Once again I have to say y'all are great! The reception this fic has gotten is by far the best reception any of my fics have received over any fandom. Now, onto the good stuff. If you're smart enough to pick up on it, there are some rather subtle clues thrown in to each chapter as to who Waya really is. Then there are others that aren't so subtle, and even more meant to throw you off. Let's see if you can pick through them and figure out what is real and what isn't.
I was backed into a corner. There was some large bear-like creature in front of me, lumbering forward menacingly. The sound of its shuffling step seemed much softer than I would have expected of a creature so large. I frowned at this. This couldn’t be real, especially with how quiet it was. I forced myself to open my eyes, truly open them, and I woke from my dream. I must have fallen asleep sometime during the night. I realized that the sound from my dream was still going on, so I looked around to find the source. It was Fluttershy. She moved around the room, cleaning various surfaces, and feeding the animals that walked through the front door. There were so many of them that it was a wonder she kept up with all of them. She seemed to know just what each one liked and disliked, and I made note of it in my mind as another of her characteristics.
I eventually sat up on the couch, and she looked up at the sudden movement. “Oh…I’m sorry. I was…um…trying not to wake you. I was…um…I was worried. You looked like you were having a bad dream, but I didn’t want to wake you. You needed the sleep.” She spoke a surprising amount, especially considering her personality so far. This amused me so thoroughly that I had to laugh. She looked curious as to why I chuckled, but she didn’t ask, so I didn’t explain.
“You didn’t need to do that…I would have been fine if I had woken earlier.” I told her as I sat up, but she shook her head. She very obviously disagreed, and she made it clear.
“No…you need rest…and…um…You really should lie back down and get more rest.” She had done her best to be assertive, and for a moment it sounded like she would pull it off, but she faded back to her normal, quiet tone of voice by the end of her sentence. I smiled at the thought of it, and then another thought crossed my mind. It was rather fitting, yet at the same time it seemed wicked to poke fun. I just couldn’t help myself though.
“Yes Nurse Fluttershy. Right away Nurse Fluttershy.” I said as I quickly lay back down upon the couch. I immediately shut my eyes, leaving them open just a crack to see her reaction. Her initial response was one of confusion, but that gave way to a smile. She seemed very proud of herself. Whether it was being called Nurse Fluttershy, or the fact that she was able to get me to lie back down without any complaints, I would never know, but I did know that it looked as if it made her day. Granted the day was still very young, and I did have a good chance of screwing that up.
I didn’t have to keep my guise of sleep up for very long. No more than 15 minutes had passed and there was a knock at the door. I kept my eyes closed, knowing that I could tell if it was somepony from last night by voice. Fluttershy opened the door and I heard, “Oh…hey Twilight.”
“Hey Fluttershy. I just came over to see how Waya was doing.” I heard Twilight’s voice say. I heard her hooves along with Fluttershy’s on the floor of the cabin. I could feel her stop in front of me. It was that feeling of spatial awareness, when you knew something was there despite not seeing it. Fluttershy spoke as the stood in front of me.
“Well…um…you see he’s asleep right now. I checked his bandages already….and…um….he seems to be healing quickly. Even faster than Rainbow Dash.” I had to resist the temptation to smile at the wonder in her voice. Twilight seemed impressed as well.
“Then he should be in good enough shape to go to Canterlot tomorrow. I just got a message back from Princess Celestia. She told me that tomorrow would be the only day she could see us.” I was taken aback by that last bit, but once again I forced my face to remain in its peaceful resting image. I would meet the princess tomorrow, and hopefully Princess Luna as well. I wanted to speak to her, understand why I had the occurrence last night. It had unsettled me, not because it was there, but because I understood what seemed like a foreign language, almost as if it was my first language. I was taken from my thoughts as I heard Fluttershy respond.
“Oh…I don’t…um..if it really is the only time…then I guess he’ll be okay to go.” She was unhappy that her patient was being forced to move so quickly. I could understand that though. She didn’t want to show she was disappointed though. She seemed to think of others before herself every time.
“I know you don’t think he’ll be ready Fluttershy, but it truly is the only time Princess Celestia will be able to meet with him for quite some time. This is mainly because of the ongoing peace talks between the Griffons and the Wolves. I’m sorry Fluttershy.” Twilight’s understanding voice said. She knew how to calm her gentle friend, and it seemed like this would work, because with my eye opened just a slit, I saw Fluttershy give a small nod. She was still upset, but she would allow me to go. I was thankful for this, because I really wanted clues to my memory. Plus, with just the night of rest my head was feeling much better, and my leg did not hurt nearly as much as before.
“Well…okay. I also found that his leg isn’t broken. It’s just a really bad strain.” Fluttershy admitted. I think she would have rather kept that from Twilight, but she said it and that made me admire her. It felt to me as if she enjoyed taking care of animals and ponies so much that she would sometimes care for them long after they were better. That wasn’t a bad thing, but I could only imagine that it could sometimes lead to problematic situations, especially if the patient didn’t want to be healed, or if they couldn’t be healed. After these thoughts I decided to wake up. I stretched and then opened my eyes fully. Twilight was there looking down on me so I greeted her.
“Good morning Twilight. Nice seeing you here.” I said while sitting up. I then turned to Fluttershy and said, “Morning again Fluttershy.” Twilight looked slightly bewildered as to why I said ‘again’, so I answered the question she had yet to ask. “I woke up earlier, but Nurse Fluttershy asked me to rest again.” With the conclusion of my explanation Twilight smiled.
“Well then, I guess I’ll tell you what I just told Fluttershy. Tomorrow we are all going up to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia. It is the only time we’ll be able to see her for a while, so it must take place tomorrow.” I nodded at her news. Being that I had heard it just moments before, it wasn’t a surprise, but I still had to act as if it was new to me.
“So, I’ll get to have an audience with Princess Celestia. What of Princess Luna? Will she be there as well?” I was asking simply because I felt maybe Luna would be able to help me more than Celestia. Then again, Twilight knew more than me, and if she said Celestia could help, then she was probably right. Twilight thought about my question for a moment before responding.
“I’d imagine she would be there.” Then her eyes widened till they were about the size of dinner platters and she added, “Oh, and maybe Princess Cadence will be there! And maybe Shining Armor as well! This is going to be so wonderful!” Her excitement was palpable, sending waves of it crashing over me. I smiled at this show of emotion. The day before she’d shown some emotion, but nothing on a scale such as this. Now though, I had to ask about Cadence and Shining Armor. I’m sure I heard the names before, but I couldn’t remember. There was something from Twilight’s memories, but those were fading fast.
“So, who is Princess Cadence? And who is Shining Armor?” I asked with genuine curiosity. She stopped for a second and then smiled sheepishly while blushing. She seemed very embarrassed at her little outburst of excitement, but she got through it to answer my questions.
“Well, Princess Cadence is one of the Alicorns, and Shining Armor is her husband, who happens to be the Captain of the Royal Guard, and he’s also my BBBFF!” She smiled as if her explanation was sufficient, but I had absolutely no idea what BBBFF was supposed to stand for. It had absolutely no meaning to me; that was until I asked her what it meant.
“Um…What is a BBBFF?” She smiled sheepishly again, but she quickly regained her composure and answered my question.
“I’m sorry…I keep forgetting you’ve forgotten so much. It means Big Brother Best Friend Forever.” Her matter-of-fact tone made me realize she was quite serious. Apparently BBBFF is common knowledge, and I simply didn’t remember it. It bothered me that I had forgotten something so obvious. It meant that my memory loss was more serious than I had previously thought. I scrunched up my face in frustration and both Fluttershy and Twilight noticed.
“What’s wrong Waya?” Fluttershy spoke first. I looked up at her, and I let my face return to normal. I had to give her an answer, or it would be obvious I was avoiding the question, so I decided upon telling the truth.
“It just bothers me that I don’t have common knowledge. I know so little, and yet I feel it. I know I have the knowledge, the memories, but they just won’t come to me.” I let my distress infect my voice. I would lose my mind if I didn’t get my memories back, or at least lose it for a second time. After thinking for a second I added, “It just feels like I had my identity stolen from me. I am not me. I’m living some other pony’s life right now.” Fluttershy looked ready to cry for me, and Twilight’s gaze softened again. She wasn’t analyzing now, instead she pitied me.
My mind kicked into overdrive again, and I berated myself for falling to such weakness. I was supposed to be proud, what for I didn’t know, but I could feel it deep inside me. I was supposed to be proud, not sniveling at the feet of these two ponies. The two sides to my mind fought back and forth. One reasoned that they had been kind, helpful, and caring, and as such they deserved our respect and kindness. The other said it was only their duty, and that they should be taking care of someone like us. I couldn’t stand the infighting with myself, my head started to hurt, and I put held my head in my hooves. I was going crazy, or maybe I had been crazy before I lost my memories. Finally, on the verge of passing out from the intensity of the headache, I shouted Quiet! inside my head, and suddenly the pain, and my other two voices, were gone. And with that I felt slightly sad. Even though they had been causing me pain, I couldn’t help but feel as if another part of me was suddenly missing in their absence.
When I finally looked up, Fluttershy seemed distraught at the sudden downturn of her patient. Twilight’s face also showed a great deal of concern, and she asked, “Are you alright?” I took a deep breath, gathered my mind back up, and then answered.
“Yes…just a headache.” I lied to her. I didn’t want her to think I was crazy, because then she might not let me see Celestia or Luna, and I felt that they were the key to unlocking my memories. Twilight seemed unconvinced by my cover, but she accepted it.
Then, Fluttershy, in a worried tone, said, “Maybe you just need to…um…eat. I’ll get you some food.” She suddenly turned and trotted out of the room. I was a little confused, but I let her go without a word, because she knew better than I did when it came to treating sick. Instead I turned to Twilight who quickly started to speak.
“You’re an odd pony Waya. Fluttershy doesn’t usually take to strangers this quickly, unless they are an animal.” I raised my eyebrows at her. I think I saw where hse was going with this line of thought, but I still had to ask.
“What exactly to you mean by that?” It seemed innocent enough of a question, but my voice betrayed the thoughts going through my mind. Twilight stared at me for a moment longer, then she shook her head.
“Just some crazy thoughts. Completely illogical.” She replied in answer to my question. She either had decided she was wrong, or as she said, her thoughts were far too illogical. But then I heard her mumble a bit, “…magic…sometimes…illogical.” Those were the only three words I caught, but I could tell whatever had been on her mind before was still there. She could very easily be thinking I was a wolf again. I wouldn’t blame her, because I couldn’t tell her she was wrong, not without my memories at least.
We sat in silence for a few more minutes before Fluttershy returned with my breakfast. “Thank you Fluttershy. It looks great.” I told her, trying to convey my gratitude. Everything on the platter looked delicious, and I ate it all as the other two went into the next room to speak. While they spoke, the bunny, Angel, came up to me and sat on the couch next to me. I stared him down for a second, and he didn’t flinch as he returned it. So, I decided I’d let him stay, and I even offered him a piece of carrot that Fluttershy had given me. He took it willingly and gnawed on it as I ate. Maybe the two of us would become friends, or he would at least stop trying to burn holes in my head with his glare.
Once I had finished, I stood up and walked around the room. I needed to stretch my legs, and this felt good. The pain in my leg had subsided, and it was now merely a dull throb. It seemed so odd to heal so quickly, and the other two seemed to think so as well. As I walked around the room I looked out the front windows and I noticed a tan pony walking up the path towards the cottage. It was Applejack! I was rather excited to see her, but for what reason I couldn’t tell. I figured that Fluttershy wouldn’t mind if Applejack came in, so I met her at the door.
“Howdy Waya. I see yer feelin’ better.” She greeted me with a tip of her Stetson. I nodded and stepped aside as she walked in. Once she was inside and the door was closed I replied.
“Nice to see you too Applejack. Yes, I am feeling a lot better than before. Fluttershy says I’m healing faster than Rainbow Dash does. Is that really a feat?” I asked the question out of my curiosity. If I had some special ability to heal then maybe I could learn a bit about who I was. Her response was to whistle, which I took to be a good sign.
“Yep…that’s some type of healing you got going on. Rainbow heals abnormally fast for a pony, so you are even more abnormal.” She told me honestly. I smiled at the fact that I was abnormal, and as I did so she seemed to realize what she’s said. “Oh…I didn’t mean that Sugarcube. I only meant that you really do have a unique ability there.” She blushed as she tried to make up for her mistake.
I just chuckled and responded, “I know you didn’t mean it. Besides, it didn’t really offend me. I’m just glad to know a bit more about myself.” She seemed relieved upon hearing this. At the same time, Twilight and Fluttershy came in. They must have heard Applejack’s voice, and they all greeted each other. As they did so, I sat back down on the couch. I was starting to feel a little shaky on my hooves, and I didn’t want to fall over in front of these three. While Twilight explained to Applejack what was going to happen tomorrow with regard toward meeting Princess Celestia, I slowly went through the few things in my mind that I did remember. I had an awful lot of trouble doing this simple task, so I gave up and returned to the conversation.
“Well, I just hope that I don’t waste your, or the Princess’s time with this visit. I don’t like to be the burden that I am right now.” I said during a break in the talking. They all turned to me and Twilight was the one to speak.
“Waya, this won’t be a waste of time. Even if she can’t help get your memories back, she may be able to point us in the right direction. She could guide us along toward recovering your former life.” This all seemed logical, but I still disliked how much of a burden I was being. Fluttershy spoke next, and she seemed to be reading my mind.
“It isn’t…um…any trouble to help you. We’re always glad to help ponies in need.” That made me smile, and Applejack added on to it as soon as she finished speaking.
“Fluttershy’s right. It ain’t no trouble at all.” Her demeanor made this a rather powerful statement, and I took it as the truth. Then she thought for a moment, and added, “If this doesn’t go as planned, we should have a plan. He can room at the farm afterwards if he needs to.”
“Good thinking Applejack! The same goes for the Library. If you need a place to stay Waya, the Library will always have a spot cleared.” Twilight chimed in. This set of reassurances made me happy, because they meant I wouldn’t be a burden on Fluttershy anymore. Then Fluttershy spoke up as well.
“He can still stay here too…if he wants to.” She said in a quieter tone than usual. It made it rather hard to hear her, but I understood her shyness did that to her. I smiled at all of them, their generosity was still a little overwhelming.
“Thank you all…I’ll be sure to remember your offers if the time comes when I need the help.” I told them, but then I added, “Only on one condition though. I must be put to work. I won’t take your hospitality without paying you in kind.” This condition had to be accepted, and unsurprisingly, Applejack agreed first.
“Alright sugracube.” She said. Twilight nodded her assent. Fluttershy seemed to be having trouble with it though. Finally she agreed, but only timidly.
“Um…okay…if that’s what you want.” Her sweetness was too much for me, as I would hate when I would be forced to leave. I just hoped that no matter what would happen that I stayed friends with all of them and Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie.
That was an odd thought. Friends with ponies I just met.
They were a little odd at times, but I had friends. and I was determined to keep them.