Forgotten

"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!"