Forgotten

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.