Prologue

“Oak? Are you done packing your things? We’re leaving in a hour or so, so you better start hustling.”

“All right mom.”

Mindlessly, I shuffled through the piles of dirty clothes and other belongings before me, deciding which should go in the trash and which I should take with me. At least I have that much control over my life.

I sat down on my bed, fiddling with a stray sock I found on the floor, and thought about the past couple of weeks. I finally graduated from my elementary school with flying colors.I no longer have to deal with the kids that give me grief every day since I ever started school. After school ended, I hung out with my small circle of friends the entire summer. Me, Jerry, and Urnie have been best friends since 3rd grade, and we did everything together. When the jerks in our school would harass one of us, the rest of us would help cheer him up, no matter what. Every summer we would hang out, but this summer was extra special since we graduated 8th grade. We would never have to go to our crummy middle school ever again. What’s better, we’re all going to the same high school, so we can still be together.

Or at least that’s what I thought.

My parents told me two weeks before school started that we were moving away.

They said that Louis K. high school was a terrible school, with a low graduation rate of 76%, and that they want better for me. They told me about this other school, Canterlot High, and said that it was the best school in the district. I didn’t want none of it. I argued that my only two friends were going to Louis K, and I wanted to be in the same school with people I know. Then they started spewing crap about how, “I can make new friends”, and that, “They’ll be fine without you.” I wanted to argue more, but they said that it was too late. Their mind was made up and that we were moving to another house closer to Canterlot High.

I knew that my time with Jerry and Urnie was running short, and that I have to tell them myself what’s going on instead of their parents telling them. I called both of them the night before the move, and told them to meet me at the park at six, and that they better show up.

I went to the park 30 minutes before just to make sure I’m not making them wait. I went to our usual hangout spot, the tree by the soccer field, and found out that they had the same idea as well. “Hey Oak,” Urnie said.”what’s up?”

“Yeah, I was having a sandwich before you called,” Jerry said.

I took a good look at my fellow comrades for what could be our last meeting. Jerry a little on the scrawny side, but anyone could look skinny if they’re over 6 feet tall. His height is the primary reason he gets teased, that and his underdeveloped muscles. Couldn’t do more than 5 push-ups, but he is a pretty smart guy. Not Einstein smart, but above average. Urnie has the strength and the average intelligence, but is pretty obese.(also the primary reason he is a outcast) Jerry and Urnie are pretty cool when you get to know them. Jerry like to read a lot and Urnie likes to play board games and video games and pretty much anything that’s under the category of “games”. Jerry likes to run and Urnie the more stay-at-home type. I took a long look at the two guys that made my life bearable.

“Uh, Oak?” Urnie asked.

“Yeah,” I said, remembering all the good times we had together.

“You’ve been staring at us for the past couple of seconds. It’s getting creepy.”

“Oh, right,” I said, shaking out of my reverie.

“Soooo.”

“So what?” I asked naively.

Jerry was getting impatient. “You called us to come over here to talk. What is it?”

“Oh, right.” I deflated a little. Jerry and Urnie looked at each other with blank faces, then simultaneously said to me, “What’s wrong?”

I told them that I was going to go away to another school, that I had to move away and that right now could be the last time that they ever see me again. I knew that they were upset. The more I explained, the sadder they got, and when I was done, they had full-blown frowns on their faces. “Are you sure you’re going away?” Jerry asked as he sat down to take all the information in. “You’re not messing with us, are you?”

“Jerry, you know that I would never joke about this kind of thing. You guys are my best friends in the entire world,” I pleaded, but I knew I was just depressing them more. Urnie looked at me in the eye and said with a straight face, “You said that we will always be best friends. That we will never leave each other.” “No Urnie, we can still be best friends-”

“But YOU LIED! LIAR! YOU ARE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH AND I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” Urnie spat in my face. I was hurt. Urnie never yelled at anyone, and especially not at us.

At me.

At this point, the only option there was left was to leave. I ran from the park.I ran from my friends, my old life as I know it.

I ran from happiness, and I didn’t looked back.

I remembered each and every moment in vivid detail. I wanted to tell them that it wasn’t my fault. It was my parents’ doing. I wanted to tell them that if I had the choice to stay here, with my two best friends, or to leave to some “better future”, I would always choose friendship.

But it was too late. From that moment on, I have no friends. Again.

Also from that moment on, I knew two things in my life were certain:

1. I will never forgive my parents for the pain they caused me.

2. Canterlot High will be the worst thing that ever happened to me.

I know I’m being negative about this whole situation, but honestly, is there anything positive about this?

That’s what I thought.

I got up from my bed and started packing my belongings at a much faster rate, now fueled by my anger at the world. If they want to be like that, fine, I thought furiously, they could jump off a cliff for all I care. I looked to my side to find a picture frame,on the dresser, of Me, Jerry, and Urnie at the zoo. Urnie was eating a corn dog while pointing at the Lion exhibit , and me and Jerry were behind him because we were scared of the lion. I picked up the frame and soon warm memories came to me, followed soon by my hatred of their betrayal. I took out the picture from the frame and ripped it down the line, separating me from Jerry and Urnie. I shoved my half in my pocket and threw theirs in the waste basket. I am alone, and I will always be alone.

I closed the luggage and started my way down the stairs of the house.

Always.

I put my luggage in the mover van and went to the car, where my backstabbing parents are waiting. I got inside and didn’t say a word. Both my parents looked back at me with those sadistic smiles of theirs and said cheerfully, “Ready?” I looked at them with all the disgust I could muster. They stopped smiling. I smirked at myself for causing them to frown. Maybe I was the sadistic one?

It was Mom who spoke first. “Oak, listen-”

“Let it go Maple. He’ll come around soon enough.”

“But Red-”

“Trust me on this. He just needs to...adjust, that’s all. Just give him some space.”

The conversation ended, but not my hate for them both. Dad started the engine, soon leaving behind my home, as well as my memories made there. I didn’t want to look back, but I couldn’t help myself. I turned around to look at my house for the last time when I saw the most heart-wrenching thing in my entire life.

Jerry and Urnie waving good-bye.

After we pulled up to the new house, (which is similar in layout with my old one, so I didn’t have much trouble finding my way around) I packed away my things as best as I could, convinced myself that I’ll do it tomorrow, and laid down on my bed (which the movers just got in, as well as the rest of the heavy furniture.) I put my hands behind my head and thought about the events of today once again, the hate still bubbling inside me. I took out my phone and looked at my contact info. Even though Jerry and Urnie are no longer my friends, I couldn’t bring myself to trash their information. I just couldn’t. It was like, if I deleted it, I practically deleted them from existence. I know that I might need to talk to them one day. Hopefully, over time, they might forgive me for being a traitor, for making them lose their only friend they got. A small part of me wants their forgiveness more than anything.

The rest of me wants to ring their necks.

I rolled to the side. I didn’t do anything wrong! I thought. They should be begging at my feet for forgiveness, not the other way around! Fueled up with rage once again, I got up and grabbed the nearest object I could find: a shoe. It. Wasn’t. My. FAULT! and I threw the shoe at the wall.

The shoe cracked the wall.

I took deep, agitated breaths as I looked at the damage I done. It wasn’t a big crack, nothing more bigger than a forefinger, but it was big enough to be noticed. Luckily, the crack was located behind the door, so it was easily concealed. But I didn’t care about the damage.

I want revenge.
I do not like being ignored. I do not like being cast out.
And I especially do not like being betrayed.
Wait, what am I thinking?!?

I sat down on the bed again and tried to calm myself down. Am I thinking about causing harm to my friends? Soon, I became scared of myself. I had full intentions to hurt them in any way possible and I didn’t even think twice about it. I put my face in my hands.

I’m a monster.

I shook my head as if I had a bug on me. No, I’m not. I got up from my bed and took a good look at myself through the mirror I had in my room.

At 5’11”, I was almost as tall and wiry as Jerry, but not quite. I was as broad as Urnie, but not quite. I was… in the middle. I was not too wiry, but not too broad. Not too tall, but not too short like Urnie.

I’m average.

I took a deep breath and went back to my bed, this time for actual sleep. I turned off my bedside lamp. I needed to get as much sleep as possible.

I have school tomorrow, after all. Great.

I didn’t wake up in any special way, no vision of foretold danger or some destiny I had to fulfill. Just… average. I ate my breakfast: Cereal. I got all my stuff together and put it in my backpack. Canterlot High doesn’t have a specific dress code, so I put on a pair of worn blue jeans and a plain red shirt. After I made sure I had everything I needed, I waited by the door. “Mom!” I called, “I’m ready for school… I guess.”

“Go on ahead oak,” mom called from atop the stairs, “the school isn’t far away from here. Just head on down to the right of the house for a couple of blocks and you’ll find it.”

“Ok,” I yelled. “I love you!”

“Me too. Now go! You’re going to be late!”

“Alright,” I yelled again.”Bye.”

I walked in the direction Mom told me to walk and pretty soon, I… HOLY SMOKES, IT’S HUGE!

My jaw literally dropped.

It was a giant building with a statue of a horse standing on it’s rear ends at the front of it. It looked more like a castle than a school, with a round dome at the top center of it that also made it look like a observatory. I was surprised. No wonder it’s the best school in the district, I thought, just look at it! I deflated a little. I am going to get seriously lost.

Well, no point just standing here.

So with that in mind, I walked to the entrance of the school. I headed for the entrance when I saw the prettiest girl to ever walk the earth.

You wouldn’t really notice her through the crowd, since she’s passing out flyers for something by the statute and not really trying to stand out, but I could notice her from a mile away. She was wearing a plain white tank top and a green skirt with pink underlining and three butterflies on the bottom right corner, all different shades of pink. To top it off, she had green knee-high boots with pink socks. I’m in love.

I started towards her, but I remembered that I had to get to class by 8:30 A.M or I’ll be late. I looked at my watch. 8:20.

I got time.

I went to her, passing and bumping through the crowd of students around me, until I finally got through the crowd and was now in front of the statue.

There she was in all her beauty.

I made a straight beeline for her until I was right in front of her. My heart is beating at rates that aren't healthy, but I don’t care. This is fate. She is the silver lining to my stormy day, and I am not losing her that quickly.

I’m about to say something when she interrupted me with a flyer in my face.

“Um… excuse me… would you like to adopt these poor creatures? They are in desperate need of care and attention,” she whispered.

I took the flyer, so that I won’t seem rude. It had some pictures of dogs, cats, even a ferret. It also included a address to the location of the animal shelter and their website. I noticed that the girl had a huge stack of these flyers. She must volunteer at the local shelter, I thought. I smiled on the inside. She’s so nice.

“Um… I don’t mean to be rude… but why are you smiling?”

Crud. I smiled on the outside as well.

I wiped the smile off my face and asked her, “What’s your name?”

She grabbed her elbow with her other hand, looking very nervous all of a sudden. It made my heart melt. She’s so sweet. “Um… my name’s… Fluttershy,” she said in a small whisper.

“Uh, what was that?”

“I said my name’s… Fluttershy.”

Oh man, she was one of those really shy types. This might take a while.

“Look, I don’t want you to be nervous around me. I’m not a bad guy,” I said. She just kept looking down on the ground, looking extremely uncomfortable. “Maybe, if we got to know each other a little more, we can get along. Look, I’ll start: My name is Oak Wood,” then I reached out my right hand for a handshake.

Big mistake.

The girl let out a high-pitched squeak and backed off suddenly, as if I’m brandishing a knife. I put my outstretched hand down and looked down to the ground. I really am a monster. Then I did something I have never done in a long time: I cried.

They weren’t big, whooping cries. Just silent tears. They felt warm across my cheeks, and I couldn’t help wiping them. I did a couple of sniffles and kept rubbing at my eyes to stop the tears, before she looks at me, but I couldn’t. With all that was going on, I needed a little reassurance at I wasn’t some hell-bent monster who wanted to destroy everything he holds dear. But this chick, backing off like some abused animal backing off from it’s tormenter, really got me. I’m a monster, and even she knows it.

At this point, I stopped hiding my tears. I just let them fall, letting nature take it’s course. I looked up to see if the girl was still there, or if she left in fear of me. She was there all right, but what surprised me more was that she had tears in her eyes too.

She spoke in a shaky voice. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to make you upset. It’s just that I’m a little shy around strangers. I got scared when you came in front of me, so I kinda panicked,” she got close to me and gave me a hug. “My name is Fluttershy. It is very nice to meet you.”

Her embrace made me feel warm and fuzzy, inside and out. Since she was a little shorter than me, I had to bend down a little. She smelled like a flowers and, surprising enough, a mixture of different animals. She let go of me after a while and I was still shocked from the embrace. Fluttershy asked me, “Um… what was your name again?” “Oak Wood,” I said with a bit uncertainty.

“Okay, Oak Wood. Um… so would you like to help the animals?” she asked.

“Oh, uh, I can’t have pets in my house. My parents don’t like pets,” I said awkwardly.

“No, that’s ok. But can you help out at the shelter? They’ll really appreciate the extra help.

“Uh, sure. Yeah, I could do that-” that’s when I felt a soft tugging at my leg.

I looked down to see some form of blue energy around my leg. Before I could say anything, I felt a sharp tug that sent me sprawling on my back. “Oh, my!” Fluttershy exclaimed. Before I could recover, I was being dragged towards the base of the statue. “Hey! What the heck is going on? HELP!” I clawed at the ground and looked around for anything I could latch on to. I thought I was done for, but Fluttershy grabbed my hand and pulled against the unknown force. I looked back to see where the invisible force was taking me. To my horror, I realized that half my lower body was in the statute.

I was half-in the freaking statue!

With the unknown force tugging at my leg and Fluttershy pulling at my arm, I felt like I was going to be pulled apart. I’m surprised she was this strong, but I could feel her grip loosening. I have no idea what is going on, but my intuition told me that going in the statute would be bad. I don’t want to go in, but I don’t want Fluttershy to get dragged into wherever I was going. “Fluttershy, let go of me!” I pleaded.

“No! What if there’s something bad in there?” she squealed.

Hm, never thought of that.

But I couldn’t take the chance of dragging her along as well. I did the only thing I could think of: I pried her hands from me. “What are you doing?” she yelled. “I can’t drag you with me.” I yelled back. “You said so yourself, there could be something bad in there.” With all the strength I had, I pulled free, letting the invisible force take me. “See you!” and I was gone.

Fluttershy looked at the base of the statute for a long time, and didn’t stop until the bell rang. But how, she thought, It was supposed to be closed. I saw it close with the others…the others! Fluttershy grabbed her bag and hastily put the flyers in there, making sure to avoid hurting the critters she had in her backpack. She closed her pack and ran to the doors of Canterlot High. I must tell the others!

I woke up with sore legs and sore arms.

I looked around to see...a room. I was a bit dazed, so I didn’t take into detail the entire room, but from what I could see in my semi-conscious state, the room was made of crystal.

Crystal?

I turned around to find a mirror behind me. It was a very nice mirror, the frame being in the shape of a horseshoe. I tried to get up, but was too weak. I turned back around to find a white horse.

I nearly wet myself.

It was a large white horse, but it didn’t look like a horse you see on T.V or in a book. No, this horse was larger than myself, and had both wings and a horn on the top of it’s head. I must of hit my head really hard.

“Are you alright?” the horse asked.

It can talk?!?

My senses were sharp once again and my fatigue wear off instantly. I jumped up and tried to back away, but fell over. Something didn’t feel… right. I looked down and nearly jumped out of my skin.

I’m a horse!

From my hooves to the top of my head, I looked like a horse. The thing was, I was emerald green and when I looked around, I had wings.

I have freakin wings!

Before I could say or do anything, the horse lit up it’s horn with the same color aura like the one that grabbed my leg. “I am terribly sorry, but for this to work, you can’t remember anything about your world. I hope you make the best of this situation.” The horn grew brighter, then I saw a flash.

Then nothing.

I woke up in a field. I was a bit groggy, so I didn’t bother finding out where I am. I laid on my side to try to go back to sleep. I’m about to close my eyes ,but in the distance, I see a purple horse coming in my direction. As she came closer, I noticed that it had a look of concern on it’s face and was coming to me at a rather fast pace. I had a ringing in my ears, but I swear I could her a girl’s voice. When the horse got to me, it rolled onto my back, which was uncomfortable since there was something on my back. I tried to focus, but in my semi-conscious state, that was near impossible. I noticed the ringing stopped in my ears, so I could hear the voice clearly. It was coming from the purple horse.

“...going to get you some help, ok? Can you hear me? Listen, I will get you to the hospital as soon as I can. Just hang in there and let me get Rainbow Dash. She’s a much better flyer than I am. My name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”

Huh. Talking horses. Then I went back to sleep.

Chapter 1: Amnesia and Hooves

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I have no idea where I am. I have been awake for what seemed like hours. Ok, that’s a lie. I’m semi-conscious. This has got to be the third or fourth time I woke up semi-conscious. I never bothered opening my eyes since the light was too harsh. I heard voices. I’m assuming they were the hospital staff. They kept saying stuff like “extreme fatigue” and “lot’s of rest”, so I think I’ll be alright. Weird though, I dreamed about talking horses. Man, this sucks more than the time I… I…

I can’t remember anything.

This is bad.

How can I not remember anything? Think… wait, what’s my name? I racked my mind to think of anything that might be useful. Nothing. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know where I’m from. I don’t even remember what I ate last night.

Now I’m scared.

I open my eyes to the harsh light. I squinted a bit so I could adjust. I took a couple of seconds, but I could finally see where I am.

It looks like a hospital, with curtains around what I assume to be other patients. I looked to the side to see a heart monitor. It’s beeping steadily. I guess that’s good. I traced the wire to my… OH MY GOODNESS!

I looked in shock at my hoof. Wait, why am I surprised? It’s just my hoof. I looked at it some more, but something was nagging at the back of my head that’s telling me that I shouldn’t have them. But then… what should I have? I tried once more to remember my past. Nothing. All I remember was a purple pony that talks. Wait. I took a good look at myself. I’m a horse. And I’m pretty sure I could talk. To confirm, I said hello in the empty room. Okay, so talking horses aren’t weird, but why did I think they were? Something strange was definitely going on, but for now I guess I have to wing it.

I did not realize how funny that statement was until the nurse came in.

“Excuse me,” the nurse said as she walked into the hospital room. “I have a visitor for… um… unknown pegasus #1.” She looked at me and said, “that must be you, dear. Come on in Twilight!”

Wait, pegasus?

I may have lost my memories, but I knew what a pegasus was. I looked at my back. Sure enough, I had wings. They were emerald green like the rest of my body. I wiggled them a bit to make sure they’re real. Cool.

“Um, what are you looking at?” the purple horse known as Twilight asked as she walked in and took a seat.

“Uh, just checking if I had wings,” I said nonchalantly.

“Why are you checking? Shouldn’t you already know?”

I stopped looking at my wings and focused on Twilight. The first thing I noticed was that she had both wings and a horn. I don’t know why it struck me as odd, it just did. She had a light purple coat and a dark blueish mane, highlighted with different shades of purple and pink.

That’s a lot of purple.

“Well,” I said, “I don’t exactly know a lot of things. You see, um, I can’t seem to remember anything from my past. The only thing I remember is a purple pony…” a sudden realization hit me. “Did you bring me here?” I asked.

“Yes, well no,” Twilight said. “I got my friend Rainbow Dash to help me. I’m not exactly used to…” she spread out her wings. “... these yet. I just got them.”

“Wait, you just got them? How does that work?”

“Um, it’s a long story…” she stopped herself and looked like she just remembered something. “Wait, you can’t remember anything?”

“Nope. Nothing. Not even my name.”

Twilight leaned forward in her chair and studied me. Then she got up from her chair and paced around the room, me following her with my eyes. “Hmmm. Sounds like textbook amnesia to me.” She turned towards me.

“Do you remember where you are from?”

“Nope.”

“Who you are?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“How about what you ate last night?”

This is getting ridiculous. “Look, let’s just assume for the moment that I cannot remember anything before the moment you found me, alright?”

She looked apologetic. “Sorry. It’s just that I never met a pony who had amnesia before.” Then her face lit up and she gasped. “I have to take you home and study you! This will be a great opportunity for me!”

I leaned back into my bed. My gut was telling me that the hospital was the safest place for me. “Uh, that’s fine. I don’t mind staying here. Anyway, I gotta make sure I get a full recovery.”

At that moment, the nurse walked in. “Excuse me, Unknown Pegasus #1? You’re free to go now. I just need you to fill out the paperwork.” She walked over to my bed and plopped a clipboard filled with papers and gave me a pen.

I looked at her funny and said, “Excuse me. I can’t hold the pen.” Then I showed her my hooves. She returned a smile and said playfully, “Ha, ha. Very funny.” She looked at Twilight and said, “He’s such a kidder.” Then the nurse walked to the door. “Oh,” she stopped at the door. ”call me when you’re done, dear.” Then she walked out.

I looked at the monstrous stack before me. Then at the pen. Both very problematic. I read the first page. It discussed form of payment. Payment? Great, lets see what I owe. I looked at the area that was highlighted and nearly had a heart attack. 3,000 bits! They’re trying to put me back in the hospital! I looked at Twilight for help. “Listen, Ms. Sparkle. I don’t have this kind of cash!” The clipboard was surrounded by a magneta aura and flew to Twilight. I noticed that her horn was glowing the same color. “Hey, how did you do that?” I asked.

“What, use magic? It’s easy. Any unicorn, or in my case alicorn, can use magic to lift objects.” Then she dug through the paperwork. “Well, this is simple. We can explain your situation to the hospital staff. I’m sure they understand and won’t make you fill out your contact info since, well, you don’t know it. As for the money, I’ll cover the costs.”

“Ms. Sparkle, I can’t let you do that. It’s a lot of cash and-”

“It’s fine. I have more than enough to cover the costs.”

“Really?”

“Yes. All I ask of you is to come home with me so I can run some tests, maybe even find a way to get your memory back.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like I have a choice.”

“Great! I’ll just explain the situation to the nurse, pay the fee, and we’ll get going.”

After Twilight paid the fee and got me out of there, I got a chance to get a good look around me. It looks like I’m in some kind of town. There are shops and houses and restaurants and a bunch of other buildings. What intrigued me more was that the whole town was filled with multi-colored ponies. I have no idea why that struck me as weird, since I’m a emerald green horse myself, but I guess that wherever I came from wasn’t infested with ponies.

Twilight walked me through the town (which I later found out was called Ponyville. Weird name.) and talked about how I was gonna like it here and how she was once new here as well. She kept talking about princesses, and friendship, and something about the elements of harmony. I stopped listening. I was more concerned about how natural it feels to walk on four legs. Back at the hospital, I tried getting out of my bed on two legs, but quickly fell over. After that, I just stopped trying and walked on four. It’s less painful that way.

I was gonna ask how long it would take to get to her house when something caught my eye. I looked to my side to see a peach-colored pony with curled pink and blue streaked hair. She had a picture of three pieces of candy on both her flanks. She was outside a shop called “Sugar Cube Corner”. What caught my attention about her was that she was holding a cupcake. With her hoof.

She was holding a cupcake. With her friggin hoof.

My mind just blew up.

How is that possible? I looked at Twilight. She was still talking nonsense, something about changelings and her sister-in-law. Whatever it is, she was distracted. I walked toward the direction of the bakery and went up to the pony. Without even thinking, I asked her, ”Excuse me,” She acknowledged me, “but how are you holding that cupcake?”

She gave me a weird look and said, “I just hold it.”

“Yeah, but how ?

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, there is nothing for you to latch on to that cupcake. So, by the laws of physics and gravity, there should be no possible way you could hold anything, let alone a cupcake.”

“Uh…”

I was gonna ask her more stuff but Twilight got between the both of us. “There you are! I lost track of you back there.” She turned back to the physics-defying pony and said to her, “Sorry Bon-Bon. He’s new around here. He just lost his memory and he needs to adjust.”

“Riiiiight,” Bon-Bon said suspiciously.

Twilight turned back to me and pushed me away from Bon-Bon. “Come on, er, guy.”

“But I want to ask her-”

“I will answer all of your questions when we get to my house.”

“But, cupcake! Physics!”

“Let’s go!” With a forceful shove, I got the idea that I was scaring the poor pony.

A couple of minutes after the “Bon-Bon” incident, Twilight stopped and said to me, “Here we are!” I looked around, but all I could see was a giant tree. No way that’s her house. But surprising enough, she walked to a door I did not see earlier, and opened it with her magic. She waited by the door. “Aren’t you coming in?” she asked.

I assumed the question was rhetorical, so I walked into the tree. So, she lives in a tree. How weird. I back tracked to this morning. Well, so many things have been weird that I guess it’s normal. I looked around as Twilight shut the door.

It looked more like a library than a house, the walls had book shelves etched in them, each bookshelf packed to the brim with books. To the left of me, there was a staircase that must lead to the bedrooms.To the right, a staircase that lead down to the basement. It had this earthy/musty/home-ish kind of smell, so I felt at ease.

I couldn’t enjoy the atmosphere for long, because Twilight shouted, “Come with me!” and dragged me to the basement stairs. As I walked down, I noted the big machines and wires and other lab equipment. Twilight pointed at a chair with leather restraints on the foreleg rests. “Take a seat over there,” she said casually, as if she does this every day. I quickly became weary of the chair. “Um, I’m fine.” I turned to head back upstairs, but I was soon lifted into the air, enveloped in magenta aura. I flailed in the air, but to no avail. I flew to the death chair, sat down, and was restrained. I struggled at the bounds, but no use. “ Hey, what’s the big idea?” I asked.

“I just need to make sure you don’t break anything while I’m running the tests,” she explained, apathy in her voice. She walked over to me and placed a metal helmet of some kind, with cables and wires of all sorts of colors connected to it. I traced the cables to a machine. “I’m gonna try to find out why you lost your memory, and how I can get it back,” She said as she secured the straps.

“Isn’t there a better way to do it than tying me down in a creepy basement?” I asked hysterically.

“Calm down. I’m not gonna try to hurt you. That helmet is just to measure your brain activity.”

“Then what’s with the straps?”

“Just in case.”

“Just in case for what?”

Twilight thought about it. “I dunno. Just in case. You can never be too careful.”

The machine connected to the helmet started humming and paper started spewing out. Twilight grabbed the paper with her magic and studied it. It was a long minute until she put the paper on her desk, took off my helmet, and removed the restraints. “Well, good news is that the cause of your Amnesia was not due to any physical blow to your skull,” she said with a cheerful smile. “The bad news is that I still don’t know the actual cause of your amnesia is. I’m gonna have to hit the books for this one.” She walked up the stairs, and I followed suit. We got back to the non-creepy-very-nice living room and Twilight started to look around her bookcases. As she was looking around, I heard the front door open and close, so I turned around.

I almost wet myself.

Standing at the door, scales and all, was a dragon. It was a small dragon, but a dragon no less. It walked through the door, saw me, and stood still. I think it’s studying me. I stood still as well, almost rigid, just to make sure that I won’t make sudden movement that might provoke it to attack me. Wait. I looked for Twilight. She was still looking through books and humming. Humming. She’s gonna get us both eaten.

She must not have heard the door. I slowly inched toward Twilight, the dragon still eyeing me, and whispered to her, “Twilight.”

She turned around to look at me, but I quickly said, “Don’t… move… “

She stood rigid as well. “Why not?” she whispered nervously.

“Don’t panic, but there is a small dragon in your house.”

She visibly relaxed and said to me, “That’s just Spike.” She turned around and faced the dragon. “Hey Spike. How’s was Rarity’s?”

“She was fine,” Spike said with a dreamy smile. They both looked at me.

I stood there with my jaw dropped. “Ugh. You know what?” I said, “I’m not even surprised anymore.” I looked at the roof and screamed at the top of my lungs, “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!”

Spike gave me a weird look and and turned to Twilight. “Who’s the stallion with the red mane?”

Twilight took a deep breath. “I fill you in later. Actually, I’m glad you got here. Can you help me find a book about Amnesia?”

“Sure Twilight,” he said. He walked to the ladder by the bookcases, took a good look at me, then rolled the ladder to another bookshelf. He climbed the ladder, took out a book, then climbed down. He walked to Twilight, and gave her the book. He took another good look at me, and said, “Why don’t you have a cutie mark?”

“I’m sorry… a what?” I asked with confusion.

“A cutie mark.” When he saw my confused look, he explained, “You know, A picture that shows your special talent on your flank? You get it when you discover your special talent.”

“Wait, is that why every pony I see has a picture on their flanks? I just thought the whole town was going through some sort of tattoo fad.”

“A what fad?”

“Uh, never mind.” I lifted up my wings and looked at my rear. Sure enough, no picture on my flank. “Hey, uh, Spike? Am I supposed to have one?”

“Well yeah.”

“Actually,” Twilight said as she looked through the book, “There has been some rare cases where full-grown stallions and mares still don’t have cutie marks. Usually it’s due to the fact that they haven’t found their special talent yet.” She looked up from her book and at me. “Don’t worry. Everyone always find their purpose in life, so don’t push too hard to find yours.”

She went back to reading. After a while she exclaimed, “Aha! Found it!” She read out loud, “ ‘Most recorded cases of Amnesia in Equestria are often caused by a physical blow to the skull, usually causing damage to the brain and inducing temporary memory loss. It can also be caused by magic, usually a spell gone wrong or an intentional memory loss spell. There are two forms of memory spells: Temporary and Permanent. The duration of a temporary memory loss spell depends on the unicorn’s magic skill level. Only a high magic level Unicorn, or a Alicorn, can perform a Permanent memory loss spell. Both forms can be reversed by a Unicorn or Alicorn who has a higher magic level than the Unicorn or Alicorn who performed it. To see the counterspell, turn to page 46.’ This is great! We can get your memory back and get you home!”

Twilight flipped to page 46 and read the counterspell. “Looks simple enough.” She closed the book and turned to me. “All right. I gonna need you to sit still.”

“Wait,” I objected, “you’re gonna try it on me? Shouldn’t you practice first?”

“ I don’t have anyone to practice on. You’re the only stallion I know of who has Amnesia.”

“Uhhhh.”

“Don’t you want your memories back?”

That really got me thinking. Do I want my memories back? Well, I hate being confused all the time. I want to know more than anything where I’m from. Who I am.

What I had for dinner last night.

I put on a brave face and said to Twilight, “Do it.”

Her horn glowed Magenta and I closed my eyes and braced myself. I felt a ticklish sensation, like little feathers on my body, and started to giggle. Then the ticklish sensation turned into poking. Then to jabbing. Then into painful stabbing. Soon, I was screaming in pain from the sensation of 1000 knives digging into my body at every angle. I want it to stop. I can’t take the pain. I heard Spike yell out, “Twilight, you’re hurting him!” Then, before I blacked out, I remembered something. A name.

Oak Wood.

Jeez, this must be the 5th or 6th time I woke up from being unconscious.

I woke up in a bed, but not in a hospital bed. I know I’m still in the tree. I can see the wood from where I’m laying. Wait, wood. Wood. Oak. Wood.

Oak Wood.

I remember. Before I blacked out, that name popped in my head. Oak Wood. I can’t help but think of me when I say the name. Oak Wood. I think that’s my name.

I try to remember more, but still nothing. Just Oak Wood. It’s small, but it’s a start.

I took a good look around me. I think I’m in the second floor of the tree house. (Get it? It’s a house in a tree? Oh forget it.) I see the stairs that lead me to the main second floor, and the stairs that leads to the first floor. There are also bookshelves here, full of books, and to the right of my bed, a window. I looked out the window. It was a nice view. I could see the whole town from here, shrouded in darkness that is the night, houses with their lights on that make them look like stars… Wait, night?

NIGHT?!?! HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN OUT?!?!

I jumped out of bed and took the stairs down. I got to the living room to see Twilight reading a book by candlelight. “Ah,” she said as she put the book down, “you’re awake. You alright?”

“My name is Oak Wood,” I said without hesitation.

Twilight got up quickly from her chair and walk over to me. “You remember your name?”

“Yeah. My name is Oak Wood!” I said enthusiastically.

“Do you remember anything else?” Twilight asked urgently.

“Uh, no. But I remember my name. That’s good enough, right?”

Twilight looked depressed. “Yeah, that’s good enough.”

Twilight went back to her chair in a dismal manner and sat down. She took a low-spirited sigh and opened her book to where she left off.

“What’s wrong, Ms. Sparkle?”

“Please, call me Twilight.” She rubbed a hoof over her face and sighed. “I’m happy that you can recall your name, but the fact that you can’t remember anything else tells me that I didn’t do the spell right. I let you down.” She closed her book, obviously not in the mood to read, and looked down.

She’s really depressed. I walked over to her and sat down on the ground next to her. “Look, Ms. Spar… Twilight,” I said sincerely, “It’s not your fault. Didn’t that book say that you needed to be more powerful than the person who did it, or something like that?” I got in front of her. She looked up so we can make eye contact. “I know you tried your best, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you’re best isn’t enough. Anyway, you helped me remember my name, so it wasn’t a complete loss, right?”

“Yes, I guess you’re right.”

“See?” I got up and headed to the stairs leading to the second floor. “Come on. I think we both need some well deserved sleep.”

Twilight smiled and said, “What are you talking about? You’ve been unconscious for half the day!” We both walked up the stairs to the second floor. When we got there, I asked, “Hey, what happened to that dragon?”

“Oh, Spike’s in front of the bed,” Then she pointed to where Spike is. Sure enough, he’s sound asleep in a basket, covered in a blanket.

“Oh.” I made my way to the bed I found myself in earlier. “What are you doing?” Twilight asked with accusation in her voice.

“I’m gonna go to bed. Why?”

“That’s my bed. You are sleeping on the floor.”

“How am I gonna do that?”

Twilight used her magic to pull out a sleeping bag from under the bed. She rolled it out and put it on the ground next to Spike’s bed. “There, problem solved.” She got to her bed and covered herself with her blanket. I looked at the sleeping bag, got in it, and closed my eyes.

“Oh, Oak?” Twilight said in the darkness.

“Yeah?” I called back in the darkness without opening my eyes.

“Tomorrow, I’m gonna show you around the town with some of my good friends, so get lot’s of rest.”

“All right. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Then I heard an abrupt snoring sound coming from Twilight’s bed.

Ugh, I thought as I cover my ears, this is going to be a long night. A what now?

It's a shade of purple.

This was up there before, but... Twilight gave him her whole life story? Just curious.

Yes. She is very informative.

Wow, Twilight letting an unknown stallion sleep in her room? I would have given him the couch lol

I would too, but its equestria. You know, no things to worry about like rape or robbery.

Chapter 2: Don't forget about us!

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Fluttershy watched in horror as the boy named Oak Wood disappeared into the base of the statue.

She simply sat there on the grass and stared at the base of the statue as she tried to make sense of what just happened. She wanted to curl up in a little ball and cry about how incompetent and useless she is and how she failed to save Oak. She tried to contain her fear and anxiety by taking deep breaths, but nothing seemed to work. Her eyes never left the statute as she began to assume the worst, tears welling up in her eyes. He could be in some scary place right now, filled with monsters and bad people and things that might want to hurt him. I can’t even begin to think what he’s dealing with right now, and-

Wait. Isn’t that the place where Twilight went back home?

She closed her eyes and remembered the days when Twilight Sparkle came into her life. She remembered how she stood up for her when Sunset Shimmer was insulting her in the hall, how she helped her reunite with all of her other friends, and how they defeated Sunset after she turned into some… bat… thing…

That was a scary night.

Most of all, she remembered how they had fun together after the battle. The dancing, laughing, and the group hugged their foreign friend for the last time before she left into the same base of the statue she saw Oak disappear into. Fluttershy relaxed a bit, knowing that wherever Oak was, Twilight was there to help him.

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes. I should tell everyone what happened. I know that the others would want to hear about this. They might even be able to help me.

On cue, the bell rang. The students that were milling around the entrance began to head inside. Oh, I’m gonna be late for class! She got up from the ground, grabbed her backpack, and headed inside the school.

“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow Dash said as she took a bite of her apple, “you’re saying that some guy-”

“Oak Wood,” Fluttershy interrupted.

“Yeah, whatever.”Rainbow Dash took another bite of her apple. “So you’re saying that this ‘Oak Wood’ guy went through the same base of the statute as Twilight?”

“Well, technically he was dragged into the statute, but yes, he went into the exact same statute Twilight went into.”

“I don’t believe it. We all saw the portal close. Pinkie tried to get in, but all she got was a face full of concrete.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie chirped as she drank her chocolate milk through a straw,” I tried to go through, but it was solid as a brick and I was super sad and disappointed that I couldn’t go with Twilight and hang out with her wherever she was, but then I remembered that if I went with Twilight, I wouldn’t be able to hang out with you guys and that cheered me up a lot.” She gave Fluttershy a big smile.

“Oh, right,” Fluttershy said.

After Geometry class was over and the lunch period started, she went to find her friends so she can tell them what happened at the statute and was hoping that they might help somehow. Now, she was beginning to think that they couldn’t help.

“Wait a minute everyone,” Applejack said, “if Fluttershy is right, then we might be able to see Twilight again. I don’t know about you gals, but if I had the chance to see our good friend Twilight, after all she done for us, I wouldn’t squander it. Also, we should try to help out that Oak fellow. Poor guy must be scared out of his mind. I know I would, being in some unknown place and no way to get home.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about him too much,” Rarity said to the whole group. “If he’s in the same place Twilight is, then we all can count on her to take good care of him.” She turned to Fluttershy. “But really, why do you worry about him so much? I could understand that anyone would worry if someone were to be in the same predicament as that Oak fellow, but you barely know him. Is it because of some other reason that you care about him so much, hmm?”

Fluttershy started to blush. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t see any other reason to worry about him for anything other that his safety. I just care, you know.”

“Hm, right,” Rarity said sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash got up from her seat and leaned forward, putting both hands on the table. “Well, I guess that settles it. After school, when everyone is gone, we’ll take a look at the statute. If Flutters is wrong, no big deal, but if she’s right, then we prepare.”

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash with timid curiosity. “Um, prepare for what, exactly?”

Rainbow Dash stared hard at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, if you’re right, then we are gonna go inside that portal and see Twilight. And save your boyfriend, of course.”

“H-He’s not my boyfriend!” Fluttershy whispered loudly.

“Ooh, ooh, can we have a big party for Twilight when we find her?”

Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Hard. “Yes Pinkie, we can have a party.”

“YIPPIE!!!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she threw up confetti into the air and showered everyone sitting in the table.

“Ugh, alright,” Rainbow Dash said, “so we’re in agreement. After school, all of us are going to check out the statute.”

Right then, the bell rang. Everyone in the cafeteria started throwing their trash away and started heading for their next classes. Rainbow Dash reminded the whole group. “Remember: Statute. After school.” Everyone gathered their things and went to their separate classes.

As the last bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Fluttershy packed up her backpack, making sure to be careful of her critter friends, and headed for the statute. As she walked down the halls, whispering the occasional “excuse me” and “sorry” as she squeezed through the thick crowds of students, she thought for the umpteenth time about Oak.

She doesn’t know why she keeps thinking about him so much. It’s true that she’s worried for his safety, but Rarity’s words kept bouncing around in her head.

Is it because of some other reason that you care about him so much?

She shook it off. She was sure there was no other reason. She only just met him, he got sucked into the statute, end of story. And yet…

She still remembers how they first met, when he started to shed tears. She had felt bad for Oak. She didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, but she got shy like she always did when people approach her. Then she remembered Pinkie’s advice about how a hug can do a lot for a person going through a tough situation. So that what she did.

He was shocked at first at the embrace, Fluttershy knew because she could feel his heart beats quickening and his muscles tensing up. After a couple of seconds, he relaxed and returned the hug, and for a moment she felt… warmth. Protection. She felt the strength in his arms and for that moment, she felt right.

She felt loved.

It wasn’t like she wasn’t loved enough. Her friends all love her the same and her parents love her very much as well. It was just that this love felt different. Deep. There was no other way to describe it.

Maybe Rarity was right. Maybe there was another reason.

Before she even knew it, she was at the front entrance of the school, the statute in her sight. She could see her friends hanging around the back of the statute, probably waiting on her. Fluttershy took a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing.

“There you are Fluttershy!” Applejack said as the ever-so-timid teenager walked towards them. “We’ve been waiting just about forever for you! What took you so long?”

“Um, the hall was crowded.”

“Yeah, whatever”, Rainbow Dash said with a dismissive hand. “You’re here now, so let’s get on with it.”

The group crowded around the statue, studying it with great intensity, looking for anything that might suggest an entrance to another world. After a couple of minutes, Rarity let out a sigh and said to Fluttershy, “Are you positively sure this is where he went?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure”

“You know,” Rainbow Dash said, “why are we just looking at it? I’m gonna take a closer look.” The courageous girl took a step forward to the statute, but was stopped by Applejack. “Hold on, there. We still don’t know if it’s safe to go near it yet.”

“What are you talking about? It’s a statute. Really Applejack, how could it possibly hurt anyone?” And with that, she continued on.

She inspected the statute closely first before rubbing her hands on the smooth surface of the base. After she thoroughly checked the front side, she moved on to the other sides. Once she was done, she knocked on the hard surface. “Yup, solid. Nothing going through here.”

Fluttershy deflated a little. “Are you sure?”

Rainbow Dash must of saw the disappointment in her friend’s eyes, because she went over to Fluttershy to embrace her in a small hug. “Flutters, sorry you couldn’t help out Oak, but you shouldn't worry."

"She's right darling," Rarity said as she joined the hug. "As I said before, if he's where Twilight is, Oak will be alright."

"And we'll try to figure out how he got sucked in, so we can get him out of there as fast as we can, you hear?" Applejack said as she also joined the hug.

"And until we get him back, we'll try to cheer you up if you get sad. And when he does get back from wherever he was, I'll throw a big welcome-back-from-another-dimension party!" Pinkie Pie said happily as she also joined the much-too-big group hug.

Even though Fluttershy's still upset about not being able to bring Oak back, she's glad that she has friends like these that'll help her no matter what. She only hopes that Oak has found Twilight and is taken care of.

"It's already eight o'clock Red, where is he?"

Red let out a worried sigh. "I don't know Maple. Oak should've been back by four."

Red and Maple Wood are sitting on the couch in the living room. They have been sitting there since five, worried sick about the whereabouts of their son. They waited by the home phone, which was on a small table to the right of the couch. To the left of the couch, was another table with a lamp on it. As they were waiting for the phone call that might never come, they were watching the channel seven news.

"Red, I can't take the waiting anymore. I'm calling the police." Maple reached for the phone, but was stopped by Red. "The police can't help us. Not at least until twenty-four hours passes."

"But by then, he'll already be long gone Red!" Maple said hysterically.

"Calm down, Map-"

Maple quickly got up from the sofa. "I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!!!"

Red stared at his wife in shock as she took deep, agitated breaths and looked at her husband with pure fury. "How can you be calm when our son is missing! Do you even care, Red? Do you even care that our son may never return home? I have seen news reports about missing children and how sometimes they never get found all the time and I think, 'That will never happen to me. My son will never leave me! He'll never disappear into thin air, never to be seen again.' Well now it happened! and instead of doing something about it, we are on our asses not even lifting a finger! Don't you understand Red? HE COULD BE DEAD AND YOU'RE TELLING ME TO CALL DOWN!!!"

She took a couple more labored breaths before Maple collapsed on the couch and started violently sobbing into her hands. Red stared at her sobbing figure before giving her a light hug around her shoulders. She cried for a couple more minutes before stopping. She raised her head up and looked at Red with red puffy eyes. "I'm sorry Red. It's just that I can't help but think he ran away because of us. He didn't want to move here, but we didn't care and we didn't listen. He wanted to stay with his friends, but we ignored him and told him he'll make new ones. We never listened to him, and now he's gone."

Red sat there silently as he listened to his wife’s mental afflictions and distress. Honestly, he doesn’t know what to do in this situation. Then again, how could he? How could he be prepared for the day when his son won’t come back home and his wife is becomes hysterical to a point where it becomes borderline madness?

Red gingerly embraced his wife again, worried that she might explode with rage again, but she accepted the hug. Maple never noticed how strong her husband’s arms were, probably due to his old job as a forest ranger. After the accident when a dead tree fell down and broke his leg, he was out of it for a while. He was worried that after the accident, he might never be able to work as a ranger again. She and Oak know how much Red loves his job. Every day, he’d talk about the fresh air and all the animals he saw, how happy he was that he has the greatest job in the world.

Of course, his worst fears was confirmed.

After the leg healed a few months later, the doctors said that he will no longer meet the physical requirements of a forest ranger. Red would have to work elsewhere in a less strenuous environment. Since he had graduated from high school, he was able to land a office job that paid handsomely well. Unfortunately, the location of the office was near the suburbs, which is why they had to move. Even though the job is utterly simple and required little to no effort, he hated every minute of it.

Every. Minute.

At least when he was a forest ranger, he got to do what he loved and got paid for it. Sure, most of the tasks he had to do were difficult, but in the end of the day, it was worth it. He used to get paid to do what he loved. Now he just gets paid. He’s a hollow shell of his former self, eaten away by loathing and self-pity. Reduced to nothing, he’s no longer a man.

But now he has to be strong. For Oak’s sake and Maple’s, he has to man up. He may have lost his job, but he’s not losing his son too.

Filled with new-found energy and purpose, Red quickly got up from his couch, surprising Maple. Red looked into her eyes and said, “Maple, I will not rest until Oak is safely back home. Do you understand me!”

Maple gawked at her husband, surprised by the sudden determination in his eyes. “Red…,” she murmured.

“I am the man of this house. It is my sole duty to protect my family, and if I can’t do that, then I’m not a man! I will get him back home, you hear me! First thing in the morning, I’m gonna call the police and look for Oak myself!” With that, he walked up the stairs to the bedroom.

Maple looked back at the T.V. It was still displaying the news, now showing the weather forecast for the week. Maple reached for the remote and turned the T.V off. She stared at the blank T.V and smiled. She hasn’t seen that flame of determination in a long time.

She turned her head to the window. This may be mother’s intuition, but she had a feeling that Oak will be just fine.

Celestia looked at the mirror as the events of the day unfolded. She watched as the parents cope with their lost son, as the five friends attempt to rescue a stranger. She walked away from the mirror and towards the exit. She sighed as she walked, a single thought plaguing her mind and will plague her mind from now on until Oak is returned to his world.

Am I doing the right thing?

Chapter 3: Twilight's gonna cut me!

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Ugh, I’m exhausted.

I got up from the floor with a sore back and a stiff neck. I can already taste the morning breath and feel the bags under my eyes. Man, I woke up more tired than when I went to sleep last night, thanks to Ms. Purple pony’s snoring. Honestly, she needs to get a better pillow. I was half-tempted to stuff something down her throat to shut her up, but that’s not a very nice thing to do to a pony who gave you a place to sleep. Don’t bite the hoof that feeds you, that’s the moral of the day.

I got up from the oh-so-comfortable floor and looked at the empty basket. Right, the dragon. Heh, dragons. It was a small dragon, but a dragon nonetheless… wait a minute, that thing could of eaten me! I was right there, asleep and all, completely vulnerable. Wait, he could of eaten Twilight as well. I don’t think Twilight would be dumb enough to let something dangerous live inside her house. Speaking of Twilight…

I turned towards the bed where she was supposed to be sleeping in, but is now unoccupied. Hmm, must of woken up early to get some breakfast or something. Yep, that must be it, she’s probably downstairs cooking or taking a shower or…

or…

why did she let me sleep here?

I sat down on the edge of the bed and thought about it. I mean, it’s nice and all, but I’m a guy, and she’s a girl, and she just let me sleep here! She didn’t even hesitate, now that I think about yesterday, she just went, “Ooh, you can sleep at my place!” without a second thought. She doesn’t even know me! Why would she…

Then I remembered why she wanted to bring me here.

All I ask of you is to come home with me so I can run some tests…

The tests aren't over, are they?

My overactive imagination got the best of me. What if she want’s to ‘figure me out’ by experimenting on my brain by cracking it open like a walnut, or cut me up like a frog and harvesting my insides to sell in the black market? A image of Twilight strapping me down on a operation table, scalpel in hoof, smiling maliciously. The dragon… it’s a guard dragon! She probably has it to make sure her victims can’t leave. Wait, what if she already done it! I looked down at my sides for any stitches. Ok, she hasn’t sliced me open yet, but what if she’s gonna as soon as I walk downstairs? I’m practically trapped meat for her and that carnivorous fire-breather!

Fearing for my soon-to-be harvested organs, I looked around in panic for an exit of some kind to get me out of this death trap. I looked around for any other doors. None. I looked for windows. Just one, but it’s kinda high up and I can’t really reach it…

I looked around for something I can use to get to the window. I see boxes in the corner of the room. Great. I walked over to them and put my forehooves on the top to see if it could hold my weight. It crushed. No good. I put the deformed box back with it’s brothers and looked for something else. The panic is gripping at my heart and taking me over as I searched more frantically for my key to safety and freedom. I noticed the dresser by the door. I galloped over to it and pushed it slightly to see if it was attached to the wall. It moved a couple of inches.

Perfect.

As Twilight finished her breakfast (a hay and daisy sandwich with orange juice, personal favorite), she saw spike walk in chewing on a ruby gemstone.

“Spike, it’s a little too early for gemstones, don’t you think?” Twilight asked.

“It’s never too early for gemstones,” Spike said cheerfully.

Twilight put down her cup of Orange Juice. “Spike, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Spike said as he nibbled on the ruby.

“What are gemstones to you? Are they candy? A snack? Appetizers?”

Spike looked down at his dragon delicacy. “I dunno. I guess kinda little bit of everything?”

“Oh.”

“Why you wanna know?”

Twilight waved a dismissive hoof. “No reason. Just curious.”

“Ok. So what are we gonna do with Oak today?”

Twilight took another sip of OJ as she tried to figure out the plans for today’s agenda for their Amnesia victim.

“Well, I guess we could-”

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something scraping against floor. Very loud scraping.

“What’s that?” Spike asked as he looked at the roof.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like it’s coming from my room… “ she put her juice and walked towards the stairs leading to the bedroom. Ok, more like speedwalked. Borderline jogging.

Ok, she ran.

“What in Equestria is that pony doing?” she asked herself as she made way for the door.

When she finally got to the door, she stopped. Then, not wanting to be rude despite the alarming noises, she knocked.

I was just three-fourths of the way to the window. Man, this thing is heavy. What’s in it, bricks? I opened the drawers to find out. Inside were books, blank sheets of parchment, and quills with inkwells. Eh. Close enough. I resumed pushing when I heard knocking on the door.

I froze in place.

That knocking was the sound of my fate being sealed in an envelope, then locked in a safe, which was locked in a bigger safe, which was tossed in the middle of an ocean, which said ocean blew up.

I was a goner.

With newfound strength coming from a intense concentration of both fear and adrenaline, I pushed the dresser all the way to the window. I began climbing on top of it when the door opened and my death angel was standing there at the doorway.

Why didn’t I lock the door?!? Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!!!

Twilight cocked her head to the side and asked me, “What are you doing?”

My answer: “I’M TRYING TO LIVE!!!”

Then I jumped out of the window.

Let’s stop right there for a second. Due to my fear-stricken mind, I have completely forgotten where I am. The minute I looked out the window, I remembered.

I was at a second-story building. Two floors. Sooo that’s kind of a problem if you don’t want to get hurt while jumping out of a window. And all this ran through my mind as I felt nothing beneath me. I was in the middle of the air, about to eat a ton of dirt, when I remember something else. Also due to my fear-stricken mind, I also forgotten I had wings.

Wings.

WINGS!!!

I could of avoid the whole ‘look for something to stand on’ bit if I just calmed down and looked at myself!

But luckily I remembered I did have wings while I was mid air, so as a last-ditched resort so I won’t become a red-green stain on the ground, I tried to fly, in which I found problem number 2.

I don’t know how to fly.

You might think it’s easy to fly, I mean it’s just a little flap-flap of the ol’ wings and you’re airborne, right? Wrong. Just because you have a hammer, doesn’t mean you know how to build a house. Same scenario for flying. Now let’s press play again and get’s some perspective from somepony else’s point of view.

Rainbow Dash was going to Twilight’s so that she can check on the pegasus she took to the hospital. She doesn’t get to meet new pegasi all the time, so she thought that maybe he might have some stories to tell. Who knows?

So when she sees said pegasus outside the second floor window, screaming nonsense and jumping out of the window, only to look like a airborne chicken, she thought 1:”he’s a nutter” and 2: “I should introduce him to Scootaloo”. Then as he face-planted the ground, she fell from the sky laughing.

In other words, I look like a idiot.

As I peeled myself from the ground, I heard laughter from a distance. I turned to the source of the laughter to find a light blue pony laughing her plot off. So, not only did I fractured about 175 out of 205 bones in my body, but now I have a hurt pride.

It hurts more than my busted up skeleton.

I heard a door open and close behind me, so I turned around to see who it was. Surprise, surprise, it was my soon to be murderer, Twilight Sparkle. Crap.

“Oak, what on Equestria were you thinking?” Twilight asked with a tone in her voice not unlike a mother scolding her child.

“What does it look like? I’m trying to save myself from my imminent demise!” I answered in reply.

“By jumping out a window?”

“Yes! No. Never mind that, listen! You can’t do any of your experiments to me now!” I pointed to the still laughing pony on the ground. “Now I have a witness! If I get killed now, she’ll know who did it. HA!” The pegasus laughed harder.

Twilight raised a brow at that remark. “What are you talking about?”

I replied with another question. “Why did you let me sleep at your house?”

“Because it’s the nice thing to do?”

I pointed an accusatory hoof at her. “That not it. Stop lying! No mare in their right mind would let some random stranger sleep in their house, let alone their own room!”

At this, the disrespectful blue pegasus stopped laughing. She looked at Twilight from the ground and said, “You did WHAT! Twilight, you’re the smartest pony in all of Equestria and you let this guy sleep in your house! That’s gotta be the dumbest thing I head anypony do ever!”

Twilight started to blush with embarrassment. “It’s not like he was gonna do anything to me. He’s the victim! And even if he does try something, I know an arsenal of self-defense spells. Besides, where was he gonna sleep then?”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof like she was about to say something, but faltered and dropped it.

“That’s what I thought,” Twilight said with a smug look.

“Hold on!” I screamed. “Have we already forgotten that she tried to slice me up?!?”

Twilight then looked back at me. “I still don’t know what… hold on,” then she walked back into the treehouse. I wanted to tell her to come back and confess that she’s a blood-thirsty murderer, but something stopped me. As I waited, I exchanged awkward glances at the other pegasus. Then I noticed the small group of ponies gathering around the front of the treehouse. The other pegasus must of noticed too, because she cringed, knowing that everyone saw the entire debacle take place. I cringed as well, for the exact same reason.

Then finally, after what felt like a really long time, Twilight walked out of the treehouse, carrying what looked like a book with her magic. As she came towards us, I noticed that it was same book that has the failed memory spell she tried on me yesterday in it.

She opened the book and showed me a page. I started reading out loud at the top, the title reading: Memory Spell side effects.

I know where this is going.

Sure enough, the first thing listed in there is, “ ‘May cause mild or severe cases of paranoia.’ ”

She looked at me with a triumphant smile on her face. “That’s why you’re freaking out Oak!” She pointed at the book again. “Since you’re experiencing the side effects, that means the spell worked! Isn’t that great?”

I wasn’t listening because I continued reading the rest of the side effects, my voice getting louder as I read down the list. “ ‘May also cause hyperventilation, strong cases of fever , extreme forms of anxiety, and, if not performed properly, a permanent case of schizophrenia!?!’ Twilight, I hope paranoia is the only thing wrong with me!” I looked up to see her face red as a beet, looking behind me. I turn around to see what’s up. The ‘small crowd’ just got a lot bigger. It looked like the entire town was there, murmuring and whispering to each other.

Hmm. I don’t think a lot of stuff goes on around here.

Twilight leans into my ear and whispers to me, “Were they watching us the entire time?”

“Yup,” I whisper back.

“I think we should go back inside.”

I looked at the crowd again and back at her. “Agreed.”

Once we were back inside, none of us said a word as we made our way to the living room to sit down. Once we got comfortable, the blue pony was about say something, but was interrupted by the sound of laughter making its way down the stairs. We all turned to face the source of the laughter.

It was Spike.

The little dude looked like he was gonna kneel over as he made his way down the stairs, roaring with laughter. And he did. If it wasn't for Twilight catching him with magic on that last step, he would of fell face-first on the floor. He stopped laughing as he floated awkwardly in the air, but once he got down, he started all over again. He was red-faced and looked like he couldn't breath.

I wish he'll choke so he'll shut up.

All three of us was sitting there silently, glaring at the dragon while he went on his laughing fit. After what seemed like five minutes, he finally stopped his laughing and gasping for air, calming down to a few chuckles here and there, until he finally stopped.

All three of us spoke simultaneously, "You finished?"

He looked at each of our unamused expressions in turn. "Come on! You got to admit that was hilarious. Did you see the look on everyone's faces when Oak went coo-coo on Twilight? Ha ha. And when Rainbow fell from the sky laughing, it was too much for me! And when-"

I must have looked really menacing, because once he saw my face, he stopped. He put his claws behind his back and stared at his feet. "Sorry."

"It's fine," said Twilight, "you were saying Rainbow?"

"Huh?" Rainbow replied.

"You were gonna say something?"

Rainbow scratched her head in thought. "Oh yeah. I forgot."

Since she doesn't have anything to say, I asked a question. "So, your name is Rainbow Dash?"

"Yup!" she exclaimed with a thick sense of pride.

"The pony who took me to the hospital?"

"Yup!" she exclaimed with a thicker sense of pride.

"Can you fly well?"

"Can I fly well?!?" She repeated the question as if it offended her mother. "Kid-"

"My name is Oak."

"Oak," she corrected, "you are looking at the best flyer in Ponyville! I’m so fast that I can fly circles around you without you even noticing! I’m so fast, that I even performed the Sonic Rainboom, something everypony in Equestria thought was impossible!” Her pride is smothering me. I don’t even wanna know what a rainboom is.

“Well, if you say that you’re the best flyer in Ponyville, then can you teach me how to fly?”

Rainbow cocked her head to the side and looked at me in disbelief. “You’re joking. You look about my age! How can you not know how to fly?”

“I just don’t, ok! You saw me out there!”

“I know that you lost your memory and all, but did you forget how to fly too?”

“I don’t think I knew how to fly to begin with!”

Twilight came between both of us. “Enough both of you!” She faced Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, if he doesn’t know how to fly, then he doesn’t know. You shouldn’t make fun of him for that.”

“I wasn’t making fun of him! I was thinking that a pony his age should have been taught by somepony how to fly by now!”

“Well he wasn’t! You should at least appreciate the fact that he is turning to you for help!”

Rainbow was about to say something, but for the second time today, her words have failed her. She sighed. “Two for Two, I guess you’re right Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash turned to me with a stone-cold expression on her face. “When do you wanna start?”

Well, since I got nothing better to do. “As soon as possible,” I answered.

“Good. In that case, we start now.”

“Thanks-”

She cut me off with her hoof raised in the air. “But let me warn you: This is not going to be easy. I don’t know a lot of ponies your age who don’t know how to fly.” She paused. “Actually, you’re the first I ever met. Anyway, I know for a fact that it get’s harder for a pegasus to fly as they grow older.” She turned to Twilight. “Right?”

“Yes.”

“Ok,” she turned back to me. “with that out of the way, I’m going to make sure that, if it’s the last thing I do, I get you to fly. And I swear upon that statement with the highest promise know to ponykind. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She crossed her heart and put her hoof on her eye as she said that last bit. What kind of promise is that?

“Now, let’s get started!”

We started walking through town, well me walking and Rainbow flying low to the ground. “Hey Rainbow,” I asked, looking up at her. “Why are you flying instead of walking?”

She looked up in thought. “I dunno. Habit I guess.”

“Don’t your wings get tired?” I asked.

“Not really. I kinda got used to it after a while. Did it for so long, I feel that it’s the same as walking, you know? I don’t put much effort into it.”

“Oh,” I said.

I look back down, only to trip over a hole in the ground.

“And also so things like that don’t happen to me,” she added with a slight chuckle.

I got up from the ground and dusted myself off as we continued our walk. “So, where are we going?” I asked.

“We are going to my friend Fluttershy. She has this cottage near the Everfree, at the edge of the town. It’s secluded, so it’s perfect for flight training.”

“Ah”. That’s when I thought of a question that was bothering me for a while since my first flying attempt. “Hey Rainbow?”

She looked back down at me. “Yeah?”

“Is flying hard?”

“No. Well yes, at first!” she added quickly when she saw my nervous expression. “It’s just that you need a little guidance before your natural instincts kick in. I’ll just show you some basic flapping techniques and some other junk, then your brain should take care of the rest.”

“Well, if you say so”, I said, still feeling nervous.

We stopped talking as we reached the outskirts of ponyville. We kept on walking until we reached a very small cottage. It looked very… homey, I guess? Or is it cosy? Whatever the appropriate word is, it was nice. The entirety of the house was made of wood, the only exception being the grass-covered roof and the stone chimney, along with a bunch of bird houses here and there. I assumed this is where “Fluttershy” lives, whoever she is. Kinda weird, her name. Wonder what kind of pony she is.

She sounds familiar though.

We went towards the front of the house. I realised that I felt a sort of happy anxiety. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because I’m getting to know more ponies besides Twilight. And Rainbow, I guess, but I don’t know her too well. Actually, I don’t know Twilight that well either. Hmm.

Anyway, I love meeting new people, so this should be a memorable experience.

When we reached the door, Rainbow knocked twice on the door. “Fluttershy, it’s Rainbow! Open the door, I brought a…” She gave me a studious look. “... friend, I guess.”

That was kinda rude.

We both waited a couple of seconds, but no sound could be heard from inside the cottage. After about a minute, Rainbow knocked several times, each one harder than the last. “FLUTTERSHY, ARE YOU HERE! HELLO!” Rainbow screamed.

This time, we actually heard some hoof steps, and soon enough the door cracked open. I couldn’t see much of the inside of the house since the door wasn’t open all the way, I what I could see was the face of a yellow mare with pink hair. For some reason, I starting thinking of strawberry pancakes and butter. Weird.

“Oh, It’s you Rainbow Dash. I’m so sorry I couldn’t answer the first time, but I was busy giving Angel his bath.” The mare named Fluttershy said in a small whisper.

Right off the bat, I know why her name is Fluttershy. Well, half know. Not sure on the “Flutter” bit. It’s weird how most of these ponies names seem to fit their personalities and talents, exception to Twilight. I wonder, since my name is Oak Wood, if I’m good with trees or something. Maybe.

“That’s fine Fluttershy. Oh yeah, I brought the pegasus”, Rainbow gestures to me, “that was in the middle of that field with me. Turn’s out, he can’t fly! Can you believe it! He’s as old as I am and can’t even get off the ground!”

At this, I’m red as a beet from embarrassment and anger. Rainbow sees this and her smirk goes away. “No offense.” she said.

“All taken,” I replied slowly, a cold tone overtaking my voice, making me sound much meaner than I’m actually am.

I look back at Fluttershy and notice that she is visibly shaking. She’s also hiding her face with her hair, clearly trying not to make eye contact with me.

“Are you alright? You’re shivering,” I ask.

“Y-Yes. I’m just cold.” she replied in a small whisper.

“But it’s the middle of summer.”

“I have a cold.” she’s said in a smaller whisper, so I could barely hear her.

“But it’s the middle of summer.”

She started retreating back into her cottage and instantly, I felt bad. I mean, it’s not like she’s trying to be rude, she’s just, well, shy.

I held the door opened. Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak from the sudden motion, shaking even more visibly than before.

“Look, I’m sorry. I’m new and you probably don’t like to meet new people, but honestly you should try to get a bit more spine.”

At this she shook her head left and right in a frantic manner. “Oh, no. Not after what happened last time.”

Last time?

I look at Rainbow for clarification. “Let’s just say it involve a really buff bull and ‘Shy here being a real jerk.”

“Ok. Wait, why are we here again?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Flight training.” Then she looked at Fluttershy. “Hey shy, can we use your back yard? I thought it’s the best place for him so nopony else sees him eat dirt.”

“Hey!”

“You are going to eat dirt. That’s a fact.”

“Well at least pretend to have some faith in me!”

“Whatever.” She turned back to Fluttershy. “So can we?”

“Well, as long as you don’t disturb the animals or break anything, I guess it’s fine.”

“Great. Thanks ‘shy.” She opened the door all the way and went inside. I went inside as well.

The inside was just as homey as the outside.The living room has a chair and a guest couch, a table with a photo of butterflies. At the side of the wall, there was a fireplace with various pots and pans, so it must be used for cooking. At the corner, I see a bird cage with tiny stairs leading up to the door of the cage. To the left of me, I see a mouse hole on the wall, also with tiny stairs leading up to the hole. Also, I see stairs leading up to what must be her bedroom.

That’s weird, I just had a chill.

Shrugging off the ominous feeling in me, I followed her through the house and out the back door. The backyard had the same simple theme as the house, which I like. On the left of me, there is a chicken coup. Kinda made me wonder why she has a chicken coup, but it’s her life, who am I to judge? To the right, a table with two pillows on both sides, and the entire yard was surrounded by a pink fence with hearts on the bases. Cute.

“Alright Oak, now that we’re here, there is no time to waste. Hey Fluttershy, where are you going?” Rainbow asked.

I looked back to see that the yellow pegasus(fluttershy now I get it) was walking back inside. She froze in place as she slowly turned around to face Rainbow.

“Well, I was gonna give you guys some privacy-”

“Nonsense Fluttershy, it’s just you here. Hey, why don’t you practice with us? Celestia knows you need it, and it’s be perfect considering that you and Oak both are around the same skill level.”

“Uh, I dunno. I gotta get back to Angel’s bath…”

“Leave him, he’s a little jerk anyway.”

Fluttershy was taken aback from the insult about her little Angel bunny. Then again, he was getting a little persnickety lately. Actually, he was always like that…

“Well, maybe a little practice might do me some good…”

“Great! Get over here and we’ll get started.”

She slowly but surely made her way over to the two of us. She awkwardly sidled up to the next of me, keeping a reasonable distance. I didn’t mind, since being next to her made me feel awkwardly intrusive, if that even makes sense.

“Alright,” Rainbow said in a stern voice, “now it’s time to get serious.”

She suddenly came to the front of the both of us and yelled, “Drop down and give me twenty wing-ups!”

“Wha…”

“NOW!”

I instinctively dropped down to the ground, doing my best to assume the wing-up position. I don’t actually know what a wing-up is, but I can’t ask her now, can I?

“You too Fluttershy!”

I heard a tiny squeak as I see Fluttershy drop down with me. I notice that she’s using her wings to prop herself up into a planking position. Assuming that was what a wing-up was, I quickly did the same.

And ate dirt.

I wasn’t able to hold up my bodyweight, so I just gave up and fell to the ground with a large thump.

“Come on Oak, get back up! You haven’t even done one yet!”

“What does this have to do with flying?” I asked in an irritated tone.

“Everything!”, Rainbow said, “You can’t fly if you don’t have the wing power to keep you in the air! I saw that lame excuse for flying you did at Twilight’s. That only proves that you have little to no wing strength. Now get pushing! We don’t got all day!”

“Uh, Rainbow? Aren't you being a little hard on him? He is trying his best,” Fluttershy said in a small whisper.

Rainbow replied by staring at her with such ferocity that she hid behind her hair and began doing her wing-ups.

Rainbow let out an audible sigh and said, “Listen Fluttershy. I know that you’re supposed to be kind and stuff, but you need to know that some people need kindness and other need tough love.” Then she looked at me. “And if you want to fly as half as good as me, you are gonna have to work hard. Got it?”

“Yeah,” I replied. I think I understand what Rainbow was trying to say. Sometimes, we need to be tough on people we care about so that they can become better people in the future. At first, Rainbow seemed like a jerk, but now I know that she has some flaws, but she also has good intentions.

“Now that we have that out of the way, PICK UP THE PACE WITH THOSE WING-UPS!!!”

Ugh, I wish she didn’t care about me so much though.

“Hey Oak! How was the training?” Twilight asked in that annoyingly chipper voice that grates on my eardrums like jagged rocks as I walk in the treehouse.

Wow, that was dark.

“It went fine,” I replied, imitating her tone. “She made me and Fluttershy do wing-ups ‘till we collapsed from exhaustion.” I said in a tone that showed how tired and grumpy I actually was.

“Oh. Wait, Fluttershy too?” She said with genuine interest.

“Yeah. Something about ‘how were in the same level’ or something like that. I don’t care, I just want to go to sleep.”

“Well you don’t have to be so grumpy about it.”

“I like to see you do wing-ups,” I mumbled in a low tone.

“What was that?” she asked in a testy voice.

“I said ‘yay, you’re so awesome and cool ‘cause you read and stuff,’” I replied sarcastically.

“Well, thank you,” she said, clearly oblivious to the sarcasm. “Well, have a good night sleep! You’ll need it for tomorrow. I gonna introduce you to all my friends. Well, the one’s you haven’t met yet.”

“Great,” was all I could reply in my clearly exhausted state.

I walked up the stairs into the second floor, where my sleeping bag awaited me. The snoring from the basket at the foot of the bed told me that Spike was already dead-asleep. Heh, dead-asleep.

Wait, that’s not funny.

Thinking that it’s was due to my tired brain, I shook it off and got in my bag. Spike wasn’t snoring too loud, so I could sleep easy tonight. As long as Twilight doesn’t decide to turn in, that is.

I got comfy and lay on my side as I closed my and drifted to sleep.

…

Hey.

…

Why don’t you sleep on the bed? That bitch Twilight isn’t here, so it’s fine.

I snapped my eyes open. What’s that voice?

I’m you.

Horseshit

No shit.

I looked around to see where the voice was coming from, panic slowly invading my rationality.

You won’t find anything, the voice said in a sing-songy voice, this is all in your head. You and us are gonna spend a lot of time together.

Us?

Us. All of us.

“TWILIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!”

Fluttershy was tired like nobody’s business. All those wing-ups really did a number on me, she thought, I could barely get to the bedroom without falling asleep.

Well, she didn’t. As she turned in for the night, something was still nagging her. Like she forgot something.

She closed her eyes and began to drift into a peaceful sleep…

Until she heard a noise.

All hints of sleep soon disappeared as a new but all too familiar emotion overtook her: fear.

She began to tremble as she hid herself under the covers, hoping that the noise will go away. But no the noise got closer. It’s sounded like a wet mop being thrown at the floor. The noise got closer, and closer, ‘till soon enough it was outside her bedroom door. Fluttershy started trembling even more violently as she heard the door creak open. Soon, the noise got closer to the foot of her bed. At that point, she started silently weeping, knowing that her demise was upon her and that there was nothing she can do about it.

She felt something on her bed, and she started audibly whimpering. “P-please,” she fearfully whispered as she lay under the covers, “don’t hurt m-me.”

She felt something moist land on top of her. It wasn’t heavy, and it wasn’t hurting her. A little bit of her fear fell away and curiosity took it’s place as she uncovered the blanket from herself. She looked to see Angel bunny, soaked in water and shivering, either due to being in water, or being very angry.

“Oh, so that’s what I forgot!”

The messed up life of Oak Wood

by abnormalfreak

Prologue

Chapter 1: Amnesia and Hooves

Chapter 2: Don't forget about us!

Chapter 3: Twilight's gonna cut me!