This is Not Friendship, This is Not Magic.

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.