//------------------------------// // 01 : The Wrong Side of the Bed // Story: The Journal // by TropicalWings //------------------------------// The Journal by TropicalWings The first thing I felt when I woke up was the pierce, throbbing pain echoing down on my forehead. I have never felt anything like it. The pain was like a war drum beating constantly every few seconds; it was unbearable. I sat up and found myself sitting down on a bed, I touched my aching forehead, and that’s when I realized the whole thing was wrapped in a ton of bandages, save for my precious little horn. I looked around my surroundings and realized that the room I was in wasn’t familiar to me. I couldn’t make any sense of what was going on. Where am I? What’s going on? My mind was instantly filling up with a thousand questions. Does anypony even know I’m here? Why do I have this awful headache? My state of confusion was slowly turning into panic, and my instincts are telling me to run. Run and go back home, or at least go call for help. My mind began to wander; What if there were ponies keeping me here? What if they’re bad ponies keeping me here for their evil plans? But… what if they were good? What if they were taking care of me? That would explain the bandages, but… wouldn’t it be more practical to just bring me to a hospital? The more I think about it, the more I panic. Should I go escape from this place or should I stay here and wait? I then realized: I had no idea as to where I would go, even if I got out of this place. But instead of pondering on this fact, my mind went to work, instantly thinking of a solution to the current problem. I tried using my magic to open the only door in the room. Instead of an open door, I was greeted by a sudden wave of intense pain overwhelming my already aching head. Something is terribly wrong. I tried opening the door again, but more pain rushed to my head. It felt like my head was cracking open rather than the door. ‘One more time.’, I said to myself, and I mustered all my strength to open the door. What did you know, it swung open. The only problem was it wasn’t because of me; it was someone else. Through the door walked in a rather depressed mare. No use running away now. ...Maybe If I hide under my covers she won’t notice? No. Her eyes just caught sight of me and suddenly her jaw dropped with a gasp. Her mood suddenly perked up and she frantically ran out the room, weird. Just as I felt like she wasn’t coming back, she returned, only, she wasn’t alone; five other ponies joined her. Four of them were mares, and the other was a stallion, with sheer happiness evidently strewn on each of their faces. One of them, a pink pony with a rather puffy mane even began jumping up and down in excitement, “SHE’S AWAKE!” she shouted. “SHE’S AWAKE! SHE’S AWAKE! THIS CALLS FOR A ‘SHE’S AWAKE’ PARTY! IT’S A GOOD THING I BROUGHT MY PARTY CANNON WITH ME. THERE WILL BE SINGING, DANCING, CAKE AND EVERYTHING! AND THEN AFTER THAT WE’LL HAVE AN AFTER-PARTY AND THEN AFTER THAT WE’LL HAVE AN AFTER-AFTER-PARTY AND THEN AN AFTER-AFTER-AFTER-PARTY AND THEN AN AFTER-AFTER…” Man, what’s up with this mare? Did she even take a breath of air while saying that ridiculously long rant of hers? “Calm down, partner.” A voice told her. It came from an orange mare with blonde hair. She had three apples on her flank and a cowboy hat on her head. “Give her some space, she just woke up.” she added. Were they just talking about me? I don’t know these ponies, why the heck would they be concerned about me? Well, the pink pony finally managed to pipe down. Good thing, I thought my headache was going to worsen if she had continued rambling like that. The orange pony suddenly spoke up again, “Thank goodness you’re okay, Sugarcube, we’ve been worried sick ever since the accident.” Wait… “She’s awake”? “Worried”? “Accident”? What are these ponies talking about? Wait…How long was I out? ...Why do these ponies care so much about me? “…What’s going on here?” I asked. The smiles on their faces disappeared instantly and were now replaced with looks of sadness and confusion. “W-what?” stammered a yellow Pegasus, the one that had found me lying awake in the room. “Y-you…You don’t remember anything?” I shook my head in response, “No.” “Oh dear.” whispered one of them, a pale white unicorn with a set of purple curly hair. “This isn’t good.” “Darling…” she told me with a look of worry on her face,”…I think you have amnesia.” “What’s am-nee-sha?” asked a rather peculiar looking cyan pegasus with rainbow hair, questioning the word. The alabaster-colored unicorn frowned, “Darling, amnesia is a mental condition, it’s when you lose your memory.” ”Sometimes…” she added, “…sometimes amnesia just makes you forget recent events...Other times, you don’t get lucky, and get your whole memory wiped out, forgetting everything you ever knew…”. “That sounds horrible.” commented the brash pegasus. Sounds horrible? Of COURSE it sounds horrible! Doesn’t that pea-brained pegasus realize how serious this is? “…so, which kind of amnesia did yer friend here get then?” asked the blonde stallion, who had been quiet for most of the conversation. He was wearing a cowboy hat, just like the orange mare’s, and a vest, covering his entire chest. “Well, the best thing we can do to find out is to ask her, right?” Immediately, she trotted over to me, her face a few mere inches from mine. She stared at me, her eyes filled with concern. “Darling.” she said looking at me. “What do you remember?” What do I remember...? “Hmm… Well, I can definitely tell you that I have no idea where exactly I am, and I don’t remember experiencing any ‘accident’ you guys have been talking about, and, uh…” my voice trailed off. “What is it?” “…I don’t know who any of you girls are” Their already worried looks grew worse the minute they heard what I said. One of them, the pink, hyperactive pony, suddenly winced, and her once puffy hair suddenly deflated like a balloon into straight locks drooping down her head. “Y-you don’t know us?” the pink pony asked, her voice devoid of any happiness. “Sadly,... no, not at all...” I replied. I can tell by their reactions that they took my response like a punch in the gut. “Darling, are you sure you don’t remember?” asked the white unicorn, obviously hoping that I was lying and that I still remember them. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. “Positive.” I said. Silence had filled the room right after that, everypony was still trying to digest what I just told them, Everypony was too shocked to say anything. It felt like an eternity before somepony finally spoke up. “...If you don’t remember us... who do you at least remember then?” The question came from the buttercream colored pegasus. “I remember...” I was stuck mid-sentence. I gathered all my willpower to dig into my throbbing head for any clues. To my disappointment, none appeared. “I don’t remember anypony. Nopony at all.” The five of them were staring at me with blank faces. They really took this thing seriously. While thinking of a way to comfort them, I said: “Well, I do remember one thing. My …” Yet again, I was caught mid-sentence. But one thing came into my mind, a question I knew was vital to my very being: Who am I?