Dark Sparks

Finally, after...how long? Four years? I think that's about right. This is the town I used to live in. Except, it was empty. And run down. I vaguely remember this place when I was a fillie. It was lively, colourful even. Now, it's dull and lifeless. There was usually some event going on in the town square. I never saw that square once with nopony in it.

The breeze was light. Just like how I remembered. The clouds above me stretched for miles, and they were lightly dripping rain beneath them. It never dawned on me how much I missed this place, until now. All my years searching, and here it is. I can't even remember its name.

Home. That's what I called it.

With every corner I turned, and with every house to see, my memory started to piece itself together. The park me and Shadows would play in and the many houses, now abandoned by everypony. I...remember.

Then, I found the hospital. It was still in use, too. I wonder if my doctor still works there. Oh the times I went there. My operations, my appointments and check-ups, all seemingly pointless to me, when I was younger. I just assumed everypony had to go through wad I did. That's what my parents told me, anyway. I never acknowledged how they had wings, and I didn't. Dad didn't talk to me about it, and I really never cared until I was grown up. I guess they thought I would get upset if I knew the truth about myself. It really proves how much they cared about me.

If only I knew them long enough to return the favour.

My mind recalled a path I noticed, leading down to a cemetery, but why? Where was I going? When I enter the gravesite, recollection vanished. I was just standing in a cemetery, and I couldn't remember why.

Logically, I came to the assumption that I was looking for somepony. Who? I had no idea, but I looked. Thoughts came into my mind, until one took my attention. My mum was buried here. So was my brother.

I take a sharp breath. Memories took over the thoughts. I ran through the huge cemetery, following the vaguely distant past, which I call my own. My mind had yet again taken over my actions. Could this be the way to my mums grave? The fence to my left was getting closer to me. I stop, seeing a familiar-looking tree stump beside four headstones.

Well, I have got this far.

One of the headstones looks old, and it was starting to crumble at the sides. I look at the name inscribed.

"Melancholy Teardrops- Wife of Future Pixel and mother of Ascending Shadows and Ember Sparks"

My Celestia. The family was buried here. It didn't occur to me that there was four headstones, though. My dads grave was next, then my brothers, and finally...my grave. I trip on the stone path at the sight of my own resting place. Nopony even knows I'm alive. The tombstone said what you would expect, but there was a message at the bottom.

"Missing since the fire. Assumed dead"

The fire. Oh Celestia the fire. It's all coming back to me now. The jump, from the cliff, the forest, and...the girls. How could I have forgot about them? There names had vanished from my head, all but one.

"Applejack..." I muttered.

"Say what?!?" An old, wheezy voice shouted from behind me.

I jump out of my skin, not even knowing anypony was there.

"Ah! Wha...how long have you been there?!"

I turn around to see an old Unicorn, holding flowers. He looks lost.

"Sorry, young lady. I didn't mean to startle you. I'm just looking for my wife."

"Oh."

I take a second to look around us, nopony else being in sight. Why did I even do this?  Of corse he was looking for a grave.

"Are you lost?" I ask.

"I'm afraid I am. I can never seem to remember this darned place!"

"I know that feeling..."

The Unicorn seems confused, but proceeds to find his deceased partner.

I stay by my family's stones for a while. This is the closest I will ever be to seeing them, so I wanted to make it last. I know I'm not talking to anypony, but I needed to, so I talk to the gravestones.

"I'm glad I wanted to come back...you guys meant the world to me...I would tell you about the adventure I had trying to get here...if only I could remember...why am I forgetting so much?..I didn't have the best memory anyway, but...this is getting really bad..."

I shed a tear.

"See you soon...good luck up there."

After luckily finding the exit from the cemetery, I wanted to find out was going on with my memory at the hospital, seeing as it was still in use. I made my way  down the dusty path, and arrived at the surprisingly quiet hospital. There was a receptionist, even though there was nopony to check in. I suppose they need to be in service, just in case something happens.

"Excuse me? This hospital is still in use, right?"

"Barely. What is the problem?"

"I would like to see somepony about a memory problem."

"Take a seat down that hallway, and Dr. Skyline will be with you shortly." The receptionist finishes.

As I walk down the hallway, the potent smell of medicine becomes clear. Exactly how it used to everytime you walked down this hall. I remember that. I noticed the bone-chilling cold hadn't gone, either.

I gingerly sit on one of the chairs. I have never heard a hospital this quiet before, not even the occasional *beep* of a machine could be heard. It was probably a minute before Dr. 'Skyline' came to see me.

I just hope this memory problem isn't too serious, and can be treated.