//------------------------------// // Chapter 11, Past Events, Part 2 // Story: A New Dawn // by Crimson Twilight //------------------------------// It was a sunny day in Ponyville. The Pegasi were keeping the sky clear, not leaving a cloud left behind. Ponies were walking down the streets doing everyday stuff, from walking down the street with a friend, gossiping, browsing through the market, buying groceries and other miscellaneous things. But not Twilight and her friends. No, they were at the hospital. The lobby was a simple room, the walls were wooden, painted cyan with the bottom part lime green and ornaments in swamp green. The floor was a checkered pattern consisted of sandy brown and sepia. There were a few couches, all lime green colored, although the cheap material, they were in pristine condition. Five ponies and a dragon walked in, finding an unkempt, purple Alicorn with a nerve breaking smile, twitching within random intervals. The two Pegasi, Earth Ponies, the Unicorn, and the Dragon shared worried looks before Applejack spoke up. "Twi, can ya tell us why ya had us come to the hospital again, ya know I have a lot to do on the farm? Ah can't be here all the time, ya know. None of us can, and that includes you too, Sugarcube. Don't ya have things of yer own?" Applejack said with concern seeping through her irritation. "Yeah, Twi. You've been really distant lately. I know, you're worried about Comet, we all are, but you've been here, like, all the time! Seriously, we're worried 'bout ya, Twi!" Rainbow wasn't even trying to mask her concern for her purple friend. She might not be as awesome as herself, but she was still one of her best friends. She was the one that had introduced her to the awesomeness that is Daring Do. She might be an egghead that Rainbow only understood half the time, but she was her egghead. "Come on, egghead, you seriously need to relax a bit and think 'bout other things then what happened to Comet. It's really getting into your head!" "I must say that I agree with Rainbow. Darling, I know you're worried about him, so are we, but you're taking it too far. We're all terribly sorry about what happened, but you're completely unreachable and we're getting worried about your health. Maybe you should get yourself checked up, darling?" Rarity put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, but she quickly brushed it off. "I called you here because I have good news! –" Twilight's green eyes sparkled in a crazed manner unnerving the others, but before she could continue, Pinkie Pie, being oblivious or simply not noticing, interrupted her, bouncing in joy. "Oh, oh, you got a new book on magic! Or, or maybe, a cool, new magical gadget! Or maybe, maybe a–" "Pinkie!" Twilight stomped a hoof at the white tiled floor receiving surprised looks from her friends before she continued, "No, none of those. No, the reason I called is because Comet's waking up!" The patient room was simple and had the same ornaments, colors and whatnot's, with the additions of the patients' beds being the only major difference. This specific room was in the area where they treated more serious injuries, head injuries for example. "So doest thee know what happened to us?" Comet asked the nurse, who had previously as Nurse Redheart. "I'm sorry, I don't know the details of what happened, all I know is that you hit your head which caused minor head damage, and amnesia. You seem to have been in a lot of stress, too, at the time you hit your head. We believe that the stress could be one factor as to why you lost your memories, but alone it shouldn't have caused that kind of damage, though, to be fair, we have only ever known about three, well, four since Twilight became a princess, Alicorns so we don't know much about their physiology. You're also the first known male Alicorn. The magical scans show that you are, indeed, an Alicorn, and not a Pegacorn. Amnesia is relatively short-lasting, so you should get them back sooner rather than later. In extremely rare cases, the amnesia is permanent, but as I said, that is extremely rare. Things from the past should help to recover your lost memories. Friends, loved ones, things you considered important and sometimes recent events, that kind of stuff." Redheart replied in a stoic voice before breaking a kind smile. "Uhh, I think I got that... By the way, what's the difference between an Alicorn and a Pegacorn, since you mentioned that thou wast uncertain which I was?" Comet said, still trying to work out all the things that the nurse had told him. "Well, just by look at a Pegacorn and an Alicorn, you wouldn't see the difference, but usually an Alicorn is stronger than a Pegacorn. Alicorns are also extremely rare, you being the fifth known one, some doctors think that if ever a Pegacorn and an Earth Pony were to have a foal, the foal might become an Alicorn, but this has never happened because, one, it would have to be more or less an Earth Pony with little to no genes that come from both Pegasi and Unicorns, two, hybrids only seem to be created during some very special magical conditions, what these conditions are, nopony really knows, three, remember when I said that hybrids on are created during specific conditions, well, that goes for Pegacorns, too. In Equestria, there are only one hundred or so Pegacorns. The chances that a foal is born as an Alicorn are so small that it is a miracle that there exist even five! Though, both Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight were not born as Alicorns, but underwent metamorphosis, and we can't know about your case as we've yet to be able to determine which have undergone metamorphosis and who hasn't, though that can be because, first, there isn't really a need for it, and secondly, there were only four known Alicorns previously, so noticing genetic differences are about as impossible as to understand Pinkie." Redheart continued to ramble on about genetics until the door opened, revealing Twilight and her friends. "Well, it was very interesting to talk to thee, but doest thee not have other patients to take care of?" Comet said, trying to get Redheart to stop talking about genetics and how foals were made. It wasn't a subject that he was very comfortable talking about or listening to for that matter. He was also trying, in vain, to hide his embarrassment from the others in the room. "Oh! Yeah, you're probably right! I'll leave you eight alone." She said before exiting the room, leaving him with his 'friends', to which he had no memory of. "So–" He started, "Since I barely remember anything, how about we all introduce ourselves if you wouldn't mind? I remember some things about myself like name and such." "Well, I think that's a great idea, Comet." Fluttershy said, the others nodding in agreement and giving a murmur of approval, "I could start, that is, if you don't mind." With no objections, she continued."Um, my name's Fluttershy and I take care of the animals that live here." Puffing her chest in pride, Rainbow went ahead and continued. "Name's Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria! I'm also part of the Wonderbolts, well, the reserves, but still!" And also the most modest, too. He thought, while Applejack simply rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh, uh, by the way, what is a 'Wonderbolt'?" Comet said, not fully believing the 'fastest flier in Equestria thing'. "How do you NOT know that a Wonderb– Oh, right. Sorry. They are THE best fliers in Equestria, they do the coolest of tricks and they're also one of Equestria's air forces, the elite of the elite!" She puffed her chest to make a point, which did not go unnoticed by Comet. Still being skeptical to the 'fastest flier' thing, he replied. "So, you're the fastest flier in 'Equestria', and yet you're just in the reserves... Why, if you don't mind me asking, is that so? Shouldn't the fastest flier be something more akin a major or captain?" Rainbow froze the grin on her face all but dissipating. She landed on the floor and shuffled a bit before she came up with a reply, this one not as confident as the previous ones. "Well, uh, you don't just become a captain when you enter, it takes more than just, uh, flying skills... like- strategy! Yeah, and time. I'm still pretty new." Satisfied with the answer, Comet replied. "Well, seems reasonable enough, though I would like to see you prove the 'fastest flier' thing when I get out that is. Rainbow took to the sky again, all the while replying. "Oh yeah, I'll show you! I once cleared the sky in ten seconds flat! Right, Twilight?" Everypony turned to Twilight for confirmation. Shuffling her hooves at being center of attention, she answered. "Well, she did, in fact, do it. I didn't believe her when she said it, so she proved it right in front of me." An hour or so later, they had all Introduced themselves and talked about their lives, and so on. A nurse had come and told that visiting hours were over. she had also told that, if nothing else came up, Comet would be able to leave soon. The mares and Dragon said their goodbye's and left, leaving Comet to himself. "Ugh, I should have asked the nurse for some reading material, something!" Comet tossed around, as he had done the last fifty minutes. He continued tossing in the bed, but soon he heard a knock on the door. "Yes?" he asked simply, perhaps a bit too excited. After some murmuring behind the door, somepony asked back. "Are you 'Gary'?" The voice was somewhat raspy but definitely male A Tad confused at the question, he still answered. "...Yes?" The door opened, revealing a brown stallion. His eyes were bluish, perhaps cerulean. Everything about him screamed ordinary. That is, if you didn't focus on him. "Captain Trail, lieutenant Shadow Strike, at your service!" Green fire traced the stallion's body, leaving behind black chitin, translucent wings, a fang-filled mouth and solid cerulean orbs for eyes with almost no apparent iris. Something about him was familiar to Comet, like something you see every day. "The Queen wishes to see you."