The Hardest Trial of all is Love
The Hardest Trial
Written by iAmSiNnEr
Edited by Stinium_Ruide
A hooded pony pushed through the crowd watching the coronation of the two princesses, wincing each time a pony stepped on her hoof. She had a single purpose today, although it was aligned with the ponies who had come today, it was different.
No, she was not here to watch the coronation. Why would she even bother to care about these two princesses? No, in fact, she was here for…
She broke through the crowd to be at the front of the masses, staring up at the podium. There stood the two princesses, giving their speeches to the masses. Instead of listening to their speech, however, she stared at a pony she knew would be there, and her eyes fixed upon her.
Sunset Shimmer. The disciple of Starswirl the Bearded, and one of the six Founders of Equestria. The moment she had her eyes on Sunset, she was smitten. The way she smiled, the way her orange and yellow tail shone in the sunlight… oh, she could go on all day.
Her hood fell off as a pony accidentally bumped into her, revealing a lime green Earth pony mare with a dark green mane. As the pony looked at her apologetically, Wallflower ignored him, her eyes still fixed on Sunset.
Deep inside, she knew the mage wouldn’t notice her. She was a lowly sorceress, whiling away her days making potions to sell; Sunset Shimmer wouldn’t notice her so as long as-
Wallflower blinked. She knew what to do now. Pulling her hood up again, she hurried away, pushing through the crowd to return home and retrieve a specific object. Once she was done, all Sunset would know was her…
“When can I become a full mage, Starswirl?” Sunset asked. “I’ve already completed my studies, passed every single one of your tests. What else must I do?”
“I’ve already told you,” Starswirl said patiently. “You must complete the seven trials.”
“You didn’t even tell me what these seven trials are!” Sunset huffed. “And you keep refusing to tell me. How am I supposed to complete the trials if I don’t know what they are?”
“You must discover them by yourself, Sunset,” Starswirl stated. “It is only on the path of self-discovery will you find knowledge. Once you have completed the seven trials, only can your studies be finished, and you declared a full mage.”
“But I already know how to cast so many spells!” Sunset whined. “I’ve spent years and years learning how to cast all these spells, increasing my mana levels, so that I could meet your expectations!”
“You have already met my expectations,” Starswirl said gently. “Exceeded it, in fact. As much as I would like to declare your education complete, there are things you are lacking. Powerful you may be, but strength is not all you need.”
“So tell me what it is that I need!” Sunset said desperately. “And I’ll work as hard as I can to improve in those areas!”
“Have you not been listening?” Starswirl sipped at his tea. “These seven trials must be discovered on their own; I cannot guide you to them. If I simply just tell you what they are, you will not be able to complete them. You will experience them in your own time, this I can assure you.”
Sunset huffed as she took a seat. “But it could take years,” she complained. “And I don’t really want to wait that long.”
Starswirl chuckled. “My master did the same for me. I too had to complete the seven trials before he declared my studies complete and I a full mage. I can give you a hint, though. The seven trials are supposed to make your heart pure. I can sense your determination, but you are misguided in your aims.”
“Misguided?” Sunset repeated, confused. “What do you mean?”
“I cannot say,” Starswirl said simply. “You must walk the path on your own. I did so too.”
Sunset groaned. “Not even some help?”
“No,” Starswirl replied. “But I will give you this.” He levitated a small necklace to Sunset, with seven gray beads on it. “For every trial you complete, a bead will light up.”
Sunset stared at the necklace. “How can it tell?” she asked. Maybe I can figure out something…
“I know what you’re thinking,” Starswirl reprimanded. “There are no shortcuts, Sunset. I will not tell you what enchantments I put on the necklace just for you to use it to find out what you need to do.”
Sunset sighed. “There really is no persuading you, is there?”
“Yes,” Starswirl replied simply as he sipped at his tea. “It took me years, if that’s any consolation.”
“How is that consolation?” Sunset said exasperatedly. “Years?!”
“Yes, years,” Starswirl stated. “Unless years are months, and months are days. After all, time is relative, and it all depends on how patient you simply are. I never agreed with us designating terms to measure a period of time. It only gives us a deadline and makes us rush for no good reason. Why not take your time instead, and let nature take its course?”
Sunset sighed. “I could never understand what you mean whenever you talk about time…” she muttered.
“You don’t need to,” Starswirl chuckled. “You just need to complete the trials, and I will be happy.”
“Fine,” Sunset grumped. “I’ll complete these stupid trials. Even after founding Equestria, saving us from an icy death, I still have to do trials. Gah, I should have never…” she trailed off. “Master? You alright?”
Starswirl’s eyes fluttered uncontrollably as he struggled to force his muscles to relax. “I am…” he said distractedly. “I-I will be back,” he managed before placing his tea on the table and making his way out of their personal study.
“Weird,” Sunset muttered. “He’s never acted that way before…” she shrugged. “Oh well, might as well take the time to read a few books, see if I can get any clues…”
A hooded pony slinked through the streets, a green-colored oval-shaped stone firmly in her grasp. Every time a pony glanced at her, the stone glowed an eerie green as their eyes glazed over and their glassy gaze slid over her as if she wasn’t there.
“One last try,” Wallflower swore to herself. She remembered how forgettable she was in the eyes of Sunset, even if she tried talking to her a few days ago. “If she cannot remember me…” Wallflower muttered. “I will make sure no one will remember her.”
She sighed. It would be a shame, but it was the only way to get her crush to notice her. Even if it was in a bad way. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured to herself.
After a few minutes of twisting and turning through the newly named Canterlot, she arrived at the castle. Using the stone, she got past the guards and into the castle proper. She approached a maid. “Where is Sunset Shimmer’s room?”
“Upstairs, third floor, turn the right corner-” the maid blinked. “Wait, who are you?”
“Nobody,” Wallflower murmured as she wiped the entire conversation from the maid’s memory, leaving the maid just standing there confused as she made her way upstairs.
On the way there, she saw a pony she recognised coming down the hallway, heading straight for her. Starswirl the Bearded...she thought as Starswirl neared her.
“Greetings,” the mage greeted her as he made his way past her, before halting in his steps and glancing back, hesitation evident in his face. “Who are you? I do not remember you.”
Of course he didn’t. Wallflower thought bitterly. I have asked him questions before, even told him my name, but not a single pony ever remembers me. Fine. If you don’t remember me..how about forgetting about your favorite disciple?
Wallflower said nothing as she gripped the stone harder, the green fractures on it lighting up. “What are you doing-” Starswirl’s eyes glazed over as the stone did its work, wiping all memory of Sunset from his mind. “...I feel like I’ve forgotten something…” he muttered as he slumped against the wall.
“Do you know where Sunset Shimmer is?” It was time to test if it worked.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Starswirl asked blearily. “Who’s that?”
Yes! Wallflower celebrated silently inside, now knowing that it could wipe specific memories from ponies. “No one,” she replied cordially. “Just someone I know.”
Starswirl didn’t reply as Wallflower slunk past him, following the maid’s instructions to Sunset’s room. She paused at an intersection, the stone telling her that there was somepony to the left. She frowned. Didn’t the maid say right? She let the stone check, and within milliseconds the stone informed her that her suspicions were justified.
The maid must’ve gotten it wrong. Wallflower thought as she trotted down the left corridor. As she made her way through, she noticed a thrumming of powerful magic in the air that was getting closer to her.
“The amount of magic she has…” Wallflower said inawe, before shaking her head. “I must concentrate,” she told herself. “I can’t get distracted.”
She proceeded down the hallway, before stopping at a plain brown door, with a simple ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign on it. “Is she practicing her magic?” Wallflower mused.
Pushing open the door, she peeked in, looking around. A study of sorts greeted her, the shelves filled with books. The pony she was looking for was at the far end, her magical aura encasing several books at once, pulling them from the shelves to her.
Wallflower watched in amazement as Sunset worked, methodically reading through the books on her shelves with several books floating in the air beside her for her perusal. After a while, Sunset suddenly became aware of her presence, and turned sharply to face her. “Starswirl-” Sunset frowned. “You’re not Starswirl. Who are you?”
“I’m Wallflower,” she said shyly. “Remember me? I-I was at your meet and greet, and you gave me your autograph.”
“I don’t,” Sunset said pointedly, after a pause. “I don’t remember everypony I meet. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a lot of studying to do. And I don’t think you’re supposed to be here, are you?”
“B-but-” Wallflower stammered. “You said the flower I gave you was nice!”
“I did?” Sunset blinked. “I don’t-”
“You have it right there,” Wallflower gestured at the desk, where a purple tulip was in a small flower pot.
“Ah,” Sunset looked at her, then looked at the tulip. “I am afraid I forgot all about it. Starswirl waters it for me most of the time. Nowadays, I’m too busy to remember such things. From meeting with my friends to studying, I don’t have time for such frivolous things. Although,” she smiled weakly. “You are a little cute. But I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”
I don’t remember you. Those words seemed to reverberate within her, echoing in her mind. I don’t remember you. Wallflower blinked away the tears that inevitably trickled down. I don’t remember you. “Fine,” Wallflower said bitterly. “You don’t remember me? You’ll know how it feels!”
“Wait-” Sunset began, but Wallflower ignored her, throwing a blue-colored bottle on the ground, the glass shattering on the ground. As the glass broke, it released a blue smoke, letting Wallflower push open the door and gallop away, tears of shame streaming down her cheeks. Why was I so foolish? She would never remember me!
Fine. If she doesn’t remember me… She gripped the stone and pulled it out from inside her cloak. Only I will remember her. The stone glowed an eerie green, its light flashing onto the walls beside her.
Sunset coughed as the smoke spread within the study. She hurriedly rushed to the window, the blue plumed clouds obscuring her view of the door as she heard a banging noise that was obviously that lime pony running off.
Pushing open the window, she breathed in fresh air, sighing contentedly as it entered her lungs, clearing the blue smoke she had inhaled. Once the blue smoke had cleared from the study, she glanced at the door.
“Did I say something wrong?” she thought out loud. “She seemed...angry, and- ugh.” She put down the books she had been levitating. “What did she mean by I’ll know how she feels?”
“I-I think I’ll go take a walk,” she mumbled to herself. Pushing open the door with her magic, she trotted outside, heading through the halls she knew so well. As she trotted down the hallway, she spotted Starswirl talking to a maid that seemed to be extremely confused.
“Starswirl!” Sunset called out.
Starswirl turned to meet her gaze, and immediately he frowned. “Who are you? And what are you doing in this private area?”
Sunset halted her hoofsteps. “What?”
“This is a private area,” Starswirl repeated. “Reserved for the castle’s inhabitants. Now, do you want to explain yourself, or do I need to call the guards?”
“Starswirl…” Sunset laughed nervously. “This is a joke, right? I’m Sunset! Your favorite disciple!”
Starswirl raised an eyebrow. “I have no other disciple than Trixie. And she’s not doing well, to be honest. What trick are you trying to pull?”
“There’s no trick-” Sunset blinked. You’ll know how I feel! The words echoed through her. “Do you not remember me?”
“There’s nothing to remember,” Starswirl stated. “I think you’ve outstayed your welcome. Now, either you leave or I’ll call the guards. You don’t want the second option. I don’t think a pretty mare like you wants to spend a night in the cells.”
Sunset opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Starswirl would never lie, she thought. Some magic is at work here, and I need to find out what.
“Fine,” Sunset said. “I’ll go; you don’t have to call the guards.” Maybe the others will remember me, I can try. She thought about the maid beside Starswirl, but the moment she looked into her eyes, she knew instantly that the maid didn’t remember her.
Sunset sighed and trotted past Starswirl, moving through the hallway. Looking back, she saw Starswirl deep in conversation with the maid, already forgetting her. It’s not a good feeling...she thought uncomfortably. The way he treated me like a stranger…
She needed to find someone who remembered her. And fast, or she would go mad.
Wallflower grimaced as even more memories flowed into the stone as she trotted through the streets of Canterlot, yellow strips entering the oval stone. She felt a little guilty. I-I don’t think this was the right thing to do...she sighed inwardly. I know the feeling myself, and i-it’s not exactly nice…
But her mind was made up. It was painful to do this, she thought. But I felt even worse when she said she didn’t remember me… she should feel what I feel ...right?
Sunset groaned after what was yet another instance in which the ponies she supposedly knew telling her that they didn’t remember her. Even worse, some called the guards on her, and when she tried to plead her case, they attempted to arrest her. Well, with an emphasis on attempted. With some well-placed evasive spells, Sunset hightailed it out of there.
There was only one last pony she could try. Just the thought of that pony made Sunset grimace. Trixie Lulamoon….
Sunset sighed and started trotting towards Trixie’s room. If only she wasn’t that self-obsessed, it’d make this easier… She snuck a peek around the corner of the hallway, making sure there weren’t any guards. Word had already spread around there was an ‘intruder’, and since the princesses weren’t here, they were trying to catch her before they returned.
Once she arrived at Trixie’s room, she raised a hoof, hesitating a little. I’ve always refused to help her...will she help me?
She sighed, and knocked. The moment her hoof made contact with the door, the door flung open, and the mare herself was there, frantically glancing around. “Did you bring the stuff?” she asked hurriedly. “Trixie was supposed to get a shipment of fireworks today!”
“You remember me?” Sunset’s hopes rose a little.
Trixie rolled her eyes. “No, Trixie does not remember you. Trixie would remember meeting such a pretty- a pony with such outstanding colours.” she blushed a little, before straightening. “If you are not the pony delivering Trixie’s fireworks, then who are you?”
“I am Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said dully, her hopes sinking down again. “It’s fine. No one remembers me anyways.”
“No one remembers you?” Trixie asked thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” Sunset muttered. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
“Wait,” Trixie said. “I could try and help. Trixie thinks it is a shame that a pretty mare like you is so easily forgotten.”
“You would?” Sunset asked, not daring to get her hopes up.
“Of course!” Trixie assured her. “You look like an honest pony, and Trixie is a great judge of character. If you say you knew Trixie before, then Trixie believes you! Come in, come in!” Trixie trotted back into her room, leaving the door open for Sunset.
I really dislike the way she talks about herself in the third person...but oh well, she’s the only one willing to help… Sunset trotted into the room, finding herself in the familiar blue-colored room.
“Now,” Trixie said. “Trixie needs some kind of confirmation that she knew you before. Trixie only makes friends with powerful ponies, and if you can cast a powerful spell, Trixie knows that Trixie has known you before.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she grumbled, before lighting her horn and turning Trixie’s bed into a giant wood slab.
Trixie’s eyes widened. “You know transfiguration?” she asked eagerly. “Master Starswirl has refused to teach Trixie until Trixie knew how to not turn everything into-” she blushed, turning away.
“What?” Sunset asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Trixie muttered, before perking up. “So, you said no one remembers you?” Trixie asked.
“Yeah…” Sunset said gloomily. “I asked Captain Rear, Librarian Shelf, and so many others. None said they remembered me. And I’ve been a student of Starswirl for so many years!”
Trixie tapped a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “You were Starswirl’s student too?” she blinked. “Trixie thinks she might be able to find out something.”
Her blue-coloured aura encased a locked book on a shelf, and pulled it over to them. “Trixie’s diary,” Trixie explained. “If you were Starswirl’s student, Trixie would have written about it somewhere.” She unlocked the book, before flipping through the book. After a few minutes, Trixie nodded. “Yes, you are indeed Trixie’s fellow student. Although… you never were that nice to Trixie.” Trixie frowned. “Did you seriously just call me a third rate performer? Trixie is insulted, Trixie is a first-rate performer!”
Sunset sighed. “I’m sorry, Trixie. I...didn’t have much time for anything else than studying, and I kinda found you speaking third person annoying. But I promise I’ll try better. Obviously my attitude has caused someone to cast this spell-” she glanced at the diary. “Wait, the spell didn’t erase me from your diary?”
Trixie shook her head. “No, it did not. It could be that this spell could only remove memories, not written memories. If that is the case, we will need to write down what we know somewhere, if not when we do find the pony responsible, they will simply erase Trixie’s and your memories and escape.”
“That’s...actually a good idea!” Sunset said, amazed. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”
Trixie puffed out her chest. “Well, Trixie is smarter than you, of course!”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”
“Sunset, think,” Trixie said. “Who have you offended recently?”
Sunset sat down and thought about it. You’ll know how I feel! Sunset’s eyes widened. “I think I know.” she whispered. “And I think I know why they did this.”
“Who and what now?” Trixie asked.
“Wallflower,” Sunset recalled. “A lime green pony who asked if I remember her.”
“This is sounding familiar,” Trixie noted. “And I assume you told her no.”
“Yeah…” Sunset said guiltily. “She even gave me a tulip before, and I didn’t remember her. I feel so bad. Is this what she felt when I told her I didn’t know her?”
“This Wallflower might have wanted to teach you a lesson,” Trixie said. “But if you don’t find her, no one will remember you again.”
“Wait,” Sunset stood up. “A spell that can erase memories, but not written memories…” she smiled. “I think I know what happened here.”
Trixie looked at her. “What spell did she use?” she asked curiously.
“It’s not a spell,” Sunset declared. “Do you have a copy of Starswirl’s ‘Dangerous Artifacts’?”
“Yes, Trixie does,” Trixie answered, before pulling out a box of books from under her bed using her magic. “It’s in here somewhere…”
Sunset looked appalled. “You keep them under your bed?”
“What about it?” Trixie asked sheepishly. “Trixie didn’t have space for the books anywhere else.”
Sunset sighed. “Whatever.” Using her magic, she rifled through Trixie’s collection of books, before pulling out a dark brown-coloured book. “Here.” She flipped through the pages, before stopping at one. “The memory stone,” she read aloud. “A stone with the ability to erase memories or fragments of them, it has been lost, no record of its location exists within recent history.”
“Well,” Trixie said satisfactorily, “Now we know what wiped everypony’s memories. Next, we need to find where this Wallflower is.”
“Well…” Sunset said thoughtfully. “She used a smoke producing potion to get away from me. Not many have the alchemy skills to brew potions, we can start from there.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Trixie said impatiently. “Let’s go look for her!”
Sunset smiled. “Thank you for helping me, Trixie.”
“Do you know of a pony called Wallflower?” Sunset asked her local apothecary assistant.
“Wallflower?” The assistant frowned. “I do, yes, but what do you want with her?
“Oh, I just want to ask her about her potions,” Sunset lied. “She’s known for being a great potion brewer, and I wanted to ask her for tips.”
The assistant relaxed. “Well, in that case… she’s a sweet mare, always giving me extra potion ingredients from time to time.” Hearing that, it made Sunset feel even more guilty. I made a kind pony feel upset...what have I done?
“Here,” The assistant passed over a slip of paper. “This is address toher potion shop, I wish you good luck on getting your tips.”
“Thanks!” Sunset said cheerfully, before exiting the shop.
“Well?” Trixie asked. “What did he say?”
Sunset showed her the slip of paper. “Seems like Wallflower buys her ingredients here, and I have the address to her potion shop. She’s bound to be there.”
“Let’s go then,” Trixie said. Sunset nodded, slipping the piece of paper into her bag slung around her shoulder.
“What will you do when we find Wallflower?” Trixie asked.
Sunset halted. “I haven’t thought of that…” she admitted. “But I hope she will be reasonable. Of course, I’ll tell her that I’m sorry, and ask if she could reverse what she did.”
“That sounds like a decent plan,” Trixie said. “And Trixie knows plans.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. That aside, I really hope I can make amends.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Trixie said. “Our main objective is to get the stone, so it won’t happen again.”
“Here we are,” Sunset stopped in front of a plain green coloured shop. “And the sign says they’re open. Here goes nothing…”
Sunset pushed open the door, and the bell rang merrily, signalling the entrance of a potential customer. Wallflower herself was at the counter, reading a book. “Welcome to-” she looked up. For a moment, no one moved. However, in a flash of movement, Wallflower threw the book to the counter, before picking up an oval green coloured stone.
The memory stone… Sunset realised before the stone flashed a green colour, and Sunset remembered nothing else.
“Sunset?” a worried voice asked. “You there?”
Sunset opened her eyes, blinking.
“Yes?” she answered, before looking to the origin of the voice and doing a double take. “Trixie?”
“Yes,” Trixie answered impatiently. “How many times do we have to do this, again?”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, shaking her head. “And why do I feel like I’ve forgotten something?”
“You have,” Trixie answered. “The same thing several times, actually. Everytime you come stumbling out of that shop you always have that blank look on your face.”
“I am still confused,” Sunset admitted.
“Gah!” Trixie gave up. “Just look at your notes, and try again. I don’t know why you keep trying if your memories are going to be wiped every time you try.” She then tossed a stack of papers at Sunset.
Sunset scanned the papers, which were filled with what she recognised as her own handwriting. Her eyes widened every time she read another sentence, and when she came to the bottom line, she blinked. “Eighteen times?”
“Yeah,” Trixie rolled her eyes. “You certainly are persistent, aren’t you?”
“There must be something I’m doing wrong,” Sunset said. “If I keep failing, that means I need to try something new.”
“Done and done,” Trixie said with a bored tone. “Look at the next page, it’s a record of what you’ve tried, written by yours truly. After the third time, I cast a listening spell on you so I could hear what you were saying.”
Sunset scanned the page. “Really?” she said frustratedly. “I’ve tried everything I can think of already! Even tried the same thing twice at some point, it seems.”
“Well,” Trixie drawled. “Trixie supposes you can give up. But according to the book…” she flipped open the page. “After three days, the memories taken are lost forever,” she read aloud. “I suppose that’s why you keep trying.”
Sunset sighed. “What can I do? And also, why hasn’t she run away or anything?”
“Trixie has checked it out,” Trixie said. “The shop only has one entrance, and she thinks somepony out here keeps reminding you of the memories, which is why you kept going. Trixie thinks that she might be hoping you give up, because she might be scared that if she leaves the shop somepony is going to fire some spell at her. Of course, this is all just a theory.”
“Well,” Sunset grimaced. “Wait. I think I have an idea.”
“Then go do it!” Trixie ushered her to the shop, taking the notes back. “And I’ll take this just in case.”
Sunset stopped. “I need to prepare first, Trixie, please watch the entrance for me.”
Trixie nodded. “Will do!”
Sunset pushed open the door to the shop. “Wait!” she exclaimed the moment she entered. “Please, listen to me!”
Wallflower halted with her hoof already bringing the stone up. “What do you want to say?” she said hesitantly.
“I know I’ve hurt you,” Sunset said sincerely. “And I want to apologise for it.”
“Apologies won’t work,” Wallflower said bitterly. “Now that you’ve felt the pain of being forgotten, all you want is to not feel it again. But if I give back the memories, I’ll just suffer alone. Do you know how painful it is when you said you didn’t remember me? Several times I’ve sent you flowers with my name on them. It doesn’t matter that you only kept one, but you should have at least remembered what I did.”
“Wallflower,” Sunset sighed. “I’m not just trying to make up excuses. But I’m genuinely sorry.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Wallflower said, her voice quavering a little. “I’ll still-”
The door opened, and Starswirl stood there. “I couldn’t believe her when she told me the memory stone was here,” he said in a growling tone. “But I humored her. And now that I know that it is true...I cannot allow you to abuse its power anymore!”
“You tricked me!” Wallflower’s eyes were wild, looking from Sunset to Starswirl.
“I didn’t trick you,” Sunset said softly as the door opened again, revealing Trixie.
“How did you get more to remember you?!” Wallflower was close to hysterics.
“They’re my friends, Wallflower,” Sunset said softly. “Some part of them deep down will remember me, even if their memories of me are gone. And there are always written memories. Accounts of me can never disappear.”
“Fine!” Wallflower shouted, close to tears. “If you can simply just do that, I’ll just wipe all of your friends’ memories, and they’ll never ever be able to remember you!”
The stone lit up, and the beam fired at the group of ponies. Sunset’s eyes widened, and she dived forwards. “No!” she shouted. “Even if I’ve done you wrong, my friends deserve none of this!” The beam struck her squarely in the face, and she collapsed.
“Sunset!” Trixie rushed forwards. “Why?”
Sunset looked up weakly as her memories began to leave her. “I...did so much already. It...would be-” she never finished her sentence, her eyes going blank. After a moment, she looked up. “Where am I? Who am I?” she asked, looking around, confused.
Trixie growled. “Sunset doesn’t deserve this,” she declared. “She’s already trying to make amends!” she shouted at Wallflower.
“Why are you shouting at the cute pony? And who’s Sunset?” Sunset asked.
Wallflower blinked at ‘cute’. Suddenly, a spell was fired, taking advantage of Wallflower’s hesitation, knocking the stone aside, before a light grey aura surrounded it and brought it to Starswirl.
“No!” Wallflower cried out.
“And now,” Starswirl said, his eyes filled with a steely determination. “Your deeds will be reversed.” His horn lit up, and the stone glowed a dark green, before the memories stored inside the stone started flowing out in strips.
After every strip of memory left the stone, a final yellow line emerged from the stone and went into Sunset’s mind, and Sunset’s eyes glowed as every memory that was removed from her was returned. She shook her head weakly. “Did...did we do it?”
“Yes,” Starswirl said, looking apologetically at Sunset. “I’m sorry for treating you that way earlier. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course,” Sunset said happily.
“And now, for your punishment,” Starswirl looked at Wallflower. “You did something unforgivable. You erased an entire city’s memories of a pony, abusing an ancient artifact. This will mean a more severe punishment than just a simple day or two in the cells.”
“No!” Sunset leapt up and stood in between Starswirl and Wallflower.
“Step aside, Sunset,” Starswirl said impatiently. “I will need to take her in for trial.”
“No,” Sunset said firmly. “If anyone needs to be punished, it’s me. I caused this.” Behind her, Wallflower blinked in surprise.
“I didn’t pay attention to those around me,” Sunset said. “If I had…” she looked at Trixie and then at Wallflower. “I would have made more friends, found out the true nature of others.”
Starswirl looked thoughtful. “It sounds as if you have learnt an important lesson from this.”
“What I want to say is,” Sunset told everyone. “Is that I should have paid attention to what was going around me more. This wouldn’t have happened if I did.” She smiled at Trixie and Wallflower. “But because of this, I have more friends.”
Starswirl considered her words. “Very well, my student. I will not take further action, but you will be responsible for her future actions.” He lifted up the stone. “And what of this?”
“I’ll find a way to keep it safe,” Sunset promised. “If you let me take care of it.”
“Alright,” Starswirl levitated it over, before sighing. “I suppose you two will need some time to settle what happened.” he glanced at Wallflower and Sunset.
“We will,” Sunset agreed. Wallflower said nothing.
Starswirl exited the shop first, Trixie left next.
Once the shop was empty, Sunset spoke. “I know you might not want to,” she began. “But I’d like to hear the whole story, from the start.”
Wallflower looked up, her eyes starting to tear. “I’m so sorry,” she wailed. “I didn’t mean to cause any harm!”
“I know,” Sunset said gently. “It was my fault.”
Wallflower sniffed. “It began with a stupid crush. I was walking down the street one day, and then I caught sight of you. I heard of your cleverness and beauty before, but I never expected that I would be that infatuated.”
“For what it’s worth,” Sunset smiled. “You’re quite cute too. In fact...I admire you. You suffered through all that, and you were still strong.”
Wallflower sighed. “Rarely anyone remembered me. The small potion seller by the corner of the road, nopony important.”
Sunset trotted over and gave Wallflower a hug. “You’re important,” Sunset whispered. “And if you like, I’d like to give it a try.”
“Give what a try?” Wallflower asked.
“A relationship,” Sunset elaborated. “You said you had a crush on me, right?”
“W-what?” Wallflower stammered. “A-a relationship?”
“I know this seems sudden,” Sunset said. “But I’ve talked to the apothecary owner before coming here. He says you’re a kind and talented pony. I admire your determination.” she smiled wryly. “You kept trying to get me away, and didn’t give up.”
“I-I-”
Sunset smiled. “I haven’t had much experience doing this before,” she said. “I’m sorry if I don’t do well at this part.”
“What part-?” Wallflower’s eyes widened as Sunset’s lips met her own, and she melted into the kiss, her eyes closing blissfully.
“You have my attention,” Sunset whispered once she pulled away. “And you’ll never lose it.”
Author's Note
I don't have much experience writing romance, sorry in advance for the bad writing.
