//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: In My Future Life // by flutterJackdash //------------------------------// I awoke in a field of grass one morning, surrounded by colorful ponies with strange markings on them. I didn’t initially understand what they were saying, it sounded like no language I had ever heard, but gradually words began to morph into something I had heard before. Something I recognized. With time, I began to understand each of them. The yellow one, the one with the pink mane and aquamarine eyes, was nearest to me, she seemed concerned with my health. “Are you alright?” she asked gently, in a voice that might have been missed if the wind had been just right. I thought to speak, then I realized I didn’t know the words to say. I shrugged and winced as I pulled myself together and stood. I realized quite quickly that I was, in fact, standing on 4 feet. No, hooves. Strange, I knew I wasn’t like this before. I looked down at my forehooves, quite bewildered. I think the yellow mare must have taken notice of this right away, she looked at me with concern. “What’s your name?” she asked me, but words still failed to find their way to my mouth. I couldn’t figure out how to speak, I think. It was all coming to very slowly, I at least knew how to stand and I felt confident I could take a step forward if so pressed. I didn’t feel pressed. Another mare, orange in color with a straw-colored mane, and green eyes gawked at me strangely. She adjusted a hat on her head, scratching her temple as she did so. It was curious to see. I noticed then that the yellow mare, the one who had been speaking to me, had wings where the orange mare did not. I didn’t understand that at all. I blinked and looked around myself and at my surroundings. I found nothing familiar. “Ya gonna answer her or what?” the orange mare drawled slowly, pacing her speech carefully so that I shouldn’t miss a single word. I blinked and turned my gaze to the yellow mare, prompted as I was to speak. It wasn’t simple, but I gave it my best effort. “...don’t know…,” I mumbled, and I felt my voice was rather coarse as I spoke. It was hushed, quiet, but it was a gentle as a gravel driveway you’d just fallen on. I knew that I must know other words, I stared at the yellow mare in hopes of a response that brought some enlightenment to me. “...you don’t know your name…?” she asked, worriedly. She examined my head, gently moving my hair - mane - with her right forehoof as she examined parts of my scalp. She didn’t seem to find anything amiss, then stepped back and blushed a little. “Oh… my… I’m sorry… My name is Fluttershy… I just… I want to help you, that’s all,” she spoke timidly. Had I known better, I might have understood she felt she had just somehow violated me. I felt no such way, personally, but I was mostly just confused at this point. I shook my head and cleared my throat. Words felt more natural now, easier to come by. I chose them carefully. “No… no that’s okay. Thank you… I’m… Well, I’ve no idea where I am… or what I’m called… or… um… what I am?” I offered weakly, wearing a wan smile as I did. My last memories were a little muddled, but not unclear. I’d had two feet, wore a khaki suit, and knew nothing but misery and greed in my environment. “Oh, dear… We’d better get you to the hospital then… Rainbow?” she turned her gaze toward a cyan pegasus with a multi-colored mane and tail that smiled as she was cued up. Before I knew what was happening I was swept up in her grip and moving faster than I could recall ever moving before, toward a big building on the edge of a town. I was deposited in the lobby, and the brash mare spoke to the receptionist. She had a raspy voice, but it was eloquent. It squeaked at times, sort of peaking out when she didn’t want it to, but it betrayed no sign of weakness in her. I could find no fault in her other than what was clearly a competitive spirit. Even this was no real fault, it was probably how she got me to the hospital as quickly as she had. A pony with a white coat, a pink mane, and a pink heart on her flank greeted me. “Hello, dear… What’s the matter?” “He can’t remember who he is!” shot the pegasus beside me. I blinked, stunned, but could not argue the point she had made. The white mare nodded and looked at me gravely for a moment. She gestured, with her head and neck, that I should follow her to the back. I supposed I was going to be subject to some manner of examination. I was right, she had gone through the ritual physical examination to determine precisely how my vitals reflected my current state. However, it was not entirely routine, well not to me. She had me lying on a table, and I’d been staring at the ceiling only to be called back to reality by her voice. “Mister… I’m, I’m sorry… Sir, would you kindly move this weight?” she asked, directing my attention to a small stone that was probably not much more than one pound. I nodded, then realized I had no idea what she was asking of me. I shrugged and picked myself up, gravitating toward the object and deciding that my mouth was probably the most logical method to grip it. I found my way blocked by a foreleg, and the look I received was quite strange. “...you really are lost, aren’t you?” she asked gently, but the tone suggested shew as talking to a child. “I’m sorry?” I replied, bewildered. “I meant for you to pick this up with your magic, dear…,” she replied gently. I stared at her for a moment, not comprehending. A white foreleg pointed toward my forehead, and my eyes followed obediently. So I found I had a dark grey horn growing from my forehead, and this brought me no end of confusion. “Sir… Can’t you use your magic…?” “...magic? What?”I asked, confusion soaking my every word. The white mare simply nodded, and picked up a quill in her mouth and began to write on some paper she had placed on a table. I didn’t know what she was writing, but I thought perhaps I had made a mistake and was about to be outed to the local population. She brought the note to me, carefully folded, and asked that I find the time to stop at the library and speak to the proprietress, Twilight Sparkle. “Yes, I will,” I replied with a nod, “Am I free to go, then?” The mare looked confused, even a little hurt. She nodded. “Of course you are, you’re no prisoner here…” she replied. This shook me to my core. I nodded and settled onto my hooves, and made my way back to the lobby with the letter in my mouth. The cyan pegasus was now accompanied by the orange mare and the yellow mare both. I trotted up to them and nodded. “Fank you,” I began, then frowned and spit the letter onto the floor. Fluttershy nodded at me and smiled. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Well, I’ve got thi-” I stopped as I looked down at the letter. I had no idea what it said, I didn’t recognize a single piece of the script written there. It was incomprehensible to me. Fluttershy tilted her head, causing her mane to ripple as she did so. “What’s wrong?” “...I…,” I stared at the paper for a moment, then looked up at Fluttershy, “I can’t read this…” Fluttershy looked down at the paper and frowned. “What’s wrong with it?” she asked as she read it upside down, she blinked and squinted, as though that might shed some light on the matter. “I don’t… What is that…? I didn’t recognize any of the… the um… the letters?” The cyan pegasus snickered and received a heated glare from the orange mare in turn. She blinked and the snickering ended abruptly. “Ya don’t know how to read?” asked the orange mare. “...I don’t know how to read this…,” I replied, gesturing at the paper, “...whatever this is…” Fluttershy blinked and nodded. “Well… Twilight can help with that too then… That’s what this says, by the way… It’s addressed to her, and it’s about you and… well… Nurse Tenderheart is asking Twilight to help you re-learn to use your magic.” “You… can’t read and you can’t use your magic? What are you, a foal?” asked the cyan pegasus. It was Fluttershy that glared at her this time, but she didn’t seem to take any notice. “I don’t know,” I replied, and I felt suddenly very tired. Fluttershy smiled warmly and then turned to the other mares. “I’ll help him to find the library, thank you for your help, both of you,” she said with immense gratitude poured into her every word. The other mares nodded, smiling back at her then took their leave. I watched them go, and couldn’t help but feel confused. “Oh! What’s your name?” “I still don’t know it, I’m sorry,” I replied. Fluttershy smiled still warmly, with perhaps a little sympathy laced into that and her voice. I’m sorry about Rainbow… She’s not usually so insensitive… especially when it comes to reading…” “Oh… um… That’s okay, I didn’t take offense,” I said as I started for the door. The yellow pegasus squeaked as she caught up to me, she fell into step beside me and I noticed then that I was slightly taller than she. Not by terribly much, perhaps half a head difference in our heights. She seemed to me to be very peaceful, very calm. I noticed too that she had an air of anxiety about her, as though being out in public was a fear she was constantly coping with. “Are you alright?” I asked. “Oh! Um… Yes, I’m fine. Just a little nervous, that’s all,” she answered. I knew the feeling well, and I nodded my understanding. “So, Where are we going?” I asked. The pegasus gestured ahead of me, towards a tree that stood proud and unique toward the center of the town. I saw just a faint aura of energy surrounding it, but I wasn’t sure if I was simply seeing things or if it was real. I continued to trot in that direction, Fluttershy at my side. “Um… So, do you know where you’re from?” she asked. “New York,” I replied. “...where?” “I’m from New Yori… well, I’m from Long Island, so not quite on the mainland but it is still a part of New York…,” I looked at her and my voice trailed off as I saw only incomprehension in the mare’s eyes. She nodded, just to be polite, but she didn’t know what I was talking about. “I’ve never heard of any of that, I’m sorry,” she said quietly, and I could feel the guilt in her voice washing over me. I had to extinguish it. “No, there’s nothing to be sorry for… There’s a lot that I don’t know, that I guess I’m going to have to learn? And you haven’t yet made me feel bad about that. Why, then, should you be sorry for not knowing something about me?” I asked. She nodded, it was weak but conveyed at least a little understanding. She decided to pursue the conversation a little further. “So, um, what’s it like… where you’re from?” “Miserable… Folks are greedy, self-centered, arrogant, rude… Kindness and understanding run in short supply… It just seems like everyone wants to just hurt everyone else, no one wants to take the time to understand someone else’s sorrow or pain,” I answered. She looked sad, in fact, the tears glistening at the lower rims of her eyes emphasized that point quite well. I hated to have brought tears to her eyes, so I continued, trying to bring a little light and life back to the conversation which I had just turned dreary. “I suppose it isn’t all bad. Some people are quite nice, there are still some tight-knit communities to be found. Family can be good, but some family… well…” Fluttershy nodded in understanding, and I blinked. “Yes… I understand some family can be very difficult to get along with.” “Right,” I replied as I continued my pace towards the tree. “I need to check on my animal friends back home, will you be alright on your own? Twilight is a very nice pony, she can help you… She’s in that tree there,” she said quietly. “Yes, I’ll be alright. Thank you, again, Ms. Fluttershy,” I replied. “Oh… just Fluttershy will do, thank you,” she said happily, flapping her wings and taking to the air. I watched her lift-off in wonder, and as soon as she was out of sight as I continued on my way to the tree. As I approached it, I noticed the aura danced and shimmered. It was a mixture of pastel coloring with some rich purple and blue thrown in almost as an afterthought, it was faint and I could have missed it if I weren’t so focused. I approached the door on this tree and took a deep breath. The letter was tucked into my mane, and my goal was now set before me. I was nervous.