Chapter 3 – The Unicorn and The Apple Family

It was a mystery to The Unicorn, how he had found himself stood in the field. Storm clouds had started to gather several minutes ago and the first spots of rain were pattering against his nose. A loud, but dull drone shook the field and the surrounding flatlands. The noise was deafening, The Unicorn could feel it in his gut, and it made him feel physically sick. The vibration of the ground made it a struggle for the charcoal pony to even stay standing up. The rain got heavier as the noise and the shaking increased. There were intermittent flashes of neon-blue light across the sky, like no lightening that The Unicorn had ever seen before. He looked around for shelter from the storm, but could see nothing but the muddy fields and the deep grey skies as far as the eye could see. The flashes of blue lightening were now accompanied by thunder, again, like no thunder The Unicorn had ever experienced – the high-pitched wailing cut through the barren landscape, creating an inescapable wall of excruciating sound. The Unicorn collapsed to the ground, the cold mud sending shivers from his haunches to his horn. The ground shook and swayed more violently, the stallion just hid his head in his hooves and prayed for it to be all over.

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The Unicorn awoke suddenly in a cold sweat. There was a split-second as he remembered why he wasn’t in his hospital bed anymore. He was in a smaller room, with a wooden floor and walls painted deep red. The window was open and a breeze blew the curtains about, fleetingly revealing that it was daylight outside. The Unicorn was in Sweet Apple Acres, another place that had sounded familiar to him when it was first revealed yesterday.

The doctors at Ponyville Royal Infirmary had recommended that The Unicorn return home, but with still no memory of where he lived this was an impossibility. Fluttershy had suggested that he should stay at her cottage while he recuperated, but the nurse seemed to prefer the idea of the injured pony staying at Sweet Apple Acres, where there were more ponies to keep an eye on him. Head injuries can have unpredictable side-effects, she explained, so it was best that he had near-constant observation. Applejack and Big Mac were more than happy to take in the houseguest, promising the anxious yellow Pegasus that she could visit him any time. The two Earth Ponies carried The Unicorn to his new bed, despite his insistence that he could walk, and he had been there since – still feeling the drowsiness and headaches that came from his wound and the painkillers he’d been given to overcome it.

After getting out of bed, The Unicorn managed to walk gingerly towards the door. He had terrible cramp in all four of his legs, the result of not walking for what he could only guess had been about a week. On his third attempt he managed to open the door with his magic, the act felt strangely foreign, but ultimately second nature to an adult unicorn. At the bottom on the stairs, The Unicorn met Applejack again, who had just exited the  kitchen.

“Afternoon, sleepy-head.” She said with a warm smile, “Big Mac is out on the farm and Granny Smith is napping, I was just making some apple fritters for me and the girls if you feel up to eating.”

“I….um…yes please.” The Unicorn had tried to turn down the offer out of politeness, the kindness the Apple Family had shown was astonishing and he didn’t want to impose further, but he also acknowledged that he needed to talk to Applejack.

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At the dinner table sat three fillies, fidgeting and arguing with each other as they waited for their meals. All three stopped and looked at The Unicorn as he entered the room. The young yellow Earth Pony sitting in the middle of the trio was the first to speak.

“Hey there, my name’s Applebloom and these are my friends; Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, She gestured first to the Pegasus filly on her right, then to the Unicorn on her left. “Together, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Her tone then became more serious and sympathetic. “My big sister told me about your accident and how you’d lost your memory.”

“It must be really terrible to not remember any of your friends…” Sweetie Belle empathised.

“Yeah… so what’s your name?”  Scootaloo said brashly, drawing accusing glares from the other two fillies. She shuffled embarrassedly in her chair. “Right… sorry, but we really do need something to call you until you get your memory back. Don’t worry; we’ll think of an awesome name for you – so awesome that’ll want to keep it even when you remember your real name!” The three fillies excited discussed amongst themselves, their whispers inaudible to The Unicorn.

“We’ve got it!” Applebloom exclaimed, banging her hoof of the table. “We’ll call you Alley, seems how Fluttershy found you in an alley-“

“- and the wall you crashed into was the back of the bowling alley!” Sweetie Bell added. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat with huge grins on their faces, waiting for the praise that they had surely earned.

“Girls!”  Applejack had just walked into the room carrying a plate in her mouth and her outburst had caused her to drop it. Apple fritters were now scattered across the floor. “This poor pony has been through enough, without y’all hassling him and calling him names!” She raised a hoof to her sister and her friend’s protests, until The Unicorn interjected.

“It’s OK, really, they’re right – you can’t just go on calling me ‘The Unicorn’ or something and Alley seems fine to me.” He smiled at the three fillies, recognising that their naivety was not in any way malicious. He used his magic to levitate the fritters from the floor and attempted to place them back on the plate, however they flew up and covered Applejack’s face with apple – eliciting stifled giggles from the dinner table. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! I guess my magic is still a little rusty,” the grey unicorn felt his face burn up in awkwardness. The apple-covered Earth Pony just laughed.

“It doesn’t matter, there’s plenty more where that came from. You go sit down and I’ll make some more. And girls, go easy on him will ya?” She grinned in the direction of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and then headed back into the kitchen.

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As the three sat down for what was lunch for everypony except the newly-named Alley, for whom it was breakfast, the stallion decided to ask the question that he’d been avoiding all day.

“So…. Do you know who I am? It’s just … I thought I recognised you and your family – do I know you?” Applejack had expected the question to come from the Unicorn sooner or later, she looked back apologetically.

“Sorry, sugarcube, I’ve spoken to everypony here at Sweet Apple Acres since you asked us back at the hospital, and no one’s ever seen you before, you must be mistaken,” she noticed Alley slump in his chair. “It’s okay though, because me and my friends will help you get your memories back in no time – heck, I bet ya my friend Twilight – she lives over in Ponyville library – she’ll probably have some sort of spell that can magic your memory back, just like that!” She smiled reassuringly. Meanwhile, Alley was feeling worse than ever, he had to ignore the familiarity of all these names he kept hearing, which made his job a lot more difficult.

“You’re right. And thanks for your help so far.” Alley said, before attempting to steer the conversation away from his amnesia. “So, The Cutie Mark Crusaders? What does that mean?” He addressed the three fillies, who had been watching the conversation between the older ponies with concern and confusion. Applejack audibly sighed.

“We’re all working together to find our special talents, so that we can earn our cutie marks!” Scootaloo fluttered her wings as she spoke, hovering in mid-air for a few seconds. “Which reminds me, these cutie marks aren’t going to get themselves. Come on girls!” The three fillies cheered and shot out of the door, leaving their lunches only half-eaten.

“Don’t mind them. Hay, come to think of it – what does your cutie mark mean?” Applejack’s question switched a light on in Alley’s mind. Perhaps this would be the spark that would light the powder keg of memories. He looked at himself in the mirror that was hanging on the far wall, it was as if he had never seen pony staring back at him. Alley was a tall unicorn, with a short mane of deep crimson and pale blue. It was wild and unruly, as was his tail, a result of a week’s neglect. Alley’s coat was a dark charcoal and his brightly coloured mane and tail contrasted starkly with it. His eyes passed to his side – where he saw his cutie mark. It was a thought bubble.

“My cutie mark is a thought cloud? What could that mean? I am good at thinking? Dreaming? Am I a philosopher? I have been having some pretty vivid dreams lately, but I can never remember them…” Alley thought aloud, but failed to remember anything useful. “Maybe I’ll go and see your friend Twilight, do you think she’ll know anything about dreams?” The charcoal pony asked Applejack hopefully.

“You’re sure as sugar she will! If Twilight hasn’t read a book about it, then it’s not worth knowing, but right now you should get some rest – you’ve had a really bad knock on the head, it’s too early for you to go trotting off all over Ponyville.” Applejack felt terrible for postponing Alley’s attempts at uncovering his memories, but knew that what she’d said was right. The unicorn agreed, he was still feeling woozy and hadn’t touched his food. He thanked Applejack for her generosity and kindness, before excusing himself and returning to bed.