//------------------------------// // Day Three // Story: Recollections: A Sunflower Story // by The Lone Doctor //------------------------------// The next morning brought with it a comfortable warmth that I didn’t dare to leave. But that morning, the alarm clock wasn’t the one yelling at me to wake up and get out of bed. A soft, vibrating buzz from somewhere in my room broke through the walls of my unconsciousness. I groaned as I looked around in the dark, trying to figure out who dared to interrupt the best sleep I’d had since I came here. Looking over to Wallflower, I found she was luckier. Her eyes were still closed, her face in serene sleep as she held me tight. I felt myself blushing as I remembered the events that led up to here, and how it all escalated to this. Yet at the same time, my heart sank. Through everything, all we managed to gather was that Wallflower wasn’t outstanding in school, and she had an apathetic asshole for a mother. I hadn’t gotten any closer to helping Wallflower out of her plight. I had only been losing more and more options. As much as I wanted to fall back into the warmth and forget all about my predicament and the annoying buzzing, there was the off chance that it was something important. Sighing, I carefully unwrapped myself from Wallflower’s arms, and slowly climbed down the ladder. My eyes squinted in exhausted concentration as I tried to find the source of the buzz. There weren’t any lights from the desk where I set my phone to charge, so it wasn’t that. Eventually my sights landed on my bag. It was glowing and vibrating. That could only mean one thing. Twilight was able to crack what might be causing Wallflower’s memory loss. My heart raced as I quickly took the battered book out of my bag and opened it. Dear Sunset, Thanks for bringing this to my attention. None of what you described, nor the drawing you provided matched with anything I had in my library. I have to admit it left me stumped initially, so I turned to Princess Celestia to see if she had anything I didn’t have. Turns out there might be something there that could match what you said Wallflower was going through. There was an ancient artifact called the Memory Stone that had the power to remove memories. Clover the Clever managed to face a sorceress that used the stone to try to become invincible by writing everything down before every battle. He chased her down through many dimensions until he was finally able to subdue the sorceress and took the stone from her. He tried to destroy it, to no avail. Further records indicate he might’ve buried it in another world near some strange rock formation. It doesn’t seem like much to go on, but it’s the closest thing I could find that matches what you described. I have to warn you though, if the Memory Stone really did cause this, whoever lost their memories has only three days to break the magic of the stone before those memories are lost forever, so time is of the essence. I hope this can help clear things up. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle P.S. I’ve enclosed some illustrations of the rock formation the stone was supposedly buried at, what the stone itself looks like, and the parchment that would’ve come with it. That piqued my interest, particularly the description that the stone was buried near an unusual rock formation. It sounded familiar somehow… Still, when I found Wallflower, I didn’t find any sort of stone close to her. If she used it as recently as Twilight thought she did, I wouldn’t have missed it. Other than that, the other facts that Twilight provided did seem to describe nearly everything that Wallflower was going through, and that terrified me. Three days... If it really was the memory stone behind this, then today was the last day I could do anything to get Wallflower’s memories back. With a trembling hand, I flipped the pages to look through the drawings and diagrams Twilight provided, all of them rather detailed. The illustration of the parchment came with translations, while the one that showed the stone was colored in different shades of grey and black. Then I moved on to the illustration of the rock formation it was buried at. Three etched stones, arranged in a triangle. A thought flashed in my mind. I quickly grabbed the book, took it over to the desk, turned on the lamp and pulled out the picture I printed out two days ago. A perfect match. The memory stone was buried in the garden where I found Wallflower. And given how small the garden was, she was sure to have come across it at one point when she was breaking ground. But did Wallflower really find the memory stone? When did she find it? She wasn’t digging the soil when I found her as far as I remembered, so she must have found it before. More importantly, where was it now? It would be really bad if the stone found a different owner, while Wallflower’s memories were possibly still locked in there. Losing the memory stone would be the worst case scenario. I had a way to answer these questions. I quickly grabbed Wallflower’s diary from its place, and opened it. As wrong as it felt digging through someone else’s diary, especially Wallflower’s, I needed answers. If Wallflower did find the stone at some point, there should be a mention of it here. But what if we wouldn’t like what we found? I had to press on, for her. From the first to last page, I looked through entry after entry. Each one detailed the day to day life Wallflower had before she even came to CHS, and each one as tragic as the last. Eventually, I came across the entry I was looking for, it was dated a few months ago, just after the Friendship Games. No one came to the Gardening Club meeting again(shocker!). Probably was for the best anyway, mother always told me how ditzy and indecisive I could be. I already had permission from the school, so I began digging in that yard at the back of the school I found a few days earlier. Found some sort of strange rock at some point. It came with instructions of some sort. All in a strange foreign language though. Could be a valuable ancient artifact. I’ll keep it for now. If it turns out to be nothing, it can still make a good decoration for the garden. That’s it, the smoking gun. Wallflower at some point held one of the most dangerous artifacts in Equestria. I found myself biting my lip as I flipped the page, hoping against hope that Wallflower hadn’t found out how to use it. Somehow, the idea of her intentionally erasing her own memories and everyone’s about her, for whatever reason, squeezed my heart. I don’t know what happened! Just a moment before, I dropped my bag and made a fool of myself during the eco club meeting. I nearly burst to tears. I just wished for myself to disappear, for everyone to forget it. But while I was grabbing my stuff on the floor, I touched the rock I found yesterday, and it flashed. After that, it was like everyone completely forgot I had been there the whole time. Nobody remembered my mistake! It was a wish come true! Could this be a wishing stone? My stomach knotted. Wallflower did find out what the stone could do. That still doesn’t answer what happened to the stone. Further glancing at later entries told me how Wallflower used the stone, mainly to erase any awkward conversations she had with other students. It wasn’t clear whether or not she used the stone on herself before I found her three days ago, but it seemed plausible. If she wanted to forget, she could. But what could have prompted her to erase nearly all of her memories? Plagued by the thoughts in my mind, I inattentively flipped the pages of the diary over and over, not actually reading any words. There was no chance, however, for me to have missed the sense of chill down my spine when that certain page turned, as my eyes caught a glimpse of what was on it. Or rather, what wasn't on it. Blotted throughout the page were blanks. Blanks where ink and marks, where words and paragraphs should have been. A quick glance showed the same thing happened in the pages after that. There were still written lines left, but the unnatural spaces among them gave off a disturbing feeling, as if part of reality had been warped out of existence. Was this part of the power of the stone? Twilight never mentioned anything about the stone being able to affect physical objects. Nevertheless, I knew immediately something important was in these pages, or what was left of them. Anxiously, I started to read. It came as quite a shock to me. I thought everyone had already forgotten about what she did already. I don’t know what to make of it. But seeing her apologetic smile, her abashed demeanor as she walked away under the relentless gazes of the others, it somehow struck a chord with me. I saw myself in her. I realized even she doesn’t have everything going her way, and the past is still haunting her, just like it did me, before I got the stone. At least my mistakes were something mundane. Hers was… I guess that's something not even friendship can fix. I bet she must be wishing so hard for a memory removing stone like what I have. But she doesn't have anything like that. I blinked. A person? A girl in our school, from the look of it. Given how the diary entries peculiarly lost parts of them since she entered the scene, she must have had something to do with the loss of Wallflower’s memories. Could she have stolen the stone and used it on Wallflower to erase her tracks? There was only one way to find out. I flipped through a few more pages until I found another entry that mentioned the girl again. I didn’t notice how hard she has been trying all this time. The more I look into it, the more I realize she’s been going through great lengths to regain her place. She works after school in the local supermarket, and occasionally volunteers as well. One day, it’s helping out at the animal shelter, the next it might be for a fundraiser. And any time she has in between those is dedicated to clubs, either helping them out or in leading some of them. She even volunteered to take on extra work for the Yearbook Committee when it looked like no one was able to do it. Above all else, she seems to be making an effort to try to overcome the past, not forgetting it. She genuinely seems to care that she messed up, and that she needs to right those wrongs. It’s all pretty mixed though. Sometimes things go her way, sometimes they don’t and she just gets cursed out by people. Frankly, I don’t blame them. But either way, she takes it all in stride. Seeing her make the effort to do all of this, the fact she worked hard to get to where she was, and still has problems, without the power of some magic rock… somehow it feels endearing, I feel like I want to root for her, believe in her. It makes me wonder whether or not I can do the same thing as well. Could I really be as wonderful as her? I stared at the entry. It was… not what I had expected. It seemed this person didn’t need the memory stone at all. Not only that, Wallflower herself was gaining confidence from watching this person. It was endearing, seeing her finding inspiration like that. But it felt like there was something more, something that gave me… dread. Another glance at the date confirmed that this entry was about a month or so after she first used the stone. It seemed like the cracks were beginning to form in her willingness to use the stone. I’ve thought about it a bit, about whether or not it was possible to be as social and perfect without the stone, and I decided to try. Just once wouldn’t hurt. The Yearbook Committee was talking about what the general decorative theme this year’s yearbook should be. It was all the usual arguments, the geeky kids wanted to do something nerdy, possibly retro sci-fi, some of the others who were also in the gaming club kinda wanted to do a bit of a fantasy RPG or a Renfair theme, something from a game called Ogres and Oubliettes or something? I didn’t know. The jocks naturally wanted some sort of cheerleader/sporty theme. There were so many people talking over each other, I thought no one was going to notice if I raised my hand. As usual. But she did. She noticed me. She told everyone to be quiet, and offered for me to speak. And soon everyone’s eyes were on me. I know I put my hand up and everything, but at that moment I was just stunned. No one’s ever paid attention to me, and for the first time I was just speechless, I was mortified, I thought maybe they were going to laugh at me, that she was going to laugh at me. She took her time though, gently reassured me that everything was going to be alright, and slowly I was able to say what I wanted to say: That maybe this year’s yearbook theme could take a more earthy, naturalistic theme. Make it seem homely given how much the school came together this past year. The next thing I knew we were all voting, and they all liked my idea. I couldn’t believe it, not only did they listen to me, but they liked my ideas. She even smiled at me. Maybe I don’t need the stone after all. Pages after pages, entries after entries, even with what little was left of them, I could tell how much Wallflower changed, how much she overcame her fear, her reliance on the stone day by day. To think this girl had such a lasting impact on her. But that just raised more questions than answered them. If Wallflower was beginning to have the courage to wean herself off the stone, how did she end up like this? What happened? I flipped through a page or two to the end of the diary, see if there was anything that could answer any of these questions. Before I knew it, I found myself on the last page with writing on it. The last entry was a few weeks after the last passage I read, four days ago, shortly before I’d found her that night. I read through it to see if there was any clue on what happened to the stone. What I found instead ripped a hole through my heart. Three semesters, three semesters and I’ve decided I’m going to do it. I know my mother told me to just leave everyone alone, that I’d only irritate them with what I do. But I feel like this is what I need to do. I can’t keep this to myself anymore. If she can find a way to move past her mistakes, then so can I. Everything’s ready. I’ve made sure to pick the right flowers, and I’ve read the letter over three times. If this all works out, maybe I can stop depending on this stupid rock. Maybe I can take the first step. I can do it. Tomorrow, I will confess to her. My heart sank. Wallflower had fallen in love with someone else. And she was going to confess. Slowly, I closed the diary. There was no need for more words. I had a pretty good idea on what happened next. It was bad enough to be talked down constantly day in and day out at home. Even more so to be constantly ignored and scared to say anything to anyone. But then just when you find the courage to start anew, to attempt to reach out for happiness, for all that to amount to more heartbreak? It must have been unbearable. Wallflower had the Memory Stone, used it on herself to drown herself of the pain she collected these past few years, ending with a brutal rejection from her love. “Wallflower must’ve gone through something fierce if it left those kinda scars on her. What if bringin’ back those memories just brings more pain to her?” I remembered Applejack asking me two days ago. Back then, it seemed like a distant bridge where I had time to figure out what to do. Well, now I was at that bridge. What should I do? Just then, I heard some groaning from up above. “Sunset? Where are you?” I quickly shut off the light and stood up, walking back towards the bed. “Needed to look through something.” She hummed, “Are you going to come back to bed?” Silently, I nodded. And soon, I was back in Wallflower’s arms. As she fell back to sleep, I looked out the window at the brush of pink over the horizon, listening to our hearts beating in sync like the ticks of a clock toward a dreadful ring, still unsure of what to do as I slowly drifted away, wondering if I’d have an idea by then. Morning passed by in silence as we got through the daily routine. Before we left the house, I gave back the diary to Wallflower. “You should hold on to this. It’s yours anyway. You could... read through it and see if it makes you… remember anything...” I trailed off as my eyes averted away. She looked at me, but nodded as she took back the leather book. We held each other close, arm to arm as we walked to school. As we passed by the garden, I spotted the three rocks again, a reminder of what I needed to do. And yet, a feeling of loss, of fear kept swirling around in my heart as we made it into the main lobby, as if I was about to give up something so important to me. Wallflower looked at me with a slight frown until we parted ways for the first period. School went on as normal, though when Wallflower and I were in the same class, I noticed she was hiding behind her textbook. She was definitely reading her diary. Despite everything that had happened in our quest to find her memories, she was still pressing on in hopes to finally remember something. It gave me both a pinch of pride and a sense of trepidation. As brunch came around, I excused myself from the rest of the gang, said I needed to do some research real quick. Wallflower was the only one who didn’t say anything. She was still entranced with her diary. A tap on her shoulder jolted her up from it, and she frowned at me again. “Are you alright, Wallflower?” She shakily nodded, stunned, “U-Um, y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.” My heart sank. Just how deep was she into the diary? How long did I have until she discovered the truth? “Alright, I’m going to go look something up in the library real quick.” “Do you need me to come along?” “No, shouldn’t be that hard,” I said as I shook my head. “I’ll see you guys real soon.” I made my way through the cascading hallways until I found the exit, then walked through the pathway down to a familiar clearing. It wasn’t hard to picture Wallflower’s unconscious body splayed out here. Even though that was three days ago, it felt like yesterday. The diary said she had it, but I never found it on her, so it has to be around here, somewhere. Even the rock formation matched. Starting from where I found Wallflower, I slowly walked around the field, looking at the ground closely to see if there was anything that stood out. After nearly ten minutes of searching, I was just about to give up when I sensed the hairs on the back of my neck prick up. I felt a strange tingling, my necklace began to glow on its own. My eyes widened, and I began to walk in random directions. Maybe I picked something up with my power? It was like playing hot and cold, and soon I had a trail to follow, until I spotted it. There, on the ground, was a stone with an etched eye. I leaned over and carefully picked it up, then pulled out my journal, and flipped to the pictures Twilight sent me. It was a match, from the eye in the middle, to the three triangles on top representing the eye lashes, to the swirls at the bottom. I could feel the magic radiating from this stone. I found it, the source of Wallflower’s amnesia. And if it’d been lying here for the past three days, then my hunch was correct. Wallflower had used the Memory Stone on herself. If someone had used it on her, they would’ve taken the stone and ran, leaving it behind wouldn’t have made any sense. But why? What could have happened that prompted her to do that? She'd been gaining so much positivity and confidence the days before. Did the confession go that badly? Did that person hurt Wallflower? I felt my blood boil again, just like at Wallflower’s house... A cold realization splashed onto me like a bucket of ice water. These past few days, I was trying to return that painful memory to her. The memory of her positivity and hope getting betrayed. One that was bad enough to push her over the edge. Was I going to hurt her again? Giving all of this back to her? Was I any better than this apple Wallflower held in her eye? I stared at the stone, feeling the eye glaring back at me, as if looking into my soul and asking for a decision. Finally, after a long moment, I put it in my backpack for safe keeping, and walked back to the main campus. The gang was still there by the time I came back. Wallflower was still reading her diary. I sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. Quite naturally, she laced our fingers together and held it gently as she continued to read with her other hand. As I sat there, I felt my heart beating out of my chest, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. All the signs pointed to the Memory Stone being the cause of her amnesia. I’d already found the stone, and time was ticking. So now what do I do with it? It was the same discussion I was having with myself this morning. We’ve got a picture of what Wallflower was like in school, we know what her family life was like, and most of all, we know that there was someone that she cared for very, very much. Her special someone. Somehow, those three words bothered me. It shouldn’t, it really shouldn’t. But it did. So why was I still hesitating? Suddenly, a moment of clarity came to my conscience. It all makes sense now, why I was being so hesitant to give Wallflower what she wants, why my heart raced everytime we were together, why being together in itself felt right. Why it felt so hard to let go. For the past three days, Wallflower and I became close, closer than any of my friends ever were. It was something truly special, something between the two of us. Something that could be gone in an instant the moment the stone was broken. What if what we had for the past three days went up in smoke? What if Wallflower went back to her special someone and left me behind. For the first time in my life I was truly scared. I didn’t want her to leave me. The moment I thought about that, the image of Celestia’s face formed in my head, her eyes glaring at me and frowning in sheer disappointment, staring into my very soul. No, I couldn’t keep her memories. It wouldn’t be right, to her or to anyone who still cared for her. Even if she wouldn’t care for me anymore, she’d still have her feelings for that special someone. There was a sliver of hope. If my hunch was correct, her crush possibly rejected her. That’s what made her do this in the first place. Yeah, but it was clear she had eyes on her and only her. Why would anyone go for someone like me…? What should I do? Everything I’d done for the past three days was to give Wallflower closure, and now I was having something that might give her just that. I took a deep breath, and sighed. There was no way around this, was there? I gently squeezed her hand as I shut my eyes. I’d made my choice. All I needed to do now was to follow through. Next to me, I heard Wallflower slam her diary closed. She laid it out on the table before she leaned onto me, head resting on my shoulder. I felt myself tense up as I saw her tears. “That bad?” She nodded. “I need to take a break from it.” She sniffled. “How was I able to go through all of that?” I smiled. “You’re stronger than you think you are, Wallflower.” A beat of pause passed by between us. “Any of it feels familiar?” “Yeah… Yeah, the feeling that is. It was quite painful though.” She straightened up and wiped her tears as the bell sounded the end of brunch. “See you at fourth?” I nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you then.” Before she turned to leave, I squeezed her hand. “Wallflower?” She looked back. “There’s... something I was able to find, something that might’ve been what caused you to lose your memories.” Her face brightened up. “R-Really?” “Really. I-It might sound insane though. Can it wait until lunch?” She nodded. “If it helps me get my memories back, anything.” Yeah… anything… And so she and I parted ways and went on with our day. As the time came closer and closer to when we would meet, my stomach churned and I felt myself tense. In the classes we had together and during class, Wallflower kept close to me. It felt nice… to be close to her, to have her by my side. And it all made me feel more sick about what I was going to do when the time came. Before I knew it, lunch had arrived. The time had finally come. Whether or not Wallflower would keep her memories depended on this moment. The stage was set for the cards to fall. As we walked by the Wondercolts statue, I felt Wallflower loop her arm around mine, holding me close. I broke a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. “That’s new.” She looked at me and smiled. “It just feels right doing this with you.” Her eyes focused back on the path. “So where are we headed?” “To the garden, where I found you.” We made it to the clearing, where it all started. Wallflower let go of me, walked forward a few steps, and looked around, appreciating the flowers she’d planted here, without even knowing. She turned to face me. “So, what were you able to find?” she asked, her direct eye contact with me and the focusing expression on her face making it clear she’d take in any and every word I’d say. “You’ve read your diary, right?” She apprehensively looked to the side for a few moments, before she turned back and nodded. “ I think there was more that happened than an accident the night I found you, Wallflower.” She nodded again. “Given what we were able to find, I’d agree.” “It… it’s more than that, Wallflower,” I said, taking out the Memory Stone and holding it up for Wallflower to see. “I-I’m not from around here, Wallflower. I come from a place where magic really exists.” I gestured down to my bag. “I managed to get in contact with one of my friends… back where I used to live. We were able to figure out that the cause might’ve been this.” I handed the stone over to Wallflower for her to look at. “Your diary mentioned that you were able to find a stone that came with a piece of paper that said it removes memories, right?” She nodded haltingly. “That’s the stone.” She shakily gazed down at the stone, flipping it over and tracing the contours with her less damaged hand. “A-And this was what I used to erase any memories I had?” I shook my head. “Not all of your memories. Most of your diary entries said that you just used it every time talking with someone didn’t go well.” She looked up, tense. “Did that include…” She looked down to her wrists. I gripped the sleeve of my jacket. “I-I’m not sure about that. None of the diary entries mention that but..” We both let the words go unsaid. Was I doing the right thing? What if the memories were too painful for her? I held out my hand awkwardly. “I-Is it okay if I try something? It’s just to check to see if my hunch was correct.” She looked up, and nodded. She took her right hand, and laced her fingers with mine. I closed my eyes as I felt my geode glow and shine. Screens and screens of memories passed by around me, most of them coming from the last three days, but the majority of them were just black, pitch black. I furrowed my brow as I tried to concentrate, as if I was trying to switch those screens back on. Try as I might, something was blocking the way, a familiar energy, the same kind of energy I felt when I touched the stone. Unable to breach the magic of the stone, I let myself relax as I opened my eyes to face Wallflower, her mouth slightly agape in amazement at what she had just seen in front of her. “What were you doing?” “I was trying to go through your memories,” I sighed as I explained. “I wanted to check if something bad happened to you, because it seems you used the memory stone on yourself.” She glanced to the side and closed her mouth. “But why? Why would I do that?” “My guess was that you fell in love, Wallflower,” I simply replied, trying to ignore the tears that were threatening to spill over. “You fell in love, and got horribly rejected. That added up with the lonely life you had in school, and the abuse and ridicule you faced from your mother. It was the straw that broke your back, and it all came crashing down to the point where you wanted either everyone to forget about you so you could start off with a new slate, or to forget it all yourself.” I shook my head. “It didn’t work out though. Something went wrong when you tried to use the stone this time around, and it backfired. My guess is that maybe you weren’t calm when you used the stone, adding to the fact that you weren’t a magic user, and the stone went off, getting rid of some, not all of the memories you wanted gone, including some of the entries in your diary.” I gestured back to the Memory Stone. “There’s a way to fix all of this though. The memories you want forgotten stay around for three days before they’re lost forever. If you destroy the stone, your memories will come back.” Wallflower stood there in stunned silence, frozen in place. The silence between us dragged on for a minute, but it felt like an eternity. When she did break the silence, she meekly whispered, “Th-That’s it? It’s that simple?” I nodded. “Just break the stone, and you can have your memories back.” Wallflower’s chest began to move rapidly, as she quickly hugged the stone close to herself and shrank from terror. I quickly moved towards her, but she held her hand up to stop me. “No! S-Stay where you are!” “Wallflower…” I said. It was the only thing I could think to say. “Sunset… I read my diary. We asked around to see if anyone knew me, we went to my house and all we found was pain and suffering!” She shuddered as tears began to fall from those chocolate eyes. “I can see why I’d use the stone on myself. Who would want to remember any of that?” More tears began to cascade down her cheeks. “Why would I want to remember any of that?” I reached out with my hand to caress her cheek. “It’s because it’s part of who you are.” She looked at me, fear and confusion still in her eyes. The pain intensified to the point where I paused, but I pressed on. “I've read the entries you wrote in your diary. The feelings you had for that someone, even if not reciprocated, they helped you gain the confidence you needed to stop using the stone. That’s still something you should treasure. I know it hurts finding out someone doesn’t love you the same way you do, but that doesn’t mean we should run away from those feelings. You should keep them close to your heart.” I felt another jab of sadness stab through my heart, as I looked at her square in the eyes, and stroked her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “I can't make the decision for you. You have to make it yourself. But believe me when I say you should embrace your memories. They're part of you.” I could feel my hand grow wet as more tears began to fall, but I pressed on. “Making mistakes and learning from experience, good or bad, is how we grow up, how we become the people we are.” The hand on her cheek moved to my chest. “I’ve made a lot of terrible mistakes in the past, and I'm grateful that I remember them all. If I didn't, I’d never learn, and I’d never be who I am today. I know it may be painful, but believe me too when I say I'll always be here by your side and help you through it." I offered my hand to her. “Will you believe me?” Wallflower looked down on my hand, still clutching tight on the memory stone. Slowly, she looked up to my eyes, hers still filled with fear and uncertainty. I nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. Hesitantly, her hand that was holding the stone reached out toward me, and I took it. I wrapped my other hand over her back, pulling her close as her trembling body pressed hard to my chest. “Ready?” She nodded with trepidation. Together, we slowly raised the stone in front of us, held tight in both our hands. I pulled her tighter into me as my necklace glowed, as I felt the magic start to swirl around us, course through us. It burned, the stone in our hand. Wallflower whimpered, but held on. The world around us spinned into a whirlwind of blurred images. Colors and forms blended together. We stood there, in the middle of the storm, squinting our eyes as our hearts beat in the same rhythm. The stone in our hand glowed brighter and brighter. And then we felt a loud crack rock through our souls, as a fracture split up the middle of the stone. And memories began to seep in. Memories of loud, angry voices in the kitchen. Memories of hurtful words, of mocking laughters, of days shrinking away into the corners of the classroom, of nights crying in the dark, of pain from bloody cuts… I gritted my teeth as I felt Wallflower choke into my chest. My vision blurred, and I could taste the salt in the corner of my lips as well. But I pressed on. We pressed on. I had accepted my fate. These memories had left scars, she banned them for a reason, but she made her choice, and I made mine. I swallowed down my sadness as we both continued to experience the memories Wallflower tried so hard to suppress. And then I felt something different. A sense of warmth. Of wonder. A feeling of hopefulness and longing, as new images formed in my head. Images of… me? Images of me in class focusing on a lesson. Images of me at my part time job. Of me at my volunteer work after school. Images of me... smiling at her at the Yearbook Committee meeting. I was the girl who smiled at her? The memories continued to flood in like tidal waves, as they led me towards a blackened screen, the familiar cold of the stone’s magic emanating from it, before the familiar warmth surrounded it, overwhelmed it as the screen flickered to life. Wallflower was in one of the school bathrooms. She was furiously pacing back and forth as she checked a bouquet she set aside in the sink. “You can do this,” she said. “You’re not useless, you’re not a coward. If she can overcome her shortcomings, then you can too!” She declared. She turned to look in the mirror, then to the bouquet to check if any of the flowers were damaged. It was made up of a lovely arrangement of white roses in a circle, surrounded by a circle of red roses, a selection of purple violets, bluebells, tulips, and poetically, wallflowers flanked with rosemaries providing the finishing touch to the bouquet. Satisfied with the bouquet, she then took out an envelope, and held it there as she looked backed up, and took several deep breaths. “You can do this, Wallflower! You can do this without that stupid stone!” She pressed the envelope to her lips to give it a kiss, before she put it back in her pocket. And with that she slung her backpack, picked up the bouquet, and paused at the door apprehensively, taking a deep breath before she squared her shoulders, and marched out the door with resolve. I couldn’t help but smile. Whomever Wallflower fell for certainly left an impact on her, made her become the strong woman I had the pleasure of knowing for the past three days. It was endearing, the passion I saw in Wallflower as she gathered her courage to do something any normal student would be scared of doing, compared to the meek girl I had seen in other memories and the first time I met her. I wouldn’t blame her if she gathered the courage to try again after she gets her memories back. Until I recognized where she was walking to. I recognized the hallways she was in like they were the back of my own hand. A chill ran down my spine, and my heart raced. Silently, I prayed to myself she wasn’t going to confess to whom I think she was going to confess to… and then I saw the familiar shade of red and gold hair. My own hair. It was me, digging through my lockers for something as Wallflower walked up to me. She slowed down the closer she got. Her steps became delicate, gingerly, but she took another deep breath, and pushed on towards me. My heart continued to sink with dread, as I squeezed her hands tighter. “U-Umm, excuse me?” Wallflower squeaked out. I could feel her cheeks heat up in anxiety as the me in the memory stepped away from the locker and looked up towards her. “Hmm? Yes?” I heard my other self ask, as she took a good look at Wallflower. “Is there anything I can help you with?” “U-Umm, I…” Wallflower paused, anxiously fidgeting and gripping tightly onto the bouquet. The other Sunset looked towards the bouquet and the letter she had in her hand. “O-Oh, is this for something I did in the past? If it is, I’m really sorry for whatever I did.” I felt her shoulders relax as she sighed in relief, then she took a deep breath and shook her head. “N-no… it’s for something else.” She held the bouquet and the envelope forward. “Sunset, I’ve seen how you’ve become a better person since the Fall Formal.” She paused, allowing herself to relax even more, then continued. “Seeing you go through so much to get to where you are, it inspired me, made me feel like I can come out of my shell, like I can do anything, like I’m not useless.” Another deep breath, as I felt her heart race again at what she was going to say next. “Which is why I want to go out with you, Sunset. Would you go out with me?” I saw my own eyes widen in shock, and a few minutes of silence dragged on between us. I thought my past self was moving to say something just when the bell rang, startling both of us. The other me quickly gathered her things into her bag, and looked back at Wallflower. “I-I’m sorry, I-I’ve gotta go.” She stood up, slung her backpack, and turned towards the next class she was heading to, before she turned to face Wallflower again. “See you later?” “Y-Yeah…” Wallflower said, her shoulders slackened as she saw me leave for my next class. Another student came up to her. A blonde cheerleader from the looks of it. I didn’t recognize her, but she had a haughty air around her. “Wow, just wow. You really think she’d go out with you? It didn’t even look like she recognized you!” She looked up and down Wallflower from her head to her toes. “Frankly, I wouldn’t blame her. Why would she even want to go out with someone as drabby as you? She’s the queen bee!” She turned and strode away, her nose in the air. Wallflower’s eyes welled with tears as she turned away from the classrooms, and ran out the door. Soon after that, white filled my vision. I blinked, as the world slowly came back into focus. I glanced down at my hand, still holding tight on Wallflower’s, the stone we were holding riddled with cracks, but not completely destroyed. I turned to look at her, still in a daze, trying to catch her breath as she whispered, “It was you.” It was me. I was the one she had had a crush on. I was the one who’d rejected her. “Wallflower…” She didn’t answer, only kept staring in a daze at the stone. Why would she? It was me all along, I was the one who’d hurt her, had pushed her over the edge. My heart squeezed in my chest. Slowly, I let go of her hand, and silently whispered, “I am sorry…” I turned away. “Wait!” My steps froze as I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to look back at Wallflower. Shakily, she dug one of her hands through her pocket, and pulled out a blank envelope, wrinkled and crumpled from its time in there. She hesitantly looked at it for a few moments, before she looked up, and shakily offered it out to me. My heart skipped a beat. “Wallflower…” I whispered, leaning in as she moved to close the distance. My eyes closed as I felt her lips touch mine. I felt a burst of energy leave me as I heard an explosion nearby. When I opened my eyes, Wallflower was still there, eyes closed in bliss. The stone sat between us, fractured into pieces, the last of its glow dissipated as the last few streams of her memories flew back into her. I waited for her to open her eyes. With doubt and guilt still gripping at my heart, I shakily asked, “Wallflower, why? I hurt you…” She simply shook her head, and gave me a gentle smile. “What’s in the past is in the past. You told me memories make us who we are. And the memories of these past few days, of you taking care of me, standing beside me, they’re what make us.” She tried to move away from me to stand on her own, but quickly fell over before I caught her. “Easy, easy. Equestrian magic can take a lot out of you.” I laid her down alongside me, and like clockwork she leaned against me, and snuggled into my chest. I felt warmth from Wallflower, pressing against me, warmth from contentment as we lay there to rest, watching the world go by. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, just as it was when I first met her. Feeling my strength return, I turned to look to Wallflower. “It’s getting pretty late, we should probably get home. Can you get up?” She shook her head. “I’m still a little tired.” I nodded. “Alright, I’ll help you up.” I stood up, knelt down, and gave a quick peck on her lips, then lifted her up. I stared down at her, and she stared back at me with a smile. “Come on Wallflower, let’s go home.” And so I carried her away from the garden. To home. Our home. The shower was running in the background as I continued to write an entry to Twilight, updating her on what happened. She’d be relieved that another dangerous Equestrian artifact was out of anyone's hands. As I wrapped up the last few lines, the door opened, drawing my attention towards the bathroom. Wallflower stood there, barefoot. She had replaced the usual beige sweater and jeans for a orange-brown chemise and a brown skirt, accented by a brown belt with a brass buckle. Her hair was still frizzled, but aside from that, she looked better than ever. I gotta hand it to Rarity. She really knew how to make something come together. Wallflower meekly smiled as she grabbed a brush and turned to the mirror, straightening her hair out and styling it. I smiled back and turned my focus back to the journal, closing it and placing it into my backpack. I got up and slung it. “Are you ready to go yet, Wallflower?” “Just a sec.” She replied as she fumbled with her locks in an attempt to braid her hair. I chuckled and walked up behind her. “May I?” I offered. She looked up and yelped, flushing in embarrassment. “U-Uh, sure. Thanks.” “Don’t mention it.” I turned her around so she could face me, took a lock of hair, split it into two strands, and braided it up to form a single braid that ran down her temple and framed her left cheek. “Better?” She looked at the mirror and smiled, nodding. “Perfect.” She turned and leaned towards me. I got the hint and leaned into a lip lock. A sense of euphoria flowed through me as I closed my eyes and took in the moment, humming into the kiss. It felt like it could last forever. Unfortunately, an alarm from my phone destroyed any notion of such a fantasy, as it yelled at us to get going before it’s too late. We both jolted back from each other, shocked for a few moments, before we broke into giggles. “I’ll go outside, get the bike ready. We’re going to need it if we want to get there on time.” Wallflower nodded. “I’ll be right there, just need to get some things.” She said as she quickly slipped on her socks and boots. I shook my head, still smiling as I walked out the door to the bike and pulled it out of its parking space. As I stood there waiting for Wallflower to come out, I took out my phone, my eyes locked onto the screen, at the wallpaper. It was a simple picture. Wallflower and I were sitting on a picnic blanket with a basket between us. Food and plates surrounded us, and our friends flanked us from both sides. All of them had smiles on their faces. My gaze landed on us though. We were leaning in close to each other, nestled in, touching cheek to cheek. That warm feeling from earlier returned as I smiled in content. The slamming of the door broke me out of my daydreaming, and I saw Wallflower run out, hastily trying to shove an overstuffed binder into her backpack as she quickly rushed over to me. “Sorry, I had to make sure I had my club binder!” I rolled my eyes. “One of these days, Wallflower!” She stuck her tongue out and quickly hopped on as I handed her a helmet. She put it on, wrapped her arms around me, and held herself against me. I looked over my shoulder to her, gently tapping her on the nose. “All set?” She nodded, leaning in to give me another peck on the lips. “Alright, let’s go!” I revved the engine and shoved my foot off the pavement, as the engine roared to life and we left the apartment. The future was uncertain, and the past was at rest, but with Wallflower by my side, the present was ever present.