by Perdita Finn
“Besides,” Rainbow Dash added, “it’s just the yearbook.”
The other girls gasped.
“Now ya dunnit,” whispered Applejack, shaking her head.
“Just the yearbook?” Sunset Shimmer was crestfallen. “The student body has entrusted me with the responsibility of gathering memories into the pages of this book. In thirty years, we might not remember everything, but we will remember what’s in the yearbook.”
Wallflower was particularly affected by her words. She looked like she would cry again. “If I’m not in it, would that mean I didn’t exist?” Wallflower tried to smile. “Hey, just kidding.”
But she spoke so quietly that the other girls didn’t even hear her. They were all focused on Sunset Shimmer.
“And now thanks to everyone voting for us, we’ll always remember that we’re Best Friends,” Sunset Shimmer announced.
“And who got Best Muscles.” Rainbow Dash smiled and pointed at the sheet. “I’m entrusting you not to put our picture opposite that page. Every time you close the book, it’ll be like we’re kissing Bulk Biceps!”
The girls laughed out loud. That would be terrible!
“Speaking of photography,” announced Rarity. “Why don’t we take our picture at the beach Saturday? The lighting will be absolutely to die for!”
“Beach day!” squealed Pinkie. “I’ll make my world-famous fun-in-the-sun cupcakes.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. That sounded yummy!
“The secret ingredient,” Pinkie whispered to Fluttershy, “is edible sunscreen! It’s SPF delicious!”
Fluttershy’s face fell. That sounded yucky!
The door to the yearbook office flew open. It was Trixie, and she was furious about something. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to speak to the yearbook editor immediately!”
Sunset Shimmer stepped forward reluctantly. “Unfortunately for me, that’s me. What do you want, Trixie?”
Trixie snatched the list of Superlatives from her hand and studied it. “Just as I suspected. I was not voted Greatest and Most Powerful! Explain yourself!”
“Hmmm,” said Sunset Shimmer, thinking. “How should I put this? You didn’t win Greatest and Most Powerful because it wasn’t one of the categories.”
Trixie flounced right past Sunset Shimmer and pulled an older yearbook from the shelf. She turned to the Superlatives. “Neither was Biggest Meanie, but that didn’t stop you from winning it our freshman year.” She held up the yearbook with a picture of Sunset Shimmer. She was scowling and looked like she was about to hit the photographer.
Seeing the picture reminded Sunset Shimmer of all the mistakes she had made. She felt terrible, but she tried to stay calm. That was a long time ago. A lot of wonderful things had happened since then. “That was different.”
Applejack jumped in. “Yeah. Sunset Shimmer was so mean that the whole school did a write-in vote.”
“The editor had no choice but to make it official,” agreed Rarity.
“Sunset won Biggest Meanie fair and square,” Rainbow Dash told Trixie.
“Mmm-hmm,” agreed Fluttershy.
“She was soooo mean, remember?” said Pinkie. None of the girls realized how much their memories were affecting Sunset Shimmer… until it was too late.
Sunset Shimmer’s face was red with embarrassment. She took a deep breath. “I hope I’ve earned the right not to be remembered that way.”
“Of course!” said Twilight Sparkle reassuringly. “We all know that you’ve changed, Sunset.”
Sunset Shimmer tossed the yearbook aside. “In any case,” she said to Trixie, “we’re not having a Greatest and Most Powerful Superlative. Sorry.”
“You’re the one who’ll be sorry,” fumed Trixie, her eyes narrowing. “When you least expect it, I’ll have my revenge, and then I’ll disappear.… Like this!” She waved her arms dramatically. “Behold! The Magician’s Exit!”
Trixie threw a smoke bomb into the middle of the room! Poof! But when the smoke cleared, Trixie was still there, jiggling the handle of the door out of the yearbook room. She couldn’t get it open.
“Allow me,” said Sunset Shimmer, flicking the lock. “We were actually on our way out.”
Trixie stormed out in front of her, and the girls all burst out laughing as they left. Sunset Shimmer hit the lights.
From the darkness came a small, quiet voice. “Oh, I was still in here. But that’s okay. I’m used to it.”
Nobody saw Wallflower leave all by herself, the old yearbook under her arm.
Most Changed
Sunset Shimmer was tucked into bed, writing in her magic journal. Long before she came to Canterlot High, she had lived in Equestria. For each of her friends now, there was a pony just like her, and with the same name in that enchanted world. She’d even befriended Twilight Sparkle, the counterpart for her friend Princess Twilight, the pony who knew everything about friendship—and who had rescued her when she had turned into a she-demon. Sunset Shimmer still kept in touch with Princess Twilight. Whatever she wrote in her journal would magically appear in Twilight’s own diary in Equestria.
Dear Princess Twilight, she wrote. I thought you’d be happy to hear that my friends and I were voted Best Friends in the yearbook today.
She wanted to tell her the good news, of course, but something else weighed on her. She sighed and got out of bed. Hidden in her desk drawer was her copy of the Canterlot High School yearbook from her freshman year. She opened it and looked at the photo of herself as Biggest Meanie. So much had changed since then. If only everyone could forget this about her past.
After all, Sunset began writing again in her journal, if you hadn’t forgiven me, I’d still be the arrogant student I was when I came here from Equestria without even saying good-bye to Princess Celestia.
That was something she still felt bad about, too. What did Princess Celestia think of her? Did she know how much Sunset Shimmer had changed? Had she forgiven Sunset Shimmer, too? She crossed out what she’d written. There was no reason to burden Princess Twilight with all her regrets. Besides, there was so much good news to share.
I hope you’re having as great a week as I am, she finished writing. Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.
She put her journal and pen on her night table, clicked off her light, and sighed. She always felt better after writing to Princess Twilight.
As Sunset drifted off to sleep, she didn’t know that dark clouds were gathering over her house. She didn’t see the sparks of magic flashing through the air. She didn’t know that something was happening. Something terrible.
Not in the Picture
The sun was shining on the surf, and Twilight Sparkle was happily posing for a photo as her friends gathered around. A camera drone hovered in front of her and clicked. Twilight patted it. “Success!” she exclaimed, checking out the photo.
She had invented the best selfie device ever! Now it would be easy to get a group picture of all their friends together. Except that the camera drone sputtered for some reason. Applejack looked worried.
“Your eyes do not deceive you,” Twilight said confidently. “I finally invented a Selfie Sensing camera. It hovers into position whenever you want a selfie!” She wrangled the camera down to the sand as it tried to take off.
Applejack watched her struggle. “What was wrong with the old-fashioned way?” She mimed holding a camera at arm’s length away from her.
Twilight Sparkle let go of her camera, and it stabilized, hovering in front of her. A sensor light turned green, a switch flicked on, and click! Twilight Sparkle posed just in time.
“The future’s bright, Applejack!” she said happily.
The camera flashed. “Ah!” shouted Twilight. “Too bright! Too bright!”
Rarity had arrived with two blankets. “Which one should we use for the photograph?” she asked the other girls.
Rainbow Dash was confused. “You mean the white one? Or the white one?”
“This is toasted oat!” protested Rar
ity, holding up one of the blankets. “And this one is linen lamb’s wool.…” She pulled four more white blankets out of her shoulder bag. “Ivory cream, old lace, champagne, and, well, I suppose this one actually is white.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said with a laugh. “That’s the one I’m talking about.”
A gust of wind caught the blanket and whipped it into the air toward the ocean. Spike barked and chased after it.
“Don’t worry, Rarity!” he called over his shoulder. “I got it!”
Pinkie Pie was headed toward the water, too, ready to splash in the waves. “No, I got it! I got it!”
“I got it! I got it!” Spike yipped.
A huge wave crashed over both of their heads, and they emerged from the surf soaking wet. The blanket floated out to sea.
“I don’t got it.” Pinkie sighed, disappointed.
“I don’t got it,” echoed Spike.
The blanket bobbed over a wave and suddenly started heading back toward them. A horrible raspy sound came from inside it.
“Ocean monster!” Pinkie screeched, splashing toward the shore.
A strange face emerged from underneath the blanket. It was Fluttershy wearing a mask and breathing through a snorkel! “Quincy the sea turtle says there’s some big waves coming that would be perfect for our picture,” she told the others.
Sunset Shimmer saw all the girls getting into position as she hurried down the beach. This was a big moment for her. This was the yearbook photo she wanted everyone to remember. “All right!” she shouted to the others. “Who’s ready to take a Best Friends photo?”
Twilight Sparkle whirled around and stared at her. She whispered something to Rarity, who shrugged. Applejack’s eyes narrowed. Spike growled.
“What do you want, Sunset Shimmer?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy twisted her hands nervously. “Please don’t ruin our picture,” she begged.
Sunset Shimmer laughed and went over to join her friends. She noticed the camera drone. “Oh,” she said, delighted. “You got the Selfie Sensor working, Twilight?” She posed with a big smile on her face.
The drone zipped away from her and hovered behind Twilight Sparkle. What was going on?
“Okay…” said Sunset Shimmer. Was she late? “Uh-oh, what did I do?”
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms defensively. “We’re just trying to take a picture for the yearbook, okay?”
Sunset Shimmer agreed and nodded. “Should we do it now?”
None of the girls said a word. They all glared at her. Sunset Shimmer started to feel uncomfortable, but she had no idea what was the matter.
Applejack finally exploded, her face red. “Sunset Shimmer? Asking to be in our Best Friends picture? Now I’ve heard it all!”
Sunset Shimmer looked from one girl to the other. “Am I missing the joke here?”
“The only joke,” Rarity said through gritted teeth, “is whatever this is you’re playing on us, acting all nice like you’re our friend.”
“And it’s not funny!” cried Fluttershy, upset.
“Because you aren’t nice,” added Rainbow Dash.
“And we ain’t friends.” To make her point, Applejack linked her arm through Rainbow Dash’s.
“Wait,” spluttered Sunset Shimmer. She felt dizzy and strange. Everything was topsy-turvy. “What? Why?” She could hardly get out the words. Why were the other girls being so mean to her?
“You got applesauce in yer ears?” asked Applejack.
Sunset Shimmer touched the geode around her neck, and it glowed. It gave her the ability to read people’s minds—if she touched them. She reached her hand out to Applejack.
What she saw devastated her. She saw herself as the she-demon, but she couldn’t see herself apologizing to all the girls. She saw the Friendship Games but not the conversation she had with Twilight Sparkle about forgiveness. She saw everyone trying to save Twilight at Camp Everfree—except herself. She just wasn’t in the picture. She jerked her hand away. She couldn’t take it anymore. Why wasn’t she in any of Applejack’s memories?
“It’s like I’ve been erased!” She shuddered.
All the slumber parties and games and laughter and jokes and friendship. All of it was gone. The only thing anyone remembered about her was that she was the Biggest Meanie.
The Worst Nightmare Ever
Sunset Shimmer wriggled her toes in the sand. She could feel them. She could hear the waves crashing on the shore. She could feel the sun on her face. Still, this had to be a nightmare. It was a nightmare. “Wake up, Sunset,” she told herself. “Wake up!”
Ouch! Pinkie Pie had pinched her!
“Nope,” said Pinkie. “You’re awake.” She pinched herself. “Ow! Me too!”
Sunset Shimmer had to figure out what was going on. Maybe it was just something the matter with Applejack. Maybe she was erased from only Applejack’s memory. She reached out to touch Rainbow Dash’s arm.
She peered into Rainbow Dash’s memories. There was the bike race at the Friendship Games when Sunset Shimmer had crashed and Rainbow Dash had rescued her… because they were friends. But that’s not what was happening in Rainbow Dash’s memory! Sunset Shimmer saw herself falling off her bike. She saw Rainbow Dash skidding to a halt and looking back at her. But instead, she saw Rainbow Dash shrug and get back into the race. How could that be?
“No!” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. “Rainbow Dash, you saved me in that race!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I can see your memories,” Sunset Shimmer explained. “And I’m not in them.”
Hearing this, Applejack looked concerned. “And exactly how is it that you can see our memories, if you don’t mind me askin’?”
“With this!” Sunset Shimmer held up her geode necklace. Surely all the girls would remember their adventures together at Camp Everfree.
Rarity peered at the necklace. She shook her head. “It’s obviously a cheap knockoff of ours.”
“We got them together,” insisted Sunset Shimmer. “You were there, remember?”
Pinkie whispered something to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Why is she still talking to us?” wondered Fluttershy out loud
Sunset Shimmer ignored her and turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, what about when I came over to your sleepover before Battle of the Bands?”
“Ha!” exclaimed Pinkie, flabbergasted. “The closest you’ve ever come to a party of mine is freshman year, when you pretended to be Applejack and texted me: Your party is lamer than a hungry duck in snow boots.” Tears welled up in Pinkie’s eyes at the memory of how hurtful that had been.
“Like I’d ever say that.” Applejack reached out to Pinkie Pie reassuringly.
Pinkie’s lip quivered. “It really hurt my feelings.”
“And it wasn’t very nice to ducks, either,” added Fluttershy, glaring at Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset Shimmer felt hollow inside. “That was a long time ago,” she whispered. She turned to Twilight. “You remember me, right?”
Twilight Sparkle shook her head.
“We’ve been through so much together,” pleaded Sunset Shimmer. “Please…”
“I only met you once, when you yelled at me at the Friendship Games,” Twilight answered.
“Doesn’t anyone remember that I have changed?” cried Sunset Shimmer.
All the girls looked at her blankly.
But there was one friend who might remember her! Princess Twilight back in Equestria! “I’ll be right back,” she told the girls as she dashed across the beach toward home.
“Hurry back, darling!” said Rarity politely.
Twilight Sparkle’s camera drone hovered in front of Rarity and snapped a photo.
“No, no, no!” protested Rarity. “This is my best side for my fake smile!”
The drone buzzed to her other side and clicked.
“Much better!” noted Rarity.
Time for Homecoming
S
unset Shimmer raced upstairs to her bedroom. She opened her journal and began writing an urgent message in it to Princess Twilight.
This is going to sound crazy, she scribbled as fast as she could, but… are we friends?
She hesitated, unsure if she should ask her next question. Am I nice? she finally wrote.
She put down her pen and stared at the blank space in her journal. How long would it take Princess Twilight to answer her? What would she say? What would she do if Princess Twilight didn’t remember how much she had changed?
She glanced over to her desk at the yearbook from her freshman year. Biggest Meanie.
“Please answer, please answer, please answer,” she whispered to the magic journal.
Nothing. It was still blank. She ran her fingers across the paper as though that might help the words appear. Just as she was about to give up, she noticed the blank space sparkle! Princess Twilight was writing back to her.
Of course we’re friends!
Sunset Shimmer breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Are you okay? continued Princess Twilight in the journal. What’s going on?
Sunset Shimmer picked up her pen and wrote as fast as she could. Kind of hard to explain. Might be easier in person. Well, not in person, so to speak…
Sunset Shimmer had to talk to Princess Twilight. She needed her help more than ever. It was time for her to go back.
She raced over to Canterlot High and stood before the statue of the Wondercolt in front of the school. The statue was actually a portal between the two worlds—but most people didn’t know that. As soon as the coast was clear, Sunset Shimmer approached it, took a deep breath, and stepped through it, whirling and swirling through different dimensions until she landed in Equestria.
It took her a moment to get used to having hooves again, but soon enough she was standing on all four legs and shaking her mane free. She was a pony again.
Her eyes lit up as she saw Princess Twilight trot toward her, but she stumbled when she tried to walk. She tried to reach out with her hooves and tumbled forward. “Oops!” she apologized. “I was trying to hug you!”
