There wasn't anything in this world that he could buy with bits, that Angel couldn't easily give. Though he knew a bit of her, he didn't know all her personal tastes. So buying some precious rare trinket wouldn't be good. He had to think of this differently. Who was Angel? A princess who had shirked that duty in order to become a nurse. Why? Because she wanted to directly help ponies. One pony at a time. Seeing them get better, heal, learn, grow. She had a nurturing instinct. It had to incorporate the one part of her that he really knew. What had she done? Taken a sick teenager from Earth, into her world to show to him. He'd been clumsy and fumbling from day one, but she enjoyed seeing that. All the joy he had felt, she'd felt. Empathy. And she didn't know that tomorrow he'd be whisked back home.
What had she shown him here? He hadn't taken pictures of himself… he wanted all those moments to be captured somehow. Could he have someone make a figurine of him lying clumsily on his back, laughing, from when he had been teleported there? And first... meal... had been those flowers, he'd find that place, get one of those and have make it endurable so that it would spoil. Bits and tidbits, and a photo of him, with a personal message thanking her for showing him everything. Could be done in an hour or two.
He had not been allowed to take things from Earth, and would likely not be allowed to take anything home with him either. His admission to Novaria could have gone better, but the princess was only looking out for her little girl. And Angel? Blissfully naive to everything.
It had more or less consumed all the bits she had given him. All sorts of little trinkets from the things she had shown him. Two small figurines. Things that would make her remember. And a letter, to be opened when he got home. "Dear Angel, I'm sorry that you had to see me go so soon, so quickly. You're going to be furious, and then you're going to be worried. You've shown me so much, and I know that there's many things you would have wanted me to see. I wish I could see Cloudsdale with you. You could have offered to go into a swamp, and I'd be right behind you. I don't know how your mother plans to prevent you from going to Earth. Its to keep you safe, Angel. You have a big heart, and my world is very cruel. It doesn't work like yours. I'm sacrificing my last days here, so that you can be safe. Don't be sad forever Angel. I know you won't be. And you're wrong, you did help me. The pain is bad, but I can live with it. Thank you for showing me a place filled with magic. Yours forever, two heartbeats apart, Silver Key." The envelope was sealed and it was all wrapped up. He snuck back into the hotel room, feeling calm. Today he'd just enjoy being with her.
Angel greeted him when he entered the hotel room. She beamed her usual charming smile. "Silver! Hi!" His puzzles were laid out on the table, it seemed she'd been trying to solve them. Two of the magical puzzles had been opened, but there was still one final magical puzzle that remained frustratingly intact. She approached him as she always did, and gently touched her horn to his. The pain that'd been building up again immediately receded.
He lifted the present and showed it to her, and pulled it away when she came closer. "Don't open it before tomorrow." And shimmied it under the bed before she could protest. "Didn't know you liked doing puzzles?" So much more to learn about you Angel. The healing touch numbed his pains, filled him with relief, made him forget his worries. Her scent was wonderful. Deciding to be a little bold, he leaned in and stroked his muzzle against the side of hers.
Angel giggled, one of the only times he'd heard her make the sound. It was a noise as musical as wind chimes. She nuzzled back, her tail brushed against his. "I don't, but as my mother would tell you, I don't like being told I can't do something. It only makes me want to do it more." She said confidently. "She told me I couldn't be a nurse when I first voiced my desire for it, and look at me now."
Her tail brushed his, and he flicked his against hers. Not a bad little game. Turning to the table, lets forget all of our worries, tonights its just you and me and the fun we can make. "I could solve all the non-magical ones, but I'm not sure how to proceed with arcane puzzles. Didn't go to unicorn school." He nodded at the solved rune puzzle, which had lit up all sorts of ways when the runes had been assembled into the right meaningful order.
She smiled, and floated the last unsolved puzzle over to him. She touched her horn to his, and he felt some of her power drain into him, giving him more ability than he'd had before. "Try." She coaxed encouragingly.
Could she do that? He wasn't even sure what she had done. It seemed clearer. The runes, he recognized those now. It was a fun puzzle, they only made sense when put together in that order. "Unity!" He said, the magic only worked then. Probably what she would have done wouldn't last too long. Was this how a real unicorn in more control of his ability would understand things? He turned to the final puzzle. Lifted it into the air, focused the eldritch powers. Not with fumbling ignorance now, he could sense the eddies and flows of the magic, searching inside the puzzle. Like being handed a rubiks cube for the first time, but finally able to work it with your fingers.
Her gift of power was temporary, and would last only a few minutes at most. But it was enough to give him a better understanding of the runes, and his own magic. The puzzle resisted him at first, but gradually, it began to get easier. He slid a rune into place. It clicked. Tried again, nothing. Tried something else, another click.
It wasn't just a matter of sliding things around, you had to unlock some truth, something real and hidden in the world. A connection between yourself and something else. Perhaps that's how magic worked here. The understanding Angel had given him was intuitive, not abstract, he wished he could learn that understanding. Working the puzzles vain desires about what he couldn't have bleed away. There was only the puzzle and him, with Angel at his side. Things inside the puzzles clicked stirred, there were hidden runes, and traces of power, like notes not put together in the right harmony.
Another rune slid into place, and the puzzle burst open. It unfolded like a flower, and cast the room in a supernatural glow, projecting a beautiful starfield across the ceiling and walls. Angel looked delighted, her eyes glued to the ceiling. "Ooooh!"
He beamed in pride, understanding the little special connection he had with the puzzle. The joy he'd always had when finally beating a seemingly impossible thing. When you finally got it. And then the understanding was gone, ebbing out of his mind, like a symphony dying away. It felt bitter, but he was still satisfied that he'd done it. He floated the puzzle back to the table. The star sky spell lingered on the walls, the light of the room sucked away, leaving pin pricks everywhere. He noticed that Angel glowed on her own, a light coming from her fur and feathers. "You look beautiful." He smiled.
Her cheeks burned red, and she lowered her head. "Thank you." She said. "When I was young, I was always taught proper grooming habits, told a princess should never look anything less than her best. I despised the extensive sessions, but I suppose to some small extent, I enjoy looking nice. I-" Her eyes widened. "Silver!" She gasped, he couldn't tell her tone was one of fear, or awe.
"What?" He looked around in confusion. And then he had a sneaking suspicion. He followed the gaze from her eyes directly to his flank.
There had been absolutely no warning, no feeling, no difference. But his eyes surely did not decieve him. It was there. A mark not just of personality, but one as unique as he was. [See authors note]
Tears welled in his eyes, he'd done it. That's was his talent, that's what he could do. Perhaps it even extended beyond puzzles like the ones he had just solved, but even if it didn't he was happy. "Thank you Angel, I... I think would have found this out even on Earth, but it feels good to know." So many people never really knew for sure, he knew now. He looked at her, she was beautiful beyond comprehension. He didn't deserve a second she'd given him. "If you want to open your present you can do that now... just don't read the letter until I'm home."
In her excitement, Angel lost her self control. She lunged forward, wrapping him in a hug, and he was suddenly aware that she was kissing him. Pressed up close, muzzles locked. It lasted only a few seconds, she pulled away almost immediately, her ears pinned back with embarrassment as she tried to compose herself. "I....I'm sorry." She said quickly. A thought hit her, and she asked, very quietly. "You want to go home now, don't you?"
He knew he loved her before she kissed him, now he knew she reciprocated. It was going to make this bitter. He nodded. He wouldn't explain to her everything he had told Novaria. Letting one of them, who didn't have any connections to, know about it was bad enough, letting Angel carry that burden was unbearable. "Its been a wonderful couple of days. I hadn't known so much existed."
For a moment, he was afraid she'd back out. That even a pony as perfect as Angel would be found to lie, or back out of a promise. Her voice was quiet, but she maintained her promise. "I'll take you home." She said quietly.
He went over and nuzzled her again, just feeling her. And then he gave her a lingering kiss. Stepped a few steps back. "I wouldn't trade it for anything Angel, not even if they gave me the whole world, not for a single second of it."
While he was nuzzling her, while his eyes were closed, he felt a brief sensation of warmth, and a light rush of wind. The transition was calm and nearly unfelt, much smoother than his first had been. His eyes opening, he'd find himself in his bedroom at home, completely alone, with no sign of the nurse pony. Saying goodbye must have just been too much for her. His form was still in the four legged position, the stance he'd been stuck in for several days. It would feel very odd standing back up.
Not stuck in. It had been a blast. He'd enjoyed it. Father wasn't home? Well that was not unexpected, he hoped him and his brother hadn't gone crazy over his absence and issued a police search. His heart ached about Angel, and she was probably crying her heart out right now. She'd open the present eventually, either before or after being confronted by her mother. He didn't expect to her ever again. He hoped wouldn't. They'd only known each other for a short while, he thought to himself. The his heart would stop aching, even if his head wouldn't. He stood up and stretched. He could start by taking a pain killer today, and then… see about writing all the things down he could remember about that world while it was still fresh.
His pain was not bothering him, not yet. When he stood up, he fell back down. Standing up again, again he fell back down. With stunned silence, he found his front legs still ended in his hooves, his body still coated in unnaturally blue fur. Had Angel... made a mistake? That didn't seem like her.
He hadn't even noticed. Being a pony must have grown on him. Gathering himself up on his four legs. Proportions were a bit off in this world. Bruises hurt more too. Back to the good old laws of his reality. Was he supposed to change slowly back into a human? Or did she forget to turn him into a human when he arrived here. When she arrived she was a pony, so ponies could exist here. He tried reaching out towards her telepathically like he'd always been able to do. <"Uhm, Angel something is wrong. I'm not a human."
He would still be able to do the most basic of magics, telepathy included. But if Angel recieved his message, she did not respond to it. She had never ignored him before, so he had to assume his message had not gone through. Something was very, very wrong.