"Storm!" Rainbow cried as she flew rapidly towards the quickly closing portal. Despite her immense speed, she still wasn't able to join you in the dream world before the portal sealed completely, seemingly never to open again. Rainbow Dash fell to the floor, not even bothering to move her wings. She and the rest of her friends stared at where the portal once was in disbelief.

Twilight was the first to snap out of her shock, and began cautiously walking over over to the shaken Rainbow Dash. Slowly, she placed a single hoof on her shoulder, "Don't worry," she said, "He'll come back."

Mere moments after Twilight finished speaking, Rainbow shook off her hoof and turned around angrily.

"Oh, yeah?" she exclaimed. She had no reason to be angry at her friends, but that anger was the only thing she could feel right now, "You just saw that! The portal closed!"

She was right. The final portal to the dream world had closed for good, and the only one who could make them, Null, was dead. Of course, Luna could also make portals to the dream world, but she was already trapped inside one, and even if there was another pony that could do such a thing, they wouldn't have the same link to your mind that Null had.

"We could maybe open it again..." Fluttershy suggested, weakly. She had no idea how to do such a thing, but making her friend feel better was her top priority right now.

"And how would you do that?" Rainbow replied, frustrated, "Suddenly have Rarity and Twilight conjure up some dream magic?"

"Rainbow, she was only trying to help." Twilight interrupted, feeling the need to intervene before things escalated.

This was supposed to be a happy moment, possibly the most happy moment you would have experienced since you had arrived in Equestria. The pony that had been messing with your head since your arrival had finally been defeated, but still you didn't have that happy moment.
Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated sigh, before turning back around and falling fully down to the ground.

"Now listen here, sugarcube..." Applejack said, taking a brief glance at Pinkie Pie before she started talking. She was frozen in place, her usually fuzzy mane completely deflated, "Storm just sacrificed himself to safe Equestria, but if ah know Storm, he ain't gonna go out without a fight."

She couldn't completely tell if she had gotten Rainbow's attention, but she definitely had everypony else's, "Now do you really think he's gone to the other side of that portal and given up? Or do you think he's looking for a way back as we speak?"

Rainbow didn't respond. Not at first anyway.

"Th-thanks... everypony..." she said, quietly. Despite the quietness of the Everfree Forest, it was still incredibly hard to hear her unusually quiet voice.

"Rainbow, are you..." Rarity began, looking towards her with concern in her eyes.

"Crying?" Rainbow finished, completing the sentence herself, "Pfft. No way!"

Nopony believed her, and nopony dared respond to her out of fear of making it worse. Even though she said she wasn't crying, sometimes you could just sense the emotion behind someone's words.
This was one of those moments.

"I'm sorry, ok..." she muttered, once again being barely audible, "I just wanna be alone for a bit."

Twilight nodded understandingly, before turning around to give her some space. They didn't plan on wandering too far into the forest, as leaving Rainbow alone probably wasn't a very good idea, but they atleast wanted to move far enough away so that she could have some space.

The five of them began to walk away from the ruined castle grounds, but something stopped them.

Shining bright from the castle's ruin, a golden glow coated the Everfree Forest once again. The five ponies turned around, and the jaws instantly dropped. Rainbow Dash immediately leapt up from the ground as she stared at the intensifying glow before her.

The portal was reopening.

To be honest, none of them had even thought it to be possible. They had only said that it could be reopened to make Rainbow feel better, but they weren't completely lying after all.

"Everypony! Come look!" Rainbow cried happily, but they already had a pretty good idea as to what was happening.

"Is it-" Rarity attempted to say, before immediately being interrupted.

"It is! It has to be!" Rainbow answered, believing it to be the only answer. Hope was returning, and at the same time was Pinkie's usual frizzy mane.

The portal seemed to reach its maximum glow, emanating magical sounds as beautiful streaks of golden energy weaved outwards. There looked to be a small flame in the centre of the glow, shining a brighter yellow than the rest of the wall. Without warning, the flame spread outwards until it covered the entire back wall of the castle.

The Mane 6 stood silent, eyes wide as they stared at the portal that was once threatening the entirety of Equestria. Rainbow couldn't help but feel like she had to take a few steps back, in the event that the pony that returned through it wasn't the pony they were expecting.

The chances of that happening were slim to none, but just to be safe...

In the dream world, you placed your front two hoofs through the portal, Princess Luna stood not too far behind you. When you had entered the dream world, you recalled that you weren't transported instantly. It took a few seconds of a sensation that felt similar to sleeping before you came out on the other side. You weren't even certain that this portal would take you to where you needed to go, or if it would even work at all. You had never used your magic to such an extent, but putting your trust in yourself was your only option.

Back in the Castle of the Two Sisters, the portal began to show signs of activity, pulsing and rippling with a magical energy. It wasn't only a matter of time until...

You appeared back in the real world.

The Mane 6 stared in shock as you fell out of the centre of the portal. This portal was a lot bigger than the one in the dream world, so it wasn't a surprise that the exit was more difficult.

"Storm?" Rainbow was the first to ask. Even she wasn't sure that she could trust her own eyes.

"Hi." was all you could say as you climbed up off the ground. A small smile appeared on your face as you looked at your friends, the same friends that you wondered whether you would even get to see again.

"Stormy Warmy!" Pinkie exclaimed as she enthusiastically bound towards you.

You didn't have time to move out of the way before the hyper earth pony came crashing down on top of you, sending you falling back down to the ground once again.

"Wondered whether we'd be seein' ya again, sugarcube!" Applejack said as you climbed up off the ground for a second time.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily." you replied, sarcasticly, earning laughs from everyone except for Rainbow Dash. For whatever reason, she still seemed to be upset, as if in some sort of daze. You looked at her, concerned, "Hey, Rainbow. Are you... ok?"

Immediately, the cyan Pegasus launched forwards, pushing you backwards with a hoof, "What were you thinking? Why would you just fly through the portal like that?"

Her push probably would've sent you falling to the ground for a third time, but thankfully this time you managed to regain your balance, "I came back, didn't I?"

"Well what if you didn't?" she replied, hovering mere centimetres away from you as if trying to be intimidating.

The five ponies that stood watching the argument unfold remained silent, fearing that they would only make things worse if they attempted to intervene. Your dissapearance through the portal probably hit Rainbow Dash the hardest, after all.

"I would've been perfectly fine with it, and do you know why?" you asked, not expecting an answer. Rainbow remained silent, waiting for you to continue, "Because all of you would've been safe. If being trapped in my own dream is what it takes to save all of you, then I'm ok with that. I've already died once, after all. How bad can it be?"

Rainbow Dash backed off a little, seeming a little taken aback by your speech. The next thing you noticed were small but noticeable tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't do that again, ok?" she said, pulling you into a hug. It had felt like a very long time since you had last experienced a moment like this, although it probably hadn't been all that long. So much had happened in that time that you honestly couldn't remember.

"Hey, shouldn't that portal be closed by now?" Pinkie Pie said, interrupting your heartwarming moment.

"Oh! Right, about that..." you said, slowly but surely parting from the hug. You slowly turned to face the portal, and then simply waited.

A few seconds passed, and you began to grow concerned. It shouldn't take this long to pass through the portal, but Princess Luna still hadn't appeared.

"Is something supposed to be be happening?" Rainbow asked, looking at the portal with a confused expression.

"Yeah, I thought-"

Before you could finish your explanation, the Alicorn Princess you had been waiting for slowly flew out of the portal, and unlike you, actually to stick the landing.

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, already galloping towards her at full speed.

"Twilight! Everypony!" Luna replied happily as she welcomed the purple unicorn with a hug. It had been quite a while since they had last seen eachother, "It's been a very long time..."

"We were worried we wouldn't get to see you again..." Twilight said, keeping back tears that she had been holding in for quite some time.

Behind the Alicorn Princess, the final portal to the dream world had already began to close. At last, this chapter was beginning to near its end.

"You shouldn't have been so worried, although I owe my safe return to Storm. If it wasn't for his magic I don't know if I would've ever escaped." Luna said, causing the six ponies to turn to look at you. Immediately, you felt a rush of embarrassment flood through you.

"I mean, I'm sure you would've found your way out without me!" you replied, trying to turn their attention back towards her, "You do know the most about dreams."

"Ah, come on, Storm! Admit that you're awesome this one time!" Rainbow said, flying over to you and playfully nudging your side.

You let out a deep sigh, and then looked around. Still, everypony's eyes were still trained on you. It looked like this conversation wasn't going anywhere until you did what she asked.

"Alright," you began, "I'm awesome."

A chorus of laughter drowned out the silence of the Everfree Forest, only causing you to feel even more embarrassed. Despite this, the laughter reminded you that this whole ordeal had finally come to a close. At last Null was defeated for good, and life could return to normal.
Now that you thought about it, had you ever really been living a normal life in Equestria?

"Pinkie Pie, I'm surprised you haven't suggested a party to celebrate just yet," Rarity said, finally interrupting the laughter. It was nice to hear your friends being happy again, but it was beginning to make you feel a little bit awkward, "Are you feeling okay?"

Looking over to Pinkie, she looked like her usual old self. Her mane was frizzy, unlike its deflated appearance only a few moments ago, but something still seemed off, "Oh, I'm fine! I just feel like I'm forgetting about something..."

You too could feel that something was missing. It felt as if, amid all of the excitement of Null's defeat and Princess Luna's return, you had forgotten something.

"My sister!" Princess Luna exclaimed.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas!
It's actually not Christmas when I'm typing this but it should be when I release it.

Now you're probably wondering why I disappeared for another month. Two words... Cyberpunk 2077. By far one of the best games I have ever played despite its issues, put behind only 2 other games. Another reason is that I've just started losing motivation in this story. I have a series planned that I am much more passionate about than this, and I've honestly just forgotten where this story was supposed to be going.
Even then, I'm gonna try to finish this story. There really isn't that long left, so it hopefully shouldn't take too long (unless I disappear again for whatever reason).

One day after typing
I actually do now know how I'm going to end this story, and by the time the next chapter comes out I should already have the rest of the story written.

Until then

3 CHAPTERS LEFT