Forgotten

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.