An Amnesiac's Tale

Chapters

Waking Up
Shaky Start
First World Problems
A Common Ground
Dreams
Exploration and Contemplation
Fluttering Dreams
Wants & Needs (Midnight Interlude)

Waking Up

The first thing I notice is a warm summer’s breeze flowing over my body. Following that, the blades of grass pressing into my back. Scrunching up my face a bit, I let out a yawn, sit up and start stretching, my eyes still closed. After a few moments of stretching, I roll my tongue around in my mouth, trying to clear it of any residue, then I finally open my eyes.

To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting. I find myself outside, under a singular mango tree. But if that wasn’t strange enough, I seem to be anywhere BUT a bed. Man I chose a weird place to sleep. My gaze shifts towards my clothes; a sleeveless black and white shirt with a hood and muff pocket, and black cargo shorts secured in place by a fabric belt. Looking down at my feet I wiggle my toes and giggle a little bit. I also notice my snow white hair falling just in front of my peripheral vision.

I look up in the tree and spot a grey single strapped bag. It having piqued my curiosity, I rise to my feet, and stare up at it. After a moment of contemplation, I start climbing up the tree and try to reach the bag in question. I get up to a point where I can’t climb any higher, but I still can’t reach the bag. Hugging the branch I’m on, I try to reach for the bag. you will not defeat me bag! after about a minute of reaching, I finally get my hands on the bag. Success!. Then I start losing my grip and fall from the tree, landing on my back with the bag in my arms. Ooowwiiieee...2 out of 3...still counts!. With a small smile on my face I open the bag and view my newly acquired loot.

A blank paged book, a few pencils (some colored ones too!), two mango’s (likely from the tree it was in), and a water canteen. I proceed to shake it, and I’m greeted by the sound of nothing. Taking a moment to organize it a bit more to my liking, I zip the bag up and sling it over my head. With that out of the way, I stand up and start heading towards a town I see off in the distance. Time to go exploring!.

It only takes me a few minutes to get to the edge of town from my tree.yes, I’m claiming it for my own. entering the town I’m immediately greeted by the sight of a few of its inhabitants. Tiny horses! No, wait…. There was a name for those… Ponies! I suppress the urge to run up to them and pet them, lest I seem like a wierdo. After all, this is their town.

With no destination in mind, I start wandering wherever my feet take me as I look around and marvel at the town. 10 minutes of walking later I find myself lost in what seems to be the center of town. Man there are a lot of cool buildings. I wonder where everyo- Is that a gingerbread house!? I immediately run up to said gingerbread house and try to take a bite out of it. I’m disappointed as only the taste of wood greets my senses. Spitting a few times to get the taste out of my mouth, I turn and glare at the false gingerbread house. “Why do you lie to me!” I yell at the false treat that dares call itself a gingerbread house. Kicking it, I turn and walk away from it. stupid fake gingerbread house.

Noticing a water fountain in the middle of an intersection, I decide to wash the taste of wood out of my mouth. I kneel over it and cup my hands and drink some of the water. Getting an idea, I also take out my canteen and fill that up with water so I don’t have to come back later if I get thirsty. I’m a genius!

That’s when I hear someone speak up behind me.

“What’cha doin?” a relatively cheerful voice asks from behind. Screwing the cap back onto my canteen, I turn to face the owner of the voice, and I’m greeted by the sight a pink pony. Pink fur, pink mane, pink tail, the only thing that isn’t pink about her is her eyes which are a deep blue. At least, I assume it’s a her judging by its voice.

Giving a small smile, I sit up against the fountain. “I was getting a drink. The gingerbread house lied to me about its goodness so I had to wash my mouth out. How about you?” I reply.

She gives me a wide smile and walks a bit closer to me. “Awh, did you try to eat it?” I nod.

“Silly billy, it’s just designed to look like a gingerbread house. The real sweets are inside! It’s a bakery!”

Realisation dawns on my face as I look back at the bakery. Ooooohhhh….that makes much more sense. I look back at the pink pony. “So what’s your name?”

Her grin gets bigger, how’s that possible?, before speaking. “My name’s Pinkamena Diane Pie, but my friends just call me Pinkie Pie! What’s yours!?” she says as she puts her hoof out.

I smile at her enthusiasm, but my smile suddenly falls as I realize, I don’t know my name. I stop and think for a few moments trying to remember what my name is. Do I even have a name?probably not, if I had a name, I don’t think I could forget it.

She must have noticed my hesitation and my absent smile, as she gains a somewhat worried look and she approaches me a bit more. “You DO have a name, don’t you?”

I shake my head. “I’m afraid not. At least, I don’t think so.” I look around and notice quite a few ponies are standing around a fair distance from us, seemingly trying to hide as they watch us. Ignoring them I turn back to Pinkie. “I’ll think of one at some point. Anyways, it was nice meeting you Pinkie Pie, but I’m gonna get back to exploring. I’ll see ya later tho!” I get up and start walking away when I feel something latch onto my back causing me to stumble forward a bit, and start climbing all over me. I find that it’s Pinkie, as she crawls around my body and settles for sitting on my shoulders.

“Why later? Lemme show ya around town a bit! Besides, exploring is a lot more fun with a friend by your side!” she says as she gets herself situated on my shoulders. “I can even introduce you to my friends!” she adds on.

That causes me to pause a moment. “We just met and we’re already friends?” I ask as I look up at her, trying not to accidentally throw her off. She nods with a big grin on her face while looking down at me. I'm beginning to think it's permanent. Smiling to myself, I look at the ground. First friend….I like the sound of that. I reach up and grab hold of her legs to make sure she doesn’t fall off. “Which way first then?”

She puts a hoof up to her chin as she hums in thought. After a moment’s thought, she clopped her hooves together then points off in a seemingly random direction. “That way my noble steed!” she exclaims excitedly. The irony of this is not lost on me…

Looking where she’s pointing a confused look crosses my face. “But that’s the way out of town isn’t it?” I question as I start walking in the direction of her hoof.

She scoffs while waving her hoof dismissively and taps my head. “We’re going to go see my friend Fluttershy! She lives outside of town by the entrance to the Everfree Forest! That’s why we’re heading this way.” she explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s a couple things you should know about her before you meet her though. Fluttershy is REALLY shy. She gets nervous when meeting new ponies, so you might frighten her a bit.” she informs me while putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Although, you’re not a pony. Come to think of it, I don’t really know what you are… What ARE you anyways?” she questions, bringing a pause to her nonstop speaking.

Her question gives me pause though as I momentarily root through my mind trying to remember what I am while looking to the sky. I’m about to try to respond when I hear some approaching footsteps ahead of me, which abruptly stop and are followed by a quiet gasp.

Bringing my gaze back down to the path I walk on, I’m met by the sight of a butter yellow pegasus with long pink hair and turquoise eyes, which happen to be darting between me and the pink pony sitting on my shoulders.

After a short moment, Pinkie Pie speaks up from her perch. “Hiya Fluttershy! We were just coming over to see you! I wanted to introduce you to my new friend! Say hi Tots!”

I look at Pinkie in confusion. “Tots?”

She smiles then takes a breath before explaining. “Yeah, Tots! You said you didn’t have a name, and you also said that you’d come up with one later on. But, everypony should have a name! So I thought, why wait til later for you to think up a name when I can just make one FOR you!”

I shake my head before regarding her again. “But why Tots?”

She waves her hoof dismissively again. “Pft, that’s an easy one. You seem like a child at heart so it fits.”

I'm about to reply, but I’m once again interrupted by the same pegasus who sparked this conversation just by showing up. “I don’t mean to interrupt or sound rude, but what is it? I don’t think i’ve never seen anything like it before.” she questions.

Pinkie decides to speak up for me. “I dunno! I tried asking but… I don’t even know if you're a he or a she.”

Now, I’m pretty sure I know I’m a guy. But juuust to be sure, I grab the front of my pants and pull it out and look down my pants. Examining my privates for a moment, I let go and let my pants snap back to my waist. “Yep, pretty sure I’m a boy.”

Pinkie giggles at my silliness and Fluttershy merely blushes a little.

Shaking my head, I decide now’s the time to introduce myself before Pinkie goes off on another tirade. “Hi there, I’m...Tots, apparently. It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy.” I say as I kneel a little to get to her height and reach my hand out for her to shake.

She eye’s my hand for a moment, then tentatively grips my hand with her hoof and shakes it. I smile a bit, but when she see’s my toothy smile, snaggletooth and all, she gains a look of caution on her face. “Uhm… if you don’t mind me asking…. What do creatures like you eat?” she asks as she withdraws her hoof.

I’m a little caught off guard by this, as it’s a bit left field. “Uuhhh…. Anything really…” I reply hesitantly. I reach into my bag and pull out my mangos, and bite into one to prove my point. She visibly calms down and after a moment of thought on my part, I offer her the other mango.

She shakes her head and smiles at me. “No thank you, I’m not hungry. Thank you for the offer though.” she says softly.

With little more than a shrug, I offer the mango to Pinkie who takes it and eats the entire thing in one bite. Looking at her I ask, “Did you even taste that?”

She nods her head and grins at me before returning to her usual smile and turning back to Fluttershy. “Anyways, c’mon let's head back to town! You too Fluttershy!” she says as she taps my head and points back towards town.

I shrug and start on my way back towards town. As I walk, I find Fluttershy walking alongside me as well. After a moment of silence I decide to test my luck. If Pinkie saw me as a friend maybe she will too!. “Hey Fluttershy, can we be friends?” I ask somewhat offhandedly.

She stumbles a little after I say that but catches herself easily and regains her composure. “J-just like that?” she questions.

I nod, but when she doesn’t answer I offer an explanation. “Well, Pinkie’s my only friend so far. When she said we we’re friends it made me really happy! So I thought, having more friends could only make me happier!”

Pinkie beams and does a little hoof pump and reaches down. “Words of truth Tots! Hoof bump!”

After a second I realize what she means and bump my fist against her hoof, after which, she shimmies around on my shoulders doing a little victory dance, or something of the sort.

Fluttershy speaks up again, bringing my attention back to her. “Well, I don’t see why we can’t be friends… Sure! We can be friends.” she flashes me a smile before looking back where she’s going.

I smile as well. Second friend! Awsome! So happy I could just… I scoop Fluttershy up in my arms, eliciting a quiet eep from her; and hug her to my chest, her back to me. “Thank you for being my second friend!” I yell while swinging her side to side gently as I continue to walk down the path back to town with a big grin on my face. After a moment I shift my arms to where she can be in a more comfortable holding position. Despite their size, these ponies are really light. wierd.

As we’re about to reach town, we’re stopped by a blue pegasus dropping from the sky in front of us. I stop where I stand and look at her, taking in her features. She’s a sky blue pegasus with a ROY G BIV mane and tail, and violet eyes. Before she even gets a word out I immediately run up to her. She gets into a defensive stance for whatever reason; and as I get to her I fall to my knees in front of her, throwing an arm around her, and pull her into a hug with fluttershy and me.

She initially struggles but when she notices I’m not doing anything she stops struggling and gains a confused look on her face, mixed with what I hope isn’t anger. Finally speaking up, she looks at me. “Uh, what are you doing?” she demands.

I look back at her and smile. “Rainbow’s are awesome, HUGS are awesome.” I emphasize my point with another squeeze. “Combine the two and you get double awesome!”

Apparently not satisfied with my answer, she looks up at Pinkie who’s still up on my shoulders. “Care to explain?”

“Rainbow Dash, this is Tots. Tots, this is Rainbow Dash. She’s another one of my friends!” Pinkie introduces with a smile. “I found him wandering around town and decided to show him around and introduce him to my friends!” she explains.

The aptly named Rainbow Dash struggles in my grip again, if only slightly. “That doesn’t explain why he charged me, then hugged me. And it doesn’t explain why he’s carrying both you and Fluttershy. What even IS he anyways!?” she says irritably.

This time Fluttershy speaks up on my behalf, albeit quietly. “H-he’s just really friendly, Rainbow. As for what he is, we don’t really know. I don’t think he even knows.” she looks up at me in question as she finishes that sentence. I just shake my head to confirm that no, I don’t know what I am. Man, that’s a real bummer… I wonder if anyone knows what I am.

Deciding to REALLY push my luck this time, I ask Rainbow Dash the same one I asked Fluttershy. “So, can we be friends Rainbow Dash?”

She sputters and looks at me in shock. Her shock soon turns to mild annoyance. “Thanks, but no thanks. Not to be mean, but you have to actually get to know ponies before you can call them a friend.” she explains.

I frown a little bit at this. I never knew that. Does that mean Pinkie and Fluttershy aren’t really my friends? I think to myself as my eyes linger on them. I release my grip on both Rainbow and Fluttershy, and sit down with my legs crossed and look down, letting out a simple ‘oh’.

Dash backs away from me a few steps, and regards me with what I assume is disdain, and a hint of suspicion. At this point my smile is completely absent from my face as I debate with myself on how to go forward.

Pinkie must have picked up on my dour mood, as she got down from her perch on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. Almost as if she can read my thoughts, she gives me a reassuring hug, which I gratefully return. “Don’t worry Tots, we’re still your friends.” she says as she motions towards Fluttershy with her head, who I just now notice is still in my lap, as she hasn’t backed away from me like Rainbow had.

This brings my smile back, if only a little. Getting back up, Pinkie hops back up to her spot on my shoulders. Once she gets herself situated, I look to Fluttershy, who simply nods to me with a smile. I look to Rainbow, who’s still only looking at me with disdain. I grin a bit as I say, “Alright, I’ll just have to get to know you a bit! Then we can be friends!”

She merely grunts a bit, then starts flying a few feet off the ground in front of me. “Yeah, well that’s going to have to wait. I only came down here because I’ve never seen anything like you. I still gotta get back to weather duty so…” She trails off as she turns and takes off, leaving me with only two now.

With that situation done and over with, I start silently walking back to town again.

Shaky Start

We walked back to town in relative silence; Pinkie hopping along on my left, and Fluttershy walking on my right.

Deciding to break the silence, I ask a question directed at Pinkie. “Where to next?”

She looks at me with a grin as she continues hopping by my side. “Next, we’re going to go introduce you to my friend Rarity! She’s makes clothes like what you wear! Well, not like what you wear, she usually makes dresses!”

I shudder involuntarily at the thought of this mare trying to put me in a dress. “She’s not gonna… try and make me wear one, is she?”

Fluttershy giggles a little bit. “No, she won’t make you wear a dress. Although she might question your clothes. Speaking of which, why do you wear those?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

This actually makes me miss a step, causing me to trip up a bit. “Why do I wear clothes? That’s a silly question. Well they keep me warm for one, keeps the wind from getting to me. They also keep me cool, keeps the sun from roasting me. You two got fur for that, I don’t.”

They both consider my response, both of them running it through their own logical processes before they both nod.

As we reach a four way intersection, Pinkie looks around and gasps before grabbing my hand in her mouth and dragging me along somewhere to our right. “Applejack!” she calls out, albeit a bit muffled due to my hand being in her mouth.

Said pony she was calling happens to be an orange pony, who, like Pinkie, has neither a horn nor wings. She did have a hat on her head tho. She looked at Pinkie, a smile starting to form on her features; which quickly fades to a look of confusion as she sees my hand in her mouth, connecting to my arm and to me as a whole.

Pinkie comes to an abrupt stop in front of this pony, who I assume to be one of her friends. Unfortunately for me tho, I wasn’t able to catch myself and ended up tumbling down to the ground in front of the orange pony. Shaking the stars from my vision, I look up at her; hoping she has a better reaction to me than Rainbow Dash did.

She merely regards me with raised eyebrow for a moment before turning to Pinkie, who still hasn’t let go of my hand for some reason. “Pinkie”, she starts, “Now, I know better than to question whatever it is that you do, but this time I have to ask.” she points a hoof at me, “What is this?”

Pinkie finally lets go of my hand and takes a deep breath,before she lets loose a barrage of words that I had no chance of understanding. Her friend must have understood her tho, as she gives a slow nod with an “uh huh” to go along with it.

I decide I’ve had enough of laying on the ground, and stand back up. As I do, the orange pony lets out a low whistle. “Tall fella’ aint’cha?”

I let out a small laugh, and nod my head. “Compared to you ponies, yeah.” I say as I stretch and wipe the dirt off my clothes. I crouch and extend a hand to her. “I’m Tots; nice to meet ya!”

She regards my hand for a moment before giving a friendly smile and she folds my hand up into a fist and bumps her hoof to my now closed fist. “I’m Applejack; it’s nice to meet you too.” she puts her hoof back to the ground and I stand back up. “I don’t wanna seem rude, but I kinda have somewhere to be right now. So I’ll see you around at some point, I’m sure.”

Applejack trots off a little quickly for some reason. I merely shrug it off; she did have somewhere to be after all. I look back at Pinkie, then notice that Fluttershy hadn’t followed us and is nowhere in sight. Maybe she had something else to do in town as well.

I don’t have much time to think about it, because Pinkie just clings onto my back again and climbs back up to my shoulders and points to yet another direction. “That way!~” she says in a somewhat sing song voice. I shrug and start walking in the direction Pinkie has directed me; not like I have anything better to be doing. I mean, I could be exploring, but that's not as fun when you’re alone, and this kinda counts as exploring. I’m heading to a place I don’t know, and learning to lay of the land here as I go along! Two for the price of one!

As Pinkie leads me through the town, I notice that I’m still getting quite a few stares and glances from all the ponies. Am I really that much of an unknown to them?

I don’t get much time to dwell on it, much like a lot of things, because Pinkie has lead me to a door. The door in question is attached to a building that looks like it belongs at a carnival. “This is Carousel Boutique! My friend Rarity lives and works here. Knock on the door!” Pinkie instructs me.

I do as instructed and a voice of elegance calls back in a somewhat sing song voice. “Come in, I will be with you momentarily!” doing as instructed again, I open the door and walk in, being sure to duck so I don’t hit Pinkie on the door frame. Looking around, I can see a bunch of odd looking ponies on poles, each of them wearing a formal piece of clothing of some sort. I walk over to one of them and extend my hand. “Hi, I’m Tots, it's nice to meet you…. I like your outfit.” Pinkie giggles from atop my head, and I look up at her confused before she bursts out into full blown laughter; so much so that she ends up falling from her perch on my shoulders and ends up on her back, kicking her back legs in hysteria.

I open my mouth to ask her what she thinks is so funny, but I don’t get the chance as another pony walks into the room and clears her throat. She’s got a white coat of fur, curly purple hair and tail, and deep blue eyes; which happen to be staring straight at me with a bit of scrutiny. I internally cringe a bit; she seems like the type of pony who could send you home crying if you said the wrong thing to her.

“Hello, I’m Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique; and you are?” she introduces herself. I glance at the pink pony beside me, who is still in a giggle fit, and look back to Rarity. “I’m Tots, it's nice to meet you Rarity.”

She nods and looks back at Pinkie. “What set her off this time?” she questions with a raised eyebrow.

“I dunno. I was just introducing myself to this pony and telling her I liked her outfit, then Pinkie just starts laughing for some reason.” I say as I point at the pony on the pole, who still hasn’t moved an inch.

Her eyebrow just raises even higher. “While I appreciate your opinion on my work, I question your sanity. You do know that's just a ponyquin right?”

I look back at the pony. “I have no idea what that is.”

She just looks at me for a moment before explaining to me that its for modeling clothes, and isn’t alive; making me feel somewhat embarrassed as I piece together why Pinkie was laughing.

Speaking of said laughing pony, she isn’t laughing anymore and is now standing next to me with a smile on her face. “Rarity, this is my new friend Tots. I just wanted to introduce you two! Tho it seems you two already did, so we’ll see you around Rares!” She then grabs me by the hand again and runs outside and away from the building.

“What was that all about, Pinkie?” I question.

She lets my hand go and starts trotting at an even pace, leaving me to follow her. “As good a friend Rarity is, she tends to talk a lot. Not that thats a bad thing! I just wanna make sure I have enough time left in the day to introduce you to my other friends. They live in the library.”

I tilt my head at this, but don’t bother to question it; don’t want another incident like with the ponyquins. After about five minutes of walking, we approach a large tree with a door on it.

After a few moments, I hear some shuffled movement, and a bit of grumbling, then the door opens to reveal a purple unicorn, with a royal blue mane and tail with a pink and lighter shade of blue striped through it. She looks like she just woke up; bags under her eyes, messy unkempt mane and tail, even her fur is messy.
She seemingly ignores me or doesn’t even notice me, and keeps her focus on Pinkie for a few moments before letting out a yawn and one of those deep inhales people seem to do when they just wake up. “Good afternoon Pinkie, what brings you to my doorstep today?”

Pinkie smiles and hugs Twilight, which she returns fully. “Sorry to have woken you up Twilight. What were you doing sleeping in this late? You look like a mess.”

Twilight merely lets out a breath. “I was up late trying to figure something out; something happened last night, but I can’t figure out for the life of me what it was.”

Pinkie simply keeps her smile and puts a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out Twilight. As for why I’m here, lookie!” she points a hoof at me. “I wanted to introduce you to my new friend!”

Twilight for her part, regards me with a single raised eyebrow, which slowly transitions into two raised eyebrows, followed by wide eyes and a dropped jaw. I wave my hand and give a somewhat sheepish smile. She picks up her jaw and turns back to Pinkie. “Pinkie….” she starts off slowly. “What is this?”

Pinkie taps a hoof to my knee. “This is Tots! We dunno what he is, but he’s friendly enough.”

Twilight goes back to having only a single eyebrow raised. “We?”

“Yeah, we! He doesn’t know what he is either. Infact” she pulls Twilight closer to her and whispers in her ear something that I can’t hear; to which Twilight gives me a sidelong glance before nodding at what Pinkie said.

“Tots, why don’t you come inside for a moment?” she asks slowly.

I nod and step past her as she opens the door a bit more for me. Looking around, this place looks nothing like how I expected the insides of a tree to look. There are tons of books. I walk around looking at all the books. Man, so many books. Stepping up to a shelf, I nab a random book from the shelf and open it.

Twilight’s POV: First Person

I don’t exactly know what to think about this ‘Tots’ person. He seems friendly, if what Pinkie says is anything to go by. I watch him look around the library, wondering what he might do. Soon enough, he makes his way over to the bookshelves and takes a book and opens it. It makes me smile to know that he would actually read the books instead of just glance at them like all the other ponies Pinkie brings over for me to meet. Oddly enough though, his expression morphs to one of confusion. He flips a few pages, a frown forming on his face. He puts the book back and hastily takes another one out, only to be met with the same result; whatever that result is, seems to be upsetting him greatly. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a notebook, and seemingly compares the two open books side by side. I tilt my head at this, wondering what he might be doing.

“Twilight. Your books are all weird. I can’t read any of them.” he points out.

So he can’t read? But then why would he have that other book? Maybe he can’t read our language… but how is he speaking it then? I’m broken from my thoughts as Pinkie shakes me a little. I give her a look of thanks; I might have been here all day contemplating if she didn’t do that. Looking back at Tots, I motion for him to come over, and he does so with the book in hand.

“Do you mind if a look at your book for a moment?” he nods and hands it to me. I open it up and look at it. At first, I’m a bit confused by what I see.everything written here seems to be scribbles at first glance, which I assume to be whatever language he writes in. But looking at it a bit harder, I notice some similarities between his writing and standard writing. It’s pretty much the same now that I look at it closer, just written differently.

I point this out to Tots, and he lets out an “oooohhhh” as he starts to piece together the similarities. Satisfied with helping him avoid falsely believing himself to be illiterate, I move onto the reason I asked him in. “Tots, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

He motions with his hand for me to go ahead,so I start off with the first question on my mind. “Where are you from?”

He stops for a moment to think, a look of concentration on his face. “I dunno. I just woke up under a mango tree and started exploring.” he answers.

I frown a bit at this. “You just woke up under a tree? Don’t you remember what you were doing before then?” I asked.

He scratches his head and shakes his head. “Can’t say I do Twilight.”

My frown deepens. “Would you mind if I cast a spell on you?”

He shakes his head and I start preparing a spell to look in his memory. Normally this spell is a bit questionable from a moral stance, but that’s why you have to ask for permission. Casting the spell, I close my mind and look through his memories. Meeting Rarity…. Applejack...Fluttershy...Rainbow Dash... Pinkie…. Wandering the town a bit…. Struggling to grab his bag from a tree… and...that’s it? How could that possibly bit it? I scrunch up my face a bit in concentration, trying to see if there is anything else; but there's nothing. It’s like he was just born a few hours ago.

But that's impossible! He can speak coherently, he can read, he can move about fine! There has to be something more to this… looking a bit deeper in his mind, I find the slightest traces of magic. It isn’t much, but its there. Was his memories erased? If so I suddenly feel bad for this creature. Losing memories due to things like head trauma or simply having them locked away is one thing… but to have them completely erased, with no way to get them back? That’s just horrible.

Unexpectedly, I’m ejected from his mind, and I collapse in a heap feeling drained. ‘That spell shouldn’t have taken THAT much magic...is he absorbing magic too? Or maybe just resistant to it?’ I conjure a few crystals and fill them with a bit of magic, and float them near him. He eyes them curiously, poking them a few times. After about about 5 minutes, the magic in the crystals are gone; which is odd, because I don’t feel like I’m losing any magic by being near him.

Concluding my little experiment, I regard him with a curious look. “Tots, would you mind stepping outside for a moment? I need to speak with Pinkie for a moment.” he simply shrugs and walks outside, shutting the door behind him.

Turning to Pinkie, I fix her with a leveled look. “Pinkie… do you realize how dangerous that thing is?”

“What could you possibly mean Twilight? He’s such a sweetheart! He’s done nothing but be nice this entire time. He wouldn’t hurt a fly!” she defends.

“He’s absorbing magic, Pinkie! That in itself is dangerous enough! Let alone forbidden!” I argue.

To my surprise, Pinkie actually gets in my face. “So what Twilight? So what if he’s absorbing magic? He can’t be doing it intentionally. I saw what you were doing with the crystals; just because I’m an earth pony doesn’t mean I don’t understand how magic works. He didn’t even do anything! You can’t just deem him a threat because of something he can’t control. That’s not fair to him!”

This genuinely surprises me with how much Pinkie is willing to defend him after only meeting him a few hours ago. Not only the fact that she’s willing to defend him, but also how adamant she is about it as well, along with how sound her arguments are. Somehow her words remind me of Spikes birthday, when he went on a rampage.

I shake my head from the memory,I let out a sigh of defeat and look Pinkie in the face. “You’re right Pinkie, I’m sorry. But we should still keep an eye on him just in case it gets any worse; even if he isn’t doing it on purpose. We don’t even know how much he can hold, or if he can even use it. And you know what happens when you try to stuff something into something else that’s already full.”

With that Pinkie backs off a bit and smiles. “Of course silly. I never said we shouldn’t keep it in check, just that you can’t punish him for something that is beyond his control. Glad we came to an understanding.” she says with a smile and bounces off towards the door. I follow her and look around outside, but curiously enough, Tots isn’t out here. Glancing up at the sky, I notice it’s starting to get dark out. He probably just went home. With that, I turn and head back inside, closing the door behind me.

Author's Note

example of Equestrian font. you can see why somebody as slow as Tots would not notice the difference.

also I apologize for being gone and not uploading anything. school has been getting the better of me, and I've just never had the time to sit down and write. I will try my best to get back to writing whenever I can.

Anyways, lemme know what you think! I like comments, they allow me to respond back to you guys. (however few of you there may be)

First World Problems

I was standing outside for a little while before something else grabbed my attention. That something else came in the form of seeing Rainbow Dash flying overhead. I decide to follow her and try to get her attention, but it seems she was in a real big hurry because I lost track of her after a minute of running. Come to think of it, I must have startled some of the ponies by running without looking where I was going; I’m surprised I didn’t run into anybody.

With nothing else to do, and the sun starting to set, I start making my way back to my tree. Closest thing I’ve got to a home; its where I woke up after all. It takes me a while to find my tree because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and the darkness setting in definitely didn’t help the case. After about a half hour of wandering, I finally find my tree a little ways away from town, and plop down against the bark of the tree. Man, what a day. It was really nice of Pinkie to introduce me to her friends. Fluttershy was nice, if a bit skittish at first. Meeting Rainbow Dash could have gone better, but it definitely could have gone a lot worse. Can’t say much about Applejack, only spoke with her for a few minutes; same with Rarity…. Meeting Twilight was… interesting to say the least. She’s smart, I’ll readily admit that.

With those closing thoughts, I pass out against the tree, sleep finally gripping me wholly and completely; despite the mild chill.

I woke up on my side, with my legs curled up to my chest to try and keep warm. Needless to say, it doesn’t help much. Getting to my feet with a stretch, I contemplate what I should do today. I hop from toe to toe, swing my arms around, and shake my head around trying to warm up a bit.

“I wonder what Pinkie Pie is up to…” I think aloud. A smile forms on my face. Only one way to find out! With that I start towards… Man I need to find out the name of this town if I’m gonna stay around here. Names aside, I make my way into town.

Crossing the threshold into the town square, my stomach lets out a rumble; some ponies who heard looked at me with a look I couldn’t quite place. I ignore them for now and focus on my stomach. Foooooood… wait a minute. Slinging my bag into my hands, I reach into it and look around for a mango. Sadly, only disappointment is what I find. I don’t wanna go all the way back to the tree for a mango or two… I decide to stave off my hunger with some water until I get some food. Pulling out my water canteen, I unscrew the cap and drink about 1/4th of it before I screw the cap back on.

During my mindless wandering, I come across the fountain where I met Pinkie. If I remember correctly, then the bakery that lied to me is around here. after a minute of looking around, I spot the bakery and make a beeline for it.

Entering the bakery, my nose is assaulted by a kaleidoscope of wonderful smells. Taking a big whiff, I can smell all sorts of breakfast pastries; muffins, guava, cinnamon rolls, waffles, pancakes, and those are just the ones I can discern! The smell makes my stomach growl even more. I guess the water idea didn’t work out as well as I had hoped…

I spot a yellow lanky stallion at the counter and make my way over to him. He eyes me warily, but still manages to wear a smile on his face; albeit a bit uneasy.

“Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner um...Sir?” he questions with a tilt of his head, to which I nod in confirmation. “How can I help you.” he questions with practiced easy.

I look at the sign above the stand and read over the menu with a bit of difficulty as I’m still not used to their form of english. Looking over it though, the numbers are easily discernible, which makes me realize that I don’t have any money to my name. Looking back at the stallion, I adopt a bit of a sheepish smile on my face while scratching behind my head. “Listen. I don’t exactly have any money...like, at all. And I’m really hungry… so um…”

He starts to get an annoyed look on his face and opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he gets the chance to get a word out. “So I was wondering if there was anything I could do for a bit of food? You know, wash some dishes, make a few deliveries, organize some stuff, I don’t know….something?”

He loses the annoyed look, and adopts a more thoughtful one as he puts a hoof to his chin and looks at the ceiling in thought. “Well… to be honest, there isn’t much that needs done around here that we can’t do…” he trails off.

I hang my head, sigh, and turn around to walk out of the building when a voice catches my attention. “Tots!” Pinkies voice calls out from behind the counter. My head swivels towards where I heard her voice originate from. Sure enough, there she is, standing in the kitchen doorway with a somewhat dirty apron on.

“Pinkie? You work here?” I ask, the shock clear in my voice.

She waves a hoof nonchalantly. “Pft, yeah I work here. I thought it was obvious when I told you this place was a bakery. But that’s not important; what brings you here?” she asks as she steps past the counter.

“I came in here cause I was hungry, but forgot I didn’t have any money…” I trail off with a frown on my face.

She brings a hoof to her face in thought. “Wait outside, I’ll be right back.” she instructs. “And don’t run off like you did yesterday at Twilight’s!” she adds as an afterthought.

Doing as I’m told, I exit the bakery and plop down on the ground next to the door. It takes about 10 minutes for Pinkie to come out, and when she does she has three boxes of what I can only assume to be baked goods on her back. “Alright Tots” she says. “Here’s what you gotta do.” she motions to the boxes on her back. “You take these boxes, and deliver them to wherever it says on each box. When you get to each place, you ask them to sign the paper on the box, and take the papers back here when you’re done. Got it?”

“I’m a bit confused to be honest. Why am I doing this?” I question as I take the boxes off her back.

“It took a bit of convincing, but I got you a job. Every morning except on weekends you come here, pick up your deliveries, come back with the signed papers, and you get paid. Simple right?” she explains with an exhausted smile.

“Yeah, it’s simple, sure… but then I still don’t have any food…” I say a bit downtrodden.

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head with an exasperated smile. “Just use your pay to buy some food! This way you get food, and have some money in your pocket.”

My eyes widen in realization and I smile widely and hug her. “You’re a genius Pinkie!” I laugh and get to my feet and spin her around a bit before putting her down with a bit of a blush on her face, and run off into town.

Having looked at the first box I found that the first box needs to be delivered to the town hall. Thinking to myself, I try to figure out where the town hall even is. Admitting to myself that I’ll never find it myself, I opt to ask for directions. That being said, who do I ask.... Playing a little mental game of eenie meenie miney moe, I end up approaching a brown stallion with an hour glass on his flank. huh… come to think of it, I’m pretty sure every pony I’ve met has had some sort of mark on their rear. Probably some sort of fashion; one that I can’t get in on sadly.

He notices me approaching and tenses up slightly, his eyes opening up a bit. I smile a bit and give a wave while holding the trio of boxes in my right hand. “Hi there, do you know where the town hall is?” I ask.

He looks at me cautiously, and seems to be staring into my soul, judging me. After a moment, I wave my hand infront of his face, snapping my fingers a few times. This breaks him from his thought as he shakes his head and goes back to the stoic face he had before he noticed me, and points to the top of a giant building.

I turn to thank him but he’s gone the second I look back from the building that’s a little ways away...weird. I’ll thank him next time I see him then. I take off to the town hall, my stomach yelling at me to hurry up. I know tummy, I’m hungry too.

Walking into the building known as the town hall, I head towards what appears to be the front desk. At least I assume it is, it’s a desk, its at the front, and there’s a pony behind it nose deep in some paperwork. Said pony is a soft dullish pink with a blonde mane and tail; her mark is a stack of papers.

I approach the pony, placing the box on the desk. “Haiya, I’m Tots! S’nice to meetcha! Anyways, I have a delivery here from Sugar Cube Corner.” service with a smile and all that jazz.

However, her reaction is something I was not expecting. She looks at me, and her expression morphs into one of apprehension. She quickly grabs a pen and signs the slip of paper on the box, ripping it off when she’s done, and rushing away with the box.

I stare at the chair the pony once sat in, wondering what happened. was it something I said?

Twilight’s POV: First Person

I’m laying in bed, looking through a bestiary. So far, I can’t find anything about Tots, and its extremely infuriating! The only thing I’ve been able to find that’s even remotely similar to him is monkeys! But even then it’s a bit of a stretch. And he’s clearly not a diamond dog...ugh, why did he run off last night?! This would have been so much easier if I had just questioned him before asking him to step outside.

Hearing a knock at the door, I get up with a groan. Maybe a temporary distraction is what I need. Wonder who it even is?

Making my way downstairs, I open the door and I’m startled to see Tots standing at the door. But it’s more than just his uncanny height that catches me off guard, (going to take a while to get used to that), but he seems to be a bit out of it. He’s looking down at the ground with a box in his hands, and a look on his face that I can’t quite place. He almost looks...sad? It’s hard to say.

After a few seconds, he is still standing there looking down. I clear my throat in an attempt to gain his attention, and it works.

“Oh, hello Twilight. Sorry, I was just kinda lost in thought. I’ve got a delivery here from Sugar Cube Corner. You can just sign for it and i’ll be out of your hair.” he says as he offers the box.

“I thought Pinkie made the deliveries. When did you start working at Sugar Cube Corner?” I ask as I sign the slip of paper and rip it off the box, handing it back to him in my magic.

He offers a bit of a smile, and takes the slip of paper and pockets it. “Pinkie helped me get a job there this morning. I offered to wash some dishes or clean up or something for some breakfast, but Mr.Cake said no. Pinkie talked things out, and here I am.” he explains as he rocks back and forth on his heels.

“That would explain it… oh! Tots, would you mind coming inside for a moment? I kind of wanted to ask you some questions if that’s alright with you.”

He turns and looks around. “Sorry Twilight, but I still haven’t eaten anything… gotta get these papers back so I can get me some food. Maybe next time!” he says as he starts to walk off.

No! I can’t let him get away. Think Twilight….Think! Wait… he said he hasn’t eaten yet. That’s it! I extend a hoof out as I call out to him. “Tots, wait! What if I gave you some food. Then would you come inside and answer a few questions?”

He stops and scratches behind his head. After a moment of silence, he turns and smiles. “Alright Twilight, sure! But on one more condition.”

I tilt my head a bit and fold my ear. “And what would that be?”

“You have to answer a few of my own questions!” he says while pointing at me.

Letting out a breath of relief, I nod and wave him in. answers and food. A small price to pay.

Author's Note

Again, I really apologize for taking so long to get a chapter out, and I'm even more sorry for it being such a short one too. see, this chapter took longer than it should have because halfway through writing it, my laptop crashed and ceased to function entirely (it was a really old one but it still worked and did what I wanted it to). I lost all my progress and had to rewrite this entire chapter, so its a bit different from how I had originally envisioned it. I'm still not on my own PC yet, but hopefully I will be soon once I get the parts to finish my rig. in the meantime though, I have been using somebody else's laptop, and suffice it to say, it will have to do for now. so between writing my own stuff, and proofing for like, 4 different authors (some not as often as others), along with real life (which has been very difficult as of late), I haven't been able to just sit down and WRITE for a while. hopefully I can actually commit to my goal of at least 1 chapter a month.

Cheers for reading and have a nice day!~

A Common Ground

Setting down a tray of assorted foods on the table, I eye Tots curiously. On the tray is a little bit of everything; apples, carrots, oats, hay, and gemstones. I’d have put some fish on there if I ever bothered to keep any. Hopefully this will tell me what kinds of things he likes to eat. Motioning towards the tray for him to dig in, grabs the apple and starts biting away at it.

I watch him eat for about a minute before clearing my throat. “So Tots. What do you know about magic?”

He swallows his bite of carrot before responding. “You mean that stuff you do with your horn? Not much I guess. It looks pretty cool though!”

So he isn’t even aware of what he’s doing. Unless he’s playing dumb, but he isn’t showing any of the typical signs of lying. Don’t know what I was expecting to be honest.

“So, what do you plan on doing?” I question him.

He takes another bite of his carrot and chews it thoughtfully. “To be honest, I dunno. I was gonna go see if Pinkie was free today. If not, I would have just wandered around. Talk with others if the opportunity presented itself.”

That simple? No way. “That’s nice, but I meant more long term. Like where do you see yourself say, a month or two from now.”

“I dunno… probably doing the same thing. Wandering around, looking for people to talk to. Oh, and making deliveries for Sugar Cube Corner too! Aside from that...hopefully making more friends. Pinkie and Fluttershy are my friends, but I can’t say the same for everyone else I’ve met so far. Rainbow Dash said I need to get to know her before I can be her friend, and I didn’t really get to ask Rarity or Applejack to be my friend. Speaking of which though, can we be friends?”

I’m honestly caught a bit off guard by this question. I don’t know much about him, but it would probably be best to stay on the good side of an unknown. Smiling, I nod. “Sure we can.”

He cheers a bit and does a little dance where he’s sitting, which is amusing to say the least.

“So, is there anything you like to do? Besides making friends that is.” I ask him.

Finishing off the carrot, he puts a finger to his chin in thought. “You know, I haven’t really put much thought into that. I like to explore though!”

I nod and look at the floor. This far into the conversation, I realize that there isn’t much I can ask him. He has no recollection of anything before waking up under that tree. Again, I don’t know what I was expecting. And I’m not just going to start running him through tests like some lab rat; he can obviously think for himself.

I’m startled out of my thoughts by Tots clapping his hands really loudly. “Hey Twilight, can I ask a question now?” I nod.

This time, he looks down at the floor with a frown. “How do I get ponies to be my friend? I asked a few ponies but most just said no. And those are the ones who didn’t run away when I tried to approach them.”

Tots is full of surprises. I honestly never expected him to be so...humble. He doesn’t seem to want much in life. Looking at him, I try to figure out how to word my next sentence. “Well… it's normally easier to make friends on a common ground. You know, those who share similar interests with you. Besides that, the only real way is to just spend time with the person you’re trying to befriend. How much time, depends on the person.”

“So you’re saying I have to wait for friends?” he says a little loudly. At my nod, he seems to slouch a bit.

“Hey, not everything is a given. You have to work to earn friends. Same way you have to work make money, same way you have to work to learn. Don’t let that get you down though, I’m sure you’ll make plenty of friends.” I explain to him.

He cheers up a bit, and looks out the window. “Well, I should probably get back to the bakery. Getting lost is time consuming enough, I don’t want them to think I just ate the deliveries. Thanks for the food Twilight!” he says as he gets up and walks towards the door.

“Alright then, see you later Tots.”

He waves goodbye and shuts the door behind him. I’m left looking at the tray that's still on the table. He didn’t even touch the hay, oats, or gemstones.

I hear someone open the door. Looking up towards it, I see Spike walking in. “Twilight. What was that? That tall thing that just left the library.”

I smile and chuckle a bit. “That’s Tots. I asked him to come inside to answer a few questions. In exchange I gave him some food.”

Looking at the tray, Spikes eyes go wide. “Hey! Those are my gems!”

I roll my eyes. “He didn’t even touch them Spike. Besides, I paid for them; I would have bought you more.”

With that, he walks over and snatches the gems from the tray and starts popping them in his mouth like grapes and walks away.

I take a piece of paper and start writing. “Dear Princess Celestia…”

Tot’s POV: First Person

Man...what Twilight said really made me think. I don’t wanna wait to make friends...I want them now! Although, I guess that IS a bit selfish… I hardly know anypony and they’re all afraid of me. Maybe they just need a bit of time to get used to me. I guess I do look a bit different compared to ponies, but it’s still not a nice feeling to be feared. Is being different really that bad? I should probably just do what Twilight said and try to find a common ground.

Lost in my thoughts, I fail to notice I’m at my destination until I walk face first into the door to the bakery. Rubbing my nose a bit, I open the door and walk in and see that the place is fairly empty, and a plump blue mare behind the counter. I walk up to her, pull the papers out of my pocket and place them on the counter; I remain silent as I don’t really have anything to say.

She reads the papers and she smiles. “You must be the one Pinkie talked to me about this morning. Tots, is it?”

I nod. “I guess so ma’am; Pinkie told me to step outside and came back out with some deliveries for me to make.”

She nods as well, opens the register, and starts counting out some gold coins. She counts out 15 of them and hands them to me. I pick them up and examine them a bit, and look back at the menu hanging above the counter. The food that Twilight gave me was enough for now, but I don’t wanna have to come back later… a loaf of bread should be good, right?

I slide 4 of the 15 bits back to her. “Can I get a loaf of bread please?”

She smiles and walks in the back of the store. “Of course dear.” she returns shortly with a loaf of bread in a sealed bag, and puts it on the counter, putting the coins back in the register. “Anything else?”

I shake my head, pocket the rest of my coins, and put the bread in my backpack. “No, that’s it. Thank you for the job by the way.”

She shakes her head. “It’s Pinkie you should thank, not me. She’s the one who talked me into giving you the job in the first place. She told me you were in a bit of a tight spot; that got my husband to ease up.”

Oh, she’s married to the tall yellow one. Didn’t know that. “Oh, well do you know where I can find her?”
She shakes her head and shrugs. “She got off work not too long ago. Normally it's her who finds you, not the other way around. I’m sure you’ll run into her though.” she says with a apologetic smile.

I nod and wave bye to her as I walk out of the bakery. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye!”

I take a few steps away from the bakery and look around. It's about noon, and I’ve got nothing to do…. Time to explore some more!

I wander around town for about three hours before something finally catches my attention. That something comes in the form of a really nice sound. Then another one. I follow the sounds; they get louder and louder until I find myself in front of what looks like a music store. I open the door and the sounds get way louder. I smile to myself and enter the shop, and look around. There’s a couple ponies here; some are just browsing, some are playing some of the instruments, and one looks like he’s finishing up at the register. Some eye me for a bit before going back to what they’re doing.

I smile to myself and just bask in the multitude of sounds for a few minutes. I soon grow restless though, and make my way over to a random instrument. This one happens to be a keyboard. I look at it for a moment, not exactly sure what to do with it. I press a key, and it plays a sound. Another key, another sound. I smile to myself as the keyboard makes sound, but frown a bit when I realize that others are actually playing some good music, and I’m just pressing keys. I start to try to press the keys in an order that sounds nice, and I manage to play a small lil tune for my troubles. It’s a small tune, nothing really special.

But that took me about 10 minutes of messing around with it. On top of that, it was annoying to do, and not really that fun. I get up and make my way to another instrument; at least I assume it's an instrument. This one seems to just be a bunch of buttons. I press a button and it makes a small drum sound. Another button, a different drum. Another button, but this time I’m startled when I don’t hear another drum, but instead, a symbol. I keep pressing buttons, each one a different sound. I don’t really like this one that much, and give up on it after like two minutes.

I make my way to an acoustic guitar that’s leaned up against a chair. By now, I notice that the shopkeeper has had her eye on me for awhile; at least I think so. Hard to tell with those purple shades. I ignore her though, and pick up the guitar and sit on the chair with it. I fiddle with it, trying to figure out the mechanics of it. I pluck some strings, hold some frets then pluck, but it all sounds like a bunch of random notes. Nothing really noteworthy. I spend about 20 minutes just messing with it, testing out what strings and frets sound like what.

I manage to play a small tune, but it seems a bit too easy. The other instruments seemed difficult, but with this it just seems to come naturally. So I decide to spend more than just 10 minutes with this one, and try a bit harder. After another five minutes, I feel a bit of inspiration hit me. I take about 10 seconds before I act upon that inspiration.

It started off a bit slow, but got a bit more advanced the longer it went. Admittedly it only went on for a minute, but it's better than anything i did with the other instruments I tried! I look up and see a few ponies staring at me, some in surprise, some in amazement, and a few in between. I feel the need to continue, so I do just that. I meddle with the guitar, testing some things out, then another wave of inspiration hits me. This time I only take five seconds to act upon it.

This one started off slow as well, but got a bit more tricky than the last one I played. It lasted longer too, as the notes just played off each other naturally; one to another, until it came to an end. This time though, I’m immediately hit by another wave of inspiration right as I finish the piece, and don’t take more than two seconds to act upon it.

This one is a bit all over the place; slow, fast, erratic, melodic, and anywhere in between. It seems like I was just lost in the music however, as I just now notice the music playing through the speakers on the ceiling have stopped, and everypony in the shop is staring at me. Everyone seems to be smiling though, so that’s a good thing. I smile sheepishly, and everyone breaks out into cheers, stomping their hooves in what I assume is applause. My smile grows a bit wider, and I bow a bit. “Thank you. Thank you all!”

The shopkeeper walks out from behind the counter, and comes up to me. She’s a unicorn with a two toned blue mane and tail, purple shades, and a music note for a mark. She takes her glasses off, revealing her blood red eyes. She looks at me for a moment with a smile, which turns into a smirk. “Man, I never heard ANYTHING like what you just did before. That was amazing! How long have you been playing?” she compliments and questions.

I scratch behind my head and smile sheepishly. “To be honest, this is my first time playing a guitar. The only instruments I’ve ever even touched are the ones here in this shop.”

Her eyes seem to widen a bit. “Really? Your a buckin’ natural! First time playing, and you play better than some pro’s could. Those hands of yours are really something.”

My smile only grows wider. “Thank you. I’m Tots by the way! What’s your name?” I say as I stick my hand out.

She grips my hand with her hoof and shakes it. “Vinyl Scratch. Pleasure to meet ya.”

I look between her and the guitar. “So, how much for the guitar?”

She barks out a hearty laugh and looks at me. “For you? If you promise to come back here some time and hang out, 10 bits.”

I immediately jam my hand in my pocket, pull out all my money, and shake my fist full of coins in her face. “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!”

She laughs and counts out the coins and gives one back, which I pocket. She also brings out a fabric guitar case that seems to already have some stuff in it, and hands it to me. I graciously take it, pack away my new guitar and put the strap of the case over my head, and wear it over my backpack; It fits comfortably enough. My smile is at full mast, and I fall to my knees from the chair and hug Vinyl. “Thank you so much Vinyl.”

She hugs back, and pulls from the hug after a moment, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “No problem Tots. You come back anytime.” she pats my shoulder with her hoof then walks back to the counter and puts the 10 coins in the register. Bits I think she called them.

With that, me and my new guitar leave the shop. I notice that I spent quite a bit of time in the shop; about an hour and a half. I think I might have found my common ground.

Author's Note

What's this!? Another chapter in the same month!? Blasphemy! Who am I, and what have I done with the real DekaSkittalz!?

Nah, I'm still me. I'm still trying to do once a month, but since the previous chapter took a bit longer than a month, on top of it technically being a new month, I felt the need to do another; despite it being only a week since the previous chapter. Makes it easier to keep track of when a month has gone by since my last chapter. I'll still upload chapters as I finish them, the month is just a self set deadline.

Now, onto the topic of the chapter. I want to state, that Tots is NOT a Gary Stu. He is the lovable klutz known as Tots, and he has his own fair share of problems. like being feared by half the town, having no home, not even a blanket to keep warm. Twi being suspicious of him, absorbing magic unknowingly, and not exactly knowing things he probably should know. like the difference between a pony and a mannequin.

Him being good at guitar gives him a way to express himself, a common ground; as the title, and Twilight suggests. I understand that NOBODY has ever just picked up a guitar and started playing like that; I GET IT. I personally play piano, have so for a year, and I'm still not that good. But it's a story in magical pony land; there's gonna be a few things that don't seem realistic.

And just to clarify, no. I am not doubling back on my premise: that your memories define who you are as they are the experience what shaped you to be who you are as a person.
that is still true, and this does not contradict. If one is just naturally good at something, they just are. How inspiration works, is more commonly described as a feeling that drives the mind to piece together something creative. Feelings aren't the same as memory.
Just felt the need to clear that up. I always cover my tracks heheh.

ANYWAYS, sorry if this is TL;DR, I just felt a bit that this all had to be said.

Cheers for reading, and have a nice day~!

Dreams

Celestia’s POV: First Person

I let out a breath of relief as the doors to the throne room close behind the last noble. I love my little ponies, I truly do. But in recent times, some of their concerns have become quite petty. Honestly, the nobles have plenty of funds at their disposal, what is a few more to them? It’s truly baffling to me how anypony can be so selfish.

Thankfully enough, I’m removed from my thoughts as a cloud of smoke billows forth and forms a scroll that floats in front of my face. Ah, Twilight. Always a pleasure to receive a letter from you. With a smile, I take the scroll and tear the seal and examine the contents of the letter.

Dear Princess Celestia

I would like to bring forth to your attention to something that has me quite troubled; an unknown creature has made itself known in recent days here in Ponyville. I assure you, there is no cause for alarm or to dispatch any guards as this creature appears friendly enough, and even on Pinkie Pie's word he is harmless; despite this, I still remain suspicious of him. His name is Tot's, which is a name that Pinkie Pie has given him due to his childish nature. He is roughly 5'8, bipedal, has little to no fur covering his body, a white mane, orange eyes, and opts to wear clothes. I'll attach a rough sketch at the bottom.

This is all harmless enough, but the cause for my concern is his innate ability to absorb magic. The exact rate of absorption is unknown, but it is not enough to be fatal, nor would it be noticeable by just being near him. The problem however, is that he doesn't even seem to be aware that he is doing it, as it just happens naturally around him; as such, determining the reason for why it is happening is difficult. As you known, the art of magic absorption is a forbidden type of magic, which is the cause of my suspicion.

This is a rather delicate situation, as he isn't aware of his actions, and his memories are gone; somepony or something erased them completely. Not much else is known about him, but he is trying to make friends which is a good sign. In fact, friendship seems to be all he wants luckily enough. I'll continue to update you as I discover more about him, and trust in your judgement; whatever it may be. I only ask on behalf of Pinkie Pie that you give him a chance.

My smile slowly fades and quickly morphs to one of concern as I read the letter. I look over it once more, and glance over the sketch; I’ve never seen such a creature in all my life.

“This Tot’s seems to be in a rather precarious situation, does he not?”

I nearly jump out of my skin as I hear my sister speak up from behind me. “Must you sneak up on me so much Luna?” I ask with a small pout.

She giggles to herself a little but quickly adopts a more somber expression. “I do not doubt Twilight Sparkle, but perhaps it would be best to see for ourselves if this situation truly is as delicate as she makes it out to be.” she says, completely ignoring my previous question.

With a sigh I turn back to the letter floating aloft in my magic. “Yes it would probably be best to do so. However, I trust in my students judgement enough to not cause this creature any trouble at the moment. If you could visit his dreams however, I’d really appreciate it.”

My sister nods and sits down in her throne next to mine, and stays there for a moment while I stare at the letter as if somehow the answers to the questions plaguing my mind was hidden within the words on the paper.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and look at the source of it, which is my sister. “Day court is over sister. You can retire for the night now.” she says with a bit of mirth.

I blush in embarrassment for a moment before quickly standing up and leaving the throne room. “Right.”

Tot’s POV: First Person

After leaving the music shop, things kinda slowed down a bit. I wandered around town for a while longer before noticing I was being followed. I turn around and look directly at them, hoping that if they are following me they aren’t scared. The three of them stand stock still as my sights turn to them, and look between each other and me.

They are smaller than normal ponies, and have no marks. The one on the left is a normal pony with yellow fur and red mane and tail. The one in the middle is a unicorn with white fur, and has a curled purple and pink mane and tail. The one to the right is a pegasus with orange fur, and has a purple mane and tail.

I give a small smile, wave at them, and sit down with my legs crossed; hoping that maybe somehow it’ll make me come as off less intimidating. A moment after I do this, they slowly start approaching me. They step up about two feet away from me, then to my confusion they also sit down.

I tilt my head, but don’t say anything. To my surprise, they mimic my movement, tilting their heads in kind. I tilt my head to the other side, and they do it as well. Deciding to test this, I put my hands on the ground with my arms crossed over each other. They do the same with a little giggle. I smile a little knowing that they’re getting a bit of fun out of this. I go cross-eyed and touch my nose with my tongue. This time they try to copy me but each fail in their own way.

I laugh a little as I win this little game of copycat with them. “What ARE you?” they ask me somehow all at the same time. I give off a shrug and they look at me in confusion again. “You don’t know what yah are?” the yellow one asks me. I shake my head.

“I don’t know what I am. But my name is Tots if that helps!” I pipe up.

They seem taken aback at my ability to talk. “You can talk?” the orange one asks.

I nod with a smile. “Sure I can! Now I told you my name; what are your names?”

“I’m Applebloom”
“I’m Sweetie Belle”
“I’m Scootaloo”

“And we’re…THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they all shout at the same time.

I use my pinky finger and rub the inside of my ear. “Alright you three; can we be friends?”

They all huddle up and start chatting amongst themselves, talking over each other yet somehow still managing to understand each other. They must really know each other to be this in sync.

After a moment, they all stop and turn back to me. “Sure Tots! We can be friends.” Applebloom says. At hearing this, I do my little happy dance.

“So Tots.” I hear Scootaloo say. “Do you have a cutie mark?”

I tilt my head in confusion. Cutie marks? What the hell are those… I recall most ponies having a mark on their flank. She probably means those. I start searching all over my body; glancing at my arms, legs, feet, under my shirt, and even in my pants at the off chance I might have one. To my disappointment, I don’t have one. I don’t even know why I feel disappointed, I don’t even know what they mean. I look back to the girls and shake my head with a slight frown.

However, they seem to smirk to each other. “You should join our club!” they all yell at me.

I smile a bit at their enthusiasm but still maintain a bit of a frown. “I’m not even sure I can get a cutie mark, girls. I don’t even know what they mean.”

Applebloom’s expression morphs to one of horror. “You don’t know what a cutie mark means!?” at my head shake she sighs. “A cutie mark is what a pony gets when they discover their special talent! It signifies what a pony is meant to do in life.” she explains.

“.......Oooooooohhhhhhhh…… now I get it… sort of. “

“You can still be an honorary member if you want.” Sweetie Belle tells me.

I smile a bit and nod.

They get up and approach me a bit more until they’re within reach. I’m honestly surprised when they all hug me at the same time. It takes me a moment, but I soon gain control of myself and hug them back. I pick them up in the hug and swing them around happily; they giggle in my arms.

I put them down and look at the sun which is likely to set soon. Where did the day go, eh? “I think you three should be heading home. Don’t wanna be outside when the sun sets, do ya?”

They also turn and look at the sun and groan. They each say their own goodbyes as they walk away, and I wave to them. Three new friends. The more the better. But...why do I still feel so lonely?

I stood around where my new friends left me for a while just lost in my thoughts. After contemplating to no avail, I decide to just call it quits for the night; the sun has set by now and the moon is about a quarter of a way through the sky.

I make it to my tree and sit down leaning against it. I look out towards the horizon where I can see the moon just below the leaves of the tree I sit under. I take off my guitar and backpack and lean them against the tree as well. I pull out my only bit from my pocket and examine it; it's fairly simple, just a gold coin. I smile as it gleams in the moonlight. Pocketing it again, I pull out my loaf of bread. Half tonight, half tomorrow morning. I think to myself as I break the bread in half and put half of it away.

I watch the moon as I eat my bread. It’s so pretty to look at; the stars accentuate it very well too. It’s almost enough to ignore the loneliness I feel inside. I don’t get why I feel so alone...I thought more friends would solve the problem. So why does it still hurt? I ponder as I finish my bread and let out a yawn. I shuffle a bit to lay in a more comfortable position, propping my head up on a root. I watch the moon for a bit longer until my eyes slowly fall closed with the moon being the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

Princess Luna’s POV: First Person

I let myself have a brief smile as I see the dream realm is peaceful tonight. It makes the task I set out to do that much easier. This “Tots” has interested me since the moment I heard about him. Absorbing magic is dangerous in and of itself, but if what Twilight Sparkle says is true, then he shouldn’t be very dangerous at all. Absorbing magic at a rate which she describes it to be is not much to worry about; but on the off chance that he’s doing it on purpose, something will have to be done.

I hear the telltale sound of a gateway appearing in the dream realm, and make my way to it. As I approach the gateway, I immediately notice several things about it. It's a double door made out of stone, which appears to be in a moderate state of disrepair. Chunks are missing, a handle is missing, and it is just overall decrepit. Getting closer to it, I feel a wave of sorrow wash over me. What kind of dream are you having Tots?

I open the door and enter the dream, and I’m met with black. Just pure blackness. It’s not darkness as I can still see myself perfectly fine; just an overwhelming void of nothingness.

what kind of dream is this? I’ve not seen a dream like it in quite some time… this is troubling…

I refuse to leave without having completed my goal, so I press onward. The wave of sorrow I felt before gets stronger the farther I travel into the void. After a certain point of walking,a new feeling washes over me; fear. Not to say I’m afraid, but that is what the atmosphere portrays. I can only imagine the turmoils this Tots must be going through right now. I pick up the pace a bit to try and get to wherever he may be. The feelings get stronger the longer I travel, and they stack together after some time. I’m about to give up and turn around to head back when I hear something. Around this same time, a feeling I know all too well washes over me; loneliness.

I follow the sound, which I soon distinguish as crying. I finally see something other than blackness; a form curled up on the ground somewhat similar to the sketch that Twilight provided. Odd. Of course the sketch didn’t do a good job of portraying him. It was a sketch.

I approach the form which I assume is Tots,sit down and observe him for a moment. Right here next to him is where these bad feelings are the strongest, and its overwhelming; suffocating almost. I catch a few things he mutters to himself; things like ‘why’, ‘friends’, and ‘alone’.

Deciding to make myself known, I reach out and tap him on the shoulder. The reaction, is almost instant. He stops his crying and turns to face me. What I see is pure sadness painted on his face.

“A-are you real?” he croaks out. I nod, and I’m surprised when he lunges at me. I have no time to react as he latches on me at unnatural speeds, but find I don’t have to as he is only hugging me. A bit tightly I’ll admit, but its still obvious he isn’t trying to harm me.

I’m snapped out of my stupor when he starts crying again. “Please…. Don’t leave… I don’t wanna be all alone again….” he says.

I’m at a loss for words at what’s in front of me. I find myself hugging him back, and wrapping my wings around him protectively. Twilight Sparkle is worried about this creature? Clearly her suspicions are groundless. There’s no way in tartarus that this creature could harbor any ill intent.

I find myself doing something Tia did for me when I cried as a young filly: rocking side to side, rubbing his back with a hoof, and quietly whispering sweet nothings into his ear. After a while, he calms down and appears much more peaceful and at ease. Even the atmosphere has lightened up drastically.

“Who are you?” he asks.

I smile and look down at him. “I am Princess Luna, I watch over the night and the dream realm. And you are Tots I presume?” he smiles a bit and nods.He seems to have completely forgotten about his troubles. I want to ask him why he was feeling the way he did, but doing so would cause more harm than good by reminding him; not exactly the best choice to make in the dream realm.

“Thank you Princess Luna. Can we be friends?” he asks.

he wants to be friends? We just met and he already is asking for friendship. I guess Twilight was right, he really just wants friends. I smile and nod. He lets out a happy little squeak and hugs me tighter. I feel him fading away, signaling that he is waking up.

“I do not know what has happened to you, or what will become of you. But know this: you are welcome here in equestria and shall receive no trouble from us.”

With that, he fades away and the dream falls apart around me. I find myself back in the dream realm. Tots… what an interesting creature… I feel truly bad for him.

Author's Note

Ha! only 13 days for this one! that's one day less than two weeks! this chapter is a bit lacking in content methinks but I'm slowly getting closer to more content per chapter. so. yay to that. lemme know what you think in the comments, I love seeing what you all have to say.

Cheers for reading and have a nice day~!

Exploration and Contemplation

Tot’s POV: First Person

You know that place between asleep and awake? When you can feel your body, but your not quite there mentally? That's where I am right now. I feel it’s about time to get up, but I’m not quite ready to do so yet. Instead, I’m recollecting my thoughts about what Rainbow Dash said during the night.

“I’ll think about it… but YOU need to think more about what you NEED instead of what you want.”

What do I need? I mean, I got food… I got a job… a house maybe? Everyone else seems to have one… it would be better than sleeping out here in the cold I suppose. But I don’t even know where to start with that. Maybe I could build one? Who am I kidding, I don’t know the first thing about building a house. Where would I even get the materials to do so?

I start to feel more awake, and I groggily open my eyes. My vision starts as a blur, slowly getting more and more clear. I notice a couple things as my vision comes into full focus. First, there is a blanket covering me, and is positioned in a way that it’s being used as a pillow as well. That’s strange… how did this get here? on the upside, I’m not cold. I’ll have to find whoever did this and thank them.

I notice another thing, but its so small of a change I almost missed it; a couple of strands of my white hair have now turned black. That’s more than strange… why is my hair turning black? I think to myself as I grip some of my hair and try to look at it closer. Kinda hard to do without a mirror in retrospect. Either way, I can clearly see black strands mixed in with my white hair. About 2/8ths of it if I were to guess.

Nothing I can do about it. I say with a shrug as I toss my hair to the side. I sit up and stretch; the blanket definitely helped keep me warm. I get up and fold the blanket, and place it in a somewhat low hanging branch of the tree. My stomach growling reminds me of breakfast, which is the last of my bread. Reaching into my backpack, I pull out my breakfast, and start eating, occasionally taking a sip of water.

Thinking about it, I can’t remember if I was still dreaming or not… wait...what was I even dreaming about? All I remember is…. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my head, and grip it tightly. I sit there gripping my head for a moment, my bread and water forgotten about on the ground; images of nothingness and a deep feeling of emptiness fills my head; and I feel icky all over. After an amount of time that I can’t determine, the pain subsides, but the emptiness remains. Don’t try to remember dreams… got it…

I look at my bread and water canteen on the ground and let out a sigh as I pick them up and wipe off the dirt as best I can. I continue my breakfast without thought, for fear of another flash of pain.

Taking the last bite and swallowing, I get up to my feet and start walking to town. What to do…. Oh, I still gotta make todays deliveries. Other than that, nothing I really HAVE to do. Maybe I’ll go explore a bit more. There was a cool looking forest by Fluttershy’s place. Yeah! Let's do that. I’ll just get these deliveries done as quick as I can.

I find myself standing in front of the forest; a brave look on my face and my hands on my hips. “Hello Mr. Forest; I’m going to explore you today!”

...No response. But honestly, I wasn’t expecting one. With not much else to say about it, I waltz my way into the forest. Everything seems to be going well. The forest appears to be like any other forest; though to be fair this is the only forest I’ve been in… but it still seems normal!

I find myself following a path, but after a while I decide to stray from it; after all, a path means someone has already been here. I wanna explore, not follow someone elses steps. After a bit of walking, I hear what sounds like running water. I walk towards it and I smile as it gets louder. I breach the treeline to find myself in a circular clearing with a river running through it. Walking towards it, I see lots of fish.

For whatever reason, my stomach growls at the sight of the fish. ’Mm….. I could actually go for some fish…’ I think to myself. I carefully set down my guitar and backpack, and take off my pants and shirt, toss them to the side and crouch down by the river bank, completely in the nude; don’t wanna get my things wet. I watch the river and the fish within like a hawk; sitting there perfectly still, only watching the fish swim by.

After a while of watching their patterns, I shift my position, ready to pounce. Licking my lips, I take one final breath, and launch forward into the river. I see the fish right before I hit the water, and throw my arms out to try and grab the lil bugger. After I hit the water, my hands bump the fish and I flail my hands around to try and get a grip on it. Feeling I have a good enough grip on it, I plant my feet on the ground and stand up, hoisting the fish over my head. “HAHA! I HAVE BESTED YOU, FISH!”

I walk back to shore and shake myself dry; well, as dry as I can get. The fish keeps flopping around in my hands. Actually looking at it, I realize it’s a pretty big fish; about the size of a medium sized dog. “Stop squirming you, you’re struggling does nothing to help you!”

The fish continues to flop around, ignoring me completely. I shake it around to try and get it to stop, which only seems to invigorate it. Come on you piece of turd. Stop it.

My attention is soon turned elsewhere as I hear some rustling in the bushes. Turning my head to look behind me without fully turning around, I see a bunch of glowing yellow eyes looking at me. Thats…. interesting…? I think to myself as I don’t really know how to react to this. The creatures the eyes belong to come out of the bushes slowly, and are growling at me. They appear to be wolves or dogs of some kind, except they are made entirely out of wood, about 8 of them in total. Before I can even say hello, two of them start a dead sprint towards me and pounce at me. Reacting on pure instinct, I turn around swinging the fish with all my might, holding it by its tailfin. As about expected, the fish made contact with the two wolves, but what wasn’t expected, was both the fish and the wolves to literally EXPLODE in a shower of fish guts and wood.

“WHAT THE FUCK”, I yelled out in sheer surprise. I fall to my ass and shuffle back away from where I previously was. How the hell did I do that!? I just completely obliterated that fish! And those wolfy/dog things! D-did I really just do that?

I look at the wolves on the other side of the clearing, and they seem to be just as surprised as I am. Looking at the pile of fish, blood, and wood scattered across the area, it registers in my mind that I killed these things. The fish was gonna die, but it was going to be eaten, not just mindlessly slaughtered. The wolves on the other hand…

The only thing I can think to do is scream. And scream I did. I let out a loud scream, terrified of what I just did. I killed them! I hit them with the fish and now they’re dead!

To my surprise though, the bits of wood start to gather together and reform into wolves. I tilt my head in confusion at them. Didn’t know they could do that… I think to myself. Shrugging it off, but still a bit shaken by the fact that I could even do something like that, I start putting my clothes back on and grab my bag and guitar as well, preparing to just go home and pretend this didn’t happen.

But apparently one of the wolves that I had just saw put itself back together decided it still wanted to try something, and it charged me again and leapt at me. This time instead of trying to hit it, I catch it and hold him in place; trying not to hold it too tightly incase I break it again.

I turn it around quickly as it starts trying to bite at me. I tap it on the head. “Stop trying to bite me! I don’t wanna hurt you again!” it continues to ignore me and trying to bite me, so I give up and just let it gnaw on my arm, which doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. Don’t get me wrong, it still hurts but it’s like getting a bunch of needles to the arm over and over.

I look at the other wolves and just shake my head as they are still just staring at me in confusion. “Well, despite some of you trying to hurt me, and me hurting some of you by accident, it seems everything has worked itself out. So with that, I’ll just leave.” And with that, I walk away and start heading back towards the entrance.

I find the path quickly enough, and this wolf will not stop gnawing on my arm. Its starting to hurt a bit more than it was before. I swat at the wolf’s head again to try and get it to stop but that only makes it bite harder. “Owe! Okay, okay, just fuck off with biting so hard!” it continues to ignore me. Great… that just made it worse. Maybe Fluttershy can help, she's the only one close by.”

Fluttershy’s POV: First Person

I let out a sigh of relief as I plop on the couch exhausted. Today was a bit more hectic than usually. I’m sure Angel will apologize later. Anyways… at least all the chores are done for the day and I can just relax now. And with time to spare too, it's only a little past noon!

My thought is interrupted by a knock at the door. Now who could that be? I think to myself. “It’s okay Fluttershy, you can relax afterwards.” I whisper to myself. Putting on a smile, I call out to whoever’s at my door. “Just a minute!” with a bit more effort than i’d like to admit, I heft myself off the couch and trot to the door.

Opening the door my eyes widen in shock and my heart sinks at what is there. Standing there is Tots, but that’s not the part that scares me. In his arms, is a timber wolf, which is gnawing at his arm; there is blood leaking through the gaps in its teeth and dripping down Tots’s arm and off his hands and fingers.

I’m snapped out of my state of shock when he speaks. “Fluttershhyyyyyy… help me. He won’t let go and this is really starting to hurt.”

I look back and forth between his face, which clearly is expressing pain, and the timber wolf, which is gnawing at his arm with reckless abandon. I shake my head and glare at the Timber wolf. “I don’t know what Tots did to upset you, but whatever it was doesn’t give you the right to hurt him the way you are mister!” this causes it to freeze up and stop biting him, which is good, but not enough. It tries to mutter a out a response but I can’t understand what it’s saying because it still has Tots’s arm in its mouth, so I cut it off. “I can’t understand you like that, spit it out!” the wolf finally does so, and Tots lets go of it letting it drop to the ground. Before I can question it further it runs off towards the forest in a mad dash.

I shake my head and let out a sigh. I remember that Tots is still bleeding though, and I look back at him. “Tots, how in the wide world of Equestria did you end up like this?” he just shrugs and gives me a sheepish smile. He just thanks me and turns to walk away, but I stop him by grabbing his arm. Unfortunately it's his bad arm so he lets out a yelp but I ignore it. “Oh no you don’t mister. We’re going to get that cleaned up right now. And you’re going to explain how you got like this.”

I already knew he was in the forest, but how he can just casually let a timber wolf bite on him is what I want to know. For now though, getting him patched up is top priority. With that, I pull him into my cottage, and lead him to the couch. “Stay here, and try not to get blood on anything please, if you can manage that is.” with that I rush off to the bathroom to grab my first aid kit. Finding it, I open it to make sure I have everything. After checking off everything in my mental checklist, I grab a rag and soak it in warm water so I can clean the wound first. With that taken care of, I rush back to the living room to find him still where I left him. With a sigh of relief, I put the first aid kit down, and start to wipe away the blood with the rag.

He winces a bit as the rag makes contact with the wound, and tries to pull his arm away but I keep a firm grip on his arm. “Stay still, you’re only going to make it hurt more.” after telling him that he starts keeping his arm still but he keeps squirming in his seat. After cleaning all the blood, I put the rag down on the table and start looking for any bits of debris that might be stuck under the skin; or splinters, as he was bitten by a timber wolf. I do my best to get all foreign objects out of his arm, and then pick up the bandages and roll of gauze. I press the bandages against the wounds and wrap the gauze over it to keep it in place.

I let out a sigh as I finish patching him up. Looking up at his face, I notice he’s a bit pale, so I go into the kitchen and come back with a glass of orange juice and a cookie; I place it on the coffee table in front of him. “You should um… eat these. You lost quite a bit of blood…”

He hesitantly takes the offered cookie and juice but doesn’t eat it. “Are you sure? I know food isn’t cheap…” at my nod, he slowly eats the cookie.

What does he mean? Food isn’t that expensive. Even for some of the poorer families food has never been much of a problem. I tilt my head a bit. “Tots? What were you doing in the forest?”

He finishes the cookie and takes a sip of juice before answering. “I was just… exploring.” he says with a shrug.

“But why the forest? It’s really dangerous in there. You could have died!” I scold.

He just hangs his head. “I’m not too sure about that…” he says solemnly.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask confused. He lifts his head and he has tears in his eyes, which startle me for a moment. Why is he crying? Did I accidentally say something wrong?

“I don’t know why or how… but… what I can do… it honestly scares me…” he explains vaguely.

“Tots, I don-” he cuts me off.

“I OBLITERATED A FISH AND TWO OF THOSE WOLVES! And I wasn’t even thinking about it! It just happened! Those wolves jumped at me and I swung the fish at them and they just exploded! And I walked all the way from that river to here with one of them gnawing on my arm! I don’t think normal people can do that!” he explodes. He lets out a sigh and curls up, putting his knees to his chest. “All I want are friends… but now… I’m scared I might hurt any friends I make…” with that he buries his face into his legs and starts crying softly.

I’m at a loss for words. When he started yelling, I was scared of him; but after hearing what he had to say… I get up from my spot in front of him, and hop on the couch next to him, tentatively placing a wing around him and leaning into him. Fear aside, he obviously needs someone to be there for him right now. “Ssshhh…. It’s okay… you didn’t mean to do it. You were just trying to protect yourself.”

He leans into me, still crying. “I understand you’re scared. Believe me, I get scared a lot, so I know what it’s like. But you can’t let fear get in the way of making friends. Nothing good will come out of letting fear control your life.”

It takes him a while, but he finally calms down after a couple minutes; the entire time, I’ve been softly whispering reassurances to him.

“...Fluttershy?”

“...Yes?”

“...Why are you so kind? You patched up my arm… You gave me some food… You sat here with me while I was crying… Even after I told you what I did, you’re still here… Why?”

I take a moment and smile before answering. “Well… I’m the element of kindness. I guess I’m just naturally nice. I couldn’t just leave you with a bleeding arm, you needed medical attention, you needed that food, you needed a shoulder to cry on… Honestly, it scares me what you can do. Just like it scares you. But I know you didn’t mean it. I know you would never intentionally hurt me. You’re my friend, even if we haven’t known each other for very long.”

He contemplates my answer for a moment before he looks up at me; his eyes red and puffy from crying. “Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

He surprises me with a hug; one that I return, albeit a bit hesitantly. “Thank you.”

I smile and pat his back. “You’re welcome. Remember: If you need somepony to talk to, I’m always here for you.”

He smiles as well. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.” He looks at the window and see that the sun is starting to set. “I should probably go now. It’s getting late. Thanks again for everything.” He says as he gets up.

“Are you sure? It would probably be dark out before you even got home, and you shouldn’t be straining yourself with that injured arm. You can stay here for the night, if you want to that is…” I offer.

He stops and thinks on my offer. He turns and looks at me. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna bother you. You already helped me out alot.”

I nod. “It’s really no trouble. I have a few spare blankets and pillows, you can sleep on the couch. I don’t have a spare bed, but the offer is still there.”

He takes a moment to think, putting a hand to his chin. “Alright. Sure.” he smiles. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Author's Note

YO! first up. SORRY. I missed my self set deadline of a month in between each chapter. just because I missed it though, doesn't mean I'm dead, or that I've given up on this story. I was just busy with school, life, and a few other things. life takes priority and all that, but that didn't stop me from feeling a bit guilty for missing my own deadline. however, now this chapter is out!

with that said, have any questions?? feel free to ask them in the comments below!
got anything to say in general?? go ahead and comment them!
any form of feedback?? COMMENTS.
I tell ya, comments are so much easier to gauge a reaction out of than by looking at statistics of likes and dislikes.

anyways, Cheers for reading and have a nice day~!

Fluttering Dreams

Tot’s POV: First Person

Fluttershy insisted I take a shower before settling in for the night. So here I am. In her bathroom, standing under the steady stream of warm water; keeping my recently bandaged arm from getting wet of course. I take a few minutes to just stand under the water, basking in how refreshing it is. I frown a little bit. Gonna be awhile before I can use one of these again. I’ll have to buy a bar of soap when I get the chance.

After getting out of the shower and drying myself, I put my clothes back on. Hm… going to have to get something to wash these with too… I shrug and walk out of the bathroom feeling a bit better than when I went in. Walking into the living room, I see Fluttershy looking at my stuff, which I left on the couch.

She looks at me curiously. “I didn’t know you play guitar.”

“Neither did I, to be honest.” I say with a small chuckle.

She looks back at the guitar for a moment, then back to me. “C-could you play me something? If it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you that is.” she asks.

I sit down on the couch and take out the guitar, putting the strap around my head and adjusting it a little bit. “I mean… I guess I can. I don’t know much of any songs, I just play what comes to me.”

She smiles and settles into the couch. “That’s okay. Just play something… Happy.”

“Happy… happy. Yeah, I can do that.”

I take a breath in and close my eyes, trying to think of what to play. After a moment of silence, my mind starts to drift to some sounds, and I latch onto it.

After my little improv session comes to an end, I look away from the guitar in my hands and look over to Fluttershy to see her reaction. She’s got a small smile on her face, which makes me happy because she enjoyed it.

“Where did you learn to play so well?” she asks.

I chuckle a little. “I dunno. Just picked up a guitar and started playing.”

“Well, you’re really good. I don’t listen to music often, but I think you could probably become a music artist if you tried.” she says.

I shake my head. “Nah… I’m not that good. Besides, I dunno if music is something I wanna take beyond just a hobby.” I explain. It was then I notice she seems to be staring at me with a quizzical look on her face. “What?” I ask.

She points at my head. “What happened to your hair? It used to be completely white.”

I shrug. “I dunno what happened. Just woke up and noticed some of it was turning black. Nothing I can do about it, so why fuss over it? It doesn’t bother me.”

“I just think its strange. I didn’t notice earlier because I was a bit preoccupied.” she states. I wince a little at that, knowing my idiocy was the reason.

I absentmindedly scratch at my bandaged arm. “Yeah, sorry about that… uh, anyways.” I lay back and stretch a little, noting the time on the clock. “6:48…” I mutter to myself.

“What was that?” Fluttershy questions.

“6:48” I say a bit louder, pointing to the clock. “The time.” I clarify.

She looks at the clock and sees that it is indeed 6:48. “Oh. It’s almost time for dinner. Are you hungry?” she asks, directing the last part at me.

I glance at my stomach, then look up at her. “A little. But I don’t wanna trouble you anymore than I already am. Staying the night and all.”

She glares at me. “Nonsense. You are not troubling me at all. I’m going to cook regardless, so it wouldn’t be too much to cook a little extra for a guest that I invited to stay the night.” she explains. “You need to stop thinking you’re an inconvenience. It’s really no trouble at all.” she says as her expression softens.

I look at her for a moment, then take a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry. You’re right Fluttershy. I just don’t like feeling like I’m mooching or taking advantage of anyone.” I say and look down.

“Well, how about this. Next time you stay over, you can cook for me. Would that sound fair to you?” she offers.

My mind does flips at the potential implications of what she said. No, it wouldn’t be like that. Stop thinking like that. One thing sticks out to me though. “You’d let me stay over again?” I question.

She looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Of course I would. It’s not like I’d tell you no and make you walk home.”

I smile a bit. “Alright, deal.”

It’s 11:36 right now. I can’t seem to fall asleep. Actually, I should rephrase that. I can’t seem to fall asleep for more than 20 minutes. Fluttershy made an amazing dinner, and after we did the dishes -I insisted on helping- we stayed up until 8:30 just talking. I played a little bit more music at her request, but she turned in for the night at 8:40. Actually, she passed out on the couch while I was playing. When I noticed, I carefully picked her up and carried her upstairs to what I assumed was her room. Had to be, it’s the only bedroom in the house.

I put her in her bed, pulled the covers over her. That’s what I can’t get off my mind. Instead of just leaving, I found my attention drawn to her as she laid under the comforter, softly hugging her pillow, the moonlight from the window cascading over her; showing her in a light I never thought about her in. Literally.

I look at my arm, the one she patched up. She barely knows me. She patched me up, listened to my troubles, let me stay the night and made dinner. I smile and scoff to myself. Element of Kindness. More like selflessness. I think to myself. I look back her, watching her breath softly; making my stomach feeling weird. “Thank you, Fluttershy.” I say as I leave the room, quietly closing the door behind me.

Since then I have been on and off in my sleep, unable to get her off my mind. Why is she so nice… I’m nothing special. She hardly knows me. I’m just some homeless guy who seemingly popped into existence a couple days ago. Homeless… Nameless… sure, Pinkie gave me one, but she’s not exactly my mom or dad. Heh… nothing to a name I don’t even have. How sad is that?

I look back at the stairs that lead up to her room. she doesn’t know… but I don’t know how she’d react if she did. Would she pity me? I’d pity me. But when I was just sitting there, talking with her, all of that melted away. It was just me and her, not what either of us had or didn’t have.

I turn back to the clock, and watch the seconds tick by. 12:02... I should probably try to get some more sleep. I close my eyes again and seem to instantly drift off into sleep.

Instead of finding myself in a dark void of nothingness, I find myself out in a field. Looking around a bit, I notice it’s the same field thats between Ponyville and Fluttershy’s house.

Odd… but I’m not one to complain. I think to myself as I fall back onto the grass and watch the stars. After a while, I hear some hoofsteps approaching my position.

Soon enough, a face pops over mine and looks down on me. “Comfortable there?” she asks with a smirk.

I smile and grab her head in a weird upside down hug. “Haiya Princess Luna.” I let her go. “Certainly better than my last dream….considering I can’t even remember it.”

She looks off in the distance, seemingly watching something. “Probably for the best. But that’s neither here nor there. So why did your mind place your dream here?”

I shrug and find myself looking around, with my view stopping on Fluttershy’s home. She follows my gaze, and smirks a little. “I see.”

I turn to look at her. “You see what?”

She giggles. “Nothing. It’s not my place to say.”

I laugh a bit. “Whatever then.” I lay back down and stare back at the stars.

“What happened to your hair and arm?”

I lift my injured arm to my face and look at it. “I dunno what happened to my hair. As for my arm, let’s just say I was stupid and leave it at that.”

She picks up on my douring mood, and leaves the subject as is. “Well, seeing as your dream is fine, I should be on my way to check on other dreams. Sleep well, and rest assured that your dreams shall remain safe.” she says.

I’m about to say something back, but when I look at where she was, I find that she’s no longer there. Huh… I turn my attention back to the stars and just stare at them.

Author's Note

Hey there, bit of a shorter chapter but It covers a few moments that would feel out of place if I just kept going. like a roller coaster of moments, ya know?

Wants & Needs (Midnight Interlude)

Rainbow Dash’s POV: First Person

I toss and turn in bed, unable to sleep for some reason. I mean, I don’t have work tomorrow but I’d still like to be able to sleep. After about what I guess is 10 minutes, I kick off the blankets and walk downstairs and out the front door of my cloud home, taking off into the night sky.

Maybe a fly will tire me out. At least enough to fall asleep.

I start it off simple, just flying around; a few laps around Ponyville to warm up. After about 6 laps, I spice things up with a few tricks; spins, loops, zig zags, nothing too special. I end up doing this for an hour before I finally feel like it’s time to go back to bed.

Something catches my eye as I’m about to head back home, and at first I think my eyes are playing tricks on me. Underneath a tree, I spot a huddled mass barely lit up by the moon. I squint my eyes as I fly a little closer. Is...is that… is that Tots? What’s he doing out here late at night?

I fly down until I’m right in front of him. I raise an eyebrow when I notice the guitar laying next to him. When did he get that? I shake my head. That’s not important right now. Doesn’t he have a home? Everypony has a home! Even animals! I mean I know he isn’t an animal; he can talk and all that, but still…

I notice he’s shivering a lot. Ignoring him for now, my attention turns to his bag. Alright, what’re you hiding… I wonder to myself as I open his bag and start looking through it. Bread? Not my first choice of food….Water canteen. Simple enough. Some drawing stuff, and a book…. Inside are a few small doodles, all of which are of my friends. He even drew me? It’s not that good; it’s like a kids drawing but the thought is still there. Why tho?

I feel bad for him now… I didn’t know how bad his situation was. And… I was so rude when we first met. I feel like an asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t trust him, but that’s no reason to be mean. I put his stuff back the way I found it, and I’m about to turn and go back home when I hear some shuffling. My heart stops for a moment as I see him starting to wake up. I’m frozen in fear and can’t move. Please just go back to sleep! I don’t wanna get caught!

“Mngh…..” he grumbles as he starts to pick himself up. He stretches and the cracks that accompanies it makes my skin crawl. That didn’t sound too healthy…. as he stretches, his eyes land on me and my heart sinks.

“Rainbow Dash? What’re you doing here?” surprisingly, he doesn’t sound angry. In fact, he just sounds confused. He looks around. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

I find myself speaking before I can think. “I could ask you the same thing. Why are YOU out here? Shouldn’t YOU be in bed?” I clap my hoof over my mouth, cursing myself for talking instead of just running.

To my surprise he just shrugs. “Haven’t got one. I sleep out here.” He says as he rubs his arms and shivers a bit.

His response really throws me through a loop. His shivering also concerns me. If he’s cold now, he’d never make it through winter. And it’s the middle of fall right now.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone how bad your situation was? How’d it even get this bad!?” I don’t know why I’m yelling at him. Pity? Like a older sibling yelling at their younger sibling when they did something wrong even if it doesn’t affect them; like you want them to do good even though it doesn’t help you? Maybe.

His face falls into a frown and he looks down. “It never came up. I didn’t wanna bother anyone with it. It’s not even that big of a deal; really it’s not. I don’t want people to know. I don’t want people to pity me, to feel bad for me, to try and help me when my troubles aren’t their own. As for how…” he looks away at the horizon. “I don’t know. It’s just been this way. I woke up under this tree one day, and that’s all I know. But again it’s not that bad.” he looks back at me. “Please, don’t tell anyone.”

I’m stunned. Never had a home? Not a big deal? Not that bad? Is he bucking crazy?! And on top of all that, he wants me to keep it a secret!? Though… I suppose it’s not really my place to say anything anyways… I sigh. “I won’t tell anyone…” I glare at him. “But you better tell the others at some point. This IS a big deal, whether you think it is or not. A friend of mine learned this the hard way, but there’s no shame in asking for help. Especially if you NEED it. And right now, you do.”

He seems to think over my words for a moment. “Rainbow, all I want is to have friends and for those friends to be happy. I know you said no the first time, but can we be friends?”

Again, I’m stunned. All he wants is friends? How can what he want be so simple? I shake my head and look at him again. “I’ll think about it… but YOU need to think more about what you NEED instead of what you want.”

He nods and I find myself yawning. “It’s still pretty late… I’m going back to bed, but you should think about what I said.” I tell him as I turn and prepare to take off. “Goodnight Tots.” I throw in, almost as an afterthought.

He says his goodnight as well and with that, I take off and fly back to my home. Home… my stomach sinks at the thought of it now, knowing that someone else doesn’t have one.

Author's Note

fun fact, I got the last chapter out lil under a week ago, the day before spring break started (for me at least). I did this so I could go all spring break without having to worry about uploading a chapter. yet, here I am. middle of spring break. cranking out another chapter. Way shorter than the others, but i did this late at night (about midnight to 2 am.) I did this because I found myself itching to write, and this just sorta happened. soooo......Bonus chapter? *jazz hands shrug*

in case you're confused, this takes place right after he wakes up from his talk with Luna.

feel free to leave a comment down below, I love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Cheers for reading and have a nice day~!