Chapter One

Patric yawned, making sure to shut his laptop down. He sighed to himself, slowly, sluggishly making his way to bed. Tomorrow, or rather, today, was a new day. He'd stayed up almost all night, again, and it was already three o'clock in the morning. The night outside was cold and dark, which made Patric nervously glance into the darkness. While it wasn't a large fear of his, the tales he heard of the terrifying creatures in the dark made him shiver slightly. He tried to clear his own thoughts of fear and dread as he plopped down in his bed. Looking at the moon, he simply stared at the glowing beacon of the night. It glowed in the dark, brighter than the stars that surround it, glowing with the light of the night. Patric shook his head slightly, before laying back and closing his eyes, falling into, what he assumed, would be a blissful slumber. He was wrong.

Twilight Sparkle, protege of the one and only, Princess Celestia, was taking a trot through the woods. Finally, some peace and quiet.

Her mane flowed in the wind slightly, as she made her way to a small clearing. Slowing to a stop, she looked to the left, then the right, and smiled at her time away from the chaos that is Ponyville. She sat down on her flank, sighing as her horn's light dimmed, before completely disappearing and dropping the picnic basket onto the grassy floor. Twilight's horn lit again, a blanket being pulled out and laid neatly onto the grass and flattened out, as the basket was set on to the stitched blanket. Twilight smiled once more, moving onto the blanket with a couple scoots on her rump. You more than deserve a day off of the Friendship reports, Twilight.

The basket flipped open, and she levitated a sandwich out. Just as she was about to take a bite, a loud thump drew her attention elsewhere. Oh, what now?

With an annoyed sigh, she begrudgingly put the sandwich back neatly into the basket, and stood to investigate the strange noise.

As she moved towards the earlier thump, another sound, or more specifically, a few, came from the same direction. A low groaning was heard, which made Twilight worry that somepony was hurt. Who in the hay could that be, or let alone walk around in the Everfree. Alone.

Quickly, she made her way over to whoever it was, before stopping in her tracks as she saw a bright flash of magic. Twilight quickly slipped behind a tree, silently, she peaked her head out at the earlier flash, thinking that somepony had cast some sort of spell that rebounded. That's when she saw a unicorn, his white coat shimmering with a light sheen of sweat, his orange and burgundy mane contradicting his fur's color. Who the...?

Twilight stared at the strange pony with curiosity, wondering why this pony had strangely appeared here. She slowly walked over to the pony, and realized it was a stallion. She gasped slightly, looking him over close, Twilight saw several scratches, and a deep gash on his forehead and side, which he was laying on his left, exposing he wound to the air. Oh my Celestia, this pony needs medical attention! Luckily, I have a spell just for this occasion.

Looking up, she saw a small scorch on the leaves and mountain side. Looking down again, a small burn mark was on his left hoof.

Twilight lent a hoof to the pony gingerly, lifting his hoof up slowly. It was burned only a bit, which was better than she could have hoped for. Another groan escaped the strange stallion's lips before he stirred from his strange slumber, sluggishly and slowly opening his green eyes. He looks...tired, like he had just woken up after a restless night.

He tried to lift himself slightly, his horn glowing dimly before Twilight placed a caring hoof on his cheek, "Please, just stay still. You're too injured to get anywhere without possibly losing your life..." His eyes drifted towards Twilight, and locked with hers, "...w-who are...where..." Then, as quickly as he had waken, his head slumped back to it's original position, rather hard as his head thumped onto the grassy floor.

Patric opened his eyes from the sleep, grunting slightly as he tried to turn over. He then realized he was being suspended in the air, unable to make a single move. He started getting slightly panicked, feeling himself sweat as he strained himself against the strange force. Then, as suddenly as he was being levitated, he then felt himself be set free and settled on something's furry body. Who the hell is...wait, fur?

Confused, he tried to shift his body, but immediately stopped trying to move as a stabbing pain shot through his side and left hoof. Never minding the strange sensation in his left hand, he shifted his eyes to the right slowly, fighting to stay awake to get some kind of information. That's when he saw the lavender fur, and his eyes shifted slightly, blinking as he tried to figure out his situation. Jesus, my head! Oh well, sitting here quietly won't solve anything.

After waiting a few minutes of this creature walking him somewhere, he opened his mouth to ask, "W-what...what's going...on?" The lavender furred creature shushed him slightly, turning it's head to stare into his eyes, the purple orbs locked on his, "Be quiet, seriously. You're going to strain yourself too much. Just lay back and try to not move too much, okay?" His head churning for answers, and pounding with pain, he simply nodded weakly and relaxed, his head falling back and eyes closing, the darkness of his dreams taking him once more.

Twilight was near her library home, making sure to walk on the sidelines so no one would stop her and ask about the beaten, slightly bloody pony she was carrying.. The strange pony must have hit his head quite hard, not to mention fallen at least twenty feet to sustain such injuries. But what had burned him... Twilight thought to herself as she stared off slightly.

The sun was almost past the middle of the sky, marking it after noon. Twilight shook her head, grumbling lightly about her missed lunch as she kept walking to the Library. Spike isn't home at the moment, maybe I could call Applejack to help?

Twilight's hoof steps faded as she neared the large tree, which served as her home. Her horn lit with magic as the door was surrounded with a purple aura. It swung open quickly and easily, leaving her to sigh as Twilight levitated the pony down onto a couch. It would have to do for now. Twilight thought, making sure to put something on the bleeding gash on his side.

The day's light was fading from the horizon, making the ponies of Equestria start to turn in for the cold night. Applejack had come to Twilight's home after she was done with her work on Sweet Apple Acers, helping Twilight with first aid while she studied the stallion. Applejack worked quickly, making sure to dis-infect his cuts and bruises before applying bandages and small stitches. The result was lying on the guest bed, which Twilight had reserved for him.

Applejack looked over to Twilight and said, "Are ya sure ya'll don't want me stayin' for the night Twi? He might need some more attention later Ah reckon."

Twilight waved her away, smiling warmly, "No, I'm quite fine Applejack, thanks for the help though. I'm sure that Applebloom might want you for something anyways." Applejack simply sighed and trotted to the door before turning back and saying, "Fine, Ah will go for ya Twi, but please, promise me that you'll take 'em somewhere if he gets worse?"

Twilight nodded, a slightly hurt expression on her face, "Well, of course I would, Applejack. Now, go on, I need to get to bed too." And so, Applejack did leave for her farm, as Twilight went to bed to rest. While she laid in her fluffy bed and pulled up the covers, she wondered what had compelled her to bring the strange Stallion into her home, other than the obvious need to help him.

It seemed obvious after a few minutes, that the Stallion was in no condition to be in a hospital. If she were in his position, so to speak, she'd be terrified if she woke up in a hospital, not knowing who, what, when or where. Not to mention Twilight was fairly confident in her medical abilities anyways.

She shook the remaining thoughts away as she finally laid her head down onto the nice, fluffy pillow and let her eyes shut. What a long day, she thought, before drifting off into the darkness of sleep.