Location: ???, Time: ???? ???? ????
Out of all the strange things that had happened to me, that day had definitely been the strangest. Not because, mind you, it was as such at the time, but because it would most likely be the only time it would ever happen, in the entirety of the universe.
A white-hot pain shot through my head, drowning out all of my other senses. I couldn't feel the ground under my hooves. The whole planet was out of sync with me.
Where am I?
And so, not wanting to cause any further injury to myself, I flopped onto the floor, waiting for the screaming pain to subside within my skull. And as I waited for that to happen, something much more immediate came to the forefront of my mind.
Who am I?
Yeah, that fixed the problem. The noises and stars within my cranium ceased their banging, as if this sudden knowledge was a predator and they were scared of it. I definitely was.
I didn't know who I was!
Logic dictates in this kind of situation you should calm down. Wait patiently, and maybe the memories will come flooding back! Or at least, somebody finds you having a manic episode on the street and calls the authorities.
But imagine this, if you will:
- I have no idea who I am.
- I have no idea where I am.
- Everything hurts.
- Also, yeah, on that day, I was pretty hungry. You can't blame a mare for that.
- That brung another thought to my mind. I am a mare, right…? Well, can- oh, no. Definitely a mare. Yup.
So begins the sad story of me, waking up with a pounding headache in the middle of the street, surrounded by debris. I can remember that day quite clearly, because I was actually really angry at myself because I had probably just gotten really drunk on cider or something and then blew up something.
I mean, I couldn’t be THAT angry at myself, because I didn’t know who that was.
First things first. Identity. To survive in a foreign world, I would first require to get a grip on myself. Looking around for anything that might provide a clue to who I am, two things catch my immediate attention within the flaming wreckage that I regained consciousness in -
A slightly soot-dirtied lab coat, and this electronic gizmo thing.
You know, ponies don’t normally wear clothes, and that’s perfectly fine because we all respect each other’s personal space. But I was cold despite everything else being on fire, so I felt inclined to put it on.
And it felt good to put on, almost as if it belonged to me.
Stuff normally figures itself out, and I didn’t see any dead ponies lying around, so by process of elimination… this is mine, right?
Great. I was a nerd.
Second of all, was the rectangular box in front of me. It had a lot of buttons, but it was the only thing there that wasn’t on fire. The display was slightly cracked and the entire thing was covered in soot, but that wasn’t about to stop me. I was determined to find out who I was! Or am. Whatever.
Unfortunately, being an amnesiac carries with it a certain amount of not-being-able-to-remember-anything, and if I didn’t even know what this metal rectangle with all the pushy things was, I sure as hell wasn’t going to know how to work it.
Beep, boop. Push a few buttons. Maybe it’s, like, an ID tag? Scientists have ID tags, right? And pocket protectors, and nerd glasses. Maybe it’ll tell me what my name is!
6710xx)sin-1)\X
SYNTAX ERROR.
Aha! Syntax Error. What a great name. Really rolls off the tongue, that one. My parents must have been geniuses too!
Clutching her labcoat, mulling over those two words, Syntax Error walks out of the flaming wreckage, into the town of Ponyville.