Chapters A/N: This may be a little choppy to some, but if you do read, please finish it before you give a final like/dislike. i do try and improve over the chapters.
From the very beginning, my parents had said nothing about life being “happy” or even supplemented me with the idea that there was any hope left in this seemingly dull world, as it was said that the economy was dying, the wars that were fought had drained everything from this once great country. Nothing, no condolences for me, nothing to give me hope for a better future. One thing that I always sought it out through the frigid walls of my room was a hope that it would be better, and that maybe the world may regain the idea of happiness and peace through tolerance. I had kept hope in my heart, with the child’s show of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and that was the world I had hoped to live in, with the vibrant colors, the acceptance of creatures that came from far and wide. That was how I hoped to live, but that was a thought that I had locked deep within my mind, I knew that it was ultimately far fetched, though I had hoped the idea may have upheld my spirits, it did nothing but drain them as the days dragged on, the dark piercing my heart ever more everyday.
Foreclosure. A word that my parents thought that they would never have to mutter. Ever since my father lost his job, there was no seeing the way through paying the mortgage or even paying for the utilities, much less paying for the food that we ate everyday.
The time had came, and we had sold what we could not take with us in our large SUV, tank filled with what money that we had left, and we drove. We drove through the rain and the sun, for what seemed days on end. It was a torrential downpour, the highway filled with the dim burgundy of brake lights, blinking on and off, in what seemed to be a pattern. The idea that I had fought to keep locked in the farthest remnants of my mind, seeped into my conscience, as a lonesome tear drew into the corner of my eye, drew a wet streak of sadness down my cheek. I had not slept during the whole trip, and I had hoped that we would find a new place to settle, I started to find myself dreaming of a land bright and colorful...
Startled and awoken, I drew my head up, with just enough time to view the bright light that came crashing through the windshield, followed by the shattering of glass, the flipping of our once safe and serene vehicle across the center divider, as the impact of another vehicle into my side put my mind down to rest.
My eyes opened slowly, and I felt a stabbing in my side as I tried to walk or even move. There was something seemingly different, the colors seemed ever more vibrant, where there was no rain... There was sunlight, the sweetest hue of yellow to be seen... but I could not tell much more about where I had become, as my vision had not became used to what I was seeing in this new, beaming world. I had questioned whether or not I was actually in a new world, or if I was rather just in another dream of mine, but this did not feel like it was a dream, the warmth of the sunlight on me felt ever so real, as a voice behind me, one that I knew, but could not fully place, rang through my ears.
“Excuse me sir, but are you... OK?” The voice sounded true, but muffled, and as if it had come directly from the happiness that I wished I had.
The voice was yet surprising, as I had thought I knew who it was from, as the sound of hooves on stone came closer to me, at was seemed to be a galloping pace. It was strange, to hear hooves, as the last of any horses were used on the fields and were no longer pets.
I turned my head to see a vibrant purple figure looking me in the eye, and also noticed a cyan figure overhead, that seemed to be – flapping its wings. I could not muster up a voice to tell of my pain, but I was able to muster the energy to give them an answer that would mean something to anyone.
“H-h-help... m..m... me...” I mustered out of my mouth, to fall into the darkness that surrounded the closing of my eyelids.
When I eventually came to my senses, I heard a slight rhythmic beeping in the background. Just a rhythmic beeping, and the occasional mumble of other people in the room. As I opened my eyes, I thought that I was in a delusional state of mind from the accident, as my mind may not have fully recovered so soon from an accident such as what I had come out of. I then turned my head to my side, and saw a cotton candy colored pony, with a smile from ear to ear watching me closely, and I knew I recognized the pony such as the one I was staring at, although my mind would not accept that I was seeing such things. I felt extremely comfortable in my current state, and had noticed that I was in what had seemed to be a hospital. The smell was not of a normal hospital, but seemed to smell... happy. If I ever knew what happy actually smelled like, then this was it. I tried opening my mouth to ask this... person, where I was, but nothing came out. Before I could try to make a feeble word exit my mouth a second time, she disappeared in what seemed like a flash of pink lightning, to return a short time later. I was shocked at how fast this “person” came back again, but my mind was starting to accept that I may be in an alternate world, the world of My Little Pony, but I rejected the thought as I knew it could never happen.
I heard the faint clop of hooves growing ever closer, and as I turned, I saw, yet another, pony standing in front of my bed, holding a clipboard and glancing at me occasionally, while reading the papers on the clipboard.
“Excuse me sir, how are you feeling today?” a professionally deep, stern voice had asked me.
I tried to mutter words from my mouth again, only to not speak again. The doctor noticed this, and walked on all four legs over to my bedside and put a glass of water up to my lips as the liquid elixir flowed down my parched throat and moistened my mouth once again.
“Where... Where am I?” I asked as the doctor gave me a puzzled look, as if I should know exactly where I was.
“You are in Ponyville hospital, since after your fall you did have a broken leg along with major bruising on your ribs, but you should heal up in a matter of time. Do you have any recollection of the events that put you here?” He had asked me, with a hint of concern coming over his voice.
“We were driving... and then someone hit us head on. Where are my parents?” I asked quietly, as my voice was not fully back to the way it was supposed to be.
I heard a slight giggle from beside my bed, as the pink one laughed to herself.
“Ha Ha! Whats a car silly? And you were the only one we found outside Twilight's House!” she continued to giggle quietly to herself.
The aspect of a 'car' was something that had not been established in this world, but I finally knew where I had ended up in the end of it all. I knew the pink character, as she was called, her name was Pinkie Pie. I had somehow made it into the world of My Little Pony, but I had no idea how it had happened, but all the thinking of cross dimensional travel made the throbbing in my head even more severe.
“Ill go and get everyone else!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly, “They will be so excited that you are finally awake, Twilight will have so many questions for you!” she told me as she bounced down the hall and out of me line of sight.
There was nothing that I could do, I was hurting more than I have ever hurt before, and my mind was racing as I knew that I had been transferred into a world I thought was only imaginary, until I saw where my hands and arms had used to be, only to be that of a hoof and a forearm. My heart started to beat rapidly inside my chest, through the pain of it all, I knew that I had become a true Pony, lost the only parents that I had known, and was taken away from the only world that I had known for so long. The burden of this all was too much, as I had started crying hysterically, burrying my face into my arms, not knowing what my future would hold for me. The doctor that was in the room with me tried to consolidate me and tell me that it was alright, and for some reason, I felt that his words were the truth, and I looked up, wiping the tears from my eyes, to see the bright warm, smile of the doctor in front of me.
“Now, You need your rest. This has taken a toll on your body and you need your sleep,” he said to me, “now please, rest.”
I laid back on the pillow, eyes towards the ceiling, thinking of what had happened to me, letting any idea that could possibly explain this float into my mind, and before I knew it, I was off to rest again, the peaceful feeling of sleep the only feeling that I felt I could actually trust.
I spent the countless hours of my somber sleep pacing in nothingness. I had not known why I had come here, and all I had so many questions that needed to be answered. Why did I get sent here? Where was I before? What... What was my name? I felt a searing in my side, still in the depths of dreams, back to what I once knew as reality. Water was everywhere, rain coming from every direction, even from below me. There was no one around... just me. The tangled mess of metal and water kept me subdued in the seat I experienced the crash in. I screamed for help, but was for nothingness as not even an echo came to reassure me I was still alive. I felt the searing pain in my side again, as the metal seemed to tighten around my body, not knowing what would happen to me next. The searing pain returned much sooner than when I had anticipated it would, and this time it did not stop as the entire wreckage collapsed in on me.
I woke from my dreadful nightmare in a panic, not knowing where I was, as the faint memories of the night before slowly seeping back into my troubled mind. There was a man standing next to me, oblivious of the pain that I had felt when he touched my side. He prodded it again with his hooves, the exasperating pain seeming through my body, sinking into my bones, as I let out a muffled cry. He looked at me for a split second, before returning to the clipboard at the end of the hospital bed, walking down the hall and out of sight, to what looked like to be another patients room. I had not understood why he would just sit there and watch me wry in pain as he prodded at my injury, but the questioning soon faded as I felt my overwhelming urge to drink water.
I turned over in my bed, slowly, as not to make much attention to myself, and reached for the sweet nectar that was sitting directly out of reach, when I realized that I did not know how to pick up anything. I had hooves, not hands, and every scenario I ran over in my mind seemed completely futile. I decided to attempt at picking up the glass, stretching my arm to reach for the glass, but rather knocking it over compared to pickling it up, as I had hoped. It fell to the floor, as I awaited the shattering of glass, the splash of the water, but that never came. I looked over the bed precariously to attempt to understand what had happened, to find it covered in a distinctly familiar violet aura, to only which I knew one mare to whom it could belong.
Twilight, slowly walking into the room, gingerly set the cup back onto the bedside stand where it had been before, and after gesturing towards it, it hovered towards me and pressed itself on my lips, the taste of the gods running down my throat. “My name is Twi-” as I interrupted her with a matter of factly look.
“I know who you are, Twilight. But I do not understand why I am here, or even how I came to be here.” I spewed out of my mouth, voice still raspy as I gulped down the last of the water. That was the only moment in life where I had wished that the glass of water would be never ending, a constant flow of water through my arid throat.
Twilight spoke again, this time with a touch of sternness. “You may know who I am, and I have no idea how you would for that matter, but that is not important right now. Do... Do you have a name?”
My mind twitched at the thought of a name. I did not have a name, or at least one that I can remember. I was truly nameless, an I didn't even know if I had a cutie mark on my flank to help determine that. “My... M...My Name?” I uttered.
She tilted her head in worry, “You don't remember having a name, here, or even in your other world do you?”
I shook my head, as I did not have any recollection of any names that I had been called by. Then I started to wonder how had she known that I was not from this place? Did she accidentally bring me here during a mishap with a spell? There were so many questions that I needed to ask, but no time to ask any of them. Twilight was being dragged out of the room by a doctor, the questions and a need to understand looming in her large, purple, eyes. I had lost my mind as I looked into here eyes, they were the most beautiful thing I had seen in a vast amount of time. The expanse of wanting to know, to learn, it was intriguing, and beautiful, but my racing thoughts stopped short as the door to my room was closed shut, visiting hours had ended. There was an itching on my back, insatiably tingling as if I needed to move... to fly. I had never thought of it before, but to fly? Why would I want to fly at all, I thought, remembering that I was terrified of heights, and have been since I was a little kid. I brushed the feeling of, as if it was nothing, turning over onto my stomach to get into a more comfortable position for my injury, as well as my new body.
Little did I know, I had no control over the wings that I did not have, or at least thought I didn’t have. I was amazed at the feeling to stretch the wings, loving to let them stretch their own way, far out of my grasp of control. I had finally taken notice of the various items being thrown across the room by my wings, flying in various directions, lamps and glasses shattering, equipment falling over. Doctors... Pony doctors came rushing in the room yelling to keep my wings calm and steady, and tried as I would, I could not control them. They seemed to stay stiff, unmovable, and unknowing of the conundrum they were causing. 'Maybe Twilight had done something to the water with her magic?' I thought to myself, knowing that she would not do such a thing to a Pony she knew, more or less a stranger. I realized that I could not control what I was feeling, the thought of Twilight, and the wings growing more erect. I tried to stop thinking of her, but I just couldn't. Her eyes resonated in my mind, the sight as fresh as if she was still there, until my mind had gotten sidetracked once again by the crashing of another lamp, causing the wings to return to their normal resting position.
I had not fully understood why the wings acted as they had, but the doctors seemed to have an idea as they glared in my direction while picking up the broken pieces of lamps and glasses. They would occasionally look at each other and let out a small laugh, as if they had their own joke about me, which made my stomach turn itself upside down as I felt bad for what I had done to these people, and how I had to make them clean it up.
After the mess that I had made had been cleaned up, a nurse came back into the room, holding some sort of harness in her hooves. I had no idea what she was doing, but I had to assume that what they were doing was for the best sake of all ponies in this hospital. Following close behind, Twilight came back into the room so she could ask me a couple of questions before she was forced to leave. It was well over the normal visiting hours, but she somehow managed to sneak behind all of the other doctors and the nurse. She sat quietly, under the bed while the nurse tightened the straps on the harness, restraint, thing. After she was done, she double checked to make sure that it was secured properly, and left the room in a hurry as another pony down the hall was calling for a nurse.
She scooted out from under the bedside, looking at the door, making sure not to make a noise to alert anyone else that she was there. As soon as she turned to look at me, I could hear her hold in a snort and a lucid laugh. The restraint was obviously not comfortable, as one could imagine, holding the wings who needed to move constantly in place, and it was the source of her laughter. After recollecting her thoughts, and had stopped laughing she finally asked me her question.
Her eyes staring luminously at me, seeking the knowledge that I held inside myself, fired her question at me. “What is it like to be able to travel across the dimensions and into our world from yous? Did it hurt? Did it take a long time to transfer you here through the cross dimensional wormhole?And...” She continued on, the questions gradually gaining difficulty as she wanted to know more, wanting to know the specifics. I did nothing but sit there, staring into here eyes. That was when she suddenly stopped talking. She had heard the creaking of the leather straps that kept the wings tied to my back, and had noticed how the feathers were staring to ruffle, even though the wings themselves were barely visible.
She had told me that everyone else would be in to see me early tomorrow, as they all had a busy day, finishing orders and their daily chores that needed to be dealt with, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
She walked out of the room, “I'll come back to see you tomorrow, but control your wings and get some rest.” she had said to me as she walked out of the room, looking back with a casual tone on her face.
The dark, once again welcomed me into its cool labyrinth of questions, making me wonder what was the real reason that I was here, even if this all was, in fact, real. I answered one question in my mind, only to give myself the answers in rather vague generalizations. These generalizations only led me to another question, ones I could not answer, yet again. I had to trouble defining who stood in front of me each day, but I felt the grip on the 'reality' that I had known, where this was fiction, slipping away.
The room I had stayed in, for yet another restless night, seemed to shine, with a glow of happiness that I could not place, it was an immortal light, something that flowed truly from the heart. The surreal lighting seemed to be a sort of reflection, as if it had passed through a stained glass mirror. The night had taken its tolls on me, but there was something off about this. Attempting to regain the pleasant position that I had once rested in, I see a multicolored mane flowing out of the corner of my eye. The color seemed ever familiar, but I had thought it to be a hallucination, as the dreams of 'reality' were. That was, until, I head the soothing voice of a woman, a voice to calm even the most troubled of ponies.
“I see that you are awake now. I had heard of your arrival from my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia had said softly, obviously aware that a gentler voice, especially at this early in the morning, would help soothe the nerves of any pony, or person, nervous during their confrontation. “From what I understand, you had seemed to appear at the strangest of times, and I am truly sorry that we have brought you from your home, wherever that may have been, here into Equestria.”
Princess Celestia was truly a beautiful sight, her coat as white as the snow that covered the mountain peaks in the distance, her eyes shining with an intensity that told anypony that she could be trusted, and a mane, vibrant colors that sparkled when the suns rays came into contact with it, shining with a glowing warmth.
I tilt my head slightly to give the princess a respectful glance, “That's alright Princess, I think here may be better for me,” I sadly proclaimed to her, “there is not much back in my world that's even worth it anymore.”
She nodded her head, knowing of what I was speaking. “ You are welcome here in Equestria, but you must understand that you do not know of us as much as you think you do,” she stated, “where as you must also never tell anypony of the horrors of which you have came. The ponies here are truly innocent, and that knowledge must lay upon my mind and my mind only.”
I glanced back to the princess, who was expecting a prompt response. “I must ask two things Princess, the first, what do I call myself should another pony ask for my name, and what do I do when I am healed?”
She looked through the window, presumably in the direction of the treehouse from which I had fallen, “We shall call you,” a slight hesitation in her thoughts, “Sky Hope, and as for your healing, I am told that you should be healed within a few days. I will arrange for your stay in town, until you have found somewhere for your own.”
I simply nodded my head, which seemed to bring about a headache, causing me to feel somewhat drowsy and wish to sleep more, even if the beds weren't exactly... comfortable. The name did not make much sense to me, I had not understood why she had chosen my name to be 'Sky Hope', but it seemed to fit me nicely, even though I had no underlying notions on who 'I' was.
Noticing the slight wince in pain as I nodded my head, the Princess spoke once more, making this, however, more secretive as she came close to my ear, and spoke. She then left, saying, “Goodbye, and welcome to the great land of Equestria.”
Later that day, although I had been expecting more visitors, I had overlooked a yellow colored mare giving me glances from under her mane which covered one of her eyes. She had seemed concerned about how I was feeling, ans every time I had been in pain, she wanted to come over and help, but she knew that she was in the hospital, and this was not the place for her to help, no matter if she wanted to. That was the doctors job.
“Hey there, your name is, Fluttershy, right?” I asked her in a quiet, calming tone as to try and not to disturb her. Even with the quiet casual tone that I had used to try and engage in some conversation with the pony, she let nothing out but a small 'SQUEE' when I uttered my first words.
“Y... Y-Yes, I am Fluttershy...” she had said, the last world barely audible as the level of voice dropped dramatically from when she had first spoken.
I had thought that I had made a good impression on the Pony, and had hopefully made a new friend in the process. She, however, let out a terrified scream as the party cannon rocketed large wads of confetti through the hospital window.
Fluttershy looked up, blushing from nervous embarrassment, “Oh... I-It was j-just Pinkie...”
I had hoped for only one thing that morning, one thing that made my heart race, made me feel as if the world was no longer there, Twilight. I had waited that morning, through the party that pinkie had insisted that she throw as a 'Get-To-Know-The-New-Pony-In-Town-Party'. I had to decline, telling her that i had not felt well enough to party that day.
Obviously downed by what i had said, Pinkie replied, her mane slightly deflating, "OK..."
"Don't worry though," I said as i glanced towards Pinkie, "you can throw me a party as soon I'm out of this hospital. Alright?" as Her hair instantly inflating to its normal size, the pink pony had the jump obviously back in her step, "YAY! Thank you! Oooh! i need to get planning the party!" and then she was gone in a flash of pink, and that was one thing that I had never understood about Pinkie Pie, her speed, and her excitement for everything in life.
I had wanted a party that day, but i only wanted to see her, the violet eyes still resonating in my mind, never forgetting their deep lust for something new, but also her want for someone to love.
A/N: This is a bit shorter than the last chapter, but I did try and improve on how it was written. Expect another chapter withing two days!
'I had hoped for more from this day', I thought to myself.
'So you could what? Have a pretty pony to yourself? Why do you even try?' my mind spat back at me.
'I actually felt something from her, something that felt... right. Even though I know in my heart, I am not a pony, I have feelings for her. True, sincere, feelings though I do not know her.'
White. Cold steel. A brushed metal handle. What I had hoped to be moved, what I had wanted, did not come back that day. Maybe I had scared her off, maybe I did something that made her think that I was a freak. Maybe I was just... a freak. I laid my skull back onto the fluffy pillow that had once served as a simple support, now to support my dreams. My mind faded to black, and she appeared once again, unable to leave my thoughts.
The 'dream' that I was having was nothing, just a black canvas waiting to be painted, as most of what I had ever crossed my mind during my reveries had been. I had not expected as much of myself, to sleep as much as I had, it was nearly dark outside and the moon would soon rise from below the horizon to take its place where the sun used to be. I look over my shoulder and see a hoof retreating back, where I could hear the faint scratching of what seemed to be a quill and paper, trailing with a faint slur of words, “Dear Princess Celestia,” I gave a small chuckle, for both knowing that she was actually here, and for she apparently had the tendency to talk to herself as she was writing.
“Oh, well, hi,” she said to me, looking up from the paper, a slight look of embarrassment, as she knew that I had heard her talking to herself, “So, how have you been doing?”
“Much better, since I, pretty much fell from the top of a tree, and seem to be healing rather quickly,” I relied as I smiled at her contently. “The doctor says I should be out of here withing a day, which I believe is pretty good news, and I have, SOME, control over these wings now.”
“That sounds great! If you wouldn't mind, I would, well, like to keep track of your recovery and how well you adapt to flying, for research that I am doing right now.”
“That would be alright Twilight,” I replied, ecstatic that she was taking interest in me.
“If you find Twilight to be to long to say, Twi is alright too,” she said, a “It is getting kind of late, and I better get going, a couple hours in the hospital is enough to give me the willy's!”
She calmly walked out the door, her mane catching a slight breeze, from where I do not know, but it looked absolutely mesmerizing swaying in the breeze that had passed through it. The doors came to a quiet clatter, as they closed, blocking the view of what I had longed to see once again.
Something was off in the hospital room, I could tell that. I could not place what it was, but the room felt, in its own way, different. Smell maybe, but it the same resonating hospital smell still lingered, There had to be something, anything that did not fit into the flow of the room. The book. Not too big, but it seemed to have a lingering amount of magic as Twilight may have used it at one point in time. The title read, “Ponyville Customs and Traditions”. I opened the first page, to find a small note inscribed on the empty page:
My mind shot to the night ahead of me, weary of what I may face tomorrow, walking, or even greeting the 'new' people of Ponyville. I... I don't even know how to walk, I thought, having to walk on four hooves, not on two feet is going to be completely different, something that I'm not sure how well I will handle it.
)()()()()()()(
The air outside in Equestria smelled clean, there was nothing harsh about it, no smog or pollutants floating around. It felt great to finally be let out of the hospital even if I was supposed to be on bed rest. It had taken me a few tries to get a hang of the walking, after some failed attempts and landing flat onto my face. Not the prettiest sight to see me walk around, stumbling over the slightest bumps in the stone pathways.
I had some time, as I was walking towards Ponyville to actually see what I had been transformed into. Many may not realize it, but pure sunlight shining on your coat gives it a much better appeal than that of the fluorescent lighting in the hospital. I was a cyan color, although it looked to be more of a mint green through my eyes, I actually enjoyed the look of myself for once. I was a vibrant color, and that in itself seemed to make the day seem that much better. My mane was a darker blue, almost the color of the deep sea, which was not another bad color, I thought to myself. My tail followed that color of my mane, and I was off to stumble to Ponyville once again.
Ponyville was a sight to be seen, it was something much more colorful than I had expected it to be. I knew the colors would be vibrant, having the different colored ponies around, but it would seem that just being there had made the colors shine in an entirely new light. I had a general sense of where I was in the town, but it was almost like it was a new. It was obvious I was where I needed to go, there being hotels on each side of the street no more than two stories tall. I had chosen a small inn, named the “Hoovtel 6”, which seemed to be similar to the “Motel 6”, if I could remember exactly what that was. I could tell my memories from my past life were fading and the memories here were overriding them.
I walked in through the double doors, to a somewhat nicely decorated room. It had a homely feel to it, but some of he pictures that hung from the walls put that feel into a creepy-homely sense. I walked up to the front counter, where a seemingly young white mare was sitting reading the “Equestria Inquirer”. Her name was Violet, as her nameplate had said. Her named matched her perfectly, her mane a bright purple color, similar to Rarity, but the two were distinctly different. On her rear where her cutie mark was rested a calendar, which I assumed was for some sort of organization skill because her desk was neatly organized, and had seemed to have everything in order.
I tapped the bell that rested on the counter a slight tap to get her attention, which half startled her. “Welcome to Hoovtel 6! How can I help you?” she asked kindly, with a seemingly fake smile.
“The Princess said she would let you know that I'd be coming?” I asked.
“Oh! Right, your the new one in town, well follow me and I'll show you to your room,” she said walking past a wall full of keys and swiping one off.
She led me up to the second floor which only had about 10 rooms in total, stopping in front of room 2A. She handed me the key before trotting back down to the front desk and telling me to enjoy my stay and that Room Service would be glad to help, any time of day. I turned the key to open the room that Princess Celestia had reserved for me, slowly opening the door to reveal what lay inside.
The room was beautiful, it would have been something that I had expected to see in a Royal Suite in a Royal Hotel, not some small place in Ponyville. The bed had to be at least 3 times the size of my own pony body, the room also being filled with a small refrigerator full of complimentary items and a gorgeous fireplace a few feet... a few 'hooves' from the end of the bed. The bathroom was just as glorious, a bathtub that could fit 10 ponies, made just for one with a fancy assortment of soaps lining the rear edge of the tub. The sink seemed to be made out of a granite material, the minerals inside the stone glistening in the soft bathroom lighting.
There wasn't much for me to do here in Ponyville, and seeing as how most everyone in town was busy doing something today, I figured that I would stay in my room and just relax, maybe even read. Read... I thought. I have never really wanted to read. But what was it that had made me want to read now? I looked over to my side, the Ponyville Customs book resting near the foot of the bed. I grab the book, opening it to the first page and started reading. I read, and I read, but I found some of this to be what I had already known, and some just seemed to be nothing but common sense to any person. Or anypony for that matter. When I realized that I had known a lot and I just, knew what it was, I heard a small zzZHTt from my flank...
To be Continued...
Part III: Learning & Knowing
You've got to be kidding me. That is my cutie mark. I don’t even enjoy it, why is it there? It doesn't make any sense to me, but I decide to go with whatever the 'Cutie Mark Gods' decided to give me, even if its not something that I would generally like. I had the sudden feeling of... Pinkie Pie. Why would I think –
*knock knock knock knock* in a rapid fire succession at my door. Who in the world would even know where my place is yet? Can't be rude though, so I open the door to get blasted with a face full of confetti. And cake mix. That makes more sense now why I had thought of Pinkie Pie, right before she came knocking on my door.
“WELCOME! I'm SO glad I can finally throw you your welcome party! Too bad everyone else couldn't come though, but a party of 2 is still a party! And boy do I love parties they're SO much fun and exciting and I love throwing parties for my friends and this is gonna be the best welcome party EVER!” Pinkie said in one swift breath.
“Pinkie, can we do this some other time?” I asked, wiping the cake mix off my face, “Sorry, but I kinda need to get familiar with the town right now so I'm gonna walk around for a while, alright? I promise that we can do this in a week.”
“But do you PINKIE PREOMISE?” she asked leaning towards me. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye?”
I let out a deep sigh, “ Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Ow!” accidentally poking myself in the eye while doing this.
Pinkie Starts to giggle incessantly. “I can't believe people actually poke themselves in the eye when they do that! Ha ha ha! Better get to planning for next weekends party! Later Sky!” she says as she disappears in a puff of pink, cart and all. I just shake my head at her over-excited personality with a smirk on my face, leave the hotel and close the door with a faint 'click' to ensure me its locked, inaccessible without the room key. The room key, of course. Of course I would forget about it, exactly what I'd do. I'll just have the lady at the front desk give me another key I thought to myself. And that was exactly what I had planned to do, walking out of the hotel to go explore Ponyville.
The air was enough to make me content with living here, so clean and refreshing to the soul. I just stood for a number of minutes outside the hotel, staring at the sky and enjoying the breeze. I had enjoyed the gentle air, and thought that I needed to explore the rest of town. I had continued to stare at the sky, walking through what I thought was the town square since there were vendors on each side of me selling items from apples to fabrics. The town was really nice, I was thinking before I collided with another pony.
“EEEK!” Fluttershy squealed before laying flat against the ground, looking down and saying in a low voice, “I-I-I'm s-sorry... I should've w-w-watched where I was g-going...”
“Not your fault Fluttershy, I wasn't watching my step.” I said to her with a calm voice, to let the sensitive pony know that I wasn't angered at what had just occurred.
“Oh... OK... well I b-better be going...” she said as she walked away with her pink mane covering half her face.
I had ended up near Twilight's house... or tree, or whatever she called it. I knew that she had wanted to do some research on how my recovery was, so I thought it wasn't a bad idea to stop by. Sub-consciously, I had other reasons that I wanted to go and see Twilight, and I had nothing else to do or even planned for that day that I remember so it was a good time to stop by in my opinion. I raised my hoof to knock on the door when it got opened by a little purple dragon, accidentally facehoofing the little guy.
“Hey! What was that for!” he shouted at me while rubbing his nose.
“Sorry... Spike, right? It was an accident, you OK?” I said trying to calm the young dragon.
“Yeah, I'm fine, just be more careful with your hoof, those hurt more than you think. You're here to see Twi?”
“Yeah, she home?”
“Twilight!” he shouted, “Someone at the door for you!”
“I'll be right down, once I get this book where it needs to be...” as a pile of books suddenly flow out of the bottom floor of the library. “Or when the entire shelf of books break, heh.” she embarrassingly said.
“Uh, hi Twilight,” I stuttered.
“Oh hi Sky! You need something?” she asked while picking up the previously fallen books.
“Just wanted to know when you wanted to do your research thingy,” butterflies in my stomach as I spoke.
“It's not just a 'thingy!' It's way more than that!” she said looking at me, “My name will be in the Canterlot Archives for having research on how well uhh... something... adapts to pony life!” she said with a vast amount of excitement. “My name will actually make it into the history books, MY name! How exciting is that?”
Spike and I looked at her with a bit of confusion of what had just happened, in her excited rambling she had reversed what she had done with the books pulling most of them off again.
Spike looked at me, “She gets a little carried away with things when she gets excited,” he whispered, “but it isn’t always good for her,” ending with a faint chuckle and a hand over his mouth to muffle the laugh.
“I can come back later ya know, if you're too busy.”
“Yeah, that's probably a good idea, I have a lot of books to clean up. Tomorrow sound OK?”
“Yeah, why not,” I said casually, “That'd be fine. You want me to come over here?”
“No, I'll come get you tomorrow morning,” she said with some confidence. “There's more room near the Hoovtel 6 to learn to fly.”
She knew where I was staying somehow, maybe from the princess, but that didn’t matter to me much. “Alright, so I'll see you then. Later Twi.”
“Wait. What did you just call me?” she asked while looking at me baffled.
I look back at her, “Uh... Twi?” I said questioningly, thinking I had crossed the line. “Is that alright?”
“It's just kinda weird to hear you say it, I mean, it's OK but I'd like you to call me 'Twilight' until I get to know you some more. OK?”
“Yeah... Sorry about that Twilight. See you tomorrow.” I said as I walked back off to the hotel.
“Wait!” I heard her call out from behind me. “Is THAT your cutie mark?”
“Yeah, it is. Don't really understand why I have it, I don't like it that much.” I said with a 'whatever' tone.
“Well, I kinda like it. Its not too bad and I've seen worse.”
“Yeah? Like what?” I retorted challengingly.
“A couple years back, when I was in Canterlot there was a young filly with a – ”
“Heh-Hem!” Spike coughed for attention. “These books aren't gonna clean themselves up Twi. You care to help?”
“Yeah sure Spike. Well, nice seeing you again Sky. I'll talk to you tomorrow,” she said. “Bye!”
“Later uh... Twilight. See you tomorrow,” I said as I walked back to the hotel o get a good nights rest before actually trying to fly for the first time.
I didn't have any idea on how exhausting flying would be, and it doesn’t seem like asking any normal pegasus would do any good since they have been up in the air since they were young fillies or colts. I thought about this the whole walk back to the hotel, and I was glad that I had learned to have some control over my wings. I could feel them loosen up from being near Twilight once I had reached the hotel. I didn't have any idea how difficult tomorrow may be, or what it may hold or if I'm even going to be able to fly.
I walk into the hotel lobby and ring the bell on the front desk to call for Violet. I had started to wonder if anypony was even in this hotel, and decided to ring the bell again.
“I'll be there in a sec,” she said, “just had to finish up some work. What do you need Mr. Sky?”
“You can just call me sky, and I need another room key. I left mine in the room when I left.”
“I have to address you by Mr., Mr. Sky. Its the policy here, and for your key, I will be right back.” She walked into the room behind the front counter again, coming out with another key labeled '2A Spare'.
“Please don't lose this one Mr. Sky, its our last key for your room.”
I said my thanks and headed back to my room, thinking about my cutie mark the entire way there. I sat down to find the mattress to be soft as the clouds, making my eyes droop just sitting on it. It was THAT comfortable. I thought that I should get some rest, so I put my head down on the pillow which was exactly how I liked it.
Why... Why this cutie mark. I don't like them. I HATE reading, but when I knew that I just... Know things it appeared... Maybe that is my special talent. Knowing. But how is knowing anything special... I thought as my mind fell prey to the sandman, the image of an open book on my flank resonating through my mind as if it wanted me to know something about it...
)()()()()()()(
I was waken up the next morning sometime around 8 AM by Twilight because he believes that everything needs an early start. And according to spike, she would have been here earlier, had he not convinced her to stay home for a little while longer to get his sleep. She led me to an open, grass field that was no more than a minute walk away from my hotel, although I would've liked a longer walk to maybe get and know her a bit better.
The first thing that Twilight had wanted me to do was a galloping test. I assumed it was running, so I went along with it. She tested how well I had gotten the hang of galloping from my time in Equestria so far but it didn't turn out how either of us expected it to be. I failed at my first attempt at a real galloping pace, I got my hooves mixed up and fell flat on my face just because of my own legs. It made her laugh, so I assumed that I would hopefully be getting closer to her in one way or another. It took me at least a hundred tries before I actually had a smooth gallop going, and it was onto the next test that she wanted me to do.
I was pretty reluctant to do the next test because it involved learning how to fly. It's just something that I've never really wanted to do because I'm afraid of heights. I've been terrified, ever since I... I don't remember what made me afraid of heights to be honest. The memory... Its just gone, like many of my other memories that I thought I once had.
“You alright?” Twilight asked, waking me from my train of thought.
“Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about some stuff. So... Flying next?” I said as I shook my head of the previous train that was in my mind.
“Yes! Flying! Its going to be so great to watch somepony learn to fly! I've never had the opportunity to watch somepony! I've read up so much about it so I know just what you need to do!” she said as if she had read every book on flying that there was.
“If you say so, lets go.” I replied.
We started with a low hover at first, which to my surprise wasn't that hard to do. She didn't have wings herself, but she sure knew what needed to be done to do any basic flying things. After I had gotten the low hover down, my wings had already started to ache from exercising them since they had never been used. My real trouble with flying came during the next area that she had wanted me to try, gliding. After writing her notes from the previous tests, Twilight told me that in order to glide, you need to be aeroline or aerodanyumic or something like that, and what she had pretty much meant was to pull my legs towards my body as I was gliding. The first attempts at gliding seemed successful, but quickly failed as I had sent myself plummeting straight to the ground. It hurt to test, but it was something that I was willing to do to hang around Twilight.
I still had no idea why I was attracted to her, but something just felt right about it. Something just... clicked. At least for me, it did. By the end of the day, she had me flying around, surprisingly a good flying instructor for somepony without any wings. The sun was starting to set, and she had run out of paper and ink and my wings were aching terribly from learning to fly. I didn't care how much that they ached, I had decided to walk, or at least fly Twilight home.
I was flying beside her the whole time that we walked back to her home, which was about a ten minute walk for her, although I could have easily made it in a minute now I knew how my wings worked. We talked the whole way there, learning a little bit about each other on the way. When her home was in sight, I decided I'd have to ask sooner or later.
“Umm... Hey uhh Twilight?” I asked nervously.
“Yeah Sky?”
“I kinda wanted to ask you something, but I just, don't really know how to ask it, but I kinda wanted to, if you're up to it, maybe sometime, – ”
“Sky STOP!” she yelled.
I tried to say 'What?' right as I smacked face first into her home landing on the ground with a dull thud, most likely ruining any chance with Twilight. I sat there for a minute, baffled I had missed a tree that size and had actually ran into it. Rubbing my head and dusting myself off, I casually walked back over to Twilight, who was giggling at me for flying directly into her home.
“You were trying to ask me something before you,” she said with a small laugh, “ran into my home?”
I had only a second to think about what I would say to her, maybe even salvage what I'd done. “Umm yeah... I did. I just wanted to know, if maybe you'd want to – actually, is it OK if I call you Twi?”
I had blown it. A chance to ask for a walk, because walks aren't really dates, they're just walks and that means that your not serious at all right?
“Sure you can Sky. We'll continue tomorrow, OK?”
“Alright, I'll come and get you when I'm ready though.” I stated, hoping she would accept.
“That's fine. It is dark out, and Spike is really tired,” but you can hear spike in the background , 'No I'm not!;, and she finishes, “so goodnight!”
“Night Twi, see you tomorrow.” I stated casually as I flew away with my aching wings.
It may not have been exactly what I wanted to ask her, but I had some guts and asked her something. I thought about how I could have made the situation better, running over different scenes in my mind. Before I knew it, I was at my hotel. I walked up to my room, not forgetting my key this time. I walked straight into the bathroom, turning the tap for the hot water in the bath, letting it fill to half-way. I dropped a bath calming soap into the water, which turned it a light lavender color. That reminded me of her and how she let me call her 'Twi'. I stepped into the hot bath, resting my wings under the water burning them as they were submerged, but the pain quickly turned to soothing relaxation as I let my mind drift.
My mark still rested in my minds eye, but why is knowing my special talent, I don't know anymore than anypony here. It just didn't make sense to me. My mind drifted from the thoughts of my cutie mark because of one thing. She let me call her 'Twi'.
Part IV: Hopefully Tomorrow
A/N: I'm a little late on my routine for posting another chapter, sorry, but I've been busy. So here it is!
I woke up a few hours later with my hooves all pruny. I fell asleep when the bath was warm, but judging from how cold the bath had gotten, I had been asleep for a while. It was weird that I had fallen asleep because I don't normally fall asleep like that, especially in a bath. I pulled the plug letting the water drain into a spiraling torrent down the drain. I grabbed the soft towel, although it felt weird because of how pruny my hooves had become. I wrapped the towel around my body to absorb as much of the water as it could so I didn't get my room all wet. I sat down on my bedside and rubbed my cloudy eyes with my hooves to look at the clock in my room. It was 4 AM. Wow, I thought, I had to have been in there for more than a few hours. That relaxation stuff was a bit more relaxing than what I had bargained for.
I took the towel from around my waist and rubbed it through my mane, which was still partially dripping with the water. I threw the towel to the floor with my body and my mane as dry as I could get them with the towel. I got up, and walked over to the the fireplace, picked up the lighter, turned the gas on, and lit the fire with a small 'swoosh' as the flame from the lighter caught the gas. The warmth from the fire felt really good to me because the room was cold since I hadn't turned the fireplace on and maybe also because I had left the window open before I left because the room was 'too hot'. Too hot... I thought to myself. I'm paying for thinking that it was too hot now. Seems like everything that I do seems to backfire in one way or another.
Walking back to bed I lay down and pull the blankets over me to where they almost cover my muzzle. The fire crackles in the background almost in a rhythm that puts me to sleep.
)()()()()()()(
A few days have passed, and Twi had finally finished her tests on me for her research project thing. I was so glad that I had to stop testing, but it was also a semi-sad day for me too because I wouldn't see her as often as I did when we were testing. Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of empty houses for sale in Ponyville, but before you can buy any house, even an apartment, you need to be working somewhere so they know you will be 'reliable'. And since most ponies knew that I wasn’t exactly a pony in my mind, that made me at the bottom of the 'Who is reliable' list. At least that was how I saw it, and that was how most ponies acted towards me.
The Princess had left me with only a couple hundred bits to last me the week, which was more than enough for me, but I had 'decided' that I needed to order the most expensive thing because it sounded the best tasting. I had maybe 50 bits left, so I needed to find some work to pay food, and the extent of the stay that the hotel that she gave me was almost over, so I also needed a house. A house that happened to be a minute walk away from Twilight's place.
The house looked like all of the other houses pretty much, but there was something about it that just attracted me to it. It was a simple single story house, single bathroom, and single bedroom so it was a cheap house to begin with. The bed was going to be something that I would have to get used to if I did ever get the house because it was no where near as comfortable as the bed in my hotel room. The house felt normal... it felt like, and kinda looked the same, as my home in my lost memories.
The house was going to cost me at least 2000 bits to start with the very first payment and after that there would be a monthly pay of course. But before I could even consider this as my home here, I would need to find a job. And soon. Other ponies that were traveling from Canterlot had came to Ponyville to find a quieter, less hectic lifestyle and there were a few of the richer ponies already casing the house I wanted to see if it fit what they wanted. Some shrugged off the house because of its size but one pony who was alone actually seemed to like the house and I could tell he was considering to buy it. Where could I find a job? I asked myself.
I started walking around Ponyville hoping that I could find a 'Help Wanted' sign on the front of any number of the shops that were scattered around town. No jobs anywhere. It made sense though, in a place where everyone was basically nice, there would be no need to fire anyone from a job. I bet I couldn’t even find one if it hit me in the – OOMPH.
“Hey! Watch where you throw that thing!” I yelled at the mailmare who was delivering the paper for that day.
“Sorry about that!” she said, “I still don't have the best aim.”
“Yeah, its OK, just be more careful.” I replied, trying not to laugh at the sight of the mare's uneven eyes.
I look down at the paper to see what interesting things may be going on around Ponyville and Equestria in general. Nothing interesting, just a job at the library, some explorers stuck in the Everfree rescued, and... wait, a job at the library? Perfect! I thought. I get to spend time with Twilight and maybe even earn some money to get the house that I really want. The only problem was that I haven't seen her in a matter of days since we finished the testing and all of the research that she was doing. No one had seen her, even the Cake's at sugarcube corner hadn't seen her come in for her normal morning pastries, which was unusual for Twilight since she was such a stickler for her schedules and routines.
Asking around I realized that she hadn't left the house much since she had finished with all of my wing tests and all of that stuff. I started to wonder about how she was doing, I started to worry how she was doing, because a Twilight with a book to write that goes into the Canterlot Archives can't be a very social pony. I decided to wait it out, hoping that Twilight would eventually figure out that she needed some time to relax from whatever stress she was under.
Hoping Twi would be at the library like she usually is, I walk to the library, the tree looking more daunting than usual for some odd reason. I knock on the door which slowly creaks open, revealing the dark and cold interior. Its not usually this dark in here...
I slowly walk in, “Twi?” I ask. Then I hear the door slam shut behind me. I can barely see anything in front of my face, let alone anything across the room. “Uh, Twilight? You in here?” I ask as I hear a crazed laugh coming from behind a door across the room, a faint glow shining under the door. I walk over to the door, tripping on various books and papers that are strewn over the floor. I raise my hoof to knock on the door as the door opens, a violet eye peeking out.
“Oh hi Sky!” she says, “Just finishing my work here, nothing special. Can I help you?”
“I was just coming to check on you... its been a couple days and no one has seen you around,” I say worriedly.
“Oh yeah, its nothing Sky. I promise, just need to finish this book... It needs to be PERFECT!”
I was a little taken back by how much she had gotten into her project, and even more worried because she seemed to be too into it. “Yeah, alright, but I also wanted to talk to you about the job, if its still open that is?”
“Hmmm... Job? One sec,” as she slams the door and I hear papers ruffling in the room. “Yes! The job, its still available, just come and see me tomorrow alright? I'm almost done...” she says and I hear the rapid clicking of a typewriter.
“Sure thing Twi... Just wanted to check up on you.” I say, not sure what to do at this point.
I start to walk back to the door, when my curiosity of what she is doing overtakes me. I walk back to the room where she was steadily at work typing. I walk slowly trying not to make a sound, as a floorboard below me creaks from the weight of my hoof. The clicking of the typewriter stops and I sit there in silence as she listens, we both listen for another sound. The clicking starts again, and I walk back to the door for a second time, regretting even thinking of barging in on Twilight because I know what I wanted to do was wrong. I still need to ask her, I thought as I left the library and closed the door.
“Just when to ask...” I murmured.
“Just when to do what?” a high pitched voice pops out of nowhere, causing me to jump and trip over nothing.
“Just ask something, Pinkie. Its just something I need to do.”
“But why do you need to do it? Do you like somepony? OOOOH! Who is it? Who's the somepony special? I REALLLLLLLLY want to know! Are you gonna tell me who it is...” and pinkie continued to ramble on as she usually does, before forcing me to put a hoof to her mouth so I could speak.
“Ugh... Pinkie?”
“Yeah Sky?” she replies, a small grin on her face.
“If I tell you who that 'special somepony' is, do you promise to keep it a secret?”
“Of course! I even Pinkie Promise!” she says as she recites the Pinkie Promise, placing her hoof over her closed eyelid, as I had failed to do once before. “Because not to keep a promise is the fastest way to lose a friend, forever!”
“Yeah, Pinkie, I know –”
“FOOREEEEEEVEEERRRRR!” She says in a dramatic tone, somehow hovering over me although she doesn’t even have wings.
“OK, Pinkie. Its Twilight.”
She giggles to herself, and says, “I knew that hehe,” with a big smile on her face. “But a Pinkie Promise is a promise that will not be broken! Oh! And your party! You better be there, its tomorrow at 5 PM alright?”
“Yeah, alright. I've been needing something to do all week and a party should gove me something to do tomorrow.”
“And I didn't invite Twilight!”
“Wait – You didn't invite Twilight? Why not!”
“Because, silly, I knew you liked her so I made it so that you could invite her to the party yourself! You two will be the biggest love birds at the party its going to be sooo cute!”
“That's the problem Pinkie, I'm not sure if she likes me back.”
“Well, you just have to give Twilight a chance before you say that, shes just a little shy!” she says enthusiastically, raising my hopes with her.
“Alright Pinkie, thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.” I say to her.
“Be there! 5 PM Sharp! You PINKIE PROMISED, remember?”
“Yeah I remember, I'll be there Pinkie. Later.” I said, and before I even knew it, she was gona again in another bright flash of pink.
The day dragged on, and it seemed like there was absolutely NOTHING to do in this place even though it was Ponyville. Fluttershy... I though, wondering what she had been up to since I had left the hospital since I didn't see her very often. So I decided that I pop in on her and say hi.
That was something that I wasn't ever very good at, saying hi. I had pretty much messed that up with Twilight when I had wanted to say hi, and Fluttershy is so sensitive that I may possible offend her just by saying 'hi'. I got lost in my deep train of thought, thinking of how adept I am at being a social outcast. I had been staring at the ground while I was walking to her home, which was just outside of Ponyville. But how should I confront Fluttershy to talk? I was starting to over-think everything about meeting Fluttershy, another one of my worse qualities. I also had a tendency to be a fast walker, but... –
My train of thought was derailed as my snout collided with cold, metal object that was the size of a mailbox. I fell to the ground, my 'fast' walking causing me to hit my head pretty hard on the mailbox, and I could tell that it actually was a mailbox from all of the letters floating in the air, gracefully coming back down to earth. I reach up feeling my nose from the damage, my vision still blurry from impact. My hoof was obviously red, not from any cuts, but my nose was bleeding, and pretty bad at that. I mean... The blood, I've never been one for blood, and I usually pass out at the sight of it.
I thought that I was doing pretty well, having seen blood and not passing out. I heard the faint, distinct sound of a door opening not too far away. I... was starting... to pulse in and... out of consciousness... but I heard wings and a light breeze over my head, seeign a yellow blob through my dazed eyes.
“Oh... My! Are you alright? Sky? Sky...”
My mind falls of the edge, plummeting me into another spur of unconsciousness. Damn it, you'd think I'd learn to be more careful just walking around, this cant be good for my health at ALL. And from what I remember, I didn't even hit the mailbox that hard.
I wake up, standing in front of Twilight, her head hanging low. I thought that I was just at Fluttershy's, and I know that it was not a dream, the pain from hitting the mailbox real.
“It's time for you to go.” She said, but the voice wasn't her own. It was familiar, I just couldn't place where I had heard it before.
“This is my new home though... I actually have friends here... this is now my home. Why would I ever want to leave?” I asked.
“Its not that you will want to leave... no one here like you... not even Twilight.” Talking in 3rd person? She never talks in 3rd person, “I mean, me, I don't even like you.”
“You're not the Twilight I know, the Twilight I know wouldn't tell me that its my time to go. Even she knows that Ponyville is now my home.”
She grins with a sense of evil inseminating from her, a single tooth showing in the corner of her mouth. “Oh, but I must say, deception is too easy, and now you must go!” she said, looking up at me with a glowing horn. Her eyes were no longer a beautiful violet, they were a snake-like yellow. Her horn suddenly exploded with a bolt of lighting coming straight at me, screaming “YOUR TIME TO GO IS NOW!”
The lightning blinded me, throwing me off my guard, and I awoke to Fluttershy standing over me with a first aid box in her mouth ready to tend to my wounds. I now realized who the voice was. I slowly opened my eyes, the sun partially blinding me. “Discord...” and I fell back into unconsciousness.
Part V: Ich verstehe das nicht...
A/N: This may be a little weird, but its the way I like to write, and the next chapter should suit more of you.
I woke up later that same day on a soft couch surrounded by little woodland creatures and their homes. The curtains had been slid shut, to prevent any light from entering the room. I had assumed that hitting my head on a mailbox wouldn't be that bad, but my skull was throbbing to the point where I could hear it. I heard voices yelling through the closed door on the other side.
“Discord?! How could it be DISCORD! We put him back into his stone prison! You remember, don't you?” an agitated and confused voice was talking rather loudly, and somewhat resembled Twilight.
“Well... I don't kn-know... I just thought that I... I should let you know... Be-Because he said Discord... Please stop yelling too, if you don't mind. I don't like yelling,” a small voiced pony had said, most likely being Fluttershy.
“I'm sorry Fluttershy,” Twilight said, “But it just can't be him! How could Sky even know of discord? We put him away long before he even arrived here... But what if he is...”
I tried to rollover to be able to hear more of the conversation, but the edge of the couch was closer than I had expected and I fell into the coffee table. I knocked over a glass making it fall to the ground and shatter. Both Fluttershy and Twilight come into the living room, the sunshine from the kitchen almost blinding me. Fluttershy and Twilight lift me back up onto the couch before Twilight starts to ask questions, as she usually does.
“So, as Fluttershy was telling me, you said 'Discord' right before you blacked out. Do you care to explain?” Twilight asked in an irritated tone.
“Its not very simple Twi,” I said, “It wasn't like I actually saw Discord... I heard his voice, I just heard his voice in somepony's body...”
“You gonna tell us who's body he had apparently took over?” She asked.
“You. His voice was in your body.”
She turned to the side, the gears in her head obviously turning, trying to process whathse had just heard. “But... MY body? It doesn't make any sense to me Sky... But it was just probably a dream, and that is all it was. You just need some rest, OK?”
I nodded my head at her to show her that I understood what she was saying. But in my heart, I knew that it was something more than just a dream. The 'dream' had cost me a lot of energy, just increasing how tired I was in the first place. I wanted to say it was more than a dream, but Fluttershy had already started to wrap me in another blanket she had grabbed from her linen closet.
“Shhh...” Fluttershy said, “Just go to sleep... that is if you want to follow what Twilight said.”
I looked into her caring eyes and her calming smile, lulling my body to sleep. And that's exactly what I did. I slept.
)()()()()()(
By the next morning, I was feeling much better and was on my feet once again. It was about 10 AM by the time I left Fluttershy's place, and she had taken great care of me. I had seen and heard that she works magic when someone is injured or needs help, but she had truly done more, and been there when I needed it. “Anything for a friend,” she had told me when I had thanked her for the stay and the care. She called me her friend, and what she probably didn’t realize was how much that meant to me. I had actually made more friends in a world that was new, rather than a world that I once had known as reality. This was now my reality, and I had comfort in that thought.
I started on my way back into Ponyville, thinking about the 'dream' of the previous day. Twilight may have been right that it was just a dream, but I felt something else. I felt something stirring inside of me, almost like something had taken over my dream and made it what they had wanted it to be. It had to be Discord, I thought, but Twilight is one of the smartest unicorns in Equestria... I should just listen to her. My mind screamed at me to find the truth in the situation, my gut had told me that it was more than just a dream. Mind over body, I pushed these feelings aside.
Over the next few hours, I just walked around Ponyville with no purpose in my step. I couldn't help but feel something was off in town, something just didn't seem right. It just wasn't right. These feelings were something new, like I knew something was happening, but I didn't think that would be possible.
I shook my head to rid of these plaguing thoughts, and started towards Twilight's home. After all, she had told me to come back tomorrow yesterday, so I was adamant on visiting her. Hopefully today was going to be on better grounds to talk compared to the previous day. I arrive at Twilight's home, butterflies in my stomach as I raise my hoof to the door and knock.
A little purple dragon answers the door, “Hi! Can I help you?”
“Yeah, I'm Sky Hope and I'm here to see Twilight. Is she here?” I ask.
“Yeah she is, I'll go get her.” Spike closes the door, and I hear his little feet patter away as he yells for Twilight to come to the door.
Crashing comes from inside the library, Twilight appearing with a grin on her face as she opens the door. “Oh, Hi Sky,” she says, “what brings you here today?”
“I wanted to know if you still had that job open for work here?” I said.
“Actually, yeah I do!” she said, “Come on in, I'll show you around.”
She steps aside, and I follow her into the central part of the library. “Well this a pretty nice place,” I say, “so what are you going to need me to do while I'm working here?”
“Since you are new working here, I'm going to give you the task of cleaning up and putting all the books back where they are supposed to be, in alphabetical order and by book type.” Spike audibly mouthed “Yes!” because I was taking over the harder part of his job.
“Yeah, I would love to do that, but I don't really know anything about where the books are supposed to go.”
“That's alright!” she said, with a smile on her face, “I'll show you where all the different types of books will have to go tomorrow. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” I said with a smile of appreciation on my face.
“And in the meantime, a certain purple dragon should be down here putting books away, right Spike?” she said to him, a moan coming from Spike, having thought that his work for the day had been alleviated. “I'll see you tomorrow the-”
Spike had suddenly burped a small green flame, a letter sealed by Princess Celestia materializing after the flame dissipated. Spike reached out and caught the letter before it could hit the floor, tearing the seal and opening the letter.
Spike opened his mouth to start and read the letter, but you could tell that something was wrong by the look on his face.
“Spike?” Twilight asked, “What is it?”
“You might want to look at this Twi,” he said, “I don't understand what it says. But I do know it is from the Princess.”
Twilight walked over to where spike was to examine the letter that had been sent to her. Her mouth dropped and she was unsure of what she was looking at. It looked like Equestrian, but the letters had been jumbled up in a way she couldn't read them.
“I'm sorry to make you leave on such short notice, but I need to figure out what this letter says, it MUST be important since it is from the Princess,” Twilight explained as she started rummaging through the books looking for something. “Just be here early tomorrow, and I'll get you situated.”
“Alright,” I said as I thought that it was just another day where I had failed to make much of any interaction with her. I walked out the door, trying to keep my hopes up for the next day. I walked for about a block to see the condition of the house I felt was 'home' for me. I really wanted to live there, it just felt like it was where I was supposed to be. Or not.
As soon as I rounded the corner to view my future home, I saw a carriage full of furniture and other household accessories sitting just in front of the home. There was a man I had seen earlier, one of the richer Canterlot ponies, and he was with the realtor signing the contract, and handed her a bag of bits before starting to unload the carriage with his moving ponies.
This was sad for me, one of the homes that I thought could be mine, wasn't mine. It was now some rich, Canterlot fancy pants ponies home. It was tragic for me, but then I saw a pink pony zip past me, turn around, and come back in front of me.
“SKY!” Pinkie shouted. “Lets go! Its PARTAAAAY time!” she said with extreme enthusiasm.
“Its already 5?” I asked her, unsure of what time it actually was. My sense of time here was off, so I wasn't ever really sure what time it was.
“DUH! Now lets go! I made fresh cake and punch and gummy is there and everypony that could make it is there its going to be SO MUCH FUN!” she said before zipping back to Sugarcube corner. I started there at a light gallop, excited for what may be in store at the party.
Lets just hope its better than everything else that's been happening lately, I thought to myself. Hopefully I don't get knocked out again.
)()()()()()(
“What do you mean you can't understand me?!” Celestia yelled at her royal guard. “I can understand you perfectly, I don't understand why you can't understand me!”
“Princess, I don’t know the language that you are speaking. Its foreign to this land, and its just something I've never heard on my travels, Princess,” the royal guard said respectfully to Celestia.
“This doesn't make any sense to me...” she said, pacing around the room, the guard still unable to understand her. She was able to still say names as those weren't affected by whatever she was unknowingly speaking. “Luna... Get me Luna...” she said.
“I heard Luna, and I will go and get Luna. That I what you wanted Princess, correct?” The guard asked.
Celestia nodded her head towards the guard, and he ran out of the room to go and fetch the other princess.
“Celestia! What is the issue? Your guard told me that you needed me right away,” Luna said to her sister.
“Luna,” Celestia said, “These ponies cannot understand what I am saying, I am unable to speak anything but this foreign language. Are you able to understand me, Sister?” She turned her head towards Luna, a seldom seen emotion of deep worry and fear.
Luna looked towards her sister, the same worry in Celestia's eyes resonating in her own. “I'll find a way to help you sister... Do not worry,” Luna said in a calming tone, hoping to ease her sisters worries.
Luna started out the door, her body tense, and her eyes deep with the worry of what would happen with her sister. She knew if anyone could help, it would be the bearer's of The Elements of Harmony. Ponyville was where she needed to go, and she turned her head and gave her sister a sincere smile before she ran out the door.
“Danke ,” Celestia replied as Luna ran out the door to find some way to help her sister. “Mach's gut, Schwester. ”