Gentle Nights

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1

>Be me, experiencing the first overwhelming moments of existence.
>The air is cold and humid.
>The ground is wet and sticky.
>My hooves ache as though I’ve been walking for miles.
>I have no recollection of walking at all.
>Everything hurts...
>I open my eyes and try to figure out where I am.
>Something tells me gnarly trees hanging around me with no leaves and ragged bark is a bad sign.
>I struggle to my sore hooves, and pant for breath. 
>My muscles shake with effort, like they can’t hold my body weight.
>I nearly slip on the muddy ground, but I hold myself steady by spreading my wings.
>I call instinctively upon my magic, and the area around me illuminates with light purple light.
>I am an alicorn, and something tells me that’s not... good? Somehow.
>I tuck my wings to my sides and steadily walk through the clearing. There’s no lights asides from my horn.
>The sky is overcast, there is no moon and no stars to guide me.
>I am alone. So very alone...
>I pick a direction and walk, hoping that it’ll be towards civilization... Others like me.
>It isn’t long before I see a distant warm light.
>I use a burst of speed to gallop towards the lights, but I slip after only a few hoofbeats.
>I land on the mud and cry out as I land on a wing awkwardly.
>Gods, I hope I didn’t just break it!
>I hiss with pain and begin to cry pitifully. 
>Something told me I shouldn’t cry.
>I cry for a while, before a strange creaking sound perks my ears.
>”Hello?”
>A soft voice calls out, and I rasp wearily,
Here... Help...
>I sniffle and rest my head on a hoof as the warm light brightens.
>A butter yellow pegasus mare with a luxurious long pink mane and tail emerges, and she gasps at the sight of me.
>My gut feeling regarding being an alicorn turned out to be correct, but the other pony does not run.
>The pegasus walks up to me shyly and looks at my injured wing.
>”Oh, you poor filly! Can you stand?”
>Filly? Am I a filly to her? Something deep within me wants to berate and shout over such a name, but I don’t want to! She seems to nice!
“M-Maybe...”
>I try to stand to my hooves, and mostly succeed. 
>She talks, but I don’t quite listen. She asks for a name, but I cannot bring myself to speak.
>My injured wing hangs limply off of my side and brushes along the mud as she escorts me into her quaint cottage.
>It’s... so warm. My eyes feel heavy as she grabs a towel and begins to dry my dark periwinkle mane.
>I lay upon her couch at her signal, closing my eyes slowly over the course of minutes. 
>By time she’s beginning to set my wing, I lose consciousness entirely...

2

>Waking up this time is much more comfortable.
>I open my eyes to see a cottage interior bathed in warm morning light.
>I yawn and shift, feeling my damaged wing bound up in a makeshift cast.
>So I had broken it after all...
>I sit up and look around from my position on the couch.
>The cottage is full of decorations befitting a modest lifestyle.
>This house belongs to somepony who loves animals, judging by the occupied indoor bird houses, buckets of animal feed and a lone white rabbit glaring at me.
“Uh-”
>The white rabbit sneers and hops away, kicking up a small amount of rug dust in my direction as he leaves.
>Confused, I try a hoof onto the floor. It doesn’t hurt as badly as it had the night before.
>I stand up fully and look around the cottage for my savior.
>It doesn’t take my nose long to realize where the mare is. The pleasing scent of batter cooking leads me to the kitchen.
>I clear my throat and speak. My voice is still husky and deep, but it has a youthful ring to it.
>Something about the youthful part takes me aback.
>I... wasn’t supposed to be this way, right?
“Hello...?”
>”Oh! You’re awake!”
>The pegasus mare seems overjoyed, and flips a pancake onto a plate before she approaches me gingerly.
>”Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m okay, thanks...”
>She sighs with relief and smiles shyly.
>”My name is Fluttershy... I found you outside of my cottage last night...”
“Th-Thanks for the save, Fluttershy.”
>”My pleasure... Um, I made breakfast. You should sit down and eat...”
>I nod and look to the small dining table. 
>I take a seat and get comfortable as she brings me a plate of pancakes, complete with berries, syrup and whipped cream.
>I don’t realize how hungry I am until I ravenously bite into the first forkful of food.
>After a few more bites, Fluttershy speaks softly.
>”Do you know who you are? Maybe you can give me, um, a name, now that you’re rested?” 
>Oh crap! A name? I draw up a blank on that.
“...I don’t... have one.”
>Fluttershy squeaks and gasps sadly. I flinch.
>”You poor thing... Do you remember anything at all?”
>I try my best, but nothing comes to mind from before waking up in the strange forest.
“N...No”
>”Okay... Um...” 
>Fluttershy seems to think hard for a minute as I continue to eat my food. 
>It isn’t until I am nearly finished that she speaks again.
>”Well, um... You need a name, at least... Let me think...”
>I shrug and poke at the last of my food, a slight ball twisting in my stomach.
>I feel wrong. Like... like I shouldn’t be here, somehow.
>Like I... Something terrible must have happened, for me to forget everything from before...
>I feel tears welling in my eyes, and before I know it, they’re falling.
>Fluttershy seems to notice.
>”Oh dear... It’s alright, you’re going to be okay! Here-”
>She walks over and hoofs me a clean tissue. I dab my eyes with it and sniffle pathetically.
“I’m sorry...”
>Fluttershy pulls me into a tight hug, and I nearly break again. Why was she being so nice...?
>It’s a long while before she lets go and we resume eating our breakfast... I still feel wrong, but like a weight had been lifted.
>When we finally finish is when Fluttershy speaks again.
>”Does Asra sound... nice?” 
“Asra...?”
>”It... means somepony who travels at night... I think it’s fitting...”
>I feel a smile tug at my muzzle, and I nod fervently.
“It’s perfect.”

---

>Fluttershy was many things, but she wasn’t stupid.
>The appearance was uncanny.
>Only the rounded pupils, fluffy dark periwinkle mane, and awkward proportions of a pubescent filly were throwing her off of being a true queen of the night...
>Asides from some similarities, however... The teen filly hardly acted like Nightmare Moon.
>She was at a loss, especially when the doppelganger began to cry. Truly cry!
>Fluttershy’s kind heart broke for the confused young filly.
>So she decided as she held the poor thing in her hooves that she would do everything she could to get to the bottom of things.