//------------------------------// // Finale - Part 5 // Story: I just wanted to go to Equestria! // by Ditz //------------------------------// “That’s definitely a tale,” Celestia finally comments as I finish recounting the events since we arrived. It didn’t take too long surprisingly, but it sure was intimidating doing it. It doesn’t help me that the silence that follows just feels like it goes on forever, and standing in front of a horse that’s two and a half of pony-me isn’t helping. “S-so, do you believe me?” I ask carefully, though it feels almost rhetorical. Having teleported us to the room where the mirror is, I’m sure she has more than enough proof that there is some tupsy-turvy shit going on. “Until this moment, everything regarding that world was unknown to me, other than its existence,” she begins, walking past me towards Shimmer and Pinkie Pie silently standing near the wall… the latter silence worrying me than the former. “Sunset Shimmer was the first known living entity that entered the portal. At this point I probably know much less about it than even you do, Lemon.” “W-what?” I groan annoyed. “B-but that can’t be! Principal Celestia told me that you would know about the two worlds becoming one or whatever! Crazy crap like the world being created twenty years ago! Why don’t you know things that you should know!?” “Hmm,” Celestia seems thoughtful, tapping her chin carefully. “You said something very peculiar there, something about the world being created twenty years ago, correct?” “Um, yeah?” I answer awkwardly. Is this a conversation that’s actually happening? “Interestingly, that seems to fit the timeline of when the mirror first activated on our end,” she reveals casually, making me gasp loudly when I suddenly notice it. “This ‘Principal’ clearly let you know of this time-frame on purpose.” She flies over to a nearby wall, suddenly making a blackboard appear out of thin air. She doesn’t waste a second, writing down things that seem almost incomprehensible to me. I do recognize the shape of the mirror as she draws it, but the shapes of two wavy circles to each end of the board remain with zero explanation. She seems to be finally done as she tosses the minuscule remainders of the chalk she had been using, turning to dust before it even hits the ground. “P-Princess?” I ask a little unnerved. “What are you doing?” “Tell me Lemon, do you know of the battle that Luna and I had to do with Discord?” she asks suddenly. “Y-yes? I do, yeah,” I answer a little lost. “Why-” “Did you know that in that battle Discord and I actually left this world?” “Fucking… no!?” I shout intrigued, feeling the slumbering horse fanatic rising in me at the morsels of new lore information. “I imagined as much. This is something I never told anypony about after all,” she points out, looking towards the mirror carefully. “In our first fight, Discord’s magic and I’s clashed on this very mirror. The result was something we could never expect, since the outcome of these types of spells combining could be nebulous at best. In this case, however, the result was the creation of a portal similar to this one.” “Waiiiit!” Pinkie suddenly interjects. “But you said you had never been to our place! And you went through the mirror and you don't know anything about the school? I’m watching your lies miss horse lady!” “P-Pinkie? What are you?” she has a point, but she seems a little too intense. “Shh… you keep talking! We can talk all we want later! Besides, we don’t have much time, right?” she reminds me. “She isn’t totally wrong,” Celestia says with a grin. “The main difference is that we didn’t arrive in your world. Instead, we seemed to have arrived in a very, VERY different place.” “Hold it,” I interrupt quickly. “If you didn’t arrive in our world, and if you didn’t just teleport somewhere else in Equestria; where did you go?” Her face turns serious, looking towards me. “A place you’d be very familiar with. You did originally come from there after all, didn’t you Mr. human?” “Ah…” oh no. “I-I-I...” “He did!” says the traitor Pie. “Pinkie!” “Don’t be such a worrywart! She just wants to help! Besides, I already ruined your chances for a lie!” oh my fucking god. “Do not be alarmed,” Celestia tells me, raising a hoof. “If you must know, I doubted your origins from the moment you explained your story. At first I thought you were some sort of unknown magical being, but since you used a very risky and complicated plan to defeat Sunset Shimmer, that’s probably not the case,” ouch… gonna try not to think of the backhanded insult there. “Most importantly, didn't you say you knew of my fight with Discord?" "I did, didn't I- oh, god damn it," I curse, realizing too late how easily I had fallen for her trap. "Indeed," she continues. "If you were truly an inhabitant of the world Sunset Shimmer lived in, there is no conceivable way you would know that… however, it’s also quite obvious that you aren’t from Equestria,” she gives me an emotionless look, making the window behind her look very jumpable. “But my long-winded explanation aside, trust me, you are not in trouble, and we will calmly speak of this further at a later time.” “S-sure!” why does that not make me feel any better? “A-anyway! What happened? You haven’t really told us what you found in that place! Haha…” “Trees, actually,” she jokes in an infuriating lack of detail. "We didn't speak too long once we arrived, and our battle resumed as if nothing had transpired. It wasn’t until a few minutes in I caught sight of them; the humans, watching us from afar. I didn’t pay them any mind, being too busy myself. After that, Discord and I clashed with magic once more and opened another portal. That’s how I’m standing here right now.” “You saw them. Okay! But where does that leave us at this point?” I ask, not quite following. Trying to piece all this stuff on my own is as about as effective as building a house with a doodle made by a five-year-old. “As I mentioned, I’m figuring things out as we continue talking,” Celestia says, erasing everything on the blackboard, and simply drawing two circles and a line between them . “One of those things being that my belief that the remnants of the magic Discord and I used didn’t just disappear, but remained in place—simply stuck in limbo in the space that connects both worlds,” strangely enough, she continues her art, drawing a circle in the middle of the line. “Going along with that train of thought, that magic remains there for the millennium since we used it… at least until it became active again twenty years ago.” “Oh, I get it now! The magic went and then somehow did a magical portal thingie to Pinkie's world!” I point out convinced. I’m finally keeping up! “A good attempt! But not quite,” or maybe I’m not. “In actuality, and here is where my theory continues,” again, she erases everything on the blackboard, bringing out yet another victim in the form of a new piece of chalk. “Imagine that the strange combination of magic didn’t just remain stagnant throughout the years, let’s say that being stuck between two worlds, it remained connected somehow, even if very slightly.” “Princess,” Shimmer speaks up, and she shoots me a quick glance as she passes me by to talk to Celestia directly. “You are not suggesting what I think you are, are you?” “Perceptive as always. It's quite nice to see you haven’t lost your touch after years without magic,” Celestia praises her, somehow getting the context-lacking words out of Shimmer’s mouth, adding a dubious wink that I can’t quite place. Are they connected mentally? And was that wink supposed to be sexual? “Indeed, it is what you are thinking; it is my belief that after remaining where it was for so long, the magic stayed active, constantly absorbing information from the two worlds, which then led to said magic slowly mutating into something different, giving place to… a life of its own.” “Oh… OH!” and with that intelligent train of speech on my part, I think I finally get it!. It’s not that the magic created a path into the world—it was a path into the magic itself. The world of Equestria Girls IS the magic! “I hope this isn’t too much to digest, Lemon,” Celestia says in a worried voice. “I’m only just now coming to terms with it myself, and I would expect your mind to be mulling over this in a different light given your circumstances. I can already sense your doubts regarding all the humans living there, but I can assure you that everyone in that world is as real as you and me.” “Oh, g-good!” I push the dark thoughts away, happily turning to Pinkie Pie who happens to be poking herself with an out-of-nowhere stick. “Pinkie Pie?” “Hmm?” she looks up for a moment, giving me a smile. “Oh, I’m just looking for the magic! I think I felt it somewhere in my bellybutton!” well, at least she is taking that well. “The two of you seem to be taking this particularly well,” Celestia mirrors my thoughts. “But yes, magical or not, you can believe me when I say you have a real body. And sadly, you won’t get a lot out of your poking, Pinkie PIe; the magic isn't exactly usable by any normal pony, much less an earth pony,” she explains, much to Pinkie’s dismay. “But I used them all!” Shimmer barges into the conversation, more than a little distraught by the look of her face. “I went and used the other students! I didn’t even stop to wonder why I could use them as easy as batteries, and it turns out that they weren't just made of pure magic all along, but YOUR magic! If I had used too much energy, I-I-I could have killed them…” “But you didn’t…” Celestia tells her, placing a comforting wing over Shimmer, seemingly easy to forgive her. I figure Trix wouldn’t let that slide as easily as Celestia if she were here. “I understand that you have much to say. and we will have a talk about this later.” “How did you figure this out, Princess?” I ask confused. “How the hell did you even arrive at this?” “Technically, it was me,” she says confusedly, with a straight face, might I add. “… Just say what you have to say,” I groan, patience be damned. “Specifically, I mean Principal Celestia ‘me’. How did she come up with the idea of asking me? Why would she point you in my direction? My belief is that the reason she told you to ask me was because she likely knew I would figure it out,” she starts explaining, making a semblance of sense. “But… how would she know? She didn’t seem like some sort of psychic or whatever,” I ask intrigued. This all sounds like a bunch of baloney, but it’s interesting baloney at the very least. “As I mentioned earlier, ‘information’ was absorbed from both worlds, and she WAS born out of my own magic.” she continues explaining. “This is only one of many possible explanations, but I think that when she first came to exist, she did so with the memories of me back in the day. She likely struggled coming to terms with those memories for a while." “But how can someone just be born with your memories like that? That makes no sense!” I groan. This goalpost is moving ever so far. “I… I don’t know,” Celestia finally says, looking stumped for the first time since the conversation started. “As I said earlier, this is one of the explanations. For all I know, that Celestia could have been using the portal to come to Equestria every time it opened, but none other than a powerful magic user could have made it through and been able to walk around the castle undetected," she explains with a bit of frustration in her tone. "In all honesty, this is an anomaly of immense proportions,” she says, shaking her head. “Frankly, the most I can come up with is that Discord’s chaotic magic made this strange sequence of events take place when our magic merged the way it did, likely keeping their memories intact in their new bodies.” “So is that why Discord was acting weird?” I ask, recalling that fateful night. I can’t even look at knives without getting chills. “The Discord I met, I mean. He acted like a nice old man, but afterwards, he went nuts!” “Discord? This is the first time you have mentioned him,” Celestia points out fairly, so I give her the short version of that crap night, which then leads to a very intrigued look. “The more you talk, the more questions I have,” she says with a hard look. “But one thing at a time, since it seems that the Discord you met also remembered things like my human counterpart did. And based on your account, it appears that being an all-powerful creature who suddenly lost his abilities must have drove him mad.” “Then what about the others?” I ask. “If the memories of the Principal and Discord-Heart exist because you two were the source, where does that leave Chryssa and that Tyrek dude?” “Chryssa?” “Yeah… maybe next time I should just give you all the details from the start,” figuring that I would be getting more answers this way, I let her know about Chryssa and the old man, though I didn't expect Celestia to burst out laughing when I finish explaining everything. “To think they would become such unlikely allies. What a strange sequence of events,” she says to herself, letting out a small chuckle. “As for your question, I don’t think I can give you a straight answer. Perhaps some Equestrian memories went into the two of them in the time the world was being created, maybe that’s how they were able to use some of the latent magic inside them that created that barrier that protected you all,” she stops for a second, seemingly realizing something else, her eyes opening wide. “What? Did you figure something else out?” I ask almost mechanically. I feel like that question is now a permanent part of my vocabulary. “It’s still all a possibility, but for all we know, many of the people living there might have retained some characteristics from the human side, since your human world was the basis of that hybrid setting as well. Perhaps that human characteristic was the thing that drove him insane. It might be why Discord and Chrysallis reacted the way they did when you suddenly appeared and demanded information previously thought secret; they might have thought Principal Celestia send you after them,” she explains, but sure, I totally demanded they answer my questions. It’s not like I was being nice or anything. “Hold up. Is that the reason the Principal looked human? Well, I mean, more human! Er…” I try to gather my thoughts, remembering how human she looked, kinda-of a reverse uncanny valley when I think about her realistic proportions after she summoned the barrier. “Oh, that’s right, the barrier!” I suddenly recall. “She made a barrier to keep us protected from the world getting erased, but if she can do that, why send us here at all? She didn’t explain jack!” “Explain?” Celestia says clearly curious. “You mentioned earlier that she send you over quickly because the world was in danger, didn't she?” “Is that the reason? I don’t know if it would qualify as the 'world being in danger' or whatever,” I say in a great imitation of Celestia. “World seemed all dark and gloomy, sure, but all the Principal told Pinkie and I was that we had to hurry to get everyone and that we had half a day,” I explain briefly. “Don’t even bother asking for details, it was just as vague coming from them.” “Hmm…” Celestia mulls in thought “This is as hypothetical as my previous theories, but I think there is more merit to this one." “T-There is?” I gulp. Got one of them feelings that are bad. “The most likely thing seems to be the kidnapped students,” she points out. “The students?” I ask confused. “What do they have to do with anything?” “They might actually be helping keep the world together as it is,” she explains as she begins drawing on the board once again. “Think of the students as a precariously placed coin on one side of a scale, if the coin is taken off, the scale will lose its balance and collapse, however, our counterparts remained behind to keep balance in the world, meaning..." she loses control of the chalk, dropping it without warning, looking at me with a worried expression. “Meaning that if the portal closes and the students aren’t back in time… tell me, how long did you say you have, Lemon?” “H-half a day!” I answer in panic, now realizing what that implies. “O-oh crap! How long has it been!? We have to go back!” “Indeed you do,” Celestia agrees, lighting up her horn and abruptly filling the room with the bodies of the students… unconscious bodies, I mean. “I’m certain I will be able to detect if the portal is closing, but we better be safe than sorry.” “Why is everyone still out cold?” I ask, taking a look at some of the would-be ponies on the floor. “Are they okay?” “Don’t worry, this was done on purpose,” Luna’s voice echoes before suddenly appearing in the room. “I have a feeling that they will be better off thinking this is all a dream,” she explains. I guess that makes sense. “Lime!” I turn to the sound of the voice, noticing a galloping Trixie jumping from behind the princess. “You idiot!” she shouts, taking a small leap and punching my arm… leg… thing. “Owww-aa! What the hell!? What was that for!?” I let out a manly cry, not rubbing my achy leg-arm. “When Trixie told you that she wanted you to speak with the princess, that didn’t mean you would be leaving us behind!” she complains. Well, it’s good to see she is doing well so far. “D-ditto,” Flash joins in with that intelligent word of wisdom. “Urp… sorry, that teleportation trick made me a little dizzy.” “Grow some backbone! Trixie is okay… urp, yeah, see?” Trixie, you are such a trooper. “Lemon?” right behind him, Sunny speaks, making a beeline towards me. “I’m sorry for doing this so suddenly, but can I talk to you very quickly?” “I don't know about that, we really need to g-whoa!” ignoring my protests, Sunny ‘impatient’ Shimmer then takes me to an empty corner of the room, where she quickly begins whispering things into my ear. “I’m sorry for being so blunt, but I need to ask; what’s going to happen to ‘her’?” “Her?” I ask, though it doesn’t take long for me to realize what she means. “Oh, right. You mean Shimmer,” I turn in the previously evil pony’s general direction, but my attempt at being inconspicuous doesn’t do much, since she seems to be focusing her sights on us. “Um… I won’t lie, I don’t really know. Celestia said she wanted to talk to her, but that’s all I know,” I whisper back to Sunny. “And I will do just that,” a wild Celestia appears, towering over us without a warning. “Hey! Princess! We weren’t totally talking behind your back!” top class bullshitting Lemon. Top class “It’s perfectly alright, it’s something that you would have to discuss given your association with her,” she replies calmly. “But I wouldn’t worry about Sunset if I were you, I’m certain she already knows what she is going to be doing.” “I-I do,” Shimmer speaks, sneaking herself into the conversation in more calm way. “I haven’t had much time to think about this, but even so, my decision has already been made—I’m going to be staying in Equestria.” “Really?” Sunny asks, looking strangely perturbed... though I’m sure that looking at a copy of yourself would do that anyway. “Is that really what you want to do?” “I appreciate your…” Shimmer starts off reluctantly. “I appreciate your question, but I have to do this. I didn’t only almost destroy your world, but having me stay there when you are already living your life as the Sunset Shimmer they all know would be unfair, an-" she shakes her head quickly, looking suddenly annoyed. "What am I doing? I'm just making excuses! The truth is that I’m just not ready to face them when it’s all said and done.” “Shimmer,” I say her name calmly, lacking any sort of vile towards her. I should be really angry, but seeing her looking as pathetic and down on herself as she is… well, I just don’t think I can bring myself to do it. “Tell me, what are you going to do?” “I will repent for my sins,” her answer is simple, but to the point. “Starting off with Equestria, where I may have caused my share of problems with other ponies. Whatever Princess Cadence did to me back there… it didn’t just bring back regrets I had with Princess Celestia, but also memories of the terrible things I did and said to others here.” “Is this what you really want to do, Sunset?” Celestia asks her. “It is. But before that,” she turns straight to us. “Lemon, I need to apologize. To the five of you, actually… I know it’s not much for the moment, but I feel it’s the best I can do since the other students won’t know of a second Sunset Shimmer for the time being… and there is also the time limit," oh, crap. That had completely slipped out of my mind. “Reparations at last!” Trixie speaks up, loudly ruining the mood and joining us with a smug look on her mug. “Just don’t expect Trixie to forgive you so easily considering what you did today!” Shimmer smiles weakly, slowly shaking her head. “That’s okay. I hardly have a right to complain. If it helps even a little bit, I’m really sorry about it. Believe me when I say I really regret it.” “Bah, is that it? Your apology is as pitiful as Trixie is powerful!” Trixie obnoxiously points out, but I guess I can’t really blame her for the attitude given how Shimmer went and basically kidnapped her for... yeah, let's not think about that. “Of course, I know that,” Shimmer understandably sighs. “But if you will let me speak, I also want to apologize for making fun of your show years ago. This is probably silly since it’s been a while, but it probably didn’t help that it made others do the same afterwards. You didn't deserve that." “I-I,” Trixie seems caught by surprise by the two-combo apology, struggling to respond. “Y-yeah! You better be! Trixie is great, a-and powerful! So her shows are always good!” go figure that the apology towards her directly would have the most effect. Who knew? “Flash?” she now turns to Sentry, who hesitantly tries walks back when she gets too close. “This is probably something you don’t want to hear, but I wanted to say tha-” “Don’t,” his response is low, but the harshness of his tone isn’t missed. “Just… it doesn’t matter anymore, alright?” he sighs, his eyes never wavering from the real Sunny’s face. “All you have to know is that I’ll be fine. I know the truth about this, and I can move on.” “… Alright,” sighs a disappointed Shimmer, turning to look at Sunny instead. “Sunset Shimmer, I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now. What I did to you was probably the worst thing I could have done in your world. I took over your house, your parents... your life. I can fully understand if you can never forgive me.” Sunny seems reluctant to reply, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. I almost expect her to flood her with her grievances, like a dam waiting to burst. “The truth is, I really don’t want to forgive you for this, but… if I don’t remember it anyway, I don’t see the point in being too angry. And magic or not, I can see you learned your lesson.” “Wow,” I whisper surprised. “You are a bigger man than me… bigger woman…? Mare? Not fat, I mean...” I quickly shut my trap before I make this any more awkward. “And finally, Lemon? Pinkie?” speaking of awkward, Shimmer refers to us. “I tried to manipulate you both. All so I could win a stupid popularity contest, and…” suddenly, she closes her eyes, tears rolling down. “I-I hurt you all! I did things that I shouldn’t have, an-” Without warning, Pinkie Pie, wraps Shimmer in a hug. “Everyone deserves a second chance, Shimmy." "P-Pinkie Pie?" Shimmer calls, barely struggling. "What are you doing? I did terrible things! A-An-" "Shh... it’s okay, you don't have to act anymore,” Pinkie says, softly patting her head. "You can let it out." “P-Pinkie Pie, I…” Shimmer cries out, quickly resigning herself to the embrace, hiding her face in Pinkie’s haunches. After a solid minute of silence of this, she looks up, wiping the remnants of her tears looking more or less better. “I’m okay now, really. Thank you, Pinkie. That was… nice.” “Don’t think you are done, you have more apologies to give,” Twilight Sparkle says showing at the room’s entrance, joined by the mane group and my friend counterparts. “I’m so sorry Princess! I heard what you were planning from Princess Luna, but I was off in the infirmary visiting Shining Armor, but then we fell behind when Rainbow-2 went off on her own and got lost, and I-” “It’s perfectly fine, Twilight,” Celestia answers quickly. “But sadly, you are just in time to say goodbye.” “Goodbye!?” Pinkie Pie says. No, wait, I mean the OTHER Pinkie Pie who seems sad to see a bunch of strangers ready to go. “But I haven’t thrown them a welcome party! I can’t just throw them a goodbye party in such a short notice!” “Unfortunately there is no time for that!” Luna shouts, pointing at the portal that seems to be wavering even in my eyes. “Perhaps we should speed this up!” without waiting for confirmation, she begins levitating the unconscious students, and carefully shoving them through the portal. “B-But I have so many questions!” Twilight shouts in protest. “You promised you would tell me all about you, Lemon!” I can almost feel the weight of everything pushing down on me. I mean, all that’s happened so far; transforming into a horse, this low-budget adventure I just went through, and the fact that my ex-waifu wants to know more about me but have no time. Everything is winding down faster than I expected it. “Twilight, I’m sorry, but…” “You can ask him all you want in thirty moons, Twilight. In fact, I will be doing a lot of that myself,” Celestia says this in a weird attempt at being cute, tossing me the least inconspicuous wink in the existence of everything. Goody, can’t wait for that interrogation… ugh. “Lemon?” Sunny calls, lightly tugging at my fur. “What is that supposed to mean? “What did you do?” she whispers to me confused. “Um… I’ll tell you later,” after all of this, I have full intention of telling her. Knowing her, she'll likely listen and be nice about it despite anything I might say. “Oh man! I only just got used to these wings!” says the likely human RD as the rest of the girls share very sentimental goodbyes with their counterparts in front of the mirror, guess that being trapped in that bubble on their own allowed them enough time to socialize. “Hey!” I call out to them as they are about to enter the mirror. “We don’t have time to talk here, but we really need to catch up when we meet up again,” after sharing some pleasantries with them, they go through the portal just as Luna finishes pushing the other students through, leaving just the five of us with the important cast and Shimmer. “Should we get going, then?” Flash suggests, seemingly ready to go. “Before we do,” I stop him, looking to Celestia with my question loaded. “When we left, the world seemed to be banishing around us,” I tell her, remembering that horrific sight. “So will we be back to that mess?” “No. Everything will be back to normal when you return,” she answers calmly. “And this time, I’m positive that is exactly what will happen.” “Cool! Right!” I bump my hooves together in an attempt at a clap. “So, does that means that… this is it, then? Man, this feels so off,” I finish in a quiet murmur “What do you mean?” Twilight asks surprised, catching what I said. “You are going back to a peaceful life in your world, aren’t you?” “I know that!” I reply in some manner of senseless protest. “Look, I know this will still sound strange to you, but all I wanted to do since I arrived there was to come here to Equestria. To meet the princesses, to meet the elements… to meet you, actually,” I admit to her, making her jump in surprise. “Don’t you feel that way anymore?” Twilight asks. “I know this is very last minute, but unlike the rest of them, you aren’t forced to just live in one world,” her eyes grow wide as an idea pops into her head live in front of me. “If you decided to stay, we could get to know each other better! And my friends would just love to meet a new face.” “I’ll pass,” I answer almost instantly. "I kinda like living over there." “I figured that was the case,” Twilight giggles. “Then why suggest it at all?” “Because I wanted to hear you say it. It never hurts to give your friends some reassurance.” “My friends?” I look back behind me, where my four best buds look at me with big smiles. Even though I haven’t known all of them as long as I would want, I still consider them my special friends. My own ‘mane’ group to be cheesy about it. They are people who I can trust, and people who trust me… though I wonder if they would be mad if I said I had a favorite among them. “I knew you really cared!” shouts obviously-favorite-Pie, crushing me with one of her famous hugs. “We are sooo having a party after this!” “I-I’m pretty sure that was happening regardless…” I wheeze out, trying my best not to die by affection. “A-Anyway, we should get going now, right? I’m pretty sure the portal won’t hold too much longer.” “Wait!” the voice this time belongs to Shimmer, reluctantly calling to be the center of attention. “Sorry! But I need to say something… can I, Princess?” “Of course,” Celestia agrees without asking for our opinions first. “But I would suggest you hurry. I-I don’t think I can hold it open for too much longer,” it isn’t until she brings it up that I notice a straining trail of magic go between her and the portal, the struggle of keeping it open clearly having a clear effect on Celestia. How strong is this portal? “Okay! Flash!” Shimmer shouts, starting off with the awkward card right off the bat. “Listen, I know you told me to forget everything, but there is something you should know.” “I already told you,” Flash groans already frustrated. “Please, just le-” “I first met you when I ran for Fall Formal Princess the first year,” I can almost see the near instant confusion in Flash’s face as he hears this. “I know it's vague, but I hope you understand what I’m trying to tell you with that.” “Wait… you don’t mean,” it’s at this point that I begin to understand what she is talking about, and I’m suddenly reminded of Flash’s story when he met Sunset Shimmer back in the day. “So you mean...” “It’s okay,” Shimmer smiles weakly. “I don't know if I can ever bring back those moments you shared, but the least I could do is let you know that.” “S-Shimmer!” Flash shouts, and for the first time since I met him, he seems about ready to cry, his usually perfect mug barely holding it in. “Just… thank you for that,” Shimmer simply nods. It’s all she needs to do at this point. Meanwhile, Sunny has a blank look on her face, trading stares with Shimmer and Flash. “Hmm… I-is anyone going to explain what just happe-” “Trixie is getting tired of this sentimentality!” she groans, pointing to the portal. “Can we just head on and go? Trixie does not want us to be trapped here! Besides, I just want to feel my toes again!” “Hooooooold it!” “What now!?” everyone instantly shouts at Twilight. “What? It wasn’t me!” she denies it quickly. "Geez... it could have been Shimmer again..." “It was me!” my Pinkie Pie suddenly jumps between us all, looking overly excited. “I almost forgot! But good thing I didn’t actually forget!” “Did you forget to go to the bathroom?” I ask jokingly. “Well, yes!” why do I even bother to use sarcasm on her. “But that can wait! But not this! Because we probably won’t see the ponies for a veryveryveryvery long time, I need to tell everyone now!” “Tell us what?” I ask her. She turns to give me a very wide grin, an- “Pinkie?” I’m a little creeped out when her smile covers nearly half her face. The overly cartoony nature of it is rare, even by Pinkie Pie standards. “Well, you see… it's about us!” she seems strangely bashful all of a sudden, actually blushing as she tries to say what she has to. It’s cute, sure, but not something I’d see Pinkie Pie struggle with. She has said much WORSE without a semblance of shame. “Pinkie Pie!” Trixie suddenly shouts at her. “Trixie is sure that there isn’t a need to keep it hidden at this point. You know how he feels about you, so out with it! Do something weird if it helps you!” I eye Trixie quizzically. “What the hell are you talking about, Trixie?” “You are right! Here!” reaching into wherever-the-fuck, she pulls out what appears to be a balloon. With a single breath, the balloon is fully inflated, revealing a message on it. “W-Well?” “Well?” I parrot confused. “What am I supposed to be looki-…” oh? Eh? Huh? I do my best to read and reread what's written on the balloon. I expect it to be my lack of glasses while I’m a horse, but I don’t think it can be messed up when it’s written as plainly as it is. It’s obvious as rain what it says, as the gawking reactions of everyone around makes it clear that everyone is as surprised as I am to what we are all reading. "Oh my god." “Congrats, Lemon! You are gonna be a father!”