//------------------------------// // Day 1 // Story: The Hunters // by Poia //------------------------------// Sleep, it's so nice. I don't know when the last time I slept was, or what I was just doing, but boy does it really take it out of you. I feel like I could lie here forever. The wind gently blowing through my coat and mane, the grass tickling my gut. It's moments like these that make me love life. "Hey, wake up already would ya?" a voice called. I cracked an eye open. "Huh, what?" I shielded my eyes from the sunlight. "Ow." "Wake up, I'm getting tired of this." the same voice said. "Fine." I took a deep breath before standing myself up. I took a good look at the pony in front of me. "Who are you?" The blue mare rolled her eyes. "I'm Rainbow Dash, do you really not recognize me? I only helped save the world like, eight times." "Hmm, nope, doesn't ring a bell. I can't really remember anything, so, yeah." "Well, get out of here guy, weather team and I need to make it rain here in five minutes. Just consider yourself lucky that I warned you." Whoever she is, she doesn't want me here. At least she didn't just dump a rainstorm on my face, that was nice. "Oh, uhh, thanks, Rainbow Dash." I said her name cautiously, watching her expression to make sure I wasn't wrong. "Oh, uh, I know it's sort of rude, but I'm hungry, is there a good place to get some food around here?" I forced a smile to try to keep it from being awkward. "Umm, personally I like to eat at Sugarcube Corner for a quick snack. Just go down there and turn left at the fountain. By the way, that face is extremely awkward." Rainbow flashed me a wink and darted into the sky, presumably to start the rain. I figured now was as good a time as any to leave. When I entered the bakery, countless amazing scents hit my nose. I inhaled the aromas before I went up to the counter. A pink Earth pony stood behind it. Her curly tail was wagging uncontrollably and I could tell she was about to explode. I opened my mouth to speak, and that seemed to trigger the eruption. "Hiwelcometosugarcubecornerimpinkiepieicanseeyourenewtothistownpleasetakethis-" she quickly pulled out a cupcake and set it on the counter in front of me. "-IcantbelieveanewponyisintownohmycelestiaIneedtotelleverypony!" Next thing I know, she was out the door and running around town for all I could tell. "Uh, hello? Anybody else?" I asked the empty restaurant. "Guess not." I quickly ate the cupcake she had offered me and then stepped outside. I needed a moment to think, so I walked over to a bench near the fountain I had passed earlier, and I lied down on it. "What the heck just happened?" I asked myself. I sat there for several minutes just calming down and thinking. The constant sound of the water splashing in the fountain helped me focus. I barely had time to clear my thoughts by the time a white Pegasus trotted up to me. "Are you okay?" she said with a giggle. "You look quite stressed." "Oh, uh. Yeah. Just needed a moment to think, a lot has been going on today." I replied when I realized she meant me. She gave an understanding nod. "Crazy day, barely past noon. I feel bad for you." She hopped up on the other side of the bench and lied down with me. "You know, it helps to talk about it, trust me, I majored in psychology." For some reason, the shade of green that her mane and tail was sort of soothing, it made me feel that I could trust her. I looked at her. I might as well tell her, what harm can it do? "Well, there actually really isn't much to talk about. I woke up maybe half an hour ago to this pegasus telling me that I had to leave because they were gonna make it rain, then I went to Sugarcube Corner for some food and next thing I know, the pony who runs the place is off running around the town. I'd say more but I really can't remember anything else." "Well, I have certainly heard weirder. I think you just need some rest, where do you live?" "I don't know. I literally can't remember anything about my life. I could be married and I wouldn't know!" She gave me a half frown. "Alright, you can stay at my place for a while then, you know, until you get your memory back." "Oh, gosh, no, I couldn't. I mean, I don't even know where I am." I tried to come up with a better excuse for why I can't, but I really couldn't. She smiled at me then stepped off the bench. "Come on, I'm sure all you need is some rest. Besides, I couldn't live with myself if I let some pony run around in your condition." She tugged on my leg to get me off the bench. "Ok, sure. One night won't hurt." I reluctantly stepped down and followed her as she led the way to her house. It was a fairly short walk, only a couple minutes. We talked on the way there, well, mainly her. I don't really know anything to talk about, amnesia and all. But hey, on the bright side, she did have a nice house. "Welcome to my house." She gestured at the room we were standing in. There was some nice furniture and minimal, but amazing, decoration. Towards the back of the house was a small kitchen with a peninsula set up so that guests could feel like they were at a restaurant. Several feet to the left, built onto the wall, was a wooden staircase. "Over there is the kitchen, help yourself to whatever is in the fridge, just don't touch the pantry. Dishes are in the shelf right there, put them in the sink when you're done, built into the counter." She pointed her hoof over at the stairs. "Up there are the bedrooms and the bathroom, the door in the side of the staircase is a closet in case your wondering." She looked at me with a friendly smile. "Make yourself at home, the guest bedroom has the darker color wood door." "Wow, thanks. You're too nice." She blushed. "Oh, it's nothing." There was an awkwardly long pause. "How rude of me! I never introduced myself!" She bowed her head and ruffled her wings a bit. "My name is Midnight Snow, what's your name?" "Uhh. I don't know." I answered honestly. Midnight tilted her head a bit. "This amnesia has you pretty well huh? Just make something up, I won't judge!" "Ok, well in that case, my name is..." I turned back and looked at my blood red coat. I stretched out the wing that I saw. Every single feather was gradient into black just right to create a cool effect on my wing. I flicked my tail into sight, and it had a similar effect. "...I guess my name will be, uh, Cinder Blade." Midnight obviously held back a laugh. "Alright Cinder. Welcome to my humble abode." "Hey, give me some credit, I had like five seconds!" "Calm down, I said I'm not judging." She started giggling, and it slowly rose into a full on laugh. I couldn't help but join in, realizing the ridiculousness of the situation. "I can't believe you're putting up with this." I said when we finished. "Eh, it gets lonely here sometimes." She thought for a moment. "Are you still hungry?" "Yeah, kinda." Midnight walked into her kitchen and got a plate out. She opened her fridge and put various fruits and vegetables on the plate. She slid it out onto the little serving bar when she was done. "Here, eat up. You may not remember what foods you liked, but I bet you'll like most of these." I walked up and sat up on a swivel chair she had. It was a little awkward, as I'm not used to sitting. I sampled every food she gave me, she was right, I liked almost all of it. The only foods she gave me that I didn't like was the lettuce and watermelon. "Thank you again, that was really good!" "Don't mention it. I love helping others." She left her kitchen area and back towards the door, but instead she went into the main room and lied down on her couch. She glanced at a clock on the wall. "Oh my, time went by fast! It's already six o'clock!" "Wow, yeah, it did go by fast. So, I can stay here overnight right?" "Of course." "And you said the darker door is the guest room right?" "Yup." She replied. I walked over to the staircase. "I think I'm going to turn in early tonight, thanks for everything." "Anytime, Cinder, I'll see you in the morning." "Goodnight." I said. "Goodnight." Midnight replied. I went upstairs and used the bathroom before going into my designated room. It wasn't much, but it was still nice. An over-sized, dark colored, fluffy bed took up most of the space. There was a small dresser in the corner. I took a quick look through all six drawers, only finding a switchblade knife, probably for self-defense, though I couldn't imagine why any pony would need to defend themselves in a town like this. After deciding to leave the weapon alone, I cracked the window open about an inch or so to get a nice calming breeze. Satisfied with the setup, I flopped onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to my neck. I shut my eyes and relaxed, hoping sleep would come soon, but for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.