Twilight

I watch Princess Celestia lead us down several corridors as I am walking with my friends and the doctor that the princess had put in charge of Rainbow's care.

Glancing at the doctor, I notice he seems to have several large paper files he's bringing with him, and he seems to be constantly trying to reorganise them.

I'm not fully sure what this meeting is going to be about, but I think it might be about the device in Rainbow's neck.

I saw the preliminary imaging of the doctors on it and was let into the surgeon's theatre when they were doing exploratory surgery to identify its purpose.

It was a concerning sight to say the least, a mix of medical apparatus and a black substance that I found oddly familiar, though why I do not know, embedded into her spine and surrounding the nerves within.

"Ah don't think ah've ever seen the mare so quiet." Applejack says to my right.

"Pardon," I say in response.

"Rainbow, ah know she's taken some tumbles before and landed herself in some situations but never seen her so quiet," Applejack clarifies.

"It's just the effects of the medication, I'd imagine. At least that's what Dr. Synapse said." I say.

"True, don't recognise the name myself, by the way. Somepony you know?" Applejack says.

"I only know it from Blue's brother's medical report myself. I think the princess brought him in with the familiarity with her procedures."

"Makes sense. Well, ah only hope that we can do this quickly. Hooves are itching to get started again." Applejack says as we enter a side room.

As we are all brought inside, I see Princess Celestia close the doors behind us and cast a spell on the room.

I give her a confused look.

"No need to be concerned, just making sure that this private meeting remains private," Princess Celestia responds. "Now, Doctor, you mentioned you had compiled a report for us?"

We all take a seat on several seats lined up.

Dr. Synapse awkwardly makes his way to the front of our group, and after placing his notes on a nearby desk, asks, "May I use your wall to pin some documents up? It will help with the presentation."

Celestia gives a nod and says, "You are free to use this room as you will."

Dr. Synapse gives an uneasy smile and says, "Thank you, Princess."

The doctor then places several documents on the wall as we all silently watch, and after he places several documents in a seemingly unordered pattern.

"Okay, that should be all I need," Dr. Synapse starts. "Okay, a brief introduction for those that aren't aware of who I am. My name is Dr. Firing Synapse. About ten years ago, Princess Celestia charged me with creating a team to investigate both the spell that Blue Syringe had used and her patient, and in addition, we were to see if we could expand on the several books of notes that Blue had left behind for any additional medical uses."

I see the rest of us give several nods of various kinds.

"Now, because of the injuries your friend had sustained and the contact with Blue, I was asked to analyse Rainbow and create a report on her condition. After consulting the surgeons and various doctors and nurses on the topic. I believe I have got a good reading of the situation," the doctor continues.

The doctor then points at several notes and X-rays mounted on the right side of the wall.

"First, the device in her neck. I'll admit that the prospect, when I first saw it, excited me. It appears to be the answer to healing nerve breaks, a scenario most doctors believed to be impossible. It appears to work by pinning either singular nerves or even multiple nerves within a cylinder that is then filled with a black viscous substance. This then converts the nerves into a similar but seemingly different biological matter that then enables the nerves to function. We believe the apparatus cannot be removed, though. Even after it's done its magic, it seems to serve a second purpose of interfacing with the intact nerves."

The doctor then points at a piece of paper mounted in the middle of the board and says, "Now, regarding the substance within the apparatus, we have discerned that it appears to be derived from several flora. We've not got much detail on it yet, but have several leads we are chasing."

Doctor Synapse then moves his hoof to the right and puts it on a piece of paper that looks like a report.

"Now onto the second stage, though the first stage will be brought back for context. Thanks to your diligence in not destroying evidence elements by casting spells onto the patient, we've managed to re-compile the last few spells cast on her by some advanced scanning techniques we'd been preparing in the eventuality of Blue's return. Aside from some basic telekinesis and some medical scans on Rainbow, a more complex spell stood out, breaking it down into its minor components and attempting to relate it to the spell notes Blue had left behind. I can confirm with ninety-five percent confidence that Rainbow has been 'resurrected.'".

I take a few moments to understand what the doctor said and I call out while standing up, "That can't be right. She can't have been."

The rest of the group, aside from Princess Celestia, who seems to have gained a neutral face, looks in confusion at me.

"What does he mean, darling?" Rarity says.

I look at the note on the wall again and say, "He's saying… He's saying that Rainbow died."

"That ain't right. She seemed fine to me. She answered Twilight's questions and seemed fine to me. She can't be a puppet of hers." Applejack says.

Doctor Synapse seems shocked with our outburst and says, "I assure you that our findings are correct; the 'resurrected' do not have memory problems, nor would questioning them be a valid test for it. The spell reanimates the brain, which allows for the hippocampus to be accessible to the spell."

I glance at the rest of our group; Fluttershy and Rarity react in various states of shock to sadness, but I notice Pinkie seem to stare straight ahead, and I think I notice her tail twitching.

The doctor quickly continues before we can interject again, "There is further evidence that we've been able to discover as well. After the initial scans for the spell, we could do a full breadth medical scan and found several clusters of cells receding from cell death. We are unsure how this was done, but we've confirmed it happening. And also, the device we discussed earlier, we are pretty confident that if her nerves had snapped, then Rainbow's heart would have stopped!"

I notice the princess stands up and, while still wearing a neutral face, says, "Firing, please calm down."

The doctor takes a hesitant step back into a less confrontational stance and says, "I'm sorry, that was unprofessional of me."

"It is a delicate matter. Can you please leave the room? I'm sure the Elements need some space with this news." Princess Celestia says in an almost earnest tone.

Doctor Synapse leaves the room fairly promptly, leaving his damning notes for us all to stare at.

"He can't be right," I hear Fluttershy call out in an uncharacteristically loud voice. "Rainbow has been in accidents before, and he's not even one hundred percent confident."

"Without somepony witnessing the spell cast, it's impossible for him to say he's confident, Fluttershy," I say, biting back some tears, "but still with a chance of him being wrong, we can't assume otherwise, right?"

The princess steps forward and answers my question. "I'm sorry, my Little Ponies. This is not what I wanted at all when I asked for your help. And yes, you are correct, Twilight. We cannot assume anything about matters like this. I'm going to suggest that the doctor take Rainbow back to his facility for monitoring, she will not be harmed even if the worse has occurred."

The room falls silent as we all take in the news.

Applejack breaks the silence with constrained anger and says, "Ah want to get the worm for doing this to us. When are we going back out?"

The Princess takes in a short breath and says, "You aren't."

After various reactions from us all, the princess continues, "when I'd originally selected you all for the role, I was and am still confident that you could catch her. I'd believed that Blue couldn't present a threat to yourselves, but just the idea that she might control one of you is a thought I couldn't bear."

The princess walks over to the wall of notes and says, "You've all done amazingly. You've not only confirmed her existence, but even touched her. I assure you, I am proud of you. This is not a punishment. I just can't risk your lives further. I am organising a more official search with the guard."

"We can't just give up, Princess," I say, my voice teetering on the edge of breaking. "We can still help."

"I am sure you can, which is why I am going to offer you all the chance to be researchers on the case. You can investigate sources and communicate with the guard to assist them in the capture, but this is purely voluntary, if you do not wish to do this with all that's happened. I understand."

I look around at the group, and notice that they are all pondering the princesses words.

"I'll give you a day to decide, you may visit Rainbow if you wish though I ask that you do not relay any information we've told you today," Princess Celestia says, "I will tell her myself when the time comes."

The group starts dispersing into the hallway with various reactions, but before Princess Celestia leaves, I stop her.

"I want to help with the investigation on Rainbow," I say. "if it's still her, then I want to make sure. I'm okay with just reading the notes, but please, Princess."

"I'd expected you to," Princess Celestia says. "I do truly hope that the researchers are wrong and I am confident that if anypony can confirm it, then that would be you. I'll warn you though Twilight, do not obsess over the topic or it will scar your heart for decades."

I give a nod and walk into the hallway.

Blue Syringe, I'll never forgive you.

Author's Note

I suspect there are going to be some interesting reactions to this chapter.