Chapter 1: Missed It By That Much...

"...I'm thrilled these are all I'm going to have to deal with back in Equestria"

*SMACK*

"OW!" Twilight shouted as she fell back onto  her butt, "What the heck?!"

*BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG* *BONG*

"Oh no..." Applejack said quietly as Twilight got up, putting her hand against the statue.

"Why did the portal close?" Twilight asked worriedly. As she did circles around the statue to try and find the portal Applejack walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Twi, I hate to say it, but you missed it by a few seconds," Applejack said sadly as she looked off towards where the sound of a clock going off had come from, "That was the clock tower hitting midnight right after you fell down..." There was an eerie silence as Twilight looked around, realizing that she now stuck in this alternate world for just over two years. There was no way back to her pony friends. The Element of Magic was stuck with her. Equestria had just lost it's last line of defence...

"No..." Twilight said quietly as she started to cry, fearing that while she was here something horrible would happen to her friends on the other side. She could only imagine what they were doing right now...

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"She.... Didn't make it" Rainbow said, sounding confused and almost angry, "WHERE IS SHE?!" Without warning Rainbow charged at the mirror, but thankfully Celestia was able to hold her back before she smashed it to pieces. As she struggled inside the magical field that was surrounding her the rest of them slowly started to walk away, all them doing their best to not cry.

What they didn't hear was the faint banging noise and sobs coming from the mirror...

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"WHY"

*BANG*

"CAN'T"

*BANG*

"I-*

"Twilight stop!"

The sudden shout from behind startled Twilight, causing her to freeze instantly. It wasn't one of her friends, they were all standing silently behind her, none of them knowing what to say to her. Then she realized who the voice belonged to.

"Twilight, why are you hitting the statue like that?!" Flash shouted as he ran up to Twilight's side, grabbing her wrists so she couldn't hit the statue any more. She had already scrapped the skin off of her fists, and was only a few hits away from bone now.

"It closed..." Twilight said quietly.

"What closed?!" Flash asked worriedly, wanting to know what was making her go insane.

"The portal closed!" Twilight screamed, the surprise catching Flash off guard enough that she could break free, bolting away from the school without a plan of where she would go. While everyone watched her run away they heard Principal Celestia push the doors open, looking worried and concerned.

"What's going on out here?!" she shouted before noticing Twilight running down the street by herself, "Where is she going?!"

"We don't know..." Flash said, feeling like a disappointment as the girl he loves turned the corner, now being too far gone for anyone to follow her. When the clock hit midnight the effects of Twilight's Magic wore off, and everyone lost their wings.

"I hope she'll be okay..." Fluttershy said as Spike sadly walked up to Rarity, hoping she would pick him up or pet him. She herself decided to do both, and with that they all headed off towards their houses, not sure what they were supposed to do now other than hope Twilight returns to school the next day.

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"I FOUND HER!" Rainbow shouted from the soccer field, managing to get the entire school's attention. Everyone quickly filed outside, all of them staring at Twilight sprawled out in the middle of the field, an atmosphere of worry hanging over them. Had she been there all night? Is she okay? Why isn't she moving? Why is Sunset Shimmer running out to her?!

"Twilight?" Sunset asked as she stopped a few feet away from her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just laying here" Twilight answered, being oddly calm even though she had the entire school worried sick about her. In her short time being there she managed to unite all of them and reignite school spirit, and when they found out she ran off into the night all of them were scared. The city wasn't a safe place at night, especially when you didn't know your way around it. Before Sunset Shimmer could say anything else to Twilight her other friends showed up, stepping in front of her.

"Twilight what were you thinking?!" Rarity said, quick to chastise her for running off, "We were all so worried about you!"

"It's okay, I'm fine," Twilight said calmly as she sat up, "Although Rainbow did catch me freaking out..."

"Yeah, she was, uh..." Rainbow mumbled off before coughing, "She was rolling around and screaming into the ground..."

"Wow..." Applejack said, raising an eyebrow when she noticed Twilight's new attire, "Where'd you get that sweater?"

"Mrs. Cake knitted it for me," Twilight said, showing it off to them, "I went to their bakery after running away, and thankfully they let me stay, on one condition"

"And what was that?" Fluttershy asked, getting some nods from the other four, who wanted to ask the same thing.

"Don't wake the twins," Twilight said calmly, "Mrs. Cake knitted this for me as a thank you after I managed to get them a full night of sleep because I had been keeping the twins asleep"

"Ah..." he five of them said at the same time, all of them trying to figure out how she managed it. Not even Pinkie was able to get those two to stay asleep, so how did Twilight do it right after she met them? Before they could start questioning her about it Fluttershy remembered something that was more important.

"Flash isn't here today," Fluttershy said, getting Twilight's full attention, "He hasn't contacted anyone since you ran away last night..."

"Not entirely true..." Rainbow said, sounding guilty, "I followed him for a bit because he looked so depressed, but when he found me he said that he just wanted to be alone"

"It's my fault for running away when he came to talk with me..." Twiilight said, flopping back down on the ground looking like she was about to burst into tears. There was a long and awkward silence as they tried to find out what they could say, but none of them had ever been in a situation like this before, so nothing was coming to mind. After what seemed like hours Twilight got up and started walking towards school.

"Where are you going dear?" Rarity asked worriedly, afraid Twilight was about to run away again.

"To school," Twilight said without any hint of emotion, "I'm sure Flash will come back soon, so I might as well wait for him here..." There was a hint of longing and loneliness in her voice, but no one could find the right words, so all they could do was let her go. Where she was going to be, none of them knew, but all they could do right now is hope her and Flash can get back to normal. Or at least whatever normal was going to be from now on.