//------------------------------// // New Friend // Story: Am I Real? // by AlleyCat124 //------------------------------// “Thank Celestia you’re finally here! I heard you were in the hospital, but I only heard earlier this morning. You would think that with a small town like Ponyville, I would know right away if something happened. But I guess not. So are you okay? Do you need help? TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!!!” The pony on top of me screamed in my face, still on top of me. I didn’t know what to say right away. All I could feel was my ragged breathing from the sudden appearance of this pony and felt my heart pounding like crazy. My eyes darted all over the pony that decided to assault me. It seemed that my assailant was a bright yellow unicorn with a bright blue pixie cut mane. Her emerald eyes swung back and forth all over my body, checking for injuries, I hoped. Getting uncomfortable with the amount of personal space she was invading, I finally had to speak up. “Um…do you mind getting off? You’re making me uncomfortable.” She looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Hehe…sorry.” And with that nervous chuckle, she slowly climbed off of me, giving me a hoof to help me up. After a slight hesitation, I accepted the hoof letting her help me up. As I got to my hooves, I couldn’t help but give my body a quick shake, letting my muscles relax from the sudden ambush. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my wings also ruffled when I shook. Dammit, I should’ve paid attention and seen how that works… “So are you okay? I heard you were discharged yesterday, I didn’t hear anything till today! Are you really okay?” The yellow unicorn asked in one breath. Her look showed nothing but concern and worry. I guess this pony was friends with Dream Weaver. Or at least acquainted well enough for her to show this much concern. I guess she’ll be good practice. “I’m okay. But…who are you?” I asked hesitantly. The pony gave me a blank stare before she started laughing out loud. I jumped a little at her sudden outburst, and then waited for her to stop. I wasn’t going to lie, I was expecting this. … Okay, not right away, but I was expecting this to be one of the reactions to the news. Maybe not full blown laughing, but I was expecting a small nervous chuckle or something. After what seemed like an hour, the unicorn finally calmed down. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her full blown laughter attracted the eyes of a few ponies in the store, wondering why a pony was laughing this loud. Others were going about the store like it was the most normal thing to happen. I also noticed that Silent Melody and Sweet Feathers came up behind me to see what the commotion was about. Silent didn’t seem all too concerned by what happened, while Sweet Feathers shot me a questioning look. I ended up shrugging my shoulders to her unanswered question. “Okay, I’ve never pegged you for the queen of jokes, but that was a good one. Maybe my attack made you hit your head too hard. But seriously, all joking aside, what happened?” she asked again, calming down but keeping a smile plastered to her face. I was about to answer her when Sweet Feathers stepped up beside me and extended her hoof. “You must be Lemon Twist. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Sweet Feathers, Dream Weavers mother.” She introduced, taking the lead on the conversation. “OH! Hi Mrs. Feathers. I’ve always wanted to meet you!” Lemon Twist replied back, giving Sweet Feathers hoof a vigorous shake. “Dream didn’t tell me you were coming! Oh, but you must have come because she was in the hospital…” “Actually, Miss Twist, I regret to say that my daughter is experiencing amnesia. So you’ll have to excuse her.” Lemon Twist’s smile stayed on her face, probably thinking we were still joking with her. But as she studied each one of us, her smile dropped and dropped until she wore a look of pure bewilderment. Her gaze stopped on me, looking my face over trying to find some evidence of a joke. When she didn’t find one, she finally found her voice. “So…you really don’t remember me?” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t…” and I did feel sorry. She got so excited seeing me and now she was just told she wasn’t remembered. I could see her eyes tearing up. Oh Goddess…I can’t deal with tears. Please hold it back, please hold it back. My wish was granted when she took a deep breath and slowly breathed it out. Her tears were gone and she plastered on a strained smile. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to make you my friend again!” she cheered, although I could see that it was a little hard to say. I gave a strained smile in return. Well, I finally did it for today. Although, actually it was Sweet Feathers who did the explaining. I’ll have to learn how to do it myself at some point in the future. But it was good to get the first one out of the way. Breaks the ice, as it were. “So, now that your slate is all cleaned, what exactly do you know?” Lemon Twist intervened, breaking my thought. “Well…I actually don’t remember anything really. I don’t recognize anything or anyone.” I replied back. “Oh, okay!” Her head swiveled back and forth, until she picked up a red and yellow quill placed on display and held it out to me. “This is a quill.” .......That’s gonna start getting old. “So you really have no recollection of your life at all?” Lemon Twist asked for what seemed like the tenth time. I never kept my gaze in one place. My head was turning slowly back and forth, taking in all the scenery of Ponyville. We decided to leave Quills and Sofa’s after they realized that it didn’t trigger anything in my memory. Lemon Twist decided to join us in our tour as Sweet Feathers decided to go back to the house and makes us some lunch. I didn’t mind. I think I learned a few things about my family life, it was time to learn about my personal life. Silent Melody walked silently beside us. Keeping his eyes forward and occasionally glancing at us, but for the most part just kept to himself. That’s okay though, I don’t know why but it was just relaxing knowing that he was there. I can definitely tell that this kid was going to be my guide through all of this. He’s a lot smarter than he looks. “Yes Lemon, I believe that is what I said.” I answered, trying desperately to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Tell me about you. What are you to me?” I asked, wanting a subject change. “Well, for one thing, you always called me Twist, not Lemon. Second, I’m your best friend!” “Alright…” I responded slowly. “Well, as you can see from my cutie mark, I’m good at making drinks.” She indicated to her cutie mark, which was a martini glass with a lemon wedge in it instead of an olive. “So I’m a bartender at this club on the outskirts of Ponyville called Clydes Ale, its super fun! You sometimes come and hang out with me for a couple of hours. Although sometimes I feel like it’s more babysitting than hanging out. I’m aloud to drink on the job, which I think is pretty reckless, but I’m not going to complain. If we’re not at the club, we’re usually doing this actually! Walking around and just talking. Or we’re usually at the back of your shop so you can work on your journal of other ponies’ dreams. You’re very protective of those. Every time I ask what you’re writing, you never tell me. It’s very curious and just makes me want to know more, but I guess I understand why you don’t. Ponies’ dreams are their own. That’s what you always tell me. You are very dedicated to your job.” Wow, this girl talks fast. Like, really fast. I almost stopped her because I thought she was going to pass out when she didn’t take a breath. That’s how fast she was going. “That’s actually the second time I heard about this dream journal. Was it that important to me?” I curiously asked. “Oh yeah! You always had it on you. I mean, you never brought it to the club or somewhere where there are a lot of ponies, but you’re always working on it. It was like your baby.” She quickly indicated to Silent Melody. “No offense.” Silent Melody just shrugged at her comment. “Wow…I had no idea.” Dream Weaver must of really cared about keeping those dreams a secret. I guess I can understand that. Dreams are a person’s deepest fears and wishes. A lot of ponies must have trusted her with them… “Let me ask you this…what was I like? Around you?” “Well, your personality was completely different. You had a little bit more composure. I’ve always called you an old soul. You’re like this wise old lady in the skin of a younger pony. But you were also like my mom, although I kept telling you that I didn’t need three moms.” “Three?” “Oh, my parents are a lesbian couple.” “Okay.” “But nothing fazed you. Like, anything weird that happened in front of you, you always acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. I used to joke that you need to express yourself more, but you just ignore me like I didn’t say anything.” “I’m…so sorry that I acted that way…” “Don’t be!” Lemon Twist put her hoof on my chest, stopping us both from moving forward. “You’re a true friend. You’re always there when I need you and you look after everyone. You put others ahead of you even when you shouldn’t. You’re a great pony and I great friend. Don’t be sorry for being you.” I couldn’t help but want to tear up. Wow. Dream Weaver sounds like an amazing pony…how could I live up to that? Lemon Twist seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, because the next thing I knew, I was being dragged forward with Silent Melody trotting behind us. “It’s getting too nostalgic here. It’s time for some sweets. I know just the place!”