Before we could make our escape, Cindy suddenly turned around towards Leo. "Hey, sorry for asking, but did you have any memory problems when you became a pony?"

Leo frowned at Cindy. "Are you implying something?"

Cindy shook herself lightly. "Of course not. You're doing a wonderful job, but the change does seem to often have an effect on recollection and I was wondering if you'd like any help with that."

Leo squirmed in place with a growing frown. "It's a damn rutting season, like any animal. That has nothing to do with my memory."

Cindy nodded in agreement. "We're not talking about that. May I see? It won't do anything if there's nothing to do."

Leo relaxed at Cindy's calm and certain words, only to tense a moment later. "That's that royalty thing, isn't it? What's your angle?"

Cindy flashed her bright teeth. "No angles. We're here to help. Just lay down, on your belly."

I turned us around and approached Leo. I wasn't sure what prompted Cindy, but we were a team, so I wasn't going to contradict her, even if it meant being closer to the scent that kept me painfully throbbing.

Leo seemed unsure, but slowly did settle down. Her eyes never left us, and she gave Sandra and Dusk Hope sour looks if they tried to approach. I reached for Leo and rest a hand on her head and we both felt through the energy that made her up. I realized that dizzying view was closer to how Cindy always used to see things, back in her world. We gently corrected a few blocked passages and withdrew.

Leo blinked slowly a few times. "Holy shit..."

Cindy tilted herself. "Are you alright?"

"No." Leo pushed up to her hooves. "I... I need to go."

Hope looked confused and curious. "Is it something we can help with? We'd like to help, if we can."

Leo clopped a hoof on the ground. "We switched places!"

"We?" I asked. "How do you mean?"

Leo sprang for the door. "Follow if you're so damn curious, but I have to go." She threw open the wheel with her horn magic and the door inched open, only to be shoved by her magic the rest of the way. She galloped out into the hallway at a full sprint, and the chase was on. We followed her through the narrow tunnels, losing her a few times, but managing to catch up with a bit of luck and our pony sense. Fortunately she was the largest presence that wasn't family.

She pushed into the storage side of things and found a pegasus stallion working to prepare food in large pots. He saw her and smiled. "Hey hon!"

He moved to grab Leo in a hug, but she squirmed away. "You know now's a bad time for that. Do that thing, the same thing you did to me?"

He quirked an ear. "What thing?"

Leo stomped. "You will lay down on your belly and stop asking questions!"

The pegasus flopped and went still, though still looked confused. We walked up to him and undid a few knots in his pattern as carefully as we could.

When we finished, he rose up on shaking legs, staring at Leo. Leo nodded slowly. "I missed you, and I didn't even know why."

He drew a shuddering breath before advancing on Leo and hugging her. She didn't try to stop him that time. "This is so fucked up."

Hope rubbed behind his head. "Um, sorry for bothering, but what did you remember?"

Leo squeezed the pegasus one more time before facing me, Sandra, and Hope. "We switched places. We were married, then we forgot. What with swapping genders, and her, er, him, not even being military, no one put the pieces together, and I never thought to ask." She turned to face her wife/husband. "Dear Christ Almighty, I'm so sorry."

He smiled and tapped his chest. "We knew, in here. That's how we ended up dating after that." He rubbed noses with Leo gently. "You stink, by the way."

Leo grunted. "As if you really mind?" A hoof brushed against the stallion's hanging member. "So, uh, Lucy, mee--"

"I'm not Lucy anymore," argued the stallion. "Christ that doesn't fit a horse guy anyway. I'm Sure Wing." He spread his wings and looked proud before he pounced on Leo. "And this is my wife, who used to be my husband."

Leo tried to fight him off, but their proximity was playing with their feelings, and both loved each other fiercely it seemed. It was barely any time before he had mounted her properly and they began going at it wildly with no regard for our presence.

Hope's horn suddenly began to glow and he gently pulled the two apart, though it was a herculean effort from the look on his face.

Leo was flushed and snapped her hindlegs closed. "I-I... we shouldn't do that in the damn kitchen. That's against regs." She had no complaint about being mounted in general, I noted.

Sure Wing smiled. "I can wait if I have to. We need to catch up, on everything. I forgot I used to be a woman." She sat up, balancing on her hindlegs and gesturing down at her lubricated member. "Gotta say, being a guy is a lot simpler."

Leo snorted loudly. "Luc, er, I mean Sure Wing, come on. You're waving your dick at them all." She licked her lips, as if tempted by it.

Sure Wing looked at her quietly, shaft throbbing. There were no words, but they were communicating quite well. Leo turned away. "I'm going back to my office." She trotted off with a stiff gait.

When Leo was gone, Sure Wing fell back to all fours. "Thank you, for reminding me. I knew there were things missing, but I didn't even know where to start. I was... toying with him. Knowing I used to be a woman? That's scary as hell... but I can't do a damn thing about it..."

Hope gave a slow nod. "I know how you feel... Are you alright?"

"No." Sure Wing smiled and returned to the cooking he had abandoned. "But I will be. I have work to do, then a mare to plow later. I'm doing alright, as ponies go."

We left him to his duty and gathered in the hall outside. Dusk Hope sagged a bit. "I wish I remembered where I came from... What if I was a girl too? Or a kid, or an old man, or something else weird? How did I even know to... do what I did when we first met? Remember that?"

I flushed a little at the memory of it. Nothing had felt quite like having him with his horn pushed into me like that. The closest to it was the caress of the parasite's tongues, but it was different still.

Sandra threw a leg over Dusk and pulled him tight. "It doesn't matter what you were. You are a wonderful part of our herd, a true friend, and an amazing person. That's what matters."

Hope nuzzled into the hug, purring gently. "I know... but I still want to... I'll still be me, but is it wrong to want to have my history too?"

Cindy perked her ears at Hope. "What if you were one of those things?"

Hope tilted his head. "If I was a child, I'd know I wasn't stupid, just... uneducated. If I was a woman, I'd probably be embarrassed, but remembering would help me not be so awkward about some things I think. If I was old, I'd feel super lucky getting a whole new life. And if I was just some random guy, well, that would fit well enough, right?" He smiled gently. "You weren't very good when we first met, but you are now. Can't you try? Please? Maybe it'll help me stop being so stupid."

Sandra frowned and squeezed Hope. "Damn it, Dusk Hope, you are not stupid. Straightforward, maybe, but you are not stupid. You're brave, honest, and you are perfectly able to think and plan. You rescued Even Faith, remember? You've rescued all of us at one time or another. No more calling yourself stupid."

I gently rubbed over Dusk Hope's head. "This is obviously important to you. Let's go to wherever they want us to bunk down, and see what we can't find out, alright? Just remember, whatever you once were is in the past. Now, you're Dusk Hope, a member of our herd, and we all love you."

He let me pick him up, so I cradled him and gently pet over his back as we meandered the halls. We found a soldier and got directions. With us being infectious, we were given a small but private room to be in seperate from the others.

"There are about ten uninfected pure humans," explained the soldier as he led us towards our room. "We plan to keep them that way, even if they sometimes do the most amazingly bold things, as soldiers or scientists. Brass says that you're to be trusted, so I'm just asking, stay away from them, alright?"

We stepped into the room and pulled the door shut, gaining some privacy. I settled down and set Hope between our legs where I could hug him with all four. "Are you ready?"

He nodded slowly, then closed his eyes. We gently rubbed over his ears and head, feeling for the energy within him. Soon we would discover what mysteries lurked within that unicorn stallion's past. I just hoped it wouldn't be anything bad.

Author's Notes:

Where did he come from? Was he a random 9-5er? Was he homeless? Was he female? Was he a child or elderly? Was he even American? He could be a rapist, murderer, or other criminal. He could be a lot of things! Only the typos know for sure. What do YOU think?