//------------------------------//
// Hidden Memories 
// Story: The Cracks Are Showing 
// by Tunalock 
//------------------------------//

	Pain. Pain was all that I could feel. It coursed through my body with the pain of a thousand suns. It was almost unbearable, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was held in an invisible grip, unable to move. I couldn't even scream in agony, for my mouth was held shut by the same grip. I thought I was experiencing death, but not my own. The deaths of all those who I saw. Then, there was nothing. No pain, no invisible grip, no death. Nothing but a small little voice. A small little voice that asked, "Are you alright?" It repeated the phrase for a while, then the voice stopped, saying in a hushed voice, "Oh my gosh..." I fluttered my eyes open, and before me I saw an impossible creature; a unicorn. What more, it was purple, and even more crazy was that it talked. As it held out a hoof to me, I realized two things: one, I was a pony, and two, this was somehow all wrong. Something deep in my brain told me that talking horses with horns weren't real. Then, a thought came to me, which said, "Well, neither are dead things attacking you." As I questioned my mind's statement, it was assaulted with horrid memories of another world. Creatures attacking a man in a suit, latching onto him like a parasite. A giant tentacle-like creature pulling the man in the suit down a twisting corridor. The face of a woman, eyes and mouth replaced with a bright glow. I must had have screamed, for the purple unicorn asked, "What is it? What's wrong?" I stared at her for a second and asked, "Who am I?" I had no idea what my name was, no clue of my past, and no recollection of why I was here. All I knew was that I was a pony, and I wasn't supposed to be one.

"Well, I don't know. Your cutie mark should probably relate to your name, but the problem is that I see two." I shook my head and said, "What's a cutie mark?" The unicorn pointed to my flank and said, "It's something that displays your special talent. For instance, my special talent is magic." She turned around to show me her cutie mark, which was a pink and white star burst. I looked at both of mine. One was a wrench, the other was a series of three dots lined up. I looked back at the pony and said, "Well, maybe I have two talents. I'm sure that's happened before." The pony shook her head and said, "No, it hasn't. Once you have a cutie mark, there's no changing it. I can see from one of them that one of your special talents must be fixing things. What's the other one for?" I looked back at the three dots, and for a second time that day, my mind was assaulted with memories. This time, the man in the suit was coming out of an elevator. On a table was a large gun, which he picked up along with some boxes. One of the horrible creatures from before came out of an air vent. The man pushed a button on the gun, turning the front sideways. He then fired at the creature, taking its limbs off. It faded back into my mind as I said, "Maybe... maybe it hast to do with cutting things?" The pony shook her head again and said, "I don't know, it doesn't seem very relevant... anyways, we should give you a name. Based on your talent on fixing things, how about-"

I cut her off, saying, "Well, based on my talent of cutting things, or, at least, my presumed talent, what about Cutter?" She sighed and said, "That... um... seems nice... I'm Twilight, by the way. Twilight Sparkle." I gave a warm smile and said, "Hey, Twilight, there's one more thing..." She looked at me and said, "Yes?" I gave a small nudge towards her horn and said, "Are you the only unicorn? I've honestly never met one before." She chuckled and said, "How can I be the only unicorn if you're one too?" I patted my head and felt something hard hitting my hoof, my horn. I was a unicorn as well. I never thought I would be in this kind of situation.

Offhandedly, Twilight said, "Do you know anything about giant, twisting statues? Some of the other ponies found one in the desert a ways away from here." Yet again, my mind was flooded with memories. This time, the man was somehow moving a large, twisting statue that ended in two points on a dusty and windy planet. As it connected to a sort of base for it, a bright light flashed from it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Twilight said, and I replied, "Every time I see, hear, or think something, I get these flashes, l-like something from someone else's memory. First, I had this sort of thought of dead things attacking me, and these memories of someone getting attacked by these horrible monstrosities. Then, when I saw the three dots, I saw the same someone pick up a sort of tool and take off the limbs of one of those creatures. The three dots were light sights. A-and the statue... I saw a statue like the one you described... i-it was red... I-I don't know who I am, or what's going on... I need help..."

"Well, maybe I could help you." Twilight replied. "Memory spells take a lot of work to perform, but I might be able to do it in a few days. I've exhausted myself already by trying to calm an Ursa Minor, but I'll be able to do it soon." I looked at her and asked, "Why would you help me, a complete stranger?" She looked at me and said, "Because you need help, and I've learned in my studies that you should always help somepony, no matter how small the problem."