Empty Pages

by Blind Gardener

Chapter: 10 Tales of the Myst Pony

Twilight slunk through the gentrified avenues of Inner Canterlot. A cloak of heavy fog was sluggishly sloughing to the streets around her, the fascinating side effect of an overpowered silencing spell stilling the hot humid air around her. To herself, she loudly sang the popular themesong of a street puppet show about an equestrian spy in the zebra lands.

It was fortunate that only those very close to Twilight would be able to hear her singing past the sound damping, for she was as badly out of tune as a sack of damp grifflets. She could not remember the words, so she made up her own.

Behind her slunk an unfortunate Earth Pony Guard, by the name of Avocado Hill. Avocado's Cheyenne green body blended well with the darkness of the night. Her golden uniform did not. She held a clipboard, with a quill on a string attached to it, in her mouth. She occasionally ducked down to write down phonetic approximations of the nightmarish eldritch chanting whispering from the mist-enshrouded banshee that she followed.

Avocado felt like there were worms crawling behind her eyes. Her mane was disheveled and, in a massive betrayal for an object made from braided wire, her torc was beginning to look frazzled. The apparition ahead of her paused in its stride and began to sniff at the air. Avocado once more ducked behind a hedgerow, teeth clattering in the unpleasant chill emanating from the ghastly creature.

Suddenly, with a pop, it vanished. Avocado shrieked, and glanced around looking for a place to hide in this upscale neighborhood. She found it in a small dog castle that was clearly large enough for a slight pony like her to slip into. It was modeled after Canterlot Castle.

The owner of the small castle would discover her in the morning, curled up into a small ball and shivering in fear. He would poke her with his wet little nose, waking her from her nightmares. He would then dutifully bring his master. By the time he had made himself understood to his owner, however, Avocado would already be well on her way back to headquarters to file her somewhat embarrassing report. Hard Knocks would nod seriously, then duck into the breakroom to guffaw uncontrollably.

3 years, and some therapy, later Avocado would look back at the memory as a fond recollection of the hazing that 'builds community among the guards'. 5 years from this event she would adopt a stray puppy, and find it to be one of the more rewarding moments of her life. 8 years from this event, she would send one of her own wet-behind-the-ears patrol partners on a similar wild goose chase as a member of the newly minted Night Guard, reinstated under the returned Princess Luna.

In the here and now, however, Avocado was frightened and alone, and the steady snore of the sleeping dog was a warm reprieve from the unnatural bubble of silence surrounding the spectre.

---

The Blueblood Family Summer Palace was not a palace in the same sense that the Princess' castle was a palace, for that would be ostentatious. Rather the opulent structure was constructed of sturdy materials by long deceased masters at the pinnacles of their craft. The rich carpets were deep enough and comfortable enough for a pony to sink into, but to one unversed in the maker's marks and long extinct quarries whose distinct grains the stones carried, the palace of the Bluebloods might not seem much more than a particularly nice mansion. There were no intricate filigrees that could break away with time, no gilding that could wear down. Only the inhabitants of the structure were unprotected from the ravages of time.

Within the mansion, Twilight Sparkle appeared within a standing closet with a soft pop. Teleporting, especially blind teleporting, took a lot out of a young filly. Twilight was now exhausted both magically and physically. She kicked open the door to the wardrobe open from the inside, then finally dropped her spell of silencing. She looked around the room. Bed, fireplace, bookshelves... looked like a bedroom. She was tired, and she knew that whichever pony she was searching for was likely somewhere nearby. So, with a yawn, she crawled onto the bed near the fireplace, and closed her eyes for a quick rest.

She was fast asleep soon after.

Author's Note:

I am sorry that this took so long, and wound up being so short. Next chapter she'll actually encounter Blueblood again, after she wakes up from a quick nap. All of the Bluebloods in fact.

If you like Empty Pages, and you havn't checked out Rock Moon yet, please do so. It's where most of my effort has been going lately.

Comments

[Philosophysics]

Cool!

[Twilight_Shimmer]

a thought strikes me after reading the story description, since her memory doesnt retain anything non-academic, does this include things such as personal care (IE: knowing how to bath, eat, bathroom etc) and sense of direction?

[Blind Gardener]

6023668

I... honestly didn't think about that. I think she has a checklist for her morning routine. Muscle memory is pretty retainable, even by people with amnesia, and a lot of self care is pretty much muscle memory.

Twilight's never had much of a sense of direction, even in canon.

So I'm going to say "Yes, it includes those things in that she needs a checklist to remind her the proper order of procedure"

No, wait, I must have thought about that. My notebook has a very similar statement to the one I just made in it. Huh.

[Twilight_Shimmer]

6023731 I see I was just curious so i thought I would ask :)

[The Great Derpsby]

It might be very, very awkward if the prince has to explain why there's a cute girl sleeping in his bed.

[SquidFace]

haha! ow man, poor Avocado Hill. A short but nice chapter!
Going to be very fun so see how Blueblood handles this

[Purgamentum]

I'm liking these last few chapters a lot. Twilight doesn't see the world like most do and she works with magic on a level I can only compare to an idiot savant, of sorts. Rather than coming off as a damaged child, she's almost more like a little force of nature. This makes a scary amount of sense when you consider her destiny later in life.

[sakuralovelight]

i know i commented on this chapter before and i am sorry to bug you i was just wondering if by any chance you know when you might post next chapter i understand that life can get in the way and i don't want to rash you or anything i just asking if you don't know that is okay and take your time on making a grate chapter

[Blind Gardener]

6097590

Right now I'm working on some rewrites of clean slates, and chapter 4 of clean slates. I have not yet started the newest chapter of empty pages. I am three quarters done with the newest rock moon.

[sakuralovelight]

6100213 okay thank you for letting me know

[Whiteeyes]

You know, lookin at amending fences, you seem to have grounds for arguing this towards canon to a degree.

"I did some research and I found out where Minuet is...that is one of my friends right?"

[Blind Gardener]

6215843

That episode has certainly given me ideas

[ValNitak Choas]

good story

[Ultra-the-HedgeToaster]

I'm sort of, much further down the road, expecting Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie to play some "harmless prank" on Twilight later on... by altering her checklists.

Ya know, "'Cause Twi is always so obsessed with those checklists, she needs to lighten up a little".

They expect Twilight to notice something is off after a minute or two. Maybe five. Then they'll all have a good laugh.

Only, Twilight never catches on to it...