//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Gone But Not Forgotten // by broniefrom93 //------------------------------// Chapter 5 With a small flash of maroon magic, Twilight’s scroll was whisked away to the castle in Canterlot. The scroll was transformed into a swirl of magic with the color of Twilight’s signature color. It flew over the Everfree Forest and hastily made its way over Ponyville and eventually found its way to the castle. It swirled up and into the open window of Princess Celestia’s personal chambers. It solidified and became a scroll once again only to fall to the floor with a small crinkle of paper hitting the floor. The scroll was in the royal chamber, but royalty itself was missing. Spike was busy cleaning up the mess Twilight had left in her room. It looked as if a tornado had hit it just after leaving a paper factory. All of the Princess’s notes were neatly stacked because of their frailty but the notes taken by the student herself were strewn across the entirety of the whole room. “I don’t know how she manages to make such a-“ Spike started to say to himself when he belched out a letter from the Princess. Since Twilight would be a while, he decided to read the note since it might be important. He picked it up and slowly read it to himself. Dear Twilight, Please do not enter the Everfree Forest and pursue the Chaos Crystal. I have made some important tests and theories on my own with a startling realization. There will be dire consequences to the destruction of Discord’s last blight on our world. I’m not sure what can happen but I do know it will not be good for anypony near its final moments. Please wait for me and my sister to arrive to enter the last leg of this deadly race. Royally yours, Princess Celestia As soon as Spike had finished reading the last sentence he reread the entire letter once again to make sure he understood what his Princess had written down. He immediately scrambled for a blank scroll and quill to write back to her highness so that she might be able to go save his friends. He had only gotten through his first sentence when there was a knock at the door. “WE ASK THY TO OPEN THIS DOOR!” said the lunar Princess using the Royal Canterlot Voice much to the neighboring ponies’ dismay. “I mean, can you please come to the door?” asked Princess Luna in a much quieter voice. Spike rushed to the door as fast as he could as to allow the Princesses in. “Princess Celestia! They’ve already left! I just now got your letter and I was trying to write back to warn you of where they went,” Spike explained to the Princesses before either one had a chance to speak. With her hair flowing with the colors of the morning sun Celestia’s face grew with worry at the implicating news. “Shouldn’t we leave immediately, sister?” Luna asked her elder sibling with a look of concern for her friends. Her own hair was also flowing but with the simmering color of the clear night sky. Her matching regalia also complimented everything Luna stood for, her dark mysterious nature and the mysteries of the night. Celestia’s face was focused in deep concentration on what she should do next. “Spike, we thank you for this information and your attempt to contact me in time, I should have sent my own letter sooner to warn Twilight and her friends sooner. This is does concern me but Luna is correct, we must be on our way with haste to avert any potential disasters. Spike do not worry and we will be back soon when this is all over. Luna?” Celestia finished with a motion to the door allowing her younger sister to leave first. Spike followed and saw them take flight and fly off in the direction of the Everfree Forest. “Please be ok Twilight,” Spike said to himself with a sullen look as his head dropped in anticipation of what might become of her. Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony slowly made their way across the rickety bridge that was still up from the Nightmare Moon Incident. Fluttershy, even though she could fly over the ravine, still preferred to walk on the bridge despite having to be coaxed by Applejack. No pony could understand why Fluttershy didn’t make use of her wings but now was not the time to find out. After all of the ponies were across the ravine they walked up to the abandoned castle. The muffled sounds of their hooves was the only sound to be heard, not even the chirping of insects or birds was to be heard. With fog covering the surrounding area it gave off a very eerie feeling that was palpable. Rainbow Dash flew above her friends to scout ahead and make sure there were no dangers to be found. Twilight guided the group to where the Elements of Harmony was kept for hundreds years until they were needed once again to defeat Nightmare Moon. With no danger to be seen Rainbow Dash flew down and walked in with her friends. “Ok, if I remember correctly there should be an entrance near the structure that used to hold the Elements. I recall it being near here,” said Twilight as she used her magic to feel around the floor surrounding the pedestal. Rarity’s own magic glowed and helped Twilight, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to lift it but she could at least locate the portal. Twilight’s red magic felt every crack and tugged to test if it would give way. “I found it!” exclaimed Rarity pointing with her hoof, but this was not needed because as soon as the headstone was touched by her magic, it sunk into the floor and slid back into the wall. A stairway was revealed but the darkness concealed the true depth of the stairway. “That l-looks scary…are you sure th-this is where we need to go?” asked Fluttershy with fear deep inlayed in her voice. She also seemed to shrink as she tried to back away from the dark stair case when she bumped into her oldest friend. “Come on Fluttershy don’t be such a scaredy cat. Besides how can you be scared with your best friends right here to go with you?” Rainbow Dash said with her usual bravado and gave her a friendly tap on the shoulder as the rest of her friends gave her reassuring smiles. “We can’t do this without ya, sugarcube,” said Applejack with a tilt of her hat. “I-I guess I can do it wi-with my friends with me,” Fluttershy said with only a little less fear but everypony knew better then to try any harder. “Alright then, if everypony is ready then we can make our way down to these stairs,” Twilight said while her horn glowed with power and a small orb of light was created. She finished her spell and the orb was set into place about a pace ahead of her. She walked to the stairs and the orb lead the way giving light to the dark stairway. There was only space for one pony abroad so they followed in single file with Rainbow Dash taking the rear guard. Twilight’s spell was able to reveal that it led down much further into the ground then anypony could have expected. Fluttershy still shook with fear but her face had a more confident look. Rarity did her best to avoid the walls so she wouldn’t get any dirt or the like on her mane. Twilight thought that things would be more pressing then being worried about your mane but that’s just Rarity for you, she wouldn’t have expected much less from the fashonista pony. Applejack was doing her best to look comfortable but her down to earth nature made her feeling uneasy being around so much magical “hooey” as she liked to put it. Pinkie Pie was rambling off nonsense and in her head she was probably already planning a party for when this fiasco was over. Twilight knew that each of her friends would stay by her side till the very end. Even though each had their own faults but by being imperfect they were perfect in her eyes. Plus she wouldn't trade them for all the books in the world. The stairs finally ended and lead them into a grand hallway. The walls were adorned with great etchings of times from long, long ago. Many historians from today with give their left hoof just to be able to see these relics of the past. Some showed vast cities that looked like they could host thousands of ponies, while other showed great armies massed and armed for war. One such picture showed both of the Princesses poised and ready to fight Discord who was surrounded by many wild and strange beasts. Some of them were so grotesque that even Fluttershy was appalled to look at them. The ponies had made their way up the door at the end of the grand hall to where the Chaos Crystal was held. The door was done with such craftsponyship that it took all of their breaths away. On the left Princess Celestia was shown with such power and majesty it was easy to believe it was the Princess herself. Above her was an image of the sun and all its glory. A beam of power was emitted from her horn toward the middle. On the other side her younger sister was shown in equal beauty. The artist who had created this seemed to be able to capture the very essence of the night and all that Luna stood for. Her celestial partner was above her just like her sister had hers. She also was shooting powerful magic to the center of the door. The center held in what seemed like brutal agony was the cause of their current quest. Discord was spilt directly down the middle of where the doors met. The artist was even able to show Discord for what he was despised for. The mix match of so many animals and chaos. The two beams from both the princesses met up to hit him from both sides. The image showed him half-way through his stone imprisonment with his upper body trying to avoid it and using his arms for useless cover. “Wow this is so COOL!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie while bouncing around the door and making faces at the picture of Discord. “Indeed this art work is truly magnificent, I’ve never seen anything quite like it before, even during my stay at Canterlot,” Rarity told her friends while looking at the door with awestruck eyes. “Alright girls, we don’t know what is behind these doors so prepare for the worst,” Twilight warned her friends. She then magically gripped the doors and with a great effort forced them to open. The sight of what they saw in front of them seem to take their breaths away while wanting to turn tail and never come near it again. The doors lead into a vast circular chamber that could have held Ponyville city hall inside. It was nearly seventy meters wide in diameter and three other doors could be seen from where they stood. All the other doors had art work to rival the one they just entered but the details where too far away to make out. Resting above the whole chamber was a crystal that was a perfect sphere that glowed with the power of the sun. It lit the entire room with a near blinding light. In the center of the floor on a small pillar was the source of their disgust. A small orb floated above it that shone with colorful lights that reminded Twilight of the Harmony Crystal but unlike its harmonious counterpart, the Chaos Crystal’s colors gave off an absolutely wrong feel. The colors mixed in ways they shouldn’t and separated, only to make terrible combinations again. “Uhh, shouldn’t we, ya know, put on our Elements and do that whole magical blasty thing?” asked Applejack as she avoided looking at the Chaos Crystal. “Oh of course, here girls,” said Twilight while she pulled out all the Elements on put them on her friends. Hers was last and she even pulled out the Harmony Crystal as a focal point for her upcoming magic. Her tiara started to glow and her friends started to float with her like they did every time they used the elements. Twilight lost consciousness as her magic took hold and the Elements started to control her again. The shining beams of colors from the two crystals seem to collide and fight but nothing more than that. The light and magic from the Elements came together and went through the Harmony Crystal and straight toward the Chaos Crystal. Right before the beam made contact with the Chaos Crystal Princess Celestia burst through the door behind Twilight and her friends and screamed, “Twilight NO!” but it was too late. The shot hit the crystal and the world was covered in a blinding light. Twilight woke up with a groan. “Ah my head hurts...where am I?” she asked herself as she took her surrounding in. But no surroundings were to be studied. It was a blinding white in any direction she looked. No features of any kind gave a hint as to where she was. The only clue as to what was up and down was that her hooves were making contact with what she could assume was the ground. “Hello? Is anypony there?” she called out only to get no reply. She took a step forward and the world flashed again but this time she was back in Ponyville. Or at least it was Ponyville at one point of its history. It was the chaotic Ponyville from when Discord was free. The houses were upside side down and cotton candy clouds were raining chocolate milk, but no ponies were to be seen. “Ahh Twilight, my awaited guest, how kind of you to finally arrive,” said the disembodied voice of Discord. “I tried to warn you but no you had to do the right thing and come to destroy my precious crystal. Do you even know how long it took me to find the right one to work my magic? Why do you think I have an antler? The dragon didn’t want to share his treasure! Can you believe him? The nerve!” “Discord show yourself! It’s too late! We have stopped your plan so it's no use to hide,” Twilight yelled into the wind. “Oh no I believe it’s actually too late for you. And I’m not hiding; I’m locked away in a statue far away from here,” said Discord. “What are you talking about?” asked Twilight with a curious look on her face and worry in her voice. “This is the realm of chaos held inside the chaos crystal. Your subconscious is here trapped away forever,” laughed Discord. The flash blinded all the ponies but as soon it was gone the world hadn’t changed. Except Twilight was still floating and locked in her magical state. The other bearers of the Elements slowly stood up after taking a hard fall from floating. “Princess, what’s wrong with Twilight? Why is she still using her Element?” Rainbow Dash asked her highness with worry in her voice. Princess Celestia rose with obvious pain on her face but it wasn’t from her fall. “It seems Discord has outsmarted me once again,” she said at last. “Princess what ever do you mean by that?” Rarity asked. “The Chaos Crystal was never meant to be stopped. It was a bomb that was soon to go off but it serves a second purpose. It’s also a prison that can capture the only thing that could stop it from going off,” the princess explained. “What does that mean for Twilight?” Rainbow Dash insisted with obvious anger starting to rise in her voice. “The only thing that could stop it was the true power and magic of friendship, which Twilight had perfected over the years. Only she could stop it with the help of her friends but in doing so, it captured her mind inside. Thus leaving her body in a perpetual time lock. I’m so sorry,” apologized the princess as a golden tear made its way down her face. “D-does this mean she is g-gone?” Fluttershy asked so quiet that if the room wasn't dead silent her voice would have fallen upon empty ears. This question seemed to have a ripple effect as all the other ponies realized what this meant. Pinkie Pie’s hair lost its poof with an audible pop and fell straight down her face. Applejack had to look down and took off her hat to cover her growing sadness. Rainbow Dash flew up to the Princess and forgot all manners by grabbing her head and lifting it up so she could see her eyes, “You’re the Princess! Isn’t there anything we can do for her? We have stopped him twice before! Can’t we reverse it and get her back?” she screamed between sobs as you could see the tears flowing freely down her face. “If we were to reverse it or bring her back then the crystal would go off and it would all be for nothing. She is the only thing keeping our world from oblivion. I wish there was something I could do to help but I’m even powerless to this kind of magic,” Princess Celestia said with great pain. Stepping up from behind the sun princess, Luna with obvious tears spoke, “I think I might be able to help in some form. I might be able to make a link into her mind so one of you may talk to her but only for a limited time. I know it’s not much but it’s the least I can do for all your help, especially with saving me from being Nightmare Moon. Would one of you like to talk with her?” The ponies looked at each other and made a silent agreement. “We think Rainbow Dash should be the one ta talk ta ‘er.” said Applejack as she held back her tears to talk. “ Yes, sh-she has something to t-tell her,” Rarity tried to say but was nearly incomprehensible with her crying. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were crying too hard to make any other motion then a simple nod. “What is it you have to tell her, my little pony?” asked Princess Celestia to the chosen mare. Rainbow Dash landed on the floor and looked down on the ground. It was too much for her to take. “I-I love Twilight,” admitted the cyan pony as the tears fell down her face. This news for the princesses seemed to only make this moment that more painful to experience. “My dear, dear Rainbow Dash. This is truly upsetting news,” Princess Celestia said, “The fact you didn’t get to tell her, not of your love for her” she added when the pegasus gave a questioning look. “I believe with all my heart that only good could come from this news if this was said in normal circumstances.” She finished. “Rainbow Dash, if you could come over here with me we can get started,” said Princess Luna. Rainbow Dash slowly made her way to the floating Twilight and to the nearby Luna. “I’m not sure how long I will be able to hold my magic but I can only guarantee a few minutes if not less so please make use of this time.” Rainbow Dash gave a slight nod and waited for the Princess to work her magic. Luna’s horn glowed and she flew up to tap Twilight’s forehead with her own horn. She then went to Rainbow Dash and did the same. When her horn made contact with Dash’s head the world flashed once again for Rainbow Dash. “There is no way you can keep me here! I have so much left to know, lessons to learn, things left unsaid! This isn’t fair!!” screamed Twilight. She ran around and used her magic to try and teleport back home to the real Ponyville but to no anvil, she would only reappear where she stood and groan again with disgust for her situation. “Who said things had to be fair? And remember I warned you!” reasoned Discord. “It seems you might have a visitor, this is interesting.” There was a flash of light and a familiar array of colors stood next to Twilight. “Rainbow Dash! How did you get here? Oh no, are you trapped here also?” Twilight asked quickly. She also noticed that her friend had been crying very hard and her messy mane was even more out of shape than ever. “Twilight please listen, I don’t know how long I have but Princess Luna said it wouldn’t be long,” Rainbow Dash said with pain in her voice. She walked up to Twilight and sat down as looked as if she was carrying a heavy burden. “The princesses are there?!” Twilight asked with a surprise and sat with her dear friend. “Yes they came in right before we used the Elements to stop the Chaos Crystal,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “You mean destroyed right? We didn’t just stop it,” Twilight tried to correct. “N-no I’m afraid we only stopped it Twi. Celestia told us that the Chaos Crystal doubles as a pr-prison and…” she tried to say but started to cry too hard to continue. “What is it Dashie?” Twilight dared to use Pinkie Pie’s pet name for her. “What does she mean a prison?” Twilight put a hoof around her friend and gave her a hug to comfort her with a slight help Rainbow Dash was able to finish. “Sh-she said that you are the only th-thing stopping the crystal from going off. Y-you h-have to stay here or else the crystal will go off. Y-you’re stuck here Twi a-and we can’t do anything t-to help,” She finally was able to let out. Twilight had a look of disbelief on her face as the hopelessness of the situation but felt there was more to Rainbow Dash’s reaction then what she had already said. She also still had that burning question for her friend. She moved in front of the pegasus and forced her to look up into her eyes. “Dashie, before this whole…mess, I felt like there was something you wanted to tell me. Is there?” Twilight asked while wiping the tears from Dash’s face. She gave a reassuring smile despite the problem at hand to help her friend that was obviously in a very tight space. “Uh, yeah th-there is Twi. I-I think I m-might…” she tried to say but couldn’t finish. Twilight brushed her head and said, “It’s ok Dashie, you can tell me.” “Twilight Sparkle, I l-love you,” Rainbow Dash let out with a cry and looked at the floor again, crying even harder than before. “I wanted to tell you before but then this h-had to happen and n-now you are lost forever a-and and…” Twilight was shocked again for the second time in nearly under two minutes but put a hoof on her friend’s face to quite her down to allow herself to talk, “Rainbow Dash, I love you too. I may not have shown it or even gave hints but from my first day in Ponyville, I felt a strong connection with you Dsahie, and I understand that I’m stuck here now but please don’t cry, I-I can’t stand to see you cry because then I will too.” She nuzzled the rainbow haired pony to comfort her. “So please go back and tell them I love them all so very much, especially Spike. Tell Celestia I can never thank her enough for the lessons and the chance to be able to be friends with the best ponies Equestria has to offer. And you my dear Dashie,” She pulled her friend’s face up once again to look her in the eyes. “Take my love with you, and know that I’m gone but not dead. I’ll stay here waiting for you, should I be able to break out or the Princesses find a way to break me out.” The two mares nuzzled again and broke into tears and no words could be said to fully express their emotions at the moment. They stayed there for what seemed like an eternity until Rainbow Dash’s body started to fade away from this world. “No, NO! I-it’s too soon, I don’t want to l-leave yet!” Rainbow Dash yelled into the air. Twilight grabbed her new found love and hugged her fleeting body for dear life and said “Dashie’s its ok, p-please don’t worry. Take my love with you and remember what I said.” Twilight had only enough time to finish before Rainbow Dash vanished from this world and left her all alone again. “I can finally speak again; I think Luna found a way to-“the voice of Discord started to say until Twilight cut him off. “Shut it Discord and leave me alone.” She broke down and cried for as long she could because she now had all the time in the world. The world flashed and Rainbow Dash was back into the real world. She was screaming and crying with none of her words making sense. Celestia walked up to her and embraced her until she calmed down. All the other ponies still had tears in their eyes but had calmed down enough to talk. “Where is she? Is she at least ok?” asked Rarity as she seemed the most capable to talk at the moment. The rest were still too shaken up to speak. “Sh-she’s fine and she wants to say she l-loves us all very much. She wanted to th-thank you Princess for allowing h-her to stay in Ponyville and learning the m-magic of friendship.” Rainbow Dash shared, and all the ponies had fresh tears falling down their faces. Even the Princess had golden tears streaming down her face. “And what about you my little pony? How did she react to your feelings?” Princess Celestia asked Rainbow Dash. “Sh-she said that she loves me too,” Rainbow Dash said with shameless tears running down her face and with great effort as the thought was too painful to bear. Her heart was in a great commotion as her truest desire shared the same feelings for her but she was now lost to her and the world to be stuck in Discord’s trap. Everypony else was happy to hear this but the tragedy was too much to overcome that happiness. The most they could do in their current state was the go next to her and give her a warm hug to show their joy and support. No more words could be said as the sadness of the room was too much to bear. The two Princesses guided them back to Ponyville in solemn grace. Once they were back in the library, Celestia shared the news with Spike and he too joined the crying ponies. Weeks went by and soon things went into the same routine with a few changes. The news of the trapped pony was quiet and quick. A small memorial was built in front of the library and ponies from all around came by to pay their last respects. Twilight had touched the lives of many and this was evident from the size of the memorial and all the gifts left in memory of her. Rainbow Dash gave up her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt and became the new librarian. It wasn’t her cup of tea but with Twilight gone it was the closest she could be to her love. Spike helped her out by showing her the system and soon enough she became pretty proficient at it. She would never be as good as Twilight but very few ponies could achieve that. A proper memorial was made near the library with Twilight standing tall and proud with her horn aglow with magic. A small inscription was written below in elegant letters. To some the words would mean little and cause confusion, but to one certain mare it meant the world. TWILIGHT SPARKLE FRIEND, LOVER, STUDENT AND LOVED BY ALL GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.