"Blank Slate [Part 2]"
By 8th-Sin (https://pastebin.com/u/8th-Sin)

URL: https://pastebin.com/t9QC3AaD
Created on: Monday 5th of August 2013 08:11:58 PM CDT
Retrieved on: Sunday 9 of May 2021 08:39:44 PM UTC


>”Good morning, darling.”
>You’re woken to Rarity’s chirpy voice which happens to be quite soothing. It makes you want to go back to sleep also you didn’t sleep too well last night, so you’re feeling quite dreary.
”Morning.”
>You say as you stretch, your weary state is evident in your tone. You’re hoping Rarity will pick up on and let you rest some more but she either doesn’t notice or is ignoring it.
>”Go fix yourself up while I make us some breakfast.”
>You make no protest, you just walk with a slow shuffle in your step to the bathroom.
>As she trots into the kitchen you can hear her singing a happy tune, it’s quite infectious. You don’t join in but it does lift your mood.
>The smell of Rarity’s cooking soon fills your senses as you wash your face.
>When you step into the kitchen you notice how attentive Rarity’s eye for detail and cleanliness is.
>The table doesn’t have a single fold or crease in it’s cloth, the cutlery and plates are all neatly arranged, napkins are folded neatly and even the flowers in a vase look like they’ve been evenly spaced apart.
>You look over to Rarity as she neatly plates up the food, still humming that same tune.
>You take a seat as she brings over the two plates, not a single crumb or dirty utensil is left behind.
>She places your plate in front of you as she takes a seat beside you.
>You look down at the food, you’re not sure what it is exactly but it looks quite appetising.
>Taking a fork you begin to dig in, as you’re enjoying your first bite Rarity loudly clears her throat.
>You pause mid-chew to look over to her.
>She stares at you, clearly unimpressed.
>”I see you’ve also forgotten your manners,” her tone is a little harsh, you do look like a slob right now.
>You just give her a sheepish grin as you swallow your food.
>”One must always use proper etiquette when dining with a lady.”
>She then magics her fork above the food and takes a careful piece. You decide to mimic her, you don’t want to be offending someone who was kind enough to help you out.
>As you slowly chew the food, you begin to notice the flavours more. It’s delicious.
“Wow, what is this?”
>”It’s an omelette, nothing special.”
>You take another fork full eagerly, Rarity isn’t happy about you forgetting your manners again but she lets it slide as she continues to eat her own food.
>You don’t notice her proud smile as she watches you happily eat her cooking.
>After you’re done, you offer to do the dishes.
>Rarity was skeptic at first, you’re not sure if was because of your current state or if she didn’t think you’d match her level of cleanliness but she gave in.
>As you ran the water, she went upstairs to gather some equipment.
>The moment you start cleaning the dishes, you come across a problem. With a broken left arm you can’t do two things at once, so your pace was very slow.
>It doesn’t take long before Rarity takes over, you don’t blame her for wanting to speed things along but you feel pretty lazy letting her do all the work.
>”Now, Anon darling, let’s get you some clothes.”
“Okay, what can I do?”
>”First you need remove your clothes so I can get your measurements.”
>You notice a slight blush form across Rarity’s cheeks as she said that, you just shrug it off and do as you were asked.
>You stand there in nothing but your underwear and an awkward silence as she measures your body.
>”So,” you both say in unison. Seems she’s feeling as uncomfortable as you.
>”You first.”
“I was just wondering if you had any interesting stories about my past. Maybe something might ring a bell?”
>You doubt it would work but you just want the awkward silence to end.
>Rarity pauses in thought for a moment before speaking up.
>”You had a never ending list of stories, it seemed like something new happened to you every week.”
“Nice to know I was never bored.”
>”Yes, the little ones were often causing you havoc.”
“Who?”
>”My little sister, Sweetie Belle, and her friends are in this group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” She gives both a sigh and a small chuckle, “They’ve caused quite a bit of trouble for everyone at some point, for you in particular.”
”Like what?”
>”Well, one day they tried to get their Cutie Mark in creature catching.”
>You want to ask about ‘cute marks’ but you don’t want to interrupt the story, luckily she picks up on your confusion.
>”A Cutie Mark is a symbol that shows what somepony’s special talent is. See?”
>She twists her body to show you the three gems on her flank. So her talent must have to do with gems, is she talented at mining?
>”Anyway, the girls wanted to be creature catchers but as they aren’t allowed in the Everfree forest it’s much too dangerous so they had to find one in town.”
“And I’m the only ‘creature’ in town, aren’t I?”
>She nods, ”I must say, those girls were quite talented at trap making. You weren’t too happy with them and so the four of you ended up in a paint fight; in my workshop I might add. I was absolutely furious but you cleaned it up and gave my workshop a much needed new coat of paint, so it wasn’t all bad.”
>She gives a sinister giggle while you make a mental note that angering Rarity is a bad idea unless you feel like painting or working all day.
>”Alright, I’ve got your measurements. You should go find something to do while I get started on these.”
“Anything you need done around here?”
>”No, it’s quite alright. Why don’t you go get reacquainted with some of the town?”
“Not a bad idea, later then.”
>”Farewell, do have fun and be careful.” Rarity calls out as you leave the boutique.
>Her concern brings a smile to your face as you head into the centre of the town.
>You only just lost your memory yesterday but you’re hoping something or someone in town will bring back something. 
>There must be some kind of market going on. You can see lots of ponies all walking from stall to stall with bags full of goods. You hesitate to walk in, something about the crowd is making you nervous.
>You decide you’ll just go relax in a park or something, as you turn around a pink pony moves to block your way.
>”Hiya Anon, how you feeling?” The little pony speaks up with a bubbly and cheerful tone. That’s when you recognise the smile, she was there when you fell yesterday.
“Uh, better.”
>”I heard about your arhmnesya... amneighsia?”
”Amnesia.”
>”Yeah that, anyway, I thought I could throw you a party because nopony forgets a Pinkie Pie Party.”
“That’s not a bad idea but maybe when I feel a little more settled down.”
>”Okie-Dokie-Lokie,” she happily bounces in her step, “we can have balloons and streamers, cake and punch, music and games. Doesn’t it sound fun?”
>Her faces is now centimetres away from yours, her eyes even look like they’re popping out of her head.
>You’re not sure if that’s cool or freaky.
“Yeah.”
>You’re answer is short, you just want the little pony to calm down.
>”What are you doing?”
“Looking around, seeing if anything rings a bell.”
>”Ooo! I know, just wait... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...”
>At that moment the clock tower goes off, chiming 9 times, signaling it’s 9am.
>”I win, I win! Now what?”
>Her eagerness makes you laugh, you can already tell she’d be a great person to have around.
“Now, I make some friends.”
>Her face lights up like the sun itself.
>”Oh, Anon! Pick me, pick MEEEE! I’ll be your friend.”
“How can I say no to that face?”
>She wraps her forehooves around you in a tight hug, you try to hug back but her vice-grip has you almost immobilised. It doesn’t take long for your lungs to run out of air but luckily she notices and releases you.
>”I’m Pinkie Pie, your new friend,” she squeals and strikes a triumphant pose as confetti and streamers burst out of her hair.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Anon.”
>”I know who you are silly, now let’s go get you some more friends.”
>You follow close behind Pinkie as she heads into the market. You’re feeling a little nervous, you don’t want to be swarmed by ponies, trying to ask about your condition and flood you with information.
>As you and Pinkie talk to each other and sometimes other ponies, you notice they’re all too busy with shopping to come up to you at once. So you get to know a lot of them at a steady pace, which has put you at ease.
>Most of them keep details to a minimum, clearly they’re worried about overloading you too.
>”And this is Big Mac,” Pinkie loud voice makes the large red pony step back.
>You didn’t think a stallion of his size could be the nervous type.
“Hey, I remember you.”
>He nods.
“You were watching over me after I had that fall, right?”
>”Eeyup.”
“Well thanks, it means a lot.”
>He just nods, he’s a man of few words it seems. After a short awkward silence he nods again, probably to say goodbye, before heading off to a stall for apples.
>You stand up and are about to ask Pinkie a question before you hear a voice call out to you. Following the sound you see a white pony with a pink mane and a nurse’s hat.
>She’s dashing towards you, panting a little when arrives.
>”I was just looking for you, I’m nurse Redheart.”
“You were one of the nurses on duty yesterday.”
>”Yes, I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you weren’t over working yourself, you had a habit of that before the incident.”
“I’ve been taking it easy, there isn’t much for me to do anyway.”
>”Good. You must remember not to exert yourself too much. Your brain needs time to heal and too much information can cause a strain on you.”
“Is it serious?”
>”It’s very unlikely but it can cause brain damage.”
>You’re taken aback by those words. It might be unlikely but it’s still concerning.
>”If you take it easy and aren’t putting too much stress on yourself to remember then it’ll be fine.”
“Yeah... I’ll keep that in mind.”
>”Good. Now, I’ve got to get back to work. Please take care of yourself, I mean it.”
>You nod and wave as she walks away. Her advice still repeats inside your head, you wonder how much stress can cause brain damage?
>You decide it’s best to put it out of your mind for now, if you take it easy then there’s no need for concern.
>Pinkie is eager to start introducing you to more ponies but you refuse. You feel like you’ve met enough for the day and it might be a good idea to check up on Rarity.
>”Please Anon, there’s still so many ponies you need to make friends with.”
>She pouts her lip with a small quiver and puts on some large pleasing eyes. 
>Your heart feels torn, it’s killing you to even think about saying no to that face.
“How about I’ll meet a few more at that party of yours?”
>”Oh, thank you-thank you-thank you,” she wraps you up into a much tighter hug than before, it feels like your insides are going to pop, “thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you.”
>The moment she lets go, she whizzes off so fast you didn’t even see which direction she went.
>You stand up and allow your lungs to refill with air before heading off to Rarity’s.
>It doesn’t take long for you to get back, you got slightly lost but it’s a small town so you easily found your way back.
>You knock on her door before Rarity sings out.
>”It’s open~!”
>As you open the door, a bell chimes and Rarity walks into the room with her glasses and a few rolls of fabric floating behind her.
>”Ah, Anon. I was wondering when you’d be back. How was town?”
“Good. I met Pinkie who helped me get acquainted with some of the ponies also does Big Mac say anything, ever?”
>”Aside from ‘Eeyup’ and ‘Nope’, I never hear a word from him,” she does a near perfect impression of him, “Did you meet anypony else?”
”Just a few, not many and Nurse Redheart came looking for me.”
>”Oh really,” her voice becomes riddled with worry, “I hope it wasn’t anything serious.”
“Nah, she just wanted to make sure I was taking it easy. Apparently too much stress to the brain in my condition can cause brain damage.”
>Rarity does a double-take.
>”Wait, what?”
”Yeah, it’s unlikely to happen but apparently it can so I’m going to take it easy in memory department for now. Better safe than sorry.”
>”That’s very unlike you but I’m glad to hear it. Now, I have three designs I’d like to show you. Bear with me as they are works in progress.”
>She walks you into her workshop where you see some fabrics laid out along the floor each accompanied with a drawing, she looks at you expectantly as you overlook each design.
>First is a near black, single-breasted suit with a purple tie then next is a dark red dress shirt and a pair of blue jeans and lastly is a just a casual dark grey hooded jacket also with jeans.
>Seems like you’d have something for any occasion.
>While you look over each design you notice that each colour and texture of the fabric compliments the others, the drawings are well detailed, including all the measurements and some notes you aren’t sure what they mean.
>You’re impressed.
>”So what do you think? I tried to design them to look similar to your old clothes but I’ll be adding my personal touches of course.”
“I like them all, you’re really good at this kind of thing.”
>”Why thank you, I was hoping you’d like them.”
>Rarity was about to say something else when the door chimes.
>”One moment, darling.”
>She happily walks downstairs, quietly humming the same tune from this morning.
>It’s a little catchy.

-Rarity’s POV-
>You trot downstairs and into the main room, you would have liked to show off your designs to Anon some more but you do have a business to run.
>There’ll be plenty of time for that later.
“Good evening, welcome to Carousel Boutique where every-”
>You notice that your customer is actually Applejack and she looks like a train wreck.
“Applejack dear, what happened to you?”
>”Ah’m sorry to intrude on you like this Rarity but have ya seen Anon?”
“Why yes, he’s upstairs. I needed to make him some new clothes.”
>”Thanks.”
>She walks towards the stairs but you decide to stand in her way, she’s a mess. You should get her cleaned up first, it’s improper for a lady to be in such shambles before meeting a stallion.
>”Rarity, please move, ah have to talk to him.”
“I’m sure you do but you should really fix yourself up, you don’t look well.”
>She turns to a mirror and notices your right.
>”Ah don’t care, ah need Anon back and Ah’m gonna go up there and force him to come back to-”
>Again she tries to go to the stairs but you move in the way.
“Now I definitely can’t let you.”
>”What! Why?”
>Her voice is nearly yelling at you, it’s a startling to see your friend in such distress and to have her yell at you.
“Keep your voice down. Nurse Redheart said he needs to take it easy, if he tries to force things then he could end up making it worse. We have to ease him into things.”
>Applejack sighs and gives you a look like she knows you’re right.
>She became rather dependent on Anon in moments of need but now with the way things are, it’s no wonder she’s in distress. You want to help her but for Anon’s sake, she’ll have to wait.
>”Okay Rarity, can you tell him I visited?”
“Of course. Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”
>She shakes her head slowly, you can tell she’s eager to just rush upstairs to him but she’s doing what’s best for him.
>”Ah think ah’m gonna go see Twilight. Ah’ll see if she can tell me bout this condition some more.”
“Okay, do take care of yourself darling. I’m worried about you.”
>”Thanks, take care of Anon for me, please?”
“Of course I will.”
>The two of you share a hug before she leaves. You feel a pang of guilt for not doing everything you could to help Applejack but if returning Anon’s memories safely meant going slow then you were going to make sure that what happened.
>You take a deep breath in attempt to relax before returning back upstairs.
>When you return back to the room you left Anon waiting in, you see Sweetie Belle on the floor covering her eyes with no Anon in sight.
“S-Sweetie Belle?”
>She’s whispering to herself so you lean in closer.
>”100!” she jumps up and squeals, you dive backwards in fright. Hoof over your chest to brace your now uneasy heart.
“Sweetie Belle, you scared the daylights out of me. What are you doing here?”
>”Oh, sorry but Applejack had to go do her chores so I thought I’d come visit you.”
“Why were you counting on the ground then?”
>”Oh yeah, Anon and I are playing hide and seek~!”
>Her little voice goes high pitch at the end, she’s adorable when she does that but you’ll never tell her that.
“Really, he’s the size of a minotaur, is there anywhere in my boutique he can hide?”
>You decide to let them have their fun but 5 minutes later, Sweetie Belle comes to you, she can’t find him.
“You haven’t had enough time to search everywhere yet. Did you set boundaries?”
>”Yes, no leaving the store.”
“Then you know he isn’t far. Run along now.”
>Another 5 minutes pass and still nothing, so you decide to join in the game.
>It takes you about 10 minutes to search every single metre of the boutique but still no Anon.
>”Found him yet?”
“No. Anon you win, come out now.”
>You wait, nothing. Maybe he did leave the boutique?
>At that moment you feel a warm breath behind you. You turn around to see anon wrapped up in a white bed sheet, pretending to be a ghost.
>You look at him where you assume his eyes should be with a deadpan look as he yells “BOO!”
>Sweetie Belle screams and makes a dash to her bedroom as you just sit in front of the ‘ghost’.
“Was that really necessary darling?”
>”Yes.”
>Anon lifts off the bed sheet and folds it back up.
>You open your mouth to speak when the doorbell chimes again.
>You look over to see it’s Twilight.
“Good evening Twilight, what can I help you with?”
>”I just need to speak to Anon.”
>”Right here, what’s up?”
>”I believe I might know how to bring your memory back.”

Part 3:
http://pastebin.com/v8VBhnxr
