The Quantum Lock

As he stood there for a few minutes, waiting to see if the person he was supposed to find would ever show up, he realized that his superior never really made anything easy for him. The pressure of the situation had just set in, only a month to find a mystery girl and save this world.

“I never did that well with puzzles, though...” He thought aloud.

It would be dark soon, with no place to go and no solid chance of finding the mystery girl tonight, he figured he may as well get an understanding of the town. The walking began, and he kept walking until he had covered a majority of the town. Nobody really stood out to him, though. He looked down at the piece of paper he picked up from on top of the console. Nothing he had overlooked or forgotten.

Speaking of forgotten, while he was wandering around the town, he kept trying to remember life before the void, but nothing would come to mind. All he could remember was constantly waking up, getting in the capsule, and going back to sleep. Finally he had gotten bored of aimlessly trying to remember, or solve the ambiguous puzzle given by a single piece of paper. He checked his pockets for currency of the paper variety, a little surprised to find a wallet with minuscule funds, but at least it was something. He looked around for someplace to eat, a restaurant or a cafe of sorts. About a block away, he noticed what looked like a pastry shop labeled: “Sugarcube Corner.”

As I approached the shop, I noticed a group of four teenage girls walk by, one with red and orange hair, one with a cowboy hat on, another one with rainbow-dyed hair, and one with an exquisite taste of fashion. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, though they were speaking loudly.

“Oh, Sunny, I'm sure people will forget all about tonight soon enough.” Said the one with the neat clothes.

“I don't know if they'll ever forgive me, I almost ruined everyones lives.” Said the teenager with the bacon-styled hair. She put her hands over her face as if she was getting ready to cry.

I didn't know how she almost ruined anyone's life, but I did feel kind of bad, doing nothing while some seemingly innocent girl beats herself up over something.

And that's when it hit me, this must be the mystery girl, “Sunny” as her friends called her. I almost spewed out everything to her, but then I got another glance at her. She needed some kind of assistance, or else she might do something. But what would anyone say in this situation? I've only known these people for a grand total of seven seconds, and they probably haven't noticed that I exist. Praying that the empathetical side of me takes control during this conversation, I stop and turn towards the crying girl.

“Um... hey there...”

She wipes her tears, stops walking and looks at me with these eyes that seem full of confusion, sadness, and regret. I almost immediately regret my decision to inject myself into this situation, but perhaps I could help her.

“I only caught the end of that, but it seems that your friends here are going to watch out for you. There's probably nothing to worry about.” I try to radiate confidence, but my anxiety obviously leaks through.

“Thanks, all of you, for offering to spend the night.” I say, though I'm a little upset I offered in the first place. I should be able to get through this myself without anyone else's help. Although, I don't even know if they really like me, they might just be staying with me because Twilight asked them to. They didn't really talk during dinner, not even to each other. Maybe it's just me.

“Anytime, Sugarcube, that's what friends do.” Applejack says reassuringly, almost as if she could sense Sunset's sadness.

“Yeah, besides, you're one of us now, and we look out for each other!” Rainbow exclaims, as if it wasn't the middle of the night.

“I have to ask you all something...” I try to say normally, though my voice is beginning to shake uncontrollably. “You are my friends, right? For me, and not for Twilight?” I finish off without quivering, but it's apparent that I'm not that happy.

“Sunset, of course we like you for you. In the whole world, nobody is as like you as-- well, you!” Rarity tries to cheer me up, but her words only remind me that I am the only person in this whole world that is from Equestria. The only person in the world who doesn't belong.

I start to tear up, and not just about the Fall Formal, about everything. Being the only person who is from Equestria, how everyone hates me, how I can never go back home.

Rarity is the first one to notice the tears, and decides to comfort her. “Oh, Sunny, I'm sure people will forget all about tonight soon enough.”

I don't know why, but the pressure is starting to build now, more than ever. “I don't know if they'll ever forgive me, I almost ruined everyones lives.” As I say that, I realize that nothing could be closer to the truth, and then that made me sad. But my self-pity stopped when I heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Um... hey there...” I look up, and a man dressed in odd clothes stands before me, concerned about me, or so it would seem. “I only caught the end of that, but it seems that your friends here are going to watch out for you. There's probably nothing to worry about.” He seems a little nervous though, like he's talking to a celebrity.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed it, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all look at each other in a slightly amused manner. I don't know why he's trying to help me, but for some reason, hearing someone who doesn't know who Twilight Sparkle is, it just makes me trust him a bit more. I wipe away some of my tears, and put my hand out to shake his.

“I'm Sunset, Sunset Shimmer.” I say as he shakes my hand, but something even more odd about his  apparel is his disposable black latex gloves. That kind of put me on the edge. However my uncertainties about him either doubled or dropped when I heard what he said next.

“Nice to meet you Sunset Shimmer, my name is... is...” Then he stopped, as if all the sudden he had forgotten everything about himself. “I uh... can't remember my name...” I looked back at the rest of my group to see if they caught that too. Sure enough, they looked as confused as he did.

“Did you... get hit on the head?” Rainbow says, actually interested about his memory loss. It's a very very weird situation at this point, I'm crying in public, a stranger makes me stop when my friends couldn't and he doesn't even know his own name.

“No, no... I don't have brain damage or amnesia or any kind of memory loss. I was never named.” His words are English, but what he just said sounded like a bunch of gibberish, or a prank. Rarity audibly laughs, probably thinking he's playing a joke, but I... can't tell...

“What do you mean you were never named? What do your parents call you at home?” Rarity says, probing the depth of this prank, or at least she thinks.

“I don't remember growing up, my parent's name, my name or anything before this afternoon.” He says, he sounds sincere, but it wouldn't add up that he didn't hit his head, yet he's suffering memory loss. It could be a condition, of some kind. As I ponder this, I remember that I was crying just seconds ago. It gave me hope, though, that if I could forget what I did for a few seconds, a few hours after it happened, possibly, some more people might forgive me in the morning.