//------------------------------// // A "Quiet, and Mundane" Town: Part 2 // Story: The Human Spirit // by Aliko //------------------------------// Princess Celestia sat in a meeting with a few high ranking nobles. Most of the time, their topics for conversation were trivial things. Like what the current color of the park’s benches should be, or them making suggestions on how to improve the castle to be more, "regal" as they would say. However, with the rapid escalation of crimes, and the disappearances of ponies. There was no room to jabber about such things. While a conversation was still going between some of the nobles. Another of the nobles, A cyan unicorn stallion with a blonde mane, brought out some papers from the pristine saddle bag that lay next to his seat. And interrupted them, "Princess, I don't know if you were already made aware of this, but from what I have gathered. Many of these ponies who were incarcerated or charged in this recent flux of crime. Appear to not have any notable records. It's as if they just showed up one day." "Perhaps, they're changelings?" An elderly unicorn stallion, who had a tan coat and a large brown handlebar mustache, injected. The simple question sparked an almost violent reaction from a red pegasus mare with a purple mane. "I knew it!” She stood from her seat suddenly and banged her hoof on the table, startling a few of the nobles who were present. “We shouldn't have trusted what was once our former enemy!" "No, That's not it.” The cyan stallion rebuked, “Everypony who's incarcerated are already checked for that with the revealing spell, ever since the royal wedding incident." The red mare huffed angrily and flopped herself back onto her seat, looking away from the table. Her behavior always seemed to amuse or annoy some of the other nobles on occasion. "Why even bring this up?” A white unicorn stallion with a blue mane and small mustache debated, “So what if they don't have any 'notable records' we've all ways had nomads or ponies from elsewhere visit Equestria. It's quite common nowadays, you know? 'showing up' is what they do." He replies pushing his monocle up as it loosened from its place. "I'm aware." The cyan noble responded dryly. "Are you implying that these ponies from outside are the main reason for this influx?" The elderly noble noted, getting an instant reply from the cyan noble. "I'm not implying anything. I am merely stating the facts from the reports I requested." "Princess, what do you think of this?" The White Noble asked causing all the other nobles to look towards the princess, awaiting a response. Even the grumpy red mare, stopped her sulking genuinely interested in hearing from the princess. The princess put her hoof to her chin thinking about this small bit of information. She knew there wasn't really much that could be done at the moment. As there is still very little known in the first place. "What of medical records?" Celestia inquired about the cyan nobles report. Causing him to flip back through his papers quickly scanning them. "Yes, there are instances of medical records" "What were some of the medical visits?" Celestia continued. The cyan noble flipped through the pages again. This time paying more close attention to what's on them. "Hmm..." As he looked through the papers, over time his face grew more intrigued, yet horrified at the same time. "This is.... unprecedented!" His shocking words washed over the nobles leaving them in an overwhelming sense of suspense. "A shockingly large number of these reports. Other than usual medical proceedings, There is a large commonality between them. Many of these reports are saying that these ponies suffer from varying degrees of... amnesia." The table fell completely silent as all the nobles gawked towards the cyan stallion. Even Celestia seemed quite surprised by this revelation. "Amnesia? " Celestia looked away from the noble and put her hoof to her chin, pondering on what this means. Celestia couldn't explain why she felt this way, but she felt like the amnesia was no mere coincidence. She was sure of it. "Hmm, those who lack any memory of who they once were, or the life they served before are usually more susceptible to manipulation." The nobles looked back over to Celestia. "You think somepony may be manipulating them?" The red mare questioned. Celesta was sure of at least one thing, this amnesia was a major sticking point towards the sudden surge of crime. With the crimes being mostly committed by ponies from seemingly outside Equestria, perhaps some creature was sticking ponies with magically induced amnesia. All in an effort to manipulate them. Yet she couldn't immediately think of why they would do it, to begin with. It gave her a headache just thinking about it. "I'm not sure..." Celestia winced at the sharp pain she felt in her head. Laying her hoof on her forehead instinctively from the pain. The monocled stallion grew concerned after seeing the Princess wince in pain. "Princess, are you alright?" "Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Celestia took her hoof away from her forehead, only to feel that lingering sensation of the headache remain. What she originally thought was just her thinking too hard, turned into a much more problematic and insistent pain that wouldn't go away. The pain never subsided. She tried to ignore it and continue with the meeting but each of her thoughts was halted by a twinge of pain that only ever grew each time it occurred. She couldn't continue like this. Thinking of a quick excuse, Celestia went to suspend the meeting in an effort to wait out this sudden assault on her mind. "I need to give some thought to this, so, for now, the meeting is suspended. We will meet again tomorrow to discuss further." "Yes, of course, Princess." The monocled noble did not protest the princess' words and stood from the table gathering his stuff. The other nobles followed suit. Celestia waited for all the nobles to clear out before making her way out as well. A guard outside stood at attention as she walked out of the meeting room. Turning towards the guard she excused him from his current duty. With a nod and the guard's ever-present scowl, he took his spear and went on his way. For Celestia, all she could think of afterward were to retreat to her bed. The thought of the soft covers and mattress was her only comfort through this pain. Perhaps after a good rest, it would leave her. Her headache only ever seemed to grow in pain the closer she got to her room. The unrelenting thumping almost felt like her brain was pushing against the sides of her skull over, and over again. All the guards, and servants she passed witnessed her audible wincing. They were concerned for the princess of course, but they dare not speak in fear of aggravating whatever ailed her. "Dear Iggdrasil, please help me," Celestia whispered to herself trying to appease the headache. Finally, making it to her room, she opened the door while not giving so much of a glance away from the ground, or a greeting towards the stalwart guards who stood just outside. Nothing but her bed seemed to exist to her at that moment. She flopped her back down into the bed. Sighing in content at the soft warmth of the sheets, and cloud-like mattress. She almost forgot about the splitting headache that led her here in the first place, but when it made itself known again all of that comfort she felt drained away as quickly as it came. The pain was ever-present, never letting itself be forgotten. Thumping, and pounding. Celestia felt sick from it all. Why now? Such an intense ache couldn't have simply come from the meeting. Yet here it was causing more physical grief than she had ever experienced from a headache. It began to boil up for several minutes. The soft bed lost to her, only leaving the pain that plagued her so. She felt like her head was being pelted by several sharp rocks. She felt like she should be screaming from the intensity of it all, but then, suddenly, it dulled. The pain vanished into memory long forgotten. It came to her like a vision. She could see the eyes of someone staring at her. Reaching out for her. She stared at those green eyes that looked back at her with familiarity, and malice. Those eyes. She knew them. They were once friendly, but now they were tinged with hatred. Celestia didn't like what she was seeing, nor what the vision made her feel. She dealt with him long ago. She hasn't thought of him for so long. Why would she all of a sudden be having such a vision? Perhaps, could it be? Has he... returned? "Avalon...?" Twilight wasn't surprised by the timid response. It only seemed natural after everything the stallion has been through. She made herself look as unthreatening as she could, which was mostly easy for the princess of friendship. She reached her hoof out for a hoof shake as she introduced herself "My name's Twilight Sparkle. May I ask for your name?" Twilight waited for a reply, but all the stallion did was stare at her hoof. He just sat there glaring at her hoof as if he was scared of it. Did she go too fast with her motion, and had accidentally frightened him? She mentally chastised herself. She wasn't dealing with somepony who was just walking on the side of the street. She's going to have to be more thoughtful of her actions. Twilight was surprised, however, to find another hoof awkwardly placed on top of hers. There was no movement up or down, The hoof just stood still on top of her own. The two of them just sat uncomfortably, and quietly for a while, before the stallion quickly took his away from Twilight's hoof, seemingly mortified. "Sorry..." He said in that same timid voice from before. "There's no need to be sorry. I should be sorry for acting the way I did." "No...I thought...I..." He was struggling to find the words he was looking for. "Hey, It's okay. You don't have to worry about it. It's fine, really. I just want to help." The stallion stopped stumbling over his words after hearing Twilight's friendly demeanor. In fact, it almost brought a strange sense of familiarity with him. "O-okay" Twilight smiled once more and attempted to try and speak with him again. She motioned to herself with her hoof to introduce herself again. "My name's Twilight Sparkle. Could I ask for yours if I may ask?" "My name? It's... umm...I...I d-," Twilight was surprised to see the stallion seemingly struggle to answer; what she thought would be the simplest question for her to start with. The horrified expression he gave didn't make her feel any better about it."D-...d-..." He repeated that D sound several times as if he was trying to say something at the tip of his tongue. "D-dus-... Dusty. My name, It's Dusty." Twilight let out a relieved sigh after hearing his name. She was starting to think he may have amnesia. Perhaps it was just a slip of the mind. He did go through something seemingly traumatic " Okay, Dusty. I know you just woke up but I have some questions I'd like to ask you. If you would let me?" Dusty nodded. "Okay." From the tone of his voice, Twilight could tell he was starting to grow more comfortable. That was good. If he was as jumpy as he was before, then there could have been some trouble. Though ponies were in general very unpredictable, to begin with, especially strangers. She couldn't just expect a smooth conversation. "So, Dusty, first and foremost, do you have any questions you'd like to ask?" Dusty took awhile to come up with what to say next. He looked over the whole room as if he was looking for the answer. "Yeah. Where am I, exactly?" "You're at The Ponyville Hospital." "Ponyville? Hospital?" Dusty mused over those 2 words like they were foreign concepts to him. He had so many questions yet he felt only one was appropriate to ask at the moment. "Why am I at a hospital?" Twilight cringed internally at the question. She didn't want to lie to him. She knew bringing it back to his attention may cause some more episodes, however, she knew that she would have to bring it back up to him again eventually. In the end, she decided to just tell him as calmly as she could. "Well, To put it simply you had a... rather severe, panic attack." "Panic attack?" Dusty whispered audibly, Twilight nodded. "Yes, In fact, that's actually why I'm here. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but... Do you recall why you may have had such a severe panic attack? It may be something that requires my attention." Dusty recoiled at the question. What caused it? He tried thinking back to some of his most recent memories. It all felt so fuzzy. Like a faint mist was obscuring the most important parts. All he could remember was the fear. The unbridled terror that he felt after waking up. He remembered how helpless it felt. The confusion, and pain. He only remembered how it felt. He turned his gaze away from Twilight back to the window and looked outside. He could see all the ponies in the front. Some ponies coming and leaving. Someone in a wheelchair smiling as they watch a little one playing in a small field of flowers. All the buildings in the distance, and a bustling marketplace. It all seemed so surreal. Then he saw the reflection in the transparent glass. A pony looked back at him, confused. The golden streak, The muzzle, and the orange coat. He remembered that color. The orange which was among one of his favorites was the harbinger to what came after. He looked down from the window and set his eyes on his hooves. Staring at them like extra limbs. He remembered now. "I... lost something." He mumbled absentmindedly. "You, lost something?" Twilight pondered, flabbergasted at what he said. Simply losing something couldn't cause somepony to fall unconscious in panic, could it? Dusty looked away from his hooves, and back to Twilight when he heard her speak. He didn't mean for her to hear that. "Wait, I didn't..." His voice halted suddenly and everything around him seemed to slow. Something was there, and it stood directly behind Twilight. A bipedal being towered over her at almost twice her height. Glowing with a golden aura, it remained still. Dusty didn't see it move or shake in the slightest. It just sat there gazing straight into him with those stern green eyes. It was uncanny. The color was nearly identical to his own. Orange skin which matched with the color of his coat, and that short dark hair he saw as his own. It was all so familiar. It wore a brown boxing helmet that has two smooth golden studs on each side of the helmet, and a red heart emblazoned in the middle of the forehead area. A golden plate rested on its chin almost resembling a goatee. The face was the only thing Dusty actually remembered. The two golden lines that trailed from the waist to the arm like a tattoo. The gold braces around the forearms, and brown fingerless gloves with padding around the knuckles. Those dark shorts with gold outlines. Brown shoes with gold greeves that stretched to just under the knee. It was all different. Everything but that face was unrecognizable. It was his. Whatever it was; it has his face! At least, the face he had lost. Was it a ghost? Why would something be wearing his face just to appear all of a sudden? The oddest thing was that he wasn't scared of it. Those unblinking eyes brought him an almost calming feeling. Something about it made him feel safe, but it only made him more confused than before. "Are you okay?" Dusty has pulled away from his thoughts and looked back down to Twilight. She had an expression of concern on her. For a second he forgot someone else was here with him. Not wasting any time he pointed towards the figure that stood behind Twilight. "I-I see myself." "What?" Twilight turned her head towards where he was pointing. She stared for just a couple seconds before turning back to Dusty. "That's just a mirror." "Eh?" She was right. Without Dusty even realizing it. The figure just vanished. No trail of smoke. No light. Nothing but the small reflection of a tabletop mirror looked back at him. "I...I..." Dusty struggled to find the words he was looking for. No matter what he thought of it couldn't explain the reason why something would just vanish like that. Not to mention there was nothing that could even prove there was something there in the first place. Everything that happened today was just too much for him. The panic attack. Waking up in a hospital filled with talking ponies. The figure that had his former face. It was all overflowing him with stress and anxiety. "I... want to be left alone for a bit. Please? I'll answer whatever you want later." Dusty asked. He wanted to get his head together. And come to terms with everything that has happened to him so far. The request didn't shock Twilight in the least. It seemed pretty reasonable to her. "Yes. Of course. I'll come back later if that's what you would like." Twilight nodded. As she made her way to the door she stopped for a second, and thought back to the doctor she talked to before this. She should probably go back to the doctor and talk to him again. "Excuse me?" Twilight turned her head back towards Dusty. "Yes?" "I'm sorry to ask, but could you open the window for me? I'd like to get some fresh air if I could?" Twilight nodded "Oh, yes. I can do that for you." Twilight ignited her horn with her violet aura and engulfed the handle of the window with it. Dusty was perplexed to see this. He looked to the window and back to Twilight repeatedly as it slid upwards to about halfway open. It amazed him, to say the least. "How did you-?" He stopped just short of finishing his words and noticed Twilight's perplexed look. Seeing Dusty look back and forth between herself and the window was rather different from what she expected. That look of amazement was like a colt wandering a theme park for the first time. "That was just magic," Twilight stated. The look on Dusty's face never faltered. Nor did any form of recollection show on his face. It was like he never saw magic before. Did he actually have some form of amnesia? "You, do know what magic is right?" Dusty snapped out of his amazement. "What? Of course! I just didn't... no, nevermind. It doesn’t matter." Twilight's expression grew more worried than she was before. He was already acting rather odd, and seemingly paranoid, but now this? It left an unpleasant taste in her mouth to just leave it at that. Her analytical brain wanted to know what exactly was going on. She was so close to the answer. It was like a puzzle that she thought would have been a nine tile sliding puzzle, turned into a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with deformed pieces that wouldn't fit in properly. She couldn't fit anything she knew together. It hurt her head thinking about it. "Alright. See you later then." Twilight turning her head back to the door engulfed it's knob in the familiar violet light and pulled it open. She glanced back at Dusty discreetly. Seeing exactly what she thought she would. He stared at her magic in awe though much more suppressed than before. Like he was trying to hide his feelings. Only to come up short on delivering. Twilight made an exasperated sigh before leaving Dusty to his thoughts. Meanwhile Bustling with life, like always, the market made itself a rather effective place to meet with one's acquaintances and carry a casual conversation. Even chatting with a complete stranger wasn't all that odd. Which a certain pony ended up finding herself in a conversation of that very nature. "I'm sorry. I don't know who you're talking about. I wish I could help more." A mint green unicorn mare answered. Standing in front of her was a large figure who was draped in a white cloak. His face was slightly darkened from the cloak making it hard to distinguish the eyes, but the grey snout that stuck out from the hood was in full view. From the shape and voice, they were male. "Really? Nothing?" The disappointment was dripping from the stallion's mouth. He sounded almost offended with the whining tone that came from his words. "What about screaming? Did you hear anything like that? Or maybe you saw someone running around in a panic? Did you notice some sort of odd behavior from a pony around here at all?" "I'm... I'm sorry what?" The unicorn was taken aback by the questions he was asking. Screaming? Why would he be asking about screaming? "Screaming? Panicking? Come on! Sorry if I sound rude here, but I was pretty sure I was as clear as I could be." The stallion threw around his hoof emoting his frustration and impatience with more than just his tone, and expression. "It is rather important for me to find this guy." "Sorry, I haven't noticed anything like that." She felt somewhat disturbed by these questions. Just who was this pony? "Well, damn." The stallion let out a defeated sigh and turned away from the mare. "Well. What can you do, eh? Have a good day!" He threw his hoof in the air giving a casual wave as he walked away. Leaving the unicorn in awe. The stallion walked passed the crowds of ponies in able to find the exit to the marketplace. So far everything he tried led to a dead-end. No one knew anything about what he was talking about. It was annoying to him, but what could he do? All he wanted was to find this one guy. It was necessary. Not only was he told to, but if it led him to find what he had lost so long ago. It would all be worth the trouble in the end. Stopping just outside the market he looked around to survey where to go next. There was a path that led to another block or so of buildings. The other path led to a hospital nearby. He sighed melodramatically before turning away from the hospital and heading off towards the many buildings that laid beyond. As he was walking he suddenly halted in place. Like he had instantly become a stone statue. He could feel a tingle of energy flow through his spine. It was familiar. Something he swore he had experienced before. That's right. He felt this same sensation once before. It was when he first realized just what he was capable of. He was certain of it. He whipped his body toward where it was coming from. When he saw it, he nearly slapped himself for glossing over it. The Hospital stood not too far away from him. "That's it. That has to be it!" The excitement he felt was exhilarating. At last, his goal was near, and he wouldn't be wasting any time standing around. So with an accomplished smile, he took his first step towards the Hospital and began making his approach.