I slowly started to wake up to the sounds of chattering and beeping, the light seeping through my eyelids. I gave a small groan as I felt my body starting to wake up as well, the pain from the fight somehow numbed. As I groaned, I heard the talking suddenly stop and I felt as if everyone in the room was now looking at me in surprise.

When I first opened my eyes, the light just blinded me, making me give a small groan in pain, shutting my eyes as quick as I opened them. My eyes closed, I started to rise to a sitting position, but a sudden searing pain shot through my left shoulder. That and the feeling of something hard being gently placed on my good shoulder and forcing me back to the bed.

“Easy there, the doctor says that you need to rest for the next few days, otherwise you might reopen your wounds.” Said someone. By the sound of it, it sounded like a female, though it was different from Trixie’s voice.

I gave another small groan as I turned my head to the voice, my eyes just opened a crack as I got used to the light. “How…h-how bad is it?”

This time, it was a male voice that responded. “Well, we were able to remove the Basilisk poison from your system, though you were supposed to be unconscious for a few days at least.”

“How…long?” I asked, my eyes opening a little bit more. I was starting to see some shapes now, and two of them stood out. The first one was a large white blob, while the second one was an orange like color with some white in the middle.

“Well, let’s see…you came in around 8:40 PM, so…about fifteen hours.” Said the male voice in a casual tone.

Now my eyes snapped open at this, adjusted enough to the light to be able to see properly, and while I was shocked by what I saw, I couldn’t say that I was surprised with everything that has happened to me.

I was indeed in a hospital room, complete with…medical things. I wasn’t sure what the names of these things were; all I knew was that the large beeping one was a bit annoying. In the room with me were two…ponies, I think, though they were a lot different from Trixie. The first one was a female, and she was white with a pink mane. She had her mane done up in a bun and a nurse hat on. She was currently sitting next to me, most likely making sure I was staying in my bed. The other pony was an orange male with a brown mane, and he also had a horn on his head. He was also wearing a white coat and he was standing in front of my bed, currently keeping a close eye on me, though rather in mistrust or concern, I was unsure.

I tried to get up into a sitting position once again, but the pony that was sitting next to me placed her hoof back on my uninjured shoulder and gently but firmly forced me to lay back down on the bed. “Please refrain from getting up or moving too much sir, otherwise you may reopen your wounds” She said in a concerned tone.

I looked back at her for bit, and the moment I made eye contact with her, I had the sudden urge to look away and not really having the energy to do otherwise, I did just that, focusing my eyes back to the male pony ahead of me, though not making eye contact with him either.

I began to slow my breathing down as I realized that my heart was beating really fast, and after a few moments, I was able to calm myself down a bit, though I still felt anxious about the whole situation.

“Fifteen…hours? “ I asked rather stupidly, to which the orange unicorn nodded.

“Yes, fifteen hours, and you where in critical condition for about nine of those as well. Like I said, you were suppose to be out for another few days, but to be honest, you weren’t supposed to wake up at all. I’ve never had anypony survive with the amount of Basilisk venom that was in your system, let alone for how long it was in there.”

I blinked a few times as if to clear my thoughts, and then I felt a sudden aching in my head as I remembered what happened while I was unconscious. I gritted my teeth as I placed a hand on my forehead, clenching my eyes shut.

The nurse…at least I assumed she was a nurse…was quick to react to my sudden pain, quickly standing up from where she was sitting. “Are you ok? What’s hurting?”

“My…my head. It just…it just started aching out of nowhere.” I replied.

“Nurse Redheart, go get some of the painkillers in the top shelf. Judging on how he reacted to the previous medicine, I think this would be able to help-” The pony that I assumed was the doctor began to reply before I waved a hand to him.

“No…no it’s fine. It’s starting to go away now.” I said. The pain was indeed subsiding, almost as suddenly as it came and I was able to think a bit more clearly once the pain was gone. Once it was gone and I was thinking easier, I then remember the other pony that was with me, causing me to once again sit up in worry.

However, the white pony, Nurse Redheart, was quick to react once again, placing her hoof back on my right shoulder and forcing me down. “Please, just stay still sir. We don’t want you to lose any more blood as it is.” She said, her look of concern deepening.

“W-where…where’s Trixie? I…all I remember was carrying her from the forest, and then I started to cough up blood. The next thing I know, I…I was here.” I asked, still trying to get up from the bed, though I couldn’t put much effort into it due to my injuries.

The doctor gave a small smile at this before pointing with his hoof to the left of me. “Don’t worry, she’s fine and sleeping over there for now. The worse that happened to her was a cracked rib and broken foreleg. Overall, she got lucky to even get away with just broken bones from a Basilisk attack.” He replied. I turned to look where he was pointing and sure enough, there was Trixie, sound asleep in another hospital bed just a few feet away from me, her right foreleg in a cast and her chest wound up in a few bandages. Seeing the bandages on the azure mare made me remember my own wounds, and curious, I carefully moved the blanket off of me to see the damage.

When I saw it, my breath was nearly taken away from me from shear surprise. My entire upper left chest and shoulder was completely bandaged, along with some more bandages along my chest. There was also a bandage around the cut on my stomach as well, and I could see a bit of dried blood on the white cloth.

“Don’t worry, like Doctor Stables said, you should be fine. Of course, the wounds will still leave some scars. Our magic can’t fix everything yet.” I turned to face the white pony who said that. She was smiling at me a bit, and I could sense a faint, caring aura around her. I also felt rather surprised about them fixing me up, and with no worry about my different species or anything.

“Um…t-thank…thank you very much. I…I don’t know what to say.” I said, rubbing the back of my head with my good hand, a sheepish smile on my face.

The nurse continued to smile. “Oh, think nothing of it, we were just doing our job. And please, call me Redheart.” She said.

“Ok then…Redheart it is.” I said, still giving her a small smile. I then remembered an important detail and turning to face the doctor, I asked, “Wait, how did we get here? Like I said, I fell unconscious outside in the snow.”

“Well, luckily for you, you guys were right outside of the library, and Twilight was able to help the both of you get over here. She has actually been coming over periodically to check in on you two, though mostly you, most likely wanting to talk to you when she got the chance.” Said the doctor.

I was quiet as I absorbed the information for a few seconds, and then I finally gave a small nod. “Well, tell her thank you for saving me and Trixie.” I said.

“Well, you can tell her yourself if you want to. She’s waiting outside at the moment.” Said Redheart, causing both her and Dr. Stables to chuckle a little. I raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, but other then that, I said nothing.

“Anyways, would you like to see her now? If not, then I can tell her to come at another time.” Asked Stables.

I was quiet for a while as I thought it over. “Well…I guess it’s ok for now. Yea, you can let her see me.” Stables nodded and then motioning to the nurse, they both exited the room, leaving me alone with only the sleeping Trixie as company.

I looked around a bit as I waited for this Twilight to come in, and as I was looking around, I saw that there was a glass of water sitting next to me on the counter, and feeling rather thirsty, I quickly picked it up and downed it in a few gulps, quite a bit of it splashing across my face.

I took a few deep breaths once I finished drinking, and I could feel myself already starting to feel a bit stronger from the water. It was then that I heard the door slowly open, and looking at it, I saw another pony enter the room, closing the door behind her.

When she turned to face me, I took a quick look at her, examining as much detail as I could. She was a unicorn, purple coat and a darker purple mane with some purple and pink highlights in it. I took a quick glance at her eyes, but once again I felt that strange uncomforting feeling from it, causing me to look away from them.

She simply stared at me for a little while, as if unsure what to do at the moment. After a few seconds, she seemed to remember where she was and clearing her throat, she approached the end of the bed, a somewhat nervous smile on her face.

“Um…hi. So…you’re feeling better, I’m assuming?” She asked. I just simply nodded, not sure what to really say at this point. Once again, silence fell across the room, only broken by the soft snoring of Trixie.

Finally, clearing my throat, I decided to say something to break the silence. “So…you’re Twilight I’m assuming?”

She nods. “Yes, my name is Twilight Sparkle, star student of Princess Celestia who is the co-ruler of the country Equestria, which happens to be where we are right now. Well, Ponyville, to be exact.” She said, seeming to lose a bit of her nervousness.

“Well, I guess I should thank you then, for if you didn’t bring me to the hospital, I would most likely be dead, along with my…uh, companion here.” I thanked, motioning to Trixie when I mentioned her.

“Oh, it was no big deal, I mean, anypony would have done it really. I’m just more surprised that there was a Basilisk this close to the town.”

“Yea, well I was surprised just to wake up and find myself in a place where this all exists when it shouldn’t…at least, I don’t think it should.”

Twilight cocked her head at this. “What do you mean, you don’t think? Don’t you have ponies and Basilisks where you come from?”

I paused for a moment as I thought. “Well…yes…no…maybe? I…I actually don’t know. Hell, I could belong in this world, yet I have no memory of…of anything.” I said, a slightly sad look on my face. I lowered my gaze at this, still trying to cope with my sudden amnesia. A few moments later, I felt someone place a gentle hoof on my good shoulder, and looking up, I saw that Twilight was giving me a small, comforting smile.

“Hey, listen. I’m no Fluttershy, but…well, I can still try my best to make you feel better. I bet that I could find a spell somewhere in my library to help you out with your memory problem. We just got to look for it.” She said, her smile never wavering.

I blinked in slight surprise at her unexpected kindness, not sure what to say. “I…y-you don’t have to do that, honestly. I…I’m sure it will just come back eventually…I…I hope.” I said, trying to put on a strong face and failing at it.

We were both silent for a moment, neither of us saying anything, when suddenly Twilight wraps me up in a gentle hug, her hooves wrapped around my shoulders, making sure to keep pressure off of the bad one. I froze up at this, not expecting this kind of affection so soon from a nearly complete stranger…or ever, honestly, yet here I was, getting a hug from my savior. Very slowly, I felt my right arm slowly lift up from my bed and drape itself around the purple unicorn’s back, hugging her back. We stayed there for a few minutes, neither of us saying anything for the whole time. As we hugged each other, I started to repeat the word that I heard in my dream over and over in my head before I started to whisper it to myself.

“Drakalian…Drakalian…Drakalian…” I whispered in a very low voice, trying to figure out what it could mean. Even though I whispered it, Twilight was still able to hear me.

“Drakalian? What’s…what’s that?” She asked, parting from the hug and getting herself a seat to sit next to me.

“I…I’m not really sure. I just…I heard that called out when I was sleeping. I…I’m not sure what it is exactly though…” I sighed, rubbing my temple to try and remember what that word meant to me.

“Maybe a name?” The unicorn pondered, tapping her chin with a hoof in thought.

I nod in agreement. “Yea…that was my first guess, but…whose name?”

“I think it’s yours.” Said a familiar voice, and turning to face the other side of me, I noticed that Trixie had woken up a while ago and was now leaning on her side facing me, a small, tired look on her face. When she looked at Twilight, she seemed to gain an annoyed look, but it vanished as soon as it appeared.

“Hey Trixie. You feeling any better?” I asked.

The azure mare took a breath, wincing from the pain. “I’m fine…somewhat, though my pride is severely hurt.”

I raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. “Why is your pride hurt?”

Before Trixie could answer, Twilight interrupted. “That would be my fault, I think.”

I was about to ask her why, but then I was interrupted again, this time by Trixie. “Can we just change the topic please? Trixie doesn’t want to explain things to something that thinks he’s from a myth.”

I let out a small sigh of disappointment. “Look, I am a human, I know I’m a human. It’s one of the few things that I actually know. And what happened to before we came here? You said that you believed me after the fight with that serpent, yet now you don’t?” I said, starting to get irritated.

“Look, let’s not argue please. I just came here to check on him and make sure he’s ok.” Said the purple pony before she turned to face me, an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry about that, I hope she didn’t upset you when you met her.”

I was quiet for a few seconds before I shook my head. “Actually, quite the opposite. She was…well, she was rather nice to me…in a sense.” I said. This caused Twilight to give me a slightly confused look, and Trixie gave me a slight surprised look, but she didn’t seem that disappointed.

“She was? Oh…w-well, ok then.” Twilight then fell silent, a slightly embarrassed look on her face. We were all silent after that, then the purple unicorn turned to face Trixie and asked, “Wait, why do you think it’s his name?”

Trixie gave a somewhat smug look, seeming to be happy that she knew something of importance. “Well, when somepony gains amnesia, one of the first things that they remember is their name, especially if the memory loss is magically induced.” She said.

Twilight thought about this for a moment before replying. “Well...that’s only a majority for the cases. In reality, it could mean anything, or even somepony else’s name, so I don’t think we should-”

“Actually, I…I would like it as my name. At least for now, if that’s ok?” I asked, causing both of the ponies to face me.

Twilight gave me a somewhat surprised look. “Really? I mean, you can if you want to, but don’t you want to make sure that it’s your name before you decide?”

“Honestly…not really.” I replied before I lowered my gaze to my hands that were on my lap. “The thought of not knowing who I was…it just made me feel…empty, like I was nothing. Now that I have a name, even if it isn’t my own, I feel…a bit more complete, like a piece of me was just found.” I then fell silent for a few seconds before I looked back up, a small smile on my face. “And hey, if it isn’t my real name, then we can always change it.”

Twilight was quiet as she listened to me, a look of thoughtfulness on her face. “Oh…well, I guess that works. So, Drakalian is what we will call you.” She said, returning the smile. I continued to smile, glad to have at least some part of me back, even if it might not be real. “Well anyways, I do have to go now, got to send a letter to the Princess about your health. I’ll come back later to talk to you some more. You ok with that?”

I was quiet for a few moments, and then I gave a small shrug, making sure not to move my bad shoulder too much. “Yea sounds good to me. Not like I’m going anywhere any time soon.” I said, giving a small chuckle and wincing from the effort.

Twilight gave a smile. “Great! Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” With that, she turned around and began to leave the room. Just as she was going to close the door, she turned her head and said, “By the way, I think you should get some sleep. You know, get some strength and such. Nurse Redheart will bring you some food later.”

I nod, and as soon as she closed the door, I turned to face Trixie, wanting to talk to her a bit before I went to sleep. “So Trixie, what can you tell me about…um…” The words just died in my mouth as I noticed she was facing away from me, and judging by the motions of her breathing, she seemed to be asleep. I gave a small sigh, kind of wanting to know what this place was about and then I shuffled myself around a bit to get myself comfortable, pulling the sheets over my shoulders. Once I was comfortable, I slowly closed my eyes, hoping to have a peaceful sleep.

(Dream World)

Everything was dark, a void of nothingness in the land. The only source of light was the small dots in the sky, each one flickering on and off, some going out while others were turned on. This was the Dream World, the place where all dreams gather, and where the Princess of the Night was currently finishing her watch.

Luna looked all around her, admiring the Dream World that she looked over. She was happy that she and her sister were reunited and even though the majority of the ponies didn’t admire her night’s work, she was a little happy to at least be able to see her subject’s dreams, making sure that they all slept happy through out the night.

The dark Alicorn squinted her eyes a little, noticing something strange. There seemed to be a new spark in the veil and judging by the position of it, the dreamer was in Ponyville. Curious, Luna spread her wings and with a few flaps, she was soon flying towards this strange light. As she got closer, a strange sense of déjà vu wafted over her, like she did this before…or that she been here before.

Shaking her head to clear it, she focused on the new dreamer’s dream and, once she was close enough, she closed her eyes and lit up her horn. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a dark void, similar to the dream world that she looked over, except this one was more…empty then her dream realm.

Luna, even more curious now, started to look all over the place, searching for some clue as to who the dreamer was, but after a few minutes of searching, she ended up finding nothing. The place was too dark, and for some reason it didn’t react to her own magic, as if whoever was dreaming had nothing to dream about…like they were a blank canvas, waiting for an artist, yet preventing said artist from panting on it as well.

Letting out a sigh, Luna spread her wings and prepared to leave, but just as she lit her horn, she caught the faintest sound. Surprised but glad to have found something to focus on, she used her magic to amplify the sound, but what she got in return was something that she would have never expected.

“Drakalian!”

It was a name, but not just any name. This name was…familiar to her. It brought her back to a time when there was no Equestria, no harmony, no Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. It was a time that only the two royal sisters remembered…one that they wish they could forget.

All of these thoughts went through her mind the instant she heard that name, causing her to open her eyes and sit up. She was a bit confused as to why she was sitting up before she realized the shock of what happened awoke her from her dreaming, bringing her back to her bed chambers.

“No…it can’t be.” Luna murmured to herself, her eyes still wide with surprise. “It…it can’t be him.” She then quickly got out of her bed and approached her balcony, looking out into the landscape. She could see far off in the distance of Ponyville, the place where the dreamer was.

‘He’s supposed to be dead; nothing could have survived that blast. But that dream…that name…if it is him…’

“I must tell my sister.” She, said, spreading her wings and then leaping off of the balcony, flying towards the chambers of her sister, the Princess of the Day: Princess Celestia.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4: Recovering Information Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 57 Minutes