Drastic Measures

To my dearest, Solus.

This is your life.

Are you what others want you to be, or are you who you want to be?

“Hey Nurse Redheart!” A female pony greeted some other pony. The voice sounded faint to Solus, and his vision was indistinct but he could make out the colors of a rainbow before shutting his eyes once more.

“He’s healing well. In fact, he could probably leave today.” Another female pony said in response. The stallion’s hearing and vision were still impaired, but he could barely make out two obscure ponies standing next to each other and the side of a pony next him before shutting his eyes yet again.

“Hey! I think he’s waking up!” One of the mares from before told the other ponies in the room, approaching the edge of the bed the stallion was in. His vision started to clear up after his third blink, which he then clearly saw a pony with a light gray coat and light grayish apple green mane and another pony with a very light cyan coat and a rainbow-colored mane.

“Jeez, is that what I looked like when I was in here?” the rainbow mare sarcastically asked, barely holding in a chuckle. The stallion was apparently cock-eyed for several moments before he slightly shook his head, his irises returning to their normal places.

“Ugh…” The half-asleep stallion muttered as he scanned his field of vision, “Where… Where am I?”

“In the hospital, where else would you be?” the rainbow mare mordantly explained.

“W-what happened?” the disarrayed stallion inquired. He was still trying to get his bearings, and he felt that he was under sedatives.

“’What happened’?! How could somepony NOT remember a fall like that?!” The rainbow mare said with a raised voice, now looking upbeat. “I was veering back to that mountain surrounded by clouds and then I saw you falling from the mountain head-first. Before I got there, you hit your head pretty hard on one of the ledges of the mountain, so hard that you broke it and continued falling. I flew so fast that I would’ve done a sonic rainboom, but I was able to catch you before you could do anymore damage to yourself. You’ve been out for like, three days now.”

“Well…. Thank you.” Solus thanked, his mind still stumbled from everything that has happened. “So, ugh… Who are you two?” he softly groaned in pain.

“The name’s Rainbow Dash and I’m the fastest pegasus in Equestria, by Princess Celestia herself.” She said with extreme pride while placing her hoof on her cyan chest. "Someday, I plan on joining the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said, whilst looking up, possibly fantasizing.

“Who are the Wonderbolts?" Solus asked. The word sounded familiar to Solus, but he couldn't get the image of who these ponies could be. He tried thinking, but it felt as if his skill constricted everytime he actually tried to contemplate.

"'Who are the Wonderbolts'?!" Rainbow Dash screamed in shock. Solus flinched back at the sudden outburst. "They're the greatest flyers of all of Equestria! No, not Equestria; the best flyers ever! Everytime they perform at Cloudsdale, I am always first in line to buy their tickets! Speaking of their performances, it's just like watching Celestia rising the sun at the summer sun celebration! Spitfire, Soarin', Rapidfire, Fleetfoot, all of them are just so cool!" Rainbow Dash rambled, squeeling in delight and sometimes flying around the small room in excitement.

"Shhh!" said a white earth pony that was next to Solus. Rainbow Dash then landed and looked away in embarassment while slightly lowering her head as she smiled awkwardly.

"But yeah, that's who the Wonderbolts are." Rainbow Dash finished, now regaining her composure.

"Okay..." Solus replied with a surprised expression on his face. He then turned to the gray pegasus next to Rainbow, "What about you?"

“Huh?” the gray pegasus said, as if snapping out of a trance. That’s when the unicorn now noticed that this pegasus’ eyes, compared to Rainbow Dash’s, were… different.

“Umm…” The stallion didn’t know what to say now that he noticed the gray pegasus’ irises. What should I say? All I can focus on though are those odd, but yet, entrancing eyes. It’s strangely… unique.

“Hey.” The stallion heard somepony whisper. He turned to the direction of the faint voice and saw it was concerned Rainbow Dash. “I know what you’re thinking and your confusion about her eyes. She was born like that and she’s really sensitive about. Just act natural and pretend like they’re not there.”

“Okay.” The stallion responded with a slight nod. He then turned his attention back to the other pegasus. “So, uh…” The stallion nearly trailed off before he realized he was staring at the pegasus’ eyes, “W-what’s your name?”

“My name’s Derpy, Derpy Hooves.” The gray pegasus smiled. Derpy? Why would somepony name their foal that? Seems a little… unorthodox… But then, he remembered a gray pegasus crashing into him before he got knocked-out.

“Hey, weren’t you the pony who head-butted me?” Solus asked, trying not to sound condescending or malicious.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Ditzy apologized, yet with a smile still on her muzzle, “I just don’t know what went wrong!”

“Right.” The stallion awkwardly smiled. Well this pony is… distinctive.

“So what’s your name?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. The stallion looked at her puzzlingly for a moment. “What? You don’t expect us to say our names and we’ll just know you as the stallion I saved!”

“S-sorry!” The stallion said, surprised at the sudden outburst. Whoa, didn’t expect that. These ponies are pretty peculiar. The stallion decided to just let it go and tell them his name. “My name is…” The stallion didn’t notice that he just abruptly stopped talking, but he couldn’t say anything, as if he was cursed by poison joke. His mouth had sounded out ‘Uh’s and his eyes slightly shifted left and right uncomfortably, as if he was waiting for an answer to pop out.

My name is…I don’t know. Wait, that word... Solus. 'To my dearest Solus...' That could be my name.

“…Is Solus. The name’s Solus.” The unicorn tried to say as reassuringly as possible. Idiot, they’re not going to believe you.

“That’s an odd sounding name, not to mention it took you a little long to say that…” Rainbow Dash stated, turning her head right but still remaining eye contact with him.

Oh great oh great oh great! The stallion panicked. I knew they wouldn’t believe it, but what do I say…? “I-I’m sorry. It’s really difficult for me to remember everything I should know. I hit my head pretty hard.”

“Well yeah; you’re wearing a head bandage and the tip of your horn is snapped off.” Rainbow Dash explained, turning her head away as if she could barely contain her laughter. All Solus could think is, The tip of my horn is snapped off?! How can I do my magic now?!

“Don’t worry though, Nurse Redheart told us that you can still do magic after a week or two. She also mentioned that you might also have amnesia.” Rainbow Dash continued, now looking a little concerned, probably because she was trying to be sympathetic, but who knows?

Whew. Two birds in one stone there. Thank goodness for Nurse Redheart. Solus thought in relief as he looked over to Nurse Redheart, who was paying attention to the IV bags next to him and a clipboard that was next to Solus’ bed. Wait, is that really 'good' news?

“Anyways,” Rainbow Dash resumed, “Nurse Redheart told us earlier that you’re scheduled to leave today.”

“Really? That abruptly?” Solus asked Nurse Redheart in surprise. She nods with a blank expression on her face and continued her work with the clipboard. She seems really concentrated on her job.

“But we’re going to have to wait until the nurse is finished though.” Rainbow Dash sighed.

“It shouldn’t take too long… I hope.” Solus unconfidently replied as he leaned back in his bed. Solus took a relieved sigh and just shut his eyes for the time being.

Solus, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy were walking down the path to the town square of Ponyville. As Solus was walking with the two, he periodically found himself stumbling and swaying off-balance. Derpy had also been walking in the same, odd manner; but Solus' unintentional stomps and the soft 'Whoa's that came out of his mouth whenever he walked unevenly were louder. Rainbow Dash took notice of this and chuckled.

“Hey, uh, you okay there, Solus?” she said, softly chuckling.

“I'm fine; my hooves are still trying to distinguish between left and right!” Solus responded, paying more attention to his hooves, which felt weak whenever he walked and trotted. “It must be from the narcotics the doctor must have gave me.”

“Even so, you still look pretty ridiculous; I mean, c'mon, even Derpy isn't as clumsy as you right now.” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at Derpy—who was eating a muffin, only for it to be blown in the sky by a heavy gust of wind—with both of her hooves.

“Then what do you think I should do; because right now, I can barely feel my hooves.” Solus sarcastically replied, although his hooves felt like they weren't even there, and when they were, they felt as though it was chained to a giant metal ball.

“Here.” Rainbow Dash said before holding Solus still by the shoulders. “Now, move your right hoof forward,” Rainbow Dash ordered. Solus complied. “Then your rear left hoof,” Solus did so. “Then your front left hoof, with your rear right hoof following.”

Solus did everything Rainbow Dash had instructed—with both Rainbow and Derpy watching—and soon felt the numbness from his hooves subsiding.

“Wow! Good work, Solus!” Derpy cheered, her irises indirectly looking at Solus.

“Heh, thanks.” Solus embarrassingly said as he shifted his eyes to the side.

“Now you think you can do that without falling?” Rainbow Dash asked, still smirking.

“Yeah, I can feel my hooves now, and I can remember the basic skill of walking.” Solus sarcastically said.

“All right, then let's go.” Rainbow Dash said, taking the lead; both Solus and Derpy quickly followed behind.

While the trio were walking, Solus' mind was focused on many things—besides concentrating on walking—and questions that made him feel like he could have an aneurysm.

Why am I here? Why can't I remember anything? Well, I know it's because of the amnesia, but still... This all so sudden. Solus' head then gave off another headache that felt like the head bandage he was still wearing was starting shrink.

“Ngh!” Solus said as he clenched his teeth, trying his best not to groan over-dramatically; there's no need to act like he had popped a blood vessel. The pain eventually subsided, but his mind still felt like it was being banged on.

Halfway near the town square, Rainbow Dash decided to break the silence that filled the air.

“So uh, we're you from?” She asked Solus.

“Huh?” Solus replied, breaking his attention from his previous headache. When he turned his attention to Rainbow, she was flying backwards instead of walking.

“You know, you're hometown? Canterlot? Fillydelphia? If you can remember.” Rainbow Dash said, quickly adding the last sentence. That's when Solus noticed that she is a lot more animated when flying than walking, but she is a pegasus so it's probably more common than not.

“Uh,” Solus thought for a moment; he could recall a few memories of his foalhood, most of them taking in place of a setting with renovated, but yet medieval buildings. His only guess was that it was Canterlot. “I think I was born in Canterlot; I remember a few memories from back when I was a little colt.”

“Oh, okay.” Rainbow Dash nodded, “You still remember Princess Celestia, right?”

“Of course!” Solus said seriously, and also taken aback, “I didn't hit my head that hard.”

“Whoa, okay! I was just asking.” Rainbow Dash stated, putting up her hooves as if she was caught committing a crime.

“S-sorry.” Solus said, quickly looking away from the rainbow-colored pegasus, “But anyway, where are we going?”

“Oh, right!” Rainbow Dash said as if she remembered something, “We're going to the town hall; a friend of mine told me to meet her once you finally come out of the hospital, and knowing her, she's probably helping out other ponies in the town hall.”

“Okay...” Solus blandly responded, a little suspicious about who this pony might be. Rainbow easily read the obvious expression of worry on Solus' face.

“Hey, don't worry, she's not a bad pony; she may be a little bit of an egghead, but she's a really fun pony to be around. Right Derpy?” Rainbow Dash said, now turning to the gray pegasus next to Solus.

“Yeah!” Derpy responded with joy, “She helped me sort out the mail when I accidentally put the wrong letters in the wrong mailboxes.”

“I see...” Solus replied with an expression that showed he understood, although he had an unnerving feeling of worry, as if it was by instinct.

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash said, “You'll see what I mean when we meet her!”

The three then continued walking in silence, besides Rainbow whom was flying.