Chapter 1 - A Sacrifice
There was no way to beat the monster that stood before him. Every attack, every spell, everything he tried just kept bouncing right off that thing! The thing that some people to believed to be god... he could see why now. However, it looked like a pile of meat with giant tendrils skewering out of it, slime and blood coating every inch of it. It was repulsing to look at to say the least.
"Are you sure about this?" his other self asked. "There will be no going back. You will lose everything."
The boy nodded with determination. "If I don't stop this thing here, it will kill more and more people."
He knew what needed to be done, and with that thought, he raised his hand into the air and channeled his power. The air grew hotter and hotter until it was like standing on the surface of the sun. The monster growled and groaned, preparing to strike at the boy.
"Big Bang!" the boy cried, and suddenly everything as engulfed by a white light.
There were murmurs of curiosity as the boy awoke from his slumber. He felt the bed underneath him and a rhythmic beeping to his bedside. "I wonder what it is? It doesn't look anything like a dragon," came a high-pitched female voice.
"That's for sure," came a young male voice. "I've never heard anything like a scaleless, tailless dragon before."
"Ah guess it must be an ape then," came another female voice with a southern accent.
"Whatever it is," came a masculine female voice from next to the boy, followed by a firm poke, "it's really weird looking!"
"Scootaloo!" came the high-pitched voice. "Don't poke him! He might wake up!"
"How's it ya know it's a him, Sweetie?" came the now curious southern voice.
"I don't know... it just looks like Spike a bit," Sweetie admitted.
"Hey!" came who the boy assumed was Spike. "I don't look like that! I'm way taller than it! Besides, as soon as Twilight gets here with the other elements, we'll know for sure."
The boy had heard enough to know that he was not going to get rest any time soon, so he slowly opened his eyes. The ceiling was green with what appeared to be vine designs swirling across the room and onto the walls, which were a light blue. There was a sudden pain in the boy's head which caused him to groan and bring a hand to his head.
All the others in the room gasped in unison, causing the boy to groan even more. "Jeez... can't a guy get some peace and quiet? I've got a killer headache..." the boy complained in his usual young, but mature tone. There was silence at his voice, causing the boy to become curious and sit up from the bed. He was quite surprised at what he found.
In the room with him was a very strange crowd; a purple and green lizard/dragon thing, a pale yellow horse with a red mane and tail, orange eyes, as well as a light crimson bow tying her mane into a ponytail, a white coated unicorn with pale green eyes, a curly, grayish mulberry and light-grayish pale rose mane and tail, and lastly an orange pegasus with grayish purple eyes and a messy, moderate cerise mane and tail.
The boy stared at them as they did to him, inspecting and thinking of what to do next. "Uh... Hi?" the boy ventured. There was no telling what to expect, but he wasn't afraid of them. For some reason, he felt like he was in no danger at all.
The purple dragon stepped forwards and cleared his throat. "I-I'm Spike," he stuttered, "and this is Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom." Spike pointed to each and every individual in the room as he introduced them. They seemed just as curious as he was, but he noticed that the unicorn named Sweetie Belle was looking at the ground and shuffling her hooves. She was certainly uneasy. "I was wondering if you could tell us who and what you are," Spike continued.
The boy looked at his hands and focused on his past to remember... nothing. Everything he drew was blank. He couldn't even remember his name or what he'd done last! "I... can't recall anything!" the boy said, starting to panic. As the walls started to close on him, the boy suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe anymore.
"Woah, Woah! Calm down there!" Spike said, waving his claws desperately in front of him. He walked over to the other side of the room and picked up a duffel bag, walking back over and placing it on the boy's lap. "This is what you were wearing and everything you had on you when you were found. A lot of it is burnt and destroyed, though," Spike explained.
The boy opened the bag to find that the lizard was right. All of the boy's clothes were bits and pieces of char. However, there were a few things that were in good shape. The boy picked out a small, silver locket with a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle carved into the front. Opening it, he found that it was empty and that there was only a short message inside.
To our dear friend, Loreto Hobbes, who's burning determination and support lead us to find justice together.
A sudden sharp pain pierced the boy's head, causing him to shout and grip his head. "H-hey! What's wrong!?" the pegasus, Scootaloo said with concern.
As the pain dulled down as quickly as it came, the boy retracted his hands and looked over at the mare. "I'm fine... just fine. I've remembered my name, but not much else. I'm Loreto Hobbes. I'm eighteen years old, and I just finished my first year of university. That's all that I can remember, sorry," Loreto apologised. He put the locket around his neck and went back into the bag.
"It's fine," said Spike, "but we're going to have to find a way to bring back your memories..."
There was nothing else in the bag other than a broken hilt of a sword, which Loreto found most curious. "Would you mind telling me what you are and where I am?" Loreto asked, putting the bag on the ground next to the bed.
"This 'ere is Equestria! We're all ponies, except fer' Spike 'ere. He's a dragon!" Apple Bloom explained. "And ah gotta' say, ya seem to be taking this mighty well."
Loreto looked down to his hands again. "I feel... like I've experienced stranger things than this. I also feel... like I'm late for something," Loreto said. His hands were clean, but they felt filthy for some reason, like they were coated in invisible dirt and grime. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation, but it was very evident that he hadn't showered in a while.
"Well..." Spike ventured suddenly, "you seem really tired. We'll leave and let you catch up on some sleep. Come on, girls." With that, he turned and opened the door, leaving the room. The pegasus and the regular pony left the room, the former grumbling about not getting to ask a question.
However, the unicorn stayed behind, still staring at her hooves and polishing the ground with them. After a moment, she nodded a bit and raised her head with determination and walked to Loreto's side. "I..." she began, but ended up shutting her eyes and shaking her head violently. "Sorry," she whispered as she bolted from the room. Loreto tilted his head in confusion at the sight, but decided not to dwell on the matter.
The sun's rays pierced Loreto's eyes as he stepped outside. Raising a hand, he shielded himself from the elements of this strange new world. In fact, now that he had a good view of it, it was amazingly beautiful. A small, quiet village graced the land before him, and beyond that was sprawling plains, forests, and a colossal mountain with what looked like a large castle near the summit. It nearly took the boy's breath away.
Lowering his hand, Loreto started towards the town with the bag that Spike had given him and a few rags that had been fashioned into clothes. The mare at the front desk said that he should go and find one of the ones that were in the room with him when he awoke. She also said to explore the town and get familiar with the locals as soon as possible. However, he didn't really care about either of those options: he could do either. From the sun's position, he had about half the day left.
So? What now?
- Find Spike.
- Find Apple Bloom.
- Find Sweetie Belle.
- Find Scootaloo.
- Explore the town.
Author's Note
You have 24 hours to leave your choice in the comments below. Please clearly state which number you wish to choose.
Even if the choice seems to be meaningless, it will impact the way the story plays out in the end.
As per usual, if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors, please let me know.
Thanks to Storm Nova for editing this chapter!
