“She Didn’t Use the Memory Stone on You.”
It took them about an hour to cover the school, and when Spike reunited with Angel and Winona by the portal, they realized that they had reached the same conclusion: they had no idea what could have caused this predicament. “Bark,” Winona suggested as she scratched her ears.
Spike shook his head. “No...I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not like we’re tigers or bears or…” He sighed. “...dragons. Why would anyone want to manipulate our memories?” He looked at Angel and Winona. “You guys weren’t there...but I’ve seen a lot of crazy things. Trust me: if it hadn’t been for Sunset, life would be totally crazy...and not a good kind of crazy. I probably wouldn’t have Twilight to talk to anymore…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t think our memories are being messed with. Someone is messing with the humans’ minds.” He began to pace. “In any case, I think we need to...I don’t know, pretend that nothing is wrong when we’re in front of our owners. Because there IS a chance that someone could change our memories. And we’re Sunset’s only hope here, and…” He stopped in the middle of his Twilight-esque vent as the portal shimmered and Sunset stepped through it. “Oh, good, you’re back!” He ran towards her, but hesitated when he saw she had a strange expression on her face. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “Um...sort of...I’ll tell you about it later.” She relaxed and smiled at him. “I have some good news: I know what we’re dealing with now.” She went on to tell him and Angel and Winona about an Equestrian artifact known as “the Memory Stone”. It had once belonged to an evil sorceress, but was banished to the human world. “So that’s basically what’s going on. She didn’t use the Memory Stone on you...whoever it is.” She paused. “And I guess it could be a ‘he’, right? But...probably not.” She shook her head. “It doesn't matter. What matters is: you can remember everything. I think we should go back to the beach and try talking to them again.”
Meanwhile…
Twilight Sparkle was trying her hardest to enjoy the beautiful weather and relax...but her mind kept wandering back to Sunset Shimmer. She only had one real interaction with the older girl: it was at the Friendship Games, when Sunset had shouted at her for...something important...but what was it? She couldn’t remember...she sighed. From what she heard from the other girls, Sunset Shimmer was just as bad as some of the girls at her old school, Crystal Prep.
“YO, SPARKLE!!!”
Speak of the Devil…
Twilight forced a grin on her face as she sat up. A blue-haired girl ran towards her and the rest of the Canterlot High crew. “He-ey, Indigo Zap.”
“Long time, no see!” The Crystal Prep athlete replied. She looked at the other girls and smiled. “I haven’t seen any of you since the Friendship Games! But I heard all about the music video experience, which was awesome! I...hey, where’s that other girl from the video?” She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Pinkie Pie did the same.
“What other girl? We’re all here!”
“Noooo...there was another girl from Canterlot High in the video, too...what’s her face…” Indigo closed her eyes, trying to remember. “It was...Starbeam Twinkle? Moonlight Luster? Eventide Sheen?”
“...Sunset Shimmer?”
“Yeah, that’s it!” Indigo Zap snapped her fingers. “Where’s Sunset Shimmer?”
“Oh, don’t you get started on that, too!” Pinkie Pie sighed.
“How long is she going to keep this act up? How many other people is she going to involve in this?” Applejack demanded.
“Is she...blackmailing you to help her play a trick on us?” Fluttershy asked Indigo, concerned.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! WHOA. Hold the phone!” Indigo Zap raised her hands up, trying to prevent everyone from getting worked up. “Are you saying that...wait...I thought Sunset Shimmer was like one of your best friends?”
“What in the world gave you that impression, darling?” Rarity asked, eyes narrowed.
Indigo Zap snorted. “Um...you’re joking, right? Okay, first off: the Friendship Games.” She looked at Twilight. “I don’t know what’s going on with all this magic...if that’s really what it is...but I saw some FREAKY crap during that motocross race and...I know you did, too!” She pointed at Rainbow Dash. “There was this giant plant monster thing...and it knocked her and Sugarcoat off of their bikes! And it went after Sunset...and then YOU went and saved her and got her back on her bike! And that’s how she was able to beat me in the end!”
“I remember the plant monster,” Rainbow Dash admitted. The others murmured in agreement. “But...I didn’t go back to save her. I kept on racing...and that’s how Canterlot won that event…”
Indigo facepalmed. “I don’t believe this...okay, Twilight! You turned into a she-demon after our class sang that menacing song and used peer pressure so that we could cheat at a game...by the way, I’m still super sorry about that...but you remember that, right?!”
“Sometimes I try not to,” Twilight said in a flat voice.
“Okay...but hey, you know, why don’t you tell me about how you changed back to normal?”
“Duh! The Magic of Friendship!” Rainbow smirked.
“Um...yes...but HOW did the Magic of Friendship appear? How did it get harnessed?”
“I...I don’t remember,” Fluttershy mumbled, and the others agreed.
“But it doesn’t matter how it happened, right?” Rainbow Dash said. “All that matters is that it happened!”
“And Sunset Shimmer certainly had nothing to do with it!” Rarity added.
Indigo Zap stared at them, dumbfounded. “Okay...one last time, for the record...you’re not joshing me, are you? YOU ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO TELL ME IF YOU ARE JOSHING ME RIGHT NOW,” she added with extra emphasis as she got up in Twilight’s personal space.
“We’re not messing with you!” Rainbow snapped as she pushed Indigo away. “You’re the one who’s messing with us!”
“Oh, hold the phone!” Indigo interrupted. With that, she reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. “Hold the phone for a few minutes,” she added as she held it out to Twilight Sparkle. “Go to my saved videos and look at the Dance Magic music video.” Twilight followed her instructions and her friends peered over her shoulders at the phone’s screen.
“Wait...but that looks like…”
“Is that…?”
“Oh, please!” Everyone jumped and turned to see a newcomer walk past them: a silver-haired girl with blue skin. “This is the girl who managed to make fake pictures of someone trashing our school’s gym! She obviously edited that video and sent it to Indigo Zap!” Trixie smirked. The Canterlot High girls narrowed their eyes at Indigo Zap, who took a step backwards.
“...this is freaky.” She turned to leave. She had only taken a few steps when she collided with a familiar face and fell to the ground with her.
“Indigo Zap?” The flame-haired girl said as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
“Sunset Shimmer?”
“What are you doing here?” The Canterlot High senior helped Indigo to her feet.
“Enjoying my last day of vacation,” the blue-haired girl said. “But...okay, either everyone is playing a massive prank on me, or there’s WEIRD magic going on.”
“You noticed, huh?” Spike commented. Indigo blinked.
“Oh...I forgot about the talking dog…” She sighed. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?” She said to Sunset.
Sunset also sighed. “I have so much to tell you.”
Later, at Sugarcube Corner…
“...so that’s everything,” Sunset Shimmer finished. She sat across from Indigo Zap in a booth. Spike was curled up in her lap.
“What do you think?”
“Um...I think you blew her mind a little bit when you got to the part about Equestria,” Spike said with a nervous chuckle.
Indigo sat perfectly still, her pupils the size of pinpricks.
“Hel-lo? Earth to Indigo Zap?” Sunset waved a hand in front of Indigo’s face.
“Hold on, I’m okay,” the Crystal Prep girl said in a weak voice. “Just...gotta do something first.” She grabbed cheek and pinched it as hard as she could. “Ow. That hurt. Okay! This is really happening! This is good!” She took a sip of her coffee, then turned to Sunset with a look of determination in her eyes. “I’m going to help you,” Indigo announced.
“Wait, really? But...well, I’m glad and grateful, but...why?”
“Three reasons.” Indigo held up a finger. “One: classes at Crystal Prep don’t start until Wednesday...it’s part of this weird new program they’re doing, long story...and I’ve got nothing better to do until then,” she said with a smirk.
Sunset rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the small smile from appearing on her face. “Fair enough.”
“Two: I still don’t know what to think about all this magic stuff...and I think that this will help me reach a decision...for better or for worse.” Sunset nodded. “Three…” Indigo looked away. “...I still feel awful about what happened at the Friendship Games. And...YOU saved our butts from...well, from Sparkle. I owe you one.” She cleared her throat. “So...can I…?”
“Yes, we need all the help we can get,” Sunset said. Spike nodded in agreement.
“In that case, we’re gonna need some more people to back us up.” Indigo pulled out her phone and began pressing buttons.