Inside one of the hundreds upon thousands of possible universes that could exist, there is one where hundreds of galaxies do a slow but delicate dance through the emptiness. Within one of these galaxies, approximately halfway to the edge of the third arm, there are countless stars and nebulae. If one were to zoom in on one of these star clusters, there would be a specific constellation that they would be interested in. One of these stars was very unique, in that, not only was it an ice blue color, but it also was one of few stars that had seven planets circling it. 4 terrestrial, and 3 gaseous giants. The fourth planet, known by its inhabitants as Kohrahn, was currently in a state of war.
An enormous gorge ran across the majority of the main continent, splitting and weaving its way through, cracking the surface like a scar. Millions of soldiers from the two factions fighting have marched their way through this gorge, intent only on annihilating the other.
The soldiers currently marching inside the ravine were part of a resistance group, attempting to overthrow a tyrant king and his corrupt followers. The resistance comprised of Kohrahns, a proud race of fierce bipedal warriors, using simple metal weapons and brute force to dominate the battle field, Valshins, a race of small, quadruped creatures, using claws and prehensile tails to clamber over the various machinery and clockwork they produce and maintain, and the Ehdahna, a tall, graceful race of two-legged people, wielding powerful and mysterious magic to great effectiveness.
Giant metal behemoths burst from the rocky walls of the gorge, showering a division of such soldiers. Edahnans were quick to cast protective spells over their allies, while the Kohrahns yelled battle cries. The behemoths, unfazed by the taunts, climbed down the walls, almost like a cat would stalk a mouse. Sword- and axe-bearing warriors charged the scorpion-like monsters, blows simply glancing off the iron shells. Massive, razor-sharp claws sliced through the ranks of Kohrahns, spilling what seemed like gallons of blood.
One young Edahnan began charging a powerful lightning spell, hoping to short circuit the beast. The behemoths regarded the Edahnan with their cold gazes, and one broke away from the pack, scooping up the mage before the spell was complete. The massive flux of mana he had held snapped, sending burning tendrils of rogue magic along his body, like a whip made of fire. A slight whirring sound came from the claw, and it tightened its grip, easily cutting the body of the mage in half. The behemoth then unceremoniously dropped the body, confident he was out of the fight, and continued on its murderous rampage.
The mage lay in a pool of growing blood, desperately holding onto what little life he had remaining. He watched the blood-soaked behemoth through his golden eyes, as Valshins desperately climbed the machinery, trying to shut down the blood-thirsty device. A female Edahnan came into the first’s view, and began working up a healing spell. He wouldn’t be able to walk again, but at least he’d live.
Suddenly, the behemoth made a grinding sound as its magically powered innards were pulled apart by Valshin hands. The machine violently exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction.
‘These machines really are harbingers of death,’ the war-mage thought. He glanced over to the medic, only to find her headless corpse falling next to him. His eyes widened as her staff fell into his puddle of expanding blood. The energy crystal on the top was anything but fragile. But every spell caster knew that the powerful magical artifacts were easily compromised, and extremely deadly when it was. No one knew what horrors could come out of a compromised energy crystal.
Summoning the last bits of physical strength, the Edahnan mage reached out and picked up the once-clear gem. It had already begun to turn black with corruption. He then began doing the only thing he could do from stopping an eldritch abomination: overload it. An overloaded crystal was better than a merciless horror. He pulled as hard as he could on his dwindling magical reserves, squeezing out every last drop, and poured it into the crystal. The gem slowly began glowing brighter and brighter, as magic was being forced in beyond its capacity.
The mage held the brilliant gem close to his chest, knowing this was his last moments. Time seemed to slow down and the world fell away. Sighing, he let go of his magical hold on the gem.
An intense light exploded out from his hands, engulfing him in a wave of pure energy. The wave vaporized skin and bone, in an ever-expanding circle. Very few soldiers saw the wave coming, and those who did had no time to react. The wave consumed everything around it, ripping through the metal behemoths, melting rock into slag, burning away corpses in seconds.
The lingering blast wave faded into nothingness after a few seconds, leaving a large crater in the ground. The massive explosion could be felt for miles, and left no survivors. An eerie silence came over the scorched landscape, a few motes of dust and mana dancing in the light of the setting star. There was no sound, no movement. Nothing.
Pinkie Pie regarded the foe in front of her, eyes narrowing in thought. Her opponent simply glared back, not wanting to betray even the slightest bit of weakness. Pinkie scratched her chin with a hoof, and thought diligently. She opened her mouth to say something, but whether it was an insult or a battle cry, the world would never know as she closed her mouth and thought some more. She then opened her mouth once more and said one word to her opponent.
“King.” She sat back with a smile on her face, certain this was the end of her foe. But her foe just smiled.
“Go fish.”
“Augh!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling a card off of the top of the deck. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she looked at her own hand, deep in thought. Twilight rolled her eyes at her friends’ antics, and continued reading her book.
It was a beautiful day, thanks to the weather team, and the six ponies were enjoying the summer day outside with a picnic. Rarity was talking to Fluttershy about fashion, gossip, and stallions, while the shyer of the two simply nodded and smiled, content with just listening to the white mare. Applejack was in a tug of war contest with Winona, and Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were playing cards and trying to pull the others into playing a game. All in all, it was a perfect day.
A bright flash lit up the sky, drawing the attention of everyone. Twilight and Rarity felt an enormous flux of magical power, bigger than they’ve ever felt before. A massive blast was heard and felt by the six, coming from the center of town. They looked at each other for a brief second, before sprinting off into town.
Dozens of ponies were already circled around a large, shallow crater in the ground when they showed up, black smoke and soot billowing into the air. Luckily, the only damage was to the cobblestones, somehow missing both the citizens and the buildings nearby. Applejack and Rainbow started ushering the townsfolk back away from the crater while Twilight began scanning it with magic.
“Do you notice anything?” Fluttershy asked in her quiet voice. The unicorn simply shook her head.
“There was a massive spike in magic, but it’s gone now. I’ve never seen magic like this before, though. It’s almost like it’s…raw or something.” The pegasus cocked an eyebrow, not understanding magic in the slightest.
Before Twilight could explain, however, a collective gasp from the crowd pulled her attention back to the crater. Inside, at the very bottom, a single pony lay, dozens of cuts oozing blood. Twilight’s eyes widened as brief calculations told her that he shouldn’t be alive. And yet…
Rainbow zipped inside the crater and picked up the limp stallion, carefully depositing him on the stones. Fluttershy was already there, her hooves placed against the stallion’s brown coat. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she checked his vital signs.
“There’s a pulse,” she said to all who could hear her, “but it’s really faint.” Twilight nodded.
“Rainbow, take him to the hospital. Be fast, but be careful. Tell the nurses what happened.” The cyan pegasus gave a swift salute before gently scooping the stallion up again and rocketing off towards the hospital, leaving a rainbow contrail in her wake. Twilight then turned to the rest of her friends.
“Fluttershy, I want you to ask the birds nearby if they saw anything important. And maybe ask a few other animals while you’re at it.” Fluttershy nodded, a serious expression on her face. “Pinkie, I want you to ask the townsfolk the same question, especially anypony who was in this area.”
“Okie dokie lokie!”
“Applejack, I’d like you to meet with the mayor and prepare a speech to calm down the townsfolk. They may think that this sort of thing could happen again, and I’d like to assure them that it’s very unlikely.”
“On it.”
“Ok, Rarity, I know your magic isn’t designed for this per se, but I’d like your help in scanning this crater for anything out of the ordinary.” Rarity trotted up to the edge, her horn already glowing. Twilight looked off in the distance in the direction of the hospital, a single thought on the forefront of her mind.
Who was that stallion?
Rainbow trotted in a circle, pacing impatiently. She had no idea who the stallion was, but she somehow felt responsible for his well-being. She stopped and looked up at the clock for the umpteenth time. It had been almost thirty minutes since the nurses and doctors took the brown stallion inside the operating room.
The sound of a door closing made her snap her head around. Nurse Redheart was walking out of the room, a clipboard in her mouth. She gently set the clipboard down and turned to the pegasus.
“How is he?” Rainbow interrupted before the nurse could say anything.
“He’s…I’m not actually sure. He had dozens of lacerations, burn marks, and, oddly enough, a large cut around his abdomen.” Rainbow had a blank look on her face.
“Uhh, normal speak please?”
“He’s in bad shape. And in a coma.”
“Oh.” Rainbow’s shoulders visibly drooped.
“It’s not your fault,” the nurse said, placing a comforting hoof on the other mare. “He was already like this. You haven’t made him any worse.” Rainbow put on a small smile.
“Thanks.” She began to walk out the door, when a thought came to mind.
“Can…can I see him?” she asked, turning to look over her shoulder. The nurse simply smiled, and gestured with her hoof.
The stallion was indeed in bad shape. Several transfusion bags hung from a rack, a heart monitor beeping in the background. Large bandages covered his forelegs, along with the top of his head and a much larger one surrounding his gut. His breathing was steady, though shallow.
“Damn,” Rainbow whispered. “Do you think he’ll wake up?”
“We don’t know. We could try magical effects, but we don’t have any idea of why he’s in a coma in the first place. None of these cuts seem to have come from the blast. Almost like they were there before it happened.” Rainbow nodded, then turned back to studying the stallion.
He had dark brown, almost black hair that sat in a jumbled mess on his head. A horn came out from his forehead, something that Rainbow hadn’t noticed until now.
‘A unicorn, huh? Well, Twilight’s had several spells go wonky on her, so…’
Rainbow voiced her thought aloud, but the nurse shook her head.
“There’s almost no magical residue on him. If it was a spell of any kind, other unicorns would be able to sense it. Even if someone else cast the spell.” Rainbow frowned in thought.
Where the hell did you come from?
I stood on the bow of a grand airship, named the Dauntless. The wind pushed my hair back and brought the salty scent of the ocean, though it was a few thousand feet below us. The gentle hum of the engine reverberated through my feet as I gazed off into the distance. If all goes right, the war ends today.
I turned back to face the crew behind me, shouting to be heard over the roaring wind.
“Is everything set and ready?”
“Yes, sir!” came the reply from several directions at once. Bomb bays were filled, mechanics checked and double-checked, cannons at the ready. The hull secured, mages at the ready, shields facing the capital. They would try to shoot us down as fast as possible.
I turned my gaze over to the other airships around me. An armada of wood and iron vessels, filled to the brim with large ordinance bombs, held aloft by huge energy crystals. This day is going to be perfect.
Beep
A sudden bolt of magical energy tore through the air, narrowly missing my ship. I flinched, looking for the source. I felt my blood turn cold as I looked skyward, up at the sun. Hundreds of bolts pierced the sky from above, tearing ships asunder.
“Shit! They’re above us!” I charged up a beam of my own, firing it blindly at the ships concealed in the glare of the sun. The shield mages began frantically manipulating their shields to face upwards. They knew we were coming. They had planned on it.
A fleet of dark warships floated down from behind the glaring rays of the sun, firing bolts at our defenseless ships. I fired a blast of lightning at the base of one attack ship, watching as the energy weapons on board short circuited.
I jumped to one side as three energy beams converged to where I was just a few seconds ago, leaving the air smelling of ozone. I cursed myself for not learning a few shield spells of my own. I charged up another lightning bolt, carefully aiming for the flagship. A sudden jolt to the side jarred my aim, sending the bolt wildly off into open air. Whipping around, I spotted an enemy warship preparing to broadside us from the starboard side. I dumped massive amounts of mana into a beam and fired it, just as a few other combat mages cast their bolts as well. I wasn’t sure who did it, but one of us managed to pierce the hull and fracture the energy crystal.
Beep
The warship exploded in a ball of white energy, consuming all of the crew members inside. It was a quick and painless death.
I searched the air around my ship, counting the allied vessels. While the Empire had gotten the element of surprise, only a few of our ships were down. Unfortunately, they had warships. Warships designed to attack our bombers. And they outnumbered us. I grimaced in thought. We could either fight, and maybe win, or retreat to launch another attack later.
A beam razed by my left ear, startling me out of my thoughts. I watched as the beam melted through the deck, into the power room.
Beep
Our energy crystal was hit. I didn’t have much time before it detonated.
“ABANDON SHIP!!” I sprinted for the bow, flinging myself into the air as the airship exploded in an enormous ball of energy. The shock wave rammed against my back, knocking me unconscious.
I was suspended in an endless expanse of nothingness. No light and no sound, save for a small beeping in the background. Was this what death was like?
Beep
I took a deep breath, and felt a pressure around my midsection, like I was being held by something. A wave of scents assaulted my nose. It smelled strongly of cleaner and, oddly enough, cherries. There was also the faintest smell of the sea, as if it was merely a memory. Maybe it was. Maybe I was losing my mind.
Beep
I extended my consciousness outward, to my body. I felt the pounding rhythm of my heart, oddly in sync with the beeping noise. I also felt a light pressure on top of me, as if I was under a thin blanket. I could tell I was in a sitting position, but I had no clue where I was or how I’d gotten there. I started to doubt that I was actually dead.
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs to the brim, before slowly letting it out. It was a technique I had learned…
Beep
When did I learn that technique? Where? And why? I mentally shook myself, and pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind. I needed to concentrate. I extended my consciousness outward even more, to my ears this time. Faint sounds of speech wafted to me, but I was unable to discern what was being said. Another, fainter sound reached me. Breathing, slow and methodical. Someone might be in the same room as me. Watching over me, perhaps? Tending to me?
Beep
I ran my tongue along the roof of my mouth. Bone dry. I felt like I hadn’t gotten a drink in years. I tried summoning a small bit of saliva, but it decided against me. I’ll just ask someone for a drink later.
I finally reached out with my mind and brought my attention to my eyes. I opened them slowly, trying to get used to the light. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I took in my surroundings.
I was in a light blue room, a small window allowing a view of a picturesque river running through a small meadow. One wall was replaced entirely with a curtain, presumably to section off another room. Looking to my left, I found the source of the odd beeping. It was a small, black display, showing a bright green line that bounced up and down with each beep. I followed a set of wiring running from the machine to my bed. The beeping was keeping track of my heartbeat. Ingenious.
Next, I decided to chance a look down at myself. The first thing I noticed was a set of pristine white bandages around my abdomen. The second was the fact that I was covered in brownish fur. The fur seemed to cover my entire body, or as much as I could see, at least. How odd.
I shuffled my arms from underneath the sheet I was under and studied my…hooves? Carefully manipulating and shifting them, I had complete, albeit a little slow, control over my movements. For some reason, this felt both right and wrong at the same time. But I couldn’t seem to figure out why I felt that way.
I heard a slight shuffling sound off to my right. Looking over, I saw what looked like a small animal on a cushion by the window, fast asleep. It appeared to be a horse, but was too small to be one. So I presumed it was a pony of some sort. Just like me. The feeling that something was off grew steadily. And yet my subconscious mind didn’t feel like sharing its secrets.
The pony was decidedly female, with soft yellow fur and long, pink hair. She shuffled lightly in her sleep, then continued merrily snoozing away. I found my eyes tracing over her form, studying the muscle groups on her chest and sides. She seemed rather strong, and yet I felt like she would be extremely gentle. She was…cute.
Another noise brought me back to the real world, but this was a slow, faint clip-clop, clip-clop, sound. Someone – some pony? – was coming. I looked through the open doorway and watched as another mare walked through the doorway, her gaze focused on a clipboard that she was somehow reading and holding in her mouth at the same time. She had a nearly pure-white coat, and had light pink hair held in a tight bun.
She walked into the room a pretty good distance before lowering the clipboard and looked over at the yellow pony. She had a soft, almost sad look in her eye. She then turned, noticing for the first time that I was watching her. Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open, the clipboard clattering to the ground.
“Y-you’re…you’re awake!” she exclaimed. She stared for a few seconds longer before sprinting out of the room.
‘That went well,’ I thought. But before I could wonder as to where she ran off to, she trotted back in, a tray with a pitcher of water and a single drinking glass set on it. Carefully setting the tray on a small bedside table that I hadn’t noticed, she poured a glass of crystal clear water and offered it to me. I was astonished at how she had manipulated everything with her mouth.
I gripped the glass in my teeth, just as she had done, and carefully tilted my head back, letting the cool water flow down my throat. It was blissful. Every time I set the glass down, she refilled it, until the pitcher was empty. Damn, I must have been more thirsty than I thought.
After setting down the last cup, I noticed another pony standing in the room. This one was a stallion, his coat a light tan. He had what appeared to be a horn on the top of his head, and it was glowing a faint deep gold color. A clipboard, the one the nurse dropped, I reasoned, was floating in front of him, which also happened to be glowing the same deep gold color. The nurse trotted out of the room, flashing me a brief smile before disappearing from view.
“Hello, sir,” the stallion said, grabbing my attention. “My name is Doctor Bones. But most folks just call me Bones.”
“Uh, nice to meet you, doctor.” He smiled warmly.
“Now then, what’s your name?”
I opened my mouth to tell him the thing I’d known my entire life. But nothing came out. I closed my mouth, brow furrowing in thought.
“I’m….um..” I thought harder. Surely I’d know my own name…right? I looked back at the doctor, to see a worried expression on his face.
“You don’t remember?” he asked slowly. I shook my head.
“Oh my…” a new voice spoke. I looked around to see the yellow pony looking at me with large, teal eyes. “You don’t remember your name?”
“N-no…” I said, looking down at the bed.
“Well then,” Bones spoke, “what’s the furthest you remember?” I frowned in thought.
“Umm…my dream?” I offered. The doctor shook his head.
“I mean, the last physical thing. The very first memory you have of something you actually did.”
“…”
The doctor’s eyes widened as he understood my silence. The mare was suddenly very quiet too, looking down at the floor. After a moment, I decided to fill the awkward pause.
“Why, what happened?” Bones and the quiet mare looked at each other, then back at me.
“Well, you see…”
“…and the rest you know.” The yellow mare, whose name I learned was Fluttershy, finished recounting the story.
“Damn,” I said, after a moment’s pause. “An explosion. That’s…new.” Fluttershy chuckled.
The doctor had left a while earlier, muttering something about finding someone who could be of assistance. So Fluttershy was the one who told the majority of the tale. It was relatively short as not much happened.
“So,” I started, “How exactly did you get the name, ‘Fluttershy’, anyways?”
“I don’t know. My parents named me.”
“But with that kind of name, I’d expect you to be…well…shy,” I reasoned.
“Well, it’s true,” she said, shrugging. “I usually am pretty shy. Most ponies in town don’t know my name.”
“Seriously? You seem really talkative to me.”
“Well, you’re really easy to talk to…” she suddenly found a spot on the floor to be very interesting, running a hoof back and forth around the spot. I thought it was cute how her cheeks flushed a light pink.
Before I could respond, Bones entered the room again, this time with a purple mare in tow. This one’s hair was mostly a darker purple, but it was streaked with a lighter purple band, and a lavender one next to it.
The purple mare, another unicorn, saw me and smiled warmly.
“Hello, sir,” she began. I noticed she had the voice of a teacher. Instead of voicing my opinions, I smiled warmly back at her.
“Hello.”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I understand you have no recollection of your memories. Have you tried to access your magic?” I blinked.
“My…magic?” I felt that I should have an idea of what she was talking about. Twilight and Bones looked at each other. I caught the glimpse of worry in the doctor’s eyes.
“Yes,” Twilight continued. “Your magic. You’re a unicorn, after all.” In a moment of stupidity, I tilted my head back to try to see my supposed horn. The other ponies giggled at me, and I felt my face grow hot. Mentally smacking myself, I rolled my eyes upward. Sure enough, a short cone the same color of my fur came out of my forehead, a gentle spiral climbing up it, and ending with a rounded point. I was a unicorn.
“That’s something you don’t see every day,” I said to nopony in particular.
“Alright,” Twilight continued, scratching her head, “I suppose we could try to access your magic later. You should probably rest a lot, as magic takes a lot of energy if you aren’t used to it.”
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy interjected. Twilight seemed to have noticed her for the first time. “Lots of rest, you’ll recover much faster.”
“Yes, he will,” a new voice spoke, startling us all. “He needs his rest, and visiting hours are over.” It was nurse from before. She never told me her name.
“I’ll visit later in the week,” Twilight said, heading for the door. “I’d like to study your odd case of sudden onset amnesia.” She liked to use large words. She must be a teacher or scholar of some kind. As Twilight left, Bones followed after, the two already in a deep conversation about my condition, using large science-y words. Fluttershy trotted up to me when those two turned down the hall.
“I’ll come by tomorrow,” she said with a light smile. “I should tell you all about life here in Ponyville.” Ponyville, eh? Must be the town’s name.
“I’d like that.” I smiled back at her. The nurse cleared her throat, making her presence known once more. Squeaking, the timid mare trotted quickly out the door.
I turned my gaze to the window and noticed that the sun was setting, casting beautiful reds and oranges over the landscape. I barely registered the lights turning off and the door closing as I began to lose myself in my thoughts.
I slowly nodded off to sleep much later, a strange dream involving ponies, magic, and cherries filling my mind. Who knew, maybe I would like this place. Wherever this place was…
At that exact moment, a very long distance away, a lone woman cried in front of a single tombstone, a single flower placed on top.