Friendship is a Quantum Infinite

by angelicoreXX

Chapter 9: Keep Quiet

Thankfully, the closest thing Equestria had to bathsalts were those plain old salt-lick wheels.

Rainbow Dash was still in disbelief over the sudden heel-turn of the four humans she had just escorted over to Twilight Sparkle’s library. She was at a loss for words. Within the blink of an eye, they had gone from a drowsy bunch to a bunch of mad lunatics. Out of fright if anything else, she had slammed the door lest they turn around and come for her as well, and then she realized just how stupid her judgment had become.

Twilight, Spike, and whoever else could be suffering through the worst bullying they had ever undergone. How could anyone stand such a nasty bunch? She imagined the torment they’d put Twilight through, probably disorganizing her entire library of books, calling her a persnickety egghead, and even flick the tip of her unicorn horn! Dash could hardly stand the thought of it and she had to do something quickly.

Once again, it was probably a good thing that no one in Equestria knew what a zombie was.

The little Pegasus scurried up to Twilight’s balcony, she wasn’t about to open that door up again. She was surprised to see the veranda’s window actually locked, seeing how nice it was this morning. She flew in closer for a peek. Luckily, her friends still appeared to have their dignity together, though definitely panicked. Good thing the entire room had been thrown against the door. Nopony enjoyed being picked on and she was relieved to see that they were safe from such ‘lucrid mockeries’.

Dash undid the window and entered a bedroom filled with desperate cries of escape which had been outdone by the crazed noises, noises that might’ve been made of words, but words that slurred something along the lines of ‘brains’ and ‘flesh’. Dash otherwise may have questioned the punch-line of the joke but was far more distracted with the barricade the girls had set up against the door, “You guys alright in here?”

Twyla scowled and waved the little Pegasus in with a quick shout to shut the window.

Dash was still a bit lost and followed the orders. She darted over and joined the others with their backs against the garage sale.

“First thing’s first – Is everything okay out there?” Twyla was desperate for some surveillance.

“Uh, well, yeah, though a couple ponies seemed a tad freaked over your friends there.”

“Second - Did you shut the door?!”

“I-I didn’t mean to! I got scared!” Dash cried.

“Good, that’s good.” The tutor gave a sigh of relief, “Okay that makes things easier on us. At least it hasn’t spread.”

“Spread?” Twilight questioned, “What do you mean by that?”

“They’re zombies, apparently. If a zombie bites or kills you, you turn into one of them.” Even Raine knew her way around an Armageddon manual.

“You become a mindless husk, obsessed with eating raw flesh and brains.” Twyla added, “Eventually the entire population turns until there’s nothing left to feed on and you have a massive swell of the undead.” She glanced over at Twilight, “Even as confined as this is right now, this is the absolute worst thing Discord could’ve ever done to us!”

“Y-You can’t be serious…!” Twilight’s eyes glazed over in horror. To think she and her closest friends could themselves become the cause of such an outbreak in Ponyville.

“How the heck did humans survive something like that!?” Dash would’ve bet that such an event would’ve sent humanity well into extinction by now.

“Well, it’s never actually happened for us, it’s more of a ‘horror’ story sort of thing.” Raine remarked, “Though I guess Discord’s just running out of ideas.” She chuckled, even under the terrifying shouts for blood.

“This is no laughing matter!” Twyla cried, “We need a plan. I’m not about to give up my four closest friends to some cruel shallow joke!”

“Well this is a new one. Saving zombies from themselves? Sheesh.” Raine sighed. Although she knew it sounded idiotic, she knew there was no way around it, especially from the current glare Twyla was giving her.

“Well then what do we do!?” the Pegasus begged as Twilight starred up at her big sister. This wasn’t her game so she didn’t exactly know how to proceed.

Twyla would have to gather every ounce of cognitive ‘thunk’ in that little noodle of hers. What would follow had to be fast unless things got any more out of control, and she had to think quickly before they eventually lost interest and turned their teeth to the rest of the town, “Okay, I think I got it, but we’re going to have to be quick. I’m going to need all of you for this if everyone’s going to come out alive!” Twyla focused in on the timid unicorn, “Twilight, we’re going to need that horn of yours!”

“You mean my ‘friendship memory’ spell? I-I don’t know if that’ll work.”

“Well then here, throw this on.” Twyla grabbed the jeweled case out of barricade behind them and popped the magical crown onto Twilight’s head, “Wear this then. It’s the element of magic isn’t it? With that enchanted piece of armor equipped your magic skill will probably be amplified twice over!” Twyla hadn’t played an MMO since high school but she still knew the basics.

The unicorn had to adjust her golden crown, since it was backwards, “It doesn’t really work that way. It’s based more on the power of-”

“Alright! Raine, Rainbow Dash, I’m going to need your muscle for this! We’re going to need you two to work the bed.”

There was an awkward pause in the room. Raine choked down a laugh and glanced over at the little Pegasus beside her who had a look of disgust on her face.

Still oblivious, Twyla starred at them, wondering what the holdup was, “Well…? What’re you two waiting for? Get at it!”

They knew she hadn’t exactly meant such a thing, but not even raging zombies could hold their laughs at bay.

“That’s pretty disgusting, Twyla. She’s a god damned horse.” Raine snorted, “I didn’t know you had such dirty tastes.”

“W-What!?” Twyla’s turned a cherry shade of red, “I-I didn’t mean it that way!” meanwhile Twilight rolled her eyes.

“B-Besides! It’s almost like, well, nevermind.” Dash considered adding onto the lark, but felt the timing could’ve been better. Raine had caught on however and blurted out a laugh.

“That’s really inappropriate and this isn’t even the time for that sort of-!” Before they could tease Twyla any further, a huge push just about tossed the lot of them from their own yard sale. The bed including most of the stock nearly fell on the four of them as the door began to crack.

Given another second and it would’ve swung open completely had Twilight not caught the entire mess with her magic, “I think there’s more important things at stake here!”

“R-Right! We’ll grab the bed!” Dash took one the headrest while Raine took the other end, each of them held it against the shaking door as the eggheads began precariously clearing the way. It was like slowly unlocking the door to a den full of hungry lions. Soon enough, all that remained was the bed held as firmly in place as the two jocks could manage.

“N-Now what?” Twilight was doing all she could to keep the door shut and she wasn’t exactly ready for step two.

“Hold the door with your magic, Twilight.” Things were going to get really out of hand if this didn’t work Twyla thought, “Now you two, remove the bed. Twilight’s going to open the door and as soon as she does, I want both of you to ram your way out with that bed!”

“I-I’m going to open what now!?”

“You can’t expect us to rush out there like that!” Dash had already welcomed in the guests and she wasn’t about to get them any drinks.

“You guys have to if I’m going to get a clear shot!” Twyla grabbed the loaded unicorn as if she were some sort of marshmallowy shotgun and cocked her hooves. There was cleansing to do.

“You can’t be serious about this!” Twilight had no idea how any of this was going to work, but didn’t exactly have any better ideas. One thing certain however, she was nowhere near ready to let that door go.

Twyla forced an anxious smile in some horrible attempt to reassure the pony, “Listen, after you open that door just start shooting off that spell of yours. Don’t worry, don’t even think, just shoot! I’ll do all the leg work for you, alright?”

“I-I’m sorry, Twyla, I don’t think I can-”

“Come on, don’t worry, alright? Your big sister’s got your back!” There was that half-assed smile again, which was just dumb enough for Twilight to trust, not as if there was any other glimmer of hope to grab onto, “Get ready you guys! On three!”

The frenzied shrieks for tenderloin with a side of still-beating heart had only grown more frantic. The only thing louder than their demands were their nails scratching against the door and their fists demanding entrance to the buffet table.

It was the longest three seconds they had ever counted down. Not a breath escaped nor even a heart thumped as Twyla finally gave the go ahead with one last gulp.

It took Twilight an extra second, but she eventually broke her spell. Right on cue, the door nearly flew off of its hinges and out came a team of ravenous crazies that nearly overtook the small starswept bed. But the two daredevils were ready and rammed them back through the doorway.

Twyla may have stood to correct the author as these weren’t exactly crazies, but more akin to the still living infected like something out of Twenty Eight Days Later or Rec 2, the fast mover kind, but her trigger finger had no time for that kind of crap.

Having been introduced personally to a bed post, the runners tumbled down the tiny stairway much to the relief of both Dash and Raine. It was a small victory which was tagged in for a few shots from Twyla’s unicannon.

The magic burst was far stronger than Twilight had ever fired before, the recoil was almost enough to sweep her out of Twyla’s grip, but her determination to win back their friendship was unshakable.

The shrieks were too terrifying for Twilight to even open her eyes, she just fired over and over again and with a keen eye using the unicorn’s crown as a sight, Twyla managed to pick off Fiona, who even in death was still timid.

She had however underestimated the tenacity these ghouls as they easily made their way back up the steps, nearly tripping over one another to satiate their screaming hunger.

“Lift up the bed! Lift up the bed!” Twyla cried as she used it like a lay of cover.

Raine was probably further ahead than Dash given her superior upper arm strength and well, being that much bigger than a small pony. The bed held itself against the doorway for a moment, but the uneven assets eventually gave way, tumbling the furrowed bed backwards into the room.

Rainbow Dash was the first target and a twisted Aprile led the charge to tear her limb from hoof, but not before catching Twyla’s heel to the face along with another bolt of discharged friendship into the cowgirl’s temple. Two down and two to go.

Piper was an entirely different monster to deal with but Raine managed to catch her from behind in a rear naked choke hold. The zombie might not have suffocated with a closed trachea but at least her wild swings and gnashing teeth were detained.

Regina was the worst of the bunch. Her ear-piercing banshee cries sent rings through everyone’s skull, which was just enough to subdue Twyla’s crosshairs for her throat to be caught in the zombie’s clutches. Twyla expected the worst and almost of their own will, her arms tossed away her little purple shotgun. The dreaded fangs sank in, only to be held off by an elbow against the fashionista’s neck.

Twyla gargled her last breaths as she was eventually forced down onto the wooden floor. She kicked and tried to force a scream for a medic but the tightening grip around her neck wouldn’t give her the pleasure. No matter how much she frantically pushed away, nothing could overcome such unbridled mindless strength. Twyla could feel a set of teeth inching over her forehead when a swift hoof kick managed to save the day, “Stay away from her!” Dash roared, zipping in to defend her friends. She hadn’t exactly done a good job of measuring the ghoul’s persistence however.

Twyla caught her breath, “G-Get out of the way, Dash!”

A feral Regina had not only regained her footing but would’ve been turning the Pegasus into a batch of cupcakes had a split second been allowed to pass. A nail scratch was all that caught the skin of Dash’s muzzle before a blast of white light zapped Regina and splattered her against the wall.

Twilight huffed, her hooves were still trembling. She’d never imagined anything so horrifying in her entire life, but there wasn’t enough time to wonder. There was still one more to go.

“Dash, are you okay?” Twyla scurried over to the petrified Pegasus, spitting a choked cough to the side from her assailant.

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay…” the poor thing was still shaken up.

Twilight galloped past the two as a shout for help rang over from across the bedroom, “I could use a little help over here!”

Raine had never seen anyone last so long under a submission hold, then again, zombies probably didn’t need much oxygen to keep themselves going. She did all she could to hang onto Piper’s back with her arms wrapped around her neck but the crazed fiend’s outburst could hardly be contained. Imagine if you would, a zombie on a sugar binge. The possibilities were endless, if not the scariest thing you’d ever seen. Or perhaps even the funniest? I guess it all fell on whether you had made it to high ground yet or not.

Twilight buckled into position and fired off another salvo that hit Piper right in the face. With a final flash of light, the screams finally ended.

The unicorn breathed heavily as she watched a trembling Raine slowly laid Piper to the ground.

The fighter tapped the unconscious Piper across the face a few times, “Come on! Wake up already.” Her relief slowly began to twist into a fear far greater than what she had just been put through.

Twyla ran over, “Did you have to aim for her face!?”

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t really have time to aim…!” Twilight lifted a hoof, wondering if she had either saved the day or made things far worse.

The tutor nearly shoved Raine off of Piper’s limp body. She was completely comatose, which incidentally enough had been the most silent they had ever seen her sit. Twyla opened her eyelids and checked her heartbeat, “Oh no…!” the words shook under her breath.

“What’s wrong with them?” Dash rocked Aprile’s shoulders, but got no response.

Raine dragged in Fiona’s lifeless body from the living room and immediately began performing CPR. She vigorously worked the compressions into the girl’s chest, but the practice dummy remained still. Not even a heave or cough exited her windpipe.

“Wake up damnit!” Twyla couldn’t hold herself from shaking Piper’s dead body. She wasn’t ready to give up yet, she couldn’t go home without each of them, “Please…!!” You’d be surprised if you thought Twyla didn’t have any tears left by now.

Twilight eyes quivered as she witnessed the flood hurling itself through her mind all over again. She wasn’t prepared to stare death in face for yet a second time that week, and surely not within the comfort of her little tree house. She bit her lip and turned away, wondering how such a gracious spell could’ve done such a terrible thing. She couldn’t bear to see her double agonizing all over again. It was just too much to watch her tightly clutching a limp Piper. It was all too much, and if she thought she had had any words of comfort them before, they were completely lost now.

The bedroom’s screams of hunger had fallen into those of despair. Dash frantically zipped about the room in a futile attempt to be as helpful as possible while Twilight was too scared to use her magic again lest she kill someone else. The unicorn helplessly watched as the last two remaining humans did all they could to revive the now extra dead zombies.

A curious little insect watched with a satisfied grin from just outside the window pane. He muffled a light chuckle over the scrambled Pegasus, but then Twyla caught his attention. She was pouring her tears into Piper’s normally bouncy pink hair and screaming harder than she’d ever done before.

Discord rolled his eyes, “I guess it would be more fun if I kept them all alive for now.” He couldn’t believe how soft he had gotten and with a reluctant sigh, he snapped his fingers before disappearing.

Within an instant, Piper’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

She shook her head,“Huh?! W-Wha? How’d I end up here?”

The others eventually came around as well, each wondering just where the day had gone.

Fiona on the other hand was still trying to wrap her head around why in the world Raine was kissing her, or at least trying to.

Raine suddenly felt the squirms under her lips and pulled away, “F-Fiona! You’re okay!”

Fiona had turned into a ripe old tomato and fled against the wall, “W-What’re you doing!?”

“You’re alive!” She was so happy that she could actually really kiss her this time. Such a clichéd gag was probably beneath the author typing this rubbish out, but Raine clearly disagreed and threw herself at the poor girl before planted her lips right into Fiona’s.

Aprile fetched her hat and sunk it over her head, “…D-Did something happen?”

“I-I don’t know. The last thing I remember was reaching out to knock against Twilight’s door and…” Regina couldn’t understand what she was doing thrown against the floor in such a fashion when an overly excited Dash suddenly finished the job.

With the help of Twyla, Piper had for some reason gone into a daydream over Chinese water torture, but awoke from it just in time to address the flood, “Oh, uh, hey there, Twyla.” Her sobbing had reminded the baker of their earlier chat and Piper couldn’t help but reach out an apology, “Hey, uh, I-I’m sorry about earlier, I wasn’t being very-”

“Piper!!” being alive was enough to forgive her, and Twyla’s embrace deepened, though Piper wasn’t exactly sure how much more her blouse could take of the downpour, “I thought you were gone for good…!”

“Gone? But I’m right here, silly!” Piper’s cheeky grin was all that Twyla needed to brighten her day.

Twilight gave a sigh of relief and wiped away another tear. She had assumed that with Discord’s expanded collection of chaos her spell needed a bit of time to actually enact. Regardless, it was great to see her visitors well again. She assisted Aprile to her feet, “Are you alright, Aprile?”

The cowgirl dusted herself off, “I-I’ll be fine. Don’t much remember how we got all the way up to your bedroom, though.”

Regina managed to pry the little Pegasus off of her and the two walked over, “I imagine Discord had something to do with all this… missing time?”

Twilight nodded, “You wouldn’t believe what we’ve just been through.”

Regina did what she could to repair her hair on such short notice while she gazed around the unicorn’s bedroom, “Quite the mess, dear. Was there a scuffle?”

“Must’ve been Raine testing out some of her fancy foot-work again.” Aprile tipped her hat, proud as always of the rebel.

“You could say something like that.” Dash giggled.

Twilight gulped down a laugh, “Yeah, well, it’s probably best we move forward. There’s quite a bit of news to go over.” She didn’t even know where to start.

After some much needed tidying, the group gathered downstairs to get down to business.

Fiona couldn’t help but feel a bit violated, seeing as she had never actually kissed anyone before, and thanks to her casual friend she had been thrown into an existential crisis over her sexuality. It was actually pretty funny.

“So besides the little escapade we just went through, there’s actually something big going on.” Twilight began before nodding over to her doppelganger, “I think I’ll let you explain it, Twyla.”

Twyla recalled her failed attempts to convince her comrades of their flight home earlier on, and she really hated to blackmail them into it, but not even she had any real say in the matter, “I’m sure you guys can imagine why I wanted you here in the first place, but things have actually changed, so I’ll try to keep this short.”

Regina stood up, “Before you begin, Twyla. I-I think the rest of us have something important to share with you.” She turned to the others and they anxiously nodded in agreement, “Well… we wanted to apologize for being selfish before and wanting to stay… Especially me, I shouldn’t have brought up your students like that. Could you ever forgive me, darling?”

“Yeah, I-I guess we were just scared to go back.” Piper added, “I still don’t want to go back, b-but, I can’t very well let you go by yourself like that. We’re friends after all and we need to stick together!”

“…B-Besides! That’s our home!” Fiona wouldn’t be left out of this one, “As much as I like it here, we can’t just sit around and let him hurt anymore innocent people!” she glanced back at Aprile for some confidence as the cowgirl slowly stood up and walked over to Twyla.

Aprile was still nothing more than much of a cold shadow, but she had her reasons and hid her watering eyes away with the brim of her hat. She placed a hand over Twyla’s shoulder, “I-I’m sorry about being a jerk before. It wasn’t right of me to treat you like that, but I’m sure you can understand where I’m comin’ from.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Aprile. I can only imagine what you’re going through. We’ve all lost a lot here, but as long as we stick together we’ll get through-”

“Just please, if we do get back somehow, promise me one thing!” Aprile nearly fell to her knees, “Please! For them! We gotta’ make him pay…!” Her demands were shaky. She wasn’t exactly used to letting out her emotions like that, but her bottle was full and even the slightest crack would levy a torrent.

Twyla removed the girl’s hat and exposed her running tears. Aprile didn’t want anyone to see them, and so Twyla hid them away and held her close, “I promise, Aprile.”

Raine closed in as eventually did the others to comfort their wounded Valkyrie. Normally Aprile was the big sister who was always there to apply a bandage to a scraped knee, but if anyone needed a helping hand this time, it was her.

Eventually, the leaky pipe was repaired with a laugh or two that cheered up the bunch, thanks to Piper of course. Twyla welcomed the laugh. She knew how important it was to keep their spirits high, even with all that had happened.

She wasted no time and got under way with the briefing. Twyla explained the entire ordeal, about the falling International Space Station Discord had chucked at Ponyville and about the tear in space time that might lead them back home.

Reluctantly, she went on to explain the catch, of how as soon as the Space Station hit, the doorway would close up and their only chance of ever returning and stopping Discord would be gone forever. The clock was ticking, and somehow, they had to come up with a plan to save the day, yet again.

The others might not have been so surprised by Discord’s antics by now, but this was simply adding insult to injury. He was leaving the door open and was probably going to slam it in their faces as soon as they hit the doormat. They were disgusted. It was a spit in the face at the very least, but Twyla knew better, she had watched enough Star Trek – The Next Generation to know exactly how characters like this operated.

“That fiend…!” Regina sighed.

“It’s gotta’ be a trap. There’s no way he’d let us back in even if we could make it!” Aprile hadn’t been convinced, and she wasn’t alone.

“It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would he want us to return?” Raine wondered.

“He’s just toying with us!” added Twilight, “It’s probably better that you all stay here for now. We’ll figure out a way to save the town and those astronauts!”

“No! There’s no way he’d close the door on us at this point.” Twyla remarked.

“But how do you know? This ‘is’ Discord we’re talking about here after all! Why wouldn’t he?” Dash begged, “What’s to keep him from just letting the station crash and killing us and all of you before you even left?”

Twyla brought over that same old book again and dropped it onto the unicorn’s center table, “His pride.”

“Say what now?” questioned Piper.

“Discord isn’t just any prankster. He’s more a kin to a traditional super villain at the very definition of the term.” Twyla began flipping through the pages, “He does what he does because he craves attention, he wants to be validated for his creativity and soak up in the limelight. You’ve all seen how over the top he can be. It’s a classic cry for attention. He’s here for the drama more than anything else. He’s like a serial killer. He’s doing it for the spotlight, to satisfy that hungry ego of his.”

“Wait, so what does any of that have to do with him keeping that portal open?” Dash inquired.

“Well think about it, he probably has no challenge in our world. He’s already overcome everything humanity’s thrown at him. He’s probably bored out of his mind! Why do you think he keeps coming back here? A place he wanted to escape from in the first place. If I know anything about your run of the mill egomaniac, it’s that they get bored easily when they’ve hit their peak. He’s conquered Earth without any real challenge. He wants a climax, a big finale!” Twyla finally found her place in the book, “And we’re going to bring it to him!”

The others peeked over her shoulder to take a look at what page she was on.

“Is that the same book you’ve been lugging around all day?” Regina should’ve been familiar with it by now, along with the rest of the crew.

“Yup! Remember how I told you guys that I found a way to get back?” to which they nodded, “I did originally, but I was missing a part of the equation, a doorway to summon. I had hoped Twilight or even Princess Celestia could help us out with that part but Discord’s already done the work for us.” She notched the page with her fingertip, “Right here!”

Twilight plucked out the chapter’s text, “‘The Elements of Harmony, a guide between worlds.’…?”

“Since when can the Elements do anything like that? They’re a weapon of well, harmony, not some teleporting device.” Rainbow Dash mentioned.

“Well, it’s certainly possible. A thousand years ago, the Princess did banish her younger sister to the moon using it.”

“Kind of a big difference.” The Pegasus countered, to which Twilight couldn’t help but agree.

“Right here!” Twyla dotted over some further text, “It says they were also used as a medium by the Princess herself to transport beings between worlds. You guys said humans had been here before long ago and had met the Princess, right? She would’ve had to have used these in order to have made the trip.”

“Well, that is true and it certainly seems possible.” Twilight was still a bit unsure of her clever plan, “But what about the space station?”

“That’s where this gets interesting.” Twyla hadn’t forgotten about those poor astronauts, her plan had a simple solution. She turned to the others, “You guys remember my lecture before right? How I mentioned that Discord traveling into our universe sent us here correct? It was an even exchange. Discord mentioned however that nothing had been traded for the space station yet. He used his own power to send it here. So then in theory at least, with us being the key to his voyage, if we managed to return to our universe with the space station itself, the key transaction that started this whole thing in the first place along with his influence would be returned. In other words, if we no longer existed here and came back to our realm, then he’d be dragged back to his! It would work in exactly the same manner as before, but in reverse!”

“That’s genius!” Dash cried, “So we’d just use the Elements to shoot the six of you and the space station all back through the portal!”

“And as soon as Discord’s actual body gets sucked back into this world, we’ll be waiting for him with the Elements!” Twilight grinned, “This is perfect!”

“So what’re we waiting for then? Let’s get this show on the road!” Twyla closed up her book and was ready to get to work, although she was subdued by the sudden drop in the tone of the room. The excitement that had lasted for about a few seconds had all but lost its enthusiasm.

“Well, uhm, wait a second, Twyla. You did mention that we had a day before the portal closed right?” Fiona timidly recalled.

“Well, yeah, I guess.”

“So then, we have some time left then don’t we…?” continued Regina.

Twyla pinched the center of her brow, “Approximately a day, yes.”

Aprile was anxious to get back to the farm, “Righty then, so, uhm, we’ll meet up again here tomorrow? Same time?”

Twyla rolled her eyes and nodded. Getting back home was of the utmost importance, but in the back of her mind she also knew how much they’d be leaving behind. A day wouldn’t hurt all that much, she guessed.

“I-I gotta’ run! I’ll see you all tomorrow, okay!” Aprile scurried out the front door.

“Me too! Oh goodness, I have some shopping to do! See you all in a day!” Regina was next.

Piper nearly took Twyla off of her slippers with a simple hug before following the fashionista, “Seeya’ tomorrow! Oh, and sorry for almost eating you guys alive in a blood soaked fury of screaming carnage.” She whispered.

Twyla wondered for a second if the girl had ever been a zombie to begin with. Knowing her, she had probably been pretending the entire time. The implications were baffling.

“I should probably get going too. I’d like to do something for Fluttershy and Ditzy before we left.” Fiona awkwardly passed by Raine, hesitated, and pecked her on the cheek before darting out the door in a red blaze.

“Do you see what you’ve done to the poor girl? You went too far, Raine.” Twyla bonked her over the head.

Raine chuckled, “Sorry, I guess I left my swag on.” She got another much harder punch over the head for that one, “Gah, alright, alright! I’m out of here! Sheesh!” she grabbed her little Pegasus replica as if she were a stuffed toy and dragged her out of the tree house. Dash might’ve protested or may have had something extra to say but Raine apparently didn’t care.

Twilight Sparkle sighed. Her once bustling library was now completely empty. She noticed that she was still wearing her enchanted golden crown and her lavender cheeks hued into a shade of pink before she finally took it off, “Sheesh, was I wearing this thing the entire time?” She giggled over her embarrassment, hoping she hadn’t come across as too much of a snob in front of her friends. She wasn’t exactly ready to become a princess just yet, which gave her another laugh, and then she noticed just how quiet her living room had actually become, “Twyla, where did you run off to?”

The little unicorn galloped upstairs, her golden crown floating in a pink breeze beside her, “Oh, there you are!”

Twyla had affixed herself to the Baby’s First telescope with a notepad and quill to her side. She had her eye in the sky, monitoring the clumsy space station as it helplessly made its way back home.

“Been quite the day huh? First we’re almost eaten alive and now this.” Twilight chuckled, trying to gain a word out of her lab partner, “Well, uhm, I know we probably have a bit of preparing to do, but I was hoping…”

“Uh-huh.” Twyla was far too preoccupied with some obscure calculation.

“I-I was hoping, well, maybe we could do something together. You know, before you… have to leave.”

“Right, one second.”

“I-It’s just that well, I’ve never really met anypony that I had so much in common with, and well…”

An exaggerated yawn derailed her train of thought, “Oh hey, Twilight. You look awful!” Spike hobbled through the balcony window with his sheets and pillow in tow, “Did I miss something? Looks like you rearranged everything around in here.” He casually waddled by as if he hadn’t just interrupted the unicorn.

“As I was saying!” Twilight cleared her throat, “I wish we had more time, I mean, I know this is serious and all, but I really don’t… Are you even listening to me, Twyla?”

“Uhm, sure, just give me a second.” Twyla jotted down another variable.

Twilight huffed and trotted over, “You know, maybe all you care about is going back home, b-but maybe… maybe I’m not ready to say goodbye yet!” she stomped a hoof, “Maybe I…!” her lip quivered and her tone sunk, “Maybe I’m… just being a bit selfish…”

“Thirty-seven.”

“Excuse me…?”

Twyla went over her calculations one more time before closing the cap over the telescope’s lens, “We actually have thirty-seven hours until it hits. Either Discord actually has a heart inside that chest of his, or he botched up his own climax, because the station is taking its sweet time with the approach.” She turned over to the unicorn, who looked as if she had just been hung out to dry, “Now, now, don’t you give me that face.” She wiped away the tear drops under those big puppy dog eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just that-!”

“So!” Twyla stood up and carried the little unicorn up into her hands as if she were a pet, “What do you want to do first? Maybe grab a bite to eat and chat? Catch a movie? Not sure if you have those here or not. Oh, hey! Maybe we could do some stargazing later tonight!”

Twilight beamed a smile so infectious that it spread to Twyla immediately, and then the little pony did something so adorable that Twyla nearly burst into laughter. As she hung off of Twyla’s arms like a cat, Twilight desperately swung out her hooves for a hug, which after an eye-watering chuckle, Twyla kindly obliged.

“I-I just don’t want you to leave yet. We’ve only just gotten to know each other and now you have to go…”

Twyla smiled and held the little pony close before gently putting her down. As big of a front as she was putting up, the last thing she wanted to do was leave, but she knew there was no way around it. This wasn’t her home, even if it belonged to a dimensional copy of herself. Twyla had her own home to go back to and it needed some spring cleaning, “Well, we don’t have all the time in the world, now do we? Let’s go grab something to eat, sis.”

Twilight eagerly nodded and the two cheerfully left the room. Although a dire threat was still looming precariously over Ponyville, not even a plummeting ball of fire was going to tear those two apart, at least not today.

Comments

[infinite scratch]

"As she hung off of Twyla’s arms like a cat, Twilight desperately swung out her hooves out for a hug, which after an eye-watering chuckle, Twyla kindly obliged."

That is just cute....I can't get it out of my head!

[Ozymandias]

I smiled so hard that I think I dislocated my jaw.

[Gyvon]

"Twyla grabbed the loaded unicorn as if she were some sort of marshmallowy shotgun and even cocked her hooves."

I fell off my chair laughing at that mental image.

[Grey Warden]

NO DIscord you cant seperate the ponies from the humans you basturds.

[Chaos15]

That ending has to be one of the most diabetis inducing things I have ever read.
Also they have nothing to worry about. The Station is going to fall 37 hours, meaning they are still in the second day. So they just need to play the Reverse Song of Time to double it or they could play the Song of Time to get 3 extra days... wait wrong series.
Sorry I been having some Majora's Mask flashbacks lately. Some less creepy than others *cough* BEN *cough*

[angelicoreXX]

751374 not a bad idea chaos.. because in my opinion the time is too short.. and hope that it will be more longer...