Chapter 3 – Awake
The unicorn felt himself waking up as if from a deep sleep. He wondered where he was as the last thing he remembered was entering Ponyville. His senses slowly returned to him, starting with his hearing. He heard sounds like ponies talking to each other, but for some reason he couldn’t make out anything in particular. The sounds just blended together into one droning noise. Then the voices began to come in clearer as he listened to the ponies talk nearby.
“How is he, Nurse Redheart,” the first voice asked which sounded like a young mare with concern.
“He did sustain quite a concussion,” the voice of an older mare replied, “He might be unconscious for a while. When he does wake up, he may be disoriented or confused.”
“Is there anything I can do,” the young mare said.
“Unfortunately the only thing we can do now is to wait until he wakes up.”
The feeling in his body was coming back. It felt like he was laying on something firm, but it had a little give to it. To him it felt less like a ground and more like a bed. He wondered how and when he ended up in a bed. Then he realized from the conversation of the two ponies he was most likely in a hospital. This disturbed him deeply. His mind began to race with questions regarding how he ended up in the hospital in the first place, what the extent of his injuries were, how long he would have to stay, whether or not there would be any future issues.
Suddenly, the stallion was hit with a wave of pain. His head felt like it was several sizes too small for his brain. He let out a groan as his body unconsciously shifted, trying to find a way to reduce the pain. It was as if his body was reacting to the pain like somepony was hurting him.
“Wait,” the young mare said, “I think he’s waking up.”
The unicorn then tried to open his eyes. It was the only to confirm in his mind where he was exactly. He quickly opened his eyes and was greeted by a blinding light that hurt. He shut them again on instinct and after recovering from the light he tried another approach by opening them slowly. He saw something blurry in front of but he was unsure who or what it was. Then as his vision cleared and focused, he came face to face with a purple unicorn staring down at him!
“Ahhh,” the stallion shouted as he quickly sat up.
“Ahhh,” Twilight screamed not expecting the unicorn to shout or sit up like that. She quickly recoiled in surprise, and after regaining her composure returned to the bedside.
“Sorry,” the two unicorns said to each other, almost in unison. Both of us were shocked how we were for that one time in synch with each other. They let out a nervous chuckle due to this fact with a look of embarrassment.
“Ugh! What happened,” the stallion said groggily, “Where am I?”
“Well you’re in the Ponyville hospital,” Twilight said, “As to what happened, I think you were walking in town and a tree branch fell on you. Sorry about that.”
“Sorry,” the stallion said questioningly, “For what?”
“Well it was a branch from my tree house that hit you. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be here in the hospital.”
“Wait, you live in a tree?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Twilight said, “It’s a house inside a tree. I don’t know how exactly it was made like that.”
“Well that’s nothing to apologize for,” the unicorn stallion said, “Accidents like that happen. I mean it wasn’t like you caused the branch to fall, right?”
Twilight paused for a moment. The stallion was right that tree branches did fall, and as much as Twilight would love to predict at what time they would fall, she knew that was impossible. The possibility that a branch fell was increased by the storm. Yet there was still a nagging thought that her spell to attract a soul mate had somehow backfired, causing the branch to collapse.
“Um… right,” she finally said, “Anyway, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”
“Nice to meet you, Twilight. I’m Mystic Study,” the stallion said, “but you can just call me Mystic if you want.”
“That’s an interesting name,” Twilight said, “are you an author or librarian?”
Mystic couldn’t help but stare at the pony in front of him. She was beautiful but didn’t seem to flaunt her beauty, preferring to be more subtle. She appeared smart, giving off an aura of being both intelligence and confidence in what she knew. He also felt that there was some deep magic inside her, more powerful than anything he felt.
“Um… Mystic,” Twilight said looking at him awkwardly, “are you ok?”
“Oh,” he said, quickly being snapped back to reality, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you were kind of staring at me,” the mare said shuffling her hooves in nervousness.
“Sorry,” Mystic said, “I guess I kind of spaced out. So, what was your question?”
“I asked if you were a bookseller or a librarian.”
Mystic wondered how she knew that he liked books. At first he thought she was a telepathic pony. He quickly shook off this thought as if she had telepathy as a gift, the unicorn wouldn’t need to give her his name. Then he realized that the bed sheet was pulled aside in one part, exposing his flank and his cutie mark, an open book.
“Oh you mean my cutie mark, right? Well yes, I like books. I’m actually a student. I study them, especially magic. I also write them, or at least am trying to.”
“Wait,” Twilight said as if she was surprised at the question, “you study magic? I do too! I actually have several books in my library at home.”
She then realized that she was getting too excited and quickly toned down.
“Anyway, do you live in Ponyville or are you visiting?”
“Well,” Mystic said, “I guess you can say I live here. I was actually moving here from Canterlot yesterday, before … well, you know what happened.”
“So you said you were from Canterlot,” Twilight said, “What made you move to Ponyville?”
“Well, actually, it’s because of you, Twilight,” lore said candidly.
“Me? Why?”
“Well, I’m kind of Princess Luna’s student.”
Mystic’s words hit Twilight like a ton of books. At first she thought this stallion was just an average pony. But now as he revealed more about himself, there was a deeper level to him.
“So, you’re Princess Luna’s student?”
“Yes, I am. She’s very nice, and she knows so much about magic.”
“And how and when did you become Luna’s student?”
“Well,” Mystic said, “I’m a student at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. One day Luna was checking out the school. She told me she wanted to see how ponies learned magic. I was studying in the library at night and Luna, thinking she would be the only one there so late, went there. Well, you could guess I was surprised to see her. The two of us talked long into the night about magic and studying. Then she left and I thought that was the end, just a passing conversation. But then a few days later I was summoned to the castle. There Luna explained how she wanted me to become her personal student.”
Twilight was surprised. She didn’t think Luna was looking for a student as she was still adjusting to returning to Equestira after a thousand years. But there was no reason to doubt the stallion. He appeared very forthright, never stumbling or appearing like he was being anything but honest.
“So, what does being Luna’s student have to do with me?”
“Well, Luna gave me an assignment to travel to Ponyville and study something called the Elements of Harmony. She said that they are very magical and studying them would be a great insight into magic. She told me to find Twilight Sparkle. I guess I met you now, just in a very different way.”
Twilight was interested in the fact that Luna had Mystic study the Elements of Harmony. It was no wonder though. The Elements were indeed a very powerful magic. Also, since Luna had interacted with the Elements, she knew first hoof their power.
“So, Luna asked you to meet with me then?”
“Actually, Princess Luna mentioned something about her sister requesting that I meet with you. Princess Celestia also apparently told Luna to tell me that I could stay with you.”
Twilight's eyes grew wide. Here was this stallion, a total stranger, who was not only Luna’s student but also now going to be staying at her house. She wondered why she wasn’t told earlier. Maybe Spike didn’t give her the letter in time. Twilight was busy at the spa with Rarity.
“But…” Mystic continued, “I don’t want to intrude, especially if you’re uncomfortable. I know you don’t know me from any other new pony. I Also know how suddent this all seems. I could just stay in the inn.”
“Well… I don’t really know you like I know my friends,” Twilight began, making him wonder if she’d say no, “but you do seem like a nice honest pony. And Luna did request that you stay with me. So…” She paused again. This was it. She was definitely going to say no. It was worth a shot, even if it was a long shot.
“Ok.”
“Ok? As in you’ll let me stay?”
“Yes. I mean you need a place to stay, right? I wouldn’t want to see a pony not have a home. Plus Princess Luna did request you stay with me, and I trust her.”
“Wow. Thanks Twilight!”
“You’re welcome. The doctor said that you’ll be in the hospital for another day or so, but I’ll check back tomorrow. Then when you’re ready, I’ll show you the town and where I live.”
She stopped as if she wanted to say something more. It was like something else was on her mind, but at the time she wasn’t sure how to say it or if she even wanted to say it.
“So… um… ok then. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mystic.”
“Ok. Bye then,” Mystic said as Twilight left the room.
The stallion laid back in his bed, chuckling at how he met Twilight, just not in the way he planned.