I didn't know what I was expecting when I rushed to help an unconscious girl I found laying on the school grounds, alone with no memories. I didn't expect a mystery. I didn't expect to dig so deep into a rabbit hole. I didn't expect to find love.
I didn't know what I was expecting when I rushed to help an unconscious girl I found laying on the school grounds, alone with no memories. I didn't expect a mystery. I didn't expect to dig so deep into a rabbit hole. I didn't expect to find love.
On the way home, Sunset finds a girl, laid out in a field near the school, unconscious, injured, and with no recollection on who she was or what happened. Feeling the need to bring closure, Sunset decided to help the girl trace back her steps to where she found her. Along the way, they grow closer to each other. But their journey to find answers might give them the kind of answers that they won't want to hear. What was the girl doing out in the field? What was she running away from? Can she run away from them?
Rated Teen for hand holding, kissing, language, mentions of abuse, self-harm, and descriptions of injuries at the beginning, read at your own discretion.
I didn’t know what to expect, but finding a girl passed out in what looked to be the school garden wasn’t something I’d planned to have on my schedule. I looked around the field, checking to see if anyone else around had noticed that someone was laying seemingly unconscious in an open field.
No one. There was absolutely no one.
I quickly walked toward the girl, looking to see if she was injured. As much as I wanted to go home to work on the backlog of homework I’d put off until the last minute and the current project with the yearbook committee, I couldn’t just leave without knowing if the girl was alright. I knelt down and placed my fingers on the girl’s wrist. Finding that there was a pulse, I looked over her body one more time, but there weren't any noticeable bruises or cuts.
She seemed perfectly fine. Something still felt off though, and given the number of times I’d dealt with Equestrian magic, it was better to be safe than sorry. So I rolled up the girl’s sleeves, only to be stunned by what I found.
Streaks and streaks of angry scars ran along the entirety of her forearms. Some of the cuts were pale green, barely matching with the girl’s overall complexion. Others ranged from an angry red to a hardened brown. All of them looked to be deep cuts, and some appeared fairly new. Either way, despite the disturbing nature of the amount of cuts on the girl’s wrists, none of them seemed recent enough to be the cause for the girl’s current state. A quick look around found that there weren’t any bleeding cuts, nor were there any pools of blood around her, of any size.
I moved further down, rolling up the girl’s jeans to see if there were any more scars. While there were some more on her calves, they also looked too old to be the cause to whatever happened here. Unable to figure out the problem, I rolled her sleeves and jean legs back into place. Something about the girl’s hands did catch my attention though: they were covered in dust, the palms of her hands looked to be reddened, swollen, and a bit blistered somewhat, moreso on her left hand than her right.
She needed some sort of care, any care, so without thinking I quickly dug through my backpack, found my spare PE top, soaked it in cold water from the nearby hose, then wrapped the top around the girl’s hands, together. It was the best I could do until I could get her to the nurse. I looked around to see if I could figure out the culprit of the burns, but found nothing. There didn’t seem to be any heat sources, at least one that would cause the kind of burns that were on the girl’s hands.
It had to be Equestrian magic. There couldn’t be any other explanation. It would certainly explain the burns, even why she wasn’t conscious. Younger unicorns were often taught not to push their limits too far; in addition to causing exhaustion from overexertion, a surge of magic could often give severe burns, maybe even break the user’s horn if they weren't adequately trained or accustomed to such power. It was the reason why it took years, maybe decades of dedicated study for unicorns to wield some of the stronger defensive and offensive spells.
Maybe something like that could have happened here?
Princess Twilight and her friends here in the human world briefly wielded such intense magic to defeat me, and I wielded similar power against the Sirens. But that was friendship magic. Trained or not, it wasn’t destructive on the wielder. This world’s Twilight, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. She broke her pendant, a vessel that although had collected a huge amount of friendship magic, had also held large amounts of more destructive raw Equestrian magic before then. Using it all at once on herself to fight against me had left her with similar second degree burns.
Thinking back on it all, it appeared the girl in front of me had found some form of Equestrian magic and tried to use it, only to have it backfire on her. It had to be.
That just left me with more questions: What was she doing with Equestrian magic? Why did she use it? More importantly: what exactly was she using? A quick look around the area turned up nothing, only that there was a garden not too far from where we were, surprisingly. From the look of it, it was well taken care of, flowers blooming in time for spring, soil a good shade of chocolate brown. It was well decorated too, adorned by some exotic rocks in the center. The seemingly remote nature of the garden gave it an exclusive, ethereal feel. The rocks were rather impressive, but they seemed just that, engraved decorations, maybe some form of cheesy lawn ornaments. Either way, they didn’t seem important.
In the meantime, I had more pressing things to do. Getting the girl proper treatment for one, and for another, finding out who she was. I picked up her bag, slung it around my back before I took the girl and wrapped her arm over my shoulder as we made our way back to the campus. I was relieved to find that Nurse Redheart was still there. I told her what happened, and what I did. As she made her way to the sink to get some cold water, I looked over the still unconscious girl.
She looked young enough to be a student at CHS, but I didn’t recognize her from any of the cliques I’d seen around school. Maybe she went to another school?No, that couldn’t be right, what would she have been doing in a nearby garden then? That left only one option, and since the nurse needed to know who she was anyway, I decided to look through the girl’s bag to see if I could find anything that could put a name on her. The usual things came out, textbooks, binders, notebooks, the usual stuff.
Eventually I was able to find her student I.D. in her purse. Her name was Wallflower Blush, and she was in the same grade as me. Well, at least I had a name for her now. I gave the I.D. over to the school nurse for her to write down in her records. She said I could stay as long as I wanted. While I had a lot of work to do, the possibility of Equestrian magic being involved here compelled me to stay, at least until I got some information from the girl about what she encountered. And so, I waited for her to come to while I worked on whatever assignments I could do. I was about to look over the yearbook draft when I heard a groan coming from the bed.
“Nngh, where am I?”
I stood up and quickly walked over to Wallflower. “In the nurse’s office. You had a severe accident or something, you were out cold when I brought you here.” I nodded to her bandaged hands. “Your hands were kinda messed up as well.”
“M-My hands?” She looked to where I was nodding to, and her eyes widened when she saw the bandages.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. But the nurse said it might hurt for a little bit, and I don’t think you’ll be able to use them for the time being. Until then, I can help you out if you want me to.”
“U-Umm yeah, sure.” She had the faint trace of a smile. “That would be good. Great, even.”
“That’s nice to hear.” I reached my hand out gently. “I’m Sunset Shimmer. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What’s your name?” I already read her student I.D. before then, but it seemed better not to creep her out even more, given that she’d just woken up.
“U-Uhh, I don’t know. Who am I?”
I froze. “I didn’t realize the injuries were that bad. You sure you don’t remember?” She shook her head, wincing as it seemed she had more than just burns. “Do you remember what school you’re in?”
“I’m in school?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Canterlot High?” She answered with another, more gentle shake.
I frowned. Something was wrong. This was looking less like an actual accident and further backed up the concerns I had about Equestrian magic being involved. When I’d looked her over for injuries, it didn’t seem like she had any noticeable head wounds. Nurse Redhart said something similar when she checked her over. Yet she still had some form of amnesia. Sure, I found her unconscious in the field, but what could cause her enough trauma to not only get knocked out, but also have memory loss, aside from burns, except for an explosion? If there was one, I saw no sign of it. There weren’t any fires near Wallflower when I found her. I’d have to go back to see if I missed anything.
Her eyes quickly darted around, mouth slightly agape as she tried to take in the room she was in. Her right hand gripped the sheets tightly as her chest rose and fell at an increasing pace. She began to tremble as she failed to recognize the room around her. She looked back to me, her eyes widened and her skin paled in terror. “Wh-Who am I!?” she asked. “Am I all alone!?” She shuddered as tears pooled around her eyelids. Watching her break down like that, so confused, so lost… She was just like me when I first came here… It struck a chord with me. There was more to this than Equestrian magic running wild. In its wake, it left a scared, lonely girl who didn’t know her own name, much less what happened. No one should feel like this.
Investigation could wait for later. Right now I had to focus on Wallflower’s memory loss. I tried to give the most comforting smile I could, and held her bandaged hands, stroking the backs with the pads of my thumbs. “I remembered having to look for your I.D. so I could hand it to the nurse, maybe that could help you with remembering who you are at least?”
She nodded, and so I helped dig through her backpack again. Since I had done it before, I was able to quickly find the purse. “Mind if I open it and take a look?” I asked. She shook her head again. I unzipped the purse, and out came her student I.D., which I handed over to her to look at.
“Wallflower... Blush… Is that my name?” she asked with soft curiosity.
“Looks that way. It’s a pretty name,” I replied.
She looked back up at me, eyes widened and cheeks a slight pink to contrast with the green of her skin. “You think so?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it suits you.” She seemed flustered with the way she shrunk and huddled in on herself. I smirked. “Definitely suits you. Are you alright?”
She nodded back. “J-Just a little warm in here, that’s all.”
Could be something to do with her injuries. Pain could cause shock. Wouldn’t hurt to ask. “Are you sure? I can open the window if you like.”
“N-No, I’m fine, honest.”
“If you say so. Take all the time you need.” I gave her an assuring smile. As she looked back towards her card and traced her I.D. photo over with her fingers, I looked back out the window, only to find that the sun was setting. “Might need to go home soon though. Got a place to stay?”
Another shake. “I’m not sure.”
I nodded towards her bag again. “Mind if I…?” She shook her head. And so we both dug through her backpack to see if we could find an address. Unfortunately, we weren’t as lucky as we were with finding out who she was. Another quick pass in one of the pockets gave us another clue though, a photo of a younger Wallflower, with an older, amber man and an indigo woman smiling behind her, their arms wrapped around each other in a group hug, plastic smiles on each of their faces. There was a garden and a grey panel house with a porch, windows, garage, and a white door in the background.
The photo was torn in half. Though a film of tape running down the tear made it clear that there was an attempt to put the two pieces back together. Maybe something wasn’t going well at home? I glanced at Wallflower. She was staring at the photo, transfixed, yet with a dazed look in her eyes. My gaze trailed down the sleeves that covered her scar-ridden arms. I bit my lip. It wasn’t like I could ask her, even if she did have memories of her family life. It was just another crumb for me to have to keep track of.
That left me with a problem though. A ripped photo was just that, a ripped photo, did it mean anything though? Nurse Redheart probably had her home address, but who knew what Wallflower was going home to? It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. Somehow, it just didn’t feel right to leave her to herself now. Besides, I didn’t want to pry into Wallflower’s records even further without her permission.
“How about this: why don’t you stay at my place? It’s not too far from the school. You could rest there in the meantime and then we can find where you live later.” I offered to Wallflower. It was a nice compromise. I could figure out what Wallflower’s home situation was like, and I would have enough time to ask about any possible Equestrian magic she encountered. It would also be short enough that it might not worry her parents too much if I was wrong.
If I was right though… I didn’t want to think about it.
She quickly looked up, eyes widened. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
I nodded. “It’s the best I could do. I found you in the first place after all.”
Wallflower looked down her feet, keeping quiet for a few minutes before she looked back up to me, a small smile on her face. “Alright, lead the way.”
We gathered her things, and I went looking for Nurse Redheart soon after, letting her know about her amnesia. Even if I was sure it was Equestrian magic that caused it, I couldn’t be too careful. Some further questions and looking by the school nurse confirmed my suspicions that Wallflower didn’t have any apparent signs of a concussion, nor any noticeable head injuries that could’ve caused her amnesia. Though, Nurse Redheart still suggested I have her examined at a hospital just to be sure. Other than that, I checked Wallflower out, telling Nurse Redheart I’d take her home.
It was already dark out when we reached the parking lot. “Wait, you drive to school Sunset? That’s so cool!” Wallflower exclaimed, looking excitedly up and down the lot through the darkness in an effort to find my supposed car. I couldn’t help but smile in the dark at her wholesome energy.
“Well, not quite. I drive, but not often, and not in a car…” I said as I led her to my ride, a simple, worn out black Harley.
Wallflower froze, looking at the bike with abject terror in her eyes. “Wh-what if we fall?”
I pat her back in reassurance. “Don’t worry, it’s all about balance. As long as you hold on and lean with me on the turns, it won’t be too bad.” She still stood there, hesitant as I walked up to one of the bike’s storage compartments, pulled out a plain white helmet and offered it to her. “Sounds simple enough?”
She slowly nodded, and step by step, cautiously walked up to the bike. She took the helmet and fixed it on her head. I playfully gave her helmet a little knock. “The helmet should keep you safe as well,” I said with a smirk as I put on my own helmet, and offered my hand out to her. Still trembling, she took it, and so I led her to the bike, sitting her comfortably against the back seat before I took my own seat behind the handlebars.
I turned and gave her a little grin. “Just hold on tight to me if it makes you feel better. Don’t worry, I’ve ridden on this bike many times.” She took in a deep breath and nodded, before hesitantly wrapping her arms around me. And soon enough we were off, as she held onto me for dear life.
A few blocks and some turns later, we were back at my apartment. Wallflower got off quickly, but stayed to watch me store the bike back in its place. As soon as I secured the bike, I held out my hand to her, and gingerly she took it, still cautious about her burns, and soon we made our way up to my room.
“Sorry it’s bare and a bit of a mess.” I smiled apologetically. “I wasn’t expecting company, and I’m not exactly too well off.”
She paused to look around the room, taking a closer look at some of the trinkets I had on the shelves. I wasn’t lying when I said there wasn’t much to show. There was a basic T.V. in front of a beat-up couch facing the door, on the right was a dresser and beyond that was a bunkbed of sorts, with a worn-out desk underneath and an equally battered laptop. A fridge and a microwave stood near the workspace I had.
“I kinda like it. It feels cozy.” she said with a smile, still reserved, but at least slightly bigger than the one she had back at the nurse’s office.
I wasn’t too sure at the time, but the way Wallflower looked around my room with curiosity brought me a sense of nostalgia. She was just as curious about everything as I was when I first came here.
It was cute, and I couldn’t help but smile a bit. “The bathroom’s next to the fridge if you want to take a shower. I think we’re around the same height as well, so feel free to check and see if anything fits.”
As Wallflower took up my offer for a shower, and dug through my dresser, I looked through the refrigerator to see if I had enough leftovers. It seemed a bit bare to my liking. It might’ve been enough if I came home alone, but not if I had friends over. Not that I was even expecting anyone in the first place. “I’m going to the convenience store to see if I can get some more food for dinner. Want anything?”
Wallflower stuck her head out from the bathroom door. “N-Nothing in particular.”
I nodded. “Okay, be back soon.” It was a rather quick trip, so I wasn’t too worried about leaving Wallflower alone in the shower. I decided to call one of my friends though while I was out.
It wasn’t the usual world-ending emergency that we usually faced, but it could help if someone within my circle knew. Out of all of them, I decided to call Applejack. She would’ve been one of the first to help out if I needed it, but also knew to keep some level of privacy. “Just as long as you know what you’re doin’ sugarcube,” she said, hanging up shortly after.
Dinner went on rather quietly, at least until Wallflower broke the silence. “U-Um, thank you… for everything so far… It must’ve taken a lot of time and money for you to take care of a complete stranger like me.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s what anyone would’ve done.” I fiddled with my food as I asked, “How’s your head? Any headaches, dizziness? Any memories?”
“It doesn’t hurt as much anymore, no… and unfortunately… no,” she said, sighing. “Sunset, what was I doing when you found me?”
I shrugged. “When I found you, you were knocked out on the floor in some garden. Didn’t catch what you were doing before that.”
She set her eating utensils aside, and looked down at her hands, unbandaged but still an angry red, with the occasional blister here and there on her palms. Her eyes trailed down her wrists.
“I saw scars on my body in the bath.”
I froze. Wallflower rolled up her sleeve, revealing the disturbing marks I had seen earlier. She kept staring at them, her breathing quickened as she asked with a small, broken voice, “Did I do this to myself? Why would I even do this to myself?” She looked up, trembling and tense. “What did I do before all of this?”
I reached out and held her hands in mine, gently squeezing them. “Wallflower, listen to me, I want you to breathe, okay?” She nodded, and took in deep breaths, before the trembling stopped, and she relaxed. “I’m sorry I don’t have the answers right now, but I’m willing to help you find them, together.” I traced her knuckles with my thumbs. “We might not be able to find all the answers, and Tartarus, we might not find any at all, probably not in one day, but I promise I’ll stay by your side until you do.”
It was then Wallflower began to tear up. I did what felt natural, and went over to her, my arms up for a hug. She wrapped her arms around me, crying on my shoulder. “Why?” she asked. “Why would you go through all of this trouble? You said it yourself, you barely know me.”
I kept steady as I held her tight and rubbed circles on her back. “Because it’s the right thing to do. It’s what a friend would do.”
She pulled back, looking at me with wide eyes again. Apparently today was a day full of surprises for her. “A friend?”
“Only if you want me to,” I said with a warm smile.
She stood still for a moment, lost in thought at what had unfolded, before she moved to hug me a second time. “I-I would, very, very much…” she said with deep breaths. “I-It feels like you’re the first real friend I’ve ever had.” She was still sobbing, but it was lighter now, and I stood there as I gave her my warmth, and my attention.
We went to sleep that night, Wallflower on my bed in a set of my pajamas, and me on the couch. I was certainly going to be sore in the morning, but I knew that the next day would bring new challenges, new friends, and new changes.
Little did I know it at the time, but the morning would also bring the most stressful three days of my life.
True to what I had expected, I woke up with some pretty nasty cramps and knots down my spine. Wasn’t anything a good stretch couldn’t fix. Aside from that though, the morning started slowly and rather normally. Wallflower obviously didn’t have her toothbrush with her, but we had bigger things to worry about. We both got dressed and left my apartment, this time on foot. Gas was pricey after all, so I couldn’t use my bike all the time. We made a quick stop at the nearby cafe for a bite, then headed straight for school.
It wasn’t long until we ran into another problem when we got there.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she asked. We were only a few steps into the entrance when she froze, her body tensed and trembled and her breathing sped up as she frantically looked at the many hallways the atrium connected to. “D-D-Do I have everything I need? What do I do?”
I glanced around. Thankfully it seemed we had some time to figure this out, as there were still plenty of students trickling in. I pulled Wallflower aside, away from the stream of students, and held her close, rubbing her back as I did last night to calm her down. “Wallflower, take things one step at a time. Remember the deep breaths you did last night?” I felt her nod against me. “Try that.” I could hear her take deep breaths, the trembling crescendoed as she struggled to slow her breathing. Pretty soon I could feel her lean slack against me. It was just as warm as it was the last time I held her.
I knew I shouldn’t make a habit of this, but I couldn’t push myself to pull away from her.
But all good things had to come to an end, and soon she pulled back, a shy but warm smile on her face. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” I said, with an equally warm but discreet smile. “Now let’s see what you have for classes. Maybe you wrote something down in a journal or something? Maybe an agenda? I know the school usually gives them out every year. Haven’t seen anyone use them though, even me.” I chuckled.
“Yeah… I remember seeing something like that in my bag when we were digging through it.” She slung off her bag, zipped it open, and dug through it before she pulled out a familiar mini blue and yellow spiral notebook with the familiar horseshoe on the cover.
A quick flip through the pages gave us what we needed. Assignments, classes, room numbers, even her locker number. We made a quick stop there to get the books she needed. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the combination to her locker. Wasn’t much of an issue though. It was a while ago, but I’d taken up lockpicking at one point when I first got here, and so I was able to get it unlocked real quick with some trial and error.
“Yep, still got it,” I said with a smirk, and what I’d like to imagine as a twinkle in my eye. I opened up the locker with a dramatically graceful movement, like one of those doormen from those fancy hotels I saw in movies. “Your locker, my lady,” I said in an absurdly low voice and an exaggerated curl of the edge of my lips.
Wallflower snorted, then laughed. “My hero,” she said between breaths. It was a full on hearty laugh, something I didn’t expect, given she was usually quiet as a mouse. It felt strange hearing it from her.
Not that I didn’t want to hear it again.
In the locker, I found her books stacked neatly in a corner, but that wasn’t what caught my eyes. Wedged between one of the textbook's pages were several scraps of burnt, aged parchment paper.
“Did you find anything?” Wallflower asked behind me.
“Your books are still here, there’s also something else in here as well, some old scraps of paper or something.” I fished out the scraps, and made way for Wallflower to grab her books.
Looking over the parchment, there wasn’t much to glean off of it. Half of them were already burnt, what was left had some sort of unusual script. With our first period coming up, I didn’t have time to look at the parchment any further, so I returned it to Wallflower. “We’ll need to look at this later, classes are going to begin soon.”
I walked her to her first class. While it looked like she and I shared a few classes (odd, given that I didn’t remember seeing her before), this unfortunately wasn’t one of them. And so, as we came closer to her first class, she became a little tense again, and huddled closer to me.
“Nervous?” I asked. She nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ll have each other in the next few periods or so.” I stroked her arm as a way to comfort her. “Think you’ll be able to take care of yourself until then?”
“I-I think so…” she said, though she still held onto me like a foal holding a security blanket.
I gently grasped both of her shoulders, and turned her to face me. “You’ll be fine, just focus on the teacher and answer any of the questions she gives you, simple enough. I know it’s an hour, but it’ll melt away quickly.” I let go of her and moved towards the doorway. “I’ll find you as soon as this period ends, alright?”
She nodded, a little smile returned to her face. “O-Okay, I’ll see you soon Sunset.” She held her textbooks closer to her chest in my place.
“See ya,” I replied, and made my way to the door, quickly heading to my own class.
I kept my word, and soon we sat next to each other for the next period. Class went smoothly as usual, and Wallflower said nothing happened in the first period. Sitting next to her in the second period gave me a chance to observe how she usually acted in class.
She kept to herself, at least from what I could see, and kept close to me. It made sense though, given the others were all practically strangers to her. I was probably the only one she knew since yesterday. Outside of that though, she was on top of most of the problems and questions our teachers gave us. Whatever caused the amnesia, it seemed pretty selective.
Soon, it was brunch. Usually around this time I’d meet up with the rest of the girls, but looking into Wallflower’s student life before yesterday took a higher priority. I texted Applejack saying that I’d meet with them at lunch and introduce them to her.
As for now, I had some questions to ask, and there were only so many people I could ask before brunch ended. Wallflower came along with me, seeing as she had no one else to hang out with, and even if she did, she insisted that coming along might help her remember something.
I started with the Eco Club. Among the books I found in Wallflower’s bag were some plant guides and gardening books, maybe they knew her in the days before she lost her memory. It was just a hunch, but it was better than nothing. Wasn’t too hard to find them, they were sitting clumped together with some of the science kids in one of the bio classrooms.
“Hey there Sandalwood.”
“Sunset, what brings you to our groovy abode? Don’t tell me there’s something kooky going on again.”
I smirked. “Maybe. For now, I just came here to ask a few questions.” I nodded over to Wallflower. “Does anyone in your club recognize her?”
He looked over to her, and instantly his face lit up. It was progress, and I was hoping maybe we didn’t need to look too far. Turned out I might’ve hoped a bit too soon. “Yeah, I kinda know her.”
“Kinda?”
He nodded, lips pursed. “Yeah, she usually hung out at the back of the room during our club meetings. I think she might’ve been in charge of some sort of gardening club or something.” Bingo! Score one for team Sunset! I caught a quick glimpse of Wallflower’s face. She seemed surprised that she’d be part of a club, let alone be in charge of one.
“That’s all I know though, other than that there isn’t really much I can say. We’ve never talked to each other, so I wouldn’t know anymore about what she did in her club.” He brightened up again, realizing something. “Maybe Roseluck might know something? She has a green thumb herself, if anyone was going to be in the gardening club, it’d be her.” He turned towards Roseluck, a burgundy-haired girl. “Hey Rose!” He waved her over to us.
“What is it, Sandal?”
He jerked his head over to Wallflower. “Ever been to the Gardening Club?”
“We have a Gardening Club?” she asked, her eyebrows arched and her head slightly tilted. I took a quick glance back at Wallflower, and my heart sank. She looked like a kicked puppy hearing that kind of response right after finding out she was in charge of something.
He nodded. “Wally here’s in charge of it. Haven’t been there myself though. Was wondering if you’ve been there before?”
“First time I’ve heard about it,” she said, frowning. It didn’t take long though for her face to brighten up again, and she turned to Wallflower. “But if there’s really a gardening club, when are your meetings? Me and a few of the other girls do some gardening in our spare times, we’d love to join.”
I gently nudged Wallflower over to Roseluck. She froze up, shocked at suddenly being the center of attention. She quickly looked back at me, wide terrified eyes screaming out ‘What do I do?’ I gestured to her bag. Hey, it worked so far, maybe she kept a timetable in there or something. She caught my drift, and quickly dug through her bag. “O-Oh! Umm, well, I should have some flyers here.” She promptly pulled out a flyer, and handed it over to Roseluck. “Th-There you go.”
Roseluck’s eyes quickly scanned the flyer. “Wow, and it’s after school as well?! I can definitely make it!” She held the flyer up. “Mind if I keep this? I could show it to the rest of my friends, see if they might be interested in coming as well.”
Wallflower stood there, stunned. I wouldn’t blame her, it must've been shocking to find out you were in charge of something no one seemed to care about, only for there to be sudden interest. A quick nudge from me brought her to the present. “U-Um sure! I don’t mind.”
“Neat! Catch you later!” Roseluck said with a smile before she left.
Sandalwood turned back towards me. “Welp, that’s as much as I can help you with Sunset.” He paused for a moment before he asked, “By the way, what’s with the questions? Something for yearbook?”
I scratched my head. “Yeah, kind of. I’m asking around to see how well the students know about the activities of each club and stuff like that.”
“Neat. Well, catch me later if you want to write anything down about the Eco Club.”
“Alright, thanks for the help Sandalwood.”
“Anytime Sunset.”
And with that, Wallflower and I left the room, still not much better off than when we went in. I wasn’t too deterred though. Figuring out Equestrian magic before the Friendship Games was more frustrating than this, and it was natural that something like this would require more digging.
The problem was, if that was what questioning the rest of the students was going to be like, we were going to have a long way to go. I still wasn’t even completely sure if the amnesia was from magic either, or why would Wallflower even use such magic in the first place. It wasn’t like there was any natural explanation to this in the first place though, so it was all up in the air. Still, two people were two people, asking more people would certainly give us a better picture on what Wallflower had been like in school, and help narrow down any motives.
The heavy silence on our walk away from the bio classroom must’ve been weighing on Wallflower, since she awkwardly spoke up, “U-Um, thanks, for what you did back there.”
I stopped and turned to her. “Hmm? Oh, it was nothing. I know speaking to new people could be intimidating, but they’re all nice people once you get to know them.”
“I know,” she said. She was staring at her feet again, face hidden by her hair. “But everything, the room, the anxiety, all of it. It felt so familiar.” She looked back up towards me. “But when you were there, guiding me, I didn’t feel so scared anymore. It felt like it was the first time anyone ever listened to me, much less recognized who I was.”
I cracked a little grin. “It wasn’t all me though, Wallflower. I just nudged you in the right direction, literally. You talking to Roseluck, giving her your club info, that was all you.” I leaned against the lockers. “You’re a lot braver than you give yourself credit for.”
She squeaked, and quickly hid behind her curtain of hair again. “R-Really?”
“Really.” I slid down the locker and sighed. “Still, asking Sandal and Roseluck didn’t help clear anything up with what you were like before you lost your memories. Besides the fact that you were in a few clubs that is.” I looked over to her. “Any of that ring a bell for you?”
She quickly snapped back up, still covering her face somewhat. “N-No, not really, aside from those feelings.”
I nodded, then pushed myself off of the lockers. “Well then, let’s keep asking around, see if we can find anything? We still have time, right?” I offered my hand out to her, and she took it with a smile and a nod.
We spent the rest of our brunch period asking people about Wallflower and their thoughts on her. We asked anyone that seemed relevant, some of the other eco kids, Roseluck’s friends, some of the other teachers Wallflower had, even a handful of random students.
The majority of their responses were similar, mostly neutral.
The general consensus was that Wallflower usually kept to herself in the background. No one really had any strong impression of her. The teachers, on the other hand, noted how much of an average student she was, but also agreed that she usually kept to herself as well. We even made our way to the ASB office, just to see if any of them were familiar with her through her club activities. The same kinds of responses were given. There were little interactions outside of the initial meeting held annually by ASB to brief club officers on any changes made to rules.
Halfway through asking most of the student body, I realized I didn’t take into account that maybe having Wallflower with me during these talks might’ve influenced how each student responded. But based on body language alone, it seemed like they were all earnest, almost as if they didn’t notice that she was even there. It only made me feel more sorry for her, to be so introverted to the point where people didn’t notice you were in the same room when they let loose with what they really thought of you. It made my heart sink even more with how dejected Wallflower looked the more students we asked.
Eventually we had to call it all off, the bell rang signalling the end of any chance we had to ask anyone else. Before we split off to go to our own classes, I turned to give her a little hug. “Don’t worry, we’ll think of something,” I reassured her. “See you next period?” She hummed as I felt her nod. And so we split and made our ways to our classes.
Third period went by smoothly for me, and before I knew it, I was heading off to the yearbook office, my fourth period class. Despite knowing Wallflower was going to be there, it was still surprising to know that she had even chosen to take an elective like the yearbook committee. Even more so that I hadn’t noticed she was there in the days leading up to yesterday. I guess even I wasn’t immune from the lack of awareness of her existence.
Though in this case, it made sense. The yearbook committee wouldn’t all be in the office during this time, rather they were busy taking pictures around campus or making arrangements with the photography company the school worked with. She might’ve just been another name on the roster to me before now for all I knew.
When I came into the office, she was already there, looking a little worse for wear. “Had a rough time last period?”
She nodded. “With all we’ve learned about me during brunch and all I had to remember for Mr. Doodle’s class, and everything that happened yesterday…” She sighed. “It was all overwhelming.”
I frowned. Wallflower had been through a lot already within the span of days. Seeing her tired and dejected like that, it wasn't something I could bear.
I took a seat next to her and gently grabbed her by the shoulder. “Wanna lie down for a bit? It’ll make you relax.”
Wallflower stared at me with confusion. Then a deep red tint appeared on her cheeks as she caught onto what I was offering. For some reason, seeing her blush made my cheeks heat up as well, but I tried my best to keep an earnest expression and a comforting smile for her. After a moment of hesitation, Wallflower obliged, and slowly laid her head on my lap, while I stroked her hair all the while. “Feeling better?” I asked.
She looked up at me and nodded, but stuttered as the red color remained on her cheeks. "Y-Yeah, but—"
I shushed her then and there. "Trust me, you need this."
She sighed and laid back down, her head falling limp on my lap. She looked back up at me with a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” I smiled back.
We stayed there like that for half an hour, enough for her to calm down and relax as I thought out what we could do next. Helping Wallflower regain her memory through asking around about her seemed like a dead end. Another idea was to go to Principal Celestia to ask for the student records. I immediately shot that idea down. I wouldn't be able to access the records by myself since I was still a minor.
While I knew Celestia would be eager to help if we revealed the reason, especially if I told her about the scars on Wallflower's body, she’d definitely look into Wallflower's family situation. That would blow things up into a mess, and might even get the authorities involved. Given how fragile Wallflower seemed to be, I didn't want to put her through all of that if I could help it. There was also the puzzle of Equestrian magic at play here, which I wouldn't be able to investigate if I went that route. I'd have to keep that option as a last resort.
A thought suddenly came to me, after I remembered where we were.
“Wally?” I asked gently, making sure I didn’t startle her.
“Hmm?” She looked up.
“You took some pictures for the yearbook, right?” She nodded. “Maybe those pictures have clues on what happened before you lost your memories.”
Her eyes widened, realizing what I had just thought of minutes before. “You think we’d be able to find something?”
I shrugged. “Better than what we’ve got so far.” I gently nudged her up, then walked over to the cabinet containing all the cameras the yearbook committee lent out to all the members. Looking through the clipboard tied to the handle, I quickly found the camera she used, and took it from the cabinet. Wallflower stood behind me as I plugged it to the computer. “Still remember your password?”
“No, unfortunately.”
I nodded. “Alright, we’ll use my account then.” The screen lit up with a colorful wallpaper of a group of girls, each bore significantly different appearance and manner, from the eccentric puffy pink hair girl jumping in mid air, to the classy fashionista with a stylish pose, the cheeky tomboy wearing a confident grin.
Yet they all had a similar, genuine expression of affection and friendship. And right in the middle of the picture, basking in it all, was a girl with red and blonde hair, smiling awkwardly, but with no less appreciation in her eyes. Unconsciously, I broke a smile.“ Those are my friends, we’ll be meeting them at lunch soon.”
“You must really care for them, don’t you?”
I nodded. “After Fall Formal, they were the first ones to forgive me.” I smiled fondly. “They were the best group of friends I could ever have.” I turned to look at her. “And that includes you now.”
“Me?”
“Mmhm, I couldn’t bear it to hear how many people didn’t even recognize you, or even noticed you were there. You must’ve been really lonely before I found you.”
Wallflower paused for a moment as I opened up the directory to the camera’s files. “Yeah…” she concluded. “I was, wasn’t I?” She continued to be lost in thought as I dug through the many files the camera held.
Most of them were shots of plants, from vast flower beds, to giant trees where students laid about, relaxed and frozen in conversation. They were all serene. Even as an introvert, it seemed she admired looking at things from afar, especially if there were plants in the background. All of the photos blurred into each other as Wallflower and I sorted through them.
Fortune came our way, as our hard work paid off. A picture caught my eye, a photo of the very same garden I found Wallflower in. “Hang on, this was where I found you yesterday. Do you recognize any of this?” She leaned in to take a look, her proximity became more apparent to me as I felt heat radiate off of her.
She shook her head. “No, not really. But it feels really, really familiar.”
I nodded. “This is the second time this place popped up. It must’ve been really important to you.” I selected the photo and printed it out on a piece of paper. “This might be important for later.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Call it a hunch.”
A quick glance over the rest of the photos in her camera turned up nothing. There weren’t any photos of her family either, but that was a given, since none of the cameras were allowed off of the campus without permission. Once I logged off and unplugged the camera, I placed it back in the cupboard, just as the lunch bell rang.
Introducing Wallflower to my friends was a pretty straightforward process. As we made our way to the cafeteria, Wallflower stuck close to me, holding onto my arm. The girls were already sitting at a table, their bags spread out on some seats for us. Rainbow was the first to see us arrive.“Hey Sunset, good to see you here. Missed ya at brunch this morning.”
Her remark caught the attention of the others. They all turned away from their conversations to look at us, making Wallflower shrink further behind my back.
I casually shrugged. “Something came up, I was trying to help out here and there.”
Rainbow nodded towards Wallflower, who shied away from the fact she was slowly becoming the center of attention. “Is this the girl AJ said you’d introduce to us?”
Before I was able to respond, a blur of pink flew right past me.
“Hey there!” Pinkie exclaimed, reaching for Wallflower’s hand and shaking it aggressively, causing her to let out a panicked squeak. “I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? AJ said you’re a student here, which is weird because I haven’t known you, and I know everyone in this school. But I get to finally meet you now, I am so excited ‘cause-I-can-say-I-finally-know-everyone-in-school-and-we-should-throw-a-party-to—”
“Pinkie, hold your horses!” I said, holding my arms out to shield Wallflower from the pink barrage. “She’s very shy, don’t scare her.”
As Pinkie backed away, I turned to Wallflower, who was grabbing on to the sleeve of my jacket like a shield, and gave her a reassuring smile. Then I turned back to my friends.
“This is Wallflower. We met yesterday while she was having… uhm… a panic attack. She’s got some kind of mild amnesia. Nothing serious, but it occasionally causes her to panic. So I am kind of looking after her at the moment to make sure she’s ok.”
I felt Wallflower pressing tighter into my side at that, as if seeking that warmth, that comfort, that protection. Throughout the day Wallflower had kept close to me for various reasons, but this time it felt different. The way she instantly relaxed into me, the way she sighed into my touch, the way she held me close, it meant something. It felt right. But I didn’t know what ‘it’ was.
Inadvertently, I felt a small smile break onto my face. “She doesn’t have a lot of friends because of her condition, so I am thinking about introducing her to you guys. I think we can be good friends with each other.”
That was as much as I dared to say. I didn’t want to get the girls too involved in this, at least until I was more certain that this had something to do with Equestrian magic. It was for Wallflower’s sake as well. I didn’t want her to be the subject of my friends’ pity instead of having genuine connections with them.
Saying anything else could make the others worried, and given this was only a minor problem, telling them everything about the possible links to Equestrian magic would probably escalate things when they didn’t need to. I still wasn’t sure if there was a threat, and I still wasn’t sure if it was world-ending. Once I had a better picture on what happened, I could talk to them about it later.
For a moment, my friends kept looking at us in silence. Then, Fluttershy gently approached Wallflower and held out a hand. “It’s ok, I know how you feel. I don’t usually do too well with crowds either. But my friends here are all very nice. I have always felt comfortable with them around, and I know you will too, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Wallflower seemed to slightly relax at Fluttershy’s soft voice. She gingerly took Fluttershy’s hand and slowly stepped away from my side. She looked around nervously at the rest of the group, unsure what to do.
“You don’t have to worry about us dear,” Rarity remarked. “Sunset could vouch for us, we do our best to make everyone feel welcome and quite at ease.”
“She’s right,” Twilight, this world’s Twilight, added in. “I just transferred here a few months ago after the Friendship Games, they’ve gone out of their way to make me feel at home here. I am sure you’ll feel welcomed as well. We can show you a lot of fun things to do together.”
Rainbow smirked. “Yeah, don’t listen to Twilight. Her definiton of 'fun' is reading the encyclopedias in the school library. In Alphabetical order.”
“Hey!”
The group broke out in laughter. Surprisingly enough, Wallflower started to join in with her own chuckles.
Watching it all from the side, seeing Wallflower getting accepted, making new friends, I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face. I was so captivated by the scene, I didn’t notice someone approaching my side.
“So, mild amnesia huh?”
Jolted out of my trance, I turned to the side and saw Applejack giving me a knowing look. I broke a nervous laugh. “Well…”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So how's it goin’ with her?”
With a sigh, I briefly told her about what little progress we’d made that morning.
“Ah see, so it looks like she ain’t got a family, and she ain’t got friends here from what you could gather?”
I pursed my lips. “Honestly, I haven’t looked into what her family is like just yet. Based on what I could gather though, it doesn’t look good. Nevertheless, we need to find where her family is.”
She hummed. “How in the hay are you goin’ to find her house? Not like she can remember that on her own.”
“Well, I do have one clue. She has a photo of her family and a house. I was thinking of taking a little trip to look around tomorrow to see if I could find it. Two days is already pushing it for her to be away from home.”
Applejack looked at me with concern. “Are ya sure your grades could take a hit like that, sugarcube? I know you’ve been working hard, but this can’t look good for your attendance. I still think you’d just let Principal Celestia handle this, it’s right up her alley after all.”
I shook my head. “I’ve already said it before Applejack, something feels wrong about this, and getting Principal Celestia involved would only complicate things to say the least. Besides, we’ll be skipping only the last two periods at most. And if it leads to Wallflower regaining her memories, I’d do anything.”
“That’s what ah’m worried about. If your hunches are correct, Wallflower must’ve gone through something fierce if it left those kinda scars on her. What if bringin’ back those memories just brings more pain to her?”
I sighed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Applejack hummed, taking a sip of apple cider. “I just hope you know what you’re doin’ sugarcube.”
“I hope so too Applejack. I hope so too.”
Lunch came and went, and the last two periods passed just as quickly. Thankfully Wallflower and I shared the same classes. We spent the rest of the time trying to keep up with the lessons before the final bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. As we made our way back to my apartment, I looked towards the clearing where I found Wallflower. That place had come up twice already, there had to be something there I was missing. I made a mental note to return there later.
The evening went by in peace. We spent time having dinner, doing our homework, and just enjoying each other's company, leaving behind all the excitement and exhaustion of the day. Once again, while we were watching TV before bed, I offered Wallflower my lap to lay her head on. This time, she quickly took on the offer without the hesitation she showed that afternoon, although still with a shy smile and a faint blush on her cheeks.
As we stayed like that, dazedly watching the TV screen, I found my gaze occasionally gravitating to her face, lit only by the glow of the screen. Oddly, seeing Wallflower like that, calm and relaxed, I felt a strange sense of happiness warming my heart.
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to forget about everything and just enjoy the moment, I couldn’t simply ignore the problem hanging over our heads. So, just as we were getting ready for bed, I asked Wallflower for the parchment fragments I found in the locker earlier to take a closer look.
As I noted when I first found the parchment, the edges and some parts of the fragments were blackened and burnt out. The edges that didn’t blacken looked to have been torn even before then. With that in mind, I pieced together the fragments the best I could given their condition, and tried to glean off more clues from there. Although there were a few pieces missing from this puzzle, I still was able to assemble a somewhat readable paper.
Equine iconography found on some of the fragments provided a clear tipoff that this could indeed be an Equestrian artifact, the only difference in iconography was the symbol of an eye found on another fragment. Any script I can make out on the parchment was made up of squiggles and squares, nothing like the modern written Equestrian I grew up with.
Something seemed familiar about the script, but I couldn’t recognize it with what little was left. Still, the thing screamed 'Equestrian origin.' And there could only be one person who would be able to help us.
More accurately, one pony. I took out the journal and wrote a message to Princess Twilight on what was happening, with a detailed description of the parchment and a careful transcription of the script. Maybe her library could shed a light on something.
Just when I closed the journal and was about to hit the couch, Wallflower grabbed my pyjama sleeve. “I saw how you got up this morning from the couch,” she started. “You said it wasn’t comfortable to sleep in, didn’t you?”
I waved my hand dismissively. “Nothing I can’t handle though.”
She turned away from my gaze, but still grabbed my sleeve. A brilliant scarlet adorned her face as she whispered meekly, "We can... sleep together on the same bed. It's big enough."
I froze, and after a second, I could feel my face burning as well. I stammered, "I-It's ok, you don't have to."
She turned to meet my stare, her voice quiet, "I don't mind. Actually, I feel safer with you by my side."
Her words hit my heart with a feeling I couldn't fully describe. It was partly sympathy, but partly something completely different. Something I couldn’t describe. After a moment, I only nodded sheepishly. "O-ok. If you want me to."
She nodded in return, a deep blush was still on her face, but accompanied by a genuine smile.
And so we spent the second night together in the same bed. While there was enough room for both of us, the bed wasn't big enough for us to keep some space between ourselves. Wallflower didn't seem to mind though. Neither did I, of course.
Needless to say, I slept comfortably that night. And after what would happen the next day, Celestia knew I needed it.
The next day brought with it no back pain or cramps like last time, but the alarm clock was just as obnoxious as it was the day before. I did what I usually do and tried to ignore it after fumbling around for the snooze button. And it would’ve stayed that way too, if I didn’t feel a gentle shake on my shoulder. “Sunset, we’ve gotta get up.”
“It’s too early to be awake around this time. How do people even live like this?”
I heard a dainty giggle coming from the same source of the shaking. “With breakfast maybe? I could make you some if you get up quickly enough. How do eggs in a nest sound?”
That got my attention. I quickly sat up from my bed and looked towards Wallflower. She was already dressed in her usual jeans and beige sweater, staring at her hands and glancing back up at me from behind her curtain of hair. “Really?” I asked.
She nodded slowly, lifting her head up to slightly meet my gaze. “It’s the least I could do for what you’ve done for me these past few days.”
I sat there, rubbing my hands together as I looked to the side. “You don’t have to. It’s nothing.”
She reached out and held my hands with her own, her eyes met mine as her lips came to a pout. “Sunset, in one day you’ve helped me face complete strangers and make new friends. Let me have this.”
I cracked a smile. She acted like a foal sometimes. Whether or not it was because of the memory loss didn’t matter. She was earnest, and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
I chuckled. “Alright, fine. I’ll go get dressed. Besides, there’s something I wanted to go over anyway.” Her pout melted into a saccharine grin, and if my heart hadn’t been melting before, it was now.
After a quick change and a simple but heartwarming meal, we were on our way to the cafe by bike. The clock on the wall made it clear that we still had plenty of time to sit down and talk for a while.
Two coffees later, we sat outside in one of the two-person tables. We both paused to take a look at the various people going about their day. The slight lull gave me a chance to truly take in Wallflower as she stared out at the traffic.
She had a relaxed air about her, the shining morning sun shone a light on her features. A small button nose complimented the surrounding freckles that contrasted with her complexion, while her chocolate brown eyes provided a sweet finish along with her serene smile. Her hair, once a tangled mess the first night she stayed with me, was now somewhat kept neatly, and flowed down to the small of her back like water.
It was times like these when I wished we didn’t have to worry about amnesia, magic, and loneliness, and simply enjoyed the moment we had, just watching the cars and people go by. But as it stood, we had business to take care of, as Wallflower soon turned. “You said you wanted to talk to me about something? Is it about my amnesia?”
I nodded. “Somewhat. We already had a picture of what you were like at school before, right?” She nodded in reply. “It just doesn’t seem to add up, you know? Given how I found you and everything.”
“I see what you mean. Sure, it felt lonely when you weren’t there with me, but was that really the reason why I had…” She looked down to her sleeves.
My gaze dropped down the table as well, and I found myself clutching my own sleeve as I tried to approach the sensitive subject. “No, I don’t think so… not alone at least. There has to be more to this, and I feel we might get some answers if we go to your place.”
Wallflower paused as she was moving to sip on her cup of coffee. She set it down, and looked at me with dread. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She shook her head and defensively raised her hand. “N-Nothing, it’s nothing. Where do we start anyway? I still don’t remember where I live.”
“Remember that picture we pulled out of your bag when we first met?”
She nodded. “Mhm, what about it?”
“There was a house in the background, I was thinking maybe today we can go around and find it.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Isn’t Canterlot large? How long would it take?”
“A couple of hours at most.” I glanced around to be sure that we weren’t being eavesdropped, then leaned in close and whispered, “I was thinking maybe we should cut lunch and start searching.”
Her skin paled at the idea. “Sunset... Wouldn’t we get in trouble?”
“Only if we get caught. With any luck, we might be able to get back by the time fifth period is over.”
She sighed, and gripped her left arm with her right hand. “I don’t know…”
I reached out to her hand. “Wallflower, do you trust me?” She nodded. “I’ve done this many times. If anything happens, we’ll rush straight back to school.” I rose and picked up my cup. “We’ll leave at lunch, that should give you some time to think this over, sounds good?” She nodded as she finished her coffee.
The first two periods went smoothly as usual. At brunch Wallflower and I spent the time hanging out with the rest of my friends. They were growing on her, and I couldn’t help but watch her smile and laugh as I went over what was going to happen to Applejack just in case.
Soon brunch was over, and third period came and went. And so, I walked with trepidation into the yearbook office. Wallflower was there, legs crossed and lost in thought as she leaned against her chair. “Hey Wallflower,” I called. She startled back into reality, but quickly smiled as she saw me and waved. “Have you decided what you want to do yet?”
She nodded, firmly albeit reluctantly. “I think we should do it.”
I smiled. “Alright, let’s go.”
As the lunch bell rang, we made our break. After doing it so many times, sneaking out of school was a breeze. We stopped at a nearby diner to get a quick bite to eat. While we were eating, I turned to Wallflower. “Do you still have the photo, Wallflower?” She nodded, dug it out of her bag, and handed it to me.
As I remembered, the house was grey with a porch, windows, garage, and a white door. That was a good start. I flipped the photo over to see if there was anything we were missing. The back was pretty plain as expected. Another dead end. “So we’ve got a picture of a house, but no address… Well, it’s a better start than any.” I looked up at Wallflower. “Ready to go?”
She nodded back with a determined look. And so the search for our mystery house began.
Hour by hour, block by block, Wallflower and I scanned up and down the streets looking for her home. It was tedious, and wasn’t all that fruitful. Just when I was about to lose hope, Wallflower tugged at my jacket.
I pulled over to a stop. “Something the matter, Wallflower?”
She looked around, down the street and the surrounding houses. “This feels… awfully familiar… I don’t remember being here, but it feels like I have, several times.”
I looked down the street she was staring at. “Down that street?” She nodded. I shrugged, it’s something. The way I saw it, while Wallflower’s memories were gone, her emotions towards those missing memories were still there. This might be a lead.
We rode slowly down the road. Houses and lawns passed us by, but still no sign of the place we were looking for. I was almost preparing to turn around when suddenly Wallflower pulled tight on my jacket. By reflex, I hit the brake and skidded us to a halt. I turned around to find Wallflower contorting her face as if in pain.
“Wallflower?” I asked. “What’s…”
It was then that I saw it in the corner of my eyes. Just down the street on our right we had just barely passed by, the house in the picture. Porch, door, and all.
A minute later, the engine of the bike gave a final sputter, letting us off on the sidewalk next to the small fence.
“Okay, we’re here. Let’s check it out,” I said as I stowed away our helmets. Looking over at Wallflower, I saw she was still standing on the sidewalk staring at the ground, hands behind her back and feet shuffling around. “Getting cold feet about this?”
She looked back up at me. “I-It’s just, I have this bad feeling, being here. I don’t remember anything about this place, but something still feels wrong. It feels like… I don’t belong here.”
I paused. It sounded a lot like her memories were being repressed and not completely erased. Or it was something really bad, if her immediate instinct here was to turn tail and run. I reached out and held her shoulder. “Wallflower, it’s okay if you don’t want to do this. We’re not sure what kind of memories you had of your family, but if they were as bad as I think they we—”
“No.” She looked up, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “We need to do this. I need to do this. We need answers.”
I nodded. “Alright, but the minute you want us to leave, we’ll leave.”
We walked to the house. True to the photo, it was still grey, albeit a bit faded from age. There was still a porch, a window behind said porch, and a white door off to the side and a garage next to that, a well kept garden with a fountain and several beds of flowers and plants decorated the front yard.
I rang the doorbell. The minutes dragged on after that. I could feel Wallflower tensing up next to me as we waited. I reached out and held her hand. Without looking, I felt her taking and squeezing my hand in hers.
The door suddenly opened to reveal the indigo woman from the picture, now aged a few years since the photo, with crow’s feet bordering her eyes, and streaks of grey hair piercing the sea of navy blue. Her squinted eyes matched with her irritated frown. She was dressed in a white blazer and business skirt with matching heels, and had keys in her hand. “Yeah?”
“Mrs. Blush?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s me.” she said gruffly.
“My name’s Sunset Shimmer.” I gestured over to Wallflower, who was looking down at her feet, trying to hide behind the curtain that was her hair. “Your daughter got hurt a day or two ago, I’ve been taking care of her since. I would’ve contacted you sooner, but we had a hard time finding you.” Wasn’t too much of a lie. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at us.
As I was nervously waiting for what to come, she looked at Wallflower, who shrunk at her gaze, and back to me. Then she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and let out an exaggerated sigh. "What have you done this time, Wallflower? I told you to keep to yourself. Go to school, do your work, stay in the background, and don't bother anyone. Can't you even do that? Can't you pull your own weight even once?"
Her response completely floored me. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Wallflower shrink even further under the subtle yet scathing remarks. Warning bells were ringing in my head. None of this screamed ‘caring mother’. Her daughter was badly injured and absent from home for two whole days, yet her first reaction was annoyance?
“Now you even have to ask others to bring you home in the middle of the day. What an embarrassment. Are you waiting for others to spoon-feed you now?” Her voice was getting louder and louder, as Wallflower shrunk further away besides me.
It took all my willpower not to dig my nails into my palms, or clench my jaw. I wasn’t naive, with the torn photo we found in her bag, it was as clear as Celestia’s dawn that Wallflower’s home life wasn’t any better than her school life. I had prepared for a strict and overbearing mother. Never had I expected one who saw her child as a nuisance she couldn’t wait to get rid of, who hurled insults and belittlement at her injured daughter instead of giving concern.
The more forgiving part of me wanted to say that I’ve only met Wallflower’s mother for a few minutes, maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed or something. But the visceral reminders of my parent’s lack of empathy matched with Mrs. Blush’s color commentary like a hoof to a sock. It struck a chord in me and yelled at me to get Wallflower out of there, to protect her at all costs. Her mother was just as bad as the Sirens, deserving the fate of a lifetime in Tartarus. I can’t ignore my gut feeling that I was leading Wallflower back to the lion’s den.
I had to find a way to buy time, make sure Wallflower would be in safe hands.
“Actually Mrs. Blush, she wasn’t much of a burden,” I said, trying not to raise my voice. “In fact, she was sweet, kind, and helpful.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wallflower quickly turn to look at me, but I wasn’t able to make out her face before her eyes quickly averted back down her feet. “Though like I said, she got hurt. Would it be alright if I stayed with her for a bit? Make sure she’ll be alright?”
I felt Wallflower squeeze my hand harder.
Wallflower’s mother glared at me, and primly shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure my daughter’s been keeping you from school long enough. I can take care of things from here.”
The chill of anxiety ran up my back and burrowed into my chest. This was it. I was done. Wallflower was with her mother now. She said it herself, she could take care of her from here. That still didn’t ease my fears. I couldn’t leave Wallflower here. I didn’t want to.
“Would it be fine if I said goodbye to her before I go?”
She nodded stiffly. “Make it quick.”
I led Wallflower away from her mother, turned her towards me face to face, and held both of her hands as I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’m not going to leave you, Wallflower. I’m going to stick around until your mother leaves. Just sit tight, alright? And stay strong.”
Wallflower shakily nodded. She was still frozen and tense. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug and held her close and tight. She relaxed into my arms and wrapped hers around me. We stood there in each other's arms for what felt like an eternity. As we moved apart, I felt a cold emptiness take a hold of my heart.
Hesitantly, Wallflower turned and walked back to her house. Her mother’s gaze followed me scrutinizingly as she waited for me to go. And so I went. I quickly turned back and walked my bike around the corner, trying to ignore the sinking in my heart at what I was doing. Even though I was faking my leave, I was still leaving Wallflower to fend for herself, even if it was for only a few minutes.
I stood at the corner, waiting to make sure her mother wouldn’t catch me returning, then made my way back to her house. With lightened steps, I crouched down, and slowly snuck across the yard. It wasn’t long before I heard yelling coming from inside.
Quickly, I found the source: an open window to the living room. I slunk towards it, and knelt under the sill as I listened to her mother’s tirade.
"I am wrecking myself trying to keep this house afloat! All I ask of you is to carry your own weight, or whatever remains of it after all I've done for you! And you can't even do that! I am late, late to meet my client and you just pop back home and expect me to take care of your mess!? You're so useless! Such a deadbeat good-for-nothing, just like your father! At least he knew to get his ass out of this house! What can you even do!? If you can't even do the most simple of things, anyone, much less your future husband, would see you as nothing more than a worthless weed! What's the point of your existence!?”
My blood boiled as I heard barb after barb spill out of her mother’s mouth. As I continued to listen, I looked up towards the window. It was so simple. I could climb through it, rush in there, and take Wallflower away.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. Rushing in and grabbing her while her mother was still there could make her mother call the police. I’d be in deeper trouble than I already was if they found out I was an alien, in more ways than one. I felt the tense pain on my palms, teeth clenched in frustration. For now, I couldn’t do anything.
I didn’t have time to mull over the options as I heard some rustling and then the clacking of heels heading towards the door. I quickly rushed into the bushes to hide as Mrs Blush opened the door then slammed it, stormed to her car, and drove off. That was it, she was gone.
It was then when I started to hear sobs break through the thickened silence. My heart sank and I rushed from the bushes, through the door, barely noticing that Mrs. Blush failed to even lock it, probably expecting her daughter to do it. Before I knew it, I was by Wallflower’s side, giving her a hug as she cried into my shoulder. “Was I...?” she whimpered, still struggling to collect herself. “Was I really that useless? What happened?” She turned to look at me, her face melted in despair. “Was I really a burden to everyone? Even you?”
I quickly held her even tighter to push the notion as far away as possible, softly rubbing her back as I sat us down on the couch. “Wallflower, don’t you ever, ever think that you’re nothing but dead weight, to me, or to anyone else. I still don’t know exactly what you were like before all of this, but you are who you are now.”
I let her go to look at her, her eyes were red from crying, her hair was all tangled in a mess, down to the tendril resting against her cheek. Gently, I stroked the lock of hair away and tucked it to the back of her ear. “Right now, I see a beautiful, smart, and caring girl who goes out of her way to make everyone happy. We’ll find out what happened one way or another, I promise. Everything will be alright.”
The questions I had were quickly shoved to the back of my mind. Wallflower was hurt. Seeing her like this, I felt a burning agony in my chest, an agony not too different from the agony I felt as I was blasted by friendship magic during the fall formal, coupled by a sense of helplessness I hadn’t felt since all my friends turned on me during the whole Anon-a-Miss mess.
I knew I had only been gone for a short time, I knew I had come back quickly. Still, for a moment, just for a moment, I failed to protect Wallflower, and she was paying the price. For now, I had to take things one step at a time. Handing her some tissues, I quietly whispered, “Wallflower, I don’t think you should stay here. Having a quiet school life without any friends is one thing but what just…” I paused, leaving the bugbear in the room unsaid. “I’ve been through this before, having to live up to expectations and being berated for what I was, and what I wasn’t… It… It gets to you eventually...”
“But, where do I have to go?” she asked through the sniffles. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You have me,” I replied instantly without hesitation. “You have my place. It’ll be a bit cramped, but it’s better than here…”
“Sunset, my mother’s right. All this time, I’ve been nothing but a burden to you. You’re taking time and money just to take care of a girl you barely know.” She said as she slumped, “There’s no way I can pay you back for any of this.”
I shook my head, frowning as I hugged her again, tighter. “What did I say about seeing yourself as dead weight? In the time we had together, you’ve made my flat a lot less lonely, you’ve brightened my day, and you just… I don’t know…” The last thing I wanted to say was indescribable. It was true, the flat was less quiet, more homey in the time she stayed with me, and it was nice to have her company.
But there was something more there, something more than just me wanting to protect her from the wrongs of the world, about the way we grew closer these past few days, and the way I didn’t want to let any of that go. “You bring out something in me that I don’t want to lose.” I held her hand in mine. “Anywhere’s better than here, Wallflower, and I wouldn’t mind if you want to stay with me and leave all of this behind.”
She looked down at her feet again, then at our hands, taking a few minutes to think before she looked back up and hugged me back, her arms wrapped around me snugly. “Thank you, Sunset. For everything.”
“Don’t mention it.” I nodded towards the hallway. “Let's go and see if we can get anything before we leave.”
We soon made our way to her room. As I entered the room, I noticed how tidy and bare it was. If it hadn’t been for the picture of a wilting flower in a cracked pot painted on the door, I would’ve thought this was just a guest room. It was a simple light green room with a dark green floor and a simple, single bed in the top right corner of the room with a stuffed animal and a doll or two. Sheets were folded neatly and pillows were placed in their proper places. There was a desk right next to the bed as well, just as bare as the rest of the room.
Next to that was a bookshelf that held the few books Wallflower owned. There was hardly a souvenir to be seen, only a handful of books, most of them were on gardening, and some photos of Wallflower with someone who looked to be her dad. What little clothes there were had been hung on a hanger to the left, or folded in a wardrobe to the right against the wall, across from the bed. We picked out some clothes for her, in addition to some pictures and belongings she felt would bring comfort to her.
Out of curiosity, I looked through the various books on Wallflower’s shelf. A sliver of leather caught my eye in the line of paperback and hardcover books. I pulled it off of the shelf. The same image that marked her room’s door was embroidered into the cover. I held it out to Wallflower. “Found something here, looks like your diary. Mind if I hold onto this? It might give us some more ideas on what happened.” She nodded numbly, and so we continued our search.
Nothing else came up after that, and so we focused on gathering the last of whatever items Wallflower wanted to take back with her, and her necessities. We packed them in a duffel bag we found laying around, and made our way out of the house after she left a note for her mother.
As we walked out of the front yard, I felt Wallflower nudge me. I turned to look at her. She was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was mussed up, her duffel bag dangling in her right hand. The glow she had in her eyes this morning was gone. It was hard to believe she was so happy just hours ago.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something: Wallflower was reaching her hand out towards me.
Without any thought, I wrapped the small, trembling hand in mine. It was second nature at this point, and after what happened minutes ago, it was the only thing anchoring me to reality, for her as well.
Something was different this time. I felt her fingers lace with mine. As she did so, I gently squeezed them as we walked back to the bike.
We went straight home after that. School was nearly over by then, and given what we had just been through, I thought it was better if we also put off looking through the garden for another time. Wallflower kept closer to me than usual, hooking her arm to mine as we walked to my bike, then wrapping herself around me as we quietly rode back. Given what happened, I was more than willing to offer any comfort I could. As soon as we reached the door, she turned to hug me tightly, nuzzling into my chest. Startled, I awkwardly paused before wrapping my arms around her.
“Thanks, Sunset. For everything,” she whispered.
I smiled, and rubbed her back. “It’s nothing.” I gestured to her duffel bag. “Let’s get sorted out, then we’ll figure out what we can do tomorrow.”
She nodded, and so for the rest of the night, we spent the time arranging and rearranging where she could put her things, then got ready for bed. I laid the diary out on the desk under the bed. Just like with the garden, I felt it would be best to look over what we had in hoof when we didn’t have this cloud hanging over us.
As we laid on the bed, Wallflower rolled over to face me. “U-Umm, Sunset?”
“What is it, Wallflower?”
She bit her lower lip and averted her eyes. After a few beats of silence, she turned to look at me. “W-Would it be okay if I... Well… you know…?” she said, her face reddening.
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I do…”
She looked down, carefully fiddling with her fingers before she took a deep breath and looked back up. “Can you hold me when we sleep?”
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. It was one thing to ask a friend to sleep with you in the same bed, but this… this was much more. A few seconds of silence passed by as she slowly looked more anxious for the answer. It should’ve been a simple answer, friends just didn’t usually sleep like that… But the thought of denying Wallflower, it didn’t sit well with me, especially when she was like this.
Besides, with all that we were already doing, was this any different?
I smiled warmly, and nodded. “Sure, Wallflower, if it makes you feel better.” Her face lit up, and she returned my smile with her own. It wasn’t as genuine as this morning. Her mouth was quivering, her eyes glimmered with emotions barely held back. Still, it was certainly a step up from this afternoon, and at that moment, I’d welcome any ray of hope in those eyes.
And so, she snuggled close to me as I laid behind her, with my arms wrapping around her. As I slowly fell into darkness, I couldn’t help but take in the warmth and the smell of wildflowers that flooded my senses.
The next morning brought with it a comfortable warmth that I didn’t dare to leave. But that morning, the alarm clock wasn’t the one yelling at me to wake up and get out of bed.
A soft, vibrating buzz from somewhere in my room broke through the walls of my unconsciousness. I groaned as I looked around in the dark, trying to figure out who dared to interrupt the best sleep I’d had since I came here. Looking over to Wallflower, I found she was luckier. Her eyes were still closed, her face in serene sleep as she held me tight.
I felt myself blushing as I remembered the events that led up to here, and how it all escalated to this. Yet at the same time, my heart sank. Through everything, all we managed to gather was that Wallflower wasn’t outstanding in school, and she had an apathetic asshole for a mother. I hadn’t gotten any closer to helping Wallflower out of her plight. I had only been losing more and more options.
As much as I wanted to fall back into the warmth and forget all about my predicament and the annoying buzzing, there was the off chance that it was something important. Sighing, I carefully unwrapped myself from Wallflower’s arms, and slowly climbed down the ladder. My eyes squinted in exhausted concentration as I tried to find the source of the buzz. There weren’t any lights from the desk where I set my phone to charge, so it wasn’t that.
Eventually my sights landed on my bag. It was glowing and vibrating. That could only mean one thing.
Twilight was able to crack what might be causing Wallflower’s memory loss.
My heart raced as I quickly took the battered book out of my bag and opened it.
Dear Sunset,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. None of what you described, nor the drawing you provided matched with anything I had in my library. I have to admit it left me stumped initially, so I turned to Princess Celestia to see if she had anything I didn’t have. Turns out there might be something there that could match what you said Wallflower was going through.
There was an ancient artifact called the Memory Stone that had the power to remove memories. Clover the Clever managed to face a sorceress that used the stone to try to become invincible by writing everything down before every battle. He chased her down through many dimensions until he was finally able to subdue the sorceress and took the stone from her. He tried to destroy it, to no avail. Further records indicate he might’ve buried it in another world near some strange rock formation.
It doesn’t seem like much to go on, but it’s the closest thing I could find that matches what you described. I have to warn you though, if the Memory Stone really did cause this, whoever lost their memories has only three days to break the magic of the stone before those memories are lost forever, so time is of the essence. I hope this can help clear things up.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
P.S. I’ve enclosed some illustrations of the rock formation the stone was supposedly buried at, what the stone itself looks like, and the parchment that would’ve come with it.
That piqued my interest, particularly the description that the stone was buried near an unusual rock formation. It sounded familiar somehow…
Still, when I found Wallflower, I didn’t find any sort of stone close to her. If she used it as recently as Twilight thought she did, I wouldn’t have missed it. Other than that, the other facts that Twilight provided did seem to describe nearly everything that Wallflower was going through, and that terrified me.
Three days...
If it really was the memory stone behind this, then today was the last day I could do anything to get Wallflower’s memories back. With a trembling hand, I flipped the pages to look through the drawings and diagrams Twilight provided, all of them rather detailed. The illustration of the parchment came with translations, while the one that showed the stone was colored in different shades of grey and black.
Then I moved on to the illustration of the rock formation it was buried at.
Three etched stones, arranged in a triangle. A thought flashed in my mind. I quickly grabbed the book, took it over to the desk, turned on the lamp and pulled out the picture I printed out two days ago.
A perfect match.
The memory stone was buried in the garden where I found Wallflower. And given how small the garden was, she was sure to have come across it at one point when she was breaking ground.
But did Wallflower really find the memory stone? When did she find it? She wasn’t digging the soil when I found her as far as I remembered, so she must have found it before. More importantly, where was it now? It would be really bad if the stone found a different owner, while Wallflower’s memories were possibly still locked in there. Losing the memory stone would be the worst case scenario.
I had a way to answer these questions.
I quickly grabbed Wallflower’s diary from its place, and opened it. As wrong as it felt digging through someone else’s diary, especially Wallflower’s, I needed answers. If Wallflower did find the stone at some point, there should be a mention of it here.
But what if we wouldn’t like what we found?
I had to press on, for her.
From the first to last page, I looked through entry after entry. Each one detailed the day to day life Wallflower had before she even came to CHS, and each one as tragic as the last.
Eventually, I came across the entry I was looking for, it was dated a few months ago, just after the Friendship Games.
No one came to the Gardening Club meeting again(shocker!). Probably was for the best anyway, mother always told me how ditzy and indecisive I could be. I already had permission from the school, so I began digging in that yard at the back of the school I found a few days earlier. Found some sort of strange rock at some point. It came with instructions of some sort. All in a strange foreign language though. Could be a valuable ancient artifact. I’ll keep it for now. If it turns out to be nothing, it can still make a good decoration for the garden.
That’s it, the smoking gun. Wallflower at some point held one of the most dangerous artifacts in Equestria.
I found myself biting my lip as I flipped the page, hoping against hope that Wallflower hadn’t found out how to use it. Somehow, the idea of her intentionally erasing her own memories and everyone’s about her, for whatever reason, squeezed my heart.
I don’t know what happened! Just a moment before, I dropped my bag and made a fool of myself during the eco club meeting. I nearly burst to tears. I just wished for myself to disappear, for everyone to forget it. But while I was grabbing my stuff on the floor, I touched the rock I found yesterday, and it flashed. After that, it was like everyone completely forgot I had been there the whole time. Nobody remembered my mistake! It was a wish come true! Could this be a wishing stone?
My stomach knotted. Wallflower did find out what the stone could do.
That still doesn’t answer what happened to the stone.
Further glancing at later entries told me how Wallflower used the stone, mainly to erase any awkward conversations she had with other students. It wasn’t clear whether or not she used the stone on herself before I found her three days ago, but it seemed plausible. If she wanted to forget, she could. But what could have prompted her to erase nearly all of her memories?
Plagued by the thoughts in my mind, I inattentively flipped the pages of the diary over and over, not actually reading any words. There was no chance, however, for me to have missed the sense of chill down my spine when that certain page turned, as my eyes caught a glimpse of what was on it.
Or rather, what wasn't on it.
Blotted throughout the page were blanks. Blanks where ink and marks, where words and paragraphs should have been. A quick glance showed the same thing happened in the pages after that. There were still written lines left, but the unnatural spaces among them gave off a disturbing feeling, as if part of reality had been warped out of existence.
Was this part of the power of the stone? Twilight never mentioned anything about the stone being able to affect physical objects. Nevertheless, I knew immediately something important was in these pages, or what was left of them. Anxiously, I started to read.
It came as quite a shock to me. I thought everyone had already forgotten about what she did already. I don’t know what to make of it. But seeing her apologetic smile, her abashed demeanor as she walked away under the relentless gazes of the others, it somehow struck a chord with me. I saw myself in her. I realized even she doesn’t have everything going her way, and the past is still haunting her, just like it did me, before I got the stone. At least my mistakes were something mundane. Hers was… I guess that's something not even friendship can fix. I bet she must be wishing so hard for a memory removing stone like what I have. But she doesn't have anything like that.
I blinked.
A person? A girl in our school, from the look of it. Given how the diary entries peculiarly lost parts of them since she entered the scene, she must have had something to do with the loss of Wallflower’s memories. Could she have stolen the stone and used it on Wallflower to erase her tracks?
There was only one way to find out. I flipped through a few more pages until I found another entry that mentioned the girl again.
I didn’t notice how hard she has been trying all this time. The more I look into it, the more I realize she’s been going through great lengths to regain her place. She works after school in the local supermarket, and occasionally volunteers as well. One day, it’s helping out at the animal shelter, the next it might be for a fundraiser. And any time she has in between those is dedicated to clubs, either helping them out or in leading some of them. She even volunteered to take on extra work for the Yearbook Committee when it looked like no one was able to do it.
Above all else, she seems to be making an effort to try to overcome the past, not forgetting it. She genuinely seems to care that she messed up, and that she needs to right those wrongs.
It’s all pretty mixed though. Sometimes things go her way, sometimes they don’t and she just gets cursed out by people. Frankly, I don’t blame them. But either way, she takes it all in stride.
Seeing her make the effort to do all of this, the fact she worked hard to get to where she was, and still has problems, without the power of some magic rock… somehow it feels endearing, I feel like I want to root for her, believe in her. It makes me wonder whether or not I can do the same thing as well.
Could I really be as wonderful as her?
I stared at the entry. It was… not what I had expected. It seemed this person didn’t need the memory stone at all. Not only that, Wallflower herself was gaining confidence from watching this person. It was endearing, seeing her finding inspiration like that. But it felt like there was something more, something that gave me… dread.
Another glance at the date confirmed that this entry was about a month or so after she first used the stone. It seemed like the cracks were beginning to form in her willingness to use the stone.
I’ve thought about it a bit, about whether or not it was possible to be as social and perfect without the stone, and I decided to try. Just once wouldn’t hurt.
The Yearbook Committee was talking about what the general decorative theme this year’s yearbook should be. It was all the usual arguments, the geeky kids wanted to do something nerdy, possibly retro sci-fi, some of the others who were also in the gaming club kinda wanted to do a bit of a fantasy RPG or a Renfair theme, something from a game called Ogres and Oubliettes or something? I didn’t know. The jocks naturally wanted some sort of cheerleader/sporty theme.
There were so many people talking over each other, I thought no one was going to notice if I raised my hand. As usual.
But she did. She noticed me.
She told everyone to be quiet, and offered for me to speak. And soon everyone’s eyes were on me.
I know I put my hand up and everything, but at that moment I was just stunned. No one’s ever paid attention to me, and for the first time I was just speechless, I was mortified, I thought maybe they were going to laugh at me, that she was going to laugh at me.
She took her time though, gently reassured me that everything was going to be alright, and slowly I was able to say what I wanted to say: That maybe this year’s yearbook theme could take a more earthy, naturalistic theme. Make it seem homely given how much the school came together this past year.
The next thing I knew we were all voting, and they all liked my idea.
I couldn’t believe it, not only did they listen to me, but they liked my ideas.
She even smiled at me.
Maybe I don’t need the stone after all.
Pages after pages, entries after entries, even with what little was left of them, I could tell how much Wallflower changed, how much she overcame her fear, her reliance on the stone day by day.
To think this girl had such a lasting impact on her.
But that just raised more questions than answered them. If Wallflower was beginning to have the courage to wean herself off the stone, how did she end up like this? What happened?
I flipped through a page or two to the end of the diary, see if there was anything that could answer any of these questions. Before I knew it, I found myself on the last page with writing on it.
The last entry was a few weeks after the last passage I read, four days ago, shortly before I’d found her that night. I read through it to see if there was any clue on what happened to the stone.
What I found instead ripped a hole through my heart.
Three semesters, three semesters and I’ve decided I’m going to do it.
I know my mother told me to just leave everyone alone, that I’d only irritate them with what I do. But I feel like this is what I need to do. I can’t keep this to myself anymore. If she can find a way to move past her mistakes, then so can I.
Everything’s ready. I’ve made sure to pick the right flowers, and I’ve read the letter over three times.
If this all works out, maybe I can stop depending on this stupid rock. Maybe I can take the first step.
I can do it.
Tomorrow, I will confess to her.
My heart sank.
Wallflower had fallen in love with someone else. And she was going to confess.
Slowly, I closed the diary. There was no need for more words. I had a pretty good idea on what happened next.
It was bad enough to be talked down constantly day in and day out at home. Even more so to be constantly ignored and scared to say anything to anyone.
But then just when you find the courage to start anew, to attempt to reach out for happiness, for all that to amount to more heartbreak? It must have been unbearable.
Wallflower had the Memory Stone, used it on herself to drown herself of the pain she collected these past few years, ending with a brutal rejection from her love.
“Wallflower must’ve gone through something fierce if it left those kinda scars on her. What if bringin’ back those memories just brings more pain to her?” I remembered Applejack asking me two days ago. Back then, it seemed like a distant bridge where I had time to figure out what to do.
Well, now I was at that bridge. What should I do?
Just then, I heard some groaning from up above. “Sunset? Where are you?” I quickly shut off the light and stood up, walking back towards the bed.
“Needed to look through something.”
She hummed, “Are you going to come back to bed?”
Silently, I nodded. And soon, I was back in Wallflower’s arms. As she fell back to sleep, I looked out the window at the brush of pink over the horizon, listening to our hearts beating in sync like the ticks of a clock toward a dreadful ring, still unsure of what to do as I slowly drifted away, wondering if I’d have an idea by then.
Morning passed by in silence as we got through the daily routine. Before we left the house, I gave back the diary to Wallflower. “You should hold on to this. It’s yours anyway. You could... read through it and see if it makes you… remember anything...” I trailed off as my eyes averted away. She looked at me, but nodded as she took back the leather book.
We held each other close, arm to arm as we walked to school. As we passed by the garden, I spotted the three rocks again, a reminder of what I needed to do. And yet, a feeling of loss, of fear kept swirling around in my heart as we made it into the main lobby, as if I was about to give up something so important to me. Wallflower looked at me with a slight frown until we parted ways for the first period.
School went on as normal, though when Wallflower and I were in the same class, I noticed she was hiding behind her textbook. She was definitely reading her diary. Despite everything that had happened in our quest to find her memories, she was still pressing on in hopes to finally remember something.
It gave me both a pinch of pride and a sense of trepidation.
As brunch came around, I excused myself from the rest of the gang, said I needed to do some research real quick. Wallflower was the only one who didn’t say anything. She was still entranced with her diary. A tap on her shoulder jolted her up from it, and she frowned at me again.
“Are you alright, Wallflower?”
She shakily nodded, stunned, “U-Um, y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
My heart sank. Just how deep was she into the diary? How long did I have until she discovered the truth? “Alright, I’m going to go look something up in the library real quick.”
“Do you need me to come along?”
“No, shouldn’t be that hard,” I said as I shook my head. “I’ll see you guys real soon.”
I made my way through the cascading hallways until I found the exit, then walked through the pathway down to a familiar clearing. It wasn’t hard to picture Wallflower’s unconscious body splayed out here. Even though that was three days ago, it felt like yesterday.
The diary said she had it, but I never found it on her, so it has to be around here, somewhere. Even the rock formation matched. Starting from where I found Wallflower, I slowly walked around the field, looking at the ground closely to see if there was anything that stood out.
After nearly ten minutes of searching, I was just about to give up when I sensed the hairs on the back of my neck prick up. I felt a strange tingling, my necklace began to glow on its own. My eyes widened, and I began to walk in random directions. Maybe I picked something up with my power? It was like playing hot and cold, and soon I had a trail to follow, until I spotted it.
There, on the ground, was a stone with an etched eye. I leaned over and carefully picked it up, then pulled out my journal, and flipped to the pictures Twilight sent me.
It was a match, from the eye in the middle, to the three triangles on top representing the eye lashes, to the swirls at the bottom. I could feel the magic radiating from this stone.
I found it, the source of Wallflower’s amnesia.
And if it’d been lying here for the past three days, then my hunch was correct. Wallflower had used the Memory Stone on herself. If someone had used it on her, they would’ve taken the stone and ran, leaving it behind wouldn’t have made any sense.
But why? What could have happened that prompted her to do that? She'd been gaining so much positivity and confidence the days before. Did the confession go that badly? Did that person hurt Wallflower? I felt my blood boil again, just like at Wallflower’s house...
A cold realization splashed onto me like a bucket of ice water. These past few days, I was trying to return that painful memory to her. The memory of her positivity and hope getting betrayed. One that was bad enough to push her over the edge.
Was I going to hurt her again? Giving all of this back to her? Was I any better than this apple Wallflower held in her eye?
I stared at the stone, feeling the eye glaring back at me, as if looking into my soul and asking for a decision. Finally, after a long moment, I put it in my backpack for safe keeping, and walked back to the main campus.
The gang was still there by the time I came back. Wallflower was still reading her diary. I sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. Quite naturally, she laced our fingers together and held it gently as she continued to read with her other hand.
As I sat there, I felt my heart beating out of my chest, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. All the signs pointed to the Memory Stone being the cause of her amnesia. I’d already found the stone, and time was ticking.
So now what do I do with it?
It was the same discussion I was having with myself this morning. We’ve got a picture of what Wallflower was like in school, we know what her family life was like, and most of all, we know that there was someone that she cared for very, very much.
Her special someone.
Somehow, those three words bothered me. It shouldn’t, it really shouldn’t. But it did.
So why was I still hesitating?
Suddenly, a moment of clarity came to my conscience. It all makes sense now, why I was being so hesitant to give Wallflower what she wants, why my heart raced everytime we were together, why being together in itself felt right.
Why it felt so hard to let go.
For the past three days, Wallflower and I became close, closer than any of my friends ever were. It was something truly special, something between the two of us. Something that could be gone in an instant the moment the stone was broken.
What if what we had for the past three days went up in smoke? What if Wallflower went back to her special someone and left me behind. For the first time in my life I was truly scared. I didn’t want her to leave me.
The moment I thought about that, the image of Celestia’s face formed in my head, her eyes glaring at me and frowning in sheer disappointment, staring into my very soul.
No, I couldn’t keep her memories. It wouldn’t be right, to her or to anyone who still cared for her. Even if she wouldn’t care for me anymore, she’d still have her feelings for that special someone.
There was a sliver of hope. If my hunch was correct, her crush possibly rejected her. That’s what made her do this in the first place.
Yeah, but it was clear she had eyes on her and only her. Why would anyone go for someone like me…?
What should I do? Everything I’d done for the past three days was to give Wallflower closure, and now I was having something that might give her just that.
I took a deep breath, and sighed. There was no way around this, was there?
I gently squeezed her hand as I shut my eyes. I’d made my choice. All I needed to do now was to follow through.
Next to me, I heard Wallflower slam her diary closed. She laid it out on the table before she leaned onto me, head resting on my shoulder. I felt myself tense up as I saw her tears. “That bad?”
She nodded. “I need to take a break from it.” She sniffled. “How was I able to go through all of that?”
I smiled. “You’re stronger than you think you are, Wallflower.” A beat of pause passed by between us. “Any of it feels familiar?”
“Yeah… Yeah, the feeling that is. It was quite painful though.” She straightened up and wiped her tears as the bell sounded the end of brunch. “See you at fourth?”
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you then.” Before she turned to leave, I squeezed her hand. “Wallflower?” She looked back. “There’s... something I was able to find, something that might’ve been what caused you to lose your memories.”
Her face brightened up. “R-Really?”
“Really. I-It might sound insane though. Can it wait until lunch?”
She nodded. “If it helps me get my memories back, anything.”
Yeah… anything…
And so she and I parted ways and went on with our day.
As the time came closer and closer to when we would meet, my stomach churned and I felt myself tense. In the classes we had together and during class, Wallflower kept close to me. It felt nice… to be close to her, to have her by my side.
And it all made me feel more sick about what I was going to do when the time came.
Before I knew it, lunch had arrived. The time had finally come. Whether or not Wallflower would keep her memories depended on this moment.
The stage was set for the cards to fall.
As we walked by the Wondercolts statue, I felt Wallflower loop her arm around mine, holding me close. I broke a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. “That’s new.”
She looked at me and smiled. “It just feels right doing this with you.” Her eyes focused back on the path. “So where are we headed?”
“To the garden, where I found you.” We made it to the clearing, where it all started. Wallflower let go of me, walked forward a few steps, and looked around, appreciating the flowers she’d planted here, without even knowing. She turned to face me.
“So, what were you able to find?” she asked, her direct eye contact with me and the focusing expression on her face making it clear she’d take in any and every word I’d say.
“You’ve read your diary, right?”
She apprehensively looked to the side for a few moments, before she turned back and nodded.
“ I think there was more that happened than an accident the night I found you, Wallflower.”
She nodded again. “Given what we were able to find, I’d agree.”
“It… it’s more than that, Wallflower,” I said, taking out the Memory Stone and holding it up for Wallflower to see.
“I-I’m not from around here, Wallflower. I come from a place where magic really exists.” I gestured down to my bag. “I managed to get in contact with one of my friends… back where I used to live. We were able to figure out that the cause might’ve been this.” I handed the stone over to Wallflower for her to look at. “Your diary mentioned that you were able to find a stone that came with a piece of paper that said it removes memories, right?” She nodded haltingly. “That’s the stone.”
She shakily gazed down at the stone, flipping it over and tracing the contours with her less damaged hand. “A-And this was what I used to erase any memories I had?”
I shook my head. “Not all of your memories. Most of your diary entries said that you just used it every time talking with someone didn’t go well.”
She looked up, tense. “Did that include…” She looked down to her wrists.
I gripped the sleeve of my jacket. “I-I’m not sure about that. None of the diary entries mention that but..” We both let the words go unsaid.
Was I doing the right thing? What if the memories were too painful for her?
I held out my hand awkwardly. “I-Is it okay if I try something? It’s just to check to see if my hunch was correct.”
She looked up, and nodded. She took her right hand, and laced her fingers with mine. I closed my eyes as I felt my geode glow and shine.
Screens and screens of memories passed by around me, most of them coming from the last three days, but the majority of them were just black, pitch black. I furrowed my brow as I tried to concentrate, as if I was trying to switch those screens back on. Try as I might, something was blocking the way, a familiar energy, the same kind of energy I felt when I touched the stone.
Unable to breach the magic of the stone, I let myself relax as I opened my eyes to face Wallflower, her mouth slightly agape in amazement at what she had just seen in front of her. “What were you doing?”
“I was trying to go through your memories,” I sighed as I explained. “I wanted to check if something bad happened to you, because it seems you used the memory stone on yourself.”
She glanced to the side and closed her mouth. “But why? Why would I do that?”
“My guess was that you fell in love, Wallflower,” I simply replied, trying to ignore the tears that were threatening to spill over. “You fell in love, and got horribly rejected. That added up with the lonely life you had in school, and the abuse and ridicule you faced from your mother. It was the straw that broke your back, and it all came crashing down to the point where you wanted either everyone to forget about you so you could start off with a new slate, or to forget it all yourself.”
I shook my head. “It didn’t work out though. Something went wrong when you tried to use the stone this time around, and it backfired. My guess is that maybe you weren’t calm when you used the stone, adding to the fact that you weren’t a magic user, and the stone went off, getting rid of some, not all of the memories you wanted gone, including some of the entries in your diary.”
I gestured back to the Memory Stone. “There’s a way to fix all of this though. The memories you want forgotten stay around for three days before they’re lost forever. If you destroy the stone, your memories will come back.”
Wallflower stood there in stunned silence, frozen in place. The silence between us dragged on for a minute, but it felt like an eternity. When she did break the silence, she meekly whispered, “Th-That’s it? It’s that simple?”
I nodded. “Just break the stone, and you can have your memories back.”
Wallflower’s chest began to move rapidly, as she quickly hugged the stone close to herself and shrank from terror. I quickly moved towards her, but she held her hand up to stop me. “No! S-Stay where you are!”
“Wallflower…” I said. It was the only thing I could think to say.
“Sunset… I read my diary. We asked around to see if anyone knew me, we went to my house and all we found was pain and suffering!” She shuddered as tears began to fall from those chocolate eyes. “I can see why I’d use the stone on myself. Who would want to remember any of that?” More tears began to cascade down her cheeks. “Why would I want to remember any of that?”
I reached out with my hand to caress her cheek. “It’s because it’s part of who you are.”
She looked at me, fear and confusion still in her eyes.
The pain intensified to the point where I paused, but I pressed on. “I've read the entries you wrote in your diary. The feelings you had for that someone, even if not reciprocated, they helped you gain the confidence you needed to stop using the stone. That’s still something you should treasure. I know it hurts finding out someone doesn’t love you the same way you do, but that doesn’t mean we should run away from those feelings. You should keep them close to your heart.”
I felt another jab of sadness stab through my heart, as I looked at her square in the eyes, and stroked her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “I can't make the decision for you. You have to make it yourself. But believe me when I say you should embrace your memories. They're part of you.”
I could feel my hand grow wet as more tears began to fall, but I pressed on. “Making mistakes and learning from experience, good or bad, is how we grow up, how we become the people we are.”
The hand on her cheek moved to my chest. “I’ve made a lot of terrible mistakes in the past, and I'm grateful that I remember them all. If I didn't, I’d never learn, and I’d never be who I am today. I know it may be painful, but believe me too when I say I'll always be here by your side and help you through it."
I offered my hand to her. “Will you believe me?”
Wallflower looked down on my hand, still clutching tight on the memory stone. Slowly, she looked up to my eyes, hers still filled with fear and uncertainty. I nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. Hesitantly, her hand that was holding the stone reached out toward me, and I took it. I wrapped my other hand over her back, pulling her close as her trembling body pressed hard to my chest.
It burned, the stone in our hand. Wallflower whimpered, but held on. The world around us spinned into a whirlwind of blurred images. Colors and forms blended together. We stood there, in the middle of the storm, squinting our eyes as our hearts beat in the same rhythm. The stone in our hand glowed brighter and brighter.
And then we felt a loud crack rock through our souls, as a fracture split up the middle of the stone.
And memories began to seep in.
Memories of loud, angry voices in the kitchen. Memories of hurtful words, of mocking laughters, of days shrinking away into the corners of the classroom, of nights crying in the dark, of pain from bloody cuts…
I gritted my teeth as I felt Wallflower choke into my chest. My vision blurred, and I could taste the salt in the corner of my lips as well. But I pressed on. We pressed on. I had accepted my fate. These memories had left scars, she banned them for a reason, but she made her choice, and I made mine. I swallowed down my sadness as we both continued to experience the memories Wallflower tried so hard to suppress.
And then I felt something different. A sense of warmth. Of wonder. A feeling of hopefulness and longing, as new images formed in my head.
Images of… me?
Images of me in class focusing on a lesson. Images of me at my part time job. Of me at my volunteer work after school. Images of me... smiling at her at the Yearbook Committee meeting.
I was the girl who smiled at her?
The memories continued to flood in like tidal waves, as they led me towards a blackened screen, the familiar cold of the stone’s magic emanating from it, before the familiar warmth surrounded it, overwhelmed it as the screen flickered to life.
Wallflower was in one of the school bathrooms. She was furiously pacing back and forth as she checked a bouquet she set aside in the sink.
“You can do this,” she said. “You’re not useless, you’re not a coward. If she can overcome her shortcomings, then you can too!” She declared. She turned to look in the mirror, then to the bouquet to check if any of the flowers were damaged. It was made up of a lovely arrangement of white roses in a circle, surrounded by a circle of red roses, a selection of purple violets, bluebells, tulips, and poetically, wallflowers flanked with rosemaries providing the finishing touch to the bouquet.
Satisfied with the bouquet, she then took out an envelope, and held it there as she looked backed up, and took several deep breaths. “You can do this, Wallflower! You can do this without that stupid stone!” She pressed the envelope to her lips to give it a kiss, before she put it back in her pocket.
And with that she slung her backpack, picked up the bouquet, and paused at the door apprehensively, taking a deep breath before she squared her shoulders, and marched out the door with resolve.
I couldn’t help but smile. Whomever Wallflower fell for certainly left an impact on her, made her become the strong woman I had the pleasure of knowing for the past three days. It was endearing, the passion I saw in Wallflower as she gathered her courage to do something any normal student would be scared of doing, compared to the meek girl I had seen in other memories and the first time I met her. I wouldn’t blame her if she gathered the courage to try again after she gets her memories back.
Until I recognized where she was walking to. I recognized the hallways she was in like they were the back of my own hand.
A chill ran down my spine, and my heart raced. Silently, I prayed to myself she wasn’t going to confess to whom I think she was going to confess to… and then I saw the familiar shade of red and gold hair. My own hair.
It was me, digging through my lockers for something as Wallflower walked up to me. She slowed down the closer she got. Her steps became delicate, gingerly, but she took another deep breath, and pushed on towards me. My heart continued to sink with dread, as I squeezed her hands tighter.
“U-Umm, excuse me?” Wallflower squeaked out. I could feel her cheeks heat up in anxiety as the me in the memory stepped away from the locker and looked up towards her.
“Hmm? Yes?” I heard my other self ask, as she took a good look at Wallflower. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“U-Umm, I…” Wallflower paused, anxiously fidgeting and gripping tightly onto the bouquet. The other Sunset looked towards the bouquet and the letter she had in her hand. “O-Oh, is this for something I did in the past? If it is, I’m really sorry for whatever I did.”
I felt her shoulders relax as she sighed in relief, then she took a deep breath and shook her head. “N-no… it’s for something else.” She held the bouquet and the envelope forward. “Sunset, I’ve seen how you’ve become a better person since the Fall Formal.”
She paused, allowing herself to relax even more, then continued. “Seeing you go through so much to get to where you are, it inspired me, made me feel like I can come out of my shell, like I can do anything, like I’m not useless.”
Another deep breath, as I felt her heart race again at what she was going to say next. “Which is why I want to go out with you, Sunset. Would you go out with me?”
I saw my own eyes widen in shock, and a few minutes of silence dragged on between us. I thought my past self was moving to say something just when the bell rang, startling both of us. The other me quickly gathered her things into her bag, and looked back at Wallflower. “I-I’m sorry, I-I’ve gotta go.” She stood up, slung her backpack, and turned towards the next class she was heading to, before she turned to face Wallflower again. “See you later?”
“Y-Yeah…” Wallflower said, her shoulders slackened as she saw me leave for my next class.
Another student came up to her. A blonde cheerleader from the looks of it. I didn’t recognize her, but she had a haughty air around her. “Wow, just wow. You really think she’d go out with you? It didn’t even look like she recognized you!” She looked up and down Wallflower from her head to her toes. “Frankly, I wouldn’t blame her. Why would she even want to go out with someone as drabby as you? She’s the queen bee!”
She turned and strode away, her nose in the air.
Wallflower’s eyes welled with tears as she turned away from the classrooms, and ran out the door.
Soon after that, white filled my vision.
I blinked, as the world slowly came back into focus. I glanced down at my hand, still holding tight on Wallflower’s, the stone we were holding riddled with cracks, but not completely destroyed. I turned to look at her, still in a daze, trying to catch her breath as she whispered, “It was you.”
It was me. I was the one she had had a crush on.
I was the one who’d rejected her.
“Wallflower…”
She didn’t answer, only kept staring in a daze at the stone.
Why would she? It was me all along, I was the one who’d hurt her, had pushed her over the edge. My heart squeezed in my chest. Slowly, I let go of her hand, and silently whispered, “I am sorry…”
I turned away.
“Wait!”
My steps froze as I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to look back at Wallflower. Shakily, she dug one of her hands through her pocket, and pulled out a blank envelope, wrinkled and crumpled from its time in there. She hesitantly looked at it for a few moments, before she looked up, and shakily offered it out to me. My heart skipped a beat.
“Wallflower…” I whispered, leaning in as she moved to close the distance. My eyes closed as I felt her lips touch mine. I felt a burst of energy leave me as I heard an explosion nearby.
When I opened my eyes, Wallflower was still there, eyes closed in bliss. The stone sat between us, fractured into pieces, the last of its glow dissipated as the last few streams of her memories flew back into her.
I waited for her to open her eyes. With doubt and guilt still gripping at my heart, I shakily asked, “Wallflower, why? I hurt you…”
She simply shook her head, and gave me a gentle smile. “What’s in the past is in the past. You told me memories make us who we are. And the memories of these past few days, of you taking care of me, standing beside me, they’re what make us.”
She tried to move away from me to stand on her own, but quickly fell over before I caught her. “Easy, easy. Equestrian magic can take a lot out of you.” I laid her down alongside me, and like clockwork she leaned against me, and snuggled into my chest.
I felt warmth from Wallflower, pressing against me, warmth from contentment as we lay there to rest, watching the world go by. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, just as it was when I first met her. Feeling my strength return, I turned to look to Wallflower. “It’s getting pretty late, we should probably get home. Can you get up?”
She shook her head. “I’m still a little tired.”
I nodded. “Alright, I’ll help you up.” I stood up, knelt down, and gave a quick peck on her lips, then lifted her up. I stared down at her, and she stared back at me with a smile. “Come on Wallflower, let’s go home.” And so I carried her away from the garden. To home.
Our home.
The shower was running in the background as I continued to write an entry to Twilight, updating her on what happened. She’d be relieved that another dangerous Equestrian artifact was out of anyone's hands.
As I wrapped up the last few lines, the door opened, drawing my attention towards the bathroom.
Wallflower stood there, barefoot. She had replaced the usual beige sweater and jeans for a orange-brown chemise and a brown skirt, accented by a brown belt with a brass buckle. Her hair was still frizzled, but aside from that, she looked better than ever.
I gotta hand it to Rarity. She really knew how to make something come together.
Wallflower meekly smiled as she grabbed a brush and turned to the mirror, straightening her hair out and styling it. I smiled back and turned my focus back to the journal, closing it and placing it into my backpack. I got up and slung it. “Are you ready to go yet, Wallflower?”
“Just a sec.” She replied as she fumbled with her locks in an attempt to braid her hair. I chuckled and walked up behind her.
“May I?” I offered. She looked up and yelped, flushing in embarrassment.
“U-Uh, sure. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” I turned her around so she could face me, took a lock of hair, split it into two strands, and braided it up to form a single braid that ran down her temple and framed her left cheek. “Better?”
She looked at the mirror and smiled, nodding. “Perfect.” She turned and leaned towards me. I got the hint and leaned into a lip lock. A sense of euphoria flowed through me as I closed my eyes and took in the moment, humming into the kiss. It felt like it could last forever.
Unfortunately, an alarm from my phone destroyed any notion of such a fantasy, as it yelled at us to get going before it’s too late. We both jolted back from each other, shocked for a few moments, before we broke into giggles. “I’ll go outside, get the bike ready. We’re going to need it if we want to get there on time.”
Wallflower nodded. “I’ll be right there, just need to get some things.” She said as she quickly slipped on her socks and boots. I shook my head, still smiling as I walked out the door to the bike and pulled it out of its parking space.
As I stood there waiting for Wallflower to come out, I took out my phone, my eyes locked onto the screen, at the wallpaper.
It was a simple picture. Wallflower and I were sitting on a picnic blanket with a basket between us. Food and plates surrounded us, and our friends flanked us from both sides. All of them had smiles on their faces. My gaze landed on us though. We were leaning in close to each other, nestled in, touching cheek to cheek. That warm feeling from earlier returned as I smiled in content.
The slamming of the door broke me out of my daydreaming, and I saw Wallflower run out, hastily trying to shove an overstuffed binder into her backpack as she quickly rushed over to me. “Sorry, I had to make sure I had my club binder!”
I rolled my eyes. “One of these days, Wallflower!” She stuck her tongue out and quickly hopped on as I handed her a helmet. She put it on, wrapped her arms around me, and held herself against me. I looked over my shoulder to her, gently tapping her on the nose. “All set?” She nodded, leaning in to give me another peck on the lips. “Alright, let’s go!” I revved the engine and shoved my foot off the pavement, as the engine roared to life and we left the apartment.
The future was uncertain, and the past was at rest, but with Wallflower by my side, the present was ever present.
