Where am I?
The single question was going through her head, she didn't know the answer. She was in a strange place, and there were ponies in shiny gold armor surrounding her. The one leading them was speaking to her, she could tell by the movement of his mouth, but she caught none of it. She couldn't even hear him.
“I can't hear you!” She Exclaimed. On the guard's side though, they just heard scrambled words.
“Step aside Captain, she is scared...not hostile.” Celestia said to the guard as she arrived. This new Mare had an idea of where she was. Princess Celestia was smiling at her, she must be in Canterlot. She couldn't tell what the princess was doing, but her horn lit up and suddenly she could hear.
“-Name?” She caught the Princess ask.
“Sorry?” she replied.
“Do you have a name?” Celestia asked.
“It's Dark Onyx...Where am I?” Onyx asked.
“You're in front of the palace in Canterlot. By your accent I guess Trottingham?...no...Edinspur is your hometown?” Celestia asked. Onyx nodded.
“Why am I here? How am I here?” Onyx asked as she shakily got to her hooves.
“I don't know, did anypony see what happened?” Celestia asked.
“She just appeared in a flash your Majesty.” the Captain of Celestia's guard said.
“So it must have been accidental magic. Do you remember anything of what happened before you woke up?” Celestia asked. Onyx thought hard for a moment as Celestia had her guards shoo away the citizens and then dismissed the guards.
“Not really...I remember like old stuff...but, the last thing I remember is passing out in front of my family house after a long night...that was the day after my twenty-fourth birthday...” Onyx said, more to herself than to Celestia as the Princess led her into the palace.
“When is your birthday?” Celestia asked.
“December Eighth...1977.” Onyx replied. Celestia's step faltered.
“Oh my little pony...it appears you've skipped ten years...it's 2012.” Celestia said.
“Wait...what?...but...it's not like I just teleported through time...I know there's a gap there...I guess it didn't seem that big...” Onyx said, barely keeping panic away from her voice.
“It is possible something happened that night and you have minor amnesia...I think I know if I can prove this theory...” Celestia said as she sat Onyx down in her study.
“How?!” Onyx exclaimed.
“Do you remember having those?” Celestia asked, and pointed slightly behind Onyx. She looked back, and froze at what she saw. Attached to her back, were wings. But they weren't normal wings. They seemed to be made out of metallic material.
“May I?” Celestia asked, her horn glowing. “Just a little scanning spell to find out what exactly they are.” she continued. Onyx nodded and she felt the familiar flood of magic. Her own horn glowed a bit as her magic fluxed suddenly, but she controlled it.
“I've never seen this before...the nerves and muscles and tendons and everything a normal wing has are there, but they're encased in this odd metal...I think it's pure solidified magical energy, in it's rawest of forms. We'll have to unlock those memories of yours to see how it happened, oh! I know just the pony to help you!” the Princess explained, suddenly switching moods.
Celestia penned a note quickly on a scroll and it disappeared in a flash of magic. She then called in a guard.
“Onyx, see that little town over there, on the horizon?” Celestia asked, looking out of the window.
“Yes.” Onyx replied, seeing the town.
“That is called Ponyville. My student and her friends, the elements of harmony, live there. If anypony can help you, it's them.” Celestia said.
“But I don't know Ponyville...I don't know anything on this part of Equestria...all of my friends have probably forgotten me, my parents would have died of old age by now as well...” Onyx said, suddenly feeling very sad.
“I had imagined so...Like I said, If anypony can help you...it's them...Captain, be sure she gets there safely. Are you able to travel?” Celestia asked.
“L-leave now?...but...everything is happening so fast...” Onyx said, her panic slowly rising.
“I'm sorry, but a Unicorn with wings will cause so much chaos in Equestria, especially if she can't remember why she's like that...I'd love to skirt the truth and say I just want you to get help, which I honestly do...but the more pressing matter is the tidal wave of the media and how the citizens might perceive your sudden appearance...” Celestia explained. Onyx let everything that had been said sink in and thought about it from Celestia's hooves.
A strange mare had appeared in front of her palace, and she was a winged unicorn no less. She had accidentally caused a mild panic, and had no idea where she was or how she got there. She couldn't remember the last ten years of her life. Damn, she should be thrown in some secluded room and questioned, but the Princess was sending her to her student to get help?
“U-um...I don't even know how to work these wings...I can barely feel them but...um...my legs work fine.” Onyx replied.
“Good, but I'll be supplying a Chariot so you don't have to walk all those miles.” Celestia said.
“Ok...um...thank you, I guess I can leave right now if I have to...” Onyx said.
“Perfect. Captain.” Celestia said. The Captain nodded and led Onyx back outside, where a Chariot was waiting.
“You lied to the princess.” The Captain stated as they rode.
“I did no such thing.” Onyx said, confused.
“You told her you could see Ponyville. I don't think you can see a foot past your nose. Your eyes are blank, no pupil. No iris. Black. That normally means a blind pony.” The Captain rationalized. Onyx sighed.
“I can see perfectly fine up to about five feet away. For everything past that line, I see with magic. Almost like magical eyes, it see what my eyes would see and I can see it. Though some things end up distorted, like color, but it's better than nothing.” Onyx explained.
“How'd it happen?” he asked.
“...I'd rather not discuss it...” Onyx said lowly.
The Captain looked over this Unicorn, she was still a Unicorn for she couldn't use her wings. She was the same height as him, and he was tall, and had a black coat. There were dark blue stripes, almost like a zebra but at the same time not even close, along her body and covering her muzzle. Her eyes were a solid teal while her mane and tail were dark blonde with black goin through them. Her tail was a bit unkempt but her Mane was in a tail. Her Cutie Mark looked like a yellowish orb that faded the further from the center, almost like a source of light. She looked solemn, almost depressed, as she watched the landscape fly by. He decided to leave her to her own vices and instead watched Ponyville get closer.
“There are six ponies waiting for us down there.” Onyx suddenly said as they neared Ponyville.
“I can't see them, the sun is shining too bright.” The Captain said as he tried to look.
“Two unicorns, two pegasus and two earth ponies.” Onyx said.
“That must be the Elements then.” the Captain said. When the Chariot landed, Onyx stepped out after the Captain.
“Hello, Dark Onyx?” the Lavender Unicorn asked. Onyx nodded. “Celestia wrote me what happened and your condition. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said.
“Name's Applejack.” AJ said.
“Pinkie Pie! Ohmygoshineedtoplanapartyican'tbeleiveididn'tthinkofitbefore!” Pinkie pie exclaimed, floating in the air as she spoke.
“The name is Rarity Darling.” Rarity said.
“Um...my name is...Fluttershy.” Fluttershy said, barely above a whisper.
“and I'm Rainbow Dash! The fastest flier in all of Equestria!” Dash exclaimed.
“Um...hello, you know my name...” Onyx said, a bit confused at the slew of different introductions.
“the Princess told me that you'll be needing somewhere to stay. Normally I'd offer my Library home, it's big enough to house guests, but I have too much going on and Spike has been getting bigger. We asked around and we found somepony willing to take you in.” Twilight explained. A White Pegasus Mare with an orange and well kept mane and tail, with streaks of a lighter yellow going through them, stepped up. She had an old pocket watch, which was open and set to midnight, as her Cutie Mark and her eyes matched her highlights.
“My name is Anna Logue, I run the clock shop slash diner with my brother.” the Mare said happily.
“Um...hello. Thank you for letting me stay with you all of a sudden.” Onyx said.
“Oh think nothing of it! You must be starving after such a trip eh? Come on I'll get you a meal, first one's on the house.” she said with a grin. Onyx looked to the Captain, but he was already gone. She looked at Twilight instead.
“Go on, your comfort is our biggest priority right now.” Twilight said. Onyx nodded and followed the White Pegasus.
“Sorry for the mess, my brother isn’t the best with the whole ‘make a mess, clean it up’ thing and I tend to be busy.” Anna said as they entered a large building, which was cut in half almost. The left side looked like a café or diner, while the other a clock shop.
“Who’s this then?” a brown earth pony asked, stepping out from behind the counter of the clock shop.
“Her name is Onyx, she’s the one I told you about.” Anna said.
“Brilliant! Dinky will love the company.” He replied with a grin. At that, a gray Pegasus with noncentered eyes came out of a door with a nearly identical smaller version on her back, but the Foal’s coat was slightly purple and she was a unicorn, and her eyes were normal.
“Come on back miss Onyx, I’ll give you a tour!” the Pegasus said with a smile.
“Um…alright.” Onyx replied, smiling as the Foal grinned at her.
“Hi! My name is Dinky Whooves!” she exclaimed.
“Hello Dinky, my name is Onyx.” Onyx said, returning the grin.
“Are you gonna be living with mommy and daddy and auntie and me?” she asked.
“Yes she is Dinky, she’s a special pony!” the Mother started. “My name is Derpy Whooves, I’ll show ya around.” Derpy continued as she held the door open. She noticed it led to stairs and a hallway.
“Down here we have bathrooms.” Derpy explained. There were three doors. Derpy explained that the one at the end of the small hall was a second entrance, while the two doors was a Stallion’s restroom, and a Mare’s restroom.
“Up here is the actual house. There are two spare rooms you can choose from. Here’s the Kitchen and the Living room. Down that hall is Dinky’s room and My room I share with Whooves. Down the other hallway are the two spare rooms and Anna’s room.” Derpy explained as they entered a double joined kitchen/living area with a television and everything, and then pointed down two hallways.
“Thank you Derpy, and you too Dinky. I’ll choose my room then.” Onyx said with a smile.
“Don’tcha got any bags or anything?” Derpy asked. Onyx shook her head and examined the two rooms. She wound up choosing the one with the bigger window, across from Anna’s, and went back downstairs.
“Here ya go Onyx!” Anna said happily when she sat the dark Mare down at one of the Diner tables and put a plate of hay fries and a salad in front of her. “On the house, remember?” she went on.
“Sorry, gotta run. Apparently there’s a diplomatic meeting in the Arcturius system happening in five minutes that is about to get sabotaged.” Doctor Whooves said quickly as he burst out of a blue box Onyx hadn’t noticed before.
“Coming, Anna watch out for Dinky?” Derpy asked. Anna nodded and the two entered the box. Onyx glanced something much larger, and wasn’t surprised when the thing disappeared with a distinctive noise.
“Whooves is a Time Lord. That blue box of his is the TARDIS, basically a time traveling ship. He goes through time and space, galaxy to galaxy, helping all species out with alien problems.” Anna began.
“If he’s your brother, wouldn’t that make you a ‘Time Lord’ as well?” Onyx asked.
“Yeah, it does. I have my own TARDIS, but I rarely use it. Only when I get bored of this time and decide to go do something fun outside of this timeframe. Whooves and Derpy will be back in a day or two with an amazing story to tell.” Anna continued.
“That’s…interesting. This is wonderful by the way, thank you.” Onyx replied smiling as she ate the food offered.
“Of course. There’s more where it came from if you have the bits, though if you don’t, I doubt my brother would object to joining the family dinner every day he’s here.” Anna said.
“Well…I’m in a bit of a…unique situation. I had a bank account all the way in Edinspur, but that was ten years ago. They probably closed it.” Onyx said.
“I doubt it. There’s a national bank here in Ponyville, they’d have your account status. And if you’ve had it for ten years it will have grown.” Anna continued.
“Hm…it is worth a try.”
“Great! Let’s go! Dinky, wanna go around the town a bit?” Anna asked the Filly sitting on a table next to them.
“Sure!” Dinky exclaimed. She rode on Anna’s back as they set a course for the bank.
“Yes, we have an account under the name ‘Black Onyx’ in Edinspur. Would you like to make a Withdrawal?” the Bank clerk asked.
“Maybe, what are my funds?” Onyx asked.
“Well, it says here you’ve been inactive for ten years, interest rates have piled up and along with funds from your family will, with interest as well…your total is twenty million bits.” The clerk said, a bit of wonder on her face.
Onyx’s, and Anna’s, jaw was almost literally on the ground.
“Hang on, this account’s owner is a Unicorn…are you still the same Pony?” the Clerk asked, looking at the synthetic wings.
“Yes, I’m still a Unicorn…I just have these weird synthetic wings…my parents were Black Skies of Trottingham and Blackhorn of Canterlot.” Onyx replied.
“Alright just making sure…so do you want a withdrawal?” the Clerk asked.
“Yes please, make it five hundred bits for now.” Onyx said after a moment of thought.
“Oh!, um can I get a two hundred bit withdrawal?” Anna asked.
“Sure Anna, gimme a second.” The Clerk said with a smile and made the transactions.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked, Dinky currently perched on her head. Onyx looked deep in thought.
“It’s just that, with all the urgency the Princess sent me here with…her student is…I don’t know how to say it…not even trying yet?” Onyx said uncertainly.
“Oh she talked to me. She told me she was going to spend a day or two researching similar cases to what you have and also give you time to settle in.” Anna said.
“Hey look it’s Rainbow Dash and Scooty!” Dinky exclaimed. Indeed, the rainbow maned Pegasus and a Pegasus just out of Fillyhood were walking towards them.
“Hey you guys…Onyx, right?” Dash asked.
“Yes, Is this your Daughter?” Onyx asked.
“Legally yes, she’s adopted. Hey Scoots, go play with Dinky, I’ve got some things I need to talk about these two about.” Dash said. Scootaloo nodded and Dinky joined the older Filly in a game of hide and seek.
“What is it Dash?” Anna asked.
“Twilight got a letter from Celestia. Apparently it said to be ready for swarms of reporter ponies and stuff like that, they’re under the impression that either Onyx is trying to usurp Celestia, or Celestia is trying to hide Onyx…” Dash said.
“That’s ridiculous, she’s trying to help me! I wouldn’t harm her!” Onyx exclaimed. “And I certainly don’t want to rule anything but my own property, once I get some that is.” Onyx continued.
“Yeah I know you wouldn’t do something as stupid as that. Oh hey, gotta run…Scoots got stuck in a cloud again!” Dash exclaimed and sped off.
“Hey Onyx…I noticed when you got mad, your Cutie mark changed.” Anna said with a bit of confusion in her voice.
“Oh…yeah it kinda does that. It’s like a mood thing, but it only has two…when it changes to the other one, it means I’m really mad or unstable.” Onyx explained.
“Unstable?” Anna asked.
“I’ve got a distinct second personality that I keep under wraps, but when I get mad it comes out…let’s just say if I let it out all the time, I’d probably be locked up somewhere.” Onyx said, finishing with a nervous laugh.
“Oh I get it! Don’t worry, even the worst minds have good in them somewhere! If this ‘bad personality’ comes out I’ll just make sure it doesn’t do something you’ll regret!” Anna said happily.
“Wow…you don’t even know how much that means to me...” Onyx said lightly.
“By the way, what IS your cutie mark?” Anna asked.
“Oh…um…I guess since you’re letting me live with you, and I think I can call you my friend now…I’ll tell you. It’s the only thing I remember during the gap in my memory…and the only thing I don’t remember of before. I don’t remember what is was then, but now it’s a life force…or a soul or whatever you wanna call it…I can see them.” Onyx explained.
“Wait you can see souls?” Anna asked.
“Yeah…yours looks…vast, and kind…and full of love for your friends and family.” Onyx said.
“Wow that’s so cool. So what’s with the scythe appearing when your other personality comes around?” Anna asked.
“I don’t really know, but I think it has something to do with the gap…maybe it’s linked to me seeing souls, who knows. I just want to know what happened in the last ten years.” Onyx said.
“I understand that. Whooves tells me he’s one of the original Time Lords, so he’s been alive for hundreds of years. Every time he goes through his span of life, he sort of gets reborn. He’s on his twelfth one now I think he said. He has no real memories of the last one, only the events he affected and any changes to the Tardis. He doesn’t even really remember his assistants. Luckily I was born in this ‘cycle’ so I’m still on my first go.” Anna said with a shrug.
“I don’t even know much about me anymore…Winged Unicorns are supposed to live as long as Alicorns, but I don’t know if that still applies to me.” Onyx said.
“I’ve always wondered, what’s the difference between and winged unicorn and an alicorn?” Anna asked.
“A winged unicorn is just that, a unicorn with wings. An Alicorn, like Celestia and Luna, has far greater power and plays a near godlike role. Celestia raises the sun, Luna raises the moon. If Discord were a pony, he would be al Alicorn for he controls all things chaotic and in disarray.” Onyx explained.
“How do you know all of that?” Anna asked.
“I had a bit of a small library back home, I liked to read up on that kind of stuff.” Onyx said with a smile.
“Wow is it seven already?” Anna asked as she checked the time on her pocket watch she kept wrapped around a foreleg.
“It is? Wow…time flies when you have good company I guess.” Onyx commented.
“I guess it does. Dinky! Time to go! We should probably get some dinner.” Anna said, calling Dinky over.
