The Adventures of James Stallion, Book 1: The Gift of New Life

Note: Sorry for the really long wait for this chapter. Work has been killer and I hadn't had that much time to write in the past few months. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know if you find any errors :3

Chapter 3

I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was actually them! Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon in the flesh.

They were walking toward the town center and, as I watched them, I figured that Rainbow Dash had flown down to the town center to talk to them before she flew off.

Twilight was a light purple unicorn mare that had a dark purple mane and tail. There was a magenta colored streak that ran through the center of her mane and her tail that really added a pristine look of beauty to her appearance. Her horn, which prominently stuck out of the top of her mane, was the same color as her coat and, due to the darkened color of her mane, really stuck out prominently about her appearance. As for Spike however, I couldn’t see him at all because he was walking on the opposite side of Twilight, and the only thing that I could really see of him was a small part of his tail.

As Twilight walked toward the town center, I took notice that her mane was completely frazzled like it had a bad run-in with a hair dryer. When I seen the way she looked I laughed to myself a little and as I looked I faintly overheard Spike make a joke saying that it was pretty if she would get used to it.

Twilight and Spike continued to walk towards the town hall and I got an urge to call out to them and get their attention; however despite my best efforts, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was as if I had lost my voice; my words seemed to dissipate before I could utter the first syllable. I couldn’t believe myself. I had spent all day looking for them in Ponyville, and when I finally came across them I couldn’t even work up enough courage to call them.

As they drew close to the town hall, I finally began to walk towards them; however with each step I took my legs began to feel as though they were growing heavier by some unforeseen force. Eventually it came to the point where I stopped walking altogether and couldn’t move. I didn’t know what a matter with me. I just couldn’t physically bring myself to approach them or to call out to them.

Once I finally worked up enough courage to make any sort of advances towards them it was too late. To my dismay, I watched Twilight and Spike enter the town hall and the door slam shut behind them.

I let out a groan of frustration and shook my head in contempt. I didn’t know what it was about Twilight and Spike, but it felt as though something from within me didn’t want me to interfere with what they were doing. However, despite these thoughts and feelings I quickly began to think that it was cowardice that held me back; I grew angry with myself because of the unsatisfactory outcome of the event. I became so mad in fact that I actually wanted to yell out and hit something, but quickly fought down those urges.

After I had taken a moment to calm down, I approached the town hall and stopped in front of a staircase and sat down on one of the steps. I decided to wait outside until Twilight and Spike came out and I would introduce myself to them then, and nothing would stop me this time. Not even my own fear.

I hadn’t sat down no longer than a minute before I heard a scream of shock emanate from within the interior of the town hall. The sudden noise made me jump in surprise and look back towards the door. I feared that Twilight had discovered me and believed that I was stalking her and screamed in surprise, but I then realize that the scream hadn’t sounded like her at all. After I took a second to consider who it could’ve been, it then occurred to me that it had sounded like Rarity’s voice.

I almost gasped when I realized it. I then recalled that in the show Rarity the unicorn was put in charge of the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration, and that was how Twilight came to meet her.

I immediately had thoughts of going into the town hall right then; my fear being replaced by utter excitement, but as I reached for the door I stopped. Just as before; something inside me told me not to interrupt her. With those thoughts in mind, I decided instead to lean against the door and listen in on what was going on.

When I put my ear against the door, I was met by the sound of Rarity and Twilight’s voices as they had a conversation about Twilight’s mane.

“Oh my stars. Darling, whatever happened to your coiffure?” Rarity’s voice sounded from behind the door sounding shocked

“Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it’s a long story. I’m just here to check on the decorations and then I’ll be out of your hair.” Twilight replied.

“Out of my hair? What about your hair?”

“Wait, where are we going? Help!”

I started to hear multiple sets of hoof steps from behind the door, and I knew that they were about to exit the building. Before I could react however, magical aura appeared around the door knob and the door stormed open, smashing my face in the process. I was hit with enough force that I stumbled backwards and fell over the railing that encircled the entire town hall. Just when I thought things couldn’t have gotten any worse, I fell into the bed of roses that I had seen earlier and their thorns dug deep into my flesh, and to top things off, as I landed, I was greeted with another blow to the head as my skull made contact with an unearthed rock.

I was completely disoriented from the concussions I endured that I began to slip in and out of consciousness; all the while the thorns continued to penetrate my sides making it impossible to move. The last thing I remembered was Twilight’s voice echoing through the now desolate streets as she tried to protest to Rarity taking her somewhere.

“Wait what are you doing? I can’t go. Spike and I still have much to do and,” Twilight started but Rarity would hear nothing of it.

“Nonsense dear. I can’t see how anypony can do errands, let alone go out in public with such a messy mane like yours. I simple cannot let crime against fashion go on uncorrected. We must get to my boutique at once, and then we will-”

Their voices faded away as darkness enveloped my mind and I began to slip out of consciousness. I tried to fight it; tried to stay awake out of the sheer fear of not knowing what would happen to me, but trying to stay awake was like trying to hold back a tsunami with my mind. I quickly lost the fight and gave into the ensuing darkness and drifted away into the void.

Being knocked out was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to me up until that point in my life; I had never went through anything like it before. Prior to the experience, I imagined that it would be instantaneous; however fate would have it that it was the exact opposite. The closest thing that I could compare it to would be like falling asleep, however while you wait to fall asleep at night you have no idea when it’s going to happen. You lay there until your subconscious sneaks up and slowly takes over your mind, and you don’t even realize that it happened until you wake up the next morning. However when I was knocked out, I felt it coming. I felt myself being drawn in to the darkness of my subconscious, and I remained trapped there until I was finally able to break free from its venomous grip. However while I was there, I found myself drawn to think about my fears and past evils. I was forced to endure this torment until my safe return back into the world of the living.

And so there I was stuck within the blackness of my mind, thinking about what had happened to me that day. I thought of everything that had happened to me from when I woke up under the grand oak tree that morning, all the way up to when I arrived at the town hall. Most of all however, I thought about how many times I had failed. I ran through the different scenarios that I went through and how many times I had come close to meeting Twilight or her friends, only to see them get away. It was as if I wasn’t supposed to meet them; indeed it was like I was destined to lose.

As I thought about those minor failures, my mind started to drift back further into my past to when I was on Earth; back when everything I did never amounted to anything. I was forced to watch how everyone around me succeeded where I failed, and watched as they gloated and rubbed it in my face. I relived those years and watched myself deteriorate from the inside due to the never-ending sadness and disappointment.

I started to sink into the familiar anger and sadness I had felt back then; my resentment towards the very meaning of life began to return to me as I relived those terrible years. I couldn’t hide from my past and I knew it, and because of which I began to lose hope in everything once more.

Just as I neared the brink of losing the will to continue however, a blinding light appeared and the tormenting memories in my dream began to dissolve from my sight. Before long there was nothing but the light, and for a moment it just floated there and I gazed at it with curiosity. As I looked upon its beauty, a voice suddenly emanated from it calling out to me. It was an authoritative voice, but also sounded wise and kind; it sounded beautiful.

“James,” The voice stated and I was startled at the sound of my name. It knew me.

“Who-who’s there?” I replied back. “How do you know me?”

“You no longer have to live with this sadness anymore.”

I was shocked by the response and I had no idea what to say. After a few seconds of silence, the voice continued in a more compassionate tone.

“You are safe now. The ones that hurt you are not here and can’t cause you any more remorse.”

“How is it that you know me?” I asked again holding back tears.

“I know you very well young Stallion for I have been watching you since you arrived here in Equestria. I know everything about all who dwell in my kingdom; however you James take me aback. I’ve never before seen one with so much sadness in their heart…”

At that last statement I did begin to cry and the light stopped talking in response. I didn’t know whether it was out of concern or out of shock.

“No one cares about me!” I yelled as I mourned in contempt. “I came here to try to escape my past and still it haunts me. Nothing that I do will ever amount to anything in my life, and even here in Equestria I can’t even meet someone properly without messing it up. I will forever be alone in life; tossed aside and branded as an eternal failure.”

I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t stop crying. It was as if all the misery and torment that I endured in my life hit me all at once and I just let out all of the bottled up sadness.

“I feel so alone…” I said choking through my sobs.

The light silently listened to me but as I finished speaking it slowly floated down and hovered a few feet in front of me. I looked up at it with tears blurring my vision, and as I did it began to grow even brighter. Soon the light became as vibrant as the sun and I had to shield my eyes from its blinding rays, but suddenly the light began to dim once more until it was back to its original state.

Once I could see clearly, I looked towards were the light had been and found that it was gone and instead a beautiful white alicorn was standing in its place. Light emanated from her, giving her an almost god-like appearance and her horn glowed slightly with blue magical aura. She was bigger than a normal pony and she had her wings fully extended which really made her look intimidating and I would have been afraid of her if it wasn’t for the compassionate expression that she had. She wore a golden crown with a matching necklace and each had a sapphire colored gem stone attached to their center. But the part about the part of appearance that stuck out to me the most was her mane and tail. They both were brightly colored and flowed freely in the air and were translucent. Hadn’t I have known better, I would’ve believed that they bother were made from cosmic energy. It was Princess Celestia.

“Your never alone young stallion,” she said soothingly.

I looked away from her and quietly cried to myself as she continued.

“Throughout your life you’ve been told that you would never amount to anything and that you were unimportant. No one has ever told you otherwise, but I have seen into your heart James and I know that you are capable of accomplishing great deeds.”

I didn’t respond; I couldn’t respond. I was too upset to even try to think of the words to be able to question her, or to even thank her properly for her kind compliment. Instead I sat there and continued to cry, sulking in my sorrow.

The princess brought a hoof to my face and turned my head so that I would look at her; her beautiful eyes staring deeply into my soul.

“The spirit of friendship burns brightly within you Mr. Stallion, and you will soon discover that others around you will care about you based on who you are and not for what you do.”

The princess wiped away a tear from my cheek with her hoof and gave me a kind smile.

“When the stars above us all align you will understand.” She said as she turned and began to walk away. I didn’t know what she meant, and I quickly found myself standing up and calling out to her.

“Princess Celestia, wait!” I cried out as I started to run after her.

I started to run with all my might to try to catch up with her, but despite my best efforts she seemed to gradually drift further and further away from me. Before I knew it, she had completely disappeared from my sight leaving me standing there alone and confused.

I stopped running and called out to her once more, and the dream slowly started to fade away. Just before everything was fully engulfed in darkness I heard Celestia’s voice once more “When the stars align you will see…”

I awoke with a start and the sudden motion jostled the roses that I was laying on and their thorns dug deeper into my sides. I let out a pained yell as I instinctively tried to get out of the gnarls of thorns however I quickly became entangled in the vines and found that struggling was making things worse.

I stopped moving and relaxed my body for a minute and started to think about the situation I was in. How did I get tangled up in a rose bush? What’s more why did it feel like that it was literally wrapping around my legs? I carefully lifted my head up so I could see what was going on and I got my answer.

I hadn’t fallen into a bed of roses like I had originally thought. Instead I had fallen onto a bushel of plants that looked like roses that had hidden tendrils that lay beneath the surface of the soil, and to my horror were now starting to arise and wrap around my body. All along the length of each tendril, I noticed, were lines of wicked sharp black thorns that could easily penetrate through flesh. I watched breathlessly as the tendrils slowly wrapped around my legs and around my body.

My mind raced. If I moved and tried to escape the thorns would slice me to pieces, but if I stayed and didn’t try to escape then I would run a risk of being fully enveloped by them, and only God knew what would happen then.

Maybe if I hold still and don’t move then perhaps they would stop and let me go? I thought to myself trying to keep from panicking. I was wrong. The tendrils continued to wrap around me and began to grow tighter; their thorns starting to tear into my body.

My heart started to beat a mile a minute. I had to get out of there now! I immediately tried to bend my fore legs down and grab for them, but I hadn’t noticed that other tendrils had surfaced and had already begun wrapping around them as well; I was pinned.

“Somebody help me please!” I cried out as the thorn covered appendages continued to grow tighter “ANYONE!”

I frantically looked around toward the street to see if there were any ponies around but to my dismay I found that I was alone; there was no one to be seen.

Panic spread through me like a wild fire. Thorns be damned I was going to get out of there. I began to fight with all of my strength trying to break free from the constricting vines, completely ignoring the growing pain from the thorns that were slicing into me with every move I made. I tried my best to ignore the pain, but the more I struggled the tighter the tendrils became.

By now my legs were gashed open; deep cuts that continued to ooze more and more blood with each move I made. While I was struggling, more tendrils surfaced and started to wrap around my torso as well as my head and began to grow taught in addition to the ones that were wrapped around my appendages. Was this it? My first day in Equestria and I was going to die by some unforeseen plant for hell?

I couldn’t fight it any longer. I cried out as loud as I could for any source of release. The vines continued to grow tight around my torso and I could feel my ribs begin to groan and creek from the immense pressure; breathing was becoming more and more of a challenge with each passing second. I didn’t know what else to do. The thorns had dug so deeply into me that every move I made was agony, and by now there was a noticeable pool of blood starting to appear underneath me. With every ounce of energy I had left I cried out once more for help, but due to the immense pain I was enduring it came out sounding nothing more than a wail of agony.

Another tendril began to wrap around my throat and I knew that my time was almost up. I could feel death beginning to reach out with its ice-cold hand to take me away from this life. I was beginning to grow light headed from oxygen deprivation as the tendrils around my neck begin to constrain my windpipe. I didn’t know what would happen first; would I die of suffocation, or would my neck break and would I go out painlessly?

I felt the world around me begin to dissolve into black and I assumed that I was going to lose consciousness once more; the difference was however I knew that this time I wouldn’t be waking back up. Nothing short of a miracle could save me now and I knew it. I closed my eyes and braced for the end…

“Dear Princess Celestia above! James hole on!” I heard a familiar voice emanate from the blackened world around me. I didn’t know if the voice was just a figment of my imagination; a last ditch effort that my mind might have been trying to play in order to retain some hope in my last few seconds of life. I found out quickly though that it wasn’t my mind as I heard the sound of hoof steps thudding on the ground coming towards me.

The hoof steps came to a stop in front of me and I opened my eyes to see an extremely scared looking Mr. Cake. He reached down and tried to grab a hold of the vines that were wrapped around my neck but to both of our dismays, the thorns made it impossible for him to grasp onto them. I heard another set of hoof steps and I saw Mrs. Cake galloping towards us carrying a pair of hedge clippers in her mouth. She came to a stop next to Mr. Cake and she quickly took the hedge clippers and frantically began to cut the base of the tendrils that were wrapped around my neck.

By this time breathing was impossible.  I lay on the ground helplessly gagging for air as Mr. and Mrs. Cake frantically tried to free my neck. My bones felt like they were about to snap like twigs, and my lungs were on fire due to the immense stress.

After what seemed like an eternity; indeed what seemed like my certain demise; Mr. and Mrs. Cake were finally able to cut the vines away from my throat and I filled my lungs full of much needed oxygen. Every breath I took however drove the thorns around my torso ever deeper and I began to go into shock from all of the mixed signals my body was sending to my brain.

Once my neck and head was released from the tendrils, Mr. and Mrs. Cake immediately began to cut the rest of my body free. Mrs. Cake would cut the base of the tendrils, and Mr. Cake would grab a hold and pull them away once they were loosened. The ones around my torso proved to be the most painful upon removal due to how deep the thorns had penetrated my sides, and when one was pulled off of me I couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

As the last of the vines were cut and pulled away, I relaxed my tensed body and went limp on the ground in exhaustion. I could feel blood oozing from my puncture wounds and deep gashes on my legs, and my joints cracked once I finally relaxed them.

“Is he…?” Mrs. Caked asked worriedly as I slowly closed my eyes.

“No, he’s still breathing. Quickly run and get help. I’ll stay here and make sure that he doesn’t lose consciousness and do what I can.” I heard Mr. Cake say as he leaned down closer to me. If only I had the luxury of losing consciousness again; even that would be better than feeling all of the pain.

Without a response, I heard Mrs. Cake turn and gallop away from us. I opened my eyes and weakly looked up towards Mr. Cake. Of all the things that worried me at that moment, nothing scared me more than the expression I saw on his face. It was a look of sheer terror and uncertainty; a look that people only get when they are unsure if someone the care about is about to die; the primal fear of the unknown.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Mr. Cake immediately stopped me before I could speak. “No you can’t talk. You have to save your strength.”

Despite his advisory, and also despite the extreme pain it caused me, I still inexorably spoke.

“What… In God’s holy name… were those?” I asked breathlessly. I had to know what it was that had almost killed me.

Mr. Cake looked away from me as if debating with himself whether or not he should answer my question, but with a sigh he looked back towards me.

“That plant was a rosé constrictor and it is found primarily in the Everfree Forest. They are identical to roses, but when something draws near they grab a hold of them with their hidden vines and squeeze them to death. Ordinarily they aren’t found in these areas.”

“Then why was it here?”

Mr. Cake shook his head “I have no idea why they were here in Ponyville. My only guess is that they might have been purposely planted here by somepony, but why in Equestria would anyone in their right mind do such a thing?”

I didn’t know, and in reality I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get out of there and forget that this whole incident ever happened. Without a word, I tried to rise onto my hooves which turned out to be a big mistake. As soon as I moved, I was greeted by an explosion of pain from my back legs and my torso. The thorns had sliced me up so bad that it made it impossible to stand up. I cried out and Mr. Cake instantly tried to stop me from moving.

“James you have got to sit still. Your wounds are too severe for you to move, let alone stand up.”

I rested my head back onto the ground with a sad sigh; all the while trying to hold back tears of pain.

“James, don’t worry. This was just a freak accident and everything is going to be fine.” Mr. Cake said trying to reassure me, but one glance at his expression told me that he didn’t actually believe what he said and I myself didn’t believe it either. It seemed like ever since I arrived in Equestria I had nothing but bad ‘accidents’ as Mr. Cake put it. I have fallen down the hill and scraped up my back near the tree I woke up under, accidently crossed paths with Applejack and made her think I was a thief, and now I was almost crushed to death by a plant. It made me sad to think that I actually thought that I would meet Twilight and her friends. It seemed like whenever I saw one of them I would either do something wrong and mess it up, or I would lose them before I could even approach them; all the while getting hurt or emotionally frustrated.

As I lay there thinking about these things to myself, Mr. Cake kneeled down closer to me and gently put a hoof on my shoulder. It was as if he could feel my distress.

“James things will get better.” He said earnestly to me.

I looked at him and I could tell that he actually meant it this time. His kind gesture was enough to make me feel slightly better, but not enough to mend my broken spirit. Deep down inside I had given up hope.

The sound of galloping hoof steps echoing through the empty streets made Mr. Cake turn away from me. “Oh thank goodness that you’re here! Quick, he’s right there, please help him.”

A white mare that I didn’t know came to a stop in front of Mr. Cake with Mrs. Cake following close behind. The white mare wore a white nurse’s hat that had a red cross on the front of it and had a pink mane that she had tied up into a bun underneath it. She had stunning blue eyes that resonated kindness which really brought out her beauty. She carried with her a medical pack of sorts that she quickly put down when she stopped.

The mare took a quick glance at me and shuddered. “OK, tell me what happened.”

Mr. Cake quickly ran through the story of how they heard me screaming for help while they were making their way across town. When he mentioned the rosé constrictor, the nurse pony raised an eyebrow.

“A Rosé Constrictor? Here? How in Celestia’s name did it get into Ponyville?”

“I’m not sure. It could’ve got there as a prank by the outlaws The Forgotten, or it could’ve been planted here for a special occasion. Either way though it almost took somepony’s life.” Mrs. Cake chimed in.

“Alright then,” the nurse said as she approached me. “I usually only work with fillies and colts but I’ll see what I can do.”

Now I felt nervous. This nurse pony only worked with younger fillies and colts, and that meant that she probably only dealt with minor injuries. I could tell because whenever she got closer to me, she got really skittish due to the blood that was seeping from my wounds. Despite my discomfort though, I still let the nurse do what she had to do. Mr. and Mrs. Cake seemed to trust her and I had faith in their judgment.

She kneeled down and carefully began to examine the wounds from the thorns, especially the major gashes on my legs. She was especially sure that she didn’t touch me. The slightest jostle on my body would’ve made me cry out in agony, and I silently thanked God that she didn’t actually have to physically feel my wounds for her to see how bad they were. While she worked, I overheard her say numerous medical terms to herself such as “Major lacerations and a minor sprain. To my relief though, she didn’t mention anything about any broken bones.

“Can you help him Nurse Redheart?” Mr. Cake asked after a few moments.

I looked at the Nurse expression and I started to feel unsettled. She had the same look of uncertainty that Mr. Cake had and I feared that she might not be able to help me. After a few more seconds she finally spoke up.

“The good news is yes, I can help him.” She said as she stood back up.

“Well that's good news indeed! It’s a relief to hear that he’s going to be alright.” Mr. Cake said enthusiastically.

“Wait, what’s the bad news?” Mrs. Cake asked as the nurse pony leaned over and opened her medical bag.

After a few seconds of silence she stood back up. “The bad news is that I have to use Phylate to heal his wounds.”

Mr. and Mrs. Cake both let out a slight gasp and looked at each other in shoc. What was Phylate and why was it bad? Despite the pain I knew that it would cause me, curiosity still got the best of me and I spoke.

“What’s…? Phylate?” I asked weakly and as I did they all turned and looked at me.

“He doesn’t know what Phylate is?” I overheard Mrs. Cake ask as the nurse reached into the medical bag.

“Phylate is one of the strongest healing potions ever created by Ponies anywhere. Once injected, it can save a stallion that is near death and heal even the most fatal of wounds, but there is one side effect…” Mr. Cake said as he looked away from my gaze.

“A side effect? What kind of side effect?” I asked.

“It hurts like hell.” The nurse pony said as she pulled out a vial that was filled with green oozy liquid.

“Say what!?” I exclaimed as I moved in surprise, the sudden motion sent a wave of anguish through my body and I groaned in response.

“James it’s the only way for you to get better. Otherwise you’ll have to deal with these wounds for weeks before you can walk again.” Mr. Cake said with a seriously.

“Yea and think of it this way; you’re getting all of the pain over with in one go. If you don’t want to take it however you can sit in a bed at the Ponyville hospital for a month. It’s completely up to you.” The nurse added as she held the Phylate in her hoof.

I didn’t know what to do. On one side, if I took the Phylate I’d be healed and back on my hooves right there on the spot; at the cost of the most extreme pain I’ll ever feel in my life. However if I refused to take it I’ll be stuck in a hospital bed until I could walk again; constantly feeling pain through the entire healing process. Whichever choice I made though it didn’t matter; pain was unavoidable. After a few seconds of thought I made my choice.

“I’ll take the Phylate.” I said weakly as I closed my eyes.

With a nod, the nurse reached into her medical bag and pulled out a syringe and inserted it into the top of the vial. I watched as she filled it with the Phylate and when she was finished she turned her attention to me.

“Do you want a block?” she asked as she put the vial back into the medical bag.

“A block? What for?”

“It's something for you to bite down on to prevent you from screaming through the healing process. I’d suggest you take it.”

I wondered to myself about why was there so many of these never ending precautions. I didn’t see why they didn’t just give me the stuff already so I could get up and leave. I did know very well from Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s reaction that the procedure would hurt; but I didn’t believe that it would hurt so bad as to make me scream.

As I was about to turn down the offer Mr. Cake spoke up. “James, I highly recommend that you take the block. I know from personal experience that when it starts you will be glad that you accepted it.”

I began to grow a little aggravated towards the whole situation. I was on the ground, too hurt to move and bleeding out, and all I wanted to do was take the take the damn stuff and get it over with, but despite my growing irritation I said yes and accepted the block.

The nurse walked around me, making sure that she stayed away from the remains of the rosé constrictor while she did so, and kneeled down and put the block in front of my mouth. I reluctantly bit down on it and she took the syringe filled with the Phylate and injected the substance into my side. I cringed as I felt the ooze enter my blood stream and began to coarse through my body.

A few seconds went by and I started to feel really hot, so much so that I began to sweat profusely. I could feel the Phylate beginning to take effect and my heart rate and breathing began to increase. The warm sensation I was feeling quickly intensified until my body felt as though it was ablaze. My heart began to race faster and faster until I thought that it was going to burst out of my chest. I then knew that Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s fear of the Phylate was completely rational.

The nurse pony took a few steps back away from me and I saw Mrs. Cake look away. Something told me that this was going to get a lot worse before it got better in the end.

The healing process only lasted about three to five minutes, but to me it felt like an eternity. Once the initial healing began, it felt as though every living cell within my being was liquid fire. My skin felt as it was forcibly pulled and stretched over my wounds and, for lack of a better term, was ‘welded’ together by the Phylate substance. Every wound that was on my body was completely healed. Once it was over, I lay there shuddering by the force that had ravaged my very being. I was glad I took the block after all because if I hadn’t I would’ve screamed in agony; Mr. Cake had been right about everything.

“You need to lie still for a few minutes until the Phylate completely works its way out of your system,” the nurse began as she carefully removed the block from my mouth. “If you move around too much you may become nauseous.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. After what I had just been through I didn’t want to risk throwing up; that would only add to the inconvenience.

Mr. Cake walked up and gave me a respective nod. “You handled that really well James. The first experience with Phylate is always the worst. Let’s just hope that you won’t have to use it again, huh?” he said with a chuckle.

I just nodded and didn’t say anything; I didn’t really feel like talking.

After another few minutes went by, the nurse said that it was alright if I tried to stand up. I gave her a silent nod and Mr. and Mrs. Cake approached either side of me and helped me onto my hooves. Once I was on my hooves, I watched the nurse pony put everything that she had used back into her medical pack and clos it up. Once she was finished she turned back and faced us.

“Just take things slow and everything will be fine.” She said as Mr. and Mrs. Cake took a few steps away from me. I could stand on my own now, despite being extremely sore.

I cringed at the sound of the last words she said. Why did everyone insist on reassuring me about a future that they knew nothing about?  Despite my growing agitation on the matter I held my tongue though; I knew that they were just trying to help me after all.

“You honestly don’t know how lucky you are,” the nurse began as I slowly and carefully stretched my legs. “I usually only work with fillies and colts and usually don’t carry medical supplies to heal severe wounds like the ones you had.”

Confused by this, I questioned how she got the Phylate then if she didn’t have access to high end medical Supplies. She had said earlier that Phylate was the most potent healing potion ever created.

“You see that’s why I’m bringing it up. Earlier today a mishap happened with the mail and the Phylate was delivered to me by mistake by a grey cross-eyed pegasus pony. Once I tried to ask her about it she just said that it was for me and flew away, almost crashing into a tree in the process.”

“That’s weird. Usually the mail system doesn’t make mistakes like that. Who sent it to you?” Mr. Cake asked.

“That’s the weird part. All it had attached to it was a note saying ‘you’ll be needing this’ written in big black letters. My first thought was it was stolen, seeing as to how it was so valuable. I was afraid that I was going to get into trouble if I held onto it and so I was actually considering to taking it directly to the guards or to the hospital.”

I was too shocked for words. Someone had sent the Phylate to her today? Not only that, but someone had written her a note telling her that she would need it? My mind reeled as it tried to grasp onto the whole idea. Was it just a mere coincidence that she received the Phylate on the exact same day that I would just so happen to need it? Or did somepony actually know that I would be here and what was going to happen? That thought slightly disturbed me.

“Well it’s a good thing that you didn’t. Only Celestia knows what would’ve happened if you didn’t have it with you this evening.” Mrs. Cake said after a few seconds.

“Yes indeed, thanks for all your help Nurse Redheart. You saved a stallion’s life today.” Mr. Cake added earnestly.

“Oh please, you’re giving me too much credit. I only did what anypony else in my situation would’ve done-”

“No,” I suddenly said as I took an unsteady step toward her. “You saved my life and that’s a debt that I can’t repay. You’re getting all the credit you deserve.”

The nurse looked down at the ground and looked as though she was about to blush. It looked like she was trying to find something to say, but was having a lot of trouble doing so. “Well… um… thank you.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it was a lie,” I said seriously and with a smile I added, “Oh and my name is James Stallion by the way.”

I could see the nurse begin to smile and she looked up at me “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you. Everyone just calls me Nurse Redheart around here.” she said extending a hoof.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake exchanged glances as I raised my hoof and she took ahold of it into her own. When we were finished with our gesture, Mr. Cake spoke up, “Well James, since you’re feeling better and have been properly introduced; I’d say that it’s a good time to go and get you a shower. You look horrible.” He pronounced in a matter-of-fact tone.

It then occurred to me that I looked disgusting. Looking down, I noticed that my coat was covered in blood from the wounds that I had just so recently endured, and in addition to that there were batches of dirt clinging from my main and coat from when I was struggling to get free from the rosé constrictor. I figured that if I went out in public like that then ponies would probably think that I committed a murder and buried the body somewhere, and I certainly didn’t want that. I looked back up to Mr. Cake and asked him what he had in mind.

“Well we were heading to a party to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration when we heard your cry for help. We could make a detour and take you back to our shop and let you use our shower.”

“A shower would be nice.” I said with a shrug.

“Okay then sounds like a plan. If you want you can come with us to the party too. I hear that everypony in town is going to be there and its going to be a lot of fun.”

I honestly didn’t want to go considering that I just had a near death experience. Also I wasn’t really in the mood to be around a lot of ponies that I didn’t know anyways. I thought about it for a few seconds, and the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. It was like something in the back of my mind was telling me to go and after another few seconds of thought I reluctantly agreed.

“Well alright then it’s settled.” Mr. Cake said happily. “Nurse Redheart, would you like to come with us too? You could leave you bag in our store and pick it up later if don’t want to carry it around with you.”

“I would love to go, but I can’t. I’ve got to go and get caught up on my paperwork for this month’s medical turnout. I’m really sorry I can’t make it.” Nurse Redheart said apologetically.

“It’s alright, there’s no need to beat yourself up over it. We’ve all got to work so don’t feel bad, we understand. Do you need help carrying your stuff back?”

“No I’ll be fine. I just have this bag and it’s no trouble.”

“Nurse Red Heart…” I said as she went to pick up her medical bag. “Thanks again for coming and helping me. I’m really glad that you were here.”

Nurse Red Heart blushed once more and gave an awkward smile as she looked up at me. “It was nothing, I’m just glad I could help.”

“It may not have been a big deal to you, but it really means a lot to me.”

“It’s no big deal really. Well I’ve uh, got to go now. You all have a good afternoon.” Nurse Redheart said as she quickly picked up her medical bag and swiftly trotted away.

I was confused by her sudden departure and I didn’t know what to say. I looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Cake to see if there were taken aback by it as I was but to my surprise they were actually smiling. They waited till Nurse Redheart was out of earshot before they spoke up.

“James, she likes you.” Mr. Cake said with a smirk.

“What?” I asked stupidly to the statement. That wasn’t the response that I was expecting; I thought that I had said something wrong and she had left to get away from me.

“Isn’t it obvious dearie? The way she was blushed every time you had complimented her should’ve given it away. Mrs. Cake said with a chuckle. “You’re not good at picking up on mare’s signals are you?”

I looked down at the ground in embarrassment. “Oh uh… no, not really.”

“James, there’s no need to get upset over it. You will get better at it as you go. It’s a natural ability that every stallion picks up over time.”

I nodded and looked back up towards them and smiled weakly. “Thanks for the kind words.”

“It’s no problem at all dearie.” Mrs. Cake said as she returned my smile.

“Well we better get moving if we are going to get you a shower and make it to the party; we’re almost late as it is.” Mr. Cake said as he looked in the general direction the bakery was.

“Oh yes, your right dear. Come on James we have got to get going.” Mrs. Cake said with a gesture towards where Mr. Cake was looking.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake started to walk away, but I didn’t move. I took one last look at the remains of the Rosé Constrictor before I left. It was nothing more than a mess of tangled up vines lying in a pool of my now drying blood. It amazed me that this plant nearly cost me my life. I guess not everything in Equestria was what it appeared to be, and indeed not everything was safe, like I had foolishly thought.

“James, are you coming?” Mr. Cake called to me as he looked back towards me.

“Yea…” I said as I took my gaze away from the remains of the plant and began to make my way towards him. “Hey Mr. Cake, what more can you tell me about Rosé Constrictors?”

After we had left the town hall we made our way to Sugar Cube Corner so I could bathe, which actually proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I could walk on four hooves just fine by now, despite being a pony for only a few hours now; however maneuvering myself in a bathtub was a whole different story. I found it difficult to wash in the confined space of the tub, so instead I settled with rinsing my coat and mane off with hot water until all of the blood and dirt was off. I figured that later, when I had better hoof-eye coordination, I would wash myself more properly.

When I was finished rinsing my mane and coat off, I turned off the water and got out of the tub. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were waiting patiently down stairs for me so I had some time to myself. I took some time to think about what Princess Celestia had said to me in my dream before the Rosé Constrictor nearly strangled me to death. Actually, I wondered if it was just a dream that had come to me because of the events of my day, or if it really was a vision of some sort and she really did talk to me. Had Celestia really been watching me since I got here? Also what had she meant when she said ‘when the stars align?’ There were so many questions that swirled inside my mind, and it appeared that with every passing second many more continued to appear before me. I hoped that I would figure some of them out soon so I could bring some closure to my burdened mind.

“James, I don’t mean to rush you dearie, but we have to get going if we want to make it to the party. Can you please speed it up a bit?” Mrs. Cake sounded from down the hallway and interrupted my thoughts.

I didn’t want to be more of a burden than I already was. After all, They reopened Their shop and were letting me use Their shower so I could look presentable to a party that They were taking me to. They hadn’t gave me many specific details about the party other than that it was to celebrate the summer solstice and witnessing Princess Celestia raise the sun for all to see.

I quickly dried to dry myself off before I walked out the door, but I had some issues, the main one being that I didn’t know how to pick up the towel with my hooves. It then occurred to me that since I had been in Equestria I hadn’t needed to use my hooves at all other than for walking. So instead of trying to figure out my dilemma, for simplicities sake I just took the towel in my mouth and dried the parts of my body that I could reach (which wasn’t that many.) When I was done, I left the bathroom and on my way to the Cakes I found that I had done a really poor job with drying. In fact so poor of a job that I was still practically dripping wet.

When I retraced my way through the sets of hallways back into the main lobby where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were waiting for me, they both chuckled when they saw how wet I still was.

“Dearie I told you to speed it up a bit is all. You didn’t have to jump out like you were being attacked by an alligator.” Mrs. Cake said with a smile.

I didn’t want to tell them that the only reason that I was still wet was because I actually had a really hard time physically drying myself off due to inadequate balance and lack of knowledge of my bodily functions; that would just be very awkward for my part so I instead just went along with the joke.

“Well anyway come on everypony.” Mr. Cake said as he stood up and started to head to the door. “We’ve got to get a move on, we are really late as it is and we have to get a move on if we want to make it before all of the food is gone.”

Mrs. Cake stood up as well and followed her husband and I in turn followed her. We exited the store and once we were outside Mr. Cake locked the door and we continued to make our way down the street. I didn’t know were we were going, so I just followed the Cakes as we made our way across town.

We made our way towards the opposite end of Ponyville, to a part were I hadn’t been yet, and after about ten minutes I started to get curious as to where we were going but I didn’t bother to ask them though. By this time in the day the sun had already started to go down and again I found myself caught up in taking in the beauty of Equestria. As the sun started to descend in the far horizon, it had caste a beautiful orange glow over the land and made everything more vibrant and clear. It almost brought a tear to my eye to see the serenity of the pristine landscape around me. Indeed I became very excited to be able to witness the beauty of the day again tomorrow.

“Here we are.” Mr. Cake pronounced as we approached what appeared to be an extremely large hollowed out oak tree near the edge of town.

“What is this place?” I asked as I looked at the tree in awe. The tree was obviously a library of some sort due to all the signs that covered it, all of which had books on it. Despite the tree being hollowed out, it looked like it was still alive and was in full bloom with vibrant leaves. The tree was massive; bigger even than any of the surrounding buildings that encircled around it. There were two balconies on the top of the tree, the highest of which had a big telescope positioned on it pointing to the heavens. On one of the upper branches near the top there was a large beehive that was so massive that it was almost the size of a full-grown pony. On the front door there was an engraved candle stick figure that was carved into the wood, and there was a sign to the right of the door that had a picture of an open book on it.

“This is the Golden Oaks Library, and this is where the party is happening.” Mr. Cake replied as we drew closure to the massive tree.

I could’ve figured that because I started to hear the music emanating from within it over a block away. The tree was bathed in a fiery orange light from the sun and it cast a looming shadow over the streets that surrounded it. It was truly a sight to behold.

“Dear sweet Celestia, this is one huge party.” Mrs. Cake commented as we drew closer to the door.

Indeed it was a huge party. Just as we were approaching, I seen herds of ponies that were gathered around the outside waiting to get in; the entire city of Ponyville must have been there.

“Are we really going to have to wait to get in?” I asked as we came to stop near the herds of ponies.

“Oh no, Pinkie Pie would never make us wait. The only reason why these ponies are waiting to get in is because they probably have just arrived late is all.”

“Wait, did you just say Pinkie-” I started but a familiar hyper-eccentric voice cut me off.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Oh my I didn’t think you’d be this late, is everything OK? This party is absolutely fantastically amazing! I’m so glad you could make it. We have lots of food, games, and guests. Oh who’s you friend?” The happy voice of Pinkie Pie sounded out from an open window. The pink mare bounced out of the window and gracefully landed on her hooves and began to hop to us, continuously speaking as she approached.

I couldn’t believe my luck. As fate would have it, I had arrived at Pinkie Pie’s party.