Author's Notes:

After that totes shocking last chapter admit it, bruh, we're now back into the swing of things.

I'm also considering the possibility of giving the MC a nickname. That way, I can call him something and do third person much more. Makes writing so much easier and free, honestly. This chapter will mostly be third person. If I manage to give the MC a nickname in future chapters, you'll be seeing a little less second person, but third person will be much more common.

Also, sups edgy chapter ending m8, I fokin swr

Enjoy!

"...That can happen?"

Twilight and Cobalt had been sitting in the X-ray room for well over ten minutes. It was supposed to be a simple explanation - but it turned into a whole new analysis for the doctor. With the new hearings, he attempted to look further into his patient's X-ray images, see what other parts had been potentially damaged, or see how bad, exactly, the already known parts were.

He found very little, nothing to back himself upon.

So he began to take a look at the patient's files, see what more he could potentially dig up. Past injuries, medical history, etc.

And he found something, definitely.

But it was nothing about seizures.

It went all the way back to his childhood, as in depth as it could have been, supposedly all said by him.

He couldn't believe it.

Twilight wanted to know what he was looking at - but he felt she had enough on her hooves.

Cobalt closed the folder and began to look through a nearby cabinet, much of it containing folders similar to his case. Coma cases were rare, but cases involving seizures - they were still pretty rare, but much more common than the former.

For a couple of minutes, he examined four different folders. Two of them were cases right here in Ponyville, either between two and ten years ago, whereas the other case had been studied in Manehattan, roughly five years ago. It was a case out of several that Cobalt had taken with him when he arrived to Ponyville.

Who knew they would prove some use with time?

The first two cases simply described the simple causes or the symptoms or experiences during the patients' epileptic episode. It was nothing important, nothing Cobalt needed, so he put them back in the cabinet where they belonged.

He knew one of them had what he needed. It was just a matter of...aha! This one!

The third folder he had taken out presented him with exactly what he was looking for.

And sure enough - it was exactly as he had feared.

Back to the present, Cobalt answered Twilight's previous question.

"Yes," he said, "It can do that and much more. There's no official term for it - never has been - but the most popular name for it would be a Memory Spasm."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

Cobalt leaned back in his chair slightly, glancing at the folder then back to the princess.

"Basically," he paused for a moment, "It means that...whenever he has - or will have - a seizure...his mind, at the same time, will recall a moment in his past that he's experienced - even if he's forgotten about it."

"...It can do that?" she asked.

As he nodded, she replied with another question, "What...kind of memories?"

His physical reply was nothing more than a mix of a shrug and a tilt of his head, assuring he wasn't sure - but he had a general idea.

"The few cases that I worked with back in Manehattan...the...seizure cases - none of the memories they experienced were...well...pleasant."

"Like...negative experiences?"

He nodded. "The spasms seem to...say...revive memories of traumatic or...even stressful nature. This could range from a time when - for example, if he's broken a leg in the past, that's one memory. Another could be..."

He stopped, seemingly stuck on giving a proper example.

...But Twilight had one.

"...Rainbow's party...?"

Cobalt was ready to accept that as an example. But he stopped and looked at her with slight confusion.

"...That was troubling to him?"

Right.

She nodded faintly.

"Yeah...they, um...weren't...exactly on good terms before...you know..."

He knew.

"Yes...well...that can be an example, as well. I take it was more stressful than...traumatic?"

She nodded as she looked at him. The two of them were silent for a moment before the doctor continued his talk.

"...Speaking of...Manehattan - that is also a prime example, and possibly...that could've been what was going on in the hall. It is the reason why he even had the seizure in the first place, so it only seems likely that that was the trigger."

Twilight didn't answer right away, but began to think about the situation, what it held to her. Her friend had forgotten everything about his life - all of it. Not a single pony, event, or time in his life does he remember.

And yet, he had seizures that allowed him to re-experience memories he didn't even know about.

She wished it was anything but negative memories that were triggered - the poor thing...

But perhaps this could be used as a...good thing?

"Could we be able to...I don't know...try and...use that in a way? I mean, couldn't we be able to do some kind of spell on him, maybe dig further into it?"

The doctor knew what she was trying to describe - and he didn't exactly like it.

"You're referring to Recall Therapy. Yes, that's possible - it's been done before-"

"Good, right?"

"-No. It never ended good....unfortunately."

Casually looking about at all of the X-rays plastered on the walls and boards, Cobalt began to explain the few cases he either studied on or merely heard about through other doctors.

The first - a case of his.

"The first was about ten years ago. There was a mare who had these seizures on a daily basis for about...two years. At the time, the method of Recall Therapy was new - she would be one of the first to undergo it.

"When she had one of her seizures, we put her under an anesthetic and...'climbed' into her mind." As he said that particular word, he acted it out, as if climbing a ladder of some sort.

He continued - but he grimaced with each word that he said.

"It turned out that two years prior - she tried to kill herself after catching her husband sleeping with another mare. By the time we tried to block that out...she woke up.

"And she knew it all over again."

Cobalt looked to the floor. Twilight could see the upset on his face - in his eyes.

...

"She killed herself later that day. Hung herself in her own bedroom, with her own bedsheets - if you could believe it."

The poor doctor stared at the floor. It was obvious that it pained him to even explain it.

And yet - he kept on talking.

"Another case, a couple years later...Seaddle, I think. A stallion underwent the same treatment. They found out he had been plotting to kill his family months prior, and he decided to...try and take his own life - just to keep them safe.

"At the time, the doctors were trying to alter the spell so these memories could be pushed back and replaced with...better ones.

"Didn't work."

For a moment, he was silent - giving Twilight enough time to ask a question.

"Did...did he...?"

He nodded.

"He and his family were all dead the next morning."

With a sigh through his snout, he added, "Every one of those cases, from the east to the west, they all ended with the patients - sometimes, even more than just the patient - dead.

"No matter how many times they tweaked the spell or tried to better the treatment, it...

"It ended up all the same way."

Cobalt carried the troubling look on his face for a while. He could remember them still clear as day, like they happened just a short time ago. Not a single one of those times ever left his mind, no matter how much he wanted them to.

But Twilight was also just as troubled. She never knew that such a simple spell could cause so much pain and misery. She wanted to refuse to believe it - but even then, she didn't have a choice.

It happened, and Cobalt was there to see it happen.

And it was clear that he didn't want to see it happen again.

Especially not to her.

"As your...carer...please don't-"

"I won't."

She knew what he meant.

He nodded. "Thank you."

It was quiet for another moment. Both parties were trying to figure out what to say to one another. A question, a statement, a saying of any kind.

"Do we just wait?" was all she asked.

It seemed that any form of treatment to healing him faster or instantly was met with a dead end, a consequence that could result in him, and possibly others, dead or harmed or-...

She didn't want to see that.

As much as she didn't want to wait and feel hopeless.

But Cobalt nodded to her answer.

And it only assured - she didn't have any choice.

Only time would tell.

And time doesn't care.

Hours had gone by since that conversation, and by then, Twilight had already gone back to her friends. They were no more suspicious of her leaving. Rainbow surely had made one or two jokes.

Though - they were a bit more inappropriate than expected. The faint blush on Twilight's face only confirmed it.

As the hours passed, the group eventually left the room, one by one, all needing or having to go back to work or of other importance. AJ went back to the farm, Pinkie to her shop, and Fluttershy to her pets. Twilight and Rainbow had been the only ones left.

Rainbow didn't have any duties for the next few days, at least until she told Spitfire she was willing to work again.

As for Twilight - the world could wait just a little bit longer.

Her friend was awake, and she wanted to spend as much time as she could.

Six o'clock had come around, and already, the sun was beginning to set. As Twilight looked out the window and watched her hometown, lights began to come on individually, all from different buildings. With the many new houses holding second stories, Ponyville was much brighter than it ever was.

She was always fascinated at how much it glowed at night.

It made her smile.

Rainbow had finished telling her stallion friend a story about the infamous Gabby Gums incident. Like most of her stories, she went into detail.

Well, as much detail as she could.

"So it was your sister...?" he asked.

"Not my sister, actually," she remarked, "More of a friend. Though...I do sometimes treat her like one."

His eyes briefly rose with interest. With a slight wince of upset, he replied, "Wow...that must've hurt for you."

The mare tilted her head and looked slightly down. And she nodded to that statement alone.

"It did. It did hurt. I felt so...betrayed at that time. To think, someone I saw as a sister - someone I trusted...goes and does that to me? Takes a bunch of pictures and twists the story around?"

Rainbow let out a faint huff. The whole thing had been years ago, and it still seemed that it got her even slightly riled up, frustrated.

Not at Scootaloo.

Initially, yes - it was.

But then they came clean.

"Then I found out it wasn't really their fault. They told the whole town the real story, did everything they could to make up amends.

"It worked."

Rainbow gave a faint little smile and chuckled a bit.

The stallion looked at her with a brief view of concern.

"Do you...trust her now?"

The pegasus moved a bit, adjusting herself on the edge of the bed.

"Well...not at first. I knew they were telling the truth and all, but...I just didn't see her the same way for a while after that. I mean, we still hung out and stuff...

"...But it made it hard to trust her much around me...especially with a camera."

There was no smile, only a big, depressing frown plastered on her face. She looked down to the floor, almost as if she seemed ashamed.

She sighed.

"We argued about it one day. Sure, she was just a filly, but man...she was right about a lot of things. She yelled at me in the most mature manner I'd ever seen of her.

"We spent several minutes yelling back and forth - saying things we never really meant or wanted to mean, but we said them anyway."

"And?"

Her face went neutral, but it was obvious the sadness was still there. She sighed once again, but much quieter than before. Her head moved a bit as she thought of the words to say.

She seemed like she didn't want to say anything else, and the stallion was ready to tell her it was okay.

But she answered anyway.

"...We cried. We were sorry...held each other close...I told her it wasn't her fault and she just...hugged me. She begged me not to hate her anymore."

"Do you hate her at all?"

With a gentle smile - she shook her head.

...

Who knew she'd be doing that very same thing a long time later?

Later on, the stallion had turned on the radio, curious to hear more about the things going on throughout Equestria - improvements, failures, anythings...

Rainbow didn't mind, listening in with him. In a way, after the things she had face herself - it was better off to hear of others' troubles in the world but hers for once.

Sure, it was a dark take on her own situation, but...

A mare's voice played out through the speakers.

Politics once again.

"In the latest news coming out from Canterlot, after weeks of discussion with the Board of Electric Commerce, Princess Celestia has declared that Equestria will be disbanding the use of Methane as a power source, "a step forward," she says, to prevent another potential catastrophe. The Princess and the Board are currently in discussion on which potential energy will become a factor in the coming months for the country. A recent poll has stated that a staggering 94 percent of ponies prefer either solar or wind power as a reliable energy source."

As the reporter went on, Rainbow added in, "Guess it's gonna be either sunny or rainy from now on then, huh?" chuckling to her own joke.

Twilight laughed quietly along.

"Yeah."

"In other news, residents of Manehattan are being urged to remain cautious, commonly in the range of reporters and journalists. We've been getting reports in the last few days of a large number of media consultants being beaten to death in alleyways and even the streets in broad daylight. Some areas of the city have also reported the heads of the victims being displayed on poles in the streets."

Twilight stared at the radio - her ears were laid down, and her face showed nothing more than a grim look to it.

Her voice was just that.

"Goddesses...if I'd known it was that bad...I mean...if I'd even been told..."

"Many eyewitness accounts have claimed that the attackers could be rogue, former members of now-deceased mob boss, Swift Shadow. These reports, however, have not been completely confirmed."

Rainbow looked up the moment that name had been spoken of. She hadn't heard it in weeks - she didn't want to hear it ever again, that was the intention.

And yet, here they were, mentioning him, and his...followers.

She never saw a single one of them in person, never wanted to. She always saw them as scum, always wanted to hurt them. Vengeance was always her mindset then for all those months.

When the news came out a few days after that - Swift Shadow slain...

The only sense of joy she could feel in those early days.

Now all she could do was wonder - wonder if that report was ever true.

Please let it be.

"Swift Shadow was reported to have died in the Blasts that occurred last month, but-..."

But.

BUT.

She didn't want to hear it anymore. Getting up from the bed, she shut the damn radio off.

Dash didn't want to hear that word, that one word.

BUT.

All it did was just open up another set of questions. Was it true? False? Was he still alive, trying to conquer what was left while he could?

Those were just the few, and all it was doing was...

She wanted to scream, she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs, punch the wall, break the window - every single time that night, and the nights before, popped into her head and made her think. Again and again, all she could remember was that, those...

But instead of screaming - she didn't want to fret Twilight or him - all she did was cover her face and groan with the easiest notice of frustration, clear anger. It made her shake.

The idea that Swift Shadow could actually still be alive and wandering on this world was enough to make her visibly shake.

And he noticed.

"You okay?" he asked with honest worry.

Rainbow sighed and nodded. "Yeah...I'm fine. I'm just..."

He knew what she was referring to.

After a moment of brief silence, he asked her another question.

"...You think he's still alive?"

Goddesses - that was one question she never wanted to have to answer, let alone hear asked to her.

But she still answered truthfully.

"I hope not."

Dash felt disappointed. She didn't know why - but she did. She felt more disappointed in herself than she had a month ago, or three months ago, or...

Or...then.

She was the Element of Loyalty. She had saved Equestria three times - once from Nightmare moon, from Discord, and even from Tirek. She knew they were defeated when the time was then, she knew she - and they - had saved the world from destruction once again.

But she couldn't even save her own friend from a petty mob boss.

And that was the worst part - she didn't even know if he was alive or dead.

And the fact that she let Equestria...burn like that - because of him, because of them...

Millions died - mares, stallions, children...and all she was doing was just sitting in this damned hospital room.

I mean...yeah, he almost died that night, but I...

She remembered that graze with death that her friend faced.

That thug - his throat...

He was fine; the doctors and the nurses who took care of him, they made sure of it. W...What if she went out? Went to go help more, help another town? Dodge? What if she went there? It's close!

It...was close.

But if she had gone there...

"...Rainbow?" Twilight called out gently to her friend.

Dash hadn't even realized she was doing nothing more but staring at the floor, lost in her own thoughts. Twilight had her own right to worry at that point.

She looked up.

"Are you really okay?"

The Pegasus definitely hesitated.

But she couldn't dare trouble Twilight - not like this.

"Yeah."

A nod.

Another lie, that was all it was.

Just another lie.

Lie.

Lie.

LIE.