Chapter Six- The End Of Recollection

I was out of breath from the nightmare, and the screaming hadn't helped either, but then I thought of something. Why was I in hospital? There is no logical reason for me to be here, other than my eventful awakening. It was beginning to get light outside, and I could do with some air to clear my head. Before I climbed out of the bed, I notice how the fur between my hind legs had stuck to the bed slightly, and was soaked. Had I...wet myself?

Nopony was in the hospital, so I suppose there's that to thank. As I clean myself up, the sound of a door opening can be heard echoing through the hallway. Still in shock from the night, I went into panic mode. I huddled into the nearest corner of the room, covered my eyes, and hoped for the best.

The sound of the door had been replaced by hoofsteps. I couldn't bear to see what might have been coming from the hallway. As the hoofsteps get louder, i start to shake, and pray for my life.

The steps became more quiet, now like walking pace. They get to probably about the doorway, when they stop.

"Ember? What in Equestria are you doing?"

"Gah! Leave me alone!"

The steps got close to me.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ember."

The pony put a hoof on my head. I give out a terrified squeal.

"It's me. Skyline."

"I don't care, go away! Whoever you are!"

I hear him shuffle back, and sit down.

"But I'm your doctor. Dr. Skyline?"

I don't respond, still quivering in the corner.

"You don't remember me...oh my. I promise I will not hurt you. I can help you."

I slowly, but surely lift my head up, to see 'Skyline', sitting in front of me.

"Just stay here a second. I just have to talk to someponys, then I will be right back, ok?"

"...ok..."

The doctor trots over to the door. He starts to talk before he closes it.

"Your friend Ember is shaken about something, so when I say for you to come in, don't run in, all exited to see her. It will startle her-"

The door closes.

I have friends? Since when?

I still sat in the corner, shaking, and was frantically looking around.

A few minutes pass, and the doctor comes back in with one of my 'friends', whom was silent. Skyline speaks to me in the softest voice he can.

"Ember, you have been sleeping here now for two days. But I can't wrap my head around why you are acting this way. Would you care to tell me?"

"I...I...had a nightmare..."

"You didn't take the pill? But I reminded you!"

"Wh-what pill?!"

"...I don't know how much longer your mind is going to keep even remotely stable! I really want to help you, Ember, but I'm beginning to think I can't do much more."

The mare began to weep, and Skyline puts his head in his hooves.

I didn't know what to say, so like a child to her parents, I told them about the nightmare.

"I...I saw somepony...she had colourful eyes...and wanted my memories...she said she had to have permission for them...my...permission...do you know how hard that is?! To give away...everything you know?! If I cried loud, she hurt me! If I said no, she hurt me! Oh Celestia it hurt!"

Skyline was speechless over the terror I went through. As all his supposed efforts to save my mind, pointless.

I could hear crying coming from outside.

"...then...somepony spoke to me...I can't remember her name...she wanted to save me...but...she couldn't...then something else started to speak...it asked if...if I wanted my memories back, in an afterlife...or to carry on..."

The mare Skyline walked in with finally spoke up.

"You...you remember me, right Sparks?"

I shook my head.

"RainbowDash...do you remember that? Do you remember my name?"

"...no...I don't..."

Rainbows lips began to shudder.

"Rainbow here came back today, and she brought your old friends. From your diary?"

No memories were apparent. I had no idea who they could have been.

"Bring the others in. There going to want to see her." Skyline tells Rainbow.

She slowly walks over to the door, looking toward the ground.

The door opens.

"Oh my gosh, Rainbow! Are you ok?" A voice said from the corridor.

RainbowDash shakes her head in denial, still facing the ground.

"Come in." Rainbow says.

One by one, they walk in, fearing what is left of me.

What I thought was all of them stood by the door, looking over to me and Skyline, until Rainbow says

"Fluttershy? Are you coming?"

Another mare walks in who had already been crying over me. I must mean alot to her.

As it stands, there was two Earth ponys, two Pegasi, one Alicorn and one dragon. The guilt of not being able to remember them was unbearable. They mean nothing to me, but I mean something to them.

The two Earth ponys made there way over to me and Skyline.

"Hey, Sparks...its been a while, huh?" One of them say.

I couldn't look at her. I just stared at one of the legs holding my bed.

"...Rainbow got us all exited when she said she had found you..."

The doctor stands up, and walks away from me to comfort the group.

"...you...you don't remember me...do you?"

I didn't answer. I just broke into tears.

"...does the name Applejack ring any bells? I took care of you when Rainbow..."

She stops, probably at hearing the squeaks and cries of Fluttershy behind her.

The second mare speaks up, on the verge of a breakdown.

"...what about...Pinkie...Pinkie Pie?"

I look further away.

Pinkie Pie bursts into an extremely loud crying fit, grasping onto Applejack and bawling unintelligible questions. Applejack takes her out of the room, to comfort her.

Now the guilt comes from the two Pegasi: Fluttershy and RainbowDash.

Whilst walking to me, Fluttershy was hesitant, stopping by the corner of a bed.

"It's ok Fluttershy, I'm here...it's going to be fine." Rainbow consoled.

Fluttershy continues her dreaded path, stopping next to Rainbow.

"Sparks...this is Flutter...Flutter-oh gosh I can't take it!" Rainbow says, falling to the ground.

She sobs with her hooves over her head. Do I really mean this much to them?

The Unicorn walks up to me.

"Um, well...you don't remember us, but, I don't suppose the name Rarity reminds you of anypony?"

I shake my head.

Her expression becomes saddened, the fact that I was losing my mind had dawned on her.

"Why do I mean so much to you girls?" I ask.

"...you don't remember...you...saved Spikey...from..."

Rarity sheds a tear, and her voice gets higher.

"...he was going to jump off a cliff, and you proved to him he means something...before most of us even knew he had a problem..."

It's like I could feel the guilt on my shoulders. I have forgot so much. Too much.

Rarity picks up Rainbow and takes her aside.

Fluttershy didn't say anything. She just stood there, crying over what is left of me.

The dragon walks past her, and stands right in front of me. He was about to say something until Rainbow speaks.

"It's no use! She won't remember what you tell her!"

"Rainbow!" Shouts the Alicorn.

"...you don't remember anything about your stay in Ponyville? You don't look very old."

The little guy doesn't understand. Good, he wouldn't want to.

"...I'm Spike, who Rarity was talking about...you saved me...Ember..."

I saved this dragon. It was me.

"...when I last saw you...I promised I would remember you...and you promised me back...it's not your fault you forgot, but I promise I will keep my promise...forever."

Spikes words tore me apart. I will never remember him. I will never remember the dragon I saved from himself. Fluttershys crying and squeaking had returned. Her quiet sobs are haunting. The Alicorn steps up.

"I didn't know at the time, but not too long ago, everypony told me about how you...saved Spike. I knew his problem was bad, but I didn't know he wanted to kill himself." The Alicorn says, voice breaking a bit toward the end.

She sits down where spike was, and hugs me.

"Thank you so much..."

We look into eachothers teary eyes.

"...please remember how grateful I am...we are...to have known you Ember..."

She gives me a photograph. It's a picture of all of them.

"...I want you to have it. You don't have to remember our names, just who we are. Even at the vaguest. Don't worry if you can't."

"I'm not forgetting you on purpose. I can't remember why im forgetting you, but its not on purpose. Please remember that..."

"We will."

"My name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."

Time comes to pass. I didn't move from that corner. Even when the group left, I remained huddled there. I don't think the doctor had anything else to say, either. My minds deterioration was happening way to drastically for him to bother finding it.

One last shot. Had my family vanished?

"...Melancholy...Melancholy..."

Oh no.