| >> | No. 163 Hi there. I've just quickly gone through your English translation and corrected the mistakes. Should read alot better to your English fans. Waking Pain! This was pretty much the first thought and the first feeling, when I came to. My head felt, as if it was about to burst on several spots and with a groaning, I rolled around, trying to find a spot on the pillow that would feel a little cooler. The pain decreased indeed and soon, I began to notice several things: Everything felt wrong. starting with my own body, which seemed to be too much at some places and not enough on others; the bed I was lying in, which was definitely not my own, and then the surrounding noises, that I didn't know at all from my home. It wasn't just the chirping of birds and voices that came through the window, through which the sun shone. This was something I had at home, in a small 10000-citizen-town, as well. The difference was almost subliminal. The smells were different, too. They reminded me of a homestead or a barnyard. Soon, I should learn, what was up here. The pricking pain in my skull, that took all my senses (except the sensation of pain), decreased to a low pulsing. With a groan, I heaved myself out of the bed and stood on shaky legs, that were lacking all strength. Again, I was reminded of the sensations of having almost the wrong body. I felt forward and with a loud pounding, I landed on my forehooves. This was the moment, where I felt a strong nausea upcoming and vomited right on the smoothed but not lacquered wooden planks, which the floor of this room consisted of. It was just yellowish bile. In every other aspect, my stomach was totally empt... Hooves! After I overcame the first shock in such a way, the reason for it came to my mind again. I stared at, what I believed where my hands had to be and felt the urge to sit down. The new courses of motion brought the next shock. When I came to senses once again, I stood on all fours in front of a full length mirror, that hung on a wall. With a whimpering, which I neither wanted to nor could supress, I stared at a horse - a pony, to be exact - with comic-like bright blue fur. In contrast, the mane and tail were dyed very dark blue, almost indigo. Back then, I assumed at least that all this was dyed. The eyes, that were giant, compared to the size of the skull, looked like they came out of a cartoon, as well. I felt muscles twitch in by lower back, whenever the pony in the mirror moved its tail. My legs shivered and convulsed, while the being, which I stared at, seemed to fight for balance, which I did as well. The view caught me so much, that I noticed the single horn, that sat on the middle of the forehead and was as bright blue as the horse's fur, much later. I knew immediately, that I wasn't stuck within a costume and so I just started to walk around in this room, where I woke up and that stank disgustingly like vomit. The whole time, I only thought 'Why? Why? Why? Whywhywhywhywhy....', while my head was neither able to give an answer, nor provided me with a basic approach for a solution for my problem. Time went by. Sometimes, I walked around; sometimes, I sat on the floor, the bed, lay in a corner or just stood there. For the whole time, I didn't leave the room. I didn't even think about this possibility. Then, something knocked. I stared at the door with surprise, that some people might feel, when suddenly an alien spaceship lands in their front garden, a Wookie climbs out, pisses against the cherry tree, just to get back in after that and fly away. Without waiting for an answer, a white pony with a pink mane and tail walked in. Her mane was bound to a chignon on the head, she wore a white cap with a red cross, hearts pictured in the corners. The same sign was also on her flanks. "Hey look! Someone woke u..." She – the voice told me unambiguously that it was a female, even if I already guessed it because of the pink hairs and the chignon – wrinkled her nose and twitched her right lower eyelid. This reminded me of the mess that I made on the floor, and I lowered my head ashamed. "Don't worry, I'll just take care of that." She returned with a bucket of water, holding it’s handle in the mouth, and a mop which she balanced on her back and started in acrobatic fashion to clean up my filth by driving the mop over the floor, holding its handle in her mouth, and rinsing it thoroughly in the bucket. Slowly, citrus aroma replaced the sour smell of vomit. The doctor turned towards me again and spoke: "Alright, Madam (she pronounced this word in a French way). Good that you are up and running again. Because I have a few qu..." She didn't continue. I stood on my hind legs in front of the mirror, my forehooves placed against the wall left and right from it. My gaze wanders downward, to between my hind legs. A shivery “No…” in a soft voice escaped my mouth. Then, my hooves slid off the wall and I curled up on the floor, sobbing. "Why?" I asked again, but this time loud. My new contralto voice could have been described as dulcet, if it wouldn't sound so broke and squeaky at the moment. Hospital After a while, I pulled myself together enough, that I was able to concentrate on the important things. My head aches were completely gone. The first question, that I wanted to clarify, was: Where am I? A look at the doctor pony, and another one through the room that I almost didn’t regard at all until now, hinted strongly to a hospital. The room had an almost sterile looking interior, aside from the wood plank floor and the comfortable bed, that was equipped with a domestic-looking mattress, meaning not one made of easily cleanable foam plastic. No pictures on the wall, no flower pots, a feeding cup and a bed pan stood on a table without tablecloth and the walls were covered under such a thick layer of white paint, that the material below it could not even be guessed. “Are you alright again?” I was asked. The doctor apparently watched me all the time and provided me with a patient smile, when I looked at her. “Where am I?” I asked her, still irritated by my own voice, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Then, I turned around, took my hindlegs onto the mattress as well, and lay down on my belly, legs folded at the sides of my rump, head raised. This position appeared to be the most comfortable one for my unused anatomy - at least more comfortable than upright sitting. The pony that presented my very first contact in this new Equestria, came a little closer, jumped onto the bed at my side and gave my head an encouraging nudge with her snout. “You mean the hospital? You were brought here by Applejack and Big MacIntosh, after they found you in the apple grove. You were unconscious, so they put you onto an apple cart and gave you to my care. Anyway…do you want to tell me now, who you are and where you come from?“ Her words flew in woozy circuits through my head. Usually, I am a Windows user, but also find Linux very useful. Nonetheless, these names caused associations, but they made no sense. So, the best reaction, that came to my mind, was: “Uhm, what?”. As the doctor just watched me with a smile, remaining silent, I groaned unnerved and lowered my head. “This is the most crazy trip, I ever had. And the first one.” “Oh? You’re on a journey?” the doctor asked again. “You could say so. My name is Bernd, by the way. Bernd Müller.” As soon as the words stood in the room, they appeared to be so silly. Bernd Müller? The way, I looked now, I should be named Bell Flower or something of that kind. The white pony seemed to have the same opinion, but didn't say anything about that. After a while, she hopped down from the bed and said: “Now, I think, you are well again. Maybe, you just ate a green or addled apple.” For her, this topic was checked. She even opened and held the door for me. I understood the broad hint, got up and left the sick room through the door, entered a corridor, found the main exit and beheld for the first time in my life – and probably for the first time of mankind's history – Ponyville. |