I just wanted to go to Equestria!

by Ditz

Finale - Part 3

“Trixie would really like to know why you are cursing, Lime.”

“Umm…” I really want to tell her how my amount of cursing is but an understatement, but ‘horrified’ definitely explains it better. The crowd of armored horses standing before me doesn’t help my confidence in the slightest. No exit left, no exit right, and no way to go back unless I want to jump through another freaking window. Not that I would even if I wanted to, having come across Pinkie near the back, held captive by the guards. “No, Pinkie!”

“Le-” she tries to speak, but her mouth is quickly gagged. Dammit!

With a groan, Trixie slowly lifts her head. “Lime, for the last time! Trixie can’t se- oh my god,” she stops the moment she catches a glance of the guards, lowering her head, and not moving. I see her plan, but I really don’t think that will work.

“I knew something was off when Sentry showed up,” this sentence comes out of Shining Armor himself emerging from the small crowd, looking particularly evil with his eyes glowing just as green as the ponies accompanying him. probably just as mind-fucked as the rest. “No need for introductions, we are to take you in unharmed, and nothing more. Just know we were allowed to use force if necessary… that is, if you don’t obey.”

“O-okay, just chill,” from the looks of it, it seems that the ‘mind-control’ has been significantly improved, giving them full control of their shit-talk functions. What the hell do I do now? I can’t run! And I definitely can’t fight. “Look, can we talk?”

“Talk?” as if by reaction alone, the guards raise their weapons at us. This is all in the form of both spears AND horns. “I don’t think you are in the position to bargain.”

“S-sorry,” I gulp at the sign of the pointy sticks, and the intensity of Shining’s similarly pointy words akin to that of a gangster in horse form really doesn’t help. If only… “Hey! Look over there!” to my surprise everyone turns around, including Pinkie Pie, who can only barely twist her head in her tied up form. Moments later, everyone turns back around, looking confused… wait. “Crap! I was supposed to have done something!”

“Seriously!” Trixie gives up her plan to shout, her tired body barely moving in her protests. “Why the hell didn’t you run!?”

“I panicked, okay!?”

“Grab them,” Shining orders, and without delay, the guards are upon us, giving us no time to react. “Bring them over,” he orders, and we are tossed in front of him just as another pony is dropped onto the pile. That pony just happens to be a tied-up Flash, struggling to free himself from the ropes he is in, looking up just to see me.

“S-sorry…” he apologizes. “I tried to come back, but I was found out.”

“W-what are you gonna do with us?” my question comes out without a second thought. I hate to even think about it, but I’m very afraid. I have never felt so hopeless before, my friends in all in bad shape, and they can’t do anything to help. I can’t do anything to help… but maybe, maybe I ca-

“Whatever you are planning, it’s not going to work,” Shining points out, getting into a very villain like mood. “Unless you prefer to be captured with a broken bone, hmm?”

I freeze up… his threat is real. I can’t do anything. It’s over! We are done. “O-okay. We’ll go with y-” as I utter the words, a cloud of smoke appears out of nowhere. The smoke quickly begins dissipating, and I catch a glimpse of a pink fig- “Whoa!” before I can realize what the hell is going on, I feel as if my body is twisting itself, and when I come to realize what's happening, I’m already on the cold, hard floor, ready to throw up the nothingness in my stomach, which was thankfully emptied earlier.

“What in the world?” a familiar voice speaks out, and I look over a pink horn, seemingly aimed at me. “You aren’t Twilight! Who are you!?” my eyes fall on the mare that speaks, her tall form, topped with a crown atop her wildly-colored mane, tipping me to her identity. “A-answer my question!” she orders, looking as if she is about to tumble by the smallest push.

“Princess Cadence?” I call out her name no less surprised to see her, though her response isn’t quite as tame, as she proceeds to aim her horn at me. “Wait… are you the fugitive I heard about earlier?”

“I will ask one last time; who are you!?” she growls, with her horn glowing as intently as her purpose to kick our asses if she has to.

“Oh, right! I am…” I remain quiet for a second before saying: “I’m Lemon Lime! I, er… I came here from, um, Manhatta-Manehatten! Yeah!” I quickly correct.

“Lemon?” a new voice calls my name, owner of said voice appearing from behind Cadence.

“Oh my god,” I gasp, my eyes widening in surprise when I see the pony in front of me: short, curly, doubly-colored bacon mane, fur glowing as orange as the sun… fitting, since I’m more than sure that the pony is actually Sunset Shimmer herself.

“Is that really you, Lemon?” she asks softly.

“Sunset?” I exclaim in validated surprise. “How even? But I thought…”

“I see now, you must be Lemon,” Cadence sighs, walking over to Flash, who seems to have been thankfully dragged along with us. “This didn't exactly go as I expected, but I suppose this will make it easier t-”

“You!” Trixie speaks up, interrupting from her limp form on the ground. “Trixie is going to kill you!”

“Trixie?” Sunset utters, shocked to see her, or maybe she is just shocked to be threatened. “Hold on, what? Why? What did I do?” I’m thinking it’s probably both.

Cadence blinks, staring deadpan into the distance. “Oookay… this is not the way I expected to meet you all.”

“Why? WHY!?” Trixie growls, carefully standing up. “Why, I should just punch you right now! And trust Trixie, hooves HURT like hell!”

“Trixie!” a now unroped Flash shouts. “There is no need for that!”

“Huh?” Trixie is momentarily surprised, realizing that it’s Flash talking to her before going to back to it. “S-shut it, Sentry! You have no right to tell me anything! You haven’t been around for weeks! And I am NOT going to waste time by even giving her the benefit of the doubt! If you didn’t know, she is the one who kidnapped you!”

“Trixie, Flash, we don’t have time for this! We…” I stop talking as a thought engulfs me. “Pinkie! We left Pinkie behind! Oh god! What are they going to do to her! W-we have to go! There really is no time! We have to… we have to… chill out?”

“What!?” Trixie shouts back. “You were the one who literally began screaming! And then… and… oh. I-I didn’t mean to shout? I’m sorry? Wait, what’s happening?”

“Cadence,” I quickly mutter her name, turning to the guilty pony as the vague memory of a scene with a couple of fighting ponies suddenly making nice with each other via love magic pops up in the back of my mind.

“T-that was me. I’m sorry,” Cadence apologizes, taking a deep breath, stumbling as if a gust of wind is about to knock her over, which may very well be the case. “I know you are worried about a friend, trust me when I say I’m worried about things here too, but this isn’t going anywhere if you all start arguing amongst yourselves. You are going to calm down, you are going to let the others talk, and I—if I may be so bold— will be taking a short rest. Is that alright?” we don’t say anything, instead opting for a synchronized nod. “Good! I’ll leave you to it then!”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Flash says satisfied… only to look at Sunset for a moment before slowly backing away. “Um, so, I’ll just… be over here, alright?” wow, thanks, Flash.

We are left to our own devices, meaning total silence. Hell, most of the commotion in the room is from Cadence attempting to find a comfortable position, shuffling softly on the ground. It takes this silence for me to realize we are standing in a lavish room, likely Cadence’s if the wedding portrait on the wall is to be believed… which just raises enough questions about why she isn’t using the bed to rest.

“I’m not the Sunset that did these things…” Sunset surprisingly starts off, giving me a pleading look. “I know it sounds strange, but I’m not lying when I tell you this!”

“Humph!” Trixie harrumphs annoyingly enough, showing that the effects of Cadence’s love magic has worn off on us both. “A likely story.”

“I...” my one word doesn’t come out easily, and it’s not helped by the continuing puppy eyes Sunset is giving me. “Y-you know, it’s weird. We made it a priority to go through the castle to find you, and now that I’m here, I don’t know what to do!” I explain, bursting into laughter. “God, even as plans go, it didn’t really have a solution in any way. We didn’t even come up with what we were going to do if we fought you, or anything! Isn’t that stupid?”

Sunset sighs, not amused by my outburst. “So what now? I guess you don’t really believe me, then?”

“No, I-I think I actually do,” I answer, quickly raising a hoof to Trixie’s mouth before she can argue back. “Trixie, please, I know that you don’t believe it, but the pink pony resting in front of us is actually a powerful princess who rules this place, and if there is anyone who could easily figure out if this Sunset is who you think she is, it would be her.”

Trixie lowers her gaze, her shimmering eyes clearly telling me who has the advantage in this exchange. “B-but what if she is just tricking us? Like she did before?” she asks in a soft tone, sorrowful even. "This could be some sort of magic clone or whatever."

“If she was, I’m sure she would have attacked us by now, don’t you think? The princess isn’t exactly in the shape to protect us, and we aren’t really any better,” I explain, my brain slowly filling the gaps. My doubts even begin to dissipate as I start to make sense of everything strange that involves Sunset… that would actually explain her overly confident behavior this morning as well. Things just make a little more sense if I think of it the way I am now.

“So, you are actually taking her word that there are two Sunset Shimmer running around?” Trixie asks, her usually perceptive brain catching up before I can even say it. “Is it seriously that simple?” she laughs.

“I mean, yeah...”

“Lemon!”

“No, listen! I mean, if there is a pony Twilight, there is a pony Sunset, right?” I say this very matter-of-factly, but I would be lying if I said I had it all figured out, but that thought literally just pop into my head. I didn’t. I still don’t! Maybe it's just this stupid teenager stress that the thought hadn't occurred me, because I feel stupid that I didn’t think of this possibility at all.

“I guess Trixie can believe that hypothesis,” Trixie pouts, awkwardly turning away. “For now, at least.”

“Thank you,” Sunset smiles gratefully, filling my heart with the best feels as she jumps to hug us both. The added horsiness only serves to take off years of my life with how cute she looks.

“I’m glad to see everything went smoother than expected,” Cadence sighs relieved. “And now that this seems to be resolved, I would appreciate it you could fill me in.”

“Right… I guess that’s fair since you saved us and stuff,” for what feels like the hundredth time, I recount the events from earlier in the night. When I get to Celestia and our parting conversation, her words echo in the back of my head as I relay them to Cadence.

“I’m sorry that we can’t explain this right now.”

No, not those! I’m done with the vague statements.

“… there is no time, you must go! You are the only ones who can do this, Lemon! We have to keep the world intact, so you two must go alone!”

“What will happen to your world if the portal closes?” Cadence mirrors my big question, attempting to understand what the hell human Celestia meant. “This doesn’t make any sense! I’ve only just recently heard of this other world from Tia who already didn’t seem to know much either, but that other version of her does? I really wish she would have told us more about it… then again, we only just learned that Sunset used to be a good pony AND a prized student of hers. I lived with her and even I didn't know this!"

“Great! Fantastic!” Trixie snidely celebrates, not that it would have been any other way. “We told you all you needed to know, and we are wasting enough time as it is, so now Trixie has to ask: how did this Shimmer get here?” she asks, her stare focused solely on Sunset.

“Trixie!” I interject quickly. I want to know this too, but there is no way in hell I’m letting another fight start now.

“I-it’s okay! I can try to explain,” Sunset joins in, gracefully taking the conversation. "But first I have to admit that… I’m not really sure,” she starts off. Badly, if Trixie’s glare is something to go by. “Hold on! I do remember it was the morning of the Formal,” she continues quickly, closing her eyes, and clearly thinking hard about it. “Let’s see, I remember getting ready to go to school, and when I was getting out of my room I saw... me?”

“Was is Bitch Shimmer?” because we all know who this came from, we all turn to Trixie. “What? Trixie is going to refer to her in an appropriate manner that isn’t just going to confuse us! And I think that’s the name that should be it… that, or just Sunbitch,” she looks around the room waiting for confirmation, and after receiving none, says: “Trixie isn’t budging on this one.”

“So, er, Sunbitch,” Sunset mutters, clearly uncomfortable with the naming convention. I won’t lie, though, I’m already warming up to it. “Well, I remember being surprised, and then everything just went dark. When I came to, I was… ‘this’,” she explains, pointing at herself. “That’s when I met Princess Cadence.”

“Is that it, Suns-… Is that it, Sunny?” I correct. I get the feeling differentiating the names will help us talk to her a bit better.

“I know, I know!” newly named Sunny shakes her head. “I’m sorry this isn’t helpful, I just wasn’t exactly conscious when I was kidnapped. I’ve been in this room ever since."

“That’s where I fill you in,” Cadence joins in. “Since Sunbi-... since SHE suddenly leapt out of the mirror you two likely came from, she caught everypony by surprise… all but me, since I had coincidentally left the room to bring drinks to the others.”

“Convenient,” I comment surprised.

“Luck can be a factor when you least expect it,” Cadence says in some manner of faux knowledge. “But luck wasn’t with the others, and everyone was soon captured by, er, ‘Shimmer’s’ unexplained power,” she adds at the end. Probably not too happy about Trixie’s suggestion of the name.

“The crown,” Trixie interrupts in time. “If what you and Lime told me is true, it appears that the magic crown helped her conquer the school. Was that what she used to beat your friends?”

Cadence nods. “So it seems, since the crown holds magic of its own. It would explain her powers in your world, and it could be what she used to overcome the other elements here, but…” she trails on, looking thoughtful.

“Unexplained powers?” I ask, pulling back the conversation.. "You mentioned that earlier. What's up with that?"

“Maybe I’m overreacting, but there was something strange about the magic she was using,” Cadence begins explaining. “I just don’t the think the crown would be enough for Shimmer to outperform two Princesses and four full grown ponies.”

Something doesn’t quite click with me. “Wait, you said you saw her in there, but… what about the other students?”

“I’m sorry,” Cadence apologizes. “I only saw Shimmer when I observed from the outside, though I did catch a glimpse of a few others, including ‘Sunny’ whom I managed to rescue after my confrontation with her counterpart in the throne room.”

“So that's how y-whoa, hold on! You tried to fight her alone?” I ask, baffled at the thought. “But you said she one-shotted the princesses? Why would you do that alone?”

“Lemon!” Sunny calls me, poking me with her hoof just strongly enough to ruffle my fur.

“What?” I ask confused. “It’s just a question!”

“M-my husband,” Cadence then replies with a sigh, quick to answer. “See, after I escaped, I got the idea to look for him, hoping we could come up with a good plan together. Maybe I hid for too long, but when I found him…” she stops momentarily, her pained look mirroring her thoughts better than words ever could. “He was already under her control, and I, well, I lost my composure and attempted to get him back. I… I just couldn’t leave him like that. Not again—not when I could do something about it.”

“I-I see,” none of us really say much more, opting out of asking for context, though given my history with the show, I already know what happened with Chrysalis back in the day. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate me bringing up that whole changelings incident now, really wouldn’t help us much.

“The point is,” she starts again, taking a deep breath. “I stupidly decided to confront her, but I only ended up grabbing your ‘Sunny’ after attempting to fight Shimmer, the losing battle that it was. I barely managed to escape by teleporting. And I bet she must still be getting used to her new power, because otherwise, she would have likely caught us with how strong she seemed to be getting.”

“So you just ‘grabbed’ our Sunset Shimmer?” Trixie asks doubtful, raising a very valid question. “Why just her?”

“She was just on the floor! I don’t know why, but she was not guarded!” Cadence retorts, shaken up by Trixie’s suspicion. “I didn’t know who she was at the time, but I was thankfully able to rescue her… now, I will be the first to admit that it took a toll on my magic to do last minute teleportation, that’s why bringing the four of you here has left me as drained as I am. You’ll forgive my disappointment after finding out I didn’t nab Twilight Sparkle and my captain.”

“Were the ponies you saw earlier there?” I ask anxiously, I really don’t want to think that the other Shimmer did something to the others like Flash’s mind-control.

Or worse.

“Well…” Cadence begins, everyone’s eyes turning towards her in anticipation of what she’ll say next. “I’m sorry to say, I didn’t see who it was. There were ponies behind a couple of guards, trapped in a magic barrier, but Shimmer prevented me from even getting too close to check, I’m afraid.”

“Did they…” Trixie speaks suddenly. “Are they… you know? They were okay, right?”

“Trixie?” I turn to look at her, a little surprised at her worried tone… but given her attitude towards the others lately, I really shouldn’t be.

“I know there were ponies, but since they weren’t moving, I can only surmise they were unconscious,” Cadence answers as truthfully as I would expect her to. “But I’m sorry to say I’m not very sure. I really do hope they are alright.”

Trixie nods silently, smiling briefly. “I see. If that’s anything to go by, that must mean Pinkie Pie is still alright… for now,” as Trixie stops talking, I realize no one is ready to say anything more, simply falling silent. Minutes pass, and it’s not a particularly happy silence, because even now, I get the feeling everyone has arrived at the same conclusion I have, and that’s not a good thing.

“I’m afraid to ask, but...” I begin hesitantly, worried of what might come of this. “Princess, you do have some sort of emergency plan, right? You are a princess, so you must have one, r-right?”

“No,” Cadence answers simply, horrifying me at the prospect of the worst case scenario. “But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to stand here and let that pony take over!” she states firmly for what she is saying. “Twilight and her friends helped me before, and now is my chance to return the favor.”

“Do you have any ideas?” Sunny asks, turning to Cadence with a serious look, her face glistening with sweat. “I-I don’t fully understand what’s going on, but if my friends are in any danger, I’m going to do all I can to help!”

“Yeah!” I yell suddenly, unable to hold back a smile at Sunny and Cadence’s determination. “There has to be something, we are not totally useless, right?”

“Hmph!” Trixie harrumphs, giving me a weird look. “Speak for yourself. Trixie is literally magic now! If there is anyone who isn’t useless, it’s moi!”

“Geez, thanks,” I groan. Motivation speaker can be easily crossed out for a career Trixie will never take.

“How can we even get there, though?” Sunny asks, back to her usual nervous behavior. “It’s not like we can just walk up in there and give her a talking to, or can we, Princess?”

“You can all just call me Cadence,” she grins amused. “And while I wouldn’t mind a chance at a ‘good talking to’ with that pony, that would definitely be a terrible idea… IF she knew we were coming,” she says, suddenly walking off. Nearing one of her dressers, and reaching into a lamp where she pulls a small cord that’s barely visible inside. As this happens, the bed shakes slightly before slowly moving to the side, revealing steps leading down. “Everypony, say hello to our shortcut.”

“Cool… so how come you didn’t use this before?” I ask confused.

“Thankfully, I was just too angry to remember this when I was alone earlier,” Cadence points out. “I may not have any good ideas at the moment, but we'll have enough time to think of something on the way there. All ready?”

Some short-lived bickering later, we start our way down the steps, but that trip is just as short as we are met by a door blocking further movement. Without explaining, Cadence’s horn lights up, shooting out a vaguely familiar dark blob-y beam of magic towards the top of the door, glowing momentarily before opening it without any issues.

“I need to learn to do that,” Trixie mutters in awe as we enter a tight hallway, lightly lit by what assume are magic torches to each side.

“Not now, but maybe,” I humor her, knowing full well I’m not letting that happen. If what the show showed me before is correct, dark magic isn’t a thing Trixie wants to deal with considering that her pony version was corrupted by it like three episodes later.

“Trixie can handle it, Lime! You saw what I could do!” she counters defensively. “Besides, if I can do something to help out everyone…”

I shake my head, letting out a small laugh. “Wow…”

“Did Trixie say something funny, Lime?”

“N-no!” I respond fast. “It’s nothing, really! I’m just happy you are… pumped to help out as much as you are, is all!” she doesn’t seem amused by my words, doing the closest thing to an ‘I’ve got my eyes on you’ motion she can do with one hoof before walking ahead to join the others and leaving me on my own to think, and well…

“… they will be the key.”

I wonder if Celestia’s words actually meant anything outside being total cheese?

“Lemon?”

The sound of my name in stereo is enough to break me out of my thoughts, as I look around to see both Flash and Sunny sandwiching me. They actually stop in place as they notice the other, sharing similar awkward looks as they catch each other's eyes.

“No, sorry!” Flash is the first to apologize. “I’ll talk to him later, go ahead,” he doesn’t wait for a response, and just walks back the way he came, leaving Sunny and I stunned.

“Yeah, m-my bad!” she struggles to speak. “Was I, er, interrupting something?”

“No,” I quickly point out. “Actually, you just made it easier for me, I’ve been meaning to ask how you are doing. Sure, we are still here, but I needed to know! I mean, you know? Considering.”

“I’m doing fine,” she reaches for her mane, clumsily passing a hoof over the hair, but having no effect. “You know? Considering,” she sighs, staring daggers at the stump that passes for her hand.

“I’m glad you are dealing with this as well as you are, given everything that’s happened, I would expect you to have been freaking out,” I tell her impressed.

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be saying that if you were the one that woke me up,” she laughs, shaking her head. “This is embarrassing to say, but I almost kicked Cadence in the face when I saw her looking down at me. It wouldn’t have been pretty if I hit, that’s for sure, and then…”

“What’s up?” I ask, her pause not missed.

“It’s nothing,” she shakes her head.

“Come on, Sunny.”

“Sunset.”

“Huh?”

“Please, call me Sunset when it’s just us,” she explains. “The way you have to separate me and that horrible pony makes me feel like the fake here.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I clarify, though I wasn’t exactly expecting her to be this hurt by it.

“I know! I know…” she sighs, turning to me with an assuring smile. “But you know? It’s weird. That other Sunset Shimmer lived my high school years. It’s time I will never get back, time that I could have used to meet so many new people, and they were all taken away from me by that… monster!”

“You hate her for it, trust me, I know. She did a couple of things that I wasn’t exactly happy about either,” I recall. Man, those moments feel like they happened eons ago.

Sunset shakes her head. “No, that’s the thing; I don't REALLY hate her.”

“Seriously?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m angry that she stole years from my life, but when I learned that I wasn’t the one who did all the horrible things I’ve been hearing about, I was… happy. I’m sad that I wasn’t able to go to high school properly, but I can’t be too sad when my memories just skip from the day before I was about to head into CHS, to waking up in a hospital bed and meeting you.”

“Right,” I don’t have anything to add to her explanation (not that I can really relate) I had never bothered to ask about things regarding her memory loss because I imagined it would be a sensitive subject. Learning this now, I find it weird that she doesn’t remember the early months of her time in school. What the hell did Shimmer do to Sunny's mind?

“Lemon?” Sunset pokes me into paying attention to her.

“Crap, was I spacing out again? Sorry, I was thinking about what you were saying.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just happy to let it all out,” Sunset shakes her head, letting out a weak laugh. “Actually, I think it’s my turn to ask something… right? Question mark?”

I watch ahead, noticing Cadence and Trixie having what I think is a meaningful conversation, with no signs of stopping at that. “I say we still have time. Shoot.”

“Who is that guy who wanted to talk to you? He seems familiar,” the question itself isn’t an outright surprise, but it still manages to make me stop for a second. I tilt my head back towards the ‘guy’ in question, watching his constant near tripping, his eyes fixated on my every move, his head very subtly shaking side to side, though I can clearly see a very unsubtle mouthed ‘no’ as his response.

Or maybe, it was actually a yes. “He is a friend of mine. I heard you met him, actually.”

“You dic-” it stops just as suddenly as it starts, but it manages to catch Sunset’s attention… as well as mine. Onto part two.

“He is shy, so I’ll reintroduce you,” I can sense dread just oozing from him as we allow him to catch up, and when he gets cozy between the two of us, he wastes no time in showing the anger his stare is emanating towards me right now, but if this is what I have to do to have him talk, I’m not gonna hold back. “Flash, this is my good friend Sunset. Sunset, this is my friend Flash. Now meet!"

“Lemon...” he groans uncomfortably.

“Flash? Oh my gosh! It’s you! I didn’t recognize you, what with the way you look!” Sunset yells excitedly. “Do you remember me? You helped me on my first day!”

“Y-you remember that?” Flash looks hopeful, his eyes glowing with revitalized vigor. “Do you actually remember the day we met?”

Sunset nods. “Yes! You helped me find the cafeteria! I would have been so lost without you!”

“Oh, right!” Flash’s disappointment doesn’t go pass me, but he quickly hides it behind a smile. “A-anyway, it’s a coincidence we are here again, huh? Weird!”

“Flash,” Sunset says seriously, her cheerful tone gone. “How come you keep avoiding me?”

“Huh?” Flash and I mutter shocked. This is the first I hear of that. “Avoiding you?” he mumbles. “I don’t know what you… mean?” he staggers, pulling his head back as Sunset’s looms closer to his, unmistakably angry.

“Don’t lie to me! I’ve seen you watching us from afar, but you never come say hi,” with a frown, she slowly backs away. “Did I really end up doing something to hate me for?”

“What? No! You didn’t! It’s just…” he seems to struggle with what he is saying, though he doesn’t seem to have an easy out, as shown by his defeated expression. “I-I mean, it’s kinda hard to talk to you when I have a crush on yo-?” he stops himself far too late, his jaw falling as he realizes what he just said. “Oh, I… crap.”

As expected, Sunset’s reaction is appropriate, looking perplexed at Flash’s response, her face probably redder than mine at the moment. “I, um, oh my…” she seems lost as to what to say, mumbling incoherent things to herself. “I-I don’t know what to say, really…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Flash assures her, his face just as colorful as hers. “You can think about it after we get out of this mess. Okay? No pressure!”

“O-okay…” Sunset whispers, taking a deep breath. “Oh, wow, that’s not what I was expecting… I, um, I’m g-… I’m going to walk with the, um, ponies ahead of me! I just need to clear my head… sorry!” she mutters, running ahead to a watching Trixie, who I swear shares a quick look with Flash before turning to speak to Sunset.

“Dammit,” Flash speaks first, sounding about as exhausted as one can be. “What the hell, Lemon?”

“Hey, it got you to talk! And you are the one who confessed!” I whisper defensively. “Look, I was just trying to stop you from being all dark and gloomy. I just figured this was the best chance to do that. Besides,” I say in a lower voice. “Now we know this Sunset isn’t the one who broke up with you! So now you can date her again!”

“You are an idiot for making me do this now,” Flash groans in return, rubbing a hoof over his forehead. “I should take a page out of Trixie’s book and punch you right now. I would actually feel good doing it because of how stupid this idea was.”

“Ouch. I mean, I don’t think it was THAT bad…”

“Tell me, what makes you think that’s the truth?”

“Huh?” I don’t like where this is going. “About what?”

He goes up to my ear, and says: “What makes you think that the Sunset Shimmer I dated was this one? What if the one I dated was just the pony pretending to be the human one? She might have just been pretending to be Sunny when we met.”

“Oh,” it’s all I can say. The implications keeping my mind running.

“Didn’t you think I would have thought of your idea myself?” he asks with an edge in his voice, his frustration kept in check. His usual know-it-all persona coming up with something I should have realized myself earlier.

“Crap… I’m sorry,” apologizing is all I can really do. I can’t even begin to imagine how Flash of all people feel. Has he been thinking about this since he found out?

Flash then lets out the longest, most wistful sigh I’ve ever heard. “Don’t be. As angry as I am, I’m glad that you did.”

Wait. “… Come again?”

“It’s very likely that my theory would have kept me from ever approaching her. I would probably have continued to be quiet, never saying anything to you guys in my last days in high school, all because of my doubts. I would have to move on,” he explains, managing one of his smug smiles in spite of the sad implications. “Honestly, I’m relieved.”

“Wait, then what the hell was that confession? Was it just a trick to send her away to tell me this?” I ask, feeling very angry at the mere thought.

“It might have been a slip of the tongue, but I meant what I said,” I look for telltale signs of a joke, maybe a lie he might have sneaked in… but there is nothing as he looks at me, his face as serious as can be. “I’ve been watching her for a while, and… she reminds me so much of the Sunset I knew. Maybe she is the same person, or maybe she isn’t, but I’m willing to risk it if I can at least have something like I used to… like WE used to. Maybe it’s a naive thought, it’s probably a selfish, messed up thought. But it’s what I believe,” without warning, he starts chuckling to himself, the mood abruptly switching. “That’s also the reason why I didn’t punch you.”

I can’t help a smile of my own. “Alright, fair enough. I won’t question what you think since I’m just glad you are alright now.”

“I wouldn’t say alright,” Flash mutters, getting serious again. “But how about you? I don’t know what you are thinking, but I hope you are faring okay.”

“I’m… fine. I’m just trying to focus on the now. Worrying over things isn’t going to help us find the others,” of course, I’m lying. The thought of Pinkie and the others being in danger is dreadful at every passing thought. I’m afraid of what will happen in the end. I wonder what Cadenc-

“Alright, everyone together! We are almost there,” speaking of the pink devil. “From here on, we have to keep our voices down. I know the walls may seem thick, but it’s nothing more than a farce, and our loud voices will be heard by ponies that happen to be on the other side. Be careful.”

We follow her lead from then on, huddling closer together, keeping the conversation to no more than whispered questions until we finally come to a stop somewhere. I say ‘somewhere’ because I see nothing more than a random wall in front of me, which greets us with the silent treatment like any good wall should.

“This wall is a timed one-way exit, only activating every twelve hours... though I suppose that doesn't really matter given what we are doing right?" she starts pointlessly, pointing at the otherwise plain-looking wall.“Any other day, we could probably take our time and plan everything out, but what you told me earlier about the time limit worries me, Lemon.”

“Right…” I mumble. Principal Celestia did say that, but she didn’t share enough info for us to go with. So just a normal Celestia thing, right.

“Hold on, what does that mean for us?” Flash asks, looking over to Cadence with a worried glance.

“Under different circumstances, we would be able to stay here for a while to think it over,” Cadence answers wearily before continuing. “But if what Lemon says is true, our time might be extremely limited given that I have no idea how time works in your world. We wasted enough time as it is, so I have to be concise: thirty minutes to come up with a plan—nothing more, nothing less. If push comes to shove… we might have to make escape plans, and, well… maybe we should prepare for a journey outside the Crystal Empire.”

Everyone is silent. Likely, the implications of her words have demoralized the others as much as they did me. I turn to look at them all, and my suspicions are sadly confirmed: fear, anger, despair; all emotions that will likely only make this whole thing worse.

“I know what you are all thinking,” Cadence speaks again, a look that seems akin to a mothers—stern, but kind. “You have all been through a lot in just a few hours. You had to deal with possible death, loss, maybe even mistrust,” she says this, looking over to Trixie. “These are emotions brought by the stress of your situation, but,” she pauses, making it so we focus on her as she continues. “There is a duality to these emotions—they can also bring total strangers together as they fight through adversity, and in your case, has made you all even closer than ever before.

I feel as if her words are right as I turn to look at the others—my friends. They all look back with determined looks, their expressions rough, but caring. Somehow, this specific group has managed to stay together. Coincidence? Fate? It doesn’t matter. Because in the end, we are all still here for the very same reason.

“You have all grown on the way here, finding out things about yourselves that you might not have known about, maybe realized things about the other that you didn’t already know,” the way she speaks makes it sound like she knew… could she have been giving us the time to talk on purpose? “In the end, you are all here for the same reason: to rescue, and protect those you love! And together, you can do it!”

“We can rescue those we love…” I mutter looking at Cadence, and then, as sudden as a stroke of lighting, an idea pops into my head. “Oh… oh!”

“You have a creepy smile, Lime,” Trixie points out, looking at me with a vicious grin of her own. “What’s on your mind?”

I can’t help it, but I continue smiling as I reply: “Oh, nothing. Only the stupidest stroke of genius, that’s what!”