Memories in the Clouds Part1
On a balloon, hovering above Everfree, a white unicorn with a blue mane was watching some experiments and scribbling some notes.
“I love my lab, but field work is the only way I seem to get stuff done. If only the weather patrol didn’t move every cloud I try to study in town,” he noted to himself. He continued to watch as steam began to lift from a beaker and take shape. His horn began to glow as he lifted some tubes of chemicals and surrounded the aforementioned beaker.
“Now all I need to do is turn dow—” his thought was suddenly interrupted by a shock wave coming from Ponyville, followed by flashing lights. He looked toward the town and saw smoke coming from town square. As he gazed at the plume, the beaker, now facing his back, began to boil and crack.
_____
Fluttershy was in her cottage, feeding an injured animal, when all the animals scatted behind her furniture.
“What’s wrong, little ones?” she asked in a soft tone. Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from outside. Filled with panic, she opened her door and saw smoke coming from the edge of Everfree.
“OH NO!!” She slammed the door and braced herself against it. “What a second...Did I see?” she slowly opened the door and looked again. Squinting at the smoke, she could see what looked like the silhouette of a balloon, in the epicenter of the smoke.
“Angel watch the others, I have to see if anypony’s hurt.” She finished mid take off.
Halfway to the balloon, she saw a strange black and white figure hobbling toward her.
“Oh dear!!” she said darting her head side to side to look for a place to hide. Finally settling on a bush she dove for cover.
What is that?! Could it have started the fire? Or...Or maybe caused the balloon crash. Or..Or....The balloon!! Somepony might need me. I can’t let some strange monster barely as big as I am stop me. She readied herself and jumped out, eyes closed. Slowly opening one eye, she could see the “monster” was a pony, a unicorn, covered in soot and obviously injured.
“A...are you..OK?” Fluttershy said sheepishly; there was no response. “Um, excuse me. Are...are you alright?”she repeated a little louder, but there was still no reply. The unicorn began to stumble but kept walking. Now next to the injured pony, she saw the extent of his injuries. “Now hold on a minute,” Fluttershy said with a fairly stern voice, while landing in front of him. “You need medical attention. Who are you and why are you in such a hurry?”
The unicorn stopped, leaned back, blinked twice, ”I...I have no i...de...a.” he said and collapsed.
_____
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity had gathered together in Twilight’s library to discuss the recent escapades of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“We need to do something about those three, especially that Scootaloo” Rarity started, “Every week they try to top themselves in danger and or injuries.”
“But did you see those colors?” Pinkie replied. “It was all pheeeeew! boom! blaw! blam! When they fail they do it in style.” She hopped for emphasis on the soundeffects.
“They did it right in town sqaure! They or somepony else could have been seriously hurt.” Rarity interjected.
“Helloooo! Equestria to Rarity. Everypony walked away and the biggest injury was a singed hoof. You gotta lighten up a little.”
“True as that is, the number of small injuries was immense. They had to set up a triage tent because the hospital couldn’t treat everypony at once. Sweetie Belle included.”
“Speaking of her, where is she now? I never heard you scold her like that before.” Twilight asked, looking at Rarity.
“She should be in her room. I am going to give her a piece of my mind when I get back too.”
“Trust me, you gotta—” right as Pinkie started her response, Fluttershy and Applejack stormed in with the injured unicorn.
“Twilight, help! He’s hurt somethin fierce and the medical tent is just plum full!” Applejack said worriedly.
“Ooh, has it been a week already?” Pinkie Pie said. Everypony turned toward her with a confused look.
After a brief pause, Twilight broke the silence, “Bring him over to the couch. I’ll see what I can do.” Applejack complied and Twilight continued, “There are a lot of burns, but none of them seem too severe. I am worried about that bump on his head, though.”
“That’s one heck of a shiner he’s got there,” Applejack responded.
“A small healing spell and he should be fine soon.” Twilight continued, “Strange, if his injuries were this bad, he should have been one of the first to be seen, after they set up this morning. Why hasn’t he already been taken to the hospital by now?”
“That’s cuz he was just brought into town by way of Fluttershy,” Applejack responded.
“Wait, if he wasn’t a part of the incident, then how did he get those burns?” Twilight inquired.
Fluttershy told the rest how she found the mystery unicorn. Twilight responded first, ”From what you’ve said, it sounds like he might have amnesia.”
“Does anypony recognize him?” asked Spike.
”Hmmm , ah don’t recognize ‘im. Maybe he’s new?” AJ said.
“Ooh, that means when he wakes up, we need to throw a party,” Pinkie Pie gleefully said.
“Yes, yes darling, but first we must do something about his coat. That soot might stain, and you do not want him tracking that stuff all over your library,” said Rarity.
Twilight responded, “Good idea, plus if he has amnesia, maybe his cutie mark will give us a clue to his identity.”
“One cleaning spell coming right up,” Rarity said as her horn began to glow. Slowly, all the soot and ash slowly lifted off and flew into the trash until it revealed a strange sight that made them all gasp.
“He has no cutie mark!!” they said collectively, followed by an awkward silence.
They moved into a semicircle in front of the couch. Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Don’t that just beat all? He looks to be about our age and he ain't got a cutie mark.”
“I never heard of anypony this age without a Cutie Mark,” Twilight inquired.
“Could it have something to do with his amnisia?” Spike interjected
“That’s amnesia Spike and I don’t know. I’ll need to do some research. But in the meantime, we need a clue if we’re going to help him. Fluttershy, you saw where he crashed. Try and see if you can find anything around the crash that might tell us who he is. Applejack, can you go on see if Zecora has any herbs for pain? I’m running low on Vervain Tea and he’ll be sore when he wakes up.”
“Well, ah need to get back to the apple cart.” said AJ. “But if’n I can, I’ll head over to Zecora’s, soon as ah close up shop,”
Twilight continued, “Pinkie Pie could you...”
“No time!! If I don’t get back to Sugar Cube Corner by noon, I’ll have to wait a week to set everything up,” Pinkie interrupted.
“What are you...never mind,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “Spike and I can handle looking on our own.”
“I need to check on Sweetie Belle,” Rarity stated, “That irresponsible filly! How could she have let Scootaloo con her into that dangerous stunt?”
“You can’t put the blame solely on her, sugarcube. They all decided on tryin’ it and if Trixie hadn’t given them access the strong stuff, it never would have gotten so out of hoof. Oh Celestia, whats with that showmare? She gets upstaged by Twi and now she tries to mess with us any chance she—” Applejack was interrupted by a loud groan followed by a thud, from behind.
“Ooooh my...everything!” said the unicorn as he opened his eyes. “Who are you? W..Where am I? Ah!! Why does my head hurt so much?”
“Slow down there, one at a time,” Applejack said putting a hoof to his mouth.
“I..I,” after a small sigh he continued, “OK, lets start with, where am I?”
“You’re in my library," Twilight responded.
“Your library where?”
“In my house.”
“You don’t understand I need to know if I’m in...know if I’m in. Where do I need to be?” He started to sit up but his eyes lost focus and he fell back onto the couch.
"Try not to move too much. I used a good healing spell for your burns, but healing those deep bruises will still take some time.” As she spoke she noticed him looking around the room in with an anxious expression. “So, from what Fluttershy told us, you don’t remember your name.”
“No,” he replied.
“Do you remember where yer are from?” Applejack questioned next.
“No, I—” He was interrupted by Pinkie
“What’s your favorite color?”
“I don’t—”
“Mine’s Pink. You can figure out a lot about somepony by their favorite color. Like Rainbow’s fav is blue cuz she’s so cool, or Rarity’s is the passionate red, or—”
“Can you get to the point!?!” He snapped. Pinkie looked at him with a teary eye. “I...I’m so sorry. I just.”
“Is something bothering you, sugercube? You seem a bit, outta sorts,” AJ said.
“Well of course he is!” snapped Rarity. “How would you feel if you woke up in somepony’s home with no recollection of who you are? ”
“That’s no excuse. I’m sorry...miss...?”
“The name’s Pinkie Pie. I’ll let that one go considering your head all ringy dinged. But don’t give me a reason to cancel the party.” She glared at him with and eye poking toward him. “Got that?” her eye pushed closer with each word for emphasis.
He gave a weak smile and said, with a whimper, “Y...Yes ma’am.”
“Good! Now that we have an understanding I need start to set up.” Pinkie responded with a big smile and bounced toward the door.
“Um, girls... I don’t mean to be a bother, but we all have somewhere we need to be and he probably could use more rest,” Fluttershy chimed in.
“I’m all right,” said the colt while rubbing his head. “...Well, mostly. I just have this feeling that I really need to be somewhere.”
As everypony began to leave, Twilight, with some aid from Spike, started pulling books from her shelves and her guest laid back on the couch. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, all he saw was a GIANT pink face staring right in his own. “Hi there!! Two quick questions.”
“WHAT THE!!!” The colt yelled, as he stumbled to the other end of the couch, throwing the pillows to the ground in his chaotic movements.
Startled from her book, Twilight looked up to see Pinkie standing by the unnamed unicorn. “Pinkie? I thought you left already.”
“I did but then I realized, that if he’s awake then I could ask him a question or two about his party.”
Still shaken from the encounter, the colt managed to squeak out, “P-P-Party...What party?”
“Your welcome party, silly. I just needed to ask if you were allergic to peanuts and if you preferred chocolate, mint, strawberry or vanilla.” Pinkie said, bouncing with anticipation.
“I would be happy to answer, if I knew the answers. I try and think and all I come up with are symbols, a few numbers, and then an explosion.”
Pinkie thought, tapping her chin with her hoof. Her eyes popped open. She gave a big smile and said, ”I got it!!”
“Got what?” twilight and the Colt said in unison.
“I haven’t tried something like this in forever but now is a great chance.”
“You going to say what that something is?” the colt questioned.
Pinkie gave a chuckle and said, “It’ll be a surprise just come by Sugar Cube Corner when I send the invitations.” She left still bouncing.
“She’s...differant.” the colt said turning to Twilight.
“That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie, I’ve learned not to question it.” Twilight responded. “Now that that is settled, there’s tea for you on the stove and you should get some more rest.”
“Good idea,” He said as he touched his bruise and winced.
Almost 20 minutes passed and the colt could not fall asleep.
‘This is taking forever. Sitting here isn’t going to get my memories back but I don’t know where I need to be or what I need to do. I just don’t want to stay here and do nothing.’
“Maybe a walk will clear my head,” the white unicorn sighed to himself. Twilight, already absorbed in her new research, didn't notice him slipping out the door.
_____
Rarity was the first to reach her destination. Feeling a little guilty about how she scolded her sister earlier, she called for her.
“Sweetie Belle, come out here I need to tell you something.”
There was no answer. Thinking her sister was giving her the silent treatment, she went to Sweetie’s room, but when she arrived, all she found a note.
'Scoots and Apple Bloom told me about a teenage blank flank wandering around town. We went to see if the Cutie Mark Crusaders can lend a hoof. Be back by dinner.
Love,
Sweetie Belle.'
“Why, I never!” Rarity said with a scoff. “That girl is still up to mischief, after what happened just this morning! I need to tell Twilight. Who knows what Scootaloo will try, now that they have added a fourth pony to their ranks?”
_____
Outside Twilight’s library, everypony was trotting to some place or another. As he walked, however, the John Doe unicorn saw less and less around, until there was nopony in sight. He could here voices inside the houses but nopony was outside.
“Whats going on? Are they avoiding me? If so, why? Do I smell?” he thought to himself. A bit put off he bring a hoof to his muzzle and calls, “Hellooo! Anypony there?”
“They can’t help but be wary,” came a voice from behind. “Yall are quite a rare sight.” The unicorn turned around to find three foals, one of each pony race, on a scooter.
“Then again this town does seem to over react to the unexpected” Sweetie Belle spoke.
“Um...girls.”
“ ‘Member when Zecora first came to town?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“Girls.”
“Or the “horror” that was a stampede of bunnies,” Scottaloo added rolling her eyes.
“GIRLS!!!”
“Yes?” the foals said in unison.
“Who are you?”
Each said their own name, closing their eyes and jumping, as if they rehearsed it, “Sweeetie Belle!!”
“Scootaloo!!”
“Apple Bloom!!”
They shouted in unison, “And we are...THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”
“O-oo-kay...Good luck with that. I need to be going.” the unicorn said slowly backing away.
“Hold up a minute,” Apple Bloom said.
“We just want to help,” Sweetie Belle added
“That’s nice of you but I don’t have time to hang around here, baby sitting a some fillies. I have to get my memories back.”
“But that’s just it. Apple Bloom snuck into Twilight’s library, so she could get a book we all needed for the extra homework Cheerilee assigned us, after our...adventure this morning when she overheard your problem,” Scootaloo admitted.
“While Twilight tries to find the answer in her books, we thought the Cutie Mark Crusaders can lend a helping hoof,” Sweetie Belle added.
“If the librarian, the mare surrounded by books, has never even heard of my problem; how can you help me?”
“We’re gunna help you find your cutie mark,” Apple Bloom answered.
“Easier said than done: I don’t know who I am, where I’m from, or where I need to be right now, let alone where or how I got my cutie mark.”
“Well if you can’t remember any of that, why not start with what you do remember and work out from there?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“All I can remember is some numbers and symblos, a fire, and waking up in the forest.”
“There has to be somein in there.” Apple Bloom said sternly.
“Juat that I feel like I’m late for something and I need to be there.”
“Maybe your a farmer, like ma big sis and brother. They always worry about dates such and they deal with money a lot.”
“Something tells me that’s I no, he’s been way to impatient to be a farmer,” Sweetie butted in. The colt gave her a small glare.
“Hmm, fire,..,” Scootaloo started tapping her shin, “What about a showstallion, Trixie gave us those fireworks. Maybe you had an accident like we did.”
“If I were a showstallion, somepony would have recognised me while I was walking in town, i.e. not cowered in fear of me.”
“Why not a baker. They deal with all kinds of numbers and wood burning stove’s can cause a fire,” Sweetiebelle asked.
“Girls, not that this isn’t fun but I need to get going. I can’t just stay here and poke guesses I need to act, do something, or this feeling of urgency is going to drive me crazy,”
Apple Bloom hopped up, “Ah gotta idea. Yer a unicorn, right. What magic can ya do?” The unicorn rubbed his head. “If’n we know that then maybe we can find a clue to what ya do.” He looked to the ground and his eyes popped open. “Yall feelin’ alright?” Apple Bloom said worriedly.
“I’m fine...I think. It seems my knowledge is still in there somewhere. As you mentioned magic I remembered something from a book I read.”
“Well what did you remember?” Sweetiebelle asked. “Is it a clue?”
“No, sadly. I remember a piece of the book. Certain spells, if used on a regular basis, will become easier to do. When you practice one a lot, instead of having to concentrate real hard on the start of the spell, your brain goes into autopilot because it already knows what it has to do.”
“Yeah, my sister said that levitation magic has become second nurture to her because she uses it every day. That should work with other magic too.” Sweetie agreed.
“He he. I think you mean second nature Belle. You mean like muscle memory for acrobats?” Scootaloo asked.
“Exactly. Levitation is a fairly easy thing to try. I’ll focus it on your scooter,” the unicorn said, as his horn began to glow. The scooter glowed and hovered in place.
“Cooool!! I feel weightless,” Scootaloo said excitedly. “Let me try something. Girls hold on.”
She began to flap her wings and she took off with a speed she had never known before. When she had moved a short distance away from the unicorn, the glow stopped and they hit the ground.
“That was so AWESOME!! I’ve never taken off that fast. Let alone with Sweetie and Apple Bloom on here with me. That’s one spell we can say you’ve got down pat.”
“Well of course, I use it all the time in my...in my...Nooo!! As I said that, I could feel I almost remembered something important.” the John Doe said angrily.
“Don’t you fret nun, fella,” Apple Bloom spoke. “We’ll have your memories back in no time.”
“Well how’s that for results?” Sweetie Belle noted. “We already made progress.”
“Wow, a few minutes with you three and I at least have an idea to go on and a small memory to boot. If I stayed at the library I’d probably still be waiting for that purple unicorn to find something. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Scootaloo brought a hoof to her chin. After a second her eyes snapped open, “Hey, why don’t you join us on our crusading today. We can find your cutie mark while trying to find our own.”
“It would be way better than sitting on my flank. What could go wrong?”
_____
Fluttershy searched the wreckage. Unbeknownst to her, just above was a singed and tattered satchel hanging by a partially ripped strap. The strap tore and it fell right past her face. She stopped mid step with a squeak. After she regained her barrings, she pulled the tattered flap away to reveal its contents. Inside were some crushed vials and what looks like a soot covered notebook. Blowing on it revealed it true state. The inner pages seemed fine singed but the cover was pretty burned. The only visible writing was a few scattered letters. 'CL~~D C~~P~S~T~ON: From th~ D~s~ of ~~st T~~~.’ Thinking this might hold a clue, she carefully opened it. There were a lot of numbers and strange symbols in it she didn’t know what to make of. With everything else either shredded, broken, or burned beyond recognition, she decides to take the book to Twilight.
“Maybe she will have a book restoring spell. I’d better go back,” she said to herself as she started back to Ponyville.
_____
“I’ve got it!!” Twilight said ecstactically.
“WHO?!! WHAT?!! HOW?!!” said Spike, violently waking from his nap.
“C.M.M.M.L.” Twilight read off.
“Camememel!??!” Spike tried to say.
“Cutie Mark Magic Memory Loss, A very rare type of amnesia that affect unicorns. It says here that it’s caused when a unicorn sustains a serious head injury while casting either multiple small spells or a single powerful spell. This has to be what has happened to y...” Twilight stopped as she noticed she and Spike were alone. “Spike, where did our guest go?”
“He left for a walk about an hour ago. Didn’t you see him leave?”
“And you just let him go?” Twilight said sternly.
“Why would I stop him? All he was doing was pacing back and forth anxiously. That pony looked like he needed some fresh air.” Spike said smugly.
“The article goes on to say that this kind of injury can heal on its own but if the affected unicorn was to sustain a second severe head trauma, before his memories and mark return, it could cause magical backup in the brain, which can lead to permanent damage or worse.”
“Uhh oohh...” Spike said softly
“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked.
“While I was out getting more ink a half hour ago I saw him talking to the CMC about cutie mark attempts,” he said a little panickedly.
“Oh no no no no no NO!! This is NOT good. If he joins them, considering how their attempts normally end up, he could really hurt himself,” Twilight frantically said.
“We need to get him back here and fast. I’ll head out now. Spike, if Applejack or Fluttershy come back before I do tell them whats going on,” Twilight quickly said as she started out the door.
“I’m on it,” Spike said, saluting.
_____
Fluttershy returned to Ponyville around the same time Applejack did in the late afternoon.
“Oh, hello, Applejack. Did you get that herb from Zecora?” Fluttershy spoke softly.
“Well a’course I did, sugarcube. Did ya find anythin at the site?” AJ questioned back.
“Just this book. Maybe Twilight can get some use out of it.” Fluttershy responded.
“Well, since we’re both going to the same place, let’s walk to the library together.” AJ said.
“Sure, Let’s go,” Fluttershy answered.
A few blocks into town, they saw Carrot Top crying over a destroyed garden. She explained, “I was in my house tending to my potted flowers, when from outside I heard some fillies shout, CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HARVESTERS!! I ran out to find my carrots crushed, my squash squished, and my colored cotton cut to the curb!!”
Applejack looked away and said to herself, “Apple Bloom, what in tarnation have ya gotten into this time?”
Carrot Top wailed, "Somepony needs to stop those four!"
Fluttershy and Applejack looked at each other and said, simultaneously “Four?!”
“They went that way, toward the park!” Carrot Top exclaimed pointing a hoof.
At the park they find gashes in the ground and round divots. They asked around and found a brown stallion with an hourglass mark who explained, “There was a white unicorn, using a levitation spell to make the Cutie Mark Crusaders scooter go superbly fast and creating magic domes to protect the fillies if they fell too rapidly, hence the damages. Fascinating, I don’t think I’ve ever seen some-wo..pony do that before.”
Applejack asked, staring at the scene, ”Can you tell us which way they went?”
“They went down that road. If you need any help, just call for The Doctor.”
“Oh, that’s okay, his injures aren’t too serious and we intend to stop them before we need one," Fluttershy noted, turning to look down the aforementioned road. “Oh no. That road wraps back around to... to...”
“The market,” Applejack finished.
_____
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were blazing through the market on Scootaloo’s scooter with the unnamed unicorn in their wagon, horn aglow. "Um... Scoots, your cutt’n it a lil close for comfort goin' 'round them carts, doncha' think?" Apple Bloom spoke in a panicked voice.
“We’re fine. I’m really getting the hang of this speed now.” Scootaloo responded, “Jeez, we have one close call and—”
“Five close calls and three accidents,” Sweetie Bell interrupted. “Plus, we’re gunna have to send a million of sorry letters to Carrot Top for her to even speak to us again.”
“You’ve been keeping track?! Okay, okay, we’ll stop at the cafe for a... LOOK OUT!!!” They barreled through a vendor's cart, as they came out the other side, the front wheels of the scooter caught a piece of debris, throwing all its cargo far forward. They soared for several seconds until they heard a crash from the front and immediately stopped.
“What did we land on?” The colt asked with derpped eyes.
“No time to find out. He looks REALLY mad,” Scootaloo rushed to say
“Lets get out’a here.” Apple Bloom added as they hopped back on the scooter.
Speeding off, they heard a familiar stallion scream out ”MY CABBAGES!!!"
_____
Minutes later, AJ and Fluttershy arrived at market, where they met up with Rarity and Twilight.
“We almost had them uptown, but Scootaloo is just too fast with that unicorn’s magic helping them,” Twilight said.
“Lets keep looking. They seem to be keeping a low profile now, but if we know Scootaloo, that can change any minute,” Rarity said in a flustered voice.
"We need to be a step ahead if we’re going to stop them, but what can we do?" Twilight said aloud.
"Hold up, sugarcube. Don't the Crusaders have a map of Ponyville and a checklist explaining their days’ Cutiemark attempts?" Applejack responded.
“That’s right! I've seen them looking at it all the time when I go to pick up Sweetie Belle," Rarity answered. "Let’s head there. They may head back to check their list and, if not, we can get an idea of where they might go next."
“That sounds like a good plan. Fluttershy, did you manage to find anything at the balloon?" Twilight asked.
"Um, well, almost everything was too damaged to even pick up but I found this notebook. It seems badly burned, but, maybe, one of your restore spells might make it legible," Fluttershy responded.
"Well, now I have news for you all,” Twilight said and then explained what she found. “I'll head back to the library with this, while you girls go to the club house."
Fluttershy spoke in her soft tone. "Rainbow Dash's weather shift should be finishing about now. I can try and find where she’s napping."
"Good thinking. We can definitely use her speed. Alright, everypony, we've got four ponies callously crushing carrots and carts, squishing squash in the square, and practically pulling Ponyville apart. We need to stop them so we can help that unicorn and protect Ponyville from a potential panic. Let’s move out!”
