Ponywar

I woke up roughly, my heart swiftly pumping blood all around my new body as I sat on a comfy bed. I could feel the sweat covering me, even if the room was surprisingly cold. It took me a few minutes to remember what happened, yet I still couldn't figure where I was. Just as I was about to get out move the sheets away, I heard someone talk behind me.

“Hey there, don't get too excited, Mr. I-Fall-From-The-Sky,” said the voice. I turned around, but I couldn't see any... anypony. “Up here, you silly head!” continued the mysterious pony with an exasperated tone.

I finally managed to take a glance on my interlocutor by looking up the stairs. This bed had apparently been installed in the middle of what seemed to be a hall of some sort. I had no trouble recognizing Rainbow Dash, slowly moving down the steps. What struck me immediately was that her left wing was tied on her flank by a bandage. Oddly enough, I could see some blood stains scattered on it.

“You can bleed?” That's the first thing that crossed my mind, given I had never seen such things in the show itself. I immediately felt dumb for asking this question, and her response made it clear I wasn't helping myself.

“Well, obviously, duh. What did you expect? You nearly crushed me to pieces last week!”

Last week? Did that imply that I slept all that time? At least she didn't follow on with the name calling. I probably was lucky enough that she thought my strange behaviors were the result of that accident and the record-breaking nap. “Sorry for that, by the way. I completely lost control,” was all I could say.

“I think everypony noticed that. But, seriously, what happened up there before you tried to kill me?” she asked as she finally reached the bottom of the stairs. “Even Fluttershy flies better than that!”

“That's... kind of a long story. I could always start at the beginning and-”

“Nah, it's fine. We'll wait for the others. What's your name, since you seem to know mine so well when we've never met?” she questioned me.

Oh, right. I never thought about my name. Clearly my human name would not fit in Equestria. I didn't have a lot of time to think. I turned my head to the right a bit and saw a small window, surrounded by Wonderbolts posters. I finally realized I was in her home. Out there, the sky was purplish, as it usually is during this particular moment between night and day, but when no sunlight can be seen. The moon was just above the skyline, ready to let the dawn come. I then recalled my encounter with Princess Luna, and was it caused by this or by pure coincidence, I witnessed a shy sparkle on this full moon just as it went to sleep. The name came with sudden inspiration, and before I could think any more on it, I already had spoken these words. “You can call me Aurora Shade, I guess.”

“Alright, get out of bed, you must be starving. Pinkie Pie surely made tons of pancakes for you... again. She's been doing that every morning since you came in here, and she also eats them all when you stay asleep. Come on, let's go before nothing's left, I'm pretty hungry myself too”.

I struggled again with my wings, and it took a lot of efforts just to get out of bed without the sheets attached on me. Rainbow Dash barely managed to hide a smile before she walked towards the door. I followed her, and I was surprised at how naturally I could walk on four hooves. The wings would be way tougher to master, I could feel it already.

When I got outside, I almost instantly jumped back in as I took a first step on a cloud. My hostess looked over her shoulder, and shook her head, discouraged. “Ok, I don't know if you're doing this on purpose or not, but there's definitely something off with you. You're lucky I'm feeling kind enough to wait for the others to hear what you have to say, because you owe me explanations,” she said as when pursued her path onto the clouds. After a few seconds of hesitation, I followed her as we walked on this huge cloud on which ran rainbow rivers. And when I thought I had seen it all, we finally stopped in front of a big, pink air balloon.

She offered, “Either you come with me in this, or you fall down back to the ground like last time.” I wasn't sure of how to react, so she simply pushed me inside and took a seat right next to me after she shook the rope attached to the balloon. “Down we go,” she said, “and hey, don't look so blank. I never meant to make fun of you or anything. This might take a while, so try to put a smile oh your face before we arrive.” She then put her front hooves on the rail, looking thoughtfully overboard as we commenced the slow ride down.

They were all there, sitting in front of me, and looking at me with the most unreadable expressions I have ever seen in my life. We had finished breakfast for a while now (luckily enough, me and Rainbow Dash arrived just in time to grab a few pancakes), and since then, nobody had talked. Even Pinkie Pie.

I wasn't sure of what kind of greetings I would get, but so far, everything seemed strange and unreal. I didn't say a single word, I simply let Rainbow take me to Twilight's castle and try not to mind all the others taking quick glances at me from time to time, only to proceed talking quietly so I would not hear them. We then all walked to another room. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity took a seat on the cushions in the middle of the place, while Rainbow Dash stood a bit behind them, near the window and the small bookshelf, leaving me alone near the door.

It was clear that they had a lot of questions, and obviously, Twilight spoke first.

“First of all, let me introduce ourselves. My name is Twi-”

“I know all your names,” I interrupted her. “Mine is Aurora Shade, and I know much more than just who you are”. After I had proved my claims, they were surprised... and suddenly more suspicious.

“Let me get this straight,” replied Twilight, “first you fall out of nowhere and nearly kill Rainbow Dash, and then, after a full week of coma, you wake up only to tell us that you know who we are when we've never met you before? Now that is strange, especially given the special circumstances.”

“What special circumstances?” I asked. That was not a good question, apparently.

“And you don't even know what day this is? Oh, you are definitely not from here,” she continued. She took a few seconds to think. “And he has no cutie mark yet...” she murmured. I was about say something, but I looked at my flank and noticed that I really had no cutie mark. How could I have not seen that before this moment?

But before I could recover from my small confusion, Twilight used her magic to get an old, dusty book from the bookshelf. It looked familiar to me, but I couldn't figure out where I had seen it before. She turned the pages rapidly until she stopped near the end. She read the lines more than once, as if she wanted to make sure that what she understood was indeed written. It felt as if something important might be happening, and judging by the concerned look on her face as she turned over to her friends, I knew it wasn't just an impression.

“There is no time to lose, girls. We have to be in Canterlot before the Summer Sun Celebration begins. I need to inform Princess Celestia of what I've found as fast as possible, in person. Hurry!”

Before I could move a hoof, all of them were running past me in the hallway, except for Rainbow Dash. She was still looking through the window, lost in her mind. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but I walked next to her and looked at this exquisite summer sky. It wasn't long before she turned around and headed towards the door, and as she left the room, she simply said, “You sure seem to cause a lot of trouble around here. Follow me, we'll get to the train station together... Twilight always forgets the important things when Spike is not with her.”

She was already in the hallway. I was about to go, when I noticed that the book was still opened on the page Twilight had left it. I couldn't resist to take a quick peek. To my surprise, the page on the right was just a blank one. There weren't many lines on the left, but they seemed pretty meaningful, because the letters were not straight... as if the writer added them into the book later, in a rush.

The dawn will come on the brightest day

Where his presence will cause an evil dismay

Look for the colt with hidden identity

As of eternal chaos he is the key

The lord of shadows will open the entrance

When the nightmare returns, the prophecy shall commence

The stars once more shining silently

Over the shades of this mare's destiny

Everything was going too fast. First,  this whole treasure hunt for a portal that led me to a mysterious place with King Sombra, then my transformation in what probably was Luna's Dream Realm, or whatever she calls it, followed by an abrupt entry in Equestria. Not to mention this sudden agitation around me when I haven't even been awake for a day yet.

“These words could have a lot of possible meanings. I don't like where this is going at all.”

I could still hear Twilight and her friends talk in the next wagon. We took the train from Ponyville to Canterlot not so long ago, and ever since we left, they have been talking about the lines in this book. Or was it really some sort of prophecy? I'm not an expert in this kind of things, but after I managed to recognize the book itself, it could really be one. That one book is the one that contained the story of Nightmare Moon's return during the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. Still, we will have to wait until we can talk with the princesses before we can assume if it is plausible or not.

I'm not even sure why I say “we”.  After getting in the train, I went into the last car left at the disposition of passengers. I was pretty sleepy, mostly because we had to wait a couple of hours before actually getting in a train (I learned that Twilight could have used her princess title to get us first in the line of people wanting to go to Canterlot for the event, but that never was something she liked to do), but I didn't go to bed immediately. Instead, I went by the only window to look at the sunset. I thought that my presence in their group would have simply been awkward, or even not desired. After all, I was the cause of this trouble.

It wasn't long before I lost track of time. The sky became darker and darker, and to my pleasure, not a single cloud was covering the beautiful mountainous landscapes surrounding Canterlot. Probably because the celebration would make more sense without them. Anyway, when the first stars started to shine and the moon arose, I decided it was time for a nap. The rest of the night and the next morning could be long and demanding.

I turned around and I almost cried out of surprise when I saw someone... no somepony on one of the beds. He, or she, was lying in a shadowy area, and I wasn't able to identity who it was at first. I could only align a few words that didn't really make sense, “How did- bed- who are- why not...”

“Why am I not with the others?”, said the pony. I recognized Rainbow Dash. Oh. Why in the world was she always the one staying with me? “To be honest,” she continued in a quiet tone, “they went to sleep without even according a second of attention to you. Everypony is stressed up and a bit of rest sure will help, but, you know...”

I wasn't sure of what she meant, so I simply took a second attempt at the questions I had first. “When did you enter the car?” I asked.

“About 10 minutes ago, I'd say? You were definitely lost in your mind, hey. You looked super thoughtful and all,” she answered as she pointed another bed to me. “The night is young, but we'll arrive pretty soon. Take some sleep, and don't think to much, everything will be fine.”

I was hoping she was right as I took place under the sheets. As she suggested, I tried to empty my mind. I was about to fall into slumber when my wings stretched out suddenly, propelling the clothes everywhere in the wagon. “How does one even sleep with this?!” I couldn't help myself but to rage out loud.

“Haha, I know some princess who had the exact same reaction!” said Rainbow Dash before yawning quite loudly. “You'll get used to it, don't worry.”

“Well, thanks... Rainbow.” I hesitated before simply calling her by her name.

“No problem at all. I guess I could teach you some stuff when I recover from that injury – hey, don't blush, it's fine! - because for some reason, you like like a Pegasus that never used his wings. Good night now... Aurora.

She didn't know how right she was. And wow, I felt something strange when she said my new pony name. I didn't have the chance to think a lot more than that, as her calm breathing soon attracted me to sleep.