A weird dream story about the transition from childhood to adulthood, dealing with impermanence, and gaining maturity. Lot's of 90's nostal
What is the relation between ourselves as children and ourselves as adults? What value do our memories have? These are the questions that confront Token, an earth pony from Ponyville, who is thrust into a strange adventure where he discovers he's not whom he thought he was.
Contains several crossovers and copious amounts of nostalgia.
My name is Token. I’ve worked in Ponyville my whole life, toiling to maintain the town arcade. It’s an okay job; I love the smiles on the faces of the colts and fillies that stop by for some entertainment after school. I make good money, but that's never been the point.
I wouldn't say my life is particularly exciting. I spend most of my time alone, either working, or relaxing at home. Even when I do my errands, I tend not to socialize much.
Ponyville's many residents are usually friendly, but I see more eye-to-eye with the children. They have that childlike wonder, a passion for having fun even when there’s little to be had; that’s something I envy. A wise pony once said “If you carry your childhood with you, you will never grow old.” Those are words I’d like to live by, but it’s not always so easy.
Ponyville welcomes me as I leave my house to go to market. The sky beams with a brilliant shade of blue. My ears pick up the unmistakable titter of children laughing in the distance. The sun is high in the sky, but a welcome, gentle breeze keeps me cool.
I walk to the market, wrapping myself in the sights, sounds and smells of this day. The scent of flowers on the breeze tickles my nose as I pass Lily’s place. Nature always helps me relax. Everything seems significant, even the sound of my hooves on the pavement below me, something I’ve never paid much attention to before, makes me smile.
It’s just one of those days when it’s like I could do anything. An adventurous streak wells up inside me and I pause to think of the best way to satisfy the feeling. Should I get a special treat from Sugarcube Corner? My mouth starts to water as I daydream about assorted sugary snacks. I keep walking. Ideas, some more daring than others, begin to flood my head as I approach my destination.
Colorful tents and banners depicting various items for sale fill my vision. The market is a bustling hub of activity this afternoon, to no surprise. A cacophony of conversations stacked upon each other sweeps through the area. Pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns alike swing from booth to booth filling their saddlebags with goods, and I move to join them.
I check my mental list: broccoli. Turning to the green tent, I step up to the counter, that’s when I see it. A sign behind the proprietor of the broccoli stall. The sign depicts the vegetable and two parallel lines indicating that it equals a certain cost, but the following symbol is unfamiliar. It looks like an ‘S’, but with a vertical line through it. My brow furrows and scratch my head for a second.
“Excuse me miss,” I say, turning to look at the green-maned, white mare behind the counter, “exactly how much does this broccoli cost?”
“Check the sign pal.” she replies in a nasally, disinterested voice. I look back to the sign which now shows two gold coins in place of the symbol I thought I’d seen.
“But…” I stammer, “I thought… urm, sorry ma’am, here’s two bits.” I drop the money on the table and lift a head of broccoli into my bag before turning around and starting off again. My head shakes from side to side. I could’ve sworn that sign read something different, but I dismiss it as my eyes playing tricks on me. The next provision I need is cucumber.
My weekly trips to the marketplace are about the only opportunity I get to socialize with ponies my age. My daily routine has become as methodical and predictable as the steady march of time. Each morning I wake up, I make myself hygienic and then I eat grab a bite to eat before heading out the door. I arrive at the arcade at exactly eight A.M. sharp, every weekday. I check each machine, fixing any problems before looking over my messages and doing some clerical work. I open for business two hours later and stay until late in the evening before locking up and travelling home for a belated dinner. It’s demanding work that leaves very little time for myself, but thus is the sacrifice a pony must sometimes make to go into business for him or herself.
Weekends have become my one respite, a chance to do things for myself. I want so badly to break the mold, to explore and try new things, but each day inevitably becomes a sad dance of excuses and reservations. Rather than discovering Ponyville, or better yet, travelling somewhere new, I resign myself to running errands and waiting for the workweek to give my life purpose.
As I ponder my life, it occurs to me I’ve not done a great job of pursuing that childlike spark that I value so highly. A sigh escapes my lips as I walk. Perhaps it’s just part of getting older, something nopony can overcome. I shrug off the thought with steely resolve as I’m reminded of a certain pink pony I know. No, Pinkie Pie demonstrates better than anypony that getting older doesn’t mean getting boring. Then again, she is Pinkie Pie.
Maybe I should hire somepony. I suppose I could use a helping hand to watch the arcade so I can have some more time to myself. What would I do if I had more time though? As I walk towards the cucumber stand my mind swims in thought. I’m so preoccupied I nearly collide with ponies walking the other direction. I plant my hooves and allow them to pass, my face a bit red.
“Oops, sorry! Hi Bon Bon! Hi Lyra! Good day to you both!” I greet them with a somewhat forced smile as they pass.
I can’t think of another pair in the whole town more attached to each other than these two. On many a weekend have I seen Lyra and Bon Bon at the market, often talking or sharing some ice cream.
I’ve nursed a slight a crush on Lyra for several years, but I try not to be jealous of her friendships. I can't say I've done much to make her notice me. My eyes follow her as she strolls away. I admire her, from her short, wintergreen mane to her… my jaw drops. On Lyra’s flank I spy three blue and yellow striped pieces of wrapped candy. I move quickly to get a look at Bon Bon and sure enough… a golden harp where her cutie mark should be.
What is happening? This can’t be another coincidence. I run to a nearby trough and splash the cool water onto my face. My head shakes launching droplets from my mane like a slingshot. I linger in the moment, trying to calm down. As the sloshing water slows to ripples, my reflection appears; a confused, wet face stares back at me. My eyes are wide, aflame with worry. When I see myself, relaxation comes by force. It had to be a joke they were playing on me, or something… wasn’t it?
I look up only to be met with awkward gazes; I can imagine I’m quite the sight. Maybe it’s time to take my leave and get some rest. The market fades behind me as I start down the streets towards my house.
This day has been quite the oddity and I'm anxious to put it behind me, but the strangeness stalks me like a precocious foal pulling pranks. Buildings I've passed already come into my path again and again, ponies I've known for ages treat me as they would a complete stranger, and the town is covered with symbols I cannot fathom.
Have I gone mad? The more my mind struggles the more I realize these discrepancies can't be ignored. I should tell someone, but whom? There has to be somepony I can trust, somepony level-headed who can tell me if I’m losing it. Only one face comes to mind.
I break into a full gallop, making a bee-line down a side street towards a new destination. I’m going to see Twilight Sparkle; she’s a friend and she’ll be able to talk some sense into me.
Twilight and I became friends maybe a year and a half ago. She was... and I... come to think of it, how did we ever become friends? I think it had something to do with a birthday party she was helping to organize. It was at the arcade... yeah, that must've been it. Perhaps I'm getting older than I thought.
After a few minutes of dodging and darting down Ponyville’s haphazard streets, I finally arrive in front of the giant tree that holds the library. Ignoring courtesy, I swing the door open and burst inside, slamming it behind me.
“Oh, hey Token!” the purple mare greets me, looking up from an implausibly long piece of parchment scrawled across the floor. “Where’s your vest?”
“Twilight, I… wait, my vest?” I stumble, unsure of what she could mean.
“For Winter Wrap Up?”
“But it’s the middle of-” I start to correct her, but turn around to see powdery drifts of snow beyond the windows. “Whaa!” My hooves slip from underneath me and I come down hard on my rump. I scrabble across the floor, putting distance between me and the unexpected sight. The heart in my chest is pounding. What in the name of Celestia is happening?
“Is something wrong? You look terrible.” Twilight says, her voice laced with concern. I look up at the mare and clamber back onto my hooves, trying to compose myself.
“I, uh... Twilight? H-has, and I’m serious, has anything seemed… off to you lately?”
“What? What do you mean?” she asks with an inquisitive look.
“I mean, has anything strange been happening? That you’ve noticed?” I plead with my eyes.
“Hmmmmm… nope, everything seems fine to me.” I sink at her answer. Maybe I really am crazy.
“I... I’ve been seeing some strange stuff. At first it was just little things, ponies with wrong cutie marks and stuff, but then I nearly got lost on my way here, things were so weird, and just now, I swear to you it was summer when I came through that door!”
“That’s not scientifically possible Token,” she says scornfully, but changes her tone when she sees my troubled expression “but maybe my friends have seen something, we can ask them! They should be here any…” As she finishes her sentence the door pops open with supernatural timing.
“Hey Twilight! Hey Token!” each pony says as they enter the library, wiping snow from their hooves. I'm familiar with all five of them; they're more Twilight's pals than mine, but they've seen me enough to at least be called acquaintances, if not friends.
“Ooh girls, I’m glad you’re here! Token was just telling me that some strange things have been happening to him. Have any of you seen anything peculiar today?” Twilight really is a good friend. I was right to come here, I think. The five other ponies stand contemplatively for a few seconds before breaking the silence with a smattering of negatives.
“Well, anytime I see Pinkie Pie I know it’s gonna be a strange day.” Rainbow Dash says with a chuckle, nudging the pink pony.
“That’s not what I… wait.” I speak, adding a seriousness to my voice that has everypony giving their full attention. “How do you all know me?”
“What do you mean? We’ve always known you silly! You're a friend of Twilight's and any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine!” Pinkie Pie says, her face beaming.
“Yeah yeah, I know you know me through Twilight, but how? When did we first meet? And where? How? I can’t actually remember ever meeting a single one of you! It's almost like I've always known you, but I haven't.” I'm on the edge of hysterics; my whole world is unravelling like a poorly stitched tapestry.
“Well...”
“Umm...”
“I can’t remember.” Their indecisiveness is proof that something is very wrong.
"Token, I think you should lie down. You're scaring me." Twilight says, trying to usher me away from her friends.
Yeah. Yeah, maybe you're right." I don't get time to apologize though. Just then, the tree is rocked with a sharp tremor and a loud, thunderous noise. Everypony puts on faces of panic and I rush to the door.
As I make my way out the door, brown and red leaves blow past my hooves in the cool, fall breeze. I look up and see what can only be described as a shadow attacking the library. It’s a ghostly grey cloud with no discernible features, silhouetted against a cloudy moonlit sky. The shadow rams the tree again, shaking several branches loose from its leafy exterior. By now the six ponies and a terrified Spike have joined me outside.
“Oh no you don’t!” screams the rainbow Pegasus as she takes into the sky and streaks above the shadowy orb. “Get outta here!” As Dash shouts at the thing, a wispy, dark tendril springs up underneath her and wraps around her hoof, flinging her to the ground. Her friends rush to her aide, but I stand firm and brainstorm a way to stop the frightening entity.
My mind keeps thinking of the creature, thing, ghost, whatever in familiar terms… ‘shadow’. Maybe if I had a flashlight. I feel a weight in my hoof and I look down. There, before me is the very object I'd desired. How convenient. It’s just the latest in a string of weird occurrences and I’m no longer surprised.
The flashlight clicks on and I stare at my hoof. The creature smashes against the tree a third time and I can hear the sound of glass breaking. Why I think a simple light will be able to stop this powerful apparition, I have no clue, but I do. I lift my hoof and the diffuse beam swings like a sword, cleaving the shadow in twain. A screech pierces the night. A bright orange ribbon streaks across the edges of the shadow, not unlike a burning piece of paper.
A couple quick waves of my light and the shadow is gone, but a glance skyward reveals a swarm of them descending upon the town. The moonlight is choked as the sky darkens with black malevolence. Cries of terrified ponies ring out and Twilight races towards me.
“What are those things!” she barks.
“Look, I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but all the things that have been happening, the weather, this flashlight, none of you have experienced this weird stuff, I’m the only one.” I say, my mouth moving a mile a minute.
“What are you talking about?!”
“I don’t know exactly what this is, all I know is that I’m involved somehow!” I shout over the sound of the wind.
“I don’t understand, but these phantoms are destroying the town! What do we do?” The purple mare puts her hoof on my back.
“O-okay…hold on, I’ll try something.” Not sure of what I’m doing, I push her away and concentrate. It seems worth a shot. I imagine the creatures gone. A blue sky. No clouds. My mind fills with peaceful images. My senses become meaningless one-by-one. Silence creeps into my ears despite the chaos around me. The wind whipping my coat crawls to a stop. Buildings and streets begin to blur like watercolor in front of me. I close my eyes and try to focus harder. My ears ring from the muteness. Bright light spills into my eyes through closed lids. I have no idea what’s going on, but in mere moments I feel weightless. A blast, a wave of heat and light rips across my body and my senses begin to return.
I begin to perceive gravity as my faculties return to me. I’m on my back, I’m dizzy and everything is still a fog. I start to feel a trembling sensation.
“Wake up! Wake up Token!” a worried, high-pitched voice begins to seep in as the ringing in my ears subsides. My eyes fix on a grayish figure standing over me, shaking me from my delirium. The shape unblurs, my senses now almost at one-hundred percent. I can’t hold back giggles at the sight of Pinkie Pie in a full body suit of iron armor, her pink face poking out from beneath a cumbersome visor. I’m not sure exactly why it’s funny, maybe it’s the unexpectedness or it could be the irony of hoppy, sugary sweet Pinkie restricted by such a warlike garment.
“Huh? Hey! What’s so funny?” she asks.
“You… in that armor!” I say between hilarious snorts. She purses her lips into an ‘o’ and turns her head to look at her poofy tail wiggling behind her iron-clad body.
“Hehehe, I guess it is pretty funny.” The pink pony giggles, “You look pretty silly yourself!” I sit up and gaze upon my hooves; they too are wrapped in plates of dull iron. Where did this come from? I puzzle at my pony greaves and gauntlets, standing up for the first time since I came to. I’m wearing a full body suit of armor just as Pinkie and I don’t know how, but what’s more fascinating is the lightness of it. I’m flexible and impossibly unencumbered for carrying what I would guess to be at least fifty pounds of metal. I suppose it’s not important, just odd.
I take a look around. The sky is black as soot, penetrated only by dead trees with twisting branches like sharp, brown veins. The grassy landscape is uneven and dotted with coffins, black as the sky and jutting up from the earth. The darkness is manageable; it’s almost eerily bright considering the gloomy sky, but I chalk it up to the burning lanterns spread around in the mouths of gargoyle faces carved upon cobbled stone pillars.
“Are you okay Pinkie? Where are the others?”
“Oh, I’m fine! I don’t know about everypony… else” her final word is hushed. “Umm.. Token?” she says weakly. I turn around. Pinkie is backing away from a coffin; the black, ankh-faced casket stands vertically, having apparently unearthed itself just moments ago. It opens. A ghoulish figure steps towards us: a red haired, bipedal zombie in tattered blue clothing.
Panic hits me like a bucket of water as Pinkie passes behind me. I’m just standing there, drenched in fear. I don’t care how I got here, all that matters anymore is the fiend inching towards my friend and I. A brief survey of the ground around me reveals a javelin, long, sharp and uncanny. The ghoul skulks towards us. I retrieve the weapon and hurl it with all my might. BWEW! The creature disappears in a brilliant fireball.
I scan the area for my javelin, but realize that it has returned to my hoof, as if by magic. Nothing is making sense. I’ve never been more confused, and yet this place seems strangely familiar.
More coffins begin to pop up around us. I grab Pinkie and start running. I have no idea where I’m going; I just know that I can’t stay here.
“What’s going on??” Pinkie yells as we gallop through a maze of stone pillars and undead.
“I’m not sure, just keep running!”
My footing falters and I stagger as the ground shifts violently, rising upwards with a loud rumble. Pinkie vibrates next to me, her legs stiff and seemingly unphased by the traumatic upheaval. The creak of coffin doors opening all around us fills me with dread. I throw my javelin at one of the creeps, but it’s soon replaced by another. Options are running thin and a river of adrenaline is flowing through me. At the height of the chaos something brushes my armor; it’s Pinkie.
“We have to jump Token!” she says. I fail to follow her logic. There’s no way one could jump over the approaching army of the damned so I dismiss her comment as ‘Pinkie being Pinkie’ while I assess the situation. Closing in, gotta think fast. I turn to the pink pony to see her take off into the air, leaping towards a stone pillar three times her height. No! This isn’t how I wanted things to end!
“Pinkie!!” I scream as she starts to fall towards the crowd of mindless cannibals. Just then, she jumps again, pressing her hooves into nothing more than thin air and gaining the extra height she needs to clear the pillar and land safely on top. She turns back, zombies almost upon me.
“C’mon Token! You have to jump, you can do it!” Pinkie yells adding “Trust me!” as if anticipating my next thought. Nothing in this haunted graveyard has made sense so far and I’m frankly out of options. I bow my legs then push with all my might, driving my body into the air. The sensation I feel is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced; I can only describe it as an invisible hand lifting me from the ground. As I’m flying upwards, I can feel the constant, unmistakable pressure of a surface underneath my hooves. At the apex of my jump I push downwards with my legs and sure enough, I gain an incredible height equal to my original leap.
Landing next to Pinkie on the pillar I look down, breathless as the shambling horde comes together, engulfing the spot where we were just standing.
“H-how... did you… know that would work?” I ask, my lungs greedily consuming air.
“When you were asleep, I hopped over to you and found out I could jumpy-jump!” she explains. I can’t argue. It's the first thing today to make sense; Pinkie sure loves to hop. It’s funny, when you’re a kid you jump and play all the time, but as an adult, your hooves almost never leave the ground. Think about it, when does anyone have reason to jump? It never crosses your mind, well, unless you’re Pinkie. I chuckle to myself.
“Well, I’m sure glad I have you around!” I tell her. Pinkie tilts her head, closes her eyes and gives me the cutest smile I think I’ve ever laid eyes upon. Even surrounded by darkness and danger, she knows just how to make me grin. “Should we keep going?” She nods.
I take the first leap, double-jumping over to a grassy ledge away from the majority of zombies. We gallop, still unsure of our destination, only that we’re making progress. Coffins are still popping up around us, but not in great enough numbers that my trusty javelin can’t handle them. Everything seems under control now.
A disturbance ahead causes me to slow. A pile of bones on the ground shakes and rattles and I plant my hooves. Smack! Pinkie slams straight into my backside, obviously not prepared for my sudden stop. The bones begin to burn and assemble into a monster, a flaming skull atop flaming bones dancing like a charmed serpent and towering over us. It rears back and spits a ball of flame which I narrowly manage to avoid. My javelin finds the flaming creature’s body, but it seems to have no effect.
A burst of giggling fills the air. I turn my head, struck by shock to see Pinkie Pie on her back laughing without a care. The creature screeches in pain and its flames flicker into extinction, the suspended bones falling back into innocuous piles. Did Pinkie just do that? Incredible.
“Pinkie! What in the world is so funny?!” I shout.
“Hehe... did you see that snake thing? It built itself out of bones! Do you think it was a... Boa Constructor?” she says comedically. “No-no-wait! How about a Bone-a Constrictor?” Such a corny joke but watching her roll around like a little girl makes me start to laugh too.
“Come on Pinkie, we’d better keep moving.” I remind while chuckling with her.
As we plow through monster-filled madness, I’m realizing more and more that I’m actually having fun. I’m enjoying myself way more than I should and it’s all because of my pink friend. She seems to see the world, even this world in a different way, through a prism of innocence and optimism that I can’t help but envy. I remember a time when I was more like her, a better time. I used to think that in the end, good things would come to good ponies. That was before I started to doubt if that was really true. Why did I ever do that?
These aren’t the only things on my mind. A feeling of déjà vu is constant and sharp. I swear I’ve been in this place before. Everything is so familiar, the jumping, the javelin, the monsters. The more I see, the more convinced I am that it isn’t just in my head. As I pass certain trees I notice random white sacks embroidered with the same symbol I saw in the marketplace in Ponyville. Were I not distracted byPinkie Pie's innocent goofiness I'd find these sights and thoughts unsettling.
The oddness fails to stop. I seem to be able to predict obstacles we’ll encounter before we come to them. It’s a helpful ability, but how is it possible? The clairvoyance is strange, but even more remarkable is the music, a haunting fanfare that fills my head. It’s not coming from any external source and I can tell from Pinkie’s manner that she doesn’t hear it, but it’s crystal clear to me. It’s very much like when you get a song stuck in your head and it keeps looping over and over and you can’t get it out.
Pinkie and I come to the edge of a body of water. I look down from the precipice on which we stand and see grassy platforms just big enough for us to jump to. They appear to continue across the lake.
“I think we should cross.” I say aloud.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie says as she leaps down to start the voyage. I follow. I’ve never thought about how helpful it would be to be able to jump twice; these aren’t the kinds of things the mind idles with when there are bills to pay. The extra distance is cool, but the precision is really what makes it handy, I’m finding. I can jump once and then depending on where I push off next in my arc, I can control exactly where I land. I can do it at the peak of my first leap for maximum height or I can milk the arc until I’m about to hit ground for the best horizontal distance.
We both leap towards a stone pillar, jutting from the water like a buoy. I can feel something isn’t right. Pinkie gasps in midair.
“Token don’t jump! My tail!” the pink one shouts, her voice serious for once. We land on the pillar and just then, the lake rears up like a bucking bronco and a wall of water descends on us, soaking us both, yet we hold our ground.
“Whoa! Good call!” I’d never tell her that I sensed the same thing, there would be no way to explain, I don’t even know how myself. When the lake returns to normal I take my next leap and Pinkie follows.
The lake proves a not so formidable obstacle and we reach land again; more monsters are there to welcome us. Honestly, between the help of Pinkie and my trusty magic javelin I’m feeling invincible. We’re plowing through everything in our path. Pinkie and I, an unstoppable force, the very thought is a laugh riot.
“What’s so funny?” Pinkie asks. Apparently I’d been snickering and didn’t realize it.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Awww, c’mon tell me! Pinkie loves a good laugh!”
“Well, it’s just… you and me, armored up together… all these scary monsters don’t stand a chance!”
"That is funny!" she says, letting out a porcine snort and giggle.
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK! We both look up and freeze. A gigantic bird, ten times our size swoops down and lands with an angry squawk. Its face is menacing. Its feathers are fire-orange and its head is topped with a crest of green, webbed spines. The creature’s neck extends from a tuft of white feathers to a miraculous length. My eyes, however, fix on the razor sharp talons and pointed beak.
“W-what do we do now?” Pinkie asks, the massive bird staring at us. The invincibility I’d felt just moments ago has been washed away.
“I don’t know!” I begin to chuck javelins at the bird as fast as I can throw them, but they only seem to anger it. The beak plunges down at me and I jump backwards twice to get away. The enormous wingspan flaps, sending the monster hovering into the air.
The beast gags for a second before spewing a giant egg from its mouth. The pony-sized egg rolls along the ground towards me as I pelt it with my weapon. Finally it shatters and I refocus my attacks on the bird. Pinkie is standing beside me, still as stone. It's so unlike her.
The bird rears again and sends its heavy beak towards us. I tackle Pinkie clear of the onslaught.
“C’mon Pinkie, snap together!” I say, getting off of her and offering my hoof.
“But, that thing is ginormous! Like Ursa Major ginormous!” she replies.
“It’s still just a slow, dumb bird! We can beat it! I need your help though.” Another egg hurtles towards us and I pound it to pieces with my magical javelin.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Pinkie looks up and contorts her face, trying to force out a laugh, her weapon of choice. Meanwhile, I draw the creature’s attention with my constant attacks. I’m leaping into the air to reach the bird’s most sensitive areas with my javelin throws.
Another thrust from the bird’s beak. I try to dodge, but I’m too slow. The wind is knocked from my chest as the heavy head impacts me like a freight train. My armor shatters into a hail of a hundred pieces, leaving my body bare. I’m still armed and as soon as I can, I resume my fruitless attacks. My javelin does little more than ruffle the beast’s feathers.
“Pinkie!!” I shout. She continues trying to laugh, but it’s forced. One more hit from that leviathan and I know I’ll be a goner. I need her help more than ever. I dodge to the left as the bird tries to put me down with a finishing blow. Time is running out. “Pinkie! If you don’t laugh our goose is cooked!”
“Hehe... goose!” The bird screeches as Pinkie begins to giggle. At first it’s a trickle, like a leaky faucet, but soon the air is filled with uproarious guffaw. The monster flaps its wings violently, sending a chilly draft across my flanks. Its pain is obvious; the head thrashes from side to side and its talons curl and extend sporadically. Pinkie’s laughter doesn’t stop. She’s so out of the moment, consumed by hilarity that it brings me with her and I find myself giggling as well.
MRAWWWWWWWWWK!!! The bird ignites in a blaze so ferocious I can feel it on my skin. The fireball consumes my vision and forces my eyes to close from both brightness and heat. That chilling tune that was stuck in my head is finally forced away. We did it! We are victorious, but what will happen now? I hear the bird take its final ragged breath as it disappears in flames so blinding my eyelids can’t block their brilliance. Suddenly silence. I see nothing, taste nothing, feel nothing. It’s happening again.
I open my eyes with a startle to a flood of sounds and sights. Music, this time very real, fills my ears. It’s easy listening, a tribal sound with soft, airy horns. The music competes with a loud clatter, almost like a heavy rainfall, but not exactly the same. I look to my left, there’s Rarity looking to have just awaken as I have. She looks to her right and our eyes meet.
“Token! What in Equestria is going on?” she asks.
“I’m just as confused as you are.”
“Hwhaa!!” Rarity cries as she checks herself over. She’s wearing a thin, green garment that covers her upper body with holes for her head, and forehooves. There’s a pattern on the belly; it’s something gold, but I can’t quite see.
“Eww, eww, EWW! Green?! How horrid!” she complains. I check myself and find that I too am wearing the same clothing.
I look around to figure out where I am, but it yields more questions than answers. I’m in a building. The room is very large with an extra high ceiling. There’s tribal décor all around: ferns, stones, vines… a bit reminiscent of the Everfree Forest in ways, but less overgrown and more fabricated. The centerpiece of the room is a large maze of sorts, a two-story honeycomb of rooms, each of them open on the side facing us, and each of them baring the same aesthetic of ancient civilizations.
I turn my head to look behind me and my heart skips a beat; a wall of fleshy, clothed creatures sit watching us. They’re making the rain-like noise I heard before by clapping their hooves together, except they don’t have hooves. At the end of their arms are flat appendages with five prongs, hairless like most of their bodies. Also, in my search, I notice Pinkie Pie is nowhere to be seen. I wonder where she went?
“Alright, we’re back with the green monkeys and the red jaguars, both teams have a half a pendant at this point.” I look forward to see one of the peachy-skinned creatures, this one much taller than the others, standing over Rarity and I and talking to the audience behind us. He’s upright on two legs and dressed in blue. The white unicorn scans him skeptically, no doubt evaluating his fashion sense.
I also notice two more fleshies on the other side of Rarity; they’re wearing the same garment as we are except for a red color and different pattern.
“It’s anybody’s game because the next game is worth a full pendant. Olmec, tell us about it.” the tall one says.
A disembodied, booming voice calls my attention to a giant face of stone in the set in front of me. Its mouth opens, the jaw moving up and down mechanically as it talks. The face’s oval eyes flicker a red light, yet its expression is emotionless. I scratch my chin as I listen.
“On Lewis and Clark’s expedition, one of the ways they kept their party well-nourished was by foraging for fruits and berries growing in the wild. Before you are several bushes with berries and a sack to carry them. When Kirk gives the signal, one player will run to the bushes, grab a berry, throw it to their partner who will catch the berry in the sack. The team to put the most berries in their sack at the end of sixty seconds... wins!” the face explains whimsically.
“What a silly contest. I shant be taking part in any of it.” Rarity says, tossing her mane in refusal.
“C’mon Rarity.” I say. “I can’t say for sure, but I think we need to do this thing if we want to find the other ponies or get back to Equestria.” My argument gives her defiant pause, but seems to be convincing in the end.
“Fine.” she whimpers. “I’ll play their little game.”
“Great. You hold this, I’ll toss.” I say pointing to the sack. Rarity picks up the large, white canvas bag in her hooves with complete disinterest.
“This one’s for the temple! Let’s put sixty seconds on the clock!” the cheerful host says. “On your mark, get set, go!”
Music fills the room again, this time different, much more frantic. I take off like a rocket towards the fake bushes. I want to win this, but I don’t know why. Part of me can’t help but think success will give me a better chance of getting back to Equestria or finding the others; it couldn’t hurt.
I stop in front of the bush of clearly fake leaves and pluck in my hooves a purple ball which I assume is supposed to be fruit. It’s the size of an apple, but perfectly round and light, very light.
As I’m examining the fruit, I notice the other team is already ahead of me. One of the red fleshies is tossing fruits into his partner's sack. Some fill the bag while others miss their mark. I turn and lob the ball-like fruit to Rarity. Her horn glows and she yawns as she adjusts its path and guides the squishy ball into its final resting place.
Without even looking towards my partner I begin lifting purple orbs from the bush and tossing them over my shoulder rapid-fire. The pace set is far faster than what the other team can match, thanks to my lack of aim. Just as I had been glad to have Pinkie’s unique talents in the haunted graveyard, I too am happy to have a unicorn for this test.
“Whoa! That’s it! Let’s stop them, bring ‘em to the middle here!” the host shouts as the music cuts out and the audience roars with applause. The time went by so quickly, I’m almost shocked it’s been sixty seconds.
Rarity and I follow the other team’s lead in grouping around the host. As I move I grin at the distinct difference in the two teams' areas. Ours is neat and clean while our opponents’ area is strewn with fruit from missed attempts. It brings an even larger smile to my face. Even though I have no idea what’s going on, it’s always fun to win.
“Great job, let’s check it out! The red jaguars had one, two, three, four, five, six, seven… eight fruit!” the host counts as he kneels and removes balls from the other team’s sack. “Let’s see how many the green monkeys got, looks like a lot! They got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen...” the host's voice crescendos with enthusiasm as he counts, “..seventeen… eighteen… nineteen fruit!! Amazing! The green monkeys earn the pendant; they have one and a half pendants, the red jaguars only a half pendant. The green monkeys are going to the temple!” The crowd cheers “The red jaguars did a great job too, they won’t be going away empty handed, we’ve got a great gift for ‘em and here’s what it is!”
Another, different disembodied voice starts rambling something I don’t understand. I’m not even listening anymore. Instead, I turn to Rarity.
“Thanks, you were awesome!” I say to my purple-maned partner.
“Please. Catching balls and putting them in a bag is foal’s play. Not that I didn’t do it with grace and style, but it’s hardly a feat to be proud of.” she replies.
“Well still, thanks.”
“You’re quite welcome, now would you kindly enlighten me as to what is going on?” Rarity says, her face displaying complete frustration.
“I told you, I don’t know any more than you do. I just opened my eyes and I was here. Before this, I was with Pinkie Pie.” I tell her.
“Pinkie Pie? Where is she?”
“I don’t think she’s here. I don’t know where she went. Something weird is definitely happening-”
“You’re telling me!” she interrupts.
“...but I don’t know what. There’s something familiar about this place.” I admit. It’s true. The whole place, the games and even the creatures are vaguely familiar, just as my ordeal with Pinkie had been. I still have no explanation, just a feeling.
“Familiar? What do you-“
“Are you two ready for Olmec’s temple?” the host asks us. I look at Rarity and she looks at me. She’s obviously letting me take charge so I turn back and nod affirmative. He leads us over towards the talking stone face from before and turns to the audience. “The green monkeys have proven themselves worthy and have earned the right to enter Olmec’s temple, but first Olmec will give them some information to help them retrieve the lost maps of Lewis and Clark.”
Rarity and I watch as the blank, stone face starts talking once more. The maze of rooms looms in front of us like a daunting obstacle.
“You could start by climbing through the ledges and climbing down into the pit, then, race into the laser light room.” Olmec’s voice is quirky and resonant as he talks about the different areas, each of them illuminating as he names them. “Unleash the power of the special white laser and you could choose to go up into the room of the mandarin hand, OR, into the jester’s court. Press yourself against the correct wall-painting and you might have a chance to enter the dark forest where you can grab the lost maps of Lewis and Clark. Reach into the hole and find the key, but be careful, one of the trees could be inhabited by the spirit of a temple guard; if they grab you, you’ll have to give up a pendant of life. Next, plow through the wall and into the mineshaft. There, ride the elevator up into the room of the secret password. Find the tablet with the right password and shout it out to open the door to the shrine of the silver monkey. Assemble the statue and you may be headed for the king’s storeroom. Smash the clay pots to find the key which will allow you into the observatory. Put together the puzzle on the stone columns and swing on the rope back across the pit, then pass through the crypt, race down the stairs and back through the temple gate. The choices are yours and yours alone! You won one and a half pendants in the temple games, which of you will go first?” I begin to raise my hoof.
“I am!” Rarity shouts, taking me by surprise.
“What do you think you’re doing??” I ask, more forcefully than I should.
“I have a plan. You want to win this right? Well, we need a little... creativity.” Rarity says with flair. She seems confident enough. I just hope she knows what she's doing.
“Very well. If you can reach the lost maps, all the temple’s doors will unlock and the temple guards will vanish. Return through the gate with the lost maps in three minutes and you will both be handsomely rewarded!” Olmec instructs.
“The green monkeys think they can do it, so let’s see. Get into position.” Rarity steps forward as the host talks. “Let’s set the clock for three minutes. Olmec, lower your gate.” A gate of iron bars lowers with the sound of ratcheting chains while the stone face groans. I can’t imagine what Rarity is planning, but she mentioned creativity and nopony is more creative than her. She has an almost juvenile pride in her ideas and her work, but from all I’ve known of her she’s quite talented and never disappoints.
“On your mark, get set, go!” With that, pendant tied to her hoof, Rarity dashes forward up a short staircase and through the now-lowered gate. She immediately disregards Olmec’s suggested path and races up the stairs into the crypt, a room with three skeletons holding tomes. Frantic music playing loudly, Rarity peels a book from one of the skeletons, but nothing happens. She races to another and pulls downward on the book, opening a door which she then gallops through.
A short travel later, Rarity stands on a ledge overlooking a pit of green balls. The host narrates her progress for the audience as she goes. Her horn glows blue and a rope from the other side of the pit swings towards her allowing her to sail across the gap, avoiding the balls and shortening her path. She pounds a button on the wall with her hoof and a new door opens.
Rarity races up to the observatory where a jumbled column of three rotating slabs with matching pictures awaits her. I watch her movements with baited breath. Using her magic, the three slabs rotate all at once and lock into place and she speeds forward into the next room. She seems to have cleverly chosen a path to make the most use of her magical abilities.
Three clay pots stand on columns. As Rarity enters the room, a second door opens and a creepy figure sporting a mask and tribal garb rushes the white unicorn and stops her just long enough to free the pendant from her hoof. The temple guard satisfied, she wraps the three pots in her aura and they shatter in midair. Pieces of clay fall everywhere leaving a cylindrical key which she levitates into a hole on top of the columns where the pots had once sat. The door opens and she races into the next room, the shrine of the silver monkey.
A second temple guard pops out of a door and pulls Rarity inside; it’s now my turn. I peel up the stairs and follow the path my partner has cleared in incredible time. I fly by solved puzzles and open doors until I reach the shrine where I go to it.
Working swiftly, I grab the base of the monkey statue. It's quite light for its size. I place it in a square fitting at the head of the room. Next, the body. Finally, I line up the head and plunge it onto the rest of the statue. The door to the dark forest unlocks audibly.
I slide down a ladder into the room with two fake trees and sweep a scroll into my hooves. I’ve retrieved the lost maps. I can hear the affable host narrating, but I can’t focus on what he’s yelling, I’m not in the clear yet. All the doors now open and temple guards are gone. I retrace my path. Up the ladder, over, over, up, down, across the pit, into the crypt, down the stairs and through the gate!
The audience wails and cheers as I make it through with time to spare. Rarity is back waiting for me when I return.
“You did it!!” she hugs me, tighter than I'd expect.
“Nah, you did it! You did all the work! That was amazing!” Her eyes sparkle as I look into them, filled with joy the likes of which I’d only expect from Pinkie Pie. I return her hug then wave the scroll over my head as a trophy to our teamwork. There would’ve been no better partner for the challenge we’ve just mastered. Rarity saw that maze and plotted it out carefully as if it were a design for one of her dresses. She never had to stop and think; she had everything under control and knew what to do. Sure, her magical abilities saved time, but I can’t help but think that if I had gone first I would’ve wandered through aimlessly just trying to keep the same general direction, unlike my white unicorn friend.
“The green monkeys made it out of the temple with the lost maps of Lewis and Clark!” the host shouts, his loud, overly-friendly personality now seeming totally justified. “You did a great job! Tell them what they’ve won, won, won, won... won… won… won…” I watch his mouth as he repeats himself.
The audience has stopped clapping and the music has faded into nothingness. I panic and turn to Rarity. She passes through my vision, but rather than stopping in my gaze, the room keeps spinning. Colors and shapes blur together and I fall into dizziness. Tears run down my cheek, but I can only just feel them as my senses become numbness. The blurring is extreme as it reaches a terminus. The once, carefully decorated studio is now a wash of white light. All my perception of orientation and movement is gone; I’m simple existing in some undefined space and form.
“Whuu…” I lean forward, rubbing my bloodshot eyes, wondering what bizarre sight will await me this time. I take my first look. The sky is blue, save for a rainbow and some clouds. There’s grass all around in rolling hills of verdant green and songbirds are singing. Am I back in Equestria finally? There’s nopony else around, not even Rarity or Pinkie Pie, still, I’m relieved to be back in an element that makes sense. I stand up and fill my lungs with fresh air.
Not having any company is a change of pace and it blesses me with some personal time, time that will be spent thinking things over. The perfect weather and picturesque landscape is almost distracting from the roiling chaos in my head. I never expected when I woke up this morning that my day would be so odd. For that matter, I don’t even know what day it still is. Every time I blank out it feels like a matter of mere seconds, but with no frame of reference... no-no, I can’t start to think that way; those thoughts will drive me mad.
My mind rattles with unanswered questions. I find myself lost in a sea of mystery so large it’s difficult to even pick a point to start a train of thought. I suppose my most basic question is the most pressing. It’s a question I’ve never once had to ask myself, a question far too philosophical for the reach of a simple arcade pony. Is this reality? It seems as though these brief experiences couldn’t possibly be real, but…
I have to know for sure.
I spin around and take sight of one of only a dozen or so standalone plum trees dotting the grassy hillscape. My hooves press into the ground and I take off galloping towards it, a bit too fast. I slow my pace, but every fiber of my body is still screaming for me to stop. My squeamish eyes squeeze as tight as they can and my muscles go tense.
THWACK!
“Owwwwwww!!!!” I hit the tree headfirst, harder than a pony ever should and glance left, tumbling hard into the dirt. Rolling on my back, my hooves nurse my throbbing noggin and apply pressure as I squeal in dismay.
“Hey! Whuddja do that for?” a deep, dopey voice asks. I cock one eye open and look around, still gripping my skull like a vice. There are no ponies or anyone else around. “Over here!” the voice says again, this time my ears focus on the source. I open my other eye and glance up the thick, smooth, amber trunk that has just caused me so much pain. To my astonishment, the tree has a face, but not a face of bark and wood, a face of white, frosting-like shapes. Three white blobs for the eyes and nose, and a long rope for the mouth, a mouth which is frowning at me.
I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought. A talking tree may be the least weird thing I’ve encountered today, but my mind is a little fuzzy. As the sharp discomfort begins to retreat, it gives way to dull aches all over my body, especially my neck.
“I don’t just go smackin’ people who’re mindin’ their own business! Or, at least, if I could, I wouldn’t… ‘cause that’d be rude!” the tree scolds me.
“Ehh, sorry. I didn’t think you were…” I pause, trying to find the words to explain myself. I want to say ‘alive’, but I that's not right. “…just, sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m a tough customer, seems like you learned your lesson anyway!” the big tree says with a sly chuckle at my misfortune.
“So, can I ask you a question? Where are we?”
“Where are we?" He pauses. "Why, we’re here of course! Where else would we be?” the tree answers haughtily. I stand up, my injured head not requiring constant coddling anymore.
“I mean, where is here?”
“Here is here, just like there is there.” The oafish tree leans a branch towards a nearby hill as if to point. I begin to doubt the value of this conversation. While I’m thinking of a better question to ask, my eyes wander up my leafy friend to spot the plumpest, shiniest, purple fruit I’ve ever seen in my days. It seems like forever since my last meal and I am feeling pretty famished.
“Say, uhh. I don’t mean to impose, but that fruit you have looks delicious. Would it bother you if I had one?” I try to be as polite as possible.
“You want one of my plums? Well sure! Go right ahead!” The friendly, frosting-faced goon leans towards me slightly so that I may pluck a fruit for myself. I grab the biggest one I can reach and the stem snaps free from the branch. My teeth waste no time sinking into the tender morsel. Juicy bursts of flavor tantalize my tongue with every fleshy chew. It’s sugary, yet perfectly tart. I gobble my snack like a greedy child and lick the purple liquid from my snout with a big smile.
“Mmmm, thank you so much! That hit the spot!”
“My pleasure, friend!” the tree replies.
“So, you said we’re here, but what if I wanted to leave here, which way should I go?”
“Why would you want to leave? What’s wrong with here?” The tree’s white mouth frowns.
“Nothing! I just… want to go somewhere else. I like to go places.”
“I never go anywhere but here, but I guess you could go anyway you want to go someplace else.” Maybe he doesn’t have any useful information. Nah, I’m just not thinking like a tree, there has to be a way to communicate what I need. I think and think, trying to put myself in his place.
“But if you weren’t rooted to the ground…" I pause, carefully crafting my question like an attorney. "and you could come back here at any time, is there any place you’d want to go, even just to visit?”
“Well, I guess I’d like to meet the king, but he lives in Candy Castle and that’s an awful long ways away I hear.”
“Yes, and where would I go if I wanted to get to this castle??” I shout my question out of excitement.
“I’ve heard you just follow the rainbow road. It’s over there.” The tree leans towards a hill in the distance and I can see a small trail in a full spectrum of colors.
I'm about to pay my goodbyes and thank the tree for his help when a frantic chirping sound draws my attention skyward. Two bluebirds, fleeing a familiar butter-yellow pegasus, whiz by overhead.
“Oh! Come back! I don’t want to hurt you!” Fluttershy mews, hovering above the tree and I before looking down. “Token!” She swoops down as if to tackle me, but lands softly beside me instead. “Oh, am I glad to see you! Are you okay? What happened?”
“Whoa, slow down Fluttershy. I’m fine, are you?”
“Yeah, I’m okay, but I was in Ponyville, and there were scary monsters and then the next thing I know I was here and there was nopony around and I got really scared and then I saw some birds and I tried to talk to them, but they flew away and-“ I put my hoof to her mouth.
“Easy, everything’s fine. Just relax, please.” I say, trying to be as gentle as possible.
“Ahem, do you two know each other?” asks the plum tree.
“Oh wow! A talking tree!” Fluttershy’s eyes light up and she scampers over to him. “I have so many questions! What’s it like to be a tree?”
“It’s nice. What’s it like to not be a tree?”
“It’s… nice.” Fluttershy replies, poking at the tree with her soft hoof.
“This is great Fluttershy, but we should get going. We’ll talk on the way.” My impatience gets the better of me and I grab her pink tail dragging her away from her new buddy. “Thank you for your help Mr. Tree!” I shout back as I head in the direction of the rainbow road.
Fluttershy seems to accept my plan and follows along willingly. I swear that girl gets a bit of Pinkie Pie in her sometimes, but luckily she's settled down and her usual demeanor comes though once more as we walk and talk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Oh my! So after Pinkie Pie, and then Rarity, you got sent here?” Fluttershy asks.
“Yeah, where I meet you. It seems I’m running into everypony one-by-one.” I reply, half answering her question, and half recounting the events for my own head to process.
We reach the path on which we are to be traveling. It’s a winding, technicolor road of smooth stone pavers: large squares, each the width of the road and each a different color from the last. It doesn’t take long walking for me to notice the pattern: red, purple, yellow, blue, orange, green. I repeat the colors in my head as I trot, making it difficult to concentrate. Red, purple, yellow, blue, orange, green.
“Are you okay Token?” Fluttershy asks, snapping me out of my color-counting delirium.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m just, a little stressed out.”
“Is there anything I can do?” the kind pegasus asks, walking a bit faster than me so as to make herself more visible. I want to tell her no, tell her that she shouldn’t worry about me, but I know she won’t take that for a satisfactory answer.
“I don’t know Fluttershy. It’s just hard to relax when everything is so upside-down and you don’t know where you are.” She seems disappointed, but perks up quickly.
“Come here.” she says, motioning for me to step off the road. I hesitate. "Come here, don't be like that." What do I have to lose? It’s not like time is a factor when you don’t even know what time it is or if time even applies anymore. I follow her.
“What are we doing?” I ask.
“Just lay down.” Again, with some reservations, I do as Fluttershy asks. Tucking my legs underneath me I lay down on my belly. “Sometimes I do this for my animals when they need to relax.” The yellow pony crawls beside me and wraps a hoof around my neck, pressing into my tender muscles. I stiffen at her touch. “Oh I’m sorry!! Did I hurt you??” she squeals.
“No, please, it’s good.” I encourage her. She kneads my neck once more and I start to relax under her caring hooves. I crane to look at the mare; I can tell she’s concerned so I give her a smile and her face brightens. My chin finds a soft home in the grass and Fluttershy adjusts to my change in posture.
Her every touch applies the perfect pressure, firm yet tender. The weight of the strange world melts away, not to mention the tingling aches from my tree incident. As my skin yields to skilled hooves, I realize how lucky I am. No longer am I fighting ghosts, or zombies, or racing against a clock, but lying in a field with a friend who cares about me. If I can’t get back to Ponyville, I’d be happy to stay in this moment forever.
“Feel any better?” Fluttershy asks softly, still pressing on my neck and shoulders and occasionally rubbing my temples.
“Yes. Yes, thank you very much.” My voice leaves my throat like almost something of a purr. This gets a giggle from Fluttershy and she strokes my mane with one hoof. Her kindness is something to be envied, though it’s unsurprising, she is the Element of Kindness after all. I know I’d never stop or think to give somepony a massage, and Fluttershy and I aren't even the best of friends, but she couldn't stand to see me unhappy.
I know Fluttershy will keep this up until I tell her to stop, and knowing that I could fall asleep under her gentle touch I decide it best to stand up and continue on our way. I meet her gaze and give her a big hug. The flowery smell of her pink mane is almost as relaxing as her massage. I step away and grab her hoof, leading her back onto the rainbow-colored road.
As we travel together along the twisting path the grassy ground begins to whiten, despite no change in temperature. Up ahead an odd sight creeps into view. Red and white striped candy canes thicker than my legs stand proudly from the white-covered ground.
I sweep some of the white powder coating the ground up into my hoof; it’s fine and not cold in the least. I give my hoof a lick and my tongue recognizes the flavor of pure sugar.
“Hey ‘Shy! Check this out!” I look over my shoulder and Fluttershy is on her hind legs licking at one of the enormous peppermint candy canes. “Come on, we should keep going. There’s more peppermint ahead if you want.” I say, poking her wing and chuckling.
A noise resonates from the path ahead, but I think nothing of it until it gets louder. Thuk… thuk… thuk…thuk, a dull repetitive sound. What could be making such a sound in this land of candy? This candy land? That irritating déjà vu returns. The peppermint forest stands out in particular, but the road and everything before is now vaguely familiar. It seems an inescapable feeling and it has to be relevant, but I don’t know how.
“Do you hear that?” I ask.
“Yes, I hear it.” Fluttershy replies. At least it isn’t just me.
“It’s getting louder.” Suddenly the noise stops and we do too. I hold onto Fluttershy, keeping her still and protected. Candy canes as thick as my body now tower over us, a daunting, silent forest of red and white. The noise doesn’t return. Cautiously I step forward, leading a trembling pegasus.
The only sound is our hooves on the colorful pathway through a sugary peppermint prison. I would never have thought that something as innocuous as a children’s treat could become so unnerving when supersized and multiplied.
“Halt! Who goes there?!” A clown-like voice shouts. An axe swings inches over my head and slams into a nearby candy cane with a thunderous clap sending shards of razor-sharp peppermint flying outwards. Ahead of us, appearing without warning is a creepy, enormous thing: a biped nearly three times my height and with features much like the fleshies from my previous adventure with Rarity. His face is round with beady eyes and a pencil thin grin framing a giant red ball for a nose. The axe-swinging maniac has arms and legs of solid peppermint which extend out to pink gloves and red sneakers respectively. His body is covered by poofy, pink shorts and shirt, like great balls of cotton candy and he wears a pink cap with an upturned brim.
I’m frozen at the sight of this creature. Even ignoring his crazy grin and pink appearance I feel something very off about him, though having an axe flailed towards me doesn’t help my opinion.
“Let’s get out of here.” I whisper to Fluttershy, backing away slowly. She doesn't follow my lead. Instead, she steps forward towards the zany candy man.
“I’m Fluttershy, and this is Token, sir.” she states. Why is she doing this, has she lost her mind?
“What business do you have in my peppermint forest?” he responds, keeping his axe at his side.
“Oh. Is this… your forest? We were, um, on our way to see the king and w-we have to pass through to get there, if it’s alright with you, of course.” There’s a pause; every second feels like a minute. I swallow, wetting my dry throat.
“Oh, you’re off to see King Kandy are you?” he asks.
“Y-yes sir.” Fluttershy stammers.
“Well why didn’t you say so? Sure you can pass through! The name’s Mint! Mr. Mint! Pleased to meet you both!” He extends a gloved hand to Fluttershy and I and we shake. “I was doing some chopping when I heard you and thought you might be out to get my peppermint trees without permission! Terribly sorry about that!”
“Oh it’s okay, no harm done!” Fluttershy responds cheerfully. I’m simply dumbfounded. What I thought was a psycho-monster turned out to be just a lumberjack protecting his property? And I was ready to turn tail and run.
“Say, can you do me a favor? I’ve got something for the King, would you be so kind as to deliver it to him for me?” Mr. Mint says to the yellow pegasus, all while grinning at me.
“We’d be honered to!” With Fluttershy’s approval, the peppermint man reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small piece of paper wrapped like a scroll and tied with a piece of red ribbon. So much red and white in this forest, it’s starting to make my eyes sore. I let the pink-maned pony take the scroll as I’m still put off by Mr. Mint’s initial welcome. We thank him for letting us pass and promise him safe delivery for his letter. As I’m walking away, I realize he might know more about how to get the castle.
“Hey, one more thin-“ He’s gone when I look back. “Whoa, he must be in a hurry. Isn’t that weird, Flutter-“ I look back and Fluttershy is no longer by my side. I glance skyward, no flying pegasus… not even a sky, just a white void! Oh no! I look down and the whiteness has replaced everything. I’m floating in limbo, lost in an endless space like a chunk of driftwood in the great sea.
The white, endlessness wraps around me and cradles me, like a foal in the womb. I’d be lying to say it isn't at least a bit soothing. Nothing to worry about, nothing to harm me, just nothingness.
I blink my eyes and a new world springs into existence as if it had always been there. My hooves settle on floors of wood. I find myself in an ornate ballroom surrounded by white tablecloths; wooden chairs with thick, white padding; crystal candle holders; and walls decorated with murals of fantastic, dragon-like creatures.
“Token! What in the hay is goin’ on?” I recognize the country voice and turn to face the source.
“Hey Applejack. Let me guess. You were in Ponyville and then you wound up here, right?”
“Uh, yeah. Ain’t it the same for you?” she responds.
“Not exactly, but it isn’t important. Are you okay?” I ask.
“No worse for wear ah suppose, but where are we?”
“I couldn’t tell you.” I reply. It’s not a complete lie. I don’t know where we are, even though it feels just as familiar as before. The cold sound of metal on metal rings across the room and I look over to see two young fleshies standing before a long buffet table and sampling from its many treats. As I walk up behind them I can see a smorgasbord of cakes and puddings and gelatin desserts unlike anything even Sugarcube Corner has catered.
Looking at the young pink-skinned beings, I wonder what happened to them. From their wrinkled, khaki clothing caked in dirt, I can tell these two have been through a rough time.
AJ stands and watches with mouth agape as I approach the creatures which must be completely alien to her. My hooffalls clatter on the hardwood floor drawing sudden attention from the sweet buffet.
“Eeeeek!” they scream.
“Whoa! Calm down, I don’t want to hurt you.” I say, unsure if it was the best choice of words. It seems to have the desired effect at least.
“Y-y-you can talk??” one of the fleshies asks, her face a mask of confused horror. I can see both them clearly now. One is a girl, one is a boy. The girl has chubby, hairless cheeks framed by a frazzled mess of unkempt blonde locks. She’s wearing a muddy brown tank top and her arms are a web of red scrapes, nothing too serious, but hard to miss.
The boy is no better off, perhaps worse. His ear is orange with what I can only assume is dried blood. A red makeshift bandage is wrapped tightly around his hand and his hair too is wiry and frayed like a birds nest.
“Course we can talk,” Applejack interjects fiercely “Ah didn’t think you could talk!” she finishes, strolling up to my side. It’s two versus two. Two ponies and two… why do I keep seeing these things? I ponder them; the strange pink things are, like everything, confusingly familiar. I sense I should know more, but my mind returns to Ponyville and concern for my friends there with every attempt at deep thought. Best to put it out of my head.
“But you’re…” the boy trails off.
“Ponies.” the girl finishes for him.
“And y’all are… Token, what’n the hay are they?” I give Applejack a shrug.
“We’re humans, but everybody knows humans can talk. I’ve never heard of a talking pony.” the boy replies as if it were painfully obvious. Wait. Humans. Hu-mans. I know this word. Why do I know this word?
Applejack continues to argue with the human boy, but my attention is no longer in this room. My mind is on a mission to connect the dots, grasping at that one shred of information, a rescue rope dangled so gently in front of me. They’re humans. I hear the word in my head over and over; it breaks my train of thought repeatedly, but fuels my increased contemplation.
What if- Human. These two have to have to- Human. Maybe they’d know about- Human.
“AUUGH!” Suddenly there’s silence around me. It can’t be happening again! I look around, I’m still in the room. The argument has died. Now Applejack and the two humans are looking straight at me. I must have expressed my frustration aloud.
“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asks, nudging me gingerly.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking.” I turn my attention to the two humans. They have to be the key to all of this, I’ve never been so sure. “Say, do you two have names?” I ask diplomatically.
“Sure, I’m Lex and this is Tim. What about you?” the young girl replies. Lex and Tim. Lex and Tim. Lex and Tim. I mull the names over, ignoring her question which Applejack soon answers for me. Words start to creep into my mind like ants returning to a hill. Dinosaur. Island.
A stream of refreshing information comes to me. It’s cryptic, but I know I’m closer than ever before to understanding what’s going on. I just keep concentrating on the trickle of words as they invade my conscious. Theme Park. Spielberg.
A thought crosses my mind and I freeze. It… it can’t be. As soon as the thought arrives it’s pushed into nothingness by memories of Ponyville, my few friends’ shining faces, my arcade, and my simple home.
“Hey, Token! Snap out of it! I got too many questions fer ya to be daydreamin’ this whole time!” Applejack’s fiery eyes are right in my face as I focus on the buffet room again.
“Sorry, I-” I’m cut off by a pink hand around my mouth. It’s Lex, her eyes are dilated and her neck is tense. She directs my attention forward with a spastic extension of her twitching arm and hand. On the wall behind the buffet table is an image I completely expected, but hoped would never come.
A long shadow stalks along the wall accompanied by the audible huffs of large breaths. It’s the shadow of a velociraptor, an extinct creature from a distant past of a world I’m only now aware exists. Fear of the carnivorous dinosaur is completely submissive to the newfound mastery of my situation that has overcome me.
“I remember this.” I whisper to no one in particular, having knocked the clinging hand from my muzzle. “This is a scene from a movie, I remember everything now. Jurassic Park.” Applejack and the humans glare at me with deathly fear dripping from every pore. I ignore them and continue my soliloquy despite growing interest from the approaching raptor. “That’s why everything was so familiar, these are my... memories? This... is a movie and before it was a board game a-and a TV show and a-”
“Token!!” Applejack gives me a hoarse, shout-like whisper. I turn my head to see the shiny dinosaur staring towards us with dripping teeth. Razor sharp boomerang-like claws extend from its stubby forelegs.
“Oh, right.” I deadpan. I shoot Applejack a glance to make sure she’s ready and I take off in a gallop for the metal door which I know will lead to the kitchen. I can hear Applejack, the humans, and most importantly, the determined raptor in hot pursuit. I lower my head and ram straight into the door. It swings open and my hooves find no purchase on the other side as I begin tumbling into a dark, starless abyss. ‘This wasn’t in the movie’ is all I can think as my stomach does somersaults and my eyes water.
I look in all directions past my flailing brown hooves. Blackness. There’s absolutely nothing, nothing but the sensation of speed and the loud roar of air rushing past my upturned ears, whipping my mane and biting my coat. This wasn’t at all how I thought I’d… I gulp. My hooves instinctively cover my eyes and I brace for the end.
Still bracing.
The end doesn’t seem to come. I’m stuck endlessly falling, enduring this for eternity it seems. Maybe I’m already… maybe that raptor got me and this is what the afterlife is like, an eternal plunge into bottomless nothingness. I’ve grown accustomed to the sensation already; it seems almost normal.
My thoughts push past the deafening roar of the wind. There’s nothing else I can do; I might as well. So, what can I remember? I think back to my adventure with Pinkie Pie: the scenery, the monsters, the double-jumping… that music, they were all from a video game, but not one from my arcade.
“Super... Ghouls n’ Ghosts.” I try to speak to myself, but my words are lost to the endless wind. Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts was an awesome game, I think to myself, remembering countless hours of difficulty-induced anger. I remember guiding the crude sprite across the television screen, controller in my… hands. That’s right, I was a human. I am a human.
My descent begins to slow.
I knew those humans were familiar when I saw them with Rarity. Oh man, Legends of the Hidden Temple was the bomb! I remember watching that when I was a kid; that was like the coolest game show ever! How could I have forgotten about it?
The deafening wind slows to a gentle breeze.
Candy Land! Oh, Candy Land, I always played that with my cousins! Such a one-dimensional game thinking back on it, but it was cool at the time.
“Ow!” I shout as my belly impacts against a hard surface. It wasn’t actually painful, more surprising. I shake the dizziness from my head and push myself up. I feel taller than before, but I quickly realize that I’ve stood up on two feet. I crane my head down to see two legs and two pink hands and arms extending from a brown shirt covered torso.
So this is my human body. Of course, I remember it.
I take a sweep of my surroundings; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m on a wide, twisting, prismatic catwalk floating in the black void from which I’ve just become so acquainted with. The otherworldly walkway bobs and weaves, zigs and zags in three-dimensional space. It reminds me of Rainbow Road, a racetrack from another video game I spent untold hours of my childhood playing.
To either side of the path are an endless pattern of doors making it seem like a hallway. The stereotypical wooden doors with brass knobs float in space, attached to nothing and with nothing behind them.
I walk over to one of the doors and place my hand on the cold handle, turning it. I pull and the wooden egress swings as one would expect. What was not expected is what I see on the other side.
Through the rectangular portal that lies behind the door I stare upon a scene from one of my favorite television shows. Characters in brightly colored red and yellow uniforms man their posts on the bridge of a starship. It’s a large, tidy room in muted colors of beige and grey. Black glossy panels at the back of the bridge blink and bleep with a multicolored touch interface.
I close the first door and jog excitedly to a second. It swings upon under my power and I’m greeted by several humans playing instruments together. They’re all dressed in casual, collared shirts and wearing dark sunglasses. My head begins to bob to the beat of a familiar, cheery tune. I focus on the lyrics:
Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do, so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow-
“Pardon me sir,” I slam the door closed and turn my body as Applejack’s voice startles me out of my nostalgic trance.
“Whoa! When did you get here?” I ask. I didn’t expect to see her, or anypony… anybody again.
“I didn’t mean t’sneak up on ya, I just, I don’t know where I am and-”
“Applejack, it’s me! Token!” I interrupt the orange pony. I kneel down and offer her a hug, but she backs away.
“You’re… you’re a human?” Her words make me shrink. I’d expect some shock, but what if she doesn’t accept me now? What would I think if one of my friends turned out to be not who I thought they were?
“Yeah. I guess I am. AJ, I didn’t know until just now.” I pause and wait for her to speak, but she just looks me over. “I’m still me.”
“I suppose. So much crazy stuff’s goin’ on I reckon I shouldn’t be none surprised.” Applejack’s voice floats up to me like a sigh. My relief is stained by a tinge of sadness.
“Hey, Applejack!” a voice hollers from afar causing me to look over my shoulder. Barreling down the winding road I spy Pinkie Pie, followed in step by Fluttershy and Rarity not moving quite as fast. All four ponies collide in a pile of hugs and salutations. They pay little attention to me at first, but as their reunion winds down, the friends are overwhelmed with questions, especially about the six-foot-tall human beside them.
“Well how long have you been a… human?” Fluttershy asks, her eyes brimming with concern.
“I don’t know, forever I guess.”
“Forever!??” the four ponies shout in unison. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that.
“But darling, we’ve seen you in Ponyville for so long,” Rarity pauses, “how can you have been a human all this time?”
“I don’t know.” I lie; of course I know. Things are clear to me now. I am a human, I’ve been a human my whole life. This place, while I may not comprehend its exact nature, is a monument to my human childhood.
I look down on the ponies and I see they’re all waiting for me to continue. What is there to say? What can I say? I blank out for a minute. Do I tell them? So yeah guys, I’m a human and you’re all just characters on a cartoon I watch; your whole life isn’t real. I can’t. An angry nerve sparks inside me and suddenly my mind is scrambling to defend my friends from my own thoughts. What is real anyway? They’re real to me. How do I know that their world isn’t the one that’s real?
“Uhh, Token?” Applejack chimes, forcing the hornets’ nest of thoughts from my head.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. This has all been really strange for me, I’m just a little preoccupied.”
“Oh, we understand, don’t we girls?” Fluttershy says, taking off into the air and wrapping a hoof around my shoulder. I smile weakly. I can always count on her to diffuse an awkward moment.
“Mmhmm.”
“Yes indeedy!”
“Of course.”
“Ooh! But if you’re a human maybe there are even more ponies in Ponyville who are really super-sneaky humans in disguise!” Pinkie Pie says pouncing and stalking low to the ground as if to impersonate a cat burglar or something. “Maybe Carrottop! No-no wait! Cheerilee always seemed kinda humany to me!”
“I wouldn’t worry about it Pinkie, I think I’m the only one.” I say with a giggle.
“Yes, we should focus on getting out of this dreadful place.” Rarity’s words knock the breath out of me.
“Dreadful!?? This place is amazing!” I fire back, a bit more viciously than I’d intended. Rarity has her head drawn back as far as it will go, her face is somewhere between shocked and hurt. “I’m sorry, I should’ve said something. This… well, I don’t know exactly where this is, but these are memories, for me… from my childhood.” I say, pointing from door to door.
“Oh, I-”
“Don’t apologize, you didn’t know. It’s just, I’ve kind of dreamed of an opportunity like this and it’s, I don’t know… precious.” I find myself rubbing my hands together nevously while I speak. I look up from my fidgeting digits and everypony looks as though they’ve lost a friend. “Hey now, I didn’t mean- I mean… we’ll find a way home, I just wouldn’t mind staying here a little longer.” Their expressions pick up a little, but I still feel compelled to talk. “Tell you guys what, we still haven’t found Twilight or Rainbow Dash, why don’t we take a walk and look for them?” There’s a pause while the friends look to one another.
“Sounds like a plan Token.” Applejack speaks for the group. Just like that, we start down the vibrant pathway towards no particular destination.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Oh my gosh!! The WCW! And –Ohhhhh! Pogs!! Pogs were sooooo long ago! No way!! Is that? It is! It’s Bowser’s castle!!” I’m brimming with nostalgia, rushing from door to door and swinging them open eager for my next dose of nineties joy. My voice is high and breathy; in fact my whole body feels light as air. I want to wrap myself in this place, to curl up in it and forever nurse from the teat of my most cherished memories.
“Is he gunna be like this the whole time?” Applejack asks to nopony in particular. The annoyance in her voice doesn’t faze me one bit.
Each door brings me back to a point in my life when I felt like I understood things and knew that everything would always be fine. Being a kid, the world my oyster, my parents there to lift me up when I fall down. More than that, I’m overwhelmed by a connection to these pinches of pop-culture. These are things that came together to define me and shape me into who I am.
I pull upon another door and see myself, no more than four-years-old sitting in a room bathed in the glow of a television that’s familiar yet distant: a wood-paneled behemoth with low-definition screen under glass bubble. I just stare in awe, absorbing every last detail from the stained pink carpet to the square of red light on the front of my game console. My tiny hands clutch a brick of grey plastic, the sharp edges wearing into my palms. The careful ministrations of my young thumbs guide a mass of pixels on-screen through a maze of certain doom.
Watching myself, I think about the lifelong passion for gaming that’s been nurtured over my life. I think about the friends I’ve made through mutual love of the corded controller. I wouldn’t be the person I am today were in not for seeds sown such as these. I close the door slowly, turning the handle beforehand so as to stifle any sound coming from a lock that doesn’t exist on the floating door in space. I release a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
I turn to my little pony friends. They’re all four talking amongst themselves behind me. They chatter about things that seem mundane to me: the slight transparency of the road, the things they have to do back in Ponyville, their separate experiences with me, etc. I can’t blame them for not sharing my reverence, these aren’t their memories. The things that made them who they are are unique to each of them, as are mine to me.
Another door. I open it and jump at the sight of a creepy clown smoking a cigar. The frilly, red-nosed joker leans into me menacingly, unblinking, unmoving. His eyes glow like embers and his comically toothy, green smile sends a shiver down my spine. I slam the door shut and throw my weight against it.
“What is it Token?” Fluttershy asks.
“Whuddja see? Huh? Huh?” Pinkie pries. Rarity and Applejack pay little heed and continue their conversation as if my antics are simply expected by now. My chest is rising and falling from the adrenaline, but my lips curl into a smile.
“Are You Afraid of the Dark.” I spit between breaths.
“Oh, terribly!” Fluttershy answers, hiding behind her pink mane.
“No, no, Are You Afraid of the Dark was a tv show from when I was a kid.”
“Oh.” Fluttershy says, turning her red face away slightly.
“It was a show about kids telling spooky campfire stories.” I leave the door and keep walking as I explain. Pinkie and Fluttershy hang at my side listening to my nostalgic anecdote. Rarity and Applejack are leading the pack now as we march down the road. “There was one episode about a kid who steals the red nose from a clown dummy inside a fun house, but the spirit of the clown gets angry with the boy and haunts him.”
With just a brief synopsis I have a certain pink pony in my face practically begging me to tell her what happens. I glance to my left at Fluttershy, who I can tell is torn between not wanting to disappoint her friend and not wanting to hear another word of scary clowns and haunted carnivals. She’s a sight that warms my heart, perhaps more than any of these doors ever could. I reach down and dip my fingers into her mane. She recoils slightly, but I continue. My digits grip lightly behind her downturned ear and I gently begin to scratch her. I’m not sure of the customs, whether this should be awkward or not, but I don’t even care, it feels right and she hasn’t done anything to stop me.
“Would you mind if I finish the story for Pinkie, Fluttershy?” I ask her, still scratching her.
“Okay.” Her words are almost a whisper. I can feel the yellow pegasus melting under my touch and it makes me smile. Favor returned. With permission, I return to Pinkie Pie and begin to regale her with all I can remember from the story of a TV show I haven’t seen in ages.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“…and when the boy opens the smoky microwave to get his dinner, what does he find but a plate of cigar butts!” I build my story to a crescendo and both ponies gasp, Fluttershy now listening willingly even though she’s visibly spooked.
“T-t-then what happens?” the timid pony asks.
“Well, the boy is a mess at this point. He’s never been so scared and sorry in his life! So he grabs the nose and heads down to the fun house after hours. He wades through the eerie dark chambers of the attraction with his would-be trophy in hand. He's dripping with fear as he finally reaches the room with the clown dummy. He knows it’s behind the big red door and he’s having second-thoughts about coming back, but when he tries to go back the way he came he finds he’s trapped! The big red door swings open on its own and instead of the noseless clown dummy, the boy is greeted with a wall of fog and angry strobing light.”
“Oh wow, this is goooood!” Pinkie Pie chimes in.
“So the boy swallows his fear and apologizes for what he did. He reaches into the paper bag he brought to retrieve the red-nose which he places just inches behind the threshold of the door. Then he pulls out a box of cigars and sets them inside as well, just to show that there’s no hard feelings. A few seconds go by which I’m sure must’ve felt like an eternity to him, but finally the door closes and the exit swings open. Having learned his lesson, the boy goes through the door and takes off running away from the haunted attraction, the wild, cackling laughter of the clown echoing in the night air behind him.”
“Wowee, that’s a great story! I’ll have to tell that one on Nightmare Night this year!” Pinkie says, bouncing up and down beside me.
“Go right ahead.” I say. I try to comfort a pale Fluttershy, but have little luck. Feelings of guilt wash over me for frightening her, but I know inside that she’ll be okay.
“Hey! You haven’t checked any of your memory door thingies in a while.” Pinkie Pie states the obvious.
“Yeah, well it’s hard to tell a story when you’re opening doors.” I respond. I just keep walking, happy to be surrounded by friendly listeners.
“Well, aren’t you done with the story now?” I hadn’t really thought about going back to my nostalgic activities, but it dawns on me that Pinkie is right. I might as well. It is still fun after all and I may not have this opportunity forever. I glance at the pink pony and she’s looking back at me encouragingly. I think she understands more than anypony else.
With a nod I race ahead and take a quick survey. One door stands out to me, not visually, but my intuition draws me towards it. I reach for the handle and pull with a twist. The door swings open, like countless before it, but this time is different.
I fall to my knees at the sight of a colorful world, almost Equestrian in picturesque perfection. A sky of brilliant blue and yellow compliments distant green rolling peaks. Lush forests frame a verdant expanse of sword-like grasses. To the untrained eye it would seem nothing more than a pleasing landscape, but I know better; this is a world I’ve yearned to be a part of for more than a decade.
Staggering to my feet once more, I find myself drawn hypnotically to the new world like a moth to a lantern. My feet begin to move of their own volition.
“Whoa! Hold up there pardner!” Applejack shouts. The other ponies echo her sentiments, but I keep moving. I can smell the grasses and feel a warm breeze on my face. Suddenly there’s a pressure on my wrist and my right hand sails rearward, holding me in place. I look back with panic to see myself tethered to the orange farm pony by way of a length of rope deftly lassoed around my arm.
“Guys! Follow me, I know where I’m going!” I say, hoping I can convince them.
“But Token!” Fluttershy says.
“Aren’t we supposed to be looking for Twilight and Rainbow Dash?” Rarity scolds.
“Yes, and we’ve been walking on this path for an hour and we haven’t seen a single trace of them.” The four ponies give me a skeptical look. “C’mon, call it a hunch.” They seem to hem and haw for a moment. I take the opportunity to loosen the lasso and pull my wrist free.
“Are you sure this is about finding our friends and not about fulfilling some long-gone childhood fantasy?” Rarity nags me with question that’s clearly on everypony’s mind.
“Well… that’s certainly a benefit, but you have to trust me. It’s intuition. This place is full of [i/]my memories right? We’re not finding our friends running around out here which means they’re probably behind one or more of these doors somewhere… and if that’s the case what better place to start looking than in the strongest memories I have?” I plead my case, hoping they’ll understand. The logic is infallible in my head and my gut feeling is even stronger.
“Well, I suppose that does make sense.” Rarity concedes.
“It is pretty.” Fluttershy remarks, looking through the door at the grassy expanse.
“I reckon it might be nice to have a change of scenery.” Applejack says with a sigh.
“Then it’s settled!” Pinkie Pie hollers while bouncing through the open doorway. The realization of what I’m about to do overwhelms me with joy. On the verge of hopping after the pink pony, instead I keep my cool and stroll through, three ponies in tow.
The warm wind feels good as it tussles my hair. Blades of long grass that nearly envelop the four ponies come up to my hips. The fresh scent of summer foliage hangs in the air. Wild rattata scurry along rustling the foliage in their wake, leaving a tell-tale sign of their presence. I look skyward. A flock of spearow glide by on a mission to find new nesting grounds. It’s so perfect.
“Lookie! There’s a path!” Pinkie Pie interrupts my reverie with her observation. There does appear to be a path that cuts through towards a distant town. There’s even a signpost. I race over to see what it says, grass bending under my weight and motion. I can hear that the group is following me as I approach the sign.
ROUTE 1
PALLET TOWN – VERIDIAN CITY
I squeal with delight as I read the words.
“Havin’ fun Token?” Applejack asks mockingly.
“Ahem, we should go this way.” I try to act focused as I point towards the small city up the path. With no resistance we’re all five heading in the direction of Veridian City.
“So where are we? What super special fun memory of yours is this?” Pinkie asks. It’s a question I’ve been waiting for. I run out ahead of the group and turn around raising my arms.
“Welcome to the world of Pokémon!” I shout in my best Professor Oak imitation. Four eyes just stare blankly back at me. Right, they wouldn’t get it. Dropping the shtick, I continue. “This is Pokémon! It was a game from when I was about ten-years-old… well, it was a video game, and a TV show, and a card game, but mostly it was pure awesome!!”
I turn around and encourage the others to follow me as I talk. They’re all listening quietly while I explain the phenomenon that was Pokémon.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Veridian City is almost upon us and even I would admit my rambling gushing praise of all things Pokémon has grown entirely tedious and unnecessary. One glance at the ponies confirms my suspicions. Applejack and Rarity look on the edge of breakdown, Pinkie’s eyes are spinning in her head and Fluttershy has stopped listening completely in favor of hovering above the group and surveying the fauna.
“Whoops. Sorry, I guess I’m getting a little carried away.” The farm pony shoots me a ‘you think?’ look and I smile weakly back at her. I glance to Rarity in time to see her eyes go wide and her head rear back.
“Rainbow Dash!!” she shouts. Up ahead, sure enough is a cyan blue pegasus following behind a human with short, spiked, dark-brown hair wearing a black kimono.
“Let’s go!” I shout before breaking into a sprint.
As I approach, I can see Dash’s wings are tied down to her sides by means of several loops of thick-gauge rope. Her blue neck is marred by a black collar chained to a bit in her mouth. She’s tethered to a golem, a rock-type Pokémon, by means of a ten foot leash held by the stony behemoth’s jagged hand. The golem is following the man in the kimono obediently.
“Hey you!” The man looks up and so does Rainbow Dash. The rainbow-maned pony instantly perks up her sullen face at the sight of her friends racing behind me.
“Yes?” he responds indignantly. I come to a stop in front of him and the ponies group around their cyan friend, showering her with greetings. The golem tugs Dash away and glares menacingly at Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack.
“What are you doing with that pony?” I demand an answer.
“She’s my newest pet, I found her and caught her fair and square.” the man replies defensively.
“You don’t own her!” bellows Applejack, her face twisted with anger. Dash kicks the ground as if she’s tried that line before. I wave dismissively at the ponies hoping they’ll let me do the talking in this encounter.
“Well, she belongs to me so if you’ll kindly return her, I’d be so grateful.”
“What?” the man raises his eyebrow.
“I lost her… and now you found her for me, so if you’ll hand her over I’ll be on my way.”
“Lost her huh? You gunna give me a reward or somethin’?” his response catches me off-guard.
“Well, I- uhh… I don’t have anything to give you.” I stammer.
“What a scam. Do you even have any proof she's yours?”
“Ummm…” I struggle to find an answer. Rainbow Dash tries to say something but it comes out garbled through the bit in her mouth.
“She just does!” Applejack hollers again. I don’t try to stop her this time.
“Sorry, that’s not good enough.” He starts to walk away. “Besides, you’ve got four of them, how many do you need?”
I start to panic briefly. Do I try and steal her? My thought process doesn’t last long as I spot a belt around the man’s waist with familiar round orbs of red and white.
“Hey! How about we battle for her!” The man stops in his tracks and casts a skeptical look over his shoulder.
“You’re a Pokémon trainer?” he asks.
“You bet I am!” I can hear the four unrestricted ponies murmuring amongst themselves in shock.
“Okay,” He spins in place, his kimono swirling like a cape, “and if I win I get to choose one of your ponies to take for myself?”
I hesitate for a moment, but agree to his terms. I don’t even look to see the equines’ reaction to our wager, but I can only imagine.
“Then we have a deal, but I must warn you, I’m on my way to the Indigo Plateau so you’d better bring your best! Now where are your Pokémon?”
“Well,” Oh shoot! I don’t have any Pokémon! “…give me a few minutes.” I turn and run towards the center of town leaving the man behind me.
“Hey!” Applejack screams and makes chase, galloping alongside me. “Just who in Celestia do you think you are bettin’ us like we were yur own private property?!”
“You want Rainbow Dash back? This is how we do it!” Applejack begins to say something back, but I cut her off. “Please, trust me. I didn’t mean any disrespect, but I know what I’m doing.” I tell her.
“Well I sure hope so ‘cause if you think that frou-frou, dress wearin’ nut is walkin’ home with me or any one of my friends you’ve-”
“Applejack.” I give her a disarming stare.
“Good luck.” she says, tipping her hat. I smile back.
I push open the doors to the Viridian City Pokémon Center and rush inside. The building is air-conditioned and noticeably cooler than the outside. It’s also quite clean, clinical even. I make a break for the computer in the corner and boot up the machine, hoping my hunch is correct.
Accessed BILL’S PC
Accessed POKéMON Storage System
I breathe a sigh of relief as the screen shows my old Pokémon in the box. I scroll through them, grinning with each passing name, each one a heavily trained fighting machine from my long-gone days of lunch-table Gameboy slinging.
I make my withdrawal and hurry out of the building before Nurse Joy can thank me and tell me to come again. I make my way quickly back, pokéballs in hand and ready for epic battle.
When I return the stage is clearly set. My opponent has taken his Golem and Rainbow Dash to one side while my pony friends wait for me a distance away on the other side of what is to be our battlefield, a grassy pitch at the corner of town. The town buzzes with whispering and people stopping to see what is about to happen.
“Let’s do this!” I say with a cocky grin.
“Very well then. Weezing go!” The strange man shouts, opening his pokéball and exposing a flash of white light which leaps forth and morphs into the purple, floating, poison Pokémon.
Not caring about strategy and knowing full well that I’ve got this battle in the bag already, my mind is dancing joyously at the thought of what I’m about to do. The excitement comes not only from the imminent battle, but for the very act of retrieving my Pokémon.
Reaching behind my back with as much flare as I can muster, I grip a pokéball all the while beginning to spin slightly in place.
“Blastoise! I choose you!” I shout, lobbing the red and white ball towards the battlefield and picking up my leg in the process. Ash Ketchum would be proud.
My water Pokémon appears standing proud as shrill, frantic battle music fills my head from memory.
“Blastoise, use hydro pump now!” I yell, mimicking so many Saturday mornings spent in front of the television. He obeys and the cannons on his shoulders protrude from his shell and fire a deluge of water towards the purple gasbag. The attack connects and Weezing is knocked back and into the dirt from the intense pressure.
“Weezing, give him your sludge attack!” His Pokémon returns to the air, a dumb, lazy look on its dual faces. It expands as if breathing in and then contracts, releasing a spew stream of dark purple ooze.
“Blastoise, avoid it!” I shout but I’m too late. Weezing’s muck hits its target and I watch as Blastoise’s eyes close instinctively and he recoils backwards.
When my Blastoise staggers again to a fighting stance he is covered in a layer of purple goo, save for a small spot on his face where he’s brushed it away with a claw. I think about my next move and seconds later it comes to me.
“Alright, let’s give him a body slam!” I order and Blastoise begins to charge. The ground shakes with the trampling step of the shelled behemoth. He barrels towards Weezing picking up speed, yet my opponent seems totally unfazed and even arrogant.
The attack hits and both Pokémon come to rest on the ground, Blastoise on top of a pained Weezing. I smile to myself and look back at my friends who are lost in the action of something they’ve never seen or dreamed of. Pinkie in particular has a trance-like look on her cute pink face. My attention is swiftly returned to the battlefield by unexpected words from my opponent.
“Weezing, explosion please.” Just like that, his own Pokémon, trapped under the weight of mine, begins to glow as white as when it emerged from its ball. My ears start to ring and in a second both Weezing and Blastoise are caught in an enormous fireball.
Everypony gasps and I find myself a bit confused. Trading one-for-one doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. Weezing and Blastoise lay together, almost sweetly, in a blackened pile of fainted Pokémon.
“Hey, why’dja do that?” I shout, almost hurt in my voice.
“I don’t question your battling, you shouldn’t question mine.” He has a point.
“Fine! Hey, I don’t think I ever caught your name!”
“Haku.”
“Alright Haku, I’m Token.”
“Can we continue our battle or is your plan to exchange pleasantries until I fall asleep?” he says with a self-important, but playful smirk.
“Well, we’ve both got two Pokémon left and I choose Zapdos!” My spinning, leg-lifting motion is less stupendous this time, but it gets the job done. The white light from my thrown pokéball condenses into a shimmering, spikey yellow bird with black-rimmed eyes. It takes off into the sky in a show of brilliance and hurtles a fearsome cry towards the ground.
Crowds have formed and people gawk in awe at the spectacle of my legendary Pokémon. I’d gawk too if I were them.
“Very impressive, but this is a battle not a beauty contest. Golem, show him how it’s done.” With a wave of his kimono-draped arm, his Golem is on the battlefield. Zapdos returns to a reasonable altitude and hovers awaiting my commands.
How could I have been so naïve? He wanted my Blastoise out of the picture so his rock-type wouldn’t have to face a Pokémon it’s weak to. I cringe at the abysmal matchup of my electric, flying-type versus a rock, ground-type; it’s one of the worst imaginable scenarios. Still, no reason to change Pokémon into an attack, I still have my ace in the hole.
“Okay Zapdos, use your drill peck!” The glorious bird dives and glances off the bulky Golem sending a tiny chip of rock flying into the air. Golem shrugs the ineffective hit off.
“Golem! Rock slide!” Haku yells. His Pokémon grips at the earth and tears a boulder from beneath the grass and in a display of strength, hurls the rock into the sky, leading my Zapdos.
“Quick Zapdos, dodge it!” The electric Pokémon arcs her wings and soars into a dazzling immelmann turn. The rock misses by a hair and I look to my opponent to gloat, but instead I catch Rainbow Dash staring up into the sky, rose eyes fixed on my legendary bird. I can’t read her. Whether she’s impressed by Zapdos’ moves and grace or whether it’s just longing to be in the air again or a mix of both, I’m not sure.
I call out my attack and again Zapdos curls her wings back into a dive and hits the Golem with her sharp beak again. She bounces off, stunned and swoops into the air higher. Golem is annoyed, but seemingly unharmed.
“Do it again Golem, use rock slide.” His orders are calm. Golem clambers across the battlefield and retrieves the boulder it just tossed, which landed heavily only yards from a family of terrified bystanders. They never showed us THAT in Pokémon. The rocky beast pauses to check aim before propelling the stone skyward like a cannon.
“Zapdos, watch-“ BLAM! The boulder slams right into her underbelly and she falls limply towards the earth. Before she can hit ground, I grab my pokéball and press the button to retrieve her in a beam of red light.
I knew it was inevitable; that matchup is nothing if not a losing proposition. I reach behind me and swap Zapdos for my third and final pokéball.
“Well, looks like you have but one Pokémon to my two. Are you ready to give up yet?” My cocky opponent proclaims. I just stare at my last pokéball.
After a moment of silence, I look up and strike my foe with a knowing smile. This battle was over before it started. He may have done better than I expected, but it still doesn’t save him here; my first two were nothing more than a warm-up.
“Nothing of the sort my friend, I’m afraid I won’t be leaving here today without that pony… and I brought some Insurance to make sure that was the case.” I savor the look of confused revolt on his face as he appears visibly shaken and annoyed.
“Why you! If you think you can-” I hold up my hand in as aristocratic a manner as possible, silencing him.
“I choose you! Mewtwo!” The ball opens in my hand. The blinding light that emerges feels hotter and brighter than any of the others. The whiteness softens and left on the battlefield is a fetal ball of purple and grey. The psychic god begins to stand as if like a human, but on the balls of its feet. A long, smooth, purple tail, bigger at both ends than in the middle, waggles rhythmically behind him.
“You summoned me?” Mewtwo speaks telepathically in a deep voice, his small mouth unmoving.
“Th-that thing can talk?!?” Mewtwo ignores my opponent who is having some sort of a breakdown at the idea of a talking Pokémon.
“Yes. I require your special abilities.” I reply, very businesslike and professional.
Mewtwo turns and looks at Golem, then turns back to me with that unreadable poker-face. I can only sense his disappointment at such a pitiful opponent.
“Well, so what if your Pokémon can talk?! I still have two Pokémon to your one and I’ll show you!”
“Enough. We continue. Mewtwo, Amnesia.” I command. The genetic Pokémon stands perfectly still and closes his pointed eyes as he begins to glow in a blue aura.
“Golem! We know how to deal with chumps like this, finish it off with an earthquake!” His Pokémon raises itself up and then slams its full weight into the ground below causing a tremor that no doubt the whole town can feel. The ground erupts underneath my psychic Pokémon, injuring him, but allowing shards of rock to float into his cloud of mental energy, spinning like tops.
“What?!” Haku exclaims. Clearly he’s never seen a trainer's Pokémon survive a direct earthquake like that. I’m glad I could be his first.
“Mewtwo, you know the rest.” The rocks hovering around him shatter, no, disintergrate and he steps forward slowly. He raises his greyish-purple three-fingered hand and Golem’s entire heavy body lifts into the air. Claws flailing and eyes wide with panic, the rock-Pokémon floats bathed in blue glow.
“Hey! What do you think you’re-”
Mewtwo’s fingers close together quickly and Golem’s rocky shell visibly constricts under the enormous psychic pressure. The Pokémon cries out, a low, pained growl. His eyes clench shut in an attempt to bare the pain, but it’s too great.
“Stop that! Let him go! Golem!” My opponent frantically tries to get my attention, but I’m not calling the shots anymore. I stand back and watch Mewtwo’s handiwork.
THUD! Golem falls to the ground, out of energy and badly hurt. My opponent rushes to his fainted Pokémon’s side and checks him over in shock. Mewtwo stands relaxed and ready for his final challenger.
“You’ve seen what my Pokémon can do. Are you ready to concede do you want to watch your last Pokémon get demolished as well?” I ask in a loud voice. People all around are whispering amongst themselves.
“I… I… forfeit. You win. Just... take your pony and go. Please.” Haku says, holding back tears as he calls his Golem into a pokéball for the first time since I’ve seen him.
“Good decision. Mewtwo return.”
Mewtwo returns to his ball and I place it behind my back before walking across the battlefield towards Rainbow Dash. When I reach her, she recoils a bit as I move to undo her bindings.
“Whoa, it’s me, Token. I know I look different, but I just want to help untie you.” I say softly, almost as if I was speaking to an actual real-life horse. She looks at me in a way that makes me feel guilty, but relaxes and allows me to help.
I untie her wings first, knowing that’s what is the most confining for her, and then I remove the collar and bit last. Dash spreads her wings and stretches them, making sure they still work as she remembers.
“Thanks.” she says. Before I can respond she’s leaped over my head and swooped over to greet her friends as a free pony. I heave a sigh feeling a bit left out, but decide to not let it bother me. I stroll back across the pitch towards where everypony is gathered.
When I walk up, a conversation is roiling; a conversation which I feel I have no part in, but I listen anyway. I kick the dirt hoping they’ll notice me, but they don’t.
“I hate having my wings tied!”
“I can imagine it’s quite immuring.”
“Hey, remember that time I had to tie ‘em for the runnin’ of the leaves ‘cause y’all wouldn’t stop tryin’ to cheat me?”
“Ha! You mean because you wouldn’t stop being a sore loser? Yeah, I remember alright!”
“Hey…” I say, trying to butt in.
“Hey Token.” Fluttershy responds.
“So that really is him, huh?” Rainbow Dash asks.
“Yes, it is indeed Token… and it’s a long story.” Rarity confirms.
“Oh, cool, well thanks for rescuing me, I guess.”
“You guess? What’s to guess about?” I ask, feeling a bit paranoid, but I calm down remembering a lesson I once learned. Always expect the best from your friends and never assume the worst. Rest assured that a good friend always has your best interests at heart.
“Well, wasn’t that a little… mean? What you did to that man?” she asks. Fluttershy and Pinkie nod in agreement.
“Mean? Nah, it’s Pokémon. That was just a friendly battle… look at what he did to my Pokémon!" I remind her, thinking of Zapdos and Blastoise.
“Still, it looked like you really hurt his big rock thing.” Dash says.
“Poor creature.” Fluttershy mumbles.
“C’mon guys. One quick trip to a Pokémon center and they’ll all be right as rain again. That’s how it works.” They look skeptical so I offer to show them to the Pokémon center; I should be headed there anyway. The group agrees and we all start off into the heart of town.
Ding, ding, ding-dong-ding! The machine stops and Nurse Joy retrieves my three pokéballs and brings them back to the counter.
“Thank you! Your Pokémon are fighting fit! We hope to see you again!” Her silvery voice carries across the Pokémon center as my friends and I take our leave. Once outside, I stop to open a pokéball to show the ponies that everything is alright.
“Zapdos come out!” I shout. The legendary bird appears as high-spirited and indomitable as ever. “See?”
Satisfied that our Pokémon battle really was just a friendly contest, everypony seems to become a bit more relaxed, everypony except Rainbow Dash that is. I watch her eyes as they’re riveted to the glowing plumage of Zapdos’ wings. The cyan pegasus seems mesmerized so I decide to give her a show.
“Zapdos!” I call the creature’s name and throw my hand into the air. She gets the idea and flaps her wings hard, taking off into the air like a bullet and buffeting everypony with a brief uncomfortable wind.
Dash watches her from the ground as Zapdos soars higher and higher. She banks into a somersault around the sun and finishes with a spectacular dive, lightning arcing off her sharp feathers leaving a crackling flash in her wake. The bird swoops out of her dive just in time to avoid the ground and glides majestically back to her starting point just hovering over my shoulder.
“Whoa!” Everypony showers her and I with attention.
“Cool… err- I mean, that was pretty cool, but I bet she can’t top this!” Dash says, trying act nonchalant. She wracks her head from side to side making an audible crack, her hooves dance lightly in place and she flaps her wings, getting her whole body loose for the trick she’s about to perform. The feathered appendages whip with determination and in a second she’s gone, even faster than the legendary bird.
I look up to see a rainbow contrail penetrating not one, not two, but three fluffy white cumulus clouds before darting to the area of sky just below the sun. Dash goes into a corkscrew and sheds moisture built up in her coat from the clouds. She changes direction dramatically and continues the spiral, then alters her path again. She finishes, leaving a lightning bolt shaped rainbow in the sky, almost like her cutie mark. As she swoops down to the group, everypony, myself included, congratulate her and praise her on what a spectacular feat she’s performed.
“Yeah, I’m pretty amazing sometimes aren’t I?” she says. I smile and think to myself how charmingly arrogant Rainbow can be sometimes. Almost like a kid, she always wants to show off her talents and prove that’s she’s special. That’s Dash, a child at heart.
“Speaking of amazing, where’s Twilight?” Rainbow asks. I’m surprised she hadn’t asked the question sooner.
“We haven’t found her yet.” Fluttershy responds.
“Aww shucks. We got separated and I haven’t seen her since.” says Dash.
“Hold your horses? Twilight was here?” Applejack replies on behalf of everybody, all of us clearly thinking the same thing.
“Yeah, when we got transported here from Ponyville, me and Twi set off trying to find the rest of you guys…” Everypony intently listens in on her story; even Zapdos eavesdrops from above. “…but then these creepy guys in black with the letter ‘R’ on their chest jumped on us and tried to ponynap us. They got Twi under a big net, but she used her magic and teleported away. I was already off into the sky when she zapped away. She probably figured I’d escaped too, but as soon as she was gone I felt a jolt throughout my body like I’d been struck by lightning. My wings seized up and I started to fall. I tried to fly but I couldn’t help it; it was like I was paralyzed.”
“And then what happened Dashie?!?” Pinkie Pie barks, dying to know the rest.
“Well, I’m not quite sure. I remember hitting the ground… hard, and then I kinda blacked out, but I’m not sure how long. When I came to the guys in black were still there, but so was that guy with the big rock thing… err, Po-ké-mon, whatever. Anyway, he was kicking some serious flank and soon as I had woken up he had those bad guys running with their tails tucked!”
“Goodness, so he saved you, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asks.
“Well, yeah I guess, and I thought he was cool, but then he tied me up so I couldn’t fly and put that other stuff on me which was definitely not cool.”
“I understand now. So you never saw Twilight again?” I ask.
“Nope, we didn’t have a place we were supposed to meet or anything, it just happened and we split up… and even if I did know where she’d want to meet back up, I was tied to that guy in the goofy dress who took me into town where you guys… well, you know the rest.” the blue pegasus explains.
“Do you know how long ago it was when you last saw her?” Fluttershy asks.
“Mmmmmm… I think about four days ago.”
“Whoa, Rainbow Dash! You mean you survived four whole days of not being able to fly?!” Pinkie grabs Dash’s face then hugs her around the withers.
“Yeah, well I told you I’m amazing… buuuut, let’s not remind me, okay Pinkie?”
“Remind you of what?” Pinkie asks, practically bouncing.
“Remind me of… ooohhh, I get it!” Pinkie beams at Dash.
“So if Twi has been gone for that long she could be anywhere by now.” I deduce. “If I were her, I’d probably try coming back to where you got jumped at somepoint, but if you didn’t show up, I’d assume she’d just keep looking for us and you on her own.”
“Yeah, but where would she look?” Dash asks, puzzled.
“Well, we could start by checking the area around here. Dash, why don’t you fly up and see if you can spot her from a vantage point.”
“Can do!” Dash pushes off the ground and zooms up to a comfortable altitude to scan the town and the surrounding areas for purple ponies. She twists and jerks around in the air, craning her neck and making a show of looking real hard. After a couple minutes, the pegasus descends slowly and joins the group once more.
“Did you find her?” Fluttershy asks
“Nope, she’s nowhere to be found.” Rainbow Dash replies, defeated.
“Well then we’ll just have to figure out where she went.” I say.
“And you do you propose we do that?” Rarity answers back.
“C’mon, I know this place like the back of my hoo- err, hand. I’m sure we can find Twilight if we put our minds together!”
“I suppose.” the white unicorn concedes and everypony nods in dubious agreement.
“Great! So what are some things we know about Twilight Sparkle?” I posit the question, knowingly leading the ponies.
“Uh, she’s purple?” Applejack offers
“No-no-no, not what she looks like, what do we know about her?”
“She’s super magical!” says Pinkie, standing on two legs and doing her best sorcerer impression with a hoof curled in front of her as if holding a cape and other one cast forward.
“Yes, and that means she could be anywhere, but what about her likes and dislikes?”
“She enjoys literature.” Rarity replies.
“She’s an egghead.” Dash corrects her.
“Yes, but it’s more than that, she’s also a very curious pony. She likes science and books, but she also likes to understand things!” I make my point. It’s true. I know Twilight better than I do any of her friends and she has a childlike curiosity that is woven into her being. It would not surprise me if Twilight was right now trying to learn everything she could about this strange new world.
“Okay, so she’s a curious egghead, what does that tell us?” Dash asks.
“Lots of things! It means we can count on not finding her in like, a casino or on a cruise ship, she’s much more likely to be somewhere where she can learn about this place! Now I can think of a couple places to check. The closest would be in Pewter City which is right up this road, but we’d have to go through the Veridian Forest. Personally, I’m lazy and I don’t feel like getting accosted by bug Pokémon trainers so why don’t we take a shortcut and fly there?”
Everypony looks at eachother puzzled, perhaps wondering how we’re all going to fly together or perhaps wondering what a ‘bug Pokémon trainer’ is, but either way I make a point to break the silence.
“Zapdos can fly me and probably two other ponies anywhere we want to go. Dash, you and Fluttershy can just fly there on your own which leaves just one earth-bound pony left out. Do you think you could carry one of us with you?” I ask. Rainbow scoffs.
“Of course I can carry one pony! Why, when I did my sonic-”
“Alrighty then, it’s settled! Enough dilly-dallyin’, let’s go find Twi!” Applejack shouts, eager to move on.
After some brief commotion over who gets to ride who has to be carried, arrangements are finally made and Applejack, Rarity and I all hop onto the electric bird’s back. Zapdos struggles to take off at first, but with a slight adjustment on our part, her wings are able to flap unfettered and she ascends into the air towards Pewter City.
I look back to see Dash carrying Pinkie Pie by what would be the armpits on a human. When she sees me staring she lifts the pony closer to her chest then lets her back down as if she were a dumbbell. Behind the blue pegasus I see a speck of yellow and pink gliding along delicately.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Zapdos swoops to a stop and Applejack and Rarity step off of her first, and then followed by me. I grab the bird’s pokéball and give her a rest. The group, finally reassembled, follows me as I walk north to our first stop.
“Here we are everypony!” I say, putting my elbow on the signpost in front of a massive building. “The Pewter City Museum of Science!” I grin as I make a show of the word ‘science’.
“Sure sounds like a place Twilight would come.” Applejack says matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, I’m bored already, that’s how you can tell.” Dash jeers.
“Alright guys, let’s check it out.” I say making my way towards the entrance.
When I open the doors, the inside of the building strikes me as clinical and unwelcoming. Checkered tile floors and almost-bare walls greet my eyes and the room is basically empty except for one or two exhibits and a staircase. To my right there’s a counter and a woman thumbing through a magazine behind it. It looks like a fashion magazine, but I can’t be certain. When I try to walk towards the first exhibit the woman looks up.
“Whoa pal! Admission is fifty, you gonna pay or am I gonna have to get security down here?” she assaults me in a nasally voice.
“Oh, sorry, I umm… well I don’t have any money.” I reply.
“Well then you can’t come in! This ain’t a charity, bub.”
“Well, okay. I was kinda looking for someone though... have you happened to see a purple unicorn with a star on her-”
“Buddy, I think I’d remember a purple unicorn without the description… nah, we ain’t see any of those.” She looks at me, then looks at my pony friends, and then back at me with a cocked eyebrow before returning to her reading. “You meet the craziest people…” she mutters almost under her breath.
“Well, thanks anyway. C’mon guys.” I turn and corral the five ponies out the door and back outside.
“That sure was a waste of time!” Dash exclaims.
“Hey. We have to start looking somewhere, now we know she’s not here.” I argue. Dash sure can be impatient sometimes.
“Well Token, where to next? Have any more ideas?” Applejack asks, steering back on topic.
“Yeah, there’s a laboratory I remember, but it’s on Cinnabar Island which is a ways away from here. You guys ready to fly again?”
“I’m always ready to fly!” Dash shouts back. Fluttershy nods her head.
“’Kay then. Zapdos come back out!” I hold my pokéball out in front of me and once again it opens and the stoic bird reappears. After getting everypony ready, Zapdos takes off and soars south, Dash and Fluttershy in close pursuit.
Veridian City unfolds beneath us as the wind whips through hair and manes alike. The mountains to the west grow darker and darker as the sun inches closer to the horizon. The air seems to get chillier as well.
The city behind us, I look over Zapdos’ shoulder and can see the grassy plains and a small town beneath us on the edge of the large body of water that stands between us and Cinnabar.
“Quit fidgeting Pinkie!” I hear Dash’s shout like a whisper and I turn around to see her struggling to hold on to a vibrating pink pony. Pinkie’s face is plastered with an expression of dumb awe, like that of someone watching a fireworks display.
“I can’t help it Dashie, it’s my Pinkie sense!” Pinkie soft voice barely carries against the wind. I press firmly on Zapdos’ neck signaling her to slow down and she does. The blue pegasus begins the close the distance.
“Well, try to help it!” Dash commands.
“What’s up Pinkie?” I ask.
“My Pinkie sense is tingling.”
“You know what for?”
“Nopey-dope! I’ve never had one like this before, then again I’ve never had my Pinkie sense while I was flying so who knows, maybe it’s really a knee twitch and a flank shake and I can’t tell ‘cause I’m up here soaring around like a birdy!” the pink pony rambles joyously.
“But it seems to have stopped now, right?” I ask.
“Oh yep, it’s gone!” she replies.
“Good.” Rainbow Dash makes a point of saying.
“Alright then, let me know if it happens again. Okay?” I say.
“Okie-dokie-lokie!”
The land disappears behind us and the volcanic Cinnabar Island comes into view. Within minutes, Zapdos begins to descend. Dash pumps some extra effort into her wings and zooms past us, landing on the island first. We arrive next and step onto land as Fluttershy wafts to the ground like a falling leaf.
The Pokémon lab looms in front of us on the southwest corner of the island. Waves wash up on the rocky beach, spraying into the air and filling our lungs with a salty mugginess. The sky is beginning to turn orange as the sun prepares to pay its daily goodbyes.
“Alright guys, I’m going in, why don’t you wait out here.” I say.
“Okay.” Fluttershy agrees; Dash and Pinkie nod as well. Rainbow stretches her wings like an athlete.
“Hold on there pardner, I’m comin' with ya! I ain’t doin’ no good in finding Twi just-a-watchin’ the tide come in.” Applejack insists and I let her come along. Rarity follows us too and both Applejack and I give her a ‘why are you coming?’ look.
“All this humidity is bad for my hair.” she offers. It seems reasonable, if not a bit self-obsessed.
The door to the laboratory swings open under AJ’s hoof. The inside is a sterile lobby with a couple generic paintings and floor plants, but quite empty, much like the museum before it. To our right is a hallway with three doors spaced about evenly apart.
“Alright, we’ll find her faster if we split up. I’ll take the first door, Rarity you check the second one, and Token, you’ve got the third.” Applejack takes the lead and all parties oblige.
I swing the third door open and am greeted with a room of expensive-looking machinery, computers, blinking lights and tubes. It sure looks like a lab. There are two men in the room, but no sign of Twilight.
“Excuse me, sir.” I say, walking up to a gentlemen sitting behind a computer in the corner of the room.
“I’m looking for Ponyta! Wanna trade for a Seel?” he asks enthusiastically with a blank face.
“Excuse me?” I say, reeling from the unexpected comment. “N-no, I was looking for-”
“Aww… Oh well.” he says before returning his attention to his work. Creepy, I think, but find myself chuckling a bit. Ponyta.
I walk across the room to the north where a second scientist seems to be paused in deep thought. He’s just staring off into the wall, almost statue-like. I tap him on the shoulder and he perks up.
“Pardon the intrusion, but-” I’m interrupted yet again.
“Hiya! I am important doctor! I study here rare Pokémon fossils!” the man says, his face brimming with insanity.
“What?!” I take a step backwards.
“You! Have you a fossil for me?” I pause and contemplate just turning around. “No! Is too bad!” the man finishes and begins staring off into space again. I’m stunned, but I didn’t come here to give up.
“I’m looking for a purple-” I shout, only to be interrupted again.
“Hiya! I am important doctor! I study here rare Pokémon fossils!”
“A purple pony! Have you seen one?” I shout again.
“You! Have you a fossil-”
“Oh for pete’s sake!” I turn around and start for the door, the scientist still gibbering.
“Did you say Ponyta? Would you trade for a Seel?” the second scientist asks.
“UUUGGGH!!” I groan loudly, making a show of my exit and slamming the door behind me.
When I reach the lobby, it looks as though Rarity and Applejack had no better luck and a brief conversation confirms it. Twilight isn’t here either. We head back outside where the rest of our party awaits.
“Bad news fellas, she ain’t here neither.” AJ informs Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
“So we came all this way for nothing? Again!” Dash protests.
“Guys?”
“Do you want to find her or not!?” Rarity raises her voice.
“Well, yeah, but there’s gotta be a better way!” the blue pegasus shouts back, getting defensive.
“Guys.”
“Well, the sun’s goin’ down, so whudda y’all recommend?” says Applejack.
“Maybe we should call it a night?” Fluttershy adds.
“And how do we know she won’t be right back here tomorrow while we’re off searching high and low for her?” Dash asks, pointed.
“I think we have time tonight to check at least one more place.” I suggest.
“Well, where should we go this time?” Rarity asks.
“I’m frankly out of ideas, but I know there’s a psychic man in a house in Saffron City. Maybe we can ask him and see if he can narrow down where Twi went.”
“That sounds like a-”
“Hey everypony!!” Pinkie exclaims, leaping into the air and flailing about.
“What!?!” Everypony turns to her.
“Do you think my Pinkie sense had to do with Twilight?” she asks calmly, her words laced with her characteristic innocence.
“…I suppose it could, I didn’t think of it.” I reply. “Let’s see. Where were we when you had your Pinkie sense?”
“We were almost to the edge of the land and about to fly over water I remember.” Dash says.
“Right, right. Well, that would be about… Oh my gosh, I totally forgot! Professor Oak’s lab is in Pallet Town!” I say with sudden enthusiasm as the gears in my head turn.
“Who?” the ponies ask in unison.
“Professor Oak! He knows more about Pokémon than anyone in Kanto, and he’s friendly too!” I hop on Zapdos’ back for the third time and motion for everypony to get ready to go. The confused ponies and I take off for Pallet Town as the sun begins to set to the west.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We arrive in Pallet as the sky turns a familiar shade of purple, a color I soon hope to see on the face of our last missing friend. I’m so excited that I forget to wait for AJ and Rarity to get off before summoning Zapdos back to her pokéball. The red beam envelops the electric Pokémon and the two ponies fall to the ground with a lack of grace.
“Oops, sorry you guys. C’mon!” I apologize, rushing towards the large building in the center of the tiny oceanside town. Pinkie shudders along, everypony else follows too. Now I’m positive Twilight is here!
If I was still a pony, I’d be in full gallop as I make my way to Professor Oak’s Pokémon Research Lab. There’s not a soul outside at this hour. I run along the picket fence grazing each plank with my hand. I stop and wait in front of the door and when everypony finally catches up and gathers around me I grin.
“If I was a betting man, this is where I’d say Twilight would go! Everypony ready?” I ask with a giddiness that seems to make Pinkie proud. The five ponies show their readiness and I turn to take the door handle in my hand.
I begin to turn my hand…
The handle doesn’t turn; it’s locked from the inside. My heart sinks a bit. It’s not as though there was any real urgency to this visit, but I had built the moment up so much to have it end like this was simply unacceptable. I jiggle the handle, but it still refuses to budge.
“I guess everyone’s sleeping.” Fluttershy says. “We can always come back in the morning.”
“But…” I sigh, “She’s here, I know she’s here. We- we came all this way.” I pout, for a bit, but then compose myself before returning to the door with a series of loud knocks. “Hey! Hey!! Open up!”
“Maybe this isn’t such a…” Fluttershy starts but a noise from inside the house quiets her. A few moments later, the sound of a deadbolt decoupling from the doorframe gives me goosebumps. The door opens and standing in the yellow light of the entrance is none other than Professor Oak in a white labcoat, hastily thrown on over some pajamas.
“Can I help you? Oh my!” he says, noticing the group of ponies behind me. “I think I know why you’re here, please come in.”
I step inside and take a sweeping glance around the room. There on the floor between two uneven stacks of books is the lavender unicorn we’ve been seeking.
“Twilight!!” I exclaim ecstatically along with everypony else. The purple pony looks up, startled from her reading, and then her face lights with emotion as she looks past me to her best friends. Professor Oak closes the door and walks past the bookcases to the other side of the room.
“I’ll leave you all to catch up.” he says. I would’ve on any other day been thrilled to meet the greatest Professor known to Pokémon, but right now I am only concerned with one pony.
“How did you guys find me here?” Twilight asks, puzzled.
“Token helped us!” Pinkie tells her, casting a pink hoof my direction. I feel myself blushing. “He knew this place better than any of us and we simply couldn’t have done it without him.” Rarity explains.
“Wait, that’s Token?” Twilight asks.
“It’s a long story, sugarcube.” says Applejack, drawing Twi’s attention.
“Well, we’ve got all night. Why don’t you tell me? I want to know everything that’s happened to you guys!” And so we do tell her, everything: how I found out I was a human; my adventures with Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack; the battle for Rainbow Dash; and trying to find her. The group of us stay up all night telling stories and laughing together in the glow of a lantern long after Professor Oak has gone to bed.
Twilight shares her story too. After she had fled her attackers, which I identified as Team Rocket, she tried desperately to find Rainbow Dash. When she returned to wait in the same spot they’d gotten separated and Dash didn’t show up, Twilight decided she’d keep searching elsewhere. She wandered south through the fields of grass and wound up in Pallet where she came upon this research lab. Professor Oak took her in and offered his hospitality and help in finding her friend. She told us he had called his protégé’s, two trainers (of whom I was familiar with) out on an adventure throughout Kanto and told them to keep an eye out for a rainbow-maned pegasus. That was a couple days ago and she’d been here since, reading about the fascinating world of Pokémon and waiting for some news of a pegasus sighting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The door to the laboratory opens and the sun pours in across the floor. In walks a nerdy-looking, tall man in glasses and a white lab coat.
“Oh, uhh… good morning Twilight and… umm, your friends?” he says.
“Oh my gosh, it’s really morning already?” she replies in shock. The man nods before closing the door and getting ready for work.
“Well, we have been talking for hours on end.” I remark.
“Yeah, I guess we got a little carried away.” she chuckles.
“No. It’s been great catching up! I always feel the happiest when you guys are around. You bring out the best in me.” I speak from my heart, unsure whether it will sound sappy or not. I wait for a reaction and Twilights smile assures me I’ve said nothing wrong.
“C’mon you guys, we should get some fresh air.” Rainbow Dash says, getting to her hooves and stretching.
“That sounds lovely.” Rarity agrees and moseys towards the door without pause for calisthenics. I get up from sitting all night on the hard floor and crack my back before following to the exit.
“Leaving before breakfast?” Professor Oak inquires cheerfully, rounding the corner of a bookcase.
“Oh, sorry Professor, but I think my friends and I have plans of our own. Thank you so much for your hospitality! It’s been a great experience.” Twilight thanks the white haired Professor and turns to follow her friends outside.
“It’s been my pleasure, and just remember, if you ever want to return and read more about the wonders of Pokémon, please be my guest!”
“Thank you!” she replies, already out the door. I stay behind and thank the Professor myself.
“Thank you so much for taking care of my friend and for letting us stay the night. It has been an honor to meet you.”
“Think nothing of it, I live to please. Now, I believe your friends are waiting for you!” the Professor says with a wink. I wink back and turn to run out the front door, waving as I go.
I jog towards where everypony has gathered, at the edge of the still water. The sun is reflecting off the glassy surface and the air smells fresh with grass and evaporation. The group shares a silent moment just marveling at nature. I never expected this adventure could come to end so peacefully. A goldeen jumps in the waters off-shore, shattering the mirror-like surface of the bay.
“This place is more beautiful than I could have imagined it would be.” I say, to no one in particular.
“Yes.” Twilight replies. Another long moment of silent observation follows before she speaks again. “So, Token?”
“Yes, Twilight?”
“I know this place means a lot to you, and it’s really great and all…” I brace for the obvious conclusion, a moment I’ve been subconsciously dreading ever since I stepped through the door onto Route one. “…but, what about Ponyville? Do you… do you still want to live there? With us?”
With us… She makes it sound as if there’s no other option. The six of them are going back to Ponyville and that’s a fact. Truth be told, she’s right. I couldn’t keep them here against their will. What’s more, I realize… I would give up anything to be with them, my friends.
My glazed eyes focus as I exit thought and see the six of them all waiting for my response now. I look at the ground and the sea again, and then look at each of them smiling weakly back at me.
“Yes, I’d love nothing more, Twilight… if you can accept me this way, that is.”
“Of course we can! You know that!” she assures me. The others nod affirmatively. Time passes slowly and another moment drags on for minutes. “Token? Is something the matter?” Yes. Yes there is.
“I… don’t know how to get back to Equestria… is the thing.” My voice is brittle as I speak.
“What?!” Dash, Applejack and Rarity bark. Twilight glares at them and they return to patiently waiting.
“Token, I know you do. You can bring us back!” she says confidently.
“But how?” I ask with genuine intrigue.
“Remember what you did that brought us here? Remember when the library was under attack and you focused real hard? Remember?”
“You want me to do that again?? But that’s what separated us in the first place! What if I lose you all again?”
“Then you can find us again!” Her words do nothing to calm my nerves. “Just focus on Ponyville, make it appear, I know you can do it Token.” Twilight says, her horn beginning to glow. I feel a magical touch on my back and my body relaxes.
“Mmmm, okay. I’ll try.” Twilight’s magic releases me and I step back a few paces. Realizing my mistake, I take a few steps forward again and stand in the middle of the circle of friends. “Alright.” I heave a heavy sigh. “Here I go.”
I close my eyes and imagine Equestria, imagine Ponyville. I picture ponies walking the streets. I picture buildings, colors, the train, the view of Canterlot. My head starts to feel light as the images flash through my mind. Sweet Apple Acres, the Ponyville schoolhouse, town hall, Sugarcube Corner, the market, Rarity’s boutique, more and more I can see the picturesque home of my favorite cartoon characters. The library, Rainbow Dash’s cloud home, Fluttershy’s cottage… I try to picture my arcade and my home, but the vision escapes me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I awake from realms beyond the night. Shrouded in blankets and sinking into my mattress I lay perfectly still, gripped by the realization that what I just experienced will never come again… but I want it to.
Against everything I know to be true, I close my eyes praying for the sandman to take me away, praying that when I open them again Twilight will be there telling me everything worked and thanks to me, things are back to normal. My eyes open just a hair to check. Still in my plain, human bedroom. I close them again, wishing I’d never woken up.
Minutes pass in waiting for my flights of dreamland to return, but it’s impossible; the morning sun has taken its first bite of my retinae and there would be no sleeping in my near future. I hinge my neck off of the pillow to see my alarm clock. Late for work. My head hits the pillow like a bowling ball as I heave a sigh and sadly smile.
So there I lay, staring at my textured ceiling and finding hidden shapes in the specks, a mental game of connect the dots. Perfectly still. Arms spread out, I feel the stirring vibrations in my chest of a heart unready to meet the day. Stone still. Barely breathing, I’m keenly aware of the miniscule pulses throughout my arms and hands; I lay silent with almost zen-like omniscience of the blood coursing through my veins.
So that’s it.
Thoughts of my human responsibilities are brushed aside by the burning need to remember my lucid experience forever, something which is already becoming a challenge. My mind clings to detail after detail as they come to me like flies in a spider’s web.
My cell phone rings, still attached to its charger on the bureau next to my alarm. I would crush it to pieces were it in reach. Still lying in pseudo-depression, I endure each painful, high-pitched ring, distracting me from my mental efforts. Finally the call, like my dream, is gone and I’m left alone in the solemnity of my morning bed.
I take a few deep breaths. The cotton blanket finds its way pressed into my eyes to stem the formation of any tears I may shed. It really was all I could have ever dreamed.
With a sudden wave of determination or perhaps just self-loathing, I throw the blanket from my chest and swing my legs off the bed, rising to a seated position. I’m late for work already. Honestly, I feel as though I could not care less, but my mind dances back-and-forth, drumming up clichéd reasons and excuses to make me believe I should.
Whether it be the pain of waking up from such a wondrous dream or the pain of my life in general, I can tell today will not be my day. Everything feels shallow and scripted. Life seems to play out in two dimensions, lacking variety or purpose.
I step from the bed and amble towards the bathroom to prepare my morning routine. I turn the faucet in my shower and the patter of water hitting the tile floor reminds me this is reality. I grip my electric razor and turn it on before running the smooth surface over my face and across my upper lip. I brush my teeth while I wait for my shower to heat to my preferred temperature, then finally, I shed my last article of clothing and step into the steamy chamber.
My forehead rests against bare tile while I let the hot water rain over my spine, drenching my back and running down my legs. My shoulders move like marionettes to get the water over every inch of my skin. As I raise my face into the showerhead and feel the needles of pressurized liquid, I start to feel a little better. A bar of soap joins the party and half-heartedly I begin to sing ‘Smile, Smile, Smile’ in hopes of raising my spirits.
When the song is done and my bathing complete, I exit the shower and briskly towel-dry my skin before blow-drying my hair. Wet mane. That thought gets a smile from me. While the torrid air wrings every remaining drop of moisture from my scalp, my mind is still floating through memories of a dream long-gone. Pinkie Pie in a suit of Ghouls N’ Ghosts armor, Rainbow Dash’s awesome stunt… all but memories, but in the end, what do we have if not our memories? I ask myself.
To the closet I go to prepare the day’s attire: business casual, as always. I lay the slacks and shirt across my bed and move with purpose to open the blinds and let some more sun into the dreary room. I open them and as I stand there painted in stripes of gold I realize what a beautiful day it is. The sky is powder blue, partly cloudy, with the sun shining. The cottonwood seeds have begun to fall and they hang in the air like giant snowflakes.
My cell rings once again, this time I’m up and able to pounce on it. My fingers swiftly find the button to send the call to voicemail, silencing it on the first ring. I sever the phone from its charger and slip it into my pants pocket on the bed.
Finishing getting dressed, I comb my hair and head downstairs. On any other day I would have been frantic to get to work, probably drumming up an excuse and an apology on the drive there. Today was not like any other day however.
The cupboard swings open with the same expected creak I’ve heard ever since I moved in. I pull a shallow bowl and a tall glass from the shelving and set them on the kitchen counter below. Next, I journey to the pantry and produce a box of cereal. It's not the sugary, marshmallow-laden kind of my youth, but something a bit more nutritious. To be honest, I still miss those cereals, the perfect treat to accompany cartoons in the early morning.
With the addition of milk and juice from the refrigerator, I complete my breakfast and sit down at the kitchen table to eat. Sunlight pours in through the bay window. As I chew my wheaty morsels, I ponder things, the world, life.
Life is wonderful, but why? A quote from a Pokémon movie runs through my head. It always stuck with me and as I sit here thinking, I find it has new relevance. I know I should enjoy this all, and every day should be a gift, but… why? I’m always the happiest when I’m talking to friends, or watching ponies, or doing something fun, but other times…
Other times seem to fade like pointless seconds between cradle and grave; times spent either aimless fulfilling obligations to a society that demands conformity or lost in the process of moving from one fleeting moment of fun to the next. My spoon hits the bowl and rings out. I know I’m being too dark, too maudlin. I’m sure Pinkie would tell me to turn my frowny upside-downy. I exhale sharply through my nose, like a stifled chuckle and the corners of my mouth turn up a little.
My juice tastes delicious... strawberry-banana. I set the glass down and resume my contemplation. I try to take a mental step back, to give myself some context. I have a great life, I tell myself. I’ve got a job that supports me (for now), I’ve got tons of fun stuff, game consoles, what-have-you. I think of my friends, my wonderful friends that I don’t know what I could do without. A lot of people aren’t even as lucky as I, to have true friends that honestly care about me.
I start to relax and feel warmer, better about life as I convince myself of the great things I have to be thankful for. Still one loose thread drags me down.
I think about my childhood, the memories, the moments, the general feeling of constant, sustainable happiness. The time I spent in the nineties, learning, laughing, playing… I don’t think I could ever be that happy again. It seems almost a cruel joke to be given such a pinnacle of perfect joy upfront only to have it dialed back as life progresses.
I’ve justified it in the past as just another fact of existence. I’ve told myself that adulthood has purpose in making the world and life awesome for the next generation of kids, giving them the kind of experience I so enjoyed. It’s a thought that makes some sense, yet it leaves me often mired in apathy and lethargy.
Other times I’ve tried to convince myself that I’ve glorified my childhood, put it on a pedestal, and that it wasn’t the bright, happy perfection I remember it being. Yet, these thoughts do little to make me feel better, in fact just the opposite.
Maybe there’s another way.
I’m not even eating anymore, just staring into the bright, tree-line filled window.
Perhaps, it’s not about the memories, and the pop culture, and all these trivial things so much as it is about the way you approach life. Thoughts of my dream invade my conscious. Take Pinkie Pie for example; she’s the picture of someone with a childlike mentality. She’s innocent and optimistic, always seeing the brighter side of everything. Or take Twilight; she’s filled with curiosity, not dragged down by the notion that she knows how the world works now that she’s of a certain age. She is still fascinated by things. How about Fluttershy? She’s filled with kindness and mirth. She approaches every situation with those qualities and doesn’t just pull them out in certain situations… like I kind of do.
As I sit, eyes glassy and fixed on nothing, I realize what I’ve been missing, the answer to the ‘why’ of life. It is one thing to talk about love and tolerance and even to practice it, but it’s another thing to incorporate into your being an attitude that will bring you joy from existence, both in the good times and the bad. It’s the attitude that makes childhood feel so fun and memorable, the spark of life, for lack of better words.
I wipe my eyes and begin to laugh, a real laugh from deep inside. I haven’t felt so confident about myself in a long time. I am born-again, given a new outlook. I’m still late for work, but I can’t leave yet. As silly as it sounds in my head, there’s only one thing I can do in this moment that feels right.
My chair slides out from underneath me as I rise to my feet. I walk straight to where my briefcase is sitting in the corner of the room and I open it. I pull out a blank piece of paper and a ball-point pen before closing it. I sit back down at the kitchen table and push my empty bowl and glass to the side, setting the paper down. I stare at the bleach-white parchment with a smile for what I’m about to do, then I write:
Dear Princess Celestia,
I can’t believe I’m writing this, I chuckle. When I finish laughing, I continue while the words are still in my heart.
Growing up can be a challenge: figuring out who you are, what you want to do with your life, and coming to terms with impermanence. It can sometimes feel better to stay focused on the past, to cling to the things that once brought you joy rather than explore what is waiting in the world for you now.
Thanks to a group of your subjects, I’ve discovered this is not the path to take for it will lead you to become a bitter adult, scared of the future rather than embracing it. It’s understandable and natural to have affinity for the time in our lives when everything is new and exciting, but sometimes the things we leave behind are the things we need to take with us as we grow.
I have a lot of good memories of my youth, things I’ll never forget, but it took me until now to realize I forgot how to live like that eager young boy I used to be. Perhaps if I turn to the future with a little more optimism, a little more curiosity, a little more kindness, a little more tenacity, a little more creativity, and a little more pride I can stop clinging to old memories and make some new ones.
