Starlight Glimmer stared at Manuel with the intensity of her feelings. She wasn't able to look away. Her mind rushed through memories that seemed to come from a distant life. Echoes of battle, explosions, and death coursed through her head as she managed to barely concentrate on the important part. Manuel was real. He was alive.
Manuel looked at her confused. This pony rang a bell for some reason, as if they were some form of acquaintances, but he didn't recognize her from anywhere else. He had never even been in this place before. He still felt like whatever had hit his head made a dent, and when he tried to remember or focused too much on something, the pain became a lot sharper.
Starlight's face looked like a ghost had materialized in front of her, her blank expression shifting slowly to one that was a hybrid between disbelief and the silent realization that he didn't recognize her. She still ran to Manuel for a hug as they reunited. She stopped in her tracks. His blank expression was a heads up that he wasn't aware of who she was.
She felt the awkwardness of the moment. The sudden stop of a reunion hug that she yearned for. "I'm glad you are ok," she said in the best, more composed voice she could muster, trying not to sound affected by everything she had happening inside at that very moment. "I heard about the new tenant Twilight had, and wanted to know if everything was ok."
Meanwhile, something in the back of Manuel's brain was off, like a small amount of static energy in his hair generating an invisible and subtle pressure in his head. The sensation made the room spin a little, and he grabbed his head as he fell towards the mattress.
Starlight saw his bewilderment as he fell on the mattress. She let go a gasp of concern as she and Twilight rushed to his side, worry drawn on both of their faces.
"I'm fine, sorry," he mustered when the spinning room slowed down enough to let him sit without worry. "Sorry for worrying you. This dizziness is a little hard to manage sometimes."
His face was a little pale like the blood had rushed away to another part of his body. Starlight then realized that he wasn't only not recognizing her, he didn't react like he normally did. It was as if he had forgotten who he was, or part of it.
As Starlight help him stand and walk a little, he felt again that static pressure in the back of his neck. he instinctively turned his head around, a little too fast for his damaged head, but he didn't see anything, and his hand rushed to his head, to put some pressure and try to feel better.
"What happened," Starlight asked, knowing that reaction and worrying about what he was looking for. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I don't know", Manny said, lowering his hands to the back of his neck. "I think whatever hit me, did a number on me, I'm feeling a little lightheaded and a little dizzy. It's like a balloon was creating a small pressure in the back of my neck. It's absolutely maddening and distracting, to be honest."
Starlight searched the place, around the libraries and through the windows. When she didn't find anything dangerous or threatening she knew it was better to not keep worrying everyone with a goosechase.
"Well, Manny," Twilight said, "you need to get better, but you also should know where you are now, so what about we take you for a walk, show you Ponyville and some of it's inhabitants."
Manny put a hand on Twilight's back, using it to help him not get dizzy from the walk, and started advancing towards the hall. The library was warm thanks to the small fireplace in a corner. In the hall that connected to the inner yard, the cold breeze let the leaves fly around, remembering that Autumn was still raging and it was one of the last good days before Winter started.
"Yeah!" Spike chimed in. "There's lots to see! I don't even know where we should take him first. Maybe to get some clothes? Or probably good homemade food?"
"Relax there, Spike," Twilight intervened. "There will be plenty of time to take him everywhere when he's feeling better. For now, I was just thinking about a nice little walk so he can get acquainted with the neighborhood, that's all."
At that, Manny smiled. He wanted to explore the world he was in now. More importantly, he wanted more than a few answers to a lot of questions that were rapidly growing under his skull.
"I would like that," he responded after a while. "Maybe it'll be good for my injuries, or my memory loss. Whatever might be fixed, I'll take it." Starlight couldn't help but laugh a little at that remark. It looked like a different body, the voice was not the same, even his attitude had changed, but deep down inside, She knew she was looking at her friend, and that lame joke confirmed it.
All she had to do now was to stay close to him, in the least obvious way possible. Still, if they wanted to tell on her it wouldn't be exactly terrible considering how good they used to get along in school. "May I join you on your exploration?" She asked, half kidding/half serious. If she could see his reactions, be right there with him, and make him see her again, maybe, just maybe they'd have a chance in the future.
As they were getting ready to leave the Castle of Friendship behind, Manuel asked a question they could never answer. "Why is everything so bright?" He said, looking at the colorful trees, flowers and birds. The ponies snickers just as if he'd said something hilarious. Well, maybe he had.