The Main 7 were in the familiar free-fall state as they crossed from one world back to their home. After the thousands of miles she had travelled in the Wings Around The Globe Rally, Rainbow Dash was looking forward for a well-deserved rest.
"I cannot wait till we get home. I'm beyond tuckered out." She said as she stretched.
"Can't say ah blame ya, Rainbow. That must've been one heck of ah workout." Applejack said.
"You can definitely say that again, AJ" Rainbow answered.
"It was nice meeting new folks and staying in such a peaceful and quiet place, but, I'm also glad to be heading home." Rarity said.
"Ah, don't hide the fact that you were complainin' of sleepin' on nothin' but straw when we were there." Applejack said.
"It was all itching and dusty and...ugh." Rarity winced. "Just because they didn't have beds for us, didn't mean we had to be treated like farm animals."
"I-I didn't mind it." Fluttershy said quietly.
"You can't expect every world to give you your every need, Rarity." Twilight said.
"Oh, please. A lady, such as myself, deserves some amount of luxury." The fashionista said indignantly.
The others rolled their eyes.
"Oh, I can't wait to tell everypony about our adventure." Pinkie said excitedly. "I'll tell the Cakes, the twins, Zecora, Maud Pie, Marble Pie, Limestone Pie-"
Twilight put a hoof against Pinkie's mouth.
"I think it's best we don't go into a whole lot of detail. The last thing we need is ponies getting the wrong idea about inter-dimensional travel and, what we are essentially talking about, aliens. I don't hold any offense to Dusty or Skipper or Chug or any of the friends we’ve made.” The purple alicorn said.
"Kinda have to agree with Twi on that one." Applejack said.
"Why's that?" Spike asked.
"Let's be honest. A lot of the ponies in Ponyville are a bit...paranoid. So them knowing of other worlds with creatures other then ponies may lead to unnecessary panic." Applejack explained.
"Exactly what I was thinking.” Twilight said. “I mean, remember Zecora?”
“Ah, man." Pinkie pouted.
A few seconds later, a small opening began to form at the end of the portal. It got larger and larger the Main 7 got closer.
"Well, this is it. It seems we’re nearing our Intended destination." Twilight annouced.
They all shielded their eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter until...
They all hopped out one at a time back in the Cutie Map room. Nothing seemed to have changed while they were gone.
“We’re finally home.” Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"I hope Starlight didn't get too lonely while we were gone." Twilight said worriedly.
"I'm sure she's fine, darling." Rarity said.
"Yeah, but you could have at least told me you were leaving to another world." A voice came.
The gang jumped a little and turned to see the lavender unicorn casually sitting in Pinkie's designated chair with smug smile on her face.
"How long were you sitting there?" Spike asked.
"About two minutes. The princess told me you were coming back soon." Starlight answered.
"Wait. Celestia is here, too?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, my little ponies and dragon." A soft voice said.
Everypony turned to the doorway to see the princess of the sun making her way inside the room.
"I'm able to sense when the return portal is about to form." Celestia said.
"Uh. Exactly how long were we gone, Princess?" Applejack asked.
"About two days And don't worry, I kept Starlight company whenever I could." The princess said.
"Wait, but, we were at Propwash Junction for almost two weeks. How could we be gone for only TWO days?!” Twilight asked in surprised.
"Propwash...wha?" Starlight was very confused.
"Time can work differently from one world compared to another. It's something that is almost impossible to explain, I'm afraid." Celestia explained.
Twilight was left with more questions then answers. But then something else came to her mind. Her ears flatten against her head.
"Umm, Princess?" She asked uneasily.
"Twilight, there's no need for the formalities. Just Celestia will suffice." The solar princess said softly.
"I know, but, you know how you said before we left that doing the friendship mission is more important than making notes and observations about the new world." Twilight said, getting more anxious.
"Yes, I do. Why do you ask, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
Twilight couldn't help but sweat just a little bit.
"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked out of concern.
"Well, Pinkie had my one of my journals with me and gave it to me. I didn't want to disobey you, but I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, Celestia." Twilight said sadly.
She lowered her heard, expecting the princess told scold her in some way. But, all there was a slight giggle from her.
"Oh, Twilight. There's no need for apologies. I may have been a bit to harsh about learning new things from the new world. I know you enjoy making notes and observations about new things, that's what makes you, you." Celestia explained holding Twilight's chin with her hoof. "It's not up to me what you choose to do in these missions, note-taking or not.
Twilight smiled and hugged her mentor.
"Thank you, Celestia." She said.
“You’re welcome, my faithful student.” Celestia returned the hug.
Twilight then turned to Starlight.
"And I'm sorry for leaving on such short-notice and not telling you." She apologized.
"Apology accepted. Just make sure you tell me next time." Starlight said.
Twilight nodded again.
"Well, ah think it's time we all headed home." Applejack said before yawning.
"Agreed, darling. I could go for a nice shower." Rarity said.
"Same here." Rainbow agreed.
"All my animals are probably wondering where I am. I should probably hurry back." Fluttershy said.
"I hope we get more journeys like this. That was fun." Pinkie said happily.
"Maybe not for a while, Pinkie. I'm exhausted." Rainbow said as she left the room.
Pinkie hopped after her. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity left soon after.
"Twilight, how about you tell us about you time in the new world." Celestia said.
"Oh, yes, there's so much to talk about!" Twilight said excitedly.
For several hours she talked about meeting with Dusty and the gang, Rainbow joining the Wings Around The Globe Rally, Skipper's backstory, Propwash Junction, everything. Celestia and Starlight listened intently, while Spike left to take a bubble bath.
Soon, Celestia had to leave back to Canterlot, leaving only Twilight and Starlight.
"I hope next time I'll get to join you guys. It was great talking to Celestia, but it gets kinda annoying being left by myself with all the friendship tests you give me." Starlight said.
"I hope so, too, Starlight. It's such a unique way to learn things about friendship. Believe me, you’ll love it.” Twilight said.
“I don’t doubt it.” The lavender unicorn chuckled.
It had been about a week since the Main 7 journeyed to the new world. They talked a little bit about with their families, but, as promised, didn't go too in-depth about it.
At this time, Rainbow Dash was currently in Wonderbolt training, again. She used all she learned from Skipper to her advantage. Rainbow weaved around the other trainees with sharp turns and with pin-point precision. She past a Purple pegasus with an electric blue mane with a radial-G pass and zoomed by. Down below, another pegasus looked on with a look of shock.
She was bright yellow with an orange, fiery mane and tail. Her eyes were bright orange and her cutie was of a burst of flames. Lastly she wore a blue blazer with whistle around her neck. Her name...was Spitfire.
"When was she able to do that? I've never seen her do this before." She said in disbelief.
Twilight walked up to her.
"Let's just say a new friend of hers helped her train to do all that." Twilight said subtly.
"Huh. Who is this new friend of hers? I'm I able to meet them?" Spitfire asked.
"Unfortunately, he lives a long, long ways away from here." Twilight said. "But, he's a really nice guy and really experienced.
"Bummer. He could've been a great inclusion to the Wonderbolts." The coach mare said.
"I’m sure he would be interested. Then again, he is retired.” The purple alicorn said in a sure tone.
"Well, regardless, he’s missing out." Spitfire simply said.
She went back to coaching the trainees, leaving Twilight to her own thoughts.
I wonder what Dusty and the others are up to right now?
The USS Flysenhower was cruising along in the North Pacific along with some new faces. It had been a couple weeks since Dusty's victory at the Wings Around The Globe Rally. Because of his success, he had received the status as honorary Jolly Wrench. Both he and Skipper were waiting on the Flysenhower.
Dusty, with a new paint job, and Skipper were lifted onto the top deck.
"Attention on deck. Victory!" The Sergeant yelled.
"Victory!" The soldiers repeated then saluted
"It's an honor to be here." Skipper said before saluting.
Some fighter jets flew overhead.
"Hook them up." One of the forklifts ordered.
Both planes were hooked to the catapults. Dusty readied his rudder and elevators and throttled his engine to life.
"You ready, wingman?" He asked to Skipper.
"Roger that." The veteran answered.
"An honorary Jolly Wrench. How's that feel, Dusty?" Echo asked.
"It feels great." Dusty said enthusiastically.
"Back in the saddle again, eh, Skipper?" Bravo asked.
"Well, they didn't have these fancy toys the last time I did this." Skipper replied, referring to the catapults.
"Nothing to it. They hook you up, you nod to the shooter over there, and hang on!" Dusty explained.
A forklift signaled for release and in a split second, Dusty and Skipper shot forward at incredible speed. They took to the air and flew around the airspace. Skipper was having the time of his life.
"Yeah!" He said victoriously.
The flew side-by-side. doing laps around the ship. They looked at each other and smiled.
“If only Rainbow and the others were here for this.” Dusty said to himself.
Then he got an idea.
"Last one back to Propwash buys!" Dusty challenged.
"You're on!" Skipper said competitively.
“Wahoo!” Dusty exclaimed.
Twilight watched Rainbow continue to use Skipper’s training to her advantage. Though, she did see her talk about her new moves to the other pegasi. Twilight sighed in wonder.
"What new adventures await us?"
Tara Strong - Twilight Sparkle
Ashleigh Ball - Applejack and Rainbow Dash
Tabitha St. Germain - Rarity
Andrea Libman - Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy
Cathy Weseluck - Spike
Nicole Oliver - Princess Celestia
Kelly Sheridan - Starlight Glimmer
Dane Cook - Dusty Crophopper
Stacy Keach - Skipper
Brad Garrett - Chug
Teri Hatcher - Dottie
Danny Mann - Sparky
Cedric the Entertainer - Leadbottom
Carlos Alazraqui - El Chupacabra
Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowling
Brent Musburger - Brent Mustangburger
John Cleese - Bulldog
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Rochelle
Priyanka Chopra - Ishani
Roger Craig Smith - Ripslinger
Gabriel Iglesias - Ned and Zed
Oliver Kalkofe - Franz
Val Kilmer - Bravo
Anthony Edwards - Echo
Sinbad - Race pitty/Roper