Chaotic Memories

by Zhooves

Chapter 2 - In My Mind

Everything were in chaos again... Now I was sure it all was just a dream, but something about it all felt familiar... Could this world be a compilation of my memories? I mean, they've got to be in my head somewhere...

My head was spinning for a second when I suddenly heard a deep laughter echoing... All the chaos just suddenly stopped, and the snake-shaped creature materialized a few feet in front of me. It kept on laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked it.

It stopped laughing, looked around as if it was mad that all the things that had stopped. Suddenly everything returned to their chaotic ways like earlier. Seemingly pleased with everything again, it quickly turned it's head towards me.

"What's funny you ask?" he chuckled. "I'm just happy to see you again, my dear, old friend!".

"Do I know you?".

"Why, yes, you do, in fact I believe I'm one of your... Oldest and best of friends!".

He chuckled even more now. I was kind of suspicious to that, especially since it almost felt like chaos were radiating from him.

"Ok then... As my 'friend'... What can you tell me of this world? Does this place have anything to do with my memories?" I asked.

He started to pull his goat-beard, like he was thinking of something. "Well..." he began, "... To start of, yes, this place do have something to do with your memories. This is the very inside of your mind! And as you might have noticed, your head is quite the mess: Loosing your memories like that isn't usually normal you know!" he started to move around me slowly in circles. "And as you might have guessed: This is a dream, in which your old memories are retained...". He moved even closer, now putting an embracing arm around my neck. His touch gave me the shivers.

"And then, you might wonder, what in the world could have happened to you to put everything away in here? And in such a state?".

He gave me an evil look before he started grinning, took his arm away and floated backwards a few feet away from me. "Well, surely, you must have noticed by now...".

"Noticed what?". He started to get on my nerves.

"That you are far from a normal pony. You even switched between the pony-races - a feat no unicorn-magic could have done. And those little ponies usually have such a good way with harmony, yet, your head is filled with the complete opposite: Complete chaos!". I wondered where he was going with this.

"The reason behind it all is clear to me, as I've always been with you - be it in mind, or in real life. You have lived way longer than most other beings in this world. Thus you would have a lot of memories, yes?". If what he says is true, then yes. I most likely would have a lot of memories. Yet I couldn't see why this explained the chaos... And how old am I anyway?

"And with a very long life comes a lot of hardships, yes? And what if all of those... hardships... were to weigh heavier on you than the few friendships and moments of happiness could keep you aloft?". He tapped his head with a claw a few times while saying: "You would go mad. All the negative thoughts and memories would consume you, ultimately driving you crazy.".

He did a few aerial tricks while I was taking in what he had just said. How old am I? And how many have I known, only to lose them? Why does most of what he says feel almost right in a way?

Suddenly he stopped and turned towards me. "Oh, and one more thing...". He flew a bit closer to me. "There's also the fact that many memories easily pile up, making even more chaos! This means the older you get, the more chaotic ones mind can be!".

"If that is the case, and everything he has says is true... Then that would explain why everything in here is in such a mess..." I said in a low voice. Yet, it seemed like he heard me.

"This isn't a mess." He said angrily. Everything just started to go even more crazy now. It was almost like his emotions affected the balance of things in here. "It's a DISASTER!" He yelled, suddenly sounding positive."All the chaos you could ever wish for! Chaos in all it's beauty! It's like a paradise to me!". He looked around at his "paradise". I didn't find it all that great.

"So this paradise of yours are my mind and memories..." I said.

"A lot of the things you have said feels oddly right... Yet, it all also makes no sense.".

He suddenly stopped moving. He then quickly turned his head towards me - again - with a grin on his face.

"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense...".

As his words echoed, the world started to darken, until it was all gone, and I fell into the emptiness...

---

"Gaaah!" I yelled, as I quickly rose up, only to bang my head into something right above my head. My horn took most of it though, but I was left with a small bump in my head.

It would seem like Twilight had set up a few things just above me for some reason.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I heard her say from behind a few stacks of notebooks and even more of the machines like the one I knocked my head into.

"I was just trying to track what made you change those two times, as well as checking on your health. Blacking out like that, followed with almost no heart-beat, as well as no breath can't be good for you.".

Oh, right. I'm not a pegasus anymore. I could still kind of feel my wings though...

"So just like that... I'm a unicorn." I said, kind of disappointed that I couldn't test my wings more.

"Yeah, it's all so strange... No magic that I know of can do that." she quickly looked though some of her notes.

"Have you found anything that could explain it? Other than magic, I mean?".

"None. Other than you being a changeling, of course, but that would also be some kind of magic... And I tested to see if you weren't one, and you aren't. Clearly." she walked over to one of her machines, looking at a number that went up and down in in a certain rhythm. "You didn't exactly lie still while you were out. You shouted random words and phrases while kicking in every direction... Did you have a nightmare or something?" she looked over to another set of numbers.

"Kind of... It was all so weird... I don't really want to talk about it.", I said, while resting my head at the arm of the couch.

"Maybe later then? It could be important you know, as memories just can't leave your head like that. They have got to be in there somewhere!". She was now multitasking by holding a couple of notebooks using her magic, quickly noting what the different machines showed, while also seemingly analyzing everything I said.

But what now? If she couldn't find an answer, then what would I do?

I decided to shake the thought away. Doing nothing didn't help. So I decided to try out my new horn. I saw a notebook that looked interesting, and after a minute of heavy concentration, I managed to levitate it over to me. It felt strange... Like the time with the wings. Instinct or something.

I suddenly had a flashback, revealing quite a few spells I didn't even know about.

"Is there a safe place to test magic around here?" I asked. Testing more spells I don't quite understand yet in the middle of a library seemed like a bad idea. Just the thought of what could happen frightened me.

"Oh, you want to test magic now that you are a unicorn? I can understand that, but aren't we being a little hasty? I mean, what " she said, giving me a nervous look.

"I just tested levitation, and by doing so, it seems some spells were revealed to me - like a memory. Don't you think that could be a clue? That this could lead to more memories?". She suddenly looked surprised.

"Really? Levitation? Usually, that takes months of practice to master... But if you say so, I guess we could go to the basement... I just cleaned it of machinery, as I needed it up here, so there is quite some space down there now." She opened a door underneath the stairs going upstairs. I followed her in, and there it was: A completely empty room.

"So what kind of spells did you... remember?".

We both stepped down into the middle of the room.

"Just give me a minute...." I said while closing my eyes, concentrating really hard on the spell I wanted to try. Suddenly I started glowing, and in a flash of light, I teleported back up on top of the stairs again. "It worked!" I said happily, teleporting back down with less effort now that I had tried it once.

Twilight didn't respond. She just looked even more surprised now.

After a few seconds of silence, she asked: "You are sure you haven't done that before?".

"Is it really that big of a deal?". I was surprised that she was surprised. I mean, I barely even have to put any effort into it now that I had it figured out.

"Not a big of a deal!? Do you even realize how few unicorns who can do that? And on top of that, you don't even seem to tire from it! I can barely walk right after teleporting!". Really? Is it that difficult? I wonder if any of the other spells are at that level...

The following couple of hours went into testing spell after spell, every time followed by Twilight's jaw almost dropping off of her head. Fire, ice, strong winds, alchemy spells, enhanced movement, magic wings... One spell lead to another, until I hit the bottom.

"That seems to be about it.". During the past couple of hours, I had tested a spell, followed by learning another - all out of the blue, or more like memories returning. But they were only spells - not memories of actual events or friends and such. At least this magic kept me occupied so that I didn't worry so much.

---

Heading upstairs I immediately noticed it was night-time outside. I was really tired, after having to carry Zoron those times, as well as searching for answers to why he transformed and looking over what spells he wanted to try out. I had not imagined somepony who had just been turned into a unicorn being able to use so many spells, and that in only a couple of hours! Maybe this was his special talent?

I had to ask: "Do you remember if you were any good at magic before this?".

"I don't recall it. But these spells for some reason felt familiar, so it could be the case." he replied, as he walked over to the couch.

"You probably don't have a place to stay, right? You can stay here tonight if you want to. My assistant Spike was recently called to Canterlot on some royal business for a few days, so I can handle having somepony over. You can sleep on the couch if you want.".

"Mhm..." he said, while being lost in a book he had found.

"Well, I'm going to bed now, I'm really tired from today. So I'll see you tomorrow".

"Mhm...". He was still lost in the book.

"Good night." I said, as I walked up the stairs.

"Night." he replied, now clearly completely lost in his own thoughts.

As I turned out the lights, he used his horn to light up the book he was reading. When I finally were in bed and could sleep, he was still down there reading. I wonder what could have triggered his sudden interest in reading... Maybe it was a side-effect from using all that magic?

I opened my eyes as the light came through the window. It was morning. I looked over at the couch where Zoron still sat, apparently still reading. But now there was a large stack of books next to him. I walked behind him, asking if he had read all of those books. He didn't respond.

Suddenly he started to shake for a few seconds before speaking in an unpleasantly familiar, dark voice:

"Why, hello there, Twilight. Missed me?". Now he slowly turned his head towards me. His eyes were now yellow, with two differently-sized crimson pupils. Shocked, I backed off from him.

Then he closed his eyes, shook his head, and when he opened them again they were back to their original white with black pupils, and his own voice.

"Oh, hello there. I must have fallen asleep... Sorry if I was kind of absent last night. I just had this sudden urge to...", his sentence was cut short, as his eyes suddenly went wide. He reached for his head with a hoof, when we both now realized: His horn was gone.

Comments

[Zhooves]

The second chapter is here... Took longer than expected because of school, mood and ideas... Basically what I said in the first chapters comments.

Anyways, if you like it, then that's great!
But if you don't like it: Why? What can/should I change in upcoming chapters?