//------------------------------// // A Strange Introduction: Part 6 // Story: The Adventures of Soulsilver // by Soulsilver //------------------------------// A Strange Introduction: Part 6 Soul slept for what seemed like hours to him. Resting peacefully, not a care in the world. Unfortunately, this did not last. He got the feeling that something was staring at him, and awoke with a start. He was back in the void. "Damn it." He exclaimed, before recoiling in shock. He could actually talk. And move. And fall onto his face on the 'ground'. "Ow." Soul grunted as he pushed himself up. "URG, what, now you're just letting me walk and talk? Well good, 'cause I have more than a few questions for you. First off, where are you? Or are you so ugly that you're afraid my eyes'll explode as soon as I look at yMMMMNNN!" He was silenced as he felt something cover his mouth. He grabbed at his muzzle, trying to remove the obstruction, before realizing that his mouth had disappeared. 'Great,' he thought. 'It's gone all Matrix on me.' He blinked. 'Wait, what's a "Matrix"?' His train of thought was interrupted as the voice started talking. "It's  amazing. Even with amnesia you still manage to annoy me." Soul looked around for the voice. "Yes, look around for the invisible sound waves. In the mean time I'm going to give you your mouth back, and you are going to listen." Soul felt his mouth open and he gasped for air. "I am going to answer your questions, but only if I want to. I don't want to make this too easy for you. And try not to speak more than you have to. Got it?" Soul nodded. "Alright. First question. Who, or what, are you?" The voice chuckled. "A good first question. Nice to see you still prioritize others before yourself. Unfortunately, that is one that you will have to figure out on your own. Or I'll tell you. Just depends on how quickly you can figure it out." Soul thought for a moment before speaking again. "Alright then, where am I?" "Isn't it obvious? Wait, I forget who I'm talking to. Just look around. Tell me what you see." Soul did as instructed, seeing nothing but blankness. "It's nothing but an empty void." "Exactly. What can you imagine can be so terribly empty as thi-" "We're in my brain, aren't we?" Soul dead panned. The voice chuckled again. "Quick on the uptake, aren't you? Yes, we are in your brain. And, though I WAS going to insult you, it's actually quite sad. It's usually bursting with random nonsense in here. Enough to keep me amused, at least. But what with your amnesia it's all surrounded by an impossibly thick fog, keeping it just out of reach so you can't remember what they are but still allowing you to access them." "So THAT'S why I keep saying things and never have a clue what they mean." "Exactly. Heh, despite all the annoyances you cause me, you are always amusing, one way or the other. Any other questions?" "Oh, yes actually. You probably won't tell me how I lost my memory, so could you tell me what my Cutie Mark is supposed to be?" "Well I WOULD, if I knew what that was. I don't remember anything about a Cutie Whatsit. Maybe whatever affected your memory is tampering with mine, but I can't seem to recollect anything. But I suppose if you want to know what you're best at, well, you've always had a bit of a thing for scien-" "SCIENCE! Of course, why didn't I know that? I love science! But what would a scientific Cutie Mark look like?" The voice sighed in annoyance. Soul could almost see it rubbing it's temple. "I don't know, but you've started to annoy me again so if that's all..." "Wait! I do actually have one more question! An important one!" "Alright, fine. What is it?" "The last two times I fell asleep I had a nightmare that I was here, but I could hardly more. And this voice, a genderless voice, told me that it killed someone, and said something about me not dying and some other confusing things. Can you tell me what that means?" The voice was quite for a moment, before answering. "Oh. Dear. That, is not good at all." Soul started to say something before he felt himself fall out of consciousness. *** Twilight had cleared the pile of books away, and had placed the sleeping stallion on the same couch which she had been on earlier, and was now poking him with her hoof in an attempt to wake him up. "Soul." She whispered. "Get up. Spike wants to apologize." Soul remained asleep, and Twilight was starting to get impatient when she heard Spike's voice call out from the kitchen. "Hey Twi', d'you think Soul'd like banana pancakes?" No sooner than he had finished his question Soul sat up straight quickly, scaring Twilight out of her coat in the process. "Somebody mentioned banana pancakes." He said as he looked around fanatically. "I'll take that as a yes, then!" Spike said as he chuckled. Twilight, no longer startled, approached Soul. "Hey there. Are you feeling any better? Spike hit you pretty hard." Soul managed to snap himself out of his food-rabid state and answered her with a small grin. "Yeah I'm fine. Just concerned for Spike. I mean, how much manual labor must you put him through for him to get an arm that strong?" "Too much!" Spike called out again, promting laughs from the two ponies. Soul looked at Twilight and noticed that her bruises had gone. "Hey, where are your bruises?" Twilight looked herself over before grinning sheepishly. "I may have used the last of the healing tonic that I had gotten from Zecora on myself. Sorry I didn't have enough for you too." Soul waved her away dismissivly. "Nah, I'm fine, you saw how fast I healed from the manticore. Besides, I love having hallucination enducing concussions involving an omnipresent voice talking to me inside my head." Twilight wasn't sure whether or not to laugh at this. But before she could find out more Spike walked in carrying three plates stacked with delicious looking pancakes. They ate in silence, Soul finishing before the others. "Wow," Spike said. "You sure can pack it away." Soul grinned. "It's an art, I know." He said pompously, getting a chuckle from the others. "Now, you said something about hallucinations?" Twilight asked with a hint of worry in her voice. "Well," he started, as Twilight leaned forward, pancakes forgotten. "It was more of a dream, only more livid than that. Remember when I told you that I got my name from a dream?" She nodded. "Well that was similar to this. It started out with me suspended in a void. In my previous dream I could barely move, let alone speak, as a genderless voice talked to me. But this time was different. I could move around and talk, but then a different voice, definitely male, started to talk to me. He let me ask questions, but only answered if he thought it wouldn't make me remember too much. Seemed to be getting a kick out of my struggles. He did tell me what he thought my special talent was, though he seemed to have no recollection of what Cutie Marks were. But the strangest thing is that when I mentioned the other voice, he seemed to be scared. And that is when Spike mentioned pancakes. Way to go, Spike. You and your delicious pancakes may have doomed us all." Spike just rolled his eyes and shook his head. Twilight slumped down on her chair. "Well. That's certainly a lot to take in. And he didn't say who he was? Or where you were?" Soul chuckled. "He said we were in my mind. At first I thought he was insulting me as usual, but he said that my mind had become a blank void due to the amnesia, only able to access a little information. He didn't tell me who he was, though. Said it would be more fun if I could figure it out." Twilight sat in thought before she realised something. "Oh! What did he say your special talent was?" Soul grinned. "Well, he wasn't very specific, but it's quite clear that I was some kind of scientist." Twilight perked up at this. "A scientist? I haven't met many scientists outside of my college professors. Maybe if you come over and help me with some experiments you could find what you're best at!" She practically leaped for joy. Soul smirked. "You're a little too excited about this. Not that I'm complaining. Science is fun." Twilight chuckled nervously. "Well it's not often that I meet a pony who actually likes science, let alone somepony who wants to help me with my experiments." "Yeah, and," Spike spoke up, chuckling. "With you around she won't have to experiment all her spells and stuff on me." "Sooo, I'm a test subject?" He asked Twilight, who responded with a sheepish grin. Soul brightened. "Good idea! We could test how well I can heal different wounds. This is going to be great!" Twilight smiled warmly. "Well, when did you want to get started then?" Soul stopped and thought. "Hmm, well I told the Crusaders I'd pick them up from school and help them find their Cutie Marks, so why not now?" Twilight clopped her hooves together. "Great! Let's go down to the basement, all my equipment is there." She stopped half way to the door and turned to Spike. "You want to join us Spike, or would you like some time off?" Spike chuckled. "You know I love helping you, Twilight, but I need a break, so I'll be at Sugarcube Corner if you need me." They bode him farewell before heading down into the library's basement. *** Alrighty, that's another chapter down. It's a little shorter than the others, but at least it didn't take three months like the last one. As always, rate, comment, and for some reason my S key just randomly stopped working for the beginning of this sentence. And for god's sake, please tell me the things you like and dislike about it! It helps me make it better. Till next time, Soulsilver.