Celestia emerged from the portal slowly, followed by Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and her student’s friends. Draped across her back lay Allen’s body, which had just been lifeless moments before, but the portal’s magic had saved him from the brink of death. He lay there now, sleeping soundly as Luna led the way to his house.
When they stepped through the gaping hole in the wall, they were greeted by a female human, who stared at them in awe.

“Excuse me,” Celestia began, “are you Allen’s mother?”
The woman nodded slowly, hardly able to believe the sight before her. Celestia turned, revealing the boy she was carrying, and Allen’s mother ran forward, letting out a sob of joy, and hugged her son tightly.
“He’s unconscious, and probably won’t wake until tomorrow morning. He’s had quite the day,” she said, smiling at the loving sight before her.
“I know,” the woman whispered, “my little boy saved the world.”

Celestia stared for a moment longer, and then levitated a sealed envelope over to the joyful human. “Please give him this when he wakes,” she asked softly, “it has one final request for him,” and she led the others away. She took one last glance at the house and saw there was a large hole in the wall, probably made by a Sentinel. She smiled as her horn glowed brightly, and the debris that littered the ground slowly floated into the air, and the wall was restored to its former wholeness.

“Princess,” Twilight asked slowly, “what was in that envelope?”
Celestia looked down sadly. “I cannot tell you right now, but it is for the good of both ours and Allen’s worlds,” she said flatly.
Twilight nodded understandingly. “Will we ever see him again?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. The other’s looked at the white alicorn expectantly.
“I cannot say for certain,” Celestia said quietly, “but I do not doubt that you may someday,” she added comfortingly as the ponies passed the swirling vortex, returning to their own world.

I snapped my eyes open and shot up in bed, panting hard. I looked around at my room. “I’m… alive?” I said slowly, not believing what was happening. I got up, got dressed, and headed downstairs, where my mom was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee and staring at an open envelope. “Are you okay?” I asked slowly.

She sighed heavily. “Considering a group of talking ponies approached me last night carrying you and told me that you had single-handedly saved two worlds and almost died, I’m coping pretty well,” she said quietly. “One of them said this was for you,” she added, gesturing towards the envelope. “I thought about reading it, but decided it was best for you to be the only one to see,” she said as I started reading.

Dear Allen,

Firstly, I would like to thank you, on behalf of all Equestria, for defeating Drayke and saving us all. You have shown that humans have indeed changed, and are fully aware of the power that friendship can hold. Unfortunately, there is one final task I must ask of you.

I swallowed hard when I saw those words.

The power of Drayke’s crystal is still keeping the portal open. The archway cannot be destroyed in our world, for it is shielded by a powerful spell. In your world, however, since there is no magic, it can be destroyed. That is why, with a heavy heart, I must ask that you destroy the portal, and close the doorway between worlds forever. I know this is difficult for you, but you must understand that it is for the best. I am sorry.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

I stared at the letter long after I was finished reading it. Destroy the portal? Never see my friends again? No, I thought angrily, I can’t do it. I won’t do it!
I slammed the paper down on the table and ran out the door with no idea of what I was going to do.

I found myself sitting on a bench in the middle of the park, staring straight ahead with an angry look plastered on my face. I kept scowling, until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Mister Lance, my teacher, standing behind me.
“I thought that was you, Allen,” he said cheerfully, “glad to see you’re okay after that incident yesterday, what with those crystal statues attacking.”

I smiled emptily. “Hey, Mister Lance. What brings you here?”
He sighed. “With those things gone, my daughter insisted that we come to the park for the day,” he said, gesturing to a little girl playing on the swings behind us.
I nodded. “Mister Lance,” I began, but he cut me off.
“Allen, we aren’t in school. You can call me Mike,” he said, a humored tone in his voice.
I smiled. “Okay, Mike, can I ask you something?” I asked slowly.
He nodded. “Of course,” he said, confused.

I looked straight ahead. “If you had to do something, for the greater good, and it meant you had to let go of something that meant more than anything to you, would you still go through with it?”
He pondered this for a moment. “I suppose I would do the right thing. It would seem like a good idea to ignore everything at first, but it would only end badly in the long run. If you do the right thing in the first place, then at least you'll have a chance to move on with no regrets when it's all over,” he said quietly.
I nodded, understanding where he was coming from. If I didn’t close the portal, it would only be a matter of time before humans returned to Equestria, and that could only end badly.
“I have to do what’s right,” I said as I stood up slowly. I quickly thanked my teacher and ran home without another word.

When I got home, I let my mom know I was going for a walk in the woods. She asked why, to which I responded “to do the right thing” just as I stepped outside. I grabbed a sledgehammer from our garage and quietly walked out into the forest, tightly gripping the massive tool with both hands as I carried it over my shoulder.

After a little while, I saw the archway standing in front of me just a few feet away, the portal still swirling around with a full view of the field that lay on the other side within it. I let the hammer fall through my hands, catching the end of the handle as the head hit the ground, and swung it onto my shoulder as I took a readied stance.

Here goes nothing, I thought as I wrapped my fingers around the hammer tightly, pulling my arms back to swing at the stone frame in front of me. Come on, I urged myself as I sat there, my arms shaking at the thought of what I was about to do, you can do it; just one little tap and this is all over.

I swung the hammer with all my strength… and it passed just inches in front of the archway as I threw it to the side, screaming in desperation. “AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!” I shouted as I threw my head back and dropped to my knees, screaming at the heavens. I fell to my side and started sobbing uncontrollably, the pressure of my decision breaking me.

I can’t do it, I thought as I lay in the grassy dirt, I can’t destroy the only way back!

But it’s the right thing to do, I told myself.

I don’t care! I’m not going to lose them!

What if you don’t, hmm? What if this thing stays open, and humans and ponies are free to cross between worlds? It will only end the same way it went those thousands of years ago: in a war. Do you really want to make your friends have to suffer that?

I stood slowly, keeping that last thought in mind as I retrieved the hammer and glared at the portal, taking my swinging stance once again.
I have to, I thought blankly, for everyone's sake.
Just as I was about to swing, I heard six faded voices calling my name. I looked into the portal and saw my friends rushing towards me from their side.

They must have gotten Celestia to tell them what she wanted me to do, I thought sadly as they continued shouting my name, begging me to stop. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, and swung the sledgehammer at the stone frame with all of my might.

A loud crack rang out through the trees, and the stone archway crumbled at my feet. I looked up slowly to see the portal was still there, but it was fading fast. On the other side, I could see my friends' horrified faces; all of them looked confused and sad at what I had done. All of them, except for Twilight, who’s face saddened me the most: she looked as if she… understood, and sympathized with, what I had done, and why I had to do it.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly as the portal began to blink out, “I’m so, so sorry.”

And then they were gone.

I sat there for nearly an hour, staring blankly at the spot the portal had sat in. My legs were tired of just sitting there, holding me up without a rest, but I didn’t care. I just sat there as the memories of my week in their world flooded back to me.

I remembered waving slightly as Celestia introduced me to her subjects.
I remembered falling to the floor in Twilight’s library as we laughed and laughed.
I remembered falling from the sky with Discord, and my wonderful picnic with Fluttershy.
I remembered Applejack’s fond embrace as she comforted me as I finally let my pain go.
I remembered marveling at the suit Rarity had made for me, and Sweetie Belle calling me a “hero”.
I remembered gliding through the air at high speeds as Rainbow Dash carried me to safety.
I remembered setting up the party at Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie, and then dancing the night away with all my friends.
I remembered laying in bed, my arms wrapped tightly around Princess Luna as we slept peacefully.
But, most painful of all, I remembered laying there, thinking I was going to die, as my friends all sat around me and said goodbye.

I looked over to my right and saw the broken tree branch with the noose tied around it; it seemed like years ago I had tried to kill myself, and I smiled at how foolish I had been. I may not be able to see them again, but I know, somewhere out there, I had friends who cared for me. And hey, who knows; maybe I’ll still see them someday. I just hope it’s soon.

Thinking this, I did something I had not done on Earth in a long time: I laughed. Not because somebody had told a joke, not because I saw somebody do something stupid, but because I was happy. Simple as that: I was finally happy with my life. I turned around and sprinted home as fast as my already-weak legs could carry me. My lungs were on fire, I was dehydrated, and I just wanted to lie down and sleep for a thousand years.

I had never felt better in my life.

So I kept running.

I kept laughing.

I kept living.