Eyes belonging to a young girl opened in a dark room only to see nothing except unnatural looking darkness. They could feel themself surrounded by water. Grumbling and tugging the owner of the eyes managed to pull themselves out of the water and come up for air. Gasping as they took a breath they examined the room they were in. The lighting was poor, but it was possible to make out a series of old machines in the room, it appeared to be some kind of abandoned basement of some kind of factory. Looking down, they could see the water was filling some kind of vat, previously probably used for storing something else.

Rubbing their temple they examined their hands, noting painted fingernails that had chipped polish. Feeling their chest, they grabbed onto soft and rather large breasts. It was unmistakable that they were female.

She pulled herself out of the water and climbed out of the vat and brushed her long wild red hair out of her face. Her attire appeared to be some kind of gothic dress, though soaked now. She tried to think of how she got here in the first place, but nothing came to mind. This entire place seemed foreign and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall anything prior to waking up in this room. She wasn’t in pain, so it was safe to say she hadn’t been kidnapped as an involuntary organ donor, however she did have a headache.

“How did I… Get here…?” She asked out loud. “Where is here, anyway?”

Her question fell on deaf ears, causing her to sigh.

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus, perhaps centering her mind would give her much desired answers.

Her concentration was interrupted when splashing noises came from the other side of the room. She opened her eyes to see another vat on the other side of the room seemed to be showing signs of someone else in the room with her. She took a defensive stance and prepared herself for anything as the sounds of someone coming up for air filled the room.

It was difficult to see in the dark, but a body sprung up and draped over the side of the vat and tumbled out onto the ground, groaning in pain as they hit the ground. They gasped for air and coughed up water as they came back to the waking world. It was safe to assume they too had been unconscious until only just now. They pulled themselves up, using the edge of the vat for support so they could come to a stand, hacking and coughing.

“Damn…” They managed to get out in a strained voice.

The new member of the room glanced about spotting the redhead standing there. This person’s blue eyes shined in the darkness, but their long black hair seemed to be almost invisible with how poor the light was. Their hair reached past their knees as they stood at full height. She was a somewhat taller woman, but nowhere near what one would call a giant or an Amazon, perhaps only slightly above average.

“Who’s there?” The black-haired woman asked.

The redhead remained still and silent.

“I can see you, answer me!” The other shouted.

The redhead gulped and tried to speak up. “I… I… I just woke up here, like you did…”
The black-haired woman looked around the room trying to make sense of this place. “Do you… Recognize this place?” She asked the redhead.

The redhead shook her head as she too peered around the room.

“What’s your name?” The black haired woman inquired.

The redhead stopped and thought it over for a moment. What was her name? She didn’t know. It was information that should have been at the forefront of her mind, but it wasn’t. Something so simple such as a name, yet it eluded her. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, trying to think of anything, something that might trigger a recollection of her name.

After a few seconds, only one word popped into her head. A tiny memory fragment that slipped through the cracks and gave her a name.

Sunset.

“Sunset… I… I think anyway…” She shrugged.

“You think?” The other woman asked with a raised brow as she stepped closer to get a better look at her.

“I… I don’t remember really… I don’t remember a lot of anything… Like I can feel stuff in my head but it feels like… My memories are all mixed up, you know?” Sunset said with a shrug.

The other woman placed a hand on her own forehead and concentrated before looking back at Sunset with a nod. “Yeah… Mine too…”

“What’s your name then?” Sunset asked.

“I… I don’t remember… Something strange going on in my head, like everything feels… Not right, like I’m remembering things wrong…” She replied.

Sunset crossed her arms and thought it over, trying to see if anything about this woman struck her as unique. Some kind of quality that might trigger her memory enough to pin a name to her, perhaps they knew each other.

Nothing came to mind.

“Well… How about we give you a name while we figure it out? That way we have a system for communicating at least…” Sunset suggested.

The woman nodded. “Very well, that sounds ideal.”

“How about… Midnight, because your hair kind of reminds me of the night time…” Sunset proposed.

The other nodded in approval. “Midnight it is, at least until I remember my actual name…”

“So, any chance you have a light or something?” Sunset asked.

Midnight raised a brow and gave a look that suggested she thought Sunset not that bright. “Sweetie, the both of us just woke up in vats of water. Even if I had a light on me wouldn’t it be wet and thus ineffective right now?”

Sunset blushed and looked away. “R-right… I guess I didn’t think of that… Maybe there is a light somewhere in this room then?”

Midnight nodded. “Well, it looks like there is machinery in here, so it would be safe to assume that there was electricity at one point. That and machinery usually requires maintenance, and so I doubt they would perform such in a room with absolutely no lights whatsoever.”

Her logic was sound, Sunset concurred. “Alright, well, let’s see if we can find a switch or something, alright?”

“Sounds like a swell idea, let’s split up, meet back here if you find something. Be careful this room seems pretty large…” Midnight warned.

Sunset nodded and began to feel her way around. Midnight wasn’t kidding when she said the room was large, it was massive. The poor light made her stub her toe at least once or twice while they felt around. Around them were pipes, old disabled equipment and dirt all over the place. The entire facility was filthy; when Sunset ran her hand along a pipe, she could feel years of dirt caked on. This place must not have been used for decades.

“Find anything over there?” Midnight called out.

“Nothing, what about you?” Sunset asked, unable to see her on the other side of the room.

“I think I found a light switch, hang on…” Midnight replied loudly.

Pressing the switch, the lights in the room came to life slowly, first with a few flickers, but eventually, they would light up the entire room. Sunset and Moonlight both covered their eyes as they tried to adjust from total darkness to blinding light.

When their eyes had finally settled, they lowered their arms to get a better look at each other. Sunset realized she was right in calling her new acquaintance Midnight, as her hair was about as black as one could get. It somehow went well with her shining crystal blue eyes.

She had some kind of white button-up blouse which while soaked made her black lacy bra underneath shine through with ease. Complimenting the outfit was a tight skirt, black in color with a gold belt.

Sunset noted that she was wearing pumps that appeared rather expensive. She was an extremely attractive woman, who clearly had some years to her.

Midnight was an older woman, clearly somewhere in her 30s, possibly 40s if she carried her age well.

She peered at Sunset and smirked. “So… We finally get a better look at each other’s faces…” Midnight said.

Sunset nodded and stepped forward as the two came to the middle of the room to meet. “Maybe… My face sparks some of your memories?”

Midnight shrugged. “Don’t know, what about mine?”

Sunset shook her head in defeat. “Sadly, no… Still a blank. I have no idea who you are… However that could just mean we haven't spoken for very long...”

“That makes two of us…” Midnight smirked before looking around, her eyes stopping on something on the other side of the room. “Quick question… Do you know her?” Midnight pointed to something on the other side of the room.

Sunset blinked and turned her head and froze for a second as she saw a body laying on the floor, face down, but a bullet wound through the back of their skull.

Midnight hummed as she casually walked over to the corpse and examined it.

“I… I don’t know…” Sunset stated as she followed cautiously.

“Hmmm… Yellow hair… Seems young, probably were a gorgeous creature when they were alive…” Midnight surmised as she turned the body over to reveal it was already well past early decomposition.

“You seem… A little too comfortable…” Sunset pointed out.

Midnight shrugged. “Somehow… I think I remember seeing dead bodies before… I think… I don’t know… Still pretty hazy…”

“Maybe you were a coroner?” Sunset suggested.

Midnight just shrugged again. “Her face ringing any bells?”

Sunset studied the face that at this point was mostly a skeleton. “Not… Really…”

Midnight nodded and placed a hand to her chin. “She didn’t die here…”

“How do you figure that?” Sunset raised a brow.

“Do you see any dried blood under her, because I don’t. Someone put her here after they killed her… Why though…?” Midnight thought out loud.

“I guess that proposes a new question then…” Sunset stated as she crossed her arms.

Midnight tilted her head with intrigue. “Oh? And what is that?”

“Why are we here? If someone killed her, it’s safe to say they could have killed us too, but they chose not to, so why have we been spared?” Sunset asked.

“Assuming they are one in the same…” Midnight corrected.

She had a point, at this point they couldn’t assume that a murder that happened clearly years ago had anything to do with them being there. However, it was a possibility that the two were linked.

“Well… I think I saw a door on the other side of the room, we should check it out, maybe we can get out of here?” Sunset gestured behind herself where she had seen the door while they were searching for the light switch.

“Sounds like a good idea, no sense in staying here and wasting away, right?” Midnight smiled.

Sunset concurred and began leading the two toward the door. When they reached it, Midnight squinted, a bit skeptical as Sunset reached for the handle. Midnight reached out and grabbed Sunset’s wrist. “Wait…”

Tilting her head, Sunset looked at Midnight with confusion.

“Don’t you think it’s odd?” Midnight asked, still keeping a firm grip on Sunset’s wrist.

“What is?”

Midnight looked at the door with skepticism. “Someone brings us here, drops us with a dead body, we have no memory of how we got here or even who we are, and yet they left a convenient door for us to escape through?”

Sunset lowered her hand from the door handle and thought it over. It did sound strange, but she wasn’t sure if she was in a position to question it. The door was their only way out, and even if it was a trap, whoever put the two of them there clearly knew they would determine that they would have no choice but to spring it regardless. It was almost as if someone had predicted everything they would or could do and had already prepared a countermeasure.

Was it possible that someone was toying with them?

Sunset shrugged. “It’s not like we have a choice…”

Midnight nodded reluctantly, knowing that Sunset was right. She gently pushed Sunset out of the way and gave the door a mighty kick. The force of her foot caused the door the burst open and a light shined out of it, blinding them.

A woman in her thirties stood staring out a window looking down at the city below her. It was hard to believe she had been away from her family estate for so long, nearly a decade now. She had gone to college, graduated and now practiced medicine at Canterlot City Hospital. She recalled the day she received her medical doctorate, her mother and father were ecstatic.

She let out a sigh as she checked her watch and noticed how late she was. Making her way out of her apartment door, she stopped and snagged her glasses from the countertop and propped them up over her nose and gave them a gentle adjustment. Running a hand through her long red hair, she ran her way to the elevator and tapped the button impatiently. When the door opened she could see the face of a neighbor on the floor below her. He smiled warmly and did a quick adjustment of his messy hair, clearly hoping to impress her with a more put together appearance.

“Oh, Sunset! It’s great to see you!” He said happily.

Sunset brushed her scrubs off and nodded as she stepped in next to him and stood still while she watched the door close.

“On your way to work, I see…” The young man stated.

Sunset gave a nod.

“So… Any plans after?” He whistled innocently.

“Are you asking me on a date, Code?” Sunset raised a brow.

His face turned crimson as he tried to look away, clearly still too shy to ask outright despite him flirting with her for months.

“Well… I don’t know… Maybe?” He shrugged, clearly not wanting to say yes or no to the question, but his intentions were obvious.

Sunset sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, Code… I’m at work all the time…”

“Well you can take some time off, I mean there are other doctors you know?” He pointed out.

“Maybe… Some other time, alright?” Sunset gave a weak smile that seemed to satisfy him as he returned it.

“Yeah… Okay… Some other time…” Code nodded.

The elevator dinged to alert the two that they had reached the bottom floor, and Sunset bowed slightly to him and gave an approving nod before making her exit. A part of her wondered why she was so against even giving the man a chance. He seemed nice enough, and he wasn’t terrible looking. Sure he had a boring IT job, but he made great money. Sunset thought back to the last time she had even been on a date.

She was homeschooled for most of her life, so she didn’t go out and socialize much. By the time she reached college, she was indifferent toward other people. She only recalled when she was eight and tried to go to private schooling and a boy said he had a crush on her, that was perhaps the only romantic experience she had had shy of about two dates she took after she began working.

Both were uneventful and she was home by eight o’ clock and didn’t bother inviting either of them into her apartment. Despite all of her accomplishments, her inability to connect with people socially left her a virgin at thirty-one. She never really knew if the moment was right, or even to tell if a guy liked her, unless they were painfully obvious about it like Code was.

She remembered her social ineptitude began at childhood and just seemed to carry on. Her parents kept her at home for school when she couldn’t fit in and she spent the rest of her time away from other kids. She wondered if that had damaged her social abilities.

Either way, she put her mind back on work as she wandered out to her Audi and fished the key from her pocket. It was an impressive car, one that made even the people of this rich part of town look with envy. A present from her father to celebrate her thirtieth birthday last year. A small smile came to her face as she remembered.

She got inside and started the engine before snapping her seatbelt on. When she got on the road, she checked the time, 8:08 AM, she was going to be later than she had originally thought, she had been distracted with her thoughts this morning and as a result, she didn’t pay attention to the ticking clock.

Picking up the pace, she pressed down on the peddle harder to try and make up for lost time.

She managed to get herself there within eighteen minutes of speeding, and nearly getting caught twice by speed traps, but Sunset parked her car in the hospital parking lot and stepped out, brushing off her scrubs and composing herself.

The woman tried to make herself seem small as she walked through the door unseen, but of course, their desk clerk spotted her right away. After all, she was the only redhead there, so it was easy to see her.

“Oh, Dr. Shimmer, there you are! There’s a patient here to see you, I told her she had to wait in this waiting room but she proved to be… Quite… Insistent…” The clerk rubbed her neck nervously.

Sunset raised an annoyed brow. “Where is she then?”

“She’s… In your office…” The clerk sunk in her seat, preparing to be scolded.

“And why didn’t you stop her?” Sunset asked.

“She… was… Quite strong, Doctor… She pushed her way through security.” The clerk admitted a bit embarrassed sounding.

Sunset blinked and shook her head, wondering what a person who could shove their way through the entire security staff would look like. Regardless, she knew she’d have no choice but to deal with such a person soon, as if they were in her office on the eighth floor, she would have no choice but to deal with them.

She found herself walking silently, ignoring the world around her as she made her way to the elevator. Fortunate for her, she was alone when she entered, meaning no awkward office conversation with people she didn’t really care much for.

By the time she had made it to her floor, she realized her stomach was growling hungrily at her, scolding her for not eating prior to coming to work. She had forgotten to eat again, not an uncommon thing for her, but an annoying endeavor. Sunset made a mental note to stop at the cafeteria at some point in the day but knew there was an 80% chance she would forget again and just go hungry.

Approaching her door, she took a deep breath before entering.

There sitting in the chair in front of her desk was a woman probably thirty years of age, blonde hair tied at the end down to her back, and a button up plaid shirt that did a poor job of containing her large breasts. Sunset could relate to the difficulty of finding clothing that could fit comfortably over large breasts, being rather busty herself.

The woman’s face was dotted with freckles along her cheeks, but she also had the most adorable green eyes.

Sunset forced a smile and walked around her to her desk, offering her hand. “Hello, I’m Dr. Sunset Shimmer.”

They took her hand and squeezed it a bit more firmly than Sunset would have liked. She had a tight and powerful grip, one that certainly could make a woman cry in pain. Sunset was starting to understand how a single woman overpowered the entire security team.

“Applejack Apple, a pleasure to meet ya’,” the woman replied.

“Ms. Apple…” Sunset began only for Applejack to cut her off.

“Jus’ Applejack is fine, or AJ if y’all prefer.”

Sunset blinked and adjusted her glasses before clearing her throat. “Applejack, then… What brings you to my office exactly?”

Applejack smirked. “Well, ‘Ah hear y’all are the best there is.”

“I’m assuming you mean in my practice. If so, I assure you there are likely people better than myself, but that is why medicine is a science, we’re always striving for improvements…” Sunset replied, unsure of where this was going.

Applejack nodded understandingly, but it was likely that she wasn’t really paying attention. “Sure, sure… But ‘Ah know y’all are the best in the city, so I was wondering if you could take a look at me, the misses keeps tellin’ me I need to see someone about the pain ‘Ah keep feelin’, she don’t take hard day’s work as an excuse, y’know?”

Sunset sighed and pressed her fingers to her temple. “You know you should really have made an appointment, I’m a fairly busy person. You can’t just walk in here and demand my time.”

Applejack crossed her legs and arms and stared Sunset down, clearly not ready to concede so easily. It was clear by looking at her that this was a woman who didn’t let things like “rules” and “regulations” stop her from getting where she needed to be. There was a warrior’s spirit in this woman and she’d be damned if she was going to let a little bit of paperwork stop her.

Realizing that Applejack was forcing her hand, Sunset sighed and nodded. “Yes… Alright… Please take your shirt off and I’ll examine you alright?”

Applejack smirked and gave an approving pointing finger. “See, now we’re on the same page.”

Sunset nodded as she came to a stand with Applejack who began to unbutton her shirt and tossed it aside. Sunset noted that Applejack had numerous scars on her body, little cuts, and scrapes that had likely accumulated over the decades. There was a large laceration across her left shoulder that seemed larger than the rest, but the front side of her was relatively free of damage, though Sunset already wondered if her large breast size could contribute to back problems.

Reaching into her desk, Sunset retrieved a small device that she used for quick examinations. In the past few years, medical science had seen tremendous breakthroughs, X-rays no longer required a huge machine to perform, but a small wand that could fit in one’s pocket. Cancer was on the brink of extinction shy of a few stragglers, and visits to the doctor became considerably shorter thanks to all of the improvements.

The good doctor ran the wand in front of Applejack and then gestured for her to turn around. Applejack did as told and the wand got ran in front of her one more time. Once the data was collected, Sunset tapped a small button on the device and set it down on the table. She came around back to her chair and took a seat while a holographic screen came up from the device.

Applejack scooped her shirt back up and began to hastily fasten it back on while she sat back down with the doctor waiting for any news.

“So we’re cool?” Applejack raised a brow. “‘Ah can tell her she’s worried fer’ nothin’?”

Sunset coughed and adjusted her glasses while she frowned. “Hardly, Miss Applejack… Honestly, you have some nerve damage going on here… Clearly, you’re pushing yourself too hard, what is it that you do?”

“Orchard farmin’, mostly anyway.” Applejack shrugged.

“Perhaps it’s time to hire some farmhands?” Sunset smirked.

Applejack gave a dismissive hand gesture.

“Nonetheless… I can prescribe some drugs that will assist in repairing the damage, you’ll need to undergo a small surgery as well after a few weeks, but be thankful you listened to your wife and came in now. This damage is reversible, but if you waited too long it might have been much worse, you should really learn to take better care of yourself,” Sunset scolded.

Applejack chuckled and nodded, seeming to take this all very well. Then again she seemed like a fairly realistic and down to earth person overall.

“Alright doc, you win. ‘Ah’ll take it easy for a few… Guess ‘Ah can give the kids a few more chores, lord knows they won’t mind anyway,” Applejack replied.

Coming to a stand and offering her hand to the doctor, Applejack’s face sported a wide grin. “Thanks ‘fer yer’ help, doc.”

Finishing up on writing a prescription and handing to Applejack, she used her other hand to take Applejack’s hand in her own. Applejack had a firm grip, but something about it felt… familiar.

Sunset blinked and looked down the calloused hand then back up at Applejack’s freckled face. “Say… This may sound strange but…”

Applejack tilted her head. “Hm?”

“Have we… Met before?” Sunset asked.

“Can’t say we have… ‘Ah’d remember a pretty face like yours…” Applejack nodded.

A blush crept onto the doctor’s face as she released Applejack’s hand. “Yes well… I guess I’m just experiencing some kind of deja vu…”

“Happens to the best of us!” Applejack joked.

“Yes well… I’ll see you in a few weeks, Miss Apple…” Sunset nodded.

Applejack wandered toward the entrance with her hands stuffed in her pocket. She pulled one out and gave a thumb’s up. At that second she swore she had met this farmer before, but couldn’t place her finger on it.

Midnight and Sunset fumbled into the next room, both of them placing a hand to their throbbing skulls. Sunset gasped in agony as she leaned up against a wall and sat on the floor, trying to compose herself. That memory that came back to her felt… unnatural, odd. Something about it didn’t feel right.

For starters, she definitely appeared much younger than the person she was remembering, was it possible she was seeing the future? No, such a thing was absurd, people couldn’t see the future.

Midnight seemed to be in the same pain, so Sunset wondered if she recalled something too. “H-hey… You alright?” Sunset asked.

Midnight groaned as she pulled herself up to a stand, clearly not feeling very well, but shrugging it off anyway. “Never better…”

“Did you… by chance… remember something too?” Sunset asked as she began to use the wall to help herself up to a stand.

Midnight nodded but kept the same serious face she had when she entered. “I’m not sure though…”

“What do you mean?” Sunset raised a brow.

“I’m not convinced that was… My memory… Something feels not right like my thoughts are all mixed up…” Midnight replied.

“Same… Like I’m not sure what’s real or not…” Sunset admitted.

Midnight nodded as she began to examine the new room they had entered. “I hope my kids are doing okay…” Midnight spoke.

Sunset perked up and leaned in with interest. “Kids? So you remember you have children?”

Midnight nodded and tilted her head. “Yeah, what of it?”

“When did you remember that?” Sunset asked.

“Sometime before we came into this room, just small things coming back to me, but it’s not clear whether I am remembering correctly or not…” Midnight sighed.

“What’re their names? Maybe they might trigger something for me!” Sunset stepped forward.

Midnight took a defensive stance and shook her head. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“Huh? Why?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion.

Crossing her arms, Midnight kept her distance. “Neither of us knows how we got here and both of us are having issues with our memories. I don’t know you and you don’t even know who you are, so that’s reason enough not to trust you fully. If I told you who my kids were then you may use them against me, or someone else could be watching us that could harm them if they haven’t already. So the less you know about me, the better…”

Sunset frowned at how distrusting she was, in the previous room she seemed fine, so whatever memory she had acquired must have shaken her up badly. It made Sunset curious, but she doubted she’d get any answers or explanations. Midnight’s logic was sound after all, how could Sunset expect to be trusted when she didn’t even know who she was? Only a few minutes ago Midnight seemed very trusting, but suddenly she had become very standoffish.

One detail concerned her though. “You think someone might be watching us…?”

Midnight shrugged. “Well we were brought here alive and we’re not being hindered by locked doors even, so clearly someone wanted us to escape…”

Sunset nodded as she found herself agreeing.

“So we’re in agreement then? We keep each other in the dark except on a need to know basis, got it?” Midnight stated.

“I guess I have no choice…” Sunset sighed, realizing that this was how it was going to be.

I think you’re starting to understand that things are not always as they seem to be. These two souls brought together to explore mysterious pasts… Or maybe not? Truth is all relative, and it will be up to you to determine what that truth is.

You’re starting to get it, it’s slowly coming together for you, it won’t be much longer until you understand everything, but for now, there is so much more for you to see.

Confused yet? You should be.