“Who is Rainbow Dash?” She asked bemused, her thoughts still hazy and dream like. Her gaze drifted from the five worried looking ponies at the foot of her bed to her very sore and tight chest. Her eyes became wide with shock, she had a gash almost half the length of her leg gouged into her chest. It was freshly stitched and hurt every time she breathed.
“R-Rainbow.. It's us. Your friends, don't you remember? You remember right?!” Twilight pleaded frantically as her eyes glistened with tears. The ponies behind her shared looks of shock, pain and disbelief. She slowly shook her head.
“I think you have me confused with someone else... I don't know any of you.” She grimaced in pain as she tried to sit up, she felt a hoof gently guide her back down. She looked up to see a tan unicorn stallion with a brown mane and glasses.
“Rainbow Dash, do you know what day it is?”
“No.. what happened to me?” She repeated, but the doctor only looked wearily at her as he levitated a small flashlight, shining it into her eyes.
“Pupils are reactive. Repeat these numbers in order. Seven, five, two, one, three, five, six.” She rubbed her eyes that became irritated from the intense light.
“Seven, five, two, one, three, six, five. Please, can you tell me what happened to me? I- I don't remember anything.” Her voice shook lightly with fear as she looked around nervously, trying to avoid the worried looks from the ponies that were in her room.
“You had a terrible accident. You had severe tachycardia followed by stress induced cariomyopathy. Your heart stopped, luckily Twilight Sparkle here managed to get to you quickly and, with skill and precision that I have never seen in any pony without advanced medical training, she kept your heart beating telekinetically. However, once she got you to us, the damage from your attack left the walls of your hearts arteries weakened. Your aorta had eroded and, almost as soon as you got to the operating room, you suffered a massive aortic dissection. We nearly lost you, It's a miracle that you're still alive.” His words were less than comforting to her, no matter his intentions. Twilight approached them, standing over her bedside by the doctor, she was fighting to hold herself together.
“Doctor, why doesn't she remember us?” The doctor sighed and shook his head solemnly.
“I'm sorry, it could be a number of things. Lack of oxygen, trauma from the fall, the seizure. In any case there isn't really much we can do.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see the expressions on the other ponies faces devolving into even more sad expressions.
“I'm sorry but, I'm laying right here. I don't feel comfortable with you both talking about me like I'm not here.” Her voice didn't contain any anger, but she felt confused and was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Who am I? Who are these ponies? I can't remember anything.
“I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, I- I didn't mean to..”
“Don't call me that.” She stopped, taken aback.
“R-Rainbow... but that's your.” Twilight was cut off when a yellow pegasus with a pink mane took up the other side of the bed. She looked down at her, tears streaming down her muzzle, staining her fur a darker shade before they fell to the floor. She gave a sorrow filled whimper.
“Dashie... please. Please, you have to remember. We're friends, we've been friends since we were little. You remember standing up to those bullies in flight camp for me? You remember that it's thanks to you that I have my cutie mark. It's... it's because of you that I can do what I love. Oh Dashie please... You remember don't you.... don't you?” She placed a trembling hoof on hers, her eyes were full of hope and tears as she smiled down at her. But, to her shock, her hoof was pushed away.
“Dashie..”
“Don't call me that!” She huffed angrily. The pink pegasus's expression broke as she staggered back, shacking her head, her lips silently making out one word over and over. 'No.' She shut her eyes tight, squeezing the tears from them before she spun around and ran out the room.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight called out to no avail. She was already gone. An orange earth pony came up beside her and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.
“Don't worry Twilight, she'll be okay.” She looked down at her, and gave the same reassuring smile. “And so will you. Don't you worry, we'll find a way to get your memory back, no doubt about it.” She then turned to the doctor, her look becoming more worried, Twilight couldn't see it, but from her vantage point on the bed, she could see that she had just been putting on a brave face.
“Doc, I know she's going to need time to recover, but will she be able to fly again..”
“Fly?” She said confused, slowly bringing her hoof to her back she felt something soft but firm. She carefully turned her head.
“I have wings?” She questioned with a dull tone. “I don't even feel them.” The orange pony with the cowboy hat turned to the doctor, who already had an answer prepared before she could ask.
“Limb disassociation could be caused by a spinal cord injury or damage to her motor cortex, There is really no way to tell which without further scans.”
“Doc, please tell me this is fixable. Flying just means the world to her.” He opened his mouth to respond but she broke in.
“I've never flown before.” The farm pony spun around, her brave face began giving way to fear and disbelief.
“Of course you have Rainbow. You love it more than.”
“That's not my name!” She shouted, her chest became sore and her lungs struggled to take in air. She closed her eyes, slowly taking deep breaths with her hoof cautiously placed over her heart. It slowed and she felt her breathing returning to normal. “Listen, I don't know any of you and you don't know me. Please, can you all just leave? You're making me uncomfortable and it's going to effect my recovery.” She could see that they all had protest on their tongues but the doctor silenced them.
“She's right, her heart is in a fragile state and we can't let her get worked up. I think it would be best for you to come back tomorrow.”
“I'm sorry but, I think it would be best if...if you didn't come back at all.” She spoke with as much sympathy as she could. The ponies in front of her were clearly hurting... but not for her. Her tone didn't make a difference as they all began to shed tears. Again, she could see their eyes pleading with her, they wanted to protest, but this time, the one name Twilight stopped them. Much to her surprise, as she seemed the most hurt out of all of them.
“The doctor is right, I- I think we should leave.” She shut her eyes and walked to the door, she could see tears falling from her face. The other ponies stepped out of her way, then one by one the all followed, leaving her alone. She took another deep breath, then lay down. Closing her eyes she quickly fell asleep, her mind and body exhausted from her brief interaction with those ponies.