• Published 29th Apr 2020
  • 7,582 Views, 215 Comments

The Song Of Friendship - Lab Matt



Princess Twilight's friends aren't as receptive to the idea of befriending Sunset Shimmer as she hoped. The Dazzlings seize the opportunity.

  • ...
12
 215
 7,582

Chapter 10

“You ok there, Sunset?” Trixie asked, standing by the door of the computer room. “You look a little lost.”

“I’m not lost, just… confused.” She replied, looking down at the gem hanging from her neck while scratching her head. “I felt Equestrian magic coming from this room, but as soon as I got here it just vanished.”

The illusionist shrugged. “Maybe it saw you coming and just bolted.”

“No, I would have felt it if source was on the move. It disappeared as soon as I got here.”

“It could have teleported away.”

“That’s a possibility. I just hope it doesn’t do that often, playing hide-and-seek with unknown magical energy is not how I want to spend my afternoon.”

“Well, I’m free this afternoon. Maaayyybeee if you give me magic powers I can search for it while you go do whatever it is you want to do.”

“Nice try, Trixie, but that’s not how it works. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know how it works either; new sirens were chosen by the ancient magic that gave us power, but now that that’s out of the picture, how are new sirens going to be created?”

“If you’re looking for a volunteer, I—”

“I said no, Trixie.”

“That’s not fair! You have magical powers, Adagio and the others have magical powers, even the Rainbooms have magical powers! Why am I, the only person in this school who’s had an interest in magic since long before the Fall Formal debacle, being denied?”

“Because unlike us, you have a family that cares about you. Is that what you want? To watch every person you ever loved grow old and die while you stay young forever, haunted by their memories until the end of time?”

Trixie sighed. “Fine, you can keep your toys. But if you find some cool magic thingie that does not require the rejection of my humanity, I call dibs.”

The red gemstone hanging from Sunset’s neck started pulsating.

“There it is again.” Sunset exited the computer room and followed the guiding gemstone. Trixie turned off the lights and locked the door.


“Any luck on your search?” Trixie asked during lunch the next day while the two of them waited in line.

“I got nothing. My gem took me to the chemistry lab, but when I got there it stopped again. I’m starting to think it might be malfunctioning.”

“How can a magic artifact that literally gives you life malfunction?”

“I don’t know, this is not the same kind of magic Adagio, Aria and Sonata were used to; some things are different and we’re still trying to understand them.”

“Well, what about that other girl? Did she see anything?”

“What other girl?”

“The one that was in the chemistry lab with you.”

“Wait, were you spying on me?”

“I most certainly wasn’t! I was just… on standby in case you needed backup.”

“Backup for what? Whatever, the point is, there was no other girl.”

“Shaggy green hair, wearing a turtleneck, clutching her backpack like her life depended on it… Are you sure it doesn’t ring any bells?”

“No, I… I don’t think it does, at least.”

“Sounds mysterious enough to be related to the runaway magic. I suggest you start there.”

After filling her trail with food, Sunset Shimmer scanned all the cafeteria tables looking girls with green hair. She spotted a few, but none of them fit Trixie’s description. She finally saw the girl on the other end of the cafeteria, sitting by herself while holding a book in one hand and eating with the other.

“Hi there!” Sunset Shimmer greeted. “Mind if I seat here?”

“No, I guess.” She replied.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” She extended her hand after sitting down. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“We have, actually.” The girl replied without moving to shake Sunset’s hand. “9th grade English.”

“Oh, um…” The siren retracted her hand. “Then we haven’t been formally introduced. What’s your name?”

“Do you need something from me?”

“Well, I just… I saw you sitting here by yourself and thought you could use some company.”

“Unless you and your friends had an argument, I see no reason why you’d rather hang out with a ‘stranger’ instead of them. Is that what’s going on?”

“No, of course not, I… Well, the number of friends I have is rather limited so I wanted to get out there and meet new people. You looked a little lonely back here all by yourself, so I thought…”

“You thought I had no friends and would be desperate enough to hang out with anybody, no questions asked?” Sunset covered her mouth with one hand and giggled. “What’s so funny?”

“That’s a 100% accurate description of why I started hanging out with Aria, Sonata and Adagio. I had no friends, the girls Princess Twilight asked to keep an eye on me did not like me at all, everyone in school hated my guts… Then here comes those three, strutting down the hallway like they own the place, we hang out, they invite me to their musical group, we brainwash the school together, I risk my life to save theirs, they risk their lives to save mine, and now we’re the best of friends.”

“You said it yourself, you four brainwashed the entire school. What makes you think I even want to hang out with you?”

“Just once. Well, two for me, but all of us together just once. Besides, we saved the entire world from a power mad Principal Cinch, haven’t we earned at least the benefit of the doubt?”

“No, that other woman who looked like Vice-Principal Luna saved the world, you just took credit. You know, you’re starting to sound a little too desperate, so why don’t you cut the crap and tell me what you actually want from me?”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ve been chasing some magical signature around the school, but every time I get there it just vanishes, so I wanted to ask if you know anything about it.”


“How did it go with the green-haired chick, Sunset?” Trixie asked from her spot on the couch in the Dazzlings’ minibus where she was playing blackjack with Sonata.

“What green-haired chick?” Sonata and Sunset, who was sitting on the passenger seat beside Adagio, asked at the same.

“Are you kidding me?” She turned around to face the window connecting the driver cabin with the back of the bus – Sonata took that opportunity to peek at the cards Trixie was holding. “I told you during lunch, the chick that came out of the chemistry lab while you were looking for magic in there. Don’t tell me you just ignored me!”

“I don’t remember talking to you during lunch. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t remember having lunch at all.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? You don’t remember anything?”

Sunset rubbed the side of her head. “No, nothing.”

“Not even when I dared you to kiss Flash Sentry and you frenched him in front of the entire school?”

“I did what?!”

“You didn’t, I just wanted to see your reaction to make sure you weren’t faking it. You really can’t remember anything, huh? Strange…”

“What green-haired chick?” Sonata repeated herself. “Watermelody, Lyra Heartstrings, Cherry Crash, Sweet Leaf, Sandalwood… Wait, Sandalwood is a dude. Hmm, is Tennis Match’s hair green or blue?”

“I don’t even know half of the names you just dropped, but I’m pretty sure it’s none of them; she must be new because I’ve never seen her before in my life. Either that or she was trespassing.”

“Against all odds, Trixie does have a point.” Adagio commented as she stopped the bus when a traffic light turned red – Trixie glared at her through the window. “Siren or human, it’s not normal for anyone to just forget large chunks of time in a matter of hours like that. What does this girl look like?”

“She’s got green hair about waist long that could use either a trim or a combing. Also she was wearing a turtleneck.”

“Nothing else?” Aria, who was sitting on the bed and checking her phone, asked.

“She was far away and I didn’t take a photo. I’m an illusionist, not a clairvoyant, I did not expect her to be relevant down the road. Nothing about her other than the hair screamed ‘memorable’. And the turtleneck, but that’s just because my mom wears one that looks identical.”

“So there’s a girl in school we’ve never seen before, she’s somehow connected to the Equestrian magic Sunset Shimmer was tracking down and it looks like she has the power to erase memories.” Adagio summarized.

“We don’t know her and she can erase memories.” Sonata repeated. “You think those two are connected?”

“Could be.”

“So, how do you want to approach this situation?” Sunset asked.

“We should act separately; if she’s able to erase the memories of multiple people at once and all of us confront her at the same time, we’re done for and she gets away scot-free. Next, we should write down everything that’s relevant to our investigation – if she erases our memories, at least we’ll have our notes to serve as a refresher. And if any of us confront her directly, record the entire conversation just in case.”

“On it!” Sonata said as she began scribbling on a notepad.

“Isn’t that a bit excessive?” Trixie asked. “I mean, we’re not trying to crack a smuggling ring here, it’s just one high school girl.”

“One high school girl with the powers to erase memories.” Aria corrected her. “When you’ve lived as long as we have, you learn that covering all your bases and then some is mandatory.”

“I’ll check in with Princess Twilight tomorrow, maybe there’s something in the Canterlot Library that’ll shed light on this situation.” Sunset said as she finished writing on her magical journal that she used to communicate with the Equestrian princess. “Tomorrow is your day off, right, Sonata? Can you keep an eye on the twins while I’m away?”

“I’ll hold the fort!” Sonata said with a salute.

They dropped Trixie off at her house and drove back to their apartment above the Sweet Shoppe so they could get ready for work.

The next day, after classes were over, all four sirens got on their minibus and left, but Trixie stayed behind to look for the mysterious girl with green hair. Before she even had the opportunity to go back inside, she saw the girl exit the school and walk into the woods located behind the school, across the parking lot.

Trixie gave chase after checking her surroundings to make sure no one was looking, setting her phone to record audio before stuffing it back in the pocket of her hoodie. Going too deep into the woods wasn’t necessary because she soon came upon a clearing surrounded by a trio of rocks and containing many types of very colorful plants and flowers that made the entire area stand out in comparison to the uniform green of the woods it was located in.

“Whoa…” Trixie unknowingly said out loud while admiring the beauty of that place she didn’t even know existed up until that very moment.

“Uh, can I help you?” The girl Trixie was looking for asked, holding a garden trowel close to her chest with both hands.

“What is this place?” Trixie asked while still looking around in awe.

A smiled appeared on the girl’s face as she lowered the trowel. “This is my garden! Well, the school’s garden, technically. I’m the president of the gardening club. I founded it too.” Her tone gradually switched from excited to melancholic. “I’m also the only member and the only one who’s ever been to the garden. Until now, that is.”

“It’s… breathtaking! You did all of that on your own?”

“Mm-hm! I have a lot of free time after school, so I spend most of my afternoons here, tending to the plants.”

“You’re not really into other people, huh?”

The girl looked away, crestfallen, while rubbing her elbow. “It’s not like I really fit in anywhere else…”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Of course I tried!” She raised her voice a little more than she wanted to. “But it never works. I always say something stupid and make things awkward. I’d tell you to ask the people I tried getting close to before, but it’s not like they remember anything I said after I—” The turtleneck girl had to physically shut herself up by covering her mouth with one hand.

Trixie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “After what? You erased their memories?”

Her eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

“A magician never reveals her tricks. Now fess up: why are you doing this?”

“Have you ever said or done something that you wish everyone could just forget? Well, I do! Every single day! The difference is that I can make them forget. Thanks to that, I’m not mocked for being ‘the girl who slipped in the hallway and spilled yogurt everywhere’, or ‘the girl who stepped on the ball instead of kicking it and fell flat on her face’, or ‘the girl who confessed her feelings for that cute drummer and was rejected in front of a crowd’.”

“And how, exactly, can you make people forget?”

“I’d love to tell you, but…” She reached into the backpack that was lying on the grass next to her and pulled out an oval stone with markings and runes on its surface. “…I’d rather show you!”

“Is that a rock?”

“It’s not just a rock. It’s a magical rock that makes people forget the things I want them to. And now, I’ll—”

“Wait! Since I’m going to forget this meeting ever happened anyway, can you at least satisfy my curiosity and tell me your name?”

She cocked her head to the side, looking confused. “Are… Are you serious? All this time we’ve been talking and you don’t even remember my name?”

“Have we met? I genuinely thought you were a trespasser.”

“I’ve known you since 3rd grade.”

“Oh, I remember 3rd grade! Not you specifically, but what a grade it—”


Trixie, who was sitting with the original Dazzlings by the portal to Equestria/pedestal where the horse statue destroyed by Principal Cinch used to be, hit pause in the recording. “From this point forward it’s just silence followed by me screaming after realizing that I’m alone in the middle of the woods.”

“Well, at least she’s not trying to take over the world.” Sonata said with a shrug. “She’s just really awkward and self-conscious.”

Adagio stopped writing on her notepad. “So far we know that she is, in fact, a student from CHS and not a trespasser like we theorized, she’s been studying here for a while given that she met Trixie in 3rd grade, she’s the president/founder/only member of the gardening club, she erases memories with an enchanted stone and she doesn’t have nefarious motives, she just doesn’t want to look bad in front of others.”

“And people learning that she can erase memories, like Sunset and Trixie.” Aria added.

“All we need is a name, but she pretty much gave herself away after talking about the gardening club.”

While they talked, the portal to Equestria started glowing and Sunset Shimmer returned to the human world.

“Took you long enough.” Trixie said.

“Sorry, Princess Twilight and I just learned that there’s a restricted section in the Canterlot Library, but since I couldn’t fit through the door I had to wait outside. Thankfully Princess Celestia knows an enlargement spell, so I could at least read and turn pages by myself, but it still took a while. Sometimes I forget how big my true form actually is now, it’s so strange!”

“Did you find anything?” Aria asked.

“It’s an ancient artifact named ‘Memory Stone’, and it belonged to an evil sorceress who was practically invincible; with the Memory Stone she could erase any memory from any creature. Clover The Clever chased her across land and sea, and every time he got close the sorceress would erase his memory and escape, but he kept finding her.”

“Let me guess.” Adagio interrupted. “He wrote everything down so he’d know what happened after she erased his memories.” She tapped her notepad with the eraser on the other end of her pencil.

Sunset nodded. “Like a trail of bread crumbs! He chased her through a portal into this world – most likely this same portal – and defeated her, then took the stone and buried it.”

“Thanks for the history lesson, but did you find any useful information to the current situation?” Aria asked again.

Sunset shrugged. “If the Stone is destroyed, all memories erased in the past three days are returned; any memory loss prior to that is permanent.”

“Losing my memories suck, but I don’t think anything of value was lost.” Trixie said. “I’m not in a hurry.”

“Yeah, same.”

“So this trip was just a giant waste of time. Great.” Aria rolled her eyes.

“At least I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with the baby Cakes.” Sonata said while hugging two imaginary children. “They are just adorable!”

“Babies are gross.”

Sonata aggressively pointed her finger at Aria’s face. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“Listen to this, Sunset.” Trixie instructed before playing the recorded audio file once again from the beginning.

“We still have a little time before the first bell rings, so I’ll go figure out what her name is.” Adagio left the group, going towards the school building.


“Wallflower Blush.” Sunset Shimmer, who stood behind the green haired girl while she fiddled with something in her locker, called.

She quickly turned around, startled. “You remember my name?”

“I did some thinking, and I guess I understand why you erased my memory. More than once.”

Her blood ran cold. “Y-You remember that too? How do you remember that?”

“The ‘how’ doesn’t matter, but I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t like confrontation. Let’s just” Wallflower reached into her backpack and pulled out the Memory Stone “forget this ever happened!”

The runes on the Stone began glowing teal, but Sunset quickly grabbed Wallflower’s wrist with one hand and the Memory Stone with the other – the girl had a weak grip, so Sunset effortlessly took the artifact from her. With her only line of defense taken from her, the girl cowered.

“You use this to make people forget embarrassing memories of you, I get that. But let me ask you something: when we met in the computer room – and I know we did, so there’s no point in lying – I was tracking magical energy with my gem; did I ask you if you knew anything about it?” Wallflower nodded. “And you erased my memory of that encounter, correct?” She nodded again. “The same happened not long after in the chemistry lab, am I right?” Another nod. “And one more time in the cafeteria the following day.” The girl nodded once more. “This is about what happened in the Friendship Games, isn’t it? Twilight and Cinch were misusing magic and so I took it away from them, so you’re afraid I’ll take the Memory Stone away from you too. Am I right?”

“I… I just wanted people to forget the stupid things I did. I thought that maybe if they looked past my awkwardness we could get along and be friends, but things kept escalating and before I knew it I had erased every memory they had of me. After that I just couldn’t stop, every time I messed something up my first instinct was to use the Stone.” She sighed. “But I guess that’s no longer an option, huh?”

Sunset Shimmer looked down at the enchanted rock she was holding, then at the people around them watching the confrontation.

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Sunset raised the Stone, pointing it at their audience.

What appeared to be photographic film made of pure energy and showing images of Sunset and Wallflower came out of the heads of every person in their general vicinity before being absorbed by the Stone.

“Look, I’m really sorry about this, but this thing is dangerous. There’s no telling how much damage could be done if it falls in the wrong hands, so unfortunately I’ll have to take it back to Equestria.”

Wallflower nodded again, looking down at her feet in shame, defeat and disappointment. Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder.

“But hey, tomorrow’s a Saturday and my friends and I are going to hang out at the mall, you’re welcome to join us if you want.”

The president of the gardening club looked up at Sunset Shimmer, feeling confused, surprised and a little hopeful. “You… really mean that?”

“Of course I do!” Sunset reached into her pocket, retrieved her phone and handed it to the girl. “I’ll need your number first, of course.”

With a smile on her face, Wallflower Blush began typing her phone number.

Author's Note:

Stay tuned for the next and final chapter. I have no idea how I made it this far but, if the ever declining quality of my writing is a hint, it's time to wrap things up.