Chapters Jake could feel himself hurtling through something. Actually something wasn’t the right word. Mostly because all he could see was a never-ending black void.
“Think man what was it you were doing that led you to this point?” Jake said to himself, trying to rub his temples, only to discover that he didn’t have temples at the moment, or hands for that matter. “O.k. this is too weird, I have to be dreaming, that’s the only explanation for all of this… Hold on if I’m dreaming then why do I feel like I’m about to get sick? Can you throw up in a dream? I hope not.”
“Cease your prattling you fool!” Boomed a voice that seemed to surround Jake.
“What the hell?” Jake gasped, “Who are you and what do you want with me?”
“I am known as Physica, Master of Gravity of the land I hail from, as for what I want from you…” the voice paused and grinned for a moment. Jake shuddered, realizing he could tell the thing he was talking to was smiling without seeing it’s face. “Let’s just say you have a special skill that I will find very useful.” The voice sneered, each word dripping with an ancient power.
Jake wanted to laugh in this thing’s nonexistent face.
‘What skill could I possibly have that this thing doesn’t?’ he thought. “This thing’s an all powerful master of gravity, while I’m just an average, everyday… what am I again… a human that’s it!’ ‘Wait why am I having difficulty remembering something like what species I belong to?’ Jake was about to laugh nervously when the voice broke out into it’s own chuckle. It was a sharp, metallic sound, like a knife being drawn over a whetstone.
“It seems you have discovered your amnesia. A side-effect from pulling you into this world, but it does not matter.” The voice explained, devoid of sympathy.
“Doesn’t matter!” cried Jake, feeling anger and anxiety rise up in what should have been his chest. “Listen here Physics, or Physical, or whatever your name is! I think it’s pretty damn important that I don’t have my memories, so why don’t you shut the hell up and leave me alone! Wait did you just say you pulled me into your world?”
“That is correct my young and confused friend and my name is Physica. Insult me again and it will not go unpunished!”
“Sheesh, I’m sorry. Won’t happen again, now can you tell me what I’m supposed to do because as interesting as it is to talk to you I kind of want to get a move on.” Jake sighed.
“Hmmm… As you wish. I want you to use your ability on the princesses so I may finally be rid of them. Do this and I will return you to your world.”
“And what if I tell these princesses everything you just said.” Jake smirked; he didn’t shudder this time because he stopped questioning it and played along. “Something tells me that they’d be very interested in this little plot of yours.”
“I assure you that telling them will be quite impossible. When you wake up you will remember nothing of this conversation. All that will remain of this exchange is the desire to use your ability on the princesses.” The voice laughed, it would have been an almost pleasant sound if it weren’t for the malicious undertones that swarmed through it. “Now Be GONE WITH YOU JAKE VALENTINE!”
In an instant Jake felt himself accelerate to an alarming speed and then winked out of existence in the dark maw of the void. He would have screamed but the sound was beaten down into his throat.
The next moment Jake could feel himself on solid ground. Dazed and confused he rubbed the back of his head only to cringe in pain. In the back of his mind he could here the soft songs of birds and the peeps of squirrels in trees.
‘This is really weird’ Jake thought. ‘What the hell am I doing here and why does my head feel like I went a few rounds with a brick wall? Oh man! What’s going on! No, calm down Jake. Just think about everything you know and maybe some of this will make sense. Let’s see: my name… is Jake Valentine, I’m a… human, my only memories seem to be who and what I am, I have the mother of all headaches at the moment and… and… do I smell apples?’
Jake was about to freak out thinking he’d had a stroke or a concussion, or any other form of head trauma. Then, reminded himself that none of the symptoms for those conditions were smelling apples. At least he thought that was the case.
Jake rubbed his eyes and squinted in preparation for the harsh rays of the morning he had felt beating down on him. Once he was acclimated to the light he fully opened his eyes to discover he was standing on the edge of an apple orchard. He sighed in relief and warily picked himself off the grass he’d been laying on. That was when he noticed how bright and vibrant everything was. The grass was a sharp, crisp green. The trees were a soft brown; the apples in the distance were a vibrant, welcoming, ruby-like color. What should have been a welcoming scene only made Jake cringe and feel out of place.
“This is too freaky.” Jake said to no one in particular.
Before it had a chance to burst into his mind, Jake thought he heard voices behind him. He turned to see a strange wooden structure in a tree. It was a peach color with hearts on the shutters and the door. The thing that peaked Jake’s curiosity was the ramp with raised bumps on it, similar to the entranceway of chicken coops. It seemed obvious to Jake that it belonged to a little kid and a town would have to be close by. He started walking toward the small clubhouse and crouched to knock on the door, but stopped when the voices became clear enough for him to make out what they were saying.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders!” cheered a high-pitched tomboyish voice. “What’s the plan to earn our cutie marks today?”
‘Cutie what?’ Jake sniggered, continuing to listen.
“Well ah think we should try an’ do fancy lasso tricks, like Applejack,” beamed a voice with a southern accent.
“Or, maybe we could earn it for acting,” suggested an annoyingly cute high-pitched voice.
“Nah, that’s all way too boring.” The tomboyish voice retorted. “We need an action packed, mane raising, adrenaline pumped adventure! What we need is to go treasure hunting in the Everfree Forest!”
“I don’t know Scootaloo that sounds awful dangerous.”
“Yeah, what if we run into somethin’ really scary?”
“Don’t be such scaredy-fillies, Rainbow Dash just told me about this book she read about a mare called Daring Do: who goes off on adventures in dangerous places in search of lost treasure!” Exclaimed the tomboyish voice in a flourish of excitement.
“Scootaloo, that’s just a book, none of its true.”
“Just because the story’s fake doesn’t mean treasure is, and there’s no better place to hide a treasure than the Everfree Forest!”
I don’t know…”
“Look, if it gets really dangerous we can always go to Zecora’s, she’ll know what to do.”
“Ok ah'll do it,” replied the southern accented voice.
“I’ll do it too,” chimed in the third voice.
“Awesome!”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Treasure Hunters go!” They all cried in unison.
Jake heard the heavy clop of footsteps on the wooden floor of the tree-house and started to back away. Some how he had forgotten about the ramp and fell backwards, injuring his already aching head. The voices obviously heard the noise of the crash and rushed out the door. Jake heard gasps of fear, confusion, and excitement above him and looked up to see three very confused… horses?
Jake almost went completely slack jawed at what his mind was telling him he was seeing. In front of him were strange multicolored horse-like creatures.
‘Wait, what are those tiny horse things called again… ponies that’s it! At least my amnesiac brain knows what to call these things.’
All three of the ponies charged Jake. His only thought was to run. He scrambled to his feet and ran like a bat out of hell towards a dark, forbidding forest that was a sharp contrast to the happy scene running from.
“Talking ponies!” Jake screamed, gaining distance on the little fillies that were enjoying their new plaything. “I’m either in a little girl’s dream, or much more likely my own personal Hell!”
Jake stopped to catch his breath after sprinting for five minute under one of the foreboding trees that the forest he had escaped into was comprised of. He could here stamping hooves in the distance getting closer to him. Jake thought it would be best to hide in the tree and let them pass.
A minute later the ponies stopped at his location to look around for him. Jake held his breath for a moment, pressing himself against the branch he was laying on as hard as he dared. They eventually said something along the lines of they must have just missed him and pressed forward. A minute after they left Jake slid out of the tree and sighed in relief.
‘Why did I run, I’m sure those things couldn’t have possibly harmed me. I mean they were like two feet tall, and aren’t ponies supposed to eat fruit and stuff? Then again those were talking, multicolored ponies with horns, and wings, and stuff, I might have been on the menu for all I know.’ Jake chuckled, ‘and why could I hear that one pony’s voice before she said anything? Oh well, it’s probably nothing.’
Jake was about to walk deeper into the forest while still avoiding the little pony creatures when heard screams of terror in the direction that the ponies went in.
Jake turned his head and sighed a little as he grumbled, “I’m probably gonna hate myself for this, but I can’t stand to have dead ponies on my conscience.” As he ran to the source of the screams.
Even though Jake knew absolutely nothing about himself it didn’t stop the three ponies from asking him as
“How’d you do all of that to the manticore?”
“Honestly I was running on instinct and adrenaline.”
“What’s that strange thing in your hand?”
Jake glanced down at his knife, noticing the dark green liquid at the end of the blade. Without thinking he wiped it off with his hand. His mind retched as his mind returned to the dead grass. He almost went into a state of shock, but noticed that his hand wasn’t disintegrating.
“Now that’s interesting.” Jake finally said with an enormous grin.
“What’s interestin’?” Apple Bloom asked, trembling slightly.
“Well, you saw what that manticore’s venom did to the grass.”
The three fillies nodded slowly, unsure of the point Jake was trying to make.
“Without thinking I wiped off the blood and venom on my hand, I thought the same thing would happen to me for a second, but nothing happened. Then, I thought that it might need to enter my blood to work.”
“SO YOU JUST SMEARED IT ONTO YOUR SHOULDER!” Sweetie Bell screeched, tears falling freely from her eyes. “YOU COULD HAVE DIED!”
“That’s not true; I could have just as easily lost the use of my arm.”
“Oh and that makes it better,” Scootaloo replied sarcastically, having already made the transition from fear to anger.
“Yes but I learned something very important. It seems manticore blood has something in it to cancel out their venom. That way they won’t die even if they accidentally stung themselves.
“Yea, but didja have to do that to yourself?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Sometimes learning requires risks.” Jake replied solemnly. Then switched to a maniacal grin, “Would you rather I had tried this out on one of you three. I’m still a little mad about that whole ‘Creature Catcher’ episode we had.”
“Uhhh… you know what, you make a good point” Scootaloo said, laughing nervously.
“Let’s forget the whole venom thing.” Sweetie Bell said, getting a grip on herself. “Why, can’t you remember anything?”
“Somehow I got amnesia, other than that I can’t tell you. The last thing I remember was waking up next to your clubhouse with a headache.”
“That is way too freaky.”
“I like to think that I specialize in freaky.”
“Still has to be sad though.” Apple Bloom stated. “Not bein’ able to remember anypony ya used to know.”
“I guess in a way it could be sad, but I can’t be upset about losing something if I don’t know what it is I lost.”
The group was silent the rest of the walk. They returned to the orchard late in the afternoon. Jake stopped at the edge of the forest and smiled at the three fillies.
“Well girls I had a lot of fun, but I have to get going.”
“Ya mean you’re leavin’ us so soon?” Apple Bloom asked, giving him puppy dog eyes.
“You wanna hang out with me more?” Jake laughed at the suggestion.
“Well yeah! You took on a manticore like it was nothing.” Scootaloo beamed.
“And you don’t have any memories, we could help you.” Sweetie Bell added.
Jake was shocked at their offer. For some reason someone offering him help was a foreign concept to him. It almost made him tear up a little.
“Exactly, we’ll help you with whatever you need. So, from now on you’re gonna be an honorary member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Thanks you three, despite a rather shaky first encounter you’re alright.
“Great! Let’s introduce you to everypony in town.” Scootaloo said.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You three called me a creature and started chasing me when you first saw me; I’d hate to know what an entire town full of excitable ponies would do.” Jake laughed, only half joking. “Besides it’s late and there are a few things I need to take care of.”
“Where do ya plan on sleepin’?” Apple Bloom interjected.
“Somewhere in the forest I guess.”
“How ‘bout ya use our clubhouse.”
“That might not be a good idea either; you said your sister checks up on you every now and then, right?” Jake asked, “What do you think she’d do when she saw a ‘creature’ sleeping in her sister and her friends’ clubhouse.”
“She’d probably buck it” Apple Bloom said, a somber tone in her voice.
“Exactly, and if she’s able to knock apples out of trees with a single kick; I’m gonna do my best to avoid receiving one.”
“Fine,” Scootaloo huffed. “If you’re not gonna live in the clubhouse make sure to return here tomorrow afternoon, when we’re done with school.”
“I read you loud and clear. See ya tomorrow, try to avoid getting into trouble, ok?” Jake called out, melting into the shadows of the forest a few moments later.
The three fillies let out a collective sigh as their new friend disappeared. Sweetie Bell was the first to recover and said, “Jake seems really nice.”
“I know,” Scootaloo continued, “taking on that manticore to save us. He wasn’t even angry about us chasing him. I hate to say it, but he might be just as awesome as Rainbow Dash, even if he is almost as weird as Pinkie Pie.”
“I jus’ wish there was somethin’ we could do for him. How are we supposed to help somepony with amnesia?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Hmmm… we could always ask somepony how they’d deal with it.” Sweetie Bell suggested.
“That’s a great idea! We should each ask somepony what they would do if they had amnesia and meet up tomorrow to share what we learned!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
The trio sprinted off, each with somepony in mind that they wanted to ask.
Apple Bloom rushed off to the family farm, finding a familiar orange mare pulling in the last cart of apples for the day. “Howdy there Sugar Cube,” The orange mare greeted in a southern accent similar to the little filly’s , “did you an’ the Crusaders have a fun day of adventurin’?”
“Yeah, we did.” Apple Bloom started shuffling her hooves nervously. “Apple Jack, what would ya do if ya had amnesia and didn’t have anypony ya knew to help ya?”
“Now where’d that come from, Sugar Cube?”
“Scootaloo told us about a book where somepony got it, and we started wonderin’ what it would be like to have it.” Apple Bloom spurted out, praying to Celestia that she hadn’t accidentally exposed Jake.
Apple Jack narrowed her gaze and a slight scowl sprouted at the end of her muzzle. “Normally I’d say that Scootaloo talkin’ about books is fishy, but ever since Dash has been so gung ho on Daring Do I can believe it.”
Apple Bloom silently let out a sigh of relief and turned her attention back to her older sister.
“Shucks, that really is a tough question.” Apple Jack chuckled while she thought. “But, if I was bein’ honest I’d have to say that I’d be real lonely for a while...”
Apple Bloom’s suspicions were confirmed, and started to wonder if Jake was alright.
“Then, after I was done feelin’ sorry for myself I’d pick myself up and try my darndest to figure out who I was."
A big smile broke out on Apple Bloom's face as she thanked her sister and ran inside to get ready for dinner. Apple Jack just stood where she was for a moment and shook her head.
"I swear that little filly is the strangest little thing." Then she returned to her final chore for the day and followed her little sister's example.
Scootaloo had to wander around for a while before She finally found Rainbow Dash. The first thing she did was look for her at her favorite places to take a nap. Then at Sugar Cube Corner where she was almost caught in a lengthy conversation with Pinkie Pie. Only to be saved by Twilight a few moments later. She was just about to give up and ask somepony else when she looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, remembering that there was a rain shower scheduled for tonight. Rainbow Dash was one of Ponyville's top weather pegasi, so she had to be somewhere in the sky.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo called out.
"Whaddya want squirt?" Replied a certain cyan pegasus a moment later, standing on a cloud.
"Rainbow Dash! I've been looking all over for you!"
"Well, here I am." Rainbow Dash replied proudly. "Let me guess, you want more tips on flying, don't you?"
Scootaloo was almost tempted to say yes, but realized that helpimg the new crusader came first. "Actually Rainbow Dash, I wanted to ask you what you would do if you got amnesia and didn't have anypony you knew around to help you?"
"Now what in the hay would you ask that for?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. Then, her rosy eyes went went wide and she started saying "ohmygosh" over and over to herself for a while. Finally the rainbow-maned pegasus calmed down enough to exclaim, "You've read, "Daring Do And the City of the Seapony"!" In the fifth chapter Daring flys through a lightning storm and gets struck, and when she woke up she had amnesia! It was so AWESOME!"
"Uhhh, yeah I did."
"If it was me..." Rainbow Dash stated, switching from fangirl mode to standard Rainbow Dash bragging at the speed of a sonic rainboom. "...I wouldn't waste any time being sad and just be awesome until I remembered everything!"
Scootaloo looked up at her idol in complete admiration. The response seemed to make sense to her. Jake had been laughing and joking about his amnesia with the crusaders while they were walking out of the forest.However, if she had paid closer attention she would've noticed the hesitant laugh Rainbow Dash had made when she was done speaking.
"Thanks, Rainbow Dash, you're a huge help!" Scootaloo yelled, running back home before the storm hit.
"No problem squirt." Rainbow Dash returned, jumping off her cloud to move it into formation.
Sweetie Bell slowed down at the entrance of the Carousel Boutique. If her sister Rarity was working on a big dress order she would have to be quiet. She remembered the last time she had interrupted her when she was in the middle of an order. Even though it had turned out fine in the end, it had been stressful for both sisters. When Sweetie Bell opened the door, she saw that Rarity had recently brushed her curvy violet mane, and had the distinct look of self-satisfaction on her face. This could only mean one thing, she had just finished an order.
"Ah, Sweetie Bell, darling, what a pleasant surprise." Rarity sang out to Sweetie Bell in a warm tone.
"Hey sis, I was hoping you would answer a question I had?"
"Of course, I will gladly answer any and all questions!" The snow white unicorn declared with a dramatic wave of the hoof.
"What would you do if you had amnesia?"
"Oh my Sweetie Bell, what a strange question. What made you think of such a terrible thing?"
"I read a book where a character got amnesia. I don't know how bad something like that is, so I wanted to ask you." Sweetie Bell lowered her head, hoping Rarity believed her.
"Your choice of literature aside..." Rarity started, trying to put loose strand of her mane back into place with one hoof. "I'd, have to say I would feel absolutely dreadful if I had amnesia... but if I had friends to help me I'm sure everything would be fine." Rarity said without her usual melodrama.
Sweetie Bell smiled up at her sister and said, "Thanks, Rarity."
"Think nothing of it, darling." She replied. "Now, would you like to see my latest creation, they're absolutely precious!"
Sweetie Bell nodded and followed her sister into the design room. Each of the crusaders couldn't wait for tomorrow, each having news that they thought would help their newest member.
Jake walked into the forest feeling good about himself. He’d killed a monster that outweighed him by nearly a ton, earned the admiration of three little ponies, and had a place to go to if everything went to hell, and something told him that it would.
Jake wandered aimlessly for an hour or so, trying to get used to the perpetual night that existed in the forest. After his talk with the Cutie Mark Crusaders he found out why the residents of Ponyville feared this place so much. It wasn’t just that it was dark and full of strange creatures; it was also because weather happened without the influence of the pegasi, and the animals that inhabited it took care of themselves. For some reason this was strange to Jake. Then again he was a human among unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies and dragons, all of which could talk. Before Jake knew it he was in the clearing where he had killed the manticore.
Looking at its limp body he started to pity it a little. That’s when an idea crossed his mind. Jake ducked into the forest for a minute or so and came back with a small bouquet of wildflowers that grew in the small rays of light around the dark trees. They weren’t all that impressive or attractive, but they served his purpose. Jake placed the bouquet in front of the dead creature’s face and closed its bloodshot yellow eyes.
“Hey, big guy, I’m sorry I had to kill you. I know you were only following your instincts. Big things eat little things, but those little things had hopes and dreams, and I had to save them.”
Jake felt odd about having a funeral for the manticore, but during the fight he had looked through the thing’s memories, and saw its life firsthand. Even if it was only in a small way he had established a connection between himself and the manticore. In a way it was like he was holding a funeral for himself.
Jake’s mind sifted through the details trying to make sense of it.
‘The only way I can make any sense of it is if I’m somehow able to read minds. Actually that explains a few things, like how I knew what the crusaders were going to say before they said it.’ A warm feeling spread in Jake’s body. He had just discovered a small piece of his past, even if it didn’t lead to any other memories.
“Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.” Jake muttered to himself.
His train of thought was interrupted by a loud gurgling noise coming from his stomach. After all of the excitement Jake had almost forgotten that he hadn’t eaten all day. Jake walked deeper into the forest and let nature set to work on the manticore’s corpse. After a while Jake had started to enjoy hunting. It gave him ample opportunity to practice his mind reading skills.
Jake learned that his power had some limitations. One being that he could only extend his mind to a diameter of one hundred meters, anything after that and he started to lose a grip on his own consciousness and could go mad. The other being that creatures with a strong will could push him out of their mind if he wasn’t careful.
However, his powers did have some upsides too. One was that he could do more than just read something’s thoughts and see memories; Jake could actually plant suggestions in minds. He discovered this when he was getting some water from a nearby stream, and hoped that he would be able to catch one of the fish. Almost instantaneously a fish jumped out of the stream and landed by his feet. He repeated the process a few times, taking delight in his newfound skill. At the end of his hunting he had managed to catch five fish and a rabbit.
“Not much, but not bad for my first time hunting,” Jake said to himself. “Now I need to gather some wood and start a fire.”
Suddenly Jake heard growling and saw glowing yellow eyes surrounding him. The snarling beasts stepped out of the darkness to reveal wolves that appeared to be made out of wood. They were almost three feet tall and the ends of their fangs looked like they could do more than give him splinters. Despite the danger he was in Jake smiled at the creatures.
“Perfect, now I can make my dinner and I get a little fun.” Jake chuckled and removed his knife from the sheath on his leg.
The wolves circled Jake while one that was larger than the rest made subtle body gestures at the others. Jake noted that this one was most likely the alpha and reached out to all of them with his mind. For a moment all of the wolves were calm and subdued while he gently searched through their minds and left suggestions for them to sleep. The alpha didn’t want any of it and snapped out of it, lunging at Jake. The others were about to follow suit but he lashed out with his mind and told them to obey. The alpha stared at his pack, puzzled. Then he returned his focus toward Jake, its eyes were glowing brighter than before.
“That’s right Fido, it’s just you and me… and I’m gonna be top dog.” Jake spat at the creature.
The Alpha realized it was being challenged and charged Jake. It tried to snap at his legs, but he quickly jumped and ran across its back. Jake landed opposite of the Alpha, turned, and slashed his knife at one of its rear legs. The Alpha howled in pain and Jake laughed at the thing.
“It looks like you’re all bark and no bite,” He laughed. “Oops, I guess that’s a double insult to one of you, isn’t it?”
The Alpha may not have understood what Jake had said, but it knew it was being mocked. It turned to face Jake and quickly lunged toward his neck. Instead of dodging Jake took his knife arm and jammed it down the Alpha’s throat. Blood dripped out of Jake’s arm and into the Alpha’s mouth. The Alpha had lost all the fury in its eyes. Instead, it looked up at the creature before it with fear.
“What’s wrong?” Jake asked in faux confusion. “Do I taste that bad? Well, I’m sorry that it’s not what you expected, but there are no substitutions for your last meal.”
With that, Jake took his free arm and drove it into the crudely woven branches that made up the Alpha’s spine. Jake heard the distinct sound of wood snapping and the pressure around his arm went slack and the Alpha’s glowing eyes went dark. Jake was about to admire his handiwork, when a wooden muzzle pushed on his arm. Jake turned to see the other wolves lying on the ground in front of him, awaiting orders from their new Alpha. He told them to leave with his mind and that he’d call on them when he needed them. He also told them to not harm any ponies that wandered into the woods, or else. They seemed to understand and ran back to their den.
Jake returned his attention back to the limp body of the wooden wolf and set to work on starting a fire.
“I can’t wait to tell the crusaders about this,” He mused to himself. “Maybe I should bring back some proof to show them.”
Jake brought the serrated edge of his knife down on the corpse’s neck and sawed off its head. The rest he cut off into various pieces and before he knew it had a fire going. In a few minutes all of the fish and the rabbit were cooking over the blaze and Jake took the time to relax. After his modest meal was finished, Jake’s thoughts started to wander.
‘How have I been able to do all of this? I can understand being born with the telepathy… I guess, but the way I fight, there’s something deliberate and systematic about my actions.’ Jake’s brow furrowed while he tried to recall something from his past. For a moment he thought he might succeed, but nothing.
“Auhhhhhgh!” Jake screamed, causing several animals in the forest to cry out into the night.
Jake’s anger subsided and depression took its place.
‘I really am pitiful, I can barely even remember my name, let alone how I can do what I do. Maybe I don’t want to know. What if I was a terrible person? What if I had a terrible past?’ Jake’s thoughts went from one extreme to another before he was finally able to calm down. ‘Whatever my past is I need to know what it is. It’s the only way I’ll be satisfied. But, I have a feeling learning my past will take some time.’
Jake sighed, and in the distance heard the screech of an owl. He took that as a signal to get some sleep, so he gathered up his possessions, which were his knife and the head of the wooden wolf, and got comfortable in a nearby tree before drifting off to sleep.
Jake was sitting on a raised, cushioned, table-like structure, in a white room decorated with posters labeled with the human anatomy. The room smelled like disinfectant and was filled with instruments he assumed were for medical use. Jake sat back on his would be throne with a wide grin on his face. Somehow Jake knew that in the dream he had just pulled a stunt that had backfired a little and now he was in a doctor’s office over it.
The doctor walked in, She was a woman in her late thirty’s with long blonde hair, deep green eyes, and soft, round features. Jake called out hello to her and noticed she was on the verge of tears. This couldn’t be good. Jake had been expecting her to tell him that he was too old to be pulling off silly pranks and that he should learn to act his age, an impish grin on her face all the while.
“Hey Doc, what’s wrong? It’s my eighteenth birthday, remember, so cheer up.” Jake said, his voice being forced out of his throat.
The woman nodded slowly and looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes. “Jake I know it is and I know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you have the right to know.”
“Jake, do you remember what I told you about baby birds?”
“You mean what happens when they grow up, yeah I remember, you’ve told me a hundred times. Why are you asking?” He asked, a knot starting to form in his stomach.
“Because it’s time for you to fly, baby bird.” She said while pulling out a knife and sheath. The same ones Jake carried now, and handed them to him.
“Doc, I don’t understand.”
“You have to leave, now.” The doctor pressed.
“Why? Did I do something wrong?!” Jake cried, getting up from his seat.
“No, it’s not what you did, it’s something I did.” She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say, “Jake, I’ve done many things. Some of them are terrible. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I have to say this. When I started out in medicine…”
Then something happened, it was like someone had just cut the audio to his dream. Jake could still see her expression, but he had no way of knowing what was being said. He wanted to scream in frustration and go on a rampage, but his dream self just sat there, quietly taking in whatever was being said. Then, as quickly as he had lost the sound it came back.
“Now do you understand?” The doctor said, still trying to fight back the tears that were trying to flow.
Jake trembled for a moment, his face stuck in an expression that was a mixture of rage and anguish. “How long have you known?” Was all Jake said.
“I’ve only found out recently. I’m sorry that it had to be this way.”
“I can’t exactly say I’m happy but… I do forgive you, Doc. After all, you didn’t know things would turn out this way.”
“Jake, thank you, you have no idea how much of a relief that is to hear!” The doctor cried, tears of joy flowing down her cheeks, as she had Jake locked in a hug.
“Don’t mention it. Now if you excuse me, this bird has some flying to do.” Jake said with the grin he had grown so accustomed to wearing.
And with that the dream melted away.
Jake sprang up on his tree branch, drenched in sweat and panting. “What the hell was that dream?” He wondered aloud. “Was that a memory or something? If it was then why couldn’t I hear some of it? This is infuriating!” He called out. Calming down a little he continued. “Then there’s the matter of what I could hear. Obviously, the woman in my dream was important to me. Could I have had romantic feelings for her?” Jake mulled this over for a moment and his brow furrowed. “No, that can’t be it, she was much older than I am and I didn’t feel anything in my dream that would indicate it. She might have just been a close friend or something. I probably won’t be able to figure it out unless the missing portion of that dream is revealed. Until then, I should just forget about it. At the very least I know how I got this.” He patted his shoulder where he had placed his knife before going to sleep, for easier access.
Having come to a conclusion he jumped out of the tree to start his day and reached his mind out to the life around him. Judging from the lack of activity he guessed that it was still early in the morning. He didn’t have to meet up with the crusaders until the afternoon, so he decided that it was the perfect opportunity to explore the forest. He set out and tried to find something interesting. Despite what he had said about trying to forget it, Jake’s thoughts kept coming back to the dream. He kept asking himself questions about who he was, and what the person in the dream meant to him. Jake had been wandering aimlessly. Before he knew it he was back in the clearing with the manticore again. He cursed under his breath and was about to change directions when he heard a strange noise coming from some bushes. Jake panicked for a moment and he rushed up into a tree to hide. When, a little creature came into his line of vision.
Fluttershy was out collecting herbs in the Everfree Forest because some of her sick animals needed medicine that she had run out of. She would ask Zecora to do it, but she liked knowing that she was helping the animals herself. Besides, she didn’t have to worry about the animals taking a turn for the worst because Angel bunny was looking after them. Normally, she was scared of the forest, but this early in the morning most of its scarier inhabitants were still asleep, so she could be alone with her thoughts. Not only that, but she always had her special stare to fall back on. Just as she was about to call the forest peaceful, she saw a manticore corpse in a clearing It was in a sad state, with its cut off tail. She flitted up to its back and saw all sorts of strange wounds. They almost looked like claw marks, but they didn’t match any claws that she knew of. That’s when she noticed the strangest thing of all. Somepony had left flowers for the dead manticore. “What could have done all this?” Fluttershy asked, tears streaming down her face.
‘That was me,’ said a voice in her head.
Jake was about to laugh at himself when he saw the yellow pegasus walk into the clearing. Then he remembered that he was trying to avoid contact with anypony and realized that he had made the right call. He returned his gaze toward the pegasus and saw the fear and pain in its large cyan eyes. Jake saw that she was almost crying while she examined the thing’s wounds. She stopped at the manticore’s face and asked while crying, “What could do all this?”
Jake knew he would hate himself for doing this, but the way she looked so upset about the creature’s death, he couldn’t stop himself. ‘That was me,’ he called out to her with his thoughts. To say she was scared would be an understatement. She jumped at least eight feet in the air; wings snapping shut at her side, and hid behind the corpse of the manticore.
“H… hello,” she managed to say after a while, poking her head up from the manticore’s body.
‘Sorry, I didn’t think you would react like that.’
“Its… fine, I was just surprised is all, I’ve never had anypony talk to me in my thoughts before.” She said, still slightly apprehensive.
‘You still haven’t, I’m not a pony.’
“Oh well, if you’re not a pony then, what are you?” she asked, her ears perked up slightly.
‘I’m a big scary forest monster.’ And just like that she was behind the manticore again. ‘I was just kidding… uh what is your name exactly?’
“My name is… umm its Fluttershy.” She said, a part of her pink mane obscuring her face.
‘My name is Valentine.’ Jake cursed at using a part of his real name.
“It’s… nice to meet you Valentine, but you still didn’t answer my question, that is if you’re okay with answering it.”
‘The thing is I don’t really know. I mean I know what I am, but I don’t really know what it means to be what I am. I’m sorry; I guess I’m not making any sense at all am I?’ Jake hadn’t meant to say everything that he had. It was just… something about Fluttershy’s voice was so soothing; it reminded him of the woman from his dream.
“Oh no no no, you’re fine.” She assured him. “You poor thing, it sounds like you have amnesia. You must be so sad.”
‘Sad may not be the best word for it: angry, confused, and depressed, that seems to be a better fit.’ Jake thought it half-jokingly, hoping to coax her out of her shell. It worked because she stepped out from behind the manticore giggling.
“You’re very strange, Valentine. I’m sure if you showed me what you looked like I could tell you what you are. I know a lot about animals and how to take care of them.”
‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’m nothing like the other animals you take care of.’
“Please, Valentine, will you at least let me try?” Fluttershy looked around the clearing with big pleading eyes. Jake cursed under his breath and muttered something under his breath about needing to build up immunity to puppy dog eyes.
‘Fine I’ll let you take a look at me…’
“Thank you so much, Valentine. I promise to take good care of you.” She squealed, all of her anxiety melting away and being replaced by her nurturing side.
‘…But, you have to promise me something.’
“Ok, whatever you want.”
‘Please don’t tell anypony about me. I don’t want to cause a scene in town.’
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Fluttershy replied, making a series of hand gestures that ended with her placing her right hoof over her eye. Jake would have laughed, but apprehension was mounting in his stomach at the thought of revealing himself to someone…pony, whatever. The only ones that knew about his existence were the crusaders, and they had called him a creature and started chasing him. He had no idea how Fluttershy would react, if she treated him like a creature then he was fairly certain that she would happily care for him. But, because he could talk there was the whole socially awkward thing he might have to deal with.
‘No sense overthinking it, I might as well just show myself, the town was bound to have learned about me at some point.’ Jake jumped out of the tree he had concealed himself in and called out to Fluttershy. She turned to face the thing she was having a mental conversation with. Her eyes went wider than dinner plates and she started to teeter on her hooves. Then, she fell over unconscious. Part of Jake was relieved that he wouldn’t have to rely on the timid pegasus for help, but another part of him was crushed that she reacted the way she had.
Jake let a soft sigh escape his throat and scooped up the unconscious pony into his arms. She was somewhat heavier than he expected but still light. ‘Birds have hollow bones and specialized air bladders to allow them to fly. I wouldn’t be surprised if pegasi have them as well seeing as they can supposedly fly.’ Jake shook off the thought. It made him upset that he could just spout facts off about animals and such without so much as a second thought, but if someone asked him where he was from, then he could stand around thinking about it all day and not have an answer. Jake reached out his mind to Fluttershy and began looking through her memories. Normally, Jake hated doing something like this. Looking into the memories and thoughts of animals was one thing, the biggest secret they usually had was what their favorite place in the forest was. But, sentient beings were different. Their minds were the safest haven they had and Jake understood that better than anyone. If he looked too deeply then he could discover something about that person… or pony in this case that they never wanted to see the light of day. So, Jake had resolved himself to only do it if he had to. Like for survival or right now to help Fluttershy.
Jake did his best to limit his search to things that dealt with where she lived, and how to get there from this spot. Although, every now and then a stray thought or memory would enter his consciousness that helped give him an understanding of the pony.
Growing up, Fluttershy had been picked on for not being the strongest flier. This made her hesitant around other ponies, and maybe even a little fearful. At some point she had learned that she had a way with animals and when she grew up moved to Ponyville because it was so close to the forest. Even if she was made fun of growing up, she was still kind to everypony. She even had a good group of friends that helped her out. In the end he learned that Fluttershy may be a little nervous but would stop at nothing to help an injured animal, or save one of her friends if they were in danger. She even chastised a full grown dragon because it had hurt her friends.
Jake laughed for a moment, wondering what kind enigma he was carrying, then apologized for looking into her thoughts too much. ‘Didn’t I say that I wasn’t going to do that? I need to learn how to control my abilities better if I want to do that again.’ Jake criticized himself more and more as he made his way toward the little cottage that Fluttershy called home. Eventually, light appeared at an opening in the trees and Jake found Fluttershy’s dwelling sitting at the edge of the forest. The home looked like it was made to be part of the forest. The walls were made of a sot color, and the roof was made with what looked like tree branches. Not only that, but the perimeter of the house surrounded with animal pens. Jake knew what he was getting into, he had seen the home when he was looking inside of her mind, but seeing it in person was another thing entirely. Jake stopped himself from admiring the view and carefully opened the cottage door.
Jake was greeted by a cacophony of animal noises. The inside of Fluttershy’s cottage was similar to the outside; it was simple but functional, and filled with items one would need to take care of animals. There were a few animals that appeared to be sick in what he would describe as the living area. All of them seemed to be voicing their disapproval at his intrusion. The most prevalent being a snow white rabbit that was kicking at his shins. He was clearly upset that Jake was handling Fluttershy in the manner that he was. Jake reached out with his mind to all of the animals in the room and told them that he was a friend. This seemed to calm most of them down, but the rabbit still looked at him with narrowed eyes. It was obvious what he was telling Jake, so he just nodded in understanding.
Jake carried Fluttershy upstairs to the bedroom and gently slid off the saddlebags that she had been wearing before tucking her in. Jake had noticed the three butterflies that appeared to be tattooed onto her flanks. ‘Those must be a cutie mark.’ Jake observed. Then, he entered Fluttershy’s mind one more time to tell her that their meeting had been a dream. ‘I should really make it up to her for scaring her so much. Maybe I could take care of the animals for her.’
Jake pulled out all of the herbs that Fluttershy had collected and began applying the necessary treatment for each animal. At first the rabbit tried to stop him, but Jake assured it that he knew what he was doing. The rabbit never stopped glaring at Jake but it eventually stepped back. Jake was surprised at how much he had remembered from his short trip into Fluttershy’s mind. He had had some knowledge on herbs beforehand, but nothing as extensive as hers. It was the kind of skill one could only obtain if they felt true passion for something. A warm grin spread across his lips as he finished with his last patient. Jake got up to leave, but stopped in the doorway to turn back in the doorway and told the animals, “Fluttershy isn’t going to hear about any of this, right?” The animals gave out a confirmatory noise and Jake rushed back into the forest.
Fluttershy was forced awake by a knock at her door. She had just had a very strange dream, but she didn’t have time to think about. Her top priority was seeing who was at the door. She made her way downstairs, failing to notice the animals that, up until earlier had been sick. She opened the door a crack and said, “Hello, Who’s there?”
“Fluttershy, it’s me, Twilight.” Fluttershy opened the door completely and let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, hello, Twilight, please come in, I was worried that you were something scary for a second.” Twilight noticed her friend’s disheveled mane and couldn’t help but ask.
“Fluttershy, did you just wake up?”
“Yes, I did… is there something wrong with that? I’m so sorry Twilight!”
“No, there’s nothing wrong with it.” Twilight said, trying to calm the pegasus down with a wave of the hooves. “It’s just that it’s almost noon, you’re always such an early riser that it was surprising is all.”
“Well, I did have a strange dream, so I guess I could have oversle… wait, noon? Oh no, I need to go collect herbs for my sick little animals!” Fluttershy was about to rush out the door when Twilight stopped her by stepping on her tail.
“Fluttershy, what sick animals? All of the animals in here seem to be fine.” Twilight observed.
“Huh?” Fluttershy was unsure what the purple unicorn meant, there were obviously sick animals here last night. She turned around to show her friend, but all of the animals in the room were healthy. “This doesn’t make any sense at all. Unless, they got better on their own. I’m such a terrible caregiver I can’t even help a few sick animals.” Fluttershy was about to burst out into tears, but her friend gently stroked her mane with one of her hooves.
“Fluttershy, you are not a terrible caregiver. If anything you’re the best one in all of Equestria.”
“You really think so?” She asked, sniffling a little.
“Of course, now you mentioned something about a strange dream. If you told me about it, it may shed some light on the situation.” Twilight concluded, feeling proud of herself.
“Well, if you think so, but it was just a dream, I don’t see how it could help.”
“Trust me, Fluttershy, some of the greatest ponies in Equestrian history found answers in seemingly strange sources.”
“Ok, you get comfortable, and I’ll tell you over tea.” Fluttershy, accepted.
Twilight couldn’t wait to hear what Fluttershy was about to say. Being a scholar at heart she loved to solve mysteries that nopony else was able to solve. Not only that but she really did want to help her poor confused friend. Twilight had to stop her thoughts from racing when she heard Fluttershy clear her throat before she spoke. “My dream started out with me collecting herbs in the Everfree forest for my sick animals.” Fluttershy began, slowly.
“Isn’t that what you were going to do when I first came in?”
“Yes, but it gets stranger from there.” Fluttershy gave a small nod before continuing. “I had just picked the last herb I needed, when I saw something really scary in a clearing.” Fluttershy said, lost in thought.
“What did you see?” Twilight asked, trying to coax her friend out of her thoughts. Fluttershy gave a quick jump, but paid it no mind as she continued her story.
“In the clearing I saw a dead manticore.”
“What’s so scary about that?” Twilight was confused, she knew that Fluttershy didn’t really like manticores, but to call a dead one scary was strange. If anything she had expected her to call it sad.
“It was the way that it died.” Fluttershy answered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “There were definite signs of a huge fight, and something had cut off its tail and there were weird openings along its back.”
“That sounds horrible!” Twilight gasped, trying to keep herself from being ill with little success.
“Yes, but as I examined its wounds I noticed that Somepony had placed some wildflowers from the forest in front of the manticore’s face. Without even thinking I asked what could have done all of that with tears coming down my face. Then something very strange happened.”
“Yes, yes?” Twilight pressed, trying to break the stupor gripping Fluttershy.
“A voice popped in my head and told me that it was the one that did all that to the manticore.”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, Fluttershy.”
“I don’t really understand it myself, but the voice was definitely male and it sounded like he was a little younger than me. At first I was very scared and hid behind the manticore. Then I realized that the voice had sounded so, caring and remorseful, that I poked my head out and called out to it. The voice apologized for scaring me but I told it I was alright and said I never had anypony talk to me in my head before.”
“I can imagine.” Twilight said the gears in her mind were turning like clockwork trying to understand what it was hearing. “Telepathy is an almost unheard of skill. There are no books on the use of it. Hay, I don’t even know if the princesses can do it!”
“This is where the dream gets especially strange. The voice told me that it wasn’t a pony.”
“Not a pony!” Twilight exclaimed, hardly believing what she had just heard. “If it wasn’t a pony then how was it using that kind of advanced magic?!”
“I don’t know, when I asked what it was all it said was that it was a scary forest monster. I hid behind the manticore again, but the voice told me that it was joking. So, I asked what it was again, but it told me that it didn’t know.”
“How can something not know what it is?”
“Actually, it said that it knew what it was but didn’t know what it meant to be what it was.” Fluttershy corrected herself.
“So what did this voice say that it was? Did it have amnesia or something?” Twilight asked, eager for more.
“That’s what I asked it and mentioned that it had to be horrible. The voice made a joke and it was really calm about the whole thing so I stepped out from behind the manticore giggling. Then I asked if I could see him because I have a way with animals, but he told me that it was a bad idea.”
“Is that where the dream ends?” Twilight asked eager for more.
“No I finally convinced the voice to let me see him, but he asked me to promise not to tell anypony about him. Ooooh and I’ve been telling you all about him. I am such a bad pony!”
“Fluttershy, you are not a bad pony, you broke your promise because you want to help this thing.” Twilight was trying her best to console her sobbing friend, but nothing seemed to be working.
“You don’t understand, Twilight, I made a Pinkie Pie promise!” Twilight grimaced at the prospect. She remembered what the pink pony had done when Apple Jack broke her Pinkie promise.
“It’s not that bad, Fluttershy. It was just a dream after all.” Twilight said it with a sheepish smile. This seemed to calm the timid pegasus down as she wiped the last tears out of her eyes.
“You might be right Twilight. It was just a dream.” Fluttershy’s eyes became glazed for a moment as she stressed the word dream.
“Uhhh, Fluttershy, can you tell me what this voice looked like?”
“He was… tall, and didn’t have any fur except for the top of his head, and that was short and black. His eyes were a deep emerald green; he didn’t have a muzzle so his mouth just sat close to the bottom of his head and his head had kind of sharp features. He was almost completely covered in clothing, which was all white except for a few places that were colored red. Part of his clothing was ripped up and was being used as a bandage. He also had something that almost looked like a kitchen knife on his shoulder. Then there was the most surprising thing of all was that he stood up on his hind legs.
“Then what about his fore legs?’
“They dangled at his sides, and instead of hooves he had something similar to Spike.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me?” Twilight asked, pressing down on the table with almost all of her weight.
“No, that’s where the dream ended. I’m sorry I couldn’t be any more help, Twilight.” The pegasus’ head hung low at the end.
“You did fine, Fluttershy. I’ll just have to check for something that matches that description to determine if this really was a dream or not.”
“What do you mean, Twilight?”
“Something about this whole thing seems fishy to me, and I plan on getting to the bottom of it.”
“You shouldn’t work too hard. Hearts and Hooves Day is coming up, and I’m sure you’ll get something nice.” Twilight was about to say that she didn’t have time for a silly holiday when there was research that could change Equestrian history. Until, she pictured Princess Celestia with a disappointed look on her face and asking Twilight why she had wasted an opportunity to learn about friendship by studying.
“I suppose you’re right.” Twilight replied, sighing as she did so. “I’m sure this research can wait a few days.”
[Author's note]: Hey its me. Every time I add a chapter I keep regretting that I don't have an awesome cover image. I'd do it myself but I have zero artistic ability, and using an image already on the internet seems like cheating. So, if anyone is interested then please tell me.
Jake walked down the worn path of the forest trying to guide his mind away from what had just happened. ‘I can’t believe that she just fainted like that.’ Jake thought, rekindling his depression. ‘Then again she was easily startled and I did just drop out of that tree. I hope she’ll be okay. What are you thinking, Jake? You know her friends, even if the experience was hard on her, her friends will help her through it.’ The conclusion seemed satisfactory to Jake, but he still felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. ‘This must be guilt. Huh, it’s not a good feeling.’
Jake shook his head for a moment and remembered what he had wanted to do today. ‘I was going to explore the forest today, but all I’ve managed to see is the same clearing and Fluttershy’s cottage.’ Now that his mind was effectively cleared he trudged on into the forest. He had very little trouble while exploring and getting his bearings. Every now and then a few small creatures looked down at him inquisitively but otherwise didn’t react. At one point he almost ran into two manticores at once. Jake was fairly certain he could handle one again, but two would push him to an extreme that could kill him. Instead he calmly climbed a tree and proceeded onward by jumping from branch to branch. If the manticores did hear the disturbances that he was causing they would hopefully assume he was a squirrel or something, and therefore not worth their time.
Once Jake was sure he was out of the manticores’ line of perception, he slid down a tree to rest. Jake glanced up to the sky and guessed it was sometime around noon based on the shadows the trees were giving off. ‘How do I know something like that?’ Jake thought bitterly. ‘I can guess the time of day using shadows, but if someone asked me to tell them what interests me, or the name of my family I’d be stumped.’ “IT’S NOT FAIR!” Jake practically screamed causing several birds to take flight. In the distance he heard two animals roar in unison.
The manticores must have heard Jake yell and were now on the hunt. “Why should I care?” Jake wondered aloud. “Is my life even worth living? The only peo-… ponies that know about me and accept me are three children. What if all the other ponies react the way Fluttershy did? What if I’m hated and despised just for looking different? That’s not fair; I don’t even know who I am!” Jake’s depression continued on like this for a few moments, tears falling down his face until his cheeks were damp. Then, his depression changed. Anger soon swelled up inside of him. “Why? Why can’t I remember?! Why am I all alone?! Why is it that the only memory I do have leaves me with more questions than before?!” Jake sprang up to his feet just in time to be greeted with the tails of the manticores’. Jake narrowly escaped the lightning fast strikes and glared at the two behemoths before him.
“You two just picked the worst possible moment to mess with me.” Jake hissed at the manticores. They both growled at him to show that they held no fear of him, circling him and waiting to for the perfect moment to strike. “You know what? Come at me you overgrown pussycats.” Jake replied with his own growl, drawing his knife while he did. ‘Cause the way I see it this will end one of two ways. One: I’ll die and at least one of you will get to eat me. Or, two: I’ll kick you’re asses and when I’m done with you there’ll be nothing left. You better hope it’s one because I personally don’t care at this point.”
The manticores weren’t used to facing prey that showed no fear towards them. They almost seemed scared themselves at the prospect of such a thing. They quickly recovered from the initial shock and attempted to pounce on Jake from his left and right. Jake didn’t need his telepathy to anticipate the maneuver. He wasn’t even using the ability at this point. Instead: rage, reflex, and adrenaline fueled his actions. One of the manticores whipped its tail in a deadly arc toward Jake while the other snapped at him with its large jaws. He quickly sidestepped away from both attacks and brought his knife down into the bridge of the nose of the manticore that had attempted to bite him. The manticore went into a rage fit as blood sprang flowed heavily from the wound. Before Jake could stab the creature again, the first one knocked him off with one of its claws and sent him flying through the air. Luckily the claws were retracted to avoid causing further damage to its hunting partner. Jake flipped in mid-air and landed in a crouching position facing the manticores, and began to pant and sweat slightly.
The manticores charged at Jake with unrelenting fury. The manticores had decided to flank Jake again, but this time they were using everything in their arsenal. Claws, teeth, and tail were desperately attempting to hit Jake. His instincts kicked in and told him to only avoid the deathly blows. Unfortunately, that still left Jake with a lot of work. He knew that one hit from their tails and jaws and he would be a goner. Small wounds opened up along him as their claws swept over his body. Jake was sure he would die when he finally found an opening. One of the manticores had made a wider strike with one of their claws. This gave Jake ample opportunity to duck under the attack and dash between the manticore’s legs. The confused beat tried to reposition itself, but Jake had already jumped onto its back to cut off the thing’s tail.
The manticore bellowed in pain, and its companion responded by swiping one of its paws at Jake. Rather than dodge, Jake grabbed onto the paw, blood oozing out of his sides where the claws were digging into his flesh, and flipped onto the manticore’s foreleg. From there Jake threw his knife at the thing’s face where it dug itself hilt deep into its eye. But, Jake wasn’t done yet. He jumped off the foreleg and grabbed onto his knife with both hands. Gravity soon wretched the knife free, causing a mixture of blood and eye fluid to spout out of the wound.
Jake landed with a dull thud and rolled away from the manticores’ stomping feet. Jake tried to pull himself back to his feet. Every muscle groaned in protest as he did. In the end adrenaline won out over his overexerted body and he was soon back on his feet. In a last ditch effort Jake charged at the confused manticores and began to hack and slash at any place on their bodies his knife could reach. Eventually the manticores died but Jake didn’t notice for a moment or so.
When it was all over Jake allowed his body to collapse between the manticores. It took all his remaining strength to put himself into a sitting position to examine the amount of damage the battle had done to him. He had received dozens of wounds from the manticore’s claws, but none were very deep and could be easily ignored. The only other injuries Jake could discern were what felt like a few sore areas. Then Jake looked and saw the state his clothing was in. His shirt and pants were barely more than ribbons being held together by some benevolent force. What was left of his clothing had accumulated vast amounts of blood and dirt so that very little remained of their original white color.
The fight had managed to calm Jake down and now a feeling of remorse hit Jake, stronger than when he had killed the first manticore. At the time it had been imperative to kill it. It was either that, or allow it to kill the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He knew he could label it as self-defense again, but this this was just pointless bloodshed. Jake knew that there were plenty of times he could have escaped the fight, but his frustration at not knowing his past had blinded him. Jake sighed at the pain he had just caused. “I’m sorry. This shouldn’t have happened. I would give you two a funeral as well, but I don’t think I can stand up, let alone gather wildflowers in these woods.” A smile crept along the corners of Jake’s mouth as he said this. “It’s funny, even though I’m still hopelessly confused about who I am and why I’m here. It doesn’t infuriate me that I don’t know anything. Maybe this fight gave me some perspective. I should still try to find out the answers to my questions, but there’s no need to rush it. Things like this take time. If my emotions get the better of me then bad things could happen to me…” Jake turned his head towards the two corpses and finished with, “…and whatever’s around me for that matter.”
Jake continued to rest for a while. Although now his head was clear as opposed to swirling in one extreme or another with questions about his past. For the first time in the two days he here he felt at peace. After an hour or so he was able to pick himself up and continued on his exploration. He walked for about half an hour, the air cooling down with the approaching evening. A breeze wafted through the trees and left Jake feeling chilled. He felt his stomach rumble telling him something that he already knew. That he needed food. He stopped to pick some berries and edible plants in an attempt to appease his stomach. Jake ate and continued to walk when he was relieved to hear the sound of rushing water.
Jake ran to the edge of the forest to find a river in the middle of his path. He could already tell from a glance that it was too deep to walk across. “I guess I can wash my clothes before I head back.” He told himself. Jake peeled his shirt knife, and makeshift bandages away from his chest exposing his body to the cool night air. He took a hesitant sniff of himself that caused his nose to scrunch up. “And, maybe I should wash off some of this stink while I’m at it.”
Jake had just finished washing off his clothes and had spread them out on a nearby boulder to dry off. Now he was washing himself off in the gentle current. He had almost gotten comfortable when his mind came into contact with a strange presence. He scrambled to the shore and saw a large reptile breach the surface.
The thing had a long undulated body that spread far out into the river. It had dark purple scales, long orange hair and a mustache that came out of the sides of its snout. Jake was about to try and defend himself and reached toward his knife when the thing called out in a flamboyant voice. “Well hello there, I’m Steve the river serpent. May I ask who you are and why you’re getting my home so filthy?” Jake knew it was impolite but he couldn’t stop himself.
“Wait you’re name… is Steve?” Jake asked between fits of laughter.
“Yes is there some sort of problem with that?” Steve asked, confused and possibly offended.
“I’m sorry; it’s just that I was expecting something like Slipperyscales or Fishtail after my experience with the ponies back there. Okay, I think I needed that. I’m sorry but I’ve had a stressful couple of days and that really helped.”
“It’s fine, but you still haven’t answered my questions.” Steve said, softening his expression a little.
“Oh, right. My name is Jake Valentine, and I was cleaning my clothes and myself off.
“And you laughed at the name Steve. That being said you’re clothes are absolutely atrocious! Have you ever heard of a little thing called style?” The river serpent cried indicating Jake’s drying clothes.
“They looked a lot better before my fights with manticores and those strange wooden wolf things.”
“You fought manticores and timberwolves and are still alive? Talk about deceiving appearances.” Steve said while examining Jake before his eyes stopped at his shoulder wound. “Oh no, you poor thing you’re hurt aren’t you? I think I know someone who can help. Her name is Fluttershy and…”
“Don’t worry about this, I’ve got it covered.” Jake stopped the river serpent before he went any further. “You know you’re the first thing here that hasn’t reacted like I’m some weird monster. Have you seen something like me before?”
“No I haven’t, after living in this river for so long things just don’t surprise me anymore.” Steve apologized, sympathy in his eyes.
“That’s alright; can you at least tell me what’s on the other side of the river?”
“I believe there’s some old castle or something, if you’d like I could give you a lift.”
“That would be great, thanks.” Jake said, quickly getting himself dressed. Once on the other side he waved Steve the river serpent goodbye and made his way down the path that would lead him toward the abandoned castle.
The path in front of Jake was rugged and underused. Fog hung low on the ground and occasionally swirled in front of his face, testing his already strained eyes. The night was clear and a vivid full moon lit up the world around it (albeit a very small amount). Jake averted his gaze toward the bright sphere and could make out what appeared to be a horse head on its surface. Jake could feel part of his body become weightless for a moment and caught himself before he had fallen off a cliff that had suddenly appeared. Jake put himself back onto the path and muttered something about paying attention.
Jake quickly became absorbed in making sure that he stayed on the trail. He never took his eyes off of the ground ahead of him and navigated the sharp twists and turns that the path seemed to take at irregular intervals. This continued for about ten minutes or so when his concentration was broken by a strange noise. “…ake.” Jake twisted his head in every direction, trying to find the source of the disturbance. “Jake.” The sound called out again in an all too familiar voice. He turned to his right to see the woman from his dream standing thirty feet away from him.
“Doc?” Jake asked, in complete disbelief.
“That’s right Jake, it’s me. I finally found you.” The woman returned, beckoning him with arms held wide.
“Why are you here? You told me to leave.” Jake said as he slowly made his way toward you.
“I didn’t have a choice, it was all for you, now please, come to me, Jake.”
“I don’t understand, what happened? Why did you have to do it? And more importantly, who am I? What’s going on around here?” She was only twenty feet away now.
“Come, Jake, and everything will become clear.” Jake kept moving forward, as if in a trance. He was almost ten feet away from the woman when his mind lashed out at her. In an instant the scene of the woman in a clearing was shattered. Only to be replaced by a deadly drop and a hideous creature sitting on a spire shaped outcropping of stone in the middle of the chasm. Out of all the things he had seen since he had first woken up this thing was definitely the worst. It had a large leathery head with bulbous bloodshot eyes. The thing’s head ended in a vicious curved beak. Its neck was long and had the same gray, leathery skin as its head. Then it had mottled dark purple feathers, and strange wings that resembled a bat's and a long limp tail.
The thing cawed at Jake, upset that its ploy didn’t work. It started to flap its wings and was about to take flight when Jake reached out with his mind again. If things turned physical then his tired body would probably give out on him. Jake struggled against the creature’s strong will. This wasn’t just a creature of instinct. It was clever and thought on its feet. Jake wouldn’t let that stop him; he eventually found his way into the creature’s thoughts and bombarded it with subliminal messages to leave him be.
The thing attempted to resist but stood little chance against the relentless assault that Jake was throwing at it. The creature cawed in anger once more and left. Jake decided that this was probably a good time for a rest and lied down feeling mentally drained.
Meanwhile
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting inside of their clubhouse, wondering what could have happened to their newest member. They had arrived back there almost immediately after school, to patiently await Jake’s return. Now it was well after the lowering of the sun, and still no Jake. The three fillies had convinced their families to allow them to have a sleepover in the clubhouse, making sure to hide their true intentions. “Where could he be?” Scootaloo asked impatiently.
“I know, let’s face it he probably ditched us.”
“You don’ know that, maybe he got lost,” offered Apple Bloom.
“Or maybe he was eaten by something in the forest!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo kept making suggestions while Sweetie Bell was working on something with the sewing machine she had brought with her. At some point she had had enough and turned away from her work to stop the other two crusaders.
“Stop it you two, I’m sure Jake is fine. He probably has a good reason for being late.”
“What reason could he possibly have?” Scootaloo asked incredulously.
“You’ll have to ask him when he gets here.”
“Hey, Sweetie Bell,” Apple Bloom said, trying to get a look at what her friend was working on. “What, are ya doin’ over there?”
“Yeah, you’ve been sitting on that sewing machine all night.” Scootaloo agreed, forgetting her agitation for a moment.
“I was just making a scarf for Jake. “
“Why would you do that?”
“Well, it can get kind of cold out in the forest at night, and I thought it might help.” Sweetie Bell said, shuffling her hooves nervously. “And, Hearts and Hooves day is in two days away from tomorrow, so I wanted to give him something so he can celebrate too.” Scootaloo picked up on her apprehension and decided to call her friend out on it with tact, sort of.
“Sweetie Bell has a crush on Jake.” She sang with a little tune.
“Shut up! I just don’t want him to feel left out!” Sweetie Bell defended blushing slightly, her voice growing shriller with each syllable.
“I’m sure you don’t.” Scootaloo replied, cocking her head to the side. “I can just imagine what you’ll say when you give it to him. Oh Jake, take this scarf and be my special somepony.” Scootaloo said, raising her voice an octave to mock Sweetie Bell’s. This infuriated her and soon she and Scootaloo were locked in a heated debate. Apple Bloom, sensing this argument could go on all night if she let it decided to be the voice of reason.
“Calm down. We’re all a little mad that he isn’t back yet, so instead of fightin’ we should work on Ms. Cheerilee’s Hearts and Hooves day card to take calm down.” Her friends exchanged glances for a moment before nodding reluctantly.
Jake was still sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, thinking about what had just happened. ‘That was way just insane. How did that thing project those images? Could it have looked in my head?’ Jake’s brow furrowed at the thought. ‘No, I’m pretty sure I would know if something was reading my mind. After all I am a telepath. Maybe, it produces a gaseous hallucinogen that causes you to see the things you most desire, to lure you to your death.’ Jake nodded at his proposal. ‘That makes sense, if it was emitting a hallucinogen then the breeze would carry it a fair distance. All that being said I think I should give that thing a name. Hmmm… wasn’t there a story that was sort of like this? Yeah, these ladies would lure sailors to their death with a really beautiful song. What were they called again?’
“Sirens!” Jake exclaimed out loud. He laughed at the idea he had just thought up. “A fitting name if I do say so myself.”
Just like that Jake picked himself up from the cliff face and continued towards the abandoned castle that Steve had assured him of. Eventually Jake came across a rickety rope bridge that spanned a deep ravine, the remnants of a stone castle poking up not too far away. “Something tells me that this does not bode well.” He muttered to himself. He examined the stone supports on his end, testing them to make sure it would hold his weight. Once he was satisfied that the bridge would hold he took a few tentative steps and the bridge held. Jake released a breath that he wasn’t even aware he had been holding and finished crossing the bridge. Jake strode towards the stone ruins and placed a hand on the cold stone.
“I wonder why someone would build a castle in the middle of a place that everyone seems to hate?” He thought to himself. He stepped through the doorway to see what little remained of the castle’s interior. The roof was completely gone in most places, vines grew along the support beams, and bars along the large windows were falling out of the empty frames. Strangely, something that appeared to be a staircase had survived and led further into the castle. All that was well and good but Jake’s attention was being pulled towards the center of the room where a strange altar-like device loomed above him. Jake took a few more steps toward the altar where he noticed five empty holders. They were the same size and circled a large stone sphere in the altar’s center.
‘Did someone loot this place or something?’ Jake thought to himself. ‘Whatever was here must have been insanely valuable for someone to risk going through the forest.’ Jake stopped looking at the altar and made his way toward the staircase. Jake walked along the corridors to see rotting tapestries that would have depicted pivotal moments in history if they weren’t discolored and destroyed with age. Jake navigated his way through a series of corridors and passageways until he found what had once been the throne room. The room started off in an elongated hallway flanked by crumbling pillars. At the end sat a high topped throne with a depiction of a crescent moon on the back rest. Behind the throne was a window that gave an impressive view of the night sky. Jake took a quick seat on the throne and began to cough from the dust that flew up from the disturbance. “*cough* Man, either this place hasn’t been used in years, *cough* or someone really needs to fire the maid.”
“Yes, this castle is in a sorry state I’m afraid.” Replied a male voice
Who’s there?” Jake called out, scanning the room for the disturbance.
“Relax my friend; I mean you no harm.” An instant later a bright green light filled the room, and in the middle of the room stood a tall, green pony with long wings and a horn.
“Who are you?” Jake asked, still wary of the stranger’s presence.
“I am called Physica.” The pony said, its green and brown mane flowing behind him. “But, who you are is a question you would like the answer to more, yes?” He continued, fixing his large chocolate, brown eyes on Jake.
“How do you know that?!” Jake questioned, reaching for his knife.
“Because I saved your life, that’s how.” Physica chuckled
“You did?” Jake asked. Physica didn’t seem to be lying, but there was something in the way he spoke. It was like he was trying to hold something back.
“Oh yes, Jake. When I found you, you would have most likely died had I not interfered.”
“Well, what all do you know about me?”
“Not much I’m afraid. However, there may be a way for you to find out more.”
“What? What can I do?”
“There are two princesses, they watch over the entire country. If anyone were to know anything about something like this it would be them. You should go to them and see what you can learn from them and then report back to me here and together we might be able to find your family.”
“Where can I find these princesses?”
“That will be the easy part.” The room filled up with green light again and when it receded, Physica was gone. Jake slumped into the throne and placed one of his hands on the side of his head.
‘He didn’t seem to be lying, so why do I feel so uneasy?’ Jake thought miserably. ‘There’s something about him I don’t like. He just pops in like that and then dangles a way for me to discover my past, just like that. That seems way too convenient. Whoever this Physica guy is, I don’t think I should trust him, yet.’ With that Jake got up from the throne to find a quiet place to get some sleep.
Living Legends
Twilight was hard at work tearing through every book on strange and mysterious creatures she could get her hooves on. She had Promised Fluttershy not to work until after Hearts and Hooves day which was two days away. But Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her and decided to work on this odd, new project early, despite what she had told Fluttershy. She had even finished making gifts for all of her friends already by staying up late the night before. In the corner of the room Spike was putting the finishing touches on his gift for Rarity. She giggled a little at the designs the love-struck dragon was making.
Twilight shook her head and pulled her attention back into her books. So far nothing matched the description that Fluttershy had given her. Twilight was starting to get desperate and started using her magic to pull more books off of the shelves. Twilight then opened a book titled, “Myths and Legends of Equestria”. The cover was simple, black leather that was covered in a thick sheet of dust and the pages inside were starting to yellow with age. This was odd to Twilight. She was fairly certain that she had read every single book in the library, at least twice. But, this was a book that she had never seen before. ‘How could I have missed this, I’m usually so organized.’ Twilight thought before beginning to read.
The greatest myth surrounding Equestria is the story of its creation. It is said that in the beginning there was nothing but a swirling black cloud of chaotic energy. This energy had no end and no start. It simply was. Then as if by some miracle there was a spark of life. This spark took shape into the very first alicorn. This alicorn has been given several names over the years, one being Genitrix which is the most widely accepted among those who study legends. At first Genitrix was all alone with the chaotic energy. This upset her greatly and she began to cry. That is when her magic was awakened. Through her magic she gave birth to more alicorns, each with a power over the greater forces of nature. With the help of her children, Genitrix created the world and all the creatures that inhabit it today. The first creatures they made with the ability to use logic and reason, were ponies. The alicorns decided to split their greatest attributes and made ponies accordingly. The earth ponies received their strength of body and industriousness, the pegasi were given the ability to fly and were allowed to manipulate weather, and the unicorns were given the power of magic and some of the alicorns’ creativity.
‘This all seems pretty basic.’ Twilight thought. ‘But what happened to all the other alicorns?’
For year’s everypony lived in peace with the alicorns watching over and protecting their beloved creations. Then the swirling mass of chaos grew angry. It despised the life that had been born, disturbing it’s ways. The swirling energy created its own being, a living embodiment of all that it represented, Discord. Discord went on a rampage and started to unravel the very fibers of the world that the alicorns maintained. What was worse was that Discord took pleasure in this activity and treated it like a sick game. The alicorns knew they would need powerful magic to repair the damage that Discord and its master, the chaotic mass were causing. They combined their magic to form the ultimate force of peace and order, the Elements of Harmony.
The alicorns were almost prepared to unleash their creation on their foes when something unexpected happened. The alicorns were betrayed by one of their own. Nopony knows which one for sure; every version of the story pins the blame on a different alicorn. The only thing that each of these stories agree on is that this betrayal caused the death of every single other alicorn, except Celestia and Luna who had survived although an explanation as to how they managed to do so is never given other than the use of the words “miracle” and “mystery”. Celestia and Luna took up the Elements themselves and managed to defeat Discord and the elder chaos. Nopony knows the fate of the alicorn that had betrayed the others. Most stories believe that the traitor was killed along with the other alicorns, while others say the traitor survives to this day, waiting to rise once more.
“Why have I never heard any of this?” Twilight said to herself without thinking.
“Whatcha got there Twi?” Spike asked, turning away from his card.
“It’s nothing, Spike; I just found an old book that I’ve never seen before.”
“And here I thought that you had read every book in the library already.”
“I thought that too but this book has some pretty astonishing stuff in it.” Twilight said not picking up on the sarcasm in Spike’s voice.
“You know I… forget it.” Spike said with a huff. “What’s the book about?”
“It’s about the myths of Equestria, and the first story is one I’ve never heard of.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be looking for an animal for Fluttershy? Why bother reading about old pony tales like those.”
“I am, but all the books I have on creatures haven’t yielded any results. Also, myths can technically be stories that are just unproven.” Spike rolled his eyes and returned to his card for Rarity before Twilight could lecture him further. ‘I should get back to work as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something on this supposed creature in here.’
Twilight spent hours searching for the right story in her mysterious book that would show her the answers she wanted. Then, she saw a title of a story that held some promise. “The Unlikely Hero.”
Around 800 years ago there was much panic in the land of Equestria. The Griffon Rebellion had just begun and the country was forced into war. After knowing peace for so long, the Royal Army was ill prepared for such a large scale war. Princess Celestia knew virtually nothing about military strategy and so used her magic to call forth a being that did. While Celestia had been expecting a pony or at the very least a Diamond Dog to appear, what stood before her when she had completed her spell was completely alien. This creature was nearly as tall as the princess herself, stood on two legs and was donned in strange garbs of metal and cloth. The creature had no muzzle so its mouth simply sat on the bottom of its face. What should have been its forelegs hung at its sides and ended in strange appendages. It had no tail and the only fur on its body came from the top of its head which was curly and brown.
‘Yes! This matches what Fluttershy described… well at least to some degree.” Twilight thought with a grin. ‘Now let’s see what this book can tell me about this creature.’
The creature was startled at the sight of the princess and the ponies on her council and had a rather tumultuous beginning in the courts of Canterlot. Eventually the Princess managed to calm the creature down. They learned that the creature’s name was Alexander and was considered a great leader where he was from. The Princess was excited to see that her spell had been such a success, although she was hesitant about the creature she had summoned.
Alexander told them that he was known as a human. He also told them that he was the leader of a massive army that sought to unite the world he hailed from. The Princess and the members of her court were shocked to hear some of the scenes that the human before them described. He told them of battles and bloodshed, among other things. The Princess’s nerves were further unsettled by this human, but she had no choice but to trust him if she wished to put an end to the Griffin Rebellion.
After a little persuasion Alexander agreed to take charge of military planning and set to work on training the Royal Army. Alexander proved good to his word; his tactics were clever, efficient, and always minimalized casualties. The Griffin Rebellion was soon won and the Princess was eternally grateful to Alexander for everything he had done. In the end the Princess returned Alexander to his world and peace returned to the land of Equestria. All thanks to an unlikely hero.
Twilight slowly closed the book and could barely contain her excitement. She had found the creature she was looking for. Not only that but it was from another world! Twilight’s mind raced with questions that she would ask the human that was hiding somewhere in the Everfree Forest.
‘Oh, I wonder what he eats! Or, maybe I should ask him just how advanced humans are in magical theory?’ Twilight was about to bounce around the room with joy when a sobering thought entered her mind. ‘Wait, Fluttershy said something about the human she found having amnesia. That means even if I do find him then he won’t be able to answer my questions.’ She thought with a grimace.
‘And if he’s from another world, then how did he get here? Did he bring himself here, or did the Princess bring him here?’ Twilight’s brow furrowed and she stroked her chin with her hoof. ‘No, if she had done something like that she would’ve notified me. For now, I should wait until after Hearts and Hooves day and then tell Fluttershy and the others about what I found. Until then I guess I should rest up, all this late night studying has to be bad for me.’ And like that, Twilight trotted up the stairs into her bedroom to get some long overdue rest.
Jake woke up from his dream with a start. He wiped his brow and found that it was drenched in a cold sweat. The puzzling thing to him was that he couldn’t seem to recall what his dream was. Jake closed his eyes and began to wrack his brain in order to discover the nature of the dream he had. After a minute his subconscious yielded nothing to him. Jake sighed for a moment and got up from his makeshift bed.
Jake realized he had been asleep for a long time, his protesting joints a testament to that fact. Jake took another look around the cellar he had found in the abandoned castle. For the most part it was empty, save for the remnants of some broken, wooden, casks that were scattered along the walls. Jake walked over to the casks and saw that they had collected some moisture. Jake took a deep breath and quickly drank from the cask. He nearly gagged as he did, but he had to keep the foul liquid down. He was dangerously close to the point of dehydration as it was and the only other nearby fresh water source he noticed was the river where he had met Steve the River Serpent.
“Next time I decide to explore an abandoned castle, I’m bringing my own water.” Jake complained to no one. “Or better yet, I just won’t explore an abandoned castle. Huh,” Jake said, struggling to remember something again. “Why do I have this weird feeling in the back of my head? What happened yesterday? I remember meeting that pony called, Fluttershy, fighting more manticores. Then, I met that river serpent, had a weird encounter with the thing I called a Siren, walked into the castle and…” Jake’s brow furrowed, thinking deeply.
“There was something about princesses. Odd. Maybe I should ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders if there are any princesses I should know about?” Jake’s eyes widened as a sudden realization swept over him. “Oh shit, the Cutie Mark Crusaders! I promised to see them yesterday afternoon. Ughhh, with everything that happened yesterday it completely slipped my mind. Those three probably hate me right now. Way to go Jake, the only people… uh, sentient beings; that are willing to help you and you do something that could ruin your already ill-defined position with them.” Jake scolded to himself.
“Maybe they’re not mad and will be glad to see that I’m alright, and give me some supplies and possibly some food.” He said, trying to reassure himself. “Seeing as I don’t exactly have many prospects I’ll just have to hope that that’s the case.” Jake stretched his tired joints out quickly and bounded out to the exterior of the castle.
Jake looked up through the broken roof of the castle and saw the moon shining brightly. This only furthered his sense of urgency and caused his thoughts to become erratic.
“What the hell?!” he cried. “I slept for an entire day! I’ve never done something like that!”
“At least… I think I’ve never done something like that.” Jake sighed and scratched the back of his head for a moment. “Man, amnesia is a bitch.” He said before running out of the castle.
Jake madly dashed out into the night. Parts of his body were being gnawed by cold air that found its way through the rips in his clothes. Jake didn’t slow down for a second. Not even when he reached the rope bridge that spanned the large ravine separating the abandoned castle from the rest of the forest.
*Snap*
Jake turned his head to see the ropes attached to the stone supports were starting to unravel.
“Oh. Fuuuuuuuuuu!” Jake screamed making a dive toward the wooden planks that made up the bridge as the ropes gave way.
Jake could feel his stomach churn as the collapsed bridge swung across the rest of the gorge. In a matter of seconds Jake could feel the end he was holding onto slam into the cliff face. Jake felt his arms nearly get ripped out of their sockets but still managed to keep his grip. Jake opened his eyes and looked up to see the other end of the bridge still safely attached to the stone supports.
“There is no possible way my life could get any worse than it is right now.” Jake grumbled, slowly ascended the cliff via the remnants of the bridge. “I mean, I have amnesia, I can’t seem to take two steps without pissing off some big, hungry creature, I’m on the brink of dehydration, and my arm feels like I’m being stabbed repeatedly with a hot poker. Did I forget anything?” Jake wondered in an exasperated tone.
“Oh yeah, I’m extremely late for my meeting with the Crusaders, and I’m climbing a freaking cliff! Seriously, it’s like some sick thing is making it so that my life is nothing but hell! Well, can you hear me? I know you’re listening. So, bring it on! I don’t care anymore! Throw your worst at me! Whatever it is, I can take it!”
At that moment the clouds opened up and rain poured down on Jake. Jake was about to scream in frustration but only sighed and calmed down. “I suppose I did ask for that.” He said. “On the bright side I might be able to drink some of this rain.”
Jake continued climbing until he reached the top. He turned over on his back and started to pant a little from the climb. “There, I made it. And now all I have to do is navigate that winding path again, cross the river, go through the woods and make it back to the clubhouse. All without being seen or detected by any of those ponies. Oh well, at least my lifestyle keeps me in shape.”
Jake walked up to the edge of the river with an exhausted look on his face. His trip down the path from the night before had taken a lot more out of him the second time. The rain coupled with the fog had brought Jake’s visibility down to next to zero. Jake couldn’t even tell how many times he had almost fallen from the cliffs because of this; he had lost count after about twelve.
“Note to self, never taunt the mysterious forces of the universe. They tend to get even.” Jake mumbled, before collapsing at the riverbank. “If I slept for an entire day, why do I feel so tired?” Jake asked himself. “Then again, nothing has made a lot of sense since I found myself at the Crusader’s clubhouse. Oh well, there’s no sense travelling anymore tonight. I should make a quick shelter and rest up until the morning.”
Jake followed his advice and made a lean-to structure by the river. He also caught a few more fish and cooked them with a small fire he had made from broken branches. Jake stared at the dying embers of his campfire and felt a small amount of stress leave his body. Somehow, staring into it reminded him of what he had said back when he had fought the two manticores. After another minute or so he scraped the remaining embers with his foot out of existence and felt himself drift off into sleep.
Jake was walking down a white hallway with a grin on his face. Jake didn’t recognize the place but it felt… familiar. Jake continued walking, and despite the look on his face, his thoughts were anything but cheerful.
‘Why are they all getting so upset with me? I’m only doing what I’ve been told to do. If they don’t like that, then they shouldn’t even be here.’
Jake was torn from his thoughts by a voice calling out to him, “Hey, Jake. Could you wait up for me?” Jake turned to see a young woman dressed in black fatigues jogging up to him. He didn’t know her name but he did recognize her, so he stayed where he was. “Thanks,”
“No problem, was there something you needed?”
“Yeah, I wanted to introduce myself.” The young woman replied with a warm smile. “My name’s Diane Thompson, but you can just call me Diane.”
“Nice to meet you, Diane. Today’s your first day here, right?”
“That’s right, so I thought I’d introduce myself to you because you seem to be a pretty big deal around here.”
Jake struggled to keep the grin on his face as she said that, remembering his thoughts from earlier. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Diane.” He said, turning to leave.
“Wait, I wanted to talk to you some more.” Diane pleaded.
“I guess I can talk a little more, what do you want to talk about?” Jake said, rubbing the back of his head.
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk.” After that, Diane led Jake through a number of identical white hallways, until they reached a large room filled with tables.
“Why’d you bring me here?”
“Because no one’s here at this time, so we’re all alone.” Diane said with a grin, taking a seat.
“Uh, okay.” Jake said, taking the seat across from her. “Is there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?”
“Not really, I just wanted to talk.” She answered, tossing Jake a red, plastic, package.
“You know you’re not supposed to bring outside food here.” Jake said flatly.
“Relax, they’re just Skittles. Have some. They’re my brother’s favorite. You seem a little like him so I think you might like them too.”
Jake looked at the package with a look of doubt. He opened the pack and popped a green one into his mouth. Jake’s face lit up and his grin became real. “That’s really good!”
“Put all the colors in your mouth,” Diane instructed. Jake listened and his grin got even wider. “There you go. Now you’re tasting the rainbow.”
“Aside from spouting slogans, do you have anything else to say?”
“Hmm, do you like it here?”
“Uhh, this place is really the only thing I’ve ever known so I don’t really know if I like it or not.” Jake said with a sigh.
“Oh, I guess that’s right, sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. You asked a question and I answered it. What about you, do you like it here?”
“It seems alright, but there’s kind of an ominous air around here.”
“Comes from having armed guards all over the place,” Jake said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Being right is something of a talent of mine.”
“Look at you with the big head.”
“I only say it because it’s true.”
“Uh huh, whatever you say. Well, it was nice getting to know ya Jake. I’ll be seeing ya.”
“See ya later, Diane.”
The dream dissolved and Jake groggily brought himself into consciousness. “Yay, another cryptic dream that tells me nothing other than I lived in a place with armed guards. Better suppress that for now to avoid pulling my hair out over it. I had enough stress to deal with yesterday. Alright, let’s get going. I hope I can make it to the Crusader’s today. I wonder if they’re okay. Did I just rhyme? I’ll have to save that thought for another time. Crap. Maybe the first thing I should do is, think of a way to carry my own water.”
A few hours later Jake had carved two functioning water bottles. The first thing he did was hollow out thick tree branches and made them the appropriate size. Then he made lids that fit over them snugly so water wouldn’t escape while he ran, which he did quite a bit. The last step in his process was tying vines around them so he could carry them while keeping his hands free.
Jake dipped his new water bottle into the river and took a tentative sip. “Well, it tastes like wood pulp, but it beats the hell out of dehydration and the water that was in those casks, so these’ll have to do.” He said with a slight smile. His smile disappeared in an instant when he heard a large growl behind him. “Please let this be a small, fluffy bunny and not a large carnivore that wants to eat me."
Jake turned to see a large reptilian behemoth with four heads attached to one body. “Oh, dear sweet mother of God this thing does not look friendly.” As if in response the thing’s four heads roared in unison. “And that’s my cue to get the hell out of here.” Jake said, scrambling to his feet just in time to avoid an attack from one of the thing’s heads.
Jake jumped into the river hoping he could avoid the thing there, but it waded into the water and chased after him. Jake cursed up a storm and reached out his mind to the thing only to be pushed out almost immediately. “Wait, that thing has four distinct minds.” Jake said to himself, struggling to avoid the four sets of jaws that were trying to devour him. “I don’t have to work on all of them. I just have to work on one of them.”
Jake reached out with his mind again and found that together the four minds of the creature were fairly strong, but alone they were weak. Jake got one of the thing’s heads under control and had it bite the head next to it. In a few moments the thing was going crazy and started attacking itself left and right, giving Jake ample time to escape.
“Finally, maybe now there’ll be some sort of normality to my life.”
“Poopsy Doodle!” screamed a male voice from the direction of the town. Jake strained his eyes for a moment but was eventually able to see the faint shape of a pony pulling a house.
“Why do I open my mouth?” Jake’s shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh. “My life is going to get a lot crazier, I just know it, may as well just go along for the ride.”
“I still can’t believe we had to do your brother’s chores.” Scootaloo huffed.
“Well, we did give them a love poison.” Apple Bloom reasoned.
“We said we were sorry so…”
“Raar!” growled a timber wolf in the corner of the Crusaders clubhouse. The three fillies screamed which caused what they thought was a timber wolf to laugh. Then in a familiar voice it told them, “Gotcha.”
“Jake!” They cried together. The figure in the corner moved the timber wolf head to reveal a grinning Jake.
“Where have you been? We’ve been waiting three days for you to show up.”
“I know. I didn’t exactly have a picnic in the forest ya know. I had a run in with a pony called Fluttershy that ended badly; I fought a timber wolf and became the leader of a pack…”
“Wait, Fluttershy saw you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah, but she fainted and I was able to convince her that it was a dream so I don’t think anyo… anypony knows about me.”
“How did you convince her that it was a dream?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you this the last time we saw each other. I’m a telepath.”
“What does that mean?” Scootaloo asked.
“It means he can read somepony’s mind.” Sweetie Belle explained.
“Exactly, but I can do more than that. I can put ideas or suggestions in somepony’s head, and I can look through their memories.”
“That’s so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “You gotta try it out on me.”
“I don’t think so. I still don’t have full control of my abilities. And if I look through your memories I’ll know all of your secrets, and I mean all of them.”
All three fillies gulped as they thought of all the secrets that they had. “I heard that.” They all made a startled yelp which caused Jake to laugh again, “Just kidding. But you see what I mean. If I’m not careful I could really hurt somepony with this ability.” Jake explained. “Hey, if it’s not too much trouble could you girls grab me a few apples or something. I’m starved.”
A few minutes later Jake got his food and they all filled each other in over the events of the last few days. “Girls, I have to say that I’m disappointed in you.” Jake said with a stern look. “Making two ponies fall in love with some sort of love poison. That is highly immoral and, and, one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard!” Jake cried, busting out in fits of laughter. The Crusaders perked up at Jake’s reaction.
“Yer not mad at us?”
“Nah, it seems like you learned your lesson.”
“So what happened to you?” Scootaloo asked. “Your clothes look terrible.”
“Oh, that could’ve been the timber wolves, the two manticores I fought at the same time, or the cliff dive I nearly took.”
“You fought two manticores at once?" Asked a frightened Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, it wasn’t even that big of a deal. I just got a few scrapes.”
“Jake, you’re amazing! Nopony has ever fought more than one manticore at a time before! You’re totally awesome!”
“Is he more awesome than Rainbow Dash?” Apple Bloom asked with a sly look.
“No way,” Scootaloo said frantically. “Jake may be awesome at fighting manticores and stuff but he can’t do the Sonic Rainboom and she can. So she’s still the most awesome.”
“Well girls, it was great seeing you again but it’s getting late and I need some sleep.”
“Yer leavin’, can’t ya stay over in the clubhouse just this one time?”
“I guess I could.” Jake sighed caving into the three sets of puppy dog eyes that were staring at him.
The night was rather uneventful as the three fillies snuggled up to Jake and slept. Then the morning came and ruined everything.
“Hey Apple Bloom, you an’ yer friends need to get up!”
“Apple Bloom you an’ yer friends need to get up.”
Jake bolted upright from where he was laying, panicking. ‘This can’t be good. That has to be Apple Bloom’s sister. Wait, she doesn’t know that I’m here. All I have to do is stay here and wait for her to leave.’
‘Girls,’ Jake thought, reaching his mind out to the sleeping Crusaders that were next to him.
They jumped up and nearly said something but he clamped a hand over their mouths before they could even make a noise. ‘Shhh, don’t make a sound. I’m talking to you through my telepathy because I think Apple Bloom’s sister is out there calling for you guys.’ They nodded slowly in understanding.
‘What are you going to do?’ Sweetie Belle asked.
‘I’m probably just going to stay in here until the coast is clear. I should be fine unless she decides to come in.’
“Girls,” the voice outside said, increasing in volume. “That tears it, Ahm comin’ up there.”
‘Oh come on!’ Jake screamed to himself.
‘Now what are we gonna do?’ Scootaloo thought. Jake looked around the clubhouse to see if he could find a suitable hiding place. Meanwhile, footsteps could be heard growing louder with each passing moment. He finally looked up at the rafters and decided on what to do. He started to run towards the wall of the clubhouse and as he was about to hit it, jumped. Then he rebounded himself off the wall and grabbed onto the rafter with both hands and flipped his entire body over it.
The door started to open as Jake pressed himself against the beam and out of sight, hopefully. “What are y’all doin’ here? Ah told ya it was time t’go.”
“Oh, we know we were just…”
“Doing some morning stretches.” Chimed in Sweetie Belle for a flustered Scootaloo, “We heard that it was important to start out the day with a quick stretch.”
‘That’s what they’re going with?’ Jake thought to himself. ‘It would be okay if they didn’t sound so rigid. Then again they are hiding a strange creature from an authority figure. But I don’t think she’s going to…’
“Ah guess that makes sense. Just finish up and let’s go. You girls have t’go to school.” Applejack said with a puzzled look.
“Okay, Applejack we will.” Apple Bloom replied. With that the girls and Applejack started to leave.
‘Did she really just believe that?’ Jake thought. ‘Maybe I should take a quick look in her head to be sure. I’ll probably hate myself for this, but I do have to look out for myself.’
Jake took a deep breath and reached out his mind to Applejack. He slowly felt his mind connect with hers after some resistance. Jake tried to limit his presence to her conscious thoughts and for the most part he succeeded. ‘I can’t quite put my hoof on it, but somethin’ seems odd with the girls, Ahm probably just bein’ paranoid. They just got in trouble, there’s no way they’re up to somethin’ already.’
Jake sighed in relief and loosened his grip on the beam. A small smile played on his lips with his fears alleviated. ‘That was close. Applejack may be suspicious but it’s the last thing on her mind so I don’t think she’s going to act on it. I’ll stay here for another minute until the coast is clear and head back into the forest for a while.’
Once Jake was sure enough time had passed he tried to find any signs of life with his telepathy. Satisfied, he crept out of the clubhouse and made his way to the Everfree Forest. The perpetual dark of the forest surrounded him as he tried to plan out his actions.
‘I need to figure out how I’m going to find anymore humans. I know I’m going to have to reveal myself to the ponies in town eventually but I have to be smart about how I do it. If I just walk into town as I am, then I’ll probably make a scene. And if Fluttershy is the first one I run into she’ll know she wasn’t just dreaming and I could cause her to panic or something.’
‘Maybe I should find a busy road into town and play dead there and when one of the ponies finds me I’ll look like an innocent, injured creature. Yes, this could work. It may not be the most dignified of plans but it’s better than nothing. If this is going to work though I’ll have to wait until nightfall so no one sees me before my plan goes into effect. Until then, I’ll make some snares to help make hunting a lot easier. I might need them. Seeing as the ponies won’t have any meat to give me. I might even be able to make a few extra-large ones for monsters like the one I saw yesterday.’
“When do y’all think we’ll see ‘im again?”
“I don’t know. It could be anytime between tonight and who knows when.” Scootaloo sighed.
“Don’t say that! Jake came back before and he’ll come back again.” Sweetie Belle pouted.
“Calm down, Sweetie Belle, Ah think Scootaloo was just sayin’ that he can be a bit… unpredictable.”
“Yeah, like how he can read minds and do crazy acrobatics. I’d say that was unpredictable.” Scootaloo added.
“Whatever, I just know that Jake will come back soon.” With that Sweetie Belle turned and walked away from her friends. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exchanged a look for a moment, puzzled by their friend’s behavior.
“What was all that about?”
“Ah think Sweetie Belle’s upset that Jake had to leave so soon.”
“I guess that makes sense. Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“If we give her a little time Ahm sure she’ll be fine.”
Sweetie Belle walked into the Carousel Boutique with an uncomfortable look on her face. Just as the bell finished ringing Rarity stepped into the waiting area with a large grin on her face.
“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique where everything is sweet… Oh, Sweetie Belle, is something wrong?” Rarity asked, a look of concern appearing on her face. “You look upset about something.”
“Hey Sis, I just wanted to ask you for some advice.”
“Of course, Darling, just let me close the shop and you can ask me whatever you like.”
“You don’t have to do that for me.”
“It’s no trouble at all; business is always slow the day after a holiday.” Rarity returned after a few seconds and led Sweetie Belle into the kitchen and made two cups of tea. “There you go, Sweetie Belle. Now, what kind of advice do you need?”
“Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said, taking a sip from the cup, and fidgeted with it for a second. “Do you know anything about boys?”
“I have a little experience. Wait, are you saying that you have a crush on a young stallion?” Rarity asked, absolutely ecstatic. “You have to tell me everything about him.”
“I guess you could say I have a crush. He’s a little older than me, but he’s really nice.”
“A nice boy; when I was about your age I had a thing for a bad boy. What’s his name?”
“His name is… Braveheart.”
“That’s a nice name. What can you tell me about him?”
“Well, he’s really brave. Nothing seems to scare him. Not only that, but he has a good sense of humor and is really sweet.”
“He sounds like a real knight in shining armor. Tell me, does he have a brother that’s my age.” Rarity said with a small laugh.
“I don’t think so.” Sweetie Belle replied, smiling slightly. “So, how do I get him to notice me?”
“That’s the million bit question. Every boy is a bit different. Seeing as you say he’s brave he might appreciate a little bravery on your end. Tell him outright how you feel and he might be incredibly impressed. And a gift never hurt anypony.”
“Gift? Oh no! The scarf! I gotta go, Sis. Thanks for the advice!” Sweetie Belle cried, rushing out of her seat and through the door.
“That little filly is so excitable.” Rarity sighed I do hope her little endeavor turns out well.”
Jake sat under a tree after setting up his snares around several parts of the forest. All the while he stared at a small sliver of light that made its way through the thick canopy. “It took almost all day but I finally set up the last snare. Just another useful skill I don’t know how I have but do. I’m not even complaining this time. Sure I could be upset, but what would be the point? I just have to keep working until I can find others like me. All that serious stuff aside, despite being infested with a plethora of creatures that could kill me the second I let my guard down, this place is really pretty in an odd way.”
“That could just be me though. I can’t remember my aesthetic sense much anyway. I’m really glad I’m planning on showing myself to the ponies soon. All this talking to myself is probably unhealthy.” Jake’s stomach let out a small growl. “Looks like a few berries and nuts isn’t cutting it. Let’s see if any of my nearby snares have caught anything more filling.”
Jake closed his eyes and used his telepathy to check the surrounding area to see if his snares had proven effective. “Hmmm, so far nothing seems to be in my snares. But there is a group of Timberwolves about ninety meters east of here that are tracking something. Its mind was pretty resilient so I’m not sure what it was. Oh well, I just hope it’s edible.” Jake said, starting off toward the Timberwolves. A few seconds later a loud, high pitched scream rang out in the forest along with the howls of Timberwolves.
“Oh no, please let that be anything but what I think that is.” Jake said, storming off towards the source of the sound. Moments later Jake found a group of Timberwolves surrounding Sweetie Belle. Before Jake could even react one of the Timberwolves bit her in the midsection. She managed to choke out a small squeak as she collapsed to the ground.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Jake bellowed, lashing out with his telepathy. The Timberwolves immediately turned and ran as Jake rushed to Sweetie Belle’s side and tearing off any clean cloth he could find on his body and dressing the wound as best he could. “Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here? It’s way too dangerous for you to come here alone.”
“I… wanted to… give you… scarf.” She wheezed looking at something on the ground next to her.
“No, no. On second thought, just go to sleep.” Jake replied, using his telepathy to force her unconscious. Then he tied the makeshift bandages, put on the scarf that Sweetie Belle had made him, and scooped her up in his arms. “Come on let’s go get you some help.” Jake said soothingly before bolting out of the forest.
Rarity was walking down the street with a satisfied look on her face. ‘I wonder how Sweetie Belle is doing with her little crush. I bet they’re having a little date right now. Too bad Twilight said she had something important to talk about. Otherwise, I might be tempted to try and see for myself. Hold on, is it just me or did it get quiet all of a sudden.’
Rarity took a quick look around the recently busy street and saw nothing around her, except for a strange figure barreling towards her. Before she could even try to identify the figure it crashed into her and dropped something next to her. “Who in the world do you…”Was all Rarity managed to get out before she noticed the bloody and unconscious Sweetie Belle. “What did you do to her?! What did you do to my sister?!” Rarity shrieked, turning her gaze toward the dazed figure.
“Help,” a mysterious creature said with an outstretched arm.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Rarity cried, sending a blast of magic toward the tattered creature. It turned and ran off toward the Everfree Forest, leaving Rarity alone to panic. “Somepony, anypony, help!”
Twilight paced back and forth in the foyer of the library. She was finally ready to tell everypony about her discovery of humans. All of her friends were in the room with her and waiting to hear what she had called them over for. Except Rarity who was nowhere to be seen.
“What’d ya call us over for, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked.
“Like I said it was something important.” Twilight replied, trying not to give anything away. “I’ll tell you everything once Rarity gets here.”
“Well, what’s taking her so long?” Rainbow Dash complained.
In the distance a sound echoed out that grabbed the attention of everypony in the room. “Somepony, anypony, help!”
“That sounded like Rarity!”
“Come on girls, we have to go help her.” Twilight barked, running out the door as fast as she could.
Rarity sobbed over Sweetie Belle, too shocked to think clearly about what to do next. The only thing she could focus on was the tattered figure that had left Sweetie Belle in such a horrible state. ‘How dare that beast do something like this to my dear sister? When I get my hooves on it it’ll wish it had never laid eyes on her!’ Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of approaching hooves.
“Rarity, what’s wrong, we heard you yelling from the library?!” Rarity moved to show her friends Sweetie Belle. They all gasped. Twilight was the first to recover.
“What happened to her?”
“Some strange creature attacked her. I took her from it and now…”
“Listen Rarity, we have to get her to a hospital before it’s too late.”
“What about that ghastly creature? We can’t just let it get away with this.”
“Alright, you and I will go to the hospital while the others go and look for the creature.”
“Very well, it went off into the Everfree Forest. It had: a black mane, green eyes, white fur, and was covered in blood.”
“We’ll get that thing, no problem!” Rainbow Dash boasted, flying off toward the forest with: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy close behind. Then Twilight got close to Rarity and Sweetie Belle and teleported them to the hospital.
Jake stopped running when he entered the clearing with the manticore corpse. He gripped the scarf that Sweetie Belle had given him and started sobbing. ‘Why did this happen?’ Jake looked over to the corpse and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. ‘It’s my fault, isn’t it? If I had never gone into the forest then none of this would’ve happened. What have I done so far that’s been any help to anyone? All I’ve done is run and kill. I’d be better off gone. Jake grabbed at his knife from his shoulder and stared at it.
‘I could do it. I could just stick this in my neck and none of it would matter anymore, all this pain, confusion, all of it. What does it matter, no one would even care. The Crusaders might miss me at first, but all I’ve done is cause them trouble. Alright, it’s time to do it.’ Jake took a deep and brought the knife back. All of a sudden his concentration was broken by the sound of a gasp.
Rainbow Dash and the others ran into the forest not knowing to expect, each trying to find a way to broach the subject. In the end the silence was broken by Applejack. “What do y’all think this thing is like? Rarity didn’t exactly describe it that well.”
“I bet it’s a big mean monster seeing as it hurt Sweetie Belle like that, with big sharp claws and rows and rows of teeth.”
“You don’t know that.” Fluttershy interjected. “The poor thing might’ve just been scared and confused.”
“Fluttershy, it attacked Sweetie Belle.” Rainbow Dash said with steel in her voice. “That is beyond bad. I don’t care how confused it was, we have to stop it.”
“I’m just saying there might be more to this than… *gasp*” Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks as they came into the clearing she had seen in her supposed dream. And in the middle of it was a figure that she remembered all too well. “…Valentine?” He looked up; his eyes widened, and ran off further into the forest.
“Hey, stop right there!” Rainbow Dash cried following after him.
“Rainbow Dash, wait!” Fluttershy yelled, but she was already out of earshot.
“What’s the matter, Sugarcube?”
“I know who that thing is.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense what is it?”
“I don’t know what it is. I just know that his name is Valentine.”
“How do ya know it’s a he?”
“He talked to me.” Fluttershy replied nervously.
“That thing can talk? What did he say?”
“He told me that he killed that manticore over there.”
“He did that! Then he is dangerous!”
“No I don’t think he did it because he wanted to. When he told me he sounded so, remorseful. It was like he regretted doing it.”
“If he didn’t want to do it, then why did he?” Applejack asked.
“I’m not sure, the next thing I remember is asking to see him, and then I guess I fainted. Then, I woke up in my house and thought it was all a dream.”
“Are you saying he carried you home?” Pinkie Pie asked. “How’d he know where you live?”
“I don’t know… wait he was able to talk to me with his thoughts! Maybe that has something to do with it.”
“Sugarcube, are you ok?”
“I’m fine. The important thing is that Valentine didn’t hurt me even though he had the perfect opportunity. He also helped me when I needed it. I don’t think he would attack Sweetie Belle like that. There has to be some other explanation. There just has to be.”
“If you think that, then Ah’ll believe ya too.”
“Yeah, and that means I can throw this Valentine a welcome party!”
“First thing’s first. We gotta make sure Rainbow Dash doesn’t tear into ‘im, and we’ll hafta explain this ta Rarity, and I’m not sure which one’ll be easier.”
Rarity and Twilight stood outside the operating room waiting for whatever news the doctor might bring. Twilight looked at the disheveled figure that Rarity had become and wondered what she could do to help her friend. “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t know what would happen if I lost her.”
“We’ve done all we can do. Now it’s up to the doctors to do their part.” At that moment a light brown pony with an x-ray for a cutie mark stepped out of the OR with a warm smile on his face. This lifted the spirits of both friends.
“Is Sweetie Belle okay?!” Rarity asked.
“Yes, she should make a full recovery.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Doctor!”
“We’re lucky you got her here when you did, a little bit longer and we would’ve lost her. You also made a good call with that piece of cloth you used to dress the wound. Timber wolf attacks are always horrible”
“But Doctor, I never put anything on her. And are you sure that it was a timber wolf that did this?”
“Yes I’m absolutely certain, we pulled a piece of tooth out and the size of the wound matches.”
“Thank you Doctor, can you please send us a message when Sweetie Belle recovers?” Twilight said.
“Of course, she should wake up in a few hours but will have to stay in the hospital for a few days."
“We’ll make sure we come back and visit her.” Twilight said leading Rarity out of the hospital to talk in private. “Rarity, can you describe the thing you saw again?”
“All I remember was the black mane, green eyes, white fur, and blood. I’m sorry Twilight but everything else happened so fast.”
“Did it stand up on two legs?”
“I don’t… Wait, yes it did run off on two legs! But it wasn’t a Diamond Dog. That much I know.”
“Rarity, I think what you thought was fur was actually its clothes. It obviously wasn’t trying to hurt your sister! It helped her!”
“You’re right… I think it said help. I should’ve known it wasn’t some monster, but when I saw Sweetie Belle like that… I just reacted.”
“It’s fine Rarity. I think I know what saved Sweetie Belle. Let’s just get to the others before they accidentally hurt it. Actually Fluttershy should help prevent that.”
“How would Fluttershy do that?”
“Because if this thing is what I think it is then Fluttershy’s already met it.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Come on, let’s find the others and I’ll fill you in on the way.”
Jake looked over his shoulder and saw that the rainbow maned Pegasus was still chasing after him. Every time he would try to outmaneuver her she would just follow and to make it all worse she was gaining on him. Jake managed to put his knife away so he wouldn’t drop it. After a while Jake couldn’t take anymore and called out, “Will you just leave me alone!?”
“That isn’t gonna happen!” Jake groaned and decided to stop dead in his tracks and run toward the Pegasus that was chasing him. As they faced one another Jake could see the look of determination and anger on her face. He could tell that the same look was on his face. The Pegasus dove at Jake but he was able to jump over her, but just barely.
Jake quickly picked himself up and continued to run. He didn’t even bother to look behind him. He knew that the Pegasus was right behind him. “GET BACK HERE!” Jake turned his head slightly to get a look at how close the Pegasus was. As he did he tripped over a root and fell flat on his face. He only got to his knees when the Pegasus came down and tackled him. She wasted no time and pinned down his arms and legs. Jake didn’t bother to fight. He was past the point of caring.
“I finally caught you.” The Pegasus boomed. “Why did you hurt, Sweetie Belle?” Jake didn’t answer which annoyed the Pegasus. “Say something! I know you can talk... you know what I don’t care why you did it. You’re a real monster, you know that? What did Sweetie Belle ever do to you? She’s just a little foal and you attacked her! Her sister’s a wreck right now! But I guess you don’t care about that because you’re a heartless, evil…”
Jake could feel each word strike his very core. He felt like his insides were starting to liquefy almost as if he had been injected with manticore venom. He balled his fists and eventually he couldn’t take anymore. “Shut up!” Jake cried as he head-butted the Pegasus. The Pegasus reeled from the impact giving Jake just enough leeway to throw her off.
Jake could feel his head pounding but ignored it and started to run in a random direction. ‘Damn that pony! I know what happened to Sweetie Belle was my fault. I didn’t need her to tell me. If this pony catches me then she’ll probably take me to Sweetie Belle’s sister. I can’t let that happen. I wouldn’t be able to face her. Not after what I’ve done to her. The best thing to do is to just…’
*CRACK*
Jake’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of wood snapping and muffled groans behind him. Against his better judgment he turned to see what it was. When he did he saw the Pegasus had crashed and was tangled up in some vines. Jake looked over his shoulder and thought about finally escaping from his persistent pursuer. One look to the sky above and any chance of entertaining the idea died. It was almost nightfall and an easy meal like the Pegasus wouldn’t be ignored for long.
Jake sighed, pulled out his knife and approached the tangled Pegasus. She started to squirm at the sight of the blade. “Relax, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Like I’m gonna believe you! Help, somepony help!” The Pegasus continued to flail around and call for help. Jake did his best to try and ignore her as he cut the vines, but one of the Pegasus’ hooves managed to land a solid hit on his temple, knocking him unconscious. A few minutes later Twilight and the others appeared, having heard Rainbow Dash’s cries for help.
“Rainbow Dash, what happened here?” Twilight asked, trying to catch her breath.
“Oh thank Celestia you girls are here! I was chasing the thing that attacked Sweetie Belle and pinned it to the ground, but it hit me in the head and ran off. When I tried to chase after it I was off balance and got tangled up like this. Then, it tried to attack me but I knocked it out.”
“Oh no, did you hurt him?”
“Fluttershy, this thing attacked Sweetie Belle. Who cares if I hurt it? It deserves to be punished.”
“Actually Rainbow Dash, he doesn’t.” Rarity said firmly. “He did not attack Sweetie Belle, a timber wolf did. He saved her life.”
“Wha? Then… why did he run?”
“He was probably scared.” Twilight guessed. “Come on, let’s get you down and take him back to the library, it’s almost night and I don’t want to be in this forest any longer than I have to be.”
Jake woke up and clutched his head. There was an intense throbbing where the Pegasus had hit him. It took a minute for the pain to die down before Jake realized that he was in a bed. ‘What the hell, where am I?’ Jake got out of the bed as gently as he could to avoid alerting whoever’s home he was in. ‘That Pegasus must’ve brought me here. Looks like I got bandaged up. That’s the good news. The bad news is that my clothes save my underwear and my knife got taken from me.’
Jake started to hear footsteps coming up the stairs and decided to get back into the bed. As he did six ponies and a small lizard-like creature entered the room. “Oh, you’re up, we were just coming to check up on you. Is your head okay?” A lavender colored unicorn said with a warm grin. Jake just nodded and tried to avoid looking at the group.
“Is that pony… okay?”
“She’s doing fine. Thanks to you, Valentine was it?”
“It’s Jake Valentine.” Jake replied feeling a little better.
“Yes well, Jake Valentine…”
“You can just call me Jake.”
“…Jake, I’d like to apologize for lashing out at you earlier. When I saw Sweetie Belle like that I just… anyway I should have heard your explanation. I’m Rarity by the way.”
“I understand. You just wanted to protect your sister.”
“How did you know she was my sister?”
“You told me right before you hit me with your magic.”
“You’re right I did. Again I apologize for that.”
“Ah think somepony else should apologize t’Jake.” An orange mare said looking at the Pegasus that had chased Jake.
“Hmmph”
“Rainbow Dash you should apologize.”
“Why should I? We still don’t know what’s going on with him or what he is.”
“Rainbow Dash, that’s just rude!”
“It’s fine. I did head-butt her after all. As for what I am I’m a human. I can’t tell you why or how I’m here though because even I don’t know. I somehow got amnesia.”
“I can explain how you got here.” Twilight said.
“You can! You know where there are others like me!” Jake cried out unable to contain himself at the prospect of answers to his questions. Everyone else in the room gave Jake an odd look. “Sorry, I’ve just been thinking about this for a while.”
“I understand but I’m afraid that what I have to say isn’t the best of news. A few days ago, Fluttershy told me about seeing a strange creature… no offense, in the Everfree Forest. After some research I found a story that said that a human was once summoned from another dimension during the Griffon War to help lead the Equestrian army.”
“What, but Twilight. Why haven’t we heard about this?”
“I don’t know, but the story says Princess Celestia summoned him. If she summoned Jake then why wouldn’t she tell us? Jake, can you think of anything that might help? Umm, Jake?” Jake had stopped paying attention. He just sat and stared off into the distance.
‘Did she just say I’m from another dimension? Then, why am I here? Did… did my own kind send me? Was I some sort of criminal? Who the hell am I?! Why can’t I just get some answers that don’t leave me with even more questions? Wait a minute. If there was another human that was summoned here then what happened to them?’
“Twilight, what happened to the other human?”
“He was returned home after the war was over.”
“Then Celestia might be able to send me back home!”
“I don’t think that will work.”
“What do you mean?”
“She most likely sent the other human back by reversing the spell, and if she isn't the one that casted the spell it might not work.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Think of it this way. When a spell is casted a link is formed between the caster and the spell. It’s like a key and a lock. For simpler spells this connection can be easily overridden, but this is trans-dimensional travel we’re talking about. The connection would be almost impossible to break.”
“So even Celestia might not be able to help me?”
“Maybe not with getting you home, but she might be able to return your memory.”
“I guess that’ll have to do for now.”
“Hey, everything will be fine. Oh, some of us haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville librarian, personal student to Princess Celestia, and owner of this house.”
“Ah’m Applejack, Ah work on mah family farm at Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! You were really fast when you ran away from us! By the way why are you all cut up? Did you get attacked by ninjas or something?”
“Anyway, I’m Spike, baby dragon and Twilight’s number one assistant.” Everyone in the room looked toward Rainbow Dash who was surprisingly quiet during the conversation.
“Fine, I’m Rainbow Dash.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you. I just wish it had been under better circumstances.”
“I agree,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. “I know you can’t remember much, but can you tell us everything you do remember? It might help us in some way.”
“I don’t think that would be the best of ideas.”
“If this is about the manticore you killed, I’m sure you had a perfectly good reason to do what you did.”
“That’s part of the problem.” Jake mumbled.
“If you don’t want to talk I could always find out for myself.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’ll just take a little look around your head and figure out what I want to know.”
“Are you threatening to read my mind? Can you even do that?”
“Maybe I can, maybe I can’t. Do you really want to find out?”
“I’ll tell you the story.” Jake sighed. “About a week ago I woke up on the edge of Applejack’s farm. I didn’t know where I was or how I had gotten there. The only thing I seemed to know was my name and what species I belonged to. After that I heard voices up in a tree-house. Hoping I could get some answers about where I was. It turned out to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which they loudly yelled along with creature catchers before starting to chase me. I ended up going into the forest and they followed me.”
“I lost them at some point and thought I was in the clear when I heard them scream. I decided to help them and saw they were dealing with a manticore. I ended up fighting the thing and managed to kill it. I met Fluttershy the next day and long story short she passed out at the sight of me. After that I found an old castle and spent the night there. It took me a day or two to get back to Ponyville where I met up with the Crusaders. The only other thing that happened was the events of today, which you all know about.”
“Wait a minute, you saved mah sister too?” Applejack said, dumfounded.
“Technically it’s my fault she was put into danger in the first place.”
“Sugarcube, Apple Bloom would’ve found a way t’get in trouble anyway. Ah’m just glad you were there t’help. Ah owe ya a lot.”
“So you saved Sweetie Belle twice? I… I don’t know what to say except, thank you.”
“Oh please, how do we know he’s telling the truth?”
“Rainbow Dash, this explains some peculiarities that have happened. Like Sweetie Belle asking me what I would do if I had amnesia.”
“Apple Bloom asked me the same thing. Dash, did Scootaloo ask ya?”
“Yeah, she did, but she told me that it was from a story she had read.”
“That might be my fault too. I asked them not to tell anypony about me because I was afraid of how the town would react to me. So, if they lied to you it’s because of me.”
“Well, ah don’t like bein’ lied to, but ya did own up to it and saved mah sister so Ah think Ah can forgive ya.”
“As can I, if there’s anything you ever need from me don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Could I have my knife and my clothes back? I feel really uncomfortable in just my underwear.”
“The knife we can manage, but I think your clothes are too shredded and drenched in blood to save.”
“If you’d like I could make you a new set of clothes.”
“Thanks.” Jake said, disappointed. ‘What’s one more loss at this point?’
“Are you ok Jake?”
“I’m alright. Thanks for bandaging me up, but I should get going. I’ve caused you all enough trouble.”
“Where are you gonna go?”
“Back to the forest, I’ve managed to survive there without too many problems so far.”
“Right, ‘cause all them wounds ain’t a problem.”
“Jake, you can stay in the library if you want. I’m sure a real bed and some company that doesn’t want to kill you would be a nice change of pace.”
“I don’t want to bother you. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Please stay here. I have some equipment here that might be able to help examine your mind to help cure your amnesia.”
“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll do my best to help out around here.”
“No problem, you should get some sleep, you look exhausted. I’ll write a letter to Celestia just as soon as Rarity finishes you’re new clothes. When do you think they’ll be done?”
“I can come over tomorrow morning and get his measurements. After that, it might be possible to finish it in a day or two.”
“Thank you Rarity, I promise to pay you back for this at some point.”
“Nonsense, you’ve done more than enough to earn a free set of clothes. Besides, you’re a friend and my friends don’t pay for something they desperately need from me.”
“Thank you, but don’t work yourself too hard. I don’t need anything special. Just make something practical and simple for me please."
“I plan on working myself however hard I care to, but something simple and practical is something I can comply with.”
“Alright everypony we should let Jake get some sleep. Spike you stay here and if Jake asks for something don’t hesitate to get it for him.”
“No problem, Twi.” Spike replied along with a quick salute. After that, they all left leaving Jake and Spike alone in the bedroom. Jake climbed under the covers and Spike followed his example by getting into a small basket shaped bed.
“Would you rather sleep up here? I don’t mind and there’s plenty of room for you.”
“Nah, I like this. I wouldn’t know what to do with all the extra space anyway.”
“Suit yourself.”
Jake tried to sleep but his mind was still reeling from all the revelations that the day had brought. He tried to push away all the questions and doubts, but they wormed their way back in, clenching their cold hands on his consciousness. Eventually, Jake gave up on trying sleeping and blindly threw the covers off of him.
“What the hay was that for?” Spike asked, poking his head out of the sheets.
“Sorry, couldn’t sleep.”
“I can tell. What’s wrong?”
“You wouldn’t get it.”
“I could try. I might be a baby dragon, but I’m pretty smart.”
“It’s a little bit of everything. The amnesia, being from another dimension, and the girls all wanting to help me even after they thought I was a monster, other than Rainbow Dash.”
“I think I can relate.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Jake, I’m a baby dragon living with ponies. I think I can understand feeling different.”
“How did that happen anyway?”
“To get into magic school Twilight had to hatch my egg. She decided to keep me and I’ve been living with her ever since.”
“I guess you can understand me a little bit. Have you ever learned anything about your family?”
“No,” Spike said, downtrodden. “Twilight has tried once or twice to do some research on dragons, but ponies next to nothing about them.”
“That’s rough, but at least you don’t have to worry about learning that you’re not who you think you are.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have no idea who I was, Spike. What if I was some sort of psychopath? And if I get my memory back, would I go back to being that way?”
“Jake, after telling what you did to help the Crusaders I don’t think that’s possible. You risked your life for theirs’ and got a lot of wounds in the process. I don’t think a psychopath would do that.”
“Not all these wounds are from that manticore.” Jake admitted. “After Fluttershy fainted and I got back from her cottage I was feeling down. A part of me was happy that I didn’t have to reveal myself to the town. But, another part of me was hurt. Her fainting made me feel like I was a monster. I got really angry, and started shouting. This attracted two manticores. I was so angry and I wanted to take it out on something, so I just killed them. “
“Jake, even the best of ponies do bad things if they’re caught at the wrong time. At my last birthday I went through this weird thing that happens to dragons. I couldn’t stop taking things which caused me to get bigger. Eventually, I was as big as a full grown dragon and went on a rampage through town that could have destroyed it.”
“There’s a big difference here. You couldn’t control what you were doing, I could.”
“No there isn’t, Twilight warned me early on about my strange behavior, but I didn’t listen. If I had none of that would’ve happened.”
“We’re both pieces of work, aren’t we?”
“We sure are.” Spike agreed, with a chipper attitude. “I may not be able to tell you that you weren’t bad or something. But, I can tell you that the ones who help get me through my worst moments are my friends. So from now on you and I are surrogate brothers which makes Twilight your surrogate mom. If you ever need anything I’ll be there for you, and so will Twilight and the others, even Rainbow Dash. You just got to give her a little time.”
“Thanks Spike, and if you ever need me I’ll be there for you too. Maybe we can try to find out about our families together.”
“Sounds good to me, now let’s get some sleep.”
Jake woke up from a dreamless sleep not sure how to feel. A part of him wanted to be upset that he was the only human in the entire world, but another part of him wanted to feel a little hopeful due to the fact that he had someone that understood how he felt. He looked over at Spike and saw that the little dragon was still sound asleep. Jake gave a small smile as Spike mumbled in his sleep.
Jake crept out of bed, careful not to make a sound to avoid disturbing Spike. He stretched out his limbs and made his way to the shower to start his day. Jake quickly slipped off his underwear and bandages and stepped into the small tub. He crouched down and let the water hit him and just reveled in the sensation for a few blissful moments. After a while the silence was broken.
“What a rough night’s sleep.” Yawned a half awake Twilight. “Wait, the water’s already on.” Twilight’s eyes widened as did Jake’s. Both seemed to want to scream but couldn’t quite remember how. Jake tried to exit the shower in a hurry, but ended up tripping and sprawling onto the bathroom floor. In an attempt to prevent this he grabbed at the shower curtain only for it to rip off of the rings and drape over him. “Jake, are you okay?” Twilight called out.
“I think I bent it.” Jake squeaked.
“Are you talking about the shower rod? That’s completely fine, but the rings are broken though.”
“No I think I bent IT.”
“Oh, that.” Twilight replied with a blush. “Um… is that a common problem for humans?”
“Only in the mornings and… wait you saw it?”
“It’s not like I tried to. Besides, you see me without clothing all the time.”
“That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
“I don’t know it just is! Don’t ask me to explain because I don’t have an answer. It’s just a feeling I get.”
“What’s with all the noise in here?” Spike said rubbing one of his eyes. He took one look at the scene and said, “You know what I’ll leave you two alone.”
Jake sat down at the breakfast table with his bandages and underwear back on. He tried to avoid making eye contact with Twilight who was directly across from him. He didn’t know what to say after what had happened in the shower. Luckily he didn’t have to, Spike did.
“Here’s some breakfast for the two of you. You must be starving after your eventful morning.” He said with a chuckle.
“Nothing happened, Spike.” Jake spat.
“Sure, I totally believe you.”
“He’s right. We just had a little misunderstanding with our morning habits.”
“Can’t you guys take it easy? I’m just kidding.”
“You’re hysterical. What happened to that surrogate brother thing you were talking about last night?”
“It’s totally in effect. Messing with each other is how brother’s get along.”
“Then don’t worry bro, I’ll make sure to mess with you more.”
“It’s nice to see you two get along.” Twilight stated with a warm grin. “Now, hurry up and eat, there are a few tests I want to run.”
“Hey Twilight, did you find a scarf with me yesterday? After everything that happened I forgot to ask about it.”
“Yes we did. I can go get it for you if you like.”
“Thanks, Sweetie Belle gave it to me. She risked her life to give it to me I might as well wear it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I think that’s why she went to the Everfree Forest. When I found her she tried to tell me about the scarf.”
“You must’ve left a strong impression on her for her to do that.”
“I don’t know about that."
After Jake had scarfed down his pancakes Twilight gave him the scarf and led him into the basement. There, he found a large room filled with all sorts of strange implements. Most of it seemed to pertain to chemistry as shown by the multiple beakers, flasks, and test tubes. Then there were the large machines in the corner that Jake couldn’t even begin to imagine their purpose. For some reason Jake began to feel uncomfortable and had a strange urge to leave the basement immediately.
“Are you ok? You don’t look well.”
“Yeah, for some reason I get an odd feeling looking at this kind of stuff.”
“That might be some sort of memory working its way into your consciousness. Come on, let’s get started.” Twilight said, leading Jake toward one of the large machines and telling him to put on a strange helmet.
“Twilight, what are you gonna do with this thing?”
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to gauge your brain waves, and then I’ll examine the sections of your brain. You won’t even feel a thing.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Jake mumbled as Twilight started the machine.
Almost immediately two needles similar to those on a polygraph started making markings on reels of paper. Twilight let the machine run for a minute before shutting it off and picking up the results with her magic. Her face tightened in concentration and scrutinized over the paper. After a few moments she brought over similar reels of paper toward her and looked at them as well.
“This is interesting.” Twilight stated, taking a look at Jake.
“What is it, do those readings mean something?” Jake asked anxiously.
“I think so. These readings are for most of the sentient creatures in the world.” Twilight said, letting Jake see the reels of paper. “As you can see there are some minor differences but for the most part are the same no matter the creature.” Twilight lectured. “Now, these are your readings.”
“This is completely different than the others you showed me.”
“Exactly, your brainwaves are just about opposite to those of other creatures. I can’t be sure but this might be why you’re able to read minds. Of course, there might be other factors to consider as well, so I’ll need more time to think of tests to prove this hypothesis.”
“Was there a reason for this test?”
“Yes, I wanted to make sure your mind was healthy. And other than the different pattern, everything seems to check out. Now, let’s take a look to see if we can map out your brain.” Twilight said, plugging the helmet into another machine. She used her magic to flip several switches and make some minor adjustments before the machine whirred to life. Twilight stared intently at the screen in the center of the panel and continued to make adjustments every once in a while. “This can’t be right.” Twilight gaped.
“What’s wrong?”
“I focused the machine on the memory center and… there’s almost nothing there.”
“What do you mean there’s almost nothing there?”
“From what I can tell, trace parts of the area are still active but for the most part your memory center is inert.”
“Could it be a part of the amnesia?”
“No, if it were amnesia there would still be activity, just limited access. This is more like somepony took your memory.”
“So there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I might be able to do some research to see if there are any spells that are capable of something like memory removal, but even then I might not be able to reverse it. Sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You did more than you had to.” Jake sighed, unstrapping the helmet.
“You should try relaxing for a while. I’ll come and ask you some questions later. Relax; when Celestia sees you I’m sure she’ll be able to help you.”
“Yeah, if this isn’t her fault,” Jake growled under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, I’m gonna go take a breather or something. Come get me when you need me.”
With that, Jake got up and left Twilight alone in the basement. She wanted to say something but could tell he needed some time alone and decided against it. Twilight kept looking at the scarce data she had and tried to make sense of it all.
‘What does any of this mean?’ Twilight wondered. ‘Come on, you are the personal student of Princess Celestia, there has to be a way for you to make sense of this. Jake is a human from another dimension. You know this from an old story that talks about Celestia summoning one. And if Celestia or even Luna for that matter had summoned him then they would have brought him directly to them instead of on the edge of Applejack’s orchard.
Maybe it was some other powerful spellcaster that messed the spell up.’ Twilight mulled the idea over for a while but eventually discarded it. ‘No, the fact that they brought a human, especially one able to survive in the Everfree Forest for as long as Jake did seems too convenient for something like that. So, who would know about humans and intentionally leave them somewhere that nopony goes toward.
Then there’s the matter of the amnesia. I can’t just label it as an effect of the spell that brought him here because the human from the story didn’t suffer from amnesia. Whoever brought Jake here wanted him to forget about his past. But why?! What would they gain from that?! Uggh, the more I think about it, the more my head hurts. I can only imagine what Jake must be going through right now.’
Jake chuckled as he leaned up against one of the bookcases in the main room of the library. It was a dry and bitter thing that died as it escaped his throat. He couldn’t help but feel as empty as his head was supposed to be. The small part of him that had hoped that his memory would come back to had died. Before he had a chance to continue his train of thought he heard a knock at the door. He managed to pick himself up and opened the door. Rarity walked in with a bright smile on her face and brought several rolls of fabric, some tools, and an oddly shaped mannequin with her.
“Good afternoon, Darling, how are you?”
“Hi, Rarity, I’m fine. What’s up with all the fabric and equipment?”
“I just got word from the hospital that Sweetie Belle is awake and is able to see visitors now. I thought that if I hurried over and worked as hard as I could, I might be able to finish your new outfit in time for both of us to go see her. I even made a crude mannequin for you. It's not my best work but it was all I could manage on a short notice.”
“Thank you, you really don’t have to do that for me.”
“I might not have to, but I want to.”
“Alright, I don’t think I’ll be able to change your mind anyway.”
“Very good, it seems you don’t lack in sense.” Rarity said with a quick smile. Then she noticed the scarf and quickly asked, “Jake, where did you get that scarf?”
“Well, this is what Sweetie Belle gave me when I found her. She was saying something about it before I convinced her to rest. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason,” Rarity chimed, “I can just recognize her work anywhere.”
“Ok, if that’s all then let’s get started.” Jake replied, he could tell there was something she was hiding, but didn’t feel like pressing her on it.
“Yes, first thing’s first; spread your arms so I can take your measurements.”
Jake did as he was told and pretty soon measuring tapes flew around him and began to settle on different areas of his body. Then, they flew back to Rarity where she began to record the information provided, all the while wearing a pair of red glasses. Rarity stared at Jake for a while with a sketch pad floating in front of her and rubbed her chin with a hoof. After a while her face brightened up and she disappeared behind the pad. When she was done she turned the pad so that Jake could see, with a smile on her face.
“Well, Darling, what do you think?”
The sketch had a simple design, but still felt somewhat elegant. The shirt was a short sleeved button down that seemed to match the frame of Jake’s torso. The pants were similar to slacks and cut off slightly below the ankle.
“I like it, it’s just the sort of thing I need.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’ll have it done as soon as I can.” Rarity said, picking up a couple of fabric wheels.
Jake kept close to Rarity as they walked down the street and swiveled his head constantly, rubbing the sides of his new green and white outfit, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles, and fidgeting with the scarf around his neck.
“Are you okay, Darling? You seem strange.”
“I’m fine. I’m just nervous, that’s all.”
“What are you nervous about?”
“Well, the last time I came into town I was covered in blood, wearing tattered clothing, and carrying an unconscious Sweetie Belle. I don’t think I left the best first impression.”
“You worry too much, Darling. The girls and I will explain everything to everypony. They’ll see that you’re nothing to be afraid of.”
“I guess you’re right. I should look on the bright side. I have the support of friends like you. I’m going to be fine.” Jake enthused.
“That’s the spirit. Glad to see you’re getting more energy.”
Jake spent the rest of the walk examining the town to get used to his new surroundings. He found a simple and rustic charm to it. Most of the homes and businesses had thatched roofs while only a few were tiled. He even saw a building that looked like it was made out of desserts. The sheer ridiculousness of it brought a smile to his face.
Meanwhile, Twilight let out a sigh as she closed the book of ancient pony lore that had taught her so much in the short time since she had found it.
‘There’s no other mention of humans in this thing. How am I supposed to help Jake if I know nothing about his species? He can’t help me because of his amnesia. I guess that leaves only one choice.’
“Spike!” Twilight called. He shuffled in a few moments later from upstairs. “I need you to take a letter to Celestia.”
Twilight had Spike tell Celestia everything about Jake that she felt was important. She left out the part about his telepathy. She felt it would be easier for him to explain. It took some time but the letter was finished and Spike sent it away with a puff of his special fire. Almost immediately Celestia appeared in a flash of golden light.
“Princess, what are you doing here?”
“I read your letter. Is it true? Did you really find a human?!” Celestia asked, almost eagerly.
“Yes, my friends and I found him in the Everfree Forest last night.”
“Is he here then?”
“Well, he is staying here for the time being. But right now he’s out with Rarity.”
“Oh, well then, I’ll wait here until he comes back.”
“Don’t you have important duties back in Canterlot?”
“Twilight, a human in Equestria is a monumental occasion.”
“But Celestia, how do you know what a human is? This the only one I’ve ever met. And I only know he’s a human because he told me he was.” Twilight questioned, playing dumb.
“Umm, that’s a good question. You see, I.” Celestia stammered. Twilight was agape at that moment. She had never seen Celestia like this. “Huh, I suppose I can trust you, my most faithful student with this knowledge. Jake is not the first human to find his way to Equestria. Eight hundred years ago it seemed like we were going to lose the Griffon War. Their king had an artifact called the Eclipse Stone that cut me off from my powers if I got too close to it.
“I was scared by this development. In the past whenever something threatened my kingdom I could just go out and stop it myself.”
“Couldn’t you just use the Elements of Harmony on the king and end the war?”
“No, the Elements can only be called upon against the forces of evil. This war was not caused by greed or corruption, but by misunderstanding and political debacles. I was at a loss. Our army was ill prepared and I knew nothing about strategy. In one last ditch effort I called upon my magic and tried to find somepony that could help put an end to the war.
“However, my spell didn’t bring me a pony. Instead, I got a human, the first human to come to Equestria. His name was Alexander. At first he was angry and confused that I had taken him from his world. And when I told him that we needed his help with the war he just laughed. He told me that a nation with weak leaders deserved to fall. I begged and pleaded for him to teach me, and eventually he agreed if I would return him home.
“I learned more than just warfare from Alexander. He taught me about Philosophy, Art, and many other things that he himself had learned from a man named Aristotle. When the war was finally over I was sad to see him go. He had been a good friend. But, he told me that nothing would stop him from his goal of uniting his world into one kingdom.”
“Why doesn’t anypony know about this?”
“I felt that ponies would be uncomfortable knowing that we’re not the only universe out there. Some ponies might even try to do what I did and bring in a being out of another universe.”
“Why would you prevent research like that? Think of all the possibilities!”
“I did. Twilight, if there are an infinite number of universes than there are numerous risks of looking into them. I got lucky. I found a being that was friendly. But there are risks of bringing something evil into our world.”
“I guess I see your point, but don’t you think you should at least make this information available for ponies to learn?”
“Maybe someday Twilight, but I’ll have to think about it.”
Jake stood uncomfortably behind Rarity while she talked to the pony behind the desk. He looked around the reception area and noticed some ponies giving him strange looks. He gave them a quick smile and waved at them. They turned away, causing Jake to sigh.
“Jake, come along. Sweetie Belle is waiting to see us.” Jake nodded and followed after Rarity.
For some reason Jake felt surprisingly calm in the sterile environment. He remembered the dream about the doctor that he seemed to have been friends with and smiled at the one memory that he had. Rarity stepped in front of him and shot him an odd look.
“Are you ok, Darling? You seem to be a thousand miles away.”
“Hmm, oh, sorry about that,” Jake said with a nervous chuckle. “I just feel sort of comfortable here.”
“That’s strange. Most ponies get uncomfortable in hospitals.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not a pony. Besides, I don’t know why either, it’s just a feeling I’m getting.”
Rarity shot Jake an odd look, but decided to drop the matter and kept walking down the halls. They stopped in front of a door marked with Sweetie Belle’s name and Rarity slowly opened the door. Sweetie Belle seemed to brighten up a little but then her feature’s shifted to a more crestfallen expression.
“I’m so sorry, Sis. You must be furious with me.”
“I’m not mad at you Sweetie Belle. I’m just relieved knowing you’re safe, so don’t feel bad. You don’t want to depress your special guest, do you?”
“What do you mean “Special guest”?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying to rise in her bed a little.
“Oh just the one responsible for your safety,” Rarity said with a playful grin. “Jake, you can come in now.”
As soon as Jake walked into the room Sweetie Belle visibly brightened and got more energy. “Jake, you’re here! I knew you’d save me, you always save me! Oh, did Rarity make that outfit for you? It looks really nice.”
“Slow down there, Sweetie Belle. The doctors here worked really hard. You don’t want to pop a stitch or something.”
“Sorry,” Sweetie Belle said trying to calm down, but still giggled a little. “I’m just glad to see that my sister and her friends are helping you now.”
“Well, we had a bit of a misunderstanding.” Jake replied with a shrug.
“True, but we cleared the air and everything is fine now.”
“That’s great!” Sweetie Belle enthused. “Listen, when the doctors let me go home, maybe I could give you a tour of Ponyville.”
“Sounds good, Rarity, could you leave the room for a bit? There’s something I want to tell Sweetie Belle on my own.”
“Of course, Darling. I’ll be outside if you need me.”
As soon as Rarity closed the door, Jake took a seat next to Sweetie Belle’s bed. Without her sister’s presence, she seemed more nervous than before. It didn’t help that Jake had taken on a more somber expression.
“Thanks for the scarf by the way.” Jake said slowly, trying to find a good place to start.
“I’m glad you like it. I worked really hard on it.”
“I can tell, but why was it so important that you had to risk your life like that?”
“I made it as a Hearts and Hooves day present for you. But I forgot to give it to you when you came back. I didn’t want you to feel left out. Besides, I had to say thank you for saving my life.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that. I’m the reason you were in danger in
“No you aren’t. We were the ones who decided to chase you!” Sweetie Belle cried, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Sweetie Belle, please don’t try to convince me otherwise. I’ve been nothing but trouble for you since I’ve gotten here. I just wanted to apologize and to thank you. You and the Crusaders have been a big help, but I can’t cause you anymore trouble. Goodbye Sweetie Belle, I have to get as far away as I can. Please don’t come looking for me.”
With that Jake got up and left. Leaving Sweetie Belle alone in the room and crying. He brushed past Rarity without saying a word. He knew he didn’t have long before she figured out what he was planning. Jake had to hurry so could disappear into the Everfree Forest without any hindrances.
Rarity saw the stoic look on Jake’s face and instantly knew something was wrong. She looked back into the room and saw Sweetie Belle curled up in a ball and sobbing. Rarity rushed to her little sister’s side and tried to comfort her in any way she could.
“Sweetie Belle, what is it, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Jake; he said he couldn’t be around me anymore.”
“What do you mean? What did he say exactly?”
“I don’t know, he just said that it was his fault for everything that’s happened recently and that he had to go far away.”
“That boy is far too reckless. Don’t worry Sweetie Belle, I’ll try to find Jake and talk some sense into him."
Jake stood at the entrance of the Everfree with his fists clenched at his side. The foreboding darkness stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. He took a deep breath and reassured himself that it was for the best. Just as he started to walk into the forest a voice called out to him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Jake turned and saw Rainbow Dash suddenly descended from the sky and land a few feet away from him, giving him an annoyed look all the while.
“You were right about me. I’m a monster, and this is where monsters live.”
“Are you really that offended by what I said yesterday?”
“It’s not what you said. Those girls have been put into harm’s way twice now because of me. I can’t let that happen anymore.”
“Even if you were the one got them into those messes, you’re also the one who’s been saving them. So let Twilight help you get your memory back so we can get you back to your world. That way you you’ll stop putting them in danger.”
“But… what if who I am really is some sort of monster?”
“What are you some sort of wimp?!” Rainbow Dash boomed, getting right into Jake’s face. “Scoots told me about how you saved her and then hung out with her and the other Crusaders. She told me you were brave, a real hero, and a nice guy. I was almost considering apologizing for knocking you out. But now I see what you’re really like.
“You’re not brave, you’re a coward! You’re so scared of what you might be and what you could do that you can’t see what’s really important. Those girls think you’re some sort of hero. It doesn’t matter what you think. You have to set a good example for them. So stop acting like a foal and deal with your problems.
“We all have things from our pasts that we have to deal with. Just because you can’t remember yours doesn’t mean anything. So, start acting like the role model those girls see you as and start facing your problems. Believe it or not, Twilight and the girls are your friends. They, and even me, owe you a lot for saving the Crusaders. If you need help we won’t hesitate to come to your side. Or you could keep being a selfish foal and go rot in the forest for all I care. It’s up to you.”
Jake stared at Rainbow Dash as she flew off. He kept his eye on her until she disappeared into the clouds. He went over everything she had said in his mind, causing his brow to furrow. He looked back at the forest one last time as he mulled his decision over.
It took Jake a few minutes but he was finally able to find the ponies that had been chasing him with such gusto. Now they were holding onto each other, on the verge of tears. Jake could hear their pleas for help even before they formed the words.
‘What could possibly scare them that much?’ Jake wondered.
Then he turned his head slightly to see a weird lion thing with a huge scorpion tail. The creature made a deep rumbling sound with its throat and paced several feet in front of the trembling trio. Jake thought it was toying with the poor things. He tried to stifle his rage, but before Jake knew it he was standing between the snarling beast and the frightened ponies.
“Stay behind me and avoid that thing at all costs!” He cried. His face turned toward the ponies.
The fear on the little ponies’ faces was replaced with curiosity.
“Talk later, just listen!” Jake bellowed, and the ponies nodded in agreement.
The lion creature let out a roar and Jake turned back just in time to dodge a deadly strike from its tail. The creature retracted its stinger from the ground, a patch of grass withering into death as it did. Jake grimaced at the thought of what the appendage’s venom would do to him. He took a moment to notice the ponies hiding in some bushes in the corner of his peripheral vision. Aggravation was evident on the creature’s face; obviously the initial strike with its tail usually did the trick. It let loose a torrent of attacks with its two front claws. Jake managed to avoid them all, but a breeze from one of them made him hold his breath for an instant.
Then something incredible happened. Images and colors flooded Jake’s consciousness, all of them coming from the creature before him. He could see moments previous hunts, time spent among its own kind, and the colors seemed to represent its emotions. At the moment the color he could see was red. Jake didn’t need to guess what emotion that represented.
Jake didn’t have time to question what all of this meant. Right now he was in a very simple situation; either he killed this thing and both he and the ponies could walk away, or he could get killed and the ponies might be able to escape. Luckily Jake had learned a few key weaknesses from the images he had seen from the creature. First, there were cracks in between the sections of its tail that could be easily taken care of with a blade or any other sharp edge, then there was the slight blind spot it had to the right, and the last one was that it had a major artery near its spine that could only be reached by its tail.
Now, all that was well and good, but if he couldn’t think of a way to cut off its tail then it wouldn’t mean jack.
‘I could try to bite the tail off, but that would be as productive as just throwing myself down its throat.’ Jake thought, discarding his idea as quickly as he had thought of it.
He frantically patted himself down hoping to find anything that could help him. His prayers were answered when he felt a bulge on the side of his thigh. Jake pulled out an eight inch long hunting knife with jagged edges running down what should have been the flat of the blade. A wicked grin spread across Jake’s face as he exchanged glances between the knife and the creature.
“Here kitty, kitty.” Jake taunted as he hovered the knife in a reverse hold.
Jake grabbed onto the scorpion tail and held on for dear life as he was flung wildly in a mad attempt to knock him off the creature’s back. He sheepishly hooked his injured arm around the base of the tail and set to work on cutting it off. Jake let his eyes dart in every direction trying to notice any irregularities in the sections of the tail he could work his knife into.
After what felt like an hour (but what were really only a few moments) Jake saw a small opening on the third section from the base, and not a moment too soon. Jake was beginning to feel ill from the creature’s thrashing and had to shift his weight every so often to avoid being thrown off. He thrusted the knife into the opening and in a few seconds could feel the tail give way.
Snap.
A mixture of blood and acidic venom mixing to form a blackish green color erupted from the stump that used to be a tail. Jake grabbed onto the fur of the creature’s rear end with both hands. He kept his knife in his mouth hands, opening up small wounds around the corners of his mouth, as he climbed towards the spine. His arm screamed in protest from his endeavor, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind for later. Jake finally made it to the thing’s back.
The thing seemed to understand what Jake was trying to do and proceed to buck like a rodeo bull. Desperation fueled the beast’s charge and Jake found himself on the ride of his life. The world around him became a blur as he held on for dear life with all of his limbs. He knew he wouldn’t have time for finesse this time, so he tightened his grip with his legs and stabbed the thing’s back repeatedly with the knife. Eventually he hit the artery he was looking for and the beast’s tense muscles abruptly went slack.
Jake rolled off the thing and finally took a moment to asses his injuries. He dismissed the cuts around his mouth altogether and looked at his shoulder. The gash was still bleeding, but nowhere near as much as when he had received it. It had missed all vital areas and now infection was a more serious problem than anything else.
“Thanks, Mister! That was really cool! I’ve never seen anypony take down a manticore by themselves before.” Congratulated the orange one.
“Yeah, you totally saved us!” chimed the white one.
“An’ we’re real sorry you got hurt because of us.”
“Don’t worry about it kids.” Jake assured, “I probably would have some other way to hurt myself at some point.” ‘Wait did one of them say anypony?’
“Thanks again, I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Scootaloo,” said the orange one.
“I’m Sweetie Bell,” the white one continued.
“An’ I’m Apple Bloom.”
“AND TOGETHER WE’RE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” The three chanted together at a deafening volume.
“I got that last part; remember you shouted it right before you all chased me into these woods.”
“I guess we kind of did,” Sweetie Bell said with a nervous laugh. “What’s your name by the way?”
“My name’s Jake Valentine, it’s a pleasure to meet you three.”