To be honest, the party went well.

At least until Pinkie pulled out her party cannon in the living room and shot a live round of confetti and balloons that, unfortunately, blew out two windows somehow. I grumbled with my arms crossed and leaned further back in the train seat.

“God damn pink horse messin' up my house...”

Mom rolled her eyes and turned to me. “Honestly, Jay! That was a mistake and she apologized and promised to pay you back in full, so why are you still complaining?”

“Because I told her not to. Repeatedly.”

I swear, Rainbow riled up Pinkie on purpose to use it no matter how much Twilight and I told her not to do it and Twilight gave her a crash course on weapon safety. Pinkie's answer?

Turning the fuckin' cannon away from the crowd and firing when it was clear down-range. Suffice to say, after that my mood for an improvised party went out completely and I moved the whole thing outside.

Strawberry wasn't happy about it as well but I was a bit more vocal about it. Mom wasn't that bothered and actually thought that the cannon was interesting. Then again, after we got Celestia's letter she had been practically bouncing off the walls. Me, however?

I was, of course, happy that mom could go home and continue her life as a wife, mother and a to-be grandma, that would also mean that dad wouldn't have to go through another loss. Mom had asked me again if I was sure that I wouldn't go home with her and I told her that I couldn't do it.

But to be honest, I was starting to have second thoughts about it. Those thoughts dissipated usually when I thought of the white unicorn currently resting her head on my lap as she slept. Strawberry had insisted to come along with us to Canterlot even though I had told her that the chances of her being in the room with us when the dimension opened were slim. The cart we were in jumped suddenly and she jolted awake, blinking and rubbing her eyes with a hoof and yawned. She sat up and stretched, then turned to me.

“Are we close to Canterlot?”

I smiled and straightened out some of her fur that had been messed up. “Yeah, we're closing in on the station really soon.” She nodded and adjusted in her seat.

Silence came back, I put my left elbow on the window sill and staring outside as the incline up the mountain made the train have to slow down. I rested my chin on my fist and started tapping my right fingers on my thigh.

“What are you thinking about, Jay?” Mom said all of a sudden. I jumped slightly and turned to her.

“Nothing special, just some stuff...” I lied and put on a warm smile. She just raised an eyebrow.

“I know you, whenever you think about something that worries you, you have that look on your face and bite the nail on your left thumb.” She said in confidence.

My mouth hung open a little and I looked down at my thumb and sure enough, I had been biting on it without even noticing it myself.

“You've been doing that ever since you were nine.” She leaned forward and took my right hand in both of hers. “So what worries you?”

I bit my lip and looked away from her. “Well,” I sighed. “that this magic bullshit isn't a fluke and that it will actually work. If it doesn't work, all of their work is for nothing and we'll go home empty handed.”

And just as the train pulled over at the Canterlot station, the last time I'd ever get the chance to travel with my mom and have a family day out, I lied to her.

We finally made it to the castle, it took way longer than it had to because apparently, that stallion who took the pictures of me with the princesses worked at a bigger newspaper place and had printed my mug on their front page.

So now every single fuckin' paper had hounded their reporters to find me and get an exclusive interview with me. Suffice to say, I wasn't all too happy about it. Through some divine intervention, however, Princess Celestia had seen this coming and dispatched a squad of guards to escort us to the castle.

Good thing she did that, cause I was just about ready to start throwing punches when a pony jammed a camera in mom's face asking for a close-up.

I had my hands jammed in my pockets when we walked to the castle doors, mom was chatting up a storm with Strawberry over how the place looked. The doors swung open with the magic from the unicorn sentries placed at the entrance. I led the way to the room where I was told that mom was here. I walked up the stairs and waited at the top until mom and Strawberry were next to me. I opened the door and walked inside. Celestia turned to me and her ears perked forward.

“Hello, everyone!” She smiled. “How was your trip?”

Mom was the first one to speak. “It was very good, thank you.” She was looking around with wide eyes, taking in the architecture. “I must say, your castle is absolutely lovely!”

Celestia chuckled and walked closer to us. “Thank you, it was built by the finest workers we could find a long time ago.” She gestured with her head toward a door in the far end of the room and spread her left wing at it. “Come, we are setting up everything in that room over there.”

Strawberry and mom walked to the other room. Before Celestia could enter, I stopped her with a hand and gestured for her to move closer to me. She raised an eyebrow but did as I asked.

“Hey, so uh...” I thumbed at my nose, then ran a hand through my hair. “Listen... I've been thinking about something on this dimension portal.” I spoke quietly so mom wouldn't hear me.

“Oh?” Celestia said. “What's on your mind?”

"Once we're done here..." I chewed on my lower lip. "Can you lock the dimensions somehow? Make it so there's no contact from my world to this one and vice versa."

Her eyes widened. “What?!” She gaped. “You realize that if we do that, you have no chance of ever returning?”

I let out a frustrated groan. “Yeah, I know that!” I forced the volume of my voice down. “I thought about this for a while... I don't want to risk anyone else coming here. Those portals? They can show up anywhere.” I pointed at her with my right index finger. “There's no telling where they'll end up and no telling what kind of person will come through.”

“And on the flipside, one of your subjects or any creature in this world can go to my world." With her silence, I continued. "Back home, humans are the only sapient species. If a talking pony shows up, they'll become the hot new thing until that pony gets dissected to learn how it ticks." I sighed.

“I know what this will do, I'm not stupid.” I scratched my left arm. “I have adjusted to living here, back home I'm thought to be dead. If I return there, people will start asking uncomfortable questions and I don't want to cause trouble for anyone.” I sniffed. “Well... Y'know... Not cause more trouble. For now.”

Celestia only stared at me for a few seconds, almost as if she was scrutinizing my existence. Eventually, she sighed. “If that's what you want, I'll see what I can do once I'm connected to the leylines.” She began walking to the other room. “Come on, we have what you requested in here...”

It was a pretty big room, in the middle there was a huge chalk circle with weird scribbles in it. In the middle of the circle was a doorway with no door in it that was stabilized by a few wooden beams.

I cracked my knuckles and followed her. "All right, let's get this show on the road!" I grinned. My smile faded a little once I saw the items on the table that Celestia gestured to.

There were three rolls of duct tape, not that I'm complaining and way more wiring than I would actually need. No, what caught my eyes was what looked like a small polished steel bucket on the table. I picked it up. “What the fuck is this?” I asked no-one in particular.

"It's a thimble, as you requested," Luna said, cocking her head to the left a little. "What's wrong? Is it not up to standard?"

“This is not a thimble, this is a fuckin bucket!” I exclaimed, bringing up a finger. “Thimbles go on your fing-Oh God dammit...” I tossed it in the air and then caught it and scratched my chin. I looked down on it and then on Celestia's horn.

"Do you guys know a spell to make things smaller?" I asked the princesses. They glanced at each other, then shook their heads in unison. "Shit. Okay..." I hiked myself up on the table and sat down on it, then tapped my chin with my left index finger. "I'm gonna need a can opener or a drill and a metal saw blade."

Celestia and Luna gulped.

“Are... you sure that this is safe, Jay?” Celestia asked with wide eyes focused on the thimble that now had a hole cut in it for her horn to go through.

“Yup. Totally sure. At least seventy percent sure.” His words did nothing to calm the princess of the sun as he came closer to her with it.

The two were in a smaller connecting room that had been sound-proofed. Jay carefully put the steel item on her head, being careful not to scratch her horn with any sharp edges. "All right, looks like it fits. Just gotta secure this so it doesn't go through the roof once we start."

With that, he withdrew a roll of duct tape out of a pocket and took a length of it. He looked up at her with a frown. “Oh yeah, you guys have fur so taking it off might suck... A lot.”

He bit down on his shirt and ripped a part of the sleeve off and placed it underneath her muzzle. Celestia was sweating bullets at this point as he fastened the thimble on her head with a couple of rounds of duct tape. When he was satisfied, he ripped it off and threw the roll over his shoulder.

Last but not least, he connected some wiring on the thimble itself close to her horn on both sides with small strips of tape.

He grinned. "All right, I'm done here! Remember, if shit goes sideways I'll come in and take it off and we'll call it a day." He waved over his shoulder as he exited the room.

Alone with her thoughts and very uncomfortable, Celestia could only hope that it would work.

Jay turned to the gathered ponies and his mother with a smile as he closed the door and walked to the middle of the room where the doorway was. Grabbing the two wires currently connected to Celestia, he twirled them together before fishing out the phone from his pocket.

He turned it and saw the charger port and stuck his tongue out in concentration as he put the wires there. His grin only grew as he noticed that the screen lit up and a charger icon appeared.

“Holy fuck, it worked!” He laughed and turned to Luna. “Can you believe it?!”

“And Celestia is safe?” Luna asked, casting worried glances to the room that he had just left.

“Probably.” He shrugged. “Right, let's get this started...” He unlocked the device. “Man, this screen brightness is killing me, hang on.” He opened a menu and slid the brightness down.

“mmOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA~”

Jay froze. Luna froze and so did everypony else in the general vicinity. Everyone turned to the door where the noise had come from, which was where Celestia currently was holed up.

A furious blush grew on everypony, but on Jay, there was only a devilish grin. "Oh, re-he-he-eally?” He slid the brightness back up slowly.

"Mmmnnnnn...Aaaaaaaaa!"

Deciding to test some limits, he quickly lowered and raised the setting with a giggle.

“Ooh Eeh Ooh... Ah Aah”

“Ting tang, walla walla bing bang!” Gasping between laughs and clutching at his stomach, he was about to change settings again before being stopped by his mother who was giving him a glare that could shatter stone. Wilting under her stare, he cleared his throat and straightened up.

“Right, let's get back to work then...”

Everypony continued their work to prepare, albeit with blushes on their faces. Strawberry stood out of the way, her forehooves planted on her face and muttering curses. Once the preparations finished, Princess Luna took a deep breath and stepped forward with her horn lit up with magic.

She lowered her head and touched the chalk lines with her horn and the floor lit up in a bright glow of magic as the circle drew power toward the doorway in the middle of it. The glow grew stronger and nearly reached the ceiling and powerful arcane winds ripped throughout the room.

The pillars of light condensed, then dropped down on the object in the middle with a shockwave of magic that nearly knocked everyone down. Jay had a hand on Kathleen to stabilize her and just as quickly as it began, it was over.

In the makeshift doorway, there was now a closed door that Jay remembered too well. The stained, off-white back on it made a smile grow on his face. With careful steps, he walked into the circle and moved closer to it.

Everyone watched him with bated breath as he brought forward his phone. One step by one, service returned to the device. He unlocked it, went to contacts and initiated a call.

Kathleen joined his side as he brought the phone to his ear. A tone could be heard from the other side, followed by a sharp gasp.

"Hello?" Jay said into the device. "No, dad! I'm not an imposter that stole this phone. Listen... No, dad... Listen." Jay pinched the bridge of his nose "Come up to my room, you know that old wardrobe that no one's been using for years? Yeah, open that door. I'll explain it to you then, it's kinda complicated."

Steps were heard coming closer to the door on the other side and it cracked open. Once it opened completely, Jay dropped the device from his head and exited the call.

“Hi, dad...” Jay gave his father a crooked smile. The man on the other side dropped his phone on the floor with a thud.

“What in the hell is...” The older man rubbed his eyes and stepped closer. “Jay, it's really you!” His eyes widened more as he noticed the person at his son's side. “Kathy? I... I thought I lost you too... Oh man, this is freaky...”

Kathleen walked closer to the door. “Dale, dear? Maybe you should sit down for a minute. The bed is right behind you.”

The older, gray-haired man had an unkempt stubble on his face and blue eyes. His physique told of a man coming up in his years but kept in shape through hard work. He took a few steps back until his legs hit the back of the bed and he slumped back, never letting his eyes wander away from his lost son.

“Okay...” Jay raised his hands. “I know that you're really freaked out right now, but I never died or neither did mom. Right now we're in another dimension but mom will pass through really soon, we're just doing some stability tests.”

“What the hell did she put in my coffee..?” He muttered. “Lynne? Lynne! Get in here right now!”

Lighter steps were heard entering the room and Dale turned his head to the newcomer. He didn't say a word, only pointed toward Jay and Kathleen. Jay crossed his arms.

“What's going on?” A younger female voice said, still walking closer. “Did you find anything in... the... closet.” Lynne turned the last corner and came face-to-face with her missing older brother.

Jay grinned. “'Sup.”

A giant grin spread on his younger sisters' face and she nearly sprinted for him. Jay's eyes widened and he held up his hands to stop her. “Woah, hold on! Don't come here, it's not safe yet!”

“What do you mean 'not safe'?” Lynne crossed her arms.

"There's some dimensional mumbo jumbo magic shit going on and I don't know how stable it is yet..." Jay explained to the best of his ability. With an answer like that, she turned her blue eyes to her mother to confirm this.

"It's true, Lynne," Kathleen said, pointing behind her with a thumb. "The princess is trying to see when it's safe for me to pass through."

“Ooo-kay?” Lynne tossed her brown hair to the side and crossed her arms. “Dimensional magic? Princesses?”

“It's a long story.” Her mother and Jay said at the same time. “I'll explain everything once I'm back home, there's a lot of things to cover.”

Jay's name was heard being called out and he turned around to face Luna. Two new sets of eyes focused on the pony princess.

Lynne squealed. “Oh my God, you're like the cutest little thing I've ever seen!”

“Err... Thank you?” Luna said, glancing curiously at the younger human with her ears perked forward.

Dale and Lynne blanched, not sure how to react to the blue talking pony.

“Jesus Christ, it can talk...” Dale muttered. “Right, I'm gonna need one hell of an explanation later...”

“Anyway...” Luna looked up at Jay again. “From our scans, the portal is now stable enough to go through.”

Jay bit his lip and nodded, then turned to his mother. He walked over to her and hugged her tight and tilted his head down so his forehead rested on the top of her head. Kathleen answered by wrapping her arms around him and brought him closer even tighter. Once they separated, Kathleen wiped a tear from her face with a thumb.

“Go on, they're waiting for you.” Jay released her and took a step away from the portal.

With cautious steps, Kathleen walked toward the door with one arm in front of her and breached the portal. It rippled from the contact as she passed through and she walked right into the waiting arms of her husband. Dale turned to Jay.

“Come on, what are you waiting for?”

Jay chuckled and shook his head. “I'm uh... Not coming now.”

"Well, why the hell not?" Dale urged. "We're right here, you have all the time in the world to come home!"

Strawberry walked closer to Jay with her ears splayed back. Jay turned to her and rested a hand on her. "It's a long story..." He bit his lip. "Some things change, some things happen and well... I'm happy here."

Dale stared at his son with steely blue eyes, then relented. "...All right. Your mother will explain everything to us and since this," He gestured at the portal. "worked, you have a way to return if you ever need it."

The magic surrounding the doorway began to flicker and Jay's smile faded, leaving only a tired look.

“...Yeah, there's always that.” More flickering surrounded him. “I'll see you guys around. Love you, tell Will about this as well.”

Dale smiled, the same tired look coming from his son made its way across his face. “Love you too, son. I'll always be proud of you, no matter what you do.” He fished something out of his left front pocket.

“I made a promise that if I ever know what happened to you, I'll stop this.” He held up a pack of cigarettes. He threw it across the portal and Jay caught it. “I'm at peace knowing that you never ran away or died, I know that you're safe now.”

Before Jay could respond, the last flicker came and the portal went out, leaving only an empty doorway and a stone wall on the other side. Jay looked down at his phone and ripped out the wiring. He turned to Princess Luna once again.

"Kill it, separate the dimensions and get your sister out of there." The expression on his face was unreadable and the tone of his voice was dull, no trace of his usual cheekiness.

Jay scratched Strawberry's withers. “I'm gonna go for a walk, you can hang out with the princesses and I'll be right back...”

Before she could protest, Jay had walked off, dragging his feet and slammed the door shut behind him.

On the other side of the room, another door was booted open and Princess Celestia walked inside.

“Dear me, that's the most relaxing thing I've experienced in centuries...”

A lit cigar was hanging from her mouth, the thimble on her head was crooked and the top of it had been blown away, leaving only a scorched and spiked husk that had a plume of smoke coming from the center of it and her horn. Once she noticed the mood of the room, she stopped.

“Did something bad happen?”

Author's Notes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7uEb_XrK1U