...*Riiiiing*...

"...Stabilised! Keep her...!"

Darkness... It blinds her....

"Damnit...! She's... much blood...! ... Losing her!"

...And not just her vision. Her thoughts and feelings lay surrerendered to the pessimistic dark that envelops her.
Ignore it...
Reject it...
It remains.
No matter what. It'll hurt, break, or kill. One way or another.

"...Shrapnel near... heart, lungs, wings... She might not.......
No!...... Too impor....!"

But, just like the Yin Yang... For every great deal of darkness, there's always a counter-balance of light.
The two do, however, co-exist with hostility.
So when the dark has had his fun, light must act in contrast.

"... Sparkle...? ... You hear me?! Twi.......?! ...............!!!!"

Now watch, dear reader...
As the light slowly comes to grip with her...
Filling all her friends...
Familly...
And loved ones.

Into blank slates.
Memories... All whiter than paper.

!

The purple mares bloodshot eyes shot wide open. Revealing a plain, white tiled ceiling. Her head felt warm and fuzzy; aching at bit.
She may not've been able to move too much, but judging by the lightest of shuffles... She could feel that she was laying on something soft... A bed, perhaps?
'Where... Where am I' The Mare thought. She tried running her memories back, in hopes of finding some solution or reasoning.
But there was nothing...
Memories of last week?
Nothing.

Memories of last month?
Nothing...

Any memories at all!? Of ponies? Colleges? Her own name??
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.

Arising from her pillow and now sitting upright, she took a long yet panicked look at her hooves.
"Who am I...?"
Who am I? The words echoed across her head, getting louder as they bounced. Asking the same question, over and over and over again.
With no answer to aid it.

That was until,
"Sparkle! I'm... My name is... Sparkle? But, that's all I remember... That's who I am, right? So why does it feel so... so...."
"Um... Miss?"
Instantaneously, Sparkle cracked her head left. Coming into view of what could only be assumed to be a nurse. Judging by her clothing, of course.
"Who... What's your name...?" She questioned the pony in white.
"Ahem... I am Nurse Red Heart. I will be your official Doctor for the day.
But I must inform you... Miss Sparkle, this may seem to be a bit much to take in. But please! Try and remain calm when I say...

"...You've been stuck in a 3-year long coma."

Red Heart was definitely right about one thing. Upon hearing the news, Sparkle didn't even have a reaction. Her pupils narrowed to pixels after letting the information sink in. Returning a bland look of sorrow and loss towards the Nurses sympathy.
"Though, I must know. Is it true? Do you remember nothing, Miss?"
"No... Not at all..." Sparkle admitted, staring at the floor in defeat.
"Hmmm... An abrubt loss of memory... Retrograde amnesia, maybe?"

"Do...Do you know my name?"
Red Heart opened her mouth in response, when:
"Sparkle... Solid Sparkle"
A large, white alicorn with a bright, flowing rainbow mane entered the room. Despite not being able to recalling a single thing, Solid Sparkle felt a wave of familiarity wash over her in the mere sight of the princess... She swore that she knew her.
"B-but Princess...!" Red Heart objected, "You know exactly who this is. Why didn't you-?"
"Did I stutter?" The Alicorn countered with assertiveness.

In an instant, the Nurse shut her mouth. Choosing not to question her superior.
"You are relived of your duty. Go home."
"Y-yes, Celestia..."
And with a single, almost reluctant nod, Red Heart trotted out of the room. Leaving the two ponies in silence and isolation.

"Solid Sparkle... Are you well?" Celestia said, her face becoming slightly more caring as she broke the ice.
"I... don't know." Sparkle replied with dismay, "I just feel so hollow...So empty. What's going on?"
Celestia's gaze shifted away from Sparkle and towards the window, where the sun's light obscured the vision of them both.
"A lot has changed... Not for better, but for worse..." She pondered aloud, before bringing herself back to her original task, "Come with me, Solid Sparkle. We have much to discuss..."
"But w-wait!" Sparkle got up and off of her bed, only to find a throbbing sensation burn the left side of her back. Where she found a bandaged stump, which looked liked it had bore a wing once... "What the...?"
"Hey! I still have questions! Are you listening? Please, you can just leave me in the dark like this...!" Sparkle begged.
"They'll be answered in due time... For now, follow me." Celestia said calmly. Holding the door open for her.
Something wasn't right about Celestia, if her dismissive attitude really had an effect to her on a social scale, then it most obviously couldn't have been good...
Still, an explanation doesn't usually take so long. Her wing was missing, she'd taken a 3 year long nap and to put the icing on the cake... amnesia!
And though Sparkle hated being forced to stay ignorant to knowledge, she felt she had no other choice but to comply...

...

Now walking though the corridor of the Hospital, Celestia ramained unusually focused...
"So... Are you gonna talk?" Despite Sparkles query, all it did was make her stop and put a hoof to her ear.
Her odd actions earned a raised eyebrow from Solid Sparkle.
"Ok, but seriously. What are you doing? I'm starting to get sick of asking."
Suddenly, A ringing went off in her ear, similar to the kind of ringing that you would hear from of telephone. "What the..? Do you hear that?"
"Answer it. Just place a hoof to your ear, like I do."
"O...kay, then..."

AUX
[C A L L]
Push select
140.86

Celestia: Solid Sparkle. Can you hear me?

Sparkle: Wait... What are..- But...! Huh!?

Celestia: Please, stay calm. We are currently communicating by Codec.

Sparkle: Codec? I just...- I don't even...- How long was I really out for...?

Celestia: Too long... Now allow me to explain. The Codec is a means of calling and speaking with another pony, but just much more silently. In a way, it's like telepathy. Only with technology and radio frequencies.

Sparkle: Tech-no-logy...?

Celestia: It's too much to explain now, but I thought I should bring it up by demonstrating what this is. In order to use the Codec, you need to type in a frequency if you want to make a call. For instance, my frequency is 140.86.

Sparkle: *Sigh* Alright... That's all well and good. But why, in any right of common sense, would I need this?

Celestia: You'll see...

Sparkle: Again with this? Why don't you stop being so vague and give it too me straight? What. The Hell. IS GOING ON?

Celestia: ...

Sparkle: Hello...? Helllooo? Are you still there? Wait, did you just-?

CALL ENDED

As Sparkles' vision returned after being abruptly hung up on, she found herself not in a Hospital. But now somewhere new.
It was a simple, large, grey coloured room. No furniture decorated its space... and no pony seemed to be around. The only thing worth notice was the gigantic window that overlooked the landscape.
And it was there, that Celestia was found. Getting lost in the view...

"I'm sure you have a lot to ask, my little pony..." Celestia stated.
"Ya got that right..." She confessed, approaching the lone Alicorn and sitting besides her.

"It all began three years ago...
Equestria was a land of peace, harmony, and most importantly, equality.
It was a place were every pony of any kind could fit in." A smile showed up as she lamented the past. "Despite this, there were quite a number of ponies who...well, didn't agree with this land of 'friendship'. Villains of different calibre would try out their schemes, all in hopes to overthrow my rule... They, fortunately, would never come to prevail. All thanks to the Six heroic mares. Each of which shared a close bond with one another, like siblings... And it is from that bond, that forged The Elements of Harmony.

Their was Pinkie pie, element of laughter.
Applejack, element of honesty.
Rarity, element of generosity.
Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty.
Fluttershy, element of kindness.
And finally, you... Solid Sparkle. The Element of the magic of friendship."

"Hold up... So you're saying that I was a hero once?"

"You were the leader of the Elements of Harmony. A role only suited for you."

"Damn... Me? A hero...?
What changed then?"

"Well, long after the defeat of the Changlings... Queen Chrysalis, the ruler of the Changling hive and long time foe, offered my kingdom a peace treaty...
'As long as we supply them with their proper means of sustenance and the freedom to roam Equestria. And they, in turn, would no longer attack, but rather assist us if we ever needed it.'
Of coarse, we had our doubts. I always knew that a Changling would turn to any chance to backstab for personal gain...
And from the way it was looking, we would've denied their offers.
That was, until an annomaly occurred. A "friendly" Changling by the name of Thorax had been uncovered near the Chrystal Palace. He claimed to only want to live a normal life, and to be accepted among the common-folk...
Thorax, to the end, was a good pony. Breaking from the chains of his own home to be amongst us, it really moved me. And with that, I accepted Chrysalis' Truce."

"Surprisingly enough, all was well.
We gave them their fair share of love, and they returned as much as they said they would. We even got some insight into the biology of a Changling as well as making vast strides in the creation of technology. Turns out that the race of bug ponies were much more intelligent than we first anticipated. And for a while, the future shone bright...
But however, it wouldn't stay that way, not forever.
Even though the majority of ponies and Changlings were happy with the union of the two tribes. There's are some that, for what ever reason, just don't agree with our way of life..."
Her tone grew somber as she stared distantly at the barren and now divided land that lay in front of her.
"Does that answer everything, Sparkle?"

"Actually, I do have to ask you one more thing," Solid Sparkle chimed. "In what way does...ALL of this play into me and how I got here?"

"Ah, I see... Well, had I continued to the full extent of the story, you would've known by now...
But... Things don't get good from this point out." She warned.
"It all happened... In the Ponyville Bombing of '09." Celestia tried to clear the lump in her throat as she uttered the event.
"I still remember the day clearly; too clearly... I wasn't there during to watch the whole thing unfold, but I had heard that there had been an 'extremist' in the town... A suicide bomber. And he had demands... I knew I needed to hurry."

Celestia had just teleported to the entrance of Ponyville and, without a moments notice, rushed throught the town before things turned south. She would've teleported directly into the heart of ponyville, but even for an Alicorn, teleportation magic takes a lot to pull off.
Dashing through crowds, her lungs heaved and legs ached as each breath she took burned her mouth. Begging her to slow down.
But she didn't.
She couldn't.
Not with the populace in fatal danger.
'Please, God...! Please tell me i'm not too late!' She prayed, it was all she could do at the time. To her fortune, she, at last, found a large crowd chattering among each other as they circled around what looked like two ponies standing face to face.
One was a changling with a jacket packed with C4, dynamite and other leathal explosives.
The other was the purple alicorn, Princess Sparkle herself. She appereared to be nagotiating with him...

"Stay away from me, ya hear?! Or I blow this entire town to kingdom come!"

"Please, calm down sir...! I'm sure there's a better way to do this!"

"There is no other way!
I read the papers...! You imprisioned my brothers who oppossed your soft 'friendship'. Judged them with an uneven jury of ponies who could never understand us! and as a proud member of the changling H.O.P.E, I can never forgive you! Set them free, or pay the price...!"
Celestia tried so desperately to speak up, but in her futile attempts at making a cohesive sentence, her scorched lungs just wouldn't allow it.
Still, she needed to something... and fast!

"What's it gonna be Sparkler? You have 5 seconds, make up your mind!" he stated, holding a detonator with his magic.

"N-no! Wait! I need more-""
"FIVE...FOUR...!"
"Please! You can't...-"
"THREE...TWO...!
ONE!"

"Alright, alright!! I give in!" Sparkle shouted, waving her hooves at him in panic.

"Heheheh...! Gooood." The Changling grinned sadistically. "So you finally decide to give me what I want, eh? Took ya long enough..."
"Yes, I fully agree to your terms..." she strained herself to say. "I promise to let them free. But first, I have to ask you one thing..."
"Huh...? What the hell is it?" he sneered.

"You afraid of hights...?"
"Eh?"
In an fraction of a second, the alicorn ponced at the bomber, tackling him whilst also gaining hight from flapping her wings as quickly and as powerfully as possible.
"GAH! How... How dare you! Grrrrrr! Geddoff me...!"
Sparkle ignored him, only flying higher and higher... As she ascended, a closed her eyes. Embracing her fate...
From the ground, Celestia's eyes' widened in fear as she saw the purple and black dot get smaller...
And smaller...

And smaller......

...

........

....................

*KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The air above her lit up with an explosion of fire and flames. Like a firework from hell.

Celestia's fear now turned into a horrific agony as she silently witnessed her most prized and precious student go out in ball of molten hot flames... It was undeniable.
Sparkle... was gone.

"No..." Her eyes welled up with tears, blinding her sight as smoke filled the air...
"Please God... Please let this be a dream..."
Alas... It was not a dream, nor a nightmare... But rather, the cold and harsh wave of reality.
Her legs failed her; the princess now collapsed onto the floor. Bawling her eyes out and sobbing as the ponies around could only watch.

It was clear... Equestria had lost one alicorn that day.

Or so they thought...
"Hey...! Look! Up there!" A towns pony pointed out.

Celestia ceased her crying and gazed into the sky once more.
From the giant dark cloud, a mare could be seen falling with blood streaking across her body.
Without even thinking, she took flight and rushed straight towards Sparkle. Embracing and holding onto the limp body as she began to descend...
Upon closer inspection, Sparkle had stayed in one piece. But had several burnt patches of fur as well as a very few strand of hair on her head.
"Medics! We need medics, fast!"

"...And well... you should know the story from here."

"Oh... Wow... Celestia, I had... I'm... so, so sorry for making you worry. I really am."

"Don't be." She waved her hoof dismissively, "You made a heroic sacrifice. For all the lives of those who witnessed it, you chose to end yourself in their turn of their chance at a full life. I can't thank you enough."

"I'm... not sure what to say, to be honest. As wild as this all sounds, I can't exactly accept your 'thank yous'... mainly because of the lack of memory of the event."

"If you say so, my little pony... But as of right now, a war rages on.
After the bombing took place, I made it my personal mission to interrogate the every changling in search of this group... The Changlings' 'Haven Of Proper Equality', or H.O.P.E.
I swore on your life that I would bring them the rightful justice they deserved..! But alas, when I aligned my troops to search their city, Chrysalis stood in my way.
'I'm sorry Celestia, but under no conditions will I have you rummaging through my property.' is what she told me. I was confused yet very suspicious, no matter what I said or promised, she wouldn't budge... So after some thinking. I came to the conclusion that she was a part of H.O.P.E; that she planned that attack on my town.
And so, I waged war..."

Silence broke out as Celestia reflected on her past decisions, showing some signs of regret mixed in with anger.
Sparkle, on the other hoof, was busy in the thought of the H.O.P.E.
Why on earth, would any pony do something so... heartless. Why didn't they like us?
Who did they thing they were to carry out such cruel motives...?

"Sign me up."
"What?" She gazed in shock of her words.
"For the war, sign me up."
"You want to... fight? B-but, Sparkle. Why?"
She placed a hoof on Celestias' shoulder.
"Well... I may not know much. But even still, what kind of 'hero' idly sits around while others are dying? Not me, that's for sure. I guess what I really mean is... I don't want to lose sight of who I was."
Jaw still slightly agape, the princess took a long, hard second about Sparkles decision.
"You do know what you're getting yourself into by doing this, right? Training you correctly is a harsh road itself, and that doesn't even count in the war going on. You can get seriously crippled, injured, or even killed... Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Shoot me, stab me, I don't care. As long as I'm able to make the difference, then i'll be happy."
"So be it. Solid Sparkle. Promise me. That no matter what the situation may be. Through the face of death and fire. You will keep fighting the good fight..."
"Yes, Princess...!"
"Then salute."
All confidence in her face seemingly disappered...
"Errrrm... Salute?" Celestia playfully roled her eyes.
"Like this," She put her hoof to her forehead will holding the other firmly on the ground.
Sparkle mouthed an 'Oh' as she went through the same motions as Celestia just taught her.

"Very well. Come, now. You have lots of training ahead..."

Author's Note

Hey, Guys!
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Please, if you would like to see more chapters. Be sure to give this story a like.
And of corse, if you've noticed any mistakes in the chapter, be sure to let me know.

Hope y'all have a good day!