Inside the room where the trio were heading for the operation, two unicorns were inside the room behind an observation glass window reviewing separate portfolios that levitated in the air in front of them.
Doctor Night Light was pacing in the room muttering to himself, while he was reading a levitating parchment with the word Medical Assessment boldly labeled as the cover title. He stopped to adjust the glasses on his nose when he finished reading, pinching the area between his eyes he let out a short breath to refocus his mind before lighting up his horn to flip the papers to the beginning and proceed to reread it all over again.
The other pony in the room stood lazily next to the one-way viewing window was another stallion that contrasted Night Light. Short, messy crimson mane sprawled across his neck like a bird’s nest with a matching but lighter coat the shade of dusty red that looked unkempt for a medical personnel but anypony who worked there knew it was just his uncaring attitude for grooming.
The rest of his body was covered by long black business suit overcoat that fell over him in a natural way with a white shirt underneath, but the coat’s tail wasn’t long enough to cover the missing patch of muscle from his right hind quarter that looked like somepony tried to peel off the layers of skin. Two oaken stilts were fasted around the injured leg each holding the limb steadily in place, everywhere he went the pegs would touch the ground with soft clicks warning pony’s who was coming their way.
Intelligent emerald eyes scrutinized the fineprint, they occasionally flickering to the other side of a floating black and white x-ray of a brain. Once in awhile he would slowly nod his head as if confirming the paper had the correct up-to-date information, not before long he finished looking through the portfolio.
Rapidly glancing back and forth between the folder and the worn out blue stallion, he broke the silence, “You know, I heard that somewhere in the Smoky Mountains there's a rock that give Pony’s the ability to control fire and make them grow three times their size just like a dragon hyped on gems.”
Doctor Cold looked at his somewhat-of-a-coworker/friend half seriously, “You wanna ditched work to find a few magic rocks? Go terrorize a few villages? Demand their gold and virgins?” He said that last part with suggestive eyebrows.
The good doctor let out a breath but didn’t bother turning to look at him, “I’d rather not be involved with your schemes today, I have my daughter’s enrollment at Canterlot’s most prestigious school in a few hours and I don’t want to get on the bad side of Velvet.”
His daughters entrance exams would take place in a few hours after the operation, giving him enough time to head over to support her through the evaluations. He wasn’t going to miss it no matter the cost, otherwise his wife would never let him hear the end of it.
Doctor Cold humfed with dissatisfaction, “Why miss out on the fun? There are ways to get you to go. I can contact an old PI I knew from back in the day and see what kind of dirt he can dig up on the examiners, which won’t take long, and give those old neighsayers the ultimatum to either accept your brain child or be faced with public humiliation.” He pitched his maniacal scheme in a reasonable tone.
“Consider this thanks for sharing your tasty fat pills with me.”
Still not moved even by his appalling suggestions, Doctor Night Light kept examining an X-Ray of a pony’s skeletal structure as he nonchalantly replied back, “I appreciate your willingness to blackmail your old coworkers, but I think she’ll do fine on her own.” He wouldn’t bat an eye at stabbing his former associates in the back, so why would they not do the same with him.
“Also I would appreciate it if you didn’t eat my wife’s cooking that she made for me.” He stretched out that last word.
Doctor Cold shrugged uncaring, ignoring his last sentence, “If that's what makes you sleep at night, I still think those prunes deserve a hoof to their face for being antsy about everything that doesn’t fit their ‘requisites’.”
The snark in his voice made Night Light sigh before stopping his reading to glance over his shoulder, “Your still mad at them from their last visit? By the moon, that was over three years ago when are you going to let it go?”
“Like they should talk about my 'unconventional' teaching methods, when their entrance exams alone are unrealistic and not to mention the only brats they allow in are dry humping her Highness’ royal shanks.”
He said with a roll of his tongue as he limped over to an X-Ray Light Board, the wooden supports ‘clicked’ across the floor, “Prestigious my flanks, don’t be surprised if they try to make her conjure some fire demon from Tartarus that reads Filliam Shakespony.” He stuck the floating x-ray photo inside, narrowing his eyes even deeper in concentration on the exoskeleton.
“Considering that you use to work there makes it even more ironic you would trivialize their ‘unrealistic’ methods.” Night Light wouldn’t be surprised if Cold got his maddening thought process from or they got it from him.
Seems to make more sense that way.
“Perhaps you should heed their words and go for the safer options that usually don’t involve angry spouses or lawsuits?” He asked tentatively. Not that it would work, it’s the thought that counts.
For him anyways.
"Hlight foresetten plight" Doctor Cold said in old Ponish tongue, looking at Night Light with a smug look, "I never lose when things are done my way and those who whine are sore losers.”
Instead of feeling irritation as most Ponies would from his over-inflated ego, he just smiled in defeat but it was quickly replaced with an anxious look, “I just hope she does well. It everything she ever thinks about, I couldn’t imagine how bad she’ll take it if she fails.”
“Like what would you do if she cries to her daddy why it’s all so unfair?” Doctor Cold added in unhelpfully.
Night Light felt his heart as well as his body temperature drop to a chilling degree.
His eyes widened as his pupils shrunk in horror. The aftermath of her actually failing never crossed his mind even the slightest, but with the way Cold said it made that reality seem very real. All previously confidence he held had fled in terror, his eyes darted around the room in a frenzy as his hooves nervously pranced in place. The folders he was holding telekinetic dropped unceremoniously on the ground as he was thinking of that dreadful future.
“Oh my Celestia!! What am I going to do?! I didn’t want her to feel like it was her responsibility to surpass her brother!! But all this time I made her feel like she had to live past those expectations!! I didn’t mean to put her under pressure!! It’s my fault!!”
Huffing at his colleague's stupidity, Doctor Cold lit up his horn stopping the tapping dancing idiot in place. He turned his blue body in his direction to look him straight into his non-humored green eyes, “Listen to me-Hey! Hey! Listen!” He slapped a hoof on his face to stop his colleagues body from moving around, “Listen up mommy worrywart, it doesn’t matter if your daughter doesn’t get in, she’ll do fine in any other school that will gladly accept her. Think about it, your sorry flank didn’t make it in and look where it got you.”
He kept his eyes leveled as his logic began to sink into Night Light’s head, “I’ve known you for years and I know that this is nothing to worry yourself over about. So as your esteemed lookout for your short-sighted being.” A red hoof nudged at his glasses, “I want you to ask yourself why should you be freaking out, when you should be thinking about being there for her when she does or does not get in? Stop acting like an idiot or by Starswirl's beard I will find a way to send you to the moon.” He said threateningly.
He slowly let him go as he saw the panic die away, Doctor Night Light immediately took a deep breath in and let it go calming himself.
He gazed at Cold with a look of wonder, “Since when did you become so supportive?”
“When you became a pain in my flank all those years ago when you got married."
He then shrugged his shoulders, "Plus your voice makes my ears bleed.” He added as an afterthought.
Today he finally reached his peak of tolerating Light’s family drama, the idiot should be glad he didn’t throw him out the window.
Cold picked up the folders Night Light dropped on the ground, levitating them onto the table. Night Light let out a deep breath, reassuring himself of what his sarcastic friend told him. It was nothing to worry about he’s been panicking over nothing, if it’s anypony that should panicking it would be his daughter. Velvet would laugh at how silly he was acting and she tell him the same thing Cold told him, but in a nicer way.
Maybe he was a mommy worrywart, he just needs to remember to have faith in his little Sparkle.
“But still if your, you know-mad and want to plot revenge my door is always open.” Doctor Cold said nonchalantly after that heavy talk.
“Revenge is also my hidden talent,” He gestured to his Cutie Mark that was covered up by his coat, “It has a double meaning, don’t tell anypony or I might have to snuff you out.”
Night Light blinked then chuckled at his flippant attitude, “Don’t I know it," Feeling his dread leave him as they return to their old ways, "You're the first I think of when I want to get back at somepony.”
Doctor Cold raised his head grinning with pride, “Trust me, I can hold grudges longer than any Griffon that loses Bits.”
After was that said, the door opened to the main room and in walked their patient who looked a little stiff as the green and pink nurses guided him to the center of the room. The room opposite of them had a few equipment lying around that monitored magical vitals and bodily readings. It was made especially for the heavily injured, there would usually be three doctors in this room with a high aptitude of magic but for their purposes it would only require the both of them. The room was thickly layered with reinforced rubber to block sound and to catch them in case of magical failure that tossed them into the walls.
“Finally, I was beginning to think they were lost on the way over here. It wouldn’t surprise me if the nitwit stopped on the way to help a nanny cross the rooms.”
Doctor Night Light smiled as they settled in the room, “He is special like that. You should pick up what he’s giving off, maybe then Saddles let you have a shot at her.”
“Please, I don’t need to learn anything from him. He only does those things because that's what others told him to do without knowing when to stop, like a trained house pet.”
Doctor Cold intoned, “Step one: lose your memories and make others pity you. Well, I already completed half that lesson.” He said with a little harshly before Night Light could say anything he left the room.
Doctor Cold moved at a slow pace, he hobbled over to the silver maned Earth Pony, “Hello again! I noticed that your tardy to our little party. So which elderly did you stop from fighting over the deserts this time?”
The Patient looked at the crippled doctor neutrally, “I asked the nurses if it was ok to make a quick stop to Twiddle Fiddle’s room, he's about to be discharged and he wanted to see me before he left.”
Doctor Cold looked to the two which they only responded by looking away innocently or staring back at him without a hint of shame, he hung his head sighing,“That’s very considerate of you.”
He looked straight at him this time without sympathy, “But my time is valuable, if you wanted to see him then you should have scheduled your playdate after.”
The amnesic narrowed his eyes back, “I’m sorry, but promised to see him before the operation and it would've been too late by the time it was finished.”
The doctor hummed as he stared at mindless colt for a while an unknown emotion passed over him as he stared at the bold youngin, “Interesting.”
He shrugged his shoulders expressing indifference before switching topics, “So here what's going to happen: we're giving you a sedative to relax your brain to let us worm around in your little noggin to find the source of the blockage. When your sleeping you'll feel a little funny and not the fun type when I cast the spell. So try not to fight against it if we happen to come across some memory of you using the toilet."
"But first.” He smiled pleasantly which he took great delight in seeing the colt slightly squirm, “We need a way in.”
The colt stood still as one of the nurses applied something wet to the back of his neck and then feeling his fur being cut. The green nurse mare cleared the spot with a wet cloth, removing any remaining hair. She nodded to the other nurse when the hair was removed.
Already familiar with the process, he settled in a kneeling position as pink unicorn Nurse Sweet Tea grabbed the needle filled with clear substance with the glow of her horn, aiming carefully at a vein at the back of his neck.
He couldn’t help but smile on the inside. Spitfire was right, it looks like he was still getting that shot.
He didn’t even flinch when the needle went in. He did shift uncomfortably when he felt the cold liquid slowly eject inside of him spreading into his veins like ice which left as quickly as it came. It took a couple of seconds but slowly he could feel his vision wan as his eyes slowly blurred.
“Remember.” The Doctor’s voice became an echo, “Don’t try to fight against it. You need too relaxxx” His voice drifted further and further away until he heard nothing but the sound of soothing waves.
The two Doctors and nurses watched as his head fell forward taking him into a deep sleep.
“You can at least pretend you like him.” Doctor Night Light mumbled under his breath.
“What’s the point? He likes it when things are straightforward. That’s one thing we do have in common.” The red stallion said as he limped his way back into the other room. A screen right next to the x-ray board lit up showing a live feed of the pony’s brain waves, which gave off some interesting results that Doctor Cold has been reviewing for the last three month.
How he became The Patient's Caregiver was something to be written off as coincidence, when he snooping around Saddle’s office looking for a good excuse to rummage through her stuff (and to prank her) he found The Patients portfolio locked in a cabinet (which he instantly picked). One look at the word 'classified' and he indulged himself, in less than five minutes into reading he all but demanded loudly to be apart of the inner circle after seeing the very simple brain activity that went inside the red entity’s body.
After swearing to secrecy which he thought was too much but after hearing who they will be answering to it was necessary. Doctor Cold still couldn't believe that Night Light would be involved with anything 'classified' much less keeping a secret, which he is horrible at if spoiling surprise parties counts.
He's used to seeing these readings from late hours of research and studying his scans. But Night Light on the other hoof..
“Ok! Wow! Ok..Just-Wow! This is-Just look at how the neurons works into his corpus callosum. The scans aren’t picking up any activity at all in the centre-Look at that!" He pointed excitedly at a dark smudge that appeared on the monitor, "It’s filtering out the cerebel-!”
“I can read this you know, it was a subject I forcefully had to partake in Med School.” The crippled Doctor moaned interrupting his partners prattling. Gods, he sounded like an eager student who found the answer.
“Yeah! Yeah! I know, but seeing it for yourself, you can’t help but wonder...” He trailed off still starstruck.
Doctor Cold didn’t say anything, he analyzed the monitor with intense laser focus with something of interest if staring intently at something counts, “It’s a complete mess is what it is. I’m not even sure how he’s still able to walk.”
Doctor Night Light gained his bearing looked a bit apprehensive. The blue stallion looked between the monitor and him, “You think you're up for this?”
Emerald eyes looked at him with a challenging look, “If you don’t feel confident, you can always wait outside.”
Finally annoyed of his dismissal, Doctor Night Light stood in front of him, “Cold I'm serious, this isn't some science experiment where you can mess up and get a participation medal. We’re talking about going inside his head to remove something that we still have no idea how or what's doing that.”
This had the hoof prints of a anything-can-go-wrong written all over it. If he messes up even once, it could backfire and do some serious harm to both of them with Cold locked inside the recipient's head. That’s why Doctor Cold is the only one going inside so that Night Light can watch over them to be able to ‘tether’ him back to reality. It was a desperate move on their part and would only cut away the area around the actual problem until they could find a permanent solution to the disease.
Late hours of studying, researching, and going over their source materials turned into days, weeks, months of failure. They tried everything on and off the book with zero success frustrating Cold to no end. Night Light came to the conclusion that Scarlet condition was incurable, but Doctor Cold stubbornly would never believe in that.
Instead all Cold did was cite knowingly, "Hlight foresetten plight.”
Night Light searched his partners facial expression for a while until he scoffed to the side with reluctance. He reminded himself if he was going to have faith in somepony then he let it be in the most capable sharp tongue of a jerk he knew.
He nodded his head passively, finally agreeing to this madness, “Fine...Let me just say if you turn into a kid again, I’m giving you to Twilight as a reading buddy.” Night Light said halfheartedly.
“Then let's just hope I make it back.” He said without his usual mockery.
Already committed to watch him go through with this, Night Light wanted to leave him some warnings, “Try not to leave imprints of yourself while your there.”
Doctor Cold locked on the sleeping form of their patient, “I’m not going to make another me, even I get tired of myself after a while.”
Night Light shrugged, “Had to say it in case the young fella picks up more of your attitude, I swear at some level he acts just like you.”
The red stallion rolled his eyes, “Yeah we do have that charming personality and clueless mindset about how ponies seem to think smiling makes everything better.”
Night Light tried his best to push away his thoughts of horrible outcomes if the spell does fail fatally, “No I mean on a deeper level both of you think your empty on the inside. One of you thinks there’s nothing left to fill while the other is trying to learn how to fill that void. It’s like you’re both trying to find purpose.”
“How exciting it must be for you to watch us connect like two opposites coming together.”
He took a conspiratorial tone, “Or could it be, that you secretly want to have that special connection with me?"
Cold looked at him in fake anguish, "I’m sorry to break it to you, but my heart is already taken and you name's not Cider.”
Doctor Night Light gave him a look already convinced that this operation will just be another case to prove his superiority, “Yes, I am distressed you choose a drink over me like a leech moving on to its next victim.”
“Your comparing me to a parasite?...Cool.”
A few minutes went by, Doctor Cold watched as The Patient’s brain monitors slowly ticked away at a normal pace notifying him that everything was going well. To an outsider’s view it seemed as if nothing's change, true the pony is asleep but the brain is never off. As a matter of fact the brain is more active during this stage when pony’s resting likely because dreams are taken from parts of the mind and it transfers over into Dream Realm.
“Vitals are showing spikes in REMS, Heart rate is slowly picking up, body temperature is cooling down. We’re about to enter the second stage of the sleep cycle.”
Cold added on, “Blood pressure is lowering, we’re about to hit Theta Wavelengths. All is going accordingly, we should have enough time to explain why you didn’t say anything to me.” He said casually.
The blue unicorn’s head perked as he adjusted his glasses nervously, “I-I was told under strict orders to keep it under wraps from anypony who didn’t need to know….and from Saddle’s to not let it get to you specifically.”
In the end it didn't even matter when he found out either by fate or dumb luck or Saddle's lack of self-awareness which he was sure she was still beating herself about. In some ways, he was glad he found the folder in Saddle’s desks, it gave him much relief to know that somepony he knew was involved and it took a load off his mind off of the fact it wasn’t him that said anything.
He was terrible at keeping secrets.
“So you thought it was best for me not to know, because you were afraid of getting talked down by somepony three feet higher than you?”
“This is Princess level stuff!” He defended himself in a harsh whisper to not wake up their patient, which was ridiculous since they were in a soundproof room, “I’ve never done something this important before! Not even that one time when the Griffon Ambassador got a stomach ache from eating too much candy!”
It was an interesting experience to cut open a griffon’s stomach after learning they don’t digest soft materials as well as they thought they should from being carnivores and all.
Although, they should have warned him that you take the plastic wrappers off before eating it.
He cut short his pity party, “I was hoping to spare you countless hours of existential crisis that would end in everypony’s agony.”
‘And for my safety you didn’t try to break in Starswirl's Forbidden Spell Book section and use unspeakable methods, again.’ He thought to himself, fearing what his response would be only to relax when the green eyed Doctor looked at him with his classic your-kidding-me look.
“Well it’s nice to know your spine is still missing and your still a class A sucker for following the rules. Or was that from your Parenting 101 rulebook?”
Not taking any offence, he looked at Cold with a small smile, “Some things will never change.”
“You keep saying that even when I’m at the Smoky Mountains breathing fire and brimstone at those who dare take my treasure.” He said a little toothy at the end before wiggling his eyebrows, “I mean unless you ask politely, you can always join me with the village hottie for a manaja twa.”
Night Light closed his eyes halfway, “No thanks, I’d rather be here helping my urinary retention elder pee than get tossed in some rat infested prison for playing a live adult version of Ogres and Oubliettes.”
“If that’s what makes you feel giddy on the inside. It’s your loss or minus one turn. Anyhow, how is Lock Heart?”
He pushed his glasses back onto his nose, “Better, now that his kidney stone was removed for the second time in his life.”
Paying half attention to their conversation Cold looked back at the monitors, “It would do you some good to suggest that if he continues to forcefully diet himself, he won't have any spare parts left to give to his would be organ abductors.”
Night Light eye’s followed when the vitals finally showed the colt was in deep sleep, “I’ll try to keep that in mind when you tell your patients to stop faking their illnesses.”
“Please, as if there was some sick pony that could entertain me longer than my late night flings.”
A stray thought came to him, “Which is kinda weird, I don't have recurring patients. Usually they seem to go away after a few hours, days if they like me that much.”
Doctor Night Light chimed, “Or they are grievously sick and have a legitimate problem even you can’t solve. Which to me sounds like another excuse to keep you awake at night.” And more trouble for him in the morning.
“One of those happens to be how much idiocy pegasi can generate. They really give the title ‘Bird Brain’ a whole base of operation on its own.” Cold callously said.
Night Light eye twitched as he defended them, “They’re not that bad.” He tried not sound weak but Cold, like always saw through him.
“Not that-?! Have you ever seen the walk in? Nearly 80 percent of the numb-skulls out there are Flynn Rider wannabes.” He hissed in outrage as he thought of most his time wasted at the clinic downstairs just to stare at the overgrown broken chickens with unimpressed looks.
“At this point, it’s all the things that the mortician could solve.”
"How horrid!", Night Light couldn’t help but chuckle, “I can’t imagine the complaints Saddle’s will get when they pick up their coffins as a prescription.”
Doctor Cold gained a thoughtful look that made the chuckles die away in the gallows as fear replaced his being, “Please don’t do that, forget I said anything.”
The green unicorn Nurse Raspberry unknowingly saved him the drama when she poked her head in, “Excuse me gentlecolts, but it’s time.” She said curtly before going back out to stand dutifully on the younglings side.
Without saying anything both of them let their eyes connect briefly as unspoken words were passed between the two as they headed out.
Cold clicked on over to the sleeping colt, Doctor Night Light stood on his left waiting for him to work his magic. The red stallion closed his eyes with a look of concentration, his horn fizzed to life with red energy as he built up the needed amount of power. With no hesitation leaned down and touched The Patient’s head a white light enveloped the room briefly before dying away leaving both their motionless bodies to be watched over the surveying eyes of his fellow staff.