What little time was left passed all too fast and soon enough Twilight, Spike and their new friends, now including Sunset, had gathered by the portal back to Equestria.
"I know we've only been friends for a short while, but I will miss all of you." Twilight gave her newest friends a said smile.
"As will we, darling" At Rarity's words all six came together in a crushing group hug. Twilight happily took in the flavours of their love, before long however they separated and Twilight turned to leave, Spike in tow.
Before she could take three steps towards the portal however, she turned once more to face her latest friend. "Oh, and Sunset,"
The girl had been staring at her feet for some time now, but looked up at Twilight's words.
"I mainly focused on telling the girls about changelings, so there are quite some things they don't know about Equestria. Tell them, okay?"
Hearing that Sunset finally gave a small smile. "I promise."
Twilight turned towards the five others once more. "Take good care of her."
"Will do, sugarcube."
At that, Twilight finally turned to the portal. With Spike right behind her, she stepped through what appeared to be solid stone. Mere moments later girl and dog alike had disappeared without a trace.
High above them, the moon moved along its path. As it reached a position in the exact center between four stars that formed the corner points of a square, a silver shimmer passed across it. At the same time, the shimmer passed across the portal's surface rendering the stone inert once more, as Pinkie soon found out. She walked headfirst into the stone and tumbled back to the ground before getting back up to the collective giggles of her friends.
The moment the portal closed, all five of them changed back, their ears and hair returning to normal. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lost their wings, which was especially unfortunate for the prior as she had been hovering in mid-air and now plummeted back to the ground.
Back in Equestra, the tree princesses along with, the five element bearers, Gilded Shield and Shining Armor, who had become friends with the Queen's Guard over the last few days, were waiting anxiously before the portal. Just as Luna was giving a worried glance towards her moon, the portal gave a soft sound like something breaching the surface of a lake, and Queen Twilight emerged, soon followed by Spike, the portal sealing behind them.
The queen heard various shouts of 'Twilight' from her friends before being, for the second time in one minute, enveloped in a crushing group hug. After they had separated, she saw the three princesses, giving her kind smiles and Shining Armor bearing a relieved expression. Then her gaze fell upon the lone Queen's Guard in the room. <Gilded, stop bowing, it's fine.>
<My apologies my Queen.> The drone quickly got up.
After a few minutes the ponies and changelings separated to find their beds or, in Luna's and Gilded's cases, to return to their posts.
After three days the symposium was completed and the time had come for the gathered Royals to depart. Princess Celestia and Queen Twilight had met, once more, in the throne room of the Crystal Spire.
"I can't believe you're letting me take the mirror back to Stripped Gear."
"Why not, Twilight? You are more connected to the world on it's other side than I am."
Through the window they watched a group of unicorns and changelings telekinetically carry the mirror into a shuttle. Before long the shuttle took off to deliver the mirror to the cargo bay of the Column of Spring. As they watched the doors to the room opened and a pegasus poked his head in. The strange thing was that he was wearing the armor of the Royal Guards of Canterlot, rather than that of the Crystal Guards that were a common sight in the empire.
"Ah, Swift Winds, I was wondering when you'd arrive" Celestia gave a soft smile as the Guard bowed.
"My apologies, your Highness, I underestimated the Frozen North." Princess and Queen alike shuddered at the sight of ice crystals in his fur and icicles clinging to his feathers. A golden glow came off of Celestia's horn as she weaved a heating spell to melt the ice away.
Swift Winds tried to suppress a relieved sigh as the ice left his coat and wings. Most pegasi were used to cold temperatures, especially ones raised in Cloudsdale like himself, but the frozen north was a different thing entirely. Now that he could comfortably move his wings again, he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a book. Thanks to the enchantments on the saddlebags, royal couriers were equipped with, it had been unaffected by the harsh weather. "The artifact you asked for, your Highness."
Celestia smiled and nodded, as her horn lit up, telekinetically taking the book from his grip. Having effectively been dismissed, Swift Winds left back through the doors he had come through. Celestia smiled and held the book out to Twilight. "This is for you. Don't read it now. You will know when the time comes. Don't read it all, only the glowing pages."
Despite the cryptic words, Twilight soon took the book in her own magenta/orange telekinesis. "I guess the time has come for us to return home."
"It would seem that way. The royal chariot is being prepared as we speak."
"Say, how did you stop the chariot from freezing solid when you came here?"
"The same spell I just used to help poor Swift get thawed up."
"I suppose I should have guessed that. Say, why don't we take you, your sister, Swift Winds and the chariot along in the Column of Spring, at least until we leave the frozen north, then you could have a more comfortable journey."
"Oh Twilight, that would be wonderful, thank you."
So it came that, half an hour later, the princesses, the element bearers, and Swift Wind stood with Twilight on the bridge of the Q-ship waving out of the window at Shining Armor and Princess Cadence who waved back as they watched the ship lazily turn towards the south and not too long after, disappear behind one of the mountains that surrounded the small city state.
Two hours later the five five element bearers that were still ponies and Spike, had returned to the ground, standing on Ponyville Town Square while the Column of Spring had resumed it's position above the Golden Oak Library. Rainbow Dash had a small suitcase with her that held a number of belongings she had brought back from her extended stay in Stripped Gear, as such she had elected to accompany the others in a Shuttle, rather than fly down under her own power.
She, Rarity and Applejack were especially glad to be back as they were happily greeted by the crusaders, while Roseluck gave her Queen her greetings over the link.
All too soon the time had come and the friends watched as the Q-ship turned to face south before going under full steam and heading in the direction of the Macintosh-Hills that formed the border between Equestria and the Cresnox Jungle. They waved after the giant construct of brass and steel until long arms extended from the ship, the crystals at their ends pulsing a soft orange and, with a final ripple of the air, the Column of Spring faded from view.
"Soo," Rainbow Dash started with a sly smile towards Scootaloo, "where did the tree sap come from this time?"
"How did you find out about that?" After a moment Scootaloo gave an exasperated sigh as she saw her Mother walk up behind Rainbow Dash, "Right ... hivemind."