Nope Chronicles #1 - The Pegasus Epidemic

Chapter 1: Berry Punch

"*inaudible whisper*"

"What?"

"*inaudible whisper*"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what that means"

"Wait... No..."

"Hehehe..."

"No!"

"Wake up"

"What do you want from me??"

"Remember me?"

"You aren't real!"

"Then why am I here right now?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Guess who's back.  Back again."

"Oh Celesia!"

"Up, now!"

"NAH, I DON'T WANNA"

"Let's get down to business!"

"Out of my mind... now."

The afternoon sky was a light greyish blue, the air was chilly, and the grass was full of dew.  A large solid oak tree grew to the left of a hoofpath running loosely through the centre of the PonyVille Park, on the opposite side the path was a small lake. The lake was glassy and reflected the dullness of the sky, it was littered with lily pads, dirt and small blades of grass.  Just behind it stood another thick, bulky oak tree, covered in moss and creepers.  The ground surrounding the lake had small patches of clay and dirt.  Ponies trotted carefree around the park, as the wind lightly blew through their manes and tails.

THUMP.  The ground vibrated as a light purple, almost white stallion pegasus with cream coloured hooves and black hair with a dark purple fringe fell out of the oak tree and landed face first on the hoofpath, "ooohh you biscuit," he moaned in muffled voice.  His fore and hind legs ached, his stomach felt empty and rumbled.  One wing was folded in neatly against his fur while the other was sprawled out onto the pathway, some feathers, twigs, leaves and snapped branches were scattered around him.  His cutie mark showed a green USB flash drive with the word 'NOPE' written in impact on it.  His tail (which was about two times longer than him) sprawled out behind him and was full of split ends and leaves.

He lifted his face from the harsh cobblestone walkway and opened his eyes, which were a deep glossy brown.  The ponies of the park carelessly trotted past him, only about three of them looked in shock at the pegasus that had just seemingly fallen out of nowhere.  In reality he had spent the whole night sleeping up in the tree, a tui pecking his face had awoken him and he had fallen out of the tree.  He looked in front of his, his vision locked onto the lake in front of him.  Only one thing was on his mind now.  Having a drink.  His mind didn't bother to wonder, where he was, or what his name was, all he cared about was the water.

He forced himself to his shaky legs, before they gave out underneath him.  He instead decided to crawl over to the lake, dragging himself over to the waterside, digging his hooves into the clay to get his muzzle as close to the lake as possible.  His tongue darted into the lake, and he began to lap in small amounts of water, however once he had swallowed a little more than a milliliter, he plunged his muzzle into the lake and began to drink as much water as he could.

"What are you doing?" Came an unfamiliar voice from behind the Pegasus.  He lifted his dripping muzzle from the lake to see a cerise earth pony with slightly messy hair standing behind him with a quizzical expression.  She looked a few years older than him and spoke in a light Eastern Irish accent and her cutie mark showed some grapes and a single strawberry.  In her right hoof she held a bottle of vodka.

"I'm having a drink," the pegasus replied, "I haven't had a drink in... who knows how long it's been."  With that, he returned to the lake, gulping in large amounts of water.  To his surprise, he saw the mare's reflection in the lake, staring  awkwardly at him.  "What?" He asked, his mouth still full of water.

"It's just, why are you drinking out of a lake?" She asked, taking a final sip of her alcohol.

"I'm a pony..." The pegasus said, rather confused, "we drink out of lakes don't we?"

"Ponies haven't drank outta lakes in donkey years," she replied, carelessly throwing her empty bottle behind her.  She looked again at the pegasus, his strangely long tail, his cutie mark, "you new around here?" She asked.  "I'm Berry Punch, what's your name?"

The pegasus lifted his head from the lake again, finishing his drink.  He turned his back to the lake and looked at the tree he'd just fallen out of, it had a strange signature written on it with what looked like a sharpie pen.  Then the questions came to him.  What is my name?  What is this place? Why am I a pony? "My name is..." he looked at Berry Punch, who was still staring at him.  "I forgot my name..."

"Seriously?" Berry Punch asked concerned, before pulling a second bottle of vodka from her mane and flicking off the top.  "How did you forget your own name? Where are you from?"

"I'm from..." He started, before staring blankly at the ground.  "I don't know that either... Wait, where did you get that other bottle from?" he asked, realizing Berry's seemingly impossible action.

"From my mane..." She replied, her look of concern strengthening.  "All ponies can carry stuff in their manes or tail, it's one of the few ounces of magic that are shared across all three pony species, another one being the ability to hold items in our hooves... You already knew that, right?"

"No... I didn't," the Pegasus replied, feeling around in his mane and tail.

"Wait, so you don't know your name, you don't know where you came from and you drank out of a lake?"  Berry Punch said, finishing her second pint of vodka and throwing the empty glass bottle away.  "Did you hit your head on something?"  The pegasus shrugged.  "Well, do you at least know the meaning of your cutie mark?" She asked, wondering if that would help him remember.

He looked at his hind leg and saw it.  The dark green USB flash drive with the word 'NOPE' written on it in a yellow/pink gradient.  "I have absolutely no idea what that means," he told Berry.

"Um... is your name Nope?" Berry asked.  The pegasus shrugged.  "Oh, well, is it okay if I call you Nope?"  He thought for a few seconds, before nodding.  "Well... what do you remember or know?" Berry asked him, leaning slightly closer to him.

"I know that I'm a pony... and I'm a pegasus... and that cutie marks represent your talent or destiny... and I apparently know how to speak English..." He said, listing off as many things as he could.

Berry nodded when he was finished, she stared into the lake, then back at the tree.  "So you've basically got complete amnesia..." she realized, "hang on, stay here, I think I know a friend who might be able to help you," and with that, she gallopped along the hoofpath, through the park, over a hill and out of sight.

Nope looked at his cutie mark.  He stared at it for a good two minutes, before averting his gaze to his tail.  He lifted it up and observed it, did he have an extension or was it just natural?  It felt natural, but to be honest he couldn't really tell.  His observations were interrupted by a rustling in a nearby bush.  He  cocked his head to the side, like a curious lizard, and then trotted up to the bush.

Moving the leaves aside, he saw a light greyish brown pegasus hiding in the bush.  He had spiked orange and red hair and a muzzle that seemed to fade to a grey colour.  His cutie mark showed an electric guitar surrounded by flames.  One of the other pegasus' eyes was green and the other was blue.  Nope looked out to where the other pegasus was looking and saw six ponies all talking in a group.

"What are you doing?" Nope asked.

"AAHH," the other pegasus leaped out of the bush in shock, "um... stuff," he said in a rather fast british accent.  "I'm not stalking them, you are!"  With that, he bailed from the bush and retreated deep into the everfree forest.

Nope blinked in confusion, "what's that guy's problem?" he wondered aloud, before returning to the lake to wait for Berry Punch.  But he couldn't get his mind off that other pegasus.  Deciding to let it go, Nope lay on the lakeside, slowly sliding in until half off him was in the lake and his tail had fallen in fully as well.