//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Memory Lost and Found // by BoredAuthor817 //------------------------------// Morning came too early for the teenagers of Canterlot City. As the sun rose its way to the heavens, the daylight zombies emerged from their homes and funneled into the brain factory that was Canterlot High School. Rainbow Dash let out a yawn as she closed her locker. “Good morning, Rainbow Dash!” came a gleeful cry from down the hallway. “Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow groaned, “you're way too chipper for the morning.” “Awe what's the matter?” Pinkie made a sad face, “Didn't sleep well?” Rainbow rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Let's just say I'm not a morning person.” “Yeah,” Pinkie looked around, eyeing the gathering crowd of the half-dead, “well, you and a whole bunch of other people.” “Have you seen the others yet?” “Twilight's in the library, Fluttershy is handing out fliers for the animal shelter's fundraiser this weekend, Applejack is eating breakfast in the cafeteria. No sign of Rarity or Trixie yet, but they should be showing up soon.” “How about Wallflower?” “Nope. But, she may be in her garden.” Rainbow released another yawn. “Well, let's see of we can round up the others and try to catch Wallflower before class.” Twilight proved the easiest to find. All the girls had to do was look for a table with a fortress of books built upon it, and they would find their favorite bookworm. On their way to the library, the duo had run into Rarity and pulled her along with them. “Whatcha reading, Twilight?” Pinkie yelled in her loudest library voice. The disruption pulled Twilight from a deep thought, but she quickly recovered. “Oh, good morning, girls!” she smiled, “Just getting in some light reading before school starts.” Rainbow was examining the books on the desk. “Is this for a class?” “No,” laughed Twilight, “this is all research I'm doing on memory. I know the princess is already tackling this from a magical standpoint, but I wanted to come at it from a scientific angle. Maybe, I can find something that can help her. Or vice versa.” “So, what did you find?” asked Rarity. “Well,” Twilight's face lit up, “As you may know, there are three main types of memory: long-term, short-term and spacial. Short-term has the potential to become long-term and spatial can be either long-term or short-term. “Short-term and spacial are simple, but, long-term has several sub-types: explicit and implicit memory. Explicit memory is then broken down into: episodic, semantic, and autobiographical. “Episodic and autobiographical are the ones I'm most interested in, as these seem to have been the ones affected by the Memory Stone. I'm most interested in episodic, in particular. “You see, episodic memory also contains the supporting information needed for memory retrieval. We remember details about certain events because they are associated with another memory or detail. Episodic memory allows our brains to establish connections and produce a memory we wish to remember. “I hypothesize that's the reason we 'remembered' certain things, even though our memories of Sunset were taken. There were connections made in our brains to those missing memories that we could only access on a subconscious level. But, when we consciously tried accessing them, we experienced the equivalent of trying to open a corrupted file.” “...and the egghead strikes again” Rainbow smiled. “Sunset must be going to through something similar” Twilight looked downtrodden, “But, on a far more drastic scale. We lost a portion of few months. She's lost whole years. Her brain must be going crazy trying recuperate this sudden severing of connections.” “Well,” said Rarity, “that does concur with what Princess Twilight said Princess Luna said.” “Yeah,” countered Rainbow, “but Sunset had a complete memory wipe. No back up memory, complete system restore.” “Ooh!” Pinkie teased, “Who's the egghead now?” “Shaddup, Pinks” the athlete grumbled. “While true” Twilight replied, “I'm under the belief that our brains are too complex, too interconnected to not have an adverse affect when a vast amount of information is suddenly missing.” “Well,” Rainbow crossed her arms, “how about you put your theories aside for now and head over to the garden with us to try to catch Wallflower?” Twilight shook her head. “Sorry, I'd like to finish this chapter and get a letter off to the princess before first period.” “Suit yourself. Let us know if she writes back.” Outside the library, Fluttershy was pinning a flier on the announcements board. She gave a smile when she saw her friends walk through the doors. “I do hope you can come help out this weekend. But, I'd understand, what with Sunset... and all...” “I'm surprised you didn't tell them you couldn't do it” said Rainbow. “I couldn't do that” Fluttershy shook her head, “I had already committed last month. Even with this being an emergency, with Sunset in Equestria, I feel there isn't much more I could do.” “We understand, darling.” Rarity placed a comforting hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. “I've been feeling a little useless, myself. There is only so much that can be done over here. But, back to your predicament, yes, a promise is a promise. We can make do without you for a few hours, if need be.” Pinkie let out a long sigh. “I do hope we solve this before the weekend, though.” “Anyway, Fluttershy,” Rainbow spoke up, “how many more fliers do you have to hand out?” Fluttershy smiled, triumphantly pointing to the paper on the bulletin board. “This was the last one.” “Awesome!” she linked arms with the nature lover, “That means you can come join us in looking for Wallflower.” “You don't need to look for her. I saw her walking off to her garden earlier.” “Then, that's where we're headed!” Along the way to the rear parking lot, the group encountered a familiar stetson-wearing farmer walking towards them. “Mornin' all!” Applejack smiled and waved. She let out a startled cry and held onto her hat as she was wordlessly grabbed and pulled along with the horde. “Uh, y'all mind tellin' me jus' where we're goin'?” --- The wooded area behind the school was a stark contrast to the rest of the campus. Stepping into its confines was almost like entering another world. Safely tucked away, it offered a safe haven to all who ventured. The perfect place for someone wishing to hide from the world. Here, it was quiet. The tree canopy provided shade and shelter from the elements which relentlessly beat down upon the school every day. There was a noticeable temperature drop the moment they entered the treeline. Though, it was refreshing. A path had been cut through the area. Fluttershy explained that it was a trail carved by the animals that lived in the area. She further described that it twisted and wound through the trees. She and Tree Hugger had traversed it many times. “More 'nature walks' I can assume?” Rainbow said, slyly. That earned her a hat-smacking from Applejack. “Over there!” Pinkie pointed to a break in the foliage. “Looks like somebody's been making a path of their own.” “Hmm” Rarity examined where the ground had been repeatedly trampled. This particular area had been worn down to a thin sliver of dirt. “I think you're right, Pinkie. You can see where someone has deviated away from the main path several times. The garden must be over there.” Following the new path, the girls soon came upon a clearing. In the center were some large boulders stood on end in what appeared to be a mini Stonehenge. Surrounding the formation was a lush garden with bright, colorful flowers. The girls gawked as they looked at the flora around them. “Okay,” Applejack smiled, crossing her arms, “I'm impressed.” “Well, we found the garden” said Fluttershy, “but where's Wallflower?” “Wanna try that crazy-looking girl over there?” Rainbow pointed to a frantic-looking girl with green hair scouring on her hands and knees in a corner of the garden. “She looks like she lost somethin'” Applejack commented. “Maybe we can help.” Rarity began to make her way over to Wallflower. As she approached, she heard the shy girl grumbling to herself as she combed the grass between the flowerbeds. Rarity tried her best not to startle the gardener. She cleared her throat: “You lose something, dear?” Despite Rarity's best efforts, the green girl still let out a yelp and jumped at the sight of the newcomers. Only once she saw who they were, her expression changed from one of surprise to relief. “Oh, thank goodness you're here!” she cried, “I can't find it!” The girls looked at each other. “Can't find what, exactly?” asked Applejack. “My...” Wallflower paused for a moment, as if she had forgotten exactly what she was looking for. “My...uhm...necklace.” Rainbow's eyebrows raised. “You wear a necklace?” Not that it was easy to tell what Wallflower wore under her sweater. “Yes! Almost all the time! You know that!” “Um...” Fluttershy said, “We do?” “Yes! We... we... um... we...” Wallflower let out a growl and brought her hands to her head. Rarity cautiously placed a tender hand on Wallflower. When the other girl didn't move away, she added her other. “Wallflower, dear, are you okay? Should we get Nurse Redheart?” “No” Wallflower responded, quite calmly. She lowered her hands and searched for her backpack. “I'll be fine. It's just a slight headache. Just need to—aarg!” She crumbled to her knees in agony, eliciting a cry from the other girls, who quickly ran to her side. Wallflower waved them away. “I'm fine!” She shakily rose to her feet only for her legs to buckle beneath her again. She fell once again, only to be caught by Rarity and Applejack. “I don't think ya should be at school today” Applejack said, lifting the small girl into her arms. “Let's get ya to the office and we can have someone call yer grandpa.” Wallflower didn't protest. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Applejack's neck and rested her head upon her shoulder. She eyed a faint orange glow coming from under the farmer's shirt collar. “What's that?” she asked. Applejack raised an eyebrow, wondering what the other girl may have been referring to. Upon realizing what she meant, she answered: “That's my geode. It glows like that whenever I summon the magic within it.” “It gives you extra strength” Wallflower said, dreamily, “That's how you're able to carry me with ease.” “Eeyup.” Once in the principal's office, Rarity and Rainbow explained the situation to the staff while the other girls sat with Wallflower. Nurse Redheart had been summoned and was performing a quick examination. “Well,” she stood up and placed her hands on her hips, “aside from the headaches, you seem to be in good health. How long have you said you've had them?” “Since Tuesday morning” Wallflower replied weakly. “Hmm... anything happen Monday that you think may have triggered them? Any environmental allergies that you know of?” Wallflower only shook her head. “Well, another common trigger is a sudden drop in temperature, but we haven't had that in a while. If I were your mother, I'd have to taken to the hospital for an MRI. “Have you been experiencing any other symptoms? Dizziness? Vomiting?” Again, Wallflower answered in the negative. The nurse frowned. “What have you been taking for them again?” Wallflower handed over a small white bottle from a pocket in her knapsack. “They're over the counter. I've used them plenty of times for cramps.” Nurse Redheart briefly examined it before returning it to the student. “Well, they'd certainly do the trick. I use them myself.” She let out an exasperated sigh, “I don't know what else to tell you. You've already taken off two days. But, without any further symptoms, or the ability to do a detailed examination, there's not much more I can do.” She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Do talk to your grandparents about getting you to a doctor. If only to be sure that this is nothing serious.” “Speaking of which,” said Vice-principal Luna, “we managed to get a hold of your grandfather. He's on his way to pick you up. That is, if you want to leave. I'll let you two sort that out when he gets here.” “Thanks” Wallflower smiled. Luna turned to the other girls. “While I appreciate you wanting to hang out and comfort Wallflower, you girls really need to get to class. I'll have late slips made up for you to give to your teachers.” With well-wishes towards Wallflower, the five Rainbooms were shooed out of the office and onto their perspective classrooms. “You still don't think she's acting weird?” Pinkie Pie whispered.