//------------------------------//
// Well 
// Story: Tabula Rasa 
// by Rose Quill 
//------------------------------//

The stonework was ancient and crumbling, moss growing on the exposed surfaces. A burnt and shattered roof hung over the top of the structure and a large stone capped its opening. It was scribed with strange runes and glyphs, and there was a partially melted spot in the middle.

"What is this?" Tabula asked.

"In dreams, wells often represent your unconscious," Twilight said. "Maybe this is why you can't remember certain things?"

Luna tested the stone. "It is rather tightly sealed," she said, lighting her horn. "And seems to be merged with the stones of the well as well."

Tabula stepped forward and touched her hoof to the melted stone, her gaze going distant for a moment. "My cutie mark was here," she whispered.

"You remember what it was?" Twilight asked swiftly, excitement in her eyes.

Tabula closed her eyes, concentrating. "No," she said after a moment. "It's hazy and indistinct. Maybe a cloud? Argh!" She whirled away, exasperated. "That's a revelation, innit?" she growled. "A Pegasus with a cutie mark that's cloud related!"

Twilight patted the air between them as the sky started turning gray again. "Breathe, Tab," she said. "Breathe."

The Pegasus took a deep breath and sighed. She gazed at the stone, a mournful look on her face. "All I want," she whispered. "Is to know who I am. Is that too much to ask?"

Luna traced her hoof across the runes and drew back her hoof with a hiss of sucked in air. "This is a memory hex," she spat. "Deceptive dark magic designed to rewrite the memories. It is usually part of a bid for control. It was outlawed generations ago."

"But doesn't it require a willing recipient?" Twilight asked.

Luna shook her head. "That is part of the deception," she said. "Once they are under the initial spell, any other memories can be re-written for the purposes of the magus."

"Then why don't I have any memories, if this is meant to re-write them?" Tabula asked.

"I don't know," Luna said. "Some of these runes are marred, as though not written correctly. It's possible the spell was improperly performed or interrupted."

"You did fall from a good height," Twilight said. "And some Pegasus do slip through clouds in a moment of distraction. Maybe you fell out of reach of the spell while under a trance?"

"Then wouldn't whoever it is have followed me to finish it?"

"The Ever Free forest is still regarded as dangerous by many," Luna said. "They may have given you up as lost once you breached the upper canopy."

"One thing, though," Twilight said. "Very few Unicorns know the cloud walking charm, and I can name half of them. And it's rare for a Pegasus to be able to cast a high-level hex like this. I doubt I could even cast it."

Luna smiled softly to herself. "There is little that I believe beyond your capabilities, Twilight," she said. "But your heart does not possess the darkness needed to power this spell."

"If we could remove this," Tabula said as she pushed on the stone a little. "Would my memories come back?"

"It is uncertain," Luna said. "You may regain some, or not. I do not understand truly how the spell works on existing memories, if it supresses them or erases them. I also am unfamiliar with any stories of this spell erasing a cutie mark."

She stared hard at the stone. "But I believe we are at the crux of the problem."