Chapters Author's Note
I've redone this chapter a little bit.
A Rough Awakening
When I opened my eyes, brightness blurred my vision. My mind was empty; all I remembered was the color purple, swirling in circles, an occasional sparkle, and a hit on the head. How long was I out? I wondered, rubbing my scalp. My vision was still blurry, and I noticed that I was moving. I tilted my head and saw an apple, a shiny red one. I then reached over myself and attempted to sit up, groaning in the process. The cart stopped, and an orange figure appeared from the left and spoke with a southern accent.
"Don't move, sugarcube, you sprained your leg." I couldn't make out what this person looked like, due to my vision acting all blurry.
"Where... Am I?" I replied.
"Right now, yer layin' in a wooden cart. Ah found you unconscious in the orchard and I'm bringin' you back to the farm." I dropped my head back to the wood after tilting it to see the figure. So, I'm at an orchard. I thought, as the woman with the southern accent walked back to the front.
"You sure you're alright?" She asked.
"Yeah... I think." Of course I wasn't alright. I've been knocked out and sent to some strange location.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"The name's Applejack, a farmer at Sweet Apple Acres." The name didn't ring a bell, and I knew there wasn't even a farm where I came from. Now, thanks to whatever hit me on the head, my memories of home were quite blank. The most I knew is that I'm definitely not from around here. I regained enough strength to sit up, and I managed to peek over the edge. What do I see? Well, as my vision came to, fields and fields of apple trees slowly began to take shape. I blinked and looked towards the front of the cart. An orange-y looking horse was pulling the cart, and the cowgirl was nowhere to be seen. I took a look around and again I saw nothing but apple trees.
"Hello?" I shouted, trying to spot the person who helped me.
"Yes?" She replied. Her voice startled me and I slip, tumbling off the cart and onto the ground. "What the hay is goin' on back there?" My vision became blurry and I see the horse at the front of the cart drop the harnesses on its back and gallop towards me. I back away from it as I hear the woman's voice once again.
"You okay, sugarcube?" I nodded and attempted to stand up but end up dropping to the ground. The horse reached out and held me up.
"Your horse is acting strange."
"What are yah talkin' about? And I'm a pony, not a horse." My eyes widened and and I looked up at the equine.
"Yah must've hit yer head pretty hard." It said, smiling. I stumbled once again and began to studder.
"Y-you... H-horse... T-talk..."
"What are yah tryin' to say?"
"You're an orange... pony that talks?!" The southern pony looked at me, she was definitely confused.
"Ah don't understand," she motioned her hoof towards my body. "Your a pony too!" My eyes widened and I looked down at my "hands". Only, I had no hands, instead, a pair of hooves took their place. They were orange. Well... I was orange. I freaked out again and stood up, only to fall over again due to my transformation. I began to examine my body once more. I had spiky red mane/tail and a horn emerged from my forehead. "Look," the pony said. "You're a little banged up. Let me take you to the farmhouse and I'll take a look at your injuries." I hesitated, but nodded anyways. With help from the stranger, I climbed back onto the cart as the farmpony began to pull it. It took only a few minutes for the farm buildings that the pony mentioned to come into view. A large red barn surrounded by hay bales and chicken coops. Surrounding it was a series of white fences and an orange building stood further behind it that seemed like a carrot farm. When we arrived at the large front entrance, a large pony with red fur and short orange mane approached Applejack. I couldn't hear what they were saying, unfortunately. After some discussion, the farmpony parked the cart inside the barn while the red one began to assist me with getting off the cart. "This here's my brother, Big McIntosh." Applejack said, pointing at the newcomer. "He does most of the heavy work 'round here." McIntosh nodded.
"Eeyup. And you are?" I stared, attempting to remember my name.
"Unfortunately, I don't remember. This might be worse than it seems." After the greetings, I took my time trying to get the walking part done. It seemed easy enough, it was like crawling on all fours, but much easier. Once that was done, Applejack introduced me to the other two ponies on the farm. Applebloom and Granny Smith. Applebloom was a filly with yellow fur and red mane/tail along with a pink bow atop her head. She didn't stay long, though, had something to do with "Cutie Mark Crusaders." Granny Smith on the other hand was an elderly pony with green fur and a white mane/tail. She also bore an orange handkerchief around her neck. She began to talk about the orchard when Applejack rushed me out.
"She could go on fer hours," she said, smiling. "Come with me." The pony led me into a small farmhouse and up a flight of stairs. She sat me on a comfy bed and pulled out a white box with a Red Cross symbol atop it. According to the farm pony, I had a minor concussion and some bruises.
"Here," Applejack said, holding her hoof out. "Take this." I tossed the small, white pills into my mouth and bit down. Grape flavour? "Those will help with any migraines or headaches."
"Thanks." I said. Applejack smiled and looked at the time.
"It's gettin' late, an' you've been through a lot lately. Tomorrow, I'll have my friend Twilight take a look at you." I nodded and decided to figure out everything tomorrow.
"We only have one bed for ya, and it's in the attic. Sorry 'bout that." Applejack said. I nodded again.
"It's alright, thanks a bunch." I found another flight of stairs and tripped over my own hooves as I marched up. The attic I climbed into was messy, but somewhat cozy. The bed was in the corner and a small cupboard sat next to it with a blazing lamp on top. It reminded me of something. Something before I woke up in this strange world.
"I don't understand..." I whispered to myself. I stretched and sat on top of the bed. I climbed under the blanket that was laying on the bed and rested my head on the pillow. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep. But I swear I heard someone speak within my head that night.
"Hope you like your new home. 'Firebolt'..."
Author's Note
I made some changes, but not as much as the first chapter.
The Door
I woke up with a headache, and kinda wishing that everything was a dream. But when I opened my eyes, another pair of orange eyes glared back at me. It was Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister.
"Hiya!" she said. The filly startled me and I hit my head on the wall behind me. "Oh! Sorry!"
I rubbed my head and nodded. "It's alright, I'm fine. What's up?"
"AJ sent me up here to get ya," She said. "Breakfast is ready." I obliged and climbed out of the bed as Apple Bloom headed downstairs. I rubbed my eyes and followed the filly downstairs. After washing up in the bathroom, I marched down the stairs and turned into the next room to see four ponies in the kitchen: Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and... a new pony? She was a Unicorn with lavender fur and purple mane/tail. What really surprised me was her wings, a Unicorn with wings? I thought that only Pegasus had wings.
"Oh, hello." I say, sitting down at the table. "You must be Twilight."
The purple unicorn waved her hoof. "That's me! And you must be the one Applejack helped."
I nodded and Applejack tilted her head. "Did yah remember anythin' overnight?"
"In fact, I did, I think my name is Firebolt." I replied. Big McIntosh began to serve what looked like small tarts. I asked him what it was and he replied with "Apple Breakfast Fritters."
Twilight went on. "So, Firebolt, you have absolutely no idea where you're from, where you are, or even what you are?"
"Yes, yes, and yes. I remembered my name last night when I heard a voice speak in my mind." With trouble, I picked up breakfast with my two front hooves and began to feast on it. I've never tasted anything like it.
Twilight began to jot down notes. "What do you remember?"
I thought for a bit. "Not much. The things I remember are a painful hit on the head and strange swirling colours." While eating, I noticed something that I somehow haven't noticed before. All the ponies in the room, besides Apple Bloom, had a tattoo upon their 'flanks'. Twilight had a purple star surrounded by smaller, white sparkles, Applejack had three red apples, and Big McIntosh had one large green apple. I looked at my flank and noticed that I didn't have one.
"Can someone explain these tattoos?" I asked, pointing at Twilight's symbol. Twilight stopped writing and looked at the spot I was pointing at.
"Oh, well that's a cutie mark, it represents a unique characteristic that sets you apart from others. Ponies only get it when they discover that talent." With this information, I examined her mark. What, are purple crystal explosions her talent? I thought.
"Alright," Twilight said, closing the notebook she was writing in. "I have some ideas of what's going on. You'll have to come with me, Firebolt, we're going to my place." I finished my food and walked to the door with Applejack. Thanking McIntosh for the food and waving goodbye to Apple Bloom, we left through the door. On the way to "Ponyville", the town Twilight and some of her friends lived in, I got a chance to explore more of their world. According to the information they gave me, Ponyville lies somewhere in the middle of their country, Equestria. It's ruled by two princesses named Celestia and Luna. And there are hundreds of mythical creatures that live there such as dragons, sea serpents, and manticores. Twilight went on about the history, but we made it to the town I was distracted by all the shops and houses. After what seemed like an hour, we finally made it to our destination, a large tree. The tree was hollowed out and turned into a library owned by Twilight who lives in the room above it. We entered the "house" and Twilight closed the door behind us.
"Spike?!" The Unicorn yelled.
"I'm here!" A voice replied from upstairs. A small creature ran down the stairs and tripped at the last step. He looked like a young purple lizard with green "spikes".
Twilight looked down at him. "Spike, did you finish all your chores?" The creature began counting with its fingers.
"Yes I did! Mop the floor, make the bed, put away any books I may or may not have touched... Uh," It looked at me. "Who's that?"
I step forwards. "Name's Firebolt."
"Spike. Spike the dragon." He said, crossing his arms. "I'm Twilight's number one assistant!"
"So you're a dragon?" I reply.
"Of course I am. You must be new around here." While Spike left to read a comic book, Twilight grabbed a book off one of the shelves and sat down next to me.
"This book should have spells to help with memory loss." She said, flipping through the pages. "Aha, this one doesn't look too tough." Twilight turned towards be and bent her head, pointing her horn right under my own. After concentrating for a bit, a purple aura enveloped her horn and glowed brightly. What felt like an invisible rock hitting my head caused be to fall over. I felt like passing out but something kept me from doing so. Soon, the insomnia stopped, and I stood up slowly.
"I don't think that work-" Suddenly, the lights went out. At least, I think they did. I couldn't see anything, waving my hoof in front of my face proved that theory. "Hello?" I called out, without an answer. "Twilight? Spike?" I turned to see a door. It was reddish brown with fancy swirls decorated all over it. That's when I felt a presence.
"Who's there?!" I asked.
"I've come to see the door to this world."
"Huh?" I gasped, startled to hear such a deep voice.
"This world has been connected."
"What are you talking about?!" I looked around.
"Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed."
I began to feel frightened. "Show yourself!"
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
I spotted something next to the door.
"There is so very much to learn... Yet you understand so little."
It looked like a cloaked man, walking towards me. "Back off! I'm warning you!"
A meaningless effort... One who knows nothing can understand nothing.
I was getting mad, but I stared at the door. "Where am..." When I looked around again, he was gone. "...I?"
The door made a clicking sound and opened slightly, a bright light shined through the crack. Looking at it must've put me into a trance because I couldn't stop myself from walking through the doorway. The bright light slowly began to fade as I walked and I started to remember things from my past, well, not all of it. I began to slow down, as if I was walking through a puddle of mud. By the time I came to a stop, it was once again dark. After a few minutes of silence, I noticed that I was back in the real world. My head hurt way more than before, but there was a cold cloth on top of my forehead, somewhat soothing my migraine. I sat up to take a look around and I recognized the style of the room. I was still in Twilight's library. I turned to sit on the edge of the bed when the only door in the room opened and a pony entered.
"Oh! Oh... I'm sorry for barging in like this..." She said, backing out of the room.
"No, no, it's fine..." I reply. "Name's Firebolt." The pony had yellow fur and a long, pink mane/tail. Her cutie mark consisted of three pink butterflies. She carried in a small bucket of water and two towels.
"I'm... Fluttershy..." She said quietly, taking a step backwards. We sat in silence for a bit, making the conversation awkward.
"Well," I said, standing up. "I'm gonna go see the others... Nice meeting you." Fluttershy nodded as I left the room. I heard voices discussing something downstairs, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I trotted down the stairs into the main part of the library. Sitting around the table was five ponies. Twilight, Applejack, and three others. A light blue furred Pegasus with a mane/tail of rainbow sat next to Twilight, a bright pink furred pony with a crazy pink mane/tail sat next to the blue pony, and a white furred Unicorn with long swirly purple hair sat next to Applejack. They all bore cutie marks as well, the pink pony had three blue/yellow balloons, the white pony had three blue diamonds, and the blue pony had a rainbow lightning bolt emerging from a white cloud. Twilight was the first to notice me.
"Oh, Firebolt! You're awake!" She said, as the other ponies turned to look. "Girls, this is Firebolt, the pony Applejack found in her orchard." I waved awkwardly and sat between the blue and pink ponies. The pink one almost instantly gave me a hug.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm super-duper excited to meet you! When Twilight told me about you and how you're new around here, I couldn't wait for you to wake up after your little accident! I was going to set up a big welcome-to-Ponyville party, but Applejack said that we didn't have time for one, so we left to get Rainbow Dash and Rarity and now we're here!" We all stared a her for a bit. Until the one I presumed was Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
"Sorry about her, she could go on forever. I'm the one named Rainbow Dash." She said, holding out her hoof. I gave it a shake and turned to the one other pony that I haven't met yet.
"And you must be Rarity?" I said.
"Indeed I am, it's very nice to meet you." She said, nodding. Fluttershy shyly walked down the stairs and sat across from me. After confirming that I've already met the shy pony, Twilight went on telling her friends everything she knew about me.
"It must be horrible not remembering anything from your past," Rarity said. "You must really miss your friends." As she said that, I was reminded of what happened before I blacked out.
"That reminds me... Twilight, y'know that spell you casted on me?" Twilight nodded while apologizing about the outcome. "Well," I continued. "It worked, a little bit." Twilight's ears perked up. "I don't remember too much, but there was a door..." I paused, attempting to recall exactly what happened. "...when it opened, there was a bright light and a bit of my memories returned." Twilight took more notes.
"What memories returned?" Applejack asked.
"Most of it is fuzzy, but I remember the name of my hometown, Radiant Garden." I reply. The purple Unicorn rubbed her chin and read over her notes.
"Strange, you don't come from anywhere in Equestria."
"You're not from around here?!" Rainbow Dash said with excitement.
I shrugged. "Or worse, I could be from another dimension." The seven of us discussed the topic and shared ideas. Despite losing my memory, becoming a colorful pony, and awakening in an unknown location, I was enjoying myself. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from here. As it began to get late, all the ponies, except for me and Twilight, were about to leave when a scream emitted from outside.
A scream of terror.
"What the hay was that?" Applejack asked.
"It sounded like Lyra! C'mon everypony!" Twilight replied, galloping out the door. The six of us began following Twilight to the house of the pony named Lyra. It didn't even take us a minute to reach the center of town and encounter a bunch of helpless ponies surrounded by small black creatures. They had round yellow eyes and two pointy antennae atop their heads. A turquoise pony had three small cuts on her shoulder and tears streaming down her face.
"Somepony help us!" She screamed. It took one glance at the yellow eyes of a creature for a painful ringing to echo throughout my head. I groaned in pain and fell to the ground, clutching my head.
"Firebolt! Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked. The other ponies ran off to stop the attackers.
"It's-" I groaned again. "...Nothing." The pain dissolved almost as suddenly as it appeared. I got back to my feet, remembering more of my past. An idea popped into my head. Wait, I'm a unicorn! I focused my mind into the horn until it glowed a shimmering red. Suddenly, a ball of flames emerged at the tip and launched itself towards one of the shadowy figures. It dispersed into a ball of black smoke.
"Firebolt! Fluttershy!" A familiar voice yelled. Rainbow Dash sped towards them and landed on top of two of the creatures, turning them to smoke. "These monsters are appearing all over Ponyville!" Hearing this, I shot my head up and looked into Rainbow's eyes.
"Dash, you and Fluttershy fly overhead and get the residents inside." Rainbow nodded and flew into the air, Fluttershy following behind. I spotted Applejack and Pinkie Pie jumping around and smashing the creatures with their hooves. I ran over, eliminating a couple along the way. "Applejack, Pinkie, you two try and round up as many of these things as you can."
Applejack shook her head. "I don't understand. Why round them up? You got a plan?"
I nodded. "Yes, and by the way, they're called the heartless, beings made of the darkness within our hearts."
There was an awkward silence that was soon broken by Pinkie. "C'mon AJ!" That duo ran off, attracting as many as they could. I began searching around town for the two Unicorns that I needed for the final step. An explosion stopped my search and I turned towards the sound. Twilight and Rarity were galloping as fast as they could towards me.
"Ruuuun!" Rarity shouted.
"What's going on?!" I asked.
"Big guy! Really big guy!" Twilight answered. I peered down the pathway that the two unicorns recently left. A large floating suit of armor emerged from the right. It was purple, had no limbs, and bore a large red crossed out heart on its chest. It jumped into the air and smashed into the ground a few feet away from me. Twilight wasn't lying, this guy was huge.
"Rarity! Distract him for me!" I yelled.
"What?!" She yelled back. "Are you crazy?!"
"Just do it!" I began running away from the giant as the white unicorn begun firing spells at it. "Twilight! Do you have a spell that can shine some kind of bright light?"
"Yes, but-"
"It has to be really bright!" I interrupted.
"If I focus enough power into it, I could blind somepony!" Twilight stated.
"Anytime now, you two!" Rarity yelled, trying to continue dodging the giants' attacks. Twilight looked at me, giving me the 'Are you sure?' face.
I nodded. "Trust me." Twilight nodded back and closed her eyes. I was able I sense a powerful spell beginning to be preformed. I spotted Applejack and Pinkie running as fast as they could towards us as a horde of the heartless was following behind them.
"Get in!" I shouted, opening the door to a nearby house. The four of us, aside from Twilight, jumped in the house.
"What the buck?!" Rainbow yelled as she appeared atop the house with Fluttershy.
Twilight looked up. "Dash! Fluttershy! Cover your eyes!" Rainbow gasped and grabbed the yellow Pegasus, dragging her behind the house. A bright light enveloped Twilight and shined throughout the town. Minutes passed, it felt like I passed out, but I quickly opened my eyes and slowly stood up. Peeking out the ajar door, I noticed that there wasn't a single heartless in sight.
"Twilight?" I said, scanning the town. A strange fog covered most of the houses, creating large grey shadows to loom over me.
"Firebolt." A female voice echoed in my head. It startled me and made me jump.
"Who's there?!" I shouted into the fog.
"You were betrayed."
"Betrayed? What are you talking about?!"
"Your leader, he betrayed you, all of you."
"I don't understand..."
"I should have figured as much."
"Who are you?"
"I'm nobody important..." A figure emerged from the fog. It was wearing a white cloak with a hood covering its face. It stood on two legs and on it back sprouted two large white wings. "...But I am somebody you knew in the past."
I stared at the figure, it looked exactly like an angel. "I'm I... Dead?"
The angel girl chuckled. "No, I am an illusion created by your memories."
I shook my head and looked around. "But where's Twilight? And the Heartless?"
"They're fine, you passed out during the blast of light." She replied. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the ponies were safe.
I scratched my hair and looked at the angel. "What did you mean? Betrayed?"
The girl in white shook her head. "I cannot reveal your past too greatly, but you were once a member in a powerful group called 'The Organization'. Once the group achieved its goal, the master's greed lead him to dispose of his subjects."
"What about me? I don't feel dead." I asked.
"You have me to thank for that." She replied. I couldn't see her face, but somehow I knew she was smiling.
I took another look around. "So what do I do now?"
"Right now, protect the residents of Ponyville. You will discover more about your past along the way." The fog began to creep closer and the angel started to glow brightly.
"Wait!" I yelled. "What's your name?!"
"Call me... Poppet."
A flash of light caused me to suddenly sit up, taking small, quick breaths. I looked around and realized that I was back in the room that I woke up in before. Poppet... I thought. What a strange name. I turned my body and sat on the edge of the bed. Rubbing my eyes, I stood up and trotted to a nearby mirror. I noticed that I've never actually seen my own face yet. I had bright green eyes and a small purple line underneath each one. The door to the left opened and a yellow Pegasus entered.
"Oh, you're awake..." Fluttershy said softly. "Are you feeling alright?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a dream."
Fluttershy looked at the ground. "I get nightmares sometimes too."
I shrugged. "Well, it wasn't really a nightmare." I turned and looked back into the mirror as the Pegasus took a seat on the bed. "It was about my past."
"Oh," Fluttershy's ears perked up. "Do you remember?"
I shook my head. "Not really, but apparently I wasn't the nicest... Pony in the past." I paused and looked at the ground. "It's complicated." Fluttershy walked up behind me and put her hoof on my shoulder.
"Don't let that upset you." She said. "You don't seem like a bad pony. We exchanged smiles and left the room. The library was quiet, save for the loud snoring of a baby dragon upstairs.
"Where's the others?" I asked.
Fluttershy motioned towards the door. "They're helping restore the town after last night's incident." I looked out the window to see the damage. The darkness of the night made it hard to see what was caused to the houses. I was relieved to see that no houses collapsed, but some were unfortunately banged up. The ponies of the town were clueless as to what was going on, discluding the few that were surrounded that night.
"This is my fault." I sighed.
"Oh, it's not your fault." Fluttershy reassured.
"Think about it, Fluttershy." I snapped. "The day after I appear in this place, Heartless invade your town!"
The yellow pony shook her head. "Equestria is filled with lots of creatures, even I've never heard of most of them." The door to the outside opened and two ponies entered.
"Hello Twilight, Dashie." Fluttershy nodded.
Twilight waved. "Ready to go?"
I turned to the purple unicorn. "Where are we going?"
"Did Fluttershy not tell you?" Twilight replied. "Princess Celestia requested our presence at the castle."
I raised my eyebrow. "I suppose it's about last night's incident?"
The three ponies nodded and I turned back towards the window.
"We've dealt with problems worse than what happened that night!" Dash said.
I turn back to Rainbow and hesitated. "I suppose a visit to the princess wouldn't hurt." We took our time as we headed towards the train station. I wanted to examine more of the damage. Some of the stalls that circled the town square were torn apart and their contents - mostly food and homemade items - were scattered around the area. Ponies from all over the town were assisting with the clean-up and I felt horrible just watching. We reached the train station and climbed aboard the colorful "Friendship Express", prepped for its destination: Canterlot.
Author's Note
Holy flibbertigibbets! Stuff happened.
Enjoy.
