An audible gasp, as if she had awoken from a deep slumber. She frantically looked about for something, anything that could comfort her. But there was nothing. Nothing but water pools and cave walls. "What is this place? How did I get here?". Her mind was racing, then stopped dead. She realized she had to answer one question before any more. "Who am I?".
Any other pony could answer instantly, but she couldn't. Nothing came to her mind to describe her own self. In a panic, she began to gallop around, hyperventilating to the point of being sick. She looked down, and noticed she wasn't running anymore. She was flying. Now that had something else to think about, the mare looked behind her, and noticed a set of leathery wings beating steadily to keep her aloft.
"Fancy that. I can fly. At least now I know a little bit more about me."
Wondering if there were any other parts of her anatomy she missed, she made her way to a small pool of water. "Let's see what else we can find."
The face she saw seemed like that of a stranger, though it was oddly comfortable, as if she had known the pony her whole life. When she looked, she saw a pretty young mare, a dark grey coat and midnight blue mane, and was met with a curious stare from her own yellow, almond shaped eyes, centered around her cat-like pupils.
"Well, sure got the luck of the draw when it comes to looks." She stroked her mane make sure it was in fact beautiful. Before she could even reach her forehead, her hoof hit, something. With her other hoof, she felt around until they came to a point.
"A horn. I have a horn and wings." It was the first time she actually felt happy. "Starry Night you really are something special."
As the words left her mouth, she didn't know whether to be confused as to where it came from, or overjoyed that she remembered. "I remember." She said with restrained excitement. "My name is Starry Night."
Now that she had answered the who, it was time to figure out the where and how. She new that she was a pony named Starry Night, but that was it. No recollection of what she was or how she got to where she was. Since she couldn't see much inside, Starry figured outside would hold more answers.
"I got myself in here, so I must be able to get out. These wings oughtta help out." Starry didn't know how she knew the language she did, but knowing it at all was a gift horse she was not a out to look in the mouth. She spread her wings and made for a ledge with what appeared to be a doorway. Flying came naturally, almost on instinct. Before she could even ask how, they had delivered her to the ledge. When she peered through, how she had gotten there seemed of little consequence.
Outside was a landscape of infinite beauty, the twinkling stars contrasted above her on an inky black sky, all centered around the immaculately white moon. Below it all lay the swooping lines of the earth, all covered in a dark green blanket of trees with sparkling blue streaks marking the rivers and streams. Suddenly, the who, what, when where, and why were irrelevant. Starry no longer cared that she didn't remember anything. She would have looked at the night sky forever more, had she not been alerted by a loud, an anxious drawl.
"Starry! Starry Night! Where'd ya get off to!"
Starry wasn't scared, just curious. I wonder how they know my name? Maybe they know other things about me too! She instantly swooped down to the the pony calling her, and hit the earth with a loud crash, eliciting a shriek from the frightened mare.
"Star, deary, ya'll nearly made me jump outta my skin." The pony's accent was quite pronounced. It took Starry a few seconds to get used to it.
"Yes! It is my name! I picked it out of no where. I didn't know if was right." Starry's exuberance confused her mew friend.
"What are you talkin' about, sugar cube? You're the pony who told me."
"I don't understand." Starry admitted. "I don't know you at all. I only met myself a few minutes ago."
"I only met you a few days ago." She replied. "You don't remember me, Honey Suckle?"
"If I did, the memory is gone now. I don't know anything."
"Oh my. Sounds as if your mind is in a bad way. Come back to the garden. I'll see what I can do." Honey Suckle beckoned Starry Night to follow her.
Starry trotted up alongside her new friend. She couldn't wait for the garden she had to ask now. "So, if you know my name, does that mean you know what I am and where I came from?" Honey Suckle let out a sigh. "Sweetheart, I doubt the princess herself knows what you are."
“Princess? Princess who?” The importance of a Princess stuck with her for some reason.
“Child, you remember less than I thought. I’ll start at the beginin’, the night you showed up at the garden.”