Over the next three weeks, each day was the same as the last. Pinkamena rose without warning and started bawling. Mrs. Pie did what she could to comfort her, but her daughter blacked out just as quickly as she woke up. Mrs. Pie then sat back down and began to formulate what she would say next time Pinkamena would be able to hear. Little was learned about Pinkamena in those three weeks. The only hint her family had was her "friends".
Now at this moment, Pinkamena was resting. Mrs. Pie stared at her motionless body as she was perched in her chair. The door opened, but she barely noticed. It was Igneous and he carried a salad on her back.
"Cloudy, I have brought you a rock salad from the cafeteria," he said.
"Just leave it beside me," she said blankly while staring at Pinkamena.
Igneous trudged over to the set of chairs and placed the salad down on one of them. Next to that was another empty chair where he decided to sit down.
"The children are rotating the rocks," he said.
Cloudy didn't answer. Her face was immovable and lifeless. Igneous thought to himself how he could continue a conversation. He went through all the possible topics before making his decision.
"The doctors are planning to start Pinkamena's testing tomorrow..."
The words moved in an orderly fashion through the still air and entered Cloudy's ear.
"Okay..." she said. Her voice lacked emotion, which was what Igneous was used to.
The relaxing beeps kept the room from falling into silence. Igneous's eyes were focused on his wife and daughter, but he couldn't do anything else. And that's how the room was for a while.
Igneous's body was frozen as well as Cloudy's and Pinkamana's. All the while, the rock salad sat in its empty chair completely untouched. The repetitive beeping dominated the room.
"Cloudy," he said. Igneous stopped for a moment and stared at his wife. She wasn't looking back, but he continued, "are you alright?"
There was a brief silence.
"You have asked me that question everyday for the last three weeks. And everyday I have told you yes."
Had she said that ten years ago, Igneous would have left it at that. But something about her familiarly empty voice hit him dead on. It had done so every time she used it, but the mysterious restraint barred him from going any further.
And the beeping was all he could hear.
Pinkamena's eyes slowly opened to reveal the same white wall.
"Pinkamena," Cloudy said, "is everything all right?"
Pinkamena dully looked at her concerned mother and stoic father before dropping her head into her chest.
"Now, there's no need to cry," Cloudy said.
But Pinkamena didn't cry. It wasn't going to bring Pinkie back, so she found no point. Her once bright eyes were now devoid of life. Her once wide smile was now a trembling frown. Her once vibrant, poofy mane was now a collection of deprived strands.
The door opened and a wheelchair rolled into the room. It was surrounded by a green rim and there was nopony pushing the handles. Behind it was a unicorn nurse that was levitating a notepad.
"Pinkamena, it's time for your MRI scanning," she said kindly.
There was no response from the dull mare.
"She's ready," Cloudy said.
The nurse focused her horn on the solemn patient and a glowing green light enveloped her. She was lifted from her bed and her body hung limply. The nurse levitated Pinkamena across the room before carefully resting her in the wheelchair.
"The scan will take about an hour to complete. Is there anything you need?" the nurse said. She then waited for a response from the two parents, but one never came. She smiled at the two stone faces before turning to leave.
Cloudy gripped her hooves together and stared at the empty bed.
The nurse pushed Pinkamena through the pristine halls with her magic. The patient was frozen and unmoving. The nurse couldn't help but draw her attention to the sight. Something built up in her mind and worked its way down into her throat. To her, it was something that she needed to get out.
"So, Pinkamena...how have you been feeling lately?" she asked. But she was unable to get anything out of her. The sad mare was a statue and her face was hidden behind her limp mane. The nurse gave her a smile and trotted on.
The rest of the journey to the MRI room was travelled in unsettling silence. The soft steps made by the nurse was the loudest sound that was made.
The nurse came across the double doors that led into the MRI room. She stopped the wheelchair and went over to the doors herself. The nurse pushed one of them open and used her magic to roll the chair and it's holder through.
The MRI scanner was white and round. A platform was situated on the apparatus and it was long enough to hold an adult pony.
"Nurse Smiley Bunch, place the patient on the scanner," a voice said over an intercom.
"Yes, doctor," she said. She then used her magic to lift Pinkamena's weightless body from her wheelchair and onto the scanner's platform.
In a nearby room, a doctor turned on a series of monitors. Meanwhile, Smiley Bunch flipped a switch which caused the platform to recede into the cylindrical scanner. As that was happening, the monitors popped to life with a blue outline of Pinkamena's brain.
"Good morning, Pinkamena," the doctor said. His voice traveled to a different intercom located inside the MRI scanner. It's volume was softer for the sake of Pinkamena's ears.
"For this test, I will describe to you a series of objects and actions. It will be your job to imagine those things as I say them. Do you understand?"
Pinkamena didn't speak, but splotches of bright colors painted the doctor's monitor. This indicated that her brain had processed the sound.
"Alright, Pinkamena, I want you to imagine a red ball."
"There was that one time where I threw a party and one of the filly's brought one to play with her...friends..."
The doctor noticed the colors popping up on the monitor and recorded the activity in his personal notepad.
"Okay, I want you to now imagine a butterfly."
"Fluttershy loved them...they were even on her cutie mark..."
"I want you to now imagine a flower."
"So many...so many flowers...in the grass...ponies selling them...they were beautiful..."
Pinkamena felt a stinging in her eyes. The light in the scanner was becoming overwhelming and she clenched them shut to prevent any further pain.
"I want you to now imagine a rock."
"That's all...I've ever been...and it's...all..."
Tears streamed down Pinkamena's cheeks and sniffles took over every inhale. Sobs choked the mare as she cried inside the scanner.
"Pinkamena, is something wrong?" the doctor asked. Pinkamena's answered with wretched crying. It was difficult for the doctor to hear.
"Nurse Smiley Bunch, get her out!" the doctor ordered.
The nurse hit the switch and the platform slid itself back out. She rushed over to the shaking mare as she was being exited from the scanner and got her into a sitting position.
"Pinkamena, what's wrong?" Smiley Bunch asked as she wrapped her into a hug. Pinkamena continued crying as she was held by the nurse. This prompted the doctor to race out of the room and approach the two mares.
"Pinkamena," the doctor said "speak to me!"
Smiley Bunch held Pinkamena and blew soothing sounds into her ear. But the crying mare barely noticed the nurse's efforts.
"Calm down," Smiley Bunch whispered, "it will be alright..."
Pinkamena's body shook in Smiley Bunch's hooves as she whimpered. It was heartbreaking for the nurse to hear her cries, but it was all a part of the job.
As time went by, Pinkamena started to calm down. To her, Smiley Bunch's embrace was warming her mind. Eventually, her sorrow was softened to sniffles. Smiley Bunch slowly moved back from Pinkamena and noticed her face was covered by her mane. She took her hoof and gently moved the dull pink strands to expose watery blue eyes and trembling lips.
"Do you want to talk about what's wrong?" Smiley Bunch asked with a small grin.
Pinkamena's mouth opened slightly and a weak gasp escaped her. Her eyes filled with tears that threatened to fall. Pinkamena squeezed them shut as her mouth widened.
"My b-best friends...are gone..." she said.
This confused the nurse when she thought about the circumstances, but she kept her reassuring expression as she kindly looked at Pinkamena.
"How did it happen?" Smiley Bunch asked.
Pinkamena opened her eyes and stared at the nurse before she sniffled through her red muzzle.
"W-We were a-all going o-out for a pi-picnic...and then e-every-thing...was white..." Pinkamena said.
She tried to breathe again, but was cut off by a sniffle.
"And...then I-I was here...i-in this...place...a-and now I-I can't...find..."
The tears broke free and cascaded down her pale cheeks. Her head plummeted and she cried again. Smiley Bunch pulled her into her hooves and she slowly swayed her. Pinkamena whimpered into the nurse's chest, but Smiley Bunch held a determination to comfort the pony in need.
Meanwhile, the doctor was witnessing this display from nearby. He assumed it was best for Smiley Bunch to do what she prided herself in.
"Nurse Smiley Bunch," the doctor said calmly. The nurse turned her head to the doctor while holding onto Pinkamena, "take Pinkamena back to her room and help her in any way you can. I'll postpone the scan until she is ready."
Smiley Bunch was reluctant to break from Pinkamena. She stared at the doctor with wide eyes, but quickly dropped the expression. She lit up her horn and lifted Pinkamena from the scanner and into the wheelchair. Smiley Bunch used her magic to push the wheelchair out of the room. During the journey back to the room, she trotted alongside the crying Pinkamena and rubbed her hoof on her shoulder. All the while, Smiley Bunch kept a genuine smile on her face.
Smiley Bunch opened the door to the hospital room and rolled the wheelchair inside. Cloudy and Igneous were stoically sitting in their chairs. The only thing separating them was an untouched rock salad.
Cloudy jerked her head to the forlorn pony. A million things raced through her mind as she saw her daughter.
"Nurse, what happened?" Cloudy asked. Her rigid face had broken free of its curse and its muscles tensed.
Smiley Bunch maintained her grin as she levitated Pinkamena onto her bed. She then walked over to her and Igneous.
"Something happened during the MRI scan...if you...don't mind...I would prefer Pinkamena telling you when she's ready..." she whispered to the two parents.
"I want to know now!" Cloudy demanded. Her usually gray cheeks were showing hints of red.
Smiley Bunch dropped her smile, but her voice was still warm.
"It wouldn't be right for me to tell you. It would upset her," she responded.
Cloudy jumped from her seat and trotted over to the bedside. Pinkamena was still crying and she didn't notice her mother take her hoof.
"Pinkamena...tell me what's wrong," Cloudy said.
Pinkamena's limbs were lifeless as more tears fell from her eyes. Smiley Bunch stood beside her and stared at the patient, whose face was once again hidden by her dull pink mane.
"Pinkamena, please let me help you," Cloudy continued.
Pinkamena started sobbing and her hooves were now shaking.
"J-Just...leave...me alone..." she said through her sorrow.
Cloudy eyes widened and she gripped Pinkamena's hoof.
"You're never gonna get better unless you let me help."
"Please...Mom..." Pinkamena said with her small voice. She sniffled from behind her mane, "...leave...me alone..."
Despite this plea, Cloudy never let go of Pinkamena's hoof. Her face had calm down to support Pinkamena. Even though her daughter didn't see its charm, Cloudy kept it because she knew it would make her a good mother.
Smiley Bunch watched her attempt to comfort her daughter as she heard the sound of crying and beeping.