//------------------------------// // Wake up feeling, red? // Story: A Brilliant Connection! // by Sandova Mirell //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Wake up feeling, red? Xaral was in pain. This was to be expected, considering his experiment, but it still surprised him. It wasn't so much the pain as the fact that he could still feel. This meant that he was still alive! He could continue his research! After the local healers patched him up, of course. "Hey, it seems he's regaining consciousness. Dash, could you get the nurse?" Xaral heard hoofsteps leave the room. This meant that this Dash person was probably a centaur. He was brought to the local Selesnya temple, then. Although he could also be in a Simic hospital, considering the fact that they had all kinds of mutants running about. Xaral concluded it was probably the former, since the local temple was closer to the laboratory complex he worked in. Xaral tried to open his eyes, but quickly closed them because of the bright light. Those life-churchers and their sunlight. Oh well, at least they knew their healing. He blinked a few times and saw he was in a pristine white room, harsh white light coming from slender lamps overhead. So he was in a Simic hospital after all. This room was too pristine, too impersonal to be a Selesnya temple. It also explained the smell of chemical disinfectants. "Hey there, are you all right? You took a pretty nasty explosion point blank. Considering the force, you are lucky to have sustained relatively little damage." Xaral blinked some more and tried to look at whoever was talking to him. The feminine voice came from his right, and he tried to turn his head. "No, please don't try to move. Just lie back and wait for the nurse. We wouldn't want you to overexert yourself before the nurse can get a look at you." Xaral stopped. That did seem reasonable. After all, he did get hit with the backlash from an extremely overcharged portal spell. He was lucky he was able to think, let alone move! He sighed, closed his eyes and tried to lie as relaxed as possible. Wait, if he was hit by such a spell, what happened to the laboratory complex? Did he succeed? He had to know. He tried to speak up, but it came out as a dry croak. "Oh dear, you must be really dehydrated. Here, have some water." He opened his eyes and saw a cup with a straw hovering in front of him, suspended by what seemed to be a purple aura. He was now certain he was in a Simic hospital, magic like telekinesis was usually reserved for blue mana, something the Selesnya did not use. He opened his mouth and the cup hovered closer so he could take a sip. There was something strange going on with his face, his mouth seemed a lot farther away from his face than he could remember. While drinking he mused that it must be the damage he sustained, screwing up his perception. After he finished the cup it floated away again, and Xaral could speak. "Thank you miss. Please, could you tell me what happened at the laboratory? I only have memories of casting the spell, not the results. Has my experiment succeeded? Is the laboratory still standing? Did the portal work? At least tell me my colleagues have learned something from my work." The woman next to him seemed, hesitant, when she answered him. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I have no Idea what you're talking about. I was trying out an experimental spell I finished when it seemed to overload. I teleported myself to a safe location before the backlash could harm anypony, and when the smoke cleared me and my friends found you lying in the middle of the crater. It seems my spell wasn't the only thing that backfired." Xaral's eyes went wide, and he turned his head to his companion, his current physical situation ignored. "What do you mea-" Beside him sat something he most certainly did not expect his companion to be. He was looking at an honest-to-Krokt unicorn, a purple one at that. Although unicorns still existed in Ravnica they were very rare, and they certainly didn't talk. He narrowed his eyed and studied her more closely. She was small, more like a pony than a horse. Her fur was lavender, and her mane was a deep indigo with a pink stripe through it. Her eyes were far larger than usual, and they sparkled with curiosity and concern. He concluded that she was just another Simic researcher that took her research to a new level. "Are you okay? You just stopped mid-sentence, ponies only do that when they're surprised, or in pain. Oh my goodness! You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" "Don't worry miss, your appearance surprised me, that's all. Now, could you tell me where on Ravnica we are? It seems my portal spell did work, somewhat. I'd like to return to my lab as soon as I'm healed, don't you have any teardrops in here?" The unicorn looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Ravnica? We're in Ponyville, next to Canterlot. Where in Equestria is Ravnica located? I have never heard of that place. I also don't understand how teardrops could help you, is it a name for a new kind of medicine?" Xaral just lay there, stunned. Never heard of Ravnica? This could only mean one thing. His spell worked! He was on another plane, and it seemed unicorns were sentient species here. This changed everything! Xaral burst into ecstatic laughter, he couldn't help it. His portal actually worked! Izzet progress would skyrocket, all thanks to his invention! "Uum, are you all right?" The unicorn looked worriedly at him, but Xaral didn't care. He succeeded! Then a thought struck him, he had no way to get back. His portal had obviously sustained heavy damage, and there was no lingering portal opening from what he heard. He was stuck here until his peers rebuilt the portal and opened a way here, and that could take decades! "What is all this commotion? I expected you to behave more responsibly, miss Sparkle." Two more mares walked in. One was obviously the nurse, a white pony with a pink mane and a nurse's cap. The other one was a blue pegasus with rainbow-colored hair. "Huh, don't see that every day." The nurse looked at him. "I'm sorry?" "It's nothing. So, how bad is it?" The nurse smiled. "You got hit pretty badly, but your body seems accustomed to handling such powerful energies. Do you work at a weather station or something? Oh wait, you're an unicorn. Elemental magic, then." Xaral blinked. "Unicorn? What are you talking about? I'm a human, see." He looked down and noticed a few things. One, his body was covered in red fur. Two, he wasn't wearing any clothes. Three, he.had.hooves! "Fascinating! Not only have I crossed planar boundaries, I have also taken the form of the native species. I need more information. Miss nurse, could you perhaps help me?" Everyone in the room was looking at him like he had lost his mind. The blue pegasus looked at the purple unicorn. "Eehm, Twilight. I think your spell was a little too strong. You fried his brain or something." Twilight, however, looked at Xaral with a curious expression. "You said something about planar boundaries, does that mean you're not from this world?" Xaral smiled and nodded. "Exactly. I hail from the plane called Ravnica, and I am a member of the Izzet. One of the ten guilds that are in control. My work consists of researching new magics and technology to benefit Ravnica. My latest work was a portal that would allow one to cross the planar boundaries, and it seems it worked! Now it seems I'm stranded here, so I could just as well continue my research until I can either make another portal or my colleagues repair mine and find this plane. Either way, I'm stuck." The other two mares seemed taken aback, but Twilight stepped closer, fascination clearly etched upon her features. "This is amazing! Somepony from a completely different world! What is your magic like? Does it have to do anything with the strange device you were carrying? It seemed designed for something that's not a pony, considering the fact it had a five fingered gauntlet. But it must be yours, the sigil on the gauntlet matches your cutie mark." Now it was Xaral's turn to look puzzled. "Cutie mark? What might that be?" Again, the other two mares seemed aghast, even Twilight gasped when she heard his answer. "You really are from another world! A cutie mark is a mark that appears on a pony's flank when he or she discovers his or her special talent. Now that I think of it, what does yours indicate?" Before Xaral could answer the nurse stepped forward. "I'm sorry to interrupt this, interesting conversation, but this stallion is still a patient. I need to check up on him, you can all go to the waiting room." Twilight froze, then seemed to shrink in embarrassment. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I will leave immediately." She turned back to Xaral. "Well, it seems I have to go. I guess I'll talk to you later. Oh dear, I don't even know your name." Xaral chuckled, having forgotten about his situation as well. He didn't seem to be in as much pain as before, though, so he thought he'd speak with this interesting individual soon enough. "My name is Xaral Razek, at your service." "Pleased to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I guess I'll talk to you later, then." She turned and left the room, followed by her blue friend. Xaral could hear the pagasus mutter before she left the room as well. "Oh great, another egghead. Just what we needed." ~ Xaral left the hospital two hours later, with the nurse demanding he come back for a check-up two days later. Now standing in front of the hospital his situation had really sunken in, he was in another world. Not only that, he had a new body as well. It seems that the magic that made him change bodies also made him feel accustomed by it as if he had this body his entire life. It was absolutely fascinating! He wasn't conscious for three hour and he had already found so much thing he could research! "Xaral, over here!" Xaral looked around and saw Twilight standing across the street, along with five other ponies. Xaral recognized the blue pegasus from the hospital, but he had no idea who the other four mares were. He trotted over to them, trying to contain his enthusiasm a little. He saw that everyone was looking at him somewhat hesitantly, except for Twilight, who studied him with the same intensity every Izzet has when coming across something new. "Hello Xaral, how are you feeling?" "Pretty well, considering the power that had coursed through my body. Hah, I could've been atomized by that much power." This brought him some astonished stares. "Ah, where are my manners. My name is Xaral Razek, chief researcher of Izzet laboratory 56934. At your service." The mares blinked, then Twilight stepped forward. "You already know my name, so I'll let my friends introduce themselves." The blue pegasus with the rainbow mane stepped forward. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria and future Wonderbolt. How're you doing?" Xaral nodded at her. "Pleased to meet you, Dash." Next a pink pony practically bounced forward, getting so close that their faces nearly touched. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. Twilight told us you were some kind of alien. Is that true? Is that your alien device? *gasp* Are you going to steal our brains to do experiments? A-" Twilight interrupted Pinkie by shoving her hoof into her mouth. "Easy there, Pinkie. He just came out of the hospital, cut him some slack." She turned to Xaral. "Sorry about that, she's usually very energetic, especially when she meets somepony new." Xaral blinked, then smiled at the pink pony in front of him. "Pleased to meet you Pinkie, I'll answer your questions later. I have some of my own as well." Pinkie smiled and bounced happily back to her friends. Next came a yellow pony with a hat. "Hello partner, mah name is Applejack. Pleased ta meet ya." She somehow grasped his hoof with hers and shook if firmly. Xaral's eyebrows rose, he really needed to know more about his new body. He nodded at Applejack, then stared at his own hoof. Was it some kind of force field? He couldn't wait to explore all mysteries of this new plane. He then noticed that everyone was staring at him. Oh yeah, he was in the middle of an introduction. He grinned sheepishly at the white unicorn that was standing in front of him with one eyebrow arched. "Oh yeah, sorry. I was kind of lost in thought. I missed your introduction, I'm afraid" "Don't worry about it darling. My name is Rarity, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She even made a small courtesy, Xaral was surprised. This unicorn might even fit in with Azorius or Orzhov politicians. The only pony left was a yellow pegasus, who seemed to try and hide behind her pink mane as much as possible. Xaral arched an eyebrow. "And what might your name be, miss?" The pegasus mumbled something so softly that Xaral had trouble hearing it. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you." She tried to hide behind her mane even more, but Xaral could hear her this time. "I'm Fluttershy." Xaral sighed, he could never understand shy types. How could you learn new things with such an attitude? Oh well, she seemed like a nice person, erm pony. Xaral looked at each pony again. "So, what are we going to do next? I must say that I've gotten a little hungry. Is there a restaurant somewhere close?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah, the Snack Corner is not far from here. We could also answer each other's questions. I, for one, would love to hear the story of how you got here. It must be a shocking story." Xaral chuckled. "Oh you have no idea."