The waiting area was typical and boring. It was small, with a few seats against a wall and not much else. The unnatural silence was enough to make somepony's ears ring, and it smelled of musty carpet and disinfectant. Visiting hours weren't for another four hours, so it was empty.
Save for Twilight Sparkle.
She stood in the middle of the room, staring at the carpet. To an outside observer, she was still. Her body was motionless, and her eyes remained fixated on the same patch of carpet in front of her hooves.
Twilight Sparkle was far from still. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel her chest throb. Her stomach churned with anxiety, and her mind raced. She stood there retracing her thoughts, going over events in her mind again and again, willing her desires to become reality.
If only I had seen it sooner. If only I had done something. If only...
She swallowed. Her throat was so dry, it felt clogged. She didn't deserve the love she had been shown. She didn't deserve to have these feelings for Rainbow Dash. What kind of mare has a marefriend for only one day?
It was one day, Twilight. It was. Not zero, one. She told herself.
It was all so clear in her mind. Everything made so much sense now. The right course of action was glaringly obvious.
So why hadn't she taken it?
--------------------------------
Twilight sat outside Rainbow's room, waiting. The pegasus had finally woken up, and Twilight had raced to the rehabilitation center as soon as she got the news. She felt nervous. Terrified. Sick. If Applejack wasn't here for her... well, Twilight was just glad that she was.
The doctor came out.
"Hello." He said, smiling warmly. "I'm the doctor who's handling the case. Twilight Sparkle, is it?"
"Yes, and this is Applejack. Can we see her?" Twilight asked hopefully.
"At the moment, no. We're don't know how extensive her amnesia is at this point, so we'll need to keep her overnight for observation." He said, placing a comforting hood on Twilight's shoulder. "I'm truly sorry, but you'll have to come back tomorrow. I'd suggest staying with loved ones. Is there a friend's house you can stay at for the night?"
"Yes." Applejack said. "She'll be staying with me." Twilight gave her a brief grateful smile.
"Good. Twilight, you can come in tomorrow morning to see me first-thing. We should have the results by then."
Twilight took a deep breath. "Thank you doctor." She didn't care about hiding the devastation in her voice right then. The doctor gave them one last nod before leaving. Twilight buried her face in Applejack's mane.
Applejack could feel her quivering gently. "You alright darlin'?"
"I don't know if I can do this, Applejack..." Twilight whimpered, barely audible. Applejack wrapped her forelegs around the unicorn and held her tightly.
"You can do this Twi. Just remember, you don't have to do it alone. We're all here for you. Now listen, there's nothing we can do here. I'm insisting that you stay with me tonigh-"
"No, no. I can't leave her here. I have to stay!"
"Twilight, sitting here ain't going to do anything useful. We're going home now, and you can get up bright and early tomorrow to go see her. Besides, we've got the varmints tied up in my barn, and I want some answers. Fluttershy was downright murderous when we left her and Rarity with them, and I don't wanna be gone for too long, just in case." She paused, thinking. "Then again..."
--------------------------------
"Twilight Sparkle? Thuh doctor'll see ya now."
Twilight jumped. Her head snapped up, and she swallowed reflexively. Steeling herself, she followed the receptionist down the corridor to the doctor's office. The receptionist grunted something at her when she reached the appropriate door, then left. The door was ajar, and she took a moment to calm herself before she went in.
He didn't look up when Twilight entered. He just sat at his desk reading a file.
"Hello doctor. H-how is she?" Twilight asked, terrified of the answer. The doctor muttered something inaudible, indicating for her to wait.
Twilight couldn't bear to wait. She had been waiting for four days now. Her hooves shifted anxiously as she looked around the room, hoping to find some kind of distraction. The office was fairly orderly, everything was clean and organized save for the enormous stack of papers on the desk that seemed to loom over her imposingly. She noticed that he hadn't unpacked his bags yet, which made sense, as she was the first pony there.
"So um... how are you doctor?" Twilight attempted to fill the silence. Anything would do; it was unbearable.
"Eh, good." He replied dismissively.
"I uh... I notice you're not wearing your bowtie today. It's a shame, I thought it looked good on you."
The doctor's head shot up. "What?!" He shouted, shocked. Twilight shrunk back, lowering her gaze meekly.
"I-I'm, I'm sorry." She whispered.
"I spilled coffee on it." The doctor snapped, glaring at Twilight. A second later, he switched to a genial smile.
"So what can I do for you?" He asked her cheerfully. Twilight's ears drooped. The doctor had forgotten her. Twilight had seen him only yesterday! How could he have just forgotten so easily?!
Twilight began to feel anger stab at her heart. She took umbrage at the doctor's carelessness, and it was slowly overtaking her dread. She scowled at him.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. I need to know how Rainbow Dash is." She growled, unable to keep a lid on her emotions. The doctor frowned at her, then walked over to a filing cabinet.
"Do you remember her number?"
"Rainbow Dash! Why have you put away the file?!"
"What number, miss?"
"I don't... I don't know."
...
"Ah, here it is on my desk. Patient Two-four-nine."
"Rainbow Dash." Twilight pressed.
"Patient Two-four-nine." The doctor repeated, skimming over the file. "Admitted in critical condition, stabilized in comatose state, observed over three day period, emerged with symptoms of amnesia, observed overnight. Patient shows extreme symptoms of complete retrograde amnesia plus minor anterograde with expected transience."
Twilight's anger left her instantly. Her hope had been shattered. She had assured herself that the amnesia was just a side effect of the coma. Rainbow would surely remember everything once she woke up and got back on her hooves. Twilight had waited four days to see her. She wanted nothing more than to see her smile, feel her touch...
"Did you say extreme amnesia?"
"Yes. We ran tests, and the patient has lost her memory entirely."
"No, that's... Are you sure?"
"It says so right here on the file." The doctor repeated, levitating the file over for her to read. she glared at it petulantly. She didn't want to read the words on it. She didn't want to read that Rainbow didn't remember her. The doctor simply had the wrong version of the file. Twilight wanted to read the one that said that Rainbow was fine. The one that said that Rainbow would be happy and healthy when Twilight walked in, and she'd smile when their eyes locked. They'd finally hug each other, and...
The sheet hadn't been filled out entirely. There were fields down the bottom that had been left blank. There was room for error here. Twilight could fix this.
"Hey, what about these questions? Have you asked her these yet?"
"No? What questions?"
"These questions right here at the bottom of the file! 'Question number one, what is your name?' Those questions!"
"Those questions are for staff only." He replied curtly, taking back the file.
"Well then can I please see her? I understand that visiting hours haven't begun yet, but I could help her with her memory loss, she'll recognize me!"
"No, I can't allow that. It's not visiting hours, you said so yourself. Also, based on her symptoms, it would be unwise to reveal her identity to her."
"Huh?"
"You can't tell her who she is. Her mind is... fragile, and filling in the gaps for her could be dangerous."
"Dangerous? What? How? I've read books on the subject, and they never mentioned anything about that."
"Well, this is an extreme case. Your books don't cover this."
"But how is it dangerous? What could happen?"
"Well, any number of things. Brain damage, another coma... she might not remember at all. You can't tell her. Now, I have paperwork to attend to. I'd like you to leave, please." The doctor casually returned to his paperwork.
Today was going to be the day. The last four days had left Twilight a quivering wreck, but she had held out for today. She and Rainbow were going to be reunited.
... But it wasn't going to happen. Twilight had felt the fear, the horror, the anger, the regret; now there was nothing left. She stood there staring at the table blankly. Her facial expression remained unchanged as tears streamed down her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was flat and lifeless.
"I've been waiting four days. Four days to see her again. When I saw her three days ago, she was in a coma. It felt like I was standing over her dead body. I need to see her. I need to see her... move, look around, speak. I can't do it. I can't leave. Please doctor..." She looked up at him, tears blurring her vision. The doctor averted his gaze, shifting uncomfortably. A few seconds later, he relented.
"Fine. I'll let you see her. Go wait in the waiting area while I notify the guard. And take these questions too."
A wistful smile was all she could manage.
She returned to the waiting area reluctantly, trying not to think about anything. For the next five minutes, she waited. Then, a dark brown unicorn rounded the corner, his gaze settling on her.
"Twilight Sparkle? This way."
He led her down a long corridor lined with doors. Rainbow's room was right down the end. She stood there as he unlocked it, taking deep breaths.
Twilight knew that she wasn't going to be able to tell Rainbow that they knew each other. She'd ask too many questions. Rainbow might not even trust her.
"Two-four-nine! You have a visitor!" The guard hollered through the doorway.
Once she was sure that she felt relatively calm, she took a deep breath and walked in.
"Do you need me to stay on hoof, ma'am?" The guard asked her.
"No, that will be all, thank you sir." She replied.
Rainbow stood in the opposite corner of the room. Her stance was low and defensive, and she glared at Twilight with a mix of rage and fear.
"STAY BACK!" She screamed. "Don't come any closer! I'll tear you to bits!!"
Twilight hadn't quite been expecting this. She ignored her feelings, walked over to the middle of the room, and sat down.
"I mean it! They've got me in isolation for a reason you know! The other prisoners are all scared of me! You don't wanna push me!"
Rainbow, please don't be scared. It's me, Twilight. You're safe. I promise you I'm going to help you through this. Whatever it takes. I love you...
"Hello. I'm Twilight Sparkle."