This is Not Friendship, This is Not Magic.

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."