A Horse Walks Into a Bar...

Alan ran down the stairway, taking them by twos or threes, with Sunset and Flash in tow. Bursting though a set of double doors, they found themselves in the bowels of the school. Narrow, grey hallways raced on by as they ran. Eventually, Alan picked a door at random and shouted “Here!” before the three of them jumped inside, squeezing themselves into a cramped broom closet.

“Ack, there’s a dustpan up my ass," Flash moaned.

“Shhh!” Sunset hissed.

They waited for what seemed like an eternity. They heard the sound of double doors flying open, followed by a grunt. Footsteps echoed throughout the hallways, getting louder with each passing second. Beads of sweat started to form on Alan’s forehead as the footsteps passed right along the door, along with some muttering.

“...damn Alan, goddamn Cinch. Stupid, stupid! I’m done with this shit tomorrow. Cinch’ll come back and then...”

They waited...

And waited...

Until eventually...

The footsteps grew dimmer and dimmer... minutes later the double doors creaked open once again before slamming shut. Still, it was five more minutes before the trio dared to leave the broom closet. When they did, Alan exhaled sharply. For a few moments nobody said anything, just letting the adrenaline run its course through their systems.

“That was... close,” Flash said. “Let’s not do that again. Ever.”

“Ah... yeah, agreed.” Alan nodded.

“Alan,” Sunset said. He turned to find her staring right at him. Her cyan eyes narrowed directly onto his own and her brows were furrowed, asking silent questions.

“Look, Sunset... I don’t really know what that was about, okay? Seriously—whoever the hell that was—I don’t know. All I know is that he’s the guy responsible for kidnapping Caramella, hurting Flash, and ruining my car.”

“You know that guy?” Flash asked incredulously.

Alan snorted. “More like that guy knows me, somehow. Maybe the dude’s a stalker or something, I don’t know, don’t really care. Listen, right now he’s gone, so let’s just focus on finding out where Caramella is, alright? Alright.” Alan turned around and examined the hallways; grey blocks of concrete led the way forwards. “C’mon.”

Sunset and Flash shared an uneasy look with each other but complied, falling in step on either side of Alan. They were careful not to make too much noise as they did their search, as the man could return at any moment. Bright fluorescent tube-lights hung overhead, providing a constant hum in the background.

“Soooo, what do you think that guy was muttering about? Seriously, what a spaznugget,” Flash said as he ducked his head into a storage room. “Something about Cinch? Also, nothing here.” He pulled back.

Sunset kept trying to summon another magical burst of energy, but it didn’t seem to be going very well, so she settled for keeping her ears peeled. “Well, we know that Cinch isn’t here for one reason or another. But why? It doesn’t make any sense; she has a sapient alien creature on her hands and she just leaves?”

Flash hummed. “Well, maybe she went to go get someone she could show her off to. Make a big spectacle out of it or something, y’know?”

“Who’s she even going to get? Who’s going to believe her if she starts spouting nonsense about talking ponies.” Alan grunted. “I sure as hell wouldn’t.”

“News crews, maybe?” Flash shrugged. "They're always desperate for a scoop."

Alan shrugged himself as he opened another door. This one led to a small closet full of spare medical supplies on metal shelves. Curiously enough, there was a note attached on one of the shelves. Alan plucked it off and gave it a read.

Here you go, Goodall. Hope ya find this when you come get another batch of supplies. Don’t worry, everything’s in order this time. Made sure none of the little prepsquirts got their mitts onto anything. Never want another Fall Formal ever again, that was a nightmare to clean up. Love, D, your crazy custodian.

A little heart was scribbled next to the D. Alan hastily put the note back.

On the shelf with the note were a bunch of gauze rolls. Alan swiped one as he left, tucking it into his coat pocket. If Caramella was hurt in anyway, she’d probably need it. Besides, they had plenty here. What was one more missing? Alan exited the room just in time to listen to the tail end of Sunset's conversation.

“It doesn’t make any sense, besides—” Sunset suddenly gasped, her eyes widening. “Her memory should have had been... wiped...”

“Unless... unless she was also out of town,” Flash finished.

Sunset smacked herself in the head. “That guy who stole Caramella has to be the same guy who’s been stalking Canterlot High. That creep kept an especially close eye on me and my friends, ergothe ones that had their magic sucked out of them during the Games. I’d bet my life savings on that old hag being his employer.”

“Cinch?” Alan guessed.

“Precisely. She must have been out of town just like Flash, and when she returned she was probably annoyed by the fact that everybody seemingly couldn’t remember the giant magical disaster that happened. That must have ticked her off.”

“Huh, now that you mention it,” Flash said, “I do kinda remember my dad telling me at dinner about how one day he got a bunch of calls from Cinch. She called the police department and demanded that they go investigate CHS claiming we had ‘brainwashed her entire school’. Once he realized that she was being a nusto, Dad just told everybody to hang up on her.”

Alan thumbed the air behind him. “Probably hired Mr. Dipshit back there to get the job done afterwards."

Sunset huffed. “Well, they got what they wanted. But It doesn't matter now whoever the hell Cinch went to get. It’s up to us to get Caramella out of here before they show up.”

Alan nodded. “Yeah.” He turned around and gestured for them to follow him. “Doesn’t look like Caramella’s down here, so...” His eyes locked onto the metal stairwell doors and he grimaced. “Onwards and upwards, folks," he muttered.