“Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Did I get it all that time?” The stallion asked with uncertainty, gently rubbing his head.
Twilight nodded. “Perfect. At least your short term memory appears to be intact, when you’re paying attention, that is.”
“I said I was sorry. These wings are so distracting.” He stared at the one on his left side, lifting it up and admiring the feathers, his eyes examining each individual-
“We’re losin’ him again,” Applejack chuckled, having settle back down with the others not too far away. They had finally been able to relax after the scare of the strange stallion, getting fresh refreshments with one addition.
“Y-your drink is gonna go cold, sir,” Fluttershy reminded him, bringing the stallion out of his own head again as he looked to his right where a fresh glass of tea was sitting.
He looked at the glass for a moment before back down to his “seat”, putting together that he was still sitting right on the library table. “Oh, uh, sorry,” he jumped down off the table, landing on all four hooves, resulting in a befuddle expression. “Now that’s odd. Shouldn’t I feel unstable on all fours?”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Humans are bipedal by nature, but maybe you’re not as unfamiliar with the sensation? Or it could be a side effect of whatever altered your body in the first place.” She watched him take a few careful hops in place, watching closely for any unsteadiness herself. “You’re right that there doesn’t seem to be anything off about your idling stance at least.”
“Well, at least I’m not flailing around.” With a soft sigh, his wing reached out and took hold of the glass on the table, bringing it to his lips to down the cooling drink, pulling it away for a moment. “Woah, what is this‽ It’s delicious!”
Rarity blinked for a moment, her own expression mirroring her friends as they watched the stallion. “It’s tea, darling. Is that… comfortable?”
“This is tea‽ Wow, it tastes nothing like I remember. I hated tea.” He quickly drinks the rest of the glass dry, leaving it to clatter with the unmelted ice as he set it back on the table. “And what’s uncomfortable?”
“Pegasi don’t usually use our wings like that, dude,” Rainbow said from her cloud, her face slightly scrunched. “You could damage your feathers if you’re not careful then say goodbye to flying for a while while they heal.” Her eyes started to dart about for a moment as he was now staring at her. “Dude, you’re staring.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, sorry, just… you’re on a cloud! That’s so cool! Wait, fly? I have wings, duh! How did I not put that together‽ I could fly now! That’s awesome!”
“Looks like he’s your speed, Dashie,” Applejack joked with a smirk, letting out a laugh as Rainbow tossed a piece of cloud at her. The others couldn’t hold back a few giggles as well, Twilight rolling her eyes before looking back to the mystery pony.
“Let’s put aside the thought of flying for the moment,” she said, holding back a giggle as the stallion let out an “Aw.”. “We should be focusing on how it is you got here. You’re sure you don’t remember anything?”
He shook his head, a frown returning to his face. “Sorry, nothing. It’s all a blank.”
“O-oh, um, but you remember not liking tea?” Fluttershy asked, before slinking back a little bit. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“You do have a point, dear,” Rarity turned and eyed the stallion, narrowing her gaze as if she were looking at a piece of stitching. “You’ve remembered this sensation of ‘fingers’ and now not liking a specific beverage. It’s rather inconsistent, if I may say.”
All eyes turned to the pegasus as he tapped his chin, gently sticking a tongue out the side of his mouth. “What’s the best way to put it? It’s like theres this checklist in my brain, a list of information rather than any experiences.”
“Like looking at a trivia section of a book summary?” Twilight brought up, getting knowing smirks from her friends who she gave a quick glance at with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. Though all their eyes shot up in surprise as the stallion shouted,
“Exactly! That’s exactly what it’s like!” he beamed as he stretched his wings, looking at the feathers as if they were hands. “Trivial bits of my life back home. I can remember liking chocolate, sodas, burgers. I can remember I had a family; parents and a younger sister, but I can’t remember their names or even their faces or their voices.” His expression dipped more and more as he spoke. “It’s like faint ghosts clinging to my mind. I can recall brief glimpses of my world; computers, airplanes, the space station-”
“The ‘what’ now?” Twilight briefly interrupted.
He shook his head. “And it’s gone. Dang, I had something solid on the tech front, but it just slipped right on by the moment I lost focus.”
Twilight blushed bashfully. “Sorry, I got curious about what you’d said.” She then watched as Applejack walked up to the stallion, placing a hoof upon his shoulder. Their eyes met for a brief moment, the farm mare giving him a knowing yet small smile before giving him a hug.
It was brief but the stallion was left staring for a moment. “What was that for?” he asked genuinely.
She gently tapped his shoulder. “Ya looked like ya could use it, sugar. I know a bit about what you were feelin’ ‘bout yer family.”
“Oh,” he replied with a blink, feeling at a loss for words. “W-well, thank you, Applejack. I appreciate it.”
She gave him a wink as she headed back to her seat. “Just ‘AJ’ is fine, all good between friends.”
He found himself blinking again. “Friends? But we just met.”
“What’s your point?” Rainbow decided to answer. “We’re all friends here, and that includes you, blue.”
“Blue?” he asked, tilting his head up at her.
“I mean, have you looked at yourself?”
“Well, only parts I can see.”
Twilight blinked, realizing that the stallion hadn’t had a chance to see his changed appearance. “I hadn’t even thought of that.” Her horn lit with magic power as a small mirror appeared in the air around her, floating over and in front of the stallion. “There, take a look.”
He did indeed, looking into the mirror, seeing a blue, furry face staring back. His green eyes look up at his mane, using a hoof to pull on some of the strands and then letting go into the messy swoop of light and dark blue that was draped over his head. He flexed his wings a little, getting a good look at his wing span and then down to his… “I have a tail‽”
Pinkie snorted and chortled. “That’s silly, Blue! Of course you have a tail, you’re a pony, duh!”
“Humans don’t have tails, Pinkie,” Twilight corrected.
“Oh, I thought they were monkeys!”
“Related to apes, actually,” the stallion added before blinking and then frowning. “Oh sure that I remember.” He then let out a sigh as he gave himself another once over in the mirror. “Well, I can’t say the nickname isn’t deserved. Pretty much blue all over, save the eyes. I don’t think they used to be this green, but pretty close. Everything else is completely different.”
“It’s a lovely trio of shades if I may say,” Rarity complimented, setting her tea down. “And we do have to call you something, as simplistic as it may be.”
He put a hoof to his chin, looking up in thought. “You got a point there. Don’t wanna be just some nameless pleb until I figure things out. So, sure, I guess ‘Blue’ will work.” He then smiled as Twilight made the mirror disappear, sitting before the gathered mares. “It’s nice to meet you all, you can call me Blue.”
“Nice ta meet ya.”
“A pleasure, dear.”
“H-hello there.”
“Cool, blue-dude.”
“Happy day to ya, Bluey!”
Twilight smiled as all her friends gave Blue a proper greeting, nodding her head to him. “Welcome to Equestria, Blue. You can count on your friends to help you.”
He smiled back at all of them. “Thank you, all of you. I think you six being around has definitely made this much easier to settle. I can only imagine if I just appeared in the wilderness or worse, I’d probably be screaming my head off or doing something incredibly stupid.”
“It’s no trouble, dear. We most likely would be having difficulties if we hadn’t already absolutely tuckered ourselves out today. It’s been an absolute roller coaster of a day, for all of us.” Rarity leaned back against the couch with an extra tired sigh.
“So whatcha gonna do, partner?” Applejack asked, readjusting her hat. “Ya said you’re gonna figure things out, but what’s that mean?”
“Well, far as I can tell, for the time being, I’m pretty much stranded in a place I know nothing about, in a body not my own. I guess at the moment, all I can do is at least find some stability while I try to see if I can get my memory back. That might be the key to how I got here, and maybe it’ll be a way back. Not gonna hold my breath though.”
“Why not?” Twilight tilted her head. “Shouldn’t you want to go home? Return to everything that you used to know as normal?”
Blue shrugged his shoulders. “I’d have to know what ‘normal’ meant to me. I’ve got nothing to go off that tells me things are even wrong. I can remember being human, but is that even true? There’s just so many variables and mystery to all this and I rather focus on making sure my tomorrow isn’t grim before I focus on solving the future. Speaking of tomorrow,” he rubbed his head, now thinking aloud, “what am I gonna do about money? I doubt a hotel will take ‘sorry I’m an amnesiac with no coin’ as a suitable deposit.”
Applejack let out a soft snicker. “Yeah that ain’t gonna fly, even in Ponyville. But yer right ‘bout that, sugar. Gonna need a place to lay yer head.”
Twilight raised her hoof. “Well since you’re already here, I do have a spare room you can use.”
The others all turned their eyes to the alicorn, Blue blinking a few times. “Are you sure, Twilight? I wouldn’t wanna inconvenience my new friends.”
Rainbow smirked, “So we are your friends, eh?”
He shrugged in response. “Who am I to turn down an offered hand of friendship? Well, hoof, in this case.”
“That’s one reason why I’m offering,” Twilight explained, walking up close to the stallion. “We all have offered to be your friends, and friends don’t just let each other sit out in the cold of night.”
“One reason?” Blue responded with a tilt of his head.
Twilight gently rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “Admittedly the other is rather selfish. You’re an interdimensional being, whether intentional or not. As a scholar, I can’t let this chance go to waste to be able to talk with you more! Maybe even do some advanced studying!”
Blue blinked again, putting things together in his brain. “Alright, I think I can agree to that as a condition. But no probing, drawing the line in the sand there.”
“Yeah, Twi, at least take him out to dinner first before you get to probing,” Rainbow smirked before falling over on her cloud laughing as Twilight and Blue’s faces both exploded into matching deep red blushes.
“Not even remotely what I meant!” Blue tries to quickly put out the growing metaphorical fire before him. “I-I just don’t want to become a science experiment, okay?”
Twilight cleared her throat, using her wing to fan her face lightly. “T-that’s ok, Blue. I can respect your wishes. Just simple academic questioning and studying. It should help you more acclimate to your body as well, so, bonus?”
Blue smiled and nodded, letting the embarrassment slide. “Bonus indeed.” He chuckled and looked around at his new gang of friends as they started chatting amongst themselves before he looked back at Twilight. “So Ponyville, huh? What can you tell me about this place?”