All was quiet and peaceful in Ponyville. For the inhabitants of the town, this was a blessing. Only two weeks have passed since Discord was defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Though his return was brief, the draconequus left behind much destruction and havoc in his wake, upholding his title as the embodiment of chaos. Ponyville was lucky compared to the major cities, who suffered more than just property damage. Needless to say funeral services had their work cut out for them.
Twilight Sparkle sat on her balcony, gazing up at the night sky. The stars seemed to glow more beautifully than usual. Given past events, Luna was probably doing her best to give ponies everywhere something else to think about other than recent events. In troubled times, ponies will pay attention to anything to keep their minds off worry, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
"Hey, Egghead! Don't you think this is a bit late even for you?"
She looked around, confused at where the voice came from. Standing up, she looked down to see her friend Rainbow Dash looking up at her with a cheeky grin.
"I could say the same to you, Dash." Twilight replied, her expression unamused. "You spent too much napping that you can't sleep at night now?"
"There's no such thing as 'too much napping', Twi." Rainbow chuckled, ascending up to Twilight.
Landing on the platform, Dash leaned against the railing and silence ensued.
"...Rainbow, you and I both know you wouldn't be here with me unless you had something on your mind." Twilight spoke, sitting back down. "What's the real reason you're here?"
The light blue pony looked down.
"Can we talk inside?"
Twilight silently complied, getting back up and opened the door into her room. Rainbow walked inside with Twilight behind her and the two quietly headed downstairs to the main reading room. They both illuminated the room with candles before sitting down at a table where they resumed their silence. Rainbow Dash stared at the burning candle between the two, looking intensely focused on the flame, but her eyes showed heavy contemplation. Twilight held a concerned gaze on her friend, wondering what could be troubling her.
"Dash...What's wrong?" She started.
"Twilight, I feel like somepony is missing in our lives."
The purple pony blinked in surprise before raising an eyebrow, not out of curiosity, but of caution.
"What do you mean?"
Rainbow Dash grunted in irritation and facehoofed.
"You know what I said."
She got up from her seat, pacing back and forth.
"I've been trying to ignore it since the day we defeated Discord, but I just can't get it off my mind." Dash abruptly stopped, facing Twilight with a serious expression. "The house on the outskirt of town...Everypony says no one has ever lived in that place. At first, I thought it was some sort of crude joke, but when everypony in town gave me the same answer, I knew something was wrong."
The blue pony walked over to the window near the doorway and stared outside.
"I think something else happened when Discord returned to Equestria." She looked back at Twilight. "And my gut feeling tells me you know that too, Twi."
Several minutes passed before Twilight's suspicious stare faltered.
"Wait here."
Rainbow Dash sat back down in her seat as Twilight got up and head for the door that lead into her basement where she did all her experiments in private. The pony came back up with a photo album, and set it down on the table. Dash was quick to open the book.
"Hey...These are all the photos you've taken since you came to Ponyville!" She exclaimed, looking back up at Twilight. "It looks like you're missing a few."
"Not just any random ones either; specific pictures containing your missing pony."
"So you do know something is up."
"Yes and I think our direct connection to this pony is why nopony but us remembers her."
Twilight bit down on her lip momentarily, collecting her thoughts.
"Now that we know this pony isn't someone we made up in our imagination, this confirms my theory." She continued. "Everypony's memory was altered during Discord's return. What we don't know is why and how it happened."
"I think we'll find our answers at the house. Before I came here, I checked the place out and tried breaking down the door." Rainbow Dash said. "Some magical spell just bounced me right back. That's why I came here since you're the element of magic and all."
"Looks we're already off onto another adventure."
"Only this time, it's just us. Listen, I need to head home first to grab a few things; I'll meet you at the place as soon as I can. Gotta dash!"
In less than ten seconds flat, Rainbow Dash was out the door, taking off into the sky. Twilight Sparkle giggled, relieved to see that despite everything they've been through as a group, Rainbow Dash and the others have remained the same. She walked out of her house, shutting the door behind her before trotting towards her destination. Along the way, she took notice of another pony on a bridge. It was Ditzy Doo, or 'Derpy Hooves' as some ponies come to know her as. Although Twilight didn't necessarily approve of the name, it helped the mail mare differentiate who was her friend and who wasn't in this town.
"Hello, Ditzy." She said once she got closer.
The pegasus jumped up in surprised, clearly startled as she turned around, smiling when she saw it was none other than Twilight.
"Oh, hello, Miss Twilight" The blond maned mare greeted her politely. "I thought everypony would be asleep by now. Guess not."
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you out here, Ditzy?"
"Just thinking..."
The mail mare turned around and looked back at the stream underneath them. Twilight wanted to press further, but felt it wasn't her place to do so. She didn't really know Ditzy well enough to try.
"Well, have a good night, Ditzy. Stay safe."
"You too, Miss Twilight."
Unknown to Twilight, Ditzy watched her walk away until she could no longer see her. A few minutes passed before something clicked and her eyes widened.
"Wait...That's the direction of..."
She flapped her wings, floating up into the sky.
"...I should follow her."
Rainbow Dash stared at the house in front of her. It was nothing special and looked just the same as any other house in Ponyville, excluding the dust and broken windows on it. Her ears picked up walking behind her and she turned around to see Twilight.
"About time you got here, Tardypants." She smirked
"What? I was late?" Worry and fright raised in Twilight tone as her right eye started twitching rapidly. "I didn't know we were supposed to be in a hurry, you didn't say anything about time! I assumed-"
"I was joking, Twi." Dash interrupted her quickly, realizing her tease affected her friend way more than she anticipated. It was actually kind of scary...
"Oh." Twilight frowned briefly before looking past Rainbow Dash. "Okay, give me a moment. I need to scan the house first to identify what we're dealing with."
"Yeah, I'll just stand here and let you do your thing."
Twilight stopped in front of the door. Her horn started to glow and in response, a magical seal appeared. Rainbow Dash moved to Twilight's side who stared at the lock with great curiosity.
"How fitting..." Twilight spoke, though it was more like she was speaking to herself than Rainbow. "This type of barrier can only be unlocked with the right people present. Otherwise, it's nearly impossible for anypony to open...aside from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
Dash stared at the lock; in the center, there were three pony figures in cylinders. Only two of them glowed while the other remained dark.
"We're missing a pony." She stated the obvious. "Looks like a Pegasus..."
"Since we both share the common trait that we know somepony is missing, there must be another in Ponyville who remembers her."
"That could take days!" Rainbow shouted. "Who else in Ponyville knows her better than us?"
At that exact moment, the unlit circular panel flashed brightly. Twilight managed to cover her eyes in time, but Dash wasn't so lucky. Once the burst of light dissipated, she lowered her foreleg from her face and saw the seal gone and door opened. Looking back at her friend on the ground who was dazed, she used her telekinesis to set her back up on her hooves. Dash shook her head, ridding herself of the effects quickly before noticing the opened doorway.
"That was convenient but...You and I are the only ones here."
"Not exactly, Rainbow Dash."
The two looked behind them to see Ditzy Doo.
"Ditzy?" Twilight blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "You know about-"
"How could I not?" Ditzy retorted, shaking her head. "There's no way I would ever forget her...She helped me more than anypony has in years. I thought I was going insane when I noticed the pictures we took together were gone...that maybe I was deluding myself. Seeing you guys here and what I saw...told me otherwise."
Dash and Twilight looked at each other, then back at Ditzy.
"Ditzy, the same thing happened to me as well." Twilight spoke. "The photos I collected over the time I've been in Ponyville...there are missing areas-gaps in time where I took pictures with her: They're all gone."
The three returned their attention back to the house.
"We came here looking for answers." Twilight said.
"So did I. That's why I followed you." Ditzy nodded her head. "I want to get to the bottom of this. Why we seem to be the only ones that retained our memories of her. Listen...I know we haven't really gotten to know each other, but please, can I tag along with you?"
"I'd be no different from Gilda if I said no." Rainbow Dash grinned. "And I'm sure Twilight doesn't object to this either."
Twilight smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you." Ditzy bowed her head. "That means a lot to me..."
"We're not getting any closer to solving this mystery sitting here and being sappy. Let's get in there!"
Rainbow Dash rushed into the house and vanished as soon as she ran through the doorway.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight and Ditzy ran in after her.
So, uh, yeah, I have no idea where I'm going with this. I'll figure it out sooner or later. Anyways, tell me what you think. Comment, like/dislike, etc.