Prologue
Awakening
Where...Am I?
That’s the question I find on my mind. Where am I? I sit up to look around, and find it more difficult than anything else. The sheer act of standing on my hooves feels like more work than anything else I’ve ever done. Wait...What am I? That question shoots through my head quickly. I have hooves, so I must be some kind of horse, right? I bring a hoof up to my face, and yes, it seems that I’m a horse. One with a red coat, in fact. Have I always been a horse? Or was I something else before? Can one spontaneously change species? It seems like I would remember whether or not I was a horse.
There’s another question on the list. Why can’t I remember anything? I feel like I was doing something important, but when I try to remember, I keep on drawing a blank. What happened? Do I even have a name? I...I do, but...Oh no. I can’t remember my name. This is bad. Very bad. Something important was happening, and I needed to go...somewhere...dammit, why can’t I remember anything?!
I look around, trying to get a bearing on my surroundings. There’s trees and grass, everywhere. Am I in some kind of forest? It’s a clearing. Was I supposed to come here? I take a step forward, and immediately collapse. That’s funny. I know I learned how to walk, that’s something that sticks with you, even through amnesia. I still can, and it feels natural, but it just seems more...difficult. I struggle to get back up, and focus on moving. “Alright...whoever you are.” I tell myself. “You can do this...just take it slow.”
I slowly bring one hoof up, and put it in front of me. Once I’m sure of my hoofing, I bring the back hoof up on the opposite side, and put it down forward of it’s position. Soon enough, I’m slowly walking around the clearing. I have to will myself to stay awake, however. Something’s telling me to go to sleep. That everything will be alright. That I don’t have to do anything.
No.
I refuse to listen to that voice. I was doing something important! I...don’t quite remember what it was, but if I don’t get it done, then so many lives will be lost! Oh, Celestia! Why can’t I remember anything?! It’s so upsetting! I just wanna kick something! My legs buck back, and the air behind me feels the full force of my feeble buck. I wanna cry, but there’s no point to it. I know I can’t remember anything, but that’s not important right now. I need to ignore what I can’t control, and think only on what I can. I shake my head to clear it, and return my focus.
I know I’m in a clearing, I know I’m in a forest. What was I doing here? Perhaps an inspection of my surroundings would reveal something to that effect. I start walking around, looking down on the ground. I stop, discovering several sets of hoofprints. I put my own in them. Some of the hooves are bigger than mine, which means there was somepony else here. And judging by the pattern the hooves are in, it looked like there was some sort of tussle. Did I get in a fight with somepony?
“Mr. Stallion?!” A sweet voice calls from the darkness. I turn my head in the direction of the voice. Whoever the owner of that lovely voice was, she was looking for somepony, possibly me.
“I’m over here!” I call back.
“Mr. Stallion?! Where are you?!” The mare called again. As I watch, a pink Earth Pony appears from the rustling bush. Her fuschia mane curls and bounces in every direction as she moves from the bush. Her sparkling blue eyes scream that she’s in a panic. Whoever this pony is, she’s clearly worried for somepony. I see her look at me, and I wave a hoof.
Her expression doesn’t change, as she looks around the clearing. I cock my head towards her. “There’s nopony else here except me.” I tell her. She ignores me, looking all over the clearing.
“Mr. Stal~lion!” She calls, almost frantically. I see tears begin to well up in her eyes, as she starts to shiver. “This isn’t funny! Come on out!” She cries.
“Hey, I’m right here! I’m not that unnoticeable, am I?” I ask her, trying to grab her shoulder. But my hoof touches nothing, and I fall right through her. What the hay?! I take another look at myself in shock. I seem to be a red stallion with a brown, curly tail. I probably have a similar mane. I seem normal, I feel normal. But I just phased through her. Why can’t she hear me? Why can’t I touch her?
I see her rub her eye, as she begins sniffling. “Where is he? He said he’d be here...” She mumbles to herself.
“I am here.” I try to tell her. But it seems like she can’t even hear me. I watch her, as she lays down on the ground, silently weeping to herself. I groan in frustration, as I walk over to a tree. I don’t understand. How can I tell her I’m right here if I can’t get her attention? Those are my thoughts as I lean against the tree. After all, I can’t touch her, she can’t hear me, and apparently, I’m supposed to be here. After all, who else would she be meeting in this Celestia-forsaken place?
Wait. Am I leaning on a tree? I look back, lo and behold, I am. I may not be able to touch her, but maybe, just maybe, I can touch trees? I reach up to the branch above me, and shake it. When I do, I hear a small gasp. “Mr. Stallion?” She asked. I pump my hoof back. Yes! She heard it. I wiggle the branch again, and I can see the look of relief on her face. “Oh thank goodness!” She calls, in a delightfully cheery tone as she trots over. “I thought I was all alone. I thought maybe something had...” She blinked as she realized I wasn’t there. She could see right through me. “Mr. Stallion?” She asked, rubbing one of her eyes.
I watched the pink mare as she looked around the tree. Of course, she wouldn’t find me, of that I was certain. I had her attention, but now I needed to let her know that I was here.
As I pondered my next move, I heard a deep gasp. I looked over at the mare, and saw her hooves covering her mouth. “No...Nonononono...” She took off at a gallop, heading directly to a small area outside the clearing. I was quick to follow her. What we both discovered left me in shock.
There was a small patch of grass next to the clearing, and in it was a dead stallion wearing the armor of a guard. His coat and mane matched mine to a tee.
Chapter One
The Martyr
Is...Is that me? I’m...dead.
Well, I suppose that makes sense...Wait, no it doesn’t! If I’m dead, then how am I still moving around?! Of course it does explain why this mare can’t see or hear me, and it also explains why I can’t touch her. But why don’t I remember dying?! What’s going on?! Why am I dead?!
…
Why am I dead?
I think that’s the million bit question right now. I need to figure out why I died. I look over at the mare beside me, who has a frightened look on her face. The poor dear’s so scared right now, if I made any attempt to communicate with her, it’d probably only traumatize her more. Not that I’m not traumatized myself. I mean, I just discovered that I died.
It looks pretty recent, too. My death, I mean. I had to have died within the last hour. My body hasn’t even started to decay, yet. And judging by my armor, I was probably a royal guard of high ranking. Only officers get to have custom colored armor. My armor is a slightly brighter shade of red than my coat. And looking at that horn, I was a unicorn. So, I am...was...a unicorn officer in the royal guard, and I was doing something really important, and then...I died.
This all seems very suspicious to me. I’m doing something important, and then I die? I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I bend down to take a closer look at my corpse. Heh. Wow. I never thought anypony would ever have to do that. Or at least, I don’t think I ever thought that. This is actually getting kinda confusing, now that I think about it. I’m sure nopony has ever had to do an autopsy on their own body before. Much less without being able to touch it.
“Oh, Celestia...M-Mr. Stallion...” I hear the mare mutter behind me, as she begins weeping. I feel bad for her. She just lost somepony she knew. I don’t know how well she knew me, being that there’s no way my last name is simply “Stallion.” I wanted to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright. And it aggravates me to no end, knowing that I can’t. I sigh, trying to gather my thoughts. I’m sorry for the pink mare, I really am, but I just can’t concentrate with the sounds of her weeping in the background. I need to move away. So, carefully, I make my way back to the clearing so as not to disturb her.
I need time to focus. I take a few deep breaths as I sit in the clearing. I don’t need to breathe anymore, being that I’m apparently a...no, I’m not gonna say it. But still, the feeling of a breath sliding down into my lungs before exiting back out is a welcome one. A thought occurs to me. If I’m a unicorn, can I still use magic? I begin trying to concentrate on a spell, when suddenly, it hits me. I don’t know any spells. It seems that amnesia made me forget how to use magic. Even if I could, I’d have to relearn the spells that I’ve learned over the years. I know for a fact that I knew magic when I was...not in this situation. I have scattered fragments of memories, some of which I specifically remember trying to learn spells as a foal, trying to learn them as if my life depended on it.
Well, who knows if I did learn them? If I tried to relearn them, I’m sure I wouldn’t be nearly as motivated. My life is already gone, no matter how much I don’t want to admit it. I’m dead. I’m dead and gone. Dammit. Dammit! Why did I have to die?! I swear, when I get my hooves on the ones responsible for this, oh, there’s gonna be Tartaros to pay! I’m gonna make sure they died the same way I did! Make them suffer like me!
It’s strange, now that I think about it. My method of death. There weren’t any marks on my body. No blood, no bruises, no broken bones. Did I die from disease? No, I was fit as a fiddle. Heck, I made it all the way to the middle of this damned forest on my own, and I was even in the royal guard. There’s no way I died from disease. And I sure as hay didn’t die from old age. I was barely older than that mare back there when I died, from the looks of it.
Which means I had to have been murdered. But how? I try to concentrate on remembering the specific moments directly before my untimely demise. I don’t remember the exact moment, but I remember being really scared. Which, for some reason, I found ironic at the time. Me being scared is ironic...why would I think that? Let’s store that thought for later. I was scared, because I was dying. What was I dying from? I was being...drained. Like, something was being ripped from me, and...
And that’s all I care to remember. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t care how important it is, the memory is still too painful. I don’t wanna talk about it. I don’t even wanna remember it. I sigh, lying down. I feel like something should be popping out of the ground soon to drag me down to Tartaros. The ferrypony Charon, probably. Heh, jokes on him. I don’t have any money for the ride over the river styx.
So I guess I’m gonna be stuck here. At least until I find a couple bits. But I’m not taking any money until I figure out why I died, and what was so damn important that somepony had to kill me to prevent me from talking about it. That, and if ponies are in danger, then I’m morally obligated to save them, as a member of the royal guard. So long as I’m still in Equestria, I’m going to get my job done, so Celestia help me.
The sound of rustling leaves catches my attention. It’s not coming from that Pink mare. I look over to see a stallion come out. He’s a big, burly guy, with a sickly blue coat, and black hair. This guy appears to be a unicorn, like I was. Immediately, I hate him. I think I know who he is, but my memory is as reliable as it’s been so far. Still, something about this guy is ringing a bell. And it’s a bad bell, to boot. I need to warn that mare. I dash off in her direction, clearing a line of bushes in one bound.
Her sobs have quieted down, I notice. She’s just sniffing, and looking dejected at this point. I’m kinda glad somepony’s willing to remember me, but that’s not important right now. If that stallion spots her, she’s gonna be in serious trouble. I need to get her attention without actually scaring her. I look around, trying to find something that’ll do the job. I can’t find anything right off the bat, but I figure that if I can’t touch her physically, maybe I can get the wind to do it? I take a deep breath, and blow on her ear.
No dice. She rubs her eye, still ignoring me.
I give the area another once-over, and see a leaf. Grimacing, I pick it up in my teeth. Dear Celestia, I hope she’s not the skittish type. I bring the leaf over to her, and for a moment, she looks down at her knee, as if something caught her attention. I drop the leaf on her back, and she lets out a small gasp, looking behind herself. She sees the leaf, and looks over at the clearing. I follow her gaze. Good. The stallion hasn’t found her, yet. She quickly ducks down, and crawls away from my corpse. And just in time, too. It looks like the unicorn’s coming over. The pink pony safely hid behind a tree, watching him.
The unicorn comes out through the bushes, and looks down at my body, a smile crossing his features. “Heh.” He mutters to himself. “It’s nothing personal, pal. You just got in our way.” He said. As much as I despise this guy, and as much as I want him to join me in the afterlife, he just gave me a valuable piece of intel. He wasn’t working alone, which meant I needed to keep him alive so that he could lead me back to his buddies. I saw him give a swift kick to my corpse, which set my ghostly blood boiling.
A cold wind rushed in as soon as I got angry, and I heard him gasp. He looks around, and chuckles nervously. “Heheh, no such things as ghosts.” He tried to reassure himself. Wow. I suddenly get the wicked idea to constantly mess with this guy for the rest of his natural life. I saw the pink pony trying to move away from the scene as the unicorn leaned over my corpse, as if to inspect it. A few moments go by, before he chuckles. “I told the General there was nothing to worry about.” He declares confidently. “This guy’s dead, and our secrets die with him.” Before I can process this new intel, a twig snaps, causing the unicorn to jump. We both turn our attention to the mare from earlier glancing down at her hoof, a fearful look in her eyes.
“Hey!” The stallion shouts, as he begins to make for the pink pony. I quickly come up with a plan to stop him, and as the mare begins running, so do I. I easily overtake the other stallion, and grab a branch as I run between the mare and the stallion. I let it loose as soon as it’s taut, and I am rewarded with a satisfying thwack coming from behind, followed by a scream of agony. Heh. That showed him. I run to catch up to the pink mare, only to see that she’s entered some sort of small valley. I really hope she knows where she’s going, because I sure don’t.
We run around that labyrinth for what seems like hours, but I think now it was actually only a minute or two. Not quite sure. But we end up at, if you’ll forgive the expression, a dead end. I hear the poor mare gasping for breath, as she frantically tries to find another path. “Nonononono! This can’t be happening!” She panics, as she turned back the way she came, and gasps. I look over to see the stallion from before huffing angrily, and looking around for the mare. I chuckle, seeing a sharp stick jutting from his eye socket. He hasn’t seen her, yet, but if she stands out in the open in paralyzed fear like this for much longer, she’s gonna be spotted. I look around, and find a hiding place for her in the crevice of the nearby cliff. But there’s no vegetation here, only rocks and such. Will I be able to touch them? I grab a rock with my hoof, and the rock comes up with it. It feels heavy as all the souls in Tartaros, but I can still lift it! Hooray for little victories!
I look over at the hiding spot, and put my rock up to my head as if I’m tossing shot-put. I bend my knees, and push myself up, tossing the rock over. The sound catches the mare’s attention, and she sees the hidden place. Not worrying about the thing that made that sound, she cautiously goes over to hide. I stay nearby, to watch over the mare. If anything, I think I bought her some more time. The stallion is thorough, though. I need to come up with a plan. I frantically look around, trying to come up with something I can use. There, above me. A small boulder the size of a pony’s head. It’s right above the hiding spot! I’d have to wait until the stallion got close, but if I can just find a way to get on the ledge of the canyon...
No! It’s no good! As I look around, I realize I’d have to exit the canyon just to get on top of the ledge! By the time I get up there, the mare will be completely at the stallion’s mercy! I need to find another way! Oh, no! She’s been spotted! RUN! She starts to move, but I can see the unicorn’s magic pin her down as soon as she does! I don’t like where this is heading...
“You little cunt!” He insults her, snarling. “I’m gonna make you pay for what you did to my eye!” He grins maliciously, as her eyes glass over with fear. “I’ll enjoy this greatly...” He says, moving around behind her.
I can’t watch.
***
As the sun begins to rise, I feel the tears well up in my eyes. I sat there for hours, looking at the poor abused mare before me. She’s so pretty, even in death. I know that sounds weird, but I don’t think anything could’ve ever made this mare less beautiful. Maybe it’s the trauma from what I just witnessed, but...Oh, Celestia...I couldn’t save her.
I wonder if she’ll become a ghost like me. I reach over to stroke her mane, and am only mildly surprised to discover I can touch it. Not the body’s mane, but the ghost’s mane. Silently, I decide to help her up. She’s got no friends in this world. I can at least help her there. I pick her up, wrapping one of her arms around my neck for support. She seems completely unconscious, even as a ghost. I guess dying takes a lot out of you. Heh, that’s kinda funny...Hey, wait, what’s that?
There’s something glowing on her chest. Odd. How come I don’t have anything like that? I reach a hoof out to touch it, seeing what it feels like. It feels kinda like some sort of energyHOLY HONEY! Is that a doorway? It looks like it can only fit one pony at a time...well, sorry, pink pony. But this door seems to be calling to me. It’s not like anypony can hurt you, anymore. Goodbye.
***
I’m...back at the clearing? What is this? Wasn’t it morning a few seconds ago? What’s going on?
“Heh.” I hear a voice near my corpse. “It’s nothing personal, pal. You just got in our way.” I rush over to see a similar scene to what happened earlier. The pink mare is hiding behind that tree, healthy as ever! And there’s the flankhole who dared hurt her! A cold wind rushed in as soon as I got angry, and I heard him gasp. He looks around, and chuckles nervously. “Heheh, no such things as ghosts.” He tried to reassure himself.
Wait a minute...
This is it! A second chance! I can even see myself watching him, paradoxically! I can save that mare! If I start out now, I have a chance of reaching that boulder in time to drop it on the bastard’s head! My past self here will be able to delay him! I start a gallop to the canyon! Nopony dies tonight!
Chapter Two
Changing Fate
I ran as fast as I could, galloping up the canyon’s ledge. I could hear the others not far behind. I stopped at the ledge overlooking the hiding spot I told that mare about, and looked around. Good, the rock was where I had seen it before. I made my way over to it, and waited, watching intently on the scene down below. There. The mare appeared, and so did I, right behind her.
“Nonononono! This can’t be happening!” I hear, followed by a gasp. I knew what was coming. My past self tossed the rock over to the hiding place. I remembered how heavy the rock was to me, even though it was so small. Maybe I should test and see whether or not I should push this rock? I push a little, and it gives. I’m gonna have to start pushing as he makes his approach to the mare. Otherwise, this’ll all be for naught.
The mare moves, and slides into the hiding place. I see now that the noise must’ve attracted that stallion, as he comes to investigate the dead end. My past self looks around frantically, and as he lays eyes on me, I see him gasp. It’s a little surreal, looking at my past self, but I know we’re gonna win this time. I wave to him, smirking, and turn my attention to the stallion. My past self backs off, watching everything intently. The stallion spots the mare, and uses his magic to pin her down. I need to start pushing, now! Slowly, the rock starts moving, but as it does, it suddenly stops!
No! This can’t be happening! What’s blocking it?! I check, and see that the ledge suddenly turns up near the end. “You little cunt!” I hear from down below. Gah! This isn’t supposed to happen! “I’m gonna make you pay for what you did to my eye!” I throw myself against the rock in a fit of frustration, and it teeters on the ledge. Seeing this, I move before the rock comes tumbling back my way, pushing it over. “I’ll enjAH!”
I blink. There was nothing but silence. Did I do it?
I peek over, and I see the mare coming out from her hiding spot, a shocked expression on her face, as if she’s wondering what just happened. I also see the stallion from before, passed out on the ground.
“Ha! Buck yeah!” I shout in triumph, an overwhelming sense of elation washing over me. I jump down from the ledge. It’s quite high, but what’s the worst that could happen to me? I’m already dead. I land forcefully, but feel no pain. A bit disoriented, I get up, and shake my head, before moving over to the stallion collapsed on the ground. “In your face! That’ll teach you to mess with my plans! I’m the best in Equestria!” I gloat, reactively. This causes me to blink. Where exactly did that come from? Was this an aspect of my personality that I had before I kicked the bucket? But what was I the best at? Being a guard? A guard with plans?
“What kind of guard has plans?” My past self asks,as if reading my thoughts. “And what exactly is going on? Who are you?”
I look at him with a cocked eyebrow. “You don’t already know?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “You can’t be me. I mean, I’m me.” He eyes me suspiciously. “If I’m me, then who are you?”
“I’m you from the future.” I begin to explain, waving him towards me. “Let me explain. In my past, I-” As I speak, I lay my hoof on his shoulder, and suddenly, I see myself colliding into him. This makes me more than a bit dizzy. In fact, if I ever ate anything, I feel like I’m gonna puke it up. I look around to see if he’s alright, only to see that he’s gone. Instantly, all his thoughts, memories, and experiences flow into me. I blink. Did I just...merge with my past self?
I look around to see the other pony, checking the stallion to see if he’s still alive. She sighs in relief, either because he was dead, and she didn’t want to see him again, or he was alive, and she didn’t want anypony to die. She backed away, shaking like a leaf. She closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply to calm herself. As she was doing that, I decided to check if our friend was dead. I moved next to the pony I was just gloating over, and try to interact with him. My hoof goes straight through him, and I can’t feel any resistance from his...well, his soul. I guess he’s alive, then. But if he’s alive, then the mare shouldn’t be here when he wakes up. I look up at her, and judging by the expression on her face, she just thought of the same thing I did. Fearfully, she began running off, out of the canyon. I follow her closely, if only to ensure nothing else happens to her.
***
We made our way back to the clearing, the pink mare and I. Sadly, she walks over at where my body lay, and stares at it, not knowing what to do. As she does so, an idea comes to me. If I can go back in time, and prevent her death, then maybe I can do the same for me. I trot over to my corpse, looking around. I need to find some sort of glowing energy, something I can touch to send me back in time. But to my dismay, there’s nothing like that. Looks like I’m stuck being dead. Why? Why does this have to happen to me? No, I can’t think about that right now. Equestria’s in danger, and I need to retrace my hoofsteps to find out what I knew. The only clue I have right now is this mare, currently sobbing to herself, watching over my corpse.
“Pinkie?!” I hear somepony shout. The mare perks up at the sound of the voice. “Pinkie?!” Another voice shouts. I see her gallop to the center of the clearing, and look towards the sound of the voices.
“I’m over here!” I hear her shout. So, her name is Pinkie? That name does sound familiar...As I watch, I see a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane appear from the bushes, and she smiles.
“Pinkie, there you are!” She replied, as she trots out from the bushes, followed by four others. A yellow pegasus, a white unicorn, an orange earth pony, and a purple alicorn. “We were worried when you said that you were gonna come out here alone!” Dammit, why do all these ponies look so familiar?
Pinkie merely looked down at the ground. “I had to...he said he had something very important to tell me...”
“Oh, jeez.” The rainbow pegasus rolled her eyes. “That creep? Don’t you see he was just trying to get you alone?”
“I have to agree with Rainbow Dash, darling.” The white unicorn said. Wait, so that’s her name? Rainbow mane equals Rainbow Dash? “Who knows what that brute would’ve done had we not found you first?”
I saw Pinkie pout. “He wouldn’t have done anything, Rarity.” She said solemnly. “He wasn’t like that at all.”
“You hardly know him, Pinkie!” The alicorn reasoned. “He might be a royal guard, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good pony!” Wait, is that one of the princesses? Yes, it’s the new one! What was her name...
I watched the earth pony nod. “Twilight’s raight, sugarcube!” That’s it, that’s her name! Twilight Sparkle! “Ya’ll don’t know what he was gonna try once he found ya out here.”
“He’s not gonna try anything, AJ...” Pinkie replied, as she began sniffling. I saw by the expression on some of their faces they could tell something was wrong. Rainbow, however, was one of the ones who wasn’t paying attention to Pinkie’s expressions.
“You don’t know that, Pinkie!” Rainbow shouted. “That stallion is bad news! He’s hit on almost every mare in Ponyville! The only reason he called you out here was to take advantage of your trust for him!” Suddenly, I really didn’t like this mare.
“Rainbow, you don’t understand...” Pinkie protested.
“No, Pinkie, you don’t understand!” Rainbow cut her off. “That stallion wants to do Celestia knows what to you! Why else would he lead you out here in the middle of the night?! You don’t even know his real name! Face it, the only reason he led you out here was so that he could foalnap you and make you his-”
“Rainbow, shut up!” Pinkie shouted, her voice echoing through the forest, as tears streamed from her eyes. Rainbow was about to chastise her for this, but when she saw the look in Pinkie’s eyes, Rainbow kept mum. For a few seconds, nothing was heard except for the sound of Pinkie crying.
“Pinkie...” Twilight began. “...Did something happen?” She asked, her voice filled with concern for her friend.
Pinkie stood, and faced toward the murder scene. “...I’ll show you.” She said, her voice barely, above a whisper. Concerned, the other ponies followed Pinkie over to where my body lay. Before she showed them, however, she turned to her friends, hanging her head low. “Brace yourselves, girls.” She told them. “You’re not gonna like this.” She lifted a hoof, and moved the grass to reveal the scene. There was a collective gasp from the others. The orange pony had removed her hat, placing it on her chest. The yellow pegasus had hid behind her friends. The others had various expressions of shock. Twilight turned to Pinkie.
“Pinkie...” Twilight said, slowly raising a hoof toward my body. “Did...Did you...”
Pinkie shook her head, straightening up. “I found him like this, Twilight. He wanted me to come out here to tell me something very important. He wanted me to bring you girls, but when you refused, I decided to come out here on my own, so I could tell you later.” I saw Pinkie start to tear up. “But when I got here, he was...” She started sniffling again, unable to complete her sentence.
The one named Rarity rushed over to embrace Pinkie, letting her sob on her shoulder. “Sweetheart, it’s alright.” She tried to comfort her. “We’re all just glad you’re safe. Whoever did this could’ve been here as well, and-”
“He was here, Rarity! I saw him!” Pinkie confessed.
Everyone gasped again, as Rarity looked over Pinkie more. “Oh, you poor dear!” She cried. “How did you stay out of sight?!”
“I didn’t!” Pinkie shouted. “He spotted me, and-and he chased me, and there were rocks, and-” Pinkie’s tears overtook her voice as she broke down, crying. All of Pinkie’s friends crowded around her, trying to offer whatever comfort they could.
“Twi, we need ta git Pinkie home, pronto.” The orange one said, looking over at the Princess.
Twilight nodded shakily, clearing her throat. “I agree. I need to contact Celestia, and tell her there’s been a...” She gulped. “...murder.”
***
I suppose I was lucky. The princess was too distraught from seeing my corpse to focus on casting a spell, which means she couldn’t teleport the group back. As a result, I was able to follow them back to their homes. I know, it sounds creepy to me, too. But hey, with no sense of direction, and little more than scraps of what I was like to go on, there wasn’t many places I could go. Besides, these mares seemed to know me, despite most of them having a low opinion of me.
We entered a library in a small town. Ponyville, I think it was called. I looked around, surprised to find a baby dragon walking down the steps. “Ugh, what’s all the ruckus?” The little dragon said. He must’ve heard the other ponies still trying to console Pinkie Pie. She was far more calm, now that she was out of the woods.
As the others tended to Pinkie, I saw Princess Twilight turn to the young dragon. “Spike, take a letter.” She said, solemnly. Without hesitation, Spike produced a quill and parchment, and got ready to write, wondering what was wrong. Twilight began speaking. “Dear Princess Celestia. I apologize for the lateness in which you receive this letter, but something awful has happened that requires your immediate attention. A royal guard was found murdered by another pony deep in the Everfree forest.”
“Wait, murdered?” Spike looked up at Twilight, who only looked back solemnly.
“Yes, Spike. And it’s important Princess Celestia know.” Spike nodded, and returned to the letter. “The murderer threatened to kill Pinkie Pie, and she’s been frightened greatly by the incident. This is not something I’m sure myself and the others can handle on our own. We require your wisdom in this matter. Please come to Ponyville as soon as you can. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle. And send it.”
Spike quickly rolled up the letter, and blew a green flame onto it. I wa confused, thinking for a moment that Spike had burned the letter. But everyone behaved as if the letter was sent. Well, if they’re fine with Spike burning that letter, then who am I to argue? It’s not like I could, anyway. Seems like nopony ever pays attention to ghosts.
The girls managed to calm Pinkie down enough that she could tell them exactly what happened. She began to relay the events of the night, how she perceived them. To my surprise, Princess Celestia began walking in the door as soon as Pinkie got to the part where she found my body. Following her were a pair of royal guardsmen that I didn’t recognize. I’m quickly learning that amnesia’s a bitch. All the ponies turned to bow, as did I. I knew she couldn’t see me, but that’s not the point. She’s the only pony I know of that’s worth my respect. Present company excluded, of course.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony.” She informed the ponies, causing all of us to rise. “I came as soon as I could.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Princess.” Twilight said. “Pinkie was just telling us exactly what happened.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “Don’t let me stop you, Pinkie. I would like to know, as well.”
Pinkie nodded, sniffling. “When I found Mr. Stallion, h-he...I didn’t know what to do. I sat there for I don’t know how long, looking at him. Then, my Pinkie sense told me something scary was about to happen, and I felt something touch my back. That’s when I saw somepony approaching Mr. Stallion’s body.”
“Pinkie, this is very important.” Twilight said, stepping forward. “What did the pony look like? The one that you saw when you turned around?”
“He…” I saw that Pinkie was drawing a blank. The shock must’ve been getting to her. I rested a hoof on her shoulder, trying to remember the details. She looked over at me with a gasp. I kid you not, she was looking right at me. The others grew concerned.
“Pinkie? Ya’ll alraight, Sugarcube?” I heard the orange pony ask, as I began to wonder if she could see me.
“I-I’m fine, I just…thought somepony else was here for a second.” She faced forward, and frowned dejectedly. Guess she can’t see me. “The pony I saw at the clearing…” She began drawing a blank again. I could remember the details clearly, possibly because I was the only one there who was thinking with a straight head.
“He had a black mane.” I mused.
“He had a black mane.” Pinkie parroted. Wait, did she hear me?
“That’s good, Pinkie.” Said Twilight. “Anything else?”
She couldn’t respond immediately, but I thought she could hear me. So I said, “He was a unicorn with a pale blue coat.”
“He was a unicorn with a pale blue coat.” Pinkie replied.
She can hear me, I concluded. “And he was big. Like a clydesdale.”
“And he was big, like Big Mac.” She told them. I sighed, as I wondered who Big Mac was. Maybe she couldn’t hear me after all.
“He was big, like mah brother?” The orange pony asked. Pinkie nodded. Well, that answers that question.
“What about his cutie mark?” Asked the yellow pegasus who I didn’t catch the name of. At this, I couldn’t help them. I didn’t catch his cutie mark. Pinkie didn’t look like she knew what it was, either.
“I...I didn’t see his cutie mark.” She said solemnly. “I’m sorry.”
One of her friends rested a hoof on her shoulder, and I backed off. She sighed, before continuing her story. She told the others about how she heard the murderer talking, but couldn’t make out any of what he was saying. She told them how she started running after snapping a twig, and the rest of the events leading up to her hiding in the shadows.
“That’s when he spotted me.” Pinkie said. “He used his magic to hold me down, and I thought for sure he was gonna do...things…to me.” Pinkie started crying loudly, burying her face in her hooves. “I thought I was a goner!” The others helped calm her down again, offering comfort however they could.
Twilight looked like she was straining her mind over something. “Something’s not right.” She said. “How did you escape?”
“I don’t know exactly what happened!” Pinkie confessed, as Spike brought her a drink. She took the glass, chugging down the contents greedily. She was considerably calmer as she spoke again. “Just as he was approaching me, my tail twitched, and a rock fell on his head. I thought for a moment somepony had saved me, but when I looked up, there was nopony there. It’s like I was saved by sheer luck!” She caught her breath, and let out a weak laugh. “Which is actually kinda funny, when you think about it. It was kinda like slapstick comedy.”
Princess Celestia closed her eyes, as if concentrating on something. Twilight looked like she was writing something down on some parchment on a desk. “Pinkie, I know this is hard for you, but can you show us where you found the dead guard?”
Pinkie looked up at Celestia, and nodded. “I think I’ll be alright as long as I have everypony here with me.” Everyone stood to leave, and I followed them, unbeknownst to them. I can say that I was excited to learn something about who I was, but still, Pinkie didn’t hear that the stallion wasn’t working alone. How was I gonna get that vital piece of information out?
