It has gotten past the point of 'What is going through their heads?' to, 'What do I say to break the awkward silence?' and finally, 'Somepony please say something the silence is killing me.' For a while they stared at me, now they were just staring past me. To be honest I wasn't really looking at them anymore either. Everything that happened today...geez, it's hard to believe that was all one day.

Oh yeah.

I cleared my throat before speaking up, "So, who won the pot?"

They both give me a confused, but still blank look.

"You know, the pot with all our bits in it? The whole reason we were telling each other how our day went?"

Second gave me a chilly stare, "Mr. Elmer, princess Celestia is brainwashed by a dangerous terrorist, all of Equestria is in terrible danger, Mr. Koolaid's daughter is dead, I am running on what little time I have left, and you are going to get eaten in a couple hours. We are all about to get killed by multiple threats, and your concern right now is who gets those shiny bits on the table?"

Maybe this wasn't the best icebreaker.

I sigh and start rubbing my forehead, "Look, it's like you said, I'm dead in a couple hours alright? There are probably changelings everywhere in town looking for both of us and I have nothing better to do. I might as well see who won this before I become dinner."

"Nothing left to do?" Second gave me and Electric a incredulous look, "We have stop Chrysalis! If we don't, she's going to absorb the love of every pony in Canterlot and take over the capital! Even if the rest of Equestria took it back in time think of the casualties!"

Electric and I stare at Second.

"So," I turn my head towards Koolaid, "get one more drink and then try to get as far away from Canterlot as possible?"

BAIL OUT!!! Electric screamed.

"Elmer, Electric!" She's actually losing control of her voice for once, neat. "Nopony else is going to stop her! Twilight and Luna think that Celestia is just stressed out from the Summer Sun Celebration and having to deal with me! If we run, Chrysalis might take over all of Equestria! There won't be any place left to hide!"

You know, I heard the Manehattan Mountains are lovely this time of year. Koolaid sipped on his beer.

I scratched my chin "I'm pretty okay with the life of a hermit. I've never tried being a earth pony farmer, but there's a first time for everything I guess."

"I can't believe you two!" Second yelled. "Don't you have any loyalty to the princess Electric?!? The Queen personally went out of her way to make your life Tartarus Elmer! This is our one chance to save everypony and stick it to Chrysalis and your both running with your tail between your legs!"

"Yup!" I said cheerily, "Although your wrong about one thing."

"What would that be?" Second growled.

"The THREE of us are running with our tail between our legs!"

"What?!? No, I refuse to give up!"

"Can you move right now?"

Second stared at me for a second. "What?"

"Can you stand on your hooves right now?"

Second tried to get out of her seat, only for her to fall down on her side.

"Right." I turned towards Electric, "Can you carry her on your back? I bet we can make it to Ponyville by sunrise. Rent a room, rest up, and then book it towards Manehattan hopefully before any changelings head our way."

"YES!"

"NO!" Second screamed. "I can't do this! I can't leave!"

"Why?!?" I yelled. "Why can't you!?!"

"I don't have long to live anyway." Second glared at me. "Anytime I have left I would spend it in grief. I can't just walk away from this and forget what happened! I would rather die proud of who I am, and live on in shame of what I've done!"

I get off of my seat, bend down, and look Second in the eyes. "Listen to me. You are NOT Celestia."

Second flinched.

"These are not your subjects. You are not their ruler. You are a very brave little filly who has tried very hard, but we're not heroes Celes. We are not fighters. We don't know how to take on a changeling army. We don't know how to handle the Princesses and Queen. We already TRIED to make a difference Celes, we failed. This isn't a storybook where guts and righteous virtue make up for the lack in experience. Electric is just a Disc Jockey. I'm just a cheaply made living experiment. You are just a little filly who can't even fly-no, you can't walk right now Celes."

"I don't want to see you die. I don't even know if we can run away. I'm no hero, but that doesn't mean I don't have things I want to protect. I want things to turn alright too, but I don't have the power to do that! I might be able to take care of you and Koolaid though, and if I can do that, and at least I have you two! Can't that be enough Celes? Can't we be enough? Do we have to go get ourselves killed just to prove a point?"

Second was quiet, I waited for a response. She kept her head low, staring at the table, quietly. Electric and I nodded to each other. After calling over Fine Wine for another drink, we silently sat there, sipping on our alcoholic beverages. Sighing, I looked at the bits and gave a bitter chuckle. We're all such losers none of us could even appreciate winning the pot, how pathetic...

"Elmer, Electric, please." Celes whispered. "Help me save Equestria."

"Give it up Celes." I muttered.

"Slumber, Koolaid, please..." Celestia choked, "Help me save Canterlot."

"Celes, please stop..." Electric whimpered.

"...Mom, Dad, please." Second said, "Help me save my home."

"...I'm sorry, what?" I try to contain my panic.

"Mom, I'm not stupid." Second continued, "We're not stupid. We all know who each other are, we can connect the dots, nopony here is fooling anypony."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Half a year ago, my wife Flower Fields mysteriously vanished." Electric said, shaking fiercely, fighting for control, "We were married for 9 years, we have an 8 year old daughter named Second Chance."

"Coincidence!" I said in a louder voice than I meant to.

"You don't remember anything, you said so yourself." Second accused. "More importantly, how many sleeper changelings exist in this world? Chrysalis can't make any more until she eats you again, right?"

"She could have been a normal pony!" I shouted.

"Please remember..." Electric whispered. Remember us...remember me-"

"I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER!!!"

...

"What? What?!? I'm a, I'm a 11 year colt and you both just calmly tell me to accept I'm married t-to a stallion!?! Th-that I have a 8 year old daughter!?! Look, it's not easy okay?!? You can't j-just accept it like this! It's different *hic* when I know you're both out th-there somewhere! Not here, in f-front of me! *hic* I can't just be your mom! I can't just suddenly b-be your WIFE!!! I...I just can't! I CAN'T! Why?!? WHY?!? WHY-"

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" Second screamed.

"Because we love you." Electric said with conviction, before wrapping us in a hug.

All we had to do was leave town. All we had to do is just accept that we tried out best and left. Why do I...I know why, I can't say that anymore. I'm afraid...I'm afraid, but that's okay. Whatever happens at this point, it'll be okay. All that's left after is clarity, and all that comes with it...

I transform into a white pegasus mare, with a red mane and blue eyes.

"I..." I shudder at my own voice. "I was lost and scared."

"But I found you." Electric replied.

"You were so strange, you dressed like a maniac, but you were so calm. You acted like you've seen everything there was to see in this world. I couldn't stop watching you."

"I felt so warm every time your eyes were on me."

"You didn't care what the nobles thought of you, you didn't care what anypony thought of you. You were free from everypony and everything."

"It droves me nuts how much control you had over me, I couldn't understand."

"I couldn't believe how casually you asked me to marry you, I actually believe you wouldn't care if I said no."

"It didn't matter if you'd belong to me, I already gave myself to you, no matter what."

"I thought Chrysalis telling me she was going to eat me was the scariest thing I've heard in my life, I was wrong."

"What was the scariest thing you've ever heard?" Second murmured.

"Right after you were born, they put you in my forelegs. You were wailing, and I was so scared, that I would never be the mother you deserved."

"You were perfect." Electric reassured.

"I abandoned her, I abandoned you."

"When I needed you the most, you were there for me." Second rubbed her head against my leg. "When they were going to transform me, you stopped them. When they were going to kill me, you saved me."

"I didn't know who you were."

"You didn't let that stop you."

"I remember we went fishing for my birthday. Pegasi living in Canterlot is a rarity, so they didn't sell any fish at the market. You were so determined to catch me a big one. You loved me very much."

"I still do."

"Your father watched you while I assembled the tent. You found a fish bigger than yourself, but it broke your fishing rod. You jumped in after it and bit it's tail."

"Did I get it?"

"It dragged you across the pond" Electric said with a gentle smile. "I jumped and smacked that fish with my hoof until it stopped moving long enough for me to grab you."

"You never thought to use your magic." Tears were starting to leak out of my eyes. "You could've just levitated her and the fish out of the pond, but you went crazy instead."

"I can't stay calm when I worry about you two. I never could."

"I remember when we took you to fly a kite for the first time." I smile down at my daughter.

"What did I think?"

"You were nervous and quiet. The whole time you had a look of deep concentration on your face. When we finally asked you if you were ready to fly on your kite, you said-"

"Alright, I'll fly on it, but you better hold on tight!" Electric gave a fake pout.

Second laughed, Electric laughed, I laughed. It felt so good to laugh. It was alright, everything was alright now.

"Discord broke free." I said with pain.

Second frowned. Electric froze.

"He made your father crazy. Half of the time he was suicidally depressed, the other half was spent in an aggressive mania."

Electric whimpered.

"I was turned into a changeling. I didn't know what I was, I was horrified and scared of myself. Subconsciously, I knew what I was, and I was afraid of myself. It was a nightmare made real."

"An earth pony family visiting Canterlot cornered her." Electric snarled. "They thought she was some spawn of Discord's. They were going to kill her. They beat her so much..." Electric started to shake. "I did nothing, I was in my own little world so much I couldn't pull myself together to help her. ...I couldn't handle the blame, it was too painful, so I made Earth ponies out to be evil. It was their fault, not mine..."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. They couldn't figure out why Discord's curse was still affecting him. He never turned back to normal. I promised to always be there for him...I broke that promise."

"You came back to me..." Electric said, nuzzling me.

...

"Was I good filly?" Second asked.

"You were a very good filly." Electric cooed.

"Whenever you had doubts on what to do, I reminded you on what harmony meant to us." I recalled.

"What did it mean to us?"

I cleared my throat:

"Honesty, to keep us straight when things get crooked."

"Kindness, to help others when they hurt us."

"Laughter, to stay humble when we feel selfish."

"Loyalty, to stay faithful when we're betrayed."

"Generosity, to give hope when we have nothing left."

"Friendship, to help us believe, when we've lost sight."

Second closed her eyes and smiled. I let go of my family and put a hoof over the collection of bits.

"I think I won this round."

"Oh, how so?" Electric questioned.

"You lost your wife, and Second lost her mother for over half a year." I smile, "I lost my husband and daughter."

Electric smiled and pushed the bits my way. I give my family a cocky grin.

"Come on let's go stop Chrysalis. I want to go out somewhere nice tomorrow for a family dinner!"