I needed to get out of here.

I needed some time to myself—some time to come to terms with what was happening to me. I needed to find an answer to just what was going on, to clear away the confusion.

"Land sakes, girl," Applejack remarked, looking between me and the empty dishes with no small amount of awe, "fer somepony who ain't hungry, ya can certainly put it away."

I pushed myself away from the table and stood up, turning to the cowpony with a strained smile.

"I ah.. guess I was a bit hungrier than I thought," I replied with a nervous chuckle, "once I started I... just couldn't stop."

"Ah'll say," Applejack replied with a bemused shake of her head, "ain't even seen Big Mac eat as much as that," her confused frown turned to a proud, grateful smile after a moment, "well, ah can't really fault ya, sugarcube, us Apples pride ourselves in our homecookin', and ah'm mighty glad ta see ya enjoyed the meal."

"Yeah," I responded quietly, "hey, Applejack? It's been fun, a-and the meal was great don't get me wrong... but somethings been on my mind, and I think I need a bit of time alone."

Both Spike and Applejack gave me odd looks and I winced, trying to better explain myself.

"I... haven't really been feeling well, as I'm sure Spike can tell you," I continued, "I don't really feel like myself right now, and I think I just need to work some things out on my own. Can you look after Spike for a bit?"

"What?" Spike cried, hopping down from the table and walking over to me, "Twilight, what are you talking about? We got things to do and—"

"I know, Spike," I interjected, backing away from the little dragon and the rest of the Apple Family, "I know, and it won't take long, please, you most of all should know how weird things have been."

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but stopped himself, eyeing me with a thoughtful, worried look. Eventually he sighed and shook his head before dismissing me with a wave of his claw.

"It's fine, Twilight," he replied, "you have been acting really weird since you got back from the Royal Archives. If you need some time to figure things out, I'm not gonna stop you... just... you know you can tell me what's bothering you, right?"

"I know, Spike, and I will once I figure out what's wrong with me," I replied with a grateful smile, "I promise."

Spike simply nodded in response and I turned back to Applejack. I gave the confused mare an apologetic smile as I spoke.

"I'm sorry to put you on the spot like this, especially after all the hospitality you've already shown us."

"Aw shucks, ah don't mind none," Applejack replied, pushing her stetson back to scratch her mane, "ah don't know what's eatin' ya, but I figure watchin' after yer dragon friend here won't be any trouble."

"Thanks, Applejack," I replied, turning to leave and looking back to the orange earth pony over my shoulder, "I appreciate it, and all the food. I'm sure everypony will be thrilled to get a taste of your family's home cooking."

"Yer darn right they will," Applejack replied with a snort. She turned to look back at the yellow filly near the table, "hey, Apple Bloom! Why don'tcha show Spike here around the farm fer a bit?"

With that, I left Applejack to it and made my way off the farm and back into the large field of apple trees. I furrowed my brow as I thought.

I couldn't continue like this.

I had to get some sort of handle on just what the hay was going on with me. The problem was that I had nothing to go off of. I decided to compile what I did know about my situation.

I was uncertain about my existence before I had woken up in that Darkness, but I was certain that I had been sleeping.

In fact, I would've had to have existed in order to be asleep... right? What did 'waking up' mean for me? Did it mean I had fallen asleep at some point, or did it mean I was opening my eyes for the first time since I came into being?

I didn't know, and I was getting distracted again.

Getting back to what I did know, I was missing bits of my memory here and there for reasons I didn't know—though it was unclear whether or not they would return in time.

I knew I wasn't normal.

Judging by the reactions I had been receiving from everypony I met, there was definitely something wrong with me—the incident on the way to my tower was more than proof enough of that.

I had to accept the fact that the Twilight I had been before I opened my eyes under that willow tree, wasn't the same Twilight I was now.

Something had changed, but I didn't know what. I couldn't figure it out, and I had nopony to talk to about it either...

Or maybe I did.

As much as she unnerved me, that pink mare seemed to know something about me that I didn't know about myself. I didn't want to go anywhere near the mare, but... maybe she had the answers I was looking for?

I shivered at the thought of seeing her again.

Moving on, another thing that was becoming increasingly apparent, was just how unsettling my very presence seemed to be around others.

Spike had always jumped at the chance to ride on my back, but he didn't, and I was fairly sure it was because of me. Then there was the issue with my voice, and the fact that it changed on its own.

Whatever I had done to Minuette and the others, I had done it without thinking, and had initially assumed their reaction and my use of Minuette's voice was a normal part of the communication process.

Apparently that had been far from the case.

I didn't remember my own voice, but then it suddenly came back to me unbidden. That, coupled with the odd flashes of memory I had been having confounded me, and something about it scared me as well.

I felt like there was something inside me trying to get out... and what made it worse, was that I felt like the one who was the invader trying to keep that something at bay.

"Hey! Look ou—"

My body suddenly went rigid an instant before something slammed into my barrel. The impact jarred me down to my bones, but I didn't budge—thought I did yelp in surprise.

I snapped my shocked gaze towards the sound of a pained groan and spotted a cyan pegasus splayed out on her back a few hoof-lengths away from me.

"Sweet Celestia," she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her muzzle, "did I hit a brick wall or..." she trailed as she saw me her, eyes widening in surprise, "...oh."

For a second, we both stared at each other, her eyes on me in general, and mine on the messy prismatic mane that covered her head.

Eventually I snapped out of it and rushed over to the mare.

"Oh, geez, I'm so sorry," I cried holding out a hoof to help her up, "are you okay?"

"Uh," she replied, absently taking my hoof and allowing me to pulled her up, "yeah, sorry about that, shoulda watched where I was flying."

She stared at me for another second before shaking her head and putting on a cocky smile.

"I tend to get a bit carried away when I'm training," she said, her tone suddenly proud and confident, "didn't mean to hit ya," she frowned and jabbed me in the shoulder, "seriously though, I felt like I was the one that got hit."

"Oh, um... sorry?" I replied, giving her an unsure smile, "I heard a sudden shout and just kind of... froze, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Nah, it's cool," she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "I'm a lot tougher than I look, and apparently you are too. Don't see a lot of unicorns that sturdy."

"Oh, I see," I replied, inwardly surprised and pleased at how well the conversation was going, "I'm not nearly as sturdy as my older brother, though. He's a captain in the Royal Guard, and as far as strength goes, he's a match for any earth pony."

"Is that so?" the mare replied with a laugh, "I guess it must run in the family or something."

"Maybe," I said with a nervous chuckle. I cleared my throat and held out a hoof, "anyway, my name's Twilight Sparkle."

"Rainbow Dash," the mare replied, bumping her hoof against mine, "future Wonderbolt extraordinaire and all around coolest and fastest pony in both Ponyville and Cloudsdale."

"Wow, that's... quite a claim," I responded before furrowing my brow as a sudden thought crossed my mind, "wait... you said you're name was Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only," she replied with a smirk.

I looked towards the cloud covered sky for a moment before sweeping my gaze around the rest of my surroundings.

Apparently I had wound up back in Ponyville at some point. In any case, I recognized the name from the list of events Celestia had sent me, and with that in mind, I turned back to Rainbow Dash with a bemused frown.

"Aren't you the one that's supposed to be keeping the skies clear for the Summer Sun Celebration?"

"Oh, yeah, that," Rainbow replied with a roll of her eyes, "I'm the top weather patrol pony in Cloudsdale. A little cloud cover like this is nothing I can't handle in ten seconds flat."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely intrigued, "now that's something I'd like to see."

Rainbow's face seemed to light up at my words and she took a step back before crouching low and spreading her wings.

"You want awesome?" she said, her eyes narrowing and a grin forming on her face, "you got awesome."

With that, she shot up into the sky, and pinballed from cloud to cloud, leaving a rainbow contrail in her wake. I could only stand there in silent awe as she busted through every single cloud in a matter of seconds.

It was as I watched Rainbow Dash wipe out cloud after cloud that I came to a decision.

Rainbow Dash had been the first pony I had talked to that didn't find me weird or creepy—or if she did, she was extremely good at hiding it.

Sure, she had been initially shocked at what happened before, but she had gotten over it quickly and we had an actual conversation without it coming back to how weird I was.

It was then that I decided to follow her example. I wouldn't let my fears and worries get to me, and if I came off as weird or creepy to other ponies...

Well... I'd just have to find a way to deal with it. The answers I was both searching for and afraid of, might come to me, or I might never figure out what was wrong, but I was done fretting over it.

It wasn't doing me any favors, I wasn't getting anywhere, and all I was accomplishing was worrying Spike more and more.

"Ha! Ten. Seconds. Flat, just like I told you!"

While I was lost in thought, Rainbow Dash had finished her work. I hadn't actually counted, but with how fast she went, it had to be around what she had claimed.

"So?" she pressed, "what'd you think? Impressive right?"

"I'll say," I said with a small laugh, "I've never seen anything like it."

"Darn right you haven't!" Rainbow Dash replied, puffing out her chest. Her ear suddenly twitched and she turned her gaze towards the sky, "oh shoot," she muttered before taking to the air and giving me an apologetic smile, "hey listen, I gotta go, but we should hang out more some time! See ya!"

She gave a quick salute before turning and shooting off into the distance, rainbow contrail following behind her as she went.

I finished waving back and lowered my hoof to the ground, a smile crossing my muzzle. With a satisfied sigh, I turned and began my trot back to Sweet Apple Acres, making a mental note to find out what the Wonderbolts were.

This trot had done me a world of good, and I couldn't help but let out a small giggle. I was certain I'd have to deal with my problems sooner or later, but for now, I didn't need, or want to worry about it at the moment.

I was Twilight Sparkle, and that was good enough for now.

Author's Notes:

I wanted to make it clear that while there is a horror tag and there will be horror, I want the story to be more than that as well. In what way? Well, we'll see I suppose...