Friendship is Failure #27- Love is a Danger Zone

by DakariKingMykan

Alternate Ending

ALTERNATE ENDING

Doctor Horse came out from emergency with a grim look on his face.

“How is he?” asked Cadance.

The doc immediately answered, “He had a rough go, but he will live.”

Pinkie almost burst with joy and glee, but she managed to keep quiet in the hospital.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful!” cried Rarity.

“It’s a miracle!” wept Fluttershy.

Cadance and Twilight felt like crying for joy, but they noticed the doctor was not smiling.

“Is something wrong?” asked Twilight.

The doc nodded. “That’s the only good news there is. He will live, but I’m afraid he may never be the same ever again.”

“What do you mean?” asked Spike.

Doctor Horse led them to a window viewing through to the Emergency Room. There, they could see Strings in a bed, hooked up to life-support, and he was strapped down too. He just stared blankly at the ceiling almost like a Zombie.

“Oh, Strings!” cried Cadance.

“I don’t get it. He doesn’t look too bad.” said Rainbow.

Doctor Horse explained, “He is suffering from severe traumatic amnesia.”

“You mean he’s lost his memories?” asked Applejack.

“Far worse…” replied the doc. “The mind is a very delicate instrument; it can only take so much shock and trauma.

All the things Strings had gone through-- the evil inside of him, his years of self-destructive suppression of his emotions, all coupled with whatever it was that happened to him…

…It was just so much, so frightening. The conscious mind doesn’t want to think of things like that and it just shuts the brain down-- blanks things out.”

He paused and looked through the window at Strings. “He’s lost more than just a few memories; he’s lost his experience, his understanding.

He can’t remember his own name. He can’t pronounce words or even recognize them or other things.

It’s as if all the experiences and knowledge from his life have been blanked out.”

The friends all felt horrible.

“Will his memories ever come back?” asked Twilight.

“Maybe they will, maybe they will not,” replied the doc. “We don’t dare use any magic on him, in his condition it would probably make things worse, and he’s already in a state that makes him a complete vegetable-- unable to live and survive in our world as he used to.

We saved his life… but not him.”

The friends, especially Twilight and Cadance, bowed their heads in misery.

Due to Strings’ condition, he was going to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for special treatment in hopes that his memories would be restored.

“Poor Strings.” cried Fluttershy “He didn’t deserve all this.”

“Nope, he didn’t.” agreed Applejack.

“What if they can’t restore his memories?” asked Spike.

Everyone hated such a thought but kept well in mind what the doctor had said, and Twilight suggested, “I guess the best can hope for is to be retrained, reeducated, maybe into a whole new pony, but he’ll never be the same again.”

“Even if his memories do return,” added Cadance “Then he’d just go all sad again because he’ll remember his feelings. That wouldn’t be such a treat either.”

Her lips quivered as tears came to her eyes.

“Oh, honey!” Shining Armor said as he embraced his wife. “Try not to beat yourself up over this. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, you and Twilight didn’t mean to turn him into Danger Zone.” added Rainbow Dash.

“And besides,” added Pinkie “You heard the doctor, it couldn’t be helped, and we all did whatever we could.”

Cadance and Twilight looked at each other and shook heads grimly. Twilight said sadly, “Knowing all those things doesn’t make us feel any different.”

Author's Note:

Blog in relation to this fic...

https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1031326/moving-on-and-letting-go