"Saddlebags?"

"Check."

"Snacks?"

"Check."

"Parchment and quills?"

"Check."

"Emergency parchment and quills?"

"Uhh... check."

"Alright, Spike, it looks like I'm ready to go!" I exclaimed happily as I levitated my saddlebags onto my back.

Spike rolled up the checklist and put it and the quill into the bags before stepping back with his arms crossed and a disappointed frown on his face.

"I still don't see why I have to stay here while you get to go back to Canterlot to see the other Princesses," he complained.

I groaned and rolled my eyes as I trotted to the front entrance of my castle, "I told you, Spike, I'm taking this trip for business, not pleasure. While I'm gone, I need you here to watch the castle and to send me or the other Princesses any messages in case something happens. Yes, I'm going to be meeting with Celestia and Luna, but only as a formality before heading to the Royal Archives where I'll most likely be spending most of my trip," I looked back at him with a sly smile, "or are you telling me you've suddenly developed an interest in extensive research?"

"Nope, I'm good," Spike replied, waving his claws and stepping away, "you have fun though, Ţ̕͟͝w҉͏͟į̸̕͜͠l̸͟҉̕i̢͘g͢҉̛͘͟h̕͏̷͞t̨́̕͡ ."

I giggled and gave Spike a quick hug, "I'm not sure exactly how long I'll be gone, but it should only be two or three days at the most."

"Yeah, yeah," Spike said dismissively, "I'll make sure everything's fine while you're out. Now get going, T͏̸҉ẃ̴̢̢͘i̴̡҉̷͞ , you don't wanna keep the Princesses waiting."

"You're right about that, Spike," I agreed, "tell the rest of the girls I said goodbye for me, would you?" Spike nodded and I headed out the front door with one last wave back. Once I was outside, I spread my wings and took off into the sky towards Canterlot.

Ever since my battle with Tirek, I had been thinking more about my talent and magic in general. It wasn't until a couple of months after the girls and I sent Tirek back to Tartarus that I realized something important.

When it came right down to it, all of the considerable knowledge of magic I had gained over the years—either through Princess Celestia's teachings or my own independent research—amounted to practically nothing in the face of both Tirek's power and the power my friends and I wielded as the embodiment of the Elements of Harmony.

Even if I was able to match Tirek with more power provided by the other Princesses, all we really did was throw a lot of raw magic around. The only spell I actually remember casting was a magic barrier and even that was mostly done on instinct. There were no real spells, no finesse, no tactics...

No real utilization of my talent or intellect.

When I came upon this realization I was shocked and upset, mostly at myself. The worst part of it is that, had I not been so anxious about wielding the magic of the other Princesses and angry about the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library, I probably would've been able to come up with a way to beat Tirek without all my friends getting captured in the process.

What happened instead, was the magical equivalent of a street brawl and a risky gamble to save my friends.

With these thoughts came another revelation—something I should've realized much sooner as a lifelong student of Magic.

Friendship is indeed a very powerful form of Magic; it might even be the most powerful form of magic there is, but Magic in and of itself is not Friendship.

I may have become the Princess of Friendship, but my talent still remains the study and utilization of all forms of Magic. As I reflected on the past adventures I had with my friends I realized I had taken this fact for granted and more or less relied solely on the Magic of Friendship and the Elements of Harmony to solve most of Equestria's bigger problems.

Sure it's worked for the most part, but I noticed that whenever we had to stop a major threat without using the Elements we only just barely managed to pull it off. There'd been several cases like this, such as the changeling invasion or Sombra's return; it had been the case with Tirek even with the Elements on our side.

Had he decided not to release my friends and instead did something smart, like stealing the magic from the races outside of Equestria, I wouldn't have been able to stop him even with all the magic I obtained from the other Princesses.

No.

It was then that I decided there had to be some kind of contingency plan in case the Magic of Friendship failed, as I now realized it would eventually.

In light of this revelation, I decided to pick back up the studies of magic I had been neglecting for so long. I love my friends and I wouldn't trade them, or the Magic of Friendship for anything, but now that I know there's a problem like this, I have to do something about it.

As I drew closer to the city of Canterlot, I picked up speed—a grin of anticipation working it's way across my face.

When the Magic of Friendship falls apart, I'll make sure that we're prepared to put the pieces back together.

There will be more of these shorter 'Recollection' chapters as our amnesiac heroine regains more of her memories.

Note: The capitalization of Friendship and Magic are both due to my use of them as academic terms. (i.e. the study of Friendship or the study of Magic)