Chapters Prologue - (RE-Rewritten!)
Author's Note
This chapter was completely redone and revised to how I usually write. I finished this newer, better, version on 3/9/2016... But I completely forgot to post it until today, 6/23/2016... Three months later. Yep, that sounds about right...
Some later chapters or sections in this story will wind up being rewritten sooner or later, most of them are fine, but there are a few parts here and there that are starting to bother me, now that I've begun to know better.
The quality and style of the first few chapters improve as you go from chapter to chapter, I'd rewrite them all to match how I normally write today, but I'd rather finish the whole story first, and then sit through them and rewrite them.
Please note that my quality/style of writing improves throughout the more later chapters. I'm always practicing and learning how to write better. I'd love to sit down and rewrite the earlier chapters, but I'd rather finish the story first, and then rewrite them. So please bare with me through these few chapters. I promise they get better as they go.
Prologue - (RE-Rewritten!)
*BEEP! BEEP! BEE—*
*Click.*
“Ugh… 12PM already…?”
Arising from his bed, a brown-haired, six foot tall man practically threw the blankets off of his bed. He groaned softly, moving around to get his feet onto the floor below him.
This man, in particular, was a man named George.
He took a look at his surroundings, recognizing it to be his room. With a simple sigh, he finally stood up from his bed, and stretched his arms and legs, beginning his everyday morning ritual, which simply consisted of brushing his teeth, and other general morning tasks.
Eventually, he had made his way to the kitchen and took a look at the stove, wondering on what to eat for breakfast.
“Well. I guess pancakes aren’t an option…” he muttered with a sigh, “You let the pan catch on fire one time, and you’re labeled for life…”
He looked off to a nearby room, finding no one to be seen, he assumed his mom, whom he has been helping for years now, most likely decided to sleep in, today.
With a shrug, he opened one of the cabinet doors, and grabbed a box of cereal, and began pouring it onto a nearby bowl, then finished it off with it’s most necessary component; Milk.
He took the now completed bowl of cereal with him to his room, sat down on his computer chair, which was quite comfortable, and proceeded to press the power button on his PC.
About a good minute of waiting, and he was already halfway through his bowl of cereal, and Windows finally decided to finish booting. He opened his internet browser, now on a quest to find something to do.
He looked down at his bowl, then back up to his PC. Figuring he shouldn’t do anything productive right now, having just woken up and now currently eating, it’d be best to simply relax.
So what better way to kill time than watching youtube while eating breakfast?
Not much time had passed before his bowl had gotten empty, and his internet-surfing reaching a dead end. He looked down at the empty bowl, debating on whether or not he should pour another.
Deciding it was best not to, he got up from his seat, taking his cereal bowl with him as he made his way to the kitchen. He placed the bowl in the sink, grabbed a nearby sponge, and began washing it, leaving the area clean so he wouldn’t have to deal with any complaints from his mother.
As he was cleaning his bowl, he looked out the window in front of him, surveying the area outside his home. He could see a few of his neighbors houses, the street, one of his neighbors’ backyard, as well as his own.
He had expected to see his neighbor's kids running around their backyard, or playing with one of the other local kids, heavy traffic, maybe even a wave from one of his neighbors to greet him friendly.
Instead, what was supposed to be a lively town, had seemingly been… quiet . The children who usually played in their yard were nowhere to be seen, his neighbors… almost non-existent, traffic was completely non-existent, to the point where even the traffic lights seemed to have no activity at all. There didn’t appear to be a single cloud in the sky, giving it a somewhat dull appearance, and there seemed to be a lack of any wind whatsoever, for no tree had moved an inch, not even a single leaf had fallen.
The sight was… foreboding , to say the least. But, George shrugged it off, dismissing it as just a slow day. He returned his bowl to its proper place, and then proceeded to washing the rest of the dishes left over from yesterday.
Soon, nothing remained, and George had felt like his job was done. For now, at least. He returned to his room, ready to relax for a little while before he does everything he’s supposed to do today.
He sat back on his chair, scooting it closer to his computer desk. What originally was a blank page open on his browser, was now a black screen, as well as a message written in an extremely large, white font.
“IT’S TIME”
He raised an eyebrow, knowing this screen wasn’t here before he left.
It didn’t seem to be a pop-up, as his browser was nowhere to be seen, there didn’t appear to be any hackers, and he knew he didn’t have any viruses. He checked if “TeamViewer” was open, wondering if perhaps his friend hijacked his PC while he wasn’t paying attention. To his dismay, there wasn’t any trace of that either.
“...What is this?”
He reached his cursor over to the “X” button on the top right corner, and clicked it. Only for the button, and the accompanying minimize and maximize buttons to just disappear, leaving him and this black screen.
“Fine. You want to do this the hard way? We’ll do it the hard way…”
He reached his hand over to the power button on the tower, holding it down until the system had shut itself down by force.
Smirking, he spoke aloud to the computer. “Ha! What’re you gonna do about it now, huh?”
Feeling accomplished, he turned the computer back on, returning back to his plans.
Once the computer was on and fully loaded once again, he loaded up youtube again, casually looking up videos to help kill some time. Eventually, very little time had passed, and he had noticed a particular video on his suggestions, related to a certain show he watches every now and then.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic .
He began to remember a few memorable moments from the show. From blasting evil moon princesses with rainbows, to black bug-like ponies who can shape-shift, and a psychopathic king who turned into a shadow and wanted to rule over a crystal kingdom. And the lessons of friendship he and his friend ignored.
...That sounds about right.
As his remembrance continued, his thoughts began to merge with other thoughts. They still involved the cartoon world, but they were odd thoughts. Soon, those thoughts turned into questions he’d begun to ask himself, and eventually, he began to feel bothered, as he could not stop asking himself. Over and over, he thought more about his burning questions, knowing the only way to stop asking himself was to find out the answers.
“What would happen if I were in Equestria…?”
“What would I look like…?”
“Would I be known as a friend to the ponies… or an enemy…?”
He continued to cling onto his thoughts, now determined to find the answers he needed to hear.
While the magical land of these ponies are usually filled with friendly citizens, considering they’ve faced multiple opponents from various races, what would be the chances of them declaring him as their ally?
He shrugged, figuring it was best to start from the easiest question, to the more complex ones, taking them down one at a time until he was satisfied with his answers.
He loaded up Google, searching up a website that would help make this pointless answer-search a bit more easier.
General Zoi’s Pony Creator
He rolled his eyes, debating on whether he wanted to continue.
“It’s not like I can draw… This is my only option…”
He started throwing together pieces, mixing and matching, choosing colors, finding a balance to help him declare his “pony self”.
And soon enough, he finished, and he was happy with his result, despite not being able to figure out a good cutie mark.
Wanting to make this moment a tad more meaningful, he looked around, finding the “Export to PNG” option, and clicked it. A prompt appeared, allowing him to choose where to save it, and what the file would be named. Once he had everything set in place, he moved his cursor over to the save button.
In an instant, the very same second he had pressed down on the button, a loud crash had struck his ears, and a flash of light coming from the windows had filled the room.
George jumped in his seat, jerking his head towards the window. He stood up from his chair, and walked over to the window by his bed, peeking outside. Again, there was not a single cloud in the sky, just like he saw it ten minutes ago.
So then… what just happened?
He shrugged it off, passing it as just a figment of his imagination. After all, that’s all it could’ve been… right?
Feeling unsure of himself, he decided to reach over to his cell phone to call his friend, Jason, to see if he had witnessed the event, too.
His hand touched the area where he thought his phone would be, but found nothing in it’s place. He looked around his dresser, finding his alarm clock, a picture on a frame of him and his cousin, Jake. Everything but his phone.
“I left my phone in the car again, didn’t I…?”
He groaned softly, making his way past multiple rooms until he was through the main door leading outside. He looked over to his car, which was just a few feet away, and mentally facepalmed at the thought of leaving his phone inside of it.
He walked closer to the driver’s door, reaching for the handle.
*CRASH!*
The human was quickly interrupted by another track of thunder, being outside, he had immediately become a victim of it’s blinding flash, and deafening, booming sound.
But before George’s vision had turned white, he saw something, that half-second between the flash of light, and his vision temporarily dying, he saw something he wasn’t expecting to see.
Upon the glass of his car’s window, he saw a reflection of himself , staring back at him cluelessly.
...His pony self. The very same he had created.
His vision had quickly reverted back to normal from his short, temporary blindness. He blinked, adjusting his eyesight to see more clearly. He looked at the window again, checking his reflection. But despite what he saw mere seconds ago, his reflection was normal, exactly as it should’ve been.
He shrugged it off again, dismissing as yet another figment of his imagination.
...Though, it began to bother him. He looked up once more, only to see a clear sky, just like he saw earlier.
“...That felt so real, though…”
He continued to glance at the reflection, wondering if maybe he kept staring for a bit, he’d be able to see the event occur again.
And then, he heard a whisper.
“It’s time…”
George blinked, jerking his head back, frantically searching for the source of the voice. But, to no avail.
Seconds later, it happened again, lightning struck down once again. But, somehow, it felt as if it’s blinding flash was…brighter . And it’s thundering roar…seemingly louder…
He covered his eyes with his hands, attempting to protect them from anything else that would try to blind him. About half a minute had passed, and his vision was finally starting to fade back to normal.
“It’s time, George…”
He lifted his hands from his face, unblocking his vision, looking around again to find the source of the voice. He hadn’t found the source of the voice, but he had noticed something different…
It was raining.
“Wha…” he spoke aloud, shaking his head as he begun to think about the situation before him.
“What’s going on…?”
Upon further investigation, he realized that despite it raining, there was something off.
He wasn’t getting wet. It was almost as if the rain was going right through him .
He raised an eyebrow at the oddity, looking up at the sky, only now to find the entire sky covered in dark, black clouds.
He almost wanted to try to get to the bottom of this situation before him. But having experienced everything else so far has made him decide against it.
“It begins. It’s time.”
George looked up at the sky once more, having heard the voice from above him.
“IT’S TIME!”
In an instant, he witnessed one final strike of lightning, his vision was attacked once more from its now impossibly bright flash, his eardrums nearly bursting over the booming track of thunder, leaving him able to hear nothing but a faint, high pitched oblivion.
...And then, he blacked out.
Chapter 1: Visitor From the Storm
It was another ordinary day in Ponyville, the sun slowly creeped up above the horizon, making the clouds dotting the sky amplify in bright reds and dark purples. It looked like it was going to be another happy day in the life of Twilight Sparkle.
Oddly enough, she couldn’t decide on what to do today. Yet there were many things she could be doing, like reading a book, visiting her friends, or going out for a walk. The choices were almost endless.
But, today, she decided to go for a walk.
Upon exiting her abode, she noticed Pinkie Pie bouncing off to Sugarcube Corner, her workplace and her home. She called out to her friend, had a strangely small conversation about each other’s day, then continued her walk once her friend had left for work.
The day continued on, proceeding to be more tranquil than before. Twilight would greet every pony she passed by, ever since that day when she and her friends turned Nightmare Moon back into Luna, there hasn’t been any major trouble going on in Equestria. She hopes every day will be like this, though. Not having any worry in the world for anything, living a peaceful life. It would be...perfect .
During the lavender mare’s walk, she also came across another one of her good friends; Rarity. They talked about their day, Rarity mentioned some of her fashion designs, while Twilight would give her opinions after seeing some of them. She then continued her walk.
Twilight ran across more of her friends during this walk, which just seemed to add more things to be happy about, she talked to Fluttershy and Applejack about their day. Fluttershy’s animals, Applejack’s farm. It was a longer talk than her previous ones with Pinkie and Rarity, but still enjoyable nevertheless.
Twilight’s walk ended up being around an hour long, including her talks with her friends. She decided that was enough walking and returned home.
Until Rainbow Dash, the only friend she hasn’t seen all day, interrupts as she proceeded to return to Golden Oak.
“Hiya, Twilight!” The rainbow maned mare calls out, “How’s it goin’?”
“Things are going great, I guess…” Twilight replies, “How about you, Rainbow?”
“Me? Nothing much, I was clearing out some clouds, then I saw you walking by when I kicked the last cloud.” Rainbow softly smiled, “So I thought I would come and see how were things going and stuff.”
“Sounds like we’re gonna have a sunny day, today.” Twilight pointed out.
“You bet!” Dash grinned widely, “The weather team scheduled pretty much a full week of sunny days...Which means more cloud clearing for me.” As she finished her last words her smile slowly faded away.
“I don’t really see what the big fuss is all about, Rainbow.” Twilight pointed out, “At your speed, it’s not a problem for you.”
“Yeah, but I still don’t feel like doing it.” Dash whined, she proceeded after a heavy sigh, “But...It’s the only way I get paid, so I don’t complain much.”
“That’s good...I think.” Twilight thought out loud, “Well, Rainbow, I’m gonna head back home, nice seeing you again.”
“Oh, alright, see ya, Twi.” Dash glumly stated, staring off at a cloud in the distance.
“I thought I cleared that cloud…” she thought, flying skeptically off to the cloud.
Dash stood on top of the cloud, examining it closely, wondering how it was still here. She flew off the cloud, giving it a hard kick, hearing a soft *poof* sound as it cleared away.
“There. That’s better.” she mused, only for the cloud to quickly reappear, which only made her shout “What?”
She kicked the cloud again, watching as it cleared away again, only for it to reappear a few seconds later.
“What the heck? How is this cloud coming back?”
Dash reflected for a few minutes, after giving a few more kicks she pondered over what to do. Her face brightened as she thought of what to do.
“TWILIGHT!” she yelled, hoping her friend hadn’t been too far away to hear her. Fortunately, her friend was still within earshot, and Twilight came walking back to where they talked earlier.
“Up here!” Dash called out, grabbing Twilight’s attention to her and the cloud.
“What’s the matter, Rainbow?” Twilight shouted.
“It’s this cloud!” Dash waved her hoof towards the cloud in frustration “It keeps reappearing every time I clear it out!”
“Huh? That doesn’t sound right…” Twilight replied questionably, “Let me see!”
Dash demonstrated the phenomena, giving it another kick, hearing yet another *poof* as it cleared out, then gestured her hooves at the cloud as it reappeared, shouting “See!?”
“Wha?” Twilight questioned, “That can’t be right, the vapor in the cloud should just slowly vanish into thin air! Not reappear back into a full cloud!”
“Hold that thought, Twi…” Dash said, looking at the distance once more, straining her eyes as she concentrated. Twilight also looked off at where Dash was looking off to, it was another cloud.
“Okay, I’m at least 100% sure I cleared out all the clouds just now, how could these two have come back all of a sudden?” Dash asked herself, flying off to the cloud puff to attempt clearing off that, too. But to no avail did it completely disappear.
Due to Dash’s speed, the cloud poofed away, then reappeared three seconds later, which only got anger, agitation, sadness, and more importantly. Boredom.
Dash and Twilight looked to all three clouds, only for more clouds to slowly appear, it then became five clouds, then eight, then fifteen. Before they knew it, the whole sky was cloudy once more, and the booming sound of thunder had pierced through the quiet sky. Rippling and crackling in the now dark colored clouds.
Dash quickly flew back down to the ground, wanting to avoid getting struck. Although Pegasi were not easily damaged by lightning, she didn’t want to take any chances. All things considered, she was daredevil but she was not willing to be struck by weird lightning from weird clouds.
“What the heck is going on?!” Dash grumbled, “How is this even happening?!”
Twilight inspected the sky closely at the blackened sky. “I’m not quite sure, but I thi—”
Her sentence was quickly interrupted by a loud clap of thunder. Both mares cringed at the loud sound, and were almost blinded by the bright light.
“...Think we should head to safety?” Dash finished the sentence, “Yeah, great idea.”
Both mares began running to Twilight’s house to safety, only to be caught off guard by another thunderstrike, this one being slightly louder and brighter than the previous one.
“This isn’t like any thunderstorm I’ve ever seen!” Twilight shouted, stopping to notice the rain, and more importantly, how she was not getting wet. Dash had quickly stopped as well, turning to Twilight. “What are you doing?!” She asked, “We gotta go!”
Dash then looked around, realizing that the rain was not leaving a single drop on her body.
“This...this is really abnormal.” Twilight curiously examined, “I should be soaking wet! But, I’m completely dry…”
“Yeah, same here.” Dash added, “And it’s starting to creep me out. So if you don’t mind, I’ll just be—”
But she was rudely disrupted by a final track of booming thunder, nearly loud and bright enough to impair both mares hearing and sight. Enough so that they were on the brink of unconsciousness.
Both of the friends cringed at the deafening sound again, and they screwed their eyes shut. Once they both opened their eyes, the sky was once again clear, almost as if nothing ever happened. Revealing back to the wonderful day.
Almost.
Dash and Twilight looked around, checking if anything was different from before the thunderstorm and now. And what they both saw was something they’d never expect.
Off in the distance was a small hole, with a purple-ish blue pegasus, red mane and curved tail, lying unconscious in the hole, along with small bits of fire still burning around the hole.
“Woah…” Both mares said in unison, assuming the thunderstrike caused this to happen.
Dash flew to the unconscious body first, poking it to see if it was still alive, only for Twilight to push her out of the way, and check the stallion’s breathing.
“He’s still alive.” Twilight sighed in relief after feeling a small ‘thump thump’, “Let’s take him back to the library.”
“Do you even know who he is?” Dash asked, “If you ask me, him being knocked out here just looks like part of a prank. Like those clouds. A lame one in fact.”
“No, I don’t know who he is, Rainbow.” Twilight replied, “And perhaps those clouds had something to do with his unconsciousness. All I’m saying is that we help bring him into safety, at least until he wakes up.”
“If anything, he can just wake up, and go back home.” Twilight added, “But at least we were able to help him out of here.”
“Fine…” Dash groaned.
“Good!” Twilight smiled, using her magic to carry the unknown stallion to her home.
________________________
Well, I blacked out, yet all I can see is white. I blame that freaking storm for making me see nothing but light. At least, I think that’s what got me seeing what I see now. Or...maybe my eyes are just open, and I’ve never noticed until just now. I moved my hand up to my face, yeah, my eyes are open.
I slowly get up, wondering to see what’s gonna happen next on my little trip. I’ve been through a freaky thunderstorm without getting wet, hearing whispers telling me, “It’s time”, which I have no idea what it’s time for. Then again, I didn’t even remember anything, I was completely blank at this point.
“George...”
At least it’s not a whisper this time, but still just as annoying as earlier. I can only assume I’m dreaming, it’s the only explanation I have as to why I’m in this white, light-filled area.
I turn around, hoping I’ll finally get to see the source of the sound. I could only get a small glimpse of...a girl, before she faded away. All I could really get a look at was her long, blond hair...which might be the only reason why I assumed it was a girl.
It had to have been a girl, right? I mean...why would a guy have hair like that? That would just seem...weird. Then again I have seen freakier things, and they’ve creeped me out.
But...enough of that, back to my problem at hand: No memory, no idea where the heck I am. I am lost.
She called me “George” though, I could only assume that was my name. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was my name.
Well, I guess I’ll just hang out here until I wake up. If I ever wake up. Or am I already awake..?
________________________
“Now we just wait until he wakes up...Whenever that is.” Twilight stated flatly, “In the meantime, Rainbow, would you like something to eat? I’m about to make some lunch.”
“Uh, no thanks, Twi.” Dash tiredly yawned, stretching her forelegs out, “I’m actually feeling a bit tired, I might just take a nap somewhere.”
“Alright, then.” Twilight quietly laughed, “Feel free to nap on the couch or something.”
Now they just have to wait for the unknown stallion to wake up.
The unknown stallion groans, slowly opening his eyes. Looking around him. Then looks at what’s in front of him. He was hugging a pillow. He questions himself as why he was hugging a pillow, then turns to blame his lack of memory, otherwise, he would’ve known why he was hugging a pillow. He could only assume he was a sleep-hugger.
He let go of the pillow, and sat up, looking at his surroundings. Wondering where the heck he’s currently staying at. Maybe he’s sleeping at his house? A friend’s place? He’s clueless at this point. Though his questions aren’t limited to his surroundings, once he sees the lavender unicorn standing by the door.
“Glad to see you’ve woken up.” She said.
“Bah!” The stallion yelled in surprise. “Um, thanks?” The he dumbfoundedly replied, “...Do I know you?”
“No, not really.” Twilight answered, “My friend and I found you lying in a hole after an odd thunderstorm.”
“I was lying in a hole?” The stallion asked.
“Well, you were unconscious.” Twilight pointed out, “I can only assume you were struck by one of those bolts of lightning earlier.”
"I was struck by lightning!?" The stallion shouted, "How!?"
"Not sure." Twilight replied, "But I can only assume it was the cause of your unconsciousness."
“I...was unconscious?” The stallion asked in curiosity, “Could...could that lightning bolt the reason why I can’t remember anything?”
“Huh?” Twilight cocked her head, “What do you mean you can’t remember anything?”
“I mean, I can’t remember anything.” The stallion replied, “The only thing I can remember clearly was some dream I had before waking up.”
“Well, maybe the lightning did strike you, and it looks like it got you pretty well for you to go unconscious, and memoryless.” Twilight recapped, “What happened in the dream?”
“Well...as far as I remember...nothing.” The stallion bluntly replied, “All I can remember was hearing someone call me by the name of ‘George’, and then I turn around, and I see something fading away. Though I couldn’t get a good look at whatever it was.”
“So...Do you think that could be your name?” Twilight thought aloud.
“Probably” The stallion shrugged, “I mean, I have no other guesses for my name, so let’s go with that.”
“Well, um, if you’d like, George, you could stay here and I could help try to recover your memory.” Twilight offered, “But, y’know, that’s your choice.”
"...You're offering...a total stranger a room in your home?" George asked.
"Well, uh...yeah." Twilight replied sheepishly, "You could say that."
"...I might as well, seeing how I can't remember anywhere to go, so I kinda have no other option." George noted.
“Exactly!” Twilight nods in agreement, “Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”
George looks at her for a couple of seconds, then smiled.
“Nice to meet ya, Twilight.” He cheerfully said, “Something tells me we’re gonna be great friends.”
“Well, let’s hope that ‘something’ is right.” Twilight adds, smiling, “So, you probably might be hungry, do you want something to eat?”
“Well...Sure, I guess.” George responds, “What do you have? I...don’t remember what I like to eat and what I don’t. So, I’ll just guess.”
“Well, um, come see for yourself.” Twilight replies, “I have lots of stuff to eat.”
________________________
“Well.” George smiled, “At least I know I like pancakes.”
“Don’t worry too much about it.” Twilight giggled, “I’ll help you get your memory back.”
“I sure hope so, Twilight.” George sighed, “I can’t remember anything.”
“...Anything?” Twilight asked, “Not even how to fly?”
“I can fly?!” George asked, his wings springing open, even a loud “POMF” was heard.
“Right...” Twilight said, “You don’t remember anything . That explains why you had so much trouble walking to the kitchen.”
‘Though...that doesn’t explain his lack of a cutie mark.’ Twilight thought, ‘I guess I can try to figure that out later.’
George looked at his wings, dumbfounded by the fact he even had them.
“Woah…” George murmured, “I have wings…”
“Looks like he’s finally awake, huh?”
Both George and Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who was finally awake from her nap.
“And it looks like you’re finally awake, too.” Twilight joked, “He woke up before you did.”
George, on the other hoof, seemed to have frozen in place, staring at Dash, lost in her Rainbow mane and amethyst eyes.
“...Uh. Why is he just...staring at me?” Dash awkwardly asked, “It’s getting kinda creepy.”
George slowly faded back into reality once he heard what Dash had said, shaking his head. “Uh. Sorry. Kinda got a bit...lost...in your mane. I-it’s very pretty...”
“Uh...Right…” Dash mumbled, “So anyways, have you figured out why he got struck by lightning?”
“Well, no.” Twilight bluntly replied, “George here can’t remember anything.”
“...What about how to fly?” Dash slowly asked, “I mean, he’s got wings...He should know how to use them.”
“Forgot that too.” George said, “I almost forgot how to even walk!”
“Wow.” Dash said, “That stinks.”
“Yeah.” George said, “Fortunately, Twilight and her friend found me and brought me here.”
“Yeah...I’m the friend she was talking about.” Dash sighed, “The name’s Rainbow Dash, by the way…”
George’s expression turned from a slight happiness to have someone helping him with his memory, to a total embarrassment from the fact he didn’t realize Dash being the friend Twilight was talking about all along.
“Oh!” He reacted, “Sorry…!” Lifting a hoof for a hoofshake, “My name’s George.”
“Huh. Weird name.” Dash commented, shaking George’s hoof “I just have one question for ya.”
“Um, sure, ask away…?” George tried to say confidently, but was already too nervous to try to calm his awkwardness.
“How do we know you’re not just faking the whole ‘no memory’ thing?”
“Right. Good question.” George replied, “Uh…You don’t, really... I guess you’d just have to believe me when I say I can’t remember anything.”
“Hm…” Dash pondered, “Alright, how about I ask you a few questions...And we see just how much you know. How’s that sound?”
“Not sure how this is gonna help, but, sure.” George answered.
“Alright...What’s 2 plus 2?”
The only thing Dash saw was Twilight’s facehoof, while George simply blinked as he heard the sound..
“...It’s four.” George answered correctly, “Erm, Rainbow Dash, I may have amnesia, but I’m not retarded.”
“Hm...Okay…Who’s the Mayor of Ponyville?”
“Dunno, where’s Ponyville, anyway?”
George and Dash hear another facehoof from Twilight, who already knows this is completely pointless.
“Yeah...” Dash concluded, “I still don’t believe him.”
“Rainbow, here’s an idea.” Twilight began, “How about you try and teach George to fly? Maybe if you see how bad he flies, that’ll be enough proof for you? How’s that sound?”
“Really?” Dash asked sarcastically, “You don’t think he could fake not being able to fly?”
“Could you ?” Twilight asked.
…
“Thought so.”
“Hm…” Dash pondered, “Teaching George, if that’s his name...how to fly…Nah.”
“Really?” Twilight asked sarcastically, “Well then, I guess Equestria’s fastest flier can’t handle a little challenge. Oh well...I guess he could always ask Fluttershy to help teach him…”
“A little challenge?” Dash scoffed, “I can take on any challenge, besides, Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to teach George unless he spent a month with her so she’d actually talk to him!”
“Then, what do you say?” Twilight asked, “Will you do it?”
Dash stood for a moment, then groaned.
“Fine.” She muttered in defeat.
“Great!” George smiled, “...When do I start?”
“...I have no idea!”
Chapter 3: Passing the Time
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 4: How (not) to fly!
George groaned as he awoke from his slumber. He looked out to the window, seeing the sun shine it’s powerful light into his eyes. He took it as a signal that he should get up. He groans softly as he escaped the warmth of the bed he was sleeping on, until he was finally standing on all four hooves. He walked off towards the dining table, sniffing the sweet smell of pancakes, most likely being cooked by Twilight.
“Good Morning, George!” Twilight called out as she heard the door close. “Breakfast is almost ready, so you might wanna hurry up before Spike eats it all!” She harmlessly teased.
“Hey!” Spike retorted, “That was only one time! And that was ‘cause you told me to eat a big breakfast that day!”
George chuckled as he walked down the stairs, slowly making his way to the table to eat.
“So, what’s up with you, George?” Spike asked, “Ya feelin’ alright?”
“Yeah.” George replied, sitting down in a nearby chair. “My face is just a bit sore from falling around fifteen times on it.”
“How did that happen?”
“Dash’s still trying to teach me to fly, remember?”
“Ah. Well, it’s only your third day, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.” Spike reassured.
“Thanks.” George softly smiled, “So, any luck on finding a way to get my memory back yet?”
“Nope.” Twilight and Spike both said in unison.
“Well that sucks.” George replied flatly, “What’s the problem?”
“I can’t seem to find my book on memory loss…” Twilight explained, placing the plate of pancakes on the table, “Spike and I looked everywhere about twenty times, it seemed to have just...vanished.”
“...You don’t think you might have lent the book to anypony?” George thought aloud, “I mean, it’s not like a book can just disappear like that…”
“Thafs vat I fhead!” Spike shouted, spitting out some of the pancake stuffed in his mouth.
George only gave Spike a look that practically said: “Really?”
Spike swallowed his food with a loud gulp, then blushes of embarrassment.
“Sorry.”
George sighed, then starts eating his food as well. He knew it was going to be a long day, either way. So he figured he might as well enjoy not falling a dozen more times while he can.
________________________
“So, change of scenery?” George asked. Viewing a nice, calm lake nearby, as well a large tree, most likely to hide under for shade.
“Well, since you kept falling in your face so many times, I thought if you landed in the water instead, you wouldn’t hurt yourself so much!” Dash explained.
“...Huh, that’s actually pretty clever. But there’s on—”
“Great!” Dash interrupted, “Now c’mon! We got some work to do!”
“But…” George sighed, not bothering trying to finish his sentence. He then proceeded to lift himself up into the air, using the techniques he’d already learned from Dash, which wasn’t much.
“Now, I’m gonna push you, and then you’ll start moving forward, okay?” Dash asked.
“I guess…” George unconfidently replied, “Dash, I’m not so sure ab—”
“Go!” Dash cheered, pushing George’s rear hooves forward in an attempt to fly off in that direction.
Only to end in disaster.
George’s instincts kicked in, shutting his wings back to his sides, and land face first into the water. Causing a large splash, which Dash was able to dodge.
…
…
…
“Uh…” Dash uttered, “That was not how I thought this would go…”
“...George?” Dash called out worriedly, “...You alright down there?”
A large bubble slowly crept to the surface of the water. Only to make a large *blop* sound when it actually reached the top.
But… That could only mean…
“George!” Dash shouted in fear, diving into the water, reaching down for the now drowning stallion. She grabbed a hold of him, carried him on her back, and swam back to the shore. She then set down the now unconscious stallion, only to worry her even more.
“No, no no, no... no no NO NO!” Dash repeated in panic.“C’mon George, breathe! Breathe!”
Nothing happened.
“Ohmygosh, what do I do!?” She asked, before remembering that no one was nearby, then quickly jumped to an idea. She placed her hooves on his stomach, and pushed down on it quickly, then released, then repeated the process in order to get George to breathe again.
*cough* *cough*
George quickly sat up, immediately coughing up all the water trapped in his lungs. “Woah.” He exhaled sharply. “That was...intense.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m soooooooooooooo sorry!” Dash apologized, eyes slightly watering, “I forgot you didn’t know how to swim! Why didn’t you tell me!?”
George coughed. “I tried to...But you didn’t give me time to finish my sentence…” He then looked up to Dash’s eyes. He saw the extreme sadness in them, when everypony said how loyal and caring she was.
They weren’t kidding.
“George?”
George quickly shook his head, snapping himself back to reality, “Huh? Oh… Uh, sorry.”
“No, don’t be sorry. It’s all my fault that you almost drowned back there.” Dash frowned, her ears flopping down to the back of her head in sadness, “You almost...died...’cause of me…”
“No… Not ‘cause of you.” George countered, “It’s my fault for not telling you I couldn’t swim in the first place.”
Dash sighed, walking to the nearby tree for some shade.
“Hey…It’s okay, cheer up…” George said calmly, sitting down next to her, and softly placing a hoof on her side, “I’m not dead, am I?”
“No...but you almost died…”
“Right. Almost . I’m still here. You know why?” George asked, “Because you saved me.”
Dash sighed once more, then looked at George, and saw his confident smile.
“So, let’s say that you’re right. And I almost died ‘cause of you, but at the same time, I’m still living thanks to you!” His smile grew brighter. “You’re a good friend, Dash. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were only trying to help me fly.”
“...How can you be so happy at a time like this?” Dash curiously asked, her mouth agape, “You almo—”
Dash was quickly interrupted by George’s hoof being placed on her mouth, shutting her up.
“Yeah. I almost died.” He said, “But I’m still here. Perfectly alive.”
She nodded in response. “But...I don’t know what I would’ve done if you ended up dying in my hooves.”
“Yeah, you’re right there. I could’ve died if you hadn’t saved me in time.” George nodded, “But you know why I didn’t die?”
Dash shook her head.
“I didn’t die because I had a friend who’d do anything for her friends.” George smirked, “Because you dove in the water, and saved me before I could even die. And even if you weren’t fast enough, something deep inside tells me that you’d probably rush me to a hospital once you got me out of the water.”
Hearing this caused Dash to giggle a bit as her mood was lightened. Seeing this also caused George’s mood to brighten.
“Y’know...You’re alright, George.” Dash smiled warmly, “Thanks for cheering me up.”
“No problem, Dash.” George smiled back, knowing that he finally cheered her up.
…
…
…
“Well...I guess I should be going…” George added, “I’ll see ya later, alright?”
“Yeah…” Dash nodded, “See ya later…”
And with that, George had walked away.
“...I almost killed him…” Dash whispered to herself, “The only stallion who’s been putting up with me, and I almost killed him.” She sighed, “And he didn’t even care...He was focused more on my happiness rather than his own life.”
She sat for a while, and thought to herself.
“...Maybe he’s not so bad, after all…”
________________________
“Hey there, Georgie!” Pinkie childishly cheered, “I was wondering when you’d show up!”
George chuckled at the nickname she gave, “Hey Pinkie, I was coming by to see if I could have a cupcake or something. I’ve been craving something sweet.”
“One cupcake coming riiiiiiiight up!” Pinkie confirmed, “Oooh! What kind of cupcake? Vanilla? Chocolate? Strawberry? Cherry? App—”
“Uh...Chocolate.” George interrupted.
“Here ya go!” Pinkie hoofed over a box with a dozen chocolate cupcakes inside.
George raised an eyebrow, he wanted to ask how she knew what cupcakes he wanted, did she just happen to have it lying around, waiting for somepony to ask for them? He thought it was best for him to just leave it be, considering what he’s heard about Pinkie’s randomness, and his own experience with her. Maybe another time.
“But...I only asked for one…” George pointed out, “Why’d you give me so many?”
“It’s on the house!” Pinkie explained, “Since this is your first time ordering something here, I thought you deserved something for free. Besides, you didn’t let me throw you a super duper awesome party for you! So… This will do. For now. ”
“Huh… Well… Thanks, Pinkie.”
“No problem!” Pinkie beamed, “Come again soon!”
“I will!” George replied, walking out of the shop. Then sat on a nearby bench to relax and eat a cupcake. He looked around him, basking in the beauty that ponyville held, then he looked to his right, noticing a white stallion with curly grey mane and tail sitting next to him.
Though before he was able to say anything, the stallion started speaking to what looked like to be no one in particular.
“I don’t know why I have to run around carrying this stupid book on memories anyway…” The stallion grumbled to himself, “It’s like the master wants me to get caught…”
George’s eyes widened, coming to the conclusion that the “book” the stallion was talking about was the book he needed for his memory. At last! A chance for his memory!
"I'll admit, it's kinda funny how convenient this is." George thought, "It's actually kinda dumb, the more I think about it. But still, I'm going to need help getting the book back before I screw anything up.
He ran off to the library, eager to tell Twilight and Spike the news.
Author's Note
Here it is! Chapter 4, I kept re-reading it over and over, changing detail by detail more and more.
Give me opinions on the chapter, please.
Chapter 5: The Book Thief
Author's Note
I feel unsure about this chapter, but at the same time, I feel like it's at it's best. I just keep changing words from one synonym to the next. So I don't think there's much repetition... I hope.
But hey! A 2k word long chapter!
Chapter 5: The Book Thief
George slowly opened his eyes, the sun shining it’s light on his eyes again, welcoming him to the new day. When he finally was aware of himself again, he noticed he was hugging a pillow. He shrugged it off, not bothering to question this, since it’s happened before. It’s something he’s grown to live with. He slowly crawls out of bed, and walks out of the room, preparing for another day.
Though he wasn’t able to tell Twilight or Spike about the stallion yet, they were too busy sorting books trying to actually find the book they needed.
“Morning, George.” Spike smiled weakly, glad to see his friend awake and well. “Looks like you slept good last night.”
“A little…” George replied groggily, “Though I did find it a bit weird, yet comfortable, that I woke up hugging a pillow…”
“Maybe you had a dream and don’t remember it?” Spike theorized, “Well, anyways...Twilight isn’t here at the moment, that’s why there’s no pancakes.”
“Meh, I was starting to get a little tired of them anyways.” George shrugged, “Where’s the cereal at, again?”
Spike simply pointed to where Twilight kept the cereal at. Resulting in George setting himself up a bowl.
“So…” George began, eating some of his food, “What have you been up to for the past half week?”
“Nothing much, sending letters to Celestia for Twilight, and still trying to find that darn book.” Spike continued, “I’ve been checking everywhere that isn’t the library, because it obviously isn’t here.”
“Now that you mention it, Spike...”
“Hm?”
“I...think I know who stole the book.”
Spike immediately spit the milk that was in his mouth at him in shock.
...
“Heh…” Spike sheepishly smiled, “So...uh…Why didn’t you mention this yesterday?”
“I tried to, but then the both of you yelled at me for interrupting you guys while you were sorting all the books.” George grumbled.
“Oh…” Spike uttered, “Well, uh...We should probably go tell Twilight, huh?”
“Gee, that sounds like a great idea…”
________________________
*Knock Knock Knock!*
“Just a sec, Fluttershy.” Twilight said, walking to the door and opening it.
“Oh, hey, George!” Twilight smiled meekly, quickly stepping out of the house, then closing the door behind her immediately afterwards, “What’s...uh...what’s up?”
“Uh…” George uttered, “Something wrong?”
“No!” Twilight replied unusually loudly, “...I mean…no...nothing’s wrong! Heh heh…”
George narrowed his eyes for a moment, then reverted back to his original state.
“Well, anyways. I think I know where the book you’ve been looking for is.” George explained.
“Really?” Twilight asked curiously, “W-where is it?”
“Somepony stole the book.”
George looked back, seeing Spike right behind him.
“George visited Sugarcube Corner, sat in a nearby bench, and heard the thief talk about the book.” Spike recapped, “The only reason why he didn’t do anything was because he didn’t want to screw up his chances for his memory.”
…
“Well, I’d help get the book back. But I’m gonna have to trust you two on this, I’m kinda busy at the moment helping Fluttershy with a problem…” Twilight foolishly smiled.
“...What kind of problem?” George asked, cocking his head to the side.
“...It’s a small problem, but it can’t wait.”
“Do you need any h—”
“Gottagogoodluckgettingthebookbackbye!”
*SLAM!*
“...Well that was weird.” Spike blinked, receiving a nod of agreement from George. “So, George, what did the thief look like, anyway?”
“Uh, he was a white stallion, his mane and tail was grey, and it was also a little curly” George described.
Spike nodded, and walked off.
“Uh, Spike? I’ll catch up with you, I need to check something.”
Spike nodded again, still walking off.
Meanwhile, George slowly opened the door. Now being able to fully listen to what Twilight’s been trying to hide.
“What are you doing?”
“Going to return Philomena, remember?”
“We can't now!”
“Why not?”
“You have no idea what the Princess is gonna do when she finds out you're the one who took her pet, do you?!”
“Do you ?”
“Well... no. But it can't be anything good! She might banish you from Equestria, or throw you in a dungeon. Or banish you and then throw you in a dungeon in the place that she banishes you to!”
“Aha!” George shouted, “I knew there was something going on!”
“Gah!” Twilight yelped in shock, “George! Haven’t you heard of ‘knocking’!?”
“I’ve heard. In fact, I just did, earlier.” George sarcastically replied, “Remember?”
…
“So what’s this I hear about the Princess?” George asked, “What’d I miss while I was asleep?”
“Ugh…” Twilight groaned, “Princess Celestia came by an—”
“Princess Celestia came here ? And I wasn’t awake to meet her?”
“...Uh, yeah…” Twilight smiled sheepishly.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You were sound asleep! I didn’t want to bother you!”
“...So, what was she here for, anyway?” George wondered.
“Well, she came for a special brunch, and Fluttershy decided to kidnap her pet bird and nurse it back to health.” Twilight explained.
...
“Oh.” George uttered, “That actually makes sense! ...Kinda.”
“See?” Fluttershy blurted, “Even George understands the situation!”
“Well, yeah. Nursing someone’s pet bird back to health would be the right thing to do.” George began, “But I didn’t expect the birdnapping part.”
“Well, it’s not really ‘birdnapping’...” Fluttershy corrected, “More like...um...’borrowing’ the bird until she’s fully healed.”
…
“Well...Good luck!”
*Click*
“Well that was...something.” Fluttershy commented.
“I just hope he doesn’t tell anypony…” Twilight added.
“I don’t think George would be capable of such a thing, Twilight.” Fluttershy replied, “Why would he, anyways? You’re doing everything you can as a friend to help him get his memory back, why would he turn against you now?”
“...You’re right.” Twilight smiled warmly at the thought, “Now, about the bird…”
________________________
“Took you long enough.” Spike grumbled, “What were you doing back there?”
“Nothing, I was just asking a few questions, that’s all.” George smirked, “So, anything yet?”
“Nope.” Spike replied bluntly, “I haven’t seen any stallions by the description you gave.”
“Darn.” George groaned, “If I knew how to fly, I could get a birds-eye-view of the town.”
“Haven’t those lessons helped you in any way?” Spike thought aloud.
“It’s only been about four lessons. Half of the time I either almost drowned or fell on my face. I don’t think that would be enough to fully learn to fly.”
“Right...”
“Look!” George said, pointing to something in the distance, “There he is!”
Off in the distance, was the same stallion George had met yesterday, carrying a saddlebag, as well as whatever the bag contains.
“That was a lot easier than I thought.” He thought aloud, turning his head to where Spike was standing. “What now, Spi—”
Spike was already running off to the white stallion. George simply sighed, and slowly followed.
“I told you already, I don’t have your freakin book!” The stallion shouted.
“Really?” Spike asked sarcastically, “Then why did my friend say you had a book just like one we were looking for!?”
“It’s just a coincidence!”
“Then what was that about your ‘master’ wanting you to run around with ‘this stupid book’?” George asked, “You even complained that ‘it’s like the master wanted you to get caught’.”
“You heard that!?” The stallion exclaimed in shock, “I didn’t see anypony sitting next to me!”
“I sat down just before you started talking.”
“...Oh.”
“Listen, we just want the book back.” Spike clarified, “It’s really important to us, it contains some stuff we’ve been needing to research for a while…”
“What’s so special about it?”
“Well, uh...There’s some spells my friend needs to research.”
“And I should care...why?”
“Dude, just listen, I’ve been having a rough week and a half. I have no memory of who I am, where I live, who my family is. I’m a total blank.” George explained, “And that book is the only thing that might be able to help me.”
“Ohhhh.” The stallion sarcastically uttered, “Well, why didn’t you just say so? Sure, I’ll give you the book!”
“Really?”
“No.”
And with that, the stallion turned to run off, but then bumped into somepony, causing both of them to fall down.
“Quick! Get the book!” George yelled, Spike immediately reacted by looking in the saddlebag, shouting “Found it!”, and tossing the book back to him.
“Geez.” A familiar voice said, getting back up from the floor, “Watch where you’re going, bub.” finally standing up, the voice in question turned out to be from Rainbow Dash.
“Oh. Hey Dash.” George smiled warmly, “Glad you showed up.”
“Hey, George.” Dash returned the smile, “I was looking for you… How come you didn’t show up for flying lessons?”
George pointed down to the stallion, who was still lying on the floor for some reason.
“What’s he gotta do with you not showing up?”
George pointed to the book Spike was now carrying.
“Oh! Hey, you finally found the book.”
The two of them simply stared at Dash, who was still oblivious to the obvious.
“...Oh wait, you mean…? Ohhhhh!” Dash came to realization, “He had the book all this time?”
George sighed. “Yes…”
“Well, why did he have th...He stole it?” Dash asked, receiving a nod from both Spike and George in response.
“Well, how in the hay was he able to do that without getting caught?”
They shrugged.
“Well, what do we do with him?”
Everyone looked back down at the stallion. However, at the exact time they looked, the stallion was slowly turning black, almost like a shadow . They tried to grab him, but it’s like he wasn’t even there. Now, the stallion was completely black, his mane, tail, his entire figure. Just a complete shadow.
Then, it faded away.
“Well, uh. That was weird.” George commented.
“Yeah…” Dash nodded, “...So, uh, now that we got the book back, should we tell Twilight?”
“Speaking of Twilight…” Spike pointed off in the distance, Fluttershy, Twilight, and more importantly, Celestia; who was holding a red and orange, fiery-type bird.
“Woah.” George slowly spoke, his eyes fixated towards the bird, “What is that?”
“Dunno, let’s go find out!” Spike suggested, running off in the distance, with Dash quickly following him.
“Right…” George mumbled softly, looking behind him where the white stallion previously laid.
“Why did he really want the book? And...how did he do that?”
________________________
“All you had to do was hold on to the book until it was time, and you couldn’t even get that right!”
“I-I’m sorry, master. I..I tried…”
“You obviously didn’t try hard enough!”
“If it weren’t for that mare behind me, I would’ve gotten away.”
“But they would’ve caught up to you, eventually.”
“I’m...truly sorry.”
He let out a sigh. “It’s quite alright. Let’s just hope Twilight isn’t able to recover George’s memory yet. Otherwise our whole plan is in jeopardy.”
“What’s so special about this ‘George’, anyways? He looks like an ordinary pegasus.”
“Looks can be deceiving. Soon, you’ll understand.”
“Right, master. I shall await for your next command.”
“Good. Run along, now.”
…
“You’re in for a real show, George. Just you wait…Everything is going according to plan...Not even the Chaos Five realize what I’m doing yet. But soon, it’ll all be clear.”
“While you may have that book sooner than I hoped, we can still finally get this party started.”
“All we need is to find our fifth member to help end the party once we're all done...”
________________________
“Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?”
“No, that's quite all right. I think I can remember.”
“Remember what?” George appeared out of nowhere, causing Twilight to jump quickly in surprise.
“Stop doing that!” Twilight softly punched him in the chest.
“Why? Pinkie does it all the time?” George joked.
Twilight sighed in defeat, and turned back to Celestia, who already had a curious look on her face.
…
“Oh! Right!” Twilight suddenly remembered, “Princess Celestia, I’d like you to meet my new friend, George.” She pointed to the stallion, who was standing next to her.
“So you’re the new friend Twilight told me about in her letters.” Celestia thought aloud, “So, has she helped you recover your memory yet?”
“Uh...Not yet.” George responded bluntly, “We’ve been looking all over town for the book on memory loss, and I just recovered it from somepony.”
“Somepony else had the book?” Celestia cocked her head, “That seems peculiar. Twilight told me her library was the only place that had that book.”
George sighed, “Yeah...Turns out the book was...stolen.”
“Hm. I see.” Celestia nodded, “And where is the pony in question?”
“He vanished!” Spike cut in, “It was so weird! He turned into a black shadow and vanished!”
When Celestia heard Spike’s description, her face flipped from being normal to being extremely curious, her head cocked to the side more than what it was, before. Then, her expression did a 360, switching right back being normal...ish .
“That is weird.” Celestia said without emotion, trying not to attract attention.
“Something wrong, Princess?” Twilight asked curiously.
“No, everything’s fine.” Celestia replied, “But I think it’s time for me to return to Canterlot.” She added, turning away to fly back home.
“Oh, um. Alright.” Twilight mumbled awkwardly.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Celestia remembered, turning around, carrying what seems to be a golden ticket in her magic aurora. and giving it to George. “It’s only fair that you have this, George.”
“Uh...Thanks?” George awkwardly replied. “...What is it?” He whispered into Twilight’s ear.
"I'll explain later" Twilight whispered back.
Celestia smiled, and flied back to Canterlot.
“...Well. I finally got to meet the Princess.” George thought aloud, “She’s a lot taller than I thou—”
“So what’s this I hear about somepony stealing my book?”
Chapter 6: Jake's Beginning
“He’s...gone missing?”
“Apparently so. I’m just as surprised as you are, Jake.”
Yeah, you heard that name right. Name’s Jake. I’m George’s cousin, nothing serious.
Right now, I’m on the phone with Jason, George’s best (and only) friend. Though, I can hear a hint of worry on his voice. He’s telling me that George has gone missing, but...that’s impossible. He wouldn’t just...leave, would he? No, he wouldn’t. Yet Jason’s trying to tell me otherwise.
“But why would he just randomly go missing?” I ask, hearing a loud “What!?” from my mom. She was shocked of something, obviously. But...then again, she overreacts for everything.
“Dunno, that’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Jason replies.
“You don’t think he left on his own, do you?” I wonder.
“Doesn’t look like it. Then again, there’s no evidence that proves he left on his own, or evidence that he was kidnapped.”
“Then...What could have happened to him?”
“Jake. We have to go.” My mom calls out to me, with a concerned look on her face.
“I gotta go, Jason. I’ll take to you later.” I say, then hang up the phone.
I look at my mom, and that worried expression still doesn’t go away. What could be making her so upset? It’s almost like someone’s died or something.
Or someone...vanished ...Nah.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Your aunt’s house.”
________________________
*Knock Knock Knock!*
“Come in.” George’s mom says softly. And we did, I could hear some conversation, but I didn’t really care, I had to find out for myself if George really did vanish.
I ran off to George’s room, only for my mom to call for me to stop, but I ignored her. I opened the door, and I see Jason standing there, looking around the room. He looks back at me and smirks.
“About time you showed up.” He says sternly, “Now do you believe me? Now do you finally believe George is gone?”
…
I was silent, I was unable to speak, unable to think. Those words kept echoing in my head.
My cousin was gone.
“Listen, Jake.” He begins his attempt to calm me, “I know you looked up to George as a role model, maybe even like a brother. I know it’s hard… But we’re gonna get through it. We’re going to get him back.”
“What if he doesn’t want to come back?” I ask, “What if he ran away on purpose?”
He looks at me, almost looking like he’s holding back some tears. And he sighs, softly, but I could still hear it.
“I...I don’t know…”
I frowned a bit, then I looked behind me. I see George’s PC. I see some text on the screen, and the rest of the screen is black.
“...What’s that?” I ask.
“Not sure.” He replies, walking off in an attempt to close it. “Whatever it is, I can’t close it. Nothing works.”
I walk up to the screen, and now I see the text reads “It’s time.”
“...Time for what?”
________________________
From what I’ve learned so far, George has only been gone for a couple of days, now. But...no one seems to know about his disappearance, there’s nothing to show where George could’ve gone off to.
Jason walks up to me with a curious face as I sit on a nearby bench outside the house. I can only wonder what he’s thinking inside that crazy head of his.
“Hey, you’re on summer break, right?”
I nod, wondering why he’s asking a question like that.
“Think you can stay here for an investigation?”
I froze for a moment, then I look at him curiously. “What...you mean, stay at my aunt’s house? And...investigate what?”
“Yeah. You could stay here, and we could team up and investigate on George’s disappearance.” He smirks.
“...Isn’t that was the police are for?” I ask sarcastically, not having a single clue of what he’s planning, “And...detectives too?”
“They won’t look hard enough, most of the ‘missing person’ cases here aren’t thoroughly investigated.” He explained, all I did was nod with every statement and explanation he had, seeing how I don’t know what goes on in this place.
To be fair, I did live a city or two away. So obviously things are different between here and home.
He smirks upon seeing my nod, and then his expression turns into a curious one.
“So...Will ya stay and help?”
...
“I’ll see what I can do.” I smirk. The response I gave caused a smile to form on Jason’s face.
Looks like him and I are gonna have lots of time together finding George. And we won’t stop until we do!
“Well, from the looks of it, there is a spell that could help recover your memory, George.” Twilight explained, “However, there’s a thirty percent chance it won’t recover your memories. It’s a very complicated spell, you’d need someone with stronger magic to guarantee you’ll get your memory back. And if that’s the case…You might have to start a new life.”
“I think I’ve already been working on that for the past three weeks, Twilight.” George chuckled, “I think I can manage without my memories now. But it’d be nice to have them back, y’know...If it’s even possible.”
“Alright…Here goes…” Twilight replied, focusing all of her energy onto her horn as it began to glow with an purple aura. Walking towards George as she pointed her horn towards him.
“I still don’t see why you don’t just call Princess Celestia to do the spell if it’s so complicated…” Spike complained.
“Let’s not question her logic, Spike.” George commented, just before being poked in the forehead with Twilight’s horn, “Ow.”
Twilight slowly realized nothing was happening, so she quickly took action. She began to strengthen the spell, while not even being close to reaching her limit.
“Ow…” George managed to say, feeling the magic pierce through his head, until the pain intensified. “Ow...okay, ow...that hurts, Twilight…”
Twilight didn’t listen, all she cared about was helping him getting his memory back, eventually, she reached her limit, putting everything she had into the spell. Her aura around her horn grew larger and larger, until it began to wrap around George’s head.
“Owowowow!” George hissed, “Twilight stop! Please! it’s not working! You’re hurting my head!”
Twilight still didn’t listen, leaving George to take drastic measures, he slowly lifted his hoof, and pushed Twilight’s head away from his head. Causing a surge of magic to pulse through his head, as if it were eletricity.
And then, he fainted.
________________________
“George…”
“Ugh…” He mumbled, “I don’t wanna get up…”
“Well, at least he’s alive.”
“Well, yeah. But we need to get him awake.”
George slowly opened his eyes, groaning as he sat up in pain, he began rubbing his head as he slowly started to remember what happened.
“That...that was insane…” George groaned, “The heck did you do, Twilight?”
“Me?!” Twilight queried furiously, “You were the one who decided to push me out of the way!”
“You were practically trying to kill me!” George shouted, “What was I supposed to do!?”
Once George had said that, Twilight stopped, her face going completely blank.
“...Twi?” George muttered, tilting his head to the side. “You...you alright?”
“...”
“Twi…”
“...”
“Twilight? You… You alri—”
“So...Let me get this straight.” Twilight interrupted, “You’re telling me, that the spell was hurting you?”
George nodded in response, causing Twilight suddenly grew a worried expression.
“Then...You might have just made it worse.”
“How so?” George wondered.
“I said there was a thirty percent chance of the spell failing. Well, it mostly depends on the unicorn casting the spell. If the spell were to fail, it would cause pain to the one being ‘healed’. And wouldn’t actually do anything to your memory, as long as the spell was successfully finished properly.” Twilight explained, “But now that I never finished the spell, it’s possible a surge of magic might have shot you. Which explains why you fainted.”
“And this makes it worse, how?” George thought aloud.
Twilight walked toward her book. She began to read a page, then levitated her book close to her as she walked back to George.
“Well, if the spell completed, your memories would’ve been left untouched. You could simply go back to how you were living, and hope that one day, you find something that strikes your memory back into place.” Twilight paused, taking another quick glance at her book. “Since you pushed me away while I was trying to cast the spell, that surge of magic I mentioned earlier might become unstable...”
George nodded, signaling her to continue.
“And that unstable surge of magic can cause severe damage to your head. If you hear or see anything from or similar to your lost memories, the spell will try to help. But only make things even worse.” Twilight’s book suddenly clapped together, and floated back into her desk. “Though, what will actually happen, I can’t say that I know.”
George only stood and listen, his face now going completely blank like Twilight’s was, moments ago.
“So, it’s possible that you would never be able to remember your family, your home, or anything even remotely similar.” Twilight’s ears slowly flopped to the back of her head. She frowned at her friend, whom was already starting to well up with tears. “I’m...I’m sorry, George.”
“...”
Twilight looked at him, his emotionless face hiding all the emotions he now carried.
He screwed up. His only chance of possibly recovering his memory, and he screwed it up. “How could I be so stupid?! ” He thought. He was angry at himself, saddened for his family, worried about what else could go wrong now, it was a race of emotions flying around him. All hidden behind a blank face.
“George…”
Twilight’s ear twitched, hearing a drip of liquid splashing on the floor.
“Uh...Twi, I think we should give him some time alone…”
“Is there any way to fix this?” George questioned suddenly, using any remaining willpower he had to hold back his tears. He appeared almost frightened, his words even shaking as he spoke. “I mean...magic caused this, magic can fix it, right?”
“You’d need someone like Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to be able to use that kind of magic, and even then, they’d still have to use a lot of magic to fix what we’ve done.” Twilight softly replies.
“But there’s still a chance, right!?” George asked, ignoring any tears that fell from his eyes.
“I’m not entirely sure, George. I mean, we did kinda mess it up pretty bad. I don’t think even they could help at this point.” Twilight glumly stated, she frowned with her friend. She could only imagine what it feels to forget her own family and friends. She’d shiver at the very thought of herself losing every memory of her friends and family. She knew if just the thought made her shiver, having George actually live through it must’ve been ten times as worse.
“So…That’s it, then.”
And with that, George finally snapped. His legs completely lost all ability to support his own weight, and thus, he fell stomach-first into the floor. Upon landing, he immediately slammed his head down onto the floor, wrapping his forelegs around his face, crying and sobbing softly into them.
“That’s it. It’s over. I blew it. There’s no way of getting my memory back, now. S-seeing my family. Knowing I have a safe place to live... A-all gone.” George sniffled, “I-I’ve lost hope… It...i-it’s over…”
He knew he could live perfectly fine without his memories, he wouldn’t be crying right now if that was the case. But now, he’d have to deal with suffering without his memories, all because of a spell that was improperly used. It’s practically torture, now.
Twilight was on the verge of crying herself. Her ears flopped down to the side, and her frown grew larger the more she watched her friend. She slowly walked to his side, sat down, and patted him on the back.
“It’s not over.” Twilight reassured, “Tell you what... I’ll let you stay at my place for a while, until you get adjusted to being here in Ponyville, then you can find a job, and then slowly get back on your hooves. And we’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you, even with that unstable magic in your head.”
George simply stares at Twilight, not believing her at first. He looked at her for what felt like a minute, until he realized she was being completely honest. Then, he slowly opened his mouth.
“You’d really do that...for me?”
“What are friends for?” Twilight warmly smiled. Suddenly, she finds herself in the embrace of her friend. Eventually, she smiles, and hugs him back. She hears a faint “Thank you.”, and the embrace around her tighten slightly.
“Maybe…There’s still some hope left, after all…”
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. “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 ...
Chapter 10: Aftermath (Rewritten)
Author's Note
To those of you who didn't read the blog post, or are too lazy to read them, or are simply new and don't care about blogs: This chapter bothered me so much that I ended up rewriting several scenes. I also had planned on adding another character or two into the rewritten version but I couldn't find any place to fit them.
To those of you who are new or wanted to know when this got rewritten and are too lazy to read my blog.
Rewritten at 2/24/2015
Chapter 10: Aftermath (Rewritten)
It’s been a day since the attack, and everypony’s been affected in some way or another.
Twilight and Dash have gotten more worried about George, seeing how he was the only one who handled the strange stallion and somehow won. Yet he doesn’t remember how. While the stallion in question is helping Applejack fill up the hole. The two mares have begun their own investigation on the matter.
“It’s weird, Rainbow.” Twilight spoke, “How could George beat that strange stallion, and not remember how he did so?”
“I don’t know.” Dash shrugged, rubbing her hooves against her head, “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Twilight softly inhaled, then sighed, “We’ve known him for about a month and a half. You don’t think he’s hiding something from us all this time?”
Dash slowly moved her hoof to her chin. She began to think about Twilight’s question.
“I don’t think so.” Dash thought aloud. “You said it yourself, we’ve known him for a month and a half. And I’ve been the one hanging out with him most of the time. I think I would’ve noticed something by now.”
“I suppose...” Twilight nodded, “But something’s fishy… If George isn’t hiding anything from us… Then what exactly is going on?”
“I’m just as clueless as you are, Twi.”
________________________
Channel 839
Blue stallion, Red mane and tail.
Sounds and acts like George.
...In Equestria?
I’m still having a hard time trying to understand this. He’s referring to that “My Little Pony” show, I believe. What’s this have to do with George?
8-3-9
There’s nothing on. Just...static . What the heck, Jason?
I flip the paper, rereading what he wrote.
Flip this paper and look at what’s on. If it’s not on, look on the list of recordings on the DVR.
List.
The list of recordings began to show, he had two or three different shows, they were all organized into folders. All of the folders are set to delete at a later time, all except one folder.
“My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”
It’s set to “Keep until I delete”. Either he really likes this show, or there’s something here that he can’t lose. And he asked me to do this. The strange part of his note, though, was the end...
The more I start to look at this, the more creepy it gets. It looks like he was going to write more on this note, but someone… or something stopped him.
And I’m going to find out.
________________________
~The Next Day…~
“So...Why do I have to help investigate again?” Dash queried, having forgotten why Twilight dragged her into this ‘investigation’ in the first place.
It’s now been two days since the encounter, George and Applejack are almost done covering up the hole. However, Twilight wants to investigate the area for anything that could help figure out what’s occurred.
“Because, Rainbow. This entire ‘fight’ seems extremely suspicious, and I need someone who can help me out.” Twilight replied.
“Well, I kinda already talked to him.”
Twilight glanced at Dash, nodded in response, then did a doubletake. “Wait, what?” She asked, her eyes widened slightly. “You did what?”
“Yeah.” Dash smiled confidently, “I talked to him and asked some questions.”
“And… how did that turn out?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Pretty well, actually.”
________________________
~Yesterday…~
“What I remember, huh?” George asked, resting a hoof on his chin. “Yeah, seems easy enough.” He smirked, glad to answer at least one question that was related to the whole ordeal the day before.
“Let’s see. I remember you guys floated up with the Elements, and shot a giant rainbow at him. There was a bright light, but then, all of a sudden... the rainbow was shot back at you guys.” He explained, softly growling towards the end of the sentence.
Dash cocked her head, listening to George’s story.
“I zoned out shortly after he kept taunting at me, so I forgot what happened after that.” He thought back to that day. “It was weird, it was like I lost control to my own body.” He shivered at the thought. “But! The next thing I remember when I zoned back in... he was down, I could see some brutal damage on him, and I was in front of him...”
Dash raised an eyebrow, wondering what George would say next.
“...he spoke to me.” George recapped, “It wasn’t much, but I still remember.”
“What did he say?”
…
“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.”
…
“Number One?” Dash quoted, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No clue.” George shrugged, “But...that’s all I remember. I hope it’s some use in Twilight’s investigation.”
________________________
“Hm.” Twilight mulled for a bit, “So, he lost control over his body?”
“That’s what he told me.” Dash nodded.
“Well… That doesn’t really help. “But this is another thing that’s been bothering me for a while. How was ‘Number One’ able to reflect our own attack back at us?”
Dash shrugged in response.
“Well, while you were telling me what George told you.” Twilight spoke, the now glowing aura fading away from her horn. “I looked around for any other traces of magic using this spell I saw in a book.”
“And?” Dash asked as her head tilted to the side..
“Well, I found traces of magic, that’s for sure.” Twilight looked back at the nearly filled hole. “That stallion obviously had some kind of access to magic, but I didn’t see a horn on him…” She raised an eyebrow, “However, not only did I find traces of magic from where the stallion stood, and the magic from the Elements, I also found a third trace of magic.”
“What do you mean?” Dash questioned, her head tilting even further than it was earlier.
“Like, other than the stallion, who used magic to float. And the six of us using the Elements to attack him.” Twilight paused to breathe. “There was a third magical object nearby.”
“Really?” Dash queried, her head returning to it’s normal position.
“Though it looks like it could be some debris of some sort from the Elements, as this third object appears shortly after we used them. Most likely from ‘Number One’ reflecting it back to us.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “There’s no way this was George.”
“Ha! I knew he wasn’t hiding anything!”
________________________
A dead silence filled the environment. The only thing anyone could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the tombstones, and the people visiting them.
Unfortunately, there was one person who never thought he’d see this day arrive so soon.
Susan Roberts
1974 - 2014
R.I.P
“I’m… sorry I missed the funeral, mom.”
The young boy’s eyes slowly began to water. The loss of his mother becoming too much for him.
“Of all things that could happen...” He gasped for air. “I didn’t expect this…”
He held on strong, making sure he wouldn’t break down into tears. Though every minute slowly became harder and harder for him to hold on any longer.
“Why… Mom?” He fell down to his knees. “Why did you have to die so soon!? ”
In an instant, the dead silence was broken by the cries of the young boy. Broken down into tears and sobs, no matter how strong he attempted to stand. Every moment he spent in the graveyard had caused him more depression.
After what felt like an hour to him, he gasped as he felt something grab his shoulder.
“It’s okay, Jake… Let it all out…” A soft voice said, in an attempt to soothe the boy.
“No…” He muttered, his voice slightly muffled from the tears he shed and his hands held in front of his face. He quickly moved his hands out of the way in an attempt to speak. “It’s not okay… My mom is dead… and it’s all my fault!”
“It’s not your fault, Jake.” The soft voice replied. “Things happen in life for a reason…”
“Says the woman whose son ‘mysteriously’ vanished.” He growled.
Slowly, the hand rested on his shoulder lifted, and the soft voice spoke again.
“I know you’re hurting, Jake. But he has his own life. I could’ve lived fine by myself, but he chose to stay to take care of me.” She said, “Whether he left or not isn’t anyone’s problem but his own. He obviously had a reason.”
“Yeah? What about Jason?” The boy asked.
“I… can’t say the same for him.” She shrugged, “While he was just a couple of years younger than your cousin. He had other plans to move out of the house.”
The boy continued to cry and sob, pausing every now and then to reflect on things, then revert back to crying and sobbing. The process repeated itself, over and over. The woman standing behind him let him deal with his pain until he was ready.
“It’s… It’s not fair…” The boy thought aloud. “First George, then Jason, and now…” He gasped for air, and returned to his crying.
The rest of the family members standing behind him had already whispered their goodbyes to the young boy and the woman behind him. Eventually, thirty minutes had passed, and soon enough, it was just the two of them.
She slowly walked to the boy’s side. She then got down on her knees, and wrapped an arm around his crying figure. Then, the boy turned to her, and hugged her. He then cried on her shoulder, which didn’t seem to bother her at all. She simply began patting him on the back, whispering “It’s okay.” every now and then.
Slowly, the boy’s crying died out. And he responded with a soft “Thanks, Aunt Mary…”
________________________
In the midst of everything, there was another conversation held in a dark, endless void. A team leader and his master were standing in this black abyss. This was the only place his master could step foot in, and their only method of communication.
“I did what you told me, Master. Exactly how you said to do it. Their new friend, however…”
Master raised an eyebrow, wondering what could he be trying to say. “Yes? What about him?”
“His eyes… They glowed .” He spoke softly. “Master… Is he—”
“It’s about time you figured it out, Number One.” Master chuckled.
One’s eyes widened. “M-Master… Shouldn’t we have been warned ahead of time?”
“No, One. I don’t want this to end up like last time .” Master sighed. “Do not alert your teammates. Let them figure it out on their own.”
“R-right. Last time was a bit… troublesome, with us knowing.” One nodded, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right!” Master smirked. “That’s why I’m the one in charge of this whole operation!”
“Right.” One sighed.
“I will admit, though. It must’ve taken a lot of energy to do what you did out there.” Master clapped as he finished his sentence.
“You mean… You saw it?” One tilted his head.
“Not really. I was told by one of your teammates, actually.” Master shrugged, “Still, I must commend you for having such raw power.”
“Thank you, Master.” One said as he bowed.
“Now, let’s give our friends a little time to rest.” Master suggested, signaling the stallion to leave.
“Right, Master...”
________________________
Spike laid peacefully on the couch. Knowing he had the house all to himself until either George or Twilight came back, he could do whatever he wanted.
So he decided to sleep and be lazy.
His eyelids slowly began to droop. Closer and closer they went as they reached for each other.
And then the door clicked.
His head shot right up. Looking towards the entrance and exit of his home. There was no one to be seen. He raised an eyebrow, for he knows he heard the door close just a second ago.
“Huh?”
He got up, and began looking around him. Sure enough, there was nopony in the house. Shrugging it off, he laid back down on the couch, and attempted to return to his sleep.
What he didn’t know, however. Was there actually was somepony in the house. The figure slowly rose up from behind the couch. Then, suddenly…
“BOO!” George shouted now fully up from behind the couch. Spike reacted with a jump high into the air, while screaming in fear. However, gravity quickly caught up with the flying dragon, and he fell face first into the ground. George, however, was already back on the floor, laughing hysterically.
“Dang it, George!” Spike shouted, his heart still racing from his scare. “You nearly scared my scales off!”
“I’m sorry! But I just had to scare ya!” George said in between laughs, eventually his laughter died out, and he calmed down. “You were sleeping so peacefully, and I’ve never scared anypony before. And Pinkie Pie told me earlier today how funny it was to see their reaction. And boy, she wasn’t kidding!” He then proceeded to laugh once again.
“So your first target just ‘so happened’ to be me!?” Spike sighed, “Next time you decide to scare someone, can it not be me…?” His hand met his face, “I thought you were some kind of burglar or something.”
“Burglar? Really?” George scoffed, “Please... I’d be surprised to see somepony have the guts to steal from Twilight Sparkle . I mean, besides that ‘Number One’ guy.”
“Right…” Spike muttered, removing his hand from his face. “So, I’m guessing you’re done covering up that hole?”
“Yep!” George smiled confidently, “Got 50 bits in payment.”
“Huh, not bad.” Spike commented, laying back down on the couch.
“Well. It’s a start, anyway. I need to get an actual job, though.” George rolled his eyes.
“Why not at…” Spike attempted to speak, before quickly remembering an important fact, then stopped. ”...nevermind.”
“Huh?” George tilted his head.
“No, I forgot you can’t fly.” Spike noted, his hand making a flapping gesture.
“Heh, not yet .” George winked, “I just need to find somepony who won’t emotionally break down in fear that she’ll accidentally kill me. And somepony who won’t push me off a cliff.”
“Twilight told me about that whole cliff thing, actually.” Spike commented. “I gotta admit, considering the fact you drowned about a month ago-- about a week and a half after you woke up in Ponyville-- it kinda was a little too soon.”
George nodded in agreement.
“So, do you have any idea what’s going on in her investigation?” Spike thought out loud.
“No clue.” George shook his head. “Dash did ask me a couple of things, though. It wasn’t too serious, hopefully it helped with their investigation… And if it didn’t help, well. I did the best I could do to help.”
“So...Um...How did you give that ‘Number One’ guy a beatdown...and not remember it?”
“I’m trying to ask myself the same thing, Spike.”
________________________
“You know what I find funny?” Dash thought aloud with a soft chuckle.
“Hm?” Twilight hummed, lost in her investigation. Before quickly shaking her head as she snapped back into reality. “Huh? Oh. And what’s that, Rainbow?”
“This entire thing threw down right here in Sweet Apple Acres, right?” Dash queried.
“Right...” Twilight nodded.
“So then how come nopony heard the entire thing, and tried walking over here?” Dash asked, her eyebrow raised slightly.
“Strangely enough, Big Mac took Applebloom out for some ice cream at that time.” Twilight explained. “The entire time they were gone, that’s when the explosion happened in the first place.”
“But, still.” Dash grumbled. “How could anypony not be just the slightest bit nosey and check it out?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight shrugged, “Just… Look, things happened the way they did, there’s no point in questioning it.”
“Yeah… I guess you’re right…” Dash nodded. “Hey… So uh… If you need me, I’m just gonna go fly around a bit. Does that sound cool?”
“Sure, I guess…” Twilight flicked her hoof in Dash’s direction. Obviously lost in her investigation again. “Do whatever you have to.”
“‘Kay, thanks.”
And with that, Dash opened her wings and flew off into the air.
“I will never understand Rainbow Dash and her random urges to fly.”
________________________
Dash softly landed on a cloud, walking to the edge, and sitting on it.
She looked down onto Ponyville, from this height, she could see everything; Town Hall, Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight’s house, Sugarcube Corner. Even Fluttershy’s cottage all the way next to the Everfree forest. She could see it all, it was an incredible sight.
She deeply inhaled, letting air flow through her lungs, and then softly exhaled.
It felt good being up on the clouds. Though something in the back of her mind wished if only George could experience this.
That was another problem of hers, George.
She had worked hard to maintain her reputation; everyone saw her as the “awesome” or “cool” mare, she never bothered digging into the “sappy” things like love, cuddling, and the like.
The more she thought about it, the more she was disgusted. But yet at the same time, the more she wanted to experience it herself.
At first, that stare he gave her when they first met ruined her first impression of him. But as she began to hang around him more often, and (doing her best at) teaching him how to fly. She felt… comfortable around him. She let herself cry because of him. Twice . She even told him that she almost never cries, even though it wasn’t like everypony didn’t already know this, she still felt the need to tell him anyway.
In fact, as far as she can remember, she hasn’t cried at all, not until George showed up.
If only she hadn’t screwed up and almost killed him with that lake.
She should have known better, George almost forgot to walk, but thanks to Twilight, he somehow picked it up with ease. Swimming, on the other hand…
“Try not to think about it, Dash…” She thought.
She felt horrible that she became emotionally unable to train him. It felt like it left a dent in her reputation. Then she began to ask herself how anypony could ever train somepony to fly in a week or less anyway.
“Because I’m the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, of course I could train anypony to fly in a week!” She proudly thought to herself, answering her own question. “Yeah… even when I say it in my head, it still sounds wrong.”
Then there’s that time second time she cried, all because she was trying to lift George from his own depression, while making herself cry in the process. She could only ask herself: Why? Why did she openly release her feelings in front of him?
Just the mere thought of his name made her heart skip a beat, but at the same time, her mind would argue. It would be a never-ending battle between her heart and her mind.
Before she could even try thinking of anything else, a figure appeared in a puff of smoke.
The figure resembled herself as a filly. Young, mischievous, and ready to tackle anything that was thrown in her way. This young filly spoke for Dash’s mind; the part of her that always tried to look cool, awesome, and also what’s fueling her determination to join the Wonderbolts.
“So!” The young filly spoke, “You finally decide to call me up for advice, eh? It’s about time you called for your mind’s opinion on this.”
“Sh-Shut up…” Dash growled, “I didn’t call for you .”
“Aw come on!” her mind shouted, “You know you called for me, you’re facing emotional issues, so you called up to your mind to ask what to do.”
“I didn’t call for just you, anyway.”
“Huh?”
Shortly after, another figured appeared in a puff of smoke, as well.
The figure resembled Dash herself, though more older and mature. Her mane was longer than Dash’s current length, and was brushed in a way that made it look wavy. She spoke for Dash’s heart; the part of her that allowed her emotions to be free, and actually wanted to feel loved, cared for, everything that Dash was currently conflicted about.
“Oh great, it’s you .” her mind spat, “I thought we locked you up.”
“You did .” The adult mare sternly, but softly spoke toward the young figure. “But, obviously Dashie here is having emotional issues, and so she called for the both of us. Besides, who better to deal with emotions than the heart?”
“The both of us!?” her mind jerked back, then quickly looked at Dash. “C’mon, Dash… You don’t need her . She’s just gonna fill you with... sappy emotions and... junk.”
“Maybe that’s what I want.” Dash grumbled.
“I think I know what’s going on…” her heart smiled. “You’re in love… aren’t you, Dashie?”
“I-I think so.” Dash softly uttered, shortly sighing afterwards, “I don’t know…”
“Ugh, love .” her mind gagged, “What about the wonderbolts, Dash? Sappy things like…” the imaginary filly held back a fake barf. “...love … isn’t gonna help you get there.”
“Come now, mind.” her heart frowned, “I believe there are greater things Dashie could accomplish other than some flying squad.”
“Just think about it, Dash.” her mind beamed, “You . Flying . With the Wonderbolts ! How awesome would that be?”
Dash simply sighed, letting her head fall down. “Cool, I guess.”
“Dashie…” her heart walked closer to her, slowly moving a hoof to her chin, and lifting her head up. “Tell me...what do you really want?”
“I…” Dash muttered.
“Do you want to fall in love? To open your heart to somepony who would care for you?” her heart asked, “With just the little time we’ve known George, he’s been doing his best to make sure you were never upset.”
“I…”
“Or!” her mind interrupted, “You can ignore all of your sappy emotions, and be the coolest, fastest, most awesomest pony in all of Equestria!”
The adult mare simply looked at the young filly in a scolding manner, unhappy with what she just said.
“What?” her mind dumbfoundedly asked.
Her heart simply shook her head and shrugged, looking back at Dash with a caring expression.
“Dashie.” her heart smiled, “All of those things, your emotions...That’s what you want ...isn’t it?”
“M-maybe? No… Yes?” Dash wrapped her hooves over her head, “I knew this was a bad idea…”
“What about your dream?” her mind asked, “The Wonderbolts, Dash. The Wonderbolts!”
Her heart gave a nasty glare towards the young filly, only for her to shrug in response.
“Answer me this, Dashie.” her heart gently said, “Are you truly in love with George?”
“I don’t know, alright!?” Dash snapped, screaming at the imaginary figures. “I knew I shouldn’t have called you both, not after what happened last time! I should’ve just figured this out by myself!”
Dash smashed her face into the soft, silky cloud. Trying to ignore the argument between her and her emotions.
Her heart slowly walked towards her. “It’s okay…” She said, gently placing a hoof on her back, rubbing it gently. Coaxing Dash into lifting her head out of the cloud. “You don’t have to answer it now… give yourself some time to think.”
“But…” her mind tried to speak, but failed to find the words she needed, “Nevermind.”
“I will admit, though…” her heart smirked, “George does look pretty cute. And so far he’s been trying to make you feel better whenever you were upset. Like that time when you apologized for quitting on him.”
“Y-Yeah…” Dash slowly began to smile, a blush slowly forming. “That was nice…”
“Now, I could only imagine what your foals would look like.”
Then her blush intensified, coloring her entire face in a bright shade of red.
“Yeah. Just let that sink in.” her heart smirked, “Just a little something to think about for now.”
Then, both figures vanished in another puff of smoke, leaving Dash alone to think.
After much time passing, she began to ask herself a certain question multiple times. Should she allow her emotions to take over, and forget her “awesome” and “cool” reputation?
That was a question she’d need to ask again later.
View Online
Chapter 11: The Inner Conflicts of Rainbow Dash
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Dash softly sighed as she arrived in the train station. She hung her saddlebags on her back. They matched the color of her fur, and the strap that closed the bags was a recreation of her cutie mark. These bags carried her necessities: Some bits for food, a dress or two in case her mom decides to take her somewhere fancy-- regardless if she wanted to go or not-- and a few couple small things.
She had thought about fulfilling her mom’s request and bring George along, but she decided against it. This entire trip of hers was to help get away from her emotions, and get advice on them. She didn’t need any more complications.
While it has been two whole months since George’s arrival, and it’s been more or less about a month and a half since Dash has started having feelings. While they may have started small-- and so soon-- her emotions gradually began to increase with time.
She really needed a break from all of this confusion.
“Goin’ somewhere?”
Her ears immediately twitched at the new sound. She didn’t expect anypony would have followed her, so she slowly turned around in curiosity.
Though who she saw was probably the last pony she expected to see here.
“I, uh… I heard you were heading to manehattan for a while.” George spoke softly, a warm smile slowly growing on his face. He then brought his hoof to the back of his neck. “I… I thought I’d come see you off, at least.”
“This is what I get for letting Twilight know what I was up to...” Dash thought, internally rolling her eyes. She then looked back at the stallion in front of her, seeing his warm smile.
“But...at least he was sweet enough t— Emotions. Why must you torture me...?”
Dash slowly inhaled some air, then sighed. She looked into his soft, yet bright smile. She couldn’t help but smile, herself. The more the she looked at him, the more her heart seemed to melt.
“Maybe Mom might get to meet him after all…”
“You alright, Dash?” George asked. “You looked like you dozed off, there.”
“Huh? O-oh!” Dash jumped, returning from her short daze “Sorry...” She sheepishly smiled. “Hey...Um, George?”
George cocked his head, and raised an eyebrow, as if saying “Yes?”
“Do you wanna...tag along with me?”
“Huh?” George’s eyes widened, “You mean...you want me to go to manehattan with you?”
“Well...Sure.” Dash moved a hoof to the back of her neck, “I have enough bits to pay for the both of us, if you’re up for it...”
“Are you sure you’re fine with me tagging along?” George raised an eyebrow.
“I’m positive.” Dash nodded, “It’ll be fun! Two friends... hanging out…” She trailed off, then immediately shook her head before she would return to another imaginary world. “Besides, you’ll be able to see a part of the world!”
Luckily for her, George didn’t notice anything strange with Dash’s odd behaviour. He slowly began pondering a bit. He originally came just to make sure she was safe before she left to visit her parents. And now she’s asking him to go with her. Soon enough, he figured he wasn’t going to turn down one of his closest friends.
“Sure. Why not?” He nodded with a smile.
“Cool!” Dash returned the smile, but then, she quickly realized something important. “Just one question.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, the train’s about to leave any second now…”
“I don’t have anything to pack, I don’t have anything . Period.”
“It’s not that...”
“Then what is it?”
“Do you think Twilight will freak out if we don’t tell her that we’re leaving?”
“Probably, why you ask?”
“All Aboard!”
“That’s why.”
________________________
Even though Dash wanted to try to get some time away from George, something in the back of her mind pushed her into tagging him along anyway.
“These darn emotions.” She thought. “They’re going to be the end of me…”
George simply smiled as he looked out the window, seeing the vast world that he had forgotten. Even though their current trip currently passed by simple things, such as trees, he was already excited to see what was out there.
Dash looked towards the adventurous stallion. Just the sight of him gave her butterflies in her stomach, which in turn grossed her out at the same time.
“This is going to be a long day…”
________________________
“So...what are we going to do in Manehattan, anyway?” George asked.
“Well, I mostly came here to visit my folks, y’know?” Dash replied.
George nodded in response.
Immediately, Dash remembered something. “You’re not still upset about...y’know...” She raised an eyebrow, worried about the stallion sitting in front of her.
“Not as much as earlier.” George shook his head with a chuckle, “I won’t be crying on you anytime soon, that’s for sure.
“Good. Maybe all you need is just a little more time. Maybe even hanging out with me and my family will do you some good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Just a little bit.”
While he was fine with everything that’s happened, George still felt like something was missing. His family, if he had any, are completely beyond his reach and memory.
He could only wonder if they were even worrying about him.
________________________
It’s been two weeks since George has vanished.
There’s been no trace whatsoever to his disappearance. Unless you count the note that Jason left, and the “show” it’s connected to.
It’s at this point, when the detectives raise the priority for the case. And they begin to work even harder to try to find him. And now that Jason’s gone too, the priority is raised even higher. Since both of them vanished without a trace.
It’s about darn time those detectives put more effort into it.
Although they won’t find much, at least they’ll be doing a better job than they were doing before.
A bunch of lazy people, that’s what they are…
Ever since Jason’s disappeared, I’ve been following the only lead he found. That show he mentioned. He was right, it does sound and act like George. I haven’t seen much, mostly just a little fight with someone, and some other stuff.
But it could just be a coincidence.
…Could it?
________________________
Dash slowly opened her eyes, waking from her slumber. She inspected the bed she was sleeping on, and quickly panicked, knowing this wasn’t her bed.
She quickly looked at a nearby window, then softly sighed of relief, remembering the fact she was on a train to manehattan.
She looked off in the distance, seeing another bed. Where George was sleeping on.
“Wait. I brought George along?” She thought, quickly coming back to the world of the awake, as she began to recall yesterday.
“Yeah...I remember.” She replied to herself. “I asked him to tag along. I wasn’t going to, but he looked so cute, coming over just to see me off...” She continued, “Maybe he has the hots for me…?”
“Ah geez, what am I doing? Sitting here, talking to myself about a stallion.” She internally scoffs. “Please.”
She slowly got up, trying ever-so-quietly to pass by without waking him up. She softly walked her way out of the sleeping stallion’s hearing range, once she had succeeded, she trotted off to the cafeteria cart, to eat breakfast.
“He looked so cute when he’s sleeping…” She softly smiled to herself. “He was even hugging his own little pillow an— Yep, there I go again… I gotta stop doing that!”
________________________
“Hey… Wake up…”
“Ehh… Five more minutes…”
“There’s not enough time, George. We only have an hour before the train stops. Wake up!”
George slowly opened his eyes, groaning as he did so. As soon as he regained his vision, he saw his rainbow-maned friend, smiling at him.
“Dash…?” George muttered, “Wh-what’s goin’ on?”
Dash giggled. “We’re in a train, remember?”
George looked around, noticing the windows revealing a moving background. Passing trees, buildings, all confirming Dash’s claim. “Oh yeah…” He blinked, groggily lifting his head up, looking around his surroundings some more.
“I saved you some food, you slept past breakfast time!” Dash teased, her smile growing slightly.
“I...did?” George thought aloud, looking towards the door to the cafeteria cart, which now had a sign saying:
Closed!
...As we prepare for lunch.
“I… I guess I did…”
Dash nodded in response, then picked up a tray from behind her, and hoofing it to him.
“...Breakfast in bed? Really?” George managed to tease her, still somewhat half-asleep.
“Just eat.” Dash half chuckled, half groaned.
“Fine.” George stuck his tongue out, which seemed to bother her even more. Fortunately, that what he was aiming for. “Ooh! Pancakes! I actually haven’t had this in a while.”
Dash raised an eyebrow, realizing what the stallion had just said. “...What else do you eat?” She tilted her head, curious of her amnesiac friend.
George stopped, then looked right at her with a curious expression of his own. “...Why do you wanna know?”
“I’m just...curious. All I’ve ever seen you eat is pancakes.” Dash smiled sheepishly.
“You keep showing up so early, though.” George chuckled. “But, I get it. Twilight doesn’t make much though, usually it’s pasta, and... stuff.” George shrugged. “Sometimes she’ll switch it up, and order some pizza, or get something else completely random. But most of the time it’s usually the same meals over and over.”
“So...you really don’t know what other types of food there are...do you?” Dash pondered.
George shrugged.
“Huh.” Dash blinked, taking a mental note of this new information.
“...What did you eat?” George asked in response, “Since you’re gonna be curious, so will I.”
“...Hash Browns?”
“What the heck are those?”
“...Oh boy…”
Author's Note
The return of Equestria's Time has begun!
If you didn't know the story was in hiatus. Well, now you know. Refer to this blog for more information.
kthxbai.
10/25/2015 EDIT: HOLY SH*T THAT PHOTO IS F*CKING HUGFWUIRFNEUENJGIIVNRIUEGEHERIU—It's fixed now.
~Yesterday…~
“GEOOOOOORGE!”
Ponyville nearly shook at the loud shriek from Twilight Sparkle. Her amnesiac friend had gone missing without notice. She ran all around Ponyville for about an hour, trying to track him down. She looked in every place possible, yet nopony even questioned why. She never asked anypony for where he was.
She checked Sugarcube Corner. She checked Rarity’s Boutique. She checked every logical place she could come up with. And she was pretty sure he wouldn’t be at Rainbow Dash’s house.
“Where in tartarus could he be?” Twilight asked aloud. Hoping she could find the answer soon.
“Uh...Twilight?”
She stopped for a moment, looking behind her. She noticed Spike, with his arms crossed as he gave a questionable look at her.
“You do realize that Dash left at the same time that George ‘vanished’, right?”
“She did?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Spike nodded in response. “He probably went with Rainbow Dash to Manehattan.” He paused for a moment, then remembered something. “After all, she did say that her mom wanted to meet George anyway.”
“And why didn’t you tell me this any sooner?”
Spike simply shrugged in response. “You were so busy panicking over George that you wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Heh… Guess I should start listening to you more...”
________________________
~Present Day…~
“You don’t think Twilight would be mad that we didn’t have time to tell her anything?” Dash thought aloud, looking towards her friend.
“I hope not.” George shrugged, “So, what’s our first stop?”
“My parents’ house, duh.” Dash tapped his head, reminding him about yesterday once more.
“...Oh, right.” George sheepishly smiled.
As they walked to their destination, George was always moving his head around, getting a good look at everything. He saw other stallions pulling around yellow carts on the road, in which Dash called them “taxi carriages”. They also passed by plenty of restaurants, which made George’s stomach growl for food, only for Dash to reject him before he had the chance to ask. She then reminded him that he just ate some pancakes not too long ago.
“...So, what are your parents like?” George curiously asked, looking over to his cyan friend.
“Well, let’s see…” Dash thought a bit, “There’s my mom; Firefly. She used to be a racer, she won almost every race she ever competed in. She even won the Best Young Flyer competition. She taught me everything I know about flying.” She smiled, “Without her, I wouldn’t be as cool as I am now.”
She then took a deep breath, “Then there’s my dad; Rainbow Blaze. He used to work at the Rainbow Factory for years. But during his spare time, he’d also race. He wasn’t the best, but he was able to beat my mom in a race once. Although, she did tell me that she let him win that day.” She softly laughed at her last sentence, “My mom retired from racing after my dad popped the question. And later on, they decided to settle down, and, well... here I am!”
“Sounds like one happy family, to me.” George smiled warmly at the thought.
Dash looked at him, making sure he wasn’t reminded about his own family.
“You’re not stil—”
“Nope.” George interrupted, “Like I said back on the train, not as much as it used to. To be honest, it doesn’t even bother me anymore. You don’t have to keep bringing it up.”
“Why’s that?” Dash cocked her head.
“Well, ever since Twilight took me in after the spell didn’t work. I’ve started to see her and Spike as my family. Y’know?” George explained, holding on to his warm smile.
“That’s good…” Dash smiled also. “I think.” She chuckled, and the two remained that way as they walked to her parents’ house.
________________________
*Knock Knock Knock!*
“Who is iiiit~?”
“You know exactly who it is!”
“You don’t need to give such an attitude! I’ll be there in just a moment.”
The door slowly opened, in which Dash smiled to see her mom by the door. George, on the other hand, finally got to see her mom. She looked similar to her daughter, her mane and tail style being nearly identical, minus the rainbow color. Her mane and tail was a lighter shade of blue, her coat was also a light shade of pink. Not as bright as Pinkie, it was just a tad darker. Her cutie mark resembled two lightning bolts that matched her mane and tail’s color. And her eyes were a slightly dark purple.
“Dashie!” She beamed, nuzzling her daughter. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you…”
“It hasn’t been that long, mom…” Dash pointed out in a whining tone.
“It’s been a year!” Firefly chided. “A whole year without seeing my daughter!”
George’s eyes widened, and he slowly started stepping backwards to avoid getting caught in the situation.
Unfortunately, he failed. Firefly slowly started looking behind Dash, seeing if she went through with her request. Once she saw him, she stopped nuzzling her daughter, and looked directly towards him.
“So this is the stallion you told me about in your letters!” She called out, causing George to stop in his tracks. She quickly brought her muzzle to Dash’s ear. “I can see why you like him so much, he’s smokin!” She teasingly whispered.
“M-Mom!” Dash yelled, stomping a hoof on the floor. Her face also painted in a dark shade of red in embarrassment.
George, however, only blinked, and tilted his head in curiousity. He wanted to ask what had just happened, but he felt like he was better off not knowing.
“So!” Firefly began, ending the awkward moment. “Come on in, you two! We have a lot of catching up to do…” She said, waiting for the two of them to step inside the house. She then closes the door once they have done so. “Mostly just me and Dashie, though.” She smirks.
“I... kinda figured.” George softly replied, wondering why she even had to state the obvious. He slowly reaches a hoof to his mouth as it slowly opens wide, and inhales heavily. “Actually, if anypony needs me… I think I’ll be taking a nap.”
“A nap!?” Dash yelled in shock, “But you were sleeping more than half of the train ride!”
“What can I say? I guess trains make me sleepy…” George stifled a yawn.
“If you’d like, you can nap on the couch.” Firefly suggested with a chuckle, pointing to a nearby couch.
“I’d like that…” He yawned once more. Slowly walking to the couch.
“And while he’s napping, you and I can talk in the kitchen.” Firefly whispered into Dash’s ear, receiving a nod in response.
________________________
“...And ever since then, I can’t stop thinking about him in… that way.” Dash concluded, blushing lightly. “I even had this whole conversation with myself, and arguing with myself about the whole thing.”
Dash watched as her mom nodded, putting everything she had told her together. She smiled very faintly, but nevertheless, oh so very warm.
“Oh, Dashie…” Firefly breathed, letting out a small hum in her words. “You really are in love…”
“C’mon, Mom. Don’t tell me that.” Dash groaned. “That’s the last thing I wanted to hear!”
“You can’t run away from true love, sweetie.” Firefly said with a giggle. “You’re gonna have to accept it.”
Dash slowly moved her front hooves towards her heart. She simply asked herself. “Am I really in love?” When she thought about this feeling, she slowly began to feel… happier. Before, she felt disgusted with just the word itself. Now, it’s the total opposite.
“...Is this… how you felt then you fell in love with Dad…?” She asked gently
Firefly nodded. “This is how he felt, too. If it makes you feel any better.”
Dash placed her fore hooves on her heart. A smile slowly grows on her face as she thinks about him.
“...You’re thinking about him right now, aren’t you?” Firefly teased with a sly smile.
Dash hummed out a “mmhm”, nodding as she did so. She quickly moved her forelegs over her face, as well as opening her wings, and moving them over her forelegs.
“I’m such a sap…” She sighed. Earning another giggle from her mother.
“C’mon, Dashie. Quit acting so silly.” Firefly said, “You don’t have to hide your face, y’know…”
Dash slowly brought her forelegs and her wings down slightly, showing a light blush on her face. She carried a shy smile, which she was trying to hide with her forelegs and wings. Though she failed to do so, her ears flopped down to the sides of her head. She didn’t want to admit it, but she knew she would have to.
“I’m… I’m in love…”
Firefly moved a hoof toward her shoulder, and simply smirked. “Welcome to the club, Dashie. We’ve been... patiently expecting you.” She giggled.
Dash simply responded with a groan.
“Firefly? I’m home!”
“Annnnnnnnnd… There’s your father.” Firefly smiled. Standing up, and happily trotting out of the room to see the return of her husband.
“Uh, Fire? What’s with the stallion on the couch?”
“He’s Dashie’s friend, y’know, the one she mentioned in the letters?”
Dash reluctantly stood up, and slowly leaves the room. She looks off to George, who’s still napping on the couch nearby. She then looks off to her father, who is now currently looking directly at her.
“Ah, you’re here sooner than I planned.” Her father pointed out with a smile. He then gently pointed towards the stallion, “So that’s the stallion from the letter, huh?”
Dash looked towards the stallion in question, then back at her dad. With more reluctance, she nodded.
“So, I know this is probably too soon to ask… But, when can we start expecting grandfoals?” Firefly joked, only to be nudged gently by Blaze. They quickly looked at each other. Blaze carried a “Really?” look. While Firefly carried an apologetic smile that replied with “I couldn’t help it.” Then, they quickly looked back toward their daughter, who was now heavily blushing.
“Not funny, Mom.” Dash huffed.
“...It was kinda funny.” Firefly commented with a meek smile, earning another nudge from Blaze.
“So, I assume you’ve already talked to this mare.” Blaze thought aloud, pointing towards his wife.
“Hey!” Firefly retorted, “This mare has a name!”
Blaze chuckled at his wife’s retorts. “...Is there anything else I should know about him?” He asked, pointing towards George’s sleeping form.
“Minus his amnesia, and my feelings for him… No.” Dash bluntly replied.
Firefly looked towards the stallion in question, then back at her daughter. “Any reason why he’s sleeping so much?”
“Not really. I’m pretty sure he’ll be up any minute, though.” Dash looked toward the stallion.
…
“Actually, I think I’m going to wake him up…”
________________________
“So Dash woke me up for... this?” George asked.
“Aw c’mon, George.” Firefly giggled, “It’s not so bad.”
“I dunno… I’m really not the shopping type.” George .
“You’re starting to sound like Dashie!” Firefly jokingly whined.
“So then why am I here!?”
“Dashie told me about the whole ‘family problem’. I’m just showing you what it’s like to have a mom around!”
“I’m not sure if I like the sound of that...”
Author's Note
This chapter didn't require too much editing. But at the same time I don't know how I feel about the chapter in general.
What do you guys think?
“So, I hear you have amnesia?” Firefly asked, attempting to end the awkward silence as they began their trip home.
“Yeah.” George confirmed with a nod, “At first I was pretty upset about not remembering my family whatsoever. Or even knowing if I had a family to begin with. But with the short time I’ve been in ponyville, I feel like I found a new family.”
“Oh?” Firefly cocked her head.
“Mhm. When I woke up with amnesia, I met a mare named Twilight.” George looked toward Firefly. “I’m pretty sure Dash has mentioned her at one point.” His gaze centering back to their path. “She’s a pretty nice mare. She’s been letting me stay in the guest room of her house. Even today, I’m still a guest in her house until I can get back on my hooves.”
“Twilight… Actually, I believe Dashie has mentioned her at one point.” Firefly stated. “From what I hear, she’s a huge ‘egghead’?”
George chuckled a bit. “More like a bookworm. She invests the majority of her time reading any new book she comes across. Sometimes she’ll wind up rereading her favorites over and over.” He glared at Firefly with a soft smirk. “And no, her head is not shaped like an egg, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Firefly laughed softly at his joke. “I think I’m starting to notice why Rainbow likes him so much.” She thought, her focus returning back to the stallion. “I’ve also heard you need help learning to fly again.”
George looked at her with a questioning glare. “I hope you aren’t suggesting that you want to teach me.” He shivered at the thought. “I’m… trying to steer away from flying for a while.”
Firefly raised an eyebrow. “Really? How come?”
“Dash never told you about the drowning incident?” George queried. raising an eyebrow as well.
“‘Drowning incident’?” Firefly quoted. Although Dash had told her about said incident, she wanted to hear George’s side of the story, in an attempt to see his opinion on the matter.
George responded with a nod, and then slowly opened his mouth to speak once more. “See, Dash was trying to teach me how to fly in a week or less. An—”
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but a week?” Firefly said. “There’s no way in Equestria someone could learn to fly in a week or less. Two weeks, maybe… But not one, even if you have amnesia or not.”
George shrugged, knowing Firefly was right, and nothing else was needed to be said. “Well, she figured she could get me up in the air--which she did, by the way--and then push me in an attempt to get me to fly forwards as she pushed me.”
“So how does this result in a ‘drowning incident’?” Firefly inquired.
“Because of the fact I had fell on on the ground way too many times during our previous lessons, Dash figured out it was safer to have me land in the water, where it’d be softer than the ground...” George paused for a moment to breathe. “...yet she forgot the fact I have amnesia, so I forgot how to swim…”
“Oh…”
“Yeah…” George nodded, “Things kinda went downhill pretty fast. Until she jumped into the lake and got me out. And then everything got a little… tense .”
“Tense?” Firefly repeated. “How so?”
“Well… She kept beating herself up over the fact that I drowned, and that it was her fault…” George rolled his eyes, “...I had to try to convince her otherwise.”
“That does sound a bit like Dashie…” Firefly muttered to herself.
Then, silence began to fill the rest of their trip. George continued to look around as they were slowly returning home. Sometimes he’d simply look towards the direction they were walking and find ways to end the silence, but find nothing.
“So… How’s your relationship with Dashie?” Firefly curiously asked.
“Hm?” George looked at the curious mare. “What do you mean ‘relationship’?”
“Like, how close are you two? Are you just friends, or…” Firefly trailed off, hoping George would figure out the rest.
George slowly raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what she was trying to say. Until he quickly realized exactly what she meant, his eyes widened and a faint blush began to grow on his cheeks.
“You mean like...dating?” George asked to confirm his thoughts, only to be responded with a nod. “Err… No, we’re not dating.” George lifted a hoof to the back of his neck. “I’m not dating anypony, really.”
“Well, why not?” Firefly inquired.
George narrowed his eyes. “I’ve only been living in Ponyville for two months.” He flatly stated, “I need some time to get things back on track, y’know…” He then looked back towards their path. Trying to quickly exit the topic.
“Oh, I didn’t know it was two months…” Firefly’s ears drooped to the sides of her head, knowing she just pushed the wrong button. “I thought it was longer, considering everything Dashie told me about you.”
George’s ear twitched at the last few words. He glared Firefly with a curious look on his face.
“What has Dash told you about me?” George questioned.
“Not much.” Firefly lied, attempting to avoid eye contact. “It’s just the things she’s said about you made it seem like you’ve been living in Ponyville for longer than two months.”
George narrowed his sight toward Firefly, he opened his mouth to say something. But then quickly stopped himself from talking, figuring it was best not to pry into the matter.
They finally came to a stop as they reached their destination. Firefly walked first towards the door.
“Well. We’re here.” Firefly said, opening the door to her home. “This was a nice talk.”
George followed her inside the house, and closed the door behind him. “Yeah, I suppose it was.”
“I was wondering when you two would get back.” Blaze spoke, walking by the pair.
“We wouldn’t have taken so long if it weren’t for George being so slow…” Firefly joked.
George was about to quickly retort, but then decided against it. After all, he knew that she was the one who caused the their shopping trip to take longer.
“Hey! You’re back!” Dash called out, coming out from the kitchen and giving her mom a hug. “I was wondering how much longer you were gonna take, knowing you like to stop and try on some of those dresses every time you pass by.”
“She took forever by the way!” George teased. “I didn’t think I could last so long out there dealing with her stopping at nearly every clothing shop.”
“Hey! You were the one who wanted to see what having a mom around was like!” Firefly retorted.
Dash giggled a bit at George’s comment. “That’s my mom for you.”
“To be fair, I was forced into going on this shopping trip…” George thought to himself.
“So how was shopping with mom, George?” Dash asked with a small grin.
“Other than having your mom try on a bunch of dresses… It was fun.” George replied. “We were also talking about you…”
Author's Note
This didn't require too much editing either. I think this is a pretty decent chapter. But I dunno.
The comments section kinda died too.
rip comments.
Chapter 16: A Spark of Chaos
George (According to the show)
Amnesiac (duh)
Red Hair Mane and Tail.
Purple-ish, fur coat.
Blue eyes.
Has wings. (wtf)
Friendly attitude.
Has given up on getting back his old memories.
Rainbow Dash has feelings for him.
Is an idiot(?)
Lives at Twilight Spa wrkle’s libraryhouselibrary-house? place.
George (past memories?)
Brown Hair.
Brown Eyes.
Is not an idiot.
Generally Friendly Attitude (Just don’t piss him off too much.)
Lived at his house, obviously...
Jake sat as he tried to compare this “new” George with the “old” George he knew. While they had a few similarities, he kept finding more things that the “new” George seemed to have both too similar and too different from the “old” George.
“I don’t get it…” He muttered to himself. He raised his hand, clutching it into a fist. “I just don’t get it!” He yelled, slamming his fist onto his desk. With a loud bang, nearby pens and other small objects bounced randomly off his desk, even a couple of his notes shifted out of place.
He looked at the TV, which was still playing the “show” that bothered him so much.
“I’ve compared their voices, the way they act.” He grumbled. “It’s all too similar!” His hands went for his hair, pulling it slightly. “How can they both be so similar…? There’s… there’s no way that’s actually him inside the show...”
“...What if it isn’t a show…”
“...What if… No, that’s stupid…”
“Maybe… I should just… give up…” He sighed. “There’s… there’s no point in looking for him anymore…”
“He’s gone…”
________________________
George looked at himself in the mirror, glancing over all the bruises he got from his so-called “flying lessons”. Apart from the obvious ones he saw earlier, there were still a couple he missed. One right on his stomach, and another right on the back of his neck.
“Geez…” He spoke softly. “You’d think I’d have more or less bruises, these are just ridiculous…”
“Checking yourself out, George?”
He turned his head to the new voice, catching sight of its owner. Upon recognizing it, he smiled. “Nah, Dash.” He chuckled. “Was just checking for any extra bruises.”
“Could’ve just asked me, I could’ve pointed them out for ya.” Dash smiled back.
“...And by point them out, you mean you were gonna poke them?”
“Yep.”
“Thought so.”
Dash giggled slightly, clearing her throat shortly afterward. “Anyway!" She began. “Our train back to Ponyville should arrive in a couple of hours, just wanted to let you know before it got here.”
“Alright.” George nodded. “Just give me a shout, I’ll be ready.” He looked back at the mirror to check for any more bruises.
Dash nodded back in response, turned to walk out of the room, but swiftly turned around again to poke one of George’s bruises, then proceeded to run out of the room.
“Ow!” George winced in pain, turning his head to see the cyan pegasus run from him.
“Heh. I feel bad for the poor sap she winds up with…”
________________________
“C’mon, George!” Dash shouted. “The train will be here in ten minutes!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” George shouted back, walking up to her. “When I said give me a shout, I didn’t mean it literally…”
“Well, what did you want me to do, genius?” Dash teased. “Wanted me to whisper or something?”
“No…” George shook his head. “Anyway, why’d you call me here so soon? You said it’d be here in ten minutes!”
“I like waiting for the train!” Dash retorted. “That way I can claim any bed I want before everypony else does.”
“Why’s that so important?” George tilted his head.
“Because they have a couple of carts that are basically rooms, with an actual bed and everything!” Dash smiled. “I can have a room all to myself during our entire trip!”
“And what about me ?” George asked.
“What about you?” Dash asked back.
“You’re just gonna leave me out while you simply chill and relax in a room all by yourself!?” George stomped a hoof on the ground. “Nuh-uh! If you’re going in your own room, I’m going with you!”
Dash jerked her head back just a bit. “Uh, George…” She cleared her throat with a soft ‘ahem’. “You uh… you do realize there’s only one bed in those rooms, right?”
“Yeah, so?” George raised an eyebrow.
“Are you comfortable sharing a bed with me?” Dash widened her eyes. “Cause uh… y’know, I’m not.”
George stopped to think for a moment, then slowly realized where she going with this conversation. “Oh!” He blinked. “Oh, uh, right, uh… But, we’re friends, right? It can’t be that awkward… right?”
“More awkward than you can imagine.” Dash muttered to herself.
“Huh?”
“What?”
And just like that, a wave of awkward silence flooded the area around the two of them. Every now and then the two would give awkward glances to each other when one wasn’t paying attention.
Out of nowhere, Firefly and Blaze appear from a couple of feet behind the duo. Thus breaking the awkward silence.
“Hey!” Blaze was the first to call out, grabbing both of their attention. “You two planning on leaving without saying goodbye?”
They both turned around to face the older couple. “Sorry, just had to make sure I got here first.” Dash grinned sheepishly. "Gotta get to one of those rooms first, and all..."
“I never understood why they have those rooms, they’d really be better off just charging extra to sleep in one of those rooms in the first place.” Blaze rolled his eyes. “Seriously, I don’t understand the logic in their ideas...”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure they’ll do something like that later on, whenever someone decides to complain to them about it.” Dash replied. “But until then, I’m just gonna be here a little early.”
In the midst of all of this, George remained silent. Not even to make a remark on anyone’s sentences. There was something nagging at him, something at the back of his head, telling him something. Something important. Something that would require all of his focus and attention. Something that, if he had failed, it would possibly mean his life.
Dash looked at him. “What, no comment?” She tilted her head. “No remark, no… anything?” She stopped for a moment to stare at him, waiting to see if he’d snap out of his daze. After she got bored of waiting, she waved a hoof in front of him. “Helloooo...”
And just like that, George was instantly broken from whatever had him lost in the first place. “Huh?” He shook his head, forcing himself even further out. “Uh, sorry. I was… uh…” He paused for a moment, trying to remember why he zoned out. “...in la-la land, I guess.”
Dash blinked as she heard his odd response. “Uh. Alright.” She said, an eyebrow slightly raised.
Blaze shrugged. “Anyway. You will be visiting more often, right?” He narrowed his eyes. “You and George?”
Dash nodded in response, then looked at the stallion standing next to her once more. He had returned to his strange trance, remaining silent as he stared straight ahead, looking into complete nothingness. She tried to look at where he was looking, but it led her nowhere. She nudged him slightly, instantly returning him back to reality.
“Huh?” George uttered. “Oh. Uh… Yeah! I’d love to visit more often!” Immediately after finishing his sentence, he looked behind him. Looking for something he couldn’t seem to find, but instead saw the many ponies walking around town.
“You alright, George?” Dash asked worriedly. “You’re acting kinda… funny...”
“I am?” George queried, curious of her current expression. “I haven’t really noticed…”
“You’ve been dozing off a few times.” Firefly pointed out. “You better not be thinking about anything dirty.” She teased with an evil grin, only to be nudged by her husband nearby.
“But, yeah. I’d come visit more often.” Dash immediately changed the subject, despite having already answered the question before. “Though, there’s just not a whole lot to do around here.” She paused for a moment, trying to remember something. “We’ve been here, like, what… a week, now?” She nodded at the thought. “Yeah, about a week. And all I’ve mostly done is help around the house and a little bit of grocery shopping.”
While they were talking, George was already back in his trance. The voice in the back of his head was getting louder and louder, clearer and clearer. He kept checking around him, trying to figure out what the voice meant. More and more, the voice got to its loudest. Almost as if someone was yelling at his ear, he could hear exactly what it said.
“You never asked.” Blaze grinned sheepishly. “We all could’ve seen the Wonderbolts or something. Or gone to one of those theme parks nearby. Heck, we could even—”
“Duck.”
Dash glanced at George, who was still standing still, his eyes open wide as they could possibly be, and his pupils as small as peanuts. His breathing was rapid, almost panicking, despite being in his trance. “What?”
“I said duck! ”
In an instant, George grabbed a hold of Dash, and pulled her down with him as he ducked. As he did so, Firefly and Blaze were both greeted to a gray unicorn stallion.
The stallion’s black tail was significantly longer than George’s, but kept the same style. His mane, which was the same color of his tail, was cut in a way so a piece of it would hang between his eyes, but the rest stay above his eyes. The back of his neck was nearly covered by his mane, and while no one got a good look, his cutie mark was a pair of swords striking each other.
However, the couple weren’t paying attention to the stallion’s looks, but rather, the sword he swung over the younger duo’s heads. Not only were they shocked to see this sword-swinging stranger, but they were also shocked to see how George knew they both had to duck, when there was originally nopony carrying a sword earlier.
While everything was happening so fast for everypony, the same couldn’t be said for George, as the world around him seemed to have slowed down. As soon as the sword was far enough away from him, his instincts took over, and he quickly lifted himself off the ground, standing on his two back legs, turning around to face the grey stallion behind him, during his turn, he moved his hoof to the side of his stomach, then brought it back up just as fast by the time he was facing the stranger, colliding his hoof with the stallion’s jaw in a complete uppercut.
The stallion flew back a couple of inches away, while George remained in his post-uppercut stance. His hoof remained up in the air, where the stallion’s head used to be, he also continued to stand on his two rear legs. Panting softly at his sudden rush of adrenaline, he stared in awe as he tried to piece together what had just happened.
However, he wasn’t the only one in shock. He finally shook himself out of his pose, returning back to all fours, and looked behind him, only to see the two frozen in place, their eyes opened wide and their mouths agape over the scene they just witnessed.
He then looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was still down on the ground, but looking straight up at him. Just like her parents, she was also left frozen with her eyes wide open, and her mouth agape.
In reality, no one could blame them, everything happened so quickly. The fact George kept up with the events, despite not even seeing the stallion behind them, it was hard for them to understand what exactly had happened.
But, for George, it felt like time had slowed down for him alone, giving him that chance to react. However, despite his quick reaction to defend them, it felt as if something was controlling him, instead of his own instincts. Had instincts always felt like this? He wasn’t entirely sure. Whatever it was, though, he figured what happened had to happen, otherwise not only would he be dead, but possibly Rainbow Dash, and her parents as well.
The more he thought about that cruel fate, the more it made him shudder.
Everyone immediately turned their heads to the sound of groaning. They quickly realize the stranger was slowly getting back up on his hooves. Eventually, the stallion stood up, placing his sword on the sheath hanging off his side.
At the sight of this, George’s instincts took over once more. He looked back at the three behind him, all ready to put up a fight. However, he had other plans, as he looked straight into Dash’s eyes, and said only one thing.
“Run .”
Dash raised an eyebrow, she wasn’t going to just run while a lunatic with a sword is loose in Manehattan! She shook her head, knowing full well she wasn’t going to let that happen. Yet, George never stopped looking at her. Almost as if he wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. She would’ve asked if he was insane, but that wouldn’t have gotten him to stop giving her that stare.
She looked back at her parents, then back at him. She nodded softly, and ran in the opposite direction from George. Her parents, however, merely looked at each other, confused over the turn of events. They looked at the stallion in front of them as well, only to be given the same stare their daughter was given.
They both looked at each other once more, no longer confused, but rather, making sure they both understood that look, and they fully knew what that stare meant. Firefly simply gasped as she looked at George, covering her mouth with her hoof. While Blaze simply nodded, and saluted.
They ran off as well, following their daughter as she attempted to find a safe place. Leaving the two stallions alone, seemingly enough, everypony in town had also vanished from view. It was literally the two of them, stallion versus stallion.
“And so… we meet.” The stallion spoke. “George, I presume?” He chuckled. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you. Quite the battle you had with Number One.”
“So that makes you, what, Number Two?” George tilted his head.
“Correctamundo.” Two nodded. “But you can just call me Two .” He shrugged. “Formalities aren’t exactly my style.”
“Good.” George huffed. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the stallion. Part of him was preparing for a fight.
“Good?” Two asked. “What’s so good about me being Number Two?”
“Because.” George stomped a hoof on the ground. Knowing he’d have to take advantage of this moment as soon as he could, before he’d lose his chance.
“I have some questions.”
________________________
Suddenly, Jake heard a soft beeping sound.
“Huh?”
He stood from his chair, walking towards the sound. The closer he got, the louder it got. Eventually, he found Jason’s DVR, conveniently hooked up to his aunt’s satellite dish.
Upon further inspection, he noticed the beeping was accompanied by a green flashing light above the word “recording”.
“Oh. Looks like there’s another episode to catch up on.”
He rushes to grab a nearby remote, turning the TV on with a single push of a button.
“Correctamundo. But you can just call me Two. Formalities aren’t exactly my style.” An unfamiliar voice spoke. Jake immediately paused the show, getting a good look at the gray stallion. He appeared to be a threat, considering the sheath he seems to be carrying, covering the blade of the sword.
He grabbed the chair from nearby his desk, placed it a short distance in front of the TV, and proceeded to sit. Despite the DVR recording the show, seeing a stallion carrying a sword around in what’s supposed to be a show for girls suddenly caught his attention.
“Good.” Another voice spoke, the TV changing scenes to whom Jake has identified as “the fake George”, however calls him by his name to save the trouble of adding “fake” to it.
“Good?” Two asked. “What’s so good about me being Number Two?”
“Because.” George stomped a hoof on the ground.
“I have some questions.”
Two stayed silent for a moment, pondering on allowing George his questions.
Surely enough, he responded with a nod.
George raised an eyebrow at the mysterious stallion’s sudden silence, but quickly shrugged it off, not wanting to waste any time he has asking questions.
“Alright. So, first question…” George spoke. “Who are you?”
“I already said who I am.” Two raised an eyebrow. “I’m Number Two.”
“You’re also more than that, as there was already one before you.” George narrowed his eyes.
“Oh… I see what you did there…” Two chuckled, leaving a knowing smirk on his face. “But yes, you’ve already met Number One. And I’m sure he’s already told you about the Chaos Five, am I right?”
“So far…” George nodded. “Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it obvious, George?” Two queried. “No, seriously. I thought it was kinda obvious, y’know, having my sword with me and all.”
“Besides trying to chop our heads off.” George growled softly.
“Ah.” Two placed a hoof on his chin, stroking it as he remained silent. “See, my orders come from someone else, my master.”
“And who exactly is your master?” George inquired.
“That’s none of your concern.” Two monotoned. “All you need to know is that I’m only following orders.” He took in a deep breath, then softly sighed. “Got any more pointless questions?”
“Did you know your name is just another way of saying ‘crap’?” Jake rudely comments, despite the TV is unable to see or hear him, he still goes as far as crossing his arms.
George stopped to think of at least one more question before things get worse. He tried to piece together certain pieces of information with others, for most of the information he pieced together, usually led to the most obvious answer. Even with these connected pieces of information, it still got him nowhere.
And then it hit him.
“Why them?”
Two cocked his head to the side. “Why who?”
“You know exactly who I’m talking about.” George said. “My friends. Why them?”
“They’re the embodiments of the Elements of Harmony.” Two sharply replied. “They’ll only stand in our way.”
George blinked. “Stand in the way of what?”
“That is also none of your concern.” Two monotoned. “I’ve heard enough questions already.”
“Really?” Jake shouted at the TV. “You just skip two questions and then say you’ve heard enough?!”
Obviously, Jake was going to have a lot of fun watching the show.
________________________
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that yet…” George muttered.
“Tell you what, George.” Two began. “If you don’t get in my way, I’ll let you live.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then you’ll have to pay the price.” Two growled, reaching a hoof towards his sword.
“Right, cause swords vs hooves is fair.” George groaned, quickly opening his wings with a soft ‘pomf’, giving the impression of preparing to take off.
“You don’t know how to fly, George.” Two said with a laugh. “Don’t even try to pretend.”
“Of course you knew that…” George’s wings immediately folded back to his sides. “Seriously, though, why a sword?”
“Swords are sharp.” Two smirked evilly. “I like sharp.”
As soon as his sentence was over, he pulled his sword out of it’s sheath. Pointed the tip of the blade at George, as if he was locking onto target. He then pointed behind him, suddenly bolting towards his opponent.
Closer and closer he got, and George simply stood still. Unsure of what he should do, he could run, but risk the possibility of Two ignoring him and going straight for Dash. He could stand still and take the hit, buying Dash and her parents more time to run some more. But it could also be just pointless, and have all of them killed. The more he thought, the closer Two got.
Two switched the handle of the blade from being held to his hoof, to his mouth, allowing an extra hoof to build more speed. In a matter of seconds, he swung the sword at George’s neck, dealing the first and final blow he needed.
Unfortunately for him, instead of coming into contact with George’s neck, his sword hit something else. Something… metallic , interrupting the full swing. Coming to an immediate halt, Two closed his eyes as a large, red glow completely engulfed his eyesight. Once the glow dimmed down, he reopened his eyes, and gasped at the sight.
George was able to counter Two’s sword, with one of his own. In George’s hoof, there was a red sword, almost identical to Two’s sword, just with a color difference. Two looked up to his opponent’s eyes, which were now glowing white , his expression seemed to have completely faded as he kept a straight face throughout Two’s analysis. Shocked, Two stepped back just a bit. And attempted to swing his sword again, aiming for the top of George’s head.
He soon heard the sound of the swords clashing once more. Wide-eyed with shock, Two continued to attempt to strike George, yet, every attempt he made was countered by the red sword.
“H-How…” Two shakily spoke. “How are you doing that?”
George remained completely expressionless, and silent. He slowly lifted up his sword, and began his own strike, swinging straight down over Two.
The clanging sounds of the swords hitting each other was heard again, as Two stood firmly, holding his sword with as much force as possible to counter the strike. At first, it was his natural instincts reacting to counter the sword, but once the swords were in contact, George started pushing his blade against Two’s. Two tried to push back, but George was somehow stronger.
“What… What is this…?” Two thought aloud. “How can you…” Right then and there, a light turned on in his head, and his pupils shrank down to the size of peanuts. “No… You can’t be…!”
Suddenly, the red sword sparked with electricity. Seconds later, the sword blasted Number Two flying back a couple of feet, and George continued to just stand and watch, as Two bounced a couple of times when he’d hit the ground.
Two simply groaned as he finally came to a full stop on the ground. He didn’t want to get up, he was still too shocked over this newfound realization. He lifted his head, making sure George was still in the same place. Sure enough, he was, still just staring.
“Master didn’t tell me… that you were…”
Two shook his head. “Right, then. Guess I’ll just have to use more than just my sword.”
Soon, he found his whole body surrounded by a familiar black aura. His body floated up, and flipped around to stand back on all fours, and then, the black aura faded.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve had to use magic .”
________________________
“Alright, I think we’re safe.”
“Yeah, we’re safe. Can’t say the same about George, though…”
“Hey. He was the one who told us to run, so he obviously has some sort of plan.”
“Do you really think so, Blaze?”
Blaze sighed deeply. He still couldn’t shake off that look that George gave him, it was a look he seemed to know too well, to have just let him stay behind. He only hoped that he was right, and that George actually had a plan. Not only would he have to deal with Dash and her current emotional state, but he didn’t want the poor stallion to blindlessly risk his life for a mare he probably didn’t even know liked him.
Dash remained silent during their entire escape. While they were able to make it to a safe area, she still never spoke a single word. The last thing she ever saw was the stallion practically risking his own life for her.
“I never got to tell him how I felt…”
Both Blaze and Firefly’s ears twitched at the sudden statement. They both looked at her, then at each other. They were unsure of what to say, they didn’t want to raise her hopes in case he didn’t come back, but they also didn’t want to kill them entirely, leaving her into an emotional mess. For they were both unsure if George would survive or not.
“George is a good colt.” Blaze spoke. “I’m sure he’ll be fine…” He gulped. “I… hope.”
Dash looked at her dad, revealing a few tears slowly dripping from her eyes. “You and me both, Dad…”
“Look! Up in the sky!” Firefly shouted. “It’s George! And the psychopath!”
Dash immediately jerked her head to the sky, wide-eyed, knowing George still can’t fly.
And yet, there they were. The stallion with a sword, and no wings , flying in the air. And as for George, he wasn’t even flapping his wings, he was simply… floating . Dash could see as the two of them randomly threw punches out to each other, sometimes the stranger would swing his sword, only for George to either dodge, or counter with his own red sword. Which lead Dash trying to guess where he even got it from, perhaps from the stranger? No, why would he want to balance out a fight?
She wanted to fly up there herself and help George, but she knew if she did, she would worry her parents, more so than just simply having the two stallions fight it out themselves.
“He’s not even flapping his wings…” Blaze thought out loud. “What’s going on up there…?”
The three of them watched as the two floating stallions punched, kicked, and attacked each other in any way. The stranger would sometimes turn the tides by using what seemed to be magic against George, and he would either take the hit, or dodge entirely.
And then, they stopped.
From what they could see, it looked as if the stranger was saying something. The both of them looked decently injured, George more than the stranger’s, as his own wounds seemed to simply fade away, while George’s were still there. They both gawked in surprise when they all saw the stranger slowly turn completely black, almost shadow-like, and then fade away into the air.
They all still stood and watched, until the stranger was completely gone. Leaving George alone in the air, however, he didn’t last very long, as seconds later, he suddenly stopped floating, and began falling straight down to the ground.
Dash’s wings jolted open with a loud ‘pomf’. And in an instant, Blaze and Firefly felt a large breeze of air. They both looked back, and saw their daughter had already left.
“Do you think she’ll catch him?” Firefly worriedly asked.
“I hope so…” Blaze shrugged.
“Willing to bet ten bits on it?” Firefly asked innocently, carrying an equally innocent smile.
“Seriously?” Blaze grumbled.
Firefly continued through her innocent smile.
“...Twenty bits.”
Meanwhile, Dash picked up speed, trying to fly faster and faster to catch George, the closer to him she got, the closer he was to the ground. She knew she was gonna be able to catch him, she just needed to speed up just a little more. Just a little more speed and she wou—
“He’ll be fine… Just a couple of bruises and a broken bone or two on his left wing, nothing like a good bedrest won’t fix.”
“Are you sure, Doc?”
“Yeah, he took quite the nasty fall, heck, I even saw it while the train was making its stop.”
“I… I can’t believe I couldn’t catch him…” Dash quietly spoke, trying to hide her tears. “If I would’ve caught him… he wouldn’t have gotten those broken bones…” She sniffled, her head falling down to her hooves.
“Hey… chin up.” The Doctor said with a reassuring smile, he grabbed her chin, and lifted it up so she could see his face. “At least you were there to make sure he was fine. I’m sure he’d at least be happy knowing you tried.”
“Yeah…” Dash nodded. “He probably would…”
“Good.” The Doctor smiled. “Now, relax. Grab a chair, go eat something, you need your rest, too.”
“Thanks, Doc…”
And with that, the doctor left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft ‘click’. Leaving Dash all alone with George. She walked around the room, stopping every now and then to glance at the unconscious stallion.
A good twenty minutes later, Dash had gotten tired of continuously pacing the room. She searched the room for a chair, once she did, she brought it closer to George’s bed. She sat down on the chair, and rested her head on the edge of his bed.
Little by little, she began to relax, now feeling more calm knowing George was still alive and well. She sighed blissfully, getting closer and closer to falling asleep.
And then, she felt something touch her head.
She immediately jerked her head away from the bed, staring right at George. Who was now conscious once more.
“Hey.” He said softly.
“You gave me a heart attack, there…” Dash took a deep breath, and sighed deeply, forcing herself to relax.
“Sorry…” He muttered with a frown.
Dash smiled softly. “It’s fine…” She gingerly wrapped her hoof around his. “I’m just glad you’re fine…”
George noticed her hoof suddenly wrapped around his, he looked at their hooves, then back at her. “Yeah… I am too…” Then, he suddenly realized where he was lying. “Wait… What happened to me, exactly?”
Dash blinked. “You don’t remember?”
George shook his head in response.
Dash pondered for a moment on whether she should tell him or not, or wait until they got to Ponyville and then explain. But then, she figured it was better to just tell him now.
“You uh… you fell…?” Dash looked at his wing, which was wrapped around in bandages, preventing him from moving it.
George caught notice of what she was looking at, and decided to look at what she was glaring at.
“Yeesh… Must’ve been quite a fall if I can’t remember it…” George said with a chuckle, he then looked back at Dash. “But… what about the stallion with the sword?”
“Do you remember what happened with that stallion who stole the book?”
George nodded.
“Basically, that. But in the air.” Dash shrugged.
“Oh.” George uttered. “At least he didn’t hurt anypony, though.”
“Yeah…” Dash smiled warmly. “Thank Celestia for that…”
“You seem awfully happy.” George commented. “How long was I out?”
“A couple of hours. No big deal, though.”
“Alright…” George looked back at his wing. “For once, I’m kinda glad I can’t feel my wings…” He chuckled. “Otherwise that would really suck to have to deal with feeling that.”
Dash was amazed by George’s chipper attitude, despite being in a hospital bed, inside of the train.
“Hey… Do you mind if I… rest my head on the bed?” Dash asked softly, covering her mouth with a hoof as she attempted to stifle a yawn. “All that excitement and worrying has gotten me all tired, and stuff…”
“Go ahead.” George nodded.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it…” George smiled warmly as his rainbow-maned friend proceeded to rest her head on the edge of the bed. He watched as she slowly began to drift to sleep, but right before she fully entered dreamland, he thought of one last thing.
“Are you still uncomfortable about sharing a bed…?”
Dash opened a single eye. “A little bit.”
“Oh. I was gonna say you could just lay down here, next to me…” George softly spoke. “I’m pretty sure this bed’s a lot more comfortable than that chair…”
Dash lifted her head of slowly to look at George. Smiling innocently as she thought about his offer.
“What’s the worst that can happen, Dash?” He inquired. “It’s just two close friends sharing a bed.”
Dash looked at the empty spot on the bed next to him, then back at him. “Alright, yeah. Fine…” She got up from her chair, climbed on the bed, and layed down next to him.
“See?” George’s smile grew wider. “Told you it was more comfortable than that lousy old chair!”
Dash hummed softly in approval. “Yeah, it is more comfortable…” She moved a bit as she grabbed the blankets that were currently under her, and proceeded to cover herself with them.
“G’night, Dash…”
“Good night… George…” Dash cooed. Her eyelids slowly began to close shut, taking her away to sleep. Yet, something felt missing...
“George?” She asked.
“Hm?” He drowsily hummed.
“Could I hold your hoof, please?” She asked softly.
“Mhm…”
“Thanks…” She then grabbed his hoof, and brought it closer to her, allowing her to hug it slightly.
Now she was able to go to sleep.
Author's Note
AFTER AROUND A MONTH AND A HALF OF WAITING.
I FINALLY DID IT.
I WROTE THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!1!1!!11111ONEONE!!ONE!ELEVEN
Clocking in at a whopping 5.6k words, (even though Google Docs says 5.4k... I smell something fishy with fimfic's word count system.) this is the longest chapter I've probably ever written.
Hope you all enjoy, and please be patient for the next chapter.
Chapter 17: Return to Ponyville
“Next stop: Ponyville!”
“Gah!” Dash immediately jumped from her sleep, scared awake by the sudden loud voice. She rubbed the side her head softly, wiping away a soft itch that bothered her. As soon as she completely awoke, she surveyed her surroundings, finding herself to be in one of those carts she mentioned yesterday.
She felt something else stir around in bed next to her. Startled, she turned her head to see George, his left wing wrapped around in a small cast, as well as bruises all over his body, all of them a combination from his ‘flight lessons’ with Blaze, and the fall.
Slowly remembering why he was there, she felt her heart crack at the sight of the poor stallion. Not because of the bruises, but rather, the fact he has that cast on his wing because she failed to catch him. For once, she wasn’t fast enough, and it worried her.
“What if somepony else falls?” she thought. “Will I be able to catch them? Will I be fast enough…?”
Not wanting to make matters worse for herself, Dash quickly tried to snap herself out of it, and slowly got out of bed, trying as hard as she could to disturb the sleeping stallion. She investigated the room she was in a little more, the last time she was on a train, these rooms were mostly empty, and only had a bed. The more she looked around, the more she realized what these rooms were for.
They were hospital-carts.
All the times Dash had snuck into these rooms, they were still work-in-progress. Now, she assumed that they were completed, as she found certain hospital-esque items. A heart-rate monitor, stethoscope, et cetera.
“Guess I won’t be able to sneak into these rooms anymore…”
She shrugged, no longer being able to use these rooms like she used to didn’t really bother her, she was fine sleeping in her seats if the train took too long, anyway. Then again, don’t they have those public be—
“Annnnnd now I remember why I kept sneaking into these rooms. Crap…”
She walked out of the hospital cart, and made her way onto the cafeteria cart. Her stomach was rumbling, telling her she needed to stuff some food in her mouth as soon as possible. Since it was relatively early, they were only serving breakfast items. Which was perfect, since she was craving another one of their hash browns for a while now.
After making her order composed of a biscuit and a hash brown, Dash took her tray over to an empty table. She took a bite of the hash brown, savoring in it’s crunchy goodness, but then looked over to the biscuit, and back at the hash brown in her hoof. Curious to try something a new experiment, she broke the biscuit in half, and put the hash brown in between the two halves. Making a hash brown sandwich.
She took a bite out of it, and was surprised to see her little experiment returned with delicious results. She blissfully moaned as the soft biscuit combined with the crunchy hash brown yielded a perfect combination of flavors, sending her tastebuds wild.
“Sweet Celestia… This is amazing…!”
In her peripheral vision, she saw a familiar stallion walking by. She turned her head to see George making his own order. Though before he had the chance to even finish his order, Dash had the best idea in her head.
“George!”
The stallion turned his head, seeing her calling out to him. She waved her hoof around crazily, which only made him raise an eyebrow at her actions.
“Get your flank over here!”
He reluctantly looked back at his half-finished order, and back at her. Sighing, he canceled his order, and walked over to her table. He sat down on the chair in front of her, and groaned as he attempted to get comfortable.
“Try this,” she told him, pushing her tray over to his side of the table.
“What is it?”
“Try iiiiiiiit!”
“But…” George gave up trying to resist. He knew if he kept resisting, the more the persistent mare in front of him would just keep going until she won. He slowly picked up the sandwich, curiously investigating the contents.
“Just bite into it, already!”
He sighed in defeat. No longer trying to prolong the inevitable, he bit into the sandwich, mixing around the flavors of the biscuit and the hash brown, both of which he had never tried before.
As he chewed his food, he looked up to the mare in front of him. She had a look that was a mix of impatience, excitement, and curiosity. Since she knew he had never eaten many other things besides what Twilight or Spike would make, and while he tried a few new things back at her parents house, this was something entirely new.
He raised an eyebrow at the mare’s constant staring, wondering if she was waiting for a response of some sort. Not wanting to let her down, he swallowed the food and let out a soft hum, eliciting a grin to appear on Dash’s face.
“Good, right?” she raised an eyebrow.
He looked back down to the experiment that she had created, then looked back up to her. As soon as she was about to speak, he quickly engulfed the rest of the sandwich.
Dash raised a hoof in the air, and quickly slammed it against the table, “What the heck, George!? That was my breakfast!”
The stallion in front of her quickly swallowed the meal. “It’s mine now!” he retorted, “Maybe if you hadn’t cut me off from making my own order, you wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“How is that my fault!?”
George shrugged in response, “I dunno,” he smiled sheepishly. “That sandwich was amazing , though.”
“Ugh,” Dash rolled her eyes, “Now I’m gonna have to get another one…”
The instant she had gotten up, his ears twitched at the realization of what she said. “Oooh!” he lifted his hoof in the air, catching the prismatic-maned mare’s attention. “Could you get me one too?”
She chuckled softly at the stallion’s childish behavior, “Sure,” she nodded. “As long as you stay away from mine .”
“No promises.”
________________________
As the train finally made its arrival to their hometown, the two had made their way out of the train. As they stepped out, they looked around their surroundings, completely ignoring anything they hadn’t seen before, and only searching for major changes compared to how they remembered it a week ago.
“Hm,” Dash hummed. “I was wondering if we missed out on anything…”
“Doesn’t look like it,” George added with a nod.
The two continued their walk, exiting the train station. They still continued to look around, watching birds in a variety of colors flew by. And as the wind rustled against the trees, around them, ponies made their way onto their own paths. Some were just making their way to work, and others were just grabbing groceries for home.
Yet none of that mattered to the two pegasi walking around. They simply continued looking around for any changes that might have happened while they were gone.
George was the first to give up on looking around, and settled on the fact that nothing too significant had happened while they were gone. However, much to his surprise, upon looking straight ahead in his path, he noticed something strange. Far off in the distance, he saw something pink speedily making its way closer to them.
He nudged the mare next to him with a hoof, “Dash.”
“Huh?” Dash snapped out of her ‘investigation’, “What’s going on?”
George simply lifted his hoof, pointing in the direction of the growing pink mass, which now seemed to be just a few feet away.
Dash squinted her eyes, attempting to examine the pink object nearing them. “It kinda looks lik—Oof !”
In an instant, the two pegasi were tackled down onto the ground. Both of them felt a hoof wrap around both of them individually. And before either of them could attempt to register what was going on, the embrace between the two had tightened, making it feel almost bone-crushing for them. Unfortunately for George, that bone-crushing experience was only worsened, as the grip around him also surrounded his broken wing, inflicting more pain on top of whatever happened to him in the first place.
“Georgie! Dashie!” their attacker shouted in joy, “You’re both finally back!”
Dash was the first to recognize the voice, she sighed a breath of relief, knowing she was no longer in any actual danger. “Geez, Pinkie…” she muttered softly, “You had me going for a minute there…”
Pinkie tightened her grip further, reveling in their group hug. “You two were gone for forever!”
George groaned softly. “B-But we were only gone for a we—”
“Exactly!” Pinkie looked up to the wincing stallion, paying no attention to his pained look. “Seven days! 10,080 minutes! A whole 604,800 seconds! Do you know how long that is!?”
George attempted to wiggle out of the mare’s painfully tight hug, though as he did so, he inhaled sharply at the excruciating pain as he’d move his wing around in ways he shouldn’t , at least until it healed.
“P-Pinkie…” he cried out in a hushed voice, “C-Could you… uh… l-let go…?”
Dash raised an eyebrow as the stallion’s efforts to escape from Pinkie’s embrace. Though by the tone of his voice, she quickly realized his situation, and winced as she finally figured it out.
“B-But how else would I show my friends how much I care for them?” Pinkie asked innocently, still oblivious to his pain.
“Pinks, I think you’re crushing George’s broken wing…”
“I am?” Pinkie loosened her grip slightly. “I didn’t know George had a—” she finally looked at the wing in question, which was still fully enveloped in its cast. As soon as a wave of realization washed over her, she gasped loudly, and jumped off of the pair. “Omigosh, omigosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you had a broken win—”
George quickly interrupted. “It’s fine…” he spoke with a groan, slowly getting himself up from the ground. “Just… be careful next time… Alright?”
“Okey-Dokey-Lokey!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing up and down as she spoke.
As Dash also got herself up, she looked up to the mare, who simply continued with her bouncing. “So—”
“Omigosh! I just remembered!” Pinkie interjected. “You two missed my birthday party!” her bouncing immediately ceased, as she stomped a hoof onto the ground, emphasizing her attempt at being angry.
“Eh?” George tilted his head in confusion. “When was your birthday?”
“Yesterday!”
Dash also tilted her head in confusion, “Really?” she queried, “I thought your birthday was next week…”
Pinkie shook her head, “Nope, it was yesterday.” she immediately placed a hoof on her chin. “Pretty sure it was yesterday… That’d be really awkward if everypony thought my birthday was a week sooner…”
“Huh,” Dash blinked. “Anything else we missed?”
“Let me think…” Pinkie rubbed her head softly with a hoof, closing her eyes as she began to recall the past week without Dash and George.
Meanwhile, George slowly opened his broken wing, and moved it closer to his face. He examined his appendage closely, finding everything was the same as it was when he woke up earlier today. Curious, he lifted a hoof, and sent it on its journey to its new target; his wing.
Halfway through its journey, his hoof was immediately cut off by someone else’s hoof crashing down upon it. He looked up to the hoof’s owner, being the pegasus mare next to him, who simply deadpanned.
“Don’t touch it!” she huffed. “Do you really want to make it worse?”
George shook his head in response, and folded his wing back to his side, as well as his hoof slowly making its new trip down to the ground.
Not long afterwards, Pinkie slammed the hoof that was rubbing her chest down onto the ground below her. “Nope! Not a whole lot has been going on!”
Dash blinked. “Huh… Well, I guess that’s a goo—”
“Besides Rarity needing the both of you for measurements,” Pinkie quickly spoke up once more.
George slowly raised an eyebrow at Pinkie’s sudden statement, “What does she need our measurements for?”
“Riiiiight, Rarity needs our mea—” Dash quickly cut herself off, instantly taking in George’s own response. She turned her head to the confused stallion, whom still had his eyebrow raised as he awaited a response. “Did Twilight ever explain to you what that golden ticket was?” she asked.
“Ticket? What tic—You mean that thing Princess Celestia gave me a few months back?”
“Yeah, that!”
“Actually, I think Twilight forgot all about it…” George scratched the back of his neck. “I probably still have it in my room somewhere, but she kinda never told me what it was…”
Dash let out a soft “huh”, as well as a sigh simultaneously, “Well, it’s basically just an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“Cool…” George smiled softly, though it quickly faded out as he tried to figure out what exactly he was invited to. “...What’s that?”
“I’ll explain later."
“But that’s what Twilight told me when I actually got the tick—”
“Yeah, but this time’s different. Because I won’t forget!”
George scoffed, “I hope not.”
________________________
“I still don’t get why we need to wear clothes to go to some gala thing…” George rolled his eyes, as well as sighing deeply as Rarity continued to measure his waist. “I’ve never seen anypony wear clothes, why is this any different, now?”
“Formalities, Darling,” Rarity stepped away from him, taking notes of his measurements. “The Grand Galloping Gala is the fanciest party in Equestria! You can’t just waltz in like nopony’s business. It’s…” she trailed off for a moment, searching for the right word, “not right...”
George looked over to the rainbow-maned mare, whom was sitting on a couch not too far from him. With a raised eyebrow, he spoke, “So then… why are you going, Dash? I thought you didn’t like those types of things…?”
“Eh,” Dash shrugged. “The wonderbolts are gonna be there. And I’m kinda debating on the whole ‘wanting to be a wonderbolt’ thing.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well… Personal reasons,” Dash crossed her hooves. “That’s all you really need to know,” As she finished her sentence, another thought came to mind. “I also heard a few things about being a wonderbolt, but I want to check with Twilight about it.”
“What’d you hear?” George tilted his head, ignoring the fashionista taking her measuring tape to one of his rear hooves. “...And when?”
“I can’t really say, cause I don’t know if it’s true or not,” Dash shook her head, “As for the when part, it was during the week with mom and dad.”
“Hm. I don’t remember you two talking.”
“That’s cause we kept locking ourselves in her room, just talking.”
“Ab—”
“Personal. Stuff. ”
“Fine,” George groaned, “Don’t tell me.”
“Not my fault you’re such a curious George,” Dash stuck her tongue out in a playful manner.
“Ha ha,” George rolled his eyes, “Very funny.”
Dash softly giggled, “Why do you want to know so badly?”
“I was just…” George sighed in defeat, “curious…”
Unfortunately for him, his response only made her giggle noticeably louder.
“Alright, last measurement, dear,” Rarity cut them off. “Lift up your head.”
George slowly lifted his head a little, not knowing how far up he was supposed to lift it, he simply lifted his head to the point where he’d have to shift his eyesight a little down just to see the two.
“More…”
His head went up higher, both of the mares were still in sight, but his eyesight would have to be shifted to its lowest in order to see them. In his current position, his muzzle was pointing towards the sun’s direction.
“Keep going…”
With the roll of his eyes, he lifted his head up as far as he could, staring directly at the roof, as well as his muzzle pointing directly up.
“Perfect!” Rarity smiled, grabbing her measuring tape, and began taking it around his neck.
Moments later, she stepped back, removing the tape from his neck, and wrote down her measurements down on her notebook.
“Annnnd... done,” Rarity said with a hum, “You’re all set, George.”
George finally let his head go back to its original position, resting his neck from holding his head in that position. He slowly began rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to wipe away the irritating feeling.
“Finally…” he muttered, “Your turn, Dash.”
“Ah crap...”
Author's Note
Crap, has it really been five months since the last update? August? Geez... Sorry I've been taking so long, I've been taking a small break. Cause writer's block, and all that...
This chapter isn't as long as I hoped it would be, but I can't seem to find anything else worth putting into this filler chapter. The next chapter, however, I already have a ton planned. So stay tuned for that.
Art done by MrFulp , so thanks to him for being a gr8 b8 any m8 would r8 8/8.
On another note: So, if you haven't been keeping up-to-date on my blogs. Basically, I've kinda sat through the first few chapters of Equestria's Time, and as I kept looking at them over and over, the more they bothered me. As much as I'd love to sit through those chapters and give them a good rework through some of the more annoying scenes/rewrite some of those chapters entirely. I'll only end up wasting more time, so instead, I think I'm just going to work on/rewrite said chapters once the story itself is finished.
After all, each chapter slowly starts to increase in quality as it progresses. It's towards the 9th chapter mark where my writing slowly starts getting better, so I'm not that bothered by it, but, geez...
Chapter 15: An Ordinary Day in Manehattan
“You couldn’t have made it more obvious, couldn’t you!?”
“I thought it was clear as day, and yet he still didn’t get it.”
“He’s trying to put his life back together, mom! Do you really think he’s going to find somepony to date?”
“Hmph. Excuse me for being curious.” Firefly crossed her hooves.
Dash blankly stared at her mother for what felt like half an hour for her. In reality though, it was about a minute.
Eventually, She snapped out of her odd gaze, returning to reality once more as she noticed her mom’s hoof being waved around in front of her face.
She shook her head as she brought herself back from dreamland. “Look. Mom. I get it.”
“You do?”
“You’re upset because I might have found something that would hurt my chances of making it in the Wonderbolts.” Dash smiled confidently, closing her eyes as she shoved the truth in her mother’s face.
Upon saying that, however. Nothing but dead silence filled the room.
“Really?” Firefly raised an eyebrow.
Dash’s confidence was quickly murdered as she opened an eye, then blinked. “What, was I off?”
Firefly nodded in response.
“Then… what is it?” Dash tilted her head.
“What? A mother can’t be curious over the stallion that has her daugher freaked out?”
“I’m not ‘freaked out’.”
“Then if you’re not freaking out, why did you send me a mail asking for advice?”
“...”
“Exactly.”
________________________
“George… I don’t know how to put this lightly…” Blaze paused as he tried to find the right words, ultimately giving up in the end. “But, you suck at this.”
“Gee, do you really think so?” George asked sarcastically, “Maybe it’s cause I’m not even trying?”
“Why aren’t you trying?” Blaze raised an eyebrow. “Flying shouldn’t be that hard to learn. I mean, you’ve only forgotten how to fly. Once you actually get the hang of it, you might just start remembering again.” He placed a hoof on his chin. “It’s like that saying… How did it go again…?”
George shrugged in response. “Look, Blaze. I get that you’re trying to help me out…” He paused for a moment, took in a deep breath, and exhaled sharply. “But maybe I just don’t need to fly anymore.”
Blaze was left speechless for about a minute or two. He wasn’t going to let George leave without getting either an explanation, or him knowing how to fly before they left.
George felt like he just struck a nerve in him, so he quickly reacted before it’d get worse. “S-Sorry.” He sighed. “It’s just… Nothing feels familiar about flying.” He placed a hoof on the back of his neck. “If I actually knew how to fly before my amnesia, then it would just become second-nature, or, instinct… right?” He gathered a nod from Blaze, signaling him to continue.
“It doesn’t even feel like it’s an instinct. Instead, it feels… alien .” He opened his wings, drawing Blaze’s attention to them. “Like, I’m not even supposed to have these…”
Blaze tilted his head slightly. “Hm. At least you gave me an explanation.” He said flatly. “For a minute I thought you were gonna say something stupid like ‘Maybe I don’t need to fly because I’m too depressed over my memories, blah blah blah.’” He spoke in a bad attempt of George’s voice.
“I don’t sound like that…” George retorted. “And I’m not depressed over my memories!” He paused for a moment. “...Not anymore anyway.”
“Not anymore?” Curious of the amnesiac stallion’s answer, Blaze cocked his head to the side. “Why’s that?”
“Does it even matter anymore?” George replied, morphing his own answer into a question. “Even if I got my memories back now, I’ve already adjusted to my new life in Ponyville.” He began to ramble. “And besides, if I actually had a family, I’m pretty sure they think I’m either dead, or they just don’t care about me.”
“Do you honestly believe that?” As if his curiosity didn’t already cross some unspoken personal boundaries, Blaze pressed further anyway.
George responded with a nod. Then softly chuckled. “What is this anyway... ‘20 Questions’?”
Blaze took that response as a hint for him to shut up. “I was just curious, I’m sorry if I crossed any lines.”
George shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. I guess.”
“Right. Then, back to your flying.”
________________________
“I’m not mad… Sure, I’m a bit upset… But I’m sure that if I ever need to fly, I’ll figure it out somehow. I understand you don’t want to cause your friends any pain.”
“I can see you’ll do anything for a friend. Even one you’ve only known for...what, two weeks now? That’s what makes you such an awesome friend.”
Pause.
Jake grabbed his notes. He had spent some time investigating the show Jason had set to record before his disappearance, and what relevance it had to either of them.
“The ‘George’ in this show acts very close to the George that vanished.
Maybe this is something more than just leaving for random voice acting.
Maybe it’s something even bigger than that.”
He looks up at the TV, questioning everything he knows.
“What if this was actually George, inside this show?” He asked out loud to himself.
He looked at his notes, then back at the TV.
“This is gonna require further investigation...”
________________________
“Okay. I think we’re done for today.” Blaze said.
“For today ? More like for the rest of my trip here.” George groaned as he stood back up from the ground. Parts of his body covered in bruises. He was too tired to check his whole body, but he could clearly see a couple of bruises on his forelegs just by looking down.
“What? You’ve only fallen about twenty times. Are you really wimping out already?” Blaze asked with a laugh.
“Sure.” George grumbled. “Let’s call it that.”
Before the two could say anything else, they both heard nearby hoofsteps coming their way. Both of the stallions turned their heads towards the sound, and found the source of it was coming from a certain prismatic-maned mare.
“Once again, Rainbow Dash saves the day.” George smiled internally, knowing he could successfully dodge an argument with the nearby stallion as long as she was around.
Dash walked up to the duo. “Hi gu—woooah...” She froze, her mouth slightly agape. “What the hay happened to you, George?”
“I, uh…” George tried to find the least embarrassing way to tell her.
“He… saved me!” Blaze interjected. “Yeah…! That’s it! There was a gang of stallions who were getting ready to beat me up. And your good buddy, George, here… He jumped right in front of me and started fighting back!” He grinned wildly, continuing his fake story. “He took quite a beating, but h—oof! ”
George nudged him with a hoof. “Liar.” He laughed a bit, then looked back at Dash. “Your dad tried to teach me how to fly. Obviously, it didn’t end well.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why? Am I that bruised?”
He looked around his whole body. All of his legs had at least one bruise, his chest also had a bruise. On the left side of his flank, where his cutie mark should be, was another bruise. There were most likely other bruises, but he was only able to see the few obvious ones.
“Huh… I hadn’t even noticed these…” George spoke softly. “This is what I get for falling about twenty times.”
“Twenty times?” Dash asked worriedly.
“According to Blaze, anyway.” George bounced his head in the nearby stallion’s direction.
Dash at her father with an eyebrow raised. “It’s like trying to teach me to fly all over again, huh, dad?”
Blaze laughed at Dash’s remark. “Yeah it is, Dashie.” He smiled warmly at a few memories that came rushing in. “Although, there’s a difference between teaching him and teaching you all those years ago.”
“And that is…?” Dash cocked her head, curious of the response she’d get.
“You were more stubborn to learn than he is.”
Author's Note
AYYYYYYY. NEW CHAPTER.
This was originally GOING to be a chapter to push the main story forward some more, as there isn't a whole lot of stuff planned for George and Dash to do in Manehattan. But then this happened. I'm kinda glad it ended up being a filler though. Sorry for it being so short, next chapter should be longer than this one.
P.S: 1,337 words. Yay.
Edit: GDOCS WHY DID YOU LIE ABOUT WORD COUNT ;n;