//------------------------------// // "She's Our Friend!" // Story: "She didn't use the Memory Stone on you." // by LuluCalliope //------------------------------// “She Didn’t Use the Memory Stone on You.” It was a beautiful, sunny morning, the perfect weather for a day at the beach. And that’s exactly what Spike was doing: spending a day at the beach with his best friends. As he lay sunbathing on a blanket, he peeked at his friends. To his left, perky Pinkie Pie and honest Applejack sat discussing something that would be happening in class tomorrow. To his right, beautiful Rarity and bold Rainbow Dash compared beach blankets to use in their “Best Friends Selfie” for the yearbook. His owner, Twilight Sparkle, put the finishing touches on her “self-selfie-taking” drone while their quiet friend, Fluttershy, went for a quick scuba-diving session. Spike smiled. All they had to do was pick a blanket and wait for... “Done!” Rarity declared as she and Rainbow Dash held up the blanket they had agreed upon. “We’ll use this one in our picture! Is everyone ready?” “Ready!” The girls replied as they gathered in front of Twilight’s now active drone. Spike coughed. “Um...aren’t you guys forgetting something?” “Did I put on the right amount of makeup?” Rarity hissed to Fluttershy. “I hope I got everything calibrated with the drone…” Twilight mused. Spike cleared his throat and tried again. “Aren’t you guys forgetting someONE?” The others blinked in confusion. Spike rolled his eyes. “Guys, come on, Sunset’s going to be really upset if we start taking pictures without her.” “Sunset...Shimmer…?” Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. “That’s a good one, Spike! As if we’d let her be in our Best Friends picture!” “...that’s not funny, Rainbow Dash! You know that this means a lot to her! Why would you want to take this picture without her?” “Um...because she’s not our friend?” Applejack said matter-of-factly. Spike’s eyes widened. “Since when? We were hanging out with her yesterday! We’ve been...how could you say that, Applejack?” “Spike, are you feeling okay?” Fluttershy asked as she knelt down by the puppy. “Maybe it’s transient global amnesia...nothing that a little rest can’t fix…” Spike pulled away from the pink-haired girl, his eyes narrowed. “...you guys aren’t joking?” “Joking about what?” A familiar voice asked. “Sunset Shimmer!” Spike called out as he perked up. He ran towards his friend, his tail swishing back and forth. Twilight and her friends either flinched and moved away from Sunset, or narrowed their eyes into glares and got ready for a confrontation. “What’s she doing here?” “And we were having such a good time!” “Can’t you just leave us alone, Shimmer?” “What’s wrong?” Sunset Shimmer frowned. “What’s gotten into everyone? Did I...do something wrong?” “Sunset, there’s something wrong with them! They’re saying that you’re not our friend!” Spike barked. “Wait, what?!” “Well, it’s true, she isn’t our friend! She’s the Biggest Meanie in our school!” Pinkie exclaimed. “But…” Sunset looked hurt and confused, as well as a little scared. Spike came to her defense again. “I’m telling you guys the truth! Sunset’s our friend! She’s been our friend for as long as we’ve been at Canterlot High, Twilight! Tell me you don’t remember everything we’ve been through! We shared a tent with her at Camp Everfree!” “Spike, stop it,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. She wasn’t even at Camp Everfree!” “Wait a second…” Sunset grabbed Applejack’s arm and gasped as her geode powers activated, allowing her to read the mind of her honest friend. She pulled away after a few minutes, and her cheeks were pale and her eyes were wide and frightened. “It’s like...I’ve been erased!” Applejack yanked her arm away and scowled. “Don’t touch me! What are you up to?!” “I...I just used my magic to see your memories...but those memories aren’t what happened!” “What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked as she folded her arms. “What magic?” “The geode!” Sunset pointed to her magical necklace, one of the seven that the girls had acquired at Camp Everfree. “I got my geode necklace with you girls...that’s how I could see your memories!” “That’s obviously some cheap knockoff of ours!” Rarity scoffed. “But it worked, didn’t it? I could still see your memories!” “You’re just pretending to do that! You’re just pulling some weird, sick, twisted prank on us!” Rainbow accused. And then Fluttershy spoke. “Why are you talking to us?” There was no malice in her voice, only genuine curiosity, but there was a strange, angry glint in her eyes and a small, confused smile on her face. For some reason, this hit Sunset the hardest. She took a step backwards. “I...I gotta go!” “Sunset, wait!” Spike shouted as he chased after her. “Spike, come back here!” Twilight ordered as she prepared to chase her canine companion down. Applejack stopped her. “Let him go, sugarcube,” she said. “He’ll come back.” “He just needs to get his thoughts together,” Fluttershy agreed. “He’ll remember who his real friends are and come back soon.” “I...I hope so…” Twilight smiled, but an ugly thought planted itself in her mind: Could he be telling the truth? Sunset ran from the beach back to Canterlot High (thankfully empty for the weekend) and slumped against the portal between her home world and the world she currently lived in. Spike caught up to her, panting. “Sunset...are you okay?” “I’m fine,” the fiery-haired girl replied as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I guess...I’m scared and confused.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “This is the second time that this has happened to me. Last time it was with Anon-A-Miss...you and Twilight weren’t there...I don’t want to talk about it,” she added when Spike tilted his head to the side, curious to hear more. “And this time...it’s different. Their memories are really different, and I don’t know what to do...everybody’s forgotten that I’ve changed.” She paused, and then her eyes lit up. “Wait...everybody...but not everyone…” She looked down at Spike, a shimmer of hope in her eyes. “Your memories are still the same!” “Yeah...which means...that there must be others who still remember, too!” His tail started to wag. “I don’t know if this will really help, but I have an idea...wait here, I’ll be right back!” He ran away from her, and Sunset opened her backpack and pulled out a journal. She had an idea...and a hope...that there was still somePONY who remembered that she had changed… Fifteen minutes later... “I just checked, and there’s something REALLY weird going on,” Spike announced as he approached the front of the school, where Sunset sat on the front steps. “Because I’m not the only one who remembers that you’re a good person, Sunset.” The former pony looked up from the pages of her magical journal and saw that the purple dog was accompanied by a white rabbit and a brunette dog. “Angel and Winona have spent so much time with you...they HAD to have remembered all the times we spent together!” He explained. “And they have!” As if to confirm Spike’s statements, Winona ran over and licked Sunset’s cheek, and Angel hopped into her lap and made himself comfortable. “That’s a relief,” Sunset said with a smile as she scratched Angel’s ears. “Thanks, Spike! And, as it turns out...there’s one other friend who hasn’t forgotten about the good times with me.” She held up her journal. “You remember Princess Twilight, right?” “How could I forget?” “She remembers me, too! I think we can get to the bottom of this, but I’m gonna need to go back to Equestria.” “WOO HOO!” Spike cheered. “I can’t wait to go!” He charged at the portal, drooling with anticipation...but after a few seconds, he realized that he wasn’t moving towards the portal at all. Sunset was holding him in place by his collar. “Sorry, Spike, but I don’t think you and the others can come with me.” “What?! Oh, come ON!” The canine pouted. “I was told that there’s ANOTHER ME on the other side of that portal...and he’s a DRAGON! How awesome would it be if I could be a dragon?” “I...well, it’s just a theory, but...I need you to touch the portal.” “Oo-kay…” Spike walked up to the portal and pressed his paw to it. He expected it to go right through the stoney surface, like Sunset’s hand had been able to do before. But...when the surface rippled beneath his touch and prevented him from moving past the magical entrance. “What the…?” He grunted and pressed his paw against the portal’s entrance, harder this time. Nothing happened. “Why can’t I go through?” “It’s just as I thought,” Sunset mused. “The only ones who can use the portal...are the ones who originally came from the other side.” She sighed. “Princess Twilight and I are the only ones who can travel back and forth between this world and Equestria. To everyone else...there’s a barrier keeping them from going through.” “Aww…” Spike sulked. Sunset laughed in a good-natured way as she ruffled the fur on top of his head. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Until I get back, I’m gonna need you, Angel, and Winona to look around for clues...anything that can help us get to the bottom of this. Spike, can you do this for me?” “Yes ma’am!” The dog replied with a salute. Winona barked in agreement and Angel nodded to the flame-haired girl. Sunset giggled and stepped through the portal. “Good luck!” Was the last thing she called out to them before she completely vanished into the statue. Spike turned to Angel and Winona and took charge. “Alright, team, Sunset’s counting on us! Winona, you look around the gym and courtyard. Angel, you take the science labs and library. I’ll go through the classrooms and halls. We meet back here in half an hour. Let’s go!” As they spread out, he thought back to Sunset’s parting words and sighed. We’ll need all the luck we can get...