Canterlot general was always known to be one of the best in all of Equestria. Its reputation was easily credited to its professional staff, large comfortable rooms, amazing results, and of course, the food. The response time was also something that one can’t complain about. It was some time in the afternoon when he blacked out. He was rather lucky that his longtime friend, Maple, was there to request aid. Rain Leaf couldn’t recall any details of the incident but from what he heard, it wasn’t pretty. The toxin worked its way through his body quickly. If help had arrived any later he might not be in the situation he is now. He was thankful for that. How could he have made such a mistake? He always did all the research he could before consuming a wild specimen. No, it wasn’t his fault. Maple told him to do it. That is why she pledged to pay for the majority of his bill. It was a rather nice gesture. They should have known that anything from the Everfree could be dangerous; being professionals and all. Well, Maple was a professional. Rain Leaf might as well consider himself a student still. He wouldn’t be where he was now if Maple hadn’t been there to start him off. What a position he was in now. His hospital bill had been split between his uncle and Maple, something he appreciated greatly. Still, being bed bound for a week wasn’t something he had planned for. There was so much to do. He was supposed to fetch cardinal flowers for the Manehatten Aviary, desert star seeds for Dodge Junction, and Everfree bloodroot for the Fillydelphia Botanical Garden. Instead he was lying in a rather comfy hospital room with nothing to do. The mare in the cot next to him was one of the most peculiar ponies he had seen. She was a traveler as well, or as she put it “an adventurer”. Despite their different interests, the mare was a pleasure to talk to. She was a little overbearing at times but she did brighten up things with her stories. The first two days were rather dull. His sister and his uncle visited him on both days. He greatly appreciated the fact that they took the time out of their days to check on him. There still wasn’t a sign of mom or pop but that wasn’t much of a surprise to him. Aside from that, the only entertainment he got was from his conversations with Pathfinder and those only took up a small part of the day. The mare would often lose herself into her own activities leaving him with nothing to do. He wasn’t quite sure who this Daring Do character was, only that the mare seemed to have an odd obsession with the stories. From what he gathered, the main character was an adventurer that would undertake a perilous journey to retrieve some artifact. It seemed rather bland to him but it did give him an idea. He decided to request some books from his uncle. Anything new would be fine for him. He hoped that his uncle’s bookstore had gotten some copies of Dr. Evergreen’s latest report. It was supposed to be something good this time around. He asked Pathfinder if she wanted anything but she declined stating that she had everything she needed right there with her. Sleeping was the one thing that he didn’t have any trouble with. The medication they gave him at night made him feel incredibly relaxed; a nice change from the muscle cramps he had during the day from the toxin. His roommate performed the strangest ritual each night before she went to sleep. He heard her recite some small part of a story on both nights. It wasn’t very long and she would usually finish with an excited squeal. The mare surely didn’t notice that it woke him up. He didn’t want to be rude so he pretended to be asleep until the mare finished before going back to sleep. Rain Leaf received his package around the mid-afternoon after an uneventful morning. The box was larger than he expected. An elegantly typed letter from his uncle wished him well and listed the books inside. One title caught his attention and he opened the box with excitement without reading over the other titles. He inhaled deeply and enjoyed the wonderful smell of new books. None of them even appeared to have been opened. He pulled them out one at a time, gently setting the books on the nightstand next to him until he came upon the book he was looking for, Dr. Evergreen’s Report on the Iris of Immortality. The title intrigued him. He had heard of the flower but he had never actually seen one. They were supposed to be incredibly rare. The legend behind them was one of his favorites. Rain Leaf opened the book to the table of contents before he noticed something. One last book still sat at the bottom of the box. He set his book down and pulled the other one out of the box. It was a Daring Do book. He couldn’t tell if it was a new release or not but the smell indicated that it was freshly printed. The mare on the cover instantly caught his attention. He immediately looked at the mare in the other bed next to him. Both she and the mare on the cover were nearly identical in appearance. Just who exactly was the mare in the room with him? He did his best to shrug it off. “Hey, Pathfinder. My uncle dropped a Daring Do book into my box. Not sure if it is new or not. You interested?”