> Remember Me > by ripjump12 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “This is it,” she sighed, “I can’t believe it’s been thirty years since the incident.” Starlight Sparkle paced restlessly back and forth across the room. Her head ached. Her heart ached. “We’ve have been hiding here for so long, so many years of keeping secrets and trying to keep away from attention, but we can’t go on like this. It is absolutely necessary that tell our daughter the truth, the full truth. You know just as well as I do that she will find out sooner or later. She’s always so studious, so curious. She’d eventually uncover the truth anyway. What do you think? Should we tell her?” She turned to Midnight, her husband, in desperation. He stared silently back at her from the kitchen table. “Well,” she asked brusquely, “Are you going to answer or just stand and stare?” Starlight needed an answer. She needed confidence. Most importantly, she needed to know she was doing the right thing. It wasn’t fair for Midnight but she needed his support right then. She couldn’t make the decision alone. Midnight hung his head tiredly. “I honestly have no idea,” he said finally, “Why do you feel you should tell her this now? ” He stared down at his unfinished meal from dinner, long since blown cold. Pushing the plate aside, he rose and walked across to Starlight. “Why?” barked Starlight, “Well, don’t you know what day this is?” She could feel her face flush red. Her temper had grown short over the course of the last few days and despite her efforts to keep calm she had often found herself growing more and more impatient as of late. Almost everypony in their generation knew what day it was. “I know,” he said flatly, “You know I know. Sweet Celestia, Starlight, do you think a night goes by when I’m not reminded of it?” Starlight’s lip began to tremble and Midnight placed a hoof upon her shoulder. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed laying her head against his mane. “I thought you had... ” She began to weep. Midnight walked her away from the kitchen and motioned her gently towards a seat. He held her close to himself and ran a hoof through gently her mane. It had been years since he had last seen her cry. Years since either of them had cried for that matter. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I’m here. Always will be, remember?” He pulled back to smile at her, wiping the tears from her face. “You’re the love of my life,” Midnight said, “Never forget that. I never do.” Starlight’s had closed her eyes. Midnight lowered her head gently against a pillow. “Everything is going to be okay,” he said stroking her hair, “Don't you worry. I'm here with you.” Starlight slowly raised her head from the pillow. “You really mean that, don’t you?” the tears were drying on her face as she spoke, “You remember.” “Of course I mean it,” he chuckled lightly, “We’ll stick together to the bitter end, you and I. Nothing‘s going to tear us apart. Why, you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me even if you wanted to.” Midnight felt something roll down his cheek. He laughed hoarsely. “Now you’ve even gotten me going.” “Oh, Midnight,” said Starlight and he hugged her close, “I just wish...” “I know, Starlight, I know.” > Chapter 1 Disappearance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 Disappearance Twilight gathered books that fell off the shelves. Spike had accidentally knocked them off while trying to walk backwards. Spike had always amused Twilight. His clumsiness and humor always made the library more entertaining. “Spike, you should really watch where you are going” Twilight used her horn to place the last book in it’s shelve. “Sorry Twilight. I had too many books in my hands. I could not look behind me” Spike grabbed a piece of paper that fell on the ground. “Does this look familiar to you? It writing on it is a date 30 years ago” He showed her the small piece of paper. The date was barely visible to Twilight. She took a closer look. “I wonder why the paper look burnt. Were they in a fire? Wait! What book is this from?” Twilight did not recognize the paper. She had read almost every book in this section of the library. “It looked like it fell out of that red book hidden between the two encyclopedias” Spike pointed towards the encyclopedias. Twilight noticed the red book. The book looked like it didn’t belong with the others. Twilight used her magic to pull the book out. Half of the book was dark black, and dirty. The sides of every page were burnt, and covered in ashes. Twilight scanned every page. They were all dates and times. Some dates were more than 40 years old. The last page was torn out. “I wonder what happened to this book. The title was burnt off. All it contains are dates. Everything else is either destroyed by burn marks, or scratched off” Twilight grabbed the piece of paper and placed it where the last page would be. It was a perfect fit. Twilight wondered why the last page ended with a date and an exact time. Someone had documents of every day, but did not want anyone to see them. The burn marks didn’t help either. Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone was the door. Whatever they wanted, it couldn’t wait. “Twilight Sparkle! Twilight! Please come to the door! I know you are in there!” It sounded like Applejack. Twilight dropped the book and ran down the stairs towards the door. She almost tripped, but was able to continue running. She opened the door. There stood Applejack. She looked frightened and worried. “Applejack what is wrong?!” Twilight noticed Applejack almost fall onto the ground. She was exhausted. Applejack must have run to the library. “Twilight, it is your mother. She disappeared from Canterlot last night!” Applejack tried her best to stay calm, but this was a serious matter. “I was visiting the outskirts of Canterlot to sell apples… Then 2 royal guards approached me. They held a photo up and asked if I have seen this pony before. The photo was of your mom. She disappeared from Canterlot last night!” Applejack saw no reaction from Twilight. Twilight did not move a muscle. She was in shock. None of this made sense to her. Why would she run away? Did she hate dad? Was Canterlot to much for her? “Twilight please respond. You’re scaring me!” Applejack had no choice but to smack her. Smack! Twilight immediately came back to reality. She had to do something about this! Her mother was missing! “Applejack I am going to Canterlot! I need to help find my mom!” Twilight began running back up to her room. “Spike, stay here and manage the library while I am gone.” Twilight shot out the door and started running towards Canterlot. Applejack started chasing after her. “Twilight, stop running! You won’t be able to make it to Canterlot on your own hooves” Applejack caught up with Twilight and begged her to stop running. “I will take a chariot to my parent’s house!” Twilight almost ran into Rainbow Dash without looking. Rainbow Dash started following after Applejack. She used her wings to catch up with the two ponies. “Where are you two going in such a hurry? What happened?!” Rainbow Dash was now gliding next to Applejack. Keeping up with the two was easy for the Pegasus. “Twilight’s mother is missing! We need to… help find her!” Applejack was running out of air. She was very exhausted from the run towards Twilight’s house. Now she was running back to Canterlot! “I will be fine without you two! I need to deal with this myself!” Twilight tried her best avoiding other ponies as she ran though the center of Ponyville. Twilight tripped over something. She face fell into the road. Without caring for her wounds she looked around. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie surrounded her. “Why were you running Twilight? Is there something fun going on at the other end of Town?!” Pinkie Pie’s face lit up with joy. “Twilights… is… something wrong?” Fluttershy tried her best to ask her question before she would be interrupted. “My mom… MISSING… need to get...to Canterlot” Twilight struggled to catch her breath after running. “Oh my gosh! This is horrible! We need to find her!” Rarity chimed with a worried expression on her face. Applejack helped Twilight onto her hooves. Fluttershy then dusted off Twilight’s face. “I want to help find her!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she shot into the sky trying to help find Twilight’s mother. “Me too!” Pinkie Pies face was not excited anymore, but she was oddly determined to help Twilight. “I really don’t need all of your help. This is my mom. I would rather go by myself” Twilight faked a smile to reassure her friends that she was fine. “We can’t let you do that. We are best of friends. We will stick together and help you!” Rarity looked over towards the area where 2 chariots were arriving. “We can divide up and take the two chariots. Twilight and Rainbow Dash will go with me. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy can ride in the other chariot” Applejack commanded the 5 other ponies to get ready to go to Canterlot. “Applejack did you forget? I am a fast Pegasus! I can get there in a few seconds!” Rainbow Dash was right. She didn’t need to ride in the chariot, but Fluttershy did because she wasn’t the best flyer. “Thank you! I really appreciate the help!” Twilight’s smiled and looked at the chariots. “No problem Twilight. What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash started flying towards Canterlot as the rest of the group climbed into the chariots. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The chariot arrived at the gates of Canterlot. The royal guards opened the gates once they noticed Twilight Sparkle was on one of the chariots. Her Pegasus friend, Rainbow Dash, was already at the gate waiting for the rest of the group. “It’s about time you guys showed up! We need to get to Twilight’s house, and fast!” Rainbow Dash took off like a bullet towards the residential part of Canterlot. “We have no time to waste. Let’s follow her!” Applejack and the rest of the group took off running to catch up to Rainbow Dash. Tall, fancy buildings surrounded them as they rounded corners in the center of Canterlot. The castle overlooked the entire city. Even the tall structures could not hide it. Twilight thought to herself as she ran. Why did the Princess not inform her of the news? Was she too preoccupied with the situation that she forgot? So many questions were building up in her head. She wanted answers! They finally spun around the last corner. This was Twilight Sparkle’s old street. She was very familiar with the surroundings here. At the end of the road was her house. Dozens of Royal Guards surrounded the home. The stallions were trying to hold off the press. “Stop! State your business here!” The stallion stared at the 6 ponies. He demanded an answer. Fluttershy yelped and hid behind Pinkie Pie. She was very intimidated by the Royal Guards. Twilight, however, stood her ground. “I am the daughter of Night Light, and Star Sparkle! I demand to see my father right now!” Twilight was very angry that the stallion was keeping her from the house. The stallion motioned to the other Stallions. They made a pathway. Press tried to scramble in but the Royal Guards held them off. The walkway was clear. Twilight and the rest of the group arrived at the door of the house. She knocked twice and waited for the door to open. A tall Royal Pegasus Guard opened the door. He was more decorated in medals than the others. He immediately noticed the group and moved out of the way. “Dad! It’s me, Twilight Sparkle! I have come to help you save…” Twilight looked around the corner towards the living room. Her dad was being interviewed by a dark blue unicorn. She looked closer and noticed something. Her dad was crying. Never in her lifetime did she see her dad cry. “Twa… Twilight! Thank Celestia you are here!” Night Light shot out of his chair and hugged Twilight. His forelegs where tightly wrapped around her. The moment seemed to last forever. “I am so glad you… you are here! Your mother! She… she is… missing!” Her father immediately started weeping. He was a mess. His face was covered in tears. His mane was a mess. “Dad it is ok. I am here with you. We will find her. You don’t need to worry! We are inseparable!” Twilight’s eyes started to tear up. This was real. It had to be a dream! “Inseparable! That is was the last thing I said to your mother before she disappeared!” Night Light let go of Twilight and put his hooves to his face. Twilight stood in front of him. She was once again in shock. The world around her was spinning. She tried to hit herself but she could not move a single body part. Twilights body parts locked up on her. “Twilight, are you alright? Oh no! Get a hold of yourself! You are scaring me!” Smack! Rarity had slapped her, but she still stood there. She was motionless. It was like someone turned Twilight into a statue. “Twilight Sparkle, this is your father speaking! Please come back to reality. I have to talk to you!” Night Light ran to the kitchen to grab some water. Her splashed the liquid in Twilight’s open eyes. Twilight flinched then her horn sparked. It then glowed. She shut her eyes and then reopened them. This time her eyes were a dim glow. She shut them again quickly and screamed! “TWILIGHT GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!” Night Light then slapped Twilight twice with his fore hooves. She fell to the ground. Rainbow Dash picked her up and placed her gently on the couch. “I… I SAW SOMETHIHG! It was a nightmare! Ponyville… Library...City Hall… ALL IN FLAMES!!!” Twilight was horrified. She covered her eyes to try and get the vision to go away. They soon faded from her mind. Then everything went dark… “Twilight! Speak to me! Its me, your Dad!” Night Light was pulled away by Applejack right before he smacked her again. “Twilight just fainted. She will be awake in a few moments. There is no need to try and wake her up. It will just startle her more” Applejack tried her best to calm down her father. “What did she mean flames? Was that a warning? Magic is some spooky stuff” Rainbow Dash was circling around Twilight trying to inspect the unconscious mare. “I think you better hold off with the questions till she wakes up. I am sure she is delusional” Rarity grabbed Rainbow Dash’s right wing and pulled her down to the ground. “The way Twilight described the nightmare… scared me. I don’t think that… her horn glows when she has a… nightmare” Fluttershy looked spooked. She was laying pillows under Twilights head as support. Fluttershy then pulled a blanket over Twilight so she wouldn’t lose body heat. “Whatever it was, I think we will get an explanation when Twilight wakes up. Something tells me… things will go from bad… to worse” Applejack stared at the group of ponies. They all waited for Twilight to wake up. So many questions… no answers. > Chapter 2 The Early Years > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: The Early Years 40 years before the disappearance of Star Sparkle: It was late morning, but the pegasi were still clearing the sky of unwanted clouds. The night before consisted of heavy rains, and loud booms of thunder that shook the small city of Ponyville. Earth ponies and unicorns assisted with the clean-up. Tree branches were quickly gathered up. Life returned to normal. Every pony went about its daily business. Star Sparkle was tardy. Assisting her mother with the branches delayed her 5 minutes. She could not get to school on time. Her little filly legs did not have the energy to move at a faster pace. Other ponies at school would surely make fun of her… She continued to gallop towards the distant school house. She didn’t even care about the ridicule she would receive from her peers. Other ponies already made fun of her for being 11 years of age without a cutie mark. Some doctors also question why someone of her age has yet to receive a cutie mark. Star finally arrived at the main entrance of the school house. He heard voices inside of the school. It sounded like the teacher’s voice. Oh no… The class has already begun its studies. She walked up to the class door and knocked slowly and quietly. Star preferred to not be noticed by the entire class. The teacher noticed the filly at the door. She was disappointed. Star Sparkle, her best student, was tardy to class. “Well look who decided to show up. It is our good friend Star Sparkle. I hope you have prepared a good excuse for being 15 minutes late” The teacher opened the door and allowed Star Sparkle to enter the class room. “Hey four eyes, did you forget when school started? Maybe those big glasses of yours are making you stupid...er. Ha Ha!” The entire class erupted with laughter. Ponies were pointing at her and laughing hysterically. It was true, Star Sparkle did wear glasses. Without her trusty glasses she would be unable to notice anything that was 4 ft away from her. One little filly snatched her glasses and tossed them across the room. Star Sparkle struggled to try and see where the glasses had landed. Her perception was awful. She did not notice that a group of fillies were tossing the glasses over her head. They threw her glasses back and forth. The teacher than used her magic to capture Star’s glasses. They were frozen in mid-air. She then levitated it towards Star. Star grabbed her glasses and placed them on her head. Something wasn’t right… Star noticed that the right frame was bent. She tried to bend it back to its original form. The frame then developed a large crack. She decided not to mess with the glasses. Her uncle made them for her when she turned 8. Her glasses were special, and she didn’t want to break them. “I don’t want to see any more bullying in this class! Do you understand me?!” The teacher frightened the three bullies and they immediately started working on warm ups for math. "You three all have 4 hour detention after school tomorrow! GOT THAT!" The teacher yelled at the 3 bullies. All they did was continue with their homework. Star Sparkle wanted to thank her teacher for standing up for her. She only wished that she could do something with her glasses. If she perfected magic she might have been able to warp the metal. “Hey Star, you feeling ok? Did those three bullies hurt you?” Cheerilee, Star’s best friend, was trying her best to grab Star’s attention. Cheerilee always helped Star, but at times even Cheerilee was made fun of. She was a teacher’s pet. She even said she wanted to teach as a future profession. “I don’t know if I feel so good. The bullies at this school always make fun of me. I hope that they will not touch my glasses again. Without my glasses everything is frizzy and it makes me dizzy” Star Sparkle rolled her eyes in random positions to resemble her confusion. This made Cheerilee laugh a little bit. She was glad that Star Sparkle was able to recover quickly from the insults. Star Sparkle smiled at Cheerilee and looked down at her desk. She grabbed the closest pencil and set a piece of paper on the table. The class chalk board was already full of doodles, problems, examples, and notes. Star marked down every last word that was visible. Star looked up from her notes to see the next example her teacher had written. She then noticed the bullies staring at her. They were obviously mad that the teacher punished them. They were blaming it on her! One of the bullies then punched two forehoofs together. Star was worried. They were threatening her. If she told the teacher, then the bullies would want to beat her up more. Star wanted class to end. Home was pretty far away, so she would have to sprint to evaid the fight. After a long day of class, the bell finally rang. It was time. Star Sparkle already set her book on it’s shelve. She galloped to the door and opened it quickly. Star Sparkle tried her best to get as far away from school as possible. After 5 minutes of galloping she arrived at the center of Ponyville. She slowed down to a trot and continued on through the town. Her house was on the opposite side of town. It would be easy to get home now, but then Star heard ponies running up from behind her. She looked behind herself and noticed the bullies chasing her! Star Sparkle quickly started galloping towards the alleys. She could lose them there, but they kept up with her pace. Slam! One of the ponies had thrown her onto the ground behind a large building. She could not comprehend what just happened. Blood emerged from her nose and right eye. Star Sparkle was frighten at the ponies actions towards her. The pony held her forehoofs down while the large bully started throwing punches at her face. Every punch hurt her more and more. On top of the excruciating pain, she felt one of her teeth come loose. The pony kept on hitting her while the others laughed at her. Star Sparkle started screaming. Tears were pouring from her eyes. This had to be a bad dream. It couldn’t be happening. The large bully covered her mouth and punched Star right in the eye. She felt extreme pain emerge from the left side of her face. Blood now was oozing out of her eye socket. Tears and blood covered her horrified face. “STOP! PLEASE STOP! I WILL GIVE YOU ANYTHI-“The bully leader then smacked her cheek, but Star kept on trying to scream. “SHUT UP! IT IS YOUR FAULT WE ARE IN TROUBLE! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!” The punches from the bullies grew stronger. The two other bullies started wailing on her. Then suddenly, they stopped. The leader was lifted off of his hooves and then thrown straight at the brick wall of the building. The bully fell to the ground, unconscious. Blood started pouring out of his mouth. The two other bullies were then both tackled by a single small colt. The young colt started hitting them with rocks. The bullies started shrieking. The faces were bruised and covered in blood. Another colt then lifted up Star Sparkle. Star could barely see anything. All she could make out was that the pony who lifted her up had a blue coat. He ran as fast as he could from the ally. The other colt followed right behind him. All of the bullies were on the ground, unconscious. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Sparkle emerged from a long sleep to find herself in an unknown bedroom. A blanket was placed on top of her. Photos of rock bands, Wonderbolts, and comic book dragons covered the walls. This was definitely a colt’s room. Star was sure of it. The pain then set in. Her left eye was killing her. She felt extreme pain in her mouth and on her cheeks. Something cool was on her bruised horn. It was an ice pack. Star Sparkle noticed the door to the room open slowly. She tried to get out of the bed, but the pain was holding her back. A blue unicorn colt walked into the room. He had two moons as a cutie mark. It looked like the colt that carried her out of the alley. “Hello, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Night Light. Me and my little brother hurt those bullies pretty bad, didn’t we?” Night Light was smiling at Star. He looked attracted to her, but Star was not sure of it. “It… it is nice to…ow… meet you” Pain hit Star Sparkle in waves. It seemed as if she was just punched only a few minutes ago. She tried to move her forelegs, but apparently they were hurting too. “Don’t move. It will hurt even more” Night Light then trotted over to the bedside. “Where… where am I? What time is… it?” It even hurt Star Sparkle to move her mouth. She felt one of her teeth missing. “You are at my house. It is 8:00 pm, but don’t worry about time. You won’t be moving for a little while” Night Light’s horn then began to glow. He lifted up a new icepack and replaced Star’s current one on her horn. When the first icepack was removed Star saw a large scrape on it. It was bright red, probably from when she fell on the ground… “Here… Does that feel better?” The cold ice pack on Star’s horn sent chills through her body. It didn’t bother Star. She sat there and tried to adjust to the freezing icepack. “I would’ve done that myself… but my magic, I have yet to perfect it.” Star Sparkle tried to make her horn glow, but all that appeared were a few sparks. This sent excruciating pain throughout her head. “AHH! My horn… my face… and my entire… GAH…body… hurts so much! Make the pain go away!” Star Sparkle could not take the intense pain anymore. She wanted to be in her own bed with her mom. She didn’t want to be sleeping in a stranger’s bed covered in bruises and cuts. “I can’t do anything about it! Please! I am trying my best!” Night Light then used magic to grab a pill bottle. He placed a tablet on the nightstand next to Star. “I don’t want pills! They are gross, and… hard to swallow! Can’t your magic heal me?!” Star was now yelling with anxiety. She was worried, and was about to have a mental breakdown. “Magic can’t do that sort of stuff! It takes time to heal. I have been trying to find out were your mother lives so we can tell her!” Night Light lifted up a large book with all the names of ponies in Ponyville. “We are right here! How did you not find us?” Star Sparkle pointed her hurting foreleg at the address. “Ohhh. There you are! My little brother must have spelled your name wrong. I will go get your mom right away!” Night Light then placed the book on the ground and galloped out of the bedroom door. “Hello? He-Hello?! Is anyone there?” Star Sparkle was alone again in the bedroom. The pain was getting stronger. She had no choice but to swallow the pill. She fumbled around with her hooves to get a grip of it. She then placed it in her mouth. She then set her head back on the pillow and swallowed. It hurt, but she able to swallow the entire pill. All she could do was hope that the pain would go away. She then heard something approaching the door. A small colt entered the room. Star recognized him. “Hi... You look familiar, but... I can’t put my hoof... on it” Star Sparkle was trying her best to see the colt out of her good eye. She then focused in and noticed that the colt was a small red unicorn. He must have been the little brother of Night Light. Then it hit her. Star remembered who the colt was. It was the shy kid that sat in the corner of class! “Hey I recognize you. Aren’t you the small colt that keeps to himself during class?” Star tried to smile at the colt so she wouldn’t scare him. He did not respond. He just looked down at his hooves. “Not much of a talker are ya’. Is this why you don’t answer questions in class?” The colt looked up at Star. He looked aggravated. She almost forgot that he had perfect grades, and he knocked 2 bullies out with one strike. “Hey… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I really should be thanking you” Star Sparkle pulled the covers up to hide her embarrassment. “Those bullies had it coming. No one hurts a filly in my class” For such a little shy colt, he had a good voice. It was direct and to the point. Star was amazed. She had never heard him speak the entire year. “So you DO talk! How did you manage to knock... out the two bullies with one hit? That was… ow… amazing!” Star then lowered the volume of her voice. Talking added to the pain. “I learned some moves from the Sweet Apple Acres family. Mrs. Smith is really good at putting up a fight! I visit her after school for tips!” The little colt’s facial expression rose from aggravated to happy in only a few seconds. He was proud of his fighting skills. A couple of minutes passed as they talked. Star discovered many interesting facts about Night Light’s family. They were one of the founders of Ponyville. Their ancestors fought in the civil war for peace 1000 years ago. Most of their family actually lived in the high class city of Canterlot. Suddenly, the bedroom door then flung open. It almost hit the little colt. Luckily he jumped out the way. Standing at the entrance of the room was Star Sparkle’s mom. She was panicking, and was covered in sweat. “MY BABY! SWEETIE! What did they do to you?!” Star Sparkle’s mom was at her bedside immediately. Her mom looked at her in horror. Nothing like this ever happened in their family. “Why did this happen?! Please tell me!” Star Sparkle’s mom was lightly touching Star’s wounds. Each one scared her mother even more. It would take a long time to explain this…