I Survivedby TheWalkingSkyMonChaptersWhat happened?Getting Settled InFeeling Without KnowingMeeting The Great And PowerfulRemembering At The GalaNightmare FlashbacksKnowing Without FeelingGoing Back HomeWhat happened?All I heard was laughter before I heard booming outside the building. The button was pushed, I tried to stop him, but was too late. I closed my eyes and waited to die. I silently said my goodbyes to my friends who were behind me. We had come expecting a fun time, but instead we were greeted to a mad man. Saying how our government was corrupt, saying how he was going to save us from the government, the virus outbreak that was killing thousands, even save us from ourselves. I didn't know what he was blabbing about, but I knew he was dangerous. I sprung into action while one of my friends called the police and tried to grab the device he was holding. But I was too slow, he dodged it with ease and pushed the button. I braced myself for impact, but nothing came. I felt myself get lighter, and I couldn't feel the ground under my feet anymore. I opened my eyes but immediately closed them again when a bright light obscured my vision. After a while the bright light dissapeared and I opened my eyes. When I opened my eyes I found myself face to face with a beautiful starry night, I was laying on my back on grass. Grass? What happened to the building I was in? Wait, what building? What happened before I came here? Where is here? I got up into a sitting position and saw that I was in a clearing in a forest. I tried to remember what happened before I came here (wherever here was) but couldn't. I couldn't remember what I was doing, or what happened. I got up and looked around where I was before coming to one conclusion: I have no freaking idea where I'm at. I then heard a twig snap to my side and immediately jumped to the direction of the snap. I looked around the ground and found a stick, I picked it up and held it out while holding my head back, ready to do what? I don't know. Stab it in the eye? "C-come out." I said, shaking. Then I jumped when I saw a bunny jump out of a bush and hop towards me. I sighed in relief and threw the stick. "Oh thank the 80s. I thought you were some sort of monster or something." I got on my knees and tried to pet the bunny, only for it to slap my hand away. "Angel!" I heard a soft voice call. "Angel bunny!" "Um, I think that's for you man." I said. I whistled and hoped someone would hear, and after a while a yellow horse appeared out of the woods. "Oh, hey there. I wonder if your owner is also this bunny's owner." I said. The bunny then jumped from my hand and landed in the horse's mane, somehow completely disappearing from sight. "Well then. Since the bunny's name was Angel, I wonder what yours is." I said. "I'm Fluttershy." The yellow horse said. "Um, care to run that by me again? A little louder this time please?" I said, leaning one ear closer. I'm F-fluttershy." The yellow horse said again. It wasn't as loud as I meant, but I could hear it. "Oh, okay- Wait a minute. WHAT!?!? I fell on my back and crawled back a little. "Did- did you just speak?" I asked. "Why yes. I'm guess you've never seen a pony before?" Fluttershy asked. "Well, I've seen ponies. Just not ones that can talk. Because, that's impossible. Ponies can't talk." I said. "Well, I don't know where you came from, but all ponies can talk here." Fluttershy said. "Oh, you must probably be hungry and tired. Would you like to walk with me back to Ponyville?" 'Ponyville'? 'Talking ponies'? I must've gone insane or something. There was just no way that any of this could be happening. Right as I thought that my stomach rumbled like it wanted to cause an earthquake. I was starving and didn't even notice it until now. "Um, food would be nice, thank you. And maybe an explanation about where I am?" I said. "I'll take you to Twilight, she'll definitely want to meet you." Fluttershy said. I then followed the pony towards this 'Ponyville'. But I still had that question in the back of my mind, why can't I remember what happened? When I arrived in Ponyville I quickly became the eye candy for the whole town. It only took me just a couple seconds to arrive and everyone was out of their house and staring at me.I felt really uncomfortable and hoped that we'd arrive to wherever this "Twilight" is. We stopped at a large tree that appeared to also serve as a house. I knocked on the door and was (eventually) greeted by a purple horse with a horn. The second she saw me her eyes opened up wide and any signs of her being tired vanished instantly. "Fluttershy? What's this?" The pony asked. "I found him in the Everfree Forest. I don't know what, or who, he is." Fluttershy said. "Hello. I, um, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Um, come in." She said. I walked forward but hit my head on the top of the door. "Doors are shorter than me, remember that." I thought to myself. "So, let's start with your name. What's your name?" Twilight asked, getting paper and a quill. "Um, Brendan?" I said. "Was that an answer or a question?" Twilight asked. "An answer?" I said. "What's wrong? Don't you know your own name?" Twilight asked, looking at me and then writing things down. I thought and couldn't really get a right grasp on what my name was. I had a sea of names in my head, but couldn't really pinpoint mine. I said 'Brendan' to myself a couple times and decided it felt right. "Brendan, Brendan. Yeah, Brendan's my name." I said. "Alright, well, where did you come from?" She asked. Great. I thought for a while. "Where did I come from? How am I here? What happened before I came here?" I had all of these questions in my mind. "Earth." I said, hesitantly, as if I only had one chance to answer and if I messed it up I'd get beaten or something. "Alright, well. We need to take you to see Princess Celestia." Twilight said. "We'll go right now." She went upstairs and I allowed myself to look around her library. There were rows all along the room full of books, there was one giant table in the middle of the room, and one creepy looking owl that I just realized was staring at me the entire time. "What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "What do you mean?" "Well, it just took you a while to answer about your name and I just thought something was wrong." She said, her voice getting quieter as she ended her sentence. "Oh, um. I don't know. I just can't remember a lot about me, where I came from, I don't even know how I got here." I said. I thought about it forever, wondering where I came from. Wondering, most of all, what happened. The only thing I could think in my mind is knowing I survived. I don't know what it means, but I did. All I know is I survived. Getting Settled InTwilight didn't waste any time shoving me and Fluttershy out of her house to get the rest of her friends and head to the city they call 'Canterlot'. On the late night train ride there her friends, obviously, had a lot of questions. I tried to answer them as best I could, which was pretty hard to do. Even the questions about me personally were a challenge, sometimes I'd just shrug and say I didn't know. We reached Canterlot and my breath was taken away. The castle in the distance looked beautiful, and the city was amazing. Even with all of the ponies staring at me. I found it a little odd that the city was on the edge of a cliff, but I just decided to roll with it. "So, what do you remember?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Not much, just some basic stuff." I answered, too busy gazing at the beautiful city before me. We walked throughout the city towards the castle. But honestly, I was more concerned about the amazing city sights I could see on the walk. I was so focused on the sights I didn't even see the guards until I bumped into them. "Oh, sorry there." I said. "Step back civili- Um. Creature?" The guard said. "It's okay guys. We request to speak to Princess Celestia at once please. It's about him." Twilight pointed a hoof at me and I just stood there waving at the guards. "Um.... Okay. I'll go... I'll just go get her." One of the guards said. We waited for a bit before the guard came back and told us that Celestia is ready to see us. Walking into the throne room I was amazed by the beauty of the castle, and the tinted windows. I looked ahead and saw a giant, white, pony sitting on the throne room. I heard her gasp when I walked into the room. "Princess Celestia, I'd like to introduce to you, Brendan." Twilight said, bowing. "Hello." Celestia said, walking towards me. She was almost as tall as me. And, unlike most of the ponies I saw, she had both a horn and wings. "Hey, how's it going?" I said. "What are you?" Celestia asked. "A human." I answered. "Where did you come from?" She asked. "Well not from here obviously." I mumbled, looking at one of the tinted windows that showed the six ponies I was with. "How did you get here?" Celestia asked. "I don't know." I answered, returning my attention to the princess in front of me. "How do you not know?" She said. "I don't know. I can't seem to remember much about who I am, and how I got here." "Right. Well I believe Twilight has some questions to ask you." Celestia said. "You can answer them first thing in the morning, you'll need somewhere to sleep though." "I already know where he can live." Twilight said. We then left and returned back to Ponyville, everyone left except Twilight, who took me a little ways out of town to a lake with a house next to it. "Well you better get to bed. I'm sorry that the bed's a little too big for you. We'll get somepony to fix that tomorrow." Twilight said. I nodded and closed the door to my new home. I sat on the couch that was in the living room and it immediately broke. "Great." I said. I sat down on the floor near the bed and tried again to remember what happened. Just like before I couldn't remember anything that had happened. I thought that I wouldn't be able to sleep, what, with all of the things that have happened to me in such a little amount of time. But the moment I laid down and covered myself with the blanket I just fell asleep right there. I was woken up by someone pounding at my door. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Calm down!" I said, wishing more than anything to go back to sleep. I opened the door to find a purple horse in front of me. I was confused by this but remembered the events from the previous night. "Oh no!" I said, hitting my head against the side of the door. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Nothing." I said. "Other than the fact that I'm in a completely different world, surrounded by mutated ponies!" I thought to myself. "Well, I have some questions to ask you. If you have the time of course." Twilight said. I nodded and we walked back to her home. It wasn't long before Rainbow Dash found us. "Hey, uh, Brendan, right?" She said. "I guess." I said. "Man, you reek. When was the last time you had a shower?" Rainbow said, covering her nostrils with her hooves and backing up a bit from me. "Rainbow!" Twilight said. "And you look like you barely had any sleep last night." She continued. "Well I don't remember when I last had a shower." I said, sniffing my arm. "But I need one bad." "Well you could use the shower at the library." Twilight said. I agreed and we continued off to her home, Rainbow Dash leaving to do God knows what. I got to the library and Twilight told me where the shower was, and one look at it made me just shut the door. I stood next to the shower and it barely went above my waistline. I thought about if I could actually manage to pull it off, but I'm not Will Ferrell, I can't take a shower in this. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked when I went back downstairs. "If I stand in that shower It's going to shatter into a million pieces." I said. "Oh, right." She said. "Well, alright. Begin the questions." I said, laying down on the floor. "Okay, eye color?" She said, getting paper and a quill. I rose my head to look at her and let her see for herself. "Okay, red." She said, writing it down. I lied my head back down and stared at the humongous bookshelves in the room we were in. Twilight asked me more questions, but much like the train ride, I couldn't answer a lot of them. I was angry at this, angry I couldn't remember my home, any friends and family, who I was. She then took me outside and said she wanted to test how strong I was compared to the ponies in Ponyville. She got a couple of ponies, including Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash, and mad me arm wrestle them all. I easily beat them, except for Apple Jack and Rainbow, it took me longer than expected to beat them. Twilight then dragged me with her and Apple Jack and told me to lift some things they had at the barn. "Why am I doing this stuff again?" I said, lifting a wooden box. "I just want to see the extent of your strength. Lift it above your head, Brendan." She said. I did and she made me lift other things. After a while I told her my arms were sore and aching and if I continued I would pass out. She told me okay and said I should go to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie asked me to meet her there. I followed Twilight's instructions and found myself near a building that looked like it was made from sweets. "Come one guys, I want to see him." I heard a voice from somewhere, but couldn't pin point where. I then heard a gasp to my right and turned to see three smaller ponies in the distance. "There he is!" The small orange one said. I looked around me and I guessed they were talking about me. Well, I should have figured. I am a strange creature they would probably have a load of questions to ask. "Hey mister!" The yellow one said while they ran towards me. "Yeah?" I said. I don't know why, but when they came running for me I put my left hand on my hip, as if I was expecting a pistol to be there or something. And them coming towards me gave me a feeling of wanting to flee from the scene if things got bad. Bad? "What are ya?" The yellow one said. "I'm Brendan. And I'm a human." I said. "A human? Didn't we hear somepony start talking about humans once?" The white one said. "Yeah. But, I didn't know they were actually real!" The orange one said. "Oh, sorry. Allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Apple Bloom, that's Sweetie Belle, and that's Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said. "Well, nice to meet you." I said. "What's it like where you come from?" Scootaloo said. "I- I don't remember." I said, scratching my head. I silently said "Why'd you ask that?" when all of the questions started flooding their way back into my mind. And, just like before, found myself unable to answer any of them. "What do you mean you don't remember?" The white one said. "I woke up here last night, I can't remember near anything about how I got here, what I was doing before, I can barley even tell you about what my home was like." I said. Scootaloo then looked at the building and poked Sweetie Belle, who then poked Apple Bloom. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell ran towards Sugar Cube Corner. "Wow. That's sad. I'm sorry." Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry about it kid." I said "Go join your friends." Apple Bloom ran off to go join Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and left me to my thoughts. It was kind of messed up that I don't remember my home. The only mental image I have of Earth, my home, is of me standing on top of a hill, next to a tree. I don't even remember what I was doing there. I remembered that Pinkie Pie wanted to see me in Sugar Cube Corner and walked towards the building. Feeling Without KnowingI walked to the door to Sugar Cube Corner and turned the door knob. And once I opened it I jumped from everyone inside yelling "SURPRISE!!!!" I looked around and saw that Pinkie Pie must have decorated the entire building for a party. I saw giant bowls of punch, giant cakes, giant streamers, everything party size but bigger. "So, do you like it!? Oh, what am I talking about, of course you love it! I decided to make everything big because you're so tall and I thought about making everything in your 'welcome to Ponyville' party bigger too!" Pinkie said, the words shooting out of her mouth faster than a speeding bullet. I just stood there, not moving. I felt something warm go down my face and put my finger to it, a tear. Tears? Why am I crying? I felt incredible sadness wash over me like I was hit with a wave of feels. I wiped my eyes as fast as I could and played it off like nothing happened. I looked around to see that I was surrounded by a ton of ponies that I haven't seen before. There was one mint colored pony that was staring at me like she was a kid and I was the toy she'd been begging for since forever. There was also a brown pony with an hourglass tattoo on his flank, that I could've sworn I'd seen somewhere before. He saw me and kind of smiled nervously and walked off. "Uh, I love it Pinkie." I said. "Thanks! I knew you would, but I didn't know what kind of cake you liked so I just got them all!" She said, carrying two cakes. Everyone then continued with their business, except for the mint one, who was still staring. I walked around and felt my stomach growling at the sight of all the food. "Wait a minute, I haven't eaten in a whole day." I thought to myself. I walked over to the table and eagerly looked over the food choices I had. Hay and flowers. Really? The only food that I could eat were apples, pears, and other fruits and vegetables. I looked at all the ponies and got the feeling that I wouldn't be getting any steak any time soon. So I took an apple off the table and started devouring it. "Ya must be hungry." Apple Jack said as I finished my third apple. "Yeah." I said, a little apple juice spilling out of my mouth, which I cleaned off with a napkin. Apple Jack chuckled at the apple juice spilling and gave me a mug full to the brim with a bubbly liquid. "What's this?" I asked, looking into the mug. "Apple Cider." She said. "Okaaaaay. What's in it?" I asked. Apple Jack didn't answer, just gave a confused look. "I don't remember much, but I do know that Apple Cider isn't normally bubbly, unless it contains alcohol." I said. "Oh, no. It's completely fine. Nothing in it but apple." She reassured. I looked at the drink and took a sniff of it before guessing it was fine and chugging the whole thing down. Once I finished the drink I was pretty saddened that it ended. I really enjoyed the taste. "This drink, I like it. Bring me another!" I said. Apple Jack filled the mug again and I chugged it all down, asking for more. Apple Jack filled it up and we repeated the process until Apple Jack said I said I should stop before they ran out. Disappointed I looked for something to do. "So, how do you like your party darling?" Rarity asked. "It's great." I said. "Well that's good. Pinkie Pie puts a lot of effort into making her parties, she treats them as serious business." She said. I heard Rarity talking, but I wasn't paying her any attention. I was staring off into space, thinking about home. I was getting pretty tired of doing nothing but think about home, but it was all I could think about. There were no other humans here to consult with. And as far as I can tell there isn't a way out of this world. But I didn't want to believe that. I would find a way home, no matter what. I would devote every breathing second I had if necessary. I would find a way home, and I would find out what happened, and how I got here. I then felt Rarity poke me on the shoulder and I jumped and held two fists in the air. I put them down and ran to find Twilight. "Twilight!" I said, finally finding her. "Brendan? What's wrong?" "I need to go in your library." I said. "Wait, what? Why?" She said. "I'm going to find my way home. And I'm going to look in your library for the way." I said. She stared at me for a bit and told me the door was open. I then left and went in the library, opening the first book I got my hands on. "Daring Doo?" I thought, putting it back. I didn't need an Indiana Jones parody, I needed a way to get home. I was reading maybe the tenth book when Twilight came home, and by the look on her face I braced myself for an impact that, thankfully, never came. "What?" I said, cautiously. "You left the party! That's what!" She said. "I don't see what I did wrong." I said, hesitantly, looking for something I could use to block any attacks. "Pinkie Pie worked so hard on the party. The least you could've done is thank her for it!" She said. I told her I was sorry I didn't thank Pinkie for the party and that I'd do it tomorrow, I just had one thing on my mind when leaving the party: going home. Her face got a little less hostile and I felt safer, but still braced myself in case anything was thrown my way. "It's okay. But you better say 'thank you' to Pinkie for the party she made tomorrow, or tonight if you could. I nodded and left, going to Sugar Cube Corner and thanking Pinkie for the party, which ended up getting me wrapped up in a conversation that jumped to grass almost out of nowhere. Once I went home I laid back down on the floor and wrapped myself up in the blanket with two thoughts on my mind: "Why was I crying at the party?" and one that I found myself kind of angered by: "Why didn't I get a bigger bed?" Meeting The Great And PowerfulI've been in Ponyville for a couple weeks now, and am nowhere closer to finding a way to get back home. Not even the library in Canterlot could help me. I've joined Twilight and her friends in helping stop a couple of problems in Ponyville, kind of. I've gotten a bigger bed and finally felt a hot shower with a shower that I can feel like I won't break it when I step in. I even got a bigger couch! I've been in my house reading about ways that could help me get home a lot though. And the only time I've ever really helped them is when a Griffon named Gilda came to town and was bullying the residents. I had my opinion on how to get rid of her, but we just went with Rainbow Dash's party to welcome her to Ponyville and give her a chance. That ultimately ended in Gilda freaking out and ruining her friendship, if that's what you want to call it, with Rainbow Dash. I was reading my book when I decided that I should take a walk in town, get some fresh air, maybe get some food, all that good stuff. I was walking when I saw a crowd of ponies around some sort of stage. I walked over to see what they were staring at and saw a light blue mare standing on the stage with a cape and hat that I saw and though "Witch" when seeing it. Apparently I had come at a pretty bad time because the mare looked pretty annoyed. "Well, looks like we have some neigh-sayers in this crowd!" She said, actually neighing when saying naysayers. I tried not to, but I had to say it. "Get it? Because ya'll are horses." I said, chuckling a little. The show mare then stopped what she was doing and stared me down. "What is that horrid thing!?" She said, pointing a hoof at me. "Hey! I represent that!" I said. "And I'm Brendan, nice to meet you." I said, holding out my hand. She didn't shake my hand, just stared at me as if I was some kind of 6-foot-tall, walking, talking fungus. I laughed awkwardly and put my hand back, rocking myself back and forth. "What's your name?" I asked. "I, am the Great and Powerful, Trixie!!!" She said, trilling her the 'r' when she said one. Then fireworks and fog came from behind the stage and I was quite awe struck. And I was quite curious about what she was all about. "So, your going to perform? Care to continue?" I said. "Of course. Trixie will preform for her adoring fans, even those who are large, talking, ugly, hairless, apes." She said. I saw everyone around me look at me, as if they were expecting me to be offended. And I wasn't, I should, but wasn't. I crossed my arms and watched as Trixie preformed many spells, invisibility, teleportation, making things appear from a hat, all the good stuff. I was actually kind of awestruck by the magic she was preforming. I'd been in Equestira for weeks, but never really got the chance to see unicorns use their magic. I've seen Twilight use magic when she lifts books up and gives them to me, but other than that I've never seen magic being used. I looked around the crowd and noticed many hostile looks, as if she did something to them. And once the show was over there was awkward silence that lasted for a while. I finally clapped and everyone else joined in slowly. "Thank you! Trixie knows she is the greatest! Thank you!" She said. She then walked off the stage while bowing. "Why'd you clap?" Rainbow said. "Well why not?" I asked. "She was being self-centered, telling everypony how she was better than everypony else." Twilight said. "Yeah, okay. That sounds pretty bad. But I wasn't here for that. So I didn't know. And I liked her show." I said. "What? No way! Twilight here could do spells like those in her sleep!" Rainbow said. "Hush Rainbow. I'm not better than anypony else, I've told you before." Twilight said. "Well alright. But I've only seen Twilight levitate things. I've never seen any other kind of magic. So this was a nice chance for me to experience other kinds of magic." I said. "Whatever. Hey! Brendan, you should come watch me! I've got some awesome new flying techniques that I know you'll love! You haven't seen my flying techniques in a long time, I bet your already suffering from the lack of awesomeness!" Rainbow said. "Uh, yeah. Maybe later, okay Rainbow? I, uh, still have some reading to do." I said. "Aw, what! Lame!" Rainbow said. "Sorry, but if I want to get home, this what I've got to do." I said, I believed it. But something inside of me just wanted to give up, but I wouldn't. There has to be some way to get out of here. I may have said that I was going to read, but I really wanted to get the chance to talk to Trixie, she was a unicorn. I'd asked every unicorn I know if they knew even the smallest detail about humans, or their home world. I'd even asked Celestia and Luna. I would ask the mint colored unicorn but, no offense to her, she kind of scares me. And Trixie is a new unicorn, the chances are slim, but I've got to try. Even if there's a small chance. I walked to the back of the stage and found a wagon. I knocked on the door and was immediately answered. "Yes? Who's there?" She said. "Uh, it's the large, talking, ugly, hairless ape." I said. "Hm, you may come in." She said. I opened the door and found her sitting on a chair in front of a large mirror reading a magazine and drinking what I think is punch. There was a bed and a bunch of drawers filled to bursting point with hats and capes. Trixie then jumped out of her chair and watched me forget that doors were shorter than me in this world and laughed at it. "Um, I was wondering if you could tell me if you know anything about my kind?" I said. "I know it's a long shot since I'm the first one here, but that mint colored pony seems to have had prior knowledge about my kind." "I'm sorry, but it seems that not even the Great and Powerful Trixie knows about your kind, whatever you are." She said. I just responded with a "hm" and kicked the ground and looked around the wagon, it was kind of a pigsty, capes were on the ground and the blanket on her bed was halfway fallen off. "Is there something else the Great and Powerful Trixie can help you with?" She said. "Oh, uh. No, I just. Sorry for, uh. Yeah. I'd also like to say that I thought your show was great." I said nervously. "Well naturally. Trixie knows she is the greatest and most powerful in Equestria after all." She said, her voice may have said that, but the tone of her voice showed me she was truly thankful. "Alright, well, I guess, um. I guess I'll see you around?" I said. "Hm. Trixie thinks so, Trixie will be staying in Ponyville for a while now and you may have the honor of seeing Trixie again someday." She said. "Alright." I said, walking out and, again, forgetting I need to crouch when I walk through doors. I heard Trixie chuckle a bit at me bumping my head and just looked at her, I wasn't mad at her. I do have to admit that even I found it amusing I keep banging my head on doors every now and then. I got up and walked back to my home and got ready to start my book reading spree before someone- er, somepony. I need to remember that. Anyway, somepony knocks on my door. I got up and opened my door, seeing Rarity there, holding a present in her magical grasp. "Why hello Brendan, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said as I let her in. "Um, no. Not really." I said. "Oh good." She said, handing me the present. I opened it and saw a suit inside of it. "A suit?" I said. I remembered her asking me if she could get my measurements but didn't really pay that much attention as to what it was for. "Yes, for the Gala. You must dress up for it." She said. I remembered the day Twilight got the Gala tickets and I really wasn't that interested in going. I told Rarity this and I guess she wasn't okay with my decision. "What? But you're the first human to be in Equestria, you simply must come!" She said. I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded towards the pile of books I still haven't read. "Oh, please. Even Twilight is taking time from her studies to come, so you can too." Rarity said. "I just don't know. I won't fit in with anypony there, and it just doesn't seem like something I'd like." I said. "But you simply must come!" She said, she obviously wasn't going to let me stay home. "Okay, okay, I'll consider it." I said. Rarity was about to say something when I interrupted her. "Up! I said I'll consider it. So that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be going." I said. "Well I do hope you go darling. I'm sure you will love it!" Rarity said on her way out. I thought about going to the Gala, I did need some more time outside of the house. But then I'd have to talk to ponies, and do things, and that didn't really sound all that appealing. But, if even Twilight was willing to take time out of her schedule to go, then I could too! I looked at the suit Rarity made me and thought that it wasn't really, me. The coat was laced with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. I decided to just wear the white shirt that goes underneath it, the black pants, and the shoes. I looked in the box and saw Rarity had made me a wife-beater too. I put the coat in my closet, which was pretty empty, and put the other clothes on my desk. I tried to remember when the Gala was and remembered it was tomorrow night. This was going to be a fun time for me, I think. Remembering At The GalaToday was the day, the day I would try to fit in with the crowd of pampered ponies and high class royals. I felt sick at the thought. Rarity didn't like that I didn't wear the coat that she made with the suit and started complaining that I would stand out like a sore, but eventually she stopped. As if I wouldn't stand out as much as I already would with me being a six foot tall human in a room with maybe three foot tall ponies. I looked out the window in the carriage at the city of Canterlot that we were advancing towards slowly. "Don't worry Brendan, it'll all be fine." Twilight said. "God. I don't know about this." I said. I've been in Canterlot numerous times before, but this time I'd be in a party full of posh, stuck up, and snobby ponies. "Don't worry sugarcube, just breath an' it'll all be fine" Apple Jack said. "It'll be okay Brendan. Maybe you'll find something you'll enjoy there." Fluttershy said. I just nodded and looked out the window, I did not like being surrounded by stuck up ponies, the way they were just made me feel weird about being near them. The way they constantly judged you, silently and behind you back. I didn't like it. And being in a room full of them just made me unsure about everything and kind of sick. The wagon stopped and we walked out. And I was quite taken by surprise when everypony just broke out into song. Completely out of freaking nowhere too. I didn't want to sing so I just stood there awkwardly, begging for the song to be over. When the song was over (Thank God) I joined Twilight and her friends in the castle and watched as they all went off to do their own things, leaving me all alone. I gulped nervously and looked for something to drink. I walked over to a table where a waitress was standing. Once I walked over there everypony that was already there started staring at me, making me even more nervous. "Um, I don't really know what you guys have for drinks here so, uh, I'll take whatever you have that's strong." I said. The waitress used her magic to hold up a bottle of apparently regular alcohol. I honestly didn't care about what they had, as long as it'd help me get through the night, so I nodded. I watched her fill up a small glass that barely held anything. "Um, don't you guys have any cups bigger than this?" I asked. The waitress just looked at me funny and got out a slightly bigger cup. It wasn't really what I wanted, but it was good enough. I nodded and she filled the mug looking cup until I told her to stop, which was when it filled almost to the top. Everypony around me was just staring at me and I just wanted to drink and forget all of this. I was about to put the mug to my lips when I stopped and said, "For our brothers." and proceeded to chug the drink down. While I drank the drink I wondered why I had said that. Great, more questions to haunt my mind. I finished the drink and put the mug down, asking for a refill. When the waitress refilled it I drank down the rest of that. I turned my back to the waitress and looked out into the crowd, I saw Twilight at the top of the steps next to Celestia, I Rainbow Dash trying her best to get the attention of some people I'd never met but were probably these 'Wonderbolts' she keeps talking about. I looked over to see Rarity with some stallion that definitely had 'stuck up' written all over him. I turned to refill and drank it in a flash, I started feeling myself getting a little dizzy but didn't care. The drink was making the night go by faster, I was okay with that. I asked for another but the waitress told me she thought I'd had enough. I complained for a bit before getting up and walking away. I walked around for a bit and found it a little hard to keep myself standing straight. I found Pinkie, trying to make this party better, but failing. I decided to just walk out and look for Apple Jack. I looked around and found her at a stand, selling her apple products. "Hey Apple Jack." I said. "You okay?" She said, seeing me struggling to walk straight. "Wha? Yeah, yeah, I'm okay-ish." I said. I sat down and held my head in my hands. "You know, this definitely beats that one night." I said. Apple Jack just looked at me confused. "I was out with friends, we were drinking and I woke up with a tattoo, a monkey, and a pretty cool looking hat." I said. I took off my shirt and showed Apple Jack the tattoo I had on my back. It was of an eagle that's left side was red and right side blue. I put the shirt back on and Apple Jack just stared at me more confused than ever. "It was a LONG while ago. Long before I joined the- RARITY!" I said, seeing Rarity and the stuck up stallion. I waved at her and she smiled and waved back before walking away with the snob. "What were you gonna say sugarcube?" Apple Jack said. "Nothing." I said, getting up and following Rarity. I heard Apple Jack protest to me leaving but didn't care. I was on the move and even I didn't know what I was doing. I followed them around until I saw a them come to a door, and watch as he makes her hold the door open for him. This ticked me off. "Hey!" I said as I walked over there. "Pardon me" The stallion said. "Brendan, what are you doing?" Rarity said. "Listen buddy." I said, ignoring her. "You see her?" I pointed to Rarity. "That there is a lady, and you, being the gentleman, have the responsibility to hold open the door for her and treat her like a princess. So if you have dare have the audacity to call yourself a man, then you are going to do what a man does and open this door for her, Or else." The stallion looked at me as if he thought I was bluffing, but he soon figured out I wasn't and quickly opened the door. Rarity walked through the door and mouthed 'thank you' to me, I mouthed 'no problem' to her and walked away from them. A while later I was trying to get the waitress to give me at least one more drink when Twilight pushed me away and we all ran out the door and off castle grounds. We found our way to a doughnut shop after the had all told me what happened. "Heh, that must suck for you guys. Oh man, that's funny." I said, collapsing onto one of the tables, the last part coming out no more than a whisper. I heard them all talk amongst themselves while I was lying on the table, getting a headache. I started to see faces flash in my vision, I knew these faces, but I didn't at the same time. It bugged me like crazy that I was seeing these faces that I didn't really remember. Once I they all stopped talking I rose my head and opened my eyes to see Celestia staring at me. "You might want to take him home, girls." She said. I just let my head fall back and said , "mmmmmmmmmmm, yeah okay." And got up. Once we got back to Ponyville I began walking home, which really wasn't going so well for me. Rarity helped me home while thanking me for what I did back there. "Ah, it was nothing." I said, opening my door. "Alright, goodnight." I said, walking in my house and falling on my bed. After a while of silence I got up and closed my door, saying sorry to Rarity as I did. "Goodnight darling. See you tomorrow." Rarity said, walking away. I collapsed on my bed and got ready for a good nights rest that never came. Nightmare FlashbacksI expected to get a pleasant dream, something that would make me feel all warm and fluffy on the inside, but instead I saw nothing but darkness. I looked around and couldn't see anything, I heard a whooshing sound. It sounded like I was underwater. Then I felt my head lifted and found myself above a tub full of water, being held by ropes on my hands. "I said, will you slack off again!?" The man behind me said. "Yeah, yeah, whatever man." I head myself say. "Wait a minute, I didn't say that." I thought. But I did. I felt my head go under the water again and found myself surrounded by darkness again. "Hey, wake up." I heard a man with a Russian accent say. "Come on, wake up." I opened my eyes to see a Russian man next to me. I was surrounded by rocks, all the walls were rocks, with a hole leading out into an area that had an awful lot of chatter. I was laying on a bed that was pretty uncomfortable. "Ah, good job Brendan. I knew they couldn't kill you." The man said. "What happened? Where's Smith and Mason?" I said, again involuntarily. "They're waiting out in the yard, think you can stand up?" The man said. I nodded and got up, walking towards the door. I opened it and was blinded by the bright light outside. I opened my eyes, for real this time, and heard someone knocking at my door. "I'm coming!" I said. I opened the door and saw Twilight standing there. "Oh, hello Brendan. Are you okay?" She said. "Yeah, why?" I said. She pointed to my shirt and I looked down, I'd been sweating like crazy. "Oh, um. I'll change shirts. Um, come on iiiiiiin." I said. I walked towards my closet and took off my shirt. "What's that?" She said. I looked at her and saw she was pointing at my back, I went to a mirror and saw I had an eagle tattoo on my back, it's left side was red and it's right side was blue. "When did I get this?" I said to myself. "It's a tattoo, Twi." I stared at the tattoo for a while before walking back to my closet and putting my black shirt on. "So uh, what is it you wanted to talk about?" I said. "I came by because Apple Jack told me that you seemed to have remembered things about your past last night." She said. "What?" "Yeah, and she described something about you having friends and that bird on your back." I thought about last night, nothing. I then tried to remember anything about my past, nothing. I just shrugged at her. "Hm, well that's odd." She said. "Do you remember your dream?" She said. "Yeah, why?" "Tell me." She said. I told her everything about what happened. "Wow, do you know why those men were hurting you?" She said. "No." I said. I thought about what a turn of mood this must have been for her, being the worst thing that could happen in this world is the entire pony population could end up hating each other. And even then nopony would commit murder or theft. "Well, it's not much, but it's something. I hope you get all your memories back and find out who you really are Brendan." She said. I nodded and she left, leaving me to think about the Russian in my dream. Who was he? Where was I? I decided to just ignore it and take a walk, get some fresh air and think about it later. As I was going out the door I looked at the pile of books I still haven't read, Oh well, I'll read them later. I do need to spend more time outside of the house. I thought about going to visit Trixie, but it was still pretty early in the morning, so I probably shouldn't. I thought about visiting Rainbow to see those tricks she was talking about when Trixie came to town. But I didn't want to do that. I then thought about work, I'd been in Ponyville for a couple weeks now and have never worked, I think I should get a job by now. But where? I can't bake, I'm not very good at knitting, I can't fly so I can't work on weather, the only job I think I could do is help Apple Jack at Sweet Apple Acres. I walked to see Apple Jack and she gave me the job. I wasn't really good enough to pick apples since I could only grab one at a time, so she gave me the job of putting buckets under trees for the apples to fall into, and when they're full I grab them all and put them into a wagon and take it back to the farm. I got good enough pay for my first day on the job. By the time I got home it was already night. I was actually pretty scared that if I went to bed then I'd have more nightmares, but at the same time I couldn't wait and went to bed straight away, hoping to find something out about me. I laid down in my bed and hoped that I could dream about my past again. When I finally fell asleep I was surrounded by darkness, I was pretty happy, hoping I could see another one of those dreams from yesterday. I opened my eyes and was quickly disappointed, it was one of the dreams where I'm flying over Ponyville. I looked around for anything that didn't seem familiar and couldn't. After a while I got to the part of the dream where Rainbow shows up and we race, we did, and I won. Heh, anything can happen in a dream after all, and this one was mine. I turned to face Rainbow and expected her to nod at me and say 'congratulations' but it never came. She nodded at me and said something to me in a Russian accent. "We will live on in you, brother." She said. "What?" I said. I then heard a loud booming from behind me and turned around, I saw a ball of fire coming right towards me and flew out of the way. "What's going on?" I said, dodging another ball of fire. I turned to Rainbow Dash to ask what was going on but was quickly awoken by the sound of someone knocking at my door. I jumped out of my bed when I woke up, but I landed on my hands and feet. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was barely up. I opened the door and saw Trixie standing there, her wagon was on the dirt road. "Uh, hey Trixie." I said. "What are you doing here?" "Trixie just thought that she should say goodbye to you." She said. "Your leaving?" I said, I was kind of dissapointed, I was hoping I could have the chance to ask her about her travels. "Yes, and Trixie just wanted to say goodbye to you." She said. Trixie's horn then lit up and a piece of paper appeared and was hanging in front of me. I took it and it was a poster for her show, but it was signed. "Just something for you, since your a fan." She said. "Oh. Thank you Trixie." I said. She tilted her hat and walked away, waving me goodbye as she did. I stared at the poster and decided to hang it on the wall, but where? I decided to just hang it near my bed. I looked outside and thought that I might be able to get a few hours of sleep in. I decided that I should just stay awake while I was. And again I was left wondering who that Russian man was that I saw in my dream. Knowing Without FeelingI was about to sit on my couch when I heard knocking at my door. I opened the door and saw Rainbow Dash smiling. "Hey Brendan." She said. "Hey Rainbow, how's it going?" I said. "Good. Hey, want to come with us for a picnic in the park?" She said. "Um, sure. Why not?" I said. "Okay." She said, she flew behind me and started pushing me. "Hey! What!?" "Come on! The picnic is now!" She said. What? She invited me to join them for a picnic that was happening as we spoke? Who does that? I ran forward and Rainbow flew ahead of me. I followed the rainbow beam she left behind and found the spot they were waiting for me at the park. It was under a pretty big tree on top of a hill, arriving there kind of gave me the sense of deja vu. "Brendan!" Twilight said. "Hey guys." I said. "Rainbow, next time you invite me to a picnic, make sure you tell me ahead of time. Okay?" I said. "Yeah, yeah, alright." She said, putting sunglasses on and laying back. A bit later Rainbow bolted straight back up. "Oh yeah, Brendan!" She said. "On my way to your place I saw Trixie. What did she want?" Everypony started looking at me. "She just wanted to say 'bye' and gave me an autographed poster for her show." I said. "Really? That's all?" Rarity said. "What do you mean?" I said. "Nothing Brendan." Twilight said. "Did you have any more weird dreams?" I nodded and told them about the dream. "What!?!? There's no way anypony could beat me at a race! It's impossible!!" Rainbow Dash said. "'We will live on in you, brother.'" Twilight said, thinking. "I wonder what that means. Do you have any family?" She said. "No. Well, at least I don't think so." I said. "Well of course you have family silly! If you didn't have a mommy or a daddy then you wouldn't be here because they never would've met and you never would've been born and then we wouldn't be here talking about how you couldn't be here if you didn't have a family." Pinkie Pie said. I didn't pay attention to her and just continued talking to Twilight about the Russian man. "He was old, he looked to be in his, jeez. I don't know. Maybe his early 50's or late 40's." I said. "He had a moustache and a beard. Messy hair. He spoke to me like I was a brother. Guy looks like he was there for World War 1 and 2." I said. I knew she wouldn't know what World War 1 or 2 were, but I was hoping she wouldn't ask. I didn't want to kill their mood by telling them about that kind of stuff again. "And he didn't seem familiar to you at all?" Twilight said. I shook my head and started eating an apple. "I've never seen him anywhere before." I said. Twilight just nodded her head slowly and picked up a plate with salad on it and began digging in. It wasn't long before Rarity spoke up. "Listen, Brendan." She said. "We've been meaning to tell you something." "What's up?" I said. "About the possibility that you might not be able to return home." Apple Jack said. "What?" I said. "We've been looking all over, every book there is that could help us hasn't, and we don't seem any closer to getting you back." Twilight said. "We'll definitely help you try to get your memories back darling, we just believe it's time to give up on finding you a way home." Rarity said. "What? I-I-What?" I said. I thought about this all for a moment, absorbed what I was being told. "No." I eventually said, no louder than a whisper. "What?" Twilight said. "No!" I said. "No! I won't give up! Not ever! I won't give up until I have all the answers I'm looking for! Even if it takes me one thousand years I'm never going to stop!" "Now calm down sugarcube." Apple Jack said. "No!" I said. I turned to Twilight and pointed at her. "You said you'd help me! All of you did! Well, you might give up, but me!? I'm never going to give up." I stormed off, I was pretty shocked that they would even dare say that. "Hey!" I heard a voice behind me say. I turned to see Rainbow speeding at me, stopping just as she was about to make contact with me. "What?" I said. "Listen, they won't say it. So I will." She said. "Have you ever thought of any reasons to stay?" "Look, I like this world. The colors, the kindness, everything, it's all great in this world, but it's not mine. All I want to do is go home, find out what it's like there." "And what if your home is everything you've ever wanted? Will you stay there forever without saying goodbye?" She said. That was unexpected, she caught me off guard and I had to take a moment to think about what I'd say next. "I-I. Well give me one reason why I shouldn't look for a way to go home." I said. "Because maybe there's somepony who doesn't want you to leave." She said before flying off. What? Who? What was she talking about? I had no idea, so I just went back home. I sat down on my couch and was left to myself for the good part of the day before hearing a knock at the door. I got up and opened the door to see Twilight standing there, looking sort of nervous. "Hey Twi." I said. "Um, hey Brendan." She said. "I'm sorry for earlier." "No." I said. "If anyone has anything to be sorry for, it's me. I did overreact a little bit with the yelling and stuff." I saw Twilight blush at my comment. "So, um. I just came by to ask you if you'd like to continue the discussion we were having about the man later, b-by the lake." She said. After she said that I looked up to see something that had moved in the distance and saw slight traces of purple sticking out of the bushes by the lake. Rarity. "Um, sure. Why not?" I said. At this Twilight lit up, not looking as nervous as she did. "R-really?" She said. "Yeah, why not?" I said. "Alright, uh, just pick me up at my place at 8:00. Okay?" She said, jumping off when I nodded. When 8:00 rolled around I went to pick up Twilight, on my way I began wondering how Trixie was doing on her journey. When I got to Twilight's house I knocked and heard Rarity say "Just a minute dear!" In a sing songy voice. When she the door finally opened Twilight stepped out, her mane done in a way that only Rarity could do. It was kind of poofy, but not at the same time. "So Brendan, what do you think?" Rarity said. "She looks beautiful." I said. I'd never complimented a pony on their mane, and it was pretty weird. I wonder if it's just as weird as complimenting a human on their hair. Twilight blushed and walked out of the house, following me back to the lake and sitting down next to me on the bench next to the lake. "I didn't ask her to do this you know." Twilight said. "What?" "My mane. I didn't ask her to do this, I just thought I'd let you know." "Oh. Well. Alright. Now, about the conversation." I said. "I think I see more things when-" I said before Twilight interrupted me. "This is a beautiful lake. You have such a nice view." She said. I looked out into the lake and had to admit it did look beautiful against the setting sun, but that wasn't what we were here to talk about. "Yeah, okay. Now I think I get more of those dreams-" Again I was interrupted by Twilight. "I have to thank you for coming with us to the Gala, even if you didn't want to. And for trying to help us out with Gilda, even though we didn't use your idea. And also for all those other times you've helped us." She said. I was getting a little annoyed with the constant interruptions, not a lot, but a bit. "Well, I just wanted to say that, I think you're a great guy. And I know that you'll get all of your memories back." She said. I nodded. "Yeah." I looked out at the lake, which was a beautiful orange-red color with the sunset hitting it. "I wonder if anyone's looking for me back home." "I know they are. You're a good person now and I know that you were a good person back then too." She said. Thus, giving me another reason to go home. I wanted to say that, but didn't. I really didn't want to ruin the moment with this beautiful view. "Um, Brendan?" She said. "Hm?" "Have you ever thought about-" She said, before seeing a chariot flying towards us. We looked up and saw Celestia was visiting town. "CELESTIA!?!?" Twilight said. "Oh no! Why didn't she warn me about this sooner!?!? I would've made preparations! Oh, no. I've, um, Brendan, I've-" "Go." I said. I watched as Twilight went off and turned my head towards the lake again, taking in the breathtaking view. I liked this world, and it certainly was a nice and forgiving one. I thought that I could have a great life here, until I get home that is. I kept thinking about how life is back home, how it must be an amazing place when you get past all of the bad stuff...... ....Never had I been so wrong in all my life. Going Back HomeI stayed there for just a bit longer, taking in the view. But eventually decided to get up to see what Celestia was doing here. I went into town and found Celestia talking to Twilight. "Brendan." Celestia said. "What's going on here?" I said. "Brendan, I have come to tell you that we have found a way for you to return home." Celestia said. My eyes grew wide. What? I could, go home? This was the best news I had ever heard in my time here, going home. I could finally get the answers to the questions that have plagued my mind for all this time. "Alright, let's do it." I said. Celestia nodded and said that we had to go to Canterlot straight away. I ran towards her chariot, I couldn't wait any longer. When we all got onto the chariot we flew towards Canterlot, finally I would have my answers. We had eventually arrived in Canterlot, which looked beautiful during this time of day. But I didn't have enough time to admire the beauty of the city right now. I got out and ran ahead of them to the castle, I was about to get there when I noticed a large wagon in the corner of my eye. I looked at it and my suspicion was correct, it was Trixie's. I wanted to run ahead and get there now, but I also wanted to tell Trixie the good news. So I just stood there, tapping my feet, wondering what to do. I eventually just decided to tell Trixie the good news. I ran to the wagon and knocked on the door. "Yes?" Trixie said from inside. "Trixie? It's me, Brendan." I said. I heard her practically run to her door and open it. "Y-your here?" She said. "N-not that Trixie cares. Trixie couldn't care less.....Why are you here?" "Celestia told me that she found a way to get me back home. And I'm trying to get there as fast as I can." I said. "Oh, well. Uh, good luck with that." She said, her ears drooping. "You want to come?" I asked. Her ears perked up and she nodded. I ran and turned my head around, watching her struggling to keep up with me. I thought it was kind of cute how she kept tripping over her cape like that. Wait, cute? What? I slowed down and we decided to walk to the castle instead, but speed walking though. We arrived at the castle and we were about to go in when two royal guard stood in our way. "Halt civilians. You may not pass through here." One of them said. I was about to open my mouth to say something when Celestia said something from behind me. "It's alright, they can pass." I would wonder how she got here so fast, but I was too excited about getting to see my home that I just didn't care. I walked into the throne room and saw a small circular mat in the middle of the room, surrounded by a big pile of rope. "What's all this?" I asked. "That's how we get you home." Celestia said. "I will do the spell and the portal should appear above that mat, and you can go visit your world." I walked over to the mat and told her to do it. She got the spell ready and the portal appeared over the mat. Questions that had plagued my mind were finally going to be answered, I couldn't wait any longer. I was about to step into the portal when Celestia wrapped the rope around me. "What's this for?" I asked. "So we can pull you back through." She said, tightening it. I was about to step in again when Twilight stopped me. She dragged me away, saying she had to say something to me. "What Twi? Why'd you do that?" I said. She had taken us out of the room and we were in the hallway. "I just needed to ask you something." She said. "Well what is it?" "If your home is just how you want. If it's everything that you've ever wanted, and you want to stay. Would you?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, would you leave? Forever?" She said. Rainbow asked me this too, and I still didn't have the answer for it. I thought about it for a moment, would I? Would I just leave? No, of course not. I would at least come here and say my goodbyes. But what if the portal was only a one time thing? What if I only have one chance to do it? I didn't know. "Well, I'd say my goodbyes if that was the case. I wouldn't just straight up leave you guys." I said. "What if you couldn't go back when you re-entered here?" She said. Was she reading my mind? I was about to say something when I felt somepony tugging at the rope, then I fell back as the rope dragged me back into the throne room. "Okay, you've had your turn to talk. Now come on." Trixie said, dragging me back into the hallway, still on my butt. Twilight went back into the throne room and Trixie turned to me. "So, it looks like your finally going back home, huh?" She said. "Yeah, it's been so long. And I can't remember that much, I just hope it's as great as I'm imagining." I said. "Well, I just wanted to say that, uh." She kicked the ground and sighed. "You're a good pony- er, person." She said. "Thanks Trixie. And I know your a good pony." I said. "Well, Trixie hopes that you find out who you are, and about your home." She said. "So, goodbye." Tears started to form around her eyes. "Goodbye to you too, the Great and Powerful Trixie." I said, chuckling a bit. She laughed a bit too and hugged me. "Don't be gone for too long." She said. "I'll try not to." I said, hugging back. After a while I felt the rope tugging, and was dragged back into the throne room. I said my goodbyes to the rest of them and walked up to the portal. From the looks on their faces, it seemed that they thought I would stay there forever, and they were in a hurry to say their goodbyes. I looked into the portal, it was a oval of white. I stepped into the portal and closed my eyes, imagining seeing bright colors, people walking around, all sorts of new things. I expected to be greeted with a beautiful view of a human city, maybe even being able to find my parents. I didn't remember much, but I knew I was an only child, no girlfriend, no children, so my parents were going to be a sight that I would love to see. When I stepped into the portal I opened my eyes and my heart fell. I was greeted with destruction. I looked around at the wasteland that was in front of me, my smile was gone. My thoughts about what this place is like were gone, my dreams shattered as I stared at the ruined buildings that fell on top of one another, the houses that were mostly missing their walls and had their interiors exposed. I walked to the scene in front of me, it was dark. The sky looked like it was nighttime, but it could be day, I don't know. I looked at the skyscrapers that fell onto other smaller buildings, the scene looked like one straight out of an apocalyptic game that I thought I played once in this world. I imagined all of the mental pictures I had about my home, how it would be as bright and colorful as Equestria, and watched them shatter and show me this nightmare. I walked until I found my self at a large building that looked like a giant bowl and walked in, empty and barren. I walked to the center of the building, which had a giant field in it, and sat on the stage that it had. I looked around, now with all of the questions that were answered, five new ones took their places. "What happened?" I said. I looked around at the stage and found a large device. I picked it up and found myself in that strange feeling of deja vu. I looked around at the scene around me. Yes. I have been here before. But why? How? When? I then had visions flash before my eyes. With each vision that passed through my head, the more I could remember. I fell to my knees, trying my hardest to remember. I had all of the pieces to the puzzle, now I just had to put them together. "BRENDAN!!" I heard a voice in my head say. "WE WILL RISE AGAIN!!" The Russian man's voice in my head said. "THEY CANNOT KEEP US TRAPPED DOWN HERE FOREVER!!!" I tried even harder, I was hearing the voices, but I couldn't get the picture. I closed my eyes, then the memories all came flooding back to me. I remembered who I was. I remembered everything. I was Brendan Smith. Charged with treason to my country, imprisoned and tortured, escaped, and the man who failed to stop the end of the world.
What happened?All I heard was laughter before I heard booming outside the building. The button was pushed, I tried to stop him, but was too late. I closed my eyes and waited to die. I silently said my goodbyes to my friends who were behind me. We had come expecting a fun time, but instead we were greeted to a mad man. Saying how our government was corrupt, saying how he was going to save us from the government, the virus outbreak that was killing thousands, even save us from ourselves. I didn't know what he was blabbing about, but I knew he was dangerous. I sprung into action while one of my friends called the police and tried to grab the device he was holding. But I was too slow, he dodged it with ease and pushed the button. I braced myself for impact, but nothing came. I felt myself get lighter, and I couldn't feel the ground under my feet anymore. I opened my eyes but immediately closed them again when a bright light obscured my vision. After a while the bright light dissapeared and I opened my eyes. When I opened my eyes I found myself face to face with a beautiful starry night, I was laying on my back on grass. Grass? What happened to the building I was in? Wait, what building? What happened before I came here? Where is here? I got up into a sitting position and saw that I was in a clearing in a forest. I tried to remember what happened before I came here (wherever here was) but couldn't. I couldn't remember what I was doing, or what happened. I got up and looked around where I was before coming to one conclusion: I have no freaking idea where I'm at. I then heard a twig snap to my side and immediately jumped to the direction of the snap. I looked around the ground and found a stick, I picked it up and held it out while holding my head back, ready to do what? I don't know. Stab it in the eye? "C-come out." I said, shaking. Then I jumped when I saw a bunny jump out of a bush and hop towards me. I sighed in relief and threw the stick. "Oh thank the 80s. I thought you were some sort of monster or something." I got on my knees and tried to pet the bunny, only for it to slap my hand away. "Angel!" I heard a soft voice call. "Angel bunny!" "Um, I think that's for you man." I said. I whistled and hoped someone would hear, and after a while a yellow horse appeared out of the woods. "Oh, hey there. I wonder if your owner is also this bunny's owner." I said. The bunny then jumped from my hand and landed in the horse's mane, somehow completely disappearing from sight. "Well then. Since the bunny's name was Angel, I wonder what yours is." I said. "I'm Fluttershy." The yellow horse said. "Um, care to run that by me again? A little louder this time please?" I said, leaning one ear closer. I'm F-fluttershy." The yellow horse said again. It wasn't as loud as I meant, but I could hear it. "Oh, okay- Wait a minute. WHAT!?!? I fell on my back and crawled back a little. "Did- did you just speak?" I asked. "Why yes. I'm guess you've never seen a pony before?" Fluttershy asked. "Well, I've seen ponies. Just not ones that can talk. Because, that's impossible. Ponies can't talk." I said. "Well, I don't know where you came from, but all ponies can talk here." Fluttershy said. "Oh, you must probably be hungry and tired. Would you like to walk with me back to Ponyville?" 'Ponyville'? 'Talking ponies'? I must've gone insane or something. There was just no way that any of this could be happening. Right as I thought that my stomach rumbled like it wanted to cause an earthquake. I was starving and didn't even notice it until now. "Um, food would be nice, thank you. And maybe an explanation about where I am?" I said. "I'll take you to Twilight, she'll definitely want to meet you." Fluttershy said. I then followed the pony towards this 'Ponyville'. But I still had that question in the back of my mind, why can't I remember what happened? When I arrived in Ponyville I quickly became the eye candy for the whole town. It only took me just a couple seconds to arrive and everyone was out of their house and staring at me.I felt really uncomfortable and hoped that we'd arrive to wherever this "Twilight" is. We stopped at a large tree that appeared to also serve as a house. I knocked on the door and was (eventually) greeted by a purple horse with a horn. The second she saw me her eyes opened up wide and any signs of her being tired vanished instantly. "Fluttershy? What's this?" The pony asked. "I found him in the Everfree Forest. I don't know what, or who, he is." Fluttershy said. "Hello. I, um, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Um, come in." She said. I walked forward but hit my head on the top of the door. "Doors are shorter than me, remember that." I thought to myself. "So, let's start with your name. What's your name?" Twilight asked, getting paper and a quill. "Um, Brendan?" I said. "Was that an answer or a question?" Twilight asked. "An answer?" I said. "What's wrong? Don't you know your own name?" Twilight asked, looking at me and then writing things down. I thought and couldn't really get a right grasp on what my name was. I had a sea of names in my head, but couldn't really pinpoint mine. I said 'Brendan' to myself a couple times and decided it felt right. "Brendan, Brendan. Yeah, Brendan's my name." I said. "Alright, well, where did you come from?" She asked. Great. I thought for a while. "Where did I come from? How am I here? What happened before I came here?" I had all of these questions in my mind. "Earth." I said, hesitantly, as if I only had one chance to answer and if I messed it up I'd get beaten or something. "Alright, well. We need to take you to see Princess Celestia." Twilight said. "We'll go right now." She went upstairs and I allowed myself to look around her library. There were rows all along the room full of books, there was one giant table in the middle of the room, and one creepy looking owl that I just realized was staring at me the entire time. "What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "What do you mean?" "Well, it just took you a while to answer about your name and I just thought something was wrong." She said, her voice getting quieter as she ended her sentence. "Oh, um. I don't know. I just can't remember a lot about me, where I came from, I don't even know how I got here." I said. I thought about it forever, wondering where I came from. Wondering, most of all, what happened. The only thing I could think in my mind is knowing I survived. I don't know what it means, but I did. All I know is I survived.
Getting Settled InTwilight didn't waste any time shoving me and Fluttershy out of her house to get the rest of her friends and head to the city they call 'Canterlot'. On the late night train ride there her friends, obviously, had a lot of questions. I tried to answer them as best I could, which was pretty hard to do. Even the questions about me personally were a challenge, sometimes I'd just shrug and say I didn't know. We reached Canterlot and my breath was taken away. The castle in the distance looked beautiful, and the city was amazing. Even with all of the ponies staring at me. I found it a little odd that the city was on the edge of a cliff, but I just decided to roll with it. "So, what do you remember?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Not much, just some basic stuff." I answered, too busy gazing at the beautiful city before me. We walked throughout the city towards the castle. But honestly, I was more concerned about the amazing city sights I could see on the walk. I was so focused on the sights I didn't even see the guards until I bumped into them. "Oh, sorry there." I said. "Step back civili- Um. Creature?" The guard said. "It's okay guys. We request to speak to Princess Celestia at once please. It's about him." Twilight pointed a hoof at me and I just stood there waving at the guards. "Um.... Okay. I'll go... I'll just go get her." One of the guards said. We waited for a bit before the guard came back and told us that Celestia is ready to see us. Walking into the throne room I was amazed by the beauty of the castle, and the tinted windows. I looked ahead and saw a giant, white, pony sitting on the throne room. I heard her gasp when I walked into the room. "Princess Celestia, I'd like to introduce to you, Brendan." Twilight said, bowing. "Hello." Celestia said, walking towards me. She was almost as tall as me. And, unlike most of the ponies I saw, she had both a horn and wings. "Hey, how's it going?" I said. "What are you?" Celestia asked. "A human." I answered. "Where did you come from?" She asked. "Well not from here obviously." I mumbled, looking at one of the tinted windows that showed the six ponies I was with. "How did you get here?" Celestia asked. "I don't know." I answered, returning my attention to the princess in front of me. "How do you not know?" She said. "I don't know. I can't seem to remember much about who I am, and how I got here." "Right. Well I believe Twilight has some questions to ask you." Celestia said. "You can answer them first thing in the morning, you'll need somewhere to sleep though." "I already know where he can live." Twilight said. We then left and returned back to Ponyville, everyone left except Twilight, who took me a little ways out of town to a lake with a house next to it. "Well you better get to bed. I'm sorry that the bed's a little too big for you. We'll get somepony to fix that tomorrow." Twilight said. I nodded and closed the door to my new home. I sat on the couch that was in the living room and it immediately broke. "Great." I said. I sat down on the floor near the bed and tried again to remember what happened. Just like before I couldn't remember anything that had happened. I thought that I wouldn't be able to sleep, what, with all of the things that have happened to me in such a little amount of time. But the moment I laid down and covered myself with the blanket I just fell asleep right there. I was woken up by someone pounding at my door. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Calm down!" I said, wishing more than anything to go back to sleep. I opened the door to find a purple horse in front of me. I was confused by this but remembered the events from the previous night. "Oh no!" I said, hitting my head against the side of the door. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Nothing." I said. "Other than the fact that I'm in a completely different world, surrounded by mutated ponies!" I thought to myself. "Well, I have some questions to ask you. If you have the time of course." Twilight said. I nodded and we walked back to her home. It wasn't long before Rainbow Dash found us. "Hey, uh, Brendan, right?" She said. "I guess." I said. "Man, you reek. When was the last time you had a shower?" Rainbow said, covering her nostrils with her hooves and backing up a bit from me. "Rainbow!" Twilight said. "And you look like you barely had any sleep last night." She continued. "Well I don't remember when I last had a shower." I said, sniffing my arm. "But I need one bad." "Well you could use the shower at the library." Twilight said. I agreed and we continued off to her home, Rainbow Dash leaving to do God knows what. I got to the library and Twilight told me where the shower was, and one look at it made me just shut the door. I stood next to the shower and it barely went above my waistline. I thought about if I could actually manage to pull it off, but I'm not Will Ferrell, I can't take a shower in this. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked when I went back downstairs. "If I stand in that shower It's going to shatter into a million pieces." I said. "Oh, right." She said. "Well, alright. Begin the questions." I said, laying down on the floor. "Okay, eye color?" She said, getting paper and a quill. I rose my head to look at her and let her see for herself. "Okay, red." She said, writing it down. I lied my head back down and stared at the humongous bookshelves in the room we were in. Twilight asked me more questions, but much like the train ride, I couldn't answer a lot of them. I was angry at this, angry I couldn't remember my home, any friends and family, who I was. She then took me outside and said she wanted to test how strong I was compared to the ponies in Ponyville. She got a couple of ponies, including Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash, and mad me arm wrestle them all. I easily beat them, except for Apple Jack and Rainbow, it took me longer than expected to beat them. Twilight then dragged me with her and Apple Jack and told me to lift some things they had at the barn. "Why am I doing this stuff again?" I said, lifting a wooden box. "I just want to see the extent of your strength. Lift it above your head, Brendan." She said. I did and she made me lift other things. After a while I told her my arms were sore and aching and if I continued I would pass out. She told me okay and said I should go to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie asked me to meet her there. I followed Twilight's instructions and found myself near a building that looked like it was made from sweets. "Come one guys, I want to see him." I heard a voice from somewhere, but couldn't pin point where. I then heard a gasp to my right and turned to see three smaller ponies in the distance. "There he is!" The small orange one said. I looked around me and I guessed they were talking about me. Well, I should have figured. I am a strange creature they would probably have a load of questions to ask. "Hey mister!" The yellow one said while they ran towards me. "Yeah?" I said. I don't know why, but when they came running for me I put my left hand on my hip, as if I was expecting a pistol to be there or something. And them coming towards me gave me a feeling of wanting to flee from the scene if things got bad. Bad? "What are ya?" The yellow one said. "I'm Brendan. And I'm a human." I said. "A human? Didn't we hear somepony start talking about humans once?" The white one said. "Yeah. But, I didn't know they were actually real!" The orange one said. "Oh, sorry. Allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Apple Bloom, that's Sweetie Belle, and that's Scootaloo." Apple Bloom said. "Well, nice to meet you." I said. "What's it like where you come from?" Scootaloo said. "I- I don't remember." I said, scratching my head. I silently said "Why'd you ask that?" when all of the questions started flooding their way back into my mind. And, just like before, found myself unable to answer any of them. "What do you mean you don't remember?" The white one said. "I woke up here last night, I can't remember near anything about how I got here, what I was doing before, I can barley even tell you about what my home was like." I said. Scootaloo then looked at the building and poked Sweetie Belle, who then poked Apple Bloom. Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell ran towards Sugar Cube Corner. "Wow. That's sad. I'm sorry." Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry about it kid." I said "Go join your friends." Apple Bloom ran off to go join Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and left me to my thoughts. It was kind of messed up that I don't remember my home. The only mental image I have of Earth, my home, is of me standing on top of a hill, next to a tree. I don't even remember what I was doing there. I remembered that Pinkie Pie wanted to see me in Sugar Cube Corner and walked towards the building.
Feeling Without KnowingI walked to the door to Sugar Cube Corner and turned the door knob. And once I opened it I jumped from everyone inside yelling "SURPRISE!!!!" I looked around and saw that Pinkie Pie must have decorated the entire building for a party. I saw giant bowls of punch, giant cakes, giant streamers, everything party size but bigger. "So, do you like it!? Oh, what am I talking about, of course you love it! I decided to make everything big because you're so tall and I thought about making everything in your 'welcome to Ponyville' party bigger too!" Pinkie said, the words shooting out of her mouth faster than a speeding bullet. I just stood there, not moving. I felt something warm go down my face and put my finger to it, a tear. Tears? Why am I crying? I felt incredible sadness wash over me like I was hit with a wave of feels. I wiped my eyes as fast as I could and played it off like nothing happened. I looked around to see that I was surrounded by a ton of ponies that I haven't seen before. There was one mint colored pony that was staring at me like she was a kid and I was the toy she'd been begging for since forever. There was also a brown pony with an hourglass tattoo on his flank, that I could've sworn I'd seen somewhere before. He saw me and kind of smiled nervously and walked off. "Uh, I love it Pinkie." I said. "Thanks! I knew you would, but I didn't know what kind of cake you liked so I just got them all!" She said, carrying two cakes. Everyone then continued with their business, except for the mint one, who was still staring. I walked around and felt my stomach growling at the sight of all the food. "Wait a minute, I haven't eaten in a whole day." I thought to myself. I walked over to the table and eagerly looked over the food choices I had. Hay and flowers. Really? The only food that I could eat were apples, pears, and other fruits and vegetables. I looked at all the ponies and got the feeling that I wouldn't be getting any steak any time soon. So I took an apple off the table and started devouring it. "Ya must be hungry." Apple Jack said as I finished my third apple. "Yeah." I said, a little apple juice spilling out of my mouth, which I cleaned off with a napkin. Apple Jack chuckled at the apple juice spilling and gave me a mug full to the brim with a bubbly liquid. "What's this?" I asked, looking into the mug. "Apple Cider." She said. "Okaaaaay. What's in it?" I asked. Apple Jack didn't answer, just gave a confused look. "I don't remember much, but I do know that Apple Cider isn't normally bubbly, unless it contains alcohol." I said. "Oh, no. It's completely fine. Nothing in it but apple." She reassured. I looked at the drink and took a sniff of it before guessing it was fine and chugging the whole thing down. Once I finished the drink I was pretty saddened that it ended. I really enjoyed the taste. "This drink, I like it. Bring me another!" I said. Apple Jack filled the mug again and I chugged it all down, asking for more. Apple Jack filled it up and we repeated the process until Apple Jack said I said I should stop before they ran out. Disappointed I looked for something to do. "So, how do you like your party darling?" Rarity asked. "It's great." I said. "Well that's good. Pinkie Pie puts a lot of effort into making her parties, she treats them as serious business." She said. I heard Rarity talking, but I wasn't paying her any attention. I was staring off into space, thinking about home. I was getting pretty tired of doing nothing but think about home, but it was all I could think about. There were no other humans here to consult with. And as far as I can tell there isn't a way out of this world. But I didn't want to believe that. I would find a way home, no matter what. I would devote every breathing second I had if necessary. I would find a way home, and I would find out what happened, and how I got here. I then felt Rarity poke me on the shoulder and I jumped and held two fists in the air. I put them down and ran to find Twilight. "Twilight!" I said, finally finding her. "Brendan? What's wrong?" "I need to go in your library." I said. "Wait, what? Why?" She said. "I'm going to find my way home. And I'm going to look in your library for the way." I said. She stared at me for a bit and told me the door was open. I then left and went in the library, opening the first book I got my hands on. "Daring Doo?" I thought, putting it back. I didn't need an Indiana Jones parody, I needed a way to get home. I was reading maybe the tenth book when Twilight came home, and by the look on her face I braced myself for an impact that, thankfully, never came. "What?" I said, cautiously. "You left the party! That's what!" She said. "I don't see what I did wrong." I said, hesitantly, looking for something I could use to block any attacks. "Pinkie Pie worked so hard on the party. The least you could've done is thank her for it!" She said. I told her I was sorry I didn't thank Pinkie for the party and that I'd do it tomorrow, I just had one thing on my mind when leaving the party: going home. Her face got a little less hostile and I felt safer, but still braced myself in case anything was thrown my way. "It's okay. But you better say 'thank you' to Pinkie for the party she made tomorrow, or tonight if you could. I nodded and left, going to Sugar Cube Corner and thanking Pinkie for the party, which ended up getting me wrapped up in a conversation that jumped to grass almost out of nowhere. Once I went home I laid back down on the floor and wrapped myself up in the blanket with two thoughts on my mind: "Why was I crying at the party?" and one that I found myself kind of angered by: "Why didn't I get a bigger bed?"
Meeting The Great And PowerfulI've been in Ponyville for a couple weeks now, and am nowhere closer to finding a way to get back home. Not even the library in Canterlot could help me. I've joined Twilight and her friends in helping stop a couple of problems in Ponyville, kind of. I've gotten a bigger bed and finally felt a hot shower with a shower that I can feel like I won't break it when I step in. I even got a bigger couch! I've been in my house reading about ways that could help me get home a lot though. And the only time I've ever really helped them is when a Griffon named Gilda came to town and was bullying the residents. I had my opinion on how to get rid of her, but we just went with Rainbow Dash's party to welcome her to Ponyville and give her a chance. That ultimately ended in Gilda freaking out and ruining her friendship, if that's what you want to call it, with Rainbow Dash. I was reading my book when I decided that I should take a walk in town, get some fresh air, maybe get some food, all that good stuff. I was walking when I saw a crowd of ponies around some sort of stage. I walked over to see what they were staring at and saw a light blue mare standing on the stage with a cape and hat that I saw and though "Witch" when seeing it. Apparently I had come at a pretty bad time because the mare looked pretty annoyed. "Well, looks like we have some neigh-sayers in this crowd!" She said, actually neighing when saying naysayers. I tried not to, but I had to say it. "Get it? Because ya'll are horses." I said, chuckling a little. The show mare then stopped what she was doing and stared me down. "What is that horrid thing!?" She said, pointing a hoof at me. "Hey! I represent that!" I said. "And I'm Brendan, nice to meet you." I said, holding out my hand. She didn't shake my hand, just stared at me as if I was some kind of 6-foot-tall, walking, talking fungus. I laughed awkwardly and put my hand back, rocking myself back and forth. "What's your name?" I asked. "I, am the Great and Powerful, Trixie!!!" She said, trilling her the 'r' when she said one. Then fireworks and fog came from behind the stage and I was quite awe struck. And I was quite curious about what she was all about. "So, your going to perform? Care to continue?" I said. "Of course. Trixie will preform for her adoring fans, even those who are large, talking, ugly, hairless, apes." She said. I saw everyone around me look at me, as if they were expecting me to be offended. And I wasn't, I should, but wasn't. I crossed my arms and watched as Trixie preformed many spells, invisibility, teleportation, making things appear from a hat, all the good stuff. I was actually kind of awestruck by the magic she was preforming. I'd been in Equestira for weeks, but never really got the chance to see unicorns use their magic. I've seen Twilight use magic when she lifts books up and gives them to me, but other than that I've never seen magic being used. I looked around the crowd and noticed many hostile looks, as if she did something to them. And once the show was over there was awkward silence that lasted for a while. I finally clapped and everyone else joined in slowly. "Thank you! Trixie knows she is the greatest! Thank you!" She said. She then walked off the stage while bowing. "Why'd you clap?" Rainbow said. "Well why not?" I asked. "She was being self-centered, telling everypony how she was better than everypony else." Twilight said. "Yeah, okay. That sounds pretty bad. But I wasn't here for that. So I didn't know. And I liked her show." I said. "What? No way! Twilight here could do spells like those in her sleep!" Rainbow said. "Hush Rainbow. I'm not better than anypony else, I've told you before." Twilight said. "Well alright. But I've only seen Twilight levitate things. I've never seen any other kind of magic. So this was a nice chance for me to experience other kinds of magic." I said. "Whatever. Hey! Brendan, you should come watch me! I've got some awesome new flying techniques that I know you'll love! You haven't seen my flying techniques in a long time, I bet your already suffering from the lack of awesomeness!" Rainbow said. "Uh, yeah. Maybe later, okay Rainbow? I, uh, still have some reading to do." I said. "Aw, what! Lame!" Rainbow said. "Sorry, but if I want to get home, this what I've got to do." I said, I believed it. But something inside of me just wanted to give up, but I wouldn't. There has to be some way to get out of here. I may have said that I was going to read, but I really wanted to get the chance to talk to Trixie, she was a unicorn. I'd asked every unicorn I know if they knew even the smallest detail about humans, or their home world. I'd even asked Celestia and Luna. I would ask the mint colored unicorn but, no offense to her, she kind of scares me. And Trixie is a new unicorn, the chances are slim, but I've got to try. Even if there's a small chance. I walked to the back of the stage and found a wagon. I knocked on the door and was immediately answered. "Yes? Who's there?" She said. "Uh, it's the large, talking, ugly, hairless ape." I said. "Hm, you may come in." She said. I opened the door and found her sitting on a chair in front of a large mirror reading a magazine and drinking what I think is punch. There was a bed and a bunch of drawers filled to bursting point with hats and capes. Trixie then jumped out of her chair and watched me forget that doors were shorter than me in this world and laughed at it. "Um, I was wondering if you could tell me if you know anything about my kind?" I said. "I know it's a long shot since I'm the first one here, but that mint colored pony seems to have had prior knowledge about my kind." "I'm sorry, but it seems that not even the Great and Powerful Trixie knows about your kind, whatever you are." She said. I just responded with a "hm" and kicked the ground and looked around the wagon, it was kind of a pigsty, capes were on the ground and the blanket on her bed was halfway fallen off. "Is there something else the Great and Powerful Trixie can help you with?" She said. "Oh, uh. No, I just. Sorry for, uh. Yeah. I'd also like to say that I thought your show was great." I said nervously. "Well naturally. Trixie knows she is the greatest and most powerful in Equestria after all." She said, her voice may have said that, but the tone of her voice showed me she was truly thankful. "Alright, well, I guess, um. I guess I'll see you around?" I said. "Hm. Trixie thinks so, Trixie will be staying in Ponyville for a while now and you may have the honor of seeing Trixie again someday." She said. "Alright." I said, walking out and, again, forgetting I need to crouch when I walk through doors. I heard Trixie chuckle a bit at me bumping my head and just looked at her, I wasn't mad at her. I do have to admit that even I found it amusing I keep banging my head on doors every now and then. I got up and walked back to my home and got ready to start my book reading spree before someone- er, somepony. I need to remember that. Anyway, somepony knocks on my door. I got up and opened my door, seeing Rarity there, holding a present in her magical grasp. "Why hello Brendan, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She said as I let her in. "Um, no. Not really." I said. "Oh good." She said, handing me the present. I opened it and saw a suit inside of it. "A suit?" I said. I remembered her asking me if she could get my measurements but didn't really pay that much attention as to what it was for. "Yes, for the Gala. You must dress up for it." She said. I remembered the day Twilight got the Gala tickets and I really wasn't that interested in going. I told Rarity this and I guess she wasn't okay with my decision. "What? But you're the first human to be in Equestria, you simply must come!" She said. I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded towards the pile of books I still haven't read. "Oh, please. Even Twilight is taking time from her studies to come, so you can too." Rarity said. "I just don't know. I won't fit in with anypony there, and it just doesn't seem like something I'd like." I said. "But you simply must come!" She said, she obviously wasn't going to let me stay home. "Okay, okay, I'll consider it." I said. Rarity was about to say something when I interrupted her. "Up! I said I'll consider it. So that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be going." I said. "Well I do hope you go darling. I'm sure you will love it!" Rarity said on her way out. I thought about going to the Gala, I did need some more time outside of the house. But then I'd have to talk to ponies, and do things, and that didn't really sound all that appealing. But, if even Twilight was willing to take time out of her schedule to go, then I could too! I looked at the suit Rarity made me and thought that it wasn't really, me. The coat was laced with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. I decided to just wear the white shirt that goes underneath it, the black pants, and the shoes. I looked in the box and saw Rarity had made me a wife-beater too. I put the coat in my closet, which was pretty empty, and put the other clothes on my desk. I tried to remember when the Gala was and remembered it was tomorrow night. This was going to be a fun time for me, I think.
Remembering At The GalaToday was the day, the day I would try to fit in with the crowd of pampered ponies and high class royals. I felt sick at the thought. Rarity didn't like that I didn't wear the coat that she made with the suit and started complaining that I would stand out like a sore, but eventually she stopped. As if I wouldn't stand out as much as I already would with me being a six foot tall human in a room with maybe three foot tall ponies. I looked out the window in the carriage at the city of Canterlot that we were advancing towards slowly. "Don't worry Brendan, it'll all be fine." Twilight said. "God. I don't know about this." I said. I've been in Canterlot numerous times before, but this time I'd be in a party full of posh, stuck up, and snobby ponies. "Don't worry sugarcube, just breath an' it'll all be fine" Apple Jack said. "It'll be okay Brendan. Maybe you'll find something you'll enjoy there." Fluttershy said. I just nodded and looked out the window, I did not like being surrounded by stuck up ponies, the way they were just made me feel weird about being near them. The way they constantly judged you, silently and behind you back. I didn't like it. And being in a room full of them just made me unsure about everything and kind of sick. The wagon stopped and we walked out. And I was quite taken by surprise when everypony just broke out into song. Completely out of freaking nowhere too. I didn't want to sing so I just stood there awkwardly, begging for the song to be over. When the song was over (Thank God) I joined Twilight and her friends in the castle and watched as they all went off to do their own things, leaving me all alone. I gulped nervously and looked for something to drink. I walked over to a table where a waitress was standing. Once I walked over there everypony that was already there started staring at me, making me even more nervous. "Um, I don't really know what you guys have for drinks here so, uh, I'll take whatever you have that's strong." I said. The waitress used her magic to hold up a bottle of apparently regular alcohol. I honestly didn't care about what they had, as long as it'd help me get through the night, so I nodded. I watched her fill up a small glass that barely held anything. "Um, don't you guys have any cups bigger than this?" I asked. The waitress just looked at me funny and got out a slightly bigger cup. It wasn't really what I wanted, but it was good enough. I nodded and she filled the mug looking cup until I told her to stop, which was when it filled almost to the top. Everypony around me was just staring at me and I just wanted to drink and forget all of this. I was about to put the mug to my lips when I stopped and said, "For our brothers." and proceeded to chug the drink down. While I drank the drink I wondered why I had said that. Great, more questions to haunt my mind. I finished the drink and put the mug down, asking for a refill. When the waitress refilled it I drank down the rest of that. I turned my back to the waitress and looked out into the crowd, I saw Twilight at the top of the steps next to Celestia, I Rainbow Dash trying her best to get the attention of some people I'd never met but were probably these 'Wonderbolts' she keeps talking about. I looked over to see Rarity with some stallion that definitely had 'stuck up' written all over him. I turned to refill and drank it in a flash, I started feeling myself getting a little dizzy but didn't care. The drink was making the night go by faster, I was okay with that. I asked for another but the waitress told me she thought I'd had enough. I complained for a bit before getting up and walking away. I walked around for a bit and found it a little hard to keep myself standing straight. I found Pinkie, trying to make this party better, but failing. I decided to just walk out and look for Apple Jack. I looked around and found her at a stand, selling her apple products. "Hey Apple Jack." I said. "You okay?" She said, seeing me struggling to walk straight. "Wha? Yeah, yeah, I'm okay-ish." I said. I sat down and held my head in my hands. "You know, this definitely beats that one night." I said. Apple Jack just looked at me confused. "I was out with friends, we were drinking and I woke up with a tattoo, a monkey, and a pretty cool looking hat." I said. I took off my shirt and showed Apple Jack the tattoo I had on my back. It was of an eagle that's left side was red and right side blue. I put the shirt back on and Apple Jack just stared at me more confused than ever. "It was a LONG while ago. Long before I joined the- RARITY!" I said, seeing Rarity and the stuck up stallion. I waved at her and she smiled and waved back before walking away with the snob. "What were you gonna say sugarcube?" Apple Jack said. "Nothing." I said, getting up and following Rarity. I heard Apple Jack protest to me leaving but didn't care. I was on the move and even I didn't know what I was doing. I followed them around until I saw a them come to a door, and watch as he makes her hold the door open for him. This ticked me off. "Hey!" I said as I walked over there. "Pardon me" The stallion said. "Brendan, what are you doing?" Rarity said. "Listen buddy." I said, ignoring her. "You see her?" I pointed to Rarity. "That there is a lady, and you, being the gentleman, have the responsibility to hold open the door for her and treat her like a princess. So if you have dare have the audacity to call yourself a man, then you are going to do what a man does and open this door for her, Or else." The stallion looked at me as if he thought I was bluffing, but he soon figured out I wasn't and quickly opened the door. Rarity walked through the door and mouthed 'thank you' to me, I mouthed 'no problem' to her and walked away from them. A while later I was trying to get the waitress to give me at least one more drink when Twilight pushed me away and we all ran out the door and off castle grounds. We found our way to a doughnut shop after the had all told me what happened. "Heh, that must suck for you guys. Oh man, that's funny." I said, collapsing onto one of the tables, the last part coming out no more than a whisper. I heard them all talk amongst themselves while I was lying on the table, getting a headache. I started to see faces flash in my vision, I knew these faces, but I didn't at the same time. It bugged me like crazy that I was seeing these faces that I didn't really remember. Once I they all stopped talking I rose my head and opened my eyes to see Celestia staring at me. "You might want to take him home, girls." She said. I just let my head fall back and said , "mmmmmmmmmmm, yeah okay." And got up. Once we got back to Ponyville I began walking home, which really wasn't going so well for me. Rarity helped me home while thanking me for what I did back there. "Ah, it was nothing." I said, opening my door. "Alright, goodnight." I said, walking in my house and falling on my bed. After a while of silence I got up and closed my door, saying sorry to Rarity as I did. "Goodnight darling. See you tomorrow." Rarity said, walking away. I collapsed on my bed and got ready for a good nights rest that never came.
Nightmare FlashbacksI expected to get a pleasant dream, something that would make me feel all warm and fluffy on the inside, but instead I saw nothing but darkness. I looked around and couldn't see anything, I heard a whooshing sound. It sounded like I was underwater. Then I felt my head lifted and found myself above a tub full of water, being held by ropes on my hands. "I said, will you slack off again!?" The man behind me said. "Yeah, yeah, whatever man." I head myself say. "Wait a minute, I didn't say that." I thought. But I did. I felt my head go under the water again and found myself surrounded by darkness again. "Hey, wake up." I heard a man with a Russian accent say. "Come on, wake up." I opened my eyes to see a Russian man next to me. I was surrounded by rocks, all the walls were rocks, with a hole leading out into an area that had an awful lot of chatter. I was laying on a bed that was pretty uncomfortable. "Ah, good job Brendan. I knew they couldn't kill you." The man said. "What happened? Where's Smith and Mason?" I said, again involuntarily. "They're waiting out in the yard, think you can stand up?" The man said. I nodded and got up, walking towards the door. I opened it and was blinded by the bright light outside. I opened my eyes, for real this time, and heard someone knocking at my door. "I'm coming!" I said. I opened the door and saw Twilight standing there. "Oh, hello Brendan. Are you okay?" She said. "Yeah, why?" I said. She pointed to my shirt and I looked down, I'd been sweating like crazy. "Oh, um. I'll change shirts. Um, come on iiiiiiin." I said. I walked towards my closet and took off my shirt. "What's that?" She said. I looked at her and saw she was pointing at my back, I went to a mirror and saw I had an eagle tattoo on my back, it's left side was red and it's right side was blue. "When did I get this?" I said to myself. "It's a tattoo, Twi." I stared at the tattoo for a while before walking back to my closet and putting my black shirt on. "So uh, what is it you wanted to talk about?" I said. "I came by because Apple Jack told me that you seemed to have remembered things about your past last night." She said. "What?" "Yeah, and she described something about you having friends and that bird on your back." I thought about last night, nothing. I then tried to remember anything about my past, nothing. I just shrugged at her. "Hm, well that's odd." She said. "Do you remember your dream?" She said. "Yeah, why?" "Tell me." She said. I told her everything about what happened. "Wow, do you know why those men were hurting you?" She said. "No." I said. I thought about what a turn of mood this must have been for her, being the worst thing that could happen in this world is the entire pony population could end up hating each other. And even then nopony would commit murder or theft. "Well, it's not much, but it's something. I hope you get all your memories back and find out who you really are Brendan." She said. I nodded and she left, leaving me to think about the Russian in my dream. Who was he? Where was I? I decided to just ignore it and take a walk, get some fresh air and think about it later. As I was going out the door I looked at the pile of books I still haven't read, Oh well, I'll read them later. I do need to spend more time outside of the house. I thought about going to visit Trixie, but it was still pretty early in the morning, so I probably shouldn't. I thought about visiting Rainbow to see those tricks she was talking about when Trixie came to town. But I didn't want to do that. I then thought about work, I'd been in Ponyville for a couple weeks now and have never worked, I think I should get a job by now. But where? I can't bake, I'm not very good at knitting, I can't fly so I can't work on weather, the only job I think I could do is help Apple Jack at Sweet Apple Acres. I walked to see Apple Jack and she gave me the job. I wasn't really good enough to pick apples since I could only grab one at a time, so she gave me the job of putting buckets under trees for the apples to fall into, and when they're full I grab them all and put them into a wagon and take it back to the farm. I got good enough pay for my first day on the job. By the time I got home it was already night. I was actually pretty scared that if I went to bed then I'd have more nightmares, but at the same time I couldn't wait and went to bed straight away, hoping to find something out about me. I laid down in my bed and hoped that I could dream about my past again. When I finally fell asleep I was surrounded by darkness, I was pretty happy, hoping I could see another one of those dreams from yesterday. I opened my eyes and was quickly disappointed, it was one of the dreams where I'm flying over Ponyville. I looked around for anything that didn't seem familiar and couldn't. After a while I got to the part of the dream where Rainbow shows up and we race, we did, and I won. Heh, anything can happen in a dream after all, and this one was mine. I turned to face Rainbow and expected her to nod at me and say 'congratulations' but it never came. She nodded at me and said something to me in a Russian accent. "We will live on in you, brother." She said. "What?" I said. I then heard a loud booming from behind me and turned around, I saw a ball of fire coming right towards me and flew out of the way. "What's going on?" I said, dodging another ball of fire. I turned to Rainbow Dash to ask what was going on but was quickly awoken by the sound of someone knocking at my door. I jumped out of my bed when I woke up, but I landed on my hands and feet. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was barely up. I opened the door and saw Trixie standing there, her wagon was on the dirt road. "Uh, hey Trixie." I said. "What are you doing here?" "Trixie just thought that she should say goodbye to you." She said. "Your leaving?" I said, I was kind of dissapointed, I was hoping I could have the chance to ask her about her travels. "Yes, and Trixie just wanted to say goodbye to you." She said. Trixie's horn then lit up and a piece of paper appeared and was hanging in front of me. I took it and it was a poster for her show, but it was signed. "Just something for you, since your a fan." She said. "Oh. Thank you Trixie." I said. She tilted her hat and walked away, waving me goodbye as she did. I stared at the poster and decided to hang it on the wall, but where? I decided to just hang it near my bed. I looked outside and thought that I might be able to get a few hours of sleep in. I decided that I should just stay awake while I was. And again I was left wondering who that Russian man was that I saw in my dream.
Knowing Without FeelingI was about to sit on my couch when I heard knocking at my door. I opened the door and saw Rainbow Dash smiling. "Hey Brendan." She said. "Hey Rainbow, how's it going?" I said. "Good. Hey, want to come with us for a picnic in the park?" She said. "Um, sure. Why not?" I said. "Okay." She said, she flew behind me and started pushing me. "Hey! What!?" "Come on! The picnic is now!" She said. What? She invited me to join them for a picnic that was happening as we spoke? Who does that? I ran forward and Rainbow flew ahead of me. I followed the rainbow beam she left behind and found the spot they were waiting for me at the park. It was under a pretty big tree on top of a hill, arriving there kind of gave me the sense of deja vu. "Brendan!" Twilight said. "Hey guys." I said. "Rainbow, next time you invite me to a picnic, make sure you tell me ahead of time. Okay?" I said. "Yeah, yeah, alright." She said, putting sunglasses on and laying back. A bit later Rainbow bolted straight back up. "Oh yeah, Brendan!" She said. "On my way to your place I saw Trixie. What did she want?" Everypony started looking at me. "She just wanted to say 'bye' and gave me an autographed poster for her show." I said. "Really? That's all?" Rarity said. "What do you mean?" I said. "Nothing Brendan." Twilight said. "Did you have any more weird dreams?" I nodded and told them about the dream. "What!?!? There's no way anypony could beat me at a race! It's impossible!!" Rainbow Dash said. "'We will live on in you, brother.'" Twilight said, thinking. "I wonder what that means. Do you have any family?" She said. "No. Well, at least I don't think so." I said. "Well of course you have family silly! If you didn't have a mommy or a daddy then you wouldn't be here because they never would've met and you never would've been born and then we wouldn't be here talking about how you couldn't be here if you didn't have a family." Pinkie Pie said. I didn't pay attention to her and just continued talking to Twilight about the Russian man. "He was old, he looked to be in his, jeez. I don't know. Maybe his early 50's or late 40's." I said. "He had a moustache and a beard. Messy hair. He spoke to me like I was a brother. Guy looks like he was there for World War 1 and 2." I said. I knew she wouldn't know what World War 1 or 2 were, but I was hoping she wouldn't ask. I didn't want to kill their mood by telling them about that kind of stuff again. "And he didn't seem familiar to you at all?" Twilight said. I shook my head and started eating an apple. "I've never seen him anywhere before." I said. Twilight just nodded her head slowly and picked up a plate with salad on it and began digging in. It wasn't long before Rarity spoke up. "Listen, Brendan." She said. "We've been meaning to tell you something." "What's up?" I said. "About the possibility that you might not be able to return home." Apple Jack said. "What?" I said. "We've been looking all over, every book there is that could help us hasn't, and we don't seem any closer to getting you back." Twilight said. "We'll definitely help you try to get your memories back darling, we just believe it's time to give up on finding you a way home." Rarity said. "What? I-I-What?" I said. I thought about this all for a moment, absorbed what I was being told. "No." I eventually said, no louder than a whisper. "What?" Twilight said. "No!" I said. "No! I won't give up! Not ever! I won't give up until I have all the answers I'm looking for! Even if it takes me one thousand years I'm never going to stop!" "Now calm down sugarcube." Apple Jack said. "No!" I said. I turned to Twilight and pointed at her. "You said you'd help me! All of you did! Well, you might give up, but me!? I'm never going to give up." I stormed off, I was pretty shocked that they would even dare say that. "Hey!" I heard a voice behind me say. I turned to see Rainbow speeding at me, stopping just as she was about to make contact with me. "What?" I said. "Listen, they won't say it. So I will." She said. "Have you ever thought of any reasons to stay?" "Look, I like this world. The colors, the kindness, everything, it's all great in this world, but it's not mine. All I want to do is go home, find out what it's like there." "And what if your home is everything you've ever wanted? Will you stay there forever without saying goodbye?" She said. That was unexpected, she caught me off guard and I had to take a moment to think about what I'd say next. "I-I. Well give me one reason why I shouldn't look for a way to go home." I said. "Because maybe there's somepony who doesn't want you to leave." She said before flying off. What? Who? What was she talking about? I had no idea, so I just went back home. I sat down on my couch and was left to myself for the good part of the day before hearing a knock at the door. I got up and opened the door to see Twilight standing there, looking sort of nervous. "Hey Twi." I said. "Um, hey Brendan." She said. "I'm sorry for earlier." "No." I said. "If anyone has anything to be sorry for, it's me. I did overreact a little bit with the yelling and stuff." I saw Twilight blush at my comment. "So, um. I just came by to ask you if you'd like to continue the discussion we were having about the man later, b-by the lake." She said. After she said that I looked up to see something that had moved in the distance and saw slight traces of purple sticking out of the bushes by the lake. Rarity. "Um, sure. Why not?" I said. At this Twilight lit up, not looking as nervous as she did. "R-really?" She said. "Yeah, why not?" I said. "Alright, uh, just pick me up at my place at 8:00. Okay?" She said, jumping off when I nodded. When 8:00 rolled around I went to pick up Twilight, on my way I began wondering how Trixie was doing on her journey. When I got to Twilight's house I knocked and heard Rarity say "Just a minute dear!" In a sing songy voice. When she the door finally opened Twilight stepped out, her mane done in a way that only Rarity could do. It was kind of poofy, but not at the same time. "So Brendan, what do you think?" Rarity said. "She looks beautiful." I said. I'd never complimented a pony on their mane, and it was pretty weird. I wonder if it's just as weird as complimenting a human on their hair. Twilight blushed and walked out of the house, following me back to the lake and sitting down next to me on the bench next to the lake. "I didn't ask her to do this you know." Twilight said. "What?" "My mane. I didn't ask her to do this, I just thought I'd let you know." "Oh. Well. Alright. Now, about the conversation." I said. "I think I see more things when-" I said before Twilight interrupted me. "This is a beautiful lake. You have such a nice view." She said. I looked out into the lake and had to admit it did look beautiful against the setting sun, but that wasn't what we were here to talk about. "Yeah, okay. Now I think I get more of those dreams-" Again I was interrupted by Twilight. "I have to thank you for coming with us to the Gala, even if you didn't want to. And for trying to help us out with Gilda, even though we didn't use your idea. And also for all those other times you've helped us." She said. I was getting a little annoyed with the constant interruptions, not a lot, but a bit. "Well, I just wanted to say that, I think you're a great guy. And I know that you'll get all of your memories back." She said. I nodded. "Yeah." I looked out at the lake, which was a beautiful orange-red color with the sunset hitting it. "I wonder if anyone's looking for me back home." "I know they are. You're a good person now and I know that you were a good person back then too." She said. Thus, giving me another reason to go home. I wanted to say that, but didn't. I really didn't want to ruin the moment with this beautiful view. "Um, Brendan?" She said. "Hm?" "Have you ever thought about-" She said, before seeing a chariot flying towards us. We looked up and saw Celestia was visiting town. "CELESTIA!?!?" Twilight said. "Oh no! Why didn't she warn me about this sooner!?!? I would've made preparations! Oh, no. I've, um, Brendan, I've-" "Go." I said. I watched as Twilight went off and turned my head towards the lake again, taking in the breathtaking view. I liked this world, and it certainly was a nice and forgiving one. I thought that I could have a great life here, until I get home that is. I kept thinking about how life is back home, how it must be an amazing place when you get past all of the bad stuff...... ....Never had I been so wrong in all my life.
Going Back HomeI stayed there for just a bit longer, taking in the view. But eventually decided to get up to see what Celestia was doing here. I went into town and found Celestia talking to Twilight. "Brendan." Celestia said. "What's going on here?" I said. "Brendan, I have come to tell you that we have found a way for you to return home." Celestia said. My eyes grew wide. What? I could, go home? This was the best news I had ever heard in my time here, going home. I could finally get the answers to the questions that have plagued my mind for all this time. "Alright, let's do it." I said. Celestia nodded and said that we had to go to Canterlot straight away. I ran towards her chariot, I couldn't wait any longer. When we all got onto the chariot we flew towards Canterlot, finally I would have my answers. We had eventually arrived in Canterlot, which looked beautiful during this time of day. But I didn't have enough time to admire the beauty of the city right now. I got out and ran ahead of them to the castle, I was about to get there when I noticed a large wagon in the corner of my eye. I looked at it and my suspicion was correct, it was Trixie's. I wanted to run ahead and get there now, but I also wanted to tell Trixie the good news. So I just stood there, tapping my feet, wondering what to do. I eventually just decided to tell Trixie the good news. I ran to the wagon and knocked on the door. "Yes?" Trixie said from inside. "Trixie? It's me, Brendan." I said. I heard her practically run to her door and open it. "Y-your here?" She said. "N-not that Trixie cares. Trixie couldn't care less.....Why are you here?" "Celestia told me that she found a way to get me back home. And I'm trying to get there as fast as I can." I said. "Oh, well. Uh, good luck with that." She said, her ears drooping. "You want to come?" I asked. Her ears perked up and she nodded. I ran and turned my head around, watching her struggling to keep up with me. I thought it was kind of cute how she kept tripping over her cape like that. Wait, cute? What? I slowed down and we decided to walk to the castle instead, but speed walking though. We arrived at the castle and we were about to go in when two royal guard stood in our way. "Halt civilians. You may not pass through here." One of them said. I was about to open my mouth to say something when Celestia said something from behind me. "It's alright, they can pass." I would wonder how she got here so fast, but I was too excited about getting to see my home that I just didn't care. I walked into the throne room and saw a small circular mat in the middle of the room, surrounded by a big pile of rope. "What's all this?" I asked. "That's how we get you home." Celestia said. "I will do the spell and the portal should appear above that mat, and you can go visit your world." I walked over to the mat and told her to do it. She got the spell ready and the portal appeared over the mat. Questions that had plagued my mind were finally going to be answered, I couldn't wait any longer. I was about to step into the portal when Celestia wrapped the rope around me. "What's this for?" I asked. "So we can pull you back through." She said, tightening it. I was about to step in again when Twilight stopped me. She dragged me away, saying she had to say something to me. "What Twi? Why'd you do that?" I said. She had taken us out of the room and we were in the hallway. "I just needed to ask you something." She said. "Well what is it?" "If your home is just how you want. If it's everything that you've ever wanted, and you want to stay. Would you?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, would you leave? Forever?" She said. Rainbow asked me this too, and I still didn't have the answer for it. I thought about it for a moment, would I? Would I just leave? No, of course not. I would at least come here and say my goodbyes. But what if the portal was only a one time thing? What if I only have one chance to do it? I didn't know. "Well, I'd say my goodbyes if that was the case. I wouldn't just straight up leave you guys." I said. "What if you couldn't go back when you re-entered here?" She said. Was she reading my mind? I was about to say something when I felt somepony tugging at the rope, then I fell back as the rope dragged me back into the throne room. "Okay, you've had your turn to talk. Now come on." Trixie said, dragging me back into the hallway, still on my butt. Twilight went back into the throne room and Trixie turned to me. "So, it looks like your finally going back home, huh?" She said. "Yeah, it's been so long. And I can't remember that much, I just hope it's as great as I'm imagining." I said. "Well, I just wanted to say that, uh." She kicked the ground and sighed. "You're a good pony- er, person." She said. "Thanks Trixie. And I know your a good pony." I said. "Well, Trixie hopes that you find out who you are, and about your home." She said. "So, goodbye." Tears started to form around her eyes. "Goodbye to you too, the Great and Powerful Trixie." I said, chuckling a bit. She laughed a bit too and hugged me. "Don't be gone for too long." She said. "I'll try not to." I said, hugging back. After a while I felt the rope tugging, and was dragged back into the throne room. I said my goodbyes to the rest of them and walked up to the portal. From the looks on their faces, it seemed that they thought I would stay there forever, and they were in a hurry to say their goodbyes. I looked into the portal, it was a oval of white. I stepped into the portal and closed my eyes, imagining seeing bright colors, people walking around, all sorts of new things. I expected to be greeted with a beautiful view of a human city, maybe even being able to find my parents. I didn't remember much, but I knew I was an only child, no girlfriend, no children, so my parents were going to be a sight that I would love to see. When I stepped into the portal I opened my eyes and my heart fell. I was greeted with destruction. I looked around at the wasteland that was in front of me, my smile was gone. My thoughts about what this place is like were gone, my dreams shattered as I stared at the ruined buildings that fell on top of one another, the houses that were mostly missing their walls and had their interiors exposed. I walked to the scene in front of me, it was dark. The sky looked like it was nighttime, but it could be day, I don't know. I looked at the skyscrapers that fell onto other smaller buildings, the scene looked like one straight out of an apocalyptic game that I thought I played once in this world. I imagined all of the mental pictures I had about my home, how it would be as bright and colorful as Equestria, and watched them shatter and show me this nightmare. I walked until I found my self at a large building that looked like a giant bowl and walked in, empty and barren. I walked to the center of the building, which had a giant field in it, and sat on the stage that it had. I looked around, now with all of the questions that were answered, five new ones took their places. "What happened?" I said. I looked around at the stage and found a large device. I picked it up and found myself in that strange feeling of deja vu. I looked around at the scene around me. Yes. I have been here before. But why? How? When? I then had visions flash before my eyes. With each vision that passed through my head, the more I could remember. I fell to my knees, trying my hardest to remember. I had all of the pieces to the puzzle, now I just had to put them together. "BRENDAN!!" I heard a voice in my head say. "WE WILL RISE AGAIN!!" The Russian man's voice in my head said. "THEY CANNOT KEEP US TRAPPED DOWN HERE FOREVER!!!" I tried even harder, I was hearing the voices, but I couldn't get the picture. I closed my eyes, then the memories all came flooding back to me. I remembered who I was. I remembered everything. I was Brendan Smith. Charged with treason to my country, imprisoned and tortured, escaped, and the man who failed to stop the end of the world.
