Chapter 13: Homecoming
Hours had passed since Garble had found Smolder. Along with Aaron. Ragnarok was waiting in the Dragon Lands, waiting for the tracking spell to locate his target. Ember was still in her electric cage, trying to get out.
"You'll never get away with this!" Ember shouted. "The ponies will stop you!"
"Not if I take them out first!" Ragnarok said. "Starting with the leader of all those ponies, Princess Celestia!"
"I don't think so," Ember said. "For two reasons. One, the ponies and dragons have a peace treaty. I know, because I'm the Dragon Lord. And two, Princess Celestia, along with her sister, Princess Luna, have both retired. Leaving the throne to the new high princess, Twilight Sparkle."
"Well then," Ragnarok said. "I'll make an example of those ponies. By showing them that dragons are to rule all! I'll show them by taking out that new high Princess, Twilight Sparkle."
"NO!!" Ember said.
"And I'll let you watch as I take down that Princess!" Ragnarok said. He then sensed something. He then smirked and said, "So that's where the jade dragon is." He then started flying up with the Bloodstone Scepter and Ember, flying towards Ponyville. "Prepare for your doom, Equestria!"
In the School of Friendship, Twilight was preparing some supplies. She then heard somepony open the door. She turned to see Starlight standing there. Along with Star Swirl the Bearded, Shining Armor, Cadance, Flurry Heart, Sunburst, and the Young 6, except for Smolder.
"I'm glad you two could make it," Twilight said, walking up to her brother and Cadance. "We're going to need as much protection in case Ragnarok comes for Aaron."
"If it means protecting Equestria, especially my sister, I'd protect whoever may need it, no matter what," Shining said.
"Thanks, Shining," Twilight said. She then looked towards her former students, looked around and asked, "Where are Aaron and Smolder?"
"We were waiting for him to come back to our room last night, but he never came," Gallus said.
"Smolder didn't come back to our room either," Silverstream added.
"Weird," Twilight said. "Well, if Garble is trying to take Aaron to Ragnarok, I'm gonna..."
Just then, Garble busted in, shouting, "Where's my sister?!"
"What?!" Twilight and the rest of the Young 6 asked in unison.
"Where could they be?" Twilight asked.
"I can find them," Starlight said. She then pulled out the bag of Cheetos and said, "We'll just use the locater spell with this and locate them."
"Good idea," Twilight said.
Starlight then lit up her horn and she pulled up a map. She then used the Cheetos bag to locate where Aaron was. She then said, "It seems that they're located in..." She then sighed. "The Everfree Forest. More importantly, the Castle of the Two Sisters."
"The clubhouse," Gallus said. "Of course. Let's go."
"You may be right," Twilight said. "It might be best if we do this spell in the most magical place in Equestria, the Treehouse of Harmony."
"Oh, right," Star Swirl said. "Since Sombra destroyed the Tree of Harmony and those six students rebuilt it into a clubhouse. It might be best to do the spell there." Then they all headed out of there.
The group arrived at the Treehouse of Harmony, along with the rest of the Mane 6. When they got inside, they saw Aaron and Smolder sleeping together, on a sofa that was put in there before Twilight became High Princess of Equestria.
"Aww..." Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy cooed before giggling.
"Alright, wake 'em up," Star Swirl said. "We got to start the spell."
"Okay," Twilight said. She then walked over to the two sleeping dragons and she shook them awake. Smolder woke up shocked and she tackled Twilight. "Whoa! Smolder, it's me!"
Smolder realized who she tackled and said, "Whoops. Sorry." She then got off of Twilight. Aaron then got up from the sofa and looked around.
"Whoa!" Aaron said. "Is there a party going on?"
"No time for a party when it comes to getting you home and away from that mean meany mean dragon!" Pinkie said.
"Good point," Aaron said.
Twilight then looked at Aaron's face and asked, "Have you been up all night?"
"Since I got sucked into a portal at night, I thought I'd rather stay up all night here and then go straight to bed when I go home," Aaron said. "Even though it's..." He then thought of something. "What time is it?"
"Eight in the morning," Twilight said.
"Huh," Aaron said. "Guess I got just a half hour of sleep there."
"Actually, that'd make sense," Twilight said. She then saw Smolder, who also had bags under her eyes. "Let me guess... you also stayed up all night just so he would stay awake?"
"It was my idea," Smolder said. "Plus, we watched some movies on his computer to pass the time." She then yawned. "I might be sleepy, but it was worth it."
"This'll be just like when the Tantabus invaded our dreams," Twilight said. "Well, we should get started on the portal."
"I'll open the portal that will lead to Aaron's world," Star Swirl said. He then looked towards Twilight. "Twilight, since you're able to transform creatures from one species to another, you'll be able to make the transformation enchantment." He then looked towards Starlight. "And since you've mastered the time travel spells, Starlight Glimmer, you'll be able to transport him to the right time of when he left his world to our world."
"Right," Starlight said. "And probably with that, we'll be able to align time lines. When's the date in your world, Aaron?" She was looking towards Aaron when she asked.
Aaron thought about it and said, "May 24, 2022."
"May 24?" Twilight asked. "That's today's date. Odd."
"At least we won't worry about date aligning," Twilight whispered towards Starlight, making her snicker.
"Okay," Star Swirl said. "It's time to get this young human back to where he..." Just then, the ground started shaking instantly, making everycreature go off balance.
"What was that?!" Aaron asked.
"Oh, no!" Garble said. "It's him! Ragnarok!"
The Young 6, Shining Armor and Cadance ran towards a balcony and saw Ragnarok, right outside the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters.
"Shoot... He's bigger than I thought he was!" Smolder said. Ragnarok looked and saw the Young 6, Shining Armor and Cadance. He then roared.
"I'm coming for you, Twilight Sparkle! And the jade dragon as well!" Ragnarok said after he roared.
Shining Armor and Cadance lit up their horns and a barrier of light blue and magenta auras surrounded the Treehouse. Shining then called out, "Start the portal!"
Star Swirl then lit up his horn. He then started locating Aaron's world, more importantly, where the portal on his world was exactly. He then smiled.
"Found his home," Star Swirl said. He then created a portal to the exact location where the portal was in Aaron's world. "Twilight, the enchantment!"
"Got it!" Twilight said. She then cast a spell and a beam of magic was shot into the portal. "Okay, it's good enough for..." She was then cut off.
"Starlight!" Star Swirl said. "Now the time spell!"
"Got it," Starlight said. She then cast a spell and it went into the portal.
"Okay, Aaron," Star Swirl said. "It's time for you to go home. Say goodbye to your friends." But then, the place started shaking. Ragnarok was banging on the barrier. "And do it quickly."
Aaron then looked towards the Young 6. He walked up to them, trying to keep his balance during the banging. He eventually made it to them.
"Well... I guess this is it," Aaron said, trying to keep his balance.
"I guess it is," Gallus said.
"Gallus, don't ever give up on what you do," Aaron said. "Your future will turn out bright."
Gallus smirked and he and Aaron did a fist bump. Aaron then looked towards Silverstream and said, "Silverstream, even though you were afraid of the Storm King before, remember this, if something's bothering you, remember, you have good friends by your side. Don't ever forget that."
"I won't," Silverstream said. She then hugged Aaron. She then let go of him and he continued with the others.
Aaron then walked up to Sandbar and said, "Sandbar, you really need to see a counselor about those weird fears of yours. And you have to do something about the music on your music player."
"Yeah, I know," Sandbar said. "I wish this wasn't the last time we see each other again."
"Me too, pal," Aaron said. Then the two bumped fist to hoof. Aaron then looked towards Yona and said, "Yona, you keep doing what you're doing. And try to be careful when you smash something."
"Yona will be careful," Yona said. She then pulled Aaron into a bone crushing hug.
"Yona... can't... breathe..." Aaron said. Just then, Yona let go of him. Aaron then got up and walked towards Ocellus. He then said, "Ocellus, you don't have to worry about ending up like Chrysalis. You make your own choice. Be sure it's always the one chosen by your heart."
Ocellus smiled and said, "Thanks, Aaron." She then hugged him. She then let go of him.
Aaron then looked towards Smolder, who had her backside facing him. Aaron then walked towards her and said, "Smolder. I guess this is..." He was then cut off when Smolder turned around quickly and hugged him tightly.
"I wish this wasn't the last time..." Smolder said, tears coming out of her eyes.
"I know," Aaron said. He then hugged her back. "But I know you'll be okay."
Garble leaned towards Starlight and asked, "Those two aren't..."
"Well, they were," Starlight said. "Until today."
"Oh, boy," Garble said. "This is gonna be heartbreaking."
Just then, the pounding started getting more rapid. Ragnarok roared, making the shaking worse. Aaron then went off balance and he bumped his head on a wall, him going unconscious.
"Aaron!" Smolder said, running up to him.
"Oh, no!" Star Swirl said. "He has to get through the portal!"
"Then we'll just throw him in!" Garble said.
"It won't work!" Star Swirl said. "He has to walk in because this portal has a little bit of resistance! The portal won't be open for long!"
Smolder then clenched her fists and said, "Then I'll carry him through the portal myself!"
"Smolder, no!" Twilight said. "The portal will..."
"If Aaron doesn't go home, we'll all die," Smolder said. "And even if I get stuck on the other side... I'll never forget this place." She then grabbed Aaron's backpack and put it on. She then picked up Aaron and started carrying him towards the portal.
"Smolder, no!" Garble said. "I just got you back! I can't lose you!"
"I know, Gar-Gar," Smolder said. "But I have to do this." She then walked through the portal, taking Aaron with her. As soon as they went through all the way, the portal vanished. Just then, the banging started slowing.
"NOOOOOO!!!" Ragnarok roared. He was getting drowsy. "Must... stay... awake...!" He then tried slapping himself to stay awake.
Twilight, Star Swirl and Starlight ran towards the balcony, along with the rest of the Mane 6, the rest of the Young 6, Sunburst and Flurry Heart.
"He's trying to stay awake!" Rainbow Dash said. "What do we do?!" Twilight then lit up her horn and a portal to Tartarus opened up. Ragnarok was then pushed through. Rainbow Dash then rushed to grab the Bloodstone Scepter, and she threw it towards Ember, who was still in the electric cage next to Ragnarok, and she used it to free herself.
"Good to be free again," Ember said. She then used the Bloodstone Scepter to force Ragnarok into the portal. After Ragnarok was through, the portal closed. She then flew towards the others and said, "Thanks. I don't know what you all did, but it worked." She then looked around. "Where's Smolder?"
The Young 6 were giving sad looks. Twilight then said, "It's... gonna be hard to explain."
"At least they're safe," Star Swirl said. "As long as they're in Aaron's world as humans, they'll be safe."
"Actually..." Twilight said, grinning. "That's... what I was trying to tell you. The transformation spell I used... it was only meant for one creature."
"What does that mean?" Starlight asked.
"It means... both of them might, and I mean might, be able to transform from dragon to human and vice versa whenever they want to," Twilight said, giving a sheepish grin.
"Oh, that can't be too good on their part," Star Swirl said.
The portal from Equestria to Earth was like how it did in Equestria Girls. Smolder was screaming all the way through a spiral of white with colorful streaks going around.
And on Earth, the night Aaron was sucked into the portal, the portal stayed in the closet. Just then, Smolder and Aaron were thrown from the portal, still in dragon form. They both landed on one of the two beds that were in the hotel that Aaron said that he and his aunt were living at the time.
Smolder then recovered and looked around. She then said, "Wow. This place is..." She was cut off when she heard a door opening, and a woman's voice came in.
"Aaron, I'm home!"
Smolder gasped. She then saw Aaron, still as a dragon. She quietly said, "Uh oh." She then quickly dragged Aaron towards the space between the beds and then she got under the covers of one of the beds and covered her entire body, making sure that her tail didn't make it too obvious that something was wrong. Just then, the door opened, revealing Aaron's aunt Marissa. She was in her late 30's with brown hair, green eyes, light shade of skin, wearing a pink business blouse, a black skirt, and black high heeled shoes.
"Huh," Marissa said. "Guess he's already asleep." She then smiled and said, "Sweet dreams, Aaron." She then closed the door. Just then, Smolder uncovered herself and sighed in relief.
"That was close," Smolder said. She then looked down at Aaron and got confused. "Weird. I thought the portal was supposed to turn us into humans." She then shrugged her shoulders, got out of bed, and picked up Aaron to put him into the bed. She then pulled the covers up over Aaron's body. She then started getting into the other bed, but then she turned back to Aaron. She then smiled and then she got into the same bed as Aaron. She smiled, kissed Aaron's cheek and said, "Good night, Aaron." She then wrapped an arm around Aaron's body, and fell asleep.