The journey

by Dashed_Brony

CH16: Memories no longer there...

Relaxation was there. Inner peace. The most wonderful feeling in the world. No more pain. No more loneliness. No more disappointments. He could feel every last bliss that Equestria never truly held for him. Every dream he ever had was fullfilled that very moment. His cutie mark was acquired. He had nothing more to wish for. Everything. Every last bit and piece he had ever hoped for lay before his eyes.

He felt no burden. No exhaustment. This was his life. His only life. The only life he could ever have remembered living. Whatever he willed, it happened. If he wanted to eat cake for the entire day, he could. Without gaining a single pound or getting a tummy ache. Without getting dizzy. If he didn't desire to become tired, he could stay up through night and day. Not that time mattered. He could decide whether for it to be night or day at any time he pleased. If he simply wanted to sleep, he did, without even trying. Just as easily, he woke up right afterwards, without feeling tired at all.

Though, with all this... Something was missing... Something long gone. Longer than he could remember. Longer than he wanted to remember. These hundreds of years with nothing but harmony... There was something... An empty void he couldn't fill no matter what he ate, did or wanted. He could have everything he desired, right before him, but he couldn't fill that hollow piece of the paradise that was now an open grassy field that never ended. The sun high on the sky, it was beautiful, and he had seen the sun set so many times before, yet never grew tired of it. He was more powerful than... Celestia... That name was oddly familiar. A name he couldn't remember ever hearing... It was ringing in his ears like an everyday term.

His head started pounding. He didn't even know the word pain anymore, and after all these years of feeling nothing but the most pleasant of things, it caught him off guard enough to fall to the ground, and wriggle back and forth. For so many centuries with just joy, the vile pain his head was undergoing, was more superior than he'd ever felt before.

It suddenly passed. He could suddenly open his eyes again. They had shut from the pain, but as it passed, so did his need to keep them closed. His hooves were still pressed to his head, a weak, but seemingly succesfull attempt at weakening the pressure that put his head through the turmoil it had suffered. But he hadn't sooner tried to open his eyes, than had he tried to blink, in hopes of it not being real. The paradise that had been resting in his hooves was no more. A sudden vortex must've absorbed it, because it was gone without a trace. It had seized to exist, and all he saw, was darkness.

He was no longer sure whether his eyes were even open or shut, because darkness was all that lay before him. Even his own hooves before his eyes were as dark as the... Tartarella lair?

Memories flooded back to him. Memories he thought long lost. He had been in paradise so long that he didn't even have any memories of what had happened before the blissfull feeling, that it felt like it was all he had known in his life.

The one word that glued itself to his mind when all other thoughts flew back and forth nonstop without any intent of stopping, knocking his head back and forth, quite physically even, as he was nearly thrown off balance, barely managing to keep his composure.

The more the name stuck around, the louder another name became, and echoed in his ears before he could even try to regain his balance, and this time, he was actually knocked straight onto his back. The entire ground below him shook, and he felt himself unable to remain still.

The next thing he felt, was something grabbing ahold of both his shoulders, and instead of the ground quaking, it was something... Or somepony, rather, that shook him.

The darkness made new shapes in front of his eyes, at first a blurr, but slowly regaining their structure, to either sides, there were trees, grass, flowers and all that fit in an open forest.

"L....d! L..X..D!"

The name that had echoed in his ears over and over became more clear, and soon enough, he could make out exactly what it meant.

Laxed... Who was that?

There was something before him. Still too blurry to make it out as anything but a mess. It was what was shaking him.

Green...?

Something poked his cheeks. It fell to his mouth, and salty liquid made him respond naturally, his reaction being to lick it away and then spit it out

An excited, yet still crying figure, now visual enough to tell that it was moving, had finally stopped shaking him. It had gotten off him, he could tell that much, and with whatever energy he slowly regained, he looked to where the green figure was bouncing off. It reminded him of... A pink... Pony...?

Finally, he was able to see clearly. His eyelids were heavy. He felt like he had been sleeping for eterneties, and his head pounded, now worse than it had in paradise.

More pains took their course, all across his body. His back was the worst. No, it was his wings.

Their increasing pain seemed to go on forever, until he got off his back without any effort, shouting.

"OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!!!!"

His entire body ached, and as he looked to his wings, one was snapped, and the other was roughened up, both lacking feather, the one still intact still twisted, and currently useless, save for its ability to produce massive pain.

He looked over to the green unicorn that was bouncing about like he had won the pony lottery of a year's supply of whatever he desired.

Whatever was Toby so happy about? Toby... There could be no other.... That he could relate this green pony to the name meant there was no other befitting the name. He was certain. Whatever uncertainty he had, he was going to confirm.

"Toby...?" He asked. His voice was dry. He felt like every last drop of energy and water in his body was spent on some last, half-flanked attempt to achieve something. He couldn't remember what though.

One moment he was in paradise, knowing nothing but bliss, and the other, he felt more beat-up than a punching bag after somepony had spent hours beating it up.

"Yes?" The green unicorn responded.

"W-What happened to me?"

Toby, only knowing half the story, tried giving his part of it. It was all he had, and as the colt saw Laxed's expression head off into an emotionally depressed state, he felt bad it was all he could do.

"B-But if it's any good.... I think you saved both our lives!" He cheerfully said, but without any excited response, he felt as helpless as just a few seconds ago.

The poor pegasi suffered of amnesia, and he knew it. Toby was unaware, and therefor, had no more cheerful words to spread.

Laxed dropped to the ground, on his stomach this time. He had no plans of laying on his back once more; it was already aching far too much to as it was.

"You can head on if you want to... No need to watch over me... I'll just stick around until I heal up..."

"W-What are you talking about Laxed?!? W-We're partners, right? We've been through so much!"

"I'm sorry... I don't think I know you... You must be mixing me with someone else..."

"N-No! I'm sure of it! I'm absolutely sure! 100% SURE! I swear!"

The unicorn could hardly swallow what Laxed was telling him, and he was getting closer and closer to crying every second he saw the wounded pegasi reject him.

"I told you I don't know you!" Laxed shouted.

Toby couldn't handle it anymore. He turned around, and no sooner had he, than the tears he had tried holding back, started running down his cheeks. Sobbing, he said 'I'm sorry', and galloped off, away. The few bruises he had didn't hinder him, and he ran off as fast as he could, hoping the black and red-striped pony hadn't seen him cry.

"I... I guess I'll just wait until I heal up then..." He mumbled to himself, in his newgained loneliness, and after many efforts of falling asleep through the pain that otherwise denied him, he eventually lulled into his peaceful sleep.

Comments

[Xaratos]

ouch amnesia...good thing that he survived