Sunset's hands trembled slightly as she held her gun out. She was surprised that Flash hadn't woken up yet after being knocked out for this long. But as soon as he would wake up, there would only be seconds before he'd try to attack one of them, regardless of them once being his friends. It would be difficult, but she knew it would have to be done.

"Sunset?" Rainbow Dash's voice asked over the walkie. "You there?" Hearing this, Sunset kept a wary eye on Flash as she lowered her gun to unhook her walkie from her pants.

"What is it, Rainbow?" She replied. "Has Celestia come with the Lifeboat yet?"

"Negative." Rainbow replied. "Though I'm hoping that they'll be here shortly."

"Then what is it that you need?"

"What is your location?"

"The lunch room. Why?"

"Well. Someone is here and wants to speak with Twilight." She replied, making Sunset raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who?"

"She doesn't want me to say. You'll find out in a bit."

"This had better be important." Sunset thought before bringing the walkie back to her lips. "Alright. But we have an unconscious infected here with us, so I want you to accompany this person here."

"Just kill it and be done with it."

"Believe me. If I could, I would have done it already. But Twilight won't let me."

"Uhh.... why?"

"Take a guess." Rainbow's voice remained silent for a few minutes before Sunset could hear the familiar crackle before she spoke again.

"It's Flash. Isn't it."

"Yep."

The sound of Rainbow smacking herself in the face could be heard over the walkie before she groaned. "Why am I not surprised?"

"You're telling me." Sunset replied.

"Fine. I'll accompany our guest. We'll be there in a bit."

"Understood." Sunset replied before she hooked the walkie back in her pants. Once that was done, she took hold of her gun again and aimed it right at Flash's head once more, much to Twilight's disapproval.

"Sunset." She said. "I wish you'd trust me and put that gun away."

"Twilight. Forgive me for saying this. But you know nothing about this world now. You haven't even been here for a day."

"So?"

"So what I'm saying is that even if there is some magical spell back in Equestria that can cure him, the disease has already destroyed his brain. Flash is gone, Twi. And like it or not, he isn't coming back. What you're doing right now is putting everyone here at risk over something that is pointless. Is that what a Princess is supposed to do?"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out before she slowly closed it.

"Exactly." Sunset replied. "I would have thought that you knew that the needs of others outweigh your own by now. Heck. If Princess Celestia was here right now, what do you think her reaction would be to this situation?"

Twilight once again was silent, but this time her eyes were wide open. Almost like she was surprised.

"Princess Celestia?"

"Yeah." Sunset replied. "Why I bet you that she wouldn't be happy about you putting the lives of others at risk over someone that can't be saved."

"You are correct, my former student." A familiar voice said from behind her before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Both of Sunset's eyes were now wide open as she slowly turned her head to look at the hand. "It is good to finally see you again after all of these years, Sunset Shimmer."

"P-Princess Celestia?" She stuttered before looking up to meet the eyes of her former mentor. "Is that really you?" Princess Celestia nodded as a response.

"I am very happy to see you again, my former student." She said. "We have so many things to catch up on." She then turned her head to look at Twilight as she just sat in disbelief. "But Twilight. I must say that I am very disappointed in what I am seeing right now."

"B-but." Twilight stuttered, only for Celestia to narrow her gaze at her, making her become silent once again.

"Twilight. I know exactly what you're going through right now. Rainbow Dash has brought me up to speed on the situation. I know that you have feelings for this person." Twilight looked at Flash as he still laid on the floor before closing her eyes and slowly nodding her head. "But before I continue, I need to ask you something. And answer it honestly. How often do you see him?"

"..... Only when I come here."

"And how long do you stay here for before coming back to Equestria?"

".... A few days."

"So this entire relationship between the two of you is based on.... what."

"Well he uh.... helped me when Sunset tried framing me for something I didn't do." She replied, making Sunset's cheeks turn red from embarrassment.

"And?" Celestia said. "What else?"

"He umm... was really nice to me when I first came here."

"Twilight. The fact that you're struggling to find reasons to justify this situation tells me that this isn't worth putting the lives of your friends at risk." Celestia said. "I may not know how things work in this world, but love is the same no matter where you are. This right here is not love. And I know that Cadence would agree with me." Her attention then shifted to look at the unconscious infected on the floor. "This disease. Rainbow has said that it does severe if not critical damage to the brain. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

"I.... wanted to bring him back to Equestria. To cure him."

Celestia sighed after hearing that. "You are right in thinking that there are ways to cure him of this disease back in Equestria. But there is no spell that I know of that will reverse the damage done to his brain. You'd have a normal looking pony on the outside. But on the inside, he'd be nothing more than an empty shell of a pony. And what Sunset has said is true. As a Princess of Equestria, the needs of others outweigh your own now."

"So what are you saying?"

"She's saying what I've been telling you, Twilight." Sunset interjected. "What you're doing here is pointless. Flash is gone and he isn't coming back." She then walked over and put her arm around Twilight. "Flash sacrificed himself for this world's version of you, Twi. He gave his life for her. I don't think he would've wanted to go in any different way." This made Twilight's tears start to stream down her purple cheeks again as she looked at him.

"I'm..... I'm...... sorry." She said quietly. "I must look really stupid right now."

"You have no idea." Sunset thought before she brought Twilight in for a hug. Once they got done, Twilight looked at Princess Celestia who only closed her eyes and nodded. Looking back, Twilight watched as Sunset reached down and pulled out her desert eagle.

"Just make it quick. He deserves that at least." She said before slowly getting up. Sunset nodded as Twilight slowly walked toward the door. Celestia and Rainbow Dash soon followed her before all three of them left the room, leaving Sunset alone with Flash.

"Goodbye Flash." She thought before putting the end of her gun against the side of his head. "It was nice knowing you."

*BOOM*

Twilight heard the sound of Sunset's gun go off as it echoed in the hallway. The tears were now flowing out of her eyes as she was comforted by Rainbow and Celestia before Sunset walked out of the lunch room, her clothes covered in a bit of blood. Upon seeing this, Twilight immediately looked away from her before wiping the tears out of her eyes.

"He's in a better place now, Twi." Sunset said as the group began walking toward the main lobby again.

"Hey uh.... where's Bull and Applejack?" Rainbow asked before looking around. "Weren't they with you?"

"They were." She replied. "But I sent them down to the shop room for things that we would've needed in order to get Flash restrained in case he woke up. We should probably go get them."

"Leave it to me." Rainbow replied. "You guys go back to the lobby."

"Alright. But be careful." She said. "Also, take this." She then held out her desert eagle for Rainbow to take. "It's better than nothing."

"Woah....." Rainbow replied as she took it and an extra clip of ammo from Sunset's hands. "I seriously need to get one of these for myself."

"I'll be expecting that back though." Sunset said before winking at her friend. "So don't get too comfortable with it."

"Yeah yeah." Rainbow said before beginning to jog away. "I'll be back with the others in a bit!"

"Alright!" Sunset called back before Rainbow disappeared around a corner. Once she disappeared, Sunset turned her attention back to her former mentor. "So what exactly are you doing here, Princess? Not that it isn't great to see you after all this time."

"Well I wanted to speak with both you and Twilight about a possible solution to this problem." She replied as they walked. "Now if you don't want to go along with this idea, you are free to say no. But I think it would be much safer if you and all of the ponies you managed to save from this disease come and live in Equestria."

"People." Sunset corrected. "We call them people in this world."

"Interesting." She replied.

"I kinda suggested the same thing." Twilight added before she wiped a tear from her eye. "We actually were going to write to you about it."

"But wouldn't there be severe consequences about having so many pony duplicates in one dimension?" Sunset asked. "I mean. We've got so many survivors. And I'm sure that they all have pony counterparts on the other side of the portal."

"I don't think that will be an issue." Celestia replied. "But I'm sure that if it ever did, we could find something in the magical archives to solve the problem."

"What about the other ponies being confused, especially when there will be two of you, Princess Luna, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and many others?"

"We can quickly work out a temporary solution for that until something more permanent can be established." She replied. "But that is all that I wanted to speak with you about."

"Oh uh.... well okay then." Sunset replied. "At least that saves us the time of waiting for a response from you when we would've gotten back to the factory. I'll still put it to a vote for whoever wants to come and who wants to stay."

"I will be looking forward to hearing from you." Celestia replied as they all entered the lobby to find Spike talking with Spitfire and Soarin about their Wonderbolt counterparts.

"So what you're saying is that in your world, I'm a military leader?" Spitfire asked.

"Pretty much." Spike replied. "Commander Spitfire. I'm sure she'd be surprised to meet you if you chose to come to Equestria."

"And what about me?" Soarin asked.

"You? I think you're like a high ranked pony as well. Second in command most likely, I'm not sure."

"Woah." He replied before a throat clearing from Sunset made both of them jump. "Oh. Hey Sunset. You guys find anything?"

"Unfortunately no." She replied. "But I believe that our guest here would like to return to Equestria."

"It certainly has been a pleasure to meet you all." Celestia said as they walked toward the doors. "I look forward to seeing you all again very soon."

"What's she talking about?" Spitfire asked.

"I'll explain everything once we get back to the factory." Sunset replied. "But right now, let's escort both Princess Celestia and Spike back to the portal." Both Spitfire and Soarin nodded in agreement before they all stepped out onto the concrete steps. As they walked out to the statue, they made sure that Celestia and Spike were in the center of the group in case an infected wanted to try their luck and get her. Fortunately, the area seemed deserted of any threat.

"We'll be sure to write to you when the time comes, Princess." Twilight said as the group stopped in front of the portal. "Expect something written tomorrow at the latest as it will be a bit late by the time we get back."

"Very well, Twilight." She replied before splitting off from the group and stopping just inches from the portal. "Be safe."

"We will." Sunset replied, making Celestia nod before she and Spike disappeared into the portal just as the Lifeboat pulled up.

Rainbow jogged down the hall on her way toward the shop room. Luckily she hadn't seen any infected en route, but she kept her guard up just in case. No infected was going to get her without a fight. As she approached the door leading into the shop room, she could faintly hear the sound of a chainsaw's engine.

"Wonder what's going on in there." She thought before stopping in front of the door. Turning the knob, she opened the door just in time to see a blood covered Bull cutting right through Roseluck's center, splitting her entirely in half. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the blood splattered work benches and desks.

"Rainbow!" Applejack's voice called out from upstairs as she opened the small chain-link gate. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"What the heck happened in here?" She asked before noticing a severed leg in front of her.

"Just some infected who wanted to play rough." Bull replied after turning the chainsaw off. He then wiped the blood off of his safety goggles before taking them off and tossing them aside. "Nothing we couldn't handle. Right AJ?"

Applejack chuckled when she heard that. "We? You're the one who took care of them."

"You distracted them while I got the chainsaw."

"I suppose so." She replied before turning to look at Rainbow. "We couldn't really find any duct tape for Flash in here."

"Oh. That's alright. We don't need it anymore."

"He's dead?" Bull asked. Rainbow just nodded in response. "So we basically wasted the last of our ammo and I lost a tooth and went on a chainsaw rampage for nothing."

"Pretty much." Rainbow replied.

"Fuck." He said before kicking the severed leg in front of him across the room. After that, the three of them looked at the carnage that he had caused. A severed arm laid across one of the workbenches while what looked like an entire body that was cut in half laid on the floor.

"Geesh!" Rainbow exclaimed while looking around. "Remind me never to make you mad when you got that around." This made both Bull and Applejack laugh before a crackling sound could be heard from Rainbow's walkie.

"Rainbow Dash. You there?" Sunset's voice called out from the little device as Rainbow unhooked it from her back pocket.

"Yeah." She replied.

"You find Bull and Applejack?"

"Yeah." She repeated. "Both of them were still in the shop room when I found them."

"Good." Sunset replied. "The Lifeboat is waiting out front for you guys. Get out here as soon as possible."

"Yes ma'am." Rainbow replied before putting her walkie back. "Guess our ride's here." She said, making both Applejack and Bull sigh with relief.

"Then let's get out of here." She replied before walking over and picking up Bull's shotgun. "Here ya go, pardner." She said while handing it to him.

"Thanks AJ." He replied before taking it and putting it in the sleeve on his back. Soon, all three of them started making their way out toward the main lobby. "So did we miss anything else beside Flash getting killed?"

"Oh yeah." Rainbow replied. "Twilight's version of Principal Celestia came through the portal and was basically the reason that Twilight let Sunset kill Flash."

"Seriously?" Applejack asked. "Man. I wish I could've seen that."

"But then you would've missed seeing me going crazy with a chainsaw." Bull replied in a playful tone.

"Oh believe me. I'll be rememberin' that for quite a while." She replied before giving him a playful hit on the arm. "But thanks for takin' care of them for me. If you hadn't done that, then I would've been a goner."

"Anytime, AJ." Bull replied before Applejack tried to give him a hug, only for him to stop her before she could wrap her arms around him. "I'd hug you, AJ. But in case you forgot, I'm covered in blood that ain't mine right now."

"Good point." She replied.

"Maybe once we get back to the factory and I get myself cleaned up." He continued. "But only after I finally give Dagi something that I've been wanting to give her for quite some time now."

"And what would that be?" Rainbow asked.

"That's between me and her."

"Aww come on." She said. "You can tell us."

"Not til it happens."

"Oh alright." Rainbow said before sighing. A few minutes passed until the three of them reached the concrete steps and saw the modified bus and their friends waiting for them. Seeing this made them all smile as they started walking toward it. But it wasn't until they got closer when Bull noticed something strange. Pinkie Pie's left leg was twitching wildly and she was looking all around up toward the sky.

"Uh.... you okay, Pinkie?" He asked as the three of them joined the rest of the group.

"My leg's twitching!" She exclaimed. "And you know what that means!"

"I uh...."

"It means something is gonna fall really soon!"

"Pinkie." Sunset replied before looking around. "Are you sure? I'm not seeing anything that's gonna fall." But once she said that, a loud series of snapping sounds could be heard coming from above them. The group all turned their heads up just in time to see the large school bell in the rooftop clock tower just as the last of the steel wires holding it up snapped. The bell immediately plummeted before hitting the cement floor, sending an echoing gong across the area before the weight of it made the floor crumble beneath it, collapsing the glass rooftop dome.

"Well..... this isn't going to end well." Rarity said before a large howling noise could be heard.

"Everyone! On the bus! Now!" Celestia called out. She didn't have to repeat herself as everyone quickly rushed back on board. Celestia quickly got back into the driver's seat and turned the key to start the engine, only for it to not start at first. "Come on! Come on! You were just fine a minute ago!" She cried out while trying again and again to start it.

"Uh...... guys?" Fluttershy quietly said before pointing toward the driver's side of the bus. All heads turned to look just as a massive horde, the largest any of them had ever seen, was seen racing toward them. Seconds later, the ground began shaking before Bull turned his head to look toward the back of the bus, just in time to see Bulk Biceps racing around the street corner with several infected behind him.

"Well......" He thought as the horde drew closer. "Things just got a lot more interesting."

Author's Note

What's up everypony?

The feedback I've gotten from the last chapter has made me think about my original plan for Flash Sentry. Originally, my plan for him was for him to be cured and his brain be restored to normal. But seeing the responses that you guys gave made me think long and hard about what path to take regarding him.

Also, this was what I would think the situation would've been like if Twilight tried to explain her relationship with him to Princess Celestia. Let me be clear in saying that in no way, shape, or form was this an attempt at bashing FlashLight shippers.

My apologies to those who wanted to see Flash get saved. This kept me awake for most of last night as I thought about what to do with him. But I think that this was the path that made the most sense.

• Harms Way