//------------------------------// // Friendship Erased // Story: LEGO Equestria Girls 6 // by Chronicler06 //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Friendship Erased After a plane ride that had lasted a couple hours, the Equestria Girls had landed at Lego City Airport. Everyone got off the plane, retrieved their luggage, and walked out through the main entrance. As they walked across the parking lot, they all discussed how excited they were for their vacation that was about to begin. “A whole week here in Lego City!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully declared. “This is gonna be the best vacation ever!” “Ah hear ya there, Pinkie,” remarked Applejack with a chuckle. “It’ll sure be nice to enjoy this city without havin’ to worry ‘bout savin’ the world, for once.” “Indeed,” agreed Rarity with a nod. “I certainly look forward to seeing the famous exhibits at the Uptown Art Museum.” “I’m more interested in visiting the science museum in the Downtown district,” said Twilight with a smile. “Personally, I hope we can also be permitted access to see the space launch center on Apollo Island.” “Boring!” argued Rainbow Dash playfully. “If you really want something exciting, then you’ve gotta ride the Orion’s Rockets rollercoaster at that amusement park on the pier! Who’s with me?!” “I think I’ll pass,” Fluttershy quietly responded. “I would rather visit Bluebell National Park, just across the bridge to the mainland. I heard there’s a rare breed of red squirrel that lives there, and I think it would be so fascinating to meet one.” “I’m not sure what exactly I’d like to do during our stay in this city,” admitted Sunset, “but as long as I’m with all of you, I’ll be happy no matter what we do.” “But first thing’s first,” stated Rarity. “We will need to check into our hotel rooms that I booked for us. I also took the liberty to arrange for some taxi cabs to take us to the hotel we’ll be staying at.” “Good thinking, Rarity,” remarked Spike as he shifted his shoulders around against the two heavy bags he was carrying. “I dunno about you, but I sure don’t wanna have to carry my bags over a long walk across town.” “Speakin’ of which,” added Applejack as she turned to Rarity, “Ah’m surprised ya decided to pack nothin’ more than whatever fits in that fancy rollin’ luggage ya got there.” “Actually, I didn’t,” replied Rarity with a smirk. “I simply arranged to have the rest of my essentials delivered to the hotel ahead of us.” “Why does that not surprise me?” muttered Rainbow Dash as she rolled her eyes. “Because I knew you would once again call me out for my travel habits,” responded Rarity, “so I chose to implement an alternative means of satisfying my needs. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.” “Except for all those guys who had to break their backs hauling your mountain of luggage around,” quipped Spike. Most of the group of friends laughed at Spike’s joke. As a result of this laughter, Sunset’s attention was focused sideways towards her friends, so she had no idea that someone was standing in her way until she bumped into her, knocking both of them down onto the pavement. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Sunset quickly apologized as she got up and grabbed the luggage she had dropped. “That’s okay… I’m used to it…” muttered the other person as she got back up on her own. She had pale green skin, brown eyes, a messy dark green long hair piece on her head, pale blue on her legs, and horizontal stripes of olive and medium green on her arms and torso. As the green girl got back up, Applejack noticed a full trash bag on the ground next to her with various bits of litter spilled out. “Cleanin’ up some litter, are ya?” she asked with a proud smile. “Not like anyone else ever bothers to,” the green girl muttered. “It needs to be taken care of before I can start my actual work.” She gestured to a parked van nearby, with detailing labeled on the side paneling that read “Wallflower’s Landscaping”. “I take it your name must be Wallflower, then,” noted Rarity. “Wallflower Blush,” confirmed the green girl with no enthusiasm as she picked up the trash bag and began tossing the scattered rubbish back into the bag. Wallflower was about to grab a sheet of paper when Spike suddenly snatched it away. He took a quick look at what was printed on the paper, then let out a long whistle and remarked, “Yeah, wherever you found this thing, it must’ve been hanging around for a really long time. Check it out.” He then handed the paper over to Sunset. Sunset took the paper and, as soon as her eyes fell on the content printed on it, her heart sank. “It’s one of my old wanted posters,” she muttered sadly. “I remember those things used to be all over the place,” noted Rainbow Dash as she and the others looked over Sunset’s shoulders at the poster, which displayed a colorless image of Sunset’s face expressing an evil smirk. “Yeah, she was a real meanie pants back then, wasn’t she?” remarked Pinkie Pie. Twilight noticed that these comments only added to Sunset’s sadness, so she took away the poster and crumpled it up as she added, “But of course, we all know you’ve long since earned the right to not be remembered like that.” Sunset smiled slightly and said, “Thanks, Twilight.” Twilight tossed the crumpled poster away, unknowingly making it bounce off Wallflower’s head before it hit the ground. With a sigh of mild irritation, she picked up the crumpled poster. Before she had a chance to toss it back into the trash bag, a taxi cab suddenly rammed into her van and shoved it out of its parking space and over the curb, crushing part of the row of flowers she had planted just hours ago. “Oh look! Our taxis are here!” Pinkie Pie called out cheerfully. As the group of friends with smiles on their faces began to hop into the taxis, Wallflower muttered under her breath, “And that was my van, which was just shoved out of a legal parking space.” No one else even bothered to acknowledge the van, and once everyone was inside the taxis, they all turned around and began heading down the street. Wallflower continued to stare at the part of the street that those four taxis had driven off towards. This was hardly the first time she had been subjected to such careless actions, but she still held out hope that, someday, she might finally receive some sympathy from someone. That day would not be today, as she suddenly noticed a police officer standing nearby, who looked at the van, shook his head in disapproval, and started writing a ticket. “Hey!” exclaimed Wallflower as she dropped the trash bag and ran over to the police officer. “You can’t write me a ticket! My van was just illegally shoved out of its parking space! A hit-and-run!” “Not my problem,” retorted the police officer as he finished the ticket and slapped it into Wallflower’s hand, then walked away. Wallflower stuttered as she struggled to think of anything to say. Finally, she just growled in frustration and tossed the crumpled poster she was still holding at her van. After a short taxi ride, the Equestria Girls had arrived at the hotel they would be staying at. Rarity, thanks to her wealth and generous nature, had booked a few rooms for them on the top floor of one of the best-rated beachfront hotels in the district of Paradise Sands. She had specifically made sure that the rooms they got were all on the east side of the building, granting everyone a view out towards the beach and the ocean. As everyone walked into the hotel’s lobby, Rarity walked over to the front desk to confirm her reservation, Applejack grabbed everyone’s luggage and began loading it onto one of the available baggage carts, and everyone else simply shared some idle conversation as they waited. Rainbow Dash pointed out that, sure enough, the vast bulk of Rarity’s luggage was already there, barely fitting on another baggage cart. The arrangements of who got which rooms had already been agreed upon by everyone prior to their departure. Twilight and Spike would have the room at the far end of the hallway, Fluttershy and Applejack would share the room next to that, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie would take the room next to that, and Rarity and Sunset would occupy the room next to that. After confirming the reservation, the guy at the front desk retrieved some keycards and placed them on the desk. “Here you go, girls,” he stated, speaking with a relaxed voice like some surfer dude. “Five rooms on the east side of the top floor.” Rarity glanced down and upon seeing there were in fact five keycards being given, she turned her attention back to the front desk guy and raised an eyebrow. “Five?” she asked in confusion. “I thought I booked four rooms to share between the eight of us.” The front desk guy typed something on the keyboard and glanced at his computer screen. “Nope, says here you booked five rooms,” he said. “But I could have sworn I specified only four rooms,” insisted Rarity. “Maybe you made a typo when you made the reservation,” suggested Rainbow Dash. “Yes, I suppose that may very well be the case,” muttered Rarity with resignation. She turned back to the front desk guy and asked with an awkward smile, “Is it not too late to request a refund on that fifth room?” “Sorry, man,” replied the front desk guy with a shrug. “Check’s already gone through.” “It’s okay, Rarity,” assured Sunset as she place a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “If we’re gonna be stuck with an extra room, I’ll take it for myself. That’ll at least give you your room all to yourself.” “I suppose you’re right,” acknowledged Rarity with a small smile. “Unfortunate situations do occasionally come with a silver lining, after all.” “Besides,” added Sunset with a light giggle, “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to sharing a room with that.” She gestured towards the baggage cart with Rarity’s luggage, which was now being handled by two bellhops. They were struggling to haul the cart into an elevator, but ended up accidentally tipping it over, spilling the mountain of luggage onto the floor and leaving one of them completely buried underneath. Applejack chuckled and remarked, “Ah hear ya there, Sunset.” Rarity crossed her arms as she huffed and grumbled, “Really, girls, must you always taunt me for my travel habits?” “How could we resist?” retorted Rainbow Dash. “You just make it so easy.” With the playful banter over, the girls grabbed their keycards and headed towards the elevators. It was already rather late in the afternoon, so the plan for today was for them to get settled into their rooms and make a plan for what they would do for each day of their stay in Lego City. By the time the Equestria Girls had dinner and made a final agreement on their plans for the week, it was already late at night, so everyone wished each other goodnight and settled into their rooms. In the fifth room, Sunset had changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. But before she called it a night, she decided to write a message in her magic journal to Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. Dear Princess Twilight, The girls and I are now in Lego City, ready to enjoy the week-long vacation we’ve been looking forward to for months now. It sure is nice to finally go somewhere and not have to worry about any major threats. Pretty much the worst thing that’s happened so far was that Rarity accidentally booked an extra hotel room for us, which I now have to myself — not that I’m complaining, of course. Along the way here, we came across an old relic of the days back when I used to be one of the most wanted criminals in all of the Lego World, but my friends assured me those days are long gone. After all, if you hadn’t forgiven me, I’d still be the arrogant brat I was when I first left Equestria, probably plotting my next strike for some petty gain. You gave me the second chance I didn’t deserve, and I’ll never forget it. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer. With her message finished, she closed her journal and set it down on the side table, then switched off the light and prepared to fall asleep. Not much time later, while virtually everyone in Lego City was sleeping, something very strange happened. Countless glowing red ribbons quickly flew all over the city and beyond. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of them flew together, all gathering towards a single location, somewhere in the woods of Bluebell National Park, on the mainland just west of Lego City. The next morning, vacationers and tourists all across Paradise Sands were ready to enjoy a beautiful warm day with not a single cloud in the sunny sky. Some stayed close to their hotels to enjoy the pools and the buffets, others decided to have fun at the amusement park on the pier, and many others chose to simply relax out on the beach. For today, the Equestria Girls had decided to start their week-long vacation by spending the whole day at the beach. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike were already out on the beach by the time Twilight Sparkle stepped out onto the sands, all of whom were wearing their swimsuits. Twilight had dark blue on her hip joint and lower half of her torso, light blue on the upper half of the front of her torso, and a magenta five-pointed star in the middle of the light blue portion. Applejack had medium blue on her hip joint, upper arms, and the upper half of her torso, a white stripe on the sides of her arms and torso, and a red apple on the front of the blue portion of her torso. Rainbow Dash had magenta on her upper legs, black on the upper half of her torso with yellow, green, and magenta diagonal stripes across the front, and a magenta baseball cap on her head with a sun and cloud printed on the front of it. Rarity had a light blue skirt piece around her upper legs, violet on the upper half of her torso with a blue diamond in the middle of the front, and a black sunhat on her head with a light blue stripe around the inner edge of the brim. Pinkie Pie had magenta on her hip joint and the upper half of her torso, white on the lower half of her torso, and a row of yellow bows down the front of her torso. Fluttershy had black on her torso and legs, turquoise on her arms and the sides of her torso and legs, and a magenta fish on the front of her torso. Spike had green on his upper legs, nothing on his torso, and his usual red cap on his head. Twilight was carrying a large case under her arms as she walked over to join her friends. She set the case down on the sand and opened it, revealing an aerial drone she had assembled and customized herself. She switched the drone on, tapped a few more buttons, then stood back as the rotors revved up and the gadget lifted up into the air. Twilight smiled and proudly proclaimed, “Now commencing field test of one of my latest inventions, the A.I. Selfie-Sensing Drone!” She turned to her friends and explained, “The artificial intelligence I’ve programed into this drone is designed to detect excellent selfie opportunities, hover into position, and take the picture at the precise moment when the image is at its most ideal.” Applejack stared at the drone as it hovered around just over her head, then turned to Twilight and asked, “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of takin’ a selfie if ya ain’t takin’ it yourself?” Twilight paused with a blank stare, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully and muttered, “Huh… that never really occurred to me.” Click! Twilight suddenly turned to where that noise came from and discovered that her drone had its camera pointed at her. Just she had programed it to do, the drone then turned around to show her the picture it had just taken of her, where she had her hand on her chin with a thoughtful expression on her face. Twilight chuckled and remarked, “Looks like it’s already working quite well. I could practically make an emoji out of that one.” Nearby, Rarity was kneeling on the sand in front of her beach chair while looking across a row of white sheets of cloth, each covering the area of a 4x6 tile, while Rainbow Dash stood behind her looking over her shoulder. As her eyes glanced over each of the six sheets, she muttered, “Hmm… which beach blanket would look best with my complexion for photographs?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and spoke up, “Uh, you mean the white one, or… the white one?” Rarity gasped in shock, then grasped two of the sheets as she scoffed and retorted, “This one is toasted oat, and this is linen lamb’s wool!” She placed those two sheets back down and pointed at the rest of them as she continued, “That’s eggshell, warm frost, pale nimbus, and, uh…” She hesitated on the last one before she sheepishly finished, “Well, that one is white, I suppose.” “Uh, yeah,” responded Rainbow Dash with a friendly smile. “That’s the one I was talking about.” A brief gust of wind suddenly whipped across the beach, forcing the two girls to hold onto their hats. The gust was strong enough to send one of the white sheets airborne and fluttering across the beach past Spike and Pinkie, who were both in the middle of building a sandcastle. Spike was the first one to notice the white beach blanket flying by on the wind and heading towards the water. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it!” he called out as he quickly dropped his shovel and began chasing after the blanket. Pinkie Pie, sensing another opportunity for some fun, immediately began chasing after the blanket as well, pausing very briefly to slap a pair of orange flippers onto her feet. “No, I got it! I got it!” she called out cheerfully. “No way, Pinkie! I’ve got it!” retorted Spike playfully as he reached up towards the flying blanket. Pinkie also tried to reach up and grab the airborne blanket, but soon learned the hard way why running in flippers was such a bad idea. She suddenly tripped over herself and fell flat on her face into the sand. As she fell, her outstretched arm ended up grabbing onto Spike’s leg, causing him to also trip over and fall flat on his face. Both Pinkie and Spike glanced up just in time to watch the blanket fall out of the air and plunge into the water. “I don’t got it,” they both groaned in disappointment. Just seconds after that blanket sank out of sight, a strange mass covered in seaweed quickly rose up out of the water in its place. Pinkie’s eyes widened as she gasped and exclaimed, “Ocean monster! Ocean monster!” She and Spike both immediately got back up and ran away while screaming in terror, ultimately taking cover behind their incomplete sandcastle. The creature stepped out onto the shore, walking on two feet with pink flippers on them. The creature then removed the seaweed covering it, revealing that it was Fluttershy with a snorkel and goggles over her face, while the seaweed-covered object she held was actually the lost beach blanket. Spike and Pinkie peeked out from behind the sandcastle, and once they saw who it actually was, Spike said with relief, “Oh, it was just Fluttershy.” He laughed a little, then elbowed Pinkie and remarked, “She really had us going there, didn’t she?” Pinkie giggled in response and cheerfully said, “Silly me! How could I mistaken one of my best friends for some ocean monster?” She giggled some more as she and Spike walked out from behind the sandcastle. At the same time, Fluttershy walked over to where the rest of her friends had gathered. Once she arrived, she removed the snorkel from her mouth, then removed her flippers as she spoke up, “Quincy the sea turtle says the tide’s coming in. We should consider moving higher up the beach or risk having damp ankles.” As she handed the seawater-drenched blanket over to Rarity, she contently muttered, “Oh, he’s so thoughtful.” At Fluttershy’s suggestion, Rarity began to fold up the rest of her white blankets. However, when she noticed the drenched, seaweed-covered blanket that Fluttershy was offering back to her, she cringed in disgust and politely said, “Uh, Fluttershy, dear, perhaps you should just… dispose of that one.” Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer finally stepped out onto the beach, carrying her satchel over her right shoulder and wearing a swimsuit that consisted of a red, orange, and yellow skirt piece around her upper legs, and black on her upper torso with half of her sun symbol in yellow and white on the front. She had slept in a little late and didn’t have a chance to see any of her friends earlier that morning, but now she was ready to enjoy the beginning of a week-long vacation among her best friends. Sunset smiled once she found where her friends had gathered together. As she walked over to them, she noticed a small aerial drone hovering around them, with some of them posing as it flew near them. Twilight had told them ahead of the trip that she was planning to test a selfie-sensing A.I. she had recently programed, and as far as Sunset could see, it seemed to be working quite well. Once Sunset reached her friends, the drone turned towards her and immediately stopped. “Hey, Twilight,” greeted Sunset pleasantly. “I see you got that selfie-sensor working.” She then posed for a photo, but rather than take a picture, the drone zoomed right back into the case it was carried within, landing with just enough force to make the lid flip down to close the case. “Okay…” mumbled Sunset in confusion. Her smile quickly returned as she turned back to her friends and spoke up, “So, who’s ready to begin the best vacation ever?” But the looks Sunset received from her friends were surprisingly not friendly at all. At first, they all stared silently at her in shock and confusion. Seconds later, those expressions changed to anger and contempt in Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, while Fluttershy, Spike, and Pinkie became more fearful. Fluttershy in particular became so terrified that she hid behind Applejack. Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled as she playfully quipped, “Alright, what did I do this time?” Sunset’s friends still remained completely silent as they glanced at each other in confusion, with Pinkie Pie shrugging at Applejack. “So, uh…” continued Sunset uneasily, her voice starting to reflect her own growing confusion. “Do you wanna build a sandcastle, or… go for a swim first?” Again, there was another awkward pause between Sunset and her friends. “How’s the water?” asked Sunset, nervously struggling to get any conversation going. Finally, someone besides Sunset decided to speak up. “Sunset Shimmer?” asked Applejack with strong contempt in her voice. “Askin’ to be part of our best vacation ever?” She then scoffed and grumbled, “Now I’ve heard it all.” Sunset glanced back and forth across her friends and asked in confusion, “Am I missing the joke here?” “The only joke is whatever this is you’re playing on us,” responded Rarity with disgust, “acting all nice like you’re our friend.” “And it’s not funny,” argued Fluttershy nervously. “Because you aren’t nice!” added Rainbow Dash with anger. “An’ we ain’t friends!” finished Applejack firmly. “Wait, what?!” asked Sunset in shock. “You got applesauce in your ears?” retorted Applejack. “Ah said we ain’t fr— Whoa!” Sunset didn’t bother letting Applejack finish her scolding before she swiftly grabbed her arm. Something very strange was going on, and Sunset needed answers right away. As soon as she made contact, her body stiffened and her eyes glowed white as she began to look into Applejack’s memories. The first memory Sunset saw was the moment when she and her friends had confronted the magically corrupted Gloriosa Daisy. The particular moment she was witnessing was when the seven of them stood together in a circle with their backs to each other, ready to face off against the army of wood-figs that Gloriosa had unleashed. Pinkie Pie had even expressed excitement that they were doing a “superhero pose”. However, while Sunset distinctly remembered being armed with a laser blaster as she stood alongside her friends, in this memory she was witnessing, she was nowhere to be found, and it was only the six others who stood together. The next memory Sunset saw was soon after Abacus Cinch was arrested and the Shadowbolts were disbanded, when Twilight was permitted to officially reside in the region of Canterlot City and was even allowed to join the LEGO Team to stay with the new group of friends she had made. Sunset remembered being part of the group hug that firmly welcomed her as a friend, but in this memory she witnessed, she was again nowhere to be found, and it was only the five others who embraced Twilight. The next memory Sunset saw was the moment immediately after Midnight Sparkle was defeated, and Twilight and Sunset both reverted back to their normal forms. But while Sunset remembered Twilight making her initial apology to her, this memory seemed to imply that Twilight made her tearful apology to everyone around as she stood completely alone, while Sunset was once again nowhere to be found. The next memory Sunset saw was at the climax of the battle against the Dazzlings, where her friends — including Princess Twilight — stood with their musical instruments on the flying performance stage being operated by Equestria’s Spike. The sirens had just beaten them back, and the microphone had landed in Sunset’s hands while she was hovering in the air in her rocket chair. To give her friends the extra energy they needed to win, she attached her rocket chair to the stage, stepped up to join her friends, and began signing her own part of the song. But strangely, while this memory still included that rocket chair, Sunset herself was still nowhere to be found. The final memory Sunset saw was the most distant one of all, when she and her friends had gathered at their favorite pizzeria in Canterlot City to talk with Princess Twilight about the threat the Dazzlings posed to the Lego World. But while many details of that lunch meeting — including how numerous slices of pizza somehow seemed to frequently end up splattering in Princess Twilight’s lap — were just like what she had remembered, the seat where Sunset had sat between Princess Twilight and the window was completely empty. Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal as her glimpse of Applejack’s memories came to an end. But after everything she just saw, Sunset immediately tensed up and gasped in shock. As she stepped back from her friends — and they likewise took a step back from her — she exclaimed in panic, “It’s like I’ve been… erased!” The rest of the Equestria Girls stared back at her in confusion, but still refused to let their guard down. “This has to be a bad dream!” exclaimed Sunset in terror. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her forehead. “Wake up, Sunset! Wake up!” Smack! “Ow!” shouted Sunset as he head spun all the way around after suddenly getting slapped in the face. Once her head stopped moving, she saw Pinkie standing right in front of her with an innocent smile on her face. “Nope! You’re awake!” noted Pinkie cheerfully. She then slapped herself in the face, also sending her head spinning completely around once. Smack! “Owie!” Once her head stopped moving, Pinkie giggled and added, “Yup! Me too!” After briefly rubbing the sore spot on her cheek, Sunset suddenly asked, “What about you?” She reached over and grabbed Rainbow Dash’s arm before she had a chance to respond. Again, Sunset’s body stiffened and her eyes glowed white as she now looked into Rainbow’s memories. The memory Sunset saw was during the middle of their team’s battle against Twilight’s team of Shadowbolt agents in the Pick-A-Brick warehouse. This was the moment where Sunset had somehow found herself hanging precariously over a pile of burning tires, and Rainbow had just finished building a small spacecraft and was flying over to save her. However, Sunset herself was yet again missing from this memory, and although Rainbow still flew directly over that flaming pile of tires as she actually did, she reacted as if she had no idea why she even did that in the first place. Sunset’s body relaxed and her eyes returned to normal as her glimpse of Rainbow Dash’s memories came to an end. Sunset immediately protested, “No! Rainbow Dash, you saved me from falling into that pile of burning tires in the warehouse!” Rainbow Dash yanked her arm out of Sunset’s grasp and asked, “What are you talking about?” “I can see your memories!” explained Sunset worriedly. “I know exactly where I’m supposed to be in all of them, but I’m not there in any of them!” Applejack folded her arms and asked, “An’ exactly how is it you can see our memories, if ya don’t mind me askin’?” “With this!” answered Sunset as she pointed at her magical geode near the top of her torso. Rarity scoffed and dismissively retorted, “It’s obviously a cheap knockoff of ours.” “But we got them together!” argued Sunset desperately. “You were there, remember?” “Why is she still talking to us?” whispered Fluttershy fearfully to Applejack. Sunset rubbed her hand against her forehead as she struggled to figure out what was going on. Applejack didn’t remember her, neither did Rainbow Dash, nor Rarity, nor even Fluttershy. Realizing that she hadn’t quite asked everyone yet, she turned to Pinkie and asked, “Pinkie Pie, remember that first time we were aboard Captain Storm Wave’s pirate ship, where I came up with the plan for us to stop the sirens?” “You think you can play me for a fool just because I’m the silly one?” accused Pinkie as she folded her arms. “Well you thought very wrong! I’ve memorized the builtdays of thousands of minifigs, every recipe of every cookbook I’ve ever heard of, and the usual orders of every single repeat customer at Sugar Cube Corner. I would totally remember all the little details of all the times I’ve spent with my friends. And guess what? The closest you’ve ever come to me was when you blew up my ride and rebuilt the pieces into a cage to trap me and my friends in the woods with only a pair of brick-head crooks to keep us company!” “But that was a long time ago!” argued Sunset. “I’ve changed at lot since then!” “Sure you did,” retorted Pinkie with a thick tone of sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. Growing increasingly desperate, Sunset turned to Twilight and asked, “Twilight, you remember me, right? We’ve been through so much together. Please…” Tears began forming in Sunset’s eyes as she feared what she might hear next. “I’ve only met you a few times,” admitted Twilight hesitantly, “all of them back when I was a Shadowbolt agent, and you kept coming after me like some kind of bounty hunter.” “Because I was trying to protect my friends!” argued Sunset desperately. “The same girls who are now your friends, too!” After asking everyone else, her attention finally turned to Spike. “Don’t bother asking me,” grumbled Spike dismissively as he held up a hand and glanced away. “The only thing I know about you is that you’re number one on LEGO’s Most Wanted, so unless you’re waiting for the cops to show up, you might as well just move along and get going.” “Doesn’t anyone remember that I’ve changed for the better?!” exclaimed Sunset in a final burst of desperation. All seven minifigs gathered in front of her shook their heads and turned away from her without saying a word. Distressed beyond belief, Sunset began quickly glancing around all over the place. Soon, her eyes fell upon her satchel that she was still carrying, and she suddenly smiled a little. “Maybe not anyone…” she mumbled. She then turned away and began to run off as she called to her friends, “I’ll be right back!” With a smug look on her face, Rarity waved back at her and taunted, “Don’t hurry back, darling!” Sunset ignored that taunt as she ran over to the nearby lifeguard station and sat down beside one of its support posts. She quickly pulled her magic journal and a pen out of her satchel and opened the journal to the first blank page. She brought her pen to the page, hesitated for a moment, then sighed as she began to write. Dear Princess Twilight, This is going to sound crazy, but… are we friends? Am I… nice? Please answer immediately… Unsure of what else she could say, Sunset decided to just leave the message at that and hope Princess Twilight was close by to her magic journal to provide an immediate response. If whatever happened to her friends had also affected Princess Twilight in Equestria, then she had no idea what she would do next. Just the thought of it was enough to depress her to the point of just giving up on everything. Suddenly, the open page in the journal glowed as a response from the other side was written. Of course we’re friends! Sunset let out a huge sigh of relief. At least she still had one friend she could count on. She opened her eyes and saw a little more had been written. Are you okay? What’s going on? With renewed determination, Sunset immediately wrote back. Kind of hard to explain. Might be easier in person. Well, not “person”, so to speak. Just open the interdimensional portal right away and I’ll come through as soon as possible. See you soon… Sunset then closed her magic journal and put that and her pen back into her satchel. Now that she had a plan of some kind, she was ready to go through with it. First, she needed to get to the interdimensional portal in the main park of Canterlot City. She didn’t have quite enough money on hand to afford a plane ticket back to Canterlot City, and in any case, she was sure that if everyone now remembered only her criminal past and not her more recent heroic deeds, then the airport security would definitely detain her the moment she tried to get through. But there was another option. Sunset glanced over to her friends and saw they were all now heading out into the water, leaving their bags and other beach supplies behind. Recognizing this perfect opportunity, she sneaked over to those bags, with her eyes particularly on Twilight’s bag. After a quick glance over to her right to confirm none of her friends were looking in her direction, she reached into Twilight’s bag, carefully dug around a little, and soon pulled out a small gadget meant to be fitted over one’s wrist. This was a Jump-Gate return device, which allowed the user to open access to any existing Jump-Gate for instant travel across vast distances. Twilight had insisted on always having one with her at all times in case of an emergency situation, and right now, Sunset was convinced that this was definitely such a situation. “Please forgive me for this, Twilight,” muttered Sunset as she stuffed the device into her satchel and began to run off, “but this is a very serious emergency.” Although Sunset now had a means of traveling immediately to where she needed to go, she couldn’t just use it right there right away. That would have been way too conspicuous. Instead, she decided to return to her hotel room and open a Jump-Gate from there, to minimize the chances that anyone would figure out where she was or where she went. Besides, she wanted to change out of her swimsuit and back into her standard outfit before making a trip back to Canterlot City and from there back to Equestria. Something very strange was going on, and Sunset desperately hoped that her friend Princess Twilight Sparkle might have the answers she needed.