He opened his eyes to find himself lying on a bed of hay. He appeared to be in a barn that smelled strongly of apples. He could hear some voices outside. He turned his head so he could listen better.
“I don’t know Twilight, seems kind of suspicious to me,” said a female voice.
“I know Dash, but he still needs our help,” another female replied. “His injuries were pretty bad, but he should have recoverd enough for us to ask a few questions.” He heard another voice, but couldn’t hear what was said. The voice was obviously female, but it seemed timid.
The second speaker—who he assumed was Twilight replied, “Fluttershy is right, we should let him sleep. Are you sure he’ll be ok here Applejack?”
“I’m sure sugarcube,” another female replied with a southern twang in her voice.
“We should at least go in and check on him,” another replied. She sounded like she could be pretty hyper at times.
He stood up carefully, his hooves making no noise on the soft hay. He grimaced at the sharp pain in his side. He started walking towards the doors and stopped when he saw them opening.
In walked six female ponies and a baby dragon. They stared at each other for a second. The girls took in his silver coat and fire colored mane and tail. He had a silver horn on his head.
He was just as busy looking at what he was seeing. Among the six of the girls, there were two Unicorns, two Pegasus, and two Earth Ponies. One of the girls, a purple Unicorn with a pink streak through her hair and tail, stepped forward.
“You’re awake? And you’re walking?” He recognized the voice as that of Twilight’s. Taking a better look, he noticed a set of wings on her back, making her an Alicorn.
“I am. May I ask how I got here?” He looked around, “Not that I’m not thankful.”
“We brought you here hun,” This one was Applejack. She was a brown pony with her blonde mane tied back in a pigtail that hung over her shoulder. She sported a cowgirl hat that really seemed to complement her.
“If you don’t mind my asking,” a white Unicorn began, “what is your name?”
“Icarus. Icarus Firemane,” he said as he looked around. “So where exactly am I?”
“This is Ponyville silly!” A pink Earth Pony said. Icarus noticed that she talked a bit faster than most. She began to ramble on about Ponyville and eventually about things that made no sense. Icarus tried to keep up, but in his current state he instead collapsed. He awoke again to see the pink pony gagged. He stood back up and shook his head.
“How do you keep up with her?” he asked.
“We don’t,” Twilight replied. “It’s just something you get used to. She’s really not so bad.”
Icarus nodded, “Well, you all know my name. May I know the names of my rescuers?”
Twilight went around introducing everyone, indicating each pony in turn. They explained that they had found him just outside of town surrounded by burned grass and had brought him to Sweet Apple Farms to recover.
“So hun,” Applejack said, “what exactly happened to you?”
Icarus thought for a moment, “I…I don’t really remember. The last thing I remember is waking up here.” He shook his head, “Everything else is a void, as if my memory is gone.”
“That’s terrible,” Fluttershy said quietly. Icarus looked up at the yellow mare. She seemed to hide behind everyone.
Icarus smiled, “I’m sure I’ll remember with time.” Fluttershy blushed at the smile and hid behind a wing. Icarus looked to the others, “So what happens now?”
“First things first,” Rarity began, “we have to get you well again. You’ll only get yourself hurt if you try to do anything right now. Why, you’re barely able to stand.”
It was true. Icarus could feel his legs trying to give out. He gently laid back down to avoid further injury. “I suppose you’re right. I promise, I’ll make this up to all of you.”
“There’s no need for that,” Spike chimed in. “We help each other out around here. It’s how we get by.”
Icarus bowed his head, “You are too kind.”
“For now, you stay here in the barn,” Apple Jack said. “We’ll figure out where you’ll stay from there.”
Icarus nodded, feeling himself slipping back into sleep.
“I-Icarus?” a small voice said. It was barely audible and vaguely familiar. Icarus cracked of his eyes to see Fluttershy standing nearby.
“Fluttershy?” He opened his eyes a little more.
“I…I came to see if you, um, if you were hungry.” Icarus was about to answer when a low growling noise filled the silence. “Oh, my,” said Fluttershy.
Icarus chuckled, “I guess that answers that question.”
Fluttershy smiled and giggled, “I suppose you’re right.” Icarus stood up and blinked.
“That’s strange,” he said
Fluttershy gave him a curious look, “Is something wrong?”
Icarus shook his head, “No. It’s just that earlier my side felt like it had been crushed. Now there’s no more pain.”
“So, it’s strange…in a good way?”
Icarus thought about it, “I guess.” His stomach growled again, “We’ll worry about that later. For now, let’s go eat. I’m famished.”
"Hey, Twilight, what you reading?" Spike asked. They had returned home to Twilight's home in the library about an hour ago. Twilight had already pulled out several books and was hard at work reading them again.
Twilight turned, her wings shifting to a more comfortable position, "Just some old legends. I remember reading one some time ago about two brothers, but I'm having trouble finding it."
"Well don't stay up too late. We have a busy day tomorrow."
Twilight rolled her eyes. She knew Spike was poking fun at how she was supposed to be the organized one, but he was right, tomorrow was going to be busy.
"Don't worry, Spike. I'll be in bed at a reasonable time." She went back to reading, oblivious to Spike rolling his eyes as he went up the stairs to bed.
