The setting sun and its last rays glinted off of every surface, making everything in sight dazzle like a vast abundance of diamonds. It also made it insanely difficult to see, but it was no less beautiful.
"Quite a sight, huh?"
"Yes." Wisp said, his usual withdrawn nature evidently removed at the amazing sight of the sun setting over the Crystal Empire. The unicorn and her friend sat there on the palace balcony, just looking at everything.
"Aren't you glad you came along?"
"Yes. The sights, the sounds, the view. It's all so breathtaking. Everywhere I look I see more radiant beauty." The golden-furred pony said. She smirked at her friend's inability to control his usually deeply hidden emotions. Behind her she could hear the sound of somepony trying to sneak up on her.
"Well, don't look behind you then," She smirked, "Because there's nothing beautiful there."
"Ouch." Came the voice of her cousin. Whisper Wind turned his head, and his expression turned into one of shock.
A light pink filly stood there, her wings folding gently as she set down. She looked near indistinguishable from her mother, aside from her fittingly sapphire blue mane tinged with just a few hints of violet. And the glasses, which she had evidently forgotten to remove. Her name was Shining Sapphire.
"Hey, Sapphy." the two mares embraced.
"Guess you finally got out of those books?"
"Father said I had to get some fresh air." She turned to see Wisp.
"And who's your friend?"
"I'm... Whisper Wind." He said, in an amazingly quiet voice that sounded not entirely unlike his mother. He even bowed. That was a shock.
"Charmed." She was blushing. Princess of a whole kingdom and she blushed when one colt bowed to her.
*****
Midday Eclipse blinked, and yelped. She was back in the library, and her m-... Twilight Sparkle was starting at her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the purple unicorn asked. Midday looked at her, rubbing the side of her head.
"I just need to lie down a moment." She said, weakly. 'If SOMEPONY hadn't barged in when I was about to drink a damned memory potion I wouldn't be having flashbacks' she said to herself. Hopefully they'd wear off quickly.
She rolled up the letter she'd just written and tossed it to Spike. The dragon breathed, and a small green burst of flame transported the letter to Princess Celestia.
Midday slouched down in the chair.
"What was that downstairs anyway?" Twilight asked.
"A memory potion. I was hoping I could use it to remember what it was that got me stuck in this situation so I could begin to figure out how to fix it. Unfortunately you spooked me and... well... I probably should have been a lot more careful."
She turned to Twilight.
"Oh, by the way, those notes on Fluttershy's chicken, I think I know what they meant." Lights lit up in Twilight's eyes.
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's an exothermic reaction. The chicken exploded." There was an awkward pause.
"Exploded?" Spike whispered, his eyes darting to Twilight.
"Chickens... don't explode." Twilight Sparkle scoffed.
"This one did. And I'm pretty sure if you fed them rice they would."
Twilight looked at the notes. She wandered into the side room, slamming the door on the way.
Midday let out a slight moan, and curled up into a ball.
"Are you alright?" Spike asked.
"No."
There was a pause, as Spike thought of how to continue.
"Do you feel like explaining it?"
"I just experienced every horrible memory in my entire life. And every other memory on top of that."
There was a slight sniff.
"So thanks for the concern, Spike, but... I don't really feel like talking right now."
Before Spike could say anything further Twilight burst back into the room. There was concern in her eyes, alongside a rapidly vanishing trace of irritation.
"Come on Spike, we'd better go break the news to Fluttershy."
She walked towards the door. Spike turned back to Midday.
"Are you... going to be alright?" he asked.
"I'll live." She sighed. She heard hoofsteps and the sound of the door closing.
*****
After a few minutes of lying there feeling wretched, and trying not to remember anything (Especially anything related to Shining Sapphire or Wisp) she heard the door opening.
"Oh, sorry, is this a bad time, because I could... come back later?" She looked up to see a dull brown earth pony stallion looking around the room. Something about him looked eerily familiar, and yet not, and she had the strangest feeling that he didn't belong, and there was an odd look in his eyes. Just looking at him, one would get the impression that he was holding back a small flood's worth of tears.
"No, no. I'm just feeling wretched. How can I help?" she said, dragging herself onto her hooves.
"Oh, I just came to poke around, have a look. Haven't been in a library in a while, I like libraries. Libraries are good."
"Right. And you are?"
"Oh, just call me the Doctor."
She blinked. Had she heard that right? She had heard that right, okay. Good, she wasn't
"You're in love with her? Her of all ponies? I introduced you!"
... still having flashbacks.
"Sorry? Didn't catch that." The stallion said.
"Is there some..." she paused, she could feel her mind slipping back into the memories again.
"REASON, is there some reason you're here?" She said, ignoring the feeling of sunburn on her back, or His laughter in her ears.
"Are you sure you're alright?" The stallion asked, moving toward her.
"Y-Yes!" she strained. She felt two hooves on the side of her head, and something strange.
"Okay, miss, what's your name?"
"Midday. It's Midday Eclipse."
"Very unusual name that. Okay, Miss Eclipse, just relax for a moment."
"Bit difficult right now." She grimmaced.
"I know" he said, she looked into his eyes. Now that she got a good look at them, there was something in them, metaphorically speaking, like he had seen far more and far worse than his youthful frame implied.
"Ah. A bit of an accident with a memory potion. Good, good."
"Good?!"
"Easily fixed" he said, "Trust me. I'm the Doctor, here to help."
"Not 'less you can alter time, teleport me off this rock." He seemed to find that funny. The world started swimming, and...
*****
She woke up. She was lying on her back, the strange stallion looking at a strange object which looked like it had been pieced together from several other objects she couldn't recognise.
"How... How long was I out?"
"Only a few seconds, don't worry." She got to her hoofs, and looked at this 'Doctor'. He was smiling, and there was a barely subtle undercurrent of smugness to it.
"You'll be fine, but I'd take it a bit easy if I were you. Let your mind rest for a while as your memory engrams sort themselves out."
Numerous questions buzzed through her much clearer mind now.
"Who are you?"
He produced, seemingly from nowhere, a small piece of paper, which was even more impressive since he didn't have a horn. She looked at it.
"This says your name is Time-Turner." She frowned.
"And that you're from... that's not a real place. I'd know if it was." She looked at him again. A brief, but very recognisable, flicker of pain flashed across his face.
"Also, what did just you do?"
"Oh, that. Just helped your mind block out the memories forcing their way into your conciousness. Don't worry, didn't rummage around in there." He grinned. He had a lot of teeth.
"And what in the name of somepony else's sanity is that?" she pointed a hoof at the 'object'. He looked at it.
"This? Just my timey-wimey detector. Goes 'ding' when there's stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Stuff." He said, a noticable amount of smugness creeping in again, as if she wouldn't understand him if his explanation went in depth.
Midday felt her anger growing. Today was already clawing its way up the Worst Day Alive list and some idiot-haired goon with a questionable accent treating her like an eight year old was not helping.
"What manner of stuff?"
"Oh, a bit of temporal displacement, bit technical."
"People being moved from one time to another against their consent." He stared at her, as if he hadn't been expecting her to say that. To be fair, she hadn't exactly had a chance to wow strangers with her intellect while she was suffering random flashbacks.
"It also... has a tendency to cook chickens. At fifty paces. Whether I want it to or not."
"Cook chickens." That sounded familiar. A terrifying possibility presented itself.
"Uh, presuming these chickens were more than fifty paces away, what would happen?"
"I shouldn't like to think."
Suddenly there was an echo of somepony screaming 'no' at the top of her lungs.
*****
Spike turned to Twilight.
"I THINK THAT WENT RATHER WELL!" he yelled over Fluttershy's inconsolable weeping.
*****
"I think that was an owner of chickens right now." Midday deadpanned. 'Time Turner' turned slightly pale.
"Well, I've got to go... I've really got to go. Really should go." He said, backing towards the door. She opened it for him, and watched as he galloped away.
She closed the door, and took several deep breaths. Then her mind began to question what had just happened.
So, would at some point that stallion have a child or.... or... she wasn't entirely sure what to make of the second explanation, though she noted that he had the exact same Cutie Mark as she had, and she was fairly certain the chances of that were astronomical.
Then she looked at the comfy chair, sitting there, minding its own business where Rainbow Dash had left it.
'Perhaps tomorrow I should set up a Rainbow Dash distraction' she told herself.
Right now though, she was going to relax.
*****
Two hours later, Twilight and Spike returned to find the library exactly as they left it. Save for two things.
The first was the relaxing classical music, and the second was Midday, sitting in a reclining chair, not moving and looking mildly relaxed.
"Looks like someone's had a busy day" Laughed Spike.
"How'd things go with Fluttershy?" Midday asked, stetching and yawning.
Twilight and Spike just stared at her.
"Oh dear."
Twilight walked past her into the kitchen. Midday sighed.
"Feeling better?" Spike asked.
"A tad. I'm not randomly remembering everything that's ever happened to me. Just gotta relax, the Doctor said."
"Oh." Spike seemed to consider this. "That's good, right?"
"Yeah. And I'm on paid vacation, right?" She smiled. Spike smiled back, before rushing into the kitchen to stop Twilight damaging anything. True, she had nearly unlimited magical potential, but she couldn't cook for squat.
As she heard the door close, Midday let her smile vanish. She'd just experienced every memory in her entire life, every last second, her successes, failures, guilts and private joys... and she'd forgotten something important.
"I am Twilight Twinkle" She repeated to herself, for the fourth time, "Daughter of Twilight Sparkle, and.... and..."
Why couldn't she remember? She knew his name. She had a father, she knew that.
Even if no-one else remembered.
She frowned. It was another problem to solve. Perhaps if she made a list, and worked her way down...