The Voyage to Asclepius

The year is... Well, I don't really know. My location, I don't have a single clue about that either. My back hurts, it hurts a lot. I'm lying on some sort of moist and damp substance, I'm guessing it's some sort of corroded wood. I can't move at all, but I'm not paralyzed or anything of the sort. All I can see is a ceiling overgrown with moss and vines. Out of the corner of my eye I can see what looks like a broken glass window. I'm cold, the wind is blowing hard through the window and against my corpse-like body. Shivering, I turned my neck to the right and noticed something odd in the corner. Something else is lying on the corroded wood a good distance away from me. Brightness... It's coming from above her. Is she an angel?

But wait, how do I know it's a she? What is a... She. I just blurted out a word I don't know the definition of. And at the same time, I know exactly what it means. Her coat, it's just like mine. Grey... Bland... Average. Her mane is a light pink, I feel even colder when I stare at it. It's tied back into a braid, but the end is all messy.

Suddenly, she moves.

And then my body, like a marionette, begins to rise with her. My right hoof moves, hers does the same. I'm trying my hardest to stand up, but this pain is unbearable. I can't hold it in anymore, I have to...

"RR....AAAGH!" I shout, and I collapse to the floor. My string's have been cut.

She does the same, she collapses, and she turns her head towards me. I see her face, and I almost start to cry. Who is she? And why does she stick out to me so much? Maybe it could be the fact that she's the only living thing that's keeping me company around here-- wherever 'here' is. It's only been about ten (10) minutes since I woke up, but it feels like I've just been born.

"Um..." I hear a noise come from the pony across from me.

I reply with a tired-sounding "Hello?"

"Who... Are you?" She asks.

"I can't exactly answer that right now."

"Why?" Her voice squeaked.

"Because... I don't know who I am."

"Same here." She replied.

"Well then I guess we have something in common."

Soon enough, I found myself having a pleasant conversation with this strange new friend of mine. It was a great change from staring at the mossy ceiling. But an awkward silence filled the air as we soon ran out of conversation topics. The silence was followed by noise that seemed familiar, yet I've never heard it before.

*AROOOUUU*

A loud howl echoed from outside the broken windows.

"What is that?" She asks.

I simply reply with another, "I don't know."

The howling stopped. I let out a deep breath, and came to the realization that there was something else alive in this world besides us two ponies in this single room. But was this other life form friendly or not was the question. Was it able to help us with finding out who we are? Maybe it's some sort of predator, that was my guess.

"Alright, I'm not sitting here any longer." I tell her, "Let's get out of here."

"What are we going to do? It hurts when I move. I only tried because you looked like you could do it."

I reply, "It hurt me too. Just... Stay there for a second." My body began to rise on it's own, but this time it hurt a lot less.

There was still a bit of stinging in my hooves, and my torso was still numb. I slowly made my way to the grey filly on the floor. As I stood up, I got a better understanding of my surrounding. We were in a room that was empty as can be. The walls were made up of some kind of smooth stone. Every few metres there would be a glass window inserted into the walls. Every single window would were either partially shattered, or the hole in the wall would be completely devoid of any glass. The ceiling had rotting holes in the wooden floor boards above me.

I walked across the wet wooden floor towards her, "What is this stuff?" I asked.

"No clue." She replies.

Finally, I reach her, "Come on now. Just tell me if it hurts." I say, as I slide my head underneath her torso. Lifting my neck up, she falls onto my back. Her forehooves are hanging from my left side, and her hind legs from my right.

"T-Thank you." She says.

Suddenly, something snaps in my brain. 'Thank you' sounds so familiar, and this 'Thank you' sounds like something I feel close to. But why? I decide to let it sit in my brain, and hopefully it will come back to me. There is a set of stairs leading down near us, and we move towards it. As we do, another howl echoes from outside.

*AROOOUUU*

The howl, followed by a chilling breeze, makes me shiver. I pay no attention to it, and trot down the wooden stairs that led down. I arrive at the base of the stairs, in a room that is less empty this time. A few desks, along with a few chairs, are scattered around the floor. Is this is a school?

"How do I know what all of these things are? Yet I cannot remember who I am?" I hear her whispering.

I hate this feeling, this feeling of uselessness. She is constantly asking me these questions, and I always reply, "I don't know." Why do I want to answer her questions this badly?

I realize that we awoke on the second floor, and we are now on the ground level. But it is strange, how do I know what these words mean, and yet I don't know anything about myself.

We-- I continue trotting through the room. A set of giant glass doors blocks our path. Pushing does no good, neither does pulling. It's as if I've had this problem before, pulling and pushing doors to no avail.

There's something on the ground, near the desk behind me. It's a metal pipe. I wrap my mouth around it and sharply twist my neck towards the door. The glass breaks, and I use the pipe to chip away the shards of glass on the frame.

"There. Now watch out, don't get cut." As soon as I say that, she begins to cling tighter my body. What is this feeling?

Carefully making our way through the glass door, we make it outside. This is strange, everything inside seemed so familiar. Yet outside, it's even more confusing now.

*AROOOUUU*

That fierce howl echoes out from all directions again. Suddenly, I see something move in the corner of my right eye. Something that was fast, extremely fast. What is it? Whatever it is, it isn't friendly. If this filly gets hurt because of me, I could never forgive myself. But why could I never forgive myself? I've only known her for a short while.

As that thought crosses my mind, the words echo in my head.

"I've only known you for a short time." I say under my breath. I feel like I've said this before...

"W-What was that thing that moved just now?!" She quietly asks.

Again, I am unable to answer her question. But I want to, I want to so badly, "I don't know."

I can't help myself, I don't know anything. Where am I? When am I? Who am I? Who is this filly on my back? I hate this feeling of stupidity, this feeling of complete incompetence.

This is irritating.