Twilight gently landed on the grassy hill just outside of town, as the portal in the sky above her slowly closed. She had never been too big a fan of that method of transportation, but she couldn't exactly fly there from Canterlot on her own. And admittedly there were advantages to using portals, namely how discreet they allowed one to be if the location for the landing was chosen carefully. Hopefully, she could manage to enter the town without a fanfare of ponies screaming that Princess Twilight had come to visit and-
"Twilight!" three distinct voices called out, and a moment later the pony they had been addressing found herself being part of a tangle of limbs and colours, as her and the other three rolled down the side of the hill in what had likely been meant as a hug.
Pulling herself away from the mass of equines, the alicorn turned back. "Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle!" she greeted the three mares, a smile beaming on her face.
The three moved in to hug her again, in a more composed manner this time. "What brings you here?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Oh, nothing in particular," Twilight replied, letting go of the hug. "I found some free time in my schedule and I figured I should come visit Ponyville. It's been a while since the last time. Are you three taller? You look taller."
"How long do you plan to stay?" asked Scootaloo.
"I don't know yet," Twilight replied, sitting down, "maybe a couple of days, but I can't promise anything. I should probably go talk to Mayor Mare about my stay here, I was planning to keep this a surprise so I didn't send any news of it but it seems you three already ruined any chances I had at a stealthy entrance in town."
Sweetie Belle chuckled, looking to the side.
"Mayor Mare's not the mayor anymore," Apple Bloom said.
"Huh." Twilight rubbed her chin. "That's... odd? I should have seen it coming, of course she couldn't stay the mayor forever, but... It's in her name, it's just weird."
"Mayor Mare wasn't actually her real name," Scootaloo explained. "She, well, she forgot the real one. It was one of the first signs that maybe she wasn't the right choice for the role. She's still helping though. Mostly because she has nothing else to do."
Twilight coughed. "So, who's the new mayor then?"
"Diamond Tiara," Sweetie Belle explained.
"Oh. And how is she?"
"She's wonderful," the three fillies replied in unison.
"And she hypnotised us three into being loyal to her and irresistibly compelled to serve her every whim and command," Scootaloo dismissively explained.
Twilight smiled.
"Speaking of that," Sweetie Belle cut in, "We need to go now. Our conditioning demands that we report to her dungeons every day at three in the afternoon." She lit her horn, and the three mares disappeared, as the bell of the town's clock began to toll.
Twilight chuckled to herself, and began to walk towards the centre of Ponyville. Stallions and mares alike greeted her as she passed them by, some respectfully bowing while others, who recognised her from back when she'd lived in the town, approaching her in a friendlier, more relaxed manner. A couple of young colts and fillies stared at her with wide eyes, never having seen an alicorn up close before, and she happily approached them and smiled back at them. One particularly nervous stallion even asked for her autograph.
Deciding her visit to the mayor could wait a little longer, Twilight chose to take a brief stop at Sugarcube Corner to enjoy a snack. Entering through the door, accompanied by the pleasant chime of the small bell installed to warn of entering customers, and ignoring the stares of the ponies inside, she sat down at a table and picked up the menu. As a light yellow pegasus with a messy orange mane came up to her table, dressed as a waitress, Twilight began to order, "I would like a-"
"Twilight?"
The alicorn turned, then did a double take. "...Pumpkin? Is that you?"
Beaming, the pegasus smiled back at her and hugged Twilight. Letting go of the hug, she cheerfully asked, "What brings you here, Twilight? It's been so long since the last time we saw you!"
"Oh, it's nothing in particular, I just had some free time and felt like it would be nice to come back here for a visit." She smiled at Pumpkin, then pursed her lips, tilting her head. "Say... Weren't you a unicorn?"
"Oh, yeah," the mare replied, "I had magic reassignment surgery." She twirled around, showing off her wings and lack of horn. "Had to go all the way to Manehattan for it, but they did a fantastic job."
"Oh, that explains it. How long ago was it?"
"Two years ago, actually."
"Ouch." Twilight looked down in amused discomfort and slight embarrassment. "I really have been away for too long, haven't I?"
Pumpkin chuckled. "Well, at least you came back. Order anything you want, it's on the house."
Twilight walked out of the town hall, just as the clock struck five in the afternoon. After finishing her snack and having a chat with Pound and Pumpkin, she'd gone to talk to Diamond Tiara. The meeting with the new mayor had been longer than she'd anticipated, but greatly enjoyable, particularly the visit to the dungeons, where she'd had a bit more time to chat with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She was positive the pony would be a great mayor for the town.
She was just about to spread her wings when someone called her.
"Headmare Twilight!"
The alicorn turned, just in time to see a blue griffon flying towards her. "Gallus!" she greeted back. The griffon landed, and the two shared a hug. "I haven't been headmare in what, twenty-five years? You should stop calling me that."
Gallus chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his talons.
"Say, I was about to go see the edge of town, care to join me?" Twilight asked.
The griffon nodded, and the two took off.
"So how's life in Canterlot, Princess?"
"Boring, but enjoyable. How about you? How are things with you and the others?"
"All good. I'm meeting with Sandbar later tonight, you can join us if you want."
"I'll consider it. Is he still with Yona?"
"Yeah."
"And what about you and Smolder?"
"We still see each other from time to time. Like with the others. I should probably send them a letter, they might all manage to come if you stay here long enough."
Twilight looked towards the ground. "Seems like we're here."
Gallus followed her gaze. "Yep."
The two landed on the edge of Ponyville, and stared at the impenetrable abyss of fog and mist behind it. Dangling her hooves from the broken rim of the chunk of rock and dirt floating in the void, Twilight sighed. She pushed her head down past the border, to stare at the underside of the city, the irregular and slightly curved surface extending past her field of vision, the signs of the magic that had ripped it away from the ground still visible all those years later.
"Wanna join us for dinner too?"