Kingdom Hearts: The Equestrian Files
Chapter 1: Knowledge without Identity
His eyes opened ever so slowly as unconsciousness left him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a dreamless sleep. He would have appreciated that thought if he wasn’t lying on the pavement with pieces of gravel practically stuck to his skin. With a groan of pain and annoyance, he brushed off the gravel that now left imprints on his skin and got up, looking around the area he was in.
Several trees surrounded him, making him wonder if he was in the middle of a forest. To his left, the pavement ended at a concrete street, verifying his suspicions that he was on a driveway. The moon in the sky clearly indicated that it was currently nighttime. At least nothing dragged him away or ran him over while he was knocked out. He assumed he was knocked out, for why would a teenager willingly sleep on a gravel-covered driveway?
Actually, he had a better, less trivial question: how did he even up on a random driveway in the first place?
He tried to remember the last thing that happened to him before this moment, but his mind drew a blank. A very long blank. In fact, he couldn’t even remember anything before the point he woke up. It was as if his entire life had been…erased.
His eyes widened in horror as the implications started to settle in. Somehow, someway, he lost his memory. Sure, he had some knowledge about algebra, English, many things about Earth, history--wait a minute. Many things about Earth? Why in the world did his mind phrase it like that? He was always on Earth. It was—is—his home. Unless…he wasn’t on Earth anymore.
Focus, me. He scolded himself, his frustration managing to keep his panic at bay for the moment. Ridiculous ideas will get me nowhere.
He tried to think long and hard about who exactly he was, anything that could help him out. Who was he and why was he here? So far, his attempts to regain his memories were unsuccessful. Trying to remember a piece of his past was like sifting through darkness while searching for a door to open.
Suddenly, he cried out in pain as flashes of memories went through his mind in a fast, epileptic pace. He held his head, unable to get a lock on any of them until he was blessed with a name: Sora.
“Sora,” he spoke, his voice a little bit hoarse and pained.
There was no plausible way to explain it, but he felt like the name belonged to him.
“Sora,” he repeated, feeling more confident about it. “My name is Sora.”
The name revealed that he had Japanese blood inside of him. He didn’t sound like a Japanese, though. Odd.
Satisfied that he had at least his own name back, Sora began walking down the driveway away from the street. He had no idea how long until the street reached the city, but he knew that at the end of a driveway, there would be a house. Where there was a house, there would be people…unless they happened to be on vacation. If worse came to worse, Sora would be forced to break in and stay the night. He wasn’t about to continue sleeping on the driveway again.
After a few minutes of walking, he came upon several acres of land covered in trees. They seemed to go on for miles in different directions. On closer inspection, these trees contained several apples that were not yet ready for picking. He couldn’t believe his luck. He stumbled upon an apple farm. Up ahead, he noticed a few cars parked in front a red house with a garage and a red barn. Judging from the smell, it was very possible that animals lived here as well.
I didn’t see a Beware the Dog sign when I got here, so I should be fine. He hoped.
As Sora continued his walk towards the house, he stopped when he noticed a red apple ripe and ready for eating. His mouth began to water at the mere thought of devouring the fruit. He had no idea how long it had been since he ate last, but given the reaction he had to an apple, it was probably a long time ago.
While making as little noise as possible, Sora crept up to the tree, watching his step to avoid twigs and animal feces. He was not about to deal with that on his shoes tonight. Carefully, he plucked the apple out of the tree and took a bite out of it. His mouth was assaulted with the juiciest apple he had ever eaten in his life. There were no words to describe how incredible the fruit tasted. Surely, these apples came from gods!
BOOM!!
On instinct, Sora dove to the ground, keeping an eye out for whatever caused that noise. It came from some sort of gun, possibly a hunting rifle from the sound of it. The shot landed a few meters left of him, the imprint burning up a few pieces of grass.
I guess they don’t take kindly to trespassers. Sora assumed as he contemplated his two options: run or surrender.
“Come on out, ya thievin’, cowardly timberwolf!” a voice with a southern accent called out. “You ain’t takin’ our apples from us!”
Sora’s eyes widened, the situation finally taking hold. He was almost shot by an elderly, southern-accented woman for trespassing and stealing an apple. Was he in a place where trespassing was punishable by death, or did he stumble across a crazy person’s house?
“Where are ya, ya four-legged varmint?” the old woman demanded. “This old pile of bones still has a few springs left to spare.”
Definitely crazy. Sora inferred, deciding to surrender before she decided to take another shot and actually kill him. “Wait, don’t shoot! I swear I’m unarmed.”
With his hands in the air, Sora slowly rose to his feet, spotting the shooter as he did so. She was a plump, old woman with a yellow-eyed glare that was looking directly at him. What caught him off guard was the fact the she was green-skinned. How in the world did a woman have green skin?
Priorities, Sora! He reminded himself. Worry about the fact that she has a GUN AIMED AT YOU!!
He noticed several lights kick on inside the house and several silhouettes moving around. Not good.
The old woman lowered her gun, her glare lessening. “Sorry ‘bout that, sonny. Those darn timberwolves have been preyin’ on my farm for generations.” She looked around the area with narrowed eyes. “You never know when the next one will come about.”
As a weirded-out Sora desperately tried to find a way to make a quick exit, the house door finally opened. Three people much younger than the old woman and wearing pajamas dashed outside, determined to find out the source of the commotion. The rest of the family had arrived.
First off was a young adult male roughly in his late teens or very early twenties. Unlike the crazy lady, he had light red skin, but like her, he too had a rifle in his hands. The second person was a tan-skinned, or orange-skinned, girl in her teen years that also bore a hunting rifle. The final of three was a girl just starting her teen years with…light tan skin? Olive-colored? He could never get the color right in his mind. However, she broke the consistency by wielding a baseball bat instead.
The sight of these armed individuals, made Sora regret even considering having an apple on their land. He only hoped that they weren’t as insane as the elder that stood before him.
“Granny, what in tarnation are ya shootin’ at?” the older girl in the trio questioned, her tone having a mixture of annoyance and concern.
“Doggone timberwolves attempted another raid,” “Granny” answered. “One shot from the old rifle sent them runnin’ for their mommas.”
The man in the group shook his head with a sigh while the girls facepalmed. Sora figured that this sort of thing happened a lot.
“You scared us half ta death, Granny!” the youngest of the three stated, upset. “We all thought somethin’ horrible had happened.”
“Applebloom, Ah thought Ah told ya ta wait inside the house!” the older sister rebuked.
“Ah came prepared,” the young girl, Applebloom, protested. “’Sides, what kinda Apple would Ah be if Ah hid under my bed instead of standing with my family?”
Sora had to give credit where credit was due. It was very courageous of Applebloom to stand with her family as opposed to hiding it out and waiting for everything to end. Instead of trying to talk his way out of it, he decided to be honest.
“This was all my fault,” Sora explained before he could stop himself, picking up the fallen apple and tossing it to them. “It was only me. I was desperate for food. I’m sorry.”
The man gave him a suspicious look, catching the apple. “You mean ta tell me you trespassed on our land for the sake of one apple?”
“Ah knew there was somethin’ funny ‘bout you,” Granny said, returning the glare. In fact, all of them were giving him glares.
“If you were planning on stealin’ our apples, you’re one lousy thief,” Applebloom commented.
“None of what happened tonight was meant to happen!” he replied quickly, ignoring the insult. “Like I said, I was hungry and I...kind of needed a place to stay the night. I’m…lost at the moment.”
The man wasn't in a sympathetic mood. “This ain’t a hotel! Now, beat it!”
“Wait a minute, Big Mac,” the older girl interrupted, handing him her rifle.
“Applejack--,” he warned, but she cut him off.
“Relax, Big Mac. Ah can handle this.”
To Sora’s surprise, the girl, Applejack, walked up to him with a determined look on her face. He took a couple of steps back when she got closer and found himself with his back against the tree. He could not hide from the green eyes that were practically staring into his soul.
“What’s your name?” she questioned.
“Sora,” he gulped, intimidated.
“Okay, Sora,” Applejack continued. “Ah want you to tell me why you are here and why you need a place ta stay. And don’t lie ta me. Ah’ll know.”
Nervously, Sora tried to answer, but it came out as broken stuttering. How was this girl supposed to believe that he had no memory of his life save for his name? He could not figure out how to say, “I have amnesia,” without sounding stupid. Plus, he was afraid he was going to either be beaten to a pulp by the girl or shot to death by the rest. Who knew what crazy philosophies they might have? After ten seconds of listening to his attempts to form a sentence, Applejack decided enough was enough and approached the situation differently.
“That’s enough of that,” she stated firmly, before taking on a softer tone. “Listen, Ah can see you’re afraid of us, sugarcube, but Ah’m not gonna hurt you, okay? None of us are.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Ah’m sorry Granny took a shot at you. Prob’ly one of the reasons why you’re so tongue-tied. You also think we’re a bunch of crazy people who shoot trespassers without blinking, don’tcha?”
“That thought crossed my mind,” Sora admitted, sheepishly.
“All ah’m askin’ is for you ta be honest, Sora. Are you runnin’ from home?” It was then Applejack noticed several bruises and scratches Sora’s arms and legs. Her expression became dark and suspicious for a brief moment. “Applebloom, go back inside. You weren’t supposed to be out here anyhow.”
“Aw, come on, Applejack,” she protested. “Ah wanna help in case he tries somethin’.”
“Ennope!” was Big Mac’s single, firm reply.
“Ah reckon you two can handle things from here and keep an eye out for them wolves,” Granny said, heading back inside. “Let’s go, little missy.”
With an exasperated groan, Applebloom followed Granny inside.
“How’d ya get those?” Applejack resumed, indicating the injuries.
Hoping for the best, Sora began to explain. “I have no idea. You probably think I’m crazy, but I can’t remember anything about myself save for my name. In fact I woke up about a half hour ago on your driveway, and I figured I could get help.” When Applejack said nothing in response, he sighed in defeat. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Ah never said that,” she replied. “Ah just wanted to be sure you were bein’ honest.”
Sora raised an eyebrow. “What are you, a human lie detector?”
Applejack chuckled at that. “Somethin’ like that. Not ta brag, but Ah can tell when someone is bein’ honest or lyin,’ and you ain’t lyin.’”
“If mah sister thinks you’re on the safe side, that’s good enough for me,” Big Mac added. “But that don’t mean Ah’m not gonna be watchin’ you.”
A look of confusion appeared on Sora’s face. “Why would you be watching me? You told me to beat it.”
“You really think we’d turn away someone who needs shelter?” Applejack asked.
Considering all that he went through in the last few minutes, Sora was inclined to answer. “Uh--?”
“Don’t answer that. Go ahead and wait inside the house and we’ll be inside shortly. Then, we’ll set you up in the guest room and go from there.”
Sora allowed himself a smile at her generosity. For all she knew, he could have been playing them for fools, and yet, they were still taking him in. That, and Applejack’s ability to tell truth from lies aided in his situation.
“Thank you so much!” he said with a little bit of excitement. “I’ll do whatever I can to repay you all for--!”
The teenager held up her hand. “Don’t think anythin’ of it. As of right now, you are the honored guest of the Apple Family.” She held out her hand. “Mah name’s Applejack, by the way, and this here’s mah big brother, Big Macintosh.”
I’m starting to see a pattern in their names. Sora thought as he shook hands with her. Applejack, Applebloom, Big Macintosh—HOLY CRAP!! IS SHE TRYING TO CRUSH MY HAND, BECAUSE IT’S WORKING!!?”
Applejack released her grip with a chuckle. “Sorry ‘bout that!”
“It’s fine,” he assured. “If I couldn’t walk it off, I’d need some serious help. I’ll, uh, wait inside.”
Sora and Big Mac exchanged nods before the former stepped inside the house.
“What do ya think, Big Mac?” Applejack asked, staring at the direction Sora went.
“Seems nice enough ta me,” he replied. “Still gonna keep an eye on him ta make sure he don’t cause trouble. If it weren’t for you, AJ, Ah’d assume his memory loss was nothin’ more than a tall tale.”
“Ah can’t imagine what that would be like,” Applejack stated. “All things considered, he’s takin’ it pretty well.”
Big Mac shook his head. “Be prepared for a delayed reaction, Applejack. It’s gonna be nasty when that happens. What Ah’m concerned about is how he got those injuries. You havin’ the same idea as Ah am?”
Applejack nodded grimly. “Ah hope that isn’t the case, but if it is, we’ll make sure he doesn’t end up goin’ through that abuse no more.”
“Ah’ll ask the workers when they get here to keep an eye out for anyone lookin’ for Sora and get all the facts ‘bout him and his family,” Big Mac added.
Applejack yawned, the adrenaline rush wearing off. “Let’s get him set up in the guest room and call it a night.”
“Eeyup!” he agreed.
What Applejack didn’t voice was her worry revolving around Sora. There was something…off about him that she couldn’t place. He was telling the truth about what happened, but she couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling about this situation. It bugged Applejack to no end that she couldn’t understand why she was having that feeling of…whatever it was, but that wasn’t going to stop her from helping someone in need. For now, her family would take care of Sora and do their best to help him regain his memories, but until she could place what was off about him, she was going to keep an eye on him.