MLP: Memories Hidden in Plain Sight - Chapter 3

[The Warden]

Memories Hidden in Plain Sight

 
Yes, a pony fic, from me. Surprised? Hopefully not. This was a little project I've been working on to get back in the swing of writing, as I haven't felt the desire for such a long time. With that said, I invite you to join me on a little romp with an amnesiac pony and his adventures in a small town with a fair few problems hidden under the woodworks. (Chapters update when I get the energy to make them.)
 
 
[spoiler=The Players]
The Images were made with GeneralZoi's ponymaker on Deviant Art, since I am completely incapable of drawing anything substantial.
 
[spoiler=Melo]

"Who am I?"
 
Name: Unknown (nickname Melo)
Magic Aura: N/A
Cutie Mark: Hidden by sheets
Personality: Has a bit of a sharp wit to him, and seems remarkably cogent for somepony suffering from amnesia. Other than that he is a bit on the socially awkward side, and has a tendency to take the wrong pokes at subjects with a few snide comments.
General Info: A pony that stumbled into Coltsten one night. From a rather hard hit to the noggin he lost both his horn and his memories. He is now staying with Peppermint and her children Candy Corn and Pork Belly.[/spoiler]
 
[spoiler=Shield & Sword]

"Nothing is getting past me"
 
Name: Shield & Sword (the Righteous)
Cutie Mark: A Coat of Arms
Personality: Overzealous, overly paranoid and completely self-righteous. Shield & Sword doesn't trust strangers and as shown, is not afraid to interogate them even in a hospital bed.
General Info: As quoted by many citizens, a complete pain in the flank. Shield & Sword is the guardian Coltsten needed, but not the one they deserve.[/spoiler]
 
[spoiler=Candy Corn]

"Hi there, it's nice to meet you!"
 
Name: Candy Corn
Cutie Mark: A Candy Corn
Personality: Polite, bubbly and well-spirited, it takes a fair bit to bring ol' Candy Corn down. Well, first impressions aside, Candy Corn is fairly level headed, and has many of her mother's traits; like her well adjusted nature and her kind spirit. And deep down she still possesses the sort of teenage rebelliousness found in those still living under their mothers roof. And can get a bit embarassed, especially when Mom starts talking about finding her Special Somepony. She gets a bit defensive when ponies begin to criticize her home and friends, and will defend them with a fiery passion.
General Info: A polite albeit sometimes very overbearing pony, she's the sort of pony you like to be around, you just wish she wouldn't talk as much as she actually does. This trait she got from her mother, and can be a bit awkward around new people; especially one that came in such a dramatic way as Melo did.[/spoiler]
 
[spoiler=Peppermint]

"It is a delight to meet you! Oh, have you met my daughter Candy Corn? Cause I hear she's looking for that Special Somepony- MOM!"
 
Name: Peppermint
Cutie Mark: A Peppermint Lollipop
Personality: A very well respected and kind spirited pony, she's the kind of mother who is always chronologically behind the times by about twenty years. Though she loves both her children very much, her love can sometimes embarass them, especially when during the moments when she still treats Candy like she's still a little filly. It is hard to bring Peppermint down when she's on a roll; and be sure to expect A LOT of cheek smooshing.
General Info: The owner of and 240th consecutive Employee of the Month at Sweet Mints; she looks after and practically raises her two children by herself while her husband is almost always away on business. She has graciously accepted Melo into her home; though some ponies are wondering if she's contemplating adopting him.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Pork Belly]

"What do you want"

Name: Pork Belly
Cutie Mark: Blank
Personality: A very grumpy and ill temepered filly. He is very insulting of those around him and tends to spend more time in his room than he does anywhere else.
General Info: The son of Peppermint and her second husband. He spends little time around other ponies, so little is known about his soft-side. (That is the soft side of his personality and not his chubby thighs).[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Picture Perfect]

"I really do like the way this painting was done. See the way the colours blend together so well?"

Name: Picture Perfect
Cutie Mark: An artists pallete with the red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple paint
Personality: A very affable pony with a passion for art. She tends to get very modest when asked about, and she tries to change that subject along. Whether it's from embarassment or just being secretive, she refuses to allow anypony (aside from Diva) to see her work. She gets nervous around new ponies, but she tends to adapt in situations she feels in control of; but can break down easily when things spiral out of control.
General Info: She is good friends with the Diamond Dog Diva; who is providing her gems to be used in her super secret art project which she has been spending many years to complete.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Mayor Greyscale]

"Please, don't let me keep you"

Name: Mayor Oswald Greyscale
Cutie Mark: A reel of film
Personality: A well mannered mayor that keeps an eye on things in Coltsten. He tends to project a fatherly image on many of the younger generation of Coltsten, and has a tendency to use words like lads and young creature. He has lived for quite some time, and maintains a lot of wisdom gained throughout that timeline. But sometimes he seems to act as if he knows a lot more than ponies thinks he does.
General Info: He is the longest running mayor of Coltsten, and is responsible for many projects to improve the safety of the town. He suffers from a rare condition known as Monochromia, which causes the colouration of his body to be monochrome.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Diva the Diamond Dog]
[No possible image]
"Pony like Diva's new look?"

Name: Diva
Cutie Mark: N/A
Personality: Diva spend much of her time seeking out ways to better express her feminine side, which is very hard to do in a male dominant society such as the Diamond Dog's. She tends to be very trusting and naive when it comes to people talking about her image, and greatly enjoys flattery and beauty tips.
General Info: The reason she seeks to doll herself is so she can find a mate, allegedly.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Gale Foerce]

"OH YEAH! DID YOU SEE THAT SWEET PARALOOP?!"

Name: Gale Foerce
Cutie Mark: A tornado that spins clockwise
Personality: Gale Foerce projects a very controlled and confident image; and she lavishes in praise and attention. She is very dominating over her sister, and tends to be unintentionally controlling as she believes that Wynns needs to express herself more.
General Info: She lost her Manehatton accent after spending enough time in Coltsten.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Wynns]

"Gale, please..."

Name: Wynns
Cutie Mark: A tornado that spins counter-clockwise
Personality: Wynns is a very reserved pony who is very shy when she is with her sister. Because she spends so much time around her mother many ponies never get to see her real side. She always seems so sad when around Gale.
General Info: She lost her Manehatton accent after spending enough time in Coltsten.[/spoiler][/spoiler]
 
 
[spoiler=Chapter 1]
Memory Left Me in a Forest Dream

Twas night across Equestria, and a graceful full moon lit the land. But this moon did not illuminate all, nor would its gentle caress ever reach the depths of the Everfree Forest. At night the wretched den was home to many night terrors; nightmares only the worst of equestrian dreams could produce.

Though the howls of Timberwolves penetrated the night sky, another sound pierced through the howls. The sound of hooves beat down on the dirt as a dark shape speared its way through the close knit trees.

A sharp breath was drawn as the shape gave pause to perk up its ears, and it listened for a sound. A sickening droning noise hummed nearby; perturbed, the shape shot onwards. Low hanging branches hung like claws; swiping at the shape, though their slashes gave it no pause.

“Where is he?” a sickening voice chirruped in the dark.

The shape looked back for a moment, and his right leg slammed right along a stone. The shape seethed with pain, but continued to gallop with a pronounced limp. “Find him!” a similar sickening voice cried out.

The shape’s breath was sharp and rapid as the tree line began to thin, and warm lights penetrated through the grove. Cautious now, its pace slowed to a crawl as it peered out though the darkness to find a settlement of some kind.

Though desiring otherwise, there was a glimmer of green light, but just for a moment. Satisfied, the shape stumbled out of the darkness and into the light.

As it turns, the shape was that of a tall slightly-dark blue unicorn. His grey eyes held a look of fatigue, as the light played with his broken horn. The trials of the forest were very apparent across his flanks, as his entire body was covered with cuts and scratches.

His energy running low, he managed to stumble slowly past the outlying houses and into the square, where he collapsed in a heap; “Help” he moaned to the ponies who would listen.

The closest to him ran out in aid, and many followed; all curious about the state of their new arrival.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The arrival’s dreams were empty, penetrated only by voices and words he could not comprehend. His eyes cracked open, but still all was darkness. His body ached all over, and his right leg felt, well, he couldn’t feel it to be perfectly honest.

What he could feel however was something very soft behind his head, as well as a pleasant clothen sensation around most of his body. For a lack of better understanding, he was in a bed.

The voices continued to mumble, and a shaking hoof peeked out from the sheets to reach out through the darkness. “Hello?” was all he could manage.

The voices stopped, or rather, spoke at a much lower tone. “It would appear that our new arrival is awake” came a sweet voice, like caramel coated in, sugar.

“Ah, delightful. It is always so lovely to have visitors, though, ah, never mind. It’s just my old mind rambling. Let us see the young fellow.”

“Mayor, please. He is still recovering and I feel that for the good of his own health visitations will be strictly off the prescription.”

“Why… yes, of course. I apologize Nurse Grey. Please, do alert me should his condition improve.”

“You will be first to know Mayor, I assure you” replied Nurse Grey, her tone now edged like a blade.

The arrival had no idea where these speakers were, though it seems this Mayor took his leave by the sound of clopping hooves and the closing of a door. But that still didn’t explain his sudden blindness, unless, he became blind sometime after he collapsed. For that matter, how long had he been out?

These questions circled his mind as a, sort of glowy noise came from nearby, and then the skittering of rings and the billowing of a curtain.

Nurse Grey looked over her patient: For even the remotest chance of a sound sleep he had been given a sleeping mask; it was a ratty old black thing, but it did its job well. As for his wounds, his right hoof needed to be put into a cast due to some blunt impact trauma. As for the cuts, they weren’t very deep, but due to their number he had been bandaged up to save on bandaids. “How are you feeling?” she inquired.

As the arrival tried to find the words to appropriately described how he felt, the door slammed open. “Where is he?!” a proud voice cried out.

From the sleeping mask the arrival had no clue what was coming, but it sounded like an elephant from the sound of the pounding that ended somewhere in front of him. In a flurry of noise the sleeping mask was torn from the arrival’s face, but from then on all he saw was a mix of blurred royal blue and dull gold. “Who are you?! Why are you here?! How did you get here and why were you in the Everfree Forest?!” the mass of colour demanded.

The arrival weakly pushed at the mass with his one good hoof, whilst groaning weakly in protest. His salvation came into the form of a glowing white aura that pulled the mass back into view; not that it was much to look at. His vision growing clearer, the arrival managed to make out a rather bulky Pegasus in armour, and a petit unicorn wearing a white vest and a nurses’ cap; her cutie mark was a love heart with small red crosses around it. What was presumed to be Nurse Grey was absolutely furious. “Shield and Sword! This is a hospital! NOT your garrison! And while you are IN my hospital, you will NOT be interrogating my patients. Now GET OUT SO I CAN ACTUALLY TREAT HIM!” she shrieked with a break in her voice; and with her magic she launched the Pegasus down the building and out the door.

She shuddered with annoyed fury as in a split second, she returned to her normal façade as she smiled at the arrival. “I must apologize for Shield and Sword; he’s very… you see he’s… he’s a major pain in the flank” was all Nurse grey could concede.

The arrival shot her a funny look, and with his dark grey eyes he managed his first real glimpses of dawn. The ‘hospital’ was rather, err, rustic he supposed? It seems that there were only four beds in total, the other three not in use at the moment. The roof was very low hanging, but was made up with numerous windows lining the walls. From his position he couldn't see much else of the building, but he had seen enough for now.

He blinked a couple of times, before focusing on Nurse Grey again. “Where, am I?” he croaked, becoming very aware of how dry his throat was.

“You are at the hospital in Coltsten” she replied.

Coltsten? That didn’t sound familiar, at all. The arrival shook his head a bit, but it didn’t seem to help. Kinda pointless really. “How long, was I out?” he inquired.

Nurse Grey tilted her head to think, but gave in to look at the clock on the wall. “You were rushed in at around roughly midnight, and it is now four in the afternoon. So, you’ve been here sixteen hours.”

The arrival nodded for a moment, and felt again the burn of his throat. “Could I have some water?” he requested.

Nurse Grey nodded and trotted out of view. There was some rattling down the building, and the glowy noise of magic was heard again. This was then followed by a squeak, the rush of water for a moment, and then silence save for the hum.

Nurse Grey returned back to where the arrival was with a pitcher of water, and a glass. Setting the glass down on the small stand next to his bed, the pitcher it up and swapped places with it; the glass then flew over to the arrival and gently tipped its contents into his mouth.

The arrival sucked the glass dry before it had even tilted the entire way. “More” he croaked.

Nurse Grey repeated the filling, and he drained the glass dry again. “More” he rasped again.

The process was repeated again four more times, until the pitcher was drained and the arrival sated. He sighed contentedly, but there was still something bothering him. With his good hoof he reached up, and felt the jagged crack where most of his horn used to be. “I thought so” he grimaced.

This display made Nurse Grey seem a little uncomfortable, as if she too was subconsciously reaching for her horn. “Do you remember how it happened?” she inquired.

The arrival looked at her, his eyes betraying only the slightest cogs of thought as he thought it over carefully. “N-no. I don’t really remember much uhh, really. Where was I found?”

Nurse Grey ignored the question as she placed a hoof to the arrival’s forehead, feeling around slightly. She retracted the hoof and stared into his eyes with her own green ones. “I was told by Elder Butterscotch that you stumbled into the town square and collapsed. You were brought here by Peppermint and River Dance.”

The arrival nodded thoughtfully. “I can’t remember a thing” he remarked casually.

Nurse Grey bit her lip a bit, but released it like a dove. “Yes, well, you see” she rambled, tripping over her thoughts to find the right words, but huffing out some air to put on a determined face; “From what I understand, you must have had some kind of collision that broke your horn, and with it, hit your head hard enough to procure amnesia; which means you lost your memories. You probably don’t even remember your own name” she explained.

The amnesiac nodded thoughtfully again, and nope, a name wasn’t coming to him. “You’re right; I don’t” he replied.

Well, at least he was taking it well enough, which was a good sign as far as Nurse Grey saw it. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking it well enough I- oh for the love of Celestia” Nurse Grey groaned as the door creaked open again.

She turned a frustrated face against the invader. “Look, as it says on the sign NO Visita- Oh, oh Candy Corn, it’s you” she said.

The amnesiac looked in that same direction, and caught view of a lovely pink unicorn trotting down to them. “Sorry for barging in like this Nurse Grey. Mom asked me to check up on our new arrival. Oh cool, he’s awake already? Hi there, I’m Candy Corn” the puke pink pony greeted.

She had such a pleasant aura, it made the amnesiac feel uncomfortable just by being near her. By some strange compulsion he pulled his sheets up a little bit, and kept his mouth shut tight.

Candy Corn didn’t seem offended, though she seemed to betray a little bit of hurt. She edged closer to Nurse Grey and leaned in close. “Uh, sorry. I think I’m making him a little uncomfortable” she whispered.

Nurse Grey’s crow’s feet seemed a bit more prominent as she patted the young Candy Corn on the head. “You’re just spontaneous dear” she said kindly; “and he’s a little on the amnesiac side. So it’s best not to act so sporadic around him until he heals a bit more and recuperates his memory.”

Candy Corn nodded in glib understanding; before turning rear on both of them, showing a rather unusual black mark on her rear; with no sign of an actual tail. “Okay. Well, I’ll stop pestering you two, since visitation is over. Get well soon Melo” she chirruped brightly and trotted off.

“Melo?” the amnesiac called out.

Candy Corn stopped and gave an aside look, and a smug smile. “Memory loss. Me lo. Geddit?” she said and trotted off.

Nurse Grey shook her head in amusement as the door closed behind Candy Corn. “That was Peppermint’s eldest. She’s a bit on the perky side; she gets it from her mother you see? But, that is unimportant. You’ve had enough excitement for one, say I reckon it’s back to sleep with you” Nurse Grey declared as she magicked the sleeping mask back onto the amnesiac.

“Thank you” he replied and rested comfortably into his pillow.

Nurse Grey grunted as the curtain that surrounded his bed was enclosed him again. “Sweet dreams… Melo.”

It was hard to say his dreams were sweet, as they were full of blue and gold boulders chasing him down endless hallways whilst the ringing of a high pitched "Melo" echoed all around.[/spoiler]
 
Chapter 2
 
Chapter 3

[Toffee.]

[spoiler=Thoughts on part 1]
Aside from the fact I love how everyone was introduced, and how the fic itself played a bit of a name game with finally giving Melo his own 'title'. Though, based on Melo's condition, I was originally going to say Candy called him that because one could say he was rather laid back, or at lest, gives that notion due to the fact that because of his amnesia, hes now at a state where he basically has to relearn himself, and I guess he wants to take things slowly.
That aside... As far as the stroy goes, I got a bit of a 28 Days Later vibe from some of it, due to the fact the stroy, basically, starts off in a hospital with someone who has no idea whats going on. And not just because of that, but because I get the impression Coltsten is implied to be a post-apoc setting, or at least, it's just that run down that will otherwise look that way.

Regardless, the nurse seems a little suspicious. And in general, this story has promise to it.[/spoiler]

[The Warden]

Well, finally after a fair bit of work and plannning I've gotten the second chapter finally completed.

[spoiler=Chapter 2]
I Wandered Through an Emerald Dream

The aptly named Melo had spent the past week recuperating in his hospital bed. His recovery had proceeded remarkably faster than Nurse Grey had expected; though his healing would most likely have been attributed by the fact that semi-insane pegasi weren’t harassing him for the duration. Her diligence was remarkable really, as no one had come to visit him after that incident, to which he was grateful.

Melo had been idling through one of the Hospital’s sparse books when Nurse Grey slid the sheet open whilst reading the clipboard she had been levitating. Her eyes moved left to right for a few more seconds before she smiled warmly at her patient.

He was looking much better now, and that fractured hoof had healed much faster than she expected; but maybe she could have just overestimated how damaged it was. That’s what her mind told itself anyways. “Excellent news Melo” she began while feeling his forehead, “as according to the tests you are now fit to leave. Your recovery has gone quite well, and aside from a few cuts you are right as rain.”

Her hoof left his forehead as she happily laid the clipboard at the foot of the bed. Melo heaved a sigh of relief at her statement. “I see. Thank you for your kindness Nurse Grey; but sadly, I must leave” he explained.

Nurse Grey looked horrified at that suggestion. Surely he jests, surely. “Nonono Melo, you can’t leave Coltsten. While you are physically well you still haven’t remembered anything about yourself. I could never have it on my conscience to allow an amnesiac pony to just wander out into the wilderness alone. No, not at all” she declared as her magic moved the sheets all the way open.

Melo’s ears flopped in disappointment as the gears of his mind continued their turning. “Which is why, I should add, that a family has graciously offered to house you until such a time that your memory returns” Nurse Grey added.

Melo’s heart skipped a beat. “What? N-no, that’s not necessary. I feel perfectly fine I assure you” he squirmed.

Nurse Grey stopped in her tracks, and gave her patient a very questioning and piercing look. “That so? Well you might feel fine, but I doubt that a unicorn with a broken horn will make it very far; especially after a lengthy recovery period. Nono, let’s just follow protocol here. I know you don’t want to be a burden, and that your belongings are still scattered in the forest in some squalid little corner of the Everfree Forest; but this is a very nice family, and they don’t mind the bother.”

Melo lay back in his bed defeated, a disappointed look smeared on his muzzle like jam. He heaved a sorry sigh as he looked up to the roof, as he had done many times before. “This family” he remarked, catching the nurse’s attention, “it’s not, with that insane Pegasus is it?”

Nurse Grey laughed a mirthless laugh. “Maybe I should treat you for insanity, if you think I’d ever send one of my patients to Shield and Sword. No, Peppermint was the one who made the offer, and she’s a very lovely pony. She’ll treat you right. Speaking of which, her daughter should be here to pick you up right about now” Nurse Grey explained, keeping one eye on the clock that read 11 o’clock midday.

As if on cue the door opened politely, and Candy Corn entered through. She cantered with a skip up to Melo’s bed and stood by it with a happy little smile. Her colour palette was rather radiant up close, and Melo had to avert his eyes a little. “Hi Melo; looks like you’re feeling a lot better now” she said happily.

Melo just nodded weakly, and considered whether or not that maybe living with Shield & Sword would be preferred. And while he considered that, Nurse Grey was already retrieving a wheelchair which squeaked up the hallway and by his bed. “Here you go dear” she said to Candy Corn, and returned to her desk to get some forms.

Melo looked at the wheelchair questioningly. “I should be fine to walk” he said, then immediately wished he hadn’t.

“Nurse’s orders” came a bark from the desk.

Defeated once more, Melo slipped the sheets of his body and turned to the side of the bed. Candy Corn kept the wheelchair steady with her magic as he slid of the bed. “When you’re ready Melo.”

His legs shook with atrophy as he wobbled to the chair and turned around on his back hooves; this allowed Candy Corn to move the chair in and rather roughly bumped him into it before he said he was ready.

He grunted a little from the shock, but rested comfortably into the chair as Candy Corn brought her attention back onto Nurse Grey as she dropped some forms onto the now vacant bed. “Just some release papers Candy. Just need you to sign here, and here” she explained as Candy Corn levitated a pen to sign in both locations.

Once done she gathered the papers like a fussy clerk and set them aside. “Right, excellent. Well, uhh, it’s been delightful having you around Melo. I wish you a safe time and hope I don’t see you back here any time soon- INJURED! I meant I hope I don’t see you back here injured any time soon” Nurse Grey said awkwardly before staring at the ground due to a rather interesting piece of lint that was wedged between the floorboards.

Candy Corn laughed in the way pleasant people laugh at everything, even when it’s clearly not funny but you just don’t have the heart to tell them it wasn’t a joke. Melo just felt as awkward as Nurse Grey for both her confused goodbye and the giggling gumball next to him.

He was caught off guard as the wheelchair started into life, and in a panic he gripped onto the two armrests as he found Candy’s light rose magic aura running across the device. “Ah, Candy Corn, hold on, please!” he cried in shock, until she relented and he was able to look Nurse Grey in the eye without getting a heart attack; “Nurse Grey, umm, thank you for all your help. I probably would’ve been a goner without you, so, thank you for saving my life. Hopefully I won’t have to see you in a while; for a check up, I mean. So, see ya, I guess. Okay Candy, now we can go” Melo said, and so they did.

Candy happily trotted off with Melo in front, whilst Nurse Grey hid a content little smile to herself, though there was a little doubt still niggling in the back of her mind that she just couldn’t shake.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melo had to shield his eyes from the pleasant daylight that skipped amongst the dirt road of Coltsten; being in a room that only has small glimmers of natural light does tend to wane your tolerance a little bit.

Coltsten during the midday was very hustle and bustle, with the few shops open to the inhabitants who came in and out like clockwork. The buildings are very, from a real world perspective, very Victorian in design, and built quite sturdy and definitely to last. Despite their longevity, the town was exceedingly small still, with only a few roads intersecting and one somewhat large town square.

Though busy, many a pony spared a look to whisper to the one next to them about the unknown pony that Candy Corn was wheeling through town. Their whispers felt like jabs made at poor Melo, who felt very uncomfortable with all the attention being shown his way. Candy Corn, by that usual freakish empathy that causes people to instinctively know something is wrong, stopped her wheeling as she shot looks at the gawkers.

From her heated stare they looked in the opposite direction and cantered off whilst doing their best to whistle nonchalantly. She continued her pushing as Melo gave a quick look back. “I guess I’m a bit of a hot topic then?” he inquired.

Candy Corn stopped the chair again, and slowly but leisurely walked around to the side, prompting more onlookers to go about their business. “Yeah, you are. We don’t get very many visitors these days, aside from family and business folk. And then when we have some random pony stumble into town in the state you were in; well, it’s something they’ll be talking about for some time.”

“So, why don’t you get many visitors? Is it because the town is small and kinda inconsequential?”

The rose aura gripped the wheelchair and spun Melo around, pointing him directly towards the Everfree Forest that was only just down the road. “That” Candy Corn declared, “is why. Coltsten is right next to the Everfree Forest, and it is why we don’t get many visitors. You know pretty well how bad the place is, and it’s constantly ruining our public image. Each day some nasty creature comes out of the forest and attacks us, but then we fight it off and it’s business as usual until the next one comes along. The attacks have been quiet recently, but that just worries us more. I think the word is status quo. It’s not the status quo for it to be so quiet; it’s been putting Shield and Sword on edge, and even more paranoid.”

Constant attacks? Melo considered that, and it somehow felt very familiar to him. Had he been here in the past maybe? And, as he further thought about Coltsten sounded even more familiar than ever. “What’s his deal anyways? Is he the town hero, or something like that?”

Candy Corn’s aura covered the chair to swing him round again, and they started walking. This time however, Candy Corn remained by his side rather than behind. “Yes, he is. We’ve had several guardsmen before, but none of them lasted, sadly. The Everfree Forest is vengeful, and only the strongest and the luckiest survive. That’s why we have Shield and Sword: He was a part of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard until she sent him here after we requested for her aid. We even got an official letter from the Princess herself that he was coming. We were so glad, until we found out why they were so glad to lose him.”

“Because he’s insane?”

“Pretty much. He’s real strong, and can take on practically anything the Forest throws at us. Timberwolves, Cockatrice; he even took down a Manticore singlehooved. It’s just that, he’s paranoid. And it makes him really unbearable to be around when he gets into one of his moods; one time he had the entire town line up to find out who left a shoe behind. A shoe, that he thought was part of a conspirators plot to destroy Coltsten. Long story short, it belonged to one of our fillies, and we all felt really uncomfortable for the rest of the day.”

“So why don’t you just request for a different guard?”

“You think they want him back? After the ‘accident’? No, we’re stuck with him, but maybe that’s for the best. He’s real good at fighting, and he lets us sleep easily at night knowing we’re safe, except when he starts a town wide fire drill in the middle of the night; and his occasional ignoring of personal space” she explained until they reached the door of a brightly painted shop.

The lights were giant boiled lollies, complete with wrappers. There was a string of fake red liquorice running along the roofline. It was like a candy factory exploded, but in reverse. “Here we are Melo, home. Hope you don’t mind the decorations; Mom went a bit nuts with going with the theme” she explained as the chair flew up the steps and through the front door.

Inside was pretty much the same as the outside, except much more vibrant and prone to bits of fake candy being glued everywhere. Shelves lined the walls and they overflowed with all sorts of candies, including liquorice all-sorts, as a matter of fact. Hoof spun taffies hung from the roof like jungle vines, while long cylinders filled with gummy bears and other gummies looked like feeding tubes for hamsters.

Beyond this diabetic nightmare was a cheery looking white mare with a green and blue mane. Though busy reading through a manual, her gaze looked up to her two new visitors, and she squealed in delight. “CANDY!” she cried in delight as she cantered forth, and with her two hooves she squished Melo’s face.

She was giggling much like a school girl as she inspected his smooshed face through a pair of spectacles. “Oh Candy! It’s him, finally! It’s so nice to finally meet you, you handsome young stallion. Oh Candy, he’s even more handsome then when we took him to see Nurse Grey; my my, if only I were a few years younger you know, though just between you and me I think Candy is looking for that special somepony, aren’t you sweetie?” she said within ten seconds and was still somehow legible.

“Mom! Stop it, you’re embarrassing me… HIM! You’re embarrassing him” she cried through a rouge blush.

Through a bit of effort Candy managed to remove her Mom’s hooves from Melo’s face, for which he was grateful as she tried to rub some feeling back into. And after a few calming breaths Mom also managed to bring some sense back into her head. “I’m sorry about that my dear, sometimes I just get so excited when Candy brings home a new stallion to meet me. I’m Peppermint, and it is just so delightful to finally meet you. Wait, didn’t I say that already? Oh well, double the pleasure and it makes life more fun, oh ho ho. Oh, look at me, I’m gushing like I’m a young mare. Please, take a seat. Oh wait, you already have one. Well, sit tight and I’ll get us some tea so we can talk. Be back into a liquorice whip” Peppermint cried and galloped out.

Melo took a calming breath. That, that was a lot of pony to take in, and well, and he thought Shield & Sword was bad. Truly the ponies of Coltsten are quite insane. Seriously now, they live next to a murderous forest and still somehow act like it’s just pleasant hum drum. “Wow” was all he could muster.

Candy laughed a little as she popped a squat on the ground next to him. “I’m sorry, I should have warned you. Mom is a bit on the happy side all the time, well, yeah. She can be a bit much for new visitors, but that’s just her way of being nervous. I kinda inherited that from her, since now that I think about it, I kinda ditzed out around you at the hospital, didn’t I?”

“Yes, yes you did.”

“Sorry about that; it just kinda, happens really. If you’re a bit overwhelmed, well, think happy thoughts. She’ll calm down in a bit and be a bit more… normal after some tea. It’s her specialty y’know? Peppermint Tea.”

Melo had to ponder upon that a bit, and, he just had to ask. “So, is it a name, as in, Peppermint’s tea? Or as in actual mint?” he inquired.

Candy gave a wry little grin. “Bit of both really” she replied as Peppermint came back with a tray balanced in her maw.

Candy wheeled Melo over to the counter, where the lovely gold gilded tray was set down, with an ornate looking teapot slowly simmering with a stream of steam. Peppermint reached over to the teapot to grab it, but Candy stopped her by way of a magic aura covering it. “I’ll serve Mom” she volunteered.

Peppermint gave a happy smile and backed away, allowing Candy to pour three equal cups of lime green tea. Each teacup dispersed to their new owner, though Melo had to give it a questioning look. From he understood, tea wasn’t normally lime green; but, it seemed safe, as the other two were drinking it.

He grabbed the cup gingerly with his hooves and blew away at the steam. He took one sip, and his tastebuds exploded with the flavour of mint, and yet somehow berries got worked in as well. It was a rather satisfying drink to say the least. “The tea is great, as always Mom” Candy declared as she drained her cup.

Peppermint gave a shy yet prideful wave of her hoof. “Oh go on Candy; it’s just my usual mix, nothing special; unlike you my special little unicorn” Peppermint replied, and gave an aside wink to Melo.

Due to natural causality, he had taken a sip as she did so, but against the norm he painfully swallowed the mix instead. He coughed as the hot beverage scalded his throat all the way down.

In a panic Candy pushed him forwards in the chair and pounded his back repeatedly, until he finally had the energy to wave her off. “I’m fine, I’m fine” he gagged as he rightened himself up. “Though, now that it’s out in the open: Peppermint, if you’re an Earth Pony, does that mean your husband, err, Candy Corn’s father was a unicorn?”

Peppermint looked as if she had just been slapped after she saw a young puppy getting stomped by a stampeding herd of cows who had just been branded. Rolling her jaw slightly, she chose on a rather sad look as she stared Melo’s reflection in the eye. “My husband, that is to say, my first husband, Candy’s father” she sighed, “yes, he was a unicorn. A kind stallion he was too, so kind, so loving. We were all sad to lose him.”

Melo’s ears dropped at this sad news, and chose to stare into his cup. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t mean to so casually bring up what is clearly a sad story. Though, if it wouldn’t be too impolite to ask: What happened to him?”

Candy chose to field the question as a single line of tears began to pour down Peppermint’s eyes. “It’s a bit hard to talk about it Melo, especially to a guest. Maybe later we’ll discuss it” she explained as Peppermint composed.

With a loud sniffle the tears seemed to evaporate from her face as she put on a sort of sad smile. “Yes, some other time, maybe. But, despite this terrible loss, my second husband, we were glad he helped fill the fatherly role, sometimes though I wished he would stay at home a bit more” she said, though caught her guest’s questioning look; “My current husband is a travelling salesmen, selling our wares whilst also getting new contracts for different sweets we can sell here. He’s gone for most of the year, except around Hearthswarming Eve and other holidays. Despite this, he has been a wonderful provider for us all… Oh dear me, I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I certainly don’t want to burden you with our problems. Candy, why don’t you go show our guest to his room while I clean up” she said as she grabbed Melo’s half empty cup.

The tray was taken up neatly as Peppermint moved with a bit more gait and speed than before. Candy shook her head as Melo just felt as if he entered into something he shouldn’t have. “I’m sorry, I, shouldn’t have asked” he apologized.

Candy shook her head. “No, it’s only natural you ask, and really, we’re used to it by now. It was so long ago anyways, only when I was a filly. It was just hardest on Mom to raise me alone is all. But that’s behind us. So, let me show you to your room” she explained as her aura grasped the chair again.

“Umm, wait” Melo declared, and Candy stared at him questioningly. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get out of this chair; my rump is starting to fall asleep” he explained sheepishly.

Candy laughed loudly, but covered her mouth. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed. It’s just the way you said it sounded funny” she giggled.

Moving the chair back slowly, Melo grabbed both armrests of his chair and had one leg gingerly feel for the ground. It reached terra firma, and the other followed its brother. They shook violently, but Melo beared through it as he pushed himself off the chair.

His whole body shook as he stood on his hind legs whilst using his front ones to keep his balance, until he teetered forward and landed on all fours. His body continued to shake, but he grit hit teeth through it until he managed to force his legs to stand straight.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down on Candy; his pronounced height being much more apparent now that he wasn’t in a chair. She stared him back in the eyes. “It’s great that you’re able to walk now, to be honest I was kind of getting tired of pushing that chair again. No more freeloading from you huh? … Oh, sorry, that wasn’t, uh, just, sorry. Sometimes I don’t think about what I say, it just, AH! Let’s just show you your room” she mumbled.

She walked off behind the counter and Melo followed. His steps were short and laboured, but he bore through it as he followed her past some sort of candy twisting machinery, until he came to the first roadblock of a paraplegic, the staircase. His pupils shrank as he stared up each and every step. “Do you need some help?” Candy offered.

Pondering upon it for a moment, he shook his head. “No, I, err, I have to get used to walking. Been in bed for a week. Let me just, OOF! There, I can do this” he grunted as he climbed the stairs.

His legs were screaming at him to stop after the fourth step, and there seemed to be so many after. Candy rolled her eyes at the false machismo as she lightly trotted up the staircase, waiting expectantly at the top.

Melo grunted and heaved at each step as he reached the top, his brow running with sweat as he stared at the amused look in Candy’s eyes. “See? I… I did it” he gasped.

She smiled in a ‘sure sure’ way as she gave him a few more moments to catch his breath.

When he was mostly conscious she showed him down the hallway the stairs had led too. There were several doors in the hallway, with whatever else of the wall being literally smeared in family portraits.

One such portrait Melo stopped to look at, was a picture of Peppermint, looking much younger obviously, with a filly sized Candy and a rather happy looking unicorn. They were all standing and smiling behind a sweet shop that looked like it had once been a barn that was repurposed. It felt oddly familiar, but for the life of Melo he could not figure out why. “You coming?” Candy called from down the hallway.

Ripping his eyes from the portrait, Melo followed her, though, he stopped at one of the doors. It was labelled with an extensive collection of Keep Out signs, and there was a strange white powder at the bottom of the door. “What lives here?” Melo inquired.

“GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!” a whiny and high pitched voice screamed from beyond said door.

Candy rolled her eyes as she pounded loudly on what can be safely assumed to be a locked door. “IT’S OUR HOUSE GUEST! MAYBE YOU’D LIKE TO MEET HIM AND STOP BEING SO RUDE!” she screamed back.

“RATHER NOT!” the voice replied as a violet aura coated the door.

Candy sighed in frustration as she backed from the door. She shook her head in frustration with her eyes closed, but chose to save face by moving onwards. Melo glared at the door suspiciously, but followed her all the same. “Who was that?”

“My little brother PB.”

“As in Peanut Butter?”

“I wish he was that nice. No, his name is Pork Belly, and he’s feeling a bit antisocial right now. Though right now tends to be all of the time” she explained until they reached a door at the end of the hall.

Melo looked at it, and Candy, taking her cue, used her magic to open the door. The room was fairly sparse, with a bed taking up one side of the room, and it was right under a circular window. Other than that there was a dusty full length mirror and a chest of draws parked on the opposite side.

Melo walked in slowly, taking in his new lodgings. Candy seemed a bit embarrassed about the room, but followed him all the same. “Sorry if the room is a little small. We usually don’t have guests and this was the only spare room we had” she apologized.

Melo held up one hoof to quiet her as he took in the room. It was drab, small and felt a little too warm. He smiled contentedly. “The room is perfect” he concluded.

Candy sighed in relief that he liked it. She smiled again with a small bit of pride, seeing as she was the one who had cleaned the room prior anyways. And in her pride, came a small reminder, or two for that matter. “Oh yeah Melo, uh, Nurse Grey mentioned something to me earlier. Since you have amnesia, she asked me to help you get your memory back. This was after Mom volunteered to take you in. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to run some errands tomorrow, and hoped that you would, well, come along. You’ll get to meet the faces of Coltsten, and maybe, just maybe you might remember something” she offered, the rouge tinting her cheeks again.

“Yeah sure, that’s fine” Melo replied as he gazed into the mirror.

He was regarding himself rather fiercely, and was twisting all portions of his body to get a look at himself. Wiggling his flank, he finally got to notice his Cutie Mark again. “Well, here’s step one” he muttered, catching Candy’s attention; “my Cutie Mark. It’s a pair of scissors and a barbers pole.”

And so it was. Candy had noticed, but didn’t say anything. Nurse Grey had also mentioned about he had to find himself his own way, hence why she dragged the mirror out from the attic. A perfect idea, it had seemed. “Well that’s good. Maybe once you get your memory back you could give me a trim? My mane’s looking a bit flat honestly” she joked, but her giggles faded as she caught Melo’s intense look in his reflection.

“Trim?” he inquired.

“Oh, I was joking Melo, you see I-” she mumbled, but he stopped her with another fierce look.

“No, not that. The word trim sounds familiar to me, more so than what a Cutie Mark would tell me. I’ll figure it out.”

Candy nodded, and backed out of the room. “Well, I’ll leave you to it to get comfortable. Mom will probably have lunch ready soon. I’ll get you when it is” she said and closed the door.

Melo smiled a little as she left. Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe this won’t be so bad after all.[/spoiler]

[Toffee.]

[spoiler=Thoughts on part 2]
THATS A PRETTY BIG MAYBE, THERE, MELO, ON IT NOT BEING THAT BAD.
*Ahem*
The nurse is up to something, and MAYBE Candy is in on it. That, or I might be over-thinking Grey's personality.
And it was rather cute how Candy got all embarassed over her mom's statements about Melo; Let's be honest, they are made for eachother. I mean, they complement eachother quite well, despite being rather drastic opposites.
Shield and Sword's bit of trivia about him was amusing. I mean, I can see how it's a bad thing, but like... He seems more like a work-a-holic and/or he is THAT dedicated to his job. But like, it's funny, because he is basically the glue that's holding this place together. Or at least, what I gathered off this.
Anyway, in general, I liked this chapter. It had it's cute moments, some more info on what the town is like, etc, etc.[/spoiler]

[The Warden]

Uhh, about S&S being the glue; that's probably the incorrect term. The correct analogy would be a quotation of Vyvyan from The Young Ones: "My nickers are so old it's only the stubborn understains that are holding them together".

 

(Video for reference: Quote)

[Toffee.]

I didn't necesarily mean that from a positive point of view.<br />I meant that, without him around, everyone would either kill eachother, or the whole place would just degrade itself trying to fend off the Everfree forest.<br />Since half the time, I get the impression everyone is in a delusion about things being happy, when they don't want to realize that it's the exact opposite. Or something like that.

[The Warden]

Oh no, they realize it ain't all smiles und sunshine; it's just that this sort of crap has been going on for so long they just learned to accept it.

[The Warden]

Bleck, that took a lot longer than I expected. Okay, so after dealing with a lot of RL crap I've finally completed chapter 3, where we get to meet our Supporting Cast.

[spoiler=Chapter 3]
My Memory of Them is a Dream’s Delight

The sun shone brightly through the circular window as birds chirruped their happy songs; rousing many ponies from their blissful dreams.

One such pony awoke with a quick crack of his eyes. Melo had chosen to sleep atop the bed, rather than under the covers. The room was very warm, with only one window. It seemed pointless to wrap one’s self when the night air was his blanket. And, he also felt that the sheets hadn’t been washed in a while either, though maybe that was just the room.

Though he laid on his back his eyes quickly scanned the room, following each bit of dust that skipped across the beams of light. Satisfied, they returned frontward to stare at the roof.

His mind was slowly processing the prior day, which after lunch and the… ‘incident’, became rather uneventful. He thought upon Candy Corn and her family a bit more. She was a rather pleasant pony, and despite first impressions she was quite down to earth, and fairly intelligent for her age.

Her mother on the other hand: It was as if she was locked many years in the past. Such old fashioned values she held, and was a bit pushy when it came to romance as well. If she were capable of subtlety, then she was clearly hiding it very well Melo concluded.

Finally there was the reclusive Pork Belly. He had not seen hide nor hair of the filly; rather, he had only heard him, very loudly and very clearly. He seemed very distasteful, and the less he had to do with him the better really.

As he continued to ponder further, his thoughts scattered as there was a polite knocking on his door. It was light, with an unintended rhythm. It could only be one pony. “Yes, Candy?” he called out.

There was a pause, as if the pony on the outside was confused, or maybe just surprised. “Mom’s getting breakfast ready, if you’d like to come down” she called through the door walked off.

Melo counted slowly to four, and like clockwork at the fourth count there was a loud creak from the one bad floorboard in the hallway. His thoughts must have contained him well for him not to hear that.

Rolling off the bed, he took a slow stretching walk to clear his joints. With a hoof on the doorknob, he looked back to the window. It was such a clear day today. Yes, so very clear.

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With a head so clear of memories, Melo had spent some time the prior day to remember the layout of the house, so he took his sweet time to get to the kitchen.

Candy was grabbing bowls from the cupboards while Peppermint was happily mixing a large steaming pot with a ladle clenched in her teeth. She hummed to herself as she stirred. “Good morning” Melo greeted.

Whether it was by her own concentration, or by her own giddiness, Candy almost dropped some bowls in surprise, but she recovered quickly with some timely levitation. “Melo! Ah, good morning to you too” she said hastily.

Peppermint giggled loudly as she smacked her ladle atop the pot. “Oh Candy. Please Melo, take a seat. We’re having porridge this morning” she explained as Candy levitated the pot to the center of the table.

Peppermint grabbed the ladle gently with her mouth, and poured some strange white sludge into the bowls Candy magicked up to her. The first one was positioned in front of the seated Melo, who stared at it quizzically. It, looked familiar, like… oats that had been pre-chewed.

He stared at it intently, and felt the strange sensation that it was staring back at him. His eyes rolled up to see Candy and Peppermint looking at him intently like he was some kind of food critic. Should he, say something? “Umm, what is this?” he inquired.

If they were surprised, they were very good at hiding. “It’s porridge Melo, which is oats that have been heated with boiling water. If you don’t like it dry we have some milk and some honey to go with it” Candy exposited before pushing a bottle of milk and a pot of honey down to the table to him.

Grabbing the bottle with his teeth he poured a generous portion of milk into the bowl, and then drizzled honey into a delicate spiral. They were still staring at him, so, with a grab of his spoon he dug into the thick glicky substance, and stared at it on his spoon. Swallowing hard he brought it forth and bit down on the stuff.

The wad of goo rolled around in his mouth as he smacked loudly on it, before downing it all in one large gulp. A large bump running down his neck as he brought the spoon back to the bowl.

Candy and Peppermint leaned closer as Melo methodically considered it. “It’s, nice” he conceded with a wry smile. They both sighed with relief as they finally helped themselves to the pot.

Melo swallowed again and silently excused himself from the table as they contented themselves with breakfast.

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Melo washed his face thoroughly in the sink, his eyes dripping with water. He sighed in frustration as he stared at himself in the mirror. A well trained hoof gripped his right cheek, and he just inspected himself, as if he was trying to find some great truth in his face.

“What are you doing?” a voice demanded harshly.

Melo spun around with a hoof over his chest, but he didn’t see anything until he looked down. A rather overweight filly was staring at him with harsh and spiteful eyes. A look, albeit not overly intimidating, offset by a strange white powder that smeared his face. “I’m, uh, I’m…” Melo mumbled.

What was he doing, really now? “Don’t have a fit. You’re that special needs pony mom brought in aren’t you? Hmph, you look like you need help” he grumbled as he wobbled past Melo.

That voice, it was, oh yes. “You’re Pork Belly, right?” Melo inquired, trying to ignore the not-so-subtle insult.

Pork clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Oh gee, what tipped you off? Now do you mind, I’d like to use the bathroom” Pork grumbled.

Melo followed his train of vision, and understood quite well. “Right” he said, and walked out of the bathroom.

The door slammed behind; and Melo? Well, he was just confused.

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Melo skipped out on the rest of breakfast, claiming he just wasn’t hungry. This seemed to satisfy his hosts as he sat in his room. Thoughts whizzed past his eyes, but they weren’t quite clear yet. And remained unclear as Candy entered without knocking. “Hey Melo. I’m going out on my errands, and, I’d like you to join me. You have to meet Mayor Greyscale now that you’re out of the hospital anyways, so, I figured might as well smash two apples with one mallet” she explained.

That metaphor didn’t sound right, like, at all. Either way, he was relegated to the role of her travel buddy, so he didn’t bother to protest… not that he wanted to mind.

Having found his hooves over yesterday, Melo noticed quickly that the ground around Coltsten was very hard. It seemed the town lay on thick, padded earth that seemed to symbolize their own unrelenting spirit. Well, that’s how Candy explained it after he asked anyways.

Unlike yesterday, not many residents payed the two much heed as they walked up the main road. Most vendors of Coltsten peddled their wears in stalls, rather than shops. Makes it easier to pack up apparently. Melo didn’t understand the logic, since wouldn’t it be just easier to lock up a shop?

“It would, but sometimes you need to flee and you can’t always lock up. After all, it’s easier to rebuild a stall than it is to rebuild a shop” she answered.

That was pretty true, if the level of danger the town had was any indication. But, when did they start doing that anyways? “Well, the town caught on after an Ursa Minor strayed from its mother and thought the buildings were toys. This was long before me of course. Despite all the attacks we get, this town has lasted for a very long time” she explained.

Melo nodded thoughtfully at that, but, it still seemed very crazy that they would stay. Why don’t they just abandon the town and settle down somewhere that isn’t constantly trying to kill them? “We could, it’s been thought. But some pony’s livelihoods are here. The many vegetable farms that have been grown can’t just up and move. And where would we go anyways? Despite the dangers the lands here are fertile, and we take very good care for them.”

“But, are vegetables worth the safety of everypony here?”

“As long as Shield does his job, then yes, they are” Candy replied, flares of a temper showing as they approached a very rustic building that had an entire wing demolished. The rubble just lay there as birds chirruped happily on top.

Melo regarded this critically, and Candy caught this critical gaze at the pile of rubble. “That was a year ago, after a Manticore got in and caused a ruckus because it had a thorn in its paw” she explained as they entered the front door.

The townhall was very sparse in design, with only a few old photographs of weathered looking ponies lining the walls, and just one big bookshelf along the wall (, it was loaded with very old looking books). A very homely pony was looking over pages through her glasses as the duo approached. “Hey PP” Candy greeted.

PP looked up through her frames to Candy, and she smiled.“Hello Candy, nice to see you. And this is our mysterious friend huh?” PP smiled, staring at Melo with sickening kindness.

“Yes” he grunted quickly, “Candy calls me Melo. It’s nice to meet you, err, PP?” he added, feeling rather uncomfortable being there.

PP gasped aloud, hiding her mouth behind a hoof. “Oh Candy, you didn’t. I didn’t. Oh my” she blushed. “I’m Picture Perfect. I, work as Mayor Greyscale’s secretary and his aid. He’s umm, oh no!” she cried and quite literally leapt over her desk and through the door opposite.

Dear Celestia, wasn’t there anypony in this place who was normal? Or at least well-adjusted? Melo almost questioned this, almost. “Is she normally that bubble headed?” Melo inquired.

Candy shot him an angry look. “No. She’s not. She just gets a bit nervous around new people, and, it’d be nice if you didn’t call her bubble headed. She’s actually pretty smart” Candy said sharply.

Melo could feel he had crossed some line as he idly itched at his right hoof. “Sorry” he apologized.

The angry look vaporized in an instant as Picture poked her head through the door. “Mayor Greyscale will see you now” she squeaked and retreated back through it.

Nodding to Melo, Candy lead him through the double doors into an office that was as sparse as the front desk. The only thing of notice was that this room had two bookshelves instead of one. A big step-up really.

Seated at a pretty worn elm desk was an elderly looking pony who was uncharacteristically drab in colouration. But, he had a kindly smile as he stared through a darkened monocle perched on his face. “Ah, greetings young Candy Corn. It is delightful to see yourself again. How fares your lovely mother and your… err, brother?” the mayor inquired in a wizened tone as he motioned to two chairs in front of the desk.

Candy smiled brightly as she took one of the chairs. “Everything is going quite well. Mom is still keeping everything together, and Pork Belly is… Pork Belly” she replied with an irreplaceable smile.

The mayor nodded knowingly as he gave curt attention to his other guest. “Ah yes, our young guest. It is nice to finally meet you my lad, in person that is. Nurse Grey is a very vigilant carer, and she absconded you from all physical contact. Though after that unfortunate fiasco in regards to Shield and Sword, I am perfectly understanding. The good nurse did inform me that you are currently suffering from amnesia, is that correct?” the mayor inquired.

“That is correct, as far as I know. I can’t really remember much of what’s happened to me, or how I ended up here. But, I am certain that with Candy Corn and her family’s help, I will be able to find my memories again” Melo replied with unusually well-practised ease.

This seemed to satisfy the mayor, who nodded in his knowing way. His eye seemed to twinkle behind that monocle; as if, he understood a lot more than what was said. “I am delighted to hear that my lad. And of course, now that I recall, I personally welcome you to Coltsten. I hope you enjoy your stay. And please, don’t give Peppermint too much trouble, if you know what I mean” the mayor remarked suggestively with a well raised brow.

The suggestion was not lost on Melo, whose face lit up bright red at the idea. Candy laughed loudly whilst Picture giggled quietly to herself.

Mayor Greyscale sighed contentedly as his eye cast over some papers on his desk. “It was delightful to meet you both. But please, don’t let me keep you. I have some paperwork to look over. And, Picture?” the mayor questioned.

Picture Perfect stood at attention. “There is not much else to do today, so do take the day off. A young creature like you should be out in the sunshine rather than being cramped in some dank little office” he said kindly.

Picture’s face lit up as she raced out of the office excitedly. The mayor chuckled contentedly as Candy and Melo followed after Picture.

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After she had retrieved something from the office, Picture had joined their duo and made it a trio. “It was so nice of the mayor to give me the rest of the day off. He really is a very nice pony you know?” Picture declared.

Melo smiled and nodded. “Oh, now that I remember. I have to go see Diva; I promised to show her how to apply mascara” Picture also declared.

“Diva? Huh, I haven’t seen her in forever. Mind if we come with?” Candy inquired.

Picture’s face flared in delight. “Sure, that’s fine. Melo here can meet her as well” Picture reasoned.

Melo had no idea who Diva was, but, well, it’s not as if anypony here could get any worse, right? “Sure, it’s, err, good to know ponies after all” Melo conceded.

Candy snorted loudly. Melo gave her a quick questioning look. “Something funny?” he inquired.

Candy gave a smug little smile as she actively failed to make eye contact. “Pony. You’re funny” she remarked.

Well, what was that supposed to mean? Melo, was about to find out.

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Picture’s place of residence was just like the rest: A boring, stone brick of masonry that belied absolutely nothing about the interior. For yay, it truly gave away nothing of the spirit of its owner at all.

Her house was absolutely decorated with artworks. Smearing her walls were countless paintings of famous Equestrian landmarks, including an oil painting of Canterlot as it hung on its mighty cliff, and of course the Manehatton Bridge.

Melo slowly and critically regarded each painting as Candy and Picture gossiped on her falling-apart sofa. As he walked across the wall, Melo’s admiration fell on a very dramatized print of the Everfree Forest. The way the lines twisted and curved to give the sense of ever-present nature. It just sent chills up his spine to watch the way the leafless branches clawed at the empty space of the forest. “Your paintings are quite impressive. Is there any that belong to you up there?” he inquired.

Picture’s face lit up as she turned a shy eye to her guest. She coyly waved a hoof in a random direction. “Oh, no, no. I’m still working on my artwork. I have been for many years now. I just haven’t hit that right note yet, if you get what I mean? When I finally break out in the art world I want my first accomplishment to be my absolute best” she explained.

Melo nodded thoughtfully, despite his eyes twitching as new thoughts grinded behind them. “That is perfectly alright” he concluded after precious seconds of thought, and went back to the art.

As Candy lowered a cupcake she just took a bite from, she glanced in the direction of one of the hallways. “Ri fought Difva waf al eady heer” she said, crumbs flying from her lips.

“Oh, well, you know how her life is. I’ve already sent a bottle through the shoots, so she should be here- Oh!” Picture declared, her train of thought being interrupted by a loud thumping from somewhere in a backroom.

Raising herself off the sofa, she trotted off without a word. Melo raised a quizzical brow to this. “What exactly is Diva? She’s not, being held hostage by Picture, is she?” he inquired, traces of fear and worry in his tone.

Candy laughed gleefully at that notion, masking silenced voices from the back room. “You really are strange, you know that? Diva is a Diamond Dog. She’s been good friends with Picture for a long time. Nopony really knows how though, but they have a trade agreement. Picture helps Diva to be more feminine, and Diva mines gemstones to be used in Picture’s artwork. It doesn’t sound like a fair trade, but, trust me when I say trying to be feminine in the Diamond Dog underworld is ha-ard.”

“Yes. Showing how to swing my groove thing is hard in male dominate society” Diva declared.

Melo wasn’t sure to as to whether he should reel back in shock, or just run far far away from what he saw. Standing literally over Picture was a tall Diamond Dog with an upturned nose with a dot-like nose. She, or, maybe it was wearing a sleeveless red turtleneck sweater, with fluffy pink arm warmers around her thick wrists and delicate ankles. A puffball tail wagged left to right like a metronome as her gold coloured collar inlaid with diamonds caught the light.

But that wasn’t the issues, rather, it was the incredibly liberal use of make-up. Diva’s cheeks were rouged with enough pink that you could see it from space, and the blue eye-liner was applied so much it dwarfed her natural eye-line itself. Her nails were done up in hot red, and so were the tips of her fingers as well. Her hideously long lashes fluttered like wings with each blink of her yellow eyes. But the scariest thing, the most outright horrific, was the lipstick. It was smeared across her doggy lips so wide that a kiss from her looked like you had just been hit by a door. Whatever lesson Picture had been giving this, this, thing. Well, clearly she was being taught wrong or they were taken too literally.

Melo was pretty certain that, despite his amnesia, that he had never seen something so horrible before in his life. This thing was the very definition of a fashion nightmare. Look it up in the dictionary, and you would see her. “It’s a, umm, it’s a…” Melo mumbled.

He could not find the right words to express how felt. Absolutely horrified? Scarred for life? He could not find a single nice word, so in lieu of speaking he looked at the ground and compulsively scratched at his hoof.

Diva gave a raised look to Picture, (the eyeliner raised with it, stretching it to look like the eyeliner had been applied with a brick,) who coughed politely. “Something wrong pony?” Diva inquired.

Melo gulped forcefully as he stared back up at diva. “No-no, I just have never seen such a… horrific? Terrifying? I’d rather stick my head in a mud pit than look at you? r-r-ravishing creature such as you before, that’s all” he lied.

That seemed to satisfy Diva, who giggled in guttural tone; she even clasped a paw to her face as she did that ‘Oh you’ hand swing.

Picture sighed with relief as she lead Diva to the couch, and they all sat on it. Thankful for such an awkward moment being subverted, Melo chose to stick back to the artwork as the girls gossiped. “… … Shield and … … … suspicious … Melo” Candy uttered.

His ears burning, Melo’s concentration shifted as a perked ear pointed towards the girls. “He’s paranoid about everything Candy. And Melo is rather new, he’s just having a hard time fitting in.”

Diva slurped loudly on her small teacup, but at least had learned the grace to gently place the cup back on its saucer on the coffee table. “I don’t see why. Male pony is very nice. He said nice things about Diva” Diva declared.

From his peripherals, Melo could see the very uncomfortable looks Picture and Candy were desperate not to show. “Yes, he did Diva. Yes, he did.”

“Out of curiosity” Melo said aloud, catching the eyes of the gossiping mares; “What are you currently doing in the world of art Picture? Perhaps we could get a sneak preview?” he added.

Picture blushed brightly as she sunk into her seat. A sizzling sense of nervousness emanated from her as all eyes turned to her. Staring, boring, thinking, judging(?). “Oh no, nononono. It’s very private, and I don’t want anyone to see it until it’s done. Please don’t ask about it, it’s… private” she mumbled into her teacup.

“But it very nice Picture. Diva saw it. Diva think it very nice, so you should show it.”

Panic etched itself across Picture’s face as she wordlessly mouthed protests. “Diva no I-” she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

However, anything else she would have protested due to a terrifyingly loud smashing sound from outside. Picture hurled her teacup in shock as Candy raced past Melo to look outside.

She whistled in an impressed way as she gazed back, her eyes scanning along the walls. “Picture, where’re your Shield Watchers?” she declared.

Picture was slowly going through her breathing exercises as her heart raced. Breathlessly she pointed to the kitchen, where a pair of binoculars were hanging on a hook.

Obviously Candy couldn’t see this, so she hoofed it to the kitchen whilst Melo stared out the door in curiosity. His brow raised as he saw what Candy saw.

An enormous four-headed Hydra was crashing around the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, and it looked very hungry. Strangely, the heads weren’t focused on the town, but rather something buzzing around its heads. Melo couldn’t quite make it out, but whatever it was glinted gold in the sunlight as the heads snapped at it.

Candy shoved past Melo as she levitated the binoculars, whistling again as she got a good look at the action. And as Melo learned as he looked down the street, so was the rest of the townsponies as they watched through their own binoculars. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

Candy gave him a side glance, before passing the binoculars over. Peering through, he got a very impressive vision of the Hydra, but more importantly, what it was so focused on. An incredibly bulky navy-blue pegasi decked out in gold armour was flying around the hydra, his movements tying in with the sun as his armour constantly flashed the heads, disorienting them.

In a blinded moment one of the heads snapped out, and bit another head’s neck by mistake. Realizing its mistake it released the head, who snapped at its sibling angrily. It seemed to hiss loudly in apology, but was blind sided as the pegasi launched up its neck and gave it a swift kick to its chin. The head recoiled from the attack, flying upwards as the heads snapped at the interloper. “What’s going on?” Candy asked excitedly.

“Ah, a pegasi is fighting the hydra, and he gave it a swift kick to one of its heads. …that’s Shield, isn’t it?” Melo inquired as he passed the binoculars back.

“Yep, that’s him in the flesh. We say what we do about his social habits, but by Celestia he is amazing in a fight. He’s pretty good at on-the-fly tactics; but usually he just needs brute force” Candy explained as she watched the show.

The duo were joined by Diva and Picture, who had recovered from her rather unsubtle panic attack. But Melo was slowly slipped from that to another strange sight. Shifting slowly from a tornado distraction that was knotting the heads up, there was something a lot more interesting going on right above.

Clouds seemed to be moving of their own volition in twos as they zipped towards the battle, clustering right above the Hydra. “Why are the clouds moving?” he inquired, pointing a curious hoof at the strange weather patterns.

Candy broke away from the viewing to give Melo a funny look, but she followed his hoof nonetheless. As she focused her mouth opened in an ‘ah’ fashion as she nodded twice. “Take a look” she said, passing the binoculars back to him.

Homing in, he saw as two pegasi were flying around the skyline, moving the clouds to cluster above the Hydra. It was hard to get a full ID on them, beyond the fact that one was stormy grey and the other was light orange. “That’s Gale Foerce and her sister Wynns. They’re our resident weather pegasi. They’re from Manehatton, but both studied advanced cloud herding and also obscure cloud herding. Which turns out is all you need to herd Everfree weather. The forest does strange things to the weather… sometimes the clouds have thorns. They’re pretty good at it; and I see what they’re doing” Candy explained as the cloud masse generated by the pegasi grew larger.

“Which is?”

He didn’t see it as Candy’s smug smile grew. “Just watch” she said, and so he did.

Once the super-cloud was big enough, the grey pegasi gave a signal to Shield, who upon seeing it, gave a powerful flying tackle to one of the hydra’s necks. The heads gave a furious look at their wounded sibling, no longer able to notice Shield’s armour as the clouds covered the sun. With their sibling tended, the Hydra heads raced around for their snack, but, he was gone. Giving each other a confused look they were completely unaware as Gale and Wynns flew to either side of the cloud.

With a powerful kick from both of them, the cloud unleashed a terrifyingly big lightning bolt. The Hydra only had a split second before it struck, shocking its enormous body.

Once the bolt was gone, the entire creature was charred comically black. One head coughed up a cloud of smoke as the beast collapsed, its ponderous body sending a shockwave through the town as it slammed into the ground.

Melo lowered the binoculars slowly, his pupils dilated as he was momentarily blinded by the lightning bolt. He stumbled backwards, and Diva caught him as he fell. “Thank you” he said, his eyes blinking erratically as his vision tried to return.

Candy wolf whistled loudly as the rest of the town cheered loudly for the three pegasi.

Shield had landed by the Hydra’s body, and was working to drag it back into the Everfree Forest; while Gale and Wynns floated above the storm they had created and hoof bumped. “Gale Foerce and Wynns were amazing. We should go congratulate them” Picture suggested.

Candy nodded in agreement as Melo moaned quietly.

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Gale and Wynns had landed in the Main Square, where many of the townsponies grouped around them to cheer. The grey one (which Candy identified as Gale) had a mane of wild purple hair and a fierce look in her eyes. She waved wildly to all the fans she had generated. The orange one (Wynns) had a dark red mane held back by a headband. She waved in a more reserved manner, though she didn’t seem to look at the crowd, rather, she stared intently at her sister. “YEAH, LEMME HEAR THAT CHEERING EVERYONE!” Gale declared as she continued her spastic waving.

The crowd cheered louder, and yet Wynns still stared at her sister. Gale caught sight of that, and she knew what to do. “AND HOW BOUT A CHEER FOR WYNNS AS WELL?! SHE WANTS TO HEAR IT TOO!” Gale added.

The crowd cheered again, and to not be rude Wynns waved a bit more energetically. Finally gazing around she gasped as spied Candy moving through the crowd, and she pushed past many of the onlookers as she intercepted them. “Hey Candy, it’s nice to see you” she declared.

She didn’t look it, Melo thought. Really she looked like she hated being there with all that cheering, and her tone was very reserved as well. “Well we all wanted to congratulate you for beating that Hydra” Candy declared happily.

“Well, don’t thank us too much. Really it was Shield’s idea, we just made it happen” Wynns replied.

Her right eye twitched subtly, something only Melo seemed to catch as they moved through the crowd to Gale, who was just lapping up the praise. Her eyes lit up as she caught sight of Candy, and she galloped over to her. “HEY CANDY, DID YOU SEE THAT AWESOME SHOW!?” she cried over the crowd.

“AS IF WE WOULD MISS IT! BUT CAN WE GO SOMEWHERE A BIT QUITER!? IT'S A BIT LOUD ROUND HERE!” Candy cried over the crowd.

Gale nodded and whistled loudly using her hooves. “OKAY EVERYONE, IT’S GREAT TO HEAR ALL THAT CHEERING! GIVING US SOME BIG HEADS OVER HERE! BUT THAT’S ENOUGH NOW, NOT TO BE RUDE! WE APPRECIATE YOUR APPRECIATION! SO BE SURE TO WATCH THE SHOW, NEXT TIME A GIANT MONSTER ATTACKS. PEACE OUT COLTSTEN!” Gale bellowed.

The crowd cheered again, but did as she requested and dispersed. Many of the ponies happily chatting about what happened despite the fact that the recipient saw what they did.

Like magic the crowds were gone as life returned to normal. Gale snorted as she smirked at Candy. “We going yours or-Who’s that?” Gale inquired, finally noticing Melo now that the crowd was gone.

“This is Melo, he’s our newest visitor who came from the forest last week” Candy explained (, she was good at that).

Gale dashed over to Melo, and examined him closely through squinted eyes. “You came from the forest? The, EVERFREE, Forest?” she inquired suspiciously.

“Yes?” Melo replied.

Gale’s eyes widened as she smiled widely and gave Melo a playful punch in the shoulder. “If you’re hard enough to handle that forest, you’re proper friend material. I’m Gale Foerce, and of course, you might have met Wynns?” Gale declared, pulling Wynns over to Melo.

“Gale please” Wynns simpered.

Gale tutted in annoyance. “Come on, you love meeting new ponies” Gale whispered.

“Not by you forcing me to” Wynns whispered back.

Gale rolled her eyes a little as she held out Wynns hand to Melo as she held her other hoof out to Melo. He stared at them both, and shook them quickly. “It’s nice to meet you both” he said.

“Nice to meet you” Wynns muttered.

Gale sighed in annoyance as she addressed Candy. “So we going yours?” she inquired patiently.

Candy was unphased by this impatience. “Sure, mom will want to congratulate you both as well” she replied, sweeping her head to the group. “Looks like we’re all going mine everyone, MOVE OUT!” she cried.

The Party, now consisting of Melo, Candy, Picture Perfect, Diva, Gale Foerce and Wynns all moved out, with Melo staying to the back where Wynns was as well. He studied her expression closely as he walked alongside her. Catching his eyes, Wynns gave him a weak smile, which he returned.

Candy certainly had some interesting friends, very interesting indeed.[/spoiler]