Starlight stared at Night Glider.
Twilight stared at Starlight.
Rarity stared at the Smooze through the viewing portal Discord had left behind, watching in horror as the tainted monstrosity slowly advanced towards a time-stopped Carousel Boutique.
Trixie's horn glowed. "So, is it time for Trixie's grand finale?" she asked, grinning.
"No!" Everypony in the room turned their attention back on the showmare.
"If Discord's the one that stopped time, then he can fix it when he gets back with the sifter for the Smooze," Twilight said. "There's no need for us to restart it. Probably."
"I would very much appreciate it if we ceased with the magical experiments for the day," Rarity said, wincing as she caught sight of her entirely-gray self in a nearby mirror. "However, if any of you feel like making up for endangering my store, might I suggest we hurry over to make a final, valiant defence against the encroaching horror?"
Night Glider raised up a defensive wing. "Hey, I was just trying to enjoy a nice date with Roseluck until the thing with the talking strawberry plant and then the time stop." Her eyes narrowed on the two depowered mages. "Care to explain that one?"
Starlight cleared her throat, pawing awkwardly at the ground with her hoof. "In our defence, we figured it was harmless and we were a little busy trying to re-colorfy Rarity. How were we supposed to know that the Smooze was in town and deathly allergic to strawberries?" As if in response, the great pile of sludge split off two more red, strawberry-hearted slimes growing the army that was minutes away from consuming Rarity home.
"Can we please continue the discussion of blame at a later time?" Rarity interrupted, sounding increasingly hysterical. "The Smooze is about to consume all that I hold dear and I would very much like that to not happen. Especially while I'm still drained of all colour."
Twilight's ears drooped. "But... I'm here."
Rarity's expression softened. "And I love you very much, my dear, but I am rather cross at all that's happened today. So, if you would?"
Starlight sighed. "Twilight and I still don't won't have our magic back until Discord breaks the time stop and the spell we were casting completes."
"Twilight is still an alicorn, and you're clever," Rarity said shortly. "Now, shall we?"
"Can Trixie use explosions?" Trixie asked, vibrating with excitement.
Rarity smiled grimly. "As long as they don't damage my shop, then please, indulge to your heart's content."
Trixie's eyes lit up. "Then onwards, soldiers! To our last stand, as we beat back the advancing horde under Trixie's auspicious leadership!"
Rarity raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment, simply following behind as Trixie burst through the doors of the Castle of Friendship and into the time-stopped wasteland that awaited them.
Ponyville was still frozen in a tableau of a normal day, which is to say that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were covered in tree sap running away from a flaming trebuchet on a distant hill, the two flower ponies that Night Glider wasn't dating were panicking at a snake that had gotten loose from Trixie's wagon, and an onslaught of red slimy things were still spreading over the land like a plague.
Twilight and Night Glider flew above the three ground-bound ponies calling out the safest path through the chaos, leading them past stained pools that looked like blood if blood looked like strawberry jam. Along the way, they also had to dodge several airborne volleys as some of the closer infected Smoozes tried to shoot them down.
Eventually, though, they made their way to Carousel Boutique, still thankfully unslimed, taking a moment to catch their breaths as they gazed up at the veritable flood about to descend on them.
“We just need to hold out until Discord gets back, which hopefully won’t be too long,” Twilight said as the anaphylactic Smoozed inches closer. “Ready?”
“Ready.” Rarity shifted into a fighting stance. Her magic might only be for fashion, but if the Smooze thought it could rampage through her dresses, it was going to catch some hooves.
“Ready.” Despite definitely not being at fault, Starlight was always ready to help out a friend, magic or no magic.
“Sure.” Night Glider had decided that if things with Roseluck went well, she was definitely not moving to Ponyville.
“For Equestria!” Trixie declared, fireworks shooting off behind her. “Charge, my loyal steeds!”
The others rolled their eyes at her, but didn’t have much time to do more before the Smooze and his spawns descended.
Years later, Trixie would regale her audience with tales of the heroic last stand of Trixie’s Quintet as they defended Ponyville from the endless waves of the bestial Smooze.
She would speak of how they all fought bravely, except for Twilight Sparkle, who was completely useless without her magic. An illusion spell would show the five armoured in beautiful gold and crystal armour stamped with Trixie’s cutie mark, wielding elaborate weapons as they fought back the vicious, deadly invaders with skill and strength.
Of course, Trixie fought the hardest, raining fire and destruction upon their foes with an epic barrage of spells unlike the world had any seen, lighting up the night until it was as day, and vaporizing the masses of ooze that continually reformed, two more spawning from every one defeated.
Long did they fight, utilizing bravery and cunning in equal measure. With time frozen, it was impossible to tell how long the battle lasted exactly, but it was definitely very, very long.
And then, at dawn of the fifth day (somehow the Sun still rose despite being frozen in her retelling), they looked to the east, broken and bloodied, and saw…
A slash of light folded in on itself to reveal the Lord of Chaos riding a rocking horse.
“About time,” Twilight muttered as she casually slammed on the ground with her Earth Pony strength, sending a shockwave out that threw back a hundred advancing slimes. “It’s been almost fifteen minutes!”
“Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!” Discord declared, ignoring Twilight, holding up an industrial-size sifter large enough to blot out the sun. He charged forwards, swaying back and forth as the rocking horse rocked, before passing it through the main body of the Smooze.
The five ponies looked away from the horrific sight. Unfortunately, that didn't stop them from hearing whatever was happening.
"Darling," Rarity said to Twilight afterwards. "You wouldn't happen to know a good memory-erasing spell, would you?"
"Not one that I can ethically cast," Twilight replied sadly.
"Unfortunate," Rarity murmured. She chanced a glance around her.
The once-red tide was now a "normal" neon green, as the pieces of the Smooze were moving back towards the main body and being absorbed. Next to it, Discord was casually picking strawberries from the sifter and eating them, watching as his friend put itself together.
"I-Is it over?" Trixie asked from behind the bush she was hiding in.
Starlight sighed. "Yes, Trixie, it's safe now. Probably."
Trixie leapt out dramatically, striking a pose. "Was there ever any doubt?" she declared. "Trixie's Quintet saves the day yet again due to her amazing leadership skills."
Twilight stared at Trixie. "Nope, not today," she said to herself. "Just focus on fixing Time itself and forget about Trixie, Twilight. You can be the bigger mare."
The princess went up to Discord. "So, is the crisis over?" she asked. "Can we get out of the time stop yet?"
Discord grinned, putting away the sifter. "Why, of course, my dear Twilight."
He snapped his fingers.