((Prompt: Twilight disappears, and only one pony remembers she was ever there at all.))
*
Sparkle always does the trick, don't you agree?
*
“Spike?” Rarity stepped into the library. “Spike darling, have you seen Twilight?”
The little purple dragon did not look up from the book he was reading, and simply gave her a vague chuckle.
Rarity's lips pressed into an impatient line, and she levitated the book out of his grasp.
“Hey!” he shouted, reaching out for it.
“Spike, this is important,” Rarity said, keeping the book out of his reach. “I need Twilight Sparkle.”
Spike blinked a few times before a spark of recognition came to his eyes. “Oh! Okay, Rarity.” He dug out a piece of parchment and some quills, and cleared his throat. “Uh, sure thing, Twilight! I'll get that friendship report sent off to the Princess right away!” He scribbled on the parchment without dipping the quill in ink first.
Rarity frowned in confusion. “Spike, what are you doing?”
The dragonling continued writing nothing on the parchment. “I'm writing out that report like you wanted, Twilight!”
Rarity sighed and rubbed her temples. “Darling, that's very amusing, but this is serious. Do you know where she is or not?”
The scratching at the parchment stopped. Spike peered over the top at her. “But... I thought we were playing that game again.”
“Fine, dear, here's your book back.” Rarity dropped the book back in Spike's lap. “Maybe one of the girls has seen her.”
*
Canterlot? Oh, I'm so jealous, I've always wanted to go!
*
“Have I seen who, now?” Applejack stopped in the road, the wagon wheels behind her creaking under the weight of all the apples she hauled.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “You know, purple unicorn, about yea high, led us into the Everfree to save all of Equestria from Nightmare Moon? Any of that ring a bell?”
Applejack laughed. “Oh hay, are you talkin' 'bout that time ya dragged me an' the others out into the forest an' we found those ruins? Boy howdy, those were some times!”
“I didn't drag us out there, Twilight did!” Rarity stamped on the ground in frustration. “Am I the only pony in this town that has not suddenly gone crazy!”
Applejack kept smiling. “Hey, I'd love to catch up, but I gotta get these babies to market,” she said, gesturing to the barrels of apples in her cart. “I'll bump into ya again, I'm sure. Have a good day, Rarity!”
*
Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned...
*
Rarity looked around herself. She did not remember entering this quiet office, nor sitting down in the soft chair across from a very formal-looking unicorn with a square pair of glasses and a notepad. There was a sound like somepony barking like a dog out in the hallway.
Glasses peered at Rarity. “I'm trying to understand, but I can't if you won't tell me anything, Rarity,” she said.
“Please,” Rarity said, sniffing, “I'm just trying to find my friend.”
Glasses glanced at her notepad. “This would be this 'Twilight Sparkle,' correct?”
“Yes.” Rarity nodded. “Have you seen her?”
“The unicorn who is a protege to Princess Celestia,” Glasses continued. Her eyes were unreadable. “Whose special talent is magic itself, her brother is the Captain of the Guard in Canterlot, and she has taken you on a number of incredible adventures on behalf of Equestria...” She glanced at her notes one more time. “...And has recently become a princess herself?”
“Yes! That Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity cried. “I don't understand how anypony could forget her! She's the most incredible friend anypony could ask for!”
“Yes, she certainly sounds like it,” Glasses said, scribbling down a note on her pad.
“So will you help me?” Rarity pleaded.
The unicorn pushed her glasses up her muzzle. “I would like to help you, Rarity, if you would let me.”
Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness! Now, the first thing we need to do is go to the library and see if there is such a spell as can cause mass amnesia like this. That is what Twilight would do.”
Glasses rose from her chair. “I think we might need to try a different approach.” Two large stallions entered the office, dressed in white uniforms.
Orderlies. This was a mental institution. Rarity blinked. Why would she have sought help from a mental institution to find Twilight? A look of terror washed over her face as they stepped toward her. “Y-you don't believe me, do you? You think I'm crazy!”
Rarity's horn glowed in a bright flash, and suddenly she was outside. She stumbled in the grass; she must have teleported, like Twilight would have done. Yes, she needed to start thinking like Twilight if she was going to get her friend back. She started toward the library. She would look up the memory spells first. There had to be something there that would get them all to remember Twilight.
They would all remember Twilight Sparkle.