I trotted down to the bottom floor of the foyer, looking for Twilight and Spike. As I walked toward the center of the entrance room, I heard quiet sniffling noises coming from the other side of the front door. Instantly, I knew I found who I was looking for and opened the door to see Twilight, sitting on her haunches on the top doorstep with her back facing towards me. Spike was sitting on her right and rubbing her back. Both of them turned to look at me with expressions of grief as I exited the castle.

“Hey, y’all…” I said, unsure of how to approach the saddened unicorn.

“Hey…” was all Twilight said. Her eyes were still glassy with fresh tears. Her face was drenched in them. Evidently, so was her right foreleg.

“How’d your word with Celestia go?” Spike asked.

“I’ll… tell y’all on the way back.” I answered. “I’ss kind of a long story…”

“Are you ready to depart?” asked a pegasus guard, already hooked up to a carriage alongside another guard.

“Y-yes…” Spike answered. We subsequently made our way to the chariot, and soon, we were on our way back to Ponyville. The ride was eerily quiet at first, seeing as I figured Twi was too upset to speak, and Spike was just as unsure of how to go about comforting her as I was. I was feeling the familiar chill and decrease in air from being so high up, but given that I’d already gotten my first experience, coupled with the fact that there was a more important matter to focus on, I managed to ignore it. It took me a short while of thinking of a conversation opener, but eventually, I decided to break the silence.

“…Princess Celestia at least allowed me t’ say goodbye t’ the girls before I left…”

“That’s good…” Twilight sadly answered, looking at the floor of the chariot.

“We talked to each other and we came upon an agreement. She says she’s jus’ lookin’ out for the best interests of Equestria…”

“As a Princess should do, I suppose…”

“She… told me t’ tell you she’s sorry…”

“I’m sure she is…” Nothing I was saying was making the unicorn budge. I was at a loss for what to say next, so I went on a whim and scooted close to her and hugged her. At first, she didn’t respond, but she slowly found it in herself to return the hug, albeit halfheartedly.

“Please tell me you ain’t lettin’ this hurt you THAT badly… I mean, it hurts a lot for me, too… I don’t like this any more than you do… I hate it… But le’ss not forget that I woulda had t’ leave anyw—!”

“I didn’t want you to leave so soon…” she gloomily began. “I already acknowledged that I’d have to take you back eventually… but… what I wasn’t prepared for was that… *sniffle* by order of Princess Celestia, I’m not allowed to see you or go back to your world anymore after I take you back…” She was right about that.

“I… I know,” I answered with a hint of sadness. “But… we’ll always have the memories of our times together, at the very least. At least Princess Celestia didn’t say we had t’ get our memories o’ the last few days wiped… right?”

“That’s true…” she said as she put more effort into the hug. “But still… both of us are practically forced to live out the rest of our lives as if the times we'd shared had never happened... Plus... there’s something… I was going to tell you before you left… I just thought I’d have more time to confirm it for myself before I did, though…”

“What’s up?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

“Well… I… I think I…” she was hesitating, losing her words.

“You… what?” I asked again, wondering what was keeping her from answering me.

“I… kind of… L… L… *sigh* Ohh, why is this so hard…?” She went silent and started to feel warmer in my forelegs. I tilted my head slightly to get a look at her face to see her cheeks turning a bright pink. Whatever she wanted to tell me, it must’ve been big.

“Twi… what is it you’re tryna—!” I was cut off as she turned to me and pressed her lips against mine, which froze me in complete surprise. Shortly after, she pulled her head away. I got the message right away, but I was dumbfounded. I looked at her, but she was looking down at the floor of the chariot once again; not out of sadness, but out of embarrassment. “Umm… I-is that… your way of tellin’ me… that you like me…?” I asked, still taken aback by her unexpectedly brash action as I impulsively licked my lips.

“Wh-what if it is…?” she sheepishly asked.

“Then… then I don’t think I heard you very well…” I slyly retorted with a smirk. “Mind repeatin’ that?” She giggled and looked back at me with that same dreamy smile she gave me before we went to see Celestia. “Y’know, this is gonna make it a LOT harder t’ say goodbye…”

“I know… but I had to get that off of my chest… Cadence told me that I should’ve waited to make sure my feelings were genuine, but since there’s no time left to wait… Better now than never, right?” My eyes widened in realization.

“So… that IS what you an’ Cadence wanted t’ be alone for… I shoulda figured… Even Spike saw it before I did… This is kinda ironic, too…”

“What is?”

“All the time we spent tryin’ t’ either ignore or deny that silly rumor about us bein’ together that way… Yet look where we are now…” We chuckled a little.

“True… I just wish Princess Celestia would’ve made it clearer as to why she made her decisions on you leaving…”

“She explained it to me after you left… she said she had to, basically because she was scared that what happened while she was away could happen on a whole different scale had someone evil got wind o’ the spell you learned and the knowledge you acquired o’ my world.” Twilight’s eyes widened in shock.

“What happened…?”

“Turns out that trade dispute started cuz somebody from one country invited somebody else from the other country over. The guest turned out t’ be usin’ the first person as a way t’ sneak into that country an’ start messin’ everything up for both of ‘em. Celestia managed t’ stop ‘im when she got ‘im t’ spill all his secrets out to a spy she appointed. The guy was plannin’ t’ cause a war that started off with the trade dispute so he an’ a group o’ rebels would be able t’ take over. She told me that she didn’t want that t’ happen if somepony here learned your spell and got some of your info on my world with those kinds of intentions, so her only reasonable choice was t’ keep you from usin’ it or lettin’ anybody else know anything…”

“I see…” Twilight replied as she thought. “But… what about you?”

“As for me, she didn’t want me t’ accidentally say somethin’ that would wind up givin’ either of us away in some form or another… that pretty much sums up why we ain’t allowed t’ do this anymore… she’s jus’ lookin’ out for everypony’s best interests. That don’t go t’ say she ain’t feel bad about it, though… after you stormed out, she started cryin’ herself…”

“Oh… well now I feel horrible…” Twilight said, now remorseful. “I lost my temper and yelled at my mentor because of a crush, and it turns out she was just worried about everypony’s safety… she must hate me…” New tears began to stream from her eyes. “How could I be so selfish…? *sniffle* I wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to see me again…”

“She doesn’t hate you,” I assured. “There ain’t no way she could hate you. I’m sure she understands your feelin’s, but unfortunately, they had t’ take a back seat t’ her duties as ruler of Equestria. If anything, she prolly thinks YOU hate HER an’ don’t wanna see her again… But i’ss jus’ like I told your brother; you’re family. No arguments as small as that is gonna change that. She might be the Goddess of the Sun and the leader of Equestria an’ all, but remember… she’s also your aunt and your teacher.” I smiled at the unicorn as we held each other firmly in our forelegs.

“Thank you for that…” Twi said as she looked back at me and gave me a tearful smile.

In the rich orange light of the radiant, clear-skied sunset we were flying in, Twilight looked even more beautiful than ever. Her mane flowing freely in the unreasonably frigid wind as the waning sunlight hit her in just the way that made her large, gorgeous purple tear-stained eyes glimmer as she smiled warmly at me. In that moment, all my worries about me being human and from a different universe temporarily washed away as I smiled back at her. It still hurt that we’d never be able to share our true feelings like this again, but I was more focused on the little lavender unicorn I was holding than anything. After we stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds as we hugged, we closed our eyes, moved in and locked our lips together once again. She tasted faintly of sweetened lemon, which I guess had something to do with the last thing she ate or drank while I wasn’t around. I also tasted the salt from her tears. I lost myself in the euphoria of it...

“*AHEM!*” Spike interrupted, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“*pop* Oops! Heh, sorry, Spike,” Twilight apologized, flustered and withdrawing from the embrace.

“Yea, my bad…” I added as I scratched my head in embarrassment. While Twilight was blushingly staring down yet again, I looked at Spike. He turned to look back at me, smiled and winked so as to convey the message, “I told you so.” I laughed, but I was still a bit resentful of him at that moment.

“You little mood-killer…”

The rest of the ride was awkwardly silent, but I couldn’t help but frequently glance at the object of my affections. I tried to avert my gaze, so as not to be tempted to flirt with Twilight and make Spike feel more unsettled than he already was. Twilight hardly moved from her position of discomfort, but I did catch her staring back at me a couple times, where she would swiftly look back at the floor of the chariot. She was adorable. Spike must’ve noticed our little game, because every time I looked at him, he seemed more and more annoyed as he stared off into space with a furrowed brow, away from Twi and I. Eventually, Twilight’s library came into view as we approached.

“Finally! I was getting tired of sitting here with you two flirting with each other…” Spike complained. I laughed at the dragon’s agitation.

“Don’t worry, Spike,” I began. “I promise that we won’t do nothin’ else in front o' you...” He looked at me and smiled. “’Cept this,” I quickly added as I kissed Twilight on the cheek, causing her to giggle and blush. I gave him a purposefully goofy smile. He shot daggers at me with his eyes before turning away. I was wondering if he felt… jealous, in a way. Nonetheless, we finally landed in front of Twilight’s library where, surprisingly, all of her friends were waiting for us.

“And you said you and Miss Sparkle were just friends…” I heard one of the guards say as we climbed out of the chariot. I cringed at that remark, seeing as I wasn’t expecting the same guards who took us to Canterlot to be the ones to bring us back to Ponyville, much less the ones to witness everything that went on during the way here… or were they the same guards…? They all looked alike… Damn…

“Hey!” “Howdy!” “Good Evening!” “Hello…” “Hiya, guys!” the five mares greeted in unison.

“What up, y’all.” “Hi, girls.” “Hey.” We also greeted in unison.

“How was your trip to Canterlot?” Rarity asked.

“It was… okay…” Twilight answered, showing a bit of disappointment in her voice.

“Yea… it ain’t turn out like we expected…” I added.

“’Okay?’ Why’s it just ‘okay’, sugarcube?” Applejack asked with concern.

“And what were you expecting?” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“Well I can tell ya one thing,” I began. “A lotta the ponies there are stuck up jerks… Other than that, the trip was amazin’ for me.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Rainbow replied with a short laugh.

“The trip was fun for me, too! I even got to see Shining Armor and Cadence! It’s just that…” the purple unicorn hesitated on her words as she looked to the ground.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“We saw Princess Celestia and…”

“…she said that she wants me t’ leave… immediately.” I finished, shocking everyone but Twilight and Spike. “And once I’m gone… Twilight is forbidden to use the spell that brought me here ever again. For safety reasons…”

“Well that’s awfully mean of her!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like something Princess Celestia would do at all!” Pinkie continued. “Why would she just tell you to go back to your world without being able to come back?”

“Did you do anything to upset her?” Rarity asked.

“No… it wasn’t me or Twilight that did it. She had a fearful premonition put into her by a situation she was dealin’ with in some far-off countries in the east…”

“What in tarnation happened?” asked Applejack.

“She said somethin’ about a trade disagreement goin’ on between two countries over there. Apparently, the issue was caused by some stallion who was brought in from one country to the other. Turns out he was a traitor to both countries because he instigated the fight between ‘em in hopes of takin’ ‘em both over once they wore each other out.”

“Oh my… that just sounds dreadful,” began Fluttershy. “I couldn’t imagine what kind of horrible pony would do something so cruel… But what does that have to do with you and Twilight?”

“That situation put the fear in her. She said that some similar thing could happen should information about how t’ use Twilight’s spell be released, except on intergalactic levels because o’ shady individuals in either of our worlds possibly havin’ the intention of causin’ destruction in the other world— or both worlds. She doesn’t want Twilight t’ become a victim or a target, so that’s why she banned Twilight’s use of the spell once I’m gone. As for why I have to leave so abruptly, she basically doesn’t trust me to keep it quiet without accidentally lettin’ somethin’ slip. That, I didn’t fully agree with her on, but she made her points clear.”

“That’s horrible!” Rarity exclaimed. “While I do understand that Princess Celestia’s decisions are for the safety of Equestria, how could she just tear you two apart? Does she not know that you’re a couple?” I chortled nervously at her question.

“I uh… guess you could say that…” I answered as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck.

“Yeah, but I sure know,” Spike mockingly said as he shot glares at me and Twilight. I smiled apologetically at the dragon. He then started to smile mischievously at us, which made my smile drop into a wide-eyed begging stare.

“Don’t you do it, you little—!”

“On the way back, these two were all over each other! They were hugging nonstop, and they even ki— MMPH!” Spike was suddenly interrupted when Twilight hastily shoved her hoof into his mouth, scowling at him.

“Don’t feel so great, does it?” I jokingly asked the dragon. Unfortunately, it was too late as the endearingly quizzical looks on the other five mares’ faces showed that the damage had already been done.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Did he say what I think he was about to say?” Rainbow asked, grinning ear to ear with teary eyes.

“You and Twilight finally…?” Fluttershy began to ask, but trailed off.

“*sigh*… yes.” I admitted with defeat as I felt a wave of embarrassment take me over. I shyly looked to the ground, away from everyone to hide my face.

“D’aww, how wonderful!” Rarity proclaimed yet again. “And what better place to share such a special, beautiful moment than on a chariot in a romantic sunset? Twilight, I’m beginning to grow envious of you…”

“That’s absotively spectaculastic!” Pinkie Pie shouted. I had NO idea what she said. “It must’ve been so magical and romantic and giving you that funny feeling in your stomach like when you get hungry but you know you’re not hungry because you ate a humungous banana split twenty minutes ago, so you realize it’s your stomach being super-duper happy because it had the yummiest banana split ever and… *GAAAAASP* you see and kiss your special somepony, and that tickly feeling in your stomach becomes fifty kajillion times more tickly!” She ended her… monologue (?) with a trademark giggle.

“Uh… what?” I asked in complete confusion.

“She means that it must’ve felt really wonderful when you kissed Twilight,” answered Fluttershy. “And that you two must’ve had butterflies in your stomachs…”

“Oh…”

“BAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!” Rainbow erupted into a fit of laughter. “Oh man, the looks on your faces are priceless!” she added as she lay on her back cracking up, one foreleg clutched across her stomach as the other pointed at me and Twilight. I looked at the purple unicorn beside me to see her with her eyes squinted shut and her fore hoof over her face like she’d just seen something scary. Her cheeks were a bright red. Spike was stifling laughs of his own, clutching his mouth with both claws. “This is just too rich! Twilight with a special somepony!”

“Rainbow Dash… that isn’t very nice,” Fluttershy informed.

“Aw, come on, Fluttershy!” Rainbow shot back as she climbed back to her hooves, still laughing. “You can’t seriously be telling me you don’t find the idea of the egghead with a colt-friend funny!?”

“Well actually… No. I don’t see what’s funny about it… I think it’s very sweet.” The yellow pegasus's words were ignored as the blue one continued cracking up.

“Ignorin’ the rudeness of Rainbow Dash here, I think it’s mighty nice o' y’all t’ be honest with each other about yer feelin’s…” Applejack said with a warm smile. “Hay, I’ll even bet Rainbow’s actin’ like this cuz she’s jealous,” she added as she winked at us. Rainbow stopped laughing immediately and angrily glared at the farm pony.

“Am not!” She shouted at the orange farm pony. “Why would I be jealous!? I can easily get a special somepony of my own! It’s just that uh… I don’t have time is all…!” Everyone got a good laugh out of Rainbow’s sudden apprehension.

“Now who’re you tryin’ ta convince here, sugarcube? Us or yerself?”

“…Aw, whatever!” Rainbow dismissed as she pouted. “Can we talk about something else now?”

“Sure, Dashie!” Pinkie responded. “So Twilight… how was it? Was it special or romantic or giving you the hungry butterfly feeling?”

“Not exactly what I had in mind, Pinkie…”

“I um… think we’re getting a bit off-topic now…” Twilight answered uncertainly as she regained her composure, dodging Pinkie’s intrusive question. “I do have to take Ty back home pretty soon… now, actually.”

“Oh, yeah…” Pinkie sadly said. “What a bummer. We don’t even get to throw you a going-home party or anything!”

“Or give ya one o' my special baked apple pies t’ take back with ya,” Applejack continued.

“Or show you who the Wonderbolts are. Hay, I would’ve even shown you a Sonic Rainboom so you could brag to your friends in your world about seeing it,” Rainbow added.

“Ahh, i’ss fine…” I assured, although I was sorely disappointed about what the three mares told me I’d be missing out on. “There’s always… oh… right…” I’d almost forgotten that there wouldn’t be a next time. I dejectedly stared at the ground at that realization. A sudden blur of pink rushed over to me and pulled me into a tight, yet mercifully warm embrace.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t give you anything to remember us by…” Pinkie said, surprisingly not in a hyperactive tone, but in a more... calm and soothing one. “...but look on the bright side… we still got to meet and make friends with each other, and we had some really fun times together. And the best part is that we don’t have to forget about those times… We can just reflect on them and smile…” Her words opened my eyes greatly, especially because they were unpredictably wise coming from someone I’d assumed was nuts.

“Wow… thanks, Pinkie!” I said, rubbing a hoof on her back before we separated. “You’re right. We did have some pretty good ti— AGH!” she’d shoved another treat into my mouth. This time, it was a cupcake.

“Don’t forget to get your daily dose of sweets… y’know, for your Pica,” she advised with a heartfelt smile. I smiled back as I chewed and swallowed the delicious cupcake.

“I won’t… I promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“I… don’t know what you mean…” She happily obliged in teaching me the Pinkie Promise, going through the motions of a silly little ritual while reciting the same phrase that Rainbow Dash had recited when I first met her.

“Now don’t you break that promise… because if you do, I’ll know… and I’ll getcha, no matter how far away you are!” she playfully warned, but followed it with a stern look that actually startled me. The seemingly hostile stare soon turned into an inviting warm smile.

“You have my word, Pinkie… So, anyone else want a goodbye hug?” The next pony to take me up on the offer was Fluttershy. She wrapped me almost as tightly as Pinkie did, but she felt softer.

“Thank you… for letting me know to be more comfortable with myself…” the kindly pegasus quietly praised.

“Aw, you’re welcome. But I didn’t teach you anything you didn’t already know,” I said back as I rubbed her silky smooth mane.

“Yes… but it’s still nice to talk to another pony that’s had the same problem before… even if he isn’t from this world.”

“Good point…” I agreed as we separated. “It was definitely a great experience talkin’ t’ you, Fluttershy. Shame that I can’t learn more about you. I jus’ know there’s more t’ you…” At that, she responded with a cute little smile. As Fluttershy stepped back, Applejack came forward. I cringed in fear at the orange mare, still remembering the last time she “hugged” me. She chuckled at my nervousness.

“S’alright, sugarcube. I’ll be gentle this time…” I believed her, calming down enough to be able to hug her. However, she still wound up squeezing me tighter than the other girls did.

“Ahh-ow! Heh heh, I thought you said you’d be gentle…”

“I am. Guess I don’t know my own strength sometimes… But yeah, it was nice havin’ ya over fer lunch yesterday.”

“Oh, it was my honor. Honestly, your cookin’ made me appreciate apples on a whole new level. I never tasted such delicious apple-related things before…”

“Aw, shucks… If only you’d-a got a taste o' the things I could make with some Zap Apples…” she said as we broke the hug. Before I could ask what a Zap Apple was, I was practically tackled by a white unicorn mare who seemed to be crying.

“Of all the worst things that could happen! This is The! Worst! Possible! Thing!” she melodramatically shouted through her tears. I laughed a little.

“As bad as this might be, and it’s VERY bad for me, I don’t think it’s the WORST thing t’ happen t’ anyone…”

“Oh, p-please forgive me…” she began, now (barely) under control of her emotions. “I’m just not able to handle such heart wrenching moments like this very well… I mean, Twilight finds herself a special somepony, and before you’re able to truly begin your relationship, you find yourselves being permanently separated from one another by a cruel act of fate! It doesn’t help that you’re also being torn away from all of us as well, never to return!” She then buried her head into my neck and sobbed uncontrollably for a prolonged amount of time. She seemed to be taking this much harder than anyone here, and I failed to understand why. Nevertheless, she was right. So I simply rubbed her back as she let her sadness out all over me like I was some sort of sopping wet safety blanket. I gave a puzzled look to everypony else, but even they couldn’t give me a clear answer for Rarity’s soap-opera behavior. Spike, however, was the only one to seem to have an idea.

“Hey, Rarity? I’m *sniffle* feeling a little sad, too… Can I have a hug?” Spike asked with what sounded like a feigned sense of despondency.

“Ohh, Spikey-Wikey!” the white unicorn practically screamed as she let go of me and quickly grabbed hold of the purple dragon to use as a walking handkerchief. I was actually relieved that he pulled that trick. I was sure Rarity would’ve never let me go if he didn’t. In any case, I looked towards a certain blue pegasus with spiky hair of every color on the color spectrum. The instant we locked eyes, she turned away and scratched her head.

“Listen, I uh… don’t do hugs…” she admitted. “At least, not with stallions…”

“What?” I skeptically asked. “I’ss not like I’m gonna bite you or anything. I’ss jus’ a simple li’l embrace. Jus’ like if you was huggin’ anyone else here.”

“Yeah, I know… but… It’s kind of weird for me… Is it okay of we just… I dunno, touch hooves or something?” That suggestion hurt me a little, but I was intrigued that she didn’t want to hug me just because I was a male pony. It gave me a new series of thoughts about the mare. Was she simply afraid of males? Or was she not very open about displaying her emotions around males other than Spike? Or maybe she didn’t want to display her feelings to a stallion in front of all her female friends? Or… she could quite possibly be a… no, it could be just her tomboyish personality that makes her not want to act all emotional and sappy… I didn’t suppose I’d ever figure it out. I wish I’d had more time to talk to her about it.

“Fine, come here,” I requested with a fore hoof held out towards her. Rainbow smirked as she approached me and touched her hoof with mine. She looked around with that smirk on her face, not noticing the one creeping across my own.

“You see?” she arrogantly began. “Now this guy knows how to say goodbye in a way that isn’t sa— WHOA!” I interrupted her as I grabbed hold of her hoof and yanked her towards me and locked her into a hug. “Hey! You jerk! You tricked me! Lemme go!” she objected.

“Not until you hug me back,” I calmly demanded. “You shouldn’t be afraid t’ be huggin’ anybody,” I added as I softly nuzzled her in an attempt to get her to warm up. She sure was quite the fighter, though. She kicked and squirmed and flapped her wings vehemently to escape my grasp.

“I said let me GO!!” she screamed as she haphazardly swiped a hoof across my face. I was stunned as I let her go to place a hoof on the cheek she slapped, gawking at her in shock. Everyone else collectively gasped.

“Rainbow! How could you??” Twilight berated.

“All he wanted was a hug… why would you respond by doing something so violent?” Rarity asked, seeming to have finally recovered from her tantrum.

“I… I didn’t mean it! It was just a kneejerk reaction, I swear!” The frantic sky blue pegasus tried to defend herself, to no avail as she got only scolding glares from her friends. Her ears fell to her head as she looked to the ground in shame.

“Hey, that was my fault,” I admitted. “I shoulda respected your wishes when you said you ain’t want a hug. Heh, I kinda deserved that slap. I’m sorry…” I reached out a hoof toward my enemy-turned-acquaintence to give her a proper hoof-touch. She looked up at me with such an uncharacteristic expression of guilt that I almost wasn’t sure I was talking to the same Rainbow Dash.

“…if there’s one thing you taught me, Ty, it’s how to own up to your mistakes…” she began, starting to smile sweetly. “But this time, it was my mistake, so I’M sorry.” She apologized as she trotted towards me. But, instead of touching hooves with me, she wrapped her forelegs around my neck, which surprised everyone. Despite being caught off-guard yet again, I welcomed her embrace as I rubbed her back. Her wings felt so different from the rest of her body. Instead of fur, there were actual feathers on them. Her embrace wasn’t quite as strong as everyone else’s (given that she likely only hugged me out of guilt), but I swore I could hear her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. It was actually kind of cute that a pony as headstrong and confident as Rainbow Dash would actually be nervous about something as simple as giving a stallion a hug.

“You’re adorable…” I muttered to her. “I hear your heart poundin’ a mile a minute…”

“If you tell ANYpony, I’ll find a way to your world and personally make you regret it…” she whispered back. I let out a soft chuckle.

“Deal,” I agreed as we broke the hug. “You got quite a swing there, by the way. I’mma be feelin’ that one for a few days…” Rainbow giggled.

“Yeah, again, sorry about that…”

“No apologies necessary. Think of it as a way t’ get me back for the first time we met.” We both shared another laugh. “Now get over here, Spike.” The dragon obliged my walking up to me, holding out a claw. I put a hoof on his head and smiled at him. He smiled back. “We had a lot t’ talk about while we was in the castle. Thanks for the convo, man,” I finished as I took the hoof off of his head and placed it in his claw.

“Oh, the pleasure was mine. It was nice being able to get some advice from another guy for once, considering most of my other friends are girls…” Everyone shared a chuckle at Spike’s comment.

“You ready, Ty?” Twilight asked.

“*sigh*…no. But we can’t delay the inevitable much longer, so le’ss go…” I sadly answered as I walked toward the purple unicorn.

“I’ll be back, girls…” Twilight’s voice wavered a bit as she bid her farewell.

“I’ss been real, i’ss been fun, but most importantly… I’ss been real fun.” I added, choking back tears of my own. Twilight’s horn lit up in that familiar magenta glow as she powered up the spell she’d soon never be able to use again once she returned from her trip to my world.

“Farewell!” “See ya!” “Bye!” “Goodbye!” “Catch ya on the flipside!” “Peace!” the five mares and the dragon saw us off as they waved. I waved at them in return before I heard a *POOF* and from there, all of my senses were suddenly filled with emptiness in the form of being dematerialized as every part of me was suddenly moving at an incredible speed once again…

*POOF*

“Well, that was fast…” I murmured, but I looked around and realized that we weren’t at my house; we were in Twilight’s room with the lights off. “Wait a minute… I’m pretty sure Celestia wanted you t’ take me back to MY home, Twi…” I quipped.

“I know that… but there’s one thing I’ve got to do before we go,” she said as she removed her saddlebags and set them on the floor.

“And what might that be?”

“This…” she answered as she wrapped her hooves around my neck, pulled me in close, and locked her lips with mine once again. I was shocked at her sneak attack, but I soon found myself participating actively. Given that she didn’t have much experience, we kept it simply at pressing our lips together time and time again as we hugged. We kept it up for what felt like forever before I opted to part with her for air.

“Wow… what a lustful li’l trick you pulled there… you sure do seem t’ like kissin’, huh?” I asked with a smile as we broke the embrace.

“Yeah…” she blushingly admitted. “I don’t know what it is, but… it gives me such a wonderful feeling… something I don’t think I’ve ever felt before…”

“You mean like that hungry-but-not-hungry butterfly feelin’ Pinkie was talkin’ about?”

“Sort of… I can’t explain it, but whatever it is, I REALLY like it. It’s phenomenal… This is definitely something I’m going to spend some time studying…”

“Ha. And I assume you brought us in here t’ avoid the awkwardness of kissin’ in front o’ your friends?”

“You’re smarter than I thought,” she quipped. “But I think we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s go… for real this time.”

“Alright… but I have one question...”

“What?”

“Forgive me if this sounds kinda dumb, but… what if you, say… cast the spell while we…”

“We’d probably get stuck that way for all I know,” she joked. “Then we’d have a HUGE problem on our hooves.” We both shared a short laugh.

“Yea, prob’ly…”

“Yeah…” she said as silence overtook the atmosphere. I found myself staring at Twilight intensely as she stared passionately back at me. Eventually, she shook her head in an attempt to regain focus. “Okay, we REALLY need to stop horsing around. Let’s go.”

“Gotcha... I see what you did there, by the way…” I said, snapping out of my trance as she powered up her horn once again and with a *POOF*, we were going back to my world… for real, this time…

*POOF*

After an extensive intergalactic teleportation trip, we were back in my world; my room, to be exact.

“Whew! Wow, does it feel good t’ be home again…” I said as I looked around the area as though I hadn’t seen it in months.

“That’s great and all, but…” Twilight began breathlessly. “Don’t get too comfortable yet; I still have to turn you back into your human form…”

“Aww, shit…”

“Oh… right…” I meekly mumbled as I began trembling in fear of the intense pain I was going to have to endure throughout the process. Her horn lit up as she prepared to cast the reverse-transformation spell on me. I moved so I was in front of the unicorn, stood straight, and closed my eyes in fright. “Oh, man, this is gonna—!” I was interrupted as I was shot with a beam of magic and instantly transformed back into my human form on all fours. My hands, my feet, everything! All back to normal in the blink of an eye. I even grew back to my original size and my clothes and hair were back to the way they were before I got pony-fied. I turned to check if I still had a tail, but I saw that even that was gone. I was completely shocked, to say the least as I sat. “…Hurt…? Wait, what? But… how…?”

“For some reason according to the spell book I was reading, reverse transformation works MUCH faster than the initial process.”

“But why didn’t turnin' back hu—AAH!” I said as I moved to sit down, only to feel sharp stabs of pain in my chest. “What the…? I don’t get it. Is this a side effect of the spell?” I asked as I poked various spots on my chest for more specific areas of discomfort. I found them the second I poked the sides of my torso, and cringed in agony.

“That’s odd… I thought I’d fixed up any potential injuries you’d have once you were transformed…”

“Now that I think of it…” I began with a strained voice. “…this is more likely Pinkie Pie an’ Applejack’s faults… Remember when Spike kicked me in my sides in the Canterlot library and I said that it still hurt?”

“Hmm… Oh, yeah! But other than that, you seemed perfectly alright… I don’t understand why you’d be in so much pain now.”

“I don’t get it either… Maybe the way pain is received by a pony is different than the way humans receive pain, even though I was a pony when I sustained these injuries… I can only assume that turnin’ back t’ human gave my body its original tolerance for pain. How long did it take Rainbow t’ recover from that broken wing again?”

“About a week or so. After that, she was back to flying around like she’d never broken it.”

“That doesn’t make sense… You ever been injured before?”

“Oh, plenty of times! I’ve had flowerpots, anvils, and pianos dropped on me, I’ve fallen down stairs, had doors slammed on me, and I’ve even been stung by a swarm of angry bees! That was all in one day just because of me denying the validity of Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense, too. In just that one day, I’d estimate that I’d had every bone in my body broken except my neck… I’ve been injured a lot more than that, though… What?” I just looked at her like she was absolutely crazy. My mouth and eyes were wide open as I tried to fathom how anyone could survive all of that.

“Um… how are you even ALIVE, much less WALKING after all that???”

“I don’t have a clue myself. But those injuries healed in a matter of hours at the most, and I didn’t even have to use my magic. The way in which injuries like those heal never seems to be consistent. Either it takes a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days, no matter how severe the injury may be. How long would it take a human to recover from those types of injuries?”

“Well le’ss see… Havin’ a flowerpot dropped on you: Maybe a week at the most if it hits you in the head. An anvil or a piano? Instant death. Not such a pretty picture either…. Maybe a few months if someone is lucky enough to survive it. Even then, there ain’t a guarantee of a full recovery. Doors bein’ slammed on someone? Well, I’m pretty sure you know first-hand how well a human takes a door t’ the face…” she laughed. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d-a prolly recovered from that in a few days, but the cut and the sprained wrist would’ve lingered around longer… but bein’ stung by a swarm o’ bees? If you ain’t allergic, then the stings could prolly go away in like a couple weeks. If you are allergic… I’m pretty sure you’d be as good as dead. Recovery time in this world is VERY much consistent, too.”

“Wow, humans sure seem fragile here…” she assumed.

“Generally, yea. I mean, jus’ look at my hand for example,” I said as I showed the unicorn the palm of my right hand to reveal a small four-pointed star-shaped scar near the upper left corner on the top hand line.

“Wh… what is that?” she asked as she looked and placed a hoof on my hand to feel it.

“A scar, my dear lavender unicorn. I had it since I was little, an’ ALL I did was accidentally get my hand vertically cut open. If my memory serves to recall, it took about a month t’ heal, I was able t’ see inside my hand for two weeks, an’ I was left with this pretty little decoration ever since it healed. It hasn’t changed at all since it got t’ this point. I even got a few more on my arm. All of ‘em jus’ from cuts and sores, too. I’m shocked t’ see that you don’t have a scratch on you, considerin’ what YOU been through…”

“Now that you mention it… Even I don’t understand how scars are left on ponies. Some ponies I’ve seen have permanent scars, but it’s usually very rare. Hay, I’d even expected myself or even Rainbow Dash or Applejack to earn a few of them by now.”

“Hm. Lucky you—OOH!” I winced and clutched my side as I tried to move up to my bed. I painstakingly, yet hastily moved up onto my bed and lay flat on my back. “Oh, right… the Pinkie-Jack wounds…”

“Pinkie-Jack?” Twilight inquired with a giggle at the portmanteau.

“Hah, yeah… they both had a hand— err, hoof in this,” I said as I lifted my shirt partway up and felt my sides again to find the areas around my upper abdomen somewhat bloated and extremely sensitive to the point where simply trying to sit up was nearly impossible. It was like I spent an entire day doing over nine thousand crunches. “…but I think… Applejack takes the cake for most brutal Heimlich maneuver. If there was a next time, I think I’d nominate Fluttershy to help me if I was chokin’…” I joked again. It helped a little that I was able to get a couple of giggles out of my unicorn friend.

“Yeah, you keep joking. Maybe I’ll sneak Applejack over here one day after I tell her what you said…” she jested back.

“Hahahaha—Ow, it hurts t’ laugh…”

“Here, let me fix you up,” Twilight offered as she climbed onto the bed next to me and lit up her horn to cast her healing spell on me. The fact that there were no lights on and that it was night time made Twilight’s glow that much more fascinating as she used her spell. My torso ignited into the most wonderful purplish-pink aura I’d ever seen as I felt soft, warm tingles throughout my body. The spell was working like a charm as I felt the pains in my sides melt away into oblivion. When Twilight was done, she let out an exhale and lay her head on my belly.

“Thanks. You okay there?”

“Yeah, just… a little tired is all. I don’t think I’ll be able to transport myself back home right now…” she took on a look of worry. “I just hope Princess Celestia won’t be angry with me…”

“Hey, that reminds me… she said I had to go back as soon as possible… but she DIDN’T say YOU had to…” I slyly informed.

“Nice loophole, Ty, but I don’t thi—!”

“Come on… what’s a little extra time together gonna hurt?”

“Ty, I—!”

“Pleeeease? Besides, I still owe you a baked treat. Plus, I’m sure you’ve been missin’ this…” I said as I ran a hand down from the top of her head all the way down her back. She let out a satisfied moan of pleasure.

“That’s a cheap trick…” she tiredly said, getting comfortable as she climbed up onto my chest. “…but fine, I’ll stay JUST a bit longer.”

“Hooray…!” I whispered as I began to rub the fatigued mare down.

“Hmm, you’re just lucky I like these rub-downs of yours…”

“You sure it ain’t my charmin’ personality?”

“…I’ll just leave that to your speculation for right now... I’m exhausted...”

“Fine… sweet dreams, Twilight Sparkle…”

“Good night, Tyshawn…” she replied as she leaned forward to kiss me good night before laying her head down. I’d have thought that I being human again would’ve made her become hesitant about doing such a thing. But then I just guessed she was tired and maybe let herself get lost in her own enjoyment of the massage. Soon, I heard Twilight snoring lightly as she went limp on me, prompting me to stop rubbing her. I began slowly, but surely losing myself to intense waves of lethargy as I struggled to keep my eyelids open.

Even so, I began to mull over Princess Celestia’s choices as to what Twilight and I were allowed to do or what not to do. I replayed my conversation with the Sun Goddess in my head over and over again; her fearful premonition about my world based on an event in her own, why she was so hasty as to deliver such a harsh judgment upon me, given that she knew next to nothing about this world, and even why she didn’t trust me to keep quiet as long as I remained a pony in Equestria…

Was it possible that even a deity like her could actually let her lack of knowledge get the better of her? That she was… afraid of me because I was from somewhere she’d never been in all her years, to my knowledge? Why was it that that ONE scenario scared her so much that she pinned me as some sort of suspect? The more I pondered it, the more it seemed like… like she was hiding some important details from me. Why didn’t I ask her to elaborate? Why did I let her intimidate me into agreeing with her? How could I let Twilight down like that? The possibilities of Princess Celestia’s motives combined with my feelings of regret for not trying harder to argue my case overwhelmed my already-fatigued and addled mind as I drifted off to sleep. I was at least thankful that Twi managed to tire herself out so she could stay with me a bit longer. At first, it was because I was able to spend at least one more day with her, but after a little alone time with my thoughts, I realized that we needed to talk… badly…