Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Magic
by Sunnydaze
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This story includes links to music on Youtube from the game Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.
The links are written into the story, so if you feel that they are detrimental to your experience you can choose to ignore them.
If you use the music then be prepared to close the currently playing song when you see blue text that isn’t a link, this represents silence.
If any links are dead or fail to work, PM me and I’ll do the best I can to fix them.
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Music is playing. At first you ignore it, too weary to even open your eyes. But soon you become fascinated by the strange tune, and begin to ponder its intricacies and mood. It doesn’t seem like a sad song, but it isn’t quite happy either, and the more you listen the more mysterious it seems to become. After a moment’s contemplation, you decide to open your eyes and find the source of the tune, but upon doing so you discover that there is nothing that could possibly be playing music. In fact, there isn’t even anything to stand on.
… Where am I?
Suspended in an endless expanse of red light, there is only one landmark that you can discern; the horizon, where the crimson sky blurs into a blinding white. As you gaze around curiously, it becomes apparent that the colours are shifting. Red fades into orange, orange fades into yellow, and then every other colour in the rainbow, before beginning the cycle once more. The effect is mesmerizing, and soothed by the calm music you watch the colours dance for what seems like an eternity.
“Welcome!”
Startled, you wheel around in the vacuum, looking for the source of the voice, but there is still nothing but emptiness. Hesitantly, you attempt to answer.
“… Um, Hello?”
“Oh, hello there! Polite little fellow, aren’t you?”
“I guess so…”
“I’m sorry if I sound condescending, but I’m quite surprised and delighted. Most planes walkers aren’t as lucid as you are, they could barely answer my questions, let alone hold up the decent end of a conversation!”
You decide to take lucid as a complement, but the voice’s big words are having trouble penetrating your foggy mind.
“Um, what? Planes walker? Condescending? I’m sorry whoever you are, but I’m a little fuzzy in the head at the moment…”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all! I just get lonely in here, and I like to greet anyone who happens to come through, get to know them a little bit, and give them some advice about where they are going.”
This gets your attention. “Where they are going? You mean, I’m going somewhere? I don’t feel like I’m moving…”
“Well, you’re not moving laterally, but you are moving dimensionally. At this very moment you are transitioning from the world of humans, Earth, into the world of ponies, Equestria.”
You raise an eyebrow. “The world of ponies? Are you serious?”
The voice chuckles softly. “I thought that might be how you’d react. Most humans don’t seem to take a world entirely populated by something they conceive as animals very seriously, but I can assure you that the ponies of this world are very dissimilar to the ones from your home. They are an intelligent species, with their own history, culture and society. In fact, there are many intelligent species in this world, although ponies are by far the most plentiful.”
“I… this is a lot to take in…” You try to take a seat, but of course there is nothing to sit on.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you’re not going to remember any of this after you arrive.”
This takes a moment to sink in. “… What?! I’m not going to remember this? Why?!”
“It has to do with maintaining the balance. If you were dropped in another world exactly as you are now, it could have deep ramifications on that world, their entire perspective of the universe suddenly shattering before their very eyes in an instant! But fortunately for you, it doesn’t have to be permanent. You just have to be eased into the world. You might even remember some snippets of your old life, but mostly it will be like you are a completely different person. Or pony, in this particular case.”
Dumbstruck, you go limp, turning slightly in the void. “I… I’m going to turn into a pony too? But… what… how did any of this happen?”
“There, see? The amnesia is already setting in. You can’t even remember how you got here! But don’t worry, humans seem to adjust surprisingly well to having different bodies, I’m sure you’ll do fine.” The voice tuts disappointedly. “And now I’m afraid our time together is almost at an end. Which is a shame, because I didn’t even get a chance to ask you any questions!”
Shocked, you hold your hands in front of you. You watch in horror as they begin to fade away, the spectral walls of this place showing through them.
“Wait, I need to know what happened! Why am I here? What am I supposed to do?!”
Despite the lack of a visible face, you can almost feel as if the voice is smiling. “Who says you’re supposed to do anything?”
Your hands are now completely gone, and you can see your vision beginning to fade as well. Just before everything disappears completely, you hear the voice say one last thing.
“Good luck.”
And with a blinding flash of rainbow light you cease to feel anything.
~ ~ ~
Waves. You can hear waves, pounding against the ocean side. And every crash sends a ripple of pain through your throbbing head. You grumble angrily, and slowly open your eyes to find yourself lying near the edge of a tall cliff that jutted out towards the sea. The sun is just rising, painting the sky a beautiful orange, which then mixed with the blue of the ocean in a mosaic of colour. Disoriented, you attempt to stand up, but you wobble uncertainly on your hooves.
… Hooves? I… have hooves? No, this… this is all wrong…
You try to figure out what to do, but thinking just sends another wave of nausea through your body, and you collapse to the ground again. You give up and just lie there for a while, when you hear the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Oh, hello. Are… you alright?”
You struggle to stand again, but you fail miserably, slumping to the ground.
“No… not really. Look at me, I have hooves!”
“But… everypony has hooves.”
Confused, you roll onto your back to face the speaker. Standing over you is a violet pony, with a dark purple mane striped by purple and pink, and a blue bandanna wrapped around its neck. You stare at the creature, uncertain as to what is happening, and watch in surprise as it opens its mouth and talks.
“Do you need some help or something?” she says, a look of concern on her face. You can tell by her voice and small frame that she is female. “You seem a little disoriented.”
Suddenly, your brain puts two and two together. You stare at your recently discovered hooves, and let out an audible gasp. “I’m… I’m a pony!”
The purple pony giggles. “Well, of course you are. What else would you be, a human?” She laughs harder, obviously thinking this is a hysterical joke, but the innocuous comment rings hauntingly true in your ears.
“Yes, that’s it! I’m supposed to be a human!”
The pony stops laughing. “Wait, what? You’re not serious. Humans are just a fairy tale.”
“No, I was a human! I had… hands, and I…” Your mind goes blank. "... I can’t remember anything else! I don’t know who I am!”
At first the purple pony looks sceptical, but when she registers your panic her look becomes pitiful. “Oh no, you really can’t remember anything, can you?”
You shake your head sadly, and put your face in your hooves. “I don’t know what’s going on. I just want to go home… but I don’t even know where home is!” You softly cry into your hooves, the crushing loss of not knowing who you are driving deep. The pony gingerly pats you on the back, looking thoroughly unsure of how to console you. After a letting you cry yourself out, she finally speaks again.
“Try a little harder. Who knows, if you can remember being human maybe you can remember your name.” You look up, and she gives you an encouraging smile, and despite your troubles you find yourself smiling back.
“… Okay, I’ll try.” Squinting your eyes, you concentrate as hard as you can, and mentally grasp at the fleeting pieces of your memory. One small fragment leaps out, and you latch onto it; it’s a memory of you talking to someone, another human.
“… Alex.”
The pony looks quizzical. “What does Alex mean?”
“It’s… it’s a name. It isn’t my name, but… someone I knew…”
“It’s a strange name. I’ve never heard anything like it before. But I suppose it makes sense, everything I’ve read about humans says that they had weird names.”
You look up sharply. “So you believe me? I know how crazy this must sound.”
The purple pony gives a sheepish look. “I believe that you think you used to be human, but I’m not going to commit to it myself until I see some evidence. You could just be crazy for all I know, but you don’t seem dangerous, and you obviously need help.”
You look down dejectedly. “I guess that’s the best I could hope for. But I have no idea what to do now, or where I'm supposed to go. Where am I supposed to live?”
After a moment's thought, the pony pipes up cheerfully. “How about I take you back to Ponyville? That’s my hometown, and it’s not far from here. We can ask at the Exploration HQ if they have a spare bed for you to borrow.”
“Exploration HQ?”
“Yeah, the headquarters for exploration teams, who go on missions to discover the unknown and find the mysterious.” A wistful look crosses her face. “One day I’ll pass the entrance exam, and be able to go on my own journey… Exploring the country side… Rescuing those in need…” You wait patiently for her to continue, but she’s blissfully immersed in her fantasy, so you nudge her gently until she snaps out of her reverie.
“Huh?” she says, looking around dazedly. “What were we talking about?”
“You said you were going to show me back to town.”
“Oh, right! Of course! You need somewhere to stay until you get your memory back!” The pony sets off at a trot, heading back down the hillside away from the cliff, but then turns and looks back at you. “Well, are you coming?”
Every synapse in your brain tells you not follow a strange, talking animal you have never met before, especially when you’re amnesiac. She could be the one who conked you on the head and made you lose your memory in the first place, after all. But as the purple pony looks back at you questionably, you feel like there’s never been anyone – or rather, anypony – that you would have trusted more. You slowly make your way down the hill as well, still unsteady on your hooves, and sidle up beside her.
“So…” the pony starts, grinning awkwardly. “Is Alex a mare’s name or a stallion’s name? Because I have no idea what else to call you.”
“It can be either. You haven’t told me your name yet, by the way.”
She smiles warmly. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. It’s nice to meet you Alex.”
You smile back, feeling strangely content. “It’s nice to meet you too, Twilight.”