//------------------------------// // Memories // Story: Memory Wipe // by BlaappyMLP //------------------------------// Twilight blinked. "Wh-what?" she stammered. "You never went to Canterlot Castle for your birthday party, and neither did any of your friends," Spike repeated seriously. The perplexed mare narrowed her eyes. "This isn't some sort of joke, is it?" she asked suspiciously. "O-of course not!" Spike said, claws raised in a disarming gesture, "we had your last birthday at Sugarcube Corner!" Twilight looked back at the blank photograph, questions and theories rushing through her head. She quickly flipped through the rest of the photo album, searching for other pictures of her party. She came up empty-hooved. She thought for a minute, running certain scenarios through her head. A prank? No, too inane. A mistake? No, the photo had been there, plain as day. Suddenly, she remembered the silver cloth in her hoof. Forget to Remember. The words tugged at Twilight's mind, urging her to think deeper. Then, something clicked. She had an idea. A vague one, but an idea nonetheless. But first, she had to test it. "Spike, I want you to wait right here for a moment," Twilight commanded her assistant, frantically flipping back through the album again. The baby dragon raised his eyebrows doubtfully. "Okay, Twilight," he said, confused, "whatever you say..." The purple unicorn quickly searched the book for another embarrassing photograph. Turning the page, she quickly located a certain picture, one that portrayed an especially shameful memory. In the photo was a distraught Twilight, her mane messy and ruffled and her fur matted with sweat. A disconcerting grin split the unicorn's jaw, and the dark bags under her lavender eyes creased her face unnaturally. Her horn was glowing bright, emitting hearts that were being absorbed by her old, worn-out doll, Smartypants. The 'Want It, Need It' incident. "Ah! There we go," Twilight exclaimed and quickly rubbed the smooth cloth over it, erasing the photo's contents. The she turned to Spike. Time to test her hypothesis. "Spike," Twilight said excitedly, "do you remember the 'Want It, Need It' fiasco?" "The want-what, who-now fiasco?" Spike asked, thoroughly confused. "You know!" Twilight could barely hold her excitement. "That one time I was late with my friendship report to Princess Celestia, and I lost my mind trying to help ponies with their problems! I was so stressed, that I desperately cast the 'Want It, Need It' spell on Smartypants as a last-ditch effort to cause a friendship problem I could report on, but it backfired and caused everypony to go mad! Are you sure you don't remember that?" Twilight huffed out in one gigantic breath. Spike's expression of concern ascended considerably. "Honestly, Twilight," he said, "you've got to chill with your late night study sessions. I have no idea what you're talking about!" Twilight exploded with glee. "Yes, Spike! Yes!" Twilight shouted, dragging the dragon into an enormous hug. She danced around excitedly, tightly squeezing the baby dragon against her fur. "Um... Twilight...?" Spike wheezed, out of breath, "could you hug me a... a little less hard?" Twilight screeched to a halt, realizing how childish she'd been acting. Glad there wasn't a camera around, she set Spike down carefully, a red tint spreading on her visage. "Oh! Uh... sorry, Spike," she gushed, "it's just that... it's just... amazing!" she looked as if she were ready to burst yet again. Spike, fearing another smothering hug, quickly said, "What's amazing, Twilight?" Twilight thought for a moment, considering informing her assistant of her discovery, but decided to wait for a while. She wanted to test this cloth out, so that she could be absolutely sure that this wasn't some sort of fluke. "Oh, it's nothing, Spike," she said joyously, "why don't you finish up your dusting over there?" Twilight gestured toward the opposite side of the room. Spike looked at Twilight, genuinely worried. He considered digging deeper into her sudden outburst, but decided to finish his dusting first. This was pretty standard Twilight behavior, after all. She looked too distracted to try, anyway. He picked up his duster and started to walk across the room. He could host her intervention later. Twilight waited until Spike was out of range, then giggled gleefully. This is amazing! she thought, a cloth that can erase memories! With this, everyone will forget all of my embarrassing moments! Twilight started to flip through the album, erasing anything she deemed as awkward or embarrassing. At first, she stuck just to these two categories, but as she progressed through the book, she strayed further from her initial standards. She would erase anything that reminded her of something bad or uncomfortable from her past, and soon she started getting rid of photos she just didn't like. That was an unflattering angle. She was mid-blink in this one. And why did she look so pudgy in this one? A tiny voice in her head recited its mantra as Twilight erased more and more, growing in intensity with each reiteration. Forget to Remember. Shaking her head, she shoved the note's warning to the back of her mind. Eventually, Twilight reached the back cover of the album. She located a picture of Spike and her riding on a chariot pulled by Celestia's royal guards. It had been her transport to Ponyville. Twilight smiled, memories of when she had first met her friends running through her brain. Suddenly, she frowned. Twilight thought back to the chariot ride again. It had been extremely uncomfortable. She remembered her flank aching for hours after the ride. After a moment of deliberation, she started to erase the photo. She had almost completed her task, when she heard Spike calling. "Twilight?" he called, "where are you?" "Huh?" Twilight wondered. Why she couldn't he see her? After all, she hadn't moved from her spot since she had started erasing photographs. Spike started to wander over, looking confused. Twilight decided to wave to him in order to let her know she was there. She raised her hoof to call to Spike. She froze. Her eyes focused on her hoof. Or rather, looked right through it. The bookshelf that should have been obscured by her limb was definitely visible. Her hoof was almost completely transparent. Twilight screamed, backing up quickly until her back hit a wall. A frantic inspection revealed the rest of her body in a similar state. As she stared, transfixed and horrified, she noticed that it was getting harder and harder to make out her figure. Her body was continually fading away, and it was doing so with worrying speed. Twilight's mind raced as she started to hyperventilate, trying to figure out why she was disappearing. Suddenly, she remembered something. The silver cloth. Forget to Remember. She had erased so much of her life, that she barely existed anymore. By then, Spike had approached the photo album. He spotted the chariot photo Twilight had been erasing. At this point, it was basically just a splotch on the otherwise empty picture frame. He glanced around, then noticed the silver cloth lying silently on the floor. He picked it up, glancing at it and the photo. "Hmm," he thought aloud, "Twilight wouldn't like this blotch getting her book dirty. I think I'll clean it up for her." Twilight's pupils shrunk. "Spike, no!" she screamed, yanked from her frozen state on the floor as Spike grabbed the album. She swiped desperately at the cloth, but her hoof phased right through it. The only proof that she still existed was the slight fluttering of the cloth, waving as if a sudden breeze had slipped in through a window. Tears streamed down her face as she helplessly watched her assistant ball up the glittery rag. The cloth gently graced the picture. * * * Spike gazed forlornly out of Canterlot Library's enormous window, the rural town of Ponyville a blip in the distance. He sighed and turned away to continue re-shelving books, the monotony of his job weighing heavily on his psyche. He was so lonely. So very lonely. If only he had a friend.