"She didn't use the Memory Stone on you."

by LuluCalliope


"Why Are You Doing This?"

“She Didn’t Use the Memory Stone on You.”

Monday morning could not come soon enough.

Princess Twilight Sparkle had given Sunset Shimmer some bad news. (“What is with the rule of three?!” Indigo Zap had shouted in frustration. “Three days to break a spell, three trials, three parts of the Friendship Games, everywhere I look, the number three! ...or sometimes seven.”) The bad news was that the stolen memories would cease to exist after three days passed. In other words: the memories of Sunset would be lost forever by the end of Monday.

Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, and Juniper Montage had spent Sunday texting Twilight in shifts, supposedly just to say hi, inviting her to the mall for a smoothie...and ultimately, engaging her in conversation about Sunset Shimmer, trying in vain to get her to remember SOMETHING, ANYTHING about their flame-haired girl. Nothing worked. Indigo Zap, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare had wandered the mall on Sunday, looking for other Canterlot High students and talking to them, trying to jog their memories. Nothing worked. And Spike searched Twilight’s house for evidence of Sunset Shimmer. He remembered, at one point, that there were group photos of the girls on Twilight’s laptop...but when he asked about the laptop, she informed him that the computer was installing updates and wouldn’t be ready to be used for at least a week*. Sunset Shimmer tried to look for Wallflower at the mall, but she had no luck. By the end of Sunday, they realized that they had no choice left: they’d all have to go to Canterlot High and find the Stone themselves.

Before they left for the school, they split themselves up into two groups. Group “S”, consisting of Sunset, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, and Spike, decided to try the direct approach and confront Wallflower. Everyone else had a more subtle and simple task: to wander the halls of Canterlot High, blending in with everyone, looking for ANYTHING that might help them.

Sugarcoat asked a brilliant, possibly mind-saving question before they left Sunset’s apartment that morning: “What if Wallflower erases our memories and we forget what we’re doing at Canterlot?” Juniper had come up the solution: she had given everyone’s phone numbers to Gloriosa. Every hour, the Camp Everfree director would text the girls and deliver an important message. That message would get the girls back on track.

In short, they had thought of everything. There was no way their plan could fail…

...right?


Everything had seemed so easy on paper…

The students at Canterlot High avoided Sunset Shimmer like the plague as she and her companions navigated through the hallways. The Shadowbolts attracted negative attention; some of the students less afraid of Sunset went up to them and demanded to know why they were there and what they were doing with the school’s Biggest Meanie. The cloud of negativity became too much for the group to handle, and eventually Sugarcoat proposed that they go wait in the yearbook club’s room. Sunset had agreed and led the rest of her group there, leaving Lemon Zest, Indigo Zap, and Juniper Montage to continue wandering the halls.

They had been walking in circles for about an hour, trying not appear creepy from repeatedly peeking into the classrooms, when Lemon Zest suddenly shouted, “DUH! Brain fart!”

“Don’t do that!” Juniper Montage scolded. “I thought you saw something dangerous!”

“Sorry,” Lemon apologized. “But...I just realized...Wallflower’s the President of the Gardening Club, right? Sooooo...why don’t we check the garden?”

“That’s so smart!” Sour Sweet complimented. “And I guess that means we’re all idiots for not realizing it sooner!”

“FIRST ONE TO FIND THE GARDEN WINS GO!” Indigo shouted in one breath as she made a dash for the school’s nearest entrance.

“It’s not a competition…” Juniper Montage said, but even she didn’t care about Indigo’s eagerness. She and the two Shadowbolts ran after the athlete. They caught up with her outside, in a space that was clearly reserved for gardening. And sitting amongst the plants was none other than…

“You’re Wallflower Blush, right?” Sour Sweet said as she strutted towards the green-haired girl.

The gardener looked up, surprised that a Shadowbolt was talking to her...surprised that ANYONE was talking to her. “Yes…?”

“I’m Sour Sweet,” the Crystal Prep girl introduced herself. “You are JUST the person we were looking for~”

“I...am…?”

“Yes!” Juniper Montage added with a wide grin. “We are...um…”

“Conducting a survey…?” Lemon Zest offered.

“Yes! We’re conducting a survey on…”

“Rocks!” Indigo chimed in. Her three companions flinched at the athlete’s lack of subtlety, but carried on.

“A survey on rocks…”

“Stones…”

“Gems…”

“Gemstones…”

“What’s the largest stone you’ve ever seen?” Indigo finally said, getting to the point.

“Um...I’m not really the person to ask about this…” Wallflower shrugged. “I think you should try asking Pinkie Pie’s older sister, Maud…”

“Oh, but she told us to come here!” Sour Sweet interrupted.

“She...she did…?”

“She said…” Juniper paused. “...that...since...minerals are abundant in soil...there should be a lot of interesting finds out here!” She and her friends cringed from how bad they all were at lying and trying to get to see the Memory Stone. But what surprised them was that...it actually worked.

“I did find one thing…” Wallflower admitted as she reached into her backpack. “It’s the largest rock I’ve ever seen...I think it’s more of a stone!” She held it out for the girls to see: it was a beautiful, oval-shaped stone, larger than her hands. It was turquoise in color and had strange markings on the surface.

“It’s beautiful!” Sour Sweet said, her voice earnest. “May we see it for a few minutes?”

“Sure, I guess…” Wallflower stood up and approached her visitors.

The Shadowbolts and Juniper Montage couldn’t believe it. Despite their terrible acting and terrible lying...Wallflower was actually handing over the thing that they were looking for...or, she would have...

“Ever notice how rocks are always the magical items?” Lemon Zest blurted out. “This rock, Sunset’s magic necklace, other magic necklaces, a magic crown with a magic rock...what’s up with that?”

Wallflower’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know all that? How did...how did you know that this Stone was magical?”

Indigo Zap punched Lemon’s shoulder and forced a toothy grin onto her face. “W-we don’t! Magic? Who said anything about magic? What she meant to say was...um...maaaaaaaaaaaaa...maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagnetic…? No, that’s not it...oh, I’m making things worse, aren’t I…?” She added in a weak voice when it became clear that Wallflower wasn’t falling for her tricks.

“Me and my big mouth,” Lemon Zest moaned. “It’s my fault...my bad…”

“No kidding, you STUPID IDIOTIC MORON! But don’t worry, it’ll all be forgotten soon, thanks to you~” Sour Sweet chuckled as a bead of nervous sweat slid down her forehead. Wallflower Blush had reached for the Memory Stone and grasped it in her hands.

“You’re right,” she said with a small smile. “I think it’s best if you all just forget about this and went home…”

“No, wait, please!” Juniper Montage held up her hands. “Listen to me, Wallflower! I know what you’re going through! I know what it’s like to want to be popular, to be noticed...and I know that you think that taking things out on Sunset is going to make things better, but it won’t! Don’t blame her for this...she didn’t know about what you were going through!”

Wallflower’s hands trembled. Her resolve seemed to be weakening. She sighed, and then she spoke. “That’s just it, though. She didn’t know about me. No one did. And after this…” Her grip tightened on the Stone as she held it in front of her. “...she’ll understand what it was like...”


Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare stood by the yearbook club’s supply closet, going through large cardboard boxes for a measly shred of evidence, a tiny clue, that could direct them towards the Memory Stone. “There’s nothing in here but copies of the previous yearbooks,” Sunny Flare complained as she reached for the last box.

“I don’t know what else I thought there would be,” Sugarcoat admitted with a sigh of defeat.

“Don’t give up!” Sunset encouraged. She was sitting at a small desk by the room’s window, typing as she stared at the screen of the school’s computer monitor. “Maybe there’s nothing in there, but maybe...there’s something here…”

“Looking for something?” A small, sweet voice asked from the room’s entrance. The Shadowbolts turned around, away from the supply closet, to face the speaker. Sunset Shimmer got to her feet and joined them, leaving her backpack slung over the back of her chair. Spike gasped and leapt from Sunset Shimmer’s backpack, but no one seemed to notice, or if they did, they didn’t care.

“You can’t do this, Wallflower!” Sunny Flare called out, trying to stall for time so someone could come up with a plan or until the rest of their friends showed up. “There are others here that know about what you’re up to! And if anything happens to us, they’ll know that you were responsible!”

Wallflower smirked. “I already found out what they were trying to do! I already erased their memories! Is there anything I’m forgetting?” She blinked. “Did...did I just make a bad joke...wow…”

“Actually, there is just one thing left,” Sugarcoat said as she adjusted her glasses. Even in the face of an emotionally unstable student with a magical rock, she remained calm. “Why are you doing this to Sunset?”

“I never did anything to you!” Sunset Shimmer added. “And if I did, I apologize! I’m different now! I’m not the person I was when I first came to this school!” Wallflower didn’t answer. “Tell me, what did I do to you?! Honestly, I didn’t even know you! I DON’T know you!”

“Exactly! You may have had everyone fooled, but now they all see that you’re still the Biggest Meanie!”

“I have to disagree,” Sunny Flare coughed. “She’s clearly changed...but you clearly have no idea how mean a Crystal Prep Shadowbolt can get.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way, dear?” Sugarcoat nodded in silent support of Sunny Flare.

“I...I don’t like confrontation…” Wallflower looked away. “Let’s just...forget this ever happened!”

“No, don’t!” Sunset pleaded as she reached out one last time...


As the girls recovered from what felt like a rude awakening from a long, dreamless sleep, Wallflower slipped out of the room.

When they had collected themselves, they heard the lock turn.