Welcome back to "Mind", everyone! Feels like it's been a while, even though we've only been away from the story for a mere week. Anyways, I'm really interested to see the reactions to what direction me and JoJo knd will be taking with this story!
There's a bit to recap, but I'll let the one and only Xiaomei take care of that! Enjoy!
MIND
Oh, welcome back. We last left off this tale with quite the revelation. Apparently, someone has found a mystic artifact known as the Memory Stone. Another piece of Equestrian Magic carelessly thrown into the other world for our heroes to have to deal with. The only question is… who's using it?
Well, we'll have to find that answer out later. For now, Sting seems to be in a rather troublesome situation against the Black Order. But thankfully, it seems as if he's found a friend ready to help.
"RRAH!" Laura snarled out as she swung her claws to make Corvus slide back along the hallway.
"Is that one of them as well…?" he wondered aloud, gnashing his teeth together.
"I do not recall…" his wife responded, narrowing her eyes. Meanwhile, Sting got back onto his feet. He was still shocked by the whole situation. First, the two alien mercenaries attacked, and now there was this.
"Who are you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The mutant girl huffed, charging out at her foes again. Corvus quickly readied his glaive, using it to parry her slashes as sparks flew from each attempted strike. Proxima rushed in with her spear aimed to pierce through her target's torso, but she blocked it in the nick of time with her claws, followed by protruding a single one out from her foot.
"Ah!" Proxima gasped, leaning back to avoid getting sliced by the high leg kick her foe attempted. Unfortunately, she failed to avoid her attack as she swung her foot down, slashing into her arm. "AGH!" she yelped in pain, stumbling back as her blue blood .
"Beloved!" her husband exclaimed, growling angrily before rushing toward Laura, who withdrew her foot claw and now started to parry his attempted swipes. Deciding to no longer stand by, Sting rushed in and had his right fist cloaked within a bright white light.
"White Dragon Iron Fist!" he exclaimed, striking Corvus as he barely managed to block the heavy blow with his weapon, sliding back to a stop beside his wife.
"We have to regroup with Maw," she insisted as she had her right hand upon her bleeding cut, "The stone must in this vicinity…" she mentioned with narrowed eyes.
"Agreed…" her husband concurred, glaring at their foes. Proxima then aimed her spear forward, firing off a blast of blue light that struck the floor in a flurry of dust.
"Hey!" Sting yelled, hearing their running footsteps. He and Laura chased after them, heading out of the school into the parking lot. Unfortunately, they weren't in sight. "Drat…" the Sabertooth guildmaster muttered out. He then turned to the mutant girl. "Uh, hey…" he began, getting her attention, "thanks for the save back there, but…" he tried saying, only for something to be thrown into his hands as he yelped in surprise. He looked and blinked to see that it was an MPG. "Wait a sec…" he uttered, sniffing it, "This… is Rainbow's!" he realized, "How did you—?!" He stopped talking upon seeing that Laura was no longer in sight.
She had actually gone into the woods beyond the school grounds, taking off her cowl as she looked back at the White Dragon Slayer. Retracting her claws, she let out a determined huff before continuing into the forest. Meanwhile, Sting stared at the MPG in his hands curiously. He pocketed it with Applejack's, exhaling a sigh.
"Hope milady and Ben found something…" he muttered to himself, heading off. Corvus and Proxima had found themselves in the sewers beneath the streets, with the latter bandaging her wound.
"Now that we know that our father's enemies are involved, what will we do?" she inquired to her husband, who narrowed his eyes.
"They're not from the same time we are…" he pointed out, "And as such…" he continued to infer, "killing them could bring about an opportunity for the great Titan's dream to become reality…" he said, quite surprised.
"Then we should be thankful to this Eon…" Proxima mentioned as she chuckled ominously.
Oh my… The stakes are certainly growing all the higher… You know, I think it's about time we went back to the beach for a little comic relief.
Perhaps Pinkie Pie can give us that entertainment we need.
"Uh… who said that?" Pinkie inquired from the beach, looking around herself.
"No one said anything, Pinkie Pie," Rarity noted in response while lounging on a beach chair with a tanning mirror held out in front of herself.
"You sure?" her energetic friend inquired, "'Cause… I feel like I've been hearing a weird voice for a couple days now…" she admitted to her friends, "It's like… narrating our lives…" she mentioned. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack gave off very perplexed expressions. "Eh, it's probably just me…" Pinkie concluded with a shrug, "Anyways, we've been out here a while," she realized, taking out a cupcake with a bright blue frosting, "Time to reapply!" she declared. She then slathered her left arm, right leg, and face with the frosting before dashing off in an instant. Her friends were left baffled.
"I've been thinking…" Twilight began, adjusting her sun cap while sitting up on her towel as Rarity and Applejack looked over to her, "Should we be worried about Sunset Shimmer and those other guys?" she asked of them.
"Yeah!" another voice chimed in, causing them to glance over, "Worried she comes back!" she remarked, being none other than Trixie. She was seated upon her own lounge chair in a bathing suit with sunglasses over her eyes. "I think it's a shame the way she's treating you, pretending to be your friend," she pointed out, taking off her sunglasses for a moment, "She's obviously up to something…" she mentioned, narrowing her eyes as she looked to the side, "Sunset thinks the whole school exists just to serve her…" she added in annoyance, "Water, please!" she requested with a snap of her fingers.
As it turned out, Snails was fanning Trixie with a large leaf, while Snips jogged over to her with a bottle of water in his hands. She opened her mouth, allowing him to pour the liquid down, which she swallowed contently. The girls just gave off skeptical looks to each other, somewhat unconvinced or troubled. Pinkie was actually buried in the sand with her head sticking out, having a mermaid body formed over her.
"You know," Trixie began, pushing her sunglasses up to her forehead, "seeing as how the yearbook president seems to be having a little identity crisis," she continued, "I believe that means the vice president takes over," she pointed out, "And, why…" she kept going, letting off a small faux gasp, "that's you, Rarity," she noted to the fashionista.
"If this is your way of asking to be made 'The Greatest and Most Powerful', the answer is no," she retorted firmly before blinking in confusion, "And didn't we have this conversation yesterday?" she inquired as she arched an eyebrow, "I can't quite remember…" she admitted, putting her left hand onto her chin.
"Uh…" Applejack uttered, just as unsure. Fluttershy was, too.
"Maybe we did, maybe we didn't," Trixie suggested as she walked over to the girls, "Memory is such a fickle thing," she noted, "You never know when you'll forget something important," she mentioned cheekily, "Like how Great and Powerful I am," she added, "which is why I need to be in the yearbook!" she demanded emphatically as she placed her left hand over her heart.
"Hoaahhh…" Rarity groaned out, rolling her eyes, "I'll think about it…" she muttered, bringing her tanning mirror back up. Trixie gave off a smirk.
"That's all I ask," she affirmed with a smile.
Ah, that was a nice little break from all the tension. But of course, questions are rising. How much of the girls' memories have been altered? And is there a way for them to discover them on their own?
"There it is again!" Pinkie yelped as she shot up from the sand, causing it spill onto her friends, "Uh… whoopsie…" she sheepishly uttered upon realizing.
"Mmmm…" Rarity growled as she and the others brushed themselves off.
MOST LIKELY TO BE FORGOTTEN PART III
"I should be getting back to my world," Sunset noted as she set her bag onto her back from within the Canterlot Library restricted section, "Maybe I can convince my friends I'm telling the truth," she suggested to Twilight and Celestia, "now that we know what we're looking for," she mentioned to them.
"We will," Ben affirmed as he trotted over, standing beside his best friend as she smiled gratefully.
"The Memory Stone," Twilight said, taking a drawing of the Equestrian relic she had drawn upon a sheet of paper and levitating it over with her magic, putting it into Sunset's bag, "I'll stay here and search the restricted section top to bottom until I find a way to get your friends' memories back," she told her while walking about with a confident grin on her face as she looked at the variety of books lingering about upon the shelves.
"If that's even possible…" Sunset mumbled worriedly.
"Oh, it's possible," the Princess of Friendship affirmed, causing her to perk up, "Even if I have to reorganize the whole library by subject," she pointed out, "Or maybe chronologically!" she suggested, starting to grow excited, "Oh!" she gasped in realization, "And fix the broken catalog machine!" she mentioned, gesturing toward the damaged device, which had puffs of steam coming out from it as it continued to run.
"Uh… right…" Ben responded, while Sunset gave Twilight a skeptical look. Out of embarrassment, she blushed and cleared her throat.
"I'll figure it out," she promised confidently.
"Thank you," Sunset said in gratitude, "Both of you," she added, looking up to Celestia.
"This is quite a contrast from the last time we parted ways," she noted while glancing up for a moment, causing her former student to grimace a little, "But you are not that way anymore," she affirmed, making her smile as she lifted her head up, "With every choice you make, you prove yourself to possess a kind heart," she pointed out, putting her left hoof over her heart, "And that's evident from the friends you've made," she mentioned, looking over at Ben, who blinked in surprise.
"I guess I had a good teacher," Sunset realized as she looked over to Twilight, who blushed again and smiled.
"You were a good student," she responded, sharing a laugh with her.
"Are you saying I wasn't a good teacher?" Celestia asked, sounding angry as she put her right hoof down. Both Sunset and Twilight grimaced.
"Oh, uh, no! I wasn't…!" the former stammered out, "I mean, what I meant…!" she attempted to say.
"She didn't say that!" the latter chimed in.
"Yeah, I didn't say…!" Sunset continued, only to stop as she saw the Princess of the Sun's expression shift from a frown to a smile, followed by her laughing heartily. The abject horror on the unicorn's face quickly turned to relief as she and her friend joined in the laughter. "Princess Celestia has a sense of humor?" she inquired rhetorically, quite surprised, "Looks like I'm not the only one who's changed…" she realized, sharing one more laugh with her peers.
"We should get moving," Ben advised, getting their attentions, "Sooner we get back, sooner we can rendezvous with Sting and figure out how to play things with finding the stone," he explained.
"And making sure we cover all the tracks we can," his best friend mentioned, now feeling much more confident about the endeavor, "We'll let you know if we need anything else," she told the two princesses, who both nodded. Ben then transformed into XLR8 in a flash of green light, carrying Sunset as they sped out from the restricted section and left the library. As they departed, Twilight eagerly turned around with a wide smile on her face, ready to go through every book she could.
"It's been a grueling afternoon…" Rainbow began in a hushed, sotto voice back on the beach, "but here we are," she said, holding up a volley that was white, yellow, and blue, "the final match!" she exclaimed in a hushed tone, "Next point wins!" she mentioned with a pump of her left fist as Twilight's drone was hovering around her, recording the whole event, "A hush falls over the crowd of ten thousand fans…" she added, essentially acting as if she was in a stadium. Meanwhile, the drone flew back over to the spectacled girl, who was sitting on a towel and reading a book. Her invention's beeping caught her attention.
"Go, sports!" she cried out with a pump of her fist, followed by continuing her reading. As it turned out, Rainbow and Rarity were pitted against Fluttershy and Pinkie, separated by the volleyball net.
"I'm not holding back this time!" the athlete of the group declared as she clenched her left fist.
"That's what I'm afraid of…" Fluttershy meekly responded, shuddering a little.
"Bring it on, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie exclaimed as she stepped forward, "You and Rarity just bought your team a one-way ticket on the express train to You're Goin' Down!" she proclaimed rather fiercely.
"Ooh…" the capped girl uttered in surprise, "Nice game face, Pinkie Pie," she complimented as her friend was holding onto the netting.
"Thanks!" she responded gratefully, "I've been practicing all day," she mentioned, hearing the drone approach, "Isn't that right, little baby camera?!" she inquired loudly as she grabbed it and held it close to her face, "You're in my house now!" she roared. The drone beeped as it flew away, heading back toward Twilight, who was in the middle of petting Spike. As soon as the dog noticed the hovering device looming him and his owner, he started growling. He then leapt out of her lap and started chasing the drone, much to her surprise as she blinked. Rarity sauntered over and giggled.
"Somebody's jealous," she remarked as she sat down on the beach chair beside her spectacled friend.
"Please!" Spike huffed out upon overhearing, "Call me when the flying can opener learns how to fetch…" he muttered. At that moment, the drone deployed a claw-like contraption, setting down an open can of dog food in front of him. It then floated down beside the puppy, beeping as he stared at it indifferently. "You're the worst," he grumbled. The drone flew away with a sad-sounding beep. What followed was Spike carefully looking around before eagerly chowing down on the food in the can.
Back at the volleyball net, Rainbow threw up the ball for her serve, taking a great leap to spike it towards her two opponents. Fluttershy yelped in a panic, shielding her head with her arms as they deflected the ball upward. It allowed for Pinkie to leap up and smack it with her left hand. It hit the net, but then bounced off of her head high into the air. Rainbow backpedaled quickly in an attempt to get to it in time, but she ultimately fell over in a grunt onto the sand. The ball itself came to a stop just as a pair of figures arrived, with their shadows being cast over it.
"Great news, guys!" Sunset exclaimed as she and Ben were there, "I figured it out!" she noted, "Someone's erased your memory with Equestrian Magic!" she told the girls while putting her left hand onto her head for emphasis, "You don't remember, but we're still friends!" she pointed out emphatically as the six girls gave off perplexed expressions, which were followed by ones of skepticism.
"Seriously, it's true," the Omni Force leader chimed in, "I wouldn't just vouch her case if I didn't think so…" he mentioned with a shake of his head. Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight seemed unsure, while Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity still were unconvinced. Seeing that, Sunset quickly reached into her satchel to pull out the drawing she had been given earlier.
"This is the Memory Stone," she told the group, "Do any of you recognize it?" she inquired. Again, she received no response, indicating that the girls had no idea what she was talking about. "Ugh…" she groaned in realization as she slouched forward a little, "Right, guess not…" she concluded, "But look," she insisted, taking out her phone and showing the girls pictures that had been taken between them, scrolling through one after another, "See? This is proof!" she pointed out, "We are friends!" she proclaimed, sounding desperate to convince everyone.
"Ehh…" the girls all uttered out, not completely convinced at all.
"Maybe this'll be harder evidence," Ben suggested as he stepped forward with his own phone, showing a few pictures. One was of Fluttershy holding Pikachu warmly in her arms with Ash Ketchum laughing beside her. Another showed Natsu Dragneel with his arm wrapped around Twilight as they were smiling.
The girls all blinked in surprise. There were more pictures of Rarity and Rogue, Applejack and Kyoya, Pinkie and Clemont, and Ben and Rainbow. The athlete of the group was the most shocked by this.
"Why the heck are we so close?" she wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow.
"Because you're my girlfriend, Dash," the Omni Force leader answered, causing her to widen her eyes, "And I swear, I'm not lying," he added firmly, "What reason would I have to even lie to you?" he questioned.
"Perhaps to earn Sunset Shimmer's favor to try and get her into our 'Best Friends' picture?" Rarity assumed.
"What?!" Ben yelped out, "No!" he exclaimed emphatically, "I helped you girls practically nuke Sunset back at the Fall Formal, followed by your barrage of thank you kisses!" he recanted to their surprise, "Back then, I didn't like Sunset either," he noted, causing her to grimace, "But she's changed," he affirmed, giving her a smile, "Anyone can," he added firmly, "I know your memories are all screwed up right now, but she's telling the truth," he told the group, "She's not the bad girl you still think she is," he mentioned, shaking his head. The girls then started to seem collectively uncertain as to what they should think. And it gave the Omni Force leader some hope.
"Oh, please…" Trixie's voice scoffed, getting their attentions as they saw her approach alongside Snips and Snails, who were carrying her beach supplies, "This is the same girl who made flawless fake photos of your friend trashing the gym," she noted while smugly crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, wait a minute!" Pinkie chimed in, popping up between Ben and Sunset and taking hold of the latter's phone, "Is this supposed to be me making such a ridiculous face?" she inquired as she was looking at one of the photos the red-and-yellow-haired girl had, "Ha!" she laughed, "I'd never fake a face like that!" she proclaimed, showing off the picture with her making a bizarre grimace while having her left eye shut… and doing the exact same thing beside it, "Preposterous!" she boomed into Sunset's face as the drone was hovering beside them, "Fake, I say!" she declared, pointing at the photograph.
"Are you kidding me…?" the Omni Force leader grumbled out, pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes. At that moment, Trixie started cackling.
"My work here is done," she stated with a smirk, "Trixie out!" she exclaimed, throwing down a smoke bomb, resulting in a plume erupting around her, Snips, and Snails. With it subsided, it showed that she had only had gone so far as to reach the steps to the parking lot. "And don't forget, Rarity!" she called out to the fashionista, "You promised to put me in the yearbook!" she noted excitedly with her fists raised, while her lackeys gathered her things.
"Wait, you did what?!" Sunset exclaimed in disbelief as she turned to Rarity. All of a sudden though, she stepped back onto the volleyball by accident. She stumbled backwards, trying to find her balance. Unfortunately, it was too late as her left foot stepped on something with the sound of a crunch. She grimaced, looking back to find that it was Twilight's drone she had stepped on. One of its propellers had broken off, its lens was cracked, and its exposed wires fizzled at it beeped lowly.
"Huh!" Twilight gasped as she hurried over to assess the damage as she fell to her knees, while Sunset grimaced.
"It was an accident!" she said as the spectacled girl sadly picked up the broken drone, "I can help fix it!" she proclaimed as a promise, reaching out to her ponytailed friend. However, she pulled her damaged device away.
"I think you've helped enough…" she snarled back, much to Sunset's surprise. She looked back at her other friends, seeing their expressions all shift into upset ones, making her grimace. Seeing that, she turned and glared up at Trixie, who smirked before running off with Snips and Snails. The red-and-yellow-haired girl seethed with frustration. And she seemed certain that the student magician was the one behind this whole mess. Meanwhile, Ben approached Twilight.
"Maybe you don't want Sunset's help, but I'm gonna," he decided, ready to activate one of his Biomnitrix gauntlets.
"We don't need help from a stooge of Sunset's…" Rarity chimed in as she approached.
"Ugh… again with this?" Ben groaned out in question, "I told you, I'm her friend," he stated, "And you are, too," he mentioned, "The only reason you don't remember is because someone's messing with your heads, and we're gonna find out who," he explained to them.
"Likely story…" Pinkie remarked, putting her hand onto her chin as she narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, Sunset Shimmer's not the goody two-shoes you think she is," Rainbow mentioned, much to Ben's surprise, "Once a bad girl, always a bad girl…" she muttered out. Hearing that, the Omni Force leader's expression darkened as he closed his hands into fists. Sunset turned and blinked in surprise to see that change.
"What did you just say?" he asked darkly, slowly walking up to the capped girl. She started to look nervous.
"Y-You heard me…" she stammered out, taking a step back. The Biomnitrix bearer glared at her, having both of his devices shine a bright green.
"Oh really?" he inquired rhetorically. It seemed like he wanted nothing more than to smack her for such an insensitive comment. But at that moment, Sunset grabbed his shoulder.
"Ben, don't…" she pleaded with a shake of her head, "That isn't Rainbow…" she pointed out to him, "At least not now…" she mentioned as the other girls and Spike were staring at them, prepared to intervene if necessary.
"…Huh…" Ben sighed out, "Fine," he said, turning around, "Let's go," he beckoned. He and his best friend walked off, with the latter taking one last look at the people she saw as her friends sadly. Meanwhile, Rainbow was a bit perplexed.
"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" Twilight asked, getting her attention.
"It seemed like that guy was about to pummel you…" Pinkie pointed out as she skipped over.
"Uh… yeah…" Rainbow responded, putting her right hand onto her head, "I'm okay, but…" she started to say, "something about that felt… weirdly familiar…" she admitted, staring at the departing forms of Ben and Sunset.
Oh dear… It seems progress can still wind up stunted by inconveniences… Even so, not all hope is lost for Sunset. Now that she knows what to find, she'll only have to discover who to find it from.
"There it is again!" Pinkie shrieked with widened eyes, causing everyone around her to flinch.
"Uh… yer still hearin' weird voices?" Applejack wondered aloud.
"Well, I didn't hear anything…" Rarity noted.
"Me either…" Spike chimed in, "I think you're starting to go off the deep end, Pinkie Pie…" he pointed out.
"And that's saying something…" Twilight added as a remark, followed by sharing a laugh with her friends, including the puffy-haired girl.
Hm. At least I can have some fun with this…
X
The sun had already set by the time Ben and Sunset were walking along the streets back to the latter's apartment. She clutched the strap of her satchel tightly in frustration. Meanwhile, her best friend had his hands stuffed into his pockets. He knew things were tough, but he couldn't have imagined almost attacking the girl who forgot about him. And it wasn't even her fault, like the girl beside him had said.
They both rounded a corner with depressed looks on their faces. Neither of them expected things to go so wrong in just one day due to lost memories. They could only hope that they would find the Memory Stone soon and fix everything.
"Huh…" they sighed simultaneously as they came to a stop, "I'm sorry…" they both apologized. They then blinked in surprise, looking over to each other.
"You're sorry?" Sunset questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh… yeah…" Ben responded, rubbing the back of his neck, "I should've kept myself in check when Rainbow said…" he started to say, glancing away, "It just reminded me of what happened back then and… well…" he continued, only for his best friend to put a reassuring hand onto his shoulder.
"To be honest… I'm sorry for even thinking that we should've gone back to the beach at all…" she admitted to his surprise, "I thought trying to explain things would at least make the others open up a little…" she pointed out, "but it wound up making things worse…" she noted sadly.
"At least we figured out everything when it comes to the Memory Stone," the Omni Force leader mentioned with a shrug.
"Not entirely…" Sunset said, pulling out the drawing of the ancient artifact, "There was still one piece of that scroll missing from what Twilight showed us," she recalled.
"And without knowing where it is, we might not find out who used it," Ben mentioned, folding his arms over his chest.
"Actually, I think I've got a good idea as to who," the red-and-yellow-haired girl noted as she tucked the drawing away.
"Trixie, right?" the Biomnitrix bearer assumed with an arched eyebrow, "Makes sense since she basically vowed revenge for you not putting her in the yearbook as 'great and powerful'…" he grumbled, taking on a squeaky, girlish voice to mock the amateur magician. Sunset giggled.
"Huh…" she exhaled, "Either way, we've got a prime suspect," she affirmed, "Unfortunately, we'll have to wait 'til Monday to find out if it's really her…" she mentioned in frustration.
"Hey, it'll be fine," Ben promised, reaching over to put a hand onto her shoulder, "Ow!" he yelped in pain as he pulled his extremity back.
"What? What's wrong?" Sunset quickly questioned in concern.
"Eh-heh…" the Omni Force leader chuckled, "Uh, your spikes…" he pointed out, gesturing towards the gold spikes upon Sunset's leather vest.
"Oh," she uttered with a small grin, "Sorry 'bout that," she apologized, chuckling a little, "Guess I'm taking the whole punk girl look out of hand…" she admitted, removing the article of clothing.
"Hey, it still looks cool," Ben complimented, "Though I think the leather jacket you had before was way cooler," he mentioned as he smirked.
"Fashion advice from the guy who barely wears anything else except a hoodie once in a while?" Sunset inquired, arching an eyebrow as she smiled, "Yeah, I'll stick with something that won't leave me baked in the summer sun…" she decided, sharing a laugh with her best friend. Ben then looked out and blinked in surprise. Without her vest, Sunset looked… a lot different to him. And he found himself staring at her. "What's wrong?" she asked upon noticing, causing him to snap back to reality.
"Oh, I was just…" he started to reply, letting out another laugh, "I was just thinking how lucky a guy Rook is to have someone as pretty as you for a girlfriend," he noted. A blush grew on Sunset's cheeks as she brushed her hair back over her left ear.
"Well… Rainbow's lucky to have someone as handsome as you for a boyfriend," she retorted, giving off a cheeky grin. Again, the two of them shared a laugh. "Huh…" she exhaled, "I'm really glad I still have you remembering me," she confessed, "If you weren't here… I…"
"Hey, don't do that," Ben insisted, interjecting her, "We're gonna get everyone's memories back," he promised, "The key is just finding that damn stone and knowing what to do next," he told her, "Did Twilight send you any updates?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll check…" Sunset replied, opening her satchel to grab her magic journal.
"Uh… guys?" a familiar voice chimed in, getting their attentions as they looked over to see Sting standing at the front door of the Equestrian Magic user's apartment.
"Sting!" she yelped in surprise, "Uh… we didn't realize we already made it back…" she sheepishly noted, rubbing the back of her head.
"How long were we just standing here talking?" Ben inquired out of concern, grimacing a little.
"Four or five minutes, I think…" the White Dragon Slayer replied with a shrug, causing them to both blush in embarrassment, "I didn't wanna interrupt 'cause… it seemed like you needed the moment…" he pointed out.
"Honestly… we did," Sunset confirmed as a response.
"How'd things go on your end?" the Omni Force leader asked. Sting reached into his vest, pulling out the two MPGs he had.
"Found both of these at the school," he said, causing the Equestrian Magic user to sigh with relief, "What about you guys?" he inquired, "Did you find out why the girls don't remember us?" he questioned on. Ben and Sunset looked to each other for a moment.
"You're… probably gonna wanna sit down for this one," the latter advised, causing the Sabertooth guildmaster to blink in surprise.
"Actually, I was gonna say the same thing…" he confessed, "There's more to how I managed to grab these…" he noted as he held up the pair of MPGs. A few minutes later, Sunset sat down on the couch, enjoying a relaxing cup of tea to soothe her nerves. Her multiversal friends sat on chairs around the coffee table they were beside, having drinks of their own. Ben set his cup down.
"So…" he began, "what happened on your end, Sting?" he asked of the White Dragon Slayer.
"Well, it wasn't hard for me to get into the school or anything," he told his colleagues, "And I didn't have to break Applejack or Rainbow's lockers…" he mentioned, "I got AJ's MPG pretty easy, but…" he continued, "before I could even think of looking for Rainbow's, I saw these… weird… monster guys in the halls," he explained, causing his teammates to blink in surprise.
"Wait… monster guys?" Sunset repeated out of confusion.
"Well, they weren't human…" Sting recalled, "One looked like a lady with blue hair… and the other was some greyish guy with a dark cloak…" he added, "Both of them had spears for weapons…" he mentioned on.
"Did they see you?" Ben inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's the weird thing…" the White Dragon Slayer said, narrowing his eyes as he stared down at the floor, "They acted like they knew who I was and started attacking me," he told his friends, "They wanted me to tell them where to find something they called… an Infinity Stone, I think…" he recanted, causing his colleagues to blink in surprise as they looked to each other.
"You think this Infinity Stone they're looking for is the same as the Memory Stone?" Sunset asked of her best friend.
"Could be…" he responded, folding his arms over his chest.
"Uh… what's the Memory Stone?" Sting inquired, tilting his head to the side. The Equestrian Magic user reached into the satchel lying beside her on the couch, pulling out the drawing of the ancient artifact.
"Twilight helped us find out that the thing responsible for taking our friends' memories is this stone, which ended up in our world years ago," she explained, "The stone can remove even the slightest fragments of memories from people… like me changing for the better…" she mentioned, slouching over slightly in sadness.
"Sunset…" Ben uttered out worriedly.
"We need to find it before those monster guys you mentioned do," the Equestrian Magic user declared to the White Dragon Slayer, making him blink in surprise.
"Uh, right," he responded, "There's… another thing…" he sheepishly added, rubbing the back of his head.
"What?" Sunset inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… I didn't actually find Rainbow's MPG…" Sting told his colleagues, who widened their eyes, "When I was fighting those alien guys off, some girl in a costume showed up to help me," he remembered.
"I'm sorry, what?" Ben questioned as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Yeah…" Sting uttered, "What's crazier is that she had these metal claws that came out from her knuckles and feet," he mentioned, making his friends blink in surprise, "After she helped drive those monster guys off, she tossed me Rainbow's MPG," he added.
"Wait… she had Rainbow's MPG?!" Sunset exclaimed in question.
"But… she gave it to you…" Ben added, putting his hand onto his chin in thought, "Huh…" he sighed, "We're pretty much putting down more questions on the table than answers…" he pointed out, leaning his head back in his chair. Meanwhile the Equestrian Magic user put her hand onto her chin.
"So these monster people that Sting ran into are probably looking for the same Memory Stone we are…" she noted, "There's that metal claw girl, too…" she mentioned, exhaling a deep breath, "At least we've got a pretty good idea as to who's got the stone…" she added, narrowing her eyes.
"Who?" the Sabertooth guildmaster asked.
"Trixie," Ben answered, "Seems pretty obvious, especially considering how badly she wanted to be in the yearbook as a superlative winner…" he pointed out.
"For a category that didn't even exist…" Sunset muttered additionally.
"Okay, hold on…" Sting chimed in, causing them to perk up, "I get that Trixie had a gripe about that stupid thing," he noted, "But… is that really enough to make her the prime suspect?" he inquired.
"Either way, we'll find out on Monday," Sunset said, standing up from the couch, "I'll call you guys if I need anything tomorrow," she mentioned as she grabbed her satchel and pulled her journal out from it.
"No word from Twilight yet?" Ben guessed.
"Huh…" the Equestrian Magic user sighed as she opened the book to the last page where there was writing, "Nope," she confirmed in frustration, "There's no rush though," she mentioned assuredly, "We'll figure things out on Monday," she vowed, "Goodnight, guys," she remarked in farewell with a kind wave.
"Night," the Omni Force leader responded as he got up from his seat. Sting did as well, though he looked rather concerned. Seeing how troubled his friends were was alarming. The situation called for it, yet this seemed… desperate. Moments later, he headed outside the apartment with Ben, who was about to activate his MPG.
"Did… something else happen while you and Sunset were looking into the Memory Stone?" the Sabertooth guildmaster asked, getting his attention.
"Huh…" he sighed, lowering his head, "We… went back to the beach after we looked through everything we could in Equestria," he told the White Dragon Slayer, "It seemed like we were giving the girls good reasons to trust us… but then Trixie came along and screwed everything up," he mentioned.
"How?" Sting asked.
"Brought up Sunset's past, mocked her and whatnot…" Ben listed off, "I tried to keep the peace, but…" he continued, tensing up in frustration, "Anyways, we should try to look around for those monster guys tomorrow," he advised, "That'll at least give Sunset one less thing to worry about," he added confidently.
"Hold on, Ben," Sting insisted, grabbing him by his shoulder, "Sounds to me like you're getting pretty worked up about all this…" he pointed out, sounding concerned.
"And you aren't?" the Omni Force leader inquired, arching an eyebrow.
"Of course I am!" the White Dragon Slayer affirmed, "But I'm not gonna let how I feel decide what I'll do next…" he noted seriously, "You told me not to be so close to Sunset last night, remember?" he questioned on.
"This isn't about a crush, Sting," Ben retorted firmly to his surprise, "My friend could lose everything she built up in order to make amends with everyone," he pointed out in a serious tone, "She doesn't deserve that," he mentioned, "No one should," he added before activating his MPG and opening a green portal beside him. He walked into it, followed by it disappearing a moment later.
"Huh…" the Sabertooth guildmaster sighed. Things were difficult enough for his friends. He just hoped they wouldn't get worse.
X
Sparing you the details, neither Ben nor Sting were able to find any of the Black Order before the school week started back up. And Twilight hasn't messaged Sunset with any new information about the Memory Stone's whereabouts or other abilities. Things look grim for our heroes, and they are only going to get more complicated…
Sunset shut her locker door, still troubled from everything that was going on. From the mysteries of the monstrous creatures who attacked Sting to the metal claw girl who had helped him, there was a lot on her mind. And to make it worse, she could hear the whispering and gossiping of nearby students as she walked down the hall. She grimaced, knowing that their good memories of her were also gone.
Grabbing the pendant at her necklace, she hoped to not make eye contact with anyone until she found Trixie. But unfortunately for her, she wound up bumping into a distracted Micro Chips, knocking him down onto the floor. She winced, quickly going over to extend a friendly hand to the nerdy teen.
However, he reached into his pockets and pulled out a few dollar bills and coins, placing them into her hand. She was befuddled at first, but then realized that even Micro still thought she was nothing more than a bully. And that frustrated her further as she closed her hand into a fist and clenched her teeth together.
"I don't want your lunch money!" she yelled as she yanked the nerdy boy up onto his feet by his overalls, shoving the cash onto his chest, "I'm not mean!" she proclaimed angrily, letting the money scatter onto the floor, "Got it?!" she shouted, pushing an accusatory finger onto Micro, enticing him to scurry off in fright, "I'm not mean!" she screamed again with clenched fists.
"Hey, Sunset…" a voice chimed in.
"WHAT?!" she yelled as she whipped around, only to see Sting there alongside Ben, "Oh… sorry…" she immediately apologized, hushing her voice as she rubbed her arm in an embarrassed manner, blushing all the while.
"You look… really stressed…" the White Dragon Slayer noted as he approached her, placing a hand onto her shoulder.
"Hasn't exactly been an easy morning…" she pointed out in response.
"Well, hopefully it'll all be better soon…" Ben chimed in, looking ahead. The others turned to see that was staring at Trixie, who was rummaging through the contents of her locker with a carefree grin. Seeing that immediately irked Sunset, who marched over.
"Hey, Sunset!" Sting called out, speed-walking after her. Unfortunately, he was too late to stop her from slamming Trixie's locker door shut as she yelped in surprise. She turned to see the red-and-yellow-haired girl there with narrowed eyes and a frown.
"So…" she uttered out, turning and folding her arms underneath her chest, "here we are," she said.
"Here we do are…" Trixie retorted after a moment as she smugly crossed her own arms with a smirk. Having heard what she had just said though, she grimaced upon realizing her awful grammar, followed by giving off a determined glare toward her foe. She glared back, just as angry. Sting and Ben watched as everyone in the immediate area grew nervous.
"We gotta do something…" the White Dragon Slayer insisted.
"You really want to do this here?" Trixie inquired of Sunset as they both unfolded their arms, "In the hallway in front of everyone?" she mentioned in question, gesturing toward the small crowd around them.
"Up to you…" Sunset remarked back, enticing everyone aside from Ben and Sting to quickly back away and leave the scene. The hopeful magician lifted her right hand, wiggling her fingers. She then reached into her locker…
"Behold!" she exclaimed, pulling out a rolled-up poster, which unfurled to reveal a mockup image of her performing magical acts with cards on full display, "Canterlot High School's Greatest and Powerfullest Student!" she declared proudly, "If a seven-scale mockup doesn't convince you, I don't know what will," she noted to Sunset, who gritted her teeth angrily.
"Where's the Memory Stone?" she questioned as she marched up to Trixie, who started backing away nervously, "You turned my friends against me just because I wouldn't put you in the yearbook as the Greatest and Powerfullest?!" she inquired on out of frustration as she pointed accusingly at her, "'Powerfullest' isn't even a word!" she mentioned loudly with a scoff. The frightened Trixie suddenly looked baffled, which Sting quickly noticed.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It's not a word!" Sunset emphatically repeated.
"No," Trixie said with a shake of her head, "What Memory Stone?" she asked.
"The one you used to erase everyone's memory, you manipulative…" Sunset started to respond angrily, "blowhard!" she shouted, causing the magician hopeful to flinch in surprise.
"Huh," Ben uttered as he approached with his arms folded over his chest, "That actually sounds generous," he remarked, "Bitch is the word I would've used," he mentioned, causing Trixie to gasp in offense.
"Okay, that's enough!" Sting yelled, getting in between his friends and the periwinkle-haired girl, "I get how you're feeling, but that's no reason to just start a fight," he noted with a shake of his head, "Besides…" he continued, glancing back at Trixie, "I don't think she even knows about the stone…" he concluded. The magician hopeful glanced off to the side in thought before smiling in realization.
"A stone that could make everyone forget all the bad tricks I've done…?" she wondered aloud, gasping a little as she realized what she had just implied, "Which is no tricks…" she corrected, placing her poster onto the locker door beside her, "Your puny rock pales in comparison to the Great and Powerful Trixie!" she proclaimed, rubbing her fingers together before raising her fists into the air. With that, Sunset blinked in realization.
"I don't believe it…" she uttered out, "You have no idea what we're talking about…" she concluded sadly.
"I... don't…" Trixie confirmed, "Sorry…" she apologized.
"Told you," Sting remarked, making Ben sigh with regret. They then watched as Sunset went over to the other side of the hall and bang her fist against one of the lockers. She turned around and put her hands onto her face, groaning with frustration as she slowly sat herself down onto the floor.
"Did somebody really erase everyone's memories of you?" Trixie inquired in concern as she approached the downed and depressed girl.
"Mm-hmm," she responded with a nod after removing her hands from her face.
"And even though we all know you're the 'Biggest Meanie'," the magician hopeful continued as sat down beside her and made an air quotes gesture, "you're saying you're not mean anymore?" she guessed.
"It's complicated…" Sunset admitted with a shrug of her shoulders, "Not everyone's forgotten who I've become…" she noted as she looked over at Ben and Sting, "but… I'm still a bad person to everyone else…" she pointed out sadly.
"So you have this idea of who you're supposed to be, but no one at school sees you that way," Trixie concluded, watching with the others as a few people approached the locker where her poster was hung. They seemed to laugh and admire how cool it looked. "Is that it?" the periwinkle-haired girl assumed as she turned her head to Sunset, earning another nod in response, "Trust me. I get it…" she affirmed, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck before glancing away sadly.
"Hm," the red-and-yellow-haired girl chuckled out, "I can't believe the only person who believes me is the one I called a manipulative blowhard…" she noted with a shake of her head, "Sorry…" she apologized.
"And I guess that means I'm sorry for calling you a bitch…" Ben mentioned apologetically.
"I took it as a compliment," Trixie assured, standing up and extending a hand out to Sunset, much to everyone's surprise, "Let me help you find the stone," she offered kindly.
"What's in it for you?" the red-and-yellow-haired girl inquired, raising an eyebrow out of suspicion. Trixie merely glanced back at her poster with a smirk. "No way! Absolutely not!" Sunset refused as she shot up onto her feet, swinging her arms out.
"Well, if you'd rather go on being the 'Biggest Meanie', that's fine by me…" Trixie retorted, folding her arms over her chest. The red-and-yellow-haired girl was still suspicious of her true intentions, not sure whether to truly trust her with any assistance consider that she had Ben and Sting already helping.
"Huh…" the White Dragon Slayer sighed out as he approached, "Sunset, we can use all the help we can get," he noted, putting a hand onto her shoulder, "Even if it's not what we expected…" he mentioned.
"See?" Trixie said, getting their attentions, "Your boyfriend understands the situation perfectly," she pointed out as she rubbed her fingers.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Sunset shouted as her face went red.
"And besides, it's just one or two pages of a big yearbook," Sting mentioned, ignoring Trixie's comment, "What harm can it really do?" he inquired aloud.
"Huh…" his squadron leader sighed, "Okay… fine," she said, stepping forward, "You help me, and I get you in the yearbook as 'Great and Powerful'…" she promised.
"'Greatest and Powerfullest'!" Trixie proudly corrected, causing Sunset to groan as she rolled her eyes. She reluctantly accepted the periwinkle-haired girl's hand for a handshake. "And of course, I'll be happy to share and take one of your friends as a lovely assistant," she mentioned as she zipped over to Ben's side, letting her eyes flutter as he flinched in surprise.
"Oh, right…" he grumbled in realization, "You still have a thing for me…" he muttered out.
"Huh…" Sunset sighed out of frustration.
"Hey…" Sting said, causing her to perk up, "We're gonna figure this out together," he vowed to her, "I swear," he added, making her smile a little.
Well, things are starting to finally look up. Though I do have to wonder… how is Twilight doing in these past few days? Has she found anything?
"I've looked everywhere!" a frantic Twilight exclaimed at the desk in the Canterlot Library's restricted section, "Why can't I find the missing piece?!" she wondered aloud with a shake of her head as stacks of books were around her. "I've always been good to you, library!" she yelled emphatically as she flew up for a moment before coming back down and hitting her head against in a thud. It knocked a few books over, along with the chest that contained the scroll from earlier. Hearing it break, the Princess of Friendship immediately perked up and widened her eyes to see a small sheet of paper within lock of the chest, which had shattered off. "Huh!" she lightly gasped as she trotted over. "This is it!" she realized, "The last piece was in a secret compartment!" she noted, cloaking her horn in a sparkling, raspberry-colored aura, using it to telekinetically remove the parchment and read what was upon it, "Clover the Clever buried the stone!" she exclaimed as Celestia was standing beside her, reading as well, "This rock formation must be somewhere in the other world," she concluded, "But it doesn't say how to get your memories back…" she mentioned grimly… right before gasping in realization and dashing back over to the desk to look at the scroll she found again "Perhaps if I had destroyed the stone right away, some of my memories could have returned," she read off, "But when the sun sets by the third day after a memory has been taken…" she continued as she expression became saddened, "it is erased forever…" she finished. She and the Princess of the Sun shared a troubled look.
"You must warn Sunset Shimmer at once," the latter advised immediately.
Oh dear… Just when things seem to be going well, there's always something that complicates it all. But that's par for the course, as one would say. Let's see how Sunset and the others are planning to find the Memory Stone.
"So…" Sunset began, leaning against the lockers as she glanced over to Trixie, who was beside her, "where should we start… partner?" she inquired with a small grin.
"How about with what I call you?" she suggested in response, "I'm thinking the Great and Powerful Trixie's…" she started to proclaimed, "Pretty Decent Assistant-Detective-Helper Person," she decided quickly as they started to walk off.
"We'll split ourselves up and ask around," Ben chimed in, "Sting, you come with me," he insisted, "Since we're not students, we have a better chance of not getting pulled into something…" he pointed out.
"Good thinking…" the White Dragon Slayer agreed. Though he couldn't help but wonder if that was the Omni Force leader's only reason to have him tag along. None of the group realized that Sunset's bag was still in her locker, with her journal shining and vibrating like an unanswered call from a cell phone…
X
"So…" Maw began from within the crevice of the sewer he and the rest of the Black Order were in, "the men and women responsible for our father's demise are present in this universe as well?" he inferred, narrowing his eyes.
"It would appear so…" Proxima answered.
"The one we fought wasn't the Great Titan's killer…" her husband pointed out.
"But he is here," the telekinetic realized, holding his hands together behind his back.
"How do you know?" Corvus asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Eon realized that we wouldn't just want us to retrieve the Infinity Stones in order to undo the mighty Thanos' demise…" Maw noted, "but also exact vengeance upon his killers," he mentioned, "He is here… along with the one known as Sunset Shimmer," he stated, "After we retrieve the stone, wherever it may be," he continued as he walked past his adopted brothers and sister, "we shall kill the young and weak offenders as if they were mere insects…" he declared.
"Hff…" Obsidian scoffed as he stood up, letting his chain hammer hang freely from himself.
"I know where we can start…" Proxima confirmed additionally. Hearing that made Maw give off an ominous grin. It was time for the Black Order to make their move…
END
Wow. So much is happening already, and it's only been three chapters! I really like writing the character moments, especially between the trio of Ben, Sunset, and Sting. Who knows how fun it'll be for Trixie to get in on the mix?
But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Up next, it's time for some detective work!