Epilogue

The princesses neared us, and this time, we all kneeled, having missed the opportunity to do so before. Celestia and Luna had set the time correctly, and it was the middle of the night, now, and the garden was hastily being lit by torches. I was more tired than I'd been for a long time.

"Discord wasn't hard to find, I see," Celestia remarked. We'd scarcely moved since we freed them, and Discord's statue now stood where it should.

"Yes, he came to us, actually," I said, coming up from my kneel. "He actually did all of this to help us, giving us a heroic action to perform so the barrier could be reinforced."

"Oh? That doesn't sound like Discord," Celestia said, suspiciously.

"He did say from the start that he was here to set things right," I reminded her. Discord had said when we first released him that he would help us get all of the universes' pieces back in place, and that he didn't want one of the universes to fall.

"Yes, but I'd never believed him," she replied, "after all, he's a treacherous beast, is he not? Anyway, my sister and I are here to congratulate you and your friends for saving Equestria once again. All of you are welcome to the castle to stay the night. Thank you."

"We will confer with Canterlot's master magicians and identify the status of the barrier. We hope your efforts have stabilized it." Luna turned, and left. Celestia followed.

*****

The next day was a celebration of Discord's defeat, and the eleven of us were all treated as heroes. Trixie was really quite fond of this, and tended to make a scene of herself, though she never caused any significant trouble. Time Piece was humble, as was Derpy. The seven of us, as well as Spike, took part in a parade through Canterlot. Having so much attention drawn to me was disturbing, as I disliked parades, and I really disliked attention. Celestia had made sure that this was a grand celebration, and that everyone knew who had saved Equestria from Discord's chaos for the second time. After the parade, we were flown back to Ponyville, where we parted with Time Piece, Derpy and Trixie. The latter was planning to use her newfound fame to get her show back up and running, and the two formers had to get back to their  respective buisnesses, whatever they were. That night Pinkie Pie held her belated welcoming party for me. I didn't like parties that much, and Pinkie kept it small, with only her friends and Spike attending. It was late by the time the party was over, and I turned in at Twilight's library.

The next morning, Twilight had prepared a surprise for me.

"Zach, I have something for you," she said, as I got up from my nest of pillows and blankets on the floor and looked at her groggily.

"Yeah?"

"Here." She levitated a green bottle over to me. "I knew you'd be going home soon, so I had Spike prepare a special bottle of dragonfire so you can send messages to us."

"I appreciate the gesture, but won't the barrier will get in the way of that?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"No, it won't. Luna sent me a letter this morning, and it said that the barrier was healthy and stable, but still had a few weak points. There's enough leeway to send a letter through. She also said that she was trying to find out where the other humans ended up," she replied happily. I took the bottle.

"Then I look forward to writing you."

We went around the town once more, saying goodbyes, returning waves, and chatting with locals. We made a round trip to the library, and I decided that it was time to leave.

"I think I'll be going home, now. It's been fun. I'll keep in touch."

"Bye, Zach! I'll look forward to your letters."

I focused on home, and opened the universe-zipper. Twilight waved at me as I stepped in.

Coming home again was fairly eventful. My family was greatly relieved that I was okay- I had been missing for four days- and even believed my story, what with the press that the ponies recieved, and their subsequent disappearance. As for my teachers, they had a difficult time believing that I had left the universe for most of the week to a land of magical ponies so I could save their universe. It was a pretty silly story, after all. As for the show, it had recieved some controversial press, but managed to continue production, and even became more popular. With regularity, I wrote Twilight, her friends, and the princesses letters, telling them how this world was. A few weeks passed, and I recieved a letter that said that Luna had located the universe that one of the humans was sent to, and that they'd need my help to send them back. Here we go again. I decided to pack my bag and leave as soon as possible for Equestria.

The End

Author's Notes

Hello, reader. You've just seen the ending of my first fanfic, which was a three-week venture that, I believe, turned out fairly nicely. At first (the first four chapters) I had no idea where this was going to go, how to make it interesting, et cetera. After that, it developed a conflict and story and almost guided itself, requiring little thought on my part to write the next chapter, having it flow into my head as I wrote. As a result, it isn't the best writing I could produce, but, again, I'm proud of the result.

Acknowledgements

This story owes parts of its existence to the stories Article 2 by Muppetz and Hands by Andrew Joshua Talon. The former showing me that these stories can be really interesting, and the second making me think "You know what, I should stop thinking of writing one and just do it." so I did, and this is what came from it.

Users on my comment thread have been invaluable and made me sure that I wasn't writing for the wall at the back of the room and that some, if just a few, read my story. Particular users that helped a major amount are Xirnoch, Dancing Question, and Ponyaddict. I thank you all very much for reading this and using your precious time to help me improve my story. Remember to track me for any further developments, if you want to, of course. And now for the sequel!

(It's got a different spin to it, somewhat.)

Dropping In: Trans-Universal Recovery Team