//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: More Answers 
// Story: The Defective Warp Pipe 
// by Level Dasher 
//------------------------------//

	Princess Celestia spent the day in Ponyville. She went over all the details of my return with Twilight, praising her on the development of her time-loop reversal spell. As far as the Princess could tell, there was no flaw in it.

Around early afternoon, I asked Fluttershy to come with me to the library to talk with the Princess. There were a few things I wanted to ask, now that I had been properly introduced. She was a little hesitant at first, still having not completely gotten over the events of the morning, but she agreed.

I knocked on the door of the library; Spike opened the door and smiled when he saw me. I asked Fluttershy to let him do the translating. I didn’t know how much more time I would be spending in Equestria, so I wanted to give him another opportunity to help me out, as he clearly liked to do.
“Excuse my interruption, Princess, and you too, Twilight, but I was wondering if I could ask a few questions before you left Ponyville? I believe you are the only one I can ask.” I tried to be as proper as I could.
Princess Celestia nodded and responded, “Absolutely. We have all the time in the world right now. What did you want to know?”

I decided to start with an important one. "Well, I'm not complaining, but do you know how I ended up here in the first place?"
The Princess answered, "I believe I do. It seems to me that it was all a matter of timing. When you fell in your… level, I believe you called it? …I believe that is when Discord wiggled his way through the inter-dimensional tunnels and ended up in your world. That is why you were not caught in the time loop. You managed to barely escape being stuck in it yourself." Thank Peach for that… "The item you call a warp pipe, in particular the one you went into, was the link between our two dimensional tunnels. It was how Discord made his way into your world, and the way you came into ours. He left the portal open, which caused the pipe that would have led you to the junction of your home…" She must mean the Yoshi Island junction. "…to bring you here instead. However, Discord's power over chaos can bring him only so far. I am guessing that he has not been able to open the portal again, and is still playing around in your world. Luckily for us, the time lapse has Discord moving at a pace which gives us an advantage. He has still only been in your world for just over a half-hour in your time. I believe Doctor Whooves told you that Discord likes to create a bit of trouble before he causes any actual damage, is that right?"
"He mentioned that, yes."
"Well, he was correct. If I know Discord, your friends are most likely fine, except for your one friend stuck in the time loop, but that is more of an annoyance than actual trouble." She had a good point. Mario wasn't in any real danger if he was only repeating level 3-2.
"What I do not understand is how your friend managed to get here as well… Inter-dimensional portals do not usually stay open that long. I can only imagine that because Discord used the powers of chaos to open the portal, it must have caused some kind of rift that allowed it to stay open longer... I apologize— I will ponder this later.” 

“What else would you like to know?"
“Um, how much longer can I stay in Equestria?”
“Well my friend, you will probably be happy to know that you may stay here as long as you like. Your presence is not a strain on our world in any way." Fluttershy and I looked at each other and smiled. "I assume, however, that you do want to help your friend out of Discord’s time loop as soon as possible, am I correct?”
“Of course! What do I need to—”
“You will not need to do anything. As I mentioned before, your search in the Ponyville mines was not in vain— according to my research, I will need the three Augmentation Stones to re-open the portal that brought you here. With the spell Twilight Sparkle developed, I will use the extra Augmentation Stone you retrieved to dispel the loop from here, thus allowing your friend to continue his level. However, my research also stated that it will be the only time I will be able to open this link between the inter-dimensional tunnels. After it closes, the portal between our world and yours will stay closed.”

It took me only a moment to contemplate what the Princess was telling me before I realized where she was going with this. My smile quickly faded away, but it seemed that Fluttershy hadn't picked up on it yet.

“This means that when you are ready to help your friend, you will need to leave at the same time, because after that portal closes, the link between our worlds will remain closed, and I will not be able to open it again.”
Before I could get in a word, Fluttershy spoke. “Um, Princess? Are you sure? There’s… there’s no way to open the portal again?” Obviously I was wrong.
“Unless we discover something that says differently in the future, I am afraid so.”
"Wh-...what about Doctor Whooves?"
"I had the same thought— I spoke to him myself. It seems that since he returned from the place he referred to as Flipside, he has not been able to connect with those inter-dimensional tunnels again. Neither of us are certain why. It is unfortunate, but it seems apparent that once you leave, Yoshi, you cannot come back."

After we heard this, Fluttershy and I slowly turned to each other, wearing the same pained expression on our faces. I held my hand out to her, and she placed her hoof in it. We bowed our heads.
The Princess continued, “I am so sorry, you two. I can see the bond you have formed is quite strong, despite how little time you have known each other. Sadly, it was not meant to last. Although Yoshi’s presence in our world causes no strain, he really does not belong here.”
Fluttershy and I nodded. We looked at each other and started for the door.

The Princess called to us, “Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?”
Right! I had almost forgotten! “Yes! Um, is it okay if we talk about this in private?”
“Huh? Oh! Gotcha! Twilight— we should go upstairs.” Spike seemed to understand what I was going to ask as he finished the translation, then hustled Twilight to the upper floor.

Luckily, I had Fluttershy to translate for me during this conversation. “I’m sure I speak for Fluttershy and myself when I ask this, but… how is she able—”
“Ah yes, you want to know how Fluttershy gained the ability to understand you after your first time?” Fluttershy and I sheepishly nodded. “Well, did it ever cross your minds how I knew about you two? If it comforts you, I will say that while I did know what was going on, I was never watching.” She put a hoof to her mouth and chuckled as Fluttershy and I both awkwardly smiled and glanced at each other. Neither of us had even thought of that. “However, I do know about the conversation you two had the next morning. While I myself cannot give you a 100-percent definitive answer, I believe that you were correct, Yoshi: Fluttershy’s special talent gives her the ability to communicate with creatures in a way that other ponies cannot. Combined with your intimate experience with each other, I believe that ability was enhanced to a point where she became able to understand your speech. I apologize, but at the moment I cannot give you a more detailed description than that.”
That satisfied me. I wasn’t sure I really wanted a more detailed description anyway. Too science-y for me.

“Did you want to ask anything else before I return to Canterlot?” the Princess asked.
I thought about it for a moment, then looked at Fluttershy. She shrugged and shook her head. I looked at the Princess and shook mine also.
“Very well. I will let you two go about whatever business you wish. Twilight! Spike! You may come back down! I want to go over this spell with you again...”