Chapter 1
Enter Stoneward
It was a bright, and beautiful morning in the land of Equestria. The sky was clear, and Celestia's Sun shone its rays down upon the happy ponies. They had every right to be happy too. Equestria was always peaceful, and there were never any problems with the neighboring countries. Even the beasts within the Everfree Forest were content.
One pony was particularly happy for a day off.
A pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane was singing a sweet melody while she trotted through Everfree. This young mare, named Fluttershy, was on her way to visit her zebra friend, Zecora.
Zecora was a zebra who lived in a small hut within the Everfree Forest. She used to be very strange to the ponies of Ponyville because of this. After the Elements of Harmony found out the truth, the rest of Ponyville followed in suit. Zecora became a huge help to all the ponies because she was a sort of alchemist, or a potion maker. All of the unnatural problems could be cured from one of her concoctions of confounding curative capabilities. She also became a close friend to Fluttershy; many of Zecora's brews went to help the animals that Fluttershy took care of.
She walked carefully down the dirt path, thoughts of her animal companions littered her mind, or more specifically the thought of a certain bunny, Angel. To her he was but a child, a demanding and impatient child crying out for attention which she so often gave to him. A sudden loud WHUMP came from a few yards infront of her however, deep in thought, she failed to notice and continued to ponder her own soothing recollections of her favorite bunny.
"Sometimes I just don't know what to do with-EEP!" Fluttershy yelped as she fell forward and her face hit into something gray and soft. As she picked herself up, her eyes landed on a gray lump in front of her. It was a young Unicorn stallion with charcoal-gray fur and a steel mane. This unicorn was't thin like all the other unicorns. No, he was MASSIVE. He must have been at least a hoof taller than Big Macintosh. Fluttershy stood there stunned. She shook her head as if to wake herself from a dream and inspected him carefully. She soon noticed he was unconscious, and let out a sigh of relief.
I wonder how long he's been out here? Fluttershy pondered. She knealt down to examine the lifeless pony. His heart was still beating, and he didn't seem to have any wounds on him. She nudged his side, trying to flip him over. The stallion wouldn't budge. She pushed harder and finally got him to turn, but the sight wasn't pretty.
"Oh... my...." Fluttershy stifled out. He had a large bruise on his stomach. Maybe he fell, she thought. Concerned for the pony's well-being, she rushed over to Zecora's hut for some help.
Running through the forest as fast as she could, Fluttershy reached Zecora in no time. Zecora was outside of her hut, tending to some exotic flowers. The unique zebra looked up when she heard Fluttershy galloping towards her. The alarmed look on Fluttershy's face was a dead give-a-way that something was terribly wrong.
"Fluttershy, my dear, what is it that you fear?" Zecora asked concerned.
"Pony... unconscious... he needs... help... he's... hurt!" Fluttershy was exasperated after running the long distance to Zecora's hut.
"I have just the thing to administer, it will ease the pain, of that I am sure." Zecora said happily. "I need to know the size of this pony, so I know how much to bring to make healthy."
"Well, um, he's... bigger than Big Mac..." Fluttershy said softly.
"What?" replied Zecora her with mouth open in disbelief. She shook her head as she broke away from being stunned, and started to gather the ingredients for the potion. Zecora started a fire underneath the cauldron, and filled it with the whimsical herbs. The last thing to do now was to stir and wait. As Fluttershy paced in worry, she started to wonder about that gray pony.
I hope he's okay... she thought. The potion seemed to be brewing for what felt like hours to a worried Fluttershy, even though it had only been a few minutes. She was very concerned about the stallion, more so than she would be for others. She didn't know why, she just... cared deeply for him.
"The brew is done, though we can not run," Zecora stated, "the amount I brewed is quite a lot, it is too heavy so we must trot."
The vat itself was large and it took both of them to carry it. They left the hut at a hurried pace, hoping to get there before the sun could set. Luckily for them, they did not encounter any wild beasts. They carried it all the way to the grey pony, but by then it was late afternoon.
"By the great goddess Celestia," Zecora exclaimed. "He is the biggest pony I've seen in all of Equestria!"
"Hee hee, told you," Fluttershy said with a chuckle. Zecora watched the pony and saw what made Fluttershy come running so quickly. The bruises were darker, and there were cuts as well. Some of his bones must have broken in the fall, thought Zecora. Fluttershy and Zecora propped him up against a tree, and lifted the urn to his mouth. Fluttershy opened his mouth as Zecora poured the mixture in.
POP! POP! POP! SHNK! The bones were all coming back together, and going back into their respective places. The bruises were shrinking down until they finally disappeared. The stallion looked completely restored. Not only that, but he was starting to awaken. The charcoal pony heaved himself up onto his hooves and opened his eyes to see the two mares in front of him. Fluttershy quickly ducked behind Zecora, and watched as the huge pony started to talk.
"Wha... What happened?" the stallion asked, "Who are you two?"
"My name is Zecora, and this is Fluttershy," Zecora declared, "She is the one that found you in this forest when you fell from up high." Fluttershy blushed when Zecora mentioned her name.
"Thank you both, Miss Zecora," stated the stallion. Then with a smile, he walked over to Fluttershy and said, "and thank you as well, Miss Fluttershy." She blushed much more deeply this time. Zecora and the newcomer shared a laugh over this, but he still smiled warmly afterwards. He's strong, and nice, Fluttershy said to herself. She decided she was going to try and learn more about this stallion.
"So, umm... if it's okay... what is... your name...?" Fluttershy squeaked out her question.
The stallion thought for a second, and stared at the ground before saying, "I... uhh... don't know."
"You do not remember your name? Please tell me you aren't playing a game!" Zecora exclaimed.
"I wish I were, because the only thing I remember is falling." he replied solemnly. After he had said this, all three ponies went silent.
It was getting darker, so Zecora suggested that they each head home. Since the nameless pony didn't remember where he lived, Fluttershy told him that he could stay with her, and sleep on the couch in her living room. He said that he felt like he was a burden, and that she had done so much for him already. Fluttershy said it wouldn't be a problem, seeing as she had plenty of extra room in her house, because most of the animals would sleep outside. Although she didn't reveal it to them, Fluttershy had alterior motives to letting the stallion stay at her house. She felt safe around the pony. No, she felt happy around him.
The long walk back to Fluttershy's cottage was quite silent between the both of them. They both were pretty shy, and normally didn't talk a lot. The road in between Ponyville and Zecora's hut was not the most clear of paths. Exotic flowers, such as Poison Joke, grew on the path. Many travelers had trouble with these sorts of things, but not Fluttershy as she had walked the path many times. The strange stallion, however, had never been on this path, as far as he can remember. Fluttershy carefully avoided an overgrown tree root, where the stallion had tripped over it.
"OOF!" said the stallion as he landed face down in the dirt.
"Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"Yeah, it was just a little fall..." he replied annoyed at the root. He picked himself off the ground and brushed off his flank. This is when she noticed his cutie mark, or his lack thereof.She wondered if it would bother him if she asked about it. She decided against it, thinking he probably wouldn't know what to say and he might be a little offended as well.
They continued on the road and eventually made it back to Fluttershy's house. He walked up to the door and held it open for her.
What a gentlecolt, she thought. As they walked in, the stallion felt a twinge of pain in his stomach. He realized that he hadn't eaten anything since that potion, and he doubted that that was very filling. He thought that it would be a little impertinent to ask Fluttershy for food, but his stomach had other plans. It groaned as loud as it could muster. Fluttershy turned around to see the stallion with a blush on his face.
"You must be hungry. I could make some food if that's alright with you?" She asked quietly.
"You don't have to..."
"It would really be no problem." She responded with a smile on her face.
Can't exactly say no to that, now can I? He thought to himself. "Alright, well I suppose a hay sandwich would be good." Fluttershy made him a hay sandwich, and made herself one too. They both silently ate their food. When the stallion finished his sandwich, he walked over to Fluttershy, nuzzled her, and said, "Thank you again for all that you have done for me." Fluttershy blushed as red as the cardinals she kept.
The stallion went to the couch that she kept in her living room and thought to himself, What an amazing day it has been.
