"What have you done?" asked Cadance, horrified as she cradled Sunset in her arms protectively.

The teenager might still be possessed by some monster, but at that moment Cadance felt more afraid of Twilight than the red-haired young woman.

"Eliminated a monster," was Twilight's rather chilly reply. Cadance was certain now... She didn't like what this power, this magic, had done to Twilight. The black winged creature's face twisted into a grimace when she saw Cadance's expression "Don't give me that look. Agent Butterfly knew what would happen if she were compromised. If we're lucky, she'll regenerate purified and be her old self again. Unfortunately, I doubt that blast alone would be enough to destroy the Candy Mare. At best, we won't have to deal with her tricks and traps while she's recovering. Now is the best time for us to make our escape"

"Escape to where? What is this contingency plan you mentioned?" Cadance was clearly plagued by uncertainty, "And why didn't you use this power before?"

"Slow down Cadance, I'll answer your questions. Just take a deep breath," As Twilight said this, the aura of power around her began to fade. Her wings and horn shimmered out of existence, and her clothing and glasses returned to normal. The device, which had gone dormant until now, began to flash, and opened on its own.

In mere moments, Twilight went from being a winged avenger back to a regular teenaged girl, albeit still one that had one taken down a shape shifting monster twice her size with one shot.

"The reason I held of using this ability is that it has its limits. I don't have an endless supply of magic I can draw from, that resource is finite in this world. The device needs time to recharge after each use." Twilight hesitated for a moment before she continued. "While I could make the excuse I didn't have the chance to use the device during the operation at Crystal Prep, the truth is that I was hesitant to deploy it when Sunset still remained at large. Aside from it's limitations, my "Midnight" Sparkle form also strips away my inhibitions. There was a real chance that if Sunset had appeared while I was in that form, I might have destroyed her outright."

"You shouldn't have a weapon like that as an option," stated Cadance firmly. "It's too risky... And I don't like what it does to you. How it makes you talk, how it makes you act. The look in your eyes was so alien and inhuman."

"Well what would you have had me do!? Let us be eaten, or worse, by that cannibalistic freak!?" yelled the teen, her calm composure shattering. "I know the risks that come with using the device, okay? I'm the one that invented it! Don't think that I haven't considered the consequences! Haven't considered... what I might do if I ever lost control. That's why it's a last resort."

Even though she was yelling, there were tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes. It was clear that Twilight was hurting. She hadn't killed Agent Butterfly in cold blood, but instead had done what she thought was necessary for their protection. This was the most like a teenager Twilight had been since Cadance had been reunited with her. It went some way to mollifying her, reassuring her that despite all the power, Twilight was still Twilight. Even so... "Promise me you won't use it again unless you absolutely have to."

"That's the idea," replied Twilight with a fragile smile as she knuckled the tears from her eyes. She held up the compact to show a single light slowly but steadily flashing. "Couldn't even if I wanted to until it finishes recharging."

With a heavy sigh, Cadance let herself relax a little. "Okay, so... explain the contingency protocols or whatever they're called."

Twilight looked away as if she couldn't stand to meet Cadance's eyes. "I think it's safe to assume that communications are down. Given how poorly things went top-side and that slime monster encroaching on our base, chances are that the base has already been scuttled. What's left of the staff will be withdrawing with any important artifacts and files they can carry."

"That seems like a lot of trouble to go to. Why abandon your base so quickly?"

"It's protocol," was the terse reply.

"Uh-huh. Now what's the real reason Twilight?" Cadance crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the director of a secret government facility as if she were back in grade school. "I've been babysitting you since you were in diapers. I know when you are lying. Even if it's a lie by omission."

Twilight threw up her hands in surrender. Instead of losing her temper, she just sighed heavily and her shoulders slumped as if she were suddenly overcome with a great sadness. "In the event a full containment breach goes beyond our control, pretty much the situation we are in now, it's protocol to detonate the facility's on site thermonuclear device."

"Whoa, hold on! You're going to detonate a nuke!? Under the city!?" Cadance was stunned "Won't that cause a massive earthquake!?"

"It will do more than that I'm afraid. The bombs yield is high enough that the city... It's all going to burn." Twilight fidgeted with her glasses. "The people I work for don't take chances. You've seen what we're up against. Creatures that don't obey the laws of physics, let alone the laws of man. The protocol was set up to not only ensure secrecy in case the base was overrun, but also to eliminate any escaped threats to mankind."

"Will... will they at least evacuate the city?" whispered Cadance.

"If there's time... but with the risk of infection from this breach, it's unlikely that they will bother." Twilight didn't look any happier about that than Cadance did. "We'll be lucky if we escape ourselves if we don't start moving soon."

"But all of those people," Cadance's eyes were wide as she calculated the possible loss of human life, not to mention all of those poor souls that the candy monster was using as meat puppets. "Can we stop it?"

The teen didn't answer.

"Twilight, can we stop it!?" Cadance asked more insistently.

"I have the override codes. However, without any way to relay a message to the base I'd have to enter the codes manually." Twilight turned towards her friend and former mentor. "If we leave now we might make it to a bunker before the bomb explodes. There are several sites scattered around the city in case of just such a situation. There's a chance we'd still die, but we have no chance of survival if we head down to the base and end up trapped by that massive jelly monster."

"We have to try," was Cadance's solemn reply

"Are you listening to anything I'm telling you!? This scenario is exactly what the bomb is for! Do you think the Candy Mare's victims will thank you for sparing that disgusting blob their floating in!? Do you think, even if I were able to activate my powers again that I'd be able to completely eradicate a creature that can hide inside innocent peoples bodies and not wrack up just as high of a body count!? We'll be lucky if we just manage to kill ourselves going on a suicide mission like this!" Twilight was panting for breath by the time she was done yelling.

Both women were silent after that. All that could be heard was the steady drip of the sewer pipes.

"We still have to try."

"I know."

After untying Sunset Shimmer, Cadance and Twilight each took an arm over their shoulders and carried her unconscious body further into the darkened depths below.

The descent hadn't been as bad as Cadance had feared. The pathway that Sunset had carved in her escape was fairly steep, but it was also wide and fairly even. It would have been pitch black if not for the flashlights installed in their suits. As they continued downwards in silence, Cadance felt the need to fill the void that seemed to have risen between them.

"I was glad you agreed to deactivate the bomb," she began, nervously. "Given what those weird inter-dimensional candy monsters can do, I can understand why you would want to destroy every last trace of them."

There was no reply at first. Twilight huffed a bit as she helped Sunset's limp body over a pile of loose soil. When she finally answered she sounded more like the director she was again. "While the explosion would take out the bulk of the entity, we've already established that flame and high temperatures are less effective than we previously thought. There's no evidence thus far to suggest that radiation would have any debilitating effect on the creature, so if any part of it survived the initial explosion then it would mean millions of lives lost for nothing. As much as I'd rather follow protocol, I have to admit that even these extreme measures may not be as effective as we previously hoped. That and I'm not any happier than you are about the idea of all those civilians dying."

Nodding solemnly, Cadance contiuned "It would be truly horrific if the people who you rely on to protect you ended up being the ones who killed you instead. Still, I can see where your organization put such a plan in motion. I'm not sure how we're going to get out of this, but there has to be another way."

"Actually... 'Out' might not be the right approach. Maybe we should try 'in'," mused Twilight cryptically. "Listen."

Cadance did as Twilight bid, expecting an explanation as to what she meant. When no more words were forthcoming, however, Cadance wondered if Twilight meant she should just 'listen' to their surroundings. If so, she didn't hear anything they hadn't been hearing for what seemed like hours, "All I hear is the dripping and rushing of water. Is that what you mean?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Twilight, before continuing in a quieter voice. "We've long left behind the sewers. This is a freshly dug tunnel, not some cave formed by running water over time. We're traveling through layers of bedrock here. It should be dead quiet, but it still sounds like there's rushing liquid all around us which means..."

"It's still following us!" Cadance finished Twilight's comment, alarmed. "That jelly thing is following us to your base! It's going to trap us, just like you feared!"

"Not so loud!" warned Twilight, "If we can hear it then maybe it can hear us too."

"Okay, but I have a question."

"Go on."

"Why hasn't it attacked us?" hissed Cadance as she looked back into the yawning darkness behind them.

"I've been thinking about that. While the spirit of the Candy Mare might have been working with this creature, it doesn't seem like she's actually in control of it directly. I think she's still attached to Sunset somehow. That doesn't mean she wasn't communicating with the jelly creature though," Twilight paused, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "She tried to disorient us and then stall us when we ran into her. It's possible she planned for the jelly to surround us, box us in so we couldn't escape. If so, it may still be trying to accomplish that task, not realizing we've neutralized the Candy Mare for the moment."

"So whatever they were planning was ruined the moment you vaporized her," it was Cadance's turn to look thoughtful. "Even if it did somehow know what had happened, I bet that would come as quite a shock to a creature that's invincible to most weapons. To feel a part of yourself be obliterated in the blink of an eye would be fairly unsettling. So either it doesn't know that it can attack us, or the reason it hasn't is it's afraid of you."

Twilight flashed a savage grin, but what she said next was in far more subdued tones than her expression would imply,"And the reason it's still following us is because we have something it needs."

"What do we have that a giant blob monster could possibly need?" Cadance asked, bewildered. In answer Twilight simply adjusted her grip on Sunset and gave Cadance a meaningful look. "Oh... oh dear."

"I don't think it's a coincidence that thing ended up at Crystal Prep. This is what it has been about all along, liberating the Candy Mare's host body. That blob creature just couldn't figure out how to get down to where we were keeping her," Twilight grit her teeth, "Tormenting your students and taking over their parents may have just been a means of keeping its energy up while it waited for just this opportunity."

"That's not your fault," Cadance tried to reassure Twilight. "Whatever was going on behind the scenes must have been the Candy Mare's doing. It's terrifying to think we've been marching to the beat of some evil ghosts drum, but there was no way you could have prepared for this."

"We could have acted sooner," admitted Twilight. "We should have done something earlier, before she had a chance to make her move."

Cadance didn't know if she meant Sunset, the Candy Mare, or both, but she still shook her head. "Hindsight is twenty twenty. Let's just both be thankful that jelly monster is scared of you now and doesn't know that your device needs to recharge before you can transform again."

Twilight shot her an alarmed look and Cadance's heart sank.

What had been a few drops and gurgles before suddenly sounded disconcertingly like the roar of the sea during a hurricane. Loose stones and dirt began to vibrate beneath their feet as Twilight screamed, "Run!"