(Drakalian’s POV)

It has been four days since I was admitted into the hospital. I’ll admit, it was pretty boring, just lying there with nothing to do. Redheart would bring in some food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which was fruits, vegetables and some strange mixture of…something, I wasn’t sure what it was…nor did I want to know.

Thankfully, I wasn’t alone during my time here, though Trixie didn’t really talk much. Occasionally I was able to get a small conversation going with her, but as soon as we started talking about anything related to Ponyville or even about herself, she would become silent and turn around, saying that she was getting tired and needed to sleep.

Twilight came over for all of those days, and she was there for almost the entire visiting hours. She would have a quill and notebook with her and then ask me all sorts of questions such as what I am, what I did before, how I came here, and so on. Of course, the majority of those I wasn’t able to answer due to my memory loss, and even then I still doubt I would have been able to answer all of them anyways. There were still a few of them that I was able to answer, such as my new found name, species, gender and so on, but that was really the extant of my knowledge.

When she asked me about the weapons that I had, all I could do was give a small shrug and a smaller explanation to them. I only knew about the names and what one was supposed to do, thanks to some minor self-mind probing when I had some down time to myself, which was most of the time. The Sais were laying on my desk next to where I placed my water and I learned that the large stick that I had was a Bo staff, which was currently leaning against the wall next to the desk. That was all I was able to tell her about the weapons, much to her disappointment.

During the time, I also learned a bit about her as well as the place that I was at. Apparently she lived in the capitol of the country, Canterlot, for a while, studying under the Princess of the land, Princess Celestia. She then came here to Ponyville when the princess noticed that she was into her studies too much for her own good, neglecting her social life. During her time, she made friends, saved the country on several occasions, and became the town librarian, as well as the chief organizer of the town. It was quite the interesting story, I had to admit, though some of it was a bit confusing, especially when she talked about trying to figure what this certain pony’s twitches really meant…Pinkie Pie, I think she said her name was…before she gave up after…several incidences, one of them including a piano, which caused me to wince slightly.

There were some…interesting moments during our talks as well. I remember on the third day of Twilight’s visit, it was currently in the afternoon and I just finished my lunch when the purple unicorn entered my room, her quill and notebook in hand…er, magic, I guess. I was surprisingly calm for seeing the so called magic the first time she used it, however when I thought about it to myself, I remembered that if there was magic or not where I came from it wouldn’t have effected me as much since I didn’t remember anything about it. We were currently in the middle of talking about where I might have been before I appeared here when the topic of my clothing came in.

“So, I noticed that you were wearing clothing when we brought you in. Maybe you were at some sort of formal party or gathering? Though compared to the clothing that I see Rarity make, as well as the ones that they wear in Canterlot, it might not have been that formal.” She said, seeming to be talking to herself near the end.

I gave a small chuckle at this, realizing what she was thinking about. Twilight cocked her head in slight confusion, causing me to reply to my mirth. “Sorry, I’m just a bit happy to have something that I actually know the answer to. We humans always wear clothing in public, formal party to simply going out to eat or socialize. We don’t really have the natural feathers, scales or fur coats like you to keep us warm, so we rely on clothing to keep us warm. It’s also considered…indecent for us to walk around in the nude like you guys do.” I said, watching her write what I said down.

After a few seconds, she looked up with a curious look. “Indecent? But…but what makes walking around naked indecent? We ponies do it all the time, as well as other races in Equestria. Well, unless you’re going to a formal party like I said, or you live in one of the higher social centers of the country, like Canterlot, then they usually wear some sort of fancy clothing almost all the time.”

“Well, like I said, you guys have natural covering, while we humans don’t so…we’re kind of…exposed without our clothing, and it can be quite embarrassing to reveal ourselves like that in a public area the way you guys do.” I replied, hoping that she understood what I was implying, not wanting to be blunt with my answer.

Twilight stared at me for a few moments and then she slowly got up and walked to my side, a curious look still on her face. “So, what would happen if you were…say, suddenly exposed in a public setting?”

I raised an eyebrow, wondering where she was going with this. “Well, many things, though I can’t say for myself what I would do in a situation like that since I don’t even remember being in such a situation.” I said, being as honest as I could.

“Well, how about we find out?” She said, and then with a quick glow from her horn, my blanket was thrown off of me and onto the floor.

I stared at her in slight confusion for a few seconds, wondering what she meant by that. I mean, I was still wearing the shorts and boxers that I had, the only thing that the doctors and nurses took off was my hoodie, which was a complete wreck the last time I saw it and in serious need of some repairs. As I was thinking of this, however, I felt a sudden cool breeze go across my nether regions, causing me to look down. Once I did, my eyes widened in a mixture of shock, surprise and slight horror.

It turns out that they did take my shorts off…and my boxers, my entire body now bared to the room…and to the purple mare in front of me. Why I never noticed it in the few days that I was here, I would never know.

Twilight was simply staring at me for a few seconds, curious, waiting for some sort of reaction from me. When she saw me look down, she did too, and upon seeing my exposed member, her eyes widened and she blushed a very rosy red, her mouth slightly open in surprise. “Uh…i-is…is that…”

“The hell, Twilight!” I shouted, immediately covering myself up with whatever I could, which in this case was the pillow. I then took a quick glance at Trixie, hoping she didn’t see any of this. Thankfully, she seemed like she was still asleep and facing the other way, so I was safe in that regard at least. Of course, I was wondering if she saw me whenever I got up to get something or to go to the bathroom, but that wasn’t on my priority list right now. As I covered myself, I accidently moved my left shoulder too much, aggravating the wounds and stitching, causing me to give a small gasp of pain. I began to take small, ragged breaths as Twilight simply stood there, shocked with what she just saw.

Thankfully she snapped out of her stupor a second later and placed the blanket back over me. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I…I had no idea that’s what you meant when you said indecent. I…I just…I thought you just meant it as some sort of cultural thing, not…not like actual covering for…that kind of stuff. I…I’ll get Redheart to help you.” As she started to turn to get the nurse, I was able to finally get some breath back into my lungs and speak.

“T-Twilight, wait!” I shouted, wheezing a bit. She stopped and slowly turned to face me again, worry and shame easily seen in her eyes. “I…I’m fine, really.”

“But you might have reopened your wounds again, or caused new ones, or-” She began to panic, something that she told me she sometimes did and was confirmed by a few of the doctors and nurses who knew her, but thankfully I was able to interrupt her before she really got into it.

“Twilight.” I said somewhat sternly, causing her to close her mouth and become silent. “Look, I know…I know you were just curious, just…don’t worry about it, ok.”

She remained silent for a few moments before she gave a small nod, a worried frown still on her face as she carefully walked back to the side of the bed. “But…but I just took the blanket off, thinking that it would be useful to know how you would react, without thinking about you current state. I…I should have been paying attention, but my…my curiosity got the best of me. I…I’m sorry, really.” She said, looking a bit depressed.

I was silent for a moment, trying to think of something to say, but after a while nothing came to mind, so with a shrug I just went with my gut. “Well…no real damage was done, right? So…so think of this as something that we could laugh at in the future.”

She looked at me with a single eyebrow raised in slight disbelief and annoyance, causing me to give a small, painful chuckle. “Hey, I said future, that doesn’t mean now.”

She continued to stare at me for a while before she gave a small sigh and nod. “W-well…I guess that’s one way to think about it.” She then gave a small chuckle as well as a smile before it quickly disappeared as she looked back at me with slight concern. “But still, I am sorry about doing that. I was just…curious, is all.”

I gave a small nod. “Yea, I can understand that. I would most likely be curious as well with a new species to talk to, though next time, please warn me before you do something like that.” I said, getting a small nod from her. “Thanks.”

We then fell silent for a while, neither of us talking as the scene still played in both of our minds, no matter how many times I tried to get ride of it. After a while, Twilight cleared her throat to break the awkward silence. “So…that’s why…well, like you said, that’s why you wear clothing, to cover your…genitals?” I gave a nod. “Well, it’s…it’s different to a stallion’s, that’s for sure. At least from the books that I’ve read.”

The comment caught me by complete surprise, causing me to stare at the unicorn who was giving a sheepish smile. A few seconds later, I gave myself a small chuckle, and soon it became full on laughter, with Twilight soon following suit.

We kept on laughing for a few minutes before we finally calmed down, smiles on both of our faces. It was at this point that the door opened and Nurse Redheart poked her head in.

“Sorry Twilight, but visiting hours are over and the patient needs his rest.” She said.

“Ok, just give me a sec.” She said, smiling at the white pony before turning to face me. “So…I’ll see you later then?”

I gave a nod and a small smile. “Of course, I’m not going anywhere anyways.”

Twilight gave a nod herself before she turned to leave, but then she paused for a second. Before I could ask her what was the matter, she turned around and gave me a quick hug before she left, leaving me flabbergasted by what just happened. That was the second time anyone…or anypony, as I learned how they say it, has hugged me. I know we had been talking for a few days and gotten to know each other, but to suddenly hug me…it was not unwelcoming, but it still surprised me. It left a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach, a strange sensation that took me a while to put a name to it. It just…made me feel…wanted. Like I…I just made a friend.

Once the door closed, I gave myself a small smile before laying myself onto the bed, fixing my pillow and blanket back up before closing my eyes, thoughts about what might be next going through my mind.

---

It is now the fifth day being in the hospital, and I have to say, the wounds recovered surprisingly fast. However, like Redheart stated before, there were still scars there, and I gave a small mental cringe every time they changed the bandages and I saw them, the thick red lines running vertically on my shoulder, back and chest, as well as a few spots where the teeth simply punctured the skin.

The worst hole was the one where the tooth broke off in me, about an inch in diameter, maybe 1.25 inches. You could see the damage that the scars did easily, even from a small distance, and I was hoping that I would be able to fix my hoodie soon or at least get another shirt, not wanting to walk around town topless with these wounds showing. I would most likely scare the locals with my looks; a two-legged creature with scars on his body didn’t exactly radiate friendliness.

As I was once again trying to talk to Trixie, who was awake and eating her breakfast, me finishing mine a few minutes ago, the door opened and when I turned to look I saw that it was not only Twilight that entered, but also Dr. Stables and Nurse Redheart as well. I gave a small smile and a wave to greet them, while Trixie just gave then a small nod before going back to her food, not looking up even once as she kept her eyes on her plate. I noticed that Twilight had some sort of bags on her back, but I was unsure as to why she brought them.

“So Drakalian, how do you feel?” Asked Dr. Stables, holding a clipboard with his magic, giving me a glance every once in a while.

I gave another smile as I moved my upper body a bit, though there was still pain coming from my injured shoulder whenever I moved it too much. “Well, besides my shoulder, everything is going well so far. I feel much more awake and aware now…as well as a bit bored.” I said, adding the last part as a partial joke.

The doctor gave a small chuckle as he flipped a page on his clipboard. “Well, that’s good to hear. Thankfully you reacted well to the normal medicines that we use and they have shown no ill side effects as well so far. The healing spells have worked as planned, though those scars are going to be stuck on you for a long time to come. I think with everything going well, it’s safe to assume that you’re free to be discharged from the hospital.”

I smiled a bit; glad that I was able to finally get out of the hospital and was about to ask him something when suddenly Trixie spoke up. “What?! He gets to be discharged while Trixie has to remain stuck here in this prison that you call a hospital? I have been feeling well enough to leave before, yet all you would say was that I needed to stay here ‘just in case’. Well, Trixie has waited long enough, and she demands to be set free!” Stated the azure unicorn, crossing her forelegs in front of her as she sat up, her plate being placed on her side desk, only a few bits of the food actually touched, the majority still on her plate.

It was true, for she did seem to have been feeling better almost two days ago. Her cast was already off of her leg, and she only had some small coloring around the area that she cracked her rib. All in all, she seemed more then ready to be discharged then me, which was saying a lot, considering I was still wearing my bandages not only around my upper left chest but also around my stomach where I had the mysterious wound from when I woke up. I just assumed that they were making her stay here for a bit to keep an eye on her just in case something else came up.

The stallion opened his mouth to respond, a slightly crossed look on his face before Twilight beat him to it. “Well Trixie, it’s just that…um…well, a lot of the ponies here aren’t glad that you came back after what happened before, so we just wanted you to be safe from them, just in case.” Twilight said, though the lie was obvious even to me.

Trixie gave a small humph of displeasure. “As if! Trixie preformed here not two weeks ago, and the majority of Ponyville came to watch the Great and Powerful Trixie preform for their entertainment. Trixie even saw you and your friends there, Twilight Sparkle, so don’t try to deny it.”

The purple unicorn was silent for a few moments before she responded, a serious and intense look coming from her as she looked at the show pony. “Ok, I’ll admit, most of Ponyville actually forgave you for the…misdemeanors that you caused to the town, including the Princess, but there are still ponies here that haven’t let it go yet, and we just want to make sure that you don’t get hurt by somepony who’s still upset with you. Also, it was more like a third of Ponyville, not the majority that came to watch you preform. I should know, I counted and Pinkie confirmed it as well.”

Trixie was staring at Twilight with a huge glare in her eyes, looking like she was going to blast her with a wave of magic. The whole time they were talking, I was just sitting in bed, my eyes flicking back and forth between the two ponies talking. Dr. Stables sent Redheart to go and check on the other patients that were here as he waited for the two mares to finish.

After a good minute of glaring at each other, Trixie finally leaned back, still glaring at the other unicorn. “Trixie thinks you’re not telling the full truth either. If there was somepony here that wanted to hurt me, then they would have done so by now.” She stated, a smug look on her face as if she knew what she said was true.

This time, it was Twilight’s turn to become silent, her stare turning from one of slight anger to that of sadness, slowly lowering her gaze to her hooves. “Um…w-well…it already did, Trixie.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow at this, unsure what the librarian meant. When there was no response, she simply shrugged; most likely thinking the Twilight was lying again, turning her head away to purposefully not look at her. “Well, until Trixie has proof, then Trixie demands that she gets discharged as well and allowed to return to her wagon so she can move on to her next-”

“It’s gone.” Those two words that the purple unicorn spoke caused Trixie to stop in mid speech, turning her head to face her in slight confusion.

“Gone? W-what do you mean gone? It’s a huge wagon that’s right next to that building near the edge of town but still in viewing distance from the town center. How can it just be ‘gone’?” She asked. I could see her eyes starting to tear up.

Twilight was silent for a few minutes, and then, with a small sigh, she looked up at the distressed pony. “Trixie…y-your wagon…well, it’s been…it’s been vandalized.” She finally said, an apologetic look on her face.

At first, Trixie just simply stared at the librarian dumbly, not wanting to believe what she just said before she gave her an angry look, crossing her forelegs in front of her. “Oh? Well, maybe you have some proof to show Trixie these so called claims of yours, hmm?”

Twilight gave a small nod and then lighting up her horn, she opened one of the bags that she had and pulled out a small bag. In the bag were some photos, and as she gave them to the azure mare, she softly whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Trixie simply raised an eyebrow before taking the bag with her hooves and looking at the pictures inside of it. As she stared, her eyes slowly grew wide, and I could have sworn I saw her lower lip trembling in horror by the contents of the bag.

“N-No…it’s…it’s still there, m-my home…it’s…it’s still ok. These…t-these are fake, y-you…you just made it up, I…I just left it there for a few days. T-There was a locking spell on it and everything. I…I doubled checked it. I…I…” She soon fell silent, unable to say anything else

“Trixie, I know it’s hard right now, but we have deputies that are already looking for the vandals. If you want, you are more then welcome to stay with me. I promise that-” Twilight offered before Trixie interrupted her.

“No! Trixie doesn’t want your pity offerings, she just…she wants her wagon back…her home back…” She said, getting quieter the further she got, dropping the bag onto the floor. It fell facing up, so I was able to get a look at what where on the pictures.

The pictures were photos of a large pile of rubble, wood cloth and other things scattered everywhere. I could see a wheel sticking out of the pile, though it looked to be bent out of shape, making it more of an oval then a proper circle.

“Trixie, please listen. I know you’re upset, and I know that you need a place to live. I really do want to help you and-” Twilight tried again, but was again silenced with a wave of a hoof.

“Trixie said she doesn’t want to hear you speak, Twilight Sparkle! Just…j-just leave her alone!” She shouted before turning around and lying on her bed, facing away from all of us.

We were all silent for a good few minutes, not sure what to say or do to make her feel better. Twilight was about to speak again before I gave a small wave of my hand, getting her to close her mouth and look at me curiously. Slowly, I carefully got up, keeping the blanket wrapped around my lower body since I still didn’t have my clothes back and walked up to Trixie’s bed. As I got closer, I could hear soft sobbing coming from her, her small frame shaking as she silently cried. I raised my hand and placed it gently on her shoulder to get her attention, causing her to stop sobbing for a while, only giving the smallest of sniffles.

“Trixie, I know it must be hard, losing everything that you have, believe me, I know. But…well, Twilight wants to help you, and truthfully, so do I. I…well, you were the first one that I met here in this new world, and I…well, I just don’t want to see you cry, and I would like to help in any way that I can.” I spoke, surprising not only the ponies in the room, but myself included. I had no idea where that all came from, I just said what I thought I should say, speaking from my heart and gut.

I was about to say more when Trixie slowly turned over and looked up into my eyes, her own violet ones shimmering from her tears. Once our eyes made contact, I could feel every single thing that she was going through at that moment, the pain of her physical and mental injuries, the loss of something you cared for and so much more, it was almost overwhelming for me, but I held on, somehow knowing that I needed to keep my eye contact with her. I could also see that she was seeing through my own eyes as well, seeing my care and worry for her situation and for a moment, I had the feeling that she was going to hug me and accept Twilight’s offer, but instead, she just turned around, shaking her shoulder to remove my hand off of her coat.

“Trixie...Trixie says that…she…I just want to be alone. Please…j-just leave me.” She said, giving a small sniffle every few moments. I looked at the sad unicorn, trying to think of something else to say, hoping that I would get lucky with my intuition again. When nothing came to mind, I just let out a sigh and carefully walked back to my bed, sitting down and looking at the sad form of the magician, trying to think of something as she stared at the wall in front of her.

I don’t know how long it lasted, me staring at her as she stared away from me, but it felt like forever, the entire time I was hoping that she would turn around to say something, anything really, but she did no such thing, remaining as still as the dead, only a soft sob or two escaping from her muzzle. All I know was that after a while I felt someone place a hoof on my shoulder, causing me to pause in my thinking and turn to face the owner of the hoof. Turns out it was Twilight, giving me a small look of concern…or maybe it was annoyance, I wasn’t really sure.

“Listen, Drak. I think that we should just let her be for now.” She said with a solemn tone.

My eyes widen slightly upon this. “But she needs our help and-”

The purple unicorn placed a hoof on my mouth, prompting me to shut up. “I know, and I want to help as well, but when Trixie gets like this, it’s usually best to just let her be. I’ve tried to help her before, along with a few others when she was like this, and the results were…not promising, so to speak.”

She removed her hoof from my mouth as I thought her words over. Not knowing what to say to that, I gave her a small nod. “Ok, I guess…I still don’t like it though…”

“Neither do I and if I could, I would.” We all then fell silent, neither of us willing to make eye contact with each other, though it was more of me not making the eye contact then her, when we heard Dr. Stables clear his throat to get our attention.

“Now then, with that out of the way, Twilight did tell me that you humans need your clothing to go around, the reason behind it is…interesting, to be certain.” He said before his horn glowed, and in floated my shorts and boxers.

I gave a smile and a nod of thanks as I took my clothing from the magical grasp. “Thanks doctor, though I think I’m going to need some new clothing sooner or later, preferably sooner.”

“Well, Rarity can probably help you with that.” Stated the purple unicorn. “Though I don’t know how well she is making clothing for a bipedal.”

I gave a small shrug. “Well, I don’t think I have much of a choice, so maybe after I get settled down we can go there.” Twilight nodded before pulling out her notebook and writing what I assumed was a reminder to go see this Rarity.

A few seconds later, she finished writing the note and then placed it back into her bag. “Well, Doctor Stable and I need to discuss a few things, so we’ll leave you to get changed. I’m assuming you will want some…privacy.” She said, a small blush on her cheeks.

I gave a nod and blushed a little as well. “Uh, y-yea, that would be a good idea, thank you.” I said, giving myself a mental slap for stuttering. With that, both unicorns left the building, leaving Trixie and I alone once again. With a small sigh I started to get up, making sure to keep the blanket on me so as to not expose myself to Trixie, though when I glanced her way, she was still facing the other way. I went to the curtain that separated the two beds and pulled it across to separate Trixie and I. Once that was done, I placed the blanket down on my bed and put my boxers and shorts back on. It was a bit hard, since I had to do it with only one arm, my bad arm just hurting too much to be used properly. Once my clothes were back on, which took about five minutes, I moved the curtain back and to my surprise, the azure unicorn was facing me, a slightly far away look on her face that focused on me once the curtain was pushed to the side. She seemed to have calmed down a bit from her small breakdown, though her eyes were a little puffy from her silent crying. I raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, but otherwise I just looked back at her, a bit unsure what to say.

After a few minutes of silence, it was Trixie that first spoke. “So…you always wear clothing to cover yourself?” I gave a cautious nod, wondering where she was going with this. “Must not have a lot of confidence then.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly at this, a bit offended. “First of all, I feel rather confident in my body, thank you very much, and second, I just don’t feel comfortable walking in the nude like you guys.

Trixie gave a small snort at this. “Well, that sounds a bit contradictory.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but closed it when nothing came to mind. After a few seconds of thinking, I simply crossed my good arm over my chest. “Well, it’s my choice, and I choose to wear clothing, ok?” I asked, causing the unicorn to shrug, indifferent to my choice. “Good, glad we came to an understanding with that.”

We then both fell into silence again, Trixie staring at me for a few more minutes before she spoke again. “Well…I guess this is goodbye then, huh?”

I raised an eyebrow for a few seconds before I gave a small nod. “Yea, I guess so. We might see each other though, since I will most likely be living close to here for a bit.”

The show pony gave a sigh and then turned around to face away from me. “Well, don’t let me hold you up, ‘human’.”

I gave a sigh, only slightly frustrated that she still didn’t believe me to be a human, but I couldn’t make her believe something that she doesn’t want to believe in. “Well…ok then. Uh…bye, I guess.” With that, I grabbed my weapons and I went to the door and opened it, but before I could take a step out, I heard Trixie call out to me.

“Hey Drakalian!” She said, causing me to turn around to face her. She was now sitting in her bed, her blanket pulled over her front as if to cover something, her gaze facing to her lap. “I…I just…w-well…I g-guess I should say…thank you. For saving me and all.” She said, turning her head to the side a bit.

For some reason, this caused me to give a small smile. “Hey, anytime. I’m just glad I was there to save you.” For a second it seemed like she was about to say something else, but instead she turned around again and placed her head on the pillow, looking like she was going to try and sleep again. With a shrug, I stepped out of the room and closed the door. I began to walk down the halls, getting a few stares from some of the ponies working here, but the majority just continued with their duties, most likely already used to seeing me while I was a patient here.

After a bit of searching, I found the waiting room where Twilight was waiting for me. To my surprise, there was this small purple reptilian thing with her, seeming to be talking with her as well. As I got closer, I was able to get the last bits of their conversation.

“I don’t know, Twilight. I mean, what if he isn’t clean or…or house trained. I already have enough things to do around the library and such, I don’t want to help clean up another mess.” Said the purple reptile.

“Spike, for the last time, Drakalian isn’t some sort of pet. He’s a sentient being who has just lost their memory, so you won’t have to clean up after him, he can take care of himself.” Said Twilight, giving a small groan of frustration.

“Well, how do you know that? All you know is what he told you, and from your notes, he said nothing about being house trained.”

Twilight was about to speak, but before she could say anything, I was already behind the young lizard like creature and I interrupted her, wanting to correct him on a few things. “Trust me, I am completely capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. And even though I have amnesia, I am still house trained.” This caused the purple biped to jump in surprise before turning around to face me. His eyes went wide with surprise and slight fright, his head bending up to look at my face. Now that I was closer, I could see that he only came up to my waist, making him rather smaller then the other ponies around here, who most of them came up to at least my chest.

“Oh, hi Drakalian. I would like to introduce you to Spike, my number one assistant.” Said Twilight, a smile on her face. I raised an eyebrow at the strange reptile as he continued to stare at me. Twilight nudged Spike to snap him out of his trance, and with a start and a shake of his head, he looked up at me before he spoke.

“Um…h-hi.” He said, giving a small wave of his claw. This caused me to give a small smirk, waving my hand back at him. “You’re…taller then I thought you would be.”

I gave a small chuckle. “Yea, so I noticed.” I was silent for a second before I decided to ask one of my own questions. “If I may ask, what exactly are you?”

Spike seemed to puff up at the question, a proud look on his face. “I happen to be a very powerful and dangerous dragon, as well as-” Before he could continue, Twilight silenced him with a small nudge of her hoof.

“He’s just a baby dragon that I hatched during my exam to enter the School of Gifted Unicorns, though he is more like a little brother to me, and I would never trade him for the world.” She said, giving the young dragon a small nuzzle, causing him to blush.

I gave a light chuckle. “Well, glad I could make your acquaintance, oh almighty Spike.” I said in a partially joking manner, causing Spike to puff his chest out some more, a smile on his face.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes at me before facing me again. “Well, introductions taken care of, how about we show you where you shall be staying for now.” With that, she turned and began to walk out of the hospital, Spike following close by.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I walked with them. “Where I’ll be staying? But I…I was just going to camp out in the forest for a bit before I-”

Twilight turned to face me with surprise. “What? You were going to camp in the forest? I’m sorry, but I just can’t allow that, especially with your wounds.”

I was about to protest against her, but I felt a nudge to my leg and looking down, I saw Spike was looking up at me, shaking his head slightly. “Trust me, Drakalian, when she has her mind set on something, she can be almost as determined as Applejack.”

I raised an eyebrow, wondering who this Applejack was, but getting the message, I gave a small sigh and turned my attention back to the purple unicorn. “Ok, I guess I’ll go with you for now, since I don’t really have much of a choice.”

Twilight gave a small smile and a nod, and with that, all three of us started our walk out of the hospital and into Ponyville.

(Canterlot: Celestia’s POV)

I gave a small sigh as the Ambassador of Germarey finally left the room, a little upset with how the conference went. I know they were in need of help, but the offer he made was just ridicules: give them troops to help them with the war that they had going in Zebrica and they would give us one of the lands as a provenance state. I told him that Equestria has no business in the land of the zebras, nor did we want to anger them, but he was persistent, so after an hour of talking, I finally said I would ‘consider’ his offer with my sister, which he reluctantly agreed, but only, and I quote, “Because I don’t want to take too much of your time.” I nearly rolled my eyes at the comment, but I knew better then that and was able to keep myself in check as he left the throne room.

I allowed myself to relax as the doors closed, looking at the list of dignitaries that were left. Thankfully there was only one left, the Ambassador from the Griffin Republic. The Griffin Ambassador (Theolone, I believe his name is) and I are good friends, so I was hoping that it would be a quick meeting.

A few minutes later, during which time I made sure everything was still in order, the doors opened and one of the guards said the Ambassador of the Griffin Republic has arrived. I gave him a nod to let him in, and a few seconds later, the griffin enters the throne room, wearing what I would assume was the fashion of the nobles in the Republic: a long purple robe with a split tail end on the back as well as holes for his wings and a golden lining along the edges.

He smiled as he stopped a few meters away from the throne, giving a deep bow. “Princess Celestia, it is an honor to once again have a meeting with you.”

I would have rolled my eyes from the formalities, but instead I simply gave a nod and motioned for him to stand back up. “Please Theolone, call me Celestia. We have known each other for such a long time as it is that I think we can skip the formalities of titles.”

Theolone raised his head from the bow, a small grin on his beak. “If you insist, Celestia.”

“But I do.” I stated, a small smile forming on my own muzzle. “And please, have a seat. You must have been on such a long journey to get here.”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve had worse trips during my time in the army. If anything, this was like a…walk in the park, I believe is how you say it.” The griffin said, giving a small chuckle as he sat down.

I chuckled as well. “Well, in any case, may I ask what graces us with your presence here today?” I asked.

At this, Theolone gave a nod, the grin becoming replaced with a small frown. “Of course, though I must say it isn’t good news, as much as I wish it was.”

I too gained a more serious look, worried for my ally’s plight. “Yes?”

“Well, a few weeks ago, Emperor Hadilos went on a treasure hunt with a few of our best archeologists to the Mountains of the Vander. It was thought to have taken only a few days, maybe a week at most, but…well, so far we have received no word from him or anyone else that was with him. Of course this has caused quite a bit of worry for the griffins, and there is even some talk of electing a new Emperor, though this is most likely assumed to be coming from the Emperors rivals. They have been much more active these last few days as well, which worries me even more. Right now, Hadilos’s wife, Obura, has taken his place until his return, but…”

I continued to listen through his plight, and I must admit, it was a bit worrying to hear about Theolone’s problem. Emperor Hadilos is a strong ally of Equestria, as well as friends of both Luna and I, though like he said, there have been talks about a possible rebellion from a rival party. With his disappearance, it will surely cause some problems to his rule, and therefore, to our continued alliance.

Thankfully, all Theolone asked from us was to help send a rescue party to the mountains, since they were busy dealing with their problems at home. I gave a nod once the Ambassador finished his request. “Of course, I shall send a small unit to the mountains in a few days time, and I hope that-” Before I could finish, however, some smoke poured into the room and with a small flash of light, a scroll appeared in front of me. Theolone raised an eyebrow at the unexpected interruption. I caught the scroll with my magic and it took only a glance to see that it was sent from Twilight. “A letter? From Twilight?” This confused me slightly, for it was much too early for it to be a friendship report, the last one she sent was only two days ago.

“I apologize if I have interrupted one of your previous engagements, Celestia. If you want to, we may finish with this to-”

I quickly place the letter down, giving the griffin my full attention once again. “Oh, I’m sure it can wait for a few minutes.” I said, wanting for us to continue with the meeting. I knew it wasn’t anything urgent, for if it were then there would have been a red ribbon around the end of it. It was our way of telling when there was something urgent that needed to be tended to ASAP. “So, you were saying?”

Theolone cleared his throat. “Oh, of course. Anyways, if you can send maybe four troops, then we could at least-”

Suddenly, we were once again interrupted with the doors bursting open, my younger sister rushing through, panting hard like she was running for a while. “Tia! We wilt talk to thou betimes! ‘Tis of greatest Importance!” She shouted, slipping into her old accent, though thankfully she didn’t use the Royal Canterlot voice.

I gave a small sigh as I turned to face Luna. “Sister, please. Can’t you see I’m still in a meeting?”

Luna simply shook her head. “But we wilt talk to thou anon. It cannot wait any longer.”

Seeing as I was not going to get anything else done for today, I let out another sigh before turning to face the Griffin Ambassador with an apologetic look. "My apologies, Theolone, but it seems that I have some family matters to attend to. Perhaps we can discuss the finer details tomorrow morning?”

Theolone gave a polite bow as he got up. “Of course, Princess. One should always help a family member in need. I shall see you tomorrow.” With that, the griffin turned and left the throne room, closing the doors behind him, leaving me alone with Luna.

With just us left in the room, I turned to my younger sister with what I hoped was a calming look. “So, Luna. May I ask what troubles you so?”

“Tia, we hast been-” She began to reply before I paused her with a wave of my hoof.

“Luna, remember to try and continue talking in present Equestrian, not old Equestrian.” I reminded her, making sure that my tone was still a friendly one.

The dark purple Alicorn gave a small blush as she shuffled her hooves a little in slight embarrassment. “Oh, I…I apologize, sister, It’s just that…well…”

I let out another sigh before I got up from my throne and walked to my stumbling younger sibling, draping a hoof around her neck and bringing her into a hug. “Relax, Lulu, it’s ok. Now, just take a deep breath and tell me what’s happened, ok?”

Luna gave a small nod and started to calm herself, and soon she was breathing at a more relaxed pace before she looked back up to me, a small smile on her face. “T-Thank you, Celestia.”

“Anytime sister. Now, care to tell what ails you.” I asked, a small smile of comfort on my face.

The smile on her face soon vanished upon my question, a small frown taking its place. “Well, I was taking watch over my Dream Realm, like normal. Everything was rather quiet, even more so than normal. The young fillies and colts were all having pleasant dreams, not a nightmare to be seen from any of them. Honestly, it was a bit boring.”

I gave a small nod of understanding, knowing that looking over the ponies that you were responsible for protecting was a tedious one, if not rewarding in its own way. “That doesn’t sound like anything to be worried about, Lulu.”

“Wait, for I wasn’t finished.” Stated my sister. She took a deep breath before she continued. “So, as I was about to leave, I once again saw…well, I saw that dream.”

I gave a small frown at this as well, knowing where she was going with this. Luna had already told me about the dream where she heard the name of Drakalian and I have to admit that she wasn’t the only one that was surprised and shocked to hear that name as well. To hear that name after all of these years…it was, well, startling.

Of course, I was still a bit skeptical about the entire thing, even if Luna thinks that it is he and that he has come back. “Luna, listen. There is no possible way that it could be him. He was in the center of the blast that we made during our times with the Crusaders. No one could have survived it, not even him.”

At this, the dark purple Alicorn looked up and gave me a slightly stern look. “Celestia, I am certain that it is him. It can’t be any other. This is the fifth time that I have seen this dream.”

“Well, like I said, it is more likely one of those random dream bubbles that occasionally appear every so often.”

“Tia, I can tell the difference between a dream bubble and a dreamer easily. I’m not a little filly anymore.”

I raised an eyebrow at this. “Oh? Well in that case, maybe you would like to help me with some of the paperwork instead of working on whatever it is in your room?”

I gave a small chuckle as my younger sister gave me a small, playful push. “Stop it, Tia. You know that I can’t stand sitting all day writing the same thing over and over. How you can even stand it still boggles my mind.”

“Lots of dedication.” I said, giving a solemn nod.

“And cakes, if the number of times I’ve seen you eating them is any indication.” Retorted Luna, causing me to widen my eyes slightly in surprise.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly cover my blunder. “I’ll have you know that I have only been eating a couple of slices once a week now, instead of my usual ten slices.” I said, raising my muzzle into the air as if I didn’t care what she thought.

Instead, Luna smirked at my response. “Well, it could have fooled me.” She said, giving a small giggle. I was quiet for a few seconds before I too giggled as well and soon we were both laughing softly, the mood seeming to have lightened considerably. However, once the laughter died down, Luna gained her small frown again. “However, this is he, sister. It can’t be any other.”

I gave a small sigh of slight defeat before I got up and started to head out of the throne room, Twilight’s letter floating next to me in my magic. “Well, I’m sorry to say, but until you have more proof, I can’t look into it as much as you want me to. We have too many important things to do besides looking for a possible living human.” I paused at the entrance and looked back, only to see Luna in deep thought. I know it was rude of me, but I had a country to look over, as did my sister, and prancing around to look for something that may or may not be there was just a waste of time, time that could be used for more practical purposes. I gave a sad nod to myself, as I was about to exit the throne room when suddenly my sister spoke up.

“There was more.” She whispered, causing me to stop mid step and turn around.

I raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. “What do you mean, more?”

Luna was quiet for a few moments before she continued. “Well…t-there was…images this time. Images of…of us.”

“That still doesn’t prove anything. Many ponies have seen us before, and there are likely a lot of ponies that dream of us in many ways.” I responded, trying to keep it appropriate. However, I knew that there were quite a few of those that had those…lewd thoughts about us doing…particular things.

“Yes, but this was different.” She said, seeming like she still didn’t believe what she saw. I waited patiently for her to continue as she gathered her thoughts. “Well, like I said…w-we were there, but…but not as Alicorns.”

Now my eyes truly went wide with surprise. As far as I knew, the only one that knew of our old forms was Discord, and even then he would never dream of such things. “W-what…what were we in the dream, Luna?” I asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

“I…I was a unicorn, and you…a Pegasus.”

This time everything was silent. I saw one of Luna’s feathers fall out and I actually heard it hit the ground it was that quiet. Neither of us spoke for the next few minutes as I wrapped my head around this new information. After a few minutes I was finally able to shake the shock of it out of my head to give a clear response. “I…if what you said is true, then…then it is possible that it might be real. That he…that he might be alive.”

Luna’s eyes went wide with slight hope as she took a few steps to me. “You see? He is alive somehow and we need to go and find him before-”

I quickly cut her off, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “Now Luna, even though this changes…quite a bit of things, we still have our own job to do here, as well as more pressing matters to attend to.”

Luna’s ears splayed out upon hearing this. “But…but sister…”

“I’m sorry Luna, but it’s final. I promise to set some time when I can for us to go to Ponyville to check this out a bit more thorough, but until then, we must continue with our responsibilities.”

Luna opened her mouth to say something, maybe to try and get her point across, but instead she closed her mouth and gave a small nod. “I…yes Tia. I just…”

I walked up to her and gave her a small hug to comfort her. “I know you are as worried as I am, but until we have solid evidence that he is out there…really out there…then we can do nothing but listen. When he does come back…if he does come back…then we shall take action, but for now, it’s time to continue with our own lives.” I nuzzled her muzzle gently before I got up. “Now, I will be in my bedchambers if you need anything. Twilight has given me a letter when I was with the Griffin Ambassador and I am rather curious as to what it contains.”

Luna gave a small nod before she got up and slowly walked out of the throne room, her wings, head and even her tail drooping slightly. I walked out as well and watched her leave as I closed the doors behind us. I gave a small sigh to myself as I saw her turn the bend, her tail disappearing from view. I really wanted to go, to listen to her and search for proof that he is still alive somehow, but I had a responsibility to my little ponies here, as does she and we couldn’t just drop everything and go on a wild goose chase. With a heavy heart, I turned around and went to my own bedchambers, Twilight’s letter floating in my magic next to me as I walked.

Once I entered my chambers, I closed the door behind me and settled on a few of the cushions, unfurling the note in front of me. Once I was comfortable, I began to read the letter sent from my prize student.

Dear Princess-

I paused for a moment when I heard a slight rumble from my stomach, causing me to blush slightly. Not wanting to go to the dinning hall just yet for supper, I used my magic to quickly open one of the cupboards and take out one of the slices of cake that I hide there from Luna. I know I already had my two pieces this week, but I didn’t feel like going all the way to the dinning hall just to eat at the moment. Besides, a small slice of cake wouldn’t hurt me. I took a fork and the slice of cake, placing it next to me as I took a small piece from it and took a bite, giving a pleasant sigh as the taste of chocolate frosting hit my taste buds. I always preferred the classics for some reason. Chewing on the bit of cake in my mouth, I looked back at the letter, taking a bite of my cake every once in a while.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have learned that one should always help somepony in need, for not only will you make a new friend, but you also may make a friend from a rival. I learned this when Trixie came to the front door of the library, all bruised and even bleeding. When I asked her what could have done such a thing, she said it was a Basilisk. Of course, my first thought of action was to contact you, but when Trixie told me it wasn’t needed, I grew curious and asked her why that was so. To my surprise, a strange bipedal creature seemed to show up and save Trixie from the serpent, even killing it by himself. Well, I’m not sure if it is a ‘he’, but Trixie is certain that it is. Anyways, the creature was badly hurt, even more so then Trixie, making it obvious that he was recently in a big fight with some creature. His wounds are as stated:
• Large teeth marks along his left chest and shoulder either jagged or puncture wounds.
• A large gash, about three inches long on the left side of his stomach.
• Lacerated knuckles, most likely from hitting something hard one too many times.
• Multiple bruises and other cuts, most of them minor.

So, upon seeing this, I took it upon myself to help bring both Trixie and this new species to the Ponyville hospital. Thankfully Doctor Stable was able to stabilize both Trixie and the being, though how long he is going to be out I am not sure. I promise to update you as soon as he wakes up.

You Prized Student,
Twilight Sparkle

I had stopped eating my cake about halfway through the letter, though it was almost done anyways, placing it down carefully as I continued to read, my eyes growing slightly wider the farther I went on. Soon I finished it, but I had to reread it just to make sure I read it right. Once I finished reading it again, I slowly lowered the piece of paper down, a far away look in my eyes.

‘Could it be…no, it can’t be. It has to be a coincidence. Just calm down, Tia, just calm down.’ I quickly shook my head to clear it before I started to curl the letter up. I wanted to go check on my prize student, but like I said to Luna, we had responsibilities of our own, so unless it was something urgent, it would have to wait, no matter how much I wanted to go myself. ‘Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait for Twilight’s next…hold on.’

As I was rolling the letter up, I noticed that there was some more writing on the back of it. Curious, I unwrapped the paper a bit to read what it said.

PS: This is Spike. I would like to apologize for the late sending of this letter. I kind of…forgot to send it with the chores that I have been doing around the library and with Rarity that it kind of slipped my mind. Anyways, Twilight and I are on our way to the hospital to check on…hold on, Twilight’s calling me, but she said she would send you a letter after the hospital visit.

I blinked in slight confusion, wondering what he meant by sending this letter late. However, when I looked at the date, I saw that it was written about five days ago. I gave a slight chuckle and shake of my head; glad that Twilight’s number one assistant at least did send it.

“Better late then never.” I chuckled. “Now, I guess I should make sure I don’t have anything else for today. Don’t want another incident like the one we just had with Theolone.” I got up and started to put the rest of the cake slice with the others, making sure to wrap it up to keep it good before a streak of smoke suddenly came through the window. I looked at it with a raised eyebrow, surprised that it was sent so soon, even with the PS Spike wrote on the back. Catching it with my magic, I unwrapped the letter and began to read about our mysterious being.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It has been five days since my last letter to you, and I do apologize to not sending you one periodically like I planed to do before, but I was just so distracted by chance of talking to a new being that it kind of slipped my mind. Once again, I do apologize and I promise that it won’t happen again. Anyways, the being is doing quite well…surprisingly well, actually. His wounds thankfully react positively to our own natural medicine and magic with no negative side effects and he is actually being discharged from the hospital as I write this. During the few days that he has been here, we have talked about where he came from, what he is and other related subjects like that. Unfortunately, he seems to have suffered a case of amnesia. Either that or he doesn’t want to tell us where he came from; on this I’m not really sure. Anyways I did manage to glean some information from him on the few things that he does remember, such as his species is a human, and he also has these two weapons that he calls a Bo staff and Sais. Knowing that they are weapons does make me worried, but he says that he doesn’t even remember how to use them, if he could use them in the first place. With all that aside, I am going to offer him a place to stay at my library until we find out his actual home to send him back. Honestly, I hope he does take my offer and then maybe we can learn some more from him, or even cure his amnesia. I can hear him starting to come out of his room, so I’m going to send this to you now, and I hope it finds you in good spirits. Oh, before I forget, one thing he did remember when he first woke up was a single name: Drakalian. We’re not sure whose name it is, but we both agreed to use it as his name for now. Who knows, maybe it is his name.

Your Prized-

I stopped reading the letter as soon as I read the name on the paper. Drakalian…how did she know about that name? How did a human even get here, let alone know that name. And most importantly…if that is his name…

I quickly got up and trotted to the door with a sense of urgency, opening the door and calling for one of my guards. Two unicorn guards walked in and bowed before me, the left one speaking, “What do you need, your Highness?”

“Gather Luna and a chariot as soon as you can. We are going to Ponyville at once.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 5: Clothing For a Po-Human Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 16 Minutes