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Magic is illegal in Canterlot while the government conducts experiments on the magical energy coming through the crack in the portal. A barricade perimeter has been built up around Canterlot High property; no one can go in or out without special identification and special clearance. The barricade is made up of chain link fencing, twelve feet high all around the border. Outside the fencing, patrols of armed guards walk around, ordered to stop anyone attempting to get even a look through the fence. No one can get close, because the research on the magic has the possibility to be harmful, due to the unknown nature of the magic.In a press conference, Principal Celestia summarizes the situation: "It is for the safety of our students, faculty, and the surrounding neighborhoods and city that Canterlot High is quarantined. While the measures taken may be seen as excessive or extreme, it is highly necessary for the protection and safety of all involved. We absolutely cannot risk otherworldly, potentially magical elements from harming our environment or, worse, people. The FBI's newest department, the Unusual Activities Division, has the full cooperation of Canterlot High School as they conduct the ongoing investigation into the alien substances coming out of the monument."Vice Principal Luna backs up Principal Celestia in everything, saying in a television interview, "It is for the safety and protection of our community that the school is being quarantined. Students are taking classes from Crystal Prep and other fantastic schools in the area while CHS is being investigated for potentially dangerous matter."Inside the barricade, several vans are parked in random spots on the grass, courtyard, and on the street. The doors to these vans are almost always open. Inside some vans, various research takes place on different aspects of the magical energy. Other vans are used to build tools and gadgets to help measure varying properties of the energy, store new information, and compute any mathematical equations necessary to understand the energy.Scattered across the giant property of Canterlot High School, there are temporary buildings, which serve the same purpose as the vans while allowing for additional practical uses. Kitchen, lounge, and bathroom spaces are all within the temporary buildings.In an article published on the Unusual Activities Division (UAD) website, the leader of the magical energy research project, Glass Starring, writes: "The energy coming from this crack is otherworldly in nature. It resembles some of the many elements found right in your own neighborhood, but it is different. It is unusual and strange. This is no cause for concern or panic; instead, it is a gift of an opportunity to learn more about our beautiful world and all that is in it. While research is conducted on the bizarrely beautiful concoction, quarantine of the area is necessary out of an abundance of caution and respect for the safety of our fellow man."Official pictures and video footage inside the barrier, as well as well-timed photographs from paparazzi trying to get around the patrol, show the vans, temporary buildings, and overall scene to the public. However, no one can get any images of the portal, as it is completely surrounded by vehicles and temporary buildings at all angles. Even a temporary roof over it keeps an overhead images from being taken. Conspiracy theories run amok online about what is really going on, though Glass Starring confirms that everything is okay: "No imagery of the research subject is being shared or permitted because we want all official word and thought on the subject to come directly from the UAD so the public can know that it is real, it is first, and it is trustworthy. Further, privacy on the matter allows our top agents and scientists to work without distraction or unneeded infamy."Between the vans and temporary buildings, a mini town has been formed, though no one can go in or out without special permission. The research being conducted on the portal is as important as it is intriguing, especially to Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer.
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Twilight and the rest of the Mane Group have all gone off to college, having graduated CHS with honors. Twilight, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are all attending Canterlot University (CU), where Twilight and Sunset are roommates and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are roommates. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack are attending Community College of Canterlot (CCoC). The three of them share an off-campus apartment.The college situation keeps the entire Mane Group from hanging out together in-person, but virtual video chats, a group text, and online gaming keeps them all connected when their schedules line up. Now in October, with their schedules solid for the time being and used to the college lifestyle, they can mingle more and more virtually as they look forward to the weekend of fall break, when they all get Monday off after the weekend.The other new thing the Mane Group has to deal with is the illegality of magic. They understand why. Glass Starring reasonably explained the logic behind outlawing magic in an online article. He wrote, "Anything magical, otherworldly, or seemingly unnatural is hereby banned in Canterlot and the surrounding areas, according to local government. This will allow the UAD to carry on research of the wonderful energy at Canterlot High School without distraction from potential related uprisings elsewhere. Additionally, this means that any magical occurrences outside of the UAD's current research is a legitimate cause for UAD involvement, considering the tremendous nature of our current research."At CU, Pinkie Pie is laying on her bed in her dorm reading a comic book when Rainbow Dash comes into the bedroom and throws herself on her own bed, burying her face in her pillow.Pinkie Pie looks up from her comic book and sees Rainbow Dash lying there. She sits herself up. "Everything okay, Rainbow Dash?" She asks.Rainbow Dash lifts her head up from her pillow just enough to be able to speak without being muffled. She says with exhaustion, "I'm so tired. I thought it was stupid that I had to specialize and pick only two sports teams maximum to be on here. Between softball and soccer, I can barely keep up! Everyone is stronger and faster than me.""That's not true," Pinkie Pie says. "I'm neither stronger nor faster than you.""Gee, thanks," Rainbow Dash says sarcastically. She goes on, "I just wish I could use my magic. Then, I wouldn't be so tired from practices and I could actually be good enough to do something more than ride the bench.""Whoa, whoa, whoa," Pinkie Pie reacts, "you can NOT use magic."Rainbow Dash sighs and turns herself over, laying on her back on her bed. "Yeah, I know," she says, blowing her hair out of her face. "It just sucks. If I used my magic, I'd actually be good enough, but it wouldn't be fair to everyone else.""Not to mention it's illegal," Pinkie Pie says, putting her comic book aside and laying on her back like Rainbow Dash is. "It'll be nice when this whole magic thing all blows over. What do you think is really happening at the portal?""No idea," Rainbow Dash replies. "I get it, though. They don't want to think it's more widespread than it really is. I mean, to be fair, it's magical energy. The only person who would know anything about is Twilight, and even then, she says she barely knows anything. It's probably for the best that CHS is quarantined. Don't need another she-demon or Gloriosa situation going on. I say we let the professionals, the actual scientists, handle it.""Yeah, I kind of agree," Pinkie Pie says. "I really don't have it in me to deal with another magic monster. Besides, I got a math assignment due weekend after fall break. I can't be distracted by magic!""Neither should the researchers," Rainbow Dash interjects."Yeah, yeah," Pinkie Pie goes on. "It'll be nice to have everyone back together, if only for three days.""Just think, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash says as she puts her hands behind her head, "tomorrow, we'll all be together again, all of our friends. Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Just like old times.""You say 'old times' like Everfree wasn't seven months ago," Pinkie Pie says. "What a couple of years it's been. Three she-demons, three sirens, and all sorts of zany, wacky adventures with Equestrian magic. You'd think our lives were a silly animated movie!"Meanwhile, things are not so relaxed in Twilight and Sunset's dorm. Twilight is sitting on her bed cross-legged, her laptop on her lap and Spike napping next to her. Sunset is on her laptop, too, but sitting at a desk in the dorm.Twilight says to Sunset, "No word yet on when they're going to lift the magic ban. Starring says it's going to go on as long as it needs to. You're lucky your magic is hidden.""I guess so," Sunset replies, not looking up from her laptop. "It does stink that the rest of you have to give up magic, with it all being visual and easy to see. No new news on my end, either.""Isn't it kind of funny?" Twilight asks."How is it funny?" Sunset responds, turning in her chair to face Twilight."Not funny like humorous," Twilight says, putting away her laptop and getting out a notebook. "Funny as in strange. All this research with no public results, other than 'it's going just fine' from Starring. Makes you wonder if they're hiding something.""Oh, Twilight," Sunset reacts, "don't tell me you've been reading conspiracy theories online again.""I'm just saying," Twilight says with a shrug, "it feels like Starring and the UAD are hiding something. I mean, if they found something positive, wouldn't they share it with the public to generate support or funding?""True," Sunset agrees, "but if it's not going how they want it to, they'd keep it under wraps to not scare anybody and to keep themselves at a net neutral in the public eye.""I just wish there was some way we could know what's really going on," Twilight sighs. Then, she gets an idea. She looks up at Sunset.Sunset has the exact same thought. "Oh, no," she says, putting her hands up a little. "No way. Nuh uh. Not happening.""I'm just thinking hypothetically," Twilight poses the thought, "if you could get close enough to Glass Starring to find out what's really going on...""What would I even do if I uncovered any new info?" Sunset asks. "I couldn't spill it, since then I'd be a suspect for using magic. How would I even get to Starring? The dude's a ghost. You can't get him in public anywhere. No appearances, no paparazzi photos, nothing.""I know you want to try as much as I do," Twilight says.Sunset shakes her head. "I do," she says dejectedly, "but it's not happening. We're just going to have to wait for more information from the UAD before we learn anything.""Can we even trust them to tell the truth?" Twilight asks."I don't know," Sunset replies, "but they're the only source with access to credible information. Whether or not they want to share it is up to them."Meanwhile, at their apartment near CCoC, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack use their magic however they want, so long as it stays inside the apartment, though in an apartment, there are not many uses for large, flat, solid surfaces, or super strength, or the ability to talk to animals. However, at the moment, while Rarity is napping in her bed, Applejack rearranges the living room furniture and Fluttershy talks to birds by the window.Fluttershy asks the three birds she is talking to, "Don't you think a third living room rearrangement in as many days is a little excessive?" She and the birds turn to look at Applejack, who slams down a couch rather loudly.Applejack responds, "I just can't help it! I love havin' this super strength. I just wish I could use it outside and build a barn or somethin'. Instead, my only magical outlet is rearrangin' this darn livin' room!" She lifts up an easy chair to move it.Beyond a shut door to the living room, footsteps are heard that get louder and louder until the door swings open. Rarity has her sleeping mask raised to her forehead. She groans, "Can't you settle down, Applejack? Your throwing-around of furniture keeps waking me up! I'm trying to get in a beauty rest!"Applejack responds, "It's four in the afternoon! Can't you get your beauty rest tonight, when the rest of the world does?""No," Rarity replies snarkily, "because that's when my overnight sleep is! I need to get in as much resting as possible before tomorrow, because HOW am I ever to rest when we're back with the girls again?""Fair point," Applejack says, dropping the easy chair, which startles Fluttershy's birds, who fly away. "Havin' the group together again is gonna be fantastic for morale."Fluttershy says, "I'm looking forward to all seven of us being together again. I'm sad that we're not together, but at least we have this weekend."Applejack emphasizes, "Three day weekend. You think they're usin' their magic, too?"Rarity scoffs, "Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer? Please, they're the responsible ones of the group, surely they're not. I'd like to think we weren't either, considering how it's illegal and all, but I can't help catching Fluttershy when she rolls out of the top bunk of your bunk bed."Fluttershy looks confused. "I roll out of the top bunk?"Applejack laughs. "Yep, you sure do. Rarity here catches you, while I put you back up and tuck you in, safe and sound. Happens what, three or four times a week?"Fluttershy reacts, "It does?"Rarity says, "Oh, yes. Lucky for you, I'm a light sleeper. The sound of you snoring when you roll over towards the edge is enough to wake me up. Funnily enough, you snoring further from the edge isn't enough to wake me. Just when you're close. Lucky it does."Applejack adds, "Yeah, Fluttershy, when you hit Rarity's diamond, that's what wakes ME up. But really, it's no problem. You're light work. I just wish I had something heavy to grab to challenge myself, like a bus. I've done it before."Fluttershy says, "Technically, you only tilted a bus so Twilight could change the tire."Applejack replies, "Technically, I may be the only college student alive who can tilt a whole bus."Rarity interjects, "You know what's going to be fun is getting back together with the girls and watching Applejack and Rainbow Dash go at it like you two are now."Fluttershy says, "We weren't going at anything. We're just talking."Rarity says, "Well, then, as long as we're down to 'just talking,' I'm going back to my beauty rest." She slams the door and goes back to her bed.Applejack sits on the couch and puts her feet up on the coffee table in front of her. Fluttershy sits next to her as she turns on the TV. On the TV, Glass Starring is being interviewed.Applejack reacts, "Again with this guy! Research has been going on for two months, and still nothing. No results, no progress, no nothing. I don't care what that guy says, I want to see some real results beyond cheap, empty promises. Can't wait for another 'we're progressing smoothly' from him without actually adding anything to the SAME SPEECH he's been giving for the TWO MONTHS this project has gone on!"From the other room, Rarity calls, her voice muffled by the door, "BEAUTY! REST!"Meanwhile, on TV, Starring says, "We continue to make excellent progress, as slow-going as it is coming. We are learning more about this energy every day. We hope that, soon, we will have significant results to share with the public."Fluttershy says meekly, more to herself than Applejack, "I just want results so I can talk to squirrels in the park again."Applejack gets an idea. She says to Fluttershy, "Hey, Fluttershy, wherever we go, whatever we do with the rest of the group tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday, let's get away from here and the university and go somewhere we can use our magic. We should go to the mountains and go campin'. Private, quiet. We can use our magic there in a fun, undetectable way.""As long as we don't give off energy," Fluttershy says, "I'm all for it. Remember how Twilight was able to pick up on energy readings at CHS all the way from Crystal Prep?""Everfree's pretty far," Applejack suggests. "No one knows about the Gloriosa situation besides anyone who was there. Besides, I'll bet Twilight is just dyin' to see Timber."Fluttershy giggles. "They're so cute together. I'm really cheering for them."Applejack texts the group chat to suggest Everfree as a place where they can use their magic, have fun with it, and not get caught. Her idea is quickly met with support from the others. She says, "I'm willin' to bet Rarity will be on board.""Either way," Fluttershy says, "we outvote her six to one if she doesn't want to.""It's gotta be unanimous, what we do," Applejack replies. "We're friends. We won't do something even one of us doesn't want to do. She'll be down for Everfree, I'm sure of it."
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Early in the morning as the sun only barely begins to rise, Applejack and Fluttershy are wide awake, getting packed for the group's three day camping trip. They pack their backpacks in their bedroom, which should not be a problem, but Rarity is still asleep.Applejack sighs happily. She says quietly, "It'll sure be nice to really use our magic out at Everfree. Just think about it, Fluttershy. No fear of being caught, just fear of not using it. It's gonna be great."Fluttershy replies, "I'm just looking forward to meeting all the cute woodland creatures. Squirrels, birds, snakes... there's so many. I can't wait to learn all about their lives!"While Applejack and Fluttershy talk, Rarity stirs. She groggily turns over to check her phone for the time. She sees that the group chat for the Mane Group has been completely blown up. Immediately, she sits up and is wide awake. "A CAMPING trip?" She reacts. "I never signed off on this!"Applejack scoffs. "So what if we called an audible? Besides, you had every chance to check the group chat between your beauty rest and your overnight sleep. Say, come to think of it, I didn't see you at supper yesterday."Fluttershy adds, "Neither did I."Rarity groans angrily. "My beauty rest BECAME my overnight sleep," she says. "How am I ever to be expected to sleep on the ground in a tent?!"Applejack laughs. "Relax, urbanite," she says, "we're goin' to Everfree.""Hmm," Rarity ponders for a moment. "Everfree, you say? Are we going to be staying in the cabins?""Well," Applejack replies, "if you'd check the group chat, you'd see we're taking our tents into the woods. I don't know how we expect you to sleep on the ground, either, but you're more than welcome to make the hour hike back to the cabins that are gonna be filled up with campers."Rarity groans again. "But I need my sleep! Oh, I've just been so stressed, what with needing to keep up with both my schoolwork and the latest fashion trends. Dear me, I'm getting old fast. I suppose a camping trip with the girls may actually be in order." She chuckles sheepishly. Then, she adds, "As long as I'm not driving, so I can sleep some more. You woke me up, I'm tired, and I'm in a bad mood. Just let me sleep."Applejack zips her backpack. "You can sleep on the van. It's Sunset's minivan. She's drivin', so you'll have plenty of time to sleep."Rarity shakes her head. "I still can't believe Sunset got a minivan over a more stylish form of transportation. She hasn't even fixed it up or anything. Believe me, I've offered, but she likes that thing the way it is. She's like a homeschooling mom with that thing."Fluttershy pipes up, "Not that there's anything wrong with homeschooling. I was homeschooled through grade school, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had in my life! It was so fun. I only did a couple hours of actual school in the morning, and I spent the rest of the day playing games and learning about animals."Applejack replies, "Sign me up to be homeschooled. Anyway, we should probably be leaving in a few minutes. Rarity, pack your backpacks. We'll take my car over to the university. We're meeting at Sunset and Twilight's dorm."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are both completely packed and ready for the trip. With nothing else to do, they both browse social media on their phones."Ooh!" Pinkie Pie says excitedly, "I just can't wait to go camping! I'm glad Applejack thought of this idea. We can use our magic without being found. I can make stuff explode, and you can run!""Yeah," Rainbow Dash agrees, "it'll be fun, even relaxing, to be able to do something sporty without the pressure of having to actually perform. At CHS, I was the best at everything. I was awesome. Now, I'm just some scrub freshman, bench rider, depth piece that'll only see game action if we're up big or down big.""You're still totally awesome!" Pinkie Pie replies, looking up from her phone at Rainbow Dash. "Just think about how fast high school went. College will be even faster. Before you know it, you're going to be starting and you'll be a captain on both the softball and soccer teams!""That would be nice," Rainbow Dash says with a laugh, "but if it gets to that point, I'll probably have to choose one sport if I have any hope of playing professionally.""That's horrible," Pinkie Pie says. "I couldn't imagine having my life come down to a couple choices for what I'm going to do for a career.""I'm still not one hundred percent sure what you want to do for YOUR career," Rainbow Dash says."I've narrowed it down since our last conversation," Pinkie Pie answers. "I want to be a baker.""That's great and all," Rainbow Dash says, "but you know Canterlot University doesn't have a degree in... baking.""I know," Pinkie Pie replies. "That's why my major is pharmacy! I can work on my own schedule so I can devote as much time as possible to baking and making money doing that!""Must be nice to have your life figured out," Rainbow Dash sighs, putting down her phone and picking up a tennis ball off the floor. She lays down on her bed and tosses the tennis ball up, catching it in the same hand she tossed it in. She puts her other hand behind her head. She tosses the ball again and catches it. She tosses the ball again. She catches it again. She tosses and catches it back and forth."Are you okay, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie asks, watching Rainbow Dash throw and catch the ball."Yeah," Rainbow Dash answers meekly. "I just don't know what to do with my life. I love sports, but the chances of playing professionally are low, but I don't know what I want to do otherwise. I've had my heart set on sports all my life. Now, I'm a bench rider without a college major.""Have you ever thought about coaching?" Pinkie Pie asks. "This place doesn't have a baking degree, but it does have a coaching one. You could coach a youth soccer team or something!"Rainbow Dash catches the ball and sits up straight. "That's a good idea, Pinkie! I don't know why I hadn't thought of that.""Is it because you're self-absorbed and egotistical about your own athletic abilities, so if you're not the best, the only thing you can do is work on being the best, because you have a compulsive need to always be the best, that you can't let yourself see others shine in sports because they're all your opponents in either a game or for the top spot on the recruitment list, but you'll share the band with us, because we're your actual friends instead of just other athletes?" Pinkie Pie pants after her speech and lays down. "I've gotta work on not ranting in one breath like that. My lungs can't take it."Rainbow Dash looks at Pinkie Pie in shock. Slowly, she says, "I think that's it. I do struggle with being... egotistical. It's nice to have friends who can see a side of you that you've blinded yourself to. Thanks, Pinkie Pie.""No... problem..." Pinkie Pie says between breaths. "What time... is it?"Rainbow Dash looks at her phone. "Time to go over to Twilight and Sunset's."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Sunset and Twilight are all packed and are waiting at their dorm for the arrival of their friends. However, they are both extremely serious. They do not share the same chipper mood their friends do.Twilight paces back and forth in the space between her and Sunset's beds. "I just don't know if it's safe," she rambles in a sweat. "I told myself I'd get excited for the trip last night and figure out the magic today, but I don't know if we should even try to figure it out! For our own safety, no magic, even on this trip."Sunset is sitting on her bed. "I get it," she agrees with Twilight. "But I also think our friends want to use their magic. I mean, fall break is here to help us not get burnout. Maybe it would be a boost to them if they could use it.""No, not good enough," Twilight replies worriedly. "Can't risk detection.""That's the thing about it, though," Sunset says. "Everfree is far away and in the trees. No one knows anything about the whole Gloriosa-trapping-the-camp thing besides the people who were trapped, and no one's talking about it.""True," Twilight concedes. She goes on frantically, "but that was before our own government was keeping an eye out for rogue magic! I made a device in just a few months that could read, trap, and store all of your magical energy. Just imagine what our nation's top scientists and technicians could make. Our very existence as magical beings, let alone our powers, is at stake!""Calm down, Twilight," Sunset says seriously as Twilight starts breathing more rapidly. "If the UAD's tech could read our own magic, it would have found it by now. It's been two months since they quarantined CHS and started working on it. You built your own thing in what, four months, probably?""Yeah, four months," Twilight answers, slowing down enough to respond to Sunset. "Fair enough. The combined intellectual might of the UAD is definitely more than that of just one high school student. So, back to square one: magic usage.""Again," Sunset repeats, "no one knows about the Gloriosa situation. Even though we'd be using our magic on this trip, being far away at Everfree should be fine. There's distance, then there's the interference of the city first and the tens of thousands of trees second.""Not the leaves," Twilight points out. "It's October. The ground's going to be blanketed with red and yellow leaves.""Good point," Sunset says. "I have to say, though, Twilight, that I really do think it's going to be fine. You're forgetting that the only person who knows more about Equestrian magic in this world than you— that person's me. We'll be fine to use our magic.""If you say so," Twilight concedes, "but I still feel funny about this situation.""It'll be fun!" Sunset responds. "We'll be out in the woods, just the seven of us with our magical powers. The group back together again for a three day weekend camping extravaganza! We'll be just FINE, I promise."Twilight nods, not wanting to agree but trying to trust Sunset, as she and Sunset hear a knock at the door. From the other side of the door, Rainbow Dash's voice can be plainly heard: "Open up the door, you lazy teachers pets! Let's get camping!"Twilight and Sunset grab their backpacks and hurry for the door. Outside waiting are all of the other five of their group. As they smile, laugh, and hug, they know the next three days are going to be the best camping trip ever and that there is absolutely, positively no way their magic will be detected by the UAD who has the legal power to arrest them for it and try them all in court for committing felonies.
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The Mane Group piles into Sunset's minivan, backpacks and camping materials stacked high in the back with some tied to the roof, and heads off to Everfree for a three day weekend of bonding, time together, and an opportunity to use magic outside of the reach of the UAD and law enforcement.Sunset, of course, is driving. After a lengthy and heated debate between the other six on who should ride shotgun, the spot was ultimately claimed by Rarity, who wanted to catch up on her sleep. Twilight sits behind Sunset and Fluttershy is behind Rarity. In the back driver-side seat is Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie is in the middle in the back, and Applejack is in the back passenger-side seat.Sunset drives while Rarity sleeps. Fluttershy reads. In the back, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack watch Instagram reels.As the Group rides to Everfree and leaves the city, Twilight can still not shake the feeling that something is wrong. She says to Sunset, "I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. Something's off. If I could detect the magic in you all while I was in high school and going to Crystal Prep, there's no way the UAD hasn't been able to detect us."Rainbow Dash overhears. She says to Twilight, "Come ON, Twilight, there's no way they haven't detected our magic by now."Twilight winces and grabs her hair in her hands. "Do you think they're tracking us to Everfree?"Rainbow Dash puts up her feet on top of Twilight's headrest in front of her. "I wouldn't say tracking," she says. "I'm not worried about it, though. If they wanted to arrest us, they would have. Either way, it's not like we're actually using magic. I don't know all the sciencey-techy parts of it, but I think there's a difference between us simply being magical and then having magic powers and using them."Sunset replies, "Good point. That's what I've thought, too: if the UAD wanted us arrested, they would've done it by now. As long as we don't use our magic too close to CHS, we'll be fine. I mean, isn't that why we're going to Everfree?"Applejack looks up from her phone. "Uh, Sunset," she says with confusion, " did you just say, 'as long as we DON'T use our magic?'"Sunset looks at Applejack in the rearview mirror. "Yeah, Applejack," she says, raising an eyebrow, "that's what I said."Now Fluttershy looks up. She says timidly, "I may have a teensy, weensy confession to make."Twilight starts to breathe a little faster out of stress. "Please don't tell me you've been using magic," she says with worry.Applejack chuckles and puts her hand behind her neck. She answers, "Only a little bit?"Twilight starts hyperventilating. "Oh, no," she whimpers, "if you've been using your magic, you could be arrested, and I could be questioned because of association! This is what I've tried to stop you from doing since the ban! Oh no, oh no, oh no..."Sunset looks at Twilight in the rearview mirror. Very seriously, she says, "Twilight, breathe."Pinkie Pie hands Twilight a paper bag. After a couple scary seconds, Twilight is breathing like normal.Twilight says, "I don't usually hyperventilate like that. It's just that I don't want any of us to get arrested for illegal magic usage."Fluttershy sinks low into her seat.Sunset says partially to Twilight and partially to everyone else, "It's like us being magical. I think if the UAD was going to arrest them, they would have." To everyone, she says sternly, "No more magic usage from here on out. We'll have fun with it at Everfree, since it's safe there, but after that, no magic usage."Fluttershy asks Sunset, "How am I going to talk to the animals, then?"Sunset sighs. She says earnestly, "You're just going to have to go without talking to animals until the magic ban is lifted. We can't risk detection or stepping out of line."Rarity starts to wake. She mumbles, "Stupid bumpy car ride. Can't sleep in this thing. I need my bed."Sunset says to Rarity sarcastically, "Good morning, sunshine. Time to start your day!"Tiredly, Rarity rubs her eyes over her sleeping mask, takes off her sleeping masks, rubs her eyes again, yawns, and stretches. "So," she says, still sounding tired, "what did I miss?"Fluttershy tells Rarity, "We're not going to use our magic anymore so we don't risk detection.""Oh, come on," Rarity reacts dramatically, "I was barely using it. I love my diamonds. They're so shiny."Sunset shakes her head. "If you want to avoid getting thrown in the slammer," she says, "you'll refrain until the magic ban is lifted."Rarity asks, "Any word yet on when that's going to happen?"Twilight says, "Nope. Starring just released an early-morning message on social media. He says that progress is continuing, there is neither good nor bad news, the status quo is the same, and the magic ban is still in place for the foreseeable future." She scrolls on her phone and the next thing she finds is a video of Trixie doing magic on the street. She chuckles. "Looks like Trixie's ignoring the ban entirely. She keeps getting an audience for her magic acts." She looks at her phone more closely. "Half the audience in this one are cops."Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes. She says, "Trixie's just a load of egotistical, narcissistic, dollar store magic acts that anyone can do. I find it funny that the cops are keeping an eye on her of all people."Applejack adds, "And us. Can't forget our own magical energy and how we're probably being tracked."With the debate essentially settled for now and wanting to get off the subject, Twilight points out, "Hey, Pinkie Pie, you've been uncharacteristically quiet this morning. Everything okay?"No reply."Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asks again, turning around to look in the back. She sees Pinkie Pie with her eyes closed and AirPods in her ears. "Well," she says, "that explains that."Rainbow Dash takes one of Pinkie Pie's AirPods out and puts in her own ear."Hey!" Pinkie Pie reacts with frustration."Really, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash reacts, bobbing her head with speed to the fast pace of the music. "You're listening to 'Kool & The Gang?'"Pinkie Pie takes her AirPod back from Rainbow Dash. "On repeat," she says. "I haven't listened to another song in, like, two months. So, I'll chalk it up as a friendly interruption if you'll leave me alone, not touch my AirPods, and let me enjoy the absolute bop that 'Celebration' is."Rainbow Dash shrugs. "Just saying," she says, "as long as K-Pop is a thing, I don't know why you'd listen to anything else."Applejack interjects, "If it ain't country, I don't want anythin' to do with it."Twilight adds, "The ironic thing is that we're in a rock and pop band." Changing tones to be more serious and wanting an answer from her friends, she changes the subject, ranting, "I can't believe you've been using your powers! Haven't I said twice daily in the group chat, every day at 10:00AM and 10:00PM, to NOT use it?"Applejack shrugs. She says nonchalantly, "So what if we didn't listen? We've been careful about it."Fluttershy nods, explaining, "We've only been using it minimally. We talked, and we're all fine with the risk."Rarity adds, "Yes, we all agreed. It's not meant to be a rebellion, Twilight. Rather, we're... how do I put this... exercising our freedom to break the law and face the potential consequences."Twilight bursts, "That's the THING! The law is there to TAKE AWAY that freedom for your own safety! I dislike it just as much as you all do, but that doesn't give us the right to not comply! I'm TRYING to LOOK OUT for you!"Twilight's outrage makes the entire car quiet. The only sound is "Celebration" playing quietly from Pinkie Pie's AirPods.Rainbow Dash crosses her arms and looks out the window, saying, "I don't agree with any of you. You shouldn't disobey the law, but that shouldn't be Twilight's decision to make."Sunset looks at Rainbow Dash in the rearview mirror. "What do you mean?" She asks.Rainbow Dash explains, still looking out the window, "Just because you CAN break the law, doesn't mean you should. Regardless, enforcement should come from the enforcers, not from someone trying to boss around her friends."Twilight reacts angrily, "That's not what I'm trying to do! I'm trying to PROTECT you! Does anyone even listen to me?!"Sunset says to Twilight, "Calm down. We're going on this trip to get away from the politics, to be free away from the ban."Twilight closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths. She says to Sunset in a much calmer manner, "You're right. Let's have fun. I'm sorry for freaking out."Rainbow Dash puts her hand on Twilight's shoulder comfortingly. "We get it," she says. "We know you're just trying to protect us."Twilight goes on, "I've seen what magic can do. We all have. I don't want anyone to get caught or hurt."Sunset now looks at Twilight in the rearview mirror. She says with a twinkle in her eye, "We know."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Meanwhile, in one of the temporary UAD buildings at CHS, Glass Starring is sitting at a coffee table with a certain man of wealth sitting across from him. The wealthy man finishes writing a check and slides it across the table to Starring. The two men then stand up and shake hands.The wealthy man says, "Pleasure doing business with you."Starring replies, "As always."The wealthy man asks, "What's on the docket for today?" He and Starring leave the temporary building as the morning sun shines on them. They start walking to the portal, which is surrounded by temporary buildings, vans, and pieces of wood put up for the very purpose of hiding the portal from view.Starring answers the wealthy man, "Same as usual. The whole thing is a slow process, you have to understand."The wealthy man laughs. "You've made that abundantly clear these last couple months of work, Starring. Keep up the good work. Assuming there's still no ETA on when you're done?"Starring shakes his head. "No, sir, still not yet. When we get close, you'll be the first to know."The wealthy man walks away and laughs again. He says, "I'd expect to."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*At 10:00AM, the group arrives at Everfree, where campers are running free in every direction, doing whatever it is they are doing. Timber is at the parking area to greet them.All seven get out of the van and start unloading backpacks and camping materials as Timber walks around to the trunk to watch. He asks, "You ladies need help with anything?"Sunset puts on her own backpack. "Hey, Timber!" She says. "Thanks, but I think we got it, unless Rarity needs an extra hand."Rarity has three backpacks in her hands and a fourth one on her back. She chuckles sheepishly. "Yes, I may take that extra hand."Timber sees Twilight next to him looking up at him with loving eyes. He takes her hand and looks her in the eyes back. While gazing at Twilight, he says to Rarity, "I can only offer one hand, since my other one is being held up at the moment."Twilight laughs more than she should for a joke like that. "It's because I'm holding your hand," she giggles. She hugs Timber. "I've missed you," she says.As the hug naturally breaks up, Timber says, "I've missed you, too. I hope Canterlot University has been as fun as you've made it seem like it is through texts."Twilight nods excitedly. "It is," she says. "It totally is. The only thing missing is you."Timber laughs. "College just isn't for me," he says. "This is my place, out here, in the wild, managing the camp with my sister. Actually, speaking of Gloriosa, I haven't seen her in a few minutes, so I'll catch up with you later."Twilight waves at Timber, whose back is turned naturally as he hurries off ahead to find Gloriosa.Suddenly, Rarity drops her backpacks. "I really could've used that extra hand," she says. She then gets an idea. She makes a floating diamond and puts her backpacks on it. Then, in a sing-songy voice, she calls, "Oh, Applejaaack! Do you want to help me carry my belongings to the campground?"Without missing a beat, Applejack grabs the diamond and carries it above her head. "With pleasure," she says."Wait!" Rarity gasps. "Put it back down."Applejack lowers the diamond to waist height.Rarity gets on the diamond and reclines between two of her backpacks, using the third as a pillow. "Ready!" She says to Applejack.Applejack rolls her eyes and hoists the diamond above her head again, excited at the chance to carry something heavy around outside of the apartment.The group makes its way to the campground, past the camp area where they slept and did activities during their previous stay at Everfree. They hike into the forest, where the trees have only some leaves left on them. With it being October, around half of the leaves on the trees have fallen, and all the leaves— whether on the ground or still on the trees— are all shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown. They crunch underfoot as the group hikes on, walking for half an hour before arriving at a clearing in the leaves designated as a camp site. The clearing is very small, and is just a little spot in the forest where no trees are and there is enough space to have some tents and a campfire.Having arrived at the campsite, Sunset poses the question, "So, how do we want to get this set up?"Pinkie Pie shrieks, "I'VE GOT THIS!" She goes to the middle of the small clearing and gets a few sprinkles out of her pocket. She leaps up and throws the sprinkles on the ground.After a few seconds of leaves falling, the group can clearly see the flat dirt ground under where the leaves had been. There are leaves on the ground everywhere else, except where Pinkie Pie cleared out a space.Sunset says, "Okay, so that takes care of that. Thank you, Pinkie."Pinkie Pie smiles wide.Sunset continues, "We still need to set up the tents, set up a fire area for tonight, get some firewood, and get some logs to sit on."Rainbow Dash sprints off, sending leaves flying. After a few seconds of running with superhuman speed, she has collected a pile of sticks of various lengths and widths and some kindling for a fire.Fluttershy has both her arms out, and birds and squirrels are sitting all over her arms. She says to them sweetly, "Thank you so much for coming to help. Do you want to help us set up our tents?"The birds and squirrels get to work. After a few minutes, they have set up the three tents the group is going to share. The tents are at the edge of the clearing, with just enough space left for a fire area.Applejack comes walking into the clearing, having left without anyone noticing. She is carrying on her arms four large logs, all a few feet long. She drops them on the ground and rolls them into position. Each log is wide enough for two people to sit on it comfortably. Applejack arranges them around where a fire area can be, making the logs form a square without corners, as the empty spaces that are the corners can be used to walk through the area.Some round, smooth rocks come floating through the air to the area inside the logs, controlled by Twilight, who wears a look of apprehension on her face. She gently places the rocks down. She and Sunset start putting the rocks in a circle to contain the fire they want to make.Sunset notices Twilight's look on her face. "What's wrong?" She asks.Twilight says, "I'm just nervous using magic again. I don't know the range of the tech the UAD is using. I mean, whatever they're doing, you know they've made up some awesome gadgets.""Twilight," Sunset says, "you're fine. We're here so we can hang out and have fun with our magic."After a moment of pondering, Twilight says, "You're right. I trust you. Besides, you know more about Equestrian magic than me. In fairness, though, I know more about the tech than you."With emphasis, Sunset just says, "Twilight."Twilight chuckles meekly. "Sorry," she says. "I trust you saying we'll be fine to use our magic. I trust you."Sunset repeats, "We're here to have fun with our magic. Please, have fun." Supportively, she puts her hand on Twilight's shoulder, also trying to read Twilight's mind.Twilight picks up on this and pulls away from Sunset. She says again, "I trust you. Take me at my word.""I will," Sunset says. "Besides, I didn't see enough to know what you're thinking. I'll trust you, too."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As the sun beings to set on Canterlot High and work for the days wraps up while night security rolls in, Starring reclines in an easy chair in one of the temporary buildings. He sips on some decaf coffee as he makes a phone call.From the phone comes the wealthy man's voice. He sounds happy and amused. "Starring, how nice to receive a call from you! What a surprise!"Starring chuckles. "Yes, Mr. Rich, I know you don't like phone calls after hours, unless—""Unless it's about my business!" Filthy Rich interrupts and finishes the sentence. "I trust you have a good update for me, then.""Indeed I do," Starring replies. "We had a technological breakthrough today in one of our labs on-site. We believe we can start working at twice our current speed in just a few days of refining and replicating the technology.""Splendid!" Filthy Rich reacts. "Does this push our ETA up to be twice as soon?""Unofficially," Starring answers. "I should have a new ETA for you on projection completion before noon tomorrow.""Starring, you've done it again," Filthy Rich says with a laugh. "Bonuses for everyone. Checks will be delivered as soon as faster progress is initiated.""Thank you, Mr. Rich," Starring says. "Your support through this entire process has been crucial to our success.""It really is my pleasure," Filthy Rich says, "although I do wish to wrap up this phone call and get on with my evening.""Of course," Starring replies. "Don't let me hold you up. I wanted to update you.""I appreciate it greatly," Filthy Rich says. He chuckles, saying, "The rich get richer." He hangs up.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*As the sun sets on Everfree and the group's campsite, Twilight and Sunset get a fire going while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have a dispute.Fluttershy puts her foot down. "I won't allow it!" She says.Rainbow Dash crosses her arms. "You're unbelievable sometimes, Fluttershy. Give me one good reason why I can't hunt for dinner."From a few feet away, Applejack interjects, "Because we brought our own supper."At the same time, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turn to Applejack and say together, "Nobody asked you!"Applejack puts her hands up and takes a few steps away.Rainbow Dash turns back to Fluttershy, saying, "It just seems hypocritical to me that you're against hunting but you'll eat a burger any day of the week.""You know me," Fluttershy says meekly. "I'll only eat meat if it's been farmed humanely. You're talking about killing for sport!""And food," Rainbow Dash adds. "It's part of the thrill of being an outdoorsman. That's a word, right? 'Outdoorsman?'"Twilight looks up and says, "If you don't know whether or not the words you're using are real, you probably shouldn't be having an argument about an ethical issue."Fluttershy smiles smugly and folds her arms. "Hmph!" She utters triumphantly."Fine, fine," Rainbow Dash says, "I won't hunt. At least not tonight. Instead, I'll spend tonight reading the online dictionary."Fluttershy says, "There's no wifi out here."Rainbow Dash reacts, "WHAT?!"Fluttershy says, "You're being forced to be a real outdoorsman."Rainbow Dash grabs Fluttershy's shoulders and shakes her, saying frantically, "How am I going to survive the night without wifi?!"Now Sunset looks up and says to Rainbow Dash, "We were having so much fun today exploring, foraging, and USING OUR MAGIC that you didn't even notice we didn't have wifi."Rainbow Dash lets go of Fluttershy and shrugs, saying, "Fair enough."Applejack passes around frozen hot dogs for everyone to put on sticks and roast. "Honestly," she says, "I don't know if roasting hot dogs is the most 'outdoorsman' thing, either."Pinkie Pie puts three hot dogs on a stick. "When I slather these things with chili, cheese, and relish, it's going to be even less outdoorsman than before!"Rarity sits on a log and holds her stick out over the fire to roast her hot dog as the sun fully sets. "This is about as outdoorsman as I can handle," she says. "This and sleeping on the ground in a tent."Rainbow Dash sits next to Rarity and holds out her stick over the fire. "Sleeping on the ground or not," she says, "I'm just glad we're all back together again."The group eagerly shares the agreement with Rainbow Dash. Whether sleeping on the ground or saving the world from Equestrian magic, as long as they are together, things seem to be just fine.On the log straight across from Rainbow Dash and Rarity, on the other side of the fire, are Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. To Rainbow Dash and Rarity's right are Sunset and Applejack. On the log to the left are Twilight and Spike. All the logs face the fire which roasts the hot dogs, the smoke giving way to a sky slowly but surely getting darker without a sun over the horizon to light it.As soon as she is done eating her three loaded hot dogs (which she finished before anyone else ate even one), Pinkie Pie gets out marshmallows and puts a dozen on a stick and starts roasting them.Fluttershy asks, "Pinkie Pie?""Yeah, what is it?" Pinkie Pie responds, not looking up as she concentrates closely on the marshmallows, turning them slowly to ensure a proper and even roast.Fluttershy questions Pinkie Pie, "How is it you eat like crap all the time but you're still really thin?""That's a good question," Pinkie Pie says, "and one that is really simple to answer."Sunset adds, "Yeah, I was wondering that, too, but never asked."Pinkie Pie asks the group, "Has anyone else wondered the secret to how I stay slim while sticking to the Pinkie Pie eat-like-crap diet?"No one answers, but all eyes turn to Pinkie Pie, some confused, some curious.Pinkie Pie answers, "Calorie deficit. I literally don't eat anything other than sweets, treats, and junk food, but I eat it in moderation, and sometimes, I indulge in a lot at once."Twilight says, "That's not going to sustain you in the long run."Pinkie Pie replies, "I'll worry about the long run when I'm an adult." She eats a marshmallow off the stick.Sunset says, "Uh, Pinkie, you ARE an adult, legally speaking. You, like all of us, are a freshman at college living away from home. If that's not an adult, I don't know what is."Pinkie Pie swallows her marshmallow. "Fine," she says. "I'll worry about what I eat when I'm out of college."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*As the fire slowly crackles, the sky slowly fills with stars. Everyone is full on hot dogs and s'mores. Everyone is laughing and telling stories. The sky only gets darker as the minutes wear on into hours of timelessness.After a story, Twilight asks at the end of her own laughter, "Anyone getting tired yet?"Everyone assures Twilight that no one is tired yet.Applejack asks, looking for an excuse to brag about her power and share her happiness with her friends, "Tired of what, the day or using our magic? 'Cause I'll never get tired of havin' super strength. Did y'all see me carryin' around giant logs today like it was nobody's business? I coulda built a cabin if I had to. Boy, log after log after log! The only thing I'm tired of is carryin' trees, I just wish I had somethin' else to carry!"Rarity sighs contentedly. "You said it, Applejack," she says. "I must admit, I was ecstatic to use my diamonds to their fullest capacity again. If none of you saw me, it's because I found a small cave where I could cast diamonds and make beautiful designs! I was thinking about what would look good fashion-wise at first, but I quickly forgot about fashion and got carried away with making something beautiful."Pinkie Pie says, "You know what's beautiful? The leaves. The trees. I had so much fun today throwing leaves in the air in one place, and they would come down in every place! I was making it rain like Filthy Rich."Rainbow Dash scoffs playfully. "That's nothing," she says. "I could do it, too. All I have to do is pick up leaves while I'm running at a zillion miles an hour and toss 'em up as I go by. THAT would make it look like an autumn leaf rain."Fluttershy says quietly, "The animals liked watching all of you, too. I met so many cool creatures today. I even found a couple deer!" She squints at Rainbow Dash, saying, "Don't get ANY ideas.""How could I?" Rainbow Dash responds. "I'm too distracted by my own awesome super speed!"Fluttershy replies, "You can have your super speed. Just don't take away my animals." She looks hopefully at Sunset. "Do we have to give this all up when we go back?"Sunset can see just how much fun her friends have been having with their magic. While this is the first time she has seen them all since the semester began, she has participated in the group chat. No one ever seemed too happy. This is the happiest Sunset has seen everyone since before the magic ban. She sighs sadly and looks down. "Magic ban," she says. "We're fine being magical, but actually using our powers? We can't set off the UAD."Rainbow Dash says, "Forget the UAD. This is the most fun I've had in weeks. Obviously, we can only use our magic in moderation, but when we go back to college after this trip, I'm using my magic. I can finally get some respect on the soccer and softball teams, and maybe, my coaches would actually use me in games. I'm so using my magic!"Twilight looks up suddenly with fear. "Don't!" She says. "You could get arrested!"Rainbow Dash scoffs. "I'm willing to risk it," she says.Fluttershy says, "I agree with Rainbow Dash. I can't give up talking to animals! I mean, you all get me, but they get me, too, and I'm only with Rarity and Applejack, which is nice, but animals are more friends, and I feel like they get me in a way none of you do. No offense."Twilight's eye twitches. "None taken," she says with anxiety, "but I can't, in good conscious, let you, my friend, risk arrest over this!"Rarity says to Twilight, "Darling, you're our friend, not our leader. As responsible as you are, and we can all agree that you're more responsible than any one of us, it's not your place to tell us what we can and can't do with our powers. We'll take arrest into consideration, but my diamonds give me such inspiration. Such innovation. I can make 3D designs with my diamonds, and the possibilities feel endless!"Applejack piggybacks on Rarity's argument, saying, "She's kinda right, Twilight. Besides, I can use my powers for good. I can help build houses' I can make some money movin' furniture for a movin' company or somethin'."Pinkie Pie says simply, "I do like using my powers to make cool-looking cakes, ice cream towers, and stuff at the diner."Sunset looks at Twilight, feeling just as much as Twilight that everyone is ganging up against her.Twilight looks visibly nervous as she scans everyone's faces. No one looks angry at her; rather, they are all waiting for some kind of response. Everyone looks inquisitive. She says to the group with frustration, "What am I supposed to say?! Call it OCD, call it overreaching my bounds, call it what you like! I can't let you use your magic and risk your lives over it! It could get on your permanent record!" After a moment of heavy breathing after her attack, she breathing slows and she regains her composure. She says honestly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have freaked out like that. I hope you all get where I'm coming from."Rarity says, "Of course we do, darling. Right, girls?"The others agree with Rarity.Twilight sighs, as if both to let off steam and again recapture her composure. She says, "If you want to use magic, as your friend, I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to warn you and recommend against it."Rainbow Dash asks Twilight, "You're not going to blow up the group chat or try to actually stop us anymore, are you? Your opinion means something to us, but we should be allowed to live our lives without hearing it literally twice a day."Without answering directly, Twilight confirms, "As long as you know how I feel about it, as someone smarter than all of you on the science and legality of it all."Sunset says to Twilight, "Thanks, Twilight. All of us know how you feel about magic after the whole Midnight Sparkle thing. No offense."Twilight chuckles. "None taken. Just... just... none of you get caught. Please. If not for your own sanity, then for mine."Sunset does not want to talk about this any more than she has to, because she can see that this conversation is particularly difficult for Twilight, who, from Twilight's perspective, has to concede her concern for her friends' safety in favor of letting them be free. To change the subject, Sunset says, "Hang on just a second." She gets up and goes to her tent, coming back a moment later with an acoustic guitar. "Anyone up for some campfire tunes?" She asks, tuning her guitar.Following suit, Rainbow Dash gets up, goes to the tents, and comes back with our own acoustic guitar. She asks Sunset, "Care to duet?"Sunset plucks a few strings, starting a melody. "Not at all," she says.Rainbow Dash plays the same melody back to Sunset. She asks the group, "Anyone have any song recommendations?"Pinkie Pie shrieks excitedly, "CELEBRATION BY 'KOOL & THE GANG!'"Fluttershy raises her hand and quietly suggests, "Can we do 'Alone' by Alan Walker?"Sunset and Rainbow Dash look at each other and nod. They start playing Alan Walker's "Alone" with expertise. Everyone's voice joins in as the only other sounds accompanying them are the crackle of the fire and the cool whisper of a small breeze.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The fire has been put out, and a little remaining smoke still smolders on the ashes. The moon is high overhead.Wanting to switch things up, now that they do not necessarily have to have the same roommates, Rainbow Dash is sharing a tent with Rarity. Sunset shares with Applejack. The third tent has three occupants: Pinkie Pie on the left side, Fluttershy in the middle, and Twilight on the right side.Everyone is sound asleep. Everyone, that is, except Twilight. Her eyes are tired, but closing them is not helping. She stares up at the top of the tent, restless and motionless. The argument from earlier still weighs heavily on her mind. She wants her friends to be happy and free to use their powers however they want. After all, she is not their boss or parent; she cannot control their lives. Still, she knows more about magical energy than any of them, except maybe Sunset. When Midnight Sparkle overtook her, she lost all control of her magic and herself. Can her friends control themselves, or does she have to take control herself? Will her friends get carried away with their powers or will they use it quietly in moderation? Is the temptation too much? She remembers how she fell to the temptation of learning about all the magic had to offer. She remembers watching magic turn Gloriosa into something she was not. As much as she wants to trust her friends and let them be free, she cannot risk them getting hurt by being exposed to a temptation so enticing that they will struggle to resist, if they can resist at all.What is Twilight's course of action? She decides she has to do something drastic to show them how serious and dangerous the situation is. She has to take the temptation away from them. She thinks to herself, hearing herself think loudly in the dead of night, "I have to steal the geodes and hide them where only I can find them."She rolls over, puts on her glasses, and checks her phone for the time. She thinks, "One in the morning. I have to do this now, and they won't fight and I can get some sleep." She rolls back over and looks over by Fluttershy, who is sleeping soundly next to her. She sees that Fluttershy's necklace with her geode is laying next to her. Using her own magic, Twilight quietly makes the necklace float to her.She looks further over by Pinkie Pie, who is on the other side of Fluttershy. She cannot see Pinkie Pie's hair bow, which has her geode affixed to it. With it being too dark to see anything around Pinkie Pie, she uses her magic to feel the ground, in the form of a magical pink light in the form of a circle-like shape moving on the ground. The magic gives off a little light, and Pinkie Pie stirs. Twilight gasps quietly, watching Pinkie Pie closely for any movement. After a few seconds of no movement other than Pinkie Pie's own breathing, Twilight continues to move her magic along the ground. It disappears as it moves on the ground on the other side of Pinkie Pie, hidden from eyesight. As it moves under Pinkie Pie's pillow, Twilight can feel Pinkie Pie's hair bow. She grabs it with her magic from under Pinkie Pie's pillow and pulls it out, bringing it to her hand. She thinks to herself, "Four more." She uses her magic to unzip the tent opening very slowly, careful to make as little noise as possible.After the tent is open, she zips it back up and goes over to Rainbow Dash and Rarity's tent. In the same slow, quiet way, she opens the tent and peeks in, the moonlight providing a little bit of light, but not enough to wake either of the tent occupants. She sees that Rainbow Dash, sleeping on her back, is wearing her wristband while she sleeps with her wrist resting on her stomach, but she cannot see Rarity's; however, next to Rarity is a box Twilight recognizes as Rarity's jewelry box.She uses her magic to gently slide Rainbow Dash's wristband off her wrist and bring it into her own hand. She then uses her magic to retrieve Rarity's jewelry box. She opens it and sees the necklace with the geode on it on the top of the pile within the box. She takes it out, closes the box, and puts it back, before finally zipping up the tent. She smiles to herself, saying quietly, "Only two more."She goes to Sunset and Applejack's tent, unzipping the cover in the same way as before. She sees a small sparkle under Applejack's hat, which is next to Applejack's pillow. She uses her magic to lift the hat, and she sees the sparkle is from moonlight reflecting off Applejack's geode, which was under the hat, and she grabs the hair band (to which the geode is affixed) with her magic, bringing it to herself. Then, she sees Sunset's geode, affixed to a stylish belt (though the belt is just a cord, decorated with red and yellow marble-shaped beads), being worn on Sunset's wrist, looped around enough to be worn like a stylish arm sleeve for her forearm. Sunset is sleeping on her back, and the arm and wrist with the cord on it is resting on the ground, preventing Twilight from being able to pull the cord off Sunset's wrist. She uses her magic to carefully grab the geode with one hand's magic and the cord with the other. She tries to rip the geode away from the cord, but is bonded tightly. She grunts quietly as she tries to pull it off, with her magical strength only as strong as her own natural strength. After a moment of struggle, she rips the cord, which allows her to take the geode off. However, the ripped cord makes the beads spill off of it, causing a small clatter sound. Fearful at the small sound— which is enhanced and sounds loud in the dead of night— and having all geodes in hand, Twilight magically zips the tent opening, closing the tent.Standing in the moonlight, she looks at all seven geodes in her hand, marveling at their beauty as they reflect the moon. With resolve, she makes her hand into a fist and begins walking away from the campsite to find a place to hide the geodes, not wanting to keep them for herself, as she does not want anyone to be found in possession of or using a magical material back in Canterlot.As she leaves the campsite, her steps in the leaves sound like thunder in the quiet of the early morning hour. Then, she hears something even louder: one of the tents' covers is unzipping. Not wanting to cause a scene, she turns around to see who is leaving a tent. The moonlight not being the sun, the image provided is not the clearest, but Twilight can still easily see that it is Sunset. She hides her hands behind her back, standing there, hoping that, by some possibility, Sunset will not see her.Sunset sees Twilight, but cannot tell who it is. She asks, "Who's there?"Twilight remains silent.Sunset turns on a flashlight she grabbed and shines it right in Twilight's face. "Twilight?" She asks. "What are you doing up?"Twilight raises the hand that is not holding the geodes up to her face to block the flashlight. She whispers, "Keep it down and turn that thing off!"Sunset turns off the flashlight and holds up her broken cord. "Care to explain this?" She asks accusingly.Twilight laughs awkwardly. "Is that a broken cord?" She asks.Sunset says, "It was just fine when I wore it on my wrist to sleep. Now, it's broken and you're up. Did you steal my geode?"Twilight sighs, knowing she has been caught. "Just turn off the flashlight," she says.Sunset turns off the flashlight and walks over to Twilight. "Want to tell me what's going on?" She asks, sounding mostly concerned but a little angry.Twilight keeps her hand with the geodes behind her back, answering, "I can't let you keep your geodes, not in good conscience.""Why not?" Sunset questions. "We talked about this earlier tonight. Did you forget that whole conversation?"Twilight replies, "I can't let any of you use your magic. It's too much of a temptation. I've fallen to it before. I can't let anyone risk getting hurt. An arrest would hurt both now and in the future. This whole thing is coming to a boiling point, and I'm bringing down the temperature before anyone gets burned. This trip shown me that, while our powers are great, they're not for us right now."Sunset puts her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "I've fallen to the temptation of magic, too," she says, "and I've gotten past it, because of the friends you're stealing from. You, of all people, should know that you can't learn, live, and grow without risk. You have to trust them, as your friends."Twilight shakes her head defiantly. "It's not them. This Equestrian magic— it corrupts. It haunts. Between Gloriosa, you, and me, we KNOW what it can do. I'm doing this FOR our friends. Don't tell them. If they're going to find out from anybody, let it be me."Sunset lets go of Twilight and puts out her hand. "Give me the geodes," she says. "It's not fair to steal from them and to take away the ability to use their magic. If they get caught, it's on them! You aren't responsible for their actions!""I know THAT," Twilight says with some attitude, putting her hand on her hip, "and I also know how problematic this magic can become! If I can do something about it, I will!"Sunset is visibly angry. "If you don't trust them, just say so!"Throwing her hand up while she keeps the geodes in her other hand behind her back, Twilight responds loudly, "I DO trust them! But I don't trust the magic! Someone has to do something to keep them safe from it, and it's clearly not going to be them!"In the background, Twilight sees the other five have assembled to watch the fight.Sunset notices that Twilight is looking at something behind her, and she turns around to see the other five, too.Fluttershy has tears in her eyes. She speaks very softly, but is heard by everyone in the quiet of the night. Barely above a whisper, she utters, "Please stop fighting."Rainbow Dash puts her hands on her hips and asks Twilight suspiciously, squinting a little, "Why did you steal my geode? We agreed to use this trip as a way for us to use magic without being caught!"Applejack adds angrily, "That's right, Twilight, and you agreed to let us use it back home!"Rarity says with self-righteous, "Twilight, darling, you're not our boss. You are in no place to tell me or anyone else what we can and can't do. Plus, stealing just isn't reasonable. It's not."Pinkie Pie shakes her head and crosses her arms. She says, "If you can't trust me, I can't trust you. We're supposed to be friends, and friends trust each other."Twilight groans. "I've said it to Sunset, and I'll say it to you all! I trust you! I just don't trust the magic!"Applejack responds with some ire, "Uh huh, sure, but you don't trust us to not get corrupted or use it right.""BECAUSE of the magic!" Twilight yells angrily, mad that no one is seeing her point and believing everyone else to be wrapped up in their own collective selfishness. "I'm doing this for you! ALL of you!"Rainbow Dash scoffs. Upset, she says to Twilight with a little bit of shakiness in her voice, "If you really cared, if you really were doing this for us, you'd trust us to use our powers right."Ignoring any emotion Rainbow Dash was displaying, Twilight replies sarcastically with a fighting tone, "Fine! You can have it back! Even if it's not for your own good!" She throws the geodes on the ground at the feet of the other five. She crosses her arms and turns her back. "Just don't expect me to be your friend about it, since I already tried."Applejack says with disgust, "You stopped being our friend when you stole from us."Twilight does not respond. She stands with her arms crossed and back turned as tears form in her eyes.Fluttershy asks Applejack quietly, "Don't you think that's a little too far? I mean, she is only trying to protect us."Rainbow Dash clenches her fists and stares Twilight down. She says through clenched teeth, "She stole from us and betrayed our trust, the way she can't trust us. I'd say it's not far enough."Sunset sees that it is up to her to calm everyone down. "Everyone stop fightng!" She yells. Then, calmly, she continues, "Look, it's clear that there's a disagreement on whether or not we should use our magic back home. It is illegal, and we shouldn't be encouraging illegal activity. That said, this might be a time, Twilight, that you could just let it slide?""Oh, my goodness," Twilight says, "I was so wrapped up in the magical corruption, I didn't even think of the legal morality! I can't encourage any of you to break the law! I can't let you do it knowingly!"Sunset says to Twilight, "Calm down. We need to figure this out as friends, and you can't be yelling at everyone like this. We're not sleeping until we work this out, because we need to work it out."Twilight replies, "I'm not changing my stance."Rainbow Dash stomps her foot on the ground. "Neither are we!" She declares.Pinkie Pie says, "Sunset, the only way we could go back to normal would be if the magic ban was lifted. Then we could be friends again."Applejack agrees with Pinkie Pie, saying, "I agree with Pinkie Pie, though it might take a little more than that to fix this friendship. Does anyone here have an idea on when it'll be lifted?"Sunset says, "Starring said it's indefinite. I would guess it would be lifted when they're done studying the magic coming from the portal."Twilight's voice goes from confrontational to problem-solving. She says, "We need answers. We're getting nothing from the UAD." She is still facing away from the group.Rarity adds to Twilight's point, trying to support Twilight in what little way she can: "The UAD could easily have caught us if they wanted to. I'm not trying to fight again by bringing up getting caught, but I'm trying to say that there's no way they don't know about our existence and magic."Sunset points out, "Something's not adding up. The UAD is letting us exist without question, yet magic is banned. If Twilight could detect our magical energy as a high schooler, the UAD has definitely detected us. You could say our very existence is illegal. We keep talking about this, trying to make sense of it, but we can't. It's strange."Pinkie Pie says, "We keep talking about that, but we're not actually doing anything about it. We should do something."Sunset says, "I have the power to find out what Starring is really thinking. He's the UAD's leader. I just have to get close to him."Twilight turns around and tells Sunset, "But the only place he ever is, is CHS."Sunset sighs a long sigh, looking down. Then, she looks up. She says to everyone, "Whether or not we should use our magic, or even be free to use it, is a conversation that's tearing us apart. We can't find common ground, and it's breaking our friendship. I'm willing to do anything to save it. I'm going to break through the barricade at CHS and get to Starring to find out what's really going on. I would do anything to keep us from breaking apart, and this magic issue is doing just that. I have to address it."As Twilight opens her mouth to speak, Sunset interrupts her. "Don't say anything, Twilight. I know how you feel about the law, but I'm doing this, whether you're with me or not."For a few moments, no one says anything, letting the gravity of Sunset's words sink in. Sunset believes it is up to her to save the friendship, and this is what she has to do, since it is clear that Twilight is not comfortable accepting the others using their magic because she wants to protect them from On the other hand, the others are allied against Twilight, whose attempted theft is still fresh in everyone's minds, as well as her refusal to let them use their powers. No one is budging on the issue, so Sunset believes she has to fix it, and the only way is to find out what is really going on with the UAD, whose investigation is the source of the magic ban, which is the source of the fighting.Fluttershy's soft voice pipes up. "For what I'm worth," she says, "I'll go with you. I can't stand to see us fighting like this. I hate it, and I want us all to be friends again. ALL."Applejack says, "That includes Twilight. Honestly, I'm not quite over you stealing my geode, I don't know if I can get over that right now."Rainbow Dash says, "It did just happen a few minutes ago. But if doing this is what it takes to learn about what's driving us all crazy, then so be it."Rarity remarks, "We may learn nothing, or we may uncover something we don't expect, but Twilight, your comfort means something to us, even if our desire to use magic does override it."Wanting to start to repair the bridge she destroyed with her theft, lack of trust, fighting, and trying to take away her friends' freedom, Twilight says, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Okay, I guess I'm in. How do we get Sunset close to Starring to find out what's going on?"Sunset smiles at Twilight. She then addresses the group: "We go to CHS and sneak in using our magic. We may be caught using magic illegally, but that has to be something we're willing to risk. This whole thing seems iffy, and the knowledge we can gain is worth the risk of being caught using magic."Everyone agrees with the last statement.Sunset continues, "We can use Rarity's diamonds to get over the wall in the evening, when there will be less people there, since they probably all go home at night. That's going to have to be something to assume at this point. This way, we can find Starring at the end of the work day, and we break in while security is changing shifts, leaving open blind spots. Then, we all use our own individual powers to hide or break into the vans or those temporary buildings, see if there's anything we can learn from those. All the while, look out for Starring. The most important thing here has to be me getting to Starring, since records can be falsified on a computer, but his memories are real. Everyone got that? Learn what we can from the vans and temporary buildings while finding Starring. Even if there's no foul play or anything concerning, I could still try to convince him to lift the ban or start a movement to lift it."Everyone agrees with Sunset's plan."Good," Sunset says. "We can break in tomorrow evening, and use the last day of break to get back to our own campuses and get ready for the rest of the semester. Everyone, get some sleep. We've got a break-in to get ready for."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After a restless sleep, the morning visits Everfree. To make a plan for attack to get Sunset close to Starring, the group heads back to the main camp to secure wifi.The seven are greeted by Timber. When he sees them approach the camp from the forest, he waves, saying, "Hey, ladies. Sleep well?"Twilight falls into Timber's arms out of exhaustion, rather than love. "Nope," she says. "Not a wink."Timber puts Twilight back upright. "So, you didn't sleep at all?" He asks to clarify.Twilight chuckles, partly out of tiredness and partly out of craze. "Well, I did, after a fight that I don't think anyone is over.""Want to tell me what happened?" Timber asks.Twilight explains, "I stole everyone's geodes, since I don't want them to become corrupted the way I was. Plus, an arrest would be kind of bad, for multiple reasons. I mean, we're all college students trying to make our ways in a new world, and throwing legal trouble in the mix just isn't smart. Plus, it would look really bad on job applications. So, I stole the geodes."Timber echoes, "You stole them? Straight-up stole the magic rocks?"Twilight nods. She goes on, telling Timber how she really feels, "Yeah, and it's kind of bad that I did that after I agreed to let them use their magic back home. It's their risk, but I can't let them take it. I have to take control of the situation, Timber, because I'm the only one responsible enough."Timber questions Twilight, "Are you strong enough to handle this if you weren't strong enough to handle Midnight Sparkle?"Twilight replies, "I have to be. They want to risk their futures just to have some fun. I can't let them, not when I can do something about it.""So," Timber asks, "what are you doing back here at camp, then?"Twilight says, "We're sort of making a plan to do something legally worse than use magic during the ban."Timber puts up his hands a little. "I don't need to know what you're doing," he says, "but if you're doing it, Twilight, I'm sure it's fine.""It's not," Twilight says, "but I can't disagree out loud with my friends on everything right now. After Sunset caught me with the stolen geodes, she and I fought, and that woke up the others, and then I fought with them, too. I don't want to ruin our friendship in a worse way than I already have, so I'm agreeing to do the thing we're here for. I don't want to do this thing and I think it's an awful idea. It's... not exactly legal and could get us arrested, but I have to come back from stealing somehow. This isn't the right way... but it's the only way, 'cause they're all still pretty angry at me."Timber tells Twilight, "You can use the main cabin. I have to help Gloriosa with an activity for the campers, anyway. I'll see you around, babe, okay?" He kisses Twilight on the cheek and leaves for the deck, where Gloriosa is doing something with the campers.Twilight looks around and sees that her friends have all dispersed to various parts of the camp. She corrals them all together and takes them to the main cabin.Inside the cabin, Pinkie Pie holds up her phone and waves it around. She says to her phone, "Soak it up, just take in all that wifi! Glorious, bountiful, amazing wifi!"The cabin space has two couches with a rug between them. Various kitchenware, shelves, and storage areas line the walls. A staircase leads to the upstairs area.Twilight is sits on one of the couches, and Sunset sits next to her. The other five all sit on the other couch. Twilight's cheeks turn red with awkward embarrassment.Pinkie Pie says to Twilight, "Sorry no one's sitting with you—" her tone becomes sarcastic— "but we don't want you pickpocketing us."Twilight reacts, "Oh, come on!"Applejack crosses her arms. "You betrayed our trust, Twilight," she says with disappointment, "and I'm not quite over it."Rainbow Dash adds, "Me neither. I think sometime we'll be able to put this whole thing behind us, but now isn't that time."Twilight asks with impatience, "And when will that time come?" She is riled up after their last fight and got herself riled up after telling Timber how she really feels.Rarity slouches on the couch and blinks her eyes slowly, obviously tired. She yawns and says to Twilight while she is yawning, "Darling, you stole from us and for two months now, you've been trying to control us. That's not what friends do."Quietly, Fluttershy states, "Friends are supposed to be nice, and Twilight, you're not being all that nice lately. Or, really, not nice about anything with magic since the magic ban."Rainbow Dash reacts, "For REAL! Twilight, since the magic ban, you have gone kind of haywire about making sure we don't use our magic."Twilight responds loudly with evident anger, "Clearly, my looking out for you isn't enough! What do I have to do to for you people?!"Fluttershy answers, "Look out for us, but don't hold us hostage."Twilight stands up and yells back at Fluttershy, "I'M not the one holding you hostage! The LAW is! I'm just enforcing it!"Fluttershy gasps softly as her lips quiver and her eyes fill with tears.Twilight, seeing Fluttershy look like that, quickly goes from angry to concerned. "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy," she says, taking a step toward Fluttershy. "I'm just trying—"Before Twilight can say another word, Fluttershy starts crying, and she gets up and runs out of the cabin.Applejack takes off her hat and hits the floor with it in anger. "NOW look what you did!" She yells at Twilight. "You know how Fluttershy is! The rest of us can handle yellin'. She CAN'T!"Sunset gets up and grabs Twilight's arm, pulling her back to their couch. "Twilight..." she begins sympathetically, not knowing what else to say.Before Sunset can say a word, Rainbow Dash gets up, too. She turns her chin up at Twilight, going, "Hmph!" She follows Fluttershy out.Sunset speaks up, saying to Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with a voice of serious and complete concern, "I've been quiet long enough in these fights, hoping that you can all figure it out yourselves. You can't. You just can't fight or debate with people on ideological issues like this. We're not going to come to agreement, and we probably never will." She sits back down on the couch. "We have to do this break-in," she says with worry, "because if we can't find answers soon, I'm scared it'll tear this group apart." Tears form in her eyes. She shakily whispers, "I'm scared."Twilight looks at Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and shakes her head. She tells them calmly yet with apprehension, "If I'm that bad, if I'm a control freak and I steal, I can work on it. I value our friendship more than anything we've talked about here."Pinkie Pie replies, "If you did, it would've come out when times were hard. But when times were hard, you took away our geodes. Twilight, I really don't know how I can forgive this one. You betrayed all of us. You know me, I'm the party girl. I'm the happy-go-lucky, sing-song, smiling Pinkie Pie. But I know when things are serious, and this is serious enough that I'm hurt, Twilight. I'm really hurt." Her voice becomes shaky. "You learn who people are when things aren't awesome. You've been nothing but a control freak. I know you're looking out for us. I really do. We respect your authority and knowledge about this, since you know more about it than any of us besides maaaybe Sunset, and we appreciate what you've tried to do. But you've taken it too far. Not only are you trying to control us, you stole something very special from us." Tears pool up in her eyes to the point they begin falling freely without Pinkie Pie even blinking. She continues, her voice breaking, "Your vendetta on taking away our freedom for our security is ridiculous and misplaced. Despite your cupcake intentions, you hurt me DEEPLY with your actions. No one's ever made me hurt this way before." She begins full-on crying as she finishes, "This pain sucks. You broke my trust. You broke my heart. You broke Fluttershy with your words. I'm going to check on her." She gets up and leaves, too, still crying.Twilight is sitting in shock after Pinkie Pie's out-of-character speech. She does not what to say, or even what to feel. She is angry that no one is agreeing with her, since she believes herself to be in the right, both legally and as a friend. She believes she has to save her friends from the temptation the geodes offer and the possibility of legal fallout, since she thinks they do not care enough, and she is mad no one is seeing things her way. She understands that her friends want to use their magic freely, but the risk is much too great. She is also disgusted, but with herself, for the way she has lashed out at her friends. However, she thinks to herself, "I'm right. They're wrong. Even if I'm not right to yell at them, I am right to stop them. I have a civic duty to stop them, and I have to stop them as their friend. It's stupid to risk getting caught. They're all idiots."Applejack puts her hat back on and gets up and leaves, not even looking at Twilight.Rarity has almost completely fallen asleep, but she gets up slowly, grunting as she pushes herself off the couch, and begins walking slowly to the door. When she gets to the door, she leans on it and turns back to Twilight and Sunset, saying to Twilight, "I think all's been said that needs to be said. You're not treating us right. We've taken into consideration your viewpoint. We know you're looking out for us, but you've gone about it poorly. Now, see our viewpoint. It's like Sunset said: you can't argue about ideological issues." In her exhaustion, she reaches around for the doorknob, taking a moment to locate it. She then leaves, too, leaving Twilight behind with Sunset, the only one to not completely abandon Twilight.Twilight hopes that some resolution may be found, but she is not willing to concede breaking the law in any way. She sees it has driven her friends away, but she believes she is right. She has to be... right?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Twilight turns to Sunset, the only one of her friends still left in the cabin. She whispers, "Don't leave me, too."Sunset puts out her arms. "I'm not leaving you," she says calmly as Twilight hugs her tightly. She adds, "Neither are they. It's going to take some time for them and me to get over this, but we'll get past it. I don't think anyone's changing her mind on whether or not you should stop them from using magic."Twilight sniffles as Sunset lets her go. "So, you hate me too, then?""Twilight," Sunset says earnestly, "no one hates you. We may not be your biggest fans right now, but I know that deep down, they still love you. Their... vision is clouded. In all fairness, you have been acting like a meanie lately."Twilight replies, "I haven't meant to. I'm just trying—""To protect us," Sunset interrupts, "I know. You're not doing it the right way. You have to trust them to do the right thing without micromanaging them. If they don't, they'd come to us or any others of the group for help. You're being overly militant about this whole thing."Twilight says, "I know I have you all with me to defeat Midnight Sparkle. I know you're there for me. I've been tempted by magic before. I know how easy it is to get carried away with it, and how hard it is to contain it, both physically and mentally. As easy as it is to fall to magic, I guess it's easy to fall to ego?"Sunset nods with a chuckle. "Yeah," she says. "That'd be it. But you have to remember, every time we overcome Equestrian magic— whether it being a temptation, a threat, or an active danger— we've always done it together, as friends. You've forgotten that. You've become so blinded by what you think is right, that you're not letting others do what they think is right."Twilight does not respond. She sits there, pondering Sunset's words. After a moment, she says, "I didn't think of it like that. But they're not right.""Maybe not," Sunset says, "but it's not like we're talking about murder or anything. I mean, if anyone was trying to kill someone, you should obviously stop that person. But something like this, while I admire you trying to stop them, this is something that I don't think you should try to control, because I think it's kind of trivial, but more importantly, you should trust them.""It's not trivial to me," Twilight mutters."I didn't say it was," Sunset says, "just that I think it is. If we're going to get on the other side of anything magical, even if it's a complete government-mandated lack of magic, we have to do it AS FRIENDS, not just you, acting by yourself, without thinking about other people's feelings."
"Feelings shouldn't matter," Twilight says, "at least not here. Feelings don't matter when it's the law, unless you're establishing motive for something, but that's beside the point. What I mean is, a law's a law. You have to follow it, regardless of how you feel about it. If the others aren't going to follow it, someone has to keep them in line. Looks like I have to, since some of them HAVE been using it illegally. Better me stopping you than the police."
Sunset sighs and puts her hand to her head. She says, "Twilight, you have to decide for yourself if a law like this— which has a temporary nature to it— is worth going on your... I'm just going to say it, your self-righteous, virtue-signaling, maniacal control, meanie binge."Twilight lays back on the coach and groans, "Oh, I've been a jerk. I still don't agree with any of what you all want, but don't let me stop you anymore. I've spent two months stopping you, let that end. Just kick me out of your group. I crashed in on it after the Friendship Games, anyway. I don't belong with you guys. You're all nice, and I'm not. You all want to be free, and I've tried to stop you for so long..."Sunset interjects harshly, "Twilight, don't talk like that. You are absolutely our friend, even if it doesn't feel that way. You belong with us, and we need you just as much as you need us."Nonchalantly, Twilight sighs, "No, you don't. It's like Pinkie said: 'You learn who people are when things aren't awesome.' Just do the break-in without me. I won't tell the cops if you get arrested and I'm questioned by association. I'll just lie and deny everything. I guess denying the friendship might be the only way for you all to be happy."Sunset stands up quickly and yells, "Damn it, Twilight! You're our friend, and the only we'll be happy— that I'LL be happy!— is if we fix this!" Pointing outside, she keeps yelling, "You've pushed them away, but you're going to bring them back, because that's who YOU are, and that's who THEY are! You're NOT leaving this friendship, because YOU'RE! OUR! FRIEND!"Again, Twilight sits in shock. She is beginning to see that peace with her friends is obtainable, and that peace with her friends is more important than trying to be right. She thinks that, even if she is right, and the path the others wish to take is dangerous, she should not hold them back. Obviously, if her friends were to do something really bad like murder, extortion, or something similar, she would break up the friendship if it meant making herself an enemy to something that horrific. However, she thinks that letting them get away with violating the magic ban and skirting the law may be okay, if it means the peace of the friendship is maintained. However, while this MAY be allowable, she still sees the situation as black-and-white, because that is the way it is. She cannot bring herself to actively encourage her friends to break the law, or even sit by and let it happen. Any crime is a crime. While she believes that firmly, she also sees that she needs to repair the friendship, and right now, peace with her friends is more important than trying to stop them from doing something that she has to trust them to do carefully. While she does not trust them, she needs to try, if it means restoring some vestige of the friendship. These thoughts run through her mind rapidly as she circles back to restoring the friendship as what she believes she must do.But the idea of breaking in to a government facility— the UAD-controlled CHS campus— is another law that her friends want to break, even if they want to do it carefully, quietly, and under the radar. She cannot sit back and watch her friends commit an illegal act. She says to Sunset, "I want to fix this, but going after Starring at the facility isn't the right way. If you go through with it, I'm informing the police. I'll find another way to fix the friendship, even if takes me the rest of my life. But we can't keep skirting the law or breaking it. It's both legally and morally reprehensible."Sunset is a little taken aback about how she has told Twilight wholeheartedly that she is her and the others' friend, and Twilight did not agree and flat-out ignored her rant, instead trying to stop her from doing something to help fix the friendship. She can only look back at Twilight with tears in her eyes and ask, "Did you even hear what I just said? You're our friend. You didn't even respond, and now you're trying to control me again."Twilight stands up too, and says solemnly, "Sunset, I didn't mean it like that."Sunset sniffles and wipes the tears from her eyes, but new ones form anyway. "Yeah?" She responds. "Then how did you mean it?"Twilight says, "As your friend, I can't sit back and watch you do something illegal."Sunset replies with a shaky voice that somehow has a little bit of humor in it, "You can't argue with people about ideological differences." She half-smiles at Twilight. "You're doing what you can for us. I'm doing what I can, even if it's not legal. This issue has torn us apart. I want to fix it as fast as possible."Twilight asks, "Are you sure the fastest way is the wisest?"Sunset nods. "If this magic ban is lifted, we can go back to everything being normal again. Tell the police what you will. I'm going to find Starring, find out why we're allowed to exist without question from the all-powerful UAD, and I'm taking anyone who will go with me."Both Twilight and Sunset share the same thoughts on the UAD. The lack of results after two months of research on the magical energy coming from the portal is concerning. It seems like the UAD should have some results by now. Plus, why has the UAD not tried to arrest Applejack, Rarity, or Fluttershy after their blatant use of magic? Did they do it quietly enough to avoid detection, or does the UAD not care? What technology does the UAD have to detect magic use, or how will they enforce the ban if someone were to use magic? Why have none of them been questioned, when the UAD easily has the technology to detect the magical energy inside each and every one of the seven? While they assume this last point based on precedent, Twilight and Sunset believe it to be a fair assumption. They both want to know why none of this makes any sense. Sunset believes that, by looking at Starring's memories, that she could uncover some secret that could somehow lead to getting answers about when the magic ban may be lifted. She thinks that, while it is not the most sense-making path, it is the only path, other than waiting for results that could lead to the ban being lifted.Twilight takes a deep breath, angry that Sunset would go to such a drastic measure as vehemently and intentionally committing the crimes of breaking-and-entering and trespassing. As upset as she is on the inside, she wants to repair the friendship. She is entirely conflicted between: being right for the sake of everyone's safety; or letting her friends do what they want by violating the magic ban under the radar or, in this case, trespassing on a government operation. She sits back down, saying to Sunset, "I don't know what to do. Just... just make a decision without thinking about me. Don't let me influence you. I'll try to accept it." After a moment, she says, "Mm, no, I can't do that. I won't let you risk throwing away your future just to try to find out more about the UAD's lack of action to try to make everyone like me again. It would just be easier if I left, so you don't have to worry about it.""Twilight," Sunset says, her voice still shaky, "that's exactly what I'm trying to prevent. Why can't you see that you're still our friend? If you weren't, we wouldn't be having this conversation."Twilight closes her eyes, trying to stay calm. She says to Sunset, "If I'm your friend, then I'm going to try to stop you from breaking into CHS."Sunset says, "I'm going to. You can join me or not."Twilight mutters, "I'll call the cops and let them know you're coming. Then, you'll be stopped without risking hurting yourself by going in too deep."Sunset does not how to respond. She can either hurt Twilight further by trying to fix the situation, or she could do nothing about the UAD and let the rift in the friendship fester. She knows she has a difficult decision to make.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The conversation is interrupted by a knock at the door. "Hello?" Timber asks from outside.Twilight gets up. "It IS his cabin," she says quietly.Sunset calls, "Come in!" She wipes the tears from her eyes.Timber comes inside on his phone. "There's some pretty bad news from the UAD about magic," he says.Twilight rushes over to Timber and takes his phone. "Oh no, oh no, oh no..." she says under her breath as she reads the words on Timber's phone.Sunset asks, "What is it?"Twilight stares into nothingness, her eyes wide in shock. "The ban is permanent," she whispers."WHAT?!" Sunset reacts. She takes Timber's phone and reads out loud: "'The use of magic and sorcery is hereby permanently banned in Canterlot as operations speed up. We have had a technological breakthrough that will yield us answers about the energy from the monument. This new technology is bringing us scientific data, facts, and figures by the truckload every minute, and the energy from the portal is much more volatile and unpredictable than previously thought. As we decipher the meaning of all this, the use or presence of magic in any way, shape, or form is hereby a felony, to prevent from interfering with magical energy not presently contained by the UAD and to prevent interference with what we now call "excitingly and exceedingly dangerous" work. Glass Starring signing off.'"Timber says, "Feel free to stay at Everfree to avoid detection as long as you need to. Twilight, I know you all have magic inside you. I don't really understand it, but I can understand that you're all literally a 'presence of magic.'"Sunset gives Timber his phone back. "This is unreal," she says with surprise and shock. "Our literal existence is now illegal. You know what we have to do now?"Twilight and Timber look at each other, then at Sunset.Sunset says, "We have to take down the UAD. Twilight, I know how you feel about the law, but I'm not going to live my life as an illegal being."Twilight replies, "What are they going to do if they detect us now? Arrest us? Experiment on us? That would violate about a thousand humanity laws! They wouldn't experiment on us... would they?"Sunset says back frantically, "I'm not going to be an illegal person. If the UAD has the power to officially make magic a felony, what else are they going to make illegal? Food? Water? I'm getting to Starring and I'm finding out what's really going on. We've suspected foul play, and this about proves that he's hiding something. This is way too extreme of an action and a suspicious abuse of power."Twilight says back meekly, "What does the UAD have to gain with lying? Why would they make magic illegal? I mean, Starring said that the magical energy is more dangerous than they thought."Sunset replies with determination, "I have to find out what's really going on, to save this friendship and to save our lives. Timber, do the other girls know?"Timber shakes his head. "You two are the first I've told. Gloriosa is out with some campers. She doesn't know."Suddenly, there is another knock on the door. A voice says, "Mountain police on authority of the UAD!"Sunset and Twilight look at each other.Sunset simply says, "They found us."The door swings open. As Twilight and Sunset both start sweating and becoming tense at the possibility of an arrest, they see a rainbow come dashing into the room, they feel their wrists being grabbed, and they are quickly dragged out— literally dragged across the ground— and taken to the minivan in seconds, where Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are already inside. As they are thrown in the minivan, they can see that they are being thrown in by Rainbow Dash, who must have burst into the cabin, grabbed them, and taken them out. Rainbow Dash tells everyone quickly, "Buckle up!"The five inside the minivan buckle up, with: Twilight behind the driver seat; Sunset behind the passenger seat; Pinkie Pie in the back driver seat behind Twilight; Fluttershy in the middle back; and Rarity in the back passenger seat behind Sunset.Confused, Twilight asks, "Uh, isn't someone supposed to drive?"Sunset asks, "Yeah, and where's Applejack?"Applejack is outside behind the minivan, waiting for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash starts pushing the van, and Applejack pushes Rainbow Dash, and in an instant, the minivan speeds off down the road, away from Everfree.As they zoom down the highway, Sunset asks Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, "Guessing you all saw the headline, too?"Pinkie Pie replies, "Mm-hm! When we saw the cop car pull up, we quickly made this plan. Sorry we didn't have time to tell you, but there wasn't time, and, quite frankly, I don't feel like talking to you right now."Sunset says, "That's fine about there not being time, but what are we going to do now?"Rarity answers, "Oh, that's easy, darling. We're going to go into hiding."Forcefully, Twilight states, "That's no way to spend life, being afraid of tyranny."Fluttershy says shyly to Twilight, "Your tyranny is unbearable, too."Now, Twilight finally connects the dots. As right as she believes herself to be about not letting her friends violate the law whatsoever, she has been UNJUST, UNFAIR, and TYRANNICAL. She micromanaged them with her-twice daily texts. She did not TRUST them to use their magic safely and under the radar going forward. Like a political revolution, she was behaving like a dictator, and her friends are the patriots who simply want freedom and would pay a great cost to get it. She was a dictator, enacting unjust laws on her subjects (even if those laws went unheeded), who are really supposed to be her friends, as equals. It was not about her being a boss, but rather, an empress who delivered strike (twice-daily texts about the magic ban, each one a reminder of how much better she was than everyone else and how she did not trust them to not use their powers) after strike (trying to stop her friends from using their magic, period) after strike (stealing from her friends), each blow more lethal to the friendship than the one before it. She masqueraded as a loving leader, fooling no one but herself. She was UNFAIR, but worse, UNJUST. She never considered herself unjust until Fluttershy compared her to a tyrant. Now, under the tyranny of the UAD, she really understands how she made her friends feel under the tyranny of her micromanagement, distrust, and ultimate theft. She made them feel little. She made them feel worthless. She made them feel illegal, like they did not and should not belong around someone as perfect as her. She was not a loving friend; she was not a mean boss; she was an unjust tyrant.All these thoughts come flooding towards her head, and she starts crying. She cries hard, tears falling from her eyes like rain during a thunderstorm.
"I'm so sorry!" She sobs. "I thought I was saving you, but I was pushing you away!" She cries, each breath only bringing her energy to cry again, and her tears flow freely and endlessly down her cheeks. She is weakened by the immense weight of regret, regretting how poorly she treated and distrusted her friends. She throws her head back on the seat and sobs, embarrassed at how poorly she treated her friends with her tyrannical agenda. She sobs, disgusted with herself for being that way for two months. She sobs, her head thrown back on her headrest. With everyone behind her or next to her, and her vision blurred by her tears, she cannot see anyone. She feels alone and like she does not deserve love from her friends anymore.Rarity and Pinkie Pie look at each other, not knowing how to respond.Fluttershy unbuckles herself, carefully moving up to Sunset's seat. She sits on the edge of it (not in Sunset's way), not facing forward, but facing Twilight. Her voice meekly asks, "Twilight?"Twilight takes a breath and momentarily regains her composure as she turns her head to look at Fluttershy, not lifting her head at all. She feels weak.Fluttershy leans forward and reaches out her hands, grabbing Twilight's. Naturally, Twilight turns toward her (as much as she can while buckled). Fluttershy pulls Twilight's hands in, making Twilight lean toward her. She leans toward Twilight, touching their foreheads together. Fluttershy whispers, "It's okay, Twilight. I can see that you mean it."Twilight tries to nod, but she is so shaky physically, that she cannot tell if she did or not.Still whispering, Fluttershy simply goes, "Shhh. It's okay. You're my friend."Again, Twilight tries to nod. Again, she cannot tell if she did or not.Fluttershy can feel Twilight. She knows Twilight is nodding. She sits back up straight, letting Twilight go as Twilight sits up straight at the same time. As fast as the car is going, she grabs onto Twilight and Sunset's seats and gets up, moving back to the back of the minivan with a little struggle, but sitting back down in the middle back and buckling up again.After a few quiet moments of zooming down the road, Rarity pipes up, saying flatly and monotonically, "Twilight, you did make us feel insignificant, like we were mere people to you. Not like friends." She pauses for a moment, then continues in the same tone of voice, "Tyranny is a good way to put it, but it was not quite tyranny. While we did value your opinion, your evident lack of trust did hurt us for a few weeks there. It was not quite tyranny, since you are not our boss. I'm not sure what the word is to describe 'a tyrant you don't listen to,' but you were that. The caveat is that 'a tyrant you don't listen to' is still a tyrant."While Rarity spoke, Twilight's crying slowed down. Now, she is sitting motionless, dried tears on her face almost reflecting any sunlight passing into the car. She is no longer crying. She only breathes. She says to Rarity without much emotion in her voice, "I know. I'm sorry." She is emotionally drained.Rarity knows that Twilight's plain "I'm sorry" stood for many more words than were actually said. She knows that Twilight is sorry for everything.Pinkie Pie can tell, too. She does not say a word as the group hurries down the highway.The sound of Sunset speaking breaks the whooshing sound of air passing a fast car. She asks the three in the back, "Where exactly are we going to hide?"Rarity wonders out loud, "Oh, how do I put this? We're hiding in the only place this world's, um, magical-energy-detectors can't find us."Sunset repeats, "'This world?'"Twilight groans quietly. She knows where they are going.Sunset reasons, "They could find us in 'this world.' They can't find us in... another... world. Equestria. We're going straight to the portal, aren't we?"Rarity answers, "Well, you do have a sort of home-field advantage there."Sunset sighs, slumping in her seat. She cannot think of a better idea other than turning themselves in, but if the UAD is making the magic ban permanent, what other crazy things will they do? Human experimentation? Sunset knows the only place they have a chance of being safe now is by going through the portal. She and the others may have to fight later, but at least they will be safe enough to plan a defense.The group is finally going to the portal, but not for the original reason of trying to find out from Starring's memories that foul play is at hand.The group is finally going to the portal, but to use it.The group is leaving Canterlot.The group is trying to go to Equestria.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Within minutes, Rainbow Dash and Applejack have pushed the minivan all the way into Canterlot and through the city, out to the suburbs where Canterlot High School is. They stop a few houses away from the government fence, which encompasses the entire CHS campus and streets around the school, but none of the surrounding housing. With the pressing need to escape Canterlot to avoid being apprehended for literally being presences of magic (separate from their powers), no one is worried about prior arguments. Everyone is focused on survival. Despite the dispute with Twilight, the group has put any ill feelings to the side, for the sake of preservation, unintentionally and unconsciously remembering that they are friends first.Once the minivan is stopped, Rainbow Dash and Applejack quickly get into the front of the car and close the doors. Rainbow Dash, who is in the driver's seat, asks, "So, what's the plan from here?"Sunset responds with confused frustration, "You don't have a plan?"Sitting in the passenger seat, Applejack chuckles. She says, "Well, we know we want to get to Equestria, so we're not arrested for existing. Now that presences of magic are permanently banned, it's not just use of magic that's illegal."Rainbow Dash sits on her knees and turns around, looking over the driver seat. She sees Twilight look up at her with pain and regret in her eyes, her cheeks almost glowing with a thin layer of dried tears on them. Rainbow Dash asks, "Are you alright?"Sunset turns to Twilight. She says, "Twilight, I know how you feel about everything and everyone right now, but we could really use your help with coming up with a plan to get through the portal."Twilight nods, sitting up straight. With a weak, quiet voice, she says, "I now know the difference between being a leader and being a tyrant. Tyrants don't trust the people around them." She looks around at her friends. In the same tone of voice, she says, "The place is surrounded by a twelve-foot chain link fence. We can go over it, under it, through it, or find a guarded gate. The last option is a bad idea."Rarity puts up her hand a little. She says, "I can use my diamonds to make... how should I describe this... floating stepping stones for us to get over the fence?"Twilight nods, smiling a small smile at Rarity. She continues, "We're going to have to move fast to get to the portal. We'll use the vans and temporary buildings to keep ourselves hidden. We'll go from van to van and building to building. Whatever you do, stay hidden."Sunset adds, "Other than using Rarity's powers to get in, nobody use magic unless you absolutely have to use it to get away from someone who's going to hurt you. If any guards or security see us using magic, who knows what they'll do?"Fluttershy says, "Good point, Sunset. No powers unless we absolutely have to."Sounding less weak and more confident, Twilight says, "We have to go, now. If they dispatched mountain police that quickly to find us earlier, there's no way they don't know already know we're here. Last thing: we're going to have to split up. It's going to be easier to move as groups of two or three, instead of as seven. To make it simple, stick with your roomies once we're inside the fence."Rainbow Dash speaks up, asking, "This is probably a bad time to ask because of the time crunch, but why can't we just drive the van through the fence or have me take people straight to the portal?"Twilight answers, "No van because it's too visible, so we'd be taken down quickly."Sunset answers the other question, saying, "You can't take people because you leave a trail of rainbow behind you. You'd be pretty quickly outed as magical.""Hold on," Applejack interrupts, "what if the UAD's been messin' with the portal? How do we know it's even open?"Twilight responds, "Would you rather spend time in a jail cell for nothing, or spend time in a jail cell for trying? Now, is everyone clear on the plan?"Everybody makes their agreement and understanding known.Without even taking the time to look at each other, knowing that the UAD and local authorities are probably aware of their magical presence by now, the seven rush out of the van, not even taking the time to shut the doors behind them. They sprint for the fence, where they can see through the chain links that there are no guards on the other side waiting for them but rather, there are several vans and temporary buildings. As they get closer, Rarity casts out diamonds to use as steps. The group reaches the fence and jumps up the diamonds and over the fence, with Rarity providing steps down, too. The vans and temporary buildings provide them with cover for the moment, with one van especially close to them being a shield, as each group breaks into their separate roommate groups.Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie sneak up to the left, up to a van, moving slowly and cautiously, looking around in all directions. They move around the van and, once on the other side of the van, they see a man in a suit and tie standing right in front of them, looking straight down at his phone in one hand as he holds a can of soda with his other hand. Quickly, they duck back behind the van.Rainbow Dash whispers frantically, "What are we going to do? Double back?"Pinkie Pie gets some sprinkles out of her pocket and starts shaking her fist. She whispers back, "Leave this to me!""Pinkie, don't!" Rainbow Dash responds quietly, putting her hands over Pinkie Pie's fist. "No magic!"Pinkie Pie replies, "Fine, want to double back?"Rainbow Dash nods, and the two start heading back to first van when they see another man in a suit and tie at the group's original starting area. With a van on one side, the fence on the other and a man in a suit both ahead and behind them, they are trapped. Pinkie Pie grins at Rainbow Dash, excited at what she believes she has to do. Rainbow Dash sighs and nods. She whispers, "Get ready to run."Pinkie Pie throws her sprinkles outside the fence. The explosion gets the attention of both men in the area, who turn to look at it. One of them starts talking into a walkie-talkie as Rainbow Dash grabs Pinkie Pie's hand and drags her quickly up past the man with the phone and soda, who is looking in the other direction at the explosion, and up to the side of a temporary building. Seeing that they are by a window, Rainbow Dash peeks inside and sees that there is no inside the temporary building. Again, she grabs Pinkie Pie's hand and pulls her into the building, shutting the door behind them and ducking down. She says to Pinkie Pie, "Get down!"Pinkie Pie gets down on her hands and knees. "Is it because of the windows?" She asks.Rainbow Dash nods. She goes over to one of the windows and gets just high enough to look out. She says to Pinkie Pie, "I see it. I see the portal, or at least where it's supposed to be. It's surrounded by giant wooden boards, like it's in a wooden room. Made out of wood."Pinkie Pie replies, "Rainbow Dash, I HAVE to use my power."Rainbow Dash says, "Only if we're in danger like what happened just now."Pinkie Pie scoffs. "Uh, hello? We just broke onto government property. I don't think we have anything left to lose. Besides, how are we going to get past the wooden boards?"Rainbow Dash bobs her head side to side a couple times, thinking. She responds, "Good point. We're going to have to hurry, though. I'll take you up there, you explode it, then I take us both through the portal."Pinkie Pie asks, "But what about the others? We don't want to draw attention to the fact that there's magical people at this facility. If we do that, will the others even have time to get there?""I don't know," Rainbow Dash replies. "Let's wait here for a moment and see if they get close. I wish we had more time for this. Did Twilight try planning any of this infiltration in the car?"Pinkie Pie chuckles. "I guess she IS our leader. But no, she didn't. She just cried.""That's all?" Rainbow Dash reacts. "Here we are, literally magic beings who could get ARRESTED just for BEING magic beings, and she's crying?"Pinkie Pie explains, "You weren't there, but she was sorry. Like, REALLY sorry. She knows she was a big meanie."Rainbow Dash shakes her head. "There's no time for any of this," she says. "The ten seconds were long enough. We have to get to that portal ASAP. How long until they look in here for us?""I think we should wait just a teensy bit longer," Pinkie Pie states. "We can't let them know there's magical beings running around. Every second matters.""Screw that!" Rainbow Dash responds. "The mountain police found us within, like, five minutes of the permanent ban being announced. They definitely know we're in here, as in, us specifically. We're getting that portal open. You have two seconds to get those sprinkles ready. One..."Before Pinkie Pie can respond, Rainbow Dash grabs her hand and drags her out of the temporary building, charging straight for the wooden boards surrounding the portal.Pinkie Pie, being dragged and seeing that it would be futile and stupid to NOT try to bust through the wood and get to the portal, throws her sprinkles ahead, causing a small explosion that destroys some of the wood. She and Rainbow Dash can see the portal clearly now, as well as various equipment that they do not know the purpose for. Additionally, right in front of the portal, there are five men in suits, standing and talking.As Rainbow Dash charges for the portal entrance to go through, she feels a sudden pain in her left shoulder that makes her fall down immediately. Since she was holding Pinkie Pie's hand, she brings Pinkie Pie down with her as she cries out in pain.The men in the suits see what happened and they walk toward the downed Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. As Rainbow Dash grabs her left shoulder with her right hand, shutting her eyes tight and breathing through clenched teeth in pain, Pinkie Pie gets sprinkles ready and puts up her hand to thrown them. She says, "Back away! I WILL use these!"The men in suits all grab pistols from inside their suit jackets, pointing all of them at Pinkie Pie.Pinkie Pie slowly lowers her hand. Then, suddenly, she underhand-throws the sprinkles at the men, causing a small explosion as the sprinkles hit them. She grabs Rainbow Dash and starts dragging her to the portal.One of the men recovers from the sprinkle explosion and sees Pinkie Pie on the other side of the sugary dust cloud in front of him. Again, he raises his pistol, pointing it right at Pinkie Pie, who stops in her tracks. In a raised voice but not quite yelling, he commands, "Don't move! Hands where I can see them!"Rainbow Dash, still clutching her shoulder, groans in pain, "Pinkie, just... just give up." She groans again.Pinkie Pie looks down at Rainbow Dash, then up at the man pointing a pistol at her. She slowly puts up her hands, letting go of Rainbow Dash as an expression of fear comes over her face. She whispers to Rainbow Dash, "I'm sorry."Rainbow Dash groans, "Don't be sorry. Just don't get shot." She rolls a bit on the ground, rolling just a little onto her left shoulder, which hurts her even more. She cries out in her pain, "Being shot sucks!"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
While Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were sneaking around, the CC roommates— Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy— snuck around the perimeter of the chain link fence encircling CHS and into the actual school through the back door, hoping to find a direct path straight to the portal.Inside the halls of CHS, no lights are on. Daylight shines through windows where windows are present, but other than that, the trio is left in darkness. To light the way, they are using the flashlights on their phones, but those still do not provide much light. They hear a faint popping sound, almost like a gunshot, but it is muted enough by being inside the school, that they consider it just a random noise.Fluttershy moves her flashlight all around, looking at everything apprehensively. "This is so scary," she says nervously. "It's so strange seeing these lockers and halls not used. We just graduated from here."Applejack shivers. "I'll say," she agrees. "This place used to be a party when we were here. Now, it's like it's haunted. Look around— it's so dark, you can't."Rarity points out, "We did become the popular girls after junior year's fall formal after we saved the school from Sunset. We really have come far since then."Applejack asks, "Speaking of coming far, how far did y'all come from Twilight's debacle over letting us magic? I wasn't part of whatever conversation y'all had, but it did look like Twilight had been cryin'."Rarity and Fluttershy glance at each other, then go back to keeping their eyes on the halls around them.Rarity answers Applejack, "Well, Twilight did have a little..."Fluttershy interrupts to finish, "Total and complete meltdown?"Rarity says quickly, "Yes, that's a good way to put it.""Meltdown?!" Applejack reacts with surprise. She rants, "Why's SHE the one meltin' down? She's the one who's been a control freak and nothin' short of annoyin' about this whole thing! I'm not bowin' down to her royal highness's magic reservations."Fluttershy says meekly, "That's the thing."Rarity explains, "Twilight realized how she had treated us and, well... she didn't like it."Applejack shrugs. "Fair enough, but was she cryin' 'cause she didn't like how it felt or 'cause she was guilty or what?"Rarity replies, "Some of this, some of that. I couldn't quite tell all of what she was crying about, but she meant it, and the point is, she really is sorry for the way she acted. By the way, Fluttershy, what was it you told her in the van, when you sat by her?"Fluttershy half-smiles at herself. She says, "You don't need to know."Rarity concedes, "I suppose not." She sees a faint blue light around the corner of the hall up ahead. "I do want to know what that light is all about, though."Applejack says with apprehension, "That's not daylight. Doesn't look natural. We can either head back and take another hall or check out this one."Rarity says fearlessly, "I want to check this out. Anything we uncover could be important."Fluttershy whispers harshly, "Whisper! You're being too loud. If someone's around that corner and finds us..."Applejack whispers, "I'm with Rarity on this one. Whatever we could find about the UAD around the corner is worth the risk if it gets to provin' that somethin's up. They didn't come after us till after the ban, and they found us pretty doggone quick. They knew where we were, or how to find us quickly. They're probably comin' after us right now. What do we have to lose?"Fluttershy whispers, "Everything."Rarity scoffs. "Enough time wasted!" She says quietly. "There isn't anything to lose. I'm checking it out, we don't have time, and you two can come or not." She turns off her flashlight.Applejack says, "I'm comin', too," and she turns off her flashlight.Not wanting to be left alone in the dark in hostile territory, Fluttershy turns off her flashlight, saying, "I guess I'm coming, too."The trio steps quietly toward the corner, sticking close to the lockers mounted on the wall to avoid detection. The faint light gets brighter the closer they get to it. When they get to the corner, they stop and peek around to see what is providing the light. They see desks in the hallway, piled with various complicated equipment they have never seen. The desks are all manned by a total of eight men and women in lab coats. The source of the light is coming from a desk placed in the middle of the hall, on which rests a large metallic piece of equipment, the size of a five-gallon bucket. A small window in the side of this cylindrical metallic object, only about three inches long and three inches wide, provides a glow of blue light. After a few seconds of shining, the light goes away.With the light going away, fearing a change in the status quo to be dangerous, the trio ducks behind the corner again, out of sight in the dark hall. They hear one of the men in lab coats say, "Test 17-B complete. Conversion process unsuccessful. Unstable particles not fully completing full conversion process."Rarity whispers to Applejack and Fluttershy, "Is it the truth? Is the UAD really testing something dangerous?"Applejack whispers back, "You heard what that man said. 'Unstable particles.' That means that Starring was tellin' the truth!"Fluttershy whispers, "Now that we know that the testing actually is dangerous, and the UAD's not lying, us being here could be really, really, REALLY dangerous."Rarity gasps quietly. "You're right. We have to get out of here."The trio gets up and turns on their phone flashlights, running back down the hall in the direction they came.As they run, Rarity wonders out loud between breaths, "If they have vans and buildings, why are they conducting research in the school?"Applejack responds, "Seems like a Sunset type of problem!"As the trio turns a corner, they are suddenly blinded by a bright white light. A deep voice tells them, "Because the vans and buildings are occupied for other purposes."The light is dimmed, and the trio looks up to see five men in suits standing in front of them.To try to escape, Rarity makes a giant diamond and tries to throw it at the men. As the diamond moves through the air almost in slow motion, the men get pistols out from inside their suit pockets. Seeing the men reach inside their suit pockets, Applejack quickly grabs the diamond in mid air, setting it down gently.The same voice from a moment ago, coming from one of the men, asks the trio, "Do you girls have any idea how many laws you're breaking by being here?"Another one of the men says, "Either you come with us or you run away, straight to that testing area, where we have armed lab technicians ready to take you into custody."Rarity repeats, "Testing... area?"Applejack whispers, "Testing..."Fluttershy whispers back to Applejack, finishing her thought, "...not research."The first man tells the trio, "Turn around and put your hands where I can see them. All three of you are under arrest."
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As Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie tried to go around vans and buildings while Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy went around and through the school, Twilight and Sunset did the same thing that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie did, but going in another direction.As they break off from the main group after getting over the fence, Twilight whispers to Sunset, "I don't like this. You know how I feel about breaking and entering."Sunset whispers back as she and Twilight move behind a van, "You agreed to do this. We haven't gone far. If you want to go back, now's the time." She dashes ahead to hide by another van, running quickly through the open space.Twilight whimpers as she looks back at the chain link fence. Escape is that close. A path out is right there. However, now that she is on CHS grounds, she cannot abandon Sunset. She says to herself, "I never wanted to do this." She runs after Sunset to the other van.Sunset peeks around the corner of the van. There is a temporary building a few feet away, with nothing but grass between it and her. However, it being an open space, she moves with speed, quickly leaving the cover of the van to duck behind the building, looking around all the while to ensure no one sees her. Now behind the building, she moves along the wall to the other side of it. Once at the other corner, she glances around the corner and sees the area the portal should be, surrounded by wooden boards in a makeshift wooden room. She whispers to Twilight, "The portal's in there. We've almost made it. I just hope the others are doing as well as we are."No response.Sunset looks beside her, but Twilight is not there. She whispers loudly, "Twilight? Where are you?" She looks all around without moving from her position behind the temporary building, but she cannot see anyone, let alone Twilight. As she looks back by the van she was just behind, she sees the van shake a little. Fearing the worst, she charges back to the van and finds that the sliding doors on the side are open. She looks inside, afraid that security or a UAD employee will see her, but hoping she could touch the wrist of whoever is inside the van in an effort to learn how Twilight disappeared.Fortunately, inside the van, the only person is Twilight.Sunset breathes a sigh of relief. She asks Twilight with concern, "What are you doing in here? We don't have time for this!"Twilight's back is turned. She is looking at some tablets left on a desk inside the van. She says to Sunset without turning, "These vans are so useful for learning, but that's not what's going on here."Sunset says frantically, "We have no cover here, either get out or I'm getting in!" Not wanting to be spotted, Sunset gets in the van and shuts the door behind her.Inside the van, there is no seating in the back. Instead, there is a desk along one side of the van. In the back of the van, there are shelves for various electronic and scientific devices. Where Sunset is, just barely having stepped foot in the van, there is empty space for people to stand.Twilight is still looking at the tablets. She says to Sunset, "There has to be at least a dozen other vans and temporary buildings here, but if they're anything like this one, it proves that we've been tracked this whole time.""I knew it!" Sunset reacts.Twilight goes on, "These tablets are all for tracking magic. Look—" she picks up a tablet and shows it to Sunset— "this one has a readout of CHS property. These green blurbs are us. All these tablets are tracking magic."Sunset looks at the other tablets. "Not just our magic," she says, picking one up to look at it closer. "This one's showing the city. There's green blurbs all over the place! It HAS to be Equestrian magic running unchecked throughout the region."Twilight theorizes, "Or, it could be other magical beings. Either way, they're tracking magic, and they've been tracking us not only since the magic ban went into place, but since the fall formal you told me about where you turned into a monster.""WHAT?" Sunset reacts in shock.Twilight says, "I looked at the tablet's history. They've been using these for about two years, tracking all kinds of magic, though I suppose some of these could just be strange or rare natural reactions occurring in nature or as a byproduct of the industrial age in which we live.""Slow down," Sunset says with fright. "I've been tracked for TWO YEARS? How'd you find out?""Tablet search history," Twilight says.Suddenly, a loud popping noise stops the conversation, making Twilight and Sunset both look up from their tablets.Twilight looks at Sunset, concerned. She asks, "Was that a...?"As Sunset opens the door to the van, she says, "Gunshot." She gets out of the van and sprints in the direction she heard the gunshot, fearing the absolute worst. She sprints, not worried about being spotted by security or an employee, because the only reason to use a gunshot, she thinks, would be if there was an intruder.As she rounds the corner of a temporary building, she sees Rainbow Dash groaning and writhing on the ground fifty feet away from her, with Pinkie Pie holding her hands up with a pistol pointed at her. As a reaction to the horrifying scene in front of her and thinking to divert attention, Sunset shouts, "Rainbow Dash! NO!"The man with the pistol looks up at Sunset Shimmer as Twilight runs up behind her. Twilight gasps when she sees Rainbow Dash on the ground.Having heard Sunset, Rainbow Dash rolls over and to look behind her. She sees Sunset and Twilight, standing there in shock. As she rolls over, she grunts, "I'm fine... just a little gunshot."Suddenly, the doors to the front of the school swing open. Being led out by an entourage of five men in suits with pistols, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy come out, all with their hands cuffed behind them. Upon seeing Rainbow Dash on the ground, Rarity gasps. Fluttershy's eyes fill with tears, more out of fear than anything else. Applejack is completely unfazed by the idea that Rainbow Dash was shot, but seeing Rainbow Dash on the ground in pain makes her feel a lump in her throat.Meanwhile, the other men— at whom Pinkie Pie threw a sprinkle bomb— recover from the sugar dust and point their pistols ahead at Sunset and Twilight. One of them shouts, "Hands where I can see them!"As Sunset and Twilight begin to put their hands up, a man's voice from near the portal commands, "Hold everything as it is!"From behind some wood by the portal, a man walks out, immediately recognized by the entirety of the main group.Sunset declares, "Glass Starring. This all goes up to you!"None of the men move their guns. One keeps his pointed at Pinkie Pie, four keep theirs pointed at Twilight and Sunset at fifty feet, and the men with Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy keep theirs ready, but not pointed at anyone.Rainbow Dash tries to get up, getting onto her hands and knees, but collapsing with a cry of pain as her left shoulder cannot support her weight with an open bullet wound. Starring walks by her, saying with a quiet yet commanding voice, "Don't get up. Stay on the ground if you know what's good for you."Rainbow Dash looks up at Starring with a scowl, unable to tell if Starring's words were meant to be advice or a threat. She rolls over onto her back, staring up at the late morning sky overhead and listening closely for anything that anyone says or does.Starring walks out. Each one of his steps hits the grass like a bomb. No one moves. No one says anything. The only sound is Rainbow Dash's heavy breathing as she lies there, wounded. Starring steps halfway between where Rainbow Dash lies on the ground and where Sunset is standing with Twilight. He looks around at every one of the seven college students, not saying anything, but judging with his looks. In a tone of quietness and strength, he asks, "How did you get in here? Magic? Cleverness?"None of the group responds. All are too afraid to speak, fearful that saying the wrong thing could lead to severe consequences when there are men with guns and a powerful commander against them.Starring clears his throat and speaks up. "Maybe I didn't ask clearly enough," he says. More loudly, he asks, "How did you get in here? Answer me, or there will be consequences."Scared of whatever consequences Starring is referring to, Sunset speaks up. She says boldly, "Your guard, your security— it sucks. It was easy to get in here. Might want to fix that for the next time you take the school grounds hostage."Starring chuckles. "An attitude, huh?" He reacts, walking over to Sunset. "Let's see if this attitude gets you in trouble or out of trouble. Now, answer this question: why are you here?" He is now right in front of Sunset to intimidate her, confident that, should anything happen, his security detail has his back. He asks, "Are you here to steal something?"Sunset realizes that this is her opportunity. All she has to do is touch Starring, and, in a moment, she would know everything about the UAD and the suspicious magic ban. She could know why her and her friends were being tracked for around two years. She could know why they were allowed to exist, with the UAD knowing that there were magical beings out there during the ban. She could learn if Starring's permanent ban on magic is because of the magical energy from the crack in the portal being dangerous (what was publicly released) or if there was another reason, because not banning magic indefinitely in the first place raises a red flag.However, if she tries to touch Starring, what will he do to her? He is wearing a suit; does he have a gun, knife, or other weapon he might pull out on her? Will he have her arrested? Would he find a way to hurt one of her friends?As these thoughts go through her mind in a second, Starring tells Sunset, "I said, 'Answer me, or there will be consequences.'"He turns around and walks back in the direction of Rainbow Dash, who is still lying on the ground.Sunset feels her heart drop. The moment to learn the truth is gone.Starring stands next to Rainbow Dash on her left side, looking down at her as she defiantly looks back up at him.Rainbow Dash taunts Starring, "Do your worst, you government pig!"With Rainbow Dash on the ground right next to her, Pinkie Pie says to Starring with a trembling voice, "Don't do anything to her."Starring looks Pinkie Pie right in the eyes as he says, "If I didn't enforce consequences, I'd have no power." Still staring Pinkie Pie in the eye and not breaking eye contact, he kicks Rainbow Dash's shoulder, right on the bullet wound.Rainbow Dash cries out in pain, again gripping her wound with her right hand as blood comes out of the wound and between her fingers.Starring roars, "Why are you here?! You magical beings, infiltrating my base!"As Starring shouts and rambles on, Twilight thinks to herself that there is no reason to be this upset about infiltration on a government research project. It seems exceedingly extreme to shoot Rainbow Dash and literally kick her in the wound. She thinks that there is more than meets the eye, but what? Why have they been tracked for so long? Ultimately, she whispers to Sunset, "This is extreme. Do whatever it takes to get to his memories. None of this is right."Sunset nods as she shouts at Starring, "Government pig! You're as disgusting as the kick you just did!"Starring turns suddenly to Sunset. He chuckles and grins, saying, "The attitude girl talks again, eh? You think you can stand up to me? I have ten men with guns here now and twenty more on standby. What do you have, the magic of friendship or something?"Sunset clenches her fists and charges at full speed right at Starring. She hears a loud pop and she falls to the ground suddenly.The rest of the group screams in horror as they watch Sunset get shot and fall. They scream as tears come to their eyes.Starring says to the men in suits, "Cuff the ones you haven't. Be careful with injured ones. Take them to the other facility."A few seconds later, Sunset opens her eyes. She is laying on the ground on her back, like Rainbow Dash. The bright sun overhead makes her bring her hand to her eyes as she keeps blinking. Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain in her right leg. The pain goes from sharp to unbearable in less than a second. She groans loudly, knowing what just happened as she tries to sit up. Then, the brightness of the sun is blocked by the figure of a man looming over her. She gives up trying to sit up, the pain in her leg too much to overcome as she grunts with each breath, each breath as fast as it is deep. She looks up at the man over her and sees that it is Starring.Starring shakes his head. He says, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don't mess with the UAD, attitude girl. The good news is, you're not going to jail. My people will take good care of you."With a grunt of exertion, Sunset finds the strength to put her hands on the ground, push herself up, and let go of the ground as she reaches out her hands and grabs Starring's wrist. For a fraction of a second, she has his wrist in her hands. With one yank, Starring pulls away from her, sending her back to the ground as she cries in pain.A fraction of a second is all she needed to learn the truth.
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It only took a millisecond of touching Starring's wrist. Sunset knows the truth about the UAD.Two years ago, after Sunset's demon incident at the Fall Formal, the regional government convened to discuss what to do about the matter.Several ideas were considered. A ban on magic was among them. One idea was the buildup of a new government unit called the Unusual Activities Division, proposed by scientific expert Glass Starring.Starring was an expert in the field of biochemistry, making a name for himself in the science community and winning several national awards for his discoveries. However, his passion for science was not limited to biochemistry— he knew a lot about everything. After the incident at the Fall Formal, he became interested in why a student became a demon.His expertise landed him a spot on the governmental convening to discuss what to do about the situation. As an expert, he proposed a new governmental branch: the UAD.Unfortunately for Starring, his idea was quickly struck down as too logistically complicated and time-consuming to put together.The government settled on the idea of keeping an eye on any strange or bizarre happenstances that COULD be magic and would reconvene on a case-by-case basis.The Fall Formal sparked Starring's intrigue in magic. He became obsessed. He read every book about contemporary magic, sorcery, and wizardry. He met with local and international experts on unusual phenomena to try to obtain an explanation for what happened at the Fall Formal. However, he could not find any answers that fully confirmed what happened. He could not even tell what was fact, fiction, or theory.As magic became more frequently occurring, Starring's interest in it grew. After the Dazzlings were expelled from CHS, he located them and tried to ask them about their magic, but they would not tell him anything. Principal Cinch of Crystal Prep kept her mouth shut about what happened at the Friendship Games.With no one talking about the actual magic, and bystanders and onlookers not knowing enough or being close enough to any publicly-used magic, Starring decided to go the source of the magic to find out for himself what was going on. He went to CHS to study the school, with permission from Principal Celestia and the lie that he was conducting biochemical research on: The effects of microscopic bacteria and germs brought from different sources outside the school, onto school grounds, and how those bacteria interact with each other.While conducting his research, he discovered the crack on top of the portal (which, of course, he did not know was a portal, believing it to be simply a monument). From the crack, air slowly flowed out— air colored like a faint, dull rainbow. After a few days of tooling, Starring built a device to trap the air to study it.After a month of studying, he found that the air was composed mostly of normal substances found in air, but a few small parts of the sample were of an element not found on the periodic table. Confused, Starring wanted to study these particles more closely. However, being one man in the field of science, he did not make much money. He needed a donor to fund his studies as he bought equipment, outsourced research to other experts, and possibly quit his actual job to focus his time solely on studying this air, which he is now obsessed with and believes to be tied to the unexplained magical phenomena that have happened.He spent weeks researching magical occurrences and interviewing witnesses, weeks away from his normal professional research and work that makes him money. These efforts started after the Fall Formal and continued on through the Battle of the Bands and the Friendship Games. He spent time, money, and effort on making a device to entrap the substance coming from the portal. He spent weeks studying the air from the portal, only to run into dead ends about the unknown composition of the air. After about cumulatively six months of work (now in April), his obsession had gone to full-blown mania. Wanting to learn about the air from the portal and its unnatural elemental makeup, he decided to quit his job and abandon his other scientific research to pursue study of the magical energy full-time. To do this, he needed a team of people more specialized in scientific equipment, elements, chemistry, and otherworldly materials. To find such people, he needed money.He pitched his idea to dozens of investors, all turning him down and laughing in his face at the idea of magic. For weeks, he tried to pitch his vision: scientific breakthrough. However, investors were only interested in one thing: money. After several months of pitching to prospective investors while losing money without having a job, Starring decided he needed a new vision. Instead of selling the idea of achieving a scientific breakthrough, he sold the idea of profits to investors.The prospect of big bucks certainly caught the eye of investors, but none would partner with Starring. None, that is, until Filthy Rich came along. Rich saw Starring's vision of a scientific breakthrough and was immediately intrigued. However, he wanted to guarantee that he could make money from financially backing Starring. So, he proposed an offer to Starring: a small sum of cash would be paid to Starring to start his research. If Starring could prove that there was a way to make money off of magical air, he would back Starring with all the money he needed.Starring accepted the offer and went to work assembling a team of technological, chemical, and unnatural geniuses. Together, they built equipment to safely capture the air from the portal, study it meticulously, and yield all kinds of information and results. After weeks of practice, trial-and-error, and hard work, Starring's team could not figure out what the air from the portal was made of. However, they studied its properties and discovered what it could do: it could be refined into energy. Starring dubbed the substance "magical energy." However, it was not energy yet; it needed to be refined, altered, and processed into a material that could be used as energy, and the nature of the magical energy was such that it would take a long time to carry out that process. Additionally, vast amounts of magical energy only yielded a very small amount of usable energy; it would take several days' worth of harvesting magical air to produce enough energy to power a light bulb. Fortunately, the energy from the portal could be harvested nonstop, as it kept coming at a steady rate without signs of slowing down. To harvest the energy, he built a device similar to the one Twilight used to steal energy; the difference is that Starring had complete control of his device (after a few tests and tweaks to ensure proper operation) and his device could store more energy than Twilight's could. He harvested the energy when he had opportunities to do so, which was not often on frequent school days and weekends.Starring told Rich about his plan to turn the magical energy into usable energy.Rich, seeing the potential to make millions of dollars in the energy industry, promised Starring his full financial backing for as long as Starring operated, so long as they split any profits made.However, Starring needed security to ensure his work could be conducted quietly without question. He needed a way to carry out his research legally on CHS grounds to continue to harvest the magical energy. He wanted to gain legitimacy in the scientific community with his work. He decided he needed to get to organized as his team kept researching.He went back to the same government that shut him down and he proposed his idea to become an official organization with all the security, cover, and legitimacy he desired: the Unusual Activities Division could study the magical energy coming from the portal, as that could possibly be the source of the magic. He showed his own research to the government: the research that showed the air from the portal had an unknown substance in it. That is all Starring told the government, because he feared that if they knew about his cash-grabbing intentions and his backing from Rich, that they would not allow him to become an official government organization with all the protections that come with it. This proposal led to questioning from the government and several interviews and investigations that took weeks to complete. Weeks became months, which became a full year.Finally, after a thorough and detailed examination of Starring, and after conducting some of their own research on the air from the portal and not getting any further than Starring did, the government agreed to let Starring continue his research as a branch of the government with all the protections, cover, and legitimacy he desired. Additionally, by being a branch of the government, the UAD could take over CHS property to conduct his research.However, Starring lied to the government about conducting research. From the moment that vans and temporary buildings showed up on CHS grounds, the UAD was harvesting energy from the portal. Research was still being conducted, but that was not the main point of the operation. For Starring, the main goal was to turn the magical energy into usable energy to sell and make money while gaining legitimacy and personal pride as a groundbreaker in the scientific community in the field of otherworldly nature. By making money and splitting the profits with Rich, he could ensure the continued financial backing of his operation.Before and during the year in which the government was examining Starring, Starring's team kept carrying on research and turning the large amounts of magical energy into trace amounts of usable energy. The team worked on technology that improved the purification process of energy conversion (magical to usable), which led to a quicker, more efficient process, letting them process higher amounts of magical energy in shorter amounts of time. Some days, they would sit idle and do nothing while waiting for magical energy to be harvested by their equipment. By being close to the portal on CHS property, magical energy could be harvested completely nonstop, around the clock.All the while, Starring maintained a public facade of research on a fascinating substance coming from the portal, lying to the world that the research was simply taking time and results were slow to come, if coming it all. This is the same report he gave to the regional government when asked for an update.As the UAD began official operations, Starring decided magic had to be temporarily banned while he conducted his research (or, more accurately and truthfully, was harvested magical energy and converted it to usable energy). By banning magic, he could use his team to detect any magical occurrences that happened anywhere in the region, because no one would blatantly use magic if it were illegal. Their combined intellect, know-how, and knowledge about the work at hand was more than Twilight's was when she was at Crystal Prep; the UAD came up with magical energy detection devices within a couple days. These devices could detect the exact location of magical energy or outbursts, in the same fashion that Twilight could. By knowing exactly when and where magical occurrences happened, Starring could keep an eye out for any more unusual Equestrian magic (he had not discovered Equestria or knew that the energy was actually from another world).These tools discovered the main group very quickly. UAD spies (the spies being provided by the government) were dispatched to keep an eye on the group, sent with devices to detect magic. The spies quickly discovered the magic in each member of the main group, and some spies even saw Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy use magical powers. They learned that there is a difference between being magic (having magic in oneself) and actually using magical powers (the purposeful act of using magic, rather than being magic). Not concerned with the low level of magic actually used and accepting the fact that the magic was inside the main group members, Starring decided that the situation was not serious enough to warrant any action to be taken against the main group by the UAD. Rather, spies would continue to monitor the group.After two months of research (which was really energy collection and conversion while refining those processes), a technological breakthrough by Starring's team let them turn the magical energy into usable energy at a much faster rate than before. This meant that he and Rich could sell the usable energy much sooner than anticipated. In preparation of the launch of the new energy, Starring had magic banned indefinitely, so that people using the new energy would not be confused with people using magic by the UAD. The magical energy from the portal, even when converted into usable energy, had a magical footprint that was detected by magic detectors. So, any magic detector could read that people using the energy would be in the presence of magic. To separate magical energy users from actual magic beings and magic users, Starring made the ban indefinite to keep the groups separate. This way, anyone who newly started using magical energy would not be considered to be someone using magic. If someone WAS discovered using magic, Starring could dispatch a team to examine the magic usage as a part of his continued obsession with magic.By making a plan to track where exactly his usable energy was being sold and taken by customers by tracking the usable energy's magical footprint, Starring ensured energy users and magic users could be separated by his tracking equipment, because unplanned magic users would not be already tracked when their magic would be detected by any of the UAD's equipment. Such magic use would be a new occurrence, as opposed to the known and already-tracked presence of the usable energy being sold.Additionally, Starring could secure his business by guaranteeing a monopoly on magic. No one could try to copy his research, if there was any other magic out there.In short, the ban let Starring track magic and monitor potential competition, securing his opportunity to research magic without competition and guarantee a monopoly on magic to make money for his investor. To get the government on board and gain public support, he claimed magic was dangerous, basing the claim on his alleged researchWith the ban being indefinite, Starring decided to have the main group members arrested, so he could know exactly where they are and not risk them getting confused with magical energy users. He dispatched mountain police to apprehend them, but when he found out the group escaped, he made sure the group was being tracked. They were tracked right to CHS, where Starring had his team pretend the group was not there, so they could get as far onto the grounds as possible. By doing this, Starring ensured that, if the group was found, the group would have to either give up or escape CHS property from as far onto the property as possible, giving the UAD the advantage of being able to close in the group.Seeing the opportunity to study the magic inside the group and what the source was of the powers he knew from his spies that Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were using, Starring ordered that the UAD do whatever was necessary to apprehend the group without letting them escape, assuming that, if three of them had magic powers, the other four could too, and he feared that their powers could be something that could help them escape. Before capturing them under the (technically true) guise of breaking the law of magic use, he had his team let them onto the property and get as far as possible onto the property to close them in.When interacting with the group, he treated them harshly because he is afraid of what their powers can do and he wants to ensure no one interrupts his work. His passion for his work led him to severe, violent behavior towards the group, his mania with magic and money having overtaken him.Now, he has the group in his clutches. Rainbow Dash has been shot in the left shoulder. Sunset Shimmer has been shot in the right leg. The other five, while not shot, have their hands cuffed behind their backs, all right in front of him.Suddenly, Sunset Shimmer reaches up and grabs his wrist. He shakes her off with a strong flick, sending her crumbling back to the ground. He commands his men, "Take them to the other facility."Twilight reacts nervously, "What do you mean, 'the other facility?'"Starring does not respond. He simply walks away.
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Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are handcuffed and taken to the back of a van that is clearly a prisoner transport vehicle with benches lining the walls inside the van. Sunset and Rainbow Dash, however, are not handcuffed and are carefully taken to another prisoner transport.For the transport van with the five, there are two security personnel, both arms with pistols. One leads the five into the van, and, once the five are in, the other gets in behind them and shuts the doors. The windows are covered, and the only light source is from a dim light attached to the van's ceiling and from light through a small window on the wall that separates the driver's area from the prisoner area.On the driver's side bench, Applejack is seated closest to the driver, then Twilight in the middle, and Fluttershy on the end. On the passenger-side bench, Pinkie Pie is closer to the front of the van and Rarity is closer to the back. One guard is sitting next to Pinkie Pie, and the other is next to Applejack.The guard next to Pinkie Pie says strictly, "There will be no talking. There will be no attempt of escape. For either, we are authorized to use deadly force."Fluttershy raises her hand.The security guard rolls his eyes. Annoyed, he responds, "Yes?"Barely above a whisper, Fluttershy asks, "What are you doing with Sunset and Rainbow Dash?"The security guards asks back, "Who are they?"In the same quiet voice, Fluttershy answers, "They're the ones you... shot."The security guards says, "They're being taken to a medical facility. As soon as they get patched up, they're joining you. Now, no more noise. Again, we're authorized to use deadly force if necessary."As the van starts to drive off, all the five can do is look at each other with extreme fear and worry on their faces. They do not know where they are going. They do not know what will happen when they get there. Worst of all, they do not know where Sunset and Rainbow Dash are. Each second drags on with anticipation, each of the five wondering with fear where they are going and what the government will do to them as magical beings. Could they be interrogated? Could they be tortured? If so, what torture methods can the UAD legally use? What kind of facility are the being taken to? Is it a prison? Is it a government facility? Is it a torture facility? Another second passes. All the five can do is wonder what will happen, each possibility scarier than the last, as the seconds slowly tick by. The only sound louder than their own thoughts in their heads is the quiet rumble of the van as it cruises down the road.Twilight feels guilty about the situation. If it were not for her tyranny, they may not have tried to break onto the CHS facility. If it were not for her failure to come up with a better plan, they could all be in Equestria right now, all seven of them. None of them would be shot. Knowing she is the most responsible and calculated member of the group, she feels tremendous guilt, like it is her fault that things went awry and that it is her fault that Rainbow Dash and Sunset were shot and are now somewhere else. If she had not treated her friends so poorly, Sunset never would have been motivated to try to find answers to fix things. If that did not happen, they would be together, healthy, and free. This, mixed with the guilt of her behavior towards her friends, pushes her near a breaking point. Not wanting to cause an issue with her own noise, tears fill her eyes as she stifles her sobs. She can only sit there, hands cuffed behind her back, and try not to cry. She needs to be strong for her friends. She needs to be responsible and make up for her own mistakes. She decides in her mind that she is already in deep enough with the law now, and she does not want to risk experienced whatever this other facility is. She has to help her friends escape.After a few minutes of thinking, she has come up with the beginning of a plan to break out, but the plan is not fully made. Regardless, every second in the van is a second further away in a direction she does not know to a place she has never been. The only risk with this beginning-of-a-plan is that one of the armed guards will see the glow of her geode, which is attached to a star on a hairpin. With her hands cuffed behind her back, she fumbles around with her fingers for the lock, moving her fingers slowly and quietly to avoid making any suspicious noises or movements. After locating the lock, she puts her finger over it and uses her power to reach into the tiny lock and unlock it, the same way she unlocked the door at the movie facility before. With her cuffs unlocked, she can now use her hands to guide her powers, but she keeps her hands behind her back, leaving her wrists in the unlocked cuffs to give the impression that nothing has happened. She nervously glances at the guards, but neither is looking specifically in her direction, their eyes only moving in her direction as they scour the van for anything suspicious.Knowing she has to move fast, Twilight decides what to do. In a sudden movement, she quickly pulls her hands out of the cuffs, reaching them out at the guards, and uses her power to pull away their pistols from their hands before they have time to pull the trigger. She stands up just as quickly, holding both pistols in her hands, both pointed at the security guards. In as menacing a voice as she can make (which is not very menacing at all), she says, "Okay, here's how this is going to go. You're going to stop this van and let me and my friends go."One of the guards chuckles. He reacts, "You really think that's the only weapon we carry?"Twilight says in the same tone, "Don't test me. I will shoot."Twilight does not want to shoot anyone, but she cannot risk either of the guards trying to get the weapons. She has no gun training and has no idea what she is doing holding them. She meant what she said as mostly an empty threat, but she would do anything to protect her friends.The guards look at each other. If they both move to get another weapon from inside their jacket pockets, what are the odds that Twilight can hit them both with a bullet? Alternatively, they could both lunge at Twilight at the same time, but being that close could cause them to both get shot.Twilight uses her powers to keep the guns floating in midair, both pointed at the guards. She then grabs Applejack's handcuffs and unlocks Applejack the same way she unlocked herself, without a key. She says to Applejack, "Take one of the guns."Applejack chuckles to herself as she grabs one, pointing it at one of the guards. She says to him, "I've used guns like these a time or two... hundred. The temptation to do to you what y'all did to Rainbow Dash is mighty high right now."The driver catches motion in the corner of his eye and looks through the rear-view mirror back through the window at the scene in the back. Trained to do this if something like that happened, he suddenly hits the brakes, making everyone in the back fall down, causing Twilight, Applejack, and the guards to fall to the ground while Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity fall to their sides, being seated on the benches on the wall. The sudden braking makes Twilight drop the floating gun. However, Applejack keeps her grip on her gun and gets up, keeping it pointed at the guard she is covering.As Twilight dives for the gun, the guard gets a second, smaller pistol out from an inner jacket pocket, pointing it at Twilight. He commands Twilight with an angry voice, "Don't touch that gun. You—" He addresses Applejack— "give your gun to the other guard."Twilight stops where she is on the ground. Applejack stands still, keeping the gun in her hands pointed at the other guard.The standing guard commands, "Now, back away from the gun and stand up with your hands up. You with the gun, I'm warning you, give your—"As Twilight starts to crawl backward from the gun, she hears a gunshot. As instinctively as out of fear, she falls flat on the ground and covers her head with her hands, closing her eyes tight with anxiety. She hears something heavy hit the floor of the van behind her. She opens her eyes and looks up, seeing Applejack blow on her own gun as she points it at the guard she was originally pointing it at.Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity sit there in shock, their eyes wide and jaws dropped.Applejack says very calmly, "Bein' a country gal, I know how to shoot a gun."Twilight grabs the gun on the floor and stands up, turning around to see the other guard on the ground, grasping his bleeding knee and groaning. She turns to look at Applejack, an eyebrow raised with an expression of both surprise and approval on her face. She asks Applejack, "Did you...""Yep," Applejack replies. "Turned around and shot him real quick while you were on the ground. No biggie. I know how you feel about the law and stuff, but I don't want to see this other facility just as much as you don't, and I'm willin' to do whatever it takes to bust out of here."Again, the driver looks in the back of the van. Seeing one of his own down on the ground holding a knee in pain, he hits the brakes again, swerving a little as he does.Again, Twilight and Applejack fall.Again, Applejack keeps her grip on the gun and keeps it pointed it at the guard. She says to Twilight, "Give me your gun and fre the others, quickly, so I can deal with the driver."Twilight gives Applejack her gun, which Applejack points at the other guard, having a gun in each hand pointed at a guard. With speed, Twilight unlocks Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity from their cuffs. The four of them keep watch on the two guards as Applejack gives Twilight her gun back.Using her super strength, Applejack punches a whole through the window between the front and back of the van. In the front, there are two UAD personnel, both dressed like guards, but one of them driving. As the passenger, gets out a gun, Applejack punches him in the face, the strength of her punch knocking the guard out as he slumps forward.To try to make Applejack lose her footing, the driver suddenly hits the gas and the van accelerates quickly as he swerves right and left rapidly.Her strength allowing her to hang onto to the wall, using the now-empty window as a handle, Applejack maintains her balance and punches the driver in the same way she punched the passenger, knocking him out, too. As the van starts drifting to the right and slowing down, Applejack calls back, "Twi! Drive the van with your powers!"Twilight gives her gun back to Applejack, who returns to the back to keep the guards under control. From the window, Twilight reaches out her hands, using her magic to control the steering wheel with one hand and the gas and brake pedals with the other. She gently brings the van to a stop on the side of the road which, she can tell through the windshield, is a country road.As Twilight parks the car, Pinkie Pie says to the guards, "I wouldn't try anything funny if I were you. We're sort of magic, and I can make things explode. If I were you, I wouldn't want any of us on your bad side."Rarity and Fluttershy put their cuffs on the guards, the guns keeping the guards in check.Now safely parked on the side of the road, the five are free. Everyone except Applejack gets out immediately. The two guards get out next, with Applejack coming out behind them holding the guns pointed at them.As the group gets out the back of the van, Pinkie Pie comments, "That may be the longest I've ever gone without speaking in my life."Rarity says with a sigh, "I believe it." She grabs Fluttershy's shoulder for physical support as her legs shake. "Oh, all that made me so anxious, I can barely stand. The gunshots, the guards— it's all too much for me."Fluttershy asks in her quiet voice, "Where even are we?"Twilight says, "Not far from CHS. Everything leading up to my daring escape—" Her voice indicates she is proud of her plan— "was a few minutes, but it felt like a lot longer. We couldn't have gotten far. Even after senior year, I'm still not that familiar with the areas around Canterlot, but this is a country road."Applejack remarks, "I know exactly where we are. I'll drive us back."Pinkie Pie asks, "What are we going to do with the guards?"Twilight says plainly, "The answer is obvious. We're going to have to keep them locked in the back and take away all their fun equipment and fancy gadgets."One of the guards responds, "We'll never cooperate. We'll never surrender."The other guard says, "The magic in you and the magic from that monument is volatile. You have no idea what you're up against."Rarity scoffs, "YOU have no idea what you're up against."Fluttershy puts out her finger for a bird to land on. She declares, "We're magic."Pinkie Pie crosses her arms and smiles, repeating, "Magic."Applejack says to Twilight, "I'll take care of the guards. Hold the guns for me, will you?"Twilight takes the guns and points them at the guards, putting on her best angry face.As the guards laugh at how funny Twilight looks when trying to look menacing, Applejack hits their heads from behind them, the force of the super-strength hits being enough to knock them out as they fall to the ground.After taking away all equipment and weapons, which are thrown in the back of the car, the five rip up the four guards' coats to make blindfolds and gags, putting them on all four guards. They cuff the two guards who were not cuffed already, and all four are left on the side of the road.Fluttershy calls over some deer, birds, and rabbits. Several of all three animals show up within two minutes. Fluttershy tells them, "Keep an eye on these nice men and make sure they stay safe. Feed them and keep them comfortable." She turns to her friends and, while looking at her friends, says to the animals confidently, "We'll be back for them."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Earlier, as the five unscathed were taken away, Rainbow Dash and Sunset were lifted onto their feet by guards.As her hands are moved behind her back, a shooting pain goes through Rainbow Dash's shoulder. She winces, trying not to groan as her shoulder pulses.Sunset's right foot is on the ground, but, her right leg having a bullet in it, is standing with all her weight on her left side as her hands are cuffed behind her back.One of the guards informs Rainbow Dash and Sunset, "You're going to the hospital for treatment."Sunset asks, "What then?"The guard commands others in his presence, "You heard Starring. Take them away."Two guards— one for each of Rainbow Dash and Sunset— walk up behind their prisoners, holding their pistols as a prisoner transport vehicle drives up to them. As Rainbow Dash and Sunset are forced to the transport with the guards walking behind them, Sunset limps along and whispers to Rainbow Dash, "Run. Get out of here while you can."Rainbow Dash whispers back, "I'm not leaving you."Sunset replies, "Don't worry about me. You can get out of here and find the others."Rainbow Dash responds, "They'll be fine, they have Twilight. She'll come up with something."The two get into the back of the transport. Only one guard goes in with them, shutting the door behind himself. Rainbow Dash sits on the driver side bench, Sunset is on the passenger side bench, and the guard sits at the front, with his back to the wall separating the front and back of the vehicle.The guard commands the two, "No talking. I am authorized to use deadly force if necessary."Sunset and Rainbow Dash glance at each other. Neither is overly concerned with her own safety; their minds are on their friends and their health, with bullets inside them. Escape, while dangerous, is not the first thing on their minds. What they are thinking about, though, is the pain: Sunset can barely move her right leg without it sending a shooting pain up to her knee and down to her foot, and Rainbow Dash does not even try to move her left arm with a bullet lodged in her shoulder. For her, the awkward position of being cuffed keeps the torture of gunshot pain fresh in her shoulder and fresh in her mind. She breathes heavily and slowly, taking deep breaths and hoping to not pass out from shock. The agony of her wound persists, making her sweat as she tries to control her breathing, trying not to hyperventilate, feeling hotter every second.All either Rainbow Dash or Sunset can do is breathe and hope she can withstand the pain until she can be seen by a doctor and undergo medical action. They stare into space, focusing on staying conscious rather than on seeing. After a few long minutes of torment and deep breaths, the sounds of breathing are interrupted by a knock on the window separating the prisoner area from the front of the transport. The two look up and see the window is rolled down, and the guard in the passenger seat is talking to the guard in the back. The two breathe quieter, trying to eavesdrop on a conversation they can tell the guards are having quietly on purpose.After a few moments of talking, the guard in the back sits back down, facing his prisoners. The window is rolled back up.Sunset clears her throat, and the guard turns quickly to look at her, making sure she is not trying anything to escape. Boldly assuming that the guard would not do anything to hurt her any further, she asks, referring to the conversation the guards were having, "Everything okay?"The guard smiles loathsomely, saying, "Just peachy."Seeing that Sunset can speak freely, Rainbow Dash asks the guard between breaths, "How long until we get to this hospital?"The guard's smile disappears and he says to Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth, "Soon. Now stop talking."Sunset looks across at Rainbow Dash and sees her friend's head tilted back as she pants, face covered in sweat. Her own gunshot wound on her leg hurts her greatly; it is the worst thing she has ever physically felt, and she cannot move her leg without restarting the pain because of it. However, she looks and feels nowhere as bad as Rainbow Dash does.Rainbow Dash can feel the sweat on her face. She can feel the cool breeze of the vehicle air conditioning around her, though it does not cool her down. Every time she feel something, though, the torture from the wound in her shoulder makes itself known again as it throbs. She tries to breathe slowly, thinking that hyperventilation could make things worse, but anything is worth a try to alleviate any of the pain or heat she is feeling. She speeds her breathing, starting to really hyperventilate, which grabs the attention of both Sunset and the guard.The three in the back hear the driver scream as the vehicle begins to drift left. After a couple seconds of drifting, the transport is jerked right, back on its main course.The guard in the back asks, "What happened?"The driver responds, "I was blinded by a light! It appeared all of a sudden. Wait a second..."The guard gets up and looks through the window on the wall separating the back from the front. "What is it?" He asks.Sunset and Rainbow Dash try to peek through the window, but it is blocked by the guard looking through it himself.Suddenly, the van tilts left with a jolt and begins drifting left, making a screechy sound as the guard loses his balance and falls because of the jolt. The vehicle loses speed rapidly. Rainbow Dash and Sunset sway a little, Rainbow Dash keeping her balance by keeping her feet planted on the ground. Sunset tries to keep herself steady, but the second she tries to stay balanced with her feet on the ground, her leg pulses with the pain of a bullet inside. She grits her teeth as she closes her eyes tight, planting her feet to try to keep her balance as she groans in pain.In only a few seconds, the transport loses all speed as it drifts left, off the road. It comes to a stop on the grass off the side of the road.With the vehicle at a complete stop, Sunset does not need to force herself to stay upright anymore and can do it naturally. She stops trying to use her planted feet to stay upright, groaning in relief as the pressure is taken off her right leg.Hurt and confused, Rainbow Dash asks the guard in a daze, "What happened?"The guard gets up as he says, "Someone attacked us."The guard from the front commands the guard in the back, "Stay put with the prisoners. Another van's coming up from the opposite direction, I think it's the same guys who just took us out." He and the driver get out of the van, shutting the doors behind them.Not knowing who attacked them and as if trying to hide, none of the three in the back dare to say a word. The only sound is their own breathing, Sunset's heavier than the guard's, and Rainbow Dash breathing much heavier than Sunset is. In a moment of quiet, Rainbow Dash feels the pain in her shoulder again, making her breathe faster.Sunset looks at her friend with worry. She asks the guard desperately, "Isn't there something you can do? You have any pain meds or anything you can give her?"The guard responds somberly, "Nope."As seconds of calmness tick on, Rainbow Dash's breathing goes from fast to hyperventilation, the pain feeling more and more extreme with every long second that passes. She shuts her eyes and throws her head back against the van wall.Sunset begs the guard, "Please, at least get me out of these cuffs so I can help her!"The guard shakes his head, looking sympathetic but not doing anything about it.After around thirty seconds pass of no sounds except Rainbow Dash's hyperventilation, the doors to the back of the van swing open, flooding it with light.All three, including Rainbow Dash, look up and squint. As their eyes adjust to the daylight, Sunset and Rainbow Dash hear the guard yelp in surprise. They see, standing outside the back of the van, Twilight holding the guard's gun.Trying to sound fierce but not succeeding, Twilight instructs the guard, "Get out and leave my friends alone."Behind Twilight, Rarity and Applejack come up, both holding pistols pointed at the guard inside the van.The guard knows he cannot win and does not want to risk grabbing another weapon only to be shot. He puts his hands up and comes out of the back of the van, seeing the driver and other guard standing outside the van with their hands cuffed behind their backs. Rarity and Applejack take the guard to the driver and other guard.Twilight gets in the back of the van, sitting down next to Sunset and unlocking Sunset's cuffs in the same way she unlocked the others'. She asks worriedly, "Are you both okay?"Her hands free, Sunset hugs Twilight. "Other than being shot, I'm fine, but Rainbow Dash isn't doing so well."Rainbow Dash is breathing in a controlled manner now, breathing slowly on purpose. She says between breaths, "Good thing... you crashed... the party. You distracted me... from... hyperventilating... so now I can think... and focus."Twilight gets up and sits by Rainbow Dash, unlocking the final set of cuffs. She says to Rainbow Dash, "You look really sweaty. First thing we're doing is getting you to a hospital." She looks at Sunset. "Both of you."Sunset shakes her head.Rainbow Dash gives her opinion, "No time... for hospitals. No way... they're not still... tracking us. Must... escape... it all."Twilight replies calmly, "We'll talk about a plan on the way to a hospital. We've got control of our own transport vehicle. We can find a hospital more quickly than the UAD can send more people after us, but we have to hurry."Rainbow Dash nods, panting slowly. As much as she wants to come up with a plan to beat Starring, she is also in deep pain, and fatigue is starting to set in, too. She wants medical attention.Twilight says, "Come on, we're getting in the other van, this one's missing a tire. These are government vans, they have GPS's in them."As Twilight gets back up and goes over to Sunset, putting Sunset's arm around her shoulders so she can be physical support for Sunset as they walk to the other van, Sunset asks as she and Twilight leave the van, "What do you mean, this van is missing a tire?"Overhearing Sunset's question, Pinkie Pie, who is holding a pistol and guarding the cuffed guards, answers, "I exploded it off. Exploded? Ex-plewd? Ex-plewded? What's the past tense of 'explode?' 'Cause that's what I did. I exploded that tire right off."Twilight passes Sunset off to Rarity and goes back to the van to get Rainbow Dash, saying to Applejack, "Come on, Applejack, help me with Rainbow Dash. She's not looking good."As she and Twilight head to Rainbow Dash, Applejack asks, "What do you mean, 'not looking good?'"Twilight gets in the back of the transport and gestures at Rainbow Dash, who looks up and grins awkwardly at Applejack."Oh," Applejack reacts. "She isn't looking good."Rainbow Dash replies, "Not feeling good, either. I'm think I'm on the verge of shock or something."Applejack holds Rainbow Dash's right arm as Rainbow Dash stands up. Twilight holds Rainbow Dash's waist from the left to keep Rainbow Dash steady, staying away from Rainbow Dash's shoulder, which is covered in blood.Twilight and Applejack take Rainbow Dash straight to the other transport, laying her down on the driver-side bench. Right behind them, Rarity comes in with Sunset, who sits down on the bench at Sunset's feet.Rarity says to Sunset, "Darling, lay down. Take all the stress off your legs. You do have a bullet in one of them."Not responding verbally, Sunset lays down, too. Rarity sits on the bench at her feet.Outside the van, Fluttershy is talking to some raccoons and birds. She tells them, "Don't let these bad men go anywhere for a little while. You know how to take care of your own fellow animals. Now, take care of these people until we come back." As the raccoons and birds let Fluttershy know they understand her instructions, Fluttershy gets in the back of the transport, sitting on the driver-side bench at Rainbow Dash's feet.Pinkie Pie gets into the back of the van, her arms full of various weapons, tools, and knickknacks. She drops them all on the floor and kicks them under the benches, where they clatter against weapons, tools, and knickknacks that were previously kicked under there from the van's original guards and driver.Applejack and Twilight get out of the back of the van and shut the doors. They get into the front, with Applejack driving and Twilight in the passenger seat. They shut the doors as Applejack starts up the engine.The group, back together again, drives off down the road in search of a hospital, leaving the guards and driver behind the same way they left behind the other guards and driver. They leave the other prisoner transport behind, too, as they drive down the road, looking for a hospital for Rainbow Dash.
Twilight says to Applejack with concern, "Hurry. They're tracking us, and it probably won't be long before they find out that something happened with their prisoners."
With frustration and sarcasm, Applejack replies, "I wasn't hurryin', but now that you've said it, I'll start hurryin'."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Back together again, albeit in more distraught circumstances, the group drives off down the country road in the direction of the hospital, which is also in the opposite direction from CHS and the UAD.Sunset, reclining on the bench in the back, asks no one in particular, "How did you find Rainbow Dash and me?"Rainbow Dash is laying on the other bench, breathing heavily while trying to control her breathing pace with slow, deep breaths.Fluttershy grabs some fabric from something taken from one of the guards and rips it. She puts it around Rainbow Dash's shoulder as a tourniquet, then does the same for Sunset's leg. She sees that Rainbow Dash's shoulder is covered in blood, and blood is splattered down her arm and the side of her shirt. Sunset looks better but not good at all, with blood splattered on her leg, but not widely.Rarity replies, "That's simple, darling. These things track each other. Twilight simply tracked you."Sunset asks, "Okay, so how did you get us free? It sounded from the driver that there was a blinding light, and it felt like the van lost its front tire."Trying to sound modest but coming across as prideful, Rarity answers, "Well, the light was all me. I cast a diamond out in front of the transport to reflect the sun."Pinkie Pie speaks up, "I was in the front seat and threw some sprinkles out the window at the tire. It is nice to be able to use our powers again. There are so many around-the-home uses for exploding things."Sunset replies, "Not sure about that. All of that kind of... unsafe. The light could've made the driver crash. The blown tire could've caused a crash, too."Fluttershy responds softly, "Would you rather stay with the UAD the whole way through? We talked about it on the way to rescue you. We thought it would be better to get you away from them now, instead of at the hospital, where all eyes would be on us."Pinkie Pie adds, "Besides, we didn't want your guards to see us coming. We caught them surprise. I love surprises!"Sunset chuckles and rolls her eyes, saying, "I know that much."In the front of the car, as she drives, Applejack asks Twilight, "So, what was with the sad face before the break-in?" While she has heard about Twilight's regret, she has not heard anything from Twilight herself.Twilight leans against the window, looking into space. She shrugs, saying monotonously, "I treated you all like less-thans. All there is to it. I'm sorry." After her tearful apology earlier, followed by the adrenaline rush of the break-in and escape, she is emotionally drained and physically tired. Still staring ahead at nothing, she adds, "I'll never apologize for trying to stop you from breaking the law, but I didn't do it the right way. I pushed you all away. I was overbearing. I was tyrannical. For two months. I didn't know how it felt till I felt it myself with the ban including presences of magic. It felt terrible. I thought I was doing the right thing. I was, but in the wrong way. What more is there to say?"For a moment, Applejack does not respond. She remembers how Twilight looked when they were planning the break-in: like she had been crying and crying hard. She believes Twilight. She drives with one hand and puts her hand on Twilight's shoulder, not responding verbally but doing all the talking with her gesture.Twilight sits up straight, still staring off into space, but feeling a little better now that Applejack has heard her, too.Applejack puts both her hands on the steering wheel. She says to Twilight, still somewhat upset about everything that transpired, "It still might take some time to get over. You really hurt my feelin's. Stealin's not the way to go." She pauses for a moment, then continues, "I'll get over it. We'll get to the other side. Might just take a minute."Twilight nods a couple times.For a few seconds, they sit in silence before the silence is interrupted by a knock on the window on the wall separating the front and back of the van. From the other side, Fluttershy opens the window, saying, "I'm going to keep this open. Anyway, Rainbow Dash is wondering when we're gonna get to the hospital."Applejack replies, "Should be about half an hour."In the back, Rainbow Dash laments, "Half an hour?!"Applejack responds, "Well, I ain't goin' to the city and riskin' goin' in the direction of the UAD! These here are country roads. You know there's nothin' out in the country!"Rainbow Dash groans, "I don't care! Just get me some medical attention!"Meanwhile, on the transport's dashboard, a purple light starts flashing.Applejack asks Twilight, "Twilight, do you know what a purple light means? You're the smart one."Twilight pops open the glove compartment. "This is what vehicle's have user's manuals for," she says nonchalantly as she starts flipping through pages.Applejack sighs. "Don't tell me you're gonna read from that whole user's manual to find this out."Suddenly, a radio crackle is heard by everyone from the transport radio. A voice says, "Magic breach at home base. All units prepare to respond."Sunset hears this and sits up suddenly, moving her right leg, which pains her greatly. She grunts to herself, trying to ignore the pain. She then echoes, "Magic breach?"Twilight turns to Applejack. "That could mean anything."Sunset says with resolve, "We have to go back."All six of the others react at the same time, "WHAT?"Sunset explains, "I know more about Equestrian magic than anyone else here. If nothing else, drop me off a mile out from CHS. I can go a mile on my leg." As curious as she was about why the UAD situation was not adding up from earlier, she is equally as curious about what this magic breach could mean, especially considering her knowledge on Equestrian magic and how her knowledge is more than that of anyone in this world. Beyond her curiosity, she is afraid of what Equestrian magic can do, and the UAD should not be handling such a volatile thing.Rarity scoffs. "There's just no way, darling," she says to Sunset. "Even if we did want to let you go a mile on a limp leg, we still have to get Rainbow Dash to a hospital."Rainbow Dash pants, "Just get me to the city... we can... drop off Sunset... on the way." The pain in her shoulder is intense and excruciating, but, as long as she is not moving it, she can feel herself slowly cool off just a little bit and breathe just a little bit slower, minute by minute.Pinkie Pie reacts, "No! We can NOT risk going back to CHS. What if they arrest us again?"From the front, Applejack calls back, "As driver, I get to make the decision, and I say we're goin' to the country hospital."Sunset says, "I touched Starring. I know the truth about the UAD, and the truth is, they don't know what they're working with. They just know they can convert magical energy coming from a crack in the portal, into usable energy they can sell for profit. The whole UAD government thing is a coverup."Twilight reacts, "Can't say I'm surprised."Sunset goes on, "They don't know what's actually in Equestrian air, but it's not from this world. I'm concerned that they're screwing up big time right now, and it could affect us all, but we'll never know unless we go back and check. At the very least, get me back to my dorm. I left my journal to communicate with Princess Twilight there. Maybe she can help or maybe she knows what's happening at the portal."Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack spots a walkie-talkie connected by a wire to the car radio. "Or," she suggests, "we can ask what exactly they mean by 'magic breach' before headin' back."Sunset shrugs, saying, "Give it a shot. Just try to sound professional."Applejack clears her throat and tries to speak in a standard accent, but still comes across as extremely country. She asks through the walkie-talkie, "What exactly do you mean by 'magic breach?'"No one responds. Applejack says, "Forget it."After a moment, a voice does respond, saying with a crackly radio voice, "Transport 17, why are you talking? Do you have an emergency? Keep this line open for HQ, got it?"Applejack replies through the radio, "Got it."Twilight comments sarcastically, "That worked."Applejack responds, "Well, what would YOU have done differently?"Fluttershy pipes up, "Don't fight again, any of you. We should work together. Personally, I think we should get as far away from the magic as possible, whatever it is, and find Rainbow Dash a hospital."Sunset argues, "What if I can fix it? What if WE can fix it, whatever it is?" Her curiosity and concern both equally have taken hold of her.Pinkie Pie says to Sunset with concern, "The only thing that matters right now is getting Rainbow Dash to a hospital. She's clammy, she's in pain, and she's got a bullet stuck in her, which is something that YOU can live with, apparently, but she can't. Plus, we all saw Starring kick her right where the bullet hit. Who knows what kind of dirt or anything he kicked in there?"Twilight interjects, "Dirt could lead to infection."Rarity says to Sunset, "You've been outvoted on this one, darling. Six to one."Sunset shakes her head and lays back down, keeping her right leg stretched out. She tries not to move her leg at all, but keeping her leg absolutely, perfectly skill is a tall task. Every small motion makes it hurt even more temporarily, before the quick shot of pain subsides, leaving behind the agonizing ache that was already there. Slowly, she lays herself back down.Fluttershy sees Sunset trying to lay down and asks, "Can I help?""No, thanks," Sunset replies, "it's easier to do it myself so I have full control of it. Every time I move my leg even a little, it hurts even more. I don't sound like it right now, but it hurts bad. Like, REALLY bad. My heart's beating fast, but other than that and the pain, I'm actually okay." She lays down completely, sighing.From the other bench, Rainbow Dash throws up a thumbs up with her right hand before letting gravity bring her arm back down to the bench with a thud. She speaks more clearly now, having had time to lay down, cool down, and breathe slower, "I'm glad you're fine. You can get surgery to take the bullet out after I'm done. AJ, how much further?""Still a ways," Applejack replies, "but gettin' there."Sunset shakes her head, saying, "I don't like this, not at all. We should be trying to stop whatever the magic breach is!"Rainbow Dash laughs in her craze, saying sarcastically, "Yeah, let's face the UAD head-on again, but with two of us shot. It went so well when we were all healthy!"Sternly, Twilight says to Rainbow Dash, "That's enough. No reason for us to turn on each other now." She looks in the back, looking at Sunset. Addressing Sunset, she advises with a cautious voice, "Don't fight. Don't try to be the boss. Trust me. We all value your opinion, and we know it, but now's not the time to try to control all of us. I've... been there, you know."Sunset snaps back, "I'm not trying to control! I'm trying to find out what's really going on!" Hiding her curiosity, she showcases her concern, rambling, "The UAD clearly can't handle whatever's happening if there's been a 'magic breach.' Maybe it was caused by us being there. Who knows?! I don't!"Twilight replies calmly, "If it was caused by us being there— which we have no way of knowing— maybe it's a good idea to stay away."Sunset responds, "We'll NEVER know if we don't go back!"Raising her voice, Twilight remarks, "Stop trying to control us!"Rainbow Dash mutters loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Switching teams."Twilight turns back around to face the front of the car and slumps, crossing her arms. She mumbles, "Not okay for me to do it, but okay for her."Applejack says to Twilight, "Careful, now. It's obvious Sunset feels as passionately about this as you did about us not using magic."Twilight rants, "I was right! Well, not in method, but definitely in intent. She's flat-out wrong! It would be dangerous to go back!""I don't know, I'm kinda curious," Applejack replies. "That doesn't mean I'm sidin' with Sunset, but I am admittedly curious about this magic breach. You know you are, too.""Well, yeah," Twilight agrees, "but she shouldn't act like... I... did."Applejack chuckles. "Sucks to feel that way, doesn't it?"Twilight shakes her head at Applejack's joke.Sunset calls to Applejack, "If there's a magic breach, we have to stop it! We don't even have to go to CHS, just get me to my dorm so I can contact Princess Twilight!"Twilight calls back to Sunset, "I'm trying to stop you from becoming me!"Sunset retorts, "You were this for two months, you don't have a leg to stand on!"Pinkie Pie says to Sunset, "Neither do you."Twilight responds to Sunset, "That doesn't give you the right to act like it!"Sunset yells at Twilight, "This whole thing is different! I'm worried about saving the world. A magic breach is serious!"Twilight yells back, "I was trying to save us all from ruining our lives! My actions were wrong but my intent was right!"Louder than anyone, Applejack yells, "Y'all have made your points, now shut up! It doesn't matter why you're tryin' to control everyone. Sunset, stop bein' like Twilight was. Twilight, stop goin' after Sunset. We're takin' Rainbow Dash to the hospital, and that's final."In the same way as earlier, the radio crackles again. The same voice from earlier says, "All units, come back to home base, we need the magical-energy-capturing devices right now. Every device used and particle contained matters."Sunset waves her arms. "Come ON!" She reacts."Hush!" Applejack calls back. "We're gettin' Rainbow Dash to that hospital, and you KNOW that that entails you gettin' treated, too. That's final."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
In the back of the transport, having been laid down, Sunset mutters, "I can't believe this. Magic breach, and I can't be there to stop it."Pinkie Pie, sitting on the bench by Sunset's head, hears Sunset's grumble and replies, "It could be nothing. We're on the way to get you and Rainbow Dash help. Look at the bright side!"Sunset looks up at Pinkie Pie and asks, flatly in her defeat, "Is there a bright side to this? I've been shot. Rainbow Dash has been shot. We're on the run from a governmental organization that's lied to us this whole time. On the top of all that, we have to be back at university tomorrow, where the UAD will just track us. Are we sure we aren't being tracked now in this van?"Pinkie Pie says, "Twilight disabled the tracker when we stole it."Sunset rolls her eyes. "Stealing government property," she says dejectedly. "Add that to breaking-and-entering, trespassing, and being an illegal presence of magic. How long are they gonna lock us away for?"Rarity shivers. "Orange is not my color," she says. "I would look DREADFUL in a prison uniform. I can't go to prison!"Tiredly, Rainbow Dash says, "Glad to see you've got your priorities straight.""Oh, yeah?" Rarity responds loudly. "If not the outfits, then what would YOU say is the worst part about prison?!"Everyone in the back (Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy) slowly turns their heads to look at Rarity.Rarity smiles sheepishly. "I'm sorry, everyone," she says, straightening her posture, "today's just been... crazy."Fluttershy agrees, saying, "You said it. Although, I did like getting to talk to the animals, even if it was to tell them to keep some bad guys from getting home."Pinkie Pie adds, "The best part was when I got to blow up that tire! I really need to get to started on my '1001 uses for handmade explosions' book."More out of frustration than pain (but still hurting greatly), Rainbow Dash groans, "How much longer?!"From the front, Applejack responds, "Twenty minutes or so. I'm goin' as fast as I can, Rainbow Dash.""Oh, please," Rainbow Dash reacts, "I can run faster than this."Applejack takes a deep breath. She says back to Rainbow Dash, "Enough fightin'. There's been enough of that this whole trip already."Twilight groans quietly and lays her head against the window. She thinks to herself, "It's all my fault. If I could've just been a better friend in the first place... if I could've trusted them..."Applejack glances at Twilight, trying to keep her eyes on the road. She asks, "Penny for your thoughts?"Fluttershy closes the window on the wall separating the front from the back. She defends herself before anyone could question her, "I don't want to hear Sunset and Twilight fight again. This whole trip has had way too much fighting on it."No one speaks in response or for the next while, as the five in the back try to eavesdrop on the conversation in the front, including Fluttershy, who is as curious as she is respectful.Twilight sits up and sighs. She looks down and says flatly, "It's all my fault, that's all there is to this whole thing. If I didn't treat you all like you were beneath me and if I didn't steal all your geodes, I could've helped come up with a plan instead of crying, and we wouldn't have committed all these crimes along the way. Sunset and Rainbow Dash wouldn't have bullets in them. We wouldn't be on the way to the other hospital, trying to avoid the UAD when another hospital is closer in the city. If I didn't screw this whole thing up in the first place, we'd all be fine, happy, and healthy. We'd be on good terms instead of fighting. I screwed up. This whole thing is my fault." Tears come to her eyes. She cries out, "It's my fault!"Applejack replies calmly, "You did screw up, I'm not gonna fight that, but it's not your fault. This was a team effort. It's all our faults. We're all in this together, even if we're not on the best terms with each other."While not actually crying, the tears flow down Twilight's face as she blinks them away. She says with a breaking voice, "No, it's my fault. We wouldn't have been on bad terms if I didn't micromanage you and if I could've just trusted you all instead of nosing around, twice a day for two months to tell you all something you already knew."Applejack says, "We appreciate the sentiment. We do. Don't overdo it again, okay? We'll move on. We always find a way to move on."Twilight sniffles and looks up at Applejack.Applejack can only glance back, as she needs to keep her eyes on the road.Twilight said it like it is. She feels tremendous guilt. If she could have trusted her friends instead of micromanaging them with annoying twice-daily texts, and if she could have let them use their magic on the trip instead of sabotaging it by stealing their geodes, she believes she could have kept her head clear with making a plan to break onto CHS property, and maybe her and her friends would be safe in Equestria. Instead, being so focused on herself, her self-righteouness, and her need to be right, she let the situation escalate into her breaking down instead of coming up with a better break-in plan. If she could have treated her friends fairly in the first place, Sunset would not have been motivated to get to Starring to try to find some way to fix things or learn about why the ban did not make sense. The idea to go to CHS never would have been planted in anyone's head. Her heart heavy and her voice shaky with guilt, she looks down again and says to Applejack, "Sunset never would've wanted to get to Starring if I wasn't the way I was. The idea never would've come to anyone."Applejack replies, "Now, you're borrowin' trouble. The whole thing didn't make sense in the first place. We ALL thought about finding out more. You can't blame yourself for what Sunset thought or did, though. Stop bein' so hard on yourself."Twilight says in the same tone of voice, "I do blame myself, because if I wasn't the way I was..."Applejack sighs loudly and with annoyance, interrupting Twilight. In a voice trying to sound decent but coming across as frustrated, she says to Twilight, "Stop telling yourself that. Just stop. It wasn't your fault."Twilight mumbles, "But it was."Applejack says, "We're not going to see eye-to-eye on this. That's... fine. It's okay. Let's just work together to be safe. Sound good?"Twilight nods.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*While everyone has something she wants to say, no one says anything for the rest of the drive, trying to keep the peace in the silence or adding to the silence itself. Sunset wants to convince the others to go back to face the "magic breach," for which there were no new updates. Twilight wants to be right about how the situation is her fault. Applejack wants to argue with Twilight about Twilight's actions, herself mentally wrestling between forgiveness and rage. Rainbow Dash wants to complain about being shot, but figures no one wants to hear it. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity simply have nothing to say.The only interruption to the silence is a person on the other end of the radio saying, "Magic breach. All units come back to home base to help. We need everyone."The seriousness of the situation makes Sunset upset. She rants, "We HAVE to go back! We can help, whatever it is!"No one responds. The only kind of response Sunset gets is a short, sympathetic look from Fluttershy, who looks away upon noticing Sunset looking back.Twilight and Applejack glance at each other, but then both look forward again, agreeing silently that the present course of gong to the hospital is the correct one. Additionally, neither wants to fight with Sunset, though Twilight does want to let Sunset know what the right decision is between going back and getting to a hospital. As much as she wants to debate Sunset, she decides that now is not the time, especially when she has fought so much lately.After twenty minutes of driving, the group arrives at a county hospital, where the healthy five help take in Rainbow Dash and Sunset, who are checked into emergency room hospital beds adjacent to each other, separated only by a curtain which is left open.Two physicians arrive, one each for Rainbow Dash and Sunset. After assessments, it is determined that Rainbow Dash needs to undergo surgery.In an uncaring tone of voice, but caring as deeply as she is pained by the bullet, Rainbow Dash says, "Take me away to surgery. Make me better again."In the next hospital bed over, Sunset says to Rainbow Dash, "You'll get through. I'll get through. We'll both be okay.""Yeah," Rainbow Dash chuckles. "Whoop-de-doo. What a fall break."Sunset says to everyone else, "Go with her, as far as she can, since I can't. Let her know we love her."Rainbow Dash scoffs playfully, "I know that.""Still," Sunset replies, "surgery can be scary. We're here for you."Again, Rainbow Dash scoffs playfully. "Pshhh," she reacts, "I am so... not scared... of surgery."Fluttershy reacts, "Yep. You're scared."Applejack says, "We're coming with you."Twilight adds, "...As far as we can go."Sunset interjects, "Any of you who aren't shot— all five of you, run. You're still being tracked, I'm sure of it. Get out of here while you still can. Rainbow Dash and I will be fine here."Rarity says, "We're not going anywhere. Someone has to defend you. Just in case."Pinkie Pie adds, "Someone has to be here to help you as you recover from medical trauma!"Sunset chuckles. "I guess," she says.One of the physicians interrupts, saying, "It's time to go off to surgery, Ms. Dash. We'll have you as good as new in no time."Rainbow Dash reacts, half-joking and half-serious, "I TOLD you, call me Rainbow Dash! That's my name. If my first name was 'Ms,' I'd feel differently about it." She tries to cross her arms, but can barely move her left shoulder, so she just settles for laying her right arm across her stomach, reclined in the hospital bed.She looks down and sees her wristband with her geode on it on her right wrist. She holds up her wrist and turns to Twilight, telling her, "Take my geode, so someone on our side has it while I'm in surgery." She is trying to extend trust to Twilight, wanting to bridge the divide that has come to the friendship and trying to be an example to her friends, not so she can be elevated as a better friend than them, but to show them that they can and should begin to repair the friendship from their side.Twilight nods and pulls of Rainbow Dash's geode, feeling a little warm inside that, now, she is taking a geode without stealing it and that she is being trusted by one of her friends again. This time, she does not use her magic, simply pulling off Rainbow Dash's wristband with her hands and putting it in her pocket.As a team of physicians escorts Rainbow Dash down the hall with one of them pushing her hospital bed, the other five follow behind.Twilight turns back to Sunset and says, "Be back shortly!"Sunset watches Rainbow Dash be wheeled away for surgery, surrounded by physicians and her friends. The second they disappear around a corner, Sunset gets up out of her hospital bed, hopping on one foot to the emergency room front desk.The woman attending to the front desk looks up at Sunset, asking, "Weren't you just shot?""Listen to me," Sunset implores urgently, "I... think I'm fine. Let me sign some discharge papers, even if it's against medical advice. Please!"Sunset's physician comes up behind her, stating, "You were shot."Sunset replies to the physician, "Legally, you can't stop me, as I'm an adult." She gets wallet out of her pocket, takes out her ID, shows the physician and woman at the front desk, and puts it back in her wallet, which goes back in her pocket.The woman asks, "What about your friends?"Sunset replies pressingly, "Tell them I left. I just want to get out of here."The physician asks Sunset, "You are aware that, if you leave, it is against medical advice?"Quickly, Sunset begs, "Yes, just let me out of here!"The physician explains the potential dangers of leaving the hospital as Sunset looks nervously down the hall her friends went down with Rainbow Dash. The physician's words are simply background noise to Sunset, as she focuses intently on the hall, hoping that her friends do not see her trying to leave. Once the physician has finished speaking, Sunset says, "I understand completely." The woman at the desk gives Sunset the discharge papers, which Sunset signs. She hands the papers back to the woman and hops on her left foot out of the hospital in the same direction she and her friends came in.Hopping on her left foot, she goes out to the parking lot and to the transport, which is parked and locked. She says to herself, "Applejack has the key. For once, I'm lucky I used to be bad. This'll be... nostalgic." She takes a bobby pin out of her hair and uses it to unlock the transport. She gets in and pops open the hood. She gets out and hops on her left foot to the front of the car, where she hot wires it and starts the engine. The engine running, she shuts the hood and gets in the car, pushing through the pain of using her right leg to work the pedals as she drives off. She says to her friends, who are left in the hospital, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this." She heads back down the road, speeding back to CHS.She wants to stop the magic breach. Curiosity has long since left: safety and responsibility are at the forefront of Sunset's mind.Aware of the parallels between her and Twilight, she reasons that what she is doing is really for the greater good. While Twilight was operating within the confines and dynamics of the friendship, Sunset is worried that either or both worlds could be affected my a magic breach. Twilight was concerned with herself and her friends; Sunset is concerned about everyone, including Twilight and her friends. Besides, Sunset reasons, stealing the ride is what she has to do for the greater good. Twilight stole to protect her friends and to take matters into her own hands. While Sunset is taking matters into her own hands by stealing the transport, she believes she is doing what she has to do to get back to CHS and see what this magic breach is. She is more knowledgeable than anyone about magic, at least anyone on this side of the portal. She has to figure out what is going on, because it is clear that neither Starring nor the rest of the UAD knows what they are dealing with; rather, Starring and the UAD just know they can convert it to usable energy. She feels a responsibility to figure out what is going on and to stop it if it is dangerous, a responsibility to monitor any rogue Equestrian magic, which the magic breach certainly seems like it could be. She cannot fail to protect the world. She cannot let Princess Twilight down. If no one else, and it seems like no one else, she has to stop the magic breach.She thinks to herself, "For the greater good. I'm sorry I'm acting like Twilight did, but I have to, for the greater good. It's different. Right?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity return to the emergency room after accompanying Rainbow Dash on her way to surgery. When they return, they see Sunset's bed is empty. With confusion, they look around the room, then at each other, and around the room again, not seeing Sunset.Fluttershy says quietly, "I'm just gonna ask it. Where's Sunset?"Applejack begins to say, "You don't reckon..."Rarity finishes Applejack's sentence, "...the UAD took her?"Twilight tries to stay calm but comes across as frantic, saying fearfully, "This place has got to have security cameras. We could check those out. There's no way Sunset got far. We were only gone a minute!"Sunset's physician walks over to the group, saying, "You could just ask someone who saw what happened."As the group turns to look at the physician, Twilight asks worriedly, "Where's Sunset? What happened?"The physician answers, "She left, voluntarily and against medical advice. You should talk to your friend. She needs to be seen by a physician who can properly determine whether or not to remove the bullet."With the same voice of worry, Twilight asks, "Where did she go?"The physician points down the hall Sunset left.Without worrying about cameras and only worrying about finding their friend quickly, fearing that the UAD could have something to do with Sunset's disappearance, the group dashes down the hall, finding the exit to the parking lot. As the afternoon sun hangs overhead, the group does not see Sunset. The other thing the group does not see is the transport.Pinkie Pie gasps, "She's GONE!"With resolve, Twilight puts her hands together and says, "We have to access whatever security cameras there are, or we're not gonna find out what happened."Rarity suggests, "Can't we just call her?"Applejack replies, "Our phones were taken away when we were arrested, remember?"Rarity responds, "Well, then, YOU think of a better idea."Applejack proposes, "We could hot wire a car and—"Twilight interrupts, "No hot wiring. It's illegal. Besides, do any of you even KNOW how to hot wire a car?"The other four look at each other and shake their heads.Twilight asks, "Any other suggestions?"The others think for a moment but cannot come up with anything."To the cameras," Twilight says, running back inside while the others follow her.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The group goes to the front desk, and, as they run up to the desk, Twilight begs the woman working there, "Please, we need to see the security tape of the parking lot!"The woman asks bluntly, "Why do you need to see the security footage?"Pinkie Pie exclaims, "Our car was stolen!"As the woman begins pulling something up on a computer, she asks the grou,p her eyes glued to the screen, "What car do you drive?"Fluttershy answers, "A black van."The woman asks, "Make? Model?"Twilight chuckles sheepishly. "Well..." she begins, "it's a... um..."The woman turns her computer monitor around, showing it to the group and pointing to a van in the parking lot on the black-and-white screen. "Is this it?" She asks."Yes, that's it," Twilight confirms, relieved that now the group has a direction to go on finding their friend. She says, "Roll the tape."The woman rolls the video ahead, and the group sees Sunset hop over to the transport, get in, pop the hood, hot wire it, get back in, and zoom off.The woman asks the group, "Did she just hot wire and steal your van?"No one knows how to respond. The group looks at each other, confused.Finally, Applejack answers, "Not exactly." She gets the keys out of her pocket, saying, "I guess she really wanted to leave."Twilight puts her hand on her chin, thinking. She turns her back to the group and walks away, thinking out loud, "Why would she leave without telling us? Why wouldn't she wait for the key?" She stops her pacing and turns back to the group. She says with confidence mixed with dismay, "I know where she's going."Pinkie Pie replies, "I think we do, too."Twilight asks, "Do any of you have any money on you? A credit card, some cash, anything?"Applejack takes off her boot and pulls out a credit card, knowing what Twilight is thinking of. She asks, "How exactly are we going to rent a car from a hospital?"The woman answers, "There's a car rental place a couple blocks down, going west."The five nod at each other and run back down the hall, headed for the car rental place.Fluttershy breaks off from the group and runs back to the woman at the desk, telling her, "Thank you for your help!" She runs back and joins the group.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Sunset presses on, going back to CHS to face the magic breach. She knows she could be found and captured by the UAD, but she does not care. It is a necessary risk. A magic breach could mean anything, and she has more knowledge about Equestrian magic than anyone on this side of the portal, including the stupid UAD. She presses on, ignoring the pain in her right leg as she zooms down the road back to CHS. While she feels the pain, she does not think about it; she thinks about her friends and how she is trying to save them. The thought does come to her mind that Twilight was also trying to save her friends with her own actions; however, Sunset believes that, with the world potentially at stake, she is doing what has to be done, even if she is treating her friends poorly by leaving them behind and stealing the transport. While Twilight was trying to protect her friends from a very real threat, Sunset is trying to protect the world from a potential threat, one more much serious than prison time.She feels a responsibility to stop the magic, given her knowledge of it. Additionally, she feels responsible to Princess Twilight. It was Princess Twilight who showed her that there was a way to be loved and have power that did not involve harassment or bullying. She feels like she owes it to Princess Twilight to protect the new world she has been given: a new world where she knows the magic of friendship and keeps her eye out for any real actual magic. Besides, ill-meaning individuals have used magic evilly before. If someone like Sunset does not stop those individuals, who will? She thinks her friends would help her, but she does not want them to leave Rainbow Dash alone and she knows how they feel about returning to CHS. She does not want to risk putting them in danger of either the magic breach or the UAD, who will undoubtedly be harsher on them than before.She is resolved in her position. She has to stop whatever the magic breach is. The need for all units to respond to it is indicative of its seriousness. The need for magical-energy-capturing devices makes her think that something is going out of control, and she does not have a lot of time to stop it. She puts the pedal to the metal and zooms down the road, back to CHS to confront whatever the magic breach is.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*The other five get their rental car (a small, generic sedan) and pile in, with Applejack driving, Twilight in the front, Rarity behind Applejack, Pinkie Pie in the middle-back, and Fluttershy behind Twilight.As Applejack starts to drive away, Fluttershy asks everyone, "Shouldn't someone stay behind to be with Rainbow Dash? You know, for when she gets out of surgery."Applejack accelerates, saying, "She's gonna have to understand. We'll explain that we went after Sunset. If we're gonna rescue Sunset, it's gonna take all of us. Who knows what we'll have to use our powers for?"With distress, Twilight says, "Go faster."Applejack replies calmly, "I'm makin' hay, don't worry. Once we're back out on the main road, we'll catch up to Sunset in a jiff."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Twenty-five minutes later, Sunset approaches CHS. When she sees what is happening, she turns the van sideways and skids to a stop, parking at a distance and getting out. Once she gets out, she stands in awe of the scene she is seeing.CHS is enveloped by a gaseous substance, the color of a faded rainbow. It looks like rainbow fog. There is fog colored faded shades of all colors of the rainbow, floating around the entirety of CHS property and starting to leak past the border fence into the surrounding neighborhoods and streets. The air goes twice as high as the actual school. The rainbow fog is so thick, Sunset can barely see the actual border fence, let alone anything past it. A light breeze blows out from CHS in all directions as the rainbow fog very slowly but surely extends outwards and upwards.Sunset is parked two streets away, watching the rainbow fog creep toward her, very slowly but definitely moving. She can hear loud chatter and an occasional scream from inside the fog. She thinks to herself, "This fog is definitely Equestrian magic. But... why would magic be in the form of fog?"She hops to the back of the transport and grabs a flashlight, a pistol, a walkie-talkie, and a couple knives. She grabs a belt and holsters for the pistol and knives. She clips the walkie-talkie to the belt and holds the flashlight, turning it on. She advances slowly towards the fog, not knowing what is going on or what is inside, as the fog advances slowly towards her. She steps lightly, out of an abundance of caution to not be heard by anyone who might want to capture or hurt her, and because she does not want to put weight on her right leg. However, she does use her right leg a little bit, each step excruciatingly painful, but she takes a deep breath, clenching her teeth and grunting quietly with each step on her right. After a long minute of walking on the street towards CHS with steady, analyzed movement, she meets the fog as it meets her.The flashlight lets her see a few feet ahead in front of her, but not much to the sides or beyond about seven feet of distance. While the flashlight is military-grade, the rainbow fog is extremely thick and dense; it has completely blocked out the sun overhead. The only color is the faded rainbow colors of the fog, which provide light by simply not being dark colors. After another few seconds of walking, Sunset stops and turns around, standing still, and can only see more fog. Escape is backwards, but she has to continue forward. Step by step, she continues forward into the rainbow fog cautiously, not wanting to run into anything or anyone she cannot see through the dense rainbow fog.Suddenly, she hears a familiar scream up ahead. It is a scream that Sunset left behind at the hospital. She asks herself, "...Twilight?"The voice screams, "Get away from me!"Sunset says to herself, "That's definitely Twilight. But how did she get here?" She limps ahead faster, trying to jog but limping as she puts as little weight on her right leg as possible, again grunting quietly with each step. Trying to protect herself from whatever the voice is facing, she calls ahead in a loud whisper, "Twilight...!"Sunset hears footsteps approaching her quickly and sees a faint yellow light. A second after seeing the light, something runs into her, sending her to the ground, hitting the street hard. When she hits the ground, the impact makes her let go of the flashlight, and it rolls a few feet away, almost completely lost to the density of the rainbow fog, but still visible as a small speck of light. Groaning, Sunset rolls onto her back and sits up.The same voice from a moment ago says kindly, "Let me give you a hand."Sunset looks up and sees a purple hand extended to her. She takes it, and the kind person pulls her to her feet. Wanting to confirm who the person is for herself, she limps over to where the flashlight rolled, picks it up, and walks up close to the unknown person, shining the flashlight on the person at close range due to the density of the surrounding rainbow fog.The light shows the person Sunset, too. She reacts, "Sunset?"Seeing the person in the light, Sunset reacts, "Princess Twilight?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Sunset can plainly see Princess Twilight in front of her, exactly the same as how she appeared in the past.Princess Twilight nods, confirming her identity. With hurry, she implores Sunset, "We HAVE to get out of here. Now. There's people coming after me, and they might come after you too!"Sunset replies calmly, "They already came after me." She points at her leg, which is wrapped in the tourniquet and has small splatters of blood around the tourniquet.Princess Twilight gasps. "Are you alright?" She asks.Nonchalantly, Sunset answers, "I'm fine, just a gunshot. Let's get you out of here and make a plan."Princess Twilight gets on Sunset's right side and puts Sunset's right arm over her shoulders, to be a crutch. As quickly as they can move together in such a manner, Twilight and Sunset make their move away from CHS. After around a minute, they emerge outside the rainbow fog, the bright sunlight makes them raise a hand to their eyes as they keep moving away from the fog.Sunset squints ahead and sees the transport. She points, saying, "There. That's mine— ours. I'll explain everything there."Princess Twilight and Sunset get to the van and get in the front. The engine is still on from earlier; Sunset parked the transport without turning it off. She drives with Princess Twilight a couple streets away and parks again on a driveway between a couple houses, hoping to maintain safe distance from the UAD and the rainbow fog, which creeps slowly towards them. From where they are parked, they can still see the rainbow fog towering about CHS and slowly moving towards them.Princess Twilight thinks out loud, "It's not moving fast at all, we'll definitely have a few minutes to come up with a plan. Care to explain what's going on?"Sunset answers, "Well, I haven't really been able to tell you anything, since magic has been banned."Princess Twilight reacts, "Magic... has been banned? What does that have to do with this breach?"Sunset replies, "You're calling it a breach, too. Let me back up. Short story is, magic was temporarily banned until further notice around two months ago so this organization, the Unusual Activities Division— UAD for short— could harvest energy coming through a crack in the top of the portal. The leader, this guy named Glass Starring, is an Equestrian magic fanatic and he wants to know when and where Equestrian magic is used, because, if it's illegal, no one's going to use it, so if someone DOES, then he can pinpoint that magic easily without other magic interfering.""Makes sense," Princess Twilight responds. "What does he want with Equestrian magic?"Sunset answers, "He wants legitimacy in the scientific community, profits to share with his financial investor, and he wants to convert magical energy from the portal into usable energy, which would be a big hit both scientifically and financially."Princess Twilight scowls. She mutters, "Corporate greed."Sunset goes on, "Magic was banned permanently, literally this morning. Also, being a magic individual was made illegal, too. Magic power and usage was already part of the ban, but being magic wasn't." Sarcastically, she says, "Thanks for that. So," she continues in a conversational tone, "the others and I tried to escape to Equestria, where we could at least meet up with you and come up with a plan. But, that got me shot in the leg, Rainbow Dash was shot in the shoulder, and—"Princess Twilight interrupts, "Rainbow Dash was SHOT? Is she okay?"Sunset chuckles sheepishly. "Well, she's kind of in surgery, last I heard.""Surgery?!" Princess Twilight reacts. "What about the others? Are they okay?""Yeah," Sunset answers, "they're at the hospital waiting for Rainbow Dash to get out of surgery. I'd guess it wouldn't be too much longer.""Uh huh," Princess Twilight proceeds with confusion, "and why are YOU here, then? With a tourniquet on your leg?"Sunset blushes with embarrassment. She says timidly, "I might've snuck out of the hospital to come here.""Do the others even know you're here?" Princess Twilight asks worriedly."Probably?" Sunset answers. "We were in this van, going to the hospital, and we heard someone on the radio say something about a 'magic breach.' I had to check it out. I know more about Equestrian magic than anyone else on this side of the portal. Well, besides you, now that you're here. Do you have any idea what's going on? It's lucky we found each other."Princess Twilight replies, "We'll address you ditching the others later. Anyway, here's what's happening: this rainbow-colored fog is pure Equestrian magic in its rawest form. Ancient wizards and sorcerers were able to harness it with natural elements, letting them make objects like the Time Twirler or letting them channel it within objects or ponies, which is what gave the Sirens their power and what gives unicorns and pegasi the powers of magic and flight. Magic must've been leaking through the crack in the portal, causing a magic imbalance. Magic in this world started pulling in magic from Equestria like a magnet to balance the scales of magic between the worlds! A little bit of magic in this world was fine, since it didn't make much of a difference overall. It was only a little bit of magic, and there's a LOT of magic in Equestria. When the UAD started harvesting magic, they must have inadvertently sucked in an absurd amount of magic. Once enough magic was in this world, it was enough to tip the scales, and the magical energy is trying to balance itself between the worlds in a natural way. It's like a bucket full of water: if you poke a hole halfway up the bucket, water will pour out until half of it is in the bucket and half of it is out. So, a lot of magic in this world became a really powerful magnet to magic in Equestria, and it's balancing itself by becoming an even amount of magic between the two worlds, and that's what's causing the breach! It's basic magic science."What Twilight does not know is that the recent "technological breakthrough" that let the UAD harvest magic faster is what ultimately led to the magic breach.Sunset is stunned, not knowing how to respond. She manages to say, "I... wouldn't have come up with that on my own.""You wouldn't have," Princess Twilight concurs. "The history of magic in Equestria is a very advanced study program for only the smartest of ponies. I, of course, am among them. If enough magic comes into this world, it could affect nature, objects, and ponies— I mean, people— in unpredictable and unnatural ways. It could literally change your world."Sunset asks, "So, how do we fix it? We just have to patch up the hole in the bucket, right?"Princess Twilight shakes her head. "The only way to fight magic is with magic. I don't know how to channel magic into an object to seal the portal. That knowledge may be lost to antiquity."Sunset thinks for a moment. She says, "I've got nothing. What can we do to stop this?"Princess Twilight responds, "If we send enough magic into Equestria, the amount of magic in this world could become negligible again. We don't have to send magic itself like the fog is— it can be anything that's inherently magical. It would have to be insanely magical to combat the sheer amount of magic in this world from the fog, though. The thing is, whatever we send to Equestria would have to stay in Equestria permanently to keep another imbalance from happening."Sunset thinks out loud, "The only things that are inherently magical in this world are me, my friends, and our geodes. You're not saying we'd all have to go live in Equestria to be safe... are you?"Princess Twilight replies, "The geodes should be enough. From what you told me, excessive use makes them stronger. Using them in the first place to stop that Gloriosa you told me about could have been what caused the leak in the first place! Can I see yours?"Sunset hands Princess Twilight her geode.Princess Twilight studies the geode meticulously: she turns it around, holds it close and far from her face, and shakes it by her ear for a sound. Finally, she states, "All seven geodes are going to be enough, but you would have to sacrifice your powers. For good."Sunset shrugs. "It is what it is to me. We have to do whatever it takes to stop this magic breach."Sunset referring to the magic breach makes her and Princess Twilight look out the front of the van for the rainbow fog. They can see that, while they were talking, the rainbow fog got incredibly close to them and is now only a few feet away.Sunset turns on the transport's front lights. "We have to go back to the hospital," she says. "That's where we can get the geodes. It's a half-hour ride, but—"Sunset is interrupted by a sedan on the street outside the window. She and Princess Twilight watch it. The sedan slows down to a crawl as it passes the transport on the street ahead. All five familiar people in the van stare with shock inside the transport as Sunset and Princess Twilight stare with shock back.Applejack parks the sedan, and the five get out and go the transport. Sunset and Princess Twilight get out of the transport to greet their friends.Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie react excitedly, "TWILIGHT!" They embrace their friend warmly and exchange happy greetings.Twilight asks Sunset, "What are you doing here? We were worried sick something happened to you!""I'm fine," Sunset assures Twilight, "don't worry. We have a plan."Princess Twilight says, "That we do. The magic is like a scale—"Applejack interrupts, "Tell us in terms we can understand."Princess Twilight explains, "We have to take all your geodes into Equestria for good. It will stop dangerous Equestrian magic from leaking into this world, so you can control the Equestrian magic that's already here. This fog is—"Pinkie Pie interrupts, "Beautiful?"Princess Twilight concedes, "Yes, it's beautiful, but the fog is literally pure Equestrian magic. Naturally occurring. By sending the geodes to Equestria, you can all clean up the mess here."Fluttershy points out, "We'd still be existing illegally as magical beings, though."Sunset remarks, "We don't have to worry about the UAD anymore. I've got knowledge of Starring's shady motives and lies that will take the UAD down, along with any laws enacted by the UAD."The rainbow fog finally has advanced far enough to surround the group where Sunset and Princess Twilight parked.Sunset says, "There's more flashlights in the transport. I'll get some."Princess Twilight says, "So we have our plan. I'll take the geodes back, since I need to go back to Equestria, anyway."Pinkie Pie reacts, "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! I am NOT giving up my geode!"Princess Twilight says calmly, "The effects of a continued magic spillover into this world could devastate it in unpredictable ways. This world could fall into complete disharmony, ruining life for everyone, if not ending it."Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight hand their geodes to Princess Twilight without any more questions about the geodes. Princess Twilight muses, "Now, I just need to get to the portal..."Applejack asks, "How you gonna do THAT?"Rarity points out, "This fog is thick enough that I'm sure Princess Twilight will be able to reach the portal undetected."Princess Twilight responds, "I came through the portal to see what was going on with a magic imbalance in Equestria. When I came through the portal, the surrounding area was swamped with people, and some of them were armed! I'd never make it!"Sunset comes back with flashlights and passes them out to everyone. She answers Applejack, "We're gonna have to make a diversion."Pinkie Pie reacts, "I love diversions!"The group talks to decide how the plan to take the geodes to Equestria is carried out. They decide that their plan has to involve being split up, so the group of them is not captured together and because it would be harder to see fewer people together in a thick rainbow fog than it would be to see a higher amount of people together. The plan has to involve Princess Twilight returning to Equestria, because she has duties she must attend as princess. The plan must involve getting Princess Twilight to the portal safely, so she is going to need cover.Based on the described criteria, after a few minutes of discussion, the group has come up with a plan.Sunset summarizes to make sure everyone understands: "I'll go with both Twilights directly to the portal. The princess and I will be armed with weapons, while Twilight has her magic. And a weapon, but the magic, too. The rest of you will use your geodes to circle in around the portal and distract guards without them seeing you in this fog. That way, you stay as far away as possible while letting the Twilights and I move as a small group, hard to detect.
"After three minutes on the other side of that border fence, everyone else is going to toss us their geodes. Fluttershy will time three minutes with a stopwatch from the back, and we'll know the time's up when we hear a robin whistle. Rarity will make a big diamond to reflect light off flashlights the rest of you will shine at it after the three minutes. That'll help Twilight see the geodes as she catches them and hands them to the princess. Then, the princess goes through the portal while Twilight and I make our way out of the fog. Once the rest of you have thrown your geodes, you're going to get out of the fog, too. We're going to meet up back here and go back to the hospital to see Rainbow Dash. Is everyone clear on the plan?"Everyone is clear on the plan. They know what directions they will advance and what they can do to distract or temporarily take out guards. The only thing they have to do is carry it out as safely as possible. It was agreed upon that, if anyone is at risk of getting hurt at any point, she does whatever she needs to do to protect herself.The group is equipped with pistols, knifes, tasers, pepper spray, and flashlights. Depending on anyone's personal preference, some items go on a belt, in holsters, or on a vest originally designed for people bigger and taller than all of them.Once everyone is armed, Princess Twilight asks, "Before we go, can we do one thing?"Sunset answers, "Anything."Princess Twilight asks, "Group hug?"The group embraces each other and holds onto each other for a few seconds before letting go.Fluttershy comments, "Rainbow Dash is going to be sad when she hears she missed seeing you, Twilight."Both Twilights look up.Fluttershy points at Princess Twilight, saying, "Princess Twilight. Original. No glasses Twilight."Sunset hands Princess Twilight a pistol.As Princess Twilight holsters her pistol, she says, "Tell Rainbow Dash I said hi."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Suddenly, a loud crackling noise is heard. Sunset looks down and sees it is a radio she grabbed. She holds it up for everyone to listen.Starring's voice commands through the radio, "If any magical beings are seen again, use any means necessary to stop and capture them, but do not kill them. Watch the monument closely for any more people coming out of it."Sunset turns the radio off and clips it to her beltArmed, equipped, and knowing the plan, the group proceeds into the rainbow fog. Sunlight disappears overhead as they turn on their flashlights. The only thing that can be seen is fog, colored faded shades of all colors of the rainbow, and whatever is a few feet in front of any one of them, as shown by the flashlights. The group advance slowly, trying to keep quiet, not knowing who can be waiting only a few feet away from them in the thick fog. Every footstep is calculated.Princess Twilight sees Sunset limping along, trying not to put any weight on her right leg. Without saying anything, she gets on Sunset's right side again, putting Sunset's arm over her shoulders to be a right leg for Sunset.Sunset whispers to Princess Twilight, "Thanks, but when we get to the fence, you'll have to let me walk by myself, so I can have both hands ready in case something bad happens."Princess Twilight nods.The group keeps pressing towards the fence, step by step, deeper into the surrounding fog. There is almost no sound. With flashlights pointed forward, no one can turn her head and see everyone. They all have to trust that they are still together, even when walking side-by-side.Footsteps move from the hard concrete of the street to the smooth, cool grass of somebody's front yard. Step by step, the group advances before coming to a complete stop in front of a wall. As they pan their flashlights up, they can see that they are right in front of a house. They find a path around it and go to another street behind it. Slowly, they cross it, then come to a chain link fence. As they study the fence with their flashlights, they see that it is a small fence, one designed for yards. Rarity a crystal for everyone to step on, and the group jumps the fence. They walk through the yard of the house before coming to the street, where a tall chain link fence stops them from going any further.Twilight's heart pounds with nervous anticipation, drowning out any other sound or noise there may be. Everyone is else is concerned with the world at stake; she wants everything to go right not only for the world, but for her friends. She wants to turn the page with them and set each friendship right again. She cannot do that if things go wrong. What if someone gets captured? What if someone gets killed? The UAD has shown that it is not afraid to shoot. She cannot let anything happen to them without them knowing that she is deeply sorry and feels awful for what she believes was tyrannical, unfriendly behavior. She has lost her friends one way and wants to fix it; she will not let herself lose them again in a way she cannot fix.Princess Twilight whispers to everyone, "How are we going to get on the other side?"Rarity whispers back, "I got this, darling, I'll just cast some diamonds."Sunset replies, "I'm not sure I can get over the fence. We might have to go through it."Pinkie Pie smiles wide.Sunset sighs with amusement, "Go ahead, Pinkie Pie."Excitedly, Pinkie Pie takes a few steps back and gets some sprinkles out of her pocket.Sunset, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack step back, too.Princess Twilight asks, "What exactly is going on?"Sunset replies, "You may want to step back."Suddenly, Pinkie Pie throws the sprinkles at the fence as Rarity casts a diamond on the other side of the fence to try to block any potential sound waves from the sprinkles.With a poof, the sprinkles hit the fence, making a small cloud of sugar dust that explodes right in Princess Twilight's face, who did not get out of the way fast enough.Princess Twilight coughs a few times as the sugar cloud dissipates. She blinks her eyes rapidly. She wheezes, "It got in my eyes."Sunset responds in a sarcastic, joking tone, "I told you you may want to step back."Princess Twilight wipes her eyes with her hands. As her vision clears up, she sees that there is a hole in the fence big enough to walk through.As Rarity makes the diamond disappear, the group passes through the fence and huddles up.Sunset says, "Remember everybody, we have three minutes. Should take three seconds, but we've not taking any chances. Fluttershy, we'll be waiting for that robin."Fluttershy nods. As she starts the stopwatch on her wrist, she, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie move away. She goes right along the fence, Applejack goes forward to the right diagonally, Rarity, goes left along the fence, and Pinkie Pie goes forward and to the left diagonally.Sunset quietly reminds both Twilights, "We're waiting here for about two minutes or so before we move so they can take out the guards."After a few seconds of the trio standing together in silence, Twilight looks at Princess Twilight and remarks lowly, "It must be fun being a princess in your world."Princess Twilight shrugs. "It has its ups and downs, but mostly ups. As long as I have my friends by my side, it's easy enough." She puts her hand on Sunset's shoulder and smiles at her.Twilight shyly grabs her left arm with her right hand and looks down. "I've been kind of the wrong kind of ruler with my own friends lately," she admits softly. "I've talked to Sunset about it, but I don't know what I can do about it right now besides just give my friends time."Sunset replies, "Now may not be the time for this."Princess Twilight concurs, "Sunset's right. Now's not the time, but you can write to me anytime after all this is done, as long as Sunset lets you."Twilight says, "I know you're a friendship expert. When I saw you were here, I wanted to ask you." She turns to Sunset. "It's not that your advice and help isn't enough, it's just that two heads are better than one, you know?"Sunset nods. "I know."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*As Rarity goes along the fence, she thinks to herself, "It'll all be fine, Rarity. In five minutes, you'll be back at the rental car and everyone will be safe. It's not like you'll actually have to shoot anyone." She is terrified at the prospect of having to hurt someone, let alone with a violent weapon like a gun. However, she will do anything to protect her friends if needed. She thinks, "Quit borrowing trouble, Rarity. Think happy thoughts. Think of your friends. You'll do anything for them."She keeps walking along the fence, trying to avoid confrontation, knowing that any confrontation would be noisy. "But if I make noise," she thinks, "it will distract other guards and make a diversion. Do I really have the right power for that, though? It's not like I have Applejack's strength and could fight any of them hand-to-hand. I'm stuck with these beautiful, fashionable diamonds."By staying along the border of the fence, she avoids finding any guards further inside who are more concerned with protecting the portal. After a short while of slow walking that feels like an eternity, she decides that she is getting close enough to three minutes that she can take action. She takes steps inward toward the portal, her flashlight giving her clear path that, after not a lot of time, shows her a guard with his back turned. Afraid, she immediately turns off the flashlight, the click of the flashlight switch getting the guard's attention.The guard turns around and draws his gun.Afraid that the guard will shoot, she uses her left hand to cast a small diamond in the guard's hand between his palm and the pistol's grip, which makes him drop the pistol. As the guard opens his mouth to either speak or shout, Rarity, not taking any chances, uses her right hand to cast an emerald-cut diamond (like an oval with edges, rather than a square with corners) in the guard's mouth to keep him from making any loud noises. She grabs the pepper spray from her belt and sprays it in the guard's eyes, wincing as she says quietly, "I am really sorry about all this, but you have to understand, I'm doing this for my friends."As the guard makes muffled screams of pain and covers his eyes with his hands, Rarity quickly punches the guard in the jaw with her left hand (her right keeping the crystal in the guard's mouth) to keep from making any more sounds.The crystal shatters quietly in the guard's mouth as he falls to the ground, unconscious.Rarity moves quickly to catch the guard before he can hit the ground. She drags him to the border of the fence and leaves him there, whispering, "So sorry about the crystal shards in your mouth, but I'm doing what I have to do. Surely, you'd do the same. I mean, that's why you're here."She turns her flashlight back on and advances in the same direction she was advancing before. After a moment, the flashlight stops showing her the grass ground and starts showing her a brick wall. She looks up the wall and sees a window. Knowing exactly where she is by the school, she knows exactly how to get to the portal. Knowing she only has so much time to get ready to cast a diamond to distract the guards around the portal, she looks for a place where she can have some cover. She thinks, "No one will find me on a rooftop. We can only see a few feet ahead with a flashlight in this fog, anyway. No one would see me on a roof overhead!"She advances away from the school parallel to the portal and comes across a temporary building. She casts a diamond for herself to step on with one hand and gets on it, a couple feet in the air. Quickly, she uses her other hand to make another step and gets on that one. She repeats this, alternating hands, until she can lightly step onto the flat roof of the temporary building. She does not take any steps forward on the roof, because she does not want footsteps on the roof heard by anyone who may be inside the temporary building. She does not want to duck or lay down on the roof, either, to prevent any noise. So, she simply stands her ground, shuffling lightly and slowly a few inches ahead so she is not on the edge of the roof. She sets her feet and stands there, waiting for the sound of a robin.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Pinkie Pie is walking slowly and quietly along a line that would take her to the left side of the school as she tries to take out or distract guards. Every step is quiet as thoughts race through her mind: "What if everything goes wrong? What I save everyone and I'm hailed as a national hero? Ooh, I could really go for a cupcake right now." She takes a cupcake out of her hair and starts eating it as quietly as she can, holding her flashlight in her other hand. Her eyes dart in all directions as she turns around every few steps to make sure no one is tailing her, before quickly facing forward again to make sure she does not run into anyone.The distance she has to walk to the portal is a very short distance; simply across the street and to the portal not far off the street. However, she, like everyone else, moves only inches at a time, trying not to be detected by anyone who may be hiding somewhere in the rainbow fog, potentially only a few inches away. She can barely see the cupcake in front her face if it is not in the flashlight's light. As she finishes the cupcake, she thinks, "A cupcake never hurt anybody. Well, not yet, anyway."When she gets across the street, she has a good idea of where the portal is ahead in the rainbow fog, thanks to having attended the school for so long. However, she keeps herself at a distance to the left of the portal, advancing forward toward the school's left side.After shuffling across the grass for what feels like forever, hoping she is not going too slowly, she sees a guard just in front of her in the light, the rainbow fog keeping the guard hidden until she was only a few feet away. She grabs some sprinkles and throws them ahead and to the side, where there is a small explosion. This gets the guard's attention, and he walks towards where he heard the explosion.Pinkie Pie breathes a sigh of relief and moves on, thinking to herself, "I got this." She presses forward. After a few seconds, she sees not just one, but two guards, standing side-by-side and looking directly at her. In the same manner as before, she throws sprinkles ahead and to the side to make a distraction. As both guards turn their heads to see where the sound is coming from (which is a fruitless effort because the rainbow fog does not allow for sight of more than a few inches without a light source), Pinkie Pie turns off her flashlight and sidesteps out of the guards' fields of vision to the left. She finds herself next to a van, which she goes around further to the left, and she waits for a few seconds before moving towards the portal and taking out guards again, thinking, "I've definitely lost them by now. This fog is almost as thick as a milkshake." She sticks out her tongue to taste the fog. As she puts her tongue back in her mouth, she thinks, "Nah, not quite as thick, but it tastes just as good."She circles the van and goes in the same direction she was going on as when she ran into the guards. She turns on the flashlight again and walks slowly in the general direction of the portal, but not committed to going right at it, to avoid the swarm of guards around it. After another long moment of slow walking, she sees in the limited light of her flashlight there there is a UAD employee in a suit— also wearing a headlamp— walking a few feet in front of her, right to left. In a panic, she turns off the light and starts walking backwards.Caught in the light, the employee turns to see where the light is coming from, but can only see fog, now that Pinkie Pie has turned off the flashlight. Curious, he takes a few steps towards where Pinkie Pie was, his headlamp lighting the way. After a few steps, he sees someone walking backwards away from him. Taking bigger steps, he commands the person, "Stop where you are!""Um..." Pinkie Pie reacts, "no, I won't be stopping." She turns to run away from confrontation, but steps right into another man in a suit, who looks right down at her."Who are you?" The man asks, confused.The other man says urgently, "Stop her!"Panicking, Pinkie Pie reaches into her pocket for sprinkles.The man in front of her grabs her wrist quickly, concerned that the intruder is reaching for a weapon. He holds up the wrist, seeing that the intruder's fist is clenched tightly. He demands to know, "What's in your hand?"While Pinkie Pie's wrist is being held up, her hand is not. She flicks the sprinkles in the man's face, and a small explosion is made, followed by a cloud of sugar dust around the man's eyes. As the man yelps in surprise, Pinkie Pie feels herself being grabbed from behind by the other man. She elbows backwards, hitting the man in the stomach, and roundhouse kicks high, hitting the man in the side of the head and knocking him down and out cold.As the other man regains his vision, Pinkie Pie runs further away from the portal, hoping the man will chase her. When she sees that the man is following, she suddenly stops in her tracks, turns around, and throws sprinkles at him again, but this time, throwing many more sprinkles than before. The bigger explosion makes the man fall down, and she goes over to him, pulls licorice rope out of her hair, and ties the man's hands together with licorice rope. She then grabs a fruit roll-up and covers the man's mouth with it. While she does this, she says quietly, "I'm really sorry, but we're trying to balance the magic so it can be contained before it ruins the world. On the bright side, at least you can lick the fruit roll-up!"She then notices the man has a radio on him. She takes it and says into it in her most man-sounding voice, "Requesting backup at... E-7. Yeah, E-7."Someone responds, "We're trying to keep the line clear. Who is this?"In her own voice, Pinkie Pie groans, then says, "Just go to the school." She turns off the radio and turns on her flashlight, walking at a normal pace towards the left side of the school. It is very little distance to the school, but a normal walking pace is much faster than she was moving previously. Once she gets to the school, she gets sprinkles out of her pockets and starts throwing them at the ground, rapid-fire, to make a diversion. After a few seconds of doing this, she hears footsteps approaching quickly. She speeds away at an angle, finding a van to hide behind. As she catches her breath, she hopes she has not missed the robin and that her own diversion has drawn away enough guards so that her friends' journey to the portal is as easy as possible.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Applejack is going forward and to the right, looking for any guards to take out. She knows she has the super strength to knock out anybody. "Yeah," she thinks to herself, "they better not cross me. I'll show 'em. A real swift knock to the noggin is all I need. Or, all they need. Focus, Applejack. Get the Twilights and the Sunsets a clear path to the portal. Can't have any guards moseyin' around who might happen on 'em."After a minute or so of walking around and not finding anyone, she accidentally walks right into a guard she did not see in the denseness of the rainbow fog. Confidently, before the guard can react, she uppercut punches the guard in the jaw, sending him the ground and knocking him out. She thinks, "I'm only going to have this power for a couple more minutes. Might as well enjoy it while I have it."As she sneaks around CHS property, she comes across a parked van. She chuckles to herself and cracks her knuckles as she walks up to the front of the van. She squats down, grabs the fender, and tilts the van towards herself, intent on picking it up by the front of it. However, as the tilt gets steeper, she hears clattering noises inside the van. Slowly, she sets it back down upright and walks away. She can hear a voice behind her go, "What just happened?" Another voice is heard to respond, "Maybe it's some anti-gravity magic."Not wanting to risk making significant noise, hurting anyone, or drawing attention, Applejack thinks to herself, "Well, that's the last of that." She walks around in the fog at a normal pace, looking for someone to knock out. She comes across a guard and punches him out without any trouble. She comes across another guard and knocks him out just as easily. She thinks, "I guess all that time trainin' with Big Mac is payin' off." She finds another guard and knocks him out without breaking a sweat.From having spent so much time at CHS and knowing the angle she began walking at in the first place, she knows she is near the portal. She stands where she is, not far from it, at an easy throwing distance, waiting for the sound of a robin and ready to beat up anyone else who crosses her path.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Meanwhile, Fluttershy whispers out into the fog, "Birdies? Squirrels? Anyone want to help my friends and I?"Within a few seconds, some birds, butterflies, and a couple squirrels come up to Fluttershy.A bird chirps at Fluttershy.Fluttershy shushes it, "Sh! Quiet, Hubert! We need to look for bad guys and distract them. I don't want my location given away. I need all of you to go out into the fog, find bad guys, and distract them. If you can lead them away, that would be even better. A couple of you can stay with me, including you, Mr. Robin. I'll explain later. Thank you all so much for your help. I believe in you!"The animals scatter away as Fluttershy continues moving, this time moving more inward towards the portal than around the border. A few butterflies and a bird stay with her as protection. She hears chirping up ahead, followed by a voice asking, "What's the matter, little birdie?" Then, she hears a thud up ahead. Concerned and curious, she moves ahead and sees an unconscious UAD guard on the ground with Hubert standing on his forehead. Seeing that the guard is still breathing, Fluttershy continues onward to the portal, making sure to stay away from vans and temporary buildings where she might be seen outside at a window at close proximity if she tried to move near one. She trusts that the animals are distracting the guards.The animals are, indeed, distracting the guards around where Fluttershy is. Birds are flying around guards' faces, keeping them from seeing ahead at all with their flashlights. A hummingbird is buzzing loudly around one guard's ear. Squirrels are climbing up guards' bodies to get to their weapons and taking them away. Butterflies fly around guards' faces and land on and off of areas where guards' skin is exposed, distracting them with an itching sensation from a phantom source.As the animals do their work, Fluttershy moves closer to the portal, not able to see anything around her. After a moment of walking, she sees a guard walk in front of her right past her. She freezes in her tracks, afraid to move or even breathe, so as not to be detected. After a couple seconds, she continues on. After another couple seconds, one of her own butterflies flies into her face. She tries to swat it away and begins to tell it, "Get—!" as it flies onto her mouth to make her quiet. She gets the hint and the butterfly then goes to her ear to tell her something.After the butterfly has relayed its message, Fluttershy backs up a few steps. The butterfly told her she was just a few feet away from a swarm of armed guards, who are guarding the portal. Looking around with the flashlight, she finds a van to hide against. Close to the portal and a lot of armed guards, she now wants to have her back covered. She leans against the van and tells the butterfly quietly, "Get the others and do what you can to distract them when you see a bright light. We want as much chaos as possible, okay?"As the butterfly flies off, the other butterflies sit on Fluttershy's shoulders, and the robin sits on her head. She looks up to it and whispers, "When I tell you, start tweeting. That's how my friends will know that we're ready to wreak havoc."
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After being huddled together closely and waiting for most of the agreed-upon three minutes, Sunset and the Twilights make their move to the portal to return the geodes, moving in single-file very closely together. Sunset leads the way, Princess Twilight is in the middle, and Twilight is in the back. Sunset and Twilight have their hands close to their hips at all times, ready to draw a weapon if needed, but neither wanting to do so.With several guards displaced by Rarity's diamonds, Pinkie Pie's explosions, Applejack's strength, or Fluttershy's animal friends, the path to the portal is an easy one for Sunset and the Twilights. Taking a direct approach, they follow the sidewalk path in the direction of the portal, not using flashlights because the hard sidewalk will lead them to the portal. Additionally, not using flashlights further hides them in the rainbow fog. They advance with hesitant urgency, each step calculated by calculated quickly. They walk lightly, trying to keep the sound of their shoes on the sidewalk from making a significant noise. The only sounds are their own breathing and Sunset occasionally grunting when she steps with her right foot, eliciting a worried expression from Princess Twilight.As the trio gets close, Sunset turns on her flashlight to look at the ground. The concrete path of the sidewalk reaches its end, feeding onto a large, circular expanse of concrete. In the center of the circle is the portal, but the portal is on the other side of the monument, facing the school; the trio approached from the street. Being as close as they are, they wait for the sound of a robin.After what feels like a long time of waiting, Fluttershy sees the time on the stopwatch get to three minutes. She tells the robin on her head, "Now, Mr. Robin."The robin chirps happily, as if nothing is wrong or out of the ordinary.The chirp of a bird does not get the attention of any guards around the portal unseen through the rainbow fog, but it gets the attention of the ones waiting for it. From her spot on the rooftop of the nearby temporary building, Rarity casts a giant diamond over the portal, or at least where she believes the portal is. While she cannot see her own hands stretched out in front of her casting such a big diamond, she has been around CHS enough to know about where she is currently and where the diamond is. She thinks to herself, "I have to have it. Just a few more seconds..." She grunts quietly in exertion at using her energy to maintain such a big diamond, knowing that this is the last chance she will have to use her geode.Sunset turns on her flashlight and shines it above the portal. Nothing happening, she immediately breaks away from the Twilights and steps forward, trying to find the diamond to shine light on it.Princess Twilight whispers, "Sunset, no!" She is too late; Sunset only took two steps, and is lost beyond the fog.As Sunset steps, she can see guards out of the corners of her eyes. However, she knows that if she can shine light on the diamond, the guards' presence will not matter. She limps as quickly as she can to the portal and shines her flashlight above it, seeing the diamond faintly through the fog.The flashlight's light reaches the diamond, which intensifies the light of the flashlight greatly, making it glow brightly through the fog like a lighthouse.Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy see the diamond, turn on their flashlights, and shine light at the diamond.The light in the diamond fights the fog, giving the other flashlights' light a pathway in the air to the diamond. The diamond glows a stunningly and greatly bright whitish-blue hue, and the guards are as confused as they are blinded. They raise their hands to their eyes and look down and away, the bright light making them back up naturally. Some even tumble down as they back away.The light from the diamond is enough to brighten the area around the portal just enough for the area to almost look like daylight. The fog can still be seen, but it is faint, with the diamond illuminating the area enough to cut through the fog while being bright enough that anyone who looks at it is going to have problems seeing for a few seconds.Expecting the bright light, Sunset and the Twilights look down before the light can hurt their eyes, and they make their move for the front of the portal.Pinkie Pie throws some sprinkles as far back behind her as possible, away from the portal, to try to make a diversion. She then takes off her hair bow with the geode on it and throws it at the portal, where it is seen by Twilight, who grabs it in midair with her magic and pulls it in.Applejack hurls her hair band towards the portal, knowing one of her friends will catch it. Twilight sees the hair band coming and grabs it with her magic, pulling it in.A bird flies up to Princess Twilight and hands her Fluttershy's necklace.The bright light lets Rarity see that the trio has gotten to the front of the portal. She also sees several guards around the portal covering their eyes or looking away. As quickly as she can, so her geode is still visible and to keep any guards from seeing her friends, she lets the diamond go as she uses her hands to untie her necklace and throw it in the direction of the portal.As the light quickly dies down, Twilight catches view of Rarity's geode, which reflects just enough light to be seen. She stretches out her hand, using her magic to grab the necklace and bring it to herself. She hands all four geodes to Princess Twilight, then hands the princess her own geode.Sunset gives her geode to Princess Twilight, saying, "I'll write."Princess Twilight smiles at Sunset and clutches the geodes more tightly in her hands. She steps towards the portal and leans into it, disappearing through it, leaving Canterlot behind once more.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy dash back towards the border fence while carefully looking out for more guards. Not seeing any, with all guards' attention drawn to the light, they reach the fence and go along it until they come back to the area through which they entered CHS just a little over three minutes ago.In the thick rainbow fog, Sunset can no longer see Twilight. Not wanting to risk calling out her name to draw attention to either of them, she begins limping back in the direction she came, hoping to make it back to the fence, leave, and meet up with everyone else.Suddenly, she hears gunshots from behind her.A voice shouts out, "Where are you magical people?! NO ONE will interfere with my work!"Sunset recognizes the voice as Starring's. She tries to hurry ahead frantically as she does not want to be a victim of the gunshots.Starring shouts again, "Where are you?! If you come out, I'll stop shooting! By the way, you know this is my jurisdiction, right? I can shoot without consequence!"As Sunset hurries ahead, she bumps into Twilight. Distressed, she asks, "Why haven't you left yet?!"Twilight replies, "I'm not leaving without you."In the same way the princess did, Twilight puts Sunset's arm over her shoulders. They limp ahead as quickly as they can in such a manner, only a few seconds out from the exit. Suddenly, gunshots ring out again, and the two smartly fall to the ground, making themselves the smallest targets possible. They start crawling on their elbows ahead as grass becomes concrete street, knowing they just have to cross the street to get to the exit, and they can be safe. As they get to the other end of the street, Twilight gets up first, and pulls Sunset up. As they reach the end of the street, they can see the chain link fence slowly come into vision through the fog.Suddenly, the figure of a person appears in front of them, blocking them from the exit. They can both see that it is Starring, holding a gun in his right hand pointed at them."Well, well," Starring says with a chuckle, "I must thank you both for showing me that the monument is much more magical than we realized. I'll enjoy studying that for sure. Now, you are both under arrest for trespassing on government property and about seventeen thousand other legal violations."Sunset taunts, "Take us in, then."Twilight whispers, "Sunset, what are you..."Sunset whispers back, "Trust me."Starring says, "Well, I could do that, yes." He steps forward to get a better look at Sunset and Twilight. He turns to Sunset and says, "You're the little prude with the 'tude, huh? I'm not exactly someone you want to make your enemy." He points the gun at Twilight.Twilight puts up her hands and takes a step back. "Whoa," she reacts, "don't shoot."Starring says to Sunset, egotistically wanting to provoke her and make her mad, "Let this be a lesson for YOU, you stupid college kid. Don't mess with the authorities, or it could hurt the people you love."In a split second, Sunset gets a gut feeling about what she has to do. She lunges forward suddenly, grabbing Starring's right wrist with one hand (seeing Starring's memories once more) and grabbing the gun with her other hand, trying to pull it away with a scream of exertion.Starring gets a knife from his belt and jabs it at Sunset.The gun goes off.Sunset falls down.Twilight, not knowing for sure what happened but knowing she has to do something, immediately runs up two steps to Starring and leaps at him as she swings her fist, knocking him immaculately in the jaw and sending him toppling to the ground. She pries the gun from Starring's hands and points it at him, keeping it pointed at Starring as she gets low to the ground to check on Sunset. She asks, "Sunset, are you okay?"Sunset groans and rolls onto her back, her hand held against the left side of her stomach. She groans, "He's a lousy shot. He sent security inside so he could shoot freely. Guess he missed the first thousand times."With one hand occupied keeping the gun pointed at an unconscious Starring, Twilight uses her free hand to move Sunset's hand, and sees Sunset's hand and shirt around the wound covered in blood. She says, "Sunset, you're going to be okay. We'll take you to the city hospital instead of the country. Oh boy, that's a lot of blood." She drops the gun and rips fabric off one of her pant legs and holds it against Sunset's wound to try to stop the bleeding. "Hold that," she says to Sunset.Sunset grabs the fabric and holds it against her stomach.Twilight goes to Starring and takes a phone out of his pocket, using it to call 911. In a panic she says, "My friend's bleeding out! We're at Canterlot High School. Just ignore the fog and get here soon, PLEASE!"Sunset groans, "I feel sick."Several thoughts run through Twilight's mind, and none of them are good ones. What if Sunset bleeds out at the hospital? What if Sunset bleeds out on the way? Will Sunset die before she even has the chance to be seen? Twilight glances at Sunset, who looks as sick as she claims to feel. She looks down and sees blood on Sunset's neck. She says frantically, "You'll be okay, Sunset. I called 911, they're on the way. You'll be fine." She looks up for help, hoping it will appear in the fog as fast as possible and fearing that Sunset could bleed out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie pull up to the border fence in the sedan, hoping to find Twilight and Sunset to pick them up and head back to the hospital to check on Rainbow Dash.Hearing the car pull up but unable to see it in the fog, Twilight calls out, "Help! My friend is hurt!"The four get out of the sedan and rush through the fence, trying to find Twilight in the fog.Twilight turns on her flashlight as the other four turn theirs on. After a few moments, they find each other.Applejack asks worriedly, "What happened? Why's Sunset on the ground?"Hysterically, Twilight starts sobbing, "Starring— gun— I didn't do anything!"Fluttershy gets down by Twilight and puts her hand on Twilight's shoulder. She says, "We know you wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone.""You don't understand!" Twilight cries. "I didn't... do... ANYTHING!"Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are checking on Sunset, who is laying on the ground and holding the fabric on her stomach.Sunset half-smiles when she sees her friends. Tiredly, she greets them, "Hey..." She does not lift her head from the ground; she just moves her eyes.Rarity asks seriously, "Darling, are you alright? Like, seriously alright?"Sunset groans quietly, "Just... no."Applejack says, "Well, we gotta get you to the car. We're takin' you to the hospital, right now."Sunset groans, "Twilight... 911..."Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie turn to Twilight, who has slowed down crying and is sitting on the ground, being held in Fluttershy's arms.Applejack asks Twilight, "Are YOU okay?"Fluttershy answers, "She's fine. She already called 911. There's just some... stuff she has to work through. That's what friends are for."Pinkie Pie and Rarity get down by Sunset, hoping to support her in some way, knowing that such an effort may be futile.Pinkie Pie promises Sunset, "We're not leaving you."Sunset groans as she breathes. She replies with a tired voice, "That's fine... Starring called off his troops... explain later."Rarity sees blood on the left side of Sunset's neck. She shines her flashlight on the blood and asks, "Sunset, how did you get hurt on your neck?"Sunset says, "Gun. Grazed it."Confused, Pinkie Pie asks, "What about your stomach?"Sunset says, "Stabbed... not too deep."Rarity responds, "You've bled a lot. It was definitely deep."Pinkie Pie examines the spot where Sunset is keeping the fabric held. She comments, "There's no knife."Sunset raises her arm and points to the side, near where Starring is.Pinkie Pie and Rarity look over where Sunset is pointing and they see a bloody knife on the ground.Meanwhile, Applejack asks Twilight, "Will you tell me exactly what happened here and why Sunset's on the ground?"Twilight clears her throat, but still speaks with a shaky voice. She says, "Starring came after us. He cut us off at the hole in the fence. He pointed his gun at me, so Sunset attacked him. He got out a knife, and there was a gunshot, and she went down. I didn't do anything until it was too late. I didn't do ANYTHING!"Sunset says to Pinkie Pie, "Tell Twilight to come here."Pinkie Pie says to Twilight, "Sunset wants to see you."Hesitantly, Twilight gets up and goes over to Sunset, sitting down by Sunset. She cannot bring herself to look Sunset in the eyes. She feels like she has failed as a friend in a different way now. She failed to protect Sunset, and Sunset paid the price. If it was not for her, Sunset and the others may not have thought about CHS as a place to escape the stricter magic ban. If it was not for her standing by and doing nothing, Sunset would not have been hurt.Sunset says to Twilight, speaking quietly to conserve energy, "There wasn't anything you could do."Twilight turns her back to Sunset. "I was paralyzed with fear. I stood there while you fought for my life. You fought to protect me. I didn't do anything for you."Sunset says bluntly, "Twilight, I'm bleeding out. If this is it, don't let it be with your back turned."Twilight feels her heart drop at Sunset's words. She immediately turns back to face Sunset, "You will NOT bleed out. The paramedics will be here in a minute, and you'll be just fine."Sunset says, "I've been stabbed in the stomach. At this point, what happens, happens." She groans, then gathers the strength to say, "Everyone, listen to me."Everyone gets on the ground around Sunset, surrounding her.Sunset says quietly, "Whatever happens, happens. I don't want to bleed out and... die without you all not being friends. I know we've had our ups and downs over the last couple months, and especially over the last couple days, but we're friends first, and that's what matters."Pinkie Pie says sternly to Sunset, "Don't die. I need someone to listen to PostCrush with and to... keep me grounded, you know?"Sunset responds, "Are you friends with Twilight? Can you put everything behind you and move on?"Twilight commands Sunset, "Don't talk anymore. Save all your energy for yourself."Sunset reacts, "No."Pinkie Pie says to Twilight, "What you did hurt me, and I know that you know how it felt." Tears come to her eyes as her voice breaks, "We'll always be friends, Twilight. No matter what. Even if one of us messes up, we'll work it out together."Fluttershy interjects, "Twilight, our friendship is more important than how we feel about the magic ban. You didn't know it before, but I know you do now."Twilight's own eyes fill with tears and her heart is somewhat lifted as her friends are resolving things with her.Rarity adds, her voice sounding like she is on the verge of bawling, "The past doesn't matter, if we both put it behind us. I just want everything back to normal, Twilight. I want you back."Applejack is hesitant to say anything. She was not in the minivan earlier when Twilight cried and apologized. She was not there to see Twilight at Twilight's lowest. As a result, she does not necessarily feel the same sympathy the other three do. However, bonding through trauma has definitely occurred over the course of the morning and afternoon, and she feels closer to everyone, including Twilight, than she did before the day. She takes Sunset's words to heart. After a moment of silence, she speaks up, beginning to say, "Twilight—"Applejack is interrupted by the faint sounds of approaching sirens. Everyone looks up, except Sunset who does not move her head. The sirens get louder as the group hears a vehicle pull up. The sirens cut off, and a voice says loudly through a megaphone, "Where are you? Who's bleeding out?"The group calls out for the paramedics, forgetting any gestures of friendship and focusing together on saving their friend.After a long few seconds, the paramedics reach the group, having busted through the fence. A team of three paramedics runs up with a stretcher and other medical devices. The group gets away from Sunset to clear a space for the medical professionals. After a quick examination, Sunset is put on the stretcher and carried off towards the ambulance. The group follows.As Sunset is put in the ambulance, Twilight asks, "Is she going to be alright?"The doors to the ambulance shut without an answer for Twilight. The group watches the ambulance disappears into the fog.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Left behind, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stand there in shock at everything that has happened today: escaping Everfree; Twilight's apology; breaking onto CHS property; Rainbow Dash being shot in the left shoulder and Starring kicking the wound; Sunset being shot in the right leg; being arrested; breaking free from the prisoner guards; taking Rainbow Dash to the hospital; getting to the portal; and now, Sunset is on the way to the hospital, with a bullet in her leg, knife wound in her stomach, and a blood on the left side of her neck.They do not move. They can only hope that Sunset will not die.After a long time, Fluttershy's voice breaks the silence, suggesting, "Should we go back and check on Rainbow Dash? She's probably wondering where we are, if she's out of surgery."Flatly and with no emotion, Twilight asks, "Can we go to the city hospital first? I want to wait for Sunset."Applejack answers, "Sure."The group gets into the sedan, not saying anything else, and drives off to the city. When they come out of the fog, sunlight hits their eyes hard, but they adjust.Applejack, who is driving, wants to say something to Twilight, but is not sure what to say. She is still hurt from having her geode stolen literally the night before. She is hurt from the way that Twilight did not trust her nor anyone else to not use their powers during the magic ban (even if she did use them). She does not know exactly what happened in the minivan earlier. What she does know is that she never promised Twilight explicitly that she had moved on yet; only that she will and that any failure from the day does not fall on any one person. Still, the theft is fresh in her mind. She tries to work around it, but she cannot. She thinks that maybe it is because she was not in the minivan earlier. Maybe it is because the theft hurt her more than anyone else. She cannot see past it, as much as she tries and as much as she wants to, even if Sunset's potentially last wish was for everyone to be friends again. Remembering Sunset's words, she knows she has to try. She says to Twilight, "I'll move on eventually, but I don't think I have."Sitting in the passenger seat and speaking in the same flat voice from earlier, Twilight replies, "'Eventually' is fine by me."Those are the only words exchanged on the way to the hospital. Applejack drops Twilight off and heads back to the other hospital with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie to go check on Rainbow Dash.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie are at the ER front desk.Pinkie Pie says to the woman at the desk, "We DEMAND to know how our friend is doing."The woman asks, "What was your friend's name again?"A surgeon comes up to the group and says, "You must be Ms. Dash's friends from earlier."Rarity asks the surgeon, "How is she?"Fluttershy asks, "Is she alright?"Applejack threatens, "If she isn't, we're suin' for malpractice."The surgeon responds, "There will be no need for that. Surgery was a complete success. The bullet had to be removed, as well as some debris, but we have successfully removed all foreign bodies from Ms. Dash's shoulder."Fluttershy asks, "When can we see her?"The surgeon answers, "In a couple hours, probably. She is in the ICU resting. She needs as much rest as possible."Applejack questions, "When can she be discharged?"The surgeon replies, "About a day should do the trick. I have other patients to see, but I was informed Ms. Dash's friends were here, so I came to give you all an update."*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*A couple hours later, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are seated in an Intensive Care Unit room, where Rainbow Dash is reclining in a hospital bed. A vital signs monitor shows Rainbow Dash's health statistics, and there is an IV in her left arm. She looks tired and, in a tired tone, says, "Hey, guys. Apparently, surgery went well."Applejack replies, "That's good, but everything's not so hot with Sunset."Rainbow Dash sits up a little bit and asks, "Why, did something go wrong in surgery?"Applejack looks at Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with concern. She says to Rainbow Dash, "Not exactly."Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow and asks worriedly, "What do you mean, 'not exactly?'"S he looks around and adds, "and where's Twilight?"Applejack sighs. "This'll take a minute to explain. Also, I'm just gonna say this up front so you don't get upset about it later, but we had to send our geodes to Equestria."Rainbow Dash throws her head back into her pillow with frustration, reacting, "Of course we did. We just can't catch a break today."Applejack replies, "You have no idea."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
ONE WEEK LATER *~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Twilight is sitting in a chair next to Sunset's hospital bed, where Sunset is asleep in a reclined position. There are all sorts of tubes, needles, and medical devices around.In Twilight's lap is Sunset's journal. It is open to a blank page. Twilight holds a pen and thinks about what to write. While she thinks, she looks at the vital signs and monitor and sees no change, as Sunset's vital signs read about the same as they have for the last few days. Twilight checks her phone for the time and sees that it is 3:00 AM. She sighs tiredly and rubs her eyes under her glasses. She yawns and stretches her arms out, then stretches her legs out. Blinking her eyes slowly a few times, she turns back to the journal and puts pen to paper, writing,"Dear Princess Twilight,"This is the other Twilight. You said I could write to you anytime, so here I am."Sunset has been in the hospital for a week now. After you left Canterlot with the geodes, she was stabbed in the stomach. A gunshot grazed her neck, which made her bleed, but the only thing that'll leave is a cool-looking scar, according to the doctors. They say the real problem was blood loss because of the stab wound. Sunset was in a coma for a few hours, but she's back now, and has spent most of this last week just resting."We've talked a few times, though. Her memory isn't great about what happened, but she remembers all of Starring's memories. When she heals, she's going to testify in court against the UAD."Speaking of the UAD, it has been completely disbanded. Other UAD employees have testified about Starring's lies and how he shot Sunset. There hasn't been a conviction or anything, but I think he'll be sentenced soon. Without Starring to head it, the UAD quickly lost financial control of itself and it fell to shambles as people quickly left the organization. They blamed Starring and they testified against him. I guess they were mad about losing their jobs."The others are doing just fine. Rainbow Dash is out of the hospital, but she's wearing a sling to prevent her shoulder from moving while it heals. The others told her about everything. She's sad she missed seeing you, but she understands that she didn't really have a chance. Since we all returned to college after fall break, she has quit varsity and has joined the soccer coaching staff."Pinkie Pie is also back at Canterlot U. She's been spending time with me between classes, because I get lonely without Sunset in the dorm. I spend my nights at the hospital now. I feel like I owe it to Sunset. If I couldn't be there for her before, I can be there for her now, even though the circumstances are greatly different and a lot safer here than when fighting an enemy with a gun."Rarity and Fluttershy are back at the community college. They're doing just fine with their classes, from I can tell. I think they've stopped by a couple times, but I'm only here at night, so I can't say for sure."Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have definitely visited, though. They were here tonight, but left around midnight. I'm still here, three hours later."I'm worried about Sunset's future. Since she's not doing classes right now, she may fail everything this semester. It would just mean another semester of classes, though. She'd graduate, a few months after the rest of us do."Applejack and I are finally friends again. It took a few days, but we talked yesterday. She's moving on from me stealing the geodes, which I admit I probably shouldn't have done. You do crazy things when you're trying to protect the people you love. I was crazy for NOT protecting Sunset, though. I feel like I'll never forgive myself for that."Hopefully, Sunset will be released from the hospital in the next few days, according to the doctors. They expect her to make a full recovery."She looks up from the journal at Sunset, who is sleeping soundly. She reaches out and holds Sunset's hand in both her own hands, as if to apologize again.Suddenly, she feels Sunset's hand move up to her own wrist.Quietly, Sunset says in an exhausted voice, "There's nothing to forgive. Erase that last part, and tell the princess you've accepted that what's happened, has happened. Don't let the past define you."Twilight listens to Sunset. Not responding verbally, she erases the line about not forgiving herself. She concludes the update, writing, "Your friend, Twilight Sparkle."She looks up at Sunset, confused. She asks, "How did you know what I was writing?"Sunset does not reply. She snores softly.Twilight flips the journal to another page and writes, "Dear Princess Twilight,"Me again."Something strange just happened. Sunset used her magic without her geode. If you can explain that, please tell me what's going on with that."Your friend,"Twilight Sparkle."