This is Not Friendship, This is Not Magic.
Chapter One
Returning
The day Twilight Sparkle left Ponyville had been a sad day for everypony. She had been sent there from Canterlot by Princess Celestia herself to study friendship. Of course, the socially awkward unicorn was very hesitant with making friends, for she never had much company besides Spike. But on the day when the princess summoned Twilight back to Canterlot, she found herself in the teary embrace of five mares who had, despite Twilight's attempts to shove them away, so openly welcomed her into their lives. They had shown her true friendship, and even though she had to bid them a bittersweet farewell, she assured them she could never forget them. They had most definitely given her more than a full report for Celestia.
She had promised she'd write to them at least once a week, and for the first seven or eight months, that promise was kept. Eventually the slew of letters Twilight would send gradually began to thin out. But being the good friends they were, the five would set out to Canterlot to visit her quarters, but everytime they showed up Twilight Sparkle wasn't anywhere on the premises. They soon grew tired of trying to make contact with their old friend who obviously wasn't trying to make any attempt to return the favor, so one by one, they gave up. By the end of Twilight's first year of absence, she was just another good memory.
What Twilight never thought about was that she was the one who brought the other five together. She was the one who held them together. And now that she was long gone in Canterlot, the five started to grow distant. Rarity and Fluttershy began going to fewer spa appointments together, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's pranking abilities were beginning to falter, and Applejack became so absorbed in her work that hardly anypony ever saw her off of Apple Family property. And that was only after the first year.
"Twilight, it'll be okay."
The lavender unicorn sat unresponsive, head hanging over the side of the pegasus-powered carriage in shame. This was the most humiliating and completely unexpected thing that had happened in the entire eight years she spent in Canterlot. Celestia's heartbreaking words echoed in the confines of Twilight's mind; 'Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry to say that you are permanently discharged from your duties as my apprentice.'
And as if to make the situation any more uncomfortable, she had Twilight escorted out of Canterlot by the Royal Guard. She wasn't given a choice, time to pack her things, or even a chance to ask why. Was her report on advanced spell mastery too short? Was her growth potion to thick? She couldn't think of any plausible reason as to why her mentor would kick her out so abruptly.
Twilight had no idea where this chariot was taking her but she hoped she never arrived. The cool air and mist of the clouds soothed her somewhat, and quite frankly, she wasn't in the mood to talk to anypony. She didn't want to go to any new place or see any new ponies or do anything but mope. Twilight wasn't the type to mope, but she felt this situation was certainly more than worthy of a little self-pity.
"Oh my gosh, Twilight!" Spike said about a half hour into the carriage ride. Twilight immediately looked up from her half asleep state and was shocked at her surroundings. This place was familiar. No, it was more than familiar. Familiar implied that she had seen this place before but she was unable to place where. She had definitely been here before and she knew it. She had made many memories in this place, this place she had once known as home, this place others knew as Ponyville.
"Spike..."
Ponyville looked different. The tree that once served as a home to Twilight was leafless and seemed to be rotting. The straw roofs of the quaint cottages were missing small patches and the paint on the outer walls was peeling. The town hall's second floor balcony had a large chunk of it missing and what looked like a large bloodstain was on the wall outside the door Her heart felt heavy at the sight of such a once beautiful place looking like this. Twilight couldn't believe it. Celestia had not only dismissed her from her place as top pupil to the princess, but she had sent her back to a slowly crumbling Ponyville. What kind of sick games was the princess playing with Twilight's head?
Carefully, Twilight stepped off the cart and onto the cold dirt road. Then another step. And another, then another. All four of her hooves touched the familiar ground now and it could have brought tears to her eyes. This was Ponyville. This was a new Ponyville, one which had certainly aged in Twilight's absence. It was so strange to be back and to see her old home so worn out and damaged. She didn't know what to do, what to think. She glanced down at Spike, who stared at Ponyville with his mouth agape. She knew what he was thinking; he wanted to visit Rarity. Twilight couldn't decide who she should check on first, so with Rarity being Spike's first choice, without saying a word, she started to head off in the direction of the Carousel Boutique, which she surprisingly remembered well. Spike followed.
Upon arriving at the white unicorn's dress shop, Twilight realized that maybe visiting Rarity with Spike was a mistake. The windows were boarded up and there was a huge sign on one of the double doors that read 'OUT OF BUSINESS,' and before the pair was even within a ten foot radius of the building Twilight could already smell an awful odor; was that a skunk? She cautiously approached the door and knocked with her hoof. The door creaked open and a chunk of ice descended into the purple unicorn's stomach. A pungent scent assailed her nostrils, which Twilight guessed, judging by Rarity's ragged appearance, was unsmoked marijuana.
"Oh why hello, Twilight! It's been a while," the white unicorn said with a giggle. "Oh, Spikey-Wikey!"
Rarity scooped up Spike in her forelimbs and gave him a tight squeeze, not noticing the look of disappointment in his eyes. He wasn't expecting his old love to look so different. He had only been gone eight years but she looked like she had aged fifteen. Her once voluminous violet mane had more than a few strands of grey hair and it was flat and unkempt. Her shiny, porcelain coat had become tarnished and her sapphire-like eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Spike had matured enough over the eight years he spent back in Canterlot to know that Rarity was on drugs and higher than the Crystal Empire State Building. It hurt him to see her like this; he no longer had romantic feelings for her, but she was his first love and he still cared about her. He wriggled out of her uncomfortable embrace and gave her an awkward, "Hey, Rarity."
"Rarity," Twilight began, "might I ask what that, uh, smell is...?"
"What smell?" Rarity took a nervous step back. "I don't smell a thing. Is anypony else with you? Where are you going when you leave?"
"Calm down, Rare. I have no idea where I'm going after this. Spike and I are probably going to visit Rainbow Dash."
"Oh, dear. I don't know how good of an idea that would be."
"What? Why not? ...Is she mad at me?"
"No, it's just... Rainbow Dash has been in and out of the hospital for the past two or three months now. A few months ago she was attacked and she nearly died. I hear she has an awful case of amnesia too, so the doctors can't even ask questions to give them any clue as to who the attacker was."
Twilight blinked. "Rarity, are you serious?"
"That's what the girls at the spa have been saying."
"Have any of you other four gone to see her?"
"Twilight, I haven't talked to any of them in years, so I don't know what they've been up to, but I know I haven't gone to see her," Rarity said blankly. "But even if I had, I don't see what the point would be. If she has amnesia then she wouldn't know who I am anyway. If I tried to comfort her I could scare her. Same goes for you. You haven't even been spoken of in years."
"Rarity, you can't just let her suffer alone. She's obviously in pain and she would probably gladly accept any helping hoof she could get." Twilight shook her head. "Come on, why don't we go visit her."
"I am not going to see her. She made no attempt to aid me when I needed somepony to lean on. She's not the only one who's had something terrible happen, but I pushed through it alone, and I'm sure she can too."
"...What happened to you...?" Spike inquired.
"Spikey-Wikey, that's a story for another time." The alabaster unicorn redirected her attention to Twilight Sparkle and said, "It's been great seeing you, both of you, but I have some, eh, business to attend to so if you'd like to drop by at a better time, feel free to come see me on Friday... I'm meeting with some friends who I'm sure you'd just love to meet."
Twilight, having a a fairly good idea of what the the "business" was, said that she and Spike were off to see a Rainbow Dash anyways. The white unicorn bid her old friends farewell and told them what hospital Dash was staying at and shut the door. Twilight and Spike headed in the other direction to the Ponyville hospital.
"...Twilight?" Spike said as they strolled down the dirt road. "Do you think Rarity is okay?"
"I... I don't know, Spike. I mean, you saw her. You're smart enough to know that she's on drugs, and I know that must have hit you hard. I don't know how long she's been doing them or whether marijuana is all she's tried out, so I can't judge how addicted she is nor how hard it would be to break the habit." Spike wasn't sure what to say to this, so he remained silent for the rest of the walk. Upon arriving at Ponyville General Hospital, the pony at the front desk told the two that Rainbow Dash was staying in Room 413. They stepped onto the elevator and traveled to the third floor, searching for the room where the cyan Pegasus lay.
At the end of the corridor was Room 413, and what Twilight Sparkle and Spike found inside was far from the energetic Pegasus pony they had known eight years ago. This mare's cyan pelt had faded to a light grey. Her rainbow mane was in a disarray and wasn't nearly as bright as it had been and her rose-colored eyes didn't have that glimmer they used to. They had dark circles under them to show for her lack of sleep. But what really struck Twilight and Spike was that she was missing her right forelimb and and wing. There was a shaved area on her left forelimb where the doctors had an IV implanted and the stub where her other leg had been was wrapped in gauze.
"Rainbow!" Twilight said with a heated face.
Dash looked up at her through tired, half-lidded eyes. "Who are you...? Where's the nurse? I'm not supposed to be accepting visitors..." The Pegasus coughed.
"Rainbow Dash, do you really not remember me...?"
"Ugh. That's all anypony asks me anymore. 'Oh, how could you forget me?' 'Surely you remember me, Dashie!'" -- Twilight noticed that must have been a quote from Pinkie Pie, as hinted by the use of her pet name "Dashie." -- "I'd hate to break it to you, but I don't remember you. I know I have amnesia, okay? The doctors and nurses already explained that to me. I know maybe I should remember you and the other ponies who've visited me, but I don't. Feel free to try to refresh my memory or whatever, but if it doesn't work don't leave in tears like the poor pink pony I saw a few weeks ago." After a pause, she added, "You know, I felt pretty bad when she left so upset."
'Pinkie...'Twilight thought. She made a mental note to make Pinkie Pie's home her next stop. With gentle steps the unicorn approached Rainbow Dash and sat at the right edge of the hospital bed. "Okay. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and eleven years ago, we met for the first time."
This is Not Friendship, This is Not Magic.
Chapter Two
Visiting
"Eleven years? Jeez, Twilight Sparkle, you don't really expect me to remember that far back, do you? C'mon, even if I didn't have amnesia I doubt I'd remember that."
Twilight reflected upon that day and smiled ruefully. "I don't think anypony could forget such an event so easily." With a sigh she elaborated on the journey the six mares embarked on that fateful day -- or night, rather -- and how it was only the beginning of another journey, a path to true friendship, and a bunch of other cheesy sayings that I'm sure you could think of yourself which is why we're going to refrain from specifically pointing them out. However, relaying these events was of no avail. Rainbow Dash said the story sounded great and that it was a shame she was missing out on such a memory. She believed Twilight, which the unicorn was grateful for because she knew she must have sounded crazy.
"So, you say we've been friends for a while," the Pegasus said after a short silence, "yet you've never visited me before even though I've been hospitalized for months now. Not saying I don't believe you, because really, what choice do I have, but..."
The mare sighed. "I stayed in Ponyville for three years. Then Princess Celestia wanted me to go back to Canterlot so I could become even more involved in the apprenticeship she had offered me. And today... she kicked me out. I haven't set hoof in Ponyville for eight years before today, and I hadn't been able to maintain communication with you guys, so I never heard a thing about your incident. But now that I am here... would you mind telling me what happened?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head slowly. "Twilight, you were the apprentice of the Princess herself. You can't really be dumb enough to ask somepony with amnesia if she remembers the events directly before she was attacked." She paused for breath, then said, "I remember very little. It has been coming back to me very slowly in little pieces. The doctors said that it should be resurfacing by now and that this may be permanent, as if having to have my wing and leg amputated wasn't bad enough. I remember wanting to be a Wonderbolt. I can never accomplish that dream now because of something I had no control over."
"Rainbow Dash, I..."
"Sometimes I have nightmares about the night it happened. That's generally when the memories come back. The pony's face is blurry, all except her malicious grin as whatever the hell she stabbed me with slashed me open. That's why I don't like going to sleep a lot. The nightmares are stressful, but the doctors tell me I need rest. On nights I refuse to sleep for fear of that awful mare returning for me they inject me with anasthetics and make me sleep."
Twilight stared at the Pegasus. "Rainbow Dash... Is it okay if I, uh, hug you, or would that hurt you too much?"
The Pegasus nodded with a weak smile and accepted the light hug Twilight gave her. Spike interjected with a sudden "Aww," reminding the two mares that the adolescent dragon was still there.
"Do the doctors know about the nightmares?"
"Yeah. They say that I should tell them about any memory that comes back to me so I do."
"Wait, how do you know if it's a memory rather than just a dream?"
"I'm not really sure... There's something about the memory dreams that I can't really describe that distinguishes them from regular dreams."
Twilight sighed again. It pained her to see her friend in such an awful shape. For the first time, the restless, adventurous spirit of Rainbow Dash had been hindered, possibly forever. For some reason it bothered Twilight more than it should have. Maybe it was all the stagnant nostalgia she had breathed over the course of the past hour layered on top of the recent rejection she had faced that was fogging up her thoughts, but this made her mad. Rainbow Dash of all ponies did not deserve to be stuck in a hospital bed, not knowing how truly great her life was before all of this unbelievable trauma stuck her out of nowhere. She wasn't sure why but she felt as thought this was partially her fault. 'Nonsense, Twilight,' she thought, 'you weren't even here when it happened!'
"But that's just it!" Twilight burst out, startling Rainbow Dash and Spike. Her face flushed. "I... Sorry."
"Are you okay...?" Spike questioned.
"I'm fine. I just... I've had a lot thrown at me today without warning and I think I'm letting it get to me. I'm really tired and confused and I just need some sleep."
"Well," Dash said, "it was cool meeting you, again, Twilight Sparkle. To be honest, you seem pretty cool. Go home and sleep, you look like you need it."
Twilight smiled graciously and said, "Okay. Thanks for your time." She wasn't sure why she used such a formal term with her friend, possibly because the author of this story couldn't come up with anything better, but Rainbow Dash didn't seem to mind.
"And hey, Twilight!" the Pegasus called out as Twilight turned to leave. "Come and visit me again sometime, will ya?"
"Sure thing, Rainbow Dash."
When Twilight and Spike closed the door behind them, Twilight smiled serenely. "Something about that made me feel pretty good, Spike."
"Well it definitely went better than our visit with Rarity..."
"Oh, Spike," Twilight said empathetically.
The young unicorn had been planning on visiting the party pony now, but she didn't know how well it would go down and she was too tired to handle anything that could go wrong. She had her own problems to worry about, plus Rainbow Dash's health and Rarity's drug problem. At this moment, Twilight Sparkle could not deal with reuniting with a dysfunctional pony. So she instinctively headed in the direction of the library, only to be reminded by Spike halfway there that the tree wasn't able to be lived in anymore.
"Where can we go then? I'm not sleeping outside tonight, it looks like the pegasi have a pretty nasty rainstorm scheduled for tonight," she said, motioning to the dark clouds hovering above.
"Well, I know you said you didn't wanna go see any of the girls right now, but the Apple Family always seemed pretty sane to me, and they have a pretty big house."
Twilight sighed and came to terms with the fact that what had to be done had to be done. Applejack had always been very work oriented, always very held together. She didn't let much get to her. She was probably the least likely to be a complete mess, so with a huff, Twilight decided that one more visit with a friend couldn't hurt.
.
.
.
"They were what?!" Twilight shrieked in shock. This was definitely not what she was expecting from Applejack. Maybe a family member falling ill or a bad winter ruined the spring crop of apples, but this was far from the norm for Applejack.
"Yep. Murdered. And the worst part is I have no idea who did it," the cowpony sighed. "And why'd they spare me? I mean, if it was, let's say, a business rival, I don't see why they'd kill Granny and Apple Bloom too, but not me." Applejack slumped down in her seat. "I don't see why anypony would kill any of us..."
"Applejack, that's terrible!" Twilight said. She still couldn't believe that of all the possible things that could have been wrong with Applejack, it was this. Somepony murdered her whole family, leaving Applejack nothing to remember them by but their blood and butchered carcasses.
"I know. It's been almost two years now and the Ponyville Police Department hasn't figured out anything. They have the Apple Family case file registered as a cold case now. ...Not that those slackers at the police department could dig up squat about anything too complex."
Twilight sat on the couch in the family room of the Apple Family's house quietly contemplating this scenario. Spike was asleep upstairs, leaving the two mares by themselves. Applejack seemed very open about the situation, in terms of talking about the scene she walked in on. Apple Bloom had been sliced numerous times according to Applejack's retelling, leaving a large dark red stain on her comforter. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were mutilated beyond recognition, and Winona had been stabbed repeatedly by the culprit. For the life of her, Applejack couldn't comprehend why the murderer let her live.
After talking about the murder scene and moving the topic along to other things, the two mares conversated for an hour or so before Twilight proclaimed that she was tired. Applejack showed her to the guest bedroom and told the purple unicorn to make herself at home. After thanking the cowpony once more for allowing her to stay, Twilight shut the lights off and buried herself under the covers. Soon she was sound asleep, a light snore droning from her muzzle.
And it would be one of the best nights of sleep Twilight Sparkle would get after her return to Ponyville.
