//------------------------------//
// Rose: Diagnosis 
// Story: Every Rose Has Its Thorn 
// by Featherheart 
//------------------------------//

There was a blinding light in my eyes, but I couldn’t look away. I stared defiantly into it as it tried its hardest to make me look away. Suddenly, it was removed.
“And you aren’t experiencing any pain?”
Yes, I thought, but my mouth said “No. Nothing more than a bump on the head should give.”
The pony doctor pulled back, a hoof to his mouth as he regarded me. I watched him in return, the spots in my eyes from his examination light dancing across his face. After a moment of this stare-off, he shrugged lightly.
“Well, Miss Roseluck, it looks as though you live up to your name. You’re pretty lucky to take a hit on the head like that and not have any sort of lasting damage…” He tilted his head slightly, still looking at me. “But then again, maybe Doc’s machine isn’t as heavy as it looks.”
I shrugged in return. After another strange second of gazing at me, he nodded his head and opened the door. 
“Put some ice on that bump and you should be fine. If you have any sort of memory trouble or sudden feelings of tiredness, I want you to come back here immediately. Okay?”
As I left, I thanked him for his time, marveling at the way the word “doctor” rolled off my tongue, as though there was nothing important about it. 
That’s because there isn’t, the normal part of my brain thought.
Before the part of my brain that thought otherwise could retort, I was caught in an embrace and my vision was filled with green. An overwhelming smell of flowers filled my nose.
“Oh Rosie! We were so worried!” an annoyingly pitched voice sounded in my ear and another, equally high voice made a sympathetic noise from beside me. The curly green mass was withdrawn to reveal the pink pony attached to it along with her blonde companion.
“Daisy… Lily,” my mouth said before I could think who they were. Lily grabbed me and pulled me into a hug as Daisy had done, and I felt my body relaxing of its own accord. These were my best friends; I was safe now. Safe from the thoughts that made no sense, safe from the confusion that had lurked in the back of my brain. I breathed in the scent of flowers and felt home.
We trotted back to the cottage together, the two of them flanking me and chatting happily. I smiled, feeling normal for the first time since that hit on the head. I was starting to worry that maybe I had brain damage or something... I shook my head to clear those thoughts out, turning my attention to Lily’s story about how she almost hurt Ditzy when she brought the news that I was in the hospital.
“I almost bucked that Derpy right in the face!”
“Maybe you would’ve fixed her eyes…” muttered Daisy.
“Daisy!” Lily cried.
“Oh, come on. You just called her Derpy; you know something’s not right with her.”
Lily feigned a look of innocence, but didn’t comment. Daisy looked pleased with herself for scandalizing her friend. I simply walked between them, happy for the distraction.
As Lily launched into talking about how she was afraid she would have to take over my flowers if I hadn’t have made it, we passed through town square. An oddly familiar strain of music caught my attention, despite Lily’s gabbing. I slowed down, looking for the source of the sound. A mint-colored unicorn sitting on a bench across the square seemed to be the culprit. Her eyes were closed and her face was peacefully happy as she used her magic to pluck at the strings of her instrument. But what caught my interest was how she was sitting; she was resting solely on her hindquarters, her forelegs swaying lightly to the music.
I wasn’t even aware that I had been moving towards her until I was right in front of her. As my shadow hit her face, she opened her eyes suddenly, looking directly at me. Her music never faltered, though, and she smiled faintly at me. I opened my mouth to ask her about her music, but instead surprised myself by beginning to sing:
“Stars shining bright above you,
Night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you.’
Birds singing in a sycamore tree:
‘Dream a little dream of me.’”
The unicorn joined me on the last line, smiling widely at me. She played a few more chords as I gaped at her, then she stopped, still beaming. I couldn’t compose a thought, or remember what I wanted to ask her.
“What song was that?” Lily asked from beside me, startling me. I had forgotten about her and Daisy completely. 
The unicorn kept her eyes on me as she answered. “It’s called ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me.’ I didn’t think anypony else knew it.” 
Daisy beamed. “Well Rosie here is full of surprises. Just today she got hit in the head by Doc’s whatsit machine, and barely felt a thing. ‘Course I always knew she was hard-headed.” She ruffled my mane with a hoof, but I shrugged her off, intent to ask this unicorn how I could know this song.
But as I opened my mouth once again to ask, Lily interrupted me. “So did you learn that song in Canterlot, Lyra?”
Lyra, of course. The local eccentric artist, the one who never acted like a normal pony. I knew her a little; she bought flowers occasionally. Why had I not remembered her before?
Lyra shrugged delicately. “Just picked it up somewhere. Probably the same place ‘Rosie’ here did.” She looked at me knowingly, and I continued to gape back. 
There is something weird about this pony, I thought, looking at her seating position, her instrument, her odd way of moving. Definitely weird.
She probably thinks the same thing of me. I closed my mouth, attempting to appear normal. Luckily, Daisy and Lily were completely oblivious, instead discussing Canterlot fashion with Lyra, who was laughing along with them. Maybe I’m wrong, she seems normal enough…
“Well, we really have to get back to the cottage. I left those… Cutie Mark girls in charge of the flower stand, and I can’t help but think that wasn’t the best idea.”
The three of them laughed, and I joined in half-heartedly. As my two friends turned away, I finally found it in myself to talk.
“Lyra, how did—”
The unicorn cut me off with a small laugh.
“You too, huh?”