Chapter 7 - Reunited
*Nyx’s P.O.V.*
“Joshua?” I called out frantically, “Joshua?! Where are you?!”
The last thing I remember was getting the teleportation spell to work right, but for some reason, I ended up back in the library. Now, I’m in some kind of burning wasteland, trying to find Joshua.
“Joshua! Are you there?!” I called again, “Please answer me!”
“Nyx? Is that you?”
“Joshua!”
I heard his voice to the left of me. I turn and see him walking slowly forward. I begin to rush over to him. Suddenly, the ground beneath him lights up and begins to crack. Then...
BOOM!
...
“NOOOOO!!!”
I shoot my eyes open and look around frantically. No burning wasteland. It was all just a dream. I breathe a sigh of relief, but then I notice that I’m inside the library, in my room, or what looks like my room. I realize that something is missing.
“The bed that Joshua and I share,” I say to myself, “Where is it?”
Just then, I hear the door open. I look over and see Twilight and Spike standing there.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked me.
“I think so,” I say.
“Are you sure?” she asked again, “You screamed in your sleep.”
“Just a bad dream,” I reply then adding dejectedly, “I guess all that work was for nothing.”
“What work?” Twilight asked confused.
“Trying to teleport to a different dimension to find my little brother, remember?” I say to her.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t recall,” Twilight said.
So it’s true. The spell did work. I’m in a different dimension, but did I end up in the right one though?
“Excuse me,” Twilight said interrupting my thoughts, “but who are you?”
“My name is Nyx, reformed filly reincarnation of Nightmare Moon,” I say, “And no need to tell me who you two are, I know.”
“Looks like you were right, Twilight,” Spike said looking at her, “It is the big sister of the new kid.”
“New kid?” I asked. Then suddenly, I realized who it could possibly be! “Wait, Joshua! Is Joshua here?!”
“Yes, he is but calm down,” Twilight said, “You passed out the minute you arrived here.”
“Well, my Twilight said that spell would take a while to recharge,” I said reflectively.
“If you don’t mind, I have a few questions to ask of you,” Twilight said, “When Joshua came here to visit, he mentioned you, but didn’t give that much detail.”
“Well, okay,” I said.
Road to Sweet Apple Acres...
*Joshua’s P.O.V.*
As we head toward Applejack's farm, I keep looking over at Toby a few times. Ever since we left the Carousel Boutique, he's been looking down. I slow down, walk around behind Fluttershy, come up next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. He then looked up at me.
"Are you okay, Toby?" I ask him. He then gave me a small smile.
"I'll be okay," he said, "It's hard to believe how much you and I have in common, you know?"
"Yeah," I say, "But are you sure, you'll be okay?"
Toby stops for a minute, and I stop next to him. Fluttershy stops a few steps in front of us and looks back at us.
"Yeah, I will," Toby said nodding. He then put his arms around me. I haven't hugged another human for a long time. I smiled at him and hugged him back. I saw Fluttershy looking at us with a smile. After we finished the hug, I hear a whooshing sound. We all look up and see Rainbow Dash flying overhead.
"Auntie Rainbow!!!" Toby calls out waving at her. Rainbow then looked back, saw us and came flying toward us. She landed on the ground in front of Fluttershy.
"Hey guys!" she said, "What's going on?"
"Hello, Rainbow," Fluttershy said, "We were our way to visit Applejack and show her our new friend." She then looked back at us and smiled. "Rainbow, this is Joshua. He's from a different Equestria where Twilight adopted him."
"Hi," I said to Rainbow. Rainbow smiled at me and came up to me and Toby.
"Nice to meet ya," Rainbow said giving me a noogie. She then turned to Toby. "How are you doing, awesome nephew?"
"I'm doing okay Auntie Rainbow," Toby said giving Rainbow a hug, "We're going to see Auntie Applejack and my big sisters."
"I was on my way there as well," Rainbow said, "How about I join ya?"
"Okay!" Toby said breaking the hug.
"Hey, how about we fly there? It'll get us there quicker."
"Can we Momma?" Toby asked Fluttershy.
"I'm okay with it, but are you okay with it, Joshua?" Fluttershy asked me. I felt a little nervous about that. The only time I've ridden a flying pony was when Princess Celestia first brought me to Ponyville, and I haven't ridden on a flying one since. But then again, it did sound fun and it would get us to the farm faster.
"Sure, Fluttershy," I said nodding. Rainbow and Fluttershy then got down low enough for me and Toby to get on. Toby got on Fluttershy's back while I got on Rainbow's. Toby and I wrapped our arms around our rides’ necks, and the two pegasi then stood back up and started flapping their wings. We then started flying toward Sweet Apple Acres.
Golden Oaks Library...
*Twilight’s P.O.V.*
“...when she gave out her punishment, I was put to sleep, so I didn’t really feel what was going on. When I woke up, it was night, and I saw you standing there in front of me, but bigger than me. I looked down at myself and saw I was a filly again, and my voice had been returned to normal. Then you told me that Princess Luna took back all her old powers and the memories that were never mine in the first place. My ‘punishment’ was that I had to live with you. The next day, we discovered this.”
The small black filly slid the sheets covering her flank to show a dark blue, kite-shaped shield with a royal blue crescent moon on it.
“After asking Princess Celestia about it, we discovered that it meant that my talent is protecting other ponies, no matter who they are.”
“That is a very interesting story, Nyx,” I said to her, “And you say this was shortly after the Crystal Empire came back?”
“That’s right,” she replied, “Now you said Joshua came here to see you?”
“Yes, but he’s with Fluttershy and Toby right now,” I said.
“Toby?” she asked raising an eyebrow, “Who’s Toby?”
“Well, one year ago...”
Sweet Apple Acres...
*Toby’s P.O.V.*
When we got to the entrance of Auntie Applejack’s farm, we saw my big sisters about to go in with Auntie Applejack behind them. Before she went in, she looked up and saw us coming up.
“Howdy, Fluttershy! Howdy Rainbow!” she said waving.
“Hey, AJ,” Auntie Rainbow said as the two of them knocked their hooves together.
“Hello Applejack,” Momma said. Joshua and I then got off of Auntie Rainbow and Momma’s backs.
“Hey there, sugarcube,” Auntie Applejack said as I came up and gave her a hug.
“Hi Auntie Applejack,” I said to her. She then looked over at Joshua.
“Well, hey there,” she said, “And what’s yer name?”
“My name’s Joshua,” he replied, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice meetin’ ya too, sugarcube,” she said reaching over and noogying Joshua’s head, “What brings y’all here?”
“We were just introducing Joshua to everypony else,” Momma said, “He’s from a different Equestria where Twilight adopted him.”
“And I’m mainly here to pick up Scootaloo,” Auntie Rainbow said.
“Well, we were all just about to have lunch,” Auntie Applejack said, “Why don’t y’all join us?”
“Sounds good to me!” Auntie Rainbow replied.
“I’d love to,” Momma said.
“Me too!” Joshua and I said together.
“Hey sis! You comin’?” Apple Bloom called from inside.
“Be right there, AB!” Auntie Applejack called back, “We’ve just got some guests here to have lunch with us.” She then turned back to us. “C’mon in y’all.” We followed her inside to the kitchen. I didn’t see Papa Big Mac or Granny Smith at all though.
“Auntie Applejack, where are Granny Smith and Papa Big Mac?” I asked her.
“They’re visiting relatives in Manehatten for the week,” she replied.
We entered the kitchen, and saw my big sisters all sitting next to each other on one side of the table.
“Hi big sisters!” I said waving to them. They looked up and smiled at me.
“Toby!” they all said. They got out of their seats, rushed over to me, and hugged me. I hugged them back.
“It’s good to see ya, little brother,” Apple Bloom said. We then pulled away from each other, and then Scootaloo saw Joshua.
“Hey look guys,” she said, “Another human, like Toby.”
“Neato!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Big sisters,” I said to them, “This is Joshua. He’s from an Equestria different to this one.”
“So y’all know who we are, right?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah,” Joshua said nodding, then pointing and naming each one, “You’re Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, right?”
“Wow,” Scootaloo said, “You’re good.”
"Alright, everyone, y'all can get acquainted with each other while we're eatin'," Auntie Applejack said guiding us to the table.
Minutes later...
After having a yummy lunch with everyone, Momma, Joshua, and I are now heading back to see Auntie Twilight. Hopefully she found something that can send Joshua back to his Equestria. I'm going to miss him when he goes, but maybe there's a way I can see him again. Still, it's nice to have another human as a friend.
We finally made it back to Auntie Twilight's library. Momma knocked on the door.
"Coming!"
It was Uncle Spike. He must've been back from his lunch with Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna. The door opened up and there was Uncle Spike.
"Oh, hey guys!" he said.
"Hello, Spike," Momma said, "How'd your lunch go?"
"Great!" he said. He then looked and saw me and Joshua. "Hey there, Tobes. Twilight told me about your new friend there."
"Hi, Uncle Spike," I said to him.
"Is Twilight still here?" Momma asked.
"Yeah, she'll be down in a minute. C'mon in," he said opening the door more for us. There were a lot of books on the floor. Auntie Twilight must've looked through them all to find a way for Joshua to get back.
"Twilight!" Uncle Spike called, "Fluttershy and Toby are back!"
"Coming, Spike!" Auntie Twilight called back. The rest of us sat down on the cushions we were on when we first came here. Soon, we all saw Auntie Twilight coming down the stairs, with another pony. She was a filly like my big sisters, colored black, with a horn and wings, which means she's an alicorn. She also has a purple mane and tail, and her cutie mark is a shield that looks like Uncle Shining's, but with a blue crescent moon instead of a pink star. And her eyes look a lot like Uncle Spike's, having a lighter green than him.
Joshua looked up and gasped suddenly.
"Nyx?!" he exclaimed.
The black pony looked up and gasped too.
"Joshua?!" she exclaimed.
*Joshua's P.O.V.*
It's Nyx! She's here!
"Nyx!!!" I exclaim happily, standing up and running over to her.
"Joshua!!!" she said running over to me. We meet in the middle of the room and hug each other, with Nyx nuzzling her cheek against mine. "Oh, Joshua! Thank Celestia you're alright!" She then pulled away to look at me. "I'm sorry about hitting you with that spell. I never meant to do that."
"It's okay, Nyx," I say to her, "I know you didn't mean to. I forgive you. Now that you're here, we can go back now, right?"
"Well, there's a small problem with that," Nyx said, "The spell that was used to bring us here takes a full day to recharge. If I'm going to bring the both of us back, we're going to have to stay here for two days."
"Oh," I said sadly. I won't be able to see the Twilight I called Mommy for two more days. "Well, at least you'll be with me during that time, big sister. I'm so glad you're here." I then hug her again and she hugged me back.
*Toby's P.O.V.*
The rest of us look on with warm smiles as we see Joshua reunited with his big sister. I want to go over and introduce myself, but I'm feeling a little nervous. Joshua and Nyx then break their hug, and Joshua looks back over at me.
"Hey Nyx," he said to his big sister, "I want you to meet someone." He then walks over to me with Nyx behind him. Nyx looks at me in surprise, probably because I'm another human. "Nyx, this is Toby Mason. Fluttershy's adopted human son in this Equestria. Toby, this is Nyx, my big sister."
"H-Hi," I say nervously holding a hand out, "It's nice to meet you."
She the smiled at me, put one of her hooves in my hand. I wrapped my hand warmly around it and we shook.
"It's nice to meet you too, Toby," she said to me.