Chapter 1
The sun was beaming down throughout all of Equestria as an orange pegasus pony zoomed across the sky. The pegasus, named Shori, was practising for the Best Mature Flyers Competition. His blue and pink mane and tail swaying violently in the wind as he performed a whole slew of tricks, almost completely flawlessly. The Best Mature Flyers Competition is similar to the Best Young Flyers Competition, only for older ponies. Shori was only a few months away from finally becoming a stallion, meaning this competition would be his last chance to prove himself before facing off against the best of the best flyers. Despite the fact that Shori’s cutie mark is a pencil, representing his expertise with story writing, that doesn’t mean that he was a bad flyer. Far from it, he would perform tricks and zoom at a speed that would even rival the Wonderbolts. As he laid on a nearby cloud, he could hear cheering from down below. Shori then zoomed over to the ponies on the ground who were cheering, seemingly for him.
“Did you like what you saw?” said Shori, in a seemingly proud tone.
“Yeah! Everything about it was awesome!” said the young fillies and colts, bouncing up and down in excitement, “I can’t wait until you perform in the competition!”
“Neither can I, I’ll try my best to leave the opposition’s jaws wide open with awe!” Shori said, making the younger ponies even more excited. The competition wouldn’t be for about a month or so, yet Shori felt that now would be the perfect time to practise, to ensure that every single one of his moves would be perfect for the competition.
The next day, Shori was up and out of bed faster than he’d ever done before, despite the fact that the competition still wasn’t for another month. He was super excited to go out and show off is tricks and speed to the young ponies that admired him yesterday. He burst out through his door and began flying all over the place. Equestria was quiet at this time; there was barely anypony around for Shori to show off his skills to. Despite this, Shori still did what he had been doing for the past few weeks; pulling off the most awesome tricks and zooming past houses, trees etc. at super speed. However, things would take a turn for the worst.
Shori continued zooming around, passing by Canterlot and Ponyville. He started to do a massive loop around the sky, yet something went wrong. As he started coming down from the loop, he suddenly lost all control of his wings. No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t lift himself up. All that was ready to greet him on the ground was a tree, close to somepony’s house. “This is going to hurt,” said Shori, right before he hit the tree, head first and crashed down to the ground. The loud knock awoke the pony living in the house. It was a female pegasus, a yellow one with a long, pink mane and a butterfly cutie mark. She looked around to try and see what caused the crash.
“Um… hello? Is anypony there?” she said, in a very quiet tone. As she went to the side of her house, she gasped as she saw the orange pegasus laying by the tree, knocked unconscious by the crash. “Oh my goodness…” the pony said, rushing to the pegasus’s aid. “A-are you alright, sir?” There was no answer from the pony. The yellow pegasus brought her hoof over to Shori’s neck. She felt a faint pulse on the pony’s neck. She sighed happily, knowing that the pony isn’t dead, before carrying the pony over to her house. Shori wasn’t necessarily a heavy pony, but it was still a struggle for the yellow pegasus, who wasn’t used to carrying ponies around.
“Ughhh... my head...” Shori said as he woke up, suddenly inside somepony else's home.
“Oh, you're awake.” the yellow pegasus said to Shori, quietly, “Did you have a nice sleep?”
“Umm... yeah, I guess. Where am I?” Shori asked. He didn't know how he got here. To the best of his knowledge, he could remember practising tricks in the air, but everything from then on was a complete blur.
“Oh, um, you're in my house. My name is Fluttershy. I-I saw you laying by a tree and I thought I'd bring you over to my house to... keep you well.” the pegasus said.
“Tree? Why was I by a tree?” Shori asked
“Well... I don't know exactly. I mean, I heard a loud knock, so maybe that's why. Umm... can I ask your name too?”
Shori thought long and hard to try and remember his name, but for the life of him, he just couldn't remember what his name was. “I... don't know.”
Fluttershy looked perplexed. “Hmm... that's strange. I would have thought that you'd know your own name,” Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Oh, please excuse me for a second.”
Shori looked around the room he was in. It was definitely cosy and was very well kept. It was strange at first how a pegasus would decide to leave in a grounded home, but Shori just let it slide. He had more important things to think about, like how he got in Fluttershy's house and his name. Suddenly, Fluttershy came back up. “Do you mind heading downstairs for me? I-If you can walk, of course.”
“Yeah, my hooves seem fine. It's just my head that's killing me,” Shori said as he jumped out of the bed, holding his head with his hoof, groaning quietly.
“Twilight, I'd like to you to meet... Um...” Fluttershy said to a purple unicorn, standing close to the staircase, waiting to see who the guest pony was.
“Fluttershy, can you really not remember his name?” Twilight asked.
“Hmm... That's interesting.” Twilight said, taking small sips of some tea that Fluttershy prepared for the three ponies.
“Yeah, the only thing I can remember is flying and both of you. Everything else is a complete mystery to me.” Shori replied.
“I probably have a book in my library that could probably explain your problem,”
“You own a library?!” This intrigued Shori, being a very keen writer and reader of books. Twilight let out a small giggle.
“Yes, indeed I do. I was given it as a form of residence by Princess Celestia.”
Shori remembered who Princess Celestia was, and her importance to the whole of Equestria. “No way! You were given a library home by Princess Celestia?!”
Twilight giggled some more. “Once we're done with this tea, we can head down and try and find a book that could help you with your problem. I've got hundreds of them, so the more ponies we have, the faster we could find the book!”
All three of them finished off their tea before heading out into Ponyville. The town was very interesting to Shori. Right above it was Cloudsdale, one of the most important places in the whole of Equestria for flyers. Shori could vaguely remember taking lessons as a young colt and remembered receiving awards for his exceptional flying. “Cloudsdale? I remember that place! That's where I learned how to fly!” Shori exclaimed to Twilight and Fluttershy.
Twilight spoke, “You remember that?” She was surprised to see Shori remember the place. Shori nodded in agreement before continuing to walk to Twilight's house. As they walked in, they were greeted to hundreds upon hundreds of books of all kinds, as well as a small, purple dragon.
“Hey Twilight, hey Fluttershy.” the dragon looked at the orange pegasus, “Who's the new guy?”
“That's just the problem, Spike, we're trying to find that out ourselves and we kind of need some help.” The four of them searched around, trying to find a book that could have something to do to help Shori and his problem. It was much easier for Twilight, having the ability to move books around with her magic and for Spike too, who had claws as opposed to hooves.
“Ah-ha! I think I found something that could help you!” Twilight exclaimed, pulling out a book entitled;
Pony Problems – Volume 21: Memory Loss
Twilight opened up the book and took a read of it, trying to find something very similar to Shori's problem. During this time, Spike decided to engage in conversation with Shori.
“I haven't seen you around here.” Spike said, looking at the pony. Spike was a baby dragon, with mostly purple scales. “How did you end up meeting those two?”
“That's why Twilight is flicking through that book, I can't remember where I'm from, who I am and why I ended up here.” Shori replied.
“I think I found the issue here.” Twilight told the ponies and dragon, who all huddled around the book. Twilight was 100% sure that the article showing was the answer;
am·ne·sia [am-nee-zhuh]
noun
loss of a large block of interrelated memories; complete or partial loss of memory caused by brain injury, shock, etc.
“Am...nee...zhuh...” Shori said, very slowly. This word was completely foreign to him until now, but everypony and Spike agreed that this was closest possible solution to Shori's problem. Twilight flicked through the book more to try and find any possible solutions. She found one and read the passage;
One of the most common solutions to curing amnesia is allowing the victim to roam and find places that can remind them of basic thoughts. While the process solves the problem at different speeds for each pony, it is the most effective way for the pony to regain their memory.
“It's all so clear now!” Twilight said, looking at Shori, “We've just got the let you roam around, so you can let your memory return to you naturally!”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go and get my memory back!” Shori said, pointing his hoof outside. All of them stared at him, with Spike letting out a fake cough. “Heh heh, yeah, let's just go.” Shori said, trying to hide his blushing due to the minor embarrassment.
Fluttershy said that she had to tend to her animals back at her home, hence why she didn't follow Twilight, Spike and Shori throughout the town. Twilight had ensured before they left the library that Spike had made a checklist of the most important things that Shori had forgotten. They were; Name, home and reason for crash.
“The first thing on the list is 'Name'.” Spike looked around, then back at Twilight. “How are we meant to find this guy's name in Ponyville?”
“Hmm, he did say that he learned how to fly in Canterlot.” Twilight turned to Shori. “Do you still remember how to fly?”
Shori flapped his wings and did a quick circle around Spike and Twilight. “Of course I can. No-one can get rid of this awesome things!”
Spike and Twilight just looked before Twilight brought up that Canterlot was right above them. Shori then flew up there and started to get a good look around to try and find what could make him remember his name. During which, he saw a turquoise pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane zoom past him.
“Oi!” Shori yelled at the pony, before engaged in a chase with them. He caught up to find it was a mare. “CAN YOU SLOW DOWN? I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!” Shori yelled, trying to get the attention of the pegasus, who didn't react at all. Groaning, Shori lightly tackled that pegasus to the clouds right below them.
“Hey! What's your problem?!” said the pegasus, wriggling around trying to get out of Shori's grip.
However, Shori then suddenly remembered the pony. “Ra-Rainbow Dash? Is that you?!” It then all came back. Rainbow Dash was one of Shori's best friends while he was at Canterlot. He only knew Rainbow Dash for around one year, due to the age difference between the two. Rainbow Dash then remembered the orange pegasus pony.
“Shori? Heh, fancy having you pinning me to the ground.” Rainbow Dash said. It finally hit him. Shori. The name that had escaped his mind after he woke up from Fluttershy's home had finally returned.
“You did Rainbow! You did it, you did it!” Shori said, hugging Rainbow Dash tight. Rainbow Dash looked perplexed
“Uhh... what did I do exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“You made me remember my name! Shori, that's who I am!”
“I guess Canterlot was the thing that kept you sane, huh?” Rainbow Dash said jokingly before Shori brought her down to Twilight and Spike. “Hey guys, allow me to introduce-”
“Hey there, Rainbow.” Twilight said.
“Wait, you know her?” Shori asked the both of them.
“They both met when Twilight first came here, getting all muddy and drenched by Rainbow.” Spike laughed
“Yes, Spike, I remember that.” Twilight said, in a slightly sarcastic tone.
“So what's up with Shori?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight
“Well...”
Spike etched a tick on the list right next to 'Name' on the list. “One down, two to go. Next up, home town.” The three of them ended up in Trotbridge after a 5 minute walk, to find a white unicorn and pink earth pony wondering around the town.
“Hey look! It's Rarity and Pinkie!” Spike said Twilight. The three of them walked over to Rarity and Pinkie Pie and introduced them to Shori.
“Hey Rarity, hey Pinkie.” Twilight said to the girls. Shori stood by a nearby house, his front hooves crossed. He had a thought the three of them would spend forever talking and catching up, before he heard an important word come from Rarity's mouth.
Trotbridge.
The second memory returned. Trotbridge was where Shori was born, and where he has lived for almost all of his life. He ran up to the three ponies and Spike, exclaiming, “That's where I'm from! I'm from Trotbridge!”
“You're from Trotbridge?!” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Yep, this is where I was born and have lived for pretty much all of my life,” Shori replied before Twilight stopped the pegasus from getting over excited. Rarity then spoke.
“What is up with him? He acts like his eaten all the sugar cubes in Equestria!”
“Well, you see, Shori has amnesia and we're just helping him get his memories back. And it seems that we are able to tick the second of three issues we have to solve.” Twilight said.
“Oooh, that's not good.” Pinkie said, “Hey! Do you want me to get a party, ready for when he's got his memory back?”
“Well...” Twilight said, before Shori butts in.
“That would be awesome!”
“I'll start getting to it. Bye Twilight, bye Rarity!” Pinkie said, as she bounced off, with a large smile on her face.
“I'll get back to shopping. Good luck with getting your memory back, Shori.” Rarity said, as she got back to looking around the shops.
“Okay, one last one. The reason why you crashed into that tree.” Spike said.
Twilight and Spike headed to the first place they could think of whenever they thought of trees; Sweet Apple Acres, the home of the Apple family. An orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat was seen working on bucking apples off of the tree as Twilight approached her.
“Hey there, Applejack, I was wondering if you could help us.” Twilight said.
“Anything for a friend. What do you need help for?” Applejack asked.
“Well, we were wondering if you could help Shori over there with his memory,” Spike answered. Shori's tummy made a faint grumble that only Applejack was able to hear.
“He seems hungry, maybe he could find it over lunch!” Applejack said.
“Here we go...” Twilight groaned. She first thought this would just be a big waste of time, but she did feel a bit hungry as well, as maybe a small break was what they needed. Shori dug into the massive apple feast that Applejack prepared.
“This all looks delicious! And these were made with apples?” Shori asked
“Sure is!” Applejack aims her hoof towards the massive field, full of apple trees. And then the final memory came back.
“The crash... I'm supposed to be practising for the Best Mature Flyers Competition!” Shori exclaimed before landing back into his chair. “But, heh, that can wait for now, I'm starved!”
“Spike, tick off the final thing on the list!” Twilight said, happily. The list was finally complete, and it seemed as though Shori had gotten all of his memories back. The only thing on their minds right now was how all the food Applejack prepared was going to be eaten. Shori proved that by gobbling up almost all of the mountain of apple food.
“That was...” Shori started, before belching loudly, “...soooooo good!”
“Glad to help! Any time you want some food, drop by here again, and I'll be happy to help you out!” Applejack said, waving the ponies and Spike goodbye.
By the time the three of them reached Twilight's house, Twilight began to clean up the library. Shori walked up to Twilight. “Um, can I just say, thanks for everything you did for me. Without you, I'd probably miss my only chance at being the best mature flyer around.” Shori held out a hoof, preparing a hoof-shake, but Twilight reached out and hugged him. Shori returned the hug.
“Not a problem, Shori. It's been a pleasure helping you. Maybe you could go round Fluttershy's house and tell her you got your memory back?” Twilight pondered.
“I'll do just that. Maybe I'll see you around sometime.” Shori said, giving Spike a parting hug and left to head for Fluttershy's house. Walking there, he just remembered about Pinkie Pie's party.
“I'll head down there once I've finished talking to Fluttershy.”
2 hours later
Shori headed down to Pinkie Pie's house, which Fluttershy gave the directions to when Shori visited her. Fluttershy was so happy to see Shori, and to find out who he was and where he was. As Shori reached the house, he looked at all the sweet decorations on the outside of the house. “What a cute house to live in”, Shori thought.
He opened the door to be welcomed by pitch black. He looked around to find a light switch and as he flicked one on, he was welcomed by silly string, party poppers and a loud “SURPRISE!” by all the ponies he had met today. They all celebrated Shori getting his memory back, but they also celebrated Shori making (and in one case, re-making) some new friends of his own. But there was one thing on his mind that was exciting him the most; the Best Mature Flyers Competition. He asked all the ponies just one question before they all headed out; “Are you going to come and watch me at the competition by any chance?”
There was about 10 seconds of silence, before all the ponies said “Of course we will!”, almost in complete unison.
1 Month Later
BEEP BEEP BEEP
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Shori gasped as he took a look at his alarm clock, and then his calendar. Today was the day, the Best Mature Flyers Competition. The competition was very similar to the Best Young Flyers Competition, only for older ponies. The prize was still the same; spending a day with the famed Wonderbolts. Shori instantly jumped out of bed and flew over to the competition. As expected, the six ponies he had met a month ago that helped him recover from his amnesia. Shori was the 5th contestant. Having practised almost every day since his accident, he was ready for the competition, but he also took special care not to cause any damage to himself again. When his number was called out, Shori flew out, greeted by a large amount of cheers. Shori's routine was an extraordinary event, with some tricks only the best of colts could perform, and moving at a speed that could rival a bullet. However, there was just one move that he had feared ever since his accident; the loop-the-loop.
As Shori began the ascent for the loop, he had a niggling feeling in his mind that he'd blow it. Once he reached halfway, he started thinking to himself; “Come on, Shori, you can do this, you have to do this.”
Then came the descent. Shori felt his face rippling in the air, his wings trying their best to fight it. As he thought he'd not be able to make it, closing his eyes, his wings suddenly co-operated, taking the orange pegasus around the loop. He did it again, and again, faster and faster each time before finally coming to a land in the stadium.
There was a small amount of silence before thunderous cheering and applause. Shori started to tear up a bit, not because of the cheering, but because he managed to do something that caused him so much trouble just a month ago.
As all the ponies finished their routine, the six ponies went over to congratulate Shori for his performance.
“I must say that was quite the act you put on there,” Rarity said.
“I thought my hat would fly right off my head when you zoomed past us,” Applejack added
“And all the ziggy-zaggy stuff. That was so cool!” Pinkie Pie also added, excitedly like always.
“I also liked in when you did all those barrel rolls” Fluttershy said,
“Yeah, I only know a few ponies that can do that many without throwing up,” Rainbow Dash said, before doing a fake cough.
“But I think the most important trick you did was the last one, with the loop.” Twilight finished up.
“I couldn't have done it without you. If you just left me there, or if I crashed somewhere else, I probably would have never done this,” Shori said, right before the announcer began to say who the winner of the competition was.
And the winner of this year's Best Mature Flyers Competition is:
Shori!
Shori's jaw opened up as wide as it could go and began crying happy tears. This was something that he had always dreamed of winning after missing out on the Best Young Flyers Competition a few years ago. All the six ponies gathered around Shori to congratulate him, before three pegasi came up to congratulate Shori on his win.
The yellow pegasus spoke, “That was quite the awesome performance you put on there, Shori. The name's-”
“Spitfire... and Soarin'!” Shori said, excitedly. Shori then turned to his new friends who all shook their heads telling Shori to go with them. Shori had done it, he was with the Wonderbolts, and managed to do something that he'd never thought he'd do; the loop-the-loop.
The next day, Shori was greeted by some mail at his door. It was a letter with just 'Shori' written on it. Shori opened up the letter to find a card inside. It had 'Congratulations!' in big, bold letters. As Shori opened up the card, something dropped out of it. He read the card first, which said the following;
Dear Shori,
Congratulations on the win, both in the competition and in getting your memory back
We all left you a little gift in this card that might make you cry more happy tears, if you have any left.
From, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack.
Shori then picked up what dropped out of the card and read it. The first thing he saw, in bold letters was;
WONDERBOLT AUDITION INVITATION
Shori put on the biggest smile he could, as a single tear dripped down his face.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic © Hasbro
Shori is an original character, created by Shoryu Erise.
Amnesia definition from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amnesia
Trotbridge is a pony pun on my own hometown.