Twilight was suddenly woken by a fiery pain raging inside her horn and skull which bought her gasping from unconsciousness, and she clutched the sides of her head in an vain attempt to stop the pain spreading throughout the rest of her body. She had no idea how long she had been been in unconsciousness, nor did she care, all she could think about was the fiery pain inside of her head. Thankfully, she knew from past experiences, the pain didn’t last very long, only a couple of hours at the most.
　　Her only other source of discomfort was caused by her extremely stiff muscles and a dry soreness in her mouth and throat. Twilight groaned quietly in pain and reached for the glass of water she usually kept on her nightstand to quench her thirst. Frowning with confusion when her connected with nothing but empty air, Twilight wiped her eyes clear and gasped with shock noticing, for the first time, her new surroundings and the unfamiliar room she had woken up in.
　　A fire was crackling brightly in a large hearth illuminating the otherwise dark room with just enough light for her to see that the room was large, but not as large as her room in Canterlot. It was also sparsely furnished with only a large closet and a few empty bookshelves. And despite the warmth provided by the fire, the bed she had woken up in, and the black silky soft sheets covering her body were surprisingly cool against her body.
　　Twilight gave a frightened and pained whimper, curling up into a small ball and hugging her knees to her chest in an effort to comfort herself. She couldn’t remember the events that had transpired which lead to her waking up in this unfamiliar room, and the burning pain in her head was too distracting for her to focus on reliving any memories. The only recollection she had of her last few moments of consciousness was losing control of her magic during a private lesson with Princess Celestia, and the resulting magical flameout forming some sort of rift.
　　Twilight hesitantly stepped out of the bed and a strong shiver passed through her body when her bare feet touched the cold stone floor. It was then that noticed she was wearing a dark long sleeved shirt and matching pants that seemed to be made from the same silky and strangely cooling material of the bedsheets.
　　She paid her new clothes, and the absence of her old ones no mind though, she only wanted to find out where she was as soon as possible so she could find a way to get back to Canterlot where her family and the princess were no doubt worried sick about her. She hurried over to the only window in the room and, opened the drapes letting out a startled gasp when she saw the outside landscape. Instead of the bright and colorful landscape of Equestria she expected to see, she was greeted with the sight of a barren landscape that looked like it had been intensely scorched free of any vegetation or plants.
　　For miles in every direction, all she could see was a massive flat plane of red dirt which was occasionally disturbed by a warm soft breeze. Twilight had no idea where she was, in all her studies and lessons on geography she had never once come across any transcripts or maps that described what she was seeing now. What was most startling about this strange new world was the sun, instead of a yellow orb of fire, the sun was burning with a dark electric blue energy.
　　The room began spinning around Twilight in a sickening spectrum of colors and she began feeling very nauseous, dizzy and weak. She awkwardly stumbled her way back to the bed where she collapsed and buried her face in the cooling material of the sheets where she began crying.
　　Once she started sobbing, she couldn’t stop. Each tear that left a damp trail down the fur on her cheeks was accompanied by a stabbing heartache for the loved ones she had left back in Equestria. She wandered if she would ever again be able to pretend being a soldier with her Big Brother guarding the halls of Canterlot. Or ever be comforted by her parents through a thunder storm telling her there was nothing to be afraid of every time a scary boom of thunder shook the house. She very desperately wanted to do her secret hoof shake ritual with Cadence, her very favourite foal-sitter, and continue doing her private magic lessons with Princess Celestia. Even when the sheets she was crying into were damp with tears of heartache and fear, and her chest and sides were aching, strong sobs continued wracking through her body.
Several minutes passed until there was a soft knock at the bedroom door so faint that she barely heard it.
　　Almost immediately Twilight stopped crying, and stared fearfully at the door. She had no idea who was on the other side, or whether they were dangerous or not. For all she knew they could be the ones responsible for her current predicament. Thinking fast, and not having too many options, she slid off the bed and barely made it to the closet to hide in before she heard the bedroom door and the sound of soft footsteps walking into the room. Even from inside the closet, the scent of some sort of delicious food wafting throughout the room made her stomach rumble loudly.
　　Up until that moment, Twilight hadn’t realized just how hungry she had been, and now, her empty stomach had just betrayed her hiding place. She stared fearfully at the cupboard door waiting for the inevitable moment of it being opened, and her being snatched out by whomever was with her in the room.
　　Instead, she heard a knock on the closet door followed by a stallion’s voice. “You’re no doubt hungry, little filly.” The voice that spoke was as soft as velvet, and despite its cold tone, Twilight found it was oddly comforting. “This soup will become cold if you don’t eat it soon.”
　　 For several long moments Twilight remained silently hidden in the closet, she wasn’t going to just blindly trust somepony who could be potentially responsible for her current situation, even though the closet was only a flimsy hiding place, it still made her feel safer.
　　The stallion seemed to pick up on her hesitation and suspicion, and he spoke once again through the closet door. “You’ve been unconscious for two days, little filly. If I was going to harm you, I’ve had enough opportunity to do so.”
　　Twilight bit her bottom lip with uncertainty. She knew it was true she had been unconscious for an discerned amount of time, during which-as far as she could tell-she hadn’t been harmed in anyway. The fiery pain in her horn also meant she couldn’t use her magic to defend herself should the stallion turn out to be less than friendly. With no other options available to her other than to remain starving in the closet, she cautiously opened the door and stepped out of hiding.
　　 Twilight screamed in terror when she saw the stallion for the first time and ran back into the closet, slamming the door closed. She slid to the ground curling up into a ball and tried her best to forget the nightmarish images she had just seen.
　　The stallion’s whole chest and arms looked like somepony had carved deep cuts into his flesh to form an intricate pattern of swirling runes that ran over his black fur. But what had actually scared her the most were the bandages wound around each of his limbs which were still dripping with blood from the no doubt traumatic injuries they were covering.The stallion’s icy calm voice came through the closet door once more. “I’ll stay outside in the hallway while you eat, little filly. When you’re ready for answers, I’ll be waiting for your questions.”
　　 Twilight heard the stallion’s quiet footsteps exit the room, followed by the sound of the bedroom door closing, but she remained hidden in the closet listening for any sign of the stallion’s return. The bedroom door remained closed, so she quietly stepped out of her hiding place.
　　The scent coming from the bowl of soup was mouth-wateringly delicious and her stomach rumbled loudly once more, begging for the food. She picked up the bowl, but despite her hunger she only took a small sip of the broth, tiny enough that any potential drugs or poisons wouldn’t have too strong of an effect on her, and when nothing happened, she began guzzling it down. Even though the broth had no real substance and was only pure liquid, it was surprisingly filling. Once the bowl was empty, Twilight’s stomach rumbled once again, still wanting more food.
　　Twilight bit her bottom lip considering what to do next. She was still pretty hungry, but there was no way she wanted to see the stallion’s blood covered body anytime soon. Another rumble of Twilight’s stomach followed by a strong bout of hunger pains made up the young unicorn’s mind for her. She took her empty bowl to the bedroom door and after a few more moments of hesitation she slightly opened the door and peeked out.
　　Just as the stallion had promised, he was outside waiting for her in the hallway, standing with his back to her. Thankfully he had also put on a floor length cloak over his body which hid most of his extensive scarring and injuries. Twilight stepped out of the room and cleared her throat quietly.The stallion slowly turned around to regard her with cold calculating eyes. “Still hungry, little filly?” The stallion asked in that icy-but comforting-voice of his.Twilight didn’t answer while she was studying the stallion like he was a particularly fascinating display in a museum. Everything about him contradicted everything she knew about earth-ponies.
　　Unlike typical earth pony stallions who were massively built with powerful muscles, this stallion’s physique was more like that of a mare, lean and graceful, but built with well defined muscles that coiled like strong cables underneath his skin. After several long moments of staring, Twilight blushed, feeling very self conscious, realizing she had been staring, rather rudely, at the stallion, she quickly averted her eyes away from him.“Y-yes. I’m still hungry,” she replied in answer to the stallion’s earlier question. “May I have some more soup, please?”
　　The stallion inclined his head in a slight nod. “You may.” He took the empty bowl and began walking slowly down the hallway. The stallion started breathing heavily from the no doubt horrific pain he was suffering through and he came to a stop to lean against the wall for support causing a small pool of blood to form on the floor at his bare feet.
　　Twilight felt her stomach churning at the sight of crimson pool and she had to resist the very strong urge to vomit up what little food she had in her stomach. She knew from her studies on first aid, his wounds were being extremely aggravated by the constant movement and she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t resting in order to recover.
　　“What’s your name?” Twilight asked when she caught up with him.
　　The black furred stallion just stood there leaning against the wall completely silent expect for his heavy exerted breathing. His black mane lined with electric blue streaks and matching tail were drenched with sweat, no doubt the result of an oncoming fever. When the stallion talked he grimaced with pain and held the left side of his rib cage. “My name is Darklight, little filly.”
　　Twilight huffed with displeasure and glared at the stallion. “My name isn’t “little filly” it’s Twilight Sparkle. Y-you should b-be resting in your condition. you need urgent medical attention.”
　　Darklight grunted and pushed himself away from the wall, and continued slowly making his way to a door at the end of the hallway. “I’m fine, little filly. It’s nothing I haven’t been through before. Besides, getting you fed and making sure you’re okay is my only priority at the moment.”
　　Twilight frowned in confusion not understanding why the stallion was worried more about her, then himself. “W-why do you care that much about me?”
　　Darklight opened the door at the end of the hallway to reveal a large room that seemed outfitted to combine some sort of green house with a kitchen. The room was easily over ten meters wide corner to corner. The walls and most of the floor were covered with an confusing array of so many plants, some of which she could easily identify, but most were a complete mystery to her. A large fire pit filled with hot coals was located in the middle of the room, and sitting on top of the bed of glowing coals was a large pot being used to make large quantities of the delicious soup she had eaten earlier. When she walked into the kitchen the air was so thick with many different scents, that she was finding it extremely hard not to sneeze from the over stimulation of her sinuses.
　　Twilight studied her new surroundings with something close to awe mixed with caution. “What is this place?”
　　“This is where I prepare my meals, little filly.” Darklight replied, dipping the empty bowl into the pot of fragrant broth and offering the now full bowl to her. “To answer your previous question. In the next five to ten minutes a raiding party of caribou soldiers will come through the front doors. Without you as healthy as possible, I will die in my efforts to take them out.”

Author's Note

Editorial suggestions go here.