I woke up with a headache, and kinda wishing that everything was a dream. But when I opened my eyes, another pair of orange eyes glared back at me. It was Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister.
"Hiya!" she said. The filly startled me and I hit my head on the wall behind me. "Oh! Sorry!"
I rubbed my head and nodded. "It's alright, I'm fine. What's up?"
"AJ sent me up here to get ya," She said. "Breakfast is ready." I obliged and climbed out of the bed as Apple Bloom headed downstairs. I rubbed my eyes and followed the filly downstairs. After washing up in the bathroom, I marched down the stairs and turned into the next room to see four ponies in the kitchen: Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big McIntosh, and... a new pony? She was a Unicorn with lavender fur and purple mane/tail. What really surprised me was her wings, a Unicorn with wings? I thought that only Pegasus had wings.
"Oh, hello." I say, sitting down at the table. "You must be Twilight."
The purple unicorn waved her hoof. "That's me! And you must be the one Applejack helped."
I nodded and Applejack tilted her head. "Did yah remember anythin' overnight?"
"In fact, I did, I think my name is Firebolt." I replied. Big McIntosh began to serve what looked like small tarts. I asked him what it was and he replied with "Apple Breakfast Fritters."
Twilight went on. "So, Firebolt, you have absolutely no idea where you're from, where you are, or even what you are?"
"Yes, yes, and yes. I remembered my name last night when I heard a voice speak in my mind." With trouble, I picked up breakfast with my two front hooves and began to feast on it. I've never tasted anything like it.
Twilight began to jot down notes. "What do you remember?"
I thought for a bit. "Not much. The things I remember are a painful hit on the head and strange swirling colours." While eating, I noticed something that I somehow haven't noticed before. All the ponies in the room, besides Apple Bloom, had a tattoo upon their 'flanks'. Twilight had a purple star surrounded by smaller, white sparkles, Applejack had three red apples, and Big McIntosh had one large green apple. I looked at my flank and noticed that I didn't have one.
"Can someone explain these tattoos?" I asked, pointing at Twilight's symbol. Twilight stopped writing and looked at the spot I was pointing at.
"Oh, well that's a cutie mark, it represents a unique characteristic that sets you apart from others. Ponies only get it when they discover that talent." With this information, I examined her mark. What, are purple crystal explosions her talent? I thought.
"Alright," Twilight said, closing the notebook she was writing in. "I have some ideas of what's going on. You'll have to come with me, Firebolt, we're going to my place." I finished my food and walked to the door with Applejack. Thanking McIntosh for the food and waving goodbye to Apple Bloom, we left through the door. On the way to "Ponyville", the town Twilight and some of her friends lived in, I got a chance to explore more of their world. According to the information they gave me, Ponyville lies somewhere in the middle of their country, Equestria. It's ruled by two princesses named Celestia and Luna. And there are hundreds of mythical creatures that live there such as dragons, sea serpents, and manticores. Twilight went on about the history, but we made it to the town I was distracted by all the shops and houses. After what seemed like an hour, we finally made it to our destination, a large tree. The tree was hollowed out and turned into a library owned by Twilight who lives in the room above it. We entered the "house" and Twilight closed the door behind us.
"Spike?!" The Unicorn yelled.
"I'm here!" A voice replied from upstairs. A small creature ran down the stairs and tripped at the last step. He looked like a young purple lizard with green "spikes".
Twilight looked down at him. "Spike, did you finish all your chores?" The creature began counting with its fingers.
"Yes I did! Mop the floor, make the bed, put away any books I may or may not have touched... Uh," It looked at me. "Who's that?"
I step forwards. "Name's Firebolt."
"Spike. Spike the dragon." He said, crossing his arms. "I'm Twilight's number one assistant!"
"So you're a dragon?" I reply.
"Of course I am. You must be new around here." While Spike left to read a comic book, Twilight grabbed a book off one of the shelves and sat down next to me.
"This book should have spells to help with memory loss." She said, flipping through the pages. "Aha, this one doesn't look too tough." Twilight turned towards be and bent her head, pointing her horn right under my own. After concentrating for a bit, a purple aura enveloped her horn and glowed brightly. What felt like an invisible rock hitting my head caused be to fall over. I felt like passing out but something kept me from doing so. Soon, the insomnia stopped, and I stood up slowly.
"I don't think that work-" Suddenly, the lights went out. At least, I think they did. I couldn't see anything, waving my hoof in front of my face proved that theory. "Hello?" I called out, without an answer. "Twilight? Spike?" I turned to see a door. It was reddish brown with fancy swirls decorated all over it. That's when I felt a presence.
"Who's there?!" I asked.
"I've come to see the door to this world."
"Huh?" I gasped, startled to hear such a deep voice.
"This world has been connected."
"What are you talking about?!" I looked around.
"Tied to the darkness... Soon to be completely eclipsed."
I began to feel frightened. "Show yourself!"
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
I spotted something next to the door.
"There is so very much to learn... Yet you understand so little."
It looked like a cloaked man, walking towards me. "Back off! I'm warning you!"
A meaningless effort... One who knows nothing can understand nothing.
I was getting mad, but I stared at the door. "Where am..." When I looked around again, he was gone. "...I?"
The door made a clicking sound and opened slightly, a bright light shined through the crack. Looking at it must've put me into a trance because I couldn't stop myself from walking through the doorway. The bright light slowly began to fade as I walked and I started to remember things from my past, well, not all of it. I began to slow down, as if I was walking through a puddle of mud. By the time I came to a stop, it was once again dark. After a few minutes of silence, I noticed that I was back in the real world. My head hurt way more than before, but there was a cold cloth on top of my forehead, somewhat soothing my migraine. I sat up to take a look around and I recognized the style of the room. I was still in Twilight's library. I turned to sit on the edge of the bed when the only door in the room opened and a pony entered.
"Oh! Oh... I'm sorry for barging in like this..." She said, backing out of the room.
"No, no, it's fine..." I reply. "Name's Firebolt." The pony had yellow fur and a long, pink mane/tail. Her cutie mark consisted of three pink butterflies. She carried in a small bucket of water and two towels.
"I'm... Fluttershy..." She said quietly, taking a step backwards. We sat in silence for a bit, making the conversation awkward.
"Well," I said, standing up. "I'm gonna go see the others... Nice meeting you." Fluttershy nodded as I left the room. I heard voices discussing something downstairs, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I trotted down the stairs into the main part of the library. Sitting around the table was five ponies. Twilight, Applejack, and three others. A light blue furred Pegasus with a mane/tail of rainbow sat next to Twilight, a bright pink furred pony with a crazy pink mane/tail sat next to the blue pony, and a white furred Unicorn with long swirly purple hair sat next to Applejack. They all bore cutie marks as well, the pink pony had three blue/yellow balloons, the white pony had three blue diamonds, and the blue pony had a rainbow lightning bolt emerging from a white cloud. Twilight was the first to notice me.
"Oh, Firebolt! You're awake!" She said, as the other ponies turned to look. "Girls, this is Firebolt, the pony Applejack found in her orchard." I waved awkwardly and sat between the blue and pink ponies. The pink one almost instantly gave me a hug.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm super-duper excited to meet you! When Twilight told me about you and how you're new around here, I couldn't wait for you to wake up after your little accident! I was going to set up a big welcome-to-Ponyville party, but Applejack said that we didn't have time for one, so we left to get Rainbow Dash and Rarity and now we're here!" We all stared a her for a bit. Until the one I presumed was Rainbow Dash broke the silence.
"Sorry about her, she could go on forever. I'm the one named Rainbow Dash." She said, holding out her hoof. I gave it a shake and turned to the one other pony that I haven't met yet.
"And you must be Rarity?" I said.
"Indeed I am, it's very nice to meet you." She said, nodding. Fluttershy shyly walked down the stairs and sat across from me. After confirming that I've already met the shy pony, Twilight went on telling her friends everything she knew about me.
"It must be horrible not remembering anything from your past," Rarity said. "You must really miss your friends." As she said that, I was reminded of what happened before I blacked out.
"That reminds me... Twilight, y'know that spell you casted on me?" Twilight nodded while apologizing about the outcome. "Well," I continued. "It worked, a little bit." Twilight's ears perked up. "I don't remember too much, but there was a door..." I paused, attempting to recall exactly what happened. "...when it opened, there was a bright light and a bit of my memories returned." Twilight took more notes.
"What memories returned?" Applejack asked.
"Most of it is fuzzy, but I remember the name of my hometown, Radiant Garden." I reply. The purple Unicorn rubbed her chin and read over her notes.
"Strange, you don't come from anywhere in Equestria."
"You're not from around here?!" Rainbow Dash said with excitement.
I shrugged. "Or worse, I could be from another dimension." The seven of us discussed the topic and shared ideas. Despite losing my memory, becoming a colorful pony, and awakening in an unknown location, I was enjoying myself. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from here. As it began to get late, all the ponies, except for me and Twilight, were about to leave when a scream emitted from outside.
A scream of terror.