I came to groggily, squeezing my eyes shut against the sunlight in my face. I could hear someone moving around the bed I was on, and I could also hear the beeping of a heart monitor off to the side, so I knew I was in a hospital. I shifted and groaned, alerting the other person that I was awake.

"Good morning sleepy head. How are you feeling?" A bubbly female voice greeted me.

"Bit stiff if I'm honest. I don't know what drugs you gave me, but they gave one hell of a dream. That or the blood loss." I responded. I was trying to open my eyes, but the light was still too bright for me. "Hey could you pull the blinds? I'm being blinded here." I joked with her. Her bubbly laughter sounded from beside the window, and I could see the light getting dimmer through my eyelids.

"Is that better Hun? Now, how about you tell me what you remember before passing out, then about that dream?" She asked me. I had managed to open my eyes, but everything was still blurry. I blinked a few times, and that cleared my vision some, but I was still having some difficulty.

"Well I met these girls and…Oh Shit! The girls! One almost drowned and I pulled her to shore. Is she okay?" I asked, trying to sit up in the bed. The nurse rushed over to me and helped me upright. She also handed me a glass of water, which I took gratefully.

"She's ok Hun. Don't get yourself all worked up. We kept her overnight to observe her, but she's fine." She told me. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "I'm glad to hear that. I know that she was breathing alright, but I've heard of cases where the victim had complications later." I said before taking a sip of the water. Considering it was hospital water, the freshness of it surprised me.

"Feeling better?" I nodded in response. "That's good. Now how about that dream?" I rubbed the back of neck and grinned. "Well you're gonna call me crazy, but I dreamt that this woman I met had ears and a tail. Crazy huh?" I chuckled to myself. I had still been blinking and my vision had cleared by this point, so I turned to get a look at my nurse. She looked pretty good, about five-five, wearing a nurse's outfit, luscious red hair…and there's the ears. "Huh. Guess I'm still asleep."

The nurse walked over to me and took my hand in hers and placed it on one of her ears." Take a feel Hun, one hundred percent real deal." I of course felt them. Actually they felt really velvety to the touch. I also gave a soft tug, and dammit if they weren't real.

"Ok. So here's my two choices. I'm either in a coma hallucinating, or I'm not in Kansas anymore." I cracked. She merely cocked her head.

"Kansas?" She asked me. I had to smile at how cute she looked with her head tilted like that. I quickly covered it by taking another drink.

"It's a joke where I'm from. I'm sorry, it's just I'm not used to people having ears like that, or even having tails. This a bit disconcerting for me." I said as I stretched. "I'm sorry, where are my manners. I'm Nicolai. May I know the name of my lovely caregiver?" I asked her with a wink, watching her cheeks color slightly.

" my name's Redheart. Nurse Redheart." She said. "Alright Nurse Redheart. So can I leave today or am I being held hostage?" I said to her. She quickly looked over the chart at the end of my bed, then at me. "Well it says here that the bleeding has stopped, and all of your wounds have been addressed. So yes, you're cleared for discharge." She told me. A knock at the door drew her away. She opened the door and spoke with someone, then looked to me.

"Um, you have visitors, if you're ready that is?" She said. I nodded and waved at the door, which she stuck her head out of and said something to someone. "Whenever you're done, just stop at the receptionist's desk and we'll get you checked out." She said before leaving.

A minute later Applejack walked in, carrying a large canvas bag. She was followed by my pink haired nurse from the beach, another woman, and the three young girls from the other day. The one I had saved rushed over to me and hugged me, making me grunt in pain. She quickly released me and stepped back.

"S. mister, I'm just happy to see you're ok." She stammered. I reached out and tousled her short purple hair between her ears.

"It's fine. I'm happy to see you're ok too. Your names Scootaloo right?" I said to her. She blushed and nodded. "Well my names Nicolai." I told her. She grinned, and moved over to the side of my bed and leaned against it, exposing a purple tail. Well I guess I'm getting used to that. What I wasn't prepared for was the pair of wings on her back. How the hell did I miss those? Any ways now that I had a chance to properly look at her, I could see she had a decent tan going. She also had these two toned eyes. Like they started out light purple at the edge of her iris and darkened as you moved towards the pupil.

I looked over at her friends, who had the same appendages as her, the ears and the tail I mean, and noticed the one on the left also had a short three or four inch horn just at her hairline. Her hair was two toned, it looked like she dyed one half of her hair light purple and the other half pink. It actually didn't look all that bad when paired with her pale skin tone. She was looking at me with a pair of sea-green eyes that looked awesome. I had the same color of eyes, and had never met someone else who had them.

The other friend had a head of fiery red hair with a large pink bow in it, and beautiful golden honey colored eyes. Her skin was a tad yellowish, which I thought odd, but ignored for the moment. She was looking at me, or more precisely, the top of my head.

Speaking of horns, one of the women standing with AJ had one too. She had tri-toned hair, looked like a purple base color, with twin streaks of violet and pink. Her amethyst eyes were roving over me while she made notes on a pad. What was weird for me was her skin had a purple tint to it. Yellow, bronzed, even red colored skin I could understand, but purple? I'd have to ask her later.

"See something you like, miss?" I asked her. She started when she realized I had caught her. I laughed as she stammered and dropped her pen. I turned back to Scootaloo. "So who are your friends?"

She perked up at that. "Oh um these are my friends Applebloom," the red head nodded at me, "and Sweetie Belle." The one with the horn waved shyly. I nodded back. "And we're THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" All three yelled. I clapped my hands to my ears to try to muffle the yell. All three looked at me and gave guilty grins. "Eh sorry about that mister."

I merely waved them off and, once my ears had stopped ringing, turned to talk to Applejack. "So I guess I owe you an apology for the last time we talked." I said to her. She quirked her eyebrow at me. "I mean about what I said about your ears. And your tail. I just haven't seen anyone who had them."

The purple one chose that moment to interrupt. "About that. Just what type of beast are you?" She asked me while staring at me while jotting down some notes. Well that was rude. I believe that requires an answer in kind.

"Umm. I'm a Human. What kind of beast are you?" I asked her. She looked at me with a frown, then jotted down another note.

Applejack looked at her, then me. "Err, actually Nicolai, we're Ponies." I looked at her for a second, then busted out laughing. It wasn't that I was laughing at her, it was just the whole situation. When I started having my small breakdown, the pink haired woman, who had been silent up to this point, eeped and dove behind Applejack. I calmed down after a few minutes, then looked at Applejack again.

"Ok. So you're Ponies. Do you have hooves too?" I asked her. Scootaloo had hopped on my bed at some point and was sitting next to me at that point, so she lifted her leg parallel to the bed showing me that yes, they had hooves instead of feet. I reached out and touched one, finding it to be smooth and hard, like a fingernail. Considering that both fingernails and hooves are made of keratin that would explain that little coincidence. And check three on the insanity meter.

I merely shook my head, then tried to look at the pink haired woman that was shaking behind Applejack. AJ moved out of the way, so now I was able to see her better. She had hidden her face behind her hair, which was really easy considering how long it was. Long locks of cotton candy pink hair reached down to her waist. Now I don't mean to come off as shallow, but her body looked amazing. Any beauty queen seeing her would throw up their hands and quit pageants for the rest of their lives. Thin waist, slim arms and legs, even her hooves looked dainty.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, then addressed her. "And what's your name miss?" She looked at me through her hair, then pushed her bangs out of the way, revealing a pair of gorgeous sea-green eyes. "Oh um .my name's Fluttershy." She shyly said, well more she whispered. I nodded my head. Well her name fits her at least.

"And what about you oh queen of grump. You have a name?" I asked the purple haired one. She snorted at me and stood straight. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I was handpicked by Princess Celestia herself as her personal student, and I'm the holder of the Element of Magic." She had closed her eyes as she was saying this, so I sock puppeted her little speech. The three girls were struggling not to laugh aloud, AJ was smirking, and even Fluttershy had a small smile on her face.

Twilight had opened her eyes, so I hastily made it look like I was coughing into my hand. She glared at me, then jotted another note down. I looked at Scootaloo and her friends quickly. "So how old are you three?"

Scootaloo answered me first. "Well I'm twelve, and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are thirteen." She said to me.

"Well that explains why you look like shrimp to me." I chuckled. I'm not kidding either. All of them were just short of four foot tall it looked like. Considering I'm five-eleven, that's a fair bit smaller. Applebloom had puffed up when I said that, so I tousled her hair. "I'm kidding Applebloom. Don't worry about it. You'll get taller when you get older." She seemed to calm down at that. I looked at Sweetie Belle next. "So what's the story on the horn?"

She looked at me in shock. "You don't have Unicorns where you're from?" I looked at her, surprised. Captain, we have reached Level Eight on the Crazy Meter. Repeat, Level Eight on the Crazy Meter. I shook my head to clear the thought from my head. "Uh. No actually. Where I'm from Unicorns are myths. And they're supposed to walk on four legs. And don't talk." I said. I could see Twilight jotting down more notes.

"You know, if you have questions, you could just ask." I said to her. She jerked her head up and glared at me.

"Well let's start with how rude you are." She said to me. I snorted in disbelief. Pot calling the Kettle black? "You ask me what kind of beast I am and I'm the rude one?" I asked her. Her face colored slightly, and I saw her ears flick backwards. Must mean she's embarrassed, I thought to myself.

Twilight blew out a breath. "Your right. I'm sorry for being rude like that. I'm just trying to figure out what to tell the Princess about you. You look so similar to us, but you're also completely different. Like what are those things at the end of your legs instead of hooves?"

I twitched an eyebrow at her. "You mean my feet? And tell who what now?" Why would a princess want to know about me? I wondered as I shifted so I could get out of bed to stand up and stretch. As I still had Scootaloo pretty much sitting on me, I just scooped her up as I stood. She squeaked in surprise, and wiggled closer to my chest. "What? Do you think I'd drop something as light as you?" And I was serious about her being light too. Despite her size, she only weighed as much as a medium sack of dog food. "Actually I'm being serious here. Where I'm from, a child your size would weigh around sixty to seventy pounds. You feel like you only weigh forty." I said as I set her back down on the bed.

Twilight made another note, then answered. "Well, actually the answer is very simple. Scootaloo is a Pegasus, so she has a lighter build, like a bird's, than other ponies. When she's older, she'll probably weigh about the same as Fluttershy." She explained. I looked at Fluttershy, who nodded, then extended her wings so I could see them. I could only stare in awe. She had a nine foot wingspan, with long, beautiful yellow feathers. I walked over to her and reached out a hand. "May I?" She blushed, but nodded. I ran a finger down a long primary, feeling the feathery texture against my fingertip. Did I mention long? I'm betting that if I laid one on my arm, it would reach from my fingertips to my elbow easily.

"So you really are an angel then." I said to Fluttershy. She blushed crimson as I moved my hand up and ran it lightly along the top of her wing. That was when I realized that the coloration that I saw wasn't her skin, it was fur. I ran my hand along the length of her wing, feeling the short fur, well more like fuzz it was so short, tickle my palm. I heard a soft noise, like a stifled moan, making me look at her face, which was currently crimson.

The fact that I could look her in the face without having to really look down made me realize that there was a major size difference between me and these girls. AJ and Twilight looked to be between five four and five six, but I was just shy of six foot tall, so that would put Fluttershy around five eight. I moved my hand away from her wing, seeing a flash of relief flash in her eyes.

I leaned forwards so my mouth was near her ear. "Wings are sensitive then?" She blushed again, but nodded, before ducking her face behind her hair again. I brushed a bang out of her face, so I could see one eye. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Your wings are beautiful, and I got carried away." She gave me a small smile, and brushed the other bang out of her face.

I heard the door swing open and turned to see who had walked in. The woman who entered looked like Sweetie Belle, only older. Her hair was a rich purple, which contrasted nicely with her marshmallow coloration, and was styled in a large curl on one side of her face. She had a horn as well that sat along her hairline. Her horn, unlike Sweetie Belle's, was longer and more slender, reaching around six inches long. She scanned the room before landing on me, letting her cerulean blue eyes do a quick survey of me.

"Do I pass inspection?" I asked her jokingly. To my astonishment, she shook her head.

"Oh heavens no Darling. The rags you were wearing when we brought you here were absolutely atrocious. You simply must let me make a new wardrobe immediately. I have absolutely no idea who would allow you to dress like that, especially in such unflattering clothes. And something must be done about your hair. It's simply not doing anything for your appearance." She stated. I stared at this woman, shocked she would be that rude.

"Well I'm sorry that MY fashion sense doesn't match yours, but I like the way I look and dress. Just who are you to tell me, rudely may I add, how I should dress?" I said, letting some ice into my voice. She colored slightly, sputtering in shock.

"Don't mind her mister Nicolai, she gets carried away. Rarity's my older sister, and the towns clothing designer." Sweetie Belle chimed in from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at her, noticing she looked embarrassed. I think the way her sister chose to talk to me caused her some discomfort. I walked over and kneeled next to her, looking her in the face. "Don't be embarrassed for others Sweetie Belle. Your sister's actions don't have any bearing on my opinion of you. And my friends call me Nicolai Sweetie Belle. None of that Mister garbage. I'm not that old." She gave me a small grin and nodded.

I stood and turned to Applejack, still hearing Rarity sputtering from the door. "AJ, where is my stuff anyway?" She scratched her neck before looking at me. "About that. Yer clothes were so torn up we threw them out." Well that was to be expected. "Here's yer haversack though. And yer coat an the things you had on yer, uh, feet." She said as she pulled them out of the canvas bag and handed them to me.

I took them gratefully, then dug through the bag looking for the change of clothes I had seen the other day before all the madness. Alas, they turned out to be sleep clothes, for when I spent a night at a friend's house, and a pair of socks. I also had a belt stuck in there, from some semi casual dinner I had gone to the week before.

"Alright so my clothes were trashed, and all I have are sleep pants and a change of boxers. Does anyone have any spares I can borrow?" I jokingly asked while placing my things on the bed. AJ pulled a muscle shirt and a pair of jeans out of her bag and handed those to me as well. "Ah didn't know if you had any spare clothes, so ah "borrowed" these from mah brother. Yer about the same size as im."

I nodded my thanks, then ducked into the bathroom to change. When I came out I had the muscle shirt on, but was stuck holding the jeans up. While it appeared I was the same height as AJ's brother, he seemed to be a hair thicker around the waist. I stepped over to the bed and fished out the belt, quickly cinching it up to hold up the jeans.

I sat down on the bed and pulled my boots on and laced them up, tying them tightly. I pulled my coat on, noting with displeasure the rip on the sleeve. "I wish I had a way to fix this." I said with great displeasure. I caught a gleam of light in the corner of my eye, making me look towards the source. Rarity was standing there, with her horn lit up. I felt a tugging sensation on my sleeve, and, looking down, I saw the sleeve was surrounded by the same glow and was fusing back together, until it looked just like new.

I looked up at Rarity, slack jawed, then said, "Of course you have magic. I mean, why not?" I flopped back on the bed and covered my eyes with my arm. "Any other surprises I should be aware of?"

"Have yer eyes always been polka-dotted Nicolai?" AJ asked me. I flipped off the bed and ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror, seeing sea stone green eyes looking back at me. "Oh ha ha ha. Kiss my ass AJ." I shouted from the bathroom. I could hear her laughing from the other room, as well as being able to see the three girls sniggering too. I stepped out and winged my discarded hospital gown at AJ's head, catching her in the face. Applebloom guffawed at that, nearly collapsing to the floor from laughing so hard. AJ pulled the gown from her face and scowled at me, tossing the gown on the bed.

"Thank you for fixing my jacket Rarity. It has sentimental value, if it was permanently damaged it would have killed me." I said as I walked over to the bed.

"Of course. I'm sorry for my earlier offense, I didn't mean to offend you." She said to me. I looked over at her and sighed. "I have to be honest, you came across as very offensive. I know you didn't mean it, but that's how it felt to me." I said to her. She ducked her head, but nodded in agreement. I walked over to her and stuck my hand out. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Nicolai."

She smiled at me and took my hand. "And I'm Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire." We shook hands, then I slung my rucksack over my shoulder and started for the door. "Shall we ladies?"