Forgotten

Chapters

A Wave of Forgetfulness
The Opposites
In The Mayor's Office
Celestia's New Student
A Friendly Group
Scootaloo's Fate
Bumble Trot
Return to Canterlot
A Forgetful Family
Bumble Trot's Explanation
The Princess Gets Lectured
A Name Change
Starlight's Experience
The Real Wave
Jailbreak in Ponyville
A Glimmer of Hope
The S.P.F.'s "Cure"
The Changing of the Mark
The Effects of a Spell
Twilight's Confession
The Radiation of Friendship
Remembrance
Under the Moon
Enter Sombra!
Come Forth, Warriors!
Twilight vs. Sombra
How to Mourn
Epilogue: True Friendship
Business as Usual
In the Ponyville Prison

A Wave of Forgetfulness

Twilight and her friends made their way back from Sugarcube Corner, having filled their respective stomachs completely with all the delectable treats that were made there. They each dealt with their own form of stomachache, and realized that their caloric intake for the day had been grossly exhausted. The collective groan from the group could be heard throughout Ponyville as they headed towards the trapped bear.

"I ate too much cake…" Twilight moaned.

"I ate too many apple crisps…" Applejack groaned.

"I ate too much ice cream…" Pinkie said in pain.

"I ate too much chocolate…" Rainbow Dash said.

"I ate too much cobbler," Fluttershy moaned, "but it was so delicious!"

"I ate too many wintry frost milkshakes with delicate whipped cream and a nice, pleasing frothy foam…" Rarity said, "the balance of flavors…the ultimate culinary genius…it was all too much for my palette to handle! I had to have just…one…more!"

The other ponies looked at her and stifled smiles. Even at Sugarcube Corner, their fashion obsessed friend had to eat like she was in the highest of societies. She always remembered her manners, and would take polite small sips of her milkshake while the rest of them scarfed down their own desserts.

"Man," Dash said, "I thought I'd never stop eating Mrs. Cake's special chocolate recipe. Good Celestia, that stuff's delicious!"

The other ponies nodded as they reminisced about the delicious items they had enjoyed. Twilight could almost taste the butterscotch frosting off the cake she had consumed. Even in absence, its sweetness danced with her tongue. It was as if she was the belle of the ball, and it was the charming prince who had come to sweep her off her hooves. Her eyes grew wide with excitement and soon she was giggling to spite her stomachache.

"Uh…Twi? You're giggling like a filly," Applejack said, "mind tellin' us why?"

"Oh, I don't know," Twilight said amidst spurts of laughter, "I find that, whenever I'm sick, laughing helps a bit."

"I couldn't agree more!" Pinkie shouted as she began laughing, "amusement is always good for a stomachache!"

"Alright, alright," Rainbow Dash said, "I got one. What kind of hats do racing ponies wear?"

"What?" Rarity asked.

"Derbies!" Rainbow Dash said.

The whole group burst out into a joyous cacophony of laughter, giggles, chortles, and chuckles. They couldn't contain themselves any longer, and they found that their princess leader's advice was good. The laughter really did help with the pain they felt in their stomachs. "Oh, my Celestia! That was a good one, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said, "but I think I've got a better one. What do you call music made by an apple?"

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Apple Core!"

Another great bout of laughter followed this, as the group continued down the main street of town. Their fellow ponies peeked out of their cottages, looking oddly at the group, but chalking this outburst up to their amazing friendship. Truth be told, those ponies were always envious of the bond between Twilight and the rest of her group, but they never dared speak about it. After all, they didn't want to insult a princess of Equestria. Celestia would have their manes on silver platters if they did so.

Twilight smiled as she walked at the head of her friends. Kindred spirits… she said to herself once again, …two words never described a group of friends so well. Six ponies who are so different, yet so uniquely compatible. I am truly honored to call you all my friends…and I will never, ever forget you.

As soon as she said this to herself, a huge quaking shook the earth beneath their hooves. They all fell over and covered their heads, fearful of some great apocalyptic event. Then, a huge white wave came from the direction of Canterlot and blanketed the land. Twilight instinctively threw a force field around herself. She tried to do so for her friends, but by then, it was too late. The wave had caught them all up, and it slung them around like rag dolls. Twilight had seen washing machines with less of a spin cycle. "Wha…what is that?!" She yelled from inside her bubble. But she didn't have time to answer her own question, because suddenly, her bubble was smashed in and everything went dark...

...When she awoke, she noticed she was back in the forest where they had fought the bear, only the bear and all traces of the fiery trap were completely gone. That's strange, she thought to herself, why would all evidence of our fight be gone? She looked around and noticed that the trees that had been damaged by she and Rarity's constant magic blasts had been repaired. Then she looked to the side and got an even bigger shock: Fluttershy's animal sanctuary was completely gone!

This is too crazy, she told herself, I'd better get back to town and find out what's going on.

She ran back into Ponyville, expecting to get the happy greetings she normally got from the ponies there, but everypony seemed to ignore her. To be frank, their cold shoulders insulted her. She became angry at their incivility and ran off towards Sweet Apple Acres. At least there's somepony there who'll listen to me, she told herself.

She ran through the gate and noticed that the entire Apple family was out bucking apples. Ah, she told herself, finally, a familiar environment. She ran up to Applejack and tapped her on the shoulder. The orange pony turned around in surprise.

"Hey, Applejack," Twilight said, "look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm-"

"Pardon?" Applejack asked, "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've been properly introduced yet."

Twilight's mouth fell open in shock. "I…you…we're friends!"

"Friends?" Applejack asked, and then got an odd look about her. "Sorry, hun, but I'd remember meetin' somepony like yourself. Especially them odd wings of yers. You look funnier than a timber wolf at the spa!"

"My odd wings?" Twilight said, "but…I'm an Alicorn, and all Alicorns carry elements of Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns."

"Sorry, sugar cube, ain't never heard of an Alicorn before. Maybe you need to go see the pony psychiatrist. I don't think yer all right in yer head. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some apple buckin' to do." The apple farmer turned her back on Twilight and went right back into the orchard.

Twilight could only stand there in complete and absolute shock. The impossible had happened. Her friends meant more to her than anything in Equestria, and one of them seemed to have forgotten her existence. I have to find out what's going on! Twilight said to herself. She turned tail and ran out of the farm, looking for more of her friends.

As she ran along, she spied Rainbow Dash flying high overhead. "Rainbow Dash!" She called out, waving a hoof. The blue pony stopped and dropped to the ground, sitting on her haunches in front of Twilight. "Hi, Dash," Twilight said, "look, Applejack seems to have forgotten my existence, so I-"

"Who? Who the hay's Applejack?" Dash asked.

Twilight stumbled back a bit in surprise. No…not you too, she said to herself. "Why…she's your friend, and so am I!"

"Sorry, but I think I'd remember meeting somepony like you," she said, "I mean, you've got wings and a horn! What are you, some kind of Pegasi/Unicorn hybrid?"

"I'm an Alicorn!" Twilight said in frustration, "why hasn't anypony heard of an Alicorn?!"

"Sorry…um, what was your name?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but I've never heard of this…Alicorn species. All I know are my Pegasi brethren, and we rule the skies, by order of Queen Celestia! So I'd highly recommend getting those wings removed, otherwise we may have to rip them off your sides." Dash gave Twilight a very unfriendly scowl before jetting back off into the bright blue heavens. QUEEN Celestia?! Twilight yelled internally, and no Alicorns?! What the hay's going on here?! Determined to find out, she headed off towards Rarity's boutique, certain that her fashionista friend would remember who she was.

The Opposites

Twilight raced into Rarity's boutique, out of breath. The past thirty minutes of her life had been completely transformative, only the transformations weren't good ones. On the contrary, they had taken the purple pony's very existence and thrown it into a tornadic tailspin that saw her wide eyed and panicked as she entered her friend's shop. She felt like nothing would ever be the same again, and she knew that if Rarity had forgotten who she was, then all her worst fears would be realized.

She walked up to where Rarity was helping somepony with a dress. She knew that helping clients was the most important thing Rarity did, but this was urgent. After all, in a relatively small sliver of time, she seemed to have been erased from existence! She had to know if Rarity remembered her. So she tapped the pretty mare on the shoulder.

She was met with bright blue eyes that were rather upset at being interrupted, but showed a strong level of inquisition and uncertainty. Oh, no, Twilight said to herself, she doesn't remember me! Externally, she smiled and said, "hi, Rarity!"

"Um, hello, darling. If you'll excuse me, I'll be with you in a moment."

She turned back and resumed helping her client. Twilight's face fell. There was no bright eyed recognition of their friendship, no reaffirmation of their sisterhood. It seemed as if all the wonderful memories the two had made together had been dashed to pieces, and Twilight could not reassemble them. Her lip quivered a bit. None of her friends knew who she was. But she had to keep a stalwart face. She would just befriend them all over again! Then she remembered the evil look Rainbow Dash had given her and that idea flew out the window like a beautiful bird that was just out of reach.

When Rarity had finished her business, she turned back and faced Twilight. "Yes, darling. I'm sorry for being so short with you, but that was one of my most important clients: Sassy Saddles, the brilliant fashion designer. Now, how may I be of service to you?"

"Wait…Sassy Saddles is one of your clients?"

"Yes! OH, it's wonderful! She even said that I make amazing gowns, and that, if I work really hard, someday I might be able to open my own boutique in Canterlot!"

Twilight's mouth fell open. The entire world had gone backwards! Rarity's shop in Canterlot had been whisked away by the wind thanks to whatever was in that magic wave. The smiling fashionista had no idea that she was once the proud owner of a fashion empire. Now, she was back to being simply Rarity, the generous designer from Ponyville.

"Um…uh…"

"Is something wrong, darling?"

"No, I mean, yes," Twilight stumbled through her words, "look, I know this is gonna sound utterly and completely insane, but…we're friends, Rarity."

"Friends? Oh, I'm sure you're a lovely pony and whatnot, but I don't have time for frivolities like that. Sweetie, I'm building a glorious fashion wonderland here, and I just don't have the schedule for things like friendship and trust. It's a fashionable world out there, and I'm gonna take it over! Soon, I'll be the fashion queen of Equestria!"

Her eyes sparkled as she praised herself. That's not the Rarity I know, Twilight said to herself, she always talked about her employees over herself. She gave them a lot of credit. I mean, true, it's because of her vision that her fashion empire was built in the first place, but still. She's never been so self-serving! Come to think of it, all of my friends were acting like the opposite of their Elements of Harmony. Applejack was mistrusting, Rainbow Dash was mean and disloyal, and Rarity's selfish! Holy Celestia! Does that mean Fluttershy is a cruel animal hater…and does that mean Pinkie Pie is a grouch? Oh, not that again!

She flashed back to their battle with Discord when her friends had become corrupted. She relived the pain she went through when she realized that her friendships had been destroyed and there was nothing she could do about it. Her tears were many as she had allowed his evil spirit to mess with her mind. Then she smiled as she remembered the Elements of Harmony and how they had rescued them. But now the Elements were gone and the Tree of Harmony had been destroyed, thanks to King Sombra. But, friendship itself is magic! So…why has its magic been erased?

"Darling," Rarity said, breaking into Twilight's thoughts. The purple pony snapped back into reality. "Yes?"

"I adore those wings," Rarity said, "they are well fit for any Pegasus, but…it's about your horn."

"My horn?"

"Indeed. Only unicorns are allowed to use magic. Anypony knows that. You'd better get rid of it, you imposter, or I shall have to report you to Queen Celestia's secret police! Now, get out of my shop, you horrendous doppelganger!" Rarity screamed the final words at Twilight as the purple pony bolted from the store. The fashion obsessed mare had even dared to nip at her a little bit. Twilight was shocked. She had never seen Rarity get so angry. I have to get to the bottom of this, she told herself, but first…I have to see if my assumptions are correct. I have to get to Fluttershy's cottage!

So she ran off towards the edge of town, and the small home that the quiet Pegasus had built for herself. When she got there, she stopped and her mouth fell open once again. It was one of the most disgusting sights she had ever seen. The front flowerbeds were badly in need of weeding, and not a single flower blossomed. The front lawn was overgrown, and Twilight noticed multiple clumps of poison ivy and oak growing freely.

The cottage itself was even worse. Vines climbed the face of the tree that Fluttershy lived in, and the windows were broken. The front door had been knocked off its hinges, and was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. What was worse, the entire thing seemed to sag on its foundation. Twilight stepped lightly as she made her way over the weed covered front walk and knocked on the door. "Fluttershy?"

Suddenly, a sleazy, yet angry stallion's voice answered. "Who is it?!"

"Um…Twilight Sparkle?"

Suddenly, a blue pony came running down the stairs and stopped short when he saw the rather pretty young mare before him. His eyes bugged out and he slicked his mane back. Twilight recoiled with a groan. It wasn't Fluttershy, but her lazy younger brother, Zephyr Breeze.

"Oh, I see we have a new mare in town…and, if I may say so, she is as hot as the fires that burn in-"

"Save it," Twilight growled, "I'm not in the mood for cheesy pick-up lines. Now, where is Fluttershy?"

"My sister? Why? What has she done this time?"

"Done?"

"Yeah, you don't know? The other day, she killed some baby birds because she got angry at their chirping. Then, she took a raccoon to task for getting into the trash that's piled up in back."

"What?!" Twilight asked in shock. The Fluttershy she knew would never be so heartless. Killing baby birds? She wouldn't expect something so evil out of Equestria's worst villains. She didn't think even Sombra or Chrysalis, nasty as they were, would slaughter small animals like that.

"So…has she done something?"

"No, no…I was just looking for her to ask her something, but never mind. Thanks, Zephyr."

"Hey…how'd you know my name?"

She thought about explaining the entire situation to him, but decided against it. After all, he wouldn't understand a word that came out of her mouth. So she simply told him that she had heard of him from his brilliant mane styling, and he immediately began thanking her. In fact, he thanked her so much, that she had to physically pull herself away from him.

That stallion needs to learn how to respect mares, she told herself, …and then get himself a marefriend, and a better life.

She trotted through town, despairing at the situation. The skies were their normal blue, and everypony else seemed to be acting like their usual selves. She saw Big Mac selling apples, Lyra and Bon-Bon were still stuck like glue, and Derpy Hooves was still…running into things. Am I the only pony here who has no idea what's going on? She asked herself. She even walked by Pinkie Pie, and noticed that her assumptions about her had been correct as well. The pink mare walked by some school foals but, instead of cracking a joke or bouncing around in delight, she began bullying the poor things.

Twilight had to step in, so she ran and stood in front of them. "Hey! Pick on somepony your own size!"

"Like you?" Pinkie growled back, "you know, your horn and your wings look hilarious! What are you?! A demented mash-up?! A failed science experiment?!"

Pinkie began laughing as Twilight recoiled at her insults. The joviality was still there, but it was all funneled into cruel slanderous phrases. "No," Twilight said, trying to keep her composure, "I am an Alicorn."

"What the hay's an Alicorn?!"

"I am!"

"Sorry, never heard of one. But I don't think I'd want to, anyway. You look like you're the dumbest pony in Equestria!"

Twilight stepped backwards a bit, ears drooping. She never knew Pinkie had such a harsh tongue. She decided the best thing to do was to get out of there, so she walked away. Thankfully, the foals had been able to scamper on their way and avoid more of Pinkie's bullying. All of my friends…are gone, Twilight thought sadly, but then she perked up. "Starlight!" She said out loud.

This caught the attention of a passing mare. "Pardon me, but did you say, 'Starlight?'"

"Yes! Starlight Glimmer!"

"Oh, I wouldn't go around saying that name…"

"Why not?" Twilight asked. Surely, the guidance counselor of the School of Friendship hadn't changed. But then again, this day had been completely crazy. So Twilight prepared herself to hear what she didn't want to hear.

"Starlight's been in jail for a long time. They say she ran a village that taught the values of friendship and individuality to ponies."

"What?! But…isn't friendship still important?"

"Yeah, but only if ponies want to be friends. Queen Celestia stresses the importance of not forcing friendship on anypony."

"But…but friendship isn't something that needs to be forced! It's an amazing thing that celebrates the differences between ponies while bringing them together! It's a magnet, and opposites always attract!"

"Eh…now, we just look at the differences and move on. There's members of every pony race that hate others because they don't have a horn or wings or they can't pull a plow. There's really no coexistence between any of the three groups. By the way, I'd lose either the horn or the wings. It just isn't natural. Besides, it's illegal. I would report you, but…I kinda like you. You seem to have a level head."

The mare turned and walked off, muttering to herself. Twilight was in complete shock. The impossible had happened. Everything had been torn asunder in the blink of an eye. Equestria had become a place that had forgotten, not only her, but the true values of friendship. I've gotta get to the bottom of this, Twilight said to herself, and then stopped short. Mayor Mare's office! I can look up the records of everypony who's ever lived in Ponyville! With this idea fresh in her mind, she dashed off towards the town hall.

In The Mayor's Office

Twilight raced up the main street of Ponyville, out of breath. She passed everypony she thought she knew, but the recognition was never mirrored. Instead, they went about their business, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was a pony with both wings and a horn in their presence. Unfortunately for Twilight, somepony was paying attention. The newest captain of the royal guard, who just happened to be visiting Ponyville at the time. His name…was Sombra.

The young ambitious soldier had plans and schemes of his own, but for the moment, it benefitted him to be right where he was. He had grown in Queen Celestia's eyes, and had hold of her complete trust. He planned to take that trust, dash it into pieces, kill the queen, and take the throne of Equestria for his own. He had dreams of becoming a king unmatched by any in the world. He would kill anypony who stood in his way, and strengthen Equestria until it was a domineering force. First Equestria…then the world! He thought. Oh…and don't think I haven't noticed you, Twilight Sparkle. Your wings and horn betray your willingness to be a friend, and to enjoy a peaceful relationship with all ponies. I believe Equestria has enough of that. But…I must be patient.

So he never told his guards to go after her, nor did he report her to Celestia. He knew that he had to continue manipulating the queen's trust. It was why he had lied about her sister, Luna, tampering with Equestrian law and order. He had planted a lot of evidence against her, and had caused her death. He had crowned Celestia queen, because he knew she was the weaker of the two. Luna would have been a brick wall against him. Celestia was putty in his hooves. He continued on his way, without so much as a word to Twilight. His plans were working out perfectly, and he didn't need an extra obstacle. But he had to wait for the right moment to kill her. Soon, your blood will flow, Twilight.

Meanwhile, the forgotten princess ran helter skelter into Mayor Mare's office and skidded to a stop in front of her secretary, File Filly. File gave Twilight an odd look, and it was one that the purple pony had come to expect from this world. "Um…" File said in an accent that betrayed her Manehattan heritage, "where on earth did you get those wings?! Did ya glue 'em on?!"

"Um, no," Twilight said sheepishly, "listen, I know you probably don't know me-"

"Nope! Never seen you before in my life!"

"But, I know you-"

"That's creepy."

Twilight shook her head in frustration but kept herself in order. "Whatever, just please, listen to me. I know you're File Filly and you're Mayor Mare's secretary. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I live in Ponyville."

File gave her an odd look. "Did ya come in here just to state that you live in our town, or did you actually have a legitimate question?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. File was a helpful pony, but she could have a very biting and sarcastic tongue at times. Freakin' Manehattan pony, the princess thought to herself. Out loud she said, "yes, File, I do have a legitimate inquiry, and it is imperative that you act upon it at once!"

"Sure you do," File said sarcastically, "let me guess…the water pipe's busted in your cottage. Oh, or wait…the weeds have grown up in the garden next door to yours."

Twilight forced herself not to take a good, well aimed hoof swipe at the rude pony. "No…I just need to know if my birth certificate is on file here."

"Well, if you live here, then it should be!" File said as she got up. Twilight swore she heard her mutter, "sometimes I deal with the dumbest members of our society," under her breath as she flipped through the files. Then she saw the secretary's eyes widen. The white pony turned to face Twilight. "You did say your name was Twilight Sparkle, right?"

Twilight nodded furiously. More flipping followed, and File's eyes looked like they were going to shoot right out of their sockets. She turned back and, in an awkwardly shocked state, stumbled back to her desk. "I…I'm sorry," she said, "but…you aren't on file."

Now Twilight knew something was wrong. Her friends had all forgotten her, the other ponies in town didn't even recognize her, and she wasn't on file as having lived there at all! It was like she had been completely erased from existence. She backed up and ran out of the town hall, desperately seeking answers. Then she got an idea. Zecora! She yelled internally, she'd remember me! So, without processing the fullness of the situation, she bounded away into the Everfree Forest.

She remembered the path to Zecora's hut and pounded her hooves twice as fast to get there. She noticed that the forest seemed darker than it once was. The vines were eerie, and the trees seemed to taunt her as she ran along. They also seemed to have facial features, and the branches looked like lethal arms reaching out to snatch her up. Focus, Twilight! She told herself as she crashed through the brush.

Finally, she emerged into the clearing where Zecora's hut should have been. But, to her surprise, there was nothing there. The two trees that normally supported the kind zebra's home were radically empty. It was like nopony had ever lived there. The wind whipped around Twilight as she realized she truly was alone in this world. Her mind was riddled with questions, and they stung like flash bees. Did her parents remember her? What about her brother, Shining Armor, and his family? Did she even have ponies that would still love and welcome her?

Out of options, and completely helpless, she flopped down and began sobbing. Nopony remembers me! She thought in complete pain, all my friends…the ponies I loved more than life itself…they've all disowned me! What on Earth am I going to do?!

Celestia's New Student

Twilight walked down the main street of Ponyville as disastrous despair completely overwhelmed her. Her mind was in a fog, and the small boat fate had given her to row through it did not come with the proper lighting or foghorns. All of her friends, the ponies she held so dear to her, whom she had seen so many adventures with, had completely abandoned her. What was worse, nopony knew her. The proud title and position she once held within the land had been vanquished by some mysterious force, contained within the wave that had struck them from Canterlot.

Her mind whirled in a sea of depression and she found herself taking the old route towards the Golden Oak Library. Her once happy home had been destroyed by Lord Tirek in his rampage across Equestria. But she had gotten an even better home out of the ashes, so she figured that it wasn't a great loss. After all, living in a castle in a tree was better than living in a library in a tree, especially when the structure contained its own library.

She turned the corner and her mouth fell open. Her eyes widened and her pupils shrank to the size of ants. But, how?! That's…impossible! She wailed aloud inside. She didn't know whether to be overjoyed or thoroughly concerned that she was the one who had gone insane. There, standing in full view and beautifully intact, was her precious library. She walked up to the door and stood there for a minute or two.

The memories washed over her like waves on the sand. She remembered the "Welcome to Ponyville" party Pinkie Pie and her friends had thrown her before she even got to know them. She also remembered, with a bit of painful embarrassment, the hot sauce she had drunk in the misguided knowledge that it was soda. She remembered the books she had read, the lessons she had learned, and the friends she had made all from this one location.

"But, surely…" she said out loud before the door opened and knocked her over. "Hey!" She said in annoyance, "watch what you're doing!"

"I'm so sorry!" A familiar voice said as Twilight felt herself being lifted off her side and back to her hooves. She turned and, once again, her mouth fell open. The pony standing in front of her was one that she never would have thought she'd ever see in Equestria again. While she was excited to see this new pony, she was also wary of the fact that her entire friendship had unraveled in the space of one afternoon.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight asked tentatively.

"Yes?" Sunset asked, "can I help you?"

Twilight sighed internally. She had hoped against hope that her friend from the human world would recognize her. But sadly, she was mistaken. So, she simply shook her head and tried to work a small disguise of being the new pony in town. "No," she said, "see, I'm new here and…I was just wondering…are you the town librarian?"

"Well, I suppose you could say that. Ponies do come to me when they want to check out books from here. Why?"

"Oh, just making conversation. So, how did you get to be here?"

"My teacher, Queen Celestia, sent me here to learn about friendship and science!"

"Friendship? But I thought Queen Celestia didn't want to force friendship on anypony."

"She doesn't. She said for me to simply wait here and, if a pony looks nice enough, then go up and try and be friends with it. Otherwise, she said for me to continue studying my chemistry, biology, and magic-based science, and wait for her to return."

"Return?"

"Oh, yes. She dropped me off here and she said she would be back when I was ready."

"Ready for what, might I ask?"

"Why, to become queen of Equestria, of course!"

Twilight's mouth fell open once again. Not only had the wave removed her friendships, caused her princess title to be erased, and basically killed off her existence, but it had also replaced her with Sunset Shimmer! Twilight knew now was not the time for lies. She had to tell Sunset the truth about their relationship!

"Sunset, listen to me. I know this is gonna sound crazy, and you're gonna want to throw me in the nearest asylum for insane ponies-"

"I already kind of want to do that," Sunset said bluntly.

"Why?"

"I mean, hello! Wings and a horn?! You aren't allowed to have both! I'm gonna report you, and then you'll see what happens to ponies who try and break the law!"

Sunset began moving away and Twilight ran in front of her. "Get out of my face!" Sunset commanded. But Twilight didn't move. "You have to believe me, Sunset!" She cried desperately, "my name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm supposed to be in your horseshoes!"

"What the hay are you talking about?!"

"I was Celestia's student, and I-"

"How dare you say her name without the proper title, common pony!"

Twilight shrank away. She had never known Sunset to be so vicious. At least, she hadn't been that way for a long time. Now it seemed she had returned to being the bully that she was before Twilight and her human friends helped reform her. The yellow mare gave Twilight a look that didn't just spit hatred, it practically screamed it.

"Look, weirdo, I don't have time to be messing around with criminals!"

"I'm not a criminal!"

"YOU HAVE WINGS AND A HORN!" Sunset yelled, "that's practically the definition of the term in our society! Have you been living under a rock?!"

"Sunset, please, listen! I was…Queen Celestia's student, only she wasn't a queen, she was a princess, and I made friends here in Ponyville and now everything's gone haywire!"

"Wow…not only do you dare to sit yourself on a pedestal above everypony by having wings and a horn, not only do you dare to address our ruler without the proper wordage, but now you dare to claim to be me?! Oh, I should kill you where you stand!"

Suddenly, Sunset went completely nuts. She ran up to Twilight and tried to stab her. Twilight knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with the belligerent yellow mare, so she spread her wings and flew out of Ponyville. She flapped and flapped until she had put the village well behind her. She landed in a clearing and plopped down and sobbed some more. To say she felt terrible is putting it mildly. The knot in her stomach felt like it had given birth to three or four more knots.

Then she stopped and thought about her friends. Oh, how she missed them! She remembered everything about them, and sobbed all the more. Her tears formed small rivers down her cheeks as her mind finally imploded on itself. She was so tired from running around Ponyville in a futile effort to get her friends to remember her. She couldn't think anymore, and she didn't question it when she felt herself being moved into the woods. All I want is some sleep, she thought to herself as her body finally shut down.

A Friendly Group

"Is she okay?"

"Check on her pulse!"

"It's normal, Doctor!"

"Oh, wait, I think she's waking up!"

Twilight groaned a bit and opened her eyes. She thought she saw four concerned ponies staring back at her. Her faculties didn't quite register them at first, so they looked like indeterminate blobs for a minute or two, but her eyes quickly adjusted and she realized that they were fellow ponies. In a second, all the horrific memories of her unhappy time in Ponyville flooded into her mind and she prepared for another tongue lashing.

"Please," she said, "if you must insult me…do it quickly!" She quivered as the four looked down on her. Their open mouths betrayed the shock they felt, but their kind eyes spoke compassion and love. One of the ponies, a gray maned stallion, spoke first. "We aren't going to insult you," he said. Twilight recognized his voice from before and determined that this was the pony they had referred to as "doctor."

"Are you a real doctor…or just one of those ponies who practices dark magic and puts the term on in front of their name to sound mystical and intelligent?"

The stallion laughed. "Oh, I'm a real doctor, alright. Dr. Manechester Greyhoof, at your service." He held out a polite hoof, and she managed to weakly shake it. "I do hope you're alright," he said, "we found you in that clearing completely passed out. Your unconscious state gave us no small fright and we brought you here. Don't worry, young mare. You're among friends."

"Friends…" Twilight almost sang the word. It was such a beautiful term, yet it seemed to have lost its luster over the course of her time in Ponyville. All of her friendships had been destroyed, and she was left with nopony to call a close confidant. She wanted so much to rush back to town and try and convince the ponies she loved that she was their friend and that they weren't who they always had been. A disloyal Rainbow Dash, dishonest and mistrustful Applejack, a mean and selfish Rarity, a cruel Fluttershy, and a bullying Pinkie Pie! The only member of my original group who actually understood friendship…was Starlight, and now she's in jail for it!

With a good deal of effort, she got back to her hooves. She wobbled a bit, but one of the mares next to her caught her. "Why are you out here?" She asked. Dr. Greyhoof's grizzled face took on a somber look. The new aesthetic caught Twilight off guard just a bit. She had expected him to give her an adventurous response. She thought they were tracking some rare and unknown creature or trying to find some mystical artifact. But Dr. Greyhoof spoke volumes with his new look, and it was a sound that grated on Twilight's psyche. As the Princess of Friendship, she always hated to see ponies sad and upset.

"It is because of Queen Celestia's evil decrees that we have gone into hiding, young one," he said.

"What decrees?"

His face went from sad to shocked. How on earth could somepony have not heard of the evil committed by this queen? I mean, after all, she's the one who killed friendship! "I'm sorry," he said, "but…are you ill?"

"No, I feel fine. What are these evil decrees?"

"Surely, you've heard some of them," Greyhoof went on, "I mean, there was the decree that banned the Summer Sun Celebration, then there was the decree that caused Equestria to go to war with Maretonia, then there was the decree that banished the true meaning of friendship!"

Twilight's eyes widened in horror. She knew that Equestria had somehow been made devoid of friendship, and she knew that it was Celestia who had done it. But to actually hear about how her oldest friend and former mentor had actually decreed these things and put them into law bashed her mind. She felt sick to her stomach and stumbled back a bit. The two mares ran behind her and caught her.

"You seem shocked at this," Greyhoof said.

"I…am," Twilight stammered, "you see, I'm not from here. I'm from a completely different Equestria. One where friendship rules and Celestia is a kind and benevolent princess. One where I am a princess as well. See these?" She stopped and fluttered her wings a bit. "These are a mark of my position in Equestria. But now, everypony seems to have forgotten me! All my friends in Ponyville, and everypony I've met so far has either ignored me, been rude to me, or tried to kill me!"

One of the mares gasped and her face fell. Twilight noticed that she was a rather pretty white one with green eyes. But she thought her face looked familiar. Then she turned, and her flank betrayed who she was. Twilight would know that cutie mark anywhere. Though she looked a little different, and was a full grown mare, she knew exactly who she was. "Sweetie Belle?" She asked.

The mare turned a deep shade of red and nodded. "Yes, it's me," she said, "but I'm afraid I don't know you."

"That's okay," Twilight said, "I've come to expect that. So I'll just have to reintroduce myself. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. But you can call me Twilight."

"Wait…you're the Princess of Friendship?" Sweetie asked, and then gasped. "You can help us!"

"Well, I'd be glad to. How can I?"

"You see, Princess Twilight," Dr. Greyhoof said respectfully, "we are the Society of Ponies for Friendship, or S.P.F for short. We are a secret group of friends hidden throughout Equestria, and our numbers grow daily."

"Even though ponies aren't really friendly to each other anymore, we fight for a future in which things are returned to their original state."

Then, the other mare spoke up. She was olive colored, with bright orange eyes. Her red mane was done up and it was adorned with the biggest bow Twilight had ever seen. She also spoke with a thick drawl. "Ya see," she told Twilight, "ponies used to be right civil to one another. But then Queen Celestia went all crazy in the head, and she started passin' laws one after another restrictin' friendship. There were laws about what kind of friends you could have, what kind of games to play with yer friends, and even what kind of food to serve at social gatherin's!"

"But the last straw for us was law 32-B," Greyhoof said.

"What's 32-B?" Twilight asked.

"The law that banished true friendship from Equestria forever!" Apple Bloom cried, "it was a law passed in magic, and it took away the special bonds ponies shared!"

"It turned them inside out," Greyhoof said, "and created monsters out of every last one of them. They all acted completely the opposite of the way they had been acting. But we found a cure."

"We were in a group called-" Sweetie began.

"-the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Twilight finished.

"How'd you know?" Sweetie asked in shock.

"Because I remember you and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo as fillies," she said, "I was there when you received your cutie marks, and you work as friendship tutors at my school."

"That sounds right awesome!" Apple Bloom said, "I sure wish that we could visit that time!"

"But you can, because that time is right now."

"Huh?"

Twilight smiled at the two familiar ponies. "Let me explain. See, my friends and I had just defended Ponyville from a bear attack when this huge white wave came crashing down on us from Canterlot. When I woke up, all of this had happened."

The four friendly ponies all looked at each other in shock, and Greyhoof spoke up. "I trust you, Princess Twilight. I believe you are a noble and true pony who can help bring the joys of friendship back to our land. We can restore Equestria to the happy place it once was."

"Nothing would make me happier," Twilight said, "I will fight with every fiber of my being to restore friendship to Equestria!"

Then Greyhoof looked down the line at the fourth pony, a rather dull colored stallion with a mid-length mane. He looked to be a bit shy and awkward, but Greyhoof still gave him a friendly look. "Princess," he said, "I forgot to introduce the fourth member of our little group. This is Bumble Trot."

Twilight walked up and held out her hoof, "It's nice to meet you, Bumble Trot." She smiled at him and he seemed to perk up. He took her hoof and shook it. "The pleasure's all mine," he said. He gave her a friendly smile back and she retreated to her original position. "So, how can I help?" She asked.

Scootaloo's Fate

"Well, to begin with, we need all the ponies we can get on our side," Greyhoof explained, "unfortunately, this has proved to be extremely difficult. Celestia's magic law is still in effect, and the magic dulls the bonds that ponies share."

"But I saw Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon or Sweetie Drops or whatever her name is back in Ponyville," Twilight protested, "and they still looked like they were stuck like glue!"

"Yeah," Sweetie said, "we wondered about that at first too, but then we realized that it's Lyra and Bon-Bon. Nothing could ever break their bond. Their friendship is way too strong for even Celestia's magic to undo."

Twilight stopped and thought to herself for a minute. If Lyra and Bon-Bon could have the same connection they had before this entire disaster had started, then maybe it was possible for other ponies to have it as well. Twilight smiled. Of course! She said to herself, we just need to make Equestria revisit how important friendship is! Then she frowned. Why do I feel like that's the solution to every problem I've ever faced?

But she shook the thought away and proceeded to explain her plan to everypony. They all listened carefully, but their looks didn't encourage the young princess. She could tell that they were intensely focused on what she was saying, but none of them ever smiled or nodded in sharp agreement. They all just sat there, looking very depressed.

"What's the matter with you?" She finally asked in exasperation, "I'm trying to get you to jump to your hooves and proudly proclaim that you'll restore friendship in our nation! Isn't that what your society exists for?"

"Yes, Princess Twilight," Greyhoof said, "that is what we exist for. Unfortunately, everything you're suggesting is quite impossible."

"Everything's possible if we work together-"

"No, Twilight," Apple Bloom said, "it's pretty much impossible. Even if we were to get everypony together and rally against Celestia and her magic, she could just blow us all up. She's done it before…"

Twilight's mouth fell open as her mind conjured up images of her beloved friend using her magic for evil instead of good. She saw crowds of ponies being eviscerated with one blow of her mighty beam. The Celestia she knew would never do anything like that. Whenever somepony came to her with a problem or a request, she always patiently listened to it and then did whatever she thought was best. She always had the best interests of all the ponies at heart. Hm, Twilight thought, I never realized what a burden Celestia carries on her all the time. She has to protect and defend everypony, while listening to all their complaints and long drawn out orations about things that are relatively small. This realization caused her to have a whole new level of respect for her fellow princess.

"Look," she said, "I know it seems crazy, but the Celestia that I knew wouldn't do things like that. She was a kind and benevolent pony. She never took the other ponies for granted!"

"This Celestia is a whole other animal," Apple Bloom said, "if the Celestia you're talkin' about really exists somewhere, I sure wish she'd come here and kick the other Celestia off the throne!"

The S.P.F. members all returned to their dormant states. Twilight was growing increasingly annoyed at the lack of action shown by these ponies. They claimed that they were standing up for friendship, but in reality, they were allowing Celestia and her domineering nature to intimidate them. They were being hung on the door handle of life, and Celestia had the keys. The purple pony was angry at this entire situation, so she opened her mouth to say something…but then she realized that not everypony she knew was there. She had mentioned Scootaloo earlier, but neither one of the other Crusaders had seemed to recognize her.

"Pardon me, but…what happened to Scootaloo?"

She saw Apple Bloom go white as a sheet and Sweetie Belle's eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, the two threw their hooves around each other and took to crying like Twilight had never heard before. It didn't need to be said that Scootaloo was dead, but the princess figured it out. Their grief laden groans and cries pierced her heart. She thought she had never felt pain like that before. These were two mares, barely out of fillyhood, and they had lost somepony so dear to them.

"I…I'm so sorry," she said.

"Sorry for what?" Sweetie Belle sobbed.

"Scootaloo…I assume that she's gone?"

"Yeah," Bumble Trot spoke up, "she was put to death by Celestia for 'crimes against the betterment of Equestria.'"

"What do you mean by that?"

Bumble looked down and Twilight thought he looked embarrassed to be speaking with her. She didn't know why. She was a nice pony, and she always tried to be extremely approachable. After all, she was the Princess of Friendship, and she needed to be able to converse with and befriend even the cruelest of ponies. So it was that she became concerned with his reactions to her. Had she caused some offense to his nose or his eyes?

"Is something wrong, Bumble?"

She noticed that he cringed when she called him that, but he said nothing about it. "No, Princess, nothing's wrong. To answer your question, there is somepony behind the scenes pulling the strings. We're sure of it. This pony has either propositioned Celestia for something, or they're blackmailing her. Either way, Celestia is basically being forced into doing all of this. Whoever this pony is, they've got her wrapped around the tip of their hoof."

After he finished, she noticed that he jerked his head in the direction of his tent. She wondered why he did that, but she didn't say anything. This is certainly a different sort of pony, she said, at first, he seemed so nervous when speaking with me. Now I think he's trying to get me to return to his tent with him.

So she decided to wait until their little meeting had broken up and then ask Bumble why he had shaken his head at her. She would confirm her suspicions then. It didn't take long, for Greyhoof quickly called everything to a close and told everypony to get some sleep. Twilight trotted up to Bumble outside his tent and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and stopped short. He looked as if his mind was racing at a million miles an hour.

"Why were you jerking your head at me?" She asked simply.

"I needed to talk to you, but I didn't want to alarm the others. Listen, princess…I know who you are!"

Bumble Trot

Twilight didn't have time to stop Bumble as he drug her by the hoof into his tent. Her mind was whirling. What in the name of Celestia did he want with her? Why on earth did he look so undeniably nervous? She tried to process all of this while realizing that she wasn't in complete control of the situation. This proposition caused her teeth to go completely on edge. She hated being out of control. She liked it when she knew what the situation was and where it was headed. But it seemed Bumble Trot had other ideas.

When she was finally able to sit on her haunches and face him, she noticed the huge amount of red that colored his face. Is he…blushing? She asked herself. Oh, please, Celestia, no! Don't let him have a thing for me! I don't want this to go down that route. But all the same, she couldn't help but feel like his excessive coloration was due to her presence. That would explain his nervousness when he spoke with me before, she thought.

Then her mind flashed back to his odd statement of a few moments earlier. He knows who I am, she thought, on the one hoof, that would be a very refreshing change of pace. It would also mean I have an ally in this mixed up world. But…then again…I did tell everypony out there who I was. Is he simply repeating what I already said?

"Um…you said you knew who I was," she said, "but I told you before."

At this, Bumble Trot began stuttering and couldn't stop. Twilight became fearful for the young stallion's sanity and stepped forward and put a comforting hoof on his face. "It's okay," she said in a friendly manner, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Oh, I know that, but, you see, I…oh, never mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Princess Twilight," he said in something of a robotic tone, "I'm sure. Nothing that I say here matters."

"That's not true-"

"Just go away, please."

Twilight, sensing that she might be pushing it a little bit, got up and slowly backed out of the tent. She felt awful for her fellow pony, but all the same, he wished to be left alone. If she was to start befriending the ponies in this world, she figured that had to acquiesce to their decisions, even though they were strange. Just a minute before, he was dying to speak with me, now he doesn't want to? That's so odd!

After she went away, Bumble Trot looked at a small picture of her that he had. He did know exactly who she was, and why they had all arrived in this crazy world. I've made a whole lot of mistakes before, but this one might be the biggest, he thought. All I wanted to do was impress her…

Bumble Trot was a pony who had never been lucky. He had never had a true friend before, and most ponies took advantage of his quiet kindness. He had been swindled out of bits more times than he could count, and he had been rejected by every mare he had ever liked. The ponies that he considered friends were nothing more than backstabbers, and his family had disowned him. In short, he had never known what love was.

Part of his problem was that his cutie mark was embarrassing. It was a picture of a pony slipping and falling down. Needless to say, he had a penchant for messing things up. It was a gift, and he wished with all his heart that he could shove it in a box, mark it "return to sender," and send it back to whatever disgusting place it had come from. He was sure he was adopted. After all, who would willingly raise a pony like him who messed up so much?

But no, he was actually born and given the cruel name Bumble Trot. At first, his parents were going to name him Flame Mane, for obvious reasons. His mane blazed through the air, leaving a fiery streak behind it. He was also a very determined pony, even through all of his mistakes and missteps. But early on, his parents noticed his tendency to wobble and fall over. It took him much longer to learn to trot than the other foals, so they changed his name.

His family was nothing short of a dysfunctional disaster. His father, a proud Baltimare council pony, had set his family in an incredibly high position in the town. His mother was a socialite, always going to parties and dances. But when he came along, everything changed. His parents were ashamed of him and they did the bare minimum in caring for him. His brother and sister were extremely gifted pony prodigies, who could do basically anything. They also shunned and despised him.

One night, his mother had come home very early in the morning and his father wanted answers. He heard every word of their fight, and his father scream that he wanted to divorce her. It was later found out that she had been unfaithful multiple times, and that sent the entire family spiraling downward. Bumble was the unfortunate victim of all this, as his mother left and never returned and his father continued to neglect him. Soon, he found himself going through school all alone. His siblings got all the friends and they got to be popular. He would spend his days sitting by himself, reading or trying to figure out why he had seemingly been cursed.

But then he had discovered Princess Twilight, the only pony in Equestria he thought would understand him. He followed her adventures constantly, and was something of a royal watch pony. He would regularly catch the train to Canterlot, when he knew she was going to be there. He would look in awe, mesmerized by her beauty and kindness. He wished with all his heart that he might get to meet her one day.

Now that day had arrived, and he had blown it. He was the only other pony in this forgetful version of Equestria who remembered her and what she had done, and he had completely butchered his attempt to explain things to her. Little did she know it, but this entire mess was a product of another one of his bumbling attempts at success. Just another mistake, he told himself as he looked at her picture, I should never have tried that spell.

Return to Canterlot

Twilight marched into Dr. Greyhoof's tent, ready to make her announcement. She had thought about it for a good while, really ever since she had left Ponyville, and she was determined to make it a reality. The gears of her mind had straightened, and she could see what to do clearly for the first time since arriving in this confusing universe. Her friends might have forgotten her, but she hadn't forgotten about them. She would do anything to get them back, and she needed all the help she could get.

"Ah, Princess Twilight," Greyhoof said. She noticed that he was becoming much more comfortable using her official title. At first, it was difficult for him to believe that she was royalty, but over the day or so she had been there, he had gotten used to her. "What can I do for you?" He asked. His kind eyes smiled down at her, and she felt as if he were a grandfather she had never known.

"Nothing, actually," she responded, "but I have to tell you something. I am returning to Canterlot."

He nearly spat out the apple tart he was in the process of consuming. "What?! Canterlot?! But, Twilight…you can't go there! They'll ream you! They'll tear you from hoof to tail if they find out you have wings and a horn! They'll-"

"I'm well aware of what they could do to me, Dr. Greyhoof," she said calmly, "but I need to do this. I need my family's help."

"Will they remember you?"

"I don't expect them to," she said, "but I don't care. I know their personalities, and I know that they'll be willing to help me. It might take a little convincing, but I know I can win them over. They're just like that. So, I've come to say farewell. Thank you for your hospitality, and your friendship. I'm proud that somepony is continuing that legacy."

With this, she said goodbye to the two Cutie Mark Crusaders and left the tent. She trotted back down the hill that led to the clearing where she had been found. Once there, she stopped and looked around. Only a few hours before this, she had been crying and wailing aloud at her hopeless situation. Now, she felt rejuvenated after being with the friendly ponies. Friendship always tends to energize me, she thought happily as she galloped through the clearing and disappeared into the woods on the other side.

Meanwhile, Bumble Trot made his way into Greyhoof's tent. He had determined in his heart that he was going to follow Twilight and try and explain himself. He needed to. He couldn't let this huge mistake live on. He had to make amends with the beautiful princess, and tell her exactly what she meant to him. If he didn't, then Equestria would be doomed to forget about her forever.

"Dr. Greyhoof?" He asked as he went in.

"Oh, Bumble Trot," the doctor said, "is something wrong? Have you made another mistake?"

Bumble cringed at the condescending manner with which the doctor spoke to him. Greyhoof was somepony who was very good at masking his true intentions with a friendly attitude and a welcoming spirit. But Bumble had seen him at his worst. He had once cursed Apple Bloom out because she had put a tent stake in the wrong spot. Greyhoof was a horrible perfectionist, and it exuded from him in every sense of the word.

"No," Bumble said, "I haven't made another mistake. I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Yes. I'm going to Canterlot."

"Going to Canterlot? But, why? Why leave when you can be with your friends?"

"Because I have to see her again. I have to speak with Twilight. I think I can help save this miserable world."

"Oh, Bumble Trot," Greyhoof said, "you silly stallion. You know you can't leave. You couldn't survive without our group to protect you."

Bumble gritted his teeth. "I'm a grown pony, Dr. Greyhoof, and as much as I respect you, I don't need you ordering me around like a foal. I'm leaving."

"But, what about the friends you've made here? Surely you don't want to leave them."

"The S.P.F. talks a great game, but when it comes down to it, there's no substance here. Friendship? You guys hide in the woods, moving from place to place to avoid Celestia's guards. You speak about friendship, but you aren't willing to fight for it! You, Greyhoof, are the worst offender of all! I've seen you berate your fellow pony if they don't do something in exactly the way you want them to. Well, I'm sick of your perfectionism and of all this! I'm leaving!"

With that, Bumble stormed out of the tent, leaving a shocked Greyhoof sitting there with his jaw on the floor. Bumble's heart rose and his spirits lifted. He had never defended himself like that before, nor had he called anypony out in such a manner. He was proud of himself and his self-esteem spiked for the first time in his life. Maybe I'm not such a failure after all, he thought as he packed his saddlebag and headed towards the royal capital.

Meanwhile, Twilight dodged her way through thorns and brush as she made her way out of the forest and into a grassy pasture. She stopped and got her bearings. Let's see…Ponyville is that way, she thought as she pointed a hoof southward, so…Canterlot is this way! She jerked her body around and saw the city that hung from the side of the largest mountain in Equestria. It certainly looked the same, but she knew it wouldn't be the same.

So, she galloped towards the jewel of the nation. Oh, Canterlot…my Canterlot, she thought as she ran towards it, how I yearn for you. How I wish things could go back to the way they were and I might be able to enter your gates and find friends waiting for me. I've always been true to you, and I'll never be unfaithful. But it's hard. My friends are all gone, and I have nothing left. Still, I'm gonna fight for friendship. That's what I do.

With these encouraging words, she found her hooves moving quicker. Her mind was made up. Fighting for friendship was the most important thing she could do. It was the soft and wonderful cloud that everypony floated on. Unfortunately, that cloud had turned into a rather severe thunderstorm, and she was the only pony who could stop it. She didn't know how, but she knew that she could give it her best. If she didn't, then that would be admitting failure, and admitting failure was something she never did.

As she ran up the path towards the front gates of the city, she quickly cast a spell of invisibility on her wings. That way, everypony would think she was a simple unicorn visitor. She joined the stream of ponies headed into Canterlot for various reasons, none bigger than hers. She had a pony she needed to find…or rather, two ponies.

She meandered through the streets of the city, pretending to be new and unsure of where to go. But all the time, she zeroed in on a certain mansion. She hadn't been to her old home in forever, but she still knew the way very well. She finally arrived and rapped on the door. Their old butler, Winston, answered it. She almost cried out a greeting, but remembered that he wouldn't know her.

"Pardon me," she said politely, "but is this the residence of Night Light and Twilight Velvet?"

"Indeed, it is," Winston responded, "I am their butler, Winston. May I help you, young mare?"

"Yes. I need to see Night Light."

"You and everypony else in town. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back later. He's in session with the City Council."

Ugh! She thought in disgust. She thought she had planned it so she would miss his daily council meeting. But she flashed a smile and asked to see her mother. "Well, I suppose. Excuse me for a moment," Winston said before disappearing into the mansion. Twilight waited with baited breath until he returned with her mother.

"Yes?" Twilight Velvet asked her daughter, even though she had no idea Twilight was her daughter. The purple princess started to speak, but then was stopped. "Oh, my dear!" Twilight Velvet said, "you look positively famished! Have you eaten lately?"

"Well, not in some time," Twilight said. She didn't feel guilty about saying it, either, for her stomach was in more than a few hungry knots. "But, I don't want to trouble you, Ms. Velvet."

"Oh, dear, it's no trouble at all! Please, come in and have dinner with us!"

So Twilight, without another word, walked into the mansion behind her mother. She couldn't believe her good fortune. She was all prepared to offer up a grandiose sob story about how she was an orphan pony and hadn't eaten in forever, but she was thankful that she didn't have to. I might just be able to pull this off, she thought.

A Forgetful Family

Twilight was rushed into her family's dining area and quickly seated. She noticed that the table was absolutely gargantuan, and piled high with every kind of food a pony could imagine. There were dandelion sandwiches, cucumber tarts, tomato casseroles, and myriads of other dishes that ponies find palatable. She took a big whiff of everything and her nostrils were filled with the most delectable aromas she had ever experienced. It's just like when I was a filly, she told herself, everything always used to smell amazing.

Soon enough, Twilight Velvet and Night Light sat at their respective positions and the dinner began. What surprised Twilight, was that her brother was still there, and he didn't look right. Shining Armor, normally a spirited stallion whose valor and bravery were well known throughout the kingdom, sat there with a goofy smile on his face. His mane was unkempt, and he looked to be all out of sorts.

"Mommy, look!" He said in a childish voice, "I'm a pony astronaut!"

He proceeded to plant a nearby watermelon on his head. "Goofball, no!" Twilight Velvet said in horror. Goofball? Twilight Sparkle asked herself. Night Light raced over and yanked the destroyed piece of produce off his son. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Sparkle," he said in embarrassment, "you see, our son here has…problems."

"He's one of those special ponies," Twilight Velvet whispered, "when he was born, the doctors told us that he had a lot of mental issues. They said he might never grow out of the small colt stage, and they were right."

Twilight was shocked. Her parents were speaking about their son as if he were a gigantic embarrassment to them. She knew everypony was special in their own way, and Shining Armor was no different. Even though this version of him was wrong, she felt compassion in her heart for him, and she was angry with her parents for treating him as a liability.

"Er…what's his name?" She asked after snapping back to reality, "he seems like a really nice pony."

"His name is Goofball Light," Twilight Velvet said, "we were gonna name him Shining Armor, but then we saw what we had to work with and thought that was a better name."

My parents have turned into uncaring jerks! Twilight thought in horror, but kept her composure. She needed their help, and she didn't want to tell them about her true intentions just yet. "Um…not that it's any of my business, but…why didn't you go with Shining Armor? I mean, yes, he may have problems, but don't you think that would've been better anyway?"

"Nopony would've taken him seriously if he were named that," Night Light said, "this way, ponies know what they're getting into without even asking."

So you are embarrassed of your son, the princess told herself, I've never been so ashamed to have the two of you as parents. I know this world isn't the way it should be, but…to saddle somepony with such a cruel name is beyond me. I just don't get it.

She stopped probing there and decided to let the dinner proceed as planned. When they had finished their main courses, the kitchen staff served the dessert. Twilight's eyes widened as they beheld the biggest and most delicious looking cake she had ever seen. There were globs of chocolate coating the outside, and when it was cut open, it was so moist that she swore somepony had taken some of the rain from Cloudsdale and used it liberally.

"It's Goofball's birthday tomorrow," Night Light explained, "and we thought we'd get started on the celebrating tonight."

"YAY!" Shining Armor said as he proceeded to plow his way into the cake. Twilight found her anger mounting once again. So…you're embarrassed of him in public, yet you still give him a huge birthday cake with all the trimmings? What a couple of hypocrites! But she kept her smile and politely took a piece of cake and munched on it.

When this had been completed, she asked her parents to join her in a more private setting. So Night Light led them into their sitting area and magically drew the doors shut behind them. When her parents faced her once again, Twilight took a deep breath and began her explanation. She didn't want to frighten them, but she knew that the only way to secure their assistance would be to convince them.

"Listen," she said, "I'm gonna tell you something that may sound absolutely crazy. But…this world isn't right."

"Well, dearie, there are lots of things wrong about the world," Twilight Velvet said, "but we already knew that."

"No! I mean this world isn't the way it's supposed to be. Look, what I have to say might sound insane, but it's not…at all. Yes, part of my name is Sparkle, but I'm not who you think I am. My real name is Twilight Sparkle, and I…am your daughter."

Her parents took on shocked looks, and then broke down laughing. Wow…I didn't expect this, Twilight thought. Were they making fun of her? She knew it sounded like she belonged in the nearest asylum, but she needed them to trust her. She was practically begging them to put their faith in her.

Suddenly, her parents went from laughing to looking incredibly somber. Twilight was almost knocked off her hooves at the abruptness with which they changed emotions. She swore her mother was fighting back tears. "I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle," Night Light said, "but you must have us confused with somepony else. Our daughter…died during the birthing process."

"Yes," her mother sniffed, "they couldn't get her to breathe when she came out. Oh…how I miss her!" She turned around and began sobbing into her husband. He put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, and Twilight looked at the floor. How could she convince them of something that was impossible? How could she convince them that their dead daughter was actually alive and that the entire world was supposed to be different?

"Listen," she said, "I really am your daughter."

"How can you prove it?" Night Light asked.

"Dad, you like to impersonate Pony Polly while singing in the shower at 5 in the morning," she said, "and mom, you have a secret love of baking and want to open a bakery in Canterlot, but you're too scared of what dad's gonna say."

Their mouths fell open. "How…in…Equestria…did you know all that?" Night Light asked in shock. Twilight breathed a huge sigh of relief. So that's one of the things about this world that hasn't changed, thank Celestia.

She smiled at her parents and said, "because I'm your daughter. I know you two like a book…or at least, I thought I did."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you treated Shining Armor was terrible!"

"Oh, you mean Goofball Light?"

Twilight shook her head angrily, "no, it's Shining Armor, okay?! I know that, in this world, he has his problems, but he should still be called that! It's his proper name! How dare you saddle a pony with a name that only speaks of the problems he has?! Why couldn't you have given him the more dignified one?! I think you owe him that much!"

"Now, see here-"

"No! I'm not done!" Twilight shouted, as her anger caused the spell hiding her wings to come undone and she spread them wide in a rage, "in my world, Shining Armor was Captain of the Royal Guard and the Prince of the Crystal Empire! He's married to a wonderful mare named Cadance, and-"

"Cadance?! You mean the neighborhood bully?!" Twilight Velvet asked in shock.

"I don't know how she is in this world, but in my world, she's the Princess of Love. She spreads beauty wherever she goes, and she caused my brother to fall in love with her. They were married by Princess Celestia herself-"

"Princess? No, dear, Celestia's the Queen of Equestria."

"Not in my world, she's not!" Twilight said gruffly, "she's a princess, her sister's a princess, Cadance is a princess…and so am I. I'm the Princess of Friendship, tasked by Celestia with protecting and defending friendship throughout the land. I will fulfill my duties, even in this crazy, mixed up version of Equestria. Look, I don't know why all this has happened, but I do know this. I am your daughter, and I am going to restore Equestria to what it was before. Whatever magic is at play here, I'm going to reverse it…but I can't do it alone. As a princess, but most importantly, as your daughter…I need you."

Bumble Trot's Explanation

Twilight held out her hoof to her mother, who took one look at it and stepped back. Her tears were very adamant as they worked their way out of the ducts in her eyes. Her father gave her a shocked look. Nopony had ever dared to speak to him in such a commanding tone before. Yet, through that aspect of this newcomer into his life, he saw such a thorough compassion for their son.

"Please," Twilight said, "I need all the help I can get. We could restore everypony back to the way things are supposed to be. I've got my hoof out. Now I want to see yours out, not just for me, but for Equestria."

Her eyes pled with her parents to hold out their own appendages, but sadly, none of that dream ever came true. She gritted her teeth as she returned her own hoof to the floor. It appeared that her parents either didn't care about the dashed memories of Equestria's citizens, or they were just unwilling to help. It gravely disappointed her, as the parents she knew would give their right foreleg just for the opportunity to be able to do a good deed for somepony.

"I guess I know where we stand," she said sadly. "I'll be going now."

"Wait, please," Night Light said, "it's not that we don't want to help you, it's just that…we're still unsure of who you said you were."

Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Look, I already proved it to you! I knew things about you nopony could possibly know! So, why is it so difficult for you to believe it yourself?!"

She saw her father fight back tears in an attempt to keep his composure. It was futile. "Because I was there when our daughter died," he said shakily, "I saw her small body, completely defenseless to the whims and character of fate, take its final breath and leave this life forever. I saw it all, Twilight Sparkle, and now you come here and dare to claim her name and her place in our lives?! You think we're unfeeling parents?! I think you're an unfeeling pony!"

"Unfeeling?! Oh, so I'm 'unfeeling' because I told you the absolute truth?! Look, whether or not you believe it, the fact remains: I am your daughter…and maybe I don't need as much help as I thought I did."

With that, she shoved her way past her parents and stormed out of the mansion. Tears blinded her vision as she stumbled down the front steps and dashed away through the streets of Canterlot. She galloped as hard as she could, not wanting to return to that terrible place. Equestria had turned into hell, and she needed to find the evil that was in control of it and banish it forever.

But the worst part of all was her parents. She didn't want to believe that they had turned into the avaricious ponies that she had bore witness to. They had eviscerated her brother. She didn't mind them not believing her story about being their daughter as much as she hated the way they were treating Shining Armor. I'm not gonna use that awful name they gave him, she said to herself hotly, he's Shining Armor! He always has been and he always will be…and I'm always gonna love him! He's my brother, after all. I owe him so much…

She finally stopped galloping in a rather uninhabited street on the other side of Canterlot. Thankfully, nopony had seemed to notice her wings and she quickly hid them again. To other ponies, she would be just another unicorn, and she didn't want to attract too much attention. I've gotta think of a plan to get inside and see Celestia, she said to herself. Then she realized with a great deal of horror that Celestia wouldn't know her from the third pony down the street! This thought crushed her spirit.

So she sat there staring at a wall until she heard somepony else trot up behind her and stop. Then she felt a small tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to see Bumble Trot standing there. She nearly fell over. "Uh…um…Bumble Trot!" She finally managed to sputter out, "it's good to see you!" She smiled at the young stallion, and sensed that he was a little more confident than in their exchange from before.

"It's great to see you too, Princess, but I don't have time for fancy pleasantries. I need to talk to you immediately. It's incredibly urgent. But first…where are your parents? I overheard you tell Dr. Greyhoof that you were going to try and get their help. Didn't they want to?"

All the horrible memories from her time with her parents washed over Twilight, and she began sobbing. Bumble Trot stepped forward and put a comforting foreleg around her and pulled her in. "Oh, Bumble Trot," Twilight said, "how could Celestia have ever picked me to be a princess? I can't even get my own family on my side!"

"Look," he said, "I don't know what went on in there, but so what if your parents don't want to help?"

"It's not just that they didn't want to help…they've saddled my brother with a cruel name!"

"Shining Armor?"

"Ye-wait…you know Shining Armor?"

"Of course I do!" Bumble Trot finally blurted out, "I know you're Princess Twilight, the Princess of Friendship, and I knew it long before you told us in camp! I know Shining Armor's your brother, he's married to Princess Cadance, and they have an amazing little filly named Flurry Heart! I know Celestia and Luna are the co-rulers of Equestria! I know all of that!"

"But…how?! How can you be the only other pony in Equestria that remembers the way it's supposed to be?!"

"Because…I cast the spell to make everypony forget everything."

Twilight was in shock. This pony, who had previously only been known to her as just another young stallion, had caused all of this? Her disbelief was topped only by her mounting anger. She suddenly wanted to rip the horn off his head. He had destroyed Equestria for some inexcusable reason, and now he came to her as a blubbering idiot, trying to explain himself?

But, she decided to give him a chance. After all, that's what the Princess of Friendship would do. So, she sat on her haunches and deadlocked eyes with him. He quivered beneath her gaze. "Go on, Bumble Trot," she said solemnly, "explain."

"I've always been a great admirer of yours, Princess Twilight. I've always wanted to meet you. I love the way that you help spread friendship throughout the land, because…I've never had a true friend."

At the beginning of his explanation, Twilight felt her hackles lower. She stood up and sat beside him, nonverbally communicating her compassion. She put her hoof right next to his and smiled at him. He felt better now that she wasn't staring straight at him, and he felt warmth exude from the depths of her bright purple gaze. He swore her eyes were shining.

"Go on, Bumble," she said, "I'm listening."

"I just wanted to do something that would impress you, thinking that maybe it could get your attention and then you'd want to be my friend."

"Oh, Bumble," she said, "if you want to be friends with me, all you have to do is approach me about it."

"Really?"

"Of course! That's how friendship works," here she stopped, and took on a rather sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry that it hasn't been the same for you. You seem like a wonderful pony, and I'd be glad to call you my friend." She smiled at him, and once again, he felt completely warm. "Go on," she urged kindly, so he did.

"Anyway, in this foolish attempt to impress you, I…accidentally cast the wrong spell."

"What spell were you trying?"

"Remembrance…" He finally managed to get out.

Twilight's eyes bugged out and her mouth fell open. She tried her hardest to keep a straight face. She didn't want to hurt Bumble Trot, but he had done something completely reckless. "What?!" She suddenly shouted. Bumble started a bit, but kept his hooves planted beside her. "How high of a magic level are you?!"

"Not very high," he admitted, "I can do some simple spells, but I'm no pony wizard."

"Then why in Equestria were you trying Remembrance?! It's so complex! I've been working on that spell ever since I was a filly!"

"I know!" Bumble said, "I read it in your book 'The Art of Magic,' and I wanted to give it a try!"

"Didn't you read the warning label in the book?"

"Warning label?"

"Yeah, I put a warning label underneath it that explicitly said not to try it if you weren't at the highest level of magic education or if you hadn't had years of experience! You have to do everything just right! If you don't, then you cause the antonymous spell…Wave of Forgetfulness! That's what happened! That was the white wave that washed over Equestria before this entire hellish experience!"

Bumble Trot turned to leave. He knew that the princess was extremely angry with him, and he didn't want to incur her wrath any further. But he wasn't able to. "Bumble Trot, come back here, please," she commanded. So he did, and he shrank before her. He knew he had destroyed their friendship, and it wasn't even a few minutes old.

"I'm so sorry, Princess Twilight," he stammered, "I'll just go now and-"

"No," she said, "you got Equestria into this mess, and you're gonna help get it out!"

The Princess Gets Lectured

Twilight sat on her bench on the train, purposefully looking away from Bumble Trot. The anger she felt at what he had done boiled in her veins like stew on a cold winter's day. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her mane seemed to stand completely on end. She had to force herself to quell the magical outburst that waited to explode from the tip of her horn. He will help me reverse everything and get Equestria back to normal, she grumbled to herself, I will get my friends and my position back, and when I do…Bumble will pay dearly for his misuse of magic!

She had mapped out a plan for the both of them to return to Ponyville and regain the trust and assistance of her friends. It would be difficult, considering all of them had turned into the complete opposite of their Element of Harmony, but she was sure they could do it. She wanted everypony to come together and defeat the darkness that had settled over their land. After all, they had done it before. The only thing that made this different was the fact that everypony seemed to be against her. What was worse, they didn't trust ponies who were different from them.

Twilight didn't realize that Sombra had taken full advantage of everything, and weaved his way into Celestia's heart. He was pulling her strings like a puppet, and she danced and twirled at his every command. His smooth talk and sweet compliments had melted Celestia's normally rock hard gaze, and she had fallen completely in love with him. He would bring her little gifts of faux appreciation and affection, and he would present them so convincingly that the Queen of Equestria couldn't help but blush and giggle like a filly.

But Twilight remained ignorant to the bigger plight that she was in. She thought she was the victim of bad circumstances, brought on by a pony who had no business dealing in the type of magic that he had. As the train bumped and rattled along on its tracks, she conjured up every kind of punishment she could think of. Reckless use of magic was considered a major crime under Equestrian law and, being a princess, she had every right to exact judgment upon Bumble Trot.

Meanwhile, Bumble sat across from his beloved princess, embarrassed and hurt over the fact that he had destroyed her life and any chance of being friends with her. He wanted so much to impress the pretty purple pony, that he had gone completely off the rails in his attempt. He continually berated himself for trying such a complex spell. He even thought about jumping out of the nearby window, and landing under the wheels of the train. After a few more moments of awkward, tense silence passed between the two, he made up his mind to try and talk with Twilight. "Princess, please…talk to me."

She acknowledged him with a turn and a small grunt, but then saw how much his eyes were pleading with her to show compassion and understanding. The concrete wall she had built against him began to crumble, just a little bit. But she couldn't overlook his reckless behavior, and so the wall was quickly rebuilt. She turned away again, and huffed to herself.

"Princess, I'm begging you!" Bumble pleaded, but Twilight kept her back turned to him. He sighed and looked at the ground, trying to figure out what to say next. What in Equestria could he say to appease the princess? "Alright," he finally said, "if you won't talk, then I will. I just hope that you're open to listening to me. I'm sorry for what I did."

"Sorry doesn't exactly fix the problem," Twilight said coldly, "now, leave me alone."

"You know," Bumble said, "you were the Princess of Friendship…no, you ARE the Princess of Friendship! You know how to bring ponies together and cause them to love and respect each other. You call for everypony to celebrate their individuality and differences, and to show off their respective talents. Yet here you are, being cold to somepony you don't even know, all because that pony made one mistake. Yes, the mistake was huge, probably the biggest one in Equestrian history! But, you seem to be unwilling to give that pony another chance to prove himself. All my life, I've been told I wasn't good enough, that I was a mistake waiting to happen. Everypony I've ever met has either stabbed me in the back or cast me aside like yesterday's garbage. I did NOT expect that from you!

Your books taught me that being a true friend is the highest goal anypony can strive for. You constantly write about how it holds society together and keeps the good in all of us alive. Heck, I even remember reading about how you yourself learned how important friendship is. I must have read the story of your first adventure in the Everfree Forest a million times! That story, and every subsequent time I've read about you, has taught me all about the importance of friendship. That's why I've tried so hard to make friends! But I guess nopony wants to be friends with a klutz named Bumble Trot…not even the Princess of Friendship."

Twilight felt tears coming to her eyes as Bumble's words tore into her heart. The concrete wall was gone, and she felt an emptiness such as she'd never known before. She realized that her ultimate ideal as the Princess of Friendship was to restore faith and hope in ponies like Bumble Trot, and she had taken that and completely slashed it. Bumble's life lay at her hooves, and she was stomping all over it like the dust rugs that Rarity kept in front of her stores.

She turned to the young white stallion, lips quivering. Her eyes betrayed a different kind of anger. No longer was her rage directed at him, it was directed at herself. "Oh, Bumble Trot…" She said as her eyes began pouring out buckets of liquid, "I'm so sorry! I've been terrible to you. I've become what this world has produced, and I don't like it one bit! You're right, and your words are wise. I'm the one that needs to be given a stern lecturing, not you. So, for that…I thank you."

She smiled at him and got up off her bench and sat beside him. She wanted to show him that her friendship ideas weren't dead at all. Rather, they were as alive as they'd ever been, and she had him to thank for it. She looked into his eyes and swore she could see into his past. She saw every time he had been beaten, or knocked down. Yet, for some reason, she saw that he always came back from it. He's gonna be a wonderful pony to have on my side, she said to herself, and I…no, WE will restore Equestria.

A Name Change

Twilight and Bumble continued planning their method of solving this problem as the train bounced along the route to Ponyville. They knew they had a gigantic mountain to climb, but they didn't know how they would climb it. It seemed as if all of their support had been taken away, and they were left floating in midair, stagnant as they awaited fate's rippling wind. Not even bringing up pleasant memories of days gone by could help the two. Twilight found it surprising that Bumble had these kinds of memories, considering how rough his life had been, but it was touching to hear them. It reinvigorated her, and she knew that she had something dear to her that she had not had since coming into this strange world: a true friend.

She didn't know why, but she felt warm sitting next to him, and she cherished the solidifying of their friendship. She suddenly felt comfortable telling him about her insecurities. She told him about how she thought she had failed in her mission to spread friendship because she had spoken to him so sharply and not offered him the same compassion or trust she would have offered other ponies. He smiled and nodded and told her that he didn't hold anything against her, and he was thrilled to have the Princess of Friendship on his side. "Heck, I'm thrilled to have anypony on my side," he said with a chuckle.

Twilight chuckled, and then suddenly, she gasped. She caught a view of his cutie mark, and it was of a pony tripping and falling. So…being a klutzy, clumsy pony is his special talent? She thought in shock, that…that's terrible! I mean, special talents are things that designate one pony from another, and this poor stallion has been saddled with this!

"You…um…have a very nice cutie mark," she said awkwardly. His face twisted up oddly, not only at the abruptness with which the princess had changed the subject, but also the subject itself. "You really think so?" He asked, "because…I don't. I hate my cutie mark with a passion. It just reminds me of what I can't be."

"What's that?"

"Somepony more than I am. Whatever force in our world distributes cutie marks determined that I was supposed to be nothing more than a klutz. My parents changed my name when they saw how clumsy I was, and the rest is history."

"What was your original name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It was amazing, Twilight. My original name was Flame Mane. When I was born, my mane was the color of a burning fire, and my parents were obsessed with it. But then they found out that I wasn't as oriented to fire as I was to clumsiness. So…they changed it."

"Wow," Twilight breathed, "you've really had it rough. I'm so sorry."

"It is what it is," Bumble said, "I'm just happy that I found you and now my entire world is so much better. I'm experiencing true friendship for the first time, and it feels amazing!"

Twilight smiled. She was so happy that she was able to open the doors to friendship for this young stallion. Now her heart had done a complete turnaround, and she felt that she had solved a friendship problem that the Cutie Map didn't even call her to. She loved having her own group of friends, but she thought that making new friends or guiding a pony towards his destiny was the greatest feeling of all. Her heart soared, and she found herself throwing her hooves around Bumble Trot.

"You listen to me," she said, "I'm not gonna call you Bumble Trot anymore, and when Equestria is restored to normalcy, I am going to see to it that your birth certificate and everything about you is changed. You don't need to be Bumble Trot. You need to be Flame Mane. So, as a princess of Equestria, I hereby change your name to Flame Mane."

Flame Mane almost did a dance. He couldn't stop hugging the princess, and she couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm. He was so thrilled at having his name changed, and she was so happy to see him in this frame of mind, that they nearly missed their train stop. But when the conductor announced that they had arrived in Ponyville, they quickly dashed off their car and into the train station.

"Alright," Flame said, "so…where's our first stop?"

"Our first stop is the Ponyville Prison. We've gotta bust somepony out."

"Wait…we're actually gonna try and pull off a prison break?"

Twilight turned around in front of him. "Yes, Flame, we are. My good friend Starlight Glimmer is in there, and she's the only pony out of my original group who still knows and cherishes true friendship."

"Do we know how we're gonna do this?"

"Not yet, which is why we're gonna head there. It's research time!"

Flame Mane smiled at the princess's sheer joy over getting to do something so many ponies found tedious and boring. He followed her as she ran through the streets towards the prison. He couldn't help but notice that she had quite an attractive way of galloping. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, as her mane flew behind her in the wind. He felt his heart skip a couple of beats. She's so beautiful, he thought in a daze as he imagined being with her forever. This was one friendship he couldn't let go by the wayside.

When they arrived across the street from the jailhouse, she stopped him and they ducked into an alley. He took a peek at their target and noticed, with a bit of humor, that it was rather small. It was certainly no Baltimare Correctional Facility, which housed thousands of inmates. "That's the Ponyville Prison?" He asked, "it looks more like a small hotel."

"That's because it used to be a small hotel," the princess said, "now, listen. We need to break Starlight out of there, but we don't know what kind of guards they have. From what I've heard since coming into this new Equestria, the Captain of the Guard is none other than Sombra himself."

"Sombra?!" Flame whispered loudly.

"SH!" Twilight commanded, "yes, that Sombra. We need to know how many evil ponies he's employed to do his dirty work. I imagine that he's the one behind the removal of friendship in the land. So, what we're gonna do is head inside and count the number of guards in front of Starlight's cell. Our pretext is that we're brand new guards of Sombra's elite corps!"

"OK, Twilight," Flame Mane responded, "I'm with you!"

She smiled and nodded before bolting across the street, her friend hot on her heels. The good news for them was that, with Twilight's wings disguised, they looked like a couple of unicorns. So nopony questioned them being together. When they got across the street, they bounded up the stairs and disappeared into the jailhouse.

Starlight's Experience

Starlight sat in her office in the School of Friendship, minding her own business. She had helped more than a few students that day and she was rather exhausted. Her head was resting on her desk, as she thought about all the potential friendship problems she had helped avert. She wondered how on earth Twilight and her friends did this all the time. After all, she could barely do it for one full day.

She reluctantly raised her head and looked at the calendar on the wall. There were multiple red circles on it, indicating that the day in question was one of particular importance. She saw the dates for the annual Friendship Dance, the annual Carnival of Companionship, and the rapidly approaching Summer Sun Celebration. Ugh! She groaned, Twilight and her friends will be running off to Canterlot on that day while I sit here listening to Trixie's endless complaints about…everything!

She found herself at an impasse on how she felt about Trixie. On the one hoof, she loved and valued her as a very close friend. They had been through thick and thin together and hadn't backed down once. They had gone on tour together, and even fought the entire Changeling hive together. Starlight looked on these memories fondly. But then there were the times where Trixie drove her batty. She couldn't stand the way her friend whined about everything that didn't go her way. Trixie needs a good lesson in the values of friendship and patience! Starlight thought angrily.

Then she looked at a framed picture of her and Trixie that Twilight had taken at the Friendship Dance the previous year. "Oh, who am I kidding?" She asked herself out loud, "Trixie is my friend, and I need to accept that she's never gonna be perfect. But that doesn't mean she couldn't learn to be just a little nicer!"

She got up from her chair and trotted over to another photograph. This one was of her and Twilight and the entire group. She sat on her haunches and lovingly looked at it. Each pony sent a different type of magic flying through her heart, corresponding with the various Elements of Harmony. "Honest Applejack, kind Fluttershy, loyal Rainbow Dash, hilarious Pinkie, generous Rarity…and you, Twilight. You're the most amazing friend a pony could ask for. You'll never be out of my mind…"

She put a hoof over the Twilight in the picture's heart when suddenly, the earth began shaking. Her desk quivered and her books toppled from their place on the shelf. "What the buck is going on?!" She screamed as she dove under a nearby table. She had never experienced an earthquake before, and she had no idea what to do. Her brain was in a shambles as the room turned snow white before everything went black.

When she awoke, she found that she was in a similar looking Equestria, but something was radically different. There was no School of Friendship, nor was there a Castle of Friendship! WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA'S SUN IS GOING ON?! She screamed to herself. She wandered out of the grassy knoll that used to be the school grounds and noted that the tranquil stream that used to bubble and sigh its way past there was gone as well. "This is too crazy!" She said in exasperation.

She walked into town and passed all of the horrifying things that Twilight had seen. She saw Pinkie Pie bullying foals, Fluttershy being mean to ponies, and Applejack cheating ponies who came to buy apples from her. She saw Rainbow Dash ignore others, and Rarity was going around town bragging about how her latest fashion design was all hers.

"I have to find Twilight!" Starlight suddenly said as she raced through town. She looked in every possible place, and inquired of everypony she found, but none of them had seen Twilight or even heard of her. Instead, she received rude looks from everypony and some Pegasi chased her out of their store, claiming she was a "disgusting unicorn." "I never…!" She said to herself before continuing through the middle of town.

Before she could do anything else, she was suddenly tackled by some incredibly mean looking guards. She was told that she was "the evil Starlight Glimmer" and that she was being taken to prison for as long as she could imagine. Her mouth was open in shock and she couldn't move. They drug her through the dirt to the Ponyville Prison.

Once there, they threw her in a room and went to beating her with whips and chains. She screamed in pain as her blood flew in tiny droplets up against the stone wall. When this method of torture had been completed, they threw her on a table and tied her up. Then one of the guards grabbed her tail and proceeded to yank part of it out. Starlight's shriek could be heard in Canterlot, and she cursed the guards bitterly.

"Oh, come now," one of them taunted, "I thought you believed in the stupidity of friendship!"

"Yeah, well, there's friendship and then there's just plain being evil! You're evil!"

"Nah," he said back, "Sombra says you're the bad pony. We're going to protect Equestria and Queen Celestia from you!"

Queen-? Starlight thought before she felt more of her backside's appendage give way. She shrieked once again, but instead of cursing them, she begged for them to cease. Of course, they laughed this off and ripped her from the table. They threw her on the ground and ordered her to crawl through the dirt and mud.

"Please, why are you doing this to me?" She asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"The boss ordered it," the guard stated simply, "now crawl, you worthless piece of pony flesh!"

Starlight crawled her way through the grime all the way to her cell, where she was tossed inside like a rag doll some filly threw away. "We'll see how you like it after you've been starved for a few days!" With that, he slammed the door and locked it tight.

She curled up in the middle of her cell, quivering as she tried to figure out some way to stop her bleeding. She finally remembered her magic and used it to quell the flow. After that, she sat back and began waiting for something to happen. She waited for hours, and those hours quickly turned into days. Her stomach growled as she was kept from food and only shown a little water to keep her alive. Please, she prayed to some unknown force, send somepony…anypony… Then, a couple of days after she arrived there, somepony, or rather some ponies, did show up…

The Real Wave

Starlight finished her story and sat back with a grim look on her face. She noticed, though her vision was rather bleary, that Twilight had been crying rather excessively. Her coat was matted underneath her eyes and her face was twisted in a manner that betrayed her previous deluge. She didn't say anything, but got up and wrapped Starlight in a tight embrace, which her guidance counselor gladly returned. Both of them were relieved and so utterly thankful to be in the presence of somepony who remembered them and cared about them.

"I'm so sorry, Starlight," Twilight said through a voice thickened with sadness, "I should never have left you alone that day. If I hadn't, then maybe I would've been able to stop this."

"You couldn't have stopped it, Twilight," Starlight said as she offered a small smile, "this was inevitable. We couldn't have jumped up and erased the wave. Even with our magic combined, it still would've impacted Equestria in a huge way. We weren't meant to stop this."

"But our friendship could have!"

"No, Twilight, it couldn't. Friendship can't solve every problem. You taught me that once, remember?"

Twilight stiffened a bit and nodded as memories of her time as Starlight's teacher came flooding back into her mind. She saw all the lessons that she had taught her faithful pupil, and even some that she had learned herself. Her eyes practically danced as she thought of the wonderful experiences she and Starlight had shared over the years they had known each other. From enemies to friends, she thought, what an incredible concept!

"Oh, Starlight," she said, "I just wish that this all went differently."

"I know," her friend responded, "but it is what it is and now we have to find a way to stop it…to stop him."

"Him?"

Starlight nodded. "Sombra. I think he might have had something to do with the wave itself, but I'm not sure. By the way, who's the new pony?"

Flame Mane had stood in complete silence this entire time. He didn't want to interrupt the joyous reunion happening in front of him, but in his quest to make and keep new friends, this new pony seemed like a prime candidate. So he figured he would wait quietly for Twilight and Starlight to finish, and then he would introduce himself. But now, the tables had been turned, and he found himself in a rather nerve wracking spot. He didn't like to be thrown into the middle of something like that, and he shrank away from the light purple mare.

"This is Flame Mane," Twilight said as she trotted over and nudged him towards Starlight, "Flame Mane, this is Starlight Glimmer, the finest guidance counselor a pony could ask for."

"Hi, Starlight," Flame said nervously, "it's…good to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Starlight responded politely, "how did you and Twilight happen to come across each other?"

"It's a long story," Twilight said, "but suffice it to say we met in a camp and then met again in Canterlot. He told me all about how he was the one responsible for the wave's appearance and this whole mess, but now I'm not so sure. You said you thought Sombra was responsible for it?"

"I'm sure of it," Starlight said, "he visited here once and spoke rather pompously to his guards about how he would kill Celestia and take the throne of Equestria for himself."

Twilight wanted to gasp in shock, but in all truthfulness, she wasn't surprised at all. She figured Sombra would try and win the throne of Equestria one day. But she couldn't believe his method. After all, Remembrance was her spell, and unless he had read her book, he wouldn't have known about it.

"Flame Mane," she said, turning to her new friend, "did anypony egg you on to try the spell? You said you tried Remembrance in a futile attempt to impress me, but I'm not so sure about that now. I mean, no offense, but you aren't exactly a pony wizard. I just don't know how you pulled off even the antonymous spell."

"I don't know either," Flame said. He looked around nervously. He was trying to avoid telling the young princess what had really happened, for fear of losing her friendship forever. He wanted to take the blame himself and just leave the past in the past.

But Twilight was smarter than that and she looked him over with a rather hard stare. Her purple eyes buried into his soul, and he felt as if she were chastising him without saying a word. His heart thudded against his chest as he fell under the weight of her traumatizing, yet mesmerizing glare. His rapidly growing love for her felt put to the test, as he realized he may be in real trouble.

"Alright, alright!" He said as he finally gave in, "something else did happen on that day!"

"What was it?" Twilight asked with grave seriousness.

"I was walking home from the store with my food for the week floating above my head when I was suddenly attacked by two ponies. They drug me into an alley where a third pony was. His head was covered, but he spoke viciously and arrogantly. He stuck his horn into my back and forced me into a small room where he had one of your books, Twilight. I don't know how, but he knew of my obsession with you. He had it open to the Remembrance spell I had been working with and he ordered me to cast it over all Equestria. If I didn't…then he would kill me. So I did, and I thought I had cast it correctly. I followed the steps in the book to a T, but then this hooded pony cast another spell at the same time and tampered with mine. Before I knew it, the wave had flooded Equestria, I had been knocked out and left in the woods to die…and then Dr. Greyhoof rescued me. He told me all about Queen Celestia and the new Equestria, and I wanted to kill myself. I actually tried to on several occasions, but Apple Bloom stopped me every time. Then I met you, Princess Twilight."

Twilight realized that she had been incredibly harsh on somepony who didn't deserve it and she felt her heart sink. She looked at the floor and thought about the time on the train when she had mistreated him. She felt so horrible and guilty that she wanted to fling herself into a pit and never return. Her coat felt clammy, and her tail sagged severely.

"I…I'm sorry, Flame Mane," she said sincerely, "I didn't mean to be so harsh with you. I haven't been a very good friend at all, and that's a tarnish, not only on my reputation as the Princess of Friendship, but on my very existence as a whole. I live to make friends, and I've been an awful one to you. I should be the one cast into prison forever."

"I don't blame you, Princess," he said, "and I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend." He smiled at her and she walked up and embraced him. Starlight quickly joined, and the three friends stayed bound together for quite some time. For Starlight, it was the joy of holding an old friend and the thrill of embracing a new one for the first time. But for Twilight and Flame Mane, the hug was something a little bit more. It was warm, not only physically, but emotionally as well. They didn't want to let each other go. It caused Twilight a bit of alarm. Am I…falling in love? She asked herself.

Jailbreak in Ponyville

After letting each other go, the three friends smiled, grateful for their place in the world. Even though that particular world had gone completely out of tune with everything they had ever known, they were still happy to be there. None of them were alone anymore. Somepony had turned up who either remembered them or actually wanted to be around them. It was rather refreshing, to say the least. Their lives were crashing down around their ears, but the small glimmer of hope that lay in each one of them was exacerbated by the powerful bond they now shared.

"Alright," Twilight said, trying to rid herself of the final remnants of the blush that had painted her cheeks while hugging Flame Mane, "it's time to get Starlight out of here. Flame, let's begin phase two of the plan."

"What was phase one?" Starlight asked curiously.

"Getting in," Twilight explained, "and phase two is getting out."

"And just how are you gonna go about doing that?" Her friend questioned, "there are guards everywhere, and nopony can get out!"

"It's the Ponyville Prison," Twilight said, "I've imprisoned many a villainous character here in my time, and I know it like the back of my hoof. Plus, the guards still think we're members of Sombra's elite corps of soldiers. All we have to do is escort you out, claim we're taking you on a prisoner transfer to Alcatrots, and we'll be in the clear!"

"You say that with incredible confidence," Starlight said, "but…how do you know it'll work?"

"I don't," Twilight said, "but it's the only plan I've got, and I'd do anything to save my friends. If I die trying, so be it."

Starlight gasped as rapid visions of Twilight's blood stained corpse flashed before her eyes. Her mind whirled as she imagined her best friend being slashed to pieces by sharp horns or being torn limb from limb by angry teeth. She saw bits of purple coat being thrown left and right. Her mouth opened and she fell to her stomach and wept openly.

Twilight immediately bent down and gathered the scared pony into a comforting embrace. "It's all okay, Starlight," she said urgently, "but my Celestia, what the heck was that?!"

"I…saw you die," she said, "I saw them kill you."

"It's just nerves," Twilight said, "everything's gonna be alright, you'll see. Now, we have to go."

She got Starlight back to her hooves and dusted the weak pony's chest off. Then, she and Flame took their positions behind her and acted as if they were forcing her to leave. Starlight played along rather brilliantly, moaning and grunting as if in severe pain. Sadly, it was only a partial performance, as she hadn't had a bite of food in some time.

They walked out past the guards, who accepted Twilight's gruff explanation. None of them moved a muscle as she and Flame guided Starlight out of the dark chasm of the prison and into the light of the reception area. The purple princess hoped against hope that they could break Starlight out right under the noses of her captors. We're so close… Twilight told herself, almost there.

But then the door broke down and Sombra's actual elites entered the room. Oh, buck it all! Twilight cursed to herself before turning to the side and trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Flame followed suit, and Starlight continued her groaning. One of the elite ponies looked down at the two pretenders and nodded gruffly. He whispered to his fellow pony, and suddenly, they lunged at Twilight.

She managed to buck them off before fleeing from the prison building with Flame hot on her heels. Even Starlight, weak as she was, managed to keep up with them. She didn't want to go back in that hole and, if they had come to take her to Alcatrots, she certainly didn't want to go with them. Alcatrots would've been worse. It was on an island in the middle of the Celestial Sea, and the ponies who went there never returned.

The elite soldiers were fast approaching, when Twilight suddenly turned and ducked into a certain store. Flame and Starlight followed her, and they hid in the shadow of the store's doorway. They heard the soldiers stop and look around. "They must be around here somewhere!" One of them shouted.

"The boss is gonna have our tails when he finds out she escaped!" The other responded.

"He's not gonna have the opportunity," the first one retorted, "because we're gonna find them, and when we do, we're gonna kill that purple one and the dull colored one! Then we'll take the escapee to Sombra himself, and he'll have the pleasure of running her through! Now, let's get them!"

The three wanted ponies quivered in the shadow as they waited for fate to make its decision. The soldiers maneuvered their way around every shop and checked every nook and cranny, every crack and crevice. Oh, please, Celestia, Twilight silently pleaded, don't let them find us.

Then, their worst fears became reality. The first soldier walked into their hiding spot. They quickly ducked into a smaller place, trying to make it more difficult to be found. But their chosen spot was quickly discovered to be too small, and they had to try somewhere else. "Ah-ha!" The guard suddenly said, "I see you!"

He took aim and fired with his magic, but Twilight quickly blocked it. "Everypony behind me, now!" She ordered, and the other two gladly obeyed. Twilight quickly removed the invisibility spell from her wings and spread them menacingly. She summoned every ounce of magic in her arsenal and fired a huge blast of her own. It struck the guard in the shoulder, and he screamed in agony.

"You witch!" He yelled at Twilight before charging her. She grimaced as she realized she was going to have to kill him to keep the other two safe. So she planted her hooves and pointed her horn right at his heart. He yelled as he leapt towards her, but then he realized he was running right into a buzzsaw of sorts. The death was instantaneous, and his blood splattered the room.

"What the hay is going on here?!" An angry voice suddenly asked. Twilight and Starlight turned and gasped as they recognized the new pony. She was pink, and her cutie mark of balloons looked familiar. But what wasn't familiar was the unfriendly scowl. It was Pinkie Pie.

A Glimmer of Hope

Pinkie gave the three intruders a hard stare. She didn't know who they were, but she didn't enjoy them barging into Sugarcube Corner while it was closed. She didn't particularly care for anypony, but especially ones who were so reckless and destructive in her store. They had also carried some of Sombra's guards inside which, to her, made them all the more depraved. She was an extremely introverted pony, and she had never been able to figure out why her cutie mark was one of balloons.

"Well?! I asked you why you're here!" She shouted at the newcomers.

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight responded, "please listen to me-"

"Hey, I know you! You're the pony who got in my way while I was giving those foals a good dressing down earlier! I oughta punch your lights out!"

"No!" Twilight said as she maneuvered into a defensive position. With their friendship in ruins, Pinkie was liable to do anything. She didn't know Twilight, but Twilight definitely knew her and this was not the Pinkie that they wanted or needed to see. There's got to be some way to jar her memory, Twilight thought, something that could be used to help get Equestria out of this mess!

"Pinkie, listen-"

"How do you know my name anyway?!" The pink mare demanded. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and her coat stood on end. Her frizzy mane seemed rather intimidating as she snorted and pawed at the ground. Twilight was worried about Pinkie's sanity. She was already a rather unstable pony, and now the magic spell Sombra had forced Flame Mane to cast seemed to have knocked her brain to one side. The tiny bit of balance that the party planner had once enjoyed had been completely eradicated.

Twilight sighed and pressed on. "My name is Twilight Sparkle," she said, "and I'm your friend!"

"My friend?" Pinkie asked in disbelief, "um, maybe you haven't met the real me. I'm Pinkie Pie, destroyer of all things fun! I still don't know why my cutie mark is a trio of balloons, but I figure maybe I was assigned the wrong one. I hate parties, and I pop balloons whenever I see one of those stupid foals carrying them! UGH! I HATE FUN!"

It drove Twilight nearly to tears to hear Pinkie declare open hostility towards something that the pink mare normally loved so much. She was foaming at the mouth as she made her grand speech, and her motivations seemed to be completely sincere. This was a different Pinkie, one that eschewed fun in favor of living in a bland, colorless wasteland filled with cakes and pies that nopony would ever buy or eat.

"The only reason I keep this stupid bakery open," Pinkie growled, "is that it gets me bits, and Celestia knows I need bits!"

"I'm sorry that times have been rough," Twilight said sincerely, "but they don't have to be."

"What are you talkin' about?" Pinkie challenged, "you know that taxes in Equestria have skyrocketed ever since Celestia killed Luna!"

"Wait, what?!" Twilight shouted, "Celestia killed Luna?!"

"Yep, she did," Pinkie said dryly. Twilight was unnerved at the amount of nonchalance that Pinkie was showing at something so horrifying. "Killed her right in the middle of the final Summer Sun Celebration. Luna had just finished setting the moon, when Celestia drove that horn through her heart. I'll never forget it. Blood was everywhere."

Twilight felt sick to her stomach. This world kept getting worse and worse by the minute! First, all her friends forget her, then, she finds that her parents are jerks who refuse to help anypony, and finally, the terrible coup de grace…Celestia was truly evil!

"You aren't serious?" She asked Pinkie.

"Oh, I'm serious, alright," the pink one responded, "Celestia's an evil pony. Either that, or somepony else is behind the scenes, controlling her like some sort-of sick ventriloquy act, but I don't know."

Twilight stumbled backwards a bit, not only because Pinkie had used the term "ventriloquy" correctly, but because her oldest friend had turned into a monster. Celestia was a killer. Now she knew this world needed to come to an end. We have to get Equestria back to the way it was! She thought urgently.

Then, she stepped forward and faced Pinkie nose to nose, without fear. She knew that most ponies kept their hooves rather sharp, so one swipe of those to her neck and it would be game over. But she kept her wits about her, put on a brave face, and stood her ground proudly. For Equestria, for my friends…and for you, Celestia!

"Pinkie, listen to me. I know that this world seems like it's normal, but trust me, it isn't! This isn't the right Equestria! It's been magically transformed into this! Celestia isn't a killer and Luna's still alive! There was a spell cast over the land that caused it to become what it is now. I'm the Princess of Friendship there, and you're one of my closest confidants and companions. Please, Pinkie! You've got to believe me!"

"I don't have to believe anything!"

"Yes, you do!" Twilight desperately shouted, "if you don't, then Equestria could remain this way forever! I need you to believe in the power of true friendship!"

When Twilight said that, the ground shook in obedience to her. The world seemed to flicker back to normal for a second. Twilight thought she saw the old Pinkie, bouncing around Sugarcube Corner and begging to help with the baking and cake decorating for the day. It was a wonderful vision, and one that Twilight wished would return again and again.

But, sadly, it was not to be. As soon as it had come, the wonderful sight ended and things were returned to their dull, unfriendly state. "Sorry," Pinkie said, "but I don't have friends. I've found friends to be a waste of my time. I used to be quite close with some of the ponies around here, but they were all nothing more than backstabbing pieces of garbage! So I just gave up on friendship."

"Please, Pinkie! Don't give up! Friendship is the most wonderful thing a pony can experience!"

"Is it? Let me tell you something, Princess. Friendship isn't for everypony. Accept that fact, get the buck out of my store, and I never wanna see you again!"

With that, she threw the three of them out of the store and they landed in a pile on the street. Starlight and Flame quickly got up and gave Twilight looks of hopelessness. "Well," the guidance counselor said, "we can't say we didn't try."

"But I don't just wanna try," Twilight said as she got back to her own hooves, "I wanna succeed, and we will succeed! Just now, I saw a glimmer of what was and what could be when I told Pinkie about the true power of friendship. I saw her back as her old self, and it was such an amazing thing! Come on, everypony! I think I know how to get Equestria back to normal!"

The S.P.F.'s "Cure"

Twilight, Starlight, and Flame Mane raced out of Ponyville and back into the forest where she had first met the group of friendly ponies who told her of Equestria's plight. She explained her plan in rapid fire fashion to her two supportive, if a tad confused, friends and the trio quickly darted through the greenery that surrounded them. Flame Mane was a bit apprehensive at the princess's ideas, for he knew the truth about Dr. Greyhoof, but every time he tried to put a word in edgewise, his new friend cut him off.

Twilight knew she had to get to where other friendly ponies were. The power of friendship was amazing by itself, but together with others, it could be magnified many times over. Plus, the group she was thinking of had already told her of a cure they had found for it. She had to return to the Society of Ponies for Friendship, and she had to make it clear to them that they needed to publicize their intentions.

They turned around a certain corner and ran right into the middle of the S.P.F.'s camp. Twilight noticed that the group had grown significantly since she had last seen them, and she rejoiced internally. These new ponies were exactly what she needed. Their power could help raise the friendship levels in Equestria drastically. She waltzed over to Dr. Greyhoof's tent and went inside. Flame Mane and Starlight went in as well.

"Dr. Greyhoof?" She asked politely.

"Princess Twilight!" The grey bearded stallion answered happily, "we've been anxiously awaiting your return!"

"You have?" She asked curiously, "but…I didn't think I was ever coming back."

"Oh, my dear princess, everypony comes back to the S.P.F. After all, we are friends to everypony, and we want nothing but the joy and happiness of our fellow equines."

"That's wonderful!" Starlight suddenly shouted, "because Equestria is in some deep trouble."

"My goodness!" Greyhoof exclaimed when he saw how disheveled and hungry Starlight looked, "how long have you been without food?"

"I haven't had a good meal in a couple days," Starlight answered, "I've been stuck in the Ponyville Prison."

"Oh my!" Greyhoof said, "we need to get you some proper victuals at once. Apple Bloom?!"

At his command, the olive colored young mare ran into the tent and stood in front of him. Starlight's mouth fell open, for the last time she saw Apple Bloom, the friendship tutor was a filly. Twilight noticed her friend's shock and quietly closed her mouth with a hoof. "Starlight, remember, this isn't the Equestria we know. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are both older, and Scootaloo has been murdered for teaching the true values of friendship. We can't let that faze us!"

"Indeed," Greyhoof said, "it is of the utmost importance that we do not cower in the face of this evil. I sense that you are one of us, Ms…?"

"Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer."

"Ms. Starlight," Greyhoof went on, "and I am delighted to be able to meet somepony who is in such close social proximity to the Princess of Friendship."

He winked at the young mare, who backed away a bit. For some reason, she didn't like the way he was eyeing her. His words were kind, but his body language was rather off putting. She didn't want to ignore his offer of food, for her stomach would have killed her if she had, but she didn't enjoy being gawked at like that. She felt like he was caressing her with his eyes, and she squirmed a bit. So she accepted the food that Apple Bloom provided, but refused to look Greyhoof in the eye.

"So, Dr. Greyhoof," Twilight said, "we need your help. You see, I-"

"Bumble Trot!" Greyhoof suddenly said when he noticed the stallion, "you've returned too! I'm so thrilled! Now you can remain here with us, and relearn everything we taught you!"

"No!" Flame Mane yelled, "my name is no longer Bumble Trot, for the princess changed it. I am now Flame Mane, and I always will be! I don't need you anymore, Greyhoof!"

Greyhoof looked to be genuinely hurt by the stallion's cutting remark. "I'm sorry if I ever mistreated you, Flame Mane," he said, "I was only trying to cement our friendship."

"You don't believe in friendship!" Flame said as his temper finally blew, "you believe in similarities over differences, and that everypony can be turned into the same zombie as the next pony! Genetic modifications, warping a pony's DNA, even swapping cutie marks so they're all the same! You are evil!"

Twilight gasped as Flame Mane revealed all these horrifying secrets about Greyhoof. In a flash, she was transported back to the time when Starlight Glimmer had been her adversary and had done a lot of the same things Flame claimed about Greyhoof. She saw ponies all acting the same, living the same, and essentially, being the same. She saw individuals erased and personalities slaughtered. She saw the blood of friendship running red on the ground, and Greyhoof was the murderer.

"Is this true, Dr. Greyhoof?" She asked.

"Flame Mane, you got too close to the sun and now you've been burned to a crisp!" Greyhoof exploded on the young stallion, "you always made mistakes and you never mattered to anypony! We took you in and taught you the true value of friendship!"

"No!" Flame exploded back, "what you taught me was to be blindly allegiant to the leader of a group that wants to force ponies into friendship! You want to genetically modify everypony so that they all look the same, talk the same, and act the same! Thank Celestia Twilight decided to return to Canterlot when she did, otherwise she would've been another casualty of your 'cure!'"

Twilight suddenly saw Dr. Greyhoof as another enemy in this twisted world, and her mind went into overdrive trying to think of a way to escape. She now knew that the S.P.F. didn't hold the cure for anything. Instead, they held a means of another horrifying transformation. She saw all of Equestria as the same dull pony, and she didn't want that. That wasn't friendship.

"Maybe the three of you will change your minds about my process when you've sat in my holding area for a while," Greyhoof growled menacingly, "GUARDS?!"

The Changing of the Mark

Twilight quickly tried to figure out a way to get them all out of there, but sadly her mind couldn't function quite as fast as the Pegasi who attacked them. She noticed that their eyes all carried the same look of petrification, almost as if somepony had paralyzed them. Greyhoof's "cure"! She thought to herself, before shouting to her two friends, "avoid their eyes at all cost! They'll turn you into one of his slaves!"

Quickly, the three of them split up and ran around the back ends of the enslaved Pegasi. They knew that subverting their opponents' vision wasn't going to be easy, but it was the only thing they had to go with. So they spent the next few moments galloping around behind them before Twilight suddenly stopped and unleashed her magic over them. "Take this! Pedicas ejus, et seras, et interficiam te super hoc accingite vos fascinavit non perimus!"

Flame Mane couldn't help but feel a little excited when he heard his idol use a magic spell. He recognized it from one of her many spell books that he had read. Her eyes flashed when she spoke the words, and he swore that there was a beautiful aura that surrounded her. Her horn buzzed with power, and she shot a concentrated blast right at the hooves of their attackers. She threw up a trap around them, and caused blindfolds to be put over their eyes.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, "you did it, Twilight!"

"We're not out of the woods yet," she said before dodging a carefully timed hoof swipe from Greyhoof himself.

"You're going to be friends with everypony WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" The deranged pony screamed as he leapt at them. Unbeknownst to Twilight and the others, he had a vial of the petrification serum hidden in his lab coat. He quickly pulled it out and grabbed Starlight by the tail. The purple pony yelped as she felt him pulling on her. "You and I are gonna have a lot of…fun together," he said as he laughed in an incredibly creepy manner.

Now Starlight knew that he was looking at her in very perverted ways, and the last thing she wanted was some older pony grasping at her. She also knew that the serum he carried could transform her and force her to perform actions that would shame her forever. She wanted romance in her life at some point, but not like this. "Twilight, help!" She screamed desperately.

"I've got you, Starlight!" The princess responded as she fired a blast at Greyhoof. But he dodged it, and took Starlight out of the tent and into the woods. Twilight flew after them, firing blast after blast at the older stallion. But he was determined to accomplish his disgusting mission and he dodged just as quickly as Twilight blasted. How the hay is he so fast?! She asked herself.

She flew until her wings could fly no more and she had to either take a break or sap her entire body of strength. She fluttered down to the earth and plopped to her stomach. Her breaths were shallow and rapid and her heart pounded in her chest. Her lips quivered and tears rolled down her face as she realized that if she didn't keep going, Starlight was going to experience something so traumatizing, that she might forget about friendship and trust altogether.

So she forced herself to keep going. She slowly got to her hooves and tried flapping her wings, but it was useless. Her muscles were screaming with pain and the salt from her sweat stung her eyes. Her tears didn't make seeing any easier and she considered giving up. Real Celestia, if you can hear me…send somepony! She cried out to her beloved friend.

Suddenly, a pony dashed by her at top speed. She couldn't quite make out who it was, but she could tell they were headed in the right direction. What followed was the sound of an intense battle, with magic blasts being traded and furious hoof swipes. She heard howls of agony and finally, complete and utter silence. It was such a deep and ferocious silence, that she thought she had been swallowed up by the jaws of never ending Tartarus.

Then, to her surprise, two ponies emerged from around the trees in front of her. She shook her head and cleared her eyes before smiling in sheer happiness. It was Flame Mane, and he had Starlight close behind him. She could tell that Flame had been injured heavily. Blood flowed from numerous slashes on his body, and his eyes were dull. He was limping as well and he fell over in front of her. The two friends breathed heavily as they each tried to speak, but found their basic functions to be inaccessible.

Starlight collapsed next to the two of them, and Twilight never forgot the wild look in her friend's eyes. She looked as if she had been through hell, and Flame Mane had been the one pony who had looked out for her. He had carried her out of that experience, and she looked like she wanted to give him an eternity of gratitude.

"Wha…what happened?" Twilight finally managed to squeak out.

"I got…back there," Flame groaned as his pain finally caught up with him, "and he had her pinned down. I could tell he was trying to do something…unspeakable to her, so I lost control of myself…and…ugh…I attacked him. He swiped at me with such fury…I didn't think…I'd ever…win."

"But he did," Starlight said as she smiled, "and I'm so very thankful."

"That's it!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed.

"What's it?" Flame Mane asked.

"That's your special talent! You help save ponies who can't save themselves. Flame Mane…you're a hero!"

"I am?" Flame asked, "but I was…just…trying…ugh…to help."

"That's what makes you a hero," the princess said, "your willingness to help, and your friendly nature, even though you might fall over or stumble sometimes! You raced into that situation and rescued Starlight from certain trauma and, Celestia forbid, death itself. You did it with reckless abandon, knowing that above all else, your love and devotion for your friends had to come first. Flame, your cutie mark isn't real! It can't be! Nopony's special talent would be so irrelevant to what they actually are!"

When Twilight said that, Flame felt a warmth course through his body like he'd never felt before. He found himself being lifted off the ground as magic waved his wounds away and stopped his bleeding and pain. He also felt a strange sensation on his flank, and when he was set down, he turned to look at it. He gasped. "I have a new cutie mark!"

The Effects of a Spell

Twilight gasped in shock. She knew that Flame's cutie mark wasn't exactly the picture perfect definition of who he was, but even she couldn't have foreseen the incredible transformation that took place. He was still the same colored pony with the same mid cut orange mane, but his self-esteem seemed to have taken a turn for the better. His new cutie mark was one of a hurt pony being helped by a courageous hero. She didn't see him as the bumbling, yet well-meaning pony he once was. Now, she saw him as a big part of her life, and she didn't want to let him go.

She walked up to him and placed a gentle hoof on his face. "I'm so proud of you, Flame Mane!" She said as breath finally returned to her lungs, "you've shown today why we need you to help save Equestria. If it weren't for you, Starlight might have been-"

"Let's not even go there, Twilight," Starlight said, "I don't want to relive it."

Twilight nodded in understanding and continued. "The point is, you've done a great thing here, Flame Mane. That has caused your cutie mark to change."

"I don't get it, Twilight," Flame said in confusion, "I mean, I'm happy to have my new mark…in fact, I'm thrilled to have it, but…how? Cutie marks don't change spontaneously. They don't change at all…do they?"

"They can be manipulated magically," Twilight said. She turned and saw Starlight blushing heavily, so she figured she would steer away from that subject. "But other than that, I've never heard of them just changing based on a pony's deeds after it appears. Obviously, blank flanks receive cutie marks all the time, but I've never heard of a pony garnering a new mark after already having an old one."

"I think I get it, Twi," Starlight spoke up before turning to Flame Mane, "like you said, when Flame came after Greyhoof to stop him from hurting me, he put our friendship above all else. Even though it could've killed him, or both of us, he still did it. I'm no expert in the field of cutie marks, but I do consider myself a bit of an expert in the magic of friendship." She trotted around and looked at his cutie mark and nodded. "Just as I thought, it's the same magic that I used to remove the cutie marks of my villagers."

"What do you mean, Starlight?" Flame asked.

"Well, before I met Twilight and learned about the importance of true friendship, I was a bitter mare who-"

"Ran a village where you magically removed all the cutie marks of the villagers and forced them into being dull colored shells of themselves in the name of 'equality' and then Twilight and her friends tried to stop you but you removed their marks and basically held everypony in a collectivist/socialist/fascist grasp until Twilight outsmarted you, and then you all had this big time travel battle before you ended up giving in to Twilight's friendship." Flame said rapidly.

Twilight and Starlight were so shocked at the accuracy of Flame's description of their past that they wondered if he had been there himself. He blushed and looked at the ground. "I…read a lot of your books, Princess," he chuckled.

Twilight smiled in return, "I should say you do. I remember writing about that."

"So, Starlight, you think the same magic was at work with me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do," Starlight said, "see, the spell I used to remove cutie marks was one that I read about in an old scroll I retrieved on my travels throughout Equestria."

"Where did you get the scroll?" Twilight asked curiously.

"From the Castle of the Two Sisters," Starlight said bluntly, "since I didn't have any friends or social obligations, I spent my time roaming the country and seeking my revenge on cutie marks. I wound up spending a few weeks in Ponyville and, after ravaging the bookstores for something that could help me, I decided to wander through the Everfree Forest for a while. I knew it was dangerous, but I was so depressed and angry that I thought being slaughtered by a timber wolf would be a fitting end to my existence."

Twilight's mouth grew wider and wider as she realized that there was so much about Starlight's past that she had never learned about. After all, they had grown so incredibly close since the latter's reformation. You could've sworn that the two were sisters themselves. Twilight felt awful that she had never spoken to her about it.

"Starlight…I'm so sorry I never asked you about that," Twilight said sincerely, "it must be so difficult for you to see the Everfree Forest everyday now that you live in Ponyville."

"Eh…I just look past it. It's all good. You never had to speak with me about it, Twi. I didn't want to dig up those old memories. In fact, I avoided talking to you about it for so long on purpose."

Twilight smiled in understanding as Starlight accepted the apology. She was so thrilled that, out of all the ponies in her group, Starlight had been the one to remember her. She knew that having her as an ally was of the utmost importance, and they could reclaim Equestria for friendship.

"Anyway, that scroll I found the spell in was written by Princess Luna right before she turned into Nightmare Moon."

"How do you know?" Flame asked.

"Because there were a lot of incredibly disparaging remarks about Celestia in there as well." Seeing that she had both of her friends' complete attention, she went on. "The spell was born out of a pool of dark magic, and when I tried it for the first time, the magic went haywire. Before I could stop it, some of it had flown away and gone all throughout Equestria. My old self dismissed this as a simple side effect and continued with the plan. I didn't realize how much it would affect somepony else."

She suddenly realized how far reaching her jealousy and greed for power had gone, and she felt miserable all over again. She looked up at Flame Mane with pleading eyes and asked, "can you forgive me?"

"For what?"

"For being such a stupid, careless, evil pony…"

"You're not a stupid, careless, evil pony," Flame responded, "I believe you're quite nice. You and Twilight are the only two friends I have in the world…and I don't want to lose either of you."

The three friends all nodded at each other, determined to stick together and save Equestria from this terrifying nightmare. They might have been forgotten by everypony else, but they knew they would never forget each other. The mountains could fall, and great storms could be unleashed upon them, but they would never be anything other than what they were: the very best of friends.

"Twilight," Flame suddenly said, "could I see you over there for a minute?" He pointed to a secluded location with a hoof and Twilight looked at it curiously. She noticed the desperate look on his face and decided to accept his invitation. "Sure," she said.

They walked over amongst the leaves and arrived in a rather beautiful location. Flame Mane turned to her and she noticed that he was beaming. "Twilight," he said, "I've never known anypony like you before. I've never had somepony care for me like you. Twilight…I'm in love with you."

Twilight's Confession

Twilight couldn't help but open her mouth just a little bit in shock. Some tiny voice had been screaming at her that this was coming, but she had ignored it. She had been so focused on saving Equestria and returning it back to the colorful, friendly nation that it once was, that she had buried her own feelings under a mountain of excuses. We're too busy, she had told herself time and time again, he'll never tell me…he doesn't care for me that way…he's just my friend.

But now the moment of truth had arrived. Flame Mane had told her about his true love for her, and the ball was in her court. She shivered a bit as her mind flipped between potential circumstances surrounding this one response. If she told him how she truly felt, they might get swept up in a wave of love and forget all about their purpose in being there. If she told him a lie, and then later on he found out the truth, it would destroy their friendship.

Oh…but I do love him! She screamed internally, and I want him to know that. But still…Equestria has to come first. But I don't wanna lie to him! UGH! I HATE THIS!

"Twilight?" Flame asked softly, "is everything okay?"

"No!" She suddenly yelled, "nothing's okay! I'm stuck in an Equestria where nothing is normal, I can't make the decisions I usually make, and I've just been told that somepony actually gives a crap about me! I don't know whether to go here or there or what to do! I'M SO CONFUSED! NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING IS OKAY ANYMORE!"

She noticed that Flame was giving her a rather frightened look. Her outburst must have startled him something fierce. She took a minute to calm herself and went through the deep breathing exercises that Cadance had taught her. She turned back and looked at Flame, noticing the deep longing within his gaze. He poured love all over her, even without saying a word, and her forelegs buckled a bit. She was sweating profusely, and her heart pounded out of her chest. She couldn't say anything. Her mind whirled in a sea of self-doubt, and she collapsed at Flame's hooves.

Flame was taken aback by the suddenness of Twilight's fainting, and he picked her up on his back. My dear Twilight, he said to himself, I never thought I'd ever meet somepony so amazing. You're the mare I want in my life forever, and I'll never let you go.

When they exited the secluded area, he put her down gently next to the waiting Starlight. The light purple mare gasped when she saw the unconscious state of her best friend. She looked up and became angered with Flame Mane. "What did you do in there?!"

"I didn't do anything, honest! I just told her the truth!"

"What exactly is the 'truth?'"

Flame sighed and said, "that I love her."

Starlight backed up a bit as her anger melted away. She realized that the abrupt nature with which Flame Mane became amorous with Twilight must have taken the poor princess by complete surprise. She didn't have time to react, so she had fainted. The guidance counselor now knew everything that had happened and she didn't judge Flame anymore.

"Flame Mane, while I love the fact that you care so deeply for Twilight…maybe now wasn't the right time."

"But if I didn't do it now, then when the hay would I have done it?"

"Maybe after we got Equestria back to normal?"

"No," Flame said, "the normal Equestria is the one where I never met Twilight. If Equestria is reversed, then my friendship with Twilight goes away. I couldn't live with that!"

Starlight put a hoof on Flame's shoulder. "That's not true," she told him, "friendship doesn't die when something is taken away or put into a tailspin. There's always some type of seed that lives on. Look at the Tree of Harmony. It was destroyed by Sombra, yet it still lives on. Why? Because of the friendship of six of our students. That's the seed that the Tree planted, and it essentially rebuilt itself as a treehouse."

"But what if we do go back and Twilight and I are separated? I can't lose her, Starlight!"

"You couldn't lose her!" Starlight responded, "that's my point! She fainted because she just couldn't bring herself to say that she loves you too! No amount of magic waves or Equestrian revolution will ever stop the feelings you two have for each other."

Flame realized that Starlight was right. If the love he had for the princess was true, then it would survive anything. One thing nagged him, though. If Equestria were returned to its normal state, then their memories would be wiped clean. Everything would revert to its original state. If that happened, would the feelings he carried in his heart survive the rattling rebirth of his mind? He would rather lose his new cutie mark and go back to being Bumble Trot than lose Twilight forever.

He turned and noticed that the unconscious princess was coming to. He bent down and nosed at her back a bit, trying to help her awaken. Twilight sat up with a dead look in her eyes. Their lids were half shut, fighting Twilight's faculties. They seemed to command Twilight to return to slumber, even though they didn't hold any sway over her brain. She finally flicked them open and returned to her normal state.

"Sorry about that, guys," she said, "but…weren't you telling me something, Flame?"

"Yes, I was," Flame said, "I was telling you that I love you."

All the memories of being scared before raced back into Twilight's mind, but she shook her head and fought them off. Not this time, she told them, I've been scared way too much. It's time for me to open up and be honest with Flame and with myself.

"Flame Mane," she said tenderly, "I love you, too. It's something that's blossomed ever since we met. I hold you in the highest regards, and you're one of my best friends. I want to be with you, but we have to save Equestria first. Our friends are counting on us, and I cannot sit idly by and have a romance with you while they continue to suffer. Sombra has to be stopped, at all costs. When we return to the normal Equestria, I want you to come to Ponyville. I know that we technically never met there, but just say your name and I promise I'll remember you. I'll help you find a home, a job, and other things. You'll have friends there, Flame…and you'll have me. I won't let you go. I promise."

With that, she stepped forward and brought her lips together with his. They were both moved by the completely beautiful and utterly sharp nature of the gesture. Twilight deepened the kiss, willing time to stand still so she and Flame Mane could enjoy this moment forever. But time did not acquiesce to her demands, and she and her new special somepony forced themselves to break apart.

They both turned and noticed Starlight standing there, blushing heavily. "Uh…I wish you would've warned me. I would've given you some privacy!"

Twilight giggled. "It's okay, Starlight. It was just a kiss."

"I don't think I've ever seen a kiss between a stallion and a mare that was so filled with pure love as that one was," Starlight quipped. "Oh, come here, you two!" She gathered her friends into a congratulatory hug, and they all smiled as one.

The Radiation of Friendship

Twilight, Starlight, and Flame all broke apart, happy in the knowledge that their friendship was solid. Twilight and Flame Mane were especially excited, now that the two of them knew of the very special bond that they shared. They had grown closer in the past thirty seconds than a lot of ponies did in their entire lives. They would need to feed off each other's love and devotion, because they also knew that the road ahead of them was filled with the sharpest of spikes and the deepest of pits.

"Okay," Starlight said, breaking the silence, "where do we go from here?"

"The S.P.F. won't help us," Flame said, "and they were the friendliest ponies in the land."

"But it was a fake friendship," Twilight pointed out, "who knows what kind of disgusting things Greyhoof did before we came along? It was all a big façade, and we have to make sure our friendships are real. It's the only way we're gonna beat Sombra and reverse the spell!"

Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the leaves behind them. They all turned cautiously and took up defensive positions in case they had to fight their way out of the forest. Don't fight your instincts, Twilight, she told herself, if they're here to kill, be ready to do the same. Oh, I hope they're here to make friends, though!

The brush parted, allowing a new figure to step, or rather, bounce forward into the small clearing. The mare looked so familiar to all three of them, but something was different about her from the last time they'd seen her. The pink that colored her coat and mane was radiant, and she had a smile to match it. Her blue eyes bounced from pony to pony, trying to analyze them as quickly as possible.

"Pinkie Pie?!" Twilight asked.

"Well, duh!" Pinkie said in excitement, "your favorite party planning pony is back, and I want us all to have a huge PARTY! WHOO!"

"That sounds like the old Pinkie!" Starlight said happily.

"It is!" Pinkie said without skipping a beat. She then proceeded to ask them more than a few rapid fire questions about why they were there, why Flame Mane was standing so close to Twilight, why Starlight looked like she had just been through the Wonderbolts training camp thirty times, and, most importantly, why everypony in Ponyville…had forgotten about her.

Twilight gasped. Pinkie's memory had returned somehow, but the other ponies had yet to recover their lost faculties. All the same, though, she was thrilled to have a close friend back by her side. Up to this point, having to deal with hiding her wings and her true identity as a princess had been extremely difficult. Now, with Pinkie no longer a bully, she felt more comfortable releasing them.

"So?" Pinkie asked, "what happened?"

"I'll tell you everything in detail later," Twilight said, "for now, I'm just happy to have you back!"

"I know!" Pinkie said as she tackled Twilight again, "I'm thrilled to be back, too! I just don't know where the hay I was all that time! I mean, I was somewhere, but it was all grey and sad and really lacked in the whole fun department! I thought to myself, 'Pinkie, this place could use a huge PARTY!'" Suddenly, Pinkie's mood changed completely and she went from being the happiest pony in Equestria to sadder than Twilight had been when she was a foal and they cancelled her favorite spy pony book series.

Pinkie frowned before continuing. "I was shown this gigantic screen of some kind and I could look out and see what was going on in Equestria. It zoomed in on me…and I saw myself bullying foals." Her eyes welled up and dripped tears as she fought to keep talking. "They…were the same foals…I was planning a birthday party for! I couldn't do anything about it, because something was holding me back. I wanted to leap from that sad, grey, terrible place and wrap them up in a hug and tell them how sorry I was! I…just…"

She couldn't continue and began sobbing. It broke Twilight's heart to see Pinkie in such a state and she stepped forward and placed her friend in a comforting embrace. Pinkie's tears splashed onto Twilight's shoulder and matted her coat. She tried to silently convey to Pinkie that everything was going to be alright, but the truth was, she didn't even know. She just wanted to put Equestria back to the way it was.

"Oh, Pinkie…" she said before pulling her head back a bit, "it's…"

"No, Twilight," the pink one said, "you don't have to make me feel better. I know it's not okay. I get it, really, I do. I just wish I'd acted differently."

"The Pinkie that's here isn't the Pinkie I know," Twilight said, "you can make this right by helping us turn Equestria around. We really need you."

Pinkie wiped her tears away and smiled, "you know I'm always ready for an adventure with you, Twilight!"

"That's the spirit! Um, by the way, how did you manage to escape from that sad place?"

"That's just it! I don't know! I fell asleep there, and then I woke up back in Ponyville. I wanted to find you, so I asked for you by name. When I found that nopony remembered you, or me, I got scared, so I just ran and ran and ran until I bumped into somepony who mentioned they'd seen a purple pony going into the forest. So I came in here, and that's really all there is to it."

"You mean you found our exact location without asking anypony?" Starlight asked.

"Well, it took a while," Pinkie said, "I followed some hoof tracks I found and it led to this old burned up camp. I kept following the tracks until I found you!"

Starlight and Flame Mane were both shocked that Pinkie Pie had found them by being so precise. Even though he had known her for only a short time, Flame could tell that this wasn't the most well balanced pony in the world. In fact, he'd go so far as to say that her hyper nature would play to their disadvantage. He didn't tell her this, for fear of insulting a potential new friend, but he harbored deep concerns.

Twilight, meanwhile, was deep in thought. She was trying to figure out what the grey area was that Pinkie had escaped from and how on Earth she had escaped in the first place. She went through all the tenets of the Remembrance spell in her head, and its antonymous spell, Wave of Forgetfulness. Remembrance is meant to help somepony remember something they've forgotten, and the Wave is meant to cause memory outage in mass doses, hence the danger of using it. But…if Sombra forced Flame to cast it…that's it!

She turned to her three friends and announced, "The Radiation of Friendship!"

"The what, now?" Starlight asked.

"The Radiation of Friendship! See, Flame was forced to cast the Remembrance spell by Sombra. When he did so, Sombra mixed some of his own dark magic with the spell, causing Wave of Forgetfulness when, in reality, Flame cast a perfect rendition of Remembrance! I'm very impressed!" Here she winked at her new special somepony, who blushed in response.

"Did I miss something?" Pinkie asked.

"Something huge," Starlight said, "but we'll explain later. Go on, Twi."

"Anyway, the spell has backfired on Sombra without him even knowing it! Because the friendships we share with each other are so strong and determined, their combined magic is defeating the memory loss Sombra cast on us! In short, their radiation is breaking through the chains that Equestria has been forced into. That's where you were, Pinkie! You were in the limbo Sombra created when he originally cast the mixed spell on Equestria! You were inside the very chain itself! But he didn't count on the complete magic that our very bonds have created! We can beat Sombra, but we have to make everypony remember how important their friendships are! Once we have enough of that, we can unleash it on Equestria and reverse the spell!"

Remembrance

Twilight turned and prepared to make her way through the forest and back to Ponyville. She was determined to recreate her friendships, stop Sombra, and save Equestria once again. Her heart pounded three times harder than it had been. Her life had taken such a drastic turn over the past few days that she could barely stand it. She lifted a hoof and readied herself. She was about to take the first step into the great unknown.

But then a soft hoof tapped her on the shoulder. "Twilight?" Flame Mane asked.

She turned and eyed her new special stallion with a curious look. Why on earth did he pick that time to stop her? All the momentum was in their corner, and they were in a perfect position to harness it. Friendship was going to save the day once again, and she was going to be at the head of it. Her mind was set, and Twilight was one of those extremely tenacious ponies. Once her mind was made up, it was put into a concrete mold and never allowed to escape.

"What is it, Flame?"

"Why can't I just recast Remembrance and have everypony remember everything?"

Twilight sighed. She wished that the solution to their problem were that simple, but the facts were against them. She looked away from Flame, and he wondered if he had insulted her intelligence by just mentioning such a simple resolution. "Did…I say something wrong, Twi?"

"No, my love, you didn't," she said sweetly, "and it would be that simple if Wave of Forgetfulness had been cast by itself. It would be incredibly difficult and frustrating, but it would be within the realm of possibility. But when Sombra forced you to cast the Remembrance spell and then threw critical amounts of dark magic in, it caused the spell to become irreversible with normal magic alone. Dark magic has that power. When used in small doses, it can concoct some incredible things. But when used in the amount that Sombra used it…it becomes virtually unstoppable."

"Then how is our friendship gonna defeat it?" Pinkie asked.

"That's the thing. It's VIRTUALLY unstoppable. There's one thing that can always defeat the darkness, and that's the light of friendship. Sombra's dark magic was nearly impossible to stop before, and we've defeated it in the same way twice now. We can do it a third time!"

"But what if it doesn't work this time?" Starlight asked, "I mean, we're just three ponies, and even if we got the rest of our friends together, Sombra's done real damage this time. Yes, last time he destroyed the Tree of Harmony, and before that he nearly destroyed the Crystal Empire, but this time…he's destroyed Equestria itself."

Twilight trotted over to her friend and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I know there are a lot of questions, but we'll never know unless we try. Now, come on, everypony! We've gotta jar the memories of our friends!"

"No, you don't," a voice suddenly drawled from behind them, "we've been jarred this whole time. Frankly, if I go through anymore jarrin', I'm gonna be jigglier than Pinkie's famous apple gelatin!"

"APPLEJACK!" Pinkie screamed as she bolted for her friend and tackled her.

Twilight and Starlight's faces both melted into huge smiles as their friends all emerged from the bushes in front of them. Everypony was so happy to see each other again, that they all began talking in one tone. Flame Mane was familiar with Twilight's friends from the descriptive passages in her books, but he got overwhelmed with the amount of noise that they greeted each other with. Many happy tears were being shed at the reunion and they couldn't stop hugging.

Twilight then put her hoof up and everypony was quiet. "I know we're all incredibly happy to see each other," she said, "but there's somepony incredibly special I want you all to meet. This is Flame Mane."

"It's really nice to meet all of you," he said, "I've been delighted to get to spend the past few days with Twilight, and I'm thrilled that all of you are here. But, tell me…did you come from the same grey place Pinkie came from?"

"Well, I don't know if it was the same place," Applejack said, "but it was darn near colorless. It reminded me of Hope Hollow. That place was as colorless as a bad comedian. By the way, I'm Applejack. It's right nice to meet ya!"

One by one, Twilight's friends introduced themselves and told Flame Mane a little bit about where they had been. Each one described the same dull, grey place, where they were allowed to view their disgusting counterparts in action.

"Oh, I've never been so upset with myself in all my life!" Rarity said, "imagine, me…wearing that dress! YUCK!"

"I think you're missing the point, Rarity," Twilight said with a smile.

"Oh, darling, I'm not missing anything. The dress choice was bad enough, but my attitude was even worse! I'm not that kind of pony! I consider generosity the highest goal that anypony can achieve, and I was so selfish! It made me sick!"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said, "and it didn't make me comfortable seeing the way my opposite treated you, Twilight. I'd never abandon my friends like that!"

"I know you wouldn't," Twilight said, "that's why you're such a valuable part of this team. You all are. The Radiation of Friendship didn't just get to Pinkie, it got to all of you as well. The minute Flame, Starlight, and I were united in our quest to stop Sombra was the minute that magic was activated…and it could be the magic that saves us all."

The ponies all smiled at each other and Twilight felt their friendship grow stronger than it ever had before. They were an elite unit, determined to crush Sombra's evil puppet act and return Equestria to the glorious depiction of friendship that it was before. She was so happy to have them all back by her side, that she thought about doing a little dance. But then she remembered Flame standing next to her and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.

"Twilight, darling," Rarity said, "I hate to be nosy, but…are you and Flame a…thing?"

They both blushed heavily, and the group had its answer. The two stumbled over their words, trying to think of some way to put their newfound love into words. But they found it to be impossible. The feelings they shared were so incredibly deep, that they were beyond simple conversation. It was enough that they were together, and they pressed ever closer.

"You don't have to say anything," Rarity went on, "I think it's wonderful."

"Me too!" Rainbow Dash agreed.

"ME THREE!" Pinkie loudly proclaimed.

"Yeah, I think I speak on behalf of the entire group when I say…we're right happy for the two of you," Applejack said, "and when we turn Equestria around, I want y'all to gallivant on down to Sweet Apple Acres and help yourselves to some fresh apple pie! Our treat!"

The friends all commenced conversing with one another about Twilight and Flame Mane's new relationship, and everypony was happy. But they also realized that the road that lay ahead of them was long and arduous. They needed to stop Sombra, but none of them were sure just how they would do that. The Radiation of Friendship only stretched so far, and though none of them knew it, the path to Equestria's rebirth would be one of tears and blood.

Under the Moon

They decided to make camp for the night. The sun was being lowered, and the moon quickly took its place in the darkened sky. Its pale light shone down upon them, and Twilight couldn't help but think that it was some type of memoir left by Princess Luna. The purple pony shuddered as she thought of her dear friend, killed by the hooves of somepony who once loved her so much. She realized that she had no idea if Luna would return were the spell to be reversed and Equestria set right again. Innocent blood had been spilled, thanks to Sombra turning the gears of fate, and she hadn't the slightest clue what awaited them when they returned to their old lives.

So, she sat alone that evening, looking up at the moon and trying to picture what it would be like to drive her horn through Sombra's black heart. She relished the opportunity, despite being the Princess of Friendship. She wanted to see justice served more than anything, and she had a healthy dose bottled up in her small body. She felt ready to explode with it. After all, part of friendship was seeing your companions through to the very end and making sure that whoever hurt them was given their just comeuppance.

She was so lost in angry thought that she didn't notice Flame Mane walk up beside her. He looked at the mare who meant more to him than life itself and noticed a very familiar faraway look in her eyes. He pressed in to her and nuzzled her head. At this affectionate gesture, she turned and smiled. "Hi, Flame," she said as she gave him a loving kiss on the cheek, "is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Twi, everything's fine…everything, that is, except you."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked in confusion. She thought she was the one who had the most level head through all of this.

"Well, everypony else is sound asleep, and you're out here thinking. While it does give me a great excuse to be alone with you for a while, it concerns me as well. You just stalked out of your tent and looked furious with the world. Come on, Twilight. I'm your special somepony now, and if you ever wanna talk, my door's always open."

"I know, Flame," Twilight responded quietly, "and that's one of the many reasons why I love you so much. You do genuinely care about what I have to say. But, frankly, I'm not upset at anything or anypony except Sombra. Flame, he caused all of this, and I know he's waiting for an opportunity to spill Celestia's blood. I just want him gone and I want Equestria back the way it was."

"I think we all share that same aspiration, my love. It's only a question of how best to go about doing that."

"I'm thinking I'll go public with everything," Twilight said, "I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of running through the forest and masking my true self. I'm tired of having to deal with the rifts between Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. The old Equestria must be returned, and we must be willing to battle for it."

Flame Mane smiled and nodded as he gave Twilight a tender lick about the ear. She giggled a bit and suddenly her mind was at ease. Flame had that effect on her. She could lose her head completely and he'd reel her back in. He was incredibly down to Earth, and she loved that about him. She knew once Equestria was back in order, this was the stallion she would marry. She smiled up at him and the lovers embraced with a kiss. Before either of them knew it, they had fallen asleep under the stars.

The next morning, Applejack was the first out of her tent. She yawned and stretched and made sure that the tent was sturdy enough to make it through anything the day might throw at it. After all, these were makeshift tents, and everypony had pitched in the night before to help create them. Seems sturdy enough, she said to herself, but Cloudsdale might declare a squall for the day. I'd better reinforce this, otherwise it's a-gonna be gallivantin' around here worse than Apple Bloom at bath time!

So she went towards the forest to try and locate some more solid branches to help strengthen her tent. But she stopped when she caught Twilight and Flame out cold in each other's embrace. She smiled at the rather sweet nature of the scene and decided that the branches could wait. She didn't want to wake the two of them. Would ya look at that? She asked herself, love in real life.

One by one, the other ponies emerged and saw what Applejack did. They stood there for a minute, marveling at the quiet love that their two friends shared. Starlight couldn't help but feel a tad bit envious. Her secret crush, Sunburst, had never once asked her out, even though she had silently begged him to for years. But seeing Twilight and Flame happy together made her rethink the entire situation. When this is all over, she thought, I'm gonna make a move and surprise him!

Unfortunately, Pinkie was the final pony out of her tent and she squealed, "GOOD MORNING, EVERYPONY!"

"SHHHHHHH!" The others hushed her, but it was too late. The beautiful scene had been preempted by Pinkie's shriek of joyous greeting and Flame and Twilight were startled awake. They noticed just where they were and pulled away from each other, smiling through intense blushes.

"Somethin' tells me y'all were plum tuckered out," Applejack said.

"We were," Twilight responded, "but thankfully, the carpet of the forest proved just as soft as any blanket."

"I think you mean Flame's coat," Rainbow Dash said, "after all, you were cuddling so tightly, I doubt you ever caught any hint of the forest floor."

Twilight and Flame smiled as they joined their friends. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were assigned to breakfast duty, and they quickly whipped up some stuff from an apple tree they had located the night before. "Mm," Twilight said as she ate her apple crisp, "these are delicious!"

Everypony agreed that it was one of the greatest breakfasts they had ever tasted. "You ever see that TV show Chef Pony?" Rarity asked.

"No," Rainbow said, "why?"

"Well, darling, you're a natural! You and Applejack both! I think you should try out."

As Applejack and Rainbow Dash mulled over Rarity's words, a sudden chill came over the forest. The ponies all shivered and huddled close together, trying to keep warm. "What the hay?!" Applejack asked.

"It's magic!" Twilight responded, "and I think I know where it's coming from…"

"Where?" Fluttershy asked.

"Him!" Twilight shouted as she pointed at a new figure that emerged into their campsite. It was a tall, mean looking black and silver unicorn with a bent horn. His sharp teeth and evil glare screamed his name. His mane was pure purple flame, and fire leapt from his very soul. Twilight gritted her teeth as she redirected her feelings into spitting anger. It was Sombra himself.

Enter Sombra!

Twilight and her friends took up defensive positions in front of their small encampment. The last thing they wanted was for Sombra and a couple of brutish guards to come in and slaughter them all. The princess made mental notes of how Sombra had changed through the forced revolution of Equestria. He was shorter, but his eyes still burned with the same fire and his mouth still opened in a laugh that was soft, subtle, and completely sinister.

"My little pets," he growled at them.

"We are NOT your pets!" Rainbow Dash challenged.

"Oh, but you are," Sombra said as he trotted around to the blue Pegasus, "you're my playthings in this world of complete and utter chaos. That's why I…took certain liberties with you while you were trapped in my limbo. For instance, I took away Rarity's creativity."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rarity screamed, "my creativity was all I had!"

"Exactly, my dear, and now you're as dull as the next pony. I took away Dash's speed, Applejack's strength, and what little was left of Fluttershy's bravery. I put all of them in this jar." Here, the evil overlord revealed a small jar filled with different colored magical dust. The elements of each pony's personality seemed to cry out to be rescued, but nopony could.

"I almost had Pinkie Pie's insatiable, and might I add, extremely annoying, hyperactive sense of complete silliness, but then she escaped. Equestria is in my hooves, and I cannot allow any obstacles to pop up that I didn't plan for. Now, Pinkie, be a good little filly and come to Sombra…"

"Quit treating her like a foal!" Twilight yelled in anger as she spread her wings, "or I'll give you something to cry like a colt about!"

"Oh…such a threat," Sombra said sarcastically, "you know I do love a good threat. You're beginning to think like me, Twilight…and that works out perfectly, considering the future I have in store for us here."

"Future? The only future I have is back in the old Equestria, married to Flame Mane, and surrounded by my friends!"

Flame was taken aback by Twilight's declaration of devotion. He had planned on asking her to marry him at some point, but he had no idea she had already made her mind up. He smiled and couldn't help blushing a bit. He pressed closer to her, and the new couple gave Sombra the hardest stare they could muster. Twilight even growled a little bit.

"I do hope the wedding invitations haven't been sent out yet," Sombra sneered, "because there's nothing you can do to stop me! I have Equestria, and Celestia. She's putty in my hooves. I've been wooing her since the day I arrived in Canterlot, fresh off my latest brilliant scheme! I told her I was wrong, and that I wanted to join her side. Like a FOOL, she believed me! Then I had free roam of Canterlot as one of her top guards."

Twilight was shocked. Celestia had trusted Sombra, even after everything he had done? There were absolutely no red flags whatsoever? She couldn't believe that her oldest friend had done something so reckless. Sombra must have had her under some sort of spell, she told herself.

Thankfully, one of her friends had the same thought she did. "Celestia would never do somethin' so foolish!" Applejack said hotly, "you must've weaved some kinda magic over her. Now you're gonna pay for it! You're more evil than bad apples in an apple pie!"

"Uh, AJ, you might wanna work on that country-ism," Dash said.

"Oh, no…WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Applejack shouted at Sombra.

"I took away your Southern charm and country folk innocence, Applejack. Now all of your attempts at normal country comparisons will fall flatter than your sibling's attempt at delectable weekend only breakfast confectionaries."

"What?" Dash asked.

"I think he means 'fall flatter than Big Mac's muffins on Sunday morning.'" Twilight explained.

"Wow…mine might've been bad, but y'all's was even worse!" Applejack said before guffawing, "maybe your little plan's done backfired on ya!"

"Oh, I don't think so," Sombra said, "I didn't come here to make witty country sayings. I came here to remove a thorn in my hoof, and that thorn is you, Twilight Sparkle. You've been stopping me for too long now. So I got on Celestia's good side, and then I forced bird brain here to cast that spell. I told him that it would be a wonderful way to make an impression on you. He was so desperate for attention, that the poor fool went and cast the spell right under my nose. He didn't even bother to ask my name. But when you're Bumble Trot, the clumsiest pony in all Equestria…I guess that stands to reason."

Flame Mane looked at the ground as he felt a familiar burning sensation return to his cheeks. He blushed heavily and wanted to turn tail and run as fast as he could out of there. All of the times he had messed up came running into his mind and they began beating his brain. He saw the moments where he had been betrayed, lost, forgotten, abandoned, and violently beaten for money.

But then, he felt a hoof on his own. He turned and saw his beloved Twilight looking at him. Her eyes shone and silently spoke love back into his mind. We can do this, she seemed to tell him, I believe it…now I need you to believe it, too. It doesn't matter what he says. It doesn't matter what anypony says. It only matters what we feel for each other. That will stand against anything.

He suddenly felt incredibly brave and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. "You can say whatever you want, Sombra! But I know I have my new friends and the mare who means more to me than anything else in the world standing next to me! You can't win!"

"Oh…but I already have, Bumble Trot."

"My name…is Flame Mane!"

"How cute. You actually thought that a name change would change you? How pathetic. You're still the clumsiest and most accident prone pony in the land. This dream you have of marrying Twilight will never come true! Because I intend to kill her, marry Celestia, and then rule Equestria as KING!"

Flame Mane instinctively put a foreleg in front of Twilight, trying to protect her. The princess was unsure of how to react to the gesture. On the one hoof, she could definitely take care of herself. But on the other, it was such a brave and humble maneuver on Flame's part that she couldn't help but love him for it. So she decided to unite with him even further. She put her own hoof in front of his.

When the other ponies saw the solidarity of their friends, they did the same thing. Soon, all eight of them were locked together by crossed forelegs, building a pony wall in front of their campsite. Twilight smiled in determination as she fed off of the true magic of friendship. "Sombra, you may think you've won, but as long as there's breath in our lungs, we will fight to stop you. You can't stand against all of us!"

"But I can stand against one of you," he sneered, "the one I've wanted to fight one-on-one since the day I met her…you, Princess Twilight Sparkle." He spat her name in disgust and some of his saliva ended up on Twilight's hoof. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain with her friends. Not now, Twilight, she told herself, the time will come.

"What are your terms?" She asked him. Her friends looked on in shock. Surely Twilight wouldn't fight Sombra alone, would she?

"I'll only accept a fight to the absolute death. I'll rip those wings off your side and shove them down that pathetic little throat of yours!"

"Rules?"

"No magic," Sombra said, "I'll even turn off my own. I want to see how good you are against THESE!" He produced his hooves, which were sharp as knives and carried a metallic quality about them. "I'll toss you around like a rag doll, and I'll make sure your blood splatters the ground!"

"What happens if I win?" Twilight asked, "if you're dead…will Equestria be returned to normal?"

"Unfortunately, yes. My magic holds the illusion together, and without it, Equestria would return. But thankfully, I'm still here…and I don't plan on going anywhere."

With a sneer of hate, he stepped towards Twilight and held out his hoof. "Shake on it, and we'll do battle tomorrow at noon at Canterlot Stadium." Twilight, with a bit of apprehension and a lot of bravery, stuck her own hoof out and shook it. "It's a deal," she said firmly, "but don't you dare try to weasel out of it."

Come Forth, Warriors!

It didn't take long for the two opponents to negotiate terms of their duel. Twilight agreed to forego all use of magic, while Sombra agreed not to do anything underhanded or conspicuous. They also agreed that their hooves and horns were to be sharpened to deadly precision, in order to ensure that death would be immediate upon striking just the correct area. They also put a clause in the small contract they drew up that allowed for each of them to have three timeouts. If, by the end of the 20-minute time limit, the duel had not been decided succinctly, then they would each be allowed three open slashes.

With the deal decided, the two of them shook hooves and shared glares. Sombra's eyes glinted in the sun, and his teeth followed suit. Twilight could almost read the evil thoughts that were weaving their way through the thorn bush of his mind. She also knew he possessed the power to get inside somepony's head, and so she put up mental barriers. He sensed this, and maneuvered his way around her. He chuckled as he did so.

He crept up behind her and whispered deep into her ear. "You can put up all the walls you wish, Princess, but it won't matter. No matter how far you go, no matter how much you push, no matter how many friendship missions you accomplish…it's all dead, Twilight. Friendship is dead…and I killed it, just as I will do the same to you."

He turned from her and prepared to leave, but thought of one last remark to share. "You could've had everything, Twilight. Remember the Crystal Empire? Hm? Remember when I asked for your hoof in marriage?"

Her friends all gasped. "WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash shrieked.

"Darling…did he really do that?!" Rarity asked in a daze.

"He did," Twilight said, "but I turned him down the minute he went there. I don't know what possessed him to think I'd agree to such a thing!"

"You're a very pretty young mare, Twilight," Sombra said, "and rather ambitious. It's such a shame that, by this time tomorrow, I'll have to take that sweet head of yours and mount it on my wall!" With that, he stormed off, followed closely by his guards.

"Oh, my goodness," Fluttershy quivered, "I don't think I'll be able to watch this!"

"Twi, you sure you know what you're doin', sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

"In truth, no, I don't," the princess said sincerely, "but I know this. You being there, cheering me on, will help me tremendously. Having good friends around while you're going through a severe trial is what makes it bearable. I feel as though I have the weight of all Equestria on my shoulders-"

"But having us around helps spread the weight out," Rarity said, "and the burden becomes lighter."

Twilight nodded, grateful for her rock solid friendships with every one of these ponies. She considered them to be sisters, and she knew they would help her through this difficult time. Her eyes moistened as she thought of what each one of them meant to her. She loved all of them, and if they ever made it back to the real Equestria, she was going to throw them the biggest party she'd ever thrown, just to thank them for being who they were.

The next day, all of Equestria gathered at the Canterlot Coliseum to watch the ensuing duel. It had become common knowledge through the Sombra-controlled newspapers, which published stories singing his praises and demonizing Twilight as "the witch who dares to call herself a Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony all at the same time." Needless to say, the only ponies there who supported her were her friends from the real Equestria.

When everypony was seated, trumpets blared and Celestia herself made her way up to a giant, jewel-encrusted throne and took her place. The crowd cheered her arrival and she quieted them with a hoof. "May the combatants enter the arena," she bellowed in her Royal Canterlot Voice, "and good luck to both of them!"

One door swung open and out came Sombra. The crowd roared its approval of their champion, and he took very deliberate, arrogant bows. Today, Princess Twilight, he said, all of Equestria shall see that friendship truly is dead. You? You shall be nothing but a stain on my memory, and involved in nopony else's. I'm going to splatter your blood all over the walls of this stadium! Hm…which spike shall I impale you on? Or, even better, how many times shall I run my horn through that kind and compassionate heart of yours?! We shall see…

After answering his own evil questionnaire, he continued bowing in grandiosity and overindulgence. He turned up and waved at Celestia, who promptly waved back. Her eyes shone as she looked at him, and he knew he had her exactly where he wanted her. As soon as Twilight is disposed of, I shall marry you. Then I shall sleep with you in order to ensure my lineage continues. After the birth of our first foal…I shall kill you!

"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS!" The stadium announcer blared, "I GIVE YOU, THE CHAMPION OF EQUESTRIA, SOMBRA THE MAGNIFICENT!"

Once again, the crowd roared its approval as a warped version of the Equestrian national anthem played. The gathered ponies sang along to it with rapturous joy, paying no mind to the lyrics that praised Sombra as Equestria's greatest hero. I love being in charge, he told himself as he licked his lips. He was almost like a predator sniffing out his prey for the first time, and he had a taste for Twilight.

At the end of this rather repulsive display, the stadium doors on the other end swung open and Twilight emerged. She was dressed in the traditional Equestrian royal battle garb, and a crown was placed on her head, which had been tirelessly created overnight by Rarity. The diadem bore seven different jewels, surrounding a bigger stone. The big one represented her, but more than that, it represented the spirit of friendship she exuded and embodied. The small ones represented her friends. Even Flame Mane, her special somepony, and Starlight were represented there.

"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS," The announcer blared again, "I GIVE YOU, THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

She was met with incredible boos and hisses. Some ponies threw things at her, and she was hit in the head with more than a few pieces of garbage. But she stood her ground and spread her wings wide for all to see. Don't hide these anymore, she told herself, they are what sets you apart from everypony. They signify the position Celestia chose you for. But most importantly, they represent every bit of the bond I share with my friends. I could not have earned these without them.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A RULER?!" Somepony yelled.

"GET OUT OF OUR COUNTRY!" Another one screamed.

"YOU BEAST! YOU'LL DESTROY OUR FOALS!" A mother pony cried out.

Each and every insult slashed Twilight to the core, but she stood her ground against Sombra. She looked to the side and saw all of her friends standing there, silently cheering her on. She could tell they were afraid to call out their support. They were surrounded by a ravenous opposition that would probably have turned violent the minute they began.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET RID OF THOSE WINGS, YOU TREACHEROUS WITCH!" A voice yelled from the crowd. Twilight groaned as she recognized Rainbow Dash's scratchy tone. Sorry, fake Dash, but my wings stay put.

"Alright, Sombra!" Twilight yelled across the arena, "let's do this!"

Twilight vs. Sombra

After Twilight yelled her declaration of war across the arena, Sombra pawed at the ground and snorted viciously. He and the princess backed up a few paces, and then, with screams of bloody murder, they charged at each other. With a loud clash, their sharp horns connected for the first time. The parry was a vicious one, and their combined strength was such that it caused a minor earthquake. The ground shook under their hooves as they slashed and fought furiously. One fought for selfish greed, the other fought for her friends and fellow ponies.

Time after time, they connected with their horns and swiped angry hooves. Sombra's rage was an evil one, and Twilight's friends noticed that the same dark aura that surrounded him was beginning to reappear. Unfortunately, Sombra's dark magic had deluded everypony into thinking that he was their hero, so they did not notice the true darkness within him. In their sight, he was a champion fighting against a pony who dared to rise up against Queen Celestia.

On the other side of the parry, Twilight's rage was righteous, just, and true. Her friends noticed a glowing white aura surrounding her, and they felt the combined power of Cadance, Luna, and the regular Celestia. It was almost as if all four princesses were fighting in one unified stance. Twilight's horn left streaks across the sky as she butted heads with the evil overlord. Blood flowed from the wounds they inflicted on each other, and Twilight felt a little dizzy. So she called for her first timeout.

Both warriors went to opposing sides of the arena and Twilight sat amongst her friends. She was breathing heavily, and Fluttershy was using the small first aid kit they had purchased to bind up her wounds. She was in searing pain, but she determined in her heart to continue to the very end. She knew that Equestria itself depended on winning this fight, and she was not about to let everypony down. If she did die, she was going to go down in the knowledge that she had battled as hard as she could.

"Listen, Twilight," Applejack said, "you've gotta watch out for your left side. He's gainin' a huge advantage on you there!"

"You're a little weak on the turnaround," Rainbow Dash advised, "try swinging your head back around a little quicker."

"Is your crown alright?" Rarity asked honestly. This earned a glare from the other ponies. Twilight was sitting there bleeding and trying to stay in the fight, and Rarity was concerned about her contribution to the princess's attire.

"I think we've got more important things to worry about right now," Starlight said.

Twilight coughed and spoke in a voice that betrayed her own exhaustion. "Listen, everypony. This is the toughest opponent I've ever faced. I wish I could do it with you by my side, but sadly, I am contractually obligated to command you to stay here. But as your friend…I can't do this alone."

"You ain't alone, sugar cube," Applejack drawled, "we're all in your corner, fightin' right alongside you. We're more than friends, Twi. We're family, and if there's one thing I've learned from bein' an Apple, it's that family sticks together through everything. We'll weather this storm, get Equestria back to normal, and then we'll have one heck of a weddin' for you and Flame here!"

Twilight blushed heavily as she looked up at her special stallion. He beamed with pride as he bent down and gave her a kiss. "Good luck, my love," he said, "make all Equestria proud!" The couple shared a tender embrace before Twilight resumed her position on the battlefield.

"Oh…" Fluttershy said nervously, "I just hope that she doesn't lose! It would be just terrible! I mean, I don't think I could handle it if Twilight were to…be…"

The yellow pony couldn't take the thought of Twilight's potential death and broke down sobbing. She was quickly surrounded by her friends, who comforted her and reassured her that Twilight was going to win the fight. "Listen, Fluttershy," Flame said, "I know I've only known Twilight personally for a short while now, but I know she's a fighter. She's proven that time and time again, and she's not gonna allow herself to get killed." Fluttershy nodded as she wiped her tears away and they all turned back and watched the ensuing clash.

Sombra and Twilight were ferocious in their charges, even more so than they'd been before. Sombra's horn found its mark more than a few times, and Twilight howled in pain every time it did. She felt Fluttershy's small patch job come undone, and her blood stained the ground. But her own horn did its fair share of damage, as Sombra's coat became matted and entangled in both blood and fur.

They clashed once more, only this time, they dared to exchange words. Sombra cursed at Twilight, speaking down horrible things from Tartarus and telling her of his own spitting hatred for her. She confirmed the mutuality of the feeling, and told him that she would never have agreed to marry him. His anger seemed to burn even hotter at this remark. "FIRST LUNA, NOW YOU!" He screamed, "WHAT DOES SOMEPONY HAVE TO DO?!"

"Maybe try being friendly and kind instead of being cruel and vindictive!" Twilight angrily suggested.

"No, you know what?! You're beneath me!" Sombra said coldly as their horns ground against each other, "you don't deserve somepony like me! Luna was the only one worthy of my greatness!"

"Is that was this entire thing is about?! You're still upset over losing her?! Goodnight, that was over a thousand years ago! Get over it, Sombra! Maybe it was your own arrogance that drove her away!"

"NO!" Sombra said as Twilight swore she saw tears beginning to form in his eyes, "it wasn't…it was that WITCH CELESTIA! That's why I need this Equestria to exist, so I can kill her!"

"What good would that do?!" Twilight desperately yelled as she tried to reason with the confused unicorn, "how does killing Celestia get you any closer to Luna?! What's more, Luna's dead!"

"I know Luna's dead, you brat! Who do you think pulled the strings?! Who do you think possessed Celestia and caused her to kill her own sister?! I slaughtered Luna for what she did to me, and now I have nothing! I have nopony! I AM NOPONY!"

She saw tears rolling down his face as his one ultimate regret in life was revealed. His jilted love for a beautiful princess had caused him to try so many times to enslave Equestria. Now that his mission was accomplished, he had killed the very reason he existed, and he had just come to that realization. He had been blinded for so long by the eternal rage of discarded love that he had lost himself completely.

"Sombra, listen to me," Twilight said soothingly, "there's nothing you could ever do that would drive away a true friend."

"Friend? I told you, I killed friendship! It's dead and gone!"

"No, it's not! Friendship is alive and well! Just look over there at my friends, who have all come back from your limbo in order to be here today! You might set friendship back, but you can never destroy it!"

"How…how on Earth could you even think of forgiving me after what I've done?!"

"If you would just try true friendship, you'd understand! Forgiveness is what friends do!"

Sombra looked deep into Twilight's eyes, and she mentally begged him to revert to being the friendly pony he was before Luna had crushed his heart. She had read all about him in the history books in the Crystal Empire, and she knew what a benevolent stallion he had been. Now she hoped he could tap into that reserve of kindness she knew he still had and return as the regular Sombra.

"The choice is yours," she said, "but I used to be friendless. I was miserable, just like you. Thankfully, Celestia knocked some sense into me, and now I'm happier than I've ever been. Please, Sombra…give it a chance."

To her horror, she saw his anger grow once again. "I gave it a chance once, and it left me cold, broken, and practically dead. No, Twilight, my plans will go through…and they all start with THIS!"

With that, he moved his horn south and ran Twilight through. It was so sharp, that it pierced through her armor and right into her heart. The death was instantaneous, and she fell over backwards in defeat. The crowd roared their approval as Sombra paraded himself around his fallen foe.

Twilight's friends looked on in shock and heart rending grief. The Princess of Friendship, whose kind and loving ways had always guided ponies back together, had been torn apart. A pool of blood surrounded her, and her crown had been smashed. They quickly ran in and surrounded her, embracing each other and trying to be as supportive as they could. But their tears were many, and soon each one of them cried out in terrifying agony.

Flame Mane's was the worst, and he wept bitterly over the corpse of his beloved. But his heart was different from Sombra's. He held no hatred for the pony who had taken away the mare who had loved him. All the same, his heart physically ached as he bent down and nosed her beautiful face. He shut his eyes as the tears poured out like two waterfalls. His friends surrounded him with their love as they all embraced each other as one.

Suddenly, something magical happened. A giant rainbow shot from inside their circle and covered the land. It stretched from Manehattan to Fillydelphia, from Trottingham to Canterlot, and everywhere in between. It settled on ponies who used to be friends, reviving their companionship and causing Equestria to return to the happy place it once was. Against all odds, the truest of friendships had saved everything once again.

It was a bittersweet moment for the seven ponies surrounding the body of their fallen friend. "Equestria's back to normal," Dash choked out, "so…why do I feel so terrible?"

"The answer's starin' you right in your muzzle, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said as she wiped her own tears away, "even with the rebirth of our land, Twilight's still gone, and I'm bettin' Luna is as well."

"On the bright side, Sombra's gone as well," Rarity pointed out as she nodded to a burnt spot on the ground in front of them. Sombra had vanished into thin air once again, and Equestria was safe from his cruelty. The seven didn't know whether to be joyous at this, or to go somewhere and do nothing but weep for the rest of their lives. Their worst nightmare had come true. Twilight Sparkle was dead.

How to Mourn

The seven ponies all let their tears fall freely around the body of their friend. Their minds had been taken to a severely dark place, and every one of them wished with every fiber of their being that they might be allowed to leave it. The lightning and thunder crashed around them, and it roared in their ears, even though it was a perfectly sunny day. But no amount of Celestia's beautiful orb could make this pain evaporate. Not even the reunion of friends who had been torn asunder by Sombra's evil could defeat the searing agony each of them felt.

"So…what happens now?" Rarity asked bluntly through a thick voice.

None of them answered her, because they didn't know how to. They weren't prepared for this. They figured that Twilight's true power, and their combined magic of friendship, would save the day as it always had. Part of that had come true, as they looked around them and saw happy ponies embracing each other as they remembered their precious relationships. But the other part lay dead at their hooves.

"I guess," Starlight began before choking up. She fought through her sadness and continued, "we mourn."

"How do we mourn?" Fluttershy asked, "we've never dealt with death before."

"I believe the best way to mourn is to remember Twilight with happiness," Flame said.

"But how in Equestria can we be happy right now?" Dash asked, "I mean…Twilight's dead!"

"Yes," Flame said, "she is, and it crushes my soul. My heart is in a million tiny pieces right now, and I may never be able to reconstruct it. Even so, I'm remembering all the wonderful and happy times I spent with her. That might be the key to rekindling our own joy in this world."

"Flame's right, y'all," Applejack said, "we've gotta be strong in the face of what's happened, and remember Twilight with all the happiness that she'd want us to remember her with. Ain't nothin' wrong with celebratin' a life."

"Celebrating her life is all well and good," Dash said, "but forgive me if I don't exactly feel like doing a dance right now."

"Dash, I'm not saying we should throw a party," Flame said, "I'm saying we should honor her memory by focusing on the good times that we all had with her. Those are engrained into our psyches now and forevermore, and we must not allow them to be taken from us."

The friends all gathered together and embraced once again, feeling the power of their friendship flooding their veins. They knew they could lean on each other through this terrible time. Equestria might have been set free from Sombra's bondage, but they still felt chained to a rather large part of it. They had to rely on their togetherness and unity to break those chains.

"What in the world's going on here?!" A voice suddenly asked out of nowhere. It startled the group, and they all turned to see Princess Celestia standing there. She was rubbing her head and looked completely bewildered. They all bowed in respect to their leader, but she quickly waved them back to their hooves.

"Now's not the time for formalities, my friends," she said kindly, "though I do appreciate your respect. But I feel a little bit lost. Everypony's greeting each other as if they haven't done so in years, and my head feels like one of the Canterlot construction workers has taken a jackhammer to it. What on Earth happened?"

The ponies stood as a wall in front of their dead friend. They wanted to delay the tragic news for as long as they could. Flame Mane looked up and saw kindness and wisdom emanating from the princess's eyes, and he felt incredibly comfortable talking with her. She reminded him of Twilight in so many ways. "Your Majesty," he said solemnly, "King Sombra unleashed an evil on the land, causing friendships to be destroyed and causing you to lose your mind…literally."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's true, Princess," Applejack said, "he forced Flame Mane here to cast a really difficult spell, and then weaved his magic in so that everypony forgot everypony else. Twilight, Starlight, and Flame were the only three that remembered until we escaped from limbo. He was also playin' you like a prize fiddle, Princess. That there burnt spot is where Sombra disappeared whenever Equestria was set right again." She pointed to the black, disheveled area where Sombra once gloated a victory. "I guess it was our friendship that saved Equestria."

Celestia smiled, "I have no doubt of it. I'm also not surprised that Sombra attempted to take Equestria once again. But, tell me…where is my dearest former student, Twilight Sparkle?"

The group all looked at each other as they tried to think up words to describe the impossible. How could they tell Celestia that Twilight's blood ridden body was lying in a heap right behind their posteriors? How could they, such lowly ponies, even think of delivering such news? The fact is that none of them could, and so they simply moved aside and Celestia saw the devastating sight.

Her mouth gradually opened as her eyes widened. She stepped in between the ponies and bent down to nudge her faithful student. Tears brimmed at her eyes as memories flashed in her mind, memories of when Twilight was first introduced as her new student, when she passed her first magic exam, when she was sent off to Ponyville…and when she made her five friends. Celestia lay on her stomach and nosed into Twilight's coat, silently crying and saying a final farewell.

Everypony saw the solemn occasion, and decided to join her in grieving their terrific loss. Fluttershy and Rarity lay on each side of Celestia, daring to press their flanks up against hers. The princess gave them looks of silent gratitude, and continued her mourning. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash each took up their own part of Twilight's body, nosing their way into her fur and speaking words of quiet thanks for her part in showing them the amazing power friendship held. Each one of them wept their own tears, and each drop reflected a happy memory that they shared with the deceased princess.

Flame Mane went directly to her face and kissed it, bending his head beside hers for one final moment with his beloved. He could still see the kind love in her eyes, and he could hear the sweet words that emanated from her lips. He still loved everything about her, and wanted more than anything for her to leap from the grave. He wanted there to be a "happily ever after." But, I guess…not every story has a happy ending. He turned and nosed into Twilight's mane. I'll never find another mare like you, he silently told her, and I don't want to. I shall love you and only you forever, my darling Twilight. I'll never, ever forget you.

Epilogue: True Friendship

Rarity raised a hoof and knocked on the cottage door. "Flame Mane, darling, you've got to come out! You've been holed up in there for so long!" Flame's friends were increasingly concerned over the poor pony's mental state. It had been a week since Equestria reverted back to normal and Twilight was killed, and the only time Flame had emerged had been for her private funeral. Her friends had all delivered tributes to her, but his had been the most heart rending. He spoke of his endless devotion and love for her, and by the end of it, everypony was sobbing all over again. Yet, through the sadness, there was a humongous sense of beauty added to it which made it all the more memorable.

Now, Flame's friends had gathered on a self-imposed mission to help the heartbroken stallion. They just needed for him to open the door. Each of them had come alone in the past few days, trying desperately to get Flame to speak with them again. But so far, none of them had any luck in convincing him. He would come to the unopened door and yell at them to leave. But, even as they turned away, they could hear him crying out for Twilight. When he did, it broke their hearts, and they turned away with tears stinging their eyes.

For a few moments, nothing happened. "Come on, everypony," Dash said sadly, "I don't think he's in the mood."

"No!" Rarity said, "we can't give up on him! Twilight wouldn't want us to!"

Suddenly, they heard the door rattle and creak open and Flame finally stepped into the sun again. "What do you want?" He asked dryly. His eyes were red and puffy and he looked as if he hadn't gotten any proper sleep in some time. Rarity stepped forward and grasped him in an embrace. "We want to show you that true friendship never dies," she said simply.

He gave her an odd look. "What the hay's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we ain't givin' up on ya," Applejack said as she smiled kindly, "we loved Twi just as much as you did, and she'd want us to show ya that we're as faithful as my ol' Wynona." She beamed at being able to use her country comparisons properly again.

"Well, thanks," he said gruffly, "but I'm fine. I just need to be left alone."

"That's no excuse," Fluttershy said firmly, "nopony should be alone in their time of need, and you, sir, definitely qualify for that category."

"Fluttershy's right," Starlight said, "and as the pony who's been named Twilight's successor, I cannot allow myself to sit idly by while you destroy yourself."

"Alright," Flame said, "come in."

So they followed him inside and collectively dropped their jaws at just how unraveled his home had become. The messy, disheveled room reflected his spirit, and they all realized it. It was as if his heart had been taken from his body and all of its contents emptied out in piles of dirty clothes and broken furniture.

"Please excuse the mess," he grumbled as he walked over and sat beside a picture of Twilight.

"The mess in your heart is more important than the mess on the floor," Starlight said wisely as she went and sat beside him, "and we want to help clean that up. You letting us in is a great first step."

"First step to what?" Flame asked angrily, "more hopelessness? More death? More despair? What point is there when all we know will die eventually? Everypony we love…will be put in holes in the ground. Not even Celestia herself is free from this fate."

"No, she's not, and neither are we," Starlight said, "but death isn't the reason for living. Life is, and, from my experience, it can only be enjoyed when you have friends by your side."

"I have no friends," Flame said, "not anymore. I thought I did…but then she was taken, and I've driven you all away."

"Have ya ever heard of a little thing called forgiveness?" Applejack asked, "yeah, y'all might've driven us away faster than Apple Bloom runs at bath time, but we can forgive ya for it."

"Why would you? For that matter, why would I want you to? Maybe I like being alone."

"Flame, no offense, but you have a HORRIBLE poker face," Rainbow Dash spoke up, "you need us and we need you. That's what friendship is, and that's what Twilight taught all of us."

Starlight looked up and smiled at Flame. She saw that his eyes betrayed his want for them to surround him, and she was very willing to grant that wish. She nodded at them and they all tightened their circle. "What are you doing?" He asked, trying to keep up his depressed front, even though he desperately needed them to continue coming around him.

"We're supporting you," Starlight said, "it's what friends do. Flame, quit lying to yourself. You've got friends, and we're all here for you. So buck up!"

Suddenly, Flame broke down sobbing. He just couldn't take it anymore. Everything came crashing down on him and his emotions exploded. He dropped to his stomach and cried harder than he'd ever cried before. Starlight bent down and put a hoof on his shoulder. Maybe we overdid it just a little, she said.

"Thank you," Flame said amidst his grief. Starlight backed up a bit. She wasn't expecting gratitude. "Thank you for being here," he went on, "I need all of you, especially now. I don't deserve such wonderful friends."

"It's not about whether or not you deserve friendship," Starlight said, "friendship is granted no matter what. I can think of so many ponies who didn't deserve Twilight's friendship, but she gave it anyway because it was the right thing to do. Now we want to follow her lead."

So they all gathered around him and embraced. He was thrilled to have so many ponies who truly cared about him, and wouldn't stab him in the back like others had done. He opened his eyes and saw Twilight's picture looking back at him, and her smile seemed to be real. Alright, Twilight, you win, he told her, I'm not gonna stop being a friend, and I won't hole myself up anymore. These mares mean more to me than anything in the world, just as I know they meant so much to you. But you will always have my heart, my love.

Business as Usual

"Rarity, fire your blast at the left side of the bear! No, not your left, my left!" Twilight yelled as she ran around the great beast. It was a wild one that Fluttershy had attempted to tame, but it didn't find the kind yellow pony's company as pleasing as other animals did. It was odd, considering animal communication was Fluttershy's special talent, but those thoughts had quickly been brushed aside. They had to protect Ponyville from the marauder.

The bear had been taken in by Fluttershy's wildlife sanctuary when he was injured. He had multiple broken bones after being in a fight with a timber wolf, and needed time to rest and recuperate. Twilight's friend was happy to give him that time. Unfortunately, it seemed that the bear did not quite appreciate the kindness shown to him. He had gone on a rampage as soon as the bandages were off, injuring one of Fluttershy's wings.

"Alright, everypony!" Twilight yelled as she coordinated their attack, "now! Fire of Friendship!"

They all ran together and joined hooves. Twilight used her horn to cast a spell over them and they rose off the ground as one group. A great flame shot out from everypony as their eyes all went snow white. The fire burned the ground and caused the bear to become trapped. They didn't want to hurt him, but they couldn't allow him to rampage through Ponyville. He had gotten close enough already.

When they got through, they stood and watched as the controlled flames ran wild around the outside of the animal. Fluttershy stepped up and shook her head. "Now, now, Mr. Bear," she said, "you know better than that! What has anypony ever done to you?"

The bear roared in her face, and swiped at her with a paw. He recoiled in pain as the flames caught him, and Fluttershy turned to see Twilight. "Can you stop the fire, please?"

"Why? If I do, then he'll come out and destroy Ponyville!"

"But if you don't, then then poor thing will be trapped in there forever!"

"That's kinda the idea, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash pointed out as she fluttered down beside them.

"To save Ponyville, we lit the Fire of Friendship," Twilight said, "which seeks to prevent anything from harming good friends. It will attack and annihilate whatever stands in the way of ponies, or other creatures, being together and sharing unity in their individuality. In this case, the bear was standing in our way, and the fire was glad to help trap him."

"You say that as if you communicated with the fire, Twi," Applejack said, "I mean, it's technically an inanimate object. Ain't you a little…ya know…too alive to be talkin' with it?"

"I didn't communicate with it, AJ," Twilight said, "I simply trusted it to take care of our friendship, and it did. Mission accomplished."

She smiled as she looked around at the ponies she loved more than anything else in the world. Her friends meant so much to her, and she knew she would always hold them in her memory. This is what friendship is, she said, a group of ponies united under a banner, but not giving up their true selves. We don't erase our differences, we celebrate them. That's what keeps us together, and we can never be driven apart. We could live thousands of miles away from each other, and still be bound in both heart and soul. To borrow an older pony colloquialism, we are kindred spirits.

"Hey, everypony! What do you say we go to Sugarcube Corner and get some cake to celebrate?!" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly, "my treat!"

"Shoot, that sounds like a great idea!" Applejack said, "let's do it!"

Everyone quickly agreed to the party obsessed pink pony's suggestion, and they all trooped off to celebrate yet another friendship fueled victory. But Fluttershy was still nervous about her bear. She considered him her friend, just like she did all the animals she took care of. She was scared that the fiery bear trap they had him in would reinjure him. So, she ran up beside Twilight and begged her to take it away.

"I can't do that, Fluttershy!" Twilight said in exasperation, "I know you're trying to show kindness to that bear, and believe me, I respect that. But, I can't put everypony's lives at risk like that. The bear stays in the fire until we figure out what to do with him."

"Can't we put him back in my sanctuary?"

"I don't think that's an option," Rainbow spoke up, "I mean, look at what he did to that small part of the forest. I think I saw him rip a fox in half."

Fluttershy gasped and her lip quivered. "R-r-r…r-r-r-r…rip a fox in half?! But he would never do something so terrible! I've trained him better than that!"

"Sure," Dash said sarcastically, "you've trained him SO WELL that he nearly ran into Ponyville and hurt all our friends!"

"Dash is right, Fluttershy," Twilight said, trying to quell the rising tempers between the two Pegasi, "he is a threat, and we must treat him as such. Now, when we get back from Sugarcube Corner, I think the prudent thing to do would be to release him back to the wild."

Fluttershy's ears drooped. She loved caring for the animals, and she wished she could keep all of them in her cottage. She had especially taken a liking to this particular bear, whom she had rescued herself. She had worked day and night nursing him back to health. She didn't want him to be ripped away from her. She sniffed and felt tears come to her eyes.

"Oh, it'll be okay, Fluttershy," Applejack said soothingly.

"Yes, darling," Rarity agreed, "you'll be a lot better off once that horrid beast is put back in his proper place."

Suddenly, Fluttershy whipped around. "HE IS NOT A HORRID BEAST!" She screamed before running off into town, sobbing.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Twilight said as she flew off.

"Oh, great," Applejack said, "way to go, Rarity."

"But, he is a horrid beast!"

"To you and me, yeah, but to Fluttershy, that thang is as beloved as my faithful ol' Wynona. Come on! We've gotta catch up!"

They raced into town and caught up to Twilight, who had Fluttershy in something of a very tight hug. "You've gotta calm down, Fluttershy!" She said urgently, "you're making a fool out of yourself!"

"I don't care!" Fluttershy wailed, "that poor bear depended on me for life and love, and now he's trapped in fire! What's worse, Rarity insulted him!"

"Good grief, darling, you don't have to get so offended on the bear's behalf! I mean, he is a beast!"

"He might be a beast, but he's not horrid! How would you feel if someone called your dresses horrid?!"

"Darling, I deal with fashion critics all the time. There's no pleasing those ponies…"

"Then you know exactly how I feel!"

"You can't compare dresses and bears, sweetheart! It's apples and oranges!"

"Well…I think your dresses are horrid!"

Rarity gasped. "You take that back right now! My dresses are delicate, divine works of fashion artistry!"

"What?" Fluttershy asked, "I thought you said comparing the two wouldn't work! Why are you so offended on your dresses' behalf?! After all, they're nothing but BIG HUNKS OF FABRIC!"

Rarity couldn't stand it anymore and leapt at Fluttershy. The two feuding friends rolled around in the dirt for a minute until Twilight used her magic to yank them apart. "Both of you, I order you to STOP!" A bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder sounded overhead when Twilight said that. Rarity quivered a bit. "You…you've never ordered us to do anything before."

"As the Princess of Friendship, I won't tolerate senseless fighting, especially between my good friends. You're both acting like fillies. Now, apologize to each other."

Rarity gave Fluttershy a bit of an embarrassed look. "Oh…I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she said sincerely, "I should give more thought to what I say before I say it."

Fluttershy smiled. "I'm sorry too, Rarity," she said, "I need to learn to not be so overly sensitive about things."

The two friends embraced and Twilight smiled, gleeful that their friendship had been repaired so easily. "What would I do without you girls?" She asked.

"Probably go completely insane," Applejack said. This earned a laugh from the rest of the group as they hugged each other. Then, they all turned to resume their celebratory trip to Sugarcube Corner.

In the Ponyville Prison

Twilight and the newly minted Flame Mane walked into the prison and went up to the guard at the desk. Here was their first obstacle. They had to find a way to ensure their entrance into the correctional facility, but she wasn't sure just how to do it. She had noticed the sign toting the prison's visiting hours outside, but they weren't lucky enough to get there in time and they couldn't wait for the next day. After all, if they didn't undo Flame Mane's mistake soon, then Equestria would be lost forever.

So Twilight decided to work a certain disguise. She signaled to Flame to follow her lead, and he nodded at her that he understood. She just hoped that his unfortunate talent didn't come into play here. They needed to break Starlight out and attain her help in their fight to restore friendship in Equestria. Such a mission was quite a monumental task, and Twilight wanted everything to go perfectly.

"Hey," she said as she walked up to the desk. She adopted a gruff tone of voice, trying to pretend to be one of Sombra's guards.

"Hey," the desk guard responded, "what's your business here?"

"I'm one of Sombra's elite soldiers, and this is my apprentice." She pointed a hoof at Flame, who grunted and nodded. Twilight smiled to herself. He was playing the part very well, and she couldn't help but think that his performance was rather cute. "We're here to check on the prisoner," she finished.

"Which one? We have more than one, you know!"

"The one that matters to Sombra, you dolt!" Twilight shouted, "Starlight Glimmer! The one that could ruin all the boss's plans! So let us through."

She gave the desk guard the most evil sneer she could muster, and she swore she saw the other unicorn's face go pale as he tripped over his own hooves in an effort to make a quick getaway. Wow, I didn't know I could strike fear into ponies like that, Twilight said to herself before twisting her face up in disgust, ugh, I don't like that. I don't wanna strike fear, I wanna strike friendship! She realized how cheesy her internal one-liner sounded and contorted her face further. I've gotta stop hanging out with Rainbow Dash so much.

By that time, the desk guard had returned with an escort for the new "soldiers," who were immediately escorted into Starlight's quarters. When the door shut behind them, they turned and noticed that they were in an incredibly dimly lit environment. So Twilight lit a small guiding light off the tip of her horn and they looked around. What they saw sent them into a state of panic.

The stench was horrendous. It smelled as if somepony had taken all the contents of their sewer and dumped it into a gigantic pit filled with the rotting corpses of a thousand rats before mixing the whole thing together and throwing it into the local landfill. Twilight quickly threw up a spell to protect their noses, and they stepped forward through the musty air.

The walls were covered in stones and chains, and dried blood was the paint of choice. It seemed as if many ponies had been tortured, or even killed down here. Their descent furthered their suspicions as they noticed bones sticking out of the walls. But then they saw two fresh bodies, and all of their nightmares became reality. One was being devoured by maggots, and the other was in a state of decomposition. That certainly doesn't help the smell, Twilight thought as she gagged in repulsion.

But they pressed on, and finally found themselves emerging into a small holding cell, with one window that looked out into complete nothingness. The stench seemed to be worst of all in this room, and even with all of Twilight's magic, their noses still caught horrible whiffs of it. They turned and noticed an emaciated light purple pony huddled in a corner. "Please…" the poor mare whispered, "…kill me. Please, just end it all. I can't take it anymore. I'm so hungry and thirsty. I've taken to eating the rats in my cell, but even they don't stop the starvation. I beg of you…kill me."

Twilight immediately recognized Starlight and felt great compassion for her friend. She stepped over and bent down towards her. "Starlight," she said softly, "do you remember me?" She held onto a small threadbare pin of hope that her school's guidance counselor would remember her.

"Twilight?" Starlight asked, "Princess Twilight? Is that really you?"

Twilight could have leapt for joy. Somepony remembered her! That means…Flame Mane's spell didn't reach everypony! Starlight must have been somewhere safe from it! She quickly pulled the surprised prisoner into a hug and wept tears of joy. "Thank you," she whispered, "you…remember me!"

"Of course I remember you! We were just in class the other day…before that weird white wave hit and everything in Equestria went to hell in a hoof basket. By the way, who's the new pony?"

"This is Flame Mane, my newest friend," Twilight said proudly, "he's gonna help put Equestria back to the way it's supposed to be."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Flame Mane," Starlight said as she attempted to get up. But her hooves were weak from a long time without food or water, so she just sat there.

"I don't get it, Starlight," Twilight said, "how on Earth could you be the only pony who remembers me?"

Starlight took a rather deep breath, paused to make sure her facts were in order, and then told her story…