Placebo

by Sepulcher


Chapter One

I awoke with a pounding headache. I barely had enough energy to open my eyes, but I persisted. Eventually, I got the little buggers to cooperate. I opened my eyes and beheld a truly amazing sight: darkness.

Great. Who else but me wakes up in the middle of the night?

Wait... who else but me? Who is me? Where am I?!

I bolted up and landed on my four wobbly legs. I tried to recall where I was, but to no avail. The questions burned in my mind.

Who am I? What am I doing here? What is here?

I was on some sort of path, in between a grove of apple trees. I decided that staying still would be my most ineffective plan of action, so I decided to try and find someone who could help me. Whoever me is. As my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, I noticed a faint light coming from further down the path. I galloped as fast as I could. Unconsciously, my wings began to unfurl and help propel me along, parallel to the ground.

Wings?! I have wings?!

As this piece of information was processing, I arrived at the house. Or rather, barn.

This is ridiculous. It's nearing pitch black, I don't know my own name, and I'm about to knock on a stranger's door on the off-chance they will be able to help me.

Well, better get it over with.

I approached to door and knocked gently on it. Five seconds later and with no response, I started to head back into the night and wait for daylight, when the door opened. The opener of the door was a tan-orange color pony wearing a farmer's hat.

A hat on during the night? Ridiculous.

The pony, who I realized to be female, said slightly agitatedly,"If ya'll gonna knock on my door, at least stay around long enough until you know for sure that somepony ain't home!"

I stood there dumbfounded, unable to make an intelligent response.

"Ya'll okay there sugarcube? Are you lost?" she asked with a hint of sympathy in her voice.

"N-no!" I stammered. "I-I'm just..."

I regained my composure for a few seconds before finishing my sentence.

"I'm more than lost. I don't remember anything at all,” I said wearily. “I don't even remember my own name.”

"Oh you poor thing! C'mon in and have a seat. You can stay here until 'morning if you like. There's plenty a room,” she said with a faint smile.

"Thank you... ma’am" I said, not sure if proper language was the way to go.

"Aww shucks,” she said, "ya'll don't need to use pleasantries here."

I cringed inwardly and replied, "Sorry, ma'am, but you never told me your name and I couldn't think of what to call you".

She smiled. "Ya'll can call me Applejack, or AJ for short."

"I'll stick with Applejack," I replied, slightly unsure of the tone in her voice.

Did she blush? Hard to tell on an orange pony. Wait, speaking of colours, what colour am I?

I checked myself. My body was a dark, deep blue. Almost black. My wings were slightly darker, almost the colour of night. My mane was purple. I was wearing pitch black boots.

Why was everything getting foggy?

I looked around, but the fog persisted. I then realized I was wearing what appeared to be goggles.

Of course. Wind rushing in your face from flying could hurt my eyes.

Wait, how did I know that?

I carefully pulled the goggles off and let them hang off my neck.

As I was pondering my predicament, the orange pony—Applejack, I reminded myself—went upstairs, presumably to her room.

She probably went back to her room to sleep.

I looked around and took an account of my surroundings. I was in the living room. Nicely furnished, comfy, cozy. I guess this is where I'm staying tonight. I laid down on the rug. Comfy enough. Time to put this day—night—behind me and make a plan.

First off, thank Applejack for her hospitality. Next, get somepony to point me in the direction of somepony who can help discover why I have no memory, or, if possible, fix my ailment. If I can't find a cure, I need to find somewhere to stay.

Sounds good enough. I closed my eyes in a vain attempt at sleeping. Surprisingly enough, I drifted off into a welcoming abyss. My last waking thought was that somepony was going to pay for what they did to me.