Chapters Chapter 1 New Pony in Town
My head hurt like crazy, like a rock had been smashed against my skull. Who am I? I have no idea where or who I am. All I know is I woke up and now I remember nothing, my mind completely blank. Was I flying and hit my head? Did that cause me to have some sort of amnesia? No, It wasn't that kind of pain. It was a pain that existed deep within my being, not some surface pain. The pain could be caused by a concussion I guess but-
Oh... My... It hurts so fricken bad!
I struggled to open my eyes, but I immediately wished I hadn't. The area around me is dark because of the shadows; however, the sun is radiating ever so slightly through the trees. I can hear the wind; it has a ghastly howl to it. The coldness to the air feels like it is going to rip the breath right out of my lungs. What is this place?
I look around, it doesn't take me a second to notice that there is a pink pony standing in front of me. What is a pony doing in a freaky place like this.
"Hello, I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, but my friends all call me Pinkie Pie." the pink mare said, "What's your name?"
That's a good question. If only I knew. Instead I simply said the first thing that popped into my mind. "Bright Night," I said. It sounded right, though I don't know why. Perhaps It was because it was dark as night even though it was the middle of the afternoon.
"Really? Well I've never met you and I know everypony in Ponyville," The pink pony said,"That must mean you're not from around here?! You know what this calls for?"
Oh gosh, I'm afraid to ask. This pony is obviously crazy. I mean just look at her mane. It looks like cotton candy. It freaking screams crazy! And her face. She's glaring at me like she's getting electrocuted! Just the fact that she is in a place like this, standing over me like she is about to eat me is enough to send chills down my spine. "What?" I finally asked with caution in my voice. I dreaded the answer fearing it may pose some hazard to my life.
"A party!" She exclaimed excitedly, "I planned the party when I first found you, but you where sleeping and it's rude to wake a sleeping pony and it's not a party without the guest of honor. But now you're awake, so I don't have to wake you, and now you can meet all my friends and- Hey! You don't have your Cutiemark and-"
"My what?" I asked confused.
"Your Cutiemark. It's what repres- oh nevermind. It's not important right now. What is important is you meeting my friends. Follow Me!" Pinkie said as she ran off.
Oh great. I hope her friends aren't as crazy as she is.
***
"We're here!" she said.
Finally! Pinkie Pie did not stop talking the entire way here. I'm not sure she even took the time to breathe. I may not know much, but I do know one thing... Ponies need to breathe. Maybe now that there are other ponies here, she will leave me alone. She did explain what a cutiemark was however, which I was glad, since she left me wondering on the way here.
We arrived at this place apparently called the Sugercube Corner. She opened the door and we walked in. This was obviously the main room. It was a spacious room decorated with bright colors and party decorations galore. It was clearly a bakery as there were desert racks all across the front filled with all kinds of deserts that made my mouth water. Inside were eight other ponies and a young dragonling. Five of the ponies were near full grown mares like Pinkie, and the other three were still little fillies.
"Hi everypony. This is my new friend Bright Night, I met him on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Don't ask me what he was doing there, cause I have no idea why he was there. Seems kinda weird, doesn't it?"
This Pony cannot seem to keep her mind on track.
"Oh yeah!" She said as she remembered what she was doing, "Brighty, this is Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and her sister Apple Bloom. Also we have Rarity, her sister Sweetie Bell, Rainbow Dash, and finally Scootaloo. Oh, and this is Spike," Pinkie said the last name pointing a hoof at the young dragon.
Just then the yellow pony with a pink mane, who I think Pinkie said was Fluttershy came over to talk to me.
"Umm, I'm sorry. I hope you don't mind, but... Umm... I happened to notice you are an alicorn, and well, I thought only princesses like Twilight, Celestia, and Luna were alicorns," she said.
"Alicorn?" I asked, "What the heck is an alicorn? And who the heck are Celestia and Luna?"
Their Jaws dropped when I asked this. I don't know if it was because I didn't know what an alicorn was or because I didn't know who Celestia and Luna were.
"Look I know far less than you do," I said, "I woke up quite literally remembering nothing. All I know are the basic skills of a pony my age. Heck, I don't even remember my age!"
"So yer' tellin' us ya don't remember anything?" Applejack asked, obviously trying to process everything. She
"Nope," I answered, "Nothing."
They all looked at me, mouths wide open in awe, while I was being sent into information overload. After a long and awkward pause, Pinkie broke the silence.
"So you lied!" She accused, her hair fell straight, and she looked PISSED! "Your names not Bright Night?!"
"I didn't lie. I don't know what my name is so I said the first thing that came to my head. For all I know, my name really could be Bright Night."
I felt like running for my life. Pinkie Pie looked like someone who you would expect to see holding a knife ready to cut off your head. Pinkie eyed me suspiciously for a second, but then her hair went all poofy again as she replied with a high pitched, "Okie dokie lokie!"
What is with that pony? One minute she is a big, pink, bundle of joy and happiness, the next she seems like she should be in a hospital for the mentally insane. And although she terrifies me to no end, there is something about her that is strangely enjoyable.
"And I suppose you would like us to help you find your memories?" Twilight asked.
To be honest up until this point I hadn't really considered searching for my memories. I was too stressed by what was going on to really care.
"I hadn't really thought about it. But I guess it wouldn't hurt, infact it might do some good, knowing who I am and where I come from and all that. That is if you don't mind."
Rainbow Dash was pissed at that idea understandably, "Of course we mind! Why would we help somepony we just met, go on a wild goose chase to find his memories that may not even truly be missing?!"
"Now Dashie dear, how would you feel if you woke up one day and could not remember anything? This pony needs our help. Of course we would be happy to help you, right girls?" asked Rarity sympathetic towards me and my situation.
"Of course we would sugarcube. The question is where to start?" Applejack replied.
"I would say at the library," Twilight suggested, "I'm sure I have a book somewhere that at least mentions something like this."
"Good idea, Twi," Applejack replied.
"Sis, can we help? This would be the perfect opportunity to get our cutiemarks as private eyes!?" Apple Bloom asked in anticipation.
"Of course you and yer’ friends can lend a hoof," She replied, "The more the mareier"
Read from google docs here
Author's Note
To all of you who read any part of The Bright Night Series, I know it was crap. My goal is to make this one better. You will probably be glad to know that I have no intention of putting the mane character in any form of a serious relationship. Furthermore, this will be an actual story with a plot.
All in all, I hope you enjoy Lost Memories.
Chapter 2 Am I Human?
“Found anything yet?” Rainbow asked, skimming through the hundreds of books in the Ponyville library. She was was definitely bored out of her mind. I could tell that she wasn't used to research and that she sure as heck didn't like it.
“Nope,” Twilight answered matter of factly.
After the party, we all went back to the library to try and figure out why I could not remember anything, and how to fix the problem. You would think that somewhere in a library full of hundreds of books, there would have to be a couple that at least mention something about my situation. But there wasn't. Not one book said anything of use.
“What exactly are we looking for, darling?” Rarity asked.
It was a fair question. Even I did not know the specifics of what we were looking for. Then again I don't know much right now. And I am kinda’ confused about this whole situation. I have so many questions and so few answers. Most of my questions are simple question such as: Who am I? Where did I come from? What am I doing here?
“We are looking for any books on memory loss and how to fix it. As well as any memory spells I have not already tried,” Twilight replied bringing me back to the moment on hoof, “Spike!”
“Yes Twilight?” He responded.
“Write a letter to Princess Celestia.”
The Letter she wrote read like this:
Dear Princess Celestia,
I have a friend named Bright Night who has no account of who he is, or anything else. He is completely without memories. I have no books that are helpful in this scenario. I would like to know if you and Luna have any information that would prove useful at this point of time, in the form of a book or of your own accord. Any help would be appreciated. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
Just then Spike launched a breath of fire as the letter burst into flames and it disappeared.
“Why would you write a letter just to destroy it?” I asked curiously.
“He didn't destroy it. That flame was imbedded with magical properties that delivered it to its intended recipient, in this case Princess Celestia,” Twilight answered.
I swear, this just keeps getting weirder and weirder , I thought. Just then another flame burst from spike’s mouth and another letter appeared, That didn't take long . The letter read,
Dear Twilight,
When is it gonna get through that thick little pony skull of yours that you no longer need to address yourself as my faithful student since you are now a princess yourself?
As to your question, there is no information in books about your friends situation; HOWEVER, in my two millenniums on the throne, I have experienced a few instances where a human from earth, has come to ponyville. Usually they arrive in human form, but every once in awhile they arrive as a pony.
Additionally, they typically have some (if limited) recollection of their life outside of ponyville, whereas your friend as you said has no memories at all. That is strange even considering the circumstances. This could be caused by some completely natural for of memory loss, such as amnesia. However, based on the fact that nopony knows where he came from or anything else about him; I would guess that this is anything but normal.
To say a human arriving in Equestria is rare is an understatement. The only reason I suggest this is it is the only thing that explains his sudden appearance, besides him being a strange form of magical energy. Sincerely, Princess Celestia
“Wait, so am I human?” I asked both shocked and confused. I was; however, manely confused.
“I don't know, but we are going to find out,” Twilight replied. You could see the confusion in her eyes. It was an almost unnerving site to see.
“How?” I asked. The answer she gave made me wish I hadn't.
“I don’t know" was all she said.
~~~
Celestia was sitting on her couch. She could not get Twilight's words out of her head. Could this new pony really be a human, she thought to herself. It did not seem possible to her, The last time this happened was over a millennial ago. And then Luna walked in. She wore a look of concern on her face.
“Sister, is something troubling thou? Luna asked, “Thou hast been locked in thy room for hours. Tell me what is on thy mind”
“Nothing that I need bother you with Luna,” Celestia replied.
“Sister, we are both princess. Not only that but we are sisters. We will do this together”
“Very well, a new pony arrived in Ponyville.”
“That is good, is it not?”
“It would be fine if this pony had any memories, and had not seemingly appeared out of nowhere.”
“What art thou saying?” Luna asked starting to become worried.
“I’m saying that I believe this new pony may be human”
Celestia went over to one of the many bookshelves in her study. She pulled out the biggest book of all of them, titled 2012 Royal Equestrian Census, “I have looked through all royal documents from the past two years. Not one of them mentions a pony named Bright Night.”
“That is strange. We will have to investigate this issue further. But tis necessary we not let this issue become bigger than it needs to be,” replied Luna.
“I agree, for now I believe the main concern is for us to help this pony regain his memories. After that we can go from there.”
Read on Google Docs here
Chapter 3 A Friend in Need
I quickly learned one of the benefits of being an alicorn. It can save you a lot of bits on real estate. All I need to do is find a nice cloud to live on and turn it into a quaint little home. The only problem is clouds don’t tend to last very long, and thus I am continually having to rebuild my cloud cottage. Rainbow Dash offered to allow me to stay with her on Cloudsdale for a while; however, I am still not sure I trust her.
I was just getting ready to lay down for an afternoon nap, when a yellow little pegasus landed on my cloud.
“Um, I’m sorry... I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything,” Fluttershy said, “But I need to ask you a question.”
“Yes?” I responded. I wasn’t sure what she wanted but I figured it must be important for her to come all the way here. I quickly realised that she wasn’t exactly known for being the most outgoing pony. It was really quite adorable.
“Um... do you... like... um... animals?” she continued.
“Uh, I guess so. Why?” I asked. This really confused me, why would she come all this way to ask me if I like animals. The night we spent in the library, one of the first things twilight did to try and fix my memories was use the elements of harmony. Before she used them, she explained what they were. She told me that Fluttershy was the element of kindness, perhaps she is just trying to show kindness.
“Well... umm... Its... Just...” Fluttershy took a deep breath seemingly to prepare herself to spit out what she had to say,
“You’ve been on this cloud for a very long time, without any form of pony interaction, and I figured you were probably lonely, and then I remembered that you don’t remember. Anything. And so I wanted to invite you over to my cottage, to see all my cute little animals.”
She flinched when she finished her invitation, as if somepony was about to hit her in the face. She opened one eye to see if I was still there, while cringing with the rest of her face, similar to how many ponies would in a haunted house. How could you say no to a face like that?
“I would be happy to go,” I said.
Her face lit up brighter than Canterlot during Hearths Warming when I said that. She was so excited that instead of letting me fly by myself, she literally dragged me all the way there. It was rather annoying, but she didn’t seem to notice.
When we arrived at her cottage, it was empty, there were no animals in sight.
“They are probably hiding. They get nervous around ponies they’ve never, ever, met,” Fluttershy said with her own nervous expression.
If they were hiding they were hiding good. We finally found a little white rabbit hiding is a tree. Fluttershy flew up to get him and he was shaking like he was stuck outside without his fur in the dead of winter. He was looking at me with an expression of sheer terror.
“What’s wrong Angel?” she asked, then she looked up at me, “He’s never been this afraid of a stranger before.”
“Maybe animals just don’t like me,” I said with a disappointed expression.
“Oh, no, no, no. That can’t be it, they just need need some time to get to know you.”
I looked at Angel. He was more terrified than anything I’ve ever seen (I think). It was as if to him I was some sort of monster, but I’m not a monster. Am I?
“I’m not sure thats such a good idea,” I said, with such sadness it could melt the heart of King Sombra himself, “I’m gonna go home.”
I started to fly away, but I looked back. Fluttershy looked as hurt as I did. I flew home, on the verge of tears. Am I a monster? I thought. I arrived at home and cried myself to sleep.
***
I woke up on my cloud to hear a filly screaming. It sounded like Fluttershy’s scream, except it wasn’t in her typical muted scream(on the rare occasions she did scream).
It was the dead of night, probably around midnight. It was completely cloudy so there was barely any light, in fact there was almost no light; however, I could just make out a group of ponies putting fluttershy in a bag. Then they just disappeared. I had to tell Twilight.
~~~
Celestia and Luna were sitting at the dinner table, considering the best way to learn more about Twilights new friend.
“It does not make sense,” Celestia said in frustration, “If Bright Night is human then, how did he get here? Where did he come from? and why is he here?”
“I do not know sister. Perhaps he is human, but perhaps he is a pony that suffers from a tragic form of memory loss,” Luna said in reply.
“Perhaps,” Celestia sighed.
Just then a letter arrived on a the table in between the princesses. Luna picked it up and opened it. The letter was from Twilight Sparkle. As soon as Princess Luna finished it, she gasped as her face turned into sheer terror.
“We have a bigger issue on our hooves right now,” She said, “Fluttershy has been ponyknapped.”
~~~
“She’s been what?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“She’s been ponyknapped,” Twilight responded.
As soon as I arrived at the library. I tried telling Twilight what I saw, but I was panicking so much it was impossible to speak. It took Twi a good half hour to get the words out of my mouth and when she did, I was barely understandable. As soon as she pieced what I had said together, she immediately messaged Princess Celestia, and gathered the rest of the mane six.
“Why, when I get my hooves on those ponies, well I’ll-”
“Applejack!” Twilight interrupted her, “We can’t rush into this. It will end up doing more harm than good.”
“But we can’t just let them do whatever it is they are doing to poor Fluttershy,” Rarity imputed.
I was starting to get frustrated. All this time we were spending arguing was time we could be forming a plan to save Fluttershy. I finally got fed up!
“Enough!” I yelled, “Twilight is right. We cannot afford to rush into this. It could cost us our lives or Fluttershy’s. We do need a plan.”
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity all looked upset that they thought I was taking Twilights side.
“Thank you,” Twilight said, “I’m glad somepony agrees with me.”
“Hold on, you didn’t let me finish,” I replied, “We need to think through this logically, but Rarity is right. We can’t let them keep doing whatever it is they are doing or going to do. We need a plan.”
I went over to the nearby desk and used my magic to grab a piece of paper and a quill.
“So,” I said, “Anypony have an idea?”
~~~
Fluttershy was bagged, so she couldn't see anything; however, she knew she had been teleported. She could feel it. She felt herself disappear from the soft grass to a hard floor. Her wings hurt. They along with her legs were bound with rope.
She could hear voices from outside the bag. They were muted so she had a hard time making anything out of them but she could get a general idea of what they were saying.
“You sure this is the pony?” One of the ponies asked.
“Not exactly,” another voice responded, “She’s one of his friends.”
His... Friends... She thought, Could they be talking about Bright Night? The thought concerned her, What could they want with Bright Night?
“This may be better,” the first pony said, “We can use her as bait. And she could possibly provide us with useful information.”
“Um, excuse me,” Fluttershy interrupted, “Can you unbag me please? Um, that is, if you don’t mind?”
Fluttershy had tears in her eyes. She was terrified. One moment she was checking on the animals before she went to bed for the night, the next she was trapped here, being held captive by some unknown ponies.
“Ah you’re awake,” The first pony responded.
The pony removed the bag; however, he left her hooves and wings tied up. He could see tears welling in her eyes, he looked away to avoid weakening himself.
“Th- thank you,” Fluttershy said, beginning to sob.
“Your welcome,” the First pony replied, “My name is Starlight”
The name fit him. He was a pegasus pony with a dark blue coat, and his mane and tail were multiple shades of yellow. For a cutiemark he had a shooting star.
“I’m Flutter-” She began, before the second pony interrupted her.
“I know very well who you are,” the second pony said.
The second pony Fluttershy recognised immediately after she said that. The second pony was a light blue pegasus with a white mane and tail. The only reason Fluttershy did not recognise the second earlier was because she did not have her signature pointed hat with stars on it.
“Trixie!” Fluttershy growled.
Author's Note
I apologize for this chapter to take so long to right, but it is longer than my previous chapters. On that note, it is also quite a bit better than my previous chapters as this is where the action starts to pick up. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4 Danger Ahead
I have never met the princess, at least not that I remember, so you can imagine how shocked I was when they came saying that they wanted to help save Fluttershy. I had expected the Princesses to be pretty, but when you see them standing right in front of you pretty seems almost like an insult to them. No, they weren't just pretty, they were the perfect ponification of beauty.
Celestia was twice as tall as anypony in the room. Her mane was like a rainbow of muted colors, flowing as if it was made of light itself. Her coat the same as snow which perfectly contrasted with her cutie mark of the morning star, and her horn resonated with magical energy.
Her sister Luna, on the other hoof, had a deep blue coat; with an ink blot looking patch of fur where her moon shaped cutie mark stood. Unlike Celestia, she was no larger than any of the other mares in the room. In her mane and tail, you could see entire galaxies. It was as if looking into the night sky itself.
“Have thou thought of anything?” Princess Luna asked, “Time is running out, is it not?”
I got the feeling that the princess were good friends with mine, though I’m not sure that I fully grasp the extent.
“Rainbow is currently searching the sky looking for signs of Fluttershy or her ponyknappers. I have a strange gut feeling that this may have something to do with Bright Night,” Twilight answered, “After all, everything started the day after Pinkie brought him to us.”
“I fear you may be right Twilight,” Celestia said, “And if you are, then I fear for his sake as much as Fluttershy’s.”
Celestia and Luna, as well as every other pony, looked at me with fear in their eyes. Not a fear as tho they were afraid of me, but more a fear of the unknown. I imagine it was pretty unnerving to them. It definitely was for me. I could tell that Celestia was especially concerned for me. It gave me the feeling that she knew something that she wasn’t telling everypony.
Before I could finish my next thought, Rainbow Dash came crashing through the door. She was quite obviously in a panic, though I had know idea why.
“Did you find anything, darling?” Rarity asked
Rainbow could barely speak.
“Everfree... Old castle... Bright lights...”
“Calm down so we can understand you,” Twilight said to the panicked Rainbow Dash, “Now tell us exactly what you saw.”
Rainbow took a deep breath, and then proceeded to speak.
“I was flying over the Everfree forest,” she started, “I didn’t see anything, so I decided I would check the old abandoned castle. You know, the one where we first found the elements, that one. Anyways, as I approached, I saw a bright light appear from inside. And then I heard a scream. It sounded like Fluttershy’s, and then the light and scream disappeared. I went to see what happened, but when I got inside, it was as though nothing ever happened. It was just an empty castle.”
Fear had seeped its way into her voice. From what I knew of her, I could tell she wasn’t one to get scared easily, I could tell that we should be concerned. The others seemed to agree with me, for they too, bore an expression of concern on their faces.
“This cannot be good,” Celestia stated.
~~~
Fluttershy screamed. The burn was like nothing she ever experienced before. Tears were flowing from her eyes like there was a broken water pipe.
“wh- why?” she asked
She could barely speak, the pain hurt so bad. To top it all off they hadn’t allowed her to sleep since she got there, a couple of days ago. She had to hold her eyes open, she didn’t know what they would do to her if she didn’t. She just wanted to get out of this place, out of the dark.
“We’ll find your friend,” Trixie said, “and when we do he will be worse off than you.”
“What do you want with him?” Fluttershy asked
“We created him. Is it so wrong to want him back?”
Created him? Fluttershy thought, What did they mean by “created”?
“You see,” Trixie continued, “The reason he has no memory, is because he was a laboratory experiment, created in a test tube. When he became sentient and escaped, we wiped his memory so no one would learn about us from him. But now we need to continue our research, and to do that we need your friend. What did you say you called him? Oh yeah, Bright Night,” she chuckled at that, “Pathetic.”
“If it’s him you want, why are you doing this to me?” Fluttershy asked
“Because I just don’t like you.”
~~~
We arrived at the abandoned castle. It was dark... Far darker than I expected.
“Let’s just find what were looking for so that we can get out of here,” I said. There was something about this place that sent chills down my spine. It was weird. It felt familiar, however I’m not sure why.
“This place is giving me the creeps,” I continued
“Agreed. So what exactly are we looking for?” Rainbow asked
“Anything that will give hints to where they took Fluttershy, or at least who took Fluttershy,” Celesta answered
“But we have been looking for hours and found nothing,” Rarity complained
“Yes, but right now this is the only lead we have, so unless y’all have another idear, we are gonna keep looking till theres nowhere else ta look here,” said Applejack
“Applejacks right, we need to keep looking”
~~~
Spike was alone, he remained behind to look after the library. Twilight decided it should remain open, but Spike was getting bored. She had said she was only going to be gone for about two hour, it was now closer to five. Luna had thankfully stayed behind to lend a hoof, but she was completely unfamiliar with how he library worked and thus she was not much help.
“It’s almost time for me to close the library. Thanks for your help today Princess,” Spike said
“Thou art very welcome, Spike” the little blue alicorn responded
Luna started to leave, but turned around when she heard Spike say her name.
“Yes, Spike?” She asked him. He looked nervous to ask her what it was he wanted to ask, “It is ok, thou can ask thee what thou like. Tis not necessary for thou to be nervous.”
“It’s not that,” he replied, “I’m worried about Fluttershy. Do you think she will be alright?”
“I’m sure she will be fine,” Luna answered.
~~~
“If I help you find him will you let me go?” Fluttershy asked, on the verge of tears, hating herself for even suggesting such a thing
“No,” Starlight answered her. He was not paying her much attention as he was working with some chemicals in test tubes. Trixie had told him to watch Fluttershy to make sure she didn’t escape, but Starlight did not think that would be an issue. She was tied up at both the hooves and wings, and behind inch thick steel bars. The room was made up of solid rock a good ten feet underground.
“Why not?” Fluttershy begged
“For one, I have strict orders not to release you. Master Trixie has something special planned for you,” Starlight told her, “For two, even if she didn’t have plans for you or tell me not to release you, we all know that you would not betray Bright Night. You are the element of kindness. It would be against your nature to betray an ‘innocent’ pony”
He said the word ‘innocent’ in extreme sarcasm. In his twisted mind, no part of him believed Bright Night was even a pony much less an innocent one. To him Bright Night was just a failed experiment, unworthy to be considered anything else.
“You big meanie,” Said Fluttershy angrily
Author's Note
Ok, I admit. Not the best chapter. But it gives you some interesting information. Right?
Chapter 5 A Mysterious Letter
Fluttershy was asleep in her cell. There was nopony watching her, so it was the first opportunity she had in over a week. She dreamed of her friend, of them finding her. She hoped they would find her, but she was starting to doubt the were even looking.
She woke up just as Trixie came in. Her sleep felt so peaceful. She hated that her first rest had to end so abruptly.
“How was it?” Trixie asked
“How was what?” Fluttershy replied in her most innocent voice.
“How was your nap?” Trixie asked, with a snicker.
“I thought I wasn't allowed to sleep” Fluttershy retorted
“You aren't, but I had more important matters to take care of,” She responded, her snicker getting wider, “Besides, I have good news. Your friends are looking for you. Along with Bright Night; or as we refer to him, experiment 50294-X,” Tixie grinned as wide a grin as her facial muscles would let her. by referring to Bright Night as an experiment she was able to get one last huge blow at Fluttershy.
However Fluttershy did not seem to notice. She was too excited about the prospect of finally getting out of here.
“Yes! That’s Great news! My friends are coming to save me. I’m gonna be free again!”
“That is great news. For me. Not for you. Not only am I gonna get back my experiment, but I am also going to get revenge against all those who have humiliated the great and powerful Trixie two times too many!” Trixie let out a maniacal laugh, “You see Fluttershy, this room is protected with an enchantment that blocks any magic except for mine. Celestia herself, could come in here and she would be powerless.”
Hearing that made Fluttershy cringe.
“Not only that,” Trixie continued, “But we will be waiting. The moment they enter our lair, we will have our next captives. They don’t stand a chance.”
~~~
“What’s this?” Twilight asked
There was a knock on the door. When Twilight went to open it there was a letter sitting on the top step leading to the library. It was addressed anonymously. She walked in and closed the door. She asked Spike to go fix her some tea, and as he disappeared, she opened the envelope. She started to read the letter:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I have your friend Fluttershy, and I am willing to return her to you in exchange for the life of another pony. This pony has been living amongst you for the past two weeks; however, this pony has been playing you. He is a very dangerous pony. But not near as dangerous as I am if you are my enemy. If you ever want to see Fluttershy again. Then you and Bright Night must go to the old castle. There you will use a hidden objects spell. That will allow you to find me. I cannot tell you who I am, but I assure you. You will find out soon enough.
At that, the letter ended.
“Well this can’t be good,” Twilight said as she ran out the door.
No later had Twilight left, Spike came out of the kitchen wearing his kiss the chef apron with a glass of tea in each hoof.
“Twilight?” he asked without an answer
~~~
Twilight landed on my cloud. When she first touched down she was a little bit shaky. She mentioned how a year ago she did not have wings and still hasn’t gotten used to flying or walking on clouds.
“Neither did I,” I joked with a grin on my face
“Ha, ha, very funny,” She retorted, looking annoyed, “But I need to talk to you about something.”
“Ok?”
“I got this letter,” She handed me the letter, “read it. It says that they are willing to exchange Fluttershy for you life.”
“I can see that,” I sighed, “Well, looks like we don’t have much of a choice. Lets go.”
“Hold on,” She stopped me as I was getting ready to takeoff, “I’m worried this might be a trick. I don’t think we should go alone.”
“What do you propose?” I asked
“I think we should all go. After all, saftey in Numbers right?” She cracked a smile at that, “Plus the letter did not say we couldn’t all come together.”
“I’m pretty sure it was implied,” I said
A serious look appeared on her face.
“Look,” She said, “I’m not letting you go alone. Were gonna get Fluttershy back. And not only that, be we aren't gonna let them have you either. I don’t know what they are planning on doing to you, but I do know that it will be meant to make you suffer. And I am not going to have another ponies suffering fall on my hoof.”
“But-”
“No buts. I have made my decision,” she said, with a genuine anger in her voice.
I could tell there would be no persuading her out of coming with me.
“Come on! We’ve got a castle to search!” She said galloping off, carrying me with her.
~~~
“Did she get the letter?” Trixie asked
“Yes. And she is planning on bring her friends as back up,” Starlight answered
“Perfect. Everything i going according to plan. Soon we will be the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria!”
They both laughed maniacally when they said that. Fluttershy could hear everything they said. Had she not been in such agony she would have been terrified. All she could think about was what they were going to do to Bright Night. They made it clear that they were going to treat him worse than her, and if this was how bad they were treating her, what would they do to Bright Night. She didn’t want to find out. She needed a way to help her friends.
A surge of burning pain spread through her body as she fell unconscious.
~~~
“There’s nothing here,” Rainbow said, “We already looked. Why are we here?”
“Because I got i got a letter telling me to use a hidden object spell,” Twilight answered
“Well why didn’t you use one the first time?”
“I did. But Fluttershy’s captors didn’t want to be found at the time, and they probably knew I would use a hidden objects spell, so they took great care not to leave anything to be found. Now that they want to be found, they probably left something specifically for us to find.”
Twilight Performed the spell, and a map of the Everfree forest appeared on a nearby desk. The map had an X on it.
“Lets go save Fluttershy!” Twilight commanded
Author's Note
Ok... so not my best chapter. But it helps get the story going.
Chapter 6 It’s a Trap!
We’ve been following the map for what seems like an eternity. So far it has led us nowhere.
“Confound this map!” I yelled, getting pissed off. We’re walking in circles, we’ve passed this tree five times now!”
“I think you’re right, Bright,” Twilight acknowledged, “ Why don’t you and Rainbow go and get an aerial view. Perhaps that will give us an idea of where we are.”
Rainbow Dash and I flew up in the air, where I spotted the old castle.
“Ok, so the castle is there,” I mentioned, looking at the map whilst panning my head across the landscape, “See anything Rainbow?”
“Nope,” She replied
I strained my eyes to try and see into the distance. Rainbow and I were about to give up and land, when I saw something flash over by a rather large hill.
“Did you see that Rainbow Dash?!”
“See what?” She replied
I turned her head in the direction of the mountain, just before there was another flash. Her eyes widened. She flew down and started talking to everypony else.
It took only took her a few minutes to explain to everypony what we saw, before she flew back up to talk to me.
“I told them to follow us,” She told me, “Let’s go!”
~~~
“Well... well... well...” Trixie laughed, looking at Fluttershy, “Looks like you’re friends are accepting my invitation.”
Fluttershy sank back into her cell. Her friends had no idea they were walking into a trap.
“How do you know?” Fluttershy asked Trixie
“I have a spell allowing me to see every move they make, as long as they remain in the Everfree Forest.”
Fluttershy sank deeper.
“That’s weird,” Trixie continued, “It looks like Bright Night is leading the group. Why would he be so willingly coming if he knows he’s just delivering himself into my hooves?”
Trixie pondered this for a moment, wondering why he would sacrifice himself for somepony he didn't even know. It would make sense should the be forcing him, but it looked like he was volunteering.
This however disturbed Fluttershy
Why would he do that for me? she wondered, What have I done to deserve him possibly giving up his life for me?
She couldn't bare it. Knowing the pain he was about to inflict upon himself. She moved to the furthest corner of her cell where she broke down crying.
~~~
“Um, I think this is it,” Applejack mentioned
“Well no duh!” Rainbow Dash retorted
We were standing in front of a big metal door. It had to be a good six feet tall by nine feet wide. Bigger than any door I’ve ever seen and definitely bigger than any pony I have ever met. It may even be taller than Princess Celestia herself.
Suddenly the door open, and out steps a blue pony with a white mane. She looked vaguely familiar, but I could not figure out why.
“Trixie?!” Everypony asked shocked
“Wait? You guys know her?” I asked
“Hello, Bright Night,” Trixie said before my friends could answer
“How do you know my name?” I asked angrily
“Oh, your friend Fluttershy has told me so much about you. I just had to have you back.”
“What do you mean ‘have you back?’ You never had me in the first place!” I demanded
“Oh yes I did, as you will find out soon enough.”
“What have you done with Fluttershy?”
“Nothing compared to what the great and powerful Trixie is going to do to you!” She laughed
“Well now that you have me, give Fluttershy back to my friends!”
“Oh, but of course,” She laughed again, “Bright Night will you please follow starlight.”
Almost immediately, a dark blue pony walked through the door.
“Follow me,” He said pointing a hoof towards me
“The rest of you follow me and I will take you to Fluttershy.”
We all went our separate ways.
~~~
Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all followed Trixie through the Labyrinth of a facility. It was damp and dark. The walls and roofs were all the most depressing shade of grey. All they could think about was the fact that Fluttershy had to spend two weeks trapped in this depressing environment. They didn’t even consider the fact that in order to return Fluttershy’s freedom, Bright Night was having to give up his. In fact they almost forgot completely about Bright.
They continued to follow Trixie through the facility, and they walked through an archway that led into a small square room.
“You wait here while I go get Fluttershy,” She told them
The five of them sat down on the stone benches lining the room. Trixie walked out of the room, and no sooner had she past the arch than a force field appears.
“What the?!” Twilight exclaimed. She tried using her magic to dispel the barrier, but the glow around her horn just fizzled out. “Why isn’t my magic working?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this facility prevents anypony from using magic besides me,” Trixie answered in a mocking tone
Trixie walked off, but arrived a few minutes later with Fluttershy in her magical aura.
“I am a mare of my word. Here’s Fluttershy,” Trixie said, throwing Fluttershy through the magical wall.
“You said you would release Fluttershy if we give Bright Night to you!” Twilight replied.
Her face flush when she said that. Almost all of the blood retreated from her face when she saw the critical condition that Fluttershy was in.
“I said I would return Fluttershy to you, which I did,” Trixie said walking away
“Dear Celestia, what have we done?” Twilight asked herself
“Is it just me or did Trixie seem a little more loopy than normal?” Pinkie asked
Everypony just stared at her.
Author's Note
I wrote this entire chapter in the car. Lol. I will warn you. It is VERY dialogue heavy.
Chapter 7 Rising Action
Bright Night lay strapped and unconscious on an operating table. There was a single surgical light above him, that was the only source of light in the entire room. He had tubes of all kinds and sizes connecting him to various machines. There were at least five different fluids flowing into his body. His eyelids started to flutter as he was struggling to open them.
~~~
Ow, my head, I thought as I was starting to wake up. I can remember them strapping me up to the table and attaching all these tubes to me, but that is all I remember since I hoofed-myself over. I don’t remember my head hurting this much before I fell asleep.
I couldn't feel my hooves (or any part of me for that matter). I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t even move them around in their sockets. It seemed as though my body was no longer my own.
“How are you feeling?” I heard a voice ask. I may not have been able to see who the voice was coming from, but I could tell by the sound of it that it belonged to the mare who called herself Trixie.
Of course I could not answer, but she must not have been expecting me too, since she immediately continued talking.
“Don’t worry, the paralysis is only temporary. It is only to numb the pain.”
What are you doing to me? ~ I heard a voice ask in a very digital tone. If I had been able to, I would have jumped out of startlement!
“I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of installing a neural transmitter into your cerebrum,” Trixie said mockingly, “That way, I can hear every single thought that goes through your pathetic little mind.”
That doesn’t answer my question ~ The digital voice responded
She rolled her eyes and sighed, “Very well,” She said, “I am simply restoring you to your original programming.”
Programming?
“Yes. You were created as an experiment. First of all, we wanted to see if it was possible to Artificially create a living fully organic being; however, we knew that it wouldn’t satisfy us to simply create a regular pony, so we attempted to create an alicorn, the most powerful of all ponies,” She explained, “As to your ‘programming,’ You were never supposed to develop a mind of your own. You were supposed to do as we commanded without question. When you decided to escape, we had to use magic to remotely erase your memories, so that nopony would find out what we were doing.”
How do you plan on removing my free will? ~ I asked, still requiring the machine to translate. The thought of me completely losing my self terrified me.
“I guess that telling you can’t hurt. After all, knowing won’t help you once it is installed,” Trixie said pulling a small little microchip out of a drawer.
“This chip will override your brain, giving us complete access all the systems within your body,” She continued, “Once this is installed, we could even control your thoughts should we want to.”
With that she let out a maniacal laugh.
~~~
“It’s alright, Twi. He chose to give himself up, not you,” Applejack said holding Twilight in her grasp trying to comfort her
“Like I don’t know that!” She yelled, “That’s not the problem. The problem is, I had no problem letting him do it!”
Twilight pushed Applejack and the others away and started to pace around the room. She hated herself right now. She felt like she had betrayed him. She felt as though (should he survive), that even if he forgave her, she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive herself.
“I didn’t even care enough about him to try and find another way. I mean, what good is it to save the life of one pony, if it means sacrificing another?! I didn’t even try to find a better solution. I was happy to see them take him.”
Twilight sat on the cold stone floor, having expended all of her energy, as a tear started rolling down her face.
“I became an alicorn because I had supposedly mastered the magic of friendship, but in that moment... That one single moment... I completely disregarded everything I learned about friendship over the last three years. And now Bright will be the one to face the consequences for MY actions.”
“It’s not like you knew just how horribly, awfully, terribly, mean they were going to be!” Pinkie blurted out
“That’s not the point! I knew nothing good would come of it. I knew he would have to pay if he turned himself over. It doesn’t matter if I knew just how bad they would be, I shouldn’t have let him go through with it anyways!”
Once Twilight finished, she collapsed to the ground and began to sob.
~~~
Twilight had been gone for hours, and Spike had heard nothing from any of Twilights friends. He was starting to get worried.
He found the anonymous letter on the writing desk about an hour ago, and after reading, he immediately notified the Princesses. It took them awhile to arrive, but once they did, they didn’t even bother taking the time to knock. Both of them bore a look of serious concern as they walked in.
“Let me read the letter!” Princess Celestia commanded of Spike
Princess Celestia took a moment to read the letter, but the concern on her was replaced by a look of worry before she even got halfway through the letter. Once she finished, Celestia gave the letter to Luna. As Luna read it her face did the same.
“Spike, we must go now,” Celestia said
“But you just got here,” He replied, “Why aren't you gonna help me find Twilight?”
He was angry and confused. Knowing the stress he was under, the Princesses decided to ignore the fact that he was yelling at them.
“That is why we must leave,” Explained Luna
“Fine, let’s go,” Spike said
“No Spike. Twilight is in enough danger as it is, we need not risk your life as well,” Luna stopped him
“Princess, with all do respect, I am Twilight’s number one assistant, and thus it is my job to assist her whenever help is needed, and last I checked, help is needed.”
“But Spike-” Celestia started before Spike interrupted her
“Not only that,” He continued, “But it is not just Twilight who is in danger but all of my best friends!”
“But-” Started Luna, before she too was interrupted
“Lastly, my help may come in handy.”
“Thou art not taking no as an answer, art thou?” Luna asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance
“Correct,” the little dragon confirmed
"very well," she said annoyed, "Then we shall depart."
Chapter 8 Seizing Control
“We have to get out of here! We need to save Bright Night!” Twilight said with determination in her voice.
“And how do you suppose we do that?” Rainbow asked angrily, “It’s not like we can just trot out of here!”
“Doest thou want to bet?” Luna asked as she and Celestia walked around the corner.
“Princesses?” The girls asked in simultaneous confusion
No sooner, Spike was crawling against the dark flooring.
“Spike!” Rarity was startled to see her admirer
“H-hi R-Rarity,” he said before collapsing from exhaustion
“But how are you going to get us out? There’s no magic in here,” Twilight asked
“So, we noticed,” Celestia retorted, “Leave the escaping to us,” indicating herself and Luna.
As they made their way out of the facility, the passed directly by the hallway that housed Bright Night.
“Aren't we gonna help him?” Rainbow asked
“Yes,” Celestia answered, “But first we need to get you all to safety”
***
“Is the chip programmed?” Trixie asked
“Yes, Ma’am,” Starlight answered
Bright Night lay on the operating table, Unconscious for the sole purpose of not being mentally damaged by the operation taking place. His head lay opened with the top portion of the skull removed, leaving his brain tissue exposed to the surroundings. Starlight handed Trixie a scalpel and a syringe. Trixie gently lifted up a piece of the grey matter, so as to not damage any of the sensitive up nerves, then stuck the end of the syringe in between two folds of grey matter, and pressed a button on a machine connected to the syringe.
A blueish-grey liquid went through the tube into the brain. A few seconds into the flow, you could see a moderately large metal object flow through the inch wide tube, and attached itself amongst the folds.
“Hows he taking it?” Trixie asked
“He’s resisting. His brain is not giving up control,” Starlight replied
“Can we amplify the signal?”
“Not without the risk of killing him”
“What is the risk?” Trixie questioned
“About 50 percent” Starlight answered
“Do it.”
***
The Princesses, Spike, and the Mane 6, all arrived at the Library.
“We are going to attempt to rescue Bright Night,” Celestia said, “Twilight, I want you to stay here with your friends. You are in no emotional condition to assist us.”
“Yes princess,” Twilight said with a clear hesitation to comply.
“Twilight, I promise you, we will bring him back safely,” Celestia said, attempting to comfort her previous student. Twilight looked away, tears swelling in her eyes. Celestia nuzzled her for a second, then released her to the warm embrace of her friends as she walked away.
As the door closed behind the princesses, Twilight could feel herself being overcome by tears.
***
“Doest thou truly believe we can save him?” Luna asked the princess of the sun
“I have a feeling it may already be too late,” Celestia Answered, “I worry it will soon be up to him to save himself.”
***
“Try moving his legs,” Trixie commanded Starlight
He pushed a button on a nearby console and Bright Night’s leg twitched. Starlight pushed the button again and the leg twitched again.
“Perfect. Let’s try and make him walk,” commented Trixie
Starlight grabbed a remote controller off of a counter and Bright started walking. He immediately woke up. And screamed.
“What the hay have you done to me?!” He demanded
“We simply took control like we meant to since the beginning,” Trixie replied
“But-”
“Oh, and we’re not going to stop here,” Trixie interrupted, “Soon we will have control of every aspect of your being.”
“What?!”
“You heard me. Soon your innermost thoughts will be ours.”
Author's Note
This is my shortest chapter by far and for that I apologize. I hope you like it, nonetheless.