Unease hung around the waiting room. Four ponies within Ponyville’s hospital struggled to keep themselves busy, anxious and awaiting news. One of them paced back and forth across the floor, another read by her lonesome, away from the group, and the remaining two sat beside one another, chatting. One of the two that filled the noise of rustling paper, and scuffs against the floor, was a unicorn.
Colored golden yellow with a blonde mane, she sat alongside her closest friend. She too was a unicorn, ivory, and with a striking, purple mane. She resembled that of a local, and renowned fashionista, but her attitude was far from being like her.
“So, she finally woke up, huh?” The ivory unicorn asked.
“She has,” the golden yellow unicorn sighed. “I’m worried if there’s any lasting damages with her. Taking into account what the doctors said, there’s no telling what we’re going to see with her.”
“She’s a sturdy mare, you know that, Dream,” the fellow unicorn replied. She gave her friend a pat on the back, offering an assuring, but unconvincing smile. “I’m sure she’s fine, since we’ve known her for a long time. She bounces back from this sort of thing easily, and she never lets it keep her down for long.”
“I know… but she’s been like this for nearly four weeks,” Dream shook her head slowly and sat upright. She squeezed her black gloves tightly and frowned. “Intense magical poisoning, and a violent shock that would’ve killed her had she not ended up in Ponyville...”
One of their group, a stallion, colored an almost lime green with a rusty looking mane approached. He was dressed in some rugged garb compared to the rest. A worn cloak, pieces of leather armor, plus patches of cloth underneath. A few items hung from straps going over his shoulders, a messenger bag being the only standout. Weapons weren’t allowed in the hospital after all.
“I’m kinda wondering if she’ll even remember what she interacted with. The Docs said there might be a strong chance of brain damage, and with all of that poisoning… it’s a wonder they even managed to stabilize, and monitor her without magic,” he explained, playing with the straps of his bag. Concern was stricken across his features
The ivory unicorn rolled her shoulders. Her fashion choice of the day was a punk-looking getup, emphasizing blacks, whites, and purples. It was apt, considering a bit of the overhanging dread.
“It’s possible, difficult, but possible. I mean, if it wasn’t, she wouldn’t even be alive right now,” she added, bobbing her head. “I’m not really a fan of having to bury a friend, so at least hearing that she was alive was a silver lining to this whole ordeal,” she said solemnly.
“We’re all in the same boat here with that,” the stallion chimed in with.
“Agreed,” Dream concurred, nodding.
“She’s a stupid mare, like always,” the one pony among them, lips having been sealed tighter than the Canterlot Caverns, added. She set down the magazine she was reading and looked to the trio.
“It was another one of her stupid adventures out into the wilderness that did this,” she then seethed.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, take it easy there, Star…” The stallion raised his hands up in front of himself and stared at the lavender colored pegasus.
She was dressed more for an expensive outing… or a fashion show by the looks of it. Colors of white, pale violets, and even a light blue were seen upon her jacket. Designer fashion never came cheap. How Latch made a friend with her was a mystery to the rest of the group, given the attitude, and generally expensive tastes this pegasus had.
“Cut the attitude, Starshine,” Dream snapped back, glowering at the pegasus. “We all came here to see her, and I don’t think Latch would be in the mood for a scolding after being out cold for this long.”
“You tell her, Blondie.” The ivory unicorn smiled.
The pegasus shook her head and got out of her seat. Throwing up her hands, she sighed, opting to pace around. Away from the group. “Whatever.”
“...Excuse me, you’re Latch’s friends, yes?” A voice interrupted, coming from a set of double doors nearby.
All of them turned their heads at once, spying nurse Red Heart standing in front of a set of double doors. She wore a uniform of blue, a darker shirt seen just underneath, barely. A name tag was clipped to the front of her uniform, and a stethoscope was draped around the back of her neck. Her hands were tucked deeply into her pockets, and she looked worse for wear.
The group looked among itself awkwardly. Stares were exchanged, and much of them shied away. The only one who didn’t appear phased was Dream Searcher, the golden yellow unicorn. Standing up, she blew out an airy sigh, looking around her group with mixed feelings. Something clearly didn’t feel right… and it wasn’t just the unease among them.
“Yeah, we’re her friends,” Dream replied, looking back to the nurse.
Red Heart cracked a faint smile, and motioned back down the hall she came from, beyond the double doors. “If you’ll all come with me then… we’ll keep it two at a time in the room since we’re still monitoring her after she woke up three days ago. It’s best we don’t overwhelm her.”
There was nodding shared among the group, each of them standing up, or turning their attention towards the nurse. Dream on the other hand, carried her gaze across each of the faces of the group. The uncertainty of her closest friend, Bass Canon. The calm facade of Latch’s friend, and fellow adventurer, Wanderer. Lastly, was Latch’s more critical friend, the one who showed nothing but sheer contempt, and bottled fury, Starshine Bomber.
“I’ll go first with Wanderer,” Dream said.
She was seated upright on her bed. The nurse had done something with a little control on the side earlier, angling her to get a better look at her surroundings now that she was more coherent. A drape to her left, blankets and sheets over her body, and tubes connecting to a syringe at the back of her left hand. There were even a few patches beneath her shirt, connected to a little machine that beeped alongside her. It remained consistent, yet calm.
The room she found herself seemed mostly uninhabited, save for herself. The box mounted high onto the wall across from her was off, reflecting much of the sunlight streaming in from the nearby window. It gave sight to the rolling plains beyond the reaches of the hospital. Another empty bed was seen, closer towards the window. It was neatly made, but lacking any sort of body in it like herself.
Despite the lack of inhabitants of the room, the place was kept sterile, and clean. A faint odor of chemicals was caught every now and again, but that would’ve been because of the kind stallion who came in to clean during the night. She was told that her room had to be cleaned with good reason. Were it not, she’d already be getting sick. He was kind at least, and staved off the loneliness she regularly felt.
The sound of a handle turning met her ears, causing them to flick. Her head swiveled, focused on a corner along the far left side of the room. She couldn’t see around it, but that was where the nurse always went to when she had to leave. A few hushed words were spoken, and footsteps were heard, varied in their tone and sound. Two ponies came into view, one a unicorn, and one an earth pony. The latter, a stallion, seemed more raggedly dressed, while the former appeared to be dressed more casually.
The stallion locked eyes with her and smiled. He offered a wave as he approached the side of the bed. “Hey- uhh, it’s good to see you awake again, Latch,” he said almost awkwardly. Swiftly turning around, he found himself a seat at a nearby desk and dragged it over. He smelled distinctly like plants.
The unicorn, colored golden-yellow opted to stand closer towards the foot of her bed with crossed arms. She didn’t say a word, opting to just watch. Her expression was unreadable.
“Latch?” The patient parroted, cocking her head slowly. Who were these ponies?
There was a flash of something unusual across the stallion’s face, a crack of something. It went away before she had a chance to notice. He was back to smiling, but something seemed off about it now. Did she say something wrong?
“Wanderer, just… don’t get ahead of yourself. She looks confused,” the unicorn pointed out.
Turning her head to stare at her, Latch blinked slowly. Silence hung between them for a long moment, nothing heard other than the steady beeps of the machine at the side of her bed. She felt that there was something amiss with the unicorn, but what? She felt some sort of familiarity with these ponies, despite not meeting them ever before.
The machine at her bedside beeped just a little faster. The two other ponies in the room looked to it, showing concern, but relaxed. There was no cause for alarm.
“Do you remember who we are, Latch?” The unicorn asked carefully.
Looking down at herself, the pony thought hard, furrowing her brow. “Latch… they said that twice now..” She thought to herself. “Do they think I’m Latch?”
“N-no?” She replied, shaking her head. She looked up and swiveled her head from the unicorn to the earth pony beside her. “I don’t even know who Latch is.”
The unicorn’s expression visibly twitched. She sighed, and lowered her head, drawing the attention of the bed ridden pony. It shook slowly as she looked to the patient with longing eyes. Her lips were pursed, and she blinked several times.
“Dream? You alright there?” The stallion asked from beside the bed.
The patient stared back, blinking slowly in turn. A pang of something was felt within her, right at her heart. Her hand met the pain, going over her chest. She felt… unhappy, saddened by looking back at her. “Did I say something wrong?” She asked innocently.
Scoffing, the unicorn turned away. Her arms uncrossed, and she headed towards the corner, boots clicking against the floor.
“Dream!” The stallion shouted. “H-hey! Wait! What was that all-...”
The door closed behind the unicorn with a loud ka-thunk of the handle.
“About...” The stallion whispered.
The patient rubbed her hand against her chest still. She fidgeted in place, looking around, but focused more on herself. Why did it hurt so much looking back at that unicorn?
A long sigh was heard from the stallion. Hard plastic scraped against the floor as the stallion readjusted himself. By the time he got comfortable, the patient was staring back at him with bright, curious eyes.
His mouth opened and closed, as did it move. Words didn’t leave him as he paused, sighed, and tried again. Four times did it repeat, and the pony on the bed stared.
“Do I… do I know you at all?” She asked, her voice becoming softer.
The stallion’s mouth closed. His lips tightened, and he appeared to swallow hard. He looked up to his… friend with a forced, unconvincing smile. “Kinda,” he said simply, rolling his shoulders. “We-... we sort of knew each other before,” his voice shuddered a little.
“I-... I guess you don’t know me anymore by the sound of it, and the look on your face too. Celestia does this-... this hurts, dude,” he said with a shaking of his head. His voice shook in full. “S-sorry, but I have to go. It was nice seeing you again, Latch,” he said as he stood up.
Pulling his hood up over his head, he too made his exit from the room.
As the stallion left the room, rounding the corner and leaving through the same door he came in, the patient could do nothing more but stare. It was all she could do, watching him leave, staring at his back, and staring at the corner he’d rounded. She rubbed her chest further, feeling her stomach twist briefly alongside the pain she was feeling. Her eyes were watery now, cloudy, and she struggled to blink the liquid away.
Who were these ponies? Why did they treat her like they knew her? And why were they-... why did they make her feel so sad interacting with them?
“Nurse!” She called out, hoping that she’d be heard. She didn’t want any more visitors today.