Shattered Past

by thunderclap

Answers

Jake woke up and clutched his head. There was an intense throbbing where the Pegasus had hit him. It took a minute for the pain to die down before Jake realized that he was in a bed. ‘What the hell, where am I?’ Jake got out of the bed as gently as he could to avoid alerting whoever’s home he was in. ‘That Pegasus must’ve brought me here. Looks like I got bandaged up. That’s the good news. The bad news is that my clothes save my underwear and my knife got taken from me.’

Jake started to hear footsteps coming up the stairs and decided to get back into the bed. As he did six ponies and a small lizard-like creature entered the room. “Oh, you’re up, we were just coming to check up on you. Is your head okay?” A lavender colored unicorn said with a warm grin. Jake just nodded and tried to avoid looking at the group.

“Is that pony… okay?”

“She’s doing fine. Thanks to you, Valentine was it?”

“It’s Jake Valentine.” Jake replied feeling a little better.

“Yes well, Jake Valentine…”

“You can just call me Jake.”

“…Jake, I’d like to apologize for lashing out at you earlier. When I saw Sweetie Belle like that I just… anyway I should have heard your explanation. I’m Rarity by the way.”

“I understand. You just wanted to protect your sister.”

“How did you know she was my sister?”

“You told me right before you hit me with your magic.”

“You’re right I did. Again I apologize for that.”

“Ah think somepony else should apologize t’Jake.” An orange mare said looking at the Pegasus that had chased Jake.

“Hmmph”

“Rainbow Dash you should apologize.”

“Why should I? We still don’t know what’s going on with him or what he is.”

“Rainbow Dash, that’s just rude!”

“It’s fine. I did head-butt her after all. As for what I am I’m a human. I can’t tell you why or how I’m here though because even I don’t know. I somehow got amnesia.”

“I can explain how you got here.” Twilight said.

“You can! You know where there are others like me!” Jake cried out unable to contain himself at the prospect of answers to his questions. Everyone else in the room gave Jake an odd look. “Sorry, I’ve just been thinking about this for a while.”

“I understand but I’m afraid that what I have to say isn’t the best of news. A few days ago, Fluttershy told me about seeing a strange creature… no offense, in the Everfree Forest. After some research I found a story that said that a human was once summoned from another dimension during the Griffon War to help lead the Equestrian army.”

“What, but Twilight. Why haven’t we heard about this?”

“I don’t know, but the story says Princess Celestia summoned him. If she summoned Jake then why wouldn’t she tell us? Jake, can you think of anything that might help? Umm, Jake?” Jake had stopped paying attention. He just sat and stared off into the distance.

‘Did she just say I’m from another dimension? Then, why am I here? Did… did my own kind send me? Was I some sort of criminal? Who the hell am I?! Why can’t I just get some answers that don’t leave me with even more questions? Wait a minute. If there was another human that was summoned here then what happened to them?’

“Twilight, what happened to the other human?”

“He was returned home after the war was over.”

“Then Celestia might be able to send me back home!”

“I don’t think that will work.”

“What do you mean?”

“She most likely sent the other human back by reversing the spell, and if she isn't the one that casted the spell it might not work.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Think of it this way. When a spell is casted a link is formed between the caster and the spell. It’s like a key and a lock. For simpler spells this connection can be easily overridden, but this is trans-dimensional travel we’re talking about. The connection would be almost impossible to break.”

“So even Celestia might not be able to help me?”

“Maybe not with getting you home, but she might be able to return your memory.”

“I guess that’ll have to do for now.”

“Hey, everything will be fine. Oh, some of us haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville librarian, personal student to Princess Celestia, and owner of this house.”

“Ah’m Applejack, Ah work on mah family farm at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! You were really fast when you ran away from us! By the way why are you all cut up? Did you get attacked by ninjas or something?”

“Anyway, I’m Spike, baby dragon and Twilight’s number one assistant.” Everyone in the room looked toward Rainbow Dash who was surprisingly quiet during the conversation.

“Fine, I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you. I just wish it had been under better circumstances.”

“I agree,” Twilight said with a reassuring smile. “I know you can’t remember much, but can you tell us everything you do remember? It might help us in some way.”

“I don’t think that would be the best of ideas.”

“If this is about the manticore you killed, I’m sure you had a perfectly good reason to do what you did.”

“That’s part of the problem.” Jake mumbled.

“If you don’t want to talk I could always find out for myself.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I’ll just take a little look around your head and figure out what I want to know.”

“Are you threatening to read my mind? Can you even do that?”

“Maybe I can, maybe I can’t. Do you really want to find out?”

“I’ll tell you the story.” Jake sighed. “About a week ago I woke up on the edge of Applejack’s farm. I didn’t know where I was or how I had gotten there. The only thing I seemed to know was my name and what species I belonged to. After that I heard voices up in a tree-house. Hoping I could get some answers about where I was. It turned out to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which they loudly yelled along with creature catchers before starting to chase me. I ended up going into the forest and they followed me.”

“I lost them at some point and thought I was in the clear when I heard them scream. I decided to help them and saw they were dealing with a manticore. I ended up fighting the thing and managed to kill it. I met Fluttershy the next day and long story short she passed out at the sight of me. After that I found an old castle and spent the night there. It took me a day or two to get back to Ponyville where I met up with the Crusaders. The only other thing that happened was the events of today, which you all know about.”

“Wait a minute, you saved mah sister too?” Applejack said, dumfounded.

“Technically it’s my fault she was put into danger in the first place.”

“Sugarcube, Apple Bloom would’ve found a way t’get in trouble anyway. Ah’m just glad you were there t’help. Ah owe ya a lot.”

“So you saved Sweetie Belle twice? I… I don’t know what to say except, thank you.”

“Oh please, how do we know he’s telling the truth?”

“Rainbow Dash, this explains some peculiarities that have happened. Like Sweetie Belle asking me what I would do if I had amnesia.”

“Apple Bloom asked me the same thing. Dash, did Scootaloo ask ya?”

“Yeah, she did, but she told me that it was from a story she had read.”

“That might be my fault too. I asked them not to tell anypony about me because I was afraid of how the town would react to me. So, if they lied to you it’s because of me.”

“Well, ah don’t like bein’ lied to, but ya did own up to it and saved mah sister so Ah think Ah can forgive ya.”

“As can I, if there’s anything you ever need from me don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Could I have my knife and my clothes back? I feel really uncomfortable in just my underwear.”

“The knife we can manage, but I think your clothes are too shredded and drenched in blood to save.”

“If you’d like I could make you a new set of clothes.”

“Thanks.” Jake said, disappointed. ‘What’s one more loss at this point?’

“Are you ok Jake?”

“I’m alright. Thanks for bandaging me up, but I should get going. I’ve caused you all enough trouble.”

“Where are you gonna go?”

“Back to the forest, I’ve managed to survive there without too many problems so far.”

“Right, ‘cause all them wounds ain’t a problem.”

“Jake, you can stay in the library if you want. I’m sure a real bed and some company that doesn’t want to kill you would be a nice change of pace.”

“I don’t want to bother you. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Please stay here. I have some equipment here that might be able to help examine your mind to help cure your amnesia.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll do my best to help out around here.”

“No problem, you should get some sleep, you look exhausted. I’ll write a letter to Celestia just as soon as Rarity finishes you’re new clothes. When do you think they’ll be done?”

“I can come over tomorrow morning and get his measurements. After that, it might be possible to finish it in a day or two.”

“Thank you Rarity, I promise to pay you back for this at some point.”

“Nonsense, you’ve done more than enough to earn a free set of clothes. Besides, you’re a friend and my friends don’t pay for something they desperately need from me.”

“Thank you, but don’t work yourself too hard. I don’t need anything special. Just make something practical and simple for me please."

“I plan on working myself however hard I care to, but something simple and practical is something I can comply with.”

“Alright everypony we should let Jake get some sleep. Spike you stay here and if Jake asks for something don’t hesitate to get it for him.”

“No problem, Twi.” Spike replied along with a quick salute. After that, they all left leaving Jake and Spike alone in the bedroom. Jake climbed under the covers and Spike followed his example by getting into a small basket shaped bed.

“Would you rather sleep up here? I don’t mind and there’s plenty of room for you.”

“Nah, I like this. I wouldn’t know what to do with all the extra space anyway.”

“Suit yourself.”

Jake tried to sleep but his mind was still reeling from all the revelations that the day had brought. He tried to push away all the questions and doubts, but they wormed their way back in, clenching their cold hands on his consciousness. Eventually, Jake gave up on trying sleeping and blindly threw the covers off of him.

“What the hay was that for?” Spike asked, poking his head out of the sheets.

“Sorry, couldn’t sleep.”

“I can tell. What’s wrong?”

“You wouldn’t get it.”

“I could try. I might be a baby dragon, but I’m pretty smart.”

“It’s a little bit of everything. The amnesia, being from another dimension, and the girls all wanting to help me even after they thought I was a monster, other than Rainbow Dash.”

“I think I can relate.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Jake, I’m a baby dragon living with ponies. I think I can understand feeling different.”

“How did that happen anyway?”

“To get into magic school Twilight had to hatch my egg. She decided to keep me and I’ve been living with her ever since.”

“I guess you can understand me a little bit. Have you ever learned anything about your family?”

“No,” Spike said, downtrodden. “Twilight has tried once or twice to do some research on dragons, but ponies next to nothing about them.”

“That’s rough, but at least you don’t have to worry about learning that you’re not who you think you are.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have no idea who I was, Spike. What if I was some sort of psychopath? And if I get my memory back, would I go back to being that way?”

“Jake, after telling what you did to help the Crusaders I don’t think that’s possible. You risked your life for theirs’ and got a lot of wounds in the process. I don’t think a psychopath would do that.”

“Not all these wounds are from that manticore.” Jake admitted. “After Fluttershy fainted and I got back from her cottage I was feeling down. A part of me was happy that I didn’t have to reveal myself to the town. But, another part of me was hurt. Her fainting made me feel like I was a monster. I got really angry, and started shouting. This attracted two manticores. I was so angry and I wanted to take it out on something, so I just killed them. “

“Jake, even the best of ponies do bad things if they’re caught at the wrong time. At my last birthday I went through this weird thing that happens to dragons. I couldn’t stop taking things which caused me to get bigger. Eventually, I was as big as a full grown dragon and went on a rampage through town that could have destroyed it.”

“There’s a big difference here. You couldn’t control what you were doing, I could.”

“No there isn’t, Twilight warned me early on about my strange behavior, but I didn’t listen. If I had none of that would’ve happened.”

“We’re both pieces of work, aren’t we?”

“We sure are.” Spike agreed, with a chipper attitude. “I may not be able to tell you that you weren’t bad or something. But, I can tell you that the ones who help get me through my worst moments are my friends. So from now on you and I are surrogate brothers which makes Twilight your surrogate mom. If you ever need anything I’ll be there for you, and so will Twilight and the others, even Rainbow Dash. You just got to give her a little time.”

“Thanks Spike, and if you ever need me I’ll be there for you too. Maybe we can try to find out about our families together.”

“Sounds good to me, now let’s get some sleep.”