“W-what?” I asked.

Twilight said… something as she stomped her hoof and stalked inside. I didn’t really hear her. I was too busy reeling from the idea that the portal had opened. My way back to Earth. To my old home. To my family and…

To Sarah.

It was… open?

“Will!” Twilight shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Are you even listening to me? There’s no time! You need to get ready; we have to leave now!”

“Uh… right,” I said blankly as I turned towards my bedroom.

I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings as I made my way back. How could the portal have opened? I hadn’t let myself to believe that it would since… hell, the first couple of weeks here. Months ago! And yet now it was open? And it had to pick now of all times?!

“Will!” I heard for the second time in as many minutes. My open closet snapped into focus in front of me, and I realized I was just staring at it. Scoots was standing on her hindlegs, beating one of her forehooves against my stomach to get my attention. Her brow was furrowed in concern. “Will, what’s wrong? Who was at the door?”

Shit.

Scoots was here and Twilight was up front. Princess Twilight. When she found out Scoots had stayed the night…

Shit.

I was in trouble.

“Scoots, look– uh…” I was stammering and stalling; my thoughts grinding gears and unable to gain any traction. Absently, I grabbed the first pair of jeans my eyes found in my closet and began trying to slip them on around Scoots’s bids for my attention.

“Will, what’s going on?” Twilight’s voice was calling from beyond the door. She was coming closer. Before either Scoots or I had a chance to so much as move a muscle the door opened. “I thought I heard… voices…”

Silence fell across the room as Twilight froze in the doorway. None of us knew what to say as we looked back and forth between each other. Twilight was the first to recover.

“Scootaloo? W-what are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night…” She trailed off as she looked at us, but we were both too stunned to come up with anything.

Our lack of response probably told Twilight everything she needed to know. Her eyes went from Scoots’s ruffled mane to the askew bedsheets to my shirt still lying on the floor and widened as the realization struck. A sniff of the air was all it seemed to take to be sure and she fixed me with a dark scowl.

“Will, we need to get going,” she said, her voice as hard as stone. “Get dressed.”

Without another word or waiting for a response, she turned and stalked out, slamming the door behind her. The silence rang in my ears in her wake.

“Sh-she knows…” Scoots whispered. “Oh Celestia, Will, she knows! What’re we going to do?!”

I sighed and continued getting dressed, grabbing out a shirt and throwing it on. “Look, Scoots, there’s something more important than that.”

“What?!” she cried, stumbling for a moment as I stepped away from her to get some socks from my dresser. “What’s going on? Where are you going?”

“It’s the portal!” I said, causing her to fall to her haunches before me. She stared up at me, wordless and with wide eyes. “It… opened, Scoots. The portal back to Earth is finally open… I could go home.”

I lost myself to my thoughts again as I stood and vacantly scanned the room. There was nothing I’d need to take with me, even if I could somehow carry anything through. I made for the door until a small noise stopped me with my hand on the knob.

“You’re… leaving?”

Those two words knocked the breath from my lungs. Was I going back? My family was waiting for me on the other side. Missing me. Probably spent the last several months thinking I was dead. How much pain had they endured while I had been here? My parents, my cousins…

Sarah…

But could I just leave? What about Carrot Top and Written Script? They depended on me. And my friends! Rarity, Twilight –even though I was sure she was at least pissed at me at the moment– not to mention Rainbow. We still had so much to work out! There was no way I could leave things as they were between us.

And Scoots. Scoots… After the weeks of uncertainty, the dates… last night. We had something. Something beautiful and warm and I didn’t want to let it go. Could I really just walk away from her after what we’d shared? Now, of all times?

But could I stay here just for her? In a world I didn’t belong in, surrounded by beings that I would never fit in with? I would always be the only human. I would always be the ‘other,’ the piece of the puzzle that didn’t connect to the rest. Even if I stayed, could we really work out? Or would what he had one day fail, just like it did with Rainbow?

I opened my mouth to respond but Scoots beat me to it. She stood and wiped a wing across her eyes. When she pulled it away her jaw was set in determination. “Alright. Yeah, you… you finally get to go home! Th-this is great! You can see your sister again! W-we should g-go. We don’t want to keep Twilight waiting!”

“But, wait. I don’t even know…” I started, but she was already out the door and gone, leaving me no choice but to follow.

Twilight was by the couch looking out the window as we entered the living room. Noticing us, she cleared her throat imperiously. “Right. Spike’s going around to gather up the girls; I know they’ll want to see you before you... go. We’ll meet them at the castle and I’ll teleport us all to Canterlot. Are you ready to go?”

“I…” I mumbled, looking down to Scoots. She sat to my side, facing the floor with her mane falling across her eyes. Her wings hung limp at her sides. “Y-yeah, I guess…”

“Good; let’s go, then,” Twilight said. She led us to the door and outside into the cold night air. Only the moon and stars above gave us any light as we walked to the end of the little cobblestone path outside my cottage. The cottage I had called home for the last several months. With its finicky living room window and thatched roofing that sometimes leaked into the kitchen when it rained too hard.

The cottage I may be walking away from for the last time.

The thought stabbed like a knife into my heart as I closed the little gate behind me.

“Hey,” Scoots said. She was standing just a ways away from me with her head low and her wings spread. She was clenching her jaw in a desperate effort to stop her lip trembling. “I’ll meet you guys at the castle. I’m gonna get Carrot Top. She’ll want to see you off.”

“Scoots, wait!” I said, but she was already flapping her wings. She took off into the air and was soon lost amidst the darkness.

“It’s for the best,” Twilight said, brushing against my side. She nodded in the direction of the castle silhouetted in the distance. “We need to talk.” She gestured with a wing for me to continue walking, but I couldn’t help but look back for Scoots one more time. Unfortunately, she was long gone, so I had no choice but to follow Twilight.

She set a measured course through the deserted night streets of Ponyville. I was reminded of the last time I’d wandered the streets at night. Scoots had been so beautiful in that dress.

“Will, please tell me that wasn’t what it looked like,” Twilight suddenly said, snapping me from my thoughts. Her voice was soft and pleading. “Please tell me you didn’t… sleep with Scootaloo.”

I couldn’t bring myself to lie to her.

She sighed sadly at my silence. “Will, how could you? She’s just a filly!”

“She’s not!” I snapped. I was getting so sick of everypony saying that to me. It was as though just because she was young everypony thought she was stupid. “She’s not a filly. She can make her own decisions.”

“Not in the eye of the law!” Twilight countered. “She’s still a minor. Do you realize how much trouble you could be in?! If her father wanted to press charges, you could face fines, probation, jail time! Have you thought about any of that?”

I sighed. No, I hadn’t really thought about that. I’d just gone with the moment without thinking, like I always did. And once again I’d fucked things up.

“So, what?” I asked. “You going to turn me in?”

She just stared at me in disbelief for a moment before groaning loudly and stomping the ground. “I’m a princess, Will! It’s my duty to report something like this! But…” She trailed off as her voice lost its fire and she looked to the ground dejectedly. “I can’t. I don’t believe for a second that you did… that without Scootaloo’s consent.”

“Of course I didn’t!” I barked.

She held up a gentle wing in protest. “I know! I know you’d never do something like that. It doesn’t mean what you did wasn’t still wrong, but… I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything. It doesn’t even matter, I suppose, now that the portal’s open. You’re going to be back home in no time.”

She offered a small, sad smile that I think was supposed to be reassuring before she resumed her trek towards the castle. After only a slight hesitation, I followed after her.

“Yeah, ‘home…’” I whispered.

I’d never seen the old Houston First Baptist church done up so fancifully. Bunches of white roses and trailing lace ribbons were fastened around the end of each pew along the center aisle, matching the floral arch set up over the altar. Sheer silk sashes hung in graceful waves between the banners overhead, reflecting the creamy-gold of the ceiling in all its majesty. The light streaming through the stained glass windows complimented the candles set upon tall white candlesticks in measured spaces around the perimeter of the room well.

It was a beautiful sight, but that wasn’t surprising. There was no way Mom and Dad would give us any less than the best they could manage. Though with as much as they’d sunk into this, I figured I should probably wait a while before I decided to settle down. Give their bank account a little time to recover!

I was going around the church, snapping a few pictures of everything and making sure everything looked nice for the big day tomorrow. Everybody had been working nonstop all day to put the finishing touches on the décor, and we all wanted it to be perfect. Though it was too bad Mom’s definition of ‘perfect’ didn’t include ‘anything not done by her.’ Thankfully Dad had somehow convinced her to stop for dinner an hour ago and left the rest of us in peace.

Once I was sure the nave was ready, I found myself out in the vestibule. With it being rather late in the evening and most of the work already done, only a few of my cousins were still lingering around. As such, an almost eerie silence hung in the air as I came to stop in front of the display we had just before the doors.

An overflowing array of roses and lilies and other flowers I couldn’t begin to name took up the majority of the table, leaving only enough room for a guest book and a large photograph of the soon-to-be newlyweds. I couldn’t stop myself picking up the gold-and-silver-inlaid frame and looked it over. Sarah looked as happy and lively as ever and… well, he looked exactly like what he was.

An ass.

I set the picture down –perhaps less gently than I should have– and turned for the door, ready to leave. Distracted with trying to shove my camera into its satchel, I didn’t notice that I was about to run into someone until they called out to me.

“Will!”

“Will!”

The shout drew me out of my thoughts. I had been sitting in the throne room of Twilight’s castle while we waited for Spike and the rest of the girls to arrive. Twilight had been mostly quiet after our little talk on the way over, leaving me plenty of time to think about everything and nothing as I sat upon Pinkie’s throne. I figured she wouldn’t mind if I just borrowed it for a bit.

And Pinkie was of course the first one to arrive, bursting into the room like one of her party cannons going off. I didn’t even have time to flinch at the sound of the doors crashing open before I was wrapped in the iron vice of her forelegs while cartoonish fountains of tears spilled from her eyes.

“Oh Will! Spike said that the portal to your old world opened up and you’d be going back and I thought I’d never see you again and you can’t leave because you’re one of my bestest friends and I’ll miss you and there’s still so many more parties we have to have together like the one I’m going to throw for Pound and Pumpkin on the Cakes’ anniversary to keep them busy so Mr. and Mrs. Cake can have the night alone and your ‘Happy Eight Months in Equestria!’ party and Scootaloo’s 18th birthday party and–!”

Pinkie was cut off from her never-ending tirade by the glow of blue magic surrounding her and dragging her bodily off of me. While my vision had been clouded by a mass of strangely-straight instead of bushy pink mane, the rest of Twilight’s friends had arrived with Rarity in the front setting Pinkie down on the floor. Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike stood at Rarity’s side though they were all quick to gather around me in a small circle. Surprisingly, even Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had come along.

“Please calm down, Pinkie Pie dear,” Rarity gently scolded. “I know you’ll miss him, darling. We all will. But let’s not suffocate him, hmm?”

“Yeah, it’d be a shame if we did him in right before he gets to go home, huh?” Applejack said amidst deep chuckles straight from her belly. She stepped forward to punch my shoulder good-naturedly, though with her strength I was sure it would leave a bruise. But then her voice took on a warmer tone. “I’m sure you’re about ready to see your family again, ain’tcha?”

“Uh… yeah, I sure am,” I said quietly. Applejack must not have heard the hesitation in my voice as she smiled and patted my shoulder before she stepped away, but Rarity had a shrewd frown on her face.

“I’m so happy for you,” Fluttershy whispered, smiling more sweetly than I thought it was possible to do. “Nobody deserves to be separated from those they love for so long. Oh, just thinking about not seeing Angel or any of you girls for that long makes me want to cry!” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh no, please don’t think you have to stay just because I’ll miss you! Not that I don’t want you to stay, but I’d just feel so guilty if you never got to see your family again because you stayed just for me! Not that you’d do that, but… Oh, I’m such a loudmouth!”

I found myself smiling in spite of myself. “It’s okay, Fluttershy; I know what you mean.” I reached out to cautiously and gently scratch her chin with a finger. She seemed to appreciate the gesture and her lip stopped quivering as her smile returned.

“But!” a squeaky voice suddenly shouted. Sweetie Belle cowered somewhat as the group’s collective gaze fell upon her, but she stood her ground. She fixed me with a piercing stare as she asked, “W-what about Scootaloo?”

Apple Bloom hip-checked her to shut her up, but it was too late and the damage was done. Figuring that Rarity would never be able to keep a juicy piece of gossip to herself, I assumed that at least Applejack would know Scoots and I were dating. And Scoots would have told Apple Bloom and Sweetie all about it. But to my surprise, only Fluttershy looked confused.

“Umm, not that Scootaloo isn’t a wonderful little filly, but what about her?” she asked.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at Sweetie Belle while Applejack and Rarity both just looked uncomfortable. Pinkie Pie was willing to break the silence, though.

“Don’t you know, silly? He and Scootsie are dating!” she cheered, looking a little like her old self as she made a series of childish kissing sounds. Then, with the sound of a balloon deflating, her body and expression did just that. “Oh no! That means when you leave she’s going to be all sad!”

“You’re dating Scootaloo?” Fluttershy asked, confused. “But I thought you were with R–” She cut herself off, her eyes wide. “Umm… n-nevermind.”

“With whom, darling?” Rarity gently asked her.

Fluttershy took a step back, letting her mane fall across her face as she hunched in on herself. “I-it’s nothing! Just a m-misunderstanding.”

“Everypony, we’re getting off-topic,” Twilight suddenly said, standing from her own throne and joining the circle. “The portal could close any minute. We need to get going and we’re still missing ponies. Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

Spike tapped his claws together nervously. “I sent Fluttershy up to check her house while I got AJ.”

Fluttershy, already upset over what she’d almost said a moment ago dropped to the floor with a piteous whine and covered her face with her hooves. “She wasn’t home! Her whole house was empty except for Tank, and he didn’t even know where she was! I checked everywhere and I just couldn’t find her!”

Rarity bent down to comfort her while I swore under my breath.

“I completely forgot; Rainbow told me she had to go back to Cloudsdale for the weekend. Something about weather business.”

“Cloudsdale?” Twilight asked. “She didn’t say anything about that to me. She tell anypony else?”

Everyone shrugged or shook their heads. Rainbow had just left town without telling any of her friends?

“That doesn’t sound like Dashie at all,” Pinkie said morosely.

Twilight shook her head. “Cloudsdale’s a huge city. Even if I teleported there, I’d never find her in time. We’ll just have to go without her.”

“We couldn’t do that!” Rarity gasped. “She’d be crushed if she couldn’t be there for him at a time like this!”

“How much time do we have, exactly?” Applejack asked Twilight.

“Judging by the rate of decay of the arcanic resonance, my closest estimate is roughly 3.47…5 hours, give or take a standard deviation of 0.23,” she said.

At the nonplussed looks of everyone in attendance, Spike cleared his throat. “She means the magic will run out in about three and quarter hours or so.”

Twilight groaned in frustration. “That’s exactly what I said. But that’s only if this portal behaves like one cast by a unicorn, which it may not. It’s a naturally-occuring portal! There is almost no formal research on how they behave. I’m essentially making guesses at this point! It could last for days or it could close in two seconds. That’s why we have to leave now!”

“But Scootaloo’s not here either!” Sweetie Belle cried. “Will can’t leave without her here! He just can’t!”

“Don’t worry, I’m here!”

Scoots flew through the open door, a breathless and panting Carrot Top and Written Script close behind her. Carrot Top stayed towards the back of the gathered crowd while Written Script fell into place by Fluttershy who flinched away from him. Scoots, on the other hand, flew over everyone’s head and perched on the armrest of Pinkie’s throne. She had my camera case strapped around her neck for some reason, but I barely paid that any attention as she spoke.

“Hey, how’re you doing?” she whispered as she nuzzled my cheek. Her touch felt so good that in that moment I didn’t care who was watching; I placed my hand on the back of her head and returned her nuzzle.

“I’ll let you know when I find out. What about you?” I knew it was a dumb question but I didn’t know what else to say.

Regardless, she put on a brave face as her eyes met mine. “I-I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

I was about to argue when Written Script spoke up first.

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” he asked. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle reared up onto her hindlegs, using the armrest for support as she nuzzled Scoots.

“She’s not coming,” Twilight snapped. “And now that we’re all here, we need to go. Or am I the only one concerned about getting him home before the portal closes?”

Sweetie Belle rounded on her, stamping a forehoof on the crystal floor with a loud clack! “I haven’t even heard him say he wants to go home! What if he wants to stay here?”

“Why would he want to stay here?” Twilight asked, taken aback. She blinked several times rapidly. “He has his home, his family… h-his life to return to.”

“But he has a life here!” Sweetie Belle pressed. “He has a job, he has friends!” She gestured a forehoof to everypony gathered. “He even has a special somepony!”

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity scolded. The authority in her tone caused her sister to flinch and back down. “You make a good point, but let’s not talk about William as though he weren’t here, shall we?” She turned to me. “It is true that you haven’t said what you want, though, darling.”

The overbearing weight of everyone’s eyes bore down on me. Unfortunately, I had no answer ready for them.

The only thing I missed from Earth was my family. I had no friends that I really missed, I didn’t have a nice house or a good job. I had nothing waiting for me back there that I couldn’t live without. Even the thought of never seeing another human again didn’t bother me. I knew it should have, but it just didn’t. Living among the ponies was difficult at times and sometimes got a little isolating, but if there was anything I’d learned over the last few months, it was that I had friends. Twilight, Spike and all their friends, Carrot Top and Written Script; hell, I bet even Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom would consider themselves my friends! Not to even mention Scoots.

But at the same time, could I give up ever seeing my family again just for them?

“I don’t know what I want,” I mumbled.

A stunned silence fell across the castle throne room. Spike was still clicking his claws together looking at Twilight while Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom’s attention was on Scoots. Everyone else was still staring at me.

“I’m sorry, Will,” Twilight suddenly said. “I wasn’t trying to send you away, I just… didn’t actually think that you might want to stay. But I’m afraid that doesn’t change things. The portal could still close any moment and you need to decide as quickly as possible.”

“How am I supposed to choose?” I asked. “How am I supposed to choose between my family and all of you? I have a life here and friends and…” I trailed off, hazarding a glance at Scoots. Her resolute expression was starting to crack; her lip was starting to tremble even though she tried to hide it.

“You can’t stay…” she pleaded softly. “You can’t give up your home j-just for me!”

“What if he didn’t have to?” Spike mused. Everypony turned to look at him and he gave an embarrassed smile. “I mean, uh… Twilight, what about a tracer?”

She was gobsmacked, her wings flared as her mouth hung open. “Why didn’t I think of that?!” With a sudden burst of her red-pink magic, she teleported away, leaving the rest of us flabbergasted in her haste.

“What’s a ‘tracer,’ Spikie?” Sweetie Belle asked. Behind her where she couldn’t see, Apple Bloom pretended to gag.

“It’s kind of a… um…” he stalled, waving his claws in a vague circular motion. “It’s a spell that makes something locatable anywhere it goes. You cast it on an object like a book or a pencil or whatever and no matter where it goes, you can always find it!”

“I don’t get it,” Apple Bloom said. “How’s that supposed to help Will?”

Spike scratched the back of his head as he tried to explain himself. “Well, I just thought if Twilight cast it on something small, we could toss it through the portal–”

“And see where it goes!” Scoots shouted excitedly, cutting him off. “If Twilight could track it to the other side, could she open a portal there herself?!”

“Uh… maybe?” Spike said. “There are a lot of variables when you’re dealing with stuff like that. But she’ll probably know after she sends the tracer through!”

I bit back the urge to curse. Even that wasn’t a surefire thing. But at least it was better than my other options.

We waited only a few more minutes before Twilight teleported back. She was levitating a book which she quickly dropped onto her throne and a small golden necklace. As she floated it over to me, I recognized it as the same one she’d cast the cloud-walking spell on when Rainbow, Scoots and I went to Cloudsdale. Just looking at it reminded me of everything that happened and sent a small barb of guilt through my stomach.

“Will, hold on to that. If it works, I should be able to trace it–” she started, but Spike cut her off.

“I already explained what it does, Twilight.”

“Oh,” she said, ruffling her feathers in surprise. “Well, alright then. There’s no time to lose, then. Gather up, everypony, and I’ll teleport us to the portal.”

We all did as she said except for Carrot Top, who remained where she was standing. She had a hesitant wrinkle in her brow and held a forehoof raised like Rarity might when looking at a speck of mud.

“Is there… an express train or something?” she asked.

Written Script sighed and trotted over to offer her a nuzzle. “It’s okay, sweetie. Teleporting’s not bad at all! Just a little poof and you’re done! You barely feel a thing.”

“You know how I feel about magic,” she grumbled.

He nodded. “Oh yes, I certainly do. I also know how much you like certain things I do with my magic.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away in a huff. Meanwhile, Applejack tried to cover Apple Bloom’s ears, only to have her hoof batted away with a scowl. After a little more coaxing, Carrot Top finally joined us and Twilight charged up her magic. With a bright red-pink flash and a soft, lingering chime, the world disappeared.

Within the blink of an eye we were deep underground in the caves beneath Canterlot. The change was so quick and seamless that I jumped more from the sudden chill in the air than I did from the teleport. Seriously, it was cold. Probably only ten or fifteen degrees above freezing.

I knew exactly where we were, though, as I looked around. I’d remember these caves for the rest of my life, even if they weren’t as distinctive as they were. My first day in Equestria, I’d woken up in these caves, floundering and freezing in a pool of water. I only had on my boxers, as that’s what I’d been swimming in in the lake near my parents’ house. I had wondered these twisting corridors for what felt like hours before I was found, soaked and on the verge of hypothermia, by Princess Twilight and a troop of Royal Guards. My memory fails me after that, and the next thing I remembered was waking up in the hospital with a hundred wires and tubes attached to my body.

The walls were all solid crystal, mirror-like and all shades of blue and purple and even some pinks here and there. The red-pink glow of Twilight’s horn reflected off of every surface, spreading even that meager light into the halls beyond and out of sight. I remembered that, even without a unicorn’s magic, these caves still seemed to glow with a diffused light that seemed to come from nowhere. For all I knew, it was sunlight from the surface that managed to reflect all the way down to where we were.

Twilight wasted no time in leading us forward and around a few bends before we came upon a chamber as large as Twilight’s castle’s throne room. A massive pool of water sat in the center, glowing a brilliant blue that wavered all across the walls in rippling patterns. It was bright enough that Twilight extinguished the light from her horn.

To the side of the pool was a long folding table laden with all manner of strange devices. Small white gems of various sizes lied on the table while more were affixed along the circumference of vertical wire circles on a plastic stand; all around which was a flood of paperwork, quills and half-full ink bottles.

Two ponies in white lab coats covered in dirt and splotches of ink stood at the table, poring over all their equipment. Both were unicorns; one was a slightly pudgy blue mare while the other was a gangly pink stallion with a pair of thick glasses. A guard stood at attention a short distance away from them. He was a dark grey unicorn stallion, but instead of the golden armor that Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard wore, his was a shiny purple with dark navy trimming. He saluted as Twilight approached the table.

“How’s the portal doing?” Twilight asked the two scientists, absently returning the guard’s salute.

“No change since you left, Princess,” the mare said. She started and gave a quick, clumsy bow. Next to her, the stallion did the same, but Twilight was too busy looking over their notes to notice.

“The rate of the arcanic resonance decay has held steady at 0.0158 thaums-per-second. Still on track for depletion in 3.13 hours, Princess,” he said while adjusting his glasses.

“Good; hopefully it’ll hold for the full potential window,” she mused. Looking up from their paperwork, she smiled gratefully and nodded. “You’re both doing excellent! Keep up the good work.”

The two looked like star-struck little girls at Twilight’s praise. “Sure thing, Princess!” the stallion said.

Turning away, Twilight gestured for the guard to follow her and together they rejoined us. With a burst of magic she conjured a piece of parchment and a quill from thin air and began scrawling a note. When she was done, she rolled the parchment up and presented it to the guard, letting the quill dissipate into a cloud of red sparkles.

“Sergeant Ascalon,” she said, addressing the guard. “Report to Captain Ironside immediately. I need him to send a team of pegasi to Cloudsdale to find Rainbow Dash and give her this message. Then, the team is to show her the way here. She was last thought to be at the Cloudsdale Weather Administration, but she may also be staying with her parents. She must receive this message as soon as possible. Is that understood?”

“Yes, my Princess,” Sergeant Ascalon said, saluting again.

“Then you’re dismissed.”

Pausing only to nod, he lit his horn and disappeared in a flash of blue. As Twilight turned back to us, Rarity tittered behind a hoof.

“My, my, Twilight! So authoritative! I do believe you handled that just like Princess Celestia would have!”

Twilight frowned in response until Pinkie materialized at her side and gave her a sudden noogie-ing. “Heehee! She’s right, Twilight! For somepony who says they don’t like Princessy stuff, you sure are good at it!”

“I’m more int’rested in why you’re sendin’ for Rainbow,” Applejack said. “I thought you said we’d never find her in time?”

“I can’t imagine we will,” Twilight said, glancing at me guiltily. “But she deserves to know what’s going on. I’m so sorry, Will. If I’d known she was in Cloudsdale, I… well, I don’t know what else I could have done. I’m sorry.”

She looked so genuinely disheartened that I couldn’t help but feel touched. She gave a squawk of surprise as I bent down to pull her into a hug, but after a moment she relaxed and returned it. Soon enough, several other bodies piled around us until we all made one big cuddle puddle. Even Carrot Top joined in reluctantly, but I think that was only because Written Script dragged her in. Regardless, I didn’t miss the almost-motherly pat she laid atop Sweetie Belle’s head.

I realized that I wouldn’t be here to see her foal if I went back now. How many other things was I going to miss?

“Will?” Twilight asked cautiously as we all started to pull away. “It’s time to decide.”

Scoots, who had somehow wormed her way into the group hug to be at my side, wrapped her foreleg around my arm a little tighter.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said quietly. “So how’s this tracer thing supposed to work?”

Twilight cleared her throat and stood a little straighter, taking on her infamous ‘lecture voice’.

“A tracer is a type of spell that can be cast on almost any inanimate object that allows the caster to locate said object no matter where in the world it goes. It might be possible to track an object across separate universes as well, though this has never been tested in any fashion. The spell could fail the moment it goes through the portal and become useless or, assuming it works, I may be unable to create a portal to your universe. It may require more energy than any pony is capable of generating or even be impossible altogether.”

“B-but if this tracer thing works,” Scoots cut in desperately, “you might be able to open a portal to his world anytime? It’s possible?”

Twilight sighed and rubbed her muzzle in exasperation. “It’s ‘possible’ in the same sense that it’s ‘possible’ that this portal could close today and reopen tomorrow.”

“You can’t give us any kinda chances or nothing?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t have the kind of data I’d need to even start calculating success chances.”

“Well, why don’t we just toss the tracer into the portal?” Spike asked. “We can see if the spell holds and figure out where to go from there.”

“That would be a very bad idea, Spike!” Twilight reprimanded. “When Will first arrived here, the portal was long gone by the time we found him. Judging by how little residual magic remained in the air at the time, I estimate that the portal disappeared almost as soon as he came through. It’s entirely possible that this portal only allows one thing through it. If we send the tracer through without Will and the spell fails, we’ll have wasted what could be his only chance for who knows how long!”

“So, I either go home and hope that this thing works” –I gripped the necklace in my hand tighter– “or I stay here and hope that this thing works. No matter what I do, I risk losing people I love.”

“Sometimes…” Twilight said, looking down to the floor sadly, “the choices we’re presented aren’t fair. That doesn’t mean you don’t still have to make them. I’m sorry, Will.”

“We’re all here for you, darling,” Rarity said, placing a comforting hoof on my shoulder. “We can’t choose for you, but I’m sure I speak for everypony when I say we’ll support your choice either way.”

“Speak for yourself,” Carrot Top groused. “I’m going to be out a worker if he leaves. He’s the only semi-competent employee I’ve ever had!”

“Dear, this may not be the time,” Written Script admonished. “Besides, he’s the only employee we’ve ever had.”

“I was including you,” she snapped back before turning her nose up at him.

Rarity bristled at the exchange. “Miss Carrot Top, I really don’t believe now is the time to be guilt-tripping him. I’m sure this is difficult enough as it is without any of us making it worse.”

Carrot Top looked like she was about to retort but I held up a hand between them. “No, it’s okay, Rarity, I think I know what she’s trying to say.” I’d known Carrot Top long enough to read between the lines every now and then. I could still be wrong, but I was willing to take the chance. “I’d miss you, too.”

She silently looked between the ground and me for a moment before she nodded. Next to her, Written Script smiled and nuzzled her cheek gently.

“He’s starting to catch on, dear!”

She only shrugged in return before retreating to the back of the group. Whether it was from the embarrassment of everyone’s attention on her or from frustration at Rarity I couldn’t be certain. I wasn’t that fluent in Carrot Top-ese yet.

Before I could let myself get the warm fuzzies over Carrot Top’s rare show of affection, I was strangled by a pair of pink hooves wrapping about my neck.

“Hey, Will?” Pinkie asked directly into my ear. “If you leave I’m really going to miss you! I’ll never get to see you come into Sugarcube Corner and talk to the Cakes or come to my parties or see you around town and say hi or anything! I know I won’t miss you as much as Carrot Top or Rainbow or Scootsie but I’ll still miss you a whole, whole lot, okay? But I know that you must want to go back home, too. I know I’d be really, really sad if I could never see my sisters or my mom and dad ever again. So… I really want you to stay, but I promise I won’t cry too much if you go home.”

Oh, just when I thought my heart couldn’t take anymore Pinkie had to go and make me think about her crying. Just what I needed to make this choice any easier. I did my best to keep a straight face as Rarity gently levitated the pink bundle of emotions off of me.

“Okay, somepony has to say it, so I guess it’ll be me!” Sweetie Belle snapped. Her face was contorted in a dark glower as she bore down on me. “Will, you can’t leave now!”

“Sweetie Belle,” Scoots said dangerously low, as though in warning.

“No! If you aren’t going to say anything, I will!” Sweetie retorted. “Will, Scootaloo really likes you! I’ve never seen her like this before in all the years I’ve known her! You’re all she ever talks about and every day at school all she does is think about you and what the two of you are going to do next time you see each other!”

“It’s kinda annoyin’, really,” Apple Bloom chipped in, grinning smugly. Applejack’s disapproving frown did nothing to deter her.

Sweetie Belle continued unabated. “You’re going to break her heart if you leave!”

“Sweetie Belle, shut up!” Scoots shouted. She was seething against me, staring at Sweetie Belle with an anger I’d never seen in her. “He needs to go home! I’ll be fine, so just… stop. Please?”

“But–!” Sweetie Belle started, but Rarity cut her off by placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“Sweetie, dear,” she said gently, giving a minute shake of her head. “As a matter of fact, I believe this is something they need to talk about alone. Why don’t we give them a moment, everypony?”

With a number of sad smiles and nods, the group moved away to give us some space. Only Sweetie Belle wanted to argue further and Rarity had to practically drag her away, but eventually we were left alone.

Scoots was still clutching my arm, though her eyes were on the ground and her wings were listless at her sides. I tried to brush the curls in the front of her mane out of her eyes but she didn’t even respond to my touch. So instead I cupped my fingers under her chin and softly lifted until she was looking at me.

“I don’t know what to do, Scoots,” I said. “Whether I stay or go… I’m losing someone.”

“Then the choice is obvious, isn’t it?” she countered, surprisingly calm. Her face finally broke into a small smile, the brightest I’d seen her since last night, but it was a bittersweet thing. “You have to go back home. To your family.”

“But what about us?” I asked. “We’re just getting started! We have a lot of dates to go on still! I never… I never got to take you to one of those plays. And last night…”

Her smile got just a little bigger as she wiped away a tear about to fall. “Last night was amazing. I don’t think it could have been better! Sweetie told me once that your first time should be special. Something that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. I didn’t really believe her, but… I think I understand now. I will remember last night forever.

“I’m glad we did it. Even if I… never see you again, I’ll still have that and our date to remember.” She paused to give a fragile laugh that threatened to die with the wind. “Somepony else is going to have a tough act to follow!”

The very idea of her with someone else was like a kick to the gut.

“So don’t worry about me, okay?” she continued. “I’m tough! I’ll be okay. Besides, I know Sweetie and AB will stop me from getting too mopey. You just make sure Sarah does the same for you, you hear me?”

At my sister’s name I felt myself starting to lose it. I barely managed to turn a sob into a cough before it left my throat but the tears starting to fall told the story anyway. I don’t know whether Scoots hugged me or I her, but the next thing I knew we were embracing each other like the world was about to fall apart.

“B-but what about–” I tried to start but choked on the words.

Scoots understood, though.

“You know Rainbow Dash would want you to go, too,” she whispered.

Hearing it said aloud drove the final nail home. However much it hurt, however much I knew I would regret it, I had made my choice.

“I’ll miss you,” I said feebly. She let out a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a choke.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you, too.” She pulled away from me and wiped her eyes one last time. With a look of renewed determination, she slid my camera satchel off of her back and offered it to me. Once I’d taken it, she said, “I figured you might want that. I, uh… I grabbed some of the pictures out of your photo album; the ones I thought you’d like to have the most. I might have… kept a few for myself, too.”

I opened it up to indeed find a sizable stack of photos wedged into the side. My camera was also perfectly packed away as well, though I doubted I would be able to do much with it Earthside. What with not having the magic needed to develop the film, but I would appreciate having it regardless.

“Thanks. No one will ever believe me, though; even with these.”

“Well, at least you’ll know!” she said. She scuffed a hoof across the ground uncomfortably. “Will, I love you, okay? So, I want you to go and be happy. I mean it; you’re not allowed to mope around!”

I gave a weak laugh at her attempt to be scolding. “Yes, ma’am,” I said, giving a mocking salute. In a softer voice I whispered, “I love you, too.”

Then I pulled her into one deep, final kiss. There were so many things I still wanted to tell her. So many things we hadn’t done and now never would. I had no words that could tell her how I felt and I knew a single kiss, no matter how great, nor matter how passionate or long-lasting, would ever be enough either.

And yet, it was all I could do. I just had to pray it was enough.

She was crying again as I pulled away.

Slowly, I stood up. Scoots gave a loving nuzzle against my leg before, together, we walked back to the rest of the group. I fastened my satchel securely around my side and held the necklace so tight in my hand I could feel the metal digging into my skin.

I didn’t need to say it. The look on everyone’s face said they all knew. I went around, one by one, saying my goodbyes and accepting hugs and final hoofbumps. Only Sweetie Belle turned away when I got around to her, though I couldn’t blame her that. She instead went to comfort Scoots with gentle nuzzles.

I was in a daze throughout it all. I don’t know when it started, but by the time I let Twilight go I was crying again. Nopony said anything, though. Not even Carrot Top, though she did use a hoof to brush a few away before I stood up.

With all of my closest friends around me, it was finally time.

I stood at the edge of the pool, watching its rippling surface as it glowed its eerie blue glow.

I turned one last time to look around at everypony. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Spike huddled close. Carrot Top and Written Script, standing strong together. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, supporting their best friend.

Scootaloo, smiling proudly in spite of her tears…

Only one face was missing. The hallway we’d come in through was empty as I looked down it. I don’t know if I expected her to come barreling through at the last minute, but if I had been I was disappointed. There was nothing there. No trace of her.

I sighed.

“Goodbye, everypony,” I said simply.

With the image of all their smiling faces burning in my mind–

I took a step forward–

And the world disappeared.

I awoke underwater, floundering and flailing until my head finally burst through the surface and I breathed deep the fresh night air.

As I wiped the water from my eyes, I recognized my surroundings. It was the lake in the woods near my parents’ house. The same crystal-clear waters, the same deciduous trees grew right up to the lakeshore, the same rock outcropping we used to use as a diving board on the north end.

It was all there.

I was back on Earth.

I was… home.

Elation. Overwhelming, exhilarating elation was all I felt as I splashed around in those old waters I knew so well, under the big, silver moon and the millions of glittering stars. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I paddled and sloshed my way to the shore and stood dripping on the dirt.

I laughed aloud. “I’m home!” I shouted, turning to look about me…

…only to find no one.

My good cheer died as a rock even colder than the water soaking my clothes dropped into my stomach. I was just alone and freezing in the night air.

I sighed.

Realizing there was no point staying there, I double-checked my camera and the necklace Twilight had given me. Both were still fine as far as I could tell; though I didn’t know the first thing about magic stuff. For all I knew the spell had died and all I held was a worthless gold chain. Regardless I put it on and began the long trek through the words in the direction I knew my parents’ house was in.

Of all the times I’d made the trip before, never had it felt as long as it did that night. The woods were darker and more menacing than I remembered them being, and every snapping twig or hoot of an owl sent shivers down my spine.

But I finally made it through. I took to a sprint as the end of the maze of trees came in sight, and as I burst out into my old backyard, it was like waking from a nightmare. Relief flooded over me even as the jittery twinges of remaining adrenaline coursed through me.

I drank in the image of my childhood home. An old country home with charming stone walling and redbrick accentuations. I knew the front had its quaint little porch, all in white-painted wood and with faux-Corinthian columns to give it an air of elegance but really just came across a bit tacky. The back had a massive porch spanning the entire length of the building, painted white to match the front, and with several doors leading inside. One was to my old room and another was to Sarah’s. We would sometimes meet outside when we were supposed to be asleep but couldn’t and watch the stars together. It looked like the same patio furniture was still out there.

I wasted no time climbing up the stairs. Sure enough, it was all exactly as I remembered. I trailed my hand along the railing as I walked, letting my fingers remember the old, hand-sanded wood. It was still as smooth as a baby’s bottom after all these years.

The sliding glass door to the kitchen was to my right. I could see that all the lights were out inside, unsurprising given what hour it must have been. The door opened easily at my touch; my parents never bothered to lock anything, living out in the country like they did.

I flicked on a light switch as I closed the door and the room washed over me.

The massive oak table my father had built himself when he was my age. The fading wallpaper that had been up since before I was born, bearing images of little cartoon sunrises. The hardwood counter where my mother would cook for us every night after she got off of work. Even the same little knickknack kittens my mother used to collect. They covered every bit of empty shelf space as well as the tops of every cabinet on the wall. It was like someone had just taken a box of cats and dumped them all over the place willy-nilly.

It was all exactly the same.

I was so overtaken by the nostalgia that I almost didn’t hear footsteps running into the room. I turned and the world came crashing down on me.

The one person I never thought I’d see again.

The one person I never let myself think I’d see again.

“Sarah?”

Author's Note

So that whole thing I said about there only being two chapters yet? I lied.

Not purposefully, though. I just didn't think about the fact that a lot needed to happen before Will could actually go through the portal. So, there's still two more chapters to go after this and an epilogue.

Cheers, everyone! As always, all comments are greatly appreciated! Especially pointing out errors and whatnot that I missed while looking over it.