All Hail Forgot

by Dream Whisper

AHF: Chapter 1 - He is late again...

“All hail the mighty Forgot!”

The chorus of ponies answered the call of the supreme leader.

“All hail the mighty Forgot!
For he forgives our darkest moments.
For he erases our worst memories.”

The supreme leader began talking once again as the last voices finally declined.

“We have gathered here today to praise the mighty Forgot.
In our darkest times, he rises us up to his pedestal of light. He lets us forget what has to be forgotten. He has cleansed our souls. Without him, we would still remember the terrible times before our salvation. Our salvation has come, brethren! Now it is time to praise him eternally. Bow, brethren! BOW!”

Swift Haven leaned down and lightly kissed the ground. His lips barely touched the clean surface and yet he could taste the wonderful aroma of this holy place. The room was full of ponies bowing to the golden statue hanging down from the front wall. As a light gong echoed through the room, the ponies rose and began positioning themselves in a line. At the front, the supreme leader began another small speech:

“Let us all forget our sins. Forgot has allowed us another batch of his magic. I have personally gathered it from the holy tree. Drink up my sons and daughters. Drink up the juice of life. Allow it to cleanse our bodies.”

Each pony grabbed a flask off of a table placed in the corner of the big white room. Once they received their marked flask, they let the cold juice flow down their dry throats.

While they were drinking, the chorus started chanting:

“Drink up and forget your sins.
Brothers and sisters, today we forget.
For he will free us from all debt.
We forget what has been done,
everything becomes undone.

Drink up and forget your sins.
Forget your problems and your crimes,
forget all those troublesome times.
Let us forget together what occurred,
let us drink until our memories are blurred.”

---

Sweet Fire walked past a particularly big stallion on her search for Swift Haven. Swift haven had promised her to come. She had waited for almost a full hour, being completely alone in the restaurant. Everypony had stared at her. How could he have forgotten it? She had thought their relationship had become more serious than this. It should have been the date on which she would have asked him to be her special somepony.
Would she have to worry? Maybe he had not forgotten it but instead injured himself. Maybe somepony had abducted him? Maybe he had been sucked in a time loop on a local scale. Sweet fire had to stop herself again. She always thought about the most ridiculous of situations.

She had decided to trot to his house. The streets were dark, but luckily they were also empty. At this late hour, dark streets are no place for young mares. In most cases she would just fly away but what if she encountered a faster pegasus or a strong unicorn? His house was located in a dark alley somewhere between the rows of forsaken homes. He lived in some hayhole of a house but at least he had a house. Most of her special someponies before had not had houses or apartments. She had made some terrible decisions in the past.

She lightly knocked on the dark wood of the old door. The dull sound echoed through the empty streets, causing her to flinch. No response. The sudden image of his apartment being filled with policeponies and investigators flashed through her mind. What if he had been murdered? She knocked again, this time much harder and much more insisting. Still no response to be heard. She really started to worry. Why in Equestria wasn’t he opening? There was just one way to find out: She looked around, making sure nopony would see her. She flew up into the air and over the roof into his backyard. The backyard was nothing but an assembly of dirt and rotten grass. It seemed as if not even weeds could grow here. She looked around and found what she had searched for. Under the broken tire, deep in the mud she found the hidden key. Swift Haven had a habit to forget things after… what had happened. At some point, he had decided to just take a place and hide his key there so he could not forget it anymore. Of course, he forgot where the hiding place actually was and that is why he always spends fifteen minutes searching his backyard before actually getting inside.
“Out of all the ponies I know, he probably has the worst memory…” ´she mumbled to herself.

She inserted the key into the small door latch and unlocked it. The heavy door almost swung open by itself. It creaked and groaned as it opened, revealing an empty room. She walked inside, ready for whatever she could possibly find. Maybe he has become part of a secret agency and has just been assigned to a new mission? No, that was just a bit improbable.

Sweet Fire approached the next room, hoping to find Swift Haven there... Nopony. A slight creak from across the hallway leading to the room startled her, and she looked back. Again, it was completely devoid of any life. Sweet Fire crept towards the kitchen, not expecting to find anypony there. The house was so quiet she doubted Swift could go undetected. Eventually he would bump into something, or hell, take a step. Anything would show Sweet Fire that her friend was home... But there was nothing.

She went through every room twice but she could not find him anywhere. At least it didn’t seem like there was anything closely related to an abduction or a murder. Although it should have relieved her stress, it only made her much more worried, even frightened. It would have been comforting to see any clues as to his disappearance, as long as it didn't signal anything bad, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. But if he wasn’t at home… Where was he?

“Swift? Swift Haven, are you here? This is not funny!”
She knew that he would not answer, and yet she had to at least try it. After checking every room for a third time, she started to investigate. There had to at least some signs of where he was gone. What if something had happened to him? What if he needed her help right now? She could not just wait for him to return, she would have to search for him.

Her investigation ended sooner than she would have expected. Right on the table in the living room were a bunch of strange invitations she hadn’t noticed before. She must have been too frantic and over reactive to look in the obvious spots for clues.The invitations were each small pieces of art as every single one had a unique painting of a pony on it. On the upper right of the pony in the picture there was small lettering saying, “Celebrate our newest member!” Strange. Above every picture was a name. It was actually quite interesting to go through them and to see which ponies you knew and which you didn’t. What was even more interesting than that was actually opening one. She felt bad for opening his letters, but he was not here to object her…

“Dear Swift Haven!

We hereby invite you to join our ceremony of the night.

Our leader has approved of your presence.

Come join us in the cleansing of our souls.

We await your attendance when the moon has reached the highest point in it’s journey.”

What was that one all about? Her curiosity drove her to open another envelope. The letter inside ,however, was exactly the same. Sweet Fire gasped. Could this be what she thought it was? Or was it just an elaborate hoax? She looked through a few other papers frantically, quickening in pace. “No… NO!” He has been abducted by an evil cooperation of shadow ponies, sucking out his very soul! That must be what they meant! She almost face-hoofed. No. It wasn’t. How could she be so stupid? All she knew was that Swift had some strange letters in his room - creepy, but nothing to fantasize about.. They might not even be his letters. However, why would he have creepy letters of another pony, opened and on top of his table? The mystery remained unsolved.

---

“Our holy brotherhood has found a new son. Rejoice! For another member will help us ascend! The day to unite is soon to come. With every soul we free from their memories, for every soul we cleanse of their sins, we stride just a step further towards our ultimate goal. Brother! Stand up, Swift Haven - We welcome you to our family.”

Swift stood up from his kneeling position, proud to hear his name being called by the supreme leader, and even prouder to be recognised as their newest member. The enlightenment felt so close, almost in his reach. His new family would help him ascend. Like a light in dark hours, they would show him the steep, yet glorious path. It would be taking all of his effort but he could not let his family down. They were counting on him doing the right steps. Everything came down to this final celebration: For months now, he had been waiting for this final moment, the moment when he would finally become an accepted part of the family of Forgot.

He slowly walked up the stairs until he reached the great podestral. The statue of his beloved liberator was right there in front of him. So close and yet unreachable for all eternity. The supreme leader draped Swift Haven in the official garment. He stood in front of the other members, proudly showing the colors of his new robes.

“Brothers and sisters. You know how hard our way to salvation is. Today, we have made another step. Today we have found the right direction again. Today our liberator has descended a bit further for us. Today is a day of joy and cheer. Applaud, brothers and sisters, applaud!”

The room was filled with the clopping of hundreds of hooves on the white marble ground. They all looked up to him, knowing they could rely on his support and he could rely on theirs. This was a path only to be walked together. In friendship. In brotherhood.

---

The address given by the envelopes of these mysterious letters lead her into a very dark side of town. Just sparsely, the thick forest vegetation was interrupted by huge houses. She had always wondered who lived in this part of town. Sweet Fire felt strange, and she looked around: Nopony was following her.

“Phew. I already though...”

During her whole journey, she had felt like being followed and she could not just ignore that feeling. Maybe there was a secret organization of agents following her, camouflaging themselves every time she turned around. Or maybe they were invisible ninjas time? , hiding from her eyes and yet deceiving her senses. Or maybe they were an army of shadows, lurking behind every corner… She turned around again, but the shadows didn’t seem to follow her… Except for that one traitorous shadow of hers.

The house at the address was actually a bit disappointing. She had expected it to be a giant dome of a super-secret society, but the house actually looked just like every other house. Nonetheless she decided to knock on the door. Knock! Knock knock knock! For almost a full minute there was no response, however she could clearly hoofsteps on thick wooden flooring. She already hovered her hoof up to knock once again, when the door was blasted open. The pony who had opened the door had that certain expression on his face, that expression of having something to hide. As he saw who had actually knocked, his expression changed. His mien got much lighter and he even began to smile.

“What is such a young mare like you doing outside on such a late hour? The streets are a dangerous place to walk alone. Come inside and warm yourself up! I have made tea if you would like any.”

Warm air radiated out of the open door, and from inside of the house, the smell of freshly baked cookies washed over her. Maybe she should take his offer and have a nice evening with cookies? No. She was here to find Swift Haven and that is what she was going to do… Even if that would mean declining the offer for cookies and tea. She would not abandon Swift for such simple pleasures. Or maybe she could ask this pony about the letters while she was enjoying the cookies? Just a couple of cookies and questions and then she would head off. Besides, it would be helpful to gather information about the letters. That was, if this pony had any. Why would Swift Haven be invited here anyway? Maybe it had been some kind of sick joke after all. Or maybe some strange theme for a party?

“Have you decided yet?”

The rather old stallion seemed to be in quite a hurry. He frequently looked back to where she assumed his kitchen was. Hell, if she had her tea on her plate and somepony was holding her at my door, she would also seem quite hurried and nervous. She didn’t want to have him stay at the door any further and decided to just accept the offer. She could leave at any time she desired.

“Yes. Yes, I would love to stay for tea. Thank you, sir! You are very kind.”

She shivered slightly, and the elderly unicorn held open the door wider so Sweet Fire could come inside. The house was so incredibly warm! The last time she had been in such a cozy place must have been this morning in her fort of blankets. Every morning she had to force herself to get up and out of the most comfortable of all places. How would this pony feel? I mean, when he had to leave his whole house of cozy warmth? I would never go out. The furniture matched this warmth quite nicely. Everything was covered with some sort of fluffy fabric. She extended her hooves more than once, just to feel how the different pieces of furniture felt. Each and every piece had its own comfortable feeling.

Brother Crystalline chuckled at this mare massaging his furniture, while he walked over to the kitchen to recover his tea. He wondered why she was here: He usually doesn't get many visitors, and especially not such curious ones. Had she maybe been newly invited? He couldn’t remember inviting her, but then again, he also didn’t know where he had put his keys yesterday, even though he had dropped them right on his shoe cabinet. He slid some cups out of a cupboard, and proceeded to gather the hot water. He then put the tea bag into the steaming water and turned around. The mare was actually closely watching over every single movement of his.

“So, deary, would you mind telling me your name? I am brother Crystalline.”

The mare hesitated for a bit, then shrugged.

“I’m Sweet Fire, why?”

Sweet Fire? No… no. There was nothing to that name. He may be a pony who likes to forget, but this mare had definitely never been invited. Why was she sniffling around here then? Did she know? That would mean we would have somepony in our rows who had not been careful enough.

“Well, I just like to know who I let into my house.”

He tried to smile and yet it didn’t seem to work. He slowly got nervous about the whole situation. That pony was a threat and he shouldn’t show a sign of deception. He would have to play the role of a friendly pony from the neighborhood. However, with every second she was here the probability of being discovered would grow. She had to go. And yet he couldn’t make that fact too obvious.

How could he get her to move, if she wasn’t willing to? She would not just leave, she seemed to be too suspicious for that. There had to be a way. What would be the most convenient way to get rid of her? He could not throw her out as that would raise suspicions. She would have to leave voluntarily. That he would only achieve if he played his role perfectly. Maybe she would lose her suspicion and actually wander off.

---

Oh no! This was the last cookie. The sheer thought of that deliciousness soon being all over made her a bit sad. Why couldn’t he have made more tea or cookies? On top of being all out of cookies, she had to admit that she really found nothing suspicious here. It was just an old pony, living his last days in an old house. She could hardly imagine how it would feel to know you were standing at the end of your life. She shook her head, partially in pity and partially because she wanted to wake herself. She had become a bit tired, but what else would you be after midnight in a warm, cozy house.

Maybe it was time to leave. Outside it would be cold and dark and yet the force pulling her into her own bed was a bit stronger than the force holding her here. No. It was time. The decision has been made:

“Excuse me… If you don’t mind, I would like to make my way home now.”

The old Stallion, Brother Crystalline, actually hesitated for a bit. It seemed as if he had something to say but couldn’t find the words. In the end, he just gave up and resigned to what seemed like a standardized response:

“May the enlightenment guide you.”

This pony sure was strange. She stepped outside only to realize what had been wrong with his last sentence. The ‘enlightenment’ ? That was the same use of words as in the letters. She could swear that the writer of the letter and Brother Crystalline were the same pony! “No! I am making things up again.” she thought to herself. It was just an uncommon choice of words.

Sweet Fire heard the door close, and she was still lightly hazed by the smell, but now it was too late. Those cookies were so good! A cold breeze swished through her mane, immediately making her regret leaving the warm house. Oh well. She had bothered Crystalline enough. She started to trot home, looking every which way for whatever shadow might linger there. There could be anything hiding and waiting. She still had a rather uneasy feeling.

Sweet started to hum a little bit, curiously observing her surroundings. This place was pretty dark indeed, but in an elegant, simple way. Neither overly pompous nor fixed on reaching the “modern” definitions of beauty. The breeze rustling the leaves, the quiet chatter of a squirrel out for a nighttime snack, and the scenery was exceptional! The house she left had an almost charismatic feel to it. Maybe in her old days...

Next to it was a memorial, although unlabeled. Why would an unlabeled memorial even exist? A memorial is supposed to preserve the memories of the pony it was built for. If nopony remembers your name after you are dead, does it even matter if you have a memorial? I guess it wouldn’t matter for you anyway.

The memorial showed a pony standing on their back hooves, one hoof over their heart, and another one pointing towards her temple, much like a showboating psychic would pose. However, it had a certain sense of aesthetics to it which caught her attention. The lines were flowing into each other, leading to… Sweet Fire walked towards it, getting a better look. Yes, they were leading somewhere. She slowly trotted around it, following the lines closely. A door! That was what those lines were leading to. Small grooves spiraled down a deep staircase, probably leading into the cave. It seemed as if the back of the statue was made of some liquid, flowing down into this hole. It was in an overall amazing state, no cracks, blemishes, or intrusions! It was well preserved. Too well..

This was more than just simply suspicious. Why would somepony take the time to preserve a statue without even marking whom it honored? Maybe there was a secret government agency down there, spying on us all? Maybe there was a secret laboratory where they created zombies, who would clean up the statue. She gasped. Maybe it was because some insane pony lived down there, doing experiments on innocent ponies, recruiting them via mind control?! That must be why Swift left so suddenly without telling anypony! SweetFire started hyperventilating. Her breathing got faster and faster. Oh this was bad, very bad. Would they perform experiments on him, or would they let him do their dirty work?

“I’ll save you Swift Haven!”

Sweet Fire charged down the stairs, galloping with all her might to stop that evil pony as soon as she could. But what if it was too late? What if Swift had already been experimented on? What if they were controlling his mind in these very moments? She had to run faster! Her speed grew as the stairs seemed to just fly away below her. What if she couldn’t help Swift, and even got captured herself? What if sh...

Suddenly the whole world started flying upside down and downside up and spinning and turning and her stomach screamed and she screamed and suddenly there was silence. The impact was hard and dull, but luckily she had landed on something soft. Some sort of carpet or something like that. It looked as if it was hundreds of years old and bought from a mystical caravan leader in the lands of Saddle Arabia.

Sweet Fire slowly pulled herself up again. A minor setback to her great quest to find her special somepony in these dark caves. She would be the Joan d’Arc of her own little story. She regained her velocity and almost flew through the hallways, although careful not to make any noise. The carpet helped out quite a bit in that manner. Much to her surprise, the entrance had lead to various pathways, each carved into stone. She couldn’t allow herself to be stopped by the sheer option of choice. She would come back later and take the right path or the left path… or had it been the left path she had been galloping through? Maybe it had been the right one as the right one had had those ancient runes or had it been the one with the torches? However, one characteristic was always the same: They all looked too well cared for for being a part of this lonely, unmarked memorial. These passages seem to still be used daily, thus requiring the professional upkeeping. This was all wrong! Sweet tried to stop her heavy breathing, but she was just too frantic. If she breathed too loud, the mad scientist pony would find her! Or was it an underground agency? Or an alien invasion? Oh, she just had to save Swift Haven from their deadly grasp.

She flew around the next corridor and into the left door and then into the right one and suddenly she was finding her in a familiar spot. Hasn’t she been here before? She decided for the left door this time, knowing the left door was always the better one. She stumbled through the hallways, turning right then left and right again, landing in a familiar room. It almost felt as if she was going in circles, or this place was built horrifically uninspired. So into the right door this time, leading up to the door on her left, which would bring her back, so she took the right one. And the right one only brought her into the corridor with the runes and the torches. What was this place? A huge, underground maze? She would just take the right turn this time and just go into every door to her right. And back into the room with these strange chandeliers, which were hanging dangerously close to the ground. And then back into the room with the two tables. No, no. This wasn’t right. This was the same path she had taken last time. Maybe if she went through the middle door and then to the right and after that to the left and to the right again. That should work… hopefully.

She stumbled around the last corner. First, she had galloped, then she had started trotting, and now she was crouching every inch forward. This was no maze, this was some sick idea of psychological torture. But what about Swift Haven? What if he was caught in one of those rooms she had not been in yet? What if there was a secret pony corporation of mindcontrol hidden in these dungeons? What if it was all true? What if… NO! This had to stop. She had been running through these halls for hours and she had not found a single piece of evidence. It only had been a memorial after all, what had she expected? Her mind had started wandering to places, and had lead her into this situation. She vowed to stop it once and for all.

Her whole life she had assumed things, and immediately presumed them as true. She had to stop! Because what if she wouldn’t stop? This was serious trouble and it was only her fault. She felt like such an idiot. She was probably trespassing anyway. Sighing, Sweet Fire trotted through the halls, attempting to remember which way she had came. This was going to be a long night…

---

“Finally!”

Sweet fire walked, no, rather dragged herself out of the strange pathways. To finish her journey, she would just have to get up these steep stairs. The hallways seemed to be built for entertainment of sick psychotic ponies rather than housing anything. A literal underground maze of this dimension? What sick individual had thought of that? Maybe that’s why the pony had a hoof pointing towards her temple. You had to be psychic, like her, to complete the maze. Sweet Fire collapsed on the grass and rolled over, looking up into the night sky. Thousands of stars were smiling back at her. Finally she was outside again. She took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air. Soon it would be morning, she could already see a slight red tint in the horizon to the east. If had definitely taken her at least two hours of walking around to get out of the accursed, torturous tunnels.

It’s too bad Swifty hadn’t been there with her, comforting her in her struggles. She knew that he knew when she was overreacting. He always knew how she felt. He usually tried to calm her suspicions. He always had been the logical one, and that had helped her stay calm. His logic wasn’t arrogance, but instead like an ark in the big blue sea.
Sometimes she was convinced something was wrong, and no amount of persuasion would deter her. He would have picked some grass and followed her into the maze. While she was frantically searching, Swift would have placed bits of grass to mark the way they had come from. He always had had great plans. If Swifty would have come, he would have hushed her sadness and would have comforted her in her lonely hours. But if Swifty had come, she would have no reason to come here. Well, admittedly she would have probably found a reason. Some insane assumption, much like their previous adventures. And yet he had always been there. She had thought it to be like that for all eternity. She had depended on his comfort. And now it was gone.

Sweet Fire really did miss Swift Haven. She continued to lie on the grass, and began to silently cry. One part of it because she always got emotional when she was tired, but ninety-nine parts because she missed him. She imagined him here with her in the soft grass, smiling goofily at the prospect of lying there. He wouldn’t complain though, as he always went along with her in whatever path she had decided to take. She could rely on him always being there for her. He was so different from her and yet he felt like a part of her. like two opposite sides of a jigsaw puzzle, but when together, they created a beautiful picture.

Sweet Fire, lovesick and worried, curled up in the grass and began crying harder. The tears felt so warm, but the cold darkness surrounding her seemed to grow even colder, as if that was the night’s cruel way of laughing at her. The warm twinkling of the stars, however, comforted her. They were twinkling only for her, to calm her. They shone to remind her that Luna was out there, watching over her in her lonely hours. They were twinkling to show that she was not forgotten.

She stopped crying, convincing herself that everything would be okay… sometime. Swift and her would eventually have a good laugh about this whole situation… Yes. Yes, that was what was going to happen. A good laugh and many hugs. Memories flooded over her, showing her and Swifty meeting for the first time. It brought back her smile she had thought to be lost. Her eyelids slowly fell down, and she drifted off into lands of her own imagination, where they both were reunited.

Comments

[Templar22]

His miene got much lighter

What are you trying to say here? Mane? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Interesting story, I am interested to see where this goes.

[Dream Whisper]

3575149

Corrected that one mistake with shun and I am not sure about the "miene" part.

I meant to imply that it got much brighter, but before changing, I would have to speak with EnderBlaze about it

[Templar22]

3575158 Alrighty then. No harm done.

[EnderBlaze]

3575149
Mien, not miene. Oops! Anyway, glad you're liking the story so far! There is much to come