Order-naries: Redux

by CTVulpin

Chapter 2: Amnesia Anxiety

At five o’clock in the morning, Fluttershy had to admit defeat. She simply was not going to be able to get a good night’s sleep, so long as things remained the way they were. The three Order-naries had been rushed to the emergency room as soon as Twilight had shown up at the hospital with them, treated for their wounds and purged of manticore venom, and then placed together in a room for observation and recovery. They had not yet woken up, not even Soul Mage, who had escaped the manticore’s sting. Each of the Element Bearers were taking shifts watching over the trio, even beyond normal visiting hours, just in case they did something else strange when they did wake up. Zecora had led a search party into the Everfree Forest in the general direction the three had been going to try and find the missing fourth Order-nary, but by the end of the day they’d returned without so much as a clue. And then there was the Diamond, brimming with light-based magical power, which had shown up just after the portal opened. There were simply too many unanswered questions and concerns flitting around to allow any pony privy to them a restful night.

With a defeated sigh, Fluttershy climbed out of bed and went downstairs to make herself some tea. She had just put the kettle on to boil when she heard something moving around outside in her yard. Cautiously, she peered outside and could just make out in the pre-dawn light the image of a pony posterior poking out of a bush, its slate-blue, pink-highlighted tail thrashing about as the pony apparently tried to decide between going farther into the bush or pulling herself out. Fluttershy stared in insomniac bemusement for a long while until it occurred to her to investigate further. “Uh, Twilight,” she asked as she approached the bush, “why are you in my yard?”

Twilight yelped in surprise, and then again in pain as a twig poked her eye, and then finally managed to contort herself enough to get her head out of the bush to look at Fluttershy. Her mane looked like a bird’s nest with all the sticks and leaves tangled up in it, not all of them belonging to the bush she was in, and she had a look that was one part sleep deprivation, two parts sheepish, and one part manic obsession on her face. “Fluttershy!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t wake you, did I? I thought I was being quiet enough…”

“I was already awake,” Fluttershy said patiently. “I couldn’t sleep. Now, sorry I’m repeating myself, but why are you in my yard?”

“I, uh, well…” Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, feeling her patience start to unravel from lack of sleep. Twilight took the hint and breathed deeply to calm her nerves and bring her tongue under control. “I’m looking for PC,” she said. Fluttershy’s head tilted to the side in confusion. “PC,” Twilight repeated slowly, “Ash’s, or was it Gale’s? Whatever. That talking computer-helmet thing of theirs.”

“Uh… I think I know what you’re talking about. Maybe?” Fluttershy said, scratching her head. “Why are you looking for it in my bushes?”

“Because the last time the Order-naries fell out of the sky, PC landed in a bush somewhere around here and Pinkie found it,” Twilight explained. “With all the other crazy parallels between that and today, and the fact that I really can’t imagine the Order-naries getting into something major without PC being involved at some point, I figured there was a good chance it ended up in a bush again. But not this one.”

“I see,” Fluttershy said as Twilight fully extracted herself from the bush. She sidled over to Twilight’s side, brushed some leaves off her coat, and said, “You’ve obviously been at this for a while. Why don’t you come inside for a bit and rest? I was going to make some tea.”

Twilight was initially resistant, but as she swept her gaze across Fluttershy’s yard and the brush beyond the fence she realized just how much ground she’d covered, and then she looked at her friend’s tired, concerned face and gave in. “Tea sounds good,” she said.

---

“Still no change Applejack?”

The earth pony farmer looked over from her seat in the corner to see Rarity enter the hospital room, and then glanced up at the clock. “Time fer a shift change already?” she asked, standing up and stretching. “Nope,” she said, “they ain’t so much as stirred the whole time I’ve been here. If their breathin’ weren’t so full and steady, I’d be more concerned, but the docs say they just gotta get the meds outta their system and come to on their own at this point. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one as gets to be the first mare they see.” She patted Rarity on the shoulder as she crossed to the door, but then paused a few steps short of exiting and glanced toward the three comatose ponies.

“Is something the matter Applejack?” Rarity asked.

“I dunno,” AJ said uneasily. “I’ve just been getting this notion the whole time I’ve been in here that something just ain’t right with those three.”

“Well, they aren’t native to Equestria,” Rarity said, “and those aren’t their natural forms. Perhaps you’re just uneasy because you aren’t used to their alien aura after a two year absence.”

Applejack shook her head. “That ain’t it,” she said firmly. “It’s almost like the little truth-sense I get from bein’ the Element of Honesty is going off, ‘cept nopony’s told me any big lies. I’ve been spending the better part of my time here tryin’ ta make sense of it, but…” She sighed and shook her head again. “Just stay on yer guard I guess,” she advised. She turned to leave again, only to be interrupted by a groan from the bed on the right, the one Gale was laying in. Rarity and Applejack rushed to the foot of the bed and stood with bated breath as the brown earth pony stirred, put a hoof to her head, and then slowly cracked her eyes open, looking first to the hoof with seeming bewilderment before noticing the mares.

“Mornin’ pardner,” AJ said in a bright but muted voice, “good to see ya again.”

“Wha?” Gale croaked, blinking bloodshot, dizzy eyes.

Rarity poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table next to the bed and floated it into Gale’s hooves as AJ continued to speak soothingly, “Now don’t you try getting’ up too quickly. In fact, you’d prob’ly just stay in bed until the doctors give ya the OK. Never been stung by a manticore myself, so I can’t rightly say how quickly ya get over it.”

A pained groan from the farthest bed, Soul Mage, grabbed Rarity and AJ’s attention, and as they went over to witness his awakening they failed to see Gale fumble with the water glass, spilling most of it onto herself and half-choking on what little she managed to get into her mouth. Gasping for air, she tried and failed to pull herself into a more upright posture, and then coughed a few times to test her throat. Craning her head to her right, she said, “Where… am I?”

“Why, Ponyville General of course,” Rarity answered. Soul Mage didn’t seem to be actually waking up, so the unicorn fashionista came back over to Gale’s bed. “Where else would we have brought you, darling?” she asked.

“Uh,” Gale was at a loss for words, and her face screwed up in pain after a moment.

“Shh, shh,” Rarity soothed, pushing the earth pony down gently and magically drying the sheets, “don’t stress yourself, Gale.”

“Gale?” The earth pony gave Rarity a strange look. Rarity returned the look, but whatever question or explanation she was about to voice was interrupted as the ash-grey pony in the center bed sat up suddenly with something akin to a war cry.

“What happened?” he demanded, looking around with wide eyes devoid of any fatigue or deliriousness. “Where am I?” His gaze locked on Rarity, and she felt a shiver down her spine as those hard green eyes narrowed in confused suspicion. “And who the skeb are you?”

---

Rarity sat on the bench in the visitor’s waiting area, staring blankly at the wall and only peripherally acknowledging the presence of her friends around her. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were leaning supportively against either side, Applejack was on another bench ruminating on her own troubled thoughts, Rainbow Dash was pacing the length of the room impatiently, and Twilight and Spike were standing off to one side watching the door with trepidation and casting the occasional glance at the bag Twilight was wearing. No one spoke, afraid to voice their worries and potentially set off a stream of hysterics from Rarity. The tension in the room would’ve required more than a mere knife to cut through.

Finally, the door opened and Doctor Stable entered the room, finding himself instantly the focus of intense stares from seven sets of eyes. Visibly unaffected by the scrutiny, he shut the door behind him and consulted his clipboard before delivering the news everypony was hanging on edge for. “I can’t say with certainty that it is amnesia,” he said, “but I can’t rule it out either. Although cranial trauma can cause it, only one of them actually suffered that, and manticore venom isn’t known for inducing amnesia.”

“But they don’t remember us, do they?” Twilight asked.

“Or anything about having been to Equestria before,” the doctor said. “What’s troubling,” he added with a frown, “is that they do recall the manticore attack, and it seems their memories might otherwise be intact, but they were most uncooperative about providing any personal information. Based on what I do have, there’s no reason to keep them here longer than another night, and that’s only because I don’t want them to be separated until Soul Mage’s head has finished healing and they’ve got their coordination back.”

“And Soul’s ok with this?” AJ asked, quirking an eyebrow, “No fightin’ to get out and find his sister?”

“No, he’s actually quite calm,” the doctor said. “You can go see them if you want, but be careful with what you say. You can try to help them recall their memory, but don’t pressure them too much.” With that, he turned and left the room.

“Well,” Twilight asked after an awkward moment, “should we go see them?”

“I don’t think I can bear to,” Rarity said. “I can’t face that look he gave me, without even a trace of recognition!”

“It’ll be ok Rarity,” Fluttershy said, “but why don’t we take you home so you can rest?” She and Pinkie coaxed Rarity off the bench and escorted her away.

AJ and Rainbow Dash both shifted about uncomfortably in their places, caught between two problems of equal weight. “I don’t like this business with Heart not being a concern for them,” Rainbow said at last, “I’m going to go look for her again.”

“I’ll come with ya,” AJ said quickly. “Uh, if that’s ok with you Twi,” she added uncertainly.

“You don’t have to ask me for permission,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Spike and I will be fine. You two be safe, alright?” Rainbow and Applejack nodded and raced each other for the door. Once they were gone, Twilight and Spike made their way to the Order-naries’s room. As they drew near, they heard voices from within engaged in discussion. Spike put a finger to his mouth, and both he and Twilight quietly leaned an ear against the door to listen.

“…obviously have some conception of it,” Soul Mage saying, sounding a tad frustrated, “but it’s right weird.”

“You won’t have any problem answering to it though, right?” Ash asked pointedly.

“Of course not,” Soul snapped.

“That settles it then,” Ash said. “We’ll play along with the amnesia story until we get enough information to act on our own.”

Well, they’re sure confident, Twilight thought. Not too sure I like that. “Act casual,” she instructed Spike in a mutter, and then knocked politely on the door before opening it and stepping through.

“Ye gads,” Soul blurted when he saw her, evidently forgetting himself, “they come with wings now?!”

Easy Twilight, the alicorn cautioned herself, swallowing her chagrin, they don’t remember me for one thing, and even if they did this will be their first time seeing me with wings. And that is a typical Soul Mage reaction. Putting on a pleasant smile, she said, “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike, my assistant. I’m the librarian here in Ponyville and… former student of Princess Celestia.”

“Former student?” Ash asked as the others stared blankly.

“I… graduated,” Twilight said, spreading her wings demonstratively.

“I see,” Ash said noncommittally, settling into his bed a little bit. “Well, Ms. Sparkle,” he said in the manner of one taking charge, “my teammates and I don’t recognize you, but your presence here means you’re someone we’re supposed to know. A friend perhaps? If so, could you help us… remember?”

“That is why we’re here,” Spike drawled.

“Good,” Ash said, giving the dragon a searching look. “First of all,” he asked as he looked back at Twilight, “can you tell us more precisely where we are and…” He trailed off uncertainly, but the glance he shot toward his hoof finished the question for him.

“And why you’re ponies?” Twilight asked, with a knowing smile at their surprise. “You’re in the world of Equestria, in a kingdom of the same name,” she said, “ruled in tandem by the sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who oversee the movement of the sun and moon, respectively. Oh, it’s true,” she added when Gale snorted, “you’ll see, if your memories don’t come back on their own. As to your appearances, we’re still not sure why, but in this reality we simply can’t have humans, so any who come here automatically change into an appropriate type of pony.”

“You already know that we’re not… from around here?” Gale asked, surprised.

“Of course,” Twilight said. “We’ve met before, and you weren’t quite so… reluctant to volunteer information the first time you showed up. Speaking of which, I’ve got something here I’ve been stressing over lately that might spark a few memories.” She opened her bag and levitated out the Diamond, noting how all of the three bed-ridden ponies’s eyes locked onto it instantly. “You recognize this?” she asked, giving it a magical squeeze to awaken its power enough to make it glow. Soul and Gale sat up sharply, and Ash nearly shot out his bed in a dive for the gem, except that Twilight managed to react quickly enough to catch him in a telekinetic bubble. “Easy there Ash,” she said with amusement, setting him down and tucking the sheets around him again, “you’re still recovering.”

“Do you even know what it is you’re… holding there?” Ash asked, a tone of warning in his voice, “It’s-”

“Potentially the most powerful focus of Light magic in the known worlds,” Twilight interrupted blithely, and then sighed at the expressions of utter shock on their faces. “I’m not just a librarian you know,” she said. “My specialty is magic, and when a large gemstone comes crashing into my friend’s kitchen out of nowhere, I check it for magic. I know all too well what this is and what it could forebode. The only question I have is, to borrow an Ash-ism, what the skeb is it doing here in Equestria, again?”

---

Rarity took full advantage of Fluttershy’s willing ear and the absence of Applejack and Rainbow to give vent to her most dramatic sighs as she plodded toward her home. “Oh what tragic irony,” she said. “After nearly two years I am reunited with the stallion of my dreams, and by a cruel twist of fate he’s been stripped of all memory of me! What woe.”

“Aw, don’t worry Rarity,” Pinkie said brightly, “we’ll find a way to get his memory back, and then we’ll have a big party and you can go right back to trying to woo him.”

“Oh, Pinkie,” Rarity giggled, a slight blush visible through her fur. “You’re quite right though,” she said with determination, “even if it will be a lot of hard, depressing work…”

“Hey! Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy!” The three named ponies stopped and turned to see Applejack galloping toward them, Rainbow not far behind her and both wearing smug smiles.

“Girls,” Rarity said, “what is it?”

“Nothing,” Rainbow said smoothly, “just that I think we found Gold Heart.”

“What?! Where?” everypony exclaimed at once.

“There,” Rainbow said, pointing to the sky behind her. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie looked up and saw what looked like a giant metal wedge with wings flying toward Ponyville.

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie gasped, bouncing excitedly, “It’s the ship! The… the…” She paused in mid-air as she tried to remember.

“The Lirin, ain’t it?” AJ suggested.

“That’s it!” Pinkie said, resuming her joyful bounce.

“Some good news at last,” Rarity said with relief as the ship flew overhead, headed towards the town square. The girls followed at a quick trot, reaching the square just as the Lirin finished settling onto the ground. Ponies were giving it a wide berth, some watching it with unrecognizing suspicion, and so Rarity and the group had no trouble getting an up-close seat to watch the port-side hatch hiss open and then drop down into a ramp. After a moment, an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a wild red and orange mane wearing a necklace made of gems and braided gold wire stepped into view at the top of the ramp, quickly accompanied by a brown earth pony wearing a half-helmet-like headset, and a unicorn and pegasus in matching golden-yellow coats and brown manes.

Seeming completely unaware of the five stunned, slack-jawed ponies gathered at the foot of the ramp, Ashen Blaze took a deep breath through his nose, smiled, and declared, “Greetings Ponyville! We’re back!”

Comments

[djthomp]

Interesting. My first thought was that someone was getting frisky with time travel and screwed up the timeline, but that seems out. So, magical clones, maybe?

[x3racer]

Interesting... Could be from another, yet very similar, universe (Such as our Order-naries came from). Or, we could have much bigger problems. If, as 2384955 said, they are magical clones... This could have some very, very bad outcomes.

[djthomp]

2385762 Oh yeah, didn't think about the different universe possibility. That could explain Gold Heart's absence, she may not even exist wherever these new Order-naries come from.

[x3racer]

2385845 Exactly my thoughts. Though, that could also create quite a few problems. If other universes are starting to reach the same climax... who knows how many different sets of Order-naries could arrive at once in Equestria. Unlikely, but possible. Really, either possibility can't be good.

[Leo Archon]

... Dafuq?

So... we've got two different groups of Order-naries from two different universes. This is gonna cause SUCH a train wreck...

[Emeral Bookwise]

...and so the plot thickens.

[Skyeheart]

Hmmm...given the gems in play I'm going to wager some kind of time shift if not a parallel one.