Deep down Lauren knew that if she were to reboot My Little Pony today than when she had first started, the result might have been completely different than what it was now. Had she had to start from scratch again, everything from the look, the location, even the characters would be unrecognizable than it would have been years ago. On top of that, to have someone else lead in that creation, in a different vision entirely, would end up with something that she may never considered before.

By the time Alice had gotten tired of drawing, the result of their collaboration was unique to itself. Alice drew up an island that she decided to call Hayland. It had rolling green hills, towering mountains, a forest, meadows, a lake, and sandy beaches. With the help of her mother, they drew a town with a castle on top of a hill. It had oddly shaped ponies, but so were zebras, giraffes, bears, dogs, cats, geese, and a ferret – all of whom can talk. In the castle, with Lauren’s help, the two crafted a dragon king, a blue, round-belly creature that Alice called King Fire that breathes fire when angry and gives out lollypops to the kids.

The three princesses did give Alice some suggestions to add to the town. Like a grocery store, a library, a post office, a movie theater, and a peer with boats. Discord all the while was right behind, building as fast as he could. He only stopped once for a lunch break eating a literal alphabet soup.

Hours later, Alice was too tired to continue. There were well over a hundred drawings, some that she drew on the back of that Twilight had collected throughout the day. Little Alice only stopped when she was too exhausted to draw anymore to the point that she fell asleep.

“Can we… stop… now?” Discord too looked exhausted. He was drenched in sweat in his overalls, his arms shaky. “If I had to move anymore, I think my limbs would fall off.” He said this just when his lion’s paw detached itself, landing on the ground. “Huh, spook too soon.”

“You’ve done an amazing job,” Celestia lit up her horn and popped the limb back on.

“I hope so.” Discord turned over to Lauren, who was sitting on a boulder, Alice sleeping on her lap. He plopped himself next to her. “Ya know, I think this is the first time I ever seen the creator actually create something.”

“Neither have we.” Luna agreed. “Even in our earliest memories, we never seen mother at work. And to see it with Alice leading the way.”

Lauren brushed her daughter’s hair. “Twenty-four hours ago, I would never think that I would be helping Alice make a world of her own. Something like what I came up with, but completely different. It’s almost funny, I didn’t realize how much I would miss doing this. Just coming up with something so original. I mean, look at this place. It’s a children’s illustration just begging for all sorts of potential. But… That’s not my story to tell.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

Shrugging, Lauren answered, “This here isn’t my story – it’s Alice’s. It’s her fantasy to explore. I don’t know how long she’ll come back to maybe add something, or if she may grow bored of it. But somehow, I have a feeling that like what I did, this might also take on a life of its own.”

There was a pause as Lauren looked towards the setting sun. With the way everything was made, the sunset was vibrant and beautiful like a dream. At that moment, with all that had happened to them since they came to Equestria, she sighed. “You know, I don’t know if I’ll even come back after this.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight tilted her head.

“Well, the way we came in, I don’t know if it’s possible that once we go back home, that there would be any way of returning to Equestria. For all I know, this might be a one-time thing. That portal thing I found in Alice’s room would probably never open up again. I wish there was some way back here and maybe visit the other stories that my husband and I had created over the years.” She shook her head. “But outside of this, I bet this might be the only time I get to come here.”

“Unless…” Discord hummed.

This got everyone’s attention. “Unless?” Celestia asked, “What are you unlessing?”

Drifting upwards Discord ditched the overalls for a deer-stalk cap, monical, and a pipe that blows bubbles. “Why it’s preschool, my dear. While she’s here, why not forge a way for her to get back.”

“Really? How?” Lauren raised an eyebrow.

“Come come, surely you haven’t thought of it too? Our world has ways of doing interdimensional travel, no?”

“What? Like the mirror thing?”

“That’s one way of doing it. But I know of another more… straightforward path.” In a flash, he ditches the Sherlock Hooves to get up. “I can make you a key to your imagination. A literal key where you can stick it in any door, and it will take you wherever you want. A favorite book, a children’s television show, or what have you. I can make it – for a price.”

“Which is?”

“Something worth of great love. An item that has more sentimental value than anything in the whole wide multiverse.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have anything like that on me.”

“But you do.” Discord pointed at Lauren’s wedding ring.

Lauren covered her hand, “Now wait a minute! I’m not gonna let you take this.”

“You won’t be getting rid of it. Think of it as… Give your ring an upgrade. Just imagine what you’ll be gaining here. One ring to travel to and fro. One ring to travel to the words of your dreams. One ring to find them. One ring to rule them all and in the broom closet call it Precious.”

“… Was that a Lord of the Rings reference?”

“Maybe.” Discord slyly shrugged. “But it’s true.”

Lauren looked down at her ring. “What’s the catch?”

“Catch?”

“C’mon, I know you. You may have character development, but even I know that you have this tendency to be unpredictable. So really, if you do something to my ring, what’s the catch?”

Discord furrowed his brows and crossed his eyes. Humming in thought. “Perhaps the only drawback is that since it acts like a key, anyone wearing it would be able to cross dimensions. If you were to go into a fairytale, and a character happens to put it on, they too would be able to open new doors. And if you don’t look that portal behind you, then it acts like an open door where anyone can go either way.”

“Okay, that’s straightforward enough.” Lauren looked down at her wedding ring. She reasoned that as long as she was careful and didn’t leave her ring out in the open, it probably shouldn’t be much of a problem. Besides, she and her husband would have the ability to go into their past and present projects – even those that were long canceled. They might even have a way to develop new worlds and ideas in the future to test out.

She could always come back to the Equestria she knows at any time.

Lauren slipped the ring off her finger. “Be warned, if there’s a monkey paw curse thing attached to this, I will do everything I can to make sure you are not seen ever again.”

“Giving out death threats is a little out of character of you.”

“Hey, you’re about to do something to my wedding ring – what would you do?”

Discord shrugged. “Good point.”

Lauren looked over to the three princesses. “What do you think?”

“I say do it.” Now all eyes turn to Luna.

“Really? Why?”

“Because that way we would know that you have a way to finally visit us more often. That, and I wanted to see what your world is like. Even if it’s only for a moment, I want to see it.”

Lauren looked over to Celestia and Twilight. “What about you two?”

“Well, as long as you’re careful with that ring, and that you would at least promise to see us periodically, then I guess it should be fine.” Celestia smiled.

“I already had been in the human world already.” Twilight pointed out. “Besides, you’re the creator, you have the right to do whatever you want.”

Nodding, Lauren slipped the ring off her finger and offered it up to Discord. “Just be careful with it.”

Discord reached down with his lion paw and picked it up. “Okay, I might be a little rusty when it comes to the interdimensional binding so hopefully we won’t explode.”

“Say what?” Twilight asked in alarm.

“Kidding.” Discord rubbed the ring on his forehead until it shined. And it kept glowing. Tossing it up in the air, the ring flipped around and suddenly froze in the air. Lines upon lines of thin, fishing-line-like strings appeared in the hundreds, the thousands, millions in every direction latched onto the ring. “Now for one critical step.” Discord picked one of the strings with his goatee. A sound like billions of pianos playing every key all at once was heard. After that tremendous sound died down, the ring fell back into Discord’s lion paw. “Here you go.”

“Huh?” Alice rubbed her eyes. “Mom, what that?”

“Hey Alice,” Lauren put the ring back on her finger. “Are you ready to go home?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Alright.” Picking her daughter up, she asked, “So… how does it work?”

“All you need is a door. Just touch the knob, think about where you want to go and open it.”

Lauren eyed the door that they came through. “Let’s get all of you back home first.” She leads the way with Discord and the three princesses following behind. Back in Equestria, the sun was low in the sky in the west. Lauren closed the door behind her but still held on the knob.

“You will come back, right?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, just give like a day or two. I need to talk with Craig first.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Luna nodded. “Any particular time?”

“How does… Ten in the morning? Two days from now.”

Thinking about her home, about where the front door was, and imagining the living room to concentrate before turning the knob. Pulling it open, she found that the child’s drawing of a world had given way to her home.

“Lauren,” She looked over her shoulder at Twilight. “Thanks for coming to see us.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight.” She smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you around.”

Stepping back inside her house, Lauren turned around, seeing the princess and Discord waving goodbye at her. She noticed Alice was waving too as she closed the door. For a moment, she listened for any kind of noise but all was quiet. She was about to check when she realized the door was still locked. Turning the locks, she peeked out, only to see nothing but the dark sky, the streetlights, and the houses of her neighborhood.

Lauren locked up and pulled her phone out. The clock showed that they barely left. It was the same time and date when they left.

“Okay Alice, let’s get you to bed.”

She knew that by morning when Craig comes home, they were about to have a very… interesting conversation. But for now, she was feeling tired and she needed some sleep.

Author's Note

We're almost done. Just one chapter to go.