> Explorers of Memory > by bronyman12345 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > section 1: Part 1: Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My eyes open, slowly as if they had the weight of eternity on them. Where am I? Looking around, I see books all around me on shelves and some desks too. This is a library. I try to sit up, but I fell to the floor instead, making a loud noise in the silence. To my left from across the room came a purple pony. A purple unicorn. “You are awake. Thank goodness. I'm Twilight Sparkle, what's your name?” The question lingered in my head long enough for Twilight to continue, mostly to herself, “Maybe he still needs to recover. He was asleep for almost three weeks.” Three weeks, that's a long time! Why was I sleeping? “Why was I sleeping?” Twilight looked back at me, a little surprised as if this was the first time she has ever heard my voice, “You were found in the Everfree Forest one night by a friend of mine named Zecora. She found you asleep on the side of the path, bruised everywhere. She said you almost lost your life, but with her quick thinking, she brought you a potion that would nurse you back to health. I took you in because Zecora had no room in her hut, and I took care of you for almost three weeks.” I thought about that for a little while, I was found. But that still didn't answer my question. Twilight seemed to notice my temporary distress, and continued, “Nopony knows for sure why you were sleeping. Some say that the strange Everfree Forest itself could be the cause for this. I have spent days looking for a book about people being put under by the Everfree and have come to dead ends every time I have a lead. What were you doing before this all? What is the last thing you can remember?” What happened? Where was I three weeks ago? What was I doing? I...can't.....remember. “I...can't remember anything.” Who am I? I sat there thinking, before long, a name popped up in my head, “I only know that my name is...Midnight Shadow.” “Mysterious, you also have lost your memory! This is so very odd. I wonder if there is a spell to bring back memories. I will have to look around my library to find one.” I took another glance around the room. There were probably about a ton of books in here. There were twenty seven shelves, each containing over a hundred books. Most of the books looked about three to five inches thick. What a book worm. “Hey Midnight, how about I show you around Ponyville? Maybe a walk will jog your memory.” A walk wouldn't hurt anypony. I guess I could use one for being asleep for three weeks. I shook my head, and she lead me to a door. My hind left leg felt a little more stiff than the rest of my legs. Maybe I would recognize somepony or something. After an hour of walking all over town, and a visit to Apple Acres, Twilight took me to the last destination, Sugar Cube Corner. “So, do you remember anything?” She asked. Thinking hard, nothing still comes to mind. I put my head down, depressed. I have lost everything I knew. Where am I going to live? What am I going to do for money? What can I even do? “Don't be sad, I will help you figure this out. It could take months, but I will help you. You can even stay at the library, there is plenty of room, but you'll sleep downstairs. I don't need any drama coming from anypony in this town. That would be bad.” I guess that answers my question about a place to stay, but I still need work. I don't want to be the basement pony of this town. Daily Journal Entry One Twilight asked me to keep a journal so that it would help keep me sane. I guess I am not really sure what to write, so I will write about what ever is one my mind. It has been two weeks since I have awoken in the library here in Ponyville. I woke knowing nothing about myself, and the ponies around me as well as the location I am at. In the two weeks following that day, I have been living in the library with Twilight. I live downstairs, she lives upstairs. Spike seems a little nervous about a stallion living here, but Twilight has handled with him. Twilight introduced me to her friends in Ponyville, I can hardly remember all of their names. But five of her friends seem really close to each other making a strong group of six ponies. They all treat me nicely, and Rarity even let me work for her one day. ONE DAY. I guess I wasn't cut out for making dresses, but at least I was trying to find work. Pinkie Pie gave me a job making cakes, I do terrible in this area as well. Rainbowdash tried to find something I could do for her, but it was useless to try, I don't have wings. Applejack let me try apple bucking, but my body can not do the work nearly as fast as her's. I tried my magic to pick the apples, but I'm still rusty around the edges. I crushed some of the apples, destroyed some of the trees, and made one tree grow a mustache. I guess this gig would not work out well either. Finally, Fluttershy offered me a job. I felt bad for her because I kind of scare her, just me being me. I guess I look a little scary being the color of the night, darker even than Luna (apparently. I still have to meet her.) Fluttershy and I get along pretty well actually. We both like to keep to ourselves quite a bit, and I surprisingly am pretty good with animals. The only problem with this is that all the little animals are scared of me. Only the larger animals like the dogs, hawks, and bears would not fear me. I guess I could say that I am content with living here for a while. I still would like to know who I was, but I like what I am right now. Although I feel out of place. Me and Twilight can not figure out what my talent is, I don't even have a cutie mark. I am not ashamed of that, but I am fully grown so this is just a rare situation. Super duper rare according to Pinkie. Twilight had ordered books to see if there is any magic on restoring memory, but they should arrive in about four weeks. Some other book addict has them checked out from the Canterlot Royal Library for a few weeks. I have to think about the future rather than think about the past. It seems that Twilight is more interested in helping me get my memory back than I am. I have become okay with not knowing my past mostly because all the ponies around me are just so nice. How can I have had a better life before? > Section One: Part 2: Life in Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am supposed to go practice magic today with Twilight a little ways from town. She didn't want to do it in the library in case I accidentally messed something up. Considering what happened at the Applejack's place, this really was a smart idea. I made my way to the outskirts of town near the Everfree Forest. There was a clearing wide enough for me to practice my magic, and not potentially mess up the town. In the clearing, Twilight was already there, reading another book. She looked up from her book when I trotted near, “Let's get started.” During the practice session, Twilight helped me fix some of the problems I was having. “Let the magic flow from your horn, don't stress about squishing the apple, that will squish it. Don't put too little magic on the apple either. That will cause the apple to do nothing. Just think about picking it up with invisible hooves...” She really is a good teacher. After some time, I perfected the levitation spell. “Good, now pick up that twig,” Twilight instructed. I focused on doing just that, and the twig smoothly floated into the air. She pointed at a rock the size of a filly next to a boulder. How difficult would it be to lift the boulder instead? I focused magic on the boulder, imagining it lift itself and float around. It just came out of the ground with ease, no sweat, no extra thought. That was easy. “You are strong with your magic. Maybe before you lost your memory, you were a sorcerer or a wizard.” Is this supposed to be strong? This feels easy, this is nothing to me. I put the rock down back where it was and looked around to see if there was anything bigger. Only the houses seem to be large around here, its probably not a good idea to lift a house. “Let's call it a day, Midnight. Tomorrow I can teach you to do some more magic basics.” “That would be good,” I respond, hoping that I learn all the basics as soon as I can. The sooner the basics are done, the sooner I move onto the more advanced magic. We walked back into town, Twilight having a book in front of her head as she walks. I played the leader role, Twilight somehow following me even though she is captivated by the book. I walked into town square past the sheriff's office and the town hall. Who is that pony outside the sheriff's office? I've never seen him in town before. I had pretty much seen everypony in this town at least once, I'd know if I haven't seen that pony before. “Hey, Twilight. Who is that pony?” I ask, stopping to point to whom I am referring to. Twilight nearly walked right into me, but stopped just inches from me to turn her head in the direction that I was pointing. At that time, the pony made his way over to us, looking especially interested in me. He had a blue colored fur, the color of the sky on a clear day, and a greyish blue mane. He had a golden star on his shoulder indicating he is a bounty hunter. Why is he staring at me like that? “Hey! Midnight! Long time no see!” He said. Twilight faced me, then the other pony again. “You know Midnight Shadow?” The blue pony turned towards Twilight with a smile from ear to ear. “Of course I know Midnight. He and I were partners against crime. We had such great adventures together didn't we?” What is he talking about? I don't even like the idea of fighting crime like that! I looked at his eyes, his deep green eyes. They reminded me of the color of the leaves of the Everfree. “I am sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know who you are. In fact, I hardly know who I am. I lost my memory and woke up here in Ponyville.” He smiled a bit longer before coming to see that I was not joking around. “Well, I am truly sorry for your loss. I would never let anything happen to you, just know this. Even if you do not remember who I am, you were the greatest friend I ever had.” I don't even know his name, but he is my only connection to my past. Twilight chimed in, “Hey, maybe you could tell Midnight about himself so he can try to remember who he was before this mess.” She smiled a friendly smile that indicated that she probably wanted to know this information out of extreme curiosity. The blue pegasus shook his head, “But first, I don't know about you, but I have a long trip ahead of me, and just finished a long trip last night. I would like to eat some food and rest up before we talk. How about you two meet me at Sugar Cube this evening around five or so.” Sugar Cube Corner is not really a good place to talk in private, but I guess that will do. Whatever floats his boat, I guess. Daily Journal Entry Two: I am still not sure why I am writing these journals, but I will do this just because Twilight wants me to. She is really interested in helping me figure out who I am. I am thankful for her helpfulness to me. She is my closest friend right now, mostly because I don't exactly have friends right now. That pegasus bounty hunter is a character. His smile today compared to that of Pinkie Pie's smile when she met me. But, I wonder why he would want to wait to tell me what he knows about me. Am I not important enough for him to tell me right then and there? I should probably calm down, maybe he has a good reason for holding back the information until tonight. He said to meet him at Sugar Cube around five, that's in about an hour. I will have to be patient, and hope for the best. Although, he never mentioned his name, some friend he really is.