Chapter 13: Dialing Home
My world had taken many unexpected turns as of late, the primary reason for those changes was currently lying asleep in bed next to me, but I'll get to that. Changes, or its root word, change, is defined as making or becoming different. Though I believe it can mean something a little more profound. Change, after all, can come about by an act as simple as smiling at someone on the subway, or throwing some change into the guitar case of a street player, or even as simple as putting a seed into the earth and watching it grow in a field of grain to harvest. Change can also be as complicated and involved as another person dropping out of the air into your shower one morning. But after everything we had been through, and where we are now I personally prefer the latter. The heater had thankfully been fixed the next day, but Rarity and I had shared a bed every night since the night the heater broke, content in the love we now shared.
After we were done with some of the other business that first night, we stayed awake almost all night though not because of the cold. We had literally talked the night away, revealing our hopes and dreams to each other, much more about our personal lives, our friends – well, her friends as I wasn't close with mine anymore – and our families. But there was something nagging in the back of my head since that night that Rarity and I finally became an official couple. Something he knew would probably come to fruition today. Rarity would soon be going home. My chest tightened a little as I thought about that prospect. I was happy for her, I really was. I knew she was going to be going back to her own family and friends. Even her home and business. But still, I knew I was going to miss her. I knew this was going to end this way and still, I had put myself in this position. So it was with a resigned sigh that I knew when the time came, I would face it like a man.
fzzzzzzt
Speaking of which.
Pop!
I caught the rolled up letter before it landed squarely on Rarity's forehead, and though the bounce in the bed caused her to stir a little she rolled over, sighed once, and didn't wake. Breaking the seal I quickly unrolled the parchment, but there was only one word scrawled across the page was quite foreboding.
Incomming
The bright green fire above my bed began to build slowly at first, but gained steam as it grew until it encompassed almost the whole ceiling above the bed then began to swirl inwards as it took form, a light breeze blowing inward towards the flames. The form of something that was very large and appeared to be made of brass, and I was suddenly reminded that gravity happens. Rolling to the side quickly, I wrapped my arms around Rarity who squealed as we continued to roll off her end of the bed. I'm a gentleman so even though I know how much Rarity weighs I'm not going to reveal that information, but she did knock the wind out of my lungs when she landed on top of me with a mess of sheets, and at about the same time I heard the loud crack of my bed frame giving way to whatever landed on it.
"What in the name of Celestia is going on?!" Rarity yelled.
"Something important." I wheezed.
Rarity jumped off of me and stood, looking over the large item on the bed as I slowly pushed myself to my feet. On the bed – though sideways – was a large gleaming brass structure with a thick, circular base that was textured with some sort of pattern I couldn't identify. Attached to the base was a thick, curved arch with three seams running up the length of it to what appeared to be a tapered hinge. Even on its side I could tell that standing the way it should, the structure would be taller than Rarity or I.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I – I think it is my ticket home?" Rarity said uncertainly.
Another letter fizzed and popped into existence, this time Rarity caught and unrolled it with her Magic faster than I could have even reacted to it being there in the first place. I was barely able to register that a quite large glass jar of dragon fire had unrolled with the letter and was floating next to Rarity as she squealed in delight. I opened my mouth to ask what was the matter but had a letter thrown in my face to read while Rarity laughed, and jumped up and down.
Dear Rarity,
We finally were able to send the device that will get you home, I call it the trans-dimensional-pony-relocator. Included with this relocator is one jar of baby dragon's breath, which powers the device and creates the portal. To use this properly, you and your friend must position the center of the relocator as close as you can to the point where Rarity entered that world as possible. Then adjust the three arms to triangulate your way back to Equestria. Included on the other side of this letter is the approximate position that I believe the arms need to be placed in order to get back, but I don't know how the Leylines on Earth work, so you may have to adjust it a few times.
Once the arms are set, simply pour just a little bit of the dragon fire into the center of the relocator and you should be able to see where the device will take you before you use the rest of the dragon fire. The portal itself will only work if you use all of the remaining fire in the relocator. If it works the way it should, you will be transported back to another relocator I've made here in my Library. The girls and I will be having sleepovers until you get back to keep watch.
Hope to see you soon!
Twilight Sparkle and literally everypony else.
My own feelings aside, I couldn't help but be energized by Rarity's own burst of energy and excitement. She jumped up and down letting out little squeals as she did and I just watched her and smiled, what more could I do?
"Alright alright. How about you make us some eggs and I'll get this thing into the shower where you appeared." I chuckled.
"Deal!" She sang and kissed me, then skipped out of the room.
When I heard the sounds of pans and my gas range in the kitchen, I turned to the brass monstrosity that had broken my bed. At least I was sure it was broken, and when I grabbed one of the arms and pulled I heard another loud wooden crack and a thud against the carpet. Yep, broken. Oh well, it was old and I had needed a new one anyways so I gave the large contraption a shove which accomplished…nothing. All I managed to do was make it wiggle a little on the springs. With a sigh I glared at the large structure on my sleeping area, and went to use the bathroom, and by the time I got back to my room I had a plan. Figuring the structure was heavier at the base I lifted from the top of the arms, where the hinge was, and with that extra leverage against its own weight, I was able to get it off the bed and onto the floor with a heavy thud.
"Is everything okay in there?" Rarity's voice chimed from the kitchen.
"Yes!" I lied and went about moving the heavy contraption into the bathroom.
This was accomplished by leaning the base and arms back until I could use the round base to roll it slowly into the bathroom, and thanks to my late wife and a bathroom remodel, right into the shower, where I let it upright again with another thud, and what sounded like one of the tiles underneath cracking. I would have to replace those later.
"Breakfast is ready!" Rarity sang as she all but skipped into the master bedroom, plates in each hand.
I glanced at the plate to see that there were indeed some scrambled eggs on each plate, complete with a fork set at an eye pleasing angle, and a small garnishment of parsley on the top. I wondered momentarily where the parsley had come from because I couldn't remember getting any in the past, but let it go with a smile, taking the eggs and eating them gleefully. Rarity, for her part, remained standing instead of sitting on the edge of the bed like myself, her eyes trained solely on the bathroom where the pony relocator was now standing. Though while she stared at it she kept stealing glances at me like she was hoping I wouldn't notice – I did – and though she was doing almost nothing to hide her anxiousness and impatience. Another layer of amusement was added by the fact that she apparently still wanted to eat like a Lady which meant she was taking small, proper bites as fast as she could, while forgetting to actually chew until her cheeks were stuffed full and she was forced to stop, and swallow.
"We'll get you home, Rares." I reassured.
"I know." She sighed, "But I'll admit, I cannot help but feel a little impatient."
"A little?" I grinned and raised an eyebrow.
"Fine, I cannot wait and want to simply throw this food out the window and get working on aligning those poles or arms or whatever it was that my dear friend Twilight had said." She admitted.
"I'd appreciate it if the dishes made their way to the sink instead, but I won't be picky." I said with a grin and pushed up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, looking the pony relocate over again. The arms seemed easy enough to move, making a zipping sort of sound as I pushed it a little before dropping to my knees to see what the sound was coming from, which was easy to find. On the base of the relocator where the arms connected each one was in a rotating hinge for support, with extremely fine toothed gears that would lock the arm in a certain position when it was moved. That was the source of the sound I heard earlier then.
"Rarity, can you get the—"
The letter from Twilight, complete with diagram of the arms, and the large bottle of dragon fire all glowing a light blue suddenly appeared in my vision.
"Thanks." I chuckled, snatching each from her magic.
Per the diagram, I moved the curved brass arms with a metallic zipping sound the whole way until all three arms were approximately setup the way the diagram showed. I ignored the fact that my heart was halfway into my throat as I worked with Rarity watching. I pretended I didn't feel like I was working on the thing that was going to take Rarity away from me, because it wasn't about me. It was about her. It was about getting her back to her own family, her friends and even the couple of potential suitors she had told me about. This was about getting Rarity back to what was normal for her and though that didn't make me feel better, it was still a truth. And even a sliver of truth could help me deal with it the facts, such as they were.
"Are we ready?" She asked.
"I think its right." I mused, looking between the now set arms and the diagram again, and glancing over the instructions in the letter as well.
"Go ahead and put a bit of the fire on the top hinge."
Rarity took the bottle back with her magic, moving it over to the hinge while removing the cork, then spilling some of the bright green fire onto the relocator. There was a moment there where nothing happened either than the fire disappearing into the smooth brass arms and hinge. The silence as we waited was palpable, but we didn't' have to wait long before the inside of each of the curved metal struts began to glow. It was slight at first, almost unnoticeable, but quickly gained momentum as the glittery green fire spun inwards from all three arms at once creating a small vortex at center, where amidst the magic and fire, one could sort of make out what was going on at the other end of what was apparently, a portal. At least it was easy to assume it was but I, the farmer, thought it was more of a round, green tinted window with some blurry images on the other end.
"That's Canterlot!" Rarity exclaimed, making to move towards the image of tall white buildings with middle eastern inspired tops but it was almost as soon as we were able to make out what it was, the image faded from view and the green fire spiraled into itself before disappearing entirely.
"Well…we know it works but I think it needs adjusted a little. That looked like it would have dropped out in the middle of the air." I mused.
"Try again." Rarity grinned, "I'm sure we are close but perhaps the arms need adjusted?"
The diagram Twilight had sent appeared in my vision again, glowing light blue. I looked it over then looked at the arms again, and adjusted the left most of the three – which happened to be closest to me – and moved it to the right ten or so clicks of the finely machined gears. Rarity then dropped just a little of the dragon fire onto the hinge again where it was distributed to the again glowing arms, and a new image formed.
Though the tinted window – as it were – and as the image took form it appeared to be dirt with many tracks and a stray pony or two meandering about. On either side of the road were homes that appeared to be somewhat colonial style and what appeared to be a large tree complete with doors and windows. Rarity gasped behind me just before the image faded and I glanced back to see her wiping away a few stray tears, though she was smiling.
"Still in mid air." I smiled back, "Let's try again."
I clicked the same arm over to the left two clicks and Rarity dropped a little bit of the fire onto the hinge again as the process repeated. This time, however, instead of an outdoors view we were treated to something a little different. It appeared that there was a bath and shower combo tub on the other end of the mirror, in use by a pony who could not have been more offensively pink if she tried. It was like a moving pony shaped ball of cotton candy and just before the image faded, the pony stopped washing herself and singing, appeared to look right through the green fiery window we were using, waved and yelled 'Hi Rarity!' then the image disappeared again.
"Someone you know?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rarity looked at the spot where the fire had created a window for a moment longer before laughing bashfully and dancing her fingers together.
"Eh heh… I think it best if I not answer that question right now." Rarity grinned and I rolled my eyes, laughing.
We continued this process for almost fifteen minutes longer before an image she recognized immediately appeared in the small half portal. It appeared to be a well worn dirt road that boarded an immaculately kept hard, complete with trimmed hedges, carefully planted flowers, and a lawn that probably rivaled my own during the summer. All of this perfect gardening and yard care was hugged up against half of a building – the rest was cut off from the view – but the building itself was just as immaculately kept as the yard, with white spires, carved horse heads and flowery designs that were probably hand carved. Or hoof caved. Right around that spot a violet unicorn walked by once, then twice before the image faded, as if it were waiting for something. Rarity, for her part, gasped, bringing her hands to cover her mouth as a few happy tears escaped.
"That's my home! That's the place I last remember before I was transported here!" She squeaked out, and I smiled.
It struck me again that this might be it. We had found the place where she had disappeared from which according to the letter – and Twilight's rough drawing – meant that we could attempt to open the portal itself so that she could go home. So that she could leave. So that she would leave me.
No.
I wasn't going to think like that, I wasn't going to let my own emotions get in the way of a young woman who clearly belonged somewhere else as someone else and above all I was a gentleman. I was a farmer, a cowboy, the guy with a truck. What I felt didn't matter because first and foremost it was my job to make sure she got home safely. Her own ruler had held me to that standard even though I already held myself to that standard.
But I had fallen in love with her.
Love was a complicated emotion, one that could make you feel like you could fly straight into the sun to pluck a fiery beautiful rose from its surface and fly back just to give it to her and it still wouldn't be enough to describe how you felt. But it was also an emotion that could make you feel like all you wanted to do was find a darkest dampest corner of the universe and crawl into it, just so you could curl into a tight little ball and pray for the sweet release of death just so it would stop hurting so much. Just to stop the feeling of emptiness that threatened to overwhelm you at every turn. Love. I'm in the unique position to be intimately familiar with both aspects of it – with both edges of that blade – and I feel that it is because of my unique experience with loving, losing it all, and learning to love again that I knew that I had to let her go. That I wouldn't say anything to help her stay, it wasn't my place.
My chest tightened again.
"Well, you ready to go then?" I ask apprehensively .
"Absolutely not." Rarity snapped out of her reverie.
"I've so much to pack! I've had so much inspiration since I've been here for my business! Oh! I'm going to be the talk of the city, the nation, all of Equestria by the time I'm finished with all the drawings and ideas that are stuck in my head, then there's all of the clothes I've made that I simply must take with me – Oh! I bet I'll need to change back into that dress I was wearing when I arrived or I'll look simply atrocious when I get back and that will not do! I need to redo my makeup and hair!"
With that rant over, Rarity ran from the bathroom to her own and disappeared across the threshold.
I blinked after her.
"Shall I find you a suitcase then?" I called down the hallway.
"That would be helpful!" she called back and I laughed, pushing to my feet.
After retrieving an empty suitcase from the top of my closet, I sauntered to into Rarity's room and set it on the bed. She, meanwhile, was standing in her underwear facing the full length mirror on the wall whilst a hairbrush and some spray worked her hair, various makeup tools worked her face, a and clothes I didn't even know she had made flew from the closet into neat piles onto the bed. All of which were glowing light blue as her magic worked everything at once.
"Can I help?" I asked after several minutes had passed, and she slipped the original dress that appeared with her, back over her frame.
"You, can carry this suitcase once I pack it." Rarity grinned and kissed me lightly as all of her clothes flew neatly into the open suitcase, which then closed and zipped itself.
"Yes ma'am." I chuckled and nabbed the bag from the bed by the handle. I had to brace myself a bit though is for some reason it weighed more than it seemed it had any right to.
"You sure you're clothes aren't made out of bricks?" I called down the hallway and heard Rarity laugh in response.
By the time I had lugged the suitcase to the master bath Rarity was standing there holding the bottle of baby dragon fire, staring at me anxiously as I set the bag of her things on the tiled floor.
"I suppose this is it then." She said quietly, fiddling with her fingers against the bottle.
"Rarity…" I stopped myself. What could I possibly say to her to make this any less awkward.
And then she was in my arms, having crossed the small distance between us to embrace me tightly, with her arms around my neck and mine around her waist, holding her against me. Though Rarity's face was buried in my neck I could feel the hot tears escaping her cheeks onto my skin, and held her tighter when her body shook somewhat from crying. Apparently there was nothing she could say either but strangely, we were both okay with that.
"I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too." I whispered back, ignoring the stinging feeling at the corner of my eyes.
"I've been thinking about this moment since that first night and now it's here and…I still have no idea what I can even say to you to convey my gratitude, Asher." she said.
"You don't have to say anything." I leaned back a little bit so she was looking up at me, and could see my smile.
That was when she knew. She didn't have to say anything for me to know that she knew, I could see it in her eyes. She knew that she couldn't stay with me, that she needed to return to her world. Her home. But still she held me, and I held her as long as I possibly could. Just because I had found love again didn't mean that I wouldn't be able to find it when she left. But that also didn't mean that I was going to let it go until she was ready, so I didn't I stood there with her in my arms, her face in my neck little strands of violet hair tickling my nose and though a few stray tears escaped te corners of my eyes, I didn't cry. I wouldn't let myself while she was still here; I was a man after all.
"Well, no need to put this off any longer." She laughed lightly, finally stepping back from me with a smile that was both happy and sad.
Rarity then used her magic to lift and tip the bottle of dragon fire emptying its entire contents onto the hinge at the top. The fire flowed evenly, dividing itself to be evenly absorbed by all three arms. Immediately the arms began to glow with a golden aura before the power circled inward, bring a slight wind towards the reloactor as it did until there was a pop like a cork from a bottle of champagne when the portal opened, widening to the limits of the edge of the arms and showing the blurry image of her home town on the other side through a greenish gold filter. Rarity picked up her suitcase and took a step or two towards the portal before she turned and looked back at me.
Her hair waved in the artificial breeze and her blue eyes locked with my own, glistening from the recent tears but appearing…happy? Hopeful even. She had even let her lips rise into a smile though I couldn't figure out why. She was leaving, going home which was a happy event but we were being forced to split up because of it. My mind swam with possibilities but then, she shifted the suitcase from one hand to the other, and lifted her free hand to me, beckoning me to take it and as I hesitated, she said the words that I did not yet have an answer to because I didn't even consider it until she said it.
"Come with me?"