“Spike, take a letter,” ordered Twilight.

“You got it,” said her number one assistant, who quickly acquired the paper and quill.

Twilight cleared her throat and began to dictate.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Having asked for help from Zecora, who knows far more about the Everfree Forest than I do, we have found a portal within the forest. It must be the exact same portal that Ben came from. Unfortunately, the portal is currently closed and, according to Zecora, will not open for ten moons. I relayed this news to Ben and I’m afraid he didn’t take it very well. It turns out that ten moons in our world is equivalent to 1.37 years in his. This explains why he is in the body of a colt here despite being an adult there. It’s very fascinating.

Back to the matter at hoof, do you know if there is any way to reopen a portal early? Given the time difference between our two universes, Ben is desperate to return home to his family. I’m worried that he might do something drastic if we can’t solve the problem as soon as possible. He agreed to wait for the Canterlot portal to open, but what if that doesn’t send him home? I don’t know what he’ll do then. He definitely doesn’t want to wait the full ten moons for the Everfree portal. He even suggested inter-dimensional teleportation to go home, which might work, but is extremely dangerous for obvious reasons. If there is anything I’m missing that might be able to help him, please tell me.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Spike rolled up the paper and sent it to the princess with green fire, as he had done countless times before.

“Now we wait,” Twilight said with a hint of apprehension.

A short time later, Spike belched out the reply.

Dear Twilight,

I do not know of any safe means to prematurely open a portal. I must confess, however, that my knowledge on the subject is limited. Fortunately, I have access to various tomes unavailable to the public that might shed light on this matter. I shall send a few of these to you shortly. Needless to say, they are for your eyes only.

Concerning Ben, I completely understand the pain of being separated from loved ones. Being away from Luna for so long was unbearable. Not a day went by that I didn’t long to have her back sooner, but what the Elements did could not be undone. I suggest that you talk with Ben and get to know him. I’m sure that you two can learn a great deal from each other. While friendship is not infallible, I believe that being Ben’s friend could dissuade him from taking drastic measures. You will need to check up on him frequently, I think. I have the utmost confidence in you.

Princess Celestia

Spike sighed, having finished reading the letter to Twilight. “I’ll make the all-nighter preparations.”

“Thanks, Spike.”

When morning came, the Apple family rose with the sun. Once breakfast was prepared, Applejack called Ben downstairs. There was no response.

“Ya’d best go fetch ‘im,” said Granny.

Applejack sighed. She dreaded having to talk to Ben, given recent events. Nevertheless, she steeled herself and headed up the stairs. She knocked on his bedroom door, but all she could hear from the other side was a groan. Ben had probably gone and pulled a Twilight again. Applejack opened the door and, as she predicted, Ben was splayed out on the bed, open books all around him. Applejack found herself sighing again. Ben was one determined colt. No, not a colt, she chided herself. Ben was a human. An adult human.

The farmer prodded at the transformed human. “Ben,” she said, “Ya need ta wake up.”

Ben stirred and opened his eyes. “Morning, Applejack,” he said with a yawn.

“Mornin’,” she replied, “Breakfast is ready.”

“Kay.” Ben stretched over the bed, reminding Applejack of a cat. “Be right down.”

“Alright.” Hoping to avoid the ensuing awkwardness, Applejack left the room. It wasn’t long before Ben followed after, looking bleary-eyed.

Everypony and Ben sat down to breakfast. The family conversed with one another, but did not know what to say to Ben, who hastily ate his food.

“Careful now,” warned Granny, “You’re liable ta choke, eatin’ so fast.”

Ben took a moment to finish chewing and swallowing. “Sorry. In a hurry.”

“What fer? Ain’t the princesses gonna git ya home?”

Ben sighed. “That’s just it. There’s a portal inside the Evergreen Forest-”

“Ya mean the Everfree?”

“That’s what I said.”

“No, ya said ‘evergreen.’ The Everfree’s the forest ya came outta.”

“Oh. Well, anyway, the portal won’t open for ten months, or moons. That’s only about half a year to you guys, but it’s over a full year back home.”

The Apples’ were greatly surprised, their eyebrows reaching up to their manes. Applebloom was the first to recover. “How’s that work?” she asked.

“Different planetary rotation and revolution speeds, different flow of time, different aging process, and a whole lot of other stuff,” replied Ben, “That’s why I look like a child. I’ve aged into adulthood at home, but the equivalent amount of days here makes me this age because your years and aging are both slower.”

“So Ah’d be full grown in your world?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“But Ah wouldn’t have a cutie mark.”

“No. Anyway, I’m going to have to wait a long time for that portal to reopen. Mom and Dad will probably think I’m dead by then if they don’t already. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to explain what happened when I finally get back.”

Applejack felt a surge of pity for the colt, no, human. His talk about time and technically being the same age as an actual colt had only muddied the issue further. Regardless, it was clear that he missed his family and Applejack wished she could help. Alas, she could neither cast spells nor open portals. “What’re ya gonna do?” she asked.

Ben let out a deep sigh and put on a determined face. “Twilight and I need to figure out a way for me to get home sooner.”

“Well,” said Applejack, “If anypony can help ya with magic, it’s Twilight.”

“Thanks,” Ben replied, “I’d better get back to studying and see what I can find.” He rose from the table. “Thanks for breakfast, it was delicious.”

“Wait!” said Applebloom, “If yer tryin’ ta learn stuff, why don’t ya go ta school?”

“Because I doubt your school teaches anything related to the multiverse or inter-dimensional travel.”

“Ah guess not, but there’s other stuff ya might be missin’ if ya just read books all day. Miss Cheerilee’s a great teacher and recess is fun with me an’ mah friends. Readin’ books all the time ain’t no fun. Don’t ya ever have fun?”

“Fun isn’t going to bring me home.”

Applejack stepped forward. Ben was right that going to school wouldn’t help him, but he was going to run himself ragged at the rate he was going. Applejack knew very well that Ben exhausting himself wouldn’t help either. Having had personal experience with such stubbornness, she decided to help him. “What mah sister’s tryin’ ta say is that ya gotta rest once in a while.”

“In what universe- Nevermind, I just answered my own question. How does going to school constitute rest?”

“It don’t, and nopony ever said it did. That ain’t what we’re gittin’ at. What Applebloom’s sayin’ is that ya can’t go wrackin’ yer brains over this all day and all night. Ya need ta rest sometime.”

“The more time I spend studying, the closer I’ll get to my goal. Why would I delay that?”

“Ya ain’t gonna get any closer if ya go an’ wear yourself out.”

Ben growled. “I don’t have time for this.” His horn glowed and he shut his eyes. He grit his teeth as though he were in pain before vanishing in a flash of light. The Apples then heard a loud thud from Ben’s room.

It was Applejack’s turn to growl. Even she knew that teleporting could be dangerous and that human colt had gone and done it without any practical instruction or supervision to prevent accidents. She ran up the stairs, fully intent on giving Ben a piece of her mind for doing something so stupid. Flinging the door open, she saw him lying unconscious on the floor. Rushing to his side, she checked for any signs of injury that could’ve come from a misteleport, as Twilight called it. Sure enough, there was a gash on the side of Ben’s head that looked as if it had split open. Blood poured freely from the wound. Burying her frustrations with a worried gasp, she hoisted Ben onto her back and ran back down the stairs.

“Big Mac!” she called out. “Ah need a bandage and fast!”

Her brother ran over to the medicine cabinet and quickly came back with a bandage. “What happened?” he asked.

“He must’a messed up teleportin’ or used too much magic. I don’t know fer sure, so Ah better git ‘im ta the hospital.”

Big Mac nodded. “Eyup.”

Once the bandage was on, Applejack galloped off toward the hospital. Colt or no colt, Ben wasn’t dying on her watch.

Author's Note

I’m sorry for the delay, but this was an absolute pain to write. Let me know what I did wrong and what I did right in the comments.