//------------------------------// // Discovery // Story: Princess of Memories // by Draxonos135 //------------------------------// Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, people were asking Twilight to let them study her talking dog. So far, it seemed like a perfectly ordinary day in Other-Questria. "AAAAAAAH!" Today wasn't a normal day for a certain Wallflower Blush, though, who woke up to see strange markings on her face, starting on the edges of her eyes. Not only that, but the patterns of the markings resembled that of the memory stone, a magical artifact that Wallflower wished to forget about. "Where did this come from?!" Wallflower exclaimed in shock. "I don't remember painting this!" Suddenly, the door creaked open. "Wallflower?" It was Sunset's voice. "S-Sunset?!" Wallflower grabbed the first thing she could find, a towel, and used it to cover her face. "Fwa ahw ya oih n ah oom?!" "What am I doing in your room?" Sunset replied, earning a nod from Wallflower. "You called me here in order to come pick you up, remember?" "Oh, ah orgo." "Okay, now, before we go," Sunset grabbed the towel and gently started pulling. "Could you tell me what are you doing with a towel covering your face?" "Hmm... Ahionh hahehan?" "Fashion Statement or not, I'm afraid I'm going to need you to take it off." "Eah ih aon!" Wallflower tightened her grip. "Wallflower, I'm sorry, but you can't go to Canterlot High with a towel on your head!" "Ah anh yh!" "Wallflower, seriously, take it off!" What followed was a test of strength between the girls, one that lasted seconds before Sunset pulled so hard, she brought both the towel and Wallflower to the ground. And with this action, Sunset got a faceful of Wallflower's fancy new facepaint. Her reaction was... Subdued: "Wallflower, when did you get into facepaint?" Wallflower jumped and backed away, putting her hands on her cheeks as she answered, "I didn't! I woke up and found these things on my face! They don't even feel like they were painted on!" Sunset got up. "Really?" "Here, let me show you," Wallflower grabbed one of Sunset's hands and made her touch her cheek. "See? Completely flat! Even thin paint would leave a sensation, but this one doesn't!" "You're right, but you know what?" Sunset smiled. "That only lets me get to see how soft your skin is." Wallflower blushed and backed away. "Don't mess with me like that!" "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel weird," Sunset stood up and dusted herself. "Anyway, I also noticed that's the same pattern as the memory stone." "Yeah, I think that thing has something to do with it too," Wallflower stood up with Sunset's help. "But how could that be? You and your friends clearly destroyed it months ago!" "Hmm, it could be a residue effect of the memory stone, but then nothing mentions this happening..." Sunset shook her head. "We'll have to talk with Twilight about this later, for now, let's go to Canterlot High and explain-" "You're going to drag me to school even when I look like this?" "Wallflower, there's nothing wrong with you." "Sunset, I have strange facepaint running down my eyes, which resemble the patterns of the memory stone! Even if nobody pays attention to it, which I'd find hard to believe, how are you going to explain this to Principal Celestia?!" "Wallflower is currently suffering from an unforeseen side effect of her usage of the memory stone, a magical artifact from Equestria, so I'm requesting she be at the very least allowed extra time to figure out what this side effect could mean." Wallflower planted her face on Principal Celestia's desk, the absurdity of Sunset's statement being far too heavy for her disbelief. "Wallflower, please refrain from planting your face on my desk," Celestia calmly requested. "I'm sorry, Principal Celestia," Wallflower lifted her head and took a deep breath. "Anyway, what Sunset says is true: the patterns are identical to the stone, and I just woke up with it this morning!" "Hmm... Now that you bring this up, nobody has done any research on the possible side effects of using magic, so this could very well be a result of that," Celestia scratched her chin. "And it would be very problematic if Wallflower suddenly started to use magic powers without having any idea how to control them." After a little more thinking, Celestia came to a conclusion: "Alright, this is what we'll do: Wallflower, until an idea of what's going on with those markings is clear, I'll have you stay at home and try to work out whatever magical powers you may have gained thanks to your use of this memory stone." Wallflower, though shocked at first, eventually nodded with a saddened expression. "Yes, Principal Celestia." Then, the woman turned to Sunset. "Can I trust you to help me with Wallflower's caring? I can help her stay up to date with her classes, but any magical stuff will be relegated to you." "Of course you can trust me, Principal Celestia!" Sunset wrapped her arm around Wallflower. "Even if it takes days or months, I'm going to find a way to help Wallflower deal with this magical anomaly!" Principal Celestia smiled. "Good to know. Now, with this set, go to your classroom, Sunset. I'll tell Luna to take Wallflower back home." Next thing Wallflower knew, she was walking back home, side-to-side with the vice principal of the school. And it was a rather silent walk at that. Not that it was very surprising, since neither Wallflower nor Luna seemed like the talkative type- "I know it must be scary." Okay, maybe Luna was a bit more talkative than she was given credit for. "To have something magical happen to your body, causing it to change in ways you couldn't imagine. I saw Sunset and Twilight go through the same thing before." Wallflower's eyes widened. "What did they do to fix it?" "They got the magical corruption beaten out of them with the power of friendship," Luna let out a chuckle. "But if we're lucky, your case won't need to go that far." Wallflower forced a laugh. "Hey, we're here." The duo stopped on Wallflower's house, and after exchanging a little bow, they separated: Luna walked back to Canterlot High, while Wallflower walked inside... Only to find Trixie of all people sitting on her table, eating a muffin. "Wha-who-why-huh-TRIXIE!" Wallflower snapped as she stomped to the teenager. "What are you doing here?!" "Have you forgotten?" Trixie took a bite out of her muffin. "The Great and Powerful Trixie was assigned as your roommate after the incident with the memory stone." "I'll never understand half the logic Canterlot High's school council runs on," Wallflower rubbed her forehead. "What I mean was, what are you doing back at the house? Shouldn't you be at school?" "Well, that's the thing: The Great and Powerful Trixie was suspended for today because of a previous magic show gone wrong," Trixie took another bite out of her muffin. "But perhaps it's not that bad, Trixie has company with you." "Yeah, maybe-wait a minute," Wallflower raised an eyebrow. "Trixie, did you see I had this weird stuff on my face?" "On your eyes? Yeah, Trixie saw-" "Why didn't you tell me about them, then?!" "It's none of Trixie's business what you decide to do with your face," Trixie grabbed a muffin and put it close to Wallflower's cheek. "Here, have a muffin." As she begrudgingly accepted the gift, Wallflower spat: "Ugh, forget about it!" It was in that moment that Wallflower's markings glowed and light came out of Trixie's eyes that was absorbed by the marks, which kept glowing a light blue shade once Trixie seemingly turned back to normal. "What was that all about?" "Even better, what's up with that paint?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Trixie understands you can do whatever you want with yourself, but you could at least ask Trixie about something so gawdy! Even if the colors look nice." "What are you talking about? You just told me you saw my markings this morning!" "Trixie remembers no such things!" Wallflower opened her mouth, but hesitated, realizing what this meant: Trixie had lost her memory. Wallflower had somehow manipulated her memories... Without the memory stone. So, instead, she asked: "Remember this morning?" Wallflower's marks released the light anf it returned to Trixie, returning them to their original state. "Okay, now let's try this," Wallflower frowned. "Trixie, you saw I had these markings on my face this morning, right?" Trixie deadpanly took a bite of her muffin. "Trixie said that, yes. Did Trixie stutter?" Wallflower's eyes widened, and one thing became clear: "I need to contact Sunset. Now."