Forget Me in the Meadow

What she's going through.

It was getting late just as the large doors of the Brighthouse swung open, groaning a greeting to the ponies already inside. Labors of the day had taken their toll on Zipp as she now trudged up to the bedroom with hooves heavy as boulders strapped to her forelegs. Once she made it to the top bunk, gravity took her down to the wonderful, comfortable bed. 'That was a day.' Her mind replayed the moment she and Hitch explained how they had found Hazy, and her miserable reaction. She couldn't bear the pacing, the apologies, and the tension in the room after. Instead, to extinguish the discomfort she had to deal with, Zipp made herself a goal. 'I have to figure out the cause of her memory loss. Perhaps it'll lead to answers about where she came from, or how she got here. It's the least I could do to help, besides, I can't forget the look on her face. I would've felt better telling mom I'd rather not be Queen of Zephyr Heights.' Zipp rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. 'I can't imagine what Hazy's going through.' She noticed a dim light on the walls that came from the lantern on Sunny's nightstand, she must've still been awake.

"Sunny?"

A mumbled response confirmed her assumption. Sacrificing the warmth of her blankets, She flapped over to Sunny's bedside. The orange mare laid there, gingerly tracing the old picture frame with her father's photo. Zipp kept her volume low to avoid waking the others.

"It's getting late, can you not sleep?"

"No, I can't stop thinking about my alicorn magic. The more I try to understand it, the more I see how little I know." Sunny muttered, not bothering to look up. "You saw what happened. How can I help ponies if I can't even control my own magic?" After hearing Sunny's sullen tone, it was difficult for Zipp to respond. But there she couldn't leave her friend in this state.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, in the end you did what you thought was right. It was your magic that saved the day."

"But I didn't save anything, Zipp. My magic did it all for me. And it didn't 'save the day', it did something to that pegasus." Sunny winced after she said the words out loud. The air between them thickened. There was some familiarity to Sunny's feelings. Staying in Maretime Bay, without contributing much to their knowledge of the crystals, had been eating at Zipp for some time. All she produced was mediocre results so far. Everything she knew for certain was already common knowledge, and yet that information only scratched the surface and taunted her with the possibilities.

'We know that Sunny can summon her alicorn power to help ponies in need. Perhaps that's what she did, saved me and those unicorns. But I don't think she's ever used alicorn magic against another pony before. But it wasn't just her magic, it was all of ours. There has to be another element to explain what happened, something I'm missing. Whatever it is, everypony knows she wouldn't hurt somepony on purpose.' Feeling responsible for Sunny's well-being added more weight to her shoulders. Zipp placed a hoof delicately on the frame.

"Sunny, our pony magic is meant to protect one another. And I believe that's what you did. We stood together, don't forget that. It might take some time, but I will figure this out and make it right again." Her friend's face began to soften. That kind of promise would take up Zipp's time and effort, but, for now, it was time to crawl back into her bed. Sleeping was a little easier now, after the lantern's light flickered out.

-

Plunging into the depths of sleep, there was nothing but a dull void for a long time. Eventually, solid ground formed under Hazy's hooves. Soft light poured into view, creating things in her vision, until she found the moon peering between the outline of tree branches. As it moved, stratus clouds drifted across its face and played tricks with its light. She looked around at the scenery, quickly realizing that she was secluded in the center of a clearing. Between the trees of the forest, the undergrowth was so thick it would be challenging to navigate through it. But that didn't stop fog from creeping through the foliage and across the plush grass. The meadow floor looked soft as the clouds above, but she couldn't feel it under her hooves. Instead, Hazy discovered the smooth stone surface that she stood upon. Her brow raised. 'What is this doing in the middle of the forest? It isn't a boulder, it's too flat and the edges have been cut like a monument. And it feels familiar...'

In the same way the meadow appeared, the rising of the moon summoned a blurry figure at the edge of the forest. When she leaned forward to look, Hazy's hooves froze to the stone surface. Tugging to free them proved useless, it was all she could do to stand and watch as the figure approached. Its movements seemed curious- pacing closer, then lifting their head to look about. The closer they came, the more defined their features became. The stranger took their final steps, standing right under the shadow she cast with the moon at her back. Their face was obscured, making her want desperately to chip all her hooves off the stone and meet them on the ground. 'Who are you? How do you know this place? Do you know who I am? Please tell me!'

A rush of cold wind blew through the meadow from behind Hazy. She craned her neck to look back and spotted a taller, darker figure stalking out of the pitch black, lighting their curved horn with an aura. Unlike the curious visitor, this one exuded a dreadful air that made every hair on Hazy's coat stand on end. There was something about their presence that made her want to run to the farther corner and hide. The stone underhoof sank away, making her flail aimlessly until she realized that she was floating mid-air. Adrenaline rushed from her pounding heart to her wings, beating them in order to break free from the magic hold. Though she reached for the platform with her loose hooves, the surface was too smooth for any real grasp. Her eyes shut tight and ears pinned, trying to block out the cackling of the wicked pony.