"Alright, Rainbow Dash! You can do it!" Pinkie pie jumped in place, watching as said Pegasus prepared to go through her Wonderbolts routine. She hadn't practiced since shortly after the big wedding in Canterlot, and that had been at least a month ago.

Slowly, she opened her wings and adjusted her footing on the ground, going over the moveset in her mind's eye. First a loop, then a few barrel rolls as she dived, some cloud dodging, and then the big finale: a Sonic Rainboom! She could hear the wind whistling in her ears already and -

…wait… there WAS a strange sound. Rainbow Dash looked to her left; Pinkie had stopped jumping and was looking straight up. Rainbow looked up, too, and saw a large object the size of a young pony hurtling toward the ground at unsafe speeds. Without thinking, Rainbow took off, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever the object was before it hit the earth. As she got closer, she became terrified – it looked like it was a pony. It was going too fast for her to see for sure, but… the shape was undeniable. She flew underneath and tried to grab it, but it was going too fast and felt unbearably hot to the touch. Thinking it over, nopony could be that temperature and stay unconscious for as long as this "thing" had been falling. Relieved, Rainbow flew out from under it and watched as it crashed with a boom that echoed across Ponyville.

Pinkie hopped over, her eyes wide, as Rainbow landed on the edge of the newly-formed crater. "What was that"? Pinkie asked, peering at the still-smoking object. Rainbow shrugged.

"Dunno," she said. "But, let's find out!" she cried as she jumped down into the crater.

They waited by the object for a minute or two to see if the smoke would clear on its own. Annoyed and impatient, Rainbow used her wings to clear the air and Pinkie started hopping again. They both gasped; Rainbow landed on her flank with a thud, and Pinkie stopped in midair,

The "mysterious object" WAS a pony.

And she was still alive.

"What do you mean 'she fell from the sky'?" Twilight Sparkle had been finishing a report to Princess Celestia when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had burst in with horrified looks on their faces. Pinkie explained the situation to Twilight while Rainbow gathered their 3 other friends. Rainbow heard Twilight shout as she'd returned with Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. She huffed. "She MEANS 'she fell from the sky'!" Rainbow yelled, and stomped her hoof for emphasis. "What part of that don't you understand?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "The part that impossible! Ponies don't just fall from the sky, let alone SURVIVE afterwards!"

"Now hold on!" Applejack cut in before an argument started. "Instead o' yellin' 'bout what's true and what ain't, why don't we just wake the lady up? THEN we'll have answers." Twilight and Rainbow crossed their hooves angrily, but nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy had been fidgeting at the back of the group, never taking her eyes off of the mysterious mare currently housed on Twilight's bed; Pinkie noticed.

"What's up, Fluttershy?" she asked.

"Oh, umm, w-well…" Fluttershy took a few steps back. "D-Did anypon…..," Rainbow sighed. "Louder, Fluttershy. We can't hear you!"Fluttershy visibly gulped.

"It's just… did anypony else notice something… 'different'… about this pony?"

The others were confused, and turned back to the mare that had started to move slightly, but was still unconscious. Suddenly, Applejack took a step back. "That's… That's really different…" she said nervously.

"What? What is it?" Pinkie hopped up and down, in a circle around Applejack. She grabbed the orange pony's cheeks and pleaded, "Come on, tell me!"

Applejack shook free of Pinkie's hooves. "Y'all really don't see it?" she asked in disbelief. Everypony but Fluttershy shook their heads, Frustrated, Applejack pointed at the horn on the mare's head.

Silence, until Twilight spoke up. "What's so different about a unicorn?" she said, gesturing to herself and Rarity. In response, Applejack pointed at the wings on the mare's back.

….wait, wings?

The mane six all stepped away from Twilight's bed slowly. "…How can she be an Alicorn?" Rarity asked. "Aren't the princesses the only known Alicorns in Equestria?"

The Alicorn in question was purple, with her mane and tail being of a darker, yet similar shade that spiked out from her forehead. Her mane hung onto one side of her neck by a small green hairtie. There were large, singular gold rings around her front hooves, and orange shoes with red tape run around them on her back hooves. The strangest thing by far about this mare, however, was that her horn was a bright red and her wings were a light green.

Rainbow flew silently over her and studied her face. The wings and horn seemed to be the only abnormalitie, as far as she could tell.

At least, they were until the Alicorn opened her mouth in a sleeping yawn and revealed the sharp canid teeth she had, causing Rainbow to fly backwards quickly, straight into a wall. A bookshelf along the wall lost a few of its contents, and as they clattered to the floor, the Alicorn sat straight up like a bolt, her eyes wide open… which caused the others to take yet another step back.

Her pupils were slit, like a dragon's, and they were as bright of a red as her horn; they almost seemed to glow.

None of the seven ponies moved, until…

"…U-umm… where am I?" the Alicorn said quietly, looking around the room, before raising her hooves to her face. "WHAT am I…?"

Bravely, wilight tooks a step forward. "Y-You're in my library, in Ponyville. And, you're a pony…an Alicorn to be more precise."

Said Alicorn blinked, confused, before slowly moving out of the bed and standing on all four hooves. She walked toward the others, one hoof at a time, as if she was unconfident with her balance. When she was 3 feet from the six, she stopped and looked at them all in turn… before losing her footing and falling onto her stomach. Scared, but still showing off her Element of Harmony, Fluttershy rushed over and helped her up.

"T-Thank you… it's weird. You said I'm a pony," the Alicorn said, turning to look at Twilight," but, walking on hooves just… doesn't feel natural for some reason…" she finished, shaking her head.

Now that she was standing again (with Fluttershy's help), she was just about an inch shorter than the others, and her voice convinced them that she had been a filly until only a few years ago. She turned to Fluttershy.

"Thanks again," she said quietly, "I don't think I'll be able to stand on my own for a while… Um, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" she turned to the others. "What are ALL your names?" Rainbow glared at her. "Why don't you tell us YOUR name first?" she said with suspicion.

The Alicorn looked down, appearing to be deep in thought. After a minute or two, she looked up again, a look of horror on her face. "…I-I don't know…" she whispered. "I can't remember…" Her eyes began to water as she said, "I-I don't remember ANYTIHNG…"

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my goodness, that's terrible! You poor thing! No wonder you can't walk properly!" Realizing what she'd said, Fluttershy grew frantic. "Oh dear, I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean – I wasn't suggesting –." The Alicorn laughed spritely.

"Don't worry, I understand, " she said meekly. "I-It's okay…really!" She shifted her footing, and sat on her flank. Turning back to Fluttershy, she again asked politely for names. Applejack smiled kindly and walked over. Taking her hat off and bowing slightly, she said, "Applejack's the name. Pleasure tah meet'cha!" Twilight came next.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"And you said this place is yours?" the Alicorn said, excited.

Twilight laughed. "That's right. The library that I mentioned? It's downstairs." Pinkie hopped over.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I helped carry you here. You're really light, you know?" She giggled. "Anyway, even though you know my name and I don't know your name, we can still be friends, right? Please, oh PLEASE say yes!" she finished, jumping up and down in her usual fashion.

The Alicorn was flustered. "O-Oh, um, y-yeah, sure!" she laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Pinkie hopped cheerfully back over toward the others, as Rarity stepped forward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said. "My name is Rarity. And, might I say, " she ran a hoof above the girl's mane," that your mane is truly exquisite! It looks incredibly well-taken-care-of." The Alicorn smiled shyly.

"Ah, t-thank you," she said. "Very much." She then turned to Rainbow Dash. "And, you?"

Said Pegasus simply crossed her hooves across her chest and turned away. "I don't have to answer that," she said as she flew over to the books that she'd knocked down earlier and started to place them back on their respective shelves.

Twilight sighed. "Her name's Rainbow Dash," she said angrily. Rainbow glared at Twilight, but continued to fix the bookcase. The Alicorn flinched, despite not being part of the conversation. She turned to Fluttershy. "What about you?" the yellow Pegasus jumped slightly.

"Oh, um, w-well, it-it's nice to meet you. Though, I guess you've kinda met me already, sort of; I-I mean, since I helped you and all and - …" Fluttershy looked down, her face red at being unable to simply introduce herself without going on a tangent.

"M-My name's Flu….." she said, hiding her face with her hoof.

Rarity sighed. "I'm sorry, she's rather quiet. Her name is –"
"Fluttershy, right?" the Alicorn said, cocking her head to the right slightly. "That's what I heard her say. At least, that's what I THINK she said…" she turned to said Pegasus. "is that your name? Ms. Fluttershy?"

The others had never seen Fluttershy's face get so red before; she clearly wasn't used to being addressed as "Ms."-anything. She nodded quickly and flew downstairs as fast as her wings would take her. Suddenly, they heard two "Oof!"s, and Spike walked dizzily into the room.

"Oh, Spike?" Twilight said. "Where've you been?" Spike shook his head to chase away the stars in his vision. He opened his mouth to answer, and noticed the young mare sitting in the middle of the floor. "Wha -… who…?" he asked. He shook again, before turning back to Twilight.

"Umm, I was taking a walk. It took longer than I thought, sorry.. It's kinda cloudly, and a bit cold, so…" Applejack huffed. "Rainbow, ain't it yer job tah clear the sky today?"

In the background, the Alicorn flinched. Trembling, she turned to Applejack. "I-I'm sorry, but… what did you say…?" By now she was visibly shaking, Fluttershy peeked her head into the room from her hiding spot on the staircase at the sound of the Alicorn's voice.

Applejack was taken aback. "I-I jes' said, it's Rainbow Dash's job tah clear the sky a- ."

On the word "sky", the Alicorn's eyes flashed a bright green, similar to her wing color. She floated an inch or so above the ground, before landing on all four hooves and ceasing to glow. Slowly, she looked up at the others, who had shrunk against the opposite wall in fear.

"I remember now!" she cried happily. "My name… my name is Sky!"

The young Alicorn, now introduced as Sky, hopped around the room with a big smile on her face. "I remember, I remember!" she laughed, and suddenly fell on her face. She simply laughed again and got shakily to her hooves. "Well, it's the only thing I remember, but HA! I remembered something!"

Pinkie couldn't take it anymore. "Yay!" she cried, and hopped around the room similarly to how Sky had been doing before. Sky laughed and tried to do the same, but once again fell. Fluttershy rushed in from her hiding spot on the staircase to help her up.

"Thanks, Ms. Fluttershy," Sky giggled. Fluttershy blushed again, but nodded and stayed where she was.

Applejack laughed nervously. "Yah remembered yer name! That's great! Sky, yah said?" The Alicorn nodded excitedly. Rainbow cocked an eyebrow.

"'Sky'-what?" she said. Sky blinked, confused. "…Just 'Sky'," she shrugged. Rainbow glared, and then flew outside to clear the clouds. They all watched her go, Spike with a confused look. Sky looked at the floor sadly. "Does she not like me?" she said.

Fluttershy looked at Sky with a small smile. "Oh, no, I'm sure that isn't the case. Rainbow Dash needs to warm up to you a little, that's all." Sky looked up at her. "Y-You think so?" she said hopefully. Fluttershy giggled, "I know so."

Spike finally decided to ask, "Uh, who're you?"

Pinkie hopped over to the Alicorn and Pegasus near the center of the room. "This is Sky! And, "she giggled, "it's funny, 'cuz she fell right OUT of the sky!"

The Alicorn and baby dragon jumped. "What?" they said simultaneously.

Sky was in hysterics. "But, how's that possible? I-I feel fine–how far did I fall?" Spike nodded, curious. Twilight shook her head. "I don't understand either," she said, looking at Sky. "But, Pinkie and Rainbow SWEAR that you fell from somewhere above the cloud barrier." Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah!" she said, bouncing again. "When you hit the ground, there was a HUGE boom! And you made a crater, too! The whole deal!" she jumped down the stairs. "Come on!" she cried cheerfully, "I'll show you!" Everypony but Twilight and Spike followed Pinkie outside. As the two of them watched the Earth Pony lead the others to the outskirts of Ponyville, Twilight bit her lower lip. "…Spike," she said, turning away from the window, "take a letter."

By the time they reached the crater, there were at least 20 ponies gathered around it. Sky was surprised by how many colors and sizes everypony came in. as the group approached, there were stifled gasps throughout the crowd at the sight of the young Alicorn.

"Well," Pinkie smiled, "here it is!" the others just stood, amazed at the sheer size of the crater. Eight ponies could have stood side-by-side inside of it. Slowly (and rather clumsily), Sky worked her way down towards the center. She pawed at the ground. Noticing a pony-shaped imprint, she walked closer; the imprint of a horn and wings? She HAD fallen… but why, and how? Frustrated at her amnesia, she scraped dirt over the imprint and walked back to Pinkie and Fluttershy, with every eye still on her. Sky then noticed that a few ponies were missing. "Where's Applejack and Rarity?"

Fluttershy pointed to the left, where what appeared to be a forest of apple trees could be seen in the distance. "Applejack had to go back to her family's farm, Sweet Apple Acres," she explained, then pointed back towards Ponyville and said "and, Rarity mentioned something about new dress design ideas, and went back to her dress shop, Carousel Boutique." Sky nodded.

"Wait," she said, looking around and noticing that only 6 or 7 ponies remained, "where…?" Pinkie looked, too. "Oh, I guess everypony went home!" she said cheerfully, not noticing the strange face that Sky made in response to the word "everypony".

The remaining bystanders left, leaving Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Sky alone, save for a chestnut colt and grey Pegasus who were holding a quiet conversation a few yards away. The colt kept looking at Sky, and she got nervous. "U-umm, I think I'll go see Twilight again…" she said, trying not to look at the male Earth Pony. "I-I want to see her library–" Suddenly, a rainbow-colored blur flew overhead, obliterating clouds as it flew through them. Pinkie jumped up and down in excitement.

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash!" she yelled. "Show those clouds who's boss!" They watched as Rainbow flew in diagonals all over the sky, back and forth. As they watched, Sky's smile slowly grew wider, and her wings slowly opened. Fluttershy noticed and smiled. "I understand," she said, startling Sky and Pinkie. She pointed at Sky's open wings, "watching Rainbow Dash can make you want to go for a fly It's very exciting," she said, opening her own wings for emphasis.

Sky looked at her wings, confused. "How…?" She hadn't realized that they were open until Fluttershy had pointed it out. She adjusted her footing and shook her shoulders, trying to…

"Yes!" she said triumphantly when she managed to move her wings on her own. She opened and closed them, flexing to get a feel for their strength. After a few minutes of practice, she took off, leaving Pinkie and Fluttershy on the ground.

They "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed as Sky slowly yet gracefully dodged around a few lower clouds. She laughed at the feeling that being in the air gave her… she felt weightless, like a feather…

Pinkie and Fluttershy's distressed cries broke Sky out of her trance; she had been so lost in her imagination, she hadn't realized that she'd stopped flapping her wings and had fallen quite a few feet. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and landed by her two friends.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said, embarrassed. "I guess I got lost in my head…" Pinkie smiled, "oh, that's okay! I lose my head all the time!" Sky opened her mouth to reply, but decided against it.

"You said you were going to see Twilight again, right?" Fluttershy asked. "I can take you there, if you'd like."

"No, that's okay, "Sky said. "I'm pretty sure I remember how to get back. Thanks anyway!" She turned and started making her way back to Ponyville. Fluttershy and Pinkie bid each other goodbye and left, too.

As soon as they were gone, the remaining colt and Pegasus made their way to the center of the crater. Without exchanging words, they nodded to each other and ran after Sky

It took Sky the better part of an hour to admit to herself that she was lost. The small town was actually pretty big. And it didn't help that the only view she'd gotten of Twilight's library was of the interior. Not to mention that she'd been taking alleys all over town to avoid being stared at.

She was walking down one now, getting scared and depressed. Sure, being in an alley had helped her remember something (where she came from, WHEREVER it was, she lived by herself on the streets), but that had been at least 40 minutes ago. Now, she was hungry, terrified, and alone.

"Um, hello?"

Sky jumped when she heard a voice above her. She looked up; it was the grey Pegasus she'd seen near the crater outside town. Her mane and tail were a light yellow, and her flank was adorned with bubbles. "Are you okay? You look lost." Sky was surprised: the mare's eyes didn't seem to align correctly. Not wanting to seem rude, Sky looked away before she started to stare.

"Oh, u-um, well, y'see, I-I…" Sky hung her head in embarrassment. "…yes," she admitted. The Pegasus landed in front of her.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," she smiled. "I mean, you're new, right?" so it's okay to admit being lost. I'm Ditzy; Ditzy Doo."

"And I'm the Doctor." Sky turned around in surprise, and saw the chestnut colt from earlier come up behind her. His mane and tail were a dark brown, almost black, and rather spiky, his tail was shorter, too.

"…doctor of what?" Sky asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion.

"Just, the Doctor," he smiled. As he walked past her to stand next to Ditzy, Sky noticed that his flank showed an hourglass.

"Um, i-if you don't mind me asking," she said quietly, "why does everyone have pictures on their, uh, b-backsides?" she looked to the side, embarrassed at her choice of words. The Doctor smiled almost knowingly, but Ditzy looked confused.

"…you mean, our Cutie Marks?" she said. "You don't know what they are? You have one, too, you know!"

"What?" Sky immediately tried to turn around and see it, but her wings were in the way. She opened them, and finally caught a glimpse; her "Cutie Mark" appeared to be a red throwing star, similar to the items that ninjas were known to use.

"…huh," She said, sitting on the ground, seeming to be in deep concentration. The Doctor smiled again, a look of understanding on his face.

"Might I ask where you're from?" he said, looking at Sky with that same wise, calm grin. It made her feel comfortable, for some reason; she felt at home, and his accent was vaguely familiar, though she couldn't put her hoof on where she'd heard something like it before. She told them everything she knew: her name, that she fell from the sky, and of her amnesia about everything else. Ditzy and the Doctor shared strange looks, and muttered to each other about something that Sky couldn't quite hear.

"You're rather… talkative," the Doctor finally said, addressing Sky once again. The young Alicorn blushed.

"O-oh, well, in all honesty, Mr. Doctor, sir… something about you makes me feel really calm. Once I started talking, I couldn't think of a reason to stop," she looked downward, her face red.

"Ah, I see," the colt nodded, seeming to understand what Sky meant. "Well, I'm flattered."

"You said you were lost, right?" Ditzy said, addressing Sky. She nodded.

"I've been trying to find my way back to Twilight Sparkle's library," she said.

"Oh," Ditzy said, opening her wings but staying on the ground. "No wonder you're lost. The library's on the other side of Ponyville. We'll take you there," she smiled warmly, and Sky couldn't stop herself from smiling back. But, when the Earth Pony and Pegasus turned to leave the alley, Sky took a step back.

"O-Oh, umm…" she stuttered nervously, lowering her ears in discomfort. "I-I don't…" Ditzy looked at her in confusion, but the Doctor smiled; that same kind, understanding smile.

"I get it," he said. "You don't like being stared at, right?" Sky nodded, embarrassed. "Well, that's okay!" We'll be with you the entire time, okay?" Sky hesitated, before nodding slightly and walking over until she was between the two.

Twilight was rearranging some of her books when she heard voices approaching. Curious, she opened her front door and stepped outside.

Sky was walking over, talking and laughing with Ditzy and the Doctor, and had a big smile on her face. Twilight smiled, too; it was nice to see the young, insecure mare from earlier looking so happy and comfortable.

As they approached, Twilight called out in greeting. "Hi, Sky! And, it's nice to see you two again," she said, addressing the two Ponyvillians, "Doctor Whooves, Derpy."

They nodded, and Sky looked on, confused. "But, I though…" she said.

"Nicknames," the Doctor whispered to her, and she nodded in understanding, stepping forward.

"Sorry I was gone so long," she said, looking at Twilight. "I got lost on the way back."

"That's okay," Twilight said, nodding. "I have great news! Come inside!" They both bid the Earth Pony and Pegasus goodbye and entered the library.

Twilight walked towards the center of the room and turned back to look at Sky. "First order of business," the unicorn said, matter-of-factly, "since your memory's gone, I've arranged to have you stay here with me until you get it back." Sky beamed.

"Really?" she said, excited. "Thank you so much Miss Twilight!"

Twilight laughed, "Second and final order of business:" Sky quieted down to hear what else Twilight had to say. "I mentioned to you earlier that you're an Alicorn; well, there are only two other known Alicorns in Equestria right now and have arranged for you to meet them tomorrow: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

Sky sat in the extra bed Twilight had set up for her. She knew it was late (Spike and Twilight had fallen asleep hours ago), but the purple unicorn's words wouldn't stop ringing in her ears. Seeing princesses? On only her second day in Ponyville (as far as she knew)? Either Twilight was a great friend, or being an Alicorn really WAS something special. As she yawned and finally laid down, her final thoughts before drifting off to sleep were spent wondering what made her so different.

She was dreaming. There was no other explanation.

Sky looked around; there was nothing but pure white surrounding her, and yet she was standing on something solid.

That was another sign that this was a dream: she was standing on her back legs. She couldn't feel a horn on her head or wings on her back; not to mention that it felt like her front hooves were actually hands. When she tried to look at her body, however, all she could see was white surrounded by a black outline around the outside.

With nothing better to do, sky decided to walk through the nothingness around her until morning. After a few minutes, she noticed that she'd started to walk on grass, and that there was blue sky above her and on the horizon. Getting excited, and assuming that you can't get exhausted in a dream, Sky started to run. As she did, she started seeing trees and rocks pass her, and she smiled; she thought she'd seen a pond a ways back, too.

After running for a short while, she stopped when she came across a large clearing. Sky stared, confused; in the center, there appeared to be a large red armchair and a television displaying static but making no noise. As she approached the chair, she noticed that someone was sitting in it. She was unable to make out a distinguishable figure, however, since whatever it was ALSO seemed to be made of white with a black outline; whatever it was, though, it was very tall and skinny. She tried to say hello, but no sound came out of her mouth.

Suddenly, the television screen went black, and the mysterious figure turned to look at her, causing Sky to flinch. Even though she couldn't make out any physical features, she had a sneaking suspicion that the Thing was smiling. A loud, raspy voice rang in her ears. "Well, you finally made it!" the voice said, as Sky guessed that it was the Thing's voice she was hearing.

"You were taking so long, I was starting to think you'd gotten lost." It rose what Sky assumed were its hands and gestured to the scenery around them. "Glorious isn't it?" the Thing asked. "Welcome to the World between Worlds; this is your unconscious!"

Startled by the statement, Sky looked around once more. Here "unconscious"? But, how was that possible? It didn't make sense!

"Sense?" The Thing responded to her thoughts, as it seemed to smile wider and said, "What fun is there in making sense?"

Before Sky could determine quite what It mean, she felt herself start to slowly rise upward. Confused and scared, she looked at the Thing for an answer, but discovered hat not only was It gone, but the chair and television were as well. As she began to pick up speed and lost sight of the clearing below her, she heard the Thing address her one last time. "It's too bad you took so long to get here. We didn't have much of a chance to talk. Oh well; you'll meet me again soon enough! Until then, I bid you adieu, Sky!"

The Alicorn woke up on the floor, entangled in her blanket.

[A/N: Hi guys! I'm glad you've liked my story enough so far. Sorry that this chapter is a bit short; I'd planned to add more, but I felt like it was good to end it where it's at.

The plot thickens, eh?]