{Henry}
As soon as we got to Equestria’s gate, Discord snapped his claw and disappeared. Standing in front of us was a young woman with white hair and blue eyes. She had a look on her face like she couldn’t contain her excitement.
“Hi there!” the woman said. “My name is Elizabeth. I’m the guardian of gate Twenty-Five, the gate that leads to Equestria. That’s where you’re from, God Henry. When you enter through the gate, you will end up in a place called Ponyville. When you get past the gate, just take the road down to a farm called Sweet Apple Acres.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s just about as easy as finding Nightdale!”
“Nightdale?” Derek asked.
“Long story…” I said.
“Oh, and God Derek,” said Elizabeth, “you can stay in Equestria for as long as you want. Yes, it is another universe, but you guys are new so your power won’t upset the power in that universe. Just keep in mind that you’re a god now, God Derek!”
The look on Derek’s face was priceless.
“That’s not funny, Henry!” he snapped.
I laughed even harder when Derek said that, because I just couldn’t help myself.
“Okay, you two,” said Elizabeth. “God Derek and God Henry, it’s time for you to get going! Have fun in Equestria!”
Elizabeth took out of her pocket what looked like a huge key. She opened up the gate and we walked through to Equestria...
* * *
We didn’t have to go very far to see a tall purple pony with wings and a horn, and a crown on top of her head. She was the one to greet us. Because she looked a lot like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I was wary of her. As soon as she let down her wings, Milton and Martin took us by surprise when they ran up to us from behind her.
“Henry!” Milton said.
“Derek!” Martin said.
Milton gave me a hug so tight that I thought he was going to break my rib cage and Martin did the same thing to Derek. When Derek and I got hugs from Milton and Martin it was like we knew what each other was going to say next.
“That’s nice, Milton,” I said.
“That’s nice, Martin,” Derek said.
“You can let go now!” we said.
“That’s cute!” Milton chuckled. “You two can say a sentence at the same time now.”
“Okay, you two,” the purple pony said. “Can you let me talk to the two gods from In Between that I’ve heard so much about?”
“Yes, Mom!” Milton said.
“Yes, Mom!” Martin said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Mom?”
“Yes,” said Martin, “this is…”
“I think I can introduce myself,” the purple pony said. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's so nice to meet you. Milton and Martin speak highly of you two.”
“Uh-huh…” I said. I was definitely wary of her because she had the word ‘princess’ attached to her name.
“Let me guess,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “you think I have a lab, don’t you?”
“How did you…” I said.
“Milton and Martin told me all about what’s going on in the place called In Between.” Princess Twilight Sparkle said.
I didn’t say anything at first, I just looked at Milton and Martin for an answer.
“Yeah, we told Mom about Celestial Labs and Star Labs,” Milton said.
“And I’m not happy with my mentor,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. She shook her head. “I can’t believe she would do such a thing.”
“Sorry about that, Mom. I hope we don’t have another angry moon tonight,” Milton said.
I laughed. “You know, my mothers, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, told me that Princess Luna would do that when she got angry.”
“Wait.” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. “When did you talk to Rainbow Dash and Applejack? They're dead.”
“They yanked me out of the sky and put me into a deep sleep to talk to me,” I told her.
“Wow!” Princess Twilight Sparkle said.
“So, what happened after you guys left us?” Martin asked.
“One word,” said Derek. “Wedding…”
* * *
When Princess Twilight Sparkle, Milton, and Martin heard what Derek had said, they gasped in horror.
“You married someone?” Milton asked. “Was it Derek?”
“No, I didn’t marry someone,” I said. “I almost married someone and it wasn’t Derek, that’s for sure!”
“Almost married someone?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
I slowly let out a deep breath. “Yup, thankfully Derek wrecked it while I was pretending not to be there! It was like he was a rampaging bull!”
Derek fell out laughing when I said that.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“That’s what you were doing?” Derek laughed in between his words. “The red eyes that you saw, I call that attack the Rampaging-Bull attack!”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “Instead of saying ‘tell me you love me’ to activate it, you said ‘tell me you hate me’. Yup, that’s not psychotic at all!”
“Hey,” said Derek, “you were having just as much fun tossing Experiment Sebastian over the railing while I was tossing Experiment Rose and her bridesmaids to their deaths!”
“Are you following any of this conversation, boys?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
Milton shook his head. “Nope!”
“Not at all!” Martin said. “Henry?”
“Yes?” I said.
“Your dinner’s here!” Milton laughed.
“Hey,” Moria said. “I said I’m not working for another lab and I meant it!”
After Moria said that everyone except Princess Twilight Sparkle burst into laughter. “Is this an inside joke?”
“I guess you could say that,” Milton said.
“Let’s just say Henry’s been wanting to cook her food ever since day one of meeting her!” Martin said.
“And why would God Henry do that?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Because she’s annoying, and she still is,” I said.
“I just wish she was there when we blew up the main location for Lab 14,” Derek said. “We could’ve had a nice, filling dinner.”
“I’m not that bad,” Moria whined.
“You know,” I said, “you’re about as bad as Pestcord!”
“Oh yeah,” said Milton. “Sarah told me about your pet name for Discord! That suits him, all right!”
“I totally agree with that one,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. She chuckled. “At least he’s having fun in the In Between and not coming by the castle all the time. He’s the main reason that I would have an angry moon.”
“Discord’s afraid of Henry,” Derek said.
“Why is he afraid of him?” Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Because Henry can summon lightning bolts when he’s angry,” Derek said. “He almost killed Discord because he kept saying he was Henry’s godfather.”
“Yeah, I know about that,” Princess Twilight Sparkle said. “He begged to be Milton and Martin’s godfather too and there’s no way I’m going to let that creature take care of my boys if something happened to me.”
“Thankfully, my parents actually gave the job to Spike,” I said. “By the way, can I meet him? Rainbow Dash said he was a dragon and that he’s huge.”
“Oh, you’ll get a chance to meet him tomorrow,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “He’ll be back at the castle then.”
“I hope I get to do some chicken chasing soon!” Moria said.
“You can’t do it now because?” I asked.
“Because that stupid dog at Sweet Apple Acres keeps following me around!” Moria barked. She gave a look of annoyance.
“Maybe she thinks your voice is dreamy?” I said.
“No way!” Moria barked.
“What?” I said. “She is your species after all!”
“She’s probably following you around to make sure you don’t eat all of the chickens!” I heard another pony say. “And her name is Winona! I do recall setting some food out for you today!”
I looked to see who the voice was coming from and she looked like the picture that Applejack and Rainbow Dash had shown me.
“You must be my nephew, God Henry, who is also Crimson! Or should I call you God Crimson in your pony form?” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
Princess Twilight Sparkle seemed puzzled by this. “That’s Crimson?”
“Yup! I’m pretty sure of it!” Aunt Apple Bloom said. “Can you change into your pony form for me?”
“Sure,” I said. “Unicorn!”
“Yup,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, nodding. “That’s Crimson, all right. He’s just about as goofy looking as he was when he was a toddler. And Applejack and Rainbow Dash flatlined me to show me what you look like now.”
“Hey, I’m not goofy looking!” I said.
“Yes, you are,” Aunt Apple Bloom said. “And I can only assume that’s God Derek standing beside you?”
Derek looked at me and smiled. “I didn’t think you were goofy looking. I love you the way you are!”
“I take it he’s your boyfriend, huh?” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
Derek and everyone else started laughing at me.
“You should see your face right now!” Derek said. “You are turning about as red as a tomato.”
“Ha, ha, Derek!” I said.
“Now, your sister Sarah or Star, whichever one she prefers to go by, should be here in a bit if she stops looking at herself in the mirror for the tenth time today!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
When Aunt Apple Bloom said that I couldn’t contain my laughter.
“I prefer to go by Sarah, Aunt Apple Bloom!” Sarah said. “I just can’t help myself, I never got a chance to look at myself when we were running from Lab 14!”
“Pffft,” I snorted. “You’re Mother Number Two’s kid all right!”
“Let me guess,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. She rolled her eyes. “You’re talking about Rainbow Dash, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, she was mad when Applejack took the number one spot!” I said.
Aunt Apple Bloom snickered.
“Oh yeah,” said Sarah. “I got flatlined a couple days ago so Mama Applejack and Mama Rainbow Dash could see me before they crossed over into the sky. They said they talked to you first since they couldn’t flatline you because you’re a god now. Mama Rainbow Dash calls me her ‘Wonderbolt Apprentice’. I don’t think I want to be a Wonderbolt but I guess I’ll have to be a leader anyway. Especially since Aria’s a princess.”
“What!” Derek and I said.
“It’s a long story!” Sarah said.
“Yeah, you got flatlined,” I said. “Mama Number One and Mama Number Two yanked me out of the air from about fifty feet and apparently I was knocked out for a day.”
“Yeah, that didn’t sit well with me,” said Derek. “Just like Cora trying to get you to marry the creature, Experiment Rose!”
“Alright, you two come with me,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “so I can fulfill Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s last request and help them watch you in the sky in peace.”
* * *
When we got to Sweet Apple Acres we went inside the house and Aunt Apple Bloom smiled at me.
“First things first,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “I’m pretty sure God Henry, or God Crimson, whatever you go by-”
“I just go by Henry, Aunt Apple Bloom,” I said. “You don’t have to call me God Henry. You’re family, it wouldn’t sit well with me if you did.”
“Okay then,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “I’m pretty sure Henry wants to know why we think he’s so goofy looking.”
“I was wondering about that myself,” said Sarah. “He doesn’t look goofy! I think he’s handsome. If anyone should be admiring himself in the mirror, it definitely should be Henry. Of course, I do it all the time now!”
“You’re definitely Mama Rainbow Dash’s kid, all right,” I said.
“Mama Applejack says you her kid, doesn’t she?” Sarah said.
“Applejack's brother, our uncle, would say, ‘Eeyup!’” I said.
Aunt Apple Bloom laughed when she heard me say that.
“Anyway,” Aunt Apple Bloom said, “there’s a mirror over there. Why don’t take a good look at yourself while you’re still a pony.”
“Sure,” I said.
“You see,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “the reason why we think you’re so goofy looking is because of your eyes. And being goofy looking is not a limitation unless it becomes a handicap, like Derpy!”
“What is it about my eyes that’s so different?” I asked.
“Most of the time,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “ponies in Equestria- and that includes- foals have very colorful and lively irises around their pupils. Yours are just plain dark! We’ve never seen a foal with your type of eyes. Never, not at all. And not to mention you have a strange birthmark on your right ear.”
I looked in the mirror and looked at my right ear. There was a very small patch of black fur, standing out against the rest of my ear, which matched the fur on my body. "Huh? Why didn't I notice that before?"
"Probably because we were too busy to look in a mirror while running from Lab 14!" Sarah exclaimed.
“Just like Pestcord said,” said Derek, “there’s one surprise with you after another!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “So, do I have to be transformed into a pony the whole entire time I’m here?”
“Henry, I’m in my human form,” Sarah said in a matter-of-fact way.
“Yup, Sarah’s right!” Aunt Apple Bloom said, nodding. “You don’t have to be in your pony form the whole time you’re here. Believe it or not, there are some humans that live here, too.”
“Okay, then,” I said. “Human!”
Like always, I felt better changed back to a human.
“There’s something you two need to know about Snips and Snails,” Sarah said.
“What happened?” Derek asked.
“We were told by Leader Felix that you had informed him of Henry going into Fear Shock,” said Sarah. “Let me ask you this, Derek, did Snips and Snails say that the true love kiss was the cure to cancel it out, or did they say it was an option? Because if I recall correctly, they said it was a gift.”
“Yeah, they said it was a gift,” Derek replied.
“Exactly,” Sarah said. “Leader Felix finally dealt with those two and we heard a very loud crash that came from the tent when he called them in there.”
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that he broke a table in front of them,” Derek said.
“How do you know that?” Sarah asked.
“He was my mentor before I even reached child status in the Resistance,” said Derek. “I’ve seen it happen quite a few times. I’m surprised he didn’t call me there too! I think I might’ve failed at my mission.”
Sarah shook her head. “Oh no, you didn’t! Your mission was to get those tracking devices out of us and lead us safely to Snips and Snails. They were supposed to take over by leading us safely to the Resistance. You completed your mission because we weren't back at HQ you couldn’t wear your badge again. And according to Leader Felix, you were the one that set up the barrier around the Inn as your first game plan in taking the tracking devices out, and you had the tools to do it if that didn’t work.
"Like you said, how Snips and Snails ever reached Agent status is beyond you. Snips even did that spell on Henry because he wasn’t talking at the time and all Snips had to do was ask us about it. You told him that we knew what was wrong with Henry. Snips and Snails are the biggest idiots ever. They had the same training you did and you’ve completed all your missions, even up to now. I’m pretty sure you two will do your job at destroying Lab 14 and the other labs in the In Between. Snips and Snails, on the other hand, should have sent a distress signal to HQ when Henry went into Fear Shock!”
“About the Fear Shock thing,” I said. “Apparently that can happen to gods if they don’t get any rest. According to Pestcord, even gods need to take a break from ruling!”
“Makes sense to me,” Sarah said. “You weren’t really sleeping at all before it happened.”
“And,” said Derek, “He’s going to get enough sleep now if I have something to say about it.”
“Ha, ha, ha!” Sarah said. “Yeah, Henry can be a little hard-headed sometimes.”
“And you’re a brat!” I growled. “So, I think we’re even.”
Aunt Apple Bloom smiled and cleared her throat. “I think it’s time I start explaining things to you, but where should I start? That’s the question." She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I guess I should start by saying that Applejack was a really strong pony. She could buck apple trees by the time she was six years old!”
I tilted my head. “Apple bucking?”
“Oh, yeah!” Sarah said. “It’s a lot of fun! It might be a job to keep a roof over our heads, but it sure doesn't feel like a job. Aunt Apple Bloom showed me how to do it. Can we show him, Aunt Apple Bloom, please?”
Aunt Apple Bloom nodded and laughed at Sarah’s reaction at the very thought of apple bucking.
“Sure,” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
We went outside and Sarah stood right underneath an apple tree.
“Unicorn!” Sarah said and transformed.
I watched in amazement as Sarah used her back legs to kick the tree. Every single apple from the tree fell into the basket beneath it.
“See!” Sarah said with excitement. “You wanna try? No shield this time. You just need to use your back legs.”
I shrugged. “Unicorn!”
Sarah showed me how to do it one more time and Aunt Apple Bloom brought out another basket, placing it beneath the tree that I stood under.
“Go ahead,” said Sarah, “do it!”
I kicked the tree just like Sarah had shown me and I was amazed at what happened. Just like when Sarah had kicked her tree, every single apple fell off and into the basket. After I did that, I found that I was having fun doing it. I could see Derek trying so hard not to laugh.
“You look like you did when you were fighting that creature, Experiment Rose,” Derek said. “And I saw you having fun when you picked Experiment Sebastian up and let him fall to his death!”
I realized that what Derek was saying was true, only this time I wasn’t trying to kill someone. I looked over to see Aunt Apple Bloom looking at me and Sarah in wonder.
“Huh,” said Aunt Apple Bloom. “It’s almost as if Applejack gave birth to you two herself. I’m surprised she didn’t rename you two to have something to do with apples. But your name was already on your birth certificate, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn’t want to change them. We should go back inside so I can tell you more about things. You can change back into a human now.”
“Human!” Sarah and I said and transformed.
We went back inside the house and Aunt Apple Bloom began to explain. It took her over three days to explain things to us as much as she could. She even had ten different volumes of pictures of my mothers as they were growing up, and when they first got together and married each other, and then adopted me and Sarah.
Aunt Apple Bloom also explained to me what had caused my mothers’ deaths at Lab 14. They had done exactly the same thing I had when I went to go save Aria. They walked right into a trap, knowing it was a trap going in. They just wanted to find out where I was to save me. But they did have things set up in case something like this happened when it came down to my sister Sarah needing to be taken care of. My Aunt Pinkie Pie took Sarah in after Applejack and Rainbow Dash died. Unfortunately, shortly after my parents died, Lab 14 stole Sarah from Aunt Pinkie Pie next. Aunt Pinkie Pie was very upset and it took a long time for her to work on getting past it, and I don’t blame her!
Once Aunt Apple Bloom had finally explained things and showed us those pictures of my parents, Sarah was eager to tell us about her engagement with Aria.
“You said Aria’s a princess,” I said. “How did that happen?”
“She’s Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's adoptive daughter,” Sarah said. “Shortly after Flurry Heart was born, they decided to adopt Aria so she could have a sibling to play with. Or something like that. So I’ll be living in the Crystal Empire. Don’t worry, Aunt Apple Bloom, I’ll stop by for a visit when I can!”
“I’ve told you several times Sarah,” said Aunt Apple Bloom, “although a visit would be nice, you don’t have to worry about us. Oh, Henry and Sarah, your actual godfather, Spike, is coming here right about now.”
Right on cue, we heard thundering footsteps coming up to the house. Spike didn’t even have to knock when Aunt Apple Bloom opened the door. He was really excited when he entered the house.
“Where are Star and Crimson, my two godchildren?” Spike said. “I heard they’ve finally arrived from that awful place, Lab 14!”
Aunt Apple Bloom pointed to me and Sarah. “There they are!”
Spike paused when he saw us. “But they’re human! Why aren’t they ponies?”
Aunt Apple Bloom did a hoof face and groaned. “Are you forgetting that Star and Crimson were taken when they were toddlers and tested on by Lab 14? So they have a human and a pony form now. And they go by Sarah and Henry!" She looked at us. "Would two mind if you changed into your pony form to show Spike?”
Sarah and I nodded. “Unicorn!”
When we transformed into ponies, Spike was overjoyed.
“It is you guys!” Spike said. He then proceeded to pick us and swing us around. He put us down and smiled at us.
“Who’s that guy beside you two?” Spike asked, looking at Derek.
“That would be God Derek, God Henry’s boyfriend!” Aunt Apple Bloom exclaimed.
“Wait…” Spike paused and looked at me. “You’re the God Henry? And your boyfriend is God Derek? The two gods that rule In Between now?”
“Yup! That would be them!” Aunt Apple Bloom said with pride and a twinkle in her eye.
“So, you’re telling me,” said Spike, “that my godson is an actual god!”
I nodded.
“Wow!” Spike said.
“Hey, you two haven’t told us about your action-packed adventure that you two had when you left us before we got back to Equestria!” Sarah said.
“Oh, yeah!” We heard Milton, Martin and Jane say. “We wanna know, too!”
“And I would like to know also!” a deep voice said.
“Oh, hey, Big Mac!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
I looked over at the doorway to see a pony that was twice as big as Aunt Apple Bloom and I had no idea what color he was. I asked Derek about it and he said that the pony was dark red and his cutie mark was half of a green apple.
Aunt Apple Bloom turned to us and smiled. "In case you're wondering, this is your Uncle Big Mac."
Uncle Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup!"
I looked to see Martin, Milton and Jane standing in the doorway also. Aunt Apple Bloom brought out some extra chairs for everyone to sit on.
"So what happened?" Sarah asked.
“I think we should start at the point where Mr. Genius over here,” said Derek, “made the decision to allow us to go under the Knock-Out drug to get into Lab 14!”
“Hey!” I said. “I didn’t hear you come up with anything, so you should be the one to talk!”
When everyone heard that, they laughed so hard they had tears coming from their eyes. Once everybody calmed down, Derek and I proceeded to tell our story. Derek actually decided to start when we were fighting those creatures, Experiment Rose and Experiment Sebastian. Everyone got a real kick out of our fight with those two. Especially when Derek taunted Experiment Sebastian by asking if he could chop down a tree like me!
Then Derek just had to tell everybody about my bright idea to go under the knock out drug and Experiment Rose making me propose to her. Everyone gasped when they heard that part of the story. But they laughed when I told them about Derek being a rampaging bull when he wrecked the wedding for me and using that same attack to toss Experiment Rose and her bridesmaids to their deaths. Of course, Derek had to add in the part where somehow I had figured out how to fly first. He saw me dropping Experiment Sebastian to his death.
Everyone even laughed when we told them that I can summon lightning bolts when I’m angry and that Discord is afraid of me now because I almost killed him with it.
Sarah was definitely angry when I told everybody that Experiment Rose had an engagement ring on standby for when I proposed to her.
Derek and I left out the part where we can share each other’s thoughts because we figured that if they didn’t know that it would be easier for us to do it without them asking what we’re doing.
After we finished our story, Aunt Apple Bloom asked me and Sarah if she could see our music boxes that our parents had given us. I took my music box out of my pocket and was surprised to see that it hadn’t been damaged by everything that I went through.
“Why isn’t it damaged?” I asked about the music box.
“They’re indestructible,” Aunt Apple Bloom exclaimed. “So that way when you always carry them with you for good luck! And so when you go away from Equestria, you will always be able to find your way back! You wanna know what tune that music box plays on it?”
She started to sing along with the music box. The tune started with the words ‘Equestria, the land I love’ and ended with the words ‘Equestria, my home!
“If you ask me,” Aunt Apple Bloom said, “you did find your way back. The music box worked like a charm! It’s just sad that you two came back after Applejack and Rainbow Dash died.”
Sarah and I looked away, I guess because we didn’t want to show how heartbroken we were at the thought.
“It’s okay, you two,” Aunt Apple Bloom reassured us. “That wasn’t your fault. True, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were hoping that you two would grow up in Equestria, but not everything goes as planned. Now, I know Sarah’s going to be living in the Crystal Empire and, just like I told Sarah, while a visit would be nice, don’t you and God Derek worry about us.”
“Um, I agree with Henry on the whole family calling us god thing,” said Derek. “You can just call me Derek. Adding god onto my name when it comes down to you guys just doesn’t sit well with me either. And we’ll be popping in for a visit every once and a while. It might be a little bit before we do, you know, because we have a job to complete, and all. And we can’t stay here forever because this universe might self-destruct because of power being added to it.”
“And don’t forget,” I added, “you guys can come visit us too! We’ll send an alert to you where we’re taking a break. I still can’t believe all of you guys that were traveling with me are royalty, except for Jane. I do feel sorry for you because you’re Pestcord’s daughter!”
Jane got a real kick out of that one. “Yeah I know, I still can’t believe that creature is my father!” she said. “Actually Henry, I'm royalty now, too!”
“I didn't have enough time to tell you when you went to Sweet Apple Acres with your Aunt, but Jane and I are married now,” Milton said.
“What!” Derek and I said in surprise.
“Well, that was quick!” Sarah laughed. “But Aria and I only started dating when we were running from Lab 14! When was the wedding?”
“It happened right after we got back to Equestria,” said Milton. “We started dating right after Henry and Derek left!”
“That’s right,” Sarah said. “I forgot Jane told me about that.”
“Sorry we couldn’t invite you guys,” Jane said. “But it was a royal wedding, only the royalty could come. I’m not sure why that is.”
“I wasn’t sure why that was either,” Milton said. “I’m going to assume it has something to do with the laws of Equestria."
Sarah perked up for some reason. “Hey!”
“Yes?” I said.
“We should play a game of sword fighting before you two go back home,” Sarah said.
“Swordfight?” Derek repeated. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Apparently it’s something we used to do when we were toddlers!” I groaned. “Do you really want to do this now? Aren’t we a little too old for that?”
“Oh yeah,” said Spike, “I remember you two doing that!”
“Yup!” Aunt Apple Bloom said.
“Eeyup!” Uncle Big Mac said.
“Come on!” Sarah begged. “Please?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Fine!”
As soon as we went outside, Sarah and I changed into unicorns. We then proceeded to charge at each other, horns clashing as if they were swords. Everyone found it really entertaining of course and they couldn’t hold back their laughter even if they wanted to. After a while, I got annoyed, stopped playing, tackled Sarah, and sat on her.
“This,” I said, “is for sitting on me when Milton went to go see my stitches when my voice was taken out.”
I pretended to get up and sat on her again. “This is for sitting on me when my voice box was being put back in!”
“Okay, okay!” Sarah giggled. “I surrender! You win!”
“I think we’ve had enough fun today!” I said.
“Fine!” Sarah said.
“Human!” Sarah and I said.
Once we changed back into humans, Aunt Apple Bloom looked puzzled by what I had just said.
“Did I hear you correctly? Voice box?” Aunt Apple Bloom asked. “What in the hay is that?”
“It’s something evil Lab 14 likes to do with their experiments,” Milton growled, “as a form of punishment.”
“Or, in my case,” I said, “to keep me from running away!”
“Yeah,” said Jane. “They figured out how to take away the way we would normally make sounds and put them into a box!”
“If it gets taken out,” said Sarah, “we can’t make a sound at all! Zip! Zero! Nothing!”
“Is that why Henry couldn’t talk or laugh or anything like that when I first met him?” Derek questioned.
“Yup!” Sarah said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
“I was hoping to tell you what happened when I got it back,” I said, “but with all of the craziness going on I totally forgot. Sorry about that, Derek.”
Without warning, Derek hugged me and kissed me. It was met with a chorus of ‘awwww’s.
“It’s okay,” said Derek. “I totally understand.”
“Well,” said Sarah, “tomorrow I have to take the first train out to the Crystal Empire.”
“And we have to go back to the castle,” Martin said. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll see you two around, Henry and Derek.”
“Yeah, I have to go back too,” Spike said. “I have to go to another country to negotiate a peace treaty with them. I guess this is where we say goodbye.”
Derek and I said our goodbyes and went back to the In Between the next day. When we got back, I was ready to destroy Lab 14 once and for all!