//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: An Unexpected Trip // by Shadow Fall //------------------------------// I followed after Twilight and Pinkie, feeling more confused as the day went on. When we had left I had glanced at my flank - still felt weird for me to think that word - and saw that I didn't have a symbol. The others hadn't said anything so I hadn't guessed it wasn't unusual. That is until I started paying attention to all of the other ponies and saw that they all had some sort of mark on their flanks. Then I decided they were trying to be nice and not mention it. Though the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what they were for and why they were so important. Surely there had to be a reason if everypony had one. "Hey, Twilight?" I called to get her attention, hoping she would tell me. "Yes?" She asked, looking back at me as we walked. "What are those-" "Tail twitch!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly before ducking for cover. Twilight looked up before following Pinkie's example. Me? I just stopped and looked at them, wondering why they were acting so odd. "Tail twitch? What does a tail twitch have to do with anything?" I asked. "It means something's going to fall, silly," Pinkie replied as if I should know this already. I started to ask how the possibility of something falling could be predicted by a mere tail twitch when I heard a soft voice above me. I also began to realize, though the thought was brief, that I simply couldn't seem to ask any of my questions. "Don't worry Angel! I'll catch you!" The soft voice cried out. I turned and looked up to see a soft yellow pegasus with a light pink mane and tail flying backwards as she looked up. I tried to see what she was looking at when I saw something small and white falling towards her. I watched as she caught the white fluff ball and I smiled a little, but then I saw her glance down. Her wings shut against her side and she fell straight towards me. I pushed myself onto my hind legs, my wings flapping to help me keep my balance, and reached my forelegs out to catch her. I felt, for a moment, that I could have done something better like flying up and catching her, but it was too late. She collided with me. I fell, hitting the ground. Hard. I lost all of my air in that moment and I'm sure - for the who-knows-how-many times - that I would have been staring at the sky if there wasn't a tail in my face as the pegasus sat up, still on to of me. Thankfully she wasn't heavy, but since she was sitting directly on my stomach I still couldn't catch my breath. "Oh Angel. I'm so glad you're okay," I heard the mare say, guessing from her voice. "Fluttershy! Are you alright?" Twilight's voice asked. I heard hooves approach, but I still couldn't see. "Oh, hi Twilight. Yes, I'm okay," Fluttershy responded, "Thankfully I landed on something soft." I chose this moment to reach up and tap on her back somewhere. I heard an "eep!" and suddenly her tail and weight were no longer there. I took a long, grateful gulp of air before looking around for Fluttershy. As I glanced past Twilight I saw a pair of light blue eyes peek around her before swiftly hiding again. "Didn't mean to scare ya," I said after I managed to catch my breath, "I just couldn't breath." Twilight nodded. "She's just really shy. When we first met I had the hardest time trying to figure out her name, but she's great once you get to know her." She explained as she stepped aside, revealing Fluttershy. Fluttershy's face was partially hidden behind her mane, though I could still see one blue eye. I stood up and gave a friendly smile as I dusted myself off. "It's a pleasure to meet you Fluttershy." She seemed to shy more away from me at first, but I guess my smile gave her reason not to as she hid less of her face. She had a softer kind of beauty, unlike Rarity's striking kind. "So what's your name?" Fluttershy asked, smiling back at me. I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it as I remembered that I still couldn't remember. I frowned slightly, lowering my gaze slightly. "Actually, Fluttershy, that's a problem we've been trying to solve," Twilight stepped in, "He can't remember anything before today." Faster than I though was possible from the shy mare, she was by my side. "Poor thing. You mean he can't remember his family or home or anything?" She asked Twilight. I felt she was just short of coddling me to try and make me feel better. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I did know that I did not want to be a sob story. "Twilight has a plan," I said quickly before looking at Twilight for confirmation, "Don't you?" "Well...." "Of course she has a plan!" Pinkie cut in, surprising me since she was so quiet earlier, "I mean it's Twilight. She always has a plan, and her plans have back-up plans, and those back-up plans have back-up plans, and-" "I think we get it Pinkie, and actually I was planning on seeing if Zecora could help after we see Applejack," Twilight said, giving a more straight foreword answer and raising my hopes. "Well I hope she can help," Fluttershy said as she flew over and picked up what I now realized was a rabbit, "I would come with you but I need to get home and ask Rainbow Dash to put her catapult away from my house so we don't have another incident." She gave me another soft smile before flying off, staying not too high off the ground. "So that's why Angel was so high in the sky," I heard Twilight muse as I looked back down at her. "So I wanted to ask wh-," I was interrupted as my stomach growled, "Actually it can wait until we get something to eat." "Race you!" Pinkie shouted quickly before crouching, "One, two, three go!" And then she took off quickly. I wasn't sure why, but I smiled and took off after her. Still unknowing of how long this day was going to be.