//------------------------------// // Day 25 // Story: Crashing Equestria // by Zytharros //------------------------------// Day 25 I woke up… and groaned. I didn’t like waking up. Not today. I didn’t want to go home… but I knew I had to. I had a family, and she needed me. But I didn’t want to go… not just yet. As a reward for my work against Tangerine Hopes, Princess Celestia granted me five extra days in Equestria. I had spent them as best I could. I went apple-bucking with Applejack, took a trip around the sky with Rainbow Dash, got fitted for a suit I would never wear again with Rarity, taught Pinkie Pie the recipe for paska (which, of course, she over-sweetened… just a little), went star-gazing and discussed miscellaneous theories a little more with Twilight, and hung out with Fluttershy and her animal friends. I also spent time with Vinyl Scratch (who prefers her real name to her stage name, DJ P0N-3, by the way) mixing music and recording a few tracks, helped Derpy with her mail run, became an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader, tasted Colgate’s tail (accidentally, mind you… but I can confirm it tastes like toothpaste… um… just… don’t ask…) and Pinkie Pie’s mane (which actually IS cotton candy, by the way… same accident… still not talkin’ about it!!), partied twice, and finished my written project. I even helped Princess Celestia initiate the retrofitting project for Canterlot’s cable systems and turned down an honorary Wonderbolt offer, instead redirecting their attention to Rainbow Dash… who was so shocked she right fainted. It’s an interesting feeling when you know the end is coming… you really do put in a lot of effort into your day, even if it would come to nothing and the ponies who you would remember may forget you ever existed after you left courtesy of alicorn magic. Things just feel better. The breeze in your mane and under your wings, traveling down your body and off your tail as you’re flying... it was divine. The food eaten… they were some of the best salads, sandwiches, and grain cereals I had ever tasted. So many thoughts popped into my head. So many memories… I turned over, and began idly chipping away at the wood of the wall next to my bed, recalling all I could possibly remember. Each memory was a precious feather fluttering on the winds of time. I wasn’t to leave until midnight, so I had one full day left… but it didn’t feel enough. It felt I was going to die… at least metaphorically. I groaned… leaving was always so stressful, but this was the first time as I was leaving that I knew I could never in my wildest dreams come back to where I had left from. Princess Celestia had even said so herself before sending us somberly to bed. She had said she was being kind to even let me stay five extra days… even to let me into Equestria violated several hundred ancient edicts, tomes, vows, and prophecies… I moped around for a couple minutes, enjoying the stale library smell I had become accustomed to over these last twenty-five days. I picked up and disinterestedly slowly flipped through a couple unfinished Daring Do books… I would have to gather them in a neat, little pile for Twilight to put away later… but my mind was too busy to take anything in, so I closed them. Sighing, I said to nopony in particular, “Well, I guess… I have to get up…” The plan was to have me say goodbye to all the people of Ponyville, then head out of town towards the Everfree Forest. Each Element of Harmony, and finally Princess Celestia, would join me in a little clearing Rainbow Dash had selected once I had arrived, and when the moon was high and ponies were asleep, I would leave. I had played the scene over hundreds of times in my head over the past few days, always with me putting on a poker face, congratulating the girls, and then smiling an adventurous smile, like the lead character Goku always did in Dragonball as he walked away on a new adventure, as I passed through the portal. But every time I pictured the scene, I thought of all the girls and their clouded faces, and my eyes clouded over with them. On a number of occasions I had to bite my lip and smile through the pain. More memories… Pinkie’s second successful paska, my first tandem sonic rainboom with Rainbow Dash… each of these moments caused a little rift in my soul. I didn’t want to go… but I had to… for both worlds’ sakes. I was a human in a pegacorn… alicorn… whatever… body… a native of Earth, forever foreign to this land and its’ ways. I stomped twice, trying to sort out this flood of emotion within my mind. I decided going out for a fly would clear my head, so I left the library. “Don’t go too far,” I heard a slightly-nerdy, but warm and gentle voice speak. I looked back over my shoulder at Twilight questioningly. “We’ve got that pi-pic…” she said, choking back tears, “picnic today…” I smiled caringly. “I’ll be there.” I closed the door. I listened for a bit, hearing Twilight’s sobs. I bit my lip. Her tears didn’t help my disposition… not in the least. I flapped my wings, catching air and gaining altitude. I pulled a hard hammerhead, a sudden and g-force-tearing vertical plummet, at the height of my rise. I settled into a glide, flying over the town of Ponyville at 3,000 feet. On one of my loops, I spotted Rainbow Dash’s house. I landed on the cloud and knocked. After a couple seconds, Rainbow opened the door. “Oh, hi, Zytharros,” she said. “What brings you here?” I sighed. “You know I’m leaving today…” She nodded. “Yeah.” “You don’t seem too hard-hit by it,” I observed. Rainbow sighed. “I can’t say I haven’t been fazed… I haven’t eaten a thing all morning. I’m still shocked today is… y’know… the day. We had so much fun together and I can’t…” she trailed off. She sniffled, looking away. “None of us want you to go, but we all know you’ve got stuff to do. I just can’t believe it’s today…” she trailed off again, the tears coming a little freer now. “I-I’m sorry… I have to go…” She bolted from the room out a window. I followed, but slowly. I stopped just outside her house as I watched the rainbow-coloured mare disappear into a cloud. I lowered myself into a tree directly below me and watched the passers-by for an hour or so, then noticed Fluttershy walk past. I dropped out of the tree and walked up behind her. “Fluttershy?” I asked meekly. She stopped and looked behind her. Seeing me, she gave me a smile. “Zytharros!” she said brightly. I sighed. “You mind if I hang with you for a bit?” She shook her head. “Oh, no! Go right ahead!” I matched her pace as we walked to her house. “How’re your chickens?” I asked. She smiled. “They’re fine. We just hatched three new chicks today. They’re so cute!” I smiled. “That’s good.” Good – someone who can take my mind off my pain. “And the bunnies are doing well, too,” she said excitedly. “Well, one’s getting a little rambunctious, you kno-” her sentence suddenly broke off. A lip quivered, and she bolted. I sighed. I had hoped to get lost in a conversation to forget my pain, but two tries now had ended in failure. I needed something to do, something to forget my pain. I flew off in search of a cloud to rest on, to think on, to sort my mind out. Shortly after my takeoff, Pinkie Pie called me down off my wings. “What’cha doin’?” she asked with a giant smile on her face. I chuckled. Leave it to Pinkie to brighten my mood. “Actually, I’m trying to pass the time until tonight…” I said, my demeanor slipping. “Oh! Right! You go home today!” she said, still smiling. “Say hi to your family from me!” I chuckled. “I only wish I could… the reality of my world is if I mention anything of my adventures in your world I’d likely be committed to a mental ward.” “What’s that?” Pinkie asked innocently. I could see her mood deteriorating a little. She sure was a resilient pony. I told her. “It’s a place where people who’ve lost their minds go.” Pinkie gasped. “You can lose minds in your world!? Where do people lose them? Do they find them again?” I remained silent with a smile on my face, chuckling inwardly, but feeling no desire to express it audibly. Pinkie still looked at me quizzically. “So?” she asked again. I sighed, wanting to get off the morbid subject. It reminded me too much of my own grandfather’s death, and the deteriorating condition of a few people I knew who had the brain-degenerating disease dementia. “It’s… rare… usually those in wards have to be medicated before they can be released.” Seemed like my destiny was depression today… I needed to let loose and play. “Wanna run around randomly?” I suddenly suggested. Pinkie and I spent the day until lunch just running around carelessly. We caused all kinds of mischief from one end of Ponyville to another. Soon we were joined by our friends on a hilltop just outside the town where we finally settled down for our final picnic together. Applejack pulled up with a special barrel of cider she had prepared for today. We spent the afternoon just enjoying each other’s company, playing, talking, watching the clouds not controlled by pegasi drift lazily by… it was a wonderful way to finally let loose. I even taught them the game of soccer… football… whichever you want to call it… played on Earth. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, of course, got carried away in the competition, and wound up brawling while the rest of us laughed. Pinkie Pie emerged, however, as the star soccer player of the seven of us. Her perceptive abilities and boundless energy gave her an astonishing advantage, even over pegasi wings and unicorn magic. We had a lot of fun that last day, as the seven of us forgot, at least for a while, that one was going away to never return. But, sadly, as the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. Later that evening, we found ourselves in the Everfree Forest. I stood before the Elements of Harmony, beside Princess Celestia, with a smile on my face. The scene was exactly as I had envisioned – Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie stood in front of me, eyes clouded in farewell-sadness. Even the Princess seemed to be shedding a tear or two. I swallowed. “Thank you for having me over,” I said. “It was a wonderful experience.” Each pony gave me a sad offer of gratitude. I hugged them all in turn… …except Applejack. She wondered why I had hugged everypony but her. I could see it in her face as it twisted into a mass of confusion and seemed to well up in tears. I approached her, and she leaned in to receive her hug, which I gave. I also planted a little kiss on her cheek, which turned her skin to the colour of Big Macintosh’s. Her eyes shot open. I felt her heart skip a beat. I whispered in her ear, “Truthfully… if I wasn’t married, then I would have allowed us to become… more…” Her eyes welled up in joyful tears and she hugged me even tighter than before. I turned around and smiled as I walked towards the forest. The same, wavy magic appeared before me, which I passed through to the other side. I was halfway through when I looked back and winked. “I’ll always remember you… all of you…” I said, turning away and passing through the portal. “Thank you.” Shortly after Zytharros walked through the portal and disappeared, we all somberly turned and began walking home. I, Twilight Sparkle would miss the intelligence and creativity with which he responded to my questions. Princess Celestia seemed to sense my sadness, among everyone else’s, and chuckled to herself. I snapped, “What’s so funny about losing a friend?? Now I’ll have to cast that memory spell to make us all forget… I just can’t do that to poor Applejack…” “You… may be seeing him sooner than you think…” Celestia said, amusedly bemused with thoughts of a scheme known only to her. I stared at her, startled and bewildered. “What do you mean?” I was getting into my car to drive away, when I noticed the faint glow of my wedding ring. It was that of Celestia’s horn… Did she… “…just broke another rule…” she admitted to me. “I saw how you all reacted to each other. The dynamics were inescapable.” So, I said… “No way,” I said in amazement, examining my ring. It had a little engraving of an apple on it. I held it up to a mirror, but the apple disappeared. It was something only I could see. “She gave me a key to…” “You let him bring magic to his world!?” I shrieked, enraged. “Do you know what could happen to him in a world unfamiliar with it!?” Celestia laughed. “I only added a little magic to his wedding ring. It allows him to access this world whenever he wants, in the form he had before.” “By your own royal self…” I said, stressed. “What am I going to do with you?” “That’s easy,” she said, chuckling again as the Elements of Harmony crowded around their princess, faces full of shock. “Throw him the mother of all parties when he comes back!” I laughed, realizing that I was now allowed to travel freely between Equestria and Earth without affecting the timeline in my world. I kissed my ring. “Thank you, Celestia…” I started my car and roared off to take the dip I had desired, a big smile and a renewed vigor in my being. I would make sure to pay them a visit again soon.