Yawning, I cracked open my eyes to see that the sun had risen well up into the sky, where it bathed the area around me in the soft glow of morning. For a moment, I panicked, thinking that I was still trapped underneath the boulders, until I felt the warmth of Twilight’s body pressed against mine. Sighing in relief, I kissed Twilight’s forehead, still not believing that it was all real.

“Mmm…” Twilight stirred at my kiss, and opened her eyes blearily. She smiled, and wrapped her forehooves around me in a sleepy hug. “Good morning, Nathan.”

“It certainly is,” I replied, returning the hug. “Well, I imagine it is. The only thing I can really see right now is you. Then again, that’s not really a bad thing.”

“Oh! That reminds me,” Twilight said, letting go of me for a moment, so she could rummage through her saddlebags. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she let out an, “Aha!” of triumph. She turned back to me, and to my amazement, she placed my glasses back onto my face.

“You found my glasses! But I thought that the river carried them away?” I said, happy, but confused.

“Well, I found them in the river. I guess we both just got lucky,” she said, lifting the blanket off of herself. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine,” I answered, giving her a smile of my own. And then, as if it had a reputation for ruining the moment to uphold, my stomach growled-no, it ROARED ferociously. Seriously, I think I heard it echo slightly. Chuckling, I added, “Okay, maybe I’m hungry.”

We both shared a laugh, and she opened her bag again, this time pulling out a few granola bars. “It’s not much, but it should hold you over until we get home.”

I took the bars quietly, and laughed quietly.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“You said ‘home’,” I stated. Biting into the bar, I chewed on it thoughtfully, while Twilight raised an eyebrow at me. Knowing that she would want an explanation, I said, “See, to me, home is where the heart is. That means that wherever my friends are, that’s where home is. Now, though, I’m with you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, “That sounded really corny, you know that, right?”

“Oh definitely. It’s the truth though.”

I tore into another granola bar, while Twilight filled up a canteen with water from the nearby river, and sipped at it occasionally. Finally, when I got bored of the silence, I asked, “So…didn’t you shoot out a flare or something last night?”
“I was actually just thinking about that,” Twilight admitted. She looked up at the sky, a worried expression on her face. “The girls should have seen it, and they should have been here by now. I hope nothing has happened to them.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah…I don’t want them getting hurt because I had to say something stupid.”

I trembled slightly, and shook off the dark thoughts in my head. They didn’t belong here, not in this moment. Not when Twilight is right here, at my side. In fact, she seemed to sense my thoughts, and she curled up next to me, and I wrapped a wing around her. The movement felt so natural, that it made me think that my Pegasus form was meant to do things like that. It still might have hurt my wings a bit to do that (okay, a lot!), but it was worth it to feel Twilight pressed against me.

The sound of twigs breaking reached my ears, and I quickly put myself between Twilight and the bushes where the noises were coming from, glaring as I did so. I might have been weaker than normal, but there was no way I would let anything try to hurt Twili-

“Twilight!” Suddenly, Spike and Rarity burst through the bushes, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie close behind them. Before I could react, they had crowded around the two of us, and were bombarding us with questions. I swayed slightly, the sudden noise after so much silence throwing me off, before Twilight took matters into her own hooves.

“Everypony! Please, calm down!” Twilight called out over the noise. “We’re fine, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, everything’s good,” I added, nodding in agreement.

Rarity frowned, as her eyes took in how Twilight was supporting me, and how there were two imprints in the ground where our blanket was still lying on the ground. Her eyes widened, and her lips curved into a knowing smile.

“What? Rarity? What are you smiling about?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Ooh! Did you just remember a funny joke? Because I remember one about a mule, and a griffin, and they walk into a bar where-”

“No, Pinkie darling, it’s not that!” Rarity said, barely containing her joy. She then put her face up close to mine, and she said, “Are you two…?”

I chuckled, and pulled Twilight closer to me with one of my wings. “Does that answer your question?”

“Wha-ha-ha-ha!” Rarity laughed, clapping her hooves together in her excitement. “Oh, I just knew it! Why, you two fit each other so perfectly!”

“Congratulations,” Fluttershy quietly said.

Pinkie on the other hoof, gasped overdramatically, and shot off into the forest, leaving a Pinkie-shaped cloud of smoke where she had been standing before. I shook my head, and decided not to worry about it.

“Hmph.” Spike crossed his arms, and he shot me a fierce glare. “I can’t believe you still helped him,” he muttered to Twilight.

“Spike,” Twilight said warningly.

I raised a hoof up to stop her, and said, “No, he’s right. It doesn’t matter why I did it, I still never should have done that. I nearly ruined my friendship with all of you, and I almost lost you. Spike has every right to be mad at me.”

That surprised him, and he said, “Oh, uh…yeah! Just, um, don’t do it again!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and she lifted up a small scroll. “Spike, could you please send this to Princess Celestia?”

“What is it?” Spike and I both asked at the exact same time.

“It’s a letter I wrote while you were sleeping, Nate,” Twilight explained, while Spike burned the letter up in a puff of green fire. “Well…it’s a friendship report, actually.”

“Oh?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Just as I was about to ask Twilight what she had written, Fluttershy interrupted, and asked, “Um, if you don’t mind, what happened last night? We were really worried about the both of you.”

“Oh. Well, when I flew away from the library last night…”

Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, trying to enjoy a rare moment of peace. She had just gotten finished dealing with some of the more uptight and arrogant nobles of Canterlot, each of them wanting to complain about SOMETHING. Sometimes being the wise and kind ruler had its drawbacks. Not being able to use magic to silence them was one of them.

As she entertained thoughts of replacing Money Bags’ mouth with a zipper, there was a brief flash of fire, and a scroll appeared, floating in front of her.

“Oh? It’s a little early for a friendship report,” Celestia mused, as she opened the scroll with her magic and scanned its contents. After she finished, she looked up, and called out to her guard, “Cancel all other meetings for today. I will be occupied with more important matters.”

“As you wish, your highness.”

With that, Celestia’s horn glowed, and she teleported out of the throne room, and into the hall outside of Luna’s quarters, still levitating the scroll in front of her. Before she could knock on the massive doors, they opened, revealing her sister, and ruler of the night.

“Sister?” Luna asked, rubbing her eyes wearily. “I was just having the most delightful dream…”

“Luna, please; Read this,” Celestia said, giving the scroll to Luna.

Luna quickly read the contents of the scroll, and a happy smile lit up her face. “I had a feeling that this would happen eventually.” Her smile disappeared, as she thought about all of the obstacles still in their way…

Luckily, it seemed that Celestia had already accounted for this.

“Luna,” The sun princess started, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. “I have a proposition.”
“What is thine idea?” Luna asked, momentarily slipping into her old accent for a moment.

“I believe it is time we gave Omnius…a reward.” Celestia explained her idea to Luna, going over some of the touchier subjects with her sister.

“Tia…if we are to do this, we will have to get the other gods’ approval,” Luna stated.

“I know. But I feel confident that they will accept it…after all, it can be our way of making sure that Torrentican can’t turn the tables on Omnius as easily,” Celestia said, her eyes hardening as she remembered the many atrocities he had committed, and how she had discovered Jenna’s true identity.

“You’re right. Well, we mustn’t wait any longer. Send out the message.”

“And then I heard you guys coming, and just…yeah,” I finished, taking another swig of water. Twilight had helped me to explain what had happened, but I still had to tell them what it was like being trapped underneath those boulders.

“You mean Jenna…oh my,” Fluttershy said, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Omnius, I’m so sorry…”

“Sans Souci. Besides, I’ve got Twilight, and she's definitely real to me,” I replied, smiling.

Twilight blushed, but smacked the back of my head and said, “Stop saying cheesy lines!”

“It’s not cheesy when they’re true! Besides, who doesn’t love cheese?”

We all shared another laugh, and I sat down, tearing into my seventh granola bar. “Wonder where Dash and AJ are.”

“Well, they were searching the opposite side of the forest. They should be here momentarily,” Rarity replied.

I nodded, satisfied with the answer for now. Looking from myself, and back to Twilight, I asked, “So, think Dash will be happy to see that we’re-“

Without warning, a cyan colored blur shot out of the bushes, and I instinctively pushed Twilight to the side, and lowered my head to take the blow.

SMACK!

I felt myself get thrown to the ground, and the force of the attack sent me crashing into a nearby tree. “Ow,” I stated, shaking stars out of my eyes. “Good to see you Rainbow. Your charges need some work.”

“Well how ‘bout my bucks?” A southern voice said from behind me.

“Ye Gods.”

I tried to say something else, but a pair of orange hooves connected with my face, and the stars in my vision exploded, sending waves of agony throughout my skull. I fell onto the ground, and kept falling into darkness…

“Did anypony get the license plate of that freight train that hit me?” I groaned, feeling my mind slowly pull itself together. A dull ache pulsed through my head, and I had to force my eyes open just to see where I was.

Bad move.

“AH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!” I yelled, shutting my eyes again. I forgot that when I get headaches, my eyes become extremely sensitive to light. And I also forgot something else: “OW! Yelling hurts my head, okay, good to know!”

“Oh, he’s awake! Again,” I heard Twilight say from somewhere in the room.

“Omnius! Pardner, I am REALLY sorry I did that,” Applejack’s voice said. She sounded extremely apologetic, and she added, “I didn’t stop ta think ‘bout wah ya said those things, but Twi explained it to me.”

“Oh…Sans Souci then,” I said, once again daring to crack my eyes open. “Where are we?”

“You’re back in my library.” Suddenly, my head felt as if cold water had been poured down it, and my headache faded away. I opened my eyes fully, and saw that Twilight’s eyes were just inches away from my own.

“I could get used to this,” I grinned. I got up, picking myself up off of Twilight’s bed (Get your mind out of the gutters!), and jumping to the floor. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

“Downstairs,” Twilight answered. “Come on, we don’t want to miss the party.”

“Party?”

I trotted down the stairs, with Twilight by my side, and Pinkie jumped out in front of me and yelled, “SURPRISE! Happy ‘Stopped acting silly and decided to get together like everyone thought you should’ party!”

“…Uh, wait, my what party?” I asked, before Pinkie shoved a cupcake into my mouth. I then decided to not question Pinkie’s randomness, and instead enjoy the food. In front of us, ponies were crowded into the library, enjoying some of Pinkie’s baked goods, and listening to some random music.

Yeah. I’m just gonna eat my cupcake now.

Why yes, I do have my priorities straight.

“Hey, Nate, good to see you’re still alive.” I looked over, and saw a very familiar looking human…

“Kyle!” I said, giving him a bro-hoof. “How did you get here?”

“You ask that a lot, you know that?” He said, returning the gesture happily. He then raised his eyebrows, and looked from me to Twilight rapidly. A smug grin appeared on his face, and he said, “Called it.”

“Yeah, you did,” I agreed. “And you know what?”

“What?”

“I couldn’t be happier that you were right.”

A few hours into the party, and I was back to my old self. Several cupcakes and soda drinks can do that for me. Oh, and Twister. I’m really good at Twister. Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh right!

Just as I finished what must have been my thirteenth cupcake, I felt a hoof tap my shoulder. Swallowing, I glanced behind me to see that Twilight was standing there, holding a small telescope.

“Can we go somewhere a little more…quiet?” She asked, looking pointedly at the night sky outside.

I took the hint, and nodded. My stomach growled at me again, and I turned back to the table to grab a tray of cookies. Balancing them on my head, I quickly followed Twilight outside, as we snuck away unnoticed by the crowd.

“Did you really have to bring those?” Twilight asked, giving me a small grin.

“Well…yeah, kinda.”

She just rolled her eyes and took one of the cookies from the tray. As she bit into it, she also levitated another cookie into my mouth, saving me the trouble of trying to reach the tray.

“F’angs” I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

A few more minutes of walking later, and I realized that she was leading us back to the hill where we had spent Hearts and Hooves Day together.

“So, why’d you want to come out here?” I asked, looking at the night sky.

Twilight set up her telescope, and put her eye to it, adjusting a few knobs on it. “I got a letter from Princess Luna, saying that there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight! It should be happening in just a few minutes.”

As she finished speaking, a meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a small trail of white light in its wake. Twilight gasped, and a huge smile lit up her face. I watched the sky with her, as more meteors shot across the sky, and I said, “Aren’t you supposed to make a wish on a shooting star?”

“Who says I didn’t?” Twilight asked, giving me a teasing smile. “What if I already got my wish?”

“What would that be?”

She nuzzled my side, and kissed me again. “Take a wild guess.”

I chuckled, and returned the kiss happily. “Well, I’m still hoping my wish comes true.”

“What did you wish for?”

“Can’t say. It’d ruin it,” I stated. “But so far it’s going well.”

We sat there, together, occasionally glancing into the telescope to get a better view of the falling stars. Every time Twilight would use the telescope, my eyes wouldn’t be on the sky. They’d be on her. They’d be watching the stars in her eyes.

On a sudden impulse, I asked her, “Twilight, do you want to see the stars?”

“Aren’t we watching them already?” She replied, a semi-confused look on her face.

I shook my head, and gestured at the sky, saying, “No, not like this! I mean…never mind, it’s probably not a good idea anyways.”

“Oh, I would actually like to hear it, Traveler.”

Twilight and I jumped, and we turned to see that not only was Princess Celestia standing there, but so was Princess Luna, Kyle, and the rest of the girls. I swallowed nervously, and said wittily, “Uh, hi? Lovely weather we’re having?”

Luna nodded, her eyes glued to the sky. “Indeed. I put a lot of effort into this night. After all, it is a special occasion.”

“It shows,” Twilight said.

“Special occasion?” I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly. “Uh, what’s going on?”

“Yeah, I’m a little curious about that myself,” Kyle added.

Celestia smiled, and she turned to Twilight and I. “It is quite obvious that you two harbor deep feelings for one another, correct?”

We both nodded.

“But as Omnius can’t stay, and his Traveling is random, you might be separated for quite some time, now wouldn’t you? And Twilight has a life here…”

Again, we nodded.

“Therefore, after conversing with several Gods of Good, we have decided to do this…” Celestia and Luna’s horns both glowed, and a beam of light shot out of them, hitting Twilight’s horn. Her eyes started to glow, and a purple ray shot out, and connected with my chest.

For an instant, I felt like I was a part of Twilight. I could hear what she heard, and see what she saw. For a moment, I could feel the amount of raw, magical energy she held inside of her. Finally, the lights disappeared, leaving me drained.

“What…what just happened?” I panted, shaking my head.

“Twilight is now bound to your life,” Luna stated. “As long as you both continue to care for one another, and as long as Omnius lives, so shall she.”

My jaw dropped in shock. Twilight gasped, and she looked frantically between the two Alicorns. In awe, she started to say, “B-but that means that-”

“You now have part of the magic that makes Nathan who he is inside of you. You can learn any and all magic abilities, and are just as immortal as he is. Your only limits are that you cannot Travel by yourself, and…Nathan will explain the rest.” Luna averted her gaze for a moment, but I was too happy to care.

“But…what about the random Traveling?” Twilight brought up. “What will happen if I’m gone for so long, that-”

“That is another gift: Whenever you leave, and return, you will always return to the point you were at five seconds after you left,” Celestia said, smiling.

All of us sat there in shocked silence. This was…I mean…they just…

YE GODS AND GODDESSES!

“Princesses…Gods and Goddesses of Good…” I muttered. “Thank you…”

[Right now, I’d HIGHLY suggest listening to “Promise – Next New World” Mega man Zero 4]

Okay, that just leaves one thing I have to do. I hope I’ve hung out with the Doctor long enough to know how to do it properly.

“Twilight?” I asked, grabbing her shoulders. “Do you want to see them?”

“See what?”

“The stars! You know, stars, other worlds, mysteries that can be unseen, but believed in!” I replied. Gesturing a hoof at the stars above us, I said, “There are endless worlds out there, each one with countless moments to experience! And each of those moments has a story, waiting to for someone to hear them!”

Twilight swallowed nervously, and she hesitantly asked, “And…you want me to…see them with you?”

My heart fell slightly, and I said, “Well…yeah. If you want to. I mean, if you don’t want to-”

She silenced me with another kiss, in front of everyone there, and she said, “Of course I will!”

I laughed in joy, my heart now soaring high into the sky. “Well, no sense in putting it off any longer! Want to go now?”

“Now?! As in, now-now?”

“Duh! I’ve already got our bags packed!” I winked. “Pocket Dimensions! Can’t go wrong with them!”

She thought about it for only a second, and then nodded. A frown crossed her face, and she asked in a small voice, “What’s it going to be like?”

“What? Traveling?”

She nodded.

“Twilight…I’m going to tell you a secret. Well, I guess everyone here is gonna hear it, but not big deal.” I leaned closer to her, and said, “Traveling is always how you picture it.”

“Huh?”

“Exactly! You’ll feel how you think you’ll feel! Kyle thought Traveling was like going down a tunnel, right?”

“It’s true!” He called out, slightly annoyed.

“And I always picture it as a jump! Like I’m just taking one big leap of faith, and trusting in fate to take me where I’m needed!” I grinned sheepishly, and added, “It’s why I’m always falling when I enter a new world.”

“So…a leap of faith?” Twilight repeated.

“Yep.” I held out a hoof to her, and said, “Don’t worry about the fall though. I’ll catch you.”

She smiled, and accepted my hoof. “Live and Learn?” She said, quoting one of my many phrases.

“I love you so much right now,” I replied. With that, I turned on the spot, waving goodbye to the others, Twilight waving as well, and shouted, out one phrase that summed up all of my feelings at that point. One phrase that expressed my love for Twilight, my endless thirst for knowledge and adventure, and my eternal fate, along with stating who I was with pride, and confidence.

“IT’S GOOD TO BE THE TRAVELER!”

As they disappeared, Celestia let out a knowing smile.

“What?” Kyle asked her. “What’s so funny?”

“I feel as if we have made things…even, for The Travelers again,” she answered. “Torrentican has his Shadow-Stalkers, his own personal army. Neutra has her Disciples, her own secret organization. Now? Omnius has Twilight. His own light to guide him in the darkness to come.”

“Whoa…that’s kinda deep.”

“Yes,” Luna nodded. “He now has his Eternal Twilight.”

Howdy y'all! Yes, you read that right! It's the end of Story 1! I might put up more bonus chapters, or maybe new story arcs if I feel like it. Who knows!?

Also, has anyone noticed the hidden subliminal message? If I've already told you, please don't say, and let the others figure it out. If you think you notice it, please say so in the comments!

Esperanto!

Next Chapter: 9) Interesting Developments Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 47 Minutes