A Reverie of Lost Twilight

by XangelMusic

Chapter II: Of Missing Twilight

Twilight’s friends finally arrived. Applejack was the first to take her seat followed by Rarity, while the rest of the girls were just coming into the throne room.

“So what’s all this ‘bout, sugarcube?”

“Yes, darling. I mean, Spike seemed quite frantic when he came to get me for this emergency meeting.”

Rainbow Dash flew in onto her throne. “You got that right. I ain’t seen anypony as freaked out as he was. Although he didn’t exactly use the words ‘emergency meeting’ and more like ‘Sunset has gone crazy.’”

I guess subtlety wasn’t part of his agenda when I sent him out to relay my message. The same applied for Rainbow Dash since her comment made Applejack and Rarity look at me apprehensively.

By the time Spike went out on his errand, however, I could see he wasn’t impressed. I felt empty when he left without hesitation, having no disregard or questions about it. I knew he wasn’t taking all this too well, but his less than subtle attitude hurt me.

“I can’t wait for the super-duper surprise!” Pinkie Pie bounced onto her throne.

Applejack raised her eyebrow. “What makes ya think there is one?”

“There wouldn’t be one if Spike wasn’t acting all excited like that!”

“Um, Pinkie, I don’t think there’s any surprise here,” Fluttershy meekly claimed.

You have no idea, Fluttershy. I chuckled wryly to myself.

They were how I remembered them the few times I came here to Equestria. I was hesitant at first when I got to meet them, and being the very counterparts of my friends back home, that first meeting felt oddly uncanny. It was fair to say that I got along with them pretty quickly, albeit with a rough start. After being with them for a while, you’d rarely spot minor differences between the two, though I still kept in mind Equestria wasn’t the human world.

Applejack was still the diligent and hardworking earth mare as shown by her strong and sturdy build from being the proud owner of Sweet Apple Acres, with the same tied-up blonde mane and Stetson hat upon her head which I’ve never seen her without.

Rarity was still the strikingly beautiful unicorn mare emanating such flair and radiance, tantamount to the established high-class fashionista at the Carousel Boutique we all knew and loved. From what I heard she became increasingly successful making her own lines of clothes for important ponies around Equestria, and I would agree her designs were breathtaking.

Fluttershy came to a close second when it came to pretty mares. The shy pegasus would often hide away behind her beautiful, long pink hair from time to time. Although true to her namesake, I couldn’t help but feel she had grown more confident.

Rainbow Dash was the definition of impatience and overconfidence if I ever saw one, though she made up for it with her enthusiasm and determination when it came to her friends and lifestyle. They were especially necessary traits when it involved the Wonderbolts; the last time I heard she actually made the team as a full-fledged member. Nonetheless the lean blue pegasus, with her dishevelled rainbow-coloured mane, was as athletic as you could get.

And last but not least, Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s very own party pony. The all-pink earth mare was a whole bundle of energy who could literally defy the laws of physics if she wanted to; I’ve seen her do it. I didn’t mind it, although I felt I’d lose something if I’d ever question it. But as far as normal routines went, she lived and worked at the local bakery known as Sugar Cubed Corner, along with planning parties for the ponies at Ponyville.

Now that they were here, how was I supposed to proceed with this? My body was shaking and my gasps were ragged. Sweat began to perspire across my forehead, and my mind was clouded with thoughts of our dire situation.

The girls eagerly awaited my response. Spike was slumping in his seat, resting his chin in his claw while exhibiting a frown. He was avoiding my gaze no matter how much I looked over to him beside me. Anyways, like I did with Spike, I’d try to start off slow and from the beginning.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice. I wouldn’t have called you all here if I thought this wasn’t important. First of all, I need to ask you guys something. Have any of you heard of a mare named Twilight Sparkle?”

As expected, their headshakes and ‘no’s’ reinforced my suspicions.

Just as I thought.

I took a deep breath and continued. “There’s no easier way for me to say this, but I think something major has happened. Something really unexpected.”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?”

“What I mean, Rarity, is that when I woke up this morning, I think I might have taken over somepony else’s life. The pony I’m referring to is that same mare I asked you about, whom you all are supposed to know.”

They looked at each other then back to me as if trying to process whatever it was I just told them.

“Hang on, sugarcube, what do ya mean ya took over somepony else’s life? Also, like we said, we don’t know anypony by that name,” Applejack objected with a raised hoof.

“I know, but I have good reason to believe everypony has somehow forgotten about her, including you girls. It’s as if she has vanished from existence. I know this because I’m the only one who remembers her and that my life right now—whatever it is—might be in fact Twilight’s.”

Rainbow Dash eyed me suspiciously. There was a slight pause until she finally spoke up while crossing her forehooves. “You’re joking, right?”

Pinkie turned her head like a confused puppy. “Yeah, Sunny, I mean, if this is supposed to be a joke, it’s not a really good one.”

But it was Applejack who was examining my mannerisms closely, not once looking away from my facial features. “Ah dun think she’s jokin’, ya’ll.”

Their eyes followed Applejack’s as they pierced through me. I scrunched down and gingerly looked up at their intense gazes.

“Are you perhaps feeling sick? Maybe you’re feeling a little under the weather without knowing it,” Fluttershy suggested.

My attention was then put to her. I studied her momentarily before I reactively chuckled. Typical Fluttershy to make that assumption, but at least that allowed me to steel my resolve despite their hardened glances.

“No, Fluttershy, I don’t think that’s it. Thank you for your kindness though.” I took a minute to collect myself before addressing the rest of the group.

“I wish I was joking. But this morning I woke up as an alicorn princess. Not once can I remember a point in my life of ever becoming one. This castle—” I gestured with my hoof “—is supposed to be Twilight’s, and she is supposed to be the princess living here. As far as I’m concerned our lives have been switched and nopony seems to remember who she is.”

“You don’t remember your own coronation? Or when you got this castle?” Rarity asked, holding a hoof to her mouth. I shook my head.

“Wait, wait, wait, how can you not remember any of that?” Rainbow seemed agitated, and the only response I gave was a wordless shrug.

“Surely you must remember something. Those were some of the most important days of your life—of our lives even,” Rarity exclaimed.

“I agree with Rares. I remember ‘em like it was yesterday. They ain’t somethin’ ya can easily forget,” Applejack added.

“Plus you keep insisting on talking about this Twilight pony when we have no idea who she is,” Rainbow concluded.

I could see their points, but what else could I say to them? It was beginning to look hopeless for any slight understanding from any of these girls. I knew this was difficult, but I was not going to stop—the situation was too dire to give up now!

“I know, and I’m not exactly sure what is happening right now; I’m having a hard time believing all this myself. I know this is a lot to take in, but it’s quite possible that maybe I came from a different world and that the Sunset Shimmer in this world was indeed an alicorn princess and we somehow switched places. Or maybe our timeline has been altered and for that reason Twilight no longer exists.” I postured my back and took a deep breath, then looked the Bearers of the Elements straight in their eyes. “The point is, I don’t think I’m supposed to be here, and that something is seriously wrong. I want to know what exactly happened and I would like—need—your help to help me find out what’s going on.”

They pondered my argument for a bit, which seemed to make sense to them judging from their expressions. I could see a few nods and their resolves hardened upon what I explained—except Fluttershy who looked uneasy.

“Fluttershy?” She didn’t respond to my call. She looked down at the ground, with a slight frown on her face. I seemed to have gotten everypony’s attention when they also looked in her direction. “Are you ok?”

“So you don’t remember anything?” I was taken aback by her sharp inquest. “So you don’t remember when we first met?”

She finally looked up and entrapped me with her eyes. I was speechless, not because I was unable to answer her question but because of her odd behaviour. Not that I could answer her question in the first place since that was a memory affiliated with Twilight. The only time I remembered when I first properly met these girls wasn’t too long ago, just before me and my friends went off to college. That was an edgy time for me when I decided to come back to Equestria to meet Princess Celestia and ask her for her forgiveness, to apologise for what I had done to her in the past. But when I analysed Fluttershy’s gaze, I knew that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. In the end I couldn’t say anything.

And after what seemed like a long time, Fluttershy trotted off her throne. “I think I need a minute…” She then strolled off outside of the room.

“Ah jeez…” Rainbow dashed out of the room before I could even call out Fluttershy’s name.

My hoof was stretched out while I speculated whatever happened with Fluttershy. Inadvertently, I expressed my thoughts out loud, “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s upset, Sunset.” I instantly turned to Spike who all this time had not spoken a word until now. He sat up against his miniature throne, breaking away from the immobile position he held since before the girls arrived. “How would you feel when your best friend suddenly told you they lost all their memories you both shared? It doesn’t feel good, does it? At least for me it isn’t…”

Applejack adjusted her Stetson a bit and sighed. She then gave me a tentative smile. “I agree with Spike. I mean, I know yer heart is in the right place, and that ye’re not the one at fault here—not that anypony’s blamin’ ya or anythin’ like that—but I gotta admit, this whole thing is mighty nerve-wrackin’.”

“I agree with Applejack,” said Rarity. “What you’re saying is a lot to take in.”

So that’s what it was, huh, I thought. I slouched into my seat, sunk my face into my hooves and breathed a heavy sigh into them. It was happening again, much like my interaction with Spike earlier.

“Awww, cheer up, Sunny!” Pinkie suddenly enwrapped me in one of her famous special heart-warming bear hugs no sooner before I realised what was happening. “You just wanted some help for your little problem, right?”

Her elongated smile put me at ease a little bit. “Thanks, Pinkie.” I disentangled myself from her, my hooves still situated on her shoulders. “It’s just that I’ve just been really confused since this morning and this whole thing seemed so unreal. It hasn’t been easy for me, especially when…”

“When what?”

My mouth froze. I couldn’t finish the sentence, let alone understood why I couldn’t continue my train of thought. Pinkie again appealed to me for a response after which I subconsciously looked up at my throne which Pinkie seemed to have picked up on. She projected a warm smile on her face, as if convinced that she understood something.

“You’re worried about this Twilight pony, right?” I nodded, amazed at her simple powers of deduction. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you find this mystery mare of yours!”

“Pinkie, she’s not a mystery. She’s a real pony.”

“Yeah, but her mysterious disappearance is a HUGE mystery that needs solving”—Pinkie produced a deerstalker cap and gentlepony’s pipe from out of her fluffy pink mane and started blowing out bubbles—“and Chief Detective Pinkie is on the case!”

I chuckled. If there was one pony I wanted the most support from it would be Pinkie. Her radiance and exuberance simply brought smiles to everypony. It was truly inspirational.

“Have you been able to uncover anything regarding this dilemma?” asked Rarity, breaking me out of my reverie.

“No. I did try to look over some books here in the library, but to be frank I’m not sure where to begin. I figured maybe you girls could help me out with that.”

“Well, we’ll just wait for Fluttershy and RD t' come back.”

Upon Applejack’s suggestion, it was a short while until the two ponies in question came back into the room. Fluttershy still looked down but comparatively better before she left.

“Sorry for leaving everypony.”

“It’s ok, Fluttershy,” I reassured her, who responded with a meek smile.

“So what’s the plan, everypony?” Rainbow began.

“Well, Sunset wanted us to figure out where we should go from here,” Rarity explained.

“I did a little research in the library earlier and tried to find sources related to alternate worlds and timelines, but I came up with nothing. I would have to go through that again though,” I said.

“If you want my opinion, I think you just lost your memories, or something else happened with that little noggin of yours,” Rainbow suggested.

Amnesia was one of the first things that came to mind, but that wouldn’t explain why I remember a mare name Twilight Sparkle and all the memories of my previous life. The worst case scenario would be if Twilight Sparkle was an imaginary friend I made up or my entire life turned out to be a lie.

“Wait a minute, RD, let’s not just decide that Sunset belongs in a looney bin,” said Applejack.

Hmph, thanks for the reassurance, AJ…

“That’s not what I’m sayin’ at all. Maybe somepony messed around with her memories and she’s thinking up stuff that wasn’t there before. That is possible, right?”

Her theory was something I hadn't considered before. I still couldn’t deny the possibility that it was everypony else’s memories that have been adjusted, and from that was the possibility that we were in an altered timeline. For somepony to even attempt altering the memories of everypony in Equestria was highly improbable, but not impossible. A unicorn or magical creature could have the capability to manipulate my own memories, but they would require a very complex spell.

All in all, these possibilities brought up the question as to what exactly were these memories that we’d been given. Exactly what memories did these girls have about me? Was I simply a replacement for Twilight and that their memories were once attuned to her? That’s what I had gathered after speaking with Spike, claiming I was chronicling the Magic of Friendship for Princess Celestia when I knew otherwise. That would mean all the hardships Twilight had to go through were now affiliated with me. Either way, I’d still have to address this issue with them. But as I looked over my options again, I noticed a crucial flaw, something of which required explaining.

I failed to notice the girls were continuing the conversation without me while I was deep in thought. Fortunately, the conversation didn’t hold anything substantial, going back and forth of what had already been discussed.

I decided to grab everypony’s attention. “Guys, I think Rainbow is right.”

The girls stopped to face me, but it was Rainbow who seemed the most confused. “…Really?”

“You sound surprised,” Rarity teased.

“Hey, well, I surprise myself sometimes with how awesome I am.” You’re not fooling anypony Rainbow. Even Rarity tried to stifle back a chuckle.

“Wait, so ya do belong in a looney bin?” Applejack seemed adamant to want me crazy. What made it worse was how she said that so casually with her eyebrow fully raised.

“What? No!” I said. “What I meant was, it’s possible that memories can be manipulated, but it requires a lot of power and skill to conjure up a spell for that. That’s why I still think it was everypony else’s memories that have been changed and not mine.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier to change only one pony’s memories instead of everypony else’s?” Rarity interjected. “No offense to you, but for all we know you could be the one making things up.”

I sighed. “You have a point there. Like you said, I’m probably the only one whose memories have been changed. Anything’s possible with magic, and while a spell like that is difficult, it’s not impossible.” It was a hypothesis worth testing, but really we had very little to go on.

“What about somepony like Discord? You saw what he did to Equestria when we went up against him,” Rainbow proposed. Although I’m not sure if she had forgotten about my alleged amnesia since I never did face him. From the few times I did meet him, his power was indeed extraordinary albeit obnoxious and nonsensical.

“Yes, a creature like the spirit of chaos himself certainly has a lot of power. From what I remember, you guys weren’t acting like yourselves at that time and that was caused by his influence.”

“Don’t remind me…” Rarity made a pained expression.

“What? You mean Tom?” Rainbow snickered then gave Rarity a snarky grin.

“Rainbow!” she hissed. She was glaring at her. “I thought we agreed never to speak of that again!”

Am I missing something? I thought, although I kept my mouth shut on the matter.

“Anyways, let’s get back on topic, shall we?” I urged, still somewhat perplexed.

“Hey, maybe it was Discord that caused this mess in the first place.” Rainbow’s chuckling fit seemed to have died down.

“Rainbow Dash that was rude!” said Fluttershy with a wag of her hoof. “You know Discord has been reformed. He has been a good boy and he hasn’t hurt anypony recently.”

Was she talking about a pet?

Rainbow simply rolled her eyes. “Says you, Fluttershy. I’m just sayin’, he probably did it just for kicks.”

“You may be right, Rainbow,” I said, “at this point, I’m practically open to anything.” It was something to consider at least.

Fluttershy didn’t seemed please though. “You’re not suggesting he’d do anything bad, are you?”

“I’m not, but I’d still like to speak with him though. Even if he isn’t the cause of all this, he may have an idea as to what’s going on.” Fluttershy seemed content with my answer.

Pushing the matter aside, I brought up again the previous issue. “I was going to bring this up anyways, but for the moment, I was curious as to what kinds of memories you girls have about me. I feel that’s important and I think that needs to be cleared up first.

“Before that however, I need to clarify something.”—I turned my attention towards my right—“Spike, I’ve been meaning to ask, wasn’t there supposed to be a map here in the middle of the throne room?”

Spike looked to where I pointed. “What do you mean? I don’t remember any map.”

“There’s supposed to be a round table here, right?”

“There hasn’t been anything like that, Sunset.”

Now that is strange, I thought. “Do any of you girls remember a map or a round table being here?” As expected—or rather I hoped it would be the opposite—the girls shook their heads. I then decided to follow through with a different perspective. “Can you girls tell me which of the Elements of Harmony are you?”

The girls shared a look of confusion, and Applejack asked, “Why do ya need t' know that?”

“I just want to make sure everything is okay.” While they still acknowledged its pointlessness, they obliged nonetheless.

“Well, um, mine is Kindness,” Fluttershy spoke first.

“Mine’s Honesty,” said Applejack.

“And I’m Loyalty, which is like the best one ever!” Rainbow Dash sure was hamming it up.

“Pish posh, I think Generosity is the most elegant,” Rarity declared, and in such graceful posture.

“LAUGHTER!” Confetti suddenly spewed from behind Pinkie’s throne.

“All right, that just leaves me with Magic then,” I concluded, yet something felt off.

I got off my throne and started towards the castle entrance. “Guys, come with me. I want to check out something…”

******

I drank in my surroundings. The overcast darkness by the overarching flora, the luscious, soft, fresh mound beneath my hooves, the musky smell of mildew and scented aromas of foliage wafted through the air. The atmosphere was indeed gloomy true to its reputation, but in my opinion, the Everfree Forest was a model for tranquillity, if not for the supposed dangerous creatures lurking within.

The stroll through the forest wasn’t as perilous as I suspected—not that I was looking forward to anything bad happening. It was that the Everfree Forest was famous for being an area where nature was ‘wild’ and that anything went with this place. Historically, it’s where the Castle of the Two Sisters resided, and at its prime was where the two regal sisters, our Princesses of the Sun and Moon, once ruled Equestria in a cooperative diarchy. When Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and was banished to the moon by her sister, Princess Celestia decided to continue her reign elsewhere of which became Canterlot, controlling both the sun and moon. Now it was supposed to be a desolate ruin from what I’d heard, although I’d yet to see it with my own eyes—at least that was what my current memories told me.

“So, um, what are we looking for Sunset?” Fluttershy asked.

“I remember Twilight once mentioned how you girls had to give up the Elements of Harmony. It was later that she was given her own castle which appeared in Ponyville. Soon after that, a map then appeared in the middle of the throne room in the form of a round table. Its purpose was to pin-point destinations where Twilight and the rest of you girls were supposed to spread the Magic of Friendship.”

“But we didn’t see any map,” said Applejack.

“Exactly, which I think is highly unusual. If I was simply a replacement for Twilight, then a map should’ve been there. It’s why I want to visit the Tree of Harmony to make sure nothing’s wrong.”

I never even knew such a thing existed until Twilight told me about it. I asked her whatever happened to the Elements of Harmony as they had been an intricate part of Twilight and her friends. I was taken by surprise from her unexpected answer of the tree’s existence.

Not ten minutes had passed since we entered the forest and already I was experiencing signs of vertigo. “We’re going the right way, aren’t we? How far is it?”

“It’s not too far, dear. If we continue this way, we’ll reach there in no time,” said Rarity.

Satisfied with her answer, I asked the girls to begin telling me of their memories.

They recounted their versions of important events to me. It helped listening to these stories as it made the trek felt much quicker. A short while after the girls had finished, I broke into a reverie, revising everything that had been stated.

I was the personal student of Princess Celestia who arrived in Ponyville to organise the Summer Sun Celebration. I then met each of these girls one by one, and it was later that night that Nightmare Moon was released from her prison and brought forth nighttime eternal. Me and the rest of the group then went to the Castle of the Two Sisters to find the Elements of Harmony. With them, we were able to defeat Nightmare Moon, and in turn, saved Princess Luna. And so began my eventual stay in Ponyville to chronicle the Magic of Friendship and my new friendships with these girls.

Discord, the spirit of chaos, broke out of his stone prison and caused havoc throughout Equestria. Me and ‘my friends’ then defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony. Queen Chrysalis tried to take over Canterlot with her changeling swarm but the love between Princess Cadance (who was my old colleague) and Shining Armor (who was apparently my old high school crush—which I had no words for) defeated the changeling queen; they were married shortly after. The Crystal Empire then reappeared and they had to confront King Sombra, who had ruled the empire with an iron hoof but who was also soon defeated. Finally, me and my friends had to give up the Elements to the Tree of Harmony and soon after that was the fight with Tirek from which I was then given my own castle as the Princess of Hope. Nothing else significant came after that, except several more pleasant memories I was supposed to have.

It wasn’t much longer when we finally arrived before the bridge leading to the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“We’re here!” Pinkie cheerfully announced.

I froze, having broken out of my daydream. All of a sudden I felt uneasy. Shivers immediately ran down my spine and I breathed through my nose much heavily, all the while I kept my head down, refusing to look up. I made efforts to calm myself, to keep control of my breathing and uncontrollable shaking but my attempts seemed to fail me again. Still, I refused to concede, and I closed my eyes and brought my hoof up to my forehead, massaging the base of my skull.

“Ya okay there?”

I jolted up to find Applejack and the rest of the girls look at me with concern. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Just go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you.”

Applejack nodded albeit hesitantly signalling the others to move on forward.

I took a deep breath and exhaled my worries in the meantime, reminding myself this wasn’t going to be like last time. I continued towards the open cliff where I noticed a flight of stairs nearby conveniently constructed from the dull grey rock of the surrounding ravine which led down towards a large cave on the other side. The girls had already descended and I soon followed. The stairs were wide enough to accommodate only one pony, but at least they weren’t steep to pose any immediate danger.

I cautiously made my way down when I suddenly heard, “Everypony, come quick! Something’s wrong!” It was Rainbow Dash.

We broke into a sprint. I was the last to enter the cave, unable to enjoy the tranquil beauty it was exuding, and halted right behind the group. Applejack inquired first, “What’s wrong, RD?”

“The Elements of Harmony—they’re gone!”

Comments

[Daxen123]

Well crap

[magicstorm4]

man thise story is getting really really good I hope you come back and make more ch &storys you are a really good story writer