//------------------------------// // The Battle To Be Remembered // Story: Pony POV Series: EG Forgotten Friendship // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer Trixie and I stayed together, not daring to split up just in case. We almost randomly began to search hallways, until I thought that the statue was the best bet... Trixie managed to keep up. I saw that one kid and prepared to grab them (yes, he was a kid, but he was the only one left I kept seeing trailing me!)...but then we saw... someone carrying Twilight Sparkle to the statue and I took off after them instead... I shouted... something... they turned at me, they reached into their bag and... They were gone. Ugh! I was dizzy! I looked around, nobody else was here. "Trixie?" I asked quickly before checking on Twilight who was still on the ground. "I... I feel like there are some... Ugh!" Trixie looked as disoriented as I felt. "Twilight! Twilight, you there?" I shook her awake. Her eyes fluttered open. "Wh-who?" Now my blood turned to ice. No. Nononononono! Not her too! Please not her! She looked at her arm where she'd written her note. "Sunset... That's right... we're friends... " Thank. You. Celestia! "You... you stole the crown, I went in after you and... I came out telling Celestia you were in good... hands?" She looked at her own hands. "W-what?" She fell on her hands and knees, making fists, looking confused. "What's this place?! I... I... wrote... something about with you in Princess Celestia's journal... then... you came to visit over the... THE MEMORY STONE! Sunset... where is this?! Why-why are you a human? Why am I a human? And... Trixie, what are you doing here?" "I go to school here." "No you don't you go to... Ugh!" Twilight. It looked like even the princess of magic, that Alicorn themselves weren't safe from that stone's power. Just what the heck was it?!... Right, Twilight had said it was related to a goddess that made Discord look like a mortal in comparison. "Twilight! Listen! This is the Trixie of THIS world!" My heart was hammering in my chest. And so was Twilight's. "You made FRIENDS HERE! You..." I couldn't bring myself to explain Flash Sentry again. "You helped people, you left me in the care of the friends YOU made here! You were insecure about this world's Twilight replacing you..." I somehow kept my voice from shaking. "Wait, so there's a me in your world? Is she royalty too?" Trixie asked. I gave her a deathglare. "R-right, friend just had big part of her memory erased, bigger things to think about!" Twilight got clumsily to her feet, fell over, and tried again. I helped her stand. Twilight looked horrified, holding her head. "I... I remember everything about me before and after entering the mirror... but I... I remember reading about the Sirens, the Memory Stone, getting messages from you about something... But..." Twilight looked around. "This castle? I don't remember after all." I ignored Trixie's stupid snigger at Twilight thinking this was a castle. "So... you remember everything EXCEPT anything to do with... this world?" Twilight nodded. "... But... why? Why not just make you think I never reformed too? It doesn't make sense... " I looked around and shouted at the top of my lungs. "THIEF! Monster! Where are you?! I know you're not some invisible ghost!" - Shows how much you know Sunset Shimmer. - "Twilight, you should head back to Equestria, you've lost all your memories of this world, it's not safe," I said. We'd taken Twilight to a bench as she began to learn her locomotion again. And the shock of seeing ponies she knew as humans... I remember how that was. "From what you've said... they were trying to send me through the portal anyway, so that means they DON'T want me here. So that means I stay," she said stubbornly. Memories erased or not, still the Princess of Friendship. "But why WERE they trying to send you back through the portal? Why not just hide you in a closet? It's not like you couldn't just come back." Trixie remarked thoughtfully, "They're trying to erase everything of Princess Twilight Sparkle..." - ".I merelY servE thE wilL oF A higheR authoritY .I aM merelY cuttinG ouT thE infectioN sO thE wounD caN heaL" - "While they want you, Sunset, to suffer," Trixie finished. - “She deserves it!” "?doeS shE" “Whose side are you on?” ".thaT oF A higheR authoritY .I merelY seeK thE invasivE specieS removeD .sufferinG serveS nothinG herE .I dO noT punisH .I simplY dO" - I'd gotten Twilight to figure out how to Pony-Up, it didn't work work that differently from using the Elements of Harmony apparently. "So whoever is doing this, for whatever reason they did this to Princess Twilight, they have a personal grudge against you Sunset. So the question is, who has a motive?" "... I think it might be a shorter list if I mark off the students that wouldn't have a reason to resent me." That... actually explains now that I think about it why so many people were willing to believe I was the rumor monger when "Anon-a-Miss" was a thing. (Technically she still is, the name's become a signature for people wanting to spread dirt online.) The only specific suspect I had was that kid, and considering the one with the Memory Stone had been trying to take Twilight back to the portal when I saw him and that rock can't MAKE new memories, he was out... back to everyone. "So, suspects... everyone..." Trixie said, writing it down. A while bit later, "So you don't know anyone who's been having memory problems?" Twilight asked. "I'm sorry dear, no." Nurse Redheart said. Twilight had been trying her hardest not to stare at all the 'alien' versions of her friends that she was seeing again for the first time. "That just means her memories of that could've been erased too," Trixie said. "She'd still have a record of students having memory loss, remember?" I said. "Oh, right." Nurse Redheart then whispered to Twilight, apparently forgetting we were what, five feet away? "Dear, are those two bullying you into doing their homework or something? It's alright to tell me." Princess Twilight startled. "W-what? No!" "Well, you can come see me if there's anything you want to tell me... and are you wearing contacts? I can't even see them." "She's just trying them out," I said quickly, not wanting to make things more complicated. Which of course just complicated things. Nurse Redheart gave me 'that look' before we left the nurse's office. "Human me wears glasses?" Twilight asked, confused. I can see the gears turning in her head again, wondering why that divergence would exist. Trixie got Snips and Snails to help ask questions around the school... Turns out Snails had taken up Yoga... Nice to see they have some hobbies outside of being pilot fish. I'd never bothered to learn about their interests. Twilight mentioned her world's Snails was actually an ace at this one game we didn't have here and on Ponyville's team. Who knew? "Trixie, whatever happened to Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush? Maybe they can help too," I asked. "We... still see each other of course, not... as often since the band craze burned itself out," Trixie said, uncharacteristically reluctant to talk about herself. "It's... like we were never friends." That haunted look in her eyes... So that's what I looked like. "Maybe their memories were erased too?" Twilight asked. "Not all broken friendships happen because something went wrong, sometimes it's because nothing happened," Trixie said. With any option being a good option at this point, we offered Maud Pie a look at the picture of the stone, hoping she could tell us something, anything about it that might help. At least Maud Pie didn't look at me hatefully, but she never looks much of anything usually, and she'd been in college at the time I had my rampage, I was just lucky she was visiting Pinkie Pie. "I can't tell much from a drawing. Except that it's felsic-intrusive igneous, granular in texture, most likely arranged in an equigranular matrix, with scattered biotite mica and amphibole, at least sixty-five percent alkali feldspar by volume, with a melting point of twelve-fifty centigrade, plus or minus ten degrees. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful." How by Mom's Flanks did she get all that from a sketch?! Well if we can't get the Elements to destroy it, at least now we knew we could destroy it with a blow torch... if we had one. And no, throwing it into a volcano wouldn't destroy it, lava is only 1200 centigrade max, a blow torch is 1995 centigrade...Yes, I am trying to distract myself from my existential crisis. We kinda began inching away from her at that point. One day spent looking for information on the Memory Stone. Then another day spent trying to find who had it. - That night in Trixie's room... "So do you know anything about this Memory Stone?" "Only that it's magic, unlike me, are not of this world. And it is very dangerous. Sadly not as dangerous as it once was ... what with annoying computer records and such things, heh, you humans trust your records more than your own memories, not that I blame you most of the time, but I suppose the Stone wouldn't be of much use if the victim was easily able to tell that something was wrong. You humans reinvent your own memories every time you remember them." "So can you tell Trixie anything useful?" "It would be safer for you to claim it for yourself than to destroy it, after all, a slight erasure, and it will be like the stone never existed... thankfully whoever has it clearly doesn't have much imagination, and is likely a teenager." "Huh?" "I say likely, everything points to one who is spiteful and emotionally reactionary. At least with Sunset Shimmer... This Princess Twilight on the other hand, why erase all her memories instead of making her think the same of Sunset as all of you do? Clearly there is a piece of the puzzle missing, they seem to have another goal." Surmised the black book with the red jewel on the cover. "You said you'd teach Trixie power." "That I did." +++ Sunset Shimmer We search the janitor's closet the next day just in case, nothing. We were turning our brains inside out looking for a lead, and as fate felt like having it, I had my nose rubbed in it. Looking outside, seeing my friends, the six of them, all of them fitting together so perfectly. Taking their 'Best Friends' yearbook photo without me. And the sick feeling in my stomach, making me wonder, if the reason all those memories could have me wiped away without my friends even questioning it, that Sci-Twi could replace Princess Twilight in all those memories so perfectly... Because we were never supposed to be here. Since I was still head of the yearbook club that meant I had access to all the photos on the server, which meant I could look at the picture of my friends with me looking out sadly in the window as much as I wanted. Telling myself this was what I was fighting for, and fighting against. "You're just going to drive yourself crazy looking at that," Trixie said. I hate it when she's right. But it did give me an excuse to get back on track. "You need to think. Think Trixie, think!" Twilight on the other hand looked terrified, I'm beginning to think her visits to the human world helped her in ways even she didn't get, as she was rocking back and forth. I explained that I'd come back to the yearbook club room to try and see if there was anyone at all we'd missed, from students to faculty members. It had not been pleasant. The Crusaders acted like I was a demon from Hell. The teachers knew exactly what I used to think of them and treated me with as much warmth as the Arctic. With our extra help we'd managed to cover the entire school... And no clues for anything. I tried asking that one kid that trailed me if he knew anything even if he wasn't the one with the rock, but he disappeared somehow. Twilight says his Equestrian self's special talent is being silent. Then Trixie pointed someone out to me in the year book, one that my eye had rolled over again and again no matter how many times I'd looked at it. It was startling. "Wait. 'Not pictured: Wallflower Blush.' Who's Wallflower?" "I'm right here, you know." We all startled. There she was, a pale green haired girl with freckles in a striped sweater... The kind of face you hadn't seen a million times. Had we met before? "Uh, who are you exactly?" I'd practiced that face enough to know she was boiling on the inside when Trixie asked that. "Wallflower. I've known you since third grade." Trixie looked a little uncomfortable, so she did what she does whenever she was uncomfortable and couldn't run away... she started to ramble, something about a disappearing frog trick and how you had to coddle tadpoles. Twilight was still Twilight, and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I uh, sorry, uh, have we met before?" Unlike the rest of us, Twilight at least had an excuse for that one. It took her only a second to realize she'd walked into that one. Strangely, Wallflower didn't really seem upset by the remark like she had with Trixie. "I wouldn't expect you to remember me, no one ever does," she said. - ".carefuL, you'rE goinG tO givE yourselF awaY" - What was that chill down my spine? That was when there was a buzz from my journal. Twilight had left hers with Moon Dancer just in case she found anything new. The message... was both good news... and awful news... I had until three days had passed since the memories were erased to destroy the stone, or those memories would be gone forever! I have no idea how Clover The Clever figured that one out, and to be honest I didn't care! When HAD their memories been erased?! It could have been ANY TIME since I last saw them! I could have until tomorrow morning or less than an hour! Celestia-Dammit! It really was like fate was out to see me suffer! The good news was that I was given a new sketch of where the stone had come from in the first place... So Clover The Clever really did come to the human world and buried it here. But wouldn't there have been natives already by that time? Or did he just have time to bury it and run back before the portal he used closed? Had the witch escaped to here? There were so many unanswered questions and none of them bloody mattered! So I knew where the stone USED to be, and that was assuming it hadn't been paved for a hotel a hundred years back, that nobody had dumped it in a river somewhere and then was found by the seashore! Or been found in and put in a museum until some thief stole it! Ugh! It was still better than nothing! Maybe I could find something, ANYTHING! But where was I supposed to start looking for... the exact picture on Wallflower's computer screen surrounded by flowers? My eyes narrowed. "That'll work." And, for once in my life, I acted like the tactical thinking heir to Princess Celestia I was groomed to be. Had we found no clues? Or had we just had them erased? Well, we hadn't had any lost time before... But the stone's power had made it clear that meant almost nothing. Next thing I knew... We were all standing in the club room, and time had skipped forward... We had been talking to someone I was sure of it! Why did my palm hurt? Twilight was rubbing her stomach. Trixie tried the door... it wouldn't open. - You have NO IDEA how tempted I was to leave a sticky note on the door with a tongue sticking out with the antler hands gesture! I've told the teachers a hundred times to fix that door, but does anyone care what I've ever had to say? No. - We shouted, but nobody heard... or cared. "Maybe I can teleport us out," Twilight suggested. "Twilight stop!" I said quickly. "You have no experience with how magic works in your human body, or how magic works in this world! At best it won't work, and at worst you'll end up in pieces! Even I haven't figured out how to do it or I'd be doing it already!" "Oh," Twilight shivered. "But we can't just do nothing." "Well, if we want out!" Trixie said dramatically then stopped. "Wait... did the windows here not have latches before? ... Trixie can't remember... Well, desperate times, desperate measures..." Trixie tried a chair on the window... the window wasn't damaged, but the chair got dented. "Since when do schools have glass this tough?" - .you'rE noT gettinG ouT - That shiver again. Wait, what shiver again? "... There's something ELSE besides the Memory Stone at work here." Sunset said. "From everything, it couldn't affect the memories of living things, not places or objects." Why was Twilight keeping her eyes glued on me like my life depended on it? "Well! Like we needed anything else to worry about! How are we supposed to catch someone who can just erase our memories whenever we get close?!" Trixie exasperated. That was when I felt something in my pocket that hadn't been there before. "... By being clever." THANK YOU CELESTIA FOR SCI-TWI'S CAMERA DRONE! I left a note to myself to check the camera! I must have known our memories would get erased and turned it on then stashed its controls in my pocket! I hit play back on the file, and here we go. "Can I ask a silly question, Wallflower? Where did you take that lovely photograph?" I said in the video. "Oh. That's my garden. Well, the school's garden, technically. I'm the president of the Gardening Club. I founded it, too. I'm also the only member. And the only one who's ever been to the garden. Or seen it. Or even asked about it." The girl, apparently Wallflower said with a broken tone. That was the picture of the place the Memory Stone was buried!!! It all came together. In the video I touched her. I have no idea what I saw in her memories, but it was enough to shock me. "You erased everyone's memories of me?" Video me shouted. "Yes," she said simply. Video Trixie asked who Wallflower was like she'd popped out of thin air. = 'Invisible' - D-Side = Then Wallflower began a Heart Song... To call it heart wrenching would be an understatement. The way she described her entire existence, it was like she was a ghost. I took the chance to go through the girl's backpack -- come on, if you're anything like me, you'd keep that close by no matter what. And she did! There it was! I grabbed the stone, and it burned me, or maybe it froze me! I looked at the red mark on my hand, that explained that. We began a tug of war for the backpack. Trixie was too shocked to do anything. Twilight tried to hold her, but Wallflower elbowed her in the stomach, Twilight didn't see it coming. This girl had destroyed my life? This stranger? Of all the people I had made miserable, it was someone I'd never even heard of? For what?! "What did I do to you?! Honestly, I don't even know you!" I shouted. "Exactly!" She hissed. "I see how everyone is when they think no one is looking! All the people you pretended to make up with, and you never even looked my way! You're still the Biggest Meanie!" "Just because you haven't made any friends before doesn't mean you can't-" Twilight began to say. Video me looked as angry as I felt, "... You're about to see how mean I can get!" "Hey! Let's talk this out!" Trixie said, looking worried. Princess Twilight shouted, "Why me though? I was never here enough TO not see you!" Wallflower Blush said simply, "I was asked to." "What?! WHO?" "You were never supposed to be here, Princess, reality had scabbed over you." Twilight actually took a step back, looking like she'd had a knife stabbed into her, both in the video, and right now. Wallflower just had to touch the stone with the tips of her fingers... and lights shot out of our head into the stone. "I don't like confrontation. Let's just... forget this ever happened! By the way, Princess? Big bad wolf." "Don't erase—!" And that put us back where we were. "Big bad wolf?" Twilight said completely confused. "I don't have a clue," I admitted. I was beginning to wonder if Shining Armor had known more about this than he'd let on... Trixie shook her head, she had no idea either. "We have to get out of here... there's no telling how much time I have left before their memories are all gone for good!" My teammates looked at me shocked and confused before I explained the journal entry. "Sunset, if that does happen, you can... just keep trying and become friends with them again? They were willing to give you a chance before right?" Princess Twilight said. I wonder if she was saying that to me, or herself. "After they saw me break down in tears and you asked them to... Even then I had to save them from three ancient evils before the rest of the school knew I'd turned over a new leaf." "Well given how our school seems to attract ancient evils lately, you'll be a hero again in no time." Trixie sneered. "Ugh. Twilight, even if that happened, it wouldn't be the SAME friendship, the friendship I have... had with them, is going to be gone forever!" I put my face in my hands. I felt like I was being strung along. Only learning things too late, when they couldn't help me, and being cornered where I couldn't do anything. "That girl had a point about you," Trixie said. "Geez, thanks," I bit with sarcasm. Twilight glared at her. "Not what the Wise and Moralizing Trixie means. You said you didn't do anything." "I didn't! I wasn't mean to her at all!" I exasperated. = Seven Songs for Seventh Saga: I. Wind = "But maybe it's not good enough to not be mean to someone. Maybe you have to be nice. A wise man once said, 'the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.' Everyone at this school has been nothing BUT indifferent to her. I know what it is to be invisible." "... You're right... The truth is, none of the students or the teachers here even MATTERED to me when I came here... well, those that I couldn't use. Flash was an alpha male, and Principal Celestia, I could pretend that it was Princess Celestia giving me the crown." "PRINCESS CELESTIA?!" Trixie said, "How many princesses does your world have?" "Uh... let me count," Twilight said quickly. "Never mind." "Not that any of it matters, we're trapped in here... Unless Trixie could disappear us out of here." I'd just accidentally stabbed poor Trixie in a sensitive spot. Trixie looked at us, and leaned her head against the wall and she touched it with both hands. "What's the point in trying? Since when ... " Trixie shivered. "Since when have any of my magic tricks ever worked? I... I..." "Trixie... you don't need to push others aside to be in the spotlight, you only need to do that if you don't believe in yourself... and since when does The Great and Powerful Trixie not believe in herself?" Twilight said. "... Thanks Twilight." Trixie said with a smile. "... At least I'll have one friend left in this world come tomorrow," I said. "I guess having a princess for a friend isn't so much a consolation prize," Trixie said casually. "I said this world Trixie... I meant you." Trixie looked at me in shock... when was the last time anyone had ever called her a friend? - I thought darkly as I left the school, feeling so good. 'You know, this power I use came from another world too.' ".yeS, odD thaT I havE neveR helD thaT againsT yoU" I felt calmly. 'You were planning on destroying it after I did my part?' ".ENTROPY iS thE samE concepT oF existencE acrosS alL worldlineS .thE fouR highesT pillarS arE beyonD thE concepT oF individuaL realitieS .thE wolF cannoT harm it" "But you would if you could?" ".tO undO itS existencE maY undO alL yoU havE donE, I musT toleratE iT" "... You want me to toss it back into their world when this is over don't you?" The big bad invisible wolf growled. "But I'm not on your list am I? You can't hurt me. So I keep it, as long as I want to." ".thaT poweR doeS noT belonG iN thiS worlD !creatE A firebreaK anD puT ouT thE flamE ,thE mixinG oF worldlineS caN onlY brinG ruiN ?nO" He had somewhere else to be. - "You poor fool! You actually believed me when I was pretending to give up? Mere stage banter! The Great and Powerful Trixie never gives up on herself or her friends. I mean, her Pretty Decent Assistant-Detective-Helper People. Behold! The Magician's Exit!" And... the smoke cleared and Trixie was outside the locked door?! "I did it? I DID IT! I finally did it!" Twilight and me looked at each other, did Trixie just do real magic?! Except... we were still inside. - If a book could have a look of triumph, on the horse head engraving upon it, the book in Trixie's room would have. - "Uh, Trixie, still in here." I said. "Oh! Right! Let me try again!" And the smoke bomb went off again. "Ta-da!" And, Trixie was inside and Twilight was outside. "Third time's the charm!" And Trixie was back outside and Twilight was back inside. Trixie did it again, and smoke enveloped me, and the next thing I knew, I was outside the door. That refused to open as I tried the knob. Okay, seriously, I'm telling Principal Celestia about this when all is said and done! "Oh just go already!" Trixie shouted. "You have to find her!" Twilight said. I remember Shining Armor's warning of always being where Twilight knew I was, but nothing had happened when Twilight had been kidnapped, and I had no choice now. I nodded. "I owe you one, Trixie! I will never forget this!" "Never say never," Trixie said with a tone of resignation. I had my phone recording just in case. +++ "I hope she'll be fine." Princess Twilight said. And the world seemed to turn gray and faded, time itself seemed to slow down. "!shE iS noT thE onE yoU shoulD bE concerneD witH" = Prince of Persia Warrior Within - 'Escape The Dahaka' = The Blank Wolf Guardian of Continuity "!thE wolF wilL draG youR amnesiaC bodY througH thE portaL itselF" "W-what are you?" Twilight whispered, holding Trixie's hand. It stood on two legs, its entire shape draped in smoky darkness, except for two glowing white eyes, but the shape of its head, its stance, its claws, and tail left no question what it was. "Big bad wolf," Trixie whispered. The monster lunged. Twilight had never been so grateful to have wings. She didn't have experience with this world's magic but she could still fly! She managed to pony up and hit the ceiling out of the thing's reach. Until the beast simply walked up the walls and on the ceiling towards her! +++ Sunset Shimmer Luckily, Wallflower was strolling triumphantly from the school parking lot still... I ran straight by Flash Sentry in his car, and by my six friends, who looked at me funny, wondering what the heck I was up to. "Wallflower!" I shouted closing in. "Wallflower, stop!" She turned towards me slowly, looking at me with awe. "You remember my name?" The look in her eyes... that was hope. I actually felt sorry to break it. "I remember everything! The Memory Stone, how I acted, all of it!" And there came the disbelief and anger. "What?! How?! I erased your memories of the whole afternoon!" My friends turned their heads in shock. And I got, and so did Wallflower I think, a reminder that in spite of everything she was still just a teenage girl with hurt feelings who got her hands on something too dangerous. I should have felt overjoyed that she just spilled the truth in ear-shot of my friends, but if I couldn't reason with her, things would just go worse, she'd just erase my memories and run again, we could end up playing tag all night, and by then it would be too late! "Listen. I used to be just like you. Sure, I had power, but I was lonely. Power isn't going to make all your problems go away, and neither is revenge!" "You're nothing like me, I had friends once, but your stupid Equestrian magic drove them away! You've ruined the world just by being here!" "... Wallflower, I'm sorry. Please tell me what happened, let me help you." "You've helped enough! And you're sorry now, that I'm a threat! All you did was clean up your own mess. You twisted CHS' sense of community, then you glue it back together? That's all it takes to become a demigod and get loved by the school? Really? By that logic my mother must have given me cookies after I glued back together her vase after I broke it: She didn't notice either! Meanwhile people like me are treated like we don't exist because we never had messes to clean up, because we followed the rules, because we never did anything awful, yet it's weasels like you, Snips, Snails, and Trixie that get attention. Where's the logic in that?" - .wipE alL memorieS oF heR existencE iN thiS ,worlD I caN theN sweeP thiS invasivE specieS bacK tO itS owN dirT .anD finallY thE universE wilL bE restoreD tO whaT iT waS supposeD tO bE beforE thiS pathogeN invadeD realitY Enough with your orders, I don't need you to tell me that. .I wondeR iF yoU ,caN maybE yoU arE jusT a ghosT - "I... am not... A GHOST!" I startled back at her in exasperation. My friends were getting closer, they didn't know exactly what was going on, and they don’t remember what kind of person old me used to be. Setting up something like this just to get their sympathy, that’s the kind of stunt old me would have had pulled off. But the look in Applejack's eyes... Who am I kidding? If Applejack had a gift like that, she'd have been able to tell instantly that I wasn't lying about us being friends before. But they definitely knew something was up. Flash Sentry had stopped his car a while away too, he was watching this too, but he knew old me better than nearly anyone, he'd want to see if this was one of my old setups or not. - Twilight was thrown over the desk into the blackboard, the wind knocked out of her. The Wolf was relentless. It gave her no time to breathe and no time to think. It simply followed her, every strike meant to take her out. Thankfully the room wasn't gigantic, so the groundbound monster didn't have much room to maneuver compared to Twilight who didn't have to worry about crashing into a classroom full of desks and computers. Even if it could climb on the walls and ceilings, it could only use them to jump off of, Twilight at least had full motion through the third dimension. But every moment had its claws stripe at her back and teeth bite at her heels. As for Trixie... she had screamed, and covered her head, scared out of her mind. Twilight wondered if she'd wetted herself. What had Twilight expected from her? This Trixie never fought monsters. She'd never faced the Heir to an Empire. She'd never helped save the world. She was a teenage girl who had bore witness to some epic things in her time, but had never been part of the actual fighting. She'd been relatively safe by being away from the friendly fire. Even when enslaved by Sunset and then the Sirens, then dodging for her life from Nightmare Midnight, she'd never had to fight, let alone be trapped in a room with one of these monsters. Twilight realized she couldn't think of her as a coward. And she didn't have time to think. She was a mouse in a shoe box with a cat! And there was no way out! And Twilight had no magical experience and... none of her friends to power her up and save her, she didn't even have her friends in immediate danger to fight FOR as the Wolf had completely ignored Trixie. Though the thing had seemed very confused that Trixie could see it at all! Even when fighting Tirek, Twilight had managed with brutal difficulty to get a moment to think and plan, but that was a battle across Equestria's landscape where teleportation had been an option, but the Wolf here had denied Twilight access to her two greatest weapons, her friends, and her ability to analyze any situation. - Trixie stood on a theater stage. "Finally ready to take Me up on my offer?" Asked a red-eyed, floating Trixie wearing a black magician's outfit and a pendant shaped like a winged unicorn's head, with a red jewel at its center. Trixie said nothing. "You have no idea what that monster intends to do to Princess Twilight, but it's safe to say it's not anything good. It might kill her, eat her, make it so she forgets her entire life and everything. Kinda like Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush all over again. Losing someone who seems to actually care about you. And Sunset... who KNOWS what's going on with her... " The second Trixie held out her hand. "But maybe if you had the power..." - Wallflower Blush = Live a Live - Pure Odio = "And here we are again!" I hissed. "I erase your memories, and you find me anyway. I erase their memories of you and they come to you anyway. I lock you in a room with no exit and you leave anyway! How am I supposed to get back at you if nothing I do matters?!" I felt like I was going to explode. I finally had power, more than I knew what to do with, and she still came out like I didn't exist! Like we weren't even in the same universe! "I hate you!" I snarled. Sunset gasped... And... I felt strange hearing those words come out of my mouth, they feel wrong somehow... But I'm sick of this. I'm sick of her. The world isn't fair, so I'll make it fair. "I wanted you taught a lesson before you were thrown out... But you know what? I've realized... I didn't just need to wipe Princess Twilight so the real her could live her life... I've never seen the human you here! And I'm the one who sees everything no one else does! So if I haven't seen her, she was never here! You know what that means? You aren't supposed to be here AT ALL!!! Memories of you just existing don't need to go! Everything you've ever done to your so-called friends, from all of high school need to go! Every day, every moment!" "What?! You can't! You'll be erasing their friendships too!" "They'll be back to how they were before you ruined them, so all the better for them! I think I'll erase MY memories of you when I'm done just so I can BE RID OF YOU! ... Then again, your friends will need someone to help fill in the gaps for the last four years... so why not me? ... It's time for those who mess up and fix it get real for thinking that means they deserve some kind of reward!" Wallflower Blush Memory Witchling "Here's yer reward!" Applejack shouted, throwing a super strength punch at my stone rushing me! I blocked instinctively with the stone. Applejack shouted, the stone, nor me, didn't budge an inch, even if I felt a shock-wave behind me. But Applejack did cry out in pain and held her red hand. Rainbow Dash zoomed by and tried to snatch the stone out of my hand, but she cried out as she felt it burn/freeze her fingers. She tried to trip me... but I felt the shade of the Wolf keep me from falling, and then knock Rainbow Dash back on the pavement. The Twilight that belonged here tried to grab the Stone, but she shouted and grabbed her head like she had brain freeze. Rarity tried to trap me in a box of her barriers, I knocked the stone against it, and the crystal box shattered. Sunset looked at me in total shock. "What? Were you expecting me to grow fangs and bat wings? Oh wait, that's you." I asked. ".thiS iS noT parT oF thE plaN" Shut up. What do you know about being alone? About losing those you care about most! - = Evangelion OST - 18 The Beast = "AAAH!" Trixie screamed, a red aura around one first, red eyes glowing, a red glowing star on her forehead. She struck the wolf in the face... and actually knocked it back into the wall of the room. The entire section of the school shook. Pony ears were on her head, as well as the cutie mark on her leg, and her hair having grown into a 'ponytail.' Her dress had also taken on a black, silver, and red color. "Oh no." Twilight said, recognizing that magic signature, and wishing she’d never have to detect the Alicorn Amulet’s magic again. But there was no sign of the Amulet! And why would it exist in this world?! And the worst was, why did it feel like Sunset's gemstone had... like it was magic NATIVE to this world! "!impossiblE" Trixie actually leapt onto the beast, and began to actually tear at the aura of shadows protecting it, a blast of raw black magic hitting it in the face, it should have been retconned from existence the moment it came in contact with it. Instead, the white fur and yellow eye underneath began to show from the protective aura. The Wolf Man snarled and slammed Trixie back. "!nonE havE defeateD thE wolF" Trixie's response was to appear and disappear at random around the beast in puffs of red smoke. Now it was Twilight who was forced to watch or risk getting caught in the crossfire! Trixie teleported behind the Wolf, grabbed it, and jumped so high, so fast, and so hard that she smashed the wolf through the ceiling, sending them into the deserted class room above. Twilight quickly followed, wondering if she was more worried about Trixie losing, OR WINNING! - Fluttershy's animals tried to get close to me... but it was like there was an invisible barrier around me, a sacred threshold they didn't dare cross. Pinkie Pie threw a cupcake at me... it exploded. I was actually surprised to find my hands weren't blown off. Pinkie PIe and I both looked at each other in shock for a moment. "I'd say you'll thank me later, but even I don't like lying," I said. "Lying, burying the truth, same thing." Applejack said, holding her hurt hand. Sunset's super power, whatever that creepy mind invasion stuff was, I wasn't worried about it right now. I charged up the stone, I'd wipe it all away, a clean slate. "NO!" And Sunset Shimmer actually tackled me, and covered the stone as much as she could with her own body as it went off... That... had never happened before. I looked up at her in confusion. "I destroyed their friendship once before, I won't let that happen again!" I pushed her off, and we looked at each other. Her memories should have all been erased by now ... yet... she was still standing, the aura of the stone covering her... She shivered and hugging herself. Was she... was she resisting the stone?! No one's EVER done that! "Girls.... Please... don't forget me!" She said to them. Then they came out, one by one, like movie films... I've seen this a hundred time by now. As the stone eats them up one by one. "Fluttershy!" She actually tries to grab them as if that will work. "Applejack!" That's another. The look of terror on her face even if she doesn't know what she's terrified about. The look of terror and shock on her friends' faces. "Rarity!" "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!" Her screams... her SCREAMS! "Twilight...." Why... why did she sound like a big sister who was never going to see her little sister ever again? And she fell over... like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Then she gets up... on all fours... Her hands clenched together. I remember... That Sunset wasn't human in the other world... Her body language, it wasn't human, not even in the slightest... I felt bile rise from my throat just a little. "What?... Where am I? How did I get here? Who... What are all of you?! ... What... what am I?!" She looked buggy eyed and horrified at the sight of herself. "Princess Celestia! Princess?! MOTHER! ...M-Mama?" She reminded me of a cornered animal. I took a step back. This... What was this? I... I felt sick. I wanted to run, why couldn't I? - "Where do you think you're going!" Trixie hissed, tackling the Wolf by its legs. - "It's okay Sunset, we're here." The Twilight who belonged here said kneeling down. Their memories are gone. They know what I did but... how can they look at her like that if they don't remember?! = Hauser Hazard & I Look Up at the Sky Because You Are There - (Wild Arms 4) = "Wh-who are you creatures?" "We're your friends." Twilight said kindly. "We may not remember you, and you might not remember us," Applejack said honestly. "But after seeing what you just did." Pinkie Pie popped in. They lined up like warriors as they spoke, ready to fight me for round two, but... but why do they think it'll be different this time? Why? "And the sacrifice you were willing to make for us," Rarity added. They put their hands on her shoulders. Fluttershy continued, "We'd be proud to call you-" They all shouted together, "OUR FRIEND!" Their gems glowed like miniature stars, symbols appeared on their thighs, and they each radiated like a star themselves. Each a different color. Their clothes changing into costumes that were different from the ones from Camp Everfree, I had to admit they were a lot less garish. A gem appeared on the foreheads of Twilight, Rarity and Sunset. While wings appeared on Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Sunset too. Meanwhile their hair grew in length and took on a shape like ponytails, literally, while pony ears appeared on their heads. I felt ill, like I was standing next to an atomic waste dump. I couldn't stand it, I felt like a ice cube in a desert! Go away! - "You okay Maud?" Asked Marble Pie, in one of the few times she spoke. "Just felt ill for a second." - They floated above me like angels in judgement. "Wallflower! You have magic you do not understand!" W-Who is she to tell me I don't understand this power? "But it is nothing compared with the Magic of—! " "Yeah, yeah, we get it. Light her up, ladies!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. "How about I darken your day instead?!" I snarled. Seven streams of light flew from each of them and became a rainbow that twisted about and fired directly at me. I held up the Memory Stone, and it was like a black roar came from it, like sounds could have colors. It shot out like a chinese dragon, and clashed with their lights... ... But darkness surrenders to the light... that is the nature of things... Just like it's my nature to never be noticed, and always forgotten. And for nothing I do, to ever affect the world in any meaningful way. The dragon was overwhelmed, and the Memory Stone shattered, and it felt like a piece of me shattered with it. And when it did, all the memories I'd erased in the last three days, both good or bad, came flying out of it, all of them flying back into the heads of the people they'd been taken from... that I'd stolen them from. When the light settled, only one tiny fragment remained, powerless and impotent, like me, like I'd always been. We remained one of a kind. I kept it close. "Ow." Said human Maud Pie, feeling like someone had just pricked her finger. Pony Maud and Mirror Maud said the exact same thing at the same time in their respective universes. In a shock wave... Twilight and Trixie both gasped as the memories of their encounter with Wallflower returned. 'Oh Celestia... this could have just as easily been me and Moon Dancer. I barely noticed her and look what happened? How easy could that have gone so much worse if she had an outlet like THIS for all that resentment and loneliness?' Twilight thought. But that was NOTHING compared to the memories that came back next! Traveling to this world, freaking out at her human form, wearing clothes all the time, Spike as a dog, not having her horn, walking into the door that first time. Walking into the boy's bathroom... Meeting this world's Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash... restoring their friendship, giving the student body the push they needed to stand up to Sunset and choose someone else as their 'princess' that year. Choosing this world's safety over going home if she had to. Fighting Nightmare Inferno. Awakening magic. Telling the others to take care of Sunset, where she wouldn't be clamped in irons as she would on Equus, but where she could learn to be a better person and not be a danger to everyone. ‘Happy to come here a second time, facing the Sirens, trying to make a spell song that would beat them, not realizing that these girls didn't have the experience of my friends in Equestria. And... I had fun with them, that I most definitely did. And Sunset Shimmer and the rest of us, blasting the Sirens away and saving this world a second time! ‘Then of course... there was the Friendship games and meeting my other self, and taking the time to meet her family too... heh... that was fun. And I finally got to say 'I'm besides myself!' HEH! ‘And... there was Flash Sentry... Nice guy. Nice look. Nice music. Helpful. Friendly. Was willing to help even when he didn't need to. Dancing with him. Being heart broken when the Sirens twisted him with their magic... and ALMOST getting to kiss him if TRIXIE hadn't interrupted us!' ‘... My friends. Flash. This world... I may not be a native, this may not be my home... But they aren't replacements for my friends in Canterlot anymore than my friends in Ponyville or vice versa... all my friends are precious to me, whether on Earth, or Equus!’ Trixie stopped her attack at the same time as the shockwave, and so did the Wolf. ".yoU havE ,woN anD sO doeS thiS worlD losE .goodbyE" And... the Wolf passed over everything, and in a moment... Everything was repaired... the chairs, the walls, the floor... everything... It was like the fight hadn't even happened. A moment later, the red light flickered away from Trixie, vanishing like a burned out circuit, and her eyes returned to normal, and the other signs of Pony-upping vanished. Her clothes and body were back to normal. 'My twin plus another is not a good mix for us, we'll talk more later…’ "TRIXIE!" Twilight said quickly. "Where... where am I? Twilight how'd we get out of there?" 'Trixie's acting was always better than most give her credit for. Trixie is... not proud of pretending to have no memory of what just happened to her new friend...' "It's okay Trixie! Everything's fine!" Twilight hugged her. - = Brand New Days - Persona 4 = I heard them recognizing each other, shouting each other's names, hugging, cheering, laughing, smiling, all the things friends do. All the things I never really did with the friends I once had or my precious flowers. They apologized for what they did, and Sunset couldn't have cared less for how they treated her, she was just happy their friendship was restored. - Sunset Shimmer My restored memories weren't just of my years here on Earth... instead... I also remembered what I saw in Wallflower's memories. = 'Invisible' - D-Side = She was like a ghost, and her only company was ghosts... that the light of the rainbow drove away. She had been at the dance, all of them, the battle of the bands, the concert, the Friendship Games... She might as well have not existed... like me in my friends' gutted memories. And now... like so many of us ex-villains before her (including me) with her power gone... she didn't even try to run away... she just sat there... broken like the stone was. "Wallflower..." I said as gently as I could. "When I first found the Memory Stone, I only erased little things – awkward hellos, saying the wrong thing, literally any public speaking..." She sighed. "How did yah erase the papers or videos about those?" asked Applejack. "...No one ever kept any…" "I've had plenty of awkward moments I wish I could erase, too," Swi-Twi said helpfully. "... But when I was told what had to be done... I used it as an excuse... I WANTED to hurt you... but I didn't want to admit that it was all because I wanted to hurt you back for how... for how you’ve hurt me... I just made up whatever lie I wanted to hear so I could hurt you more... I'm so ashamed. I was given something important to do for the first time in my life... and I was just selfish." "Wallflower... what do you mean 'important?'" I leaned closer. "Haven't you noticed? Ever heard the phrase 'high school forever?' How long this school year has lasted? All this magic criss-crossing between worlds, you being here? The Sirens being here? The Magic Crown? Even the Memory Stone. It's all messed up this world of course... YOU ponies, you thought nothing magical you dumped here would matter... but it did... you threw things off course in ways we can't even figure out..." "Wallflower, who told you all this?" I asked. "I promised I wouldn't ever tell... suffice to say... there ARE spirits in this world Sunset, there are Windigoes, angels, demons, it's just unlike in your world, we just can't see them... or... everyone else can't see them... I always have..." "... Sounds like Magic's been in this world a lot longer than when you brought Twilight's crown here," Rainbow Dash said. "So... time's gone wonky because magic's gone wonky?" Pinkie Pie asked. "More or less... I should have listened more closely... I didn't care... not really... I had the excuse I wanted to hurt you Sunset... I was supposed to erase everyone's memories of you, and your memories of this world, and be done with it... It was my idea to drag it out..." "... The Age of Dreams." I whispered. I had a feeling what was going on. And it would take a lot longer to fix than just one harmony blast... but at least we now knew there was a problem, unlike those ponies. And me, two Twilights, Starlight Glimmer, and Moon Dancer have enough brains between the lot of us to find out how. Helps we knew two ponies who helped write reality's source code. "Wallflower... I want you to know... I am sorry. I walked a mile in your shoes these last few days. I saw what it's like for the world to just sweep you under the rug... I may not have bullied you... but a Great and Powerful friend helped me realize I still wasn't very nice to you. I wanted to help those in need... but I didn't even SEE someone who desperately needed help right under my nose. Everyone matters, Wallflower. No matter how insignificant or invisible they feel." I gave Blush my hand, and I helped her up, we hugged. "CHALK UP ANOTHER TO 'VILLAINS REDEEMED!" Pinkie Pie cheered, she also hit a stop watch. "Oooh! I think this is a new record for 'last minute forgiveness' too!" "GIRLS!" Twilight, PRINCESS Twilight, flew through the air, and hugged everyone before they even knew what was going on! She also hugged herself, literally. Heh! "TWILIGHT!" They all shouted. "So you know me! You remember ME!" Princess Twilight said tears in her eyes. "Not going to forget you again." Applejack hugged her. "Right darling." Rarity hugged too. And... you can really guess the chain reaction that couldn't be stopped at that point. Suffice to say... we had royal hugs and royal smiles all around! I'd tell Twilight what was going on with our two worlds LATER... right now, we could ENJOY our happy ending! Twilight didn't even question Wallflower Blush being there, she knew the stone was history... and with our track record, redeemed villains were the norm! Heh. Ya know what? I say that's a good thing! Call it cliche or played out all you want to, I'd rather save a soul from Tartarus than let them go there. "TWILIGHT!" "FLASH!" And.... we gave them some privacy. I think they've both earned it You don't realize how precious something is until it's gone, it's not a lesson I'd wish on anyone, but it's sure dang effective! Rainbow Dash tried to record it on her phone, Applejack gave her a good whack for it. "Hey... just trying to record precious memories," Rainbow said sheepishly. ... Yes, I did tell Flash he should move on... I'm not perfect, I know that now more than ever. Who knows? (Sunset Shimmer Supplemental: Maybe one day they'd have a demigod kid who, being the kid of people from both worlds, makes a proper link and solves the Wolf's problem. Uh, DON'T tell anyone I said that!) "Um... e-excuse me?" asked that little kid suddenly standing right beside us, causing us to jump. Even Wallflower had jumped! "H-Hi...I'm Featherweight..." he said, looking to Wallflower Blush and... well... blushing... wait... Oh... Oh, I get it now! He was never trailing me... Looks like somebody's got a puppy dog love crush... I'd say something, but Wallflower needs anyone who notices her. "M-Miss Wallflower, c-could I join the Gardening Club?" Wallflower looked like she'd been hit by a meteor. "You... you want to?" "I've... I've actually tried to ask you before... But I was always too shy... but... you looked like you could use a hand…" Wallflower Blush... actually began to cry a little. "S-sure! Absolutely! Everyone is welcome!" Wallflower Featherweight told me later... he'd have been glad to help me... if I'd only noticed him... Had I been so caught up being bitter about nobody noticing me that... I'd not noticed the one person who actually wanted me to notice him? ".becausE oF youR ,selfishnesS whaT maY havE beeN thE onE waY tO heaL thiS worlD iS gonE" "... If you're going to punish me for it... please do it... I've more than earned it." ".thE wolF doeS noT punisH ,iF thiS worlD fallS ,iT wilL bE punishmenT enougH" "Sunset is confident they'll figure something, and given how many impossible things the lot of them have done, is it really a stretch? ... And if it does go to that... at least I'll see my friends again won't I?" ".yoU won'T carE" "Maybe it's about time I tried looking on the bright side of things..." ".gooD lucK tO yoU anD youR neW friendS" - "Hello Sunset…" said Wallflower, cringing and expecting the same reaction as always. "Hey, Wallflower, how are you doing?" asked Sunset with a smile. Wallflower looked completely stunned. "You... you remembered my name?" Sunset smiled. "Friends always remember each other's names." Wallflower hugged her crying tears of joy. - Sunset Shimmer Well... Princess Twilight and Flash Sentry went on a date... And the year books came... Rainbow Dash went nuts over our picture being next to Bulk Biceps and having to be the ones 'kissing' him. HEH! Let me have a little FUN! HA! Also, "WHERE IS THE YEARBOOK CLUB PRESIDENT?! HOW'D THIS GET IN HERE?!" Trixie demanded storming in when she got her copy... and showing 'Greatest and Most Powerfulest Magician' there on a one page splash. She'd EARNED IT! We hugged. Princess Twilight had told me to keep an eye on her for any 'dangerous magic' (and an eye out for a certain evil piece of jewelry), since we didn't sense any innate magic from her that wasn't her own and Trixie said she didn't remember anything. Oh, Twilight was jumping off the walls for the chance to test out to see if Trixie's stage magic was the real thing now and do all sorts of tests (yeah, like that got ME anywhere when I tried to figure out how the magic of my friends work!). But for now she was just Trixie: a great and powerful girl who helped save me and my friends, and had become my friend too. Wonder when I should tell her that her Equestrian self is a national hero...maybe when her ego is a bit more under control. I also had a yearbook delivery to Best Gardener, now with more than just herself here in her gardens. Pinkie Pie had also introduced her to her triplet sister Marble (I'd ask how they could be triplets, but Pinkie's other sisters were a stoic rock lover, a hot headed bundle of rage, a violin player who loves the spotlight, and the most hammy, high profile photographer in the entire school, Pinkie Pie couldn't be less like her sisters if she tried), predictably the two got along well... I swear Wallflower was talking with something I couldn't see when I delivered the book... But she cried tears of joy seeing all our names written inside... Rarity had given Wallflower some tips on how to get people to notice her (If there's anything Rarity knew how to do, it was that), and they were doing her some good... but in all honesty? I think Wallflower's problem was she got so used to being ignored that she was afraid to even try, and when the Memory Stone came into the picture, it just enabled that. It was a magic she was perfect at using, but that may have been the problem... believe me, I know EXACTLY how that works. Now that she's got friends and the Stone is gone, she can finally move forwards. = His Theme (build up version) - Undertale = And speaking of moving forward... "The spirits, ghosts, shades... you really did think of them as friends did you?" I asked putting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug it off. "They told me they couldn't feel anything, but being with me helped them remember what feeling was like. Even if they couldn't feel, they could make me feel..." "I'm sorry, I didn't know." I didn't feel like reminding her that we'd been stopping the Sirens, I'd seen her memories, she knew that already, that didn't make the pain go away. "That's the whole problem," she said with an edge to her voice. "You didn't know, none of you knew what damage your world's magic was causing in mine... Like people could step on me, and not even notice, like I was some sort of bug." "...Want to know something Twilight told me when she realized we both knew a bit about where your friends came from?" I asked. "What?" "...If they're anything like the ones from Equestria, there's a little of them in everyone... Twilight used to be named Minty, Rainbow Dash used to be...well, Rainbow Dash, but a different one." "...And you?" "...I don't know... But Equestrian Pinkie invited me to come visit this place based off the world a lot of them came from and called me Sunshimmer... Those Shadows just want to be again, or be to begin with... and through some of us, many of them are... Maybe you can help them someday in ways no one else could... after all, why else would you be the only one who can see them?" - ".somethingS cannoT bE ,saveD buT maybE beinG remembereD iS enougH" - "...You really believe that?" "Wouldn't be the first one to restore something that should be gone for good…" I said, showing my geode. "... A really horrible monster named Discord shattered the Element of Trust and unmade it. My mother and her sister tried for a thousand years to fix it and couldn't... but I did. I brought it back when they couldn't... maybe you're the same." "... I'm nobody…" I looked her in the eye and smiled. "Nobodies don't exist, if you exist, you're the heroine of your own story... there are no background characters, only characters whose stories haven't been told." She hugged me. Oh, and me and Twilight are BOTH writing down our life experiences in both worlds... memories are precious, share them! Life is a road, you gain stuff, and you lose it, but memories are irreplaceable, even if you gain new ones, they won't be the same ones, so take care of them. Oh, and I have a picnic lunch with Princess Celestia, Cadence, Luna, and Twilight... all the family together... Yeah, I just realized, Princess Twilight and me are cousin-in-laws now! HA HA! I can't wait to meet Flurry Heart... she can't be anymore of a handful than I was at that age. - A certain time later Flash Sentry said to himself. "Twilight... here I come." A beast of shadow and fangs rose between him and the statue. ".yoU dO noT belonG iN thaT worlD" Flash Sentry said simply, "Out of my way." ~Full Circle