//------------------------------//
// The Threat of Loss 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle's Otherworldly Misadventure 
// by ScrimpyMule 
//------------------------------//

	Shortly before noon, Twi pulled into the driveway. She exited the car and made her way to the trunk to gather the groceries. Before she set to the task, however, she heard the front door open and saw John making his way toward her. He closed the trunk and looked into her eyes. Hot tears were pouring from his face, making her worry.

"Honey?" She inquired." What's wrong?"

John didn't respond to her question. He simply took her face in his hands and kissed her with a great deal more passion than usual. Fear filled her as she pondered on what could be the cause of this unusual display of affection, but she simply returned his kiss. When he finally pulled his face from hers, he put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight and loving embrace. She accepted and returned his embrace, but inquired once again as to what was the matter.

"John, what is it? What has you so worked up? You're starting to scare me."

Just as before, John kept silent. He simply held her for a long moment, reveling in her warmth and her smell. Eventually, he pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"Come inside," he said.

"Well, give me a minute. Let me just get the groceries and-"

"Leave them," John interrupted.

Side-by-side, with his arm around her, they made their way into the house. When the living room came into their sight, Twi froze in her tracks. She slowly made eye contact with all of the visitors, whom she thought she would never see again. She simply stood where she was, tearing up and letting a joyous smile break across her face. Her friends, however, did not have the same reaction. They simply sat where they were, staring at her. She couldn't blame them for this. Not only was she human, but she was six months pregnant. 

After several moments, she slowly began to make her way to her mentor, who was in the closest proximity to her immediate location. When she finally came face-to-face with Princess Celestia, they simply gazed into eachother's eyes.

"Twilight?" Princess Celestia said.

Twi wrapped her arms around the Princess's neck and hugged her tightly. 

"Twilight!" all of her friends exclaimed.

She separated from her teacher and hugged all of them one-by-one. Eventually, their reunion settled down and they all sat down for a long conversation. John took his place next to Twi and took her hand in his. 

Twi looked to Spike. "Where's Rarity, Spike?"

"She stayed home with the foals," Spike said. "We knew we were taking a risk by coming here and we didn't know how long we would be gone. We decided that one of us needed to stay in case something happened. I decided that if something was going to happen to one of us, I would rather have it happen to me."

"How did you find me?" Twi asked.

"After you went missing, we started searching all over," said Spike. "After about a week, we finally talked to your parents."

Princess Celestia took her part in the explanation. "Between what they told us about your encounter with them and the research you had left behind, we were able to piece together what had happened. It took all of two months, but I was able to recreate your spell and create another spell that would help us locate you."

Before anyone else could speak, Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Okay, Twilight, who is this guy and why do you look like him? And are you pregnant? What's going on here?"

Twi cleared her throat and began explaining. "Everybody, this is John, he's my husband. And yes, Rainbow, I'm pregnant with our first child."

There were several gasps in the room as this new turn of events was revealed.

"How is that even possible?" Rainbow Dash asked, alarmed. "You've barely been gone for  two months."

The information from earlier in the conversation that had not settled in yet did so now, leaving John and Twi in shock. 

"Two months?" John said. "She's been with me for three and a half years."

There were more gasps in the room and Celestia was the only non-human who had the strength to speak past the shock. "How?"

Twi simply looked at John, saying nothing. John was no scientist, but  he still understood more about the workings of this world than she had come to.

"It could be a difference in the passage of time between our two worlds," John said. That's only one idea, tough. I suppose that whatever method you used to get here may have distorted time, somehow. There's really no way of knowing."

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and let out a deep, exasperated sigh. The task that they had come for was now far more complicated and painful than she could ever have anticipated. 

Slowly, Twi began recounting her story from the point where she had suffered the awkward meeting with her parents. "After the spell went wrong, I blacked out. I woke up in the middle of a field in this world, with this body and no magic. Luckly, John happened to be the first one to find me. He brought me home and let me stay while I looked for a way to get back to Equestria. After about a month of searching, I just gave up. There was no way for me to get back without magic. Our relationship took off from there." Twi finished her story and then asked the question that had been on her mind since laying eyes on them. "How are you all still in your original forms? Why didn't you transform like I did?"

Princess Celestia cleared her throat and spoke. "I think it's because we are still connected to Equestria. You see, the spell you created isn't actually a teleportation spell. It's actually a spell utilizes portals. It seems to create a portal, pull you in, and spit you out so fast that you don't recognize that it's all done with portals and you simply mistake it for teleportation. When I discovered this, I found a way to open a portal without being sucked in and keep the portal open until I use my magic to close it. I think that when your portal to this world opened and closed, your connection to Equestria was severed. As a result, you took the same form as John and lost your magic. Our portal is still open, so we're still connected to our world and are able to keep our bodies and our abilities."

Twi and John pondered on this. It made sense and answered the questions surrounding Twi's transformation.

John suddenly grew alarmed. "Wait, where is this portal of yours?"

"It's in a small, wooded area about ten miles to the southwest," responded the Princess.

John let out a sigh of relief. He recognized the area she was talking about. It was a gathering of trees in the middle of nowhere, five miles from the nearest house. It was at least a mile from the nearest road, which was made of dirt and rarely used. To say that the chances of somebody discovering the portal were slim would be an overstatement. This was good, as the last thing Equestria needed was for a human to accidentally stumble upon the portal and tell everybody about it. He shuddered as the thought of the Brony community catching wind of the portal's existence came to mind. He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind, knowing it wouldn't be an issue.

Eventually, Princess Celestia began on the subject that they had all been avoiding. "Twilight, we came here to take you back to Equestria with us."


The room went silent and Twi felt John's grip on her hand go tighter and stiffen. 

"I'm sorry, Princess," Twi said. "As you can see, I've made a life for myself in this world. I have a family here. I can't leave my husband here alone."

"I understand, but we need you in Equestria, with us," argued the Princess. "You're the Element of Magic, and thus you are a vital part of Equestria. As you know, the Elements of Harmony are useless unless they are all together. I'm sure that you are also aware that the Elements have proven to be Equestria's only hope on several occasions in your lifetime, alone. Your status as the Element of Magic, even in this world, will be upon you for the rest of your life. A new Element can't be appointed while you live. If you don't come with us, Equestria will have no chance if any threat ever surfaces. We need you there, Twilight, please."

Twi felt John's grip tighten even more and she responded by allowing her own grip to tighten. She couldn't be expected to just leave John behind and raise the child on her own, but she couldn't just leave Equestria to whatever fate would befall it if she weren't there. She felt lost and confused and she had no idea what she should do. She stood and separated her hand from John's. "I just need some time to think." She made her way to the bedroom and closed the door. She sat down on the bed and began to sob uncontrollably.

John stood and began to go after Twi. She was confused and she needed him.

"John, please understand," Princess Celestia said. "We need her with us. The safety of Equestria depends on it."

"I understand," John said. "Now I need you to understand that Equestria isn't the only thing at stake here. You're talking about ripping apart a family. You're talking about taking a woman and her unborn child from the husband and father they have come to love and depend on. You're talking about taking from a man that which has become his sole reason for living and depriving him of the joy of fatherhood. You can't comprehend what you're asking us to do. Now if you'll excuse me, my wife and I have a lot to talk about." He turned and made his way to the bedroom.

~~~~~

"What are we gonna do, Princess?" Spike asked.

The Princess shook her head. "I don't know."

"Princess," began Rainbow Dash. "I know this is going to sound bad, but we could just take her. She doesn't have magic, so she wouldn't put up much of a fight. Maybe we could take away her magic so she couldn't come back here."

There was silence in the room. Nobody could blame Rainbow for thinking of such a cruel solution, as it had crossed all their minds in their desperation. The only thing she could be accused of is being bold enough to say what everyone else was thinking.

"We could never do that," Spike finally said. "Twilight would never forgive us, no matter what we did to try and make it up to her. I know how she and John feel about each other, because Rarity and I are the same way. If we separate then, she will never stop trying to find a way to get back to him. Even if we take away her magic, she will always be trying to come up with a way to come back here. Not only that, but if we force her to come back with us, there would be no point in trying to protect Equestria anymore because we would be going against everything that Equestria stands for and everything we believe in. The only way we're going to get her back home is to convince her to come back with us. No force and no tricks."

No one argued the matter further. Spike was right and they all knew it.