To be Forgotten - Perfect-Drake
Chapter 2: A Whole New Realm?
I awoke back in the hospital bed, I had really hoped that when I opened my eyes, the events of the past day would have just been a dream, no, a horrible nightmare. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, as here I was, listening to the steady beeping of a heart rate monitor. I reflected on what the princess had told me, my sister was alive, but she's on the brink of death. How did it all come to this?
The door to my room opened, I heard what didn't sound like shoes hit the tiled floor, it was a pony, further confirming that I wasn't in the realm that I was supposed to be in... My attention was brought back to the present. "Mr. Quartz, you're vital signs seem normal, are you experiencing any pain, dizziness?" It was the doctor's voice.
"No doc, if I am being honest, I don't feel anything..." All that was on my mind was Angelica. "Doc... Do you have any news on my sister?" I was really hoping she was still alive... 'Please let her be alive...'
"I do have some news... So far she is reacting well to the treatment. But, please understand that these may just be temporary results." There was hope. Hope that my sister might live on...
"I understand that she may still..." The very thought made my blood run cold, "But at least there's a chance. Thanks doc." He looked at me, a sad smile on his face, he scanned me with what the princess had explained to me was 'magic' he wrote some things down on a clipboard that was set on a desk to the left of my bed.
"It seems like you're recovering fairly well, considering the huge amount of blood loss from just a few days ago. However due to the fact that I am unfamiliar with your species I will suggest that you stay here for at least four more days." His words made me realize something...
"Uh... What day is it? Err... How long have I been out?" I was clueless as to how this world kept track of the time. He seemed to come upon the realization of it too as he put one of his front hooves to his chin.
"Well I'm going to assume they're the same, you've been out for 96 hours, or four days, for short." Now that was a relief, it seemed like everything was the same so far, except of course for talking ponies, magic, the very presence of royalty... Basically the same...'
"So it's the same way we keep track of time... Alright doc, I'll go by your rules, I doubt I'll be able to do much of anything after being shot." I wasn't a doctor so I didn't know how long it would really be until I was healed, but my mind was in another place as I started to feel the effects of not eating anything in 24 or so hours. "Uh, one more thing Dr..."
"My name is Healthguard." That was an odd yet awesome sounding name.
"Okay, Dr. Healthguard, I haven't had anything to eat since I've woke up, however I feel like there may be a slight issue with that..." I was kinda hoping, and kinda not hoping that they were omnivorous, meaning they can eat other animals...
"Ah yes, unlike us you are omnivorous... Fortunately we can get you something to eat, since this hospital is equipped to handle griffons ." Oh that was a relief... Wait... 'Did he say griffons?'
"I would appreciate it, Healthguard. But uh... Griffons? As in half eagle half lion?" The child in me was ecstatic, but the 'grown man' that I was, was absolutely terrified.
"Huh... Do griffons not exist where you are from?" As long as it was a normal occurrence. "Anyways, to answer your question, yes. They are taller and stronger than us ponies but Celestia has brought peace between our nations." That was a huge relief. "I'll fetch a nurse to bring you some food, afterwards you should just rest."
He left the room and I was able to immerse myself in my thoughts. 'Ponies, magic, princesses and now Griffons... What's next? Dragons, manticores and pony like bugs that are all part of a hive that serve a queen?' Albeit that last one was a bit specific and was probably not true but in this world, who knew?
'Heh, next thing you know there will be one being who calls themselves the spirit of disharmony...' I was snapped out of my thoughts when a nurse came into my room to deliver me a plate of food, I sat up and thanked her for the meal. It didn't taste the best, but I was getting some nutrition out of it.
Essentially that was my routine, I would wake up ponder my life until the doctor came in and did his usual inspection, I would ask about my sister, thankfully she was responding well to the treatment they were giving her.
After the first day, I spoke to Healthguard about letting me walk around my room which he agreed would be best, a nurse would assist me to get up. Eventually, on the fourth day, I was finally allowed to leave the hospital.
I thought that today would be just like the last three days, I would follow my normal routine. The doctor came in and performed his scan on me, "Alright everything seems to be healing quite nicely, I think you're ready to leave the hospital." That was good news, I was patient but I was getting extremely bored of this place. However there was a slight issue.
"Well that's good, but uh... Where would I go?" I wasn't in my realm anymore, I didn't have a house to go to.
"Ah yes, the princesses have agreed to assist with that." That was surprising, I knew that I was a completely new species to the world but I didn't think they'd help me after this. "Also I am glad to inform you that your sister has stabilized, we are still monitoring her closely, but we suspect that she will continue to improve and, eventually, wake up."
I don't think I've ever felt more relieved in my life, "That's... I can't explain how relieved I am... Is there a way I can see her?" I wanted to visit her so very badly.
"Not at the moment, however if she is well by tomorrow you will be allowed to visit her." Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
"Thank you doctor." I took a moment to contain my happiness, "Now where do I go from here?" If this process was anything like Earth's process I had some paperwork to do.
The doctor was about to respond when he was cut off, "Actually you are coming with us, Aiden." It took me a moment to realize who it was, Healthguard bowed as princess Celestia and another, slightly smaller... 'Unicorn Pegasus? Unisus?' Yeah I should just ask. Terrible names aside I tried my best to bow, but uh... You don't normally do that on Earth.
"Please rise... Although you could use some more practice Aiden." I was legitimately not expecting her to have a sense of humor like that.
"What can I say, most places on Earth don't have royalty, and we don't bow to our rulers." The princess seemed to think on that for a moment. "Where I come from we do not have monarchies, we have a democracy." Democracy was a thing here too right? Right?
"I see, anyway, I would like to introduce you to you my sister, princess Luna." So that was this other... I'm just gonna say unicorn's name, I would not have guessed they were sisters, Luna, unlike Celestia, had a dark blue coat and her mane looked to be like the night sky. She even had a matching breastplate, crown and... Shoes. I really should ask...
"It is a pleasure, Luna."
" 'Tis a pleasure to meet thou as well, sir Aiden." Well that speech pattern would explain the royalty...
"Sister, I thought we already worked out your speech." Never mind, it just raised more questions.
"We have been attempting to adapt, dear sister. However it hath been only two winters since our freedom." Yup... This was only creating questions.
I cleared my throat, "Pardon the interruption but I would like to get out of this hospital..." They looked at me, and at first I thought 'I'm so dead, I just offended royalty...'
"My apologies Aiden, are you ready to head for the castle?" 'Phew no royalty offended... Wait...'
"The castle?" More questions... Cool.
"Did sister not tell thou?" Okay... That speech was adorable at this point. "We are willing to give thou a temporary habitation at the castle 'til thou finds a suitable workplace." Yup, adorable. Celestia was giggling at her sister's dialect, to be honest if she weren't royalty I'd be laughing with her. After Celestia regained her composure, she turned back to me.
"So are you ready, Aiden?" I was about to get up until I realized I didn't have my original clothes...
"Well Uh... If I can have the clothes I was wearing I would be ready to leave..." I was really hoping they didn't ask.
"Why does thou need them?" 'Oh for Pete's sake.'
"Uh..." I really didn't know how to explain this. Luckily I didn't have to.
"Princesses, due to the fact that Aiden doesn't have fur covering his body like us, he doesn't have a way of hiding certain parts of his anatomy..." The doctor just saved me from one awkward explanation...
"Oh..." The sisters both said in unison.
"Thankfully one of the nurses already handled that, she will bring your clothes here shortly Aiden. I suggest we wait outside princesses..." Is it just me, or are these ponies nicer than humans ever will be? This whole thing was weird, they were treating me like one of their own citizens. I hadn't spoken about it, since I am still wrapping my head around everything, magic, talking sentient ponies, royalty... Oh yeah the fact that I was in a whole new realm... Would I ever go back to Earth?
Regardless, people on the outside may see this as me handling it well, but on those moments that I was alone to ponder, I only had my sister in mind. I haven't thought far ahead of that. I was brought back to the present when I saw a nurse bring my old clothes that were levitating above her head.
"Here are your clothes, Aiden." She placed them next to me.
"Thanks miss... Tender Heart?" I believe that was her name.
"Yup, though I don't remember ever telling you my name."
"Healthguard has mentioned you a few times." As I finished saying that I could have sworn she was blushing under her blue coat.
"Oh that makes sense, well I'll leave you to it." She left the room quickly. Odd.
'If I didn't know any better I'd say she has a crush on Healthguard... Actually I don't know any better...' I grabbed my clothes and quickly looked them over, they were clean and the bullet holes were patched up. I changed quickly as I literally had royalty waiting for me.
I exited my room and found myself in a rather long hallway, "You done, Aiden?" Tender Heart spoke to me, from my left. She motioned for me to follow. "Y'know the princesses are waiting, I'm surprised that they offered you to stay at the castle, are you some friend of their's?" Huh, at least I wasn't the only one that was surprised by that.
"No, from what I know, I just appeared out of the blue in their garden. Got all the guards spooked." I thought back to my conversation with Celestia, I had asked her how I came to this world, she thought I would have known. "Neither of us know how I ended up there."
Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe... Maybe Discord has something to do with it."
"Discord?" Why was I getting a feeling that...
"Discord is the spirit of chaos and disharmony." I take back all of my previous thoughts. "He used to be evil, now he is mostly mischievous." That doesn't help much at all...
"Why how rude... Talking behind someone's back." I froze, that was a new voice. And suddenly I saw an ant-sized... Thing... Fly past me and land on Tender Heart's nose which made her go cross-eyed.
"Discord, I don't appreciate your antics." Wait... This was Discord?
"Oh come on, Tender Heart lighten up a bit, it's all in good fun!" Suddenly the tiny speck turned to what I believe is his normal size, he had mismatched eyes, a pony head with oddly shaped horns... Actually instead of describing him, just know he lives up to being and looking chaotic. "Hello there Aiden!" He extended a lion paw towards me.
It took me a few moments to recover from shock, I shook his hand... Paw. "It's a... A pleasure..." He saluted and then blinked out of existence... What?
Tender Heart stared at my utterly confused expression, giggling as I slowly lowered my hand back to my side. "Shall we continue, Quartz?"
"Yeah..." We continued along the hallway, after about two minutes we reached the lobby which was fairly big, had quite a few seats, a desk at which a pony was slowly watching time pass, standard stuff. As I was expecting both the princesses were already waiting there.
"Shall we proceed, sir Aiden?" I don't think I'll ever get used to that archaic speech.
"Yes, I am as ready as I'll ever be..." Might as well get on with it. "But I would like if, once you have time of course, you could answer some of my questions." I said as I followed them out of the hospital, I was greeted by quite the sight.
I was in a large city, the architecture seemed to be of an archaic design. With large ivory colored towers with golden spires. Towards my right I could see a giant castle with pretty much the same design but, it was carved into the side of the mountain.
"What... Is this place?" It was barely above a whisper and it wasn't supposed to be directed at anybody in particular.
"Welcome to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria." 'Canterlot eh? Why does that sounds like a mash-up of the word "canter" and the British kingdom Camelot... Gee I wonder'
I was so caught up in my sightseeing that I didn't notice the chariot that had pulled up beside me. "Aiden, are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I just got caught up with how beautiful all of this looks." Celestia chuckled at that. We boarded the chariot as it took off towards the castle.
"Luna reacted the same way, except we were flying over the city and she nearly flew right into a building." That would've been funny to see, not the crashing part, her sudden realization of where she was going and what she might hit.
"We did no such thing, sister." Luna huffed. Guess she had a sense of pride, Celestia seemed to just laugh at her sister's antics.
"Well it sure did look like it Luna... Anyways, you had some questions, Aiden?" Straight to the point, alright.
"Well first off, any ideas as to how I arrived here? Last thing I remember before waking up was that I was being picked up by officers." Luna seemed to be interested in the answer as well, did she not know?
"I do not know why, or how you arrived here in Equestria, but I do know who brought you here." Now that... That raised some serious questions. "It was Discord, self proclaimed lord of chaos." Well then... I wasn't expecting it to be the... Person... I just met in the hospital.
"So it was his doing, as I was going down the hall with Tender Heart I met him, made an entrance by appearing seemingly out of no where as an ant-sized... What ever he is." I really should ask what the different species were called.
"Why how rude, sir Aiden." Oh, there he was again...? "I am only the most sophisticated of all the beings in Equestria, a draconoquus." He appeared next to the royal sisters with a suit and tie as well as a top hat and monocle. Celestia and Luna didn't look all to pleased with his sudden arrival. "Oh please, stop staring, don't you know it's rude?" I would have answered, but I had some questions myself, far more important ones.
"The princesses here have told me you were the one that brought me here. Would you care to explain?" He seemed to deflate at my question. Literally.
"We would very much like to hear what thou hath to say as well." Did she mean we as in herself or we as in her and Celestia?
"Wow, you guys are no fun, are you? Alright." As he said this he snapped his fingers and time stopped, I looked at him in surprise. I looked to both Luna and Celestia who were both frozen in place. "It's a long story, and don't worry they can still hear us, they just won't be able to interrupt."
"Okay, so what are you waiting for?" He switched to using his suit again.
"Ahem, well this all started when I learned about your realm. You see I am a reformed evil-doer so I was looking around for another place to... How to say, cause mischief in." He chuckled at his own statement. "However your realm is quite boring, it barely, just barely has magic, and going to it would sap all of my mine. So I decided to study it. I discovered that in certain parts of your world small pockets of magic do exist." Okay... This was long and so far utterly useless.
"Okay. So what does this have to do with me and my sister?" This was really taxing on my patience.
"Oh I'm getting to that part. I started looking more closely into the pockets of magic, and it's effects on the populous. Coincidentally I found a pocket that was situated below a hospital. What I found was that humans tended to heal faster in that hospital than any other. Granted, it was a tiny, tiny change, but it was there." As if to highlight his point he shrunk down to the size of a spec of dirt. "As for why I brought you here, you and your sister would have died. So I decided to bring you into the most magical place I know, Equestria." What... I'm supposed to be dead?
"Wait... So I am supposed to be dead?" How...?
"Yes, you were losing a lot of blood. I would show you what I saw but recreating memories and sharing them is out of my power at the moment. I used up all of my magic bringing you here and now I stopped time. So until I get my magic back I won't be able to show you." He made himself bigger again, wearing an entirely different suit. "Now, I will be at my house, tata for now." Before I could protest he disappeared. I looked towards the sisters who were now no longer frozen.
They looked to be about as shocked as I was... How...? "We're sorry, Aiden, we did not know of his... Studies." The taller royal said, their ears were flat against their heads.
I didn't say anything, this left me completely confused. If this Discord guy was right then he might have just saved my sister's life and mine as well.
"Aiden, are you alright? You've been staring at nothing for... About 10 minutes now..." I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized we had landed on a rather large balcony, I suppose this was the landing area. Luna and Celestia were both looking at me.
"I don't know... Let's keep going though, wouldn't want to keep you from your royal duties." I knew I sounded off, I still perplexed about what Discord said. If I were on Earth, would Angelica and I be dead?
"If you are certain, sir Aiden. We should get thou to thy quarters." I mentally chuckled at that, they led me through large hallways, the architecture was astounding. It followed the same style as the one in the city. I noted a lot of other corridors and pathways leading to other parts of the palace. The place was quite fascinating.
"This all looks surreal..." I stated, looking around myself as I followed the royals. "The palaces on my world never looked like this. This is all fascinating."
"Huh, so the homes of your rulers are also called palaces?" That was somewhat of an odd question.
"Not anymore. Centuries ago we did have monarchs and they lived in their castles. Actually we still do have a few, but only one that I know of holds any actual power." I thought back to England, Spain and Saudi Arabia since those are the three that I can name off the top of my head.
"That is interesting... Sir Aiden, would thou be interested in teaching us about thy realm?" Luna asked me, and I wasn't one to say no to people with high power, especially when they've been nice to me. Plus, it would give me a chance to learn of their world.
"I will tell you all I know." We continued walking, and I once again thought back to the previous events. This time, however, I was keeping track of my surroundings.
Approximately 5 minutes passed before we stopped in front of a door, the princesses turned to me. "This will be your room. You're free to do whatever you wish with it during your stay. You are also allowed into the dining hall, we are also aware of your necessary diet." The taller pony spoke, whilst her sister nodded.
"Thanks princesses. Luna, when would you like to learn of my world?" The pony in question looked at me with a thoughtful expression.
"If it is not much trouble for thou we would very much appreciate it if thou could teach us tomorrow afternoon." Seemed fair, I'd be visiting my sister, first thing in the morning.
"I see no issue there. Now if you'll excuse me I would like to be alone and rest." I said, I received a nod from both mares as I entered my new room. It was nice, it had a decently sized living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. I sat on one of the beds and reminisced. I don't know how long I stayed like that, however once I looked around myself I noticed the sun was mid way to the west.
I decided to go and clean myself up. I hadn't eaten much at all today, so I was hoping that one of the maids would be kind enough to point me in the direction of the dining hall. I was about to leave the room when I heard someone knocking on my door.
"Come in." I said, loud enough to be heard through the door. It opened revealing my guest, a grey coated mare with a two toned silver mane. She was wearing what appeared to be a maid uniform.
"Mr. Quartz, I am Silver Polish I am the maid in charge of your room." She spoke in a soft voice. "I am also tasked with helping you find a job in Equestria." Huh, interesting.
"I see, well it's a pleasure, miss Polish. I was just about to leave for the dining hall, would you please point me in the direction?" I asked, I was hoping that it wouldn't be too far.
"I'll show you where it is, Mr. Quartz. The twists and turn of the palace halls can be a bit confusing at times." That was a pretty good idea, at least that way I wouldn't get lost.
"Alright Polish, also please call me Aiden." She nodded and we walked through the palace halls once again, this time I decided to stop focusing on my thoughts and direct my attention towards the decor of this place. Various plants and paintings were decorating the ground and walls respectively. The windows were stained and depicted various legends, Polish mentioned. Guards were patrolling the halls regularly, I could hear them from far away, as their shoes collided with the marble floor.
We finally stopped in front of large wooden double doors, I could just barely hear a conversation being had on the other side. I thanked Polish and went inside, I was greeted by the royal sisters, Celestia sitting in the middle, with Luna on her right. I noticed another pony, a unicorn, with a white coat and a blonde mane sitting across Luna. I took a seat next to said princess.
"Good evening, Aiden. I hope you are comfortable in your current room." The rainbow maned royal spoke, I nodded. She looked to her left and realized something. "Oh I do not believe you two have met. Aiden, this is Prince Blueblood." She introduced the unicorn stallion.
"Nice to meet you." At my response he scoffed, I arched an eyebrow at his reaction.
"The feeling is not mutual. What are you anyways?" Oh... Well this guy is nice.
"Blueblood will you, for once, try to be nice to a guest?" Celestia said to the prince. He folded his ears and looked up to her.
"I'm sorry auntie but what's it doing here?" Huh... Guess even ponies could be total assholes.
"Blueblood, he is not an it! He is a guest that is to be treated with respect." It seemed like Celestia didn't like her nephew. Bluebird didn't respond instead he just stared at the table, though I could tell he didn't care that he had offended me. Luna turned towards me.
"We apologize for Blueblood's actions. As far as we understand, he has always acted this way towards others." I nodded at her, truth be told I didn't care what he thought of me. "Anyways, Sir Aiden, what does thou have in mind for tomorrow?"
"The doctor told me that I could potentially visit my sister tomorrow, I plan on going there, first thing in the morning." I responded, the princesses both nodded. We made some small talk until our food arrived and we ate silently. After we were done, I bid them a goodnight and retreated to my quarters.
I found that my room had been cleaned up a bit, even though I hadn't done much in it before. I decided to call it a day, and I drifted off to the dreamscape.
AN: Oh hey, this story still continues. I still need a beta, if you think you're up for it then send me a Pm and I will take a look at your stuff. I'm mostly looking for a person who will catch typos and other orthographic errors. Anyways, next chapter is when things will start to pick up. I'll leave with that.
