Sunset huddled in her blanket, holding her stuffed phoenix tightly. She turned through the copied pages her journals Princess Twilight had graciously given her. She'd read through them numerous times. However, now, she was idly glancing over them; processing the newest information.
Princess Celestia stood uneasily off to the side. Her eyes darted around the room, moving from Sunset to the window, to the pile of reading pillows, to the desk, back to Sunset. She didn't pay much attention to what she saw, glancing about only from nervous habit. She did, however, note that the griffon had recovered from its crashed flight and was now sitting upon the desk.
'A promising sign' Celestia told herself. She looked back to Sunset, who was still flipping through pages. Celestia wasn't sure how to react when Sunset agreed to speak with her. She was more surprised it was Sunset who requested it.
Yet, now, she was more unsure about things than ever. Yes, Sunset indicated she wanted to talk. Yes, she invited Celestia into her room. However, upon arriving, not a word had been uttered. Not even a "hello."
Celestia sighed inwardly. She'd gotten the silent treatment before.
She became alert when she heard Sunset set the pages aside. Looking to Sunset, she saw her squeezing her phoenix.
"I suppose we should talk about it" she said.
Celestia gave a few slight nods. "Only if you're ready."
"That's the thing, isn't it?" Sunset laughed sarcastically, "How can you know if you are ready?"
Celestia lowered her head. Something like this, it wasn't easy to tell.
Sunset turned her attention back to her phoenix. She sat quietly, fiddling with the bird, making its wings flap with her hooves. "There really is no point in talking, is there?" she said softly, "There's so much I don't know. So much I need to know." She let out out a sobbed sigh. "I'm so confused! I don't know what to think. I don't even know what or how to feel!"
"That's understandable--"
"Understandable?" Sunset snapped, "What do you know about 'understandable'? You weren't even here! You left me in a strange place with strangers.
“Why do I get punished? I'm the one who lost her memories and woke up in a world I don't know. I'm the one who needed help. I needed you. Instead, I get dumped onto two teachers who dish out manual labor under the guise of 'magic studies'.”
"I understand you're upset--"
"I'm more than upset!" Sunset hissed, "I'm angry, hurt, lost... Even after hours of reading my own journals, I don't know who I'm supposed to be!"
She hugged her phoenix tighter. "Twilight and Starlight I can understand. They didn't know the old me, and there was only so much they could do. But, you?
"I've always trusted you! I went on those wild adventures, did crazy things because I knew you would always be there for me!
"Something happened between us. My journals allude to it, but Princess Twilight remains silent. She says I should talk to you.
"I know I'm no longer your student. What happened? Why could you not be there for me now?
"Because right now?" she choked on her sob, "Right now, I really need you! I'm happy to have my memories returned, but I'm frightened! I want to know what happened between us, but I'm afraid to know! I can't help but wonder what other horrible memories await me. Am I better off without them? Should I just stay the way I am now?"
Celestia cautiously put a foreleg around Sunset. When Sunset didn't object, she tightened the hold, bringing her into a hug. "There are many things I'd rather forget as well" she sighed. “But, Sunset, no one is going to force you to go through with this if you are not ready.”
Sunset let out a long breath. “After what everyone has done, I feel as if I owe it to them.”
“You don't owe anybody anything.”
Sunset looked up with big, teary eyes. “Don't I? After all you've done for me since I was little? After how I've treated everypony?” Her jaw clenched as tears rolled down her cheeks. “How can I not owe anypony anything?” She felt a strong wing wrap around her and she lost all control.
Celestia fought off her own tears as Sunset's wetted her coat. She tightened her hold as the sobs increased. A part of Sunset's blanket had fallen away. She took it and pulled it over the the unicorn. Sunset responded by snuggling deeper into the princess.
As much as Sunset loved her blanket, there was always a sadness to it. Celestia knew it well. She knew the joy and happiness Sunset felt whenever she had her phoenix and blanket. They were security. They were comfort. But they were also pain.
Celestia was well-aware of Sunset's belief that her parents delivered her to the orphanage, wrapped in the banket, the phoenix held in her infant hooves. These items were reminders of her parents. They were reminders betrayal, reminders of abandonment.
It broke Celestia's heart to think she'd hurt Sunset the same way her parents had. Though unintentional, she'd done the one thing she'd swore she'd never do: she had become like Sunset's parents. She had abandoned her daughter, leaving her to the care of strangers.
It was never known why Sunset was given to the orphanage. Celestia had often wondered why parents would give up their children. Over the years, and after much research, she had formulated many theories. She now had another:
Maybe, like her, they were afraid.
But, the blanket and phoenix also represented something else. They were symbols of love.
Too many foals, Celestia found, had been delivered to orphanages in nothing more than their own coats. Nothing for warmth. Not even a name.
Sunset was given her name. She was given warmth and comfort. She was given a companion. Whatever their reason, her parents loved her enough to give her these things. And she loved them for that.
Celestia looked at the griffin perched upon the desk. She wondered what that toy meant for Sunset now.
---
If not for the blue aura that surrounded her, Wallflower Blush would have had a hard landing upon exiting the portal. She gave a sheepish smile of thanks to Princess Luna.
Princess twilight had also come to greet their patient. "How are you feeling?"
Wallflower shuffled. "Scared. Excited. Releived. Really, as well as to be expected."
"Each understandable and good" Luna smiled.
"If you'll follow me," Twilight continued, "Everything is all set up."
Wallflower looked around as they walked through the castle. She hadn't noticed just how large it was. Of course, she really hadn't had a good look at it. Still, it seemed just as daunting as the reason she was here.
Princess Luna draped a reassuring wing over the trembling earth pony. “You're going to be just fine.”
“It's not so much the transfer of memories” Wallflower replied, staring idly at the ground, “It's the thought of seeing Sunset Shimmer again.” It has been a week since this whole debacle began, and the image of a distraught Sunset had forever seared itself into her mind.
Luna gave a gentle smile. “I'm sure she's just as anxious about this as you are.”
That, at least, made things a little better for Wallflower.
“Well, hopefully, that will all be behind us soon.” Twilight said. She led the way up the stairs and down the hall. She opened a single door to reveal a bedroom. Inside, was a table and a freshly made bed. With Luna's gentle guidance, Wallflower walked to the bed and climbed in. She pulled the covers tight to her chin.
“Well then,” Twilight said, picking up what Wallflower quickly recognized as the Memory Stone, “if you're ready, we'll get started.”
Wallflower made one last glance around for reassurance before giving a short nod.
“It's going to be okay” Luna gently stroked Wallflower's mane, “You'll be asleep for the whole thing. Now, make yourself comfortable.” After some adjustment from Wallflower, Luna placed a sleeping spell over the pony. In short time, light snores filled the room.
Luna prepared for her second spell. With a nod from Twilight, the two entered the Dream Realm. Twilight took a moment to get her bearings and looked about. “This seems a bit different from the last time I was here.”
“That's because we're in a different level” the night princess replied, “We are at the boarder of the sleeping and waking worlds. This is where lucid dreaming happen. We should be able to get the most clearest of visions from here. ”
Twilight started up the Memory Stone. “Well, let's get started.”
---
It was a long and arduous task, but, after an extensive combing through Wallflower's memories, the princesses began to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. It hadn't been long before they worked out a system and rhythm for detecting and extracting foreign memories. Remarkably, the majority of the memories were still intact. However, there were also those they found that were only fragments. Then, there were those which had become infused with Wallflower's. Those ones required delicate precision.
Exhausted, Twilight strained to capture the last remaining of Sunset's memories. She wiped her brow as the latest memory was carefully stored. In her hooves, the Memory Stone was growing warm from the repeated use. A little bit away Luna spouted words of encouragement before announcing she'd found another memory.
At last, Luna ran a wide sweeping spell over the whole dreamscape. She let out a relieved sigh. “That's all of it.”
Twilight shared in her relief. “Good! This was starting to get really hot.”
A moment later, the alicorns were back in the waking world. Wallflower Blush was sleeping soundly in the bed, wrapped up in the blankets. Luna made a quick check on her before following Twilight across the hall to another bedroom where Sunset Shimmer was silently snoozing away. At her side, sat Celestia. She greeted the other princesses as they entered. “I trust all went well?”
“Indeed” nodded Luna. “When Twilight catches her breath, we'll be ready to proceed with Sunset Shimmer.”
“It wasn't that bad” the younger panted.
Luna gave a smirk as she went over to inspect Sunset.
“She only just fell asleep” Celestia said, "I'm afraid she's very restless."
The younger sister nodded in acknowledgement. “I'll give her a little something to aid with that.”
With Sunset in a deep, sound sleep, Twilight turned her focus back to the Memory Stone. As she had noticed with Sunburst, it was easier to remove memories than to place them—and that was just for a single memory. However, she pushed through and soon, the stone lit up and memories came flying form it and into Sunset.
Sunset seemed to have sensed something was going on. She let out a slight moan of discomfort, and shuffled slightly, but remained asleep.
With the last memory gone, the stone powered down and remained inert.
There was a collective release of breaths.
Celestia returned to Sunset's side, giving her a tender nuzzle. “When will we know if it worked?”
Luna shrugged. “Whenever they wake up. Which could be anywhere from minutes to hours. We'll just have to keep an eye on them till then.”
---
With Sunset and Wallflower on their way to recovery, Celestia had called a meeting to discuss the Memory Stone.
“There's no doubt,” Moondancer concluded, “in the wrong hooves, this is a very dangerous stone.”
“True” said Sunburst, “But, I also see no cause to destroy it. We have proved that good can be done with it.”
“But, that was to undo the harm done with by the first stone.”
“What about next time?”
“I'm gonna agree with Sunburst on this” Starlight spoke up, “Even if there isn't another pony running around with another memory stone, having one may prove beneficial. The thing is, it would have to be reserved for the most extreme of circumstances.”
Celestia pursed her lips. She studied the stone sitting innocently in the center of the conference table. Both sides gave valuable arguments. While it had the potential for good, it also had the potential for evil. However, Celestia wasn't keen to destroy something solely based just on the possibility of the “potential of”. “This is the only Memory Stone, correct?”
“That we know of” Twilight replied.
Celestia returned to her pondering. 'That we know of.' She didn't like the sound of that. For all they know, there could be more, unknown, stones. Whether they have been scattered throughout Equestria, Equus, or other worlds, this one stone may be their only defense against them. It would be foolish to throw it all away. She took the stone in her hooves and rolled it around, inspecting it. “You are the only ones who know how this stone is made?”
Twilight and her friends nodded.
“Nopony else knows?”
Again, she was answered with nods.
Celestia looked to her sister. The two seemed to be thinking the same thing. Though, they wished they weren't. Upon reaching a silent agreement, the elder sister hung her head. “In that case, I'm sorry.”
“Sorry?” Sunburst raised an eyebrow, “Sorry for wha—” He stopped when he saw he wasn't speaking to anybody. “W-Where did Princess Celestia and Princess Luna go?” He looked to the other mares with him. They also seemed to have experience the same thing as him. “Uh, what happened?”
Moondancer placed a hoof to her head. “I don't know. Weren't we just talking about something?”
“We were discussing how a Memory Stone is made” answered Twilight.
“Right,” Starlight said, “how is it made?” She flinched slightly when Twilight gave her a glare.
“You don't know how it's made?”
“No,” replied Moondancer, “I thought you were going to tell us.”
Twilight felt her heart race. 'What just happened?' She looked to the table and noticed that not only was the Memory Stone gone, but also the scroll and other documents to go with it. Twilight frowned and ran to the door. “Stay here!”
The sisters hadn't gone far. In fact, they were still in the castle when Twilight caught up to them. “Princess Celestia!” she yelled, her fury was evident in her voice, “What did you do?”
Celestia let out a visible sigh, turning to her student. “I'm sorry, Twilight, it had to be done.”
That wasn't good enough. Twilight's eyes narrowed as her speech became slow and deliberate. “What did you do to them?”
“I only removed the actual ritual to making the stone. Nothing more.”
Twilight snarled. “Then you removed my memory of you doing it. But, what about me? Why did you not take my memory as well?”
Celestia turned away. It only surged Twilight's anger. “Do you not trust me?”
“Twilight, you know I do—”
“Then return their memories, or take mine as well! Or let it be their decision.
"I trust those ponies back there just as much as you do me, of not more!”
That may just have been a knife to Celestia. However, she could not blame her student. She knew what had to be done, what needed to be done. With a heavy heart, she reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the Memory Stone. “I'm really sorry about this, Twilight.”
Twilight lowered her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I know.”