Memory Lost and Found

by BoredAuthor817

Prologue

“I owe you one, Trixie! I will never forget this.”

As she ran down the hall, she heard her new friend yell through the glass: “Never say 'never'!”

Sunset Shimmer grit her teeth, biting away the tears threatening to fall. They stung her eyes. Sundown was fast approaching and, if she had any hope to save her friends' memories, it was now. She didn't know how, but, somehow, she had to get that stone away from Wallflower Blush and destroy it, or, convince her to do it.

Still, she sighed, even if she couldn't make everyone here remember the change she has made over the past year, she still had solace that the all that she helped build still remained. Even is she had no part of them, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy will all be friends.

“No,” she grunted, “I will restore their memories. They will remember me.”

'But, you can also always fail' came a voice from the back of her mind.

'If so, I've not lost everything. With Trixie, I will start anew. I also have the ponies in Equestria. Princess Twilight, Starlight,' a smile came to her lips and warmed her heart, 'Princess Celestia. I will not be alone as I once was before.'

Sunset pushed through the doors at the school's rear entrance, shielding her eyes as the setting sun blasted her in the face. She scanned the lot. “Come on” she grumbled, “where are you?” She winced as she saw her friends hanging out around Applejack's pickup truck. They looked like they were having so much fun without her.

'No,' she frowned, 'Wallflower first, them later.' That's when she spotted her, a singular green form, walking across the parking lot to a small wooded area. 'So, that's where her garden is...' Sunset growled. She made a mental note to search it later for more Equestrian lost artifacts. 'Actually,' she wondered, 'why just the garden? The whole school grounds, for that matter!'

She took off running into to the parking lot. Taking in a deep breath, she yelled as loud as she could. “Wallflower?”

Upon hearing her name, Wallflower Blush turned around to face her pursuer. She hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to stay or flee. On one hand, she was shocked that anyone could call for her by name. On the other, she also feared Sunset Shimmer. Though no longer “mean”, Sunset still had her anger issues.

Wallflower had seen it flare twice now, though, both times, Sunset has been stopped and calmed by her friends. Without someone to quell the beast, Wallflower didn't know what Sunset would do to her—and something told her Sunset's words back in the yearbook room were no idle threat. However, she had some confidence knowing that Sunset wouldn't remember their little conversation from earlier.

With that fear in mind, Wallflower turned and picked up her pace towards her garden.

“Wallflower, stop!” Sunset called out again. This time, she sounded much closer.

Wallflower let out a sigh. 'No point in trying to outrun her.' She turned to face Sunset. “You remember my name?” Genuine shock in her voice.

“I remember everything” replied Sunset, “The memory stone, how I acted. All of it.”

“What?” Wallflower was taken aback. “How? I erased the whole afternoon!” Shrinking back slightly when she realized she had yelled her confession.

Sunset's voice got softer. “Listen, I used to be just like you. Sure, I was popular, but I was lonely.”

Wallflower scowled. “You're nothing like me. And I'm not lonely because I have...plants!” She paused, recounting what she just said. Her shoulders fell. “That sounded a lot less lonely in my head.”

“I'm sorry, Wallflower” Sunset continued.

“No, you're not” the girl spat, “You're just trying to look good in front of your friends.” She growled, “And it's working! Gah! How am I supposed to get back at you if nothing I do matters?” She took in a deep breath, “I hate you!”

She stopped. That wasn't what she meant. She never really hated Sunset Shimmer. “Aggravated with” would be more appropriate. After all, how could you really hate someone whose only crime was to ignore you? If that were the case, then Wallflower hated the whole school, possibly even the whole world.

She heard a pained gasp come from Sunset. A grin briefly passed her lips. Finally, she had struck a nerve. But Wallflower stopped herself from digging the knife further.

She took off her backpack from her shoulder. “I wanted to teach you a lesson by erasing your friends' good memories of you, but, obviously, that didn't work. But,” a smirk came to her lips, pulling the Memory Stone from her bag, “what if I erased all their memories of high school?”

“You can't!” Sunset cried in horror, “You'll be stealing their memories of each other!”

“They'll think of each other the way you think of me. Which is not at all!” She summoned the magic within the stone and sent it hurling towards the group of girls huddled around together, listening in on their conversation.

“No!” Sunset ran towards the girls and diving before them, taking the magic unto herself. She landed onto the asphalt with an oomph!, her act not having gone unnoticed by the other girls. Sunset raised herself to her elbows and looked sternly at Wallflower. “I've ruined their friendship once before. I'd rather give up my own memories than let it happen again!”

Sunset's face lit up with magic as the spell took hold. Wallflower held the memory stone firmly as Sunset had each memory ripped from her. She hardened herself to not react to the other girl's screams.

“Twilight,” Sunset pleaded, “don't forget me!” She let out a tearful cry as the last memory left her.

At last, it was done. All the memories of Sunset's friends, of high school, gone. Years wiped away in an instant. Wallflower stood in shock. She had witnessed the removal of memories many times. But never any at this magnitude. She felt her heart thumping within her chest as she watched Sunset fall and lay still. What had she done?

To her relief, Sunset stirred. Wallflower watched her rise to her hands and knees. She let out the breath she had been holding. For a brief moment, she feared she may have killed the poor girl. Though, her rejoicing was short lived when Sunset began to speak.

“This isn't Canterlot.” She turned to the others gathered around, “Where am I?”

Wallflower noticed Sunset's hands. The gestures she made. Sunset moved like a pony. Wallflower sucked in a deep breath, slightly disturbed by the scene before her.

She watched with fear as the frighted pony viewed her surroundings.

A cry rang out. “Princess Celestia?”

Wallflower heard the panic in the “pony's” voice. She turned away, suddenly sympathetic and ashamed of what the former bully had become.

“What's happened to me?” Sunset asked, examining the ends of her forelegs. She uncurled a hoof and gazed upon her open hand. A new surge of fear erupted from her chest. Tears welled in her eyes, “Somepony help me!”

Wallflower watched as the other girls gathered around Sunset Shimmer. Each of them clearly disturbed and moved by what they had just seen. As each laid a hand upon Sunset, a light ignited between them. Wallflower shielded her eyes. When the light faded, all of the girls, including Sunset Shimmer, were floating above her in their pony forms and dressed in brightly-colored outfits. Wallflower took a step back. She had known the girls to undergo change by magic before. Generally, it meant that someone was going down.

“Wallflower,” Twilight Sparkle spoke, “you have magic you do not understand. But, it is nothing compared to the magic of—”

“Yeah, yeah” Pinkie Pie cut her off, “We get it. LIGHT HER UP, LADIES!”

Almost as if on cue, the geodes around the girls' necks glowed. Multi-colored beams came together to form a single blast of white light sent hurling towards Wallflower. With nothing else to shield herself it, Wallflower held up the Memory Stone. The magical beam came in contact with the stone, heating it up before exploding it in her hands. The shock wave hit her, throwing her backward onto the asphalt.

Wallflower, defeated, watched the memories within the stone be released and find their rightful owners. She got to her knees, her breathing heavy. It was over. No more memory stealing. She now had to return to a world from which she could not disappear. In a way, she felt relieved; in another, terrified. But, now there was something else she had how do live with. Shame. Even if no one could remember what, or when, she stole from them, she would still have to live with the fact she did it.

She turned away from the group and sat down. She wanted to give them their privacy. But, most importantly, she wanted to hide. Behind her, she could hear the joyous cries of the girls as each reclaimed their memories.

“Sunset Shimmer!” yelled Twilight Sparkle, throwing her arms around Sunset's neck and pulling her into a deep hug. She tried all she could to keep from crying. The one person who taught her the most was also the one person she almost forgot forever. Warmth filled her knowing she had her friend back once again. However, that warmth quickly turned to ice when Sunset said:

“I-I'm sorry, do I know you?”

Twilight quickly pulled back and looked directly at Sunset. Fear immediately filled her when she saw that her friend's eyes lacked the light they generally held. “Sunset,” she bit back her tears, “it's us. It's me, Twilight Sparkle. Don't you remember me?”

“I'm sorry,” Sunset shook her head, “I don't know you.”

“How 'bout us, Sugarcube?” asked Applejack; the other girls stood around her. “Do ya know us?”

Sunset viewed the other girls, giving them the same empty expression she gave Twilight. “I'm sorry. Should I?”

“Yes!” cried Twilight, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. She cupped her hands around Sunset's face. “We're your friends!”

“You've said that before,” she said, removing Taillight's hands, “But I have no recollection of friends like you.”

“Oh, dear...” Fluttershy gasped, choking back her tears.

“Sunset, darling” Rarity spoke up, trying to hide her own fear “We've known you for years, though, only for the past year have we been friends. Do you not recognize us at all?”

“No” Sunset shook her head before curling up into a ball, her hooves over her head. “Please!” she wept, “I just want to go home! Somepony help me get home!”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran over to Wallflower.

“What did you do?” Applejack demanded, raising the other girl up by the front of her sweater.

“Fix Sunset's memories! Now!” yelled Rainbow.

“I can't!” Wallflower squirmed in Applejack's grasp. She let out a yelp when she no longer felt the ground beneath her feet. “The stone did all the memory stealing. I'm not even fully sure how it works!”

Applejack's glare darkened. “You mean you had no idea jus' what you were doin'?” her grip tightened, “You jus' threw aroun' Equestrian magic as if it were a toy?”

“Easy there, AJ” Rainbow tried to calm her friend, flashbacks of the Friendship Games coming to mind, “You're starting to act like Sunset would.”

Applejack threw Wallflower to the ground. “At least now I can understand her anger.”

Wallflower scrambled to her feet and reached for her bag. “Look,” she said, pulling out a piece of paper, “this is all I have. I found it with the stone. Maybe it can help.”

“For your sake,” Rainbow growled, snatching the paper, “I hope it does.”

Comments

[The-Third]

Nice setup, caught my eye, just maybe a little slower pace

[Charli13]

“Oh this is good” I say as I rubb my hands together

[Csquared08]

who's only crime

*whose

Alright, this looks promising. I'm excited.

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

“Yeah, yeah” Pinkie Pie cut her off, “We get it. LIGHT HER UP, LADIES!”

YES SCORE SHE SAID IT . . . My God, I just sounded like my dad with the star treck remake

[Bookwurm666]

Though no longer “mean”, Sunset still had her anger issues.
Wallflower had seen it flare twice now, though, both times, Sunset has been stopped and calmed by her friends. Without someone to quell the beast, Wallflower didn't know what Sunset would do to her—

anything she does you have coming

“Yeah, yeah” Pinkie Pie cut her off, “We get it. LIGHT HER UP, LADIES!”

“Easy there, AJ” Rainbow tried to calm her friend, flashbacks of the Friendship Games coming to mind, “You're starting to act like Sunset would.”

Applejack threw Wallflower to the ground. “At least now I can understand her anger.”

I think we all would

[Theresa]

11100736
Exactly magic isn't a toy and the girls mostly use it unconsciously and although they found a way to use the gems they also try to be responsible with. Wallflower had to seen the games and the fall formal showing the dark side of magic but chose to ignore for sunset and everyone not noticing her. If she hadn't been using the memory stone as a crutch for her social anxiety instead actually getting help and speaking to people she wouldn't had so much trouble making friends.