Waking Up

Chapter 14: Praescitum, Part Two

By: Calamity Jay

"We have to go back..."

You rushed all the way down the corridor, using all of the force you could muster to keep yourself moving as fast as possible. The Princess and Twilight had to know about what Luna had revealed to you; your parents' lives were at stake! Eventually, you reached the double doors of the Grand Hall and pushed your way past them and saw that Celestia and Twilight were not there in the Grand Hall.

'Shit, where could they be? They could be anywhere, this place is huge!' You thought frantically to yourself. If you didn't find them quickly then that could mean that your parents could be dead already while you wasted time trying to find them. Suddenly, a brown Earth pony guard wearing gold armor came trotting around the corner. He took notice of you and quickly became alerted

"You there! Who are you and what is your business here?" He shouted at you, shifting into a combat stance.

"I am Leroy Evans! Friend of Princess Twilight and Celestia! I need to know where they are! Do you know where they went off to?" You ask, slowly walking over to him with your hands raised defensively.

"Stay back, you," He threatened, trying his best to size you up. "You have no business being here in the castle without permission, now you leave or I will force you to leave!" He snorted and stomped his hoof.

"Did you not just hear me? I came here with Princess Twilight to seek out Princess Luna! I have important information to tell them and I need to know where they are!" You argued, your temper rising slightly.

"Yeah, likely story," The young guard scoffed, further angering you. "Now, you have three seconds to start walking before I buck you out of the castle myself! One!"

"Aw c'mon! My parents lives are at stake here!" You shouted, about to resort to other means to get him out of your way.

"Two!" He growled, looking about ready to beat the hell out of you.

"Please, I don't want to have to do this!" Your hands began to glow a light blue as you ignited your magic, ready to fight the overzealous guard. This was the last thing you wanted to do and you were sure you would get into trouble, but this jerk wasn't giving you much choice.

"Three!" As he was about to rear up and slam his hooves onto you, a certain Princess's voice called out.

"That will be quite enough! Private Dusty! Stand down!" Celestia ordered and the young guard did so and stood at attention to his Princess with Twilight standing next to her looking worried. "What do you think you're doing to this young human?"

"Your Majesty, it is the duty of the Princess's Guard to beware of any potential threats to you," He thrusts a hoof at you. "And this thing seemed like a potential threat to you, he wanted to know your location and for all I knew he could have been plotting to harm you, Princess,"

"This thing, Private, is a he! And you will do well to remember that!" She scolded the young guard. "Now, carry on we have other affairs to attend to. Dismissed!" He gave her a salute, turned around, and marched away; as he left, he shot you a look of distrust.

After he left you proceeded to tell Celestia and Twilight everything that Luna had told you. Especially the part where you wanted to go back before the day was out. When you finished, Celestia looked astounded while Twilight looked worried.

"So you wish for us to send you back today?" She asked, clearly astonished.

"Yes, Princess, I have to go and see if my parents are okay," You sighed and tried to calm yourself down a bit. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened before I ever got to speak with them again! Please, you must understand."

"I do understand, but you must understand as well. Travelling dimensions is not something we do for fun it is a serious thing," The Princess argued.

"I understand that as well, but this is serious as well and with all due respect I must ask to do this for me," You get down on your knees in front of her. "Princess, you must do this for me, I have to see my parents and make sure they're okay! I'd never forgive myself if anything bad happened to them," You bow your head in respect at her.

The Princess seemed to be thinking it over as she had not responded yet. Finally she spoke up. "Rise," She ordered and you did so. "I will accept your request young human, but I will have to ask you to come back later on today so I can speak with my sister."

"Really?! You'll do this for me?!" You asked with hope burning in your heart.

"Yes, I will," She smiled at you softly. "Now go back to Ponyville with Twilight and try to remain calm, I will send a letter when we are ready."

"Okay, we will," You look at Twilight and she gives you a nod. "Again, thank you, Princess. This means so much to me," You bow deeply again.

"It is my sole duty to watch over the citizens of Equestria, this case is no different," She bowed back to you. "Now, go home, and relax. Princess Twilight, I will send for you soon."

"Very well, Princess," She nodded to Celestia. "We will come back as soon as possible!"

With that, you and Twilight exited the castle and out onto the courtyard of the Palace. "Ready to go, Leroy?" She asks you, her horn glowing.

"Ready when you are, Twilight," You reply, preparing yourself for the jump.

"Okay," Her horn glows brighter and you see a flash of white light...

*Scene Break*

Next thing you know you appear in what seems to be a huge castle. The structure itself seemed to be made of crystal and looked like a huge tree sprouting out of the ground. You could see the roots of the tree curling around the castle which seemed to be sitting on a sort of nest above what you assumed to be the 'trunk'. In the front there was a balcony protruding from the center of the castle. There was spire that rose high in the sky and was adorned with a crystal star that looked like Twilight's cutie mark. A truly magnificent structure. "Whoa, Twilight is this-"

"My castle? Why yes, yes it is!" She replies happily and begins trotting over to the massive front door.

"This- it- huge!" You exclaimed, running to catch up with her. "So this is what you got as kind of a reward for defeating Tirek?"

"Not really a reward," She opens the door and you emerge into a huge hallway, much like the one at the Palace. "This castle appeared after we used the Keys to open the box that gave us our Rainbow powers," Rainbow Powers?

"Uh, not to sound rude, Twilight, but Rainbow powers? That sounds kinda sissy if you ask me," You comment, earning you a scowl from Twilight.

"It is not sissy!" She argued defensively, pouting her lip. "If it weren't for our sissy powers, we would have never been able to defeat Tirek! Can you defeat an evil Demon God? Oh no wait, you don't have sissy powers so you can't defeat one! Hmph!" She finishes her rant with a snort as she turns away from you with her nose up in the air. She can get really defensive when it comes to her magic.

"Whoa sorry, remind me not to make fun of your sissy powers anymore," You say with your hands raised in defense.

"Do you want me to turn you into an orange? Because I can!" Her horn glowed threateningly.

"Okay okay, just take it easy man,"

"That's what I thought," She says with a sly smile. "Now, follow me into the meeting room," The two of you walk further down the huge hall and eventually come across a rotunda with about six chairs formed in a circle. You assumed that this was the meeting room. "Wait here, I'll go and get Spike."

"Got it," You say and look around the room. The way the chairs were set up, you guessed that this is where they meet to discuss certain things. A smile curls it's way onto your lips as you remember a part from Star Wars and how the Jedi would have council meetings in rooms such as this.

"Huh, so I guess Twilight and her friends are kinda like the Jedi Council of Equestria? Awesome," You huff out a laugh and looked at the crystal chairs. Each chair was marked according to their cutie mark.

"Hmm, let's see, that one is Twilight's," You looked at the one marked with the starburst. "And I'm gonna take a strong guess that this one is Spike's, then Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and..." You pause and get a warm feeling in your heart as you look at the chair marked with three unmistakable apples. "...Applejack," You walk over to the chair and place a hand on it, feeling as though your special mare were sitting on it right now. You take a moment to look back on all those times you have shared with Applejack. Those times you shared laughs, those times you made love, all the way to the very first time you met. Oh, it definitely feels like years have passed.

"Leroy?" You hear Twilight call out to you and you turn around to see the little dragon with her. "Admiring Applejack's chair, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," You chuckled and walk up to her. "What's up, Spike? How's it going, little guy?"

He reaches out with one of his claws and bumps your fist. "Eh, I guess I'm alright. Been busy keeping this castle organized, the library in here is pretty big so I've been working pretty hard." You look over at Twilight. "So, what are we doing in your castle?"

"We need to have a meeting real quick," She trots over to her seat and climbs into it, Spike doing the same with his. "We have to discuss what we are going to do next."

"Why? What's going on?" You ask, walking up to her. "Is it because I'm leaving?"

"Partially, but we need to discuss who will be going with you back to Earth. I don't want you to go alone so we will need somepony to go with you."

"Alright, but have you talked it over with Celestia? How will you know if she'll permit it?" Suddenly, Spike clutched his belly, closed his eyes in pain, and looked as though he was about to hurl. "Spike, you okay!?" You were about to rush over to the young drake, but he holds out a claw telling you to stop. Finally he opens eyes and lets out a loud, fiery belch that echoes off the walls of the rotunda. Out of the green fire from his mouth came a letter marked with the letter 'C' for, what you assumed, Celestia.

Twilight then picked it up with her magic. "Thank you, Spike. I actually wrote a letter to Celestia asking her if it would be okay to send somepony with you back to Earth and... Okay here is what she said... 'Dear Twilight, I have discussed your request with my sister and have decided that it would be acceptable to send somepony back to Earth with Leroy, however it will have to be somepony that has experience with magic, so I advise if you are to send anypony, it should be you. But nevertheless, discuss it with your friends. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'" Twilight put down the letter and rolled it back up. "She wants me to go? I don't if I should I mean, I'd love to visit a new world, but that's a bit much to ask isn't it?" Her ears fell and she looks over at you.

"Wait 'til our friends come here, we'll have to ask them ourselves," You say with a firm nod. Twilight nodded back and her horn began to glow. She closed her eyes and all the cutie marks on the seats began to glow as if a beacon was being set off...

ooo000oo000ooo

Applejack had just finished bucking one tree and moved on to the next one. As she was about to buck, she looked at her flank and saw that her cutie mark had begun glowing. She knew what this meant. She had to get going. Applejack looked over at her big brother and called out to him. "Big Mac! I gotta get goin'! There's an emergency! Cover for me will ya?" Before he could answer Applejack galloped toward the entrance of the farm and took off toward town as fast as she could.

Sighing, Big Mac bucked another tree clean of it's apples. "Eeyup," He muttered as he moved on to the next one.

ooo000oo000ooo

Rainbow Dash was flying through the sky, doing flips and tricks, training for whatever she was training for. Deciding to go a little faster, she goes up high into the sky to gain speed to pull off her next trick. "Alright! Let's see if I could pull off the Tornado Blitz!" She takes off at a high speed, flapping her wings furiously to go faster. Rainbow eventually gained more speed and began spiraling in the air. Her spinning was so fast that the clouds she passed by got caught up in her turbulence and spun with her. More and more clouds were caught in her flight trail as she spiraled faster and faster. Soon it looked like she was starting a tornado all on her own! She blasted off once again to get ahead of the tornado. Once she gained a good distance, she pivoted in the air and zoomed right at the tornado! She knew this was a risky stunt and if she didn't pull it off right, she could very well get caught in the vortex if she wasn't fast enough.

So with the wind screaming in her ears, she flapped her wings faster than she thought she could have and  gained more speed as she approached the rapidly spinning vortex. She closed her eyes from the strain and felt her self going faster and faster. Soon enough she tore through the tornado and burst out of the vortex, using her cloud busting ability to break it up before it could get any stronger. Next thing she knew, she was out in the sky and saw the tornado she built had dissipated. She did it. She had successfully pulled off the Tornado Blitz!

"Aww yeah! I did it! I pulled it off!" She then proceeded to do several aerial cartwheels in celebration. "What should I do next?" Before she could come up with another trick to perform, she saw that her cutie mark started to glow. She knew what this meant, but that didn't mean that she liked it. "Darn it! Ugh, looks like duty calls," She sighed as she flew off towards Twilight's castle.

ooo000oo000ooo

Fluttershy was in the middle of feeding some of her animals at her cottage. She had already finished feeding the small animals, now the time came to feed the big ones. She was about to start giving food to her goats when the huge bear she was taking care of came up to her. "Yes, what is it Mr. Bear?" The behemoth replied with a series of grunts and growls. "What? A tooth ache? How bad does it hurt?" Another grunt that sounded like a howl of pain and it put a claw into it's mouth to show which one hurt. "Okay, follow me, Mr. Bear, I'll give you some medicine to make you feel all better," She cooed at the bear and flew up to scratch his ears. The big brown bear then followed Fluttershy into her cottage where she kept all sorts of home made remedies, medicines, and first aid kits. She went into a large pantry that held most of her remedies.

She flew around the shelves, looking for the remedy that cured tooth aches. "Ah, here it is," She pulled out a small container of a home made healing salve. She flew over to the bear and showed him the medicine. "Here you go, now open wide," The bear opened it's maw and Fluttershy looked into it. "Oh dear, Mr. Bear, how long has it been since you brushed your teeth?" He gave her another low growl. "Never? Oh my, remind me to brush them for you, but for now I'll use this," She took some of the white gel into her hoof and smeared it over his gums where the tooth ache was at. "There, it should start feeling better in a little bit, now let's go and brush your-" Suddenly her cutie mark started glowing and knew what it meant. "Oh no, something must be wrong. Sorry, Mr. Bear, but brushing your teeth will have to wait, I must get going," She turned to trot out the door, but the big Ursa let out a howl of complaint. "I know I know, but right now my friends need me, how about a back rub when I come back?" The bear let out a grunt of approval. "Okay then, I'll be back soon! Be good!" She exited her cottage and took off into the sky towards Ponyville.

ooo000oo000ooo

Rarity was trotting around her shop, looking around at certain fabrics and materials that she would need for the next outfit that she designed herself. "Ah yes, this would look glorious on the ensemble that I have drawn up!" She picked a piece of fabric that looked to be a sort of bright red. "Mmm, I wonder if I have any gems that would go good with this color?" Suddenly, she looked over in a mirror and saw that her cutie mark started glowing. "Oh dear me, it seems like I am needed. Sweetie Belle? Oh Sweetie Belle?" She called out to her little sister who was in her room.

"Yeah sis?" She answered, appearing over the railing from the second story.

"Sweetie Belle I'm going to be leaving right now! Can you please be a dear and watch over the shop for me?"

"Sure, I guess," She replied, shrugging her shoulders. "When are you gonna be back?"

"Oh, hopefully not too long from now! But I'll be back as soon as possible!" She opened the door and stepped through it. "Be careful and please do not move anything! Bye now!"

"Yeah yeah," She sighed as she rested her chin on the railing and looked around at the mess that lay before her. Or as Rarity would call it "Organized Chaos".

ooo000oo000ooo

Pinkie stood there in the kitchen of sugarcube corner, waiting for another batch of muffins that have been baking for the last fifteen minutes. She was waiting in front of the oven, her mane itching from the anticipation. "Oh c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, just a little more!" She muttered as she stared intently through the window of the oven, watching the muffins slowly cook. Finally the bell on top of the counter started blaring with a deafening ring. "Ooh! They're done!" She pulls down the door to the oven, feeling the heat emanating from it, along with the sweet smell of freshly baked muffins. She grabs a cloth and puts it in her mouth to grab the hot tray. With human-like dexterity, she grabs the tray and tosses it gently onto the counter top. "Oof, almost burned myself with that one," She starts sucking on her hoof and goes over to grab the icing dispenser. "Okey dokey, time to make these muffins look even more delicious than they already do!"

As she was about to start decorating the muffins when she noticed that her cutie mark started to glow rhythmically. "Uh oh! Looks like I gotta go!" She put down the icing and made her way over to the front door. "Mr and Mrs. Cake! I have to get going! I'll be back soon!" She yelled and without waiting for an answer she pushed past the door and went out into town.

ooo000oo000ooo

Your friends arrived one by one. Rarity being the first to arrive, followed by Pinkie Pie, then Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and you were all waiting on Applejack. "Man, AJ is taking quite some time to get here isn't she?" You commented, looking over at your friends who have already taken their seats.

"Well, she does live on the outskirts of town, Leroy," Rainbow explained, lounging about in her chair with her hindlegs draped over the armrest. "It takes quite a bit of time to get from all the way out there to here."

"True, but still," You leaned against Twilight's chair, eyeing the entrance to the meeting room. A few more minutes passed, idle conversation passing between the lot of you. Spike, however, was lying in his chair dead asleep. Poor little guy must be tired from all those chores. Meanwhile, you thought about what you should say during the meeting. If it were up to you, you would take Applejack with you to Earth so you can show her where you came from. But then again, Twilight really wants to know more about your world so wouldn't she be the ideal choice? How would Applejack feel if you took Twilight instead of her? Would it even be up to you? As you thought of these things, another thought popped into your head: How would everyone react to seeing a brightly colored, talking cartoon pony? You were pretty sure that the way you reacted to seeing Twilight for the first time would be reciprocated by everyone else back home. And there was also the police, possibly the military, and maybe even NASA as well would probably get involved. Somehow.

If the movies were right, then human reaction to a sentient alien life form from another dimension will more than likely involve the military.

Before you could dwell on these thoughts any further, a welcome voice rang out from the entrance of the meeting room. "Hey, y'all! Whoo! Sorry Ah'm late!" Applejack trotted in, short of breath and sweating slightly. You immediately perked up at her appearance and stepped forward to greet her.

"Hey there, beautiful! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Your cheesy and somewhat cliche line was enough to make her happy as she beamed at your appearance and immediately galloped over to embrace you. She hopped up into the air to jump into your open arms, but her force proved to be too much and you fell over to the ground with the amorous mare atop you, nuzzling your neck furiously. "Whoa, you're as happy as an- uh, someone that's really happy?" You laughed at your pitiful attempt at a countryism, nuzzling her back affectionately.

"Ah am happy to see ya, after a long day," She kisses you lightly on your cheek. "And try to work a little harder on your countryisms will ya?" She rises off of you and you stand up, dusting yourself off.

"You betcha, now c'mon, the others are waiting," You walk back to the rotunda and Applejack takes her respective seat and you stand next to her, leaning on the crystal chair.

"Great, now that we're all here, let's get down to business," Twilight announced, settling down and looking around at all of you. "I bet you are all wondering why I've gathered you here today, aren't you?" You had to bite your lip in order to stifle a laugh at how cliche Twilight's line was.

"Yeah, I am!" Rainbow exclaimed, with obvious distaste in her tone. "I was in the middle of a very important training session! There had better be a good reason to call us here!" She finished her rant and folded her hooves with a scowl.

"Rainbow Dash, will you please calm down! I'm sure Twilight has a very good reason for calling us here on short notice," Rarity argued reasonably. "What is that reason by the way?"

"Well, Leroy? You mind explaining?" She looks over at you at you and nods for you to start explaining.

"Okay," You sigh and step forward into the circle. "Just last night, I had a horrible vision. In the vision, I saw something that no one should ever have to see."

"What did you see?" Fluttershy asked in her quiet, wary voice.

"I won't go into the details, because I don't know if I could bare to withstand recalling every single thing that I saw, but," You pause to swallow the lump that was developing in your throat. "All I will tell you, is that..." Another pause, this time you cringe and close your eyes.

Applejack stands from her seat, walks up to you and rears up on her hindlegs to whisper in your ear. "Go on now, you can do it," And she gets back down onto all fours.

"I-ugh, I saw..." You take a deep breath. "I witnessed the death of my own parents. Right in front of me." Immediately you hear everyone else gasp and see that Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity develop worried expressions while Fluttershy looked as though she was about to cry. "I know, it was a horrible thing for me to experience, Applejack here can attest to that."

"But what does that mean? Your parents are okay right?" Pinkie asked hopefully.

"I don't know for sure, I talked to Princess Luna and what she revealed to me was truly shocking..." You proceeded to tell them everything Luna told you about astral projection. "So, in retrospect of everything she told me, her theory was that everything that I saw happened in real life, which is why I have asked the Princesses, including Twilight, if I could be sent back to my home dimension as soon as possible. However, they have permitted me to bring someone with me to see Earth, which is why we have called you all here: To discuss who will be going with me." You finish your speech and stepped back.

"Well, what do you all think? Opinions? Questions?" Twilight asked, looking at her friends expectantly.

"I believe that visiting a new world does sound exciting, but however it also sounds very risky. Something that I believe that I'm not cut out for unfortunately," Rarity commented with a down trodden expression.

"It does sound kinda fun! Leroy, there are other humans back on your world am I right?!" Pinkie asked, beaming at you.

"Um yeah, but-"

"Do they like parties?!"

"Most do, but the point is-"

"What about cake?! Everypony loves cake!"

"That's also true, Pinkie, but-"

"Ooh ooh! Do you think they'd like muffins too-" Before she could continue any longer, a magical field appeared around the party mare's overactive mouth, ceasing her ceaseless talking.

"Right, well, my personal preference would be that I could take Applejack with me to Earth to show her around," You look down at Applejack. "It'd be a hell of a date, right my sweet apple?"

"Ah think it would be," She nuzzles your hand. "But, Ah mean, Twilight told us how you reacted when you met her for the first time. How would the others react to seein' me or anypony else?"

"Yeah, I think that would be a problem now wouldn't it? Twilight, think you could come up with anything?"

"Well, I could maybe turn Applejack into a human?" What she said shocks you to the core.

"Really? Its that simple?" You ask, astonished.

"Well yeah," She giggles. "Did you know that the Princesses or I could have turned you into a pony if we saw it appropriate?"

"I didn't actually and please do refrain from doing that, the feeling of not having fingers is terrifying to me," You say, absolutely terrified of the image of you walking on four legs and having no fingers at all. "That sounds like a good plan, but what about what the Princess told us? That someone with magical experience should go with me?"

"I do agree with what she said, if something ends up going wrong, then you could very well get stuck back in your dimension and it would take us quite a while to open the portal back up. I know you would rather prefer Applejack to go with you, but when it comes to if you are able to make it back here safely, then I guess me going with you would be the right choice. However, if Applejack does go with you and something goes wrong, then the both of you could become marooned on Leroy's world. So what do you think? Applejack?"

"Ah think Ah have to agree with ya, Twilight," Applejack nodded at her friend. "As much as Ah'd love to go with ya, sugarcube, Ah'm honestly afraid to get stuck on a foreign world with no hope of return. Ah mean, the bright side would be that I would be with ya, Leroy, but if you really want me to go, then Ah'll go with ya. Same if ya don't want me to go, Ah'll understand either way."

"Thanks AJ, I'm glad you'll understand," You smile at her and stroke her blonde mane.

"Okay, so there you have it. Leroy?" You look over at Twilight. "Who will you be taking?" Now it came the time to choose and even with Twilight being the more sensible option, you were still conflicted over who you should take? You were sure you would have a nice time with either mare; you really wanted to see what Applejack looked like as a human. But what if something went wrong? You may have had experience with magic, but not with opening portals to other dimensions! As cool as that would be. After another moment of you thinking it over, you finally made your decision on who would be going with you.

"Well everypony, I think I know who will be coming with me. It was a hard decision for me, honestly, but I think I have decided already," You look down at Applejack. "AJ, you know that if the situation were different I would definitely take you with me," You kneel down to look into her eyes. "But if something did go wrong, I would hate to keep you from your home," You reach forward and kiss her on the cheek and she nuzzled you gently. You got back up and faced Twilight. "Twilight, I hope you're ready to see more humans, because you're coming with me to Earth. I would be honored if you were to accept."

"I do accept, everypony agree?" She asked her friends, to which they all responded by saying "yes". "Great, then its settled! All we have to do now is wait for the Princess to-" Suddenly, Spike let out another fiery belch and a letter popped out of his mouth. "Huh? Could it be? Already?" She opened the letter, your heart rate speeding up and you clench your fists. Twilight finishes reading the letter and looks up at you, with a frown on her face. "Leroy. Its time..."

That was it, you were going home today. Come hell or high water.

*Scene Break*

The Princess was courteous enough to send you and your friends some carriages pulled by Pegasus guards to take you to Canterlot. You have never flown before even on an airplane, so the trip for you consisted of trying to keep calm and not wet yourself or letting something equally embarrassing happen. Even though you had Rainbow flying next to you and Applejack sitting with you, you still were afraid of falling from that height. Considering the fact that it was an open carriage with no restraints, you were even more worried. Thankfully, it took less than a couple of hours to fly from Ponyville all the way to the Palace in Canterlot. You landed in the courtyard where a guard lieutenant was was waiting so he could escort you to the Grand Hall. Despite the fact you had your friends with you, the guard still seemed uneasy around you. Eventually, you reached the cavernous Grand Hall, where at the end of it awaited Celestia and her sister Luna.

"Leroy, we are glad that you could make it back safely," You bowed to the Princesses along with everyone else except Twilight who trotted up to stand next to them. "Have you made your choice as to who you will be taking with you?"

"Yes I have, Princess," You stood up and nodded at Twilight. "I will be taking Princess Twilight along with me, it seems that she is the most sensible pony to take along with me. Although I would have liked to have shown Applejack my home planet, I am afraid of keeping her stuck on Earth away from Equestria."

"Very well, Princess Twilight?" She glances over her shoulder at Twilight.

"Yes, Celestia?"

"Are you prepared to embark on this journey to a foreign dimension? Where it is possibly dangerous for our kind to go?" She asked with a serious tone.

'Hmph, Earth isn't that bad," You scoffed in your head, a frown adorning your face.

"Yes, I am ready and willing to go. Whenever you are ready as well, Princess," She stated with conviction.

"Good, but have you found a way to conceal your true form?"

"Yes, Princess, the spell will trigger when we enter the portal," Twilight nodded.

"Excellent, now all of you stand back as me and my sister open the portal."

"Princess, how do you know if you can open the portal in the right place?" You ask worriedly.

"If we had the time we would explain to you the basics of dimensional travel, Sir Leroy, but we do not have the luxury of time as we must open the portal now if you are to be able to be in the right place, in the right time, and someplace inconspicuous where no one will suspect a thing," Luna stated gruffly.

"And don't worry, Leroy," Twilight trotted forward to stand next to you. "I'll explain to you everything once we are on the other side."

"Okay, sounds good," You nodded in complement as you readied yourself to literally travel through time and space. "Hey, I won't pass out or anything like that will I?"

"No, besides the magical power you and with your augmented body I believe you will be able to withstand the trip." She replied.

"So, that means I will still be able to do magic back on Earth as well?"

"I'm not sure, Luna was able to do so, but I don't know how it will work with you," She replied, seeming unsure of herself.

"I guess we'll find out when we get there won't we?" You muttered as you saw Luna and Celestia with their eyes closed, focusing their magic. "What are they doing?"

"They're gathering their power together so that they can power the portal,"

"So it takes more than one to open the portal? I thought that Alicorns could do things most ponies couldn't?"

"Yes, but when Luna found your world it was by accident, and she had to use much of her reserve power to get you here. But with both Princesses using their power to open the portal, it will be much easier and more accurate." She explained. "Any second now..."

The Princesses both opened their eyes, a bright light shining from their pupils and their horns glowing so bright you had to shield your eyes. Their horns shot out a beam of light and they both collided, forming a circular gateway that appeared to be swirling. The force of the reaction caused everyone in the room to brace themselves as they felt a mild turbulence emanating from the portal. "Twilight! Leroy!" Celestia shouted out in warning. "You must go through as soon as possible! We will not be able to hold the portal for more than a few minutes! Do what you must and go through!"

You turned to Applejack and immediately knelt down to eye level with her. "Applejack, I don't have much time so I'll be quick," You take a deep breath. "I-" But that's all you have time to say as Applejack silences you with her lips and you cherish the embrace, pulling her in closer. After a few moments of your passionate embrace, she pulls away with tears in her eyes, her mane billowing in the wind.

"Don't worry 'bout a thing, sugarcube, ya don't have to say anything," She throws her forelegs around your neck and you wrap your arms around her back. "There is something Ah do want ya to know, before you go back though," She whispers into your ear. "Just a little something to give you a bigger reason to come back in one piece."

"What's that?" You whisper back, gently stroking her mane. It was then, she stated three words that made your entire world freeze.

"Ah love you..."

At that moment, your heart felt like it was taking off and you pulled her even closer to you.

"I love you too, my sweet apple," You whisper in response. You pull back and kiss her as passionately as you possibly could, her hat falling to the floor as the two of you embraced. Before it could continue for too long, you reluctantly pulled yourselves apart and pressed your forehead against hers. "I'll see you when I get back, wait up will you?"

"You bet your sweet apple pie that Ah will," She gives you a quick kiss on the lips again and you stand up. Suddenly, Rainbow flies up to and stands next to Applejack, with an unsure look on her face.

The young daredevil looks at her friend. "AJ. Can I?" She asks hopefully, gesturing at you.

"S'alright with me, Ah don't mind one bit," She smiles genially.

"Awesome," She takes to the air and flies up to you with a small smile. "Leroy?"

"What is it Rainbow-" For the second time in a row, you are silenced by another pair of lips. This time you were caught off guard by Rainbow's amorous assault on your mouth.

"Whoa, didn't see that coming," You chuckled as she pulled away from you. "So, you asked her?"

"Yep! About a few days ago actually!" She stated happily.

"And she doesn't mind?"

"Well duh! Of course she doesn't!" You look over to Applejack and she shrugs her shoulders with a casual smile. "Now go on, big guy! Your ride is waiting!" She turns you around and pushes you to where Twilight is standing. You feel her chin on your shoulder and you hear her whisper, "Hey, me and AJ have a little surprise when you come back, so make sure you don't take too long. Big guy," She breathed seductively into your ear, causing you to flush and tug at the collar of your shirt.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do then," You say and walk up to Twilight; you turn back to all your friends. "I wanna thank you. All of you. For teaching me about friendship. Someday I will make it up to each and every one of you!"

"Goodbye, darling! Oh and bring more pictures of human clothing! I'd love to see what humans wear!" Rarity called out.

Pinkie pulled out a megaphone seemingly out of nowhere. "BYE LEROY! HAVE FUN! COME BACK SAFE!" Her voice rang out from the megaphone, causing everyone rub their ears.

"Will do, Pinkie!" You called out, rubbing your ringing ear. You looked over at Fluttershy and she waved a hoof at you and smiled meekly. You waved and smiled back.

"Leroy!" Twilight called out and you faced her. "Its time! We have to go! Now!"

"Okay!" You walked up to Twilight and nodded at her, showing that you were ready to go. She nodded back and began to walk up to the bright, swirling gateway. The moment of truth was here and you were about to go home. "Twilight! Where will we be landing?!"

"We should be landing close to the area where Luna first opened the portal!" Shouted back over the noise from the portal. "Are you ready?!"

"Yeah!"

"You wanna through first?!"

"Ladies first! I insist!" You reply, bowing to her and gesturing her to go forward.

"Alright! See you on the other side!" She then casually trots forward and disappears through the portal. You look back and see Rainbow and Applejack, looking on with worried expressions. You smile at them and nod, turning back to the portal. Without looking back, you stick out your right hand and give them a thumbs up as you take a deep breath and step through the blinding light of the portal.

*Scene Break*

You felt your body falling. Falling through an endless void, your eyes closed and body flailing. All you could hear was the loud scream of wind as you fell. Then all of a sudden it stopped. The endless falling stopped. The loud scream was replaced with the sound of cars honking and birds chirping. Your felt your feet firmly planted on solid ground. Your eyes were still closed, mostly because you were afraid to open them. A voice piped up.

"Leroy? Leroy open your eyes! Whoa!" Twilight urged, sounding as though she was about to fall.

"Can't too scared," You replied, your body shaken up.

"Just open them will you?" You feel her hands- Hands?! What the hell? This you definitely had to see.

Slowly you opened your eyes and saw two round violet ones staring back at you. This time there were no large ears, wings, or a horn accompanying them. Her long muzzle replaced by a small, cute nose. Her violet coat replaced by with normal, light skin. Her former, quadriped build was now the same as yours, standing face to face with you. You looked at the rest of her body and saw that she was wearing a purple sweater vest over a white short sleeved button up shirt, a knee length dark purple skirt, all complete stylish purple boots. Even in her human form, she still looked  undoubtedly cute. Especially the way she seemed a bit off balance with her new legs. "Whoa, excuse miss I'm looking for a girl name Twilight," You chuckle as you help her balance.

"Funny," She replied with a flat tone, holding onto you so she doesn't fall. "Where are we?" You look around and see that you are in a sort of alleyway. The brick walls surrounding you on both sides. Trash littered on the ground. To the left you see the exit out onto the sidewalk. Even in the alley you could see that the sun was starting to set and you guessed that it was at least seven in the evening.

"C'mon, this way," You take her hand and begin to pull her, but see that she is stumbling over her steps.

"Ugh, how do you work these things?" She asked trying to walk forward. Looks like you would have to teach her how to walk normally.

"Okay, follow my lead," You stand next to her and hold her shoulders. "Right leg," She moves her right leg. "Then left leg," She moves her left leg. You repeatedly tell her to alternate her legs until she gets the rhythm on how to walk. "Good, good, now if you want you could hold on to me while we walk," She wrapped her arm around yours and you slowly walked her towards the street. "Looks like the transformation was a success," You commented, causing her to blush and smile. "How did you know what to put on?"

"Well from what you told me about humans and their social taboos, I kinda had to come up with this spell that would turn me into a human. A clothed human. And the clothes I just kinda imagined what I would like to wear as a human."

"Good, wouldn't want to see you naked," Just then you felt that awkward ping in the back of your head. "Uh, I didn't mean it like that, I just uh-"

"Its fine, Leroy," She giggled, making you blush as well. "Besides, you've technically seen me naked."

"Right, right," Before the two of you could talk any longer you reached the sidewalk. "Whoa," You stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked around. The street was definitely familiar to you, but there was a certain bar in front of you that was a sure sign that you were back home. There it was. Johnny's Tavern. Your old haven. "Holy crap."

"What is it, Leroy?" Twilight asked as you stared at the bar.

"Twilight..."

"What? Where are we?" You began to walk towards the bar on the sidewalk opposite from it.

"Home. My home..."