Above Eagles

   Do you remember the first time you've ever eaten something?

    Well, of course not! If you're old enough to even be reading this right now, you'd be at least six years old, and by then six years have passed since you've taken your first bite. In all honesty, that was a stupid question. I guess, really, the only reason I asked you that is to brag about how I remember my first food, crystal clear. And, while you were stuck eating that Gerber mush, I was munching away on the most delicious cake I've ever put on my tongue.

    My first bite went exactly as following:

    1. I took a bite.

    2. I almost died.

    The moment my teeth closed around the fork, dragging the pink cake piece in my mouth, I knew I was in for a treat. It touched my tongue before sending sparks throughout my body, erupting a shiver from my relatively new muscles. As the sweet froth of the creamy icing dissipated on my taste buds, my eyes shot open. However, the icing was no match for the ambitiously tasty bread inside. The soft flour inside rested on my tongue, making me almost sigh out of pleasure. After a quick chew, the line of ice cream between the two, softer layers revealed itself. It was cold, and sent a winter chill throughout my nerves, but it was an amazing transition.

    I must have killed a box of kittens in front of the two mares, judging by their faces. Their jaws were dropped, the pink one's literally laying on the floor (I dismissed it as yet another advantage of Horse World). I spasmed back to reality, blinking awake.

    "...Wut?" I breathed.

"...Wowzie, mister!" Pinkie chippered. "I never met anypony who liked my pastry that much! Seriously, how are you doing that? I thought I was the only one who could break the laws of physics! You must teach me this witchcraft! TEACH ME TEACH ME TEACH ME TEACH ME!"

    I was about to ask what she meant, before I realized my neck was craned downward to look at her. I was floating in mid-air, the blanket hanging from my body. I was fairly certain I felt my pupils turn to the size of marbles as my ears drooped to my skull.

    Now I knew I sucked at keeping secrets.

    "...Dude," Rainbow Dash whispered, staggering back before steadying herself. "...You can hover? Above the ground? Like... without wings?!"

    I lowered myself back to my bed. Fortunately, my nose didn't bleed.

    I couldn't look at them in the eye. I just wanted to collapse this roof on top of me, to end this embarrassment. I couldn't keep a secret worth shit. Truly, my only regret would be that I wouldn't live to eat another one of Pinkie's cakes. That fact instantly outweighed all my suicidal thoughts, and more, as I held my plate close before pulling the covers over my head. I felt myself shaking, due to the fabric in front of my face following suit. A sound started to come up my throat.

Don't you bucking whimper, you piece of fleshy, unsure shit.

    My throat shut up.

    "Hey!" I heard a voice call out happily as the blanket was dragged off my head. I glanced up to see Pinkie Pie, inches from my face. "Don't you worry about anything, Mr. Power Pants! We deal with a bunch of other things each day, way weirder than just some stallion floating!"

    "I don't," Rainbow Dash breathed.

    The blanket dragged itself back over my head as I took another bite from my cake. Hopefully, its deliciousness would make me disappear. "...Ai dun no... wuts happneen too me."

    There was silence on the other side of the fabric wall. Finally, they were starting to get it: I wasn't in the mood for their technicolor whorseness. Yes, whoresness. I already had enough on my plate (minus the only good thing in the second life so far: the cake), and hearing their annoyingly high-pitched voices were not helping.

    I saw the blanket drag off my mane once again. I felt a growl emit from my throat, and I didn't stop it. I looked up to see Pinkie Pie, leaning uncomfortably close to me yet again.

    "Hey, we won't tell anypony!" she chippered. "My mouth is zipped tight! See?" She did the zip-lipped motion with her hoof.

    At least she wasn't going to be a problem. I looked at Rainbow Dash, who was just barely recovering from her trance. "Uhh... Yeah. Won't tell anypony."

    That, I did not believe one bit. I showed my distrust with a glare.

    "Let's not all get stingy-wingy," Pinkie chippered from beside me. "We're all friends, right?" (No. We're not.) "Why can't we all just get along-- If it makes you feel any better, I'll stalk Dashie to the end of eternity to make sure she won't tell anypony."

    That sounded a little like a threat, but I wasn't complaining. I nodded my thanks, before taking another bite of my cake. It took some of the pain away.

    "...So, you can hover?" Rainbow Dash mumbled. "Can you... fly?"

    I stopped chewing.

    Now that was a thought. But, still, I wasn't even close to that level of my ability. Just last night I held myself for just a few seconds before my brain grew tired. But, then again, I held that Automatic-IV up pretty long. However, that thought reminded me that my talent grew more agonizing when in contrast to smoke, and I was pretty sure that meant I was weaker around the elements. But if that was true, how did I string the clouds around last night like puppets, if they're made from water? Or are they solid in this new world?

    My brain hurt, this time without the help of my ability. I looked at Rainbow Dash before answering, "Ai dunno. Ai can..." Damn, saying 'levitate' is harder than it looks. "...lift othur obgectz wif... my brayn."

    Rainbow Dash staggered back, before shaking a little. "You just keep getting weirder and weirder, don't you?"

AWWWWH YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE.

    Pinkie Pie's reaction was more favorable. "HUWHAAAAAT? So, you're like a unicorn, only without a horn?! Are you sure you're not just hiding it with magic? Lemme see!" She hopped on my bed, leaning over me as she waved her hoof over my forehead. I was wondering if she had any sense of personal space when she hopped back on the floor. "Le gasp! I just had an amazing idea! You should pick me up!"

    That was not an amazing idea. I groaned, pulling my blanket back above my head. My mane and this fabric were becoming really good friends.

    "Come on, I knooOoow you can do it! Just lift me up from the floor; I'll be a good little test subject! I'll try not to squeal with delight too loud, because that'll just encourage Nurse Redheart to come up here and catch us mid-conversation, and we don't want that grumpy-pants ruining the fun-- Oh hi, Nurse Redheart! So glad to see you! So, what do you think of this weather-- Gyh! DASHIE?! What are you- HARASSMENT! I NEED AN ADULT--"

    Pinkie's voice was cut off as the window slammed shut. Did Rainbow Dash just jump out the window with Pinkie Pie? Aw, I should have seen it. She would've regained her flight the second she exited the window, anyway.

    The blanket, once again, was dragged off my head. I half-expected to see Pinkie Pie's gleaming face uncomfortably close, but instead was greeted with an exasperated Nurse Redheart. She kept her distance (thankfully) as she laid the blanket back on my lap, frowning.

    "If your marefriend wanted to visit you," Redheart quipped, lapidary as ever. "She could've just gone through the front door."

    "She noes sheez on the... blakleest," I sounded out. "...And she iz nawt mai marefwend. Wut iz ah marefwend, aneeweigh?" Didn't she mean 'girlfriend'? Or was that a horse pun? Either way, it was stupid.

    Nurse Redheart shook her head gloomily, before hopping back down to all fours. It was then I noticed another pony in the room; she had wings and a horn, and she was purple. The fact she was purple was the only thing I chose to acknowledge about her color scheme.

    These ponies were getting ridiculous.

    But, fabulous colors aside, I saw that the pony standing just behind Nurse Redheart was visibly disturbed by the sight of me, and she avoided all eye contact when possible.

    "Mister... Uh, Stallion," Nurse Redheart said, once again rekindling my joy that I wasn't the only one who sucked with words. She gestured to the mare. "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle. She has come to help you learn to read." Redheart whispered in my ear, "You better be pretty buckin' grateful. She's a Princess, and she came over to help you on a pre-school level."

    Thanks for that. I turned back to the pony.

    She grinned wholeheartedly, banishing all reticent looks on her face instantly. "Hello! Nurse Redheart has already introduced me to your situation, so no need to explain! I'm always happy to help a fellow pony!"

    For a while, I stared at her.

    Okay, that was weird.

    Twilight seemed to notice, and shook her head abruptly. "Uhh.. Sorry. Let me try that again. Greetings, my good subject. My friends have told me about you, and I'm excited that I get to work with you!"

    Great. So Purple Horse is friends with Skittle Head and Sugar-High. I can probably assume that she knows my life story, considering how badly Dash can keep a secret.

    I took another bite of my slice of cake.

    Nurse Redheart trotted to Twilight and whispered something in her ear. The pegasus-unicorn mix nodded, before turning back to me. "You ready to expand that wanting brain of yours?"

    She was talking to me like a child. I felt myself grit my teeth, although I limited the violence to just my thoughts. Even Nurse Redheart didn't approve of her tone, as she whispered something else in her ear.

    "Oh," Twilight chuckled. "Sorry. I'm not used to teaching ponies of your... age. Especially a subject such as this. Well, actually, I'm not really used to any teaching!" She gave Nurse Redheart a questioning look.

     "Cheerilee's on her trip, remember?" she defended herself.

    Twilight nodded, before turning back to me. I seriously hated her color scheme. "So, let's start off with the simple stuff!" Nurse Redheart took this as a signal to leave as Twilight attempted to pick up a flashcard, but her horn sparked out death in response. "What the..." She tried again. Fruitless, she instead picked up a flashcard, showing it to me. It looked like a scribble to my inexperienced eyes, but I recognized it as one of the characters in Redheart's flashcards. "This is an A. It makes an ah sound."

    I knew what an A was, I just didn't know what it looked like on paper. Obviously, Twilight didn't know that as she continued to treat me like a preschooler. "It goes in words such as ant. Or apple. Or aboulomania."

    That last one sounded more my level. Twilight, meanwhile, realized her mistake and blushed. "Sorry! Just trying to... sorry. I mean, I know you're in high school and all, so I just wante-- MMH!"

    If I was holding a glass of water, I would have dropped it.

    For a while, the mare and I just stared at each other. She started to sweat as her body vibrated nervously, although I didn't care for that. I cared for the fact that she knew something about me.

    "...Wah?" I heard myself breath. The mare was recovering, now.

    "Uhh-h... I mean, you look like you'd be in high-school. Just my, uh..."

    She kept talking, but I wasn't listening. I knew she was making up excuses. Her voice was just the fog on the window of my brain as it steadily gathered itself, but could never come in. Twilight Sparkle knew something about me! What else did she know? Did that explain her weirdness around me? How does she know this?! I let her voice back in, although only to ask a question.

    "...But, I mean, that would be--"

    I interrupted her. "Wut elz... doo yoo noe?"

    She was making up more excuses. Twilight looked around hurriedly, as if trying to find an escape route. Well, if that was the case, I would keep her down forcefully. "I... I just thought you'd be a high-schooler; I don't know anything else, I swear-- dammit, I mean I don't know anything at all!" She gasped. "I didn't mean to swear!"

    I pulled myself to a sitting position. There was no way she was getting out of this. Celestia-dammit, she knew something, and she wasn't going to rob me of this. "Tell mee. Plees."

    Twilight was stacking the cards back together shakily. When her hooves couldn't operate right, she accidentally dropped them. When Twilight tried to use her magic again (and failed), she bent down to pick them up, muttering to herself. "Oh, this was a horrible idea. Why did I say yes? I should have waited longer! Ugh, now I'm in trouble..."

    I felt myself shaking. Why wouldn't she tell me anymore?! "Tell mee," I said once again.

    Twilight successfully stacked the cards back in their correct order, before standing back up. She trotted to the doorway. "It was an assumption, nothing more. I'm sorry, but I have to leave--"

    I shut the door.

    Twilight Sparkle cursed again as she attempted to open it. My grip held.

"Tell me!" I yelled. My throat hurt afterwards, but I didn't care. Twilight wasn't getting out of this. She can't just say something like that and expect to get away with it! Redheart told her of my predicament; she knew I didn't know anything about myself, yet she did. I wasn't letting her out until I got answers.

    "I'm sorry," Twilight explained from behind the curtain. Her voice was cracking, as if on the verge of tears. "I can't tell you anything, Andrew."

    ...Andrew.

    My grip on the doorknob wisped away, although Twilight was just as frozen as I was.

    ...Did she just say my name?

    As if reading my thoughts, Twilight steadily walked back in front of the curtain. Her head was lowered, eyes glued to the floor. When she knew she was in plain view, Twilight stopped. She took a while, but soon the mare glanced up to me.

    "...Yes," she whispered. "Your name is Andrew."

    I felt myself shaking.

    "I can't tell you any more," Twilight confirmed, before turning away. "As much as I'd like to."

    I wanted to stop her, but I couldn't. My brain was numb, my body was unresponsive, and my eyes were glued to the pony as she steadily walked away. After that, all became blurry and painful.

    I felt my body shaking once again as I lost control. At first, it was a gentle vibrating of the hoof. Then, a constant, violent twitch of the arm. After that, my shoulders began to convulse. All of this happened without my direct command, although I did nothing to stop it. I calmly just let it happen.

    I didn't know if I should be happy or furious. My body was suggesting the latter.

    I could be happy because somepony knew things about me. I now knew my name, and that I was a high school student.

    I could also be furious, simply because she refused to tell me any more.

    I saw the desk beside me rustling violently, along with the curtain. I was shaking all over now, my head spasming like a punching bag.

    "My name is Andrew," I whispered, before the desk flew forward, smashing through the window. A few seconds later, a splintering cracking sound was heard from below, along with glass shattering. I remembered that that was the place where Rainbow Dash put the mirror, yet that only angered me more. Meanwhile, hoofsteps were heard from the hall behind my door.

    The curtains beside me began to wrinkle and expand violently, before I tore them apart. The ripping sound was delightful, but unsatisfying. I sent the curtain and its rack to the wall, erupting a metal clang from its impact. My eyes narrowed as the rack rolled up into a ball, erupting a lurid screeching that hurt my ears. Instead of letting the ears flatten naturally, I used my talent to pull them down. They slammed shut forcefully.

    I saw Nurse Redheart rush into the room, followed by a few other nurses. I was convulsing now, my nose dripping blood, yet I didn't feel tired in the slightest. My brain kept working as I focused on one of the mares in the room.

    I didn't know what I did, I just let my brain do the work and before I know it, that mare was screaming. She collapsed to the floor in pain, paralyzed. Her comrades bent down to help her, but Nurse Redheart just dashed up to me before sticking a syringe in my arm.

    Then, the night engulfed my senses.

    The sky above was red, its usual blue radiance absent this day. It was raining from the black clouds above, sprinkling my torn and bloody pelt with gasoline when the first lightning strike hit. The plasma crashed into the floor in front of me with a vengeance, spewing hot, thick blood from its contact point. The goo splattered upon body, adding a layer on top of the dripping gasoline.

     I didn't mind much, though. Instead of worrying about the imminent explosion which was coming, though, I just did the only logical thing one would do in this situation. I revved up the lawnmower, and walked forward.

    My hooves rested comfortably on the handle as the lawnmower roared to life. I hummed a sweet melody my mother (now nothing but a gory mess on the carpet at home) taught me to drown out the screams which would come most definitely.

    My lawnmower bumped into the first body. I looked down to see a mare strapped to the mushy floor, staring up at me with tearful, pleading eyes. The gag on her mouth prevented her from talking, and if they couldn't talk, I couldn't listen. So, I casually pushed down on the lever, the lawnmower's tip going up in the air in response.

    I pushed the machine on the mare's stomach. Instantly afterwards, gore showered my bottom hooves and she screamed, the gag dissolving in response. Blood painted my hooves black as her intestines eventually got tangled up in the spinning blades of the machine. I let out an exasperated groan as I knelt down, tipping the lawnmower over to inspect the innards.

    Yep. Tangled up. I rolled my eyes before plunging my teeth in the flesh, ripping it out. The blades now free, I got up to give the machine life again, before doing just that. The mare wasn't screaming anymore as the mower devoured her stomach, sinking slowly to the floor. When a perfect hole had been made, I moved on to the next subject: a colt, shaking in fear.

    He was going to be a lot easier; with his small body the lawn mower will devour him whole.

    That was when the door burst open. My head twisted around to see that police ponies were charging towards me. Thinking quickly, I abandoned the child to run straight at the cops. When the moment was right, the lightning struck me.

    The gasoline instantly caught fire, making an explosion. My body was easy meat for the fire, dissolving it instantly, but the cops weren't so lucky. Legs flew from bodies, eyes popped from heads, and organs fell from open bellies. They all screamed as they collapsed, dying slowly in indescribable pain and torture. If I could have smiled, I would have, but I was only burnt skeleton now.

    "What are you?" one of the cops gurgled out as he died. I turned his way, before smiling and bowing.

    "My name is Andrew," I greeted. The cop, in response, reached down to his waist and grabbed a gun with his hoof. Quick as a whip, he pointed it at my head before firing.

    At that, reality shifted. Instead of screams and fires, my ears were filled with the revving of a thousand chainsaws, all around myself. My head floated up from my body to get a good view. I was in a spread-eagle pose, floating in nothingness. Above me were thousands and thousands of lawnmowers, their spinning blades perfectly visible.

    The first one fell, taking off my right hoof. No pain was felt, but it was still enough to make me slightly uncomfortable. The second one fell, reducing my left back hoof to shredded meat. More and more fell, before my body was reduced to a twitching chest, the heart beating impossibly fast.

    The last lawnmower fell, shredding my heart into fur and blood. I was finally at peace.

    My eyes lazily opened to find that I was in a dark room.

    I recognized it as my hospital room, courtesy of the tiled, white-and-gray ceiling above. I took a moment to study its square textures, as if still in a trance, when I heard voices in my room. I recognized one of the hosts being Nurse Redheart, and she was angry.

    "...and ship him off to an insane asylum," she finished furiously. "You weren't there to see what he did to Cactus Blossom. You didn't hear her screaming, and you certainly did not see her spine jutting out from her back, spewing blood-- and she was sobbing from pain. You do not have the right to defend this stallion."

    ...Did I really do that to somepony?

    I felt a stone drop in my stomach. I did... that to another living being. What kind of a monster was I? I slammed my eyes shut.

    The other voice spoke up. I recognized it as Twilight's. "You don't know anything about what he's going through."

    "I deal with amnesic ponies every other day," Redheart snapped. "It will come back to him, just you bucking wait. He'll wake up one day and he'll know wherever the buck he came from and hopefully drag his miserable ass back there. He'll wake up and remember everything, and when he does, I'll report his name to Princess Celestia."

    "His name is Andrew," Twilight interrupted. My eyes rested at that. It was calming to hear my name coming from someone else's mouth. Nurse Redheart, meanwhile, stayed silent. "...I know that, and more. And if you'll just let me explain, I think you can forgive him--"

    "Forgive him?!" Redheart snapped. "Why would I ever forgive him? He almost killed somepony! She's paralyzed now! Just think about it: Cactus Blossom has two kids, and a husband who she rarely gets to see! She already had enough on her plate before this stunt. Worst of all, how do you think they'll react to this?! Some things are just unforgivable, Twilight."

    How could I do this to somepony?

    I was shaking now. I blew it. I was going to jail after this, no doubt about it. I might as well just rip my own back out, and let nature take its course.

    I peered down to the two talking mares. Nurse Redheart was shaking with rage as she glared at me. If I revealed myself to be conscious now, she was going to kill me.

    "I know you're angry," Twilight stepped between Redheart and I. "But try and see things from his point of view. Andrew woke up with no memory, at all, with telekinesis, poor pronunciation, and a hole through his bucking chest!" (My hoof laid on my damaged chest. The skin was still soft and fleshy between the stitches.) "He is horrified by what is happening, Nurse Redheart. He's scared, angry, and sad, and worst of all, he has the right to be."

    Redheart snorted, glaring at the floor. Twilight was winning the argument, but I wasn't focused on it.

    Was Twilight defending me? After what I've done?

    "I understand why you would be angry," Twilight admitted. "I may not know Cactus Blossom personally, and I could never imagine the pain she went through. But Andrew didn't know what he was doing, besides acting out of anger..."

    "Anger of what?" Redheart barked.

    Twilight stayed silent for a while. I briefly wondered if she had a response, until she spoke up. "He's angry I won't tell him anything."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I... accidentally told him he was in high-school." I could literally hear the blush coming from her. "He assumed I knew more. He got angry I wouldn't tell him, until I... once again, accidentally, told him his name."

    "So is that why you took up my offer to teach him?" Redheart accused.

    "No! I was just excited to meet him. I thought I could keep a secret..."

    "With all due respect, Princess, that was incredibly stupid. Especially coming from you."

    "You haven't seen what I've seen. If you were in my horseshoes, I guarantee you would have done the same. He's just... interesting."

    "So just what have you seen, Princess?" Redheart said. I could hear the venomous hate in her voice.

    Twilight, instead of answering, looked my way. My eyes were instantly closed. After a while, she continued. "...Not here."

    Oh, shit, no!

    To my horror, Nurse Redheart agreed. Celestia-dammit, why couldn't they just tell me?! Is that stupid color scheme of hers getting in the way of her thinking process? Fuck!

    During my non-verbal rant, the Duo of Dishonesty was leaving the room. I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. When they shut the door, I let my talent do its work to slowly turn the knob, opening the door just a peak.

    Twilight started just outside the door. "...I've been receiving different clips lately. They show up at my doorstep late at night; I don't know who's sending them. They started showing up just a few days ago."

    "That was before Andrew came here," Redheart acknowledged. "How do you know they're connected to him?"

    "Let me finish," Twilight said. "I'll explain everything I know." After a deep breath, she started again. "The first clip came with a note. It read, 'Do not show Him.' I didn't know what it meant, but I kept it." (There was the rustling of paper.) "Here it is..."

    "What's that signature?" Redheart asked.

    "I don't know. It's in a different language." More rustling of paper, most likely Twilight taking the note back.

    "Why would somepony write a letter in our language, but sign his name in another?" Redheart pondered. "Those characters aren't even recognizable. They look... Ugly. And straight. Like different lines put in a different arrangement."

    Twilight ignored her comment. "This came with the first tape, like I was saying. Now, since I don't have a TV to play it, I had to go down to Lyra's to see it." She paused. "...It was a tape from a video recorder. Andrew was recording himself."

    Nurse Redheart stayed silent.

    "He's... not a pony," Twilight continued.

    "What do you mean?"

    "He's not a pony," Twilight said. "Lyra was extremely excited when she saw it with me. She said he was a 'human.'"

    Redheart responded with something, but I didn't hear it. I zoned out.

    I didn't really think about anything, my mind just went numb. For a few seconds, my eyes were wide, nothing computing correctly.

    I was not a pony. I knew exactly what a human was, but I would have never thought I was one.

    I suddenly remembered why I was eavesdropping, and tuned back in. Twilight was talking.

    "...was bullied. After that, it cut off to blackness." Twilight paused. "The next day, another clip showed up on my doorstep. Lyra was... more than happy to view it with me. But this clip ended on a weird note."

    Redheart didn't say anything, listening intently.

    "It started where the last clip ended, as if the two were formerly connected, like a movie. Once again, it was taped from a hand-held camera. Andrew took the camera to a party with Matt." (Who was Matt? I really shouldn't have zoned out...) "I could tell Matt was just trying to be a good cousin, just trying to get Andrew out. But it quickly turned sour... Andrew was assaulted by a drunk stallion because he was taping his dancing marefriend." She paused. "...It's sick. If that mare was being a slut to everypony else, why did he not care until somepony took out a camera?"

    Another pause. Meanwhile, I thought of what she meant. Matt was my cousin?

    "I'm sorry for swearing, I just... I don't think anypony should be treated like that. He made Andrew feel horrible about himself, as if he didn't have enough on his plate."

    I could hear Nurse Redheart kicking her hoof. "...Yes, I suppose he does deserve better."

    My ears perked up. That's something I never thought I'd hear her say.

    Twilight continued. "...Anyways, that's where the clip ended. I hope the next one will come tonight. I need to know more about him."

    Nurse Redheart stayed silent.

    "I hope you can see that he is struggling," Twilight concluded. "Just... give him time. Let him settle in. Be patient with him, and please... don't tell him what I've said."