Out of all the places that he could have gone, it seemed as though this might have been the worst possible idea. It wasn't that he had been attacked, at least not yet. Hokey Smokes wasn't the most courageous pony ever, as seen by his latest actions, and this was filled with things that might make even the bravest ponies think twice. Everything seemed to be dark, gloomy, and overall had a vibe that made him want to head back out of the forest and back to where the ponies that were rushing after him had gone. They might have assaulted him, or at least he thought that it had all been an assault, but at least they weren't like this.

Even Twilight Spark didn't give him this sort of vibe, and that could be said after she had knocked him out. At least the headache is gone. I don't know what she did, still don't have any clue, but it wasn't something that I want to have to deal with again. Whatever she did, I have to make sure that she doesn't do it again. The easiest way, and the one that he was likely to go with, was for him to actually stay in the forest. All he would have to do would be find somewhere that didn't make him feel as though something was going to eat him alive.

By now, he had stopped running, and was walking cautiously. Why would he run in the forest? Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be following him. Twilight Sparkle hadn't followed him at all. There was no sign of the voice, the one that had frightened him away. Why had he been scared of it? It was still a mystery to him, as Hokey Smokes hadn't even given the voice the time to actually get a face attached to it. Eyes looked around, the trees started to seem as though they might not be so bad.

He might have been over-thinking it, the forest might not be so bad.

An hour passed, he was still walking along, before he stopped and looked around again. The only downside to the forest seemed to be that everything was similar. He could have sworn that he passed those plants before. Blue plants wren't normal. Hokey Smokes soon discovered that it wasn't all that tasty, either. There was something to be said about something that he refused to eat, since his appetite hadn't refused a single thing before that time. He let out a sigh, and started walking again.

It would take some time, but he would find somewhere.

By the time he stopped walking, no light could be seen. It might have been night, or it might have been the treetops. He wasn't sure either way, but it seemed as if there was a clearing for him to be able to lay down at. When he did lay down, though, there was a loud roar. That would have been enough for him to run, but after he saw the thing that made the sound it was definite. Hokey Smokes couldn't believe, or perhaps he just didn't want to believe, that his luck could be this bad.

Why did he have to run into a Manticore?

Another ten minutes of panicked running, and he felt safe enough to stop. There was no chance of him knowing where he was now, and no chance of anyone finding him. One of those things made him feel better, the other made him worried. At least Hokey Smokes didn't have to deal with those ponies, or their weird ways. He was a pony as well, but that didn't matter. There were other ways that he found himself to be weird. All of them stemmed from whatever it was that Twilight Sparkle had done to him. She had assaulted him with her horn, and so now he was more confused than ever.

Right now, though, it was time for him to get one more journal entry in before he slept.

Dear Journal

Today sucked so much.

I don't even know what to say. Am I supposed to be learning some bigger lesson here? Am I supposed to just live? Who was that calico cat? Who was Bobby? Who was Candy Apple? Even the ones with names, they seem to be so distant. What is wrong with me? When I came here, I knew what I had to do. If this is a dream, then it is the most confusing ever. If this is real, then it is even worse. But you're still here for me, and you'll help me make sense of it.

Something has to happen soon, I have to figure this out. I will make sense of whatever they throw at me.

Hokey Goff

When he looked at the name he wrote, it made absolutely no sense. He could have sworn it was Hokey Smokes. Something about that last name, Goff, looked familiar. It must have been something about somepony else. There was no way that he could have two names, though it was always possible that the ponies had lied to him. Regardless of what happened, or who was lying, he needed some sleep. He barely put his journal up before he collapsed out of exhaustion.

The day had just been too much.

It seemed to be a trend. Hokey Smokes would go to sleep, and Michael Goff would wake up in his bed. That had happened before, and tonight was no different. Everything looked normal, his memories were that of somebody who had lived a normal life. There was the orange cat, Bobby, and now a new addition to the party. A slender black cat, in stark contrast to the fluffy Bobby, was sitting on the couch. She had a raspy meow, and Michael remembered her as being named Lady Bug.

Life continued as if should have. He got ready for another day at the library, and then he went down to it. He got on the internet, trolled some people online. Everything was perfect. There was only one thing that made it a bad day, and that was when a large man walked up behind him. Once again, this was somebody that Michael knew.

"Hey Bryant."

Not a single word was said back to him, but the glare was something that he was used to. It seemed to happen out of nowhere. A lighter was pulled out, and then Michael felt the pain. It was worse than anything that he had dealt with, but it only lasted a moment.

Everything faded, and soon it was replaced with him being in a small room. There were three ponies, and a baby dragon. He was Hokey Smokes, and everything fit perfectly. His time as a person was replaced with pony, once again there were memories that seemed to fit perfectly. That didn't make him any less scared of the fact that they were all glaring at him. Out of nowhere, Twilight Sparkle started to do something. He horn started to glow, and then Hokey Smokes felt himself being slammed against the wall.

Later, he awoke in a hospital.

With a yell of fear, Hokey Smokes awoke. Both of the dreams collided, with both of them being horrible. Were they both real? Were they both fake? Had somepoony really set him on fire? None it made any sense, but it seemed as if his yelling had gotten somepony to come over to see if there was something wrong. No, not a pony. Or is that a pony? I can't say I've ever met any pony like that before. Just look at those stripes, and that mane.

When she opened her mouth, Hokey Smokes was already running. It didn't matter that she was smiling, she looked creepy. He knew that there were things out here, as he had learned the night before, that didn't want to be nice. His running even got him out of the forest, and right toward one of the many ponies that he had actually somewhat met before. It was lucky that he hadn't run into Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle. After what he had dreamed, or maybe remembered, he didn't know if he could deal with either of them.

He slammed into a yellow pony. "I'm sorry." Hokey Smokes was determined to make sure that she wasn't angry. She looked like a gentle soul. Nothing about her seemed too be threatening, but there was something that changed his view completely.

"Oh, it's alright."

That was the voice that he had run away from. A panicked gasp, and then Hokey Smokes started to run again. It didn't make much sense, and left her blinking a few times in shock, but there was something about the situation that triggered his need to run. It might have been the dream the night before, where even the most innocent looking, and acting, could turn into the ones that did the most damage. Another possibility was that he had finally lost it. Regardless, he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He had to get away from Ponyville. All of the ponies in that town were crazy!

There didn't seem to be a way for him to get the images out of his mind. It might have just been a dream, they might have just been dreams, but they were so vivid. One of them had him, a weird non-pony version, being set on fire by somebody that he had known at that point. The other one was an explanation of why everything turned out the way they did with him. It was all Twilight Sparkle, and her friends, who had done that to him. That was how his dream saw it, anyway, and how he started to think it might be. Why would his mind make up something do brutal?

So far, he had run into so many ponies that had scared him. Why had they scared him? It was all about that horn. If something so innocent, and the person that had it seemed to innocent, could do something to knock him out? The was, at least in his mind, still no limit to what the others might do. For all he knew, the yellow one might have been even more dangerous. Panic stated to set in at that thought, with the idea that he might not have run into the worst being something that would scare even the most courageous of ponies.

When he panicked, which happened a lot these days, he started to lose all sense of direction. The idea had been to leave Ponyville, to make sure that he survived the trip. He still wasn't sure if he knew who he was, the name Hoke Smokes having started to sound real before the dream. If they were going to do something like that, then they might do anything. That was paranoia, really, but he didn't see it as such. Another thing that started to happen, and he blamed it on the panic, was that it started to become harder and harder to breathe.

Before he passed out, it was being forced. Everyone around him, the few that we're around, would notice that it was quickened. The people around him would also notice something else that he didn't. There we strange stripes, blue stripes, that hadn't been there before. Not only that, but his eyes looked like the eyes of a cat. Everything made him look like a bit of a joke, really. Luckily for him, though, that didn't affect the way that the ponies around him reacted to what had happened. It seemed to be a trend, with Hokey Smokes putting himself in the hospital in a variety of ways.

Michael awoke in a hospital. He didn't know anything about Hokey Smokes, he only knew his life. He only knew that something had happened, that Bryant had come in and set him on fire. That was the last thing he remembered before waking up here. His mom was there, crying, almost as if she expected him to be dead. How could this have happened? He thought they were friends, but that didn't turn out to be the case. For whatever reason, he was in the hospital.

His hand reached up, there being a surprisingly small amount of pain. It still hurt to move, though, and his mom's hand met him half way. It had been his hope that he could make her smile, but that didn't happen. There was still something wrong. He was awake, he was alive, it should have been enough for her. There was no way that anything could happen now, he knew it. Not a single word could be said by him, the feeling of tubes that we're shoved down his throat even prevented him from breathing on his own. That part was alright, he didn't feel strong enough to do much other than lay there anyway.

"I love you. You know that, right?"

Why was she talking like that? Of course he knew that she loved him, he always knew it. She was his mom, after all. Why wouldn't she love him? Another few moments passed, and it was time for him to go back to sleep. He could feel the last vestiges of consciousness leaving him, the warm embraces of sleep removing the last bits of pain that had been left. It was peaceful, sleep that is. As he lost consciousness, he heard some talking. He couldn't make it out, but in the end, he heard his mom start to cry again.

When Hokey smokes awoke, he was in the hospital. It was almost like before, with tubes being down his throat again. It was almost like what had happened in the dream, but without the feeling that he had been set in fire. All of that had seemed so real, but it was hardly important. Right now, he needed to know what it was that brought him here. Eyes darted to the sides of the room, and a doctor soon came in.

"I didn't think we'd see you again so soon. You're just really good at getting yourself in trouble, aren't you?" It was obvious that the doctor was trying to make a joke, but it fell on deaf ears. "Don't worry, we'll get that cleared up quickly. You're lucky that we've had to deal with a lot of cases with that plant recently. It seems as if there are a lot of people who end up running into it. You're the first to actually eat it, though. So, how did it taste?"

A hoof moved up, pointing to the tubes. He couldn't say anything until they were removed. The doctor blinked a few times, and then face-hoofed. It was almost as if the man hadn't thought about it at all. The tubes were soon removed, and Hoke smokes took a deep breath. This was what he had wanted all along. It was what all ponies wanted, really, though few thought about it. "Awful. What was that stuff?"

"Poison Joke."

"Huh?"

"It is a plant that plays jokes on people. I have never seen it do anything like this, though. It usually does harmless, or mostly harmless, pranks. It must have been something about the fact that you, well, ate it. That's only a guess, though. Did anything else happen?"

Should he tell him abut the dreams? Were they just an effect of a plant? They didn't seem like they were jokes, and they certainly weren't funny in the slightest. Hokey Smokes thought about it for a few moments, and then save a shake of his head. He wouldn't tell them that he knew, or that he was going crazy, or that he knew that he was going crazy. It would not end well, especially if it turned out that it was true. If Twilight Sparkle really had caused his injuries, then the others might be in on it as well. If that was true, then things oldest get better after he told somepony about it.

They wild get worse.

"Well, if that is all... I'm going to let you leave the hospital." it was obvious that the doctor didn't believe him, but there was nothing that the man cold do. It was up to Hokey Smokes to tell him if there was something else wrong.since he hadn't, that meant it was just time to move on to the next patient.

Hokey Smokes left the hospital, and promptly got an idea. I shouldn't be running, that won't fix anything. What can I do, though? Maybe all I have to do is go confront her. If I can surprise her, maybe she'll be unable to do whatever it is that she did to make all of this happen. I still have no clue what her horn did, or can do, but I just have to stay out of her range. I have to make sure her horn doesn't touch me, and I have to make sure that I do something about her friends. They will try to protect her, and her secret. Not only that, but they were there. They are part of the conspiracy. Yeah.

The question of why barely came to mind. He didn't know why they would do that, but it only fit. There had to be a reason why Rainbow Dash would have brought him, a stranger by all accounts, to her friend. She knew Hokey Smokes all along, she knew what they had done, and she had hoped that whatever it was would end their problem. Hokey started to sweat, though he didn't know why. He barely noticed it, actually, all of his thoughts focused on what was going to happen that night. He would have to wait, he would have to find the window that led to an empty room.

Only an hour was spent looking for a good window, after he did his best to sneak up to the tree of a library. It didn't seem as though anypony had noticed him, but that wasn't enough. He wold still have to be careful, and he would still have to wait until tonight. After he left, he got a salads to eat. Even if tonight was going to end his torment, one way or another, that didn't mean he had to be hungry. He knew that this was it, that he just had to figure out why they had done it. After that, he had to make sure that the didn't do that sort of thing to anypony ever again.

Night came, and Hokey snuck into the building. Twilight wasn't asleep, she was studying. She wasn't paying attention as he walked up behind her, though she quickly turned to see a glaring stallion.

"What are you doing here?" For whatever reason, she didn't look scared. There was a look of shock, almost as if she hadn't expected that he would actually track her down. In his mind, this was the only confirmation that he really needed. Hokey Smoke just needed to know why, needed to know what had caused them to attack him.

"I know what you did." Those words were only the start. "I just wanna know why..."

Something wasn't right. This wasn't the best, or easiest thing, but it should have been simple. As he had walked to the house, and looked for the entrance that would bring him into the building without being seen, the entire scenario went through his head. It started with Hokey Smokes asking what had happened. His tone would be clear, his expression would be one that told her that he wouldn't be taking anything from anypony. With his tone, and his expression, he would get an explanation. In the best case scenario, he might even be able to get her to apologize for what had happened. He was going to be assertive, and this was likely going to be the lesson that ended the entire journey.

That was what happened in his mind, but that wasn't what happened here. The thing that happened here started off with there being something strange. Hokey Smokes had started off as he expected. There was the assertive tone, and there was the assertive expression that covered his face. It was, actually, what happened next that was the confusing part. This was the point where he was supposed to get some sort of explanation, but instead he got something else entirely.

"That's simple. I used a spell on you that was meant to help you with your problem. It was meant to help you remember. Aft all, Rainbow told me that you had a pr-"

That wasn't what he was talking about. He didn't believe what she said about the spell, either. The thing that had stopped her was the glare. "No, no, no! I mean the thing that happened long before that. Before I woke up in that hospital."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb. It took a long I've for me to remember what had happened, but it finally happened. I finally know what you did." it likely made no sense to her, it barely made sense to him. There was something about her, something that almost made him doubt himself. Perhaps it was the fact that he looked at a pony that looked confused, innocent, as if she was unable to hurt anypony. There had been another that had looked the same, and that hadn't turned out so well, either. That one had turned out to be one of the many times that Hokey Smokes had done the prudent thing and retreated.

It had been all because of Twilight Sparkle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Her expression changed from shocked to slightly annoyed. Something wasn't right, not at all. "And I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Only after you tell me why you did what you did."

"What are you talking about?"

Did she really think he was so dumb as to believe something like this? Was he? Every time she denied it, he started to think about it more. Maybe she didn't do it. It might have been a dream. If it had been a dream, it was all part of whatever that plant was. That didn't make any sense, though. No, no, no. This is no time to doubt yourself. This is a time for you to get what you deserve, to finally get the answer to all of the problems that have been plaguing you. This is the time when you get Twilight Sparkle to explain exactly why she out you in the hospital.

The expression that was on her face seemed to change with each passing second. Annoyance became confusion again, almost as if she was trying to figure out what was going to happen next. That wild have been an impossible venture, as Hokey Smokes was trying to think of what it was that he was going to do next. Finally, some words came from his mouth that explained everything. "I know that it was you that put me in the hospital. If it hadn't been for you, I'd still remember my life! It took a while to come back, but it finally is. Now it makes sense, whatever it was that you were doing with your horn was to finish the job."

As he finished speaking, his left eye twitched. It seemed impossible, but this was how it was going to be. Twilight Sparkle was dealing with a pony with a problem. The problem, unfortunately, was a slight case of being completely insane. She didn't know what to say, and he simply continued to glare at her. A few minutes of silence passed, the two of them looking at each other. Strangely enough, she looked as though she might have been concerned for more than just herself.

"How dare you? You come into my house, glare at me, and then accuse me of assaulting you?! Get out!"

Hokey smokes knew that this wasn't going to end as he wanted it to. He had just come here for an explanation, perhaps an apology, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. She isn't going to explain. There is no chance for an apology. I guess I'm just going to have to make sure that it happens. I have to show her that I mean business. She obviously thinks I can be intimidated like everypony else. Well, she's wrong. Without any warning, and without much thought, he went on the attack.

He had been through enough, some ponies just didn't listen to reason.

Hokey Smokes jumped at her, his front hooves finding the floor when Twilight Sparkle jumped out of the way. He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew that this would work. All he had to do was scare her, even with his anger he didn't want to hurt her. Why would he want to hurt her? Once again, he tried to attack. His hooves were bucked toward her, this time it elicited two responses. The first response was that she did something that caused her horn to glow. A second later, right before the hooves would hit, she teleported a few feet behind him.

The second response was a loud scream. She was afraid of him, possibly afraid for her life. There was no explanation coming, though, and there was no apology. Why couldn't she just tell him? Why did she have to pretend that she didn't know what he was talking about? Things could have been over by now, but there was always something that made his lifer a lot more difficult. Another attempt to attack, hooves trying to smack against her face, met with air. Hokey Smokes was sure that she was trying to think of a way to end this, but that his constant attacks were rendering her incapable.

He turned, ready to charge her. It was at this time that he heard a new voice. It wasn't Spike, it was a female.

"Get away from her, you ruffian!"

Huh? A turn of his head, the white unicorn had gotten his attention. There was no time for him to do anything, though, as a pair of hooves slammed into his head. The pain was there, the dizziness was there, and it was painfully obvious that this wasn't going to end well. He could hear the sound of the dragon's voice, confused and half-asleep, and the sound of people outside. Even in his anger, he knew that this wasn't the right time to take a stand to the death. He might not like it, but he had to get out of there. Eyes moved around, and he quickly galloped for the nearest window.

As he jumped, he felt himself being pulled back. It seemed as if Twilight was intent on trying to stop him. Why wouldn't she want him to leave? It was obviously a trap, the purple unicorn obviously had heard the friends that were coming to her aid. A quick grab of a nearby book, and then a throw, was the only thing that saved him from being taken to whatever end she had for him. The book slammed into her head, and Hokey Smokes was let go. Even with the fact that she had tried to hold him, and had pulled him, he was soon escaping.

All of the ponies looked at him, with Rainbow Dash starting to chase after him. As he continued to run, he heard Twilight say something again. He continued to run, though, so only the first line was actually understood.

"Just... let him go."

Why would she do that? Was she just trying to make herself look good? That didn't make much sense, he had to figure out how all of this made sense. The only way that this was going to happen would be for him to get away from Ponyville for a while. He had meant to do that before, but this time there wasn't anything that would stop him. He had, after all, already been cured of the weird blue plant. Hokey Smokes was also sure that the ponies wouldn't do try to catch him. Whatever had happened, Twilight had told them to let him leave.

Though, that might have been a trap.

After about thirty minutes of running, a feat that had gotten easier with time, he collapsed on the ground. There was one thing that he knew he had to do, one thing that would make everything make more sense again. Once he wrote down his words, he would be able to figure out what they all meant. While he had been running, though, the events back at the town had blossomed into something that would change the course of his night.

-In Ponyville-

"Why'd ya stop me?" It was the blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash. She had wanted to chase him down, and maybe knock some sense into him. She didn't know what had happened, but the scream of terror was most certainly enough for her to know what to do. After all, she wasn't the type that let anypony hurt her friends.

"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. He looked like he was going to do something absolutely dreadful, darling. Why would you stop her?" The white unicorn hated the idea of violence. It wasn't something that she would participate in, if given the choice. The only times when she was violent, and there had been a few, was when it had to do with her friends. Rarity was the one that had kicked Twilight's assailant, after all.

Murmurs came from the rest of the crowd, the general idea being that they agreed with the idea. If anypony was going to lay a hoof on Twilight, they deserved to be locked away. As the crowd continued to get louder, Twilight shook her head. After a few minutes, she yelled one simple word that had the desired effect.

"Quiet!" When that worked, she decided it was time for her to explain. "Do any of you know why he came here? I assumed, at first, that he was there to try to continue with what I had started too do before. He needed my help, but something went horribly wrong and he ran away." It was almost as if she felt guilty for failing, even if not for what specifically had happened. She liked helping ponies when she could. Not only that, but this was something that she didn't understand. That was something else that she hated, big time.

"But he said some weird things, something about how I put him in the hospital. He accused me of taking his life away from him. Something is wrong with that pony." Twilight gave a glance over to Rainbow Dash. "And as nice as it would be to go after him, I doubt it would fix anything." She then glanced over to the crowd. "Go home, everypony, there's nothing to see here."

A few grumbles were heard, but Twilight was already back in the library. Spike was back asleep, so getting him to take down a letter was impossible. Luckily for her, and the one who would be getting the letter, she was able to move the quill with her horn.

Dear Princess Celestia,

For once, I'm not sending you a letter about friendship. This is something that I hope you can help me figure out, a problem that my friends are incapable of helping with. I have met a pony, Hokey Smokes, who came to me with a problem that I was unable to solve. The problem was, and still is, that his past is a blank. I tried to use a memory spell, but something bad happened. I still don't know how it could have knocked him out. Things only got worse after that, after he ran away.

When he came back, he accused me of attacking him. It wasn't even the spell, it was something about sending him to the hospital.

That isn't why I wrote you this letter, though. I was hoping that you might tell me how something like this might have happened. How would a memory spell do something like this?

I await your quick response.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

The letter was sent, and she awaited a reply. Unknown to her, the Princess decided that it was time to respond in a different way...

-Hokey Smokes-

Dear Journal,

I don't even know what to say right now. So I went to see Twilight, to get an explanation, and she told me that she didn't know what I was talking about. How could she say that? I was willing to accept whatever reason,, forgive her even if she didn't apologize, and then move on with whatever remains of my life. It should come back eventually, right? After all, my memory of the assault came back. Then again, I also remember being able to stand on two legs and getting set on fire.

The more I write this, the more I have to wonder about myself. None of this is making any sense, but it likely will start making sense soon. All I have to do is start re-reading my entires, and everything will start making perfect sense. Sleep might not hurt, either. It should be about a couple of hours before the sun rises. That should be enough for a quick nap.

Forever Confused,

Hokey Smokes.

That last part just seemed to fit.

As he put the journal up, however, there was a flash of lightning. It was strange, there was no storm, but he didn't want to think about it. Only when he felt the feeling of a hoof, and then turned to see a black pony, did he become scared. This wasn't a pegasus, nor was it a unicorn. It was something else, something that had both horn and wings. This was something that was likely going to do something to him. Hokey Smokes didn't know why, but he felt as though he was in mortal danger.