//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: In My Future Life // by flutterJackdash //------------------------------// So there I stood, staring at a wooden door set into a tree trunk at the top of three steps. It was a simple construction, but I appreciated that. It was where my mind had gone that had given me pause, for a moment I had a glimpse of a thick steel door with a large heavy lock that a large heavy key could engage or disengage. I found the thought to be unsettling, but after a moment I snapped from my reverie. It was not my own doing, but rather that of the maroon colored mare that had opened the door and stepped into my field of vision. Through green eyes, she stared at me for a moment before breaking into a winning smile and greeting me wholeheartedly. “Hello there! You must be new in town! I’m Cheerilee, what’s your name?” she asked, and the lilt of her voice suggested wisdom and happiness both. I blinked a few times to bring myself back to the present and looked up at her. I remained silent for only a moment. “I, um… I don’t really know my name,” I answered. Cheerilee raised an eyebrow and her smile began to slip, then lowered it again resuming her smile as she let out a soft chuckle. “Well, we can’t have that, now can we? No, it won’t do. There's simply got to be a way to call out to you, you know? Say if somepony saw you on the streets and wanted a word with you? Why don’t we just choose a name for you now, at least until you remember yours?” I stared blankly at her, almost uncomprehending as I nodded to her. “Let’s see… Dark grey coat… Brown mane and tail… Mane’s pretty long too… No cutie mark? How very interesting! You know what? I think the name Tempest might just fit you… Hehe… That’s the name of a protagonist from a series of books called “Hidden Storm” that I’m particularly fond of. Not many ponies have read them though, so you should be okay!” “Tempest?” I said, testing the name out on my own lips. I nodded, deciding that I liked it, “Um, what is a cutie mark?” The maroon mare sat on her haunches and stared at me, she sized me up, I thought, then smiled warmly and spoke once more. “Well, each pony is given to a magical mark upon their flank to be received at the time they realize which talents are truly theirs, that make them who they are, that bring them real joy… You see mine?” she gestured at her own flank, and I found myself hesitant to look, and she giggled at my visible hesitation, “It represents the students that I teach, and how I enjoy helping them to bloom into the ponies that they will one day become.” I nodded, although I didn’t truly understand what I’d just been told. She smiled, then stood up and descended the three steps until she was level with me, though she still had to look up slightly to make eye contact properly. “Ponyville is a nice place, full of extraordinary and wonderful ponies… You’ll be okay here, and trust me, you’ll be taken care of,” she said with an air of finality as she walked past me and continued down the road. My gaze followed her momentarily before I came back to the door, and took a deep breath. I couldn’t avoid this forever. I trotted up to the door and gently pounded a hoof against its wooden surface. It gave easily, swinging inside and revealing a purple dragon standing atop a ladder and shelving a book. I was absolutely astonished at the sight of this little dragon and shook my head to be sure I hadn’t knocked something loose and was seeing things. But no, the dragon insisted on existing there before me. “Hello?” a bright voice called out from somewhere outside of my vision but clearly still in the large room. I turned to see a purple mare with a horn jutting from her forehead, she had deep purple eyes and a deep indigo mane, I stared at her for a moment, there was certainly no shortage of color in this town. “Can I help you, Mister…?” I blinked, realizing I was being cued to answer an unspoken question, and I nodded at her. “Oh, yes. I’m Tempest, and I’ve just come from the hospital. I was directed here by them, uh, with this note here…” I said as I gestured to the note tucked into my mane. She smiled and stood there, clearly waiting for something. I wasn’t absolutely sure what that something was though, so I stood there and grew nervous as I waited for something to click into place. “Well, do you think you could let me see it?” she asked patiently. “Oh! Of course, um… Here,” I said as I trotted up to her and leaned so she could more easily reach the letter. I couldn’t see her face, but after a moment of nothing happening I looked up to see her looking confused. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I uh… I was just bringing the letter closer to you, that’s all,” I answered. “Well, why don’t you just pass it to me?” she asked. “I, uh,” I began, but then sighed and reached up with a hoof to knock the letter free from my mane. It sailed to the floor gently, and I picked it up with my mouth and offered it to her. She looked confused again but shrugged. Suddenly her horn lit with purple light and I felt the letter in my mouth being tugged away from me. She carefully unfolded it and read it, I think a few times before she refolded it and looked up at me. “Oh, I”m sorry. I had no idea that’s why you were acting so um… strange,” she said sheepishly. “Strange? Was I? I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I was.” “Well, it’s just fairly basic unicorn etiquette for one unicorn to hand another any item via magical grip… That you were so intent on avoiding the use of magic, or well, that you couldn’t… I found myself very confused by that, but now it makes much more sense. Well, no, it doesn’t make that much more sense. I mean, it makes sense that you weren’t using magic, but why wouldn’t you know about that etiquette? Why wouldn’t you think to explain your problem?” she spoke quickly, cheerfully, then quizzically but ultimately she was not rebuking me or judging me at all. She was simply taken with a curiosity which led her to ask me the questions she’d been asking. “I don’t really remember much,” I replied. “Oh, you’re an amnesiac… Fascinating! Perhaps I can help with that, or maybe Zecora could brew up some sort of tonic to refocus your mind…,” she trailed off into thought, and I found myself just a little intimidated by the vastness of her intellect and her obvious drive to pursue knowledge. “No, I have memories. Just none of this place, or anyone like you or, I guess, myself?” I said. “Oh? Interesting!” she chimed, refusing to be the slightest bit disappointed in that revelation, “Well, come on… I can at least help you to remember how to use magic, at your age that shouldn’t take very long.” I nodded and followed her as she made her way to the other side of the room, her horn lit up and I noticed a book slide out from high on a shelf and find its way to her. She had opened it and began reading it before she reached her destination, but she made it there so effortlessly I wondered if she didn’t have the layout of this place entirely memorized. “Right, so Mr. Tempest… The simplest way to explain this is what you are, in fact, endeavoring to utilize another appendage. First, you look inside of yourself, find that swirling mass of colorful light that represents your magic and draw from it. Let that fill your own then…,” she trailed off, looking around the room for a moment before settling on something I couldn’t see, and soon a candlestick floated into my field of vision and settled on the table, “Wrap that magical energy you draw on around this and lift it. Start slowly, first get the hang of drawing that magic in. It shouldn’t be hard, foals start learning young and telekinesis is among the most basic spells taught.” I blinked and followed her instructions. I looked inside of myself, and I found a darkness surrounded by a bright green light. I poked at it tentatively and found it did not resist me at all. I carefully examined it, then thought of the horn on my forehead and instructed the magic to go there. I could feel the warmth of it fill my horn as I opened my eyes, though it wasn’t much and I wasn’t sure I could hold on to it. I tried a few more times, meeting with mixed results but ultimately success. The next step was the candlestick, and so I instructed the magic to find and embrace the candlestick, and it did. I noticed nothing at first, but as I focused on moving the candlestick up, the mare and I both noticed that the stick was withering. It was very nearly gone before I let go of it, and she caught it in her own magic and set it on the table. She examined it more closely, tilted her head and screwing up her face in thought. “What happened?” “I don’t know, Mr. Tempest… But that isn’t a good sign. Please don’t use your magic until I know for sure, alright? It’s just safer that way, do you understand?” I did understand, and I nodded to affirm that. If the candlestick was any indication, I wanted nothing to do with touching anything else. “Oh, I’m sorry! I went on about etiquette and never even told you my name! I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Tempest.” “Thank you, I think. I’m… feeling a bit famished, is there any place I can go to eat?” “Yes, of course. What’s today? Wednesday? You could find my friend Applejack’s stall at the market, or if you like you could go to Sugarcube Corner, the treats there are delightful. Either way, do you have any money?” “I don’t think I do,” I answered. “Well, if you’ll pay me back when you can, I can loan you a few bits for something to eat. Just please don’t use your magic, okay?” I stood there, baffled by the kindness and generosity to which I’d been thus far exposed and found I had no rationale for it. It was nice, and I was certainly grateful, but I was unaccustomed to it just the same. She levitated a small satchel with some golden coins in it around my neck and smiled warmly. “I was new here too, once, and I hadn’t made any friends… Truthfully, my friends made me, but what I’m saying is you should try to talk to some ponies and make some friends. I’m going to write to the Princesses and ask what it might mean that your magic is acting as it is because I don’t think you had it in mind to do what you did.” “I… Princesses?” I asked. She looked positively stunned and stared at me with a distinct lack of humor. “Celestia and Luna, Governesses of the Sun and the Moon, Rulers over all Equestria, Goddesses? How can you not know the Princesses?” “I’m sorry, I meant no offense.” “No, I’m not offended, just… concerned. I really would like to know how you don’t know them.” “I honestly couldn’t tell you.” “Okay, well, you can’t miss Applejack’s stand, her little sister is probably out there making a lot of noise even now. Sugarcube Corner, well, the sign should give it away I think?” I began to nod before I remembered the other reason I had come here, and I stopped myself. “Actually, now that you mention it… I can’t read, either. I don’t recognize any of the characters on the letter I was given, nor the spine of that book that you pulled out or any of the other ones around here. I’m afraid I couldn’t tell you what any sign around here says,” I said with a frown. “Oh. Well, Sugarcube Corner has a large sign with a muffin and a cupcake that look like they’d be dancing if they had any legs or visible sentience… and Applejack’s stand, well, has Applejack. She’s an orange mare with a straw-colored mane and tail, wears a hat, has green eyes.” “Oh, yes, I have met her. Along with Fluttershy and Rainbow.” “Okay, will you be okay around town then?” “I have felt nothing but kindness and friendliness since I awoke, I cannot see how a town like this might cause me any harm. I think I’ll be okay, thank you.” “Alright, I’ll be here… If you stop by later, I might have an answer for you. I’m sorry that you can’t read, but maybe Cheerilee could help you with that?” “The one who just left here?” “Yes, her! So you two met then, I’m glad. She lives on the west side of town, nearest the Whitetail Woods. Perhaps you’ll find her later on and explain to her what you have so far explained to me. I’m sure she’ll be glad to help.” I nodded and turned away. I had nothing else to say and I was prepared to leave. She didn’t try to stop me, so I exited the tree by way of the door and started my way towards the main town. The market wasn’t too far away, perhaps that Applejack would be pleasant to talk to?