//------------------------------//
// Jun.-Jul. 20 - A Town's Story 13.2 
// Story: RoMS' Extravaganza 
// by RoMS 
//------------------------------//

“The time slowed down inside the Wall.”

“Yes, it did,” Sweetie Belle confirmed. “And not just a little.”

Luster held her mouth shut, mulling over the revelation. The Wall had been a form of time twister. She didn’t know for sure, but what Sweetie Belle had said. That was a sort of time compression. Months, even years on the outside, while minutes passed on the inside. 

“Twilight and Starlight never communicated–”

“Because they didn’t have the time yet.”

Luster nodded. The thought stupefied her, because if the Wall compressed time, it had to compress matter too.

“Wait, wait, a minute,” Luster said, waving her hoof. “Mare mentioned that the Wall had cut over the river, that it was going inside! What about rain, or wind, or snow!?”

“It was wild,” Cheerilee said.

Having walked back up the short steep, the trio of old mare sat down around Luster and Sweetie Belle.

“Wait,” Luster repeated. “You went in too!?” Everypony but Luster laughed out loud. “That’s not funny! Yo You could have died or worse, been stuck there! Only reckless unicorns or… or fools would mess with time! Or dared enter such a… paradoxical abomination...” 

At a loss for better words, Luster pouted, and looked in turn at each pony in her audience. They all had smiles on their faces.

“You’re crazy,” Luster breathed.

“Were!” Pinkie Pie bubbled. “And also very much desperate at that point, I think.”

“You could have asked Twi–” Luster stopped herself and clopped her face. “Stupid.”

“There wasn’t anypony available in the instance,” Mare said. “We had to act.”

“And we didn’t have the time,” Cheerilee finished.

“It clicked, right?” Luster wondered. “The time shenanigans, I mean.”

“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie confirmed. “Especially when we recalled Time Turner’s shop.”

“So you went?” Luster repeated, baffled.

“We jumped!” Pinkie said.

“It was scary,” Mare said. 

Cheerilee shrugged. “We had to do it.”

“But why?”

“For my friends!”

“For my student.”

“For my town.”

“I– I mean, with all due respect,” Luster stuttered, “none of you were unicorns. You weren’t prepared. Or aware of what to expect.”

“Would you have?” Sweetie Belle said, a wide smirk on her cheeks.

Luster rolled her eyes. “At least, I’d not have been drunk.”

Sweetie Belle erupted in laughter, reaching out to grab Pinkie who laughed along. Both threw a glance at Cheerilee and Mare. One that said Luster had a point, and the young student repressed a smirk.

“But you did go in in the end.” Luster took a deep breath. “How long did you take to make a decision?”

“Minutes, maybe?” Cheerilee said, rubbing her chin. “It’s been a long time.”

“Not much,” Mare corroborated.

Eyes turned to Pinkie, who threw her hooves up. “Don’t look at me, I was drunk as hell.”

Luster shook her head and let out a sigh. “So you went inside.”

“Yeah.”
“How was it?”

“Crazy,” Pinkie cackled.

“How did it feel?”

Pinkie and Cheerilee turned to Mare.

“What?”

“Well, you’re the pony who’s been telling the most of the story today.” Cheerilee grinned. “You can keep going.”

“Alright, alright.” Mare sighed and scratched her forehead, struggling for words at first, until a light shone in her eyes. “It was crazy.”