“That’s everything, Tess, are you remembering things now?”

She moves some stuff around and stares at certain things. “I don’t remember any of the old, old stuff. Like these sketches I made when I was three, they are totally alien to me. I suppose that’s normal, though; at that age the brain hasn’t yet developed the Papez circuit of the hippocampus which allows us to form long-term memories…”

I get impatient with her, “Forget the psychology lessons, Tess, come on, we’re at a dead end here. We need some other clues, some trail to follow, something.”

She picks up the colored pencil sketch of her cutie mark, the last pony reference she ever made. “I do remember making this, I was bored in study hall because I already did my homework like two days prior. I just sort of zoned out and let my hand wander, and then I looked down and saw this star. I remember thinking it was really cool at the time… but that’s all it meant to me. Just some cool star I made as a doodle. It had no meaning, I didn’t even recognize it was the same as Twilight’s when that cartoon came out a few years later.”

Tess’s eyes get watery, and she draws a sad sigh. “I’m sorry, guys… I got nothing. None of these items really mean anything to me. I remember making some of them, but I don’t remember why. It’s not triggering any flashback, there are no memories coming back… just nothing.”