The next two weeks passed by in relative peace. There were a few more incidents I went out to deal with, but I spent most of my time with Luna. Sometimes we'd talk; I found out she had once caused a lot of trouble of her own, and it took her a long time to let it all go and become a new pony. I mostly wanted to push my past out of my mind as much as possible, but when I felt like I needed to discuss it, it was good to have a pony who understood.
Most of the time, we'd just enjoy each others' company, either in silence or engaging in the activities at Silver Shoals. I was shocked at how active those senior ponies really were, and they seemed to like having a foal hanging around.
I gathered that Luna had told Twilight where I was, but nopony ever came asking after me. I had some time to try to sort things out for myself. Some of my memories came back, gradually and subtly – I would see something and simply remember what it was, or some incident from my past, or I'd just be thinking about things and run across some memory I didn't realize I had.
I hated it when that happened. No matter what the memory was about, it was always through the lens of a malicious, manipulative pony. Luna could always tell when one had come up because she saw me throw myself into my training whenever it happened. That's usually when we'd have one of our talks.
I kept the new coat color and mane style permanently. Aside from making me harder to recognize, it helped remind me that I was playing a different role than I was before – that I could be somepony new.
I was outside working on a particularly tricky spell when Twilight, Dash, and Zecora showed up. They apparently wanted to see how I was doing for themselves.
There was also a purple mare I didn't recognize, who was introduced as Starlight Glimmer; apparently, we had even nastier history than I did with the others, but she seemed the happiest of the lot to see me improving. She promised I'd be seeing a lot more of her in the future, and even gave me a few tips on my magic; I actually needed them, because my magic was getting less powerful over time. Apparently, I had absorbed magic from some artifact, and as it wore off I'd need to learn to harness my own power without it as a crutch.
I guess I should have known super heroics wouldn't come that easy.
Twilight asked me what I planned to do with my future. In particular, she wanted to know if I planned to go back to her school. I barely remembered the place, but what little I did remember was the worst of what came to my mind; I was definitely in my darkest mindset there. I told her I wanted to stay as far from my old life as possible, and that seemed to put everyone at ease.
On the other hand, I needed to study more than magic. I figured that would be when they'd ship me off somewhere, but to my surprise, Twilight just left a sack of books with Luna. Apparently, it's fine if I stay here, at least for now. Dash made me promise to visit sometimes, but aside from that, it didn't seem like there were a lot of demands on me.
I suspect Luna had something to do with all of that, but I don't really know for sure.
Twilight admitted that nopony was entirely sure what to do with me. A villainous foal was unique enough already; one with amnesia who was engaging in heroics was outside of even her rehabilitation expertise. But, as long as I was determined to do better and stayed near ponies who cared about me, she said, she thought things would turn out for the best.
I think she's right. How hard can turning good be? I did it by accident, after all.
Celestia spent some time with me after they'd left. She commented that I was the quietest foal she knew.
I told her that was because I used to use words as weapons. There's a sincerity in silence. She seemed to think that was funny, for some reason, but I didn't press her for an explanation. Sometimes she oversees my magic training; maybe she misses teaching.
I wish I could remember my family, if I've even got one. I wish I hadn't screwed things up so badly before. I wish I knew why the powers of Harmony stripped me of my memory. There's a lot of things I wish for.
But I think I'll be okay.
And anycreature who tries stirring up trouble in Equestria is going to have to get through me, no matter what the Princesses say about it being reckless!