Muffled sounds and blurs repeated their show to Amissus. He was being dragged through the cottage doorway by a swarm of animals, led by the pony who first saw him. She was flustered at the task of bringing Amissus to safety.

"Oh…oh…no, no, no! Put him- no…there? Over here!" She spattered out her words continuously.

He didn't care where he was going to be left. He could hardly focus through the hazy cloud of exhaustion and pain to breathe and keep conscious: but one had to give. His body chose the one option that wouldn't kill him instantly. He hated himself for that decision when he blacked out again.

…

"Listen. Can you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

He chuckled at his son, "You'll know when you do."

Sitting atop the castle barracks, Father had promised a few moments alone with me: away from all the planning and away from the Court. I was young enough to still be accepted for being gullible to paltry jokes but old enough to know when a joke was over. This was no joke: Father promised that I'd hear from Uncle today.

Uncle had stopped coming to visit after my last birthday, about half a year ago. He hadn't given me a gift like the rest of the family, he instead gave me a note…I guess he could write better than he could talk. I still have it in my room, unopened. Father told me to wait until I had learned the ways of the world before opening it.

Then I heard it. A defining sound of an explosion of air: off in the distance, farther than the farthest cities, a circle of color flew in all directions: a sonic rainboom.

"Focus, feel your uncle's meaning in the vibrations."

Another sound came to us, but it was more felt than heard, a rhythmic pattern…marching. It couldn't be that far, it's too far, way too far to be felt, even less heard. But I looked to my father's grim face that affirmed my fear.

Uncle's message became clear…

...

He couldn't tell if the sun was setting or rising…Amissus stared blankly out the window, awoken from his dream. He slowly looked over with a stiff neck and with much pain to the side of the bed. A bowl of soup and a glass of water sat on a table next to a stool. He tasted his mouth…it tasted like how the soup smelled: too much salt. He returned his head to facing upwards. Light clips of hoofsteps came closer to his room. He wanted to stay awake to greet his 'nurse,' but slipped instead back to sleep before they opened the door.

…

He was dazed and unable to move when he had awoken again, but this time in comfort and not in torturing pain. He was going to open his eyes to see his room again when he heard a frustrated female voice.

"Get him to a doctor! You take care of animals, not other ponies!"

"I know that it's different, but I think I've been doing a good job nursing him back to health." A gentler but not at all weaker voice spoke back.

"Get…him…to…a…doctor Fluttershy!" The first voice said, pausing in-between the words to prod the point.

"I think he's my responsibility! He didn't fall at the library's door, did he Twilight?!"

A shout of frustration found its way through the door and into Amissus's ear, jarring his eyes wide open and awaking his aching body lying under the covers.

"There shouldn't be any excuse for this! I'll drag him to the hospital myself if you won't." A third voice, daring and loud, exclaimed followed by the sound of stomping hooves coming his way but suddenly halted.

"Whoa there, Rainbow: I don't think moving him's such a good idea." A fourth mare vocalized. Even though it was muffled, an accented drawl was noted.

How many ponies are there in this house? Amissus had to think to himself.

A creak of the door caught his attention and he snapped his vision from the pictures on the walls to a small purple dragon sneaking in. It's back was turned and hadn't noticed Amissus glaring at him.

I need to leave if a dragon is getting scared of what's going on.

He scanned around for a route outside and, lo and behold, an open window big enough to simply walk out. He shifted slowly to get out of the bed without letting the little dragon know. With all the complications he had to go through: the distracted dragon watching from the cracked door at the other ponies in the house argue, his half-asleep half-hurting body fighting the seamlessness of his movements, and the blatant fact that he had no idea where he would go when he did escape…if he escaped.

One after the other, he put all his legs together on the ground and started sneaking his way towards the window…past the dragon's back. One step, two steps, three…everything went smoothly until he was just past the dragon. The arguing ponies had accidentally slammed the door to the room, thereby slamming the dragon to the ground. Amissus froze staring at the pint-sized creature that would be the end to his plan. He had 'plan B' to rely on when the dragon spotted him leaving.

The dragon barely got his breath out to talk with a "Ah…" when Amissus flashed a spell, any spell, he didn't know which, he just knew that he had to escape and he wouldn't let this be the end. Then he ran out the window, smacking his left wing on the frame.

"Aaaggh!" He shouted as he continued to run with the wing limp at his side.

You stupid, stupid stallion, you just killed us! He scolded himself.

He made out a few words after the door swung open: "Spike…what…how…" but worst of all, spouted out in a high pitched, maniacal voicing: "There he goes!"

That only gave him incentive to run faster.