White walls, white ceilings. Silence. The only noises in the hospital room that an orange filly with a magenta mane occupied. She moaned in her sleep and turned over in her bed, unaware that she was even in a bed at all. The beeping of the nearby heart rate monitor increased for a second before it calmed down, allowing her to go back to being motionless in the mess of soft cushions and pillows. After a few more minutes, she groaned, figuring that she wasn't going to go back to sleep, and tried to sit up. Instead, she yelped at the insane amount of pain and fell back against the bed, biting her lip and moaning loud. Her back was killing her. As well as...the rest of her body. Including her head. What was going on? She raised a hoof up and felt around it. There was a large bandage there taped around it. Her entire head. She also felt the same sensation across most of her body.
Finally, she cracked her eyes open and blinked, trying to get a feeling of where she was. Looks like a large white room with chairs across from her, as well as a pole with a beeping box on the right of her. There was a door on the far side that had a window on it. The room was dark and it looked like it was night, based on the windows on the left of her. The curtains were wide open displaying some large and tall city. She seemed to be on top of some building way up in the air. But...where exactly was she? She didn't recognize this place. Not at all.
She didn't even recognize the room. And what she even looked like. Apparently, she had short hair, but that's all she could tell with it wrapped in....whatever it was wrapped in. She flipped the sheets over painfully, and tried to look over the rest of her body. She looked like...she was orange. And small. Did she have an age?
"Where am I? WHO am I? What is going on? Why do I hurt so much?" She weakly and quickly asked herself.
She lied back down and looked to the ceiling trying to get an understanding of everything. She couldn't even remember her name. Well there was something in her mind. Magenta Streak. Was that her name? It could be. She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember a thing.
The door opened. She glanced over and saw a light blue stallion with a white coat on walk in with a clipboard in the coat. He had some pointy thing at the top of his head that made him look weird. He was light blue and had a white mane with light blue kind eyes.
"Hello, there," he greeted calmly with a smile. "I see you're awake. You've been asleep for three whole days, nearly four."
"...huh?" She muttered.
"I'm your Doctor, Sore Health," he clarified. "It's five in the morning by the way." She looked towards the window while he grabbed some things with his magic. The clipboard from his coat and a pen. "Can you tell me your name?"
She glanced back at him and widened her eyes at the floating piece of wood in front of her bed.
"Am....a-am I seeing things, or is your wood thingy floating?" She asked, motioning with her head towards the clipboard.
"Yes, I'm using my magic to hold it," he replied, flipping it around to demonstrate. The filly staref at the clipboard like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"What's magic?" She asked in wonder. "I want magic! Give me magic!"
The stallion chuckled and shook his head. "I'm afraid you don't have the certain tools to do it."
He pointed up at his horn, catching her eye. She cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"What is that?"
"It's a horn. It's what helps a unicorn focus their magic."
"A Unicorn? What's that?"
"It's a pony with a horn. Like me. Do you...not know what you are–er....were?"
"I'm an orange pony," she responded, shrugging her shoulders before she flinched at the pain. He wrote down some notes with his magic. She gasped at the moving pen and he chuckled at her reaction.
"Okay. Tell me...do you remember what happened?" He asked slowly in suspicion. She glanced around in confusion, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
"I... Don't know. Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital," he responded, taking down some more notes. "You arrived from one of the shores in Manehattan Park with twenty eight cuts, gashes, and deep lacerations, and a lot of blood loss. It's a miracle you survived. I also suspect you have Amnesia."
The filly cocked her head to the side. "What's an Amnesia?"
"Yeaaaaah," he sighed, writing down some more notes. "Yeah, I think you might have it. Let's take a look into your eyes, check your vitals, and give you some sleeping medicine to help you fall asleep. Would you like that?"
"What's medicine?"
The doctor walked out of the bedroom while the magenta haired and orange coated filly was snoring. He sighed and looked at his notes. She obviously had amnesia. She couldn't remember anything that happened before she washed up on the shore. Anything at all. She probably lost her memories due to the traumatic experience and the brain trying to suppress them. And probably from that head wound. It looks like she was cut by something terrible. Either way, he will not be getting any answers anytime soon.
"Doctor?" The blue stallion looked to his left into the worried eyes of one of his nurses. "How is she?"
"She's stable. Thank the stars." The nurse put a hoof over her heart and breathed in relief. Nurse Kind Goldhoof. An orange coated Pegasus with a pink mane and pink eyes. She was a kind hearted soul and always wanted to be a pediatrician. But for now, she decided to be a nurse in the pediatric level of the hospital.
"Although, she seems to have amnesia. She did not know what magic was, or even a clipboard. It's bad. I suspect amnesia with dissociative fugue. She probably can't remember anything she knew before the accident, whatever the hay happened."
"She didn't say what happened?" She asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No, and I don't think the poor filly remembers. I also don't know if she remembers her own name or anything else basic. Only time will tell. Can you file this, please?" He passed her the clipboard. "Just set it on the desk for now and address it by the room number."
She nodded and quickly scurried off to fulfill the request while he thought. If she can't remember her name, then it'll be so, so, so much harder to locate her parents. Her cutie mark could help, but they'd still have to search every city and district in Equestria. He sighed and walked back to the nurses station to let her rest. She'll wake up again at nine.
Sure enough, seven minutes after nine she cracked her eyes open again, and yelped at the sunlight blaring at her through the window, forcing her to painfully dive under the covers. "Can somepony turn off that light, please?" She asked.
"Sorry, but Princess Celestia has to do that to wake up all the other ponies," a pony said.
The filly raised her eyebrow. She was a female, that much she could tell. But she couldn't see much because of the blanket covering her whole body. "Here, let me close the blinds for you so you can see better." Whoever they were quickly trotted over to the blinds and did something to dim the light in the room. "There. All better."
She lifted the covers slightly and noticed the room was back in a basic lighting. Then lifted the whole sheet and popped her head out with her eyes wide open, ignoring the pain she was causing herself. She looked around and spotted an orange pony with pink eyes and hair, and she had.....?
"What are those?" She asked pointing to the side of the mare. The nurse widened her eyes and looked at her side.
"Oh! These are wings, dear," she answered and opened them for an example, making the filly gasp.
"Ooooo, they're so pretty!" She cooed. The mare laughed and flapped them a little before receding.
"Yes, these are my wings. My name is Nurse Goldhoof. I'm going to be your nurse while you are in the hospital." She turned around and grabbed a marker with her wing and wrote her name on a board behind her.
"You can write with your wing?" She asked. Before the nurse could respond, she cut her off. "No no! Don't tell me!" The woman was just frozen with a grin on her face before she chuckled.
"You are too adorable. Let me show you how to work the bed."
She quickly trotted over and pointed to things on the bed, telling her what they do and how to work them. "I never asked you your name, dear. Can you tell me?" The filly opened her mouth before she got a confused look on her face. She looked around her room, hoping for a clue but she didn't see it.
"I can't remember my name," she said sadly.
"Awww, it's okay," Nurse Goldhoof responded, stroking her bandaged head. "We'll figure something out."
"But I do remember something. Magenta Streak. Is that a name?" She pondered.
"It sure sounds like one. I'll let the doctor know. Do you need anything?"
"I'm thirsty."
"I'll grab you some water." She patted her on the head again before she quickly left to fulfill the request, leaving the filly alone by herself again. So she looked around her room. There were some armchairs, a large pill thing on a table beside her, and another cube thing right above and in front of her bed. What did the nurse call it again? A television?
Before she could ponder it further the door opened again, allowing the doctor and the nurse, who was pushing in a cart with food and other things on it, to walk in.
"Good, you're up again," he said while walking towards her. The nurse closed the door and walked over to the bed holding a glass cup filled with water and a straw. "I heard you remembered a name?"
"Yeah, Magenta Streak. I don't know if it's my name though."
"Well you have magenta hair and magenta eyes," he pointed out. "It could be your name. So we'll just file you as Magenta Streak." The nurse set the cup of water into her hooves and positioned the straw by her mouth. Magenta went ahead and took a sip, humming at the relief.
"Now, we're going to look at your cuts and gashes in a few minutes okay?" She asked her. Magenta nodded her head and continued drinking her water while the doctor checked her vitals, checking her health. After doing that, she set the cup down and pointed at the box in the corner.
"What's that?"
The doctor looked over at what she was pointing at. "That's a television. It displays moving pictures for fun, important information, along with other things. Not many cities have them. Manehattan is just one that does. It's still new."
"And what's that?" She pointed to the large pill thing beside her bed.
"That's a radio, dear," the nurse told her. "It plays music and other things. So instead of watching moving photos, you hear words, sounds, and tunes."
"Oooo, music? I like music!" Magenta said proudly.
"Well we'll turn it on later and let you have some music okay?" Doctor Health told her. "Right now, we need to check your cuts and gashes. You are one very lucky filly." Magenta cocked her head to the side in confusion while Doctor Sore Health started unwrapping the bandages. "This is going to hurt a little okay?" Before she could respond he took off the bandage, exposing the deep gash on her arm. She grimaced in pain.
"OWWW! Ow ow ow ow ow~!!" She yelled in protest, the torture of having those gashes touched were like someone poking her with a branding iron.
"Magenta, look me in my eyes, okay?" The nurse said, catching her teary eyed expression. "You're okay, alright? you're doing great. What things do you like to do?" The nurse gave her a small smile, and it was like all the other feeling just disappeared. After that the doctor looked over the rest of her body. They didn't want to put her under every time they had to check on her gashes, and they didn't want to numb her every time either. So they just had to do it the therapeutic way.
"You have weird eyes," Magenta commented, poking at her muzzle. The nurse went cross-eyed for a moment before she chuckled.
"You do too, Magenta." She bopped her lightly on her nose, making her laugh and swat at her hoof. The nurse chuckled while the doctor watched, a little intrigued with the relationship they've already formed. She was a friendly filly. He shook his head and paid attention back to his work. There were so many cuts on her. Her barrel was practically ruined, and her wings were gone. Not to mention her memories. He had to check how that was doing later on in the day.
"Okay, Magenta," he said, catching her attention, she looked over her shoulder at him. "We're going to put you on your side so we can evaluate the wounds from your removals. Okay?"
"What do you mean 'removals'?" She asked while she positioned herself. The doctor widened his eyes then turned to the nurse.
"Wanna help me with this?" He whispered.
She glared at him nonchalantly before sighing. This was not going to be easy. She looked back up to the confused filly and gave her a sad smile. "Sweet pea? When you were brought here from the park, the medical team in the chariot noticed....you had massive slits in your back and discovered...you were a pegasus. Like me. You had wings."
"You're a pegasus?" She asked before it dawned on her too, causing her to gasp. "I'm a pegasus? I can fly?!" The nurse bit her bottom lip.
"When you were brought here," she said carefully, patting her hoof. "Your wings......were gone."
"What we're trying to say," the doctor added while applying some cream to the painful slits. "Is that you won't be able to fly. Because your wings were taken from you by the same thing that did this damage to you." Magenta lost her happy look, instead being replaced by a downtrodden one. Her face scrunched up before she sniffled. Nurse Goldhoof got close to her before she started crying into her coat.
"It's okay," she whispered, stroking her head. "It's okay....you're still Magenta, no matter what happened to you. And if it makes you feel better we can do something together during my lunch, okay?" Magenta raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. She felt like she could use a friend right now. Goldhoof continued stroking her mane while the doctor continued applying the cream.
After a rough five more minutes, the cleansing was complete and the doctor backed away after wrapping the gauze back around her barrel and head. "Okay, Magenta. We're finished here. We'll leave you to your breakfast now. If you need anything, hit the button on the remote." Nurse Goldhoof let her go, allowing her to sniffle and get her bearings while she rolled the table of food in front of her. She set another glass of water on the table before she leaned down and gave her another love filled hug.
"It's all going to be alright," she whispered before slipping away and walking out the door with the doctor. Once it was closed, Magenta looked at her hooves and the gashes that riddled them. She needed something to cover up her body. Right now she was all wrapped up in gauze except in some places like her front hooves, which were only covered by small bandages. The gashes there were still deep and were definitely going to scar. And there was nothing she could do about that. But she could at least cover up her body. With a lot of clothing. But that was a problem for another time. Right now, she was in a.....hospital, and had to rest, apparently. Man, how she wished she had her memories back. It was like she could remember a little of the basic stuff, but not enough to help herself.
She looked down at her food and grabbed a pancake with her hooves. It smelled good. Her stomach was rumbling up a storm.
A warm and strong breeze caused a nearby field of dandelions to lose their seeds, which blew out and away from their normal location. They floated over the field of apple trees on Sweet Apple Acres, creating a beautiful sight to anypony watching. Warming their hearts for this summer. Some of them flew off course and went to settle somewhere else while the rest just floated with the wind, going higher and higher until it reached the top of a hill. A hill that had been spray painted with four symbols. The symbols of three ponies' cutie marks and their society.
The one in the middle was a lightning bolt in the center of a wing, in the middle of a shield. Right below it was a bigger version of another symbol. A blue shield with the yellow silhouette of a foal wearing a cape. The paint was permanent and was not coming out of the grass unless you dug it up. Even if you cut it, it was not coming out.
Right above it were two fillies who were laying against each other, side by side on their stomachs, snoring lightly, facing the town. One was a yellow earth pony that had a long red mane covering her right eye while the right one was a light gray unicorn with a light purple and light pink mane. Both were sleeping silently. Until a daffodil seed landed on the yellow one's nose. Her ear twitched before her eyes slowly fluttered open, narrowing at the seed. She sighed and blew out a huff of air, forcing the seed to fall off and for the other filly to groan.
"Applebloom," she whispered, catching her attention. She looked over and raised an eyebrow. Sweetie was still asleep but said her name? What was she dreaming about? Well whatever it was, it was making her smile a beautiful smile. She leaned over and nuzzled her cheek.
"Wake up, Sweetie Belle," Applebloom whispered into her ear. She nuzzled her mane before Sweetie groaned and fluttered open her eyes. She lifted her head and yawned, then looked around at her surroundings. The stuff from last night was still lying around on the ground. The shovels, water bottles, saddlebags, empty paint cans, and....a photograph. She reached over and picked it up, looking at it.
It was a picture of them all. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and herself. They were maybe ten in this picture. It looked like they were posing for their cutecenera. When they were all with each other. She sighed and shed a small tear before she stuffed the photograph back into the saddlebag. Applebloom noticed and wrapped a hoof around hers, catching her gazing eyes.
"I miss her too, you know," Applebloom whispered. She still wasn't wearing a smile. Always serious. Well...more than likely from here on out.
"What... What do we do now?" Sweetie asked calmly. "The CMC has been disbanded."
Apple Bloom sighed and looked down at the town of Ponyville. "Well whatever comes our way. You can sing well, so I think you should pursue that. And....I don't know what ah'm going to do. But I'll figure it out."
"Applebloom—"
"Ah'll figure it out, Sweetie Belle," she interrupted before sighing. "Yesterday was tough on us both. We need time to recuperate. Take it easy."
"I think... I think we've gotten more mature since all of this."
Applebloom nodded in agreement before she looked behind her at the patch of dirt. "She'll always be with us. In spirit, you know?" Sweetie Belle nodded and stood up.
"Yeah. Now...it is time for her to rest. Peacefully," she said. Apple Bloom nodded sadly in agreement before she too stood up, and looked behind her.
"I'll be waterin' those seeds everyday," she claimed. "And that tree will grow. Have a peaceful rest, Scoots." The two turned around and made their way down the hill, walking side by side and in unison. They walked over the dried memorial, making their way towards town. And leaving the filly to peace.
"I'll probably just help out on the farm," Applebloom said suddenly, catching Sweetie's attention. "But to find other ponies who need help findin' their special talent? I can't do it anymore. It reminds me too much of Scoots."
"Me neither," Sweetie Belle said. "You know, we have to tell Babs." Applebloom slowed to a stop, remembering the other crusaders. "And Gabby."
Applebloom sighed then nodded her head. "Well I have nothing goin' on. I'll probably call the both of them over. Send a letter or something. I'll ask the Princess if she can do it. You headin' home?"
"Yeah," She responded, walking towards the home before stopping. She turned around with that cold look on her face. "And our Cutie Marks?" Apple Bloom looked down at her own flank, seeing the purple shield.
"We should probably keep 'em, for now anyway." Sweetie nodded and continued on her quest to the Carousel Boutique whilst Apple Bloom split off to head to the castle. Twilight was no doubt in there reading a book or something. Probably doing some research. Or opening presents. She remembered seeing her grab the presents last night and take them into the castle. But she probably didn't open them yet since it was so late. And she had her princess duties, so.....
"Wow... Sweetie's right, we've gotten so grown in the last few days," she said as she walked up to the castle doors. She grabbed the handle and pulled it open to reveal the shiny castle interior.
Deeper in Apple Bloom traveled, listening for any movement. She heard some talking resonating from down the hallway, towards, of course, the map room. She rolled her eyes at her own thoughtlessness and made her way quickly down the crystal hall. She was not going to enjoy the talk they would have when the others come. Not at all.
The voices were becoming more coherent at this point and she could make out Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and two other ponies she couldn't place. She sighed and stopped at the door, raising a hoof to knock. Applebloom hesitated for some unknown reason before groaning and knocking away, waiting patiently for a response. They shuffled before: "Come in."
She pushed the door open and walked inside, finally recognizing those voices she heard. Trixie and Princess Cadance. Shining Armor was there as well but it was probably just to listen in.
"Hello, Applebloom," Princess Cadance greeted.
"Hey," she greeted. Princess Cadance took note of her tone. It sounded so...wrong. "Princess Twilight. I need you to send a letter to Griffonstone, please."
Twilight looked at her oddly before nodding and grabbing a nearby empty scroll and quill. "Okay, who am I making this out to?"
"Just write what I say please. 'Dear, Gabriella. I need you to come to Ponyville as soon as possible. We have to tell you something very important. We are sending for Babs Seed as well. Be advised, this is not a friendly visit. This is business for a serious moment. Your friends... Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.'"
Twilight glanced up at her before she wrote down the rest.
"Done." She passed it over to Spike who blew his flames over it, sending it on its way. "And it's sent."
"Thank you, Princess." Apple Bloom turned around and began walking back towards the door.
"Applebloom." She stopped and looked over her shoulder at Princess Cadance who was making her way towards her. "You don't have to be depressed about all this, you know. You don't have to quit being a Cutie Mark Crusader."
"You don't understand," she whispered, turning around to look up to her. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders were always a trio for a reason. We just didn't make the Crusaders just to make it and do dumb things. We were organized and had a system. Even if the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren't disbanded yesterday, in the very near future it would be. There were three main crusaders for a reason in case of an argument. There's the left hoof, and there's the right hoof. Then finally, there's the one in the middle to bring them together. With only two, there would be disharmony. No decision would be made, we would just be arguin'. Back an' forth, back an' forth. And we did that a lot. The moment Scoots......." She swallowed hard before she continued. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders ended the second she left us. And it won't be comin' back."
"Then what are you going to do?" Twilight asked, getting out of her seat and making her way towards the two. "Your special talent is helping ponies find their special talent."
"I'm going to do absolutely nothing. Probably help out on the farm, but that's it. Stay in Ponyville and work. I told Sweetie Belle to go and be a singer. She has an amazing voice and she should use it. Me? I have nothing but farming. So, I'm just going to do what I can here and live with it. The Cutie Mark Crusaders is gone. It took us out with it. We're just going to do what we can now. Goodbye, Princesses."
She turned back around and made her way out the door before they could say something.
Starlight sighed and shook her head in sadness. "This is not going to end well," she said. "It's obvious she's devastated by Scootaloo."
"I wonder how Sweetie Belle's taking this," Shining wondered out loud. "Yesterday, she looked....cold."
"And lifeless," Cadance agreed as she took a seat next to her husband. "I don't exactly know them very well. But from what Twilight's told us, they seemed very lively in the past."
"That is an understatement," Twilight responded with a chuckle. "They were energized. About as much as Pinkie Pie if they were party ponies. They were always trying to do something different. Each and every day. To see them like this will put a damper on everypony in Ponyville. And when their friends come it will probably get much worse. But...I'm also concerned for Rainbow Dash. We only saw her at the funeral. But when Scootaloo was declared deceased....it was like Rainbow left with her. She cried. Hard. And she never cried around us before except when Tank, her pet turtle, went through hibernation. And that was nothing like this time around. She was crying like she herself was dying. And...I'm scared for her."
"Why don't we check on her?" Starlight suggested.
Twilight sighed in response. "I don't know. She's likely still grieving. But if I hear that she doesn't come back down from her home in two more days, I'm going to go check up on her. Because I have a bad feeling that if she doesn't...we'll have another huge problem on our hooves."