//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Awakening // Story: Heart Of Darkness // by Fanskapet //------------------------------// "Uh unh?" Twilight mumbled, slowly opening her burning eyes, looking around the dark room she was in, blinking a bit as she looked over at the only source of light, a single candle on a desk on the far side of the room, with what looked like a dark hooded figure hunched over the desk. "N-nuuh?" "Hmm?" The figure turned around after hearing her mumbling. "Ah so you finally decided to wake up, I was beggining to wonder if you would ever wake up." The figure wheezed as he got down from his chair and walked over to her. "Whuahuhhh?" She tried to ask who this stallion was and what he was doing here, but it only came out like some throaty gasp, grabbing her throat in pain as she tried to sit up. "Ssshh don`t try to talk, it will only hurt, just answer with a nod or a shake of the head, understood?" The unknown stallion said, putting a hoof against her chest and gently pushing her back into the bed. "Mhm." Twilight mumbled in response, closing her eyes again as she laid her head back against the soft pillow. "Does your chest hurt?" He asked, levitating a quill and a red book with golden trim around the edges in front of him. Now that he mention it, my chest feels like it is burning Twilight thought, giving him a small nod, before she grimaced in pain as she felt a bolt of pain in her chest. "That is good, does it hurt somewhere else?" He asked, putting his right hoof in front of his mouth to stiffle a series of violent coughs. "Apologies." He wheezed before writing something down. Thirsty so thirsty, throat feels so dry Twilight nodded, motioning a hoof towards her throat and sticking out her tongue. "Ah, the dry throat and thirst, do not worry I will take care of that." The stranger smiled as he watched where she was pointing. "Now do you remember anything?" He continued, stroking her mane. Where am I? Who is he? Twilight thought, shaking her head in an atempt to clear it, wincing in pain from the movement, giving him a shake of her head before sighing a bit as she tried to discern the stallions features, hoping anything about him would help with her memories, while trying her best to ignore the uneasy feeling of a stranger stroking her mane. "Hmm that... was unexpected, well no mind that, it will be alright, everything will be alright eventually." The stallion coughed a few times as he wrote something down. "Well just lay down and I will bring something for you to drink, then I will try and explain as much as I can." He said, putting a hoof on her forehead stroking a few strands of her mane from her face, coughing and walking out of the room, levitating the red book after him. Do I know him? maybe he is an uncle? he cares for me so he must be someone i know. She thought looking at the stranger as he walked out of the door, before putting a hoof to her chest as a another bolt of pain went through it. Unh is-is that stitches? She pulled away the blankett to look down on her chest, seeing what looked like a crude atempt to stitch her up. Did I have an operation? is that why it hurts so much? Why is it sticky? am I bleeding through? She prodded the stitches on her chest again, taking a look around in the darkness trying to find a light source, spotting the small candle on the desk. "Unh....hhhh...ngh." She grunted, as she slowly squirmed and crawled closer to get a better look on the stitches. Come on just a bit more, I can almost yes. She thought, as she managed to reach the end of the bed, closest she could to the lone candle to see her chest, gasping in surprise as she saw it, a big vertical scar going from the top of her ribs down to the lower part of her ribs, narrowing her eyes as she saw what looked like an old hoofboot lace had been used to stitch her up. "Did I not tell you to lay down and wait?" She heard from behind her, causing her wings to fold out in surprise, her big leathery wings. "Uuwaah? *cough* "w-what?" she croaked, dragging her hoof over the leathery wings, amazed that she hadn't noticed she had those before, or that she had wings at all. "Please let me help you lay back down." The stallion said putting down a chalice he had been levitating next to him on the floor, walking around the big bed and gently putting his hooves on her back and chest, gently helping her back towards the pillows. "There there stay calm, please try and tuck your wings to your sides again." "W-what? w-wha-*cough* why *cough*" She tried to talk only to break down in dry coughing, taking a few deep breaths as she laid her head down on the pillow. "Ssh ssh sssh, here drink this and I will answer any questions you have." He stroked the side of her face, levitating the chalice from the floor and towards her lips, smiling to himself as she greedily drank it all. "T-thanks, that was delicious." She coughed a bit as she licked her lips, a bit surprised it suddenly felt so much better. "See, I told you everything would soon be better." He coughed, pulling up the covers over her and grabbing the now empty chalice with his magic and putting it down on the nightstand. "What was that drink?" She asked, licking her lips again. "Wolf blood."