What am I?

   A raven was flying over Canterlot. Nothing very remarkable, right? Just a bird flying, it was something normal.

   However, if somepony had decided to follow that raven, it would have discovered that the black bird was, in fact, not normal at all. Sometimes, maybe every two kilometres or so, he transformed into another bird, like a falcon or a seagull; or maybe in black wind, or in some kind of bizarre insect.

   But he never stopped flying around, searching for something.

   Francisco knew that he had to hurry. With all probabilities, the spawn of the Hivemind had already started to assimilate living beings, to become just like its progenitor. And, if the hatched cocoon was any indicative of the size of  the monster which slept inside, the spawn would be big enough to have ponies for its first meal.

   He had to hurry.

***

   Pinkie Pie was excited. She had convinced Twilight and the others to celebrate Derpy’s party that same night. Sadly, her party cannon was in the repair shop for a complete checkup, so she had to prepare everything manually. She was bouncing through all the Sugarcube Corner, baking and cooking. Soon it would be midday, and she still had to buy the decorations.

   “Where are Francisco and his many arms when you need them?” she whispered.

   Then, the little bell of the door sounded.

   “Welcome to Sug- Oh, Derpy! What are you doing here?”

   The gray pegasus approached the counter. Pinkie didn’t know exactly what, but there was something different on her.

   “I would like to buy muffins,” said Derpy. “Many muffins.”

   Happiness. That was the difference: the pegasus looked happier than usual.

   “Of course!” smiled Pinkie. “I’ll give you a whole box, but don’t eat too much, because this nig-” she put her hooves in the mouth. She couldn’t ruin the surprise. “Er... Because if you do that, you’ll get a tummy ache!”

   “They’re not all for me,” explained Derpy, leaving some bits in the counter. “I’m going to share them with my new friend.”

   “You have a new friend?” the eyes of Pinkie sparkled. “That’s wonderful!”

   “I’ve just met him today. Later I will introduce him to all of you.”

   Derpy took the box of muffins with her mouth and went out of the bakery. Pinkie was  doing a big effort to not squeak of excitement. The gray pegasus had found a friend, and she would have a party that night. So much joy in the same day!

   Derpy was going to be so happy in a few hours...

***

   Pass the river, inside the woods (not the Everfree Forest), the red creature was waiting, looking at itself. Its long arms, each one with a four-fingered hand at the end... Its feet with no toes... Those yellow eyes, everywhere... All of them parts of its own body, and yet all of them so unknown...

   It heard a sound. The sound of  a flying body clashing against a tree. Those damn vegetable lifeforms, appearing out of nowhere...

   “I’m back!” said Derpy, leaving a purple box on the grass.

   The creature approached her. It had no idea about what that winged lifeform could be, even though he knew the concept of Wings. And the concept of Legs, and the concept of Head... It knew each one of the components of that gray being named Derpy, but the whole of them was something unknown for it. The same happened with its own body.

   The gray pegasus opened the box.

   “They’re muffins,” she explained. “I love them! You can have some.”

   The red creature took one of the unknown brown units and studied it.

   “They’re delicious!” said Derpy, while eating one.

   A hole, kinda like a mouth, opened in what we could say it was the head of the creature. It tried to bite the muffin, but the red lips didn’t even touched the baked good.

   “I think I don’t eat of these,” it said, putting the muffin back in the box.

   “You can talk?” exclaimed Derpy, surprised. “I didn’t know! Tell me, what’s your name?”

   “Name?” the red creature looked confused. “I know the concept of Name, but I think I don’t have one.”

   “But everypony I know has a name.”

   “You must know a lot about names, then. You could give me one.”

   Derpy scratched her head with a hoof, thinking. She had never been good at naming things. Well, actually she had never had to name anything... But there’s a first time for everything, don’t you think?

   “Uh...” she said. “I think... How about... Red?”

   “I like it,” said the creature, almost instantly. “I think it’s appropriate. Thank you.”

   “You’re welcome!”

   “Derpy, since you’ve just given me a name, do you think you could also answer one question?”

   “I... guess...”

   “What am I?”

   Derpy scratched her head again. That was a difficult one.

   “Sorry, I don’t know,” she said. “You should ask Twilight Sparkle, she may know. She is very smart.”

   “You are also very smart.”

   “No, I’m not,” Derpy looked at the ground, sad.

   “You gave me a name. Also, you teached me about muffins, and I didn’t know about them. You’re smarter than me,” That was not a poor intent of making the mare feel better, the words of Red were sincere.

   Derpy smiled, and also blushed slightly. She ate another muffin.

   “Where do you come from?” she asked.

   “I don’t remember,” said Red. “I woke up in a place far from here, near a big city, but that’s not where I was born. I didn’t want to go to the city, it scared me, so I came here. This place is nicer.”    

   “Do you remember anything?”

   “I... I remember voices in my head. Many voices, all of them identical. Now there is only one voice, mine, and it does not know much. I’m lost.”

   “Why don’t you come to live with me, here in Ponyville? There are very smart ponies in the town, and some doctors, they can help you to recover your memories!”

   “Are... are there others like me?”

   “No, only ponies.”

   Red looked sad. Well, it was hard to tell, since it had no face.

   “Then... I’m still alone...” he mumbled.

   Derpy approached Red and tapped him gently in a leg.

   “I’m alone, too,” she said. “I’m the only pony with Funny Eyes. I’m clumsy, and the others are often mad at me,” she smiled. “But you also have Funny Eyes, we could be friends!”

   “If we were friends... I wouldn’t be alone, right?”

   “Of course not. I will be with you all the time.”

   “Then... yes, we shall be friends.”

***

   The hours of the afternoon went away, and the sun disappeared under the horizon. Pinkie had finished all the preparations for Derpy’s party, and she had already reunited  her five friends at the doors of Sugarcube Corner.

   “Ok, everypony!” exclaimed the pink mare. “Everything’s ready, now we have to search for Derpy! She doesn’t know about this, it’s going to be a big surprise! Oh, I can’t wait to see the smile on her face!”

   “Now that I think about it,” said Twilight, “I haven’t seen Derpy since this morning.”

   “I haven’t seen her in all day,” added Rainbow Dash.

   “I haven’t seen her since she bought those muffins this afternoon,” said Pinkie. “I haven’t seen Francisco, either.”

   Then, they noticed something over their heads: a black wind, flying to the outsides of the town.

   It seemed in a hurry.

***

   Derpy and Red had been talking all the afternoon. The mare had teached the creature everything she knew about the forest, Ponyville, and Equestria in general. Then, when the time came, they contemplated the apparition of the first stars.

   “Are you sure you’re not hungry?” asked Derpy. She had eaten all the muffins, because Red hadn’t wanted.

   Hungry... the creature also knew the concepts of Hunger and Eating. Actually, yes, it  was hungry. It had been all the day feeling the urge to absorb nutrients, but the muffins weren’t an adequate meal for it. No, the adequate food, the one its body was screaming for, was...

   No. Red didn’t want to hear that instinct. It was not going to do that.

   “I am fine,” it lied.

   Derpy laid his back on the grass and looked to the sky, which was filling itself with new stars.

   “They’re beautiful,” she said.

   “I think...” mumbled Red, looking up. “I think I’ve been out there... up there...”

   “I wonder what kind of place it is. I hope it’s a very nice and quiet place, where nopony is angry at you for being clumsy...”

   Slowly, Red raised his arms to the sky, almost as if it wanted to touch the starry blackness with its fingers. The more it looked to those little silver dots, the more it felt that it had been there, and the more it wanted to go there, for some reason.

   Then, something landed near them. A golden four-armed knight, which actually looked more like a highly-evolved insect.

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