Chapter 5: Recovery

"Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" A female's voice called from below.

I opened my eyes, stretched, and rolled myself off the bed. "Hungh." I climbed to my feet, and walked down the flight of stairs. Below was a table, set with bacon, eggs, sausages, and pancakes. I sat myself on a chair, and looked at the food.

"Idite vpered , i nekotorye ottsy vashi , veroyatno, yeshche spit.(Go ahead and have some, Your father's probably still sleeping.)" She called from the kitchen.

"I- Yesli vy tak govorite." I called back. "Your Russian is getting better, son."

Son... I have no parents. They died in a fire! ...Right? I heard walking coming from what I presumed was the kitchen. Before anything else happened, there was a bright light.

I sat up, the cold sweat still on my brow. "Sit down now, take it easy. We're going to have to get you cleaned up before we can heal that wound on your wing." Somepony said somewhere else in the weird room I was in. It looked like a hut.

"Hold on a second. I don't know w-,Ow, Where I am, or who you are. What makes you think I'm going to let you-, Ouch, touch me at all." I questioned.

"That doesn't make sense at all, I just offered to help you, not- Ah whatever, you can protest all you want, You're still getting in the tub. As I sign of good will, I'll tell you my name. I am Daring Doo. What's yours."

"D-Daring Doo? I thought you were fictional." I gaped. *Daring Doo* lit a match with her teeth and lit some of the candles around the hut, now at least illuminating most of the area. There were bookcases, a couple chairs, a table, and 2 other rooms that probably were her bedroom and bathroom, respectively. Then I gazed at the ponies coat and mane. She looked exactly the same as in one of her story covers. "It really is you." I said. "O-Oh, my name's Ventus, by the way."

Daring Doo just stood there, before saying "Okay then, Ventus, I'm going to have to pick some deadly poison plants to heal your wounds. Just stay here." She stated, before walking towards the door.

I jumped off the table I was on and applied some pressure to my front hooves which hurt. "Wait! Let me do it, or at least help. No reason to let you be in danger when I'm already hurt." I smiled.

She turned around and smiled back. "I knew it was you. I just knew it."

"Uh, sorry? I don't understand."

"Look in the mirror." I walked over to a mirror next to the bookcase, and saw what she was talking about. A crown, with a black jewel in the middle in the shape of a musical note hung over lazily on my head, slanted slightly to the right. "Huh, would you look at that. That's new." I said in awe. "Watch this!" Daring Doo grabbed my crown, and opened the door, and threw it out farther until it went past the trees. "Uh, What's this going to prove? And I hope I can get that back." She looked back and smiled. "Mirror, again, now... If you don't mind." She demanded in a fairly nice way. She smiled in a way that reminded me of somepony who had a pink mane...

I snapped out of my daze and looked at the mirror. "Hey, look, it comes back. I can't even feel it on my head."

She giggled a little. "Hey, you're not afraid of mirrors still, are you?" she asked.

"I've been dead for 4 years. What do you think? If anything, I'm happy to see my reflection." I turned to her and smiled.

"Alright then, you should get back on the table, we're going to need to fix that wing. I'm no doctor, but it will get infected. Wait! Actually let's get you cleaned up."

"I'm perfectly capable of washing myself."

"Well, at least let me draw the water." She offered. I accepted with a simple nod of my head, and she went to the bathroom.

What she didn't know is that I still had a nagging feeling about mirrors and to the dark. I don't know If I was afraid or just didn't like it, But...Ehh. Ehh. Don't like this stuff still. It doesn't make sense. It... feels wrong. I've been gone for 4 years, and this is still here...

My thoughts were interrupted when she called me over telling me that the water was set.

After the bath, Daring Doo told me to lie down on the table and explained to me what she was going to do. Then, she said I had 2 options. She could hit me the hardest she could to knock me out cold and spare the pain, or she could talk to me while she was doing it so I would stay awake. "It doesn't hurt very much, but it still hurts." I went with the latter, and she started pulling out feathers to clean the wound. "So, you excited to see Ponyville?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's been a while, I forgot some things."

"Nothing changed too much while you were gone. How was your life before Ponyville? I heard you were a Hu-Man, if I'm pronouncing it right."

Man that news must have spread like wild fire...

I miss my hands...

"Yeah, a Human. It was pretty bad. I'd always felt alone my whole life; for as long as I can remember. I tried to make friends, but everyone thought I was a freak... It sucked. Then, one day... I met a girl. She was a friend of mine, or rather, my only friend. She had a couple of other female friends who hung out with me, but she was there the most, and helped me through my life. She and her fiends stopped me from a suicide attempt. Sh-They are actually why I'm here. But then they moved away... Ouch!"

"Hey, Ven, That sucks, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, let's just get this over with. OCKTOBERFEST!"

"W-What?"

*Phoenix*

Phoenix honestly didn't know where he was. All he knew was he needed to hide. That crazy mare was going to kill him! That was no science chair! That was an electric chair! She's an evil scientist! "Yeah, I know!" Phoenix stopped dead in the middle of his tracks and panicked. Someone was outside! "Where to hide! This little club house only has 2 floors!" He hissed. He trotted upstairs, and made it to the top just as he heard the door open. He stood still, hoping that whoever was down there would leave soon. "And did you see Fluttershy? She looks good! The year's haven't touched her at all! Remember our old capes that we outgrew? Those were awesome!" A filly said. "Yeah, let's look for them! I want to see how they look!"

At this point he panicked and looked for an exit. All he saw was a closet, a couple of what looked like comfy bean bag chairs, and a window. A WINDOW! "I think they're up here!" He scrambled to the window, and through it. He almost made it out when he heard "AAAAAHHHH! THIEF!" He scrambled harder, and climbed through the window. He expected to fall straight through to the floor, but instead made contact with a balcony. "What the..?" Phoenix got to his feet, and spread his wings, before the 3 fillies around his age got to the balcony. "What? How- The closet was actually a door!"

"Hey it's an alicorn..." The white one said.

"Ah don't care, GET 'IM!" The yellow one bellowed. Phoenix wasn't that fast on the draw, and within seconds, the yellow one pulled out a rope from its saddle pack. He spread his wing, and was about to fly, but suddenly felt a tightening and closing of his wings. "No you don't!" she said, before the white one used her magic to levitate him to the door and into the clubhouse. He hung his head in shame while the 3 fillies shouted remarks at him!

"Don't you know it's wrong to steal?!"

"Why do you sneak up on other fillies' clubhouses, pervert!

"I like his mane."

"It's not what you think! Honest! I didn't know this place belonged to anypony, and I was hiding! Please don't take me back to Twilight."

If you notice any errors, tell me and i will give the feedback to my beta reader.

On another note, you do know I have like an entire saga planned for this right? I'm actually starting the middle story that connects With friends like these and The Long Journey Home. It's technically a prequel, as it delves into Ven's past. Check it out when it comes out. thanks =)