Chapter 9: Missing Pieces

Wha- Where… Where am I?

My eyes opened to find that I was surrounded by what appeared to be clouds. Cloud bed, cloud walls, cloud floor. All of them as white as my coat.

Well, I'm either dead or in Cloudsdale.

I drew a blank in my mind and then something clicked.

I have no idea where that is… Why do I know that name?

"Wake up lazy! You gonna sleep all day!" A filly unknown to me called from the other room.

"Calm down, I'm coming!" I said with a laugh.

That was NOT me! Am I…dreaming?

Before I could answer my own question I, or rather my body hopped out of bed and walked towards the reflecting pool in the corner of the room. My gaze turned to the pool, and I focused on my reflection. It was definitely me. Same golden eyes, same white coat, same dark blue and golden yellow mane.

I'm dreaming about me… doing what?

"Thundervolt! We're gonna be late!" The filly called impatiently

Thundervolt?

"Ok, ok! I'm up!" I answered with the same amount of patience

I went along for the trip as "I" left the room I awoke in. I emerged in what appeared to be a living room made of more clouds. I looked around for the filly who beckoned for me and saw that she was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, where did you"—

"YAH!"

A filly sized weight landed on top of me and pinned me to the ground. I was worried that someone threw a brick at my dream self. "Or maybe they threw a really heavy cloud" I thought. To my surprise, I started laughing. The filly previously irritated with my lateness had decided to ambush me.

"AH, you got me! Ugghhhh…" I proceed to play dead

"Oh get up, you may be a pushover, but I can't kill my big brother that easily!" The filly joked.

I have a little sister!

"You're so mean to me." I said laughing.

"THUNDERVOLT, NO!"

A shriek rang out from the outside of the house, sending a sharp chill down my spine. I turned to look at the source of the scream and saw that I was no longer there. I was surrounded by nothing. Pure, black, nothingness.

"What's going on?" My own voice finally surfaced.

'Tis the same as dooming them all.

"Who said that?"

Your loyalty was unmatched, your talent great.

"I-I don't understand…"

Is it worth it? Is it worth her?

"Get out of my head!" I gripped my temples in my hooves.

You may run, you may hide, but thou shalt always remember. These burdens rest upon your shoulders, they fester within your heart. There is no escape!

"Be quiet!" I yelled irrationally loud at the emptiness.

FOOL! You know not what you do!

"NO!" I sprang up and light burned my eyes.

"He's awake! Twilight, he's awake!"

"Fluttershy?" I mouthed, exasperated and confused.

I blinked multiple times and my surroundings clarified. I was in the library again, in Twilights bed. Sweat crawled down my back, and my body felt numb. I began to lose feeling in my upper back.

"Are you ok! We were so worried!" Fluttershy said anxiously.

"I don't… I don't kn- GAH!"

The numbness in my back dissipated and a flash of searing pain spiked up into my head, blurring my vision and crippling me to the point of collapse. I fell back onto the bed, landing on my spine. More intense than before, pain roared into my shoulders, this time coming directly from my left-most wing.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Twilight burst into the room, stumbling over her hooves.

"Yeah, we're he- OOF!" Rainbow Dash flew into the room, colliding with Twilight.

"Rainbow Dash! Ow!" Twilight said

"Sorry, my bad Twilight." Rainbow Dash said looking flustered.

"It's fine, I'm fi"—

"Girls!" Fluttershy yelled over Twilight. "He's in pain, help him!"

"What the buck, ugh… What the buck happened?" I said, wincing from the pain.

"Hold still." Twilight's horn lit up and warm sensation crawled over me.

"Ahh, that's a lot better… Thanks Twilight. What was"—

"It's a simple medical spell, essentially a mild painkiller. And it's not a problem. It's the least I can do considering the circumstances of your injuries."

What do you mean? What happened?"

"You saved our lives!" Rainbow Dash said smiling and gesturing to herself and Fluttershy.

"Oh, is that all?" I asked with a grin.

"Yea, that's all. Try not to sound amazed."

"Unless you want to sound amazed of course." Fluttershy added meekly

"Seriously though, what happened?" I asked

"You were struck by lightning. The bolt came down and struck you directly in your center of mass." Twilight explained. "You pushed these two out of the way and took the hit."

"Lightning…? I-I should be dead." I expressed gravely.

"Yes, anypony should be after that. I want to run some data later that may help explain this phenomenon, but for now I just want to perform a quick physical on you."

"Ok, that's fine."

"Alright, try not to move too much." Twilight's horn sparked once again and she moved it up and down, peering at every inch of my body. "Your vitals seem fine, and your muscle tissue isn't overly contracted. How about…"

How about what? What else is there to check? You just said I was fine.

"I know I did, and I'm checking for synaptic realignment in your brain tissue." Twilight said out of nowhere.

"What the hay? Did you just answer my thought!" My eyes went wide with shock.

"Oh, sorry about that, I should have explained. I'm scanning your brainwaves right now to see if anything clicked due to your injury. Synaptic Realignment. Hearing your thoughts is sort of a side effect, so try to keep the private stuff as private as you can."

"That's terrifying. I'll do my best…"

Don't let her hear you think about Fluttershy or your feelings for her. She probably heard that. And that. Dammit, now she thinks you're talking to yourself. No she doesn't. If she didn't before, she does now. Shut up, this isn't helping. Wow, Fluttershy looks so pretty right now…

"I'm sorry, but your thoughts are hilarious and they're distracting me from the task at hand. I can't exactly run a diagnostic when I'm holding back laughter." Twilight said giggling.

"What can I say? I'm hilarious." My face turned red as I played off Twilights comment.

"Right" Twilight winked. "Just clear you mind and let me take another look."

I took a deep breath and pushed my thoughts out of my mind. A short silence followed in which I could hear everypony breathing. Twilights horn made a twinkling sound and I could see the now familiar lavender glow even with my eyes closed.

"Interesting… Did you happen to see or hear anything while you were unconscious? Maybe a vision or a dream of some sort?" Twilight probed.

"Well…" I hesitated.

"Well what? What did you see?"

"I think I saw me, but I was in a room made of clouds. The name Cloudsdale rings a bell, but… but I've no clue where that is, or where I heard it before…"

"Rainbow Dash and I are from Cloudsdale. I don't remember telling you that though. Did you mention it to him?" Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash

"No. I said he looked familiar, but I never said anything about it." Rainbow Dash reasoned.

"What else?" Twilight asked, turning her curious eyes back towards me.

"There was a filly who said I was her older brother… She…"

"Come on, tell us more!" Rainbow Dash yelled, startling me in the process. Fluttershy and Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with confused eyes. "What? It's exciting…"

"I don't remember that much about her. She said I was her older brother… She tackled me. And she called me, uhh…" I struggled to remember what the filly said.

"You've got this, c'mon! Remember!" Rainbow Dash slapped the back of my head with her hoof.

"Thundervolt!" I blurted out in shock. "She called me Thundervolt! Ow!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy and Twilight yelled in unison.

"Results baby, that's how it's done!" Rainbow Dash beamed confidently.

"I guess I can't argue with the turnout…" I said rubbing the back of my head tenderly.

"I didn't take you for an 'ends justify the means' kind of pony." Twilight said apprehensively.

"Trust me, I'm not usually. What's done is done though. So, what does all this mean? Is there"—

"Judging from your statements and from my comprehensive scans of your cerebral cortex, I firmly believe that your dreams were actually fragments of your old memory spilling into your current state of mind."

"Seriously?"

"How did something like that happen?" Fluttershy asked curiously "That is, if you wouldn't mind… explaining, of course."

"Lightning." Twilight said matter-of-factly. "The electricity coursed through his body and coincidentally reconnected some of the pathways in his brain. Not enough to kill him, or to cause a full recovery of course, but enough to spawn some interesting dreams. Sound about right, Thundervolt?"

"I guess so… Huh." I spaced out momentarily. "Thundervolt… It sounds right."

"I think that's a wonderful name." Fluttershy said softly.

"Yea, that name sounds tough. Cool even. Makes me wonder." Rainbow Dash said suspiciously.

"About what exactly?" I asked.

"How could a pushover like you get a cool sounding name like that?" Rainbow Dash smiled facetiously.

No… It couldn't be.

"Uh, I… I don't know…" I mumbled uncomfortably, concealing my suspicions.

"Well, I think we've made good progress today!" Twilight cut in, catching everyponys attention. "We figured out how to cure your amnesia, we've got a solid plan to go off of, and now we finally have something to call you! Thundervolt: Pony of Mystery!"

"I think we should let him rest now Twilight. He's still in bad shape from his accident, and I think some bed rest would help his recovery." Fluttershy offered her caretaking advice.

"You're the boss Fluttershy. Let's bounce everypony!" Rainbow Dash was about to fly off.

"Wait!" I raised my voice. "Rainbow Dash, can you stay just a minute?"

Rainbow Dash turned her head to the concerned faces of Twilight and Fluttershy. They offered no resistance or understanding to her remaining with me, and so Rainbow Dash turned her head back to me and landed by my side. Fluttershy reluctantly followed Twilight out of the room, leaving me with the cyan pegasus.

"So, what did you need…?"

"If you don't mind, I want you to tell me about your time in Cloudsdale."

And there you go. After nine chapters, we finally have a name! I hope that you readers weren't getting too irritated with me about that. Hope you liked this chapter, and if you have any ideas on how I can improve, feel free to share. Your reviews keep me going!