//------------------------------// // Finally: Home // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Equestria Present "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" No matter how many times he plummeted down to the surface of this planet, Dan just never got used to falling. But unlike the last times, he was happy. Happy to be alive. A thousand years and some change, probably about a thousand-and-three years, the trip had been instantaneous to Dan. He had served out his 'sentence' on the moon and his banishment was over. He appeared in the sky, just as he had before. The surface of Equestria never looked so beautiful to him, from Ponyville to Cloudsdale to Canterlot, all back the way it had been. He was home. As he fell, he wondered who it would be who rescued him this time. Rainbow Dash, maybe? Twilight? His beloved Chrys? The ground was coming closer now... and then he thought of something terrible. Oh shit, what if they missed him this time?! "AAAAAAAAHHH HELP! HELP CATCH ME CATCH ME CATCH ME CATCH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" But there was no pegasus to catch him this time. "ANY TIME NOW!!" Closer. "NOW WOULD BE GREAT!!" Approaching the treeline. There was Golden Oakes. "OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" Stop. Just before he hit the ground, his momentum was arrested in midair. No one caught him. And yet, someone did. Magic did. "Well, look who decided to drop in!" "Dan!!" Twilight grabbed him. Chrys grabbed him. Spike respectfully kept his distance. Then, decided to join in the hug. Phoenix hugged him as well. "Guys! Guys, guys, guys!" "Give him some room! Let him breath," Phoenix said. "NO, NO, GET BACK OVER HERE!" Dan grabbed them all again. "I'm gonna hug the bajeezus outta each and every one of you right now!!" They hugged. They kissed him, he kissed them back. It was the biggest display of affection and unconditional love Equestria had seen in a long time. Quite a long time. He didn't want to let them go, they didn't want to let him go. But none of the ones that were currently hugging him were the ones that rescued him. "So which one of you caught me?" And one pony from the crowd stepped forward. Followed by another one. These two ponies were not like the others, though- they were standing on two legs. "That would be my son," Rice said, patting him on the back. Vice waved. Vice Grip, the way Dan had first met him... only it hadn't been him. "Your... son?" Dan asked. Vice Grip was about twenty-years old. He wore a white lab coat, like his dad, and stood on chrome boots with chrome gauntlets attached to his forelegs. He was a brown stallion with a sandy mane, while Rice was the opposite color for the most part. "Your son... Vice," Dan said. He looked at both of them in disbelief. "I was just returning the favor, is all," Vice said. He pulled back his lab coat to reveal a tiny scar on his chest, barely noticeable. "But really, I guess I owe you for more than just me. You gave me my dad back. Gave us a second chance." "I... well, you're welcome," Dan said. Rice smiled. He was just as happy as Dan was, that was clear. "The portal didn't quite take us back all the way to where we were. I guess magic takes requests sometimes. Not my area of expertise... yet. So, my son and I took some time to... help out a few things here and there." Dan understood. Rice and Vice had been transported not back to the present, but to ten years before Dan's arrival in Equestria. Both Rice and Vice were older now and had spent time together building a life here. Probably building a lot. They'd stayed out of the way of history... and Vice had grown up. Of course, Rice wasn't too old himself; he'd had his son when he was young. They almost looked the same age. "I'm happy you got your son back," Dan said. "Thank you. I'm happy you got your family back," Rice said. The three of them shook hands. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a special project we're working on. See y'all later." He had his friends. He was home at last. "Thank you, Dan. For all you've done for us," Twilight said. But Dan turned it around. "No, no... well yes, but not just that. Thank you. Thank you all, all of you. For what you've done for me. Maybe I could've done it without all you guys but... you guys make me want to. You guys make me want to do it all again, go through it all again each and every day. I love you all." They hugged him tight and together said, "We love you too, Dan." There was just one pony missing. "Where's Fluffle Puff?" Dan put his hands on his hips, knowingly. "As if you have to ask that question." He burst through the door to the Golden Oakes Library. And Fluffle Puff dropped from the ceiling. "There's my girl!!" "Thbbbbbt!" They hugged each other tight. "You and me are gonna live, here, in this house, with Twilight and Chrys and Nicky, together, all of us... forever!!" "I've waited a long time for this moment!" Fluffle Puff said. She pulled back for a moment. "But there's one last thing I wanted to show you." "What's that?" Fluffle scampered downstairs. She took a moment or two, but then brought something back up with her. Several somethings, in fact. "So this is where you've been the whole time?" Chris asked. "I didn't really take you for the bookish type, Dan." Elise added. "CHRIS! And junior!" "Please," Elise held up her hand. "Don't let that follow me here." "I'm sorry," Dan said genuinely. "It's great to see you guys! Where have you been?" Chris pointed over his shoulder. "There's a portal-thingy down there we went through. I guess we could basically go back to Earth whenever we wanted." "Me? Leave? Ha, that's insane. I'd never want to leave this place when I've got such great friends here!" "Is this the same Dan from our Earth?" Elise asked. "Hey! Let's go burn down the Crystal Palace! I need to get Sam back for something he did yesterday... a thousand years ago." Chris nodded. "Yep, that's him." "So this is the... other Chris?" Chrys asked. "He doesn't shapeshift, does he?" "Not usually, no," Chris said. "Good," Chrys said. She hugged Dan tight. "I like being the only one who can change like that. Especially for Dan." "Always, Chrys. But how did they get here? You guys summoned my other friends from Earth while I was gone? That's so awesome, we could use some more friends to join all our adventures!" "Really?" Phoenix asked. "It kinda seems like we have enough." "Well," Fluffle Puff said, coming back upstairs. "I hope there's room for at least one more." "Who is it?" And from the top of Fluffle Puff's fluff, he saw another ball of fluff. And she was happy to see him. "Mrrow?" "MISTER MUMBLES!!!!!!!!!!!" "Mrow!" "It's great to see you, too!" He grabbed and hugged his kitty. They all hugged again. They were all of them, all together, home at last.