Olivia's still alive. That's the only positive thing about all this.

If she went livid, like Tempest said...

Why... Why wasn't I here to protect her? Or at least try to keep her from losing it.

I think I would've been better off going with the others. I'd still be worried about her, but I wouldn't have to see...

Geez, this hyperspeed day/night cycle is giving me a headache! It sorta reminds me of a server I visited once where someone kept switching the time of day every minute.

Something bright catches my attention. I stand up and look toward the entrance. There's a tall blue cake being pulled on a cart. There are designs of ponies being chained by... hearts?... on the bottom layer, the Storm King insignia with a heart between it on the middle layer, and a big heart with the Storm King's face on the top layer.

Spike? Why is he on top of it? I look at who's pulling the cart. It's... the rest of Twilight's friends... And... Capper is leading them? Looking as sad as she did earlier, Pinkie spots me. She immediately smiles and winks at me, then returns to looking sad. Are they planning something?

Hm... That's a really tall cake. Every time I've seen one that tall in movies and TV shows, there's been someone hiding inside.

...

You're kidding... There's no way!

That porcupine thing jumps onto the back of the cart and wipes away some of the icing. It's a little tough to see from here, but I... think there's an eyeball in that cake. Looks like I was right. After a few seconds, it blinks. I bet that's Squawks. I mean, at least try to keep your eye open!

The porcupine starts to panic. "Guards!" One of the pirates grabs him and yanks him inside. Well, so much for that plan... whatever it was. Two guards block their path in front while two others approach from behind.

"The jig is up!" Rainbow yells. She kicks the wagon. All five pirates and... Princess Skystar?! In... what I think is her original hippogriff form. They leap out of the cake with a yell.

"Come on!" the pirate captain says. All twelve charge toward the nearest guards. I keep an eye on Squawks, who sneaks up behind one guard and traps him with his life preserver. I glance to the left, where AJ has hogtied another.

"Surprise!"

In front of my cage, Pinkie hands a guard a present, then runs away. What is that, an exploding box? Knowing Pinkie, it's probably gonna blast confetti in his face.

Pinkie stands up, now in the box – because of course she is – and holding a cupcake.

"Double surprise!" She slams the cupcake into the guard's face. I chuckle. Not quite as funny as a pie to the face, but still worth a laugh. She jumps out of the box, then starts whipping cupcake after cupcake at the guard. "Whee!" The guard turns and tries to run away, but slams into a wall. Pinkie keeps rapid-firing cupcakes, laughing maniacally.

"Pnnke!" I yell.

She slowly ends her attack, breathing heavily. "That was fun!" She looks at me. "Don't worry, Flare! We'll get you outta there as soon as we can!" She places a cupcake in my cage.

Even in the middle of a battle, she goes out of her way to see her friends smile... if she could see me smile. "Thmms, Pnnke."

"Head for the castle!" the captain yells. "We'll hold them off!"

The Element bearers, Capper, and Skystar run up the long ramp leading to the castle area

While the fighting continues, I lay down and look at the cupcake. With everything that just happened, I don't have much of an appetite. I'm also not big on strawberry flavor. I'll save it for Olivia. She'll probably need it more than me.

I rest my eyes. It's good that we are gonna be saved, but... Olivia... She probably is unharmed physically, but I'm more worried about the emotional toll this whole thing might've taken on her. She made so, so much progress in coming out of her shell. To think all that work could've been undone in just one Saturday...

I've seen her at her worst twice. The first time was when Sunset discovered our secret relationship and told everybody. Liv started getting picked on 20 times a day after that. There wasn't a day that went by where she wasn't on the verge of tears. Unfortunately, I know exactly how that feels. When she transferred to Crystal Prep, all that torment was directed solely at me. The second was after she went mad with power a couple months ago. Both times we started dating, she told me she felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I was able to calm her down when I told her no matter how many times she got anything she wanted, she couldn't be the luckiest girl in the world if she broke up with me. Her breakdown after was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen. Each time, she came out of it relatively unchanged. But after what Tempest said...

I shake the thought out of my head. "No. I can't think about that. I've stayed strong up to this point. I need to hope for the best." I sigh. I should think of the good times.

She warmed up to me quickly once we started hanging out, likely because she was about to move to Manehattan. She really wanted to spend more than one day a week with me, but I couldn't let my other friends think something was up and risk them discovering the truth. When she eventually asked me out and I accepted, she was so excited! Almost all of our dates ended up being at either her house or mine, but it didn't matter. Wherever we were, we had a fantastic time. Reuniting with her at the Friendship Games was a pleasant surprise for both of us, and while we didn't start going out again, we had fun catching up with each other. Once we did get back together, she was the happiest I'd ever seen her at the time, especially since we could be together in public. And when I gave her that Cheese Sandwich ticket... Oh man, she was ecstatic! She probably would've kissed me all day! I should've let her.

It might be a while, but I hope we can have more fun times like those. Maybe, if this hasn't scarred her too badly, we could give Equestria another try one day. Twilight told me Equestria-threatening events are very rare, although there's been a significant increase in their frequency as of late. We just happened to come here on the day one of those took place. As long as Olivia isn't petrified of this happening again, I can hopefully convince her to make a return trip.

"You gonna mope around all day?"

I look up. The pirate captain is looking down at me, and the cage I was in has disappeared.

"Hmm?" I look behind her. Everything doesn't look as dreary as before, and nopony is chained to anything or locked in cages. She removes my muzzle. "Wh... When did..."

"Literally ten seconds ago," she says. She holds out her claw. I hold my hoof out and she grabs it, pulling me up and onto my other hooves.

"Thanks so much for helping save us. I, uh... I never got your name back on the ship."

"Captain Celaeno, at your service."

"Right. Captain Celaeno." Wait, everyone's... I immediately look to my left. Olivia is lying on the ground, and all of her restraints have disappeared. "Olivia!" I run over to her. Her eyes are closed and the fur under them has been stained with tears. She's not wearing her glasses, which are on the ground behind her. From what I can see, it looks like she is physically unharmed. "Olivia?"

"Mmm..." She moves her left foreleg slightly.

"Olivia?"

"Mmm..." She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me. "Fuh... Fl...are...?" she groggily says.

I smile. "It's okay. Everything's back to normal."

"Flare..."

I sit down next to her. "I'm here now."

She slowly sits up. Tears start to form in her eyes. "I..."

I pull her into a hug. "It's all over," I whisper.

She starts crying. "I... I thought I'd never... see you again..." Her voice sounds hoarse.

I rub the back of her head. "I would never abandon you," I quietly say. "I love you."

She sniffles, but doesn't reply. I'm not sure if she didn't hear me or she's too choked up by everything that's happened to respond.

After a couple minutes of sobbing, she moves back to look at me. "I..." She sniffles again. "I... love you." She smiles.

I lean toward her. She does the same, and our lips meet. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, but it feels so much better than any of our previous ones. When we separate, she rests her head on my shoulder again.

"Do you... wanna talk about what happened?"

I feel her shake her head. "Mm-mmm..."

Too soon. I get it. "Do you wanna go home now?"

She doesn't answer right away. I really want to stay for a little longer, but I'll understand if she doesn't.

She sighs. "Mm-mmm," she says with a head shake.

"You sure?"

"I... came here to have fun." She coughs. "I'm not leaving until I see Songbird Serenade perform."

Wow... I did not expect her to actually stay!

"Are... you two okay?" I look up. Starlight is standing in front of us.

We separate. "A little shaken up, but I'm fine. Liv?"

She nods. "Mm-hmm."

"Oh, right. Now that you're here..." I say to Starlight. I point to the cupcake Pinkie placed where my cage was, then motion to myself. She picks up the cupcake with her magic and levitates it over to me. "Liv? I, uh... I saved this for you."

She looks at the cupcake. "A... cupcake?"

"You must be starving. It's not much, but..." I hold out my hooves, and Starlight puts the cupcake between them. I do my best to grip it with my hooves in a V-shape. I nod, and Starlight releases it from her magic grip. I carefully move it in front of Olivia's face. She looks at it, then takes a small bite. She's trying to be strong, but she looks so vulnerable.

She swallows it. "Thank you." She looks at Starlight. "My glasses..."

"They're behind me," I say.

Starlight walks to the side of us.

Olivia leans toward the cupcake. I meet her halfway with it and she takes another bite. She holds her hooves out in front of mine. "I can hold it," she says with her mouth full. I carefully set it between her hooves. She swallows.

Starlight slides the glasses onto Olivia's face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Olivia nods. "They didn't hurt me." She shoves the rest of the cupcake in her mouth.

"Looks like somepony was hungry," Starlight says. "Where'd you get that, anyway?"

"Pinkie left it for me," I say. "I don't really like strawberry icing, and I figured Liv could use it more than me... if what Tempest said is true."

Olivia stands up. "Can we –" She coughs. "Can we not talk about that right now?"

"So, are you... leaving?"

"Not yet," I say. I stand up as well. "She really wants to see Songbird's performance."

"Even after all you went through?"

"Princess Twilight told us crap like this is incredibly rare," Olivia says, "and with everything working out each ti–" She coughs. "Geez, I really destroyed my voice..." she whispers. "With everything working out each time for her and back in our world for us, I just needed to keep thinking this wouldn't be any different. Even if it took weeks."

"Then... why did you –"

"I came here to have fun, and damn it, that's what I'm gonna do."

She sighs. "Okay."

Olivia smiles at me. "Let's go, Flarey." She starts walking.

I chuckle and walk with her. "'Flarey', huh? Isn't it a little early for mushy pet names?"

"Maybe for you."

"Oh, hang on, Flare," Starlight says. "I'll recast that spell."

"Don't bother," I say. "After everything I've gone through today, I have no problem showing these off."

Wait, I thought she said she was afraid she'd never see me again. Then she said she knew everything would work out? I'll have to ask her about that when she's willing to talk.