Luck from a Horseshoe

Chapters

An Introduction!
A Life Worth Saving!
Falling Into a New World
Treatment for the Injured
Waking to a Dream
Checking In
Visitors
Realization and Acceptance
Faded Memories
What's in a Name?
The Falling Star

An Introduction!

Vince yawned as he rolled over in bed and shut off the blaring alarm clock. The sun was just starting to come up and light had begun to bleed through the cracks in the window blinds. He rubbed his eyes as he slowly threw off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Another Monday shift…” He grumbled as he stood up and stretched out.

“As nice as it is to have a couple extra hours of sleep in the mornings, it really sucks that your alarm always wakes me up.” The lady in the other side of bed bluntly stated.

“Maybe, but you never have to work that hard to fall back asleep afterwards.” He replied reaching across the bed and poking her in the ribs.

She batted his hand away and pulled the covers up over her head. “It’s not as easy when you stand there and mess with me though ya’ brat!”

Vince gave a short chuckle and made his way to the bathroom. When the lights on the bathroom mirror were switched on he blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust. When everything came into focus, he checked over his reflection in the mirror. He was an average looking man by normal standards. Just shy of six foot tall, approximately a hundred and eighty pounds, sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and skin that had a fresh tan on it from spending the weekend at the local lake with the family. He pulled a razor and a can of shaving cream out of the cabinet behind the mirror and began to shave off the weekend stubble that had appeared. A quick brush of the teeth and into the shower he went.

While he was in the shower, there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Can I help you?” He said sarcastically.

The door opened and his wife walked in wearing her bathrobe and looking fairly disheveled, having been woken up again before her alarm clock could have the chance.

He peered around the shower curtain and saw her holding his cell phone out to him. “Who is it?”

“It’s Scott. He says it’s urgent.” She replied hoarsely.

Wiping his hand off on the towel hanging on the wall he took the phone from her and held it just off of his wet head. “Scott?”

The voice on the other end of the call was the voice of his boss, Scott Sunders. “Vince, I need you here ASAP! I’ve had two people call in sick already and we’ve been running our butts off all night. I’ve got guys that are falling asleep behind the wheel that have been here since yesterday and I’ve got one guy that’s talking about cancelling his vacation to come in today. How soon can you be here?!”

Vince sighed. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence. There had been several times since he started with this company that people were calling him in early, or even on his days off. There were even times when he was out of state and they were trying to get him to come back early to help when they were short handed.

“Well Scott, you caught me in the shower at the moment. As soon as I get the shampoo rinsed out of my hair I’ll be there. You got any 911 calls holding at the moment?!”

“No nothing like that yet, and hopefully that’s not how our day is going to go. Just get here as fast as possible!” Scott replied with a hint of sternness to his voice.

“You got it…” He replied with a sigh.

The call ended with a click on the other end and he handed the phone back to his wife who had taken a seat on the toilet lid. His wife took the phone and gave him an upset look.

“What?” He asked in a confused voice.

“How many times is this going to happen?!” She sounded very upset at this point. “You are always getting called in early, or on your days off, or on holidays…! When are you going to say ‘enough is enough?!’”

“Jess, you should realize after how long now? Five years? That working in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) is a give and take relationship. I can’t in good conscience turn them down when they need help… The only ones that are going to suffer if I do are the people calling 911 when they need help on their worst days.”

Jess rolled her eyes and got up to leave the bathroom. She turned around before shutting the door and said with a sarcastic voice. “You know that little speech isn’t fair. You always use that when I’m upset about you having to work… And it always works.” After that being said, she closed the bathroom door and laid back down in bed.

Vince finished his shower and went back to the bedroom and put on a fresh uniform. A black pair of pants with enough pockets to hold the tools of the trade and a freshly pressed shirt with the star of life embroidered on the chest and his company’s logo on the sleeve.

“You know you could always take a normal day job and be home nights with me. It would be nice to have you in bed more than three or four nights a week.” She grumbled from under the covers.

“And then where would the ten thousand dollars worth of student loans go that I spent on paramedic training? What day job would allow us the luxuries that we’ve been able to keep since I took this job?” He replied sternly.

“I know I’m not changing your mind… I’m just wishfully thinking out loud.” She sighed and sat up in bed. “Give me a kiss before you go.”

As he finished buttoning the last button on his shirt he walked over and planted a kiss on his wife’s lips. “After nine years of marriage I still hate having to leave you for a whole twenty four hours.”

“Oh believe me! You are not the only one!” She replied jokingly. “You be safe at work today and try not to kill your boss!”

“That’s easier said than done on most days.” With that he grabbed his backpack off of the floor and headed out the door.

It was a cool morning for being late July. By this time the sun was out and had just reached over the horizon. The air was fresh and had that smell that only comes when the morning dew starts to warm. It made him smile as he made his way across the yard to his motorcycle. He threw the other strap of his back pack over his shoulder, securing it to his back. The motorcycle roared to life and away he was down the road on his way to work.

The building where he worked was nothing impressive. A steel-sided building with several garage doors built into it. Behind each garage door there was supposed to be an ambulance parked, sheltered from the elements, ready to respond ‘lights and sirens’ to anyone that needed it. There was a taller addition to the back of the main building which housed two helicopters that they used for patient transport as well. However, today most of the garages were empty.

His motorcycle rumbled around the corner and across the driveway to an open parking spot in front of the main office door. As he shut the bike off and got off of it, his boss Scott approached him.

“Wow, you made good time!” Scott said as he leaned against the doorway crossing his arms.

“You better believe it!” Vince replied with a grin. “I’m like the wind!” He gave a short laugh.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could talk you into getting on a bird today is there…?” Scott asked.

Vince looked up at Scott with a very stern glare. “You’re joking right?! You know there is no freaking way I’m getting on a helicopter! EVER! I like my feet on the ground!”

“Didn’t think so… Marty called in sick today and I either need to find a medic who’ll go in a bird or send one of the pilots home. No point in paying them if they’re not gonna be in the air.”

Vince stepped through the door past his boss and turned around to look at him. “Not my problem. The idea of flying scares the absolute crap out of me! I told you that when you hired me.”

Scott nodded and rolled his eyes before disappearing into his office.

Vince entered the locker room where they were several men from the previous shift changing out of their uniforms. He threw his back pack into his locker and grabbed a small jewelry box off of the top shelf. He opened the box to reveal a necklace on a silver chain. The necklace had the star of life emblazoned in bright blue over a silver backing. He closed his eyes and gave the necklace a small kiss before throwing it over his neck. The locker closed with a slam and he headed out into the ambulance bay to begin the morning routine of checking in his truck.

Halfway down the hallway between the garages and the locker rooms, Vince was stopped by his boss Scott. “Someone’s here to see you. He’s outside waiting for you by your motorcycle.”

Vince gave a puzzled look. “Is it Jessica?”

“No it’s a kid, maybe somewhere around ten or twelve. Dunno what he wants. Just said that he was looking for a guy named Vince that worked here, and you’re the only here with that name.” Scott motioned towards the front door.

Vince looked towards the door and slowly made his way to the entrance, the whole time thinking about who it could be, or more importantly, why a kid would be here to see him. After all, he and his wife didn’t have any children, and all of the kids in the family didn’t even live in the same state as him.

As he opened the door to the parking lot he saw a boy standing behind his motorcycle. The boy appeared to be somewhere around the age of twelve and was staring straight at Vince without blinking.

“Can I help you?” Vince asked.

The boy began to tear up and ran up and wrapped his arms around Vince’s waist. The boy began sobbing uncontrollably. Vince put his hands up in confusion at first and then put his arms around the weeping child, giving him a hug. Vince looked over at a window in the side of building. Behind the window was Scott’s office and Scott was standing at the window watching the current events. Vince gave Scott a confused look and Scott replied by throwing his arms up in the classic “I don’t know” pose.

“Hey there… What’s this about little man? Why are you so upset?”

The boy slowly unwrapped his arms from around Vince’s waist and wiped his eyes and nose on the shirt he was wearing.

“I just wanted to come by and see you in person.” The boy said, still sniffling. “Last week you came to my house because my little sister was sick and you took her to the hospital.”

“Last week…? Well, the only little girl I transported last week was…” Vince stopped mid sentence and suddenly went pale.

~~~

Last week on one of Vince’s shifts, the radios blared their alert tones followed by the dispatcher’s voice. “Unit 32, Unit 32. Respond priority one to 1432 Highway A6 for a pediatric patient in cardiac arrest!”

Vince listened to the dispatch information and then immediately looked up at his partner. Both of them were pale, as if all the blood had drained into their toes. His partner who was driving, started up the ambulance they were in, fired up the sirens and lit the top lights. Soon they were flying down the road at about fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit.

“I hate going on codes (cardiac arrests), but I hate going on kid’s codes even more.” The burly man in the driver seat stated.

“Nobody enjoys this part of the job Mark!” Vince replied sternly. “But this one is going to be a save!”

“Don’t get your hopes up dude…”

“I’m not getting my hopes up Mark!!!” Vince yelled back. “This one IS going to be a save!!!”

Mark shook his head as they pulled up into the driveway of the address they were sent to. Vince hopped out of the ambulance before it was completely stopped and was grabbing his bag out of one of the outside cabinets. Mark hopped out of the driver seat and ran around back to get the heart monitor.

Vince was the first one inside the residence with his bag in hand. “PARAMEDICS! WHERE ARE YOU!” He yelled as he entered the front door.

“BACK HERE!” A voice called from down a hallway.

Mark came in carrying the monitor and saw Vince go running down the hallway towards a back bedroom.

Vince reached the end of the hallway and saw a boy standing outside the bedroom crying. The boy looked to be about twelve years old. “In here?” He asked the young boy while pointing at the bedroom door. The boy nodded and pointed to the bedroom.

Upon entering the bedroom he saw a little girl laying on her back on the floor. The young girl looked to be about five he guessed. A man, whom Vince assumed to be the girls father, was performing CPR on the child. A woman, who must have been the mother of the child was sitting on the floor crying hysterically.

When Vince and his partner entered the room, the man looked up at them both with tears running down his face and said. “Please…. I don’t know what else to do…”

Vince immediately got to his knees next to the child and felt for a pulse. “She has no pulse Mark!” With that Vince pulled out a pair of scissors from his pocket and cut the child’s pajama shirt off of her. He paused for a moment and noticed a necklace around the child’s neck. The necklace had a gold chain adorned with a small golden horseshoe for the charm, embedded in the charm were several small pink stones that surrounded the outline of the horseshoe. Vince always thought of horse shoes as being able to bring good luck. At this moment he decided to leave the necklace on the child. “We could use all the luck we can get at this moment.” He thought to himself.

Author's Note

So, the first chapter I guess starts off kind of slow. I hope I'm setting an interesting stage for the rest of the story...

A Life Worth Saving!

Vince looked at the rhythm displayed on the monitor. “Mark, shock her now!”

Mark nodded. “Shocking on three! One, two, three!” Mark pressed a button on the machine and the child’s body almost appeared to jump off of the ground.

After a few seconds, Mark checked for a pulse on the child. “I’ve got no pulse Vince!”

“Keep going!” Vince yelled back while vigorously pumping on the child’s chest and giving her mouth-to-mouth.

They continued to work on the child’s lifeless body for what seemed like hours. By this time they had done just about everything they could think of to try and bring the child’s still heart back to life.

“Vince… We’re gonna have to call it…” Mark said in a solemn voice.

“We’re not calling anything!” Vince screamed back.

Vince had sweat dripping from his forehead at this point. “One more… One more time Mark!”

“There’s no point man! We’ve done everything we can!” Mark exclaimed.

Vince looked down at the necklace around the child’s neck, the golden horse shoe that he hoped would bring her some luck in getting her heart beating again. “This is where you come in… If you’re going to bring this little girl some luck… Do it now…” He whispered.

“Mark, one more time. Shock her one last time.”

Mark rolled his eyes and focused his attention back to the monitor. “Shocking on three! One, two, three!”

The little girl’s body jumped from the shock. Vince paused for a moment and then hesitantly felt for a pulse while looking at the monitor. He touched his fingers to the child and felt the slow and faint pulse of the child’s beating heart.

“…..I’ve got a pulse...” Vince said in a shocked voice.

“No way!” Mark stated while reaching to check for himself. “Holy cow! We need to go!”

“Let’s go then!” Vince said as he scooped up the little girl to carry her out to the waiting ambulance.

The child’s father stood up almost smiling. “Wait! Does that mean that she’s alive.”

Vince gave the father a reassuring look and stated. “That means we need to go… Now!”

Vince carried the child from the bedroom, passing the young boy in the hallway and pausing if front of him. “If I have any say in the matter… You will see your sister again!”

The young boy just nodded his head.

After getting the little girl into the ambulance, Mark hopped into the driver’s seat and drove as fast as he could to the hospital. Upon arriving at the hospital, the little girl’s heart was still beating, albeit very slowly. Vince and Mark brought the little girl into the hospital where the doctors and nurses began to work on her. During the time that they were there and watching the staff do their best to bring the little girl back from the edge of death, one of the nurses tried to take off the little girl’s horse shoe necklace.

“NO! Don’t take that off of her.” Vince snapped at the nurse. “She needs all the luck that she can get…”

The nurse gave a frustrated look and left the necklace in place.

Mark soon came back from the garage after straightening out the ambulance. “Vince, we gotta go… Scott needs us for
another call.”

With a sigh and one last look at the little girl, Vince left the hospital to go back to work.

~~~

The little boy nodded his head, as if answering a question.

Tears began to well up in Vince’s eyes. In a very shaky voice Vince simply asked. “Did she make it?”

The little boy had a smile come over his face and he gave Vince another big hug. This time Vince kneeled down to hug to the boy back. “She wouldn’t have pulled through without you.” He said.

Vince began to cry at this point, not from sadness but from the joy of knowing that he had given this young man his sister back. “I was just doing my job.”

The boy stepped away and looked down at Vince smiling. “No, you did so much more.” The boy wiped his face and pulled something out of his pocket. “She woke up a few days ago in the hospital. We all told her the story of what happened and how you wouldn’t give up on her.” The boy opened his hand to reveal what he had taken from his pocket.

It was the necklace that the little girl was wearing that day, the golden horseshoe pendant with the pink stones. “She wanted to make sure that I got this to you. Our parents both told her that she needed to keep it, but she insisted that someone like you was going to need it more than her.”

Vince gave the boy a puzzled look and then looked down at the necklace in his hand. He wiped his face with the front of his shirt. “I really couldn’t accept this. I think that your parents are right… She should keep it. I believe it’s what saved her that day.”

The boy shook his head and held it out for him. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Vince looked at the necklace in the boy’s hand and held out his own hand. The boy put the necklace in Vince’s hand and took a few steps back. “This necklace once belonged to our grandmother. My grandmother said once that it had been in our family for many generations and had the power to bring luck when it was needed the most. My little sister said that she felt it would bring you luck, since you helped it bring luck to her.”

Tears were starting to well up in Vince’s eyes again. “Please, tell her thank you from me. Let her know that I’m very grateful for such a gift.”

Vince reached into his shirt and pulled out the necklace he was wearing. The star of life that he had been wearing under his shirt since he first started the job. He pulled the necklace off from around his neck and held it out for the young man to take.

“Make sure your sister gets this for me? It’s what I’ve worn since I started this job.”

The boy nodded and took the necklace from Vince. “Thank you again.” The young boy said while turning to leave.

Vince watched the young man walk away before turning his attention the horse shoe necklace in his hand. He undid the chain of the necklace and securely fastened it around his neck, tucking the horse shoe into his shirt.

After walking back inside, Scott stopped him in the hallway.

“We’ve got a call for you. Abdominal pain at 423 Rezen Street.” Scott said, handing him a piece of paper with the address written on it.

“Rezen Street? That’s almost all the way on the edge of our territory.” Vince replied questioningly.

“Yeah, well they don’t have any one over in that area to respond to it. So you’re it! Jodi’s already in the ambulance waiting for you. Get a move on!” Scott said while pointing at an ambulance that was pulling around the side of the building.

Vince ran over and hopped into the passenger seat of the ambulance. The ambulance came to life as it sped down the highway, sirens blaring and lights glowing.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” He said to Jodi.

“All I know is that Rezen Street is up on top of Young’s Hill. So that’s where I’m headed.” She replied.

“Oh yeah! The roads used to get us a lot of business up there.” Vince said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “People taking the corners too fast and driving right off the edge… It’s a good thing they installed the guard rails along the edges up there.”

“That’s very true.” Jodi said with a slight giggle.

They hit their turn-off for Young’s hill and began their ascent up the winding road that took them to Rezen Street at the top of the hill.

“When did they start all this new construction up here?” Vince asked.

“A few months ago I guess. Big new housing development going in.” She replied.

Vince looked over at Jodi with an amused grin. “I don’t think I could stand living in such a high place. I’d be afraid that Jess would drive right off one of the edges.”

“HA! That bad of a driver huh?” Jodi laughed.

“Well, after all she is a woman right?” Vince poked back.

“Ok, not cool.” Jodi said with an annoyed look on her face. “Not all woman are bad drivers…”

Vince just laughed and turned back to look at her. He barely had time to see the cement truck speeding down a small side road before it struck the driver’s side of the ambulance. The cement truck struck the side of the ambulance with such force that it pinned the vehicle to the guardrail on the passenger’s side.

Vince’s heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was digging its way out of his chest. He was deafened by the sound of the two vehicles colliding and his hands were completely numb from the sudden shock. He looked over at the driver’s seat where Jodi was sitting.

“Jodi?! You all right!” He yelled in what sounded like a muffled voice.

Jodi did not respond. She was slumped over to her right side, still seat belted in place. Her eyes were closed and he could not tell if she was breathing. He undid his seat belt and tried to get his door opened but couldn’t. The passenger side door had been pinned shut by the guard rail. He reached over and tried to get Jodi to wake up. Slowly he began to regain his senses as the adrenaline wore off slightly. As his hearing began to come back he could hear something that made him freeze in place. It was the cracking of the wood posts that held the guardrail in place, which in turn was keeping the ambulance from toppling over the edge of the hill.

Panic quickly set in as he realized that the guardrail was not going to hold the weight of a cement truck and an ambulance. He quickly tried to scramble out of his seat to make it into the back of the ambulance and out the back doors. However, this was an attempt made in vain.

A loud crack and the quick shift of the ambulance signified that the guardrail had given away under the weight of both vehicles. Time seemed to slow down as he felt the ambulance slide and then roll off of the edge of the hill. He felt every muscle in his body clench tight as he looked out his window at the fast approaching ground. With nothing else left to do he shut his eyes as tight as he could while he waited for the ground to meet him.

Author's Note

Hope it's not too boring here...

Falling Into a New World

From behind his tightly shut eyelids, he saw an extremely bright pink flash and heard the sound of the ambulance crashing into the ground. Only it was behind him that he heard the sounds of the crash. He quickly opened his eyes to find that he was still falling, but through nothingness. The ambulance, Jodi and the world around him had all disappeared somewhere. There was just still blackness.

“I’m dead…” He said out loud to himself. “This is what happens after you die…”

He looked down at the direction that it felt like he was falling only to notice a pale pink light glowing from somewhere. He quickly found that the light was coming from the pendant on the necklace he had received from the little girl. Not understanding what was happening he pulled the necklace out from under his shirt. The necklace shined extremely bright and he had to squint to look directly at it. Each of the pink stones around the necklace were shining very brightly.

“What is happening…?” He whispered softly as he glanced around for something other than the darkness around him.

In his head he heard a very faint voice say something. It was too soft to make out but soon he heard it again, and then again. He heard the voice in his head getting louder. It sounded like the voice of a little girl. He heard it again and this time he could make it out.

“You helped it bring me luck, so now it will bring its luck… and magic to you…”

Wide eyed he looked around trying to see where the voice was coming from, but there was nothing. Squinting he looked down at the pendant again. The bright glow from the pendant was getting brighter and before long he had to close his eyes to keep from being blinded. Suddenly he felt a strange warmth envelope his body. The warmth calmed him and caused his muscles and mind to relax. He opened his eyes to see that the bright light of the horse shoe pendant had enveloped his entire body. He was still falling through what appeared to be nothingness but as he looked harder he could see a tiny light coming towards him through the darkness.

As he watched this little speck of light slowly get bigger and closer. He could see what looked like a hole with a picture of the world inside it. He realized that he was falling from nothingness back into the world.

“I always wanted to believe magic could be a real thing but this surely proves it.” He said to himself as he looked back down at the pendant.

As the hole grew bigger and drew closer, he began to feel the warmth of the pink light surrounding him penetrate into his body. He closed his eyes as this feeling of warmth spread through every inch of him. Slowly, every part of his body went comfortably numb. The feeling was overwhelming and the light surrounding him continued to glow brighter and brighter. He opened his eyes one last time. Just long enough to see himself pass from the nothingness into this pictured world, before closing them and drifting out of consciousness.

~~~

“Wow Applejack! I never realized just how beautiful the sunsets are here on your farm.” Twilight said with a large smile on her face.

“You betcha! The west orchard’s a mighty fine place to catch the last glimpse of the day before it ends.” Applejack replied. “And thanks for coming out and lending me a hoof getting all the weeds pulled out. Sorry that it took all day.”

“That’s all right, I actually had some free time that I wasn’t sure what to do with today.”

Both ponies watched as the sun slowly dipped behind the horizon. Signifying the end of the day and the long walk back to the house on the Apple Family Farm. As the light of the sun slowly faded a few stars started to poke their heads out from behind the sky.

“Welp! I reckon we oughtta mosy back to the house before it gets totally dark.” Applejack said as she got up. She walked over to a pair of saddlebags that were leaning against an apple tree and grabbed them with her mouth. Turning her head, she tossed them over her back and pulled the strap tight underneath her belly.

“Sure.” Twilight answered. A pale glow surrounded Twilight’s horn and then surrounded a pair of saddlebags that were laying in the grass. The saddlebags levitated from the ground neatly onto Twilight’s back and the strap cinched itself snug around her belly.

Both ponies began to walk back to the farmhouse when they heard something rustling in one of the trees and stopped. Both of them looked up at the tops of the trees trying to see what was making the noise.

“Wha…What do you suppose that was Twi…?” Applejack said with a shakiness to her voice.

“I don’t know…” Twilight answered.

Both of them heard the rustling again and approached one of the apple trees in the orchard that they thought the noise was coming from. Both of them stopped at the tree’s trunk and looked up into the leaves.

From behind them a light blue pegasus jumped out of another tree and landed on the ground behind them. “BOO!!!” The pegasus shouted.

Both ponies jumped and ran head first into each other. The pegasus rolled over onto her back laughing at the sight before her.

“Rainbow Dash! That ain’t funny!” Applejack said while rubbing her head. “Twilight, it’s a good thing I got a hard head or that there horn a yours woulda gone straight through to my brain!”

Twilight got up and shook her head trying to regain her balance. “Rainbow Dash… That wasn’t very nice at all…!”

The pegasus rolled back over onto her feet, tears were in her eyes from laughing so hard. “All right, all right… I’m sorry. But it was just such a perfect opportunity.”

A few more stars had come out at this point and the night was starting to get darker.

“We better be gettin back y’all. Big Mac and Granny Smith will be worrying if we don’t.” Applejack said as she picked her hat up off of the ground and put it back on her head.

“All right, I’ll see you girls tomorrow for our picnic then.” Rainbow Dash said as she spread her wings and started to take off. “Hey! Check it out you guys, a shooting star!” Rainbow Dash pointed towards the northern part of the sky.

Both of the other ponies stopped and looked up where Rainbow Dash was pointing.

“Oh, wow! I’ve never seen a pink star before! That’s amazing.” Twilight said excitedly. “It’s too bad we’re not at my house right now, we could be looking at it through my telescope.”

“I call dibs on the wish!” Rainbow Dash yelled out.

“Hey ya’ll, that star actually looks like it’s getting closer.” Applejack said.

All three ponies watched the pink shooting star as it slowly got bigger and bigger.

~~~

Under the glow of the pink light surrounding Vince’s body, he began to change. The light grew brighter and unbeknownst to his unconscious self, his body was being reshaped. This new world was accepting him but only as one of its own.

The light grew brighter and brighter as his body changed. His skin was replaced with bright white fur that covered him from head to toe. His clothes slowly dissolved as the changes continued. His hands and feet changed into small hard grey hooves that met with the white fur. His joints bent and twisted and clicked into their new places. His neck craned out in length and slowly his face extended out into that of a muzzle. Now his ears had dissolved and new ones were appearing on the top of his head. His hair magically stretched out from the top of his head down the back of his neck. From the tip of his lower back a tail magically sprouted out.

The light began to fade from around him and he slowly began to open to his eyes. From his back, it felt as if the magic was slowly protruding out. But, what he couldn’t see was that he had a pair of white feather wings that were magically growing out of his back. When the wings had fully appeared, the pink light's brightness began to slowly fade and Vince began to wake.

As he woke, the feeling of the comfortable numbness began to fade as well as the light around him. Suddenly he realized that he was still falling. The ground was coming at him so fast, that all there was time to do was close his eyes before the landing.

Vince landed right on top of an apple tree, crashing through the branches, snapping them right off the tree and knocking many apples to the ground. Next was the ground which was met with a very hard ‘thud.’ As he finally landed on his back, the wind from his lungs was completely gone and he had all he could do to breathe. The pain in his right arm was almost instantaneous and it made him cringe. There was pain in what he thought had to be his right shoulder blade as well.

“Oohhh…..” He cried out in a hoarse voice. “…Those have both got to be broken.” He slowly opened his eyes only to have the world in front of him upside down and spinning. “A concussion as well….” He slowly tried to raise his head from the ground but found it very difficult. It felt as if his head weighed a hundred pounds. “I suppose a fall like that would break someone’s neck. Well... Now what?” He looked around trying to focus on anything he could. He heard footsteps coming closer to him and tried to focus in on where they were coming from. Slowly he began to drift back out of consciousness until he was back in the nothingness that he fell out of his world into.

Author's Note

Transformation time! Finally!

Treatment for the Injured

Vince began to stir in the midst of his unintentional sleep. "Oohhh..." He croaked.

He could hear voices coming from somewhere. Very muffled and distorted at first but they slowly began to take shape in his ears.

"Hey! He's waking up!" One of the voices said.

"I reckon we oughtta let someone know. It ain't gonna be good if he wakes up in the shape he's in." Another voice said. This one a bit deeper sounding than the other.

"I'm on it!" A rough and higher pitched voice announced.

Vince slowly started to open his eyes. As his eyes transitioned from the darkness of being shut for so long, to the light of the hospital lobby, he was soon able to see blurry colors and shapes. He slowly moved his eyes around trying to help them focus in on something in the room. He slowly brought his focus front and center. He blinked twice trying to bring what he was seeing into better focus but everything remained blurry. He noticed what had to be a person in a lavender colored dress to his left and another on the right that must be wearing an orange dress.

"Wh...wh....where...am...I?" The strange white stallion managed to push out.

Twilight gave Applejack a quick glance of surprise that held the hint of a smile. "You're in the Ponyville Hospital."

Vince's brain was an internal mess. All of the day's events were starting to come back to him and mix with what was happening right now. He remembered waking up to his alarm clock and riding his motorcycle to his job. He remembered getting to work and meeting the little boy who informed him of his sister's life being saved. He remembered going on an ambulance call with his friend Jodi. Then the memories of the accident came. He remembered seeing the speeding cement truck and feeling the impact. He remembered seeing Jodi's unconscious face and then the loud snap that signified the fall from the edge of the cliff. The feeling of falling and then the impact with the ground. 'What happened after the crash?' He thought to himself. 'I must have survived... After all, I'm here in Ponyville Hospital.' His thought process came to a screeching halt. 'Wait... What hospital did she say this was?'

"Uuhh..." He groaned as he began trying to pick his head up. Suddenly the pain from his bodily injuries came rushing in like a tidal wave. Any effort he was giving to try and make his muscles work was immediately halted. "Ooowww...!" He managed to cry out.

"Stop that right now!" One of the voices standing in front of him said in a very stern voice. "You shouldn't be trying to move around in the shape you're in! The doctor is on his way here now, so you just sit tight for a little while."

He felt one of the ladies put an arm around his back briefly. "That's right hun...! Tain't no sense in moving around with a leg in that kind of shape and a busted wing." The other voice stated.

'Wait... A busted wing...?' He thought. There was a very thick southern accent in the last ladies' voice. 'She must be referring to my shoulder.' That had to be it. Thinking about this made the pain worse. He tried to distract himself away from the pain but to no avail. "Ooohhh...!" He groaned again.

The two ponies standing with the busted up stallion turned and looked down the hallway as they heard quick footsteps approaching the lobby. Soon, the nurse from the desk returned with a rather large syringe in her mouth. The syringe was filled with a deep blue colored liquid. Behind her was the doctor and Rainbow Dash flying closely behind. The doctor was a dark-yellowish unicorn stallion who was wearing a white lab coat. He wore a small pair of glasses over the bridge of his nose and had his dark brown mane combed straight back.

The doctor trotted up to the white stallion, staring for just a moment at the perfectly blank area on his flank with a look of awe flashing across his face. The doctor shook off the expression and leaned his head against the stallion's side. He could here the stallion's heart beating and feel his sides expanding as he took in shallow breaths.

Rainbow Dash had landed between Twilight and Applejack and watched the doctor.

The doctor lifted his head up and looked over at the three friends standing next to one another. "How long ago since this happened?"

"I guess I don't really know fer sure doc..." Said Applejack with a frown. "It happened just after it got dark. I can tell ya that much at least."

The doctor quickly surveyed the pegasus' injuries. "Well, it's very lucky that you were all there to witness his crash." The doctor said with some concern in his voice.

Vince again opened his eyes only to find the images presented to him still blurry and misshaped. "A...am.....I gonna.....make it?" The stallion managed to spit out.

The doctor looked down at the stallion's face. "Of course you are! But I dare say that you are in for long recovery. Now try and relax as much as possible all right? I'm going to give you some medicine. This may hurt a little unfortunately." The doctor's horn began to glow a pale yellow color before the syringe was surrounded in the same colored aura and lifted from the nurse's mouth. The doctor levitated the syringe over to the stallion and aimed the needle at the left side of the pegasus' neck. Narrowing his eyes the doctor pushed the syringe into the side of the pegasus stallion's neck.

Vince winced as he felt the needle penetrate the side of his neck. The pain from the needle was intense but short. He felt the medicine as it was injected into him. It brought a nice warming sensation with it which helped him to forget about the pain he was in. The warm feeling spread through his body, numbing any and all feeling he had. The warm feeling spread up his neck and into his head next. He felt the medicine working it's way into his mind and slowly slipping him into sleep. This however, was different than the times he had drifted in and out of consciousness after the crash. He was 'comfortable' he thought. He almost felt as if he was smiling as, once again today, his world faded into blackness.

"Can you please get this patient a cart so we can get him in for treatment please?" The doctor said glancing over at the nurse.

"Yes doctor!" The nurse replied and quickly she ran off again down the hallway.

The doctor removed the syringe from the stallion's neck and set it next to him on the bench, the aura fading from around it.

"Do any of you know who he is?" The doctor asked the three while motioning his head towards the stallion.

Rainbow Dash was the first to respond. "I know I've never seen him around Cloudsdale or Ponyville before."

"None of us have seen him before doctor." Twilight remarked.

"Well then, I have good news and bad news." The doctor stated. "The good news is that because you three were there when he crashed, you were able to bring him straight here. I doubt that he would have survived the night if he hadn't been brought in here by you all."

The nurse came back into the lobby pushing a hospital bed in front of her. The doctor looked to the nurse and then back to the stallion in front of him. A dark yellow aura surrounded the pegasus and he was gently lifted from the bench in the lobby to the hospital bed the nurse had retrieved. The doctor then surrounded the hospital bed as well with his magical aura and began pushing the bed with the stallion on it towards a hallway.

The doctor stopped for a moment, looked down and sighed. "The bad news is..." The doctor raised his head and then looked at the pegasus on the hospital bed. "We have no idea who he is... I've never seen anyone reach this age without a cutie mark. And without a cutie mark to help identify him, we have no way of getting a hold of family or friends to let them know that he is here and, more importantly, alive."

With that the doctor wheeled the hospital bed down the hallway with the nurse trotting alongside. The doors closed behind them, and the three ponies who had probably saved this young stallion were left standing there with each other.

"I really hope he's going to be all right." Twilight said in a concerned voice.

Rainbow Dash nudged Twilight with her shoulder. "Come on! He's a pegasus after all. He'll come out of this just fine. You'll see!" Rainbow Dash reassured her shakily.

Rainbow Dash had herself been in several flying accidents and had ended up staying for a few days at a time at the Ponyville Hospital as she healed up. However, neither her or any of her friends had ever been in or even seen a crash as bad as the white stallion's.

"Come on ya'll!" Applejack said as she walked over to the front doors of the hospital. "Ain't nothing more we can do for him now. Best ta let the doctor do his job."

The other two ponies nodded and they all walked out of the hospital. Each one still with a look of concern covering their faces.

'I don't remember ever seeing a mare or stallion at that age without their cutie mark...' Twilight thought to herself. 'A pony that age without a cutie mark that just all of a sudden falls out of the sky...? I better send a letter to Princess Celestia when I get home.'

"You guys wanna stop back at the hospital in a few days and check on him?" Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting Twilight's train of thought. "Company always makes sick or injured ponies feel better doesn't it? Ooh!" She shouted suddenly. "We'll have to bring Pinkie Pie with us! She always has a way of making ponies feel better."

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a mighty fine plan ta me sugarcube!" Applejack said with a smile.

The three split up once at the center of town. Applejack started down the the path that led to her farm. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew upwards into the city of Cloudsdale. Twilight headed towards the direction of her house.

Twilight stopped outside the door of her house and glanced upward at the sky. "That pink falling star has to be connected to this pegasus' accident somehow." She tried to stifle a yawn as she opened the door magically and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled.

A light came on upstairs and Twilight began to ascend the staircase to her bedroom. When she was upstairs she saw Spike sitting upright in his basket rubbing his eyes.

Spike yawned and looked at Twilight. "You sure stayed out later than usual... Get caught up in another book?" Spike said with a snicker.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Not quite. We were watching the sunset in Applejack's orchard when a strange pegasus came crashing out of the sky right in front of our eyes." She said.

Spike's eyes grew bigger. "Is it ok?" Spike said with some concern.

"Well, HE is in pretty bad shape. It was a pretty bad accident." She said with some concern. "The doctor said that he'll survive, but he also said that he's got a long road ahead of him to recovery."

"Whoa! Lucky you were all there then huh?" Spike asked.

"Doctor told us that too. But the thing that really bothers me the most... He had no cutie mark!" Twilight answered.

"What?! No cutie mark? How old was he?!"

"Old enough that he should have had one a long time ago." Twilight walked over to her window and looked up at the stars. "Spike! Take a note please."

Spike nodded and quickly ran over to a shelf and grabbed an open scroll and quill pen from it.

Twilight began to recite all of the events that unfolded that evening while Spike recorded every word. She got to the end and mentioned a "PS, please ask Princess Luna if she's ever seen a pink shooting star before."

"Okay Spike, send it off." She ordered.

Spike rolled up the parchment into a scroll and placed a holder around it. Holding it out in front of his face, he took a deep breath and blew a small puff of green fire onto it. The document turned to ashes and quickly blew out the window.

"Thanks Spike. Now it's time for bed." Twilight said as she snuggled herself down under her covers.

Spike grabbed the lantern in his claws and blew out the flame before snuggling down into his bed as well.

Author's Note

Phew! What a night!

Waking to a Dream

Vince felt extremely groggy as his consciousness slowly began to come back to him. Whatever medicines he had been given while here in the hospital, were still far from wearing off. He opened his eyes slowly to the dimly lit hospital room he was in. He glanced around, his eyes half open trying to focus his vision. After blinking several times his vision had finally started to clear and he was able to clearly make out the room and the objects within. The sights he saw resembled what appeared to be a normal hospital room. It was very neat and extremely clean. There was light coming in through a small window that was embedded in the closed door to his room. He took a deep breath in, smelling the sterile environment of the hospital. He noticed a window on the right side of the room that was open. The light outside the window was slowly fading as night was beginning. As he turned his head to try to look out the window he noticed how strange it felt to move his head again.

"Ohh." He groaned as he closed his eyes and moved his head to the side, stretching out his stiff neck. "Holy cow am I stiff... I wonder how long I've been here?" He said to himself.

As he opened his eyes back up he noticed something strange right in front of him. He moved his head around to confirm what it was he was seeing. Cross-eyed, he looked downward at his nose, his mouth slowly falling open at the sight.

"What in the world happened to my face?!" He exclaimed to himself.

Slowly he brought his left hand up to touch his nose. As he brought his hand up to his face, his eyes suddenly widened in pure terror. His hand was gone! He looked at the stump where his hand used to be. There was a grey stump that met a short ways up his arm to his white skin. 'Wait...!' He thought as he looked closer at the stump. It suddenly didn't look like a stump at all. As he focused in closer on his left arm he noticed that it was a horse hoof. A small, dark grey horse hoof that came from the end of his arm a short ways up and met with short white fur. '...Fur?!' He was beginning to panic. A sudden rush of absolute anxiety overwhelmed him as he threw the cover off of himself with his left arm. His breathing shallowed and quickened as he laid there, eyes wide in terror and shock, at what he was seeing.

Every inch of his body was covered in a short white fur. The only exception was his hands and feet, or more importantly the lack of them. Where his hands and feet should have been were small grey horse hooves just like the one on his left arm. He looked over at his right arm. It was very tightly bandaged and secured to his body in some kind of sling. The last thing he noticed was his tail. A bright red tail with yellow streaks in it that lay in a mess on the bed in front of him protruding from his rear.

"Oh my God! What the heck is this?!" He shouted.

He looked around the hospital room in a panic trying as hard as he could to look for some kind of explanation as to what was going on. He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "This has got to be a dream... There's absolutely no other explanation for this. It's just a drug induced dream from the medications I've been given while being treated in the hospital." He said aloud to himself.

With a 'click' the hospital room door flung open. Into his room walked an off-white colored pony wearing a nurse's hat. She mainly had a white mane and tail with hints of bright red woven through it. Vince looked over at the pony, his anxiety and panic all of a sudden rushing back.

"Are you all right hun?" The nurse pony said in an older feminine voice. She had a look of concern on her face as the white pegasus stared at her and began to hyperventilate. "Oh my!" She exclaimed. The nurse pony turned her head out to the hallway. "Please go and get the doctor quickly, and tell him that he will want to bring a sedative with him." The nurse said with urgency in her voice. She turned back to the pegasus in the hospital bed. "Hun, are you all right?"

Vince was speechless, frozen in absolute terror. 'What kind of nightmare was this!' He thought. He couldn't take his attention off of the nurse pony that was standing in the doorway. He allowed his eyes to wander over to the open window for a moment and contemplated making a dash and a jump from the room. He wondered how high up he was before remembering that it was some kind of fall that ended him up where he is now. He turned his attention back to the nurse in the doorway. A drenching sweat was beginning to show itself on his fur.

The nurse allowed the concern on her face to slowly melt away into a warm smile. She spoke to the scared pegasus in a very soft and comforting voice. "You should try and relax hun. It doesn't do a sick pony any good to get all worked up like this. You've already been here a week, and you don't want to add on any more unnecessary time to your stay do you?"

'A sick pony....?' He thought. 'She actually called me a.... pony...' He looked himself over again, feeling himself losing the last little bit of grip on reality that he had.

He watched as another pony came into the room, brushing by the nurse. This one was a dark yellow with a brown mane and tail. He wore glasses across the bridge of his nose as well as a white lab coat that covered his front half and part of his front legs. But what caught Vince's attention the most was the horn sticking out of the ponies' head.

'It's official!' He thought as the doctor came into the room. 'This HAS to be a dream!'

"Oh my!" The doctor stated forcing an uncomfortable smile. "Well.... It's nice to see that you're awake finally."

The doctor took several steps towards the hospital bed that the pegasus was lying in, and that was all Vince's sanity needed to snap it's last hold on reality.

"GET BACK!" Vince screamed. "I DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE BUT WHATEVER IT IS NEEDS TO STOP!"

"Son, you really need to calm down." The doctor stated with a growing concern in his voice. "This kind of behavior isn't going to help you any!"

"JUST..... STAY BACK!"

The doctor nodded to the nurse who disappeared out into the hallway for a brief moment and then reappeared in the hospital room with a large syringe full of a deep blue liquid in her mouth. Vince saw the syringe and that was all he needed for motivation. He was going for the window.

Every muscle in his body seemed to contract at the same time and he forced himself to jump-roll out of the bed. He tried landing on what used to be his feet, but the way the joints had rearranged forced him to slip. He fell hard onto his back on the floor. The pain from his right arm and right shoulder came instantly and shot through him like a thousand volts of electricity.

"OOOOWWWW!!!" The pegasus screamed as he came into contact with the floor. The pain incapacitated him, and it was all he could think about at that moment aside from one thing. 'Dreams don't cause this kind of pain...'

"Oh no!" The doctor exclaimed as he and the the nurse ran over to the other side of the bed. The pegasus laid there with his eyes closed. Large streams of tears coming from his eyes. A yellow glow surrounded the doctor's horn and the syringe was enveloped in a yellow aura. The syringe levitated from the nurse's mouth and over to the pegasus' neck. With one quick motion the needle penetrated into the incapacitated stallion and injected it's medicine.

Vince felt the sharp pain of the needle entering his neck which made him cringe a bit. Soon he felt the familiar warmth of the medicine begin to flow through him. The warm feeling slowly melted the pain from his arm and shoulder away. As it seeped further into his body it brought forth a comforting numbness. As the medicine seeped into his mind he felt himself drifting into a comfortable sleep.

In a soft voice he stated. "Definitely not a dream." With that, the young pegasus lost his consciousness to the sedative.

"Come, we need to get him back into bed. I really hope he didn't undo all the hard work I did piecing him back together after his accident." The doctor said in a concerned voice to the nurse.

The doctor's horn glowed it's pale yellow color and an aura of the same color enveloped the now sleeping stallion. The doctor levitated the stallion from the floor back into the bed and carefully laid him on his back as the nurse moved his non-splinted wing out from underneath him. The nurse carefully re-tightened and repositioned the splint that was holding the pegasus' broken right wing in place. She checked over the bandaging and the sling on his right foreleg.

"It doesn't seem like he's re-injured anything doctor." The nurse said in a relieved voice.

The doctor raised a hoof to his brow and wiped it with the sleeve of his lab coat. "Phew, we got lucky then."

"Doctor?" The nurse asked in a slightly shaky voice. "I've never seen anypony have that kind of a meltdown before. Do you have any idea what might have caused that?"

"I really don't... It's almost as if he woke up thinking he were in a different world."

Checking In

Twilight took a deep breath as she finished reading the last line of a book. She looked up at the ornate clock on the wall of her bedroom.

"Well, almost noon!" She said with a smile.

Spike was around the corner dusting off one of the bookshelves in Twilight's library. He poked his head around the corner as he heard her mention the time.

"What happens at noon?" He asked. "Meeting someone for lunch?"

"Yep! Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and my self are all gonna have lunch and then head to the Ponyville Hospital to see how that pegasus is doing since his accident. After all, it's been a week since we took him there. I'm curious to see what kind of progress he's making."

"Oh..." Spike answered with some disappointment to his voice. "I don't suppose I could come too could I?"

"Sure you can!" Twilight answered. "I had Applejack pack an extra lunch just in case." She winked at him.

"Awesome! Thanks Twilight!" Spike said as he gave her a small hug.

"Of course. We'd better get going though. I don't like being late."

Twilight and Spike headed downstairs and out the door. They met Applejack and Rainbow Dash just a short distance from Ponyville Hospital and picked a nice spot in the grass to set up their picnic lunch. Applejack looked up at Spike with a large grin on her face.

"I didn't reckon you'd a miss'd out on lunch Spike." Applejack teased.

Rainbow Dash just giggled.

"Hey, I want to meet this pegasus too!" Spike said defensively. "The lunch is just a bonus!"

"Sure thing Spike." Applejack replied rolling her eyes at him.

"Hi everypony!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she hopped on all four hooves to the picnic spot. She had a box that she was balancing fairly effortlessly on top of her head as she bounced along. "I brought cake from Sugarcube Corner!"

"Oh awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed as she leaped up from her spot on the ground and in a prismatic streak swiped the box from Pinkie Pie's head.

Pinkie Pie almost rolled hooves over hindquarters. She got up and held up a foreleg angrily. "Hey! That's not just for you Dashie!" She yelled. "Bring that back!"

Rainbow Dash laughed. "All right all right!" Rainbow Dash hovered in the air while she opened the box and snuck a bite of cake before bringing the box back down to their picnic spot.

Pinkie's expression changed instantaneously from anger to a bright big smile. "Thanks!" She exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash just nodded as she secretly chewed up her bit of cake she snuck.

"Come on now ya'll, let's sit down and have us some grub!" Applejack chimed in.

"Sounds good to me." Answered Spike grabbing a sandwich out of Applejack's open saddle bags.

Twilight smiled rolling her eyes at the dragon. "First in line and last one to finish right Spike?"

They all giggled and began eating their lunch. They all enjoyed a nice spread of food that Applejack had prepared for them. Dandelion and daisy sandwiches on some of Granny Smith's fresh baked bread and of course some of the Apple Family's famous fresh apples. After a little bit Pinkie Pie pushed the box of cake into the center of the picnic and opened up the box.

"Hey! Someone's already taken a bite of this!" She said in slight anger.

She looked directly at Rainbow Dash who immediately put a guilty grin on her face and shrugged.

Reaching into the box with a hoof, PInkie Pie grabbed the piece of cake with the bite taken out of it and handed it to Rainbow Dash. "I'm assuming this is yours." She said in mock anger now.

Rainbow grabbed the piece of cake in her mouth with one bite. "Tank' ooo." She said with her mouth full.

PInkie Pie immediately started laughing and then passed the rest of the cake out to everyone else. Spike ended up eating three pieces of the cake and tried to challenge Rainbow Dash to the last piece but Twilight stepped in, adding that 'he had had enough sweets for now.' Reluctantly, Spike gave the last piece to Rainbow Dash who took it in hoof and nibbled on it till it was gone.

"Hey Pinkie Pie!" Spike said. "How come you took two pieces of cake if you weren't going to eat both of them?"

"Oh! It's for the pegasus we're going to visit!" She replied with a big smile. "When I don't feel well, a piece of Mr. and Mrs. Cake's cake always make me feel better unless of course you eat too much cake in which case it would actually make you sick but if you were already sick and you ate too much cake it would probably make you sicker. OH NO! I hope that this pegasus hasn't already had cake in the hospital I don't want to make him sicker by offering him another piece of cake after he already had one." Taking a breath finally, Pinkie Pie looked down at the piece of cake she was saving for the pegasus.

"I'm sure it'll be just fine sugarcube!" Applejack said, giving Pinkie Pie a nice pat on the back.

Pinkie PIe smiled and wrapped the piece of cake up in a napkin before sticking it in Applejack's saddlebags.

They cleaned up the leftovers and stuffed what was left into Applejack's saddlebags. Spike slowly got up, rubbing his full belly.

"Ah, nothing better than a full belly." He said. He let out a loud "Buuuurrrrppp!" Which was accompanied by a green ball of fire. "Oooh." He said blushing slightly. "Excuse me."

They all laughed and started the short trek to the Ponyville Hospital.

"How come Rarity and Fluttershy didn't come along today?" Twilight asked the others.

"Rarity said that she had a lot of work that she was behind on and 'simply couldn't be disturbed while she was creating.'" Rainbow Dash added, mocking Rarity's voice and throwing a hoof to her forehead dramatically.

"Heh!" Laughed Applejack. "An you oughtta know that Fluttershy ain't too keen on meeting strangers. Plus she said that she had some sick critters that needed watchin' over today."

"That makes sense I suppose." Twilight answered.

They all came to the front doors of the hospital which opened automatically for them and they all walked in. The nurse at the front desk was an older mare with a light brown coat and a yellow mane. She was wearing the typical nurse's hat and had her hair tucked underneath it in a hairnet. She was wearing a very bland expression on her face which did not change when she looked up at the group coming in.

"Can I help you?" The older nurse asked in a deeper feminine voice?

"We're here to see the pegasus that was brought in about a week ago after an accident." Twilight said with a smile.

The nurse's expression still didn't change. "You better be a little more specific deary. We've got a few pegasus' in here right now that have all been in accidents." The nurse looked up at Rainbow Dash. "I'm actually surprised you're not one of them this time."

They all looked up at Rainbow Dash who was hovering right at head level and had began to blush a bit. She shot the nurse an annoyed glance before crossing her forelegs and looking at the ground.

"Well, we don't actually know his name..." Twilight told the nurse.

The nurse raised an eyebrow and she stared at the lavender unicorn who was starting to sweat a little bit as she realized how weird this all sounded.

Applejack walked up next to Twilight and nodded to her. Twilight took a step back and Applejack came right up close to the nurse.

In just a little above a whisper, Applejack said to the nurse. "He's the one without a cutie mark."

The nurse's eyes widened a bit. "Oh him." She said in surprise. "Are any of you family?" She asked.

"Nope, just some concerned ponies that wanna make sure he's healing up nicely." Applejack answered.

The nurse's expression changed back to the bland look she had earlier. "I see..." She said. "Very well. Second floor, room fifteen."

"Great, thanks!" Twilight remarked.

"Oh! Check with the nurse before you go in though. They had some trouble with that one last night." The nurse said as she turned back to her duties on her desk.

The group gave each other a puzzled look. Before heading down the hallway to the stairs.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't have a clue. Hopefully he's all right." Twilight answered.

Pinkie Pie let out a gasp as she zipped to the top of the staircase and turned to the group. "What if the 'trouble' she was talking about was him turning into a zombie pony and he tried to come after the other ponies here in the hospital and turn them into zombie ponies also?! Or, what if it meant that he's a big bully and he was being mean to the other ponies here in the hospital and trying to take over?!" She said in a very quick and high pitched voice.

"Well I highly doubt he's a zombie pony..." Applejack said as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah! I betcha he was just trying to bust out and go for a flight to stretch his wings. He's probably just like me and hates being cooped up in the place for so long!" Rainbow said as she proudly put a hoof to her chest.

"I guess we'll just have to find out from the nurse." Twilight replied as she walked past pinky who was cowering under her own forelegs after her 'zombie pony' speech. "Come on Pinky. I'm sure he's not a zombie pony, and highly unlikely that he would be such a bully."

Pinky Pie unfolded herself and put on a small smile as she turned and followed the group.

They reached the second floor and soon found a nurse standing outside of one of the rooms checking over a patient's chart. They walked up to the nurse who heard their hoofsteps and turned to see them. She was a younger mare with a white coat and a red mane with white streaks, which was also tucked into a hair net and nurse's hat, and matching tail that almost had an unnatural curl to the tip.

"Umm... We're supposed to check with you before we go in to visit room fifteen?" Twilight said with an uneasy smile.

The nurses eyes got a bit bigger. "Fifteen you said?" She asked in a confused voice.

"That's what the nurse downstairs said." Twilight replied.

"Are any of you family?" The nurse inquired.

"No, we're the ones that saw him crash and brought him here. We just wanted to check in on him and see how he's recovering." Twilight answered.

"Well, he was recovering nicely until last night's fiasco!" The nurse said in an angry voice.

"Wh... what happened last night?" Spike asked.

"He finally woke up last night after being asleep so long since his treatment, and then he had a complete meltdown! No one could calm him down. He tried making a run for the window once the doctor came in, but fell to the floor on his injured wing which, thank goodness, ended up stopping him. The doctor had to sedate him and get him back into bed!" The nurse exclaimed. "Thankfully for him, he didn't end up furthering his injuries by that much."

The group of friends all looked at each other with looks of concern very evident in their faces. They were genuinely worried more about the pegasus now than they had been the last week.

"Do you think visiting him is a good idea?" Spike asked the nurse.

The nurse showed a puzzled look on her face before responding. "I really don't know for sure."

"Nurse Tenderheart?" The doctor called as he came around a corner in the hallway. The doctor stopped for a moment when he noticed all of the ponies in the hallway. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realize we had so many visitors."

"Doctor, they're here to visit the young pegasus in room fifteen." The nurse said in an uneasy tone.

"Fifteen?!" The doctor said with a startled look at first. The doctor's look quickly changed to a very warm smile. "You know, I bet some nice visitors like you might be just exactly what he needs. Follow me, I'll show you where he is."

The doctor began to walk down the hallway with the group following him. They watched the numbers on the doors increase until the doctor stopped outside of a room with a closed door.

"Here we are." The doctor said as he looked up at the number fifteen on the door. "Now, I must go and tend to my other patients. But, I'll be back to check on him and you and see how everyone's doing. I will warn all of you though. Please don't do anything to startle him. He woke up last night not knowing where he is and, as far as I could tell, who he or anyone else was. I sedated him after he tumbled out of bed and, thankfully, it doesn't seem like he furthered his injuries too badly."

"Was it just the shock of waking up in a strange place doctor?" Twilight asked in a concerned tone.

"I honestly don't know what it was my dear." The doctor replied. "I've never seen anypony act like that before." The doctor said and then he slowly walked back down the hallway.

"You sure you want to do this Twilight?" Spike asked in a shaky voice. "This doesn't seem like a very good idea anymore."

Twilight took a deep breath. She looked up at her friends and said. "Well... The doctor did say that visitors might be just what this pony needs."

The others gave their nods of approval and Twilight slowly pushed the door to the pegasus' room open.

"I'm gonna wait out here for now guys..." Spike said in a nervous voice as he backed away from the door. "That way I can.... a... go for the nurse!" He exclaimed. "You know....? In case anything happens."

Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head without the dragon seeing it as they walked into the hospital room and allowed the door to shut behind them.

Author's Note

Whew... Long chapter.

Visitors

'What has happened to me...?' Vince thought to himself as the medicine's sedating effects began to weaken it's hold on him. 'How is any of this possible...?' Tears slowly began to escape from his closed eyes and run down his cheeks.

Vince was not a weak willed individual by any means, but when we feel like we are at absolute 'rock bottom' what else is there to do, other than to allow our emotions to escape and try to renew us?

He laid there propped up in the hospital bed with his eyes shut, allowing the tears to freely flow as he recalled the memories of his old self. 'Will I ever see Jessica again outside of just a memory?' He thought to himself. 'What about my family and friends? What am I supposed to do now...?' He took a deep breath and let it out as he tried to clear his mind and relax. 'This IS real... There's no denying that.' He thought as he recalled the immense pain from the night before.

He heard a quiet 'click' as the hospital room's door slowly opened. He could hear what sounded like hoofsteps as whoever it was tried to quietly enter the room. He lied there with his eyes shut listening. Whoever was entering his room, there was more than one.

The door shut with another quiet 'click' as his visitors now stood at the foot of the hospital bed. They all looked at the white pegasus as he lied there with his eyes closed.

"He definitely looks a million times better than he did the other night." Rainbow Dash said in a quiet voice as she surveyed the stallion's bandaged and slinged right leg and wing.

Applejack nodded. "You ain't a kiddin."

Pinkie Pie quietly walked over to the side of the pegasus' bed and looked at his face. "Ahhh..." She said with a frown. "He's been crying. Look..."

Pinkie Pie pointed with a hoof at the stallion's face. There were noticeable trails of wet and matted fur around his eyes and down his face where the tears had dried.

Vince lied there listening to the others talk. 'These voices... sound familiar...' He thought.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry but as he slowly looked towards the foot of the bed it cleared enough for him to see who his visitors were. There standing in front of him were three vibrantly colored ponies. He blinked a few times as he tried to get the film to clear from his eyes.

"Look ya'll!" Applejack said as she pointed a hoof at the stallion. "He's wakin' up!"

The three friends huddled in next to each other at the foot of the bed as they all stared at the waking stallion. Pinkie Pie watched from the side of the bed with a smile on her face.

Vince couldn't do anything but stare at the three ponies ahead of him. He glanced from one pair of eyes to the other until he had met each of their gazes several times. 'This is real... This is real... This is real...' He repeated over and over in his head as he tried to drum up the nerve to actually say something.

The three friends looked at each other and Twilight shrugged before she looked back at the stallion. "Umm..... Hi there..." She said trying not to sound too uncomfortable.

"......Hi...." Vince managed in a hoarse and shaky voice as he looked at the lavender colored pony. He noticed her dark purple mane with the pink stripe through it, but found it extremely hard to take his attention off of the purple colored horn sticking out of her head.

'Real...! This is actually happening...!' His mind screamed as it beat away his sense of rational thinking.

Twilight looked to her friends with an uncomfortable smile before looking back at the pegasus. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She announced putting a hoof up to her chest.

"Umm..... I'm...aahh....." He answered, straining to come up with his own name. At this point his mind was once again becoming an absolute mess as he tried to make sense of all this. The only thing he thought he could muster were the simplest words and phrases. It was almost as if he were a child learning to talk for the first time.

The three ponies gave each other a quick glance with raised eyebrows before looking back at the stallion. Twilight gave Applejack a nudge with her shoulder.

"Oh....a..." Applejack said shakily before smiling and taking on a confident look. "I'm Applejack! It's a pleasure ta meet ya!" She said putting her hoof up to her chest as well.

'Twilight Sparkle and Applejack.... Were these nick-names?' He wondered.

Vince gave a small nod acknowledging Applejack and then cast his gaze over at the light blue pony on the right. She had deep purple eyes that were staring at him very intently. The one thing that held Vince's attention the most was the multicolored hair that this pony had. She had all the colors of the rainbow streaked in her mane and tail.

Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a small kick from her hind leg which brought the staring pony back to her senses.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings out and with a light flap, brought herself hovering just above the ground. "And I'm Rainbow Dash!" She stated proudly as she put a hoof up to her chest as well.

Vince's eyes grew big as he watched the blue pony spread her wings and fly up to her hovering position. He blinked a few times before he finally managed to spit out, "...w...wings!"

"Huh...?" Rainbow Dash said as she gave the stallion a confused look.

"...Wings" He said again in a slightly panicked voice. "You....have wings!"

Rainbow Dash flashed a very confused look at the stallion before landing back on the ground next to Applejack. "Uh.... Yeah...... so do you." She said pointing with a hoof.

"Huh?!" The stallion said as he slowly arched his back to try and sit up in the bed. He was reminded of the effects of the sedative as his head began to spin slightly. He blinked as he leaned forward, putting his left hoof down in front of him on the mattress to keep from falling forward. He looked down at the grey hoof in front of him for a moment. '...Real.....Real....' He thought again as he closed his eyes for a moment. He opened his eyes again and looked to his left, where he was met face to face with a pink pony with bright blue eyes. "Whoa!" He exclaimed as he jumped slightly.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" The pony said in a very excited voice as she jumped up and down briefly.

He looked at the bouncing pony, confusion evidently showing on his face. "Pinkie.....Pie?" He asked.

The pony's fur was a bright pink color and she had a slightly darker pink mane and tale that looked like they had been freshly fluffed in the dryer.

"Yup! That's me! It's nice to meet you! Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash told me all about how you came falling out of the sky, which I really thought was weird with you being a pegasus and all, and how they saw you crash into Applejack's orchard and brought you here to Ponyville Hospital." She rambled off. "We decided that we were all gonna come see how you were doing. But then we weren't sure if it was a good idea when the nurse told us that you had a super-freaky meltdown last night. OH! And we also brought you some cake!" She finished with a large smile.

He tilted his head a bit as he tried to rewind everything the pink pony had rambled off to listen to it again slower. The one thing that hung with him was, 'pegasus...?!'

He looked back at the other three ponies standing in front of his bed. "I'm a....pegasus?!" He asked in a very surprised voice.

The three glanced back and forth at each other, growing concern evident on their faces.

His attention was snapped back to the pink pony as she said, "You sure are!" She reached behind him with her forehooves and pulled his left wing forward into his line of vision. "See!" She once again ended with a huge smile on her face.

He studied the wing wide eyed. It was amazing! Each feather on his wing was a bright and pure white. The feathers had such an exquisite detail and texture to them. He was mesmerized. He wanted to touch them, to reach over and feel how soft they were. He looked down at the grey hoof that was holding him up in bed. He sighed as he turned his head back to his wing. After a few more moments his concentration was broken again by Pinkie Pie's voice.

"Wow..... It's like you've never even seen your own wings before or something....?" She said as she let go of his wing.

He felt the muscles in his new appendage move as she released it. Slowly he flexed those muscles and watched as the wing moved up and down. A grin spread over his face as he moved it up and down and soon back and forth. A thought popped into his head as he focused on his newly discovered appendage. 'Real! This is REAL!' He continued to move his wing back and forth. He turned his head to the right and tried to bring his other wing forward into view by moving the same muscles on that side. But, a short sudden burst of pain shot through what he felt was his right shoulder and it made him jump slightly.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed looking over his right shoulder and seeing all the bandaging around his right wing.

"Careful now!" Applejack said.

Vince looked over his damaged wing and then down to his right arm, or 'foreleg now, I suppose.' He thought.

He looked up at the three ponies in front of the bed with Pinkie Pie finally coming over to join them. He gave a quick glance at the mattress and then raised his eyes back up to meet theirs.

"So... you all brought me here after my..... accident?" Vince asked.

Rainbow was the first to answer. She puffed out her chest and raised her head up proudly. "Sure did! We carried you all the way here from Applejack's farm!."

"I seem ta remember Twilight doing most of the carrying with her magic." Applejack said with a sarcastic smile.

Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at Applejack before turning her attention back to the stallion. "We all saw what we thought was a falling star and then all of a sudden, we saw you falling out of the sky. Doc said that you were lucky we were there to witness your crash! He said that if we hadn't been there you may not have survived the night..."

Vince gave an awkward smile at his visitors before saying, "Well... I suppose I should be glad you were there then... and... thank you..."

Vince looked over at Twilight whom he noticed was giving him a very quizzical stare. It was as if he were a complicated math problem written on a blackboard and she was the student trying solve it. He quickly dropped his gaze back down to his hooves.

"Ooh! Applejack! The cake!" Pinky said brightly.

"Oh, I almost forgot about it." Applejack turned her head over to her side and opened the flap on her saddle bags she was still wearing. "You mind Twilight?" She asked through clenched teeth as she held the flap open.

Twilight let her gaze drop from the stallion. "Sure!" She answered.

Vince looked up and watched with a stunned look on his face as Twilight's horn began to glow a pale lavender color. Then he watched what looked like a bunched up napkin levitate out of Applejack's saddlebag that had the same pale aura around it. The wad of napkin landed on a small table that was on the left side of the bed and the aura disappeared. He followed the piece of cake with wide eyes and then turned his gaze back to Twilight. Twilight's look slowly went back to her quizzical stare.

'Remember this is real.... THIS IS REAL!' He reassured himself mentally. 'You can try and understand it all later! Just keep a hold of your sanity! Remember, REAL!'

A knock on the door made him jump and he fell back into his pillows. The door slowly cracked open and Vince watched as a small purple dragon poked his head inside. Vince's eyes quickly grew huge and his pupils shrank to pinpoints. His jaw would have fallen to the floor if it hadn't been attached.

"Twilight?" The purple dragon asked as he slowly opened the door and walked into the room. "The hallway was getting really boring." He looked over at the stallion in the hospital bed. "How's he doing?"

'NOT REAL! NO FREAKING WAY THIS IS REAL!' Vince's thoughts screamed as he watched the purple lizard walk into his room.

Twilight looked at spike. "Well..." She said looking up at the stallion and seeing the look of terror on his face. "Umm... he was doing all right..." She lowered here head, breaking the stallion's stare with Spike. "You okay?" She asked.

The stallion met her gaze and without thinking yelled, "WHAT IS THAT THING!" As he pointed his left hoof down at Spike.

Spike gave the stallion an angry look and crossed his arms across his chest. "Well that wasn't very nice!" He exclaimed, shifting his look to Twilight.

Twilight leaned in and quietly spoke in Spike's ear. "Sorry, Spike. I don't think he means any offense... It's just... I don't even think he knows who, where or even what he is! Give him a chance, okay?"

Spike dropped his arms down to his sides and put on a fake smile. He slowly walked over to the panicked stallions side of the bed and, standing on his tip toes, held out a clawed hand to the stallion. "The name's Spike! And it's a pleasure to meet you" Spike said in a calm lie.

Vince was shaking from pure anxiety at this point. Soon, tears began to well up in his eyes and he curled his back legs up into his chest and threw his face down into his knees and covered it with his good foreleg. He began sobbing very loudly, his grasp on what he assumed to be reality completely gone again.

The group watched as the stallion curled up into a ball and began loudly sobbing. They all looked at each other with concern in their eyes. Spike slowly backed up to Twilight with a look of sadness now on his face.

"I was trying to be nice..." Spike said.

Twilight shook her head at him. "I don't think it's anything you did Spike. I think that this pony has been through a lot more than we know..." She looked back up at the sobbing stallion a few tears forming in her eyes now.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew the short distance over to the stallion, landing on the hospital bed next to him. She carefully reached out a foreleg and put it around him.

"Hey now..." She said in a comforting voice.

The stallion felt her put her foreleg around him and, slowly, he curbed his sobbing and wiped his face with his good foreleg. He looked over at Rainbow Dash, tears still trickling out of his eyes. Her deep purple eyes had a very kind look to them.

"None of us have any idea what you've been through since before your crash." She told him in a soft voice. "But I promise you, we're all here for you and we'll do whatever we can to help you through it!" She said as she wrapped a wing around his back and motioned towards the others.

Her voice carried a genuine tone of loyalty and sincerity with it. It relaxed Vince's stressed mind and calmed his nerves. Slowly he shifted his gaze to the others in front of the bed. He glanced from one pony to the next and each of them had a warm smile on their faces.

At last he dropped his gaze down to Spike who immediately dropped his gaze to the side. Vince watched as slowly Spike brought his eyes back over to meet his and a small smile came across the dragon's face.

A feeling came over Vince as he saw the warmth in the others smiles. A feeling he hadn't felt since ending up in this new world. It was a feeling of happiness. He felt very happy to know that these strange ponies not only saved his life, but were wanting to help him.

Vince could feel the heat of the tears welling up in his eyes again. But, this time they weren't there because of pain or sadness. They were there out of happiness. Vince looked to the others once more and then back at Rainbow Dash who still had her wing wrapped around him. A small smile came across his face as a few tears escaped his eyes.

"Thank you!" He said in a weak voice.

"Hey! What are friends for!" Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

Author's Note

Slow day at work, so here's another chapter! Enjoy!

Realization and Acceptance

There was a 'click' from the hospital room door as it swung open. The doctor slowly poked his head inside the room.

"Everything going all right in here?" The doctor said with a cheery tone.

The doctor shuffled the rest of the way inside the room, holding the door cracked open with his rear hoof. His eyes grew wide as a large smile came over his face when he saw the stallion and Rainbow Dash sitting on the bed next to each other.

"OH MY!" The doctor exclaimed excitedly. "You're awake!"

Vince and the others looked over at the doctor. He wiped his eyes one last time with his left foreleg, and with a smile on his face the pegasus answered. "I am... and.... thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm sorry if I've caused a lot of trouble here."

The doctor shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's just a very nice surprise to see you awake. And, smiling, I might add." The doctor came the rest of the way into the room allowing the door to fully close behind him. "How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Well....." The stallion said as he looked over at Rainbow Dash who was smiling at him and then to the others at the foot of his bed. "Better..." He answered looking back to the doctor. "Definitely better."

"That's wonderful!" The doctor exclaimed. "Are you in any pain?"

Vince looked down at his right foreleg which was slinged to his body. Then he looked back at his right wing which was bandaged and splinted so it was sticking out to the side. "I think I'm all right for now." He answered as he turned back to the doctor.

"Very good then." The doctor replied. "However, I'm afraid that I must ask you to try and get some rest. It's what's going to do you the most good and help you get out of here sooner."

Vince's smile faded slightly at the thought of being alone here again, but he gave the doctor a nod of agreement.

The doctor turned to the others who were still huddled together at the foot of the bed. "Would you all mind joining me in the hallway for a moment?" He asked.

"Sure." Twilight answered.

With that the doctor turned around and magically opened the door and stepped out in the hall. Twilight followed the doctor and turned around in the doorway and looked back at the stallion.

"We'll be sure to come back and visit as much as we can. We've got a lot to talk about." She said

Vince nodded at her with a slightly uncomfortable smile as she turned and walked out the door.

Applejack walked around to the side of the bed. She turned her head to the side and grabbed something out of her saddlebag. As she turned back around she had a bright and shiny red apple that she was holding in her teeth by the stem. Carefully she set the apple down on the small table next to the piece of cake.

"A small snack for later." She said with a smile. "Trust me, the grub here ain't all that tasty. Right Rainbow?" Applejack asked as she looked at over at Rainbow with a cynical smile.

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Applejack into a bland stare. Applejack let out a small laugh.

"Thank you." Vince answered.

She gave a small nod as she turned and walked out of the room. Pinkie Pie followed her before turning around in the doorway.

"Make sure you don't let your cake go stale!" She said showing a toothy grin afterward.

She bounced out the door and into the hallway.

"Umm..." The little purple dragon at the side of the bed said.

Vince looked down at the dragon. He was rocking back and forth on the soles of his feet looking down at the ground.

"I'm sorry. You know... about upsetting you earlier..." The dragon said with a sad tone.

Vince blinked at the dragon and dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back to the dragon. "No... I'm sorry. I just.... I didn't...." Vince let out a long sigh. "I guess there's just some things that I'm gonna need to get used to. In any case, I'm sorry for being rude."

A small smile showed on the dragon's face. He gave the stallion a little nod and then turned and joined the others in the hall.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash said giving him a little yank with her wing.

He turned his attention to her. She looked him in the eyes with a smile that he returned.

"We all meant what we said ya know. About helping you out." She said.

He nodded to her. "Thanks..." He said.

She gave him a wink and with a flap of her wings she was off the bed and flying out the door.

Vince watched as Rainbow Dash flew out of the hospital room. As she exited a yellow aura surrounded the door and it closed with a 'click.' He took a deep breath and relaxed back into the bed. His eyes dropped down to his new form and he calmly began to take himself in. He raised his left forehoof up to his face to examine it. 'Gonna be really strange not having fingers...' He thought. He sighed and let his hoof fall down to his side. He looked back as he flexed the muscles that moved his left wing. He snickered a bit to himself as he watched his wing move up and down. 'It's funny that I would end up with wings after how much I hated flying.' He looked down at his tail. It spread out from his rear and the tip almost reached the edge of the bed. A bright and vivid red with little streaks of yellow here and there. 'A definite change from the colors of horses I'm used to.' He raised his eyes upward and he brushed the top of his mane down with his foreleg till it was just hanging over his eyes. It was the same hue of red with hints of yellow streaks.

He let out another deep sigh as he let his head fall back into his pillow. "For better or worse. I'm here, I'm alive and I'm a... pony..." He said aloud to himself. "At least I have others here that seem to genuinely care about me."

He closed his eyes and sleep easily came to him. The stresses of the day melting away and a slight smile appearing on his face.

~~~

The doctor magically closed the hospital room door behind Rainbow Dash. The five friends all huddled together in the hallway and turned to face the doctor.

The doctor raised a hoof to adjust his glasses and cleared his throat. "I really don't know how you all did it." The doctor said. "But you've managed to actually keep him calm and put a smile on his face! This is a massive change from what we all saw last night. I dare say, his recovery should be much quicker and easier now."

The group all exchanged glances with each other, smiles on each of their faces.

"I must ask that all of you come back and visit him as much as you can in the next week. Depending on how well he heals we can hopefully have him out of the hospital in that time."

"Of course doctor!" Twilight answered. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that it'll be a pleasure helping him get back on his own four hooves."

The rest of them all nodded in agreement.

"Very good. But, just remember that he will need rest. So, take care and we'll see you back tomorrow then." The doctor said with a pleased look on his face. He turned and began trotting down the hallway.

The group turned and made their way out of the hospital. As they walked from the hospital back into the center of the town. Twilight dropped her stare to the ground as if she was contemplating something.

"Everything all right there sugarcube?" Applejack asked seeing Twilight's drooped gaze.

Twilight stopped and looked up at the others. "It's just strange. I sent Princess Celestia a letter the night that we took him in to the hospital and I still haven't received anything back. As strange of an occurrence as this was, I would've thought that there would have been a letter sent back to me right away."

"Oohh..." Spike said dropping his gaze to the ground.

Twilight looked down at him as he rocked back and forth on his feet with a guilty look on his face.

"I completely forgot to tell you. A letter from Princess Celestia came the other day while you were out."

"What?!" She said in a slightly panicked voice.

"I didn't mean to! I was going to give you the letter but after you came home we ended up going out for ice cream and I completely forgot about it..." He lowered his gaze to the ground again. "Sorry Twilight..."

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder and he looked up at her. She gave him a warm smile.

"It's okay Spike. Even my number one assistant can't be expected to remember everything."

He returned the smile and gave her a small hug. "Thanks Twilight..."

Twilight looked up at the rest of her friends. "I'll see you all later. I need to go home and see what this letter says."

She motioned to Spike to jump on her back and the little dragon did so. She took off at a gallop towards her library, leaving her friends behind staring after her.

The door of her library magically swung open as she and Spike came inside and then the door closed behind them. Spike quickly jumped off of her back and ran over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a rolled up scroll off of it. Twilight's magical aura surrounded it and it floated out of his hand and over to her. Magically she opened up the scroll and began to read it.

My dearest Twilight Sparkle,

How interesting to here about this young pegasus' situation. I'm very happy to know that you and your friends were there to witness his incident and get him to the hospital. It sounds like he couldn't have been in better hooves. I have heard of several pegasi that have experienced amnesia after a bad crash like the one you're describing. Hopefully his memory will come back as he heals in the Ponyville Hospital. I'm certain with you and all of your friends looking after him, his recovery well be a quick and easy process. I look forward to hearing more from you in regards to his recovery. Also, I asked Princess Luna about the "pink star" that you say you and your friends saw. She says that she has never had any encounters with such a star. Perhaps in your free time you could put your amazing research abilities to work and see if you can come up with anything.

Your proud mentor and teacher,
Princess Celestia

Twilight hovered the letter over to her desk and set it down. She let out a thoughtful sigh and rubbed her chin with a hoof.

"Twilight?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure that the pink falling star we saw that night and this pegasus are connected." She said in a confident voice. "If Princess Luna has never seen such a star then what else could it be? This pegasus had no idea who or what he was... You saw how shocked he was when Pinkie Pie showed him his wings. He couldn't even come up with his own name! Furthermore, dragons are a very common species in equestria and when he saw you come in the room, it was as if he thought you were gonna jump up and instantly rip him apart."

"But, maybe it's like Princess Celestia said and he just has a bad case of amnesia." Spike said raising his arms.

"I don't think so Spike. From his reactions to everything, it's almost like he's never been to equestria before in his life. The other thing is that he's got no cutie mark! What other explanation is there for a stallion his age not to have their cutie mark? Everypony discovers that thing that makes them special while they're a colt or filly and earns their cutie mark. What else other than him not being from equestria would explain that?"

Spike put a claw up to his chin as he thought for a moment.

"I think you may be on to something Twilight. But, how do we confirm any of this?" He asked.

Twilight looked back at the little purple dragon with a warm smile on her face.

"I guess the first thing we're gonna have to do is talk to him and get his side of the story." She answered confidently.

"But how are you gonna know if he's telling the truth or not?"

"We'll bring Applejack with us. After all, she is the element of honesty." Twilight answered with a smile.

Author's Note

Another chapter done! Next one to come tonight hopefully.

Faded Memories

Vince was woken by the sounds of the wind coming in through his window. As he opened his eyes and looked to the window, he noticed that it was once again dark outside. The curtains danced to the rhythm of the wind as it blew past them. The only light in the room was the pale light that shined inside through the small window in the door. The cool night breeze felt good as it blew across his face and rearranged his mane. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the chill of the air invigorating him as it entered his lungs.

His eyes snapped open as his stomach let out a rather loud rumble. 'Oh, that's right...' He thought to himself. 'Haven't eaten anything since I ended up here.'

He looked over to the left side of his bed. The cake and apple that the others had left him were still there. He threw the cover off to the side with his good hoof and sat up in the bed. He looked at the food and then looked down at his hoof. He rolled his eyes and leaned over to the apple. Carefully he grabbed the apple in his mouth and then leaned back over. He brought his hoof up so the underside was under the apple and he let the apple loose from his mouth. It stayed balanced in the recessed portion of his hoof. He moved the apple up and down in front of his face.

'Huh.... Well this is something.' He thought.

Another rumble of his stomach reminded him that it wasn't time to be playing with his food. He brought the apple in and took a bite out it. The apple's flavor was nothing short of amazing. The juices flowed past his taste buds, waking them up and making them scream for more. After swallowing the bite down he stared wide eyed at the apple in his hoof.

"WHOA!" He said to himself. "This has got to be the best apple I've ever tasted!"

In another three bites the apple was gone, core and all. As he finished chewing up the last bite he leaned over to the table and spit the stem out. He licked his lips getting the last bit of juices from the apple that had escaped his mouth. It felt good to have something in his stomach, but it was far from filling. He looked down at the piece of cake which was wrapped in a napkin. 'This one might be a little trickier.' He thought to himself as he brought his hoof over to the table. Carefully, he used the forward edge of his hoof to catch the edges of the napkin and bring the folds out to uncover the piece of cake. The smell the piece of cake gave off was amazing. It smelled like freshly sliced strawberries and it was making his mouth begin to water. He looked at his hoof and then back to the cake. He put his hoof down and reached over with an open mouth and snagged the whole piece of cake in one bite. 'Oh my gosh!!!' He thought, closing his eyes as the flavors exploded in his mouth. He chewed the cake slowly, the taste of strawberry and fresh vanilla overwhelming his taste buds. He allowed his head to fall back into his pillow as he swallowed the cake down, the flavors still fresh in his mouth.

"Wow..." He said in a quiet voice. "That was sooooo good!"

His stomach quieted down a bit now that it had something in it. He was far from being full, but he was satisfied for now. He felt the cool breeze pick up again as it blew in through his window and made the hair of his mane dance around. He looked towards the window, breathing in the fresh air and wanting more. He leaned over to his right side being careful of his injured leg and wing. He looked at the floor and then back to the window. He took a deep breath.

'You can do this.' He told himself mentally.

Slowly he got to his stomach on the bed and slid his back legs off of the edge. He put one hoof down on the floor and then the other. Carefully, he transferred his weight to his back legs which shook for a moment as he slowly figured out how to steady the muscles. He lifted one rear leg up and moved it back slightly, transferring his weight from leg to leg as he shimmied himself backward. Slowly he brought his left foreleg down until he felt the floor beneath him. He carefully transferred the rest of his weight onto his left hoof and brought his body up completely off of the bed. He stood there for just a moment, steadying himself and learning where his balance was. 'This would be so much easier with all four hooves on the ground...' He thought. He carefully began sliding his rear hooves back an inch at a time and then bringing his left forehoof carefully back as he hobbled backwards to the window. He managed to get himself turned around and he stood facing out the window of his hospital room.

Another cool breeze began to come into the window and he closed his eyes to enjoy it. The breeze felt absolutely wonderful as it blew through his mane and across his face. He felt it blowing across his short white fur and finally ending at his tail as it gently whipped the hair around. The fresh air smelled of nature, there were no smells of gasoline, exhaust, dumpsters or industry. It was a pure smelling air that was almost like a drug.

He stood there in the breeze until the wind finally began to die down. He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. 'Such a clear and beautiful sky...' He thought. 'I've never seen so many stars before.' He looked around in the sky before stopping and staring right at the moon. He began to feel his eyes grow heavy again and a rather big yawn distracted him from the night sky. 'I suppose I should try and get as much rest as I can. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in this hospital after all.'

He slowly turned himself around on his three legs and hobbled his way back over to the bed. Carefully, he put his forehoof on the bed and pushed himself up with his back legs. With some shuffling he managed to get himself back into the bed properly. He rolled over on to his left side and brought the covers back over him. He shut his eyes and once again fell asleep.

~~~

Twilight woke up to the sunlight beaming into her window. 'What time is it?' She thought to herself. She looked down at where Spike's basket-bed was and found that the little dragon was not in it.

"Spike's awake before me... That's not a good sign." She said aloud.

She slid out from under the covers and trotted over to the vanity at the corner of her sleeping area. Magically, her hairbrush came to life and she brushed out all of her bedmane. She trotted downstairs and noticed Spike on a ladder looking at a row of books on the top shelf.

"What are you doing Spike?" She asked

"Trying to find something that might lead us to figure out how your pink star and this pegasus are connected." He answered. "You stayed up so late last night trying to find something, so I thought that I would help out since I was up before you.

Twilight smiled and shook her head. "I'm happy that you want to try and find an explanation. But, I really don't think we're gonna find what we're looking for in my library."

Spike looked down at her from the top of ladder. "Wait, you mean...?"

"Yep, the Canterlot Royal Archives." She answered.

"Oh YES! That means we can stop at Donut Joes!" Spike said as he rubbed his claws together and licked his lips.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she gave the dragon a small smile. "Come on, I want to go see that pegasus. I have a lot that I want to ask him."

Spike nodded his head as he jumped off the ladder doing a little flip in midair and landing gracefully on Twilight's back.

The door of the library magically opened and then closed behind them. Twilight took off at a trot towards the Ponyville Hospital with Spike bouncing along on her back.

~~~

He woke early to the hospital room door opening. The nurse pony that had the white fur and mane with red streaks in it came in pushing a cart with her head. He sat up in bed as he watched her enter. The cart was carrying a food tray with a lid over it. Immediately his stomach growled very loudly, reminding him that all he had eaten for the last couple days was an apple and piece of cake. He perked up a bit wondering if the rest of the food here in this world was just as tasty.

"Breakfast!" The nurse pony said cheerily with a smile as she pushed the cart over to the side of the bed. She grabbed the handle on the lid in her teeth and lifted it off of the food tray. His hopes were quickly dashed as the lid revealed what appeared to be a small plate of chunky looking green goo and a small plate of what appeared to be jello.

"Uh, Thanks!" He said, returning the cheery pony's smile.

She nodded before turning and walking back out of the room, leaving the door open behind her this time. He looked back down at the tray of... 'food?' He thought with a frown. Another rumble of his stomach reminded him that beggars shouldn't be choosers. He threw the covers off to the side again and slowly brought his back hooves over the edge of the bed so he was sitting upright on the edge. He looked looked back and saw his vivid tail sprawled out behind him and unintentionally gave it a light flick. He let out a little gasp as he watched it move and then a little laugh afterward. Squinting his eyes he focused on his tail and soon found the muscles he was looking for as his tail made another jump into the air before resting back down on the bed.

'Cool!' He thought as a huge toothy grin came over his face.

Another rumble of his stomach, this one actually kind of painful, snapped his attention back to the hospital food in front of him. 'Right... food...' He grimaced at the thought of putting this gross looking mixture in his mouth. Letting out a large sigh he leaned over and took a small bite of the green mess. His eyes snapped open wide as the taste littered his mouth. It was like someone had taken a mixture of leaves, grass and algae and thrown it into a blender then dumped it out on the plate. Reluctantly he chewed up the chunky mess and swallowed it down. It was the most bitter and grossest textured thing he had ever eaten.

He looked down at what was supposedly jello. With a long sigh and low expectations, he closed his eyes and took the smallest bite he could manage. The texture was disturbing, it was like he had taken a bite of slime. The taste however wasn't too bad. Being slightly bland, it carried a hint of cherry with it. He swallowed it down and took the last of the jello in one bite.

"Hi there!" Somepony from the doorway said in a cheery tone.

He quickly swallowed the last of the jello with a cough and looked over to see the Lavender Unicorn and her small companion standing in the doorway.

"Hi!" He answered.

She looked over and saw the food tray in front of him. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know you were eating." She said as she backed away a step.

"No, that's all right." He said looking down at the last of the green goo then back to her. "I'm actually done." He added as he licked his lips. The aftertaste of the dismal food still strong on his taste buds.

He turned around on his hind end in bed until he was sitting upright on his rear with his rear legs tucked in next to him and steadying himself with his good front hoof. He looked over at Twilight who walked over to the right side of the bed and sat down on the floor. Spike slid off of her back and stood next to her.

"So... Can I ask some questions?" She asked with a slight grin.

"Umm...sure!" He answered.

"First off, what's your name! I never caught it when we asked you yesterday." She asked.

"It's....aah.......it's...."

'Why can't I come up with my own name? This is ridiculous! I knew it yesterday!' He thought in frustration.

He lowered his head and began to go through the alphabet in his head to see if maybe a letter would jolt his memory. 'A...No! B...No! C...No!' He went on. 'U...No! V..................No! W...No!' He kept searching for his name until he reached the letter z and still nothing.

"Umm... Did I lose you there?" Twilight's voice asked, snapping his attention back to her.

"Huh?!" He said looking her in the eyes.

Twilight gave Spike a confused look which he exchanged. She looked back to the pegasus. "Your name...?"

The stallion gave a growing look of concern to the unicorn. "I...I don't know it..."

"You mean you've forgotten it?!" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

"No... I don't... I don't think I ever had one..." The Pegasus said as he gave the bedsheets a solemn look.

"Ahh! That's crazy! EVERYPONY has a name!" Spike chimed in.

Twilight nudged him with her shoulder and shot him an annoyed look. The little purple dragon dropped his gaze to the floor and crossed his arms, clearly annoyed as well.

"Let's not worry about your name right now then." She said as her tone took on a cheery touch.

The stallion nodded, not raising his head to look at her.

"How about your accident? Do you remember anything before that?" She asked.

He closed his eyes and struggled to bring back the memories of that night. "I remember... a crash..." He said in a strenuous voice.

Twilight looked over at Spike with a smile and then back to the stallion.

"There was another with me.... but, I can't remember who she was... then I can remember falling and the crash.... into a tree."

He could feel the heat from tears starting to form in the bottoms of his eyes. 'Why can't I remember anything!' He thought in frustration. 'What's happened to my memory!'

"I... can't remember why I crashed." He answered finally.

Twilight could see the frustration running wild across his face.

"Umm..." She said. "Maybe we won't worry about all that right now." She resumed her cheery tone.

There was a flapping sound coming from the window and they all looked over to see Rainbow Dash hovering outside the window with her front hooves on the window sill.

"S'up!" She said to the stallion. "Oh! Hey Twilight!" She said looking over at Twilight and Spike.

"Hey Rainbow!" Twilight answered.

"So, how're you feeling today?" Rainbow asked the stallion.

"Better." He answered.

Rainbow gave the stallion a smile and turned her attention back down to Twilight. "Hey, I'm glad I found you. Pinkie Pie wants us all to meet her at Sugarcube Corner. She says it's super important."

"Oh, all right. Well, I suppose I can always come back later." She said to Rainbow.

She turned her attention to the stallion. "Try and get some rest. We'll be sure to come back and visit later."

The stallion nodded with a small smile on his face as he watched her and her purple companion stand up and exit the room.

"See ya later!" Rainbow Dash said as she waved then disappeared in a prismatic streak.

'Whoa! She's fast!' He thought to himself.

He relaxed back down into bed and let his thoughts wander as he struggled with his faded and fragmented memories. He stared off at the ceiling as he tried reaching as far back into his memories as he could but still only came back with short and jumbled fragments. Frustrated he rolled over and shut his eyes, but sleep was not going to come easy this time.

Author's Note

For those of you wondering. His memories of his human life will come back into play later in the story. Just a heads up! :raritywink:

What's in a Name?

Twilight trotted out of the hospital with Spike jogging beside her. Twilight had a look of contemplation on her face as she trotted back towards the center of town.

"What is it Twilight?" Spike asked as he caught the look on her face.

"I don't know what to think of this Spike... He said he didn't think he ever had a name!" She answered.

"Wait a minute Twilight!" Spike said as he stopped jogging.

Twilight came to a quick stop and turned to look at him.

"What about that memory spell you used on your friends when Discord got inside their heads?!" He said with a triumphant smile on his face. "Couldn't that bring his memory back?"

Twilight gasped and a huge smile came to her face. "Spike, that's a great idea! You're a genius!"

Spike put a cool look on his face. "Well, above average anyway." He said as he blew on his claws and wiped them on his scales.

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on! Let's get to Sugarcube Corner to meet with the others!" She said.

Spike hopped up on her back and she took off at a gallop into the center of Ponyville.

She slowed down as she approached the bakery where everyone was waiting and trotted inside.

There around one of the tables inside the bakery, the whole gang was waiting. They were all talking amongst themselves as Twilight and Spike wandered inside.

"Hi everypony!" She said in an excited voice.

They all turned and greeted her as she came up and took a spot around the table with Spike still on her back.

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie started. "The reason you're all here is so you can help me plan out this pegaus' surprise party since he's new here in Ponyville. Normally I'd just plan and stage the party myself but I want this party to be SUPER special because it'll be a 'congratulations for getting out of the hospital party' also, which I've never really thrown before but since it's gonna be a 'welcome to Ponyville' party and a 'congratulations for getting out of the hospital' party it needs to be BIG!" Taking a breath as she finished rambling.

"That's all fine and good Pinkie but, we don't even know when he's getting out of the hospital yet." Twilight interjected.

"Hmm...That's true." Pinkie said as she appeared deep in thought. She suddenly sprang into a large grin. "Well, we'll just have to ask the doctor when we go see him today!"

"Not too bad an idea there Pinkie Pie! Why don't we all mosy up there now and see how he's doin." Applejack added.

"Oh... ummm...I seem to remember that I've got some...a...bunnies that need fed soon..." A quiet Fluttershy said as she slowly turned from the table and headed to the door.

In a flash Rainbow Dash was in front of her blocking her path.

"Whoa now! You said you were going to go with us!" She said in an accusatory voice.

Fluttershy lowered her head some more.

"Yes...but...I forgot about the bunnies..." Fluttershy said with a shaky grin.

Rainbow Dash pushed her out the door of Sugarcube Corner and up into the air until Fluttershy took over with her own wings. "Your, bunnies, will be just fine for a little while. Now come on!" Rainbow told her with a smile.

The others exited the bakery and all began the trek back to Ponyville Hospital to visit the stallion again. The ponies without wings watched and giggled from the ground as Rainbow Dash curbed a couple more escape attempts from Fluttershy to try and fly back to her cottage. The hospital was soon within view and they entered again through the front doors and made their way to the stallion's room. This time the door was wide open and they could see the stallion lying in bed.

The stallion heard hoofsteps coming into his room and his left ear twitched a bit as he looked to the group of ponies, and dragon, that were herding into the now tiny hospital room. A smile came over his face as the other ponies came trotting in to see him. He recognized all but two of them. One of them was a unicorn with fur as white as his, and she had a dark purple mane and tail that looked as if they had been professionally styled at a salon. The other was hard to see for certain because she came in behind the others and tried to keep herself hidden from his view. Through the gaps of the others he could see that she had cream colored fur and what appeared to be a pale pink mane and tail.

"Hello again!" Twilight Sparkle piped up!

"Hi! It's nice to see all of you again. Just checking up on me?" The Stallion replied.

"Of course sugarcube! We told ya we would didn't we!" Applejack answered. "We brought a couple more of our friends with us too." She motioned to the white unicorn. "This here is Rarity!"

The white unicorn gracefully crossed her front legs and took a small bow.

'She must be a very proper lady.' He thought to himself.

Applejack then motioned towards the cream colored pony who was exposed when the ponies she was hiding behind stepped aside. "And, this here is Fluttershy!"

'Oh! She's a pegasus too!' He thought as he saw the wings that matched her fur.

"Umm......... Hi." Fluttershy said as she blushed and backed away behind everypony again.

'I can definitely see the shy part.' He thought as he watched her cower back behind the others.

"It's very nice to meet you both! Thank you for coming to visit!" He piped up.

The stallion smiled. He watched as Twilight Sparkle took a step forward towards him.

"Umm..." She said. "I have something I'd like to try..."

"Okay... What?" The stallion returned.

"I think I may have found a way to restore your lost memories."

Spike interrupted by loudly clearing his throat. She turned to see him giving her an annoyed look with his arms crossed.

"I mean, Spike may have found a way to restore your lost memories." She corrected herself.

Spike immediately held his chin up with a huge smile on his face.

"Umm... Sure. What do i need to do?" The stallion asked.

"Well..." She answered in an awkward tone.

"OOHH! There's the doctor!" Pinkie interrupted, making everypony in the room jump. "I'll be RRIIIIGGGHHHTTT back!" She said as she hopped out of the room.

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh as she turned her attention back to the stallion.

"I need you to lean down so I can touch your forehead." She said showing a strange grin afterward.

The stallion raised an eyebrow at her with his smile fading slightly. "My forehead?"

"Uh huh. Trust me, I won't do anything that will hurt you." She said with a sincere tone.

"I suppose..." The stallion said.

The stallion threw off the covers and started to roll onto his belly when he heard a loud gasp and looked up to see Rarity standing there staring at his flank with her eyes huge and mouth open. He looked down at his flank and then back to Twilight before he heard another pony chime in.

"Oh my...." The soft voice announced.

He looked over to see Fluttershy had peaked her head in between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. She was staring at his flank as well.

"What?!" He asked in a worried tone as he check himself over.

"I've...just...never seen any pony reach your age without their cutie mark!" Rarity said still dumbfounded.

"Their what...?" He replied in confusion.

Rarity looked up into the stallion's eyes and you would have thought he had just dropped a swear at a fancy dinner party from the look on her face.

Twilight chimed in finally to break the uncomfortable silence. "Umm... you know... The mark everypony gets on their flanks when they find that something that makes them special!" She ended with an uncomfortable smile.

She turned to the side and pointed at the purple star that adorned her flanks.

"But, I thought those were just tattoos everyone chose to have..." The stallion said, frowning now.

"No darling! They magically appear when you find that special something that separates you from all the others. It most certainly isn't a.....tat too! Whatever that is!" Rarity said in a concerned voice.

"Why do you think I don't have one then?" The stallion asked with worry in his voice.

The majority of the group either shrugged or raised their front hooves in the air.

"I'm hoping I can help you find an answer to that." Twilight interrupted.

Vince looked back to Twilight and nodded at her. He repositioned himself on the bed so he was laying on his stomach with his head at the foot of the bed. His right foreleg was tucked underneath him in his sling and his wings were sticking out to his sides. He leaned his head over to the side of the bed for her.

"Okay, here it goes." Twilight said as her horn began to glow a dim lavender. She took a few steps closer to the stallion and touched her horn to his forehead. She closed her eyes as she began the spell.

He felt her horn touch his forehead. It was an uncomfortable feeling at first but soon he could feel a warm sensation that began to spread from his forehead down to his hooves and he closed his eyes. The feeling lasted for maybe a minute, then it slowly began to dim and then totally faded away. He opened his eyes to see Twilight staring at him with a look of pure panic on her face. He immediately sat up with wide eyes.

"What?!" He said in a panicked voice.

"I.....uh....I...I don't....." She stuttered.

"Come on Twilight spit it out!" Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"There's nothing..... No memories! The only thing I saw was your crash into Sweet Apple Acres!" She told the pegasus with a dumbfounded look on her face.

The pegasus once again dropped his gaze. "So, what does that mean...?" He asked in his solemn voice.

"It means.... that I have no idea who you are or where you came from..." She answered in a voice just above a whisper.

"Well... That makes two of us then..." The stallion said as he repositioned himself on the bed so he was once again lying on the pillows. He laid down so he was facing away from the others and covered himself back up.

The others shot each other glances shrugged shoulders and shook their heads. None of them knew at this point what to say or do.

"I'M BAAAACK! Did ya miss me!" Pinkie shouted as she came bouncing back into the room. "Ah, is he sleeping?" She asked in a sad voice as she looked at the stallion hiding under the covers. "That's too bad... I had some really great news for him..." She added as she plopped down on her rear and pouted.

Twilight leaned over and whispered in Pinkie's ear. "I think he could probably use some good news right now."

"OKAY!" She shouted and immediately jumped up with a huge smile on her face and pounced the stallion's shape under the covers.

"OOF!" The stallion let out as the pony landed on his side, thankfully it wasn't onto any injured parts. The covers were ripped away from him by the pink pony's mouth and she stood there wearing an enormous smile.

"GUESS WHAT?!" She said without losing any of her smile.

The stallion raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder at her.

"I talked to the doctor and he said that provided you get enough rest he's going to let you out of the hospital in TWO MORE DAYS!!!" She said then letting out a bubbly laugh. "Which means that all of us can show you around Ponyville since you haven't gotten a chance to see it yet!"

A bland smile showed on his face as he repositioned himself under her weight and took a deep breath.

"OH! Sorry!" She said as she jumped back down off of the bed and landed with a clop of her hooves.

"That sounds great... but how am I supposed to go forward here if I don't even know my own name?! Let alone where I'm from?" The stallion said in a depressed tone.

There was a moment of silence before Applejack broke it. "WELP! I reckon that if you don't have any memories of what your past was. That means you oughtta start over!"

The stallion raised his head to look at her with an eyebrow raised. She returned the look with a very warm smile.

"Ain't no reason to lie there in bed and feel sorry for yourself cause you ain't got no past sugarcube! What ya oughtta be doin' is getting out there and making new memories! Give yourself a chance to discover who ya are! Ya know?"

"Yeah! And, you couldn't have a better group of friends in Equestria to start with!" Rainbow Dash added as she raised her hoof to her chest proudly.

He looked at each and every pony, and dragon, in the room. They all looked so nice and caring. A feeling of happiness began to bubble up from inside him and a huge smile came over his face. He sat up in his bed and met each of their gazes.

"Thank you all! You've been nothing but kind since I've ended up here. Let alone the fact that three of you saved my life the night of my crash!" He said in a cheerful tone.

Twilight and Applejack blushed a little, while Rainbow Dash put a proud expression on her face.

"I want to move forward! I want to discover that something that makes me special!" He said as he uncovered his blank flank.

The ponies at the foot of the bed cheered and stomped their hooves for him. Before the nurse came into the room and sharply shushed them all that is.

"This is a hospital you know!" The nurse said in a very cross voice as she closed the door after her.

They all looked back to the stallion who seemed to be contemplating something.

"What should I call myself?" He said as he turned back to the others.

"OOH! Cloud Burner!" Spike blurted out enthusiastically.

They all shot him a confused look.

"What?! He's a pegasus, and look at the colors of his mane! It's perfect!" He defended.

There were several 'nahs' from the group and Spike once again put on his annoyed look and crossed his arms.

"Besides Spike, there's already a Cloud Burner living in Cloudsdale." Rainbow Dash added.

"Well I've never heard of him..." Spike said in a quiet voice.

"What about, FIRE CHASER!" Rainbow Dash said, trying to come across in a macho tone.

Several of the group looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"What?!" She answered defensively. "He's a pegaus! So he's got to have a cool name! Plus, check out the shades of red and yellow in his mane and tail! They scream something that has FIRE in it!" She said as she flexed her forelegs and flapped into the air.

"Hmmm....." The stallion said as he squinted his eyes and put his hoof up to his head.

"OOOOOH! OOH! OOH!" Pinkie pie interrupted.

Everyone looked over at her. She was bouncing up and down on her back hooves with her front hoof raised in the air.

"OOOH! OOH!" She kept up as she looked at the stallion like he was a school teacher.

"Ummm....Yes?" The stallion said as he looked at her in confusion.

"How about Falling Star?" She said with another toothy grin. "It sounds like a pegasus' name and you came to Ponyville by falling right out of the night sky! It really suits you!"

The group shared confused glances with each other before turning their attention to the pondering pegasus'.

The stallion let out a short laugh and looked over at Pinkie Pie.

"It's perfect! 'Falling Star....' It really is appropriate isn't it." He said with another laugh. "Falling Star it is!" He said excitedly to Pinkie.

"YAY!!!" Pinkie yelled excitedly. "HOOFBUMP!" She yelled as she put a forehoof up to his face.

He looked at her in surprise but easily caught on to what she wanted. He raised his unbandaged forehoof up to meet hers with a 'CLOP.' The rest of the group huddled in around the bed and excitedly started to talk to him about things he was gonna have to try and do when he got out of the hospital.

With a huge smile on his face he joined in on the conversation.

Author's Note

He's got a name now. Phew, slow day at the firehouse so here ya go. New chapter to come soon hopefully.

The Falling Star

"That's strange... It does look like it's getting closer." Twilight said as she tilted her head while watching the supposed star.

"Look! It's fading!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Twi, you watch the stars quite a bit don'cha?" Asked Applejack. "Ever seen anything like this?"

"No. Unless maybe it's something that Princess Luna had planned for tonight." Twilight rubbed the bottom of her chin with a hoof. "But Luna has never made anything come so close to the ground before..."

All three of them watched the pink star as it's light came closer and closer. Soon, the light from the falling star completely faded out of existence.

"Well, that was sure something!" Applejack said turning to her two friends. "I've seen shooting stars before, and the occasional falling star. But, it in all the years I been on this farm I ain't never seen nothing like that!"

Rainbow Dash was hovering just above the ground looking at the last place they had seen the star. "I've never even seen a star come that close to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow squinted trying to focus in on the dark sky. "Guys look!!!" Rainbow yelled and pointed to a spot in the dark sky.

The other two ponies focused in on where she was pointing. As they looked off into the dark sky, they could just barely make out the silhouette of a white pegasus flying through the sky.

"Huh... I reckon' he musta seen that weird star and decided to fly out and get a better look." Applejack said watching the silhouette grow closer.

"But, he's not flying.... HE'S FALLING!!" Rainbow Dash said with a panic.

All three of them watched as the white pegasus came closer and closer to the ground.

"Why isn't he trying to slow down or pull up?!" Said Twilight.

"I don't know!" Rainbow Dash answered. "Twilight! Can't you use your magic to catch him or something?!"

Twilight shook her head. "He's too far away."

No one could come up with an answer for why this pegasus was plummeting out of the sky. All three of them looked on as the pegasus came crashing down into the other end of the orchard. They all heard the loud snapping of branches as he crashed into what could only have been an apple tree.

"Oh no! Rainbow! Fly ahead and find exactly where he landed!" Exclaimed Twilight.

"On it!" With that the light blue pegasus was gone in the flash of a prismatic streak.

The other two ponies took off at a dead gallop heading in the direction of where they saw the pegasus land.

"Twi... Do you think he'll be...." Applejack paused. "That was a pretty nasty crash."

"I don't know..." Twilight replied.

Rainbow Dash was flying above the tops of the apple trees. She squinted through the darkness trying to find the spot where the pegasus had crash landed. After a few minutes she stopped, hovering over the trees. "Come on Princess Luna... Where's the moon already...?" She said quietly to herself. She scanned the tree tops and there, off to her right side, was an apple tree that looked like it had been hit by a tornado. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed as she flew over to the tree. "Guys! I found him! He's over this way!"

The other two weren't that far away and were at a dead run following Rainbow Dash's voice. Rainbow flapped her wings down and as she landed on the ground next to the pegasus. The other two ponies were approaching when Rainbow called out. They both ran to her and the fallen pegasus.

"How about a little light there sugarcube?" Applejack said looking at Twilight as they came up alongside Rainbow Dash.

Twilight closed her eyes and her horn began to glow a pale lavender color before bursting into a bright light that lit up the whole area. The three of them blinked, letting their eyes adjust. They all looked down at the crashed pegasus.

"He's breathing! ....I think?" Applejack said as she put her ear down to his side and listened. "Yep, he's breathing!"

"He looks in pretty bad shape..." Twilight stated looking over him with her light.

The white pegasus was laying on his back unconscious. As they surveyed the damage to the young stallion they found that his right foreleg was bent the wrong way with a bone sticking out of the side. The young pegasus' wings were spread out underneath him in a mess of feathers. The left wing appeared to have only lost a few feathers during the crash, but the right wing was twisted and bent into a tangled mess of bone and feather. Those being the most serious injuries that they noticed, the rest were bleeding cuts and gashes here and there, but nothing major.

"We gotta get im' into town to Ponyville Hospital ya'll!" Applejack stated. "Twilight. Do ya reckon you could use yer magic ta carry him into town?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll need one of you to walk ahead of me to lead the way though. I can't use my light spell and move him at the same time." She replied

"Guys..." Rainbow said in a startled voice. "Check this out."

The other two looked back to see what Rainbow was talking about. A wide eyed Rainbow Dash pointed with her hoof at the young stallions flank while looking back at the other two ponies. The other two came around to the stallions side and they all just stared at the pegasus' flank, or more importantly what was missing from the young stallion's flank.

"He..... he has no cutey mark...!" Twilight exclaimed in a slightly panicked voice.

"Well, how old do ya reckon he is?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash looked back at Applejack and shrugged.

"Wait just a gal'dern minute! Rainbow... You saying that you've never seen this here pegasus before?!" Applejack said almost accusingly.

"Don't you think if I did that I would have said something by now?! Plus, a stallion as old as him without a cutie mark would be a pretty hard thing to forget!" She answered.

"Well, that's a good point." Applejack replied looking back at the heap of stallion lying on the ground in front of her.

The trio looked up at the sky as Princess Luna flew high up above them with the full moon in tow. The light of the moon lit up the orchard they were standing in. The trees were all spaced just perfectly to allow the sunlight and moonlight to penetrate through the tops of the trees. The moonlight was almost reflected by the pegasus' bright white fur.

"Come on! We've got to get him into town!" Twilight said. The light emitting from her horn was suddenly gone, and everyone's eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness and moonlight. Once again, a pale lavender light glowed forth from Twilight's horn and soon the same pale light surrounded the white stallion. Very slowly, the pale light lifted the pegasus off of the ground and then gently rolled him over in mid air so that he was right side up. "Applejack! Lead the way!"

"I'm on it!" The orange pony stated as she took off at a brisk pace towards the farmhouse with the other two following behind her.

As they reached the farmhouse, there was a big red stallion standing in the doorway. It appeared as if he had been standing there for quite some time waiting for Applejack to come back from the day's chores. The red stallion trotted out of the doorway to meet Applejack as he noticed the other two following behind her and a glowing pegasus floating through the air in front of Twilight.

"Umm..." The red stallion said in a baritone voice.

"No time ta explain Big Mac! This feller here crashed down into the South orchard earlier! We're taking him to Ponyville Hospital right away!." Applejack said as she ran by him with the others following.

Big Mac stood there, his eyes wide and a puzzled look on his face. "....Eeyup..." He stated before turning around and going back inside the house.

The trip to Ponyville from Applejack's farm took longer than any of them ever remembered it taking. Most of the buildings in the town were showing dark windows, signifying that most of the town was in bed and sleeping. They ran through town and straight to the front door of the Ponyville Hospital. The hospital was one of the largest buildings in the town. The only light on in the hospital it seemed at this time was the light coming from the front doors of the building. The three of them ran right up to the front doors, which slowly opened as they came near. Once inside the building, there was a pale yellow pony wearing a nurse's hat. She had her deep brown mane tucked into a hairnet underneath. The nurse jumped as the doors of the hospital opened up and the three ponies and their cargo came rushing in.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The nurse exclaimed to them as she readjusted her hat so it was straight on her head again.

"We're not sure what happened ta him! He just crashed in my apple orchard while we were there! Watched him fall right outta the sky! Did a hefty bit a damage to one of my apple trees in the crash and he looks to be hurt pretty bad!" Applejack told the nurse.

The nurse looked over the hovering stallion noticing the injuries. "Oh my!" The nurse stated in a concerned voice. "Set him down over there on those pillows for now while I get the doctor!" The nurse motioned towards a row of pillow-cushioned benches that surrounded the hospital lobby's walls before taking off at a quick trot down a hallway.

Twilight trotted over to the benches and slowly started to carefully set the stallion down on the benches. Twilight slowly rotated him onto his left side while Applejack and Rainbow Dash came over and helped position the stallion onto the pillows so he wouldn't be laying on his injured foreleg. The magical lavender aura around him slowly dissolved away and he was left laying there in front of the three ponies. If it wasn't for the sound of his breathing, you'd have thought that he was dead.