//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 – The Unwound Future // Story: Ponies in the Attic // by Digodragon //------------------------------// Tick, tick, tick, tick… Applejack slowly awoke to the sound of a small clock ticking on the wall. The scent of rubbing alcohol and bleached linens filled her nostrils with their strong odors as she regained her senses. AJ looked around the unfamiliar room. She was lying in a hospital bed, her right shoulder and fore-leg wrapped in several bandages. There was also a band aid over a cut on her left cheek. Her mane was unkempt and hung over her face haphazardly and the hospital gown she wore felt moist with her own sweat. Her muscles ached and demanded to be stretched. “Good afternoon,” Nurse Redheart said as she walked into the room. “Did you sleep well?” The white-coated earth pony opened the curtains to let the sunlight into the room. She then walked over to AJ and took her temperature. “Ah, the fever broke. Looks like you’re a quick healer.” Applejack blinked with confusion. What exactly did she quickly heal from? Was she in an accident? She tried to sit up and was met by sharp pains in her shoulder. Redheart put a hoof on her chest. “Stop, you’ll hurt yourself,” the nurse warned. “The pain just tells me I’m still alive,” Applejack countered stubbornly. She forced herself to stand up off the bed and stretch her legs. The soreness eased off and became bearable after she paced around for a minute. AJ noticed a calendar on the nearby wall. There was a serene image of a lake with four tiny pony fairies sitting at the water’s edge. However, what took her attention was the date below the picture. It read ‘Friday’. For some reason she thought that wasn’t right. A group of four ponies walked into the room from the hallway. AJ recognized two of them as Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh, her siblings. Bloom ran up and hugged her sister tight. The shoulder pains returned as AJ struggled to return the affection of her pale-yellow coated sister. AJ also recognized the other two ponies that had entered the room, but the problem was that they shouldn’t exist. One was a muscular green-yellow stallion with a disheveled brown mane and dark-blue eyes. The other was a burnt-orange coated mare with soft green eyes. She wore an elegant cream-colored blouse and a matching bonnet over her blond mane. They were her parents, Apple Bramley and Cara Orange. “H-How is that even possible?” Applejack stuttered. “AB, who are they?” “Sis!” Bloom scolded. “Don’t you remember mom and dad? Did you hit your head extra hard on the ground or something?” Applejack turned to her brother, but Big Mac only shrugged and looked away. AJ stood there in shock as the very parents that had passed away all those years ago were standing right there in the same room she was. Cara stepped forward and put a hoof on AJ’s good shoulder. “Sweetie, of course it’s us,” she said with great concern. “You have been acting strangely since you ran off screaming this morning. Are you feeling alright?” “I-I…” AJ stuttered. She couldn’t remember this morning, at all. Bramley snorted. “Bah, kid’s just addle-minded, Cara,” he said dismissively. “She didn’t lose that much blood in the fight. I’m sure your home cookin’ will set her straight.” Bramley turned to Nurse Redheart and pointed to Applejack nonchalantly. “You reckon we can take her home now? She don’t seem so bad if she can stand up.” Nurse Redheart nodded. “Of course you can, Mister Apple. I’ll bring you the discharge papers.” The nurse walked out of the room to fetch a form. “Let us take you home, sweetie,” Cara said happily to AJ. “I’m sure your friends will be happy to know that you’re doing well.” The shock hadn’t completely worn off AJ. She limped towards the door. “I… I want to go see my friends,” she said weakly. “I’ll catch up with you later.” “Where you off to?” Bramley asked. “I need some fresh air!” AJ replied hastily. The orange pony picked up her pace and walked quickly out of the hospital. Despite the overcast sky, the sunlight managed to dazzle AJ’s eyes. She reached for the brim of her Stetson, but soon realized that her hat was missing. She descended the steps and turned down the dusty road toward the town square. Applejack kept to the shaded paths as her mind flooded with questions over what she just saw. Were those two ponies actually her parents? If they were, then how are they alive now? Her chest started to tighten as she stumbled down a side street. Applejack managed to limp around the corner for half a block before a lightheaded feeling fell upon her. Her breath was labored and she began to sweat. AJ’s legs finally gave up and she collapsed on the ground under a tree. Her head hurt and the thought of her parents made her dizzy… or maybe it was her injuries. Was it hunger? AJ couldn’t think straight. Shock returned and her body felt numb. A set of white hooves crossed her faded vision. AJ looked up at a pair of beautiful azure eyes under a dazzling purple mane. It was her friend Rarity. “Applejack?” Rarity said confusedly. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing out here?” She helped AJ sit up on the ground. A look of worry spread across her face. “You don’t look so well. Here, let me help you back to the hospital.” Applejack desperately latched around one of Rarity’s legs. “No,” AJ weakly replied. “Please, not there. Your place?” She concentrated hard to remain conscious, but her body wanted to let go. Rarity fidgeted as she hoisted AJ up. “You really should go back and see a doctor.” Applejack looked wearily into Rarity’s eyes. “Please, no,” AJ whispered. She didn’t want to go back. There were two ponies that looked just like her parents and that made no sense. Her parents couldn’t be alive! Those figures had to be imposters or illusions of her disturbed mind. They were not real! Rarity sighed as she led her friend to the nearest door. Applejack heard a bell ring as the door opened. A wave of freshly baked goods wafted through her nostrils. AJ’s stomach growled for a taste of the sweet scents that surrounded her. “Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!” shouted a cheery voice behind the counter. The voice quickly changed to a concerned tone. “Oh my gosh! Rarity, is Applejack okay?!” “Pinkie, I think Applejack escaped from the hospital,” Rarity explained. “She seems positively frightened over something.” Applejack saw the pink earth pony jump over the counter and reach her in two hops. Pinkie helped Rarity carry Applejack into the kitchen where Applejack was reclined on a pile of flour bags. The aroma of baked cupcakes in the oven made AJ drool with hunger. “Food?” Applejack asked weakly. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement and AJ felt sure her two friends heard the rumbles. “Ah, you must be hungry!” Pinkie said. “I bet you haven’t eaten anything since the tea this morning. Well, that’s more of a ‘drink’ than an ‘eat’, isn’t it?” “Pinkie,” Rarity politely interrupted. “Could you please just fetch Applejack something?” “Oh, sorry!” the pink pony interjected. She rushed over to the kitchen counter and retrieved a glass of water and some slices of fresh bread. Pinkie returned and helped AJ take a gulp. Applejack swallowed the water quickly and then reached out for the bread. She ravenously gobbled the slices down before she took another long drink of water. Her stomach gurgled in praise. After a moment to catch her breath, AJ’s sight and mind sharpened once more. She also felt a pleasant aftertaste of banana on her tongue. “There, don’t you feel better now?” Pinkie asked. “Mrs. Cake’s banana nut bread is the best!” AJ nodded slowly. Rarity tugged at a knot in AJ’s hair and the orange pony gently swatted her friend’s hoof. “You don’t need to fuss over my mane,” she said. “How can I not fuss over you after everything you’ve been through today?!” Rarity countered angrily. “You came to me this morning pale as a ghost, you picked a fight with a dreadful creature in the marketplace, and now I find you half-unconscious on the street!” “Yeah, something’s not right about you today,” Pinkie added. “You didn’t eat one of those red-swirled flowers in the Everfree, did you? Last time I ate one I was hallucinating about a turtle that chased me all day throwing hammers!” Rarity rolled her eyes at the absurdity of Pinkie’s statement. “Anyway,” she said casually, “Could you indulge us as to why you escaped the hospital, Applejack?” AJ thought for a moment to collect her thoughts. “Well, when I awoke at the hospital, I saw my parents show up to take me home. My actual parents were right there in front of my eyes!” “Uh, isn’t that what parents do?” a confused Pinkie asked. “But my parents had passed away years ago!” AJ loudly proclaimed. “Are you still going on about your parents being dead?” Rarity interrupted. “I thought you said you were going to talk to them this morning.” Applejack sat there with a confused stare. Rarity sighed. “Honestly, did you hit your head in that fight?” she scolded. “Darling, you came to me this morning spouting nonsense about your parents being deceased. Rainbow Dash guessed that you had a nasty falling out with them, but you said you were having problems with your memory. Last I saw, you left for home to talk with your parents about getting your head examined. Why didn’t you talk to them when they visited you at the hospital? Don’t tell me you forgot about that memory too.” The white unicorn put both fore-hooves on AJ’s shoulders. “Talk to your parents, Applejack. After the marketplace incident, they must be terribly worried about you. I’m terribly worried about you.” Applejack started to consider the possibility that she did hit her head in a fight. What had she fought with anyway? It must have been a nasty creature to have put her in the hospital. AJ opened her mouth to ask what the creature was, but she decided to stop asking more questions that her friends expected her to already know. She slowly sat up and simply nodded. “Yeah, that fight must of addled my mind,” AJ said. “I reckon I bit off more than I can chew.” “Actually, it was the timberwolf that did most of the chewing,” Pinkie corrected. “I didn’t see it, but a friend of a friend told me that you were like ‘Pow! Bam!’ in its face, but then it got you and it was ‘Rawr! Snarl!’ as it shook you like a chew toy!” The pink pony mimed a fight with her shadow to illustrate her story. “Then your dad came to the rescue and snapped that timberwolf like a twig, in front of every pony at the marketplace! Wow, I wish I could have seen it!” AJ had fought a timberwolf in the town marketplace? That explained the injuries she currently had, but timberwolves had never ventured into Ponyville before. She wondered how such a large creature reached the town market without being spotted before by a guard. “Well, maybe I should get home and thank my pa for saving me,” AJ said. “Please do talk to them,” Rarity added encouragingly. “Tell them that you’re having memory problems. Don’t push them away and leave us all worried about you.” Pinkie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re acting stranger than me, and that’s saying something!” Applejack gave a fake smile as she stood up. “Alright then, I’ll go home and straighten out my problems. Thank you both kindly for helping me. You two are really good friends.” She gave both ponies a gentle hug as the kitchen cuckoo clock struck two. Was it already midafternoon? “Oh my, time sure flies like the wind,” AJ said. “And fruit flies like a banana!” Pinkie happily added. Applejack and Rarity exchanged a confused glance at each other. After a silent moment, AJ removed the hospital gown and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Her right shoulder and foreleg were still dressed in bandages, but AJ decided to leave them on for a while longer. She reached up to adjust her hat, but her hoof only met air. She had forgotten that her hat was missing. “I need to go find my effect,” AJ muttered. “Alright, I’ll see y’all later. Thanks again you two. I’ll repay you both in spades.” “Aww, it’s nothing,” Pinkie replied. “We’d do anything for a friend!” AJ stepped outside the bakery shop and let her eyes adjust to the light. She limped down the dusty road towards her home, but AJ wanted to make one quick stop before confronting those ponies that looked like her parents. She wanted to know why she was missing a chunk of her memory, and there was one friend who might help her recover her thoughts. She headed towards the Everfree Forest to seek Zecora. ~ ~ ~ Applejack stopped at the forest tree line on the far side of the farm. The weather was still gray with clouds, but there was light enough to travel through the forest. The Everfree was a dangerous place, even for a fully grown and healthy pony. So why was she about to walk into it with her injuries? AJ told herself that she needed to figure out why her mind was all mixed up. Rarity had mentioned her memory was bad and AJ needed to correct that before it got worse. This assumed that the problem was with Applejack’s head and not everything around her. “Alright, my parents are alive and no pony remembers that they died years ago,” she thought to herself. “So, either I’m havin’ a bad dream or half my memories are big, fat lies. Now, I’m pretty sure I ain’t crazy.” AJ wanted to believe she was dreaming, but she reassured herself that if it was her memory that had gone bad, Zecora could help figure out what caused the problem and then fix her mind. She had thought to ask Twilight first on her way here, but AJ didn’t want the princess to worry about her. When Twilight worried about something, she obsessed about it until it was figured out. The other reason that AJ didn’t want to ask Twilight was because the princess liked to use fancy science to solve strange problems. AJ just didn’t have the head to understand anything more complicated than basic math. Applejack knew the way to Zecora’s hut fairly well. She believed that she could be there and back before the sun set or a storm arrived. AJ ventured forth into the forest and kept to an animal trail she spotted. The path winded far into the woods and the thick canopy of trees made the woods appear very gloomy. Applejack crept along carefully with a limp in her stride. The forest somehow felt different to her on this trip. No birds chirped from the trees and no insects scurried about. She felt alone, and that began to scare her. A rustle sounded from ahead on the trail. AJ slowly stepped behind a tree and watched what approached her. It wasn’t too big, about pony-sized, but it had a wobbling gait and breathed heavily. Behind the figure appeared a pair of green eyes. It followed the first figure like a predator. AJ knew in an instant what the second creature was. It was a timberwolf. The first figure collapsed to its knees and AJ made out the white and black striped legs of a zebra. The orange pony grabbed a rock and jumped out from behind the tree. She tossed the rock up into the air and then turned to kick the stone at the timberwolf. The predator was taken by surprise as the rock struck and chipped a piece of bark from its wooden shoulders. “Zecora, over here!” AJ shouted. The timberwolf barked at AJ, but the orange pony kicked a second stone at the creature from off the ground. The wooden wolf backed off and AJ darted forward to seize its prey away. Zecora reached out to Applejack and latched on to the orange pony weakly. AJ hobbled quickly with the zebra out of the woods. She led Zecora through the wheat field and under a shady apple tree near the house before they stopped running. The two friends collapsed under the tree and caught their breath. The timberwolf had not given them chase. AJ turned to her battered friend. Zecora’s body was covered in bruises and small cuts. The brown cloak she wore had multiple tears in it as well. It was if the zebra had been attacked before the timberwolf stalked her. “Zecora, are you alright?” AJ asked her. “You look like the hind legs of bad luck.” “I was attacked at my home by a force I could not see,” she replied in her whimsical rhyming voice, “I fled for my life when it tried to kill me. Thank you though, you saved me dear friend, but why are you bandaged and now on the mend?” Applejack glanced down at her wrappings. They were soiled and began to come undone from her exertions. She brushed off some dirt that clung to the bandages. “Well, I apparently had a tussle with a timberwolf in town earlier today,” AJ explained, “But I can’t say I remember any of it. My pa came to my rescue and I woke up in the hospital.” She noticed Zecora didn’t react to the mention of her father, so AJ assumed that Zecora also believed her parents to be alive. The zebra sighed as she looked over her own legs. “A timberwolf in Ponyville square?” she asked. “I wonder how it managed to find its way there?” Applejack shrugged. She had no answers about her timberwolf attack, but something about Zecora’s story caused a tingle of pain in the back of her mind. This ‘unseen force’ seemed familiar to her, but AJ couldn’t recall why it did. The harder she thought about it, the more her head began to hurt. She let go of the thought and decided to help her friend recover from her own traumatic fight. “Like I said,” AJ reiterated, “I don’t remember anything about the timberwolf. In fact, I don’t remember a lot of things. I was comin’ to see you about fixin’ my addled mind. Well, I reckon that’s out of the question for now, but why don’t you stay over my house tonight? I can help you in the morning to chase off whatever attacked you.” “I would be ever so grateful to spend the night,” Zecora replied, “But won’t your father disapprove of my sight?” “Uh, why would he?” AJ said with interest. “The Apple family hospitality is second to none and I don’t see my pa being any different. Come with me, I’ll make sure you get patched up and fed.” She tugged on Zecora to follow and the two friends walked the short distance to AJ’s house. Applejack climbed up the porch steps and put a hoof on the front doorknob. She took in a deep breath as she wondered what she would find inside. She slowly pushed the door open and was greeted with the aromatic smells of vegetable stew and apple pie from the kitchen. The house appeared to be just as AJ remembered it. The green felt couches sat in their respective positions and the old grandfather clock ticked softly in the corner of the living room. AJ’s heart skipped a beat when her mother peered out of the kitchen. “Sweetie, oh come here!” Cara shouted joyfully. She quickly trotted over and hugged her daughter tight. “You’ve had me fretting all day! Just look at you, absolutely dreadful with those dirty bandages.” Applejack tried to act casual as she hugged the affectionate burnt-orange mare in return. However, something about this stranger’s scent made AJ’s mind doubt that she was strange at all. This mare smelled familiar to Applejack. She smelled… like mom. Zecora walked up behind Applejack and cleared her throat. The burnt-orange mare jumped back from AJ with a startle. “Uh, Sweetie,” Cara said apprehensively, “Not to judge your choice in friends, but you know your father isn’t fond of… of her.” “What?!” AJ snapped back. “That’s a lot of hooey! Zecora here is my friend and I invited her to stay the night. How can pa not trust my friends?” AJ caught herself calling the other strange pony her father. She reminded herself not to get too comfortable with them in case they really were strangers that posed as her parents. Cara fidgeted. “Well, you know your father and his old fashioned ways,” she said, “He simply doesn’t trust ponies that use magical voodoo.” “Zecora don’t use voodoo,” AJ countered. “She brews potions. Yeah, it’s like cookin’ with spells, but there ain’t any ill intent with her magic.” “You mean ‘isn’t’,” Cara corrected. “The word ‘ain’t’ is not a proper word.” AJ opened her mouth to rebuke her mom, but she realized Cara was arguing over grammar now, not Zecora. The orange pony huffed and glanced at her friend. Zecora stood there perfectly silent. AJ now had trouble forming words in her mouth. This burnt-orange mare seemed familiar enough to be her mom, but that only bothered AJ even more. “Look, ma,” AJ pleaded. “Zecora was chased out of her home. She’s hurt and she’s got no money. It’ll just be the one night, I promise.” “Oh alright, sweetie,” Cara said with a sigh, “Your friend can use the spare room upstairs.” The burnt-orange mare gave AJ a second hug. “I just worry a lot about your safety,” she assured AJ. “Magic can be very dangerous and you’ve dealt with a lot of it since making friends with Twilight and Zecora. Now then, why don’t the two of you go upstairs and wash up? Dinner won’t be ready for another two hours, but I disapprove of you both looking like street urchins.” Applejack thought about that statement. Not the one about getting cleaned up, but about how Cara worried about her. It sounded so… sincere. AJ gave Cara a half-hearted smile and then led Zecora upstairs. The spare room was at the end of the hall, just across from the bathroom. It was small, but kept very clean. A modest-sized bed sat in a corner with a night stand and there was a simple dressing mirror opposite the bed. AJ rummaged through the night stand’s drawer. She located a brush and towel for Zecora to use. “Why don’t you go and get cleaned up first?” AJ said as she handed the items over. “The water ain’t hot, but if you want I can boil you up a pot.” Zecora smiled. “Thank you again, but for my muscles’ sake, a cold water soak will relieve their ache.” Applejack nodded and left Zecora to her bath. The orange pony walked back up the hall and entered her own room. It appeared to be as she remembered it, except that she didn’t see her hat anywhere on her dresser or on the bed post. She scrunched her nose with annoyance before she lay down on the bed. She loved that hat. AJ stared at the ceiling as her mind picked back up on the runaway train of thoughts. “Alright, in the morning I’ll help Zecora get her home back and then she can help me to straighten all this out,” she thought to herself. “Maybe I’ll even wake up and find this was all just a bad fairy tale. Then again, Cara’s hug felt exactly as I remembered her. What if I just lost all these years of memories this entire time? No, that can’t be right. You can’t just forget that many memories… can you?” Applejack perused through her mind again, but the colossal holes in them remained. She swore her parents died when she was little, but these two ponies didn’t seem like imposters or illusions. Apple Bloom certainly acted as though they were their parents and even AJ’s friends said that her parents were alive and well. If every pony said the sky was green, but she said it was blue, then who was right? The more Applejack thought about it, the more she began to realize that perhaps her mind was broken. Had she made up a lifetime of lies for some reason she couldn’t understand? What if she couldn’t get those precious memories back? AJ didn’t want her mind to be forever addled. What if she lost her memories of her siblings next? Applejack’s eyes began to water at the thought of losing more memories. It scared her to the point she felt her heart beating hard in her chest. She wiped her eyes as the scar on her left check began to burn. Darkness crept over AJ’s sight as she felt faint again. The sound of Apple bloom’s soft laughter outside filled her ears. She held on to the laughter tightly and refused to lose any more memories as she passed out.