The Traveler

As I make my way west, it takes me days to reach the end of the forest when I come across a strange road consisting of wooden beams and long, iron bars held together by heavy bolts running through thick, narrow plates fitted between the flared ends of the rods. Studying the road curiously, I then wait for my companion to stir when I hear a distant howling in the distance. Drawing my MTR, I prepare for a fight as I spot something much father away, following the road straight towards me.

Rousing from putting herself offline to conserve energy, Evette yawns and then looks around, saying, "Good morning, Traveller. It is good to see that we are free from that stony prison, let me get my bearings so that I can update my databank."

Turning to face the object approaching me, I then ask, "Evette, could you tell me what that thing is heading towards us?"

Rotating the camera on his shoulder, she spots the object and scans it, but is unable to identify it, saying, "Apologies, Traveller, it seems that due to however long we were trapped inside that stone prison, my memory banks will require quite a bit of maintenance on my part before I can confidently tell you anything. I would suggest that you take cover and wait to see what it does before taking action against it, for it may not wish to harm you at all." Looking down at the strange road, she follows it towards the object and then adds, "Further investigation suggests that the object rides along these two rails to wherever they lead, and due to the noise and vibrations it is making, indicates that it is mechanical in nature."

Taking her suggestion, I return to the forest's edge and keep out of view, watching the object as it gets closer. It takes a few minutes for it to near me as I watch it start to go by, looking at its long body while it thunders down the two rails to see various kinds of ponies inside it and say, "It appears to be non-living and serve as a mode of transportation." Recalling his ship, he then says, "I wonder if my ship is still there, or did the girls moved it to another location?"

When the object passes by, I check my map to see where I am at and see the mountain to the south east of me, saying, "Okay, so I need to head west-southwest to reach the Everfree Forest, better get a move on as I have no idea how far it is from my current location."

As I make my way further across the open, slightly hilly lands, I come across a road heading towards the east and decide to keep clear of it and avoid frightening any ponies I may come across. By the time I reach the edge of the Everfree, most of my supply of fruits are gone as the last few I have are starting to get brown spots on their skins.

Finishing off the last of them before they spoil fully, I make my way to where I know where the zap apple trees grow and find the trees bare, sighing and saying, "It could be either late winter or early spring, it's hard to tell when there's no one around..." Deciding to wander the forest to find food, I hunt down a few cockatrices so that I have something to eat for a couple days. Collecting a few edible fruits from the forest, I get the sense that I am being followed and keep watch cautiously.

Making my way back to my cabin to check on it, I find that it has rotted away and returned to the ground, drawing a sigh from me when I hear something brush against a fern behind me. I go to turn around, but am knocked flat on the ground before I can raise my MTR, saying, "This is the second time something jumped me from behind...I sure hope whatever it is isn't hungry in any way..."

The creature lies down on the human's backpack, saying, "What a way to greet your daughter after a thousand years, father." Letting out a soft growl, she then asks, "Do you know how mean it is to up and vanish without saying anything?" A low whine then makes its way out of her throat as she says, "I was worried sick that some creature out there killed you or that you passed away. What in Equestria happened to make you stay away for so long, father?"

Through the haze in my mind, the pieces slowly fall into place as I hear the creaking of wood and say, "Is that you, Shearie? I am sorry for not telling you that I was leaving, I thought that your sisters Celestia or Luna would have said something to you."

Sliding her upper body back and forth to further torment her father, she pouts and then huffs, saying, "Well, they didn't...and they stopped visiting me several centuries ago, I really miss them. Are you going to rebuild your home? Some of the stuff you had is still mostly functional."

Grunting from her weight pressing me down further, I then ask, "I might after I give that pest Discord a dirt nap...now could you get off of me sweetie?"

Tapping a claw against his pack, she thinks it over a bit and then says, "I suppose I could, but I just miss you too much." Using her paws, she then rolls him over and plops herself down upon his lap with a smile, saying, "This is much comfier."

Looking up at my timber wolf daughter, I look at her glowing blue orbs and shake my head, saying, "You're too big and too old to be on my lap, little girl."

Knowing how much bigger she is than her father, she laughs and says, "A daughter's never too old to be in her father's lap, but I can change my size." To prove her point, she uses her magic and sheds many of the bits making her body, shrinking herself down to the size of a small filly and then circles around in her father's lap before curling up on it, saying, "See, I will always be the perfect lapdog for you, father."

I sit up with a chuckle as I look down upon her shrunken form, using my left hand to pet her, laying it upon the top of her head and running it along her body to her lower back, saying, "Heh, I guess you will always be my most obedient daughter."

She sighs happily and begins to drift off, saying, "I won't ever let you forget that, but I should tell you that Discord has been defeated already."

Stopping my hand on her back, I then look at her with wide, shocked eyes and say, "What do you mean? By who?"

Wagging her long, grassy tail, she then says, "He has been beaten twice, once, by Celestia and Luna. Then again a few months ago by the new Element Bearers. He is now imprisoned once again and serving his time in the Canterlot Statue Gardens."

Sighing at having no way to get payback for what he's done, I hang my head and say, "Hah...it is good that he is no longer being a menace to others, but I wish that I could have faced him before he was defeated..."

Cocking her head, she lifts it up until she looks him in the face and asks, "Why is that, father?"

Resuming my petting, I then say, "Because when I faced him so many years ago, he 'rewarded me' by turning me into a marble statue and sending me to the east coast. In doing so, he kept me from ever returning to my girls, which that thought alone drove me into a near-homicidal rage."

Able to feel his anger trying to resurface, Shearie moves into a sitting position on her father's lap and puts her paws onto his shoulders, saying in a soothing tone, "Oh father, you need to let that anger go, for it will only act as a poison to corrupt your soul." When she doesn't get a response, she decides to help him let go of it and lays her ears back, then presses her mouth to his in a tender kiss.

Holding my daughter against me, I feel my anger slowly crumble and fall away as I return the kiss, smelling the heavy scent of pine on my daughter's breath. When she lets me pull away, I caress her neck with a smile and say, "Thank you sweetie for looking out for me, but that is supposed to be my job, you know?"

Blushing lightly, she smirks and chuckles, saying, "I know, but we should really be looking after each other, because that is what family is supposed to do. Just be on your guard, because breeding season isn't too far away and mother has been wondering where you've gotten to." Laying her head on his left shoulder, she wraps her paws around behind him as best she can, asking, "Are you going to be rebuilding your home in the forest?"

Wrapping my arms around her upper back, I pull her closer and then nod my head, saying, "Of course I will rebuild it sweetie, it is our family's home, after all. Think you could fill me in on what happened when I disappeared?"

As Shearie helps clear the area of debris and overgrown plants, it takes only a few days before her father begins building a new house and passes through a barrier where she knows his ship is hidden and asks, "Do you think that you could take us on a flight in your ship?"

I finish securing one more board on the roof and look down at my daughter, saying, "One day when I get the radiation leaks repaired properly, I will. However, in order to fix them, I will have to head out into space and search for the materials that cannot be found here. Don't worry, though, because I don't plan to leave without finding out how things have turned out for my girls, I sure hope they found someone to take good care of them."

It takes me a couple weeks to finish rebuilding the house with a couple extra rooms and enlarging the bathroom, one of the extra rooms being a second bathroom to cut back on the bathroom wars. Intent on leaving the other room bare in case I need to turn it into a greenhouse or something, I see Shearie lounging on the couch, then say to her, "Well sweetie, I'm going to try to find a way to get my girl's attention in Canterlot without being seen by the ponies."

Getting up and stretching her lithe body out, she steps off the couch and trots towards her father with a smile. Hopping up on her back legs, she rests her forelegs on his shoulders, saying, "Good luck with that, father, I sure hope you come back soon." Pressing her lips to his, she deepens the kiss and runs her tongue along his and pulls it back, saying, "I will see you later, father. I love you."

Resting my hands along her upper back as her tail swishes back and forth, I rest my forehead against hers and say, "Daddy loves you too, sweetie. I will be back after I had some time to catch up with Celestia and Luna." Before I let her down, I catch the same pine scent as before and then ask, "Hey, I've been meaning to bring this up. I know that Timber Wolves normally have foul breath, but why does yours smell so...pleasing?"

Laughing, she rubs her nose against her father's and says, "Why that is because I am a female and I prefer not to smell like a diamond dog, therefore, I chew on pine needles and eat green pine cones. Mom does the same thing, but she prefers to smell like an oak tree."

Recalling what became of Equise, I then say, "Sweetie, how would you like to go on a short trip with me to visit an old friend of mine?"

Happy, her tail swishes back and forth excitedly as she hops back and stands on the floor, with her body being shoulder-height with her father as she crouches, saying, "A TRIP WITH FATHER?! I WOULD LOVE THAT, WHERE ARE WE GOING, AND WHEN?"

Smiling, I run my hand along her face and then say, "We will be heading to a cave a short distance from here, and we will be leaving in a little bit once I put my backpack on and get my MTR."

Overjoyed, Shearie jumps around her father in a circle, saying, "OKAY, I will wait for you outside!" then bounds towards the door.

Watching as she carefully opens the door and hops out, closing it with her tail, I then head over to the closet and get my backpack. Once I put it on, I fetch my MTR and sling it over my shoulder before heading to the door. Pulling it open, I then exit and close it behind me, saying, "Alright, sweetie, follow me to a place very special to me and all of Equestria..."

Making our way through the forest, we come into view of the now ruined castle, which draws a sigh from me at the sad state it is in. Turning and heading down a set of well-hidden stairs, I say, "The castle used to be so majestic and imposing many years ago, but now it is but a shell of its former glory..."

Following her father down the stairs, she stands at the bottom and looks up at the ruins, saying, "Yeah, my sisters got into a serious fight and cast magic at each other, it even got to the point where Luna's beautiful image morphed into something dark and called herself Nightmare Moon. When that happened, Celestia had no choice but to use the elements to banish her to the moon, though she returned and was restored to her rightful self."

Nodding my head in acknowledgement, I then say, "I am not pleased with how they broke their promise to me, but I hope that they made up in the end. Perhaps they both deserve a good spanking later."

Shearie laughs at the image that conjures to mind, saying, "I would love to see two adult, thousand-year old alicorn princesses being taken over their father's lap as if they were naughty fillies."

Arriving at the cave's entrance a bit later, I head inside with Shearie behind me. Entering a large cavern moments later, my eyes fall upon a large, crystal tree that glimmers in the light that rests upon it, saying, "Hello, dear, I've come to visit you again. I sure hope you haven't gotten too lonely after all these years inside this cave?"

Overjoyed at her love's return, a breeze blows through the cavern and ruffles the dangling crystal leaves as she uses her magic to appear outside the tree for a few moments. Once she has enough consciousness and form, she dashes forth through the air as her body is still forming and tackles him to the ground, saying, "OH, HOW I'VE MISSED YOU DARLING!"

As I feel her press her mouth to mine and shove her tongue in, I wrap my arms around her and respond in the same manner and hear Shearie scamper out of the cave, saying, "I'll give you two some time to catch up!"

Once I get dressed again, I hold Equise close, saying, "I wish we had longer to spend together, dear, there is so much to talk about with you."

Nuzzling into his side, she giggles and kisses his cheek, saying, "Don't worry, dear, thanks to what we did in creating the Tree of Harmony, I know everything that is going on at any given moment. I am not upset in the slightest that you were our daughter's first in many ways, nor am I upset at what you did to the 5 different hives and their queens. I know that it was for the best because I saw what happened in the memories that returned to you during that terrible war, but in order for things to improve... you must not slay too many of the last hive's members or their last queen, as it will adversely affect what may happen in the future. What I can say to you is very limited because of what I can see, but I am glad that you have let go of your rage toward what Discord has done to you. I wish that we had more time together, but I must return to the tree as my spell is nearly spent. Our daughter's have done well in their stations, don't punish them too harshly as they have both suffered enough with your sudden absence."

Standing just outside of view, Shearie keeps her eyes closed and asks, "Umm, are you both decent?"

Giggling, Equise lifts her head up and says, "Of course we are, dear stepdaughter, come on in and say hello."

Entering the cave nervously, her tail remains down as she looks at the golden figure of the guardian her mother told her stories about, saying, "Hello, Guardian, my mother told me many stories about you, it is an honor to finally meet you face to face."

Getting up off her lover, she walks her way towards her Timber Wolf stepdaughter, saying, "No need to be so formal with me dear, we are all guardians in our own ways." Sensing something stirring beneath her, she turns to the human and asks politely, "Dear, would you please give us some privacy? I must have a talk with Shearie, between us two guardians."

Sitting up, I look at her and cock my head, asking, "Aren't I a guardian as well?"

Chuckling softly, Equise says, "Of course you are, although you are not a guardian born of this world." Her face then turns serious as she then says, "One last thing I can tell you is that you must begin searching for your lost sibling lover, your two's purpose shall become clear in the years ahead, be it 5 or 500 years."

Nodding my head, I then say, "I will visit again when I can, dear, I love you." and blow her a kiss before walking into the tunnel.

Returning the kiss with an I love you and a farewell, she waits for several seconds until he is far enough away, then sighs and says, "Shearie, I know you want to go with your father to explore Equestria, but the tree and I need you to remain here so that you and the other Timber Wolves can search for any corrupted seeds that resemble a pitch-black sunflower seed and destroy them until the Elements are returned. The difference being that the seed is not shiny at all and has points all over it like this one." She then produces one of the seeds that hasn't burrowed into the ground and shows it to her.

Shearie looks at the seed and backs up, asking, "Why does that seed look so evil to me?"

Explaining what she can to her, she then says, "You must act soon, for some of the seeds that Discord has spread have already began trying to burrow up through the forest floor, and without the elements, I cannot do anything more than hold them back as the tree's magic comes from the elements of harmony. Unfortunately, your father cannot know any of this, for it will reignite his hatred for him and shall alter future events that I wish to come to pass."

Sighing sadly, she nods her head and then bows to the Guardian, saying, "I shall do as you ask, stepmother, and inform the others." Letting a growl escape her throat, she says, "These vines will not be allowed to thrive in the Everfree, for it belongs to the wild and free."

I wait outside the cave for a half hour until Shearie trots out with a determined look on her face and ask, "What's with the determined look, sweetie?"

Turning her head to look at her father, she says, "Oh, just an intruding force that the other Timber Wolves and I must deal with, but thank you for showing me to this special place, father." Moving up to him, she leans forth and kisses him affectionately before pulling away, saying, "I must get going now, I look forward to seeing you again when I am not busy, father."

As I watch her turn and start trotting away, I ask, "Wait, who is intruding on the forest? Can I help out?"

Stopping and looking over her shoulder, she then says, "I can't tell you, father, and I'm sorry, but you can't. This is something that we Timberwolves must deal with alone, and will keep us all quite busy."

When she hurries up the stairs and vanishes, I sigh and then start heading for the stairs to make my way towards Canterlot. Spending a little time scrounging up food, I then make my way north to the forest's edge. Along my journey, I come across a home carved into a tree and spot a striped pony inside the hut heading for the door. Retreating into the forest away from any sort of path, I hide myself as I scan them and learn that they are a female zebra.

I watch her for several seconds until she walks past me a few feet away, staying put until I am sure that she is not coming back for anything. Once I am sure that she won't return, I make my way around the home and strike out north again. It takes me a few hours to reach the outer edge of the forest, but I manage to enter the grassy fields ahead of me as the sun is starting to go down, saying softly, "I better find a place where I can set up camp out of sight."

I use my scanner to keep an eye out for any openings that may lead to a cave below, too occupied with looking around to notice the hole in front of me. Stumbling right into it, I land on my face and push myself into a sitting position, spitting dirt out of my mouth while looking at what I fell into. When I turn on my camera's light, I notice gems scattered around the walls of a tunnel and say softly, "Heh, this is cool, I wonder how deep it goes?" Shaking my head to keep on track, I then seal up the hole and look for a suitable spot to sleep for the night.

Once I find a nice spot further in, I decide not to make a fire and put my helmet back on. Making myself comfortable on the ground, I then turn the light off and let myself drift to sleep.

After setting the last of the lavender in the halls, Luna heads to the throne room to watch over the ponies' dreams at night. As she makes herself comfortable, she slips into the dream realm to begin fending off the nightmares that trouble her subjects.

Spending several hours fending off numerous nightmares, she senses that dawn is coming soon when she senses a pony having a really bad dream and makes her way towards their bubble. When she arrives at it, she sees dreadful insect creatures everywhere screeching and enters the dream.

Closing the door behind her, she looks around to find herself in a dark cavern surrounded by a light green barrier when her ears are suddenly assaulted by horrendous screeches and magical explosions all around her. As clouds of dust kick up and quickly obscure her vision of what is going on around her, only able to see silhouettes in the brief flashes that appear frequently at random locations with no rhyme or reason.

It takes a few seconds for her to adjust to the noise, but she is able to make out the sounds of an intense battle going on between some kind of creature and a group of unicorns. Only when she watches a stream of fire rush forth, does she see that the creatures are some kind of horrific monstrosity with multiple limbs and two large, beak-like jaws.

Overwhelmed by the sounds of the battle, Luna stomps her hoof down to dismiss the horrible dream, saying, "Enough." When nothing happens, however, it shocks her to her core when she hears a screaming shriek come from a creature as it races past her with two arms raised to attack and its jaws wide. Her eyes follow the creature as it latches onto one of the ponies fighting and hears an ear piercing scream of agony, until she sees the pony be ripped in half as the front part of the pony lands before her wearing an orange and yellow suit that seems somewhat familiar to her for some reason.

Taking a few steps back in fear after seeing the pony be ripped in half, her eyes are glued to the line of intestines leading to the other half. The sight draws tears to her eyes as she shakes her head slowly, saying, "No....no....no...."

She continues to back away from the corpse until she hears another female voice call out, "Charlie! You still with us?"

Brought out of her state, Luna stops mumbling and sees another pony rush forth. However, another stream of fire reveals that it is not a type of pony she has ever seen before, wearing a hot pink suit with white stripes down the middle as she leans down to check her. As she watches her reach forward with her five-fingered hand, she watches as she removes the helmet that the other wore.

Seeing what lies underneath the helmet shocks her out of her fearful state, recognizing that the face doesn't belong to a pony at all...but a human. The other female human then responds, saying, "SHIT! CHARLIE BOUGHT THE FARM, ALPHA!"

A completely different voice draws her attention towards the other side of the room as she hears, "FUCK! DON'T LOSE HEART, FOR WE ARE THE HUNTER SQUAD! WHAT'S OUR MOTTO?!?"

Able to recognize it instantly, her eyes begin to tear up as she makes her way towards the voice, muttering softly, "Father? Is that you?"

Making her way across the hellish scene around her as the monsters appear and fall by the dozen, she pays no attention to how the ground below her is growing slick with green blood as a loud cry goes out, "KILL EM ALL!"

Spotting the familiar figure through brief flashes of light as they hurry about the room, Luna races after them, saying, "Father, you're back!" When he stops in one spot long enough, she gets close enough and leaps towards him to tackle hug him.

Unfortunately, she goes right through as he is only a dream form when she hears a different voice say, "I'm gonna clean house, so hit the dirt if ya wanna stay breathin!"

Confused at why she couldn't touch her father, she turns around just in time to see her father dive to the ground before her with his hands over his helmet, saying, "GO FOR IT YOU CRAZY BASTARD, HOPE YOU STOCKED UP THIS TIME!"

Moments later, she hears a deep, cackling laugh, saying, "OF COURSE I DID, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING AFTER THEIR QUEEN TODAY! THIS IS STILL A HELL OF A LOT OF FUN!"

Barely four seconds pass as a whirring fills the air, followed quickly by an endless 'burr' sound with Luna lying on the ground in front of her father and tries to touch him with a hoof, then a wing that both go through him. Starting to feel desperate, she then asks, "Why won't you let me touch you papa, was I a bad filly?"

Still trying to touch him, a stray thought then reminds her of where she is, making her sigh and shake her head, saying, "Silly me, this is not a normal dream...this is a memory." Getting up off the floor, she watches as the creature run out of an opening in droves, only to be cut down by a near-endless stream of projectiles. Curious, she walks around the room to get a better look at the creature, looking it over and asking, "Just what kind of creature are these?"

Just then, she notices a slight difference in the atmosphere around the room and spots a few shadowy flickers when she shakes her head, saying, "I haven't encountered a twisted memory in a long while, no wonder I couldn't dispel it the first time." Trying to dispel it a second time, she stomps with both front hooves, shouting, "Reveal the truth!"

The area around her then shimmers and then alters a little, revealing the same cavern with an open ceiling and several bunches of scorched or burning eggs when she spots a massive, black, eight-legged creature entering through a large tunnel with a bulging thorax, having four arms having scythes at the ends of them. Moments later the creature then introduces itself as Queen Cryxala of the Changelings before being engulfed in green fire to appear as a horrendous hybrid between insect and pony, causing her to gasp when the proper memory continues on to show what happened next.

Once she watches the queen's eyes be shut by her father, she looks up to see a green orb race into the skies and sighs in relief saying, "At least you were merciful enough to give them a chance elsewhere, but when will I be able to speak to you? Dawn is coming soon..."

As the memory continues on, she gasps with shock and horror at seeing a planet be destroyed, saying, "Besides proving to other humans that the war with the Changelings was over, what on Celestia's left butt cheek did you obliterate the whole planet for?"

The memory slowly fades away as the space transforms into the clearing where their home was at, seeing her father walking towards the house and senses that she can interact with him here. Changing herself to appear as her younger form, she then rushes towards him and calls out, "PAPA, YOU'VE COME BACK!"

Turning around, I see Luna leap up towards me with her forelegs open wide and prepare to catch her, then feel her weight hit me and wrap my arms around her tightly before spinning around, saying, "Oh my sweet, sweet, baby girl. I have missed you both so much, I sure hope you have been good for me while I have been busy with my search."

Nuzzling against his dream form, wishing she could feel him for real, Luna sighs and says, "Well, we did our best to be good and look after each other, but we did have a few troubles." Clearing her voice, she then prepares to return herself to her normal look, saying, "Papa, please don't be frightened, but a great deal of time has passed and I look much older than I do now."

I rub my cheek against hers when I feel her slowly get bigger and heavier, with her neck getting longer and wrapping around me as best it can. Knowing something is up, the area around me vanishes and turns into a vast, empty space when I feel Luna let go and back away from me. I then realize that she is much taller and mature than before, saying, "How can I be frightened of my little girl after she grew up to be as lovely as you look now? Am I dreaming, or are you really here right now?"

Chuckling, she says, "You are dreaming, but are currently in the space between dreams. To answer the other part of that question, I am indeed here through my powers over the dream realm. What happened to you all those years ago, papa? Why did you never come back?"

With our heads being the same height, I reach out and place my hands behind her neck, then pull her against me, saying, "I'm so sorry, dear, but when I first noticed the sun and moon's erratic nature, I was out hunting down some insects. I thought that you two might have been causing it due to a heated argument, so I went to check it out. When I got closer, a scan told me that there was some type of strange magic was pervading the world and that it was not pony magic, so I went through a process to locate the source of it. Once I found the source's location, I went there to figure out how to set things right when I met a strange creature on a tall mound, who introduced himself as Discord, a draconequus as well as the god of chaos. So after trying to get him to relinquish his control over the world, I fought him...and wound up being turned into a marble statue on the east coast as a 'reward'..."

Gasping, her eyes go wide as she cuts her father off, saying in disbelief, "YOU FACED DISCORD BEFORE WE DID?!" Just then the rest of what he said registers as she asks, "But if you're dreaming, what happened to bring you back?"

Releasing her head, I then say, "I don't know how long ago it was, but Discord paid me a visit and commented about how spectacular I looked, then wondered aloud if I had enough time to learn from my mistakes. He then talked about how terribly bored he was and didn't know what to do first, he must have been expecting me to respond, because he then said that I was no help and then commented about showing me mercy and was about to snap his fingers when he got a better idea. He decided and said that he would definitely free me so that he could turn me into a terrifying monster at a later time, then cast a delayed release spell on me and would be back when he ruled Equestria again. He never returned, so I slowly became able to move and eventually freed myself from the marble prison, which took me two and a half days to break out of. I was really hungry and had to find new food, so I made my way west, southwest after finding food. I'll tell you more about my adventure later, but you should know that I am making my way to Canterlot to see my girls."

Giddy with joy at hearing the news, she prances in place and then leaps up to wrap her forehooves around her father's neck, saying, "I'm so happy that you came back papa, I can't wait to tell Cece the news. Oh I know she will be so jealous that I got to speak to you first!"

As I notice the area around me getting lighter, I ask, "Why is it getting lighter? Is another dream starting?"

Luna shakes her head, saying, "No, papa, you will wake up soon, but I will make sure that Cece knows and to inform the guards to grant you entry and escort you to the castle. I can't wait until you get here, there's so much that we need to talk to you about. Oh, you are also going to have to learn the new pony language. The language we use to communicate now is called Old Ponish."

Sighing I then hang my head, saying, "A new language? What a pain..." Looking up at his daughter's smiling face, he says, "Well, I look forward to catching up with you two when I get there."

Before she can say anything else, the world around her goes white and she feels herself being forced out of the dream realm as dawn nears, finding herself in the throne room with her sister standing before her with a slightly tired look on her face. Getting up off the floor with excitement, she smiles and then says, "Sister, I have some news for you." Adopting a coy look, she then asks, "Care to guess what it is?"

Cocking her head a little in thought, Celestia's mind comes up with an answer and says with a bright grin, "You're going to handle my day duties for me?"

Snickering, she shakes her head and says, "Not even close, it's better than that." Moving her mouth to her sister's ear, she then whispers softly, "Papa's come home finally." She then pulls her head back to see her reaction.

Her mind freezes up as her body goes rigid, with her head slowly turning to look at her sister. Frantically trying to put words into a coherent response, she says in a foalish pitch, "Daddy? Come home?"

Watching as her sister shrinks down to the size of a 5 year old filly, she picks her up and cradles her, saying, "Yes Cece, papa will be coming home in a few days or weeks."

Celestia's eyes grow impossibly larger as her mouth slowly morphs from being slackjawed to a smile so wide it threatens to split her head in half, when she suddenly jumps out of her sister's hold and cries out, "YAY! DADDY'S COMING HOME!"

While her sister runs around her in a circle as a filly, she slowly regains her size as she can't help but snicker at seeing her sister being small enough to almost wear diapers again, saying, "I am very happy too, but we need to change the cycle before I tell you about how I found out."