Forgotten

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!"