//------------------------------// // 0: A Prologue // Story: Names // by Malowith //------------------------------// Names That was the first thing he thought. Why were there three? The first one, Jack, was expected. It was his after all. The next one confused him. It seemed more like it should be a phrase than anything, but the two words definitely were a name. His name. No, his name was Jack. But yet it was somehow was also this other name. His thoughts turned to the third name before he had a chance to linger. The third one was the strangest. It was the least like a name and more like a single word, a word he did not know yet also knew intimately. Like it was on the tip of his tongue. Yet something about it felt name-like. It was also his. He reached through his thoughts to find out what these names meant. Then the memories came. And his thoughts returned to darkness. Jack awoke with a start. The names from before returned along with the memories. 'Jack' was unique, everything about it felt different, completely separate from the others. The phrase name, conversely, had no unique memories, all of them shared with the last name. That last name, though, had some all to itself. He tried to figure out the names. He did the most basic name first. Jack was a simple name. It came with memories of school and a simple life. Not complicated at all. The third name brought a lot more, a cave, hiding, and survival were the most prominent. The third name was connected to the second, which brought similar thoughts. He started to focus more on the name itself. It was a simple phrase that he recognised. He brought it to the forefront… “Blue Screen!” He shot out of bed and immediately stumbled. “Just a minute!” he called out as he looked at his clock. It was half past ten and he was late. That was probably a customer coming in to retrieve something he repaired and he had yet to set up shop. He stopped. Realizing he was pulling from the memories of Blue Screen he let himself continue. He got up on his hooves to open the front door to his combined home/shop. Wait, hooves? He looked down and saw he indeed had hooves. Half of him just glossed over this fact while the other half paused, shocked. He fought inwardly for a bit until he decided that doing so would be pointless. As he continued to look over his own body he noticed a few even more surprising/normal, depending on what part of him you asked, features. He was a pony. His mane and tail were a fairly normal white, while his coat was a half-shocking blue color. Half of his concentration went about his hygiene, bored of looking himself over, while the rest continued. He quickly noticed the next two features as soon as he appeared in the mirror. For one, he had a horn. This, while quite shocking, was nothing compared to when he noticed the image of the combined part circle and line of a computer’s power button on his flank. Checking the other half’s memories for confirmation, half of him hit a realization. With his grogginess fading away he was able to process all of the information his mind gave him. Just a week ago he had started watching this world on the internet. I’ll give you one guess which. He wasn't as surprised as he expected. Sure, he was internally freaking out, wondering what was real or if he was crazy. But despite that he felt strangely... normal. He barely got that thought out before he realised he should hurry up. He ran to the front door and let the white pony there in. She gave him a smile. “About time!” joked Octavia, who was standing in front of the counter alongside Vinyl Scratch “I hope the repairs are ready” Blue Screen nodded and trotted to the back room. He opened his electronics shop a few years ago when he moved here. He made and sold gadgets and, of course, did repairs. The store brought in little money, but that was not what he was looking for. Money was great and all, but he really just wanted something to eat. Vinyl was his best and favourite customer. Being the only place that could repair her equipment, he got a lot of business from her. Sadly she was nearly his only business. Occasionally someone else would come in with some gadget or a kid would come in to buy a toy or game he made, but that was rare. As he brought out Scratch’s fixed speaker; Octavia thanked him for her, said a few things then left. Only part of him was paying attention, and when he processed the information, Jack stopped walking. “Thank you for the repair, Blue. Without this she wouldn’t be able to perform with me at the Summer Sun Celebration after party in a couple days” said Octavia as Vinyl smiled and nodded in turn. Ah, that explains some things. Jack knew what this meant, it placed him right before episode one. Just a single day until Twilight came to ponyville. Two days before Nightmare Moon’s return.