Solar Spark watched Soft Step trot up first, with Agile Trace following just a step or two behind her, glancing around and taking in the town. That the two were here right now could only mean one thing.
“Did you both get there?” he asked as he stood up from his spot on the bench at the park he was in. He tried to keep his expectations level as they approached, but couldn’t help the smile he had on. He couldn’t imagine any scenario where they got their PonyPads back and were chatting on them.
Agile Trace didn’t smile like Soft Step did until she turned and saw him. It wasn’t the big, wide grin like Soft Step wore, but then again, was that ever Agile’s style? She was too cool for that, and instead put on a simple smile.
“Yeah, it’s us,” she said immediately. “I’d make a joke, but the only one I can think of isn’t one I really wanna say. But yup, here we are. In the flesh… or maybe, in the code?”
“Finally!” Solar Spark was never known to be a hugger by any measure like some of his friends were, but he couldn’t help himself now. He galloped up to them without warning and grabbed them tight, first Soft Step, then Agile Trace. He didn’t know if he ever hugged the latter in his life, either in game or in person, but he did now. Neither pony resisted, and returned them graciously.
“I’ve just been absolutely worried this whole time,” he said as he finally pulled back. “Ever since you guys lost your PonyPads. I’ve just been sitting here drowning in anxiety for days waiting on you both. Celestia said you’d be here soon, but man, you guys sure didn’t make it quick. Did you get here alright? There wasn’t any trouble, was there?”
“Not much after they took our PonyPads in Ohio,” Soft Step answered. “I mean, we did have to push through protesters in Washington, and Agile did get shot at the Experience Center before we got inside, but other than that–”
“Wait, you guys got shot at?” he asked, surprised. “What the heck happened with that? I’d ask if you’re okay, but since you’re here–”
“Well, we were shot at,” Agile Trace explained, “but I was the only one who got shot. And then I woke up and yelled at Celestia for a while, and now… here I am. I’m like Alice in Wonderland.”
“I think that’s what we all are,” Soft Step giggled. “I didn’t get to yell at Celestia though, but I didn’t have a reason to. I did learn though that the conventional wisdom is true, as it turns out. Being a girl in the game makes you a girl in real life.”
“So it seems, I guess,” Solar Spark agreed, Soft Step putting on a bashful smile. The stallion continued smiling, too, as he said, “I can’t say I really expected it, but it makes sense in hindsight. I didn’t realize the gamers who existed before Equestria Online were trying to warn us.”
“They didn’t warn us about having no modesty once the genocide was complete and we were all turned into horses though,” Agile Trace said. She didn’t look terribly uncomfortable, but she was definitely a little bothered by it.
“You’ll get used to it, I think,” Solar Spark explained. “It took me a few days to get past, but you get past it eventually.” He said it, but was made a little self conscious again about it being brought up.
“I mean, Celestia offered to just make it so I didn’t care, and I did that,” Soft Step added. “I’m pretty sure she can do that for you, too, if you ask her. Didn’t she offer that? Or you said you were yelling at her, didn’t you?”
“I was, indeed, and no, she didn’t. I don’t really feel like asking though,” Agile explained. “I’m still way too pissed off at her to trust her fucking around with my head. Not that she can’t probably do that either way, but still. I’ll just deal with it for now, and tell you guys about what got me upset with her later.”
“Good, because I definitely want to hear about it,” Solar Spark said. “But I’m pretty sure right now Composition and Bright Sky and Spell Master wanna see you.”
“Well that’s good, because we wanna see them, too,” Soft Step smiled. “Everything about our trip was exhausting, and even though we’ve been sitting in a car for the last however many days, I’m ready to sit down with you guys and relax.”
“I can’t say I feel any different about that idea,” Agile Trace agreed. “Let’s go.”
Solar Spark looked up at his horn, although frowned when nothing happened. “I forgot I still have to learn all of the spells I had again. That’s something to keep in mind, Soft Step. I bet you’ll have to relearn to fly, too, Agile. For now though, I guess we’ll walk.”
“Walking’s fine. That’s what we’ve been doing anyway.”
“Yeah, gotta take it all in since we’re in here now, right?”
The three walked, Solar Spark watching the two do exactly that and smiling as they did. He’d done the exact same thing as they did. They’d walked through Summer’s Edge about a thousand times by this point, or more, but it was their first time as ponies. There was a little bit of enjoyment he got in not being the last to upload, since he could watch his friends react the same way he did when he got here.
Then he remembered the circumstances leading up to his arrival, and frowned again. “I’m sorry guys,” he said without stopping. “I know you said before that there was nothing to apologize for… err, Agile did at least, but I–”
“But I didn’t lie, and there’s nothing to apologize for,” she insisted. “I promise, and I know Soft Step will tell you the same thing.”
“I would, word for word, probably,” the other mare agreed. “It’s fine. Really.”
“I know it’s fine now, but–”
“But you also know that if I had a problem, I would tell you,” Agile interrupted again. “And since I haven’t said anything to you, there’s no problem to apologize for, okay?”
He sighed at first, but a second later, decided to take the offered out they provided him and smiled again. “Okay,” he agreed. “Thanks for being cool guys.”
“Literally impossible for me not to be,” Agile joked, earning a chuckle from him and a giggle from Soft Step.
It felt a bit weird being casual and friendly like this with the pegasus. Not that he wasn’t either, but casual and friendly before mostly involved talking to the same ponies and not being obvious about stepping over each other. It was strange to see the change, and Solar Spark wondered how long it would last.
Not long, because we both still like the same mare, he thought silently, but didn’t keep the thought in his head for long. Instead he continued forward with them, leading them to Composition’s house, not that they didn’t know where it was at.
It was a good coincidence that Bright Sky and Spell Master were hanging out with her, too. The gray coated mare looked a little depressed when she opened her door, but her expression quickly changed to ecstatic and happy when she saw the two of them. She actually cried in relief when she saw them, and in just a few seconds, they were being invited inside for their second round of hugs. Solar Spark tried not to notice the fact that Composition held onto Agile for about twice as long as she did Soft Step and leaned into her neck, and focused on the idea that after so long, all six of them were finally hanging out in person again.
“The gang’s all back together, finally,” he said when the six of them finally settled down into the couches in the living room, the entire group’s energy extremely high. “It only took about… what? Seven or eight months? Maybe a little longer? It’s been a while, but we’re finally all here again.”
“As ponies though, but I can’t really be too picky about that,” Agile Trace said. She smiled as she stretched out her wings to look them over. “I’m sure it’s gonna be pretty cool having these things.”
“And there’s more girls than guys now,” Composition added, Soft Step smiling bashfully again and glancing away. “That means we have power now. You and Spell Master better watch out.”
“I guess she’s right, Sparky,” Spell Master admitted jokingly. “We’re gonna have to now, won’t we? Soft Step joined the dark side.”
“I joined the winning side,” she spoke up, a little more confidence on her face. “I couldn’t just be stuck with the stallions, could I? That’s a losing effort.”
“So it seems, I guess” Solar Spark finished. “I’m just glad though that we’re all finally here and hanging out again. It’s nice.”
“We have Composition to thank for that though,” Bright Sky spoke up. “I mean, she was the one who came here first. The rest of us just followed behind her.”
“Well if we’re going that route, we should thank the guy who tried to mug me, since that’s the whole reason I’m even here,” Composition said. “We’d all be lost if I hadn’t needed an organ replacement. But anyway, what do we wanna do, guys? Heading out or playing cards? Or just talking? Cause I kinda wanna hear about what happened with Agile and Soft Step.”
“That sounds good for now,” Soft Step said. “Just relaxing and talking for a while. Assuming chess is off the table of course.”
“That boring game definitely is,” Composition confirmed. “But hearing about you both and just talking in general would be nice. That’s what I’d vote for.”
There were no disagreements, and Solar Spark listened intently with the other three at what both of them had to say. They went through it all, starting with hearing the news while they were drinking at Outback Steakhouse and finishing with the two getting shot at and barely getting through to uploading at the Experience Center. Agile Trace left out the part she said before about yelling at Princess Celestia, but he didn’t ask about it yet since it didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it. He could ask later.
“I’m just glad it’s finally over,” Agile ended. “That was honestly exhausting. I never wanna do something like that ever again, and am glad I won’t have to. I can just relax here, thankfully.”
“There’s nothing I agree with more,” Soft Step added. “Like, all of this– it’s unbelievable. Like, there was obviously no way to know that this was legit for sure, but if I did, I would have just uploaded the second it was available. This is amazing.” Both she and Agile smiled happily at that thought, and the entire group agreed with that sentiment.
“Nothing more to worry about now,” Bright Sky finished for them. “This is perfect. It makes sense now why Celestia was so aggressive about making sure everyone emigrated as quickly as possible.”
“I mean, that part’s a little bit shit,” Agile said, “but yeah. I just got here, and it’s already great.”
The mare was still smiling, but Solar Spark noticed it wasn’t quite as wide as it was a few seconds ago. He had an idea about why that might be, although still didn’t know exactly why she said she yelled at Celestia. But he couldn’t imagine it was anything that would change her opinion about everything finally being over.
It all really is over, he thought, settling himself back into the chair as somepony dished out cards and Bright Sky eagerly chatted about hopefully getting engaged to Spell Master soon. It was nothing but smiles from the group, something that made him grin happily. It was a relaxed energy in the room, and a strong sense of contentment radiating from everypony there.
Nothing left to do now except get Mom and Dad settled in and being satisfied, I guess. That’ll be nice. There’s really nothing else to worry about except finding satisfaction.
But then he remembered again how Agile said she screamed at Celestia, and Composition’s depression about her feeling conflicted when she first got here, and realized satisfaction might still be off in the distance, a thick fog obscuring the path to find it.
He tried not to worry about that for now though, and happily played cards with his friends.