//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: The Forgotten // by Fiji Firefox //------------------------------// Twilight woke with a start when she felt the chair she was sleeping in shake. Twilight sat up quickly and looked over at her mother to find her sitting up and her hooves shaking uncontrollably. Sparkle jumped up immediately and looked around at the medical equipment frantically, her mind going blank. An idea then came to her. Twilight ran out of the door and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help! My mother’s having a seizure! Get help quickly!” About three doctors from nearby rooms busted out and hurried over to the room Sparkle was pointing at. Twilight hurried in after them. Twilight saw that her mother's whole body was shaking now and that all of the doctors were trying to strap her mother down while they got some more medical equipment. They seemed to be calm for the first 2 minutes, but that soon changed to worry and desperation when the situation didn't change. Twilight then noticed that they started to fumble the machines in their hooves. Countless noises went on in that room for 15 minutes, drowning out the sound of Twilight’s heartbeat. Sparkle paced around the room the entire time, constantly racing over to check on her mother’s progress. It was getting worse by every few seconds. Twilight felt sweat start to sting her eyes as she raced over once again. Twilight blinked to make them go away. She then returned to the situation to find her mother starting to recover…or so she thought. The beeping sound of the heart rate monitor reached Twilight’s ears for the first time since she arrived in the room. She looked over at the screen and saw the continually jumping lines flash across, getting slower and slower as time went on. *beep*….*beep*…...*beep.........* Then, she finally realized what was going to happen to her mother. She rushed to her mother and knocked the other doctors out of the way in the process. She pressed her face into her mother’s side as she heard the sound grow slower and finally come to a stop on a never ending note. The doctors, finally able to hear the sound without all the racket going on, walked over slowly and bowed their heads in unison. After a few minutes, one of them lifted their head and walked over to a telephone to call the front desk and tell them the news. Twilight didn't move a muscle when four ponies came in with a medical stretcher. They lay it down on the floor and moved towards Twilight, who still had her face pressed into the spot where it was now soaking wet. They then grabbed her gently by the arms and pulled her back slowly so they could get her mother and put her on the stretcher. When Twilight felt them touch her, she immediately tried to break away by kicking and struggling. She bruised several doctors, but they still held onto her with iron grips. Sparkle watched through blurry eyes as the remaining doctors picked up her mother’s limp body gently and lay it on the stretcher. They picked it up and walked out of the room silently, their faces wore a look of despair and sympathy. The doctor holding Twilight let go of the struggling mare and let her follow the ponies. They made up the tail of the group as they made their way to the front of the building. The group passed many patients, doctors, and nurses on their way there. Twilight’s tears had never stopped since she and the others had left the room. After a while, Twilight finally cracked. She couldn't take the pressure of the death and the ponies staring at her about a quarter of the way through their trek, so she leaned towards the nearest doctor and sobbed into his lab coat. He patted her comfortingly; obvious that he had dealt with this sort of thing before. Twilight didn't care what the other ponies thought; she just needed a shoulder to cry on for the time being. Sparkle didn't notice how much time had passed since her mother had had the heart attack, but it was about late afternoon when Twilight finally stepped outside again, the sun blinding her temporarily. When she could see once more, Twilight saw a familiar carriage come rolling up the road and park a little ways away from were Twilight stood herself. The doors opened to let out a very sorrowful Shining Armor, who rushed up to Twilight immediately and wrapped his forearms around her comfortingly. Twilight burst out sobbing once again at his comforting hug, making the fur around Shining Armor’s neck become matted and wet. Her brother just stood there, trying his best to comfort his little sister, not having much success either. Then, Twilight heard the sound of another pair of hooves coming towards them. Sparkle looked up to find her favorite foal-sitter, Cadance, standing there with sorrow and sympathy in the welled up tears she was about to shed. Twilight pulled away from her brother almost instantly to rush over to Cadance to hug her too. Cadance returned the embrace as her tears finally burst out. The two mares stayed there, embraced together in a bawling wet mass of sobs. A sympathetic expression made its way onto her brother’s face as he gazed at his two girls. After a while, Cadance recovered mostly and kissed the top of Twilight’s head in a comforting fashion, which made Twilight sob even more. Her tears never seemed to stop flowing, even if her brain demanded them to. The remaining family members stayed in that condition until about early twilight. The dried tears stains left in Twilight’s fur were very obvious, so Shining Armor tried his best to wipe them away with a spare tissue, but nothing seemed to work. After a few tries, Shining gave up, and he gently guided her into the carriage that was supposed to take her back to the Canterlot Train Station. Twilight resisted her brother at first; trying to get back to Twilight Velvet, but after a few minutes of struggling against her strong kin, she sighed sorrowfully and gave up. As she was seated into the vehicle, she looked at Shining Armor. “What will we do now?” She asked. Shining hesitated, and then looked away. “…I…I don’t know, Twily…” He whispered hoarsely. Sparkle looked down at her lap as he closed the door and the carriage began to descend the scene. Twilight looked out the window at the now dull city, it alleyways and streets now overflowing with darkness; it’s only hope of finding light again would be when the sun came up the next morning. Twilight felt like the sunshine in her heart would never come to blow away the shadows of the night building up… * * * The next morning, Twilight awoke feeling absolutely awful. She looked awful, too. But aside from that she had a terrible headache, her hooves ached from all the traveling, she was tired, and her heart ached. After thinking about what happened yesterday, it made her want to cry even more. But before her tears could escape, she tried to think about how her friends would be glad to see her and how Pinkie Pie would probably throw a big party welcoming her back. She smiled weakly and laid back down in the bed she had slept in for the night on the train. She turned her head towards the window and looked at the bright sunny day that had unfolded. I can’t wait to see everypony when I get back home.. She sighed happily and closed her eyes, only to hear the ear-busting screech of the brakes and to feel the train slowly shudder to a stop. Twilight sighed. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, letting her magic gather up all of her belongings. When she was ready to depart off the vehicle, she stopped at the door and gave a thank you to the conductor. He simply nodded. As she exited, the familiar sense of happiness from Ponyville was overwhelming to Twilight, since her day yesterday was filled with confusion and tears. She breathed in deeply and exhaled after a moment, before quickly trotting to The Golden Oaks Library. As she walked in, she called out her usual greeting. “Spiiike! I’m home!” When she got no response, she checked upstairs in her bedroom. Only, it wasn't her bedroom. She looked around at the neat room, the covers on it a plain white color. And no baby dragon bed laying at the foot of the bed. She jumped when an elderly mare’s voice spoke from behind her. “You know you’re not supposed to be up here.” The elder said suspiciously. “Wait…who are you?” Twilight asked the mare. “Why, I’m Page Turner. The Golden Oaks librarian." She replied, still not so sure whether Twilight was a friend or a robber. “Well, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight introduced herself. “D-do you live here?” She asked nervously. “Well, yes.” Page Turner replied. “Why? Have you heard about me or something?” “No…it’s just…” She paused, suddenly aware that if she told the mare, she probably wouldn’t believe her. “What is it, dearie?” “It’s…nothing. Never mind.” Page Turner nodded and walked down the stairs. Twilight followed after and walked out the door, her ears flopped down and wearing a sorrowful expression. She walked on until she came to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. She was surprised to find how far she had walked, but she advantage of the tree shade and sat down under one. After a while, a familiar orange mare trotted up from behind her and tipped her hat towards her. “Howdy!” She said. She asked, sounding absolutely delighted. “Huh? Oh, hey Applejack…” Applejack looked confused. “How do ya know my name, sugar cube?” Twilight looked up. “Huh? But I’ve always known you!” She said, surprised. Applejack still looked confused. “You’re one of the Elements of Harmony? "Honest Applejack"?” Her words didn’t seem to be getting through to her. “Oh, never mind!” Twilight stomped off, but was still curious to why Applejack was acting so weird. She decided she would visit Fluttershy and see if she could tell her why their friend was acting that way. * * * Twilight arrived a short while later and knocked lightly. Fluttershy opened the door, but looked surprised to see Twilight standing there. “Hey Fluttershy!” She said happily. The Pegasus hid behind the door and peeked around it. “W-w-who are you….?” She asked shyly. Twilight felt even more confused. “I-it’s me! Twilight Sparkle!” She said frantically. Fluttershy stopped peeking from behind the door and spoke quietly. “I-I don’t..know a T-Twilight Sparkle…” Twilight sighed; frustrated and left the cottage door to go find Rarity. * * * She found her where she always was: in her boutique making clothes. The bell above the doorway rang out as Twilight entered. “Coooomming!” She heard the fashoinista sing as she left her work to tend to the customer. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where everything is chic, unique, and magnific!” Rarity sang as she greeted Twilight. “Can I help you, madam?” She asked politely. Twilight gave up. “…no…” She said sadly and walked out of the store. She continued to walk. She didn't care where her hooves took her; she just wanted to follow them. They took her to a bar that looked recently built. “Salt on the Rim?” Twilight said, looking at the bar. She shrugged and walked inside anyway. To her surprise, though, the bar was packed full. It was very unusual since that night was a Wednesday night. She picked her way carefully through the mingling crowd until she got to the bar. She sat down and looked at the menu. She got the one that sounded the best to her. “Can I have some...Jack Daniel's, please?” Twilight asked the young mare behind the counter. The bartender nodded and brought up a medium sized glass and filled it to the brim with Jack Daniel’s. Twilight took it gratefully and sipped it as she thought. I wonder why everypony is acting so weird today....?. She drank the rest of her drink without a problem, paid the mare, and trotted right back out. Her thought never left her mind as she trotted back to the library. Wait... She stopped. I don’t live there anymore…where will I go?... She thought about it and came up with a solution. Oh! I know! I’ll just take up a room at the local hotel tonight. She briskly trotted towards the hotel that stood in the northern part of the city. She paid the ten bits for her room and received her key. When she unlocked her door, she immediately flopped onto her bed and tried to fall asleep. She couldn’t. One, because her thoughts were still bugging her and two, there was a couple below her room who were fighting and it was getting really loud. She stomped on the ground to let them know and shouted, “Can you be quiet, please?!” She heard silence, felt satisfied, and lay down again. She fell into a troubled sleep with disturbing nightmares. She kept waking up constantly in a cold sweat. And on top of that, the couple below began to fight again, and their voice worked its way into her dreams. The next morning, she looked and felt even worse than when she woke up the day before. She did her usual routine of gathering her stuff. She checked out and began to explore Ponyville again. Then, she sprouted an idea. She galloped until she reached the edge of town and trudged into the Everfree Forest. She galloped until she reached her destination: Zecora’s House. Twilight knocked and waited impatiently. “Why, hello, new friend,” She greeted Twilight. The words “new friend” caught Sparkle and she immediately stomped away and back to Ponyville. She didn't know why she was going back to town, because it seemed that everyone except her own family had forgotten her. She sighed and walked up the streets, lonely and confused. When she didn't think that things couldn’t get any worse, a big shadow covered the sun. Twilight looked up, hoping the shadow would be just a lonesome cloud drifting by. But it certainly wasn’t. Twilight couldn't tell what it was so she squinted and tried to get a better view. ....Griffons?!