It's finally here! The long awaited third part is ready for reading! Now, I'm trying to make a few references in this story, but this one may be a bit on the nose. Tell me your thoughts, because it's why it took so long for me to post this. Enjoy!

They set out pretty much right afterwards. Not many people lived nearby, so there wasn't much risk of being seen. It was Sunday, so Jack didn't have to work. Tomorrow would be a different story, and he needed to go to the farmers market later. He was only a little worried, he had complete confidence in the ponies, and just hoped Twilight could keep them from being too much of... themselves. But he couldn't worry about that now, they were here to have fun. They were here. "Okay everyone, go wild!"

"Race you to that rock Applejack!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yer on!" Applejack called back. They ran toward a large boulder in the center of the clearing, one pony gaining a lead, and then falling back behind as the other sped up. Fluttershy stretched her wings and said something to Twilight Sparkle, who nodded. They took off and flew towards a small clear area on the edge of the field that was shaded by the trees. Rarity found a shaded spot to lie down in not far from Jack, and Pinkie Pie galloped after the two racing ponies, shouting "Go Rainbow Dash! Go Applejack! Go Rainbow Dash!" every time that one pulled into the lead. He wasn't worried, since the clearing was far from anyone that would hear her. Naturally, he had expected her loud nature. Not, the only being to have not found something to do was him. It seemed like Rainbow Dash and Applejack were having another competition, and would probably continue until they collapsed from exhaustion. Pinkie Pie was either cheering or keeping score, either way she was being her usual loud and cheerful self. Rarity was sleeping, and he didn't want to bother her. Twilight and Fluttershy just seemed to be chatting, so he figured he'd see if maybe he could join them. Maybe Twilight would feel comfortable talking about their issue back home with Fluttershy there. She had that effect on ponies, and people. As he approached, the two friends started to wave him over. They didn't look happy, but they didn't look sad either. Fluttershy patted the grass between her and Twilight, inviting him to sit down. He did, and nopony talked for a moment. Fluttershy nodded to Twilight, who nodded back.

"Jack, we've talked, and I've decided it's only fair that if you're going to let us all stay with you and provide for us, that you know why we're here," Twilight said.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Jack assured her.

"No, no. You should know. It's only right," Twilight replied. "It all started when a deranged scientist started believing that everyone was infested with some parasite. He became determined to find a way to cure everyone. He experimented with a bunch of different gasses, hundreds of complex combinations of elements. Twilight began to remember encountering the doctor personally.

"Doctor?"

"Finally…"

"Doctor, what are-"

"Finally it's done! IT'S FINALLY DONE!" The doctor laughed hysterically.

"No, no, you don't mean that insane gas of yours is actually ready?"

"Ready? It's more than ready! It's REARING! Every cloud of this concoction is home to millions of teeny-tiny bugs! I found them while trying another mix, and I used my skills to make them do what I wanted… Now they target and destroy the insides of the parasites!"

"You're mad!" Twilight ran to the intercom. Dozens of ponies in the facility heard the her desperate plea.

"Stop him!, he's trying to kill us all! Stop him!

"No, no! I'm going to save you all! DON'T YOU TRY TO STOP ME!" She never turned the microphone off, and so everypony heard the deranged doctor's claim. He then ran at Twilight, knocking her into the intercom and turning it off. She teleported away, into the hallway outside. He turned the intercom back on, as well as the connection to the TVs throughout the facility. His face and voice were broadcast through the whole building. He hit a button on a panel, sealing the room with thick metal doors and a magical barrier. "This is your redemption day everypony!" Twilight attempted to bust down the door. "Go away from me! Stay away from me! Go awayhahaha!" His speech broke into cackling, maniacal laughter. "You can't touch me now!"

"Stop this! You're mad!" She shouted through the thick observation windows.

"You see this button here?" He flipped up a clear plastic cover, and hovered a hoof over a bright red button. "I'M GONNA PRESS IT!" he screamed, slamming his hoof down, and a loud clanking could be heard throughout the facility as his gas swarmed through pipes, draining into the the open air outside.

"No!" Twilight shouted, quickly teleporting to her house. "Spike, Owlicious, where are you!"

"Here Twilight!" Spike said, Owlicious following him through a doorway.

"You need to leave, now. Grab what you can, I'll teleport you to Canterlot."

"You can do that? What in tartarus is going on!"

"Just go, there's no time! The princesses should be able to shield Canterlot from the gas."

"Wait, the gas your deranged friend was working on?"

"Yes, just go!" Twilight panicked, and her horn started to glow as she prepared to send her assistant and pet right then. Adrenaline allowed her to muster the tremendous strength it took to simultaneously lower the castle's magical barrier, as well as send two beings there.

"Twilight! I-" Spike started to say before he disappeared in a flash of purple magic. Twilight immediately teleported to each of her friends, and once she had them all, she used the only spell she knew to make absolutely sure they were safe, the same one she had used to retrieve Rainbow Dash.

"He… he unleashed his finished product, a gas made of clouds he claimed were millions of tiny bugs that would feed on and eradicate the parasites. Of course, without their food existing, they fed on the next closest thing, their supposed hosts. I had no clue how far it could spread, so I did the only thing I could to ensure the elements would be safe. I sent us here, so we could figure out a spell to destroy the gas." Jack was shocked. He had never imagined that anypony had the sort of knowledge to create something like that. With magic, sure. But scientifically, he didn't think they had that ability. Strangely, a song he had heard once started creeping into his head. I can't remember… that's the first lyric. But , well... I can't remember the rest.

"I was the only pony in a position to stop him." Twilight continued. "But I panicked, and I couldn't put my thoughts together to get back in." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Now everypony is probably dead or dying. Because I couldn't keep my head." She started crying, laying her head between her hooves. Fluttershy got up to sit next to her, whispering soothing words into her ear. Jack was hesitant, but he felt bad just sitting there when she was like this.

"Twilight, even if you had gotten in, who says he wouldn't hit the button right then and there? No matter what you did, there are so many ways he still could have done this. If not then, some other time. When no one was there to stop him." Twilight's head shot up, her face twisted into an angry grimace.

"But I would have made sure I was there! No matter when, where, or how, I would stop him!" Twilight became enraged in her grief. "He should be sent to Tartarus for what he's done! Actually? Tartarus is too kind. When I stop him, I'll personally find a place, deeper than Tartarus, where he'll rot for what he's done!" Fluttershy's eyes were wide, she had never seen her friend like this. "And when all that's left is bones, I'll trap his spirit there, until it disappears because no one remembers him. But it will sit in torment for centuries, because I'll never forget for as long as I live, and I won't die for millennia!" She sat staring, her breathing heavy with anger. Slowly, her face melted into a waterfall of tears.

"Twilight, this isn't you. You need to-" he stopped in surprise when she suddenly disappeared in a burst of purple magic. Jack and Fluttershy quickly stood up, trying to spot where she had gone. She was nowhere to be seen, and they began to worry.

"She doesn't know this world well," Fluttershy said. "What if she teleported over a cliff, or into a raging river!" she squeaked.

"Well, we can't know where she is, but I know she can look after herself," Jack said. "She's a princess, after all." Fluttershy nodded meekly.

"I hope she comes back soon," she said.

"Me too."