The cottage which Veil had led him to before saying her goodbyes for the evening was modestly sized, painted off-white with red trim. Being at the edge of town, it had a rather large yard attached. Neatly mowed, he noted, and wondered who had been taking care of the place. Veil herself, perhaps?
Inside he found that while the little house did not seem very lived in, it did appear to be quite a lot cleaner than he would have expected of a home left alone for who knows how long. There was quite an assortment of athletic gear; unusual for a unicorn. Had the original Pivotal Pledge been some sort of body-builder? The idea did not particularly appeal to him. There was a table, chairs, a cupboard, and a few other essentials.
Piv dropped his saddlebags by the door, taking the few remaining trail rations from them to store in a nearby cupboard. He still had no desire to eat them; he hadn't really gotten hungry again yet. Not only that, he felt rather good. Strong. Better than he ever had since he'd woken up the night before. He decided that being in Ponyville must agree with him.
The cottage had only a single floor, and he found his bedroom in the back. Beside the generously sized window was a neatly made bed, the linens as relatively fresh as everything else he'd found so far. There was a small nightstand beside it with a picture of Piv with Veil, the both of them gazing up in wonder as a sonic rainboom spread across the sky overhead. He looked it over fondly, wondering not for the first time if he was doing the right thing.
Continuing his tour, his eyes fell next upon a full bookcase. It was populated mainly by health and fitness guides, but he also noted a few SciFi novels punctuating the shelves here and there. It seemed he had a lot to learn about his new identity.
He flopped down upon the bed, and glancing out the window he saw that the sky was lit by the sun no longer. It was Luna's grace that now covered the quiet town. Snuggling into the sheets, he started to relax...
---
Piv found himself floating through a sea of shifting colors, aimless, as thoughts flowed in and out of his mind. Twilight Sparkle. The name had caused The Voice to cry out in fear, but he didn't know why. What was so scary about a pony who's specialty was, apparently, studying? The environment around him shifted in response to this thought, and a section of cobblestone street formed below him. He floated down and landed gently upon the polished stones, noticing now that there were blurry images coming into focus all around him. Ponies, lots of them, all frozen in time. Fighting one another!
Even stranger, there were many copies of the same ponies. He spotted many with apples marking their flanks, another set with rainbow manes. Another was... "Rarity! And this over here is Pinkie Pie!" The both of them had been copied many times, just as the others had been. At the center of everything, within an impressive burst of magic energy caught mid release, was a determined looking unicorn colored deep purple.
"That's Twilight Sparkle." The Voice sounded from his left. He turned to find himself looking into the reflective glass window of a pastry shop, with a familiar monster gazing back at him. "You should avoid her, if you can." The black creature stepped out of the glass, emerging into his reality, causing him to back up in alarm.
"You, you look like me!" He exclaimed finally, remembering himself as he had been the very first night.
His phantom gave him a sardonic smile. "Do I?" She pointed back at the glass, which now showed a reflection of Pivotal Pledge behaving exactly as a reflection should. "Do I really, Piv?" She spat his name in an acid tone, before snorting and turning away. "I suppose I shouldn't be too upset. You've done well so far."
Warily he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
She turned her head to gaze at him steadily over her shoulder, but did not respond. The effect was so unnerving that he eventually looked away. "Follow me." She said at last, "I want to show you something." The creature launched herself into the air with a mighty flap of her insect wings, flying away at high speed. The moment he began to wonder how he should follow her without wings of his own, a staircase appeared in front of him. Upside down. Suspended from nothing.
"All right..." He stood on his hind hooves, reaching up to grasp the bottom step, and suddenly his world inverted. Unprepared for the sudden shift in perspective, he fell 'down' the steps and began tumbling along them up into the sky. Then end of the line turned out to be a cloud, which he flopped onto awkwardly. Somehow the fact that he could stand on it without any trouble did not surprise him, nor did the fact that he was completely unharmed after his fall.
Piv found his phantom self digging at the cloud with her hoof, her expression turning to satisfaction as she found what she was looking for. Her horn glowed green, and a piece of fluff floated up in front of her. "This is for you. It's the only one I've been able to free so far." The puff floated forward, and before he could protest it expanded to engulf him.
---
She was flying through the skies with her siblings, raging at their inability to understand anything she was talking about. "Don't you get it!? Didn't you feel it!? It's like we've been looking at pictures of food our whole lives without having ever tasted the real thing!" The blank stares from their glowing blue eyes told her how little they followed this.
The nearest made an effort, "We're all hungry after getting thrown out of Canterlot, but don't worry. Queen Chrysalis will find us another source of food."
"No! Agh, you don't understand!" They were happy with their lies, and if she stayed with them lies were all she'd ever have. "Skies! I... I can't take this anymore!" With a desperate cry, she let loose all her pent up feeling. She could feel her body mutating rapidly as she began to fall from the sky, any control she may have had scattered on the winds. Her siblings gasped in alarm, and a few of them dove to catch her, but they were forced back by the flailing limbs of her indefinite form. Falling, falling, falling...
---
Piv gasped, coming back to his senses upon the cloud with his phantom self watching him. "What was that!?" He asked, alarmed.
"A true memory. More than just a fragment." She told him, her voice dripping satisfaction. "I have them all, though this is the only one I've been able to show you."
He blinked, and sudden excitement set in as he realized what she was saying. "You know my past? Tell me! I want to know who I am!"
Her eyes seemed to take a distant, tired look. "Do you, really?"
"Yes!" He cried in response.
An ironic smile formed on her lips, and she opened her mouth to speak. Soft teal light surrounded her. "Ungh, mmf!" Was all she could manage as the magic pressed upon her. She fought with the restricting force, which a shocked Piv began to realize was coming from his own horn. The light vanished as soon as she stopped struggling against it, perhaps acknowledging her surrender. Her eyes narrowed at him. "No, you don't." She advanced on him, her tone dripping venom. "You don't want anything to do with me. You reject me! You think you know better, but you know nothing!" By the end of this she was speaking in seething hisses, her ghastly visage pressed close to his frightened face.
A cruel smile suddenly slipped over her features. "But you can't live without me." She withdrew, leaving a deep unpleasant laugh ringing in his ears.