‘Stupid stupid stupid! How did I not realize that she could be tracking the portal!’ Twilight mentally screamed at herself.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. You were rushing to save your poor, precious friends. Very few ponies would have stopped to think about it first,” Brimstone said in a mocking tone.
“Wait… what? Did you jus—”
“Oh come on, Twilight. How can somepony so smart be so slow at the same time? Yes, I can read your mind, but that really shouldn’t surprise you by now.”
“B-b-but—”
“Can it, Sparkle. Let’s get this over with. I have places to be and things to do. I’m only going to say this once, so you better get it through that pretty little head of yours quickly. You have exactly two days to get you and your friends out of this land for good. If I EVER see you again, I will personally hold you hostage while I rip your friends' limb from limb, RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES! Got it?”
Twilight couldn’t nod fast enough. She had attempted to run, but it was futile, as her hooves were held tight to the ground with magic.
“Good,” Brimstone said, dropping her spell and allowing Twilight the freedom to move once again… not that she planned on going anywhere at the moment.
“Remember,” Brimstone began again. “Heed my warning Twilight Sparkle. If I see so much as one of you left here after time is up, you’ll regret it. Now, go.”
Twilight didn’t need to be told twice. She was up and on her hooves faster than she even registered what she was doing. She ran for about ten seconds before remembering that she had a horn and could teleport.
A flash of her horn later, and she was tumbling head first into the back room of the bakery, nearly taking out Applejack as she did so.
“Twilight!” Applejack said as she ran towards Twilight. “What’s wrong?”
“Get the others. I need to speak with all of you. NOW!”
***
Less than ten minutes later, which was nearly record time even for Twilight, they were all getting together around the conference table once more.
“Thank you all for coming so quickly,” Twilight said.
“Of course,” Blazing Fire answered for all of them. “But, what was so important that you needed all of us to meet here so quickly?”
“I’ll get to that in a minute. But first, Tidal Wave, may I speak with you in private for a moment?”
“Sure,” Tidal Wave answered, getting up from her position at the table next to the Crusaders as she followed Twilight to a corner of the room, as far from the table as they could be.
Twilight began in as low of a whisper as she could manage. “I need you to do something for me. Could you please take the crusaders somewhere else and watch them for a little bit? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I really don’t think they need to hear this.” Twilight glanced over Tidal Wave’s shoulder at the three fillies, all crowded together on one chair as tightly as they could be. “They’ve been through too much already.”
“It’d be my pleasure, Twilight,” Tidal Wave said with a smile.
“Thank you,” Twilight said as she reached out and hugged Tidal Wave. “I promise I’ll fill you in later.”
“It’s nothing Twilight. I enjoy looking after those three. I feel like they could use someone to watch over them after what has happened recently.” The two stepped back from the hug and shared a meaningful smile before heading back towards the table.
Twilight walked back to her seat while Tidal Wave walked over towards the three crusaders.
“Hey girls,” she said. “Why don’t you all come with me, and we can go get something to eat? You must be getting hungry by now.”
The three of them gave a timid nod and stood up after releasing the embrace between them. After they had been reunited, they were nearly constantly hugging each other. It was as if each wanted to make sure they would not lose the others ever again. It was a sad sight to see, and there was not a dry eye in the room as they ran up to their respective sisters, or mother in Scootaloo’s case, and jumped up into their hooves, nearly crushing them in a hug that was quickly returned.
A few minutes later, the Crusaders had made their exit, and the ponies left had begun to dry their eyes. Twilight, knowing they did not have too much time, got right back to business.
“Now, I know you all are probably wondering what I found out, and to be honest, I did find out a few big things. Firstly, the evil alicorn is named Brimstone.”
“So, Celestia knew of her?” Fluttershy asked.
“Mhmm,” Twilight confirmed with a nod. “The other thing I found out is that she’s powerful.”
“How powerful?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.
’Ugh. I was hoping they wouldn’t ask that.’ “Well, all I know for sure is that she’s more powerful than me, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence combined,” Twilight said with a level of nonchalance that can only be attained by someone who has already come to terms with the situation.
The same could not be said for the others in the room. Their reactions were a mix of confusion, horror, and just plain shock. Those who had originally been in this world did not know for sure just what Twilight’s description meant, but the looks that the others were giving did nothing to ease their nerves.
“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, but there are more pressing matters at hoof.”
“What could possibly be more important than that?” Rainbow Dash nearly screamed.
“Well… I ran into Brimstone on my way back. She had been tracking the portal, and she knew I was going to come back for all of you. She said we have two days to get out of this land and back to Equestria.”
“And if we don’t?” Rainbow Dash asked challengingly.
“I… I—” Twilight choked up, unable to finish her statement as tears started to form in her eyes.
“Twilight, it’s okay. You can tell us,” Fluttershy said, wrapping a wing around her distraught friend.
Twilight sniffled. “I-I’m not going to repeat what she said… but I know we can’t stay here.”
“Well, what are we gonna do then? We can’t just leave. Especially not now that we know what she can do. We have to save these ponies,” Rainbow Dash protested.
“Rainbow Dash, I get that you don’t like it, and believe me, I don’t like this any more than you do, but I also know when I’m outmatched. I don’t think we have a choice.”
“But—” Rainbow Dash was quickly cut off by Blazing Fire.
“Rainbow, I hate to admit it, but she’s right. We’ll be just fine here. We’ve been okay so far. It’ll be like nothing changed.”
“But… but what if you came with us?” Rainbow shouted in revelation. “You could come back to Equestria with us, and then you wouldn’t have to worry all the time!”
Blazing Fire opened his mouth to protest… and then stopped. “I… I don’t know. I mean, there are a lot of ponies counting on us here. Can we really just up and leave them to fend for themselves?”
Now it was Honeydew’s turn to join the conversation. “We’ll have to think about it. How about we go talk it over with Tidal Wave?” she asked her husband.
“Okay, that sounds good.”
“Make sure you send the fillies back when you go,” Twilight began. “I don’t want them having any part in this.”
“We will,” Honeydew assured. With that, the two of them trotted off, leaving the Mane Six to contemplate their next actions.
***
“There you go, girls. Right down this hall.”
“Thank you!” they all said, seeming somewhat cheered up from their time with Tidal Wave.
“You’re welcome. Now run along. I’m sure they’re missing you in there already.” The Crusaders took off quickly, racing back to their respective family members.
“Now,” she began, looking back towards her parents. “What did you need to talk about.”
“Well… they have to leave,” her mother said solemnly.
“Who?” she asked in confusion.
“All of them. They can’t stay here. The leader is after them.”
“But,” her father said. “We needed to ask you something. They proposed that we could go with them. Leave this messed up land, and go have a better life in Equestria.”
“But, what about all of the ponies that are depending on us here? What about my job?”
Blazing Fire sighed. ‘I’ve been dreading this conversation.’ “That’s what we said… but there’s more. You may want to sit down for this.”
Tidal Wave did as was asked and sat down right where she stood. She was quickly joined by her mother, who wrapped a comforting wing around her shoulders.
“You… remember your sister, right?” her mother asked, slowly and somberly.
Tidal Wave’s facial expression dropped instantly. “Y-yeah. I do. Not much, but I do. I remember all the fun times we had together as kids. I remember taking care of her when she was first born. Then, I remember her just being gone. Like she was there one day and gone the next…” Tidal Wave looked up, wiping a tear from her eye as she did so. “Why do you ask?”
“Well…” Honeydew began as Blazing Fire joined the embrace on the other side of their daughter. She had trouble finding the right words to use. “First, I want you to understand something. What I’m about to tell you, we kept from you only because we care for you. We didn’t want to put this all on you unless we really had to.”
Tidal Wave reached a hoof up to hug her mother. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I’ll understand.”
Honeydew gulped down her fear one last time, realizing that she could not postpone this any longer. “Rainbow Dash… is your sister.”