When a human awakens in Eqeustia without any recollection of how they came to be there in the everfree forest, he must learn who he is and why he's here, all while becoming accustomed to a new world filled with magical talking ponies, as threats old and new loom on the horizon. What could possibly go wrong?
(Hey, so this is the first story I've done in a long time, just so you know, this story will take place sometime during Friendship is Magic season one at the begging and we'll see how far into the show we go with this. I hope you all enjoy reading this, kinda a dumb idea I've just had on my mind for the longest time, so now I'm posting it. Enjoy And I realize just how much I use the term "Memory" in the titles of my stories. Sorry, I suck at titles. :p)
Somewhere in the Everfree forest, someone was lying on the ground. It wasn't quite like anything that this world has seen yet up to this point. The creature was lying on its back, appearing asleep with its eyes shut tightly. On its head was long, messy hair; it looked like it hadn't been brushed that day. His face was covered in black dots around the nose and forehead, superficial blackheads they were. He wore a red collar neck shirt, with the buttons undone, and had one simple baggy jeans and black shoes.
Whoever this was laid there for a while, barely moving, his chest only slightly moving up and down, indicating that there was life to this creature, yet the small red pool of liquid near its head, indicating a head injury of sorts, says that they may not entirely be alright. Yet, it rests in silence, without disturbance, until the creature's hand starts twitching slightly. With that, their eyes shoot open, and the creature suddenly sits up with a gasp.
"Ack..." The creature grunted, placing a hand behind its head, the source of their stinging pain. He looks up for a moment and views the area around him. There were trees all around him, so tall that they covered the sky slightly, creating a relatively dark environment, at least in his current location.
"...Where... Am I...?" The creature spoke to himself, trying to remember how he got there. Though he tried as he did, all his brain could form was a perpetual blank. He couldn't remember what he did in life as he attempted to remember other things, such as his name and where he came from. Every time he tried, he'd get a few flashes of memories, but they were all a blur to him, none of which he could make out. He remembered the faces of others he'd had to have known. Despite all of that, he couldn't remember.
"... Who am I...?" He muttered to himself, removing his hand from his head finally. He briefly looked down at his fingertips, covered with slight blood. "Is this... Blood?" He thought to himself. At least he was able to remember some things, though he couldn't help but ponder if the injury that seemed to be present on the back of his head had anything to do with his current lack of memory.
He looked where his head was lying, seeing the small blood pool his injury had left. However, something appeared to be off. It wasn't just with the blood either, and it was with the ground, too. Removing his gaze from the earth, he turns it to the surrounding area. The trees, the grass, even bits of the sky that could be seen through the trees, they all looked... Different.
"What... Is this...?" He murmured to himself with quiet confusion. Despite having no memories from his past, he did remember how the world was supposed to look, and it wasn't this. Everything around him looked so... Colorful. It was like someone had splashed bright paint over everything, which made even this forest seem lighter than it was. He looked down at his hands again, realizing that they were different as well, managing to blend in with the color scheme that this place seemed to have. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him; either that or the head injury was causing him to see the world differently than he should have.
Whatever the case was, there was something he realized. Standing around wondering what was going on wouldn't make his memory suddenly come back; not only that but being in a dark forest somewhere he didn't recognize with god only knows what in it didn't sound all that appealing to him.
"... Maybe I can find someone to help me... Hopefully." He said, giving the woods around him one last look. they really did creep him out, but eventually, he managed to force himself in a specific direction, though still having the feeling that someone, no, something, was watching him
As he continued through the forest, he couldn't help but rub his eyes in a desperate attempt to undo whatever happened that caused his eyes to see things so differently from how they were supposed to look. Before he lost most of his memories, try as he might. However, the new, more colorful way he saw the world persisted.
"Ugh..." He sighed a little, once again rubbing that spot on the back of his head, which at the very least seemed to have stopped bleeding. That was a plus, if only even a minor one. He continues through the forest, thinking to himself as he did. Mostly, he was trying to remember anything from his past, though nothing personal came to mind. The only things he seemed to be able to remember were essential. Like how to talk, walk, and especially how the world was supposed to look. Among other minor things, like what kinds of food there were, what TV was, and all of that. Yet that's all that would come to him.
"This sucks..." He muttered to himself as he continued. The forest didn't change in lighting, remaining shadowed by many trees. He would much rather be in the comforts of the lovely warm sun than stuck where he was. However, something soon made him stop, that being a faint blue glow of something.
He went to investigate further, quickly finding the source. Blue flowers filled a small, somewhat more open area, and they were responsible for the unnatural blue glow that could be seen earlier. Though it was initially a nice change of sight for this creature, something stopped him from going toward the small flower field. They were... off. Something about the way they glowed, how they were so different from the rest of the decrypted woods, were all signals in his mind that he should avoid them and keep going. So, that's what he did.
As he turned away from the flowers, however, he noticed something ahead of him, something he would have seen so much earlier if he hadn't been distracted by the glowing flowers. Bright green eyes glowed in the darkness before him, forcing the creature to stop in his tracks entirely.
These eyes stared at him, giving him a far worse feeling than those flowers ever could. Those eyes pierced through his very being, making the creature shudder and feel frozen where he stood. These were not the eyes of something friendly or comforting. These were the eyes of a predator, ready to pounce on its prey. In this situation, being him. A low growl came from the darkness as whatever it was stomped closer, allowing its foot to come in sight.
It was a paw belonging to a vast creature, judging by its size alone, with sharp claws at the ends of its toes. However, that wasn't what threw off the creature entirely. What did was that the skin appeared to be made out of wood. Whatever was in the shadows revealed itself more. The entire thing was made of various logs and sticks. It looked like some wolf, yet this was far larger than any wolf this creature had ever seen or remembered seeing, being at least 10 feet taller than the animal, who, at this point, was starting to back up.
"Crap..." He mummers to himself, the wolf-like creature getting closer, saliva dripping from its hungry fangs. His mind was drawing a blank on what to do. What could he do? Run? No, the thing was most likely faster than he was. Fight? Yeah, right, he may not remember much about himself, but because this creature was ten times bigger than he was, that was a sight he wouldn't win. As it slowly approached the creature, he could smell the stench of wretched breath, which seemed to do the trick in finally unfreezing him as he covered his nose. Shortly after, the wolf-like creature was getting ready to pounce. That finally snapped the creature out of his frozen state. As the wolf got into position to go in for the kill, the creature bolted off the path and into the deep woods before the wolf could do so.
However, the creature was right. As heavy thudding footsteps pursued him, they were catching up fast. He ran as fast as he could through all the bushes and trees, trying to escape the monster chasing him down. It was going to kill him, he soon realized. He couldn't outrun it, the wolf being right behind him at this point. Try as he did to avoid it, primarily by running through smaller areas the wolf couldn't fit; it only slowed it down slightly.
"Woah!" The creature yelped suddenly as he came across a slope, one he could not see coming due to the bushes and leaves that covered his vision as he ran. As such, he tumbled down the slope, bouncing a little each time his body made contact with the ground until he eventually reached the bottom. The world around him finally came still, even for a moment.
The wolf chasing him didn't seem to notice either, as it slipped. Luckily for the creature, it was a little off from him when it did. Otherwise, he would have been crushed by the giant wooden creature as it made its descent. Once it finally did, it hit the ground with a large thud, causing it to shake slightly. The wooden creature fell apart instantly, becoming a simple giant woodpile. It seemed that it had finally been stopped.
Once the creature realized this, a mountain of relief washed over him, and he let out a slight sigh as the terrifying ordeal, for the moment, seemed to be over.
"Thank god..." He muttered, getting up to his feet, the task harder than it sounded, as his legs wouldn't stop shaking. Despite his relief, there was a feeling inside him that it wasn't quite over yet. Standing up, he looked at the timber pile, debating whether to touch it. To make sure it was dead.
"... Why would I do that to myself...?" He mummers lightly, turning around and beginning to leave the mess that was left. That was until he heard a noise. An odd noise he wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it was coming behind him. He stops in his tracks and debates, turning around. He had a feeling he already knew what he'd see. Despite that, he still slowly turns around to look. The wood pile was starting to come back together.
"The hell...?" The creature muttered that he'd never seen anything like this before or thought he never had. The wood pieces slowly coming back together was unnatural to him, but it made sense as this place mostly was to him. Pieces of wood floated and snapped back together, slowly but surely reforming the wolf's shape that chased him not too long ago. The head was the last to reform fully, the green eyes glowing ever so brighter, staring directly at the creature with murderous intent that could be felt from it.
"Oh no..." The creature's expression was now fearful as he slowly stepped back, trying to force his body to turn around and start running again, but something inside made him move slowly. It wasn't until the wolf growled at him that his body finally did what he wanted, turning around and bolting in the other direction.
He didn't dare turn around, yet he could hear the wolf steadily chasing from behind. The loud thuds of the footsteps. He wondered how the wolf hadn't caught up to him, wondered if he was just being toyed with. Maybe some predatory animals did do that with their prey. Nevertheless, he had to keep going to live to see another day. He ran and panted. His body ached with all his running, begging him to stop. Yet he couldn't.
He ran off the path again and into some trees and shrubs, hoping that those could be enough to cover him from the sight of the creature. It only somewhat worked. However, he could still hear it pursuing him from behind, but the wolf was starting to lose distance. Good, maybe that meant he could get away. He kept this up until he ran across something that made him stop in his tracks.
"Woah!" He shouted as he stopped, looking at what was before him. A large ravine was ahead. Cutting him off from getting to the other side. He looked down. It was so deep that if he were to fall there, he would never move again. He didn't want that. The distance between him and the other side of the large hole was too far to jump. He looked left and right to see if he could find where it ended. Maybe he could run there to get to the other side. He tried as he did but couldn't see where it ended. However, his eyes did find something that would help him cross.
A tree that seemed to have broken down, leading across to the other side of the ravine, lay there and was the only thing connecting the two sides from what the creature could see. It seemed possible to cross; the question was, is it a good idea? Answer? Not really; he didn't know how stable the tree was; if he put his weight onto it and tried to cross, he could fall to his death for all he knew. Though it didn't look like he had many other choices, the heavy stomps of the wolf chasing him could still be heard behind him.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding!" He let out a frustrated groan before running to the tree. Moments later, the wolf reached the spot he was just at. Not good. The creature hurried to the tree as fast as he could muster, quickly hopping onto the only Bridgeway he had. The tree wasn't that thick either, a little less so than most of the other trees in the forest, so he didn't have a lot of room besides a mostly straight line. It was odd how the tree differed from the others, but considering some trees at the ravine's edge were conveniently like this one, it wasn't worth overthinking. Not with a creature that wants to rip you apart approaching.
The creature's slight advantage was knowing the wolf wouldn't be able to cross. It was far too big, after all.
"Thank god..." The creature thought to himself, though those thoughts were quickly interrupted by the tree suddenly shaking slightly. "Ah! What the hell?!" He turns his head around, only to see the wolf hitting its paw against the tree trunk, making it shake, causing the creature to shake. He almost fell off the side of the branch but managed to maintain some balance, enough so as not to fall anyways.
"Just had to think something!" He said to himself, moving quicker, trying his best to move, but the wolf kept shaking, making the creature constantly lose his balance, slowing him down. The wolf didn't care if it had to get its meal after splatting on the ground, which would make it go down the ravine. However, that seemed better than chasing him all day, as he kept getting ahead.
"Shit shit shit shit!" The creature muttered as he kept trying to move but was constantly stopped by the wolf's effort to send him to an early grave. However, as he moved across the tree, he saw something on the other side. The constant shaking made it harder to make things out, and it looked like some small horse. However, it was unlike any horse he'd seen because this one was purple. Other than that, there wasn't much else he could make out of it. His thoughts returned to the situation he was in quickly when he heard a loud noise like something moving. It was the tree, and it was starting to get loose, starting to fall.
"Oh no..." The creature muttered to himself before the wolf finally pressed down its paw hard enough for the tree to fully unlodge itself. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" The creature screamed out as he started to fall along with the tree. His mind returned to his memories, how he still didn't remember anything about himself or other people, how he would die prematurely due to that monstrous wolf constantly chasing him.
He could not take that fact, and everything felt slow to him. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it unless something could save him, but what? He didn't know, and not even after five seconds of falling, he finally passed out. Just before he did, though, it felt like his body finally stopped falling, even for a brief second without hitting the ground, and a warm, comforting energy enveloped him as his eyes finally closed.
The creature's eyes suddenly shot open as he sat up with an audible gasp. He pants for a moment, catching his breath and touching his sweat-converted head. He must have had a nightmare, one he didn't seem to be able to remember; he was, however, able to recall what had happened to him before. Memories of a giant wooden creature chasing him through the colorful yet dark woods he'd found himself in, him attempting to cross a ravine, walking and trying to keep his balance on a fallen tree, and then he fell and passed out. He thought he was going to die.
Yet, at the moment, at least, he seemed to be very much alive, though the place he was in was different. Instead of being in the forest, or what would make more sense, the bottom of the ravine, he was in a room. Looking around gave him an odd feeling. It seemed to be made out of wood, though not planked, just as if it was built with regular logs, or by the looks of it, with the walls not being entirely flat, the inside of a tree. Though that couldn't be, could it? He didn't know. Everything that happened to him ever since he woke up has been a strange mystery he was aching to solve.
Despite the odd feeling this room gave him, something about it also felt homey. He didn't know how to describe it other than that. At least it felt safe to be there, far safer than being out in the middle of the woods. However, there was one question the creature had to ask himself.
"... Where am I...?" While the new location did feel rather homey, it lacked any indication besides the obvious someone's room in what probably was someone's house. Besides the bed in the room was a bookshelf packed with various novels from the looks of things, but like everything else, they looked cartooney. There was a door without any visible lock on it, though maybe it was locked from the other side so that he couldn't get out. He goes over to the door handle, attempting to open the door. Try as he might, though, it wouldn't budge.
"Oh, come on..." He groaned, trying to push his weight against the door, yet it refused to budge even slightly. With a defeated sigh, he stepped away from the door. Whoever locked him in here did a pretty good job at doing so. Then again, he wasn't the strongest, so maybe his strength wasn't enough for the door. No matter. There had to be another way out of there.
It didn't take him much looking to find another potential exit, the window. Maybe he could crawl out, and it was worth a shot after all. He rushes up to the window and immediately encounters a few issues. For one thing, it was locked, which he should have seen coming. If the door was locked, the window probably would've been too. Secondly, it seemed he was on a higher floor, so jumping out the window would most likely result in injury. Injury?
At this point, he looked over himself and realized that he didn't have any significant wound on him, which was odd. How could he not? He fell into a ravine. How was he not severely hurt? He shakes the thoughts away as he considers other ways to escape the room. However, he doesn't see any directly. He goes up to the bookshelf and tries to push it out of the way. After a few pushes and grunts, he manages to move the bookshelf, hoping that there is anything to help him.
However, it seemed that all of his work was in vain, as there was nothing of value behind the bookshelf unless you count more of the wooden wall as being such.
"Dammit..." He groans, rubbing his head with a sigh. "I can't get out of this room... Not good... Maybe I can try breaking down the door again?" He thought it over while looking at the said door. It wasn't like he could lock-pick it; he didn't have anything to do so, and he didn't see anywhere on the nob where he could even attempt to do so. The window wasn't an option either, so, with a sigh, he decided he had no other choice. He got into position and readied himself.
"Okay... With enough force, hopefully, I can break out of here... One... Two... Three!" He rushes to the door as fast as he can, trying to use his shoulder to burst through it and hopefully escape, though his efforts are quickly stopped when the door knob starts jiggling, forcing him to stop in his tracks rapidly. Still, with the speed he was going, he could not stop himself in time entirely, so he tripped, quickly falling over and onto the ground with a thud as the door opened.
"Ow..." He groans, his face planted on the floor; as the sounds of something stepping in could be heard, it sounded like hooves against the floor.
"Um... Are you okay?" A feminine voice asked as the creature moved his head up to look at whoever was talking to him—a horse. A horse was talking to him, a very cartoony horse that seemed to fit with the world around them. Her glimmering purple eyes stared back at him, which worked with her light purple, soft-looking body. Her mane was made up of mostly a dark color, with streaks of dark purple and light pink in there. There was also a horn on her head. The creature's jaw dropped as he quickly realized he was looking at a unicorn. A talking unicorn nonetheless.
He quickly scrambles to his feet, making the pony back up slightly; she seemed untrusting of his presence, as if she hadn't seen anything like him before. Once he's back on his feet, all he can do is stare momentarily. They awkwardly keep eye contact until he finally says something.
"Did you just... Talk?" He says, his voice filled with curiosity mixed with amazement. The unicorn nodded slightly, unsure how to feel about the creature. However, deep down, the booked worm unicorn was excited to see something so unfamiliar, something she could learn about; it was even better that he could talk.
"Yes, I did. It looks like you speak my language." She replies. The creature, now standing up, could tell that he was far taller than she was; the unicorn also had a tail with the same color scheme as her mane, and there was also a particular mark on her flank. A pink star with five smaller white ones around it. He may not remember much, but he did remember horses, which were not supposed to look like this.
"Um, yeah... I guess I do..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I've never seen anything like you, and you're... a unicorn."
"And you're a weird tall thing." She replies, looking up at him. "A weird tall thing that I hope isn't dangerous?" Suddenly, the creature felt threatened, so he quickly nodded. After all, a unicorn could probably blast him to oblivion, and he wasn't willing to find out how painful that would be. "That's good."
"Yeah, but um... How did I get here? Were you the one that saved me from the ravine...?" She nods again.
"I did! I saw you fall, so I used my magic to save you after you said a peculiar phrase I've never heard before; I think it was shi-"
"Um, don't say that!" He quickly cuts her off. She looks at him with a sense of confusion. "It's not a very nice phrase... Anyways... Why did you lock me in here? I guess because you thought I was dangerous."
"Well, I just had to make sure. I've never seen anything like you before."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything like you either, ms...?" The unicorn let out a slight laugh and a smile, and she became less tense.
"Twilight, Twilight Sparke, and you are...?" The creature frowned slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I uh... Actually don't remember who I am..." Twilight tilts her head slightly. "Heck, I don't even think I'm from anywhere around this place... Everything looks so different and feels so... Odd... I only have slight memories, but everything else is so... Blurry... But I know that there weren't any talking horses back from where I come from... Or that anything was supposed to look like... This..."
"What do you mean exactly by looking like this...?" Twilight asks. "Where do you come from? How much can you remember, oh! I should get my notebook to write everything down!" She uses her magic to levitate a notebook and quill from another room, and the creature stares in awe.
"Wow... That's pretty cool!" Twilight sits down, still levitating the notebook and quill. "So, you just want to ask me some stuff then?" He tilts his head and asks after getting over the magical feat he just witnessed.
"Well, yeah! I just said that!" Twilight chuckles slightly. "Though I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. Um, I didn't even ask if you were hungry or anything, or needed anything to drink, or if you're okay or if-"
"Eh, don't worry about it." He cuts her off slightly. "I'm alright... Well, besides the whole, I can't remember anything, but yeah... If you want to ask me some questions, go for it. I don't mind." He sits back down on the bed, a new sense of calm washing over him. Despite not knowing much about the pony, he felt he could trust her for some reason. She hadn't tried anything yet, after all. Twilight's face beams up just ever so slightly more, excited to learn about whatever this creature was.
"Great! Well, I'll start with a simple question. What are you, and what do you remember?" The question seems to make the creature ponder for a moment, thinking about his answer before he shrugs slightly.
"Well, I do remember some things... Mostly how everything is supposed to look and my vocabulary... And what things are." He points to the bed and bookshelf. "Like how what I'm sitting on is a bed, and like that over there is a bookshelf... Unless you ponies call them something else."
"No, you got that pretty spot on." Twilight nods, scribbling some stuff down on a piece of paper. "How old are you?"
"... I think I'm around 20, I want to say...?" He thinks for a moment. "Though I'm not entirely sure... Again, foggy memory."
"Right..." She also scribbles that knowledge down, making him tilt his head.
"How come you wanted to know my age?" The creature asked, sporting a curious look as they did. The pony looked up at him after writing the information in her notebook.
"Well, I wanna know stuff about you, of course! Age included. Would twenty be considered young or old for your species?"
"Young, though still considered to be an adult." The creature pauses for a moment. "I think anyways..." The pony gave him a slight nod, scribbling down in her notes; the fact that the pony could use magic from her horn still impressed him.
"Alright... Well, I know you can't remember your name. Is there anything we should refer to you by?" The question caught the creature off guard, mostly because thinking of a name for himself was the last thing on his mind. Considering the near-death experience and now a magical talking unicorn asking him questions, it made him think for a brief moment. What should he be called?
"Um... Caleb..." He almost regretted the suggestion right away, as it was a name he immediately realized he wasn't going to like the name, despite that it seemed that Twilight at the very least did.
"Caleb, alright! Well, Caleb, if you wouldn't mind, I think I would like to run some physical tests on you as well. There's a lot I would love to learn about you, and not all of those things can be answered through questions... Though I'll probably still ask some more." Twilight chuckles slightly; Caleb, however, adorns a somewhat concerned look.
"Physical tests? Like what?" Twilight turned her attention towards him after once again writing something down in her notes.
"Oh, you know, how much you physically weigh, your height, some blood tests. That sort of stuff!" Caleb seemed to freeze slightly at the mention of blood tests, though I couldn't place a finger on why exactly. Twilight seemed to notice straight away, however. "Um... You okay?"
"Yeah! I mean... Yeah, I'm fine..." He exclaimed before talking in a slightly calmer voice. "Sorry, I don't know why I froze like that..." That was weird... He thought to himself.
"Maybe it's because you have a fear of blood? One you don't realize you have or one you simply don't remember?" Caleb sighed slightly.
"Yeah, it could be. I wouldn't know what else it is..." Caleb rubbed his arm nervously, turning away from the pony, who now wore a concerned look; despite not knowing the human for very long, she still felt a tinge of worry for him.
"Well, we don't have to today if you don't want to, buuuuut I would really like to get a sample from you sometime." Caleb shook his head.
"No, no, we can today. I just may be a little nervous when we do..." He admitted. Despite being nervous and not completely understanding why he was, the look of excitement from the pony seemed to wash some of that away. At least he was making someone, or somepony else, happy by agreeing to this.
"Excellent! Well, you can follow me down to the basement; I'll ask you more questions and do some tests there!"
"Sure..." Twilight smiled adorably, the kind of smile one a kid would do if they were about to get candy at the store, though this was different, a smile knowing that she was about to learn some more stuff about the human in front of her.
"Follow me!" With that, she opened the door back up, leaving the room as the sounds of her hooves hitting the floor echoed, and Caleb followed silently.
As Caleb followed the purple pony, he looked around the library. It was all so fascinating to him. Sure, he knew what a library was, from what little of his memories he did have, yet despite that, this one felt different from any he'd been in before. Perhaps it was the fact that it was cartoony or the fact that a purple unicorn, of all things, inhabited it. Neither explanation felt right, however. Maybe it was just the simple fact that it gave him a warm feeling. Something cozy inside him made him feel safe being here despite not knowing much about the situation he'd ended up in. It made him smile ever so slightly.
"So... You live here then? It's nice." Caleb commented. Twilight looked back at him, giving a slight nod.
"Yep! The Princess of Equestria allowed me to stay here to study friendship!" She giggles. "I'm her personal protege!"
"Oh, that must be nice." He puts his hands in his pants pockets as he looks onward, eventually getting to a staircase leading downwards to the first floor. As they walk, Caleb sees the newly opened space on the first floor, previously unable to be seen from the top of the staircase. The downstairs was a vast open circular space, bookshelves filled with literature, as expected from a Library, with a table that seemed to be attached to a little tree trunk; on top of the box was a wooden ponyhead.
"Wow..." As they reach the floor, he looks up at the sun painted on the ceiling. "Very nice and cozy." Caleb looks away from the symbol, only for his eyes to catch something else that interests him. A small purple dragon, with green spikes from his head running down to his tail, was casually sweeping the floor, failing to notice the two in his presence. He looked young and was shorter than the already short Twilight. He seemed to be whistling a tune unfamiliar to Caleb as he worked.
"Spike," Twilight said, knocking the dragon out of his thoughts as he turned to look at them with emerald green eyes.
"Hey, Twilight!" His focus shifts to Caleb for a second, "I see that thing we found is awake!" She gave a slight glare to the baby dragon.
"Spike, that's rude. He's a he, not a thing. His name is Caleb, and he is..." She pauses for a moment. "I don't think you ever told me what species you were when I asked in the bedroom." Caleb blinks slowly.
"I didn't? I could have sworn that I did..." He pauses for a moment. "I'm a human. Glad I can still remember that despite most of my other memories being lost right now." He sighs slightly. Twilight gives him a nod, turning back to Spike.
"His name is Caleb. Caleb, the human, and we were going down to the basement to study him a bit. He can't seem to remember much, but that's okay; we'll ask him some questions and see what he can remember." Spike looks back over to the creature and nods at him.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Caleb." He walks up to the human, holding out his hand. "I'm Spike, Twilight's number one and only assistant." As Spike holds his hand out, Caleb can't help but feel a twinge of awkwardness. Perhaps it was because he'd never seen a dragon before, or maybe it was due to just how small this particular one was. Regardless, Caleb lowers himself to Spike's level, shaking his hand, which wraps itself around his entire wrist and hand.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Spike." Twilight once again nods after seeing the interaction. She walks over to the basement and quickly opens the door.
"Alright, Number 1 assistant and Caleb, let's do some tests." Spike glanced back at the broom he left lying on the floor, the sweeping job still undone. He looks back at Twilight with an unsure expression on his face.
"Are you sure you want me down there right now? I haven't even finished my chores yet."
"This is more important, Spike, and I need you to take notes." She starts heading down, with the two following behind. "Afterwards, I'm going to look through my books and see if I can find something that could possibly be related to Caleb, and if not, then I'll send those notes to Princess Celestia and see what she thinks."
"Okay..." Caleb replies, pausing for a moment. "What about finding me a way back to where I came from? I mean... If that's possible."
"Don't worry, I assure you I'll try my best. But I need to find out more information about what you are. I've never seen anything quite like you in Equestria before, and like you said earlier, you've never seen anything like us before, so what if you came from another world or something? You would be proof of life outside this planet!" She lets out a joyful eek before composing herself. "Though it is more likely that you're from somewhere in this world, we just haven't heard about you before."
"Yeah! I'm sure we can find you a way back home!" Spike reassured. Caleb appreciated the moral support from the dragon, yet despite that, he let out a frown he didn't let the others see. Deep inside, he felt that things wouldn't work out so simply. He couldn't explain what it was or why he was feeling it. All he knew was that it was there. It made him nervous, but he pushed it aside momentarily as they finally reached the basement.
"Can I get you anything before we start?" Twilight asked Caleb, who sat in one of the various chairs in the room. He was looking around curiously. The basement was a decently opened space, if slightly smaller than the upstairs was, with various lab equipment as well, such as vials with unknown colorful liquids inside them; most of everything else in there he couldn't reasonably determine what they were, except for a metal tray that laid on a table, which had a needle Twilight had prepared earlier. He once again got nervous. He had agreed to let her draw his blood today, but he still couldn't shake his nervousness away from getting the shot and didn't know why.
"Caleb?" The unicorn's voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he turned his attention back to her.
"Huh? Sorry... I was lost in my thoughts." Twilight only gave a slight giggle.
"Oh, I know how that feels, trust me. Do you need anything before we test?" Caleb shakes his head no. She nods, and her horn glows, and as it does, a strap is lifted, a belt connected to one of the machines. "Now then, I would also like to get your blood pressure." She stops for a moment, thinking to herself slightly. "Although I'm not sure if it would work as well doing it for a human as it does for a pony, but we can try!" She walks over to Caleb, who gingerly holds out his arm.
"Alright..." He looks down at his arm, where Twilight wraps the strap around. He grimaces slightly as it tightens around his arm, but it stops tightening before it becomes too much to bear. The attached machine surprisingly reads his pulse without much issue.
"Huh..." Twilight examines the machine, grinning to herself. "It's working, that's good!" She turns her attention to Spike, who is sitting up, waiting for Twilight to give him something to do. "I'm going to start doing tests now. While I do that, I'll also ask questions. Make sure you write down all his responses, okay?" Spike gave a confirming nod, holding up his quill and parchment paper, ready to write down. As Twilight studied the report the heart monitoring machine printed, she asked the first question.
"So, how much do you remember? From where you originally came from, what was it like?" Caleb looked up slightly, pondering the question for a moment before shrugging.
"It wasn't all that special, if I'm honest. Back where I come from, wherever that is, I remember a world not nearly as bright as this one, without any colorful talking ponies and magic, all of which seem to be present in this world." He slightly pauses, Twilight taking the strap off his arm and picking up some scissors. "We humans were the only intelligent creatures as well. All the others had no way of communicating, and we also had to wear clothes in public; it was the law... Not sure how it works here, but considering you aren't-" He couldn't finish as Twilight took the scissors and used them to cut up a tiny piece of Caleb's hair. "Hey!"
Twilight gave him a sheepish look as she carefully placed the hairpiece in a little bag. She gives an apologetic yet at the same time nervous smile. "Sorry, wanted a DNA sample from you besides just blood." He scowls at her slightly but lets out a sigh.
"You coulda asked first. You didn't cut off a lot, but still." He sighs, Twilight ignoring his complaint, and places the bag on the same table with the needle.
"Okay, next question! How do things work over there? Is there an economic system? Do you have schools? Do you read books? Just from the top of your head, list as many things as you can think of that your species does over there."
"Hmmmmm... Okay." Caleb pondered thoughtfully for a moment, trying to remember what he did back where he was from. "We had an economic system as well, yeah. Jobs people could have, we had schools, some were different from others like there was public school, private school, and all that stuff. Um..." He pondered some more, not sure what else to add. "We have technology like cars and stuff."
"Cars? What are cars?" Twilight asked, levitating what seemed to be a small flashlight over to her. She turned it on, intent to shine it in each of his eyes to test if his pupils would dilate, and walked towards him. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she once again forgot to ask the human if he was alright with having a light, but as she saw him tense up, sensing the impending assault on his eyes, she stopped in his tracks, giving an embarrassed smile. "May I?" Caleb nodded, grateful she asked, before answering the first question.
"Well, cars are these machines people drive. It's faster than walking, and I guess you don't have them here?" Twilight shook her head no as she shined the light in one of his eyes. The pupils did dilate. After she did the other one, she nodded.
"Nope, we have carriages and trains to help us get around." She smiles, feeling giddiness in her from learning about Caleb's world. She levitated a parchment over and a quill to make basic notes on the tests she had conducted so far while Spike continued writing down whatever Caleb said.
"We have trains as well, they're pretty... Nifty..." His voice went quiet as he saw Twilight go to the table with the needle. He gulped, once again becoming nervous at the prospect of the needle, which the unicorn noticed, adorning a concerned look.
"Are you sure you want to do this today? Like I said, we can do this some other time if you want." She pauses for a moment. "Hay... We don't even have to do this at all if you don't want to." She starts putting the needle back; she can't help but look disappointed. Caleb shakes his head, holding up his arm.
"No, no, it's better to get this over with... Besides, you were kind enough to save me from death..." He takes a breath in, closing his eyes. "So you can go ahead and do it..." Twilight ponders the choice for the moment and nods.
"Okay, I'll give it a shot..." She chuckles at the pun she unintentionally made. Caleb chuckles as well, though his was far weaker and shaky. As the unicorn approached him, it could easily be told that the human man was getting ansty about it. Twilight stopped, a thought suddenly coming to mind. "So... We usually draw blood from the veins. Since I know very little about you, I should probably ask... Do you have veins?"
"Yeah... Right here..." He points to the spot on his forearm, where his decently sized vein could be seen. Twilight gives a reassuring nod.
"Alright, don't worry, I'll make this quick!" A quiet gasp comes from the human, immediately grabbing the unicorn's attention. Caleb's face was shocked, and it seemed like his mind was elsewhere. "Caleb? Caleb!" Twilight shouted, but the human did not hear her pleas.
No! I don't want to! A young voice shouted from inside the hospital room. A little human desperately pushed against his parents while a doctor prepped a butterfly needle for the boy.
Come on, buddy... It's for your own good. The nice doctor has to draw some blood; it won't hurt. The older male, presumably the child's father, reassured. The boy didn't care and continued his efforts to escape the grasp.
Why does she need my blood?! Can't she do something else? The woman, presumably the boy's mother, knelt at his level.
If she could, she would do something else... The voice was pleasant and comforted the child, who lessened his struggles for a moment to listen. I promise it'll be quick... Just a little poke, and then you're done... The small boy considered for a moment. The doctor looked over and gave a warm smile.
Don't worry, I'll make it as quick as I can, and if you're good, I can give you a lollipop. How does that sound? At this point, he completely stopped struggling. He was still clearly nervous at the prospect of getting the needle, but the comforting words of his mother and the promise of the tasty treat seemed to convince him that it was worth it. He looked up to his mother, still scared, and quietly asked.
Can... can you hold my hand...? He asks nervously, which is met with another warm smile from his mother.
Of course you can, sweetie... After a few more moments of silence, the boy nods and walks over to the chair, ready for the procedure.
Caleb could hear unintelligible voices as he came back to consciousness. Worry and panic filled his ears as he snapped back to reality.
"Okay, I'm going to shock him back..." He finally heard Twilight mutter, her horn lighting up, unaware Caleb was back. His eyes went wide as he held out his hands defensively.
"Don't shock me!" Twilight yelped in surprise as the magic from her horn shot out, barely missing him and hitting the wall behind the human, who turned to see that it wasn't even powerful enough to leave a mark. "Why did you do that?" He turns back to her.
"You're awake! You just... You were frozen for a bit there. We were worried about you." Caleb rubbed the back of his head slightly. "Are you okay? Do you need a glass of water or anything? If you even drink water, do you?"
"I'm fine... Sorry about that... I was just... somewhere else for a bit." He pauses for a moment. "I think I remembered something from my childhood." Twilight's interest is seen, her eyes lighting up as she smiles.
"That's good! Do humans usually freeze up when they remember something?" Caleb shakes his head no.
"No... That isn't normal... I think it isn't, anyway. Nothing like that's ever happened to me before." He sits back down where he was before as Twilight hums in thought.
"What did you remember exactly?" She looks back at Spike, ensuring he's ready to write down whatever Caleb has to say; Spike gives her a slight nod, assuring her he would.
"I remember a hospital... and I also remember being younger in this memory... I was getting my blood drawn just like I'm about to now... and I was scared... But this older woman was there... She comforted me, stopping me from getting out of there... and eventually, I settled down long enough to actually get the shot..." He pauses for a brief moment. "I think that was my mother... and I think my father was there too... But their faces... I couldn't make them out... it was like my mind couldn't remember them..." He tries to think about their looks and desperately tries to remember their faces, but the images just aren't coming to him. "It still can't, I guess..."
Twilight frowns at this, feeling sympathetic for the human. She wanted to help him, and she was sure as heck going to try to do so. "I'm sorry you can't remember them... I want to help you. Help you return to where you're from and regain your memories... I promise, Caleb, I'll do anything I can." Caleb smiles, grateful for the unicorn's help, but the smile fads.
"Why are you helping me so much, though?" He asks. "I mean, we've known each other for less than a day, and you're willing to help me get back to where I'm from and get my memories back? Is it just cause I'm a different species you haven't seen before, or is it something else?" Twilight smiles at him.
"No, because it's the right thing to do, of course! And because we're friends!"
"We are?"
"Yep!" She trots over to him. "Just because we don't know each other too well doesn't mean we aren't. I'm still learning about friendship myself, and I would like to offer you mine." Caleb, for a moment, only stared at the pony. Her words seemed genuine. Something about her radiated as someone, or in this case, somepony, he could trust.
"Thank you, Twilight..." She nods.
"No problem!"
"... You still want to draw blood from me, don't you?"
"Naturally!" Caleb sighed, already accepting getting his blood drawn, but he was still clearly nervous about it before a thought popped into his head.
"Can you give me something to hold? I remember holding my mom's hand, so maybe it would help..." Spike looked up from the parchment.
"Huh... You must really be afraid of needles if you need to hold something." He giggles slightly, Twilight looking back at the dragon, giving him a slight glare, making him regret his little comment. "Uh, but that's okay! Everyone is afraid of something!"
"It's okay... I would really like something if that's okay." Twilight looks around the room, her eyes catching an old storage box she forgot she had down here. She opens it up, finding an old doll she once had as a foal. Ms. Smarty Pants. She levitates the toy over to Caleb, who grabs it gingerly.
"Here we go..." He whispers to himself, holding out his arm for the unicorn as she cleans the spot she intends to stick the needle into. He closes his eyes as the process begins.
"Annnnnnnd done!" Twilight announces a few moments later. Caleb re-opens his eyes. During the process, he had to control his breathing and think about something else while Twilight did what she had to do, but it was finally over. The unicorn notices the look on the man's face as she levitates the blood packets she had, which were now filled under what seemed to be a cooler part of the room to study later.
"That wasn't so bad..." The human said more so to himself before a thought occurred to him. "I have a question..." Twilight looks over at Caleb. "I've been telling you some stuff about my home and whatnot, but I would like to see yours. Outside the library, I mean."
"You would?" Twilight pondered for a moment; She did get some test-worthy material from him and some information that may help her find out where Caleb could have come from. Besides, she would have plenty of time to do more research in the future. "Hmmmmm... Okay, we can take a break, and I can show you around ponyville. We should go to Sugar Cube Corner first; Pinkie is hosting one of her famous parties there!"
"Isn't that in ten minutes?" Twilight froze at Spike's question as she quickly turned to the clock. Pinkies party was at 2 o'clock, and it is currently 1:50
"Oh, horse apples! I lost track of time! My whole schedule for today has been thrown off!" The unicorn starts hyperventilating slightly; Caleb is about to get up and walk over to her but is quickly stopped when Twilight levitates him and Spike as she runs out of the basement. "We gotta leave now if we want to make it there in time!"
"Woah! Okay, floating. This feels weird." Caleb commented to a nonlistening Twilight as they reached the front door. She looks back at the human, safely placing him and Spike on the ground. Caleb was still wearing the clothes he had when he arrived, as he didn't have a chance to change or anything yet.
"Ack! Your clothes are a mess!" Twilight remarks, his shirt and pants still dirty and the back of his shirt still stained with a bit of blood from the head injury that most likely caused his amnesia in the first place.
"I don't have anything else to wear, though." Twilight groaned, stressing out about it more than she probably should've.
"Okay, okay... That's fine, let's go." She opens the front door and looks at the two to follow.
"Wait, can I grab a snack real quick?"
"There'll be plenty at the party!" Twilight drags the two out with her magic and closes the door. "Come on!" She runs, and without much of another choice, Caleb follows along with Spike. Though as he does, that feeling he felt earlier came back. Something of wrongness, besides the fact he was in a town filled with talking ponies and Twilight's shift to seemingly having a mental breakdown over being late to a party, he felt it was something else. Once again, he could only push that feeling away as he continued. Though he failed to see from a distance, a dark figure was watching him from a distance until it, for the moment, faded away.
It was a rather lovely day out in ponyville. The pegasi, who controlled the weather in this world, had today scheduled to be nice and clear of any clouds. Ponies were out and about, going along with their daily business. Some had stands set up, selling various items as customers lined up. Most were either walking around or hanging out with their friends or both. No matter what they were doing, all the residents had their attention drawn to three specific characters—Twilight, who was dashing with a look of panic. Spike and Caleb are running behind, unable to match her speed.
"Twilight...!" Spike pants, slowing down before stopping to catch his breath. "Please... Can you please slow down...?" Caleb stops next to Spike. He may have had the energy to run away from a timberwolf when he first arrived, but he lacked the adrenaline he had then to keep with the unicorn.
"Yeah... Out of... Breath..." Caleb let out, thinking about how unfit he was. Twilight looks back at the two, her expression unchanged.
"We can't stop now; we'll be late to Pinkie's party!"
"But..." Spike started, pointing a claw forward. "Sugar Cube Corner... It's right there..." Twilight turned and saw that it was, in fact, right there. It wasn't too far away and could easily be seen in the distance where they were at. She looks over to the town's clock tower, which is in sight. They still had three minutes to reach the bakery. They must have been running faster than Twilight initially thought.
"Oh..." She mummers to herself, seeming to relax a little. "I guess we can slow down a bit since we're still close, but we only have a few minutes." Once again, Twilight started heading to the bakery, which Caleb noted as looking slightly like a gingerbread house as he and the baby dragon followed. As they walked to the building, the human instantly noticed the odd looks he was getting from ponies. Sure, the recent truth of Zecora being revealed has made the town folks less paranoid about creatures they didn't understand, yet that didn't stop most of them from looking at Caleb with strange looks.
"Um... Twilight...?" He walked closer to her; she turned to face him but didn't stop her pursuit of the shop. "They're all looking at me strangely... It's kinda making me uncomfortable." Twilight looks around and notices quickly that Caleb's claim is valid.
"Don't worry about them." Twilight looks back at Caleb. "They just haven't seen anything like you before. Besides, we're almost at Sugar Cube Corner." All Caleb could do was meekly nod as they finally reached the bakery, as the clock tower hit two o'clock. As the human entered the restaurant with the two, his senses were assaulted by the smells of sweets and something good that smelled like it was being baked. The inside was decorated with party decorations. Besides that, it seemed the place had a theme of candy going on, as some hung on the walls, and Caleb could even see Candy Canes in a vase of sorts.
"Right on time!" Twilight announced more to herself as she walked further in, Spike and Caleb following, though the ladder attention was shifted to the other ponies inside. Most of them didn't notice their presence yet, but a few caught his attention, mainly as they seemed to be the ones Twilight was going to. There were four ponies, an orange, white, cyan, and yellow.
The orange had a blonde mane and tail and was wearing a fedora. At least, that's what Caleb assumed the hat was. She had three white freckles on each side of her face, green eyes, and her flank had an image of three apples. The white one, a unicorn like Twilight, unlike the last one, who seemed like an average pony, had her purple mane and tail stylized. She had beautiful blue eyes, and her flank had a picture of three gems on them. The cyan one, who had wings and was hovering above the group, had a unique mane and tail, as they were made up of various colors, just like a rainbow. Her mark was a simple cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt from the bottom. Lastly, the yellow pony also had wings. Her mane and tail were pink, and she had light blue eyes and butterflies on her flank. Out of all of them, she seemed the most shy.
"Hello girls!" Twilight greeted the four, who all turned their attention to the three. Their eyes seemed to beam at the unicorn's arrival, then quickly turned to mild confusion as they looked at the human.
"Hey, Twi!" The cyan one said, being the first to approach her, then looking at Caleb, who felt a nervous tingle go down his spine, as he wasn't sure what she would say to him if she did at all. "Um, who's your friend?" She examined the human with a curious look on her face, a clear sign that she, like Twilight, had never seen anything like him before.
"I'm Caleb..." He introduced himself before the purple unicorn could do it for him. "And I woke up in a forest... I'm new and haven't ever been to a place like this before..." She gave him a smirk that gave off the impression that she was friendly and cool.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Caleb! My name is Rainbow Dash, and I'm probably one of the coolest ponies you'll meet." She held out one of her hoofs, which Caleb slowly but eventually shook. As soon as he did, he felt a slight shock coming from his hand, which traveled to the rest of his body.
"Ack!" He pulled back and looked at Rainbow, who was trying to hold back a fit of laughter. Caleb looked at her hoof, which he overlooked had a strap around it. He turned it around and showed the strap in question was attached to a joy buzzer. Rainbow couldn't help it anymore and let out her laughter.
"Haha! Oh man, I had to change its position super fast, but it was worth it!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded her friend, the pegasus stopping her train of laughter to turn her attention to Twilight.
"Relax, Twi, this is one of Pinkie's prank parties!" Twilight's disapproving look didn't change.
"I know next to nothing about humans, and neither do you. How could you know if that shock wouldn't hurt him more than it would a normal pony?" Rainbow stopped momentarily, considering her friend's words, before she looked at Caleb, worried her words were true.
"Shoot... I'm sorry if I hurt you or anything; I just wanted to do a harmless prank." Caleb, who was lost in his thoughts for a moment and was facing the ground, turned her attention back to the cyan pegasus. He gives her a slight smile.
"It's okay... We have joy buzzers back where I'm from... I think, but I'm fine." He reassured her. Rainbow looks back at Twilight, once again adorning a smirk.
"See? It's fine!" Rainbow puts a hoof up to her chin. "Though, like I said, this party has a lot, and I mean, a LOT of pranks, so be careful new guy." She snickers to herself again, and the orange pony introduces herself as Rainbow floats back up in the air.
"Howdy there, Ah'm AppleJack, nice to meet ya. Though you can also call me AJ if ya want." She introduces herself and holds out her hoof, and after careful inspection, he shakes it and makes sure that there isn't a joy buzzer.
"Likewise. You look kinda like a cowboy or cowpony in this case." Applejack gives a hearty chuckle at this.
"Ah'll take that as a compliment; thank you for much, but Ah'm a farm pony. Ah, live on Sweet Apple acres; you're welcome to drop on by if you'd like." Caleb nodded, considering the offer, though that would have to be later, as there were more ponies to get acquainted with. The next pony he turned his attention to was the white unicorn; he was about to introduce himself when she looked him down and let out the most terrified gasp he'd heard from any pony since his arrival, which made him tense up a bit.
"Oh my! What happened to your clothes!?" Caleb slowly blinked his eyes. That's what she was worried about? Before he could give a proper answer, her horn glowed, levitated some measuring tape, which so happened to be nearby, and started doing measurements on him. "This simply won't do! Your clothes are torn and dirty. I must make you a new outfit!"
"But you don't have to-"
"I will not take no for an answer!" She finished the measurements; Caleb was still confused but decided to proceed.
"Um, thank you... It's not like I have anything else to wear anyways, so that some new clothes would be nice." He rubs the back of his head. "Is it gonna cost anything, miss...?"
"Rarity." She levitated a quill on paper, writing down the measurements she took so as not to forget them. "And not to worry, for this first outfit, I'll do for free if you really have nothing else to wear; it's the least I can do for a new friend." Caleb seemed surprised by this. This pony, whom he didn't even know that well, was already giving him an outfit for no charge; she seemed interested in doing so before she knew he didn't have any other clothes to wear, which made the act all the nicer considering she was going to make him one anyways.
"Wow, I uh... Really appreciate that..." He said a little awkwardly, which may have come off as him being disingenuous about the gift, but was more him not really knowing how to react, yet still being grateful for it. Rarity picked up on that, smiling at him. Seemingly, the last pony to be introduced was the yellow one, who meekly looked over to the human.
"What's your name?" He said, trying to be less awkward about it than he was with Rarity.
"I'm... Fluttershy..." The pony meekly responds. Unlike the first time she talked to Twilight, she wasn't so quiet to the point of being unable to be heard, yet her voice was still very soft. It made Caleb feel bad for the pony, being so shy, but he just gave her a warm smile, the only thing he could do to comfort the mare at the moment.
"It's very nice to meet you, Fluttershy." The human seemed to be feeling more comfortable around the ponies. That comfort must have also passed to the yellow mare as she perked up slightly.
"I've never seen anything like you before... Twilight mentioned you were a human...?" Caleb nodded at the pegasus.
"I am, yeah. If I'm being frank, I don't think I'm from... well, anywhere near here." Fluttershy gives a nod.
"Well... No matter how far you're from, I think nopony will mind you staying in ponyville... If you want, I mean..."
"Yep, he's going to stay with me until we can figure out a way to get him back to his home." Twilight interjected before Caleb could say anything.
"Well, until then," Rainbow started. "We could show him around! Help him get comfortable or whatever, and show him all the cool stuff us ponies have to offer!" She seemed to beam at the idea of it.
"Only if he's comfortable with it, Rainbow," Aj interjected, looking up at the pegasus, still hovering. "We don't wanna push him too hard into doing things he isn't comfortable with..."
"Thanks... But I would love a tour sometime... After this party." Caleb gives another smile as he rubs his hand. He was still nervous about the idea, especially considering how many ponies were watching him earlier when he was walking down the streets, but if he was going to stay there for a bit, he should get to know them and show them all he's friendly.
"Heck yeah!" Rainbow shot her hooves up in the air. "And if you want, we could also pull pranks!" She giggles. "Those are always fun, just like this party is a prank party!"
"Speaking of the party..." Twilight interjected, looking around the room, finally noticing that one specific mare was missing. "Where's Pinkie Pie?" The rest looked around a bit, also seeing the absence.
"Last I saw her, she was going to the kitchen..." Rarity inquired, but before anyone could investigate the kitchen, the sounds of something shaking were heard. It drew their attention to a table, which held a purple present on it with an orange bow. It didn't look too big but was big enough that one would have to use two hands to hold it.
"Ummm... Who's present is that?" Caleb asked curiously as the others began walking up to it, the others walking up to it, or in the case of Rainbow, floating to it with a shrug.
"I dunno, like I said, this is a prank party, so it's probably going to prank whoever opens it." She stops next to the group, who all look onward at the gift, which shakes a little more.
"Hm... You're probably right, but I still wonder what's exactly in there." Caleb put a hand up to his chin, and the rainbow pegasus hovered next to him.
"Dare you to open and see." She smirks, taking Caleb aback.
"Wait, what? Why do you want me to open it? What if it's for someone else?" Caleb tried to say a part of him believed it was for someone else, but it was a prank party, so who knew?
"I don't see a name tag on it, c'mon; it won't hurt to open it, and I should know I planned most of these pranks, and so did Pinkie." Caleb ponders momentarily, looking at Twilight, who looks at Rainbow.
"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. Stop being so pushy." However, the more Caleb thought, the more he felt he should, even if he was being walked into a prank. After all, he would live amongst these ponies until a way home could be figured out. So making a good impression on them would probably be for the best. If Rainbow said it was harmless, then it had to be, right?
"It's fine, I can open it..." He goes over to the box without further delay or interruption, which still shakes slightly. The human goes to open it, gently placing his hand on the package; he carefully undoes the bow, then some of the wrapping paper, though he isn't careful enough and accidentally tears some of it. Finally, he lifts the lid, only for a pink blur to jump out of the box, with a loud pop and the sounds of confetti being shot out, making the human fall back onto the floor.
"Surprise!" The pink pony, who'd somehow fit in the box, announced, holding her hooves up and standing on her back legs. She stops for a moment, however, as she seems to think of something for a moment. "Oh wait, this isn't a surprise party, silly me!" She looks down at the human.
"Hello... How did you-" He doesn't have time to finish, as he's interrupted by a gasp from the pink mare in front of him, who has puffy hair and blue eyes and has pictures of two yellow and one blue balloon on her flank. She gets a little too close for comfort into the man's face as she starts talking incredibly fast.
"Ohmygoshi'veneverseenanythinglikeyoubeforewhatsyournameI'mPinkiePiewannabefriendsohmygoshIneedtothrowyouasurprisepartywaitohIjustsaidititwontbeasurpriseanymore-" The ramblings of the pink mare were interrupted as Twilight used her magic to levitate Pinkie away from Caleb gently.
"Pinkie, calm down." She looks over at the human, who gets up, looking over at the box and then back to Pinkie. The only thought going through his mind was how she fit herself in there. "He hasn't been around many ponies and probably appreciates his personal space." Pinkie looks over at the human with a slightly nervous chuckle.
"Hehe, sorry about that. I just get so excited wided whenever I meet somepony new!" She bounces over to him. "My name is Pinkie Pie! What's yours?"
"Caleb." He replies, pushing back his questions for now. "It's a pleasure to meet you, despite the startle." Pinkie gives him the biggest smile that he has probably ever seen from what little memory he has.
"I should totally throw you a party! After this one, of course!" The smile doesn't fade as she bounces back to the other ponies.
"Well... Now that you're introduced to my friends, how about we enjoy the party for a bit?" Caleb looked around at all the other ponies in attendance. They seemed to be mostly doing their things, talking with other ponies, or drinking some punch that had been on a table. He even saw Spike, who split off from the group to enjoy the party, sit on a woopie cushion on a chair, looking flustered. This was a prank party, after all. However, he still noticed a few eyes on him, making him slightly uneasy. Though if he introduced himself, It would most likely stop the watchers.
"Yeah... yeah, that sounds good."
"Awesome!" The cyan pegasus flies over to the others in attendance. "Let's go!" The group follows, Caleb ready to make an impression.
Hours passed, and the party was dispersing, nearly coming to an end. During that time, Caleb had met a few other ponies, all of which were interesting to learn about. For instance, there was a grey pegasus named Derpy Hooves, a name the human didn't expect anypony to have. Nonetheless, she was pleasant to talk with, learning she was a mail pony. She had also accidentally knocked over a table, which Caleb and others helped pick up.
Then there was Lyra Heartstrings, a lighter cyan than Rainbow, at least in Caleb's mind she was. She seemed particularly fascinated with the human, but she otherwise seemed nice. At one point, she even copied how he was sitting down. Caleb found it interesting, and his interactions with the unicorn were all reasonably pleasant.
Yet despite that, Caleb found himself most comfortable around the six ponies he was first introduced to. As they went about the party, they talked a lot. Caleb learned a lot about each of the six. Like their cutie marks, the symbols on their flanks that, before this point, he had no idea what they meant, but now understood what they meant. He forgot to ask how they specifically got it, but he learned the meaning behind each one, like how Pinkie loved throwing parties and spreading smiles, or Applejack loved working on her apple farm.
He also had little one-offs with them during the party. Caleb helped Rainbow prank one of the party guests, specifically by having the human distract a pony. At the same time, Rainbow surprised them with a blowhorn, or he and Twilight had a conversation, which was more questions she had about the human.
As most of the guests were leaving, the main six were chatting with the human. They wanted to get to know him better and where he came from. Though every time they asked him something about himself, he seemed to dodge the question for the most part, with an "I don't know." or would change the subject.
"Wow, that guy sounds so cool!" Rainbow said after Caleb recalled a movie he liked about an archaeologist. Twilight takes a sip of juice from a cup she had.
"That sounds a lot like Daring Do." She looks to Rainbow. "I actually think you'd like her. She reminds me of you a little." Rainbow brushed the purple mare off with a laugh, Twilight giving her an annoyed look.
"Oh, come on, Twi, readings for eggheads." The unicorn does a pony version of a shrug.
"Your loss." She sips some more juice. Rarity looks over at Caleb with a curious look.
"You know, you've told us quite a lot about your world and some of your interests." She started. "But you haven't really told us all that much about yourself, dear." He pauses his chuckling for a moment, looking over at her.
"Oh... Yeah." Before he or Twilight could say anything, Pinkie cut in with a huge smile.
"Yeah! Tell us some stuff about yourself! I mean, we already know you like movies, but what else?" She was eager to hear his response, yet by his expression, Caleb didn't seem all that keen to say. Once again, Twilight is about to speak to explain the situation but is again stopped when Applejack puts in her input.
"You okay, Sugarcube?" She gave a slightly worried look. "You don't look like you really want to talk about it."
"It's not that I don't want to talk about it... It's that I can't... Remember a whole lot about myself." He rubs his arm, looking away from the group. "When I woke up in the forest, I lost most of my personal memories... I only remember a few things, like that movie I told you about or how my world was, but when it comes to me, well... There isn't a whole lot to say, really."
"But he could start getting his memories back." Twilight finally got a chance to speak. "I'll look for spells and see if any of them help, along with figuring out a way to get you back home."
"Yep. And you betcha we'll help in any way we can." Applejack backed the unicorn up.
"Totally! I mean, I don't know much about memory loss or anything like that, but I would never leave my friends helpless when they need help!"
"Yeppers! We all will! And I can throw you parties and make you sweets and so many other super duper fun things and-"
"I think he gets the idea." Rarity politely cut off Pinkie's ramblings before they got out of hand. "But yes, I'm sure we and everyone else will be willing to make you feel as comfortable as can be." Fluttershy doesn't say anything but nods.
"Wow... You're all... Nice for doing that." He smiles at the ponies. "Thank you." Twilight looks at the time, seeing that it's pretty late.
"Oh geez... It's late. I think we should head home now." She eyes the area momentarily, looking for a particular purple dragon, quickly finding him slumbering on a chair. She thought he must've passed out earlier as she levitated him onto her back.
"Yeah..." Rainbow let out a yawn, heading for the door. "I missed some serious nap time today." The rest of the group followed. Since everyone else had already left, there wasn't anypony to tell to go. As they all reached the front door, they stopped just short outside the building. The beautiful night sky replaced the sunny one that was there when they arrived.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Caleb. We should definitely hang out soon." She holds out her hand, offering another shake, which Caleb gives her a suspicious look. She gives an innocent smile. "I don't have a joy buzzer this time."
"Hmmm... Alright." He shakes her hoof and pleasantly finds that no extra electricity is coursing through his body. After the shake, Rainbow waves before flying off into the sky.
"See ya guys!" They all wave back, and Rarity starts walking away as well.
"I'll see you girls later, and don't you worry, Caleb, I put together a new outfit for you in no time!" The snow-white unicorn promised before heading out of sight.
"Um... It was nice meeting you... I'll see you around." Fluttershy said, walking away as well, Caleb waving at both the ponies as they left. Applejack tipped her hat to the remaining friends.
"See ya around, new friend." As Pinkie Pie was at Sugarcube's door, she started heading off, giving a friendly wave.
"Byyyyyyyeeeeee!" She declared before closing the door. Now, all that was left was Twilight and Caleb. She looks at the human before returning to her library, the human following closely behind.
"Wow... You're friends all seemed very nice." Caleb said, with a slight amount of relief present in his voice. "I was worried things would go somehow wrong... Like the town ponies wouldn't like me or something."
"Well, like I said earlier, we had a recent incident with a Zebra nearby where everyone misjudged her, so I think most ponies know better by now." She uses her magic to readjust the baby dragon slumbering on her back. "But I'm glad you got along with them! And everyone else at the party, it seems, as well!"
"Yeah! I actually had a really good time!" For the first time since he's been here, he felt relaxed. With him being somewhere completely different from the other stuff he'd been through, even when he was with Twilight at first, he hadn't entirely managed to stop worrying. After today, however, he knew that no matter how long he stayed here, he would find himself amongst ponies.
It didn't take long for the three to return to the library, which was named the Golden Oaks Library, to be specific. As Twilight walks in and turns on the light, she levitates a book from one of the shelves.
"Going to be doing some late-night reading?" He asked curiously.
"I sure am. Been wanting to get to this specific book for a while." Twilight places the book on a table, heading up the stairs, probably to put Spike to bed. "Besides, I don't think you'd be up for doing late-night research with me; you probably want to sleep, and I can do more questions and tests tomorrow." Caleb thought for a moment. He wasn't exhausted.
"You know, I could probably stay up late with you." Twilight's ears perk up as she turns to the human from the stairs.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, you could ask more questions and do more tests, or we can do whatever else." The unicorn ponders for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Alright! Sounds like a plan!" She continues up the stairs. Let me tuck Spike in really quickly. Caleb gives her a thumbs up as she completely disappears up the stairs. Caleb smiles to himself as he sits down. He was glad that such a friendly, welcoming, if not curious, unicorn-like Twilight managed to find him. Things could be much worse; he had some bad feelings earlier, but they would surely pass. Things would be okay, he thought to himself as he waited for Twilight to return so they could prepare for the night ahead.
And I realize just how much I use the term "Memory" in the titles of my stories. Sorry, I suck at titles. :p)