"So none of your friends remember any of the good things about you?"
After having finished telling the events of what happened on the beach to Twilight, a saddened Sunset shook her head, and Casey added, "Not even the time when she was the team leader and everything when they helped us take care of Dragon Midnight… it's almost like she's been erased from existence or something."
Twilight placed a hoof behind her head as she began thinking about a particular idea. "Oh, boy, this is definitely not good at all, and beyond anything I've ever heard of. Although… um…"
"What?" asked Sunset, and Twilight's expression became one of uncertainty. "What is it?"
"I just had an idea," explained the young alicorn. "But you might not like it."
Sunset placed a hoof on her shoulder, and pleaded, "I'll do anything to get my friends back, Twilight."
Seeing how determined and almost desperate that the young unicorn was, Twilight let out a sigh before saying what it was. "There is ony pony here who might be able to help… and she did say the last time you were here that it'd be best to meet at a later date."
"I did? Who are you… oh." It didn't take long for Sunset to realize whom the princess of friendship was referring to. "Well… if it'll help me learn why my friends are acting the way they are, then I'm all for it."
"Uh, great, then!" replied Twilight, even though she still looked a little bit nervous, and the three of them began walking out of the castle. "I don't think the Friendship Express has left the station yet, so it won't take that long for us to-"
"Oh, well, I just got my driver's permit a few weeks ago," interrupted Sunset, who soon realized the errors in her piece of advice. "So why not we take… my car that isn't… in Equestria… and I don't think ponies drive cars… here either… so… yeah, let's take the train."
Twilight nodded her head, and she was about to say something when they all suddenly heard a muffled boom coming from down the hall, followed by Spike's voice yelling out, "Everything's fine!"
The purple unicorn rolled her eyes, and she said, "Just give us a moment first, Sunset… Spike!" Twilight walked out of the library, followed by Casey, and headed towards the kitchen while Sunset looked back over at the Crystal Mirror, remembering how excited and happy they had all been yesterday for being voted 'Best Friends' in the CHS yearbook.
We've come so far together
Got memories to treasure
I look at you, stories come back to life
While singing to herself in a sad tone, Sunset walked slowly around the library, and grabbed ahold of a random book, imagining it to instead be a photo that she'd taken yesterday of herself with her friends.
And if I need reminding
I know where I can find you
In these pages, you'll last forever
"Sunset?" The unicorn turned around to see Twilight, standing and waiting patiently by the doorway. "You ready to go?"
She looked back at the book that was in her hooves, and gave a small nod. "Yeah… let's do it." Just like she had said earlier, Sunset was going to do whatever it took for her to get her friends back.
#################
A few minutes after leaving the castle, Sunset was now starting to tell Twilight about other events that she'd been unable to write to her about while Casey just listened to them quietly, but all of a sudden…
"Hi, Casey! Hi, Twilight! Hi, Sun… oh, hiya, Sunset Shimmer!" greeted Pinkie, happily bouncing towards them, and giving the unicorn a warm hug. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever!"
"Um, we all saw her at the Friendship Festival a few days ago, Pinkie," reminded Casey.
The pink Earth pony moved away a little from Sunset after she was done hugging her, and rolled her eyes. "Well, duh, you think I don't know that?"
Before Casey could say anything back, Pinkie asked, "So, how's everything going for you today, Sunset? How's the other me?"
"Well… not exactly great, if I'm being honest," replied Sunset, to the pink pony's surprise. "She doesn't remember any of the good things about me, and neither do-"
"They what now?" exclaimed Pinkie, causing Sunset to cover up one of her ears. "That's not great at all! Why would she not remember anything good about you? I thought you were a good pony now."
"Pinkie, this is kind of an emergency situation," interrupted Twilight, getting a tiny bit irritated. "We have to get onto the train to-"
But Pinkie wasn't done talking just yet. "The train? That left a few minutes ago, last I heard." Twilight just face-hoofed herself. "Besides, if this is an emergency, then I can help you get there the Pinkie Pie way!"
Sunset and Casey both shared a confused expression, and asked her what she had meant by that.
"It's simple enough, really; all you got to do is look up!"
Canterlot
Twilight sighed, and moved her hoof away as she looked up, but all that she saw was the blue-colored sky, which made her frown at her energetic friend. "Pinkie, please, we just don't have for stuff like this right now. We have to get to Canterlot to-"
"Um… Twilight?" said Casey, who was looking at the area around them. "We're already there."
"Casey, we're not in…" Twilight started to say, but after Sunset turned her head in the opposite direction, the princess' mouth almost dropped to the ground as she saw that they were no longer standing by Sugarcube Corner in Ponyville; instead, they were standing right by the front entrance steps of Canterlot Castle, and Pinkie was just smiling smugly with her eyes closed.
"You're wel-come," sang the pink Earth pony, and bounced away while the others all looked at each other in confusion.
"Um… I think we should just go inside the castle now," suggested Casey, offering the two mares to walk up the steps first. "I'm sure she'll be very pleased to see you."
#############
"I… guess I was wrong."
Inside of the throne room, a silent Princess Celestia sat calmly on her throne, with her sister Princess Luna sitting nearby on her own throne, and a few feet away from them were Sunset, Twilight, and a now-sheepish Casey.
Deciding to try and lighten the mood, Twilight cleared her throat, and said, "Soooo… you'll never guess who's back! Well, maybe you actually can guess because she's right here, but… um…" Celestia blinked her eyes, continuing to be silent, and Twilight bent her head close to Sunset. "Am I helping?"
Sunset sighed, knowing that this was something she needed to do on her own, and to Twilight and Casey's surprise, the yellow unicorn took a few steps towards her former teacher.
"Princess Celestia, the last time that we saw each other… long before the Friendship Festival, I was your snide little pupil who betrayed and abandoned you."
Casey gave a small, nervous gulp while Twilight was stunned at her friend's bold honesty. "I wouldn't have said it that way! Um, what Sunset means to say is-"
But Sunset held out a hoof towards Twilight, letting her know that she had it under control, and continued to speak. "What I mean is that I come before you a changed pony, humbly asking for forgiveness, guidance, and knowledge."
Luna turned her head over to look at her sister, who gave a quick nod before she stood up to begin walking towards Sunset, and once she was standing in front of her, Sunset felt her heart beating faster than usual as she lowered her head down. "Or I could just go, and you never have to see me again."
But to her surprise, Sunset felt a hoof being placed under her chin, and found herself looking up at Celestia, who had a small smile on her face. "I have missed you, Sunset Shimmer."
"... I'm so sorry," apologized Sunset, grateful that she hadn't been turned away, and as the two embraced each other, Twilight squealed with happiness while Casey happily sighed with relief.
################
The five ponies strolled through the castle, all trying to figure out what might have happened at Canterlot High.
"I am not familiar with the exact spell that could have erased your friends' memories," said Celestia, after Sunset had explained the situation. "But it sounds like Equestrian magic is at work in your world."
"Indeed," said an agreeing Luna, and as she continued to speak, Sunset was trying her best not to laugh, for some reason. "The toilings of this nefarious enchantment could portend unimaginable catastrophe if left unchecked."
After noticing Sunset's failed attempt at hiding her giggling, an amused Twilight used one of her wings to quickly slap some sense into her friend, and Luna turned her head in Sunset's direction.
"Sorry," said Sunset, trying to explain herself. "I'm just used to hearing you say to the students that they shouldn't park in the faculty lot."
A small frown appeared on Luna's face. "This faculty lot you speak of sounds like a place of great power."
Sunset, Casey, and Twilight all looked at each other before taking a moment to erupt into hushed laughter, and continued following after the Royal Sisters once they were done, with a smile returning to Celestia's face.
"The answers you seek are in the Canterlot Library."
So, a few minutes later, they were now entering into said location, and after looking around the grand and majestic library, a concerned Sunset said, "There must be over a million books in here, Twilight."
"We could be here for days," added Casey, but Twilight was hardly concerned at all with what they were saying.
"Ha, I wish there were that many books in here! And besides, it'd only take, like, twenty or forty minutes to find the book we're looking for." The young alicorn placed a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Don't you worry, Sunset, you're looking at a pony who knows this entire place like the back of her hoof!"
But then, to her surprise, she noticed that the Royal Sisters were now walking away from them. "Huh? Where are you going, Princess Celestia?"
A small smile appeared on her former teacher's face as she replied, "To the restricted section."
Twilight's eyes grew wide after hearing those words, and she started to begin breathing at a faster pace. "There's a… a re… a reehhh… a reeeehhhh..."
Sunset smiled in amusement while Casey began patting his girlfriend on the back. "Breath, Twilight, it's okay."
Once Twilight had settled down enough, the three of them followed Celestia and Luna over to the very back of the library, stopping in front of a cabinet filled with books, and Twilight became confused for a moment until she saw them magically pull down two books that had their Cutie-Mark symbol on the side, which caused part of the wall to slide away and reveal a secret hallway that would lead them to where they were going.
Twilight's mouth almost dropped to the ground, finding herself unable to say anything, and after Casey helped her close it back up, they followed Sunset into the revealed hallway.
A minute or so later, the trio of ponies found themselves looking at a pair of tall doors, which were swiftly opened by Celestia, and once everyone had entered the room, a wide-eyed Twilight gasped in surprise. "Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"
The restricted section of the Canterlot Library was almost as big as the library itself, filled with nothing but ancient books, dusty scrolls, and strange magical artifacts that were protected under glass.
"In 3… 2… 1…" muttered a smirking Casey, and he gestured for Sunset to look at Twilight, who couldn't remember the last time that she had felt this excited.
"So many books all unread! Ancient historical artifacts?!" Twilight placed a hoof over her chest while using her magic to bring over a few of the many books in the room, and began wheezing as she ran out of words to describe her current feelings. "I just… I thought… I can't…"
"Are you sure that you're up for helping me go through all this stuff?" teased Sunset, with Casey letting out a chuckle as a frantic Twilight embraced her unicorn friend.
"Don't take this away from me, SunShim!" yelled the young princess, making Casey burst into laughter while an amused Sunset rolled her eyes.
Then, Twilight flew over to the nearest balcony that she saw, and was skimming through all kinds of various books that caught her eye. "No way! Can you two believe that they have Canterlot Cantibles Volume Thirty-One? You heard me! It's not ten, it's not twenty, it's volume thirty-one!" She brought the thick, hard-covered book close to her chest, and squealed with pure joy. "That's when the series gets gooooood!"
Letting out a gasp, Twilight rushed over to the other side of the library, filled up completely with excitement, while Celestia, Casey, and Sunset watched and laughed with fond amusement. "Over here! An original Wendigo Weather Warning from the pre-Equestrian Era... I can't, I just can't!"
A few moments later
Sunset let out a yawn, and stretched out her limbs as she closed up another enormous and boring book that was all about the history of Equestria. It felt like they had been inside of the special section for hours. "Did you know that Chancellor Puddinghead tried to pass a low mandating Earth ponies drink carrot juice at every meal? I do… know that… now… how's it going for-"
"Zzzzzzzz…" Casey was snoring softly beside her, the young stallion's face lying in the pages of an opened history book, and a smirk appeared on Sunset's face as she used her magic to push the book aside, which caused Casey's head to drop down against the wooden table.
"Huuuuggee!" He cried, to Sunset's amusement, becoming wide awake for a quick moment until the orange pony remembered where they were at.
"What'd you read about?" asked Sunset.
Casey rubbed his eyes for a little bit as he replied, "All I can remember right now is, uh, something about some weird pony from long ago wanting to have a wall or whatever paid by Earth ponies to be built around Canterlot… I think…" He let out another yawn. "I just could tell that a lot of ponies didn't like him."
"Awww, sounds like you two got all the better books," said a happy Twilight, sitting nearby with her own pile of books around herself, and she let out a fake yawn. "I should probably take a break from looking…" Her friend and special somepony just responded by yawning, and Sunset using her magic to clear away the table. "...because I found something!"
The two of them watched with surprise as Twilight brought over a large wooden box, and pulled out a closed scroll. "Sunset, you're familiar with the Seven Trials of Clover the Clever, right?"
"Obviously," replied Sunset, even though that both she and Casey had no idea what Twilight was talking about. "Why?"
Unraveling the scroll alongside the table, an enthusiastic Twilight gave her explaination. "Well! For starters, these date all the way back to before the founding of Equestria… now, take a look at this."
She pointed a hoof at a drawing that was on the starting side of the scroll, and Sunset read the words that were written near it. "The Memory Stone… that sounds promising!"
Twilight nodded in agreement, and continued to share what she had learned. "It belonged to an evil sorceror who was practically invisible. With the Memory Stone, he could erase any memory from anypony. Even fragments of memories."
He looks… familiar, for some reason, thought Casey, taking a closer look at the design of the sorceror. "Wait, so does that include…"
"... fragments like memories of me being nice?" finished Sunset.
"Uh-huh," replied Twilight. "Clover the Clever knew that the sorceror had to be stopped, so he chased him across land and sea. But every time he got close, the sorceror would erase his memory and escape… though he'd always be able to find him."
"How?" The two other ponies asked, and Twilight gestured to the scraps of parchment that were still inside of the wooden box.
"He secretly wrote everything so that he'd know what happened and where to go next, even as he constantly lost his memories. Like a trail of bread crumbs."
"Well, that's clever!" said Casey, and then, he began to laugh. "Oh, right… Clover the Clever… haha, got it."
Sunset just rolled her eyes, and took a closer at a revealed drawing that showed the sorceror going through what looked like a swirling portal while being chased by Clover the Clever. "What happened on the other side of this portal?"
Twilight opened up the scroll a little more, but for some reason, there was nothing to be found. "The last page is missing. Clover must've hidden it to keep anypony else from finding the Memory Stone."
Casey took another look at the portal, which also seemed very familiar to him, and a realization clicked in his mind. "Sunset, what if the Memory Stone ended up in your world?"
"And what if," agreed Sunset. "Someone is using it to make everyone hate me again?"
Then, all three of them looked at each other, and exclaimed, "But who?"