A cry of delighted surprise rang in the ears of the many ponies. The airborne earth pony expressed her familiar emotion when she notices a new pony in town. On her daily routine to greet familiar friends in Ponyville, Pinkie found a pony who should could not call her friend. Though she knew her relationship with this stranger would soon change, as it did with every other she had come across.
It was early in the morning that she saw this pony. Pinkie always woke extra early so she could chat with her many friends before assisting the Cakes with either their baking or their foals. The days that new ponies came into town were far and few between. It wasn’t unusual for Pinkie to be overly elated in such situations.
The pony who stood in front of her was a grown earth pony stallion. His white coat greatly contrasted his black mane. He was standing directly in the center of the street. No baggages accompanied him. His face was blank. He stood staring into space with a smile that was barely noticeable.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie and I’ve never seen you before! That must mean you’re new!” Pinkie fell to the ground, too distracted to catch herself. She quickly picked herself up from the dirt and stood with an eager smile and wide eyes.
“Hi.” The stallion’s reply was emotionless. It didn’t have a trace of sadness, happiness, annoyance or any emotion. He enunciated the h more than would be normal, so it sounded more like “high” than “hi”. It was a lazy, thoughtless “hi”.
Pinkie was a little surprised, but she didn’t think anything of it. An odd hello wouldn’t take Pinkie off her guns. “Well . . What’s your name!?”
“I’m Ryan.” His voice didn’t change with this phrase. The same emotionless tone. It was almost comical. He stood in the same spot, with the same, small smile.
Pinkie giggled, “That’s a silly name! Well, Ryan, welcome to Ponyville! Wanna play a game?”
“Yes.” No change. He didn’t seem to have any thoughts.
Pinkie wasn’t sure that his acceptance of her offer was sincere, but his voice gave no detail in hinting he wasn’t. Pinkie was bewildered. “Well, we should probably go to the park and out of the street!”
“Okay” Yet he still stood in the same spot. He showed no signs of moving.
“Uh, let’s go.” Pinkie approached him and grabbed him by the hoof. He followed willingly, not showing any signs of resistance. He was a feather light. “Why were you standing in the street anyway?”
This time he didn’t reply. He held the same smile, looking ahead.
“Okay then.. Well, what do you want to play when we get to the park?” Pinkie hoped to get some information about him, anything.
“Let’s play. . . Vageta and Kakarot.” Pinkie noticed that when he spoke he left out the letter t. She also had no idea what the game “Vageta and Kakarot” was, but she was glad she had got him to create a complete sentence.
“How do you play that game?”
“I’ll show you.”
“Okay!” It was up until that moment that Pinkie hadn’t noticed Ryan’s cutie mark. It was incredible hard to notice it considering there was no cutie mark on his flank. Ryan was a full grown stallion, at least the same age as Pinkie. The fact that he bore nothing on his flank sent a chill though Pinkie’s spine.
“Okay. You stand here. You’re Kakarot. You’re charging up ‘n’ stuff.” They were standing in a grassy opening that laid in the center of the park. Pinkie agreed to pretend she was charging up while Ryan walked to the other side of the field. He seemed to place an h infront of vowels when they were at the first letter.
Pinkie flexed her muscles and let out a beastly grr on her back hooves. Ryan stood twenty hooves away and had . . . a moustache on his face. . . where'd he get a moustache?
Pinkie could hear him talking to himself. “Hey, Vageta. What’s, um what’s your scouter say about his power level?” What the hay was he talking about? He jumped to the left a couple feet. Pinkie was surprised to see an electronic. . thing on his eye and the moustache gone.
“It’s roughly nine thousand plus.” He jumped back. The eye thing was gone, and the moustache was back.This was weird, even for Pinkie standards.
“Oh, that’s, that’s pretty good. Um, have you checked its batteries?” Again he jumped back to the other character.
“No.”
“Then, you should probably check it.” His voice was so dead and emotionless. It hadn’t creeped Pinkie out until now.
“Oh, it’s,” He flipped the thingy over in his hoof. “They’re good.”
“Oh, then there’s no way it can be right, and you should break it,” said his moustached other.
“Okay I’ll break it.” He then smashed it in the same manner one would smash a piece of paper.
He stood back with his normal smile, looking at Pinkie across the field. “Ookay, that wasn’t weird or anything.” Pinkie walked up to him and grabbed his hoof. “We better go see Twilight. I just don’t know what to do with you.”
“Okay.” He was so empty. No thoughts, no emotions, and Pinkie had no idea what that “game” in the park was all about. She had to find out though.
“So. . . where are you from anyway?” He had to have come from somewhere. Instead of replying though he just turned his head and look at her with his emotionless face. Pinkie was struck with fear, and she wasn’t an easy pony to startle. This just wasn’t natural.
Pinkie had so many questions about this pony, but everytime she tried to ask him something personal he just seemed to ignore her. He wouldn’t answer about the past, only the present. He wasn’t hostile, he wasn’t anything. It could drive a pony to madness.
The walk to Twilight’s treehouse took much longer than Pinkie had anticipated. She only hoped that she was home. To Pinkie’s relief the door opened. The familiar green dragon stood in the threshold.
“Oh, hey, Pinkie. . Who’s this?” Spike examined the ultimately neutral pony, again coming up short on noticing anything that might hint at who he was.
“Hi, Spike! He’s-”
“I’m Ryan. . . Russia has the bomb, so you guys know.” The two sane individuals in the vicinity look at him in bewilderment. Neither knew who or what Russia was. This pony definitely had something very off about him and Spike didn’t know what to think about it.
Without taking his eyes off Ryan, Spike called, “Twilight, can you come down here.” He shook the confusion out of his head. “Well, come on in, Pinkie. Bring weirdo with you.”
Twilight stepped from the last stair as Pinkie exited the threshold. “Hi, Pinkie.” The smile that Twilight planned to great Pinkie with faded into a face of confusion. One eyebrow up. “Who’s this?”
“Hey Twilight! This is Ryan!” Pinkie had regained her composure and lost most of her fear that Ryan’s downright oddness had brought on. “He’s a weirdo I found on the street! I was hoping you’d help me out with him!”
Twilight wasn’t sure what to think of this. “Well, uh. . Hi, Ryan! What brings you to Ponyville?”
“Hi. . . I came because. . . I have a dream.”
“A dream?” but Twilight was cut short.
“A dream that one day there will be a world. A world where we can smile and embrace one another. A dream to live in a world where discrimination and hate is not a reality, but a past thought that has died. A world where good men live, live to breath, to laugh, to love. A world where greed and depravity don't even belong in a dictionary.
A dream where every man, woman, child and animal never has to cry. . . unless they watch the season two premiere of this show.
A dream where hunger is abolished and beauty is found within the hearts of one-another. The blind following of false gods crumble, as the truth in our hearts will reign high in the world. A triumphant roar will come from all of our mouths and we will know, ALL WILL KNOW, that we are men and we all hold the passion for tenderness, for unconditional peace, for a brighter future, for a world that says NO to the sins of our past and embraces new ideals, new unity, new love.”
Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie all stood with their mouths open. What in all of Equestria could he have been talking about? Peace and unity were already widespread throughout Equestria and what could he have meant by “the season two premiere”?!
He just stood. His face had returned to its prior emotionless, empty smile. The room remained silent and all eyes were on Ryan. He felt no pressure or annoyance as a normal pony would. It didn’t seem as though he felt anything.
In truth he did feel, though his emotional range was very limited. He was content with where he was and what he was doing almost all the time. He didn’t have many thoughts. He would never ponder the possibilities of tomorrow or fear the outcome of a current activity. There was no should or shouldn’t for Ryan. There wasn’t a reason for anything either. He didn’t have a reason to live, but he didn’t have a reason not to live. Some might argue that not having a reason to live is reason enough to have a reason not to live, but Ryan didn’t think about such things.
The fact was that he thought about nothing. His mind was empty. The responses he gave when he socially interacted, which only happened by chance, were completely thoughtless responses. Ryan’s random outbursts such as his dream speech were things he couldn’t explain, though he never did try to explain anything. He just followed the path laid out.
“W-what was that all about?” Twilight finally said in utter confusion.
“What.”
“That whole speech! Your dream! Everything!” Nothing this pony said seemed to make any sense.
“Oh. I don’t know.” No information. That seemed to be the only thing to expect from him.
Ryan spent the rest of the day at Twilight’s treehouse. Pinkie Pie had left to help the Cakes shortly after recovering from Ryan’s speech. Throughout the day Twilight attempted to learn as much as she could from Ryan by running various tests and pushing him to tell her more. Every so often he would blabber an out of context speech or phrase that always caught Twilight off guard.
The day had become late and the horizon visible from one of the various windows in the tree had become a shining spectre of colors. Twilight had surprisingly learned much about Ryan. Nothing about his past, but many things about his mental state. She now knew that he had no thoughts, and few emotions. While he was content with being in a state of nothingness, Twilight felt sorry for him. He knew not the joys of friendship and the feelings of love, but what you don’t know you don’t miss.
Still, Twilight didn’t feel it right to let him continue on living in the such a manner. She decided she would take it on herself to help him become an actual intelligent being. It was a must that he live a worthwhile life in her opinion. “Why don’t you stay with me for awhile, Ryan? I can set up a bed for you.”
Of course his answer was, “Okay.”
Chapter Two - I Came Back
Months had passed since Ryan’s visit. He had disappeared in the night. It came as a surprise to Twilight and Spike, waking up and their guest being gone. While it could have been considered nice to be rid of the complicated mysteries Ryan’s arrival had brought, Twilight and Pinkie viewed it mostly as a wasted opportunity. Twilight, because of Ryan’s potential for new knowledge and information, and Pinkie, because of Ryan’s friendship potential.
Upon further research, Twilight discovered that the rants Ryan had given, both the one Pinkie had told her of, and the other were actually quoted from a formerly renown pony from the past. This lead her to conclude that Ryan was not always empty headed, and that he must have had interests before he came to the state he was in.
Of course the curiosity faded with time, and soon Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie had forgotten about the mysterious stallion.
That is until twelve weeks had passed. For the second time Twilight opened her tree house door to the grey earth pony, who was lacking a cutie mark. He stood there with his half smile, and directionless eyes. A gasp escaped Twilight, but Ryan stood the same.
“Hi.” That same word.
Twilight regained herself from shock. “Um, hello, Ryan. . . What are you doing here?” This was all very overwhelming.
“I came back.” His voice hadn’t changed since their last visit, still the same emotionless level.
“Why did you come back, though?” Twilight was 89% sure he wouldn’t respond to a question that actually required a motive of some sort, because a motive required thought.
“Oh. . . Um. . .” Was he actually thinking? “I. . don’t know.”
Of course he didn’t. Twilight lead him into the house. Spike was just waking up and coming down the stairs. “Woah, that’s a blast from the past.”
Ignoring Spike’s comment, Twilight tried to think of another way to gain information that she hadn’t used three months ago. The visit of Ryan provoked her to learn more about different kinds of therapy and psychology, along with the ways that pony minds work. The thing that intrigued her most in her studies was hypnosis. She’d tried it a few times on Spike. “Ryan came back. I’m going to try doing some hypnotherapy on him. You should go tell Pinkie, but tell her not to come. Hypnotherapy requires silence.”
With an okay, Spike ran out the door toward Sugar Cube Corner.
“Why don’t you lie down on my couch, Ryan?” Twilight said. Most ponies did not know what hypnosis really was. They figured it was a completely foreign and strange state of mind, but in actuality it’s more of a state of sleep. Hypnotherapy is usually used to provoke honest answers. Ponies are unable to reason whether or not somepony is trustable while they are in hypnosis.
Ryan complied without second (or first) thought. His body spread across the couch in an ordinary fashion and he lay with his same default face. At that point Twilight began to wonder whether or not he would be able to relax enough to put his mind into hypnosis. She could in no way consider herself above proficient at hypnosis either.
After grueling hours of coaxing Ryan into hypnosis, Twilight finally managed to morph his mind. He lay on the couch with his eyes closed, in a dream-like state. Twilight had never experienced hypnosis, but imagined it to be similar to lucid dreaming, at least a bit.
Perhaps now Twilight could get some straight answers out of this nut job. She sat in her chair and pulled out a notepad. All of her questions were listed and gave enough space to write in notes and his responses.
“Where are you from, Ryan?” A simple question to start, something that should have been easily manageable. A thought tingled in Twilight’s mind. She considered that maybe a faraway land was inhabited ponies just like Ryan. Ones that are probably exactly the same as he. That was foalish thought though.
In a bit of a slurred voice, as if half asleep, Ryan said, “I do not know.”
Nothing more after that. Twilight had known it was possible that he would say that to each question, because it was most likely true, that Ryan had no recollection. His mind did seem to be pudding after all.
“Do you know who I am?” Twilight asked.
“I remember you, from the past. I remember this place as well. I’ve been here. It was twelve weeks ago.” Twilight’s eyes widened, wrinkling her brow. She was surprised that he had known that, given his other response. He seemed to have a decent memory, but only that of the recent.
Wanting to know how far back his memory went, Twilight became more determined, asking, “What is the oldest memory that you have? The first thing you remember happening.”
He stirred a bit on the couch and actually gave an expression. Perhaps it was concentration, or irritation. Either way it intrigued Twilight. Finally, though, he came to the response: “Standing on a road, and meeting a pink mare. A hot one, too.”
So the first thing he remembers is bumping into Pinkie Pie. Something important must have happened before that. Something that wiped his mind near completely. Also, from this statement, Twilight found that he actually does have emotions, and opinions, having made the conclusion that Pinkie Pie is ‘hot’. As vulgar as it is, this gave Twilight a large amount of important information on Ryan.
“Where have you been for the past twelve weeks, Ryan?” This was probably the question she was most interested in, though it was more likely to give her useless information than the others.
“I’ve been . . . everywhere.” And with that Pinkie Pie burst through the door, Spike trailing behind her. A frustrated sigh escaped Twilight and Spike received an agitated look. She threw her notepad down and stood.
“I’m sorry, Twilight! I tried to stop her, but she was so excited and happy! . . . And she had cake.” Twilight didn’t have enough time to scold Spike about his lack of self control before Pinkie was at the top of her voice.
“Ryan! Oh, gosh, I’m so happy to see you! Where have you been!?” Ryan woke from his hypnosis and his casual half-smile and empty eyes returned. Pinkie’s arms wrapped around him in a tight squeeze that made him send out a small puff of air.
“Hi.”
Before Pinkie could have the chance to respond, Twilight started, “Pinkie Pie! I was performing a delicate procedure, that Spike,” She said his name with more emphasis, “was supposed to tell you about. It took me hours to get him into hypnosis!”
Pinkie’s wide smile diffused into an ashamed frown. She replicated a puppy who was being scolded. “Gee, I’m sorry, Twilight. I was just so excited to hear that Ryan was back! I didn’t want to wait to see him any longer!”
Twilight was frustrated, but Pinkie was just too adorable to be angry at. Spike, on the other hand, would be hearing about it for awhile. “I suppose it’s fine, Pinkie. I did get a good amount of info out of him before you busted in. He told me he doesn’t remember anything up to the point where you two met,” She left out his opinion on Pinkie’s appearance. “He also told me that while he was gone, he’d been ‘everywhere’, whatever that means.”
The ‘everywhere’ part confused Twilight. How could have have been everywhere, in such little time? This pony didn’t have reason to go toward anything. Or did he? More questions that could have been answered if not for the interruption. Somepony had to know about this. There must be something that Twilight’s missing. Maybe this occurrence has happened before. Perhaps it was some rare disease that wiped your mind, personality and all.
Well, if anypony knew what was happening it was going to be the Princess. She’s been alive long enough to have seen this happen before, if it’s happened before. Even if she hasn’t she still needs to know, so that they can continue their course of action.
“Pinkie Pie, we need to go to Canterlot. Will you come with us?” As if Twilight had to ask.
“To Canterlot!?,” Her smile returning. “Of course I’ll come, Twilight!”
