Mega Man: Divine Gridby Sapphire ValleyChaptersMemoryGenerosityFriendsAccessDisclosureDataMemoryAuthor's Note The following project is a fan made product. My Little Pony Equestria Girls belongs to Hasbro, and Mega Man belongs Capcom. Please support the official releases of these products. Memory She gasped as her eyes shot open. For a split second she thought she saw something, but it was gone by the time she blinked. After taking a few deep breaths, the girl looked around to see where she was. The room itself was small, and kinda cramped with a few chairs off to the side of the white hospital bed she laid in. On the other side of the room was a small desk with what looked like someone's cellphone sitting on it. There were two doors in the room, one which led to a small bathroom and the other she assumed led out of the room. Am I… in a hospital room…? How did I get… here…? She sat up in the bed to get a better look at her surroundings. Her heart pounded in her chest as the reality of her situation began to hit her. She had no idea where she was nor how she got there. For that matter, who was she? She tried and tried to remember the name, but she couldn't. Holding a hand to her forehead, the girl wracked her brain for information, trying to remember her name, her age, her home address, something, anything. Nothing. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to fight off the incoming wave of tears. When that didn't work, she gripped the sheets over her lap tightly, trying her best to not break down in fear. She had to stay calm. She could figure this out. She just needed a clue. If only there was something of hers- The girl immediately picked up the phone, and after a second of fiddling around with it, managed to turn the thing on. She was thankful the phone wasn't locked. It was a purple and blue smartphone, composing mostly of a large screen surrounded by the base of the machine. Before looking at the phone's contents she looked at the back of the phone, and noticed a symbol. It looked like a magic wand of some sort, with a light blue trail of magic behind it, vaguely in the shape of a crescent moon. Relief washed over her as she recognized it. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew that it was something pertaining to herself. Okay. This is a start. She turned her attention back to the screen and began perusing through the various apps. Past the home screen she found a few basic apps for calling and sending messages, an app called “angel numbers”, a flashlight app, one called “Skype”, whatever that was, a couple of simple games, a tarot card app, a diary, and a few more random apps for astrology, numerology, and tabletop RPGs. Judging from the apps she saw, and getting a feel for her figure, it was safe to say she was in her mid to late teens at least. The first app she looked at was the diary. After waiting for it to load, she was greeted with a black and purple screen. The title “Dark Diary” was at the top, probably the name of this particular diary app. Whoever she was, it looked like she was a complicated individual. She saw the most recent entry, titled “The End…?” Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that. Why, she had no idea yet. She pressed her index finger on the entry, opening it to read its contents: I keep seeing 999 today, more frequently than usual. The app, all the sites online, they all say the same thing. Essentially, end of a chapter in my life. I'm used to the numbers by now, but this is getting scary. Every five seconds I'm seeing either 999, 909, 919, or some weird combination associated with 9. Most of those numbers seem to refer to “endings”. Also, I keep feeling like something else is coming. Something even bigger than that incident at the Friendship Games, scary as that sounds. And whatever it is... I feel like it's directed toward me. Am I… about to die…? I don't know why I feel this way, but the numbers keep showing up. Just what does it all mean? Someone. Anyone. Please help me. I'm scared. I don't want to die yet. “D-die…?” she asked, her voice a bit hoarse from disuse. Did that have something to do with why her memory was gone? She looked through past entries, stopping on one titled “The Gate is Opening”. I finally looked up the meaning of 11:11. Most of the sources say something about a “gate” opening. I didn't believe in this stuff before but… I keep seeing the numbers everywhere I look. Just the other day I was playing Chrono Trigger and saw 1001 on the enemy, followed right up with 1010. On that same screen I saw my character's health at 1111. So if you're wondering why I suddenly decided to check that out, now you know. So… what's this gate? What's opening? I'm not like Sunset and her group of freaky friends. I'm normal, so none of this stuff should be coming to me. I just want a normal life. Unfortunately, she didn't sign the diary entries, so she didn't get a name yet. From what she could get however, her memory loss wasn't entirely spontaneous it seemed. It seemed like at the very least there were signs that something was about to happen. It's what that something was that had her somewhat terrified. Exiting that app, she looked through her messages, surprised to see a number of really urgent ones, all asking if she was okay. At least she had friends. She opened one from a “Lyra” to read it. OMG Trixie! Bon Bon and I heard what happened! Call me when you get this, PLEASE! I need to know my BFF is okay! “Trixie… My name is… Trixie…?” She held her head as the name rolled in her mind. The more she said, the more right it felt. That was her name. Trixie sighed in relief and fell back onto her bed. Now she had a name, and a sense of who she was before losing her memory. But relief turned to sadness as nothing else came to her after that. Realizing she needed to put a face to the name, she got out of bed and carefully walked to the bathroom. She stumbled a bit in the beginning, but after a second she was able to walk perfectly. In the bathroom, she looked at reflection, taking in her features. Staring back at her was a young Caucasian girl who definitely looked about 16 at the youngest. She had long light blue hair with white highlights, sharp purple eye and features, and was currently wearing a dark pink lipstick, almost purple. Underneath her hospital gown, she could tell she had a slender build, kinda top heavy but not too much, and lifting the gown a bit revealed very nice, somewhat shapely legs. Her name was Trixie, she had a friend named Lyra who called her “BFF” for some reason, she liked video games apparently, and she was really attractive. But still with a bad case of memory loss. The door opening outside caught her attention. She carefully stepped out of the room, seeing a nurse with pink hair walk into the room and look around. When the nurse turned to Trixie, she smiled in relief. “Oh, there you are Miss Lulamoon. I was worried you wandered off,” she said kindly. “Lulamoon… is that my last name?” Trixie asked, back still pressed against the wall as she wasn't sure if she should trust this woman yet. The nurse frowned in genuine confusion, “You don't remember?” “I figured out my name is Trixie, but that's it,” she said, “How did I get here?” “Your classmate brought you in earlier today. I think she said her name was Rarity. Does that name mean anything to you, hun?” the nurse asked. Trixie shook her head as it didn't sound familiar, “I see… this is certainly unexpected.” the nurse looked at her clipboard for a second, “Well, it says here your full name is Beatrix Lulamoon, 17 years old, and a student at Canterlot High. Hopefully that can help get you started.” “Thank… you,” Trixie said, relaxing a bit at the nurse's smile. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help. “Why don't you get some rest, Miss Lulamoon,” the nurse said holding out her hand, “It's okay. No one here is going to hurt you.” Trixie looked at the hand, and slowly reached out to take it. The nurse gently grasped it, and then escorted Trixie back to her bed, helping her lie down and get comfortable. “I'm scared,” Trixie admitted to the nurse, “I… I don't know what to do. Nothing I've seen has triggered any memories. Not even seeing my name.” “Memory loss can be tricky to recover from,” the nurse said, gently raising the covers over Trixie, “But if you want my advice,” Trixie nodded, “Don't worry about who you were. Now that you have a name, and you remember basic things, focus on who you'll be now. Just take your time, go easy on yourself, and be natural, okay?” the nurse smiled kindly. Trixie took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. Thank you, Ma'am.” “Call me Miss Redheart,” the nurse said, placing a hand to her chest, “You won't be here long, but I will take care of you during that time, alright?” Trixie nodded, allowing herself to relax. She could trust this woman. As the nurse walked out of the room and closed the door, Trixie turned to her side and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she'd start calling people to see what else she could piece together of her old life. Still, she was definitely going to take what Miss Redheart said to heart, and not stress over it. She did want to know how she lost her memory though. Questions for another time, Trixie thought with a yawn. It didn't take long for the soothing darkness of sleep to consume her. GenerosityAuthor's Note Greetings everyone. Since this is a new me, I'll just reintroduce myself here. I'm Valkyrie Sandora, and this is the first of two stories I'm planning to post here. I'm still a big Mega Man fan, and this is my attempt at making the ultimate Mega Man story. It's also my way of getting some of my more existential thoughts out on paper, so this story is really personal to me. If even one person can get something from this story, then that would make it all worth it. This is probably gonna be the only time you hear from me (probably ), so I hope you enjoy this crazy story I'm weaving together. Nameste, lovely people~ Generosity Trixie… Please hear my voice… He's still out there… We have to stop him… Before the Dark Code… Once again, Trixie's eyes shot open as she awoke with a sharp gasp. This time, she noticed her eyesight go weird. Were those… numbers? Once again, it was gone by the time she blinked. She sat up in her bed, frowning to herself as she thought about what she just saw. Things… looked normal right now. Then again, what was normal sight, really? How did other people see the world? Also, why was she thinking about that now? She didn't remember much, but she was pretty sure that people normally didn't see numbers in their eyes. Also, she remembered having a strange dream. She heard someone. A boy, it sounded like. Whoever it was, they sounded urgent. Afraid of something. Of someone. Who was that? What was he talking about? Something about a… Dark… Code…? “What's wrong with me?” Trixie groaned, holding a hand to her forehead, “I can't remember who I am, I'm hearing voices in my head-” anything else she wanted to fuss about was lost behind her frustrated sobs. A knock on the door pulled her back into the moment. “Miss Lulamoon? I have breakfast. Are you up?” It was Miss Redheart, the kind nurse from last night. Trixie's heart rate returned to normal as she calmed down. “Y-yes. I'm up,” Trixie said. The door clicked open, and Miss Redheart walked inside carrying a tray of eggs, bacon, a bagel, and a glass of orange juice. “How'd you sleep last night?” the nurse asked, setting the tray onto Trixie's lap, “Were you able to relax after we talked?” “I, uh…” Trixie didn't know quite how to articulate her thought, so she just nodded and began eating. It wasn't really anything special, but as far as she knew Miss Redheart made it herself. She didn't want to be rude. “Sometimes, people with amnesia will have flashes of memory in their dreams,” Miss Redheart said, sitting down next to Trixie, “Did you have any dreams last night?” Trixie thought about the dream, and wondered if it was safe to tell Miss Redheart. She didn't want her to think she was crazy, otherwise she might not ever leave this place. Still, she had been nice to her so far, so maybe it was okay. “I… heard someone,” Trixie said slowly, “He said to me…” she closed her eyes and frowned, trying to remember the voice's words, “Ugh! Damn it. It's fading…” her shoulders dropped, and she moaned in frustration and disappointment. “Now now, remember what I said last night,” Miss Redheart lightly scolded, “Go easy on yourself. It's okay if you can't remember the dream right now. If it's a memory, you might have it again.” Trixie took a deep breath, nodded to Miss Redheart, and then went back to eating her extremely plain breakfast. It wasn't even bad. It was just… boring. “Yeah, I know,” Miss Redheart said suddenly, “I know that expression. The food here sucks,” she leaned in close to Trixie, “Between you and me, my dog eats better than this, and I buy from the bargain bin.” Trixie laughed a bit from that joke. It wasn't overly funny, but it certainly helped her relax a bit more. She then looked around the room for a second before speaking again, “Where are my clothes…?” “We washed them for you,” Miss Redheart said, “I'll bring them to you after you finish eating.” “Thank you,” Trixie said, looking down at the plain food resting on her lap, “I wish I could repay you for being so nice to me.” “Don't worry about it,” Miss Redheart smiled kindly, taking Trixie's hand into her own, “I became a nurse because I wanted to help people, so just getting to meet you is payment enough for me.” She just liked helping people? Did it feel that good, where all she needed to do was help people to feel fulfilled? Trixie began wondering what that felt like, and how she could possibly help people. All questions for another time. She quickly forced down the rest of her cardboard breakfast and handed the tray back to Miss Redheart, who promised to bring her clothes up to her along with the rest of her belongings. In the meantime, Trixie decided to make good on her self promise to call people, and see what they could tell her. First person she called was Lyra. The phone rang twice before someone answered on the other end. “Trixie! Trixie, is it really you?!” a frantic voice cried, obviously female. Since she used her nickname in such a familiar manner, Trixie assumed this was Lyra. “Y-yeah… sort of…” Trixie said slowly, “I think it's like… half of me, but I don't know where the other half is.” “Oookay,” Lyra said slowly, “Um, are you okay, girl? You sound a bit more out there than usual.” Should she tell her? Apparently they were good friends, so she deserved to know the truth. “Lyra, I… I don't know what happened, but… I kind of lost… a few of my memories.” Trixie winced, ready for any reaction. She wasn't ready for Lyra to start laughing. “Oh, Trixie you are a riot! You really had me going there for a second. I thought you seriously had amnesia for a second.” “I do,” Trixie explained, trying not to be too offended at not being taken seriously, “I don't know how I lost my memory, but I'm trying to piece together bits of my old life.” “Trixie… you're scaring me,” Lyra said, her voice a bit softer and more sobered, “You're serious? You… don't remember anything?” “No, I don't,” Trixie said, “But maybe you can help me. I need to know, were we together yesterday before I ended up in the hospital?” “Y-yeah, we were,” Lyra explained, “We were at cheerleader practice, which is held after school.” She was a cheerleader? Well, with looks like hers, she probably could be one, and a decent one at that. But this was good. Maybe she saw something. “Did anything happen right after that?” Trixie asked. “Well, after practice ended, you changed and then left to head home,” Lyra explained, “I remember there was a bright blue flash outside, and then you were unconscious.” A blue flash? Was that what took her memory? Suddenly, she felt a pressure in her head, forcing her to hold her head and groan in pain. “Trixie?! Are you okay?!” Lyra asked, now sounding genuinely concerned. “Yes, um… thank you,” Trixie said as the pain ebbed away, “I… I'll talk to you later.” “Trixie, wai-” She didn't wait for her to finish, choosing to just end the call. She could tell just by hearing her voice she wasn't going to be really helpful in solving this mystery. Or maybe she was just really turned off by her attitude. Another knock on the door. This time Trixie knew that it was Miss Redheart. “I have your clothes,” she said from outside the room, “I also have your school bag.” “Thank you,” Trixie said, “You can come in. I'm still in bed.” Miss Redheart walked into the room and set Trixie's clothes and bag on the bed. Apparently she wore a cute purple and blue dress, blue hoodie with stars on the shoulders, purple socks, and blue and purple boots with two inch heels by the looks of them. “I'll let you get cleaned up and dressed,” Miss Redheart said walking out of the room, “Oh, your classmate called. The one who brought you in yesterday.” “Rarity, right?” Trixie asked. “That's the one. She's coming here to check you out of the hospital,” Miss Redheart said smiling. Trixie's eyes widened at her words. “I… get to leave so soon?” Trixie asked. “We can't realistically keep you here for too long,” Miss Redheart explained, “Getting to see your hometown might help jog some more memories.” “That's good,” Trixie smiled softly, “Thank you again for being so nice to me, Miss Redheart.” “It was my pleasure,” Miss Redheart said, giving Trixie an elegant bow before leaving the room. Trixie felt like she was going to miss her. After taking a quick shower, Trixie put on her dress and shoes, before examining herself in the mirror. At first she was confused by the lack of a bra, but then realized that her dress had built in support. It was sleeveless at the top, and hugged her figure in a tasteful, yet still sexy manner. After applying the lipstick she found in her bag, she took in the person standing before her in the mirror, and couldn't help but smile. She felt an inner arrogance at the sight. Like something deep inside of her just knew that she was the best. I better keep those thoughts in check. Don't want a big head. She laughed to herself, and then walked over to her bed, picking up the hoodie and putting it on. She started zipping it closed, but stopped just under her bust. She felt like she was supposed to zip it higher, like maybe the old her zipped it up a bit more. But at the same time, she didn't want to. As she was now, she kind of liked the idea of just letting her figure speak for itself. “Just be natural, right?” Trixie asked, once again taking the time to look at herself in the mirror. She was largely pleased with the outcome. Another knock on her door, “Come in,” she called out before stepping out of the bathroom. Miss Redheart poked her head into the room. “Your classmate just arrived,” she said. Trixie took a deep breath, nodded, and then walked over to her nurse, picking up her bag at the same time. As she walked with Miss Redheart to where she assumed the front desk was, Trixie began adjusting the way she walked till it felt right to her. Eventually she settled on a slight saunter, choosing to carry herself in a proud, but not condescending manner. She didn't know if she was how she was originally or not, but it didn't really matter ultimately. Still, it would have been nice to know why she lost her memory in the first place. At the front desk, Trixie saw a very beautiful young woman signing a sheet of paper. Said woman wore a really nice silver blouse, short purple skirt, and purple high heeled boots. She had long, full purple hair, and from where Trixie was standing she could tell she was wearing blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. The woman turned to Trixie and smiled, “Oh wonderful! You're okay!” she said, voice high with a sensual flair that Trixie could tell wasn't natural. Also, getting a better look at her revealed this person to actually be close to Trixie's age. Odd, Trixie really thought she was an adult there for a second. “You're… Rarity, right?” Trixie asked as the maturely dressed girl approached her. “That's right. My name is Rarity Belle,” Rarity said, elegantly placing a hand to her chest, “Do you not remember me, darling?” “I… don't,” Trixie said, looking away and rubbing her arm, “I just know that my name is Beatrix Lulamoon, and a few other things I pieced together just from looking at my cell phone,” just based on her appearance, Trixie expected Rarity to assume she was joking just like Lyra did. She didn't expect Rarity to look so surprised, or concerned. “Oh dear. I'm so sorry,” Rarity said softly, “You must have been so frightened here alone.” “Wait… you believe me…?” Trixie asked, trying to get a read on this seemingly frivolous girl. “I can't imagine you'd lie about something like that,” Rarity said, “Maybe it's naive, but I prefer to take people at their word unless they give me reason not to. Besides, you look so stressed right now.” She called it naive, but Trixie doubted that. Somehow, Trixie felt like this Rarity was seeing her pretty clearly. Odd, because Trixie had expected this girl to be more like what she heard from Lyra just from her appearance. Note to self: never EVER judge someone on their appearance again. “Tell you what,” Rarity continued, “How about you and I start from the beginning? Since our previous relationship isn't valid, how about we treat this as our first meeting ever, and let things progress from there?” “I'd… like that a lot,” Trixie said, giving Rarity a soft smile, “Thank you.” “Well, my work here is done,” Miss Redheart said, “You take care of her, okay?” “I will,” Rarity said, “Thank you so much for taking care of her.” “She was wonderful to attend to,” Miss Redheart placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder, “Are you going to be okay from here?” “I think so,” Trixie said, “It was nice meeting you, Miss Redheart.” “It was nice meeting you as well, Miss Lulamoon,” Miss Redheart said with a gentle smile. Trixie hugged her as a way of saying thank you, and then walked out of the hospital with Rarity beside her. It looked like Rarity was reading her a bit, but her smile quickly returned shortly after. “I don't feel safe leaving you alone, now that I know of your situation,” Rarity said as they exited the hospital. Whatever she was saying next got lost though, as Trixie's attention went skyward at the oddest sight. Floating above the entire city, Trixie could see what looked like translucent roads and structures in the sky. There were also a few glowing lights in the sky, and a couple of glowing rings all made of what looked like energy of some sort. Just what was that? “Trixie? What's wrong, darling?” Rarity asked walking back over to Trixie and looking up as well. “What is that up there?” Trixie asked, “In the sky?” Rarity frowned, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see it better, “I'm not sure what you're looking at, darling.” “Wait, you mean you…” Trixie stopped herself as she realized the answer to her own question. Rarity couldn't see it. As far as Trixie knew, she was the only one who could. “Trixie, are you okay?” Rarity asked, looking truly concerned. “I'm not sure,” Trixie released the breath she was holding in, “Too much weirdness.” Rarity placed a hand on Trixie's back comfortingly, “Tell you what, we'll go to my place. Spend the night there, and then we'll discuss what to do about your parents if they ask any questions tomorrow, okay?” Trixie nodded following after her new friend. She was really beginning to like this Rarity. “I'm home,” Rarity called into the house once she opened the door. Trixie took a second to look at the house exterior. It was a nice, surprisingly simple looking two story house with white walls that almost looked pink. Stepping inside she saw the interior was just as cozy and comfortable. Trixie looked to her left and saw the living room, which was pretty standard. Really, the only thing worth noting was the extravagant red couch that drew attention toward itself like a magnet. “Rarity, that you?” a younger girl's voice called out from upstairs. “Yes, it's me, love,” Rarity said setting her bag down, “I take it Mother and Father aren't back yet?” “They're extending their vacation by another week,” the other girl said. Trixie heard footsteps walking toward the stairs. “Honestly, I can't imagine why,” Rarity said walking into the kitchen, “Not like they're going to stick around for longer than a few days.” “Your parents travel a lot?” Trixie asked, following Rarity into the kitchen. Rarity nodded as she opened the fridge. “You can't tell, but we're actually quite well off,” Rarity explained, leaning into the fridge looking for something, “Dad's really good with stocks, and Mom's good with managing money. Thanks to that combination, we don't want for anything.” “So your parents just spend their money going on vacations?” Trixie asked, leaning against a wall and folding her arms. “Pretty much,” Rarity sighed, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a small blue and white bottle, apparently a milkshake, “We have pizza left over from last night. If you're hungry.” Trixie's stomach growled before she could get a word out, “I think my stomach just answered for me.” Whoever else was living here was coming downstairs now. Rarity giggled, “Alright. I'll heat up a few slices. Sweetie Belle, did you eat already?” “I was gonna heat up a slice too, so-” Trixie heard a gasp, “What's she doing here?!” Trixie turned around with a start, and almost did a double take. The girl was clearly younger than Rarity; based off her voice at least she had to be about fifteen at the oldest. She had long, curly pink and light purple hair, and light green eyes. Her attire however, consisted of a black and purple one piece skirt that was surprisingly short and hugged her growing figure nicely, black leather jacket, black fingerless gloves, fishnet stockings, and black high heeled boots. For make-up she wore black eyeliner and blood red lipstick. And she did not look pleased. “Ah! Sweetie Belle,” Rarity set the pizza box down and ran over to the newcomer, apparently Sweetie Belle, “Um, remember that person I took to the hospital yesterday?” “Yeah… I remember,” Sweetie Belle nodded, her eyes never leaving Trixie, “How does that connect to Beatrix being here?” “If you'll give me a second, I'll explain everything,” Rarity said, turning to Trixie, “Could you give us a few moments, darling?” Trixie nodded, eyes now meeting Sweetie Belle's. She could sense a lot of animosity in that gaze. Rarity lead Sweetie Belle into the living room, the latter narrowing her eyes before following the older girl. Trixie didn't want to eavesdrop, but she did manage to make out parts of their conversation. “And you believe her?” “I saw the look in her eyes. She looked absolutely distraught.” “That can be faked. She's just trying to get attention.” “I don't know, darling. With her getting knocked out by that weird light yesterday, she might be serious.” Wait. She saw the light that caused this? Whatever they were saying now was too low for Trixie to hear, but she could pretty easily make out what this meant. Something told her she wasn't the nicest to that girl in the black. Realizing that, Trixie wasn't sure how to feel. Rarity stepped out of the room taking a deep breath, apparently trying to calm herself down, “Well then, how about lunch, hm?” Trixie watched Rarity walk into the kitchen, trying a bit too hard to look normal. Trixie took a deep breath before speaking. “Did I hurt your sister?” Trixie asked. Rarity stopped cold, but didn't turn to face Trixie. “You… weren't the most pleasant person before this incident,” Rarity said, voice soft and distant. Trixie's heart sank, and she held her hand to her chest, gripping her hoodie as she looked down. “Then… why did you help me?” Trixie asked, “Why did you bring me here when-” “Because everybody deserves a little generosity,” Rarity interrupted. Trixie looked up and saw Rarity smiling quite genuinely at her, “You need help, so I'm going to do everything I can to help you.” Trixie felt a warmness in her heart seeing Rarity's genuine smile. Even knowing what she did to her sister, she didn't even think twice about helping her. It didn't seem natural for someone to be this kind. Rarity went to heat up the pizza for the three of them. Before Trixie could move, Sweetie Belle shoved past her and sat down at the table, close to the corner. There she just glared venomously at Trixie, even when they sat down to eat. Needless to say, Trixie sat close to Rarity as they ate in silence. FriendsTrixie, please remember… Please hear my voice… The Dark Code is spreading… Please… Open your eyes… Just like before, Trixie awoke with a start. This time, she looked around the guest room Rarity put her in for the night, noticing the numbers. Okay, so they were real. She tried to avoid blinking this time so she could see what the numbers meant. As she looked at various things in the room, it looked like the numbers were telling her various things about them. Their height, weight, mass, and a few other things she couldn't quite understand. Her attention went to her phone lying on her bed stand, and noticed something odd. It looked like a green circle of data spinning over her phone. It looked kinda like a portal. Trixie accidentally blinked, but noticed that this time the numbers didn't vanish. Her heart racing, Trixie slowly picked up her phone. The portal stayed in place perfectly. Was it somehow connected to her phone? Curious as to what would happen, Trixie began reaching for the portal, slowly, her heart pounding faster and faster as her fingers inched closer to the- A knock on her door startled her out of her trance. “Trixie, darling? Are you up yet?” “Y-yeah. I'm up Rarity,” Trixie said. She looked back at the phone. The portal was gone. “I made breakfast. Come downstairs whenever you're ready, darling.” “T-thank you,” Trixie said, smiling softly at Rarity's continued kindness. Especially considering what she had possibly done to her little sister. She should not have forgiven her at all, let alone help her this much. As she heard Rarity's footsteps leave the hall, Trixie looked down at her phone with a confused frown. Just what was that? Why was she able to see- The Dark Code is spreading… “Dark… code…” Trixie said, a hand over her suddenly racing heart. She had no idea why, but for some reason the phrase “dark code” brought a deep seated dread from within. After showering and getting dressed, Trixie started making her way downstairs. There she saw Rarity leaning against a wall talking to someone on her cellphone. “Yes, Miss Lulamoon, your daughter is okay. Beyond the memory loss, she's perfectly healthy,” Rarity said, a soft smile on her face. She nodded, “Mm hm. She was awake when I checked on her, and I think I heard her-” Rarity turned to Trixie, her smile widening, “Actually Miss Lulamoon, she just stepped downstairs. Yes, I'll hand her the phone,” Rarity handed the phone to Trixie, “It's your Mother, darling.” Trixie felt a warmth in her heart, and slowly took the phone, “H-hello?” “Trixie!” the woman on the other end cried, apparently bursting into tears, “Oh my God, you're okay! I was so worried!” “Y-you were…?” Trixie asked, eyes widening as a lump built up in her throat. “When you didn't come home from school, I was frantic! And then you wouldn't answer your phone, and I just-” her mother's words were lost behind heavy sobs. “Mom… please don't cry,” Trixie said, her voice shaking a bit, “I'm okay now. Really.” she didn't remember this woman's face sadly, but something inside of Trixie already loved her. “You don't have to go to school today if you don't want to. Rarity has our address, so you can head home,” her mother said, trying to calm down. “That's okay,” Trixie said, “I… was kind of planning on going to school anyway. The nurse said that seeing the town would help me get my memories back quicker. Besides, if amnesia wasn't enough to keep me in the hospital, I doubt it's enough to miss school.” Her mother laughed, “There's my little girl. I knew she was still in there. Alright, if you're sure you'll be okay. But let the principal know about your situation, and tell her I said you could leave at any time if school was too stressful, okay honey?” Trixie nodded, wiping her eyes, “Okay. Thank you, M-Mom.” “You're quite welcome. I'll see you tonight, sweetie.” “See you tonight. And, Mom?” Trixie had to say this to her before she hung up. “Yes Trixie?” “I… love you,” Trixie said, that warm feeling consuming her completely. Her mother didn't answer right away, but Trixie did hear her suck in a breath right after she spoke. “I love you too, sweetie,” Trixie's mother said, voice barely audible. It sounded like she was about to cry again. She hung up before Trixie could ask if she was okay. Trixie leaned against a wall, sliding down to the floor. She then broke down completely as her emotions consumed her. She didn't even know why she was crying. Maybe because everyone had been so kind to her, so hearing her mother sent her over the edge. Maybe because deep down, she felt like she had probably been a pretty shitty daughter on top of being a bully to Sweetie Belle. Rarity sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around Trixie. Trixie in turn leaned into Rarity's embrace, holding onto her as if she were a lifeline. “What sort of person… was I…?” Trixie sobbed. “Who you were before doesn't matter,” Rarity said, gently rubbing Trixie's back comfortingly as she held her, “You've been given a chance to start over, and to be a new person.” “Will you help me?” Trixie looked desperately at Rarity, “Help me become a better person?” “I'll do much more than that, darling,” Rarity said smiling, “I won't abandon you, Trixie. Ever.” “Can we… be friends?” Trixie asked Rarity. She knew she was asking for a lot, but she had to try. “Oh darling, I had already assumed we were,” Rarity said, her hand cupping Trixie's cheek as her thumb wiped away a tear. Once again overcome with emotion, Trixie wrapped her arms around Rarity, this time laughing happily. This was truly the happiest she'd ever been since waking up. Sure, she didn't have her memories back, but she had a true friend now. One that she made. Rarity seemed shocked at first, but she quickly relaxed and wrapped her arms around Trixie in return. The wonderful moment was soon lost though as Trixie became aware that they weren't alone. Suddenly, Trixie's heart was racing for a completely different reason as a feeling of dread washed over her. Rarity too had tensed up a bit, her arms still wrapped around Trixie, who slowly looked up to the top of the stairs. There she saw Sweetie Belle, still dressed in her goth attire, staring down at them from the top of the stairs. She was breathing heavily, eyes narrowed and lips curled in a hate filled snarl. She was flexing her fingers, clearly trying to stay in control. “How long have you been there?” Rarity asked slowly, her voice low and cautious. “Long enough,” was all Sweetie Belle said before starting down the stairs. Trixie was terrified she was going to do something like attack her, but instead she just walked past them, picked up her school bag, and walked out of the door apparently to school. She didn't even slam the door closed. That was almost more terrifying. “Did I… mess up?” Trixie asked Rarity, who sighed. “No darling, you're fine,” Rarity said, “I'm just going to have to have a long talk with Sweetie Belle, is all.” Trixie really hoped she'd be able to dodge Sweetie Belle today at school. She didn't know if Sweetie Belle was the type to carry knives, but she didn't want to find out. The walk to school was a quiet one for most of it. After Sweetie Belle left, Trixie felt really awkward being around Rarity. Almost like she was doing something wrong. Sure, she needed Rarity's help, but did she deserve it was the real question. When they stopped at the traffic light, Trixie stole a glance at Rarity, to gauge her emotional state. Her concern was pretty hard to miss, as Trixie quickly learned that Rarity was the type to wear her emotions on her sleeves. At least she's genuine. Rarity must have noticed, because her eyes quickly looked in Trixie's direction, prompting the light blue haired teen to quickly turn away. “I'm not mad at you,” Rarity said, “If that's what you're concerned about.” “Good, because I was wondering about that,” Trixie said, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, “Still, you're amazing.” “Oh? How so?” Trixie turned to Rarity incredulous, “Are you for real? Your arch nemesis just spent the night at your house. Your little sister hates me. And yet you're still helping me. I just don't get you.” Rarity gave a light, pleasant laugh, “First of all, I'd hardly call you my arch nemesis. To me, you were little more than a minor nuisance.” “Fair enough, and honestly not sure how I feel about that,” Trixie said as they started walking on green, “But what about Sweetie Belle? She's family, isn't she? Aren't you loyal to her?” “Trust me, I am,” Rarity said, “What do you think I'm wracking my brain for. I'm trying to figure out what to say to her. However, I can't just not help someone in need. Yes, you hurt my little sister, and I am holding you accountable for that somewhat, but I promised I'd help you, and I always keep my promises.” Trixie didn't know what to say to that. She opted to just leave it at that for now. Besides, it wasn't like she remembered doing anything to Sweetie Belle. As they walked, Trixie looked around the colorful suburban town. She hoped that walking around town would jog her memory, like maybe she'd see her house and instantly recognize it. Instead, she found herself wondering if every house she looked at was hers. Still, it was a really nice town. There were lots of colorful houses, each with their own small patch of land. Plenty of trees shared that land, which meant that there were plenty of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and other tiny creatures scattered around. It was like something out of a fairy tale. “Sure is beautiful here,” Trixie said, smiling at the beauty around her. “I know,” Rarity closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, “It's truly wonderful here, isn't it? I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. This is my kingdom, and my friends and I will protect it no matter what.” “That's, an odd thing to say,” Trixie said, tilting her head, “You sounded almost serious about protecting this place.” “Well, my friends and I aren't new to magical disturbances,” Rarity said, “Don't worry about it for now, darling. Just know that you're in good hands, alright?” “R-right,” Trixie nodded. She wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she had a feeling that was as good as she was getting for now. They continued to walk in silence again, Trixie turning to her right to the girl with light pink- “WHOA!” Trixie cried in shock, realizing that a third person was now walking with them. Said new person had really long light pink hair, large cyan eyes, and for make up was wearing pink eye shadow and light pink lip gloss. She was fair skinned like Rarity, slender build, and wore a simple white blouse, green skirt, pink knee socks, and green and yellow boots. Finally in her hair was a butterfly hairpin, same as the butterfly on her school bag. “Fluttershy, there you are,” Rarity said, completely undeterred, “It's fine, darling. Fluttershy here's my friend too.” “Hello,” the new girl said, her voice really soft and breathy, kind of hard to hear, if Trixie was being completely honest. “Hi,” Trixie said waving, “You are too quiet.” “You looked like you were in deep thought,” Fluttershy whispered, “I didn't want to disturb you.” That… was almost too sweet. Yep, she was definitely one of Rarity's friends. “I see,” Trixie leaned in close to Rarity, “Does she know about…?” “Oh yes, I told her already,” Rarity nodded, “After you went to bed, I sent everyone texts about what happened. Twilight's already looking into what that light was, and since Applejack always gets to school early, she offered to tell the Principal ahead of time about you losing your memory. Twilight? Applejack? Too many names! Trixie couldn't keep up with all of them! “Um… okay,” Trixie said, forcing her head to stop spinning, “And they're just going to take Applejack at her word?” “Applejack never lies,” Fluttershy said, making Trixie's heart leap a bit as she forgot she was even there for a second, “Everyone in school trusts her word.” “Of course they do,” Trixie rolled her eyes. At this point she just assumed that they were all a bunch of saints. When they arrived at the large building that Trixie assumed was her school, she was floored. It looked almost like something you'd find straight out of a fairy tale. The walls were pink and white, the architecture made it look almost like a church or small castle, the only small blemish was the remains of what appeared to be a statue on a large marble stand in front of the school gate, and all that did was make Trixie want to know the story behind it. She assumed it was epic. Standing by the statue waiting for them were two other girls. The girl sitting on the stand had an athletic build, striking magenta colored eyes, and long rainbow colored hair. She wore a white t-shirt with a rainbow colored thunderbolt on the front, blue jacket, pink and white skirt over black leggings, rainbow colored socks, and blue boots. Despite clearly being more on the tomboy side, Trixie was shocked to see she had a notably and very pretty feminine face. The other girl was leaning against the stand, arms folded under her more hefty bosom. She had emerald green eyes, long thick blond hair tied together at the end to keep it somewhat manageable, and wore a green and white western styled shirt, light blue denim skirt, and legit brown cowgirl boots. On both the front of the boots and her belt was a red apple insignia, and on her head was an honest to God cowgirl hat. “I live in a freaking fairy tale,” Trixie just admitted, trying to decide if this was heaven or hell. Currently leaning closer to heaven. “Applejack, darling~” Rarity skipped over to the hat wearing girl, who immediately scooped her up into her arms and planted a loving kiss on Rarity's lips. Well, that made their relationship pretty clear. “Howdy Rares, how was it last night?” Applejack asked, accent thick but still easy to understand. “Oh, Trixie was an absolute dear,” Rarity said, “It's crazy, but she's honestly a completely different person.” The rainbow haired girl raised an eyebrow, jumped down, and then walked over to Trixie. She circled her, eying her closely. Trixie swallowed nervously before attempting to speak. “I… take it you and I have-” the rainbow haired girl raised her hand shushing Trixie. “I didn't say you could speak yet, now did I?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Trixie closed her mouth and shook her head quickly, just letting the rainbow colored girl do her thing. She stopped right in front of Trixie and narrowed her eyes, “You really don't remember anything, huh?” “Nothing,” Trixie said looking to the side, “But if I ever did anything at all to you or any of your friends, I'm sorry. I don't remember them, nor the person I used to be, but I can at least apologize.” The rainbow haired girl nodded, and then held out her hand, “Works for me. The name's Rainbow Dash. Trust me, you'll remember it.” she said, followed by an extremely arrogant smirk. Trixie smiled and shook her hand. “Yeah, probably 'cause you're gonna be screamin' in every five seconds,” the girl wearing the hat said, now walking over to them, “The name's Applejack. Consider the slate wiped clean by my standards.” “Thank you so much,” Trixie said, now shaking Applejack's hand, “So, what's this you said about a light?” “Oh, that's easy! That's the aliens, silly!” “WHOA!” Trixie screamed at the new voice. She was really tired of people doing that. The only word that could describe this girl was fun. Her hair was long, full, and dark pink almost like cotton candy, her eyes were sky blue, and the one piece dress she wore was white up top with a pink heart in the middle, and came down into a light purple skirt that stopped at her knees. She wore blue bracelets around her wrists, light blue heeled boots with pink bows at the top, and around her waist, she wore a purple belt tied behind her in a bow. “Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, New Trixie. Hey, should I call you “New Trixie”? Should I call you Beatrix? That's a really pretty name, I always wanted to tell you that. Off topic. Right. Oooooh! Maybe you want a brand new nickname! How about something completely out of left field and epic sounding! Or-” Trixie put her finger on the fun girl's lips, gently shushing her. “Or you could all just keep calling me what you always did, and we all act natural,” Trixie suggested. To her pleasant surprise, Pinkie Pie wasn't offended at all. She just smiled and nodded in agreement. “Trixie it is then. Can I still give you that hug I was planning on giving you?” Pinkie Pie asked. Trixie laughed, and nodded. Pinkie Pie immediately wrapped her arms around her, not so tight that Trixie couldn't breathe, but tight enough where Trixie was surprised, “I'd introduce you to Twilight and Sunset next, but they're inside already researching the alien beam of light that shot down on you.” “Pinkie Pie, for the last time, Trixie wasn't attacked by aliens,” Applejack groaned, “It was probably jus' somethin' from the other side of the portal, is all.” “You mean more Equestrian Magic?” Fluttershy asked, “Oooh, I think I'd prefer aliens.” “Um, excuse me,” Trixie raised her hand to get everyone's attention, “Wanna fill me in? Since I'm the one the light hit, you know.” “Trixie is right,” Rarity pointed out, “If this is related to Equestrian Magic, she needs to know what's going on too.” The first bell rang as if on cue. “Look, as much as I'd love to play twenty questions, I can't afford to be late again. So let's just take her to the usual place after school so we can also hear what Sunset and Twilight figure out.” “Trixie darling, does that work for you?” Rarity asked. “Yeah, that's okay,” Trixie nodded, “I just… need to know where the “usual” place is.” “Um,” Fluttershy tugged at Trixie's hoodie, once again making her jump, “You and I have the same class before the final bell, so I'll take you there.” “Oh, thanks,” Trixie said, trying to calm her racing heart, “Just, when you come, announce your presence to me. Please. Make sure I know you're there ahead of time.” Fluttershy tilted her head adorably, but then nodded in acceptance. Trixie wasn't sure if that was one of actual understanding, or if she should be worried. This one was really hard to read. “Rainbow Dash and I'll take ya to the Principal's office to get another copy of your schedule,” Applejack said, “It's on the way to our class, so I figure why not?” “I didn't have to do this, ya know,” Rainbow Dash taunted, “I'll accept a kiss on the hand as payment this time, but only cause I like ya. Next time, cash only.” “Thanks… I… think…?” Trixie said/asked. Rarity had some interesting friends. “Well, I best be off then,” Rarity said, making her way to the school building, “I'll see you later, Trixie.” “Um, see you,” Trixie waved, a bit confused as to why she was leaving ahead of them like that, “Does she take special classes or something?” “Rarity's a senior,” Rainbow Dash said, “Probably won't see much of her in school, sadly.” “Speakin' of, let's go,” Applejack said. Trixie nodded, and followed after her new… friends? Trixie wasn't sure what they were yet. But so far, she did like them. She stopped at the front door and looked up at the sky. Just like before, she could see what to Trixie looked almost like an upside down city with multiple translucent roads and highways. Some of these roads looked like they even led closer to the surface, now that Trixie was taking another look at them. “I wonder what you are,” Trixie murmured, before turning back toward the school and walking inside. Hopefully she'd learn something about what happened to her after school. Based on what she already knew though, Pinkie Pie's theory of aliens might not have been too far from the truth. Sweetie Belle stepped out from behind the base of the statue, glaring at the now closed door. She didn't care if she was late for school, not when she just saw the dumbest thing in her life. “You've got to be kidding me,” Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head incredulously, “They actually believe that bitch's sob story?” AccessAzrael…! He's… still here…! Where is he…? Why can I sense him…? I deleted him…! So why…? How…? It doesn't make sense…! Go… my Dark Code spawn… Search and destroy… Leave no corner unchecked… This time I am the hunter… And you… are the hunted… I will delete you! MegaMan! “Alright, come in,” Trixie heard the teacher say from inside, Cheerilee was it? Trixie opened the door and walked into the classroom, already tuning into the murmurs of her alleged fellow classmates. She stood next to the teacher, a kind woman with light pink hair that was graying a bit, simple pink and white dress and black shoes, and a gentle smile, and faced the students. “As some of you may already be aware,” Cheerilee continued, “Trixie was in an accident, and is having a bit of memory trouble. I'd like to ask all of you to take it easy with her, and to help her with anything she might need today.” Trixie heard the murmuring get louder, enough where she could make out what a few were saying. “She's standing so different now…” “Dude, you think that rumor was for real?” “I dunno man. This is Trixie we're talking about.” “But she's giving off a completely different vibe now. Can't fake that.” Great, Trixie thought rolling her eyes, she was the student known for tall tales. She had done this two times already, so had heard various things that gave the impression she was a bit of a liar. No wonder Sweetie Belle didn't believe her amnesia, and it's no surprise that Lyra didn't believe her either. I'm going to have to completely rebuild myself… I wanna slap the old me now… “Do you have any questions, honey?” Cheerilee asked, placing a hand on Trixie's back. “Where did I sit in your class?” Trixie asked. Before Cheerilee could answer, one of the students shot her hand up. “Next to me!” the student called out, this one being a girl with light green hair, and loose spring attire. She had a hopeful smile on her face as she looked at Trixie. “Well, there you go,” Cheerilee said, “Your seat is next to Lyra over there.” Lyra… That was, Lyra… “Thank you,” Trixie said before walking over to her supposed close friend and sitting down in the seat next to her, putting her next to the window close to the back of the classroom. “Hey,” Lyra said leaning in close to Trixie, “I'm Lyra Heartstrings. We talked on the phone while you were in the hospital. “Right… Lyra,” Trixie said, looking Lyra up and down. Did she recognize her? Was she starting to remember? Trixie wasn't sure. She wanted to say she felt something for the girl next to her, especially with how she was smiling at Trixie. For some reason, her heart sank at the sight of that smile “Don't try to hard to remember everything,” Lyra said, “We have all school year. You have to meet Bon Bon after school, though.” “Um… sure,” Trixie said with a slight smile, “I'd love to meet… um, her.” she was trying to remember what their relationship was, but nothing came to her. Trixie sighed to herself before turning to give the teacher her full attention. Say what you would about school, but it gave Trixie's mind something else to focus on. She appreciated school for that alone. As she took notes, her attention wandered to some of the other students. Some of them averted their eyes the second she looked their way, some just looked uncomfortable, and a few just looked really concerned. It was so hard to gauge what sort of person she was from those reactions, but she wasn't getting a good impression. Focus on who you are now instead of who you were, huh? Yeah, easier said than done. Trixie sighed and put her focus back on her notes. She was starting to think coming to school was a mistake after all. At the last bell, Trixie immediately began packing up her books, looking at the paper that had her schedule to see where her next class was. “So lunch is next,” Trixie said, breathing out in relief, “Good. I need a break from everything.” “Finding everything okay?” “Huh?” Trixie turned to Lyra, who was still sitting next to her smiling attentively, “Oh, um, yeah. I am.” “God, relax Trixie,” Lyra said, reaching over to take her hand, “I'm your best friend.” Best friend. That's what they were according to Lyra. So… why couldn't Trixie feel it? “I'll walk you to the cafeteria,” Lyra offered, rising from her desk, “We have the same lunch, so I don't mind.” “Actually, I need to be away from people for a bit,” Trixie said as she rose from her desk, “I was going to eat outside.” “Oh, that's okay then,” Lyra said, not missing a beat, “Want me to join you? I could get Bon Bon to-” “No, no, I um… I was hoping I could just…” Trixie trailed off, hoping that Lyra would understand what she was trying to say. Lyra slowly nodded as a look of understanding came over her, “Ooooh, I see. I am so sorry, Trixie,” she said laughing it off, “God this is so awkward.” “I… y-yeah…” Trixie looked away from Lyra, “I have to go.” “See you after school then?” Lyra asked as Trixie pushed past her. Trixie stopped, and took a second to calm her nerves. Why she was getting irritated, she had no idea. “I can't,” Trixie said after centering herself, “I'm going with Fluttershy someplace after school. I'll talk to you later, okay.” She pushed out of the classroom before Lyra could say anything, and began making her way to her locker. Once she tracked it down again, Trixie pulled out the lunch she made with Rarity's help, locked her books inside for the time being, and went outside through the front door of the school. After learning she could eat lunch outside, she made a point to do so with the intent of investigating those odd structures in the sky. But now she just needed the time alone. Once outside, she took a deep breath, soaking in the more quiet atmosphere. How anyone could manage in a such a loud place she had no idea. Spotting a lone tree a bit away from the school, Trixie walked over to it, sitting down underneath it. Since it was still technically on school grounds, she figured it was okay, and decreased the chances of someone coming out to join her. Trixie stretched, and then fell onto her back, laying in the grass and looking up at the sky above her. Here she could see the translucent highways and building like structures in the sky clearly. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to get more details, noticing for the first time the roads weren't solid. At first, they looked made of glass, but now Trixie was wondering if what she was seeing was made of energy. Was it even real? The fact only she could see it put that into question. She thought about asking a few students if they could see it too, but once she learned of her dishonest reputation, she thought against it. But based on how no one else looked up or mentioned it, either it was something that was just there and no one talked about, or they didn't even know it was there. And since Rarity had already confirmed for her that she saw nothing, it was safe to assume the latter. Trixie closed her eyes and gave a frustrated huff. She didn't know what was frustrating her more. Her memory loss, or the weird upside down city in the sky that no one else could see. Right now, both were rather irritating. Maybe I should just head home, Trixie thought to herself somberly. She gave it an honest attempt, but between her past reputation, pushy “best friends” who meant well, and supernatural phenomenon only she experienced, it was becoming too much for her. Just as she resolved to pack it in, she was startled by the sight of Fluttershy, who had once again come out of nowhere. “Christ! Someone needs to put a bell on you or something,” Trixie said, steadying her breathing. “Actually, you opened your eyes before I could say anything,” Fluttershy said, turning her head in a way that covered part of her face with her hair. Trixie wondered if that was intentional. “Oh, my apologies then,” Trixie said, “I didn't expect any other student to…” she stopped herself as she realized pretty quickly what was going on, “This… is your spot… isn't it?” she asked slowly, Fluttershy's response being a soft nod, “Well, this is awkward. You can have your spot. I was about to head back inside anyway.” “I don't mind,” Fluttershy whispered, just loud enough for Trixie to hear. Trixie still kind of wanted to just go home, but she decided to at least stay to finish lunch. Besides, she had a feeling that Fluttershy saying that was a big gesture on her part. “Thank you,” Trixie said, relaxing as Fluttershy sat down next to her. Fluttershy opened her school bag, and first pulled out a bag full of seeds. She then threw them out in front of her and Trixie, where a flock of birds immediately landed in front of them, almost as if they were waiting for lunch too. Trixie was certain one bird even chirped out a “thank you” before eating. Fluttershy smiled gently, and then pulled out a beautifully crafted salad in a pink salad bowl. Trixie wasn't surprised at all that Fluttershy was a vegetarian. “They really like you,” Trixie said, softly as to not scare the birds away, “Are you a bird whisperer or something?” Fluttershy giggled, “Something like that. Just for animals in general.” “I'm not surprised,” Trixie went back to her lunch, suddenly feeling a bit awkward eating her chicken salad sandwich, “You strike me as the type who'd be interested in nature,” Fluttershy nodded, but Trixie could swear she saw a bit of darkness in her eyes as she looked down. Not knowing what else to say, they fell into a comfortable silence as they ate their respective lunches. Somehow, Trixie just felt comfortable sitting next to Fluttershy, like her very presence put her heart at ease. After a few minutes of silence, Trixie felt the need to just ask. Fluttershy knew of her situation, after all. “Hey, can I ask you a weird question? I need to know if I'm going crazy,” Fluttershy nodded, prompting Trixie to continue, “Do you see anything like a… city in the sky, surrounded by colorful roads of energy?” the second she said it out loud, she felt silly. To her credit though, Fluttershy did look up, and she looked closely. Eventually though, she shook her head. Trixie sighed. “Okay, so going crazy it is,” Trixie pouted. Not that she expected much else, but she'd hoped that one person would- “I believe you.” Trixie turned to Fluttershy slowly, eyes wide in shock. “You believe me? Just like that?” Trixie asked, shock evident in her tone. “You were hit by a light from the sky,” Fluttershy said. Trixie could make out a faint dryness in her tone. She did not peg Fluttershy for the snarky type. “Right. Keep forgetting that you're all apparently experts in this stuff, for some reason,” Trixie took a bite from her sandwich, swallowing it before continuing, “What do you think that light is?” “I'm not sure, honestly,” Fluttershy admitted, “This is so different than what we're used to dealing with.” “You mentioned Equestrian magic,” Trixie said, “What's that?” Fluttershy swallowed a mouthful of her salad, and pointed to the statue remains, “Underneath the statue is a portal to a magical world inhabited by pastel colored pony doppelgangers of everyone in Canterlot city. We deal with magic from that world when it leaks out into ours.” Trixie just stared at Fluttershy. She said all of that with a straight face, too. “And suddenly I don't feel like the craziest person in the school,” Trixie said, laughing a bit in relief. Fluttershy giggled too, which put Trixie's heart at ease. “Everyone in the school knows about it,” Fluttershy said, looking to the side as her thoughts apparently went back to those times, “Kind of hard to miss some of the more flashy moments.” “You… don't seem to enjoy it much,” Trixie noted. “I… still have nightmares about the last incident,” Fluttershy admitted softly. Trixie really felt for this girl. She had no idea what she had to deal with, but it was clear it was a bit too much for her to handle. “Well, for what it's worth, I like sitting with you, so if you ever just wanna vent, feed the birds, sit in totally not awkward silence,” that earned another giggle from Fluttershy, “then I'm… open for it.” Trixie went back to eating her lunch, fully aware of Fluttershy's gaze, but choosing not to meet it. She didn't even know why she made that offer, but it just felt like deep down she just… needed to extend an olive branch of sorts, just in case Fluttershy was one of her unknown victims along with Sweetie Belle. “Thank you,” Fluttershy said after a second. Trixie turned to Fluttershy, greeted with a truly grateful smile. Feeling that warm feeling in her chest again, Trixie resumed lunch in silence next to Fluttershy, who after a bit scooted a bit closer to Trixie. She didn't mind in the slightest. On one of the lower roads close to the school, a small squad of oddly shaped creatures appeared. These creatures were tiny probably only coming to about three or four feet in height, they had round gray bodies and big emotional eyes, cute yellow feet, and were all wearing yellow hard hats with green crosses on the front and what looked like a golden halo of data hovering over a pointed antenna on their heads. The tiny creatures gathered together in a group around one of their comrades, who despite not looking any different was clearly the leader. The leader made a few cute noises, clearly relaying orders, which were followed by cheers of confirmation from the rest. They then scattered around, some using a nearby transporter that connected to the school, but some staying outside to investigate. One walked over to the edge of the road, spotting Trixie and Fluttershy sitting together. It's eyes stopped on Trixie, who for some reason was giving off familiar data. Was that who they were looking for? It decided to take a chance and shadow the teenager for a bit. If that was who they were looking for, this was going to be easier than their creator thought it would. In the end, Trixie decided it was best to remain in school. Something about spending time with Fluttershy helped put her at ease. Probably because she knew at least someone in this place believed her about the odd city in the sky. As classes proceeded, Lyra was still being a tad bit pushy, but she seemed to let up a bit. Trixie did get to meet Bon Bon, who apparently was Lyra’s girlfriend. She had to admit, they did make a cute couple. Trixie began to wonder if there was anyone here she was interested in, or if anyone was interested in her. Considering her reputation, probably not. That was a lonely and depressing thought, not gonna lie. But something else had her a bit concerned. She didn’t know for sure, but sometime after lunch she felt like she was being watched. She tried not to be too obvious in case she was right, but it was starting to freak her out a bit. As the school day came to a close, Trixie rested her head on her desk, trying to collect her thoughts a bit. She felt like there was something she needed to do, something she was forgetting. “Um, Trixie?” She tried to remember exactly what that was, but soon found her eyes getting a bit heavy. Maybe she was more exhausted from the day than she thought. “Everyone’s waiting for us. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.” Maybe she could just take a few minutes to relax a bit. At least, she would have done so, if she hadn’t suddenly felt someone put their hand on her shoulder, making her damn near jump out of her skin. “Ahh!” she looked up to see Fluttershy standing over her, “Good God, how do you keep doing that?” “I’m not sure,” Fluttershy said quietly, hiding behind her long pink hair again, “I tried to announce my presence, like you requested.” “It’s fine. That’s on me, this time,” Trixie said rising from her desk, starting to remember what was supposed to happen after school, “We were going someplace, right?” Fluttershy nodded, “The music room. It’s where we always meet after class. Twilight and Sunset have been looking into the weird blue light that hit you.” “Right, the light that apparently took my memories,” Trixie muttered rubbing her arm, “Well, lead the way.” Fluttershy smiled, and took Trixie’s hand, gently guiding her through the school. As they walked, Trixie noticed that feeling again. The feeling of being watched. This time, as they turned the corner, Trixie took a quick look behind them, and saw the oddest thing. A tiny yellow and gray looking creature with big eyes hiding behind a corner. It looked like it was wearing a hard hat, and it was definitely out of place. But something told her that like the roads outside, she was the only one who could see it. “Remember those roads I told you about?” Trixie asked Fluttershy, who nodded, “Don’t be alarmed, but I think something from up there is following us.” Fluttershy paled a bit, swallowing nervously, “Is it, dangerous?” “Can’t tell yet,” Trixie admitted, “Is your locker close to here?” the shy teen nodded again, more subtly this time, “Alright. Slight detour. Take me to your locker and get your books. While you do that, I’ll pretend to be preoccupied and carefully look to see if it’s actually following us.” Fluttershy nodded again, and Trixie could tell she was getting really worried. Still, she followed the plan, as they turned down another hallway and went to Fluttershy’s locker, which was on the lower row. As she knelt down to get her books, Trixie pulled out her phone and began fiddling with a few apps, her eyes wandering to the hall they just walked down. Only to find their stalker right there, still keeping watch on them. What really had her concerned was when a second one showed up, also looking at them. “Shit,” Trixie swore, just as Fluttershy rose to her feet. “Is it still there?” she asked in a whisper. “There’s two of them now,” Trixie said, for the first time a familiar feeling coming over her. For the first time since this whole thing began, she felt like she was remembering something. Whatever those things are, they’re dangerous. “We can’t lead them to your friends,” Trixie said, her tone changing a bit, “We need to lead them away from anyplace they can hurt other students.” “So, they are...” “I think so,” Trixie said taking a deep breath, leading Fluttershy away and trying not to draw too much attention to themselves, “Is the gym being used right now?” “It shouldn’t be,” Fluttershy said softly, breathing noticeably heavier. “They’re probably after me, so if this is too much, head someplace safe,” Trixie said, placing a hand on Fluttershy’s back to comfort her. “I… I can’t,” Fluttershy shook her head, “If those things are at all related to Equestrian Magic, I… I need to try and do something. Even if I’m scared.” Trixie looked at Fluttershy intently, a warm feeling washing over her. She was a good person. Very courageous. More so than Trixie thought initially. “Alright,” Trixie smiled, “When I say so, we run, okay?” Fluttershy took a deep breath to prepare herself, “Now!” The two booked it down the hall. Sure enough, the odd creatures were running after them. She was sure now. Something about this felt extremely familiar to her. She embraced the feeling, trying to see if she could remember anything about those monsters. The word “Virus” came to mind. Some of the students noticed them running through the halls, and she was pretty sure at one point the Vice Principal (she forgot her name, but she remembered it being pretty) called after them to stop running in the halls, but Trixie was certain that if they stopped running now, something bad was going to happen. “Which way to the gym?!” Trixie asked frantically. “It’s down that hall!” Fluttershy replied, pointing down the path to the right, “It’s the doors at the far end!” “Thanks!” Trixie said, noticing three more Viruses run from the hall to the left to try and cut them off. They seemed to sprout pick axes, and slammed down onto the ground, sending shock waves at the two girls. Trixie pushed Fluttershy out of the way on instinct, and watched the wave rush down the hall, stopping when it hit the back wall and exploding into a bright explosion, making one student jump in shock. “W-w-would that, have h-h-hit us…?” Fluttershy asked, now visibly trembling. Trixie’s eyes were just wide watching that. This meant that those Viruses, despite being in another plane of existence, could hurt people physically. “Keep moving!” Trixie said, pushing Fluttershy in the direction of the gym. She needed to be in a more open space so she could work out a means of fighting these things. When the two girls made it to the gym, an odd green wave moved across the room, seemingly scanning the interior, “W-what was that…?” Fluttershy asked looking around. “You saw it too?” Trixie asked, standing back to back with Fluttershy, “That’s, not a good sign.” there were white flashes next to the side door, and those Viruses reappeared, slowly walking over to them. Fluttershy screamed stepping back, “M-m-monsters…!” Trixie turned to Fluttershy briefly, and then went back to the Viruses, slowly backing away with Fluttershy, on instinct keeping the terrified teen behind her. They’re not after her, but I bet they CAN hurt her! Shit! I should have just run off on my own! She looked to the side and saw the janitor’s equipment left behind. She picked up the mop and held it forward like a bo staff. She didn’t know what she was doing anymore, but something said she needed to fight these things. “T-Trixie…? What are you doing…?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t, entirely know, but my body remembers something,” Trixie said, gritting her teeth, “That these things need to be destroyed now!” she screamed and ran toward the monsters, swinging the makeshift staff. Unfortunately, the Viruses jumped and rolled out of all of the attacks. She managed to get a lucky hit on one, but its hat grew and the Virus hid inside of it, defending itself from the attack, and causing the mop to break in half. “Damn it!” Trixie swore, only for the Viruses to fire another shock wave at her, knocking her onto the floor away. “Trixie!” Fluttershy cried helplessly. She gasped as some of the Viruses were slowly approaching her now too, “Please no…! I… I don’t want to die…!” Trixie slowly looked up, seeing the Viruses split up. Two were approaching Fluttershy, while three of them were standing over her. She needed to do something to protect her. It was partially her fault that this happened in the first place! “What, do I do now…?!” Trixie asked in frustration. What are you doing?! MegaMan, get up! That girl’s in trouble! A voice. They sounded like a little boy, only 10 if that. But something about that voice sounded, familiar. Like somewhere in the back of her mind. “D-Data…?” Trixie asked slowly, unsure of why she said that. Use the app! Shift to Active Mode, and save her! “R-right…!” Trixie said, slowly getting up and pulling out her cell phone. She had no idea why she did this, or how she knew to do it, but Fluttershy was in danger. Something was coming back to her. A feeling that was foreign, yet familiar. She looked at her smart phone, and saw a new app on it. It looked like a blue circle of data, with green letters from another language. She blinked, and the letters suddenly read “ACCESS”. She gripped her smart phone tightly, tapped the app, and then held her phone into the air, saying the first words that came to mind. “ID: Beatrix Lulamoon, logging in!” Identification accepted A blue light engulfed Trixie, who seemed to briefly vanish from the gymnasium. The Viruses all turned to look in her direction, trembling in fear for some reason. This caught Fluttershy’s attention as well, but for some reason she felt like this was a good thing. For Trixie, things got strange. Her clothes vanished completely, replaced with a short blue and white dress that looked almost like a ballerina’s dress, but with sharp armored shoulder pads, an armored breastplate that pushed her breasts up a bit accentuating them, and a dark blue bow tied behind her back, leaving long ribbons to fall behind her. She held her arms out, and blue data converged around them, turning into large blue and white armored gauntlets. The same blue data converged over her legs, forming large armored high heeled boots that were somewhat bulky, but still slick and elegant looking, following the same color scheme. Over Trixie’s eyes, more data gathered, turning into a fancy blue visor. Her transformation ended, she reappeared back in the gymnasium standing proudly in a fighting stance. What felt like minutes to her, seemed to only take a second in real time. “Trixie…?” Fluttershy asked slowly, “W-what happened, to you…?” Trixie took a look at herself in shock and confusion. The dress she wore was super short, and she felt like it shouldn’t have protected much of anything. Yet somehow, she felt stronger. She looked at the Viruses, all of which looked downright frantic for some reason. They’re afraid of me…? Like this… I can beat them! Through Trixie’s visor, she scanned the enemies. The name “Mettaur Lvl. 1” appeared over all of their heads, along with a red gauge. She looked off to the side and saw a number percentage showing “100” which felt super important for some reason. One of the Mettaurs slammed their pickax on the floor, sending a shock wave toward her. This time, she was able to roll to the side out of the way just in time. Okay, so I’m guessing that the number is like what? My health or something? That’s what feels right to me. I’m seeing their health bars too, I think. They don’t look too strong, so let’s see what options I have to fight back. She noticed what looked like a small screen on her left gauntlet. She put her hand on that and saw a list of five attacks come up, surprising her a bit. Before she could think to pick one, two more Mettaurs launched their shock waves at Trixie, forcing her to quickly dodge out of the way. “Trixie, please be careful!” Fluttershy cried. “Yeah! Got it!” Trixie said, steadying herself, “Just trying to figure out how to use this weird armor!” she’d question where it came from later. For now, she needed to figure out how to use it. Okay okay, focus! I see two Cannons. Maybe I should pick one? She picked Cannon, and noticed that all of the other options darkened, except for the second Cannon. Realizing what that meant, she picked the second one, and then pushed “OK” on the screen of her gauntlet, which seemed to be a touch screen like her cellphone. Now on her Visor, she saw the Cannon options, along with almost feeling the weapons within her. Could she…? “Target!” she screamed, pointing her left arm forward. Her arm turned into a large blue cannon similar to the one on the picture, and she fired at one of the Mettaurs, knocking it back. She saw its red health bar go all the way down, and it vanished in a tiny explosion. She just killed one…? That wasn’t too hard at all! One Mettaur slammed its pickax down on the ground, sending another shock wave at Trixie. This taught her two things. One, these things weren’t too bright since they kept using the same attack, and only when they were in front of her. Two, they probably only had the one attack. She pulled out the second Cannon and pointed it forward. “You’re wide open!” she cried, firing at another Mettaur killing it instantly. She tried to pull up the screen again, but noticed it wouldn’t come up for some reason, “What?! What’s wrong?! I need another attack!” “Trixie, in front of you!” Trixie looked up a bit too late, as a shock wave hit her, knocking her back a bit. It hurt, but not as much as she thought it would. She did see the number go down from 100 to 70, though. “Well, that tells me I was right about my health bar...” she groaned, now seeing another blue gauge slowly rising, about half way done, “Let me guess. Can’t pull up the attack screen until that’s max? Okay, so what now? I still need a weapon!” she pointed her arm forward, and this time it glowed, turning into a blue and white arm cannon, “Huh. Well that’s convenient,” she began firing her new weapon at the Mettaurs. The arm cannon didn’t seem to do a lot, as the shots were just sharp blue arrow like blast. Each one seemed to take down a Mettaur’s health by about 10 percent, which with a bit of effort, and a lot of dodging, she managed to kill one with it. The gauge went up, now glowing and saying “Ready”. She wasted no time pulling it up. She saw a few new attacks now. Replacing the Cannons she saw something called “Flash Step” and “Wide Sword”. Flash Step? Wide Sword? Huh, looking at the info, Flash Step moves me right in front of the enemy I’m targeting, and Wide Sword can hit up to three enemies on the same line beside each other? Looking how those two are standing, I could take them out at the same time, but if I rush over to them, one will just guard. If only I could surprise them with Flash Step. She then noticed a letter underneath both Flash Step and Wide Sword. They both had the letter “V” underneath them. She wondered if that meant what she thought it meant, and picked Flash Step first. Sure enough, the only other program not blackened was Wide Sword. She gave a smug grin and picked Wide Sword. This was gonna be fun if she pulled this off. Once she pushed OK, she gave her enemies her full attention. One tried to attack with its shock wave, but she moved out of the way just in time, sadly landing into the second one’s attack. Now showing 40, the number turned red, along with an annoying but urgent sounding alarm going off in her head. Shoot! Going critical! I need to end this NOW! Right when she saw her opening, she used Flash Step, appearing right in front of the Viruses. They cried out in shock, but she wasted no time, slashing with her Wide Sword and killing both of the remaining monsters instantly. “Huh, that wasn’t too hard,” Trixie said standing up and looking at her armor now, “Now, where did this come from? Also,” she looked around, “That voice. Where did they-” she heard something click, and turned to Fluttershy, who had her cellphone out. Apparently she just took a picture. “Trixie… that was, amazing…!” Fluttershy said slowly walking over to her, “How did you do all of those things?” “Your guess is as good as mine,” Trixie said with a shrug, “I take it I couldn’t do this before losing my memory?” Fluttershy shook her head. Before anything else, the armor began to glow, and vanished as blue data, replaced with her normal attire “That, was weird,” Trixie said folding her arms, “It felt like, I sort of knew what I was doing. Thinking back though, I don’t understand how I…” “We, should tell the others about this,” Fluttershy said, “I took a picture of that form you took.” “Good. I’m sure the others are worried about us, so we should go now,” Trixie said. She and Fluttershy ran back toward the school, but she stopped and looked around. Once again, she felt like she was being watched. Unlike before, she didn’t feel threatened by it though. She shrugged, and ran after her companion. Hopefully now she could get some answers. A small figure was in fact watching, hiding behind the bleachers of the school. He found her! He found the girl Azrael picked! “I better approach her when she’s alone, just to be safe,” the little figure said before hopping away, “Don’t worry, Azrael. I’ll watch over her just like I did for you.” Disclosure“Hm, this could be a problem,” the older woman said standing on the roof of the school, looking up at the Wave Road, “The Dark Code is still spreading, meaning that Lucifer might still be in operation somewhere,” she closed her eyes looking down, “What a mess this is turning out to be.” She looked at her hand, opening and closing it to test its synchronization with her will. She didn’t feel any different now. In a way, she was still herself, but there was something else. Something bigger within her, guiding her, sharing information with her, and speaking through her. She and this entity had become one consciousness, and even then she knew that the one on the other side of the mirror was also connected, too. I am too big to connect to one without usurping your free will. My consciousness must be split in two, and you’ll both exist as my eyes. Is this acceptable with you both? “Never thought I’d become a Goddess in my lifetime,” she muttered, thinking about the big job she now had. Viruses had already infected the school, and apparently caused a good bit of damage. Hopefully the ones who saw Trixie transfer in were deleted before they shared their information with- Her phone vibrated, stealing her attention. She looked to see who it was, and then answered it, “Yes? Oh, sorry, I was just getting some fresh air on the roof. Is everything okay?” she listened carefully, closing her eyes, “Well, Fluttershy was able to vouch for her, so I say it’s okay to let them go,” she closed her eyes and sighed, “Hopefully it isn’t, but after the Friendship Games, we can’t be too sure. I’ll talk to Sunset about it,” she waited a bit, and then smiled softly, “I love you too, Luna.” She hung up, and then looked up at the sky, and the translucent roads decorating it, “This might just be even worse than the Friendship Games, being quite honest… I’m counting on you, Data…” After making sure Fluttershy was okay, and getting chewed out by Vice Principal Luna, they managed to make their way to the Music Room, which according to Fluttershy was their main hangout spot. “There you are!” Rainbow Dash said running up to Fluttershy once they opened the door, “I was getting worried!” “Sorry Dashie,” Fluttershy said softly, “Trixie and I ran into, um something on the way here, bu-” “You’re okay, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking Fluttershy over, immediate concern radiating off of her. Trixie deduced they were super close. “Mhm,” Fluttershy nodded, “Thanks to Trixie. She protected me.” “Trixie did…?” Rainbow Dash asked, slowly looking at Trixie with wide eyes. “I, just did what I felt anyone would do in the moment,” Trixie said rubbing her arm, “You girls are helping me, so…” Rainbow Dash looked at Trixie intently, and then smiled, “Well, either way, thanks for looking out for her. Fluttershy’s my best friend, so if anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.” “Then, I’m happy I could help her,” Trixie smiled back. “Damn, you were right,” a new voice said, sounding a bit more mature than everyone else, “She really is a completely different person now.” Trixie looked over at a desk in the music room, and saw two other girls there that she didn’t remember meeting earlier. One had long red and golden hair, almost like fire, and was wearing this really nice blue blouse, blue skinny jeans, black and gold boots, a black and gold leather jacket, and dark red lipstick. Despite having a look that screamed “don’t fuck with me”, her light blue eyes were gentle and friendly, putting Trixie immediately at ease. Her friend sitting by the computer was almost the complete opposite. This girl has long purple hair with a pink highlight, and wore a purple sweater with an opening in the front to show a bit of cleavage, tight black skirt, dark sheer leggings, and purple high heels. Though her black glasses made her look more on the “nerdy” side, her rose red lipstick and sharp purple eyes gave off a somewhat darker air. Unlike the red haired girl, her focus was solely on the purple laptop computer on the desk she was working on. Being honest, Trixie thought she was kinda pretty. “Told ya,” Applejack said, sitting on a stool off to the side with Rarity standing next to her, “Makes ya wonder what that light did to her.” “Knocked the bitch out of her, is what it did,” Dash said, walking back over to sit in a chair on the other side of the room, “I say this is a massive improvement.” “Dash!” Rarity scolded. “Tell me I’m wrong,” Dash challenged. “No no, it’s fine,” Trixie sighed, “I don’t know what I was like entirely before, well, now, but based on what I’m getting from the other students, I was kind of the worst.” “I ain’t gonna say you were the worst,” Applejack said, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but ya were kinda the stereotypical mean girl.” “Oh lovely...” Trixie rolled her eyes, going over to a desk and sitting down at it, letting her head fall on it, “Let me guess, had no problem lying and cheating my way to the top?” All of them save for Twilight traded awkward glances, making Trixie groan. This is even worse than I thought… “Well, if it makes you feel any better,” the red haired girl said walking over to Trixie, “I was way worse than you ever were, and I can safely say that very few of the kids here hold a grudge for long.” “Really?” Trixie asked lifting her head up to the girl. She had a really mature and almost otherworldly air about her. “So long as you make a genuine effort to change, you’ll have friends all over the school,” she continued with a caring smile, “And trust me, there’s no better place to start than with these girls.” Trixie relaxed a bit hearing that. She didn’t know what this girl did, but she did kind of feel like they were similar in a sense. “Let’s start fresh, okay?” she held out her hand, “My name’s Sunset Shimmer.” “Beatrix, Lulamoon,” Trixie said, taking Sunset’s hand and shaking it, “But I guess my friends call me, Trixie, so…” “That means we’re all obligated to call you by that name!” Pinkie chirped from the drum set, before folding her arms and nodding seriously, “It’s in the rule book.” The smart looking girl sighed and turned to Pinkie Pie, “I’m, afraid to ask, but… rule book?” “Uh huh. The rule book on how to make friends with anyone,” she pulled out a pink notebook that she clearly wrote in herself and presented it. It no joke, did say “How to Make Friends with Anyone” by Pinkamena Diane Pie, “Working title.” The purple haired girl looked like she wanted to say something, but then just gave up, removing her glasses to rub her eyes, “S-sure. Whatever. Either way, my name’s Twilight Sparkle. I transferred to this school last month, and we barely even spoke then, so I have no preconceived impression of you.” “Well, at least that’s something,” Trixie said, “Nice to know I missed out on making someone’s life harder here.” Twilight chuckled lightly, seeming to relax a bit now. Trixie took silent notice. “Well, now that Trixie’s here,” Rarity said, “I think now’s the time where we can explain exactly what happened, as far as we know.” “Right. You all said that I was hit by something, right?” Trixie asked, “You keep mentioning a blue light.” “It happened day before yesterday, right after school,” Rarity said, “I think you were leaving cheerleader practice, when there was an odd power failure at school.” “We’d been having issues with electricity for a while here,” Twilight said, “But that day, it got so bad that the whole school blacked out.” Trixie frowned, “Okay… but only at the school?” “Yup,” Applejack chimed in, “I’d left early and was already drivin’ back home, an’ the city looked fine durin’ when they said the blackout happened.” “Aliens…” Pinkie whispered dramatically, making Applejack sigh rubbing her eyes. “Right. Pinkie Pie keeps thinkin’ its aliens,” Applejack groaned. “Why do you think that?” Trixie asked, finally realizing she was dead serious. “Because I saw where the light came from,” Pinkie Pie got up and ran over to Trixie, taking her arm and guiding her to the window, pointing to the sky, “It was right up there! There was a bright blue light that shot from the sky down toward the school, around the same time as the blackout!” Trixie took a deep breath, tensing up a bit. Pinkie Pie couldn’t see it she was sure, but Trixie could. That light came from the strange road in the sky. I don’t know, Applejack… I’m starting to think it might have been aliens myself… “It was Rarity and I that found you,” Twilight said raising her hand, “We saw the light too, and ran to investigate where it landed.” “And that’s when we saw you laying on the ground,” Rarity added, “You were unconscious, but was sparking with blue electricity. That led us to believe that you were hit directly with the light.” “Hit directly with… Ah!” Trixie cried, holding her head as something came to her. She felt like, she could almost remember that. That or, that second was significant to her. “You okay?” Sunset asked, all of the girls running to Trixie’s side to ensure she was okay. “Y-yeah… it’s just… hard to explain I guess,” Trixie shook it off, “I don’t know why, but I feel like that light, did something to me. Have you been able to figure out what it was?” “I can’t tell you what it was,” Twilight went back to her computer, “But I can tell you what it wasn’t.” “It’s not Equestrian Magic, is it?” Sunset asked seriously. “Not as far as these readings are concerned,” Twilight said, “I’ve been comparing the waves left over from that light with the magical waves you all give off when you activate your Equestrian Magic. These waves are definitely otherworldly, but they seem more solid. That’s not even the scariest part.” “Okay, so what is?” Rainbow asked, folding her arms impatiently. “The waves have settled and integrated with the tech here in the school,” Twilight answered, “I searched the whole school both today and yesterday, and I found those waves everywhere. I think I even saw them in town.” “An’ yer sure this ain’t from Equestria?” Applejack asked slowly. “Positive,” Twilight said, “Scary as it is, I think Pinkie Pie’s onto something.” Pinkie Pie had the smuggest grin on her face hearing that, “Hate to say I told you so, but…” Trixie looked down at her phone, and at the strange app now on it. The one that turned that weird armor on. Fluttershy must have noticed, because she walked over to her bag and pulled out her phone, “Girls, you need to see this…” she walked back to the group pulling up a picture and showing it to everyone. On it was Trixie, only she was still wearing that odd short dress and armor. Trixie blushed a bit at the length of the skirt. Surprisingly, it was shorter than the dress she was wearing now, and she was pretty sure this qualified as mini skirt length just about. “What… in the world…?” Applejack asked slowly. “Holy shit…” Rainbow Dash suppressed a smile, “You look like a fucking magical girl from cyberspace…!” “Darling… what is this…?” Rarity asked, looking at both Fluttershy and Trixie. Trixie took a deep breath, “Moment of truth time. Alright, so… I can see this… thing outside. It looks like an upside down city of some sort over our city, and a bunch of weird roads branching off of it and scattering around. I’ve been able to see it since yesterday when I left the hospital. When Fluttershy was about to bring me here, though, I noticed something that I think came from that weird road following us.” “You’re not joking, are you?” Twilight asked softly. “She’s not,” Fluttershy shook her head, “We led them to the gymnasium, and this weird wave went through the room, and these weird creatures appeared. They were about to attack me, but then Trixie held up her phone and said something about logging into somewhere, and then that armor appeared. She was able to fight the creatures easily with it.” “Well, I wouldn’t say easily,” Trixie said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, “It didn’t come with a tutorial or anything, so I had to figure out how to use it myself.” “How’d you use it?” Twilight asked, “As in, how’d you activate it?” “The armor? I’m, not entirely sure myself,” Trixie said, “But I think it had something to do with this weird app on my phone now.” She showed Twilight the app and handed her the phone. The cute and intelligent looking teen frowned at it, “That’s weird. Don’t remember seeing that at the app store,” she tried activating it, pulling up what appeared to be a screen with a blue orb of light spinning around, and the words “STANDING BY” in big, bold red letters in front of it, “What is this…?” “Standing by?” Sunset asked, “Is it waiting for something?” “I think it’s voice activated,” Trixie said, “I don’t know how, but in the moment, I felt like I knew how to use it. Or better yet, like I remembered how to use it.” “Can I check something?” Twilight asked, “I’ll be careful, but I want to see if its connected to those waves.” “Go ahead,” Trixie nodded, letting Twilight do her thing. The purple haired teen sat at her computer, connecting her phone to it via a small cord and tried to pull up the apps information. She then frowned, “What…? It’s not letting me access it at all.” “Not even you can hack it?” Rainbow asked with wide eyes. “I don’t think so. Not with this computer at least,” Twilight said, handing the phone back to Trixie, “But you said that you faced something in the gym, right?” Trixie and Fluttershy nodded, “Alright then. I’m going to head there to continue my research. See if anything was left over from there.” “You girls mind if, I sit this out?” Trixie asked, “This has been, a whole day, and well…” “Oh, of course darling,” Rarity walked over to Trixie and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Want to come back to my place, or should I escort you home?” “I think, I’d like to see my place,” Trixie requested looking down, “Whether I remember anything or not, I kind of, want to see my Mom.” Rarity smiled, “Of course. I’ll take you home then. Applejack, could I give you a call later?” “Was gonna ask ya to, anyway,” Applejack said, wrapping her arms around Rarity and holding her close, “Be safe, alright?” “I will,” Rarity smiled, kissing Applejack deeply on the lips, “I love you.” “Love ya too, Rarity,” Applejack replied with a soft smile, turning to Trixie, “If any of them monsters show up, ya better keep my princess safe, ya hear?” “Got it,” Trixie said immediately with a salute. She didn’t know if Applejack was joking or not, but she had a feeling she better take it seriously anyway. She seemed nice, but she also seemed like the sort who’d break Trixie in half if anything happened to Rarity. “See ya, Trixie,” Rainbow said, hitting her lightly on the back, “Again, good job looking out for Fluttershy.” “Thank you again, Trixie,” Fluttershy said, hugging Trixie tightly, “I’ll never forget this.” “Y-you’re welcome,” Trixie said, hugging Fluttershy back. She had a feeling this was a huge gesture from her. “Let us know if the aliens contact you,” Pinkie said, “And if they offer to take you to their home planet, call me fast, cause I wanna see it too!” “Um…” Trixie wasn’t, sure how to respond to that. At all. “You’re already a space cadet,” Sunset sighed with a smile, “See you, Trixie.” “See you, Sunset, and thank you. All of you, for helping me,” Trixie said. “Like I said, no better place to start than right here,” Sunset said warmly, “Twilight, I’ll go with you to the gym.” “Alright,” Twilight said, stopping to briefly look at Trixie before smiling, “See you tomorrow, Trixie.” “Yeah, see you tomorrow, Twilight,” Trixie said, her heart beating a bit faster for some reason. After packing up everything, and going to her locker to get her stuff, she and Rarity made their way to the school gate. Outside they saw Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle leaning against the statue, waiting for them. Seeing the gothic dressed teen made Trixie’s heart race for a different reason than Twilight, not helped by her sudden glare in their direction. “Oh, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, visibly nervous as they approached. “Rarity,” Sweetie nodded, turning to Trixie and scowling, “Beatrix.” “H-hey, Sweetie Belle,” Trixie said, trying to be friendly, “So um, how was your-” “Are you ready to go, Rarity?” Sweetie cut Trixie off, making her sigh in sadness. “Actually, um… I’m not going to be able to walk home, with you…” Rarity said awkwardly, rubbing her arm, “I kind of, told Trixie here that I’d… walk her back to her place…” “What?” Sweetie narrowed her eyes, “You still believe her sob story?” “Sweetie Belle, it’s like I said yesterday, Trixie is serious about-” “You know she’s an attention whore!” Sweetie argued, “For all you know she’s just doing this to get attention! And besides, what about how I feel seeing you all chummy with her?!” Rarity winced, “I, I know this is hard, but based on what we’ve learned thus far, I think she might be-” “Whatever,” Sweetie scowled turning away, “Go and have fun with your new “best friend”.” “Sweetie Belle, please! I-” the young girl had already stormed off, leaving the two of them in awkward silence, “Oooooh, what am I supposed to do…?” “Hey, I can just ask someone in the school for help,” Trixie said looking away, “If being my friend makes your sister hate you…” “No Trixie,” Rarity said, turning to her and taking her hand, “I promised I’d look out for you, and I always keep my promises. Besides, by now Celestia and Luna have already gone home, and they’d be the only ones who could help you besides me.” Trixie looked down somberly. “It’s fine, darling,” Rarity said, caressing her cheek, “Let’s just get you home, alright?” Trixie hesitated, but nodded. She hated knowing that she might be driving a wedge between Rarity and her sister, but she did need help, and the alternative wasn’t much better. Still, she had a feeling things were just going to get worse from here on between them at this rate. Trixie’s home wasn’t that far from the school, but it was a bit out of Rarity’s way home. Realizing that made Trixie feel even worse, honestly, but anytime it showed, Rarity assured her that it was okay. It was a shame that Sweetie was so against them spending time together, because Trixie was really starting to like Rarity a lot. Most of the walk was in silence though, as Trixie kept looking at her phone, and the weird app on it. So far, it was the only thing that seemed familiar to her, but as far as she could tell, she’d never even seen this before the light hit her. Had the light changed her in some way fundamentally? Was she even Trixie? Or was she, someone else? And if that was the case, then… “Trixie?” “Huh?” Trixie turned to Rarity, “Yeah, what’s up?” “I was going to tell you that we’re here,” Rarity said, rubbing Trixie’s back, “Are you sure you’re okay, darling?” Trixie nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. Just thinking about everything,” she looked up at the house, an odd feeling washing over her. It was a nice, two story house painted blue and white. The front was a large porch with a few wooden chairs and a matching table, and the door had a very nicely designed stained glass window in the middle. It was humble, but fancy. “This is, my home?” Trixie asked softly. “Does it, bring back anything?” Rarity asked carefully. “Honestly I, can’t tell,” Trixie admitted, “I feel like there’s something there, but I’m not sure if it’s awareness that I know this place, or if… it’s a lack of awareness that I feel should be there…” As Trixie looked down, Rarity pressed a finger to her lips in thought, “In your possessions, I believe there were two house keys for the locks. Why not try to open them?” Trixie reached into her pocket, looking at the two keys connected to the ring in the middle, “But, I’m not sure if…” “You may not remember consciously, but you’ve opened and closed this door so many times I’m sure its there subconsciously,” Rarity assured with a gentle smile, “Give it a try. What do you have to lose?” Well, she was right about that, at least. Either she’d get it right, or she’d get it wrong. And hey, it wasn’t as if it mattered ultimately, right? If she had the wrong key, she knew what the right one was by process of elimination. Trixie nodded, and walked up to the door carefully. In front of the door, she took a deep breath, and held a key to the door. She was about to insert it, but then stopped herself, looking at the key. Something about that, didn’t feel right. She bit her lip, deciding to just take a chance on the feeling, and switched keys. This key slid right in without any resistance, and turned without a problem. Seeing that, Trixie’s eyes widened, and her heart leaped out of her chest. She remembered! It was small, but still, she definitely remembered which key to use! “See?” Rarity said, going up to hug Trixie from behind, “You’re going to be just fine, darling.” “Thank you, Rarity,” Trixie said softly, holding her hands and tearing up a bit, “Even if your sister despises me, I… I’m happy that we’re friends.” “I’m happy we’re friends too,” Rarity smiled, kissing Trixie on the cheek affectionately, “And don’t worry about my sister. It may take longer with her, but I believe she will come around. So, want me to come in with you, or…” “I appreciate it, but you should head back home to your sister,” Trixie said, “I think, I’ve got it from here.” “Alright then. In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow, Trixie,” Rarity said, releasing Trixie and making her way back to her house, “And once again, darling. Thank you so much for saving Fluttershy.” “You’re more than welcome,” Trixie said, “Um, get home safe, okay?” “I will,” Rarity said, waving to Trixie one last time as she left the amnesiac teen alone on the porch. She took one more deep breath, and then opened the door. Though she didn’t recognize anything, she did feel a sense of nostalgia. Like, there was a part of her that was at peace here, finally relaxing. “Home…” Trixie said softly, looking around and taking everything in, “I’m, home.” She walked through the main hall, eventually finding the living room. There relaxing on the couch, she saw a middle aged woman with hair similar to hers, red glasses, and wearing a nice dark green blazer, matching tight skirt, white blouse, sheer stockings, and black high heels. She looked like she worked in an office building. Immediately, Trixie knew who this was. She didn’t recognize her in the sense of knowing, but she knew exactly who this woman was. “M-Mom…?” The woman gasped and sat up, turning to look at Trixie. She slowly stood up, approaching Trixie with watery eyes. “Oh, Trixie…” the woman said, tears falling from her eyes. “Mom…!” for some reason, Trixie burst into tears and ran into the woman’s arms. It was just like with the key. Consciously, she didn’t know, but unconsciously her body remembered. This woman was precious to her. She loved her. “Shh… it’s okay honey,” her Mom said gently, rubbing her back even as she cried, “You’re home now.” “I’m sorry…!” Trixie sobbed, “Even though, I know who you are, I don’t remember anything…! Your name… our relationship… anything…!” “It’s alright, sweetie,” she said, lifting her chin and giving Trixie a smile so filled with love it hurt, “Memories or not, you’re my child, and I’ll always love you, okay? So take your time, remember what you can, and whatever you can’t, well, we can just make new memories together, alright?” Trixie nodded, hugging her Mother again tightly. She had so many questions, but that was for another time. For now, she just needed this moment. This was good, the tiny little program following her thought as he watched her embracing her mother. From what he’d gathered tailing her, she was going to have it rough from here on out, but at least this place was a safety net for her. He sighed in relief, and smiled. Their talk could wait, a bit longer. No need to ruin this moment. DataTrixie and her mother, who she learned was named “Hazel”, had a nice dinner together filled with conversation about the past, catching Trixie up to speed on some of the things she hadn’t figured out on her own. Thanks to Hazel, she now knew when her birthday was, what her star sign was (Pisces, apparently), how long they’d lived in Canterlot, and that the neighborhood their house was in was actually called Ponyville. What funny names for everything. Sadly though, not everything she’d learned was entirely pleasant. As she feared, she and her Mother weren’t exactly close before her amnesia. “Okay, so be honest with me,” Trixie sighed, setting her fork down as she finished dinner, “How much of a bitch was I to you?” “Trixie…?” Hazel asked. “I mean, I was pretty shitty to everyone in school, and from how you reacted when I said I love you over the phone, it’s pretty clear that you weren’t used to hearing that from me,” Trixie continued, unable to meet her Mom’s gaze, “So just, lay it on me, alright? I need to know how badly I fucked things up with us…” “Stop Trixie,” Hazel got up, and moved to sit beside Trixie, wrapping an arm around her, “I don’t want you to be so hard on yourself.” “Why shouldn’t I be?” Trixie asked, crying softly as she leaned into the loving woman beside her, “Everyone at school pretty much thinks I’m a shallow, self absorbed bitch, I apparently bullied Rarity’s younger sister, so she downright hates me, I’m a terrible person…” “That is, far from the truth, and you know why?” “Why…?” “Because a terrible person wouldn’t feel guilt,” Hazel started rubbing Trixie’s arm, “Were you perfect? No. No one is perfect. Did you make mistakes? Quite a few, but that’s the same for everyone. What’s important, is that we learn from those mistakes, and that we always work to improve. To be just a bit better than we were yesterday. “You and I, we had our disagreements, but I always knew you were a good child. Really, you were just, I guess, complicated. After your father… passed away, you grieved in your own way, and coped as best as you could.” “Guess that answers my next question,” Trixie bit her lip thinking about that. She didn’t even remember his face, the sound of his voice, or anything that made him feel real to her. It almost didn’t seem fair to him. “The way I see it, you have a chance to reinvent yourself,” Hazel looked Trixie in the eyes lovingly, “You can’t change the past, but you can control your present moment. You get to decide who Trixie Lulamoon is.” “Who, Trixie Lulamoon, is…” Trixie repeated looking down, “Well, I know who she isn’t anymore. I… I’m going to do something to help people. I don’t know what that will be but, I don’t want to waste my life not being able to help someone, even if its only one person.” as she said that, her thoughts went back to the gymnasium, when she used that weird armor to protect Fluttershy. Knowing she saved her life felt good. If only I knew what that was… Maybe then I could… I don’t know… Hazel smiled, “Then you’ll be fine, honey,” she said, kissing her on the forehead, “Leave the dishes to me tonight, okay? You should get some rest.” “Yeah,” Trixie yawned, “Yeah… I’m exhausted.” Hazel giggled at that, “You remember where your room is?” she asked. She’d given Trixie a brief tour of the house earlier before dinner, so Trixie nodded. “Yep. I remember,” she hugged her Mother again, “I love you, Mom.” “I love you too, Trixie,” Hazel smiled, hugging her back. Trixie went upstairs to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower before heading to bed. There, she let her thoughts wander back to that moment, and everything she knew about what happened to her. According to Twilight, that weird light wasn’t related to Equestrian Magic, and seemed more alien in nature. Also, that weird app on her phone was probably connected to it, but she couldn’t hack into it to find out. That was scary, because Twilight seemed like the sort who could hack into anything. She was so smart. And pretty. And nice. And pretty. Just thinking about her made her heart race. Did she have a crush on Twilight? Was this something new? Or was this something she had even before amnesia? Was there a way to find out? Did it really matter? And, how did she stray so far away from what she was thinking about before? “Geez, get a hold of yourself, Trixie,” she lightly berated as she turned the water off, “It’s too early to be thinking about potential relationships. Besides, she probably has a boyfriend already. Or a girlfriend,” she grabbed her towel and looked at herself in the mirror, “Still, I do wonder if I’m her type…” Her thoughts wandered again, this time picturing those monsters surrounding Twilight. She cry out for help, but no one would be able to come to her rescue. No one, except for Trixie. She’d jump down in that armor, say something super cool like “Get away from her, you foul beasts!” and then begin fighting the monsters, not even getting hit. Twilight would then run into her arms and cry out “Oh, Trixie you brave hero! Thank you for rescuing me!” Trixie had the silliest smile on her face imagining that, proven when she dared to look in the mirror. She blushed, wrapped her towel around her, picked up her clothes and phone, and then rushed off into her room. She didn’t even bother turning the light on. After setting her clothes somewhere she could get to later, she shed her towel and got in the bed. She didn’t know if she slept in the nude before, but she was too lazy and tired to search for pajamas right now. Right as Trixie was about to drift off it seemed though, she noticed something moving in the room. She froze, seeing just how small it was. In the darkness of her room, she could barely make out its appearance, but it had the basic shape of a bunny rabbit wearing a hat. And it was definitely moving. Trixie sat up in her bed, holding her covers over her body as she grabbed her phone on the desk, pointing it at the small creature, “B-back…! Stay back, monster…! I know what you are…!” The tiny creature hopped on the bed and looked at Trixie curiously. It was indeed a white rabbit, only about two feet tall standing upright. It had tiny paws for hands, large white feet perfect for hopping around, its ears fell back behind it, and it wore a tiny blue magician’s blazer, white shirt, bow tie, and had big blue eyes that were currently looking at Trixie intently. Unsure what this thing wanted, but knowing it clearly came from that place in the sky, she backed away frantically, “I h-have weapons, you know…! My phone, it can turn me into a s-s-super hero… so… I’m not someone y-you should mess with…!” The tiny creature snickered, and then fell back on the bed, rolling around and laughing, “Oh man! This is rich!” Trixie frowned at that, unsure of what to make of the fact that A) this little creature was laughing, and B) laughing at her. “Next time, if you wanna threaten someone,” the little rabbit continued through his laughter, sounding like a young boy, “try not to stutter so much!” “What, the actual hell…? You know I’m not playing right? My phone can-” “I know I know,” the little rabbit said, wiping his eyes with his paws, “Calm down, okay? I’m not a Virus. Similar, but fundamentally different.” “Virus…? That’s… what those creatures that attacked the school were…” Trixie said, holding her head, “I remember, that’s the word that came to mind when they were chasing Fluttershy and I.” “Uh huh,” the little rabbit nodded, “That’s right. Me, I’m a Program from the Grid, specifically a Peripheral Memory Storage Unit, made to act as a support program to Mega Men.” “Peripheral… Memory… Grid… Mega… gah! Too much at once!” Trixie fussed. “Alright, let’s start slow. First, what’s my name?” the rabbit said pointing to himself, “Look at me real close, and say the first name that comes to mind.” Trixie sighed, deciding to humor the little rabbit standing on her bed. She looked at him, and oddly, she felt a sense of comfort wash over her. Something within her remembered him. It was both familiar and foreign, just like when she recognized the Viruses and used that armor for the first time. “You’re… Data, right?” Trixie asked after a second. The bunny hopped up and down, beaming in pure delight. “You remembered me! Yes yes yes YES!” the little rabbit, Data apparently, cheered gleefully. Trixie couldn’t help but smile at that, and all of a sudden felt really stupid threatening him. “It’s weird but, I feel like part of me does remember you,” Trixie said, “Did we, know each other before my amnesia?” “That’s… where things get a bit tricky,” Data said, now sitting down on Trixie’s bed, “But I promise, I’ll try to explain everything I can to the best of my knowledge.” “Alright, so first question, what exactly are you? I mean, you said you’re a, um, what was it you called yourself?” “A Peripheral Memory Storage Unit,” Data recited, “Big, fancy words, I know. Essentially, I exist to hold all of the vital information that Mega Men need in order to carry out their missions. Things like their genetic frequency, back ups of their memory, stuff like that. Units like myself also help Mega Men with-” “Hold on. You have memory back ups?” Trixie asked. “Huh? Well yeah,” Data shrugged, “I store information on everything that a Mega Ma- AHH!!!” he was picked up by Trixie, who looked at him intently. “What about mine? Do you have those?” Trixie asked. Data’s eyes wandered lower, and he then looked up, blushing a bit, “Um, first off, you might want to put me down, Miss. You’re showing a lot more than I think you want to…” Trixie looked down, and then yelped, setting Data down and pulling the covers over herself again. “Second of all, I only have the memory of your predecessor,” Data said sadly, “Mega Man Azrael.” “Mega Man, Azrael?” Trixie asked, “What do you mean predecessor? Like, the one who owned that armor before me?” Data nodded, “Yep. Azrael was the Mega Man I was assigned to. Day before yesterday, he was hunting a dangerous rogue Mega Man named Lucifer. He chased Lucifer to the lower regions of the Grid, and fought him close to your school,” Data looked down somberly, “He managed to deal severe damage to Lucifer, enough to reduce him to just formless data, but not before he took a massive blow that knocked him off of the Wave Road,” he pointed to Trixie, “And into you.” Trixie’s eyes widened, starting to piece things together a bit, “So, the blue light that landed on me...” Data nodded, “I’m sorry, Miss.” he took off his hat and looked up at Trixie earnestly, “I wish I could give you a better answer, but all of this, it was a terrible accident. You were really just, at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Trixie looked down, pained hearing this, “Okay, so… what happened next? Why do I have his powers now?” “The impact left you badly hurt,” Data continued, “Azrael, he… he was already beginning to defrag, but he didn’t want you to die. So he asked me to… transfer his Light Code into you, and let it meld with your DNA. Doing this would save your life, and you’d have all of his powers, but…” “At the cost, of my memories being wiped clean…” Trixie sighed, wiping a tear, “Well, I’m alive at least…” “I can’t apologize enough, Miss,” Data said, “All of this… its our fault. We shouldn’t have let Lucifer get so close to your world, nor should we have fought him over your school.” “It’s, fine,” Trixie looked away, “I mean, I guess it really isn’t fine, but it’s not like you meant any harm. And well, you and this Azrael did save my life apparently, so there’s that,” she took Data’s hat and placed it back on his head, “So chin up. You’re too cute to be so sad.” Data chuckled at that, “Thank you. Um, Trixie, right?” Data asked, “I heard a few of your friends call you that.” She nodded, “That’s right. I’m Trixie,” she held out her hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Data.” Data smiled and took her hand with both of his paws, “It’s nice to meet you too, Trixie.” “So, my next question,” Trixie looked to the side, “You keep mentioning this, Grid. What is that?” “That’s something that’s better explained by you seeing it first,” Data said, hopping over to Trixie’s phone, picking it up and handing it to Trixie, “You remember the app from earlier, right?” “The one that activated that weird armor?” Trixie asked taking her phone. “That’s the one. If you wanna enter the Grid, just tap the app on your phone, and then speak into it the following: ID, your full name, logging in,” Data explained. Trixie nodded, turning the app on. She then saw the white orb from before, along with “Standing by” in red letters. She bit her lip nervously, but then brought the phone to her mouth. “ID: Beatrix Lulamoon, logging in.” Identification accepted “Okay, so now wha- whoa!” Trixie looked around, seeing a circle of data spinning around her, “What’s all of this?” “Just relax,” Data smiled, “Let the app handle the rest.” Trixie was about to say something, but she was then engulfed in a bright blue light, vanishing from the room. For Trixie, a bunch of things were happening all at once. She could feel her body changing in a fundamental way, and the short armored dress from before appeared on her body, followed by the armored gauntlets and boots. She then noticed the visor manifesting over her eyes, right before she reappeared sitting in her bed. “Gah! What the?!” Trixie looked at herself, “The armor’s back! And the visor! What in the world?!” she shot up from her bed and ran over to the mirror. Dash was right. The whole look did make her look almost like a magical girl from Cyberspace. The skirt was blue and white, super fancy, and super revealing, cupping and revealing her breasts a bit, and stopping right under her butt almost. There was blue ribbon tied right under her breasts, and another white one tied to her waist behind her, with long ribbons falling behind her. On her shoulders, arms, and legs was blue and white armor that looked somewhat crystalized, with the boots being somewhat bulky with a two inch heel. Around her eyes was a blue visor that seemed to circle around behind her head shut, making Trixie feel almost like it was a part of her body. “What happened to me…?” Trixie said, turning around to examine the armor more thoroughly. “Mega Men have two modes,” Data said, hopping over to stand beside Trixie, “Passive Mode, and Active Mode. Passive Mode is when they’re not engaging in combat related activity, making them look less threatening around the populace.” “Okay, making this what? Active Mode?” Trixie asked, testing if she could remove the visor. Nope. “Exactly. Active Mode turns on all of the Mega Man’s offensive and defensive abilities. In your case, you’re a human possessing a Mega Man’s Light Code, which means you exist in both the real world and the Grid at the same time,” Data explained, “Your human form is being treated as Passive Mode, with Active Mode transferring you into the Grid.” “Does it have to be so revealing though?” Trixie asked, trying to pull the skirt down a bit, “I mean, this is showing a lot of leg…” “I dunno what to tell you,” Data shrugged, “A Mega Man’s armor forms based off of their subconscious, so on some level, you want it to look like this.” “Probably something from before I lost my memory,” Trixie muttered, “Geez… Oh well, at least I look cool.” “That’s the spirit,” Data smiled, “There aren’t a lot of female Mega Men, hence the title.” “So what, would I be a Mega Woman or something?” Trixie asked frowning, “Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.” “Yeah, the few female Navi’s I know just use the title Mega Man with their code names,” Data shrugged, “Less complicated that way.” Trixie smiled a bit at Data’s almost dismissive tone concerning it. Like he was saying they did this to “cut down on paperwork” or something. Made her wonder what exactly a Mega Man even was. Apparently that’s what I’ve become now, right? A Mega Man? Sounds pretty important. “Anyway, welcome to the Grid,” Data said spreading his arms out. Trixie looked around in confusion. “I’m still in my bedroom,” she said deadpanned, making Data chuckle. “Yes and no. You are in the bedroom, but you’re not a physical entity right now. You’re a Net Navi, existing as sapient virtual information,” Data pointed to the door, “Go on, try to open the door.” Trixie shrugged and walked over to the door, noticing that each step she took made the ground ripple around her feet, almost like it was an illusion of sort. She then reached for the handle, only for her hand to go right through it. “Huh?” she tried it a few more times, “Why can’t I touch it?” “Because again, you’re not in the material world,” Data answered, “Think of the Grid as an invisible space currently overlaying the physical world. A plane of existence, vibrating at a higher frequency than the material world.” “So it’s another dimension, right above the physical world?” Trixie asked. “You got it,” Data said, “Things that exist in the Grid are normally invisible and intangible to humans. You’re an exception to the rule. Now, at least.” “Right, because I exist in both the Grid and the real world,” Trixie said, pushing her hand through the door, going right through it, “Okay, I think I get it. So if that’s the case, then,” Trixie brought her hand back, and then tried to focus on the physical world. She felt her body ripple a bit, and everything around her almost felt more solid. She then tried to grab the doorknob again, this time finding she could touch it, “Thought so.” “Hey, you’re pretty good!” Data hopped up and down happily, “You figured out how to change vibration frequencies all on your own!” “Well, you said I exist in both the Grid and the human world,” Trixie said, focusing on the, Grid, right? Yeah, and felt herself ripple again, “Figured that meant I could just, I dunno, phase back and forth. I take it I can’t do that as a human.” “Nope,” Data shook his head, “Only in Active Mode, where your body is made of data.” “Alright, so what exactly is this Grid?” Trixie asked, now going to sit on her bed, “Has it always been here?” “Not in the way it is now,” Data answered, hopping on the bed to sit beside Trixie, “Until about a month ago, our worlds were complete separated from one another.” “What happened last month then?” Trixie asked with a frown. “No idea,” Data shook his head, “But there was a massive ripple in reality, one that reached all the way to our dimension. When that happened, our two dimensions melded together, with the Grid latching onto the network you humans have, along with another unusual energy that the Mother Computer can’t analyze.” “I take it that’s, odd?” Trixie asked. “The Mother Computer is the very foundation and core of the Grid. She processes and oversees everything in our world, effectively keeping order,” Data explained, “This new energy integrated with the Grid, connecting our world to the human world, but also altering the Mother Computer as well.” “Oh fuck…” Trixie said wide eyed, “She’s okay, right?” “For the most part, yeah she is. But she’s really worried, because she doesn’t understand this new energy,” Data continued, now looking down, “Most of us adjusted pretty quickly, actually working to improve the human network, and just settled into this new way of life. The Mother Computer ordered all Mega Men to be on stand-by, ready to take action if needed, but otherwise to be wary of this new energy.” “Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me something bad…?” Trixie asked. Data groaned, rubbing his eyes with his paws, “One Mega Man felt like this new energy could be used to increase our power directly, to the point where we could subjugate the human world. That Mega Man, was code named Lucifer,” he looked up at Trixie, “When the Mother Computer said no to taking over the human world, Lucifer went rogue, and took in this power for himself.” “What happened after that…?” Trixie asked, afraid of the answer. “Nothing good, I’ll tell you that,” Data frowned, “He turned into, something. It was like a Virus, but worse. No Mega Man could stop him, with Azrael being the only one left. He managed to hurt him, but…” “He died, in the process,” Trixie turned away biting her lip, “This, Mega Man Lucifer, he’s still out there, isn’t he…?” Data closed his eyes, nodding gravely, “I’m afraid so, Trixie. I don’t know where, or if he has a singular form now, but he’s very much alive.” “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say…” Trixie begged softly. “You have Azrael’s Light Code now,” Data continued, “As such, you’re for all intents and purposes, a Mega Man.” “What that is…?” Trixie asked carefully. “A Mega Man is a special class of Net Navi commissioned by the Mother Computer to hunt down and purify anything that’s infected by Viruses, which come from something called the Dark Code,” Data explained, “Mega Men are made from what’s called Light Code, but Lucifer’s code was corrupted, becoming a Dark Code equivalent.” “What about the other Mega Men?” Trixie asked. “Already fully defragged,” Data shook his head. “I, don’t know all of the terms you’ve been using, but… when you say defragged… that doesn’t mean they’re… dead, does it?” Data closed his eyes sadly as an answer, “Oh God…” “I know this is a lot to take in,” Data said, standing up and taking Trixie’s hand, “Look, the Mother Computer probably wants me to convince you to fight, but nothing has happened yet beyond the virus attack at your school earlier.” “True…” “So I’m not going to force you into anything,” Data assured her, “This was our fault, so you don’t have to feel like you need to fix our problems.” “Considering I’m wearing this armor, it’s kind of my problem too now, isn’t it?” Trixie asked, her heart racing. “Azrael transferred his Light Code into you so you’d live,” Data said, “Whether or not you fight, is up to you.” Trixie wasn’t so sure about that. The dreams she’d been having. That was Azrael’s voice she was hearing more than likely. And in them, she felt like he was asking her to fight. Almost like part of her wanted to… “I, need some time to think,” Trixie said, “This is a lot to process, and… I can’t decide on anything at the moment.” “That’s alright,” Data smiled, “Get some rest for now. I’ll be close by if you need anything, okay?” Trixie nodded with a soft smile, but then looked at her armor, “So, how do I take this off?” “There should be a log out button on your buster arm,” Data said, pointing to Trixie’s left arm, which had a touch screen on it, “Just click that button, and you’ll be sent back to the real world as a human.” “Thanks, um, sorry we don’t have a room for you. I could ask my Mom if you could stay with us, but...” “She wouldn’t be able to see me, so you’d just sound crazy,” Data said, “It’s alright. I’ll just hang out in your phone.” “Um, alright…?” Trixie shrugged, pulling up the log out button and tapping it. Instantly, she felt herself engulfed in a bright blue light again, this time with a slight dropping sensation as she reappeared in her bedroom without the armor. Data’s eyes widened, and he then blushed covering his eyes, just as Trixie covered herself with her arms, also blushing. “Um, g-goodnight, Trixie!” Data muttered, turning into a bright light and shooting into her cellphone. “Y-yeah… goodnight,” Trixie muttered, unsure if he could hear her. She then set the phone on her desk and laid down in her bed, trying to process what Data just told her. If he was telling the truth, then those viruses, what if they were after her? What if this Lucifer wanted to kill any remaining Mega Men out there? And what if Azrael actually wanted her to fight? I said I wanted to do something to help people, yeah… But this? This is too big… What should I do…? She closed her eyes, resolving to just sleep it off for now. Maybe she’d luck out and wake up to find that all of this was just a bad dream.
MemoryAuthor's Note The following project is a fan made product. My Little Pony Equestria Girls belongs to Hasbro, and Mega Man belongs Capcom. Please support the official releases of these products. Memory She gasped as her eyes shot open. For a split second she thought she saw something, but it was gone by the time she blinked. After taking a few deep breaths, the girl looked around to see where she was. The room itself was small, and kinda cramped with a few chairs off to the side of the white hospital bed she laid in. On the other side of the room was a small desk with what looked like someone's cellphone sitting on it. There were two doors in the room, one which led to a small bathroom and the other she assumed led out of the room. Am I… in a hospital room…? How did I get… here…? She sat up in the bed to get a better look at her surroundings. Her heart pounded in her chest as the reality of her situation began to hit her. She had no idea where she was nor how she got there. For that matter, who was she? She tried and tried to remember the name, but she couldn't. Holding a hand to her forehead, the girl wracked her brain for information, trying to remember her name, her age, her home address, something, anything. Nothing. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to fight off the incoming wave of tears. When that didn't work, she gripped the sheets over her lap tightly, trying her best to not break down in fear. She had to stay calm. She could figure this out. She just needed a clue. If only there was something of hers- The girl immediately picked up the phone, and after a second of fiddling around with it, managed to turn the thing on. She was thankful the phone wasn't locked. It was a purple and blue smartphone, composing mostly of a large screen surrounded by the base of the machine. Before looking at the phone's contents she looked at the back of the phone, and noticed a symbol. It looked like a magic wand of some sort, with a light blue trail of magic behind it, vaguely in the shape of a crescent moon. Relief washed over her as she recognized it. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew that it was something pertaining to herself. Okay. This is a start. She turned her attention back to the screen and began perusing through the various apps. Past the home screen she found a few basic apps for calling and sending messages, an app called “angel numbers”, a flashlight app, one called “Skype”, whatever that was, a couple of simple games, a tarot card app, a diary, and a few more random apps for astrology, numerology, and tabletop RPGs. Judging from the apps she saw, and getting a feel for her figure, it was safe to say she was in her mid to late teens at least. The first app she looked at was the diary. After waiting for it to load, she was greeted with a black and purple screen. The title “Dark Diary” was at the top, probably the name of this particular diary app. Whoever she was, it looked like she was a complicated individual. She saw the most recent entry, titled “The End…?” Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that. Why, she had no idea yet. She pressed her index finger on the entry, opening it to read its contents: I keep seeing 999 today, more frequently than usual. The app, all the sites online, they all say the same thing. Essentially, end of a chapter in my life. I'm used to the numbers by now, but this is getting scary. Every five seconds I'm seeing either 999, 909, 919, or some weird combination associated with 9. Most of those numbers seem to refer to “endings”. Also, I keep feeling like something else is coming. Something even bigger than that incident at the Friendship Games, scary as that sounds. And whatever it is... I feel like it's directed toward me. Am I… about to die…? I don't know why I feel this way, but the numbers keep showing up. Just what does it all mean? Someone. Anyone. Please help me. I'm scared. I don't want to die yet. “D-die…?” she asked, her voice a bit hoarse from disuse. Did that have something to do with why her memory was gone? She looked through past entries, stopping on one titled “The Gate is Opening”. I finally looked up the meaning of 11:11. Most of the sources say something about a “gate” opening. I didn't believe in this stuff before but… I keep seeing the numbers everywhere I look. Just the other day I was playing Chrono Trigger and saw 1001 on the enemy, followed right up with 1010. On that same screen I saw my character's health at 1111. So if you're wondering why I suddenly decided to check that out, now you know. So… what's this gate? What's opening? I'm not like Sunset and her group of freaky friends. I'm normal, so none of this stuff should be coming to me. I just want a normal life. Unfortunately, she didn't sign the diary entries, so she didn't get a name yet. From what she could get however, her memory loss wasn't entirely spontaneous it seemed. It seemed like at the very least there were signs that something was about to happen. It's what that something was that had her somewhat terrified. Exiting that app, she looked through her messages, surprised to see a number of really urgent ones, all asking if she was okay. At least she had friends. She opened one from a “Lyra” to read it. OMG Trixie! Bon Bon and I heard what happened! Call me when you get this, PLEASE! I need to know my BFF is okay! “Trixie… My name is… Trixie…?” She held her head as the name rolled in her mind. The more she said, the more right it felt. That was her name. Trixie sighed in relief and fell back onto her bed. Now she had a name, and a sense of who she was before losing her memory. But relief turned to sadness as nothing else came to her after that. Realizing she needed to put a face to the name, she got out of bed and carefully walked to the bathroom. She stumbled a bit in the beginning, but after a second she was able to walk perfectly. In the bathroom, she looked at reflection, taking in her features. Staring back at her was a young Caucasian girl who definitely looked about 16 at the youngest. She had long light blue hair with white highlights, sharp purple eye and features, and was currently wearing a dark pink lipstick, almost purple. Underneath her hospital gown, she could tell she had a slender build, kinda top heavy but not too much, and lifting the gown a bit revealed very nice, somewhat shapely legs. Her name was Trixie, she had a friend named Lyra who called her “BFF” for some reason, she liked video games apparently, and she was really attractive. But still with a bad case of memory loss. The door opening outside caught her attention. She carefully stepped out of the room, seeing a nurse with pink hair walk into the room and look around. When the nurse turned to Trixie, she smiled in relief. “Oh, there you are Miss Lulamoon. I was worried you wandered off,” she said kindly. “Lulamoon… is that my last name?” Trixie asked, back still pressed against the wall as she wasn't sure if she should trust this woman yet. The nurse frowned in genuine confusion, “You don't remember?” “I figured out my name is Trixie, but that's it,” she said, “How did I get here?” “Your classmate brought you in earlier today. I think she said her name was Rarity. Does that name mean anything to you, hun?” the nurse asked. Trixie shook her head as it didn't sound familiar, “I see… this is certainly unexpected.” the nurse looked at her clipboard for a second, “Well, it says here your full name is Beatrix Lulamoon, 17 years old, and a student at Canterlot High. Hopefully that can help get you started.” “Thank… you,” Trixie said, relaxing a bit at the nurse's smile. She seemed like she genuinely wanted to help. “Why don't you get some rest, Miss Lulamoon,” the nurse said holding out her hand, “It's okay. No one here is going to hurt you.” Trixie looked at the hand, and slowly reached out to take it. The nurse gently grasped it, and then escorted Trixie back to her bed, helping her lie down and get comfortable. “I'm scared,” Trixie admitted to the nurse, “I… I don't know what to do. Nothing I've seen has triggered any memories. Not even seeing my name.” “Memory loss can be tricky to recover from,” the nurse said, gently raising the covers over Trixie, “But if you want my advice,” Trixie nodded, “Don't worry about who you were. Now that you have a name, and you remember basic things, focus on who you'll be now. Just take your time, go easy on yourself, and be natural, okay?” the nurse smiled kindly. Trixie took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. Thank you, Ma'am.” “Call me Miss Redheart,” the nurse said, placing a hand to her chest, “You won't be here long, but I will take care of you during that time, alright?” Trixie nodded, allowing herself to relax. She could trust this woman. As the nurse walked out of the room and closed the door, Trixie turned to her side and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she'd start calling people to see what else she could piece together of her old life. Still, she was definitely going to take what Miss Redheart said to heart, and not stress over it. She did want to know how she lost her memory though. Questions for another time, Trixie thought with a yawn. It didn't take long for the soothing darkness of sleep to consume her.
GenerosityAuthor's Note Greetings everyone. Since this is a new me, I'll just reintroduce myself here. I'm Valkyrie Sandora, and this is the first of two stories I'm planning to post here. I'm still a big Mega Man fan, and this is my attempt at making the ultimate Mega Man story. It's also my way of getting some of my more existential thoughts out on paper, so this story is really personal to me. If even one person can get something from this story, then that would make it all worth it. This is probably gonna be the only time you hear from me (probably ), so I hope you enjoy this crazy story I'm weaving together. Nameste, lovely people~ Generosity Trixie… Please hear my voice… He's still out there… We have to stop him… Before the Dark Code… Once again, Trixie's eyes shot open as she awoke with a sharp gasp. This time, she noticed her eyesight go weird. Were those… numbers? Once again, it was gone by the time she blinked. She sat up in her bed, frowning to herself as she thought about what she just saw. Things… looked normal right now. Then again, what was normal sight, really? How did other people see the world? Also, why was she thinking about that now? She didn't remember much, but she was pretty sure that people normally didn't see numbers in their eyes. Also, she remembered having a strange dream. She heard someone. A boy, it sounded like. Whoever it was, they sounded urgent. Afraid of something. Of someone. Who was that? What was he talking about? Something about a… Dark… Code…? “What's wrong with me?” Trixie groaned, holding a hand to her forehead, “I can't remember who I am, I'm hearing voices in my head-” anything else she wanted to fuss about was lost behind her frustrated sobs. A knock on the door pulled her back into the moment. “Miss Lulamoon? I have breakfast. Are you up?” It was Miss Redheart, the kind nurse from last night. Trixie's heart rate returned to normal as she calmed down. “Y-yes. I'm up,” Trixie said. The door clicked open, and Miss Redheart walked inside carrying a tray of eggs, bacon, a bagel, and a glass of orange juice. “How'd you sleep last night?” the nurse asked, setting the tray onto Trixie's lap, “Were you able to relax after we talked?” “I, uh…” Trixie didn't know quite how to articulate her thought, so she just nodded and began eating. It wasn't really anything special, but as far as she knew Miss Redheart made it herself. She didn't want to be rude. “Sometimes, people with amnesia will have flashes of memory in their dreams,” Miss Redheart said, sitting down next to Trixie, “Did you have any dreams last night?” Trixie thought about the dream, and wondered if it was safe to tell Miss Redheart. She didn't want her to think she was crazy, otherwise she might not ever leave this place. Still, she had been nice to her so far, so maybe it was okay. “I… heard someone,” Trixie said slowly, “He said to me…” she closed her eyes and frowned, trying to remember the voice's words, “Ugh! Damn it. It's fading…” her shoulders dropped, and she moaned in frustration and disappointment. “Now now, remember what I said last night,” Miss Redheart lightly scolded, “Go easy on yourself. It's okay if you can't remember the dream right now. If it's a memory, you might have it again.” Trixie took a deep breath, nodded to Miss Redheart, and then went back to eating her extremely plain breakfast. It wasn't even bad. It was just… boring. “Yeah, I know,” Miss Redheart said suddenly, “I know that expression. The food here sucks,” she leaned in close to Trixie, “Between you and me, my dog eats better than this, and I buy from the bargain bin.” Trixie laughed a bit from that joke. It wasn't overly funny, but it certainly helped her relax a bit more. She then looked around the room for a second before speaking again, “Where are my clothes…?” “We washed them for you,” Miss Redheart said, “I'll bring them to you after you finish eating.” “Thank you,” Trixie said, looking down at the plain food resting on her lap, “I wish I could repay you for being so nice to me.” “Don't worry about it,” Miss Redheart smiled kindly, taking Trixie's hand into her own, “I became a nurse because I wanted to help people, so just getting to meet you is payment enough for me.” She just liked helping people? Did it feel that good, where all she needed to do was help people to feel fulfilled? Trixie began wondering what that felt like, and how she could possibly help people. All questions for another time. She quickly forced down the rest of her cardboard breakfast and handed the tray back to Miss Redheart, who promised to bring her clothes up to her along with the rest of her belongings. In the meantime, Trixie decided to make good on her self promise to call people, and see what they could tell her. First person she called was Lyra. The phone rang twice before someone answered on the other end. “Trixie! Trixie, is it really you?!” a frantic voice cried, obviously female. Since she used her nickname in such a familiar manner, Trixie assumed this was Lyra. “Y-yeah… sort of…” Trixie said slowly, “I think it's like… half of me, but I don't know where the other half is.” “Oookay,” Lyra said slowly, “Um, are you okay, girl? You sound a bit more out there than usual.” Should she tell her? Apparently they were good friends, so she deserved to know the truth. “Lyra, I… I don't know what happened, but… I kind of lost… a few of my memories.” Trixie winced, ready for any reaction. She wasn't ready for Lyra to start laughing. “Oh, Trixie you are a riot! You really had me going there for a second. I thought you seriously had amnesia for a second.” “I do,” Trixie explained, trying not to be too offended at not being taken seriously, “I don't know how I lost my memory, but I'm trying to piece together bits of my old life.” “Trixie… you're scaring me,” Lyra said, her voice a bit softer and more sobered, “You're serious? You… don't remember anything?” “No, I don't,” Trixie said, “But maybe you can help me. I need to know, were we together yesterday before I ended up in the hospital?” “Y-yeah, we were,” Lyra explained, “We were at cheerleader practice, which is held after school.” She was a cheerleader? Well, with looks like hers, she probably could be one, and a decent one at that. But this was good. Maybe she saw something. “Did anything happen right after that?” Trixie asked. “Well, after practice ended, you changed and then left to head home,” Lyra explained, “I remember there was a bright blue flash outside, and then you were unconscious.” A blue flash? Was that what took her memory? Suddenly, she felt a pressure in her head, forcing her to hold her head and groan in pain. “Trixie?! Are you okay?!” Lyra asked, now sounding genuinely concerned. “Yes, um… thank you,” Trixie said as the pain ebbed away, “I… I'll talk to you later.” “Trixie, wai-” She didn't wait for her to finish, choosing to just end the call. She could tell just by hearing her voice she wasn't going to be really helpful in solving this mystery. Or maybe she was just really turned off by her attitude. Another knock on the door. This time Trixie knew that it was Miss Redheart. “I have your clothes,” she said from outside the room, “I also have your school bag.” “Thank you,” Trixie said, “You can come in. I'm still in bed.” Miss Redheart walked into the room and set Trixie's clothes and bag on the bed. Apparently she wore a cute purple and blue dress, blue hoodie with stars on the shoulders, purple socks, and blue and purple boots with two inch heels by the looks of them. “I'll let you get cleaned up and dressed,” Miss Redheart said walking out of the room, “Oh, your classmate called. The one who brought you in yesterday.” “Rarity, right?” Trixie asked. “That's the one. She's coming here to check you out of the hospital,” Miss Redheart said smiling. Trixie's eyes widened at her words. “I… get to leave so soon?” Trixie asked. “We can't realistically keep you here for too long,” Miss Redheart explained, “Getting to see your hometown might help jog some more memories.” “That's good,” Trixie smiled softly, “Thank you again for being so nice to me, Miss Redheart.” “It was my pleasure,” Miss Redheart said, giving Trixie an elegant bow before leaving the room. Trixie felt like she was going to miss her. After taking a quick shower, Trixie put on her dress and shoes, before examining herself in the mirror. At first she was confused by the lack of a bra, but then realized that her dress had built in support. It was sleeveless at the top, and hugged her figure in a tasteful, yet still sexy manner. After applying the lipstick she found in her bag, she took in the person standing before her in the mirror, and couldn't help but smile. She felt an inner arrogance at the sight. Like something deep inside of her just knew that she was the best. I better keep those thoughts in check. Don't want a big head. She laughed to herself, and then walked over to her bed, picking up the hoodie and putting it on. She started zipping it closed, but stopped just under her bust. She felt like she was supposed to zip it higher, like maybe the old her zipped it up a bit more. But at the same time, she didn't want to. As she was now, she kind of liked the idea of just letting her figure speak for itself. “Just be natural, right?” Trixie asked, once again taking the time to look at herself in the mirror. She was largely pleased with the outcome. Another knock on her door, “Come in,” she called out before stepping out of the bathroom. Miss Redheart poked her head into the room. “Your classmate just arrived,” she said. Trixie took a deep breath, nodded, and then walked over to her nurse, picking up her bag at the same time. As she walked with Miss Redheart to where she assumed the front desk was, Trixie began adjusting the way she walked till it felt right to her. Eventually she settled on a slight saunter, choosing to carry herself in a proud, but not condescending manner. She didn't know if she was how she was originally or not, but it didn't really matter ultimately. Still, it would have been nice to know why she lost her memory in the first place. At the front desk, Trixie saw a very beautiful young woman signing a sheet of paper. Said woman wore a really nice silver blouse, short purple skirt, and purple high heeled boots. She had long, full purple hair, and from where Trixie was standing she could tell she was wearing blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. The woman turned to Trixie and smiled, “Oh wonderful! You're okay!” she said, voice high with a sensual flair that Trixie could tell wasn't natural. Also, getting a better look at her revealed this person to actually be close to Trixie's age. Odd, Trixie really thought she was an adult there for a second. “You're… Rarity, right?” Trixie asked as the maturely dressed girl approached her. “That's right. My name is Rarity Belle,” Rarity said, elegantly placing a hand to her chest, “Do you not remember me, darling?” “I… don't,” Trixie said, looking away and rubbing her arm, “I just know that my name is Beatrix Lulamoon, and a few other things I pieced together just from looking at my cell phone,” just based on her appearance, Trixie expected Rarity to assume she was joking just like Lyra did. She didn't expect Rarity to look so surprised, or concerned. “Oh dear. I'm so sorry,” Rarity said softly, “You must have been so frightened here alone.” “Wait… you believe me…?” Trixie asked, trying to get a read on this seemingly frivolous girl. “I can't imagine you'd lie about something like that,” Rarity said, “Maybe it's naive, but I prefer to take people at their word unless they give me reason not to. Besides, you look so stressed right now.” She called it naive, but Trixie doubted that. Somehow, Trixie felt like this Rarity was seeing her pretty clearly. Odd, because Trixie had expected this girl to be more like what she heard from Lyra just from her appearance. Note to self: never EVER judge someone on their appearance again. “Tell you what,” Rarity continued, “How about you and I start from the beginning? Since our previous relationship isn't valid, how about we treat this as our first meeting ever, and let things progress from there?” “I'd… like that a lot,” Trixie said, giving Rarity a soft smile, “Thank you.” “Well, my work here is done,” Miss Redheart said, “You take care of her, okay?” “I will,” Rarity said, “Thank you so much for taking care of her.” “She was wonderful to attend to,” Miss Redheart placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder, “Are you going to be okay from here?” “I think so,” Trixie said, “It was nice meeting you, Miss Redheart.” “It was nice meeting you as well, Miss Lulamoon,” Miss Redheart said with a gentle smile. Trixie hugged her as a way of saying thank you, and then walked out of the hospital with Rarity beside her. It looked like Rarity was reading her a bit, but her smile quickly returned shortly after. “I don't feel safe leaving you alone, now that I know of your situation,” Rarity said as they exited the hospital. Whatever she was saying next got lost though, as Trixie's attention went skyward at the oddest sight. Floating above the entire city, Trixie could see what looked like translucent roads and structures in the sky. There were also a few glowing lights in the sky, and a couple of glowing rings all made of what looked like energy of some sort. Just what was that? “Trixie? What's wrong, darling?” Rarity asked walking back over to Trixie and looking up as well. “What is that up there?” Trixie asked, “In the sky?” Rarity frowned, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see it better, “I'm not sure what you're looking at, darling.” “Wait, you mean you…” Trixie stopped herself as she realized the answer to her own question. Rarity couldn't see it. As far as Trixie knew, she was the only one who could. “Trixie, are you okay?” Rarity asked, looking truly concerned. “I'm not sure,” Trixie released the breath she was holding in, “Too much weirdness.” Rarity placed a hand on Trixie's back comfortingly, “Tell you what, we'll go to my place. Spend the night there, and then we'll discuss what to do about your parents if they ask any questions tomorrow, okay?” Trixie nodded following after her new friend. She was really beginning to like this Rarity. “I'm home,” Rarity called into the house once she opened the door. Trixie took a second to look at the house exterior. It was a nice, surprisingly simple looking two story house with white walls that almost looked pink. Stepping inside she saw the interior was just as cozy and comfortable. Trixie looked to her left and saw the living room, which was pretty standard. Really, the only thing worth noting was the extravagant red couch that drew attention toward itself like a magnet. “Rarity, that you?” a younger girl's voice called out from upstairs. “Yes, it's me, love,” Rarity said setting her bag down, “I take it Mother and Father aren't back yet?” “They're extending their vacation by another week,” the other girl said. Trixie heard footsteps walking toward the stairs. “Honestly, I can't imagine why,” Rarity said walking into the kitchen, “Not like they're going to stick around for longer than a few days.” “Your parents travel a lot?” Trixie asked, following Rarity into the kitchen. Rarity nodded as she opened the fridge. “You can't tell, but we're actually quite well off,” Rarity explained, leaning into the fridge looking for something, “Dad's really good with stocks, and Mom's good with managing money. Thanks to that combination, we don't want for anything.” “So your parents just spend their money going on vacations?” Trixie asked, leaning against a wall and folding her arms. “Pretty much,” Rarity sighed, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a small blue and white bottle, apparently a milkshake, “We have pizza left over from last night. If you're hungry.” Trixie's stomach growled before she could get a word out, “I think my stomach just answered for me.” Whoever else was living here was coming downstairs now. Rarity giggled, “Alright. I'll heat up a few slices. Sweetie Belle, did you eat already?” “I was gonna heat up a slice too, so-” Trixie heard a gasp, “What's she doing here?!” Trixie turned around with a start, and almost did a double take. The girl was clearly younger than Rarity; based off her voice at least she had to be about fifteen at the oldest. She had long, curly pink and light purple hair, and light green eyes. Her attire however, consisted of a black and purple one piece skirt that was surprisingly short and hugged her growing figure nicely, black leather jacket, black fingerless gloves, fishnet stockings, and black high heeled boots. For make-up she wore black eyeliner and blood red lipstick. And she did not look pleased. “Ah! Sweetie Belle,” Rarity set the pizza box down and ran over to the newcomer, apparently Sweetie Belle, “Um, remember that person I took to the hospital yesterday?” “Yeah… I remember,” Sweetie Belle nodded, her eyes never leaving Trixie, “How does that connect to Beatrix being here?” “If you'll give me a second, I'll explain everything,” Rarity said, turning to Trixie, “Could you give us a few moments, darling?” Trixie nodded, eyes now meeting Sweetie Belle's. She could sense a lot of animosity in that gaze. Rarity lead Sweetie Belle into the living room, the latter narrowing her eyes before following the older girl. Trixie didn't want to eavesdrop, but she did manage to make out parts of their conversation. “And you believe her?” “I saw the look in her eyes. She looked absolutely distraught.” “That can be faked. She's just trying to get attention.” “I don't know, darling. With her getting knocked out by that weird light yesterday, she might be serious.” Wait. She saw the light that caused this? Whatever they were saying now was too low for Trixie to hear, but she could pretty easily make out what this meant. Something told her she wasn't the nicest to that girl in the black. Realizing that, Trixie wasn't sure how to feel. Rarity stepped out of the room taking a deep breath, apparently trying to calm herself down, “Well then, how about lunch, hm?” Trixie watched Rarity walk into the kitchen, trying a bit too hard to look normal. Trixie took a deep breath before speaking. “Did I hurt your sister?” Trixie asked. Rarity stopped cold, but didn't turn to face Trixie. “You… weren't the most pleasant person before this incident,” Rarity said, voice soft and distant. Trixie's heart sank, and she held her hand to her chest, gripping her hoodie as she looked down. “Then… why did you help me?” Trixie asked, “Why did you bring me here when-” “Because everybody deserves a little generosity,” Rarity interrupted. Trixie looked up and saw Rarity smiling quite genuinely at her, “You need help, so I'm going to do everything I can to help you.” Trixie felt a warmness in her heart seeing Rarity's genuine smile. Even knowing what she did to her sister, she didn't even think twice about helping her. It didn't seem natural for someone to be this kind. Rarity went to heat up the pizza for the three of them. Before Trixie could move, Sweetie Belle shoved past her and sat down at the table, close to the corner. There she just glared venomously at Trixie, even when they sat down to eat. Needless to say, Trixie sat close to Rarity as they ate in silence.
FriendsTrixie, please remember… Please hear my voice… The Dark Code is spreading… Please… Open your eyes… Just like before, Trixie awoke with a start. This time, she looked around the guest room Rarity put her in for the night, noticing the numbers. Okay, so they were real. She tried to avoid blinking this time so she could see what the numbers meant. As she looked at various things in the room, it looked like the numbers were telling her various things about them. Their height, weight, mass, and a few other things she couldn't quite understand. Her attention went to her phone lying on her bed stand, and noticed something odd. It looked like a green circle of data spinning over her phone. It looked kinda like a portal. Trixie accidentally blinked, but noticed that this time the numbers didn't vanish. Her heart racing, Trixie slowly picked up her phone. The portal stayed in place perfectly. Was it somehow connected to her phone? Curious as to what would happen, Trixie began reaching for the portal, slowly, her heart pounding faster and faster as her fingers inched closer to the- A knock on her door startled her out of her trance. “Trixie, darling? Are you up yet?” “Y-yeah. I'm up Rarity,” Trixie said. She looked back at the phone. The portal was gone. “I made breakfast. Come downstairs whenever you're ready, darling.” “T-thank you,” Trixie said, smiling softly at Rarity's continued kindness. Especially considering what she had possibly done to her little sister. She should not have forgiven her at all, let alone help her this much. As she heard Rarity's footsteps leave the hall, Trixie looked down at her phone with a confused frown. Just what was that? Why was she able to see- The Dark Code is spreading… “Dark… code…” Trixie said, a hand over her suddenly racing heart. She had no idea why, but for some reason the phrase “dark code” brought a deep seated dread from within. After showering and getting dressed, Trixie started making her way downstairs. There she saw Rarity leaning against a wall talking to someone on her cellphone. “Yes, Miss Lulamoon, your daughter is okay. Beyond the memory loss, she's perfectly healthy,” Rarity said, a soft smile on her face. She nodded, “Mm hm. She was awake when I checked on her, and I think I heard her-” Rarity turned to Trixie, her smile widening, “Actually Miss Lulamoon, she just stepped downstairs. Yes, I'll hand her the phone,” Rarity handed the phone to Trixie, “It's your Mother, darling.” Trixie felt a warmth in her heart, and slowly took the phone, “H-hello?” “Trixie!” the woman on the other end cried, apparently bursting into tears, “Oh my God, you're okay! I was so worried!” “Y-you were…?” Trixie asked, eyes widening as a lump built up in her throat. “When you didn't come home from school, I was frantic! And then you wouldn't answer your phone, and I just-” her mother's words were lost behind heavy sobs. “Mom… please don't cry,” Trixie said, her voice shaking a bit, “I'm okay now. Really.” she didn't remember this woman's face sadly, but something inside of Trixie already loved her. “You don't have to go to school today if you don't want to. Rarity has our address, so you can head home,” her mother said, trying to calm down. “That's okay,” Trixie said, “I… was kind of planning on going to school anyway. The nurse said that seeing the town would help me get my memories back quicker. Besides, if amnesia wasn't enough to keep me in the hospital, I doubt it's enough to miss school.” Her mother laughed, “There's my little girl. I knew she was still in there. Alright, if you're sure you'll be okay. But let the principal know about your situation, and tell her I said you could leave at any time if school was too stressful, okay honey?” Trixie nodded, wiping her eyes, “Okay. Thank you, M-Mom.” “You're quite welcome. I'll see you tonight, sweetie.” “See you tonight. And, Mom?” Trixie had to say this to her before she hung up. “Yes Trixie?” “I… love you,” Trixie said, that warm feeling consuming her completely. Her mother didn't answer right away, but Trixie did hear her suck in a breath right after she spoke. “I love you too, sweetie,” Trixie's mother said, voice barely audible. It sounded like she was about to cry again. She hung up before Trixie could ask if she was okay. Trixie leaned against a wall, sliding down to the floor. She then broke down completely as her emotions consumed her. She didn't even know why she was crying. Maybe because everyone had been so kind to her, so hearing her mother sent her over the edge. Maybe because deep down, she felt like she had probably been a pretty shitty daughter on top of being a bully to Sweetie Belle. Rarity sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around Trixie. Trixie in turn leaned into Rarity's embrace, holding onto her as if she were a lifeline. “What sort of person… was I…?” Trixie sobbed. “Who you were before doesn't matter,” Rarity said, gently rubbing Trixie's back comfortingly as she held her, “You've been given a chance to start over, and to be a new person.” “Will you help me?” Trixie looked desperately at Rarity, “Help me become a better person?” “I'll do much more than that, darling,” Rarity said smiling, “I won't abandon you, Trixie. Ever.” “Can we… be friends?” Trixie asked Rarity. She knew she was asking for a lot, but she had to try. “Oh darling, I had already assumed we were,” Rarity said, her hand cupping Trixie's cheek as her thumb wiped away a tear. Once again overcome with emotion, Trixie wrapped her arms around Rarity, this time laughing happily. This was truly the happiest she'd ever been since waking up. Sure, she didn't have her memories back, but she had a true friend now. One that she made. Rarity seemed shocked at first, but she quickly relaxed and wrapped her arms around Trixie in return. The wonderful moment was soon lost though as Trixie became aware that they weren't alone. Suddenly, Trixie's heart was racing for a completely different reason as a feeling of dread washed over her. Rarity too had tensed up a bit, her arms still wrapped around Trixie, who slowly looked up to the top of the stairs. There she saw Sweetie Belle, still dressed in her goth attire, staring down at them from the top of the stairs. She was breathing heavily, eyes narrowed and lips curled in a hate filled snarl. She was flexing her fingers, clearly trying to stay in control. “How long have you been there?” Rarity asked slowly, her voice low and cautious. “Long enough,” was all Sweetie Belle said before starting down the stairs. Trixie was terrified she was going to do something like attack her, but instead she just walked past them, picked up her school bag, and walked out of the door apparently to school. She didn't even slam the door closed. That was almost more terrifying. “Did I… mess up?” Trixie asked Rarity, who sighed. “No darling, you're fine,” Rarity said, “I'm just going to have to have a long talk with Sweetie Belle, is all.” Trixie really hoped she'd be able to dodge Sweetie Belle today at school. She didn't know if Sweetie Belle was the type to carry knives, but she didn't want to find out. The walk to school was a quiet one for most of it. After Sweetie Belle left, Trixie felt really awkward being around Rarity. Almost like she was doing something wrong. Sure, she needed Rarity's help, but did she deserve it was the real question. When they stopped at the traffic light, Trixie stole a glance at Rarity, to gauge her emotional state. Her concern was pretty hard to miss, as Trixie quickly learned that Rarity was the type to wear her emotions on her sleeves. At least she's genuine. Rarity must have noticed, because her eyes quickly looked in Trixie's direction, prompting the light blue haired teen to quickly turn away. “I'm not mad at you,” Rarity said, “If that's what you're concerned about.” “Good, because I was wondering about that,” Trixie said, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, “Still, you're amazing.” “Oh? How so?” Trixie turned to Rarity incredulous, “Are you for real? Your arch nemesis just spent the night at your house. Your little sister hates me. And yet you're still helping me. I just don't get you.” Rarity gave a light, pleasant laugh, “First of all, I'd hardly call you my arch nemesis. To me, you were little more than a minor nuisance.” “Fair enough, and honestly not sure how I feel about that,” Trixie said as they started walking on green, “But what about Sweetie Belle? She's family, isn't she? Aren't you loyal to her?” “Trust me, I am,” Rarity said, “What do you think I'm wracking my brain for. I'm trying to figure out what to say to her. However, I can't just not help someone in need. Yes, you hurt my little sister, and I am holding you accountable for that somewhat, but I promised I'd help you, and I always keep my promises.” Trixie didn't know what to say to that. She opted to just leave it at that for now. Besides, it wasn't like she remembered doing anything to Sweetie Belle. As they walked, Trixie looked around the colorful suburban town. She hoped that walking around town would jog her memory, like maybe she'd see her house and instantly recognize it. Instead, she found herself wondering if every house she looked at was hers. Still, it was a really nice town. There were lots of colorful houses, each with their own small patch of land. Plenty of trees shared that land, which meant that there were plenty of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and other tiny creatures scattered around. It was like something out of a fairy tale. “Sure is beautiful here,” Trixie said, smiling at the beauty around her. “I know,” Rarity closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, “It's truly wonderful here, isn't it? I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. This is my kingdom, and my friends and I will protect it no matter what.” “That's, an odd thing to say,” Trixie said, tilting her head, “You sounded almost serious about protecting this place.” “Well, my friends and I aren't new to magical disturbances,” Rarity said, “Don't worry about it for now, darling. Just know that you're in good hands, alright?” “R-right,” Trixie nodded. She wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she had a feeling that was as good as she was getting for now. They continued to walk in silence again, Trixie turning to her right to the girl with light pink- “WHOA!” Trixie cried in shock, realizing that a third person was now walking with them. Said new person had really long light pink hair, large cyan eyes, and for make up was wearing pink eye shadow and light pink lip gloss. She was fair skinned like Rarity, slender build, and wore a simple white blouse, green skirt, pink knee socks, and green and yellow boots. Finally in her hair was a butterfly hairpin, same as the butterfly on her school bag. “Fluttershy, there you are,” Rarity said, completely undeterred, “It's fine, darling. Fluttershy here's my friend too.” “Hello,” the new girl said, her voice really soft and breathy, kind of hard to hear, if Trixie was being completely honest. “Hi,” Trixie said waving, “You are too quiet.” “You looked like you were in deep thought,” Fluttershy whispered, “I didn't want to disturb you.” That… was almost too sweet. Yep, she was definitely one of Rarity's friends. “I see,” Trixie leaned in close to Rarity, “Does she know about…?” “Oh yes, I told her already,” Rarity nodded, “After you went to bed, I sent everyone texts about what happened. Twilight's already looking into what that light was, and since Applejack always gets to school early, she offered to tell the Principal ahead of time about you losing your memory. Twilight? Applejack? Too many names! Trixie couldn't keep up with all of them! “Um… okay,” Trixie said, forcing her head to stop spinning, “And they're just going to take Applejack at her word?” “Applejack never lies,” Fluttershy said, making Trixie's heart leap a bit as she forgot she was even there for a second, “Everyone in school trusts her word.” “Of course they do,” Trixie rolled her eyes. At this point she just assumed that they were all a bunch of saints. When they arrived at the large building that Trixie assumed was her school, she was floored. It looked almost like something you'd find straight out of a fairy tale. The walls were pink and white, the architecture made it look almost like a church or small castle, the only small blemish was the remains of what appeared to be a statue on a large marble stand in front of the school gate, and all that did was make Trixie want to know the story behind it. She assumed it was epic. Standing by the statue waiting for them were two other girls. The girl sitting on the stand had an athletic build, striking magenta colored eyes, and long rainbow colored hair. She wore a white t-shirt with a rainbow colored thunderbolt on the front, blue jacket, pink and white skirt over black leggings, rainbow colored socks, and blue boots. Despite clearly being more on the tomboy side, Trixie was shocked to see she had a notably and very pretty feminine face. The other girl was leaning against the stand, arms folded under her more hefty bosom. She had emerald green eyes, long thick blond hair tied together at the end to keep it somewhat manageable, and wore a green and white western styled shirt, light blue denim skirt, and legit brown cowgirl boots. On both the front of the boots and her belt was a red apple insignia, and on her head was an honest to God cowgirl hat. “I live in a freaking fairy tale,” Trixie just admitted, trying to decide if this was heaven or hell. Currently leaning closer to heaven. “Applejack, darling~” Rarity skipped over to the hat wearing girl, who immediately scooped her up into her arms and planted a loving kiss on Rarity's lips. Well, that made their relationship pretty clear. “Howdy Rares, how was it last night?” Applejack asked, accent thick but still easy to understand. “Oh, Trixie was an absolute dear,” Rarity said, “It's crazy, but she's honestly a completely different person.” The rainbow haired girl raised an eyebrow, jumped down, and then walked over to Trixie. She circled her, eying her closely. Trixie swallowed nervously before attempting to speak. “I… take it you and I have-” the rainbow haired girl raised her hand shushing Trixie. “I didn't say you could speak yet, now did I?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Trixie closed her mouth and shook her head quickly, just letting the rainbow colored girl do her thing. She stopped right in front of Trixie and narrowed her eyes, “You really don't remember anything, huh?” “Nothing,” Trixie said looking to the side, “But if I ever did anything at all to you or any of your friends, I'm sorry. I don't remember them, nor the person I used to be, but I can at least apologize.” The rainbow haired girl nodded, and then held out her hand, “Works for me. The name's Rainbow Dash. Trust me, you'll remember it.” she said, followed by an extremely arrogant smirk. Trixie smiled and shook her hand. “Yeah, probably 'cause you're gonna be screamin' in every five seconds,” the girl wearing the hat said, now walking over to them, “The name's Applejack. Consider the slate wiped clean by my standards.” “Thank you so much,” Trixie said, now shaking Applejack's hand, “So, what's this you said about a light?” “Oh, that's easy! That's the aliens, silly!” “WHOA!” Trixie screamed at the new voice. She was really tired of people doing that. The only word that could describe this girl was fun. Her hair was long, full, and dark pink almost like cotton candy, her eyes were sky blue, and the one piece dress she wore was white up top with a pink heart in the middle, and came down into a light purple skirt that stopped at her knees. She wore blue bracelets around her wrists, light blue heeled boots with pink bows at the top, and around her waist, she wore a purple belt tied behind her in a bow. “Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, New Trixie. Hey, should I call you “New Trixie”? Should I call you Beatrix? That's a really pretty name, I always wanted to tell you that. Off topic. Right. Oooooh! Maybe you want a brand new nickname! How about something completely out of left field and epic sounding! Or-” Trixie put her finger on the fun girl's lips, gently shushing her. “Or you could all just keep calling me what you always did, and we all act natural,” Trixie suggested. To her pleasant surprise, Pinkie Pie wasn't offended at all. She just smiled and nodded in agreement. “Trixie it is then. Can I still give you that hug I was planning on giving you?” Pinkie Pie asked. Trixie laughed, and nodded. Pinkie Pie immediately wrapped her arms around her, not so tight that Trixie couldn't breathe, but tight enough where Trixie was surprised, “I'd introduce you to Twilight and Sunset next, but they're inside already researching the alien beam of light that shot down on you.” “Pinkie Pie, for the last time, Trixie wasn't attacked by aliens,” Applejack groaned, “It was probably jus' somethin' from the other side of the portal, is all.” “You mean more Equestrian Magic?” Fluttershy asked, “Oooh, I think I'd prefer aliens.” “Um, excuse me,” Trixie raised her hand to get everyone's attention, “Wanna fill me in? Since I'm the one the light hit, you know.” “Trixie is right,” Rarity pointed out, “If this is related to Equestrian Magic, she needs to know what's going on too.” The first bell rang as if on cue. “Look, as much as I'd love to play twenty questions, I can't afford to be late again. So let's just take her to the usual place after school so we can also hear what Sunset and Twilight figure out.” “Trixie darling, does that work for you?” Rarity asked. “Yeah, that's okay,” Trixie nodded, “I just… need to know where the “usual” place is.” “Um,” Fluttershy tugged at Trixie's hoodie, once again making her jump, “You and I have the same class before the final bell, so I'll take you there.” “Oh, thanks,” Trixie said, trying to calm her racing heart, “Just, when you come, announce your presence to me. Please. Make sure I know you're there ahead of time.” Fluttershy tilted her head adorably, but then nodded in acceptance. Trixie wasn't sure if that was one of actual understanding, or if she should be worried. This one was really hard to read. “Rainbow Dash and I'll take ya to the Principal's office to get another copy of your schedule,” Applejack said, “It's on the way to our class, so I figure why not?” “I didn't have to do this, ya know,” Rainbow Dash taunted, “I'll accept a kiss on the hand as payment this time, but only cause I like ya. Next time, cash only.” “Thanks… I… think…?” Trixie said/asked. Rarity had some interesting friends. “Well, I best be off then,” Rarity said, making her way to the school building, “I'll see you later, Trixie.” “Um, see you,” Trixie waved, a bit confused as to why she was leaving ahead of them like that, “Does she take special classes or something?” “Rarity's a senior,” Rainbow Dash said, “Probably won't see much of her in school, sadly.” “Speakin' of, let's go,” Applejack said. Trixie nodded, and followed after her new… friends? Trixie wasn't sure what they were yet. But so far, she did like them. She stopped at the front door and looked up at the sky. Just like before, she could see what to Trixie looked almost like an upside down city with multiple translucent roads and highways. Some of these roads looked like they even led closer to the surface, now that Trixie was taking another look at them. “I wonder what you are,” Trixie murmured, before turning back toward the school and walking inside. Hopefully she'd learn something about what happened to her after school. Based on what she already knew though, Pinkie Pie's theory of aliens might not have been too far from the truth. Sweetie Belle stepped out from behind the base of the statue, glaring at the now closed door. She didn't care if she was late for school, not when she just saw the dumbest thing in her life. “You've got to be kidding me,” Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head incredulously, “They actually believe that bitch's sob story?”
AccessAzrael…! He's… still here…! Where is he…? Why can I sense him…? I deleted him…! So why…? How…? It doesn't make sense…! Go… my Dark Code spawn… Search and destroy… Leave no corner unchecked… This time I am the hunter… And you… are the hunted… I will delete you! MegaMan! “Alright, come in,” Trixie heard the teacher say from inside, Cheerilee was it? Trixie opened the door and walked into the classroom, already tuning into the murmurs of her alleged fellow classmates. She stood next to the teacher, a kind woman with light pink hair that was graying a bit, simple pink and white dress and black shoes, and a gentle smile, and faced the students. “As some of you may already be aware,” Cheerilee continued, “Trixie was in an accident, and is having a bit of memory trouble. I'd like to ask all of you to take it easy with her, and to help her with anything she might need today.” Trixie heard the murmuring get louder, enough where she could make out what a few were saying. “She's standing so different now…” “Dude, you think that rumor was for real?” “I dunno man. This is Trixie we're talking about.” “But she's giving off a completely different vibe now. Can't fake that.” Great, Trixie thought rolling her eyes, she was the student known for tall tales. She had done this two times already, so had heard various things that gave the impression she was a bit of a liar. No wonder Sweetie Belle didn't believe her amnesia, and it's no surprise that Lyra didn't believe her either. I'm going to have to completely rebuild myself… I wanna slap the old me now… “Do you have any questions, honey?” Cheerilee asked, placing a hand on Trixie's back. “Where did I sit in your class?” Trixie asked. Before Cheerilee could answer, one of the students shot her hand up. “Next to me!” the student called out, this one being a girl with light green hair, and loose spring attire. She had a hopeful smile on her face as she looked at Trixie. “Well, there you go,” Cheerilee said, “Your seat is next to Lyra over there.” Lyra… That was, Lyra… “Thank you,” Trixie said before walking over to her supposed close friend and sitting down in the seat next to her, putting her next to the window close to the back of the classroom. “Hey,” Lyra said leaning in close to Trixie, “I'm Lyra Heartstrings. We talked on the phone while you were in the hospital. “Right… Lyra,” Trixie said, looking Lyra up and down. Did she recognize her? Was she starting to remember? Trixie wasn't sure. She wanted to say she felt something for the girl next to her, especially with how she was smiling at Trixie. For some reason, her heart sank at the sight of that smile “Don't try to hard to remember everything,” Lyra said, “We have all school year. You have to meet Bon Bon after school, though.” “Um… sure,” Trixie said with a slight smile, “I'd love to meet… um, her.” she was trying to remember what their relationship was, but nothing came to her. Trixie sighed to herself before turning to give the teacher her full attention. Say what you would about school, but it gave Trixie's mind something else to focus on. She appreciated school for that alone. As she took notes, her attention wandered to some of the other students. Some of them averted their eyes the second she looked their way, some just looked uncomfortable, and a few just looked really concerned. It was so hard to gauge what sort of person she was from those reactions, but she wasn't getting a good impression. Focus on who you are now instead of who you were, huh? Yeah, easier said than done. Trixie sighed and put her focus back on her notes. She was starting to think coming to school was a mistake after all. At the last bell, Trixie immediately began packing up her books, looking at the paper that had her schedule to see where her next class was. “So lunch is next,” Trixie said, breathing out in relief, “Good. I need a break from everything.” “Finding everything okay?” “Huh?” Trixie turned to Lyra, who was still sitting next to her smiling attentively, “Oh, um, yeah. I am.” “God, relax Trixie,” Lyra said, reaching over to take her hand, “I'm your best friend.” Best friend. That's what they were according to Lyra. So… why couldn't Trixie feel it? “I'll walk you to the cafeteria,” Lyra offered, rising from her desk, “We have the same lunch, so I don't mind.” “Actually, I need to be away from people for a bit,” Trixie said as she rose from her desk, “I was going to eat outside.” “Oh, that's okay then,” Lyra said, not missing a beat, “Want me to join you? I could get Bon Bon to-” “No, no, I um… I was hoping I could just…” Trixie trailed off, hoping that Lyra would understand what she was trying to say. Lyra slowly nodded as a look of understanding came over her, “Ooooh, I see. I am so sorry, Trixie,” she said laughing it off, “God this is so awkward.” “I… y-yeah…” Trixie looked away from Lyra, “I have to go.” “See you after school then?” Lyra asked as Trixie pushed past her. Trixie stopped, and took a second to calm her nerves. Why she was getting irritated, she had no idea. “I can't,” Trixie said after centering herself, “I'm going with Fluttershy someplace after school. I'll talk to you later, okay.” She pushed out of the classroom before Lyra could say anything, and began making her way to her locker. Once she tracked it down again, Trixie pulled out the lunch she made with Rarity's help, locked her books inside for the time being, and went outside through the front door of the school. After learning she could eat lunch outside, she made a point to do so with the intent of investigating those odd structures in the sky. But now she just needed the time alone. Once outside, she took a deep breath, soaking in the more quiet atmosphere. How anyone could manage in a such a loud place she had no idea. Spotting a lone tree a bit away from the school, Trixie walked over to it, sitting down underneath it. Since it was still technically on school grounds, she figured it was okay, and decreased the chances of someone coming out to join her. Trixie stretched, and then fell onto her back, laying in the grass and looking up at the sky above her. Here she could see the translucent highways and building like structures in the sky clearly. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to get more details, noticing for the first time the roads weren't solid. At first, they looked made of glass, but now Trixie was wondering if what she was seeing was made of energy. Was it even real? The fact only she could see it put that into question. She thought about asking a few students if they could see it too, but once she learned of her dishonest reputation, she thought against it. But based on how no one else looked up or mentioned it, either it was something that was just there and no one talked about, or they didn't even know it was there. And since Rarity had already confirmed for her that she saw nothing, it was safe to assume the latter. Trixie closed her eyes and gave a frustrated huff. She didn't know what was frustrating her more. Her memory loss, or the weird upside down city in the sky that no one else could see. Right now, both were rather irritating. Maybe I should just head home, Trixie thought to herself somberly. She gave it an honest attempt, but between her past reputation, pushy “best friends” who meant well, and supernatural phenomenon only she experienced, it was becoming too much for her. Just as she resolved to pack it in, she was startled by the sight of Fluttershy, who had once again come out of nowhere. “Christ! Someone needs to put a bell on you or something,” Trixie said, steadying her breathing. “Actually, you opened your eyes before I could say anything,” Fluttershy said, turning her head in a way that covered part of her face with her hair. Trixie wondered if that was intentional. “Oh, my apologies then,” Trixie said, “I didn't expect any other student to…” she stopped herself as she realized pretty quickly what was going on, “This… is your spot… isn't it?” she asked slowly, Fluttershy's response being a soft nod, “Well, this is awkward. You can have your spot. I was about to head back inside anyway.” “I don't mind,” Fluttershy whispered, just loud enough for Trixie to hear. Trixie still kind of wanted to just go home, but she decided to at least stay to finish lunch. Besides, she had a feeling that Fluttershy saying that was a big gesture on her part. “Thank you,” Trixie said, relaxing as Fluttershy sat down next to her. Fluttershy opened her school bag, and first pulled out a bag full of seeds. She then threw them out in front of her and Trixie, where a flock of birds immediately landed in front of them, almost as if they were waiting for lunch too. Trixie was certain one bird even chirped out a “thank you” before eating. Fluttershy smiled gently, and then pulled out a beautifully crafted salad in a pink salad bowl. Trixie wasn't surprised at all that Fluttershy was a vegetarian. “They really like you,” Trixie said, softly as to not scare the birds away, “Are you a bird whisperer or something?” Fluttershy giggled, “Something like that. Just for animals in general.” “I'm not surprised,” Trixie went back to her lunch, suddenly feeling a bit awkward eating her chicken salad sandwich, “You strike me as the type who'd be interested in nature,” Fluttershy nodded, but Trixie could swear she saw a bit of darkness in her eyes as she looked down. Not knowing what else to say, they fell into a comfortable silence as they ate their respective lunches. Somehow, Trixie just felt comfortable sitting next to Fluttershy, like her very presence put her heart at ease. After a few minutes of silence, Trixie felt the need to just ask. Fluttershy knew of her situation, after all. “Hey, can I ask you a weird question? I need to know if I'm going crazy,” Fluttershy nodded, prompting Trixie to continue, “Do you see anything like a… city in the sky, surrounded by colorful roads of energy?” the second she said it out loud, she felt silly. To her credit though, Fluttershy did look up, and she looked closely. Eventually though, she shook her head. Trixie sighed. “Okay, so going crazy it is,” Trixie pouted. Not that she expected much else, but she'd hoped that one person would- “I believe you.” Trixie turned to Fluttershy slowly, eyes wide in shock. “You believe me? Just like that?” Trixie asked, shock evident in her tone. “You were hit by a light from the sky,” Fluttershy said. Trixie could make out a faint dryness in her tone. She did not peg Fluttershy for the snarky type. “Right. Keep forgetting that you're all apparently experts in this stuff, for some reason,” Trixie took a bite from her sandwich, swallowing it before continuing, “What do you think that light is?” “I'm not sure, honestly,” Fluttershy admitted, “This is so different than what we're used to dealing with.” “You mentioned Equestrian magic,” Trixie said, “What's that?” Fluttershy swallowed a mouthful of her salad, and pointed to the statue remains, “Underneath the statue is a portal to a magical world inhabited by pastel colored pony doppelgangers of everyone in Canterlot city. We deal with magic from that world when it leaks out into ours.” Trixie just stared at Fluttershy. She said all of that with a straight face, too. “And suddenly I don't feel like the craziest person in the school,” Trixie said, laughing a bit in relief. Fluttershy giggled too, which put Trixie's heart at ease. “Everyone in the school knows about it,” Fluttershy said, looking to the side as her thoughts apparently went back to those times, “Kind of hard to miss some of the more flashy moments.” “You… don't seem to enjoy it much,” Trixie noted. “I… still have nightmares about the last incident,” Fluttershy admitted softly. Trixie really felt for this girl. She had no idea what she had to deal with, but it was clear it was a bit too much for her to handle. “Well, for what it's worth, I like sitting with you, so if you ever just wanna vent, feed the birds, sit in totally not awkward silence,” that earned another giggle from Fluttershy, “then I'm… open for it.” Trixie went back to eating her lunch, fully aware of Fluttershy's gaze, but choosing not to meet it. She didn't even know why she made that offer, but it just felt like deep down she just… needed to extend an olive branch of sorts, just in case Fluttershy was one of her unknown victims along with Sweetie Belle. “Thank you,” Fluttershy said after a second. Trixie turned to Fluttershy, greeted with a truly grateful smile. Feeling that warm feeling in her chest again, Trixie resumed lunch in silence next to Fluttershy, who after a bit scooted a bit closer to Trixie. She didn't mind in the slightest. On one of the lower roads close to the school, a small squad of oddly shaped creatures appeared. These creatures were tiny probably only coming to about three or four feet in height, they had round gray bodies and big emotional eyes, cute yellow feet, and were all wearing yellow hard hats with green crosses on the front and what looked like a golden halo of data hovering over a pointed antenna on their heads. The tiny creatures gathered together in a group around one of their comrades, who despite not looking any different was clearly the leader. The leader made a few cute noises, clearly relaying orders, which were followed by cheers of confirmation from the rest. They then scattered around, some using a nearby transporter that connected to the school, but some staying outside to investigate. One walked over to the edge of the road, spotting Trixie and Fluttershy sitting together. It's eyes stopped on Trixie, who for some reason was giving off familiar data. Was that who they were looking for? It decided to take a chance and shadow the teenager for a bit. If that was who they were looking for, this was going to be easier than their creator thought it would. In the end, Trixie decided it was best to remain in school. Something about spending time with Fluttershy helped put her at ease. Probably because she knew at least someone in this place believed her about the odd city in the sky. As classes proceeded, Lyra was still being a tad bit pushy, but she seemed to let up a bit. Trixie did get to meet Bon Bon, who apparently was Lyra’s girlfriend. She had to admit, they did make a cute couple. Trixie began to wonder if there was anyone here she was interested in, or if anyone was interested in her. Considering her reputation, probably not. That was a lonely and depressing thought, not gonna lie. But something else had her a bit concerned. She didn’t know for sure, but sometime after lunch she felt like she was being watched. She tried not to be too obvious in case she was right, but it was starting to freak her out a bit. As the school day came to a close, Trixie rested her head on her desk, trying to collect her thoughts a bit. She felt like there was something she needed to do, something she was forgetting. “Um, Trixie?” She tried to remember exactly what that was, but soon found her eyes getting a bit heavy. Maybe she was more exhausted from the day than she thought. “Everyone’s waiting for us. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.” Maybe she could just take a few minutes to relax a bit. At least, she would have done so, if she hadn’t suddenly felt someone put their hand on her shoulder, making her damn near jump out of her skin. “Ahh!” she looked up to see Fluttershy standing over her, “Good God, how do you keep doing that?” “I’m not sure,” Fluttershy said quietly, hiding behind her long pink hair again, “I tried to announce my presence, like you requested.” “It’s fine. That’s on me, this time,” Trixie said rising from her desk, starting to remember what was supposed to happen after school, “We were going someplace, right?” Fluttershy nodded, “The music room. It’s where we always meet after class. Twilight and Sunset have been looking into the weird blue light that hit you.” “Right, the light that apparently took my memories,” Trixie muttered rubbing her arm, “Well, lead the way.” Fluttershy smiled, and took Trixie’s hand, gently guiding her through the school. As they walked, Trixie noticed that feeling again. The feeling of being watched. This time, as they turned the corner, Trixie took a quick look behind them, and saw the oddest thing. A tiny yellow and gray looking creature with big eyes hiding behind a corner. It looked like it was wearing a hard hat, and it was definitely out of place. But something told her that like the roads outside, she was the only one who could see it. “Remember those roads I told you about?” Trixie asked Fluttershy, who nodded, “Don’t be alarmed, but I think something from up there is following us.” Fluttershy paled a bit, swallowing nervously, “Is it, dangerous?” “Can’t tell yet,” Trixie admitted, “Is your locker close to here?” the shy teen nodded again, more subtly this time, “Alright. Slight detour. Take me to your locker and get your books. While you do that, I’ll pretend to be preoccupied and carefully look to see if it’s actually following us.” Fluttershy nodded again, and Trixie could tell she was getting really worried. Still, she followed the plan, as they turned down another hallway and went to Fluttershy’s locker, which was on the lower row. As she knelt down to get her books, Trixie pulled out her phone and began fiddling with a few apps, her eyes wandering to the hall they just walked down. Only to find their stalker right there, still keeping watch on them. What really had her concerned was when a second one showed up, also looking at them. “Shit,” Trixie swore, just as Fluttershy rose to her feet. “Is it still there?” she asked in a whisper. “There’s two of them now,” Trixie said, for the first time a familiar feeling coming over her. For the first time since this whole thing began, she felt like she was remembering something. Whatever those things are, they’re dangerous. “We can’t lead them to your friends,” Trixie said, her tone changing a bit, “We need to lead them away from anyplace they can hurt other students.” “So, they are...” “I think so,” Trixie said taking a deep breath, leading Fluttershy away and trying not to draw too much attention to themselves, “Is the gym being used right now?” “It shouldn’t be,” Fluttershy said softly, breathing noticeably heavier. “They’re probably after me, so if this is too much, head someplace safe,” Trixie said, placing a hand on Fluttershy’s back to comfort her. “I… I can’t,” Fluttershy shook her head, “If those things are at all related to Equestrian Magic, I… I need to try and do something. Even if I’m scared.” Trixie looked at Fluttershy intently, a warm feeling washing over her. She was a good person. Very courageous. More so than Trixie thought initially. “Alright,” Trixie smiled, “When I say so, we run, okay?” Fluttershy took a deep breath to prepare herself, “Now!” The two booked it down the hall. Sure enough, the odd creatures were running after them. She was sure now. Something about this felt extremely familiar to her. She embraced the feeling, trying to see if she could remember anything about those monsters. The word “Virus” came to mind. Some of the students noticed them running through the halls, and she was pretty sure at one point the Vice Principal (she forgot her name, but she remembered it being pretty) called after them to stop running in the halls, but Trixie was certain that if they stopped running now, something bad was going to happen. “Which way to the gym?!” Trixie asked frantically. “It’s down that hall!” Fluttershy replied, pointing down the path to the right, “It’s the doors at the far end!” “Thanks!” Trixie said, noticing three more Viruses run from the hall to the left to try and cut them off. They seemed to sprout pick axes, and slammed down onto the ground, sending shock waves at the two girls. Trixie pushed Fluttershy out of the way on instinct, and watched the wave rush down the hall, stopping when it hit the back wall and exploding into a bright explosion, making one student jump in shock. “W-w-would that, have h-h-hit us…?” Fluttershy asked, now visibly trembling. Trixie’s eyes were just wide watching that. This meant that those Viruses, despite being in another plane of existence, could hurt people physically. “Keep moving!” Trixie said, pushing Fluttershy in the direction of the gym. She needed to be in a more open space so she could work out a means of fighting these things. When the two girls made it to the gym, an odd green wave moved across the room, seemingly scanning the interior, “W-what was that…?” Fluttershy asked looking around. “You saw it too?” Trixie asked, standing back to back with Fluttershy, “That’s, not a good sign.” there were white flashes next to the side door, and those Viruses reappeared, slowly walking over to them. Fluttershy screamed stepping back, “M-m-monsters…!” Trixie turned to Fluttershy briefly, and then went back to the Viruses, slowly backing away with Fluttershy, on instinct keeping the terrified teen behind her. They’re not after her, but I bet they CAN hurt her! Shit! I should have just run off on my own! She looked to the side and saw the janitor’s equipment left behind. She picked up the mop and held it forward like a bo staff. She didn’t know what she was doing anymore, but something said she needed to fight these things. “T-Trixie…? What are you doing…?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t, entirely know, but my body remembers something,” Trixie said, gritting her teeth, “That these things need to be destroyed now!” she screamed and ran toward the monsters, swinging the makeshift staff. Unfortunately, the Viruses jumped and rolled out of all of the attacks. She managed to get a lucky hit on one, but its hat grew and the Virus hid inside of it, defending itself from the attack, and causing the mop to break in half. “Damn it!” Trixie swore, only for the Viruses to fire another shock wave at her, knocking her onto the floor away. “Trixie!” Fluttershy cried helplessly. She gasped as some of the Viruses were slowly approaching her now too, “Please no…! I… I don’t want to die…!” Trixie slowly looked up, seeing the Viruses split up. Two were approaching Fluttershy, while three of them were standing over her. She needed to do something to protect her. It was partially her fault that this happened in the first place! “What, do I do now…?!” Trixie asked in frustration. What are you doing?! MegaMan, get up! That girl’s in trouble! A voice. They sounded like a little boy, only 10 if that. But something about that voice sounded, familiar. Like somewhere in the back of her mind. “D-Data…?” Trixie asked slowly, unsure of why she said that. Use the app! Shift to Active Mode, and save her! “R-right…!” Trixie said, slowly getting up and pulling out her cell phone. She had no idea why she did this, or how she knew to do it, but Fluttershy was in danger. Something was coming back to her. A feeling that was foreign, yet familiar. She looked at her smart phone, and saw a new app on it. It looked like a blue circle of data, with green letters from another language. She blinked, and the letters suddenly read “ACCESS”. She gripped her smart phone tightly, tapped the app, and then held her phone into the air, saying the first words that came to mind. “ID: Beatrix Lulamoon, logging in!” Identification accepted A blue light engulfed Trixie, who seemed to briefly vanish from the gymnasium. The Viruses all turned to look in her direction, trembling in fear for some reason. This caught Fluttershy’s attention as well, but for some reason she felt like this was a good thing. For Trixie, things got strange. Her clothes vanished completely, replaced with a short blue and white dress that looked almost like a ballerina’s dress, but with sharp armored shoulder pads, an armored breastplate that pushed her breasts up a bit accentuating them, and a dark blue bow tied behind her back, leaving long ribbons to fall behind her. She held her arms out, and blue data converged around them, turning into large blue and white armored gauntlets. The same blue data converged over her legs, forming large armored high heeled boots that were somewhat bulky, but still slick and elegant looking, following the same color scheme. Over Trixie’s eyes, more data gathered, turning into a fancy blue visor. Her transformation ended, she reappeared back in the gymnasium standing proudly in a fighting stance. What felt like minutes to her, seemed to only take a second in real time. “Trixie…?” Fluttershy asked slowly, “W-what happened, to you…?” Trixie took a look at herself in shock and confusion. The dress she wore was super short, and she felt like it shouldn’t have protected much of anything. Yet somehow, she felt stronger. She looked at the Viruses, all of which looked downright frantic for some reason. They’re afraid of me…? Like this… I can beat them! Through Trixie’s visor, she scanned the enemies. The name “Mettaur Lvl. 1” appeared over all of their heads, along with a red gauge. She looked off to the side and saw a number percentage showing “100” which felt super important for some reason. One of the Mettaurs slammed their pickax on the floor, sending a shock wave toward her. This time, she was able to roll to the side out of the way just in time. Okay, so I’m guessing that the number is like what? My health or something? That’s what feels right to me. I’m seeing their health bars too, I think. They don’t look too strong, so let’s see what options I have to fight back. She noticed what looked like a small screen on her left gauntlet. She put her hand on that and saw a list of five attacks come up, surprising her a bit. Before she could think to pick one, two more Mettaurs launched their shock waves at Trixie, forcing her to quickly dodge out of the way. “Trixie, please be careful!” Fluttershy cried. “Yeah! Got it!” Trixie said, steadying herself, “Just trying to figure out how to use this weird armor!” she’d question where it came from later. For now, she needed to figure out how to use it. Okay okay, focus! I see two Cannons. Maybe I should pick one? She picked Cannon, and noticed that all of the other options darkened, except for the second Cannon. Realizing what that meant, she picked the second one, and then pushed “OK” on the screen of her gauntlet, which seemed to be a touch screen like her cellphone. Now on her Visor, she saw the Cannon options, along with almost feeling the weapons within her. Could she…? “Target!” she screamed, pointing her left arm forward. Her arm turned into a large blue cannon similar to the one on the picture, and she fired at one of the Mettaurs, knocking it back. She saw its red health bar go all the way down, and it vanished in a tiny explosion. She just killed one…? That wasn’t too hard at all! One Mettaur slammed its pickax down on the ground, sending another shock wave at Trixie. This taught her two things. One, these things weren’t too bright since they kept using the same attack, and only when they were in front of her. Two, they probably only had the one attack. She pulled out the second Cannon and pointed it forward. “You’re wide open!” she cried, firing at another Mettaur killing it instantly. She tried to pull up the screen again, but noticed it wouldn’t come up for some reason, “What?! What’s wrong?! I need another attack!” “Trixie, in front of you!” Trixie looked up a bit too late, as a shock wave hit her, knocking her back a bit. It hurt, but not as much as she thought it would. She did see the number go down from 100 to 70, though. “Well, that tells me I was right about my health bar...” she groaned, now seeing another blue gauge slowly rising, about half way done, “Let me guess. Can’t pull up the attack screen until that’s max? Okay, so what now? I still need a weapon!” she pointed her arm forward, and this time it glowed, turning into a blue and white arm cannon, “Huh. Well that’s convenient,” she began firing her new weapon at the Mettaurs. The arm cannon didn’t seem to do a lot, as the shots were just sharp blue arrow like blast. Each one seemed to take down a Mettaur’s health by about 10 percent, which with a bit of effort, and a lot of dodging, she managed to kill one with it. The gauge went up, now glowing and saying “Ready”. She wasted no time pulling it up. She saw a few new attacks now. Replacing the Cannons she saw something called “Flash Step” and “Wide Sword”. Flash Step? Wide Sword? Huh, looking at the info, Flash Step moves me right in front of the enemy I’m targeting, and Wide Sword can hit up to three enemies on the same line beside each other? Looking how those two are standing, I could take them out at the same time, but if I rush over to them, one will just guard. If only I could surprise them with Flash Step. She then noticed a letter underneath both Flash Step and Wide Sword. They both had the letter “V” underneath them. She wondered if that meant what she thought it meant, and picked Flash Step first. Sure enough, the only other program not blackened was Wide Sword. She gave a smug grin and picked Wide Sword. This was gonna be fun if she pulled this off. Once she pushed OK, she gave her enemies her full attention. One tried to attack with its shock wave, but she moved out of the way just in time, sadly landing into the second one’s attack. Now showing 40, the number turned red, along with an annoying but urgent sounding alarm going off in her head. Shoot! Going critical! I need to end this NOW! Right when she saw her opening, she used Flash Step, appearing right in front of the Viruses. They cried out in shock, but she wasted no time, slashing with her Wide Sword and killing both of the remaining monsters instantly. “Huh, that wasn’t too hard,” Trixie said standing up and looking at her armor now, “Now, where did this come from? Also,” she looked around, “That voice. Where did they-” she heard something click, and turned to Fluttershy, who had her cellphone out. Apparently she just took a picture. “Trixie… that was, amazing…!” Fluttershy said slowly walking over to her, “How did you do all of those things?” “Your guess is as good as mine,” Trixie said with a shrug, “I take it I couldn’t do this before losing my memory?” Fluttershy shook her head. Before anything else, the armor began to glow, and vanished as blue data, replaced with her normal attire “That, was weird,” Trixie said folding her arms, “It felt like, I sort of knew what I was doing. Thinking back though, I don’t understand how I…” “We, should tell the others about this,” Fluttershy said, “I took a picture of that form you took.” “Good. I’m sure the others are worried about us, so we should go now,” Trixie said. She and Fluttershy ran back toward the school, but she stopped and looked around. Once again, she felt like she was being watched. Unlike before, she didn’t feel threatened by it though. She shrugged, and ran after her companion. Hopefully now she could get some answers. A small figure was in fact watching, hiding behind the bleachers of the school. He found her! He found the girl Azrael picked! “I better approach her when she’s alone, just to be safe,” the little figure said before hopping away, “Don’t worry, Azrael. I’ll watch over her just like I did for you.”
Disclosure“Hm, this could be a problem,” the older woman said standing on the roof of the school, looking up at the Wave Road, “The Dark Code is still spreading, meaning that Lucifer might still be in operation somewhere,” she closed her eyes looking down, “What a mess this is turning out to be.” She looked at her hand, opening and closing it to test its synchronization with her will. She didn’t feel any different now. In a way, she was still herself, but there was something else. Something bigger within her, guiding her, sharing information with her, and speaking through her. She and this entity had become one consciousness, and even then she knew that the one on the other side of the mirror was also connected, too. I am too big to connect to one without usurping your free will. My consciousness must be split in two, and you’ll both exist as my eyes. Is this acceptable with you both? “Never thought I’d become a Goddess in my lifetime,” she muttered, thinking about the big job she now had. Viruses had already infected the school, and apparently caused a good bit of damage. Hopefully the ones who saw Trixie transfer in were deleted before they shared their information with- Her phone vibrated, stealing her attention. She looked to see who it was, and then answered it, “Yes? Oh, sorry, I was just getting some fresh air on the roof. Is everything okay?” she listened carefully, closing her eyes, “Well, Fluttershy was able to vouch for her, so I say it’s okay to let them go,” she closed her eyes and sighed, “Hopefully it isn’t, but after the Friendship Games, we can’t be too sure. I’ll talk to Sunset about it,” she waited a bit, and then smiled softly, “I love you too, Luna.” She hung up, and then looked up at the sky, and the translucent roads decorating it, “This might just be even worse than the Friendship Games, being quite honest… I’m counting on you, Data…” After making sure Fluttershy was okay, and getting chewed out by Vice Principal Luna, they managed to make their way to the Music Room, which according to Fluttershy was their main hangout spot. “There you are!” Rainbow Dash said running up to Fluttershy once they opened the door, “I was getting worried!” “Sorry Dashie,” Fluttershy said softly, “Trixie and I ran into, um something on the way here, bu-” “You’re okay, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking Fluttershy over, immediate concern radiating off of her. Trixie deduced they were super close. “Mhm,” Fluttershy nodded, “Thanks to Trixie. She protected me.” “Trixie did…?” Rainbow Dash asked, slowly looking at Trixie with wide eyes. “I, just did what I felt anyone would do in the moment,” Trixie said rubbing her arm, “You girls are helping me, so…” Rainbow Dash looked at Trixie intently, and then smiled, “Well, either way, thanks for looking out for her. Fluttershy’s my best friend, so if anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.” “Then, I’m happy I could help her,” Trixie smiled back. “Damn, you were right,” a new voice said, sounding a bit more mature than everyone else, “She really is a completely different person now.” Trixie looked over at a desk in the music room, and saw two other girls there that she didn’t remember meeting earlier. One had long red and golden hair, almost like fire, and was wearing this really nice blue blouse, blue skinny jeans, black and gold boots, a black and gold leather jacket, and dark red lipstick. Despite having a look that screamed “don’t fuck with me”, her light blue eyes were gentle and friendly, putting Trixie immediately at ease. Her friend sitting by the computer was almost the complete opposite. This girl has long purple hair with a pink highlight, and wore a purple sweater with an opening in the front to show a bit of cleavage, tight black skirt, dark sheer leggings, and purple high heels. Though her black glasses made her look more on the “nerdy” side, her rose red lipstick and sharp purple eyes gave off a somewhat darker air. Unlike the red haired girl, her focus was solely on the purple laptop computer on the desk she was working on. Being honest, Trixie thought she was kinda pretty. “Told ya,” Applejack said, sitting on a stool off to the side with Rarity standing next to her, “Makes ya wonder what that light did to her.” “Knocked the bitch out of her, is what it did,” Dash said, walking back over to sit in a chair on the other side of the room, “I say this is a massive improvement.” “Dash!” Rarity scolded. “Tell me I’m wrong,” Dash challenged. “No no, it’s fine,” Trixie sighed, “I don’t know what I was like entirely before, well, now, but based on what I’m getting from the other students, I was kind of the worst.” “I ain’t gonna say you were the worst,” Applejack said, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but ya were kinda the stereotypical mean girl.” “Oh lovely...” Trixie rolled her eyes, going over to a desk and sitting down at it, letting her head fall on it, “Let me guess, had no problem lying and cheating my way to the top?” All of them save for Twilight traded awkward glances, making Trixie groan. This is even worse than I thought… “Well, if it makes you feel any better,” the red haired girl said walking over to Trixie, “I was way worse than you ever were, and I can safely say that very few of the kids here hold a grudge for long.” “Really?” Trixie asked lifting her head up to the girl. She had a really mature and almost otherworldly air about her. “So long as you make a genuine effort to change, you’ll have friends all over the school,” she continued with a caring smile, “And trust me, there’s no better place to start than with these girls.” Trixie relaxed a bit hearing that. She didn’t know what this girl did, but she did kind of feel like they were similar in a sense. “Let’s start fresh, okay?” she held out her hand, “My name’s Sunset Shimmer.” “Beatrix, Lulamoon,” Trixie said, taking Sunset’s hand and shaking it, “But I guess my friends call me, Trixie, so…” “That means we’re all obligated to call you by that name!” Pinkie chirped from the drum set, before folding her arms and nodding seriously, “It’s in the rule book.” The smart looking girl sighed and turned to Pinkie Pie, “I’m, afraid to ask, but… rule book?” “Uh huh. The rule book on how to make friends with anyone,” she pulled out a pink notebook that she clearly wrote in herself and presented it. It no joke, did say “How to Make Friends with Anyone” by Pinkamena Diane Pie, “Working title.” The purple haired girl looked like she wanted to say something, but then just gave up, removing her glasses to rub her eyes, “S-sure. Whatever. Either way, my name’s Twilight Sparkle. I transferred to this school last month, and we barely even spoke then, so I have no preconceived impression of you.” “Well, at least that’s something,” Trixie said, “Nice to know I missed out on making someone’s life harder here.” Twilight chuckled lightly, seeming to relax a bit now. Trixie took silent notice. “Well, now that Trixie’s here,” Rarity said, “I think now’s the time where we can explain exactly what happened, as far as we know.” “Right. You all said that I was hit by something, right?” Trixie asked, “You keep mentioning a blue light.” “It happened day before yesterday, right after school,” Rarity said, “I think you were leaving cheerleader practice, when there was an odd power failure at school.” “We’d been having issues with electricity for a while here,” Twilight said, “But that day, it got so bad that the whole school blacked out.” Trixie frowned, “Okay… but only at the school?” “Yup,” Applejack chimed in, “I’d left early and was already drivin’ back home, an’ the city looked fine durin’ when they said the blackout happened.” “Aliens…” Pinkie whispered dramatically, making Applejack sigh rubbing her eyes. “Right. Pinkie Pie keeps thinkin’ its aliens,” Applejack groaned. “Why do you think that?” Trixie asked, finally realizing she was dead serious. “Because I saw where the light came from,” Pinkie Pie got up and ran over to Trixie, taking her arm and guiding her to the window, pointing to the sky, “It was right up there! There was a bright blue light that shot from the sky down toward the school, around the same time as the blackout!” Trixie took a deep breath, tensing up a bit. Pinkie Pie couldn’t see it she was sure, but Trixie could. That light came from the strange road in the sky. I don’t know, Applejack… I’m starting to think it might have been aliens myself… “It was Rarity and I that found you,” Twilight said raising her hand, “We saw the light too, and ran to investigate where it landed.” “And that’s when we saw you laying on the ground,” Rarity added, “You were unconscious, but was sparking with blue electricity. That led us to believe that you were hit directly with the light.” “Hit directly with… Ah!” Trixie cried, holding her head as something came to her. She felt like, she could almost remember that. That or, that second was significant to her. “You okay?” Sunset asked, all of the girls running to Trixie’s side to ensure she was okay. “Y-yeah… it’s just… hard to explain I guess,” Trixie shook it off, “I don’t know why, but I feel like that light, did something to me. Have you been able to figure out what it was?” “I can’t tell you what it was,” Twilight went back to her computer, “But I can tell you what it wasn’t.” “It’s not Equestrian Magic, is it?” Sunset asked seriously. “Not as far as these readings are concerned,” Twilight said, “I’ve been comparing the waves left over from that light with the magical waves you all give off when you activate your Equestrian Magic. These waves are definitely otherworldly, but they seem more solid. That’s not even the scariest part.” “Okay, so what is?” Rainbow asked, folding her arms impatiently. “The waves have settled and integrated with the tech here in the school,” Twilight answered, “I searched the whole school both today and yesterday, and I found those waves everywhere. I think I even saw them in town.” “An’ yer sure this ain’t from Equestria?” Applejack asked slowly. “Positive,” Twilight said, “Scary as it is, I think Pinkie Pie’s onto something.” Pinkie Pie had the smuggest grin on her face hearing that, “Hate to say I told you so, but…” Trixie looked down at her phone, and at the strange app now on it. The one that turned that weird armor on. Fluttershy must have noticed, because she walked over to her bag and pulled out her phone, “Girls, you need to see this…” she walked back to the group pulling up a picture and showing it to everyone. On it was Trixie, only she was still wearing that odd short dress and armor. Trixie blushed a bit at the length of the skirt. Surprisingly, it was shorter than the dress she was wearing now, and she was pretty sure this qualified as mini skirt length just about. “What… in the world…?” Applejack asked slowly. “Holy shit…” Rainbow Dash suppressed a smile, “You look like a fucking magical girl from cyberspace…!” “Darling… what is this…?” Rarity asked, looking at both Fluttershy and Trixie. Trixie took a deep breath, “Moment of truth time. Alright, so… I can see this… thing outside. It looks like an upside down city of some sort over our city, and a bunch of weird roads branching off of it and scattering around. I’ve been able to see it since yesterday when I left the hospital. When Fluttershy was about to bring me here, though, I noticed something that I think came from that weird road following us.” “You’re not joking, are you?” Twilight asked softly. “She’s not,” Fluttershy shook her head, “We led them to the gymnasium, and this weird wave went through the room, and these weird creatures appeared. They were about to attack me, but then Trixie held up her phone and said something about logging into somewhere, and then that armor appeared. She was able to fight the creatures easily with it.” “Well, I wouldn’t say easily,” Trixie said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head, “It didn’t come with a tutorial or anything, so I had to figure out how to use it myself.” “How’d you use it?” Twilight asked, “As in, how’d you activate it?” “The armor? I’m, not entirely sure myself,” Trixie said, “But I think it had something to do with this weird app on my phone now.” She showed Twilight the app and handed her the phone. The cute and intelligent looking teen frowned at it, “That’s weird. Don’t remember seeing that at the app store,” she tried activating it, pulling up what appeared to be a screen with a blue orb of light spinning around, and the words “STANDING BY” in big, bold red letters in front of it, “What is this…?” “Standing by?” Sunset asked, “Is it waiting for something?” “I think it’s voice activated,” Trixie said, “I don’t know how, but in the moment, I felt like I knew how to use it. Or better yet, like I remembered how to use it.” “Can I check something?” Twilight asked, “I’ll be careful, but I want to see if its connected to those waves.” “Go ahead,” Trixie nodded, letting Twilight do her thing. The purple haired teen sat at her computer, connecting her phone to it via a small cord and tried to pull up the apps information. She then frowned, “What…? It’s not letting me access it at all.” “Not even you can hack it?” Rainbow asked with wide eyes. “I don’t think so. Not with this computer at least,” Twilight said, handing the phone back to Trixie, “But you said that you faced something in the gym, right?” Trixie and Fluttershy nodded, “Alright then. I’m going to head there to continue my research. See if anything was left over from there.” “You girls mind if, I sit this out?” Trixie asked, “This has been, a whole day, and well…” “Oh, of course darling,” Rarity walked over to Trixie and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Want to come back to my place, or should I escort you home?” “I think, I’d like to see my place,” Trixie requested looking down, “Whether I remember anything or not, I kind of, want to see my Mom.” Rarity smiled, “Of course. I’ll take you home then. Applejack, could I give you a call later?” “Was gonna ask ya to, anyway,” Applejack said, wrapping her arms around Rarity and holding her close, “Be safe, alright?” “I will,” Rarity smiled, kissing Applejack deeply on the lips, “I love you.” “Love ya too, Rarity,” Applejack replied with a soft smile, turning to Trixie, “If any of them monsters show up, ya better keep my princess safe, ya hear?” “Got it,” Trixie said immediately with a salute. She didn’t know if Applejack was joking or not, but she had a feeling she better take it seriously anyway. She seemed nice, but she also seemed like the sort who’d break Trixie in half if anything happened to Rarity. “See ya, Trixie,” Rainbow said, hitting her lightly on the back, “Again, good job looking out for Fluttershy.” “Thank you again, Trixie,” Fluttershy said, hugging Trixie tightly, “I’ll never forget this.” “Y-you’re welcome,” Trixie said, hugging Fluttershy back. She had a feeling this was a huge gesture from her. “Let us know if the aliens contact you,” Pinkie said, “And if they offer to take you to their home planet, call me fast, cause I wanna see it too!” “Um…” Trixie wasn’t, sure how to respond to that. At all. “You’re already a space cadet,” Sunset sighed with a smile, “See you, Trixie.” “See you, Sunset, and thank you. All of you, for helping me,” Trixie said. “Like I said, no better place to start than right here,” Sunset said warmly, “Twilight, I’ll go with you to the gym.” “Alright,” Twilight said, stopping to briefly look at Trixie before smiling, “See you tomorrow, Trixie.” “Yeah, see you tomorrow, Twilight,” Trixie said, her heart beating a bit faster for some reason. After packing up everything, and going to her locker to get her stuff, she and Rarity made their way to the school gate. Outside they saw Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle leaning against the statue, waiting for them. Seeing the gothic dressed teen made Trixie’s heart race for a different reason than Twilight, not helped by her sudden glare in their direction. “Oh, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, visibly nervous as they approached. “Rarity,” Sweetie nodded, turning to Trixie and scowling, “Beatrix.” “H-hey, Sweetie Belle,” Trixie said, trying to be friendly, “So um, how was your-” “Are you ready to go, Rarity?” Sweetie cut Trixie off, making her sigh in sadness. “Actually, um… I’m not going to be able to walk home, with you…” Rarity said awkwardly, rubbing her arm, “I kind of, told Trixie here that I’d… walk her back to her place…” “What?” Sweetie narrowed her eyes, “You still believe her sob story?” “Sweetie Belle, it’s like I said yesterday, Trixie is serious about-” “You know she’s an attention whore!” Sweetie argued, “For all you know she’s just doing this to get attention! And besides, what about how I feel seeing you all chummy with her?!” Rarity winced, “I, I know this is hard, but based on what we’ve learned thus far, I think she might be-” “Whatever,” Sweetie scowled turning away, “Go and have fun with your new “best friend”.” “Sweetie Belle, please! I-” the young girl had already stormed off, leaving the two of them in awkward silence, “Oooooh, what am I supposed to do…?” “Hey, I can just ask someone in the school for help,” Trixie said looking away, “If being my friend makes your sister hate you…” “No Trixie,” Rarity said, turning to her and taking her hand, “I promised I’d look out for you, and I always keep my promises. Besides, by now Celestia and Luna have already gone home, and they’d be the only ones who could help you besides me.” Trixie looked down somberly. “It’s fine, darling,” Rarity said, caressing her cheek, “Let’s just get you home, alright?” Trixie hesitated, but nodded. She hated knowing that she might be driving a wedge between Rarity and her sister, but she did need help, and the alternative wasn’t much better. Still, she had a feeling things were just going to get worse from here on between them at this rate. Trixie’s home wasn’t that far from the school, but it was a bit out of Rarity’s way home. Realizing that made Trixie feel even worse, honestly, but anytime it showed, Rarity assured her that it was okay. It was a shame that Sweetie was so against them spending time together, because Trixie was really starting to like Rarity a lot. Most of the walk was in silence though, as Trixie kept looking at her phone, and the weird app on it. So far, it was the only thing that seemed familiar to her, but as far as she could tell, she’d never even seen this before the light hit her. Had the light changed her in some way fundamentally? Was she even Trixie? Or was she, someone else? And if that was the case, then… “Trixie?” “Huh?” Trixie turned to Rarity, “Yeah, what’s up?” “I was going to tell you that we’re here,” Rarity said, rubbing Trixie’s back, “Are you sure you’re okay, darling?” Trixie nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. Just thinking about everything,” she looked up at the house, an odd feeling washing over her. It was a nice, two story house painted blue and white. The front was a large porch with a few wooden chairs and a matching table, and the door had a very nicely designed stained glass window in the middle. It was humble, but fancy. “This is, my home?” Trixie asked softly. “Does it, bring back anything?” Rarity asked carefully. “Honestly I, can’t tell,” Trixie admitted, “I feel like there’s something there, but I’m not sure if it’s awareness that I know this place, or if… it’s a lack of awareness that I feel should be there…” As Trixie looked down, Rarity pressed a finger to her lips in thought, “In your possessions, I believe there were two house keys for the locks. Why not try to open them?” Trixie reached into her pocket, looking at the two keys connected to the ring in the middle, “But, I’m not sure if…” “You may not remember consciously, but you’ve opened and closed this door so many times I’m sure its there subconsciously,” Rarity assured with a gentle smile, “Give it a try. What do you have to lose?” Well, she was right about that, at least. Either she’d get it right, or she’d get it wrong. And hey, it wasn’t as if it mattered ultimately, right? If she had the wrong key, she knew what the right one was by process of elimination. Trixie nodded, and walked up to the door carefully. In front of the door, she took a deep breath, and held a key to the door. She was about to insert it, but then stopped herself, looking at the key. Something about that, didn’t feel right. She bit her lip, deciding to just take a chance on the feeling, and switched keys. This key slid right in without any resistance, and turned without a problem. Seeing that, Trixie’s eyes widened, and her heart leaped out of her chest. She remembered! It was small, but still, she definitely remembered which key to use! “See?” Rarity said, going up to hug Trixie from behind, “You’re going to be just fine, darling.” “Thank you, Rarity,” Trixie said softly, holding her hands and tearing up a bit, “Even if your sister despises me, I… I’m happy that we’re friends.” “I’m happy we’re friends too,” Rarity smiled, kissing Trixie on the cheek affectionately, “And don’t worry about my sister. It may take longer with her, but I believe she will come around. So, want me to come in with you, or…” “I appreciate it, but you should head back home to your sister,” Trixie said, “I think, I’ve got it from here.” “Alright then. In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow, Trixie,” Rarity said, releasing Trixie and making her way back to her house, “And once again, darling. Thank you so much for saving Fluttershy.” “You’re more than welcome,” Trixie said, “Um, get home safe, okay?” “I will,” Rarity said, waving to Trixie one last time as she left the amnesiac teen alone on the porch. She took one more deep breath, and then opened the door. Though she didn’t recognize anything, she did feel a sense of nostalgia. Like, there was a part of her that was at peace here, finally relaxing. “Home…” Trixie said softly, looking around and taking everything in, “I’m, home.” She walked through the main hall, eventually finding the living room. There relaxing on the couch, she saw a middle aged woman with hair similar to hers, red glasses, and wearing a nice dark green blazer, matching tight skirt, white blouse, sheer stockings, and black high heels. She looked like she worked in an office building. Immediately, Trixie knew who this was. She didn’t recognize her in the sense of knowing, but she knew exactly who this woman was. “M-Mom…?” The woman gasped and sat up, turning to look at Trixie. She slowly stood up, approaching Trixie with watery eyes. “Oh, Trixie…” the woman said, tears falling from her eyes. “Mom…!” for some reason, Trixie burst into tears and ran into the woman’s arms. It was just like with the key. Consciously, she didn’t know, but unconsciously her body remembered. This woman was precious to her. She loved her. “Shh… it’s okay honey,” her Mom said gently, rubbing her back even as she cried, “You’re home now.” “I’m sorry…!” Trixie sobbed, “Even though, I know who you are, I don’t remember anything…! Your name… our relationship… anything…!” “It’s alright, sweetie,” she said, lifting her chin and giving Trixie a smile so filled with love it hurt, “Memories or not, you’re my child, and I’ll always love you, okay? So take your time, remember what you can, and whatever you can’t, well, we can just make new memories together, alright?” Trixie nodded, hugging her Mother again tightly. She had so many questions, but that was for another time. For now, she just needed this moment. This was good, the tiny little program following her thought as he watched her embracing her mother. From what he’d gathered tailing her, she was going to have it rough from here on out, but at least this place was a safety net for her. He sighed in relief, and smiled. Their talk could wait, a bit longer. No need to ruin this moment.
DataTrixie and her mother, who she learned was named “Hazel”, had a nice dinner together filled with conversation about the past, catching Trixie up to speed on some of the things she hadn’t figured out on her own. Thanks to Hazel, she now knew when her birthday was, what her star sign was (Pisces, apparently), how long they’d lived in Canterlot, and that the neighborhood their house was in was actually called Ponyville. What funny names for everything. Sadly though, not everything she’d learned was entirely pleasant. As she feared, she and her Mother weren’t exactly close before her amnesia. “Okay, so be honest with me,” Trixie sighed, setting her fork down as she finished dinner, “How much of a bitch was I to you?” “Trixie…?” Hazel asked. “I mean, I was pretty shitty to everyone in school, and from how you reacted when I said I love you over the phone, it’s pretty clear that you weren’t used to hearing that from me,” Trixie continued, unable to meet her Mom’s gaze, “So just, lay it on me, alright? I need to know how badly I fucked things up with us…” “Stop Trixie,” Hazel got up, and moved to sit beside Trixie, wrapping an arm around her, “I don’t want you to be so hard on yourself.” “Why shouldn’t I be?” Trixie asked, crying softly as she leaned into the loving woman beside her, “Everyone at school pretty much thinks I’m a shallow, self absorbed bitch, I apparently bullied Rarity’s younger sister, so she downright hates me, I’m a terrible person…” “That is, far from the truth, and you know why?” “Why…?” “Because a terrible person wouldn’t feel guilt,” Hazel started rubbing Trixie’s arm, “Were you perfect? No. No one is perfect. Did you make mistakes? Quite a few, but that’s the same for everyone. What’s important, is that we learn from those mistakes, and that we always work to improve. To be just a bit better than we were yesterday. “You and I, we had our disagreements, but I always knew you were a good child. Really, you were just, I guess, complicated. After your father… passed away, you grieved in your own way, and coped as best as you could.” “Guess that answers my next question,” Trixie bit her lip thinking about that. She didn’t even remember his face, the sound of his voice, or anything that made him feel real to her. It almost didn’t seem fair to him. “The way I see it, you have a chance to reinvent yourself,” Hazel looked Trixie in the eyes lovingly, “You can’t change the past, but you can control your present moment. You get to decide who Trixie Lulamoon is.” “Who, Trixie Lulamoon, is…” Trixie repeated looking down, “Well, I know who she isn’t anymore. I… I’m going to do something to help people. I don’t know what that will be but, I don’t want to waste my life not being able to help someone, even if its only one person.” as she said that, her thoughts went back to the gymnasium, when she used that weird armor to protect Fluttershy. Knowing she saved her life felt good. If only I knew what that was… Maybe then I could… I don’t know… Hazel smiled, “Then you’ll be fine, honey,” she said, kissing her on the forehead, “Leave the dishes to me tonight, okay? You should get some rest.” “Yeah,” Trixie yawned, “Yeah… I’m exhausted.” Hazel giggled at that, “You remember where your room is?” she asked. She’d given Trixie a brief tour of the house earlier before dinner, so Trixie nodded. “Yep. I remember,” she hugged her Mother again, “I love you, Mom.” “I love you too, Trixie,” Hazel smiled, hugging her back. Trixie went upstairs to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower before heading to bed. There, she let her thoughts wander back to that moment, and everything she knew about what happened to her. According to Twilight, that weird light wasn’t related to Equestrian Magic, and seemed more alien in nature. Also, that weird app on her phone was probably connected to it, but she couldn’t hack into it to find out. That was scary, because Twilight seemed like the sort who could hack into anything. She was so smart. And pretty. And nice. And pretty. Just thinking about her made her heart race. Did she have a crush on Twilight? Was this something new? Or was this something she had even before amnesia? Was there a way to find out? Did it really matter? And, how did she stray so far away from what she was thinking about before? “Geez, get a hold of yourself, Trixie,” she lightly berated as she turned the water off, “It’s too early to be thinking about potential relationships. Besides, she probably has a boyfriend already. Or a girlfriend,” she grabbed her towel and looked at herself in the mirror, “Still, I do wonder if I’m her type…” Her thoughts wandered again, this time picturing those monsters surrounding Twilight. She cry out for help, but no one would be able to come to her rescue. No one, except for Trixie. She’d jump down in that armor, say something super cool like “Get away from her, you foul beasts!” and then begin fighting the monsters, not even getting hit. Twilight would then run into her arms and cry out “Oh, Trixie you brave hero! Thank you for rescuing me!” Trixie had the silliest smile on her face imagining that, proven when she dared to look in the mirror. She blushed, wrapped her towel around her, picked up her clothes and phone, and then rushed off into her room. She didn’t even bother turning the light on. After setting her clothes somewhere she could get to later, she shed her towel and got in the bed. She didn’t know if she slept in the nude before, but she was too lazy and tired to search for pajamas right now. Right as Trixie was about to drift off it seemed though, she noticed something moving in the room. She froze, seeing just how small it was. In the darkness of her room, she could barely make out its appearance, but it had the basic shape of a bunny rabbit wearing a hat. And it was definitely moving. Trixie sat up in her bed, holding her covers over her body as she grabbed her phone on the desk, pointing it at the small creature, “B-back…! Stay back, monster…! I know what you are…!” The tiny creature hopped on the bed and looked at Trixie curiously. It was indeed a white rabbit, only about two feet tall standing upright. It had tiny paws for hands, large white feet perfect for hopping around, its ears fell back behind it, and it wore a tiny blue magician’s blazer, white shirt, bow tie, and had big blue eyes that were currently looking at Trixie intently. Unsure what this thing wanted, but knowing it clearly came from that place in the sky, she backed away frantically, “I h-have weapons, you know…! My phone, it can turn me into a s-s-super hero… so… I’m not someone y-you should mess with…!” The tiny creature snickered, and then fell back on the bed, rolling around and laughing, “Oh man! This is rich!” Trixie frowned at that, unsure of what to make of the fact that A) this little creature was laughing, and B) laughing at her. “Next time, if you wanna threaten someone,” the little rabbit continued through his laughter, sounding like a young boy, “try not to stutter so much!” “What, the actual hell…? You know I’m not playing right? My phone can-” “I know I know,” the little rabbit said, wiping his eyes with his paws, “Calm down, okay? I’m not a Virus. Similar, but fundamentally different.” “Virus…? That’s… what those creatures that attacked the school were…” Trixie said, holding her head, “I remember, that’s the word that came to mind when they were chasing Fluttershy and I.” “Uh huh,” the little rabbit nodded, “That’s right. Me, I’m a Program from the Grid, specifically a Peripheral Memory Storage Unit, made to act as a support program to Mega Men.” “Peripheral… Memory… Grid… Mega… gah! Too much at once!” Trixie fussed. “Alright, let’s start slow. First, what’s my name?” the rabbit said pointing to himself, “Look at me real close, and say the first name that comes to mind.” Trixie sighed, deciding to humor the little rabbit standing on her bed. She looked at him, and oddly, she felt a sense of comfort wash over her. Something within her remembered him. It was both familiar and foreign, just like when she recognized the Viruses and used that armor for the first time. “You’re… Data, right?” Trixie asked after a second. The bunny hopped up and down, beaming in pure delight. “You remembered me! Yes yes yes YES!” the little rabbit, Data apparently, cheered gleefully. Trixie couldn’t help but smile at that, and all of a sudden felt really stupid threatening him. “It’s weird but, I feel like part of me does remember you,” Trixie said, “Did we, know each other before my amnesia?” “That’s… where things get a bit tricky,” Data said, now sitting down on Trixie’s bed, “But I promise, I’ll try to explain everything I can to the best of my knowledge.” “Alright, so first question, what exactly are you? I mean, you said you’re a, um, what was it you called yourself?” “A Peripheral Memory Storage Unit,” Data recited, “Big, fancy words, I know. Essentially, I exist to hold all of the vital information that Mega Men need in order to carry out their missions. Things like their genetic frequency, back ups of their memory, stuff like that. Units like myself also help Mega Men with-” “Hold on. You have memory back ups?” Trixie asked. “Huh? Well yeah,” Data shrugged, “I store information on everything that a Mega Ma- AHH!!!” he was picked up by Trixie, who looked at him intently. “What about mine? Do you have those?” Trixie asked. Data’s eyes wandered lower, and he then looked up, blushing a bit, “Um, first off, you might want to put me down, Miss. You’re showing a lot more than I think you want to…” Trixie looked down, and then yelped, setting Data down and pulling the covers over herself again. “Second of all, I only have the memory of your predecessor,” Data said sadly, “Mega Man Azrael.” “Mega Man, Azrael?” Trixie asked, “What do you mean predecessor? Like, the one who owned that armor before me?” Data nodded, “Yep. Azrael was the Mega Man I was assigned to. Day before yesterday, he was hunting a dangerous rogue Mega Man named Lucifer. He chased Lucifer to the lower regions of the Grid, and fought him close to your school,” Data looked down somberly, “He managed to deal severe damage to Lucifer, enough to reduce him to just formless data, but not before he took a massive blow that knocked him off of the Wave Road,” he pointed to Trixie, “And into you.” Trixie’s eyes widened, starting to piece things together a bit, “So, the blue light that landed on me...” Data nodded, “I’m sorry, Miss.” he took off his hat and looked up at Trixie earnestly, “I wish I could give you a better answer, but all of this, it was a terrible accident. You were really just, at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Trixie looked down, pained hearing this, “Okay, so… what happened next? Why do I have his powers now?” “The impact left you badly hurt,” Data continued, “Azrael, he… he was already beginning to defrag, but he didn’t want you to die. So he asked me to… transfer his Light Code into you, and let it meld with your DNA. Doing this would save your life, and you’d have all of his powers, but…” “At the cost, of my memories being wiped clean…” Trixie sighed, wiping a tear, “Well, I’m alive at least…” “I can’t apologize enough, Miss,” Data said, “All of this… its our fault. We shouldn’t have let Lucifer get so close to your world, nor should we have fought him over your school.” “It’s, fine,” Trixie looked away, “I mean, I guess it really isn’t fine, but it’s not like you meant any harm. And well, you and this Azrael did save my life apparently, so there’s that,” she took Data’s hat and placed it back on his head, “So chin up. You’re too cute to be so sad.” Data chuckled at that, “Thank you. Um, Trixie, right?” Data asked, “I heard a few of your friends call you that.” She nodded, “That’s right. I’m Trixie,” she held out her hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Data.” Data smiled and took her hand with both of his paws, “It’s nice to meet you too, Trixie.” “So, my next question,” Trixie looked to the side, “You keep mentioning this, Grid. What is that?” “That’s something that’s better explained by you seeing it first,” Data said, hopping over to Trixie’s phone, picking it up and handing it to Trixie, “You remember the app from earlier, right?” “The one that activated that weird armor?” Trixie asked taking her phone. “That’s the one. If you wanna enter the Grid, just tap the app on your phone, and then speak into it the following: ID, your full name, logging in,” Data explained. Trixie nodded, turning the app on. She then saw the white orb from before, along with “Standing by” in red letters. She bit her lip nervously, but then brought the phone to her mouth. “ID: Beatrix Lulamoon, logging in.” Identification accepted “Okay, so now wha- whoa!” Trixie looked around, seeing a circle of data spinning around her, “What’s all of this?” “Just relax,” Data smiled, “Let the app handle the rest.” Trixie was about to say something, but she was then engulfed in a bright blue light, vanishing from the room. For Trixie, a bunch of things were happening all at once. She could feel her body changing in a fundamental way, and the short armored dress from before appeared on her body, followed by the armored gauntlets and boots. She then noticed the visor manifesting over her eyes, right before she reappeared sitting in her bed. “Gah! What the?!” Trixie looked at herself, “The armor’s back! And the visor! What in the world?!” she shot up from her bed and ran over to the mirror. Dash was right. The whole look did make her look almost like a magical girl from Cyberspace. The skirt was blue and white, super fancy, and super revealing, cupping and revealing her breasts a bit, and stopping right under her butt almost. There was blue ribbon tied right under her breasts, and another white one tied to her waist behind her, with long ribbons falling behind her. On her shoulders, arms, and legs was blue and white armor that looked somewhat crystalized, with the boots being somewhat bulky with a two inch heel. Around her eyes was a blue visor that seemed to circle around behind her head shut, making Trixie feel almost like it was a part of her body. “What happened to me…?” Trixie said, turning around to examine the armor more thoroughly. “Mega Men have two modes,” Data said, hopping over to stand beside Trixie, “Passive Mode, and Active Mode. Passive Mode is when they’re not engaging in combat related activity, making them look less threatening around the populace.” “Okay, making this what? Active Mode?” Trixie asked, testing if she could remove the visor. Nope. “Exactly. Active Mode turns on all of the Mega Man’s offensive and defensive abilities. In your case, you’re a human possessing a Mega Man’s Light Code, which means you exist in both the real world and the Grid at the same time,” Data explained, “Your human form is being treated as Passive Mode, with Active Mode transferring you into the Grid.” “Does it have to be so revealing though?” Trixie asked, trying to pull the skirt down a bit, “I mean, this is showing a lot of leg…” “I dunno what to tell you,” Data shrugged, “A Mega Man’s armor forms based off of their subconscious, so on some level, you want it to look like this.” “Probably something from before I lost my memory,” Trixie muttered, “Geez… Oh well, at least I look cool.” “That’s the spirit,” Data smiled, “There aren’t a lot of female Mega Men, hence the title.” “So what, would I be a Mega Woman or something?” Trixie asked frowning, “Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.” “Yeah, the few female Navi’s I know just use the title Mega Man with their code names,” Data shrugged, “Less complicated that way.” Trixie smiled a bit at Data’s almost dismissive tone concerning it. Like he was saying they did this to “cut down on paperwork” or something. Made her wonder what exactly a Mega Man even was. Apparently that’s what I’ve become now, right? A Mega Man? Sounds pretty important. “Anyway, welcome to the Grid,” Data said spreading his arms out. Trixie looked around in confusion. “I’m still in my bedroom,” she said deadpanned, making Data chuckle. “Yes and no. You are in the bedroom, but you’re not a physical entity right now. You’re a Net Navi, existing as sapient virtual information,” Data pointed to the door, “Go on, try to open the door.” Trixie shrugged and walked over to the door, noticing that each step she took made the ground ripple around her feet, almost like it was an illusion of sort. She then reached for the handle, only for her hand to go right through it. “Huh?” she tried it a few more times, “Why can’t I touch it?” “Because again, you’re not in the material world,” Data answered, “Think of the Grid as an invisible space currently overlaying the physical world. A plane of existence, vibrating at a higher frequency than the material world.” “So it’s another dimension, right above the physical world?” Trixie asked. “You got it,” Data said, “Things that exist in the Grid are normally invisible and intangible to humans. You’re an exception to the rule. Now, at least.” “Right, because I exist in both the Grid and the real world,” Trixie said, pushing her hand through the door, going right through it, “Okay, I think I get it. So if that’s the case, then,” Trixie brought her hand back, and then tried to focus on the physical world. She felt her body ripple a bit, and everything around her almost felt more solid. She then tried to grab the doorknob again, this time finding she could touch it, “Thought so.” “Hey, you’re pretty good!” Data hopped up and down happily, “You figured out how to change vibration frequencies all on your own!” “Well, you said I exist in both the Grid and the human world,” Trixie said, focusing on the, Grid, right? Yeah, and felt herself ripple again, “Figured that meant I could just, I dunno, phase back and forth. I take it I can’t do that as a human.” “Nope,” Data shook his head, “Only in Active Mode, where your body is made of data.” “Alright, so what exactly is this Grid?” Trixie asked, now going to sit on her bed, “Has it always been here?” “Not in the way it is now,” Data answered, hopping on the bed to sit beside Trixie, “Until about a month ago, our worlds were complete separated from one another.” “What happened last month then?” Trixie asked with a frown. “No idea,” Data shook his head, “But there was a massive ripple in reality, one that reached all the way to our dimension. When that happened, our two dimensions melded together, with the Grid latching onto the network you humans have, along with another unusual energy that the Mother Computer can’t analyze.” “I take it that’s, odd?” Trixie asked. “The Mother Computer is the very foundation and core of the Grid. She processes and oversees everything in our world, effectively keeping order,” Data explained, “This new energy integrated with the Grid, connecting our world to the human world, but also altering the Mother Computer as well.” “Oh fuck…” Trixie said wide eyed, “She’s okay, right?” “For the most part, yeah she is. But she’s really worried, because she doesn’t understand this new energy,” Data continued, now looking down, “Most of us adjusted pretty quickly, actually working to improve the human network, and just settled into this new way of life. The Mother Computer ordered all Mega Men to be on stand-by, ready to take action if needed, but otherwise to be wary of this new energy.” “Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me something bad…?” Trixie asked. Data groaned, rubbing his eyes with his paws, “One Mega Man felt like this new energy could be used to increase our power directly, to the point where we could subjugate the human world. That Mega Man, was code named Lucifer,” he looked up at Trixie, “When the Mother Computer said no to taking over the human world, Lucifer went rogue, and took in this power for himself.” “What happened after that…?” Trixie asked, afraid of the answer. “Nothing good, I’ll tell you that,” Data frowned, “He turned into, something. It was like a Virus, but worse. No Mega Man could stop him, with Azrael being the only one left. He managed to hurt him, but…” “He died, in the process,” Trixie turned away biting her lip, “This, Mega Man Lucifer, he’s still out there, isn’t he…?” Data closed his eyes, nodding gravely, “I’m afraid so, Trixie. I don’t know where, or if he has a singular form now, but he’s very much alive.” “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say…” Trixie begged softly. “You have Azrael’s Light Code now,” Data continued, “As such, you’re for all intents and purposes, a Mega Man.” “What that is…?” Trixie asked carefully. “A Mega Man is a special class of Net Navi commissioned by the Mother Computer to hunt down and purify anything that’s infected by Viruses, which come from something called the Dark Code,” Data explained, “Mega Men are made from what’s called Light Code, but Lucifer’s code was corrupted, becoming a Dark Code equivalent.” “What about the other Mega Men?” Trixie asked. “Already fully defragged,” Data shook his head. “I, don’t know all of the terms you’ve been using, but… when you say defragged… that doesn’t mean they’re… dead, does it?” Data closed his eyes sadly as an answer, “Oh God…” “I know this is a lot to take in,” Data said, standing up and taking Trixie’s hand, “Look, the Mother Computer probably wants me to convince you to fight, but nothing has happened yet beyond the virus attack at your school earlier.” “True…” “So I’m not going to force you into anything,” Data assured her, “This was our fault, so you don’t have to feel like you need to fix our problems.” “Considering I’m wearing this armor, it’s kind of my problem too now, isn’t it?” Trixie asked, her heart racing. “Azrael transferred his Light Code into you so you’d live,” Data said, “Whether or not you fight, is up to you.” Trixie wasn’t so sure about that. The dreams she’d been having. That was Azrael’s voice she was hearing more than likely. And in them, she felt like he was asking her to fight. Almost like part of her wanted to… “I, need some time to think,” Trixie said, “This is a lot to process, and… I can’t decide on anything at the moment.” “That’s alright,” Data smiled, “Get some rest for now. I’ll be close by if you need anything, okay?” Trixie nodded with a soft smile, but then looked at her armor, “So, how do I take this off?” “There should be a log out button on your buster arm,” Data said, pointing to Trixie’s left arm, which had a touch screen on it, “Just click that button, and you’ll be sent back to the real world as a human.” “Thanks, um, sorry we don’t have a room for you. I could ask my Mom if you could stay with us, but...” “She wouldn’t be able to see me, so you’d just sound crazy,” Data said, “It’s alright. I’ll just hang out in your phone.” “Um, alright…?” Trixie shrugged, pulling up the log out button and tapping it. Instantly, she felt herself engulfed in a bright blue light again, this time with a slight dropping sensation as she reappeared in her bedroom without the armor. Data’s eyes widened, and he then blushed covering his eyes, just as Trixie covered herself with her arms, also blushing. “Um, g-goodnight, Trixie!” Data muttered, turning into a bright light and shooting into her cellphone. “Y-yeah… goodnight,” Trixie muttered, unsure if he could hear her. She then set the phone on her desk and laid down in her bed, trying to process what Data just told her. If he was telling the truth, then those viruses, what if they were after her? What if this Lucifer wanted to kill any remaining Mega Men out there? And what if Azrael actually wanted her to fight? I said I wanted to do something to help people, yeah… But this? This is too big… What should I do…? She closed her eyes, resolving to just sleep it off for now. Maybe she’d luck out and wake up to find that all of this was just a bad dream.
