Drastic Measures

by Tenshi

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Other, Adventure, Queen Chrysalis, Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life
Length: 13148

After years in Tartarus, Solus is broken out by Chrysalis and has to defeat the Elements of Harmony.

Can somepony be redeemed of their sins? Can a criminal be given one more chance to purity?

After many years in Tartarus, a framed alchemist named Solus is broken out by Queen Chrysalis and her army of changelings. He then has no other choice but to hunt down the Elements of Harmony, under Chrysalis' orders. But after an accident during his journey to Ponyville, he now has amnesia and is unable to do his magic.

After an event that triggered a flashback, Solus decides to embark on a small quest--along with his newfound friends and somepony he never expected to see--to repair the fragments of his past, before the changelings can make their next assault.

And who knows, maybe he can finally learn to trust somepony...

Published 2012-08-14 10:04:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-10 13:03:32 UTC

Nopony Wins With a Headbutt

Author's Notes:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Lauren Faust, Hasbro Studios, DHX Media/Vancouver, Top Draw Animation, and The Hub. This is a non-profit fan-made story. Please support the official release.

“Checkmate.” A stallion with a crimson mane with indigo highlights and a gray coat said with a bored expression on his face, while leaning on his right front hoof, the chain on the hoof's shackle knocking over the opponent's king. It was basically the exact same routine for the past what, 10 years? Not even the stallion could remember.

Most of his days in Tartarus were uneventful and felt like it was under a schedule; pick rocks, eat, and then sleep. There's not much to explain rather than he kind of expects the outside to be much more advanced in just pretty much anything ranging from buildings to magic.

Back to the chess game, the stallion had placed his bishop in the same diagonal line as the king, while his other bishop had been placed next to the king while being protected from his queen, thus blocking the opponent’s path.

“What?!” The opponent, which was an ogre, roared in disbelief. His voice was deep and sounded nearly demonic, as if he needed to clear his throat. “There’s no way you won in 5 minutes! How in the name of Tartarus do you always win, Solus?!”

“You shouldn’t have wasted your queen so quickly.” The stallion rebutted, leaning back on the wooden chair he was sitting on, now with a smirk on his face. “You should try challenging me to something different besides chess all the time.”

“Grrr!” The ogre growled. “Then maybe I will.” He then quickly stood up—which caused the chess table to fall over—and grabbed the slim pony by the neck and drove Solus back against the stone wall.

The ogre tried being intimidating by giving the pony a menacing look and huffing and puffing, but Solus looked fearlessly into the beast’s eyes with a smug smirk, taunting the brute.

“This challenge is to see who can stay conscious the longest.” The ogre said before he gave a smile with his decaying teeth. Solus would have used his magic by now, but there was a magical barrier outside that kept him from using his magic or leaving his cell. The ogre then raised his other fist up to throw a punch, but he was interrupted by an odd buzzing sound that started to rise in volume.

Bzzzzzzzz! The sound continued for many seconds. The ogre turned his head to the direction of the buzzing and squinted hard at the dark hallway of which the sound was coming from.

“By the realms of Logres, what is that noise?” The ogre furiously asked as he continued to observe the dark hall. The buzzing soon grew louder and what emanated from it were many odd looking black... creatures that had holes around they’re bodies.

“What are those things?” The ogre curiously asked, still holding the stallion’s neck.

“I don’t know.” Solus replied, glancing at the holey creatures. But he knew exactly what they were; they were changelings. Even though he had been locked in Tartarus for a while, he had previously encountered with them.

The changelings started slamming and head-butting the magical barrier, trying to infiltrate the small holding cell. The ogre looked at them in confusion while the stallion just stared at them with an emotionless expression.

“They're pretty headstrong, I'll give them that.” Solus muttered to the ogre, cocking an eyebrow and smirking.

After a minute of the changelings constantly hitting the magical force field, it finally shatters into pieces—like glass—and the changelings let themselves in.

“What are you bugs doing here?” The ogre asked.

“Our Queen told us to break out as much as we can.” One of the changelings said with a raspy and hoarse voice, “Especially you.” The changeling had pointed at the gray pony. Solus blinked in surprise.

“Me? Why me?” Solus questioned. He could probably guess why she made this ‘prison break’, but he figured it was wrong, as always.

“She’ll tell you once we break you out,” A few changelings then shoved the pony forward, “So let’s go.” Solus decided to abide by their orders and followed the changelings, his shackles screeching on the rocky terrain.

There were a few changelings that tried to push the ogre, but the beast was too large and heavy. The ogre noticed them and gave the changelings a terrifying look and stomped his way out, smacking a few that were in his way.

Chapter 1: Nopony Wins With a Headbutt

The stallion entered the changeling hive. It seemed like the inside of a bee hive, considering the changelings’ buzzing reminded the stallion of bees, and there only seemed to be one place for the black holey ponies to rest. Solus didn’t seem very intimidated, even with the changelings occasionally giving him odd looks and his escorts sometimes shoved him. The ogre that was with him was led around the hive, along with many other vicious beasts from Tartarus.

Earlier, before the two rivals were parted, the changelings had attempted to pick through the stallion's shackles, meaning they bit on the chains that were connected together in a rectangle.

The cuffs that held the chains were designed like a royal gray shoe with gold locks that looked similar to a button, and they were placed a half-centimeter above his hooves.

The old and rusty metal broke easily through the changelings' sharp fangs. The result of the 'lock-picking' was now only a small millimeter of the used-to-be chain on each side of each hoof.

“You sure you're comfortable with this?” said somepony behind the stallion. The unicorn looked behind him and saw a... changeling? Well, it had the characteristics of a changeling; the holey legs, the dark coat, the fangs. The thing that seemed odd for it to be a changeling was that it had a tattered, gray mane that had the same shading and texture as a clump of spider webs put together, and it was tied into a medium-sized ponytail. Another thing was that the changeling had moss green pupils and eyelashes, unlike the other changelings.

“Yeah,” Solus replied, looking dumfounded by the changeling's appearance but then flipped his expression into one of apathy. “I think your queen would actually ENJOY me being in chains...”

“Not unless she's the one ordering you around.” the changeling softly retorted, slightly gritting her teeth, as if in annoyance. That's when Solus realized that this changeling didn't have the nasty and raspy voice the others had, but a soothing and clear voice—even though there were still some noticeable buzzes here and there—that sounded like a mature mare's voice. Not too posh, but not too southern; it was normal.

“Well,” Solus started, “I should probably be getting to her before it comes to that.” The other changelings had already finished their teething session, so the stallion already started walking off.

“All right, I'll be seeing you.” the female changeling said, “And by the way...” Upon hearing her last words, Solus stopped and listened.

“What?”

“Not everypony is who they may seem to be.”

Solus then turned back to the female changeling, but she was already gone, as if she disappeared or used some kind of invisibility spell.

Strange. But I've seen stranger things. Much stranger things... The stallion thought.

Solus then made it to the Queen’s throne, which seemed to only consist of a chair of bones and a hill of debris that supported the throne. The Queen, known as Queen Chrysalis by her subordinates, was sitting on the bone chair, looking pleased.

“You said you wanted to see me?” the stallion asked flatly. He was suspicious of this entire scenario. He didn’t want to head back to that ghastly pit once more just because somepony busted him out without him even knowing.

“Ah yes, you.” Queen Chrysalis said, giving a menacing smile. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

“I bet.” Solus said, still giving the Queen a serious look, “How did you do it?”

“What, break you out?” Queen Chrysalis chuckled in pride, “That poor excuse of a guard dog was easily taken care of; as for the gatekeeper, he posed a bit of a problem but we quickly took care of him.”

“I suppose you're not going to tell me how you defeated the gatekeeper?” Solus inquired as he raised an eyebrow.

“Why should I? It wouldn't benefit any of us.”

I can guess Cerberus got distracted by a bone and the gatekeeper got overwhelmed by a changeling rush.

“All right,” the stallion unnervingly replied, “But why me?”

“I know about the ponies you are trying to find. And since I’m feeling somewhat generous today, I’m willing to give you their location.” Queen Chrysalis smiled sinisterly, her long, tattered dark cerulean mane covering half of her two-sided face.

Not everypony is who they seem to be...

“Why should I believe you?” Solus inquired while cocking an eyebrow. He surely wasn’t planning on being baited into a trap, or any sort of scheme that wasn’t worth the untrustworthy information. Queen Chrysalis menacingly smiled, as if she anticipated that retort.

“Maybe this will change your mind.” Queen Chrysalis said, tossing a miniature wooden box to the unicorn, while getting a transitory chuckle in. The unicorn staggered back a step once the box rolled to him. It was carved into a pentagon and had borders on the edges that seemed vaguely familiar.

The box’s top then popped open to reveal three ponies standing together, the two tallest ponies on the side of the small middle pony, as if like a family. The box then played the tune of ‘A River Flows in You’.

Solus' eyes widened as nostalgic memories engulfed his mind. He could feel at least a single tear escape his eye and dribble down his muzzle. He shook his head and took deep breaths to postpone any incoming tears.

“Who gave you this?” The stallion tried to growl but it came out as more of a shaky breath. The Queen snickered.

“I’ll tell you. But only if you do what I ask.” The Queen ordered.

The stallion sighed. “What’s the catch?” He complied, not knowing if this was the right choice or not. Well, there were a few times he felt like this; but hay, nothing can really compare to now, right?

“Good.” Queen Chrysalis smirked. “What I want is for you to get rid of the elements of harmony.”

“I’m guessing they’re the ones that defeated you?” Solus sarcastically smirked. He thought he may as well irritate her if she wasn’t going to spill the beans. Queen Chrysalis scowled at the stallion’s jest, and decided to rejoinder.

“Do you want your information or not?”

He sighed once again, “Where can I find them?” He thought he may as well quickly finish this before he gets sent back to Tartarus.

“My most recent subject has seen one of the elements, Twilight Sparkle, in Ponyville.” The Queen then flew back up to her ‘throne’ and motioned with her punctured hoof shooing the stallion away. “You have one week before we plan our attack; and take that worthless box that you call a ‘treasure’.”

Solus decided to just use his magic in the hive by teleporting to Ponyville. Due to his knowledge in spells, he was able to teleport very large distances. Unfortunately though, he never went to Ponyville before, but he has been near it when he was young.

The stallion closed his eyes and concentrated hard while a red aura coming from his lightly gray horn conjured a large sphere around him and his music box. After a few seconds of channeling the spell, he was finally teleported.

his eyes slowly and he had sensed that he was in a different area, a different atmosphere. He felt a cold and chilly breeze roll up his spine, which caused him to open his eyes in confusion.

“Huh?” Solus muttered as he shifted his eyes left and right, scanning the place he teleported himself to. “Are you kidding me?!” The stallion angrily said, “Of all the places to get relocated, it had to be on the summit of a mountain?!” The summit was a small patch of barren land with a few spots of snow around the edge, with his music box lying on the closest spot of snow.

He sighed and murmured, “Talk about odds,” before circling the peak—very steadily and cautiously at that—of the mountain to find a safe place he could teleport to. But unfortunately, there were many clouds under and around the summit of the mountain, making it completely difficult to see anything else.

“Great.” Solus unsteadily exhaled before his horn started glowing with a red magical aura. “I guess I can only cross my hooves.”

Solus then closed his eyes again and proceeded to perform his spell for a second time, but his thoughts were interrupted by a rumbling in the wind.

“What is that sound coming from?” The stallion said, breaking his concentration. He tried squinting through the clouds, attempting to see what is producing the unusual noise.

Then, almost instantly, a rainbow blur filled his vision and caused him to spin in a circle for more than six times. After being whirled around he barely planted his hooves, and his eyes were spinning constantly due to his dizziness.

“Whoa… Stallion Gonzales over there is breaking the sound barrier.” The stunned Solus sarcastically said. He then shook his head and strongly blinked his eyes, which steadied his vision and irises. The stallion then noticed that one section of the clouds had been cleared, which exposed several pieces of lower terrain.

“Well at least I can get down now.” He said attempting to seek a place he can transfer himself to. He then found a flat, grassy area where he can teleport himself to. Not to mention that it seemed far down, so he can probably get to the ground from there too.

“Perfect.” The unicorn grinned before he started the spell again. While in deep focus, the rumbling had resumed, interfering with the stallion’s conjuration.

“Great, what is it now? Usain Colt?” The presumably peeved pony grumbled. He tried to peer through the open section of the dense clouds, but all he could see were hazes of colors in the sky due to his vision.

“I should either get glasses soon, or I’m near the northern lights.” Solus joked. But suddenly, the colors started approaching closer, as well as the colors gradually started to form to a large mob of various colored pegasi.

But before the gray unicorn could react, the pegasi nearly overwhelmed the pony by jetting past him with an incredible velocity. As soon as the entire platoon of pegasi passed the unicorn, he was practically about to fall off the mountain. He struggled on getting his rear hooves back on the summit, attempting to levitate himself back up.

With his extreme anxiety of falling, he couldn’t concentrate on his magic and he felt like he was panicking. His breathing went rapid and he could feel sweat bead down his face and muzzle. Although he should be focusing on getting himself up, he couldn’t stop looking down at what might be a long and painful fall. He then saw the music box he took, which helped him calm down and motivate him on ascending himself-

“Watch out!” a voice shouted from a distance, which caused Solus to snap out of focus. He opened his eyes only to briefly see a pegasus with a light gray coat and a pale, light grayish apple green mane rapidly approaching him. His eyes widened for a second as he realized the warning of the gray pegasus and when the pony didn’t cease to fly or yield as the out-of-control pegasus came nearly muzzle to muzzle to him.

Before he could react, their noggins collided with a force strong enough that felt like it could shatter a building into shambles. After the collision, the impact of it caused the stallion to do an aerial back-flip that followed-up with a downward spiral.

Solus' vision was shaky and the sounds he heard were more trebled than resounding. He nearly lost consciousness from the hard head-butt due to his weak noggin.

After falling for about ten seconds, he noticed the upcoming ground that would soon clash with his head. He closed his eyes to brace the impact and immediately lost consciousness after the crash.

Headbandages Don't Heal Horns

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.

A Pink Party Pony and Piano

“Here it is, the town hall!” Rainbow Dash announced, pointing to the tower-like building. She then turned to the two ponies and gave them smile. “Come on, let's go see if Twilight's here.” Rainbow immediately dashed through the doors, crashing it open, while Solus and Derpy just casually strolled on into the building.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called out with her hooves surrounding her mouth to raise her voice, while flying to different places to check if her friend is there. “Twilight, you in here?”

“Dashie!” a high-pitched mare voice yelled, with the tone of excitement in their voice. The three turned their attention to where the voice came from—except for Derpy, who turned her head to the opposite direction—and saw that the voice was coming from a pink pony under a balcony.

“Oh, hey Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. Rainbow then set her hooves to the ground in front of Pinkie. The two gray ponies followed suit, but you know, without the whole flying thing. “Do you know where Twilight is?”

“Twilight? Why do you need to see Twilight?” Pinkie asked with an obvious look of confusion on her face.

“It's about him, remember?” Rainbow Dash said, pointing her hooves to Solus, who was standing next to her. Pinkie then turned her head to the gray pony, who was also looking confused. He was mostly entranced by the pink pony's mane, which looked like cotton candy to him.

“Uh, hey,” Solus slowly started, but then focused his attention away from her man, “My name's Solus.”

“Soulless?” Pinkie repeated, confused by the name.

“Solus.” Solus corrected.

“Sole-less?”

“Solus.” Solus corrected, now pronunciating every syllable.

“Souly?”

“SOL-US.”

“Okay, Souly!” Pinkie Pie said, ignoring Solus' previous corrections, whilst hopping circles around him. Solus, instead of getting enraged, he decided to just let it slide and sighed.

Are all the mares in this town so quirky?

Pinkie then let out a smile and extended a hoof. “My name is Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie!” Solus, although feeling a little cautious at first due to this mare's personality, he shook her hoof.

“Anyways,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Do you know where Twilight went?” But instead of answering Rainbow's question, Pinkie let out a loud and audible gasp, although a loud gasp would already be audible...

“Ohmygosh, you're new here right? I mean, of course you're new here, I haven't seen ever before. You know what this means? This means we should have a welcoming party!” Pinkie quickly said as she moved her head in all sorts of directions that COULD break the laws of physics, but didn't; and at the same time, Solus is just looking at Pinkie, mouth agape as if he was going to respond but is constantly interrupted.

“Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash meekly interrupted.

“Oh, but what kind of drinks do you like? Grape juice? Apple juice? Guava? Punch?” Pinkie Pie continued without stopping from her previous line.

“Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash tried to interfere again, this time with more effort.

“Wait, do you like cupcakes? Of course you like cupcakes, I mean who doesn't? Here, have a cupcake!” Pinkie Pie then pulled a cupcake with pink frosting out of nowhere and gave it to Solus. Solus slowly took it, a little nervous about Pinkie's behavior.

“Pinkie!”

“Where should it be? Maybe at Twilight's house! Or the Sugarcube Corner! Or-” But before the pink party pony could finish her persistent plundering of a plethora of plans, Rainbow Dash quickly stuffed her hoof into Pinkie's mouth.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash yelled, now furious with impatience.

“What is it Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked, still with a smile on her face.

“Where did Twilight go?!”

“Oh, Twilight, she's at Applejack's; she said she wanted to help her and Fluttershy with the birds in the trees.”

“Thank you!” Rainbow Dash said, still annoyed. "Come on Solus, let's go." She then turned to face Solus, who had light smears of pink around his upper lip. Rainbow Dash stared looked at him with a blank face.

"What? I was hungry." Solus shrugged, now wiping his lips of any stains.

“Can I come along too?” Derpy asked, hopping up and down with excitement, her wings slightly spread.

“Uh, sure Derpy; let's go.”

“Wait!” Pinkie called out to Rainbow, who turned with a slightly less angry face. Pinkie recoiled to Rainbow's expression and, before, her nearly storming out. “We, uh, need help setting up the banner.” Pinkie then pointed up directly above her. The three ponies looked up and saw a barely hanging banner that read, 'Summer Sun Celebration'.

“I tried using a ladder, but it broke while I was putting it up.” Pinkie then pointed to a rusty and split step ladder in the corner of the closet wall.

She does know that's a step ladder, right?

“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and stretched her face down, which made a snapping noise when she released, “Fine. But I better be getting a cupcake after this.” Rainbow then flew to the banner and took the box of nails that were near it.

Solus, knowing he can't really do anything since he needs his horn to recuperate, scanned the room. There was a large table, although there was nothing on it; it was probably where they would put the beverages and food. There was also a piano on the stage, which was under the balcony.

Solus then felt himself walking to the piano, but it was as if it was on instinct. It was like now his body was a magnet and that everything else had the opposite charge. Like for example, the ground.

When Solus made his way to the piano, he let himself sit on the piano bench. He looked at the keys for a minute, examining it as if he could see how the pendulum works and where each wire and mechanic was. He placed his hooves on the keys and slightly pressed on a few keys, the sounds making a soft rumble.

“Do you play piano?” Solus turned his head to the voice, which was coming from Derpy.

In the background, barely audible from Solus and Derpy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were shouting. “To the right...”

“I may have, probably when I was a colt.” Solus pressed a few more keys and it he felt like he could play a good harmony.

“No, no, to the left a little bit more...”

“I used to play a bit of piano back when I was in flight school.” Derpy said, her eyes moving differently every time she moved her head in various directions, “Not many ponies wanted to hear me play though...” Derpy said, looking upset.

“Actually, it looked better right, put it back there.”

“Pinkie, just make up your mind!”

“It's okay Derpy, I'm pretty sure you played well.” Solus tried to sympathize and cheer up Derpy. Derpy's expression brightened up.

“Hold on... Wait...”

“What are you doing?!”

“You really think so?” Derpy said with an agape smile, her irises glistening.

“Well, I haven't heard you play, but I'm sure you're a great player.” Solus said, giving Derpy his best smile.

“There! There! That's perfect!”

“That's where we started!”

“Thanks, Solus. Nopony has ever complimented the things I do before.”

“Don't mention it, we're friends.” Solus said, giving Derpy a smile, before turning back to the piano.

“You know what Pinkie, here!” There were then the sounds of hammering in the distance. “There, how's that?”

“Meh, could be better...”

Solus then felt something trigger in his brain, as if his brain automatically knew what to do.

W-what? Solus' hooves then started to press the keys with actual effort rather than restraint. Suddenly, in the background, the door crashes open and reveals a white unicorn with an unkempt cobalt blue with cyan striped mane. She also had a pair of heliotrope sunglasses with lighter streaks that fully covered both of her eyes. There were also a group of other ponies behind her.

“Hey Pinkie!” the white pony yelled to Pinkie. She then burped before continuing, “We finished lunch and ready for rehearsal!” Solus caught a quick glimpse at the loud pony before turning his undivided attention back to the piano.

Solus' hooves started moving on their own, making their own notes and rhythm. It was as though his body knew what the song was and how to play it. After about thirty seconds of his body playing it, Solus finally realized that the song he was playing was 'A River Flows in You' by Yirumare. Once he finally recognized the song, he had the flashback of back when he was a child.

His mother was an earth pony and his father was a unicorn. He recalled a memory with his parents giving him a music box for his birthday. He also recalled a memory of somepony—a filly specifically—calling out to him, reaching for him; but he couldn't do anything, especially since he was a young colt.

After that sudden sweep of memories, Solus decided to just close his eyes and go with the flow. The music coming out of the piano started off soft but eventually became loud enough for the other ponies to notice it.

After about three minutes, he played his final note, and removed his hooves away from the keys. There was silence, complete utter silence from everypony in the room. Solus opened his eyes and turned his head towards the 'audience'. Everypony besides Derpy—who wasn't there for some reason—looked at him with astonishment, a few of the other ponies had their mouths agape.

“Rainbow Dash,” Solus spoke. Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. Solus took this as an acknowledgment and continued, “I remember something.”

“Hey, what does this do?” a mare asked. Everypony turned to the sound of the voice and it turned out it came from Derpy—who was behind a set of speakers with records on top of them. She then pressed down on something, perhaps a button maybe.

“Wait,” the white unicorn yelled in fear, raising her hoof to Derpy, “Don't touch that; that's my-!” But before the white pony could finish her sentence, the speakers lifted and split, as if to reveal something behind it, and it did. It revealed what seemed to be a bigger speaker.

Then, in an instant, a giant blue beam shot out of the speaker--which also gave off the sound of what Solus thought was supposed to be music in a lower pitch--and, unfortunately, targeted at Solus.

Oh great. Goodbye, eardrums.

Due to the elevation, Solus was launched into the air, through the roof, and into the sky.

“Bass-cannon...” the white unicorn finished.

Solus opened his eyes, since he braced for the impact of the sound beam, and found himself soaring through the sky. His eyes widened as he felt the strong force of wind driving to and under his back and head. He then turned his body to face the ground and saw that he was over a great number of apple trees, which only seemed to get bigger as his speed and velocity soon died down.

Oh sweet Celestia, why me?

"AHHHHHH!" Solus screamed, something that usually happens when he's falling at desceptively high speeds into an apple tree. "Oof!" Solus grunted as his back slammed into one of the branches. Solus' ears went ringing for the second time today. and his vision went blurry. Solus felt as though he had drank something potent like too much dandelion wine or colt scotch.

"Ah think he landed hear!" Solus barely heard a mare yell in the distance, although he could clearly hear identify the mare's southern accent. He then heard the sounds of multiple ponies galloping under him. All Solus wanted to do then was to take a break, a rest; but his break was cut brief by the shaking of the tree he was on.

Ah! What the hay!

Solus quickly got up from being on his back to tugging onto the branch for safety. Solus could then hear the sounds of grunting under him as the tree would briefly shake and assumed they were trying to buck him down the tree. It seemed everypony wanted to keep him restless.

They can buck all they want, but they'll never get me while I'm up on this sturdy branch!

But, innevitably, the branch cracked and fell to the ground, carrying Solus along with it. Solus hit the ground on his back with a thud, the branch then landing on him a few seconds after. After a few moments of pain, he slowly opened his eyes to see three ponies looking down at him. The one in the middle had an orange coat and blonde mane; the one to Solus' right had a yellow coat and pink mane, and the pony to his left had a lavender coat and purple mane with pink highlights.

I shouldn't have ate that cupcake...

Meeting More Ponies, Memories, and Suspicions

“Ya' all right, pardner?” the orange pony asked.

Yeah, falling into trees and being crushed by large branches are daily occurrences. Solus mentally sighed. No Solus, don't be like that; they got you down from there, you should at least thank them.

“Uh, thanks.” Solus replied, shifting his eyes to the side, not knowing what else to say. Not like that, you imbecile.

“Eh, what?” the orange pony asked, tilting her head, baffled.

“Um, you know, thanks for getting me down from the tree.” Solus quickly said. He mentally sighed in relief and thanked his quick-thinking conscious for the swift recovery. The orange pony chuckled.

“Well, don't be thankin' me yet; we still gotta' get that branch of yer chest.” The orange pony stated. The branch on him then caught Solus' attention after the orange pony made her statement. He then tried pushing the large branch off of him, but it was to no avail.

“Hnngh! Ngghh!” Solus grunted as he tried to lift the magnetic tree branch; he didn't dare push it to his side as it would crush and further injure his already aching legs.

Sweet Celestia, I should have done some exercising when I was younger.

“Whoa there pardner, calm down, let us help.” the orange pony said as she raised her eyebrows in surprise, but yet maintaining a smile. She then turned to the lavender unicorn next to her and said, “Twilight, see if ya can get that branch off of 'im.”

The purple pony with the purple mane and pink highlights nodded and prepared for what was probably a spell. A purple aura formed around her horn and the branch. Solus watched in anticipation, until the pressure that was placed on his chest was suddenly gone. He looked back to his chest and saw that the branch was being levitated off of him and to the side.

“Ugh, thank you... again.” Solus gratefully said, slowly rising to his hooves while tugging on his chest.

“No problem, Sugarcube.” the orange pony said. “But you should be thankin' her,” the orange pony continued whilst pointing at the lavender pony with her hoof, “She's the one that saw ya' and helped ya' out of that branch.”

Solus then turned his attention to the purple pony and slightly bowed his head in gratitude. “Oh, well, thank you too, uh...” Solus trailed off, thinking of how to address the purple mare.

“Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” the lavender pony bluntly stated, giving a stern look.

“Well, um, I'm Solus.” Solus addressed himself as he rubbed the back of his neck and slightly shifting his eyes, a little uneasy from Twilight's gaze. For about ten seconds there was a stiff silence; Solus was scanning the area and the ponies around him, trying to figure out where he was.

“Well,” the orange pony spoke up, breaking the subtle awkward tension that hovered around Solus, “Since we're all introducin' ourselves, Ah' may as well too.” The orange pony walked closer to Solus, about enough distance for two hooves to cover. She then extended her hoof, and Solus shortly did the same. Once their hooves connected, the orange pony placed her other front hoof on Solus' and suddenly started to furiously shake his hoof, literally lifting him from the ground by his hoof.

“Howdy! My name's Applejack, proud owner of the Sweet Apple Acres!” Applejack proudly said, still unintentionally thrashing Solus up and down. “We were jus' helpin' some critters over yonder, and then Twilight heard ya' screamin'. She told us to hurry over to where ya' landed, and that's when we found ya' hangin' from that branch.”

“Yes, yes, thank you!” Solus loudly said with a subtle, yet tense, chuckle. Not to mention his voice was shaky due to Applejack's 'hoofshake'. “You can let go now!” Applejack, finally realizing this, abruptly stopped and set down Solus, who's body was—except his right hoof, which was still extended—uncontrollably shaking.

“Sorry 'bout that; my shakes have always been quite rough.” Applejack said while closing her eyes and rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

“No, no, it's cool.” Solus quickly stated, more focused on trying to rid his body of the constant shaking. He tried planting his hooves on the ground, but it only resulted into him shaking up and down for a good few centimeters. It then lead to him shaking around, forming a big circle of overlapping hoofprints on the dirt.

Did Pinkie add a concentrated amount of sodium in that cupcake?

“So, uh...” Solus started, looking at the yellow pegasus that seemed to slightly be hiding behind Applejack. Solus then continued once he made another orbit around the dirt, “What's your name?”

“I, uh...” the yellow pegasus softly said, looking away as she did, “I'm Fluttershy...”

“I'm sorry, the chattering of my teeth are like drills; can you repeat that?” Solus said, halfway through his second orbit.

“I'm Fluttersh...” the yellow pegasus trailed off, now slightly retreating.

“Flutter-what?” Solus repeated, still attempting to cease his body-quake.

“I'm sorry, Ah' shoulda' said this sooner,” Applejack interjected, “Fluttershy is, uh, how should Ah' say this...?”

“Shy?” Twilight abruptly suggested, cocking her eyebrow.

“Yeah! That's it!” Applejack said, “She's a really kind and carin' pony, so don't let her shyness rub ya' the wrong way.”

“Right.” Solus nodded. He was still shaking up and down like a jackhammer, and the three mares just watched him in hopes that he would finally stop. After a minute of watching, Twilight finally spoke up.

“Umm, you need some help with that?” Twilight asked with a concerning look.

“Wait... I think I got it-wait, wait...” Solus replied, trying his best to restrict his muscles, “Uh... Nope; I need help.” Solus concluded, looking at the three mares with a poker face.

“Let me see what I can do...” Twilight said. Her horn was surrounded by the purple aura again. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Solus decided to speak up.

“Uh, you all right Twili-” But Solus was suddenly stopped, as if he was instantly frozen. In shock of the event, Solus quickly shifted his eyes everywhere. He tried moving, but it felt as though hid hooves were glued to the floor. He then tried talking, but his mouth couldn't move either. So basically, he had his mouth and eyes wide open, and his legs felt as though they were in tight shackles.

“Uh, what's going on?” Solus tried to say, but his mouth was stuck and stiff as a board, so some of his words were incomprehensible.

“It's called 'Freeze Frame'.” Twilight explained, assuming that Solus was confused and wanted to know what she was doing. “It's a spell that will keep you still for as long as I can channel it. After a few minutes, I'll stop the spell and we'll see if it worked.”

“Ohay, I hunerhan.” Solus replied, trying to say 'I understand.' There was then silence for about a minute; Solus didn't bother speaking since his lips decided that they should see other gums. Solus examined the area around him; there were many apple trees that seemed ready to be plucked, with a few of them occupied by birds. Solus assumed that the birds were the 'critters' Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy were helping.

Considering how they got me down, those birds are going to get a rude awakening...

Solus continued scanning the area. The grass was vibrant and it felt soft on his hooves; somehow he didn't notice it before, but Solus' coat felt the heat of the sun. By the way the sun was beaming on Solus, he could have thought that Celestia was trying to bake cakes outside.

I guess it's true when they say ponies with darker coats end up absorbing more heat than others... Ah!

Solus then felt a sudden itch on his muzzle. His eyes quickly widen and his irises shrink at the sudden feeling as he looked down to his nose.

Great, how cliché is this?

Solus then tried moving his front leg, but it was futile since it just stayed in place. Solus rolled his eyes in annoyance at this and tried to wait for the itch to go away.

It's fine, Solus; just don't think about it. Let it pass by...

But, although it was only a few seconds, it felt like minutes of torture upon his nose.

You serious; you can easily stand up after being launched by a futuristic sound laser into a hundred feet into the air, and then landing into a tree, followed by being crushed by a large branch, but you can't withstand an itch on your nose?! What the hay is wrong with you?!

Solus then asked, his mouth slightly lifted that nearly represented a grin, “Can somehony scrah hy hose?”

“Yer' hose? What?” Applejack asked, confused.

“Hy hose!” Solus repeated, his eyes pointing down to his muzzle.

“I think he means his nose.” Twilight said to Applejack.

“Pfhh, A-Ah' knew that!” Applejack said, shifting her eyes away. After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Applejack asked, “So, uh... Who's gonna' do it?” Applejack turned her head to the other two mares.

“I'm kind of busy right now...” Twilight stated, lifting her hoof underhoofedly.

“Uh, what about you, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked with a nervous grin on her face, turning to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy only answered by slightly retreating. “Ugh, fine...” Applejack surrendered, slightly hanging her head in defeat.

Solus barely lifted his eyebrow. Wow, how rude...

Applejack was now in front of Solus. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were focused on Solus' flat nose—although it seemed that she was staring Solus in the eye, according to Solus. Solus could only look away, in hopes of not actually looking Applejack in the eye.

Applejack raised her hoof and planted it on Solus' muzzle, slowly rubbing it.

“H-how's that?” Applejack asked, puckering her lips back. Solus could only guess how weird and downgrading this is, but it's only just as bad receiving it. Well, it wasn't too bad, he thought; she actually was helping the itch go away, which is odd, since a hoof could actually dwell away an itch...

He was about to ask Applejack to stop, but he saw a figure in the sky, and it seemed to be aiming at...

Is that thing coming at me?

His question was soon answered as the far figure enlarged in a few seconds. Solus' eyes widened again in panic. His eyes quickly looked left and right in hopes of something to help.

“Ya' all right; ya' look like ya' jus' saw a Manticore.” Applejack chuckled. The what-seemed-to-be-a-gray-blur was slowly being sucked into the magnetic field of Solus.

“Hooh!” Solus tried to yell, although his mouth wasn't going to let him.

“Hoo?” Applejack repeated, cocking an eyebrow in confusion.

“Hooh!” Solus tried to warn again, but his mouth wasn't letting up.

“Who?” Applejack asked, trying to decipher what Solus was saying.

“Watch out!” the gray figure in the sky exclaimed, which was now only ten meters away. The four ponies then turned their attention to the gray figure. Solus then finally realized that it was Derpy, probably about to crash into them.

Huh, this seems vaguely familiar...

“Oh, that's who.” Applejack said, looking back at Derpy.

“I think he actually meant, 'Move'!” Twilight translated, adding extra emphasis to the word 'move'. She then turned off the spell and moved off to the side, and Fluttershy quickly followed.

The restriction on Solus' body then released it's grip from his mouth and legs, making Solus free to move again; it felt like he was being freed from a hogtie, or in this case, a horse-tie. Derpy was then approaching closer to Solus and Applejack, who didn't move for some reason. Solus then, in quick-thinking, pushed Applejack to the side, keeping her clear of the blast radius.

Unfortunately, Solus wasn't fast enough to evade Derpy and she ended up crashing into Solus yet again. The two ponies ended up colliding with so much force that they landed and crashed into an apple tree.

With the exception of a few stars in his vision, his eyesight got blurry again and his eyes were ringing like never before.

Ugh, I would be surprised if I didn't have to go back to the hospital after all of this.

Solus then shook his head, coming back to the painful reality that is slapstick. He then felt the weight of Derpy on his back and assumed she must be pretty winded from that crash as well.

“Ugh...” Solus sighed, trying to take what might be his only breath of relaxation. He sealed his eyes and tried to relax his mind.

“Hey, Souly!” A all too familiar voice called out. Solus' eyes shot open, bloodshot. Out of nowhere, Pinkie popped next to Solus', upside-down.

“We've been looking everywhere for you!” Pinkie shouted. She then took out a cupcake out of nowhere and handed it to Solus. “Want a cupcake?”

Solus' mind then spiked at the word 'cupcake' and nearly jumped in fright, but Derpy's body kept him from moving.

“NO!” Solus shouted, but he quickly snapped out of his panic and tried to rectify his outburst, “I mean, uh, no thank you; I'm really full, Pinkie!” Solus tried to reassure with a chuckle and a grin.

Pinkie gave Solus an unsure look, puckering her lips in contemplation. Solus just gave a grin, barely moving his eyes or blinking. This lasted for a few seconds until Pinkie broke the stare with a bright smile and replied, “Oki doki loki!” She then disappeared into the leaves of the apple tree. Solus then stared up at the tree for a few seconds and noticed a rustling in the leaves.

What's going on up there?

After Solus completed his thought, an object fell out of the tree. Without even knowing what the object was, he quickly caught it before it fell. He looked at his hooves and the object was apparently a small bird.

The bird had black feathers that seemed pointed near its head. The beak wasn't very long and its eyes didn't have pupils. Another thing that caught Solus' attention was that the bird's wing was unnecessarily extended. Solus assumed that its wing must be sprained. Solus felt bad for the bird and gave it a slight stroke on its good wing.

“Don't worry, you're going to be fine.” Solus told the bird, giving it a benevolent smile.

“Ah!” a voice gasped, even though the voice was soft. Solus turned his attention to the voice and saw Fluttershy with Applejack and Twilight next to her. “What happened?”

“It, uh,” Solus said, a little nervous since this was actually the first time she decided to speak to him, “Fell out of the tree and I caught him. I think he must have sprained his wing.”

“Let me see him.” Fluttershy requested, extending her hoof to Solus. Solus complied to her request handed the bird over, still under Derpy. Fluttershy took the bird with both of her hooves and flew about a foot from the ground. She inspected the bird and gave her report.

“Ah! The bird is actually a female and about a few years of age. Um... Her left wing seems to be fine, but her right wing is definitely sprained.”

“Is it serious?” Solus inquired.

“Oh no, nothing too serious.” Fluttershy shook her head, her voice still projecting only a few inches, “Just a few days of recovering and rest, and she'll be back to normal.”

“Ah, good.” Solus sighed in relief, laying his head back on the ground. Just then he could hear the sounds of faint galloping in the distance. In curiosity, he looked to direction it was coming from. Apparently, he wasn't the only one looking either.

After a few moments, the galloping ponies came to the center of the open circle that was in the apple acres. The ponies included a female unicorn with a white coat, and a neat indigo and dark to moderate mulberry mane that seemed to curl downwards like a tornado, a large male earth pony with a red coat and a light gamboge mane, Rainbow Dash, and somehow, Pinkie Pie.

“Derpy! Solus!” Rainbow Dash worriedly exclaimed to the two winded ponies as she dashed to their side, “Are you two okay?”

“Yeah, just peachy...” Solus grunted, struggling to get up, “Or in this case, apple...ey.” Solus mentally slapped himself for making such a stupid pun.

“Well, besides that lame pun, let me help you up.” Rainbow Dash subtly mocked. She then proceeded to lift Derpy off of the crushed gray unicorn. “All right Derpy, easy, easy...”

Derpy's eyes then shot open and she hopped off of Rainbow Dash with great energy. Rainbow Dash staggered back from the sudden outburst of energy, and widened her eyes in surprise. Derpy then flapped her wings and attempted to do an aerial back flip. The form, according to Solus, looked perfect but her landing ended painfully.

“Gh!” Derpy grunted as she impacted with the ground. Rainbow Dash, being the loyal pony she is, picked Derpy up by her hoof and chuckled.

“Heh, you're pretty energetic, you know that?” Rainbow Dash said. Derpy stood back on her hooves and gratefully smiled at Rainbow.

Solus slowly rose to his hooves. He rolled his neck in a circle and rubbed his forehead, his bones cracking and his muscles tensing. He then noticed that the white unicorn was talking to Twilight.

“Are you all right, darling; you weren't hit, were you?” the white unicorn asked with a concerned look. Her voice sounded really sophisticated, in Solus' ears, but he thought that this could be the effect of constantly hurting his ear.

“There's no need to worry, Rarity, I'm completely fine.” Twilight stated, giving the white pony a reassuring smile. The white unicorn named Rarity seemed to sigh in relief.

“Oh, thank goodness! I can't imagine how painful it would be to collide with another pony that was going at such a speed!” Rarity said rather loudly.

Oh you have no idea.

“Ahem.” Solus cleared his throat, which caught the attention of Rarity and Twilight. Solus quickly shifted his eyes to both ponies back and forth.

“Ah, who might you be?” Rarity asked Solus with a curious smile. Solus looked away for a moment, a little nervous about meeting yet another pony.

“Solus.” Solus addressed, quickly glancing away and back after.

“Oh come now, dearie; you can't be too rough on yourself, everypony has their flaws.” Rarity said, attempting to console the non-afflicted Solus. At first, Solus was confused—literally blinking in bafflement—but then he realized that it was just a misunderstanding.

This is like, what, the second time that this has happened?

“No, no!” Solus explained, waving his hoof in denial, “My name is Solus, S-O-L-U-S, not soulless.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Rarity said, her eyes widening in realization for a second until she put back her smile, “My mistake.” She then fluffed her indigo curly hair and extended her hoof afterward. Solus, of course, shook it.

“My name is Rarity, I'm a fashion designer and a seamstress at my very own shop, the Carousel Boutique.” Rarity said as they shook hooves. Solus thought that since Rarity is a fashion designer he didn't want to make the wrong impression, so he should try to play the nice and kind pony this time. In fact, he thought that he should take that role, but somepony must already have.

“Nice to meet you.” Solus said, bowing his head and giving a smile. Real smooth, Prince Charming... But instead of getting no reaction, like he expected, Rarity giggled and placed a hoof near her mouth, probably trying to cover it up. Oh well, Solus will never understand mares.

The two ponies loosened their grip and set their hooves back down. Solus thought now it's time to move on; perfect timing too, since Applejack and the red stallion had made their way to the three unicorns.

“Hey Solus,” Applejack said, “This is mah' older brother, Big Mac.” Applejack pointed to the red stallion next to her. At first, Solus was a little bit more uncomfortable with meeting another pony, but since it was a stallion this time, he might get along with him.

Solus then looked at him up and down; his eyes were half-opened, as if he was bored or tired, and his hooves were light yellowish gray. He also noticed that the stallion had a sprig of wheat hanging out of the side in his mouth, as well as freckles on his cheeks like Applejack. Not to mention he had a yoke around his neck.

The two stallions just stare at each other with a vacant look in their eyes. Solus then realized that he needs to introduce himself or else things will become awkward.

“Uh... hey,” Solus started, still doing the bad habit of looking away, “I'm Solus. Nice to meet you.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac flatly said. Solus, not expecting such a simple answer, gave him a puzzled look.

“'Eeyup'?” Solus repeated.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac said again, seemingly unfazed.

Wow, such a simple, yet blunt answer.

“Don't you say anything else besides, 'Eeyup'?” Solus inquired, trying to see if he can find a noticeable personality.

“Nnnope.” Big Mac replied, closing his eyes and slightly raising his head. Solus put on his best 'seriously' face.

Clever...

But Solus decided to shrug it off. As if this was a completely thought-out sequencing outline, Rainbow Dash had approached the group along with Derpy, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. Solus actually didn't see Fluttershy with the other three, but apparently she was there helping them.

“So, how was the flight over here?” Rainbow joked, lightly punching Solus' shoulder.

“Good, but the dismount was shaky.” Solus played along, making an intrigued face.

“Same for us, I guess; we saw that you were being launched at Applejack's, so we flew as fast as we could, but Derpy accidentally flew off-direction and crashed through the roof of the barn and kept flying. Since Big Mac and Rarity were already in there, we all agreed to chase down Derpy before she could do any more damage.” Rainbow Dash explained. While Rainbow Dash was explaining, Solus couldn't help but look a Derpy, who was looking around with a happy-go-lucky smile.

“Sounds like a catastrophe.” Solus concluded, turning his head back to Rainbow.

“I'll say.” Rainbow agreed, with an exhausted expression. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “But anyways, you said you remembered something?”

“'Remembered something'?” Solus cocked his head, but instantly recalled what he had said to Rainbow back at the town hall. “Oh yeah, that's right!”

“What is?” Twilight asked, giving Solus stern look.

“Oh, Twilight!” Rainbow quickly straightened up and galloped over to her. “He's the pony I told you about, the one from the hospital.”

“Ah, yes, I remember.” Twilight nodded. She then turned back to Solus, “So what is it that you remembered?”

“I should probably start from the beginning...” Solus said. He explained to the group about everything he remembered after waking up from the hospital, starting from when he met Rainbow and Derpy to when he played the piano, excluding the part where he forgot how to walk.

Solus thought it'd be best for it to only be known with Derpy and Rainbow. Besides, he didn't think they'd want to hear a whole escapade of him trying to figure out which leg goes first.

“Sounds like yer' havin' a hard day.” Applejack said, trying to sympathize with the unicorn, while still maintaining a smile.

“It could be worse,” Solus shrugged with a smirk on his face, “I could have broken all of my bones when I landed in that tree.”

“Anyways,” Twilight interjected, “What did you remember?”

“Oh, right.” Solus pondered for a few seconds before speaking up again, “I had some flashbacks; flashbacks of when I was a foal.”

Images started to flow into Solus' mind; memories of happiness, despair, rage, pain, many things. As Solus had these thoughts flooding in, he explained everything he was seeing and thinking.

“There was one memory that lasted the longest; it was my birthday—I think I was nine-years-old, assuming the number of candles on the cake in front of me—and my parents were there. It was dim and the light bulb seemed to barely be working. Although it was nearly dark I could see their facial features so clearly; their eyes were dry and half-open with bags under them, their manes were unkempt and looked scruffy, small tones of dirt merging with their used-to-be bright-colored mane, and their coats were raggedy, small yet noticeable plucks of fur stood out.

“Even with their physical state, they still seemed happy, grateful for something. I don't know why, we were so poor; before this memory were other images, images from when I was probably younger. There was one of me playing a piano by myself; it was bright and a spotlight was on me, but nopony was watching. There was another one with me and a filly playing at a meadow; I don't remember who she is, but we must have been pretty close. She had a long onyx mane that covered half of her face, a sapphire coat, and these glowing, opal eyes.”

Solus sighed. “Anyways, some of the images were nice and light hearted, while others...” An image floated around in Solus' mind, a memory of a mare—most likely his mother—that was on an old bed, looking ill and flushed.

“Weren't so nice?” Twilight assumed.

“Yeah, thanks.” Solus deeply sighed, “Sorry, I know I'm rambling, I must be wasting everypony's time.”

“Nah, Sugarcube, take all the time ya need.” Applejack said with a grim expression on her face. But then again, everypony around Solus was looking rather sad, or, at least, in thought.

“Thanks. Anyways,” Solus continued, “My mother was sick from a disease. She was weaker than before, and she always looked flushed and exhausted.”

“Is the disease curable?” Twilight questioned.

“No, I don't think so.” Solus replied. “My father spent most of his time taking care of her.”

“What about you; did you do anything to aid your mother?” Rarity asked.

“I...” Solus' tongue felt tied, as if he wasn't supposed to answer the question, “...I don't know...”

“Oh, I see.” Rarity said, stepping down from her question.

“Back to my birthday,” Solus resumed, “My parents gave me something. They said something, but I can't recall what they were saying. They then gave me a small wooden box; it was probably my birthday present. I opened it and it played a tune,” Solus then turned to Rainbow Dash, “The tune I played on the piano.”

“So that's how you played that song.” Rainbow said.

“But yeah,” Solus concluded, “That's about all I can remember, Rainbow.”

“Meh,” Rainbow shrugged, looking slightly apathetic, “That's good enough, I mean, you did fall off a mountain after all.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.”

“Sure, no problem.” Rainbow said, giving a sly grin, “If you want my autograph, that'd be completely fine; I get requests like that all the time.”

“Ehh, no thanks. I think the whole situation being etched into my brain is a souvenir enough.” Solus said, tapping on his head bandage. “But anyways,” Solus placed his hoof back down, “I think that music box could help me bring back my memory; it might contain small notes, or even pictures.”

“So what, you're going to try and find it? Do you even know where it is?” Twilight inquired, taking a few steps forward.

“Yes and no.” Solus replied, “I would start at Canterlot, but I feel as if it isn't even there; I wouldn't even know where to look.”

“Well, darling, I think we would all be delighted in assisting you on your endeavor.” Rarity offered, “Of course, as long as it doesn't cut in with my dress-making.”

“Uh, Rarity, I'm not-” Twilight said with an unsure look, before being cut off by Solus.

“That's really a generous offer, but I don't think that's necessary.” The two other unicorns turned their attention to Solus. “We all just met not too long ago—not to mention I fell from the sky only to tell you about my amnesia incident—and I seem like a really shady character for some of you. I can understand that. So, if some of you don't really trust me, that's fine; I can do it by myself.”

“Are you sure, darling?” Rarity asked, concerned.

“Yeah, you did say yourself that you don't even know where to look.” Rainbow pointed out, with an unconvinced look.

“I know,” Solus sighed, “But I don't want you all to worry about somepony that just randomly appeared under odd circumstances. Not to mention, owing favors makes me feel a little guilty; in fact, I'm feeling a little bit like a smooth criminal right now.”

But as soon as Solus blinked, Rainbow had suddenly dashed up to his face with a furious look on her face.

“What are you, some kind of spy?!” Rainbow exclaimed, pushing her face up to Solus'. Rainbow kept flying forward, causing Solus to walk backwards. “It all makes sense; you keep acting nervous, your eyes always shift everywhere, and now you want to be independ-whoa!”

Rainbow was suddenly torn away from Solus in an instant; it took Solus a second to realize that Rainbow was pulled to and by Applejack, who was clinging on Rainbow's rainbow tail with her teeth.

“Calm down, Rainbow!” Applejack gritted through her tail-filled teeth. Soon after, Rainbow finally settled down and landed, pouting.

“Sorry 'bout that, Sugarcube; Rainbow has a short fuse with those she finds irritatin' or untrustworthy, not saying that yer' either of those!”

“It's fine, I understand.” Solus sighed, now feeling even more guilty, “It's not like I don't enjoy talking with all of you—in fact it's rather fun—but I just don't want to feel like some kind of freeloader, you know?”

“Ah' guess we can understand that, so we'll just let it go.” Applejack nodded with a smile, before turning her head to Rainbow, giving her a glare, “Right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

“But anyways,” Applejack said, turning back to the other ponies, “We need ta' finish up rounding up all the critters around here before sunset, so Fluttershy can look after 'em overnight.”

“Can I help?” Solus requested, giving Applejack a curious look.

“Nah, Solus, it's fine.” Applejack stated, “After everthin' you've been through, ya should jus' lay down and relax; don't overwork yerself'.”

“I'm okay, really.” Solus persisted, “I haven't broken any bones yet. I also don't really have anything else to do, and I would like to try and repay all of you for your help.”

“I don't know, darling.” Rarity implored, looking slightly disgusted, “You don't want that ivory coat of yours to get even more scruffy, do you?”

'Even more scruffy'? So I'm already scruffy? Thanks for making me self-conscious. Solus thought, cocking an eyebrow and forming an stern expression.

“I don't mind getting my hooves dirty,” Solus replied, still maintaining the same expression before the his next line, “Just as long as I can clean them in the end.”

“Well, shucks.” Applejack shrugged. “If ya'll are really insistent in helpin' out, then that'd be mighty kind of ya' ta' help.”

“Sure, I'll help.” Rainbow said, flying up a few feet above the ground, “I finished my routine earlier today, so I'm pretty much free.”

“Free as a bird?” Solus sarcastically asked, trying to bring up some dry comedy.

“I was thinking of something along the lines of 'the wind', but that's good too.” Rainbow responded, closing her eyes and laying back on the air. Possibly something Pinkie could also do, Solus thought.

“Me too!” Pinkie coincidentally exclaimed in joy, hoping in her own circle, “I wanna help!”

“Wait,” Solus piped in, “I thought you had work to do at the town hall.”

“Well,” Pinkie explained, now hopping around Solus, “Twilight only told me to post up the banner and wait until the music rehearsals start.”

“I see.” Solus said. He then turned to Derpy, who was just standing with a content smile on her face, “What about you Derpy; are you going to stay and help?”

“Oh, me?” Derpy repeated. She then looked up as if in thought. After a few seconds, she broke the vacant stare and turned back to Solus, “I actually have to do a package run today, so I should probably get going.”

“Oh, okay.” Solus flatly said. Derpy then gave Solus a blueberry muffin before flying in the air.

“Welcome to Fillydelphia!” she announced in joy.

“Uh, Derpy,” Rainbow Dash bluntly pointed out, “We're in Ponyville.”

“Oh, I was thinking about my last delivery.” Derpy admitted, still smiling, “Welcome to Ponyville! See ya!” Just like that, she flew off back into town. The eight ponies watch her go until she was finally out of sight.

“Well then,” Twilight piped up, “If we're all going to participate in helping Fluttershy with the animals, then I suggest we pair off into four groups.” The other ponies—besides Big Mac and Applejack—then shifted their heads left and right, searching for suitable partners.

Hm, I wonder; maybe Rainbow Dash? At the thought of this, Solus turned his head to the mare. The mare also looked at the ponies with a patient expression, even towards Solus. Her gaze upon Solus made him feel uneasy, so he blinked and quickly turned away. Probably not; she's probably still angry at me.

He then turned his attention to Pinkie, who was also looking around with a jubilant smile.

Working with Pinkie shouldn't be too hard; I don't think she's one to cause havoc. She then happened to direct her attention to Solus, giving him a closed-eyed smile while idling. I hope she isn't too much trouble than what she's worth. Solus then looked down to his front hooves, slightly tilting his head in contemplation.

What about Fluttershy? Or maybe Rarity? I'm not too sure about Twilight though... His thoughts are then soon interrupted by Applejack.

“Big Mac and Ah' are gonna head south,” Applejack elaborated, “Ah' suggest the rest of ya'll get into yer' groups and head the other directions to speed things along.” As soon as she said that, the two siblings headed to their designated destination. But before they leave, Applejack turns her head back to the other ponies and announced, “Oh yeah, and meet at the barn before sunset.”

After a few moments of the two farmers leaving, the rest of the remaining ponies look at each other with expectant looks on their faces. Solus thought that maybe it's his time to break a silence.

“So, who's going with who?” He asked, looking at everypony. The ponies looked at each other before Rarity answered.

“Uh, I-I'll go with Fluttershy.” Rarity said with a nervous smile. She then trotted to Fluttershy and told her, “Let's go Fluttershy, we mustn't keep Applejack waiting.” Fluttershy nodded and they both head off north.

“So Rainbow...” Solus said as he turned to the rainbow pegasus. But he was cut-off by the pegasus as she flew past him.

“C'mon Pinkie, we've got a lot of work to do.” Rainbow sighed, landing next to her.

“Okie Dokie Loki!” Pinkie cheered with glee. Pinkie then turned to the two remaining unicorns, “Catch ya' later Twilight and Souly!” Rainbow Dash also turned back to the two, giving a bitter frown before turning away and heading to the east with Pinkie following behind.

“Hey, hold on Dashie!” Pinkie yelled, hopping in the same direction. There was a silence after the two other ponies left. Solus knew what this meant, that through the process of elimination his partner was fatefully determined.

To be frank, I was kind of expecting this. Solus mentally sighed. He then turned to the stern and astute lavender unicorn with an innocent look on his face.

“Ready to go?” Twilight asked, still giving him that death stare.

“Yeah, let's...” Solus said, marching off into the west of the ongoing apple orchids.