Author's Note

Wookie kills Indiana Jones in The Walking Dead

When I Saw You Again

The darkness was all around me. There was a time where I was scared of the dark. When I was just a young colt, my mother would put a night light in my room, told me it would help "keep the monsters away." As I grew older and out of that fear, I realized just how silly it was to be afraid of not being able to see the light, and I would laugh at myself from time to time.

But now was the moment where I felt like that young colt all over again.

There was no speck of light, no blow of the wind, no sound. That was what I missed the most, the sound. I felt like I was floating in an empty void, where I couldn't even see my own hoof in front of my face. Where was I?

Where am I?

Suddenly, there were voices.

"How is he, doctor?"

"He's stable. Miraculously, his body was under severe stress, but now he just seems...fine, but just tired."

"Is he going to be okay?"

The voices...they sounded familiar. So familiar, but I couldn't guess where from. They were both feminine, and the doctor was male.

"He'll be okay, right?" The last voice asked again.

"Relax, miss. He's going to be just fine. Right now, he's in some sort of...well, somewhat like a coma, if you will-"

"He's in a coma?!"

"No. His body is reacting to certain stimuli perfectly, but his mind seems to be dormant, for the moment at least."

"Will he...be able to wake up?"

"With time and patience, yes. I can't say for certain what exactly is happening to him, but he is perhaps the strangest case I've ever experienced in all my years as a doctor. You say you were practicing a spell with him?"

"Yes...it was a test we were performing with him. Something went wrong and...."

"We hadn't seen him since."

Who? Me?

"We'd been trying to find him since. We had search parties, entire towns and cities. We even had the princesses themselves ordering to find him, but...nothing. There was just nothing we could find. You said they found him in the town square?"

"Yes, that's what they told me. They said he appeared in the middle of the square, and whatever he did left them laying on the ground and all their windows shattered. Thankfully, nopony was seriously hurt, but...it's still the strangest thing. I'm sure you must be relieved-"

"Of course I'm relieved," the second feminine voice interrupted. "It's my fault he was in that mess...wherever he ended up going. I spent day and night trying to find him, and all I could do was come up with nothing to help, and now he's just...just there..."

Wait a second...Starlight?

"Miss Starlight, I assure you-"

"Starlight!" I tried to yell her name, but all it did was come out as a faint mumble, and yet it was just loud enough for them to hear.

"He...he said my name...! I think he's trying to wake up!"

She was right. I could feel my body start to wake itself up, and the numbness that spread across my body was no longer there. Instead, I could feel myself laying in what seemed to be a bed. A warm, comfortable, soft bed, and I was covered in a blanket, with my head resting on a pillow of its own softness.

I strained myself just to open my eyes. It took several moments to force them, pry them open, and when I did, it wasn't fast, but slow and a struggle, which was a good thing in the sense of brightness - even if it still hurt just a little.

"He's waking up!" I heard Starlight yell. "Hey! Hey, can you hear me?"

At first, I tried to nod, but it made me feel just a little bit sick, so I decided against it. I tried to say yes, but even that didn't work. She said my name again, hoping to get my attention...even though she already had.

It was after a moment that I could finally move my hooves, and as soon as I could, I tried to reach up. The first few seconds were me touching nothing but the air around me, but after blindly aiming for a second, I could feel my hoof touching something soft and warm, but freshly wet. After I was able to open my eyes all the way, I found a pair of blue, tearful ones looking right back.

Starlight Glimmer...my friend.

She called my name out again, questioning it. And I just gave her such a smile.

"Hello there," I said weakly. "It's good to see you again."

The immediate hug was rather tight. Welcoming, but tight all the same.

"Quite a welcome."

The doctor - Doctor Stable, I remember him - said her name as an attempt to stop her, but I held a hoof. "It's fine," I said to him, and Stable stepped away. Meanwhile, Starlight was crying heavily, her body shaking and tears falling down her face as she was able to hug me again.

"I'm sorry...!" she cried. "I'm so, so sorry...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

She repeated the phrase several times, rocking back and forth as she held me to her body; her words became stuttered and broken as her crying persisted. But I was there to calm her down.

"Shh...it's okay," I said to her, "you didn't do anything wrong..."

"Yes I did," she said in a louder-than-average tone. "I looked everywhere for you. I..." Starlight tried to say more, but was drowned out by her tears, and she buried her face in my shoulder.

"It's okay," I repeated. "I'm okay. I am."

She didn't say anything after that, only continued to cry. I raised another hoof and brought her in for a weak, but comforting hug. I missed real hugs.

I looked over at the source of the other voice. Twilight Sparkle, she was there too, and it wasn't just her. The rest of the Elements were there looking at me intently, seemingly in disbelief that I was here and alive...and here!

Spike sat at the edge of the bed. I hadn't noticed him at first until I really looked.

"Hi Spike," I said. "I missed you too."

He gave me a smile, one that seemed bittersweet, with tears falling down his face too. They all had tears falling down, but they were all dry. Only Starlight's and Spike's were fresh.

"Doctor Stable," Twilight said as she turned to the stallion, "is it okay if we have some time alone? Just for a little bit, I promise."

He furrowed his brows for a second before asking, "That depends: Is the patient okay enough-" but I interrupted him before he could finish.

"I'm okay, doc," I reminded him. "I promise. It's fine."

"Okay then. I'll leave you to it. I will be back in a half hour though to check your vitals."

"Of course." Doctor Stable then nodded to Twilight before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. I was left alone with Spike and the girls. Starlight clung onto me for another few moments before pulling away, apologizing for "the tears" on my fur, but I only told her it was fine. It was always fine for her to cry.

"So, um..." I started, unsure of how to take the conversation. Awkward. "...What happened after I disappeared?"

Good enough, I guess. The only thing that happened afterwards was a look between each other, like they were unsure how exactly to put it into words, but eventually Twilight stepped up and explained.

"We...We...Well, the first thing we did was try and bring you back," she began. "The only problem was...we didn't know where you were or, rather, when you were. We had no way of tracking you down. We basically lost you for a while."

Starlight stepped in and added to the conversation. "We looked all over the castle to find you, and then the town. Then from here to Canterlot, then Appleoosa, and Manehattan, and wherever we could possibly look. But...we couldn't find you anywhere."

"Eventually, we went to the princesses and had to set up search parties. We searched the whole of Equestria to find you," Twilight said, a feared look on her face. I stared at her with my own look of sadness as I only added to her words.

"But you couldn't find me," I told her, and she answered with a shake.

"I thought the spell would've taken over and brought you back after the twenty seconds were up, and I was thinking, 'Maybe it worked out just fine,'" Starlight said to me with a look that mimicked her hopeful facade she supposedly once had. "But then twenty seconds became forty. Then sixty, then eighty, then suddenly, it's been hours and you...still weren't back."

I gave both Twilight and Starlight curious looks and asked the two of them, "How-How long was I gone for?"

"Three days," Starlight answered.

"...Really wasn't expecting that..." Of course, that's what I would've said in my head, but I ended up blurting the sentence out through my mouth.

"Why?" Twilight asked with a curious but feared tone. "...How long was it for you?"

At first, I was hesitant on telling them - but Starlight really wanted to know, and I feared they would ponder or dwell on it more than they should, and the last thing I wanted was to worry them. But I knew not answering them would only make things worse.

"Six months," I said. "At least, it felt like it was six months."

Starlight's expression changed. In fact, they all changed, but Starlight's...it was like her heart shattered with heavy guilt, the light from her eyes fading, and...well, it was a face I was hoping I'd never see.

"...Six months?" she repeated in a whisper, and I nodded.

"But I'm fine!" I nearly exclaimed right after. "I'm fine, it was no big deal."

"No big deal?" Starlight repeated again. "We spent three days looking for you, and yet you were gone for six months. What if we spent another three days looking for you? You could've been gone a whole year!"

Even with my explanation, it wasn't enough to quell Starlight's fears and worries; she was definitely and overtly upset, scared even.

"Did you even sleep? Or drink, or eat? Did you even have to?"

I shook my head. "No." Before she could ask any further, I continued and told them, "I wasn't hungry or thirsty or anything. Not even tired."

"That explains why you apparently collapsed," Twilight replied. "Your body was accustoming to real-time after being stuck there, and so your body mimicked three whole days of restlessness just to fit in. Are you sure that was the case?"

"It was. I didn't need to sleep at all, even if I wanted to. I mean, sure, I crafted a bed and all that, but that was just to relax and watch stars explode, nothing like-"

"Wait," Rainbow interrupted me, "did you just say, 'Watch stars explode?'"

I sank into the bed, laughing with a sheepish grin, something I hadn't done in a while. "Heh...it's complicated."

Complicated, and yet Twilight grew curious. "Just...what exactly were you doing in...wherever you were?"

How could I even begin to explain that?

"Well...I-" I stopped as soon as I saw two figures standing in the doorway. Rather, two regal figures. ... Did that make sense?

"I see somepony's finally awake," Princess Celestia said with a kind smile; the whole room turned their heads to the door at the sound of her voice. Twilight was glad to see her, albeit seemingly a big ashamed, it seemed.

But me? I smiled and had the strength to simply get out of bed. The entire group protested, but I told them I was feeling fine. Well, as fine as I could've been in the moment. I walked over to Celestia and hugged her warmly.

"I missed you so much," I said to her. "So, so much."

It might have been weird to them, but to me, I really did miss Celestia. I used to see her as a princess, and now I saw her as more of a mutual friend. And I was really glad to see my friend again. The princess of the sun gave a cute giggle before hugging back.

"I missed you too," she said to me, her voice calming me in its motherly passion.

"We hoped we would find you sooner," Princess Luna spoke up. "We searched high and low to find you. I even kept the moon from rising in hopes that it would be easier for the search parties."

As soon as she mentioned that, I looked at her with a caring, but sorrowful look. "Oh...Luna, you didn't have to do that."

"And yet I did. To find you. Even if we didn't find you, I was more than satisfied to help."

"Though some ponies didn't seem to like the day lasting until midnight," Celestia mentioned. I laughed a little to myself.

"Well...thank you for helping," I said. Luna smiled back and gave me a hug of her own, though it lasted for a much shorter time before I pulled away.

Twilight called out my name and I turned back to her. She asked me, "How did you get back?"

"Well," I began, "I kinda had to go into a black hole, and-"

"A black hole?" They all asked me simultaneously, even Luna, though Celestia stayed quiet, but looked at me with genuine curiosity.

"It's...kind of a long story," I simply told them, "I'm sure Clanks would be able to explain it better...than...me..." That was when the realization hit me, and I gasped. "Clanks!"

Before Twilight could mutter 'huh?' I went to her and started to ask her, "Did you see Clanks at all?"

"Who?" She answered back. "Who's Clanks?"

"My friend, my...my robot," I said, unsure of how exactly to explain that either. "I made him a while back, some time after I ended up...there. He kinda kept me company. I promised I was gonna take him with me, and I did! I...I hope!" I turned back to Celestia. "Please, we have to find him!"

"Calm down," Celestia kindly urged me, "I'm sure we can help. What does he look like?"

"And did y'all just say 'robot'?" Applejack added. I nodded and started to detail his looks.

"He looks kind of like me," I started, "only he's got a metallic body. Blackish-brown mane and tail, blue fur, green eyes. You'd think it was me from far away if you weren't looking close enough."

"Is there any idea where he could've gone or ended up?" Twilight asked me, but I shook my head.

"No, I can't think of any place. The only two ideas I have is that he's either somewhere in Equestria, or..." I paused, pointing out the window and up into the sky. "...up there somewhere."

I paused for a second, looking down to the ground, eyes closed. There was no way Clanks was still in space. The Library, possibly, but Clanks? He was my companion for all that time I was alone, plus he had similar intelligence as I had, so...so maybe that meant he knew what to do or where to go. Maybe?

Wait a second...maybe...right, of course...!

Then a realization came to mind, and I opened my eyes and lifted my head again. "I think I know where he might be."

"Where?" Twilight asked.

"Before we got to the black hole, I told him that if we ever got separated after we arrived, then find a large, crystalline tree-house. I told him he couldn't miss it." That was enough to make Twilight realize as well.

"The Castle!" she exclaimed. "Are you sure he's there?"

"He should be," I said to her, "I told him that's where he should go. Head to the main living room with a large table with a map in the middle, and just wait there. It's possible he could be there just sitting in one of the chairs."

Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "He better not be sitting in my chair." I eyed her with an expression that just screamed, 'Really?' Her only response was a simple, "What? I'm just saying."

"I'll head over to the castle," Twilight said, heading for the door.

"I'll come with you," I said to her, but I was quickly met with a hoof pulling me back. I was met with a concerned and caring look from Starlight.

"No," she simply said, "you need to stay here. It's bad enough I got you into this whole mess, the last thing I want is you straining yourself even more. You need to rest."

I didn't want to argue with her. If there was one thing I hated more than any thing in the universe, it was arguing with my friends. I never forgot that; one argument with with Twilight was enough to make that a sure thing.

"Okay." I then turned to Twilight and said to her, "If you find him, please bring him back here, okay? I just really need to know if he's okay."

Twilight gave me a simple nod, then excused herself, leaving the room, her hoofsteps echoing down the hallway before fading completely.

"Maybe I should lay down again," I said out loud, heading back into the bed with help from Starlight and Applejack.

"Easy, Sugarcube," Applejack said to me. "Why don't y'all, maybe, talk about what you were up to for the past 'six months?'"

"Six months?" Celestia asked, clearly confused.

"It's a long story," I remarked. I then proceeded to go into detail the adventures I had with Clanks at my side. They found themselves intrigued, fascinated, and wowed by every word I said. Every moment of wonder and joy.

The unfortunate part was that most of it wasn't even true.

If only they knew.