There was a great summer day in Ponyville. It was sunny afternoon - the time when most of the ponies were relaxing or having their meals. Colts and fillies have already left school for home, where their parents were waiting for them to hear about today's experiences.
Twilight Sparkle, a lavender alicorn, was having great time reading books outside her new castle. She liked being outside it because it was too hot inside as crystals heated from the sun.
Suddenly a dragon walked outside the castle and headed to Twilight Sparkle, holding a letter in his hands. He quickly made his way to Twilight and greeted her.
"Hello, Twi! Here's a letter for you. It's from Princess Celestia," he said. Twilight grabbed the letter with her magic and opened it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
In a few days I am coming to Ponyville. You, as a new princess, know how stressful being a princess is. I hope you won't mind some company. I need to relax a little, and talk to my favorite student and friend.
And, if you don't mind, ask Zecora to make me a potion which removes headaches. I couldn't contact her directly.
Yours, Celestia
As soon as Twilight finished the reading, she turned to Spike.
"Spike, write the answer," she said and Spike pulled out a blank piece of paper and a quill out of nowhere. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am glad I can help you. I will talk to Zecora is she can make you that potion. And I am also glad you'll come to visit us! Your former student and a friend, Twilight Sparkle. Got it, Spike?"
"Yeah, got it!" he answered, sending the letter to the Princess.
Half an hour later Twilight was at the edge of Everfree Forest. She knew the forest was dangerous, but the path to Zecora's hut was safe enough to travel on yourself without getting into any serious trouble.
She slowly entered it and trotted to the hut. Twilight rarely visited Everfree Forest, so even now it sends shivers down her spine. The Everfree forest is one of the uncontrollable places in Equestria. It is filled with dangerous plants and creatures. Twilight knew it and tried not to walk too far from the main path. No one have heard about anypony getting out of the forest once they've lost.
On a half way through the forest, Twilight heard a groan coming from the bushes on the right. Twilight stopped and looked there. She feared if any of dangerous creatures are going to attack her, so she prepared for worse. Then she heard groaning again and a faint whisper. Now Twilight realised it was a pony. She slowly made her way to bushes and past them. She gasped as she saw a stallion lying there on the grass. He was trying to stand up but without any success. He fell once again, groaned, and stopped moving. Twilight trotted to him to look closely. The stallion was tall but skinny. It seemed he wasn't having any good meals for weeks. Twilight noticed that the stallion was a blank flank unicorn, had a light gray coat and a pitch-black mane and tail. He also had strange legs, but Twilight couldn't find out what are they because it was too dark. She grabbed him with her magic and galloped back to her castle. The stallion was still breathing and Twilight hoped to save him, whatever the cost.
Five minutes later Twilight had the stallion lying on pillows in the throne room. She didn't know how to wake him up. He seemed to lose his conscious because of starvation. Twilight decided to make a magic transfer as nothing else can help a pony who is at the edge of life and death. Twilight brought her horn closer to stallion's one. She gasped, losing her focus when she finally noticed stallion's legs. They were no ordinary legs but mechanical ones. She stared at them for a second then turned back to transferring her magic to the stallion. Purple glow wrapped both horns and pulsed with every time Twilight gave the stallion part of her magical power. It continued for five minutes when suddenly Twilight felt weakness. She fell, breaking the connection, but that was enough - the stallion was waking up.
He sat, groaned, and rubbed his head with his right hoof.
"Oh... Where am I?" he said. He turned around to face Twilight and jumped in place. "Who are you?"
"I am Twilight Sparkle. And who are you? What is your name? Why do you have mechanical legs?"
"Not so many questions at once! My head hurts, damn... Well... There is only one answer to all of your questions. I don't remember. I do not remember how I ended up in that forest... But I am glad you helped me. I owe you my life," the stallion said with a weak smile.
"That is what anypony must do to those who are in trouble," Twilight said. "That is the main rule of friendship - always help those who are in need."
"What is friendship?" the stallion asked. Twilight stared at him, agape.
"You... You don't know what is friendship?" she asked in a surprised voice, lowering her ears.
"No, I don't."
"Well, I guess I have to teach you friendship, then. Do you agree to study it?"
"I agree. I can't remember anything, even the place where I am now. Maybe your lessons will help me remember..." the stallion answered, frowning.
Twilight smiled and told him to follow. The stallion stood up, revealing that he was a head taller than Twilight. His mechanical legs were proportional to his body, so he semed to be as tall as he would be with natural legs.
The two slowly made their way through the castle while Twilight was talking about it and Equestria in general. She told him about Ponyville, Canterlot and the Everfree Forest. The stallion listened carefully, trying not to miss any bit of information he could receive.
They made their way upstairs to see a long corridor full of different doors.
The two stopped at the nearest big crystal door. Twilight opened it to reveal a big room. It had another door, much smaller and painted white. The room itself had a big bed made of crystal, a wooden table with a chair of same material near the large window, an exit to the balcony, and a big fireplace. The floor of the room was covered with blue soft carpet.
"Well, it is the guest room. I think you can live here because you have nowhere else to go. And I think you shouldn't go outside. I don't think anypony will be welcome to somepony who looks... Strange. No offense."
"None taken," the stallion smiled and nodded. "Thanks for welcoming, Twilight Sparkle. See you tomorrow, then. I need to sleep a little, I think." the stallion yawned and rubbed his eyes. "It seems I hadn't had a good sleep in quite a while."
"Get yourself comfortable, mister. See you tomorrow!" Twilight said and went to her own bedroom, which was near the guest room.
She felt herself tired as well. She never did anything like magic transfer, so now she needs some rest.
Her bedroom was larger than the guest room. It had a big bed, bookshelves with lots of books on the right wall, a painting of her and her friends, a big window and a big table nearby with inkwells, paper, and quills. There was also a fireplace, much bigger than one in the guest room. There was a door to Spike's room. The door was opened, but the dragon wasn't inside. It was about 16 o'clock, so he was somewhere in Ponyville, perhaps with Rarity.
Twilight decided to take a shower first. She was all sweaty, so lying in the bed in such condition won't be good. The alicorn walked to another door and opened it, revealing a big bathroom. It had a big round bath, a shower cabin and a toilet. Twilight went inside shower cabin and turned the shower on. The water ran, washing away sweat and dirt. Twilight liked showering because it made her feel refreshed. She grabbed a shampoo with her magic and brought it to her. She poured some of it on her mane and began to rub it in her mane with her hooves. Then she washed it all away. She turned the shower off and took her towel and dried herself.
Twilight yawned, went back to her room and jumped on her bed. She closed the curtains with her magic, making the room much darker.
She was thinking about the stallion she saved. He looked familiar, but she didn't know where she could have seen anypony like him. Slowly she drifted to a quite, peaceful dream.
Next Morning
The stallion woke up early in the morning. He yawned and stretched and got up from his bed. He decided to take a shower and went to a small white door. Behind it he saw a small bath, a shower cabin and a toilet. The stallion slowly walked into the cabin and turned on the shower. He was thinking about himself - he couldn't remember who is he or where is he. Sure he remembered events of the previous day, but he felt like he missed something. That lavender alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, seemed familiar to him. He has certainly seen somepony like her, but he couldn't remember.
With a warm water, he washed away bad thoughts and dirt which covered his body. Did it matter much to the stallion that he couldn't remember anything? Not so much. He was thinking about new knowledge. Maybe it was good that he had amnesia? He didn't know.
Finishing his showering, he dried himself with a towel and went back to his room. He found a certain pony in there.
"Oh, hi," Twilight said, turning to the stallion with a plate of food. "I've brought some food if you want to eat. There are some hay fries, a chamomile sandwich, and a fresh glass of apple juice. I'd like to talk to you after you finish eating if you don't mind."
"No, I don't mind at all. Thank you for the meal. I think I am a little hungry," the stallion said, grabbing the plate with his magic. Twilight looked at his glowing horn with a surprised look. She was about to say something, but it didn't come. She decided to wait until the stallion finished eating.
Five minutes later the stallion ate everything Twilight gave him.
"Thank you, it is really delicious," he said, smiling.
"Don't mention it," the alicorn replied with a slight blush. She never though anypony would like her cooking. "Now, can you talk?"
"Sure, why not? I am ready," the stallion said with a smile.
"Well, your horn's glow is strange. It is bright red. I haven't seen anypony with so many differences in appearance than you. Usually, unicorn's glow's color matches their coat's or mane's ones. In your case, it's not."
"Is it really red?" the stallion said in a surprised voice. He grabbed a pillow with his magic and looked at his horn. The glow was indeed bright red. "Wow..."
"I don't know how it is scientifically possible. I should really take a note about this..." Twilight said, rubbing her chin with her right hoof. "Well, to the next question. You remind me of somepony, but I don't know who. Any ideas?"
"Well, you are familiar to me as well," the stallion answered. "But I can't remember. Can you please list most important pony's names?"
"Yes. Well, there are not so many ponies to talk about. Do names 'Celestia' and 'Luna' seem familiar to you?"
"All I know is that they are Royal Sisters. Princess of the Sun and Princes of the Night. Who's next?"
"Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Puddinghead?"
"Nothing."
"Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra?"
"First name tells me nothing, but the second one... It seems familiar. Can you remind me who is 'King Sombra' you're talking about?"
"He was the previous ruler of Crystal Empire. Enslaver, I must say. The only true evil pony I know."
"Hm... I think we should stop here. Can you please give me books about King Sombra?"
"Why not? You can always borrow one from the Royal Library in Canterlot or from my own personal library here. It's in my bedroom."
"Thank you. Now, can you introduce me to your friends?" the stallion asked.
"I... I don't know. I don't think it is a good idea to introduce you now... No offense!"
"None taken, " the stallion answered seriously. "I fully understand why you don't want to introduce me right now. But I will be glad if you do."
An hour later a meeting was held in Twilight's Castle's throne room. Everypony was gathered there, including the stallion.
"So, here's the stallion I found in the woods. He can't remember anything about himself, so don't ask him. Do anypony here know him?" Twilight asked. Everypony else replied with a "No".
"Howdy stallion," Applejack said. "How should we call ya? Don't ya have a name?"
"I don't," the stallion replied, frowning. "However, you can call me Morn, I think."
"How could you come up with such a bad name?" Rarity asked. Everyone but the stallion looked at her.
"It's okay, everypony. I don't know any standards for names, so it's perhaps bad. I've heard of name 'Morn' somewhere, so I think it would fit me."
"Okay... Now, do anypony else have questions?" Twilight asked. Everypony shook their heads. "Well, I think the meeting is over. Morn, come with me."
"...so, why did you decided to have such a name? I haven't heard of anypony having such a short name. To me, it sounds very... Different. Does it have a meaning I don't know?" Twilight asked with a raised brow.
"It doesn't have any meanings. I don't know how I came up with the name. Any better ideas?"
"Well... I don't know. Sorry, but you're... Gray. And a blank flank. Sorry, I can't think of a name which would fit you and not be offensive."
"It's okay. You don't have to be sorry," Morn replied with a smile. "I'm not the pony who can be offended by the truth."
"I'm glad to hear that," Twilight said, answering the smile. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Well, can you tell me more about Ponyville and it's ponies?"
"Sure! Ponyville is the plays where all kinds of ponies live together. You can find earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. Now even an alicorn," Twilight laughed a little. "Everypony is welcome in Ponyville. Only that matters is if you can be a good friend. And I don't even know why am I the Princess of Friendship when we have Pinkie Pie! Oh, she is the friendliest pony I've ever seen! I don't know anypony who's not a friend of Pinkie!" Twilight smiled. "There isn't much about Ponyville besides it's ponies to talk about, though."
"Thank you for telling me," Morn smiled. "Now I know I'm in good hooves. Can you please lend me Equestria's Book of History? I would like to study it. I don't think there's anypony who doesn't know it's country's history."
"Well, in fact, I am the only one who studied it pretty hard. You can find this book in my library. Good luck in studying!" Twilight said and Morn went to her bedroom to look for the book. He found it under "E" section of the library and went back to his room to read it.