Luna's day had started like any other, her morning rituals having not once shifted since her return. It was a rather uniform routine, but one she was used to and one she was able to do without thinking too hard. However, it got monotonous very quickly.

Waking with a slight start, Luna let a long yawn past her lips as she stretched, spreading her large wings out eliciting a series of loud pops and cracks. Hopping out of bed, she clumsily trotted to her bathroom, turning on the hot water and grabbing her toothbrush. Once sure that she was clean, Luna stepped out of the tub and made her way to her vanity table. Casting a quick heat spell on her hair and spitting the remnants of her toothpaste as she passed the sink, she painfully combed the various knots out her hair, all while adorning her regalia.

Checking herself over, she was pleased to find everything in its proper place. Trotting out of her room, she merrily made her way to the castle's kitchen, eager to get her breakfast and start the day. Walking the numerous and winding corridors, her autopilot on full effect, she eventually found herself in front of the Dining Room doors. Opening the doors, she found Celestia inside alone as she did most mornings, her bright red hair held up in a neat bun. As she walked in, her sister seemed to notice her presence and smiled widely as she approached.

"Luna! Good to see your up." Celestia said. "Are you ready for the day?"

"About as ready as any other day" Luna replied, blowing a lock of her bright silver hair out her face. "Though I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something."

"Could it be the ceremony your forgetting?" Celestia suggested, sipping on a cup of strong coffee.

"Ah! That's what it is!" Luna said, a look of sudden realization overtaking her features. "It is good the Element Bearers are getting the recognition they deserve. But why now?"

"Yes, I agree. I think they more than earned it." Celestia said. "As for your question, their victory against Sombra was just a perfect excuse."

They continued in silence, the only sound accompanying them being that of the sound of crunching cereal. Once finished, the two sisters made their way to the throne room. The walk there was a long journey, taking roughly fifteen to twenty minutes to get to their destination and it was a journey, much like their breakfast, was filled with a comfortable silence. Finally, they eventually arrived in the empty throne room and took their seat on their respective throne.

"The Element Bearers should be here soon." Celestia.

As the minutes slowly past by, Luna couldn't shake the feeling something felt...off. It was a nagging thought in the back of her head, but she couldn't put a hoof to it. However, before she could voice her concerns, the large double doors opened, a lone guard entering, quickly striding up to the Dual Rulers.

"The Elements of Harmony are here to see you." He said. "Shall I send them in?"

"Please." Celestia requested.

As the guard walked out, the sense Luna had been feeling became more pronounced, now becoming a sensation in the pit of her stomach, an irrational awareness telling every muscle in her body to act. But much like before, as she was about to act upon this urge, the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony walked through the massive double doors, interrupting the Lunar Matriarchs train of thought. Putting on a pleasant smile, Luna fought down the compulsion she had and greeted their guests.

"Greetings my friends!" Luna said with apparent blithe.

"You are probably wondering why we called you here," Celestia asked.

"I will admit, I was curious as to why," Twilight answered. "But I figured you had your reasons."

The rest of the group reciprocated the lavender unicorns answer, nodding their head or audibly giving accordance to the mare's words.

"Your triumph against Sombra deserves great honour, obviously," Celestia said. "And as you are aware, we will be holding a ceremony celebrating your success, as well as providing medals for your achievement."

"However, we wanted to take our time to personally congratulate you," Luna said. "As we will more than likely be unable to after the aforementioned ceremony."

"What you have done goes beyond what anypony could have expected of you," Luna said. "You have done a great...service...to..."

Luna's words trailed off, her thought process is quickly interrupted. The feeling was now at the forefront of her mind as she was unable to ignore it any longer. Her ears twitching in the direction to her right as her body began having a physical reaction. It was some sort of disturbance, a force that demanded their attention. Those present that possessed horns seemed to notice this as well, their own ears snapping to the bearing of this odd and sudden disturbance, while the others could do nothing but looked on in confusion.

The feeling kept getting stronger and stronger, now becoming a harsh migraine to those magically capable. When at its peak, the sound of a thunderous boom rang out in the throne room, causing all to cover their ears in a vain attempt to mitigate the noise. All of a sudden, the throne room windows came caving in, sending shards of decorative glass flying all around the room. It wasn't that, however, that caused them concern. But the unconscious body of a draconequus that came crashing into the hard marble floor, a sickening crunch sounding out as she skidded across the red carpet.

Rushing to the draconequus' side, they shouted for the guards instantly as soon as she hit one of the opposite pillars. Bursting through the door, it was clear that the only concern the golden clad ponies were only of that of their two rulers.

"Guards, get this draconequus to the infirmary, immediately!" Luna yelled, a slight ringing in her ears left behind by the boom.

Doing as she demanded, a unicorn stepped forward and with a pop, they vanished in a brief flash of light. Looking to the shattered windows, Celestia let out a sigh and looked back to the shaken ponies.

"I think the ceremony is going to have to be rescheduled."

~~

An hour quickly passed by since the sudden arrival of the draconequus and the Princesses, along with the Elements of Harmony were standing outside the infirmary doors, patiently waiting for the news on the condition of their newest arrival. The doors suddenly swung open, shaking the eight present out of their daydream and turned to the approaching unicorn Doctor.

"Doctor Bone," Celestia said. "How is she?"

"Our mystery chimaera had sustained quite a few injuries with her apparent crash landing." The Doctor replied, peering down at the medical report in his magical grasp. "Fractured radius and ulna and a few scratches and minor bruising. Nothing that we were unable to fix. She's otherwise in perfect condition, if still unconscious. Would you like to give a quick visit?"

"Please, if you wouldn't mind?" Luna asked.

"Right this way."

Following the Doctor, they weaved through long corridors, soon coming to a door numbered Ninety-eight and the Doctor turned to address eight behind him.

"She's just inside." He said. "Take the time you need. If you need anything, feel free to call us."

"Thank you," Celestia said before turning to enter the room.

On the other side of the room, near the large window, lay the soundly sleeping draconequus, the heart monitor and her slow but steady breathing being the only indication she was still alive.

Now that they were able to see the chimaera properly, they began taking in her appearance. She was far more uniform than any other draconequus they had encountered, not being a complete mess of combined animals, but still being somewhat of a mishmash.

A long brown feminine serpentine body, having more curves where they needed to be. The fur on her chest was more pronounced, sticking out a few inches at her upper chest and was the purest of white. In place of her arms were two white paws, presumably polar bear in origin. However, as she was covered by a soft duvet, they were unable to see her lower half.

But what caught their attention, was the large scar on her face. It started on the right side of her snout and continued under her left eye and stopped at about the opposite cheekbone, the fur missing where the thick line travelled, revealing light peach skin beneath. Her face was also very different from the chimaera they were so used to seeing. The brown fur quickly faded at the base of the neck into a dark navy blue. Her snout was rather square compared to most, with two fangs poking out under her top lip.

Her mane was light grey, with some darker streaks, that appeared to be a mohawk with only the left side shaven that flopped to the opposite side of her head and continued down the end of the tail in a white tuft wrapping around and ending several inches away from the tip. Unlike some draconequi, she was actually very attractive, as most held a more harsh appearance. But this one was more appealing to look at.

All in all, a rather attractive being by most standards.

Staring down at the still comatose draconequus, the two rulers couldn't help but wonder what had caused this or even the odd sensation they felt before. Could they be connected? If so, how? Questions like these were flowing through their heads when the younger Alicorn spoke, breaking the silence.

"Sister," Luna said, gaining the attention of all present. "Shall I visit her dreams? To check if she hasn't sustained any brain injuries."

"Good idea," Celestia said softly. "Perhaps we could get some answers. But be careful."

Nodding, Luna closed her eyes, the magic jingle sounding out as her horn was enveloped with her turquoise magic and with a slight pop, her mind was whisked off to the land of dreams.

~~

As Luna's eyes opened, the first thing she noticed was the sheer chill in the air around her, piercing her suitably thick coat of fur. Looking around her, she quickly noticed she was in a rather dense forest, a thick layer of snow-covered and stuck to the ground beneath her. A shiver racked her body as she slowly breathed to regulate her temperature. Stepping forward, she began her search for the draconequus who's dreams she now entered.

The search took longer than she expected, the forest had turned her around on several occasions. Eventually, she came to a clearing, a rather unassuming one at that, but as she walked past the tree line, the ambience around her seemed to change. Gone was the piercing cold, now making way for a warmth that put the Lunar Princess at ease, a smile making it's way to her muzzle. She was knocked out of her little trance when she heard the sounds of groaning.

Looking further into the clearing, her eyes landed a rather peculiar sight. On the other side, a being like she hasn't seen before lay on it's back. It was large, being on par with her sister in height and was broader to boot. It had no fur to speak of, a light peach skin is all it had, save for the short hair on its head and lower face. It wore clothing similar in style to casual ware some minotaurs chose to ware. A thick jacket, coming to the back of its knees, a plaid flannel, blue jeans and thick brown boots. And judging by its body shape, it was male

She was about to take a step when the being started moving. A small twitch turned into full movements as he moved his hands, at least that's what Luna assumed they are, to his face, giving it a slight rub. Twisting his body slightly, he placed his hands on the ground, seemingly unaffected by the cold snow, and pushed himself to his feet. Looking around, the creature had a confused look on his comparatively flat features.

"Это не может быть правильно." He whispered to himself.

The words he spoke were very foreign to the Princess's ears. She was familiar with most forms of language there was and yet she couldn't understand a single word this creature uttered.

Luna couldn't do anything but stare, unsure as to how to proceed. She was potentially dealing with a completely new species, one that she had never heard of, not even in her most fantastical dreams. But a question popped into her head: Why was this thing here and not the draconequus?

Automatically, she began thinking the worst, assuming the creature was responsible for the draconequus' current condition. Hastily storming into the middle of the clearing, Luna ignited her horn and lowered her posture to a more aggressive manner.

"What have you done with the chimaera beast!?" She shouted, catching the being off guard.

"гребаная сука!" He shouted, reeling from the sudden noise, falling onto his back as he held up his arms to protect himself. "Что ты за хуйня такая!?"

Using his long legs, he tried back-peddling in an attempt to further the distance between them, only to have Luna slowly close the distance, now only two metres were between them.

Now that Luna was able to see his face, she made a shocking discovery. On his face, starting on the bridge of its short nose, was a long scar, identical to the one worn by the chimaera. Connecting the dots, she realized, this being is the chimaera. Taking a tentative step, she began to slowly close the distance, cancelling the spell she had ready and sat down a few feet from the creature.

"Can you understand me?" She asked as softly as she could as to not startle the being further.

A few moments past with him simply staring at her, the same expression of fear clear on his face, his body shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Swallowing deeply, it nodded his head slowly.

"Do you know where you are?" She asked.

"Sortavala. Near the border of Finland." He said concisely, a strange accent clear as day in his words, which were spoken comprehensively despite it.

Luna racked her brain as quickly and as hard as she could. Here lay a creature, unlike any she's ever seen, believing itself to be somewhere which it clearly isn't. The only possibility she could think of was that it was transported here, but the question was: How?

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"I was...in this clearing and there was a strange light about in the middle, just over there." He said, pointing over Luna's shoulder. "I went to investigate and touch the light. I got my hand stuck inside it and it expanded to the point I was entirely absorbed. Then I woke here."

Luna listened intently, noting everything he described in a mental notebook. Sighing, the Princess prepared to relay the news to the being in front of her, knowing what it was that he described.

"Then I regret to be the one to inform you." She said slowly. "You are not where you think you are. You are in a land called Equestria, unconscious in a hospital bed from your arrival here."

The creature looked at her like she had grown a second head. It was a response she had expected.

"How?" He asked simply.

"I have an idea, however, I feel it best to explain it to you when you awaken." She replied. "It would help for the information to sink in better."

"это чертовски смешно!" He shouted, slamming his hands into the snow beneath him and quickly rose to his feet. "How do I even know this isn't just an elaborate dream, and even in the small chance this is all real, how do I know I can trust you!?"

Luna sat there, waiting for the being to stop his rambling, trying her best to keep the same calm expression, hoping it would put him at ease.

"I can't make you trust me. That's on you." She replied. "As for proof, I can wake you, if you would like?"

The being stood for a few moments, his face twitching every so often, his breathing going from erratic to steady in a matter of seconds.

"Ok." He whispered.

Nodding, the Princess closed her eyes and ignited her horn and charged her spell for a couple of seconds, before releasing it, the world around darkening, bringing her back to the world of reality.

~~

Opening her eyes, Luna was back in the hospital room, the chimaera soundly sleeping in her bed, masking true emotions she...he...they were properly feeling. Confusion, anger and fear. How they were going to react, she wasn't sure.

"Luna?" She heard a voice say, shaking her from her thought.

It was Celestia. She had a look of concern, as did the others in the room. They more than likely saw the furrowed brow she sported.

"Well?" Celestia urged. "What did you find out?"

Luna hesitated a bit. Not because she was unsure of what she found, but because of the implications it came with. Not for them, but for him.

"I...uh...it." Luna stuttered.

"Luna." Her sister said softly. "Is she dangerous?"

"No." Of that she was certain. "Just...confused. Let me explain from the start."

For the next fifteen minutes, Luna explained her experience from when she first woke in their dreams to when she came back to reality, giving even the smallest of details, making sure she didn't miss a thing. Once she was done, the group beside her were positively dumbfounded, unsure as to process the information.

"So whatever he is, he is scared and confused." Luna finished. "So we need to take this slowly."

"I agree," Celestia said and turned to the six ponies to her side. "Girls, I believe that it would be best for you to leave. We don't want to stress him out more than he already is."

"But-" Twilight started.

"No," Celestia interjected. "We need to ease him in slowly and being surrounded will more than likely cause negative effects that we don't want."

"The Princess is right Twi." Rainbow Dash said. "She does have a point."

"I fully agree." Applejack chimed in. "I suggest we go to the common room near our rooms."

With the rest of the group in concurrence, Twilight nodded and left with the rest of the girls, leaving the two Princesses alone with the draconequus. Looking at her younger sister, Celestia smiled at her, a proud expression belying the nervousness they both had.

"Can you wake him?" She asked.

"I can."

With that, Luna charged another spell, the jingle filling the silent room. As she cast the spell, a small wisp of dark turquoise filtered out of her horn and into the forehead of the sleeping chimaera and the sisters mentally prepared themselves for what would come.

The chimaera's eye slowly fluttered open, a soft groan escaping her lips as she brought a paw up to shield her face from the light of the room. But any discomfort was rapidly washed away as her eyes set themselves on the white paw in front of her face. Sitting up, eyes wide open, she looked between both of her arms, slowly inspecting them as she quietly muttered to herself.

"Значит, это был не сон." She stated sombrely, letting her arms flop to the bed with a light, muffled thud.

The first thing Celestia noticed was the accent she possessed. Like Luna had said, it was unusual, unique and was vastly different to anything she had heard before. But there was something about it that made it sound...pleasant. Most draconequi they had come into contact with had much more rough or gruff voices that ground on most ears. But her was satisfying to theirs, an almost angelic tone that made the Princesses muscles relax as she started speaking.

Looking around, her gaze quickly landed on the duo a metre from her bed, a welcoming smile on both of their faces. She instantly recognised the Lunar Matriarch and sighed.

"So it was real." She whispered. "There's no way this could be a dream."

Stepping forward, Celestia tried to put on a welcoming smile, trying her best to be as friendly as possible. It seemed to work, much to the Solar Princesses surprise, as her body seemed to relax, letting go of most of the tension it had, but it wasn't gone completely.

"Greetings." She said. "I am Celestia. How are you feeling?"

"Well, I still have a pulse, so that something." She replied.

That got Celestia to chuckle. Humour. Good. It can be an excellent coping mechanism. She may need it. Stepping up beside her sister, Luna held the same expression as her older counterpart, but it had a slight blend of regret.

"I am Luna." She said, speaking in the same soft tone she had when she first encountered the being. "I don't believe I got your name."

She hesitated a bit before she spoke, clearly still trying to wrap her head around what was happening, the confusion and fear she had since she woke still permeating her oddly coloured eyes.

"You have nothing to fear," Celestia reassured. "I know this is all very new and distressing. But I can assure you, you have nothing to fear here. We're here to help."

"I am Aleksei Mikhail Maxime." She said after a few moments.

The Princesses smiles widened. This was a step in the right direction. All they needed to do was gain the trust of this chimaera and help her in this world in any way they could. Easier said than done. But they were determined to help. They would stop at nothing to help this lost soul. They will accomplish this. It will take a while, but it will be done.

"Well Aleksei, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Equestria."

Author's Note

well, that escalated quickly

Please point out any mistakes I may have made
Constructive criticism is always appreciated
Until next time, TTFN!