Enigma
Enigma
The trees of the forest, they are tall, dark, and magical. The night here brings many eyes, watching your every move. From above and below, these eyes come, inevitable and unavoidable. As they watch me I try to remember why I’m there under all these eyes, but nothing comes to mind. As unnerving as they are, the eyes seem afraid of me. This pre-standing fear is hardly what is at the forefront of my thoughts, however. Why am I here? Where is here? Where can I go? Where should I go?”
With a jump I am pulled from my thoughts by a cry farther in the woods. Without thinking, I bolted in whatever direction I thought was away from the cry. The trees flew past me in a blur of muted color. I dodge branches that seem to jump out to trip up my hooves. I run blindly through the forest, the feeling of dread building ever faster. And now to add to my fear, the cries were getting louder and possibly closer. OH NO! I cried in my mind when suddenly a root caught my hoof and my face quickly became acquainted with the ground.
In that moment before I hit the ground, all became quiet. The cry that had me so frightened was gone. All the eyes seemed to vanish -- but this was short lived, and as my senses returned everything seemed worse. The cry was stronger now and the eyes’ fear of me vanished. As I regained my hoofing I galloped as fast as I could in my undetermined direction. My forehoof was in a slight amount of pain from my not-so-elegant fall but moments ago. I ran and I ran until the cry was finally so loud I could hear nothing else. It was then I dared to look around to see what I was running from. This was a mistake. Suddenly, all went black, and the night became nothingness.
When I awoke from the void of unconsciousness I had fallen into, only one thought came to mind… Get to safety. But when I thought “From what,” there was nothing there, nothing but a huge blank. I had lost my memories!? But that’s something I would have to deal with later, so I decided it was better to leave wherever I was. As I walked through the bleak forest I noted by the dim light trying to push its way through the wall of trees that it must be early morning. It was after a few moments of trotting that I realized I was in a lot of pain, covered in scratches and cuts, my ear had been slightly cut open, and I just felt like Tartarus. Disturbing as this was, I continued my trot; all the creatures that had seemed to be watching me have left. It was then that I saw the light getting brighter as I moved toward an opening in the trees. As I burst through it, the world seemed to change.
As I examined the world around me everything was so bright and peaceful. I trotted down the road, and my mood changed from scared for my life to happy in every sense. Was I safe now? Where am I? Who am I? These questions began popping into my head once more. Unable to come up with any answers I decided to head towards what looked like a town in the distance.
When I approached the quaint-looking village I noticed the simple, rustic look of everything. Now, as I draw closer, the town’s inhabitants come into view. All over were pastel-colored ponies: some with wings, some with horns, and some with neither. Having no memory of where I was or how I had gotten here, I decided to ask somepony where I had wandered. It was around this time that my lack of energy began to show.
As I wandered sleepily around town most of the ponies I passed seemed to avoid me. Odd... is there something weird about me? I had to stop many times; from what I could gather, I had not slept in a few days. Things began to get hazy as my vision blurred. As I tried to figure out where I was going, I bumped into a few passing ponies. Then, suddenly, I passed out face-forward into the ground. My face sure loves the dirt. As I lay there in a hardly-conscious state, many ponies walked around me--not even noticing a passed-out mare lying in the street!
I was finally brought back to the waking world by a lavender hoof poking me repeatedly in the side. My vision finally focused on my assailant. She was a lavender-colored mare with a dark-purple mane and tail, a single strip of pink running through its length. Her lips were moving, but I could hardly hear what she was saying. After a few seconds of trying to regain my hoofing I managed to stand back up, and by this time my hearing had returned. The mare was asking “Are you okay?” over and over again.
“Are you okay, miss!?”
“Um – what – oh sorry umm… I’m ok I think…?”
“You don’t look well. Would you like to come to my home and rest up a bit?” The mare motioned to her home, which turned out to be a tree...?
“A-alright, thank you.” I replied “But...Who are you?” I asked the mare with a confused look upon my face.
“Oh how silly of me, I forgot, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” The mare, who I now know as Twilight, answered with a friendly smile. “And what's your name, miss...?”
“My name is... Well... I don’t have a name… Do I?” I was mentally kicking myself for not remembering anything.
“No name… That’s odd... Well, let’s get you inside; you seem to have had a rough time wherever you were.” And with that, the two of us trotted off towards the tree-home of Twilight Sparkle.
Inside the homely tree were walls of books, books of all kinds. These books would range from adventure novels to philosophy, and some to arcane arts. As I was led in by Twilight Sparkle, we moved over toward her couch, which looked like a bed of clouds to me. Upon our arrival at the unnaturally comfy-looking couch, Twilight motioned for me to sit, so (after ungracefully plopping down) I am finally able to make myself comfortable. Twilight had moved into the kitchen (or what looked like a kitchen). I could hear the rattle of pots and pans as she searched for something.
About ten minutes or so later (I had lost track due to my sleepy state), Twilight returned carrying a notebook and quill. What would those be doing in the kitchen…? I asked myself, but quickly pushed the thought aside. She pulled up a chair and sat down.
“I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. I mean, you don’t need to answer, but I really know so little about you,” the purple librarian asked quite nervously, still holding the quill hopefully.
“Well, you probably know more than me, honestly. Is a questionnaire how you normally begin talking to a mare?” I asked.
She looked at me for a few seconds, apparently mulling the info over. “OH! I’m sorry! I should be asking how you are!” She facehoofed, “Stupid me, I’m so sorry. I’m not always like that, I swear!”
“It’s okay, I guess I don’t mind. I mean, hey, if answering your questions might help me remember more about myself then go right ahead. Actually, knowing my name would be nice.” She looked up at me with a smile “If questions will help you help me figure out who I am I’ll do it.”
“Well, if you’re okay with it?”
I looked around the room before responding, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Okay, great!” She smiled then looked at her notebook scribbling here and there with her magically suspended quill. “All right. Well, first, are you sure you don’t know your name? Or anything that might hint towards it?”
“No I’m sorry, I really don’t know, next question.”
“Alright...well, where is it that you come from? Actually I guess it would be more prudent to ask, where’s the last place you remember coming from?” Twilight asked.
“Well that I do remember. It was a forest, dark, creepy, and kind of scary. And...I don’t know, it felt like there were creatures watching me, as if they intended to hurt me...” I shuddered a bit as I recalled the event not too long ago.
Twilight seemed to be mulling over the information I had just given her, it didn’t seem to take her long to come to a conclusion about where I was before coming to this village.
“You came from the Everfree Forest!?”
“Oh, so that dreadful place has a name, judging from your reaction I guess I should count myself lucky I am alive - ouch!” I winced as my hoof flared in pain for a second, but that quickly subsided. Twilight however noticed this.
“Oh no, I was so interested in learning about you that I forgot the shape you were in!” She got up and paced a bit, but quickly looked back “I know, I’ll get Fluttershy, she’s good at medicine! Are you okay to wait here for a bit? Spike can keep you company!” At this she looked around the library. “Hey, where is that little dragon?”
“Dragon, what’s that?” I looked around hoping to spot this creature Twilight had apparently lost.
As we scanned the building, the door popped open and a purple and green creature leisurely walked in. It had scales over its entire body, obviously making it some kind of lizard or something. He (at least I think it was a he) had spines on its head and small ones down his back.
As he closed the door he looked at me then at Twilight. “Oh hey there Twi, who’s your friend?”
“Oh, there you are, Spike!” The unicorn returned to her notebook for a second. Without looking up she said, “Spike, this is…well, she doesn’t have a name.” Twilight blushed at her lack of knowledge.
“No name, huh. That’s a bit odd, don’t you think Twi?” The purple lizard inquired
“Well yes it is. I found her passed out in town earlier today.” Twilight said.
He looked at me, all I could do was weakly smile back. “Um… hi,” I finally squeaked out at an almost inaudible volume. This seemed to satisfy the dragon’s worries, next he came over to me and held out a claw. After a moment’s hesitation I grasped it and shook.
“Well good to meet ya, a friend of Twi’s can’t be that bad now can they.”
At this Twilight facehoofed and slowly sat there shaking her head at Spike’s remark. “If you say so… Spike.”
“Now that you’re here Spike, would you mind staying here with our friend while I go get Fluttershy?”
“I guess…why do you need Fluttershy?” The purple dragon had a look of confusion on his face.
“Well our friend here was passed out in town and looks like she’s seen better days.” I grinned sheepishly at the attention. “And since Fluttershy is good with caring for animals I just thought –”
Spike interrupted her “Ok, ok, I get you Twilight, I’ll watch her.”
“Great that’s why you’re my number one assistant!”
“Yeah I know flattery will get you everywhere.” The purple dragon blushed and waved a claw like he had hardly heard the praise.
“Ok I’ll be back soon then!” Twilight told us as she left. “Oh and Spike no ice cream till dinner!” And with that she was gone.
“Ok so, uh, what now?” I asked, genuinely confused with my situation. Spike turned to look at me and simply shrugged his shoulders and headed for the kitchen.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I need some ice cream! Want some?” He poked his head back out looking at me for a response.
“Well, Twilight told you not to have any right? Besides…What’s ice cream…?” The dragon looked at me like the apocalypse had happened then turned and went back to getting the “ice cream,” whatever that is.
He came back with two bowls, gave me one, and began eating one himself. Well must be alright, I thought. Well whatever it was it is delicious! “I’ll just ask Twilight what it was once she gets back.” I giggled slightly at the dragon that had finished his bowl and was already asleep on the floor.
~~in the streets of ponyville~~
I was trotting through the edges of town heading for the cottage home of my friend, Fluttershy. I passed only a few ponies on my way out of town, despite the wonderful day today. The few that I did pass waved in greetings which I returned in kind. But my walk was an otherwise uneventful one; this allowed my thoughts to drift back to the mystery mare I had met.
She seems pleasant enough, I doubt she would or could harm anypony. I then thought back to the next question I was going to ask. But she was an alicorn, aren’t there only two of them in the world? If she is a pure blood alicorn, and not a unicorn using some kind of faux wing spell, then I really don’t know what she could do.
My mind went about thinking up many crazy theories about how an alicorn could come to be without anypony’s knowledge. These theories were ranging from spell related accidents, foreign dignitaries, and even secret love affairs with the princesses. Well…Celestia would never do such a thing, and Luna just got back recently.
My musing was cut short as I knocked on Fluttershy’s door with my face. Thus, once more proving my aptitude for walking all over town without looking where I was going. After regaining my composure I shook my head a few times and knocked with my hoof this time. After a few brief moments the door opened slowly to reveal, through a small crack, the yellow coat and pink mane of Fluttershy.
“Umm….Hello,” she asked with a hardly audible tone.
“Fluttershy, it’s Twilight, can I come in?” I tried to look in the door as I spoke.
The door opened all the way to reveal Fluttershy with numerous small animals behind her looking at me and blushing. “Oh hi Twilight, yes please, come in.” I accepted her invite and slowly made my way to the couch and sat down upon it. “Would you like some tea?” Fluttershy asked in a more normal tone.
“No thanks. I actually had a favor to ask of you.”
“Oh?” Flutteshy looked intrigued. She seemed to wonder what help she could provide me.
“Well I met this mare today in town...” I hesitated a bit; Fluttershy seemed to take this the wrong way.
“Well Rarity would be better for advice on those things Twilight…” I cut her off with a wave of my hoof. She let out a slight “Eep” before letting me continue.
“NO, NO, it’s nothing like that!” My cheeks were as red as Big Mac at that point. “Ahem, no, I found her passed out in the street, and...”
“OH MY, is she ok!? What happened!? Where is she now!?” Her outburst caught me a bit off guard but I can hardly say I was not expecting it. The assault of questions was hard to stop; I actually had to stuff my hoof in her mouth to end the onslaught.
“Fluttershy she’s alright, she’s at the library resting.” I let a few moments pass for my friend to compose herself after that torrent of questions. “But I can tell she has been banged up a bit, but she doesn’t know what happened. So I was wondering if you could come and see if you can help her in any way?” My friend nodded, “Great, shall we go then?”
The dirt road to Ponyville lay out before us, and the sun had already begun setting. The coming twilight stretched across the nearby field, bathing the whole area in a dreary but calm golden light. The two of us trotted back towards town from Fluttershy’s cottage. Even at our brisk pace it would take us a decent amount of time to reach the library. The growing silence between us seemed unnatural even for Fluttershy. By the time we reached the bridge into town I felt like I should break the dreary silence. “Fluttershy…?” A quiet “Eep” was all I got to indicate my friend had heard me. “Fluttershy about my friend… She’s a bit, um, odd.”
“Odd, how so, if you want to tell me that is?” Fluttershy blushed at her own statement and hid her face behind her bright pink mane. I could not help but shake my head at the truly limitless shyness of my friend.
“Fluttershy it’s no problem, I started to tell you didn’t I?” Fluttershy came back out of her mane a bit at this comment, “But as I was saying, this mare I found well she’s uhhh...” I hesitated trying to put my thoughts in order, and to say them in a way Fluttershy won’t get scared over. “Well she’s different, very different. For example she’s got a black coat, and red eyes.” She did not seem overly affected by this, but sometimes you can’t be sure with her.
I decided to not say anything further till we arrived back home. I started to daydream about this whole situation Well that was easier than I thought, I was almost sure I’d need to drag Fluttershy out of her house. I mentally giggled at the thought. I really hope she can help our little mystery mare. I sighed and glanced around, we were already nearly to the library
“Umm Twilight, is there anything else I should know about your friend?” She seemed a bit more confident now that we had been walking for a while. We finally reached the library door, it seemed quiet, and Spike probably ate ice cream and passed out.
“Okay Fluttershy, her mane colors do make her look a bit scary.” At the hint of something scary she tensed up almost immediately, I had to speak with haste to keep her calm. This might be harder than I thought. One mental sigh later, “But she’s a really nice mare!” My words of comfort seemed to only slightly calm her, but it would need to do. “Ok shall we go in now?” She put on a straight face but anypony could see it was forced. And with that we both walked in.
The scene before us was surprisingly normal. The library was clean, books still on the shelves, furniture still in place, and of course a little baby dragon sleeping on the floor with an ice cream tub next to him. But the mystery mare was not in the main room, where did she go!? Spike woke upon hearing us get home. “Oh, hi ya Twi welcome *hic* back.” He clasped a claw over his mouth and looked at the empty container next to him. Wow I did not think a purple dragon could turn that shade of red. “Uh I can explain.”
“Later Spike, where’s our guest!?” At that moment she came in from the kitchen and glanced up at us.
“Hi, welcome… back?” she said, hesitation evident in her voice. She really did have a nice voice; it was smooth almost contradicting her appearance. But her appearance did still have a slightly frightening look that’s for sure. She almost reminded me of Nightmare Moon if it were not for those eyes. This was obviously too much for Fluttershy as she saw her and bolted for the door, which slammed shut covered in my magical, purple aura. Fluttershy promptly hit the door in a similar fashion to when she saw Luna on Nightmare Night. Only this time there was more force as she has seemed to have passed out.
My friend trotted over and looked at her. “Is she ok?” she asked, her eyes showing genuine concern.
“Yes, she overreacts to new ponies sometimes, sorry about that.” I said as I moved Fluttershy to the sofa till she came to.
More than an hour later Fluttershy finally awoke. While we waited Spike had gone to take a nap, and we had just continued to try and figure out some of my friend’s past. We had little success so we were glad that Fluttershy had awoken so we could hopefully heal my friend.
I walked over to the, still slightly disoriented, pegasus. My approach seemed to bring her the rest of the way back to reality. “Are you alright Fluttershy?” She gave a confident nod. “I’m sorry about the door I should have explained her appearance better.” I said a little downcast. She put a
hoof on my shoulder.
“It’s okay Twilight I’m fine and I do tend to overreact.” She said with a true smile on her face.
“Now, ahem, let’s help our friend here.”
“Heh, heh, right.”
We both walked over to the chair my friend was sitting in. “Sorry about all the fuss, we came here to help you and you have just been sitting there possibly in pain…” My little tangent was stopped by Fluttershy tapping me on my shoulder. “Heh, heh, oh right.” I facehoofed and backed off.
Fluttershy turned to our mystery mare, her face still partially hidden by her mane.
“Hello…I’m……Fluttershy…” Her confidence was astonishing compared to her previous state.
Fluttershy asked me if I had a small first aid kit, I nodded and went to get it. When I returned a few moments later things seemed to be going well, much of the tension in the air had dissipated. And the two seemed to be getting along better. I levitated the kit to Fluttershy and went to the other room to get some books that might help.
I came back with a stack of books on first aid. But I guess Fluttershy doesn’t need them because my black coated friend looked more like a zebra with all the bandages wrapped around her. I would definitely need to make this up to Fluttershy, at least for hitting her with the door.
After the little triage session, things in the library had calmed down. We were all sitting down in the main room chatting about random subjects. Well, it was mostly Fluttershy and I chatting, our friend just sat there taking in info from our conversations, only occasionally saying something. But it was getting late and Fluttershy, after giving tips on how to keep bandages clean and why, departed to return to caring for her many animal friends.
Now that it was just us Spike, already being asleep, that little guy really can sleep. I decided it was time for us to get some sleep as well.
“Shall we get to bed? You can stay here till you’re feeling better.” I offer a hoof to help her up.
“Oh thank you, I don’t know what I would of done if you had not helped out.” She followed me upstairs to the guest room.
Once we go there I told her to make herself at home and then retired to my own room. My room is slightly larger than the guest room. It has, sadly, only one bookshelf carved into the wall, and my desk in the far corner. There is also my single bed under the room’s main window through which moonlight flooded into the room. I then headed over to my desk and grabbed a quill and parchment in my magical grip with a quick dab into the nearby ink well I set to work on a letter. As the scratching of the quill began
Dear Princess Celestia.
Today I have met a very odd mare in the streets of Ponyville, the circumstances surrounding her arrival are a mystery to me. However she was injured when I found her. It was nothing major, and with Fluttershys help we got her fixed up. But let’s move on to why I am writing this letter. This mare has no memory of her past, it’s almost as though she has no past at all. She cannot even recall a name. I may just give her a temporary name for now though. But what’s even stranger is she’s an Alicorn! I don’t know how but she is, and her coloration gives her striking resemblance to Nightmare Moon! However her eyes are definitely different. And from what I have learned about her leads me to think that she is peaceful in nature. However she seems to be an enigma, I could really use your advice and I await your quick response. Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle