Twilight Sparkle emerged from the Everfree, humming to herself as went through the contents of her saddlebags. It was very nice of Zecora to let Twilight borrow some of her potions. The purple unicorn was interested in their chemical makeup and scientific properties. She could hardly wait to get back home and start her tests. As Twilight replaced the potions in her saddlebags, she heard a faint rustling in the pushes a few yards off the path.

The mare froze mid step and slowly turned to face the direction of the rustling. "Hello?" Twilight asked cautiously. "Is anypony there?" as she finished speaking there was a loud crash as something barreled out of the forest. Twilight leapt out of the way as something large and dark flew past her. She saw it was in fact two things, struggling back and forth. The two disengaged and sized each other up. One of them was a Lupus Major, a hulking constellation beast in the form of a giant wolf the size of Princess Celestia. The other combatant was a dark purple colored pony with a disheveled black mane. His horn glowed intensely bright and his eyes shined a deep blue. An aura of magical protection surrounded the ponies body, crackling white and fizzling with energy. The stallion seemed unsteady on his feet and was breathing very heavily as he and the Lupus circled each other. Before Twilight or the unicorn could do anything, the Lupus roared and pounced forward.

The stallion yelled and sidestepped, but wasn't quite fast enough. The Lupus' dagger like claws raked along his side and created a very high clang as they impacted his shield. The force of the impact sent the unicorn flying back several meters before he rolled across the ground. Without breaking stride, the Lupus lunged again. Suddenly the constellation beast felt the wind knocked out of it as a powerful magic blast hit it in the ribs. It rolled across the ground much the same way the unicorn had done. It rose to it's feet and quickly shook it's head, turning to face the new threat. Twilight stood in front of the other unicorn, hooves planted hard and horn flaring. The stallion rose behind her and stood at her side. He gave her a small nod before they began to circle the Lupus. Although not intelligent in traditional equestrian terms, Lupus Majors possessed amazing powers of intuition. He, for it was a male, quickly judged his previous opponent to have more combat experience than this new adversary. The Lupus whipped around and took a quick swipe at Twilight. The mare ducked out of the way and shot a blast of magic toward the creature. The Lupus stumbled back as the magic hit it under the chin and jerked it's head backward. It was then hit from the other direction and jumped backward to avoid anymore hits. The Lupus warily watched the two unicorns as they stood firm, horns flaring painfully bright and steely gazes fixed on it. The Lupus knew it could not win. With a final growl the monster turned and retreated back into the forest.

Instantly the pairs magic faded as Twilight let out her breath. That was scary. Twilight yelped a little as the other unicorn collapsed against her. He was panting very heavily and his legs were shaking like leaves. "Oh gosh," Twilight said worriedly as the other unicorn limply draped his foreleg over her shoulder. "We need to get you to the hospital!" she said as she struggled to walk and keep the stallion up at the same time. "I..." with that single letter he fell unconscious, collapsing with a thud on the ground. Twilight started to panic and picked him up with her magic. She could tell that he needed help right away. Whatever that Lupus had done in the forest was clearly magical, and not friendly. The stallion's coat and even his black mane were becoming more and more pale. He even looked a little thinner. It seemed like all the vitality was being drained from his body. Oh, the hospital was on the other side of town! By the time she got there he might be...no, that was not not going to happen. Wait...Zecora! Twilight gasped and spun back around toward the forest, running as fast as she could back toward the zebra's house. He was not going to die, he was not going to die, he was not going to die!

Indigo groaned as he woke and tried to open his eyes. His head throbbed and he was incredibly sore, but alive as far as he could tell. Indigo slowly sat up and shook his head. Finally he managed to open his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was laying in a bed in a darkened building. Shelves and shelves of potions lined the dark tree bark colored walls and many decorative masks hung next to them. In the center of the one room house was a large cauldron that gave off a soft green light and sent pale green smoke toward the ceiling. Two mares sat before the cauldron with their backs to him, talking to each other in hushed voices. One was a zebra, with bright gold rings around her right foreleg and neck, and large gold earrings. The other was a light purple unicorn with a darker purple mane with lighter streaks running through it. He recognized her as the pony who had helped him against the Lupus.

"Where...where am I?" Indigo asked the ponies by the cauldron. The purple one jumped a little and turned around. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was awake and okay. She walked over to him, trailed by the zebra, who had a small smile on her face. "You're in Zecora's hut," said the purple unicorn as she put a hoof to his forehead. He waved her away and sat up further as he looked back and forth between them. Twilight saw the worry in his eyes and chuckled a little. "Hey, you're okay. I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to formally meat you," she said and put out her hoof.

Indigo climbed out of the bed and bowed deeply. Twilight pulled her hoof back, confused. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Indigo Sky, captain of her majesties first infantry division: Gold Brigade," Everything about those sentences caused Twilight's head to spin. The first infantry hadn't been in service for more than four hundred years. And even before the first was dissolved, Gold Brigade had been obliterated in the battle of Tijuan Heights not long after Nightmare Moon's fall. That was more than 1,000 years ago. Twilight looked to Zecora and saw she was just as confused as Twilight. Indigo stood and raised an eyebrow at the surrounding hut, apparently unphased by the mares' confusion. "And where, pray tell, am I exactly?" Another weird thing. His speech was very formal and sounded almost archaic. "Umm...In the Everfree forest," Twilight said hesitantly. She was surprised to see that he simply shrugged off the information. To even be near the forest would have terrified most ponies out of their skin. Well, then again, he was the one who had rolled out fighting a Lupus Major. "Are we anywhere near the castle?" he asked curiously. Twilight grew even more confused. "No, not really. It's deeper in the forest,"

Indigo furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "Why are you speaking in such a manner? Your speech seems most strange,"

"Me? You're the one speaking like you came out of some old storybook,"

"What do you mean?" Indigo seemed as confused as Twilight.

"If I may interject," said Zecora as she stepped forward. "We have not yet used my potions to their full affect," she walked past the bubbling cauldron to the far wall, carefully taking down a small flask. "What is it that afflicts your mind? The right brew here you will certainly find," she said with a wink and smile. Indigo stared open mouthed. Damn she was good at picking up on things. "To me it appears that I have fallen victim to a memory charm. And a very powerful one for me not to be able to undo it," Indigo said as he walked to Zecora with Twilight following close behind. "I do believe this potion will do," Zecora said as she replaced the small flask and grabbed a larger vial. "It will certainly help with that which ails you,"

Indigo carefully took the potion with his magic and uncorked the flask. He looked back at Twilight, but she was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and a frown, like she was still extremely confused by him. Finally Indigo shrugged and took a swig of the potion. Instantly an intense burning agony shot through his head and he dropped the potion to the floor with a clatter. Indigo made a sound somewhere between a groan and a scream as he swayed unsteadily. Indigo dropped to his haunches when a second wave of agony hit and put his hooves to his head. The last thing he saw was Twilight and Zecora coming over before the ground rushed up to meet him.