I Remember the Page Number

by ArtichokeLust

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 5368

Pinkie Pie found a book with enchantments reserved for noble foals, so, naturally she wanted to add one to herself. Now she is able to remember with as much detail as Twilight, but at what cost?

Pinkie Pie found a book in the depths of Twilight's castle detailing enchantments reserved for royal foals. Though, technically, the enchantments could be applied to anypony and at any age, so why were they reserved?

One enchantment that looked particularly tempting was called "Not Out of Context". It greatly improved recall.

Pinkie would have bet a lot of cupcake money that Twilight had that enchantment cast on her, and now that she thought about it, adding it to herself would have helped with quite a few things in her life... But it wouldn't be worth it if it got Twilight in trouble.

However, her friends also subscribed to that type of selfless thinking.

Chapter 1 edited by Idylia, TehSporkBandit, and Teslaponie. Reviewed by Marigold Sparkle Mane and robbieagray91 .
Chapter 2 edited by RaylanKrios, Idylia, TehSporkBandit, and Teslaponie.

Last change: 10-15-2014

{On hiatus due to extenuating circumstances}

Published 2014-08-20 23:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-15 23:29:51 UTC

1001 Enchantments for Foals

“1001 Enchantments for Foals” read the title of the massive red-colored and gold-trimmed book deep within the catacombs of Twilight's castle.

Neat! Pinkie thought, plucking out the book from its shelf, Enchantments for entertaining foals!

Pinkie snapped the book open and started reading.

“It is ancient tradition for nobles to impart enchantments upon their young so that their sons and daughters may better serve society, and so society may better serve them. Unfortunately, despite the popularity of this tradition, there has been little effort to create a comprehensive list of the enchantments. That is, until now.

“Some such enchantments are long-held family secrets. It would be very hard, if not impossible, to find and detail those close kept secrets, but I believe the enchantments I was able to find should be more than enough.”

Pinkie blinked. This book obviously wasn’t about entertaining foals with magic. Still, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be interesting, and in any case, she wasn’t going to give up on her book so easily after venturing all the way into the depths of Twilight’s library.

But now she wondered: what kind of enchantments was Twilight under? Did she even know if she was under any enchantments? Was ‘long-held family secret’ the reason why Twilight and Shining were both so successful and powerful? So many questions...

Pinkie grinned greedily and continued reading.

“If you are reading this as a fully grown pony and wish to add or remove enchantments that may have been given to you without your knowledge or consent, fear not. Only five of the thousand and one enchantments listed here are permanent, and only another four must be granted at an early age. However, please keep in mind that any enchantment constantly drains natural magic. Too many enchantments may lead to constant exhaustion or other afflictions, depending on the nature of the enchantments.”

Ah huh. Pinkie flipped the page.

Next was the table of contents. It looked the same as any of the tables in her cookbooks, but instead of meals, it had spells. There were spells for the academic, spells for the athletic, spells for the friendly... there were a lot of types of spells.

Pinkie flipped to the “academic” section. She felt bad for not flipping to the “friendly” section, but— ah, who was she kidding! According to Spike, Twilight didn’t have any friends at all until she came to Ponyville, so of course she wouldn’t have had friendship enchantments on her.

“Mathematical Genius,” the book read, “Numbers and letters flow through equations like professional stunt-pegasi flow through the air for ponies with this enchantment.”

“Hmm...” Pinkie was willing to bet that Twilight had that one. She found numerous equations in many things Twilight did, like analyzing that blue box. Most other unicorns she knew didn’t throw math at things nearly as much.

Pinkie flipped a few pages to the left.

“Not Out of Context – Have you ever tried to remember something, but only remembered bits and pieces, and not important things like where you remembered it from? This enchantment takes your hazy memory and upgrades it to a crystal clear movie. Remember any random thing, and if you so wish, you can go as far as stepping into the memory and playing with time as you please!”

“Ha!” Pinkie pronounced to the world as she pressed her hoof on the paragraph. “Twilight totally has that one!”

Pinkie remembered multiple times when Twilight would recall the exact book and page number she remembered something from. It was infuriating! She could come up with something she knew was right, and then Twilight could say something much more convincing by giving some random references.

If she had that spell on her, she could have remembered to tell Twilight that “whodunit” was the term for a detective story where the detective has to find out who committed the crime, not bad grammar. And then when she tried to work backwards by seeing the reactions of the accused—though, she may have been having a little too much fun with that to be watching their reactions like she should have been doing—Twilight had to try and make a point by hiding everything she found!

Pinkie decided not to wallow in frustrating memories.

A shrill creak echoed throughout the library.

That must have been Twilight! It also must have been a sign that the door hinges needed oiling, but that wasn’t Pinkie’s problem.

Pinkie slammed her book shut, threw it into her hair, and waited for it to be fully absorbed. Once it felt secure, she dashed back through the endless labyrinth of books.

Twilight and Spike walked at a relaxed pace back to the castle, ignoring all the beautiful scenery around them.

“Did we get the submarine kit for Scootaloo?” Twilight asked. She could have gone back in her memories to the moment when she made the list and traveled to the place and time that the item she just asked for was linked to, but that would have taken some time. Plus, it was more friendly to ask things.

Spike ruffled through his long scroll. “Check!”

“Did we get the saturated magicite crystals for Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked, albeit a bit more quietly. If ponies knew she had made it so far in teaching Sweetie Belle magic, she didn’t know what would happen. Well, then again, she made it pretty far with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, too, but their fields weren’t as broad.

“Check!” Twilight heard from behind her.

“And all of Apple Bloom’s chemistry set?” Twilight asked.

“Let’s see,” Spike said before taking a breath, “We have benzene, propylene, sulfuric acid, tricalcium phosphate, hydrochloric acid, pure carbon monoxide, chlorine, wood, a vacuum and pressure chamber, an industrial heater, sodium hydroxide, and two hair dryers. I think that’s everything.”

Twilight checked off everything in the list in her mind as spike checked it off on the scroll, just to double check. “Yup,” she said, “that’s everything.”

Now she was finally back at the castle. Home sweet home.

She pushed the large doors open with her front hooves. There was an annoying creak that she would have to fix later. “Spike,” she said after landing back on all fours and continuing to walk into the rotunda, “Remind me to add door hinge oil to tomorrow’s list.”

“Sure thing,” Spike said noncommittally before rolling up his scroll and walking towards a shelf full of them.

But there was another noise, one that sounded like a rapidly approaching pony. Twilight braced herself, but it was too late. A pink pony crashed into her with enough speed to topple the great purple princess.

“Twilight!” Pinkie said from above with a huge smile on her face, a face inches from Twilight’s own. “You’re back!”

“Of course I am.” From the ground, Twilight half giggled at the unexpectedness, half smiled at the cuteness. “I live here.”

“Yeah.” Pinkie got back up and offered a hoof to Twilight. “But you could have been out alllll night shopping for expensive jewelry for Sweetie Belle, cool bikes for Scootaloo, and drugs for Apple Bloom.”

Twilight had to try hard to stifle her chuckle as she got up. She thought she managed to keep her deadpan gaze pretty well. “I bought magicite for Sweetie Belle, chemicals for Apple Bloom, and a submarine kit for Scootaloo.”

Pinkie’s eyes went round. “You bought Scootaloo a submarine kit?”

“A fully tricked out one!” Spike added, stuffing his scroll into the ‘completed lists’ section. With that taken care of, he headed upstairs, walking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Twilight glared at Spike. That loudmouthed dragon couldn’t be trusted with anything! She returned her gaze to Pinkie. “Yes.” She nodded. “I did.”

“Can I have a submarine?” Pinkie asked, her eyes still round.

Twilight chuckled. “You’re a grown mare, Pinkie, you have to earn your own submarine kits.”

Pinkie frowned and quirked an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.”

“Sure it does!” Twilight grinned. “I mean, there’s a whole book on it! Chapter 22 of ‘Raising Foals’ describes it so much better than I ever could!”

When Twilight looked back at Pinkie after making her comment, she noticed Pinkie was grimacing. But was it out of sadness or disgust? No, that couldn’t have been disgust. But then why was she sad? Wait, was she rolling her eyes— Ah, and it vanished almost as quickly as she turned her head back. Well, Twilight wouldn’t have been a good friend if she ignored her friend’s feelings, even if said friend was trying to hide those feelings.

“Aww...” Twilight tilted her head compassionately, or at least she thought she did. “Don’t worry, I’ll remember to get you a—” Twilight halted, remembering that she wasn’t supposed to tell ponies what she was going to give them for their birthday “—um, something nice for your birthday.”

Twilight thought she noticed another grimace flash across Pinkie’s face when she almost told her what she was going to get her for her birthday. But... no, that couldn’t be right. Why was she being all silent, though? That wasn’t like Pinkie.

“So, what brings you here?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie perked up at that. “Wha— Oh! I wanted to know if you could use your super-duper analysis skills” —Pinkie hopped behind some library books and strapped on a pair of goggles reminiscent of Twilight’s old pair— ”to categorize my parties by likability, snacks, and party favors. And with our powers combined—” Pinkie stood up out of a shelf and held her goggles high “ —we shall rule Equestria!”

Twilight chuckled. “We already rule Equestria.” Then she put a hoof to her chin and thought about it. How much power did she and her friends really have? “Well, kind of.” She put her hoof down.

“Oh yeah.” Pinkie chuckled to herself.

“So,” Twilight said, trying to look serious again, “you want me to help you make your parties better?”

“Mhmm!” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.

“I’ll have to check my schedule...” Twilight put her hoof to her chin and considered the offer. On one hoof, she’d have something to do, as princess duty was surprisingly free of work compared to student duty. On the other hoof, she wasn’t sure how she would even go about analyzing Pinkie’s—

“Oh, Twilight’s schedule is completely open!” Spike yelled from upstairs. “Princesses, huh. They don’t have to do anything!”

“Thanks, Spike!” Twilight yelled, stamping her hoof in annoyance.

“Thanks, Spike!” Pinkie yelled, grinning with appreciation.

“Oh,” Pinkie said, “one more thing.” She bounced in place a couple times. A book untangled itself from her mane, then popped into the air and landed on Twilight’s head. “I’d like to check out a book.”

Twilight nodded, then lowered her head so the book would fall off and then caught it in her magic. But the title caught her eye,

“Uh, Pinkie.” She said.

Pinkie tilted her head.

Twilight sighed. She was going to have to let down that random ball of happy. “I don’t think this book contains any spells for entertaining foals. Most likely, it’s for teaching basic enchantments.” She flipped it around a few times and examined it in her magic.

“I know that.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, you don’t think I look at a book before I check it out?”

Twilight shrugged, pleasantly surprised, and turned around to proceed with checkout, but then she saw a label on the back: “spells reserved for nobility”.

“Ooh!” She backed up and turned around to face Pinkie again. “Sorry, I don’t think I can check this out for you. I’ll let you read it in the library if you want to, but I don’t think I can perform enchantments on you unless you’re somehow a noble.”

Pinkie frowned. “Am I secretly a noble?” She raised an eyebrow.

Twilight giggled. “I wouldn’t know that.” She smiled at Pinkie. “So, you wanna stay and read?”

Pinkie puased for a second before shaking her head. “Nah, maybe later.”

Pinkie played with her Twilight Sparkle plushie in her free time, roleplaying her favorite ‘Twilight Sparkle’s gone mad with power’ scenario where Pinkie tried to stop her, but nopony could stop the Twilight. But she couldn’t help but think back to Twilight and that book.

It was so unfair that noble ponies got to use books she couldn’t. And Twilight was a noble pony, wasn’t she? She probably had all kinds of enchantments on her! She probably had super strength, the ability to fly, and laser vision! No, wait, that was super-mare.

Still, it was unfair that Twilight got to go into places like Star Swirl’s wing and got to use things like ‘Enchantments for Foals’ when she couldn’t. And what was so different between Pinkie and somepony born into royalty anyway?

Why, if she got that enchantment, she wouldn't have to spend every morning memorizing birthdays, or every evening practicing her different mnemonics. And there would be no chance of her forgetting something and hurting somepony's feelings... But Twilight said she couldn't perform any enchantments on her, which meant there was probably some rule against it, because Twilight could do anything magic related.

...And no matter how great that enchantment may have been, Pinkie would never force her friend to break a law for her.

Pinkie sighed and nudged her Twilight plushie with a hoof. Maybe, someday, she would just get the enchantment through sheer luck. But she knew that was unlikely.

Vasovagal Syncope

Pinkie stood behind the cash register with her trademark smile, secretly thinking about how useful that context spell could be.

For example, just a few minutes ago, four ponies came in through the door of SugarCube corner, practically one right after the other. The first, a brown earth pony by the name of Time Turner, trotted up to the counter at a brisk pace, and couldn’t stop a small smile from growing on his face just before ordering: “G’mornin Pinkie,” he said. “One blueberry muffin, please.”

“Gooood morning to you, too.” Pinkie smiled back politely, before turning to the kitchen door. Blueberry muffins weren’t on display for some reason. “That’ll be coming right u—” She noticed Carrot Cake leaning against the door, absentmindedly staring at the customers. “—Oh. You got that?” Pinkie asked.

Carrot Cake perked up. “Ah huh,” He said. “I know we have those somewhere...” He trotted into the kitchen.

Pinkie hummed merrily to herself as Time Turner hoofed over his bits and trotted over to one of the tables with a hop in his gait. Usually, this was as complex as her job got, and most of the time it was as simple as taking an order and immediately fetching the requested food. For Pinkie, this was a time where she could think up her next joke, her next prank, her next invention, or something nice for her friends. She didn’t have to psyche herself up for any of the mental gymnastics that hosting a party involved. So this time she thought about giving Twilight cornbread. There wasn’t any real reason for it: it was just a surprise gift to keep things interesting. Bookworms loved cornbread, didn’t they?

But then Berry Punch trotted in, slowly. She had bags under her eyes, a wide frown on her face, and a stagger in her steps. Pinkie was ready to rush to her side and keep her from tumbling over by the time Berry finally reached the counter. “Anything with lots of bread...” Berry managed before slamming down a hoof-full of bits and dragging her hoof off the counter.

Pinkie took the bits. “Coming right up!” she shot into the kitchen.

Carrot Cake was busy looking through different racks of food, so she she found Cup Cake. She was just counting her dough. “Punch special!” Pinkie yell-whispered.

“Punch special?” Cup Caked stopped, turned, and whispered back loudly.

“Punch special!” Pinkie whispered again, more loudly, before zooming back to the kitchen.

Now things were getting a little complex, and it was a little too early in the morning for Pinkie to remember things easily. So it was time to use her mnemonics.

When Pinkie got back at her counter, Berry Punch was now sitting by a table, wiping her face against the surface of it, slowly and repeatedly, probably in some strange Punch family ritual. So Pinkie took her free time to use her imagination powers. In her mind, she imagined that a large blueberry muffin/time machine, shaking and sputtering in all of its glorious, timey wimey muffinness, was sitting right on her counter. And balancing right up against it, Pinkie imagined a wobbling and staggering Berry Punch. On a whim, she gave her a large bread hat, signifying the ‘anything with bread’ comment.

But just when Pinkie finished staring at the bare counter, Twilight and Rainbow Dash came in, drenched in sweat. Pinkie almost frowned. After all, knowing Twilight, each food item would have to be perfectly matching, and, knowing Dashie, they would also have to be ‘awesome’, which meant each food item had to be slightly better, and therefore different, than the last. Celestia buc— but then she remembered that they were her friends, and that she was always happy to see them.

Rainbow Dash slammed ten bits on the counter, which was more than enough to pay for two of anything. “I’ll have the most awesome after-workout dessert you got!” She said.

Twilight shot Rainbow a glare. “Rainbow, that is not how you order food!” She said, before turning to Pinkie and levitating eleven bits over. “We’ll have two poppy seed muffins, thank you.”

Pinkie looked down at the bits and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey!” Rainbow slammed twelve bits on the counter. “I don’t even like poppey seed muffins. I like hay burgers and hay fries!”

Twilight slammed thirteen more bits onto the counter. “You know what?” Twilight turned to Rainbow, “That sounds delicious, but they don’t have those things here.”

Meanwhile, Pinkie took six bits out of the enormous pile, then she laid her right foreleg down on the counter, and violently smacked away the rest of the bits. “Tell you what,” she said, “I’ll get you something special we’ve been working on for you two.”

Pinkie trotted into the kitchen to tell Carrot Cake and Cup Cake that they would have to bake something new for Twilight and Dashie. It took a couple minutes before they all decided on exactly what it would be. Pinkie suggested they should cook three of whatever it was and blame it on ‘extra ingredients’, just to mess with her friends.

Then, Pinkie trotted back to the counter and hastily added a floating book with wings behind her previous mnemonics, with three green cupcakes floating above it.

Now, Pinkie just had to wait until that blueberry muffin came out… She hummed merrily...

Pinkie rarely forgot important things, but occasionally she would remember some totally crazy thing and not know what went with it. Or, she would forget a mnemonic entirely after she went off on a tangent about something. Once, she forgot what somepony ordered, and she actually considered not going off on tangents as often! But then she would be some boring, tangentless pony! What pony in their right mind would willingly become such a thing!? Probably some overly serious pony like any of those guard ponies. But then she would get shiny armor...

Anyway, if Pinkie had that ‘Not Out of Context’ enchantment, she wouldn’t have to worry about her mnemonics disappearing or losing their meaning. She could tangent away without a care in the world!

“Blueberry muffin!” Carrot Cake called from the kitchen, snapping Pinkie out of her thoughts. Pinkie hadn’t even noticed that she had put a hoof to her chin and balanced her elbow on the counter.

Pinkie took the blueberry muffin from Carrot Cake with her muzzle, zipped over to Time Turner, and deposited the plate onto the table.

“Thank you, Pinkie!” Time Turner said, smiling brightly.

“My pleasure!” Pinkie smiled before zipping back to her counter.

Once there, Pinkie looked down on her counter at her imaginary conga line and watched as the time traveling blueberry muffin malfunctioned with little sparks of electricity, eventually creating an unstable time loop before destroying its own universe, leaving mini Berry to topple over. But wait! What was that thing behind drunk mini Berry?

Pinkie looked down at the counter and pulled at her hair.

Okay, it was a book with wings, so it was probably Twilight and Rainbow Dash. But Sugarcube Corner didn’t usually sell green muffins! Oh wait, it was probably something healthy and full of nuts and stuff... Pistachios were green... It was a pistachio and electrolyte glazed poppy seed muffin!

Pinkie let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one!

Pinkie knew she was distracted, but did she really almost forget what her friends wanted? No, that was just unacceptable. Pinkie needed that “Out of Context” spell like Berry Punch needed punch! Otherwise, Forgetful Pinkie might forget to double check the supplies and mix up all the salt with the sugar, or worse, she could forget somepony’s birthday!

She tried to calm herself down. Remembering Cadence’s breathing technique, Pinkie held a hoof to her chest and breathed in, then extended the hoof and breathed out. It didn’t work, so she tried it a few more times. Out, then in, then out, then in. Out. In. Out! In! OutInOutInOutInOutIn!

Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked up from their table at the inexplicably panicking Pinkie Pie.

Taking notice of reality again, Pinkie giggled at herself. She was just being silly... No, she wouldn’t forget anything today, like why there was a bread hat on mini Punch...

WHY WAS THERE A BREAD HAT ON MINI PUNCH!?

Oh, it was because she got drunk.

“Punch special,” Carrot Cake called from the kitchen before trotting over and hoofing over the bread and milk platter to Pinkie. Pinkie hopped absentmindedly over to Berry Punch, her muzzle clamped down on the platter.

Okay, this was getting ridiculous. Pinkie needed to stop panicking over silly things. Of course she would never forget anything! She hadn’t forgotten anything last month, or the month before that, or the month before that... Yeah, everything would be just fine.

Pinkie gingerly set the platter down on Berry Punch’s table.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Berry immediately stuffed her face with the bread and milk. “Youh’re ah gnlaife safer!”

“Just doin’ my job.” Pinkie nodded, but beamed inwardly at the praise.

Pinkie strutted back to her cashier counter with a hop in her step. Yes, as she reached her place behind that counter, she knew everything was going to be just fine...

Wait, what was that green muffin doing on her counter? Wasn’t there supposed to be a book somewhere? But why would a book go with a green muffin?

“Pistiachio muffins!” Cake Called before walking out of the kitchen. He let Pinkie take the plate with three green muffins from his mouth before he walked back into the kitchen.

Pinkie stared down at the plate in her mouth and blinked. Who ordered green muffins?

No, she couldn’t have forgotten! But her brain just wasn’t working now! She knew she knew the answer, but her mind couldn’t even tell her what month it was! What was wrong with her!? Why wouldn’t her brain just work!?

She started sweating, so she tilted her head back slightly. It was all she could do to keep her cold sweat from dripping onto the muffins.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash called, snapping Pinkie out of her panic, “over here!” Rainbow waved.

With shaky hooves, Pinkie slowly accelerated to a normal trot towards her friends. When she finally got to the table with Rainbow and her tilted head and raised eyebrow, and Twilight and her wide eyes and small frown, she unsteadily set the plate down. When the deed was done, she started to trot backwards slowly. She just wanted the day to be over. She just wanted to forget the whole day like she forgot her friends’ desires. Maybe if Forgetful Pinkie was forgetful enough, she would forget how depressingly forgetful she was. Maybe she could forget that she ever let down—

Pinkie felt a hoof on her withers.

She looked up. Staring back at her, Rainbow Dash held a small frown and a slightly raised eyebrow. Unlike most frowns, this one somehow didn’t bother Pinkie, instead it somehow made her feel… safer. “Are you okay?” Rainbow tilted her head as she said that. “You look like Twilight after she failed an exam.”

Twilight frowned and rolled her eyes. “I never failed an exam.” She said quietly to herself, but her voice was shaky.

Pinkie looked back and forth between her friends. They thought something was wrong with her? No, she was still the same old Pinkie! “No,” she said, her voice shakier than Twilight’s. She shook her head too quickly. “I’m fine. I’m Pinkie!”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head the other direction and gave a small smile before snickering. “Well, yeah, of course you’re Pinkie.”

“Ha ha!” Pinkie laughed loudly and tried to hold a large, toothy grin. She could feel more sweat droplets forming. “Of course!” She stood up and threw her hooves out, but she was too rigid. “I mean, who else would I be, right?”

Rainbow Dash just stared at her with an open mouth and a tilted head, and Twilight just pressed herself into her chair, staring at Pinkie with wide eyes and a small frown. It looked like Twilight wanted to help her, but feared that just the act of touching her might cause Pinkie to crumble into dust.

Pinkie cringed under Twilight’s gaze. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that look. To be the one that caused it was an absolute nightmare.

A blue hoof waved in front of her face, bringing her back to reality.

“—eeeeellllooo! Earth to Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash flew up and landed in Pinkie’s center of vision.

By this time, the whole store must have been looking at her. Was she shivering? She wasn’t before, but now she felt like she wasn’t getting enough air—

A hoof wrapped around her back, making her jump.

“Whoa!” Rainbow said from Pinkie’s right. “Pinkie, are you sure you’re okay? Because you’re freaking me out!” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked.

Pinkie looked around the shop at all the nervous ponies. She wanted to laugh and to tell them that her brain just stopped working for a second. She wanted to tell them she was fine.

But as she turned back to Twilight, she couldn’t help but feel that she was not fine, not if Twilight herself was scared for her. If Twilight didn’t know what to do, then perhaps things really were bad. Perhaps...

Things...

The corners of Pinkie’s vision faded to black, and the last thing she saw was Twilight’s wide eyes and gaping muzzle.

Rainbow Dash thought there was something disturbingly funny about the way Pinkie dropped like a sack of potatoes out of her grip. She stared down at her friend. “Welp. There she goes...”

Rainbow sighed and hoisted the unconscious Pinkie onto her back. Not wanting to waste food, she then quickly gobbled down the rest of her muffin.

She turned to the small crowd that formed and shooed them away with a hoof. “Move along, nothing to see,” she announced.

The crowd started to disperse and Ponies reluctantly moved back to their tables. For Rainbow Dash and Twilight, it was time to take Pinkie and go elsewhere. Anywhere would probably be better than SugarCube Corner right now. So she turned and started to trot out, quickly inclining her head so Twilight would follow.

It had to be a couple seconds before Twilight trotted quickly to catch up with Rainbow.

“W— What’s wrong with her?” Twilight asked in hushed tone.

Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. She just forgot our meal and had a nervous breakdown or something.” As they exited the building, Rainbow Dash tried to ignore the additional stares she got from the ponies outside.

“Forgot?” Twilight asked, her voice gaining volume. “Isn’t that where you just choose not to think of something because it bothers you...” Twilight paused, probably to think about her own comment.

Rainbow tilted her head and furrowed her brow. Something was wrong here.

Twilight skipped a couple paces ahead. “She must’ve experienced something really—”

Rainbow turned and put her hoof in her friend’s mouth to stop her, causing them to both stop walking in the middle of a road. “Whoa whoa whoa, forgetting is not ‘choosing not to think about something’, or whatever you said. It’s when you can’t remember.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow as she removed her hoof from her friend’s mouth. “How do you not know this?”

Twilight blinked. “...Can’t remember?” She tilted her head.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in turn. Then she shook it. Something needed to be done about Twilight’s... whatever problem she had. “You know...” Rainbow Dash started, but struggled for words. Then, something hit her. “Wait! What about that time you forgot to send a letter to Celestia and went all crazy?”

Twilight gasped. “Ohhh...” She said. “So Pinkie got so carried away with her work at Sugarcube Corner that she didn’t try to remember something important!”

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash said, grinning in satisfaction. But then she caught herself. “Wait, what?” She tilted her head again. Something about that still didn’t sound quite right.

“What?” Twilight asked, tilting her head again. “Didn’t she get carried away and not remember something else?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, then closed it... “Well, kind of...” She scraped the ground with her hoof as she tried to think of an example. “Haven’t you ever... You know... Forgot a book in your own library.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, then immediately shook her head to answer Dash’s question.

Rainbow stood back, gaping. “Wait, you’re telling me that, in your enormous library”—she gestured wildly with her arms—”and with all of Spike’s reorganizing everything, you never forgot the location of a single book?”

Twilight nodded.

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. She stared at her friend with her mouth agape...

“Is that a thing ponies usually do? Things just... fade from their memory?” For some reason, Twilight shuddered.

Rainbow Dash continued to stare at her friend. “Yes!” She eventually nodded, eyes wide and kept on her friend. “That happens to everypony!”

Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, giving her the same expression she had earlier. “That’s horrible!” Then she swallowed and made a small grin. “But wait, that’s not something that happens to me.”

“Ah huh.” Rainbow Dash nodded, her eyes half lidded. “Apparently.” She sat down, giving up the strange conversation. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Twilight.” She felt something tumble off of her.

Twilight’s lips and eyebrows quivered. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with Pinkie!?” She pointed at her friend, who was now no longer on Rainbow’s back.

Rainbow stared at where the hoof was pointing and slowly turned around, horror rising in her heart as she did so. But she already knew what happened: she could no longer feel Pinkie’s weight on her back. Still, she had to see.

Behind her was a still unconscious Pinkie, crumpled into a very awkward pose and drooling on the grass.

“Oh no!” Rainbow jumped and held her head in her hooves.

“Here,” Twilight said, “let me help you with that.”

A purple glow enveloped Pinkie and carried her up into the air. There, Pinkie unfolded into a much less awkward position. It looked like she was being carried by the back of her neck. Finally, Pinkie plopped back onto Rainbow’s back.

“For now,” Twilight said, “let’s just see what’s wrong with Pinkie. We can figure out this forgetting thing later.” She trotted ahead to lead the way.

Rainbow Dash twisted her head back to look at Pinkie for a second, and almost smiled at the small, peaceful smile the unconscious filly was making, but then she noticed the bruise forming on her friend’s head. After a sharp pang of guilt, Rainbow clenched her teeth and galloped after Twilight, hoping that Pinkie would be okay.