To be Humanby RaptorChaptersPrologueArrivalAwakeningConfrontationQuestionPrologueThe Man's name was John Clarke. "How heartless. Do you see how heartless he is?" "..." "See? Just look at him. You sicken me." "..." "What's the matter? Out of sick comments to say? Out of ridiculous bullshit to spout?!" "..." "TALK TO ME, DAMMIT!" "..." "...Look at him. He doesn't even deny any of it." "..." "It's because it's all true, isn't it?" "..." "Right down to the sick details." "...nn..." "You're a terrible excuse for a man." "..." "No... You are a terrible person." "..." "You aren't human." "...I'm more human than you think..." "-I'm sorry, what was that?!" "I-" "Are you trying to DEFEND yourself?!" "..." "That's-" "-You don't know much about humans, do you?" "NO, asshole, YOU don't! Humans aren't all violent and brutish like all those bullshit philosophers say. Deep down, MANY people are good inside." "..." "...I think YOU need to think about what it means to be human." The Man wished he wasn't human. That way he wouldn't ever have to know what it meant to be one. One day, his wish was granted. But you should always be careful what you wish for. The Man opened his eyes- only to immediately shut them closed. He opened them again, slowly and painfully, for all he could see was bright white. Not only that, but there was rushing wind in his eyes. His stomach felt off, and he cringed. His limbs felt numb. It was as if every aspect of the situation wanted him to close his eyes again and curl up. But the Man's curiosity was getting the better of him. He had to know what was going on. His eyes darted in different directions. All he could see was white. The wind was fast and loud. He felt a bit cold, and his body was numb. But he knew he wasn't lying in the middle of a blizzard- no, it wasn't that cold. He tried thinking of other scenarios that might be possible. The first one that came to mind was that he was dreaming. However, he instantly ruled that out. If he was dreaming, the idea of him dreaming would've never popped into his mind, otherwise he would've woken up. So where the Hell was he...? He blinked a few times- It was difficult to keep his eyes open against the wind. Why was it so windy? Where could he possibly be that was so windy? He strained his eyes. The whiteness started to fade, giving way ever so slowly to a pale blue. He tried moving his arms, but couldn't feel them. His entire body felt... off. Especially his limbs. Suddenly he realized that he had to breathe. he tried inhaling, but found it difficult due to the heavy wind. He tried shifting his body, but couldn't feel anything. Eventually, he gave up on his body and decided to focus on seeing. He looked around, focusing his eyes and letting them adjust to the brightness, slowly causing the white to melt away. He turned his head to the left to look around him, and immediately two things struck him. Thye first being the blinding bright light that had come into his field of view, causing him to shut his eyes again, and the second being the change in wind. It had dramatically decreased its speed against his left ear when he turned, and increased in the right. The wind was coming from one specific direction. With his eyes closed, the Man guessed that this bright light was the Sun. What had confused him a second later, was that he didn't remember seeing the horizon at any point. He turned his head back to the right and opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust once again. He could see pale blue around him... Sky blue. Suddenly he realized that he was falling. From very high up. ArrivalTwilight Sparkle awoke to the morning birds chirping and the Sun's rays beaming gently onto her eyelids through the clean, round window. Her eyes fluttered open and shut tightly almost immediately. She let out a soft yawn and stretched out her forelegs before arching her neck up with a groan. Another peaceful morning, she thought to herself. She recounted the events of last night, as she did every morning. Nothing out of the ordinary, that she could remember. She shifted her body to a sitting/lying position, her legs sprawled out over the bed. She opened her eyes again and looked around the room, until her eyes fell to a small sleeping dragon. She smiled as she watched him sleep peacefully. She pondered the idea of waking him up. Eh, I don't think we have anything to work on today, she thought. I'll let him sleep in for a while. After another quick stretch and a yawn, Twilight got up and hopped out of bed. After a quick brush of her mane, she walked downstairs, and entered the kitchen, eyes half-closed. She had lived long enough in the Ponyville library to memorize the path she took every morning to get her breakfast. She whipped up a batch of scrambled eggs, enough for two. After she finished her breakfast, she again pondered whether or not to wake up Spike, lest his food get cold. She shrugged, figuring he could always reheat it; with his own breath, even. She went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. When she was finished and dried, she came out to see Spike adding some extra seasoning to his scrambled eggs. "You're up fairly early," said Twilight, earning a half-lidded inquisitive look from the baby dragon. "You normally wake me up as soon as you get up anyway," he yawned. Twilight chuckled. "I mean, fairly early for waking up on your own accord." "Oh." Spike paused what he was doing and pondered that for a brief second. "Well... yeah, I guess. Thanks for making the eggs." "Sure thing." Twilight stopped when she remembered something. "Oh, right. Spike, I'm going out for a bit. I have to stop by Sweet Apple Acres for something." Spike yawned and nodded. "Mhm..." he mumbled. He stopped listening at "going out for a bit." Twilight walked over to the front door and strapped on her saddlebags before pushing the door open. Immediately she was greeted by the morning rays of sunlight once again, accompanied by a brisk summer breeze. She inhaled, sighed, and stepped out. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres was calm and ordinary. It was anything anypony would expect from a summer morning. Twilight was outside a bit earlier than usual today; she normally took her mornings slow on her days off. But there was something she wanted to borrow from her good friend Applejack, who was always up this early. Twilight wanted to catch her while she didn't get too deep in her work, and while the thought was still fresh in her mind. She walked through the town in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. She noticed there was a large amount of ponies out and about for such an early hour. Maybe it was just that good of a day. Everypony was awake for some reason- even Spike had gotten up. It was as if everyone had to be awake this morning, as if something important were to happen that everypony should witness. Twilight shook her head. There was no way magic worked like that. ...Was there...? The man was frightened. Was that the right word...? Yes. Yes, it was. He was frightened. Not scared, not afraid, but frightened. He had just gone through something horrible and depressing. He was nearly out of emotion. "frightened" was all he could spare. After realizing he should probably scream, (since it seemed appropriate to do so when you realize you're falling from very high up) he decided... not to. Once again... his emotion was nearly run dry. So after he realized he was high up enough to have time to think before he hit the ground, the fright subsided and curiosity took place. 'Twas only natural for a human. Immediately his mind was bombarded with questions. So many questions, in fact, that he couldn't hear any of them. After a while, he noticed the ground rapidly approaching. He also noticed that his trajectory was not straight down, but angled. Almost as if it had... changed. But that didn't concern him. There was too much confusion in his mind at the time. The questions had subsided, now that he knew it was impossible to think about them at this time. So instead, he started thinking. The thoughts were still jumbled and rapid, but he could make out a few of them. This is the end. Ha. This is a dream. He estimated a few more seconds till impact. I'm a horrible person. Is this real? But one thought repeated itself over and over again in his head. Ten seconds. A thought that drowned out the rest. Eight seconds. Three simple words that described how he felt, Six. Right here, Five. Right now. Four. "I don't care." Three. Two-- IMPACT. He felt the jolt of the stop (or at least slowing) of the motion, but other than that, he felt... nothing. He was numb. And yet he saw and heard everything. He landed in a dirt road with an earth-shaking muffled BOOM, which was strikingly similar to an air strike. And the man felt nothing. Immediately a cloud of dirt engulfed him and spread in all directions, as he tumbled head over heels and pressed against the ground at the same time. And the man felt nothing. He heard and saw the earth crunch and upturn around him, with every bounce he made, hitting the ground, leaving a crater and another THUMP in his wake. And the man felt nothing. Finally he slowed down, and his ears caught up to him, leaving him with no sound but his own breath as it was knocked in and out of him, multiple times, by the unrelenting force of gravity, momentum, and the indestructible Earth. And the man... felt... nothing. Eventually his tumble died down to a slide, planting his numb face in the ground. Eventually... he stopped. Yet his face was not completely submerged, allowing his eyes to open one last time. When they did, they were greeted with... structures. Houses, stores, a fountain, trees, and park benches. His vision started to fade rapidly. No thoughts were going through his head. None whatsoever. He saw figures through his blurry vision, and he saw them approaching him. he couldn't see what they were, nor did he care. But he knew one thing... he was at their mercy. Much like he was to the unstoppable forces of nature. And yet, he survived that. So no, he wasn't worried. In fact, he didn't feel anything. His last sense to fade away, sight, was dwindling now, blurred out and fading to black. So he let it go. After all... "I don't care..." ...Darkness. Twilight heard it first. Which was unfortunate, because it didn't give her much time to see it in the air. It was the sound of a shrieking banshee, like a bombshell plummeting towards the ground. When she spun around and looked up, that's exactly what it looked like. a cloud of smoke, traveling at an angle, down towards the ground at a terrifying speed. the screaming whistle of the object grew louder and louder for a few split seconds before--! BR-ROOOOOM THUMP THUMP... THUMP THUMP THRUMP-P-P... Twilight watched in horror as the object landed with a tremendous explosion, the proceeded to continue its path of travel along the ground, tumbling all the way, leaving craters and dust in its wake. As it went further, less and less dust followed it, gradually revealing the object. Much to Twilight's horror, The object looked more and more similar to a living creature. Finally it slid to a halt, and Twilight ran closer. Then- it opened its eyes. It survived that fall. Her first instinct kicked in- she had to get it to a hospital. NOW. As she ran closer to the victim, her head started to pound. She shook her head and briefly rubbed her temples before attending to the victim. What she didn't notice was that everypony in the vicinity was also rubbing their heads. My day certainly just got a lot more interesting. AwakeningThe Boy waited patiently for his older brother. He had done this before- his brother always took a while to do something. He was standing on the side of the road, watching the busy street. He was standing outside the movie theater on a bright summer day... in the city. The park was only a block or two away- the boy could see it from here. While he waited for his brother, he decided to do what he likes to do in boring situation like this- observe. He always liked observing. Yesterday he focused on sight. Today, he thought he would focus on listening, especially since it was a noisy day in the city. The Boy wanted to see too, since it was good weather, but, he had to close his eyes. He had to challenge himself. He closed his eyes and listened intently. First he listened to one sound at a time. The he listened to the left. Then right in front of him. The to his right. He frowned. There were strange noises to his right. Noises of... grunting. The Boy opened his eyes and looked to his right. There was barely anyone on this side of the street. There was, however, an alleyway just at the side of the theater. Curious, the Boy glanced behind him to see if his brother had come out. He hadn't. The Boy looked back and heard the grunting noises again. He adjusted the bill of his cap to shade a bit less of his freckled face, and he slowly started walking towards the alleyway. "...20 CC's of..." The Boy crept closer and closer, and as he did, he could tell that the grunting noises were grunts of stress and... pain. He approached the alleyway and peeked around the corner. "Keep him... ...him steady!" "Why is he...?" At the end of the alley were two men, one standing over the other, holding him by the collar of his coat. The Boy was first confused as to why they were in such a position, until the man on the ground tried to speak. When he did, the man holding him struck him in the face. Repeatedly. The Boy's jaw dropped at the real-live violence before him. He had seen fighting in movies and video games, but this was real. He saw the mugger relentlessly beating the other man, who gave no effort in fighting back. "Okay... stable, for..." The Boy was just frozen there, not able to do anything but watch. He was snapped out of his stupor when the mugger's head snapped in the Boy's direction. The Boy instantly let out a sharp gasp and took a step back, realizing that he had stepped out from the corner and was standing in the middle of the alleyway entrance. Just as the mugger started to move in the Boy's direction, the Boy felt himself being guided out of the way of the alley. He looked up to see his brother guiding him by the shoulders, a concerned look on his face. "Come on, John, move," he said. "Go. Come on." "W-why is he-" "Go, keep moving." His brother kept glancing behind him. "We're gonna cross the street. 'Kay? C'mon..." He continued to guide the Boy, even across the street. The Boy silently and unquestioningly complied. He didn't even look back. After they were safely across the street, the Boy looked to where the alleyway was. He didn't see anyone there. His brother finally stopped and spun the Boy around to face him. He crouched down to meet the boy's hazel eyes with his own. "Are you okay?" he asked. The Boy nodded. His brother sighed. "Good." He sighed again and bowed his head. "Why was that man doing that?" the Boy asked. His brother's head snapped up, as if he expected the question, but not so soon. "Is he a bad guy? A criminal?" His brother sighed again, and looked away for only a moment, shaking his head slightly. "Yes... yes, he's a bad guy..." he looked back at the boy with an unreadable expression. "...Why are there so many bad guys?" the Boy asked. His brother looked at him like he hadn't expected that question at all. After a long pause, he sighed again. "Because... ugh... look, I'm sorry to break it to you... especially when you're so young..." he paused. "...So don't tell Mom or Dad I told you this, but... humans...? Us humans... "We've all got a bad guy in us." The Man gasped as he awoke with a start. Darkness. Darkness everywhere. Wait- less darkness. More light. Little light... but still more. He was in a room. It was quiet. Not silent, just quiet. He couldn't think straight. Room was small. Blank walls, a door in front of him, some basic plain furniture... a bed. He was in a bed. His movement was sluggish... he tried moving his head to the left and right. He gathered no new information. He was still just in a room. He did, however, notice something to his right. He couldn't quite see what it was, thanks to the darkness, but he noticed that it was connected to something. He followed a thin line of it down to... him. The Man. Maybe. It was connected to something where his arm should be. It looked like a limb of some sort. He wasn't sure. His vision was fuzzy, his thinking was hindered, and it was dark. It looked like a... stub. Of something. It was gray. Or at least it appeared that way, in the dark. One thing that caught his attention was that it had no hand. That concerned him. He wanted a hand. He should have a hand there. He tried moving his hand to see if he could find it. But there was no hand to move. He became frustrated. Then... realizing he really didn't have a hand... he started to panic. He looked around frantically, as if the hand would be somewhere in the room. But once again, thanks to the darkness, he couldn't see much. He looked closely at the object connected to him. It was... a bag... of something... hanging on a pole standing upright from the floor. An IV. I'm in a hospital. The Man suddenly didn't want to be here anymore. He tried moving his whole body. It felt weird. He looked down to his torso. He was wearing a cheap white robe, the ones that patients wear. the rest of his body was covered by a white blanket. He looked left to his other arm, and he saw another stub. He was missing both hands. The Man didn't like that. He tried moving his legs to kick off the covers. It was difficult, as they felt numb and there was a lack of energy. He tried moving his stubs. They complied, but he noticed they bended strangely. They had two joints and only bended a certain way. This would make things difficult. He tried pushing the covers off of him. Eventually he succeeded, revealing his- stubs. Two more stubs, where his legs should be. The Man really started to panic now; his breathing was erratic and his eyes darted all around. One thought rang through his mind- Leave. NOW. Wasting no time, the man thrust his alien body out of the bed, yanking the IV out of his limb, and landing haphazardly on his four stubs, only to collapse to the floor. he used all his might to get up on his limbs, turn around, and crawl to the door. He didn't focus on how he was using his body, he just pushed off of the surrounding objects with his stubs to get him to go forward. And, it worked, for the most part. While attempting to move for what seemed like a while, the Man's mind wandered. More specifically, into his memories. They were all cloudy... everything before the fall. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember his life. He... he remembered his name. The Man's name was John... Clarke. Yes. John D. Clarke. "D"...? Oh, right... David. John David Clarke tried to remember what had happened the other day- just before the fall. Something had happened. Something bad. Something depressing... Something that made him not care about his own life. Why couldn't he remember it...? Was he repressing it...? If so, why was he feeling bad about something he couldn't remember? The man shook the thought out of his head. Here and now, John. Here... and now... He stumbled up to the door and reached up to the doorknob- only to remember that he didn't have hands. The Man didn't have time for this. For some insane reason, the idea of charging the door came to him. Not giving a damn about logic, the man used his limbs to back up. Then, with all his strength, the man lowered his head (which also felt strange), and charged the door, tucking in his arm-stubs. There was a loud CRACK as the door- gave way, actually. Much to the Man's surprise. And pain. The Man definitely felt that. "Will he be okay, Doctor?" Twilight asked nervously. The mysterious stallion that had fallen out of the sky- and survived- was now in Ponyville Hospital. It was now evening, and the hospital was starting to close up. Twilight had brought the stallion here, waited for a bit, then left to go about her business. She came back to see if he was finally stabilized. The medical doctor that had examined and stabilized him, along with Nurse Redheart, was examining a levitating clipboard in front of him with a serious expression. "He'll be fine," he replied, not looking away. "Believe it or not. He was falling at terminal velocity, from the way you were describing the crater he left. And yet not only did he live, but he made it out with only a few cuts and bruises and minor head trauma. Nothing could survive a fall like that. Not even a dragon." The doctor put the clipboard down and adjusted his glasses before looking at Twilight. "You're sure he was traveling that fast?" he asked her doubtfully. Twilight nodded. "Without a doubt. And I think half the town could vouch for me. Didn't you hear the impact this morning?" The doctor tapped his chin. "I did hear a loud boom this morning, come to think of it. It sounded like a meteor." He raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying that was him?!" Twilight nodded. The doctor put a hoof to his temple, looked at the ground, and shook his head. "This doesn't make sense..." he said quietly. "Maybe there was some sort of spell protecting him," Nurse Redheart suggested. "That may be possible..." Twilight pondered. "But who made it? Certainly not him, seeing as he's an Earth pony..." "That brings us to another question," the doctor interjected. "How did he get so high...? He has no wings, no horn to teleport..." "Maybe somepony teleported him," Twilight suggested. "Maybe somepony cast a protection spell of some sort on him, then teleported him in the air... but why would they do that...?" "Hmm..." the doctor looked up. "Maybe-" There was a loud CRASH coming from down the southern hallway. "What was that?!" Nurse Redheart yelled. "Come on!" the doctor barked as he ran down the dark corridor, followed quickly by Twilight and the nurse. It didn't take long to find the source of the crash. There, collapsed in the middle of the hallway, was the stallion, lying next to an open door, slightly off its hinges. He had a coat of gray, a mane of black, and eyes of brilliant hazel. He had no cutie mark. Before any of the others could react, the stallion scrambled to his hooves, and glanced at them. His expression was unreadable. "Sir-" the doctor began, only to be ignored by the stallion when he quickly turned away and started stumbling down the hallway, towards the window at the end. The three immediately started running after him. But they were simply too far from the stallion, and the stallion was simply too close to the window. They couldn't reach him in time. With one strong motion, he thrusted himself at the window, shattering it effortlessly, throwing him out of the portal, and down from the second story of the building. The Man blacked out for a second. When he came to, he was on the floor, looking down a hallway. He had successfully made it out of the room. When he focused his eyes a bit more, he paid attention to some details. The hallway he was in was dark, but he was looking down to the end of it, which was brightened. In front of the light were three silhouetted figures, standing in the corridor. They looked like they didn't have arms, or had them clasped behind their back, as if waiting for him to do something. They wore something on their heads, with antennae of some sort, which looked similar to ears. He couldn't make out the details, but he didn't care. He just wanted to leave. Wasting no more time, the Man scrambled to his feet (and arms) as best he could, and raised his head. For some reason, his body was comfortable with his head raised and all four limbs on the ground. He would have to get used to his body later. Those sick scientists. What the Hell did they do to me? That put a thought into his head. What if he wasn't in a hospital? What if he was in some sort of science lab, being tested on? If the Man was having doubts about leaving, they were completely gone now. The Man turned to move in the opposite direction of the figures. Right before he did, one of them spoke. "Sir-" He was obviously cut off by the Man's lack of interest. The Man spotted a window at the end of the hallway, which wasn't too far from him. Perfect. The Man used his limbs to the best of his ability to get to the window. He heard rapid footsteps behind him. He knew they could move faster than he could. He focused everything on moving. To. That. Window. And before he knew it, he was right in front of it. He focused all his energy on his limbs. It was just like the door. Don't think, just go. He tucked in his arms, pushed off with his legs, and turned his head- There was a loud CRASH as the window gave way, allowing the Man to fly through it, all in one swift motion. Unfortunately, the Man felt it. A lot. Then he noticed something. He was one the second floor. He would probably feel that, too. SON OF A- ConfrontationThe Boy looked down at his Grandfather's wife's granddaughter. She was no more than 5. She had blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a flawless round face. She was being introduced to the Boy for... perhaps... the second time, maybe. The boy was more than twice her height, and over three times her age. The Boy smiled down at the girl. She shied away, her eyes not making contact with his. The Boy then realized that he was probably VERY intimidating, towering over her. Keeping his friendly smile, he knelt down to be eye level with her. She returned the smile. "Hi," the Boy said, as friendly as possible. "I haven't seen you very much," the girl replied with perfect punctuation. The Boy was surprised at the linguistic ability of the child. She didn't look like she was old enough to speak full sentences. They just get smarter and smarter, younger and younger. The Boy saw something in the girl, a word. A word he thought of when he knelt down to talk to her. Innocence. That was the word. She had innocence in her. She had done nothing wrong, nothing significant, anyway. She was innocent. A young, innocent mind. Guilty of no crimes, yet proud of no accomplishments. She was a blank canvas, easily manipulatable, and capable of anything. Unlike us, she is untainted, with no sins to be penitent for. She was innocent. "...So why did you kill her...?" I love bushes, the Man thought. He had landed in one that was placed conveniently right outside the window he had leapt from. He struggled to get out, but managed to escape the snare. The Man looked around. The sky was a dark purple, and a nearby forest off to his left was blackened almost entirely. There were structures off to his right, along with a dirt path, leading away from the "hospital". The Man shook his head. Shouldn't take the path, he thought. Too easy to follow. Begrudgingly, the Man started moving towards the forest. He cursed as he tried to use his new body, stumbling and falling over. Eventually, he tried focusing on using all four of his limbs to stay upright, take a giant leap, land on all fours, jump, land, repeat. He liked this method. If he did smaller, more controlled jumps, he would land easier and take less time to jump again. Eventually, with repetition, his rabbit-like hops became faster and more controllable. This method of movement would work for now, until he figured out how to use this weird-ass body. Finally, the Man made it to the woods. Instantly he was shrouded in shadow. His hopping method proved to be less effective in the woods, especially when he couldn't see the shrubbery underneath him. His movement was much slower, but he was determined to get deep enough into the forest to lose his captors. Or at least, his assumed captors. A thought occurred to him then. What if the change in his- His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he tripped over something sharp, and landed in a mess of jumbled sharp things. The Man came to the conclusion that he fell into a thorn bush. I hate bushes. Twilight raced down the hallway and down the stairs, closely followed by the other two ponies. They had to get to the stallion before he hurt himself further. She would've teleported out of the window, but it was late, she was tired, and she didn't want to risk giving herself a migraine. Or worse. Besides, given his condition, the stallion couldn't have gone far. The three ponies made it to the hospital entrance and burst outside. He was nowhere to be seen. "Well, he didn't try to go into town," Nurse Redheart said. The three turned left and ran to the side of the building, rounding the corner. There, they saw the crumpled bush right outside the window he had jumped out of, surrounded by shards of glass. The stallion, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he go?" Twilight asked. "Well, at least we know he isn't severely wounded," the doctor said, adjusting his glasses. "He must've really wanted to get out." "He couldn't have gotten far," the nurse added. "We should spread out and look for him." Twilight nodded. "I'll get security," the doctor said, backing away. "You two go on ahead, I'll catch up." The two mares nodded to him. "I'll check the forest," Twilight said, motioning to the dark woods. "You check the fields towards Ponyville." With a final nod, Redheart turned and galloped off towards the structures in the near distance. Twilight quickly ran towards the forest as well, hoping the mysterious patient hadn't gone far. While she made her way through the ever-growing foliage, she thought to herself. Who was this stallion? Why couldn't the Equestrian database recognize him? How did he survive the fall? How did he get here? And most importantly... Why does he want to leave so badly...? As the foliage got thicker, it grew darker. Twilight quickly cast a light spell, illuminating her surroundings. It was then that she noticed the stallion must've been bleeding. Some of the ferns she passed by were stained with small amounts of blood, and a few sharp branches had caught small locks of gray fur. At least I know I'm on the right track, she thought. She continued to follow the trail until she spotted something gray thrashing in a thorn bush ahead. She gasped and ran forward. "S-sir," she called out, as unthreateningly as possible. The stallion froze for a split second before continuing his struggle, more frantically. "W-wait!" Twilight called. "I'm not-" before she could finish, the stallion managed to free himself from the snare and thrust himself forward, disappearing from sight. When she finally made it to where he used to be, she looked past the bush, and her jaw dropped. There was a steep slope, littered with thorny vines and shrubs, descending several meters down. Great, she thought. How am I going to follow him now? She peered farther down to see if there was a clearing of the brush anywhere in sight that she could teleport to. There was none. She looked to her left and saw a path leading gradually down the slope with a lot less thorns. It would take a while, but she could get to him. The Man coughed violently. It wasn't the most painful experience he had been in, but there was no doubt that tumbling down a cliff full of thorns, rocks and vines was still painful as hell. Still, the Man got onto his stubs and shrugged it off, receiving more painful stings coming from all over his body. He gritted his teeth and trudged onward, hauling his strange form forward like dead weight. He blinked, and was surprised (and a bit worried) when he realized how much effort it took to reopen his eyes. The Man realized how tired he was. He shook his head and trudged on. Every single cell in his body screamed at him to just drop to the ground and fall unconscious, but he would have none of that. He had to keep going. Then a thought came to him. Why was he so determined to leave? I just... I just want to be alone. But why...? Why did he want to be alone so badly? What had happened to him before he came here? And where was here? His thoughts were interrupted when he came to a clearing, and he saw the most peaceful thing he'd seen since he had been there. In the middle of the clearing was a crystal clear pond, reflecting the radiant full moon that was just poking its head over the tree line. To the left of the pond on the Man's side was a smaller, lone tree. The Man just stood there, frozen, gazing at the scenery in front of him. He felt peaceful. The pain was subsiding, his body stopped screaming, and instead, one word rang through his mind: Tired. So very tired... The Man slowly shuffled toward a patch of grass between the tree and the pond. He stood on it for a moment, looking off at the moon. Then, carefully, he looked over the edge of the pond and into the reflective water... What he saw was... confusing. His face was no longer human. His eyes were significantly larger, almost freakishly so, and seemed to have an enhanced glistening effect from the moonlight. He had some sort of snout which held his nostrils and his mouth, which actually looked human, seeing as the Man could read his own facial expressions. His ears were that of a mammal's, like a dog, or cattle of some sort, and were sticking upright. in between them was his hair, which appeared black, and was in a mess. It was then that he noticed that his gray skin was in fact fur. The Man stared blankly at the... thing looking up at him from the water, and said the only thing that came to mind... "...What!?" The Man proceeded to have a coughing fit, and fell to the ground. He realized he hadn't used his voice yet in this alien body. At least he knew he had a voice now. And it sounded like his. After his lungs were stable again, the Man decided to just sit and look at the pond. Eventually, he found a comfortable position, sitting down with his leg stubs spread to his sides and his arm stubs on the ground. Something like what a frog would do, but less extreme. He stared into the water... and waited. For what... he didn't know. He ignored all the pain, just relaxed, and stared into the water, thinking. A long time passed. Well, it might have been a long time... maybe an hour, or... it could've been a few minutes, the Man didn't know. He didn't care either. The woods weren't exactly silent- there was a soft breeze that brushed through the trees, and several insects chirped as well. It wasn't annoying, oh, no, on the contrary. The Man felt the whole atmosphere was serene. Still. He didn't pay too much attention to it. He dwelled back on his past, trying to uncover anything that was lost and explain why he was here. However, it's difficult to remember something right off the bat. No one can just call up memories like a file on a computer. The memories come to you. All he could remember were a few childhood memories that had come to him earlier... The Man exhaled and closed his eyes. He just... wanted... He heard something behind him, like a rustling of leaves. He opened his eyes, but didn't take them off the water. If it was what he thought it was... After a pause, he heard light footsteps approaching him. It is. The Man just sat there. He had no more energy to run, and the serene environment had enchanted him to not move from his position. He kept his eyes fixed on the reflection of the moon in the water. The footsteps got closer. There were most likely two of them, from what the Man could figure. They stopped. "Sir..." came a young feminine voice. "Are you alright...?" The Man didn't reply. He waited to see what the woman would do next. He heard her sit down behind him, to his right. "You're beat up really bad... Why did you run from the hospital...?" The Man remained silent. "Sir... can you hear me...?" The Man did nothing for a moment. Then, he slowly nodded. There was a pause. "...Can you speak...?" The Man waited a moment again. "...Yes," he croaked in a dark tone. "...What's your name?" The Man said nothing. More silence. The woman cleared her throat and started to say, "My name-" "What happened." The Man said it like a statement. "I'm sorry?" "What happened to me." Silence. "I... don't know what you mean, you fell-" "Don't bullshit me!" the Man yelled. He turned his arm stubs over and looked down at them. "First I lose nearly all my memories, then I fall from the sky, and wake up in an alien body...!" The Man gritted his teeth and turned to the woman behind him, yelling- "WHAT-!...happened..." The Man's face shifted from anger to awe. The woman behind him... was just like him. Not exactly the same... but she was in the same kind of body. She had lavender fur, and plum hair. She was looking at him with violet eyes... and a look of shock. She had some kind of horn protruding from her forehead. The Man the realized something. "My God..." he said quietly. "They did it to you, too..." The purple female gave him a quizzical look. He reached over to her face and gently touched her jaw with his stub. She recoiled sightly, and was obviously uncomfortable with this, but she let it happen. He turned her head left and right, examining her. "You're just like me..." He looked down at her limbs, and saw that she, too, had stubs. She also seemed to be sitting in a much more comfortable position than the Man. "Stubs and everything..." he muttered. "Are... you okay, sir...?" she asked slowly. The Man took his stub away and turned to face his body to her, which caused him to cringe and grunt as he reopened wounds he didn't know he had. "I'm so sorry. Tell me, do you have any idea what they've done to us in that... 'hospital'...?" The female blinked. "What are you talking about!?" she asked with clear confusion and slight annoyance. "The bodies!" the Man said. He motioned to the female and himself. "Our bodies! What did they do to us to make us look like this, and why?" The female just stared at him like he had gone insane. Which he probably had. Now that the Man thought about it, if she didn't know what he was talking about, he would look like a lunatic. He let his arms drop to the ground and lowered his head, letting out a sigh. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you...?" "Not a clue." The Man remained silent and stared at the ground. "...Maybe you should come back to the hospital." The Man's head snapped up and he backed away slightly. "N-no!" he stuttered. "Not until I get some answers!" The female sighed. "Look," she said in a soft tone of voice, "I'll answer any and all questions you may have. But first, you need to get back to the hospital. We need to patch up those wounds of yours." She gave a kind smile. "I promise I'll answer your questions." She held her stub in the direction of the way she came from. The Man was hesitant. He didn't trust nameless organizations, especially the ones who acted kind yet vague. They also tended to use 'we' a lot. "Please," she said quietly. He looked at the female's face. Her kind, human smile... her pleading bright eyes... They held no devious or ominous intentions. The Man had dealt with such before... he knew what they looked like. Wait... How do I know that...? I can't remember anything like that... He shook his head. Regardless. I'm fairly certain I can trust her. Whatever she is... Besides. If it means getting answers... He sighed. "...Fine." Her calm smile grew slightly as she gestured toward the forest. The Man slowly got up, wincing in pain. The female quickly picked up on this. "Do-" "-I'm fine," said the Man through clenched teeth. He finally got on his stubs, and attempted to shamble towards the forest... only to collapse on his right arm stub and hit the ground with a thud. "Ack- dammit!" "You're not fine!" The female walked up to the Man and helped him up. She put his arm over her shoulders, supporting his weight. "There. Now come on." She smiled before guiding him forward. The Man was inclined to say thank you, but he stopped himself. He still didn't know where exactly she was taking him, so there wouldn't be any appreciation just yet. They slowly made their way to the edge of the clearing. The Man had trouble keeping up with the fluid motion of the female's walking pattern, but since she was supporting him, she helped him along. The Man looked back once more at the tranquil scene behind him. He could have sworn he saw someone sitting at the edge of the lake, but at a second glance, there was no one there. Author's Note Some of John's memories are actual instances that have occurred in my life, such as this one right here. The more darker ones are most likely NOT from my life. The peaceful, philosophical ones on the other hand, may be. Just a lil' fun fact. -Raptor QuestionLater in the evening, the Boy was sitting in the crowded restaurant, surrounded by his family, who all gathered here for a small reunion, and strangers, who came for their own purposes. The Boy looked at all the people around him. "Each one of these people has a story to tell," he thought. "A long story, for each and every one of them. With high points... and low points... everyone here has a story to tell." The Boy's eyes fell upon the girl, and he smiled. "Well, except for you. Your story isn't that long, and the rest is yet to be written." He looked around again. "That goes for all of you. You have a long story to tell, but your story hasn't ended. There is always more to write. "Everyone's story never stops writing." "...For better or worse." The hike back to the hospital was difficult for a unicorn like Twilight. Not only were they a good distance away from the edge of the forest, but she had to support a strange wounded stallion who, apparently, didn't know how to walk properly. He remained silent for a long while, which was interesting, considering he had so many questions not moments ago. Every once and a while, Twilight would steal a glance at him. He looked like he was deep in concentration, but it was hard to tell. He had such an empty gaze... almost as if he were... hollow. Several minutes passed, filled with awkward silence. Awkward for her, at least. Twilight felt that she should probably comfort him in some way. She cleared her throat. "So..." "Where are you taking me, again...?" the stallion asked suddenly. Twilight was surprised at the change. "We're... going back to the hospital." The stallion scoffed. "So that's what they call it, huh...?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean...?" The stallion glanced at her briefly, pursing his lips, but said nothing. A few more minutes passed before the stallion continued with his next question. "What did they do to us," he said, "back at the 'hospital'?" "'Us'?" Twilight repeated. "They didn't do anything to me. The tended to your wounds, I just came by to visit, since I was the one who found you. I was just worried about you." She smiled. "Which is also why I came looking for you." The stallion remained silent for a moment, showing no gratitude. "I mean..." the stallion paused. "What did they do to make us look like... this." Twilight rose her eyebrow again. "What? Everyone looks like this." The stallion scoffed again, this time in a more amused manner, nodding a bit with the slightest smirk on his muzzle. "Yeah, I'm sure they told you that, too," he muttered. "I think you mean, 'everyone I know looks like this.'" He shook his head and looked off into the passing trees. Twilight wore a very puzzled expression. "What are you talking about?!" The stallion said nothing. Twilight sighed and focused on the pathway. They had finally cleared the forest when Twilight spotted the doctor and the nurse in the distance. She called out to them; "Doctor! I found him!" Both ponies' heads turned, and they started galloping towards her. The stallion looked up at the approaching figures, and raised an eyebrow. When the two came up to them, they quickly examined the stallion. "I found him in a clearing past the thick brush in the forest," Twilight explained. "He's got some serious cuts and bruises." The doctor noticed the wounds all over the patient's body. "Sweet Celestia, man, are you out of your mind?!" he exclaimed. "You could've killed yourself out there! Why did you try to escape?" The stallion narrowed his eyes at the word "escape", but said nothing. Nurse Redheart put her hooves to his side and examined one of the cuts up close. "Doctor, we should bandage him right away," she said. The doctor nodded. "Agreed," he said. He turned to Twilight. "Thank you for your help, Twilight. Redheart and I can take it from here. Could you please tell security we've retrieved the patient?" Twilight nodded and let the nurse support the stallion while she ran off to the security guards milling about down the road. The doctor helped Redheart with the stallion, carrying him back inside the hospital. The Man woke up once more. This time, he was in a much brighter environment. He was in another white room, staring up at the ceiling. Sunlight shone through a window behind him. There was a breeze brushing through the nearby trees as birds chirped happily. The Man groaned. He looked down at his stubbed body, noticing several bandages everywhere. At least he wasn't hooked up to anything his time. A clock on the wall showed that it was around 2:30, most likely in the afternoon. I guess I really was tired. He thought back to the events of last night. He escaped the "hospital", found the clearing, found the other... subject, then returned to the "hospital". That was when things got strange. The doctor and the nurse also had similar bodies... what could that mean? Were the more "trusted" subjects allowed to wander the compound? Was there some kind of isolated community of these... subjects, in which some were entrusted with jobs, such as the two in the medical field? Whatever the reason, the Man wanted answers. And yet, he had a feeling he wasn't going to get anything useful out of the others. The way that purple female reacted to his questions certainly said something about what these things knew. Still, he may as well give it a try. The Man had his eyes closed when there was a knock on the door. He woke up from his dozing and looked at the clock. Several minutes had passed since he woke up. Before he could mutter the words "come in," the door opened, and a cute white face poked in. The Man had to admit, the simplicity of these bodies made them look like some sort of adorable pet. He recognized the face as the nurse from last night. When she saw that he was awake, she smiled at him and entered. "Good morning!" she said kindly. The Man furrowed his brow at her. "Isn't it the afternoon...?" he said. The nurse walked in. "It most certainly is," she said, keeping her warm, friendly tone. "You slept for quite a while after we treated you." She walked up to the end of the bed and examined the clipboard. "Considering how much you had been through, I'm honestly surprised you're awake now." This nurse was certainly good at her job, the Man gave her that. She wasn't focused on why he did what he did, but more on how he was doing. He struggled to sit upright, only to get a stab of pain shoot through every muscle in his torso. The Man cringed, and the nurse quickly went to his side. "Now now," she said, "take it easy." She gently supported his torso and helped him into a comfortable upright position. "You suffered some pretty bad cuts and bruises, along with some minor lacerations. Don't strain yourself too much." Once he was sitting in a comfortable position, he nodded to her in thanks. "Now," she said, stepping back, "unfortunately, we have some paperwork to do later on today." There it is. "But for now, is there anything you need?" She cocked her head and smiled at him. The Man shook his head. "No, thank you," he said. "Are you sure?" she replied. "Are you hungry? Thirsty, maybe?" The Man's throat was dry as a desert. However, he wasn't going to go trusting these things just yet. "I'm fine, thank you," he replied. An old motto suddenly popped into his head... "Take no risks, trip no traps." He didn't remember where or when he heard that, but he still got a feeling that it was only half of the full saying. "Well, alright," the nurse said, walking towards the door. "Just press that button over there if you need me." She backed out slowly and gently shut the door behind her. The Man looked over to where she had pointed, noticing a red button on the wall labeled "CALL NURSE". He laid back against the propped-up pillow. I guess now's a good time to think up some questions, he thought. An hour passed. The Man had dazed in and out of consciousness. But his questions were, for the most part, ready by the time the nurse returned. She knocked on the door, like she did before, and the Man permitted her entrance. She entered, and gave the Man a kind smile, like she did before. "How are you doing?" she asked softly, like she did before. The Man gave a small, stiff shrug. "Fine," he muttered. "Is it time for the paperwork now...?" The nurse appeared slightly surprised by this, but didn't show it much. "Oh, well, we can do it now, if you're up for it." The Man nodded slowly. "Alright then." The nurse went over to the clipboard at the foot of the bed and grabbed it with her right stub. "Before we begin," she said, looking back up at the Man, "is there anything I can get you? Food? Drinks...?" The Man shook his head. "No, thank you." This time, the nurse furrowed her brow and cocked her head at him. "Are you sure?" she said in a more confused manner. "You were unconscious almost all day yesterday, you didn't eat or drink at all. Aren't you hungry or thirsty?" The Man sighed. He was very hungry and thirsty. Eventually, he would have to accept sustenance from these... things. Might as well start now. Besides, if they wanted to poison or drug him, they could've done it at any time while he was sleeping. Now that he thought about it, avoiding food and drinks given to him seemed like a dumb move on his part. "Fine," he said. "I mean... yes, some water would be nice." The nurse returned to her smile and exited the room. A few minutes later, she returned with a tall glass of ice-cold water resting on a tray, which she held in her mouth. The Man felt that to be a bit odd, but compared to everything else he'd been through so far, and with the body configuration, it was... understandable. She set the tray down on a small table next to the bed, and the Man noticed that there was also a plate with half a small loaf of bread and an apple. When he looked at the nurse, she smiled at him. "Just in case you get hungry," she said. The Man couldn't help but smile at her in appreciation. "Now, then," she said, walking over to the clipboard again. "Shall we begin...?" The Man nodded. He'd let her ask her questions first, then he'd ask his. She took the clipboard off, went over to a chair, sat down, and took out a pencil. "Okay, first. Name?" The Man frowned and looked at her. "You don't know my name...?" he questioned. "We found it odd, too," the nurse replied. "For some reason, the Equestrian database couldn't recognize you. Are you a resident here?" The Man blinked. What do horse races have to do with this...? he thought. He shook his head. "Uh, no, I'm-- well... I don't know, exactly..." The nurse slowly nodded. "I... see..." she whispered. "So, what is your name, then?" The Man hesitated. His name was John Clarke. But they didn't know who he was. That meant he could at least hide his name, as an extra sense of security. Not for him, but for his... He narrowed his eyes. For... someone. Someone else named... Clarke... Still, refusing to give these things a name would be pretty suspicious. He thought for a moment. "...Connor," he said. "Connor Ramsey." The Nurse raised an eyebrow at him, as if it were an unusual name. "I... see..." she said again. She looked down at the clipboard. "Could you spell that, please?" "Um... sure." Was that name really that uncommon to them...?The Man watched as the nurse put the pencil in her mouth and lowered it to the paper. Another odd thing to do, but once again, it seemed the most appropriate, given the bodies. "Connor: see-oh-en, en-oh-are, Ramsey, are-ae-em, es-ee-wie." The nurse seemed to be able to write fluently and with precision with the awkward holding technique. When she finished, she looked up at him and dropped the pencil in her stub. "Alright, date of birth?" she asked. "June 2nd, 1987." The nurse once again looked at him quizzically. "...What calendar is that...?" she asked. "The... Astronomical calendar...?" This was getting stranger and stranger. "I... see..." she whispered once more. "Sex, male... Blood type?" "B positive." "...Any medical disabilities...?" The Man paused. He only now realized how quickly he answered the past few questions without thinking. How did he know these things with little to no memories? And now that he reached this question, he couldn't think of anything. "I... don't know, I... can't remember." "Oh, alright, then, that's okay. Medical insurance coverage?" "Um... no." "None...?" "None." "Alright... Is there someone you want us to contact?" "..." "Mr. Ramsey...?" "...No. No one." "There's-" "There's no one." "Oh..." The nurse's face showed sorrow and confusion. "Okay, then... Are you a citizen of Equestria..?" ... ...The fuck is Equestria...? "Uh... No." "Really...?" She said, again giving him a confused look. "Well then, where are you from?" The Man thought for a moment. "Uh, the United... Um... The United... Kingdom...? No, that was... No... States. The United States. Of... Er... America. I think..." The nurse just stared at him for a moment. Then, she set the clipboard down and cocked her head. "Sir, how much of this do you actually, truly remember?" The Man felt very confused. Why were these answers so hard for the nurse to believe? Were any of these memories true, or were words and numbers just jumbling around in his brain? Did the human mind even work that way? Then again, he wasn't sure if he was human anymore. "I... Don't know," the Man whispered. "I'm sorry, I just... I just don't..." "It's okay," the nurse's soft, calming voice chimed in. The Man looked at her, and she smiled. "We can worry about all this later. How about for now you take some time to rest and gather your thoughts, okay...?" The Man still had his questions to ask. He needed the answers, and yet... after realizing how much he had to know about himself, he came to the conclusion that he should question the past before he questions the present. Not to mention all this was causing him to lose focus altogether. He closed his eyes, sighed through his nostrils, and nodded. "...Okay." The nurse smiled, placed the clipboard back on the end of the bed, and walked to the door. "Nurse...?" "Hmm...?" The nurse turned and faced the Man. "...What's your name...?" he asked quietly. The nurse smiled. "Redheart," she said. "Nurse Redheart." The Man hesitated. It was a somewhat odd name, so it fit well with everything else. "Redheart..." the Man repeated. "Nice to meet you." "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Ramsey." The Man cringed. He already felt a small pang of guilt for lying to her. She turned and walked out the door, flicking the light switch on her way out, plunging the room into a soft darkness, revealing several lines of sunlight peeking through the shades behind the bed. She started closing the door. "And, nurse...?" She poked her head in and looked at the Man once more. He smiled at her. "...Thank you." Redheart smiled back at him, and closed the door. The Man's smile slowly faded. He sighed, closed his eyes, laid back, and gritted his teeth. Redheart sighed as she walked back to the desk. Dr. Stable was already there, and saw her approaching. "Find anything about our special patient, nurse?" he asked. Redheart shook her head. "Not much. He's been giving me a lot of gibberish. Said his name was 'Connor Ramsey'. He can't remember much, all his thoughts are jumbled. We should give him some time to relax and collect himself." The doctor slowly nodded. "Hrm... what did you find out?" he asked. "Not much. He said he was born in the year of '1987', according to the 'astronomical calendar', that he had no insurance or emergency contacts, and that he wasn't even from Equestria." Dr. Stable blinked. "Really, now...?" Redheart nodded. "Yes. He said it like he hadn't even heard of it before. It was then when I asked him if he could really remember anything correctly. He seemed so confused, so I guess we can discredit almost every piece of information he gave us." The doctor sighed and adjusted his glasses. "...Alright. We'll keep an eye on him for now. If he remembers anything, be sure to let me know." "Of course, doctor." He glanced at the clock above the front desk. "Well, my break's just about done. I've got something else to attend to. Keep me posted." The nurse nodded, and he trotted off. Stable opened the door to his darkened office, the dust particles in the air illuminated by the light slipping through the the blindfolds behind his desk. Comfortable with the low-light environment, the doctor walked around the desk and sat down. he looked around the room. On his right was his doctorate on the wall and a picture of his family on his desk. In front of him as the door and blinded windows leading out to the hallway, and a dusty, barely used chair sitting across from him. Stable never really used the office that much; he really only used it to store his coat and belongings for the work day. A potted plant rested calmly on a small table to the left. But out of the corner of the doctor's eye, to the left of him was a tall, silver figure. He shut his eyes and sighed deeply. His eyes opened, but when he turned to look at it, there was nothing there.
PrologueThe Man's name was John Clarke. "How heartless. Do you see how heartless he is?" "..." "See? Just look at him. You sicken me." "..." "What's the matter? Out of sick comments to say? Out of ridiculous bullshit to spout?!" "..." "TALK TO ME, DAMMIT!" "..." "...Look at him. He doesn't even deny any of it." "..." "It's because it's all true, isn't it?" "..." "Right down to the sick details." "...nn..." "You're a terrible excuse for a man." "..." "No... You are a terrible person." "..." "You aren't human." "...I'm more human than you think..." "-I'm sorry, what was that?!" "I-" "Are you trying to DEFEND yourself?!" "..." "That's-" "-You don't know much about humans, do you?" "NO, asshole, YOU don't! Humans aren't all violent and brutish like all those bullshit philosophers say. Deep down, MANY people are good inside." "..." "...I think YOU need to think about what it means to be human." The Man wished he wasn't human. That way he wouldn't ever have to know what it meant to be one. One day, his wish was granted. But you should always be careful what you wish for. The Man opened his eyes- only to immediately shut them closed. He opened them again, slowly and painfully, for all he could see was bright white. Not only that, but there was rushing wind in his eyes. His stomach felt off, and he cringed. His limbs felt numb. It was as if every aspect of the situation wanted him to close his eyes again and curl up. But the Man's curiosity was getting the better of him. He had to know what was going on. His eyes darted in different directions. All he could see was white. The wind was fast and loud. He felt a bit cold, and his body was numb. But he knew he wasn't lying in the middle of a blizzard- no, it wasn't that cold. He tried thinking of other scenarios that might be possible. The first one that came to mind was that he was dreaming. However, he instantly ruled that out. If he was dreaming, the idea of him dreaming would've never popped into his mind, otherwise he would've woken up. So where the Hell was he...? He blinked a few times- It was difficult to keep his eyes open against the wind. Why was it so windy? Where could he possibly be that was so windy? He strained his eyes. The whiteness started to fade, giving way ever so slowly to a pale blue. He tried moving his arms, but couldn't feel them. His entire body felt... off. Especially his limbs. Suddenly he realized that he had to breathe. he tried inhaling, but found it difficult due to the heavy wind. He tried shifting his body, but couldn't feel anything. Eventually, he gave up on his body and decided to focus on seeing. He looked around, focusing his eyes and letting them adjust to the brightness, slowly causing the white to melt away. He turned his head to the left to look around him, and immediately two things struck him. Thye first being the blinding bright light that had come into his field of view, causing him to shut his eyes again, and the second being the change in wind. It had dramatically decreased its speed against his left ear when he turned, and increased in the right. The wind was coming from one specific direction. With his eyes closed, the Man guessed that this bright light was the Sun. What had confused him a second later, was that he didn't remember seeing the horizon at any point. He turned his head back to the right and opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust once again. He could see pale blue around him... Sky blue. Suddenly he realized that he was falling. From very high up.
ArrivalTwilight Sparkle awoke to the morning birds chirping and the Sun's rays beaming gently onto her eyelids through the clean, round window. Her eyes fluttered open and shut tightly almost immediately. She let out a soft yawn and stretched out her forelegs before arching her neck up with a groan. Another peaceful morning, she thought to herself. She recounted the events of last night, as she did every morning. Nothing out of the ordinary, that she could remember. She shifted her body to a sitting/lying position, her legs sprawled out over the bed. She opened her eyes again and looked around the room, until her eyes fell to a small sleeping dragon. She smiled as she watched him sleep peacefully. She pondered the idea of waking him up. Eh, I don't think we have anything to work on today, she thought. I'll let him sleep in for a while. After another quick stretch and a yawn, Twilight got up and hopped out of bed. After a quick brush of her mane, she walked downstairs, and entered the kitchen, eyes half-closed. She had lived long enough in the Ponyville library to memorize the path she took every morning to get her breakfast. She whipped up a batch of scrambled eggs, enough for two. After she finished her breakfast, she again pondered whether or not to wake up Spike, lest his food get cold. She shrugged, figuring he could always reheat it; with his own breath, even. She went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. When she was finished and dried, she came out to see Spike adding some extra seasoning to his scrambled eggs. "You're up fairly early," said Twilight, earning a half-lidded inquisitive look from the baby dragon. "You normally wake me up as soon as you get up anyway," he yawned. Twilight chuckled. "I mean, fairly early for waking up on your own accord." "Oh." Spike paused what he was doing and pondered that for a brief second. "Well... yeah, I guess. Thanks for making the eggs." "Sure thing." Twilight stopped when she remembered something. "Oh, right. Spike, I'm going out for a bit. I have to stop by Sweet Apple Acres for something." Spike yawned and nodded. "Mhm..." he mumbled. He stopped listening at "going out for a bit." Twilight walked over to the front door and strapped on her saddlebags before pushing the door open. Immediately she was greeted by the morning rays of sunlight once again, accompanied by a brisk summer breeze. She inhaled, sighed, and stepped out. The trip to Sweet Apple Acres was calm and ordinary. It was anything anypony would expect from a summer morning. Twilight was outside a bit earlier than usual today; she normally took her mornings slow on her days off. But there was something she wanted to borrow from her good friend Applejack, who was always up this early. Twilight wanted to catch her while she didn't get too deep in her work, and while the thought was still fresh in her mind. She walked through the town in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. She noticed there was a large amount of ponies out and about for such an early hour. Maybe it was just that good of a day. Everypony was awake for some reason- even Spike had gotten up. It was as if everyone had to be awake this morning, as if something important were to happen that everypony should witness. Twilight shook her head. There was no way magic worked like that. ...Was there...? The man was frightened. Was that the right word...? Yes. Yes, it was. He was frightened. Not scared, not afraid, but frightened. He had just gone through something horrible and depressing. He was nearly out of emotion. "frightened" was all he could spare. After realizing he should probably scream, (since it seemed appropriate to do so when you realize you're falling from very high up) he decided... not to. Once again... his emotion was nearly run dry. So after he realized he was high up enough to have time to think before he hit the ground, the fright subsided and curiosity took place. 'Twas only natural for a human. Immediately his mind was bombarded with questions. So many questions, in fact, that he couldn't hear any of them. After a while, he noticed the ground rapidly approaching. He also noticed that his trajectory was not straight down, but angled. Almost as if it had... changed. But that didn't concern him. There was too much confusion in his mind at the time. The questions had subsided, now that he knew it was impossible to think about them at this time. So instead, he started thinking. The thoughts were still jumbled and rapid, but he could make out a few of them. This is the end. Ha. This is a dream. He estimated a few more seconds till impact. I'm a horrible person. Is this real? But one thought repeated itself over and over again in his head. Ten seconds. A thought that drowned out the rest. Eight seconds. Three simple words that described how he felt, Six. Right here, Five. Right now. Four. "I don't care." Three. Two-- IMPACT. He felt the jolt of the stop (or at least slowing) of the motion, but other than that, he felt... nothing. He was numb. And yet he saw and heard everything. He landed in a dirt road with an earth-shaking muffled BOOM, which was strikingly similar to an air strike. And the man felt nothing. Immediately a cloud of dirt engulfed him and spread in all directions, as he tumbled head over heels and pressed against the ground at the same time. And the man felt nothing. He heard and saw the earth crunch and upturn around him, with every bounce he made, hitting the ground, leaving a crater and another THUMP in his wake. And the man felt nothing. Finally he slowed down, and his ears caught up to him, leaving him with no sound but his own breath as it was knocked in and out of him, multiple times, by the unrelenting force of gravity, momentum, and the indestructible Earth. And the man... felt... nothing. Eventually his tumble died down to a slide, planting his numb face in the ground. Eventually... he stopped. Yet his face was not completely submerged, allowing his eyes to open one last time. When they did, they were greeted with... structures. Houses, stores, a fountain, trees, and park benches. His vision started to fade rapidly. No thoughts were going through his head. None whatsoever. He saw figures through his blurry vision, and he saw them approaching him. he couldn't see what they were, nor did he care. But he knew one thing... he was at their mercy. Much like he was to the unstoppable forces of nature. And yet, he survived that. So no, he wasn't worried. In fact, he didn't feel anything. His last sense to fade away, sight, was dwindling now, blurred out and fading to black. So he let it go. After all... "I don't care..." ...Darkness. Twilight heard it first. Which was unfortunate, because it didn't give her much time to see it in the air. It was the sound of a shrieking banshee, like a bombshell plummeting towards the ground. When she spun around and looked up, that's exactly what it looked like. a cloud of smoke, traveling at an angle, down towards the ground at a terrifying speed. the screaming whistle of the object grew louder and louder for a few split seconds before--! BR-ROOOOOM THUMP THUMP... THUMP THUMP THRUMP-P-P... Twilight watched in horror as the object landed with a tremendous explosion, the proceeded to continue its path of travel along the ground, tumbling all the way, leaving craters and dust in its wake. As it went further, less and less dust followed it, gradually revealing the object. Much to Twilight's horror, The object looked more and more similar to a living creature. Finally it slid to a halt, and Twilight ran closer. Then- it opened its eyes. It survived that fall. Her first instinct kicked in- she had to get it to a hospital. NOW. As she ran closer to the victim, her head started to pound. She shook her head and briefly rubbed her temples before attending to the victim. What she didn't notice was that everypony in the vicinity was also rubbing their heads. My day certainly just got a lot more interesting.
AwakeningThe Boy waited patiently for his older brother. He had done this before- his brother always took a while to do something. He was standing on the side of the road, watching the busy street. He was standing outside the movie theater on a bright summer day... in the city. The park was only a block or two away- the boy could see it from here. While he waited for his brother, he decided to do what he likes to do in boring situation like this- observe. He always liked observing. Yesterday he focused on sight. Today, he thought he would focus on listening, especially since it was a noisy day in the city. The Boy wanted to see too, since it was good weather, but, he had to close his eyes. He had to challenge himself. He closed his eyes and listened intently. First he listened to one sound at a time. The he listened to the left. Then right in front of him. The to his right. He frowned. There were strange noises to his right. Noises of... grunting. The Boy opened his eyes and looked to his right. There was barely anyone on this side of the street. There was, however, an alleyway just at the side of the theater. Curious, the Boy glanced behind him to see if his brother had come out. He hadn't. The Boy looked back and heard the grunting noises again. He adjusted the bill of his cap to shade a bit less of his freckled face, and he slowly started walking towards the alleyway. "...20 CC's of..." The Boy crept closer and closer, and as he did, he could tell that the grunting noises were grunts of stress and... pain. He approached the alleyway and peeked around the corner. "Keep him... ...him steady!" "Why is he...?" At the end of the alley were two men, one standing over the other, holding him by the collar of his coat. The Boy was first confused as to why they were in such a position, until the man on the ground tried to speak. When he did, the man holding him struck him in the face. Repeatedly. The Boy's jaw dropped at the real-live violence before him. He had seen fighting in movies and video games, but this was real. He saw the mugger relentlessly beating the other man, who gave no effort in fighting back. "Okay... stable, for..." The Boy was just frozen there, not able to do anything but watch. He was snapped out of his stupor when the mugger's head snapped in the Boy's direction. The Boy instantly let out a sharp gasp and took a step back, realizing that he had stepped out from the corner and was standing in the middle of the alleyway entrance. Just as the mugger started to move in the Boy's direction, the Boy felt himself being guided out of the way of the alley. He looked up to see his brother guiding him by the shoulders, a concerned look on his face. "Come on, John, move," he said. "Go. Come on." "W-why is he-" "Go, keep moving." His brother kept glancing behind him. "We're gonna cross the street. 'Kay? C'mon..." He continued to guide the Boy, even across the street. The Boy silently and unquestioningly complied. He didn't even look back. After they were safely across the street, the Boy looked to where the alleyway was. He didn't see anyone there. His brother finally stopped and spun the Boy around to face him. He crouched down to meet the boy's hazel eyes with his own. "Are you okay?" he asked. The Boy nodded. His brother sighed. "Good." He sighed again and bowed his head. "Why was that man doing that?" the Boy asked. His brother's head snapped up, as if he expected the question, but not so soon. "Is he a bad guy? A criminal?" His brother sighed again, and looked away for only a moment, shaking his head slightly. "Yes... yes, he's a bad guy..." he looked back at the boy with an unreadable expression. "...Why are there so many bad guys?" the Boy asked. His brother looked at him like he hadn't expected that question at all. After a long pause, he sighed again. "Because... ugh... look, I'm sorry to break it to you... especially when you're so young..." he paused. "...So don't tell Mom or Dad I told you this, but... humans...? Us humans... "We've all got a bad guy in us." The Man gasped as he awoke with a start. Darkness. Darkness everywhere. Wait- less darkness. More light. Little light... but still more. He was in a room. It was quiet. Not silent, just quiet. He couldn't think straight. Room was small. Blank walls, a door in front of him, some basic plain furniture... a bed. He was in a bed. His movement was sluggish... he tried moving his head to the left and right. He gathered no new information. He was still just in a room. He did, however, notice something to his right. He couldn't quite see what it was, thanks to the darkness, but he noticed that it was connected to something. He followed a thin line of it down to... him. The Man. Maybe. It was connected to something where his arm should be. It looked like a limb of some sort. He wasn't sure. His vision was fuzzy, his thinking was hindered, and it was dark. It looked like a... stub. Of something. It was gray. Or at least it appeared that way, in the dark. One thing that caught his attention was that it had no hand. That concerned him. He wanted a hand. He should have a hand there. He tried moving his hand to see if he could find it. But there was no hand to move. He became frustrated. Then... realizing he really didn't have a hand... he started to panic. He looked around frantically, as if the hand would be somewhere in the room. But once again, thanks to the darkness, he couldn't see much. He looked closely at the object connected to him. It was... a bag... of something... hanging on a pole standing upright from the floor. An IV. I'm in a hospital. The Man suddenly didn't want to be here anymore. He tried moving his whole body. It felt weird. He looked down to his torso. He was wearing a cheap white robe, the ones that patients wear. the rest of his body was covered by a white blanket. He looked left to his other arm, and he saw another stub. He was missing both hands. The Man didn't like that. He tried moving his legs to kick off the covers. It was difficult, as they felt numb and there was a lack of energy. He tried moving his stubs. They complied, but he noticed they bended strangely. They had two joints and only bended a certain way. This would make things difficult. He tried pushing the covers off of him. Eventually he succeeded, revealing his- stubs. Two more stubs, where his legs should be. The Man really started to panic now; his breathing was erratic and his eyes darted all around. One thought rang through his mind- Leave. NOW. Wasting no time, the man thrust his alien body out of the bed, yanking the IV out of his limb, and landing haphazardly on his four stubs, only to collapse to the floor. he used all his might to get up on his limbs, turn around, and crawl to the door. He didn't focus on how he was using his body, he just pushed off of the surrounding objects with his stubs to get him to go forward. And, it worked, for the most part. While attempting to move for what seemed like a while, the Man's mind wandered. More specifically, into his memories. They were all cloudy... everything before the fall. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember his life. He... he remembered his name. The Man's name was John... Clarke. Yes. John D. Clarke. "D"...? Oh, right... David. John David Clarke tried to remember what had happened the other day- just before the fall. Something had happened. Something bad. Something depressing... Something that made him not care about his own life. Why couldn't he remember it...? Was he repressing it...? If so, why was he feeling bad about something he couldn't remember? The man shook the thought out of his head. Here and now, John. Here... and now... He stumbled up to the door and reached up to the doorknob- only to remember that he didn't have hands. The Man didn't have time for this. For some insane reason, the idea of charging the door came to him. Not giving a damn about logic, the man used his limbs to back up. Then, with all his strength, the man lowered his head (which also felt strange), and charged the door, tucking in his arm-stubs. There was a loud CRACK as the door- gave way, actually. Much to the Man's surprise. And pain. The Man definitely felt that. "Will he be okay, Doctor?" Twilight asked nervously. The mysterious stallion that had fallen out of the sky- and survived- was now in Ponyville Hospital. It was now evening, and the hospital was starting to close up. Twilight had brought the stallion here, waited for a bit, then left to go about her business. She came back to see if he was finally stabilized. The medical doctor that had examined and stabilized him, along with Nurse Redheart, was examining a levitating clipboard in front of him with a serious expression. "He'll be fine," he replied, not looking away. "Believe it or not. He was falling at terminal velocity, from the way you were describing the crater he left. And yet not only did he live, but he made it out with only a few cuts and bruises and minor head trauma. Nothing could survive a fall like that. Not even a dragon." The doctor put the clipboard down and adjusted his glasses before looking at Twilight. "You're sure he was traveling that fast?" he asked her doubtfully. Twilight nodded. "Without a doubt. And I think half the town could vouch for me. Didn't you hear the impact this morning?" The doctor tapped his chin. "I did hear a loud boom this morning, come to think of it. It sounded like a meteor." He raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying that was him?!" Twilight nodded. The doctor put a hoof to his temple, looked at the ground, and shook his head. "This doesn't make sense..." he said quietly. "Maybe there was some sort of spell protecting him," Nurse Redheart suggested. "That may be possible..." Twilight pondered. "But who made it? Certainly not him, seeing as he's an Earth pony..." "That brings us to another question," the doctor interjected. "How did he get so high...? He has no wings, no horn to teleport..." "Maybe somepony teleported him," Twilight suggested. "Maybe somepony cast a protection spell of some sort on him, then teleported him in the air... but why would they do that...?" "Hmm..." the doctor looked up. "Maybe-" There was a loud CRASH coming from down the southern hallway. "What was that?!" Nurse Redheart yelled. "Come on!" the doctor barked as he ran down the dark corridor, followed quickly by Twilight and the nurse. It didn't take long to find the source of the crash. There, collapsed in the middle of the hallway, was the stallion, lying next to an open door, slightly off its hinges. He had a coat of gray, a mane of black, and eyes of brilliant hazel. He had no cutie mark. Before any of the others could react, the stallion scrambled to his hooves, and glanced at them. His expression was unreadable. "Sir-" the doctor began, only to be ignored by the stallion when he quickly turned away and started stumbling down the hallway, towards the window at the end. The three immediately started running after him. But they were simply too far from the stallion, and the stallion was simply too close to the window. They couldn't reach him in time. With one strong motion, he thrusted himself at the window, shattering it effortlessly, throwing him out of the portal, and down from the second story of the building. The Man blacked out for a second. When he came to, he was on the floor, looking down a hallway. He had successfully made it out of the room. When he focused his eyes a bit more, he paid attention to some details. The hallway he was in was dark, but he was looking down to the end of it, which was brightened. In front of the light were three silhouetted figures, standing in the corridor. They looked like they didn't have arms, or had them clasped behind their back, as if waiting for him to do something. They wore something on their heads, with antennae of some sort, which looked similar to ears. He couldn't make out the details, but he didn't care. He just wanted to leave. Wasting no more time, the Man scrambled to his feet (and arms) as best he could, and raised his head. For some reason, his body was comfortable with his head raised and all four limbs on the ground. He would have to get used to his body later. Those sick scientists. What the Hell did they do to me? That put a thought into his head. What if he wasn't in a hospital? What if he was in some sort of science lab, being tested on? If the Man was having doubts about leaving, they were completely gone now. The Man turned to move in the opposite direction of the figures. Right before he did, one of them spoke. "Sir-" He was obviously cut off by the Man's lack of interest. The Man spotted a window at the end of the hallway, which wasn't too far from him. Perfect. The Man used his limbs to the best of his ability to get to the window. He heard rapid footsteps behind him. He knew they could move faster than he could. He focused everything on moving. To. That. Window. And before he knew it, he was right in front of it. He focused all his energy on his limbs. It was just like the door. Don't think, just go. He tucked in his arms, pushed off with his legs, and turned his head- There was a loud CRASH as the window gave way, allowing the Man to fly through it, all in one swift motion. Unfortunately, the Man felt it. A lot. Then he noticed something. He was one the second floor. He would probably feel that, too. SON OF A-
ConfrontationThe Boy looked down at his Grandfather's wife's granddaughter. She was no more than 5. She had blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a flawless round face. She was being introduced to the Boy for... perhaps... the second time, maybe. The boy was more than twice her height, and over three times her age. The Boy smiled down at the girl. She shied away, her eyes not making contact with his. The Boy then realized that he was probably VERY intimidating, towering over her. Keeping his friendly smile, he knelt down to be eye level with her. She returned the smile. "Hi," the Boy said, as friendly as possible. "I haven't seen you very much," the girl replied with perfect punctuation. The Boy was surprised at the linguistic ability of the child. She didn't look like she was old enough to speak full sentences. They just get smarter and smarter, younger and younger. The Boy saw something in the girl, a word. A word he thought of when he knelt down to talk to her. Innocence. That was the word. She had innocence in her. She had done nothing wrong, nothing significant, anyway. She was innocent. A young, innocent mind. Guilty of no crimes, yet proud of no accomplishments. She was a blank canvas, easily manipulatable, and capable of anything. Unlike us, she is untainted, with no sins to be penitent for. She was innocent. "...So why did you kill her...?" I love bushes, the Man thought. He had landed in one that was placed conveniently right outside the window he had leapt from. He struggled to get out, but managed to escape the snare. The Man looked around. The sky was a dark purple, and a nearby forest off to his left was blackened almost entirely. There were structures off to his right, along with a dirt path, leading away from the "hospital". The Man shook his head. Shouldn't take the path, he thought. Too easy to follow. Begrudgingly, the Man started moving towards the forest. He cursed as he tried to use his new body, stumbling and falling over. Eventually, he tried focusing on using all four of his limbs to stay upright, take a giant leap, land on all fours, jump, land, repeat. He liked this method. If he did smaller, more controlled jumps, he would land easier and take less time to jump again. Eventually, with repetition, his rabbit-like hops became faster and more controllable. This method of movement would work for now, until he figured out how to use this weird-ass body. Finally, the Man made it to the woods. Instantly he was shrouded in shadow. His hopping method proved to be less effective in the woods, especially when he couldn't see the shrubbery underneath him. His movement was much slower, but he was determined to get deep enough into the forest to lose his captors. Or at least, his assumed captors. A thought occurred to him then. What if the change in his- His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he tripped over something sharp, and landed in a mess of jumbled sharp things. The Man came to the conclusion that he fell into a thorn bush. I hate bushes. Twilight raced down the hallway and down the stairs, closely followed by the other two ponies. They had to get to the stallion before he hurt himself further. She would've teleported out of the window, but it was late, she was tired, and she didn't want to risk giving herself a migraine. Or worse. Besides, given his condition, the stallion couldn't have gone far. The three ponies made it to the hospital entrance and burst outside. He was nowhere to be seen. "Well, he didn't try to go into town," Nurse Redheart said. The three turned left and ran to the side of the building, rounding the corner. There, they saw the crumpled bush right outside the window he had jumped out of, surrounded by shards of glass. The stallion, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he go?" Twilight asked. "Well, at least we know he isn't severely wounded," the doctor said, adjusting his glasses. "He must've really wanted to get out." "He couldn't have gotten far," the nurse added. "We should spread out and look for him." Twilight nodded. "I'll get security," the doctor said, backing away. "You two go on ahead, I'll catch up." The two mares nodded to him. "I'll check the forest," Twilight said, motioning to the dark woods. "You check the fields towards Ponyville." With a final nod, Redheart turned and galloped off towards the structures in the near distance. Twilight quickly ran towards the forest as well, hoping the mysterious patient hadn't gone far. While she made her way through the ever-growing foliage, she thought to herself. Who was this stallion? Why couldn't the Equestrian database recognize him? How did he survive the fall? How did he get here? And most importantly... Why does he want to leave so badly...? As the foliage got thicker, it grew darker. Twilight quickly cast a light spell, illuminating her surroundings. It was then that she noticed the stallion must've been bleeding. Some of the ferns she passed by were stained with small amounts of blood, and a few sharp branches had caught small locks of gray fur. At least I know I'm on the right track, she thought. She continued to follow the trail until she spotted something gray thrashing in a thorn bush ahead. She gasped and ran forward. "S-sir," she called out, as unthreateningly as possible. The stallion froze for a split second before continuing his struggle, more frantically. "W-wait!" Twilight called. "I'm not-" before she could finish, the stallion managed to free himself from the snare and thrust himself forward, disappearing from sight. When she finally made it to where he used to be, she looked past the bush, and her jaw dropped. There was a steep slope, littered with thorny vines and shrubs, descending several meters down. Great, she thought. How am I going to follow him now? She peered farther down to see if there was a clearing of the brush anywhere in sight that she could teleport to. There was none. She looked to her left and saw a path leading gradually down the slope with a lot less thorns. It would take a while, but she could get to him. The Man coughed violently. It wasn't the most painful experience he had been in, but there was no doubt that tumbling down a cliff full of thorns, rocks and vines was still painful as hell. Still, the Man got onto his stubs and shrugged it off, receiving more painful stings coming from all over his body. He gritted his teeth and trudged onward, hauling his strange form forward like dead weight. He blinked, and was surprised (and a bit worried) when he realized how much effort it took to reopen his eyes. The Man realized how tired he was. He shook his head and trudged on. Every single cell in his body screamed at him to just drop to the ground and fall unconscious, but he would have none of that. He had to keep going. Then a thought came to him. Why was he so determined to leave? I just... I just want to be alone. But why...? Why did he want to be alone so badly? What had happened to him before he came here? And where was here? His thoughts were interrupted when he came to a clearing, and he saw the most peaceful thing he'd seen since he had been there. In the middle of the clearing was a crystal clear pond, reflecting the radiant full moon that was just poking its head over the tree line. To the left of the pond on the Man's side was a smaller, lone tree. The Man just stood there, frozen, gazing at the scenery in front of him. He felt peaceful. The pain was subsiding, his body stopped screaming, and instead, one word rang through his mind: Tired. So very tired... The Man slowly shuffled toward a patch of grass between the tree and the pond. He stood on it for a moment, looking off at the moon. Then, carefully, he looked over the edge of the pond and into the reflective water... What he saw was... confusing. His face was no longer human. His eyes were significantly larger, almost freakishly so, and seemed to have an enhanced glistening effect from the moonlight. He had some sort of snout which held his nostrils and his mouth, which actually looked human, seeing as the Man could read his own facial expressions. His ears were that of a mammal's, like a dog, or cattle of some sort, and were sticking upright. in between them was his hair, which appeared black, and was in a mess. It was then that he noticed that his gray skin was in fact fur. The Man stared blankly at the... thing looking up at him from the water, and said the only thing that came to mind... "...What!?" The Man proceeded to have a coughing fit, and fell to the ground. He realized he hadn't used his voice yet in this alien body. At least he knew he had a voice now. And it sounded like his. After his lungs were stable again, the Man decided to just sit and look at the pond. Eventually, he found a comfortable position, sitting down with his leg stubs spread to his sides and his arm stubs on the ground. Something like what a frog would do, but less extreme. He stared into the water... and waited. For what... he didn't know. He ignored all the pain, just relaxed, and stared into the water, thinking. A long time passed. Well, it might have been a long time... maybe an hour, or... it could've been a few minutes, the Man didn't know. He didn't care either. The woods weren't exactly silent- there was a soft breeze that brushed through the trees, and several insects chirped as well. It wasn't annoying, oh, no, on the contrary. The Man felt the whole atmosphere was serene. Still. He didn't pay too much attention to it. He dwelled back on his past, trying to uncover anything that was lost and explain why he was here. However, it's difficult to remember something right off the bat. No one can just call up memories like a file on a computer. The memories come to you. All he could remember were a few childhood memories that had come to him earlier... The Man exhaled and closed his eyes. He just... wanted... He heard something behind him, like a rustling of leaves. He opened his eyes, but didn't take them off the water. If it was what he thought it was... After a pause, he heard light footsteps approaching him. It is. The Man just sat there. He had no more energy to run, and the serene environment had enchanted him to not move from his position. He kept his eyes fixed on the reflection of the moon in the water. The footsteps got closer. There were most likely two of them, from what the Man could figure. They stopped. "Sir..." came a young feminine voice. "Are you alright...?" The Man didn't reply. He waited to see what the woman would do next. He heard her sit down behind him, to his right. "You're beat up really bad... Why did you run from the hospital...?" The Man remained silent. "Sir... can you hear me...?" The Man did nothing for a moment. Then, he slowly nodded. There was a pause. "...Can you speak...?" The Man waited a moment again. "...Yes," he croaked in a dark tone. "...What's your name?" The Man said nothing. More silence. The woman cleared her throat and started to say, "My name-" "What happened." The Man said it like a statement. "I'm sorry?" "What happened to me." Silence. "I... don't know what you mean, you fell-" "Don't bullshit me!" the Man yelled. He turned his arm stubs over and looked down at them. "First I lose nearly all my memories, then I fall from the sky, and wake up in an alien body...!" The Man gritted his teeth and turned to the woman behind him, yelling- "WHAT-!...happened..." The Man's face shifted from anger to awe. The woman behind him... was just like him. Not exactly the same... but she was in the same kind of body. She had lavender fur, and plum hair. She was looking at him with violet eyes... and a look of shock. She had some kind of horn protruding from her forehead. The Man the realized something. "My God..." he said quietly. "They did it to you, too..." The purple female gave him a quizzical look. He reached over to her face and gently touched her jaw with his stub. She recoiled sightly, and was obviously uncomfortable with this, but she let it happen. He turned her head left and right, examining her. "You're just like me..." He looked down at her limbs, and saw that she, too, had stubs. She also seemed to be sitting in a much more comfortable position than the Man. "Stubs and everything..." he muttered. "Are... you okay, sir...?" she asked slowly. The Man took his stub away and turned to face his body to her, which caused him to cringe and grunt as he reopened wounds he didn't know he had. "I'm so sorry. Tell me, do you have any idea what they've done to us in that... 'hospital'...?" The female blinked. "What are you talking about!?" she asked with clear confusion and slight annoyance. "The bodies!" the Man said. He motioned to the female and himself. "Our bodies! What did they do to us to make us look like this, and why?" The female just stared at him like he had gone insane. Which he probably had. Now that the Man thought about it, if she didn't know what he was talking about, he would look like a lunatic. He let his arms drop to the ground and lowered his head, letting out a sigh. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you...?" "Not a clue." The Man remained silent and stared at the ground. "...Maybe you should come back to the hospital." The Man's head snapped up and he backed away slightly. "N-no!" he stuttered. "Not until I get some answers!" The female sighed. "Look," she said in a soft tone of voice, "I'll answer any and all questions you may have. But first, you need to get back to the hospital. We need to patch up those wounds of yours." She gave a kind smile. "I promise I'll answer your questions." She held her stub in the direction of the way she came from. The Man was hesitant. He didn't trust nameless organizations, especially the ones who acted kind yet vague. They also tended to use 'we' a lot. "Please," she said quietly. He looked at the female's face. Her kind, human smile... her pleading bright eyes... They held no devious or ominous intentions. The Man had dealt with such before... he knew what they looked like. Wait... How do I know that...? I can't remember anything like that... He shook his head. Regardless. I'm fairly certain I can trust her. Whatever she is... Besides. If it means getting answers... He sighed. "...Fine." Her calm smile grew slightly as she gestured toward the forest. The Man slowly got up, wincing in pain. The female quickly picked up on this. "Do-" "-I'm fine," said the Man through clenched teeth. He finally got on his stubs, and attempted to shamble towards the forest... only to collapse on his right arm stub and hit the ground with a thud. "Ack- dammit!" "You're not fine!" The female walked up to the Man and helped him up. She put his arm over her shoulders, supporting his weight. "There. Now come on." She smiled before guiding him forward. The Man was inclined to say thank you, but he stopped himself. He still didn't know where exactly she was taking him, so there wouldn't be any appreciation just yet. They slowly made their way to the edge of the clearing. The Man had trouble keeping up with the fluid motion of the female's walking pattern, but since she was supporting him, she helped him along. The Man looked back once more at the tranquil scene behind him. He could have sworn he saw someone sitting at the edge of the lake, but at a second glance, there was no one there. Author's Note Some of John's memories are actual instances that have occurred in my life, such as this one right here. The more darker ones are most likely NOT from my life. The peaceful, philosophical ones on the other hand, may be. Just a lil' fun fact. -Raptor
QuestionLater in the evening, the Boy was sitting in the crowded restaurant, surrounded by his family, who all gathered here for a small reunion, and strangers, who came for their own purposes. The Boy looked at all the people around him. "Each one of these people has a story to tell," he thought. "A long story, for each and every one of them. With high points... and low points... everyone here has a story to tell." The Boy's eyes fell upon the girl, and he smiled. "Well, except for you. Your story isn't that long, and the rest is yet to be written." He looked around again. "That goes for all of you. You have a long story to tell, but your story hasn't ended. There is always more to write. "Everyone's story never stops writing." "...For better or worse." The hike back to the hospital was difficult for a unicorn like Twilight. Not only were they a good distance away from the edge of the forest, but she had to support a strange wounded stallion who, apparently, didn't know how to walk properly. He remained silent for a long while, which was interesting, considering he had so many questions not moments ago. Every once and a while, Twilight would steal a glance at him. He looked like he was deep in concentration, but it was hard to tell. He had such an empty gaze... almost as if he were... hollow. Several minutes passed, filled with awkward silence. Awkward for her, at least. Twilight felt that she should probably comfort him in some way. She cleared her throat. "So..." "Where are you taking me, again...?" the stallion asked suddenly. Twilight was surprised at the change. "We're... going back to the hospital." The stallion scoffed. "So that's what they call it, huh...?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean...?" The stallion glanced at her briefly, pursing his lips, but said nothing. A few more minutes passed before the stallion continued with his next question. "What did they do to us," he said, "back at the 'hospital'?" "'Us'?" Twilight repeated. "They didn't do anything to me. The tended to your wounds, I just came by to visit, since I was the one who found you. I was just worried about you." She smiled. "Which is also why I came looking for you." The stallion remained silent for a moment, showing no gratitude. "I mean..." the stallion paused. "What did they do to make us look like... this." Twilight rose her eyebrow again. "What? Everyone looks like this." The stallion scoffed again, this time in a more amused manner, nodding a bit with the slightest smirk on his muzzle. "Yeah, I'm sure they told you that, too," he muttered. "I think you mean, 'everyone I know looks like this.'" He shook his head and looked off into the passing trees. Twilight wore a very puzzled expression. "What are you talking about?!" The stallion said nothing. Twilight sighed and focused on the pathway. They had finally cleared the forest when Twilight spotted the doctor and the nurse in the distance. She called out to them; "Doctor! I found him!" Both ponies' heads turned, and they started galloping towards her. The stallion looked up at the approaching figures, and raised an eyebrow. When the two came up to them, they quickly examined the stallion. "I found him in a clearing past the thick brush in the forest," Twilight explained. "He's got some serious cuts and bruises." The doctor noticed the wounds all over the patient's body. "Sweet Celestia, man, are you out of your mind?!" he exclaimed. "You could've killed yourself out there! Why did you try to escape?" The stallion narrowed his eyes at the word "escape", but said nothing. Nurse Redheart put her hooves to his side and examined one of the cuts up close. "Doctor, we should bandage him right away," she said. The doctor nodded. "Agreed," he said. He turned to Twilight. "Thank you for your help, Twilight. Redheart and I can take it from here. Could you please tell security we've retrieved the patient?" Twilight nodded and let the nurse support the stallion while she ran off to the security guards milling about down the road. The doctor helped Redheart with the stallion, carrying him back inside the hospital. The Man woke up once more. This time, he was in a much brighter environment. He was in another white room, staring up at the ceiling. Sunlight shone through a window behind him. There was a breeze brushing through the nearby trees as birds chirped happily. The Man groaned. He looked down at his stubbed body, noticing several bandages everywhere. At least he wasn't hooked up to anything his time. A clock on the wall showed that it was around 2:30, most likely in the afternoon. I guess I really was tired. He thought back to the events of last night. He escaped the "hospital", found the clearing, found the other... subject, then returned to the "hospital". That was when things got strange. The doctor and the nurse also had similar bodies... what could that mean? Were the more "trusted" subjects allowed to wander the compound? Was there some kind of isolated community of these... subjects, in which some were entrusted with jobs, such as the two in the medical field? Whatever the reason, the Man wanted answers. And yet, he had a feeling he wasn't going to get anything useful out of the others. The way that purple female reacted to his questions certainly said something about what these things knew. Still, he may as well give it a try. The Man had his eyes closed when there was a knock on the door. He woke up from his dozing and looked at the clock. Several minutes had passed since he woke up. Before he could mutter the words "come in," the door opened, and a cute white face poked in. The Man had to admit, the simplicity of these bodies made them look like some sort of adorable pet. He recognized the face as the nurse from last night. When she saw that he was awake, she smiled at him and entered. "Good morning!" she said kindly. The Man furrowed his brow at her. "Isn't it the afternoon...?" he said. The nurse walked in. "It most certainly is," she said, keeping her warm, friendly tone. "You slept for quite a while after we treated you." She walked up to the end of the bed and examined the clipboard. "Considering how much you had been through, I'm honestly surprised you're awake now." This nurse was certainly good at her job, the Man gave her that. She wasn't focused on why he did what he did, but more on how he was doing. He struggled to sit upright, only to get a stab of pain shoot through every muscle in his torso. The Man cringed, and the nurse quickly went to his side. "Now now," she said, "take it easy." She gently supported his torso and helped him into a comfortable upright position. "You suffered some pretty bad cuts and bruises, along with some minor lacerations. Don't strain yourself too much." Once he was sitting in a comfortable position, he nodded to her in thanks. "Now," she said, stepping back, "unfortunately, we have some paperwork to do later on today." There it is. "But for now, is there anything you need?" She cocked her head and smiled at him. The Man shook his head. "No, thank you," he said. "Are you sure?" she replied. "Are you hungry? Thirsty, maybe?" The Man's throat was dry as a desert. However, he wasn't going to go trusting these things just yet. "I'm fine, thank you," he replied. An old motto suddenly popped into his head... "Take no risks, trip no traps." He didn't remember where or when he heard that, but he still got a feeling that it was only half of the full saying. "Well, alright," the nurse said, walking towards the door. "Just press that button over there if you need me." She backed out slowly and gently shut the door behind her. The Man looked over to where she had pointed, noticing a red button on the wall labeled "CALL NURSE". He laid back against the propped-up pillow. I guess now's a good time to think up some questions, he thought. An hour passed. The Man had dazed in and out of consciousness. But his questions were, for the most part, ready by the time the nurse returned. She knocked on the door, like she did before, and the Man permitted her entrance. She entered, and gave the Man a kind smile, like she did before. "How are you doing?" she asked softly, like she did before. The Man gave a small, stiff shrug. "Fine," he muttered. "Is it time for the paperwork now...?" The nurse appeared slightly surprised by this, but didn't show it much. "Oh, well, we can do it now, if you're up for it." The Man nodded slowly. "Alright then." The nurse went over to the clipboard at the foot of the bed and grabbed it with her right stub. "Before we begin," she said, looking back up at the Man, "is there anything I can get you? Food? Drinks...?" The Man shook his head. "No, thank you." This time, the nurse furrowed her brow and cocked her head at him. "Are you sure?" she said in a more confused manner. "You were unconscious almost all day yesterday, you didn't eat or drink at all. Aren't you hungry or thirsty?" The Man sighed. He was very hungry and thirsty. Eventually, he would have to accept sustenance from these... things. Might as well start now. Besides, if they wanted to poison or drug him, they could've done it at any time while he was sleeping. Now that he thought about it, avoiding food and drinks given to him seemed like a dumb move on his part. "Fine," he said. "I mean... yes, some water would be nice." The nurse returned to her smile and exited the room. A few minutes later, she returned with a tall glass of ice-cold water resting on a tray, which she held in her mouth. The Man felt that to be a bit odd, but compared to everything else he'd been through so far, and with the body configuration, it was... understandable. She set the tray down on a small table next to the bed, and the Man noticed that there was also a plate with half a small loaf of bread and an apple. When he looked at the nurse, she smiled at him. "Just in case you get hungry," she said. The Man couldn't help but smile at her in appreciation. "Now, then," she said, walking over to the clipboard again. "Shall we begin...?" The Man nodded. He'd let her ask her questions first, then he'd ask his. She took the clipboard off, went over to a chair, sat down, and took out a pencil. "Okay, first. Name?" The Man frowned and looked at her. "You don't know my name...?" he questioned. "We found it odd, too," the nurse replied. "For some reason, the Equestrian database couldn't recognize you. Are you a resident here?" The Man blinked. What do horse races have to do with this...? he thought. He shook his head. "Uh, no, I'm-- well... I don't know, exactly..." The nurse slowly nodded. "I... see..." she whispered. "So, what is your name, then?" The Man hesitated. His name was John Clarke. But they didn't know who he was. That meant he could at least hide his name, as an extra sense of security. Not for him, but for his... He narrowed his eyes. For... someone. Someone else named... Clarke... Still, refusing to give these things a name would be pretty suspicious. He thought for a moment. "...Connor," he said. "Connor Ramsey." The Nurse raised an eyebrow at him, as if it were an unusual name. "I... see..." she said again. She looked down at the clipboard. "Could you spell that, please?" "Um... sure." Was that name really that uncommon to them...?The Man watched as the nurse put the pencil in her mouth and lowered it to the paper. Another odd thing to do, but once again, it seemed the most appropriate, given the bodies. "Connor: see-oh-en, en-oh-are, Ramsey, are-ae-em, es-ee-wie." The nurse seemed to be able to write fluently and with precision with the awkward holding technique. When she finished, she looked up at him and dropped the pencil in her stub. "Alright, date of birth?" she asked. "June 2nd, 1987." The nurse once again looked at him quizzically. "...What calendar is that...?" she asked. "The... Astronomical calendar...?" This was getting stranger and stranger. "I... see..." she whispered once more. "Sex, male... Blood type?" "B positive." "...Any medical disabilities...?" The Man paused. He only now realized how quickly he answered the past few questions without thinking. How did he know these things with little to no memories? And now that he reached this question, he couldn't think of anything. "I... don't know, I... can't remember." "Oh, alright, then, that's okay. Medical insurance coverage?" "Um... no." "None...?" "None." "Alright... Is there someone you want us to contact?" "..." "Mr. Ramsey...?" "...No. No one." "There's-" "There's no one." "Oh..." The nurse's face showed sorrow and confusion. "Okay, then... Are you a citizen of Equestria..?" ... ...The fuck is Equestria...? "Uh... No." "Really...?" She said, again giving him a confused look. "Well then, where are you from?" The Man thought for a moment. "Uh, the United... Um... The United... Kingdom...? No, that was... No... States. The United States. Of... Er... America. I think..." The nurse just stared at him for a moment. Then, she set the clipboard down and cocked her head. "Sir, how much of this do you actually, truly remember?" The Man felt very confused. Why were these answers so hard for the nurse to believe? Were any of these memories true, or were words and numbers just jumbling around in his brain? Did the human mind even work that way? Then again, he wasn't sure if he was human anymore. "I... Don't know," the Man whispered. "I'm sorry, I just... I just don't..." "It's okay," the nurse's soft, calming voice chimed in. The Man looked at her, and she smiled. "We can worry about all this later. How about for now you take some time to rest and gather your thoughts, okay...?" The Man still had his questions to ask. He needed the answers, and yet... after realizing how much he had to know about himself, he came to the conclusion that he should question the past before he questions the present. Not to mention all this was causing him to lose focus altogether. He closed his eyes, sighed through his nostrils, and nodded. "...Okay." The nurse smiled, placed the clipboard back on the end of the bed, and walked to the door. "Nurse...?" "Hmm...?" The nurse turned and faced the Man. "...What's your name...?" he asked quietly. The nurse smiled. "Redheart," she said. "Nurse Redheart." The Man hesitated. It was a somewhat odd name, so it fit well with everything else. "Redheart..." the Man repeated. "Nice to meet you." "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Ramsey." The Man cringed. He already felt a small pang of guilt for lying to her. She turned and walked out the door, flicking the light switch on her way out, plunging the room into a soft darkness, revealing several lines of sunlight peeking through the shades behind the bed. She started closing the door. "And, nurse...?" She poked her head in and looked at the Man once more. He smiled at her. "...Thank you." Redheart smiled back at him, and closed the door. The Man's smile slowly faded. He sighed, closed his eyes, laid back, and gritted his teeth. Redheart sighed as she walked back to the desk. Dr. Stable was already there, and saw her approaching. "Find anything about our special patient, nurse?" he asked. Redheart shook her head. "Not much. He's been giving me a lot of gibberish. Said his name was 'Connor Ramsey'. He can't remember much, all his thoughts are jumbled. We should give him some time to relax and collect himself." The doctor slowly nodded. "Hrm... what did you find out?" he asked. "Not much. He said he was born in the year of '1987', according to the 'astronomical calendar', that he had no insurance or emergency contacts, and that he wasn't even from Equestria." Dr. Stable blinked. "Really, now...?" Redheart nodded. "Yes. He said it like he hadn't even heard of it before. It was then when I asked him if he could really remember anything correctly. He seemed so confused, so I guess we can discredit almost every piece of information he gave us." The doctor sighed and adjusted his glasses. "...Alright. We'll keep an eye on him for now. If he remembers anything, be sure to let me know." "Of course, doctor." He glanced at the clock above the front desk. "Well, my break's just about done. I've got something else to attend to. Keep me posted." The nurse nodded, and he trotted off. Stable opened the door to his darkened office, the dust particles in the air illuminated by the light slipping through the the blindfolds behind his desk. Comfortable with the low-light environment, the doctor walked around the desk and sat down. he looked around the room. On his right was his doctorate on the wall and a picture of his family on his desk. In front of him as the door and blinded windows leading out to the hallway, and a dusty, barely used chair sitting across from him. Stable never really used the office that much; he really only used it to store his coat and belongings for the work day. A potted plant rested calmly on a small table to the left. But out of the corner of the doctor's eye, to the left of him was a tall, silver figure. He shut his eyes and sighed deeply. His eyes opened, but when he turned to look at it, there was nothing there.
