//------------------------------//
// 03: Trust Me 
// Story: A Tear in the Fabric 
// by Cold Bolt 
//------------------------------//

Tank subtly lowered his head as he glanced around, slowly slipping his hand back into the glove. “I don’t see anything. Are you sure? Is this another spell of yours?”

“I’m not sure how I know…” Sunset’s hands clenched into fists as she looked Tank square in the eye. “…but there’s one person besides us nearby. Thirty feet away at most… and whoever it is, they’re not friendly.”

Tank took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. When I signal, run to the trunk of the car. It’s unlocked, so just pull up on the handle and it’ll open. My weapons are in there, right on top - grab them as quickly as you can, alright?”

Sunset nodded.

The two held their breath as a cloud casually drifted its way in front of the light source up above, darkening the scene until they could barely still see one another.

“Move!”

In an instant, Sunset took off like a bullet toward the rear of the car, catching only a brief glimpse of an unknown figure emerging from the tall grass behind Tank as she ran.

BLAM

Adrenaline surged through Sunset as a gunshot rang out behind her, causing her to stumble and reach out for the car to steady herself. To her relief, it was immediately followed by the sound of struggling - it seemed her impromptu ally wasn’t out of commission yet. Undaunted, she scrambled for the trunk and yanked upward on the handle, causing the hatch to open and reveal…

“A - A sword…?!”

Sunset stared in disbelief at the anachronistic sight. Sitting atop a pair of old duffel bags was a sword in a leather sheath and a large, fairly plain-looking kite shield. This couldn’t possibly be what he was talking about, could it? A world with cars and guns in it, and someone still fights with a shield and sword?

Another gunshot snapped her back to attention as she gripped the weapon with both hands and yanked it out of the trunk with a grunt of effort; it was heavier than she expected, but not unmanageable. There would be no carrying the shield at the same time, though, so this would have to do.

Rounding the corner once again, she caught sight of two figures fighting up close… but in the darkness, how was she supposed to tell them apart? She needed light, and she needed it now!

As though in reply, a white glow began shining from within the sheath in her hands. Curious, Sunset wrapped her hand around the hilt and slowly drew the blade, which shone so brightly it almost seemed to wash out the night around her. Now, Tank and his assailant were not only perfectly visible, but so distracted by the shining blade that they both paused to stare at it.

But of course this wasn’t the only thing it could do, right?

Consumed by her curiosity, Sunset let the sheath fall to the ground, the better to grip the hilt with both hands. Lifting it high over her head, she locked eyes with the unknown assailant and swung at the air in front of her.

“Haah!”

A bolt of light burst from the tip of the blade and struck him square in the face, knocking him to the ground three feet from where he had been standing.

Tank stared at the prone figure for a few seconds before walking up and giving the man a kick to the ribs; upon receiving no reaction, he turned to Sunset and grinned. “Hey, nice shot!”

Adrenaline now ebbing from her system, Sunset began rubbing her shoulder; apparently her still aching muscles didn’t appreciate the strain of swinging a heavy piece of metal around too much. “…Is he dead?”

“What? Of course not. He’ll definitely be feeling that one when he wakes up, though.” Tank picked up the gun the man had dropped. “Geez, highway bandits? Seriously? Welcome to three hundred years ago.” He glanced over at Sunset. “C'mon, we should get moving in case any more show up. He was probably drawn here by that light from before, same as I was.”

Sunset returned the sword to its sheath, placed it back in the trunk next to the gun Tank confiscated, and climbed into the passenger side of the car. With a roar of the engine, they took off.

It was quiet for a little while once they were on the road, which gave Sunset a chance to think… well, for all the good that would do; the questions filling her head were like jigsaw puzzles missing their boxes as well as half the pieces. Where were Twilight and the others? Did they end up in the same world? How was she supposed to find them? Even if she did, would they have any way back home? She slumped in her seat and crossed her arms.

“So was that your first time handling an enchantment, then?” Tank’s question was a welcome distraction. “If so, you picked it up faster than anyone I’ve seen; it took me ages to get that beam to work, and you got it in one try.”

“Uh… yeah, I guess.” Sunset sat back up a bit. “Was that what you meant for me to do?”

“We didn’t have time for a more detailed plan, so I was hoping you’d improvise. Trust me, I was not disappointed.”

An unfamiliar landscape flew by out the window.

“Anyway.” Tank continued. “For what it’s worth… welcome to Nexus, I guess. I promise most of us aren’t like Bandit McAmbushface back there.”

The joke barely registered in Sunset’s mind.

“Hey, you alright?”

This caught her attention. Her gaze shifted over to Tank just in time to see him turn back to the road - evidently, he had been watching her for a short while. Her first instinct was to be dismissive, considering she wasn’t terribly keen on opening up to someone she’d just met… but then, she had read his memories without asking; even if he seemed fine with it after the fact, it still felt sort of rude in hindsight.

“I’m just tired. Everything’s been happening so quickly…” Feeling like a hypocrite would be worse for her mood than talking about her feelings with some guy who seemed genuine enough, Sunset decided. “I’m worried about my friends. I have no idea where they ended up, or how any of us are supposed to get home… assuming it’s even possible in the first place.” She gave another annoyed huff. “Plus I’m still sore from… landing, I guess? I went straight from that weird space behind the portal to waking up in the dirt.”

“Well, that’s all fair enough, I suppose.” Tank shrugged, chuckling to himself. “It is the middle of the night here and all, and we’ll be on the road for a good few hours - there’s a pillow on the seat behind you if you wanted to try getting some sleep. Don’t worry, the pillowcase is clean.”

After a moment of hesitation, Sunset reached behind her to retrieve it, but ended up setting it in her lap as Tank spoke again.

“Oh, but first - if you don’t mind, would you help me with something really quick? We should probably give the lab a heads-up that we’re on our way.”

“Uh, sure.” Sunset glanced around. “How do we do that?”

Tank flipped a switch on the dashboard, activating a series of tiny lights that illuminated the instrument panels. In the prior darkness, Sunset hadn’t noticed that the panel in front of her featured several dials, switches, and meters, and began looking it over curiously.

“The radio’s always in front of the passenger seat,” Tank explained. “See those four dials there? Turn those to 34, 7, 21, and 29 in order, then press the square switch at the end.”

Sunset did as instructed, watching the mechanical readout tick by until the correct numbers lined up before pressing the switch, which recessed into place with an audible click. Quiet radio static now filled the air.

“Event Horizon? This is Abrams,” Tank declared. “Are Penny or the Doc around? I have someone here I think they’ll want to meet.”

After a pause, someone on the other end began to speak. “Tank? Uh… what’s your ETA? We’re a little busy with, uh… a 619 at the moment. I’ve never seen Doc so excited, he might not, uh… want to spare any time on anything else.”

Tank hesitated a moment before sighing. “Okay… what was a 619 again? I don’t remember all your protocol codes.”

“A humanoid creature came through the on-site portal,” the radio voice explained. “We’ve, uh… established peaceful communications, but the situation’s still a little tense. I’d recommend staying clear for at least - ”

“What kind of creature?” Sunset demanded. “Was it a teenage girl with long hair and pony ears?”

There was a long pause. “Uh… yeah, but like, I have no idea how you - ”

“Let me talk to her right now!” Sunset’s knuckles went white from fiercely gripping the pillow in her lap.

The attendant on the other end of this conversation was clearly far from prepared for Sunset’s fervor, as it took them another several seconds to reply. “I’ll… see if I can patch you through to the, uh… conference room.”

A few seconds of static later, an entirely different voice came from the radio. This one was rather high-pitched, somewhat nasal, and positively dripping with thinly-veiled impatience. “ - supposed to hold all my transmissions during a 619… Look, I’m in the middle of an unparalleled breakthrough, so unless this is vitally urgent, I’d like to ask you to call back another time.”

“If you insist, Doctor Mobius.” Tank shrugged, knowing full well the gesture wouldn’t carry over the radio. “I mean, I was gonna tell you all about my new friend Sunset Shimmer and how she’s orange and has pony ears and is real interested in talking to someone I know you’ve got in that conference room with you… but if you insist.” He gave Sunset a knowing wink. “Go ahead, Sunset. Hit the switch again to end the call.”

“Wait! Wait, don’t hang up yet!” pleaded a new voice. “Sunset, are you there? Please say something!”

“Twilight!”

A wave of relief washed over Sunset as she recognized her friend’s voice.

“Sunset! Oh, I was so worried when we got separated…” Twilight punctuated this with a series of sniffles before continuing. “A-Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where are you?”

Sunset hugged the pillow to hide her excited grin. “I’m fine! We’re on our way to you right now, but we’re still a few hours away. I’ll tell you more when we get there.”

“We?” Twilight sounded hopeful. “Does that mean the others are with you?”

Sunset hesitated. “…No. I have no idea where they are.”

Another sniffle. “Oh…”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon. We’ll figure out what to do then, okay?”

“Alright…” Twilight’s reluctance to end the conversation was almost palpable. “Be careful.”

“That goes for you as well, Abrams,” Mobius added, his earlier frustration replaced with a much more careful tone. “I, ah, apologize for my earlier impudence. Please make all due haste?”

“We’ll be fine, Doc. I’ll see you in about eight hours. Abrams out.” Tank nodded at Sunset, who slowly pressed the switch again. With that, the radio fell silent.

Sunset slumped in her seat, still hugging the pillow. It stung a little telling Twilight she hadn’t found the others, but knowing even one of her friends was still alive had lifted some of the gloom from her heart. Everything else could wait - she needed to focus on what she could do right now, not what was still out of reach. If they were going to get out of this in one piece, it would be one step at a time.

The first step, Sunset decided as she nuzzled into the pillow now pressed against the door beside her, would be getting some much-needed sleep…