Doctor Stable stood in the hospital corridor, calmly reviewing the medical charts of his latest patient, when he suddenly heard the furiously galloping hooves of Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle charging down the hallway. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the doctor turned to face the three mares as they rounded a corner and came into view. While Doctor Stable found their obvious concern for the unicorn they had brought in to be commendable, he wished that they would remember that they were in a hospital and not a racetrack.
“Doc,” Applejack began, skidding to a halt in front of the doctor. “Nurse Redheart told us that the pony we brought in woke up, is that true?”
“Yes, he has regained consciousness. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to be suffering from anything potentially life-threatening, just exhaustion and moderate dehydration.”
“But he’s awake now, right? Does that mean we can see him?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, her excited smile nearly splitting her face in half.
“I can let you in to seen him if you’d like,” Doctor Stable replied, “but I’d prefer if you’d keep your visit short. He’s still in a state of recovery, and I don’t think tiring him out would be a good idea.” With that, the doctor opened the door to a nearby room, allowing the three friends inside. There, lying in the bed closest to the window was the unicorn that Applejack and Pinkie Pie had rescued, the tattered canvas restraints and iron mask he had been wearing left piled in a tidy heap at the foot of the bed. As they approached the bed, the stallion let out a groan, rolled over onto his side, and found himself face to face with Pinkie Pie, who had somehow managed to dart past the doctor and her friends to the side of the bed.
“Hi there!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, grinning wildly. “My name’s Pinkie Pie, and these are my friends Applejack and Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”
For several moments the stallion simply silently stared at Pinkie Pie, his eyes widened in bewilderment, before he finally was able to manage a reply. “M-my name?” the unicorn stammered, “I don’t…I don’t know, I- I can’t remember anything!” The stallion began breathing rapidly as his eyes darted back and forth. “Wh-what is this place? What am I doing here?”
Before anypony else could respond, Applejack rushed to the stallion’s bedside. “Just calm down sugar cube, this here’s a hospital. Pinkie and Ah brought y’here after we found y’all lyin’ out cold by the Everfree Forest.” Applejack paused for a moment to let the stallion absorb what she was saying. “Now, are y’all sure y’can’t remember anythin’ at all?”
“I-I remember waking up in a cave, and then…” the stallion screwed his eyes shut, contorting his face as though he were in severe pain. “I must have somehow wandered into the forest after waking up. I’m sorry, but everything before then is just a blank.”
“Hey, that gives me a great idea!” Pinkie Pie declared. “Since you can’t go around without a name, I mean, you could, but then nopony would know what to call you and that would get really confusing-”
“Dang it, Pinkie, quit your gabbin’ and get to the point!” snapped Applejack.
“What? Oh, right. Anyway, I thought, since he doesn’t have a name, we should come up with one for him! Then, when he was talking just now, I came up with the perfect name for him! Since he says everything’s a blank, we could call him Blank Slate!”
“Pinkie! Why of all the-“
“It-it’s all right, Miss Applejack,” the unicorn quickly interrupted. “Actually, I think I like it. It seems, I don’t know, appropriate somehow.”
Applejack let out a resigned sigh. “Well, Ah guess if your fine with it, then Blank Slate it is. At least until y’all get your memories back.” Applejack added with what she hoped was an encouraging smile.
While the two friends continued to talk with the newly named Blank Slate, Twilight Sparkle held a hushed conversation of her own with Doctor Stable. “Do you really think he has amnesia, doctor?”
The doctor took a moment to silently ponder the question before responding. “Well, admittedly I didn’t find any signs of physical trauma when I examined him; however, I suppose it’s entirely possible that he’s suffering from amnesia brought on by some sort of psychological trauma.” As Doctor Stable spoke, he turned his gaze towards the ragged pile of canvas lying at the foot of Blank Slate’s bed.
Twilight immediately understood what the doctor was insinuating. Finding an unconscious pony at the edge of the Everfree Forest was a mysterious occurrence in and of itself. The fact that Blank Slate had been found in decaying restraints added a distinctly sinister element to the whole affair. In particular, Twilight was bothered by the iron mask that Blank Slate had been found wearing. There was something unnervingly familiar about it that nagged at her memory, as though she had seen something similar in the past. Curiously, Twilight levitated the eerie mask with the intention of examining it close up. As she lifted it up over the foot of the bed, however, a terrified scream ripped through the hospital room. Looking up, Twilight could see Blank Slate flattening himself against the headboard of the bed, eyes wide in terror, his gaze riveted on the floating mask.
“Keep that thing away from me! KEEP IT AWAY!” As Blank Slate screamed, he began thrashing about wildly until he fell out of his bed and landed on the floor. He continued flailing madly about amid his sheets for several seconds, before finally disentangling himself and rushing to the other side of the room.
While Applejack and Pinkie Pie attempted to calm Blank Slate down, Twilight Sparkle swiftly made her way out of the room with the mask, pausing just long enough to take her first clear look at the cowering amnesiac. Blank Slate’s coat was a drab grey color, and his dark, unkempt mane hung limply around his head. His body, no longer hidden under layers of rotting canvas, was exceedingly thin, leaving him with a gangly, almost emaciated appearance. What struck Twilight the most, however, was his cutie mark; a hollow circle with eight arrows emanating from it in all directions. For reasons she couldn’t have begun to explain, the stange symbol filled Twilight with a deep sense of foreboding. As the hospital room door closed behind her, Twilight looked down at the macabre iron mask she had carried out with her. “Something about all of this just seems so…wrong” she thought to herself. “I have to get to the bottom of…whatever it is that’s going on here.”
Meanwhile, back in the recovery room, the combined efforts of Pinkie Pie and Applejack had at last succeeded in calming Blank Slate down. “I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what happened. It’s just, the sight of that mask…” Blank Slate screwed his eyes shut and violently shuddered at the thought.
“Don’t y’all worry none about it,” Applejack began as she helped him up. “Nopony could blame y’for being a little on edge after what y’all must’ve been through.”
“But you’re all better now, right?” Pinkie Pie asked, a familiar gleam forming in her eyes. “And once you can leave the hospital, we’ll have to introduce you to everypony since you’re new to town. And that means we’ll have to throw you a super-duper enormous Welcome to Ponyville Party!”
“Actually, I think it would be best if we finished things up for today,” Doctor Stable interjected before Pinkie Pie could get too excited. “Blank Slate still needs time to recover before the hospital can release him.”
“Well, in that case we’d best be goin’. Come on Pinkie, let’s let him get his rest.” Pinkie Pie let out a disappointed moan as Applejack started to pull the pink pony towards the door. “Quit your complainin’, Pinkie, we’ll come back tomorrow.” Applejack paused as she turned back towards Blank Slate, “as long as that’s fine by y’all, anyways.”
Blank Slate gave Applejack a shy smile in response. “Actually, I’d like that very much. Thank you, both of you, for everything you’ve done for me. If you hadn’t found me and brought me here…” As Blank Slate’s voice trailed off, Applejack returned his smile.
“Aw shucks, don’t think nothin’ about it, sugar cube, Ah’m just glad you’re gonna be alright.” With that, Applejack allowed Doctor Stable to usher her and Pinkie Pie out of the hospital room, Pinkie excitedly waving goodbye until the door finally shut behind her.
Finally, alone with his thoughts for the first time since he had regained consciousness, Blank Slate lay back in his bed with a contented smile. Thus far, everypony he had met had been incredibly kind to him, and the idea that he was surrounded by friends left him with a warm feeling inside.
As Blank Slate started to relax, however, a cruel, sneering voice echoed in his mind. “You don’t really believe those ponies are actually your friends, do you? As soon as they find out what kind of monster you really are, they’ll turn on you, just like everypony else.” Blank Slate sat up at once and urgently looked around for the source of the voice as it continued its tirade. “What kind of pony would ever want to be friends with a vicious, twisted freak like you, anyway? Sooner or later one of them will figure out who you are, what you are, and then you’ll be lucky if all they do is chase you out of town.” Unable to see anypony else in the room, Blank Slate buried his head in his pillows in a desperate attempt to silence the terrible voice, to no avail. “If you were really smart,” the sinister voice hissed, “you’d get them first, before they have a chance to hurt you.”
“What do you mean ‘get them’? Who are you?” Blank Slate finally sobbed, but there was no reply. The voice had vanished as suddenly as it had come, leaving Blank Slate alone with his questions.
**********************
Meanwhile, in the city of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was enjoying a cup of tea on one of the many balconies of Canterlot Castle, a brief respite from her usual duties as Equestria’s daytime ruler. Without warning, a scroll appeared in front of the princess’s eyes with a silver flash. Normally the sudden appearance of a scroll was a welcome event for the princess, indicating that her student Twilight Sparkle had learned another lesson about the magic of friendship. However, instead of arriving as a floating cloud of ash courtesy of Twilight’s dragon assistant, this letter had been directly sent via unicorn magic. Curious as to who could have sent the scroll, Princess Celestia unfurled it and began to read.
Dear Princess Celestia,
As per the protocols you requested be put in place, I am writing to inform you that the prisoner known as ‘Entropy’ has once again entered an agitated state, similar to what occurred prior to the Nightmare Moon, Discord, and changeling incidents. Preparations have already been made for your arrival, and I ask that you hurry, as the prisoner’s behavior is beginning to excite the other inmates. As an addendum, I will remind you that, in the wake of the changeling attack on Canterlot, we have significantly revised our security protocols to prevent infiltration, and that some of these protocols will impact your visit.
Your Faithful Subject,
Clever Stratagem
As Princess Celestia finished reading, she turned and called for the omnipresent palace guards, concern written across her features. “Guards, have my chariot made ready at once! I’m needed at the Tower of Order!”