//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9: ...From a Different Point of View 
// Story: Born to Light 
// by Mailbox_of_d00m 
//------------------------------//



Once I regained consciousness, a nearly unbearable pain engulfed my body, strongest in my back and right foreleg.  My mind was hazy; I had trouble remembering what exactly had happened.  The train crash seemed to be all that I could remember.  I opened my eyes and took a good look at my surroundings.  To my dismay, I learned of my location: a small clearing in the middle of a forest.  Probably the forest I could see below the hill of which the train had been traveling on.  Darkness seemed to ooze from the gaps in between the trees; the clearing was the only place I could see that had not been conquered by the pitch-black shadows.  I wondered what had happened to the other ponies on the train, what had happened to Twilight...Twilight!!  What happened to her??  My mind was made up: I needed to find Twilight.  If I have ever learned anything from Mane Effect 3, it would be that friends...er...acquaintances (or whatever Twilight and I were) always had to stick together – chances of survival in a strange land with a possible hostile presence are little to none.

Upon entering the pitch-black forest, I knew it would be difficult finding Twilight if she was still unconscious (assuming she was unconscious to begin with).  I thought of shouting for her, but that would probably have caused more harm than good – I seem to have the ability to amplify my voice to...unnecessary levels.  I probably picked that up after sinking 113 hours into The Elder Ponies V.  (That was a joke, of course.)  After walking for what felt like an eternity, I came across the wreckage of what I was almost positive was the exact train car Twilight and I had been riding in.  Twilight had to be nearby.

I remembered that each train car had an emergency flashlight mounted on the wall.  I searched the wreckage and was lucky enough to come across one, still intact.  It may not have been Twilight, but it sure made my search a heck of a lot easier.  I ventured further into the forest.  The flashlight was an older model, incapable of producing much light, but it was at least a start.  Suddenly, I felt a warm, wet substance trickle down my forehead.  I dabbed my hoof at the source to find that I was bleeding.  Apparently, I had suffered an open wound to the forehead, but I hadn't noticed it amidst the pain in the rest of the body.  Celestia must have been watching over me, however, for I finally found Twilight.

She was unconscious, lying on her back, uncomfortably wedged in between two rocks, one on each of her sides.  Light bruises could be seen on her legs, and scars decorated her stomach and most likely her back as well.  Most noticeable was a large gash across her left cheek.  She suffered more than I had; if only it could have been the other way around.

Considering we were both injured, I figured that I should take her to look for some first aid, or if that didn't happen, get her the heck out of the forest and to a hospital.  I gently lifted her out of the stone prison, allowing her to rest on my back.  Her own weight combined with the pain I was already suffering did a number on my back, but I pulled through in the end.

Probably fifteen minutes later, I discovered a lone cabin situated by a river.  It was powered by a waterwheel, but the lights were out, so I assumed that no one was inside.  Still, I checked the area for first aid.  The door was not locked, surprisingly.  I stepped inside and flipped on the lights, but i soon wished I hadn't.  The body of somepony I didn't recognize had been stashed in the corner, an axe wound in between its eyes.  Following the first bad omen came another: a scream off in the distance, followed by a cloud of shadows speeding by outside, very similar to the event on the train.

I knew I could no longer wait for Twilight to come to on her own.  I set her down as gently as I had lifted her, and as quickly as I could, I grabbed a bucket, bolted out of the cabin, filled the bucket with water from the river, ran back inside, and dowsed Twilight with it.  She awoke almost immediately.