The leaves were falling from the trees. The trees were shaking from contact as Dust pulled his legs back. Looking down, he frowned at the apples on the ground. He picked them up, putting them in the cart. He looked over to the other side of the fields where Big Mac was bucking trees, the apples falling right in the cart.

“Come on now, Dust, you’ve just got to loosen up… try again,” Applejack said, motioning to the next tree.

“Sure,” Dust said, his confidence slowly dropping.

Dust reared his hind legs back, kicking the tree with less force than before. Once again, he heard a snap as the bark of the tree cracked on contact. This time, though, the apples fell mostly into the bin. Also, less leaves fell than before, leaving the tree more or less the way he wanted. He frowned however, as he looked at the crack shaped like a smile. Almost like it was laughing at him.

“Whew, that’s what I’m talking about. Some more practice and you could be a natural,” Applejack said. Dust turned to the next tree, readying himself for another shot.

“Hey, why don’t you take a break?” Applejack suggested, Dust’s face was more serious than before, and she was worried that he’d done more than lost his memory earlier.

“I’m fine,” Dust said, bucking the tree. This time, the crack was barely visible, but to Dust, the crack was bigger than ever.

“Alright, I’m going to check on supper, don’t tire yourself out now, alright?” Applejack asked.

“…” Dust replied, eyes set on another tree. Applejack left, thinking Dust needed some time to himself.

Dust waited she was inside before letting loose on the tree. In one swift motion, the bark was split in half, the leaves completely leaving the branches. Apples fell to the ground, smashing as they landed. Dust sat down, holding his head as he thought about the day’s events.

A few hours ago, he’d woken in the room with six other ponies. Waking to find he had no memory, he accepted the fact he was Dust. Since leaving the room, he’d had feelings of sorrow and pain well up inside of him for no reason. Letting out the frustration on the trees had helped, but something about not knowing who he was burned in his mind.

All he knew was his name was Dust, that and an image of a dragon in his mind towering over him. He hit the tree as the image appeared again. Once again, more feelings welled up. Looking around, he looked for something to take his anger on. Then, he saw it. A cloud, drifting in his direction. The cloud suddenly lowered, the passenger above almost in view. Dust stood, walking in the direction of the cloud. Maybe this pony could take his mind off the situation.

“Hey Dust, long time no see,” Anon said, the cloud lowering him onto the ground.

“I don’t know you,” Dust said, but something in his head throbbed. Something was wrong.

“Oh, how could you forget me? That’s hurtful, you know,” Anon said, stepping off the cloud and letting the cloud raise into the air.

“I don’t remember much,” Dust said.

“Well that’s too bad. I hoped you’d remember me… and what I did,” Anon said, walking closer.

“Well I don’t,” Dust said.

“Then let me remind you,” Anon said, raising his hoof.

Dust raised his own hoof faster than he thought he could. Catching Anon’s attack before it could make contact with his face. Then, catching Anon off guard, he smacked the hoof away, landing his own hit on Anon’s chest, sending him back in the dirt.

“Ah, it looks like you didn’t forget that,” Anon said, rising. He brushed himself off as his face grew a smile.

“I think I might have wasted my time coming here, unless you don’t remember… this,” Anon said, raising his hoof. This time, a layer of dirt rose from the ground, covering his hoof. He charged forward.

Dust raised his hoof to stop the attack like he did before, but his hoof was nearly shattered as he fell back, unable to stop the blow. When he stood up, the feelings returned, stronger than before.

“I don’t know you… so what gives you the right… to smile?” Dust said, anger entering his veins. Before he knew what he was doing, he charged Anon, a grin forming on his face.

Anon raised his hoof of rock and prepared himself. Dust felt energy course through him as well as the anger. In his assault, his body was layering himself in the surrounding dirt. Instead of just his hoof, even his face was succumbed to the dirt. He didn’t care though, as his body charged forward. Now, Anon was thrown back as the first hit sent him sliding back.

Anon wasn’t prepared for the hit, and he definitely wasn’t prepared for the second. When he moved his hoof to see what happened, he was open as the rock hoof appeared in front of his face. His eyes closed, and the hoof hit open air.

(A little while ago)

“I swear, has the weirdest ways of doing things,” Wisp said to himself as he flew above.

‘It’s radical of her to do this though, I mean, she’s been pretty awesome so far,’

‘I think it’s romantic, don’t you agree?’

“I don’t think of her like that,” Wisp said, looking down from the sky to the schoolyard.

‘Oh I know, but have you ever thought of how she feels?’

“I don’t think she thinks of me like that either,” Wisp said.

‘Can we get back to the situation… have you checked behind the bar?’

“I’m not going to the bar, you can stop asking,” Wisp said.

‘Why don’t we just give up and do something else?’

“Because that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The point of this was for me to get to know the town better. Of course, me just flying everywhere isn’t helping much,” Wisp said.

‘hey man, what’s that down there?’

Wisp looked down to where he was flying over. He’d managed to make it to the outskirts of town, apple trees scattered below him. Looking down, he saw three figures in the acres. One was alone, while the other two were in combat.

“Better check that out,” Wisp said, heading down to find out what was happening.

Wisp noticed that one of them had turned brown, and grew slightly in size. The other, was pushed back as he tried to defend himself.

“I’ve got to save him,” Wisp said, rushing down. He flew faster, gaining speed as he went. When the pony on the defensive dropped his guard, he made it just in time to grab him before the other could strike.

Wisp landed in the dirt, his head hitting a tree as he stopped. Then, he lessened his grip on the pony he saved as he turned to assess the monster. The rock creature looked vicious at first, its eyes boring into Wisp as the creature stepped forward.

“That’s it,” Anon said, brushing himself off once again. “You’re going to pay my dry cleaners bill,” He said, turning to Wisp. Wisp in turn looked at him.

“Wait! You’re that pony from before,” Wisp said, starting to back away.

“You chose the worst possible time to be a hero,” Anon said, turning to Dust. “And I’m done with you,” Anon said, raising his hoof. As he did, the wind started to shift direction. For a second, the light breeze was gone, replaced with silence. Then, the wind picked up speed. Wisp had to lower his body so the wind wouldn’t take him.

Dust was stepping forward, his hoof reaching towards Anon. The hoof was stopped in midair. Trying to force it forward, Dust heard the crack as the dirt turned solid burst apart. The rest of his covering also cracked and he was left standing in his cloak and mask, the anger almost disappearing.

“You need a time out,” Anon said, thrusting his hoof forward. The dirt that cracked from Dust suddenly raised up, creating a dome around him, and then closing in, hardening when Dust couldn’t move anymore.

“And you,” Anon said, turning to Wisp, having stopped his escape when he witnessed what happened to Dust.

“What?” Wisp asked, stopping in his tracks.

“What’s your favorite cardinal direction?” Anon asked.

‘say North,’

‘say East,’

“South-west,” Wisp said.

‘nice…’

“You’re special, did anypony tell you that?” Anon asked, raising his hoof.

“Just my parents…” Wisp said, recalling the times his parents said that.

Anon lifted his hoof higher and Wisp felt his hooves leave the ground. Flapping his wings, he felt the air flow suddenly change, and the wings were useless as he spun in a circle in the air. When he felt like he was about to barf, Anon thrust his hoof and Wisp was thrown South west. Landing near a tree, he tried to raise his hoof, but then there was a force pushing him down.

Wisp lost consciousness sometime in the next few seconds, but so did the others in his head as they individually took turns taking control of Wisp just to be knocked out as Anon brought down the air current in a ninety degree angle onto Wisp’s body. When Wisp was surrounded by cracks in the ground, his body gasping for air and his bones suffering from the pressure, Anon stopped.

“So far, he’s my favorite,” Anon said, stepping away. He waited for a second and the cloud came back down, waiting for him to get on. Raising into the air, he headed into the direction of the library.

“You didn’t warn me he was coming,” Anon said, poking the cloud as it sailed forward.

“Alright, I get it. Just don’t let it happen again,” Anon said, laying down as he waited.

“Why did he have to show up though? I might not have enough energy for Star… let alone Shine,” Anon said.

“Alright, just keep her steady while I rest,” Anon said, closing his eyes.

The cloud drifted along, the same direction, although slightly faster than the other clouds.

Author's Note

So, I'm back from vacation. My editor isn't, so this is a raw chapter. Any problems should be fixed in the next few days though, so don't get your OCD in a twist. If you can guess what's going to happen next, you deserve a cookie. Even I surprised myself when I thought of it.

Next time: Solar Flare, even the fires in the darkest pits of hell still glow.