2 - Gathered Fragments
The seat that Sunset Shimmer now sat in, she decided, was decisively different—much softer, for one—from the hardened chair she had been in before, but that didn’t make the manner in which she sat in it much easier to wrap her head around.
There had been a number of things she had herself done with the ease of breathing that she knew she had never done before. Walking on two legs had been one of them. Getting into this seat had been another. Now these hands moved over the books in her lap without her even having to think too hard about it.
It didn’t make sense. This body didn’t make sense.
This seat seemed to be in a carriage of some sorts if said carriage wasn’t pulled by anything she could readily discern—it did, however, make a lot of sound! It had a red coat and the cabin, which she now sat in, took up the front half; Sunset was sure one could place a large object or several into the open rear half.
The woman in the seat next to her, Vice Principal Luna, drove this carriage down the road. She had heard the word truck thrown about; perhaps that was how they called this type of carriage. Luna’s hands gripped the truck’s steering wheel as she navigated down grey, crack-ridden roads. She remained quiet all the while, opting to focus on her driving. The smooth tones of violins and twangs of a harpsichord mixed together into a melodic tune that several speakers around the cabin whispered out.
Sunset took a moment to watch the scenery go by; she studied the architecture of these simple houses that lined both sides of the street, noting the uniformly-cut lawns that seemed to sprawl in front of every dwelling, all of which lined both sides of the road.
She opened one of the yearbooks and flipped through the pages. She saw pictures of teenagers from page to page but the earliest ones were ones she didn’t recognize. Their corresponding names hung in the margins but she couldn’t recognize the names either. She had never seen these people before. She had never heard of these people before.
She flipped through more and more pages, noting that this book apparently had the graduating class first and then the preceding grades followed. It was only as she neared the end of the picture portion of the book that she started finding the girls she had seen at the school. She scanned their faces, noting how much younger they looked. They all wore the same young and naive smiles that everyone else wore.
And then she found a picture of herself. She had the same red and yellow hairstyle as herself, had the same lush cyan eyes as herself, and even had the type of confident smile that Sunset knew she’d wear. The girl in the picture was her spitting image in every way. And, in the margin, the name Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset swallowed. “That’s… me…” she said under her breath.
She flipped through more pages where she reached the end of the student pictures and found a picture of the staff. Her eyes immediately drew to Vice Principal Luna’s picture and Principal Celestia’s picture, both of which sat right next to each other. She took a few moments to study their faces, especially as the truck took a turn onto another street.
Sunset turned through a few more pages where the book showcased the various clubs, groups, and events within the school. She more or less flipped through the pages now, taking time only to give the pictures cursory scans for anything she could recognize. She saw a few more pictures of five of the other girls (but could find no trace of the final one with the glasses). She saw herself a few more times, apparently seated in some class or working in the library.
Had she really done all of that? Did she really remember none of it?
Sunset flipped through to the end of the book and then started on the next one. She found herself again, she found five of the other girls again. They all looked older, more mature, but she could see chinks in their smiles.
She flipped through more pages, finding herself more and more. The girl in these books was definitely her. These girls in these books were definitely the girls she had seen; they were younger but, beyond that, she had no doubt it was them.
She clutched at her head with her free hand. Did I really lose my memories?
She flipped the third book open. She found the same pictures and supposed memories within, all showing her and all showing the others. They looked so real to life that she couldn’t doubt their authenticity.
Her remaining hand joined the one clutching her head. And I made everyone’s life miserable? And now some girl named Wallflower Blush still hated me enough to do this to me?
Her features darkened and a raging fire crawled up her spine. I don’t… understand. How… dare…?
“Sunset Shimmer,” Luna said.
Sunset’s train of thought dissolved and she tentatively looked over. “Uh, yes?”
Luna turned the steering wheel, taking the truck around another corner. Gone were the grassy lawns that had previously lined the streets; the buildings now practically pressed up against the street and right up next to each other.
“We’re about to arrive at your apartment. I don’t suppose that you will remember this place, or how to even get in.”
Sunset listened in silence.
Luna’s features tightened. “I don’t even know myself if we’ll be able to get you in. We’ll do what we can. But if you are like me, and many others, you keep your keys on your person.” She then looked over and met Sunset in the eyes. “Kindly check your pockets and show me what you find.”
Sunset frowned and looked down at the leather vest hanging about her midsection. She reached into the pockets on the sides and felt an item in each of them. The one from her right pocket was a hard device with a glassy surface; a screen by the look of it. The object from her left was, in fact, a key ring. She held them up. “This?”
Luna cracked a smile and nodded. “We may be in luck.”
* * *
The dull sound of the tumbler of the lock clicked as she turned the key, and Sunset felt a small sense of ease fill her. The feeling of the doorknob in her grip brought with it a sense of eerie familiarity as she turned it. It was like she had been here before, and given what Luna had told her, this was where she lived. The thought of this place being her home made her feel somewhat unnerved, but also at ease.
“Are we going to head inside, or are you content with staring inside?”
The sound of Luna’s voice caught Sunset off guard. She had all but forgotten that she wasn’t alone. The vague feeling of nostalgia at the smell of the air from within the building had ensnared her mind.
“Sorry, I just... still feel a little strange about all of this...” Sunset said. She shook her head to recenter herself on the moment. Part of her felt like she didn’t want to come off as rude by not inviting Luna into her home. Of course, the fact that Sunset didn’t remember ever living here made the whole notion of 'being rude' feel a bit off. She stepped aside, allowing Luna by. “After you.”
Luna smiled and nodded. “Thank you. I’m glad to see that your newfound manners didn’t get erased with the rest of your memories.”
Sunset snorted at what she perceived as the older woman’s attempt at humor. Well, at least she hoped it was a joke. She had found that it was difficult to tell with the way Luna often spoke.
Before she could once again get lost in her thoughts, Sunset entered the building.
The entryway looked like a simple common area, with some drawers as the only pieces of furniture. An oil painting sat in a wall-mounted frame in the center of one of the room's sky blue walls. It showed a sunset over the skyline of a lake, shimmering on the water. Sunset wanted to laugh at the fact that it was sort of on the nose, even for her. She wondered where she could have gotten the painting.
Had one of those girls from earlier given it to her? This was, according to Luna, her home; the key she had used to open it had come from her pocket after all. They had all insisted many times that they were her friends. Maybe one of them did it for a quick laugh?
Then again, Sunset thought, they did say that I’m boarding here, so it could be another tenant’s painting. Well, if there are any others.
Deciding not to worry about it, her body seemed to move instinctively as she proceeded to take off her shoes. The vague notion that she had done this a million times in the past once again clawed at her mind. Coupling with that came the feeling of unease she had been feeling all day.
“Your room, from what I recall, is the first door on the right at the top of these stairs,” Luna said, having already removed her own shoes while Sunset was adrift in her thoughts. “I remember having to bring you home after the Fall Formal. My sister and I had to make sure you stayed out of trouble for the remainder of that night.”
“Fall Formal?”
“It’s an annual dance at Canterlot High. This past one was quite the... interesting event, to say the least.” Luna chuckled. The older woman began climbing the stairs, with Sunset following after her. “That was the first time magic had ever made its presence known to our world, or so I would assume.”
Sunset’s expression hardened. “Why do I get the feeling that ‘magic’ had something to do with me?”
“Because it did. You were actually at the center of it, but I’d rather save that story for later,” Luna said. “I’m not the most informed on the goings on of that night, or at least a large part of it, no thanks to being a zombie.”
“A zombie? How did... nevermind,” Sunset muttered, throwing her hands into the air. “I get the feeling I’ll find out later.”
The two made their way up the stairs in silence, with Luna several steps ahead of Sunset. Sunset felt like the woman in front of her knew more about this place than she herself did.
Stopping in front of a worn wooden door, Luna turned to look at Sunset. “This should be your room.”
“Oh, okay,” Sunset said with a nod. She gripped the knob and attempted to give it a quick turn, but it wouldn’t budge. “Looks like it’s locked.”
“This is a boarding residence, so that isn’t surprising. You should have a key.”
Sunset slapped her own forehead. “Ah, right. Forgot about that for a minute.”
Reaching into the pocket she had placed it after opening the front door, Sunset withdrew the key ring, and selected the key that probably fit from the three she hadn’t used on the front door.
Opening the door and taking in the sight of the room, a wave of homely nostalgia came over Sunset. It was akin the way she felt after a long day studying under Princess Celestia; it was oddly relaxing.
“It certainly feels like my room...” she muttered, before clearing the path for Luna to enter. “After you.”
Luna simply smiled and nodded, before entering the room. Sunset followed, shutting the door behind her.
The room was bigger than the impression of the building had given from the outside. It looked as though the only thing missing in the room was a kitchen, which was likely downstairs somewhere. Another missing thing was a bed, but that was something she could see being up on the balcony above her, accessible by a set of wooden stairs that, in a way, split the flat down the middle. The area underneath the balcony had a little workspace which sported several objects she couldn’t place. A large sofa dominated the other half of the flat, facing a large device that was just as strange. With a bookshelf on one wall and several guitars on the other, it looked like a complete living space.
But there was one thing that truly caught her eye. Her expression twitched as she walked over to it.
A medium-sized terrarium rested on what looked like a coffee table in the opposite corner of the flat. The tank wasn’t the most extravagant thing in the world, with a fake image of a desert lining the back wall. The sand looked a little rough, with fine rocks peppering it with a little extra color. Several dark, dry-looking stones sat every few inches, and a piece of driftwood was resting on the rear wall.
Perched on the piece of wood was a small, sleeping leopard gecko, no bigger than her hand. The lizard rested happily on its makeshift wood bed. Sunset could feel her face forming a smile as she stared at the small creature. It seemed content, its tiny smile warming her heart the longer she looked at it.
And then she realized that she had no memory of the gecko sleeping in the corner of her supposed room and blood just about ran cold. If this was, in fact, her room, then the lizard was, without a doubt, hers. Yet as she had determined earlier, if this was her pet reptile, then she had lost the memories of even getting it.
While she had felt a little bad hearing that she had lost her memories of her supposed friends, this felt worse. The fact that Sunset had no recollection of her own pet made her feel like she had forgotten the name of her own child.
As if sensing her distress, the lizard woke up. Sunset watched as it looked at her, and felt her heart break as its little eyes seemed to glitter at the sight of her. It didn’t know that its owner had forgotten it. How could it? She could feel her eyes begin to water.
She felt a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. Sunset looked up to see Luna's concerned-filled gaze staring back at her. “Are you alright, Sunset Shimmer?”
Sniffling, Sunset shook her head. “I... I don’t know...”
* * *
Principal Celestia clicked the send message on her text message as she walked down the hall. She then turned to the older gentlemen walking next to her. “Anywho, that is the long version.”
Mister Cranky Doodle, who had an eternally hunched-over stride, rubbed his chin and nodded sagely. “I see. That is quite a pickle.”
“Luna is taking Sunset home right now. I’m waiting to hear if they actually were able to get inside.”
“Alright, so what are you going to do? I take it you have something in mind?”
“At the moment, I’m expecting her friends to check back with me. After that,” Celestia said, hanging her hands on her coat pockets, “I‘m not too sure. I would go over there if I could.”
Mister Doodle raised an eyebrow. “And you can’t because...?”
“I gave Luna the truck,” Principal Celestia explained.
“Ah, that’s right. You two carpool to save money on gas.” Mister Doodle took a moment to adjust one of the sleeves on his sweater. “Well then, I’ll be in my room for a while. If you need to get over there, let me know and I’ll drive you over.”
Principal Celestia cracked a smile as they approached the end of the hall that led right up to her office door. “Thanks, Cranky. I appreciate it.”
Mister Doodle nodded and then turned into the hall, hanging his hands on his belt loops. “Anytime, Tia.”
She meanwhile turned back to a wooden door whose textured window made everything past it a kaleidoscope of browns and whites. The words Main Office were emblazoned on it, their former shine lost to scratches and paint tears. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. She walked around the side of the front desk and opened one of the drawers, sifting through a few of the folders inside. She drew out one of the documents.
She took a seat in the rolling chair and opened the folder. Wallflower Blush’s file is not that big. We don’t even have a recent picture… she thought as she skimmed the contents.
What would drive this girl to do this? What is going on?
The phone in her jacket pocket vibrated and she pulled it out. She read the text message and nodded to herself. She then sent a couple words of acknowledgement off and then returned to the folder.
The folder itself consisted of the basic information; name, birthday, address, and the most recent transcripts. Those told her nothing. Some folders, especially for the more troublesome kids in the school, contained discipline reports and detention notes—she knew that Sunset had at least a few, most of which came about after the Fall Formal. This folder contained none of that. In fact, aside from what student folders typically started with, she found nothing else.
She reclined in her seat and sighed. I don’t think I’ll get very far with this.
The office door clicked and then swung open. Principal Celestia stood up as several bodies filed into the room. The first six she readily recognized. The next looked similar to the Twilight she saw every day in the halls in classes, but she readily knew this one as well from her long and free-falling hair; it had to be Princess Twilight from the other world.
The last two were new. The former wore a pink, star-filled beanie and some ripped jeans. She stood at nearly her full height but the expression she wore was far from bright. The crossed arms didn’t help either.
The latter wore a large black sweater, equally black and blocky glasses, and had her hands curled tight. She managed to remain standing despite her legs bending at strange angles. She looked like she was trying to be as small as possible and her large eyebrows further accentuated the dead-lock stare she now gave Principal Celestia.
“Princess Twilight,” Principal Celestia said. “Good to see you again.”
“You too, Principal Celestia. May I introduce you to Starlight Glimmer and Moondancer?”
Starlight Glimmer waved. “Hi.”
“Hi…” Moondancer wheezed.
Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I take it that you two are from Equestria?”
Starlight nodded. “Yes Ma’am. How could you tell?”
Principal Celestia’s lips twitched and she considered them closely again. Two Equestrians had already done a number of things. Now there were four of them walking around. She then sighed, and her lips formed a soft smile. “The fact that you came here with Princess Twilight was my first clue. I hope you’ll be comfortable here during your visit.”
Twilight placed her hands on her hips. “Where is Sunset Shimmer?” she asked with a firm tone. “I want to see her.”
“I can certainly understand why you do, especially given the circumstances,” Principal Celestia said as she opened the drawer and slotted Wallflower’s folder back inside. “I had Luna take Sunset home to her apartment. Speaking of which, you should know that they made it there okay.”
The congregation before her, for the most part, gave a collective sigh of relief.
“So what do we do now?” Sci-Twi asked.
Principal Celestia crossed her arms. “We are going to need to have a lengthy discussion on just that. Even I am not sure on how to go about this; there is no precedent for magical memory loss around here.”
Starlight frowned and scratched her head. “Uh, I don’t think it’s commonplace in our world either. There’s probably a few laws preventing this sort of thing from happening.”
“There are,” Moondancer said, breaking her nervous form of silence. “It’s Section 86B in the ‘Provisions of Magical Laws and Limitations Act.’ It’s an interesting read.”
“Well, as... interesting as that sounds, Moondancer, we have more important things to be talkin’ about right now,” Applejack said. “But before we get too into it, we oughta get Sunset, so we can include her in the conversation.”
“And Vice Principal Luna,” Sci-Twi seconded.
“Then maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to reconvene at her place, hmmm?” Rarity suggested. “It’ll make for a much more... comfortable venue for the discussion than a school, wouldn’t you say?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ve got some things to tell all of you and I suppose Vice Principal Luna too. It’s stuff that I told Sunset about too, but…” She shivered. “If she’s really forgotten…”
“Right. We need to make sure everyone is on the same page,” Rarity said.
“Princess Twilight,” Principal Celestia said, “I hope you have an idea of how we might restore Sunset Shimmer’s memories?”
Twilight’s face went pale and she shrank down and shook her head.
Principal Celestia’s heart skipped a beat. She sighed and hung her hands on her jacket pockets as she walked around to their side of the front desk. “Well then, I am afraid that the conversation that we will all need to have will not be a simple one. There will need to be things figured out. And there will need to be arrangements made.”
Twilight nodded solemnly.
Pinkie Pie’s hand shot into the air. “Oh! Oh oh! It’s almost half-past five, though.” She looked at the others and asked, “Should I order pizza?”
“If you do,” Principal Celestia said, “then I will pay for it. But enough about this, let’s not waste any more time.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle watched as Mister Doodle’s minivan pulled out of the parking lot. A few of the others stepped away from their own parked vehicles; Applejack stepped out of her truck along with Rainbow Dash while Fluttershy stepped out of her pink mini-cooper with Pinkie Pie. The apartment was across the street; several cars crisscrossed the road at the moment, giving Twilight time to think.
In her several visits to this world, Twilight hadn’t seen Sunset’s home prior to today. She had wondered about where her dear friend was living for quite a while. Twilight could only imagine the numerous hurdles that Sunset had to clear to get a home here.
According to what Celestia had told her on the way over, Sunset lived in a boarding unit. It made sense to her; Twilight had no doubt that Sunset wouldn’t be able to afford much else. Sunset only worked at some kind of restaurant, or at least that’s what she could remember from their Journal conversations.
The traffic presented an opening and Twilight darted across the street ahead of the others. She practically threw the door open and dashed inside. First door on the right at the top of these stairs, she thought as she found said stairs and raced up those. Her legs moved in ways she didn’t want to and she even tripped and fell onto her face; she didn’t even stop to dust herself up as she scrambled to her feet again and continued up.
She arrived at the door in question and threw it open. And she immediately spotted two bodies on the couch.
And the both of them whirled to face her and promptly stood up.
Twilight froze in the doorway. There she was; there Sunset was. Yes, they had just seen each other the other day. She looked Sunset hard in the eyes. She tried to find a light anywhere inside Sunset’s gaze.
And Sunset’s expression didn’t soften up. Instead of the usual expression she had come to expect when seeing Sunset, Twilight was greeted by an expression of confusion. There was none of the usual warmth that Sunset’s face usually held. In its place was something Twilight could only describe as ‘confused and distant.’ It made her heart twist and tighten in her chest.
“Sunset Shimmer…” Twilight wheezed.
Sunset frowned. “Hi…”
Twilight listened carefully to the way Sunset greeted her. It had no emotion or joy to it. It was like how one would greet a stranger.
If Twilight understood everything right, then she really was a stranger this time. The thought made her blood run cold, and the twisting of her heart worse.
The other nine slowly filed into the room behind her. Moondancer, in particular, had one arm draped across Starlight’s shoulders as the latter supported her.
Twilight stumbled her way across the flat. Sunset still stared her down with the same nervous frown as before. Twilight, meanwhile, felt all of her strength leave her the closer she got. Finally, she came face-to-face with Sunset.
Twilight swallowed and tentatively asked, “You… you don’t remember me, do you?”
Sunset shook her head. “No. I don’t. Sorry.”
Twilight shuddered. She could feel her knees wobbling, struggling to keep herself standing as she tried to remain composed.
Sunset’s lip quivered and she sighed. “Who are you?”
Twilight folded her hands together. “I’m… My name is Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer. I’m… a very dear friend of yours.”
* * *
“That’s everything that I know about the Memory Stone,” Twilight finished. “At least, that’s all I could find out about it. If there’s anything I’m missing, I couldn’t find it.”
The rest of the people in the room either sat on the floor, leaned against the wall, or took those precious few seats on the couch; it was rather Sunset, Starlight, and Moondancer that occupied it. A few empty pizza boxes lay in a stack in the corner of the flat along with a few damp paper plates. A few still had pieces of pizza on paper plates in front of them.
A plastic bag filled with small rock pieces sat in the middle of the table. It was at this point that all sets of eyes turned toward the remains of the Memory Stone and considered it.
“Sooooooo,” Pinkie Pie said before stuffing the last bit of her slice of pizza into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and then waved at Twilight. “Anyone else wonder what else has been around here for over a thousand years?”
A few hands shot up. Celestia and Luna, meanwhile, exchanged uneasy glances.
“We all saw what happened,” Applejack said. “This thing took them memories from us. And when we destroyed it, those memories all came back to us.”
Sci-Twi crossed her arms and nodded. “That’s right. That all suggests that the memories were stored in the stone when it was still whole. That… that also means that none of those memories are in Sunset in any capacity.”
“And if they did not return,” Celestia asked, “then where did they go?”
Rarity groaned. “I have no idea.”
“Me neither,” Fluttershy seconded. “I don’t remember seeing anything else come out of it. There was a green ball of light when it exploded and then all of our memories came back to us…”
“Sunset’s memories should have been freshly inside it,” Twilight said. “Well within the three day limit. So why…?”
Luna shook her head. “As interesting a discussion it would be to theorize how everything occurred, I doubt we will get very far at this point. What I would suggest we do is come up with a plan.”
“Yes, I agree,” Celestia said. “What may we do now?”
“There has to be a way to put it back together. A spell, maybe,” Moondancer suggested. “From what you’ve told me, this isn’t the first time that you’ve had to deal with an ancient relic being shattered.”
Starlight jumped in her seat. “The relic reconstitution spell. Twilight, you know it, right?”
Twilight groaned. “I vaguely remember. Yes. Well, I also know what book it’s in. But…” She paused for a moment to scratch her head. “I don’t know. Even if I do have the spell, I am not sure if it would be that simple.”
Starlight sank into the cushion. “Right…”
“Why would it not be simple?” Moondancer piped up.
“Well, for starters, if the Memory Stone is at least from the time of Clover the Clever, then it’s at least a millennia old, maybe even a few.”
Applejack crossed her arms. “What difference does that make? That spell sounds like the sorta thing you’d be after.”
“We had to use that spell to repair a similarly old relic,” Starlight explained. “And doing that was beyond just that spell; we needed something particular to the relic itself.”
Twilight threw her hands into the air. “I don’t even have the slightest idea where we’d find something like that for the Memory Stone!”
After a moment’s silence, Luna pointed toward a similar plastic bag containing another broken object. “What about this geode here?” she asked.
Eyes turned toward the remains of Sunset’s geode.
“Oh!” Rarity said with a gasp. “That’s right! I think this broke during all of the hoopla. There must have been some sort of interaction between the geode and the Memory Stone, don’t you think?”
“That doesn’t make it particular to the Memory Stone,” Twilight curtly replied. “I don’t know. Maybe we could try it as a last resort, but that’s an awfully long shot…”
Moondancer sighed. “Come on. All of this assumes that the spell by itself won’t work. Maybe it will. We haven’t even tried yet.”
Twilight straightened up. “You’re right. You’re right. But here’s the other thing… Even if we manage to put the stone back together and everything…”
Twilight shuddered. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Saying it meant admitting it as a possibility. That was a possibility that she didn’t want to think about. She needed it to not be a possibility.
“You think that even if you went through all of the trouble of putting it back together, the memories were destroyed with the stone,” Sunset said, sitting up straight. “My memories are already gone forever.”
It felt like Sunset had just stood up and punched her in the chest. It might as well have happened.
“No,” Rainbow Dash said.
Sunset sighed and rose to her feet. “Listen. I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But if I made my way in this world once, I can do it again. Memories or no.”
Twilight frowned. Her hands balled into fists. “I know you can, Sunset. That’s not it…”
Applejack stepped forward. “I’m thinkin’ about that Sunset I watched power through everything everyone threw at her after the Fall Formal.”
“I think about that Sunset who still stayed true to us through thick and thin.” Rainbow Dash slunk her shoulders. “Even in that one time when we just… flat-out abandoned you.”
Sci-Twi nodded. “I think about that Sunset who took what she went through and used it to save me in return.”
“Truly, you rose above and became one of the brightest and best that our school has ever seen,” Celestia added.
“You liked to think of yourself as a student of mine,” Twilight said, “but in reality… I’ve learned so much from you. I’m actually envious of who you became and the journey that you took to get there. Memories are so important… they define who we are and who we’ve become.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “So what’s wrong with who I am now?”
The room fell silent. Several expressions fell and many held their breaths as they stared Sunset down. Sunset’s eyes remained on Twilight all the while, her frown just as deep as it had been throughout the whole meeting.
Twilight sighed and hung her head. “Nothing, Sunset. You’re perfect in every way,” she murmured.
Sunset narrowed her eyes and finally sighed. “Twilight… I know you don’t mean that.”
Twilight shuddered. “N-no! I do! Really!”
“It’s okay. I know what you really think.” Sunset crossed her arms. “You think that I was more than what I am now. I mean… this… me that you’re talking about. ...She sounds really cool.”
“Sunset…” Starlight said as she stood up from the couch.
“I could say that I’m missing a part of my life right now.” A little bit of color disappeared from Sunset’s face as firmness in her voice faded. “But then I’d also have to say that everything happened and… someone did this to me.”
“Yeah…” Pinkie Pie said, also deflating. After a moment, she jumped up again. “But we’re your friends, Sunset. And we’ll get you through this!”
“Hear hear,” Rarity seconded.
Sunset nodded solemnly. “Sure, I guess. If you think it’s worth trying to get part of my life back… What next?”
“Maybe you should come back to Equestria with us, Sunset,” Starlight suggested as she too stood up from the couch. “We could look into this Memory Stone stuff there a little more and maybe we’ll find something there.”
“You have a way to go there?” Sunset asked.
Pinkie Pie stuffed the last bit of her slice of pizza into her mouth while making sounds all the while. “Yup! There’s a portal in the base of the statue in front of the school.”
Starlight nodded. “That’s where the mirror portal comes out.”
“And how long might she need to be over there?” Luna asked, crossing her arms.
Twilight made a non-committal sound and shook her head.
Luna turned to her sister. “We’ll need to excuse her from her classes then.”
“I briefly mentioned the situation at the staff meeting so they know something about it already,” Celestia explained.
“Excellent,” Luna replied.
“Principal Celestia?” Sunset asked. “What’s going to happen to this Wallflower person?”
Celestia and Luna exchanged glances.
“We can’t officially tell you anything about that,” Luna replied. “That is between us and her.”
Sunset hummed in response.
Luna glanced at Celestia and then shrugged. “Unofficially, we don’t know yet. After all, you yourself did many expellable things at the Fall Formal, but here you are.”
Celestia’s expression twitched but she eventually nodded.
Twilight looked at Sunset again. “Well, we can go whenever you’re ready. I realize you’ve probably had a long day and all, but…”
Sunset sighed and walked through the edge of the circle. Her hands made their way to her hips as she looked around her flat; she ran her eyes over the various paintings, the potted philodendron hanging from the ceiling in one corner of the room, the little work area she had yet to fully explore. And then there was Ray, still watching in silence from his terrarium.
“This is my place…” she murmured.
A few nods came about.
Sunset turned. “Yeah. I’ve probably had a long day. I think I want to stay here for tonight, at least.”
“Okay… but only if you let me sleep on the couch down here.” Twilight blushed and played with her hair. “W-well, I mean, if that’s okay. I don’t mean to impose and it’s okay if you don’t want to me—”
Sunset held up her hands. “No, that’s okay. You can stay the night if you want.”
Moondancer raised her fist into the air. “Uhm, I think I’d like to go back now if that’s okay.”
Starlight reached down and helped Moondancer stand. “Maybe you and I could go back then and maybe get some things going.”
“This sounds like a good idea. We’ll make sure that you can get back tonight,” Celestia said to Moondancer and Starlight. She turned to Sunset and Twilight. “We’ll be by first thing in the morning to pick you up.”
“We’ll be ready,” Twilight replied. “Thank you.”
“I’ll probably spend the rest of the night looking through these yearbooks,” Sunset said. “Maybe I’ll look around this place a little more. There has to be a lot of stuff about me here. It’d be like discovering myself.”
Twilight smiled and walked forward. “Then what’s say we discover you together?” she asked as she held out a hand.
Sunset nodded and took Twilight’s hand in hers. “Sure.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
851 users online
693,339 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I love this
Please continue
Man, way to make the feels have a strong impact as Sunset discovers the things of her life she has forgotten, what she meant to others who no longer have that same meaning to her. I do look forward to seeing how Sunset and Twilight interact with how Sunset is; it's sure to open new ways of how they perceive one another.
*Fangasming of Sunlight!!!!!!!*
I like the detail that her subconscious and muscle memory still seem to be fine.
Ok, great emotional chapter and the pet bit was deep. Subconscious memory and muscle control are much deeper than surface memory so that pans out.
Still a bit tiffed you haven't brought the Trixie connection to things. Heck, maybe the memories got messed up from her geode and sent or Trixie......oh Lord that would be quite the thing to see as the memories clash.
8795821
This was actually something I wanted people to pick up on~
8795851
I'm glad you like the pet scene! I actually wrote that scene, since I think that regardless of her memories, I think Sunset would still find the little guy adorable. It made sense to me that if Sunset was told "this lizard is yours" and she didn't remember, she'd probably feel the weight of it all (her losing her memories) coming down on her. I actively aimed to make people feel a little misty eyed~
As for Trixie, I'm not entirely sure what you mean. She's going to appear, but right now we're focusing on the more immediate set of reactions. i.e. Sunset's immediate circle of friends. I do have something in mind for Trixie though, but you'll have to wait and see
8796536
Mission accomplished.
8796948
All according to keikaku
i just hope no one tries to push sunset on things regarding her memory as well with how the memory stone works yea that would be bad for sunsets health possibly even cause a brain aneurysm
Parts pf this feel like being stabbed in the heart. Like the part with Ray...
And other parts just make me chant, "SHIP. SHIP. SHIP. SHIP. SHIP. SHIP."
Great job you two! Keep up the fantastic work!
8798614
I know the feeling
Yeah, no going back to Equestria to steal the Element of Harmony; that is, if your old beef with Princess Celestia revived itself.
Heck, even Equestria would be hugely different to what you remember - for one, there's two new Princesses (Luna and Twilight), a 'new' region (Crystal Empire), Discord's an ally, and a new castle in Ponyville. Also no more Elements of Harmony, for the time being at least.
So even going 'home' would result in confusion.
Did anyone else feel some foreshadowing in this chapter that maybe Wallflower ended up with Sunset's memories?
That aside I just want to say that this chapter is beautiful and you're doing a great job at capturing everyone's emotions without just blatantly pointing them out.
8795820
If there really is Sunlight in this story, Twilight has a long way to go. Sunset's reaction in the end read more noncommittal and emotionless to me – like someone being assigned a random partner for a trip or some event – and I think that was probably what the author intended, too; another nail in the "you're all strangers to her" coffin.
8814756
"Foreshadowing..." Uhh... while I normally don't like to discourage these sorts of theories, this is actually just you reading too much into something. I'm glad you're picking up on all of the other nuances though! (And yes, there is SunLight in this fic, that much I can confirm.)
8798614
I'm glad you felt the twist of the dagger in your gut via my writing! I'm very proud of the fact that people are getting the kicks to the feels that I planned on when writing that scene. And yes, SHIP SHIP SHIP!
Really love this story! It feels like this Sunset also lacks the level of ?desperation? For lack of a better word, of the Sunset at the Fall Formal, which I guess makes sense since she doesn't remember the 2-3 years being stranded on earth...
For some reason I'm imagining one of two major scenarios in my mind for where you'd like to go here:
Wallflower got the memories, by accident, and is right now going slightly crazy with them in her mind.
Or... you play it straight and she's forgotten her memories, with maybe some random flashes of familiarity. Maybe They fix the geode and she gets to experience some of the memories from her friends' perspectives but no more... and they rebuild
can't wait to see how wallflower blush handles this.
Plot twist, Sunset memories went to human Sunset
9096070
Bigger Plot Twist, Human Sunset Shimmer's been dead for years.
STOP MAKING ME CRYYY (I love angst so much it makes me feel that I'm a person too)
9096070
WOAHHH