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To Live, Love, and Forgive

by Grayson Gears

Chapter 1: What Was Remembered

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"Well I think that's all the time we have for today my little ponies," Cheerilee's soothing voice flowed out of the classroom towards Twilight. "Good work everypony, have a good afternoon and I'll see you tomorrow." Twilight could just feel the smile on Cheerilee's face from those words.

Soon, the air was filled with a clamorous din as the fillies and colts shuffled outside. They left in groups, happily walking and chatting with their friends, Twilight even managed to catch sight of Apple Bloom with her two friends, but they failed to notice her. Most likely they were too engrossed in their next scheme to get their cutie marks. She didn't mind though, she wasn't here to see them.

Behind the last of the students, a lone gray colt stood in the doorway, hesitating as he watched the rest of his classmates walk away. A small smile came to his face as he saw Twilight.

"Hello Sunny, did you learn a lot in school today?" Twilight asked, walking up to young colt.

"Well...something like that," Sunny replied, he eyes flicking towards the ground. "You didn't need to come pick me up though Twilight, I mean, cousin Twilight." He corrected himself.

"You know, you don't need to call me 'cousin.' Just Twilight would be fine," she said to him. Twilight couldn't get over how strange this situation was. She was picking up from school, and advising, a pony that had once been the caretaker of all the souls in Equestria. Her and her friends had used the Elements of Harmony to separate him from the dark world of death in order to give him a chance at life.

Somehow, the elements had transformed him into the colt in front of her, and had taken away almost all of his memories from before. He had no idea the he used to be a part of death, at least...that was what he had told them.

To try and ease him into Ponyville, and to prevent a possible riot, they had decided to introduce him as Twilight's cousin. The last thing they wanted was Sunny being associated with the...attack in Ponyville. The ponies of Ponyville had generally come to accept that the terrible monster that had wandered through the town, actually Sunny in a moment of desperation, had just been a random creature from the Everfree Forest.

Since she was the newest to Ponyville most ponies didn't know about her extended family, and as long as the news stayed out of Canterlot they could keep up the charade. After all, what were the odds of that happening?

"And I was coming here anyway to talk to Cheerilee, so there's no need to embarrassed. Just wait here and I'll be right back." Twilight finished. Sunny nodded and she trotted inside the school building.

Passing by all of the desks Twilight briefly wondered what it would have been like to have gone to school in Ponyville rather than Canterlot. She might have managed to make some friends sooner...but thinking back on her study habits, that was unlikely.

Pushing those random thoughts away Twilight walked up to the teacher's desk. Cheerilee didn't even realize she was there, the purple earth pony was so intent on grading her student's school work.

Twilight stood silent for a few moments before coughing slightly. Startled, the school teacher looked up.

"Oh! Hello Twilight," she greeted happily. "What brings you to the schoolhouse today? Do you need to borrow the chalkboard again?"

"Not today Cheerilee," Twilight shook her head. "I actually wanted to ask how Sunny is doing in your class."

"Your cousin? Hmm, now that is a tough question. I was a little worried that he might need some help catching up when you enrolled in the class last week, but that hasn't been much of a problem. He's doing just fine with math and spelling, it's History that's the problem," Cheerilee replied, absentmindedly arranging the papers on her desk into a neat stack.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's almost like his last teacher had no idea what they were doing. Sunny won't know the first thing about the basic history of Princess Celestia, but he knew ever minor detail that led to one of our obscure treaties with the Griffon Empire. He even corrected me on the proper pronunciation of on of the diplomats names," Cheerilee explained. "It's like...his teacher taught him by opening a history book to a random page every day and only teaching him what was on that page. Do you happen to know who his teacher was?"

"Oh um...well no. I'm afraid his parents didn't give me that much information before they left on their journey around Equestria," the lie came easily to Twilight, though a small part of her worried that Cheerilee might notice. "Was there anything else?"

"There are two more things, I've noticed that Sunny tends to be a bit of a...day dreamer. I'll be giving a lecture and he'll be staring off into nothing. I'll have to stop right in front of his desk before he goes back to paying attention. Also...he's been having some trouble making friends. He's very quiet, and spends most of his free time at his desk," Cheerilee smiled to reassure Twilight. "But I'm sure it's nothing a good talking to from his cousin couldn't fix."

"You're probably right, thanks Cheerilee. Don't work too hard now," Twilight gave her a quick wave and walked away. The friends thing she wasn't overly worried about, it was Sunny's daydreaming. He claimed that all he remembered from 'before' was a few memories of her and her friends, nothing of his time spent in the other world. But sometimes, she would catch him staring off into nothing so intently she would nearly have to shake him to get him out of it. He never said what is was that he saw, it was always that one simple word.

"Nothing..."

She was tempted to press him on the matter, but she figured there was a good reason for his silence.

"I'll try not to. Hope to see you again soon Twilight," Cheerilee called after Twilight, snapping her out of her thoughts.Twilight found Sunny still waiting for her, relaxing against the open doorway.

"C'mon Sunny, lets go home," the colt quickly fell into step beside her.

That had been another problem when Sunny had appeared in front of them, exactly where was he going to live?

Pinkie had been the first to offer up her home, but they had to remind her that it was actually the Cake's house, and it was running rather short on space with the arrival of the twins.

Rarity quickly shook her head, she barely had room to house Sweetie Belle when her parents dropped her off, much less another young pony.

Applejack most certainly had the room at Sweet Apple Acres, but bringing him there would probably mean informing Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith of the real story. While that might go over well, it was safer to keep the number of ponies who knew as low as possible.

Fluttershy said that her cottage might be big enough, but she spent so much time caring for all of her animals, she wasn't sure if Sunny would get all the attention he needed.

Finally, Rainbow Dash lived up in the clouds, hardly a proper place for an earth pony.

The Princess herself had actually stepped forward to bring up the option of housing him up in Canterlot, but Sunny had shied away from that. He explained, in as few words as possible, that he didn't want to leave Twilight and her friends.

Finally, Twilight gave the only logical solution, he could stay with her and spike at the library. There was plenty of room, and books he could read to help him acclimate to life in Ponyville. Plus, though she didn't say this out loud, she was still curious about Sunny. You don't see a pony that had once been Death every day.

Her friends accepted her idea, but not before offering their own modifications.

"Just because you're staying with Twilight doesn't mean you have to spend all day in that stuffy library. I'll make sure you get out of there to have some fun!" Pinkie promised Sunny.

"Yeah, somepony's got to show you what cool is," Rainbow Dash added.

"And I'll always be there for you if you feel overwhelmed Twilight," Rarity said to her friend. "Who know, if I watch Sunny he may be able to entertain Sweetie Belle long enough for me to get some work done." Rarity smiled at her small joke.

"And I bet that Apple Bloom would like a new friend to play with now and again," Applejack joined in.

"Actually, I'm not always busy with animals. If you need me, I can look after Sunny too," Fluttershy finished.

"Wow, thank you everypony!" Twilight beamed at her friends, then turned to Sunny. "Does that sound good to you?" The colt paused for a moment before quickly nodding.

"Well done my little ponies," Celestia told them all. "But Twilight, may I have a word? In private?" Twilight, worried, looked to her friends before walking away from the group.

"What do you need Princess?" she asked once they were far enough away so that nothing could be overheard.

"Since Sunny will be staying here in Ponyville, staying with you specifically, I'm going to need you to keep a close eye on him and to send me a report in case...something happens," Celestia explained to her.

"In case...Princess you don't think that he might..." Twilight realized.

"I would like nothing more than for Sunny to be just a regular pony, but it never hurts to be a little cautious. Just send me a report if things seem...out of the ordinary," Celestia clarified.

"Very well, you have my word Princess," she agreed. Her teacher smiled back at her and together they walked back to her friends.

Time had seemed to move so quickly after that. She brought Sunny back to the library where Spike immediately began questioning her about the new pony. It had taken a while, but eventually she told him the whole story and what the new situation would be. Spike was a little annoyed that he had missed so much, but he took to Sunny very quickly, bringing him several of his favorite books as a 'house warming gift.' Twilight suspected he was happy to finally have another boy to talk to, even if Sunny didn't say all that much in return.

Pulling away from her thoughts, Twilight realized they were nearly back at the library. She opened the door for Sunny and let him head indoors.

"Spike, we're home!" she announced, walking inside. The young dragon was there in a moment, walking down from the second floor to greet them.

"Well hiya Twilight, and hey Sunny, did you have a good time at school today?" he asked them.

"It was nice," Sunny replied. "Ms. Cheerilee is a good teacher." Always so neutral, like he was afraid you might find out what he was thinking.

"Actually, about that. Spike, I'm going to need a book a good or two," Twilight leaned down and whispered the titles into his ear to prevent Sunny from overhearing.

"Sure thing Twilight, your number one assistant will be right back!" he announced, charging off into the library.

"You talked to Cheerilee about me, didn't you?" Sunny asked warily once Spike ran off.

"There's no need to worry Sunny, you're not in trouble," Twilight consoled, though she couldn't help but wonder why he seemed worried. Had he actually done something bad that Cheerilee hadn't noticed? "I just want to-" she paused. She could have sworn she heard something coming this way. Something very fast, and very high pitched...that could only be one thing.

"Heeeeeeeey Sunny!" a pink blur rushed into the library, quickly forming itself into the exuberant form of the earth pony Pinkie Pie. "I heard you were done with that boring school stuff which means it's time for you to have some fun!" With no warning she picked the surprised colt off of the ground and began spinning him around the room.

"Actually Pinkie, I was-" Twilight tried to interrupt, not even bothering to wonder at how Pinkie knew that Sunny was done with school or how she had gotten to the library so fast.

"So what do you say?" Pinkie asked, finally setting Sunny back down. As she did, Twilight was able to notice a silly smile on his face. Maybe it was because Sunny remembered her best, but Pinkie was always the best at getting him to bring out his emotions.

"Well, what kind of fun do you mean?" he replied.

"What else? The best kind of fun, pranks!" Pinkie declared. Sunny stared at her, confused.

"And...what are pranks?" Pinkie could only gasp at his question.

"Well they're fun little tricks! You can play them on your friends, or on ponies you want to be your friends. The most important thing is that they're funny without hurting anypony," Pinkie's gaze slide over to Twilight. "For Twilight a really good prank would be to replace all of the reports she was going to send to Princess with love letters for Prince Blueblood. Like I did a few days ago!" Pinkie's face was all smiles.

"What!" Twilight screamed, running upstairs to where she kept her reports. How many had Pinkie changed? If she was lucky then maybe Spike hadn't sent any of the forgeries...but what if he had? She would have to start a draft right now about how the whole thing was meant as a joke and while she didn't mean the Prince any disrespect personally she-

"And another good prank," Pinkie's voice reached her from the floor below. "Is tricking somepony into thinking you've done something and making them freak out over nothing!" Twilight dropped the scrolls she had pulled from the shelves with a huff. Pinkie had done all this on purpose, she probably even knew she would hear her talking from upstairs. But she had to admit...that was pretty good.

"Good joke Pinkie," Twilight said, a small chuckled escaping her mouth as she walked back down the stairs. "But unfortunately, I was hoping to talk with Sunny for a little while. You'll have to come by later."

"Oh darn it, but hey, that means I have something to look forward to! Seeya later everypony!" Pinkie gave one last ruffle to Sunny's mane before skipping back outside, humming a silly tune.

"I got your books Twilight!" Spike said, walking back into the room. "I didn't miss anything while I was gone, did I?"

"Just Pinkie with her usual Pinkie-ness," Twilight told him, levitating the two books out of his grasp. 'The Proper Guide To Raising Your Foal,' and 'What Not To Do: The Problems All Worried Parents Make.' While Twilight was reasonably sure she could help Sunny without these books, it never hurt to have a reference guide. Setting the books to the side she nestled down in front of Sunny, who's smile quickly faded.

"So you know I spoke to Ms. Cheerilee, she said that you were having some trouble making friends in class," Twilight paused, waiting to see how he would respond.

"It's not that I'm having trouble...it's just that...I haven't really been trying," he admitted slowly before her gaze.

"Well...why not? Don't you want to have friends?"

"Yes, well...I think so. I'm just not sure...how. I have you and Pinkie Pie and everypony else, but that just sort of...happened. I don't know how to make friends with other ponies," Twilight was surprised at how straightforward he was being, he must have been worried about something else.

"It's actually easier than you'd think," Twilight said, remembering her first day in Ponyville. "Just try talking to some of your classmates, I bet you'll end up with friends before you know it." Talking to him, Twilight was reminded of when Sunny had first come to Ponyville, asking her to teach him about friendship. A strange little sense of déjà vu.

"Okay, I can try that," he agreed, then shifted his gaze away. "Is that all?"

"Not yet, Cheerilee also said that you were having trouble paying attention...like you were focused on something else," she continued. Sunny continued to stare at the floor, staying silent. Twilight was temped to ask again when he spoke up.

"Bad dreams," Sunny murmured. "They started a few days ago. I can't remember them...but they scare me. That's why I haven't been very focused..."

"Oh!" Twilight had a good guess on what was causing the bad dreams, his old memories might be bleeding through. Unfortunately, she doubted her books had anything on how to deal with that. "Well you know that Spike or I are always here if you want to talk. You can stay in my room tonight too if you think that might help." She was glad to see him smile at the offer.

"Thanks Twilight...I hope it does help," he accepted.

"Good, and I think that's all I wanted to talk about for now. I think you've earned some fun. You should go find Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner." She waved a hoof a the door.

"Okay, thanks again Twilight," Sunny quickly headed out the door, leaving Twilight with Spike.

"Spike," she said slowly. "Take a letter, I think the Princess would like to know about these nightmares."

"Um...are you sure Twilight?" Spike hesitated as he pulled out a scroll and pen. "I'm not sure I like sending things about Sunny to the Princess behind his back."

"Well...no, but I promised the Princess I would keep her updated," she looked after the small figure of Sunny vanishing into the distance. "We just have to hope Sunny doesn't find out..."


Life was very odd for Sunny, especially when his first memory was waking up on a hill surrounded by several ponies, all of which he some vague recollections of. All he knew was that he should trust them because they had saved him from...something. Something...terrifying.

All he wanted was to stay with them and be happy. Which was easy enough, especially after he got to move in with Twilight.

But then the nightmares had started.

He hadn't been entirely truthful with Twilight about them...he did remember parts of them. Just occasional flashes really, but that was enough. There was the Princess, thrown away by an unseen force, and then there was Pinkie Pie and her friends. They were staring at something, completely terrified.

He hadn't told her because...he didn't want to this happy life to stop. He knew that he never wanted to find out what that something was.

Next Chapter: Pranking and Crusading Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 13 Minutes
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