"I'll never forget you," she said before stepping through the portal back home. And yet, she found herself leaving a place that felt too much like home already.
It was a cold winter evening, with a half foot of snow on the ground and no end in sight. It was a pleasant snowfall, completely silent with the flakes passing through the light given off by various lanterns and lights. It was a quiet time, with the only sound heard being the slow crackling of the fire. It was at times like this that Twilight, in the glow of the fire, allowed her normally organized mind to wander wherever it may, for there was no harm in doing so really. So she, in doing so, found herself thinking of that other world for some reason. It intrigued her, it did.
"I wonder if the snow looks as good over there as it does here," she said quietly to herself as she looked out the window. Again, the mention of snow helped to surface a thought. There was something about the current date and season that rung a faint bell in the back of her mind, like when one knows they know something but can't remember what it is. Either way, it was keeping her awake. She had the notion to look at the calender. "Time," she thought to herself, "something about time." She paused her pondering and slowly lifted her head to levitate over some old calenders from their set place in the corner. She then started to flip through them with half-closed eyelids as she scanned them for anything pertinent. She got to about two and a half years ago and was about to abandon the endeavor when something caught her eye. Between the folds of June and July were several stacked papers with writing on them. She carefully pulled one out and read the text:
An Analysis On the Human World: Part Two
I would like to note with curiosity the strange vehicles the "humans" of the Mirror World posses. They seem to move by some input by the humans through means that I didn't have the time to study...
It was all coming together. Twilight brought over the second calender and flipped between the date she was looking at and present time. Yes, two and a half years almost, the portal would be opening. So why did it concern her so? Did she forget something there? Was she simply obsessed? The more she thought about it, she realized it went much further than that. When she said goodbye, it wasn't enough. There was little final about it; it was more like a hasty departure as she went through the portal seconds before it closed. She still felt a connection to that place, and the connection only strengthened as the day of the portal opening got near. She had to go back, if only to say goodbye in more favorable circumstances. And more so, she would like to see how her friend's counterparts are doing. Yes, she decided that she would in fact ask for Celestia's permission to do so. Her thoughts set, she finally was able to get herself into a restful sleep.
She went over her list again, making sure nothing was wrong. She told herself with surety that everything was in order, that she had to do this. She had compensated for her wrongdoings, was taught in the manner of friendship, had a boyfriend, even. She was happy.
But there was some unfinished business that she needed to complete, once and for all, one person that she hasn't been able to apologize to. She needed to tell her how sorry she was for her past actions, and ask for her forgiveness. She couldn't live with herself if she simply left it at that terrible day where she–
She looked out the window to where the snow was falling. "Good," she said quietly to herself, if the weather was like this for the next couple of weeks, she would have no problem taking care of what she needed to do.