Wander.

by Sire Derpington

Lost in Apples

I couldn’t see anything, save a bright light. I tried to close my eyes but it didn’t make a difference, nothing changed. Under any other circumstance, being alone in a white abyss would have stirred some emotions in me but I didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t happy nor sad nor angry. I figured this was the closest I’d ever been to peace before. I didn’t know anything, didn’t even know my name. I was just a shapeless enigma floating in ecstasy without a care in the world. Suddenly like the wind changes, Colors wrapped around me. The colors swirled and danced for me. The former white was now a rainbow stretching for what seemed like what went on for an eternity. I couldn’t move but the colors were guiding me and I was following. I heard voices and laughs from far in the distance and with each step I was closer to reality. The sounds got clearer and were almost beckoning me towards them, the colors turned into trees and fields
I was back in reality. It was a warm spring day, The one everybody loves, Where it’s a perfect 65 degrees, Not too hot but not too cold. I was laying under an apple tree in the shade. There were trees in every direction of me. They had a colorful display of leafs with apples hanging down. The sun was shining through the branches and lit the entire orchard.
I couldn’t recall anything, not even my own name. I paused for a moment hoping it would all come back in some sort of an epiphany but not a single memory was there. I then realized none of this seemed familiar, not even the air I was breathing. I looked down at myself, this body wasn’t normal either. I was even sure how to walk. I stood on all four legs, trying to balance myself. My tail flopped down. Trying to move I carefully inched my front legs forward. It was kind of like walking on ice at first. I then inched my back two legs forward. I tried to follow that pattern but it was an awkward motion, I learnt quickly how to walk properly.
The trees in the orchard were in a grid-like pattern, I decided I’d go straight up the grid of trees and perhaps find a way out of this maze. There wasn’t any grass, Just dirt littered with fallen rotten apples, some brown with rot and other still red but with specs of decay. If there had not been wind rustling the leaves it would have been silent, seldom the birds chirped. Nothing was really clear to me but there was no present danger around so happily I trotted in the sea of trees.
After some time, slowly the apple ridden dirt turned into clean grass. The trees started thinning out and I could see an exit. Outside the orchard lay a red barn surrounded by hills protected by a white picket fence. Out in the distance, you could see corn fields to the north and to the south was carrot patches. There was a dirt path leading to the barn, above it was a gate covered in vines blooming beautiful grapes. Near the barn were a chicken coop and a well. Any farmer would be in awe with the sight of it all. It was my image of a perfect farm; Of course I had never seen a farm before or could remember one for that matter. Chickens roamed free inside the white picket fence and didn’t seem to care about anything but the seeds they ate. Outside the Barn, Just like one would except from a farm, there were a random assortment of farm tools.
This place seemed safe enough but still I was unsure that I should go to the farm. When I was hidden behind the orchard of trees I felt safe, but at the barn I felt exposed, like anyone could see me out in the open. I shook the feeling of uneasiness and decided to follow the path leading to the barn.
Slowly I walked, Doubts filling my mind. I wasn’t sure that this was entirely safe; still I walked until a white furred chick wandered outside the gate as if to investigate why I was wandering to her farm. Before then, I couldn’t remember seeing an animal up close before. The chick innocently trotted towards me. I tensed up; she could have been a fearsome beast for all I knew at that moment. The chick hopped on my left hoof. In an instant I shook it as fast as I could. The chick was launched a few inches away but it didn’t seem to harm her. She didn’t look like she could harm me, so I assumed she wasn’t killer and just was a stranger to me. I was in a world of unknowns; a baby chick could’ve been a beast for all I knew.
I galloped inside the gates, not caring that there could be dangers inside of there. The chick reassured me enough. As I got near the red barn, I slowed my pace down to a walk. Walking was normal again and was no longer an awkward motion for me. The barn door was open and inside was full of hay. There were bales of hay everywhere. The inside wasn’t red like the outside; it was a brown wood-ish color and had clearly never been painted before. In the far corner of the barn there lie a workbench, Hanging from the workbench were random assortments of tools. Atop it were random nuts, bolts and everything screw related. Sunshine peered in from the wide open door and I was casting a shadow.
“Hello, Young Filly what are you doing here?” The voice came from behind me, it was a sweet, caring voice but one full of age and not quite as good as it might have been. For that moment, I didn’t know how to speak. The voice came to me as a surprise despite how sweet it was. “Cat got your tongue, Eh?” She let out a dusty laugh. “Well, I’ve got one just like you; He’s real shy and hardly says a word. But surely you can tell me why you’ve wandered on to my property.” I turned and faced her. She was an old pony with a light green coat. Her mane was white with age just like her face. Her face once was pleasant to look at, now it was covered in wrinkles and full of age. Her orange colored eyes bagged down. Despite looking like she should be in a coffin, she seemed peppy. “Can you at least tell me your name?” I hesitated, I hardly knew anything never the less my name. “Uhh... I...” The words came out awkwardly. “I...I don’t know my name.” She raised an eyebrow. “How does somepony forget their name?” I felt my face get red; I didn’t know how I lost my memories. “I don’t remember anything, not even my name.”
I attempted to think back before I woke up in the orchard but I was drawing a blank. “If you can’t tell me your name, I’ll tell you mine. Folks around here call me Granny Smith. You’ve wandered on to my land, Sweet Apple Acres we call it, yesiree!” She seemed to talk about her land with pride. “Have you run away from home? Your family must be worried about you.” I had yet to think about my family, if I had one. I barely knew myself nevertheless my family. “I’m not lying to you when I say I don’t know, ma’am. To be honest, I think I fell asleep in your apple orchard. Besides that, I can’t remember. After I woke up, I wandered here.” Granny paused as if to think. She stayed silent but was focused on me, I turned red again. I didn’t know much, but I knew I didn’t like to be stared at. “You don’t have your cutie mark yet, you must be about her age.” Out of plain curiosity I asked “What’s a cutie mark?” Granny seemed happy to answer. “Well, a cutie mark tells you your special talent; it appears on your flank when you figure out what that special talent is. Like mine is an apple pie for instance. My granddaughter Applejack left to the big city to find her cutie mark. She’s probably living the fancy life in Manehatten, Hope to Celestia she’s alright, though.” I could’ve cared less about a cutie mark; I’d find it when the time was right.
“So, you’ve wandered through my land not knowing even your name. You poor thing, you can stay with us for the night, I’ll let you sleep in Applejack’s old room. But you’ll have to leave after then, I don’t like stragglers.” Nopony had ever been this nice to me from what I could remember. “I’d be happy to stay here for the night.” Granny smiled “I’ll call you to dinner when the sun sets, until then you can wander or do whatever ponies without memories do.” The sun was at its highest point in the sky, so I had plenty of time till then. “Since you can’t remember your name, I’ll have to give you one!” She paused and thought for a moment. “Well since you wandered here, I think I’ll call you Wander. It’s not quite the best name, but for a pony like you, it fits.” She smiled and seemed happy at her choice. “I’m going to go inside the house, come and introduce yourself to Big Macintosh when you get the chance. He’s the big red stallion, don’t let his figure scare you, He’s quite shy and hardly talks but he’s the most dependable pony I’ve ever met.”
When Granny Smith left and I couldn’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach, never had somepony before ever been so kind to me. I hardly even knew her and she let me stay with her for the night, she even gave me a name. I couldn’t remember my name from before but I liked the new one she gave me. Wander, it seemed rather fitting for me. The farm was a great place, I never wanted to leave. When I was there hours seemed like minutes. There was always so much to do. Even though I spent only a short time there, I still recall the wonderful scenery and wonderful animals. When it finally came time for dinner, I was shocked that I already spent so much of my time; I hadn’t even had a chance to introduce myself to Big Macintosh.
The sun was already setting on the hills near the farm and was slowing disappearing from view. Beautiful the sky lit up; Even though the sky was mostly dark there were still oranges and bright reds bouncing about in the horizon, it was a great end to a perfect spring day. I walked to meet Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. Big Macintosh was intimating to look at, despite not being a full grown horse yet, He was muscular as he could be. He had a dark red coat with a blonde mane. He seldom talked but when he did, you could tell he meant business. He talked with a deep voiced country accent and his vocabulary usually consisted of one-worded responses like Eeeyup or nnooope. He had a green apple for a cutie mark, so I assumed he must be a big help around the farm. “Hello Wander, Wonderful to see you again, thought you’d might have gotten lost on the way here.” Said Granny with a hint of sarcasm. I chuckled and said “I wasn’t lost, no, I was just gazing at the wonderful sunset, and I can’t say I’ve seen anything like it before.” After a bit of talking and not much in-between we finally sat down and ate dinner. Even though I saw carrot patches and grapes earlier, Most of the courses were apple related in some way shape or another. The table had trays stacked with a colored assortment of apples. Off to the side there was some pastries (Apple flavored, of course.) I was shocked to see this much food at a time, I wondered if they ate like this all the time.
I sat myself down in one of Granny’s ancient looking wooden chairs. The table was silent with the exception of me mowing down on food. Finally Granny decided to break the pattern of science we created. “What do you plan to do tomorrow morning?” That question came to me as a shock, I hadn’t really planned anything. “I hadn’t thought of that in the slightest, I figure I’ll walk to the nearest town and see if any of the sights bring back my memory or something.” I said through bites of apples. “The way I figure it, you must be an Earth Pony; you haven’t got any wings like the Pegasi from up in Cloudsdale or Horns like the unicorns, so you’re like us, Earth Ponies. We are the muscles of Equestria, Those lazy unicorns use magic for everything, And those Pegasi aren’t any better with their wings! Anyways, you should try to seek out Ponyville, A lot of Earth Ponies are from there, who knows, and maybe you’re from there.” Granny explained. Everything of late hardly fazed me anymore; it was now surprise after surprise. I figured Ponyville would be at least worth a shot as I had nothing to lose. “Thanks for the advice; I’ll go there first thing in the morning.”
After dinner was over, Granny had Big Macintosh show me to Applejack’s old room where I’d be staying. It was a homely room and I felt right at home, something about it just seemed calming, like it was whispering me to go to sleep. The room only had a bed and a dresser but it was by no means bland. The entire wall was decorated with drawings that looked to be made by a young pony, as I couldn’t tell what any of them were. Through a single window moonlight peered inside the room and gave a dim light to see with. You could see the entire west side of the farm through the window, The farm looked less inviting at night, I got an eerie feeling just looking outside in the dark. I plopped down on the bed; quickly sleep overcame me and was back inside that ecstasy of colors.

Author's Note:

Please tell me what you think! Criticism actually helps me, Just let it be helpful Criticism unlike "LOL THIS FUCKING SUCKS, FAG!"

Comments

[Sky Hooves]

I think it was a good start. I hope of more.

[Sire Derpington]

2419576 Thanks, I'm glad somepony likes it!