This is it, isn't it? If only I had actually LISTENED to my friends. They told me something seemed off about it, but no, I just couldn't listen to them, could I? I had to try to prove them all to be pansies. Everything was growing dark as the man saw the Rathalos go for the kill. I am such a fool. The world faded with these last thoughts.
“Will he be alright?” Asked Twilight. She had found an unknown stallion covered in blood in the Everfree forest. His bleeding had stopped by the time she had found him, and she safely brought him back to Ponyville. Whatever it was that attacked him, I have no knowledge of it. It seems to have been a dragon, but smaller.
“We can't say for certain, his chances for survival seem fifty-fifty. Tell me, princess, where did you find him?” the nurse asked.
“In the Everfree forest. You see…”
(Earlier that day)
Now what might that be? Twilight witnessed a small portal opening from her castle. It seemed to be just above the Everfree forest. I'll have to- something dropped from the portal. What in the wide world of Equestria?
“Spike, come with me,” Twilight said. She hurriedly levitated Spike onto her back.
“What's going on?” Spike asked.
“I'm not entirely sure, all I saw was a portal open above the Everfree forest, and something dropped out of it.”
“What was it?”
“I don't know what it was, but we're going to find out.” Twilight set off to find out what had fallen from that portal. Unfortunately, Twilight thought, I don't have much to go on and I can't pinpoint the location in which it fell.
Twilight eventually reached the Everfree forest. This was not a place to mess around in, it's too dangerous; she knew from experience. After all, she had been turned to stone by a cockatrice. Oh, Twilight could easily deal with most threats now, though she'd rather not have to use magic to destroy a living creature. She had never done that before, and would much rather keep it that way.
As Twilight moved through the forest, she kept her eyes open for something out of place. Hopefully, she would be able to find whatever it was that fell, and soon. If it was alive, it wouldn't last long. Especially not after a fall like that. From a distance, Twilight noticed a tree with broken branches. The branches appeared to have had something dropped on them. A pony, perhaps? Twilight walked around the tree.
There, lying on forest floor, covered in blood, was a stallion she had never seen before. Next to him lay a pile of...armor? What kind of armor is that? The armor looked like a mixture of plate and...and what? All she could tell was it was taken off of something that was greenish. “We have to hurry, he can't last much longer like this.” Levitating the body and the armor, Twilight hurried back to Ponyville.
“...That's what happened.” Twilight said, worried.
“I don't know if he'll make it, princess, I just don't.” The nurse said, worried.
That night, Twilight was studying. She had to know what could have caused those kind of injuries on that stallion. How had he gotten in that kind of danger in the first place? The only situation she could think of where somepony wore armor and fought dragons were fictional characters, similar to the fairy tale of a heroic pony who fought a dragon to save the princess. However, there haven't been any dragons that size near Ponyville that could have caused marks the size that stallion had. The closest dragon she knew to that size was spike, who was just a baby dragon.
Defeated, Twilight went to bed. The only one who could give her the answers she was looking for was was the pony she had found, and he might not make it through the night.
Marilyn kept a close eye on her patient. Princess Twilight had seemed very worried about this earth pony, but who wouldn't be? He was nearly dead by the time Twilight had brought him in. However, he was making remarkable strides in recovery; he had made two days worth of recovery just over night. Marilyn had not been there when Twilight had brought him in; it had been her day off. The nurse who held the shift before her had told her what had happened.
Marilyn continued her studies. She didn't mind being a nurse, but she'd much rather be a doctor. However, when she went to college, she didn't have enough bits for the necessary amount of schooling to become a doctor. Instead, she chose to become a nurse, then save up enough bits to return to college. In the meantime, she would study for when she returned to college.
Somepony knocked on the door. Looking up at the clock, Marilyn realized that her shift was over. The door opened, revealing a familiar face.
“Ah, Marilyn, how-” his face took on a shocked expression. Marilyn spun around, and saw the mysterious pony waking up.
“You,” Marilyn spoke, forgetting the nurse's name, “fetch the doctor.”
Tharnax woke up. His entire body ached, and he had no clue why. What happened to me? As he thought about that, he realized something; he couldn't remember anything. Why can't I remember anything? He tried to move, but his body didn't seem to respond correctly. He panicked, and the world faded once more.
Marilyn watched as the pony had lost consciousness. She had warned him not to move, but it seemed that he hadn't heard her. He stressed out his body. We'll want to make sure he stays unconscious longer next time. We don't need him reopening those wounds. Marilyn knew that's what needed to be done; her studies had proven themselves effective. She would have to thank Twilight for allowing her to borrow those medical books.
The doctor entered, followed by the nurse she had sent to fetch him. Marilyn had yet to learn this one's name, as he had only recently been hired.
“Marilyn, could you please tell me happened to him?” He asked politely. “I was informed that he was conscious.”
“He tried to move around. I warned him, but he didn't seem to hear me. My conclusion is that he stressed out his body too much.”
“I see.” He looked towards the other nurse. “I want you to make sure he doesn't fall unconscious again.”
“Will do.”
As Tharnax finished regaining consciousness, he decided he wouldn't move around too much. He preferred staying conscious. He opened up his eyes. A pony was sitting in a chair, looking at papers. It grabbed a pencil in it's mouth and seemed to be writing something. Hold on, a pony is writing? That didn't seem right. “What,” he croaked, “What's going on? Where am I?”
“You're in Ponyville, recovering from the injuries you sustained.” The pony said. The pony had spoken. Am I dreaming? No, I think I've heard of other creatures talking before…felines. Yes, I remember that much. If they can talk, why not a pony? “I recommend you stay still, by the way. I would prefer to have someone to talk to.” The black pony moved from his chair and pulled a rope, then proceeded to sit down again. The nurse being a pony did prompt a question, which Tharnax decided to ask.
“If I may ask a question, how many are there like you?”
“Nurses?”
“No, ponies.”
The nurse looked befuddled. “Nearly all of Ponyville is made up of ponies, except for the princess's assistant. That includes you.”
Now that can't- Tharnax started paying attention to his body. His entire body still ached, but that only proved the nurse to be right. The pain indicated that he was, in fact, a pony. He felt panic rising again, but suppressed it. He would not lose consciousness this time.
The nurse was confused. “What's-” a second pony entered, and motioned the other. The nurse moved outside of the room. Tharnax heard them talking, and tried to listen in.
“...condition...”
“...hit...head…”
“...surprise me...princess...”
What did they say? Tharnax could only guess. The second pony, not the nurse, had entered the room again. It seemed that he was in charge. “Hello, I am doctor Sterile Syringe. If I may ask, what is your name?”
“Tharnax.”
“I have some questions for you, Tharnax. To start, what happened to you?”
“I don't remember. I can't remember anything before I woke up here either.” That wasn't true, but Tharnax didn't feel that talking felines was worth mentioning.
“Well,” the doctor said, readying to lecture Tharnax, “Let's start with the three races.”
The lecture was long and boring, but useful. The doctor had gone over the essentials: government, currency, the three main races of Equestria, and what a...cutie mark...is. I think I'll just call that an emblem. “With that out of the way, you have a visitor on the way. Somepony is very anxious to see you.”
Did he just say somepony?
Twilight was examining the armor. A closer look showed that parts of the armor was made of some kind of metal and parts of a creature, mostly scales and shells, with some webbing. She had Spike test flame resistance on it, and her guess was correct; it was flame resistant. Her strength test on it had shown that the metal was made of an iron like substance. It was lighter than iron, but not as strong as steel.
A knock came from Twilight's door. “Princess? I have a message for you.” Twilight opened the door to see Nurse Redheart from Ponyville's hospital. “He's awake.” In a flash of Lavender, Twilight teleported to the hospital.
The mare behind the countered jumped at Twilight's sudden appearance. “M-may I help you?” she inquired, startled.
“I was informed that the stallion in room 204 was awake.”
“Y-yes he is,” the mare said, calming down “I'll get the doctor for you, he'll fill you in on what we know.”
Tharnax rested in his bed, organizing his thoughts. After doctor Sterile Syringe's lesson, he knew that he was an earthpony with his hair...mane was a red brick color, but a little darker, while his coat was burnt orange. He was currently in Ponyville, Equestria, where he was recovering from his wounds.
A knock came from his door. “Enter,” Tharnax said.
The door opened, revealing a lavender alicorn. “Hi, Tharnax, my name is Twilight Sparkle. How are you feeling?”
“Bored,” replied Tharnax, “oh so bored. I would much rather be out of this bed and doing something other than lying around all day.”
“Unfortunately, the doctor here informed me that you need to lay down for at least another day. Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you know what your special talent is?” Twilight said, curiosity ringing through her voice.
“Well, if I were to take a wild guess, I would say it has to do with a sword a shield,” Tharnax deadpanned. Twilight stared at him, seeming slightly peeved by his obvious sarcasm. “However, to be serious, I should be able to use them expertly if I'm interpreting my emblem right.”
Twilight's facial expression became thoughtful as Tharnax finished speaking. After a few moments of silence, Twilight spoke up. “I haven't heard of a talent that involves fighting. When you're discharged from the hospital, I want to see if what you said was right about your talent. I've seen talents where the cutie mark was quite literal, and some that were more symbolic.”
“It's not like I have anything better to do.” That earned a chuckle from Twilight, as, while his tone implied he did, he literally had nothing better to do.
“Take care, Tharnax, I'll see you when you've recovered.”
Tharnax, completely recovered, was released from the hospital the next day.
Author's Note
With this, and the prologue, the story begins.
As for the name of the character using my username...I'm not very good at making names (or rather, I think I'm very picky about them). Do note that this character is not a representation of me.
Edit: One last thing to add, is that this starts before the season five finale.
