A knock came at the door to Skyset’s room. “Skyset?” Rosette Strings’ voice called. “You up? Because breakfast is and it’s waffles, and they don’t stay hot long.”

It took a moment, but the door opened to reveal a very exhausted looking orange pegasus, her red mane looking disheveled and unbrushed. She flinched back upon seeing the unicorn, but sighed. “I’ll be down in a moment…” she said tiredly. “Just need to… collect myself.”

“Good news by the way, Princess Twilight has the artifact back at her castle.” Rosette said. “Figured you might wanna know that.”

“That’s good.” Skyset said, heading back over near her bed and grabbing a brush. “I think it’s good…”

“The other good news is she thinks she’ll have sending you back solved by the end of the day.” Rosette said as she turned to leave. “Guess this might be the last time we see each other so… good luck with whatever’s next.”

“Yeah… thanks…” Skyset said, though to her own surprise, she didn’t sound happy about it. She thought that she should be… back home. Back to normal. But why did she feel so… lost?

There were many benefits to living in high society Canterlot, Silver Dreams had learned. One of his favorites was that any syrup he wanted was always on the menu. Today he went for blackberry. “Wasn’t… mgh, wasn’t Starlight going to meet back up with us?”

“She probably slept in. I know I wanted to.” Spearmint said around a mouthful of her own waffles.

“I’m sure she’ll be around.” Cinnamon noted. “We had quite a day yesterday, after all.”

“Didn’t Rosette go and fetch Skyset?” Crimson asked after a bite. “I wouldn’t think it’d take this long.”

“Good question.” Fire commented. “Hope she slept well.”

A door bell rang off in the distance. “Yes she did.” Rosette said walking past the dining hall. “I got it!”

“I think the past couple of days have really thrown her for a loop.” Silver said, taking a drink of his coffee. “Time travel is weird.”

“...I should probably go with you guys back to Ponyville to try and purify any more corrupted spiritual flora if I can.” Midnight said with a yawn. “...or I could just go if you guys aren’t up for it, but I kinda need to for that…”

“I’ll probably go.” Silver said, taking another bite of waffle. “Nice close to a job back where we started… plus if this is Skyset’s last day in our time, it’d be nice to see her off. Not going to get another chance to talk to her and it’s goodbye, y’know?”

“You talk like you’ve known her for a while.” Midnight said with a laugh. “It’s only been a few days.”

“Yeah… but if it could’ve been longer… I dunno, she seems like a nice pony. Friend material for sure.” Silver said with a shrug.

“And that’s how we have so many roommates.” Spearmint said with a grin. “Amazing we all get along.”

“Well when we all have our personal space to retreat to and plenty of space to get away from each other when we need to, I think that’s not too bad… imagine if we all had to share a bathroom.” Midnight suggested.

“How about no?” Spearmint replied without missing a beat.

“Yeah.” Crimson said with a nod. “I bet Spearmint gets her feathers everywhere.”

“I see more of your feathers laying around than mine.” Spearmint countered, sticking her tongue out.

“Yeah, well, I leave less feathers laying around than both of you.” Midnight countered. She wasn’t technically wrong.

“You don’t have any feathers to begin with.” Cinnamon deadpanned.

“And my feathers spruce up the place anyhow.” Crimson said. “They are red, after all.”

Rosette stepped into the room with Starlight Glimmer behind her. “And the pony you were wondering about. Spoiler alert: She slept in.”

“Yeah uh… sorry…” Starlight said, scratching the back of her head. “Mmh, waffles, and… every kind of syrup I can think of…” she said, staring at the assortment of bottles on the table as she took a seat.

“Hey Rosette, who’s feathers do you find more?” Silver asked.

“Do you like, think I have a collection or something? I don’t pay attention to who’s feathers I clean up. I just toss them in the trash.” Rosette said simply. “Red feather, green feather, black feather, doesn’t matter to me. They’re all just feathers.”

“...but that doesn’t help…” Silver pouted.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you what. For the next week, I’ll dump them in your room.” Rosette said with a grin.

“On second thought, nevermind!” Silver backpedaled.

“Is Skyset not up yet?” Starlight questioned, not spotting the pegasus anywhere.

“Was wondering about that.” Crimson said. “Rosette said she went to get her, but she hasn’t come down yet.”

“Think maybe she got confused with all the rooms?” Fire asked.

“Not sure.” Crimson said.

“She was brushing her mane when I left her, but like, I wouldn’t think that’d take this long…” Rosette suggested as she poured Starlight a mug of coffee. “I’ll go see if she got lost. If she shows up before I get back, ring my service bell.”

Starlight took a sip and sighed happily. “This… is just what I needed.”

“How’d your meeting with Eclipse go?” Silver asked.

“...complicated, confusing, and not something I feel like thinking about right now.” Starlight answered. “Right now is coffee and waffles with friends time.”

“Sounds good to me.” Cinnamon said with a smile. “Seems like we don’t get enough of that these days.”

Rosette’s plan of action was to check Skyset’s room. Maybe something had held her up there? She stopped as she walked past a mirror propped against the wall in the hallway. It would be going into the bathroom in a day or so, but for now it’d been left here. She figured it should probably be somewhere more out of the way where it wouldn’t get knocked over, but figured here was as good as any place for the moment.

She struck a pose and admired the classical black and white maid uniform she wore. It was nothing new, but she definitely liked how it made her look.

She decided she could waste time admiring her dress later and continued on her way. She stopped at the door to Skyset’s room. Closed. She’d left it open… did that mean Skyset had left? She knocked on the door. “Ring ring, breakfast is calling.” she called out.

There was no response at the door after several moments, however if one were to listen closely, they might hear shifting, and perhaps a little more.

“Everything alright in there?” Rosette asked.

She didn’t get a response, but she could make out what sounded like labored breathing.

“I can respect if you need a little private time, but can you at least let me know if you’re alright?” Rosette called. “Just tell me to go away if you want.”

This was met with… even more silence. The heavy breathing just carried on, as if Rosette had never spoken.

“Alright, I’m coming in then…” Rosette called. She waited for a good few seconds for any sound of protest… when none came she opened the door and stepped in to see Skyset in what could only be described as the ‘upset pony crying in bed position’, head buried beneath her pillow as if to shut out the rest of the world. “...whoa… you okay?”

Skyset did not hear anything around her, but it was very evident of her crying by her body randomly heaving as she took in breaths.

Rosette sat on her haunches next to the bed. “You need a minute? Can I get you anything? Tissues, maybe?” she asked, offering a box of tissues in the red glow of her magic.

After another moment without response, Rosette decided maybe Skyset hadn’t heard her. She gently tapped the tissues against her shoulder to try and get her attention.

At this, Skyset’s body jerked in shock, and the pillow was immediately removed, and she found herself staring wide eyed at the vampiric unicorn. “I… wha- who???” she sputtered, unable to contain her surprise as she quickly tried to wipe her cheeks.

Rosette floated the box of tissues in front of her. “Tissue for your issue?”

Skyset took a few out of the box wordlessly and made some grotesque noises as she cleared her sinuses. She was still randomly gasping from the crying, but was trying to stop herself.

“You wanna talk about it?” Rosette asked, indirectly offering to lend an ear.

“I…” Skyset gasped once more, and tried to take a moment to collect herself. “I don’t… the magic and the… the… the lies and… and and my family… and I…” Skyset could not seem to form a coherent sentence as she broke down into sobs, unable to stop herself.

“Don’t think I understood that, but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess you’ve got a whole lot of different stuff that’s just kinda… boiling over?” Rosette tried.

Skyset only nodded, unable to stop herself from her crying.

“Need a hug..?” Rosette offered.

Skyset just nodded again.

With that, Rosette simply embraced the pegasus. She sat in silence for a while. “...it’s not your fault, you know? The way you thought and felt about… me I guess. It’s not like you knew any better… I think it’s pretty cool we can share a hug now… fast progress for somepony like you. That’s a thing to be proud of.” she noted, hoping that came across as encouraging and not condescending.

It took a few moments for Skyset to get herself composed enough to be able to speak. Even then, it wasn’t entirely calm, but better. “I… I I… we… they said you were… were… it was your fault… not you, but like… unicorns… and and… I just… none of it makes sense…”

“The world’s got a nasty habit of doing that whole not making sense thing sometimes.” Rosette agreed. “But friends and family can always be there to help you make sense of it. Those who really care about you will have your back.”

“No no no!” Skyset said, pulling back. “They they… they think the same thing! They don’t know… a-any of this! I can’t… t-talk about any of this!! They’ll think I’m c-crazy! I hit my head or something! And then there’s the magic, there’s just… is it reading my thoughts right now? What can I do to keep it out of my head? Are you? Do you see my mind?”

“Heheh. No, I don’t know that kind of magic.” Rosette said dismissively. “That’s some pretty restricted stuff. Not just anypony’s allowed to learn it… but I’ll tell you everything I can see and feel… your heart’s beating fast. Really fast. As a vampire, I’m like, super oversensitive to stuff like that… but I don’t need any freaky magic powers to see a pony having a hard time in need some reassurance. I can see that without it.”

Skyset took another moment to try and control her breathing as it started to become a bit more erratic. Once she had calmed down again, she finally spouted. “I-I don’t know if I want to go back…” she said, surprising herself even.

“Oh? But… what about your family? Surely you had friends… a life. Ponies you knew and loved. Wouldn’t you miss them?” Rosette asked.

“But I’d just be going back to… to… not… not this. I got friends, but they all think the same way, say the same things. How can I go back to living a lie?” Skyset questioned.

“You won’t.” Rosette said dismissively. “You’ll never be the same Skyset… you’ve changed. You’ll always know what was now… and I… kinda somehow doubt everything you did with your family or friends revolved around unicorns like me… or made up scary unicorns not like me. The Skyset that goes back will be a different mare than the one who left. Adventures have a tendency of doing that to ponies.”

“But… what good is any of that when nothing will change?” Skyset said. “I’m just one pony, and I’ll be the only one. Nopony to share those experiences with, and anypony I would won’t believe me. They’d probably label me as some sort of freak, or somepony who’s lost her mind.”

“You’re from the future, right? I can’t promise… but maybe someday, I’ll look you up. Vampires live a long time… if nothing happens to me before then… maybe?” Rosette suggested.

“Wait, what?” Skyset blinked. “Wouldn’t you be long dead? How long is a long time?”

“I don’t age. Twenty six. One o’ six. Two o’ six… I’m as old looking as I’m ever gonna get.” Rosette answered. “But y’know uh… never say never. Most ponies don’t plan their ends… and I could always like… get sick… or not be able to get the blood I need… or get hurt or something. Not planning on it, but I mean, a long time is a long time.”

“I’ve never heard of a vampire until I came here…” Skyset said, then worriedly looked up at Rosette.

“Yeah, that probably doesn't bode too well for ponies like me… I’ll admit.” Rosette chuckled dryly. “...we used to be hunted like monsters once… still are in some parts of the world. You say there’s no magic where you come from… vampires need magic rich blood… I can kind of see a bad deck of cards there… Lets hope I draw a lucky one, huh?”

Skyset pulled the unicorn into another hug. “I… I needed this. I hope you will be okay.”

“Guess I’ll find out one day… but you know? I bet you’re going to do just fine… maybe you coming here and seeing all this is part of something. Maybe one day you’ll change somepony else’s mind too.” Rosette said, hugging again.

“I can hope…” Skyset sighed. She pulled back again and smiled weakly. “I can also hope foods not cold, right?”

“Pff, at this rate we might want to make you some fresh ones… and hey… if you don’t see me again… or any of us. You’ll have this experience with you. We’ll live on in your heart.” Rosette said with a smile.

“I’m finding you. No buts.” Skyset said. And she meant it. She’d determined the first thing she’d do when she got home was some hefty research. She needed to know, and didn’t want to believe it would be impossible. She wouldn’t let it be.

Back in the dining room most of the household had already mostly finished breakfast, but had generally agreed to wait for Skyset.

“I’m starting to wonder if we should go see if Rosette got lost too.” Midnight mused.

“She’s been gone for like fifteen minutes.” Spearmint noted. The house was big, but she couldn’t imagine it would’ve taken too long to find one pony.

As if on cue, Rosette entered the room. “Our guest of honor has arrived.” she declared playfully.

Said pegasus entered the room, ears folded against her head. “Did you have to draw all the attention to me?” She huffed.

“With how late you are I don’t think anypony would’ve had to specifically draw attention to you. We were all wondering if you’d gotten lost or something.” Midnight noted.

“She was just getting ready and feeling a little sleepy this morning is all.” Rosette lied.

“I can relate.” Midnight said with a yawn.

Skyset shot Rosette a grateful look.“Anyway, sorry.” Skyset said with a small blush.

“S’all good.” Crimson said with a grin. “Just get somethin’ in you now.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Skyset said, and took a seat.

“Probably a bit cooled down now, but hopefully still enjoyable.” Cinnamon noted.

“Yeah, well… I was the… uh… sleepyhead… right?” Skyset offered.

“It’s been a crazy couple of days.” Starlight agreed. “Hopefully whatever sleep you did get was okay.”

“Morning, Skyset.” Silver said, taking a final bite of waffle. He’d eaten a bit more than he probably should’ve and that’d slow him down for a little bit while he digested all of those delicious waffles… but it had been worth it.

Skyset took note of the ponies in the room. There was even a sparkly-eyed pegasus sitting there, remaining silent. He just nodded at her when she looked his way. She’d have to ask about those eyes if she ever got the chance. She turned back to Rosette to thank her, but noticed the flask around her neck. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before.

“Today’s possibly your last day in 2016, so… anything you wanna do or see today while you still have a chance?” Starlight asked. Twilight would probably scold her about giving her too much information she shouldn’t technically have access to, but that was future Starlight’s problem.

Skyset looked in thought for a moment. “Gosh… I… I don’t really know what there is to see…” she said after a moment. “I wouldn’t really know.”

“I don’t really know what’s around in your time and what’s not.” Starlight admitted. “But there’s always a lot of things to see around Canterlot… there’s Neighagara Falls, there’s the Crystal Empire, Las Pegasus…”

“I’m open to suggestions… feel free to pick, I suppose.” Skyset said, sincerely unsure, even with some options presented to her.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to go to Neighagra Falls…” Silver said in thought.

“Silver, we don’t even live that far from it and it’s not like we don’t have money, we can go there any time.” Midnight countered. “It should be something special to Skyset.”

“What would be special to Skyset in our time though?” Silver questioned.

Skyset looked down at her plate, picking at it. She wasn’t really sure what to suggest at all. It looks like they didn’t either. She’d rather end the fuss. “Y’know, I don’t really know if I’m up for a big adventure… got a lot goin’ on as is. Big day, yeah?” she ended her statement with a nervous chuckle.

“How about we just go hang out at the lake near Ponyville?” Spearmint suggested. “It’s nice and relaxing.”

“The lake is pretty nice…” Starlight said with a nod.

“We could go to the movies.” Silver added.

“Huh. Ye olde theatre, huh?” Skyset said. “Gosh, I should like… never… tell my parents. They’d never let me live it down.”

“Isn’t that new movie about the spy couple playing?” Starlight asked.

“Love & Gadgets 2?” Midnight questioned. “Yeah, it just came out last week.”

“Sweet.” Crimson said. “Movies sound fun. Just hope I don’t have to get up a lot like last time.”

“Does that sound like something you wanna do, Skyset?” Silver asked hopefully.

“I’m not really sure what else we would do, so I can’t say.” Skyset said. “Just lead the way to whatever.”

Silver Dreams, Crimson Tail, Spearmint, Cinnamon Stix, Midnight Sonnet, Fire Dancer, Starlight Glimmer, and Rosette Strings had gone to see the Love & Gadgets 2 movie.

The movie had opened up with a brief recap of the first movie where the unicorn and pegasus couple met, and continued on to establish their objective, a covert mission to the fictional kingdom of Brendi where they had to infiltrate and stop a super weapon they’d use to achieve world domination. It had been filled with action, cheesy one liners, and plenty of silly romantic moments between the couple.

After that, they’d boarded a train to Ponyville and had decided to relax at the lake. A few other ponies seemed to have the same idea, including a pink earth pony mare who’d flung herself into the air to catch a frisbee thrown by a rainbow maned pegasus.

“Go long!” the pink earth pony mare shouted before doing a little twirl and tossing the frisbee clear across the lake.

“Pinkie’s got one hay of a throw…” Starlight said, watching the two.

The rainbow maned pegasus zipped across the surface of the lake, showering water over the group in her wake. “Sorrygottacatchit!” she shouted.

Starlight spit out a mouthful of water. “Gee. Thanks, Rainbow Dash.” she grumbled. “Considerate as always.”

“Gooooosh.” Skyset whimpered. “Gonna have to fix my wings later…” she muttered, shaking said appendages out.

She then turned to Rosette. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask about something. I thought about making a bad joke out of it but I’m genuinely curious. Err… what’s up with the… canteen? Is it just for convenience?”

Rosette took a small drink from said canteen, briefly staining her lips red. She licked them clean as she put the lid back on it. “It’s my blood supply… well, some of it anyway. It has a few enchantments on it to preserve it a little. We tend to use them both for the preservation and convenience, and for the whole not being see-through thing. Some ponies get really squeamish or freaked out by... Well by blood. Even moreso by things that drink it.”

“Huh. That’s… clever. And here I was thinking your job was super frustrating.” Skyset said with a snicker.

“I’ve got some brownies for the extra rough days when I just wanna relax.” Rosette said with a smile. “Though I don’t tend to get into those when I have work to do.”

“If… vampires do still exist in my time… I wonder if any of them use those canteens.” Skyset said. “It’d be subtle enough to hide, I think.”

“Oh, probably. If there’s a better way to carry it I dunno what that’d be… maybe one of those silly straw saddlebag things. But that’s not really subtle.” Rosette said with a laugh.

Skyset just nodded, looking on over the lake. “This’d be a place I’d like to find again and just take a camping night out. Perfect environment for it.”

“I dunno if it’d still be here in 3021.” Starlight said, as she got out of the water and shook herself off. The sun was starting to set and she didn’t feel like tracking water and possibly mud into the castle. “Or if it looks the same if it is.”

Skyset chuckled. “I’m gonna assume… not.”

“Well, only one way to find out.” Silver said as he shook himself off as well. “You find your big probably-not-going-anywhere landmark… and orientate yourself… I’d suggest that.” he said, pointing to Canterlot. “I… dunno what the city looks like, but I don’t imagine the mountain is going anywhere.”

“This is gonna sound weird, but it honestly reminds me of Zephyr Heights.” Skyset mused. “A very close resemblance to home.”

Spearmint picked up the beach ball she’d been tossing around with Cinnamon and looked over to where the pink earth pony was currently catching the frisbee again. “Hey, Pinkie? Where did you want me to put this?”

“Oh! Just stash it in that bush over there!” the pink earth pony called.

“...Uh… why..?” Spearmint questioned in confusion.

“For beach ball emergencies.” Rainbow Dash and Starlight Glimmer said in unison before looking to each other.

“...no, it’s just so it doesn’t blow away, silly! What kind of emergency calls for beach balls?” Pinkie asked in genuine confusion.

“Not sure.” Crimson said, putting his two bits in. “Most of the time, half the stuff you hide around doesn’t call for an emergency. So you never can tell.”

“Of course it all calls for emergencies! You’ve just never been without when you had a need, clearly.” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. “Oh! Skyset! Skyset! I left a liiiiittle something for you with Twilight this morning. Sorry I couldn’t throw you a back-to-the-future-party, but I’ve already got two birthday parties to make work later…”

“Should I be scared?” Skyset whispered to Rosette.

“I have no idea.” Rosette whispered back.

“Suppose we should get going and see where Princess Bookworm has gotten.” Starlight said as she started for the castle.

The trip back to the castle was a fairly short one. They were greeted by Spike and promptly led into the throne room where Twilight sat with a variety of instruments attached to the artifact that’d displaced Skyset in time to begin with.

“Oh! You’re back… I hope you’ve all had a great day, because I certainly have! I’ve gotten it figured out… the downside is, I’m pretty sure the return trip will burn it up… it‘ll just be a hunk of rock… it’s damaged and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t designed to handle more than one trip in a year…” Twilight said with a frown. “A shame, if only it could be studied for longer…”

“I’d say it’s gone pretty good.” Starlight said with a smile. She looked over the organized chaos of papers covered in equations and notes Twilight had strewn about the table. “...I’ll never understand how you do this so fast… I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

“I don’t have a full understanding of it… just a way to basically put it in reverse…” Twilight admitted, sounding disappointed. “But the important thing is, Skyset has a way home now.”

“Yeah… great…!” Skyset said, and winced as she knew she sounded fake.

Twilight was far from oblivious to Skyset’s mood. “What’s wrong, Skyset? Don’t you want to go home?”

“I do…” Skyset said with a sigh. “But a lot of good things have happened now… and I’ll have to go back… to everypony hating each other again.” It wasn't a point that ponies really focused on. Most ponies had other things to worry about. But now that she knew it didn't have to be that way, her brain was fixated on the differences.

Twilight gave a sad smile. “I’ll be honest… I can’t imagine living in a world like that… but before Equestria was a kingdom where ponies got along, earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi fought and bickered, and warred with each other… I have to believe that if it happened once? It can happen again… things can always change. Maybe that change starts with you?”

“Yeah. Right.” Skyset sighed. “Me versus the whole of Equestria that thinks otherwise. Surely I won’t be the odd one out.”

“You never know.” Twilight said simply. “Before I came to Ponyville, I was just a magic student… maybe I would’ve amounted to some great magical discovery… and I have, but… my life has taken so many turns I never, ever in a million years could’ve seen coming… and Crimson, I think you were a mailpony before you were a royal guard weren’t you?”

“Yep, mailpony.” Crimson said.

“I was a waitress.” Spearmint added.

“I guess. I just… don’t want to lose out on what I just got. It feels so… so cruel…” Skyset said, starting to tear up a little.

“Saying goodbye is always hard… but where one door closes, another can open.” Starlight offered. “...I left my village behind when I came to live with Twilight… and the ponies I’d known there. Admittedly some of them probably don’t ever wanna see me again, but… it was rough moving to a new place after so long… but I’ve made a lot of new friends since I got here, and I probably wouldn’t have met you if it weren’t for it…” she explained, before awkwardly adding ”...or if I did I probably would’ve tried to steal your cutie mark and fill your head with crazy propaganda about some misguided version of equality or something.” with a nervous laugh.

Skyset raised an eyebrow. “Do I even want to know?”

“I’ve done some terrible things I’m not proud of.” Starlight said sheepishly.

“But you’re a better pony now.” Twilight added, clearing her throat.

“But I’m a better pony now.” Starlight parroted, knowing that’s what Twilight wanted to hear. She knew it was true, but sometimes a part of her felt that it didn’t make up for the past.

Twilight levitated a pink box tied with cyan ribbon over to Skyset in the magenta glow of her magic. “Pinkie Pie left this for you a couple hours ago, by the way.”

“I’m scared.” Skyset said, but took it anyway. “Am I supposed to open it now?”

“Up to you.” Twilight answered. “You can open it now, or you can open it later if you want.”

“I’m kinda curious…” Starlight admitted. She had no idea what Pinkie could’ve possibly gotten the pegasus. She didn’t recall Pinkie even meeting her before their trip to the lake. What on Earth could it be?

Skyset opted to open the container now. She put a hoof to her mouth upon viewing the contents. “Oh… oh my goshhh…” she gasped, staring at a photograph inside. She then noticed something behind the photograph. She pulled it out. It appeared to be a note… written in crayon, of all things. She read the note.

Hey Skyset! Too bad I didn’t get to meet you properly! I’m sure we would’ve been the bestest of best friends in a heart beat, I mean like, lickety-split, two peas in a pod, three fillies covered in tree sap! When I heard your story from Twillight, I thought that was super duper sad… you’d be going away and have to leave all your new friends behind… so I decided I’d stick this photo I snapped of you, Starlight, and Fluttershy at the pizza place when I was out on one of my Super Duper Top Secret Pinkie Pie Party Planning Reconnaissance Missions (Patent Pending!!!) so that you’ll have something to remember them by! I just know you’ll love it. Say hi to my future grand foals if you meet them!

XOXO

~Pinkie Pie

Skyset put the note back inside and gently set the box down. The photo made her want to burst with emotion right then and there. She didn’t really feel like she even deserved all this attention anyway, and every time she turned around, there were just more surprises. “I… I don’t even…” She stammered, then chuckled. "A little creepy, but... sweet at the same time?"

The orange pegasus felt a bit overwhelmed. When she first arrived… just a couple days ago… she’d been so fearful of other kinds of ponies. Worried that unicorns might mind control her or something, and being fearful of what earth ponies might try to do if they got too close. Then she came to learn that everypony just… seemed to get along, for the most part. Earth ponies were actually kind of nice, and unicorns didn’t seem so bad either. She’d even met other kinds as well, and they were all friendly.

Skyset especially thought of Starlight Glimmer, Honey Spark, and Rosette Strings, the latter of which she’d been really enjoying the company of for the past several hours. Once she put aside that they weren’t pegasi, it was really just like talking with any other pony. These ponies especially were patient and understanding, even if Skyset’s stories about unicorns stealing magic seemed farfetched to them. It meant a lot to her that they’d take the time to understand her and still try to help her out.

Starlight gazed at the photo for a long moment before smiling. Maybe it was a little weird knowing that Pinkie had who knew how many random photos of her doing who knew what stashed away somewhere… but for once, she was glad Pinkie was such a snoop. That was possibly the sweetest gift she could think of… and she probably wouldn’t have even thought of it herself. “How cool is that…” she said, beaming.

“Leave it to Pinkie Pie to come up with something like that.” Twilight said with a laugh.

“Gaaaah! This sucks so much!” Skyset said aloud. “I love it… I hate these feelings… why can’t it just be easy?”

There was a long pause before Twilight spoke up. “...not to spoil the moment… but… do you think we should move things along before something else makes this any harder?” she asked sympathetically.

“Ooh! If I wait long enough will it become impossible?” Skyset said dryly. “No… I shouldn’t throw away your work. Besides… I don’t… b-bel…” Skyset couldn’t finish the sentence, and started to silently cry, the roller coaster of emotions still hitting her, and that she’d never see these ponies again. She thought it strange. She hadn’t known them for long, but everything was just so different, and they were all there for her in her time of need.

Rosette pulled her into a hug. “You’re gonna be alright…” she whispered softly.

Skyset took a moment, but eventually composed herself and nodded. She looked towards everypony there and smiled weakly. “Have good lives, you weirdos…” she said. “Cuz you probably won’t be around.”

“You too, Skyset.” Starlight said warmly. “It’s been a lot of fun… well, when we weren’t fighting a dark magic possessed pony to get the artifact back anyway.”

“I promise if I'm still around, we’ll meet again.” Rosette said with conviction.

Skyset nodded. “Alright, please hurry before I let my emotions get the better of me and I try to run away or something stupid.” She said, chuckling dryly.

Twilight’s horn flared and several of the instruments attached to the artifact whirred to life. A series of bright flashes assaulted the assembled ponies’ eyes from the artifact as it began to vibrate and hum before erupting into a sputtering golden aura that refused to stay steady and occasionally sparked. “I don’t know how long it’ll last, so be quick, grab your stuff and put your hoof on it!”

Skyset gathered everything she had… which wasn’t much, and turned once again to the others. She shut her eyes tightly, tears dripping from them as she turned and reached to touch the object.

And just like that, with a flash… she was gone. The only evidence she’d ever been being the scattered papers and equipment and the smell of ozone.

Starlight Glimmer sat on the edge of Twillight’s bed as the alicorn came back with a cup of tea for each of them. “We really don’t have to do this…” Starlight tried.

“I wish that were true, Starlight… but I need you to make good on what we talked about. I can’t be allowed to remember what was wrong with her.” Twilight said patiently. “You have to erase it. Nothing else… just the discovery about her magic. You can do this.”

“If I turn you into a vegetable, I’m never going to live this down…” Starlight said with a gulp. She took a deep breath. “H-how do we wanna do this?”

“...I’m just going to sit here… start when you’re ready… you’ve got this, Starlight.” Twilight said with full confidence.

“...and you’re really sure you want to let the mare who basically brainwashed a village and stole your cutie mark go poking around in your head?” Starlight asked, hoping that by some chance Twilight would reconsider.

“I am.” Twilight answered without a hint of hesitation.

“...I-I’ve done nothing to earn that kind of trust from you. Not from anypony.” Starlight said shakily.

“You’ve done all that you’ve needed to do… it’s time you put those doubts behind you and move forward. Please, Starlight… let’s do this together. Who better to handle this than one of my closest friends?” Twilight asked, before taking a drink of her tea.

“Pretty sure most friends don’t ask to have the other get rid of memories… b-but whatever… alright…” Starlight said as her horn lit up. “Get comfortable I guess…”

The spell took maybe thirty seconds in total, but it felt like an eternity to Starlight. She saw bits and pieces of Twilight’s memories from the past couple of days, but did her best to stay out of anything she wasn’t meant to see… then she began to change things. A lapse in memory here. A mis-remembering elsewhere… the gist of the story was all there… but there wasn’t a chance Twilight would remember what she might’ve done… what she might still do one day.

That would forever be Starlight Glimmer’s secret to keep… and while she didn’t know it at the time, it would only be the first of many secrets she would be entrusted with.

Author's Note

Sorry it took me so long to get this out, just had a lot going on and I've forgotten to post it!