Equestria's Time

“Nope! Not doin’ it!”

“George, just try, if anything goes wrong, I can catch yo—”

“Nope! Still not gonna do it!”

“Well, if I don’t try and help you learn how to fly, who will?”

“Maybe I don’t need to fly!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, George! Of course you need to fly!”

“Twilight, what do you know about flying?”

“I read a book!”

“But it’s not actually knowing, is it?”

“Look, just jump off the cliff, spread your wings, and then you’ll be gliding! It’s that simple!”

“It’s suicide!” George countered, stomping a hoof onto the ground. “I drowned in a lake, Twilight. A lake! If I failed to flap my wings to keep myself in the air, and almost drown in a lake...Then what makes you think you can drag me here, and see if I’m gonna survive jumping off a cliff?! No thanks!”

“You’re gonna have to learn some day!” Twilight shouted as George walked away.

“And when that time comes, I’ll probably have a teacher who won’t try to push me off a cliff, or won’t drown me!” George snarled in response.

“Not that I’m complaining about drowning, though.” He thought, “I’d rather drown again then jump off a cliff.”

It’s now been a month and a half since George’s arrival. And George has been adjusting to the peaceful life in Ponyville. In fact, he enjoyed the peace in the town! He spent the majority of his time with his friends, though he bonded a lot more with Dash, Twilight and Spike, thus, he spent more time with them..

Then from time to time, George would think to himself. What might he had done in his past? Maybe he helped ponies or something, he wasn’t sure, he only hoped he wasn’t some sort of bad guy in his past.

But at the end of it all, he would always turn around and forget about it. Other times, however, he’d wander further, depressing himself over lost memories.

________________________

“Don’t you think it’d be a little weird for George to run away, Jason?” I asked.

“I...really don’t know, Jake.” He replied, “I don’t know what was going on in his head at that time. I mean...he was perfectly fine days before. And now all of a sudden, he’s gone.”

“Well, I think it’s weird. He had no reason to run away, if he did.” I thought aloud.

“Maybe he had his own reasons, Jake.” He confidently said, putting a hand on my shoulder, “But I know...Whatever reason it was, we’re gonna figure it out.”

“Now, can we try to find some clues?” I asked, looking around the house.

“Jake, we’ve been looking around the house for about an hour, don’t you think we’d find clues…y’know...not here?”

…

“Good idea.”

________________________

George slowly sighed. Sitting on a bench near Sugarcube Corner. Thinking to himself about his past once again.

Does he even have a family in his past life?

Any friends?

Anyone who cared at all?

“Hey.”

Well, at least George had friends who cared about him now.

He slowly turned his head to the sound of the voice, seeing Dash trotting up to the bench to sit.

“Hey.” He responded. Continuing to sit for several minutes.

Dash looked around, wondering if George would say anything. She received nothing, not one word was said through the next couple of minutes. Not from her, not from him. This amount of silence felt awkward for her.

“Listen…” Dash spoke up, ending the awkward silence, “I can tell it’s tough not knowing who you used to be…” She scooted closer to him, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder, “But you can’t be dragging this any longer than it should be.”

George simply nodded, letting her speak.

“Every time you wander off to think, everypony starts to worry. You tell us you’re going to be fine...But you don’t look like it.”

…

“How long have you all noticed it?” George asked flatly in response.

“A couple of weeks, now.” Dash estimated, “George...If you’re feeling upset...tell us...we can help you…”

George slowly looked at Dash, face to face. His eyes watering with tears.

“Do you know what’s it’s like, Dash?” George asked, “To forget who your family is? Your friends? I can’t remember if I have any friends or family, or even anyone close who cares…All I have...”

Dash tilted her head, curious of his pause.

“Are Twilight, Spike, and You.” George finally admitted, “It’s why I don’t hang around very often with Applejack and the others. You three are the only ones who I feel comfortable around… Who I can feel safe around.”

Dash tried to open her mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

“I’ve only lived with them for about a month and a half...And you might call me crazy…” George held back a chuckle, “But...I see Twilight and Spike as... family now...It’s like, we’ve only met not too long ago… And Twilight has been going out of her way to care for me…”

“Life is funny that way, you know?” Dash smiled, “But you just need to cheer up and think about the positive, even in the darkest of times.” She inwardly giggled, she started to sound a bit like Pinkie.

“...I wish I could.” George looked down in disappointment, “But it’s like...I just can’t stop thinking about who could probably be missing me right about now, y’know?”

Dash looked at George in this emotional state, knowing there was only one way to cheer him up. She slapped the back of his head, causing him to lean forward and move his hoof to where the pain now stood. He looked at her eyes, he saw the mixed emotions in her eyes. Sadness, Anger. And more importantly, Irritation.

And he couldn’t blame her, all he’s been doing is shoot down everything she had said nice to cheer him up.

“George. A friend of mine told me a month ago that I shouldn’t have to dwell on the past so much.” She told him in an angered tone. “It time you do the same.”

George looked around, he remembered telling Dash the same thing that day he pretty much drowned.

“I nearly broke down into tears thinking what would’ve happened if I hadn’t caught you in time, thinking, the last thing you might have remembered, was me pushing you into your death…” Dash softly admitted, pausing for a moment. “And I usually don’t cry for anything!” She shouted, “Only if it’s something that puts my friends lives on the line! Or just flat out death of someone close to me!”

George looked at her once more, seeing her eyes water.

“...Have I caused you that much pain, Dash?”

“N...no…” she sniffled, “Listen, George. Do..do you know why I tried to teach you how to fly?”

George shook his head in response.

“It wasn’t because of Twilight trying to trick me.” Dash admitted, “Well, at first it was… But still! That whole week you spent with the others...I was...spying on you.”

George raised an eyebrow at her story.

“At first, I didn’t believe you literally had lost your memory.” She explained, “I’ve seen quite a few ponies that will just try to act out a huge thing like amnesia just for attention. I wanted to see how long you would go with this ‘act’, until you broke and gave up.” She paused for a moment, breathing softly. “But when I saw how nice you were, how sweet you were to everypony, you treated everyone you met like family...And every time somepony asked about yourself, you told them the truth.”

“And?” George thought aloud.

“Well, usually... as far as I’ve noticed… when ponies lie, they sometimes forget their story and say the wrong thing. But you kept saying the same story over and over, no changes.”

George chuckled, “I don’t like to lie. At least, not now. Not sure if I’ve lied during my past life.”

“Yeah, I see that now.” Dash slowly began to smile, again. “George… You’re a really sweet stallion. And anypony would be incredibly lucky to have you in their lives. You could turn a sad moment into a cheerful moment just as fast as Pinkie Pie could.” She paused for a moment to think about what she just said. “Except you don’t throw parties all the time, you just stay calm and make sure everyone else is calm. Don’t waste your life thinking about what you might’ve been, George. Focus on the now.”

George looked back down, soaking in everything Dash was saying. She was right, he was practically wasting his life right here in this bench, thinking about the one thing he told Dash not to dwell on.

“George?” Dash tapped his back, “You alri—”

George quickly wrapped his hooves around Dash in a tight hug, interrupting her sentence. She immediately blushed at the sudden show of affection. Slowly, she wrapped her hooves around him. He smiled as he held her close to him.

During the time he was here in Ponyville, Dash and Twilight were there to help him when he needed it. Even if it was just the emotional support.

“Thanks.” George softly said, “I’ll try to stop being such a huge downer.”

“You better!” Dash joked, “Or next time, I’ll just come back and slap you harder!”

They both laughed a bit, until suddenly, there was an explosion near Sweet Apple Acres. Causing George and Dash to immediately let go and look towards the sound.

Dash gasped, “Oh geez.”

They both looked at each other, nodded, and made their way to the farm as fast as they could.

________________________

Jason slowly sat down in his bed, thinking of his lost friend. He wondered if he was safe where he was, if he were around people he could trust. Even his own family hoped that George would return safe.

Or, at least...return at all.

It’s 10 P.M. And he is unable to sleep. Every time he looked around, he kept thinking of his friend. They were like brothers; friends since Kindergarten, they had lived pretty much all of their lives together. They were inseparable.

And now...It’s like there is a piece of his life ripped out of existence. It was horrible, and he hated every minute of it.

He took a deep breath, and looked at the sky through the window.

“We’ll find you, George…” He whispered to no one in particular, “I just hope you’re still alive when we do…”

He looked to the Television, trying to find something to ease his mind.

“Maybe the TV will help put me to sleep…” He thought aloud, grabbing the nearby remote and turning the TV on.

“Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?” A female voice asked.

“No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember.” Another female voice chuckled.

“Remember what?” A male voice asked.

“Stop doing that!” The first female voice exclaimed in anger.

“Why? Pinkie does it all the time?” The male voice jokingly teased.

“...Wha?”

________________________

George and Dash ran up to Applejack, who stood near the new giant hole in her farm.

“Applejack!” Dash called out, “What happened?”

“I don’t know, one second I’m bucking this here tree.” She tapped on a nearby tree. “The next second, there’s this huge explosion!” Applejack explained. “I’m not even sure what caused it… It was too fast for me to even see it, I’m just glad I was lucky enough not to get hit by it.”

George slowly examined the hole from afar, and noticed something.

“There’s something in there...” He pointed out, “I’m gonna go see what it is.”

“Be careful down there…” Applejack warned, “Whatever's down there could be dangerous.”

George scoffed, “Relax Applejack, what’s the worst that can happen?”

He jumps into the hole, and lands horribly, slipping on his side and rolling to the bottom, letting out several “ow”s and “oof”s along the way.

“That.” Dash softly laughed.

“Geez...Rough landing…” George grumbled, slowly standing up once more.

He examined the object, it almost looked like a rock. Though it looked too bumpy to be a rock, it was white all over, and it looked pretty big.

All of a sudden, a hoof quickly reached out from the mysterious object, grabbing George’s neck, the ‘rock’ slowly unrolled into a stallion, who now carried George in the air by his neck, choking him in the process.

“It’s about time that I got my hooves on you!” The stallion growled, looking up to the mares standing next to the hole, appearing as if they were about to attack, “One step closer, and your little friend here dies!”

Immediately, they both stopped, while Dash’s wings were open, ready to jump into action.

“If you try to fly your way here, I’ll end you too, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash stepped back, and quickly flew away, with Applejack quickly following her.

“See that, George?” The stallion smiled, “Your friends are scared. They knew their lives were on the line, and they left. Now, it’s just you and me.”

George groaned as he tried to escape the stallion’s grip, doing everything he can to stay conscious in the process.

“Stubborn little guy, aren’t ya?” The stallion smirked fiendishly, “Don’t worry, I’ll knock that stubbornness off of ya, or kill you. Yeah, I’ll probably kill you.”

________________________

“Then I tried to tell him I could catch him with my magic, but he still refused!” Twilight groaned.

“Maybe he feels more comfortable with a pegasus, who actually can fly?” Spike wondered.

“Or he’s too stubborn to actually want to fly.” Twilight countered.

“You think?” Spike pondered. “I mean...he was getting lessons from Rainbow Dash before the whole ‘drowning’ incident.”

“You think he may be traumatized?” Twilight queried.

“Maybe.” Spike shrugged. “I mean, it does make sense for that to be the case. Or maybe he just would prefer an actual pegasus like I said earlier?”

“It would be possible.” Twilight nodded. “But I still believe he’s simply traumatized from the whole incident with Rainbow Dash.”

“TWILIIIIIIIGHT!”

“Speaking of Rainbow Dash...” Spike abruptly stated.

Suddenly, loud banging sounds was heard from the door, surprising the two.

“Twilight! Quick! You gotta help!” One voice yelled.

“Yeah, and... y’know… As soon as possible!” Another voice called added.

Twilight slowly walked to the door, and opened it, having both Dash and Applejack, who were both leaning against the door, to fall face first onto the floor.

“What’s going on, you two?” She asked.

Dash slowly got up first, rubbing her now sore face, and slowly shrugged off the pain.

“It’s George, something caused a big hole in Sweet Apple Acres, and when he went in the hole to check it out, some dude grabbed him by the neck! He threatened he’d kill George if we got near him… We thought it would be a good idea to call the girls before it got any worse.”

Suddenly, Twilight went wide-eyed.

________________________

While Dash and Applejack were running off to get help, George was being thrown around in the air like a toy. And all the while, he felt like he was going to either vomit, faint, or die. Or some strange combination of the three.

As George fell to the ground again, he braced for impact, and for his life to end, as he was thrown far up into the air, so far up, he saw the clouds. He yelled at the top of his lungs as he fell to the ground. He closed his eyes, and prepared for the worst.

But then he felt a choking sensation around his neck. And all the wind was gone, too.

“Open your eyes, you wuss.” The stallion commanded, and George did so.

This time, George actually wasn’t being held, physically. The stallion’s hoof was lifted up, though it seemed he was using… magic… to grab him. He looked down at his neck, there was nothing holding him, yet he was still in the air. He glared towards the stallion’s hoof, which was now glowing in a black aura.

The stallion chuckled as he looked towards his hoof, then back at George. “Surprised? I can use magic, even without a horn on my head.”

George looked back at the stallion, trying to hold any little breath he had left in his lungs.

“I have access to a...different...magic.” The stallion smirked, “I am able to use this kind of magic without a horn, it’s how I currently have a hold of you without actually touching you. It’s pretty friggin’ fun, might I add.”

“My… friends…” George managed to mutter, “They’ll be back… to save me…”

“Your friends ditched you, remember?” The stallion frowned at George’s ignorance, “I threatened them with their lives, and they ditched you.”

“Not...true…” George hoarsely spoke, using the last of his breath.

“Hmph, I’ve had enough of you, pest.” The stallion said, “Let’s see just how much you believe your ‘friends’ will save you.”

And with that said, George was catapulted into the air once more. This time, he was sure this was the end. He was shot higher than the clouds, only for gravity to take him. He quickly began to fell straight down to his doom.

But suddenly, he felt a force pushing against him, and all the wind was coming from behind him. Shortly after, he felt the soft grass in his back.

“George, you alright? Please...tell me you’re alright.” a familiar voice asked in worry.

George slowly opened his eyes, and saw Dash’s face once more.

“Dash…?” He slowly spoke, quickly pulling her into a hug, “Dash! For a minute, I actually thought you ditched me.”

“I’d never ditch you…” She frowned, returning the embrace, “I just needed to bring help.”

“Aw...Aren’t you two just adorable?” The stallion mocked. “Sucks for you, Rainbow Dash.” He lifted his hoof. And instantly, Dash grabbed her neck as she felt as if she was being choked.

“I warned you what would happen if you tried to get any closer.” He smirked, lifting Dash in the air using his magic.

“Dash!” George shouted in both fear and shock. He quickly got up, and ran towards the stallion. Whom quickly reacted by pushing him to the ground.

“You’re pathetic, George.” The stallion glanced at him, “And your patheticness is going to get all of your friends killed.”

“Let her go!” Another familiar voice shouted, catching the stallion’s attention as he turned around. With him occupied, George quickly jumped and grabbed Dash, pulling her out of the stallion’s magic grasp.

The stallion smirked. “Well, well, well...If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Twilight commented. “Nevertheless! This will be the last time you try to hurt one of my friends!” Twilight shouted, preparing a spell with her magic.

“Aw, boo hoo!” The stallion mocked some more, “I’m so scared!”

Twilight was being angered at this point. “You should be!” She yelled.

Dash quickly escaped from George’s grasp, leaping into action as she stood beside her friends.

“Now, let’s see when you mess with true friends!” Twilight shouted.

George tilted his head in curiousity, he hadn’t noticed everypony was wearing a necklace, minus Twilight, who was wearing a crown. They all began to glow, and he watched as his friends were lifted up in the air. They slowly began to open their eyes, revealing a bright glow in them. Almost instantly, they shot a large, glowing rainbow at the stallion, which created a blinding light around him, even George covered his eyes as the glow intensified.

While George wasn’t looking, the rainbow curved and hit the girls, sending all of them out of whatever state they were in, and flinging them back a couple of feet.

George immediately uncovered his eyes as soon as he heard the groans of pain from his friends. Only to see the stallion still standing, completely fine.

The stallion looked at George, smiling at what he had done. “You see that?” He said, “This is what I’m capable of. I warned your friends, and now they’re all going to pay the price.”

George quickly reacted by jumping in front of all his friends, “If you’re going to kill them, you’ll need to kill me, first.” He growled, “This isn’t their fight, it’s mine.”

“Awwww! Look at the little hero, here to save the day!” The stallion mocked some more, “I mess with his ‘fwends’, and now all of a sudden he thinks he can stop me.”

George growled in anger, narrowing his view to focus more on the stallion, only for him to recognize him shortly after.

“Wait a second…” He slowly spoke, “I remember you! You’re that guy who stole the book earlier!”

“Oh, so now you remember?” The stallion teasingly asked, “You seriously didn’t remember me? It just now came to your mind who I am? You’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

“Excuse me for trying to worry about my life.” George growled.

“Don’t worry,” The stallion smirked. “Your life is about to end anyway. And once I kill you, I’m going after your friends.” The stallion closed his eyes, showing joy as he gloated, “Sound fun? I sure hop—”

Just like that, George interrupted by landing a single punch on the side of the stallion’s face, sending him a couple of inches back. George quickly took the opportunity and threw another punch, this one landing on his chest.

The stallion stepped back a bit, coughing as he kept his calm, and glared at George.

“Lucky shot.” He shot an evil grin, “But I’d like to see you do it again.”

He stood perfectly still, his eyes closed, smirking, he was confident that George would fail to land another punch.

But his confidence was crushed, as George perfectly landed the punch on his chest once more, sending him a couple of feet back. The stallion groaned as he collided with the tree behind him.

The stallion chuckled, then looked at George, whose eyes were glowing white, just like the girls earlier. He then closed his eyes and quickly opened them, his eyes being perfectly normal after opening them.

“Want to see it again?” George growled.

The stallion went wide-eyed in shock, but then slowly shook off his expression, and began feigning his previous confidence. “Try me.” He smirked.

“With pleasure.”

George landed his next punch, and upon doing so, he felt a sudden strength on his hoof, pushing him to go beyond what he could. And he did so, he used the little strength he had. And while he didn’t notice it, the stallion glared towards his incoming hoof, only to notice it was glowing. It had sent the stallion even further back upon impact, knocking down a tree or two on the way.

“Wha…” George muttered, speechless at what he just accomplished.

Eventually, the stallion hit another tree, and, fortunately, didn’t knock it over. The stallion groaned as he lifted his hoof to his head, trying to rub off the pain he now felt. Shortly, he looked up, and saw George, eyes glowing, then returned to normal after a blink once more.

“Hmph…” He huffed, “You haven’t seen the last of the us.”

“Us?” George asked in wonder.

“You better keep yourself prepared, there’s four more of us, and we won’t stop until we get rid of you.”

“Just who are you?”

“I am...Number One.”

And with that, he turned into a black shadow, and faded away, just like last time.

And with that same moment, George began to question most of what he had just done.

________________________

Soon, Twilight and their friends regained consciousness, caught up with George, and they all headed to the library, to talk more about the situation.

“...You saw it, right?”

“No, we didn’t.” Twilight shook her head, “I was out cold from what the stallion did with our attack.”

“He deflected it…” Dash added, “No one’s been able to deflect an attack from the Elements of Harmony.”

“The Elements of...wha?”

“We never told you what the Elements of Harmony are?”

“Nope, not once have you mentioned it.”

“...Looks like we have explaining to do.”

________________________

Jason grabbed a piece of paper, a pen, and started writing down information on what he just saw.

“Channel 839

Blue stallion, Red mane and tail.

Sounds and acts like George.

...In Equestria?”

He looked at the TV again, simply watching as the stallion interacted with the other characters.

“George…? Could you have run away...just to voice a new character?” He asked to no one in particular.

He began wondering about this “new character”. Until he remembered something he saw earlier.

“No…” He muttered, “Wait a minute.”

He grabbed the remote, and rewinded the TV, luckily he had a DVR, so he was recording everything he saw.

Play.

“Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?” A female voice asked.

“No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember.” Another female voice chuckled.

“Remember what?” A male voice asked.

“Stop doing that!” The first female exclaimed in anger.

“Why? Pinkie does it all the time?” The male voice jokingly teased.

And then, Jason got suspicious.

“This already happened...Fluttershy kidnaps the bird, and then find out it’s a phoenix...But...He was never here.” Jason stopped to think. Until he realized there was only one thing to do.

Record all Episodes.

“I don’t want to miss any of this.” Jason thought aloud, “This may have some connection to George.”

Fast Forward.

Play.

“Nah.” A male voice replies, “I mean, sure, I don’t know who I was back then. But I know who I am, now.”

“And...who are you?” A female voice asked.

“You know who I am, Dash.” The male voice chuckled, “I’m George, your friend. Duh.”

“Just making sure.” The female voice teased.

Pause.

“Hold on a second... no memory of who he used to be? George?” Jason asked aloud, “Could it really be…?”

Suddenly, the screen began to glow a bright white, the light filled the entire room, blinding Jason in the process.

He yelped in shock, and quickly looked away from the television, and looked straight down at his paper. He flipped it to his side and quickly wrote on it.

Suddenly, he was dragged out from his chair by what felt like a giant hand. He quickly grabbed on to one of the legs of his desk. He could hear the screeching sounds of the desk as it slowly moved. Soon, he no longer felt his legs, and his fingers felt as if they were about to snap from holding the desk’s leg. He looked down to his feet, and noticed he was being pulled into his TV. Then, he no longer felt anything below his knees.

Eventually, he realized there was no way out. He let go of the desk. and in a matter of seconds, he was sucked completely into the television.

Then, there was silence.

Cold. Bitter. Silence...