> Princess of Memories > by Draxonos135 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Discovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, people were asking Twilight to let them study her talking dog. So far, it seemed like a perfectly ordinary day in Other-Questria. "AAAAAAAH!" Today wasn't a normal day for a certain Wallflower Blush, though, who woke up to see strange markings on her face, starting on the edges of her eyes. Not only that, but the patterns of the markings resembled that of the memory stone, a magical artifact that Wallflower wished to forget about. "Where did this come from?!" Wallflower exclaimed in shock. "I don't remember painting this!" Suddenly, the door creaked open. "Wallflower?" It was Sunset's voice. "S-Sunset?!" Wallflower grabbed the first thing she could find, a towel, and used it to cover her face. "Fwa ahw ya oih n ah oom?!" "What am I doing in your room?" Sunset replied, earning a nod from Wallflower. "You called me here in order to come pick you up, remember?" "Oh, ah orgo." "Okay, now, before we go," Sunset grabbed the towel and gently started pulling. "Could you tell me what are you doing with a towel covering your face?" "Hmm... Ahionh hahehan?" "Fashion Statement or not, I'm afraid I'm going to need you to take it off." "Eah ih aon!" Wallflower tightened her grip. "Wallflower, I'm sorry, but you can't go to Canterlot High with a towel on your head!" "Ah anh yh!" "Wallflower, seriously, take it off!" What followed was a test of strength between the girls, one that lasted seconds before Sunset pulled so hard, she brought both the towel and Wallflower to the ground. And with this action, Sunset got a faceful of Wallflower's fancy new facepaint. Her reaction was... Subdued: "Wallflower, when did you get into facepaint?" Wallflower jumped and backed away, putting her hands on her cheeks as she answered, "I didn't! I woke up and found these things on my face! They don't even feel like they were painted on!" Sunset got up. "Really?" "Here, let me show you," Wallflower grabbed one of Sunset's hands and made her touch her cheek. "See? Completely flat! Even thin paint would leave a sensation, but this one doesn't!" "You're right, but you know what?" Sunset smiled. "That only lets me get to see how soft your skin is." Wallflower blushed and backed away. "Don't mess with me like that!" "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel weird," Sunset stood up and dusted herself. "Anyway, I also noticed that's the same pattern as the memory stone." "Yeah, I think that thing has something to do with it too," Wallflower stood up with Sunset's help. "But how could that be? You and your friends clearly destroyed it months ago!" "Hmm, it could be a residue effect of the memory stone, but then nothing mentions this happening..." Sunset shook her head. "We'll have to talk with Twilight about this later, for now, let's go to Canterlot High and explain-" "You're going to drag me to school even when I look like this?" "Wallflower, there's nothing wrong with you." "Sunset, I have strange facepaint running down my eyes, which resemble the patterns of the memory stone! Even if nobody pays attention to it, which I'd find hard to believe, how are you going to explain this to Principal Celestia?!" "Wallflower is currently suffering from an unforeseen side effect of her usage of the memory stone, a magical artifact from Equestria, so I'm requesting she be at the very least allowed extra time to figure out what this side effect could mean." Wallflower planted her face on Principal Celestia's desk, the absurdity of Sunset's statement being far too heavy for her disbelief. "Wallflower, please refrain from planting your face on my desk," Celestia calmly requested. "I'm sorry, Principal Celestia," Wallflower lifted her head and took a deep breath. "Anyway, what Sunset says is true: the patterns are identical to the stone, and I just woke up with it this morning!" "Hmm... Now that you bring this up, nobody has done any research on the possible side effects of using magic, so this could very well be a result of that," Celestia scratched her chin. "And it would be very problematic if Wallflower suddenly started to use magic powers without having any idea how to control them." After a little more thinking, Celestia came to a conclusion: "Alright, this is what we'll do: Wallflower, until an idea of what's going on with those markings is clear, I'll have you stay at home and try to work out whatever magical powers you may have gained thanks to your use of this memory stone." Wallflower, though shocked at first, eventually nodded with a saddened expression. "Yes, Principal Celestia." Then, the woman turned to Sunset. "Can I trust you to help me with Wallflower's caring? I can help her stay up to date with her classes, but any magical stuff will be relegated to you." "Of course you can trust me, Principal Celestia!" Sunset wrapped her arm around Wallflower. "Even if it takes days or months, I'm going to find a way to help Wallflower deal with this magical anomaly!" Principal Celestia smiled. "Good to know. Now, with this set, go to your classroom, Sunset. I'll tell Luna to take Wallflower back home." Next thing Wallflower knew, she was walking back home, side-to-side with the vice principal of the school. And it was a rather silent walk at that. Not that it was very surprising, since neither Wallflower nor Luna seemed like the talkative type- "I know it must be scary." Okay, maybe Luna was a bit more talkative than she was given credit for. "To have something magical happen to your body, causing it to change in ways you couldn't imagine. I saw Sunset and Twilight go through the same thing before." Wallflower's eyes widened. "What did they do to fix it?" "They got the magical corruption beaten out of them with the power of friendship," Luna let out a chuckle. "But if we're lucky, your case won't need to go that far." Wallflower forced a laugh. "Hey, we're here." The duo stopped on Wallflower's house, and after exchanging a little bow, they separated: Luna walked back to Canterlot High, while Wallflower walked inside... Only to find Trixie of all people sitting on her table, eating a muffin. "Wha-who-why-huh-TRIXIE!" Wallflower snapped as she stomped to the teenager. "What are you doing here?!" "Have you forgotten?" Trixie took a bite out of her muffin. "The Great and Powerful Trixie was assigned as your roommate after the incident with the memory stone." "I'll never understand half the logic Canterlot High's school council runs on," Wallflower rubbed her forehead. "What I mean was, what are you doing back at the house? Shouldn't you be at school?" "Well, that's the thing: The Great and Powerful Trixie was suspended for today because of a previous magic show gone wrong," Trixie took another bite out of her muffin. "But perhaps it's not that bad, Trixie has company with you." "Yeah, maybe-wait a minute," Wallflower raised an eyebrow. "Trixie, did you see I had this weird stuff on my face?" "On your eyes? Yeah, Trixie saw-" "Why didn't you tell me about them, then?!" "It's none of Trixie's business what you decide to do with your face," Trixie grabbed a muffin and put it close to Wallflower's cheek. "Here, have a muffin." As she begrudgingly accepted the gift, Wallflower spat: "Ugh, forget about it!" It was in that moment that Wallflower's markings glowed and light came out of Trixie's eyes that was absorbed by the marks, which kept glowing a light blue shade once Trixie seemingly turned back to normal. "What was that all about?" "Even better, what's up with that paint?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Trixie understands you can do whatever you want with yourself, but you could at least ask Trixie about something so gawdy! Even if the colors look nice." "What are you talking about? You just told me you saw my markings this morning!" "Trixie remembers no such things!" Wallflower opened her mouth, but hesitated, realizing what this meant: Trixie had lost her memory. Wallflower had somehow manipulated her memories... Without the memory stone. So, instead, she asked: "Remember this morning?" Wallflower's marks released the light anf it returned to Trixie, returning them to their original state. "Okay, now let's try this," Wallflower frowned. "Trixie, you saw I had these markings on my face this morning, right?" Trixie deadpanly took a bite of her muffin. "Trixie said that, yes. Did Trixie stutter?" Wallflower's eyes widened, and one thing became clear: "I need to contact Sunset. Now." > Library > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, if I'm getting this right," Sunset started. "You told Trixie to forget something, your markings glew, and she just... forgot like that?" "Yeah, and when I asked her if she remembered what she forgot, that's when her memories returned!" Wallflower added. "Both times it happened, something came out of Trixie and into my markings, or out of them, in the case of her memory returning." "Trixie is glad to help," she took a bite out of her muffin. "But Trixie has to point out something must be done about this." "I completely agree, but what can we do?" Wallflower rested her cheek on her palm. "I don't want to be on the receiving end of a beam made of the power of friendship." "Wallflower, you know I'd never do that to you!" Sunset stated. Wallflower rolled her eyes. "So you'd rather sit back and watch as my memory powers go out of control? Thanks, Sunset, that really calms down." Sunset frowned. "That's not what I meant." "I know, and I'm sorry, it's just so frustrating; just when I feel I can leave the Memory Stone behind, it invades my life once again!" "Trust me, I know how that feels," Sunset put a hand on Wallflower's shoulder and smiled. "But unlike me, you have a group of people who are more than willing to help you through this. And Trixie." "Especially Trixie!" Wallflower sighed. "I'm sorry if this sounds a bit too pessimistic, but how do I know your friends will help me? Once they see these markings, won't they try to stay a safe distance from me, just in case my powers malfunction or something?" "If Trixie remembers right, you had to say "Forget about it" and "Remember this morning" to use your powers. That sounds like it requires conscious effort, so how could they malfunction?" "These powers are still a mystery to me, Trixie, it would be easier to list the ways they wouldn't go wrong." Wallflower then got an idea, and scratched her chin before she turned to Sunset, who flinched back as Wallflower's stare slowy became intense. "Is something wrong, Wallflower?" "The Memory Stone came from your world, right?" Wallflower asked, raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't you just go there and find out what happened to me?" "Trixie has a better idea: why not go there yourself, Wallflower?" "No, it wouldn't work," Wallflower folded her arms. "Sunset doesn't let anybody other than herself visit Equestria." "Wha-When have I ever given that impression?!" Sunset shouted defensively. "From what I can gather, the only time anybody other than you entered to Equestria was during the spring break yacht fiasco, and even then, that was done to get everybody back to this world." "Trixie wants to question how you know that." "It's one of the things the student body talked about the most the weeks after it happened." "And besides, Trixie, you were there!" Sunset added. Trixie huffed with a shrug. "Trixie blocked the yacht trip long ago. Too much stress and too tough a crowd." *RIIIING!* In what seemed like an attempt for things to move on, Sunset's phone began ringing, and the girl quickly answered. "Hello? Yeah, it's me... What?... Why?... Yes, I wanna help her, but... Could you at least-" *CLICK!* "What just happened?" Wallflower inquired. "It was Vice Principal Luna," Sunset answered as she stood up. "She said there's something she wants to show us at the school, and to just go the three of us." Sunset turned to Wallflower. "She says it's something that might be able to help you, Wallflower." Wallflower's eyes widened, and she insgantly stood up, feeling a surge of determination within her. After a long walk, the trio arrived at the schoolyard, where they saw Luna standing by the door. "Good, you've arrived," she said as the girls walked to her side. "Did you come alone?" "Yeah, now," Sunset folded her arms and furrowed her brows. "Could you please explain us why you needed us to come here, alone, in the dead of the night?" "There's a well-known phrase, "show, don't tell," which I believe should make my answer to your question clear," Luna took out her keys and unlocked the door. "Now follow me, and what you will see will give you the answers you seek. Especially you, Wallflower." The green girl reflexed at her name being called, but before she could say anything, Luna opened the door and everybody went inside, Luna closing the doors before guiding the girls deeper into the school. And in another long walk, made slightly more uncomfortable by the dark, deserted hallways, the girls eventually reached their destination... "The library?" Wallflower asked, scratching the back of her head. "I don't know, Vice Principal Luna, how do you think this will help me find out how my new powers work?" "Be patient," Luna grabbed Wallflower's hand, and pulled the trio inside. "While this is the place we need to go to, we still need to unlock the door." "But Trixie could've sworn you just opened the door to the library-" "That's not the door I'm talking about." The girls raised eyebrows in confusion, and went quiet as Luna took them through several bookshelves, taking a brief glance at the selection of books before she shook her head and went to the next. It was only when they reached a shelf in the "fantasy" section did she finally say something: "Here it is!" The trio shushed Luna, who sheepishly smiled before she grabbed a book and pulled it, causing a door to open... On the wall nearby. "Is that the door you were talking about?" Sunset asked. Luna nodded, and guided the girls into it. They went down a spiraling staircase as the door closed itself, and as they got further down, Luna decided to shed some light on what was going on: "The extraordinary has always been something with a presence in our world, but it was only with your arrival, Sunset, that it became so prevalent once again. And finally..." The girls reached the bottom of the staircase, and stood agape at what they were seeing: a collection of weapons, magical artifacts, and most importantly, books about the magical artifacts. Equestria or not, Twilight would be so jealous right now. "These books can be used once again. Please sit down while I look for the entry on the Memory Stone." The girls obliged... By dropping on their knees. "This... I just can't believe it..." Sunset scanned her surroundings. "Those artifacts... They're Equestrian, aren't they?" "Some of them are Equestrian," Luna nonchalantly answered. "Others are Griffian, Sirenides, Hippogriffan, and so on." "Trixie's mind cannot process this." "Now I see what she meant," Wallflower said as Luna walked to her, book in hand. "If these artifacts are Equestrian... And the books are about them... Surely, there's a book about the Memory Stone, right?" Luna smiled as she handed the book to Wallflower, revealing its cover depicted the Memory Stone itself. Wallflower took the book, and got ready to open it as she looked around: Sunset flashed a little smile, Trixie gave her a thumbs up, and Luna gave her a reassuring nod. With encouragement from all side, Wallflower opened the book... And began to read... > Recovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Principal Celestia woke up that morning, she didn't expect she'd find herself staring at Wallflower, Trixie, Sunset, and her sister sleeping at her office. Sure, she could've woken them up before taking them there, but that would've been just rude. That being said... *WACK!* "Ow!" Luna exclaimed, her shouting waking up the other girls as she rubbed her head. "Why did you hit me?!" "Because it's about time to start the school, and I found you not getting things ready, but instead taking a nap at the secret library," Celestia clasped her hands. "Speaking of which, I assume the reason you were there in the first place was because of Wallflower, am I right?" Luna nodded, and Wallflower spoke, "She said there was a book in that secret library that could help me figure out what happened to me." "And what did you find?" Principal Celestia rested her chin on her palm. "If it's a long story, please abbreviate it, school begins soon." Wallflower flinched and stammered, "Okay, so, the memory stone, turns out, is a royal regalia from a Kingdom that's all about memories, and by using it, I effectively became the new princess of that kingdom, powers and all." Celestia hummed. "That could be problematic." The teenage trio frowned. "As you probably remember, Sunset, the definition of "Princess" is vastly different between both dimensions: in your dimension, it refers to a highly powerful magic user, more often than not an alicorn, while in this dimension, it's just a title used to denominate the daughter of a king or queen, or even the ruler of a principality." "Yeah, I'm aware of that," Sunset raised an eyebrow. "But what does that have to do with Wallflower being a prin-oh." "Yes; as the artifact was Equestrian in nature, then when it turned Wallflower into a princess, it did so following the Equestrian definition," Celestia got off her desk and walked closer to Wallflower. "Therefore, Wallflower is currently in a state similar to when you and your friends ponify. The only exception is that this form can't be turned off." "And it doesn't give Wallflower a new wardrobe," Trixie interjected. "Which, considering how drab her usual attire looks like, is definitely needed." Everybody threw a look of exasperation at Trixie, before Wallflower turned to Luna with a concerned expression. "Can you help me here, Vice Principal Luna?" "I'm afraid she can't," Celestia stated. "What?! You can't just throw me out the window, sis!" Luna snapped, standing up and folding her arms. "It's because of me that we even know what happened to Wallflower in the first place!" "And do you have any idea how to help her now that we know of her Equestrian powers?" Luna fell silent, and worry fell upon the teenagers. Noticing this, Celestia walked to Wallflower and told her the harsh truth: "Wallflower, your powers will only be safe to test and practice at Equestria: as long as you stay in this world, you won't learn how to properly manipulate them. And in fact, considering the lack of magical knowledge in this world, I fear that incidents could end up happening thanks to it." "A-And what if I'm as careful as possible with my powers!" Wallflower replied, desperation evident in her tone. "They don't have that many triggers; just ask someone to forget or remember something, and done! I can hold myself back from-" "Wallflower, how many triggers your powers have aren't the problem," Celestia stated in return. "The problem is that this dimension simply isn't properly equipped to help you deal with them. We either take you to Equestria to learn how to control them, or we find a way to get rid of them for good." Luna chirped up. "Wait, sister! Now that you mention it, the book does mention something about a way to remove the powers!" The girls ran up to Luna as she took out the book from her back, and began to read: "The princess' powers are primarily based around the mind, but just as how the princess can use these powers to affect the memories of others, she can use these in order to affect... herself too..." Luna immediately began searching for another solution as Wallflower spoke the obvious: "So, basically, the only way to get rid of these powers and my princesshood is to make myself forget about it? Is that how it even works?" "Don't worry, Wallflower," Luna stated. "I'm sure there's got to be another way to deal with your powers!" "I sure hope so, because I'm trembling just thinking about that idea!" Wallflower rested her cheek on her palm. "I mean, what am I supposed to say? Forget about these weird powers? The memory stone? This very day? Every possible statement only makes me more uneasy!" Sunset put a hand on Wallflower's shoulder. "It's okay, Wallflower, don't think about it: Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna here are going to do everything in their power to help you with this dilemma." Wallflower blushed. "Sunset." "Besides, it's not like-" Trixie immediately covered Sunset's mouth. "Need Trixie remind you what happens when you say how things could be worse, they always do get worse!?" Sunset shook her head, and Trixie released her mouth soon after. Silence came as the girls waited for something to happen... And then the ground shook. "What's going on?!" Wallflower asked, clinging to Sunset. "Is it because of what Sunset was going to say?!" "Impossible! Trixie sacrificed her hand to prevent Sunset from making things worse!" The shaking stopped soon afterwards, and Celestia quickly headed to the window to see if she could find the source of the quake. And she did find something... just not something she'd like to see. "Alright, everybody stand up and follow me!" The team left the school building and saw the source of the quake as it released another, much smaller quake. It was a large creature covered in white fur, with its only clothing being some sort of black armor and mask. "What is that thing?!" Wallflower exclaimed. "A Yeti!" Celestia answered. "A follower of the Memory Stone!" "And thus," Sunset's eyes widened. "One of Wallflower's subjects..." "But what's it doing here?!" Trixie exclaimed, somehow refraining from saying her own name once more. Wallflower squinted her eyes to see what the yeti was doing: it looked around, sniffing the air and scanning its surroundings, while barely paying attention to the frightened students. This continued until it spotted Wallflower, and calmed down. From this, Wallflower could come to only one conclusion: "It's looking for me..." > Explanation-ery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The group stood frozen as the yeti looked strictly at Wallflower, her eyes locking with the yeti's as she and the creature engaged in what could be best described as a silent stare fight. Only neither side was trying to win, or at least, the yeti certainly wasn't. "Trixie thinks it wants to see you closer, Wallflower." "Wallflower thinks that's a bad idea." "Sunset could go ask her friends to take care of the yeti?" "Luna would prefer it if you didn't provoke the creature." "And Celestia would appreciate it if someone did something already!" Startled by the principal's sudden raise of voice, Wallflower took a couple steps forward, the yeti standing still as the girl approached him. It didn't react whatsoever once she reached him and waved her hand. "H-Hi..." "Name," it asked. "My name?" The yeti nodded, and after a little hesitation-which included over a dozen reasons not to do it, and do it-Wallflower bluntly answered: "Wallflower Blush." The yeti grabbed Wallflower, lifted her to the best of his ability, and proclaimed: "Everyone bow down, for Princess Wallflower Blush!" The students stood stunned, not quite sure what to do until the yeti slammed his arms down and gave them a hint: "BOW DOWN!" It wasn't given very nicely. The students quickly bowed down, and the yeti put Wallflower back on the ground soon after before he too bowed down. "Apologies for my late arrival, Princess Wallflower. The kingdom was only informed of your ascension recently. I beg for your forgiveness." "I-It's okay, I forgive you, but this is all going too fast!" Wallflower replied. "I mean, first, who are you?" "I'm a former servant of The Storm King, a relative of yours," the yeti confessed, lowering his head as he continued. "I helped him in his conquering of Equestria, regardless of my actual relationship with the kingdom and ponykind as a whole." Sunset flinched and walked to Wallflower's side. "You did what?!" "Calm down, Sunset, he already said he was very much forced to help with it," Wallflower said, putting a hand on Sunset's shoulder and making her back away slightly. "Besides, considering what you and your friends can do, I'm sure their counterparts had it mostly covered." "They sure did; they not only defeated The Storm King, but managed to remove his control over yetikind, allowing us to choose what we'd do for ourselves," the yeti bowed down once again. "I, as you can plainly see, decided to join your kingdom, and become one of your loyal subjects." "Mhm, great, fantastic, nice to meet you," Wallflower eyed her terrified classmates. "Now, secondly, you scared my classmates just now. You think you could, I don't know, apologize to them?" The yeti eyed the terrified students, and he threw a confused look at the princess. "Please?" The yeti sighed and turned to the students, bowing down as he said: "I apologize for my freak out earlier. I hope you understand that, this being a brand new world I've never ventured before, anything and everything was, and to an extent still is, considered dangerous. Princess Wallflower, however, recognizes you as friendly and harmless, and thus I will consider you this as well until she says otherwise." The students' fear vanished in an instant. Not because they were no longer scared of the furry creature from another dimension, but because it was replaced with shock: "I just realized this guy talked!" "And he talks up a storm, too!" The yeti looked offended at the second statement, but he quickly composed himself and returned to Wallflower, who now had Trixie by her other side. "Trixie wants to know one thing: if you really are from another dimension, how did you get here without going through the portal on the main yard?" "Hey, yeah, Trixie has a good point," Sunset remarked, folding her arms. "How did you get here?" The yeti looked at Wallflower, who quickly grew bothered by the obvious implication. "Dude, just explain yourself! You don't need my permission for everything!" "Very well," the yeti took a deep breath. "In the realm of Equestria, magic of all types and shapes exist-" "Trixie would prefer it if you skipped to the important bit." The yeti roared at the performer, but Wallflower jumped in front of her and spread her arms, calming him down. "Please, just tell us the magic you used to get here!" "Portal magic, a rare type of magic known to only be performed by Alicorns and similarly powerful entities. However, thanks to the previous princess's powers over memory, the knowledge required to create portals became another one of our kingdom's resources. Then she vanished, and all that knowledge was lost, leaving only one portal spell left to be used, exactly once, to search for the new princess." "And thus, you used up the only means to get back home," Wallflower guessed. "That is, unless we take the horse statue portal." The yeti shook his head. "That will only lead you to Equestria: our kingdom isn't located in any maps, as the last visitors we had got their memories expunged by the princess. By accident." The previous princess seemed to flip flop between competent and incompetent. And from the look Sunset had, Wallflower could guess she had already faced a similarly clumsy princess before. "The only way to reach the kingdom is to find the exiled portalkeeper, and convince her to help us create a portal home." "Exiled Portalkeeper?" Luna parroted, suddenly entering the conversation. Wallflower flinched, and the yeti took this as a sign to roar at the woman, only to stop when Wallflower gestured him to calm down. "Okay, new rule! Unless I strictly tell you they're an enemy, stop roaring at people!" "As you say, Your Highness." "Good, now, what was that about an exiled portalkeeper?" Celestia asked, also joining the conversation. The yeti calmed himself, took a deep breath, and explained: "Our kingdom had a portalkeeper, someone in charge of creating portal spells and keeping them safe. However, after entering this dimension and coming back to the kingdom, the portalkeeper refused to obey the previous princess's orders and stay at the kingdom. She lashed at her, and she wound up exiled for her actions." "Okay, everything seems good except for one little, but very important detail," Sunset put her hands on her hips. "How do you know the portalkeeper even went here, and not another dimension that looks very similar?" The yeti fell silent. "Do you even know if the portalkeeper is alive or not?" Still silent. "Sunset, let me take it from here, I fear you'll break him if you keep talking," Wallflower said, instantly getting the yeti's attention. "Do you have a picture of this portalkeeper with you?" The yeti nodded and took out said picture from his back. "She was cloaked during her time in our kingdom, however, so the only picture I have is of how she looks like in this dimension." The group saw the picture, and they reacted with immediate confusion, except Sunset, who was outright horrified. "Trixie has no idea who this is." Sunset took the picture. "But I do." Wallflower chirped up, unaware of Sunset's distress. "You do, Sunset? Do you know where she is now?!" Sunset hesitantly nodded. "She's been working at Applejack's family's store for a while, as for who she is..." Sunset eyed the rest of the group, and she grabbed Wallflower's arm and took her to a nearby bush. Then, she whispered the name to Wallflower, which transformed her cheerfulness into horrified shock. "Vignette Valencia?" > Confectionery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunset, Trixie, Wallflower, and the yeti peeked their heads out of a bush near an apple store, with Vignette serving as the woman behind the counter. "Everybody come in to Sweet Apple Confectionery!" she shouted, feigning an excited tone. "Apple pies! Apple cakes! You want something with apples in it, we got it!" "How about Appletini!" yelled a female voice. "For crying out loud, Pinkie Pie, I've told you a dozen times already: we're not that kind of store!" "It's so surreal seeing her working after the Equestrialand disaster," Sunset Shimmer remarked, Trixie and Wallflower nodding in agreement. "I thought the next time I saw her, she'd be desperately looking for job, or I don't know, doing something a bit more... humiliating." "The human world is a bizarre one indeed," the yeti spoke. "Which only makes you more incredible for surviving it, Your Highness." "To be fair, I was born on this world, but that's besides the point," Wallflower turned to Sunset. "You're the only one of us who's met this Vignette before, Sunset, think you could convince her to help us out?" Sunset hummed. "To be honest, I never really interacted with her that much. It was mostly Applejack and Rarity who spent time with her, but I could still give it a shot." "Trixie suggests you lead the way, then." Nodding in agreement, Sunset was the first of the group to leave her hiding spot, the rest of the group following her as she entered the store and headed for the counter. And somehow, on their way there, nobody even made a comment about the furry interdimensional creature accompanying them. Nor Wallflower's markings. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Confectionery, how may I help-" Vignette greeted cheerfully, her tone revealing her true colors once she saw Sunset's face. "-you..." "Hello, Vignette," Sunset lowered her eyelids. "We meet again." Vignette paused, then raised an eyebrow. "I believe we have, but I honestly can't remember who you're supposed to be. You're one of Rarity's friends, though, right?" Sunset nodded. "Yeah, the one who's a pony from a dimension of talking ponies." Vignette paused, and the longer she remained silent, the more awkward the atmosphere between her and Sunset felt. "Alright, let's change topics to something I need to know; how did you land a job with Applejack's family?" Sunset folded her arms. "In fact, how did you get a job at all after the Equestrialand fiasco?!" Vignette shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't as hard as you probably think; sure, most people wanted nothing to do with me after the incident, mostly those who got teleported and their families, but once a couple months passed, everybody decided to just forgive and forget." Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Including Applejack's family?" "Oh no, they are never going to forgive me for what happened, especially what I did to Rarity," Vignette took a deep breath. "So, as a show of both compassion and also to keep an eye on me, they gave me this job." "Um, good?" Sunset said, trying to muster anger but being too confused by the circumstances to really express it. "That's what you deserve?" "Again, it's not as bad as you think it is, most of the customers are actually pretty nice," Vignette turned to Wallflower. "But jumping from me to one of you, what's up with that facepaint?" "Trixie thinks we might need to come at a later date, there's way too many people around here." "As much as I hate to say this, Trixie's right," Wallflower spoke, earning a betrayed look from the magician. "I can't explain what's up with my face with all these people around." "Why not?" Vignette inquired. "It's not like they're paying attention to you or that giant furry beast behind you." Wallflower eyed the yeti. "Yeah, I guess nowadays, the weird has become almost normal. Still, I'd rather tell you what's going on in private, so how long do you have left on your shift?" "You're gonna have to ask my boss for that one, they like to keep the schedule flexible," Vignette replied. "She's at the kitchen right now, but I wouldn't bother her. She doesn't like it when people interrupt her while she's cooking." Sunset leaned close to Wallflower's ear and whispered with a scared tone, "She really doesn't like it." "Well, guess there's only one thing left to do," Wallflower pointed at one of the cakes. "Give us a chocolate apple cake." "To eat here or to go?" "To go, I guess." Vignette wrote down the order, and the group went to a table to wait for their order. Between the yeti not being given much attention, Wallflower's facepaint likewise going unmentioned, and the return of an old "friend" of Sunset, this was starting to feel like a very weird off day. "Okay, while we wait, I think there's something we need to discuss," Wallflower blurted, getting the team's attention. "That is, before we go to the memory kingdom or what's it called, could we go to Equestria?" "What's the meaning of this suggestion, Your Highness?" the yeti asked. "Yeah, Wallflower, what gives?" Sunset folded her arms and tilted her head. "I mean, I expected you'd want to see where I come from eventually, but why would you wanna see it over your own kingdom?" "Well, I still wanna see my kingdom, but I just thought of something: I don't know how to be a princess," Wallflower clasped her hands and twiddled her fingers. "And since I'm dealing with an entirely different definition of it, I need to learn from an actual princess." Sunset smiled. "And I know just the princess to ask: Princess Twilight." "Then, we will head to Equestria to meet this Princess Twilight," the yeti blurted. "Once you finish training, how do you plan to reach your kingdom, Your Highness? It's not anywhere in the maps of Equestria, and taking a trip back to the human world just to reach it might anger the portalkeeper." "Trixie doesn't see the issue: she's the one who's been banished, and Wallflower's her boss now. Wouldn't she have to just deal with it?" "Even if that's the case, I don't think we should abuse of her power to open portals," Wallflower stated, folding her arms. "I'd rather keep her on the "friendly" side of "neutral ally" if possible." "Are you talking about me?" The group turned around, and Vignette stood nearby, holding the bag that contained the cake they ordered. "That'll be fifteen bits." "Fifteen bits?!" Sunset shouted, glancing at Wallflower's apologetic gesture before she took out the money and paid. "Applejack's lucky she's one of my friends, otherwise I'd be throwing complaints at her right now!" "Those would fall in deaf ears, darling," Vignette answered, then turned to Wallflower. "Now, I believe you mentioned me. Is there something you need?" Wallflower turned to the yeti, who gave her a single nod of approval. Returning the nod, Wallflower put her hand on Vignette's forehead and said: "Remember your job as the portalkeeper." Wallflower kept her hand on Vignette's forehead for a short moment, until Vignette gently grabbed it and put it on the table, holding a neutral expression. And after a couple more seconds, Wallflower realized what this meant: "I don't get it, why didn't it work?" Wallflower scratched her head. "No glow, no memories flying off me and into you, why didn't my magic work?" Vignette shook her head. "Silly little thing, there's nothing for me to remember." Wallflower raised an eyebrow, and Vignette took the moment to lean close to her, catch a glimpse of a shocked Sunset, then whisper to the princess's ear: "There's nothing for me to remember... because I never forgot my role as portalkeeper."