Where?

Voices reached out to him from the darkness, each accompanied by a flash of memory…

“Let’s go, big brother.” A suit of armor impossibly moving on its own, walking away across a bridge. To its right, a caramel-skinned young woman with brown and pink hair, sobbing on the ground.

“Don’t break it this time!” A blonde teenage girl in coveralls, the top half tied around her waist, with a short older woman. The girl points a large wrench threateningly. “It may be lighter, but it’s less durable!”

“I am the Flame Alchemist.” Snap. A fireball a few feet in front of a black-haired man in a blue uniform. Screaming comes from within the fireball. “Please remember that.”

“I am an instrument of divine judgment!” A dark-skinned man with sunglasses and a cross-shaped scar on his face, reaching out to the wall with his right hand. A sound and flash of light, and the wall dissolves.

“I’m you!” A humanoid silhouette against a white void points at the viewer. “Welcome, ignorant fool.” A creaking, and shadowy arms pull you back from behind. “I’ll show you the truth.” A door closes.

----

Pinkie Pie hopped along the outskirts of Ponyville for reasons no other pony can fathom, although it was very probable that she was bored. The party pony’s mane and tail were their usual poofy selves, bouncing almost as much as she was. She hummed a simple song while she hopped, a smile spread across her face. For a while, the only sounds she could hear were the clopping of her hooves every time she touched down and her humming, as there was nopony else around. This changed after she didn’t know how long, when a faint second set of hoofsteps joined her erratic ones, signifying the approach of another pony from a distance. Strangely, every other two steps were, rather than the solid sound of hoof hitting road, a hollow, metallic noise.

Pinkie ceased her hopping and quieted her humming. She was intrigued by the fact that whatever pony was trotting down the road seemed to be wearing metal boots and wanted to find out who it was. Maybe it was Applejack trying out something new to help her harvest apples? Yes, that had to be it, she decided. While the apprentice baker attempted to be patient and wait for the farmer pony to get there of her own accord, she found that her limit was five seconds or thereabouts, as she quickly dashed off down the road to find out exactly what those boots looked like.

A little ways off, she saw that it was, in fact, not Applejack, and felt a bit of disappointment as she skidded to a stop and began examining the stranger. It was an earth pony who would have appeared an adult if he weren’t small enough to make Applejack look like Big Macintosh. He had a sandy coat, golden eyes, and his mane’s color matched his eyes. It was a bit longer than the norm for colts, though. There was a strand inexplicably sticking straight up from his forehead, and the back was braided, swinging a bit with each step. His tail was also what could be considered ‘long’, but it wasn’t styled at all. In fact, it looked a tiny bit messy. He had a look on his face somewhere between confusion and determination, as if he had no idea what was going on around him, but he’d be darned if he weren’t going to find out. After taking this in, Pinkie took a closer look at what was causing the irregular hoofsteps. His right foreleg and left back leg seemed to be encased in steel, which spread a short distance up his shoulder and flank. His cutie mark was partially obscured by the metal, but from what the pink pony could see, it appeared to be an arcane seal. She resolved to ask Twilight about it – then immediately forgot when she realized that this was a new pony, and he was headed for Ponyville!

He noticed Pinkie and immediately spoke up, “Can you tell me where I am? I can’t…” he trailed off as the mare popped up into the air and let out an immense gasp, as if she hadn’t breathed for the past day and was trying to make up for it all at once. She zipped off back to Sugarcube Corner, moving much faster than she had before. The strange pony hung his head and sighed, but Pinkie didn’t notice – she was already gone. Besides, she was too busy trying to decide how many cupcakes she would need to make for the upcoming party…

----

Twilight Sparkle trotted around Ponyville, taking a break from her research to reflect and figure out exactly what went wrong with her newest spell. It was a dimensional viewing spell, and it was supposed to do exactly what it sounds like – let a unicorn see into another world. Unfortunately, when she tried it, she only got a tiny glimpse before a huge surge of magic forced its way out of her, causing her to pass out, and what she saw made her seriously reconsider the further use of that spell, or at least the further viewing of that dimension. Why would…no, just thinking about it made her shudder.

After some time had passed, she thought she was close to a possible answer, but when Pinkie dashed past, Twilight completely lost her train of thought. “HiTwilightbyeTwilight!” the party pony yelled. She passed so quickly the wind nearly took the unicorn’s mane with it.

Any lingering remnants of Twilight’s introspection were lost as she looked after the pink blur and let out an exasperated sigh. “What is she up to now?” Deciding she could try again later, Celestia’s student trailed after her hyperactive friend, worried that she might surprise somepony, causing them to drop something expensive.

Pinkie was quickly out of sight, so Twilight had to ask for directions. Luckily, this was ridiculously easy. If she got turned around, she just had to look quizzically at somepony, and they’d immediately point her in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. As she approached the bakery, the librarian told herself that she really should’ve just guessed. Through the window, Pinkie could be seen baking furiously, cranking out cupcakes and other assorted yummies at record speed. Obviously she was preparing for a party, but what was the occasion? Interrupting her to ask would distract Pinkie from her cupcakes, and she knew Pinkie would want everything to be perfect for whatever occasion it was. Instead, Twilight opted to go back the way she came, retracing her friend’s path. They met near the edge of town, and for Pinkie to get up to that speed, she might have needed a long straightaway. You never knew when it came to Pinkie, but it wasn’t like anything else would get her anywhere, so she trotted off down the road out of town.

The mystery was solved as soon as Twilight caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar earth pony on the road. New arrivals always merited the best parties, she remembered well. She stifled a giggle as she wondered how this newcomer would take it. Would he pass out midway through, outlast everypony (not likely with Pinkie there), or try to avoid it?

Before she could come to a decision as to which was most likely, the new pony noticed her, speaking up. “Hey, could you tell me where I am?”

Twilight was a bit surprised at that. “You’re a few minutes out from Ponyville. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville’s librarian.” A few seconds’ pause. “What’s your name?”

“…I don’t remember,” was the reply.

The unicorn gave him a level look. “You don’t remember your own name.”

The newcomer suddenly became defensive. “Hey, I don’t remember much of anything.” He calmed down quickly, getting a tiny bit quieter. “I do remember being called Ed, but I don’t think that’s my real name.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Okay…Ed. Is there anything else you do remember? Like where you’re from?”

Ed thought for a second and shook his head. “Nope, nothing.”

“How about your cutie mark? Got any idea what it’s supposed to be?”

The earth pony turned his head and peered at the seal on his flank. “It’s a trans…something.” He sighed. “I feel like I really should know this.”

“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you stay in Ponyville for a while? I have an extra bed, and I’m sure there’s something in the library on amnesia.” Twilight turned, looking back at Ed. “Here, I’ll show you around.”

The undersized pony began to protest, but stopped almost as soon as he started, apparently realizing there were no alternatives available to him. He trotted after Twilight, mildly surprised at how quickly he was accepted.

----

The first stop on the tour was a large farm that seemed to specialize in apples. This was just a guess, however Ed was fairly certain it was correct due to the apples plastered all over the barn and sign. The guess was immediately proved right when Twilight named it ‘Sweet Apple Acres’.

They walked right in through the front gate up to the barn, the unicorn giving the door a knock with her hoof. It was promptly answered by a large red stallion with a straw-colored mane and a yoke around his neck. “Oh! Hello. Could you tell me where Applejack is?” she asked.

“She’s at the market today,” the stallion replied with a southern drawl. “He a new pony?” he continued, gesturing at Ed.

Twilight nodded.

To the unicorn he replied, “Remind her to pick my order up on the way back.” To Ed: “Welcome to Ponyville.” With that he closed the door.

Ed gave his companion an aside glance. “What’s with him?”

“Oh, that’s just Big Macintosh. He’s always like that. The pony I wanted you to meet is Applejack. You’re probably going to be seeing a lot of her, so I think we should get introductions out of the way.” She turned around and started the walk to the market.

The sandy colt didn’t move. “Wait, why am I going to see her a lot?”

Twilight stopped and looked back at him. “She’s one of my friends, and they drop in very frequently.” She chuckled. “Sometimes literally.”

Ed began to trot behind her, cantering a bit to catch up. He didn’t talk on the way to the market, instead opting to try to remember a little more. He knew what that design was called…it just wasn’t coming - His thoughts were interrupted by the collision of his face with Twilight’s flank. He bit back an indignant outburst, telling himself that he ran into her.

After getting himself back under control, he began to apologize, only to be spoken over by an orange earth pony wearing a cowpony hat.

“Well, hi there, Twilight! How’d that spell work out for you?” She had a similar, if not identical accent to Big Macintosh.

“Not too well,” was the reply. “It worked at first, but then something happened and I blacked out. I’m going to try to figure out what went wrong, but I think I might need a break before I do.”

“You want some apples? We’ve got more than we thought we would.”

The behatted pony was running an overflowing apple stand in the middle of a somewhat busy marketplace. The chatter of bargaining ponies filled the air, giving something of a sense of isolation without the benefits or disadvantages of the actual thing. Also at the apple stand was a yellow earth pony filly with a red mane. From the way she fidgeted, she seemed positively bursting with energy, with no way to let it out.

Twilight shook her head. “No thanks, Applejack. We’ve got enough food for a while.” She glanced over at Ed, and as if she had forgotten about him, continued, “On second thought, that might be a good idea. This is Ed. He just arrived today. He’s going to be staying in the library for a while, and I don’t want to run out of food because of poor planning.” She gestured at the colt with a hoof.

Applejack beamed at Ed. “Howdy do, Ed. Welcome to Ponyville.” She paused for a second. “Ed…That ain’t like any name I ever heard. It short for something?”

He nodded. “I think so, but…”

“He’s lost his memory,” Twilight interjected. “I think I might have the best chance of anypony to help him, so that’s why he’s staying with Spike and me.”

“Well, I hope you start remembering things soon. Your family must be worried sick.” Applejack began filling a crate with apples, sliding it across the ground toward Twilight when she was done. “There, that oughta do you just fine.”

The crate was surrounded by a purplish haze and levitated off the ground. “Thanks.” The unicorn turned to Ed. “Do you mind if we drop this off at the library? It would get awkward trying to carry this everywhere.”

He nodded, and Twilight began walking away from the apple stand. Before they got too far, she turned. "Oh, Big Mac said something about picking up an order...?"

Applejack nodded. "Alrighty, thanks. I forgot about that. See ya, Twi."

They had only just exited the marketplace when a multicolored blur somehow managed to smash into both the apple crate and the newcomer. The crate flew away and landed right side up, unharmed but emptied. Ed wasn’t quite so lucky.

Before he could recover, somepony started talking from about three inches away from his ear. “Oh, sorry about that. I was working on a new trick, but it didn’t work out. I tried to pull up, but I didn’t see you in time. Here, let me help you.”

He felt himself pulled to his hooves, bringing into view a light blue pegasus whose mane and tail both displayed all seven colors of the rainbow. As soon as she made sure he wouldn’t fall over again, she turned to the unicorn.

“Sorry ‘bout the apples, Twilight. You want help picking them up?”

“No thanks, Rainbow, I got it.” Within a few seconds, Twilight’s magic had put all the apples back in the crate.

“So, who’s this?” the pegasus asked, pointing a hoof at Ed.

“This is Ed. He just arrived in Ponyville today. Ed, this is-”

“Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!” Rainbow finished, cutting her off. “Nice to meet you.” She extended a hoof, which was promptly shaken. “So, where you from?”

“Uh…”

“He doesn’t remember anything except his name, and he doesn’t think it’s even his real name,” Twilight interrupted. “He’s staying with-”

“I can talk, you know,” Ed interjected with a slight smile. “Twilight offered to let me stay with her. She thought she’d find something in the library that could help me.” He paused for a second. “Wait, why do you live in a library?” he asked Twilight.

“Um…I guess because it was available? I didn’t ask. It’s handy, though. When you do as much reading as I do, you don’t want to have to walk across town whenever you want new reading material.”

“I guess that makes sense. But what happens if you accidentally ruin a book?”

“Oh, no, I’m very careful. I never spill or tear anything.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Ed. I hope you get your memory back soon. Oh, Twilight, you know what time it is?” Rainbow interjected.

“I was going to eat soon. Are you hungry, Ed?”

Before he could answer, Rainbow zoomed off with an “Iwassupposedtobedonebynowgottagobye!” A rainbow trailed after her.

Ed raised an eyebrow at Twilight.

She chuckled nervously. “She’s not always that…scatterbrained. Besides, she’s one of the best friends a pony could ask for.”

Ed nodded, and they continued on their way. There were no further interruptions, and when they finally reached the library, Ed stopped to take it in.

Twilight paused. “Is anything wrong?”

Ed shook his head, startled out of his reverie. “No, I just…wow. That’s amazing.”

Twilight grinned back at him, and they entered to find it in a state of disarray. Books were strewn everywhere, but the majority of them could be found in a pile near the middle of the main room.

It moved a bit, and Pinkie burst out, book in hoof, dashing past them before they could react. “Found it!”

Ed stared after her. Twilight just sighed. She levitated the apple crate over the books into the kitchen. She shut her eyes, her horn glowing brightly. Every book was lifted into the air and slotted into the shelves nearly simultaneously.

“There, that should do it.” Twilight trotted around the room, checking to see every book was in its proper place. Satisfied, she gave a nod and turned back to face Ed.

The earth pony walked into the library looking around. To the left was a sparse kitchen and dining room. A set of stairs led up to a second floor on the right. If he looked carefully, he could see a window and perhaps the corner of a bed. Each wall was covered in bookshelves, and there didn’t seem to be any room for any more books.

“Make yourself at home. I have something to do before we can eat.” Twilight turned back to face the second floor. “Spike!”

A purple head with a green ruff down the middle popped into view. “What is it, Twi? Something come up? Who’s that?” A claw pointed at Ed.

“I need you to take a letter.”

“Again? You just sent one an hour ago!” It moved to the stairs, and as Spike came down, it was obvious that he was a dragon. A baby dragon, judging from the size, but a dragon nonetheless.

Twilight nodded. “I know, but this is important. He was just outside of Ponyville, and he doesn’t remember anything. I want to ask Princess Celestia if she knows what could do that to a pony.”

Spike sighed. “Fine…” He took out a quill and a roll of parchment, looking expectantly at the unicorn.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” she began, “I met a pony today who has lost his memory. He was just coming into Ponyville from the direction of Canterlot, so I don’t know what could have caused his amnesia.”

Twilight paused when Spike parroted, “Amnesia?” as if it was a foreign language.

“Memory loss.” She continued, once the dragon had written that down, “I could think of plenty of things that could do that, but they would all be found in the Everfree Forest, and he doesn’t seem to have been there recently. Do you know of anything that could do that? Your faithful – wait,” she stopped herself.

Spike scribbled something out and looked back up.

“I should probably mention his cutie mark. No, don’t write that!”

Spike scribbled something else out.

Twilight resumed dictating. “He has an unusual cutie mark. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but it looks distinctly arcane. It looks like this.”

Once that was written down, she levitated the quill and parchment out of Spike’s hands and, after eyeing Ed’s flank, drew a quick sketch.

She finished the letter off with a flourish and was about to give it back to the dragon when Ed spoke up. “Wait. Can I have a closer look at that?”

Twilight floated the parchment over to a reading desk. Ed approached it slowly, as if afraid of the contents. After examining the symbol closely, a spark appeared in his eyes. “Alchemy…”

He touched a hoof to the parchment, and there was a flash of light and a noise. Twilight had to close her eyes to it, but when she opened them, a bird folded out of parchment rested on top of her letter.

----

AN: This has been in the works for a while now. Gimme your criticism and tell me how to make it better.

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Comments ( 11 )

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Krass McWriter

Krass McWriter #1 · Dec 18th, 2011 · · ·

Huh. Nifty.

None too big on FMA myself.

Bringer-of-Doom

Bringer-of-Doom #2 · Jan 2nd, 2012 · · ·

Hmmm.

*Unnerving silence ensues*

....Yes. It's good. Keep it up.

By the way, you are basing this to the manga and not the anime series, right?

Railyn

Railyn #3 · Jan 2nd, 2012 · · ·

103264 Yep. Sort of an AU thing, though. It'd have to be.

Mänic

Mänic #4 · Jan 2nd, 2012 · · ·

needs to be continued, i'd give it about a 3.5 so far, but it has a lot of potential so I'll wait for a few more chapters to rate it, it is at least good enough to track

Shadowstep