After 3 days of waiting for the portal cracks to heal, they were nearly done, but not quite. From what I could conclude, Sunset Shimmer and I still had a few more hours before we could return to Equestria. We had slept on chunks of rubble, uncomfortable as they were. We would wake up covered in fallout, and we’d have to wipe it off. We were getting to know each other better, strengthening our relationship. I was waiting for the cracks to heal while talking to Sunset.
“Bored yet?” I asked her.
“Yep,” Sunset responded. “I have a question for you.”
“What’s that?” I asked, making adjustments to my mechanical arm.
“If Celestia and Luna are gone, who rules Equestria?” Sunset asked.
“Did you not see that part of the letter?” I asked. Sunset shook her head. “Before she died, Celestia sent me that letter. It answered a question and left me with ruling Equestria. I’m the one that rules Equestria now.”
“Wow,” Sunset marveled. “Must be a lot of work.”
“It is,” I said. “Actually, on the topic of royalty, the Canterlot Castle ruins are actually still there.”
“Why?” Sunset asked.
“I told the royal guard to leave them there as tribute to the Princesses,” I explained. “I thought that it would be the best way to honor them.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Sunset shrugged. A shine erupted from the portal. I whipped around and found the cracks healed.
“Come on,” I said. Sunset picked up her bag and walked over to me. She helped me set the portal up straight, and we got ready to go through.
“Ready?” Sunset asked me.
“Ready,” I said back. We took hands, and walked through the portal, leaving behind a ruined world.
~~~
We stepped out into the mirror room and fell onto our front hooves. Sunset took a moment to regain balance.
“It’s been way to long since I’ve been in this body,” she mumbled. I spread my wings, and Sunset Shimmer flinched from the scrape of the metal.
“What the hell?!” she cried.
“Sorry,” I said, closing my wings. “I’ve had to put up with that for so long, I’ve grown used to it. I don’t even hear it anymore. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it as well.”
“I hope so,” Sunset said, rubbing her ear. I heard the portal shimmer again, and I turned around. Nothing seemed off. I shrugged and turned back around.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. Sunset and I walked out of the mirror room and into Twilight’s castle’s main lobby.
“Twilight! I’m home!” I called out. I heard no answer. “TWILIGHT!!!” I screamed.
“Coming!” I heard from upstairs. Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 came down the stairs from Twilight’s map room.
“Braveheart!” Rainbow Dash cried. “You’re back! Is that Sunset Shimmer?”
“Yes it is,” I said. “She decided to come back to Equestria with me.”
“Really?” Twilight asked. “You’re really coming back?”
“I am,” Sunset nodded. “Listen, Twilight, I need to talk to you in private for a moment. Both me and Braveheart do.”
“OK,” Twilight agreed, confused. “One moment girls.” Sunset, Twilight, and I walked into a corner of the lobby. “What’s up?” Twilight asked us.
“Two things,” I started. “One, we had an incident in the human world with the Dazzlings.”
“The Dazzlings?” Twilight asked. “What happened?”
“Braveheart found the pieces of the Dazzlings’ shattered amulets,” Sunset explained. “They kidnapped him and forced him to fix them. When he did…well…”
“They went on a rampage through the world, destroying all of it,” I finished. “Only me and Sunset survived. Your friend’s in that world…” I paused. “…they were hung by the throat from the top of the Orpheum.” Twilight put a hoof to her mouth.
“Were the Dazzlings defeated?” Twilight stammered.
“They were,” Sunset said. “Braveheart saved me at the last moment, and we stopped them together.” Twilight took a moment to mourn over her friends’ deaths. When she calmed down, her eyes were wet with tears.
“You gonna be OK?” I asked. Twilight nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“What was the other thing you were going to say?” she asked.
“Well…” I said, smiling at Sunset, who gave me the same look back. Twilight knew immediately what was going on.
“You’re not,” she said.
“We are,” Sunset said. “Braveheart and I are dating.”
“You’re kidding,” Twilight said.
“We’re not,” I said. “We really are dating.”
“Well, congratulations,” Twilight said. “I have no doubt that you two will be very happy together.” We walked back over to the others.
“This calls for a party!” Pinkie cried. “Party at Braveheart’s place tonight!” Pinkie bolted off.
“NO!” I cried, but it was too late. Pinkie was gone. I groaned. “I don’t want to clean up Pinkie’s mess,” I grumbled. Sunset put a hoof on my shoulder. I looked at her.
“We’ll make sure she cleans up her own mess,” she assured. “I’ve always gotten the human Pinkie to.” I calmed down.
“All right,” I said.
“Come on, you,” Sunset said. “Let’s go party.” I smiled and walked out of Twilight’s castle with Sunset.
When we reached my house, it was dusk, but the lights from the party were shining through the windows. We walked inside, and a blast of confetti erupted from the doorway. Neither I nor Sunset jumped, because we were both used to this. A banner hung from the ceiling, saying, “Welcome back, Braveheart and Sunset Shimmer!”
“I’m so glad you’re back home,” Twilight said to us.
“We are too,” Sunset said. The party was absolutely wild. Ponies were having the time of their lives. Sunset and I were much too tired to party hard, so we talked with other ponies instead. I noticed Twilight sneak out, so Sunset and I followed her.
Twilight walked into her castle, clearly trying not to be seen. I took Sunset by the hooves and flew up to Twilight’s room. We walked inside and caught Twilight by surprise when she came up the stairs.
“What are you two doing?” she inquired.
“What are you doing?” I retorted. “I saw you sneak out.”
“All right,” Twilight said. “I wanted to see the human world one last time.”
“There’s not much to see,” Sunset said. “Unless you like looking at dead corpses, fire, and ash.” Twilight winced.
“On second thoughts, maybe I’ll be all right,” she said.
“Good idea,” I said. I took a look at the portal. I levitated Twilight’s book off the plug, and the portal closed.
“What are you doing, Braveheart?” Sunset asked. I raised up my mechanical hoof and drove it through the glass, shattering it and the frame of the mirror. The magical contraption Twilight had built fell apart, and all that was left was a pile of parts and broken glass. I turned back around and explained.
“There’s nothing left to do there,” I said. “No reason to keep the portal any longer.” Twilight nodded. I disposed of the broken pieces, and we walked back to my house. The lights were off, because the party had ended. Everypony had left, but Pinkie Pie was still finishing off the leftover sweets.
“Hi guys,” she said, mouth full of cupcake. “I think I’m going to head home now. Bye!” Pinkie tried to leave, but Sunset stopped her.
“First, you’re going to clean up this mess,” she said. “Now.” Pinkie sulked as she reluctantly cleaned up her party mess. When she had finished, Sunset let her leave.
“I have a guest bedroom next to mine,” I told Sunset. “You can sleep there.”
“Thanks,” she said. “Night.”
“G’night,” I said. “My room’s upstairs.” Sunset walked upstairs, and I heard her close the door of the guest bedroom. I was back home, in Equestria, with something more. A relationship with the pony that I loved. I walked into my room and fell asleep, prepared to cherish each moment with Sunset for as long as we lived.
