A Thought Exercise · 1:53pm Jul 10th, 2020
Link is at the bottom but let's do a short recap; Spring Breakdown that shows another portal to Equestria. The author thinks that new stories now have an advantage by not being on a time constraint. The author also thinks this allows Twilight to spread friendship and fix the school in a more organic way (true) and allowing Sunset's redemption to be more organic while dealing with the Dazzlings (plenty of plot holes here but I'll assume they are, somehow, filled; so... true*. * = her redemption arc is perhaps one of the most naturally 'organic' character arcs in the show as is.)
I'm sure some of you are scratching your heads at the vary premise of this. Me too but i am not going to devote brain cells to that right now. It's 'good enough'.
First... Time Constraint
(Forgive me if i go on a tangent)
So i have booted up the MLP:FiM tv tropes page, specifically the recap portion, and now I have every episode and movie in front of me. For this hypothetical i am two people; a narrator and a self insert HiE guy in Twilight's body. This is not truly important yet but keep this in mind; 'Twilight' does not always know what i know.
So I, Twilight, go after Sunset through the mirror. I know that there is another portal. I know that it is always open. I know it is physically possible for a human to reach it. Because i am not the narrator i can't know that some of these statements might be false. (I'll cover that further down)
3 days in the portal the closes. All is well in Equestria. The Princesses and the Mane 5 are frantic with worry but i can't see them able to do anything about it. Equestria Girls is, somehow, fine; won't use brain cells here like i said earlier.
We'll say one week in... the plundervines happen. Celestia and Luna are now out of the picture. Cadence is in the Empire and Equestria (more or less) is a headless chicken. Both celestial bodies are in the sky and the moon radiates night time... so what were the people on the other side of the planet seeing? A soul sucking empty void? A 404 error message scrolling around? A horizon to horizon eldritch horror made of millions of eyes and tentacles?! oh! And ponyville (and likely canterlot) become unlivable. We'll assume the plundervines stop after just so far.
Tick tock, Twilight. 
Sometime in the next few days... noble ponies secure sections of Equestria (assuming they are not too good for statecraft). Cadance will try and might pull in a few hundred refugees. She can't claim Equestria. The nobles can't either. The Guard will have crumbled in on themselves or fallen in line with Cadence.
Why? Because...
Queen Chrysalis was kept at bay (in her mind) by Celestia, Luna and Twilight of which all are MIA. So ponies start getting foalnapped and she pieces together the situation. Then she starts operating opening perhaps even going so far as it assult the Empire.
Lord Tirek was hiding from Celestia and Luna til his strength became enough to handle them. Since he is effectively living under a rock he might be slow on the uptake. Though seeing both the sun and moon together in the sky might render that statement false. He won't grow to such a large size as normal but he can certainly reach Alicorn strength for his fight against Cadence.
The Windigoes will return. Perhaps not this week but soon.
Tick tock, Twilight!
So a month later... maybe a month and a half since the portal closed... Ponyville has fallen. Canterlot has fallen. Any ponies captive or captured during rescue efforts will have starved in the plundervines. Celestia and Luna will also be casualties unless the plundervines keep victims in suspended animation. If the villains strike while the iron is hot the Empire has fallen. All four Princesses are gone. Large swaths of ponies are cocooned, demagiced or even dead.
Will other heroes rise up? Sure. We saw that with Tirek; he beat them. We also saw that with Chrysalis and Zecora; last we saw the last survivors were falling.
Oh... and Daring Do might not stop whats-his-name and the golden rings. She might find a way. The valley might be cursed for a thousand years and she might never return to Equestria (in that there is no Equestria to go to).
Tick tock, Twilight!!
One glimmer of hope is Fluttershy and Discord.
Let us end on that note... and cover something else...
Logistical problems that will emerge.
Twilight will need the following things once she gets the crown and the gate is closed...
A boat
A location
A working portal at location
So the portal was there a year or two after Equestria Girls. Great. It is a naturally forming one. How did it form without magic? If it needed the crown did it form immediately after? Or is Twilight going to scratch that island off the list when she finds no portal never coming back when the portal forms? Is it something that occurred while Midnight was rending reality? That is likely to still happen.
She needs a location which means she needs to know about the cruise. Was it a predetermined route that is used every so often? Did they deviate from that course in the movie? Does she even know the name of the ship? The company it was owned by? Anything?
For me (Twilight) this is a no. I have no magic, no funds, no support no anything that could help. This plan is suicide and I'm smart enough to know what will happen with me and the elements. But I'll keep going...
She/I need a boat. This is perhaps the easiest part (just getting a boat not getting to the point of getting) but the most risky for my good self. If I don't plan to steal one i need;
a place to stay
Food
Employment
Legal documentation to allow employment, banking, leasing
A credit card
A credit score high enough to get a boat on loan from the bank.
(Not like i have to return or pay in full. They can bite my purple fuzzy ass)
Depending on the help i get this can take a few months, a few years or land me federal prison for life. All while Equestria burns.
So i think it's a great idea but you can't take such a story serious. That way lies madness and i have barely scratched the surface...
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/908863/knowing-about-spring-breakdown-is-a-serious-advantage
