//------------------------------// // Memories // Story: Forgotten // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// The pair of pegasi and one unicorn watched as Sunny carefully went around the table, sidestepping gemstones, going to each crystal throne, and brushing off the back, revealing an insignia on each. The closest to them was the trio of apples, then going counter-clockwise from there, it was the six-pointed star, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt, a trio of pink butterflies, a trio of yellow and blue balloons, and finally, a trio of cyan diamonds. Curiously, there were no marks of any kind on the smaller throne next to the six-pointed-star one. By the time she worked her way back to her three friends, she had wiped her eyes and gotten herself under control. "There's over a hundred gems in here, easy. Are you going to go through them all?" Izzy asked as she continued to rotate the first one in her hooves, watching the still image fade in and out. "Absolutely. I need a way to transport all of these safely. If I just toss them into one bag, they might get scratched." Sunny said, as she picked up a second one, slowly rotating it in her hooves, and finding it contained an image of the guardians of harmony gathered around a picnic table with bottles of juice. "These must be... Memories. Of the six of them." Izzy said as she gently set the gem down. Pipp took a moment to think as she put a hoof to her chin. "Zipp, you're faster than I am. Think you can get home and back before we lose the sun? My room, right dresser, third drawer on the left. You'll find a pile of silk patches. Bring as many as will fit in your bag. Sunny can wrap the crystals individually." Zipp nodded at her, then turned back out into the hall, retracing her steps back out to the front, loving absolutely any excuse to take to the sky. Pipp resumed filming while Sunny and Izzy began to collect the gems and organize them, putting them on the outer edges of the large stone table to get them off of the floor. "We've discovered what appears to be some kind of throne room, with a large round table in the middle, and dozens upon dozens of these little gems, each with a still image inside. Was this how ancient Equestrians took pictures?" Pipp asked, talking to her future audience when she got these videos uploaded. She began to assist the unicorn and earth mare in getting the gems organized. There seemed to be three colors; topaz, cyan, and rose quartz, and Sunny began to wonder if it had to do anything with the memory they contained, or if it was just for aesthetic. "What were these doing all over the floor in here?" Izzy asked carefully levitating another two gems over to the table. "We have no idea how much time has passed. If it's not crystal, stone, or metal, it probably didn't last much longer than a century in here. For all we know, these were hanging all over the ceiling, and at one point fell all over the floor and table." Sunny said. "Well, luckily we haven't come across any broken ones yet." Pipp replied. Indeed, some were a little scratched and scuffed, which was why Sunny wanted to handle them with great care to not damage them further. Almost an hour later, Zipp came back with another backpack on her shoulders, and by that time, they had gotten all of the gems in the throne room on the table and organized, but hadn't had the time to look at them quite yet. "Wow sis, how many silk scraps did you pack?" Pipp asked. "Hopefully enough. By last count, we've got two hundred and twenty-two gems here." Izzy said, waving a hoof to the organized gems on nearly half of the table. "Not just silk, you guys. I figured if we were spending the night down here, we could do with a good dinner, so I got stuff for carrot dogs, and some charged portable batteries for our phones; you probably haven't stopped recording since we got in here." Hearing 'carrot dogs' made Sunny realize that she hadn't eaten since her late breakfast just before coming down here. "Here ya go." Zipp said, handing Sunny a pile of square silk scraps. "Thank you so much." Sunny said, accepting the stack of silk and setting them next to the first group of topaz gems. Next up out of Zipp's pack was a small plastic tub so she had something to put them in. "When I got outside, the group chat got a few texts from Hitch. He said he'll try and make the time to swing by tomorrow after breakfast." Zipp said. "Awesome, I'll send him a text when we get out by the tents. He could bring a new notebook so I can catalogue all of these. Oh, and Zipp..." Sunny paused, turning to the table and picked up one of the gems, and brought it over to her. "I found one I think you might like." Sunny walked over and gently put the cyan gem into the pegasus' hooves, who then slowly rotated it. Her eyes widened and a smile slowly grew on her face when she saw the memory contained within; it was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, who was definitely posing for this picture. She recognized the navy blue flight uniform and goggles all too well from the metallic poster in the Zephyr Heights airship terminal. She believed they were called 'The Wonderbolts' or something. She recognized the pegasus as one of Sunny's wooden figures, the 'Guardians of Harmony'. Zipp tore her eyes away from the crystalized memory, and smiled at Sunny as she handed the gem back to her. "Must have been quite the world they all lived in." Zipp said. "We can only imagine. At least for now." Sunny replied. "With ponies like you, I doubt we'll have to imagine forever. Well, I'll let you get started getting these wrapped up. Meet me back out front in fifteen for some fresh fire-roasted carrot dogs, complete with all the toppings you could want."