My Little Pony, Chaining Stars

“I never understood one thing. Why is it that creatures of this world tend to assume the extreme as truth? Nothing in the world is white, nor is it as black as it may seem and judging life as so is nothing but foolishness. In the end, such closed minds will lead to ruin… I know for I have seen it. No. Strip away the colors of the world you’ll be left with only gray. Values that are the true makings of the world; that make the world as it is. Without those values, those beautiful depths that can only be when the extremes compromise, the world is left just an empty husk without reason. That compromise is what determines the colors of our world.”

Delicately, the early morning light rose beyond the tree tops, illuminating the thin layer of snow resting upon them in sparkles. Here, among the rows of forest sat a barn house where the sunlight crept through the curtains of the windows.

Laying in a bed, snuggled up in the warm, soft sheets, a familiar mare slept comfortably. Sadly, the sleep was soon to end as the light moved slowly across the floor and over her face. She groans, pulling the blankets over her crunched face but sadly this provided no relief. The light only grew stronger as more of it peaked past the thin, lacey fabric covering her windows.

“Ahh… night never lasts long enough…” she groans silently under her breath, laying for a second longer before slowly sitting up. Stretching out her arms, her wings poofed up to do the same. A loud yawn escapes her muzzle as her hoof brushes through her messy bed head. Not wanting to leave the comfort of her bed so hastily she just sat there for a few moments, her gaze turning to the window that allowed the light to so rudely awake her.

Her room was a mess with all her stuff seemly just tossed everywhere, she wasn’t much for organization. Horse slippers by the door, a rug crooked and folded and her saddle bags dropped on the floor, nothing really seemed to have an assigned place. She knew she couldn’t delay it any longer, life was a calling and to ignore its call would be a waste for her. So, she dragged herself from the soft hug of the sheets and slowly walked over to window where she threw open the curtains; allowing the light to flood the room.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen some mushroom where being fried in a pan; the smell filling it and the living room in a pleasant aroma.

“Where art the celery stalks?”

Floating with a light, blue magical aura around it, a salt shaker shakes over the mushrooms, sprinkling a bit of salt onto it. The mare from before enters the living room, picking up the pleasant aroma filling the room. Following it she goes over to the kitchen where a familiar stallion can be seen with his head in the fridge.

“Oh! Alto! I thought you’d still be asleep.” She said as he pulls his head from the fridge to look at her with a couple of celery stalks floating by his head with his magic around it.

“A-ah, my apologize Lady Cherry.” He places the stalks on a cutting board that sat on the counter. “I did not desire to remain confined to the bedroom. Thus I decided to prepare a morning meal. Does that displease you?”

As he talked he chopped up the stalks with a sharp knife and flipped the mushrooms cooking in the pan with his magic.

“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just….” She glances down at his back where he had bandages wrapping around his shoulders and ribcage.

“The wounds no longer inflict pain, there is no need to concern yourself.” He didn’t even need to ask, knowing very well why Cherry was hesitant.

“If you say so.” Her voice was uncertain but if he was sure then that was that. “I wish I could lend a hoof but I’m a terrible cook. I swear I would find a way to burn water.” She giggled a bit at her own joke but he seemed not to pay it much mind. He was too wrapped up in what he was doing.

“Do you… remember anything?” She asked, seeing him suddenly stop everything he was doing. A frown stretched across his face as he replied.

“No.”

Honestly, Cherry had no idea how to reply further. It was clear he wasn’t comfortable with the question so she decided to instead leave him be for a bit.

“I’ll just be in the living room...”

She delayed a bit on leaving, making absolutely sure he was fine before leaving him to his devices. Walking through the hallway she passed by a calendar on the wall and stopped to take a quick glance.

“Week two of the first moon cycle... Hmm Rosemary’s day for shipment…”

It was only a brief thought as she made her way over to the plushy, green couch and plopped into it in a comfortable laying position. For a few seconds she stares at the ceiling, thinking to herself.

“Two weeks…..”

She remembered waking up in a hospital bed the morning after she had saved Alto; her body still sore and bruised from the situation. Considering what happened, her injuries were minor, thankfully so. Alto however wasn’t as lucky.

It took her a moment to remember what had happened the night before but once she did she quickly jumped out of bed and trot to the door. But as she was about to leave a reindeer entered the room.

“Oh, you’re awake, good.” She wore a white coat, showing she was obviously a doctor, and acted rather neutral towards Cherry but she didn’t really care much about that. She simply worried about the stallion she saved.

“W-where’s the guy? The one that was with me? Is he o-“The doctor placed a hoof over her mouth, silencing her.

“Shhh shh shh, he’s in the next room resting. The injuries he sustained were much more severe than yours.”

“Injuries!?” Cherry tried to move past the deer, desperate to see him. However, she refused to move out of her way, standing stubbornly like a mule.

“Hey!”

“There isn’t use in you bursting in there and waking him. If anything it’ll cause more harm than good. If you want to help him then I’m going to need you to give me information about him.” It’s then Cherry cringes, realizing she knew next to nothing about him. Heck, he came out of basically nowhere from a ball of gray light.

“How did he obtain these injuries?”

“O-oh! He fell fr-“It’s then she realized she couldn’t tell them the truth. After all, who would believe the guy just popped out from thin air? So, she tweaked the story a bit, just a tiny bit, so she wouldn’t sound crazy.

“He fell from one of the floating islands at the Pegasus Paris and fell into the river. I tried to catch him but I kinda fell in with him…”

“I see…. Do you know anything else like his name of his age?” She simply shook her head in response.

“That’s odd…. His injuries don’t seem to correlate to what you’ve said….” Cherry’s head tilts, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“He sustained open wounds on his back…. But they don’t look like slash or slab marks…. It looks like a chunk of his skin was ripped from his back…”

Alto would wake up later that evening, battered and confused. It turned out that he had no memory of what happened nor did he know anything about himself; his memory had been completely erased. After a week of therapy he was able to recall his first name.

“Alto”

But that was all they could do as any further attempt rendered no further response.

“We don’t exactly know what’s wrong with him since he’s perfectly fine physically.” Cherry sat alone with the Gryphon who examined him.

“All that seems to be effected is his personal memories since he can still do basic math and read.”

“So, he can he lead a normal life?” The gryphon removed his glasses and looks directly at Cherry.

“Logically yes.” He sighs, “But whether or not he’ll get his memory back is to be determined. He might recover it over time but there isn’t any guarantees.”

A question in Cherry’s mind bugged her, a question that any logical creature would ask.

“Why? What happened to him to make him just… forget anything about himself?”

“Well… judging by what I collected the last couple of sessions it’s likely something extremely traumatic, something that was so mentally shocking and damaging happened to him that, to protect his psyche, his brain just rejected it completely… the memory lose is likely a side effect to that. If course, that’s just a theory… “

Thinking about it Cherry couldn’t just leave him alone. He was stuck in a world he doesn’t know with no memory of who he used to be, to leave him now would be beyond cruel. Now that some time has passed it was clear that it was more than just his memory that seemed to be hindering him.

“Lady Cherry, the morning meal had been completed.” Her ear twitches, her thought popping as her attention is switched over to reality.

“U-uh coming!”

As she trots back to the kitchen where she sees that makes her face just go blank. The table was set up as if it were a fancy party with a lavender table cloth, a tall candle set in the middle and a ring of roses around it, the napkins had floral patterns, the entire thing looked like a fancy date more than a casual breakfast.

“Hu…. Changed out the blue for purple?” She said jokingly as she walks to the table. Alto pulls out the chair for her, using his magic to do so.

“Indeed, the color is much more suitable to the structure of the dwelling.”

All Cherry could do was roll her eyes at his silliness.

“Well thanks... I guess...”

She sits, looking down at the food he prepared. It looked really well made and had a nice smell to it but it kind of made her feel she was in a restaurant rather than comfortably eating in her own home. Alto had begun to eat, using his magic to levitate the utensils. He was so proper and uptight, it made Cherry feel uneasy. Even so she ate the food, finding the taste to be quite pleasant.

“It’s really good.”

“The compliment is most appreciated, m’lady.”

He bowed slightly, moving in a very polite and slow way. In fact, he ate so slowly that by the time Cherry had finished her meal he was barely a third of the way done with his.

“Umm.. Well I have some deliveries to do... thanks for the food it was good.”

This seemed to attract his attention as she cleaned up her side of the table.

“Oh? One does wish to mingle with the common folk. Tis be amusing. May one come as well?”

She cringes a bit, her ear twitching the moment his words hit her ears. It was clear by her expression she wasn’t at all thrilled to abide him.

“Umm... I don’t really think that’s a good idea.... I’m going to be working and stuff...”

“Then one will simply follow behind m’lady and not interfere with your affairs.”

A groan leaves her as she takes a moment to think to herself.

“Ugh.... fine. Just finish eating and get ready okay?”