With the threat of King Sombra eradicated forever, the crystal ponies could freely talk with their saviors. Many crystal ponies were crowded around Tom, Shark, and Kite, who had saved them from Ahuizotl. While Kite and Shark normally hated this much attention, they found the experience pleasant, the crystal ponies all being kind and courteous to each of them. Tom, however, ate the attention up, loving the heroic status that he achieved.
Meanwhile, Daring Do walked up to Trey, who was talking to another crystal pony.
“Excuse me, Trey,” spoke Daring Do, getting his attention.
“Oh,” exclaimed Trey. “It's you, uh... I'm sorry. I never got your name.”
“I'm Daring Do!” she said, offering her hoof for a shake.
“I'm glad we could introduce ourselves formally,” he responded, taking the hoof in his hand and shaking it. “And please, call me Michael.”
“Alright, Michael. I was just asking. I'm actually new to this dueling thing, but I really liked the cards you used. What are they called again, Chrono...”
“Chronomalys. I love them too. Why, did you want to make a deck with them?”
“Yeah. That was what I was hoping for.”
“Here,” spoke Trey, reaching into his pocket, “take this. Hopefully this will help.”
From his pocket, he handed Daring Do a card featuring a red-and-orange statue monster on the front.
“Aztec Mask Golem?” she observed aloud. “Are you okay with me using this?”
“It's alright. I have another one in my own deck.”
“Gee, thanks a lot, Michael.”
Trey nodded at her. As they continued to converse in other smalltalk, Orbital 7, now functioning, came screeching down the path towards Kite. Its exterior was shining like the others around it. As it found Kite and the others with Twilight's friends, it addressed them with fear in its voice.
“Master Kite! Master Kite!” it shrieked. “My body is sparkling and I can see right through me!”
“Orbital!” shouted Applejack, her voice filled with relief and glee.
She, along with Tori, Hart, and Spike, ran up to him and hugged it. Having never received such affection before, it began to stammer in embarrassment.
“Well,” it spoke. “This is different.”
Suddenly, the voice of a crystal pony rang out from the crowd.
“Look! There they are!”
Everyone looked to the south of the palace and saw as Alex, Twilight, Yuma, and Astral were standing there. Twilight held the Crystal Heart with her magic. With the saviors of the Crystal Empire in full view, all of the ponies and most of the humans (minus Quattro, Vetrix, Dextra, and Quinton, who respectfully walked) ran to them to congratulate them.
Beating everyone there was Shining Armor and Cadance. As Alex hugged her, Shining Armor picked up Twilight and Yuma in both his arms and spun around on his back legs, happy with their safe return. After giving her brother the Crystal Heart, Twilight then ran to hug Cadance as Alex ran to join in a group hug with Shining Armor and Yuma.
“Thank goodness you are alright,” spoke Shining Armor.
“It's nothing,” said Yuma, scratching the back of his head. “I've been in worse.”
The swarm of crystal ponies came next. As Twilight, Alex, and Yuma, let go of their hugs, the crystal ponies hoisted all three of them into the air.
“Three cheers for Alex, Yuma, and Twilight!” called Shining Armor.
“Hip, hip, hooray!” cheered the ponies, tossing Yuma, Alex, and Twilight into the air with each hooray. “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!”
Astral watched as his friends were celebrated, smiling.
“Let's not forget about Astral!” shouted Shining Armor, motioning his hoof towards the being.
Putting Alex, Yuma, and Twilight down, they went to pick up and toss Astral as well, only for their hooves to phase right through his floating legs. Their slight confusion muted their cheers before realizing that a simple cheering would do just fine.
“Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!” they cheered, raising their hooves into the air.
As Astral nonchalantly basked in the praise that he received, he looked to Yuma, who have him a smiling thumbs up and a wink. Astral returned the thumbs up, his smile growing wider.
“Oh. My. God!” exclaimed Tom, approaching Yuma, followed by the rest of his human and pony friends.
Upon seeing her friends again, Twilight ran to Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, trying to encase them all with her arms, happy with their well-being and their reunion.
“And the way you and that Astral guy fused together,” continued Tom. “Wow! That was SO much better than The Avengers!”
“My friends,” spoke Astral to the ponies and humans as he floated back to Yuma, “it's great to see you all well.”
Tom then noticed that he could see and hear Astral, and couldn't help but stare at him. Astral took note of this and looked back at Tom.
“Whoa...” was all he could say.
“It appears that you can see me now as well,” spoke Astral. “Perhaps it is the magic of the Crystal Heart that allows you to now.”
“Either Alex wasn't crazy,” spoke Tom, “or I'm tripping some serious balls.”
“You're definitely tripping,” joked Alex, wrapping his arm around Tom's neck, issuing a chuckle from their friends.
“Oy,” called Nistro's voice.
Alex and the others turned to see Nistro, along with Dextra, Vetrix, Trey, Quattro, and Quinton walking towards them.
“Nistro!” exclaimed Yuma. “You're okay!”
“Eh. Nothing that we couldn't handle,” he said with a hearty laugh, forcing Dextra to roll her eyes. “Anyways, it looks like the Crystal Empire has been saved. Now I'm going to take you all back home.”
“What?” shouted Twilight and the ponies at the same time.
“Yep. Dr. Faker ordered us to bring Yuma and his friends home as soon as you guys saved this place. Now pack your bags, everyone. We're leaving ASAP.”
“You mean...” said Rainbow Dash, her voice wavering from her oncoming sobs, “...this is goodbye?”
“'Fraid so. Now please. Dr. Faker is waiting.”
Rainbow Dash then turned to Shark, trying to find the right words. Suddenly, Spike belched, from it coming a purple flame that materialized into a scroll.
“Yuck!” exclaimed Nistro. “That's disgusting!”
Twilight ignored Nistro and unfurled the scroll. Her ears drooped down and her face twinged with nervousness.
“It's from the Princess,” she said.
“Well,” spoke Kite. “What does it say?”
“My Faithful Student,
It seems that the Crystal Empire has been saved. Please return to Canterlot immediately with your friends. A train will arrive at the Crystal Empire station in a half hour.”
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia.”
Twilight and her friends looked nervously at her. From the look on her face, it seemed as if she thought that she failed her test. Alex wanted to console her, but felt like the timing wasn't exactly right yet. However, it was Kite who broke the silence.
“Come on,” he beckoned. “Let's gather our things and hurry back to Canterlot. I'll make sure that you don't fail that test.”
“Eh?” exclaimed Nistro. “I'm ordered by Dr. Faker to bring you guys back home!”
“Princess Celestia has told us that she is capable of doing it herself.”
“Huh? Who's Princess Celestia.”
“It doesn't matter. Nistro, Vetrix, everyone, I thank you for helping us back there, but your work here is done. Mine is still not over. Now, if you excuse me, we have a train to catch.”
Kite and Hart walked past Nistro, who continued to stand there, his mouth agape at Kite's blatant disobedience. Dextra couldn't help but smile at Kite's dedication towards his new friends. Touched by Kite's sticking up for Twilight, who herself was smiling, the other ponies and humans followed suit, leaving their six saviors behind.
“Come on, y'all,” beckoned Applejack, “let's help get everyone packed.”
Alex and all of his friends began walking back to the palace, waving and bidding good-byes and thank-yous to them. However, Daring Do stayed behind to say one more formal goodbye to Trey.
“Farewell,” said Daring Do to her new friend. “It was great working with you.”
“It was great working with you too. Goodbye, Daring-Do. Good luck with your new deck.”
“Thanks, Michael.”
“Come,” called Vetrix to Nistro and Dextra. “Let's all go home now.”
“Ech,” hacked Nistro as the two of them obeyed him, “Dr. Faker will have my head on a pike for this.”
A purple, starlit portal opened behind the six of them, rendering their bodies to gold sparkles that flew into the portal. Once all particles had entered, the portal closed up, leaving Daring Do alone. The only thing she could do now was look up at the sky and hope that they all made it home safely.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
With all of their bags in order, Kite and Yuma carried them all outside while Alex, Tom, and Shark went out to get their duel runners. The Crystal Heart was now placed in between the two pillars that formed from the floor and ceiling of the underside.The rest of the humans and ponies spilled out of the palace leg as they made their way to the train station. Before they could continue on, they were stopped by Shining Armor and Cadance. Twilight was the first to address them.
“So you're going to stay here?” she asked him.
“Yeah,” he answered. “There doesn't seem to be an incumbent ruler now. Besides, they've already begun calling my wife a princess, so my hooves are kind of tied.”
Twilight and Shining Armor shared a laugh, which died down quickly. Twilight herself began to frown a little over knowing her brother would be farther away from home.
“Don't worry,” assured Shining Armor, “everything is going to be okay. You've got to stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing.”
Twilight felt her smile begin to return, only for the truth to hit her again.
“It wasn't me who saved you in the end,” she said. “It was Alex and Yuma.”
“It's just a test. Maybe she'll let you retake it!”
Cadance had felt the joke was in bad taste for many reasons. One, she knew how serious this “test” of Twilight's was; retaking it would be an impossibility, and with Twilight feeling like she failed, Shining Armor's joking words didn't seem to lift Twilight's spirits. Not to mention, with the day they've been through, a retake of such a test would be too much stress for her. In her disapproval of his words, she nudged him with her wing.
“I don't think she's going to give me a new test,” said Twilight, still sullen.
“Well, I wish you the best of luck anyways. I know you'll do just fine.”
“Yeah,” she answered, unsure of herself.
With a final hug towards him and Cadance, Twilight's other friends said their goodbyes as well. Alex, whose duel runner was still parked by one of the palace legs, waited for Tom and Shark, who came soon after from the northern fields, riding their beaten, but manageable duel runners.
“Ready now?” asked Tom.
“Yeah,” answered Alex. “I think so.”
Alex took one final look at the Crystal Empire. The ponies were merrily conducting themselves, walking around the streets, conversing with one another. Some of the crystal ewes were walking around as well, glowing like its inhabitants. It was very calming and peaceful. With their combined efforts, he and his friends had saved the Crystal Empire.
All that awaited now was Twilight's test.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Galloping Gorge, Equestria, Night
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Back on the train, everyone was asleep. Their crystalline, sparkling bodies were now gone, having left the Crystal Empire and its magic behind. Hart had lain against Pinkie Pie, who was also laying on Kite. Tori, Applejack, and Fluttershy slept on the same bench together. Shark, sleeping as he sat, had Rainbow Dash happily snoring on his lap. Daring Do was right next to them, sleeping softly and peacefully. Orbital was perched in the front of their car, deactivated for the night. Yuma and Rarity were asleep on the same bench, but were far apart from each other, Astral no where to be seen. Tom and Alex slept on a bench together.
A slight rocking of the train woke Alex up, and upon opening his eyes, he saw Twilight, sitting and looking out the window and gazing at the stars, Spike snoozing to her right. She sighed with each exhale, the only therapy to cope with the foreboding news ahead. As Twilight continued to observe the sky, she felt a pair of arms draping over her shoulders and crossing over her chest. Upon looking up, she saw as Alex's face smiled at her, trying to ease her troubled mind into sleep with his embrace.
“It will be okay, Twilight,” whispered Alex. “I promise.”
Twilight smiled at this slight, but satisfactory comfort, and with the warmth of Alex's arms around her, she felt her eyes close ever so slowly until she could no longer keep them open.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday, June 22nd, 2012, Canterlot, Equestria, Morning
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The sunlight shone through the windows of the train. Twilight, despite Alex's help, found sleeping difficult. Upon a ray of light shining over her barely open eye, she woke and and looked out the windows to see the familiar sights of the mountains that Canterlot was perched on. Twilight groaned, her inevitable fate coming within just minutes now.
With knowing that she and her friends would need to get off soon too, she began walking throughout the train, poking the bodies of each passenger. She eventually finished with Kite, Hart, and Pinkie Pie, the latter of whom took a big stretch and yawn, which only helped wake Kite and Hart even more.
“Good morning, Pinkie,” spoke Hart, rubbing his eyes with his balled fists.
“And a good morning to you, Hart,” chirped Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie then looked out to the front of her car to greet her other friends, only to see Twilight walking back to her car, her head bowed in shame. Pinkie, remembering her friend's plight, respectfully remained silent. Hart could also take notice.
“Do you think she's going to be okay, brother?” asked Hart to Kite.
“I don't know,” said Kite, “but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she is.”
As the train continued onwards, the city of Canterlot came just into view behind the crags.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The train pulled into the station. Twilight, Alex, Spike, and Tom were first to exit the now opened doors. Alex stayed close to Twilight, who could empathize that each step Twilight took must have felt like agony as she got closer to the results of her test. Kite, Hart, Orbital, and Pinkie Pie were next, making sure that Twilight would get extra support when needed. Yuma, Astral, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Tori then came out, followed by Shark, Daring Do, and Rainbow Dash. Rarity looked at her now normal hoof as she walked, sighing in melancholy.
“Oh, I do so wish it was permanent,” she said, referring to her crystal form. “Did you see how my mane just absolutely sparkled?”
“But,” replied Applejack, walking close to her, “good things are better when they're a rarity,” giving her friend a wink on the final word.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, touched by her friend's compliment.
The streets were still somewhat barren, being as early as it was, giving Twilight some comfort on their journey, but not enough to quell her anxiety.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
They all finally reached the palace entrance. Twilight could barely stand to look at the doors which she knew she would have to enter. With a final gulp, she made her decision.
“Well,” she spoke, “let's get it over with.”
She led her friends up the left winding stairs that led to the palace doors, which were both guarded by two of the royal guards, both of whom were pegasi. Upon seeing the student of Princess Celestia, the guards, who had their wings blocking the door, retracted them back to their sides, admitting them entrance.
“Miss Sparkle,” said one of them. “The princess is waiting.”
I bet she is, thought Twilight.
Using her magic, she opened the door, walking inside with all of her friends behind her. Daring Do, Tori, Shark, Orbital, and Hart, who had never been inside of the Canterlot palace, were in awe of its splendor. The marble pillars, the immaculately painted hallways, along with spotless carpets, rugs, and tile floors which they walked on were truly a sight to behold.
“This place is beautiful,” exclaimed Tori.
“Isn't it?” remarked Rarity. “You would think the capital city of Equestria would offer the best in architecture.”
Twilight ignored her friends conversations, focused only on the incoming door to the throne room where Princess Celestia would inevitably be. The door was already open, which Twilight found somewhat odd. The sight of the open door felt very welcoming, as if it was telling her it was okay to enter inside. With a slight rise in her optimism, her downtrodden walk became a curious canter, forcing her friends to keep pace.
Upon turning to the left to see inside, she let out a small gasp. Her friends entered as well, giving wider-eyed expressions upon seeing what Twilight saw. Inside was Princess Celestia, as expected. However, Princess Luna was inside as well, along with a human female woman with straight red hair. She was wearing a simple black blouse with blue jeans and black heels. All three of them were looking at a stained glass window on the right.
“Princess Celestia!” called Twilight. “Princess Luna! Lauren! What are you doing here?”
“Twilight!” replied Princess Celestia with optimism in her voice.
Twilight and her friends walked forwards to speak more formally to the princesses. Princess Luna then walked up to Yuma, Shark, and Kite.
“You are the ones who helped save the Crystal Empire,” she said.
Without awaiting an answer, she wrapped her arms around all three humans, nestling her head in between Yuma and Shark's necks and then in between Yuma's and Kite's.
“Thank you so very much,” she spoke, almost on the verge of tears. “Equestria is forever in your debt.”
“Hehe,” giggled Yuma coarsely, his voice half-choked by Luna's embrace practically crushing his spine. “It's nothing really.”
Upon Luna letting go of them, Yuma and his friends had a chance to look at the window that Celestia, Luna, and Lauren were looking at. On it, the background was a brilliant magenta. Along the bottom of the icon, were small cyan circles formed in a half ring. Inside each of the circles, there was a pony, human, or some other being occupying the space, their clothes or bodies signifying who they were. In order, from left to right, there was Daring Do, Trey, Rainbow Dash, Quattro, Applejack, Quinton, Rarity, Orbital, Hart, Spike, Dextra, Tori, Nistro, Pinkie Pie, Vetrix, and Fluttershy. Each one of them was in an offensive stance while Vetrix, Trey, Quattro, Quinton, Nistro, and Dextra each had their duel disks affixed to their wrists. The ponies (minus Daring Do) each had their Elements around their necks.
Centered just above the half-ring, in larger circles from left to right, was Kite (in his Photon Change mode), who was in a red circle, Shark, in a bright, purple circle, and Tom, who was in a golden circle. Each one of them held two cards above their heads. Even with as small as the cards were in the design, the window was large enough that the cards and their features could be easily defined, showing Kite's cards to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, Shark's cardx to be Number 32: Shark Drake and Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss, and Tom's cards to be Amber Minotaur and Shining Golden Minotaur. White rays shot out of the cards that converged above them in the very center of the window in a bright star.
Finally, above all of them, Alex, Yuma, and Twilight, positioned in a downwards pointing triangle, with Twilight making the bottom point, all occupied a large space that was shaped like the Crystal Heart, rays shining from it. Alex, his clothes white with the use of the Elements of Harmony, held out his Elements of Harmony and Jade Wyvern cards in front of him. Yuma, in his ZEXAL form, held out his Number C39: Utopia Ray and ZW – Leo Arms card out in front of him, each of the duelists' cards touching. Twilight floated beneath them, her Element tiara on her head. In a half-ring formed at the top of the icon, were the crystal ponies, each occupying a small cyan circle like the beings in the half ring below. Princess Cadance was in the center of this half-ring, her horn glowing.
“If only I could thank the other humans that showed yesterday,” spoke Luna, looking at the bottom of the window. “Who even were they, anyways?”
“They were...” answered Kite, looking back down the hall, “...acquaintances.”
“Wow,” sighed Hart, looking at the stained glass design. “My brother is famous!”
Kite ignored his statement. He was now focused on Celestia as she was talking with Twilight. Hart looked out too, followed by Yuma, Astral, Shark, Tori, and Orbital to see Twilight's friends, along with Alex, Tom, and Daring Do, observing the confrontation as well. Each one of the ponies were deathly nervous, expecting the absolute worst to happen.
“Why are you so upset?” asked Princess Celestia to the downtrodden Twilight. “The Crystal Empire is safe. This is a time for rejoice and happiness. Just look.”
Princess Celestia then looked out the window to see the red, blue, and yellow beams still dancing across the sky.
“It's beautiful,” concluded Princess Celestia.
“I wish it had been me who ultimately made it so,” spoke Twilight, “but it wasn't.”
Kite, unable to take any more, stepped in.
“Celestia,” he called, stepping into the front of the crowd. “You must understand. Twi–”
“Kite,” interrupted Celestia, a smile still on her face, “Twilight. As I understand it, Alex and Yuma retrieved the Crystal Heart because you weren't sure how quickly you could find a way to escape the tower.”
Celestia leaned in closer to Twilight, her soothing voice bringing a smile to Twilight's face.
“You weren't willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee your own,” continued Princess Celestia.
Twilight, beginning to realize what this meant, looked to Kite. All he could offer her was a reassuring smile as if giving her a gracious way of saying, “I told you so.” Twilight gave him a sheepish smile before refocusing her attention to Celestia.
“Far better that I have a student who understands the meaning of self-sacrifice than one who only looks out for her own best interests.”
Twilight began to hyperventilate, excited by the news she desperately wanted to hear three mornings ago. She had to be sure.
“Does this mean...?”
“Yes,” confirmed Celestia. “You have passed the test and will move on to the next level of your studies.”
Twilight could only stand still and beam as her friends, also excited by her friend's passing, began to dog-pile her one by one and smother her with affection and congratulations. Alex, Daring Do, and the other humans (plus Astral and Orbital) watched happily as Twilight basked in her success. As Kite watched her, Princess Celestia walked to him and stood before him. Lauren also walked up to him, producing a small electronic tablet.
“What is the meaning of this?” asked Kite, looking up to the two.
Lauren answered him by awakening the tablet and unlocking it, producing a video that only he and Twilight could have known. On it, Kite, his clothing white from his Photon Change, stood before Twilight, who had two monsters in front of her: Hierophant of Prophecy and Magi Magi Magician Girl. It was their duel from two nights before.
“Where did you get this?” asked Kite, surprised.
“I captured most of the footage with a satellite that I own that orbits Earth,” explained Lauren, showing other videos on it. “I also caught a duel that Shark and Tom had, as well as the attack on the Crystal Empire. I also caught your duel with Ahuizotl and Alex and Yuma's duel with King Sombra. That's how we were able to construct this.”
She motioned to the new stained glass wall that they were standing next to.
“However,” spoke Celestia. “There was something else that her satellite caught as well.”
Going back to the duel between Kite and Twilight, Lauren scrubbed a playhead to near the end of the video and hit the play button. Kite couldn't believe what he heard.
“Twilight, you don’t understand how badly you need your friends now. You don’t know how badly Equestria needs all of us right now. You can’t let something as petty as a test, no matter whom the teacher who assigns it, jeopardize this world. I can’t allow Hart, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or even you to live in such a world if King Sombra succeeds. I won’t allow it!”
“If you're wondering how I can hear that from space,” explained Lauren, “my satellite has a powerful microphone equipped to it. My magic also allows me to override the effects of the vacuum of space while it's on, so I can hear and see everything that it picks up. Just be sure not to tell anyone,” she said, putting the side of her index fingers to her lips.
“Whatever the methods,” intervened Celestia, “I heard how you talked to my student there. While I may not agree to the manner of which you spoke to her, I'm all but certain that your words are what led her to make the choice that had her pass her test, and for that, I am grateful.”
Celestia bent her head down and rest the top of her neck on Kite's shoulder. She then tilted her head down, placing the underside of her chin on his back, shifting her head left and right. As Kite's back was rubbed, Kite, feeling the sheer benevolence and love of Princess Celestia, compelled himself to stroke the sides of her neck with his hands.
She soon stopped, placing her eyes right on Kite's. Kite stared back at her in reverence and respect. With a gentle nod, Celestia stepped backwards to let Lauren take her place.
“I'd like you to have this,” said Lauren, handing a small, scarlet envelope to Kite, much like the ones that would hold the key cards when getting a room at a hotel. “Just think of it as a parting gift from this world.”
Lauren walked past Kite towards Shark and Yuma. Kite opened the envelope, observing its contents. Inside were about a dozen Duel Monsters cards. Kite fanned through them to see what they were.
Photon Spectre, thought Kite. Photon Trade, Radiant Light Emperor Galaxion.
Kite looked back at Lauren, who was handing a similar envelope to Yuma.
Thank you, Lauren, he thought with a smile on his face.
As Yuma opened his envelope, Lauren also handed one to Shark.
“Let's see,” spoke Yuma as he looked through the new cards that he got. “Bachibachibachi, Numbers Evocation, Last Chance. This is so cool! Thank you, Lauren!”
“You're very welcome, Yuma,” replied Lauren.
Shark fanned through his new cards. He was complacent knowing that most of his cards were built around his WATER deck, like Starfish and Shark-ize, but three cards in particular caught his attention: a level 5 Panther Shark, a level 5 Eagle Shark, and a rank 5 xyz monster, Shark Fortress.
“Lauren,” said Shark. “I–”
“I saw how much you, Tom, and Rainbow Dash bonded this week,” answered Lauren, “especially in those two duels yesterday. I thought those monsters would serve as a nice memory of your new friends.”
Shark looked back where Tom stood. Both gave each other a smile and nod. Lauren then handed Tori a box to a brand new D-Pad in the standard grey color.
“What's this for?” asked Tori.
“Whenever I watch Yuma duel, I never see you duel either. Here's your chance now.”
“I see. Thank you so much, Lauren.”
“And here's for you, Orbital,” said Lauren, handing the robot a nice, white deck case. “I figure you could use a good duel now and then.”
“Very interesting,” spoke Orbital, looking through his deck that was comprised of Machine-type monsters. “Thank you, Ms. Lauren.”
She then walked back to Hart, who still stood as he watched as everyone was given gifts.
“Don't think I forgot about you,” said Lauren, kneeling to Hart's level and reaching behind her. “I know its not much, but I thought this would be nice.”
From behind her back, she pulled a plush pony that was made to look very much like Pinkie Pie.
“I saw how much fun you were having with her when you were gathering the ewes,” she continued, “so I thought this would remind you of her.”
“I like it very much,” said Hart. “Thank you very much, Lauren.”
“Ooh!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, peering over Lauren's shoulder. “You got a doll of me! Lauren, can I have a doll of Hart? Ooh! Or maybe one of Kite!”
“Um,” replied Lauren, “I didn't plan on getting you something, but I can't see why I couldn't make you one.”
Lauren then looked up to Astral, who floated near Yuma as usual.
“I'm sorry,” spoke Lauren. “I wish I could have gotten you something, but you can't seem to grab solid matter.”
“Anything that aids Yuma in his dueling is enough of a gift for me,” said Astral.
“I'm glad.”
“I hate to interrupt,” butted in Celestia, “but the train back to the Crystal Empire is waiting.”
By now, Twilight's friends had calmed down and were now alert to Celestia's warning, paying attention to her.
“My goodness!” exclaimed Lauren, getting everyone's attention. “How time flies. I would just like to say that to all from Heartland, I wish you a safe journey back home. I'll be returning to Chicago to set the Orion to help return you to your home world. Just think of it like how you were sent here from your own world, but in reverse.”
“Yes, thank you, Lauren,” spoke Celestia. “You are free to leave now.”
“Thank you, Celestia. Again, it was a pleasure meeting all of you. Good luck!”
“Bye, Lauren!” said mostly everyone, minus Shark, Kite, Orbital, and Daring Do.
In a burst of sparkles, Lauren disappeared from the room, leaving Celestia to give her final farewell.
“As you may well know,” she said, “for those from the other world, this may be the last time you will see me again. As Lauren explained, you will return to the Crystal Empire, where the crystal ponies will use their magic to return you home, with Lauren using the Orion satellite to redirect you back to your world. The train is an express, so you should arrive later this afternoon. Once again, I want to say that Equestria is in your debt; your deeds and heroism will live down in Equestrian history forever. Thank you.”
With the conclusion of her small speech, everyone came to hug Celestia and Luna and bid them farewell, minus Shark and Kite. As Daring Do gave a mere hoofshake to Celestia as a substitute for a hug, Celestia addressed her.
“I just want to say before you leave that I'm a HUGE fan,” she said in a jokingly fangirlish voice. “Perhaps one of your biggest.”
“Yes, well,” replied Daring Do, turning to look at Rainbow Dash, “with all due respect, I think you'll have to wait in line.”
With a few final hugs from her subjects, everyone began to leave the palace. Twilight stopped and turned back to her teacher, giving her a warm and grateful smile, which Celestia returned herself. Twilight trotted back outside to join her friends. As Twilight and the rest of her friends went out of sight, Princess Luna produced a black book with stars drawn upon it with her magic. Upon showing it to her sister, she nodded in apparent approval.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
At the train station, everyone began heading back into the cars, ready to return. However, Daring Do stood still, confusing Rainbow Dash, Tom, and Twilight.
“Are you not coming with, Daring?” asked Twilight.
“Nah,” spoke Daring Do. “As much as I enjoyed your company, I'm gonna go back out and see the world.”
“Huh?” spoke Tom, “where will you go?”
“There's some caverns down in southern Equestria. Maybe I'll find a new adventure there.”
Rainbow Dash smiled, empathetic with her friend's choice.
“I understand,” said Rainbow Dash. “I mean, what's Daring Do without another swashbuckling adventure?”
“Hehe,” giggled Daring Do. “Exactly.”
The titular pegasus then held her hoof to Rainbow Dash.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye then.”
Rainbow Dash ignored the hoof and instead gave her a hug.
“Goodbye, Daring Do,” spoke Rainbow Dash. “This was the coolest thing in the world to meet you.”
“Heh. You and me both, squirt.”
They finally let go of their embrace. Daring Do and Tom conducted themselves in a hoof/handshake.
“You're a great fighter, Tom,” spoke Daring Do. “I can only hope we'll cross paths again.”
“Meh,” responded Tom nonchalantly, “we'll be bound to eventually.”
“Yeah, you're probably right.”
With a casual handshake and goodbye to Twilight, Daring Do watched as Twilight, Tom, and Rainbow Dash entered the train. With the three of them on the train, and the confirmation to the conductor that Daring Do would not return, the train slunk out of the station. Rainbow Dash looked through the window, and kept her eyes on Daring Do until she was rendered invisible by their distance.
Twilight sat down with Spike, Yuma, Tori, and Alex, who saved her a seat. Rainbow Dash and Tom, having followed Twilight, both found Shark on the same car and both sat with him, Rainbow Dash nestled between them. Kite, Pinkie Pie, and Hart were sitting across from them, Orbital sitting in the back. Applejack and the rest of Twilight's friends also occupied the same car. It was quite crowded, but they wanted nothing more than to spend these next few hours with their friends before they would return.
As Twilight looked over all of her new friends, she began to suddenly realize that by day's end, they'd be gone and back home. She bowed her head sullenly, this fact clouding her thoughts.
“Twilight,” spoke Yuma. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” she said unconvincingly, trying to fight back her tears. “It's just that in just a few hours, you're all going to go back home. I've had such a wonderful time with you all, it's just that I don't want it to end.”
The others couldn't help but hear Twilight's choked words, bringing the triumphant air in the train back to a somber one. However, Yuma was still smiling.
“It's okay, Twilight,” he said, wiping her tears from her face with his thumb. “Everyone who I duel becomes my friend, and it doesn't matter how far apart we are; my kattobing will always keep us together.”
Twilight, touched by Yuma's words, suddenly realized something, bringing a smile to her face.
“Spike,” she declared. “Take a letter.”
“Got it!” he spoke, producing a quill and paper.
“What's she doing?” asked Kite, curious about Twilight's actions.
“A friendship report,” answered Alex. “Whenever Twilight learns something new about friendship, she reports her findings to her teacher.”
Kite, refusing to question this seemingly foolish act, listened closely as she dictated her letter to Spike, the smiles on everyone's faces growing as she continued on.
“Dear Princess Celestia,” she began. “Four days ago a group of humans, a robot, and an alien being came to our world from another one. After getting to know them, we have become great friends. Our bonds only became stronger as we saved the Crystal Empire together. However, today, they shall be returning home where they belong. But you know what? I'm perfectly fine with it. Because I learned that it doesn't matter how far we are from each other: town to town, country to country, or even world to world. As long as we keep our bonds and memories safe in our hearts, our kattobing will remain strong, and our friendship will never die. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
Equestrian Observation #6: mused Astral to himself. Friends are friends, no matter the distance.
“Wow!” said Spike as he rolled and sealed the letter. “That has to be your best report yet!”
Twilight gave Spike a nod as she tiredly slumped onto Alex's side. With her anxiety washed from her body and her contentment filling her, she finally caught up on some much needed sleep. As Alex wrapped his arm around her waist, Spike opened the window to the train and breathed fire onto the scroll, turning the scroll into a puff of purple smoke the flew out the window and back towards Canterlot.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Crystal Empire, Equestria, Afternoon
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The train rolled into the station. The setting orange sun complimented the light-blue castle in the center of the empire perfectly. Alex, Tom, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Yuma, Astral, Shark, Kite, Hart, Tori, and Orbital exited the train and stepped onto the station one by one. Some extra time was given for Shark to get his motorcycle out of the boxcar attached to the train.
“Ready, guys?” asked Twilight.
Twilight and her friends escorted Yuma and his friends to the Crystal Empire, Shark walking his motorcycle. However, as Yuma walked ever so closer to the palace, his optimistic smile began to fade, as if he slowly realized that he lost something. By the time they reached the city limits, the crystal ponies, who remained in their crystal forms, spotted them. Revered by their return they stood still on the side of the streets to let them pass. The pressure of their departure was starting to bug Yuma even more.
Finally, Shining Armor and Cadance were visible at the underside of the palace. The crystal ponies continued to line the side of the streets as the group all marched closer to them. As they reached the outside of the palace, Shining Armor and Cadance approached to meet them, allowing Alex and his friends to stop.
“Welcome back,” said Shining Armor. “It's great to see you all one last time before you leave.”
“Yes,” spoke Kite. “We are just as eager to return home as anyone.”
“Well then,” responded Cadance, “I'll give you a few minutes to say goodbye to your friends before we get started.”
“No...” quietly said a voice.
Everyone was shocked and surprised to see that the voice came from Yuma. Everyone turned to him and stared, demanding an answer.
“I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.”
“Yuma!” scolded Shark. “We can't be stalling any longer! We need to get home.”
“I know, Shark. But there's something that I absolutely need to do before we leave.”
“And what's that?” asked Shining Armor.
The small break of silence that separated Shining Armor's query and Yuma's answer felt like eternity before Yuma actually spoke.
“I want to duel Alex.”
More shock culminated from everyone, which went double for Alex.
“You...” spoke Alex to Yuma, “want to duel me?”
“Of course!” shouted Yuma. “I've watched you duel all this time and I never had a chance to challenge your Stone of Equus card. As I walked towards the Crystal Empire just now, I knew that I wouldn't forgive myself if I left here without challenging you. Please, Alex. Let this be my final wish before I leave here.”
Shark and Kite, understanding Yuma's spirit, smiled in acceptance of his decision. Alex, however, was torn, he had two responsibilities that he had to own up to: either get Yuma home safe and sound as quick as possible, or take his offer and challenge him. Suddenly, a phone rang from Tom's pocket. Upon examining the caller ID, he saw that it was Lauren. Tom answered it immediately.
“Hello?” Tom answered.
“...”
“Everything is fine, it's just that Yuma wants to challenge Alex to one final duel before he and his friends leave. Personally, I think they should. If you could just let them duel this once and give them a few, that would mean the world to them.”
“... ...”
“Alright, I'll tell them. Thanks. Bye.”
*click*
“Yuma!” called Tom. “Alex! Lauren says, 'Go for it!'”
“Excellent,” spoke Astral. “Let this be the decisive battle between the Numbers and the Stones of Equus.”
“I'm ready!” shouted Yuma, bringing out his D-Pad tablet and wrist dealer. “Let's go! Kattobingu-da, ore!”
Yuma tossed his tablet up, causing it to unfold as Yuma placed his wrist dealer on his arm. Everyone began to quickly back up and give the duelists some room.
“Duel disk!” shouted Yuma as the tablet attached to the wrist dealer and the zones unsheathed from it. “Set on!”
Alex constructed his D-Pad onto his own arm, placing his wrist dealer on his wrist and his tablet upon his dealer, the zones unsheathing from the side. Alex then pulled out his Duel Rezzer, activated it, and threw it in between him and Yuma.
“Duel Rezzer!” they both shouted. “Set on!”
The holographic auras spread from the device, nearly completing the requirements to play. Rainbow Dash, Shark, and Tom stood close to each other to watch, along with Pinkie Pie, Hart, and Kite, Applejack, Orbital, Fluttershy, and Tori, and Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Shining Armor, and Cadance.
“Go, Yuma!” shouted Tori. “Win!”
“Go get 'em, Alex!” shouted Tom.
With everything set, Alex and Yuma drew five cards from their decks.
“DUEL!” they both shouted.