The moon, constantly watching, didn't really do anything different. Its path would take a long time to complete, so there was no rush for it. The breeze suddenly picked up a bit however, resuming its course. It didn't look like any real information was going to be forthcoming as of yet. The grass busied itself in growing, almost spitefully, as it seemed to attempt to overcome, very slowly, the cloth and marble fragments that had blocked its sunshine for a portion of the now gone day. This would be a long process, but eventually it would succeed, if only because some fillies would clear the debris sometime in the future as a punishment for acting out in class. Nonetheless, the grass, if it could really think for itself, would have been proud of its supposed might.
Fortunately for the stallion, there really was no one else there, at least for the moment. As it was, he seemed quite certain that the predicament he was in wasn't a preferable one. Following the use of what really was the worst explicative in his vocabulary, the scowl was replaced by a grim set face of determination. He stood up, glancing around once again to determine a bit more from his immediate surroundings. The breeze ruffled his mane as it passed by, as if promising to be back for some more information later. While there was nothing much near him, there was a faint glow off to his left. He squinted his eyes to decide what it meant, and he realized that it was the lights of a nearby town, though he did not yet know that it was Ponyville. Very few lights were on at all right now, with most ponies having turned in for the night. However, it was just enough to catch his notice.
Knowing that he needed to get moving soon, he arose from his position on the ground and started to hobble towards the town only to suddenly stop. It seemed that the journey over to this spot had not been very kind to his body. He appeared to be in pretty bad shape. He took stock of himself from head to tail, examining the extent of his injuries. They were fairly serious as he had to have been smashed through at least one wall (probably with a curtain or tapestry on it) to have brought the debris with him. He sighed heavily. “I won’t get anywhere fast like this” he muttered to himself. If you could see the in the dark, you would have then seen his irises grow both inwards and outwards until his eyes were entirely blue. The cuts and bruises all across his body acquired a faint green glow and vanished. Any observer would have been quite shocked to notice that throughout this process there was a distinct lack of magical glow from his horn. Once he healed himself, the strange unicorn’s eyes returned to normal.
Once again he looked down at his hooves. Then he glanced over the rest of his body. Though it was now in fine shape, he was dissatisfied. A thought seemed to pass across his determined face that said, “I'll stand out in the darkness with my coat and mane.” He looked towards his crash site and saw the remains of the royal curtains. “This ought to do it” he muttered again. The stallion returned to where he had fallen and picked through the objects that had accompanied him to this place. His horn took on a grayish-blue glow. The longest, most intact piece of cloth was also enveloped in the glow and levitated into the air. Magically floating it over to himself, he tied a couple of strands of thread around his neck, making the cloth into a hooded cape that, while unsightly to look at, was at least quite a bit darker than his fur.
Now much more prepared to venture away, he left the site and trotted briskly towards the town. It was now much darker than when he had awoken, though the moon continued to shed its own faint light across the ground. As he entered the town he noticed that there were very few lights on in any of the buildings, but he could tell that there were definitely ponies in most of the homes. He looked around as he passed through what must have been the market. None of the stalls were open. Also, to his disappointment, none of them had any food lying around either. They really had tidied up for the night.
Besides this, he doubted that anypony would be willing to share their food with a complete stranger in the middle of the night. What he needed was a house with food and nopony home. He went from building to building listening at doors and windows finding at the very least quiet breathing coming from each of them. He had always had very good hearing. Eventually he came upon one building with no sounds coming from it. It was a rather large tree that seemed to have been hollowed out yet was still alive. He jiggled the door handle a little to see if it would give. Unfortunately for him, there was no such luck in store right there. He glanced around the tree a bit and found that there were several branches that could provide a way up to one of the windows. It seemed that the locked door was only there to dissuade the most casual of burglars from entering. Hopping up several of the branches carefully, the male unicorn made his way to the unlatched window. Pulling it open, he glanced inside.
It was definitely darker in there than outside. The already faint moonlight made very little difference inside. He could only see a little into the room, and found that there was a ledge of some sort next to the window. He stepped onto it and quietly pulled the window shut again. Risking a little light from his horn, the stallion looked around the room again. It seemed that he was in a large room full of books. In fact, he was on top of a bookcase. This might make things difficult. He didn’t see any way to get down easily. This was a very tall bookcase. Examining the other bookcases in the room he discovered that there was in fact a ladder leaning up against one of them. It seemed to be of the sort designed specifically for getting books down from any point. It even had wheels for sliding sideways along a book shelf. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the room. Sighing, he magically pulled it over and latched it onto the top shelf of the bookcase he was on.
Slowly he clambered down the book ladder to the floor, maintaining his light so he could watch his footing. He looked around some more, ignoring the books. Suddenly there was a noise that permeated the whole room, but it was only his stomach. He hadn’t eaten in over half a day by this point, so he was fairly hungry. Scanning the wall, he spotted a doorway leading into what must be the kitchen. He walked across to it, avoiding a few obstacles such as a chair and a table with a bust of somepony on it. Opening the pantry door he found some vegetables and a stale muffin to eat. Bringing them floating over to the kitchen table, he made a quick meal of them. There wasn’t a whole lot else besides a small bucket of apples. Whoever lived here likely had been planning on doing some shopping when they returned from wherever they were. He ate those as well to top off his appetite. They were quite a bit better than what he was used to.
Now full, he evaluated his situation again. He was in a kitchen of somepony who loved books, but wasn’t home at the moment. He had just eaten all their food, so hopefully they wouldn’t be returning right away. It was night, so there was no chance of getting assimilated into the town as a newcomer right now. He needed a place to rest for the night, but he definitely couldn’t risk using any of the beds here in case they arrived home before he woke up. He needed to find a secluded place, and this building was as good as any other for at least being indoors.
He wandered around the main floor a little bit more until he finally discovered an entrance to the basement. Clopping down the stairs he found himself in a room filled with equipment of all sorts. It seemed that they were being stored down here. They were all turned off and covered with thin sheets to keep the dust away though. He weaved in between them until he reached the back corner of the room. Grabbing a couple of sheets from nearby apparatuses, he made himself a makeshift bed to lie down on for the rest of the night. Maybe he’d be able to figure out some more about his situation in the morning. He just hoped he’d be able to get out before the owners returned.