Sunset?
Hey, Twi. I’m here.
Right where the portal should be?
Yeah, by the statue base. Everyone else is, too. It’s really early here and I told them all to just sleep in; I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed if things didn’t go well.
But they all came anyway.
Of course they did. Tell them I said hi.
You can tell them yourself in a little bit. You’re right in front of the mirror, I assume?
I am. The new machine is standing by. If the portal opens, I’ll know, and if the machine can keep it open, I’ll know. That’ll be the difference between whether we just have the one week or if the connection truly is restored.
Either one sounds great to me right now.
I agree. It’s been a long… I can’t even remember precisely. Moons and moons. To think all of you have been through an entire year of college by now.
And you’ve been through an entire year of Crown Princessing.
That too. And I still need to tell you that coronation story. I can’t believe I let it slip for this long, but it works better in, well, person anyway.
Can’t wait to hear it.
I’ve worked hard to schedule things perfectly so I can take this full week off. My first Royal Vacation.
I can’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather go right now.
And you’re sure that the portal will open? And that you can keep it open?
I’m not sure of anything, Sunset. My team is brilliant, and once I got a good look at their work we had some genuine breakthroughs. There were so many warning signs I should have seen in the old machine design, I’d made it in a huge rush to get to your world and then just never got around to making improvements… after so long, the mirror just got overloaded with magical energy to the point where it sealed shut. But according to all the magical theory we’ve been working on these last few weeks, the portal just needs to, to borrow a phrase from your world, reboot. The mirror should open tonight, at the end of the 30-moon cycle, and, once it does, our new machine should be able to keep it open, without overwhelming it.
But you’re not 100% sure in the theory?
With advanced magic, you never really can be. But I’m about as sure as I can be with this many unknowns in the mix.
Is your team there with you?
Yes, they’ll be monitoring from this side and running some tests. But it won’t matter very much this week, since the portal should be open naturally. Well, “naturally,” anyway.
You don’t know how excited I am… how excited we all are to see you again. The idea that you’re actually coming back... But what if it doesn’t work?
I’m certain it will.
I thought you just said you weren’t?
I’m not talking about magical theory anymore. As confident as I want to be in our calculations, that’s not what’s making me say that.
I’m certain because I believe in us.
It’s been over a year since those amazing letters all of you sent me, and in that time we’ve gotten to learn more and more about each other through these journals. I wondered if that pang I’d felt to come and see you would fade as time went on, but it’s only grown stronger. You talked about taking the portal for granted in your letter, but quite honestly, I did the same thing. I don’t anymore.
It’s always rough to be separated from a friend, but to have that separation imposed on you, rather than accepted through a conscious decision (even an unwanted decision), is painful. There’s nothing invalid about a long-distance friendship; these days, quite a few of mine are exactly that. But thinking back to everything all of you wrote, I want to experience all of this again. To experience us.
I want to learn touch football with Rainbow. I want to go to more of Pinkie’s parties. I want to learn more about human science with Twilight. I want to have those adventures Applejack sees in our future.
I want to feel the strength of our bond as a group that Rarity so lyrically described. I want to show Fluttershy how genuinely unique that bond really is to me.
I want to witness that joy in Sunset Shimmer’s eyes when she sees herself in the mirror, and I want to take her right back through this portal so she can give Equestria the goodbye she needs. (And get the hayfries she craves, too.)
Maybe I’ll get to do all of those things. Maybe just some. But after losing over an entire year to this… whatever we’re able to do together, I’ll accept it gladly.
Because we are the Rainbooms. Maybe we’re a little bit older. Hopefully we’re a little bit wiser. But we’re still us, and we are going to make this the best week ever.
That’s why I know, in my heart, that I’m going to step through that portal, and I’m going to see all of you again.
I believe you.
There’s just a few more minutes left.
I’ll see you on the other side.
We’ll be waiting.