"Hey, Twilight? Ya in here? Aw heck, who’m I kidding? Where else would ya be?"
Applejack trotted in through the doors of the red barn on the hilltop in Ponyville, which Twilight Sparkle's parents had let her turn into a workshop of sorts. As always the orange farm pony was struck by one thing about the place: its neatness. Tools on pegboards, each in its proper outlined place. Paper and pencils in perfectly aligned stacks on the drafting table. Wood planks and dowels stacked against one wall, arranged by length and tree species. An entire set of shelves with nuts and bolts, nails and screws, chains and small gears, all organized in carefully labeled jam jars, in order by size and material.
And all round the walls of the room, in case after case... books. In proper order by category, author, and publication date.
Applejack knew that last part for a fact since Twilight had told her so. More'n once, the farm pony added to herself with a grin.
In the open work area in the middle of the floor stood the broad-winged airframe. It was made of the strange gray, compressed-cloud material Twilight had gotten from the pegasus world. There was more of the stuff piled on a table nearby: panels and spans of all sorts, again neatly ordered by size and shape.
Applejack had held one of the spans in her hooves once, and had to immediately put it down again because it just felt weird. Light as spiderweb, strong as teak. And Twilight had built a whole aircraft out of the stuff. Applejack half suspected a filly could lift the thing with one hoof.
Through a gap in the craft's upper panels a head popped up. But it wasn't Twilight's. It was a small dragon with purple scales and green spines. He blinked green, cat-like eyes at her, then grinned.
"Hi, Applejack!"
"Hey there, Spike. Heh!" Applejack shook her head. "Never gonna get used to that. Me standin' here, talkin' to a real live dragon. Where's Twi at?"
Spike gestured downwards with a claw. "She's still working out the hoof-pedal gearing for the propellers." He pointed at the wings of the craft, which now had small boxes attached, with double-ended wooden blades like maple-tree seeds. "That way, she won't have to rely so much on updrafts and gliding."
"Land sakes alive." Applejack stepped closer to have a look. "This thing's like that patch of ivy down the back forty. Every time I turn 'round it's gotten bigger."
"Hi, A.J.!" From underneath the gray-panelled fuselage a lavender hoof stuck out and waved. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."
"No worries, hon. Figgered I'd come over early for the get-together."
"Oh yeah, that's right. Rarity and Fluttershy should be arriving soon, from the unicorn world."
"How they gonna do that? They got another of these flyin' doohickies?"
"Ah hah..." Twilight replied, mysteriously. "Wait and see!"
Applejack grinned at that, suspecting it would be worth the wait.
Then sensing someone behind her she turned and found Twilight's mother walking in through the door. The gray-coated mare was carrying a plate with a sandwich on it, plus a sack of hay-fries. "Oh, hello there, Applejack."
"Howdy, Ms. Velvet." The farm pony touched her hat politely.
"Is Twily in here someplace?"
"Down here, Mom!" The lavender hoof waved again.
"Well, I've got your lunch, dear. I know how busy you get but we don't want you passing out from hunger, do we?" So saying, she set the plate down next to the aircraft.
Twilight's hoof reached out, felt around vaguely, found the sandwich. Then hoof and sandwich vanished from sight, followed by the sound of appreciative munching. "Mmm, my favorite! Grilled cheese, ketchup, and daisy. Thanks, Mom!"
"My pleasure, dear," Velvet replied. "And Spike, these are for you." She picked up the sack of hay-fries and passed them to him. "Can't forget Twily's little helper."
"Gosh, these look great!" Spike grinned. "Thanks, Mom!"
Velvet looked bemused at that. Then seeing Spike's worried look she waved a hoof. "Oh, it's all right, dear. You can call me Mom too, if you want. Now are you sure this is enough? I know Twilight said you liked gems or something."
"Oh, anything crunchy's good enough for me," Spike said. "And these hay-fries are the best! Thanks!"
"You're welcome, dear." Velvet smiled proudly. "And Twilight, do say hi to your friends for me when they get here."
"Sure, Mom," Twilight replied, a little absently.
"Why don't ya stick around, ma'am?" suggested Applejack. "Say hi to 'em yourself?"
Velvet looked sorely tempted, then shook her head. "Mmm, no. I don't want Twily thinking I'm hovering or anything. I'm just so pleased she's been able to make some new friends here. It's one of the reasons we moved to Ponyville in the first place. What with Shining Armor away on that apprenticeship, I've been worried Twilight might get lonely all by herself." Velvet looked momentarily concerned. "You will keep an eye on her for me, won't you, A.J.?"
"Always do, ma'am, whenever I can. But you don't haveta worry. Twilight, she can look after herself."
Velvet nodded gratefully. Then, with another glance at the airframe, she trotted out through the door.
And Applejack exchanged a glance with Spike. "She ain't told her folks yet, has she?"
"Nope." Spike shook his head.
"I will, A.J.!" Twilight said. "... eventually. Somehow the time's never quite right, you know?"
"Twi, you've been flyin' this gizmo back and forth between entire worlds here. They're bound to notice, sooner or later."
There was a lengthy silence. "Yeah," Twilight finally said. "That's what worries me. What if they said it was too dangerous? What if they told me not to do it any more? What if... what if they didn't like my friends from these other worlds?"
"Twilight, your folks are better than that. Ya know they are," Applejack scolded. "Heck, they'd just as soon tell ya to pack a lunch and remember to wear a scarf if it's chilly. But it's better all round if they're in the loop, know what I mean?"
"Yeah..." Twilight sighed. "I hear you. Let's talk it over with the others when they get here, pick a good time to introduce them to my parents. I just hope Mom and Dad don't freak out or anything. Hey, Spike? Would you mind taking down some measurements for me?"
"No problem, Twi. Be right down!" Nodding to Applejack, Spike disappeared into the innards of the aircraft.
And Applejack shook her head. All ya can do is nudge, she told herself. Twi's gotta find her own way of doing things. It's how she rolls.
There was a fluttering of wings outside, and Rainbow and Pinkie came into the barn, with Rainbow flapping through the air like usual. Pinkie by contrast was trotting along on her hooves, giggling as if she found the meadow-grass ticklish.
Rainbow waved dispiritedly. "Hey, gals. This where the party's at?"
"Huh! This doesn't look much like a party scene to me." Pinkie glanced around critically at the workroom's neatness. "But don't you worry, I can fix that in a jiffy!" From nowhere, the pink pegasus produced a long, fat tube with a bell-shaped opening at one end, much like a brass blunderbuss. Before anypony could stop her she threw the tube to her shoulder, aimed at midair, and fired...
... and with a thunderous blast of confetti, suddenly there were banners and bunting, streamers and balloons hung everywhere about the room.
Applejack stared around at it all, flabbergasted. "How'd ya do that, Pinkie?"
Pinkie beamed. "I never visit other worlds without the ol' party bazooka!" She patted the device fondly. Then, trotting over to Twilight's tool pegboard, she somehow found a pair of hooks with an outline exactly matching the bazooka and hung it up neatly.
Twilight crawled out from under the airframe and stood staring around at the decorations.
"Wow, where'd all this come from?"
"Surprise!" Pinkie darted over and hugged her. "Are you surprised, Twilight? Are you really? Huh, huh? I hope you're surprised. See, it's a Not-Really-A-Welcome-Party-Since-We-Already-Know-You-But-We're-Really-Happy-To-See-You-Again party. There's even cake! And that ain't no lie!"
Again, seemingly from nowhere, the pink pegasus presented Twilight with a decent-sized frosted cake, complete with floret icing and lit candles.
"Gosh." Twilight blinked. "That's great, Pinkie. Thanks!"
Applejack blinked, stunned. "Somepony wanna 'splain to me how she does all that?"
Rainbow waved a hoof warningly. "If you value your sanity, A.J., don't ask." Then she sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's just somethin' she does. She's a party pony. Or that's what she tells me, whenever I ask. And she's really, freakily good at it." Rainbow crossed her forehooves in disgust. "Just glad somepony around here is good at something..."
Before Twilight could ask what Rainbow meant, she was distracted by a small blue gemstone sitting on a table nearby. It was flashing on and off, making a chiming noise. "Hold that thought, everypony," Twilight said. "The others are about to arrive."
Grabbing up the gem with a hoof, she trotted out through the barn doors, the others following after her. Once outside, Twilight set the gem down on the grassy slope in front of the barn, just shy of where it banked downwards toward the Apple family's property.
The gem blinked and made its chiming noise again. In response, Twilight tapped it with a hoof, then stepped back quickly.
A flash of light leapt from the gem into the air above it, and a broad portal with swirling edges spun open. Through it, the ponies could see an elegant, silk-curtained throne room. Plus two unicorns. One was tall and proud, gleaming white with a perfectly styled violet mane, a crystal circlet on her forehead. The other was thin and willowy, a warm butter-yellow in color with a flowing pink mane and a large flower tucked behind one ear. Plus for some reason, the yellow unicorn also had a small white rabbit sitting atop her head.
"Yay! It worked!" Twilight clapped her hooves excitedly as the two unicorns stepped through the portal and onto the grassy meadow, then stood looking about themselves with interest.
"Well!" said Princess Rarity. "This is your world is it, Twilight? It's very... uh, rural. But quite lovely, especially compared to the Everfree. Oh, no offense, Fluttershy. I know you and your animal friends do your best."
"It's okay," Princess Fluttershy said mildly. But the rabbit sitting on her head scowled darkly in Rarity's direction.
Then Rarity looked past Fluttershy, at the gem projecting its portal. "Nice to see that these old portal-stones still work. And between different worlds, no less! But that's entirely thanks to you, Twilight, in locating the spell to operate them. Which reminds me..."
Rarity used her magic to levitate a small bundle of grimoires through the portal. "Here's those additional spell-texts you were looking for. Now, I can't pretend to say how much use they'll be. You'll have to tell us. After all, you're our Sorceror Royal now."
"Thanks, Rarity." Twilight took hold of the bundle, clearly resisting the temptation to page through them right away. "I'll take good care of them, and let you know what I find out. And while you're here, could I ask the two of you to test-drive a couple of spells for me? I think they're complete, but it's hard to be sure, not being able to cast them myself."
"Not a problem, my dear. Only too happy to oblige." Rarity glanced around at the others. "And who are your other friends here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! This is Applejack." Twilight said, waving her over. "She's my best friend in Ponyville. Her family owns and runs the neighboring farm, down the hill there."
"Howdy do, uh... Your Highnesses." Applejack doffed her hat and attempted a respectful bow.
Rarity waved a hoof. "Applejack, darling! There's no need for formality. True, in our world Fluttershy and I are royalty. But here we are merely guests. So there's no call to stand on ceremony."
"As ya say, ma'am," Applejack said, as she replaced her hat. "Honor to meet ya, all the same."
Rarity dimpled, clearly appreciative of the respect. And Fluttershy timidly pointed down the hill. "Um, are those trees your orchard, Applejack?"
"That they are," the farm pony replied. "One hundred percent genuine apples. That's our specialty. And the farm house is down that way, too."
"Oh! Do you keep animals?"
"Surely do. We got cows, sheep, pigs, chickens... you name it."
"Oooooh!" Fluttershy said. "I'd love to visit them later."
"Be happy to show ya around."
"And of course," Rarity went on, "we do recognize our Captain of the Air Patrol." She nodded in Rainbow's direction. The pegasus brightened up a little, holding herself taller and more formally in midair. "And Sir Spike, our little knight in shining scales!" Rarity smiled down at him, and Spike quickly drew himself up, trying to look appropriately Brave and Glorious. "But who," Rarity went on, "is your friend here, Rainbow?"
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" The pink pegasus zoomed over to grab Rarity's forehoof, then shook it so vigorously she threatened to dislodge Rarity's circlet.
"Ah... charmed, I'm sure," said Rarity. She discreetly stamped her hoof to get it to stop compulsively vibrating, while Pinkie darted over and did the same thing to Fluttershy. The rabbit on Fluttershy's head clung to her mane desperately, like a champion bronco rider.
Then Pinkie looked back and forth between the two of them eagerly. "Do Princesses like music? Of course you must like music. Gotta have music at a party." And Pinkie was suddenly holding ten musical instruments, which she played with wild abandon using all four hooves, her wings, and her mouth, making the other ponies wince and cover their ears.
"The party's in Twilight's barn," Pinkie called over the din. "C'mon inside!"
Bemusedly, the ponies and dragon all followed the pink pegasus back into the barn. Once there, Twilight quickly found a safe place in a trunk for the spell-books. Then she showed Rarity about the workroom, in particular going over in detail the changes she'd made to the airframe. Rarity nodded and tried her best to appear as if she understood it all. Applejack and Fluttershy talked eagerly and at length about animal care. Pinkie Pie danced about the room, playing music, cracking jokes, generally being the life of the party. And Spike sat on top of the airframe, staring at Rarity in dreamy fascination.
Throughout it all, Rainbow hovered off to the side, frowning gloomily. Whenever Pinkie swung past and tried to drag her into the fun, Rainbow resisted with increasing impatience. Finally, Rainbow had had enough, and shouted at her.
"Pinkie! For the thousandth time, quit being so... so freaking random!"
Silence fell, and everypony looked at her. Rainbow crossed her forehooves, looking regretful for the outburst yet reluctant to take it back. Applejack finally spoke up.
"Somethin' on your mind, sugarcube?"
"Yeah!" Pinkie added. "I wasn't gonna say anything, Rainbow. But you've been real mopey all afternoon."
"Is anything wrong?" asked Rarity. "At home? In your world, I mean?"
"No!" Rainbow snapped. "Well, yeah. Maybe, kinda. Ughh!" She flung up her hooves. "Sorry if I got a little loud. But today has not been the best day of my life. In fact, it's been darn near the worst."
"Oh! What happened?" Fluttershy asked.
"Is it anything we can help with?" Twilight offered.
"I dunno." Rainbow glanced around, as if seeking a cloud to flop down on. Lacking for one, she swooped over and thunked down on the airframe itself. Spike quickly made room for her.
"At school this afternoon," Rainbow said, "they called me into the head office, and... long story short, they're kicking me out of Flight School. Or what amounts to it. They say I'm not going to be able to continue with the professional flight program."
"Seriously?" Applejack asked. "Do ya know why?"
"Yeah. At first I thought it might be my pranking. Though nopony's been able to prove a thing. Ehem! But no, they say it's because I haven't been paying attention in class. And taking too many risks during flight exercises. Basically, that I'm not professional enough." She made air-quotes with her hooves. "And my grades... well, they're not so hot either. But I thought for sure I was squeakin' by. Maybe I was wrong about that, too."
Rainbow stared at the ceiling, and sighed.
"Bottom line is, I'm not gonna be able to complete my logged hours for graduation. Which pretty much kills any hope I have of getting into the Legion. Or any sort of flight-related work. I mean, who's gonna hire a flyer who hasn't logged her hours?"
"Oh! that's terrible," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "Getting into the Legion has been like, Dashie's dream ever since Flight Camp." The pink pegasus landed on the airframe next to Rainbow, and threw a hoof around her in a gentle hug. Rainbow looked uncomfortable at that, but she didn't object to it either.
"But it's more than that," Rainbow went on sadly. "I've always wanted to get into the Wonderbolts. They're like, the Legion's elite flying unit. But they only want the best of the best. So I guess I can kiss that dream goodbye too. And it's just so unfair!" She pounded one forehoof on the other. "I mean, I've been helping Twilight discover and explore entire worlds here. That's why I'm so distracted in class. I keep thinking about that, wondering what we're gonna run into next. And it's not like I can even tell anypony back home about it. I mean, who's gonna believe me?"
She sighed. "And ya know, the absolute worst part of this is, in Twilight's world I'm an explorer, an adventurer, a risk-taker. Heck, Rarity, in your world I'm Captain of the freakin' Air Patrol! Which... at the moment is basically me, but even so. While back home..." Her shoulders sank. "I'm nopony. A flunk-out. A loser. And that just sucks."
Silence fell. The ponies all nodded sympathetically, looking at each other.
"Well!" Rarity finally said. "We can't have that. You know Rainbow, you're always welcome to come live in our world. You and any other like-minded pegasi who'd like to be part of the Air Patrol."
Rainbow made a face. "That's nice of you, Your Highness, but... I'm not sure I'd feel right, just ducking out like that."
"Oh!" Fluttershy said. "Maybe Rarity and I could speak to them. The ponies running the School, I mean. Prove that what you're saying is true? Give you a good character reference to help get you off the ground?"
"That might help," Rainbow allowed. "Just one problem. Cloudsdale doesn't have ground, just clouds. If you two are gonna visit, where would you stand?"
"Hmmm, that does present a problem." Rarity nodded. "I mean, Fluttershy has her levitation spell, and she's trying to help me learn it. But I'm not sure I could manage it for more than a minute or two."
"And even I can't keep it going forever," Fluttershy added. "It takes a lot of power. I really need to rest up after."
The ponies thought about it.
"Well, how about this?" Twilight said. "What if we invited the ponies from Rainbow's school to come here, to the earth-pony world? They could fly here, same as Rainbow and Pinkie do. And we already know the portal spell works to get Rarity and Fluttershy here. You could all meet here, talk things over."
"Not a bad idea," Applejack said. "Kind of neutral ground, like?"
"Indeed!" Rarity said. "I'm certainly open to the idea. Fluttershy?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm all for it. Um... if that's all right?"
"A'fore we do that, tho," Applejack said, "maybe we oughta talk it over with Mayor Mare? Find out if it's okay?"
"Yeah... we probably should." Twilight looked uncomfortable. "And before we do that, maybe I should clue my parents in, too..."
------------------------------
They waited until later in the afternoon. Twilight's parents were sitting in the living room sipping coffee, and chatting over the events of the day.
Twilight trotted in nervously. "Hey, Mom. Hi, Dad."
"Hey there, Button!" Night Light smiled warmly. "What's up?"
"How'd the party with your friends go, dear?" said Twilight Velvet.
"That's... kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." Twilight bit her lip. "You know how I said my friends weren't from around here?"
"Uh huh." Velvet nodded. "You said they were from someplace up in the hills? Like Hoofington or someplace like that?"
"It's actually a bit farther than that. Okay, maybe a lot farther. Look, don't freak out or anything, but I might have figured out a way to travel outside the sky. To other worlds entirely. And my friends, they're from a couple of the closest of those worlds."
Night Light and Velvet looked at each other, amused. "Okayyy..."
Twilight grimaced. Clearly they thought she was just pretending. Well, here goes nothing.
She motioned with a hoof, and the two pegasi swooped in through the front door. "This is Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "They're pegasi, from a world where ponies can fly."
"Hi, Twilight's Mom and Dad!" Pinkie shouted, her wings buzzing like mad.
"'Sup," Rainbow added, trying to act a little more chill.
Twilight motioned her other hoof, and the two unicorns came in from the kitchen, with Applejack and Spike right behind them. "And this is Princess Rarity, and Princess Fluttershy. They come from a world of unicorns, where ponies can work magic."
"How do you do, Mr. and Mrs. Velvet?" Rarity said, bowing genteelly. "A very great pleasure indeed, to make your acquaintance."
"Oooh, likewise!" added Fluttershy.
"And Spike here," Twilight said, motioning for him to stand next to her, "we think he might be from a world where there are dragons. But we haven't found it yet, so we're not sure."
Twilight's parents were staring at the new arrivals, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Twilight looked from one of them to the other, then cringed guiltily.
"Please don't freak out... please don't freak out..."
"Oh my gosh!" Velvet was awestruck. "Unicorns are real? And you're really Princesses, where you're from? Oh my! Should we be bowing or something, Your Highnesses?"
"Ah, there's no need, my dear," Rarity assured her.
"And ponies can actually fly?" Night Light was beside himself. "That is so... amazing! How fast can you go?"
"Depends." Rainbow looked smug. "How fast can ya measure?"
Pinkie Pie swooped over and shook hooves with each of them. And once Night Light and Velvet had gotten over that, they peppered the pegasi and unicorns with questions, both about themselves and about their worlds. To Twilight's great relief her parents didn't seem anxious or worried, just intrigued. Twilight carefully skirted discussion of the cyan void between the worlds, just to avoid frightening them. But otherwise, she was finally able to open up and describe her observations in detail, which was wonderful.
"So," Twilight said when things had calmed down a bit, "we wanted to help Rainbow out with a school issue. And it seems like the best thing to do would be to have the Princesses talk with some important ponies from the pegasus world. And I thought they might all meet here, since it's kind of a convenient middle ground... if that's okay?"
Her parents looked at each other, bemused. "Well!" Velvet said. "We really ought to run that by the Mayor, don't you think?"
"Probably." Night Light grinned. "I'll bet there's some kind of permit we have to apply for. Permission to hold an interspecies conference or the like. Do you think we'd have to apply for diplomatic status?"
"Oh, stop being silly!" Velvet said. "It would only be polite, so the Mayor's in the loop. I mean, it's not every day you have guests from other worlds dropping in." She turned to Twilight and her friends. "I tell you what, dear. Let's go and have a talk with the Mayor tomorrow. I mean, if that works for everypony else?"
"Absolutely, my dear!" Rarity said.
"Us too," Rainbow added, and eyed Pinkie sternly to make her keep quiet.
"And if you're not in a rush," Velvet offered, "how about joining us for supper? You too, Applejack. I just want to hear everything about what your worlds are like. It sounds so fascinating!"
"Goes double for me," Night Light said. "I want to hear more about this Flight School, Rainbow. You make me wish I had wings myself, so I could go there."
"Hey, no problem!" The pegasus looked bemusedly proud.
Twilight looked back and forth between her parents. Everything seemed to be going fine. So... maybe now was a good time to ask? "Mom? Dad?" she asked carefully. "Is it okay if I keep visiting these other worlds? To be with my friends? And to see what other places might be out there? What they're like, who lives there, that kind of thing?"
Her parents looked at each other in surprise. Then Velvet smiled. "Well, I suppose it's all right, honey. We did want you to be able to meet ponies and make new friends. And if we meant from here in Ponyville we should've said so, right? So that one's on us." She reached a hoof to ruffle Twilight's mane. "Just be very careful, dear, and always come home safely."
"And don't start any wars," Night Light added cheekily.
"Dear!" Velvet scolded. "Oh, and do remember to pack a lunch."
"And wear a scarf if it's chilly," Night Light said.
"I will." Twilight all but melted with relief. "Thanks so much, Mom! Thanks, Dad!"
With that settled, the group trotted into the dining room, chatting companionably together. And Applejack looked at Twilight. And smirked.
"Heh! Told ya!"