The blank canvas of a dreamscape has infinite possibilities. The only limit is the mind it is connected to. A certain changeling's dreamscape begins to take form. A dark sky rolls over the rapidly forming land. Trees pop up to form a dense forest. Plants of all kinds arise from the soil. Finally, as if erased by the swirl of a brush, a spot is cleared. This point, is where she appears.
She opens her eyes and glances around, confused. ...this is odd...where am I? She slowly turns around, scanning her surroundings before her gaze lands on a patch of blue nearby. ...is...is that... She leans down, looking at the spot in confusion.
A splash from a nearby pond announces the arrival of something else. The large green head that emerges and spits out water reveals it to be Rhino. He huffs a bit of water out his nose before wading to shore and shaking like a dog to rid himself of the excess moisture.
Gel doesn't look up, tentatively prodding the sticky substance. "...glad you could join me, love...I take it you were making friends with the wildlife?" She finally looks in his direction, and the fish on his tail.
He feels the tug on his tail and gives the fish a dirty look. With a flare of his horn he plucks it off and plops it back into the pond. He responds as he turn to the nymph. "A thoroughly one-sided relationship, I assure you."
"I could tell." She giggles before looking around, curious. "...do you know where we are? All I can tell is it's a part of the Everfree." She stares back at the spot, frowning slightly. "...apparently, a spot I crashed...possibly after the wedding incident..."
He shakes his head. "I don't really come in here often... I think I've been here less than four times total, and never this far in."
She sighs softly, shaking her head and standing up. "...that's not good news...maybe I could fly up and-"
A loud roar interrupts her thought process, followed by a crash.
She squeaks, surprised by the din. "...w-what was that?"
Rhino, who had crouched down in response to the noise, perks his ears up. "It sounds like a lion... so it's probably a manticore." Another crash sounds. "An angry manticore."
She quietly nods, heading in the direction of the sounds. "...if it's angry, we need to calm it down." She pushes through the undergrowth, sidestepping a patch of blue flowers by habit.
He follows her. "I suppose dream or not, empathy remains the same." The two trude through the forest, pushing aside plants as they go. Every once in awhile, there is a patch of blue liquid.
Gel frowns, seeing the drops. "...I must have been hurt...why else would I have been bleeding?" She pushes aside a branch and stops, jaw dropping in shock. ...this is...h-how did...
Rhino catches up to her. "Is something wrong..." His voice trails off as he sees what has stunned her.
In front of them, a large manticore swipes at a blue blur. It misses, smashing a tree to pieces.
The blur skids to a halt behind the creature, revealing that it is a younger form of the changeling. She holds up a hoof, eyes wide in panic. "Please, stop! I-I don't want to hurt you, b-but I'll have no choice if you continue!"
The only response is a roar, forceful enough for her mane to be blown back.
The stallion's eyes widen. "This isn't a dream... this is a memory..." He looks to the changeling beside him. "But you don't remember this?"
Gel slowly shakes her head, her eyes never leaving her doppelgänger. "...not in the least...is...is this even the day of the wedding? It seems...early in the day..."
As she talks, the memory continues. The changeling scowls at the manticore, eyes narrowed dangerously. "So be it."
The leonine creature leaps at her, paw brought back to attack. She doesn't move, lowering her stance as it moves to swipe her.
A split second before it hits, she flips over the limb. At the peak of her jump, she lashes out, hitting the top of its foreleg and making it let out a yowl of shock.
Before it could do anything else, she rushes up close, unleashing a few well-placed jabs into its torso. She leaps back, watching with a blank face as the manticore falls onto its back, unable to move. She sighs, her gaze falling to her hooves. "...I'm sorry...you gave me no choice...at least I only hit your pressure points..." She turns and wanders off, wobbling a bit. "...you'll be fine, in an hour or so..."
Rhino looks to the nymph next to him with an open mouth. "Well... you certainly know how to defend yourself... Toppling manticores the day after getting launched out of a city..."
She sheepishly smiles, blushing slightly. "...w-well...t-they trained me well..." She clears her throat, starting after her memory-self. "...w-we should follow her...me? Either way, I want to know what happens...the wedding is the last day I can truly remember..."
He tags along again, separating a bush for her to walk through. "Of course, I said I would help you to remember any way I could right? This counts. Maybe we'll discover something that'll help us figure out why you can't remember."
"I sure hope...so..." She stares in stunned silence, her expression matching her past self's. "...R-Rhino? Is that...w-what I think it is?"
In front of the memory Gel, lies the form of a fallen changeling. It appears to not have fared quite as well due to either the fall into the forest or the wildlife. The pool of green around it makes that readily apparent.
The stallion reaches out a hoof and brings Gel closer to him. "It looks like it..."
She whimpers, leaning into his embrace. "...I...I can't believe it..."
The younger version of herself slowly leans forward, tenderly nuzzling the other changeling. "...rest in peace, Lieutenant...no..." She chokes up, letting her eyes close in a futile attempt to keep a tear in. "...d-dad..."
Rhino's heart goes out to the changeling. "Oh, Gel..." He holds her tight. "I didn't know... I'm so sorry..."
She sniffles, shaking slightly as she watches her past self arrange rocks around the still form. "...I-I didn't even know...I...I can't believe I forgot..." She shakes her head, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. "...w-what kind of daughter does that?"
"One who did so of no will of her own." He supports her as she cries. "That you didn't remember this, proves that whatever first caused your memory issue, happened today." He wipes her tears with a hoof. "As a final gift to you, seeing him here has brought us that much closer to helping you."
She sobs, hugging him close. ...t-thank you, Rhino...
The memory continues, the changeling running a hoof along the makeshift grave. "...I promise...I'll remember your words..."
Gel stops crying immediately, eyes snapping open in horror. "...w-what?"
He tilts his head to one side, looking at the memory. "Well, at least you'll be reminded once we fix things, right? This is a good thing."
"...m-maybe..." She looks over at the other her, watching as she walks further into the undergrowth. "...s-should we follow?"
He nods resolutely. "Definitely. We can't lose her, um... you, because we might miss something important."
Gel smiles softly, nodding as she moves to follow her past self. "...you're absolutely right...who knows? Maybe we'll find out just what caused my memory issues..." She pushes a branch to one side, motioning for him to go ahead of her.
The two continue following the memory. Deeper and deeper into the forest they go, seemingly just as lost as the one they are following. From the brief glimpses of sun, it is early evening when they come across something. Memory Gel stops, as do the two following her. Before them, standing solitary in a clearing with the trees around them appearing to lean away from it, stands a statue. It is an odd thing, composed of the parts of many different animals to form the whole. It appears to be recoiling in its frozen state.
The changeling next to the stallion stares in confusion, unsure of what to think. "...Rhino...what is that thing?"
The slightly younger of the two changelings steps forward, running a hoof over the surface of the statue. "...this is one of the strangest things I've ever seen...who designed this?" She laughs, shaking her head. "They must've been a master of modern art. I wonder what message they were trying to convey?"
An echoing voice sounds from no evident source. "Chaos..." Unpleasant laughter rumbles from the statue. "Finally someone comes across me despite Celestia's best efforts..."
Rhino's hackles raise as he narrows his eyes at the statue. "Discord..."
Gel whimpers, hugging her stallion close.
The double tilts her head to one side, curious. "...no, that can't be right...why would it have the horrified expression? It must be how...chaos never prevails in the face of harmony..." She blinks, frowning slightly. "...who is this? I've never heard your voice before...what's your name and rank, soldier?"
"Soldier?" More laughter. "Little changeling, I am not a soldier. I am far greater than that. As for my name, well I just don't feel like telling you. After all, you've done nothing for me... yet."
She scratches her head in confusion. "...you're not a soldier? Then how are you talking to me?" She starts to pace, brow furrowed. "You can't be here. After all, it's just me and this statue, and, last time I checked, stone can't talk."
"Such an orderly mind you have. Well, let me just fix that." A flash comes from the statue's fingers that momentarily dazed the changeling.
She shakes her head, scowling at the statue. "What was that? What do you mean, 'fix' my 'orderly mind'!?"
The laughter echoes once more. "Oh, just a little something to keep a constant source of chaos in the world so I can actually break out when I want to next time. I'd tell you more, but once tomorrow comes you'll just forget." The laughter surrounds them one final time before slowly fading into silence.
She slams a hoof against the forest floor, outraged. "Whoever you are, you'd better not mess with my eidetic memory! You hear me? I'll smash that statue to pieces if you do!" She pulls out her field journal, furiously scribbling in it as she storms away from the statue.
The statue remains silent as Rhino turns to his Gel. "Well, this was certainly informative... Before we dive into the serious implications though, I have to say this military side of you is interesting to watch. I prefer my version of you though."
She sheepishly smiles, embarrassed. "...I-I get like that...w-when I'm angry...t-thankfully, I don't get angry often..." She rubs the back of her neck, looking of to the side. "...I-I'm actually a well-liked officer...a-at least, they prefer me to the General..."
He chuckles. "Good to know." He turns back to the statue, frowning at it before leading her a short distance away. "Well... that certainly clears up why your memory is the way it is... Hmm... how to counter it..." He puts on a look of intense thought.
She sighs, letting her gaze fall to her hooves. "...what can we do? I don't know what he even did...was it a spell or a curse? Was it even magic?"
"From what I understand, as much as one can understand an embodiment of chaos, it is easiest just to classify it as 'Discord's magic'." He scratches his chin with a hoof. "The only incident of it I know of was when he escaped last time. It was all reversed when he was defeated by...the Elements... Hmm..."
"...does...does that mean...I have to be...hit by the Elements?" She grimaces, looking up at him. "...that doesn't sound very pleasant..."
Rhino shakes his head. "No, I don't think we need that. That was for battling monumental forces... Let's see... the Elements work on friendship... so... maybe something similar..." A loud bell echoes through the dream. "Oh no... well, here goes nothing!" He grabs onto Gel and hugs her tightly, pouring as much love as he can into her.
She winces, her face contorting from the strain of two separate forces pulling on her. ...Rhino...I-I... She squeezes her eyes shut and embraces him back, passionately kissing him. ...p-please...I-I don't want to forget you...to forget this...happiness...
Their surroundings slowly start to erase as they have done before. The trees and sky disappear soon enough, the whiteness also envelopes the statue in the clearing. As the erasure approaches the two embracing forms, it slows down as if struggling against something. It grinds to a complete halt in about a 20 foot radius around them. After about a minute, the pressure has stopped and the two are left in a patch of green grass amongst the white.
She pulls away from him, panting softly. "...R-Rhino? W-what happened?" She glances around, confused. "...why do we seem to be standing on an island in a sea of white?"
He looks around. "I guess the memory erasure didn't go all the way through? Can you remember anything?"
She taps her chin, thinking a bit. "...well...I remember coming home early...something about wanting love during lovemaking...and I think...you finding out I was...technically still am, military..." She giggles nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "...d-does that help?"
He smiles at her. "I should be the one asking you that question. From what I've come to understand, you normally can't remember anything. The fact that you remember things is great!"
She smiles back, blushing a bit. "...and I have you to thank for it..." She tilts her head to one side, appearing to look at her horn as she concentrates. "...right?"
He chuckles as he nuzzles her to break her concentration. "I prefer to think of it as a group effort."
She giggles, tenderly kissing him. "...of course, love..." She glances up as a replica of the statue appears, frowning slightly. "...if you'll excuse me, I have a stand-in to smash." She approaches it with a small smile on her face.
He waves a hoof. "Take your time, love, I'll just be over here." The sounds of smashing rock start up as he lies on his side, simply enjoying the show. ^