//------------------------------// // The Power of Friendship // Story: Forgotten Friendship // by CJ Esmerio //------------------------------// “Will you just… quit running away from me, Twilight!” Sunset fired another blast at the defensive alicorn, and Twilight teleported herself to a different spot, with the blast swiftly passing by her. The two ponies had spent most of the time so far since Sunset’s possession repeating this process. “I’m not going to fight you, Sunset!” exclaimed Twilight, who had no intention whatsoever in bringing any harm to her. “You’re my friend, and I - eeep!” The yellow unicorn’s response was another blast sent towards her that she carefully dodged. As that was going on, a hovering Xenos was watching with a smile on his face, feeling very amused by his new possession trying to harm the princess of friendship. Also, the human versions of the Mane 6 were watching with worried expressions, and Casey had gone over to Wallflower to see if she was okay. “Sunset, listen to me!” begged Twilight, hoping that she’d be able to get through to her. “If we continue to do this, the sun will have already set, and we won’t be able to get back the good memories your friends have about you! Casey won’t even exist - yikes!” A more stronger blast had come from Sunset, her horn glowing with dark magic, and instead of teleporting away, Twilight deflected it by surrounding herself inside of a force field. “You’re such a weak princess, Twilight,” said Xenos, with Sunset now speaking at the same time due to her being under his control. “No wonder you’ve been captured so many times.” The yellow unicorn fired another strong energy blast, but the young alicorn continued to remain standing in her force field bubble, and Sunset growled in frustration while Xenos began laughing. “That won’t be able to keep you safe forever, Twilight… just deal with it - I'm smart, you're dumb; I'm big, you're little; I'm right, you're wrong, and there's nothing you can do about it.” Before Twilight could say anything back, Sunset fired one more blast at her shield, and kept it going until she would be successful in penetrating her means of protection. “Sunset… please,” begged Twilight, who was using as much power as she possibly could to keep up her force field, but like what Xenos had said, she had a terrible feeling that it wasn’t going to stay that way forever. A worried and concerned Casey looked over at Kronos, and the Master of Time said, “Break the Memory Stone… it could be the only way to save Sunset, her friends, and your own self.” Casey looked down at his hands after hearing that, and saw that they were now starting to become transparent again. “But how am I supposed to do that if- huh?” Suddenly, the powerful stone landed in front of them, and he looked up to see that it had been thrown by the person that had caught it earlier: a yellow-haired teenage girl with grey skin, gold-colored eyes that were crossed, and waved happily at him before speeding away on her bicycle. “Um… okay… thanks, Derpy,” muttered Casey, and he tried to pick up the Memory Stone, but because of his hands’ transparency, all they did was go right through the stone. “Guess it’s time to make a Plan B, then.” He turned over to look at Wallflower. “I need your help… and I also need you to trust me.” As for Twilight, she felt herself starting to sweat because her force field bubble was heating up like an oven, thanks to Sunset’s continuous energy blast, and Xenos cackled with glee as he saw the trailing edge of the sun’s disk start to dissappear below the horizon. “Time sure flies when you’re having fun,” said the sinister villain, as well as Sunset, and he let out a chuckle. “Enjoy the afterlife, my little princess.” A small crack appeared on the surface of Twilight’s force field, and she gave a nervous gulp, but just as it looked like Sunset’s magic would destroy the force field completely, a sudden whistle was heard that made Sunset stop using her magic to turn around. “Hey, Zenon! Leave my girlfriend alone!” shouted Casey, glaring at both her and Xenos. “And if you want to have her hurt someone, a-hole, then go ahead and take your best shot!” A sly grin appeared on Xenos’ face, and he said, “Well, then, don’t mind if I do… and sorry you two don’t have time to give a proper farewell.” “What… Casey! Sunset, no!” cried Twilight, watching in horror as the possessed unicorn fired an energy blast at Casey… who glitched away from her attack at the very last second, resulting in Sunset’s magic being absorbed by the Memory Stone that Wallflower was currently holding in her hands. Then, because it was too much power for the Memory Stone to handle, the magical object exploded into several small pieces and everyone watched as the memory strips that were inside go back to the minds of their rightful owners, which included Casey, Sunset, and the young unicorn’s friends. After the explosion’s arrival, Wallflower found herself falling back again into someone’s arms, and she turned around to see that it was Casey, who was no longer transparent. “Told you that I- oof!” He was cut off by an unexpected hug from the nervous teenager, and a few seconds later, she pulled away from him with a sheepish smile and a small red hue on her face while Casey gave an amused chuckle. “Ohhhh… and I just got rid of my headache from before not that long ago,” moaned Rarity, placing a hand on her forehead. “I second that, sugarcube,” muttered Applejack, in response, and the rest of the girls nodded in agreement. However, for some reason, Sunset still looked possessed, and a confused Casey couldn’t understand as to why this was. “Because aside from still being under my control, she’s the only one here that has something dark but also beautiful placed deep inside of her,” explained a smirking Xenos, with Sunset remaining silent. “And now it is time for us to all enjoy my most favorite part of today’s game… sudden death.” Then, to everyone else’s surprise-turned-horror, Sunset began transforming back into a human being, but her clothing had been changed to an all-red attire, and as she was rising up into the air, a swirling mass of flames had begun appearing behind her to form what looked like a phoenix. “Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet!” cried Pinkie. On one hand, the sight was absolutely beautiful to behold, but there was also the fact that Sunset still had an angered facial expression which made Casey feel extremely worried and give a small gulp. “Try to dodge this, you meddlesome pest,” said Xenos and Sunset simultaneously. “Oh, boy,” muttered Casey, and he hurried out of the way to avoid a fire blast that Phoenix Sunset had fired at him, but before he could take a moment to breath, the young teenager yelped in surprise after another incoming blast missed him by a few inches. Xenos cackled with pure laughter and glee, feeling satisfied in knowing that he’d finally be able to exterminate Casey permanently, but just as he was about to have his new puppet attack, a familar teenager had decided to stand in front of Casey with a determined but also concerned expression. “Sunset, please! This isn’t you! I’m sorry about what happened earlier today, but I believe you now! We all do!” Phoenix Sunset lowered her hand that was currently glowing with her fire power after Sci Twi had spoken, and remained silent while Xenos rolled his eyes. “Whatever you’re trying, Twilight, just stop before - oh, lovely, you’re all joining her.” The rest of Phoenix Sunset’s friends came over to join Sci Twi, with all of them now standing side by side each other. “Well, don’t say that I didn’t warn you,” said Xenos, and his smirk returned as Phoenix Sunset’s hand was raised back up. “Do it, Shimmer.” A fireball had been created in Phoenix Sunset’s hand, and a smirk appeared on her face, as well, as she launched the fireball… but it wasn’t thrown in the direction of her friends. “Ow! What… how is this even possible?!” growled Xenos, whose cloak was now somewhat singed after being struck by Phoenix Sunset’s attack. “You’re supposed to be under my control! Your power belongs to me!” Sci-Twi shook her head. “Well, that’s not the case anymore, Xenos! And anything is possible with the power of-” “Yeah, yeah, we get it,” interrupted Pinkie, and a wide grin appeared on her face. “Light him up, Sunset!” Xenos looked back over at the transformed teenager, who was getting ready to send a massive fire blast at him. “Well, this certainly didn’t turn out the way that I had hoped… gah!” The sinister villain moved back a bit after being hit by Phoenix Sunset’s attack, and everyone watched as his body started to disintegrate while being enveloped in flames, but before he was gone completely, Xenos gave a cold glare towards Casey and Twilight. “You two haven’t seen the last of me.” Then, the flames flickered away until there was nothing left, and Sunset began floating down to the ground, the phoenix behind her turning into a bright light that went into the young teenager’s body. Once her feet had touched the surface, Sunset stumbled back a little bit, and placed a hand on her forehead. “Ugh… does anyone have an idea on how to get rid of a headache?” “Sunset!” squealed an excited Pinkie, who embraced her friend with a tight and warm hug, but a few seconds later, small streams of smoke started to appear between them. “Um, Pinkie Pie?” said Rainbow, pointing to what was happening. The pink-haired teenager stepped away a little bit from Sunset, and saw that her clothes were now covered with scorch marks. “Wow, Sunset, you’re really hot right now!” Rainbow started to laugh after seeing Sunset’s sheepish face turn red, and then, she said, “Oh, this ought to be interesting.” “What do you-” “... Sunset?” The young teen’s eyes became wide after seeing an almost baffled Flash Sentry walk towards her. “Princess Twilight?” “Oh, uh… heh, heh, hey, Flash Sentry,” said Twilight, chuckling sheepishly since she hadn’t been expecting to see him at the school. “Er, long time, no see… me… seeing you… here… um, w-why are you here again?” Flash gestured to the school behind him. “I came by to pick up my guitar that I left in the practice room, but then I saw Sunset running over here for some reason… then I saw him doing the same…” Casey made an expression that meant “ohhhh” as he realized who had come in the black vehicle. “... anyway, uh… so this is what you really look like, then?” After taking a moment to release a deep breath, Twilight nodded her head. “Uh-huh, this is who I am.” Flash placed a hand behind his head, and replied, “Got it… so, you’re a, uh, pony too, Sunset, minus a… pair of wings and title of being a princess?” “Er, pretty much, yeah,” said Sunset. “In technical terms, I’m a unicorn and… uh, Princess Twilight is an alicorn…” A smirk appeared on Rainbow’s face while crossing her arms. “Well, this must be awkward… ow! What was that for?” Applejack rolled her eyes after thumping the teenage athlete on the back of her head, and said, “Sometimes you just need to know when is a good time to hush up.” As for Flash, after looking back and forth a few times between Sunset and Twilight, he let out a sigh. “This… might take a short while to get used to… but, uh, I don’t intend on thinking about you two differently because, er… you’re not actual humans.” Before either of the two could say something to try and put Flash at ease, Pinkie suddenly wrapped her arm around him. “Nah, don’t worry, Flash, you’ll feel better about this by tomorrow morning! I mean, you should’ve seen how me and the others reacted when Sunset told us that she was actually a pony. Well, technically, I already sorta had a hunch that she was a pony since there was that one time I saw her at the mall, so I had ‘hi, Sunset!’ to her, but then she just looked at me like if I was some crazy person, and it wasn’t until after Sunset had told us that I learned I’d actually spoken to the other her… but to make a long story short, you’ll feel better about all this in the morning.” Sunset tried her best not to groan despite feeling glad that her friends’ memories were back to normal, and she said, “Okay, Pinkie, I think that’s enough… of… wait, what did you say?” The pink-haired teen gave an exaggerated sigh. “Do I really need to say all of that again?” “No, no, that’s fine, I got it,” replied Flash, shaking his head. “Anyway, uh, I’d better get going before I’m late to practice… so, um, I’ll see you all tomorrow or on Monday during school… and it was, uh, nice to see you again, Twi… Twilight.” “Uh-huh,” said Twilight, giving him a polite smile, and Flash gave one small nod of the head before walking back into CHS to get his guitar. “Well, I… think that went, er, pretty okay.” Pinkie nodded her head, and she said, “But if you don’t mind me asking, Princess Twilight, why are you still a pony instead of looking like us.” “That would be my doing, Miss Pie,” explained Kronos, now holding up a necklace that looked like the one Twilight currently had around her neck, and he handed it over to the curious teenager. It held a silver clock-like medallion at the end. “I knew she would need this once I became aware of Xenos’ plan, and-” “Coooool! I’m a pony now!” cried a gleeful Pinkie, who’d magically turned into her pony counterpart, and after taking it off, she was back in her original form. “Anybody else want to try?” Kronos just chuckled as he took back the necklace from a sheepish Pinkie, and looked over at both Twilight and Casey, with the young man asking, “I, uh… just want to right now if-” “Stardust’s world is fine, son,” replied the Master of Time, a small smile on his face. “You can check in, if you like, once you finish up here… for now, there’s an important matter elsewhere that needs my attention. Until next time, my friends.” He then disappeared after a quick finger snap, and before Casey could say something to his girlfriend, Wallflower began to speak. “I’m… so sorry… to everyone.” She then handed over a small piece of the ancient object over to Casey, who looked at it for a moment before putting it away. “When I first started to use the Memory Stone, it was only to erase small things - awkward hellos, saying the wrong thing, literally any public speaking.” “I’ve had plenty of awkward moments I wish I could erase, too,” said Sci Twi, nodding sympathetically since she understood what Wallflower was saying. “But it’s no excuse,” said Wallflower. “I was so used to erasing memories that I got carried away… I’d rather be forgotten about or remain invisible than be remembered as a villain.” Now it was Sunset that decided to speak. “We’ve all been villans to someone at one time or another, Wallflower. What matters are the choices you make today.” A small smile appeared on both of their faces. “Also, I’m sorry, too. I may have stopped being mean, but a great and powerful friend helped me realize that I still wasn’t nice to you.” Sunset then helped the regretful teenager up to her feet. “Everyone matters, Wallflower, no matter how invisible or insignificant they feel.” Just as Wallflower was about to thank Sunset, a realization came to the bacon-haired teenager, and she looked over at Twilight. “Would you mind, um, coming with me to check on someone that’s locked in the yearbook editing room?” “... I don’t even want to ask right now,” said a chuckling Twilight, who followed after her friend, and that left Wallflower to talk with Casey. “So… you’ve been a villain at one point?” wondered Wallflower. “Um, yeah, more or less,” replied a sheepish Casey. “But I learned my own lessons from that experience… and even though I don’t really see him as much, I have someone now that’ll always be my best friend.” Wallflower nodded her head. “That sounds… great, Casey… and, uh, what are you going to do with-” “The piece of the stone?” A sly grin appeared on Casey’s face. “Well, first, I’m going to get even with a certain someone back home that’s close to me… and I’ll figure out what to do next after that… anyway, I have a feeling Sunset’ll be able to help ‘grow’ your gardening club to what it’s meant to be. Maybe the next time I come back, you can show it to me? Heck, you could even finish the rest of that song from earlier, too.” Wallflower’s smile grew as she nodded, and replied, “Y-yeah! I’d lo - like that… a lot… um, I’ll see you next time, then. Bye, Casey.” “Bye, Wallflower,” said Casey, watching the green-haired teenager walk away to presumably her home, and he turned around to start heading towards the statue slab that would take him to his planned destination, but not before passing by a chuckling Rainbow. “What?” “Huh? Oh, nothing, Casey,” answered the athletic teen. “Tell the other me in your world that I’ll be stopping by one of these days for a rematch.” After stepping out of the Crystal Mirror, Casey placed a hoof on his forehead, and he muttered, “I guess everyone is getting a headache today… huh?” For some reason, the library that he was in seemed to be more darker than usual, and the walls were decorated with things like cobwebs, plastic spiders, and other similar stuff. “What in the heck is - gah!” “Casey? Suddenly, the library’s usual brightness returned just a quick moment after its owner had entered the room, and to Casey’s confusion, she was dressed up like some kind of mad scientist. “Um… Princess Twilight?” The disguised alicorn nodded her head. “Happy Nightmare Night!” Talk about a major time difference, thought Casey, even though he was relieved to see that his girlfriend’s counterpart was fine. “Um, the same to you, Twilight… is-” “Stardust! What did you and Spike do to my room?!” “It wasn’t my idea!” Twilight let out a sigh, and she shook her head before saying, “Jack’s supposed to be finishing up with cleaning the castle since-” “Hey! Why are you still here?” “Aw, come on now, Stardust! I thought we could still spend some time - whoa! Oh, don’t do this tonight, Stardust, it’s a holiday!” “Not in your case, Zephyr, and this is also for mucking things up earlier!” Then, the two of them heard the sound of the castle doors opening up, followed Zephyr letting out a yelp after being presumably thrown out by Stardust. “Did I, uh, miss a holiday party gone wrong or something?” asked Casey. “It’s a long story,” replied Twilight, now taking off the head parts for her costume. “So, what’s up? I can get Jack in here if-” Casey shook his head, and said, “I’ll write to him later, I just, er, came to… make a short visit…” He then shared a quick hug with Twilight’s counterpart before going back to the Crystal Mirror. “Take care, Twilight.” “You too, Casey,” said Twilight, waving good-bye at her friend. “And tell everyone else I said hi!”