//------------------------------// // A visitor // Story: Four Walls // by Pokey the Unicorn //------------------------------// My mind is racing. A visitor? No no no, this can't happen! This doesn't ever happen! I don't get visitors! Who is it? What does he want? What's he going to do? Where- The door opens, and a purple mare walks in. I hear one of the guards speak from beyond the room. "Do you need me to stay on hand ma'am?" No, that will be all, thank you sir" The mare says, looking behind her. The door shuts, and she turns to look at me. "STAY BACK!" I scream. "Don't come any closer! I'll tear you to bits!!" I stare her down, trying to look as angry and intimidating as I can. She looks a little startled, but it's not really working. To my surprise, she walks into the center of the room. "I mean it! They've got me in isolation for a reason you know! The other prisoners are all scared of me! You don't wanna push me!" I'm hoping that my screaming will have an effect on her. Make her go away, leave me alone. It doesn't. In fact, it has the exact opposite effect. She sits down. "Hello." She says. She's calm and friendly, which I find quite disarming. She doesn't seem all that dangerous though, and I feel myself relax a little. Maybe it's alright? "I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you, in fact." She says. "Please come sit down." My body decides to stop panicking, and I take a few cautious steps forward, looking at her. I see a horn - she's a unicorn! I reason that a few extra meters isn't going to protect me from unicorn magic, so I decide to just walk up to her and sit down. It's only then that I really notice her. She's colorful. Her coat is a delicate shade of purple, light, not deep and saturated. Her mane and tail are a darker purple - no, blue with a lighter stripe in the center. She has a straight-cut fringe through which her horn pokes. The hair falls around it neatly. Her eyes are big, pool-like, and purple. In a world or greys and blacks, she's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Even better than a bowl of pasta and vegetables! "You're really beautiful" I tell her, gazing into her eyes. I notice that she has red cheeks-Wait, she's blushing? I pull my head back when I realize what I'm doing. "Sorry! I didn't-I mean I was-you just... you're really colorful, That's all. It's nice." "I'm colorful?" she asks, tilting her head quizzically. "Well yeah, look around. Everything is all blacks and greys. When you've been here for as long as I have it's a little jarring I guess." "Well, thank you I suppose. Let's get started." Then a number of things happen at once. Twilight Sparkle's horn glows, her saddlebags fly off her back and land next to her, they open, and several objects fly out. A clipboard lands in front of her, a sheet of parchment flies onto it, and the clamp closes, holding it in place. A well of ink lands next to the clipboard, and the cap spins off, flips over, and drops onto the floor next to it. A quill shoots into the inkwell next, and when everything comes to a stop Twilight looks up at me with a quick smile, as if to say "all ready!" "Now, what did you say before? You're a convict in solitary confinement?" "Umm.. yes?" I reply. "What did you do?" She asks. There's something about her tone of voice that I can't really discern. "I didn't do anything, I've always been here." "What did you do to get put in here?" "Uh... well, I don't actually remember." I admit. I'm not really liking where this is going. "Okay" She pauses to look down at her clipboard. ... "Two-four-nine. Can I ask you something Two-four-nine? Who told you that you're in a prison?" "Huh? You mean..." I think about it. I'd never been told expressly that I'm in a prison. What if I'm not a criminal? I had always just assumed the worst, but what if it's something else? Something better? "Well, nopony said it exactly. I haven't actually spoken to anypony in a long time. I just assumed that I'm a murderer or something. I mean, this is a cell right?" "Good heavens, no!" Twilight says, sounding quite shocked. "Two-four-nine, this isn't a prison, and you're not a murderer! This is a rehabilitation facility. You're being cared for here because you've lost your memory, which is why I'm here. I've been assigned to help you." I'm not a criminal. This is the best thing I could have hoped to hear. I'm not imprisoned. I'm not dangerous. Maybe I'm not a bad pony at all? And lost my memory? I might have friends somewhere. A family. A home. I suddenly realize that there's a good chance I might get out of this awful cell sometime soon. "Hang on, care? Rehabilitation? I've been left alone in here for months, maybe a year! What kind of care??" Twilight Sparkle just looks at me, her face a mix of confusion and concern. "Two-four-nine, you've only been in here for three days." "Huh?" I ask. Funny, it sounded like she said- "Three days. You've been kept under basic observation to make sure you're not experiencing any symptoms of psychosis for whatever reason, and that you're not a danger to yourself in any way. The "care" is me. I'm going to help you get your memory back." She says, smiling warmly. My mind feels like a whirlwind. I suddenly have so many answers, but even more questions. How can it have been only three days?! Then again, three days is really good. It's entirely possible that my life isn't the black-and-grey lifeless dead end that I was dreading. I hadn't fully realized until now just how terrified I was of being in jail, living out my life rotting in a cold, dark cell. It's entirely possible that, just one week ago, I had a life! I might have been happy, I might have had a home in some bright city or village, with friends, or family, or maybe a pet. I might have a life out there waiting for me, and all I have to do is remember it! Sure, something bad probably happened to make me forget, but I'm too ecstatic now to care. I practically bounce over to Twilight Sparkle and nuzzle her shoulder. "Thank you for helping me." I exclaim. I'm grinning like an idiot, but I don't care. "You're welcome!" she replies. "Would you like to get started?" I nod. The clipboard floats up in front of her, and she waves it around. "The doctors gave me a sheet with some questions on it, so we'll start by going through them." She pauses. "I can see why you'd be disoriented. There are no windows in here, no source of natural light to indicate the passage of time, and I assume that you don't have a day schedule?" She points to the dimmer dial on the wall. It's a large hole with a rectangular switch mounted inside. Pushing it turns the light on and off, while rotating it controls the brightness. I guess it's supposed to simulate the time of day, but I hadn't really used it. "No, I don't. I just eat and sleep when I feel like it, and the guards give me my meals... regularly? There's no schedule from what I can tell. Actually, I've asked them, and they won't tell me." Twilight frowns at this. "I'm not sure why they'd do that. I can speak to somepony about it if you like. I assume you'd prefer to have a schedule?" "You'd do that? Yeah, that'd be great! Say, what's the time now?" "Now? It's about 11 AM." She says. So I probably woke up around 9. I think. Good, that's fairly normal. "Okay, question one. What is your name?" "..." I sit there for a few seconds. For the last few months-no, days I had led myself to believe that I might not have a name at all. "I don't know." I answer, feeling less happy than I did before. "Two-four-nine?" "No no, that's just a catalog number." "A what?" "Catalog number. I'm not sure exactly what it represents, but it has some significance to the books here. Each number corresponds to some sort of reference, I think." "Oh, okay..." I say dejectedly. Just a file number? I had thought it might be a codename or something, but it's just... nothing. How disappointing. "Say, do you know my name?" I ask Twilight. "No, I don't. Sorry. Even if I did, I've been warned by the doctors to refrain from divulging information en masse. They told me that there could be negative side effects if I fill in the gaps for you, and you have to remember it all yourself. Anyway, question two. Which country are we in?" Hey, I know this one! "Equestria." "Excellent. Question three, which city?" "I don't know. I can't remember any of the names." "What about the locations themselves?" "No, I can't remember any of that. All I know is that we're in Equestria." Twilight pauses momentarily as she writes something on the parchment. "Question four. What is your race? Please specify either Earth pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn." I feel a wave of panic wash over me. My race? Why don't I know that? It's definitely something I should know but I hadn't really noticed... "Uh, Earth pony I think." I answer tentatively. "I don't think I have a horn like you do." "Earth pony? Are you sure about that?" Twilight says, gesturing at my side. I look back to see if-I have wings?! "I have wings?! Where... How could I not notice these?! What the hay??" "Well, it's a rare but documented side effect of dissociation. Extremely rare actually" Twilight explains. "Part of a pony's identity is derived from their race, so it is possible to forget about it. Are you okay?" She asks, sounding a little concerned. I realize that I'm... not calm. It feels as though there's something stuck in my dry throat, and my body feels cold somehow. I'm sweating, and my skin itches all over. I briefly wonder how I got on the floor before the thought is engulfed in a frenzied storm. "... aaaahhhn." A panicked whimper comes from somewhere. I barely hear it over the booming in my ears. There's a drumming sound too... no, a rapid thwacking. It takes me a few seconds to realize that it's the sound of my quaking hooves rapping against the floor. Another hoof strokes my mane gently, and I hear what I think might be Twilight. "Shh... you're okay. Take a deep breath for me. Open your eyes, look at me. A deep breath. It's okay, you can relax Two-four-nine." I'm lying on the floor, on my underbelly. Twilight is standing over me, stroking my mane with a hoof. She looks concerned. I take a deep breath. "...I'm a-I'm a Pegasus??" I ask her. She nods. "Two-four-nine, I need you to do something. You're going to have to concentrate, okay?" Twilight asks. "... oh kay." I say slowly. "Open your wings." "What? But I don't remember how! I've never used them before! I've never noticed them before! I ca- A small smile appears on Twilight's face. Just a subtle one, but it's safe. Trusting. Reassuring. You can do it. I feel the sides of my torso peel away slowly, leaving exposed skin underneath. Cool air pools around my sides, making me feel naked. I hear joints behind my shoulders pop as bones twist upward. Feeling these new limbs for what feels like the first time, I wave them a little and feel them loosen accordingly. Then I extend them. "Ohh wow..." I moan, arching my back. I try to reach as high as I can, feeling the muscles and tendons stretch nicely. There's a band that runs from the base of the wings-no, my wings across my chest, and it flexes every time I raise my wings. It feels amazing. It feels free, like I've had a huge clamp locked around my torso. I decide to test my flying and flap my wings. A surprised cry is yanked from my throat as my body is yanked a foot upwards, pulling me off the floor. My hooves wheel around as I attempt to find my balance. I stand. "I'm a pegasus!" I cheer happily. Twilight watches on, awestruck. "That was wonderful" she says. "Now, I think it would be a good idea to wrap up at this juncture. You probably have a lot to think about, and we've put in a solid hour. I'll visit you tomorrow, same time." "Okay, I'll look forward to it. Hey, do you mind if I..." Twilight lets me hug her. Twilight begins to leave, but freezes in the doorway. "Hoof! I forgot something. ... I guess that's what happens when you don't make a checklist!" She chides herself. Turning back to look at me, she asks if she can ask a couple of quick questions before she leaves. "What do you do to pass the time?" I gesture to the box. "I was given that box of stuff. Right now I'm reading a book called Daring Do." Twilight's face lights up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree. "You like Daring Do?! Oh my gosh, so do I! Which one is it?" She zooms over to the box and fishes the book out with her magic. "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone!" she announces fondly. "I have the entire series in my library. I'll bring you the next book tomorrow." There are more? I think. Hay yes I'd like the next one! I nod vigorously, grinning my approval. "Okay, last question before I leave. A lot of ponies want to see how you're doing. Would you be comfortable with me bringing one visitor tomorrow?" I feel myself swallow nervously. "Yeah, okay." "Don't worry, she's really friendly. Nothing to be nervous about! I'll be back tomorrow, goodbye!" Twilight walks out, and the door closes behind her.