//------------------------------// // Something Amazing, Something Amiss // Story: Mark of the Hourglass // by Starsong //------------------------------// Hospital beds. I was never particularly fond of the rickety things, but I reckon that anything would have felt miserable with the searing pain that ran from my nose to my tail. With no particular desire to remain on it any longer, I rolled off the side of the mattress and onto my hooves. This was a mistake for several reasons. The first was that the nurse nearly fainted in alarm when her patient tumbled to the floor. The second was that standing felt like driving molten nails up through all four hooves. The third was that my gallant savior was there to witness further proof of my foolish nature. She was kind enough to catch me with her magic as my knees buckled. “Easy,” she said. “You were out for a few days.” “And you've been here the whole time?” I put on my handsomest smile and batted my eyelashes and grinned like a foal. “No, not really,” she replied without scorn, washing the feeling right off of me. “I just happened to check on you when you woke up. Good thing, too, because we're having a hard time finding out where you came from.” The nurse cleared her throat. “No mark, no one could identify you...” She frowned and gave me a shove full of medical kindness. Only Twilight's absentminded spell kept me from tumbling back into bed. “You need to rest.” “Never mind that, miss,” I said, waving a foreleg in the air with feigned bravado. “I feel like I'm on fire either way. I'd rather suffer standing.” This did not please her and she hit me with every instrument she could find, trying to find one thing wrong with me. “So, what's your name?” Twilight asked. She was always dedicated to her curiosities, to her credit. “You knowAAH!” I laughed and screamed at the same time, smiling apologetically at the mare who had her stethoscope in one hoof and the other somewhere rather uncomfortable. “Pardon me. As I was saying, I don't know for the life of me. I think that knock in the head did something to me.” The nurse cleared her throat. “Then you should lay down until you feel good enough remember.” I looked into her eyes with an audacity that I never thought I had. “I beg of you, save your attentions for somepony who needs it far more than me.” That seemed to do it. She stormed off with a snort and left the two of us there, Twilight doing the better part to keep me aloft. “Why would you have amnesia?” she wondered. “I don't know,” I said, then clopped a hoof against the floor in a moment of recollection and pain. “Ah! But here's a fact. I know you, Twilight Sparkle. Who doesn't? Popular name in this town.” I smiled as she refuted her fame with a blush. “I am of Ponyville, I know that much, and I know deeply that I owe you my life.” I leaned a little closer and spoke softly, my head down with the realization, again, that I had almost died. “My savior. Twice now, really. Thank you.” She had three days over me to come to terms with this fact, and it was just like her to respond as she did. “Anypony would have done the same. I'm just glad you're alright.” No, there are few who are quite as remarkable as you, miss magician. She wouldn't like those words much, so I kept them to myself. I found that the pain was beginning to ebb the longer I spent on my feet, although I already had a different feeling working its way up my hooves. Soon she'd be back to her life and I'd be back to mine. Whatever my life consisted of before the accident. “Well then. Thank you.” She laughed nervously. “Of course. If you ever need anything...” “Like a book?” I inquired, raising an eyebrow. She gave me a strange look for the longest time! And then laughed. “Right. The library. Yes. Well. I'd best be back there. Can you stand?” I nodded, and she slowly unwound the spell that was keeping me up. When the pressure was on my hooves again it stung, but not nearly as bad as before. I didn't so much as wince for her sake. No, I trotted ahead and smiled, ready to end it there. It was for the best. She seemed ready to do the same, but then she turned and twitched in a peculiar manner. Her horn was still glowing and she waved it over me. “That's weird...” she said. “There seems to be still a little... something stuck to you.” “Magic?” I wondered. “I'm not sure,” she said. “It wouldn't surprise me.” We stared at each other for a good few minutes before she sighed and resigned herself to it. “I'm sorry, but I'd prefer if you came back to the library with me. If I messed something up it's best I'm able to fix it.” I smiled sheepishly. “Only if there's hot cocoa involved.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Um, sure. If you'd like.” I should have just walked away, but I never walk away. # Her dragonling made us hot chocolate and was kind enough to be rationed some himself. And in addition to that, the complexity of our mystery saw him doing scarce more than fetching her a book now and then. I attempted the duty myself, for a moment, but my wandering attention landed me firm in the place of study on a pair of cushions. “I can't find anything here quite like it,” she said, flipping a page with one spell and bathing me in scanning charms with the other. “It's not an incomplete spell. Not elemental residue, and you're not possessed by anything.” She puzzled. “Have you annoyed any zebras lately?” I cocked my head to the side. “I don't think so,” I said. “What does that have to do with anything?” “Just checking.” Twilight laughed nervously and flipped another page. And then another. Then she pulled out another book on theoretical metaphysics and really set to work. It was quiet, and warm, and far too cozy for my liking even as my hot chocolate dwindled in my mug. “The gravitational alignment doesn't fit with anything I can put my hoof on. I want to say that it's just a reaction between the lightning and your earth pony make-up, but that doesn't account for the cloud array of negative plasmoid particles.” I smiled and nodded. “You don't have a clue what I just said, do you?” she asked. “Not a lick,” I mused. “I'm afraid the...” I leaned in and squinted at the spine of her book. “'Quintessential Theorems of Metaphysical Alignment in the Glee Sphere is somewhat beyond my grasp.” Twilight's ears drooped and she smiled sheepishly. I quickly rectified my sharpness by sweeping a little bow. “I am but a humble earth pony.” For some reason she laughed. She didn't always laugh at my strange little antics. Maybe the queen of textbooks had finally had her fill. We wouldn't find out because Rainbow Dash poked her head on one of the ground windows and waved a hoof. “Hey, have you seen Fluttershy?” she asked. “She was supposed to meet Rarity at the spa today and we can't find her anywhere.” Twilight squeaked and held up a hoof. “Oh no! I was supposed to talk to her a few days ago and I completely forgot after the accident.” She glanced at me and back to Dash, sighing. “Sorry. I haven't seen her since then, to be honest. Have you checked her house?” The pegasus blinked. “Her house? Why didn't I think of that. Hm.” She then zipped away, and only a moment later came back and stared hard at me. “Who's this guy?” “Just a friend,” I said, waving my hooves. “I would tell you if I could, honestly.” She raised an eyebrow. “What? Oh, never mind. You sure have some weird friends, Twilight,” she said, and the two of us tried not to giggle at her other implications. “I'll see you later!” And then she was gone. Twilight set a stack of books aside and sighed. “I should go try to find her, at least apologize for missing our meeting the other day. Besides, we're getting nowhere. I think we could use a break.” I stretched from head to toe. Already I was starting to feel like a new pony. “Words I could live by.” Twilight made quick work of donning her bag and leaving any remaining cleanup for Spike. “I'm sure,” she said, and then we braved the wild of Ponyville. # Few things fill me with such joy as drifting through a town with such bustling activity, with so many young fillies and colts doing their best to keep their parents from going about their business. So forgive me if I am somewhat fuzzy on the details here. Twilight and I took our sweet time cantering towards Fluttershy's, and she even went so far as to re-acclimate me to the landmarks I might have forgotten. Though the names had become strangers to me, my stomach certainly remembered Sugarcube Corner. “Even after you ate all of my cakes?” Twilight sighed, but couldn't resist my immeasurable charm. Or maybe she was just taking pity on a recovering pony. “Alright. I promise we'll stop by after we check on Fluttershy.” “We could bring her a pastry to cheer her up...” I pressed. She would have none of it, of course, taking advantage of my weakened hindquarters to nudge me away from the sweets shop. “Come on.” On a better day I would have stood to the last shred of her patience, but I decided against it. Making each step forward, despite the smolder of my nerves, filled me with a certain joy—a pleasure in defying my condition. So much that I'd become occasionally focused on only my steps, passing a cart, passing a colt, eyes always on Twilight so that I did not lose my way--so locked into locomotion that I bumbled straight into the path of a similarly distracted stallion. “Sorry!” Proclaimed the brown-haired gentleman with the hourglass mark. Then he cocked his head to the side, seeming to empty it of all prior urgent matters, and he sucked in a breath. “Really...” The foreboding tone of his voice brought me to a full stop. “What is it?” Then the strange pony laid a hoof upon my shoulder as if trying to console me. “You shouldn't be here...” he said, then pulled back with an enthusiastic laugh. “Not with the cider festival coming up! No, you should remind your unicorn girlfriend... you really shouldn't miss it...” I blinked. Twice, even, before failing to notice that I was blushing. “She's... not my girlfriend.” I mouthed. “My con... apologies, then.” He cleared his throat. “Right! Preparations... the aforementioned... cider...” He mumbled before charging off. Twilight trotted back two seconds too early to be annoyed and two more too late to enjoy more of my humiliation. “What was that about?” I held myself as high as I could and shrugged. “Something about a cider festival...” Something clicked in the unicorn's brain. “Right! Applejack would be rather disappointed if we didn't all show up to help out.” I smiled. “Another one of your friends?” “Ah--” She leaned back, ears drooped. “Yes.” I returned the playful nudge she'd given me earlier and trotted ahead. “Lucky me. If I spend more time with you I'll be friends with the whole town before the day is through.” Though perhaps I'd spoken out of turn, she did little more than smile. It seemed like being reminded of them was enough to put her in a good place, and I couldn't help but hitch the proverbial ride. Things only got better from there. As the houses thinned out we slowed to a more relaxed gait. Fluttershy's wasn't that far away, but it still made the silence a little strange. Bits of potential conversation floated around in my head. What's your favorite flower? No, maybe a bit too strong. Do you believe in seaponies? Too much of a tangent. Who's your favorite... “That's... not right,” Twilight said, coming to a dead stop. It took me a fair moment to realize that we'd made some headway from Ponyville and stood near the bottom of a hill. A strange translucent energy, almost like liquid, flowed over the lowest point before disappearing in the grass nearby. “Feels like magic,” she continued, hovering her horn over it. “But that doesn't make any sense at all.” I took what I would later describe as the more scientific approach and shoved myself into it, not sure what to expect. For all intents and purposes it felt like water, moved like water, and even acted like it when I reached with a hoof to splash the poor mare in the side. “Hey!” she jumped back, tail frizzed. “That could be dangerous, you know!” “Doesn't seem to be,” I countered, shaking my hooves off. “If you're that worried about it, just hop over.” She looked rather cross and bounded across the stream. “You could have gotten hurt, or worse.” “But I didn't.” “That's not the point.” Twilight stamped a hoof. “You could have died. Are you always like this?” “Like what?” “Utterly careless and expecting everypony else to take care of you,” she rattled off all too fast. My cleverness fell into a stunned melancholy, unable to dredge up any sort of playful retort. It was more than being put in my place. I hung my head a little and walked on past, tail between my legs, dripping aether water. At the top of the hill, the sight of the countryside was far grander than either of us could have expected. We sat in unison, and though guilt still hung over me, I stared in disbelief. The bits of water we'd passed was only a sliver of a phenomenon, what looked like a portrait in gel laid over the landscape. Water rolled from an imaginary lake, giant strands like trees swayed in the wind and then dissipated into glitter and light. Something that might have been a moth landed on Twilight's nose and dissolved before she could react. “It must be some kind of magical phenomenon,” she murmured. “I haven't heard of anything like it before...” And without a second word she produced a blank scroll and a quill, and began scribbling furiously. I watched her sketch and write a flurry of notes, fully engrossed in it. Once I was convinced she'd recorded all she could, I reached over and nudged her scroll down with both hooves. “What?” she said, shooting me a look. I just nodded towards the field. The afternoon sun was cutting through the ghost-like shapes, making a prism of colors before they seemed to evaporate. Twilight seemed to get it, and relaxed, just soaking the whole experience in. “Sorry,” she said, eventually, without looking my way. “I guess I'm being too hard on you.” “Mm.” I shrugged. “Someone needs to put me in my place, sometimes.” The effects were beginning to fade. I tapped my hoof against my forehead and twisted my tongue. Something had to be said, something to make use of that silent moment that was slipping by. I couldn't think of anything eloquent enough, so I just went with my gut. “Can I be your friend?” She twisted about and stared, taken aback. “Um...” A creature of logic, I could see her fumbling the idea through the gears in her head. The idea was sudden, strange, but innocuous. I think she figured as much. Still, what right did I have to shove myself into her life like that? But I was already there. “I guess after all you've done for me I can't help but feel that way,” I explained. “I have no idea what my life was like before this whole amnesia mess. Maybe it's great, maybe it's not, but I'm sure it'd be better with another friend. Something to take away for our trouble.” I smiled. “Even if it takes me far away.” She sighed and laughed in the same breath. “I know. It's just that no one asks these things. They just happen... naturally.” “So...” “So...” “I'm already there, am I?” I beamed. Twilight stretched and rolled up her scroll. The magical landscape was beginning to disappear entirely, leaving behind a mundane if pleasant plane-scape. “We'll see. Fluttershy's isn't much further, anyway...”