Hold Your Horses: A My Little Pony Story

by AndYouLoveTheGame

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Science Fiction, King Sombra, Adventure
Length: 24785

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush unwillingly embark on a journey through a frontier they never expected to encounter. The conclusion to the stories begun in "One-Horse Town: A My Little Pony Story" and "Dark Horse: A My Little Pony Story"

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush unwillingly embark on a journey through a frontier they never expected to encounter. The ponies find themselves wildly out of their depth and frightened they may never be able to return to the place and the ponies they love. The conclusion to the stories begun in "One-Horse Town: A My Little Pony Story" and "Dark Horse: A My Little Pony Story"

Published 2024-11-20 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-14 15:27:03 UTC

Prologue

Whirrs and whispers of glowing magic sounded out around her as she watched her most updated projection appear on the screen in front of her. Her magic depicted a clear scene before her, a scene she wished she wasn't still seeing; A scene she'd wished she had changed by now. She grunted in frustration and dissolved the magic projection in front of her. She stormed around her stark white room, scolding herself for failing once again. After she finished degrading herself, she took a deep breath in, and she exhaled slowly. She cast her magic again, rematerializing a magic screen in front of herself. She combed through the depths of the timeline, searching through eons of Equestrian history, watching scenes of the past play out before her, desperately looking for something that could help her.

A certain blip of time caught her eye as she was searching. A group of three ponies, two earth ponies and one unicorn, saving their town from an army of clones. This was new. She scrolled forward into their futures, watching as they attended the Grand Galloping Gala and reformed the infamous King Sombra. This group seemed like quite an important presence on the timeline. She scrolled forward into their futures and the futures that would await long after they were gone. She ran the calculations and projections in her head. She worked out the equations of their existences within the grand scheme of the universe. It was then that she realized she had found her next targets. Their removal would be necessary for her end goal to come to fruition.

She zeroed in on an easy extraction point, singling out one of her target ponies: Ginger Blush. She watched as she and her stallion, Savoir Fare, wandered the streets of Canterlot, completely oblivious to her watching eyes. She closed her magic projection and prepared to get to work.

Chapter 19: Hold Your Horses

Chorus, Prose, Ginger Blush, Sombra, Twilight Sparkle, and Savoir Fare all collapsed onto the familiar streets of Canterlot as they arrived. As they stood up and looked around, everything seemed perfectly normal. Nothing was out of place, and everything seemed to be just how they’d left it. And for the first time in a long time, they were all together again, and all perfectly safe. A collective sigh of relief sounded out from the group, which could’ve been heard from miles away.

“We… we did it!” Chorus exclaimed. “And it only took an extreme and almost impossible amount of effort!”

“All we had to do to escape the grasps of a genius time lord was brush with death several times! Yes!” Prose added.

The ponies laughed at the jokes. After all they’d been through, it was exactly what they needed.

“I’m just glad we’re all back together again,” Ginger said. “It feels like it’s been forever since it’s been like this.”

“Tell me about it,” Chorus sighed. Sombra walked up to Chorus’s side, nudging him playfully, agreeing with him.

Savoir found his way to Ginger’s side, happy to finally be safely reunited.

“Why did we ever lose touch?” he asked the group, realizing how much better it felt to be together again.

Twilight joined Prose, completing the trifecta of couples.

“I guess… I guess we just let our lives pull us apart,” she concluded.

“Can we make an agreement, then?” Chorus suggested. “That we’ll stay in touch? That we’ll make time for each other? I don’t want to lose you ponies ever again.”

Ginger Blush nodded. “I would like that,” she said.

“You never know, maybe some other unicorn in the far future will abduct us next week. We should treasure our time until then,” Prose laughed.

“Exactly!” Chorus said.

The ponies laughed and laughed. As the laughter subsided, the ponies looked appreciatively at one another. They all huddled together, forming a warm, six-pony group hug. They held onto each other tightly, and they didn’t let go for a long time.

Epilogue

“Is it ready yet?” Prose asked Twilight.

“Almost! Just applying the finishing touches now,” she responded.

Chorus, Prose, Ginger Blush, Sombra, and Savoir fare sat inside of Twilight’s library, waiting for Twilight to finish her prototype. She enlisted the help of the princesses, her friends, and the smartest scientists. The design was rather primitive, and not as advanced or expansive as she would’ve liked, but it would do for now.

She ran a spark of magic through the box, running a diagnostic test. The screen lit up for a brief moment–a sign of success.

“It’s ready!” Twilight claimed.

The ponies all gathered around the makeshift TV, waiting for Twilight to turn it on. Twilight joined them as they watched, and she sent a stream of magic towards the TV, focusing on where, when, and who she wanted to see. It was extremely difficult, considering time magic’s complex intricacies, but images began to appear on the screen before them.

The ponies could see her: Sandy Swirl. New Hoofsfield was in disarray, but it was still standing. Sandy helped the ponies of her city as they worked to rebuild their homes. Being the proficient magic-user she was, she was able to sense the metaphysical camera focused on her. She waved and blew a kiss to the ponies that were watching her. She mouthed two words to the ‘camera’, which the ponies could pretty easily make out.

“Thank you.”

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a thumbs up or a comment! I can't believe this story has come to an end. This trilogy has been so fun to write, and I hope it was somewhat as fun to read. Thank you for giving Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush a chance. I hope you didn't regret it :heart:

Chapter 1: Preparations

Ginger Blush folded another napkin and set it onto the pile of already-folded napkins. She grabbed another napkin and began to fold that one as well.

"How many more of these do we have to fold?" she asked across the counter.

Savoir Fare, Ginger Blush's stallion, who was seated across the counter, responded promptly.

"I'm sorry you're the pony that has to help me with all of these, but everypony else was busy with different preparations. Given the clientele, I'm surprised the company didn't send more of us. But, for now, we just have about fifty more napkins to fold."

Ginger Blush and Savoir Fare had rolled into Canterlot that morning. Their time together had been an arduous, but rewarding journey. Ginger Blush tagged along as Savoir Fare traveled around Equestria, catering to clients of many different names and faces. It had been a beautiful adventure, but there were some duller moments, such as folding dozens of napkins in a cold, sterile kitchen. Not to mention all the time she'd spent away from her friends, Chorus and Prose. Ginger Blush looked out of a nearby window at the sunny day the city was experiencing, remembering the time she and her friends basically saved the world at the Grand Galloping Gala. She couldn't wait to finish this job so she could enjoy some time with her stallion in the very city where they first met.

"Wait," Ginger paused. "Clientele? Who is this event for?"

Savoir looked up from his napkin with a slightly confused look on his face.

"I told you about it this morning," Savoir explained. "In the carriage."

Ginger blushed. "I wasn't listening," she admitted.

Savoir sighed and chuckled. "It's very important. Princess Celestia has called a meeting of Equestrian leaders to ensure good will and comradery across Equestria. If all goes well, we should be seeing peace in our futures."

An idea flashed across Ginger's mind. "Equestrian leaders? Is it possible that Princess Twilight Sparkle might be in attendance?" she asked.

"Yes, most likely," Savoir answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was hoping she might bring a plus one," she hinted.

"Prose?" Savoir guessed. "I imagine Twilight would bring her girlfriend."

Ginger smiled. "Oh, I sure hope so. It's been so long since I've seen her. I wonder what she's been up to."

Savoir frowned an almost unnoticeable frown. So unnoticeable that Ginger Blush almost didn't catch it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ginger interrogated.

"Nothing, it's just..." Savoir started. "It's nothing."

"You can tell me, Savoir," Ginger assured him.

"Well, you say you haven't seen your friends in so long. I can't help but feel like I'm keeping you from them. I don't want to be the reason you don't get to see your friends, especially after all you've been through with them," Savoir confessed.

Ginger Blush set down her napkin and looked at Savoir Fare across the counter.

"Hey, I spend time with you because I want to spend time with you. You weren't holding me like a prisoner. It's my fault I haven't seen my friends. I guess I've just been so caught up in our adventures, I never cut out time to visit Chorus or Prose..."

She paused for a moment, realizing she'd unknowingly put her relationship with her friends on a back burner.

"I guess it is my fault," she realized. "But I'll see Prose today, and it'll be like we never even spent time apart. And, Sombra has royal connections. Maybe Chorus will even be here today!"

"That is possible," Savoir commented. "I hear Sombra plays a big part in the Crystal Empire now. I don't know what part, but I heard it's a part."

"I guess I just didn't realize how much I've missed my friends until now. I really hope they're here today," Ginger hoped.

Savoir folded his last napkin and set it down in his pile.

"Well, I think we're in order for a break, don't you?" Savoir suggested. "What do you say we walk around the city?"

"Let's do it," Ginger excitedly agreed.

Savoir led Ginger Blush outside and into the city. They harmoniously walked down the streets of the beautiful city of Canterlot. They stopped at several shops on the way, admiring the clothes, food, and trinkets that were displayed within each of them. Savoir treated Ginger to several gifts of her choosing as they walked. The combination of the glowing sun and the gentle breeze made their walk an overall pleasant experience. Savoir and Ginger stumbled upon a charming jewelry store and stepped inside to take a look.

They browsed the many pieces set out on display, admiring how they glittered and shined. Ginger's eyes wandered over to a set of three necklaces, each with a gem centered on a golden chain. The gems sparkled a brilliant orange, pink, and purple. They reminded her of her friends. A melancholy smile crossed her face as she thought of them, which quickly turned into a hopeful smile, hoping her friends were only hours away from reuniting with her.

Savoir browsed the extensive watch collection within the shop, admiring the silvery shine that most of them gave off. He was subconsciously picking his favorite ones, when suddenly he noticed the placement of the hands on all of the watches, depicting the current time. A panicked look possessed his face and rushed over to Ginger Blush, who was observing a set of necklaces.

"Ginger, we've gotta go," Savoir alerted.

"Right now?" Ginger asked.

"Yes," Savoir confirmed. "We're gonna be late!"

"Oh! We better get going then."

Savoir led Ginger out of the jewelry store, and they raced through the streets of Canterlot. They navigated all the way back through all of the twists and turns, trying to make it back to the event before anypony realized they were late. Their hooves clomped on the streets as they sped through the city. As they neared the event, Savoir sighed with relief. He entered the building and held open the door for his girlfriend. As he looked out of the doorway, anticipating Ginger Blush's entrance, he realized nopony was following him through the door.

He stepped back out of the building, scanning his surroundings. There was no sign of his girlfriend anywhere.

"Ginger Blush?" he called out.

He was met with no response.

Chapter 2: Magic

Prose opened her eyes, and immediately closed them again. It was nice to wake up to the warm sun, but the light could be a little blinding. She opened her eyes again, this time more cautiously, and admired the setting of her temporary room. The unique cultural architecture made her feel like she'd woken up right into a new adventure. The crashing water of Neighagara Falls could be heard from her room. For such a chaotic kind of sound, it was quite relaxing. Prose pulled herself off of her cushy bed and stumbled onto the wooden floor.

She headed over to the full-length mirror in her room and checked the state of her mane. As always, it was poofy, curly, and vibrantly coral. She tried to pat it down in certain places to give it a more cohesive shape, but she saw the door to her room open behind her in the mirror. She turned around to face the door, and she saw her lovely mare, Princess Twilight Sparkle, enter the room.

"Prose! I was looking for you!" Twilight exclaimed as she saw her mare standing in front of the mirror.

"Really?" Prose asked. "I just woke up."

"We have to get going!" Twilight explained. "We're going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Prose asked, concerned.

"Celestia's 'Leaders of Equestria' meeting! Remember? The one I told you about yesterday?"

Prose recalled all of her memories from the day prior, combing through each event in her mind.

"Was it when we were studying the magical elements of the falls?" Prose asked.

"No," Twilight answered.

"Was it when we were mapping the mountains?" Prose wondered.

"No," Twilight responded, actively packing up Prose's things.

"Was it when we were relaxing by the water?"

"Yes, Prose," Twilight confirmed.

"Oh," Prose said. "I wasn't listening, then."

Twilight sighed. "It's fine. We just have to get going now."

Twilight handed Prose's fully packed saddle bag over to her.

"We don't have to be there for too long, this meeting should only take one day," Twilight assured Prose.

"All right," Prose acknowledged. "Let's get going."

Twilight led Prose through the Neighagara Falls Inn, and out into the crisp Neighagara Falls air. The train station was a short walk from the Inn, but it allowed for time to enjoy the beautiful Northern scenery for a few moments longer.

Twilight and Prose quickly arrived at the train station and took a seat on one of the benches while they waited. They didn't wait long, because a train showed up minutes later. Prose followed Twilight onto the train, followed by the rest of the ponies from the train station. They picked a train car close to the front of the train, which had a clearer view of where the train was headed. Twilight took a seat, and Prose sat across from her.

"So," Prose began, initiating some small talk. "What is this meeting for anyway?"

"Celestia called a meeting of Equestrian leaders to 'ensure good will and comradery' across Equestria," Twilight explained. "It's basically just a meeting to keep the peace."

Twilight's eyes lit up as she remembered an important detail about the meeting.

"And," she began. "It's catered."

"It's catered?" Prose repeated. "That's good. You'll have to save some for me."

"I didn't finish," Twilight continued. "It's catered by the company Savoir Fare works at. Ginger Blush could be there!"
Prose's eyes lit up as well. "Ginger Blush! I haven't seen her in so long! Maybe this was worth leaving the Falls after all."

"I'm glad this meeting will have something for you too; I felt bad about dragging you all the way back to Canterlot on royal business," Twilight spoke.

"Canterlot?" Flashbacks flooded Prose's mind as she remembered the night her and her friends had tamed one of Equestria's most feared villains. It was the night her and Twilight kissed for the first time.

"I know," Twilight said. "A lot of memories in that city."

A thought crossed Prose's mind.

"Is it possible Sombra will be there?" she asked.

Twilight's eyes turned to the side in thought.

"Actually, now that you mention it, that's entirely possible," Twilight suggested.

"So, Chorus might even be there!" Prose exclaimed.

"It would be quite the reunion," Twilight laughed. "Even I miss your friends. They're quite the special ponies."

A long stretch of the train ride was spent in a comfortable and hopeful silence. As Canterlot became visible in the distance, Prose struck up another conversation with Twilight.

"What're you reading?" Prose asked.

Twilight lifted her head from her book and met Prose's gaze. She lifted the book so Prose could see the cover.

"Time, Space, and Magic," Twilight named. "It's actually very interesting. I found it in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Library of Magic."

"Time magic? Didn't you try something with that once?" Prose asked.

Twilight sighed. "Yes, I did. It didn't work out too well for me," she laughed. "But it's still very intriguing to read about. It might be too complex for even me to attempt."

"A magic even you can't conquer? I didn't know that was possible," Prose jested.

Twilight laughed. "Time magic is like a different type of magic altogether. It's a whole new frontier. It's also something I don't think we should really mess with at all. The more we mess with time, the more fragile it becomes."

"That sounds scary," Prose admitted.

"Oh, it is. But it's so fascinating, isn't it? This book even suggests there's a way to escape time and space completely! It's just a theory, but most of this book is as well," Twilight admired.

Prose looked out of the train window at the city of Canterlot in the distance.

"Speaking of time," Prose commented. "Are you sure we're going to make it on time for the meeting?"

Twilight looked out of the window and her eyes widened. The distance they were from Canterlot wasn't what she was hoping to see. She turned back to Prose.

"I think I'm going to need to perform an emergency teleportation spell," Twilight warned.

"Teleportation spell? Aren't we a little far away for that?" Prose asked.

"Yes!" Twilight affirmed. "But we're going to be late if I don't try. Just give me a minute to cast the spell."

"Whatever you need," Prose agreed.

Twilight closed her eyes and focused on a long-distance teleportation spell. She focused on transporting both her and Prose from the humble train car to the grand city of Canterlot. Her horn began to glow as magic manifested inside of it. The light filled the train car engulfing herself and her mare. A final burst of magic finalized the spell and Twilight felt her hooves touch down onto the lovely streets of Canterlot. She opened her eyes and gazed around at the dazzling city. Her spell had worked.

"Phew! I thought that might not have worked, but we made it, Prose!"

Twilight looked around for her traveling companion, but she wasn't visible anywhere. She looked down at the ground and saw Prose's unaccompanied saddle bag.

"Prose?" Twilight called out.

She was met with no response.

Chapter 3: Love and Friendship

Chorus felt the blankets on the other side of the bed move as he opened his eyes from rest.

"Sombra?" he groggily mumbled.

Sombra slipped off of the bed and turned back towards Chorus.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he apologized.

Chorus sat up in bed. "It's fine, but where are you going so early?"

"The royals wanted to talk before we leave for that meeting today," Sombra explained.

Chorus blinked his eyes, trying to wake himself up. "Meeting?"

"The 'Leaders of Equestria' meeting. Remember?"

Chorus's eyebrows shifted in confusion.

"Princess Celestia? Cantlerlot?" Sombra tried to refresh his memory with buzzwords.

"Canterlot?" Chorus's eyes brightened at the mention of that city.

Sombra smiled. "Yes, Canterlot. Where we met."

"You mean where I saved you," Chorus joked. "Well, I mean where we..." Chorus trailed off, remembering the night he and his friends stopped Sombra from destroying the Grand Galloping Gala. But, most importantly, he was remembering his friends, Prose and Ginger Blush. It had been a while since he'd seen them.

"What's wrong?" Sombra asked, noticing Chorus's emotional shift.

"I haven't seen them in so long," Chorus spoke.

"Seen who?" Sombra wondered.

"Prose and Ginger Blush," Chorus explained somberly.

Sombra surely recognized those names. "I guess it has been a while, huh," he consoled. "But, you know..."

"What?" Chorus asked.

"It's the 'Leaders of Equestria' meeting today. Your friend Twilight Sparkle is certainly a leader in Equestria. It's entirely possible she brings her mare along with her."

"Prose!" Chorus exclaimed.

"Exactly," Sombra agreed. "And who knows, maybe somehow Ginger Blush will find her way to Canterlot as well."

"I would like that," Chorus daydreamed.

Sombra headed towards the bedroom door. "Well, I should really go meet with the royals."

"Okay," Chorus said. "I'll be out soon!" Chorus blew a kiss in Sombra's direction.

Sombra pretended to catch the kiss and stick it lovingly into an imaginary pocket. He slipped out of the door and let it close behind him.

Chorus laid back down into his bed and gazed up at the beautiful ceiling of his room. Chorus had been staying with Sombra in the Crystal Castle for quite some time. Even with time, Chorus hadn't ever gotten used to the iridescent walls and the crystalline detailing of the beautiful castle. The way the light danced across the crystals that comprised his room was breathtaking. All of it was every bit as wondrous as the day he first arrived.

Chorus sighed and pushed the blankets off of his body. He hopped out of bed and stood in front of a crystal mirror.

"Crystal mirror, on the wall," he began. "Does my mane look nice today?"

The mirror did not respond, because it was a normal mirror and could not speak.

Chorus brought his hoof up to his mane and attempted to brush it into place. Once he had coiffed it to perfection, he headed towards the bedroom door. He entered the magnificent castle hallways and wandered around, searching for Sombra and the royals. He heard mumbles of a conversation echo throughout the hallways.

"... living proof that reform is possible for the umbrum. We wouldn't have to fight or fear them anymore."

Chorus recognized that as Princess Amore's voice. It was a long and arduous journey, but Chorus and Sombra had pieced her back together and returned her to life. She immediately took a more active place in the Crystal Empire government.

"How can we expect to repeat Sombra's success consistently? How can we perform tests like that without jeopardizing the safety of our citizens?" It was Shining Armor. Chorus followed the sounds of the conversation to a room near the back-right of the castle.

"If we can successfully tame the umbrum, it could mean great things for the prosperity of the Crystal Empire- oh! Good morning, Chorus!" Princess Cadance greeted Chorus as he entered the meeting room.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Chorus apologized.

"It's fine," Princess Amore graciously spoke. "In fact, it's probably better that you're here."

"Really?" Chorus asked. "Why?"

Sombra turned towards his stallion. "We're talking about healing umbrum malice, and knowing you're the healer of mine, you seem like the perfect pony to be here."

"Well it was really a group effort. Friendship is magic, as they say," Chorus laughed. His smile quickly faded as he remembered once again how long it'd been since he'd seen his friends.

Sombra came to Chorus's side to comfort him. "It's all right, Chorus. You'll see them soon."

Chorus smiled. "You're right," he concurred. "My point is, I'm not the sole answer to figuring this out. I can help, though."

"Perfect," Shining Armor spoke appreciatively. "We've already got Princess Amore's side of the story, as the leader at the time of Sombra's takeover. I'd love to hear your perspective on all of this."

Chorus took a second to gather his thoughts. It was hard speaking to the royals. Even after living with them all this time, he still felt so small compared to all of their greatness.

"I guess... what's coming to mind is... love and friendship. Every major issue I've faced has been solved through love and friendship," Chorus nervously spoke, afraid his answer was totally useless.

"Interesting," Princess Cadance commented. "I always thought umbrum were weakened by the light of love and friendship, but maybe that's the solution to all of this after all. Maybe their weakness is their cure."

Sombra gently nudged Chorus as if to communicate good job.

"We've actually been taking notes and observations on the whole thing," Sombra informed the royals. He turned to Chorus. "Chorus, would you mind grabbing the journal?"

Chorus nodded and made his way out of the meeting room, heading down towards the room where his and Sombra's journal was held.

About ten minutes went by, and Sombra and the royals began to become concerned. Chorus should've been back with the journal by now.

"I'll just go check and see what's taking him so long," Sombra suggested.

Sombra headed out of the room and down the hallway, on course for his room. After a short walk, he arrived at his room to find his door ajar. He walked through the door and found the journal lying flat on the floor in the center of the room. He picked up the journal from the floor and looked around the room.

"Chorus?" Sombra called out.

He was met with no response.

Chapter 4: Time Jail

Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush all began to stir from their magically-induced sleep. One by one, they opened their eyes to observe their new surroundings. At first, it was almost impossible to discern what they were looking at, as every detail of the place was monochromatically, blindingly white. Well, everything except for the translucent, chrome green wall keeping them individually trapped wherever they were.

Prose stood up from the ground and tried to decipher where exactly she had somehow ended up. She was trapped. She placed her hoof onto the white walls of her cell, which were cold to the touch. After observing every barren wall that surrounded her, she arrived at the see-through barrier. She could see her cell wasn't the only one there. She saw green barriers, just like hers, placed periodically down a long, long stretch of a white, white hallway. She could see one cell directly across the hallway from her, but more importantly, she could see the pony trapped inside.

"Chorus!?" she called out.

Chorus turned his head from the walls of his white cell to the pony calling out his name from across the hall. Through the translucent walls separating them, he could see a familiar face.

"Prose!?" Chorus called back.

"Do you know what's going on?" Prose worriedly asked.

"Not a clue," Chorus admitted.

Chorus and Prose heard some hoofsteps coming from the cell next to Prose.

"Chorus and Prose? Is that you guys?" a voice called out.

"Ginger Blush!?" Chorus and Prose called out in unison.

"What's going on?" Ginger asked. "Where are we?"

"We're just as lost as you," Prose confessed.

After a brief moment of silence, the ponies could hear faint hoofsteps echo from down the hallway. Pushing his cheek up against the green barrier, Chorus got a look down the hallway at a figure approaching their cells.

"Somepony's coming!" Chorus shout-whispered.

The ponies cautiously awaited the arrival of the mysterious pony from down the hall. As the hoofsteps drew closer, they began to make out her features, illuminated by the brightness of the white hallway. She was a unicorn. Her cream-colored coat paled in contrast to her deep teal mane. A single stripe of neon green sliced through the center of her mane, creating quite an interesting look for this mysterious unicorn. If her coloring wasn't strange enough, her accessories surely set her apart from the ponies back home. Four wristwatches adorned her front left leg, all ticking in time. They were complimented by the small clock necklace that dangled around the unicorn's neck.

As the unicorn approached closer, it became apparent that her attention was not focused on Chorus, Prose, or Ginger Blush. A magic screen hovered in front of her, which she viewed through thin, green glasses. She muttered and mumbled to herself as she walked down the hallway. Ginger Blush watched as the unicorn passed right by her cell, and Chorus and Prose watched as she passed right by theirs as well. Prose stepped up to her green barrier and tried to grab the unicorn's attention.

"Uh... hello!" Prose spoke.

The unicorn stopped in her tracks, and the screen in front of her disappeared. She turned around to face the ponies in their cells.

"Oh, right. The new arrivals," she spoke.

"Where are we? What is this? What's going on?" Chorus asked in rapid succession.

The unicorn turned to face Chorus within his cell.

"Technically speaking, you're nowhere," she began. "You've been detained, by me, for the best interest of Equestria."

"Detained?" Chorus scoffed. "We didn't do anything!"

"You haven't done anything yet," the unicorn clarified.

"Yet?" Ginger Blush questioned.

"What do you mean 'nowhere'?" Prose interrogated.

The unicorn sighed, as if she'd heard this question too many times before.

"You're in a high-security, magically-powered, independently-owned containment center outside of space and time," she quickly recited, as if that answer was rehearsed. "I guess I can give you the rundown, if you really need it."

Prose looked at Chorus across the hall, and then back at the unicorn.

"Yea, I think some explanation might be nice," Prose remarked.

The unicorn sighed and put on a fake customer service smile before delivering her spiel.

"Hello new arrivals! I'm F.P., but you can call me Effie. After intense deliberation, it has been decided that your existence must be cleansed from the timeline in order to ensure the future of Equestria. Thank you so much for your understanding during this time, and I hope this place begins to feel just like home oh so very soon!" As Effie finished her speech, the fake smile dropped from her face, and she returned to her slightly irritated disposition.

"So that's it?" Chorus protested. "We just don't get to exist anymore because you say so?"

"The universe says so, Chorus," Effie stated. "The future depends on it."

"The future? Are you..." Ginger Blush started.

Effie turned to Ginger Blush.

"From the future? Yes. To you, I'm from the future. Any more questions?" Effie looked between the three ponies' cells. She visibly wanted to get back to whatever she was doing before she was interrupted.

"What are we supposed to do? Just sit here?" Prose gestured around to her empty cell.

Effie turned and began to walk away.

"You'll be let out for recreation time soon. Until then, yes, you'll have to sit tight."

Effie disappeared down the hallway, out of sight of the ponies.

"We're in time jail," Chorus remarked.

The ponies sat in silence for a few brief moments as they grasped their situation.

"What do we do?" Ginger Blush paced around her cell.

Prose's eyes lit up as she thought of an idea.

"Chorus, can you sing us out of here? Surely the cells can be opened with magic."

"Are you sure? Her magic seems more powerful than mine," Chorus admitted.

"What other choice do we have?" Prose spoke.

Chorus looked down at his hooves, considering the possibilities.

"I guess you're right," he confessed.

Chorus stood back in his cell, preparing his escape spell. Magic began to spark in his horn as he began a song.

Nothing's gonna keep us here

Trapped inside these stalls

Save us from untimely fate

And break down these walls

Chorus cast his magic toward the green cell door and immediately regretted that decision. As soon as his pink magic struck the barrier, it began to glow green, almost like it was being infected. Suddenly his magic retracted back into his horn, resulting in a huge burst of magic energy, sending his entire body into a shocking and searing pain.

Prose and Ginger Blush watched as Chorus writhed on the floor of his cell, unable to help him. They winced at his pain, hoping he was all right.

"Chorus? Are you okay?" Ginger Blush called out.

Chorus laid in pained silence for a few moments.

"I think we should wait for recreation time," he muttered.

Chapter 5: Recreation Time

The ponies sat quietly in their cells for what felt like forever. There was nothing to do, nothing to engage with, nothing to investigate. It was all sterile white walls and that evil green barrier.

“Didn’t she say it was soon? I feel like we’ve been waiting for forever,” Chorus complained.

As soon as Chorus spoke, it was like he manifested it. A voice began to emit from undetectable speakers in the hallway, delivering instructions.

Everypony please stand up and be still. The restraints will be implemented momentarily.
The voice echoed hauntingly down the lengthy hallway.

“Restraints?” Ginger Blush questioned. “What restraints?”

As if she had willed them into existence, magical green restraints dropped from the ceiling. The restraints looked like leashes; they were clearly designed to go around the neck. And, as if they were magnetic, they gravitated toward the necks of the ponies.

Prose backed away from the magical green leash, but it was no use. It lunged toward her and clasped around her neck, as it did for her friends.

“Why do we need to be restrained?” Prose worried.

Nopony had a response. A few seconds after the ponies were leashed, the green barriers in front of their cells dropped without a sound. The ponies were finally free, or at least that’s what it seemed like. Chorus jumped out of his cell, elated at the chance to escape. As soon as he reached the hallway, the leash pulled taut and Chorus was flung backwards, back into his cell. He crashed onto the cold ground and looked up at the ceiling.

“I see why she has us restrained now,” he addressed.

The leashes began to move, sliding across the ceiling and out of the cells. If the ponies didn’t move with them, they were sure to be dragged against their will. So, the ponies followed where they were being led to. The leashes moved quickly down the hallway, keeping the ponies anxiously in tow.

“Where are they taking us?” Ginger Blush asked.

“I hope it’s Recreation Time,” Chorus hoped. “After our time in that boring cell, I’ll take any form of entertainment.”

The ponies were led down long, white hallways, passing countless empty cells.

“Why are all of these cells empty? Is there anypony else here?” Prose asked to nopony in particular.

“Maybe they’re all already at Recreation Time,” Chorus proposed.

“What even is Recreation Time?” Prose turned to Chorus. “What could possibly be ‘recreational’ in a place like this?”

“I think we’re about to find out,” Ginger Blush Spoke.

The ponies looked forward and saw a large open doorway at the end of the hallway. The doorway led to a rather large and open room. What was the most interesting, though, was that the room was filled with other ponies.

The open room was filled with cafeteria tables, comfortable furniture, and assorted games and activities. It would’ve looked quite lively and fun if not for the sobering, sterile white walls, floor, and ceiling. Ponies roamed leisurely about the room, seemingly unpanicked and unfazed by their current situations.

The leashes pulled Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush into the room and proceeded to unclasp from their necks and retract into the ceiling. Chorus turned around and immediately bolted for the door. The loud thud of a pony head against an invisible barrier caught the attention of some of the ponies in the room.

“I guess Recreation Time is mandatory,” Chorus observed.

“And inescapable,” Prose added.

The ponies looked around the room at all that laid before them.

Cafeteria tables were set up in rows perpendicular to the sterile white walls of the Recreation Room. Assorted ponies adorned many of the seats of the tables, engaging in mundane conversation with one another. Nestled in the back left corner of the large room was a cozy little setup. Several bean bag chairs in different shades of green were laid out over a large green rug. White shelves of books and games leaned against the white walls of that corner. Tucked into the corner of the corner, placed upon a humble little white table, was a box. It was unlike any box the ponies had ever seen before. 5 sides of it were completely stationary and dull, but the front-facing side of it glowed like magic. It depicted something the ponies couldn’t quite make out from the distance at which they were standing.

“What’s that?” Ginger Blush pointed over to the glowing box in the cozy corner.

The ponies all stared at the mysterious object.

“I have to go see it,” Chorus spoke.

Chorus began to take a quick step forward, but his path was immediately blocked by a pony who swiftly stepped directly in front of him. At least he thought it was a pony. The ‘pony’ was a completely translucent green. It had no distinguishing features, no cutie mark, and the most vacant stare the ponies had ever seen.

“Hello, new arrivals,” the holo-pony spoke in a monotone, robotic voice. “You have been allotted…” the holo-pony paused in calculation. “one… departure letter.”

The holo-pony produced a small sheet of parchment and a quill pen in front of itself, holding them out for somepony to take. Nopony rushed to take them.

“What is a departure letter?” Prose inquired.

The holo-pony paused again, producing a response. “A departure letter is a letter that contained ponies are allowed to send home to alert their friends and family of their whereabouts. Of course, you are not permitted to disclose your actual location–you will have to fabricate a comforting falsification. The letter is meant to bring closure to your loved ones, as we cannot have them pursuing your location. The letter will be reviewed to make sure you have provided what has been asked of you.”

“And we only get one? For all three of us?” Ginger Blush prodded.

The holo-pony paused.

“Yes.”

The ponies looked at each other in confusion.

“Why?” Chorus asked.

The holo-pony paused.

“I do not understand your inquiry.”

The ponies sighed in frustration, but Prose cut her sigh short at the thought of an ingenious idea.

“I’ll write it,” Prose spoke. “I’ll write the letter. You guys go discover what that magic box is.”

“What about us?” Chorus worried. “Sombra and Savoir have got to be really worried about us. I want to let them know we’re safe.”

Prose looked at Chorus and Ginger Blush.

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

“Of course,” Ginger Blush confirmed.

“Let me write the letter,” Prose pleaded.

The ponies looked at Prose, then at each other.

“Okay,” Chorus conceded. “You write the letter. We’ll go investigate.”

Prose nodded and accepted the parchment and quill from the holo-pony’s hoof. She headed towards one of the long stretches of cafeteria table and had a seat, ready to write her letter.

Chorus and Ginger Blush moseyed over to the cozy corner of the Recreation Room. As they neared its comforting charm, the magic box became clearer in their vision. The front side of the box held a screen. It depicted ponies neither Chorus nor Ginger had ever seen before.

A pale green pony with brown mane turned her attention away from the screen and towards Chorus and Ginger Blush.

“New arrivals!” she exclaimed. “That must be why the projections are acting up.”

“Projections?” Chorus questioned.

“You really are new here, huh,” the pony realized. “Come have a seat. I’ll catch you up.”

The pony gestured to several empty bean bags that laid around her. Chorus and Ginger Blush cautiously took seats next to their new friend.

“Well, hello to you two, first of all. I’m Apple Crumble, it’s nice to meet you,” Apple Crumble prefaced.

“I’m Chorus, and this is Ginger Blush,” Chorus introduced, gesturing his hooves first to himself, then to Ginger Blush.

“Beautiful names,” Apple complimented.

“Thank you,” Ginger Blush thanked.

“So you ponies need some Time Jail education, right?”

The ponies nodded.

“I’m assuming you’ve already met Effie,”

The ponies nodded again.

“She created Time Jail. She’s on some sort of mission to prevent the end of Equestria. You were pulled out of the timeline because she feels like you stand in the way of that mission.”

“How can we stand in the way of her mission?” Chorus interrupted. “We don’t even know what her mission is!”

“None of us did,” Apple Crumble clarified. “It’s all the Butterfly Effect.”

Chorus and Ginger cocked their heads in confusion.

“Let me give an example–my example. I invented an apple crumble–yes, just like my name–that was so delicious, it inspired the mayor of Ponyville to declare an annual Apple Festival. The Apple Festival was amazing. It showcased all sorts of apple dishes, and it brought everypony together. Sounds completely harmless, right? Well, somewhere down the line, the aftermath of the Apple Festival resulted in a chain of events that aided in the destruction of all of Equestria. It could’ve been an undercooked apple pie, or maybe it was a couple of rotten apples, or maybe it was some completely coincidental event that just happened to happen at the Apple Festival. Whatever it was, it was bad enough to remove me from the timeline. That’s why I’m here. That’s why you’re here as well.”

The ponies took a second to process all of the information. They were being punished for actions they didn’t even know they were taking.

“This is ridiculous!” Chorus stammered. “Why wouldn’t she just ask us or tell us not to do whatever bad thing we did? Why remove us entirely?”

“She doesn’t like to take chances,” Apple explained. “She also doesn’t like to waste time. She wants the job done quickly and efficiently.”

“And there’s no way we can ask her to put us back?” Ginger asked.

“No way. I’ve never seen anypony get sent back into the timeline. I know this can be a lot to take in so quickly, but you’ve got to understand that you’re trapped here. This is your new home,” Apple Crumble somberly informed the ponies.

Chorus felt anxiety steadily creep in as that realization settled into his brain. He suddenly became desperate to change the subject.

“So what’s that then?” Chorus asked, pointing at the magic box.

A pink pony across the carpet spoke up.

“Oh, I’ll explain this one!” they excitedly spoke. They brushed their lovely orange mane out of their face and smiled brightly at Chorus and Ginger. “Well, I’ll introduce myself first. I’m Fizzy Fireshine; I invented a scientific formula that somehow brought about the end of Equestria. Anyway, this is our TV!”

“TV?” Ginger Blush questioned, unaware of this abbreviation.

“It stands for Timeline Viewer! We can watch any point in time on this box right from the comfort of Time Jail. It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Fizzy illuminated.

Chorus furrowed his eyebrows as he heard this. He paused before asking Fizzy Fireshine to do something for him.

“Can you show us… the end of Equestria?”

Fizzy looked into Chorus’s eyes.

“Are you sure? It’s… it’s not pretty.”

“I’m sure,” Chorus confirmed. “I want to see it.”

Fizzy stood up from their bean bag and walked over to the TV. They placed their hooves onto several dials and began to wind them around. The screen scrambled between static random scenes of history before landing on its destination: the end of Equestria.

Chorus and Ginger stared at the screen at the scene playing in front of them. The sky was black, completely shrouded by dark, menacing clouds. Dark red light peeked out from the clouds, complemented by the bright red fire covering the world below. Buildings crumbled, wildlife burned. The entirety of Equestria had been completely decimated. Whatever had wreaked all of this havoc had clearly wanted to leave no life in its wake.

Prose approached the cozy corner, coming up behind Chorus and Ginger Blush.

“What’d I miss?” she asked.

Chorus and Ginger Blush turned around to face her.

“We’re trapped here forever with no hope of ever escaping,” Ginger spoke.

Prose blinked.

“Oh.”

Chapter 6: Timeshank Redemption

Prose sat down on a bean bag next to Ginger Blush.

“That… that can’t be true, right?” Prose asked. “There has to be a way to escape.”

Apple Crumble spoke up before Chorus or Ginger could.

“Please don’t try to escape. It makes me sad watching new arrivals try to escape. The same thing happens every time.”

“What happens?” wondered Chorus.

“Limbo…” Fizzy interrupted and subsequently trailed off.

“Limbo?” Ginger questioned. “Like… the party game?”

“Nothing like the party game,” Fizzy elaborated. “Whenever anypony tries to escape, Effie always catches them, and she always sends them to Limbo. It’s like a place between here and Equestria. Nopony really knows what happens there, except that nopony ever comes back from Limbo.”

Prose put her hooves over her face.

“So, the punishment for trying to escape our imprisonment… is another, potentially worse imprisonment?”

“Correct!” Apple Crumble affirmed. “That’s why ponies like Fizzy and I try to make the best of Time Jail. It’s really not all that bad. There’s plenty of ponies to meet, and plenty of books to read, and I personally find the TV very fun to watch.”

Chorus closed his eyes and tried to process his options. Images of a panicked and worried Sombra clouded his vision. He imagined the thought of losing Sombra forever, of losing Ponyville forever, of losing Equestria forever.

“No,” he blurted. “We’re escaping. We have to escape.”

Fizzy’s eyebrows tilted with concern. “I know how hard it can be to accept it, but I promise you there’s no way to escape. I’m telling you this out of concern for you. I don’t want you three to get sent to Limbo. Nopony knows what even happens in Limbo.”

Ginger Blush remembered Savoir Fare, and thought about how worried he must’ve been after her abrupt disappearance. Images of his face overtook her mind. She worried about her poor cat, Maple, who wouldn’t even know what happened to her. She looked over to Fizzy, then to Chorus.

“I agree with you, Chorus,” she spoke. “We’ve saved Equestria like twice. I think if anypony can be the first to escape Time Jail, it’s us.”

Apple Crumble sighed.

“We’ll be sure to remember you when you three are in Limbo. Good luck, I guess.”

The ponies half-ignored Apple Crumble’s warning and turned towards each other.

Prose stood up from her bean bag and gestured for her friends to follow her. She led them to one of the many cafeteria tables set up in the room, where they all promptly sat down.

“We’re getting out of here,” she whispered hopefully. She turned towards a vent screwed into one of the walls not far away. “Are you ponies thinking what I’m thinking?”

Chorus and Ginger followed Prose’s gaze and looked over at the vent.

“I don’t know, Prose,” Chorus sighed. “Don’t you think that’s a little… predictable? Like, don’t you think ponies have tried that before?”

“It does seem a little obvious…” Ginger commented.

Prose looked at her friends as a smile crossed her face.

“I bet the other ponies who’ve tried it never used a cloaking spell,” Prose illuminated.

Chorus and Ginger looked at each other.

“Prose, you saw what happened the last time I tried to use my magic in here. I don’t want to feel that again. My magic doesn’t work here,” Chorus lamented.

“We don’t know that, exactly,” Prose distinguished. “We know your magic doesn’t work against Effie’s magic. We don’t know what happens when you try to use your magic on just us. We’re not her magic. We’re just us.”

Chorus contemplated Prose’s idea. He brought one hoof up to his chin.

“I guess you could be right,” he admitted. “It might be worth a shot.”

Ginger spoke up. “Are we sure? If we fail… it could mean being more hopelessly trapped and lost than we already are…”

Prose looked at Ginger with determination in her eyes. “What other choice do we have, Ginger? We can’t just stay here and waste away for the rest of our lives. I have to get back to Equestria–back to Twilight. Don’t you want to get back to Savoir Fare?”

Ginger looked down in concession.

“I guess you’re right,” she conceded. She turned to Chorus. “Do you think you could cast a cloaking spell?”

“I haven’t done it before, but it’s not exactly the toughest spell in the book. It’s got a simple directive and a simple product. I think I can handle it,” determined Chorus.

“So, let’s do it. We climb into the ventilation, and look for some sort of back door; some sort of way out. Effie has to be able to traverse from here to Equestria. All we have to do is figure out how,” Prose plotted.

Chorus sighed. “Let’s do it.”

The ponies inconspicuously positioned themselves near the large vent on the wall, and Chorus began his cloaking spell. He began his music quietly and softly, careful not to draw the attention of anypony nearby.

Through the dark and to the light
We’re going to get out of here
Make us hidden in plain sight
Let us become crystal clear
Pink magic swirled out of Chorus’s horn and wrapped around him and his friends. Before their eyes, they became invisible to each other.

“It worked!” Ginger whispered.

“Okay, okay,” Prose spoke. “I’ll go first. Just follow the sound of me crawling. I’ll open the vent now.”

Invisible Chorus and Invisible Ginger watched as the vent seemed to magically pop open as Invisible Prose discreetly popped the cover off. Chorus and Ginger listened as they heard Prose’s hooves connect with the metal of the vents. Chorus followed after her sound, and Ginger followed after Chorus’s. They crawled quietly through the vents, careful to listen for where Prose was leading them. They traversed the ventilation system, following lefts and rights, inclines and declines, searching for a place they might escape.

“I see a light up ahead,” Prose whispered. “It might be a potential escape route.”

The ponies inched closer and close to the light until they came upon the backside of another vent cover. The light was coming from an office–presumably Effie’s office. Prose peeked through the vent slits and observed the surroundings. It may have been Effie’s office, complete with blueprints, maps, plans, and a desk, but Effie was nowhere to be seen.

“This might be our best means of escape,” Prose whispered. “Effie has to keep some sort of escape instructions in her office.”

“Well, let’s get down in there then,” Chorus suggested.

Prose scooched up close to the vent cover, and carefully pushed it outwards. It easily slipped off of the wall, and noisily clattered to the floor. The ponies winced at the sound. One by one, they stepped quietly out of the vent and into Effie’s office. The cloaking spell had worn off, and they could see each other again. They immediately began to explore the office, searching for any hope of an escape. Ginger picked up the white nameplate on Effie’s desk. The Final Pony, it read in glowing green text. The ponies continued to mull about the office.

Suddenly, without warning, the door to the office abruptly swung open. Effie stood in the doorway.

“The vents. Really?” she laughed. “I thought you three were more clever than that.”

The ponies stared in horror at their captor.

“You know, I had a feeling I was gonna have to send you three to Limbo. Thanks for proving me right, I guess,” she insulted.

Before the ponies could fight back or even protest, a green light shot out of Effie’s horn and engulfed all three of them. Just as quickly as they were brought to Time Jail, they disappeared entirely from it. Effie closed the door on her now vacant office, and returned to business as usual.

Chapter 7: A Message From Beyond

Twilight anxiously sat through the Leaders of Equestria meeting, offering a half-witted comment whenever she was expected to and completely zoning out for the rest of the time. She eyed Sombra from across the long meeting table. She planned to meet him as soon as the meeting was over. If anypony knew where Prose may have gone, it had to be one of her best friends, Chorus–Sombra’s stallion.

“I feel comfortable adjourning the meeting here,” Celestia spoke, her royal presence commanding yet comforting. “Thank you so much everypony for meeting here today. Let us hope this means peace and prosperity for the future of Equestria. I hope to see all of you soon.”

As soon as Princess Celestia had spoken her final words, Twilight exited her seat at the table and briskly made her way across the room. She spoke as soon as she approached him.

“Hello, Sombra,” she greeted awkwardly.

“Hi, Twilight,” Sombra greeted back.

“I have something I need to ask you,” Twilight prefaced.

“That’s strange,” Sombra commented. “I have something I need to ask you as well.”

“Do you, by any chance,” she started. “know where Prose is right now?”

Sombra became quiet, and a worried look crossed his face.

“What?” Twilight asked. “Do you know where she is?”

Sombra looked frightened. “I was going to ask you if you knew where Chorus is,” he said.

Twilight’s expression dropped. She picked it back up again quickly as another possible solution appeared in her mind.

“Savoir Fare is here; I saw him. Maybe Ginger Blush knows where Chorus and Prose went!” Twilight suggested.

The wait staff had begun to clear the table as Twilight and Sombra had been conversing. Twilight spied Savoir Fare not far away, clearing plates off of the meeting table. Twilight chased him down, and Sombra followed.

“Savoir!” Twilight called.

Savoir Fare turned around to face Twilight and Sombra.

“Do you happen to know where Prose and Chorus may be at this very moment in time?” Twilight asked with no precaution.

Savoir’s eyes depicted a worried sadness and disappointment.

“I…” he started. “I was going to ask you two if you knew where Ginger Blush is.”

Each of them shared a worried glance with each other.

“What could’ve happened to them?” Twilight wondered aloud. “Where could they all have simultaneously disappeared to?”

“They wouldn’t leave us like this voluntarily, would they?” Sombra questioned.

The group fell silent.

Suddenly, a spark of a bright green magic appeared directly in front of Twilight. After a couple seconds, the spark appeared again, stronger. The spark lengthened into a solid slit of bright green light, and a piece of parchment slipped right out of it, as if being printed out. It swayed back and forth in the air, descending towards the ground. Twilight caught it out of the air before it touched the floor. She held it in front of her and saw the words written on it, unmistakably in Prose’s hoofwriting. Twilight read the letter aloud to Sombra and Savoir.

Twilight,
You’re probably wondering where I went. You may even be wondering where Chorus and Ginger Blush went. The truth is, we all just felt that we needed to escape. We felt it was time for us to have some space. We’ve gone on a retreat–far away. Don’t try to come find us. Locating us would be impossible, even with magic. Don’t try to intellectualize this with your special books. What’s done is done. Would I ever lie to you?
Good luck,
Prose
As she finished the letter, tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was reading. Sombra stepped back in defiance.

“That can’t be true. Somepony must’ve forged that,” he stated.

Twilight became choked up. “It’s… it’s Prose’s hoofwriting. I would recognize it anywhere.”

Savoir’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I don’t understand. Ginger seemed perfectly fine, happy even. I can’t imagine she would ever feel this way. Something else is going on, I’m certain of it,” Savoir defied. “She wouldn’t just… leave…”

Twilight looked back at the letter, ready to reread it again so it could finally set in for Sombra and Savoir. But, suddenly, certain words began to catch her eye. She began to remember a conversation she had had with Prose that very morning. Words began to pop out at her. Escape. Time. Space.

“She would,” Twilight spoke in realization.

“Excuse me?” Savoir spoke in shock.

“She would lie to me,” Twilight realized.

Savoir and Sombra shared a glance with the same thought in their minds: What is she talking about?

Twilight pushed past them and set the letter down onto the meeting table, gesturing for them to come look at it with her.

“The last line of the letter,” she started. “‘Would I ever lie to you?’”

“What about it?” Savoir questioned.

“It’s a clue!” Twilight claimed. “She’s trying to tell us how to find her–how to find all of them! She’s trying to tell us that we shouldn’t believe her.”

Sombra raised an eyebrow. “How can you be sure of that?”

Twilight pointed down at the letter. “Look at the words she used. ‘Escape’, ‘time’, ‘space’, ‘find us’, ‘magic’, ‘books’... it’s all intentional. As soon as she wrote ‘The truth is’, she started lying. She’s asking us for help. She wants us to find her.”

The group pondered the possibility.

“Even if she is lying, what is she hinting at? How does she want us to find her, to find them?” Savoir asked.

Twilight began to head back to her seat.

“She’s referring to a conversation we had today, right before she disappeared.”

She reached her chair and grabbed her saddle bag from it. She dug her hooves into it and pulled out the book she had been reading on the train: Time, Space, and Magic.

“This is why she talked about books and magic in the letter. She must be referring to this book. Her wording is too specific to ignore. In that short letter, she mentioned time, space, magic, and books. I think, somehow, Prose, Chorus, and Ginger Blush escaped time and space. I know it seems like quite a stretch, but… but I don’t know what else to believe right now.”

Sombra and Savoir stared knowingly at Twilight.

“It may be a stretch, but it’s all we have,” Savoir accepted.

“If you believe it, I believe it,” Sombra remarked. “What do we do now?”

Twilight led Savoir Fare and Sombra to a more secluded room in the castle, where they could conduct magic privately and without interruption. Twilight flipped through the pages of her book, scanning for a passage or a chapter that could help her. She paused on one chapter that seemed helpful: A Radar into Nowhere.

“Did you find something?” asked Sombra as he noticed her pause.

“This chapter here,” Twilight began. “It describes a detection spell. I would be able to detect anomalies outside of the realm of space-time. If our ponies are out there, this spell could find them.”

Savoir, Sombra, and Twilight shared a hopeful smile.

Savoir looked to Twilight. “So… detect them! What are we waiting for?”

Twilight’s eyebrows lowered slightly. “It’s just… magic like this… is complicated. It’s a daunting task, even for me. The spell would work, but I’m not sure I’m capable of performing it.”

Sombra stepped forward towards Twilight. “What if… I helped you? Is that possible?”

Twilight considered the thought.

“That just might work,” she hoped. “If we combine our magical forces, we could be able to provide enough magic and stability to successfully perform the spell!”

“Perfect,” Sombra cheered. “How can I help?”

Twilight wasn’t used to Sombra’s reformed personality. She never imagined herself cooperating with him like this, but there they were.

“You really have changed, huh,” Twilight observed.

“I guess… I have,” Sombra agreed.

Twilight smiled.

“Come sit beside me,” she instructed. “I’ll do the heavy-lifting regarding the spell. All I need you to do is combine your power with mine and help keep it stable. Our combined forces should be enough to perform the spell.”

Sombra nodded in understanding. “I’m ready when you’re ready.”

Twilight closed her eyes and began concentrating on the spell. Without warning, her eyes shot back open, glowing white. Pink magic began to swell around her horn, materializing into a bright pink beam that shot straight into the ceiling. A wind began to swirl around the room, levitating stray papers and objects into a miniature cyclone around Twilight, Savoir, and Sombra. Sombra took this as his cue, and began his part of the spell. He commanded magic out of his horn and towards Twilight’s beam of magic, combining them as one. He watched as his blue magic swirled into Twilight’s glowing pink.

Sombra felt the weight of the spell crash down onto him, realizing Twilight wasn’t exaggerating about the difficulty of the spell. Sombra pushed back against the spell, utilizing the strength of his powerful magic to stabilize the spell for both him and Twilight. Twilight opened her mouth to speak as the spell began to take effect.

“I… I think I… sense something.”

“What do you see, Twilight,” Savoir prodded.

“It’s all… nothing… except… something…” she observed.

“What do you mean? Do you see them? Do you see Ginger?” Savoir pressed.

“I can’t… see… I can only feel,” Twilight explained. “But I feel… something. It’s a vast expanse of nothing, but there’s something out there. It’s the only thing I can sense. If they’re anywhere out there, they’re there.”

“Can you pull them out of it? Can you bring them back?” Savoir asked, his tone almost desperate.

Twilight experienced the spell for a few moments in silence.

“That’s not how the spell works,” she concluded. “It doesn’t work in reverse. I’m coming at it from the outside, I can’t pull something from the inside.”

The group contemplated their conundrum.

“What if… we didn’t make it go in reverse?” Savoir suggested.

“Can you please discover the solution a little quicker? I don’t know how much longer I can hold this up,” Sombra grunted, struggling.

“What if we rode the current the way it’s already facing? We follow them to wherever they are, and then once we’re there, we take them and spell ourselves back out. That way we’d only be moving in one direction each time,” Savoir devised.

Twilight considered the plan. “That could work.”

The wind swirled and blew torrentially around the ponies.

“Let’s do it then,” Sombra advised. “I can’t hold this up anymore.”

Sombra bared his teeth in struggle as he kept his magic intertwined with Twilight’s.

“Twilight?” Savoir pleaded.

“We’ll do it,” she confirmed. “Brace yourselves.”

The ponies braced themselves as the light in Twilight’s eyes began to increase in luminosity. The light glowed brighter and brighter until it became blinding. The magic encompassed Twilight, Sombra, and Savoir Fare, entrapping them in teleportation. In an instant, the ponies disappeared from the room. The winds slowed, and the room returned to vacancy. The only evidence of the ponies’ presence was the open spellbook lying on the floor.

Chapter 8: Limbo

Chorus opened his eyes slowly, unsure of what he was about to see. The idea of Limbo sounded so terrifying when the ponies back at Time Jail described it, Chorus was terrified to see where he’d ended up. He was intrigued, concerned, and oddly comforted to find himself somehow staring at the ceiling of his own bedroom back at his home in Ponyville. He felt the cushy sensation of his comfortable bed beneath him as he sat up to view his surroundings. Everything was exactly how he’d left it. There wasn’t a single item out of place.

Chorus cautiously slipped himself out of bed and warily creeped up to his bedroom door. He pushed gently on the wood, creaking the door slightly open—just open enough to see what was outside. He was more than elated to find a glimpse of a pony he’d been missing for so long. His beloved Sombra was standing in the hallway, facing away from him. Chorus swung the door open.

“Sombra!” he cheered. “I was so scared I’d never see you again! How did you find me? Where are the others? Is everything okay? I’m just so glad you found me, I…”

Chorus trailed off. Sombra wasn’t moving. Something was wrong. Chorus gazed more closely at the unicorn in his hallway. He noticed something sickly about Sombra. Black veinlike lines crawled up from his hooves, blacker than even Sombra’s black fur. Sombra looked unwell. His mane was matted, his fur looked unkempt.

“...Sombra?” Chorus worriedly spoke.

Sombra began to move. It was an irregular movement, twitchy and unnatural. Chorus took a step backwards in caution. Sombra erratically turned around to face Chorus. Chorus’s jaw dropped in horror. Sombra stared straight at him with eyes blacker than night. A revolting black ooze dripped out of Sombra’s open mouth and onto the clean floors of Chorus’s house.

“What happened to you?” Chorus cried.

Sombra took unnerving, menacing steps toward Chorus, his unblinking eyes frightening Chorus nearly to death. Chorus backed away from his advancements, horrified at what he was seeing. Chorus eyed the window in his room, analyzing it as his only means of escape. Sombra began to approach Chorus more quickly, with more conviction. Chorus bounded over his bed and over to the other side of his room, towards his window. He somberly glanced one more time back at his partner, his black eyes making his face a saddening sight.

Chorus swung open the window, climbed up on its ledge, and tumbled outside into the flowers growing outside of his house. Chorus rolled out of the flowers, picked himself up, and dusted himself off. As soon as he had found his bearings, he quickly departed from his house and into the city outside.

It did not take long to realize being outside might have been a worse idea than staying inside and taking his chances with Monster Sombra. Ponies lined the streets of Ponyville, but the sweet and humble attitudes typically possessed by Ponyville residents were nowhere to be found. Whatever monstrous infection that had been plaguing Sombra was clearly contagious.

Ponies twitched and sickeningly vaulted towards Chorus in pursuit of his uninfected body. The ponies depicted all different stages of their infection. Some of them had just begun to present the features of the blackening disease. Some of them barely resembled ponies anymore; their legs and necks had become unnaturally long and gangly, and their features were sharp, torn, and exaggerated. They had become monsters.

Chorus bolted through Ponyville, desperately trying to escape the mob of monstrous ponies that chased him through the streets. A vacant salon caught his eye as he ran towards it. He needed a place to hide, and he couldn’t run forever. As he approached the salon, he decided it had to be his sanctuary. He grabbed the door with one hoof, swung it open, dashed inside, slammed the door behind himself, and locked it. The horde of infected ponies all banged and pushed against the door, but the sturdy door held up.

The mob soon grew tired of trying to break in, and they promptly gave up trying. They returned back to the streets of Ponyville, presumably to hunt down more innocent ponies like Chorus. Chorus sighed in relief and took a seat in one of the salon chairs, thankful to not be in immediate danger. That thankfulness quickly turned into fearfulness as a loud clunk sounded out behind him.

He turned around to see a large bottle of mane spray that had landed on the floor. He looked around for the cause of the fall. Next to the shelf of the mane products, a privacy curtain ruffled. Chorus immediately panicked.

“Please don’t hurt me!” he yelped. “Please! Please!”

The privacy curtain was pulled back by a familiar pale hoof.

“Chorus?” Ginger Blush gasped.

“Ginger!” Chorus exclaimed. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. The ponies out there are-”

“Monsters?” Ginger finished. “Yes, I’m aware.” Ginger looked down solemnly. Savoir… they… they got Savoir…”

Chorus unseated himself and stepped towards his friend. He rested a hoof on Ginger’s shoulder comfortingly.

“They got Sombra too,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

He pulled Ginger in for a hug. Within the silence of the warm embrace, a noise could faintly be heard outside. A voice called out from outside.

“Ginger! Chorus! Anypony! Please, if anypony is out there, please help me!”

Ginger pulled away from the hug.

“Prose?” she gasped.

The ponies raced towards the front window of the salon. A dark purple pony with unruly coral mane was sprinting down the street. And behind her, a stampede of monstrous, diseased, infected ponies followed.

Chorus rapidly sped to the salon door and cracked it open.

“PROSE!” he shouted. “OVER HERE!”

Prose turned her head towards the direction of the sound, and spotted her friends hiding safely in the salon. She charted her course for the salon and ran there as fast as her legs could take her. Ginger held the door open for her as she crashed inside, and she closed it behind her. Prose took a moment to catch her breath as the infected ponies once again slammed and pounded on the salon door.

“I’m so happy I found you guys,” she heaved. “After Twilight tried to… turn me, I would’ve given anything to see your faces again.”

Ginger and Chorus surrounded Prose in a warm hug.

“We should be safe in here,” said Ginger, optimistically. “They haven’t been able to break down the door yet.”

The sickening sound of a rotating door knob hauntingly creaked behind the ponies. Ginger’s eyes widened in fearful realization. She had forgotten to lock the door. An infected pony’s hoof successfully rotated the door knob to completion, effectively opening the door. Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush darted away from the door as a flood of monsters leaked into the salon. The infected ponies rapidly closed in on the uninfected, leaving them wincing in fear as they hopelessly began to accept their imminent fates.

Chapter 9: Prison Break

A blast of light accompanied the traveling ponies as they arrived in Time Jail. Twilight, Sombra, and Savoir all successfully materialized onto the white floors of the space-time prison. The ponies opened their eyes and examined their surroundings. They were ecstatic as they observed a multitude of other ponies surrounding them. Some of them stared at the group of teleporting ponies, and some remained completely unfazed.

Twilight, eager to find Prose, immediately began interrogating the ponies in her vicinity. She walked quickly over to the nearest ponies and began canvassing for Prose.

“Have you seen a pony named Prose?” she asked.

“Who?”

“Have you seen a pony named Prose?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“Have you seen a pony named Prose?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Twilight grunted in frustration as it seemed Prose was nowhere to be found. Sombra approached Twilight, concluding his search around the Recreation Room.

“Twilight, I’ve scanned the entire room, and I don’t see any sign of Chorus,” he concluded.

“Chorus?” a pony spoke up from a table behind the conversing ponies. Sombra and Twilight turned around to face the speaker.

“Do you know Chorus?” Sombra inquired.

Apple Crumble looked at the new ponies in condolence.

“Chorus and his friends were here a few days ago…” Apple Crumble explained.

Savoir Fare wandered over to his traveling party, joining the ongoing conversation.

“Did you two find anything?” Savoir asked Twilight and Sombra.

“Yes!” Twilight cheered. “This pony says she knows where they are!”

Apple Crumble shook her head and interrupted. “I didn’t say that.”

Twilight looked back at her. “Yes you did, you said they were here- wait… you said they were here a few days ago? They’ve only been gone less than a day!”

“Maybe for you they’ve been gone for less than a day. Time in Equestria doesn’t really have any relevance here. Your friends were here a few days ago, or what I experience as a few days ago,” Apple elaborated. “I don’t know where they are now.”

A pink pony with orange mane slid down the table and joined the conversation.

“They’re definitely in Limbo,” they explained. “Whenever anypony disappears around here, it’s because they were sent to Limbo.”

Savoir squinted quizzically at Fizzy. “Limbo?”

“Right, you ponies must be new here,” Fizzy Fireshine pieced together. “Limbo is like the time-out corner of Time Jail, except nopony ever comes back from Limbo. Your friends tried to escape, so they were definitely sent to Limbo.”

“Nopony comes back?” Twilight worriedly exclaimed.

“Nopony,” Fizzy affirmed.

Twilight, Savoir, and Sombra felt sick to their stomachs.

“Is there any way we can get them out?” Sombra inquired.

Apple Crumble shrugged. “Not any way that I know of. Nopony’s ever tried to free anypony from Limbo before. Then again, nopony has ever teleported into Time Jail before. How did you manage that?”

“It’s quite a complicated spell, actually,” Twilight explained. “But did you just say nopony’s ever tried? So… if we try to free them, it could be possible?”

Apple Crumble brought a hoof to her chin. “I- I guess…” she hypothesized. “I guess it could be possible… it’s just never happened before.”

Sombra’s eyes lit up at that admission.

“That sounds good enough for me,” he expressed. “Let’s go free them from Limbo, then!”

“Yes!” Twilight agreed.

There was an awkward, uncertain silence for a moment.

“So…” Savoir broke the silence. “How do you free somepony from Limbo?”

Everypony looked at one another, searching for a face that looked like it knew the answer. Nopony knew.

“Well, one thing I do know,” Fizzy spoke up. “Is that Effie watches everything. I’m sure she’s monitoring your friends in Limbo somehow. She could very well be watching this conversation right now!”

“Well, that sounds like a lead!” Twilight beamed. “I just have one question: who is Effie?”

Apple Crumble spoke up to clear the confusion. “She’s the boss of Time Jail.”

Twilight, Sombra, and Savoir shared a glance. They silently agreed they didn’t need to get caught up in semantics, and decided to just focus on freeing their friends.

“Of course,” Sombra acknowledged, not truly understanding what was being explained. “So, we just have to find out however ‘Effie’ is tracking our friends, and then we can potentially free them?”

Fizzy Fireshine nodded her head. “That’s my best guess.”

Savoir Fare smiled at the thought of having Ginger back. “Thank you ponies so much for your help, I think we’ll take it from here.”

Apple Crumble’s eyebrows tilted with worry. “Good luck,” she wished.

The ponies departed from the table and confidently trotted toward the exit of the Recreation Room.

“So, all we have to do is find out how this ‘Effie’ is tracking them, and we-” Twilight was bluntly interrupted mid-sentence by smacking straight into the invisible barrier at the entrance of the Recreation Room. She stumbled backwards and caught her balance. She stepped forward again and touched her hoof to the invisible barrier, feeling its invisible sturdiness.

“That’s all right,” she said, optimistically. “I’ll just teleport us past this barrier, and we’ll be on our way.”

Twilight concentrated on a quick teleportation spell. She swiftly encased herself and her traveling party in pink magic and willed them past the barrier. Or, she tried to will them past the barrier. As soon as she began to transport them across, green magic sparked up from the barrier and strongly pushed back against Twilight’s magic, sending her, Sombra, and Savoir stumbling backwards.

“Or maybe we’ll just find another way out of this room,” she suggested instead.

The party scanned the room for any potential exits. Savoir quickly noted something of importance.

“What about over there?” he pointed across the room to a vent screwed into one of the walls not far away.

Sombra and Twilight followed Savoir’s gaze over to the vent.

“I don’t see another way out,” Sombra conceded.

“Me neither,” Twilight seconded. “I’m willing to try the vent.”

The entire group rashly and naively sauntered over to the vent, completely unaware of the imminent danger that lied beyond that vent cover. Savoir made sure nopony was watching, then quietly popped the vent cover off of the wall, as one does. Each pony filed in, one by one, to the cold, dark tunnel. They traversed the ventilation system, following lefts and rights, inclines and declines, searching for a place they might find their friends.

“I see a light up ahead,” Savoir whispered. “It could be a step in the right direction.”

The ponies inched closer and close to the light until they came upon the backside of another vent cover. The light was coming from an office–presumably Effie’s office. Savoir peeked through the vent slits and observed the surroundings. It may have been Effie’s office, complete with blueprints, maps, plans, and a desk, but Effie was nowhere to be seen.

“This might be our best means of finding them,” Savoir whispered. “This ‘Time Jail’ boss has to keep some sort of hint for us in her office.”

“Well, let’s get down in there then,” Twilight suggested.

Savoir scooched up close to the vent cover, and carefully pushed it outwards. It easily slipped off of the wall, and noisily clattered to the floor. The ponies winced at the sound. One by one, they stepped quietly out of the vent and into Effie’s office. They immediately began to explore the office, searching for any hope of an escape. Sombra picked up the white nameplate on Effie’s desk. The Final Pony, it read in glowing green text. The ponies continued to mull about the office.

Suddenly, without warning, the door to the office abruptly swung open. Effie stood in the doorway.

“The vents. Really?” she laughed. “I thought- wait. Who are you three? I don’t remember extracting you.”

The group froze. Twilight immediately panicked and engulfed the group in a frenzied teleportation spell. This time, the spell surprisingly worked, propelling them out of the office and directly behind Effie. Effie turned around in a shocked rage at the strangers behind her. She impulsively shot a green light out of her horn at them, only to miss as they quickly dove out of the way.

“RUN!” Twilight advised her friends.

The group did not waste time. They immediately began to sprint away from Effie. Effie didn’t waste time either, and she immediately began to chase them at full speed. She sporadically shot green blasts of light towards them as they ran, desperately trying to stop them, to contain them. The ponies twisted and turned through the many different corridors of Time Jail. As soon as the runners began to hold a decent distance from their chaser, Twilight seized the opportunity to hide. As soon as they turned the next corner, Twilight opened the nearest door, ushered Sombra and Savoir inside, followed them inside, quietly closed the door, and ducked out of sight. The anxiety-inducing sound of Effie’s hoofsteps clopped outside of the door, then clopped quickly past. They had successfully evaded her.

The group let out a collective sigh of exasperated relief.

“That must be Effie,” Savoir ascertained.

Obviously. Sombra explored the room they had hidden themselves in, mesmerized by what they had found.

“What are these?” he spoke in awe.

“What are what-” Twilight started, before matching his gaze. The room was lined with magical glowing boxes, unfamiliar to anypony in the trio. Dozens of TVs were positioned on the white walls of the room, each depicting different ponies in different situations. Savoir witnessed a screen showing a pony trapped in a colossal, seemingly never ending maze. Twilight clocked a screen that showed two ponies trapped in a haunted carnival, forced to perform dangerous, death-defying stunts.

“Chorus!” Sombra shouted.

Twilight and Savoir turned to face the screen that Sombra was watching. Sure enough, Chorus was on it, and he looked intense. Dark circles ran under his eyes, and he looked… infected with something. Ginger Blush came up from behind him, donning the same sickly look.

“Ginger!” Savoir called out. He turned back to Twilight. “Do you think you could get them out of there?”

Prose stepped into view, matching with her friends.

“I can try,” Twilight determined. “Stand back.”

Twilight stepped forward, and Sombra and Savoir stepped backward, giving her space. Twilight began to conduct a spell, a spell that she planned to improvise on the spot. She didn’t have her spellbook, and she didn’t have time to thoroughly think anything through. She cast a pink beam of light at the TV. Immediately, green magic thrust itself back from the TV and at Twilight. Twilight, caught off guard, pushed hard against the magic, desperate to free her mare. The green magic strained against her powerful pink, and Twilight pushed as hard as she possibly could against it. Suddenly, the green magic retracted back into the TV and Twilight successfully pushed through. As her magic finally reached the TV, the screen began to fade into a bright white. The light shined brighter and brighter until the room was completely enveloped in a blinding white gleaming glow. A loud shattering sound snapped across the small room as the TV screen shattered, sending an explosion of energy in every direction, catapulting Twilight, Sombra, and Savoir against the wall.

Chapter 10: Limboshank Redemption

Chorus maneuvered slowly but surely through Ponyville, careful to not let his guard down even for a second. Ginger Blush’s infected makeup look was effectively disguising him, but one slip-up in his acting could be the end of him. After several months of living in Limbo, evading infection left and right, Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush had become experts at navigating the nightmarish world. Chorus had been tasked with gathering supplies, and he was heading back to home base–deep within the Everfree Forest.

As he reached the city limits of Ponyville, a small tear in his saddle bag began to lengthen. It wasn’t a big rip, but it was just big enough for a small apple to fall out of. So, a small apple slipped out of the tear and clunked down onto the dirt road, rolling into the view of all of the surrounding infected ponies. Chorus stopped in his tracks.

The infected ponies stopped and looked suspiciously at Chorus. Infected ponies didn’t need to eat, sleep, or drink. What was this strange infected unicorn doing with an apple? The infected ponies slowly began to approach Chorus, investigating the impostor. Chorus tried desperately to act like nothing was wrong, continuing on his path once again. He took cautious steps, careful to act exactly like an infected pony. He couldn’t help but feel like everypony was onto him.

He quickened his pace, hoping he could disappear into the forest before any of the infected ponies decided to start chasing him. Some curious infected ponies followed him close behind, becoming increasingly suspicious of him. Chorus worried his sweat would wash away his makeup. He closed his eyes and began to mutter a quick spell song, desperate to escape his situation.

Hide me from these prying eyes
Keep me hidden in disguise
Make me clear as crystal
Keep me cool as ice
Chorus let his magic envelop his body, rendering it completely transparent. This immediately captured the attention of every surrounding infected pony. All at once, they charged at the place where Chorus once stood, but they were all met with nothing but air. Chorus had escaped.

Back at home base, Ginger Blush delicately touched up Prose’s infected makeup. It was important to perform upkeep on their appearances. If the makeup wasn’t convincing enough, it could mean their demise.

“All right, that should be good enough,” said Ginger Blush, finishing up her final touches.

“Perfect!” Prose cheered.

Ginger Blush swiped her makeup brush a couple more times across Prose’s face and smiled at her completed look.

“You know what I discovered?” Prose spoke.

“What?” Ginger Blush inquired.

“Yesterday, when I was canvassing our surroundings, adding to our map,” she gestured towards the map hung on one of the wooden walls of their makeshift hideout. “I found our little clearing!”

Ginger tilted her head, unsure of what clearing Prose was talking about.

“The clearing!” Prose emphasized. “The one where you, Chorus, and I hid from the Dollkeeper! It was like the moment we first really became friends!”

Ginger’s eyes brightened in recognition.

“The clearing! I remember now!” she beamed.

“Yes!” Prose cheered. “It just reminded me of how far we’ve come… I can’t believe I spent so long away from you ponies before Effie zapped us up.”

“Me neither,” a disembodied voice spoke directly next to Ginger and Prose.

Ginger and Prose screamed in fear and surprise.

“Oh, sorry,” the voice spoke.

Chorus shook off his invisibility spell, rendering himself visible once more.

“I’m back with the supplies!”

“You scared us!” Ginger laughed.

“Yea, sorry about that,” Chorus apologized. “But as Prose was saying, I can’t believe we spent so long apart. If we ever get out of here, we should really stay more in touch, even if we’re not hiding from hordes of infected ponies.”

“Agreed,” Ginger agreed. “Do you want to start organizing the supplies?”

“Yes!” Chorus exclaimed. “This saddle bag is killing my back, and I need something relaxing to do after the situation back in town.”

“What situation back in town?” Prose asked.

“I almost blew my cover,” Chorus started. “An apple slipped out of my bag, and I almost got caught by every infected pony within a 50 yard radius. But I escaped, so everything should be-”

Chorus was interrupted by the sound of a cracking stick somewhere nearby.

“What was that?” Ginger worried.

“Don’t tell me…” Chorus trailed off.

The crack turned into two cracks, and soon it became accompanied by the sound of crunching leaves.

“No…” Prose whispered.

Through the cracks in the walls of the makeshift hideout, the ponies began to see their worst fear. They were surrounded by infected ponies on all sides.

“Chorus! Can you cast a protection spell or something? Or, just, any spell at all? Anything to get us out of this?” Prose anxiously asked.

“I don’t know!” he cried. “I- I can try!”

The infected ponies began to bang on the home base door. The door wasn’t sturdy enough to hold them off for long. The ponies huddled together in the center of the base, hoping Chorus could miraculously pull something off.

Chorus began a new spell song, stressed beyond belief.

Protect us… from these… beasts
Don’t let us become… their feasts?
Chorus was not optimistic about his lyrics.

Protect us… wait I already said that… I- I…
“Chorus! Pull it together!” Prose begged.

Chorus began to tear up. “I can’t do it, I can’t!”

Suddenly, a thunderous boom sounded out from the sky. A blinding white light peeked through the cracks in the base’s ceiling.

“You did it!” Ginger cheered.

Chorus stared blankly at the ceiling.

“That… wasn’t me…” Chorus confessed.

“Then what’s going on?” Prose asked.

Before she could get an answer, the light began to glow brighter and brighter, encasing the entire hideout in a blinding glow. The infected ponies finally broke down the door, charging towards Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush. But, just before they could reach them, the ponies began to float off of the ground, as if they were being yanked from their places. They crashed through the ceiling of home base, heading straight for the sky. They levitated higher and higher, leaving Equestria behind. Before they knew it, they were engulfed within a blinding white light.

Chapter 11: Back Again

A loud crash sounded out as Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush tumbled out of the TV screen and onto the white floors of Time Jail. For the first time in what felt like forever, Chorus, Prose, Ginger Blush, Sombra, Twilight Sparkle, and Savoir Fare were in the same place once again. Everypony slowly began to open their eyes as the blinding light subsided.

Prose caught sight of a pony she’d missed very dearly. “Twilight!” she shouted in recognition.
“Sombra!” Chorus followed.
“Savoir!” Ginger added.
The group of couples ran up to each other, each embracing their other halves.
“How did you find us?” Chorus asked Sombra.
“We figured out the message! The one in Prose’s letter!” Sombra exclaimed.
Chorus and Ginger looked over at Prose.

“You left them a secret message, and we still tried to escape on our own?” Chorus questioned.

Prose shrugged, a slightly guilty expression on her face. “It was more of a Plan B. I didn’t know how much I could trust the mailing department of Time Jail.”

Chorus and Ginger rolled their eyes.

“Well, the mailing system must’ve been somewhat faulty, because what took you ponies so long?” Ginger asked Sombra, Twilight, and Savoir.

“Long?” Savoir laughed. “You’ve been gone for less than a day.”

“Less than a day?” Prose was shocked. “We’ve been gone for months!”

“Months?” Twilight was also shocked. “Time really must work differently here.”

“It sure does,” a voice remarked from the hallway.

The ponies turned to face the sound of the voice. The door to their hiding spot now stood ajar. Effie stood in the hallway, clearly furious.

“You ponies never know when to quit, do- ARGH!”

Sombra blasted Effie with a surge of magic, knocking her to the ground.

“RUN!” Sombra advised the group.

The group did not hesitate to book it out of there. Sombra led the charge down the halls and through the twists and turns of Time Jail. As soon as the Recreation Room came into view, Sombra led the group inside. There was no barrier blocking them from entering. The barrier must’ve only been there to keep ponies in. The idle ponies of the Recreation Room turned their attention to the six ponies that had just suddenly arrived.

“What now?” Savoir asked, waiting for orders.

“I- I don’t know…” Sombra conceded.

Twilight stepped forward.

“I think I have an idea.” she pointed to the TV on the other end of the room. “If that thing is anything like the things back in the other room, I might be able to hijack it. I could use its power to transport us. Hopefully I can get us back home, but anywhere other than here sounds like a safe bet right now.”

“Sounds like a good enough plan to me!” Chorus encouraged.

“Let’s do it,” Savoir joined in.

Twilight led the group back to the cozy corner where the TV sat. Several ponies sat around it, watching their current programming. Prose addressed the watchers.

“Hey everypony! We just need to borrow this for a moment. Don’t mind us!” she politely warned.

The ponies stared blankly back at her, oblivious.

Sombra stepped beside Prose.

“Everypony get out, or I’ll make you get out,” Sombra bared his abnormally sharp teeth and let dark magic threateningly loom around his horn.

The frightened ponies scattered away from the TV.

“Thanks,” Prose thanked Sombra.

“No problem,” Sombra smiled. “Now, Twilight, are you ready to take us home?”

Twilight stepped up to the TV. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Twilight concentrated for a moment, focusing her magical energy towards the TV. She cast a pink beam of light at the TV. And just like last time, immediately, green magic thrust itself back from the TV and at Twilight. Twilight fought back intensely against the green magic, trying to gain control of the TV. The rest of the ponies patiently waited around her, standing around Twilight in silent support. Twilight pushed harder and harder against the green, her pink magic almost entirely taking over.

“YOU!” a voice shrieked from the entrance to the Recreation Room. Effie had found them. She began to charge at them from across the room. The ponies watched her, terrified.

“Hurry!” Prose urged Twilight.

“I’m trying!” Twilight cried. “Can I get some help here?”

Chorus and Sombra hurried to Twilight’s side, ready to help. Sombra struck his magic into Twilight’s beam, increasing its power. Chorus did the same. The magic was rushed and anxious, making the beam shake and wobble with uncertainty. And to make matters worse, Effie was mere meters away.

“NOW! DO IT NOW!” Ginger pleaded, realizing they were out of time.

Chorus, Twilight, and Sombra pushed as hard as they could, and the green magic had no choice but to submit. Their magic crashed into the screen, shattering it completely. A blinding white light enveloped the ponies, quickly sucking them one by one into the small box. In an instant, the ponies had disappeared from the Recreation Room, completely at the mercy of the magic of Equestria’s timeline.

Chapter 12: Lost

Prose stumbled around and toppled to the ground as she landed. As she stood up from her fall, she was confused at her surroundings. A dense forest surrounded her on all sides, and only one pony accompanied her amongst the trees.

“Savoir Fare?” she addressed.

Savoir Fare stood up from the ground, also confused by his surroundings, and faced Prose.

“Prose?” He looked around, finding nothing but foliage and forestry. “Where’s everypony else? And where are we?”

Prose tried her best to identify her surroundings, ultimately coming up short of any inkling of their location.

“I have no idea,” Prose spoke. She rarely felt this clueless.

“So…” Savoir stood awkwardly. “What do we do now?”

Prose worried the worst in her head, but did not voice it. She had to investigate further to find out what was really going on.

“I…” she started. “I guess, first, we have to find somepony else nearby. We won’t figure anything out by staying here in this forest.”

Savoir nodded. “I’ll follow your lead.”

Prose nodded back in agreement and began to explore the forest. She hoped to find something, anything, that could help them figure out where they were, and most importantly, how to get back home. She and Savoir trudged through the forest, slashing through vines and trampling bushes, marching forward with purpose.

All of the time spent wandering aimlessly through the unfamiliar trees gave Prose a lot of time to stress out about her seemingly never ending slew of predicaments. As if everything from the past few months wasn’t enough, she’d found herself inexplicably roped into yet another situation out of her control.

They couldn’t march forward with purpose forever, and after a while the search for civilization became tiring. Their paces slowed, and their spirits diminished, leaving them utterly lost and nearly hopeless. Prose and Savoir pushed ahead, but with more frustration and fatigue than anything.

“Should we take a rest?” Savoir suggested, sensing that their search might’ve been going nowhere.

“Rest? We’re completely lost, and you want to rest?” Prose snapped.

Savoir took a step back from Prose, surprised at her sudden outburst.

“Is… everything… all right?” Savoir cautiously asked.

Prose began to heave slightly. She was trying to keep her emotions in check, but it was becoming difficult.

“No, Savoir. Everything is not all right,” Prose vented. “I was stolen from my home, held in Time Jail, sent to Limbo for months, and the second I have everypony back together–my friends, Twilight–I lose it all again. And we’re lost–completely lost. We’ve been stuck in this cursed forest for hours, and we’ve found nothing. I just want to get home again, to see Twilight again, to see my friends again.”

Prose’s head fell into her hooves as she began to quietly weep. Her exhaustion practically willed the tears out of her eyes. Her legs gave way as she dropped to the ground. In an attempt to console her, Savoir Fare slowly approached Prose and seated himself beside her.

“I’m sorry, Prose,” he started. “You’ve been through quite a difficult time.”

Prose continued to cry into her hooves.

“I only lost Ginger for a day, and even that felt like too long. I can’t imagine how you must feel. I mean, it’s kinda like a kitchen. If you lose a cook, everything starts to fall apart. You never realize what you really need until it’s gone. But if I know one thing, Prose, it’s that this kitchen still has two cooks in it. We’ll get through this, and we’ll get home. If anyone has the brains to pull it off, it’s you. And, I’m here. You’re not alone. I know I’m not Twilight or Ginger or Chorus, but I’m your friend too.”

Prose found a pause between her sobs and slowly looked up from her hooves. She looked at Savoir’s kind face, and she found a glimpse of solace.

“Thank you,” she spoke. She sniffled quietly and took a deep breath. “And you were right, maybe we should take a break. We won’t even be able to notice anything useful if we’re this tired. And I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

“It’s all right, Prose. You’ve needed a break for a while, since before we even came here. We’ll never be able to find a giant stone monument while we’re this exhausted,” Savoir said.

Prose laughed. “That was an oddly specific example.” She laughed again. “Wait, yea, that was an oddly specific example. Why did you say that?”

Savoir Fare pointed his hoof towards a clearing in the distance. Prose could see glimpses of tall stones standing upright in an unnatural arrangement.

“Savoir! This could be something!” Prose shouted with excitement.

She stood up and charged towards the stones, completely reinvigorated. Savoir tried to keep up with her as she sped through the forest. They quickly came up against the monument, and it became abundantly clear where they were.

“Ponhenge,” Prose gasped.

Six stones stood in a large circle, reminiscent of the six pillars of Equestria that they represented.

“The ancient monument?” Savoir questioned. “But, these look so… clean?”

Prose analyzed the stones, clean and sturdy. They didn’t look like they’d endured thousands of years of wear and tear.

“You’re right,” Prose affirmed. “Something is strange.”

Prose peeked around the side of the massive stone, and gazed into the center of the monument. She was shocked to see somepony seated in its center, jotting something down in a pale blue journal. She was even more surprised to recognize who the gray unicorn was. By this time, Savoir had followed Prose’s gaze and also discovered the unicorn.

“Who is that?” Savoir wondered aloud.

Prose faced Savoir with wide eyes.

“Savoir, that’s Starswirl the Bearded,” she whispered intensely. “We… are in the past.”

Chapter 13: Familiar

Chorus stumbled around and toppled to the ground as he landed. As he stood up from his fall, he was confused at his surroundings. The grand city of Canterlot surrounded him on all sides, and only one pony accompanied him amongst the paved streets and beautiful buildings.

“Twilight?” he addressed.

Twilight Sparkle stood up from the ground, also confused by her surroundings, and faced Chorus.

“Chorus?” She looked around, noticing the familiar buildings of Canterlot. “Did we do it?” she gasped excitedly. “Did we make it back? Where’s everypony else?”

Chorus examined Canterlot further. It was nighttime, which was admittedly a viable time of day for it to be, but something still felt wrong. Red velvet ropes lined the streets. Red velvet ropes didn’t usually line the streets.

“Twilight, was there something going on in Canterlot before we all left? A party? An event?” Chorus questioned.

“Just the Leaders of Equestria meeting, but I don’t know if I’d consider that a party or event. Why do you ask?”

Chorus gestured towards the red velvet ropes lining the streets. Twilight cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“Huh,” she examined the ropes. “I guess it’s possible that there was an event going on that I didn’t know about. I don’t know how I would’ve missed that, though.”

Ponies walked the streets of Canterlot dressed to the nines. Nopony dressed that elegant unless there was something important going on.

“Something’s wrong, Twilight. I’m trying to stay positive, but I think something went really wrong with our spell,” Chorus worried.

Twilight sat on the ground and brought a hoof to her chin.

“There has to be some sort of explanation for what’s going on. Why didn’t everypony else come with us? I guess the magic got a little finicky near the end of the spell there, but I thought we had it…” she trailed off.

Chorus dropped to the ground. “We were so close,” he choked. His voice cracked as he spoke, evident of his declining mental state.

Twilight looked over to Chorus, observant of his distraught expression.

“Hey, we’re going to fix this,” she earnestly assured him. “We’re going to figure out what’s going on, and we’re all going to be together again. I promise.”

Chorus slumped over. He held back tears, desperate not to completely lose it.

“How can you be sure of that, Twilight? How do we know this isn’t another one of Effie’s tricks or traps? She’s bested us at every turn. She had me trapped for months. And now we’ve lost our friends, and we have no idea what’s going on. How can you promise me it’ll be okay?” he whimpered.

Twilight positioned herself next to Chorus, hoping to comfort him.

“Because I believe in us, Chorus. And I believe in our friends. Wherever everypony else is right now, I’m sure they’re masterminding their way out of their problems, and I know they’re probably trying to find us as well. They’re capable ponies, Chorus. And so are we. We will all be back together again before you know it!” she offered words of hope.

Chorus reluctantly smiled, his joy finding its way back into his face. He wiped his tears away and breathed deeply, putting his faith in himself and his friends. And with Twilight’s words of encouragement, his mind suddenly sparkled with an idea.

“I think I have something that can help us out,” he spoke.

He stood up and closed his eyes, preparing an impromptu song. His horn glowed with magic and music, and he opened his mouth to sing.

I miss you…
I know you miss me too
Send me a sign

Guide the way…
Make all of this okay
Now is the time
A small ball of a pale pink light exited Chorus’s horn, hovering in the air. Chorus gazed up at it in wonder, happy that his spell had produced something that could help them.

“What is it?” Twilight asked Chorus.

“I’m not sure,” Chorus admitted. “I’m hoping it’s some sort of guiding light. I’m hoping it’ll lead us to our friends.”

The light hovered silently in the air for a few more moments, and then swiftly began to move away from Chorus and Twilight. Intuitively, Chorus and Twilight began to follow the light. The glowing orb flew effortlessly through the beautiful city, its pulsing light illuminating the dark night.

It led them through back alleyways and hidden sidewalks, guiding them to an unknown destination. Twilight and Chorus began to slow their pace as the orb started to slow down. In an obscured alley, the orb floated closer and closer to an opening, but stopped right before. Chorus and Twilight stood right below it, still hidden by the walls of the alleyway. They watched as ponies passed by, some on hoof, and some in extravagant vehicles.

“Why did we stop here? I don’t see anything,” Chorus pondered aloud.

Twilight shrugged. Chorus scanned the road, looking for any sign of what the orb was leading them to. He didn’t scan for long before his eyes settled on the most obvious, illuminating clue as to what exactly was going on. A carriage rolled along the streets, a carriage very familiar to both Twilight and Chorus.

“Is that?...” Twilight gasped.

The carriage was unconventionally shaped, and remarkably pearlescent. Gold accents framed its smooth edges, outlining the unmistakably carrot shaped carriage.

“The carrot-age,” Chorus finished Twilight’s sentence.

As the famed carrot-age came to pass them, Chorus and Twilight caught a glimpse of the inside of the carriage, through its ornate window. Surely enough, Chorus, Prose, and Ginger Blush were seated inside, all dolled up and ready for their fateful night at the Grand Galloping Gala.

“Twilight, we definitely messed up that spell,” Chorus confirmed. “We… are in the past.”

Chapter 14: New

Ginger Blush stumbled around and toppled to the ground as she landed. As she stood up from her fall, she was confused at her surroundings. A dazzling, unfamiliar city surrounded her on all sides, and only one pony accompanied her amongst the towering buildings and stunning architecture.

“Sombra?” she addressed.

Sombra stood up from the ground, also confused by his surroundings, and faced Ginger.

“Ginger?” He looked around, noticing the completely unfamiliar city. “What’s going on?” he asked. “What is this place? Why are we the only ponies here?”

Ginger Blush paused and gazed at her foreign environment. The city was unlike anywhere she’d ever been before. It resembled Canterlot in some ways, but it was too different to even make the comparison. The buildings stretched far up into the sky, sleek and pristine. Extensive amounts of greenery were implemented cleverly into each design, all clipped and pruned to perfection. It was architecture beyond Ginger’s wildest comprehension.

“Did we get transported to a different dimension?” Sombra inquired. “This can’t be the Equestria that we left.”

Ginger was beginning to wonder the same thing, her disbelief only suspended by the plethora of regular old ponies that surrounded them. Well, regular wasn’t exactly the right way to put it. The ponies resembled the normalcy of Ginger Blush and Sombra, but they didn’t quite look normal. They were adorned with eccentric fashion and unusual mane stylings, unlike anything either of the lost ponies had ever seen before.

The realization set in that their friends were nowhere to be found. Ginger began to become intensely worried. Images of her friends flashed in her mind. Their survival in Limbo had brought them closer than ever, just to be ripped apart from each other the moment they escaped.

“Sombra, we just had everypony back together… and now we’re lost. Again,” she cried.

Sombra took a confident stance, not ready to give into worry or doubt. “We will all be together again.” A part of Sombra was also worried, but he wasn’t going to give up easily. He put a hoof on Ginger’s shoulder, and stared into her eyes. “I promise.”

Ginger felt herself relax in the presence of Sombra's determination. She herself became determined to find her friends again, although the sadness of missing them continued to weigh on her.

“Come on,” Sombra suggested to Ginger as he began to walk away from her. “We’re going to figure out what’s going on.”

Ginger acquiesced and followed Sombra as he led the way. Sombra made his way across the polished streets, maneuvering in between groups of ponies, receiving some strange looks along the way. Sombra arrived at the front of what appeared to be a convenience store. A glass door slid open in front of him, without him even having to open it. Ginger followed Sombra as he entered the store.

His eyes finally landed on what he had hoped to find inside. He stepped up to the newspaper stand and picked up the newspaper that sat on the top of the stack. The paper felt and looked cleaner and nicer than the newspapers he was used to.

He scanned the headlines, searching for anything that could tell them where they were. One headline caught his eye, and the article underneath was particularly illuminating.

“Ginger, look at this,” said Sombra.

Ginger peered over Sombra’s shoulder at the newspaper in front of him. Sombra pointed towards the article, and Ginger read it in full.

Princess Memorial and Celebration Festival: Major Success!
The Princess Memorial and Celebration Festival surely shook the streets of New Hoofsfield last week. Honoring our princesses of the past and celebrating the princesses of today, ponies everywhere celebrated names amongst the likes of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Flurry Heart, Princess Goldwing, Princess Lightshine, Princess Aurora Glow, and many more. The festival was aglow with lights and joyous spirit, and the festivities lasted long into the night. It was surely a night to remember.

Ginger raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“I don’t recognize like half of those names,” Ginger pointed out. “But, I recognize the first ones. If those are listed in order of time, then…”

The doors to the store slid open once again, and two stern looking ponies in black uniforms stepped inside.

“Sandy, your presence is requested back at the palace immediately,” one of the ponies ordered.

Ginger and Sombra followed the gaze of the ponies and landed on one unicorn standing in the middle of an aisle dedicated to snacks. The unicorn had a cream-colored coat which paled in contrast to her deep teal mane. A single stripe of neon green sliced through the center of her mane. She set down her snack selection and began to head towards the two ponies that beckoned for her.

“Fine…” she rolled her eyes.

Sombra and Ginger looked at each other in shock.

“Does she look familiar to you?” Ginger whispered.

Ginger flinched as Sandy walked past them, and Sombra prepared a battle stance. But, Sandy seemed completely disinterested in the two strange ponies. She didn’t even spare a passing glance. It seemed as though she didn’t recognize them at all. She exited the store and headed away, presumably towards ‘the palace’.

Sombra and Ginger both relaxed as their nemesis disappeared.

“Why didn’t she try to… get us or something?” Ginger wondered.

Sombra narrowed his eyes, trying to think of a reason. “Because… that’s not Effie. That’s Sandy. I don’t think that’s the same pony we met back in Time Jail.”

Ginger began to piece everything together in her mind. The futuristic city, the newspaper, Sandy.

“Sombra, I think we’re at Effie’s- er- Sandy’s home,” she realized. “We… are in the future.”

Chapter 15: The Big Idea

“Starswirl the Bearded?” Savoir questioned. “Like, the most famous and powerful pony wizard that ever lived? That Starswirl the Bearded?”

Prose nodded her head up and down. “That one,” she confirmed

Starswirl’s ears perked up as he began to hear snippets of Prose and Savoir’s conversation. He inquisitively turned his head in their direction.

“Who’s out there? Show yourself! Stygian, is that you?” he called out.

Prose looked at Savoir, hoping he’d know whether or not they should show themselves. He gave an unprepared shrug, and a worried look crossed his face. Prose peeked back out from behind the pillar, watching Starswirl stand up and walk closer to their location. Prose made the executive decision to reveal herself and Savoir. She stepped out into the daylight, exposing herself to the greatest pony wizard that ever lived.

Starswirl looked confusedly at this completely unfamiliar pony that stood in front of him, and even more confusedly at the second pony that followed her out of the darkness.

“Who are you ponies? Why are you here?” Starswirl interrogated.

Prose cleared her throat, nervous to speak to such a historical icon. “Well… to answer your first question, I’m Prose, and this is my friend Savoir Fare. And to answer your second question, I don’t… really know… why we’re here.”

Starswirl raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know why you're here?” His voice was deep, almost gravelly.

“Well, yes,” Prose reassured. “We kind of just landed here from… well, I don’t really know where from. This might sound a little out there, but we’re… from the future.”

Prose held her breath awaiting Starswirl’s response.

“You two… are from… the future…” Starswirl said each word with vague hints of cynicism.

Prose and Savoir looked at each other, then back to Starswirl.

“... Interesting,” Starswirl spoke. “Tell me more.”

Prose smiled, happy to explain their predicament.

“Well, it all ties back to this one unicorn named Effie…”

Prose spent a while educating Starswirl on their current situation, Savoir chiming in when he could. Starswirl absorbed all of this backstory with a critical lens, analyzing every aspect of Prose’s story. When Prose finally finished, she was practically out of breath.

“And then we arrived here, and met you,” she concluded.

Starswirl ran a hoof through his long, white beard, contemplating.

“So, this ‘Effie’ has been messing with the timeline for quite some time, correct?” he asked.

“It would appear that way, yes,” Prose replied.

“I’m shocked we’re still standing here now,” said Starswirl.

Savoir’s eyes narrowed with confusion and worry. “What do you mean?”

Starswirl looked off in the distance, piecing together the complexity of the problem at hand.

“Well, fiddling with the timeline that much and for that long can only result in the destruction of everything as we know it. Nopony can hold that much power over the universe and not face consequences at some point. I imagine the only reason the timeline hasn’t completely collapsed is due to some ingenious calculations and intensive damage control. The problem is, those calculations and damage control may be the reason Effie can’t seem to change the future. Every time she mends the timeline, every time she saves it from collapse, she must be setting her fated future back into place. It seems to me like a futile endeavor.”

“So it’s kind of like a kitchen,” Prose compared, winking at Savoir. “If you lose a cook, everything starts to fall apart. But she keeps replacing the cooks, so the kitchen never really changes.”

Starswirl stared at prose. “Um, sure,” he agreed.

Prose and Savoir stared at Starswirl, amazed by his wisdom. They felt lucky to have been sent back in time to somepony so useful.

“So, you make it sound like she’s basically a genius. If she’s so smart, how can she not see the flaws in the design of her plan?” Prose asked.

Starswirl stroked his beard once more.

“I imagine she is aware of it. All of it. Nopony that intelligent could overlook such an obvious mistake. My best guess is that there’s some motive, something we’re unaware of, pushing her to a place of desperation. The flaws in her plan make me think this unicorn is acting from a place of need, not a place of want. But, I think it’s only a matter of time before she starts abandoning her safety measures–before she lets the timeline begin to crumble. I would suggest you put a stop to her soon,” Starswirl monologued.

Prose winced at the suggestion. “We don’t exactly know… how to stop her. I mean, we don’t even know how to get out of the past. We’re stuck here.”

“Oh, I’m sure I could conjure a spell that could help you ponies,” Starswirl offered.

“Really? You could send us back?” Savoir exclaimed with hope.

Starswirl looked back at him pitifully.

“Judging from what you’ve told me, it sounds like your friends are most likely scattered across time as well. To reunite all six of you, and to send you all back to the same place… it would take quite an immense amount of magical energy. An amount of magical energy not even I possess. I’ve dipped my toes in the waters of time magic, but it’s a frontier I’ve not quite mastered yet. But, given the specifics of everything you’ve told me, I think the most I can do is compose a theorem, a hypothetical magic solution.”

Prose and Savoir looked down defeatedly. Of course, the ponies who were sent back to the wizard with the perfect spell were the ponies without magic. Prose almost succumbed to defeat, but a spark of an idea lit itself inside of her smarty pants brain.

“What if we sent the spell to the future?” Prose suggested, a smile of hope spreading across her face.

“I’m not sure what you’re suggesting,” Starswirl admitted.

“If there’s anypony who can figure out a clever magical solution to your spell problem, it’s my friends. At least one of Twilight, Chorus, or Sombra, our unicorns, have to have ended up ahead of us in time. If we leave the spell somewhere now, somewhere they’ll be looking for it, they’ll find it in the future. They can figure out how to find the amount of power needed to perform the spell!” Prose illuminated.

Savoir clapped his hooves together in admiration of Prose’s brilliant idea. Starswirl put a hoof to his chin, pondering the viability of Prose’s plan.

“You have a lot of faith in your friends, Prose,” he spoke. “Are you sure they can handle this task?

“Positive,” Prose confirmed.

Starswirl paused for another moment, considering her plan once again.

“How can you be certain at least one of your magic-using friends is in the future?” he asked.

“I can’t,” Prose admitted.

Savoir Fare chimed in. “We are currently in some ancient history, no offense.”

“None… taken?” Starswirl responded, confused.

“Savoir is right,” Prose affirmed. “Statistically speaking, if we’re this far in the past, it would make sense for at least one of our magic friends to be at least somewhat ahead of us on the timeline.”

“And if they aren’t?” Starswirl contested.

“Then we’ll figure something else out,” Prose concluded.

Starswirl looked between the two ponies in front of him.

“So, where would you leave the spell, then?” he solicited.

Prose smiled at Starswirl’s acceptance of her idea.

“I think I might actually know a perfect place,” she beamed.

Chapter 16: Beacon

“Are you sure one of these books is gonna save us?” Chorus cynically protested as Twilight went to grab another book off of the shelf. Twilight and Chorus had been in the Library of Magic for a while, desperately trying to find a spell in one of the spellbooks that could send them back home. Past Twilight and Past Prose had already made their visit, so Chorus and Twilight were free to search as they pleased.

“Yes, Chorus,” Twilight assured. “If any library has a spell that can save us, it’s this one. Unless you have another idea.”

Chorus silently bit his lip. He didn’t have another idea. Twilight gasped as a certain book caught her attention.

“Time, Space, and Magic! Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this one sooner.”

Twilight pulled the book off the shelf and began to flip through its pages, intently scanning each one for a spell that could send them home. Chorus watched over her shoulder as she searched. Both she and Chorus began to grow less and less hopeful as each page seemed to be of no use. Their situation was too specific. It would seem nopony in history had been in their horseshoes. As she flipped the last page over, she was met with the back of the book.

But what was surprising, was that the back of the book, usually completely blank, was scrawled with a message and one final spell.

If any of my friends in the future are seeing this, this is the spell you’re looking for. -Prose
Twilight’s jaw dropped.

“Prose!” she pointed out. “She must’ve been sent to the past!”

Twilight began to read the spell, and she recognized the atrocious hornwriting.

“This is Starswirl the Bearded’s hornwriting! Prose was sent to the time of Starswirl the Bearded! Prose met Starswirl the Bearded! I’m so jealous,” Twilight rambled.

Twilight read over the spell, analyzing it in its full capacity. This was certainly the right spell, but it brought forth a wave of concern.

“Chorus, I can’t perform this spell,” Twilight stated.

Chorus backed up in surprise and concern.

“What do you mean? You can’t perform the only spell that can save all of us?”

Twilight set down the book in disappointment.

“I wish I could, but it would take an immense amount of magical energy,” Twilight explained.

“You’re an alicorn, Twilight! If anypony has the magical capacity for this spell, it’s you!” Chorus encouraged.

“Chorus, I know the capacity of my magic. This spell would require three of me in order to work. This magic is too powerful for even me.”

“What if I helped you?” Chorus immediately offered.

Twilight sighed. “You’re an incredibly powerful unicorn, Chorus, but we’d need even more than that.”

Chorus pondered again for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered where and when he was. An idea was formed.

“What if I helped you… twice?” Chorus proposed.

Twilight gave Chorus a confused, but intrigued face.

“Tonight is the night I perform the most powerful spell I’ve ever performed. If you can harness the energy from that spell, would that be enough energy?”

Twilight’s eyes widened with realization and hope.

“I think… that would!” she cheered.

Chorus and Twilight stood in smiley celebration for a few brief moments. Chorus stopped smiling at the sudden thought of their immediate urgency.

“We have to get back to the gala before Past Chorus starts the spell!” he yelped.

Chorus and Twilight reached the event hall quickly after sprinting through the streets of Canterlot. Twilight motioned for Chorus to keep quiet as they sneaked around.

“I know a back entrance that should be covert enough for us to slip through. We should head to the roof for the spell, I can reach your spell from there. We can’t have anypony see doubles of us tonight. We don’t know what kind of effect that might cause.”

Chorus nodded in silent solidarity, ready to follow Twilight to the roof. Twilight led Chorus around the event hall, sneaking past greenery and beautiful stone structures, being as sneaky as possible. As they reached the back entrance, they halted to a stop. Twilight creaked open the door to make sure nopony was on the other side. It was all clear.

Twilight opened the door and ushered Chorus inside. They were almost home free. They would’ve been completely in the clear if a very familiar pony didn’t abruptly come bouncing into view. Chorus and Twilight stood completely still, petrified, as Pinkie Pie caught sight of them.

“Chorus? Twilight? I thought I just saw you ponies out there! Why are you back here? And why did you get out of your outfits? And what’s going on?” Pinkie interrogated.

Chorus and Twilight looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Twilight shrugged in defeat, leaving Chorus to handle his friend. Chorus stepped closer to Pinkie, trying to seem as normal as possible.

“Hi, Pinkie!... Twilight and I were just…” Chorus looked back to Twilight, completely blanking on what he could lie about in the moment. He looked back at Pinkie, who was eagerly awaiting his response.

“We came from the future!” he blurted out. Twilight slapped her hoof to her forehead.

Pinkie jumped up and down with excitement.

“The FUTURE?! Do we have flying carriages in the future? Is the-”

Chorus held his hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, silencing her for a moment.

“Shhh, Pinkie. We’re here on super important future business. You can’t tell anypony you ever saw us.”

Pinkie’s mane deflated like a balloon.

“Anypony?” she questioned.

“Anypony,” Chorus confirmed.

Pinkie Pie looked very sad, but then perked up as she thought of an opportunity she could grasp.

“Is there anything I can do to help you with your super important future business?” she asked, hopeful.

“As a matter of fact, there is!” Chorus realized. “Can you make sure nopony goes onto the roof? We’re conducting our business up there, and we cannot be interrupted.”

Pinkie opened the door to a nearby closet and pulled out a comically fake pair of glasses, with a comically fake mustache to match. She had even somehow secured a server pony uniform.

“I won’t let you down, Future Chorus,” she promised.

Pinkie bounded away, dedicated to her mission.

Chorus turned back to Twilight and shrugged. Twilight shrugged back and opened a nearby door labeled Roof Access. Chorus followed Twilight into the door, and then up the stairs that lead to the roof.

The cold night air washed over the ponies as they arrived on the roof of the event hall. Chorus followed Twilight to the section of the roof that they needed to be on top of, the section above the stage.

“Are you ready?” Twilight asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Chorus responded.

Twilight read Chorus’s expression.

“Are you sure?” she pried.

Chorus sighed in confession.

“What if this doesn’t work? When will we ever come upon another circumstance this lucky? What if we really are trapped in the past?”

Twilight looked up at the stars.

“If this doesn’t work, then we’ll find another way. Chorus, I promise you we will see our friends again.”

Chorus looked up at the same stars.

“I miss them, Twilight,” he spoke.

“I miss them too.”

The ponies stargazed for a moment, admiring the beauty of the night. They knew that somewhere throughout time, their friends were looking up at that very same sky. And they were more than ready to bring them all back together.

Interrupting their peace, the screams of frightened ponies sounded out below them. Sombra had arrived.

Twilight and Chorus looked down at the roof below their hooves. They listened for the sounds of music. Soon, they heard it. Their past selves had begun their triumphant ballad. They could hear the resonant melody pounding through the roof.

“It’s now or never,” Twilight stated.

Twilight planted her hooves firmly on the roof, preparing herself for the incredible spell she was about to attempt. The spell echoed in her mind like a siren, clear as day. She concentrated hard, and began to focus her magic into reality. A beam of pink light exploded out of her horn, straight up into the night sky.

Chorus took this as his cue, and quickly struck a beam of his magic into Twilight’s. The power felt unbearable. Chorus faltered, almost losing his balance. He planted his hooves onto the roof, holding himself in place, straining against the power of the spell.

Twilight metaphysically reached below herself, into the gala, into Past Chorus’s past spell. She called upon its magic energy, intertwining it with her own. The song-spell felt like rocket fuel. The power of the collective magic became immeasurable. Chorus and Twilight began to hover above the roof, levitating into the air, carried by the spell’s magical energy. A light began to glow around them, encasing them in an orb of blinding luminescence. Chorus and Twilight felt themselves disappear from Canterlot, whisked off to wherever the spell was taking them.

The light instantly dissipated and the roof of the event hall returned to emptiness, like they were never even there.

Chapter 17: Sandy Swirl

“Where are you going?” Ginger called as Sombra headed for the sliding door.

Sombra paused and looked back. “To the palace. We’re following Sandy. Keep up, Ginger.”

Ginger was still wary of Sandy, but she followed Sombra out of the convenience store.

“How will we even know where the palace is?” Ginger asked Sombra.

Sombra pointed into the distance. Not far outside of the city, a magnificent castle scraped the sky. It was constructed of beautiful, gleaming spires, and glistening towers. It was massive, shiny, and impossible to miss. It was the most stunning castle Ginger and Sombra had ever seen.

“I guess it won’t be that hard to find,” Ginger admitted.

Sombra and Ginger trotted and maneuvered all throughout the city, pursuing the palace outside of it. They continued to get strange looks from ponies all around them. It would seem their looks were rather ‘outdated’.

As they approached city limits, the palace came into clear view. It was every bit as magnificent as it was from afar, if not more. Ginger and Sombra followed a pristine paved road that led straight up to the palace steps. As they neared the gates, Ginger posed a question to Sombra.

“How are we supposed to get in there?” she asked. “It’s not like they’re going to let us in just because we asked.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing we’re not going to ask,” Sombra smirked.

Ginger looked at him, concerned.

“What are you getting at?” she warily asked.

“I can get us in that palace, and we won’t need to worry about any guards or any permission. Do you trust me?” Sombra replied.

Ginger gritted her teeth with nervousness. Did she trust him?

“I… I guess,” she spoke.

Sombra smiled.

“Okay, stand still. This might feel a little strange.”

Sombra planted his hooves into the road, gazing at the palace ahead of him. His horn began to glow with magic, and almost in an instant, a spell snapped around him and Ginger.

At first, Ginger had no idea what was going on. She couldn’t feel herself anymore, but she knew she was still alive. It was like she only existed as a spirit, her body completely missing.

“Sombra, what did you do!?” she cried. She knew she spoke the words, but she couldn’t hear them out loud. It was more like the idea of the words were swirling around in the air, only grasped by those who were looking for them.

She could still see, but it felt as if she were viewing the world through a peephole, her field of vision shrouded with darkness. She could see the road leading up to the palace, and she could see the palace. But she couldn’t see herself, and she couldn’t see Sombra.

“I take it you’ve never disguised yourself in shadow?” Sombra teased.

“No, Sombra, I’ve never disguised myself in shadow,” Ginger sarcastically responded. “How does this help us get into the palace?”

“Just wait and see,” Sombra instructed.

Ginger felt Sombra take hold of her hoof. Of course, her hoof wasn’t there, but she felt that sort of feeling. As Sombra grasped her shadow hoof, Ginger felt herself pulled forward in an unexplainable way. Suddenly, she and Sombra were within the palace gates. They were hidden, enshrouded in the shadows of the bushes, completely unnoticed by the guards.

“I see,” said Ginger.

Sombra pulled Ginger throughout all of the shadows in the palace, searching for Sandy. The sightseeing tour of the palace was incredible. If all of the palaces of the future were this beautiful, maybe it really wasn’t such a bad place to be. Sombra halted his shadow-jumping as they landed in the throne room.

Sandy stood in front of the throne, which seated a beautiful, dazzling princess. The throne was inscribed with her name: Princess Aurora Glow. Her sparkling, flowing mane was a beautiful teal, which nicely complimented her soft, cream-colored mane. Sandy and her conversed passionately.

“You know, if I had a coin for every time I was taken back to the past of my enemy, I’d have three coins. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened three times,” Ginger Blush commented.

Sombra side-eyed Ginger, but she couldn’t tell, because neither of them technically had eyes in their shadowy disguise. Sombra and Ginger observed the conversation between Sandy and the princess.

“Does it have to be you? Can’t they send another princess?” Sandy griped.

Aurora Glow sighed. “Sandy Swirl, I think you and I both know I was going to have to join the fight at some point. That doesn’t mean I’m not coming back. I’ll just be… away for a while.”

Sandy weakly kicked at the red carpet of the throne room.

“What if… you don’t come back?” she mumbled.

Princess Aurora Glow frowned. “Sandy, come,” she motioned towards her throne. “Sit with me.”

Sandy reluctantly trudged across the throne room and joined the princess on her throne.

“What if you lose the fight? What if Equestria really is destroyed, and I’m the last pony left alive?” Sandy worried.

The princess giggled. “When did I raise my daughter to be so worrisome?”

Daughter? Sombra and Ginger thought in unison.

“How are you not worried?” Sandy Swirl questioned. “We haven’t been able to stop it yet, what if we can’t? What if this fight doesn’t pan out the way we hope?”

Sandy’s mother brushed a hoof along her daughter’s mane.

“Then we’ll find another way, Sandy,” she reassured. “I promise we’ll be together again.”

Princess Aurora Glow pulled her daughter in for a heartfelt hug. They held on tight to each other.

“You’re not going to be the last pony left alive,” the princess joked. “Then we’d have to start calling you the ‘Final Pony’.”

“F.P. for short,” Sandy riffed.

The princess laughed. “Which kind of sounds like ‘Effie’, which is a pretty name, don’t you think? So you see, all of this isn’t so bad. Worst case scenario, you end up with a pretty name.”

Sandy smiled in the warm embrace of her mother’s arms.

Interrupting the peace, guards stormed into the throne room.

“Your highness, you’re needed immediately. It’s arrived,” one of the guards warned.

The princess kissed her daughter delicately on the head, and promptly left her on the throne.

“I’ll see you soon, Sandy,” she smiled.

She was escorted out of the throne room, and she disappeared behind the doors.

“...I think I can figure out what happens next,” Ginger somberly hypothesized.

“Yea, me too,” Sombra spoke. “And I think it’s happening soon.”

In the distance, through the stained glass windows, Sombra and Ginger could see dark, menacing clouds approaching New Hoofsfield.

Sandy was sulking in her mother’s throne, unaware of the approaching danger. A lone guard entered back into the room. He approached Sandy in her depressive state.

“I know it’s upsetting, Sandy. But, your mother has a duty to her ponies,” he sternly, but empathetically consoled.

Sandy rubbed a tear from her face.

“I know,” she sniffled. “I… just miss her. I always miss her when she leaves.”

The guard put a gentle hoof on Sandy’s back.

“She’ll be back,” he assured her.

Sandy returned to weeping quietly into her hooves. The guard let her be, turning away from her and walking towards the exit of the throne room. A ghastly sight caught his eye, just before he left. The dark clouds had approached closer, presenting a real threat.

“No,” the guard spoke in shock.

Sandy looked up from her crying.

“What?” she asked. “What is it?”

She followed the guard’s gaze to the window, and then to the clouds. She jumped off of the throne, bolting towards the window.

“Are they supposed to be that close?” Sandy desperately asked the guard.

The guard didn’t respond. He just stared in horror at the rapidly approaching clouds, unsure of what he could possibly do.

“Are they supposed to be that close?” Sandy repeated, panic evident in her voice. She still received no response. “Is this it for us? Is this it for her?”

She turned back to the window. She watched as flashes of brilliant green magic, her mother’s magic, crashed into the black clouds. Her mother was putting up a fight. The flashes became brighter and brighter, fighting the clouds back as hard as they could. They flashed brighter and brighter still, until they began to dwindle in force. The flashes became dimmer and dimmer, weaker and weaker, until Sandy could no longer see her mother’s magic in the distance.

“NO!” she screamed.

She turned back towards the guard, still standing in a petrified shock. She grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to shake him back into reality.

“TELL ME THERE’S SOMETHING WE CAN DO!” she begged. “TELL ME THIS ISN’T THE END!”

The dark clouds barrelled over the outskirts of New Hoofsfield. They brought with them monstrous fire and barren lifelessness. They were approaching, fast. Sandy looked at the guard, then back at the clouds, frantically searching for the next thing to do. Stress and panic pulled tears out of her eyes. She closed her eyes and focused every bit of energy she had into a spell. Magic pulsated out of her horn, encasing her in a green glow. She levitated off of the ground, pulled by the force of the magic. In an instant, she was gone.

Sombra pulled himself and Ginger out of the shadows, returning them to their physical state.

“What do we do?” Ginger panicked. “Are we stuck here with the rest of these ponies at the end of Equestria?”

Sombra looked outside at the clouds speeding towards their location. He looked back at Ginger and realized he was just as worried as she was. He didn’t know what to say.

“We… we run,” he suggested. “We run from the end of Equestria.”

Ginger stared at him. “We… run?”

Sombra stared back, unsure of how to defend his suggestion.

“We run,” Ginger spoke, this time as an agreement.

Ginger set off, speeding out of the throne room and down the hallway. Sombra followed her, sprinting away from the deathly clouds heading towards them. As the clouds reached the castle, the walls and floors began to crumble, succumbing to their destructive force.

Ginger and Sombra reached a dead end in a long hallway. There was nowhere else left to run. The window behind them creaked open from the force of the castle collapsing.

“We jump,” Ginger suggested.

“We jump,” Sombra acquiesced.

The ponies planted their hooves on the windowsill, hoping there was a soft place to land below. The clouds crushed and trampled the castle behind them. In unison, they launched themselves out of the palace, flying through the air. As they soared through the air, flailing, a white light began to glow around them, encasing them in an orb of blinding luminescence. In an instant, they were gone.

Chapter 18: The Fight

One by one, Chorus, Prose, Ginger Blush, Sombra, Twilight Sparkle, and Savoir Fare sprung out of the broken TV. They tumbled and stumbled, fumbling over the white floors of Time Jail. The ponies of the Recreation Room all diverted their attention to the group of ponies who consistently caused trouble all around them. It didn’t take long for the returning ponies to realize just where they were.

“We’re back?” Twilight cried. “I thought I was sending us home!”

Prose quickly leaped over to her mare, wrapping her in an embrace. “The spell was always meant to send us back here,” she confessed. “If we don’t stop Effie once and for all, we might not have a home to return to.”

A voice sounded from behind them, surprising them all.

“Good luck stopping me ‘once and for all’ when you’re all hopelessly trapped in Limbo,” Effie remarked.

There she stood, meters away from the ponies, as if she was awaiting their return.

“You ponies have made my job exponentially more difficult. I hope you’re proud of yourselves,” she snapped.

She impulsively began to charge her magic in her horn. They had seconds before they were all sent straight to Limbo, never to return. The magic swelled larger and larger, faster and faster, threatening banishment. Ginger Blush stepped in front of her friends, bracing herself for the worst.

“Stop!” she yelled. “Sandy, stop!”

Effie’s magic ceased. Her eyes widened. She stared at Ginger Blush.

“Who told you that name?” she asked her. “How do you know that name?”

Sombra stepped forward, next to his travel buddy.

“You’re Sandy Swirl from New Hoofsfield,” he said. “The daughter of Princess Aurora Glow.”

“Don’t say her name,” Effie snarled. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“We saw it, Sandy. We saw everything,” Ginger explained. “We saw the end of Equestria. We saw everything disappear before our eyes. You became the Final Pony.”

“It must’ve been really lonely being all alone at the end of time–losing everything. You lost your home, your mother,” Sombra added.

“Don’t TALK ABOUT HER!” Effie screamed, blasting magic out of her horn. The magic slashed across Ginger and Sombra, sending them flying backwards. Chorus urgently stepped forward, sensing Ginger and Sombra were onto something. It seemed like they’d begun to crack her, Chorus just had to break her.

“I’m so sorry, Effie,” he began. “If what they’re saying is true, then I’m so, so sorry. Nopony deserves what you’ve been through.”

Chorus caught a glance of a single tear dripping out of the corner of Effie’s eye. Twilight jumped forward, by Chorus’s side, ready to defend her travel buddy.

“I can’t imagine the pain you went through. I mean, we were only apart from each other for a short time, and it was awful!” Twilight exclaimed. “I can’t pretend to understand your pain.”

“You’re right,” Effie choked. “You can’t.”

Chorus and Twilight could tell they were breaking down her walls. It wouldn’t be too long until she would finally, truly listen.

“I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Chorus reasoned. “But you have to stop. These ponies don’t deserve this! We don’t deserve this! You don’t deserve this!”

“There has to be another way!” Twilight added.

“You don’t get it,” Effie mumbled, tears building in her eyes. “You don’t GET IT!”

Once again, magic blasted out of Effie’s horn, cutting straight across Chorus and Twilight, sending them tumbling backwards, injured like Ginger and Sombra.

“I’m the ONLY pony that can do this!” Effie cried. “Don’t you get it? It’s all up to me. I’m the Final Pony. If I can’t stop it, that’s it. No more Equestria. Can’t you see that?”

Savoir took his stance in front of Effie, knowing their time was limited. He glanced back at his wounded friends, hoping he wouldn’t be joining them. He turned back to Effie.

“This isn’t the way,” he said, gesturing to the captivated ponies all around him, who were watching all of this go down. “A wise wizard of the past told me this has to stop. If you keep going like this, there won’t be an Equestria left to save.”

Prose joined her travel buddy, fully aware they were the final pair. She had to break Effie down, or this would be the end.

“You’re smart, Effie,” she chose her words carefully. “You know this won’t work. You know this isn’t the way. I know you miss your mother-”

“Don’t-” Effie warned. But she didn’t blast her magic. She stood, considering Prose’s words. Prose didn’t take that lightly. She considered her next words very thoughtfully.

“Effie- Sandy,” she addressed. “I know you know all of this. Nopony as smart as you could overlook something so obvious. Taking these ponies out of the timeline might seem like the only solution–stopping the problem at its source. But, you know it doesn’t work like that. I know you’ve been backtracking, mending the timeline. You have to have been, or it would’ve collapsed by now.”

“What else, then?” Effie contested. “If you’re so smart, what else can I do? I’ve run every calculation, Prose, and this is the closest I’ve come to a solution. I’ve accounted for every. Single. Variable.”

Prose and Savoir shared a worried glance. What if Effie was right? What if this was the only way? But it wasn’t. Prose suddenly knew what to say. If this didn’t work, nothing would.

“You’re wrong,” she stated.

Effie scoffed at her. “Excuse me?” she growled.

“You haven’t accounted for every single variable,” Prose confidently claimed.

“Yea?” Effie laughed. “Tell me, oh wise Prose, what mysterious variable did I just happen to miss after I meticulously analyzed every possibility over and over again? What magical amazing thing could simply put an end to all of this?”

Prose stared directly into Effie’s eyes. “You.”

Effie was taken aback. She looked at Prose like she’d said the most outlandish claim she’d ever heard.

“Me?” she guffawed. “Me. I’m the variable I’ve been missing? Give me a break. I think I know I’m part of the solution, Prose. I’m the only pony doing anything about the end of Equestria.”

“No, you’re not understanding,” Prose began.

“I’m not understanding!?” Effie snapped. She charged magic in her horn, sending it straight towards Prose. Prose braced for impact, accepting defeat. Defeat never came. Savoir lunged in front of Prose, accepting the blow in her place. Savoir was sent across the room with the rest of his friends, leaving Prose as the final pony standing. Prose had to speak fast. She wouldn’t let Savoir’s sacrifice be in vain.

“You’ve spent so long removing the things that you thought were wrong, but the solution could’ve been staring you right in the face the entire time. Instead of taking things out, put something in. Add yourself to the fight,” Prose earnestly spoke. “Effie, you’re one of the most powerful ponies I’ve ever met. If you were on the battlefield, I bet the fight would’ve been won. You could be the savior of Equestria.”

Effie stared down Prose. She was confused by her suggestion, but intrigued by the possibility. Her stance relaxed for the first time.

“You think… I can stop the end of Equestria?” Effie asked. “I’m one pony, Prose.”

“One very powerful pony,” Prose corrected.

“I’m still one pony,” she spoke. “I can’t prevent the end of Equestria all by myself.”

The staredown intensified. It seemed they were at a standstill. Amidst the silence, a quiet murmur stirred in the surrounding crowd of ponies. One pony stepped forward from the crowd, nervous, but hopeful.

“What if you… weren’t all by yourself,” Apple Crumble suggested, now standing much closer to Prose and Effie. “All of these ponies you’ve captured, you considered meaningful enough to cause the end of Equestria. What if they were meaningful enough to stop it?”

Effie stood in shock at the suggestion.

“Are you saying… you ponies, the ponies I’ve… I’ve imprisoned,” a twinge of guilt stained her words. “You would help me fight?”

Fizzy Fireshine stepped forward from the crowd, joining the conversation.

“We wouldn’t be doing it for you, Effie,” they retorted. “We’d be doing it for Equestria.”

“But, your families, your homes…” Effie trailed off.

“Prose says you’re smart, Effie,” Apple Crumble explained. “I’m sure you can find a way to weave us all back into the timeline after we win. You owe us that much.”

“... what makes you so certain we’ll win? What if we lose?” Effie worried.

“We might,” Fizzy admitted. “But nopony can say we didn’t try.”

Effie pursed her lips. It was clear one thing was still on her mind. The core of her anxieties, the most important piece of the puzzle. The tears that had been continuously welling up in her eyes finally tumbled over the edge. Effie began to cry.

“What about… her? What if… what if I can’t save my mom?” she choked.

Prose closed the gap between herself and Effie. She placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“Then you’ll get something most ponies wish they had,” Prose said. “A chance to say goodbye. A chance to hold her one last time.”

Effie fell to her knees. She began to sob uncontrollably, completely breaking down. Her facade had faded, and everypony finally saw her: Sandy Swirl. The daughter of the princess. The scared little pony stuck at the end of the world.

“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry, everypony.”

Everypony watched Effie as she cried. Nopony knew what to say. From the edges of the walls, rustling emerged as the wounded ponies began to regain their strength. One by one, Chorus, Ginger Blush, Sombra, Twilight Sparkle, and Savoir Fare rejoined Prose. Chorus kneeled down to the floor, reaching Sandy’s level.

“We’re here, Sandy,” he consoled. “We’ll join the fight. And we’ll win. I know we will.”

She looked up at Chorus.

“No,” she spoke. “You six have done enough.”

Chorus was confused.

“Listen, I’m sorry if we came on too strong, I-”

Sandy interrupted him. “No, I needed to hear it. Thank you for telling me the truth. You’ve done what you needed to do. You deserve to rest. I’m sorry I put all of you through this. I’m sorry I put everypony through this.”

She lowered her head, charging her magic once more. The ponies winced, bracing for impact. Sandy blasted her magic towards them, encasing them in an orb of brilliant green and white. They instantly disappeared from Time Jail. Just as quickly as they’d arrived, they’d left without a trace.