performing and as of now you need a true story, so what do you say?” “But-but I…” “No need to answer now, just… keep it in mind and answer me once I get out of the hospital… speaking of which how long am I supposed to be stuck in here?” Twilight Sparkle spoke to him. “The doctors said 2 weeks but after giving you the medicine from Zecora I believe you will be out in less than a week.” “WOW! What kind of pony is Zecora? I would like to thank her.” “She is not a pony per se… she is a Zebra that lives in the Everfree forest, she got you the eye drops and ointments for your burns which we applied to you…” Twilight Sparkle shoved her hoofs in her mouth quickly. “Wait… you covered me in ointments? Please tell me you did not see anything…private.” “Do not worry Foraneo, I already explained to the girls how humans are unlike ponies here in Equestria, how your kind is ehhh, unsheathed all of the time and that your –hum- member is standard size seen in humans.” said Twilight forming a sheepish smile that the human could not see. The human’s blush was well hidden from the eyes of all of his friends behind the redness of his chemically induced injuries, to all but Princess Celestia who could very well see it and an urge invaded her; something she enjoyed doing every once in a while. “Do not fret young Foraneo, for even if you feel poorly endowed in this world you must feel proud of your heritage for it is a gift from your world and your parents as well.” Now the blush in the human’s face was completely visible to all of the mares who were sporting blushes of their own. “If you all are done blushing I was thinking on relocating Foraneo to the Canterlot Hospital for the rest of his recovery and I think there are some reports Arcane has to complete.” “Do you agree?” The human looked in the general direction of the Princess with a cocked eye. “Why? I can certainly be healed here.” “Yes but the griffin cooks are in Canterlot thus making it easier for them to serve it in your meals, what do you think?” “LEAD THE WAY!” the human just exclaimed. “Oh! Before that, Trixie would you like to come as well?” The show mare looked at the human. “Why would you want me to go with you?” “Simple, this way you can help me write a story that is now creating itself in my mind, nothing erotic mind you and that way you can keep me company.” “Fine, but if I am going then I refuse to stay in a hospital, I want a room in the castle with comfortable cushions and food delivered to the room” The human just scratched his head. “If the Princess is okay with that, then so am I.” The Solar Princess looked at the ceiling for the briefest of moments before answering. “I see no problem; it will indeed prove more effective having you at the castle now that I think about it, so let me send word to the hospital staff to bring the airborne ambulance to the entrance. We can leave once it arrives.” As soon as the Princess closed the door the human spoke. “Why don’t you guys go and bring some stuff for the travel and Twilight? Could you bring me some clothes please?” “Yes I think that would be best, see you around Foraneo.” “See you around Trixie, Arcane, Twi.” After the three unicorns exited the room Rarity got closer to the human. “Foraneo, I was thinking about what you said of using the hydra scales and I want to try my hoof at it if you’ll allow it.” “Are you sure Rarity? It will be quite gruesome work.” “I know, but I sometimes work with the scales of young Spikey-wikey and using a hydra’s would be not much different.” The human hesitated. “If you are sure you want to, then tell Princess Celestia how much you’d like of it. Now I think I am going to fall asleep, I am really tired. Bye girls!” “Bye Foraneo”, “Sleep well sugarcube.” “G-good night.” “See you soon hydra slayer.” “Sleep tight darling.” the mares said as they left leaving a sleeping human in the room. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- A week later outside the Ponyville train station 5:05 P.M. It was a lenghty ride in the train but we are finally back; it’s been one long week at the castle, with all those doctors measuring me, checking me and the unpleasantness of… Never mind, but now we are finally back and boy does it feel good. “Hijo de tu put –crack- aah that feels better” “Eew, Foraneo why do you have to crack up your spine?” Twilight Sparkle asked me. “Because it feels great.” I answered. “Besides, all that time in the train was tiring as hell.” “Again with your ‘hell’.” a familiar voice called. “Yes again with it Arcane, it’s an expression that it is-“ “’Widely used in my world and I want to feel connected with it.’” The voice of the new Great and Powerful Trixie announced interrupting him. “Seriously that is like the fifth time you have said that same speech in the time you have been living in Equestria. It’s getting kind of annoying.” “Leave me be! Oh Great and Powerful Trixie!” “And stop mocking me already or I’ll start stabbing you with my horn again.” “Nuh-uh I got stabbed enough times when in the palace I won’t allow anyone to do it again. Remember that I have a sword and I am not afraid of using it!” “I still can’t believe the Princess allowed you to have a sword of all things” the voice of my guardian said. “She and I knew how useful it would become if something else happened… I really hope nothing like that happens again.” “Please Foraneo, have a little faith. It’s not like there is some form of disaster every week here in Ponyville.” “I think it’s better to be prepared. Now I want to get to the library and have a quick shower.” “Let’s go then, I need to check if Spike has been doing his chores.” After a short trip we arrived at the library and after a few words with the infant dragon I got myself into the shower. 15 refreshing minutes under the running water and a quick shaving and I was once again in my best mood. “I need some dinner.” I said to myself. Getting out of the bathroom I noticed that it was completely dark inside with a very familiar rustling and movement in the library. “Wait a minute… is this a party?” The lights went on and a pink blur stepped in front of me. “Hey, how did you know?” I smiled at her. “You already made one party and it started just like this, what surprises me is how you could get everything prepared and stuff everypony in here in less than 15 minutes and without making a sound, no less!” “I have my ways but now it’s time…” Pinkie Pie inhaled deeply and I covered my ears. “FOR A PARTAYY!” I uncovered my ears and strolled downstairs to see what the theme of the party was and surprisingly enough the banner read. “Thank you for saving the town and surviving getting eaten by a hydra Party!” I looked at the banner for a second or two before saying. “Incredible, she fit all that text on that small banner.” “She always had neat hoof-writing sugarcube.” “Hey AJ, how have you been doing?” “Fine Ah guess, now start enjoying your party” The farm pony slapped my back for encouragement. “*Chuckle* ok AJ I will.” -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Five dark clad ponies stood in front of the now loud library. “Now lads, remember to do things as we planned, I want to do this as fast as possible and if we are lucky we might be able to achieve more than our main objective.” The remaining four ponies nodded in approval and two of them took off to the air circling the library and getting lost behind the giant tree. “Now boys, let’s crash this party!”