The Hunters

by Poia

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Other, Adventure, Sex, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 11653

A small group of highly skilled assassin ponies are dropped into the world, their only goal, to kill each other.

An unknown pony trains several others to be unstoppable marauders. He drops them around the world of Equestria in his own twisted game. The only goal; to kill the others. The last one alive earns a reward of countless wealth. To make it more interesting, each pony has had their memory wiped. Who will be the last one standing?

WARNING:
Sexual humor/suggestion
Mild gore

Published 2015-08-07 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-08-11 06:22:42 UTC

Day 1

Sleep, it's so nice. I don't know when the last time I slept was, or what I was just doing, but boy does it really take it out of you. I feel like I could lie here forever. The wind gently blowing through my coat and mane, the grass tickling my gut. It's moments like these that make me love life.

"Hey, wake up already would ya?" a voice called.

I cracked an eye open. "Huh, what?" I shielded my eyes from the sunlight. "Ow."

"Wake up, I'm getting tired of this." the same voice said.

"Fine." I took a deep breath before standing myself up. I took a good look at the pony in front of me. "Who are you?"

The blue mare rolled her eyes. "I'm Rainbow Dash, do you really not recognize me? I only helped save the world like, eight times."

"Hmm, nope, doesn't ring a bell. I can't really remember anything, so, yeah."

"Well, get out of here guy, weather team and I need to make it rain here in five minutes. Just consider yourself lucky that I warned you."

Whoever she is, she doesn't want me here. At least she didn't just dump a rainstorm on my face, that was nice. "Oh, uhh, thanks, Rainbow Dash." I said her name cautiously, watching her expression to make sure I wasn't wrong. "Oh, uh, I know it's sort of rude, but I'm hungry, is there a good place to get some food around here?" I forced a smile to try to keep it from being awkward.

"Umm, personally I like to eat at Sugarcube Corner for a quick snack. Just go down there and turn left at the fountain. By the way, that face is extremely awkward." Rainbow flashed me a wink and darted into the sky, presumably to start the rain. I figured now was as good a time as any to leave.

When I entered the bakery, countless amazing scents hit my nose. I inhaled the aromas before I went up to the counter. A pink Earth pony stood behind it. Her curly tail was wagging uncontrollably and I could tell she was about to explode. I opened my mouth to speak, and that seemed to trigger the eruption.

"Hiwelcometosugarcubecornerimpinkiepieicanseeyourenewtothistownpleasetakethis-" she quickly pulled out a cupcake and set it on the counter in front of me. "-IcantbelieveanewponyisintownohmycelestiaIneedtotelleverypony!" Next thing I know, she was out the door and running around town for all I could tell.

"Uh, hello? Anybody else?" I asked the empty restaurant. "Guess not." I quickly ate the cupcake she had offered me and then stepped outside. I needed a moment to think, so I walked over to a bench near the fountain I had passed earlier, and I lied down on it. "What the heck just happened?" I asked myself. I sat there for several minutes just calming down and thinking. The constant sound of the water splashing in the fountain helped me focus. I barely had time to clear my thoughts by the time a white Pegasus trotted up to me.

"Are you okay?" she said with a giggle. "You look quite stressed."

"Oh, uh. Yeah. Just needed a moment to think, a lot has been going on today." I replied when I realized she meant me.

She gave an understanding nod. "Crazy day, barely past noon. I feel bad for you." She hopped up on the other side of the bench and lied down with me. "You know, it helps to talk about it, trust me, I majored in psychology." For some reason, the shade of green that her mane and tail was sort of soothing, it made me feel that I could trust her.

I looked at her. I might as well tell her, what harm can it do? "Well, there actually really isn't much to talk about. I woke up maybe half an hour ago to this pegasus telling me that I had to leave because they were gonna make it rain, then I went to Sugarcube Corner for some food and next thing I know, the pony who runs the place is off running around the town. I'd say more but I really can't remember anything else."

"Well, I have certainly heard weirder. I think you just need some rest, where do you live?"

"I don't know. I literally can't remember anything about my life. I could be married and I wouldn't know!"

She gave me a half frown. "Alright, you can stay at my place for a while then, you know, until you get your memory back."

"Oh, gosh, no, I couldn't. I mean, I don't even know where I am." I tried to come up with a better excuse for why I can't, but I really couldn't.

She smiled at me then stepped off the bench. "Come on, I'm sure all you need is some rest. Besides, I couldn't live with myself if I let some pony run around in your condition." She tugged on my leg to get me off the bench.

"Ok, sure. One night won't hurt." I reluctantly stepped down and followed her as she led the way to her house.

It was a fairly short walk, only a couple minutes. We talked on the way there, well, mainly her. I don't really know anything to talk about, amnesia and all. But hey, on the bright side, she did have a nice house.

"Welcome to my house." She gestured at the room we were standing in. There was some nice furniture and minimal, but amazing, decoration. Towards the back of the house was a small kitchen with a peninsula set up so that guests could feel like they were at a restaurant. Several feet to the left, built onto the wall, was a wooden staircase. "Over there is the kitchen, help yourself to whatever is in the fridge, just don't touch the pantry. Dishes are in the shelf right there, put them in the sink when you're done, built into the counter." She pointed her hoof over at the stairs. "Up there are the bedrooms and the bathroom, the door in the side of the staircase is a closet in case your wondering." She looked at me with a friendly smile. "Make yourself at home, the guest bedroom has the darker color wood door."

"Wow, thanks. You're too nice."

She blushed. "Oh, it's nothing." There was an awkwardly long pause. "How rude of me! I never introduced myself!" She bowed her head and ruffled her wings a bit. "My name is Midnight Snow, what's your name?"

"Uhh. I don't know." I answered honestly.

Midnight tilted her head a bit. "This amnesia has you pretty well huh? Just make something up, I won't judge!"

"Ok, well in that case, my name is..." I turned back and looked at my blood red coat. I stretched out the wing that I saw. Every single feather was gradient into black just right to create a cool effect on my wing. I flicked my tail into sight, and it had a similar effect. "...I guess my name will be, uh, Cinder Blade."

Midnight obviously held back a laugh. "Alright Cinder. Welcome to my humble abode."

"Hey, give me some credit, I had like five seconds!"

"Calm down, I said I'm not judging." She started giggling, and it slowly rose into a full on laugh.

I couldn't help but join in, realizing the ridiculousness of the situation. "I can't believe you're putting up with this." I said when we finished.

"Eh, it gets lonely here sometimes." She thought for a moment. "Are you still hungry?"

"Yeah, kinda."

Midnight walked into her kitchen and got a plate out. She opened her fridge and put various fruits and vegetables on the plate. She slid it out onto the little serving bar when she was done. "Here, eat up. You may not remember what foods you liked, but I bet you'll like most of these."

I walked up and sat up on a swivel chair she had. It was a little awkward, as I'm not used to sitting. I sampled every food she gave me, she was right, I liked almost all of it. The only foods she gave me that I didn't like was the lettuce and watermelon. "Thank you again, that was really good!"

"Don't mention it. I love helping others." She left her kitchen area and back towards the door, but instead she went into the main room and lied down on her couch. She glanced at a clock on the wall. "Oh my, time went by fast! It's already six o'clock!"

"Wow, yeah, it did go by fast. So, I can stay here overnight right?"

"Of course."

"And you said the darker door is the guest room right?"

"Yup." She replied.

I walked over to the staircase. "I think I'm going to turn in early tonight, thanks for everything."

"Anytime, Cinder, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." I said.

"Goodnight." Midnight replied.

I went upstairs and used the bathroom before going into my designated room. It wasn't much, but it was still nice. An over-sized, dark colored, fluffy bed took up most of the space. There was a small dresser in the corner. I took a quick look through all six drawers, only finding a switchblade knife, probably for self-defense, though I couldn't imagine why any pony would need to defend themselves in a town like this. After deciding to leave the weapon alone, I cracked the window open about an inch or so to get a nice calming breeze. Satisfied with the setup, I flopped onto the bed and pulled the blanket up to my neck. I shut my eyes and relaxed, hoping sleep would come soon, but for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.

Author's Note

I realize that this story is quite obviously all over with the pace, and that is the biggest issue I have when I write stories, but trust me, I'm working on it, and it will get better.

Day 2

Author's Note

Gore warning for this chapter.

Day 2

When I woke up this morning, I stretched and yawned for a few minutes straight. I was confused at first, seeing unfamiliar surroundings, but someone, my sleepy mind remembered that I'm in Midnight's house. When I finally woke up enough, I slid off the bed and stepped outside the room. I looked over at the door to Midnight's room just as she left it, she let out a big yawn before greeting me.

"Good morning Cinder." She said, clearly still a little sleepy. She finished another yawn before continuing. "You want anything for breakfast?"

"No thanks, that was a very big dinner last night." I smiled before stepping downstairs, with Midnight just behind.

She looked at me as she opened her fridge. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

She set an apple on her bar and bit into it. "Alright, suit yourself." She said with a mouthful. "So, I was thinking about showing you the town today." she said between mouthfuls.

I looked at her, intrigued. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you know, as a friend. You don't remember anything about this place right?"

"Not a thing."

"Ok, lucky for you, I got a nice hunk of extra cash." she said with a wink before diving back into her apple. "I have a few things I need to do here first, so you go meet me at the fountain."

I nodded and went over to her door. "See you in a bit." I stepped outside and backtracked the walk to Midnight's house.

I looked around the bit of town that I could see. I figured that anywhere near the fountain would be good to wait for my hostess, but I decided the same bench we met at would be best, it just felt natural. There were a few other ponies sitting around, mainly in pairs, probably couples out on a date or something. There was one group of four, seemed to be a family, with two adult ponies and two foals. I was waiting maybe ten minutes before anything really happened. I heard a thud on the bench next to me. Naturally, I looked down instantly, I was definitely not expecting to see a kunai in the wood. Sticking out of the wood was a small throwing weapon with a diamond shaped blade, a decently sized handle, and a circle on the opposite side of the blade. I don't quite know what happened after that, but I quickly found myself feet away from a slim pony in a skintight black spandex outfit.

Whoever it was lifted a hoof. They had a silver bracelet on the leg they lifted. I quickly darted off to the side as two large razor blades extended from the bracelet and they slammed them into the ground, slicing through the cobblestones easily. The pony easily pulled the razors from the ground and ran at me. They extended their bladed hoof, probably to get some extra range, and I was barely able to hop over their attack and their body entirely. I quickly pulled the kunai out of the bench with my mouth and charged the pony. They quickly turned around, swinging their claws. I caught a glimpse of an uncovered section of their face. They had blue eyes and a white coat, instantly my mind flashed with a picture of Midnight. My adversary hit me hard, I swear I heard some of my skin rip from her razors. The blow was hard enough to knock me a few feet away, however, I somehow managed to keep the kunai in my jaws.

I narrowed my eyes and lunged at the pony, turning my head so that the blade was pointed at their face. I wasn't quick enough to hit them straight on, but their huge claws slowed them down so I was still able to cut their side, exposing their coat inside the spandex, and making a shallow cut on their side. Seeing the blood seep from her wound instantly reminded me of mine, and pain shot through my body. My adrenaline rush dulled the pain down, at least, enough to fight through. I knew that any weakness I show would most likely mean my death, so I didn't really have a choice but to deal with it.

"Ah!" they shrieked. The pony retracted the claws back into the bracelet form. The pony stared daggers at me, but there was still a slight wince, clearly showing that they had been injured. They tucked their front hoof into the pit of their other front leg. "Die you insect!" They screamed, their voice was obviously feminine. She quickly pulled her hoof out and threw several small needles at me.

I rolled to the side to dodge the ranged attack. With kunai still in my teeth, I charged again. I'm not sure why, but something told me that I needed to kill her. She saw my charge and pulled out her razors again, probably to discourage any further assault. Using some instinct, I turned my head back then snapped it forward, releasing the kunai straight towards the pony. She was clearly not too skilled with her weapon, as she tried to dodge again, but still got clipped by my attack, again on the same side, this time a little further back. A white wing spilled out of the gash left by my blade. The pegasus hissed at me, and she forced her other wing to tear through the spandex. She quickly spread her wings then launched into the air. She shook her other front hoof a bit in the air, and another pair of twin razors extended from a bracelet I hadn't noticed earlier. She flew in front of the sun, probably to get me blinded for an easy attack. I must admit though, her excessively large wings and four identical giant claws attached to a thin body made for a silhouette that was equal parts terrifying, and sexy.

I had no clue what to do now, I was completely unarmed, and she could easily kill me in seconds if I didn't do anything. I glanced around for any form of defense, but all I noticed was a quickly vacated block. The kunai was by far too small to help now, even if I could get to it in time. Only one option came to mind. I ran for the fountain, the slender and murderous pegasus quickly closing in on me. I slipped behind the main tower of the thing, and it had clearly worked. My marauder glided right past me at lightning speed, smashing into the wall of a brick building. I needed a second to catch my breath, but as soon as I could, I snatched up the kunai sitting on the ground and wandered over to the attempted murderer. She was laying in a pile of bricks, and a dust cloud was slowly dissipating in an almost cartoon-like fashion. She was moaning in pain, her razors still extended. The mare saw me as I inched closer, hatred still raging, but she was clearly out of commission. I used the kunai to wedge the razor bracelets off of her leg so she'd pose minimal threat, and just to be safe, I slipped my hoof into one.

"Good fight." she said with a scowl. She coughed up a bit of blood, and tried to stand. It took her an amazingly short time, considering how wobbly she was from blood loss and probably one heck of an adrenaline rush. "But I'm not beaten yet!" She stared daggers at me, and her shaking instantly stopped. She pushed off with her rear legs to tackle me. Her front legs wrapped around my neck, she hid her head from the kunai on the opposite side of mine. Time slowed, the impact forced me to drop the weapon, and she took her chance to pin me. "You're weak, how could you ever have expected to win the prize money?" She spit in my face for additional disrespect before she reached for one of her rear legs. I hadn't noticed before due to the perfect color, but each rear leg had a black knife sheath strapped on with a black strap, making it impossible to notice from a distance. She drew the blade on her left, somehow grasping it with her hoof. It was identical to a kitchen knife, just slightly more curved for more maneuverability. "Any last words?" She taunted, her three unarmed legs were holding down mine, and the kunai was by far out of reach of the leg I could move. The mare thrust her knife towards my throat, I was barely able to catch her hoof with mine, the blade poking into my flesh.

"I, won't, let, you." I shouted between breaths. I pushed my hoof back with all my might, but it was greatly handicapped due to the large gashes in my side. I only had one hope now. The bracelet I put on was still on the hoof I was struggling with. It was now or never. I shook my hoof, trying to trigger whatever it was that made the blades materialize. "Come. ON!"

The pegasus smiled a devilish smile. "You were so close, I almost wish I didn't need to kill you." She laughed and pushed her knife hoof towards my throat again, much harder than before, I was barely able to slow her down.

"Please." I begged the weapon. "Work." I jiggled my hoof as much as I could without giving my assailant any leeway on her attack. I heard a small click, and her face instantly changed. Her evil grin melted into an emotionless state, and her eyes appeared to be looking through me. I felt something warm pour over my hoof, and I dared a look. It was a bloody mess, but I could clearly see that the blades sprang out and impaled her leg. The knife dropped from her hoof, the blade nicked my shoulder on the fall, not nearly enough to break the skin, but it was still frightening.

The pony bowed her head, avoiding eye contact. "But, I was so. Close." She started crying. "Three ponies died at my hooves. I can't lose now." Her head bobbed occasionally as she wept, hear tears falling onto my chest and soaking my coat.

"Sorry, but no pony is killing me today." I ripped the blades out of her hoof with as much force as possible. Blood went flying, and I could clearly see bone. I pushed the now limp pony off of me. She was still breathing, but not for long. I got up, flipped the blades back into their bracelet form then stood over her. "Why, Midnight?"

The mare raised an eyebrow before she responded. "I, I, don't." She let out a long sigh, her final breath. No pony would ever hear from her again. Knowing she was dead, I did the only decent thing I could in this situation. I carefully put my hoof up to her face and shut both of her eyelids. I stepped away from the body and forced myself to look away.

"I'm sorry, Midnight. I didn't want to, but you forced me to." I glanced myself over. The wound in my side was leaking blood, not nearly fast to pose an immediate threat, but it definitely needs medical attention. I didn't realize it, but my hoof had been cut, probably when she threw the needles, or I scraped the knife when I went to stop her. Again, it was nothing major, but then, I didn't really know how much the giant puddle pouring off my hoof was my blood. On my other side were some scrapes when I was knocked aside, there wasn't any blood, so I knew it didn't need any attention, just some time to patch up. My entire body was shaking from the massive adrenaline rush the fight had given me. "Whoo. Calm down Cinder." I said to myself. "It's all over now, you're safe." I stood there for several moments undisturbed, when suddenly-

"CINDER BLADE, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?" A very familiar voice screamed at me from behind. I dared to take look, it was Midnight, her light green mane and tail glistened in the sunlight, they were both clearly damp, probably fresh from a shower.

"Midnight?" I asked, astonished at the sight. "But, I thought-"

"YOU THOUGHT WHAT? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! WHAT HAPPENED?" The friendly mare sprinted up to me.

"She attacked me, she nearl-"

When she got to me, she cut me off with a quick slap on the cheek. She cut my cheek open a bit due to how hard her hoof was. "YOU JUST KILLED A PONY? WHAT? I MEAN, HOW? Er..." she needed a moment to think what question she was going to ask first. I took the time to actually say something.

"Look, Midnight, she attacked me, I was just defending myself."

She slapped me again, making an identical cut on my other cheek. "I saw everything, I was just too scared to help, but, HOW DID YOU DO THAT? YOU WERE FREAKIN AWESOME!" She gave me a death hug, and I felt her cry right onto me. "You had me so scared. Who was that?"

I stood stunned for a moment before I slowly put my hooves around her, neither of us payed any attention to any of the blood that was now getting all over. "I honestly have no clue." I felt some tears starting to well up in my eyes, I wasn't quite sure when they started streaming down. "I was scared too." I dug my nose into her coat, it felt natural, and it honestly helped me calm down. "I thought I was going to die!"

Midnight broke the embrace and glared straight into my eyes. "Never, do that again."

I nodded, not quite sure what else to do. "I won't. Promise." Before I knew it, she had pulled me back in for another bout of tears. I couldn't begin to imagine how weird we must have looked, two blood soaked ponies crying over each other, with a spandex covered pegasus lying dead in a pool of blood behind us. We had to look like some sort of psychopaths or something. This time, I broke up out embrace. "Thank you for helping me calm down, but, the adrenaline is wearing off, please call a doctor." I winced as the pain slowly rose from all of my wounds. Though I couldn't see, I felt a powerful throbbing pain on both my back and the back of my head, plus my wings were sore from being crushed by two ponies of weight, and maybe some of Midnight's hug.

"Ok, lie down and don't move." She bolted off down a street without even making sure I was safe to be left alone.

I laughed in my head and took her advice, making sure to lie on the scraped side, rather than the cut open side. The blood flow was definitely slower than earlier, but I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. I was waiting maybe three minutes before Midnight ran back with two paramedics, a stretcher was harnessed between the two, and a large first aid kit was resting on it. The lead medic, a white mare with light pink hair tied into a bun underneath a paper nurse's hat, unbuckled her harness and ran up to me.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked, her voice the smoothest and calmest I've heard, well, that I can remember. She instantly began investigating my exposed twin gashes.

"Everywhere." I said, holding back a scream of pain, the rush was almost entirely worn out by now and the pain was unbearable. "Like, a nine out of te-EN!" I yelped as she poked the wound.

She turned her head and yelled at her identical copy. "Get me a roll of gauze, the needle and the medical tape."

Her twin ran over and set the requested stuff on a cloth she also brought over to help keep the gear sterile.

"Ok now hon." The nurse said to me. "I'm going to inject you with this, you'll feel a bit of pain, but it will knock you out fast. Just a warning," she continued as she jabbed me, "some patients experience nightmares, especially after a traumatic experience like you. You'll wake up in a couple hours." Her words slowly got quieter as I slipped into unconsciousness, and despite her warning, I had no dreams of any sort.

I woke up much later, the sun was setting, the last rays of the day leaking through the window in the hospital room. My right hoof, the uninjured one, had a lot of pipes going from it into some machine that turned whatever they were collecting into numbers on a monitor that only a trained professional could understand. The room was small, but very open. I was in the most comfortable bed imaginable, and I had the perfect view of the entire room. There was a bathroom to my right, though I assumed it was for the doctors, nurses, and visitors, as I was most likely bed ridden and set up with a bedpan. The door to the hallway had a whiteboard for any notes my caretakers may need, and it was right next to the bathroom. There was a bookshelf on the opposite wall for entertainment, though it was definitely out of my reach. Lucky there was a stack of books on the movable table next to the bed, along with my lunch. Then I noticed that there was a chair in the corner, and a familiar white pegasus was sitting on it. Her ears perked when she noticed that I woke up.

"Cinder! Are you alright?" She hopped off her chair and trotted over to me. She threw a hoof across my chest and hugged me again, she buried her head into the bed, and I could've sworn I heard her sobbing. "You woke up four hours later than expected, I was so scared."

From the position I was in, I couldn't really hug her back, so instead, I just petted her head. "It's ok Midnight, I'm fine now. The doctors took good care of me." I couldn't help but smile, knowing she was legitimately terrified for me. "But, why do you care so much about me?"

She quickly broke the hug and wiped her eyes. Then she fixed her mane and adopted an air of confidence. "Because, I feel that we are friends, and friends need to worry about each other, nothing more." She punctuated her statement with a sniffle.

"Yeah, right." I held back a giggle. "We both know it's more than that."

"That is simply incorrect. Now, are you still in pain?"

"A little, mainly my side, could you kiss it better?" I joked.

She scoffed at the thought. "I guess you will have to tough it out then."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her. "I don't understand you."

"What do you find difficult to understand?" she appeared genuinely offended.

"Sometimes you act so perfect and proper, and other times you're worse than a sailor."

"Well then, if you're quite done, I believe it's time that I leave. I will check up with you tomorrow, try not to die." she immediately headed towards the door after she grabbed the saddlebags she left in her chair. She stole a glance at me before she left for good.

I waited a coupe minutes, expecting her to come back in, but it was obvious she was really gone for the day. "Aww yeah, peace and quiet." I pulled the movable table over to the bed and ate the untouched food. When I was done, I picked up a book, opened it, and began reading. This is going to be a long day.

Day 6

Not much happened in the days since I was hospitalized, just some visits from Midnight, the doctors, and the nurses. I was expecting any day that some sort of investigator was going to bust through the door and take me somewhere for an intense interrogation on the white mare's death, but nothing of the sort happened, I don't know if I should be relieved at that, or terrified that something worse is going to happen. Whatever, if it's going to happen, it would've by now, they've had four days, and it's not like I'm going anywhere, or really hiding. But hey, the selection of books was really nice. Being in the condition I was, I couldn't really do anything besides read, and I thanked my lucky stars that reading was not on my long list of memories lost every time I opened a book. I was just finishing the fourth book in the Daring Do series by the time the nurse walked in, pushing a cart with several lunch meals for all the patients.

"Here you go Cinder," she said as she set a plate on my table and pushed it over to my reach, "enjoy it, it's your last meal." She offered a smile, frightening me at what she said. "I mean, in this hospital, sorry." She laughed at herself for the confusion. "The doctors are going to let you go today, assuming you hadn't done anything to open the wounds since the last time you were checked out." she slipped out the door, still talking. I wasn't sure if it was to me, but it probably was, considering the awkwardness of her statement as an ending.

I felt excited that I was going to be released. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a really nice place, and having other ponies cater to you all day every day was fun, in a sort of posh, and slightly twisted, way, but I really did miss the freedom of walking around. Plus, in here, I didn't get to talk to Midnight much, and out there, I could do it all I wanted. I was dying to poke fun at her for being in love with me, metaphorically of course! I just couldn't handle it anymore. I scarfed down my meal, and my plate was clean before I heard the nurse roll the cart back down the hall, and there were only like four occupied rooms down the hall from mine! I waited a minute for the doctor to come in and release me, but he didn't. Oh well, maybe he isn't scheduled to let me out for a bit. I picked up the book I was reading and finished it, there was about two and a half hours of reading left. Still no doctor. I craned my neck to see the whiteboard posted on the door. According to the scribble of medical professionals, the doctor would let me out at four pm. I glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 3:59. So freaking close!

I looked down at my hooves and clapped them together, the bandaging was completely removed from my cut hoof, I felt reassured at this, but it still didn't mean I was well enough. I pulled the blanket of the bed over my head so that I could see my side. It was still heavily bandaged, but there was no sign of bleeding, so I did the obvious thing and prodded it with a hoof. No pain shot through my body, so that was good. In fact, I haven't felt any pain all day, just a bit of soreness in my wing after I woke up, I probably just slept on it. I was running out of things to distract myself with. I put the covers back down to their original position. I glanced at the clock, 4:02 it read, I knew it said it too, because it was digital. Analog clocks have that factor where you just think something like Does my angle change the time I see? or Am I just reading it wrong?, but a digital clock has an obviously stated time. Come to think of it, it's sort of awkward to have a digital wall clock, especially for how big it was. Who makes them? I always figured that digital was for some watches or like bed side alarms so it's easier for your tired brain to read, and that wall clocks were always analog, this just looked awkward! But, hey, at least this thinking killed another six minutes.

"Ugg, where is he?" I complained to myself. I waited a long moment in silence before I heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" I could hardly contain my excitement.

The same white pegasus that visited me so many times before stepped in. "Good afternoon Cinder." she said.

"Oh, hi Midnight." I slumped in my bed, upset.

"Such a warm welcome." she said sarcastically. Midnight plopped down on the wooden chair she became so familiar with. "What's wrong? You sound sad."

"I'm supposed to get out today, and the doctor that releases me is late." I pouted. Nine minutes.

"Huh?" she looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, haven't you realized by now that clock is ahead?"

I looked at her. "Yeah, nice try, I would definitely have realized that by now."

"Dude, I left my house maybe ten minutes ago, and my clock said it was 3:20." she giggled.

"How do you know that your clock isn't behind?" I barked.

"I've never been late for anything in my life by going with that clock."

I thought for a moment. "I hate when you're right." The door to the room opened as I finished, and the doctor walked in.

The doctor was a stallion, identical to the nurses in every way, except slightly bigger and more muscular, and well, obviously his junk. "Pardon me if I'm interrupting anything." his voice was deep and actually kind of scary.

"Not at all." I replied quickly.

He smiled at me before turning to Midnight. "Afternoon, ma'am."

Midnight returned the welcome. "You too sir."

The doctor returned his attention to me. "Alright Cinder, as I'm sure you've heard by now, today is your chance at freedom." He laughed to himself. "Are there any concerns with your injuries?"

"I couldn't find anything." I answered. "Just some soreness in my wing, but I probably just slept on it."

"Good, good." The stallion poked the monitor with his hoof a couple times. "Just show my your side and I'll let you go."

I obeyed and pulled the sheet off to the side so that the doctor could inspect my wound. He responded by poking it with his hoof.

"Does this hurt at all?"

"Nope."

"Perfect, now I'm going to take the bandages off. If you bled at all since the last time, it will be dry and in that case it may hurt when I peel, if it becomes unbearable, just tell me to stop." He bent down and grabbed the bandage. "Ready?"

"Yup." He did as he said, and it did hurt a little, but it wasn't even wince inducing.

"Looks good." He prodded the wound some more. "Yup, very minimal blood, all bleeding stopped, the cuts have almost entirely closed up. You're free to go, just be careful of anything on that side of you." The doctor bit a piece of medical tape that was holding a sensor to my leg, the only one still there after all my examinations, and he peeled it off, finalizing my freedom.

I slid off the bed and trotted over to Midnight then looked back at the doctor. "Thank you, and by the way, the clock in this room is ahead."

"Oh, thanks. Have a good day now." he walked into the bathroom to clean his hooves and mouth from any possible contamination.

I looked at the mare in front of me. "Well, shall we go?"

"Of course, but, I have a surprise for you. Follow me." she shot me a smile before securing her saddlebags and then leaving.

"Oh no. This can't be good." I decided to follow her anyways.

I looked up at the name of the building we were about to enter and read it out loud. "Equine Eatery? You're taking me to a horse themed restaurant?" I gave Midnight a skeptical look.

"Oh, don't get your tail in a knot. Yeah, it's a family restaurant, but they have special seating in the back that is quite the opposite." She defended herself. "Trust me, you'll love it." She opened the door, not letting me add another thought before she walked in.

I followed her in, taking her word for it. I held my tongue as she told the host that we 'needed' a seat in the back. The two of us followed him through a set of doors into a whole new room, with a completely different atmosphere. This new room was much less populated, a lot quieter, and lit by candles set up extensively around the room. The stallion set two menus on a table with a single bench for seats.

"I'll be back with you in a minute." he said in a silky smooth voice. The unicorn bowed his grey head, showing off his horn, and backed away slightly before heading towards the doors he led us through. The ambient lighting of the room combined with his black mane and tail and his grey coat made him almost invisible.

I looked over at Midnight, who was looking over the menu. "OK, out with it. We both know that you're in love with me."

"What?" She dropped the laughably small sheet of paper. But seriously, can you really call it a menu? There are only like twelve things on it, and they're all parts of a salad. "I am not. I am simply being kind to one of my best friends, trying to raise your spirits after you were in the hospital for so long."

"Yeah, right. Look, love is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I would have told you if I were in love with you. The fact is, we are really close friends."

"Come on, say it." I pestered.

"Ahem." Our waiter cleared his throat. "Do either of you know what you're getting for dinner today?"

Midnight nodded. "I'll have a salad with everything except tomatoes, and a water to drink."

"And for you, sir?"

"Umm, I'll have an everything salad without lettuce and a milk." I replied.

"Ok, do you want extra cabbage to replace the lettuce?"

"That would be nice, thanks."

The waiter nodded and took both of our menus . "I will be back shortly with your food." he used his magic to carry away to small papers.

"So what if I'm in love with you?" Midnight spouted when our water was out of earshot.

I smirked. "So you admit it?"

"No, I'm asking hypothetically. Whats wrong with me liking you?"

"Nothing."

"So, if I asked you if you wanted to live with me in a romantic way?"

"I'd say yes."

She frowned slightly for a moment, then she looked at me, astonished when she realized what I had just said. "Wait, so you love me?"

"Yeah, could I possibly have any other feelings for you after all you've done?"

"But, but, but." she sputtered, at a complete loss for words. "But you, you were. I mean, I. Wait, so, are we technically dating then or?"

I chuckled. "No, you haven't asked me yet." I wasn't sure why, but I really found toying with her funny, but my feelings were serious.

Midnight gave me a very un-amused look. "Well then. At least I know the answer." She cleared her throat. "I guess I don't really have any other choice but to ask you now. Cinder Blade, will you, go out with, and move in with, me?" For added effect, she even looked at me with big puppy dog eyes. How could I say no to that? I'd already be a massive douche for declining.

"Yes, I will, Midnight Snow." I tried mimicking the sophistication in her question, it was actually surprisingly difficult. "I guess that means were sort of obligated to kiss now huh?"

When I said this, Midnight froze. "Uhh, yeah, I guess." she smiled sheepishly. "But, uhh."

"Pardon the interruption." Our waiter said. "But your food is ready." He used his magic to set a plate in front of either of us, with our specifications, and then he placed our drinks down. "Enjoy." He said before doing his back away, bow, slip out move.

The interruption killed the momentum of our conversation, and the food helped keep it dead. Needless to say, the entire dinner was uneventful. Just some minor chat between mouthfuls, but nothing major. Despite it obviously being a date, there was almost no flirting, especially after the food arrived. We headed back to Midnight's house after she paid for dinner. I didn't realize it until now, but I really do depend on her, at least, without my memory I do.

"Well, that was. Fun." Midnight said when we walked in.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess. If that's what you-" I was cut off by her forcing a kiss. She wrapped her hooves around my neck in an embrace and I hugged her back, accepting the kiss. We stayed like that for a very long moment. "Wow, that was. Surprising." I said when we broke apart.

Midnight shrugged. "Well, I mean, we kind of missed our shot back at the restaurant. I figured now would have been as good a time as any."

"Uhh, yeah."

"Well." She let out a big yawn. "I'm going to bed. You can stay up if you want, so I'll see you in the morning." she headed over to her stairs.

"Good night." I called to her.

"Night!" she yelled back.

"Love you." I added, the words felt awkward in my mouth, but I couldn't really take them back. I waited until I heard the noise of her bed springs being squished down until I went upstairs to my room. I checked the dresser again, the switchblade was still in the drawer, the rest still empty. Seeing the weapon brought a thought across my mind. I looked down at my hoof and saw that I still had the bracelet on. I shook my hoof to see if it was still functional. Both blades shot forth, and I instantly felt the weight increase immensely. The razors glinted in the moonlight that leaked through the window, the reflection was quite hypnotizing. I flipped my hoof to retract the claws and then removed the bracelet. Setting the weapon on the dresser, I let out a yawn before deciding to go to sleep. Tonight, I was definitely going to have a lot to dream about.

Author's Note

Yeah, this chapter is lame, but I'll get to the ass kicking soon enough.

Day 7

I woke up long after Midnight this morning. I put on the razor bracelet before I left my room, for some reason, it just felt natural having the weapon on me. As I took the last step off the stairs, I realized that Midnight was making a dish for breakfast.

"Morning." she called to me. "How are you?"

I shrugged. "I'm good I guess, I see that you're making breakfast."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what to call it, but I've made it quite often and it's personally my favorite."

"What's in it?" I asked.

She giggled to herself. "Oh, a bit of this and a bit of that." She took out two plates and set them on the bar counter.

"Come on, tell me."

Midnight shook her head with a devious grin. "Try it for yourself." She extended her pristine wing and somehow slid it under a colander filled with various plants. She took it over to the plates and dumped a significant amount on each plate. Then she grabbed a spice bottle in her mouth and sprinkled some of the tiny red flakes on both meals, using significantly more on one than the other. "Just be careful, it's kinda spicy." She pushed the plate with less spice towards me. "I didn't put much on though in case you don't like spiciness."

I looked down at the mess of veggies. "So I can eat it now right?"

"Yup, dig in." Midnight said as she bit into her meal.

I bit into the first chunk of the meal that Midnight served me. It was surprisingly good, assuming she used every single spice that she had out set out on the table behind her. There were about twenty bottles, each of different colors. I had wolfed down almost the entire plate before I even realized it.

"You must be hungry." Midnight said.

I looked down, and there were maybe two bites left. "Yeah, must be." I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. "Hey, can I try some more of that last spice you added?"

"Uhh, sure." The pegasus grabbed the bottle and then she sprinkled some more of the flakes on the remaining scraps. "There, that should be half of what I'm eating." She turned to her fridge and started looking for something. I didn't wait and took a bite.

"AHHH, OW, WAH, MUH, BUH, HELP!" I shouted, tears almost instantly streaming down my face.

Midnight shook her head and poured some milk into a glass then pushed it to me before replacing the jug and shutting the fridge. "Drink it."

I chugged down the drink before I flopped onto the floor. "Oh my gosh, that feels so much better." I took a few deep breaths as I enjoyed the feeling of my mouth not melting. "Sweet relief." I wondered how any pony could possibly eat that. "And you said that's only half of your spice?"

"Yeah."

"How do you handle it?"

Midnight offered only a shrug. "Experience I guess."

"Are you sure it wasn't half of your entire meal in one bite?"

"Yup." to make a point, she dumped on significantly more of the red spice and took the last bite of my breakfast, a lot more than double. "See? easy."

I gawked at her, still lying on the floor. "That, that is so awesome."

"Thanks." she said before she finished her own plate. "So, anything you want to do today?"

"I was thinking that you'd pull another surprise."

She thought for a second. "Well, there is a spa in town, and I feel like a visit is long overdue."

"Oh, any idea for what I could do?"

Midnight was deep in thought when I asked, but the question snapped her back into reality. "Oh, umm. I don't know." She went over to her closet and took out two single saddle bags. She put one on and took the other over to me. "In here is eighty bits, go explore the town, do what you want."

I was astonished at her suggestion. "R-really? You're trusting me with that much money?"

"Psh, this town has a good economy, I'd be amazed if you spent more than twenty bits in a day." She helped me fasten the belt as she spoke.

"But, what if I get attacked again?"

She laughed. "Dude, I saw the way you fight, you'd win easily, especially now that you're armed with that razor claw thing. You're awesome!"

I blushed a bit at the compliments. "Aw, thanks."

"Now scram, I'll meet you back here at about four o' clock. There's a house key in the bag too in case you come in early."

"Ok, I guess I'll see you later then."

Midnight opened the door. "If you get hungry, most restaurants and cafes are that way a ways." she pointed down the street towards the fountain area. "See ya." she said before she began trotting the other way down. I stepped outside and made sure to lock the door, assuming Midnight wanted it locked as she mentioned the key.

I sat on the edge of the fountain, thinking about what to do. To help distract myself, I pulled a razor out of the bracelet and played with it to see how exactly they worked. I really could not explain it at all, and it made me wonder how much I really have forgotten. It took me about ten minutes to decide that I would look for a library and read about amnesia, and maybe check out the next book in the Daring Do series. Yup, I'll go find a library. I hopped off the fountain and headed down a random path, if I don't find one this way, at least I'll have explored more of the town. I had traveled for about four minutes by the time I reached the end of the road with no results, so I decided to turn around, and almost instantly ran into a pony.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you." I apologized quickly.

It was a lavender mare with both wings and a horn. "It's alright, I wasn't paying attention. I had my nose buried in a book." She laughed at herself awkwardly.

I shook my head. "No, no, it was my fault miss."

"Uh uh, it was completely my fault."

"Ok, I see what's happening, so let's just pretend it didn't happen, to avoid the infinite blame game." I suggested.

The mare nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. By the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle." She held out a hoof for me to shake.

"I'm Cinder Blade." I responded as I took the shake. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine."

I noticed that there was a book lying on the ground, probably the one she had mentioned reading. "I see you're reading a Daring Do book."

Twilight picked up the bundle of papers with her magic. "Oh, no, it's a fan fiction that my friend Rainbow Dash wrote that she wanted me to read. It's actually quite good considering how little time she has to actually write stuff."

"Oh, neat. You know, I met her the other day, only for a moment though, long story."

"I understand, I also assume you met Pinkie Pie, she works at Sugarcube Corner."

I looked at her quizzically. "Is she the really pink one that bolted the second she saw me?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she has to tell every pony she knows whenever there's a new pony in town. Just a warning, there may or may not be a surprise party in your honor tomorrow night at Sugarcube Corner thrown by her."

"Thanks for the warning. Are they like, crazy parties?" I asked. "PInkie's I mean?"

"Ehh, not really, just a bunch of us standing around, talking."

"Riveting."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Well, you have a nice day. I need to explore the town and find a library."

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "That is such a coincidence! I own a library!"

"Really? That's awesome! Could you show me the way?"

"Of course. I'm always happy to let a new pony into the world of literary arts. Follow me." The alicorn lead me down a side road and took a few turns, eventually leading me to a giant tree house, but, the house was the tree, not hanging in the tree.

I stood in front of the door and looked up. "Awesome library."

"Thanks." she opened the door with her magic and lead me inside. "All the books you see are categorized by genre, fiction to the left, nonfiction to the right. Inside each section, they are sorted again alphabetically by story name. Normally it's author's second name then first, but I'm experimenting in order to find the easiest way to find any particular book. Feel free to read and borrow any book that you want, I just ask that you return any that you borrow within a month."

I nodded to her. "Thank you." I decided quickly to read up on amnesia and then take the next Daring Do book home. I wandered over to the nonfiction side then to the medical genre, mental health subgenre, and began looking in the A's. I found three books that seemed promising and pulled them off the shelf. I put them in the saddlebag to take them over to a nearby table to read them at, then read them one by one. There wasn't much info on it at all in all three books combined. They repeated each other and offered very minimal information. They only really listed different illnesses that had amnesia as a symptom, or medication that may cause it as a side effect. Although, I did find something I hadn't expected. One major cause is extreme and instantaneous pressure on the skull, such as a concussion, or whiplash. I figured that it could have been very likely that I was an athlete prior to my memory loss. No, I'm nowhere near fit enough for that. The last book, however, mentioned that it was not too rare that ponies with malicious intent would drug others to make them forget whatever they just did. I was confident that didn't happen to me, as besides my epic fighting skills, I'm not impressive in any way.

"Amnesia eh?" Twilight asked. She looked down at the page I was on as she set a glass of water down in front of me. "Any reason why?"

"Yeah. See, I lost my memory and I just wanted to see how I could have lost it."

Twilight gave me a concerned look. "Huh, you know, lately there have been more reports of amnesia all around Equestria." she grabbed a file folder off the top of the shelf, far out of reach of a non magical pony. It floated over to my table and opened itself to a news report from two weeks ago. "No pony knows why, but a large group of ponies just appeared with seemingly no memory of their past lives. Most of them have files showing their life, but they showed up in towns nowhere near their homes. The Equestrian military has worked endlessly since then, trying to find the answers, and they even got immense help from the Griffon military."

I quickly skimmed the article. "Weird. You think that I'm part of that group?"

"I dunno, maybe, but one thing is known, almost every single one of them showed extreme prowess in battle."

I slammed my hooves on the table. "Tell me everything known about the origin of this group!" Her last statement was the nail in the coffin, I was definitely part of this group.

"We know literally nothing besides the fact that they were scattered around the world, as far away from each other as they could be, why?"

"I am one of those ponies!"

"No way! Do you remember anything at all about your past, and where did you wake up?"

I shook my head. "I don't remember anything, but I did wake up in the fields just outside Ponyville."

"Interesting, then if I remember correctly, there are two more ponies in the same boat that we have no clue about." Twilight said. "You see, the ponies were, for the most part, dropped in a circular pattern around the outside of Equestria, and judging by the pattern, the military concluded that three more were unaccounted for."

"Weird." I took a sip from the glass of water Twilight gave me to wet my throat. "So uhh, do you know where Midnight snow lives?"

"Who?"

"Midnight Snow, she's a white pegasus with a light green mane and tail."

"Never heard of her."

"Well, she lives down the road by the fountain opposite Sugarcube Corner's. It's the first house with a window in the door."

Twilight nodded. "I see. Why are you telling me this now?"

"Just in case you got more information on the amnesia ponies, I'd greatly appreciate it if you told me right away. You see, I'm living with her for a while until I get my memory back, or some pony finds me and takes me back to my old life." I explained.

"Oh, so I assume that means you're leaving then right?"

"Yeah. I told Midnight I'd meet her back at her house in two hours, and I still want to get some town exploration in."

Twilight nodded understanding. "You want a book for the road?"

"Sure, do you have any of the Daring Do books?"

The alicorn laughed. "Of course I do, Rainbow Dash wouldn't let me run this library without all of them."

"Great." I ran over to the fiction side of the library and immediately looked for the books. There were a lot of books in the series sitting on the shelves. They didn't really have an order, so I picked up the first one that I haven't read. Daring Do and the Cult of Crystals. I put it into my saddlebag then went back to the table, Twilight had already put away the news file and all of the books. I drank the rest of my water before I left. "Thanks again Twilight." I called back to her as I left.

Twilight gave a friendly smile. "Bye Cinder!"

Truth be told, I didn't do much exploration of the town at all. I, more or less, just wandered straight back to Midnight's house to think about what I heard at Twiight's library. Could I really be one of those ponies, and why did this happen? No, no way, I couldn't be one of those ponies. The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Twilight is probably just full of crap, or some conspiracy theorist. How would so many ponies just be spread around the world and lost most of their memories about their lives? It just isn't plausible. I needed to take my mind off this, so I took out my Daring Do book and opened it to the second chapter. I would go to the first chapter, but it's mainly a recap of what she does and Daring's recent adventures, boring stuff I already know. I'm really interested in what this book has in store. I got through about half of the book by the time Midnight returned.

"Oooh boy, that felt nice!" she exclaimed. "Nothing beats a good ol' spa day." She looked over at me, slumped on her couch with a book clutched in my hooves. "Hey Cinder, how was your day?" She asked as she dropped her saddlebag

I dropped the book onto my chest. "Really, really," I paused for emphasis. "REALLY, weird. I take it your spa trip was lovely."

"You know it! I feel so much better, all the stress, gone, it's like I'm a young mare again, well, younger." she said with a wink.

"I see." I picked up the book again and dogeared the page I was on. "So now what? It's only four after all."

Midnight shrugged. "I dunno. We could go out again."

"Two nights in a row?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Come on, don't you think that's a bit, you know, much?"

This made her think a moment. "Maybe. But hey, what else are we supposed to do?"

"I dunno, get some take out, talk, whatever."

"Might as well go to bed early too. Come on, you're boring."

I acted truly offended. "Me? Boring? How dare you!"

"Hah, no but seriously, I'd be okay with that."

I got up and refastened the saddlebag, I never took it off, it just got a little loose. "Good, because I was going to do it anyways." I said, walking towards the door, pushing her out of my way. I opened the door and started walking towards the fountain.

I got about halfway there when Midnight fully realized it. "Wait!" she shouted as she ran to catch up to me. "You don't know any places for food!"

I held my response for her to get to me. "I'm sure I could find a place."

"Come on, you are not that good."

"Harsh."

Midnight rolled her eyes. "You know I'm right."

"I found the library without help, how hard could finding a take out place possibly be?"

"There's a library here in Ponyville?"

I looked at her, confused. "Uhh, yeah? It's like some giant tree library, most likely privately owned because I did see a kitchen through a doorway, but still. It's there, and you can't miss it."

"Guess I just haven't looked. Anyways, I'm assuming that you want to try some more exotic foods, right?"

I hadn't really thought about it, but that did sound neat. "Yeah, try some new things."

"Well," she pointed a hoof to the brick building that the mare from the other day smashed into. "Just on the other side of that place is a little stand with rare and uncommon fruits."

I took a moment to appreciate how fast the wall was repaired, and how well too. "Yeah, that sounds cool."

"Alright! I've always wanted to go there, but I never really got around to it." She led me around the building and up to the stand. There was a large array of foods that I have never heard nor seen before in my life, well, in my memory, but judging by Midnight's reaction, she hadn't either.

"Woah." Each fruit was labeled, but I couldn't help but ask the stallion behind the stand what a 'lingonberry' was.

The brown Earth pony pony pointed at the holly-like berries. "These," he began in a voice similar to mine. "are exotic berries found only in Peganavia. They are extremely similar to blackberries, except much more sweet, and their flavor can really only be described as red."

"Red flavor?"

He nodded his head. "It really is a unique flavor, and I just assume that if colors had a flavor, red would taste like lingonberry."

"Cool." I looked at the price. The berries were ten bits per pound. Decent price for exotic berries. I took a plastic bag and shoveled in some berries. Then I set the bag on a scale, there were four bits of berries in the bag. I payed the stallion before placing the small bag into my saddlebag. "Hey Midnight, what are you finding?" I asked her as she shook a fruit next to her ear.

"I don't know. But this says it's a carambola."

The stallion running the stand walked over to her. "Most ponies just call it a star fruit. It comes from the South Eastern end of the continent, far from any civilization, so they are extremely rare. It's taste is also pretty unique, though it can be described as a cross between an orange, eggplant, and papaya. I know they're pretty expensive, but they are really good."

Midnight glanced down at the sign. "No kidding, twelve bits per fruit." She paused for a moment, deep in thought. "Why the heck not?" She looked over at me. "Get over here."

"Uggh." I obeyed her command. She took out the satchel of bits and counted out 24 of them, then gave them to the stallion and put two fruit in my saddlebag before replacing the money.

"Just a word of advice," the stallion chimed in, "The entire fruit is edible, core, skin, all of it, but I suggest avoiding the skin, it's extremely waxy."

"Thanks for the warning." I said.

He nodded. "Anything to help my customers enjoy their fruit."

Although we had already racked up a significant bill, Midnight and I bought several more types of fruit, completely filling up my saddle bag, and nearly using up our entire bit reserve.

"Thank you sir." Midnight said to the stallion.

"Yeah, thanks." I said.

He shook is head. "No, thank you both. Best customers in at least a month!" He waved us goodbye as we started the short trek back to Midnight's house.

"How do you even prepare these?" Midnight asked me from the kitchen, where she had all of the fruit cut up or laid out on the freshly cleaned bar. "This was a bad idea."

I looked at her, eagerly awaiting her permission to eat. "Just serve them like this, you don't need to add spices or anything."

She gave me a funny look, like it was completely against all she stood for to serve plain fruit. "But that's boring!"

"Whatever you say." I snuck my nose over to a lingonberry and pulled it into my mouth with my tongue while Midnight was distracted. "Mmm, yeah. They're good the way they are."

The mare turned around instantly, her hoof in the air, clutching a spatula. "Did you steal a bite?" She asked, giving me an evil look.

"Maybe."

She dropped the spatula. "Well, I guess that's that then. I can't make a meal without knowing exactly how much of each ingredient I have."

"Well, I know I took one lingonberry, so, there."

"Oh, well, all of the recipes I had were reliant on having all of those."

"Dang. Well, guess we'll have to eat naked fruits!"

Midnight pouted her lips. "Yup, untouched, not spiced, regular, plain, fruit."

"Fruits." I corrected her.

"Fruit." she insisted.

"Fruits."

"Fruit."

"Fruits!"

"Fruit!"

"Fruits!"

"Fruit!"

"Whatever!" I took a slice of dragon fruit and popped it into my mouth. "Justh thar eathing." I said with a mouthful.

Midnight took a piece of skinless star fruit and took a bite out of it. "That IS good."

"Yeah." I ate a few slices of cantaloupe. "So, I'm not sure I asked yet, but how was the spa."

"It was nice, felt really good." She finished her star fruit before shooting me a question. "How was your trip to the library."

I rolled my eyes. "The librarian I swear is a nutcase."

"Why do you say that?"

I explained to Midnight everything I had read about amnesia and then about the whole stupid news article that Twilight told me about. She listened to every word of the story. We both managed to find good spots to eat some more fruit throughout the entirety of the retelling. When all was said and done, we ate all of the fruit and I had killed several hours. I didn't check exactly, but I assume it was around 5:15 when we got back, and it's 8:47 now, so at least three hours.

"So, you think that the news thing she read to you was wrong? Or some sort of conspiracy or something?" Midnight asked.

I shrugged. "Something like that, it's just too far fetched to be real."

"I dunno, I never met her, but I heard that she's a respectable scholar and one of the smartest ponies in all of Equestria, she wouldn't believe anything like that without some strong evidence."

"I just think she's full of it."

"But, it would certainly explain your fighting skills, and memory loss."

"Come on, don't tell me you're falling for it too."

Midnight gave me a concerned look. "If Twilight would tell you about it, she has a reason, and I'm going to stick to that."

"Whatever, I need to go to bed." I went up to my room and flopped down on the bed. "Could it be real?" I asked myself. "No, there's just so many things that make no sense." I pulled off the bracelet and tossed it onto the dresser before I rolled onto my back. "Ugggh." Maybe I just need some sleep? That would probably be a good way to clear my head. I shut my eyes and let out a long sigh. It took me a while to fall asleep with all of the thoughts bouncing around my head, but when I finally did, I had a very realistic dream that I only wish I could forget...