Drawing a Blank

Chapters

Chapter 1: No Name
Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out
Chapter 3: The First Day

Chapter 1: No Name

A world of grey smears and blobs without shape, without definition. Without any cohesion.

A world of pure sounds. Faded echoes of noise with no determinable purpose. Just white noise, really. If one were to listen closely enough, they might hear the lingering shell of something that made sense. A laugh, a scream, a compliment, a curse. All blended together in an endless sea of sound.

A world of endless motion, faster than the eye can track but slower than the weakest snail. Chaotic, yet coordinated. There was a semblance of a pattern in this mass, but it was impossible to tell exactly what that pattern actually was. For all intents and purposes, it was just motion. Perhaps a silhouette or a gleam of light would show up from time to time, but they vanished just quickly enough that one wouldn't be able to process what they had seen.

Those were the only things that existed here. There was no smell, no touch, only sound, and sight. If you could even call these odd sensations 'sound' and 'sight' at all.
How long had he been here? Did time even pass in this place? If it did, did it even matter anymore? What was time, even? Just a construct of perception used to increment things. It didn't really exist. Does anything exist? Did he really exist? He couldn't remember where he was before this world of sound and smears. This was all he knew. Was he the only one here? Was he just another smear among the countless others? Was he something else? Did it even matter?

"Hello?" He tried to cry out, his voice weak and hoarse from lack of use for so long. Or maybe from being used for the first time. "Can anyone hear me?"

But there was no response. His voice was quickly among the chaotic clatter of this bleak reality. Maybe he wasn't alone, perhaps these sounds were the cries of others like him all trying to reach out for help. Or maybe these cries were his own, bleakly echoed back at him by whatever this place was.

Was this hell? Was he dead? No, he surely would know if he was dead. Right?

Right?

And then, there was light. A break in the shifting smudges, something cohesive. Something other than grey, something other than sound. And it was getting brighter, and bigger.

As it did, the endless grey and ceaseless sound began to retreat, almost as if in fear of this light. He couldn't look away from the ever-expanding glow, even as it overtook him entirely.

And just like that, everything changed. His sight was clouded by darkness, the endless notice had cut out entirely. The sensations of touch and scent came rushing back to him like an oncoming train. He felt cold, laying on something smooth and hard. Perhaps some kind of cold stone, he thought. The air around him felt cool to the touch as well and was littered with the distinct scent of rainwater. Either it was just about to rain, or the sky had just ceased pouring. But these sensations weren't the only ones returned upon exiting the nightmarish reality he had finally escaped.

Pain. Everything was in pain.

His muscles ached, his lungs and throat burned, and his head throbbed. Physically and mentally exhausted, whatever had happened had pushed his body and mind to the absolute limits. His left leg, in particular, was hurting more than the rest of him. He finally knew if he was alive or not, and currently, he was wishing he was the later. He tried to move, tried to call out again, but found only minor twitches and groans as the only things his body could manage to produce right now. He couldn't even open his eyes, leaving him trapped in darkness.

He laid there for what felt like hours, the passage of time is another sensation that had returned to him. Eventually, a small drop of liquid from the heavens landed on his nose.

And then another, and another. The pitter-patter of rain was quick to greet his ears. The light downpour was refreshing and soothing to his aching and exhausted body, slowly numbing the pain in everything but his leg. If this kept up, he might be able to actually move soon.

The royal city of Canterlot, the capital city of the nation of Equestria. Over the many years, this city has seen a great a many tragedies and fortunes. From the return of chaos to the world to the crowning of a new alicorn princess, this city had seen it all. Granted, it hadn't seen all of the major events in Equestria's recent history, but it had certainly seen its fair share.

But for every day where something historically significant or world threatening was happening, there were a countless number of mundane and average days to counterbalance them. And that's exactly what today was, just another day in the capital city of Equestria. Ponies going about their business, noble and working class alike.

This is where Twilight Sparkle comes into play. The lavender and purple alicorn princess, and her purple dragon assistant/friend Spike had been spending today catching up with her old friends from school. She had spent a good chunk of the day catching up on old times. Scratch that, she spent the entire day catching up on old times. The sun would be going down any minute now, not that you'd be able to tell through the overcast sky.

"Guess there's some rain scheduled for tonight," Twilight observed, looking up to the sky. She and Spike had been inside all day, and when they had arrived the skies were clear and sunny as per the usual. And as she looked up to the sky, she was greeted by a large blip of rain landing dead center on her snout.

"Good guess," Spike said with a laugh, watching with amusement as the alicorn princess flinched in surprise. Though karma was not the dragon's friend this day as he was hit by the second drop of rainwater. It landed right in his open mouth while he was laughing, and he choked and coughed for a second as the liquid went down the wrong tube.
One after the other, the raindrops began to fall faster and faster. Soon it was pouring down a moderate amount. Guess the weather crew missed a few rainfalls and were trying to make up for lost time.

"We should probably get out of this rain," Spike pointed out after recovering from his coughing fit.
"Yeah, mom and dad's place isn't too--" Twilight began to respond, but stopped as one of her ears twitched. She heard something over the sounds of the lightly falling rain. "... Spike, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The alicorn was just about to answer, but she heard that sound again and her ears perked in that direction. Louder this time. This time she was able to determine what the sound was. And that had her worried.

It sounded like somepony, moaning.

"Okay, THAT time I heard it!" Spike added, turning his head towards the source of the sound. It wasn't that far, all things considered. Sounded like it was coming from the alley they were passing. Twilight didn't bother responding to Spike's comment, quickly calling for him to follow her as she dashed towards the source of the sound. She had heard that sound several times in the past, from a number of individuals. That sound was a groan of pain.

She dashed into the alleyway, baby dragon chasing close behind her. The hurt individual moaned again, coming from an offshoot in the alley that Twilight had just dashed past.

Quickly doubling around, taking care not to run into Spike, she turned into the sub alley between the two buildings and searched frantically for the hurt pony.

But what she found wasn't a pony.

Whatever this creature was, he would have been taller than Twilight was he standing up on his own two legs. The alicorn would have had to stand up on her hind legs to match his height, and even then she'd only get to about eye level with his chest if her math was right.

And her math was always right.

The individual's height wasn't the only oddity about it, however. First off, he was fully clothed, a rare sight in Equestria outside of formal events. Black shoes, faded denim pants, and a blue short-sleeved shirt covered in green and red triangles. The parts of the entity's body that weren't covered in clothing had no hair, only a tannish colored skin. There was, however, a patch of messy black hair atop his head. Twilight couldn't see his eyes, they were tightly shut from the pain.
Whatever this creature was, he was dragging himself along the ground by his back. Pushing himself up into a sitting position against the nearest wall. Every push was accompanied by a sharp huff of breath. And while Twilight didn't know what this being was, but she knew two things for sure.
One: it was obviously hurt, based on the moans and sharp breaths.
And two: the left leg had a slightly different shape than the right. It didn't take Twilight long to figure out that the limb had been broken, based on how much pain the entity was clearly in.

"Twilight, did you find them-- ?" Spike began as he caught up to the alicorn, stopping mid-question as he laid eyes on the creature. "... What is it?"

The unknown lifeform, having heard a voice, slightly turned towards the sound, eyes still closed. "Help... please... help..." It managed to wheeze out. Its voice sounded like it belonged to a male if anything.

"It can talk?!" Spike visibly flinched upon hearing the entity talk back.

Twilight didn't hesitate for a second, her horn lighting up with a pinkish ethereal glow with a magical hum. A similar aura formed around the creature's leg. "Hold still, I'm gonna try and fix your leg." The wounded individual gave a weak nod as the magic began to slowly push his broken leg back into place. But the alicorn was quick to stop the moment he started writing in pain, more so than he already had.

"Stop! Stop!" He managed to cry out, grabbing at his broken shin and trying to pry away the magenta light surrounding it. "You're making it worse!"

"Sorry!" Twilight stammered, taking a cautious step backward as she ceased her magic. This creature, whatever he may have been, let out a relieved sigh as he leaned back against the wet brick wall. Twilight's ears drooped a bit, lowering herself closer to the ground out of guilt. "I was only trying to help..."

He said nothing, only glancing back over to the two who had found him, finally opening his silver-colored eyes. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but the confusion was clearly one of the topics on his mind. "Who are you?... What are you?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Spike retorted almost instantly, getting a momentary glare from his benefactor before she returned her attention to the creature. While she didn't approve of his bluntness, she had also been curious as to what this entity was.

"... My name's Twilight Sparkle, this is my friend Spike," Twilight explained as she slowly approached the wounded individual. "Can you tell us your name?"
Said entity looked down to himself, placing a hand at the side of his head as he pondered. Twilight waited patiently for them to answer that question. But as the moments stretched into minutes, he still gave none. And with each passing second, it was clear that it was causing him great distress. Spike and Twilight gave one another concerned glances as this went on.

Twilight finally broke the silence. "Is something wrong?" The sudden noise among that of the rain had seemingly startled the entity, he had evidently forgotten that she was waiting for him to answer the question.

"I... I'm sorry... but I can't remember," he explained with a distraught tone, slowly shaking his head. "... I can't remember..." Twilight's ears shot back up, her magenta eyes wide from the revelation. She was doing her best to try an respond to that, but she couldn't think of anything that she could say. She looked over at Spike, hoping he would have something to add. Unfortunately, the dragon was only able to give her a confused shrug. In the meantime, the apparently amnesiac individual was going into shock. Either from his broken leg or from the sudden realization that he had no idea who he even was.

"... It's going to be okay," Twilight finally blurted, reclaiming the entity's attention. He looked at her right in the eye, looking as if he might have been crying. But the steadily falling rain made it impossible to know for sure if he had been or not. "We're going to help you. We'll get your leg patched up, and we'll figure this out. All right?"
He gave no response, he only continued to stare down the alicorn as she continued staring right back. The only sounds that could be heard were the pitter-patter of falling rain on stone.

Author's Note

I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make this reboot/re-imagining of my Drawing a Blank story better then the original. And I've finally come to a draft that I've decided is definitively better then my original draft. And this time, I've decided to go for a much different tone then the original.

A larger emphasis will be placed upon drama. Not entirely, mind you, but it will be here. Enough so to actually warrant the tag. I've also decided to make the initial setting Canterlot instead of Ponyville, for a number of reasons that will be made relevant later.

Don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I'm working on it. If you're reading this in the future, then it COULD be out by now.

Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out

After learning of the unknown creature's apparent amnesia, the princess of friendship was quick to elect that they should bring this... alien, for lack of a better word, to Canterlot Castle. The hospital was the first location that came to mind, but she quickly disregarded that idea. She didn't know what this entity even was, meaning that nopony knew what this entity was. So bringing him to a place where there was likely a lot of ponies... maybe not the best idea. Doing so could cause a panic. So the castle was the only other logical location. Perhaps Princess Celestia knows about this, she figured.

Twilight was quick to try and make sure the alien was ready for what she was about to do. He had no idea what she was talking about and before he could get a straight answer there was a bright flash of magical light. The dark and damp alley was replaced with a brightly lit and dry carpeted floor, and the sudden change in environment came with a few new sensations. The most prominent of these side effects being the unnatural levels of nausea and disorientation that followed. The second most prominent effect was the forceful evacuation of his stomach's contents onto the castle floor.

Now, bringing an unknown lifeform to the capital of your nation, entirely unannounced, is an issue. As is that creature throwing up all over the usually spotless floor the second he arrived. But a much more... relevant issue was currently on Twilight Sparkle's and Spike's mind. That issue was almost identical in every way to the one just described, though the major difference was in the specific place in the castle Twilight had brought this unknown lifeform.

The throne room. Just as Princess Celestia and her escort of guards were on their way out for the evening.

Now, the princess of friendship had been planning on informing Equestria's ruler of this creature and her intentions of helping him. But she wanted to do so after getting him dried off and into a nice warm bed, and after explaining the situation thoroughly before introducing them. But unfortunately in her the haste of casting the spell, she only specified that she wanted to bring them to Canterlot Castle. And it seems that magic has a cruel sense of humor when you aren't specific. The solar princess, as well as her entourage of guards and her personal aide, reacted about as well as you'd expect to a second alicorn and a dragon appearing out of thin air with a mysterious creature that proceeded to vomit all over the nice carpeted floor. If you can't imagine it, here's a bit of a rundown.

The four elite guards, tasked with the specific duty guarding one of Equestria's most powerful and important rulers, all nearly leaped out of their armor at the sudden appearing act. The largest of the quartet screamed like a little filly, he was apparently the jumpiest of the batch. This action earned him a smack on the back of the head from the princess's aide.

Said aide, one Raven Inkwell, was utterly unfazed by the act. In fact, her only reaction was smacking the loudest of the guards upside the head, causing him to let out a meek "sorry."

And lastly, was Princess Celestia herself. Her reaction was somewhere between that of her assistant and her guards. There was a reaction in the form of the white-coated alicorn taking a step back as her eyes grew wide. One forehoof was left hanging in the air, watching in curiosity as her student tended to this odd entity, her draconic assistant just standing there just as wide-eyed as the solar princess was.

"I thought you said you were ready?!" Twilight blurted worriedly, using a hoof to try and pull the entity out of the puddle of his own purged meal.

"You didn't tell me what you were gonna do..." He groaned weakly, arms wrapped tightly around his own stomach, eyes closed even tighter. "What the hell even was that?"

"I told you we were going to teleport!" Twilight quickly explained, trying to make sure he was still on one piece. It was right about then that the lavender alicorn remembered where she was at and what she had just done. Her gaze slowly turned back towards one of Equestria's two sovereign leaders.

Princess Celestia simply stood there with a look of utter befuddlement on her face, her ever flowing rainbow mane and tail still flowing in a state of continuous calm motion as if caught by a gentle breeze. Her golden regalia reflected the light brilliantly, her magenta colored eyes narrowing slightly as Twilight looked up to her. The younger alicorn's face was painted with a wide toothy grin that absolutely screamed: "I didn't mean to do that."

"We... We can explain," Twilight stated calmly, only the slightest twitch of nervousness showing through her facade. Her eyes glanced down at Spike, hoping the baby dragon would have something to add. Once again, Spike could only offer up a shrug in response. This situation was clearly far outside of his expertise. Twilight's eyes darted back over to the white alicorn, surprised to see that she had stepped forward and was overlooking the oddity she had brought in with her.

"Are... you alright?" Princess Celestia asked of the unknown lifeform that had been presented before her. She took notice of how one of his legs had a slightly different shape than it's twin. Equestria's daytime ruler obviously didn't know what this entity was, but she did know that most living things were supposed to have matching legs.

"I could be better," he wheezed in response, still holding his upset stomach, seemingly having forgotten about his broken leg for the time being. The solar alicorn was quick to put the pieces together, turning back to her group of escorts. "Raven, please go fetch Doctor Scribe and get a room ready for our... guest," she ordered calmly.

Raven's ears perked up at the order. The white colored unicorn had a brown mane and tail, both tied up into large buns, and eyes that matched the darker color that was shielded behind a set of wide-brimmed glasses. A red neckerchief was tied in a pretty knot around her neck. "Right away, princess," she said with a smile before turning back to the guard she had just smacked. Her smile quickly shifted into a scowl, her tone of voice becoming much blunter. "You. Either find somepony to clean up that mess, or clean it up yourself."

"B-But why me?!" The tallest of the guards shouted back.

"Because I am busy at the moment. Now MARCH!" Inkwell commanded as she walked around the group before her and out of the throne room. The large guard was quick to follow her lead, in search of either a maid or a mop. Once those two had left, Princess Celestia turned to face her student and her student's assistant.

"Now then, how about that explanation I was promised?" Princess Celestia asked with a smile.

Still laying on the ground disoriented and nauseous from the "teleportation," the creature heard Twilight and Spike explaining something to someone he didn't know. A recount of his situation (as far as they knew) from what he could tell. He would have chimed in himself but found himself unable to do so as he felt himself get hoisted into the air by the order of the voice he didn't recognize. The protest was impossible in his current state, and in the darkness of his closed eyes, he heard the explanation getting further and further away as he was hastily carried off. The last thing he heard was Twilight shouting out a "be careful with him" before returning to her story.

He lost track of just about everything after that. The constant motion, the queasiness he was feeling, and several other factors such as pain and confusion all hit him at once, and he blacked out.

"Urgh... whah happah?" The amnesiac gurgled as he came to who knows how long later. He wasn't moving anymore, so that was a good thing. He also wasn't soaked with rainwater, also a good thing. His leg still hurt, but that was the least of his problems. "Where... am I?" He asked, looking around his new environment.

Wherever he had been taken, it was clearly some sort of bedroom. That much was obvious from the dresser, nightstand, and the bed he was currently laying atop. And based on how barren it looked other than those features, it was likely some form of guest room. The only form of decoration was a painting depicting a field of sunflowers on one wall.

"Okay... this is new..." He grumbled to himself, turning to hop out of the bed. Though as his left foot touched the ground, he shot back onto the bed as a surge of sharp pain shot through his shin. "Right, broken leg!" He lectured to himself, clutching his knee close to his chest as he winced. After allowing the pain to subside for a moment or two, at least as much as it could in its state. After that, he slowly rolled up the leg of his pants to assess the damage.

And as he feared, it looked pretty bag. There was a noticeable bend around the center of his calf that very much shouldn't be there. It didn't look good, at all. But at least the bone wasn't sticking out of his body... yet, anyway. It looked like it could poke through at even the slightest provocation.

"What the hell did I even do?" He asked again, leaning in closer to further inspect the damage. It was around then he noticed that whoever had put him in this bed had neglected to take his shoes off. With a bit of difficulty with his left side, he was able to get both of them off and onto the ground, thus allowing his feet to finally breath.

The handle to the door suddenly began to jostle about, startling the creature out of his train of thought. Just as quickly as it began to move, the door had opened and the amnesiac was greeted to the sight of another pony entering. The faded yellow unicorn sported a neatly kept, bright yellow mane and a matching tail. They had a pair of thin wire-frame glasses before their bright blue eyes. A large saddlebag was located on either side of their body, a few pieces of medical equipment could be seen poking or hanging out.

"I don't see what the big issue is," the unicorn muttered to herself as she entered, clearly a "she" based on the sound of her voice. "There's no way it can--" she stopped as her gaze fell upon the creature laying in bed. Her expression spoke volumes. "... I stand corrected."

"Umm... hello?" The amnesiac greeted with a nervous wave. The unicorn slowly lifted a hoof and just as cautiously waved back, her expression unchanging.

"... Excuse me one moment," the unicorn stated before turning away and lowering her head slightly. "Get a hold of yourself, Saffron. You wouldn't have been called here if the princess didn't think you were capable of this," she muttered to herself. After a few moments of mentally adjusting, she turned back to face the amnesiac with a warmer look. "Hello... I'm Doctor Scribe... I'm here to take a look at that leg of yours."

The unknown creature looked down at his broken leg, still exposed to the open air, before turning back to face the doctor. "Uhh... thanks."

With a sharp inhale through her nose, Doctor Scribe approached the bedside and took a look at the creature's leg. "Hmm... may I see your other leg?" She asked, not looking away from the damaged appendage. The amnesiac nodded, rolling up the other leg of his pants and revealing the much more normal leg. The doctor took a moment to compare both limbs, doing her best to apply her medical knowledge to this entity she had been presented with. "Alright... there's obviously a bit of swelling... one moment."

Before asking what she meant, the amnesiac watched as the unicorn's horn began to glow with this orangish-yellow light accompanied by an odd humming noise. His eyes noticeably widened as he watched the same light engulf his leg from the knee down. There was an odd tingling warmth creeping upon his senses as the light continued to flicker and dance about his limb. Curiosity and surprise suddenly turned to shock as this same aura shifted to his not broken leg.

"H-hey! What're you doing?!" The amnesiac blurted, grabbing his right leg and trying to see what was up. His hands were quickly swatted away by a pale yellow hoof.

"Please don't. I'm trying to do my job," the doctor demanded, not looking away from his legs as she shooed the hands away. It only took her a few more moments to do... whatever she had been doing before the magical light ceased to be. "Alright then. The break doesn't seem to bad. Just need to realign the bone and get a cast on it." Doctor Scribe continued to exposit, mostly to herself, as her horn began to glow again. One of the bags hanging from her sides was opened by a similar light, and objects bathed in that same glow began to float out of the carrier.

"How're you doing that?" The amnesiac alien asked, watching in utter awe as the doctor sorted through the levitating objects.

Doctor Scribe turned her gaze back to him and cocked an eyebrow. "Have you... never seen magic before?"

"... As far as I'm aware, no."

Confusion turned to revelation as the pieces clicked together in the unicorn's head. "Oh, my apologies. I was informed of your... current state of remembrance, but it seems it slipped my mind." She chuckled a bit as she continued to sort through her medical supplies. "A bit ironic, no?"

"Sure..." The creature droned, still in awe of the act of magic being shown to him. "... So how're you doing that? The floating object thing."

"I'm a unicorn. We all have magic. Levitation is one of the first spells taught," Doctor Scribe explained with a calm smile, finally finding the necessary components for casting a limb. "Though the spell I just used on your legs was a bit more... advanced. It allowed me to see through skin and muscle tissue to look at your bone structure. You're lucky only one leg is broken, otherwise this would be a much harder procedure for both of us."

Magic? Okay, not the weirdest thing about today, he thought as he watched his doctor continue to sort through her things. Guess that explains the... what did she call it? Teleportation? Whatever it doesn't matter now.

"So, may I ask you a question?" the doctor inquired, shifting her eyes over to the amnesiac for a moment before returning to her task. "What exactly... are you?"

It was his turn to raise a brow. "Excuse me?"

"I know it's a bit... direct, but I was never informed on what exactly... you are," she finished placing the necessary items on the nightstand and turned to face her patient. "If it isn't to much trouble, that is."

The amnesiac turned away as the doctor continued to prep for the casting process. He placed a hand to his chin in contemplation, he began to think deeply about the question. He started going around in circles in his head, trying not to think of the ever important who that he couldn't recall, but rather the what. No matter how many different paths of thought he followed, most lead back to the same answer.

"... The word 'human' comes to mind," he admitted with a stubble groan. The fact that he was unsure about what was almost as frustrating as the fact he couldn't even remember his own name.

"Human... human..." The doctor continued to mutter the word to herself, clearly trying to commit it to memory. She finally turned back to the human. "Alright then, let's get this leg of yours fixed up."

Memories of Twilight trying to do just that came flooding back to the human, and the immense amount of pain that the process caused. He didn't actually see her do anything, his eyes were closed at the time. But he knew she tried something. It was magic, in hindsight. He made his concerns about that known.

"Hmm... that's good to know." The doctor's horn once more began to glow, the sound of rustling objects emanating from one of her bags. "I believe I brought some painkillers with me, they should-- ah ha! There it is!"

He sighed with relief, relief that was quickly replaced by abstract horror as he watched a syringe of unknown liquid levitate from the saddle bag. "... Hey doc, let's... just skip that part and just fix my leg, okay?"

The unicorn doctor looked over with confusion as she magically prepped the injection. "It would be extremely painful if I realign the bone now, you said so yourself."

A nervous bead of sweat rolled down the human's face, eyes glued to the needle. "On second... maybe injecting me with horse medicine isn't the best idea."

The doctor cocked her head, following the human's gaze with her own, tracing it back to the needle of medication. The pieces clicked together as her eyes narrowed. "Are you... afraid of needles?"

"... No." That lie was as blatant as the nose on his face. Or the sun in the summer sky. Or the horn on the doctor's head. It was not a very convincing lie, is the point being made here.

"It's alright if you are, I've given plenty of shots to fillies and colts who despised these things." She waved the syringe in the air a bit with a slight chuckle. "It'll only hurt for a second. Then it'll be over."

"So it'll only hurt for a second if you just bend it back into shape... without needles, please," the human whimpered. His eyes didn't look away from the injection for a second.

"It would hurt much more."

"... Look over there! A detraction!"

The doctor was not amused by the human's antics. At all, if the scowl she was giving him was anything to go by. "Please don't make this any more difficult than it has to be, human."

"Don't you have, like... pills or something?"

"Not at the moment. The injection would be faster, regardless."

The human looked away from the needle for several seconds to gaze upon Scribe's scowl. He nervously chuckled as he looked back to the needle, and then back to the doctor. Then the needle, then the doctor. This sequence repeated a number of times, in the same span of time each cycle. Each time he looked back to Doctor Scribe she looked more and more miffed. Eventually, the medical pony got tired of this little stalling act and decided to take action.

While his eyes were on the needle, Doctor Scribe's own eyes looked to the human's arm. And due to his lack of fur, she was quickly able to find a barely visible blue line that was more than certainly a vein. Once the human's eyes returned to her, her eyes were back on him.

She allowed him to continue gawking at both herself and the needle as he was doing. She needed to be sure he wouldn't move. Once his eyes hit her for the umpteenth time, she quickly sprung into action. Reaching out with her magic to hold his arm in place, aimed the shot and fired the syringe like a rocket into it's target. The projectile struck true, and she was quick to inject the human with the pain-reducing medication. Said human reacted about as well as you'd expect.

Loudly, if you couldn't guess.

Twilight let out a rather loud yawn as she strolled through the halls of Canterlot Castle with Spike. Today had been a rather long one. First with the fantastic time she had caught up with old friends, followed by the discovery of an entirely new species and the revelation that the individual was hurt. Her explanation to Princess Celestia wasn't as long as she had expected it to be, but much longer than it needed to be. Twilight had a bad habit of nitpicking over the little details when she was nervous, and that had eaten up most of the time.

Thankfully, Princess Celestia was an understanding and patient mare. And after hearing the story, with some help from Spike to keep Twilight from going too far off track, the solar alicorn had agreed to help her in helping this creature in any way she could. For the time being, that help would come in the form of a place for the alien to recuperate and recover from his broken leg. And in the meantime, Twilight would be searching for a potential way to reverse his amnesia. Once his memories were restored, they'd figure out their next course of action.

But for now? Twilight wanted to just lay down and sleep. But before she could do that, she wanted to check back in on the creature to see how he was holding up. She hadn't seen him since they arrived at the castle, and he wasn't exactly in the best of shape.

"Hey, Twilight?" Spike asked as the two continued their stroll.

"Yes, Spike?"

"I know we're going to help the... alien guy with his amnesia and stuff..." Spike began, nervously twiddling his claws together. "But... what're we supposed to call him?"

That's... a really good question, Twilight pondered as she stopped dead in her tracks. What do you call somepony who doesn't technically have a-- The train of thought was cut short by an almost ear-shattering scream of pain.

Like, an insanely loud scream.

Twilight and Spike couldn't even fathom the fact that such a noise had been made by a living creature.

It was almost as loud as the scream from one of Celestia's guards earlier that evening.

The dragon and the alicorn both slowly turned their gazes to face one another. As they expected, both mirrored the same startled grimace back at one another. Spike, after taking a heavy gulp, was the first to speak up. "Was that the--?"

"Yes. It was." Twilight blankly interrupted, not even needing her assistant to finish the question to know what he was inquiring about.

"And did he just--?"

"Yes. He did."

"So we should probably--"

"Way ahead of you," the princess of friendship said nothing more as she continued walking towards the source of the scream, her assistant quick to catch up.

The brisk walk quickly transformed into a paced jog. The pace jog was quickly overtaken by a more hurried run. And soon enough, Twilight's own paranoia got the better of her and she broke out into a full blown sprint. Quickly recalling the instructions that Raven had given her, quickly finding the still open door to the room where the amnesiac was staying.

She slid to a halt as she stopped before the guest room, quickly darting in. "What's wrong?! I heard screaming!" The alicorn was privy to an odd sight. Doctor Scribe was currently applying a cast to the amnesiac alien. He, in the meantime, was laying on his back. Eyes wide, mouth agape, a single tear seen from one eye. His hands were tensed, twitching slightly, and every now and again a light gasp would escape from his un-moving mouth.

Doctor Scribe looked over to see Princess Twilight and Spike standing in the doorway, worried and confused looks on their faces. "Oh, the human's just being dramatic," she explained as she continued to apply the cast. "All I did was give him some fast-acting painkillers, so I could fix his leg." She looked up to the unresponsive individual. "Didn't even feel it when I put your leg back into place, did you?"

"Speak not to me of this, devil horse," the so-called human hissed, expression unchanging as the doctor resumed working on his leg.

"It was just a little needle, you're overreacting."

The two new arrivals looked over to the nightstand, catching sight of the used syringe that had been placed there for the time being. The two of them had very separate reactions to this. Twilight's was one of empathy, as she knew from a number of books that belonephobia was a very real thing. Spike, in the meantime, was chuckling to himself a bit. The idea of this odd and large creature being afraid of a tiny needle tickled his fancy.

Twilight was quick to trot around the bed, the side not occupied by Doctor Scribe at the moment, in order to speak with the human. "How're you holding up?"

"Terribly," the human said without a moment's hesitation. "I just got stabbed by a horse."

"Pony," the doctor corrected, not even bothering to look away from the cast she was constructing around the human's leg.

"Demon!" The human barked back, shooting his head up off of the pillow for a moment to glare daggers at the unicorn doctor fixing his leg.

"Alright, but aside from that?" Twilight continued her empathy almost as blatant as the human's current anger. "Have you... uhh..." She didn't exactly know how to phrase this particular question. It was a bit awkward to ask, and she didn't want to offend. Her difficulty in this task was quickly noticed by her number one assistant, who was quick to bite the bullet for his friend.

"You remember anything yet?" Spike asked with an odd mixture of bluntness and sympathy.

He didn't know what the dragon was talking about at first, but then the reality of his situation suddenly came back to bite him. The human's apparent anger melted into a distraught expression as his head slowly plopped back down on the pillow. "... Would you believe that I forgot about that?" He asked with a halfhearted chuckle.

"He says he's a called a 'human,' if that helps," Doctor Scribe added.

"Hyooman?" Spike asked with a cocked eyebrow. He slowly glanced over to Twilight. "... Please tell me you've heard of those before." He already knew the answer to that question, but he just had to ask anyway. Just as the dragon feared, the alicorn gave a slow shake of her head.

"Is there... anything else?" Twilight asked, a slight twinge of hope prevalent in her voice.

"An undying hatred of needles," the human answered in an obvious attempt at a joke. His tone was not a jovial one, but he had at least tried to lighten the mood. "Other than that, I got nothing... so what happens now?"

"I already spoke with Princess Celestia, you'll be--"

"Who?" The human interrupted, looking to the alicorn with a befuddled look. Twilight was quick to match this expression with her own.

"... Princess Celestia. She's one of Equestria's primary rulers," the lavender alicorn explained. "She spoke with you when you first got here."

"... Did she? I was kind of out of it at the time from... whatever it is you did to me."

"It was just a simple teleportation spell!"

"Okay, 'simple,' and 'teleportation' do not belong in the same sentence. I don't care how magical you unicorns are!"

Spike simply rolled his eyes as the two of them kept on debating, all the while Doctor Scribe continued to apply the human's cast. After a few minutes of this, he noticed the doctor finishing up her work, collecting her things, and excusing herself. It was around now that Twilight and the human finally got back on topic, the alicorn explaining the human's new living conditions while they tried to find his missing memories.

Once that was over with, the two of them wished the human pleasant dreams to the human and departed, and to just shout if he needed anything. They'd be staying in the next room over for the night, as they had long since missed the last train to Ponyville. Tomorrow, Twilight had already decided to scan through the Canterlot Archives to see if they could find anything on memory restoration.

Author's Note

Why is the doctor named Scribe?
Well, when you go to the doctor's office to fix a problem, you can get prescribed medication!
Prescribed.
Prescribed.
Prescribed.
Prescribed.
Is a pun!
... I'll go die alone in that corner over yonder, now.

Chapter 3: The First Day

It was a beautiful morning in the capital city of Canterlot. The sun had just emerged from it's nightly hiding after a long evening of rainfall, the remaining dew causing the city to sparkle and glow more than it already did in the morning light. The smell of fresh rainfall wafted through the air as the citizens and local fauna began waking up to greet the day with gusto.

... All except for it's newest resident. The currently nameless human who had been found in an alleyway the previous night was still lightly snoring away, even as the morning sun somehow snuck into the room through the small gap in the curtains and assaulted his closed eyes. Yet despite this, he remained in an absolutely peaceful state of sleep... well, peaceful aside from the act of pulling the blanket over his head to shield himself from the sun's attempt at a wake-up call. Maybe it was the rather busy night he had after he was found, maybe it was whatever he had been doing before he was found, or maybe it had something to do with the medication that had been injected directly into his blood stream last night. Regardless of the reason, the amnesiac was out like a candle. And he clearly had no intention of waking up anytime soon.

And that's exactly what he did, for at least an hour or so after the sun had risen. After that, his body had decided that he had slept enough and forcefully ejected him from the land of sleep. His eyes slowly creaked open, and the human quickly poked his head out of his makeshift sun shield.

The nameless human let out a groggy yawn followed by a tired sounding groan as he sat up, scooting back to lean his spine against the headboard. "What happened last night?" He asked himself, beginning to stretch his various limbs and muscles. He was shocked to find extreme physical resistance in his left leg, virtually impossible to move in any meaningful way. Red flags shot up in his head, and he instantly threw the blanket over the side of the bed to see what was restricting his appendage.

He was greeted to what could only be described as a big, bright pink boot looking thing tightly wrapped around his leg up to just bellow his knee. Upon laying eyes on the cast holding his broken shin in place, memories from the previous night came rushing back to him. As well as a lack of memories from before last night. A look of sober realization came over him, his shoulders slumping downward slightly.

"So... not a dream... fantastic," He muttered to himself, running a hand over the slightly rough texture of the cast. If he had become sober to his situation earlier, the full consequences of what this scenario meant for him had just arrived alongside it. What was he going to do now? He had no memories, no way of getting back to... wherever it is he came from, and he was surrounded by people who had no idea what in the world he even was. He wasn't even entirely sure about what they were. An overwhelming sense of dread and fear suddenly came over him. What was he supposed to do now? Hell, what even could he do now? He couldn't get out of here, not with this broken leg anyway. And since they can apparently teleport, he doubted he'd be able to get very far regardless of his physical well being. The amnesiac was utterly helpless and at their mercy.

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by three sharp knocks at his door. The sudden sound startled the human, and he jolted a bit as his attention was drawn towards the door. Regaining his composure, he leaned over and reclaimed his discarded blanket from the ground. "Come in," he called back as he recovered himself from the waist down. The door was quickly opened, and a familiar looking purple dragon stepped inside.

"Hey... you," he greeted with a nervous smile. Obviously, he wasn't used to giving "good mornings" out to people who didn't have names. "So... how'd you sleep?"

"... Pretty good, all things considered," the amnesiac scratched at the back of his neck, doing his best to avoid direct eye contact. He wasn't expecting Spike of all pon—

Wait. What is he again? The human asked himself, remaining entirely silent as he scratched harder at the back of his neck. Did anyone bring that up? He's not a unicorn... Iguana, maybe? Iguana sounds right. I'll go with that.

"That's good to hear..." Spike sauntered up to the bed, and with a quick hop the short figure hoisted himself up and hung his short legs over the side. He sat there in silence for a moment, eyes occasionally darting around the room as if looking for something. His claws interlocked with each other and began to fidget among themselves. Even the amnesiac could tell that this kid was nervous. Yet he was still sitting here of his own volition, so he had to have some reason for staying.

"... You look like you really don't wanna be here right now," the human broke the silence as he crossed his arms. "... You can leave if you want." In reality, what Spike wanted was the least of his worries at the moment. Despite having no memories, he had enough sense to know it would be a bad idea to stew in his own thoughts for the entire day. Not to mention the fact he might be able to trick some information out of the purple reptile, figure out why they brought him here. Assuming they had some ulterior motive in the first place, that is.

"No, no, it's fine..." Spike lied, finally looking back to the odd creature he and Twilight had found less than a day ago. "I just... uhh... don't really know what to talk about?"

"... How about why you're here?" The human responded with an understanding nod of his head. And then we'll get to whatever you people are planning for me.

"Twilight sent me. To keep you company. She would have come too, but she's a little... side tracked at the moment."

That triggered a few red flags in the amnesiac's relatively empty head. The way Spike said that made it seem like something bad was going to happen whenever Twilight finished what she was doing. He did his best to keep his concerns to himself. "... With what?"

"She's in the library looking up... whatever she can to help you out," Spiked gave a waving gesture as he explained. "Amnesia, memory spells, seeing if anypony's ever heard of a hooman—"

"Human."

"— Human before," Spike corrected the mistake without missing a beat, "that kind of stuff. And when she gets in 'the zone,' she tends to stay there for awhile."

That added up with what the human had been told the previous night, that she would be doing all she could to help him figure things out apparently. But as he pondered over Twilight's words from the previous night, and his doubts from earlier, a question kept popping up in his head. A question that demanded an answer that the amnesiac couldn't provide. It kept getting louder and louder until it finally managed to push its way out of his mouth. "Why?"

The dragon looked over with a cocked eyebrow... or whatever the dragon equivalent to an eyebrow is. "Huh?"

"Why are you going out of your way to help me?" The human asked, a knot tying in his stomach. Their eagerness to help without any request of his own almost tripled the number of red flags that had been raised in his head. The fact that he was clearly something that none of them had any knowledge about didn't help with that. It didn't add up. Nothing about this added up. "You don't know me. You don't know what I am. Why help me? What do you get out of it?"

"... True, but helping pon— err, people in need is kind of our thing," Spike retorted. "And it isn't like you have anypony else to turn to."

Well, that was certainly a blunt way of putting it. An accurate one, but it stung quite a bit. The human looked down to an open palm, quivering ever so slightly in the morning light. "... This is true," he managed to mutter in response, choking on the words ever so slightly. His calm facade was beginning to weaken, unbeknownst to him, and his true emotional state was beginning to shine through.

Good going, you made it worse, Spike thought, wincing as he watched the amnesiac slip further and further into the state of dread he was currently in. You were supposed to keep him company, not make him feel worse! He began to nervously chew on a claw as he thought of what to do to try and remedy the situation before it got any worse. You could almost hear the pieces click into place in his head as the idea came to him, accompanied by a wide grin and equally wide eyes.

"Hey... uhh, you're not the only oddball around here," Spike began with a sympathetic tone, waiting for the human to focus on him before going on. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly like everypony else either."

The human's earlier curiosity about what Spike was returned to him. "... Yeah, I was... actually just wondering about that, now that you mention it."

"Well, long story short, I'm still kind of new to pony society, too... not that new, but pretty new. Nopony knows where I came from, not even me." Spike chuckled as he brought up the comparison. "I was given to Twilight as an egg, then I hatched, now I'm here... and it took some time for some ponies to get used to me being around.

"And... you're kind of going through the same thing right now, I guess. Nopony knows where you came from either. Not even you," Spike gave a smile to the amnesiac as he made the comparisons in your head. He was noticeably more relaxed then he had been when he first entered the room. "So... uhh, I guess don't worry too much about not fitting in?... You'll fit in eventually?... It gets easier?" As the dragon continued, he sounded less and less sure of himself. Like he was just spitting out random thoughts in what might have been an attempt to cheer the human up. Spike chuckled nervously as the human just stared at him.

There was a silence in the room after that. For Spike, time slowed to a crawl. The moment could have lasted for seconds, it could have lasted for decades. The baby dragon currently had no way of knowing. In reality, this silence only lasted for about a minuet. A minuet consisting of one of the two contemplating the other's words, while the second spent the time hoping his little pep talk had some positive effect.

For the first time in recent memory, which was currently his only memory, the human found himself chuckling. Weather if it was a sympathetic chuckle at not being the first to be in this scenario, or if he was just laughing at how awkward Spike had gotten towards the end was something known only to the amnesiac. "Thanks, kid..." He chuckled again, a bit louder this time. "... If an iguana can fit in around here, pretty sure I can just fine." The sound of shattering glass could practically be heard as the dragon glared down the amnesiac, a look of utter bafflement strewn upon his face.

"I'm sorry. Iguana?" And just like that, it was the amnesiac's turn to be the nervous one.

"... Yeah?... Y-you're an iguana, right?"

"Dragon. I'm a dragon." Spike's voice was practically bursting with held back rage. Seems this was a sore spot for him.

The human met this pent-up fury with a deadpan glance. There was no way this was a dragon. "Are you... sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"... If you say so." The human leaned back against the headboard, resting his arms behind his head as he for being turned his attention away from Spike.

Spike growled under his breath ever so slightly, it was obvious he wasn't convincing the human of his draconic ancestry, and it was equally obvious that it was ticking Spike off quite a bit. Passing through his head at this very moment were various different ideas on how to prove to the human that he was, in fact, a dragon. And then, it hit him. His scowl transformed into an ecstatic grin, pushing himself back onto the floor and taking center stage in the middle of the room.

"Alright, I'm gonna prove it!" Spike beamed, stretching and popping various joints as if to prepare for an intensive workout. "Ready to get your mind blown?"

The only part of the amnesiac that moved in response were his eyes, looking down to the dragon with what looked to be utter disinterest. "Well, it isn't like I've got anything better to do. Hit me with your best shot," he almost taunted, almost statue-like in posture.

With a smirk, the dragon cracked his knuckles and turned his face to the sky. Pursing his lips and puffing up his cheeks, the dragon began to blow. A pillar of lashing green flames erupted from Spike's mouth with a "fwoosh," almost reaching the ceiling as the room instantly increased in temperature from the sudden open flame. Spike kept this up for about a minuet or so until his lungs screamed at him that he still needed to breathe. And so, he ended the display and the green light show vanished just as quickly as he ha summoned it. Once finished, he looked back to the human with a sly grin. "Dragon," he simply said, raising a claw into the air and snapping it for good measure.

The amnesiac's reaction, however, wasn't the one Spike was aiming for. His eyes were wide, his breath was held, and a bead of sweat could be seen trailing down the center of his face and down his nose. Spike winced as he recognized the expression, despite the alien features. He wasn't aiming to frighten the human, but he just did a very good job at doing just that. A sharp twinge of guilt and regret pulsed through him in that instance.

Aaaaand I over did it, he silently realized. Twilight's gonna maim me...

"I have one question," the nameless human murmured after a seemingly eternal silence. "Was it supposed to be green?"

"Uhh... yeah?" Spike's head tilted at the question. That certainly wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"Oh... okay then... that's good," the human's posture began to normalize. He was still a bit frazzled, but not entirely frightened as he had been. This certainly wasn't how he had pictured his morning going. Granted, he didn't expect to wake up with a broken leg in some alley way either. But you know, life happens.

--- Earlier that Morning... ---

The Canterlot Royal Library. One of the largest collections of books, scrolls, tomes, novels, anthologies, texts, manuals, cruise ship brochures, and dictionaries in all of Equestria. Actually, it probably was the largest, come to think of it. Not many other cities had a real reason to have a library this big, as the crown jewel of Equestria wasn't just known for its high standard (and cost) of living. It was also known for the almost entirely noble or otherwise rich population (due to that high cost of living). The city was also renowned for the various universities and schools littered about. Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns being just one of many top-rated learning centers. As such, access to a large number of books was a necessity. And that's where this library came into play.

The Princess of Friendship was no stranger to this sanctuary of studying. She spent a major chunk of her childhood within these walls. And all of her adolescence. And a good few years of her adult life. She really likes reading, is the point being made here. And coming here was always a good stress reliever, and time killer, for the young mare. And as soon as the sun rose this morning, she and her draconic assistant were quick to make their way over to try and find anything that could be of use to their current situation.

Books about amnesia and other psychological issues, a few scrolls and spell books that may contain spells for restoring lost memories, and just about every book about strange and exotic creatures from beyond Equestria that she could get her hooves on. With their combined efforts, the two of them managed to get a pretty decent sized stack of books onto the table they had managed to claim.

"That should be everything..." Spike said with a groan, placing the last of the books into Twilight's horde of knowledge. "This... might take awhile."

"Then we better get started," Twilight beamed as her magic claimed the first book on the stack. Starswirl's Guide to Strange and Exotic Creatures from Equestria and Beyond Volume 1. "Besides, it isn't like we have to get through every last book today."

With an unamused smirk, the dragon simply crossed his arms and started at Twilight with narrowed eyes. "I know you better than anypony else. I know how you get." The alicorn's eyes drifted away into the open pages of the book, innocently whistling a simple tune as she ignored Spike's accusation. "Twi."

"Okay, I'm going to read every book and scroll we found today... or try to, anyway," Twilight snapped back to look at Spike with a groan. "What's the big deal? We're helping out somepo— ... somebody in need."

Spike crossed his arms and loosely narrowed his eyes. "Did I say that was a bad thing?"

"... Noooo." Twilight dragged the word out needlessly long as she slowly turned her face back into the book.

"Then there you go," Spike said nothing else, sitting down contently as he grabbed the book nearest to him. Starswirl's Guide to Strange and Exotic Creatures from Equestria and Beyond Volume 52. "There are fifty-two volumes of this stuff?!"

"Sixty-five, actually," Twilight replied in her encyclopedia-esque way after taking a peak at the book Spike had claimed. "Legend says that he was working on volume sixty-six. But then, you know, the whole limbo thing with the Pony of Shadows happened. So he had to put the series on hold for obvious reasons."

Spike wasn't listening at this point. He was to busy staring at the cover of the encyclopedia, simply amazed that there were enough strange and wondrous creatures in the world to fill sixty-five, possibly sixty-six, encyclopedias on the subject. Honestly, he shouldn't have been surprised by this fact. In Ponyville alone he had seen more than his fair share of creatures and beasts, magical or otherwise. But still, sixty five volumes was a bit absurd. Almost comically so. Almost as if some higher power just chose a random number that was just high enough to be considered excessive, but just low enough to be within the realms of reason.

How many pages were dedicated to a single creature? Were they organized alphabetically, or in the order they were discovered? All these questions and more were passing through Spike's head at this very moment. Questions that could have been very easily answered by just simply opening up the book held in his claws, but the dragon had apparently reached his limit for coping.

After all, he had been through with Twilight Sparkle and their friends, after all the problems they've solved, monsters they've faced, and world ending calamities they've prevented: this was what broke him. Finding an entirely unknown creature with amnesia, and then discovering that there was sixty-five volumes worth of creatures in the world. Out of everything that he had been through, why was this of all things too much for him to cope with?! Why? Why in the world was THIS too much?!

"Spike? You okay?" Twilight suddenly snapped him out of his trance-like state. "Helloooo? You still with us?" She tapped him on the forehead with a hoof, further knocking the dragon back into reality.

Spike shook his head for a moment to reorient himself. "Huh? Wassup, Twi?" Looking at the alicorn's face, an expression of worry could be clearly seen by anyone in the room. And currently, that look was aimed directly at Spike.

"You've been staring at the cover of that book for ten minutes straight, I got worried," Twilight's face visibly shifted from worry to contentment as she explained, pulling the book from Spike's claws with a magical glow. "You feeling alright?"

There's no way I've been staring at that book for ten minuets, Spike monologued, watching as Twilight added the book back to the mound. He had to shake himself back out of that thought before he answered. "I'm fine... maybe a bit overwhelmed?"

"I know the feeling," Twilight chuckled, placing her own book down for the moment. "No matter how many times we get thrust into crazy scenarios, it never gets any easier. Huh?"

"Guess not," the dragon chuckled back. He looked over to the large clock mounted high above the floor, revealing to him that it was almost eight in the morning. He was supersized it was still so early, considering how long it took to gather Twilight's book horde. Or rather, how long it felt to gather the book horde.

"Hey, you wanna do me a favor, Spike?" Twilight's sudden question reclaimed the dragon's attention. "I don't think our new friend back at the castle is going anywhere anytime soon, not with that leg of his anyway." Spike nodded in agreement, silently imploring the alicorn to continue her statement. "Do you think you could go give him some company while I take care of all this? Just so he isn't bored out of his mind." She lifted her book back up with a bit of a grin.

Spike simply looked back to the princess with an unamused glare. The answer he was thinking about giving was obvious. But, being a good friend, he decided to humor her. "Why can't we both do that? I'm sure you have a lot of questions for him, anyway."

"Spike, he has amnesia. Bombarding him with questions like that would be really insensitive," Twilight explained in a lecturing tone. "The first and most important thing to do right now is to figure out where he came from, and how we can help him get back. And since he can't remember, we have to try external sources." She shook the book back and forth a bit for emphasis. "And if I can't find anything about these 'humans,' then I'll have to hope there's a spell for memory restoration somewhere in here," she gestured to the rest of the mound.

"You really are in a hurry with all of this," Spike retorted with crossed arms and a cocked eyebrow. "Any reason for that?... You don't think that he's dangerous, do you?!" His sudden concern was obvious to all outside eyes.

"No, I don't think that. But I do think that this qualifies as a friendship problem," Twilight's attention turned back to the book in her magical grasp. "For all we know, his friends and family could be worried sick looking for him right now, even as we speak. As the Princess of Friendship, I can't let that stand."

Spike couldn't argue with his lifelong friend's reasoning, he couldn't even come up with a counter to it even if he wanted to. "Alright, Twi. Good luck with the study session." He gave a small wave as he wondered away from Twilight's table. A nervous gulp could be heard from the dragon's throat as he made his way out of the library, unsure of how exactly to keep an amnesiac alien company. He knew that the human could talk, so there was that, but the hardest part was figuring out what to talk about.

I'm sure I'll figure it out, how hard could it be? Spike hoped as he left the building, headed back for Canterlot Castle.

With a content sigh, Twilight returned her full attention to the collection of books she had acquired for the day. The first thing on her hastily made agenda was trying to see if anypony had ever heard of humans before. And the Starswirl anthology series of creatures from Equestria and beyond was a good place to start. True, she had read this series before, but that was a good number of years ago. And even she couldn't memorize every single detail from every single book she's ever read. She wished she could, it would be an insanely useful skill to have, but nobody's perfect. Thankfully, her amnesiac friend was at least able to remember what his species was called: Human. meaning that she only had to look in each book's H section if she wanted any luck in finding any possible leads.

Let's see what we've got to work with here, Twilight internalized as she opened up the first volume of the series to the table of contents, running a hoof along the page as she skimmed for the word "human."

—Habrok
—Hadhayosh
—Haetae
—Hag
—Haietlik
—Hai-uri
—Hakutaku
—Hākuturi
—Haltija
—Hamadryad
—Hamingja
—Hamsa
—Hanau epe
—Hantu Air
—Hantu Raya
—Harionago
—Harpy
—Haugbui
—Havsrå
—Headless Horseman
—Headless Mule
—Hecatonchires
—Heikegani
—Heinzelmännchen
—Helead
—Heracles
—Hercinia
—Herensuge
—Hesperides
—Hidebehind
—Hiderigami
—Hieracosphinx
—Hihi
—Hiisi

"... No human entry," Twilight muttered, dragging out each word very slowly as she skimmed over the table of contents once more just to make sure she hadn't missed it. "It sounds like it starts with an h... maybe it has a different spelling?" As she overlooked this particular segment of the list again, it suddenly occurred to her that just because the amnesiac refereed to himself as being "human," that didn't mean that Starswirl the Bearded did when he wrote this book.

Not to mention the fact that this series of books had been translated/re-translated a number of times over the years as Old Ponish developed into the language used today. The original name could have been lost to history. The only pony who knew for sure was Starswirl himself. And he could be literally anywhere in the world right now.

That meant that any of these creatures could have been what she was looking for. Or any of the creatures that weren't listed under the h section. Or any of the creatures listed in any of the other sixty four volumes of this series. As the realization came over the alicorn, a wide-eyed stare overcame her expression. A very similar one to the grimace Spike had during his little space-out session.

"... This might be harder then I thought..."

--- Back in the Present ---

The morning had been kind to Princess Celestia. Despite the less then normal circumstances that ended the previous day, the current one was going as well as they normally had. The raising of the sun, a nice breakfast with her sleep-deprived sister before seeing her off to bed, and then proceeding to the day court. The new day's kindness came clear when she had reached this portion of her day, however, as there were very few issues brought up in said court. Slow days such as this were nothing new to the Princess of the Sun, they were bound to happen from time to time, and they were always a welcome treat. A chance for the white alicorn to catch her breath and relax a bit before moving onto her next activity.

But today was a bit different. Today, there was a guest in her home that she had not properly greeted. A guest who, according to the statements of both Twilight and Doctor Scribe from the previous night, was injured and amnesiac. And the princess couldn't simply ignore that fact in good conscious. And thus, she had decided to take the opportunity the day had given her to check up on this interesting guest.

As she walked through the ever-impressive halls of Canterlot Castle, the princess was accompanied by two other ponies. The first was her ever faithful assistant, Raven Inkwell, currently occupied by whatever was on her clipboard. Likely Celestia's schedule for the rest of the day. The second was one of the many gold-garbed guards that could be found around the castle and the city. Not one of her elites, just your typical run of the mill pegasus guard.

Said pegasus guard, while externally calm and collected save for her wide amber eyes that were staring off into space, internally she was freaking out more than a claustrophobic in a coffin. It wasn't every day that Princess Celestia herself comes down to the barracks, asks for you by name, and says that you've been hoof-picked for a special assignment. Especially if you're just a corporal like this guard was. So needless to say, she was a tiny bit nervous.

As the trio continued down the hallway towards the amnesiac's current residence, two voices could be heard conversing with one another. And as the three continued to approach, the conversation became audible.

"It is!"

"No it isn't, you just made that up!"

"No, I didn't!"

"A likely story, do you have any proof?!"

"Ask anypony! They'll tell you!"

What could be going on in there? Celestia asked herself, her smile wavering ever so slightly. She recognized the louder of the two voices as Spike's, the second voice likely belonged to the human.

Not even one day, and he's already started trouble. Raven sneered, not bothering to look up from her clipboard. There better be a good explanation for this.

What am I being dragged into? The pegasus guard asked herself, trembling ever so slightly as she listened to the argument. The three ponies got to the door soon after that, standing just outside the still open door to see just what was going on before intervening.

They were greeted to the sight of Spike standing at the edge of the bed, arms tensed and fists clenched. His back was to them, but all three could tell he was pretty flustered. The human, meanwhile, was sitting at the other end of the bed. His arms were crossed, and he looked almost as if he were trying to suppress his own laughter.

"Grrr... What's it going to take to convince you?" Spike's tone was half angered and half defeated. "This is starting to get old."

The amnesiac leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing the smallest amount as he peered into the dragon's very soul. "Just admit you made it up, and it'll end."

"But I didn't!"

"But you did!"

And with that, Princess Celestia had seen enough. With a quick set of knocks on the open door, she stepped into the room and instantly claimed the attention of Spike and the human. "What in the world are you two fighting about?"

"Oh thank goodness you're here," Spike let out a relieved sigh at the sight of the alicorn princess, hopping off of the bed and approaching her. "Maybe you could talk some sense into this guy." He glared back over to the human, who in turn glared right back.

"And why, pray tell, does he need sense talked into him?" Celestia tilted her head ever so slightly.

"Yeah, Spike, pray tell?" The amnesiac's comment earned him a glare from Raven as she entered the room in turn, but he was far to busy staring down Spike to care.

Ignoring the obvious jab at him, Spike turned back to the princess with a much calmer expression. "He think's alicorns don't exist."

"Because you just made that word up!" The human threw his arms over his head in frustration, his sudden outburst utterly ignored by Celestia and Spike. "Just admit you were trying to say 'unicorn,' and you messed up! It's no big deal!"

Celestia couldn't help but lightly chuckle at this new development. She knew that the amnesiac knew what unicorns were, Doctor Scribe had said that much in her statement, but not knowing what an alicorn was?... Well, perhaps it wasn't that far fetched. They didn't know he was called a "human" until he told them, so him not knowing what an alicorn was seemed reasonable enough. Regardless of this, she had never encountered an individual who hadn't at least heard of the regal pony subspecies. And that revelation tickled her fancy a bit.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm afraid Spike is right about this," the solar princess began, extending one wing out and gesturing to it for emphasis. "In fact, I'm an alicorn myself."

The human's attention turned to the alicorn with a deadpan stare, his arms slowly lowering back to his sides. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. The amnesiac's face still one of confusion, un-amusement, among other emotions. Celestia looked back at him, a sincerely warm grin painted on her face. The other three watched in silence as the two stared each other down, unwavering and unmoving. Spike's look was one of concern, unsure of his decision to involve the princess in this debate. Raven Inkwell simply rolled her eyes, knowing full well that the solar princess wasn't above antics such as this. But it was obvious that the unicorn wanted the ruler to get back to her schedule as quickly as possible, but as a good assistant was willing to wait for her boss to conclude her business.

As for the pegasus guard that Princess Celestia had dragged up here, who was still standing just outside the door. Peering in ever so slightly, the corporal watched wide-eyed at the events unfolding before her. Seriously, what am I being dragged into? She wanted to ask allowed, but her sheer confusion at the scenario was silencing her. And what in the world is that... bald monkey?

"... So you're a unicorn with wings," the human droned on, the sudden sound shattering the deafening silence that had formed. "So wouldn't 'wingacorn' make more sense?"

Did he really just say that?! That was the thought that Spike, Raven, and the corporal shared at that moment. Though the tones in which these words were internalized were different. For Spike, it was one of utter surprise. For Raven, the words were drenched in a bitter dissatisfied anger. And for the pegasus guard, it was that of surprise and fear.

Princess Celestia, on the other side of the coin, simply giggled once more as she returned her wing to her side. "It is a bit more complicated than that, my friend." There was another silence, this one not anywhere near as long as the previous though. It was occupied by the human simply sitting there, pondering the princess's words, mulling them over in deep contemplation.

"... Oh. I get it. A pegacorn then. Because the winged ones are pegasuses... pegasi?... pegopities, maybe? The winged ones. You know what I mean." He had to be messing with them at this point. Either that, or he was really dense. They were all convinced of one or the other explanation at this point. There was no possible way he was being serious right now.

"I think you'll find that alicorn rolls of the tongue better," Celestia's smile grew a bit. "And the word you're looking for was in fact 'pegasi,' if you were still curious."

"But that's a made up word!"

"Those alternate names you just spouted out were also made up." Celestia let out another small laugh, this wasn't how she was expecting the conversation to go, and it was a pleasant surprise. "And if we're being pedantic, aren't all words made up?"

The amnesiac went to say something with a raised index finger but found the words would not come out. The digit slowly curled as he lowered the hand back down to his side. He attempted to retort again, this time a tiny gasp was able to escape from his lungs, but again no words. This time he raised a hand to his face and bit down upon a knuckle. It was clear that the princess's own rebuttal had thrown a few things into perspective for him. He couldn't cope with the evidence he had been presented with. His eyes darted back and forth, he was obviously attempting to come up with some counter-argument, some way to come out on top. But it was equally obvious to all he had been bested.

Celestia lightly laughed once more as her attention returned to the baby dragon. "I think I've talked some sense into him, wouldn't you agree?"

"... I think you broke him," Spike droned, watching with concern as the human chewed on his own hand. "... Way to easily." Ironic, considering what happened to him earlier this morning.

"Ahem, princess?" Raven finally interjected, stepping further into the room in order to obtain the alicorn's attention. "I hate to interrupt this... riveting conversation, but it would be best to wrap this up. Just because day court concluded early, doesn't mean you still don't have a busy schedule."

"Thank you, Raven, we won't be much longer," Celestia said as she stepped closer to the bed, waving a hoof in front of the human. As if being snapped out of a hypnotic trance he jolted a bit, looking back to the solar princess as his finger fell from his mouth. "How are you holding up? I can only imagine how... stressful this whole situation must be for you."

There was a look of confusion for a split second from the amnesiac as if he didn't know what she was talking about. And then it suddenly came back to him, and his mood visibly dropped like an anvil. "I'm... still getting used to it... thankfully, this Spike guy is really distracting."

"I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment," Spike added under his breath.

"I see... well if there is anything I can do to help just let me know. Speaking of," Princess Celestia turned to the room's door, surprised to see that the guard had yet to actually enter. "Corporal Dare? Could you please come here?" Without hesitation, the gold-clad guard was almost instantly at Celestia's side with a hoof raised in salute.

And this caught Spike's attention. Namely, why would Celestia be bringing a royal guard up here?... Aside from the obvious "this is a castle, she is a princess, she has guards" thing. And he was quick to make his concerns known to the public. Celestia's logic wasn't that absurd actually. After a joking comment about how Twilight Sparkle had beat her to the idea, but the plan was for Corporal Dare to keep the human company during his incapacitated state... and to keep him from getting into trouble in the event he ran into somepony... less understanding of his circumstances.

The princess's explanation was actually a rather calming one... to Corporal Dare. Over the course of the silent stroll up to this very room, she had assumed the worst. But this? This was EASY.

All I gotta do is keep this... guy company? Corporal Dare asked herself, looking over the amnesiac while his attention was still on the princess. I can do that.

Before the question could be answered, however, Raven was quick to interject that the princess needed to get back to her schedule. And thus, wishing the three of them a good day, the princess and her assistant were gone. Once the sounds of departing hoof steps had faded away, the nameless human decided it would be best to change the subject of conversation. And luckily for him, he had the perfect topic to bring up. Or rather, the perfect question.

"So... anybody wanna tell me who that was?"

Author's Note

I've decided Spike is going to be a bit of a bigger player in this story. Not sure how much so, so I won't edit the tags yet, but he's gonna be here. I also decided that I was going to challenge myself: and put Spike in every scene of this chapter. Which wasn't easy, but I managed to get it done.