Sciamachy

"So this is what you do for a living?" I asked Clementine after my third failed attempt at selling one of the citrus fruits from her roadside cart, which happened to be the exact same one I had slept in for most of the way here. I had been impressed when she gave a single kick to the cart and it had all sprung up and folded out, the fruit having been stored in the floor, so I hadn't seen it, or even known it was there. She had done a superb job of making sure the things didn't rot, so she had lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and yes, clementines that looked as though they had just been picked. I couldn't understand why nopony was buying them.

"Well, yes and no." Clementine offered in answer to my earlier question. "I also deliver the fruits to all the restaurant owners around here. For whatever reason, nopony has ever bothered trying to grow citrus in this area, so they only get this stuff once a month from Appleloosa. That's pretty much what I do. Sell to the restaurants, who want lemons, oranges, and grapefruits for some of the fancier dishes, and sell whatever else I have on the streets to anypony who'll buy. Unfortunately, not many ponies see much use in keeping these things around the house, but the clementines tend to be popular with the foals." As she said it, a small filly galloped up to the stand, accompanied shortly by two others. The first one was a creamy yellow color, a scarlet mane with a pinkish-red bow in it bouncing atop her head, with a tail to match. The other two looked very different, and I thought something must be wrong with them. One, a small white filly with a pink and purple mane, had what appeared to be a strangely twisted bone sticking out of her head. The other, an orangeish pony with a purplish-red mane and tail, had two bulges on her sides which didn't look very healthy. The fur on them had somehow reached a consistency that it looked like feathers!

"Oh, hey, Clementine! Could we have three... um... clementines, please?" The yellow one asked. I stood staring at the three fillies, wondering what on earth had happened to the other two. The one who had just requested the sweet fruit seemed fine!

Clementine chuckled, seeming oblivious to the horrible state of the white and orange fillies. Perhaps it was a birth defect, and she was simply used to it? "Of course you can, Apple Bloom. As long as you have the bits, of course." She gave the small filly a mock stern look, and she, apparently named Apple Bloom, giggled.

"Nope! Not a single one on any of us." The other two fillies giggled as well, and I was awed by how well they coped with their unfortunate case.

"Oh, well... alright, three clementines on the house. But only for you, Cutie Mark Crusaders." They all suddenly broke out into fits of giggles, and I began to think I was missing something.

"Hey! Who's your new friend, Clementine?" The orange filly suddenly asked, and I started.

"Ooooo. Is he your coltfriend?" The white one interjected. What? My pony mind, as I had taken to calling it, started reeling. Me? Her coltfriend? Clementine just chuckled again. "No, no, Sweetie Belle, he's just a pony I met in the desert. His name's Dark Time."

"Awww. But you two'd be so cute together." Sweetie Belle whined, and Clementine scowled.

"Just go on and eat your fruit, you little rascals." The three would likely have left right then, had the orange one not taken one look at me and screamed.

"What? What is it Scootaloo? Do you know him or somethin'?" Apple Bloom asked her friend. Scootaloo didn't answer, and just gestured back to my hip. What? Oh crap, had I been burned worse than I thought?! But after looking back, I saw nothing wrong. Just normal green fur and a small burn. Nothing unusual, right? Well, apparently it was unusual, since all four girls were now staring at me with shock.

"You don't have a Cutie Mark!" Sweetie Belle suddenly exclaimed. A what? Not even my pony mind knew what they were talking about. Way to retain just enough information to make it awkward, brain. Thanks so much. I hesitantly asked the question that I knew was going to sound incredibly stupid.

"Um... What's a Cutie Mark?" The four gaped at me even more, and I took a single hoofstep back before composing myself.

"Wow. You really aren't from anywhere in Equestria, are you? You don't even know what a Cutie Mark is." Clementine said, in a voice that was somewhere between awe, condescension, and how one speaks to a foal about where babies come from. I decided I didn't like that tone of voice, and would be perfectly happy with never hearing it again.

"WHAT?! You're not from Equestria? So where are ya from? Do ponies not have Cutie Marks there?" I found the barrage of questions coming from Apple Bloom, but she was shortly joined by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. I began to back away, but the fillies followed me, continuing to ask question after question. Eventually, I ran up against the side of a building, and got down to my knees, my ears pinned back and my pupils contracting with every question. Eventually, something inside me snapped, and I sat up and screamed, "I DON'T KNOW!"

All was silent for a moment, and I noticed that many ponies had paused along the street to stare at me. I got back to my hooves and dusted myself off, walking around the fillies and back to the cart as though nothing had happened.

"WAIT!" the three young ponies called from behind me. I turned to look at them, and Apple Bloom asked, "So, ya don't know the answer to any of our questions?" I shook my head. All the ones I had truly comprehended I could not answer, at least.

"What, so you have, like, amnesia or something?" Scootaloo asked. I thought for a moment. Amnesia, amnesia... AMNESIA! The knowledge came not from my pony mind, but from the other, more interesting, mind. DANG IT, pony mind! Why are you useless? I could've just told Clementine I had amnesia from the beginning, and all this awkwardness could have been avoided! Ah well, too late now, I guess.

"Oh, so you weren't embarrassed about something in your past? Why didn't you just tell me?" I looked at Clementine and shrugged in answer.

"Alright, Cutie Mark Crusaders! We've gotta help this pony get his memories back! Where should we take him?" Apple Bloom stood in front of her friends and Sweetie Belle stepped forward. "We could take him to the hospital, couldn't we?" she said. Scootaloo then turned to face her. "Naw, I don't think that's such a good idea, Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom already said we had no bits, and they might charge us to help him."

"What? Scootaloo! You know as well as I do that Nurse Redheart wouldn't dream of charging a pony in need! Much less anypony else in the hospital!" Her accusation seemed to go unheard, however, as both other 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' sat, trying to think up new ideas. Suddenly, Apple Bloom got a look of success on her face and she cried, "I know! We'll take him to Twilight! She probably has some spell that can help him!"

"Do I get any say in this?" I asked, but was completely ignored. Even Sweetie Belle seemed to like the idea of seeing this 'Twilight', so that was apparently what we were doing. Honestly, I liked the hospital idea better.

"Hey, girls, WAIT! He was helping me..." Clementine's voice was lost as the three fillies shoved me quickly down the street. I glanced back and managed to give her a shrug. She just sighed and turned back to her stand.

*     *     *

"Um... girls?" I asked the three fillies, as they continued to push me closer and closer to a large tree in the middle of what I took to be a plaza.

"Oh, don't worry Mister Dark Time! Twilight's real nice! And ah'm SURE she'll have somethin' that can help ya.", Apple Bloom spoke up from behind me.

"But that's..."

"Oh, don't be such a worry-wart. You'll be just fine!" Scootaloo spoke up from behind my left foreleg. I felt bad having her and Sweetie Belle push me like this, what with their unfortunate non-conformities. But I momentarily forgot my pity as we drew closer to the large tree.

"That's not what I..."

"Trust us, Mister Dark Time. You'll be just fine!" Sweetie Belle spoke up from behind my right foreleg.

"GIRLS! WATCH OUT!" As we had drawn closer, I had realized that we were not losing any momentum. Another thing I noticed was that apparently the tree was some type of house, as I tripped over the front step and, maintaining my momentum, managed to fall up the other two and crash into the door, upside-down.

"Oh geez, Dark, are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, her wings stretched out with worry. Wait... WINGS?! So, somehow, this filly had been born with wings?! From my position on the ground, I caught a brief glimpse of a rainbow dashing through the clouds, bursting each one as it bounced between them. After a moment, I saw a grey pony with strangely misaligned eyes flying through the clouds as well. Oh... It wasn't special. So, a pony with wings. No, a... pegasus. A strange word. It seemed unfit for the real world. I looked up (well, down actually) and noticed a mare walking along with a newspaper. The strange thing was, it seemed to just be levitating in front of her face as she walked. I then noticed the same sort of strange, bony figure growing out of her head as with Sweetie Belle. It gave off a faint glow, as did the newspaper. Oh, so the ones with... horns? I guess? Anyway, they could use magic. That was cool. A pity I wasn't one of them, then.

All of this happened in the span of about three seconds, and all three fillies had rushed up to me and were asking how I was doing.

"It's okay girls. I'm fi..." I had started to answer. Then, from somewhere in the distance, I heard a single, strange phrase bellowed in a distinctly Pinkie-ish voice.

"EAR FLOP, EYE FLUTTER, KNEE TWITCH!!!"

"Wait, wha..?" I started to say, and suddenly the door that I had fallen against burst open, pushing me back and smacking me against the wall, then proceeding to flatten me.

"Oh, hello, Cutie Mark Crusaders. Can I help you with anything?" I heard a feminine voice say.

"Twilight! We came to see ya about this pony, he's..." Apple Bloom was cut off as I imagined her looking around for me.

"Hey, where in tarnation'd he go?"

"I'm back here!" I managed, in a muffled yell. How had they not seen that?!

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't..." The mare pulled the door off me, and I dropped to the ground. I looked around, dazed, and wondered why she had stopped talking mid-sentence. I managed to get my eyes focused, and found a lavender mare with a horn staring down at me. Why was she staring at me like that? Had I... I closed my eyes and clutched my head as two voices broke into my mind.

It was those two again, Mr. Crazy and Mr. Hero. Kill her! Mr. Crazy said. She dared to hurt you, now she must suffer! KILL HER!

Don't you dare! Mr. Hero spoke up. If you kill her, an innocent mare who just made an honest mistake, what will that make you? Don't do it!

What will it make him? It will make him crazy! And that's perfectly fine by us, isn't it Dark?

Don't do it Time! Or I'll be forced to stop you! And imagine how badly you'd feel! This mare could be a wife, or have children! You can't just kill her for an accident!

Oh, I think you underestimate our abilities, Ti...

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, startling the three fillies and lavender mare around me. I opened my eyes and looked around. The three younger ponies looked close to tears, and the mare, I think named Twilight, looked shocked.

"Um... Sorry, that wasn't directed at you." The fillies began to look happier, but Twilight scowled at me.

"Oh really? Then who was it directed at?" She turned around and strolled back into what I could only assume was her house, before apparently remembering why she came out in the first place.

"I'm sorry, girls. What was it you wanted?" She asked it in a friendly enough tone, but I got the distinct feeling that I was being purposefully ignored. I couldn't really blame her. That had undoubtedly seemed incredibly rude.

"Oh, right. We brought Dark Time here to see if you could help him get his memories back. He's got amnesia." Sweetie Belle said, and the lavender mare sighed.

"Of course you did. Well, girls, do you think you could give this stallion and I some time alone? It probably wouldn't be much fun to watch me try to get his memories back, anyway. I'll see you at the party later, though?"

"Yeah!", "You bet!", and "Of course!" came from each of the fillies in turn, and I grimaced. Hurray, being left alone with a mare I was pretty sure hated me, what fun. Twilight continued inside and, after a moment's consideration, I followed her. Not two steps inside, the door suddenly banged shut behind me and the lavender mare rounded on me, murder in her eyes. Geez, what did I do?! I mean, it was rude, but she looked about ready to strangle me with her bare hooves!

"I'm sorry," she said, in a voice that clearly said she wasn't, "but I know a bad pony when I see one, and I don't especially want to go poking around in one's head just because three fillies asked nicely."

"What, I..."

"You know, you almost fooled me there for I moment. I got one look at you and I wondered 'Who is this guy?' then you went off, clutching your head like that, and I wondered 'What's wrong? I should help him!' and then you go shouting at three fillies and a mare you just met to shut up! Who do you think you are?"

"LOOK!" I shouted, much louder and more forcefully than I had intended, but honestly, it was a mistake! Why was this mare getting so ruffled? I took a deep breath before restarting, "Look, I don't know why you're so upset about me yelling at myself. I understand that from your perspective, it probably sounded incredibly rude, but I honestly was only yelling at myself. Now, I have a splitting headache, and would really appreciate if we could get this over with, so that I can get some rest before going to a party thrown for me by a crazy pony." As I finished, I trotted over to the center of the room and sat back on my haunches, waiting for her to get to work. I gazed back her way and saw her standing, mouth agape, still in front of the door.

"Well, come on! Or didn't you hear what I just said?" I said. I was being much more rude than intended, and I felt bad for that, but this mare had seriously rubbed me the wrong way.

"Um... right... sure." Twilight paced over to me slowly, and I wondered what was going on in her head right now. I suddenly began wondering what was going on in my head right now, as I obviously had no idea. As she approached me, the shock faded from her face, to be replaced by a look of curiosity.

"Um... How did you do that?" She asked suddenly, sitting down in front of me. I was taken aback by the abrupt change in mood, and took a moment to respond because of this.

"Wait, do what?" I asked, coming to myself.

"You know, back when you were giving me the speech, your eyes..." My complete surprise and confusion must have shown on my face, as Twilight shook her head and sighed. "Never mind. Let's get this over with."

I stared at her for a moment before shrugging. Alright, time to get to work. Wait, what was...? Twilight had suddenly leaned in alarmingly close to me. A strange feeling arose in my chest as she got ever closer. Finally, she got so close that her horn touched the top of my head, and I noticed it was glowing. Oh.

*     *     *

I stood in a field of grass. The grass was so lush and well kept that it matched the color of my coat, and I wondered who had kept all of this so well. I noticed the occasional creature walk through the field alongside me, a small rabbit, a rather large, frightening snake. But they all stood as silent sentinels, walking or slithering up to me, keeping pace for a bit, and then leaving. I stared ahead for a moment as I walked, and saw a small mound higher than the rest of the field. I stepped up to it and peered down. There, in the ground, was a minute sapling, barely out of the seed. When I looked up, the lavender unicorn stared right at me. I would've jumped, but I realized that as long as I was here I felt calm and serene, but when I should have felt surprised a small white cat appeared beside me, took one look at Twilight and ran as if it's life depended on it. Maybe it did.

"What... is all this?" I heard Twilight ask, but I had no answer. I assumed this was my mind, but I hadn't the faintest idea what any of it meant.

Suddenly, every last bit of tranquility I felt in this place was shattered. I felt a large quake in the ground, and knew, somehow, what was coming. Not them, again. A large, white wall materialized on one side of the field, while an equally large black one took the opposite side. They began to charge each other, and every time they touched a blade of grass, it would disintegrate. I felt nothing at all, but all of the animals gathered around me. I hadn't the faintest idea of what was happening, but I wished it would stop. All too soon, the animals were ripped up from around me, and tossed away by a gust of wind. I thought that the walls must have caused it. Twilight screamed. Twilight screamed. Twilight SCREAMED!!!

I whirled around to see what was wrong. She appeared fine, but she was afraid, yes, she was afraid. I felt the dark wall and the white wall reach out and grasp my hind legs, one for each. She was afraid, good. Revel in her fear. the dark presence said. NO. We must protect her! the white argued, and the two began to spread up my body, leaving only a small stripe of green in the very center. As the white spread across my barrel, I felt a foreign presence on its side of my back. When the black reached my face, I suddenly felt heavier about the forehead. As they each reached my eyes I knew that something had changed. And Twilight looked on, shaking in fear of what was happening to me. I... didn't want her to be afraid. I shook myself, and the dark and white flew off of me like droplets of water. I looked up at Twilight once again, and noticed that both presences had reached out for her, as well.

"NO!" I screamed, and tackled her to the ground.

*     *     *

I awoke again, staring into the face of the mare who had just pushed me into my own mind, and I realized we were not in the same position we had started out in. I had apparently physically tackled her, and so was now on top of her, in the middle of the library floor. I was suddenly extremely glad we were alone, as this would have looked incredibly bad. Twilight opened her eyes, as well, and took a moment to adjust to being back in the real world. One moment too long, as it turned out.

"Twilight! I was wondering if you could... uh." An orange mare (Geez, I hadn't seen a single other male since I got here!) wearing a stetson and a smile said as she threw open the door of the library. She got one look at us and the smile left her face, to be replaced shortly by a look of absolute fury. Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! I only managed that one thought before her hoof came in, landed solidly on my jaw, and sent me flying into the bookshelves behind me. Ow...

"Twilight, are you okay?! What was that there stallion doin' to ya, huh?" She gestured with a scowl towards me and the pile of books I was mostly under.

"A-Applejack?" Twilight stammered, still regaining herself. The one called Applejack stared back in my direction, looking for all the world like she was going to do worse than hit me now. Fudge Nutters. I really needed to look into what that meant. Luckily for me, the orange mare hadn't taken more than a step before Twilight came back to herself.

"Applejack! No, wait! This isn't what it looks like!" She shouted, getting between me and the furious pony. Oh thank goodness!

"Really?" Applejack asked, in a surprisingly not sardonic manner. "Then what is goin' on?"

"I was just trying to help him get his memories back, and he tackled me." Applejack's eyes widened and Twilight made to fix her mistake. "No no no, nothing like that! I..." She paused and stared back at me, a curious expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure he saved my life." She said, without looking away.

"Oh! Well, I suppose that's good enough fer me, then. Sorry about that Mister...uh..."

"Dark Time." I said, still dazed from the blow. Wow, that mare could throw a punch! "My name's Dark Time."

"Right. Sorry about that Dark." I was surprised when an orange hoof came down in a clear gesture to help me up. I took it and was hauled to my hooves, out of the books. I tested my jaw and was unsurprised to find a large bruise there. Well, that was gonna smart for a while.

"Anyways, Twilight, what's my diagnosis?" I asked, trying my best to act as though nothing had happened. Twilight stared at me for a moment and then seemed to understand what I meant. I also realized, in that moment, that I had never actually introduced myself to her, or her to me.

"By the way, just so the formality is out of the way, my name's Dark Time."

Twilight had been about to answer my first question, so my introduction caught her off guard. "Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you, Dark Time, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Oh, so her last name was Sparkle. "And as for your 'diagnosis', well... It's not good news." She said, and my heart sank.

"The only time anything even remotely like that has been recorded was in, well, mental patients. Specifically those suffering from multiple personality disorder. Of course, it's hard to say exactly, as everypony's mind is different, and that was almost nothing like anything I've ever seen before! But... the closest match is, I'm afraid, to multiple personality disorder." I stared at her, mouth agape, and Applejack was eyeballing me in a way that I was pretty sure I didn't like.

"I'm afraid, Dark Time, that you're insane."