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// What Was Once Lost 
// Story: Saying Goodbye 
// by TheTrueDragoon 
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	The forest path that Sunset and Pooh wandered along twisted and turned in every which way, leaving the two rather lost as to where they were.  Minutes past by and grew into a half hour of wandering in the uncharted part of the woods.  Yet despite their lost state, Sunset could only gaze about in wonder at the beauty of the trees and other foliage that covered the land.
Each twist and turn revealed more wonders and new paths to explore.  Sunset was once again reminded of her time as a filly and the vast unknown of the world.  The time when everything was brand new and she thrilled at the thought of seeing or learning something new.  And now, like then, she found herself upset at the numerous things to see and explore when there was only so much time given each day or in a moment to satiate such desire to learn and see.  So much to see and do, and so little time given.
As before, Pooh was filled with awe at the world around him.  Such wonder caused Sunset to greatly question how familiar Pooh was with the woods he lived in.  His eyes showed less the thrill of recalling something forgotten or rediscovering something lost and more the true awe of finding and seeing something brand new for the first time.  While he readily remembered his friends, the world about him seemed almost as new and unexplored to him as it did Sunset.
Was he just unfamiliar with this part of the woods?  It would be possible that during the time when all was well in this world that not every part of the world of imagination had been explored.  Many parts left vast and unknown as the child created more to it but never had the time to have adventures in the new parts he imagined.  Perhaps Sunset and Pooh had stumbled upon such an area.
And yet, the world itself really was not quite as large as it may have seen initially.  Or perhaps that was how it seemed.  But the amount that Sunset had seen so far only seemed so large.  It seemed odd to imagine that a few of the areas were unexplored given how close they were to some of the friends’ homes.
Could it be that this imagination land was constantly changing?  A variable world with an untold number of possible paths to take?  It would make sense that a child would constantly recreate the world they imagined.  Either having forgotten how it was previous or just for something new.  Did the world really change so much?
Sunset thought back to all of the exploring she and Pooh had done up to now.  The land did not seem to change, even in the short time she had been here.  Nor did it change after her brief time away during the night.  But was that because she remembered everything that she had seen during the first day?
She stopped for a moment and looked down at herself then at Pooh who was eying a tree, rather intrigued.  No, things had changed.  Or at least, one thing had changed.  The child who had once played with Pooh and the friends was missing and now Sunset had begun to make herself a part of the world.  Whatever had caused the boy and the friends to go missing may have had some effect on the world, but Sunset’s presence defiantly did.
Sunset found herself starting to wrap her arms around her body as feelings of guilt began to bleed out.  She had begun her bizarre adventure giving little thought to this land imagined by a child, believing it to be merely a dream of sorts.  She had little desire to think of Pooh and the others as little more than figments of her own imagination.  The thought had prodded the back of her mind that this world was not hers and she had treated it as such.
But as she had come to know the world and meet the inhabitants, she began to cherish them as her own friends.  She cared for them and desired their affection in kind.  She had quickly made this world her own sanctuary, a way to rid herself of loneliness.  Even if the loneliness was not the fault of her real world friends.  All out of her own selfishness.
That was what she had done.  She had given no care to a world she had found, one lost and needing to be returned to the one who had created it.  She had treated this world the way she had treated the used blank book, as a discarded item of little worth.  Afterwards, she had stolen it and made it her own.  She had come to desire what the world had to offer and had such taken it away from who it belonged to.  This world was not hers.  And she had not treated it with the care it deserved.  How truly selfish.
Sunset was driven from her thoughts by a warm hug from a pair of yellow arms.  She looked at Pooh, who stood right at eye level, then down at herself to see she had dropped to her knees and was now sitting on the forest floor.  Her vision was partially blurred but she could not bring herself to wipe away the tears that now filled her eyes.  Instead, she only huddled closer and gave in to the hug from Pooh.  Neither spoke as no words were necessary.
Sunset was caught between smiling and feeling blessed by the care and possibility of forgiveness from the small bear and crying out in guilt for not treating this world and its inhabitants with proper care.  Caught between joy and sorrow, she only sat and let Pooh hold her as she wanted to hold the stuffed bear that he was, or was based on.  The hug both warmed and burned her in the conflicting emotions.  What was she supposed to do?  How was she supposed to feel?
Time passed.  Exactly how long, Sunset could not tell.  Minutes.  Hours.  It was impossible to tell in her state.  As she opened her eyes once more, she found her arms wrapped tightly around Pooh who held her just as tight.  And now, the world was nothing less than a blur as tears had stained her face.
Finally, she released Pooh who, in turn, released her.  She continued to sit on the forest floor and stared at the blurred image of the yellow bear, unable to speak or even move.  A blurred paw reached out and brushed away some of her tears as Pooh softly spoke.
“I do hope you alright Sunset Shimmer.  I don’t like to see my friends sad, but I suppose we all must cry sometimes.”
For whatever reason, Sunset smiled.  She could not speak, having no words to say at the moment, and simply struggled to wipe away the tears that had stained her face and flooded her eyes.  The tears still burned and soothed as her emotions still clashed, though more gently now.  With her cheeks finally dry and the tears wiped from her eyes, at least for now, she stood and took hold of Pooh’s outstretched paw.
As they continued down the forest path, Sunset could not bring herself to let go of the bear’s paw.  She felt as though should she release the paw she would fall into a deep chasm.  Instead, she gripped the paw tight but gentle.  The smile on her face seemed to twitch and the muscles strained and started to become sore.  Outwardly, she appeared calm.  Inwardly, her stomach twisted and she fought to keep the smile she wore.  And she could not bring herself to even think about the floodgates that held her emotions at bay.
After a bit, the two passed by the circle of trees.  While Pooh casually began moving towards the trees he was held back as Sunset stopped, unable to look upon the special place.  Pooh looked back at her while Sunset only looked down.  After a gentle tug by Pooh, Sunset looked at him with her false smile.  Though she spoke no words, she still spoke softly to him.
“Not right now.  Not this time.”
Pooh understood and they continued on their way.  As they did, Sunset continued to look at the ground ahead.  The circle of trees was not her special spot.  It was special to the child, Pooh’s special friend.  She no longer deserved to even look upon it.
More time passed and Sunset and Pooh found themselves at the base of a hill.  As Sunset looked up, she saw the abandoned tree home that had brought her to the world.  Though another relic of the lost child, and another place she did not deserve to even see let alone enter, it seemed to stand as her only gateway in and out of the world.
“Just for a second,” she said softly to herself.
Pooh looked up at her, curious as to what she meant, but was met by Sunset’s false smile.  The two walked up to the home and stood for a moment, staring at the door.  Just beyond would be her room.
This time, it was Pooh’s turn to hold back Sunset.  She took a single step forward and felt the tug as Pooh’s paw gripped her hand.  She gently tugged and loosened her grip, trying softly to tell him to let go.  But the bear held fast.  A look upon his face showed a deep worry, and perhaps even fear.
Sunset placed her other hand on his paw and tried to maintain the false smile.  “Pooh…I...”
She was at a loss for words.  There was nothing to say.  Nothing that could be said.  But one word came to mind and speaking the word bit down upon Sunset and caused the false smile to fall away.  The single word seemed to not only wound her, but harm the very world she was in.  More so, it harmed the one who looked upon her.
“Goodbye.”
With that, she was released from Pooh’s grip and quickly turned to the door.  She could not look back and could say nothing more.  She opened the door to the darkened home and swiftly entered, closing the doorway behind her.

She was back in her room sitting on her bed as before as though she had never left.  But a glance about at her clock and the window showed that the day was half spent.  In her lap was the book, opened to the latest entry of the adventures from the world of imagination with Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends.  All else, was normal.  As though it had waited patiently for her to return.
But upon her face was grief and sorrow.  Tears flowed freely from her eyes and rained upon the pages of the book as they streamed down her face.  She quickly closed the book, both not wanting to stain the pages with her tears and not wanting to see her second parting with the yellow bear.
She held the book in front of her, fighting to know what to do now.  A part of her wished to hold it close, to return to the wonderful world.  Another wanted to run and hide in shame.  And so she sat for several seconds looking upon the cover that bore the image of a forlorn bear sitting on a log.
In the end, she set the book on her nightstand, hands shaking and threatening to lose their grip and drop the book.  She slowly removed her boots from her feet, held them out, then tossed them violently into her closet.  With a wail of grief, she pulled her legs in and tucked her head between her knees as she let loose all emotion that had built up in those final moments in the land of imagination.
What had she done?  Why did she abandon Pooh and the others?  So much more to do and other friends to find and she had run away from it all.  If the world was not real, why did she cherish it as though it was?  If it was real, had she really stolen it from the child that had imagined it?  If she had stolen it, did she really deserve to see it at all?
Nothing made sense anymore.  She was torn apart by emotion generated by a world created by a child’s imagination and her personal selfishness to be with others who simply could not be there for her.  The emotions beat against her like an ocean against a ship caught in a storm.  In the end, her own selfish desires to not be alone had ruined a wonderful land and the lives of those who called it home.  Was there any reason to feel this way?  The questions only tore at her more.
Sunset Shimmer.  A girl who wanted nothing more than to be the friend she had once shunned away, had now ruined her chances at learning what the word “friend” even meant.