Everyone talks so persistently about the light at the end of the tunnel that you can't help but be disappointed when it turns out to be green.
My vision cleared, and I realized a rather curious, even attractive creature was leaning over me. It was those green eyes that I mistook for the light at the end of the tunnel. A black muzzle... Or was it a face? Heavy strands of hair tickled my skin, their blue color completely disconcerting—I clearly hadn't heard of creatures with blue hair. I couldn't feel my body, my thoughts flowed lazily, too slowly to assess the situation. The only thing I realized was that this was definitely not human, and she was clearly interested in me. I realized it was "she" only after the creature straightened up and demanded water from someone. I couldn't turn my head to see to whom the order was addressed. And it was, without a doubt, an order—her voice was commanding, with the tone of a true leader.
"And I thought I'd be greeted by an angel with white wings after death, but if there are such angels here, by golly, I wouldn't mind changing my address," I thought as the "angel" tilted the flask, trying to give me a drink. Unfortunately, my body was already refusing to accept the water, and all she achieved was a muffled cough.
"My queen, they're nearby!" came a deep voice from my right. Nodding, the creature moved away from me and disappeared from sight, when another thought struck me: "Does she have a horn on her head? What kind of unicorn is that?"
After several long minutes, I heard voices approaching.
"Are you sure they were here, Princess?"
"No doubt. We saw them here!" — my ears were pierced by the loudness of a certain princess expressing her thoughts. She clearly wasn't screaming, but the last thing I heard that clearly eventful day was, "Well, Princess Luna, it's lost consciousness."
* * *
I woke up in a room with three ponies quietly conversing. Deciding I'd completely lost my mind, I began to take my surroundings for granted, and the first thing I realized was that these weren't Earth ponies after all. They were smaller, their fur was a completely unexpected color, and while white and black were manageable, a lavender pony was clearly out of place. This was far from the only difference between them and ordinary animals. Their faces (or were they muzzles?) weren't as elongated as those of their Earth ponies, and their eyes looked forward. Their faces clearly showed signs of intelligence, but then something completely threw me off course—all three ponies had wings and horns. They reminded me of a strange cross between a pegasus and a unicorn. Judging by their voices, three fillies stood next to me, or at least my bed. The tallest boasted snow-white fur and a long, multi-colored mane that gently swayed in the nonexistent wind. Next to her stood a pony with almost black fur and a dark blue mane, like a star-studded night sky. The youngest was dyed a charming lavender, and her blue mane with pink and purple stripes rested peacefully on her owner.
Noting that I had come to my senses, they interrupted their conversation and turned in my direction.
"Can you hear me?" she asked slowly.the older filly said, looking me in the eye. I could barely nod without being surprised that I understood their language. "Good. We've never seen anyone like you in Equestria. But we'll have time to talk, first, I'll try to help you." Her horn glowed golden, and a sharp pain instantly shot through my body.
"Stop! Something's wrong!" the middle pony exclaimed, looking at me in surprise. "Are you trying to finish him off or heal him?"
"I don't understand," the white filly's calm expression quickly turned to surprise, and the golden glow vanished, along with the pain wracking me. "It's just a regular healing spell. If my magic hadn't affected him, he wouldn't have felt a thing."
"Yes, but instead, he only got worse," the youngest of their unusual trio said sadly. "Perhaps you could try solar magic?"
The same sequence repeated itself, only the pain wracking my body was less intense.
"We need to hurry, he's getting weaker by the minute, and we can't do anything!" the middle pony cried, stamping her hoof in anger. Well, at least now I knew who that loud voice belonged to. "So, she's a princess? And they are too?"
"Princess Luna, try some lunar magic on him!" the lavender princess addressed the owner of the loud voice.
"And how will that help with the healing?"
"I don't know, I have some ideas, but I need confirmation!"
With a gesture that was probably meant to indicate a shrug, Luna pointed her horn at me and concentrated. It was a wonderful sensation, as if the cool night air and a gentle breeze filled my exhausted body, bringing peace.
"It works... But why? And how can we help this creature, Twilight Sparkle?" Princess Luna asked in surprise.
Pleased with her strange discovery, Twilight turned to the older pony, whose name I hadn't yet heard.
"I understand what you're trying to advise, Twilight, and I hope you're right."
"What in the name of the Supreme Being are they talking about?" I thought, feeling an overall improvement in my condition after the strange "therapy."
Suddenly, the white filly's eyes turned a frightening green, and a beam of dark energy struck the center of my chest. The belated fear gave way to bliss, as if I were being reborn. The flow of energy dried up, and I realized I could speak and even move a little.
"Th... thank you," I croaked, trying to put all my gratitude for this help into one word.
The princess nodded, catching her breath, smiling wearily.
"My name is Celestia." "This is Princess Luna and Princess Twilight Sparkle," she pointed her horn at the other two assistants. "And you?.."
Before answering, I paused, realizing that my name felt... empty. Like a shell from which the contents had long since been extracted. Something new came to mind, resolutely taking its place in my memory.
"Des. My name is Des."
"Okay, Des. Rest, it seems you've been through a lot. We'll have time to talk," she repeated, leaving the room with the other princesses.
I closed my eyes. It seemed I hadn't gone crazy after all. But where was I then?
***
It turned out not to be as bad as I expected. Apparently, I was transported here after some kind of time-space loop, and two princesses, Luna and Twilight, found me, quite battered. The latter took on the role of teacher while I slowly recovered. She lugged a large stack of books into the Ponyville hospital room and told me about the world I'd ended up in. In return, I told her about Earth, trying to remember everything about the history of my world. And while the princess was mostly surprised by the lack of magic, our customs, and traditions, I had to thoroughly learn some of the rules of the world I'd found myself in. Besides the very existence of a society of pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies, I was intrigued by the cutie marks that all ponies had. This was unusual, given that some cutie marks were sometimes difficult to decipher, or they represented something quite abstract. However, I already understood the marks of the princesses, or alicorns, as this type of pony was called.
Princess Celestia, who ruled the Sun, had a calm, even-tempered personality, which sometimes contrasted sharply with her mastery of dark magic. But after each healing session, she looked tired and quickly left the room. The diarch of a land ruled by magic must have had a lot to do.
Princess Luna, who visited me much more frequently, was the ruler of the Moon and the Night, and ruled dreams. Already knowing the story of her transformation, I was amazed at how quickly she tried to catch up on the passage of time, studying all the history that had passed her by since her imprisonment. Of course, some of her habits, according to Twilight, still left an unprepared pony in a stupor. For example, the Canterlot Voice, which could clearly be used as a weapon of mass destruction—I heard it more than once, lying in bed, while the princess barked out orders within a twenty-meter radius.
Twilight herself, having only recently become an alicorn, didn't yet have her main duties and spent most of her time by my bed, teaching me or listening to me talk about the alien world. She was a very good conversationalist, her only drawback being a habit of lecturing when the conversation touched on scientific topics.
Over time, my condition improved, and I quickly recovered. The only problem was my memory. It stopped somewhere around the moment we left the airport in an African country, and... that was it. Twilight reassured me that it was probably just the effects of the transference.
"When we found you," the alicorn said, sitting on a chair by my bed as usual, "you were covered in some kind of ash." Except there weren't any burns on your body; you were simply lying on the ground, perhaps paler than you are now. But even an Earth pony would have realized the life was draining from you. By the way, we found Changeling paw prints near you; do you remember anything like that?
Already knowing who they were and how they had left such a mark on Equestria, I slowly shook my head, deciding not to mention that I'd most likely seen their queen, and then quickly changed the subject.
"What other interesting things can you tell me about this world, besides history and general facts?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to learn most of your knowledge from outside of textbooks," Twilight said gloomily, making me smile. "For a book lover, the very fact that something might not be in books was a blow to her worldview." "By the way, Princess Celestia says we'll be discharging you soon and perhaps keeping you in Ponyville so I can keep an eye on your health. So get ready to move in, I'll introduce you to my friends."
Closing my eyes, I sighed with relief. Finally, a change of scenery—the hospital room was starting to get boring.