The wake up tone sounded just like it did every day, causing her to be roused from her deep, dreamless sleep. All around her she could hear the sounds of the other bunkmates as they awoke and made their way to the mess hall, further pulling her from the comfort of her pillow.

Dully, she opened her eyes, her brain sluggishly trying to process the information around her. It was a morning just like any of the others that she could remember; not that she remembered anything other than the ward. Once she got up, she filed out of the room with the rest of her bunkmates in a stupor. Like her, they all wore orange jumpsuits, as well as metal collars around their necks. The metal collars had a small green light on it which blinked at a set interval, and every so often she could hear a quite hum from hers. Unlike her, the others were all bipeds of varying descriptions. In fact, she was the only quadruped in the whole ward; but that didn't bother her.

She frowned at this. She was sure that there had been a time when this would have bothered her, but she couldn't remember. Remembering was so hard, and too much of a bother, so she stopped trying. Instead, she focused her attention on the back of the ward mate in front of her, putting her purple hooves on the right path towards the mess hall.

As she followed the line, she saw one of the white clad caretakers directing the crowd. She smiled at its tentacled face as she passed, glad for the direction that it provided her. She was happy for direction. Direction made it so she didn't have to try to think.

Thinking was too hard.

By now she could hear the food dispenser whir and clank as it poured food into bowls for the ward mates. Once she had reached the front of the line, she picked up her tray in her mouth and moved to her usual table.

She frowned at this. Wasn't there a better way to pick things up? She wasn't sure... It seemed like there used to be, but that was so long ago...

She sighed, and gave up again. Thinking and remembering were simply too hard, so she decided to instead concentrate on her meal as she sat down at the table. It was green mush inside a rather large bowl, her favorite!

...Was it her favorite? She had often asked herself this same question, and she had always come to the conclusion that it was too hard to decide. This time was no different, so she immediately began to dig into the green mush.

Curiously, she looked up at the person who sat directly opposite to her. He was always there. Every day he sat opposite to her, and if she wasn't mistaken, he also slept in the bunk above hers.

He was taller than she was, standing just a hair shy of five and a half feet. She also noticed that he was well muscled, and had striking green eyes that seemed a bit... small, for some reason. He had hair like her, but unlike her, his brown hair was only on the top of his head, and on a few places on his face where it formed a short, scraggly beard. His face, which might have been called handsome at one time, was covered in scars. She thought that this should bother her, but for some reason it didn't.

Nothing really bothered her. Nothing except the fact that it was too hard to remember why that was a bad thing. Was it a bad thing? She wasn't really sure.

After the meal, she got up with the others and proceeded to the work yard. The work they did was long, tiring and repetitive. They had to carry large rocks from one end of the yard all the way to the other end. Once they were in place, another group of ward mates would take pickaxes and break apart the rocks. Every so often they would find a small multicolored crystal, which they would pick up and place in carts. The refuse was placed in another set of carts, which in turn was taken and poured down a chute on the far side or the room, all of which took place under the constant watch of their caretakers.

She didn't mind though. The work might be repetitive and exhausting, but it didn't require her to think.

Thinking was too hard.

Every so often during their work, one of the ward mates would be singled out by the caretakers and taken away. Sometimes they would come back, sometimes not. She felt sad about those that did not come back.

Why was she sad? She wasn't sure. If only she could remember, then maybe she'd know why.

She was so lost in thought about this that she stopped paying attention to where she was going, and didn't notice that she was about to run into someone. She heard a loud whistle from one of the caretakers, which snapped her focus back to the job at hand. However, it was already too late, and she found herself tripping over the paw of a large, furry, lion-like biped heading the other way.

She cried out as she hit the pile of rocks hard, and could have sworn she heard something snap. However, when she was looked over by her silent caretakers, they seemed satisfied that nothing was wrong, and pointed her to continue working.

She didn't feel like she was hurt, but something seemed... off. Something wasn't right. Why wasn't it right? Things seemed... foggier than usual. If only she could remember.

After they finished their work for the day, she and the others went back to the mess hall for dinner. However, something was different this time around, something she just couldn't place. Somehow all of the other people around her seemed...strange. She couldn't say why though... maybe she was just imagining things...

Once she had gotten through the dinner line, she sat at her usual table and started to tuck into the food provided by the caretakers. However, this time she gagged on the disgusting slop she was eating. Why was it so gross? Did it always taste like this?

She was still very hungry from all the hard work earlier, so she continued to choke down what was left of her meal. She couldn't help but think, though, that this would be a whole lot easier to swallow if it tasted like Applejack's apple fritters.

She stiffened at the thought. Who was Applejack? She knew the name, but somehow couldn't match a face to it. Why was that? It was just so hard to think, to remember, but she knew that this was important. It wasn't something she wanted to let go of, no matter how hard it was.

She frowned slightly as she looked down at her purple hooves. Unlike all the other times when she tried to remember, this time she had actually remembered something. It gnawed at her, ate at the edge of her consciousness, like a puzzle that needed to be solved.

Dinner time was over, so she got up from her seat and filed out with all of the other orange clad people, making her way back to her bunk in a foggy stupor. Once there, she threw herself on the low bed in exhaustion, trying all the while to put the pieces together. Who was Applejack? Was she a friend? Was she a she, and not a he?

No... that didn't feel right... Applejack was definitely a mare, of that she was certain.

She had to suppress a laugh at the thought of Applejack as a stallion. The orange farm pony looked extremely awkward in her mind's eye.

She froze up again. She remembered what Applejack looked like! In fact, she could remember a picture of her in her mind. She was standing with five other very important mares. Were they important? She wasn't sure. If Applejack was with them, then they must be...

Yes... they were all important. They were her friends... well, almost all of them. The one in the center wasn't. The one in the center couldn't possibly be her friend.

Why was that? Was the center one her enemy?

...No, that wasn't right. She knew the center one well, of that she was certain. She was so familiar... The purple coat, the dark blue mane with a purple and pink stripe, and those purple eyes. What was most peculiar, though, was the star burst mark across her flank. It was important somehow... It defined the purple unicorn somehow...

No... It defined her. She was the purple unicorn. Reaching up with her hooves, she felt the horn on the top of her head. It was important to her for some reason...

She closed her eyes, trying desperately to remember the names of the other ponies in the picture. The names danced at the tip of her mind, never forming, and always staying just beyond her grasp.

But she had to remember. It seemed so important that it ate at every fiber of her being. Her name, the names of her friends, and the seemingly infinite wonders that those memories held, all sat on the edge of conscious thought, dancing barely out of reach. If only she could remember...

She continued to toss and turn like this for an hour before sleep finally took her. But just before she drifted off, one thing floated up into her thoughts.

It was a name. Her name. The fact that she was able to name herself eased her mind and finally allowed her to drift off to sleep.

Twilight Sparkle grinned as sleep took her. Remembering was hard, but it was too rewarding to stop.

Author's Notes:

Well, I hope this was enough to hook you in! what will happen next? Thoughts and guesses are appreciated.

EDIT: I've made some minor changes to the text. Nothing major, just clarified a few things, but mainly fixed grammar and punctuation errors that I, in my earlier days as a fimfic author, couldn't spot.

At any rate, if you're new to this fic, welcome! Fair warning, a lot of these earlier chapters will have quite a few errors. I'm going through to fix as many as I can, but I'm not perfect. Expect me to miss a few. If you spot any, I would be deeply grateful. You also earn a point for each one you spot. Points can be used to buy non-existent prizes! Huzzah!