Pain. For the longest time, the only synapses that seemed to fire in His mind were complete, blinding, mind-numbing pain. His body was sore, running from His barrel, all the way down to His hooves. Opening His eyes only brought more agony- the sun was high in the sky, and seemed determined to glare down into His eyes. He weakly attempted to roll away from the blinding light, but that sent a spike of pain through His back and wings.
None of this… none of this felt right to Him. This body, this fuzzy mind… had He always had them? What was His name? What… what was He? Blearily eyes moved down to look at Himself. White fur on a slender, quadrupedal body. Well-muscled, but sleek. His wings were stretched out, feathers glinting in the sunlight. They were… white, but blue? No, blue on the edges. He closed His eyes. Perked, expressive ears… a small muzzle… a twitching tail… This was so strange.
He rolled to His belly with a shaky groan; the pain was finally beginning to ebb, but the confusion, fear, and admitted stiffness certainly had not. Where was He… His eyes scanned around nervously. He was laying in a field, the light tan grasses laying back in a breeze. The field stretched on for a good mile, before flattening out into a path. And that path led to a few small, if colorful, buildings out in the distance. His ears perked up.
More… things like Him? Would they know His name, or what He was? It was His best chance, at any rate. Maybe His only chance. With a faint grunt of exertion, He rose shakily onto His hooves. Trotting was difficult- the balance seemed off to Him, somehow- but He soldiered on. He had to know.
*******************
“Come on, Twilight, keep up!”
Twilight Sparkle’s right eye twitched at Rainbow Dash’s playful tease. Keep up!? Seriously?! They had been circling around Ponyville for hours, like colorful vultures! Not that the practice was bad, per se. Twilight was quite grateful that Rainbow Dash was training her in endurance flying- something that would be quite useful in her tasks for both the town and the Princesses- even though it cut into Dash’s own training regimen. It was… sweet. But still! Twilight was far too tired to be able to put up with such tiresome, childish-
“Woah, Twilight, on the road!”
Blinking at the interruption of her thought process, the flagging alicorn peered down at the dirt road beneath her. While her eyes were not nearly as sharp as her pegasus’ friend’s, it was hard not to see the shambling pony, with his ice-blue mane and bright white fur. A frown immediately crossed the mare’s lips; the stallion was limping quite heavily. When she glanced over at Rainbow, a suggestion to help on her tongue, her chivalrous friend was already on her way down, wings spread and tilted in a circling dive. Twilight scrambled to follow, with far less… grace.
The stallion gave a hoarse yelp as the mares landed in front of him, golden eyes widening blearily. He scrambled back a bit, sitting on his rump with a thud.
Skittish, Twilight noted nervously, eyes flicking back to see his cutie mark, for a clue about his natural.
To her surprise, there wasn’t one! And judging from Dash’s small gasp, she had noticed it too. The stallion certainly was about the same age as the mares, and not having a cutie mark by then… well, it wasn’t entirely unheard of, but was definitely rare.
“It’s alright, sir,” Twilight told him soothingly, putting on her best smile, “We want to help. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my good friend, Rainbow Dash. What’s your name?”
The stallion blushed beneath his snowy fur, ears instantly folding back; it was all either mares could do to not cry out in shock at the massive, discolored bruise on the back of his neck and head that this showed.
“I-I don’t… I d-don’t know…” he replied slowly, fear edging into his voice, “I just w-woke up, back there…”
He waved a hoof back towards Golden Harvest’s wheat field.
Rainbow Dash frowned, looking him over as she took a hesitant step forward.
“What do you remember last, big guy?”
The stallion merely looked down, closing his golden orbs, and Twilight and Dash exchanged worried looks.
“Sounds like amnesia.”
“Amnesia.”
Twilight blinked at the united response, grinning slowly, while Rainbow Dash blushed furiously.
“I-it’s a flier ailment, happens sometimes! A pegasus takes a really bad fall, knocks their heads… sometimes they forget things. I know Soarin’ forgot his name for like a week before.”
The librarian pony gave a happy, proud clap- yay learning!
“S-so um… y-you know what I am?” the stallion asked shyly, a hopeful smile stretching over his muzzle; Twilight was pleased to see a good deal of tension leaving him.
“We’re ponies,” she explained with a practiced, patient smile, “I’m an alicorn, with my horn and wings, and you-”
“Are one of the awesomely amazing pegasi!” Rainbow butted in, grinning proudly as she launched herself into a flexible, mid-air backflip.
Dash’s enthusiasm was infectious, and the stallion beamed, giving an excited flap of his wings… which only served to launch him several feet into the air.
“GAH WHA-!”
Both mares, quick on their hooves and wings, darted in to catch the flailing pony. Twilight paled under her fur at how light he seemed for his size.
“Easy there, big guy,” Rainbow teased, “Re-learning flying can come after you get some rest and some of Spike’s cooking in you. ...Twi, we need a name for him, and soon. The Crystal Pegasi are sending in a north wind in about ten minutes.”
Twilight winced at the reminder. Ever since the return of the Crystal Empire, seasons had gotten bolder, with stronger winters, warmer summers, and so on. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing- Applejack was quite happy with the longer growing season- but Twilight just wasn’t a cold weather pony.
“I-I kind of… l-like North Wind, a-as a name,” the stallion whispered shyly.
But perhaps she could make an exception.
*****************************
Rainbow Dash managed to get Twilight and North Wind back to Twilight’s library ahead of the cold front, but just barely. Twilight had just shut the door when the prodigious wind and rain slammed against the sturdy home; Dash sighed in relief. Cold front winds messed up her feathers something awful. Not that she would admit that fear to anypony. Ever.
“Woah…”
It was hard not to grin at North Wind as he slowly trotted through the tree-library, golden eyes wide in awe as he stared at… well… everything! It was like having a newborn colt running around, nudging and touching and attempting to read some books, oohing at the kitchen stove and icebox, and shyly nudging an annoyed Spike, to see if he was, in fact, quite real. Watching North Wind turn on a lamp, and instantly jump back, nearly sent the weatherpony into hysterics.
But upon thinking about it, North Wind’s condition was also rather sobering. Some pegasi never regained their memories or old lives after a bout with amnesia. What if he had a loving family, or a large herd that needed him? ...judging from Twilight’s worried look and her rapid scribbling on her letter parchment, she had had the same thoughts Dash had. That made her grin.
The two best friends had been… kind of-sort of-maybe courting for the past several months. A few fly-dates, lots of training together, a great many sleepovers… maybe a make-out session once… BUT! They had not exchanged flowers or feathers in an official way yet. They still needed to talk that out, and Rainbow Dash wanted to be absolutely sure she wanted to date Twilight in the long-term before giving her a promise.
“Here North Wind, you can rest on my couch while Spike and I get some dinner going,” Twilight was saying cheerily, giving the sheepish stallion a calming nuzzle onto the comfy cushions.
Wasn’t this the start of some trash magazine story, totally unlike the story Dash had hidden under her pillow at home? Dash cleared her throat sheepishly, blushing at the thought.
“Th-thank you Miss Sparkle, Miss Dash,” North replied happily, snuggling into the cushions, and fluffing up his-
“GAH!”
Both Twilight and North Wind jumped at Dash’s outburst, staring at her in shock.
“Dash, what’s wrong?!” Twilight managed shakily, looking around frantically for some kind of pest.
“His wings, egghead, look at them!”
North Wind’s wings were a proper preener’s nightmare; broken vanes, misplaced feathers, broken quills… They looked like either a foal’s, a weatherpony’s after a long day of work with a hurricane, or a pegasus who had gone through a WILD night. The amnesiac gave his wings a sheepish look and a twitch.
“You… do know how to preen, right?” Twilight asked softly, internally wincing at the answer she knew would come.
Nope. Of course not. Rainbow gave a faint groan, exchanging a sheepish look with Twilight. Preening was special; it was an essential part of pegasi care and upkeep, and when shared with another, it was a very intimate process. Preening each others’ wings had finished off her third sleep-over with Twilight, and that night… that night would always be special to the both of them.
“Should we leave it till tomorrow?” Twilight asked softly, sidling up beside Dash with a blush.
The flier quickly shook her head, sighing.
“If we leave it, it’ll just get worse while he sleeps. And if he leaves like that, every pegasi who sees will think we took advantage of him,” she explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, “Don’t you have a Preener’s Guide for Foals?”
“Yeah, I do!” Twilight replied brightly… only to droop a moment later, “But Scootaloo has it.”
Celestia-dangit. They had no choice then. With a sheepish, resigned smile, Rainbow Dash hopped up beside North Wind; Twilight close behind and sitting on his opposite side.
“You explain it to him while we do this.”
It was rather hard for Rainbow to not nuzzle against North as she carefully lifted and stretched out his right wing. It was surprisingly broad; when he was ready, Rainbow was rather sure North Wind could become a pretty great flier. Not as great as herself, of course, but hey. With a shy glance at Twilight, Rainbow buried her snout in his down feathers. He had an interesting scent; the spicy backdrop of pegasi sweat, definitely, and the earthy scent of grass and dirt from the field he said he had woken in. But there was another scent beneath that; a biting, chemical scent, much like hospitals had. She would bring that up with Twilight later.
Twilight was in full lecture mode by then, so Dash settled back into her task, lips carefully gripping a primary feather and smoothing it over with a tongue. She repeated this slowly, grinning as North Wind quaked beneath her, and again as Twilight began to help with the other wing. A sly grin stretched over Dash’s muzzle. At least she could have a liiiittle fun with this.
*******************
Ohmigod. North Wind was in bliss. He had not realized his wings be this sensitive! The purple pony- Twilight- was speaking to him whenever her mouth was not filled with feathers, and each soft breath had him shaking. Rainbow Dash was quiet, but her movements remained firm and practiced. Each lick, tug, and nuzzle drew a small squeak from him, and he noticed a faint crooning noise coming from the back of North’s throat. It had a calming effect, but there was still that knot of doubt eating at him.
None of this was familiar; the tree, the flowers, even the sky! It was hard to grasp that this was all real, that this wasn’t a fever dream. And what WAS a fever dream? How did he know that phrase? How did he know what anything was, but didn’t know about other things? How did he know this language, or-
“Hey.”
Twilight had paused in her preening, her violet eyes meeting North’s golden orbs while she smiled.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” she whispered softly, nuzzling his barrel, “We’ll help you as much as we possibly can. This is Ponyville, after all.”
And while North Wind wasn’t entirely sure what that meant… it was comforting to hear from the soft, smiling mare. And beneath the pleasure of the preening and the warmth of the caring mares, the shy, shaky stallion drifted off to a much needed sleep.
// Analyzing telemetry...//
Error.
// Damaged memory cortex in Unit 11785.//
// Activate Emergency Procedure 3.7511.//
// Preparing Retrieval MU.//
******************
“Twilight Sparkle, you Diamond Dog!”
“H-hey, wait a minute, it’s not like t-that at all!”
“It… kinda looks like that, sugarcube…”
North Wind groaned softly as the soft, female voices dragged him out of blissful, resting sleep. As his bleary eyes cracked open, North found a new pair of ponies standing near him and the couch. One was a slender white pony, her fur as bright as North’s own, but with a vibrant purple mane and tail, both curled and primped with exacting care. She had a horn like Twilight, but no wings- her horn also was not as long as Twilight’s, just a simple (if still quite pretty) horn of pure, grooved ivory. Glancing at her flank, he saw a mark of three purple diamonds. Huh.
The pony beside was… practically her exact opposite, except she was still female. Tall, broad, and muscular, this mare lacked a horn or wings, and was a yellow-orange color, fur-wise, with a blond mane, tied back into a braid, all underneath a brown, broad hat.
“H-hi,” he mumbled out shyly, shrinking back into the couch as all eyes turned to him.
“North Wind,” Twilight broke in quickly, giving the poor stallion a warm smile, “These are my good friends Applejack, and Rarity.”
“Howdy!” Applejack replied cheerily, tipping her hat with a hoof, “Nice ta meet’cha!”
“Indeed, Mr. Wind,” Rarity replied with a brilliant smile, and an air of sophistication that the other ponies seemed to lack, “A pleasure to meet a new pegasus in Ponyville. Dreadfully sorry about your accident, but I am quite sure if anyone can help you find your memories again, it will be Twilight here.”
“T-thank you, Rarity, Applejack,” North Wind replied softly, a slow smile breaking across his muzzle.
Thank god, more nice ponies, he thought in relief.
...what’s a god?
*********************
Error.
// Malfunction in Biogenesis Lab.//
//Analyzing...//
WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED REMOTE ACCESS.
// Activate Se-//
// Manual Override accepted. //
Welcome, Adminstrator N.
// Activate EVE Protocol. //
// Prepare Unit 8472. //
// Launching. //
*********************
“Come on down, Derpy, the picnic is ready!”
Not for the first time, Derpy Hooves wondered how she had gotten such good friends as she dived down from the clouds. Even with her wall-eyed look, she could see her best friends in Equestria gathered on a checkered picnic blanket; the last big picnic before autumn ended and winter began. Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon were settled side by side, giggling at the expense of a glaring Octavia, who seemed to be covered in cotton candy. The glare wasn’t very strong though, and Vinyl Scratch, Octavia’s marefriend, was eagerly lapping the spun sugar off her fur and mane. Derpy gave a soft giggle of her own.
The five of them had met in various spots- Vinyl and Octavia in Canterlot, Lyra and Bon-Bon during the former’s vacation in Fillydelphia- but it had been Ponyville that had brought them all together. Octavia had taken Derpy in after her disastrous run-in with the City Hall, calming the poor mare down and helping to smooth things over with a frightfully angry Mayor. Lyra and Bon-Bon hired her out to deliver their candies from their Confectionery, and Vinyl… well, Vinyl was just Vinyl. One moment a crazy party mare, and the next, the strong center of the group who could protect Derpy from anything.
“H-help! S-someone help, p-please!”
Derpy squeaked and tumbled end over end at the terrified scream, righting herself with only a little in the way of flapping. Her friends had heard the cry too, and were looking out towards the Everfree Forest. A small pony was scrambling over the hill on unsteady hooves… and was being pursued by a rather small manticore. Still large enough to kill though.
“HELP!”
Derpy steeled herself, and dove down towards the frightened mare.
Come on Derpy, you can do this, she thought to herself frantically, Just grab her and keep flying! Just… grab… her!
She made it within a good few feet… before she Derped. Her back hoof smacked a rock beneath her, throwing off her balance and aim. Straight towards the manticore.
“This is gonna hurt.”
*******************
“Derpy!!” The four mares cried out as Derpy Hooves slammed into the legs of the manticore, throwing both to the dirt in a violent tumble, just behind the panicked mare.
“Octy, take the mare back to our place!” Vinyl ordered immediately, charging forward, “Lyra, get Derpy outta there! Bons, let’s beat this guy!”
Years of practice and clubbing had given Vinyl Scratch one heck of a voice, and her friends did not need any repeats. While Octavia quickly grabbed the frightened mare, dragging her back into town, the trio darted forward. Lyra’s golden aura caught the tip of Derpy’s tail, and yanked the bleary mare away, seconds before the manticore’s stinger slammed into the ground where she had been just seconds before. Beneath her purple goggles, Vinyl’s blood-red eyes narrowed dangerously as she gazed up at the manticore, stubby horn taking on a brilliant blue.
“Yo, big boy!”
The manticore turned around with a snarl, only to meow in surprise at the grinning Earth Pony leaping at him, propelled by Vinyl’s magic.
“Suck some hoof!”
While only a candy-maker, Bon-Bon’s hooves were as rock hard as any earth pony’s, and they hit with the force of a bag of bricks. The monster roared in pain and fear as he flipped end-over-end; his front legs, already damaged by Derpy’s hard-impact, snapped at the force, and the manticore practically crawled back into the forbidding forest. Vinyl smiled brightly, turning to high-hoof her cheering friend.
“Nice hit, Bons!”
The two-toned mare merely chuckled dismissively, “Nah, nah, it’s nothing.”
Lyra smirked up at the two; an unconscious Derpy was held up by her magic.
“Let’s go, mighty warriors. Poor Derpy took a bad hit, and that mare might be hurt too.”
*****************
She was in a state of utter panic. The creature looked like Her, but lacked a set of wings, and was a soft gray, with a charcoal mane, unlike Her own dark red fur and white mane. None of this was right, none of it! She had woken up in the paws of that… monster, and only Her sudden screaming had freed her. And now this creature-that-kinda-looked-like-Her was… was… ...feeding Her oatmeal? The mare had sat beside Her during Her freakout and, with a soft smile, forced a spoonful into Her muzzle. It… was good. Really good. Rich, and sweet, with little bundles of sweet fruit mixed in that crunched as She chewed. The grey mare chuckled softly.
“Better?” she asked with a grin; her voice had a curious accent to it.
“I-I… I t-think so,” She replied, voice, and body, still trembling.
“My name is Octavia Philaharmonica,” she told Her, keeping her voice gentle and quiet, one hoof reaching out to pet Her foreleg soothingly, “What’s yours?”
No, no, no, not this. They didn’t know Her? Oh god, now what was She going to do…
“I-I don’t k-know,” She whimpered tearfully, “I can’t r-remember.”
Octavia merely nodded, looking Her over with her large, expressive eyes. Finally, she smiled again. She liked that smile; it was kind, and warm, and was so unlike the horrific grin of the other creature that had tried to eat Her.
“Sunrise,” she told Her with a sage-like nod, “You look alot like a Sunrise, to me. Does that sound alright to you?”
Sunrise. That… that was a good name. It was pretty. She gave a soft nod to Octavia, slowly smiling. Smiling felt good too.
“Y-yes. Yes, I-I’d like that. T-thank you.”
“OCTI!”
Eep! Sunrise quickly burrowed her way under the covers of the couch-bed, trembling. Oh god now what?
“Vinyl, inside voice. How is Derpy?”
“Good, I think. Lyra scanned her, and she says it’s nothing serious. She’s better with those than me. Where’s the new mare?”
Sniffling shyly, Sunrise slowly peered out from under the soft blankets, a blush coloring her cheeks. It was the other creatures from the hill; she had been far too busy running to get a clear look at any of them. The small, pure white mare with a spiky blue mane was nuzzled against Octavia; both had odd marks on their sides: lines and dots she just could not place for the life of her. A taller mint-green creature, this one sporting a horn like the white one, was walking beside a floating creature with… wings! Like her!
“Sunrise?”
Sunrise looked up with a faint squeak, blushing as Octavia smiled at her.
“Girls, this is Sunrise. Sunrise, these are my friends, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Vinyl, and Derpy.”
Both sides gave sheepish waves; the floating creature, Derpy, settled down beside her. She had a shallow gash along the side of her head, and had a great many scratch marks on her back and sides. Her eyes were closed, though she trembled every few seconds.
“S-she… she was hurt too?” Sunrise asked Octavia softly, looking up at her, eyes suddenly rather bleary with tears.
Octavia’s ears laid back, and the sophisticated creature gave a sigh, “Yes, dear. She was trying to get you away from the manticore and uh… missed.”
Sunrise’s ears splayed immediately, eyes going from Derpy to Octavia a number of times; the tears were definitely flowing now. This creature, whatever she was, had tried to save her from that monster… and now she was hurt. With shaking forelegs and hooves, Sunrise gently tugged Derpy close, nuzzling into her fur and mane. She would make it up to her. She… she would..
But the young mare was asleep.
