Pain.
That was the first thought to enter my head. A single aimalistic emotion was running rampant through my mind, screaming at me to make it stop.
When I finally fully awoke, the pain had lessened to a dull roar, though occasionally a burst shot from my side to my brain, like I was being shocked. It was dark; my first assumption was that it was at least ten. Or you could have just found your way into a cave again, I thought dryly. But... why had I thought that? Nopony just finds their way into a cave and forgets how it happened. I'm such a moron, I thought, mentally scolding myself.
I couldn't remember much of anything that had happened previously. But a strange little voice at the back of my mind told me that it wasn't at all strange for me to wake up in an unfamiliar place.
I sat up from where I was, allowing yet another short burst of pain to escape from my right side. I blinked rapidly, trying to allow just a little light into my eyes. I was in a soft bed, in a small room quaintly decorated with flowers and animals and such. The carvings in the corners were quite ornate, and the colors were... almost neon bright. There was a thick chest in the left-hand corner of the room, along with a candle lamp on the bedside tabl-
Urgh. Another wave flew through my body. My side was throbbing. I looked down at my abdomen, and saw my stomach wrapped neatly and cleanly with medical gauze, along with a faux-sling made of gauze that went onto my right shoulder.
Drowsily, I reached for the candle lamp - but leaning to the left put too much weight on my injured muscles. I fell forwards, onto the bed, thankfully, but the lamp fell to the floor. I winced as I heard the glass case around the lamp shatter. I didn't need to see to know that it was ruined... I hoped my host wouldn't be too angry.
As the lamp broke, I heard a shrill yelp that sounded like it was directly adjacent to me. This frightened me, and I whipped my head quickly from left to right. The pony that made that sound wasn't in the room with me; that was one thing to be glad for.
However, I did hear somepony disctinctly open and close a door, and trotting quickly to the room I was in. It sounded like the pony was in the next room, the one to my back. I looked hurriedly to my right, and saw the heavy-looking wooden door swing rather quickly open, and a yellow pegasus, feathers aflutter, trotted quickly into the doorway (if only just). She stopped as soon as her gaze met mine.
Her form was defined by the moonlight; her sleek, lean body, her small, gentle wings, and the features of her smooth, pale yellow face that were outlined softly by the whitish-blue light entering through the window. Every few seconds, a shadow cast by the window curtains would pass across her face. She was smaller than me, definitely - by almost two inches. She looked fragile and helpless, the way she reeled away from me demurely.
Was there something wrong with me? Should I be here? I tried to remedy the situation the best way I knew how: through words. "I-I'm so sorry, ma'am, I don't even know h-"
I tried to exit the bed, but the sheets wouldn't allow me. I kicked, and my back leg was caught momentarily in the covers. I fell to the wooden floor headfirst with a sickening 'thud'. Unbearable agony was released from my wound.
"AAAAGH!" I cried, biting my tongue as to discourage further shouting. I shuddered, but the pain was too much. I shouted again in malady.
The small yellow mare rushed over to me, all previous diffidence gone. She moved my head and positioned my body on the ground, so as to avoid putting me in more pain. She grabbed a pillow and threw it under my head. She must have felt a warm spot, because she lifted her hoof to the light. It shone red.
"Oh Celestia, now you're bleeding again. Stay here, I'll go get the gauze." She turned and galloped out of the room, leaving me bleeding on the floor. Now, when you're in pain like I was, you don't have much time to think. I could really comprehend what had just happened... it felt like my insides were spilling out. Or on fire. Or both.
She returned soon, holding a roll of medical gauze in her mouth. She moved down to my midsection and began unwrapping me, placing the bloodstained gauze on the floor next to her. She worked in silence, except for my breathing and groaning. When she said, "Oh, no, you've broken your stitches," though, I began to panic.
"Calm down," she said, laying a gentle hoof on my rapidly rising and falling chest and smiling. "I know how to do this."
Talk about bedside manner. Her voice alone calmed me down. Such a gentle tone. She opened the drawer in the bedside table next to me and pulled out a red medical bag. Why didn't she use - why did she have to go g - why did she put a medical -
She pulled out a wrapped syringe and unwrapped it slowly with her hooves. It was sterile, after all. Before I knew what was happening, the needle, followed by four others, were in and out. I couldn't feel much other than my skin being open, so I paid them no mind. Then, she waited for maybe thirty seconds (seemed to me like hours) and pulled out a hooked needle and plastic thread.
She continued to work silently, like an absolute expert. I'm sure, whatever happened, I was lucky to have somepony find me with my wound who knew... medical things. I'm glad it wasn't just, like, a farmer or an artist or something.
She was finished quickly, and began to regauze me slowly. The pain had stopped with the shots, but I was still sweating and clammy, not to mention unsure of what to say. I might have bled out before this amazing mare had come to the rescue. I felt my eyelids closing slowly as I was picked up (with difficulty) and placed into bed. I would need to thank her profusely.
"Wait," I said as the mare turned to leave. "can you tell me your name, so Ican dream about you tonight?" It was a lame pickup line, but at least I came up with it myself.
She blushed. I could even see it in the dark. Woah, wait... this young Pegasus stitched me up in the DARK? I just caught that -- that - that's amazing!
Anyway, she muttered something in response. I leaned forwards as well as i could with my wound.
"One more time, please?"
"It's, um... it's Fluttershy."
"Thanks, Fluttershy," I said, yawning. "Thank you so much."
Every ounce of adrenaline that came with my pain left. And as she smiled gently and turned to leave, only one thought passed through my mind.
That was one sexy mare.

The sunrise is beautiful... in fact, I consider the sunrise to be one of the most beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand. I woke up to it this morning, and it blessed my day with a huge bout of confidence and joy.
Although a strange, nagging pain in my side inhibited these emotions ever so slightly, I was glad to see myself in a soft, warm little bed in a cutely-decorated room. At least I haven't found my way into a cave again, I thought, smiling. I wonder why I thought that.
I coughed, and rubbed my eyes with my right hoof, clearing my vision for the bright day ahead. The room I was in was totally silent, although I could hear a little birdsong from the window as all my feathered friends awoke from their sleep. The only other noise I heard was a slight shuffling far from the door.
But the smell! There was an intense aroma of... breakfast. Whatever was being baked, be it crêpes, flapjacks, or pancakes, I wanted a piece of it.
I clambered out of the bed, landing just right on my hooves, and trotted ramblingly out the half-open wooden door to my right. I felt a pressure on my midsection, and looked down at it. I was wrapped like a Christmas present, nice and tight, with medical gauze. That was rather confusing, I was pretty happy; I couldn't care less.
Walking cheerfully down the stairs, I found, to my surprise, a yellow pegasus pony standing in front of the small skillet. It was pancakes; one point for me.
She happened to notice me. "Oh... hello," she said softly, almost timidly. "You're up."
"I am," I said, smiling broadly back at her from the middle of the steps. She flushed pink (about the same shade as her mane), and turned her head back to the skillet.
"Where am I, perchance?" I asked, walking down to the base of the stairs. I may have found this an odd question to ask on a regular basis, but - there happened to be a small voice at the back of my mind assuring me that this was less strange than I thought it was.
"Oh, um..." she began, turning her head upwards in thought. "well, you're at my cottage. It - well - it doesn't really have a name." She turned back to me. "Why? I mean, um, it... you don't have to answer..." she added bashfully.
"I woke up this morning with a bit of a headache and a pain in my side, without the slightest idea as to where I was." I grinned. "I just wanted to make sure you hadn't stolen any of my internal organs."
She smiled, and turned back to the grill, hiding her face behind her draping mane.
I approached the door, and opened it, ready to leave. Oh, wait, I forgot: "Thank you for your hospitality," I tuned to the small yellow mare. "It's greatly appreciated."
"Wait!" the pegasus shouted after me. I stopped, and turned back. "Um... if you want to stay, that would... I mean, you could..."
A smile found its way back onto my face. "Thank you, my dear, but I'm afraid I should leave."
"Do - um... do you have to go, though? I mean, I just made... um..."
I sighed playfully. "Well, I suppose, if I must..." I trailed off, walking towards the table. The small mare smiled softly again and turned once more to the skillet.
Once I approached the little wooden dining table, though, I really noticed how small she was... or how big I was in comparison. I mean, I had always been taller than the other fillies in school... but I was almost two inches taller than this pony, fully-grown like myself.
I sat myself down at the table. I couldn't help but think that it was a bit rude to take an advantage of another pony's hospitality like that; but hey, she offered. I looked over to the mare, who had just moved the four pancakes to a small plate, and was bringing them over to the table cheerily.
"Now remember, please, don't eat too much. You still have stitches, after all," she said to me kindly. Now, in all honesty, I had no idea what she was talking about, so I just nodded in agreement.
Apparently she could sense this. She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "You mean you don't remember?"
"No, I'm sorry... I don't remember much anything about... anything."
She looked surprised, and concerned. "Oh, my, I hope you don't have amnesia. That would take such a long time to fix..." She seemed to be taking to herself more than to me. "There would be psychological and physiological excersices... Anywhere from a week to a few months of training... and even then, you still might not retain all your memory."
She paused. "What's your name?" she asked me, tentatively.
"Dreamcatcher," I responded. I was slightly taken off-guard by the question, mainly because I hadn't thought much about my name until she asked. I actually just remembered it reflexively.
She shook her head. "I don't know what it is. I'm worrying too much." She looked back to me, and blinked twice, almost like she was clearing her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I don't know... why... I, um..." Her shy nature had returned.
I smiled. "I have a feeling that it'll all come back to me. Oh, by the way, what's your name, so that I can thank you more properly?" I added.
"You... um... oh," she said, confused. "I thought I told you before. I'm Fluttershy," she replied.
"Thanks, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy smiled again, hiding her face behind her mane. I guess that's why she grew it out.
We ate breakfast quickly, considering we were talking a lot of the time (well, mainly I was talking a lot of the time). I don't really remember the taste of the pancakes; I mean, they weren't, like, excellence embodied or anything. But I do remember a lot about Fluttershy.
She was rather thin, but well-proportioned.. like, she wasn't gangly-looking or anything. She looked like china, like if you touched her she would fall apart. I felt like I'd met her before somewhere... in a difficult situation. I remember us being friends... but when?
It wasn't love at first sight, but she wasn't somepony I couldn't imagine myself being with. It was like... the stage before a crush. I dunno. I just liked her.
Well, anyways, I finished first, and stood to excuse myself. I walked back towards the door.
Once more, I was stopped midstride by Fluttershy. "Are you sure you should leave? I mean, you do still have stitches... shouldn't you... stay in bed?" She flushed red. "I mean... resting?"
I smiled, but shook my head. "I don't want to impose on you any more than I have already. I should be going."
"But -"
"I'll tell you what, I'll visit back here in... say, a week. Is that alright?"
"... Okay."
"Thanks again for your hospitality. And for breakfast," I added, walking out the door. "See you next week!" the heavy wooden door closed behind me. I stood in the centre of a large stable-slash-farmyard-slash-animal pen. I looked to my left and right, and realized something: I had absolutely no idea where I was.
But, again, I heard a little voice in the back of my head insinuating that this isn't abnormal for me. So, I took off proudly down the centre path, knowing that whatever way I go will lead me somewhere new and fascinating.

It was quite a beautiful day indeed; I could hear all kinds of wildlife making their way through the forest to my left, and along my right was a clear, open plains with two rushing streams glinting in the middle of it. Across from this plains, incould see the silhouette of a little town in the distance.
I decided to stray off the path for a little while, and trotted cheerily onto the grass. It felt cool and calming beneath my hooves. I made my way over to the first of the sister streams, and carefully hopped over it. No problem. It didn't take me long to clear the second one, either. I began to feel a slight breeze, which dampened the effects of the sun on my back. Quite a beautiful day indeed.
The town was still in sight, and I could see little thatched cottages and townhomes, along with a gracious amount of ponies rambling along in the streets. It wasn't that little of a town after all... it was, in fact, rather an impressive size, especially considering it was in the middle of a great valley with the only water source being those two streams.
The plains ended abruptly, as I stepped hoof onto a tiled street, surrounded by conversing ponies on their ways to their next destinations. It made me smile; nothing was wrong or out-of-place. It was all right.
Now, I could vaguely remember a few things. I had been able to remember the town I'd grown up in easily - Saddlesburg, only thirteen thousand strides from Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. As I'd left Fluttershy's cottage, I'd even begun to remember a vacation that I had been on with my family to Surrania, another country just to the north of Equestria. It sure was cold there... I remember it bone-chillingly.
This town, though, gave me a few more blessed memories; the time I slipped and fell into a pond just outside of Saddlesburg... my graduation from upper school... even that time I threw an ice cream cone at my brother. Yes, I... I had had a brother. His name was... Thatcher? Tanner? I couldn't even remember my own brother's name.
I sighed, walking dejectedly further into the town. I gasped as another earth pony, about the same age as me, and a royal purple color, walked up alongside me and began a conversation.
"Hey, bro, what's got you down?" he asked me. I was shocked; he seemed genuinely concerned. That usually... ponies don't usually do that.
"I, um... I was just thinking," I replied, trying to retain a bit of joy from what I had lost with that thought.
"Well, you know, if there's anything that really worries you, you can talk to most anypony here. You seemed unfamiliar, so I came up to meet you." He held out his hoof. "My name's Blackberry. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, um, thanks," I replied, shaking his hoof weakly. "You know, right now's not the best time. I'm sort of... contemplating few things."
He smiled, and put up his front right hoof. "I get it. I'll leave you alone, but, yeah, you should one talk to me if you're feeling upset. I like making new friends, and people say I'm a good pony to lean on."
I didn't smile back. I don't know what put menin such a bad mood, but I didn't want to talk to anypony. It made me kind of upset that I just walk into a town and some random pony I don't know walks up to me and tries to start a conversation. I groaned audibly.
"Okay, well, um... see you later then? Maybe?" the purple pony asked tentatively.
"Yeah, maybe, I guess, then. Maybe," I muttered, walking away from him. I left him while he was waking over to somepony he knew to say hello. I obviously didn't lower his mood. What, did I not matter enough to pour a little emotion into? Jeez.
I walked agitatedly through the town, looking left and right to the 'nice little' shops and the 'quaint, pretty' cafés. It angered me to see everything else working so smoothly while I alone was suffering. My stupid head and me.
"Hi, sir, I -"
"Stop! God! Leave me alone!" I nearly shouted, whipping my head around at the offender. It was a mare, a little smaller than me, wearing a fold-out hat and a cotton shirt with a company logo on it. She was using her magic to hold up a clipboard and pen, and her mouth was open, having been stopped mid-sentence by me.
I didn't care. I walked away angrily, leaving a crowd of scoffing ponies and a fazed unicorn in my wake. I didn't make much of a scene, and it certainly hadn't carried to the other partnofntown right after it had happened. I still had to work my way through the crowds; nopony parted for me. I didn't get any special attention.
Well, I should have. I mean, I was taller than most of the other ponies, and I - you know - was angry. At things. I groaned again in frustation as I walked aimlessly around the village. What was I supposed to be doing? Where should I go?
I snorted and walked straight out of town, planning on returning to that one pony's house and demanding to know where I was.
Where was I?
Oh God, this is not good. I looked around me as by heart began beating quicker. I didn't remember where I was; I was just outside of a town, on a - a dirt road, and... I didn't know where I was! I began to sweat nervously. I turned on my heel and nearly galloped into the town, trying to -
Oh. I remember. I must have woken up in the town somewhere, and just forgot about it. A little voice in the back of my head told me that this wouldn't be that last time that would happen. Not in this lifetime. At least I woke up in a town this time and not in a cave. I scoffed at myself, walking slowly through the town. Who does that, anyways?
But me waking up in an inn or something doesn't explain much: like why was I bandaged? Where was I going when I left the town? I needed answers. I scanned the crowd for a familiar face, but I just couldn't pick one out of my memory.
I sighed, and turned back to walk out of the town once more. Maybe I would find my answers somewhere along this winding dirt road.