i wasn't sure if i was dead, or just sleeping. i wouldn't fiend either to be surprising... both were very likely outcomes. all i could see was white... everything was white. i was my own self just sitting there in a white box for what seemed like days on end. it was torture if only something would happen... something interesting. what felt like two days ago i got so fed up with it i just decided to run... and i've been running ever since. it was like an endless sea of nothing. i kept running, not getting tired, not taking breaks, and not running out of breath. it seemed like the only way out was to move forward and hope there's an end.
i kept running through the nothingness and suddenly... there was fire. the white turned to black and everything around me was fire. only a thin black stripe going forward. i kept running as the fires burned and flickered around me. i kept running and running and i could see the night sky. not above of me but in front of me. i ran towards it and the stars and dots grew closer as the fire grew weaker, dimmer, and fainter.
soon enough there was no fire. only the night sky. i could feel myself getting picked up off the ground and just floating there. almost like i was actually in space itself. stars and planets surrounded me on every side. either i'm dead... or i'm at the hospital right now and they put me under with something STRONG. suddenly i could hear voices from all angles and distances start telling me things. i could hear them perfectly but i couldn't remember a single thing they said. i had no idea what was going on and i started to panic. i wanted to run but i couldn't move... it was like i wasn't even in my body anymore... i was just watching these things unfold.
i could feel myself going forward and the stars started to flash by me and spin. i went faster and faster as a faint light glowed in the distance. i flew by faster and faster as it grew brighter and the voices in my head all started saying the same words over and over again "remember...remember." they said. i didn't know what to remember and soon the light grew closer and closer and engulfed me in its entirety. everything was light and warm. i could feel everything around me. and then suddenly... i was in a hospital.
i shot up from the hospital bed covered in sweat and breathing heavily. i had sensors stuck to me and the heart rate monitor they were attached to was beeping and freaking out over my accelerated heart rate. as i looked around i started to calm down. i even started smiling and laughing as i knew i was alive now. but that went away when i started thinking about the damages i had taken. i looked down at my body.
i was almost completely wrapped in linen wrappings with blood stains in various but numerous places. i pushed the covers off me and the same was for my legs, arms, and wings. my right leg was especially bad. that had been the leg that got trapped under the beam. there were large and more colorful blood spots on that leg than the other dried up blood stains. any places that weren't bandaged up we're red and burnt pretty bad.
i let out a deep sigh and laid back in the bed. i tried to think about what i just witnessed in my dreams... or whatever that was, but every time i tried to think the bleeping of the heart rate monitor kept distracting and annoying me. i grabbed the sensors stuck to my chest and ripped them off. the machine read me as flatlining and set of a constant and continuous beep. probably not the smartest thing to do... and it only made the problem i was trying to fix, worse. oh well, at least somepony will catch wind of the machine and rush in here presuming i'm dead.
and just as i predicted a nurse with a white coat and red mane came bursting in here with a look of worry and shock on her face. she looked over to see me resting on the bed looking at her. she looked at me worryingly. i was being rather still but she let out a sigh of reliefe when i blinked. she walked over and flicked off the machine and pushed a button to raise the bed in sitting position.
"i keep telling you ponies not to pull those off... it's not a very nice way of calling me here." said the nurse.
"sorry..." i said. "the beeping was giving me a headache."
"and so you thought the constant beep of flatlining would help." she said.
"wasn't my smartest decision." i said. she let out another deep sigh.
"well at least you're conscious." she said. "how are you feeling?"
"i feel like i should be dead." i replied. she just moaned and started walking to the other side of the bed to open the windows. i expected to be blinded by sunlight but again it was a gloomy and cloudy day. "hey did you put me under with anything..." i asked. she turned back with a confused face.
"just 20 cc's of standard medical sedatives... why, should we be aware of an allergy or reaction?" she asked.
"no... it's just that i had some real strange dreams while i was sleeping." i said.
"sleeping?" said the nurse. "you were induced into a neurological sub-coma." i looked at her with a confused face.
"alright... again with smaller words." i said.
"you were out for a month... you're lucky you're not dead." she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "you might have experienced some kind of shock."
"almost dying isn't shocking enough?" i said... she just rolled her eyes.
"no apparently not..." she said. "when we got you technically you were dead but you still had a heartbeat..." she said.
"i was dead?" i said with confusion.
"technically you were..." she replied. "almost all of you're major organs had shut down and stopped functioning entirely... even you're brain." she said. she walked over to a projection screen that had a few x-rays on it already. she flicked the light on and the x-rays were visible.
"what is this." i asked looking at the pictures. they were brain outlines and x-rays... probably mine.
"this is you're brain..." she said. "these were from the first week." she said pointing to two pictures of a brain outline but it was completely black in all corners... both of them were the same. "the black are dead brain cells... now look over here." she said pointing at the other pictures. "these are x-rays as we progressed into the next two weeks.
the first picture was like the rest but there was a small greenish yellow patch in the middle. the next one was like the last but the greenish yellow had moved forward and a light orange was in the middle. the next one was ,again, the same but the previous colors pushed out and made room for a darker orange in the center. the next one was completely filled in with color with dark red in the center. then it spread and the colors changed as the last one showed a picture of a brain with red and orange patches everywhere with a faint orange and yellow green in a few spots.
"this is you're brain yesterday." she said pointing at the last picture. "not only is it completely healthy it's actually healthier than any brain i've ever seen. and during the last week of you did start having tantrums in you're sleep... you're eyes were dilated and frantic like you were dreaming..." she said. "whatever happened to you is probably one of the greatest medical mysteries in all of equestria..."
"thats quite a bit to wake up to." i said.
"yeah well i'm sure you'll be fine." she said. "but you should know about you're physical injuries too... while you were into the first week of treatment you're body absolutely refused to heal. after heavy bandaging we had to keep you on an IV."
"and this." i said gesturing to my whole body.
"some patches of second degree burns... almost all the rest of you're body is covered in first degree burns... except for you're leg though which was torn open and covered in third degree burns... the burns and the tearing will scar you forever but the other burns will fade and the second degree marks should hide nicely under you're fur when it fully grows back in a day or two."
so i'm horribly disfigured?" i said.
"only for a day or two." said the nurse going towards the door. "once the fur grows back it should hide almost everything except the damages to you're leg... only that part will be disfigured." she said opening the door. "oh and i've got a friend of mine outside who said she'd love to pick you're brain... i'll be sending her in soon... you're stuffs in the closet... you're officially excused from the hospital... have a nice day." she said and then shut the door while leaving... i'm not sure if i like that nurse. she talked with an undertone of sas and sarcasm the whole time and expected me to know what the fuck she was saying.
i slowly got up from the hospital bed. everything was sore but i could easily push through it. i sat at the end and then hopped onto the floor. the cold floor stung against my burnt hooves and i grit my teeth. the pain quickly washed away and the cold felt delightfully soothing against my hooves... i wish the inn i stay at, had showers... a cold shower would be the best right now.
i walked over to the closet. putting pressure on my right back hoof hurt so i mostly limped over to the closet. i got there and opened it up. i looked at my gear. surprisingly it wasn't burnt to hell. infact the places where it should have been melted and burnt were whole. i took them down and laid them on the hospital bed. i reached for the bandages all over my body but i decided to leave them on as a cushion from friction.
i started putting my gear on. i got the hang of it and it didn't take me too long to put all the pieces of and strap it up. i fastened my weapons and gear to the armor nice and tight. there were a few places where you could see the bloodied bandages past the armor but i didn't care. i banged out the duster because ironically it had been collecting dust in that closet for the past month. i stopped shaking it out and pulled it over my leather armor. i flipped up the collar and picked up my hat.
i held the hat for a second and looked at the skull buckle just before the brim. i thought about what i was going to do with my life now... i don't think i want to adventure anymore, but then again i felt like i wanted to keep going more badly then before. i was conflicted, to say the least. i just let out a deep sigh and placed the hat upon my head. i strung my bow and arrows to my back and i was all set.
i heard the door click behind me and i turned to see it slowly swinging open. i watched as a purple unicorn with dark purple hair with a lighter shade of purple and pink stripes running through her hair walked into the room. here eyes as well were purple and her cutie mark was a big pink and white star surrounded by several smaller stars. she walked in and closed the door behind her. she smiled when she saw me but i remained emotionless.
"hello sir." she said. "my name is twilight sparkle." i just stared at her waiting for her to keep talking. when she didn't keep talking the room filled with a sense of awkwardness mainly coming from her. finally i broke the silence.
"is there something i can help you with." i said.
"yes actually... you probably don't know me but i've seen you before." she said. i raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "you see i was the one who doused the fire with my magic and ultimately saved you're life." she said. now i raised both eyebrows in subtle shock.
"well then miss sparkle i guess i owe you a thank you." i said tipping my hat to her.
"i only doused the fire... it was two other stallions that pulled you out of the wreckage." she said. "luckily nopony got... well nopony died at least." i'm glad she stopped herself from saying 'nopony got hurt' because she seems nice and it wouldn't feel right having to viciously prove how wrong she was.
"well that's good." i said... now like i said... is there something i can help you with miss sparkle... because if not i would like to get going." i said walking towards the door. i walked past her and opened the door.
"wait..." she said running up to me. "where are you from?" she asked. i wanted to tell my fake story but for some reason i'm sick of that... i'll tell her the truth.
"i don't know." i said walking down the hall with her close behind me.
"you don't know!... how can you not know."
"i just don't."
"what's you're name?"
"i don't know." i said.
"where are you traveling to."
"nowhere." i said.
"why are you in ponyville?" she asked.
"i don't know." i replied once again.
"who are you? she asked getting a bit frustrated with me as we continued to walk down the hall and into the lobby.
"i don't know." i said.
"why don't you know?"
"i don't know..." i replied. she stopped and let out a frustrated grunt as i pushed the hospital doors open and walked outside. she soon came running through the doors as well and stayed close behind me.
"where are you going now." she asked.
"not sure..." i said. she let out a frustrated grunt again.
"so you're a nameless pony wandering around aimlessly with no goals, no home, nopony to turn to, and no clue what he's doing... you might as well have just started existing yesterday." she said.
"thats what it feels like." i said. "the nurse said you wanted to poke my brain... i don't care if you do but there's nothing to poke at... i woke up under a tree in ponyville the day before the accident that hospitalized me. i had no memory of who i was or what i was doing. all i had was this hat and a bag of money... nothing else... that's my life miss sparkle... you're welcome." i said as she stood there confused with her jaw to the floor. i kept walking down the path into town.
"wait wait wait." she said running after me and quickly catching up.
"what is it now miss sparkle."
"you said you lost you're memory right." she said.
"i never said that... i said i woke up without my memory... never said anything about loosing it."
"this is hard enough to figure out as it is... fancy riddles aren't helping."
"what are you trying to figure out?" i asked.
"who you are." she replied. i stopped and looked back at her.
"miss sparkle why are you taking such great interest in me... i ain't no different from every other adventurer here... hell their lives are probably far more interesting than mine, go annoy them."
"you think i'm annoying!" she said ecstatically.
"yes..." i said.
"fine... i'm done with you." she said turning around and leaving. i just watched her walk away for a few seconds then turned and left myself. i have no idea who the hell that was but i'm sure it wouldn't hurt either of us if we never saw each other again... now to find the inn... again.
i went to flap my wings and fly but it hurt to move them. they're probably still healing. plus they were bandaged up near the base making it hard to fly in the first place. i just walked around for a while with the brim of my hat hiding my face. i still got strange looks from a few ponies but i was used to it by now. it wasn't too long that after wandering around i found myself in the town center again... why do i keep winding up here.
at least it gives me a good start to getting to the inn. i ignored the statue of crimson and headed straight for the inn as it was getting late now as the sky darkened... either that or it was going to rain again, lets hope not. i trotted down the road for about an hour and it was getting very dark now. i stopped when i noticed a familiar sight. it was an empty lot where the house burned down... a shiver ran down my back at the memories. and sure enough next to it was the inn.
i walked to the door of the inn and pushed it open. i walked inside and closed it behind me. the warmth of the fire warmed up my cold body. it was growing colder outside and i'm sure that winter isn't too far away. i looked around and not much seems to have changed. same usual ponies here and the bar mare was at the counter washing glasses. octavia wasn't here though... oh well, i'm sure she's at her home. i walked over to the bar and took a seat.
"holy crap!." said the barmaid as she caught sight of me. "i thought you were dead."
"me too." i said.
"how you doing..." she said. "you gonna survive?" she asked.
"more or less." i said shrugging. she just smiled and tapped me on the shoulder.
"thats the spirit... here let me get you something good, on the house." she said going into the back.
"thanks..." i said. i waited for a little bit before she came back out with a medium sized bottle of gin. she passed it over to me. i grabbed it and she smiled and gave me a little wink. i tipped my hat and took a swig of the gin. it really hit the spot. i took another swig and i heard the doors to the bar swing open. i looked over to see octavia with a large cello case with her. i was about to speak up when i noticed somepony else walk in.
it was that one stallion from a while ago. he was still wearing the large suit of bone armor. thunder rush was his name, i think. they were smiling and chatting. i thought that they were just being friendly but then octavia reached over and gave him a big kiss on the lips, and he did the same. i could hear my heart crack a bit. i took another swig of gin to help keep my feelings down. i was both jealous and minorly heartbroken. i had really liked her after all... she's the only pony i really know.
they both held the kiss for a while before breaking it up. they both smiled and octavia and thunder rush started walking over. when they turned their gaze octavia noticed me and smiled. she trotted over with her big cello case and thunder rush slowly followed after. she finally got to me and set her cello down after sitting on the stool next to mine.
"hey..." she said. "you're alright."
"did you think i wasn't." i said with a smile trying to hide my broken heart.
"well you were pretty beat up... and i can see that you're not exactly in perfect condition still." she said.
"i'll be fine in a day or two." i said. i looked past her to see thunder rush walk up next to us. "glad to see you're back." i said.
"good to be back..." he said. "i heard about what you did at the market and then that night at the house next door... that's pretty brave, and you pull off that outfit well, i knew you would."
"thanks... it was a nice gift." i said. I took another swig of gin and just smiled at Octavia and thunder rush. They smiled back.
" so you heard about me huh?" I said to thunder rush.
" yeah... The head of the crimson order has his eye on you too... " said thunder rush. " hell if crimson were alive I'm sure he'd be looking for you as well."
" you know that's not the first time I've heard that." I said. Thunder just chuckled to himself.
" I'm sure it's not." He said.
" I have to start getting ready to play." Said Octavia getting up and grabbing her cello.
" alright... I'll be listening." Said thunder. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked to her usual spot and started setting up. I watched for a few minutes while thunder ordered some food and a drink. I turned my attention back to him now.
" so how long you been with her?" I asked.
" not long." He said taking a swig from his beer while waiting for his food. " I met her at a party in canterlot. I was invited there by the princess to attend. When I got there I saw her playing the cello and I thought it was a funny coincidence and she did too... So we stayed together at the party and well, it all went on from there."
" sounds like it was a lot of fun." I said.
" more or less... The canterlot gig really gave her a boost of confidence."
" we'll that's good for her... It's just what she needs." I said taking another drink of gin. I was almost out and I could feel it getting to me now. Thunder took a drink too.
" you know my friend twilight said she had an interesting encounter with you today." Said thunder. Hearing the tame twilight caused me to take another drink.
" let me guess... She told you everything." I said.
" just about... And I think I can help get your memory back... If you're willing to let me try." He said. The idea struck me as a fake but as I thought about it I started to warm up to the idea. It would be great to know who I was and what I'm doing here.
" alright." I said. I'm not sure if I said it or if it was the gin. But either way I was enthusiastic to find out.
" we will have to go on a bit of a journey and it might get dangerous." He said. " and it might take us awhile to get to where we need to go."
" I don't care..." I said.
" great." He said. " then starting tomorrow we begin. Just meet me down here when you get up and we'll set out and gather some of my other friends."
" other friends?" I asked curiously.
" three others... Twilight sparkle, black hoof, and my partner red wing." He said. By the time we were done talking Octavia had finished her song and set her cello down for the night. She walked over and sat on thunders lap. " all done." He said.
" yeah... So did he say yes." She asked. She was in on the plan.
" yeah we leave tomorrow." Said thunder.
" alright I'll wait for you." She said giving him another kiss. " but it's late... We should get some sleep." She said. Thunder just smiled and they both got up and left.
" I'll see you tomorrow." He said. " oh... And take it easy with the gin." He said before disappearing upstairs. I let out a deep groggy sigh and went back to the counter. I finished off the gin and the bar mare walked over.
" so how's it going sugar..." She said. " saved your room for you... You would have owed a fortune but thunder pain for it." She said.
" who the hell is that guy." I asked.
" probably the most interesting stallion you'll ever meet." She said. " the guys completely loaded but stays at inns all the time... Usually this one. And get this... He was the best friend of crimson blast." She said.
" was he really." I said.
" yep... When crimson went on his two year mission and came back an idol and a god thunder had left for the entire time he was gone... Just left, no letter, no warning and no trace... He was just gone." She said.
" when did he come back." I asked.
" not too soon after crimson did. The guy came back with some shady looking pony with knives strapped to every inch on his armor. He laid low for a while but a few days after crimson died he single hoofedly overthrew almost all crime within pony vile and the surrounding area."
" so he's famous or something." I said.
" pretty much... He's one of equestrian most renowned adventurers and was crowned the title of hero by the princess..." She said.
" hero huh... Either I'm the luckiest bastard in Equestria... Or he's looking for something."
" or he's just trying to help." Said the bar mare. She left the counter and left me to my thoughts. I sat at the bar for a few more minutes while some ponies either left or went to their rooms. I did the same as them. I walked over and up the stairs. I walked down the hall and found my room. I tried the knob but it was locked.
I patted myself down in search of the key and found it in my back pocket. I pulled it put and unlocked the door. The door creaked open and I walked into the dark and dusty room. I flicked on the lights and the room filled with light. It was just the way I left it. Nothing in here but my bags on the floor.
I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. I started unfastening the straps of my armor. I undid the straps and my armor loosened up. I took off my duster and hung threw it on the dresser. I pulled off my leather armor and let it fall to the ground. Then I took my hat off and placed it on top of the duster laying on the dresser.
I flicked the lights off to sleep and shambled through the darkness to find the bed. After bumping into a few things I finally tripped over the bed and fell in it. I crawled around and shuffled under the covers. I pulled them up to my waist and laid on my side staring into the darkness.
It was quiet... Horrifyingly quiet. no noise at all, and no light helped the mood of desperation and loneliness set in. i quietly shut my eyes and lazily drifted off to sleep. as i drifted off to sleep i couldn't help but feel excited... but afraid at the same time. i'm not sure what to feel or who i was... but i'm glad i can find that all out tomorrow.
... hopefully