The master and the windigo

by stupidswampdragon

1 - Re-name

"Would you quit that? Pretty please...?"

Silent refusal was the response to the frail words. Perhaps unsurprisingly so; damp rocks weren't really known to adhere to passing wishes. Not even to a unicorn who could have really used a break already. The rocks stayed being damp, the water droplets arriving undaunted.

Top-notch apartment, huh.

It only took a glance at the three-by-three meter room to realize: that phrase was nothing more than some gallows humour.

Too bad it actually took a little stay in there to learn how the size was only the beginning and the least bothersome aspect of the place.

The walls were made of some volcanic stone, painted black by the cataclysmic forces that brought them to the surface so very long ago. Apart from being proven to resist chipping and heat, the colour of the material must have been part of the choice. Such overdose of black elevated the already tiny room into something awfully oppressive. No matter how viciously the small lantern fought, its flickering light was swallowed by the black surfaces, leaving the guests with a feeling of perpetual darkness.

Whoever came up with that idea was a bloody genius, there was no doubt of that.

Her eyelids parting ever so slightly, the cyan unicorn surveyed her temporary shelter again. A droplet landed square in the middle of her nose, drawing her attention to the ceiling first and foremost. The lantern was suspended in the middle, the magic-operated light sitting in a bowl that was hanging from four iron chains. The small flame illuminated what little it could, the yellowish light glittering from edges of the roughly cut stones. That sight would have been captivating in any other place; but then and there, it only reminded the pony of how damp the whole place was.

The small room had no windows or any other openings to the outside, except for a cast iron door. That one was also locked for the better portion of the day. Only when the guards came would it open, and even then only for a few minutes at most. Such lack of ventilation made for rather poor air quality, which led to other annoyances in turn. The walls becoming damp wasn't the only result; the hay spread across the floor reacted to the moist air as well.

Given the horrid smell the brownish strands gave off, the pony was pretty sure her makeshift bed was actively rotting away. That was still better than sleeping on the roughly cut stones, though. Especially since those would have been wet as well, just like the ceiling or the walls. Wet enough to make her coat cling in a pretty annoying fashion.

Then another droplet landed on her face, only missing her left eye by a hair's breadth.

"Ohhhh, THAT'S IT!" she fumed, stomping on the suspicious-looking hay with a hoof. "I've had it with this place!"

"If I may enquire, what does Master plan to do about it? Prisons are built to keep prisoners inside, if memory serves me right."

The unicorn turned to her accomplice, an angry snort being her most immediate reaction. She stared for a moment, then turned away in disgust. Unlike her voice which became raspy, the accomplice sounded as fresh and soft as ever. Unlike her dirty and clingy cyan fur, the accomplice looked immaculate, the blue coat only painted sickly grey by the virtue of being slightly translucent. And, unlike her tired amber eyes, the accomplice's crimson pupils looked like two pieces of coal freshly picked from the fire.

They were like two ponies from the very opposing ends of the scale.

A weary prisoner and an impeccable servant. A worn idiot and an awe-inspiring presence. A breathing, living pony... and the always-hungering remnant of one such.

The master and her windigo.

"Ain't you the sharpest cookie in the jar," the unicorn groaned, settling back onto the hay. "Of course I didn't mean I would just walk out of here. Duh!"

"Then Master is just fed up, correct?" the windigo made a polite nod. "Understandably so, if I may remark. This prison is pretty run-down."

"A prison doubling as a hotel would defeat the purpose though," the unicorn sighed. She then made the mistake of breathing through her nose; the rancid smell of the hay beneath her head immediately twisted her face into a grimace. "Ugh! I only wish I knew what I'm in for. Snowy, you still...?"

"I'm terribly sorry, but I seem to draw blanks only," Snowy the windigo lowered her head with an awkward smile, her ears plopping down to complete the image of defeat.

"You'd think at least one of us would know how we wound up in here," the unicorn growled. She rose to her hooves and knocked the small pile of rotting hay away. The move wasn't particularly thought-out, only meant to vent her frustration; the smelly strands flew in every possible direction, giving the whole room an even more oppressive smell. "I could understand if it was only me... I mean, I could've hit my head on the way in, right? That'd also explain why I don't recall anything about myself either, right? I only know you, Snowy. So just why do I know you, huh? Heck, why is a windigo of all things following me around?"

"If it is of any comfort: I also found that rather curious," Snowy conceded. "But... but I don't think I know anything about you, either. Other than you being my Master, of course."

"As usual, eh?" the unicorn scoffed, then blew a loose strand of hay from her muzzle with a huff. "You were always completely amnesiac. I'm surprised you remember how to speak!"

"I am terribly sorry," Snowy bowed, lowering her head until her jaw sunk into the hay covering the floor. "Should I remember anything, I will immediately let Master know."

The unicorn stared at the small display in silence and with a dumbfounded face. Then she collapsed back onto the floor herself, holding a hoof to her head.

"Alrighty... stop taking it that hard. That's an order," she mumbled. "And stop calling me master."

"What else should I call you, then?" Snowy raised her eyebrows.

"Well, you could... em... err.. errrr..." the unicorn pondered. She went through all the stages of struggling for memories: the odd squinting, the straining muscles on the face, the hoof angrily rubbing the mane. None of those helped; she came up empty. An expected result, but a depressing one all the same. Stuck in a barely-lit cell with only enough room to stretch her legs, she had nothing else to do but try recovering bits of herself.

Always with such abysmal results.

"I have no idea how you should call me," she finally admitted, burrowing her face into her hooves. That made her feel truly wretched. No matter how ugly her cell was, it just couldn't compare.

"Then please bear with Master for a while," Snowy made an apologetic grin, her translucent blue figure rising back to an upright stance. "So what do we do now?"

"Wait, I suppose?" the unicorn chuckled dryly. "What else could we do here?"

"Wait for... what, exactly?" Snowy cocked her head to the side.

The answer came on its own. Something on the other side of the thick iron door began making a racket, clanging and banging. Some louder words, even.

"For something like this," the unicorn winked at the windigo, then hopped back up with a groan. "These folks should know why they keep us locked up in here!"

The door moved with the finesse expected of a thick piece of iron: which was exactly none. A loud screech filled the air as it moved, the heavy object sliding on the bare stone, its joints rusted and protesting against the action instead of providing any help whatsoever. The unicorn grit her teeth, her ears ailing at the noise. Then she yanked her head away, going as far as putting a hoof in front of her eyes.

Light flooded the room as the doorway became free. No matter how much she disliked the dim darkness, that kind of brightness hit her in the face like a much more solid sledgehammer.

"Prisoner 45-100!" somepony barked from the outside. "Come out, slowly! No hasty movements!"

"Right, right... I'm coming," the unicorn sighed. Eyes barely cracked open, she moved into the doorway and made a careful step outside. Three ponies waited her there, all wearing brightly coloured armour.

All of them members of the Royal Guard, no doubt.

Normally their presence induced calm and a sense of security in ponies. Sadly that feature didn't seem to work when they were the ones jailing the pony in question. Still, the unicorn felt a little happy at the new-found company. By all logical expectations, they should have known something she was desperately longing for.

"I'm not a number, by the way," she sneered at a trooper, phrasing her question in a decidedly roundabout way. "You could at least call me by my name."

The pegasus with gold armour blinked at her and took a hasty step backwards. Confused, the cyan unicorn turned to his colleagues; but the other two soldiers were also in a bad shape. They were exchanging hurried glances, each visibly waiting for the other two to say something. One yanked a piece of paper from his armour, then threw it to the floor and began to study it with great haste.

All in all, that display was precisely the worst thing the amnesiac pony could imagine. Or so she thought.

"Uhhh..." groaned the Guard with the paper, his armoured hoof scratching his gold helmet. "Sooooo. You colts have ANY idea how this pony is got here?"

Closing her eyes and drawing a deep breath before she could faint or go berserk, the unicorn had to admit: that was the rock bottom.

---

"Let us get clear on this," Princess Luna rubbed her forehead. She managed to come up with a fairly remarkable expression before that, appearing absolutely annoyed and perplexed at the same time. "This pony snuck into our prison, freed a prisoner... and then took her place?"

"S- something like that, your Highness," a trooper nodded, his forcibly calm tone mixed with a burst of nervous giggle. "That was the only conclusion we could reach. Records indicate that Lyra Heartstrings should have been in there... but we only found this mare in her place."

Lyra Heartstrings, the words echoed inside the unicorn's head. She stood in the ring of the three Royal Guards, facing the Princess of Night from a good eight steps' distance. A prisoner without a name - or a sentence, as it increasingly seemed.

"Lyra Heartstrings. Heart... strings," Luna repeated the name slowly, savouring it, trying to link it to some figure. Then she gave up, the exact moment marked by her head turning to the unimportant-looking grey pony behind her.

The grey mare behind the princess quickly snapped to attention. She didn't overstrain herself, though; she remained unmoved, adjusting her reading glasses with a blank expression on her face. Most interestingly, such lack of distinct features made her very recognizable: few were as boring as her. Even the nameless prisoner could recognize Paradox, though she could not recall just when and where they got to knew each other.

I swear, this friggen' amnesia...

"I can affirm I have no knowledge of this pony," Paradox spoke. Her speech was just like her whole being: slow, uninteresting and without a shred of emotion.

"You don't remember me either, right?" Snowy paced forward, eyeing the grey mare. Luna frowned at the approaching windigo; partly because she disliked the astral thing coming closer to her... and mostly because the presence of Royal Guards forced her to sit still and do nothing about it.

Paradox and Snowy were both just ghosts, after all. To anypony aside from themselves and their bound hosts, they were completely undetectable.

"Look, Snowy... or whatever you call yourself nowadays. We both know there is no helping you. I can't undo your mistakes. In fact: no-one can," Paradox chastised the other ghost. With no fire or passion in her words however, the whole tirade sounded more like a recap. "I see you got a new host, however."

"Master isn't new," Snowy muttered, sneaking a quick glance at the unicorn behind.

Did you just call me old?! the prisoner snorted and fumed silently, her teeth digging into her lips. Wait a second! You said that you don't know ANYTHING about me! You two-timing ice-cold bastard, how dare you call me an old hag then?!

"Interesting that you would say that. At the same time: I know I don't recall that pony from before," Paradox shrugged and turned to the Princess.

Luna hummed at the statement, holding a hoof to her chin as she dived back into her thoughts.

"Uh... Princess?" one of the Guards barged into the conversation he couldn't see taking place. "What do we do with this pony?"

"She sneaked into the place of Lyra Heartstrings," Luna sighed, moving the hoof from her chin to the side of her head. She seemed to be having a long day as well. Holding tribunal at day was pretty exhausting when one had to work through the whole night as well. "Such a bothersome case again. What was this Lyra accused of?"

"Causing dissent, murdering Ponyville's librarian, conspiring against Princess Celestia..." the Guard read aloud from the paper he placed onto the floor. "Oh! And being late on tax forms."

"We didn't murder anypony," Snowy mumbled at the accusations. "I never filled out any tax forms, though."

"Those are only for corporeal inhabitants within the legally defined boundaries of Equestria," Paradox sighed, a tinge of weariness lurking in her voice for a brief moment.

"Was she convicted on any of those charges?" Luna inquired, successfully ignoring the ghosts' conversation.

"No, your Highness. Her case was still ongoing," the Guard shook his head as he moved down the paper. "Actually, you were the one presiding over the caseeEEK!"

The rather un-soldierly yelp was elicited by how the Guard was yanked into the air, the paper he was standing on zipping to Luna at the same time. The magic of the Princess held the parchment in the air a few inches from her face, her teal eyes working through the barrage of text as if she was on a speed-reading contest.

"We do not recall anything such!" she finally exclaimed, slamming the paper to the floor and giving the unicorn a stern glare. "Just who ARE you, commoner?! What is this forgery?!"

"I- I have no idea!" the unicorn stammered. The furious gaze of the princess may have been technically harmless, but it was enough to make her legs quiver.

"Is this some misguided joke? Are you making fun of our justice system?!" Luna growled and turned back to her incorporeal accountant. Paradox gave her a silent nod in return, and focused her grey eyes on the prisoner.

While the stare of the Princess was bad, that of the ghost elevated uneasiness to whole new dimensions. The unicorn shuddered under the weight of the grey pupils. She could feel her head ache and stomach turn a little. She held out as long as she could, but her legs finally buckled and she fell to the floor. The Guards around her didn't really comprehend what happened to her; assuming she just felt sick, two of them rushed over to her and helped her back up.

"In my professional opinion: she's clean," Paradox announced without the slightest ounce of care. "I found nothing in there relating to any of those charges. Though given that she parades around with this wretched windigo... I reckon she may have been rightly accused. Right now, however, she no longer is."

"This paper says we presided over the case... but we have no recollection of anypony by Lyra or Heartstrings," Luna pondered aloud, frowning at the piece of paper beneath her hoof. "This is either a joke, a bad prank or a conspiracy against our public image. Only one thing is clear: proving any guilt would be beyond difficult at this point. Not to mention how counterproductive it might be."

"I told you I don't know anything!" the unicorn reiterated, pushing the soldiers away from herself. "I don't even know who I am, for Celestia's sake! I was hoping you would at least tell me that much!"

"If you wish to ask favours from us, you must pick a better approach than wasting our precious sleep-time," Luna growled and tore the paper into small shreds. "Guards! Throw her out of the Palace and make sure she does not come back for... let us say a month. Use that time to learn the proper etiquette for inquiries, commoner."

"But I-!" the unicorn protested. To little avail: the soldiers around her had no need for her approval. They grabbed her and dragged her away from the Princess - who was already leaving the court-room herself, the grey Paradox in tow.

---

"...and stay OUT!" the Guard yelled before slamming the door shut.

The unicorn could not reply to that, for she was busy performing a landing with her face. Throw her out, sounded the order of the Princess; but in all honesty, few Royal Guards would have taken the order as literally as those three.

To the cyan pony's greatest pain.

She didn't readily give any sign of annoyance at first, taking a deep breath and clenching her hooves on her nose taking priority. Only THEN did she blow into a rant.

"OW! OW! Oowwowowow!" she yelled without any regard for anything other than her pained and dirtied face. "You JERKS! You can't treat me like this just because you have a uniform! You-!"

"Master, if I may..." Snowy interrupted her, the blue windigo lowering its head to the pony's level; to the very ground, in effect. "Is it really wise to make a scene just after being let out of prison?"

Hooves still locked around her muzzle, the unicorn turned her amber eyes to the rather annoying helper. Snowy may have been an undead monster who feasted on warmth and positive feelings, but her most annoying tendency was always pointing out facts the rest of the world wanted to ignore.

All with a style that made it very difficult to get angry at her, generating a great supply of pent-up frustration.

"I know. I know," the pony sighed. She also shut her eyes closed, just so she wouldn't have to look at the meddlesome ghost. "You're right. But don't you feel angry at how we've been treated?!"

"Well, personally? I think they are just doing their jobs," Snowy mused, the windigo turning her head back to the closed door. "Maybe they could use a little of that 'proper etiquette' we've been chastised for. But they are soldiers, right? Being nice isn't meant to be their forte. Doing what they're told is."

Behind the cover of her hooves, the unicorn grimaced. Yeah, I should have really expected that. She had no idea why she trusted that windigo so much in the first place. Expecting great amounts of sympathy out of a creature that devoured such feelings wasn't a smart thing to do.

At the same time, Snowy wasn't some mindless-heartless devourer the ancient stories made her kind out to be. She was timid and subservient, even needy at points. Cracking her eyelids open, the unicorn sneaked a hidden glance at the windigo. The blue creature stood motionless, her crimson eyes affixed to the door as if she just realized she left her luggage inside.

That look perplexed the unicorn. Perplexed to the point where she didn't feel angry or betrayed either. That look wasn't that of a predator or somepony preparing to ditch her master. Those crimson eyes only hinted at longing and... sympathy, oddly enough. Which, considering the creature in question, was shocking enough to make the unicorn lift her head and stare at the windigo in unashamed earnestness.

You can't be serious...!

"Snowy," she muttered in a hushed voice; a needless precaution, as her earlier performance already made the normal ponies keep a healthy distance from her. "Are you feeling bad for those guards?"

"Sorry if I'm confusing you, Master. It's strange, isn't it?" Snowy gave a sour giggle. "I just have this feeling that I'm not unlike them. I don't know why, but I... but I think I could do some bad things myself. For no higher reason than being told to so..."

The unicorn kept her stare focused on the translucent windigo; then she giggled, rolled onto her side and broke into a cackle.

"Ahahaha.... haa! So THAT is what got you worked up?!" she spelled out, fighting with her laughter as she spoke. "Oh-ohkay! I think we can close this discussion short! I can pinkie-promise you that I won't order you to do anything nasty! That good, Snowy?"

A few of the ponies walking nearby gave the unicorn weirded-out stares; to them, she was just an idiot, thrown out of the Palace and now laughing for no reason, conversing with thin air. A noble even decided to look for some nearby Guards, intent on clearing the insane rabble out from their refined environment.

The unicorn and her windigo paid such background events no attention, however.

"Ah- ah! Master, that's not what I meant!" Snowy jumped at the offer, hastily bowing to the ground; her standard practice of apologizing. "I know you wouldn't order me to do anything bad! You're not a bad pony. It's just, if it was a different Master..."

"All the more reasons to stick to me, right?" the unicorn winked at the windigo, then stood up with a groan. "Rrrrite'. Let's get out of here now... I think I've made quite a scene. Don't want no trouble, right?"

"Yes, Master. Of course not," Snowy also rose to her hooves, her translucent eyes scanning plaza around them. "Which way now, though?"

"Any that leads us away," the unicorn sighed and moved towards the crowd that began gathering around her.

Seeing how the show was over and the lunatic was now approaching them, the ponies began to scatter. Most did so with style; they walked away slowly and purposefully, as if they just remembered some important matter they had to attend to. Only a select few showed signs of earnest panic, fleeing with such gusto that they threw other ponies to the ground in their retreat. They got more angry yells than a crazy mare who conversed with thin air, oddly enough.

That's Canterlot for you, the unicorn chuckled to herself as she passed the thinning line of the crowd, an empty bubble forming around her as she walked. It doesn't matter what you do here - as long as you do it looking impeccable. Style over matter at its finest!

The rush of dry humour barely left her mind when she stopped for a moment, staring at the white marble pavement with a puzzled face.

Howcome I know all that? Did I frequent this place?

"Something the matter, Master?" Snowy inquired, noting how her Master stopped in place.

Said unicorn only shook her head and resumed walking; she didn't feel the need to make herself look any crazier than she did already. She only took about three or four steps though, for a pony forced her to stop. A small foal stood in her way: a little short in height, pretty opal on the coat and very unwilling to move out of the way.

"You're not afraid of the crazy, Snips?" the unicorn giggled at the unexpected roadblock, enjoying her self-deprecating humour a little more than she should have. "I reckon you should run like the rest. Tends to be good for the health, you know."

"I have a message for you," Snips stated with abject calmness, and brought a closed envelope out of a saddlebag that looked really too big for him.

"For... me? As in, specifically for me?" the unicorn blinked, the sudden event throwing all of her thoughts out of gear. "You- you know me?!"

"I don't. Heck, I'm surprised you know my name, because I sure never saw you!" Snips shrugged, flashing a small paper. "But the Great and Powerful told me to deliver the letter to the pony on this picture, precisely here and today. And 'lo, you came! Truly almighty she is, the chosen student of Celestia!"

The unicorn ignored most of that sentence. She already got the gist of it: that foal had no idea who she was. He was, however, serving a greater force that knew everything about her. Which made that flimsy piece of paper more important than the rest of the whole world. She grabbed the envelope and broke the yellow wax seal; then she yanked the paper from the inside, greedily and without much care. It was actually a small parchment that looked ridiculously delicate; must have been one of those fancy rice papers calligraphists spoke highly of.

Fancy materials didn't get the unicorn too worked up, though. She unfolded the paper with a powerful yank and began reading. The message was concise and to the point; the words hastily scrawled onto the precious paper, the writer obviously missing the point of using such a fine material.

To our most likely unknowing ally,

If you are reading this letter, then know: we have succeeded. Twilight Sparkle is no more and the Great and Powerful took the position that was truly destined for her.
Of course, sacrifices were needed for righting fate on such scale.
You must be confused right now. That much is expected; as far as the world is concerned, you did nothing and nothing was changed either.
Only this letter proves otherwise.
Thusly, only the Great and Powerful knows what you did and what it cost you. Lucky for you, the greatest magician also knows how this damage can be undone.

Follow Snips. He was instructed to lead you to your salvation.

PS: know that the Great and Powerful never wrote such a letter. She never met you either.

No longer held by the unicorn's magic, the white paper floated to the ground. There it caught fire on its own and burnt away in seconds, the imbued magic doing its work flawlessly. The unicorn didn't notice that; she was stuck in the same posture, paralysed by the revelation.

That letter barely told her anything; an inkling, if that. It did tell her enough to know, however: she wasn't in that jail for nothing.

Oh, sweet pastures in the sky... just what did I get into?

"The Great and Powerful Trixie also told me that you would need an escort," Snips continued, ignorant of the heavy secret he so casually carried. "Follow me, you weirdo."

The unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep gulp, steeling herself for the bothersome revelation that would undoubtedly follow. Then she nodded and began moving, following the opal foal across the plaza.

---

When one thinks of it, cities are remarkably like living creatures. They breath, live, fluctuate; they grow and age, changing shape in composition in the process. Just like ordinary bodies, they also have healthier parts... and bits which are falling ill for whatever reasons.

Even a healthy city will attract illnesses. Many will flock to the shining promises, may those travel over official channels or by the way of mouth. Sadly not all of them would find their dreams coming true; such is life. Some of those will give up and go back to where they came from; some will opt to stay and struggle, making do with what they have. What they have isn't always what the society around them would welcome, though.

Gather enough of those foolhardy fools and one has a good recipe for a slum.

However, just as with real illnesses, cities prefer not to take medication until necessary. Parts that do not ail need no treatment; indeed, most folks can live with an illness that causes them no issue. A quiet slum is quite like that: there are no reasons to poke it, so no-one does.

The unicorn was fully aware of all that. She had no idea how she did, but she knew. She understood and accepted those facts. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel thoroughly unsettled by tailing Snips through the dank alleys though. None of Canterlot's usual splendour was present there. No marble and no glitter; only damp wood and dirty walls. She made a face as she passed an open window, the thick oily smell offending her nose in every possible way.

"Oi, Snips!" she barked to the foal. "You sure you know where you're going?! This part of the city isn't exactly safe!"

Strange, she mused as soon as the angry comment left her mouth. How do I know anything of this city? I must have lived here, right?

"Sure I do! Trixie made sure I do," Snips cackled, taking a turn to the right. "She explained over and over and over and over! She explained until I could make this trip with my eyes closed! She's such a cool pony."

"Yeah, yeah. I already got THAT part," the unicorn sighed. She didn't know much about what infatuation Snips had with Trixie; but she was pretty sure it stopped being healthy a long, loooong while ago.

"Here we are!" Snips exclaimed all of a sudden, stopping in the middle of an alley and pointing a hoof at a building. The unicorn took the hint and glanced there as well, then broke into an honest frown.

She was looking at an inn. Which wouldn't have been much of a problem, were it not called Four Happy Cadavers.

"I'm sure it's just a botched attempt at viral marketing," she grimaced, rubbing a hoof against her forehead. "What a day..."

"Trixie told me to make sure you go in there," Snips explained, then sat down in the middle of the alley. He didn't add any further threats to the statement, but he seemed very intent on sitting there until his target went through the door indeed.

"You're not coming?" the unicorn squinted at the foal. It made little sense for him to escort her to the door and then bid farewell. She had no idea who to look for once she was inside, for example; it was still very possible for her to miss whoever she was supposed to meet.

"Nup!" Snips shook his head and began to blush. "Foals can't go in there. It's not a nice place."

"Uh-hum," the unicorn nodded darkly. She grit her teeth, gathered what little was left of her courage and paced towards the door. Even with no guards dragging her around, she had little other choice. Whoever she used to be, she gambled big time - and won, despite the appearances. It only made sense to claim the prize.

Especially since it came at such a disheartening cost.

---

The wooden doors creaked and swung open at the push of the cyan unicorn. The sight that greeted her was on par with her expectations: a run-down inn with morose staff. A few drunks made the picture complete, sleeping at their tables; the rest of the customers were yelling loudly while downing whatever they paid for. Old wooden furniture was everywhere, so ancient that museums would have paid through the nose to get them. Too bad not a single one got any care in the last two hundred decades; they had no hints of lacquer any more, the last holdouts of paint also flaking off.

The same went for the floor and the walls. Maybe even the ceiling, but that part of the room was more involved in proving how gravity still worked; only a large net flexed across the room kept the guests safe.

"Master, I think this place could use a little cleaning," Snowy remarked with a little whistle.

You're a Celestia-bucked windigo! Incarnate of ice and cold and nasty! Stop sounding like a freaking MAID! the unicorn growled to herself. She was in no position to give a lecture though; not with the unsavoury crowd in hearing distance. She only cleared her throat and gave the windigo an annoyed stare; then she moved further inside the room, towards the bar.

"I agree, Master! That Trixie should have organized this meeting in a better place," Snowy followed her, demonstrating how tragically bad she was at reading facial cues.

The unicorn still reacted to her inane remark. Sure, only by shuddering greatly and flapping her ears next to her neck, but she still did. All as she dexterously walked past the intervening tables, arriving at the dirty-sticky bar without getting close to any of the other guests.

"Barkeep!" she slammed a hoof on the counter. She immediately regretted having done so. The ages-old dried beverage formed an almost honey-like layer on the surface. It stuck to her hoof right away, making the horseshoe just as sticky as the counter itself was.

"?Que?" came a mumble from below the counter.

"I need a drink," the unicorn sighed, trying to wipe her hoof against the side of the counter. "I also have somepony waiting for me... hopefully."

"Drink no es gratis. Pay up or adiós," the barkeep grumbled and rose from cover. Much to the unicorn's surprise, a gryphon appeared on the other side of the counter; one with brown feathers and a several cuts on his beak.

Wouldn't like to run into you in a dark alley for sure, the pony gulped as she forced her sweetest smile onto her face.

"Let's... ehe... let's skip the drink then," she giggled nervously, yanking her hoof back onto the floor. "Isn't there somepony...?"

"Hmm. Senorita be no regular, " the gryphon mumbled in his deep tone, his eyes measuring the strange pony that started asking strange questions of him. "?Que le ésta esperando? Er... who be waiting you?"

I don't have time for this. Stop being so suspicious already, the cyan pony fumed. She proved to be a pretty decent actor though, her smile diminishing only a very little.

"You're pretty curious," she giggled again and leaned closer to the gryphon. She paid great care not to let her coat or her mane touch the sticky surface, though. "Look here, amigo. I have no business with this dump you dare call 'inn', comprende? I was told to meet somepony here. Some pony who has connections to high places... if you get what I mean. You get me, right? Gobernio, sí?"

The gryphon narrowed his eyes and snorted loudly, the idle threat visibly causing him some discomfort. Run-down places like his often operated completely in the dark, so to say; they had no papers whatsoever. Dimwits like him rarely knew which ones they would have needed anyway. It was much easier to just hide and pray for continued good luck.

So of course they would avoid confrontations with the authorities if possible. Even coming under scrutiny would be the end of their venture.

"Stop being difficult. Just do your job and let me do mine," the unicorn reinforced her point, the smile all but gone from her face. "Soy... uh... soy no problema. Comprende, amigo?"

The gryphon gave her a stern glare, his beak moving slightly as he considered whatever he had to consider. He must have been working out the risks of complying versus just throwing this stranger out. Then he huffed loudly and put his paws into the air.

"Entiendo. No hay problema," he growled, pointing a claw at the far corner of the smelly room. "Alli, en la esquina. Corner. Trapdoor."

"See, I knew you're a nice guy!" the unicorn flashed a toothy grin. "What was it... oh right. Muchas gracias!"

It seemed wiser to hurriedly scamper away than wait for the barkeep's reaction; and that was precisely what she did, wading across the room in the given direction right away. She also intended the departure to be boastful and intimidating. However, with one of her hooves sticking to the ground at every step, she seemed more akin to a misunderstood comedian.

"I didn't know Master spoke that language," Snowy appeared next to her, taking a shortcut by bouncing on the tables instead of going around them.

The unicorn gave the windigo a longing glare, then shook her head as she went around a chair. Having spent some time with the strange apparition, she had already learned how being a ghost had many privileges; some just less readily apparent than others. She only wished she could dance on tables and not cause a commotion, for instance.

Then she also thought on what the windigo said, and chuckled dryly.

"I had no idea myself," she admitted in a hushed tone.

---

The trapdoor was heavy and had no supports whatsoever. It fell just as the unicorn let go of it, slamming shut with a thundering bang and sending dust flying everywhere. The force of the impact and the sheer surprise made for a very effective duo; yelping loudly and backing off the flimsy ladder, the unicorn took the last five steps in a single bound.

She crowned the performance with a splendid landing - on her back. Her sole luck was being soft enough to not rebound off the floor.

"Oh my sweet everything..." she gasped, winded and counting the green dots dancing in her vision.

"You should be more careful, Master!" Snowy landed next to her. Her incorporeal form weighing exactly nothing, making a soft landing came easy to the windigo. "As expected from the first looks, this place is not OSHA compliant. These stairs are remarkably dangerous, for example."

"Thanks... for warning me... in time!" the unicorn grinded her teeth, rolling back to her hooves with a pained groan. You good-for-nothing ghost!

Apart from the life-threatening ladder, the cellar struck the pony as surprisingly cosy. It was somewhat bright, for starters. The air was also warm, a nice change from the mouldy and cold cellars that were the norm. It was also filled to the brim with bottles of various contents and size. Probably the drinks that didn't mind the occasional heat.

There's no food down here though, the realization struck the pony. Then they must have at least one more cellar. So this one is for keeping "special" guests, huh...

She wasn't sure if this realization bothered her. On one hoof, it proved there was more to the inn than met the eye; on the other one, it reinforced her feeling of being in the right place. It was also comforting to know that the grumpy gryphon didn't keep a cellar cosy for no reason whatsoever.

"Well, well, well."

Despite expecting an encounter, the voice took the unicorn by surprise. She spun towards the far end of the cellar, every single of her heartbeats clearly audible in her ears. A fireplace was there, providing the warmth and the light in the underground room. The actual fire was hidden from her eyes however, a large chair blocking that part of the picture.

The chair drew her attention immediately anyway; it was swivelling around slowly, revealing a pink pony sitting on the black cushion.

"Lyra Heartstrings..." the pink pony chuckled, her mouth curled into a boastful grin. "We meet again."

"I-" the unicorn stammered, the surprise introduction confusing her quite completely. "Lyra? Wait, what?"

"Oooh, this was so COOL!" the pink pony jumped a little, yanking on the chair until she rotated back towards the fireplace. "Don't move! I have to try this again!"

"Err... okay?" the unicorn gawked. Figuring she couldn't get any more confused anyway, she sat onto the dusty floor rather unceremoniously and patiently waited for the inevitable. For a second, she was worried she misunderstood something... but even the windigo on her side was left agape.

In an ironic twist of life, that image reassured her a great deal.

"Well, well, well!" the pink pony exclaimed again, turning the swivelling chair back to her visitor. "Lyra Heartstrings... we meet again!"

"That would be me, right?" the unicorn blinked. It was only at this point she began to recognize who she ran into. She knew that pony - and the weirdness stopped bothering her as soon as she recalled the name. "Anyhow, I'm surprised you got roped into helping me, Pinkie. What's with the B-movie-villain style introduction?"

"Awww. Don't say you never wanted to try it!" Pinkie winked at her visitors. "Oh wait. You have no idea of that right now, right?"

"Aye. Got that right," the unicorn sighed sourly. "I somehow lost all my memories."

"A real bummer, isn't it? Don't sweat it too much - I've heard ponies lose all kinds of things all the time!" Pinkie giggled and leaned onto the armrest of the chair. "Did you give lost and found a shot? It's not like you lost your keys or something! I don't think anypony would want your memories... or any extra memories for that matter. We already have so much that we can't keep them in our heads anyway!"

"Don't joke about my memories, all right?!" the unicorn snapped. She definitely did not come to listen to her misery being made fun of. "This is serious! I helped Trixie - and this is how I got paid in return!"

"I know you did," Pinkie replied with an utterly bored tone, and plopped her head onto her hoof. "I also happen to know what you helped her with... or how you wound up selectively amnesiac. So it's two to one! What do I win?"

"Selectively amnesiac...?" the unicorn gawked at the word.

"Hah! It's either that or I'm a princess whose speciality is granting miracles!" Pinkie chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "You see, I just bumped into an amnesiac pony who recognized me instantly - and even spoke our language! Did you know it takes fillies years to learn words and proper grammar?"

Biting onto her lip, the unicorn also chastised herself for the stupid mistake. She already noted that oddity herself; but now she made herself look like a bumbling fool who couldn't stumble onto something so obvious.

"So how did this happen to me?" she asked the most pressing question. "Who did this to me?"

"Ohhh, straight to the jelly filling? Tsk, tsk, tsk... you have no sense of drama," Pinkie sighed. "Anyhow, the pony you seek is pretty close... maybe you could ask her straight! I don't think that would get you any closer to your answers, though."

"Oh, don't you worry about that!" the unicorn cackled evilly. "I can be pretty persuasive."

"Tee-hee! You're really making me wonder how such a scene would play out!" Pinkie giggled with open anticipation. "You see - you did this to yourself. And all of us, actually. But mostly to yourself."

"Me?" the unicorn gasped. Her shock lasted less than a second though, giving way to laughter almost right away. "Gyhahahah! You say that I made myself forget about myself? Pinkie, I know you're into nonsense... but this is just too much, sorry!"

"Why am I the only one not allowed to laugh at your misery?" Pinkie pouted, slamming the armrest of her chair. "We're not going to make a good team this way!"

"Aww, come on..." the unicorn forcibly throttled herself to merely giggling. "How would I even do that? And not just me, either! What about the others? I was let out of prison specifically because I'm NOT Lyra Heartstrings!"

"...and that's precisely because nopony knows who Lyra Heartstrings is," Pinkie pointed out with an enthusiastic grin. "You were let out since nopony can recognize a pony they have never seen. All according to plan, you could say. Okay, so maybe the revision of the altered plan's second variant that got smudged by somepony's morning coffee... but you get the idea!"

That effortless, off-the-hoof explanation shook the unicorn more than anything she was expecting to hear. It was such obvious nonsense! If only it didn't start to make sense, hearing it phrased that way...

"I... I had the power to make ponies forget me?" the unicorn muttered, her ears dropping as her feeling of defeat surged.

"What? Of course not! Why would anypony need such a power? That would be as dumb as crashing every successful movie with endless sequels," Pinkie smacked herself on the face. "You had the power to make ponies forget about whatever you wanted to, silly! Well, more like your pet windigo did. And, actually, she still kinda' does. She just forgot about it. Forgetception!"

"Snowy? You...?" the unicorn squinted to her side. Snowy offered little help, however; she was listening to story with the same dumbstruck expression she wore a little while ago. That left the unicorn with a sour expression and no clues - nothing other than what Pinkie provided her with. "So I got thrown into prison... and then wiped myself of everypony's memory so I would be let out?"

"Strikes you as needlessly convoluted and recklessly dangerous, doesn't it?" Pinkie enjoyed the reaction of her audience, made evident by her a proud smile. "HA! Then it gets the seal of Pinkamena Diane Pie (TM)! Thanks a lot, by the way. I was getting worried I might be losing my touch."

"Wait a sec! Your plan? You helped me escape?" the unicorn gasped. Every new detail threatened her sanity with losing the grip on the story; but at the same time, not even Pinkie could weave up a lie that was complicated, convincing and... a little brilliant. "You talked me into wiping my mind?!"

"Oh, you were a tough sell! Took me like, ten seconds to convince you," Pinkie giggled at the memory. "Then again, Luna helped streamlining your choices a great deal, so let's give credit where it's due. It was either my version or the you-share-bunk-with-some-monster-in-Tartarus one. You weren't really receptive of the latter, by the way. Not keeping an open mind, et cetera, et cetera."

"I don't think I'd have a mind left had I got sent there," the unicorn shuddered. "Seriously? Tartarus of all places? Just what the heck did I do?"

"Twilight Sparkle rings a bell?" Pinkie sighed, shaking her head a very little.

"Sparkle. Hmm, no... I don't think so," the unicorn scratched the side of her head. Then she jolted, a recent memory popping into her mind. "Wait! Trixie's letter mentioned her! She said that I... that we got her out of the way. Sweet Celestia! Did I wind up in some political play?"

"Hahaha, talk about expecting the worst!" Pinkie laughed and shook her hooves in the air. "You can dial the nightmares back a little. You wouldn't do politics unless you were ready to destroy whatever little decency you had. You're not THAT far down yet."

"Oh... okay," the unicorn sighed with relief. "What was it, then?"

Pinkie returned to resting her head on her hoof. From the unusual image of her being still and her blue eyes staring at the cobwebbed ceiling, it was easy to tell that the answer to that question was a lot more complicated than expected.

"Well, you kinda' got into B-movie villain mode. You know, trying to bring chaos and confusion to the whole of Equestria. Crash the whole current world order and so on," Pinkie dished out with an honest-to-Celestia smile. "And you've made... haha, you're making a good progress! C'me on, Lyra. I already told you how you erased yourself from everypony's minds. Do I really need to spell out just how Twilight could disappear without anypony missing her?"

Comments

[kamachakta]

Filly is the term for a female foal. Foal is the term for a child of the horsey variety. Colt is the male term for a foal. Snips is male, ergo, not a filly, at all, ever.

[Silentwoodfire]

So convoluted...its like trying to unravel the mystery with no idea where to start.....lets see where it goes!

[Willfire]

Ok, this story just took my mind and stuck it in a blender for a few minutes. I'm confused as hell and you know what, its oddly refreshing. Let's see where this story goes.

[Direct Access]

That was a ridiculous beginning.
Very confusing.
Kinda annoying.
Also Lyra is green, not cyan.