A defender's quest for...

by Archibad

Chapter 1 - A New World

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He suddenly opened his eyes and sat upright on the bed. He was covered in sweat and his head felt like it was being stabbed by a spear. His heart was racing, and with every beat of it, his headache got even worse. He lifted one of his arms to his forehead to see if he could ease the pain by rubbing it a little bit, but instead of his bare skin, he felt something soft. It was wrapped around his head, covering the spot where he felt the sharp pain coming from.

All of a sudden, his focus shifted from the pain to why his head was injured in the first place. He tried to recall what had happened to him, that might have caused his injury, but he just couldn't.

He took a deep breath, held it in for a few moments, and then breathed it out. His heart's beating slowed down a little, enabling him to think more clearly. He concentrated on trying to recollect what had happened to him.

"What the hell?" he froze down. He grabbed his head with both of his hands, desperately attempting to force himself to remember anything. His home, his family, and friends, or even just his own name. He knew that he should have a name, or that he must have parents, because who had brought him to life, if not his mother? But he could not remember anything.

He winced in pain. His panicking made his headache much worse. The pain started to wander around in his head, agonizing him from multiple directions. His own foolishness made him even angrier, "Focus, you retard!" He slapped himself. Now his cheeks were aching too, "Great, I'm an idiot," he said with despair in his voice.

He shifted his attention to his surroundings to distract himself before his misery consumed him. His bed was situated in a corner. There were two windows in the room, one in the center of the wall to the right of him, and one on the opposite wall, in the same position. Through the windows, he saw that it was a pitch-black night outside. There was a door right across the bed in the corner.

Unable to observe more, due to the dark, he closed his eyes and listened to the silence, hoping that it would calm him down. However, he then heard voices coming from the door. They were so faint, he could not make out what they were talking about. He wanted to move closer to the door, but there was one small problem with that plan.

He had to get out of the bed first.

It seemed absurd to him. Why getting out of the bed would be so complicated? And still, despite his reasoning, something told him to be at least cautious about it.

He lifted the blanket off of his body, then adjusted his linen shirt and pants to protect him better against the cold of the room. He placed both of his legs down on the wooden floor and slowly stood up. Slightly proud of himself, he confidently took the first step towards the door and fell down face first.

He mumbled a few curse words, then got on all fours. He went to the door, and with his left hand, he started to search for the handle. When he found it, he heard the voices again.

"But why? Why did you have to bring that thing in here in the first place?" she sounded angry.

"It would have died if I left it there in the snow!" he answered in a louder tone.

"Who knows, maybe it likes cold weather?"

"It doesn't have that much fur, it wore armor and clothing too. I don't know about you, but to me, that means it does not like the cold."

"What are they talking about?" he scratched his chin in thought, "Wait, what am I doing?" he said to himself, "I shouldn't eavesdrop on people," he opened the door. It creaked on its hinges and the couple stopped talking to each other. Wooden stairs awaited him on the other side. It was flanked by walls on both sides, and a few frames were hanged on them, although he couldn't see the paintings inside them. Downstairs, he saw the light of a candle and strangely shaped shadows on the floor. The couple started to whisper to one another, while he started to descend, still on all fours.

A dining room was at the bottom, with a table, which had a basket full of fruits and a candle in the middle of it and four chairs around it. There were two strange, horse-like creatures sitting in a weird position on the chairs. One of them had teal colored fur, a short, yellow mane, and blue eyes. He also wore glasses and a light brown professor suit. The other one had a purple fur, a short, tattered, dark purple mane with streaks of red-violet and green eyes. It also had a pair of wings on its back. Both of them were looking at him. He opened his mouth to call out for the couple when one of the horses spoke up.

"I knew it was four-legged," said the winged one with a hoof pointed at the human.

"But it has hands..." saddened, the male got off of his chair and tried to go to the next room, but he was interrupted.

"What? You are the couple that I heard arguing?" A bit shocked at what he just realized, he frantically switched his attention between the two horses.

"We are not a couple!" Shouted the female one.

"You can talk?" said the male, surprised.

"I could ask the same questi-"

"That is splendid!" He quickly ran over to him and started to circle him. "Tell me, why don't you have fur, or why are your eyes so small, or what you eat, or where you come from, or the family and social structure of your kind, or at least tell me why you walk on four legs if you have two hands!" The male horse was shaking with excitement.

The human was caught off guard by the storm of questions, "Calm down, I will try to give you answers," he put his hand on the shoulder of the male, then looked towards the table, "but first, can I have a seat?"

"Of course!" The male one gestured towards the table with his hoof, "Please, suit yourself."

"You brought this thing in here, and now you offer him a seat at the table?!" She said while staring down her housemate. Meanwhile, the human placed both of his hands on the table and lifted himself onto the chair.

"You know, despite her saying that you two are just housemates, she really acts like your wife," he said to the male while glancing at the winged one with a huge grin on his face. The winged one just sat silently and tried to kill the human with her stare.

"Don't make fun of her, she can be easily angered," he mentioned, while still smiling on the joke. Her response was to look at both of them with her death stare. "Anyway," he turned back to the human, "We didn't even introduce ourselves. My name is Sturdy Fossil, and she is Hardened Lilly," when he finished he looked towards the human.

"Nice to meet you Sturdy and Hardened, but I-"

"It's Lilly," interrupted Lilly.

"Pardon me," said the human to Lilly genuinely "but unfortunately I can't introduce myself properly."

"What, you forgot your name?" asked Lilly mockingly.

"That is correct," responded the human, "in fact, I'm unable to recall anything prior to me waking up in here," the human watched them intently, waiting for their response. Lilly immediately regretted what she just said to the human and wanted to apologize, but then she remembered the human's joke and instead remained silent.

Sturdy scratched his head with one hoof, wondering, "Are there any more symptoms?" he approached him slowly.

"Yes, I can't stand on two legs or else I fall down," he tried to show them what he meant, but Sturdy motioned him to stay.

"Do you have a headache?" Sturdy put his two front hooves on the chair and stood up to look the human in the eye.

"Yes, I have that too, and it's painful," Sturdy got off the chair after briefly examining the human's pupils.

"Well, the good news is that you only have a mild concussion. The bad news is that you have a concussion," said Sturdy to the human, then turned to Lilly with a smirk on his face, "and I believe you owe me some bits."

Lilly changed her remorseful look to a furious one. She got off her chair and walked to the door right behind her. She went into the other room and searched for something. A bit later she came back with a small bag. She threw it at Sturdy, then sat down on the same chair she stood up from. Sturdy casually caught the bag in mid-air with one hoof, before it could hit him in the face, then opened it. Satisfied with the content of the pouch, he closed it, grabbed it with his mouth and placed it on his back.

"What was that all about?" the human looked at them, confused.

"Just a bet," Sturdy turned around to look the human in the eye, "however, we have to give you a name, since you have amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Sturdy puzzled him with the word. Not because he didn't know the meaning of it, but because he knew. It felt strange to him, like the time he got out of the bed. Something told him what the word meant, rather than just knowing what it meant.

"Yes, amnesia, when you can't-"

"I know what it means," the human interrupted Sturdy before he could start the explanation. For a moment he thought about how to explain this feeling to them. Then instead decided to change the subject back, "Anyway, I have to come up with a name for myself..."

"Well, you don't have to," said Sturdy, "we can call you by something else, like 'Two-legged' or-"

"Idiot, Baldy, Monster, Freak," Lilly listed the names with a bored expression on her face while leaning on the table with one hoof. She suddenly perked up with fake excitement, "OH, Dumbface would be very fitting!"

"Thank you Lilly, but I think I'll pass," replied the human while imitating Lilly's fake excitement. He then switched to a more serious expression and started thinking about a name for himself. Again, he heard a soft voice in his mind, telling him, or rather calling him David, "David would be a great temporary name."

"Are you sure, David?" asked Sturdy happily.

"Yes, I'm quite sure," answered David with a smile.

"Wait, what's the time?" Lilly looked at the clock on the wall. The gears slowly turned in her head. She jumped out of the chair and rushed into the other room, "I'm late!"

"Is it half-past five already?" Sturdy peeked at the clock to confirm his fear, "horse apples, I'm sorry!" he shouted to Lilly.

"No, it's alright, at least you are not the one being late from her work because of somepony else, again," she sounded mad at Sturdy.

"From where is she late?" inquired David.

"From my workplace," she came back to the kitchen, now wearing a suit of light armor on herself, "Sturdy, help me strap these on!"

"Okay, just don't shout," he placed the pouch on the table, then went over to Lilly to assist her in strapping the armor on. Both of them worked fast and they seemed to be proficient in it too.

"Why do you need the armor?"

"I work as a Royal Guard. My shift starts at five o'clock, but I am required to show up half an hour before that for inspection," she said, not looking up from her armor. Sturdy opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it instead.

"Here, you're done," said Sturdy and realized something, "we didn't prepare you anything to eat!"

"I know," she walked over to the table and grabbed the pouch, "that's why I'm taking this," she put the pouch under her wing and looked at David with her death stare, "and you. If you try anything while I'm gone, I'll bury you alive," and with that, she stormed out of the house.

"Good luck!" Sturdy shouted after Lilly, although she did not hear it. His mood changed from happy and cheerful to gloomy. "That was well deserved on my part," Sturdy stared at the spot where the pouch had been on the table. He wanted to buy a carrot cake, his favorite, with the money.

David just sat in silence for the whole time, watching the two of them with slight amusement, and with a bit of shock, as Lilly had threatened him for reasons he did not understand. Although, his mind swiftly moved on and started pondering about the marks that he had seen on their flanks while they were busy. Sturdy had a fossil and Lilly had, what else, a lily made out of stone as her mark. He wanted to ask about these marks, and Lilly when Sturdy spoke up.

"Never mind, are you hungry David?" he asked while heading for another door to the left of David.

David was surprised at how easily Sturdy got himself over the whole ordeal, "Just a little bit," they must have been housemates for a very long time.

"We have some scrambled eggs and a daisy sandwich left from the breakfast, which one would you like?"

"The scrambled eggs, please," he said without delay. He doubted that he would be able to eat something as absurd as a flower sandwich.

Sturdy came back with a plate full of scrambled eggs from, what David assumed to be the kitchen, "Here you go, I hope you like it," he put the plate in front of him, with the fork already on it. David thanked him, then started to eat.

"My god, this is fantastic," he said with his mouth full, forgetting any decency that he knew and only paying his attention to the deliciousness of his breakfast.

"I'm happy that you think that," Sturdy took an apple from the basket, and sat down on the chair to the left of David, "I wish Lilly would like it at least half as much as you," David gave him a questioning look, "Long story, I don't want to bore you with it."

"We don't really have anything else to talk about anyway," he said, this time remembering to swallow before it, then saw Sturdy's saddened expression and changed the subject to something else, "Or, if you really don't want to talk about it, then could you tell me why do you have a symbol on yourself?"

"A symbol?" he took a bite from the apple and pondered on what David said, "Oh, you mean my cutie mark?" he said while pointing at his flank.

"Yes, that mark. I saw one on Lilly as well. Do they have a meaning or importance?"

"Of course they do," Sturdy went into full explanation mode. He sat right up, placed down the apple on the table, looked David in his eyes with a serious expression and waved around his hoofs in a futile attempt to illustrate what he was saying, "The cutie mark serves a huge role in a pony's life. Usually at a young age, when somepony finds out what his or her talent is, a mark will appear magically on their flanks. It means that they found the profession that they excel at, and if they follow that one profession their life is almost guaranteed to be a happy one, and they have a high chance to make it far in their career," he said the last part with a bit of bitterness in his voice, although his expression did not change with it.

"And the marks differ from pony to pony?" he asked, not hiding his interest in the topic.

"Yes, as Ponilson 'cutie mark' Beetle once said, 'Every cutie mark was a masterpiece of design, and no one design was ever repeated.' you can believe him, too, he studied cutie marks for nearly forty years."

"If he was interested in studying cutie marks, then why was he called Beetle?" Lilly and Sturdy had names corresponding to their cutie marks, so he thought that ponies were named according to them, or in other words, their talents.

"He was originally an entomologist, but quickly found some parallels between the uniqueness of the patterns on the beetles' elytrons and ponies' cutie marks, so he started researching cutie marks and their designs instead," David only looked at Sturdy with a stunned expression. It was difficult to understand what he said, even with that voice softly speaking to him all the while.

Seeing David's reaction, Sturdy swiftly moved on with their conversation, "It's not important right now," he waved his hoof dismissively, "Now, we must deal with your concussion before it gets worse," he stood up from his chair and went to the kitchen again, "How much do you weigh, if you don't mind me asking?" he inquired loudly from the other room.

David shook his head, as if he was trying to break free from a hypnosis, "I don't know," he looked over himself. He didn't seem to be too muscular, although it might be because he had some fat on his body as well. He flexed his belly and poked it to confirm this idea, "but if I had to guess I might be twelve or thirteen stones heavy."

"...In kilograms, if possible?"

Again, he felt that strange feeling, "Around eighty."

"That's better," Sturdy spent a few more moments in the kitchen, then returned with two pills balanced on his snout and a cup of water in his right hoof, "I hope you won't get an allergic reaction to this," he placed down the cup and the pills in front of David, next to his now empty plate.

David looked at the pills for a moment, then back to Sturdy, "What are these?"

"They are painkillers, for your headache."

This seemed ridiculous to him, why would these stop his headache? "And what do I do with them?"

"Just put them in your mouth, drink some water and swallow them," Sturdy felt uncomfortable for having to explain something so obvious to David but tried to smile at him nonetheless.

"If you say so," he grabbed the pills, put them in his mouth and then drank all the water from the cup. He didn't even feel the pills going down his throat.

"Your headache should be gone in about an hour," Sturdy grabbed the plate with his mouth and the cup with one hoof and brought them back into the kitchen. After he placed both of them down and came back to the dining room, he continued, "Mild concussion is easy to treat, you only have to rest a lot and your body takes care of it. However, amnesia is much harder to cure," he grabbed the candle from the middle of the table, turned towards the other door, where Lilly had left not too long ago, and walked towards it.

David sat confused in the chair. At first, he was uncertain if Sturdy wanted him to follow or not, but the disappearance of the light from the dining room instantly persuaded him into going after his host. He tried to walk on two legs, but he still needed to place a hand on the wall to help him balance himself out. When he neared him, he heard him speaking to himself quietly, "...is it safe to... maybe if I..." Sturdy abruptly stopped in the middle of the room, as if he just realized something, and turned around with his full body, "David-" the sight of the human quickly cut him off, "oh, never mind then."

David inspected the room a bit. Right across him, there was a door with a small window on it. Through it, he could only see darkness. To the left of the door stood a hanger, with a brown hat still hanged on it. To the right of the door, there was an empty armor stand shaped like a small horse.

Sturdy went to another door directly to the left. As he opened it with one hoof he looked at David, who was facing away from him, inspecting the armor stand from closer, "Are you coming?" he asked with the candle holder still in his mouth. David whipped his head around. He saw Sturdy as he started to descend into the basement and quickly followed him.

Both of them were silent while descending on the stairs. Sturdy had second thoughts about bringing the human down here but realized that there was no turning back now. Meanwhile, David was trying his hardest not to fall down the stairs by putting both of his hands on the cold stone wall of the room. He started to wonder about why was Sturdy leading him down into the house's basement.

A dark room awaited them at the bottom. Sturdy went around the room and started to lit up candles on the walls. With more light, David could finally see what the room contained. There were a few old looking wooden tables in the middle, with all kinds of items on top of them. These included a set of armor, a longsword, a bludgeon mace, a shield, two bags of supplies, some linen clothes and a thick blue book with 'Holy Chronicles' written on it in golden color.

"These are your things, presumably. We found them on you or next to you in the snow," said Sturdy, looking at the longsword cautiously.

"Thank you that you showed me this, but I'm unsure if they really belong to me."

"Of course, this was to be expected, but I hope they will help you remember at least."

David let go of the wall and tried to stand on his own two legs. After some practice, and only touching the wall six times to prevent himself from planting his face into the ground, he figured it out how to stand upright again. He cautiously took his first step next to the wall, hovering his hand near it in case he lost his balance. He took a glance at Sturdy, who was only observing him, close enough to move in to help if needed, yet still far enough to give David some space. He turned his attention back to his walking practice. He figured out, that with his legs straddled, he could walk and stand with much more ease. He then went to the tables at a slow pace.

Sturdy patiently waited for him. He did not have any important task to attend to this day anyway, not to mention that David's slow movements were actually calming for him, giving him more time to react if... Sturdy facehoofed, realizing how idiotic he was. From under his hoof, he peeked at David, who had arrived next to one of the tables.

Meanwhile, David grabbed the table with one hand and began to look at everything in detail. With his other hand, he touched the weapons and knocked on the armor. He lifted the chest plate up to his eyes to inspect it a bit more thoroughly. It was a simple, metal chest plate, with a small dent in the middle of it. He placed it back after no memories came back to him by it and diverted his attention to the book.

He placed his hand on it, reading the title once again, then opened it to the first page. It read 'The Holy Chronicles, contains stories about the great lord, Zoh. Through these stories, one can learn about the great lord's wisdom, power, and teachings.'

The old man in the fine, red silk robe finished reading from the book and closed it, turned it around in his hands so that the cover would face David. He reached over the chapel with a slight glimmer in his eyes, "Here, young boy. Take it and read it many times. Let Zoh's wisdom form you into the perfect defender," said the old man, as he offered the book to David.

He excitedly grabbed the book, thanked the old man many times, and ran out of the church, while cheerfully shouting, "I got it! I finally got it! I can be a defender!" After he stepped outside a tall, muscular man dressed in light brown linen clothing called out for him by his name. His voice was deep, coarse and yet calming for him. He did not see his face, but happily answered his call, "Dad, I got it!"

"Dad, I got it!" His right hand gripped the book, the left one just formed into a fist as he raised them into the air and shook them in excitement, while he watched his dad, or rather the place where he saw his dad. In his place, there was only the dark cobblestone wall of the basement. Realizing that all of this was just an illusion, he placed the book back on the table and turned to Sturdy.

Sturdy was observing David intently while he acted out his memory, making notes in his mind about the things that he shouted seemingly to the wall. When he turned around, he saw the mixture of embarrassment and excitement on his face as he spoke, "Don't tell anybody that I freaked out, please," Sturdy pretended to think about it for a few moments, before answering.

"I won't if you tell me what got you so excited," said Sturdy, this time he remembered that he left a notepad and a quill on one of the tables from when he was inspecting David's belongings, so he opened it and started vigorously writing what David was telling him.

The human smiled then nodded, "Okay, firstly," he tried to recreate what he remembered, "I saw an old man, I couldn't make out his face. He was behind this chapel, on it there were golden plates, a chalice, and golden candle holders, with lit candles inside them. He was reading the first page of the book to me. After he finished, he advised me to study a lot from it, then gave it to me," He went to the other side of the table, picked up the book from it, then turned around and started jogging in place," after that I thanked him and ran out of the Church to show what I got to my dad."

"Fascinating. Do you know what being a 'defender' means?"

"No, I don't, but I am sure I wanted to become one."

"And do you understand the language the book is written in?" Sturdy asked again, not even looking up from the notepad this time.

"Yes," David was bewildered by his question, "my memory came back from reading the book."

"I know," he hastily wrote down the last word that was in his mind and looked up, "and I'm sorry if I ask stupid questions," he pointed with one hoof to his head, "but I'm a scientist, I have to be thorough," he said in a bitter tone.

"Oh, I did not mean to insult you, " he was concerned that he had said something that was considered disrespectful by Sturdy.

"No, it's not you. It's about the academics," he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Just thinking about the amount of paperwork he would have to do in order for them to even consider reading his research paper gave him a headache," but I digress," he placed his glasses back on his snout, grabbed the quill in his mouth and went back to writing, "So, are you sure these are yours?" he gestured towards the tables with one hoof.

"Yes, quite sure," David let go of the subject, he did not want to pressure Sturdy into talking. He instead placed back the book, went to another table and lifted up the mace by its handle. Sturdy physically tensed up for a moment by his action, then relaxed, seeing that David did not want to charge him with it and carried on with the note-taking. David admired the shiny black color of the bludgeon, then instinctively threw it in the air, spun it and caught it in midair. Sturdy wrote a page full of his notes and flipped it over to continue writing, "Although I am still surprised that your plan actually worked."

Sturdy spat out the quill, "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"I am not saying that it was stupid, only that I would have never thought it could work. Bringing back my memories by showing me familiar objects sounded..." he waved his hand a circular pattern as if trying to bring up the word he was searching for from his stomach, "absurd to me?"

"In other words, you found it stupid," Sturdy corrected David jokingly.

"Yes, I did not want to say it out loud, but you caught me," David intentionally played the role of an adult caught lying poorly. Sturdy just smiled slightly at his answer and moved on with the topic.

"And why didn't you think it would work?"

"I have no idea," he scratched his head with the tip of the mace. It was not the strange voice telling him this either, it came from his gut, "Although it didn't work the way you said it would," Sturdy perked up from the notebook and hardly noticeably raised an eyebrow, "If seeing something familiar should restore my memories that include that something, and we also assume that these items on the table are all mine, then I should have gained back more of my memories, not just one," he placed the mace back to its place on the table and lifted up the helmet instead.

"I never said that it would definitely bring back them, only that I hoped it would," he put the notepad on his back with the quill and moved closer to David, "You just need more time, or maybe you should just rest some more to let your brain heal itself from the injury," he wasn't a doctor and even he knew that modern physicians have a hard time curing amnesia, even the unicorns too.

David put the mace down and lifted up the helmet and inspected it, hoping that something would come back to him about it, even if it was the smallest, most insignificant memory that he could ever think of, it would have still made him much happier about his situation. He awed at the shiny, reflective gray surface of it, then intensively concentrated on it. He even closed his eyes and imagined it, not just a more simplistic version of it, but a detailed one. He saw every flaw, dent, and scratch on it as he rotated it around in his mind, but alas, nothing. He put it back on the table, feeling somewhat heartbroken, knowing that he had a life, either a good one or a bad one, but he still had one, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember any of it.

"Do not worry, David," said Sturdy in a cheerful manner, " give it some more time, there has never been a reported case of a permanent amnesia from a concussion before," his words did lift David's mood up and his posture showed it too, "Although I have no idea if it is true to your kind too," and hope left David, again. Sturdy saw the effect of his words on David and regretted that he even said anything, "but don't worry, everything will work out in the end. The book will certainly help a great deal in bringing back your lost memories," Sturdy tried to cheer him up, but he was not in a great mood either, "and after you're cured and I am done with my research about you, I might get some recognition for my work at last," While saying this last part he had to force himself to smile.

"Sounds like somebody is on your bad side," curiosity could be seen in David's eyes, although he didn't let it show in his body language.

"If by somebody you mean the whole academia, then you are correct," Sturdy stomped the ground with his hind left hoof, bitterness seeping into his voice, "those snob unicorns."

David contemplated what Sturdy said for a moment. He looked back at the items on the table, then back to Sturdy. The pony murmured to himself so quietly David could not hear it, even though he was standing right beside him.

David finally connected the dots in his mind, "Wait, so you want to get recognition by researching me?" he looked at Sturdy.

"Yes, researching you and your kind and publishing it to the world might be enough for those unicorns to acknowledge my work too," he was vigorous. He had been waiting for a moment where he could show those snobs that he was just as intelligent and adroit as any other unicorn in the fields of science, "but there is a problem, I am a paleontologist," his body collapsed a little bit as he said that, then turned his head up towards David's, "and this is why I must ask you to help me do my research. I am only good at analyzing fossils, not living creatures," he sat down and put his two front hooves together. He looked at David with the best puppy eyes that he could muster, begging for David to agree.

David just laughed lightly at Sturdy's act, "So you only need a bit of help from me?"

"Yes, and you will get some credit for it too, not to mention that as of right now, you are the only one of your species that we know of, so you will be in the middle of the scientific community's attention," he stood up and ran in one place like a filly with a huge smile on his face.

"I still need to repay you and Lilly for your kindness, and I don't have anything else to do anyway. However, I still can't remember a thing, so I won't be much of a help," he debated the issue with himself loudly, while stroking his chin.

"That doesn't matter," cut in Sturdy quickly, "you will remember your past eventually. We have no reason to rush with the research and teaching the academics a lesson can wait," he finished while rubbing his hooves together and smiling wickedly. Just the thought of the academics finally admitting that they were wrong lifted Sturdy's mood.

David just rolled his eyes and lightheartedly laughed at Sturdy's antics, "The sooner the better, right?" He petted Sturdy on his head to get him out of this state.

"Absolutely," he turned his head around to search for his notepad and saw it on the ground next to himself. He stood up to pick it and the quill up, but he noticed that David's hand still rested on top of his head. David was staring at the wall, his mind wandering elsewhere, "Do you mind?" Sturdy asked in a polite manner and shook his head, but the hand remained. After realizing that he zoned out, David blinked a few times and removed his hand from Sturdy's head.

"Sorry, did not mean to."

"No problem, no harm was done," he picked up the notepad and the quill with his mouth, placed both of them into his hoof and went through his notes, making sure he did not leave anything out, or that he can even read his own hoofwriting.

David continued to stare at the wall, deeply wondering about his future again. If what Sturdy said about him being the only one of his kind that they know of was true, then he must be far away from his home. Of course, he had no idea what or where his home was. Not to mention his family and friends. He hoped that they didn't worry too much about him. He promised to himself that he would look for ways to inform them about his situation as soon as possible.

"Okay, I still have loads of questions, but let's not focus on that," Sturdy dropped his notepad and quill on the table. The noise made by them woke David up from his absent-mindedness, "So the next best thing I could think of is sleeping before your condition gets even worse," he announced proudly, turned to David and waited for him to head towards the stairs. After a few moments of silently staring at each other, and seeing that David only raised an eyebrow in confusion, he started explaining, "Your brain needs sleep in order to heal," he expected David to nod or to just go upstairs without saying anything more, but he still hadn't moved. When Sturdy opened his mouth to give the explanation of his explanation, hoping that it would finally get his message across, David cut him off.

"We already had breakfast," he said in a neutral voice.

"And why would that matter?" Sturdy was puzzled by his simple and seemingly random answer.

"Only lazy people go to bed after they had their breakfast."

Sturdy was utterly confused by this, having no idea where and how he got this idea, then it hit him, "Oh right, this might be forbidden from where you came from," he picked up a candle holder with a lit candle inside it, strode to the stairs and quickly looked back to David, "but don't worry, you need as much extra sleep as you can get, if you want your memories back sooner rather than later," he put his front hoofs on the first steps of the stairs, gesturing with his head upward to David, "So come on, let's not waste any more time."

David wondered about what he should do. On one hand, he did not want to seem like a good-for-nothing man. On the other hand, he did not want to seem like a stubborn, rude man either by refusing to do what his host was telling him, "You sure this is a good idea?" he asked cautiously.

"Completely," said Sturdy in a cheerful manner, putting stress on every syllable of the word.

"Then I shall rest some more," he finally gave in and started walking back up to the hall with Sturdy in front, leading him back to his room. He still needed to support himself with one hand, although his dizziness was not as awful as when he woke up, not to mention his headache had fully gone away thanks to those painkillers.

When they arrived, David was ashamed of himself. He did not even make his bed after getting out of it. Granted, it was not his top priority at the time, but still, "Okay, I will leave this here on the nightstand, in case you will need it," Sturdy put the candle holder on an old, dark brown desk near the door. The room was filled with similar looking furniture. A few bookshelves in the right corner filled with books of all kinds of color, next to them some sofas and a torn, light red carpet between all of this. The wooden floor had many scratch marks, especially in the other right corner, where the tables might have been placed before they were moved down to the basement. The windows had curtains with the similar color to that of the carpet. Except for these things, the room was empty, indicating that it was never used a lot.

"I can't thank you enough for all of this," mentioned David with gratitude, "if it weren't for you and Lilly, I would have frozen to death."

"Don't even mention it, this was the right thing to do," Sturdy waved towards David dismissively, "Everypony in their right mind would have done the same thing. Not to mention that you will have plenty of opportunities to show us how grateful you are," he winked at David, who rolled his eyes in amusement, "Anyway, I'll let you sleep now. Goodnight and/or good morning," he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him with one sweep of his tail.

And David found himself in the dark again, alone. Only this time he had a candle, providing enough light for him to see the outlines of the room. He lifted up the blanket, the smile still on his face, and laid down on the bed. He tucked himself in and fell asleep in an instant. The candles were still burning, their light fighting against the darkness to keep the human illuminated, the same way the voice fought in his dreams to retrieve his lost memories.

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I, *** , ******* *** to **** ******** *** *** *** ponies *** ********** **, to **** **** ****** **** *** ****** **** I **** ********* **** **** *** ***** ***********.

Author's Note:

Huge thanks to xXDagedXx for proofreading this story, and of course to you too, dear reader, for reading it. You can also leave some feedback in the comments, I would gladly read them.

Have a nice day/evening!