With the prisoner draped over her back, Princess Twilight took flight and made her way to the castle.

Beneath the throne there was a staircase that ended in a brick wall. She tested the wall with her hoof, which went through the surface, disturbing it like water.

Closing her eyes, she stepped through and emerged in a massive space. Around her loomed enormous, empty cages made to hold things much larger than humans or ponies, having long been starved for prisoners.

The other princesses met her there once things had settled, and they discussed the prisoner's fate while she slumped against the stone wall of one of the cages, her wrists bound above her head.

The prisoner had remained unconscious ever since Twilight saw her collapse, and had been stripped of her cloak and artifacts since then, all of which were neatly laid out on a table nearby.

As for the bandages, a nurse had seen to their examination, discovering that they hid the scars of terrible burns. She even attempted to mend them, only to discover that they were resistant to magical healing, having been inflicted by a far more powerful magic than their healers had at their disposal.

Still, the nurse did give her fresh bandages, and cleaned any cuts and scrapes she found. "I wish there was more I could do." she said with a sigh, then packed up her equipment and left.

"What do you make of all this, Twilight?" asked Luna, trying to keep the volume of her voice in check.

Twilight shook her head. "I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete." She used her magic to pick up the medallion with the broken stone fragment and held it up before them.

"She was clutching this when she collapsed, after uttering something to herself; perhaps an incantation."

"Did she put herself into some sort of magical slumber?" asked Luna, looking at the sleeping form of her human doppelgänger.

"I don't think so." said Twilight. "What I mean is that I think she simply passed out after using it. We will have to wait until she awakens to learn what effect it had." said Twilight, placing the amulet back on the table.

"You already have some idea of what that is, though, don't you?" said Celestia, her gaze fixed on the prisoner's bandages.

Luna looked at Celestia, then at Twilight. "You do? How can that be?" she asked.

"I'd have to check with Sunset to confirm it, but I believe that the stone fragment embedded in the amulet I showed you is a piece of the Memory Stone." said Twilight.

"The one that Old Clover stole from the Sorceress?" asked Luna, intrigued.

"The same. It was destroyed during the incident with Wallflower, but somehow one of the pieces must have been recovered and fashioned into this amulet."

"So it still works?" asked Luna.

"Not exactly. The memories were released when the stone was destroyed, so I don't think that the amulet traps memories. My guess is that whatever properties that the stone possessed which made memory theft possible were harnessed and modified by a skilled artificer.

"The weakened fragment would have no effect if one attempted to use it to produce the whole stone's function, but by creating a device to harness what little was left they were able to produce a lesser, alternate effect."

"Instead of stealing memories, the medallion seals them." said Celestia, thinking about Goldie.

"Yes! At least, that is my educated guess." said Twilight.

Luna looked puzzled. "So... what do we do with her if she lost her memory? We can't interrogate her if she doesn't know the answers to our questions."

"First we need to see if I was right, then we can decide what to do with her." said Twilight, sounding a little less than certain.

After a brief pause, Luna spoke up again. “Is this really another version of me?" she asked.

"Or another version of Principal Luna." said Twilight, thinking out loud. "Though I suppose all of you could just be different versions of each-other."

"Was I like this when I was under the curse?" asked Luna.

"She is not cursed." interjected Celestia. “I don’t think she ever was.”

Twilight and Luna both looked confused.

"But she knew about the nightmare, and even summoned shadow beasts." said Luna. "If she is not cursed, then what is it?"

Celestia didn’t respond,

“Princess? Is something wrong?” asked Twilight, sounding like the unicorn apprentice Celestia had taken on all those years ago.

Celestia tensed, her gaze still fixed on the bandaged form of the prisoner. She imagined her own sister in her place, then Twilight, and even Goldie. She could no longer bear it. She turned away, walking swiftly down the corridor, away from the others; away from what might have been.

"Where are you going?" asked Twilight in surprise.

There was no answer, and a moment later Celestia had passed through the illusory wall and disappeared.

"I'll go after her." said Luna. "You stay with the prisoner. Memory or not, it wouldn't do for her to awaken alone in this place."

Twilight acquiesced, and Luna followed after her elder sister, leaving the young princess alone with the prisoner once again.

She passed the time considering various possibilities. It would be nice to finally get some answers, if for Goldie's sake and nothing else, but that seemed unlikely. Twilight had been wrong before, but Goldie's memory loss and the prisoner's evident rivalry with her aligned with Twilight's suspicions.

However, the loss of her memory–though inconvenient–could present an opportunity for the prisoner. The scars of the past could make one hopeless and mistrustful, but perhaps if she were to experience friendship without such inhibitions, then even should she regain her memory she would have new experiences to draw upon that may allow her to take back mastery of her own destiny.

If it came to that, though, she would have to choose for herself what kind of person she intended be.

Author's Note

This was originally going to be a part of the last chapter, but I am glad I decided to give it some room to breathe, so to speak.