No Name Given

by Perpetual Lurker

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Doctor Quick Thought always endeavored to arrive at the hospital early, even if she had worked late the night before. She enjoyed the mornings for the same reason she enjoyed the nights. Things were quiet, allowing her to work undisturbed. In addition to that, most patients tended to be rather groggy this early, making them more open to suggestion and allowing her more insight into their basic thought processes. It was the perfect time to gather more data on her new subject. Upon entering the hospital, the doctor went straight to her office to retrieve her clipboard and go over her notes from the previous day one last time.

The office was spotless, exactly the way she left it the night before. Before she could retrieve her notes, though, she noticed a memo stuffed into the mailbox on the wall. Levitating the paper in front of her, she began to read. A knot formed in her stomach as soon as she saw who the notice was from.

---

Ponyville General Hospital
Department of Psychology

Please see me in my office as soon as possible.

Dr. Clear Thought

---

Not him... Anypony but him! Why does he always have to call me at the worst of times! Quick Thought crumpled the letter in anger before tossing it in the waste bin. Well, let’s get this over with. Returning her papers to their proper place, she set off down the hall towards the hospital’s administrative wing. Eventually, she arrived at Clear Thought’s office. With a heavy sigh, the doctor knocked on the door.

“Come in!” a cheerful voice answered as the door sparkled with magic before swinging inward. The office was incredibly spacious and well lit compared to Quick Thought’s own, with several large chairs arranged in front of an equally large desk and a wide window in the wood panelled wall showcasing an excellent view of the town. Behind the desk sat a dark green-coated unicorn with a short, white mane. His soft gray eyes gazed happily at Quick Thought through thick, wide-rimmed glasses as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her. “Now, how is my little filly doing this morning?”

“I am not your ‘little filly’ any more, father” Quick Thought replied, letting her annoyance with the situation show clearly in her words. “Can we get this over with? I was in the middle of conducting very important research.”

“Actually, your research is what I wanted to talk to you about. It would appear that you have taken on quite an interesting case recently, haven’t you?”

“Yes, the coma patient that arrived several days ago regained consciousness two night ago. He appears to have complete retrograde amnesia.”

“And how have you been treating it?”

“First, I ran him through some simple mental and physical exercises to ascertain whether he had suffered any brain damage. Then I questioned him on basic facts of his life, recording his responses to check for any ch-”

“No, no. I asked how you were treating his condition, not how you were studying it.”

“Well, how am I supposed to treat him correctly if I don’t-”

“Don’t lie to me, Quick. You have no intention of treating him right away, do you?” The stallion’s tone became far more serious. “We are doctors, and as such we are sworn to aid our patients as best we can. They are not a chore. They are not test subjects. And above all, they are not stepping stones to your own personal glory. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal,” Quick said through gritted teeth.

“Good. Now, I hope you don’t mind, but I sent a nurse to fetch this patient of yours just before you got here. He should be here any minute. We are going to do what you should have done in the first place.”

-------------------------------------------

The pegasus yawned loudly as the nurse shepherded him down the hall. He had gone to bed early after reading the previous night, mostly due to the fact that the book was incredibly dry and boring. It told an interesting story of two princesses and a power struggle between them, but it read more like a history text than a fairy tale. Even with the extra sleep, getting up at such an hour left him feeling rather drained and worn out.

I hardly did anything yesterday and I’m still this tired. I must be really out of shape. He glanced over his shoulder at the pair of wings on his back. I wonder if I’ll even be able to fly with these things...

“Alright, we’re here.” The nurse’s voice snapped him out of his stupor. They were standing in front a door with a sign that read: “Dr. Clear Thought, Director of Psychology.”

“Go on in, he’s expecting you.”

Inside, he found Quick Thought and another pony, presumably Doctor Clear Thought, having a conversation at the far end of the room.

“-not going to discuss this matter any further. My decision- Oh, hello there! I didn’t see you come in!” The doctor’s voice immediately shifted to a cheerful, comforting tone when he noticed his guest. “I’m Doctor Clear Thought. You must be the amnesia patient.”

“Yeah, that would be me.” Were they talking about me?

“Excellent! Now, if you’ll just step over here, I’m going to perform a test.”

Not this again... The pegasus sighed heavily as he walked over to the doctor and prepared himself for another barrage of repetitive questions.

“Now, you may feel little light headed, but that should only last a few moments...” Clear Thought’s horn lit up with magic, and he touched it to the patient’s forehead.

The tan pony’s vision was filled with a blinding white light as the spell pierced his mind. Almost as soon as it appeared though, the light faded, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

“Do you feel any different?”

As he regained his composure, he tried again to recall any memories from before he woke up in the hospital. Nothing came to him.

“No...”

“I suspected as much, but it was worth a try.”

“What exactly did you try?”

“It was a memory spell that causes the target to remember things they’ve forgotten or repressed.”

“Then why didn’t it work on me?”

“Because more has happened to you than simple amnesia, I think. You see, I’ve studied the report that Doctor Quick Thought wrote, and I noticed a few peculiar... quirks, so to speak. First, you appear to be very emotionally distant, never displaying anything more than frustration and annoyance at your situation. Second, you appear to have very little in the way of natural body language. Most ponies have ‘tells’ or ‘tics’ specific to them that those who know the pony well or have a trained eye can pick up on, but you don’t seem to have developed any. Third, and most importantly, you don’t have a cutie mark.”

“A cutie mark?”

“It is a mark that every pony develops when they discover their primary skill, motivation, or purpose in life. They are a sign of one’s own personal identity.” The doctor gestured to the mark on his flank, which appeared to be a picture of a beam of light being focused through a glass lens.

The pegasus glanced over at Quick Thought. Her mark was of a light blue swirling cloud. His own flank was blank, just as the doctor had said.

“What does this mean?”

“It means that you’ve lost more than just your memories. Your entire identity, your personality, and your past have all been erased. Because your cutie mark is defined by who you are, it too has vanished. My memory spell didn’t work because it brings to the surface memories trapped somewhere in you mind that you can’t get to, but in this case they simply aren’t here. You’ve essentially been left a blank slate.”

A blank slate? Are my memories gone forever? He couldn’t bring himself to speak. All he could do was try and process everything he had just heard.

“Wait, I’ve read every book we have on modern psychology three times over, and I’ve never read about anything like this happening before,” Quick Thought said, obviously sceptical of the theory.

“That’s because you won’t find anything about this in a book of modern psychology. The last recorded case of identity erasure was more than five hundred years ago. Back then, the victim was a unicorn who ended up erasing part of his own mind after a traumatic event. He eventually recovered, though, as the magic wasn’t permanent. While we have no idea what exactly caused this case, it will most likely wear off in time as well.”

The tan pony’s spirits soared at the news.

“So I jut have to wait it out then! I’m going to be all right!”

“Most likely, yes, but we don’t know exactly how or when it will wear off. It could take days. It could take months. It could even take years.”

“Oh...”

“So, now that you have diagnosed my patient, I would like to continue my research of his condition,” Quick Thought said impatiently.

“Of course! You’ll be able to get all the research you need in Outpatient Care when our friend here returns each week for an evaluation.” Turning to his patient, Clear Thought continued. “Congratulations! You have a clean bill of health, so you are clear for discharge from the hospital!”

“What!?”Quick Thought shouted. “What about my research?”

“Calm down, please. Like I said, you will get to see him once a week. There’s no point in keeping him here if we can’t do anything more for him.”

Completely livid, the mare stormed out of the office, magically slamming the door behind her.

“Don’t worry about her, she’ll be okay. She means well, but sometimes her priorities get a bit out of order. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Now, before we fill out the paperwork to let you go, you need to give yourself a name. Even if it’s only temporary, you need a formal identity for your file. Besides, you wouldn’t want to go out into town and not be able to introduce yourself, would you?”

“A name, huh?” He had never given a name for himself any thought, figuring he would remember his soon enough. From what he gathered from other ponies names, they tended to be at least somewhat descriptive. But what was there to describe him? He was just a...

“You can call me Blank Slate.”

Comments

[Thedever]

this is really well done. Here, have all my stars.