Memories of a God

Shadow was walking around, a bit bored. He was told that he wasn't allowed to leave until further tests had been done. He had already exhausted the limits of fun inside a hospital room. He decided to leave the room and get himself some lunch.

He walked down the hallway, getting strange looks from everypony. He picked up his speed and grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria. When he finished it, he walked back with a few cartons of chocolate milk on his back. "Guess I like chocolate milk." he said.

Nurse Redheart was walking out of his room when he got there. "Where have you been off to?" she asked.

"Just off to get some lunch. Milk?" he asked, holding one out to her.

"No thanks."

"How long am I expected to stay here?" he asked.

"Just a few more days if nothing goes wrong."

"I don't think anything is gonna happen."

"Me either, but you can never be too safe."

"That's true. What is the next plan of action? What are you going to do to me next?"

"First, we need to take care of standard medical procedures."

"Physical and mental well-being, records, check-up, and condition examinations. Did I miss anything?"

"Um... No, that about covers it."

"Lets get started then." he said, "I must have been a doctor. Or maybe I was frequently injured. Or maybe it was just me being so old that I memorized yearly medical check-ups."

"In any case, follow me. We'll start your physical exam immediately."

They walked back into his room and she got out stethoscope. He sat up and she placed it on him. "Breath in." she said.

He did so, and she heard an irregular heart rate. 'It's going at a rate much faster than physically possible.'

"Breath out." She heard a large electrical sound. It seemed to come from his heart itself. She stepped back, unable to comprehend this.

"In." His chest moved rapidly. "Out." His chest gave off a faint glow.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing at all." she said.

He leaned in and looked in her eyes. "Tell me the truth." he said.

"Your heart beats much faster than a normal heart should be able to handle. Why it hasn't... exploded, for lack of a better word, is beyond me. Whenever you exhale, a large electrical sound can be heard and your chest glows." she said, unmoving.

"Electrical sound and glowing... Sounds like an advanced pacemaker." he said.

She giggled a little and said, "I guess you're right."

"If it is, there would be a device lodged near my heart. Most likely detectable."

"You were serious about that?"

"Yeah, I have reason to believe that there is indeed something odd in there."

"Oh? What reason would that be?"

"Well I... Good point. I still think it's true."

"Don't worry, Shadow. Now, time to check your vitals." She got out a tool and put it in his ear. It beeped and she looked at it, unable to cope.

"What is it?"

"It must be broken." she said, grabbing another. She did the same and got the same reading.

"Is that one broken too?" he asked.

"No. It's just odd."

"What is?"

"Your body temperature is over 400!" she said.

"Is that bad?"

"That's four times the normal amount."

"That's... bad?"

"It's way past fatal! Water boils at half that!"

He looked at his arm and touched his forehead to it. "Seems ok to me." he said.

Redheart felt his forehead with her hoof and said, "Yes, you feel completely fine to me."

"And it's not broken?"

"No, it's fine."

"So I'm broken?"

"Don't say that, Shadow."

"Ok, next."

"Alright, next we test blood pressure." she said, wrapping it around his arm.

She started it and got a 0/0 blood pressure rating. She re-checked it and tried again, 0/0. "Shadow, you don't have blood pressure." she said.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"Blood shouldn't be going through your body." she said.

"But I was bleeding yesterday, you saw me. You bandaged me up."

"You were like a mummy."

"Handsome mummy that is." he replied.

"This isn't right. This breaks physical laws."

"Next."

"That would be the pulse."

"This is gonna be fun."

"Why do you say that?"

"With my odd readings beforehand, I'm sure that I'm gonna get something odd this time."

"Maybe a reading of 902 a minute." she joked.

"Or maybe 2 an hour."

She checked his pulse and said, "Normal, 70."

"Hard to believe anything about me is normal. That was a disappointment, and doesn't make sense. Next."

"You really wanna get this done, don't you?"

"The sooner I can get it done, the sooner I can leave."

"We'll see about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The blunt truth of it all, is that you should be confined to your bed, attached to nearly every machine here."

"The fact that I'm not means that you don't think I need to, meaning that I'm healthy."

"But I..."

"Now, I have a request."

"More chocolate milk?"

"No... Well, yes, but no. I actually wanted to see why I glow while exhaling."

"Well, I can arrange that." she said. She looked for a scar on his chest, but didn't see any. "You have no signs of a surgically placed pacemaker."

"So that means that it was done without surgery." he replied.

"You're very persistent."

"I know that."

"Fine."

Nurse Redheart was setting up some devices like Shadow had told her to. When it was ready, she started it up and examined his chest.

"What is that?" she said. "That shouldn't be possible."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

She was looking at a very dark, and very dense lump of material in the center of his heart. "How are you still alive? This thing in your chest would've inhibited blood flow and stopped muscle movement altogether. It's been placed in a very specific location. Was this done on purpose? No, it can't be. Your heart is perfectly healthy, it doesn't have any marks, blemishes, or any other kind of marring. How did it get there? No entry marks, nothing. Was it done by magic? No known magic is able to enter a body."

"Well, that's amazing."

She was bewildered. It was impossible for him to still be alive, and yet, there he was, looking at her like she was crazy. He was still breathing, and was still sitting there, happily smiling away.

"But... But... How? A better question would be, why did I do this? This isn't regulation. I didn't tell anypony. So why did I do this? Was it because you asked me? I just don't know."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't tell anypony. Now then, is this the thing that's glowing?"

She saw that it released an electrical charge every time he exhaled. It was wired to his heart, shocking it with every breath. "Yes it is."

"And there's no problems?"

"No, no noticeable problems."

"I take it more studying."

She looked at him with a blank face.

"Nurse Redheart, you're needed at once." said a pony, opening the door.

She shook her head and said, "Right away."

"But..."

"Sorry Shadow." she said, exiting quickly.

Shadow listened through the door, they hadn't moved. "What were you doing in there?" asked the other pony.

"I was trying to help him. Diagnose him."

"You need the proper permission to do that."

"I know, but he was just so persuasive."

"That's your excuse?"

"It's the truth!"

"Well maybe I should see for myself."

Shadow hopped back on his bed and the other pony walked in and said, "Is there anything that I can get you, Shadow?"

"Some chocolate milk would be nice."

"Alright, no problem."

"Actually, just bring me all the chocolate milk they have."

"All of it? Alright, sure." she said happily.

She walked out and Shadow followed after her.

"What happened, Shadow?" asked Redheart.

"Ask her yourself." he said, walking back in.

She walked over to her and said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting Shadow Streak some chocolate milk, a lot of it... just like he asked... Wow, you're right, he is persuasive."

"I told you."

"Who is Shadow Streak anyways?" she asked.

"I don't know, nopony does. He has severe memory loss."

"He seems fine."

"He has some odd conditions though."

"Like what?" Redheart told her about the things she recorded. "But that's..."

"Impossible, I know."

Shadow was unable to hear anything that they were discussing. He was laying on his bed, waiting for something to do. He closed his eyes, and felt an unnatural coldness. He opened his eyes in fear. "What was that?"

He looked around for anything that could've caused it. Nothing. "Was it in my head?"

Redheart walked in and said, "Shadow, it's about time you changed rooms."

"Why?"

"It saves space. You'll be moved to a room with a pony who hurt her leg recently."

"That sounds ok."

"This way please." she said, walking out.

She took him to the ground floor and showed him to another room. She opened the door and said, "Here he is."

Shadow walked in the room and saw her laying on her bed with a cast on her leg. "Hi, I'm Shadow Streak." he said. "What about you, beautiful?"

"Hello Shadow Streak, Ah'm Applejack. So your mah new guest?"

"That's right."

"I need to go, so you just... stay here."

"Wasn't like Ah was goin' anywhere anyway."

"Sure thing, Nurse."

She walked away and Shadow sat on his bed. "How'd you hurt your leg?" he asked.

"Ah was having an off day and mis-bucked a tree and Ah twisted mah ankle. What about yourself?"

"I have no idea. I was full of injuries, but they healed. I was then given a physical and got impossible results. After that, I was sent down here so they could use my room."

"That's quite a story. What did ya'll mean when you said impossible results?"

"Body temperature over 400, blood pressure 0/0, and something lodged deep inside my heart. That, along with one wing and a dual-colored horn, makes me seem very odd."

"That is very odd."

Shadow walked over to her and said, "So Applejack, how's chocolate milk sound?"

"That sounds great!"

"Good, because I was getting two, regardless."

He walked out to try and find the nearest source of chocolate milk. "Um... That way."

Eventually, he was able to find a few cartons and brought them back to Applejack. "Drink up."

"Thanks." she said.

He chugged his milk and laid down on his bed. "Did they tell you how long until you could leave?" he asked.

"Ah was told that Ah could leave in about a week."

"Leave in a week? Maybe we could leave together."

"That sounds nice."

"In any case, if that's gonna happen, I am going to need to get clearance."

"They won't let ya leave without it."

"And I want to leave. Never known anything outside this hospital."

"What do you mean?"

"I lost my memory and was taken here. I haven't left yet, so I'm allowed to say that the only life I know is in a hospital."

"Lost your memory?"

"Ah yes, but it's slowly trickling back. Slowly but surely. Just yesterday I remembered the princesses as my friends."

"You were friends with the princesses?"

"Yup. So, got a question, need your honest opinion. Do I look physically fit?"

"Where did that come from out of the blue?"

"I realized that I have only seen sick, weakened stallions. I want to know if I'm normal so I don't stand out too much."

"Well, you look like you've worked all your life. You look a little like mah brother, Big Macintosh. He's a strong stallion, works all the time. If you went into public, you might get a second look, but nothing major."

"Thing is, my appearance is unknown to me, and even if it was, it wouldn't matter. Oh well. Now, I am going to relax."

"Ah've relaxed for too long."

"Then relax some more. Everypony needs downtime."

"It's hard to relax when you've been here long."

"If you can't relax, then tell me what you do for a living."

"Ah'm a farmer, Ah buck apples. Make different products and sell 'em. It's a livin'."

"Apples are delicious. Have you ever had zap apples?"

"Every year mah family harvests the zap apples and makes jam out of them. It's great!"

"Yes, but have you ever had raw zap apples?"

"Raw zap apples?"

"Pick them before they're ready."

"Not even Big Mac can do that."

"Raw zap apples are the most delicious things in the entire universe. Get 'em off the tree and then you can experience the very essence of sweet itself."

"How do you know that?"

"I once managed to do it. Fourth day, I went out to the fields and broke one free. It took almost all I had, but it came off. Everypony else wanted a taste, but it was poisoned. Bad. I swallowed it as fast as I could to keep it contained, but ended up dying."

"Poison? Dying?"

"Oh yes. The zap apples are not to be harvested before their time. Not that it's possible of course. Wow! Look at that! I remembered something!"

"Dying?"

"Is it so hard to believe that?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Let me explain, I can not die. It will never happen. Not in a hundred years, not in a trillion years."

"Ah believe you."

"I mean, of course you don't... What?"

"Ah believe you, Shadow."

"Why?"

"I know that you are telling the truth."

"Wow, thanks. Just for that, I'm gonna do something for you."

He stared at her leg and his horn glowed. When he stopped, she said, "What was that?"

"Your leg should be completely healed with no visible marks or any sign of injury."

She looked at him, confused, then moved her leg around. "How did ya'll do that?"

"Hey, I can heal others as well a myself! Maybe I was indeed a doctor."

She removed the cast and stood up. "I'm all healed up."

"Tell the doctors and they might give ya a free pass out of here."

"Shadow Streak, you are allowed to leave now." said Nurse Redheart, walking in. "What are you doing out of bed Applejack?"

"Shadow Streak healed mah leg!" she said happily.

"That's right!"

She walked over and examined her leg. "Nothing. It's fine. You can heal others, Shadow?"

"Myself and others! That's a great talent to have!"

He looked at his flank, wondering what his special talent really was. He didn't see anything, blank. "Huh, healing isn't it, so what is?"

"What was that?"

"I thought that if I saw my cutie mark, it would help me remember something. I don't even have one. I guess since I lost my memory, I lost my cutie mark."

"But that doesn't happen!" said Nurse Redheart. "Even those who never regain their memory keep their cutie marks."

"Maybe I never got it."

"Someone of your age? No cutie mark?"

"Or maybe this was supposed to happen. In any case, is Applejack cleared to go?"

"Yes, she's fine to leave."

"Then Applejack, how about we leave this boring place?"

"Ah'd like that."

"I will see you eventually, Nurse Redheart."

"I hope to see you soon."

"Think about what you said for a minute. See me soon. Nurse."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Eh. See ya!"

They walked out of the hospital together and Applejack said, "So Shadow, if you don't have a place to stay, maybe Ah could help you out."

"Actually, Twilight Sparkle told me that I could stay at her house for a while."

"You know Twilight?"

"Yeah, she was the one who found me dying in the forest. I may or may not have died when that happened. Do you know Twilight?"

"She's one of mah best friends!"

"Then you must know where she lives."

"Yeah, follow me Shadow, Ah'll take ya there."

She started walking towards Twilight's, but Shadow grabbed her tail with his mouth and yanked her back, just as a baseball whizzed past where her head was.

"Sorry! Are you ok?" asked a filly, running towards them.

"Ya didn't get me, just be more careful."

He ran off to retrieve the ball.

"That would've been one hay of a knot on my head! Thank you, Shadow."

Shadow was standing there, with a blank look on his face, staring into space. He didn't move for a few seconds, then shook his head. "What?"

"Are you alright, Shadow Streak?"

"I think so, what happened?"

"You blanked out for a minute there."

"Huh... Oh well, think nothing of it."

"Hi Applejack." said a depressed voice.

"Hey there... Pinkie? What happened to you?"

"I don't know. I woke up today and my hair was like this."

"Are ya feeling ok?"

"I don't know."

"Hello, I'm Shadow Streak." said Shadow. "How 'bout you, cutie?"

Pinkie backed off a little and said, "I'm... Pinkie Pie."

Shadow looked at her for a second, then smiled and said, "See ya around."

"I hope not."

"Pinkie!" said Applejack angrily.

"Hurtful." said Shadow.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

He leaned in and looked in her eyes. A tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it and said, "C'mon Applejack, lets go."

"Alright Shadow. I hope that you feel better, Pinkie."

"See you around, Pinkie Pie." said Shadow.

"Bye you two." she said.

After a few moments of walking, Applejack said, "What was that all about?"

"What?"

"Pinkie Pie, unhappy. She's never unhappy! And she said that she didn't want to see you again. She would never say that, she wouldn't, she couldn't! She's the friendliest pony in Ponyville!"

"She's just having an off day. Everypony has them. You, me, her."

"Ah'm still unconvinced."

"All she needs is a good nights rest. You'll see, she'll be fine in the morning."

"Alright, Ah'll take your word for it."

They reached Twilight's house and went their separate ways. 'Something is up with Pinkie Pie.' he thought.

He walked inside and noticed that it was cleaner than Twilight led him to believe. 'Either that, or she cleaned.'

"Twilight? Are you here?" he called.

"Just a minute!" she called back.

He grabbed a book off the shelf, a fiction novel. He never saw it before, so he thought he'd give it a shot. He flipped through the pages, then said, "That was pretty good. Wait a minute, I just picked this up, did I really just read it all?"

"What are you mumbling?" asked Twilight, walking in.

"I picked this book off of the shelf, flipped through the pages, and said that it was good. My reading speed is astronomical."

"Lets put that to the test, shall we?" She gave him a book and said, "Memorize this in five..."

"Done."

"You're done already?"

"Yeah."

She opened to a random page and said, "On page 107, what does Stellar say to Flames?"

"Oh yeah, about that. No, nothing. There isn't a thing we could do. We lost this war. Only one thing can save us now, the Scepter of the Ends."

"Word for word, Shadow Streak. Looks like you are a fast reader."

"So anyways, how have you been, Twilight?"

"I've been pretty good. I met Applejack at the hospital, healed her leg, and she brought me here. I met a pony named Pinkie Pie on my way here."

"You met Pinkie Pie and Applejack?"

"Yeah. Pinkie Pie was kinda depressing and mean though."

"She's never like that!"

"Applejack told me that. She said that she was usually happy and friendly."

"This is strange. Was her hair straight?"

"Like noodles. Made her look kinda pretty actually."

"This happened before. She thought that we didn't want to be her friends anymore and went crazy. She started talking to rocks and sacks of flour."

"I know I shouldn't laugh, but that sounds pretty funny. Sad, but funny."

"She said it was funny too."

"So anyways Twilight, where's Spike?"

"He's out helping Fluttershy with her animals right now. Speaking of Fluttershy, she was very worried about you when you first got here."

"Then maybe I should tell her that I'm safe. Where does she live?"

"She lives in a cottage on the other side of town near the Everfree Forest."

"Thanks Twilight. I think I can find it now."

He walked back outside and looked up. "I wonder if I could fly with this one wing."

We flapped his wing a few times, took off, and he felt like he was flying normally. He soared through the air, testing out his new ability. He did a few tricks and landed on a roof. He looked around and saw that a pony was watching him.

"That was some pretty good flying for only one wing." she said.

"Thanks."

"Hey what's your name?"

"I'm Shadow Streak, what's your name, beautiful?"

"Rainbow Dash. Care to put that fancy flying to the test?"

"Actually, I'm a little busy right now."

"What are you busy with?"

"I'm checking up on Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy?"

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Yeah. Be careful, she's very shy. She might not want to talk to you."

"That's alright. Thanks for the advice. See ya later, Rainbow."

"Bye Shadow."

Shadow flew towards Fluttershy's cottage yet again. He got there and saw her taking care of animals.

"Hello." he said, waving at them.

Fluttershy stopped, turned around, and said, "Hello."

"You must be Fluttershy."

"Yes... Are you Shadow Streak?"

"Yes I am. I came here to tell you that I'm not hurt any more. Thanks for caring."

"Um... You're welcome?"

Shadow got a closer look at her. "You're pretty cute."

She tried to hide in her mane.

"Spike's here, right? Mind if I talk to him? Where is he?"

"I'm right over here. Who are you?" he asked.

"Shadow Streak. Twilight didn't say you were a dragon."

"Why? Do you have a problem with dragons?"

"Big time."

"Huh?"

"Well, it's not that I have a problem with dragons, it's that they have a problem with me."

"Why would dragons have a problem with you?"

"I don't know, and if you don't have a problem with me, than there shouldn't be a problem at all. Anyways, I'm staying with you and Twilight for the time being, so... Yeah, that is it."

"She didn't tell me about this."

"Maybe she wanted to surprise you. Or maybe she was busy. She did say it was messy, and it was clean when I got there."

"That's possible."

"Alright, see ya around, friends."

He headed back to Twilight's and asked about some food.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't think of that."

"That's not a problem. I just realized that since I'm immortal, I really don't need to eat."

"But doesn't that hurt?"

"More than you can imagine. Now, I am going to explore."

"Be back here in an hour. I'll have some food ready for us."

"Ok, mom." he said sarcastically. "Don't make anything too special."

He walked around and stopped near the school. The fillies were outside playing around. "Must be recess." he said to himself.

He laid down in the grass and watched them play. A filly noticed him and she walked over to him.

"Are you Shadow Streak?" she asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Applejack told me."

"Well what's your name, little cutie?"

"Ah'm Applebloom."

"Well Applebloom, pay no attention to me. Just go back to playing with your friends."

"Alright Shadow, bye."

"See ya later."

"Who's your friend, Applebloom?" asked Scootaloo, who had walked over with Sweetie Belle.

"My name's Shadow Streak. What about you two?"

"Name's Scootaloo."

"Sweetie Belle."

"Hey girls, look!"

"What?"

They were all looking at his flank. "It's blank, just like us."

"I've never seen a stallion without a cutie mark." said Sweetie Belle.

"Diamond Tiara would have a field day."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 25. 25 and no cutie mark. Bit odd if you ask me." he said.

"That is pretty odd."

"Hey Shadow, you wanna meet our friends?"

"I guess so, might as well."

They took him over to the playground and were stopped by Cheerilee. "Girls, what have I told you about guests?" she asked.

"Oh yeah."

"We forgot."

"Alright you three, back to your friends." said Shadow.

"Do we have to?"

"Don't worry, I'll see ya again."

"Alright. Bye Shadow!"

"I'm sorry about that Mr..."

"Friends call me Shadow. Just Shadow, no Mr."

"Alright then."

"And what's your name, beautiful?"

"I'm Cheerilee. I'm the elementary school teacher."

"Teacher huh? I have to ask, being a former teacher myself, how's your class?"

"Oh, it's wonderful! The fillies are great, I rarely have any problems. Wait, you're a teacher?"

"Former teacher."

"Former? What made you quit?"

"I have no idea. Things happen."

"Yeah."

"So, what are you teaching now?"

"We were discussing history."

"I love history. Mainly because I was a part of it."

"Part of history?"

"Oh yes. I have encountered my share of events."

"I can think of at least two events that I can remember clearly."

"What would those be?"

"You don't know?"

"No, should I?"

"Where have you been for the past year?"

"I'm a hermit actually."

"A hermit?"

"Yes, now, what happened?"

"Well first the thing with Nightmare Moon. She wanted to bring eternal night to the world. The problem was fixed by the Elements of Harmony. They turned her back into Princess Luna."

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna."

"But... But... Alright, what was the second?"

"Discord returned from his stone prison and made chaos reign. Again, the Elements of Harmony managed to defeat the evil."

"The princesses were somewhat involved in both events I assume. Thanks Cheerilee, I gotta go. See ya later."

"Bye Shadow Streak!"

Shadow ran back to Twilight's house. "Twilight!"

"Shadow? It hasn't been an hour yet."

"Twilight, I need to know, Princess Luna, Nightmare Moon. What happened?"

"A thousand years ago, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had control over the sun and the moon, respectively. The ponies celebrated the day and shunned the night. Princess Luna got jealous of the day and tried to make night last forever. Princess Celestia had no choice but to banish her to the moon for a thousand years, after which she returned, and she was turned back into Princess Luna by my friends and I."

"A thousand... Celestia? Must've really pissed her off. I'm gonna have a little talk with her. She's had a short fuse all her life. Wait, you? Cheerilee told me that the Elements of Harmony stopped her."

"Well, me and my friends are the new Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon destroyed the old ones."

"Huh..."

"Well, since you're here already, lets eat."

"Alright, thanks Twilight."

Twilight disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a small meal on some plates. Shadow took his and ate it.

"How is it?" asked Twilight.

"You're a terrible cook, Twilight."

"It's that bad?"

"Oh yeah, try some."

"Um... Alright."

She ate the food she made for herself and almost spit it out. After she got it down, she said, "I am a terrible cook."

"Eh, food's food. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

"Now, anything from the princesses?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Well, alright. I'm going to bed."

"This early?"

"That's right."

"Why this early?"

"I guess that if there's nothing to do, I can always find something tomorrow."

"I guess so."

"Hope I don't scream in terror."

"I hope so to."

"Question, where do I sleep?"

"You can sleep in the guest room, it's over here."

She took him to a room with a small bed in it. "That works." he said.

"Sorry it's so small."

He smiled at her and said, "Don't worry about it. Thank you, for everything, Twilight."

"I was being a friend."

"You let a total stranger into your home and let him sleep there. Why is that?"

"You're not a stranger. You're a great pony. I trust you, Shadow."

"I hope your trust is well placed, for both our sakes. Goodnight Twilight."

"Goodnight Shadow."

*I just make most of this up as I go along.