The Changed One

by peacevic

The Forgetful One- part 1

The Forgetful One part 1

I woke to the warmth of another pony's embrace.

It wasn't hard to guess who it was. "Derpy? Why...?"

"You were crying in your sleep, Verdant," she said simply.

I sat up, shedding her comfort. I didn't deserve it, not with all that I'd done. I couldn't even face her as I mumbled, "I... I did something, Derpy. Something terrible."

"I know."

I whipped my head around in surprise. She just smiled patiently at me and took hold of one of my hooves, lifting it. She gingerly rotated it and pointed out the obvious. "You missed a spot."

"The pony back at the tower," I explained, or tried to. "He was going to hurt a lot of other ponies, so I... I ki-"

"You did what you thought was the right thing," she finished for me.

I sniffled. "Twilight's right. I'm a m-monster."

"No..." Derpy pressed a hoof to my cheek. "Hey, you were just doing your best. There are no heroes in the Wasteland, remember? You said that."

I shoved her hoof away. "A monster said that! Go away! Just- just go! Leave me alone."

Derpy slunk towards the door, and I almost didn't see the hurt look on her face as she did so.

I stayed in my room for some time, but eventually a nagging sense of guilt over hurting Derpy's feelings forced me out. Trying to stay unnoticed and inconspicuous, I crept through the halls as stealthily as I could.

I only made it a few steps before I heard a throat being cleared behind me.

"You realize she's only trying to help, right?" Twilight demanded as I turned around.

"I do, Your Highness," I replied glumly. "I really do. I just..."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "'Your-' What is wrong with you? Come on, the Doctor and I are going to get to the bottom of this."

She shouldered past me and, after a moment's hesitation, I followed.

The Doctor was in the control room, as per usual, and at the moment he had his head and most of his front half buried in an exposed access panel. Derpy sat nearby, hoofing him tools and parts when he asked for them. Our approaching hoofbeats caused him to pull himself out of the wall. "Ah, you're awake. You had us worried, running away like that."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"He's been acting weird since-"

"I'm a little thirsty," the Doctor interrupted. "Could you pass me that cup over there?"

I shrugged, and absentmindedly levitated the indicated cup over to him.

He didn't take it. Instead, he stared intently at the aura surrounding the cup, and at my horn. "Interesting. That's very interesting."

"Uh, what is?" I asked.

"Two days ago, you could barely even get your horn to light up." The Doctor produced his sonic screwdriver and quickly scanned me, checking the results as he continued, "Now you don't even need to think about it."

I gaped as I realized he had a point. "You- You're right... Why couldn't I use my magic?"

"Hmm... No changes to your physically makeup or brain chemistry. Tell me, what's the first thing you remember?" he prodded.

"I, um, I woke up in the forest, then I saw the Princess and her friend, and I called them over so I could ask for help. I said... human? What's a human?"

"So you remember claiming to be human, but not what that means?" Twilight took over the cross-examination as the Doctor performed a few more tests, each involving some strange item seemingly pulled out of thin air. "What about this world? How much do you remember about where we are?"

I wracked my brain for the memories, but every one felt strangely disassociated. "I went into the pod and when I woke up again... Oh Celestia, what is this world? What have we done?!"

"What about Littlepip?" Twilight pressed.

"I remember saying the name."

"It looks like he's forgotten everything prior to his arrival in Equestria. The other one, I mean," Twilight pronounced. "And I guess he can use magic as a result."

The Doctor frowned. "As useful as the extra spellslinger is, if that's really the case then we've lost our guide for getting around this Equestria."

"Um, Doctor? One of the lights on your control-thingy is blinking," Derpy alerted, warily watching said light.

He bounded over. "Ah, that. I was tired of hearing the scanner beep every time it detected something, so I muted it."

"And if Derpy hadn't been looking at the console right then?"

"Give me some credit, Twilight. I would've seen it... eventually." The Doctor flipped a few switches, pointedly ignoring Twilight's disapproving gaze. "Okay, this one's coming from a place called Maripony. Does that ring any bells, Verdant?"

"No, sorry. I feel like it should, but I just can't remember. I'm so stupid and useless, I-" I spotted a certain stain. "Oh, I've got blood on my hooves..."

"Well regardless, we don't really have much of a choice. The last stop was something of a bust," Twilight decided.

"Alright. We're on our way."

The Doctor threw the Tardis into a short flight and, after it shuddered to a stop, cantered out the door, with Twilight close behind him. When I hesitated to follow. Derpy laid a comforting hoof on my shoulder. I nodded gratefully and together we left the Tardis.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Is this really a Fallout: Equestria story?

[peacevic]

7037171 It's in the world, but I can see what you mean. A lot of the story could be considered a bottle episode in other mediums.