"Sunset Shimmer. I find you guilty of high treason against Equestria," Princess Celestia said angrily.
"What?" I cried. "Why?"
"In lieu of imprisonment, I hereby exile you to the mirror realm," she continued. "You will surrender your journals and the Equestrian Geodes that you and your friends possess upon your re-entry, after which the portal will be destroyed."
"B-but... but what about my... my family?" I continued to sob.
"They will escort you to the portal for a final goodbye."
I sat straight up in the bed, my body drenched in sweat as my breathing was shallow and rapid. I looked around the darkness of my bedroom as I calmed down from my recurring dream.
"This is fun... *snort*" came the soft voice of Twi as she drooled on her pillow.
I'm so lucky to be with someone like you, I thought as I gently brushed her hair from her face with my fingers as I watched her sleep for a few minutes.
"Sweet dreams, babe." I quietly whispered as I laid back down and kissed her on the forehead before snuggling up and going back to sleep.
"Mmmm. Good morning," I heard softly in my ear. I turned my head to look over my shoulder as Twi leaned over to meet my lips.
"Morning, babe," I replied with a smile on my face after our lips separated. "How'd you sleep?"
"Well, aside from somepony tossing and turning in her sleep, I slept great," she giggled as she gave me a squeeze from behind.
"Look at you," I smiled as I wiggled free and rolled over. "Haven't even gotten packed yet and you're talking in Equestrian terminology."
"Yep," replied Twi before taking on a serious look. "But seriously, you had that dream again didn't you?"
"Yeah I did," I said before letting out a deep sigh. "I'm just so nervous about meeting with Princess Celestia."
Twi sat up and pulled me up with her and stared me in the eyes before responding.
"Listen. Everything will work out fine. From what Princess Twilight has told us, she's been worried sick about you since you first left."
After a brief pause, I nodded my head and agreed. She was right. I shouldn't be so uptight about it. After all, Twi was going to be there outside the main chambers waiting for us.
"Well, I guess we should get up and make breakfast," Twi said as she turned slightly and grabbed her glasses off the nightstand. "Who's turn is it?"
"Yours," I said with a huge grin. "Don't burn the apartment down while I'm getting a shower."
"Oh, haha," Twi told me as she gave me a playful shove. "Any requests?"
"Surprise me," I replied as I grabbed my robe and headed toward the bathroom.
After my usual fight with shower knob (seriously, there's gotta be some life hack to make this easier), I slipped out of my pajamas and stepped into the shower. I had my hair completely lathered in strawberry mango scented shampoo when I heard the smoke alarm go off. Seriously? I thought as I accidentally opened my eyes allowing the shampoo to run into them.
I grabbed the towel off the hook and wrapped it around me as I begun to run toward the kitchen to help Twi put out whatever fire she started. Upon entering the kitchen, however, I saw Twi get off of one of the dining chairs with the barbecue lighter, laughing like a hyena.
"You..." I said as I continued to drip soap and water on the living room carpet. "I... ran out here thinking you set the kitchen on fire, again, only to find that you... you... ugh!"
Twi couldn't come up with a response because of how hard she was laughing. I just groaned and went back to the bathroom to finish my shower.
This is going to be a long week in Equestria, I thought.
Me and Twi finished our shopping trip with the girls as we picked up some gifts for my family and our Equestrian counterparts. The hardest part of the whole trip was trying to find somewhere that sold an old-school instant camera so we could take pictures on our vacation.
"You sure you don't want to join us at Crystal Beach, darlings?" Rarity asked as we had lunch in the food court.
"Maybe after graduation," Twi said sheepishly. "I've been wanting to visit Equestria for a while but we just haven't had any time to go."
"Really? Or are you just saying that because Crystal Beach is a-" Pinkie said before Rainbow covered her mouth.
"This here ain't the place ta be talkin' 'bout those sortsa places," Applejack fussed.
"It can't be that bad. I mean, Fluttershy's even going," Pinkie insisted.
"I'm sorry but what's the big deal about Crystal Beach?" Twi asked, earning a look of shock from the rest of us. "What? What did I say?"
I leaned over and whispered the information about Crystal Beach in Twi's ear. Once she assimilated the information, her eyes nearly grew to cartoonish proportions. The rest of us just giggled at her reaction.
"I... uh... well... ahem," Twi sputtered while we kept giggling.
"Oh come on," Rainbow Dash said. "We all know what you look like thanks to the party Pinkie threw for Sunset two months ago."
"It's not that. I... well... I thought you were referring to Crystal Cove just outside of Canterlot," Twi said as her face turned slightly red.
"So any plans for when you're in Equestria? Besides making nice with Princess Celestia?" Rainbow asked before finishing off the last bite of her second triple cheeseburger.
"We're going to visit my family for a little bit and hopefully spend some time with Princess Twilight and her friends. We'd really like to see visit the Crystal Empire if we get time," I replied as I worked on my garden salad.
"Correct me if Ah'm wrong but didn't ya already visit the Crystal Empire before?" Applejack asked as she finished her lunch.
"Yes and no," I said. "When I stole Princess Twilight's crown I was physically in the Crystal Empire but as far as checking out the sights, no I haven't.
"So when are you leaving?" Fluttershy asked softly.
"You're eager to get rid of us," Twi said jokingly.
"What? No. I just needed to know when I needed to come by to pick up Spike and Ray," Fluttershy said defensively as she tried making herself smaller.
I moved over beside Fluttershy and put my arm around her to reassure her that Twi was only kidding.
"So what does everyone want to do now that we're finished eating?" Pinkie asked.
"If you all don't mind, I'd like to do a little shopping alone with Rarity for about an hour," I said trying not blush.
"Alright then," Twi said. "How about we all meet back here at 1:30 then."
After agreeing on the meeting time I gave Twi a kiss before we all split up.
The girls, Spike and Ray all joined me and Twi at the statue shortly after dusk so that they could give us a send-off.
"You sure I can't go with you guys?" Spike asked as Ray laid on top of his head.
We all giggled at his question before Twi hugged Spike and I rubbed cheeks with Ray and said goodbye to the girls.
"Remember, ease into it otherwise you'll go flying into the bookcase across the room from the mirror," I told Twi as we turned around with our loaded backpacks on our shoulders.
"This may sound kind of silly but..." Twi said tapping her fingers together nervously.
"But what?"
"Will you hold my hand, please?" she asked quietly.
"Sure," I smiled, taking her right hand.
"Bye everyone," me and Twi said together as we stepped forward and disappeared into the portal.