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// Chap 2: Arrival 
// Story: Memoirs of a brony 
// by travellingbrony 
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Chap 2:  Arrival

I had complete faith in Twilight, but I still couldn’t believe that I was actually there.  All the colours seemed more vivid and the room smelled of a forest.  Although that was probably because we were inside a living tree.  As I took a few steps around the room my head started to spin wildly.  As I stumbled to the side I found myself supported by Twilight.  “Why didn’t you tell me you where experiencing dizziness from the teleportation?”  She asked the concern evident in her voice.  “I didn’t want you to tell me I couldn’t come due to a little dizziness.  Just let me sit down for a second and I’ll be fine,” I replied as I sat down on my bag.  “Just take it easy,” Twilight said “I’m going to send a letter to the princess now but once you feel better move your stuff into the basement please. Oh and don’t touch anything down there.” She added walking towards a desk against the far wall.  “I’ll give him a hand and make sure he doesn’t touch anything he shouldn’t.”  “Alright Spike, by the time his stuff is put away this letter should be ready to send,” Twilight replied.  
As I followed Spike towards the door that which I assumed leads to the basement I noticed something in the sky through one of the upper windows.  As we started down the stairs into the basement I mentioned that I saw something in the sky but it was too far away for me to tell what it was.  His eyes went wide and pointing at an empty spot on the floor he told me place my stuff as he ran up the stairs.  Placing my stuff down at the appointed spot, I turned to head back up the stairs when I heard Spike call out to Twilight.  “Twilight, you don’t have to worry about writing that letter to the princess.  That’s a royal carriage heading this way,”   “Why would the princess be coming here?  And why would she bring a full sized carriage and not just her chariot?”  I heard Twilight ask no pony in particular.  As I reached the top of the stairs Twilight glanced towards me and informed me that it might be best if I remain in the basement for the time being.  “Ok Twilight, I’ll keep my ears open and my mouth shut.  When you want me to come back up just give me a shout.”  Taking one last look at Twilight I realized just how nervous she was.  Her eyes were watching the carriage make its way across the sky and she was trembling slightly.  “Hey Twilight, everything will work out fine, you said she trusts you completely before.  I don’t see any reason why that would have changed in a few short days,” I said as I turned back towards the basement door.  “Th-Thanks,” Was all she responded with, however, even with the slight stumble over her words, her words came out much more steady and calmly. 
Once down in the basement I pulled a few items of clothing out of my bag and made myself a little pillow.  Staring at the basement door I waited for the moment when whoever was in the carriage arrived.  It was only minutes before I heard the door slam open upstairs followed by a chorus of “Twilight, Spike your ok,” From a bunch of different voices.  Her friends must have been in the carriage as well, which would explain why the princess came in such a large carriage when her normal mode of transport is a chariot.  I wasn’t aware of who was talking at the time but after I had gone upstairs I was able to put names to the voices I heard while downstairs.  
“Now my most faithful student please tell us what happened.  The only information I have gathered from your friends is that a few days ago a powerful blast of magic lit up the sky, and both you and Spike were nowhere to be found,” Asked the Princess.  “Well I was working on an advance teleportation spell which would allow me to teleport over large distances, Spike fell from a ladder onto my back causing me to slip in my concentration and the next thing I knew I was in a completely different world.”  “Another world?  Was there Ponies there?  Did they throw you a party?  Where they nice?” Asked the Pony I later learned to be Pinkie asked rapidly.  “No Pinkie there were no ponies there that I could see, however the creature that I met there was quite nice.  He let me stay with him as I worked on the spell to make it back.”  For the next forty minutes I listened to Twilight explain in great detail the last few days living in my world.  She avoiding talking about me for the most part but there was questions she had to answer, but she always painted me in a good light.  Finally I heard the door to the basement open and Spike came down the stairs. “I slipped away for a minute; Twi is going to call you up in a moment.  Don’t worry though, the Princess is really nice and all of Twilights friends are great as well.  There won’t be any problems.”  Sure enough a few moments later I heard Twilight call out to Spike that it was time for the thing she brought from my world to come out.  Walking up the stairs I hesitated at the door and took a deep breath.  It was time for me to meet the leader of equestria and Twilights friends.  Not that I had any choice at this point.  Putting a nervous smile on my face I opened the door and stepped through.
Stepping into the room I gave the best hello I could manage at the point.  Looking at the ponies in front of me I saw five who where around the same size as twilight and one wearing a crown who could have only been the Princess who was about the same height as me.  The Princess had a white coat and a long flowing mane.  She had both a unicorns horn and Pegasus wings.  I found out later that the term for that was Alicorn.  Looking at Twilights friends I first noticed the pink pony Pinkie Pie, Standing beside her was a white unicorn named Rarity.  Standing slightly behind an orange pony named Applejack was a yellowish Pegasus named Fluttershy, and hovering above them was a light blue Pegasus named Rainbow Dash.  Now I didn’t know their names at that point, but it wasn’t long before I did.  They didn’t notice me at first but then I seemed to catch Fluttershy’s eye.  Guessing that the hello I gave when I entered the room wasn’t the loudest I went to try again when Fluttershy screamed.  The others quickly turned towards me and let out a gasp including the Princess.  The door to the Library flew open and what I only could assume was a royal guard darted into the room, and before I could register what was happening I found myself flying through the air.  I hit a bookcase near the stairs leading up to Twilights room and heard a horrible snap and the top half of the bookcase came crashing down in front of me blocking me off from sight.  
As I slowly regained my senses I could make out Twilight screaming at the guard.  I heard steps which could only belong to Spike hurrying towards me as I lay there in a crumpled heap.  As Spike came around the side of the ruined bookcase he let out a small gasp.  “I’ll be fine Spike, no worries,” I said as I attempted to lift myself up off the ground.  For some reason my left arm felt numb but as I put pressure on it to lift myself up, I felt a pain like I never had before; causing me to let out what could only be described as a strangled sob.  Looking at my arm, which had gone numb again now that there was no pressure on it, I saw what looked like a white stick jutting out just below the elbow.  Now I had never broken a bone in my life before but I always imagined it would be non-stop pain.  It seems this wasn’t the case but the amount of blood that was leaking from the wound was something to be concerned about.  Now I had gone to scouts when I was a youngster as well as taken a first aid course just a few years previous so I knew mostly what I had to do.  “Spike, get me a clean cloth and fresh water quickly,” I demanded.  He took off running so fast at the point I don’t think Rainbow Dash could’ve caught him.  His frantic pace plus the fact that he was pale as a ghost stopped Twilights raging and got everyponies attention.  
“Spike? What’s wrong? He isn’t hurt to bad is he?” Twilight asked.  She had seen Rainbow Dash take crashes harder than that into the libraries shelves, I found this out later, but Rainbow has a harder head then most.  As Spike made his way from the kitchen with a towel and a pail of water I heard him call out to the confused ponies.  “He’s hurt really bad Twi, He is bleeding badly and I’m pretty sure I could see bone sticking out of his arm.”  Now I have to give the little guy credit, He is after all just a baby dragon but he handled the situation very well, not passing out till later.  When Spike came over to me with the towel and water I was already beginning to look pretty pale.  After he placed the pail next to me, I scooped water out with my one unbroken arm and gingerly cleaned the wound the best I could.  The next thing I did was not only one of the most painful, but one of the most stupid things I have ever done in my entire life.  As Twilight moved the bookcase aside with her magic I grabbed the towel in my teeth and started to push the jagged end of bone back into my arm.  Even with the towel, the sounds that escape from my mouth where primal and loud.  Twilight was calling out to me while the others stood there and stared at his horrible sight.  Tears where flowing freely down my face and if anyone dare say they wouldn’t cry I suggest they try it sometime.  
This was my first encounter with the ultimate compassion Fluttershy feels towards all living things.  It seems that when she first got a look at me sitting there in all that blood she froze.  She hates the sight of blood, which makes sense when you look at how much she cares about every living creature.  As soon as she saw the tears on my face though she came flying over.  I could barely see at this point but I felt a soft hoof touch my unbroken arm and a quiet voice telling me to stop.  “Hmmm” Was all I could say with the towel in my mouth.  “If you try to force the bone back without properly aligning it, it won’t heal properly and could result in permanent damage to your arm.”  Spitting the towel out of my mouth I spoke with a very shaky breath, “if I don’t place it back and seal this wound I’ll lose too much blood.  And judging by your reactions a few minutes ago I don’t think a doctor would be very happy to see me either.”  As I attempted to pick up the towel once again I found that I couldn’t move.  “You are quite right; a doctor would not know how to treat you, being a creature he has never seen before.”  The one speaking to me was none other than the Princess herself.  She was also the reason for my inability to move if the glow from her horn was any indication.  I couldn’t even speak her hold on me was that great, I was a little worried that she might just hold me there as I bled to death, but I didn’t know her then nor was I thinking the most clearly.
I did however notice that Fluttershy hadn’t moved from my side.  “Now just stay still,” like I had a choice, “I’m going to use what I have learned from examining your body structure these last few moments and do my best to set the bone in its natural place,” the Princess said as she stood over me.  That was the first time I was impressed by the scope of her power but it was not the last.  I felt almost no pain but I was able to watch through the corner of my eye the bone slid back under the skin and into place.  It may sound weird but that itching you get when a bone is healing isn’t so bad when it happens in a span of a few seconds.  The wound then slowly began to close; now at this point I was able to turn and look directly at the amazing feat happening to my body.  It was amazing to watch but after a few seconds of watching my muscles pull themselves together I couldn’t handle much more and turned my attention back to the Princess.  The spell was defiantly not something she was used to doing everyday as I could see the sweat forming on her head and the glow from her horn was quiet intense.  Glancing past her I could see the others staring open mouthed at this feat of magic, or at the fact that the Princess was healing a creature she knew nothing about I never found out.  I looked back over at Fluttershy and she seemed to be antsy about something.  “I have done all I can for you, the rest will have to heal on its own,” The Princess remarked as her horn went dark and she stepped back.  “I don’t know how to thank you enough Princess, if there is ever anything I can do to repay you just let me know,” I said as I moved my arm which felt like it had never been broken.  As I went to push myself up I felt a restraining hoof on my chest which was light yellow in colour.  “You just sit there while I take care of these other cuts, please” Said the timid Pegasus beside me. 
I didn’t even realize I had other cuts, but I did as I was told and didn’t move.  I did however start to talk and ask questions.  I learned all the ponies’ names and even managed a slight half bow to the Princess before I got told not to move.  I explained to them how I came to be in that world and the reasons why which I have covered before and feel no need to repeat.  The Princess seemed to understand my position but what concerned her was the reaction others would have to me.  Based on the reactions seen so far in that room, I may cause I wide spread panic which could result in things taking a very bad turn for the worst.  “Well if it’s not too much trouble for Twilight I could always stay in the library and help out.  I could earn my keep here till we figure out a way for me not to scare everypony out of their wits.”  The reaction I got was not what I was expecting, I expected some explanation why it wouldn’t be a good idea and perhaps some concern about me staying in the town.  However, nopony really had that reaction, the Princess was lost in thought and the others had various reactions.  “I would feel better if he stayed nearby at least until his wounds heal, if that’s ok with you” Piped Fluttershy as she tied a firm but gentle knot in a bandage that covered a wound on the side of my head.  “I wonder what sort of garments I could cook up for him. It would certainly be a challenge,” inserted Rarity.  “We have to have a party, I mean this is just like when Twilight first came to town but he came from another world, but we should still have a party, I’ll invite everypony in ponyville and we can all welcome him to town and,” Pinkie Pie was cut off by Applejack putting a hoof over her mouth. “Now Pinkie we can’t have all of ponyville knowing he’s here, it would cause problems we’d best avoid.”  
I learned over the next little while that if no-pony is around Pinkie can and will keep talking for hours about subjects that go off into seemingly random directions.  “It would be kinda cool to have someone new to show my tricks to, plus he might have a few ideas from this other world of his,” Rainbow Dash seemed to say to herself.  Noticing me looking at her she quickly spoke up again “But don’t think for a second that I trust you.  If you attempt to harm one of my friends I’ll hit you so hard and fast you’ll be back in your own world before you realize what happened.”  “Fair enough, but I don’t plan on hurting anypony,” I countered, which only got me a dead level stare from the rainbow maned Pegasus.  “Well if it’s alright with the Princess I would be glad to have you around.  Your tall enough to reach most of the shelves without a ladder and Spike has been teaching you the finer points of cooking,” Twilight mused for a second, “But we would have to see what he thinks about that when he wakes up.”  It was then that I noticed that Spike had passed out from the sight of the blood and my bone sticking out of my arm.  Twilight had levitated a blanket down onto him and assured us that he would be fine but I still felt bad for putting him through that.  “So Princess is he able to stay?” Twilight asked.  Still deep in thought the Princess didn’t answer right away but when she did her answer made me want to jump for joy.  “Yes he can stay but there will have to be certain precautions taken so that nothing goes wrong.  I’m sure we can come up with a solution which will appeal to everypony.”  Fluttershy stepped back from me about a foot and softly told me that I was all bandaged up, so I lifted myself off the ground and stood up.  Standing up I was about the same height as the Princess which seemed to surprise a few of the others.  Then again the most likely only saw me for a few seconds before I was flying through the air.  “Twilight, why don’t I make some of the tea I brought from my world while we work this entire out?”  “Ok but be careful, you still don’t look the best.” She said and pointed me in the direction of the kitchen.  Spike had taken the bags which contained the various food stuffs we had brought from my world inside and laid them on the table.  I picked up the tea and was looking for a way to heat up some water when I heard the door open behind me.  “Hey Twilight, what would I use to heat up some water for the tea?” I asked not really looking at the doorway behind me.  “Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t know where she keeps the kettle, I’ll go ask her,” said a soft voice which could only belong to Fluttershy.  
Cursing myself for not turning around before I talked I continued my search in vain for a kettle for a minute or two when Fluttershy returned to the kitchen.  Looking up from my crouched position near an open cabinet I met her eyes which caused her to give a little squeak.  “Sorry but before, Fluttershy right? I sorta just asked without looking to see who it was,” I said to her. “Oh it’s ok; I just wanted to make sure you would be alright.  You’re still pale from the blood loss and it wouldn’t do for you to collapse in here and injure yourself more,” She explained.  I was touched, back home when someone was injured people didn’t really care unless they where family or close friends, but here was a pony who was obviously still a little scared of me, coming to make sure I was alright.  Giving her a warm smile I asked “so did you find out where she keeps the kettle? I don’t want to keep them waiting for long.”  “Oh, yes, Spike keeps it just in here,” she said as she opened up a cabinet close to the door and pulled an old black kettle out.  For the next couple minutes we didn’t really speak as I boiled the water and got the tea seeping in a large teapot.  Fluttershy told me where the cups where but explained that I would only need five glasses as Rainbow Dash found the talk to be getting boring, Applejack was needed back at the farm, and Pinkie went back to Sugercube Corner to help out the Cakes.  Bringing out the tea and the glasses, which amused them all except Twilight who had seen my carry things using nothing but my hands before; I set them down on a small table and poured a glass for everypony before taking one myself.  Rarity actually looked at hers suspiciously for a second before she realized that Twilight was sipping on it without any problems.  
“This is simply divine,” she exclaimed after taking a few sips. “What is it made off?”  “Well this is wild rose tea so I’m going to have to say roses.  I’m not a huge expert on teas to be honest,” I replied to her question.  Fluttershy and the Princess where surprised and delighted by the wonderful taste the tea had.  I think it was the tea that finally convinced Rarity that I wasn’t a bad guy, cause as she said “Nothing that would enjoy something so tasty could actually be evil.”  If only that was true in my world we would be able to solve a lot of problems.  I was about two thirds of my way through my cup of tea when I felt very sleepy.  As the others were listening to Twilight talk about the other things she had tried in my world I made my way over to a wall and slowly slide down it till I was sitting on the floor.  This didn’t escape notice for very long and Fluttershy quickly ran over to me asking what was wrong.  “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’ll be alright.  The combination of blood loss, the warm tea, and the dizziness I felt from the teleportation is taking its toll.  And if I’m not mistaken my body also had to use up a lot of its energy to help with that healing, did it not Princess?”  “Yes it did so it is no surprise you are tired.  Take a nap and we will discuss everything when you awaken, for now I shall talk to Twilight and the others.”  Within seconds I was asleep.  
I slept for near sixteen hours and when I woke up I was surprised to find a blanket over top of me and a curled up Fluttershy, who had fallen asleep reading a book beside me.  It was light outside so the whole library was lit up but getting up I felt like I had slept for ages.  My bones seemed to think the same as the popped multiple times as I stood up.  Draping the blanket over Fluttershy I picked the book up and went to place it on the table.  Glancing at the title I knew it was nothing other than a romance novel.  Now I won’t say I’m prejudice against romance novels but you read one you have pretty much read them all.  Placing the book on the table I walked over to a shelf marked history and, picking a book at random I made my way back to the wall I slept against and sat down to read for a while.  When it comes to reading something that catches my interest can keep it for hours and learning about the history of a world I have never seen before captured my interest greatly.  I was actually surprised when I Twilight arrived followed by Spike and the Princess.  “Oh, hi, I hope you don’t mind but I grabbed a book of the history shelf over there to keep myself occupied while everypony was gone.” I explained after giving a bow towards the Princess.  “That’s quite alright.  Is Fluttershy still asleep?”  “No I’m awake now, um where did my book go?”   “Sorry I saw you sleeping there so I placed it on the table over there so you wouldn’t lose your place.”  “Thank you” Fluttershy said in her soft voice.  Now at this point two things started to nag at the back of my mind.
One was what the Princess had decided in the last seventeen hours I’ve been asleep, and two why was Fluttershy sleeping on the floor beside me.  Choosing to start with what I hoped was the shorter of the two questions I asked Fluttershy first. “Um Fluttershy I don’t mean to be rude or anything but why where you sleeping beside me?  I mean no disrespect it’s just with me being such an oddity here I figured you would be well scared of me. “Now that I look back on it, it was incredibly easy to tell that Fluttershy was the element of kindness based on those first couple days.  Her answer to my question was so timid and quiet it was hard for me to make out.  “Well you passed out and you had lost a lot of blood.  I stayed to make sure nothing bad happened while you were asleep.  Once morning came you looked a lot less pale so I sorta drifted off.  I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.”  She explained as she hid behind her pink mane.  “It's perfectly fine; I don’t feel uncomfortable at all and thank you for looking out for me.”  “It’s no problem at all, but I should really get back to my animal friends.  Angle bunny is probably worried.”  She said as she disappeared out the door taking the book from the table with her.  
Now with my answer from Fluttershy, which for some reason made me feel very calm I turned my attention to the Princess.  “Sorry for not asking you first your majesty but I figured Fluttershy’s answer would take less time then what we had to discuss and I didn’t want her waiting around.  It would feel kinda rude to me,” I apologized to her.    “It's not a problem at all, you are right that this will take a while and it would not have been fair to her to have to wait for us to finish talking.”  “Well your majesty I did notice that you where talking to Twilight while I was conversing with Fluttershy and before you make any conclusions I want you to know something,” and taking a deep breath I went into the speech I had prepared in my head.  “Twilight is at no way in fault for me being here.  It was my idea to come here and since we have become friends she agreed with me and let me come along. No matter what your decision I want it to be known now that any punishment or scolding you wish to administer to Twilight I will accept instead.  The same goes for Spike as well.  I will not have them punished for something that I asked for.   If you wish to have me removed from here and confined in some faraway place or worse I will accept that for your word that no harm or punishment will befall Twilight or Spike.”   Staring into her eyes I left no room for her to escape giving me her word right then and there.  Now before this the only time I met royalty was a kid in a costume during a school play.  Needless to say I was terrified that she would strike me down on the spot or turn me into a toad or something worse.  She did have an enormous amount of magic at her disposal after all.  Glancing at Twilight I saw her standing there with her mouth wide open and Spike almost a mirror image on her back.  
Laughter, the Princess was laughing, “Oh my, that was wonderful.  You have known them for such little time but yet the extent your willing to go for your friendship is truly astounding.  You have no need to worry though nopony shall be punished.   I was actually discussing with Twilight the possibilities of a working version of this spell,” Well that just goes to show just how far I can shove my foot into my mouth I guess.  “You can’t talk to the Princess like that, it’s not right, she is the Princess after all,” Twilight glared at me, making sure I got her point.  “I’m sorry Princess, I got a bit ahead of myself there and I shouldn’t have,” I apologized turning my gaze downward.  “There is no need to apologize.  You were looking out for your friends, and nopony should have to apologize for that.  Now would you like to hear my decision?”  “Yes,” I answer, already prepping myself for the worst.  “I have discussed it with Twilight and we have arrived at a conclusion.  You seem to have two choices, the world you left has changed since you left and I could not guarantee the well being of anypony who went there so I cannot send you back.  However, the choices I can give you are, one, you can taken to the edges of Equestria and set out on your own accord free to do as you please as long as you do not return.  Or two, with a few rules you may stay in this library with Twilight and work as her helper.  We shall discuss the rules after you make a decision.  I shall return in a few days for your answer.”  And with that she turned towards the door.  “Wait,” I called.  She stopped moving towards the door and slowly turned towards me.  “Yes?”  “I have already decided, If Twilight will allow me I while stay here and abide by any rules you decide on as long as they bring no harm to my friends.  If you have the rules made up already I would be glad to hear them.”   The Princess gave me a smile and then I found myself getting a hug which crushed the breath out of me.  “I’m so glad you made that choice.”  “Ya, it’ll be nice not being the only one having to cook around here.”  
“Since you are staying I believe it is best if we went over these rules.  Twilight since you are already aware what I will be telling him I shall discuss it with him in the side room.”  “Of course Princess, I shall start setting up a few things.”  And with that I followed the Princess through a door opposite the one leading to the basement and entered a small room.  Books lined the room here as well but it was a library and over time I got used to seeing them all the time.  Sitting ourselves across a table from each other the Princess started going over the rules with me.  “You will have to remain indoors during the day as ponies that see you will get a fright.  You may go out at night but only after the town has gone to sleep and nopony is around to see you.  Naturally the ponies that have already seen you, which are all Twilights friends, you don’t have to hide from but others you shall.  You shall obey Twilights orders when it comes to the library as you are working for her and will be getting a wage from canterlot.  It shall be small but it will be enough for you to feed yourself and keep your clothes in good repair.  If another pony see’s you, you must report it to me or my sister immediately.  Twilight or Spike will be the best way to do so.” “Um Princess I don’t mean to interrupt but I’m guessing you already knew what I was going to pick based on how thorough your being.”  She gave me a smile.  “I didn’t know but I hoped, Twilight regards you as a friend and I wouldn’t have wanted to see her upset.  These rules aren’t really meant to be harsh even if they sound a bit so.  I’m not used to being this involved in a rules system, but don’t worry it will all work out alright.  My sister will be helping as well, her name is Luna and mine if you haven’t already heard is Celestia.”  “I don’t think it would be very proper for me to be conversing with you on a first name basis Princess.”
“In Public no but when it is just Twilight and her friends around it should be amusing.”  “This is getting her back for surprising you when I came out of the basement isn’t it?”  “In a way yes, even royalty like a good joke now and then,” she said with a wink.  “Um Celestia I don’t mean to pry but what happened to that solider that sent me flying?”  “He has been demoted to guard duty in the upper garden for the time being.”  “Well I don’t think he should be punished, he was doing his job after all.  If you were in danger what he did would have been very brave.”  She looked shocked, “I didn’t think of it like that.  I guess I will reinstate his post, but he has been sworn to secrecy as well.”  “Even better reason to keep him close then don’t you think?”  “Are you implying one of my guards sworn to keep his word shall break it?” she asked a bit of a frown appearing on her face.  “No, well yes but I’ve lived in the human world my whole life.  That’s how they/we think.  I meant no offence.”  “I see, do not worry I shall take no offence as I can see how that would be.”   “Princess may I ask what it is you do?  I mean Twilight hinted at it before but didn’t really go into much detail.”  Now that opened a whole new can of worms as she went into detail what her duties entailed.  The Interesting thing about royalty no matter where they come from is that they all wish to have someone or somepony to talk to on a normal level.  I understand completely, it would get tiring listening to ‘your majesty’ and ‘your highness’ all the time, but I digress.  The sun was nearly set when Twilight knocked on the door.  “Have you covered all the rules Princess?  It didn’t take this long when we planned them out.”  “Yes Twilight we have covered the rules and we have been enjoying some interesting conversation.  Since Luna shall be covering for me this evening I shall finish up in a few minutes and head on home.”  Taking note of the chance I had to test Twilights reaction.   “But Celestia, are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup of tea before you leave?”  The look on her face was priceless.  It took all of my effort not to fall on the floor laughing.  Both the Princess and I had a good laugh that night but boy did I hear about it the next morning.  Spike offered to make us some tea and Twilight went off to read, not amused that we had played a joke on her.  After they had left the room Celestia became very grave.  “There is something else I have neglected to tell you.  It is not something that can be left in the dark as it would not be fair for you not to know.”   “This doesn’t sound like something good.”  “Indeed it is not.  I have yet to tell Twilight as I believe it only to be right that you’re the first to know.  While I was mending your arm, I discovered that the magic of this world is having a profound effect on your body.”  “But my arm is completely fine now.  I thank you for that if I haven’t said it enough, so what effects could the magic of this world be having on me?”  “The magic that we use dwells within us, we may draw on the magic flowing around us but in doing so it becomes ours.  However, it seems the magic that flows in this world, sustaining the life we see all around us is treating you like a threat.”  “Which means what exactly?  I know I can’t use magic as where I come from it doesn’t exist.”   “That is not entirely correct.  The potential for magic is there however it is blocked by something I cannot figure out.  It may be the magic of this world is trying to remove that blockage but I cannot be sure.”  “Ok, that sounds a bit weird to me but you know magic better than I ever will.  So what is this magic going to do to my body?”  “It is trying to remove the block inside you, but in doing so it seems to be destroying your life force as well.”   “Wait a minute here, destroying my life force?  What does that mean?  Am I just going to fall over dead in a week or something? “The life force is the best way to describe the essence which keeps all living things alive.  The best I can work out is this block is so enrooted inside of you that in trying to remove it the magic is causing your life force to disappear.  When I used my magic on you it didn’t seem to have any positive or negative effects on the rate the outside magic was moving.  So no you will not die in a weeks’ time.”   “That’s good to know, how long do I have before this outside magic stuff causes me to keel over dead?”   “Based on what I saw when I examined you I can safely say you will last a year, but no more than a week more.”  “So basically I have a year to live?”  “Unfortunately yes I will do my best to find a way to counter this but I cannot promise anything.”  “Well then I shall make the most of my time left.  I want Twilight and her friends to remember me for who I am not because of this, so if it is alright I would prefer to tell them in my own time.”   “Of course, in the mean time Luna and I shall see if we cannot find something to help.”
“Thank you Princess, I just hope that this last year of my life will be better than the others. “  “I’m sure it will be.  You have made good friends within Twilight and Spike and I know that they shall make it fun.”   “I hope so; I’d hate to die of boredom before my year was up.  Dying early doesn’t exactly appeal to me,” I said with a weak smile.  Hearing a crash from the doorway both the Princess and I whipped around to face it.  The door was open and had been for some time, the secret was out already.