"So… much… swimming," gasped a tired Casey, who was laying back against the shore at the base of Mt. Aris, which was where the group of friends had swam towards after returnig to the surface.
While he slowly got himself back to standing on all fours, Starlight was making her way towards him, using her hooves to dry out her mane. "You okay?"
The young Earth Pony nodded his head, and he was about to ask her the same question when Applejack suddenly exclaimed, "What were you thinkin', Twilight? I mean, stealin' their pearl?"
Casey and Starlight shared a look with each other that meant "this can't be good", and they went over to join the others, who were all focusing their attention on the alicorn princess that was standing a few feet away from them.
"It was the only way to save Equestria!" said Twilight, trying to explain the reason for her actions.
"Except it wasn't!" cried Pinkie, who took a few steps forward. "The queen was going to say 'yes' after realizing that we were ponies worth saving because we did what you told us, so why would… you… wait a second…"
Twilight kept quiet while Pinkie let out a shocked gasp, having realized what her friend's true intentions had actually been. "You never actually wanted us to show her the best time ever. You just wanted us to distract her!"
Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow stared at Twilight in shock and horror, while Spike and Casey shared the same kind of look that the young pony had with Starlight, who was now standing in between the purple alicorn and pink Earth pony. "Okay, let's just think about this a little more. We don't actually know that she meant to have us just be a distraction for Princess Skystar and her mother-"
"Open your eyes, Starlight!" exclaimed Pinkie, looking at her in disbelief as Starlight winced at the pony's raised tone of voice. "That's the only reason why she chose to stay behind instead of joining us!"
Before Starlight could give Pinkie a response, Twilight quickly came to her defense. "You leave her alone! And I never would've asked you all to distract them, but this is not Equestria! We can't just go dancing around with con artists, make rainbooms in the sky, and expect everything to work out!"
She and Pinkie were now standing in front of each other while Starlight took a few steps back. "It's not enough; we are not enough!"
"No, Twilight, we stuck together!" exclaimed a dissapointed Pinkie, pointing a hoof at the others before doing it to her. "We were going to get the help that we needed, but the only thing that stopped us was you!"
Frustration started to build inside of Twilight, who just couldn't believe that Pinkie had no idea what she was going through. "Well, I'm doing the best that I can! I mean, it's all on me... and since you've forgotten, let me remind you that I'm the last remaining princess that Tempest needs!"
"I haven't forgotten anything, Twilight Sparkle!" exclaimed Pinkie, while the purple alicorn began walking away from her. "But it looks like you've forgotten what it's like to actually trust your friends!"
That was the final straw for Twilight, now having reached her boiling point, and she walked back to stand right in front of Pinkie. "Well, then, maybe I'd just be better off not having to deal with friends like you at all!"
BZZZZTTT!
After Twilight had finished yelling at Pinkie, her horn started crackling with electric-like energy, and sent off a small spark that was almost like the ones that Tempest made with her damaged horn.
As for the pink Earth pony, she looked completely shocked and heartbroken, not having ever imagined Twilight say something like that to her, and slowly lowered her head down while said alicorn quickly realized what she'd just said.
"Pinkie… I…"
But the damage had already been done, so as regret and pain started to enter Twilight's body, a hurt Pinkie started to walk away from the Princess of Friendship.
"I just can't… talk to you right now."
To make matters worse, Rarity and Fluttershy, as well as Rainbow and Applejack, decided to follow after Pinkie since they figured it was best for Twilight to spend some time alone.
"I… uh… I'll go and try to… get them to come back," said Starlight, once the feeling of shock had went away, and hurried after their retreating friends. "Girls, wait! We can't just…"
As for Twilight, she had lowered her head in shame, and was now walking slowly in the other direction, with Casey and Spike soon following after her in silence, ending up at an edge of a small cliff, where the purple alicorn sat down without saying anything.
While the clouds above seemed to be getting darker, Casey and Spike looked at each other, wondering which one of them should talk to her first, and after the decision was made, Spike began to take a few small steps toward Twilight.
"Twilight? It's… okay… you'll figure it out."
Unfortunately, she didn't feel the same way, and as Twilight spoke, she started to break down into tears.
"No… I can't… there's no chance to save Equestria now. I ruined everything… it's all my fault."
Spike looked over at Casey, who knew that it was his turn to talk, so he walked over to stand next to Twilight, and let out a sigh before doing so. "Twilight?"
The purple alicorn lifted her head up to glance at Casey, and he was about to continue the rest of his statement when, all of a sudden, a cage came down on them from out of nowhere!
"What the - ulp!" Spike cried, now finding himself trapped in the tight grip of a Storm Guard, while the cage that held Casey and Twilight was being pulled up into the hull of Tempest's skiff, but he wasn't held for long after Spike's decision to breath out a blast of fire.
So, while the Storm Guard hurried over to find an area of water to place his burning hand in, Spike looked up at the cage, which was already too far out of his grasp. "Casey! Twilight!"
"Spike! Go tell the other-" Casey started to yell, but then, his watch set off some more sparks of electricity, which reflected off the bars behind him, and he ended up recieving a double dosage of electric pain until the watch stopped malfunctioning, while the young pony collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.
"Casey!" Twilight hurried over to her special somepony, checking to make sure that he was okay, but before she could say anything else, the young princess heard a familiar chuckle that caused her fear to grow.
"Well, look at what we have here." A smug grin appeared on Tempest's face, but it went away once she saw Casey. "The Princess of Friendship, but with none of her… friends… huh… I wasn't expecting to capture whoever he is, as well."
Casey coughed a few times before he slowly got up to his hooves, and glared at the sinister pony. "I do have a name, you know."
"Right, whatever she said just a while ago," replied Tempest, turning her attention back to Twilight, who was now looking at the unicorn with confusion.
"Why are you doing all this? You're a pony, just like us - aaaghh!"
A scowling Tempest placed her front hoofs onto the bars of the cage, giving an angry glare while her broken horn sparked with a small amount of raw energy. "I'm nothing likeyou, princess, and especially not your special someone… I'm more than either of you will ever be."
Casey and Twilight shared a look with each other, both of them confused about
Insert opening notes to "Open Up Your Eyes"
"It's time you learned a lesson," sang Tempest, as she began to walk around the cage, keeping her focus on the princess while preparing to give out a dose of reality.
It's time that you understand
Don't ever count one anybody else
In this or any other land
I once hoped for friendship
To find a place among my kind
But those were the childish wishes
Of someone who was blind
Neither Casey nor Twilight had any words to say right now; all they did instead was simply listen.
Open up your eyes
See the world from where I stand
Me among the mighty
You caged at my command
Open up your eyes
Give up your sweet fantasy land
It's time to grow up and get wise
Come now, little one
Open up your eyes
Then, Tempest began to tell them about a memory from her childhood - a day that started out fun since she had been playing a game with her friends in the Everfree Forest.
We all start out the same
With simple naïve trust
Shielded from the many ways that life's not fair or just
Unfortunately, the ball had ended up rolling into a dark and creepy cave, and once they arrived at the entrance, her friends decided that it was probably best for Tempest to retrieve it since she was more skilled at magic than they were, along with the fact that she was more braver than them.
But then there comes a moment
With simple truth that you must face
If you depend on others
You'll never find your place
So, Tempest had entered the cave, and was able to find the ball, but just as she was about to leave, a loud roar came from out of nowhere, and the small filly found herself looking up at a dangerous Ursa Minor that was also very upset right now.
She tried to use her magic as a method of self-defense, but just as Tempest's horn was about to fire an attack, the large beast swiped one of its claws at the unicorn filly, resulting in her getting a scar over her right eye, and most of her own horn breaking off since the attack ended up backfiring.
And as you take that first step
Upon a path that's all your own
The next day, a scarred and hornless Tempest tried playing with friends, but without her full horn, she was unable to lift up the ball; instead, the small filly was almost about to incinerate it with her new magic power, and her friends ended up running away from Tempest in fear, choosing to play ball instead with a unicorn that didn't have a broken horn.
A few hours later, after being turned away by practically all of the filles in her town, Tempest decided that having friends - and friendship itself - was completely meaningless.
You see it all so clearly
The best way to survive is all alone
With a small tug of a nearby lever, and her story now finished, the cage that held Twilight and Casey was brought up to the ship's control room, while Tempest made her way up there by walking up the staircase.
Once they were all inside, Twilight looked at Tempest with pity, and she said, "I'm sorry that you felt so alone."
A tiny smirk appeared on Tempest's face. "I saw the truth. My 'friends' abandoned me when times got tough. Looks like I'm not the only one."
Casey frowned, and he said, "I'm still right here with her."
"I'm well aware of that," replied Tempest, in a dry tone. "But soon enough, you'll end up doing the same as her friends… if you haven't done so already."
Remembering that he had left Twilight's side (for the time being) to somehow end up in Jack's world after their argument-turned-break up, Casey kept his mouth closed while Tempest turned herself away from them.
"I thought so… let's face it, princess… friendship has failed you, too."
The image of a heartbroken Pinkie entered Twilight's mind, and a sad expression appeared on the alicorn's face.
"No… I'm the one who failed friendship."