Three Days Until Portal Closes

Around and around they went as the Sparkle family fell through the portal. The rainbow lights blinding as the broke into another a reality. Then suddenly, blackness. Everything had gone dark around them, but soon they began to awaken.

“Oh, man. What a rush,” Scootaloo said, trying to regain her consciousness.

“You can say that again, sis.”

“Did it work?” asked Twilight.

“Yes, dear, it worked. Though I have a question,” said DJ.

“Yes?”

“How is that I was the last one through the portal, yet you all landed on top of me!?” It was quite the sight. In front of a large statue was a pile of multicolored humans. The orange-skinned, purple haired Scootaloo on top, black-as-night with violet hair Nyx under her, and the purple and navy blue haired Twilight underneath her daughters. DJ was the unlucky one on the very bottom, his new blue skin and deep brown hair blowing in a soft breeze. “This is getting old!”

“It’s probably cosmic payback for shoving us through the portal,” said a voice of to the side. DJ looked over and saw a small purple dog with green-furred ears. It was Spike.

“You were taking too long!” DJ retorted. Then he remembered what was going on. “Get off!” The girls giggled at his dilemma, but slowly and carefully got themselves off of DJ’s back. Once Twilight was able to get up, DJ forced himself up to his feet. From there he examined himself, only to find there was not much change. He was still wearing his deep blue jacket, dark-blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and white tennis shoes. Even his old aviator sun-glasses were on his head. Despite the blue skin, he looked just like he used to as a human. Looking back to his family, he saw that Scootaloo and Nyx were having some trouble standing on two legs.

“This is harder than it looks!” Scoots cried, as she started to fall. DJ rushed over and caught her. “Thanks dad. This is gonna take some getting used to.”

“I think I almost got it,” Nyx said as used the statue behind them for support.

“Show off,” commented Scootaloo.

DJ took this chance to see how his family looked. Twilight looked no different from her first time in the human world, save for a pair of light-black pants that went past her purple skirt and a purple sweater adorning her mid-section. Nyx was wearing what looked like a fuller version of her old vest as it was a long sleeve jacket that was teal in color as well as a pair of purple pants. Scootaloo had on a black sweatshirt and dark green cargo jeans that made her look quite sporty. Although, something was off.

“Why do our daughters look older?” DJ asked aloud to Twilight. She looked over at them too and noticed that indeed that they seemed several years older than they should.

“I’m… not quite sure. How old do they look?”

“I would guess maybe fourteen or fifteen.” The girls now paid more attention to themselves as well.

“You mean we’re teenagers?” Nyx asked. Her father nodded and the two girls looked to each other. After a moment they smiled and gave one another a high five.

“Awesome!” they said in unison.

“This is either gonna be really bad or really good,” Spike commented down by DJ’s leg. “Now where’s our agreement, bro?”

“Hmm? Oh, right, right, sorry.” DJ lifted up his wrist to where the omnitrix had been relocated. “Omni, decouple, code ten.” A moment later, the sound of a latch being undone was heard from the watch and the bands around DJ’s wrist retracted. DJ removed the device from his arm and bent down to place it on Spike. With it wrapped around Spike’s collar, DJ stood back up to admire his work. “Try it out, Spike.”

Spike looked back down to the device wearily. “Omnitrix?”

“Yes, master Spike? How may I be of service?” Omni’s JARVIS-like voice responded.

“Uh, human up?” The omnitrix lit up and the dog was engulfed in a green light. “Woah!” Spike screamed from the strange sensation. After a moment, Spike opened his eyes to find himself just under eye level with DJ. He looked down at his new body to examine it. He had purple skin and was wearing a large green hooded sweatshirt and dark purple jeans with black tennis shoes. He looked up to find a head of green hair, the same color as his head scales. “I look cool,” Spike said smoothly after a moment.

“And you even look seventeen. Nice one dude.” DJ put out his fist and Spike bumped it in return. “Omni’s gotten better at holding the form changes, but you better make sure how much charge he’s got left.”

“Oh, right.” Spike looked over to the shoulder pad on his left where the omnitrix had placed itself. “How long do I have in this form, Omni?”

“There is currently a 95% charge. Roughly seventy-five hour remain for this form.”

Spike whistled in appreciation. “Wow. I remember when this thing could only hold the form lock for about five hours. He’s really gotten better.”

DJ smiled at this. “Yep, Omni and I have been working on a lot of improvements to the omnitrix. Even if it is magical, there is always room for improvement.”

“So now that Spike’s a human, too, what do we do now?” Scootaloo asked. Before anyone could say anything, her stomach started grumbling in the need of lunch. She blushed as the others giggled at her predicament.

“Sounds like the plan is lunch,” DJ quipped. “I got an idea. Hey, Twilight. How about I take the girls and Spike over to Sugar Cube Corner for a bite to eat, while you go meet up with your old human friends? After you all catch up, you can meet us there.”

“I like that idea DJ. Thank you.” She leant up and gave DJ a peck on the cheek. The girls just ‘ew’ed at the affection.

“Why do you guys always do that in front of us?” Scootaloo said turning her head away.

“You’ll get there some day, squirt,” DJ countered. Both girls just stuck out there tounges. Scootaloo and Nyx may look fourteen, but they were still eleven and ten respectively. “Go on, hon, we’ll meet up later.”

“Have fun you four,” Twilight said as she ran off to find her friends. A quick breeze around them suddenly caused the three new humans around him to start shivering.

“Woo, that’s cold! Why is it so cold?” asked Nyx who was shaking, but not as bad as Scootaloo since her coat wasn’t as thick. DJ took a quick look around and only just now saw the light snow on the ground and the lack of leaves in the bare trees.

“I think its winter here,” DJ said after a moment then took another look at the group’s attire. “Explains the coats. Come on, let’s go get something to eat and stay warm.”

**********

Photo Finish was in the zone. She had only one more photo to take before submitting them to the yearbook and it involved six of the most popular girls in the school. They didn’t use to be, but everything that happened at the Fall Formal Dance had boosted them up the social chain exponentially. There they sat on a nearby bench, posed ever so perfectly for the professional photographer. All six of those young ladies: Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer.

Photo stood right behind her camera, a tripod set up so she could take the perfect picture. “Okay, now smile for… Photo Finish!” They rolled their eyes at her, but smiled nonetheless. Photo leaned into the camera and stopped. Standing right behind the girls was a certain someone who hadn’t been seen since the Fall Formal. The girl put a finger to her lips, indicating silence and Photo smiled. A special surprise was certainly her style. She pressed the trigger and the camera flashed as the picture was captured. Photo smiled as her camera slid out a copy of the photo. She walked over to the girls and handed the picture to Applejack. “Enjoy the photo. You may find something surprising. Photo Finish… is out!” Photo strutted off to deliver her perfection.

Applejack simply watched as the photo girl walked off and turned back to her friends. “What do y’all think she meant by that?” They all shrugged in response.

“Ooh! Ooh! Let’s see the picture!” Pinkie said in anticipation. The pink human reached over and plucked it from Applejack’s hand. She held it close to her, but still visible to the others. “Hmm. It looks normal. See, there’s me, and Applejack, and Rainbow, and Rarity, and Sunset, and Twilight, and Fluttershy.”

“Wait, what was that last one?” Rarity asked incredulously.

“Fluttershy?”

“No before that, darling.”

“Sunset?”

“In the middle!” Sunset said, getting annoyed.

“Oh! Twilight. Yeah she’s right there behind Rainbow.” It took Pinkie a moment to realize what she just said as the others leaned in to look at the picture. Just as Pinkie said, their old friend Twilight’s face was clearly visible standing behind the rainbow-haired girl.

As the girls stared in disbelief, Twilight quietly giggled to herself and walked up behind them. She looked over them at the photo and spoke. “That’s a nice picture.” All six of them jumped and turned around in a heartbeat. For several moments they stared as Twilight simply smiled at them. Pinkie was the first to react.

“Twilight!!” she screamed as she lunged at the purple girl. Pinkie pulled Twilight into a bone crushing hug, gushing over her returning friend. “You came back! You came back! You came back!! This is SO amazing!!” A second later the others, save for Sunset Shimmer, joined in the hug, all welcoming Twilight back to their world.

“What are you doing here, darling? We thought we might never see you again.”

“Vacationing if you can believe it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you all.”

“Glad to have you back, sugar cube. These past few months have just been too quiet without ya around.”

“Yeah, it certainly is gre--. Wait, what?! What do you mean months!?” Twilight stared at her friends in massive shock. “How long have I been gone?”

“About two and half months,” Rainbow answered. “Why?”

“Because I haven’t seen any of you in two and half years!” Now it was the girls’ turn to be surprised.

“Are you serious?” Rarity asked in shock. Twilight nodded her head, still in a stupor.

“Months equals years here, Princess,” said Sunset Shimmer for the first time. “How else could I still be this young even though I was Princess Celestia’s student several years before you?”

Twilight nodded as she thought that over. “Yes, I suppose that makes sense. It does certainly explain a few things. Also, it’s nice to see you again Sunset Shimmer.” Twilight walked over to the girl and hugged her tight. “And call me Twilight, not ‘Princess’.”

Sunset stood there stunned for a minute, but eventually put her arms around Twilight to return the hug. “It’s good to see you, too, Twilight.” After a few moments, they broke the hug and turned back to the others.

“So, who’s up for a bite to eat?” Twilight asked the group. “There’s a few others I brought with me that I would like for all of you to meet.” The girls all smiled at Twilight’s offer and they started off towards Sugar Cube Corner, with Twilight leading.

“So, Princess,” Rainbow began, “Anything exciting happen since we last saw each other? From the look of it, it seemed as if you attract trouble.”

“Yeah, it has been a busy two years. There was the time I had to return the Elements and—Oof!” Twilight was interrupted as she ran into something, only for the object to groan back. Not something; someone. Someone Twilight was hoping she wouldn’t run into.

“Twilight?” asked the boy in surprise. “Is that you?”

“Flash!” Twilight answered as she looked at the tall boy in front of her. Flash Sentry looked exactly as he did so long ago, only for her to remind herself that it had only been a few months for him. “It’s good to see you again.” Twilight tried to avert her gaze from her old crush, but wasn’t succeeding all that well.

“Yeah you, too. Uh, do you maybe wanna get a coffee and catch up later?” Flash asked nervously. Twilight could see that he still had some feelings for her, but the feeling was no longer mutual, even he did look a little hot.

“Sorry, Flash. I can’t. I hope you understand. It really was good seeing you though. It’s always good to see old friends.” Twilight gave him a comforting smile and started continuing on her way towards Sugar Cube Corner. Flash just watched her go, a little upset that she had turned him down, on purpose this time. Her friends were all in different levels of shock. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had their jaws open, Applejack, Rainbow, and Sunset were all looking at her suspiciously, and Fluttershy tried to hide her blush behind her hair. They all ran after Twilight, leaving Flash alone to his thoughts.

“What was that all about, Twilight?” Rarity asked after a moment. “You two were so into each other last time you were here. What has changed?”

“You’ll find out soon, Rarity. Right now, I could really use a bite to eat.” Twilight gave them a small wink and just continued walking, all of her friends wondering exactly who it was they were going to meet at Sugar Cube Corner.