//------------------------------//
// A gateway back home 
// Story: Equestrian Epona 
// by Shritistrang 
//------------------------------//

After taking a short rest, we carefully made our way back into the ritual chamber. To our relief, the demon unicorn Link, Rarity and Daring had told us about seemed to be gone.

"Good riddance, I'd say," Link said. "At least he left my shield and sword here." He looked very satisfied when he took back his weapons. I had to smirk when I saw a bit of envy in my daughter's eyes, as she watched how easily Link handled the sword and shield, even as an earth pony.

"So… what are we going to do now?" Scootaloo asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Rainbow Dash grinned. "We go home, of course."

"Easier said than done, Rainbow," Applejack said. "We ain't exactly got a boat anymore. We're stuck in the middle of the desert, our supplies are runnin' out and we have no idea where to go."

"Well, I know the way to the next town," Daring Do said. "Still, I don't think we have nearly enough food or water as we need for no less than nine ponies."

"I don't suppose you know any more magic spells that can help us out, Link?" Rarity asked hopefully. "Like, a spell that teleports us directly to Ponyville?"

"Doubt it," Link frowned. "The only teleportation songs I know are for places in Hyrule, and I don't think they would work here."

"Besides," Sweetie Belle pointed out. "Twilight said that teleportation is an extremely difficult spell that puts a lot of strain on the user, and the longer the distance is, the more difficult it gets. And it should only be used by skilled magic users."

"How do you know that much about teleportation, Sweetie?" Rarity asked in surprise. "When did Twilight tell you this?"

Sweetie grinned. "Twilight Time!"

"But there's still something we can do," I said. "The song of storms, Link. We can always summon rainwater, so we have something to refresh and drink."

"Whoa, whoa!" Rainbow shouted. "You can't just summon rain like that. Besides, there's not a single cloud in the sky. And for rain, you need water. I learned that much in flight school."

"Before dropping out, you mean," Rarity said.

Rainbow grumbled. "Do you have to bring that up now? The point is, there's no way a song can make rainclouds appear out of nowhere."

"But it can," Link said. "And I know it works in the desert, I used it near the desert colossus in Hyrule and it filled up an entire oasis. So that's one way for us to survive the trip. But maybe we don't even have to make that trip."

"Well, we need to get out of here somehow," Daring said.

"True, but first let me try another song. Using Saria's Song, I can contact Navi. Maybe she can tell someone where we are and get us some help."

"Yeah, that's right," Applejack said. "She can tell Twilight to come here and get us."

"I'm actually surprised she isn't here already," Rainbow muttered. "Didn't she want to come after us?"

"It's worth a try," I nodded. "Do it, Link."

So Link took the ocarina and started playing. Not before long, the familiar tune was echoing through the room.

Rarity sighed. "All of these Hyrulean songs sound so beautiful…"

"Yeah, I'd like to come up with a nice text for this one," Sweetie Belle agreed.

After a while, Link stopped playing and looked down at the ocarina in irritation. "What? What in Farore's name is that supposed to mean?"

"What's wrong, Link?" I asked.

He looked at me with disbelief. "It says: 'Your conversation partner is currently unavailable. Please try again later.' Can you believe that?"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Rainbow Dash started snickering, and even Applejack had to chuckled. "Sounds like not even magical instruments can be trusted to work all the time."

"I'll try it again," Link grumbled. He played the tune once more.

"Well?" I asked once he put down the ocarina. "Did it work?"

"Yes," he said. "But… I didn't reach Navi. I reached Saria. And she… apparently, she's in Equestria at the moment. As are Zelda and all the other sages. What in the world are they doing there?"

I shrugged. "Maybe looking for you? Hey, I'm willing to believe that at least Zelda, Saria and Ruto are willing to cross dimensions just to see you." A small snicker escaped me.

"Very funny, Epona," my girl magnet companion frowned. "Anyways, she said she's telling your Princess Twilight to get us."

"That's a relief," Applejack sighed. "Now all we have to do is wait for her."

"Yeah, as long as she doesn't crash into the ocean," Rainbow said.

"Oh hush, Rainbow!" Rarity sternly said. "You know her flying got much better ever since you started training her."

"I still don't see how that's going to help us get back to Ponyville," I said. "Even if alicorns and pegasi can fly across the ocean, the rest of us can't. And on top of that, Daring's wing is hurt, so we only have two pegasi that can fly here."

Scootaloo winced. "Actually…"

"I'm sure Twilight will come up with some way for all of us to get home, Mom," Applejack said. "Nopony's as good with magic than this gal. And she knows a lot of stuff, she's a regular bookworm. Trust me, she'll find a way."

"If you say so… and what do we do with these guys when we leave?" I gestured at the bound and gagged form of Ahuizotl, then at the door behind which we locked away all the Lizalfos. Some of them must have regained consciousness, as we could already hear some of them hissing, snarling and clawing at the door from the other side. I know Link wouldn't have any qualms of killing them on the spot and I kind of had to agree with him. These creatures would not hesitate to rip you apart, their intelligence did not stop them from being one of the most vicious species native to Hyrule. But Applejack and the others protested and insisted we simply lock them away.

"I want to take Ahuizotl along," Daring said. "I want him to be locked in Canterlot's dungeons once and for all. He's been a nuisance for far too long."

"I agree," Rarity nodded. "And I'm very sure Celestia would as well. She wishes nothing more than the safety of her subjects."

"But what about them lizards?" Applejack asked. "I dunno if Twilight can take a whole dozen of these creeps along. Not to mention all those that are still waitin' for us out there. And honestly, I doubt there's enough room in the Canterlot dungeons for all of them."

"Just leave them here," Link grunted.

"How can you say that?" Rarity gasped. "Uncivilized or not, these are still living, thinking creatures. And if we leave them here in the desert, they might die."

"I seriously doubt it," Aloe said. Again, I nearly forgot those two were here as well. Maybe I just didn't want to think about them for the moment. They were mostly sitting in one corner of the room and kept quiet. "Those creatures can survive the most intense temperatures. In fact, they thrive on it. They mostly live in the desert, or even in the hot caverns of a volcano."

"They're right, that's where I fought most of them," Link snorted. "Believe me, the only good way to ensure a Lizalfos' death is to put a sword through it's body."

His words put everypony in the room into various degrees of shock. Rainbow seemed only mildly bothered by it, while the children and Rarity seemed downright horrified. The only pony who didn't seem to mind at all was Daring Do. I could imagine she had similar experiences as Link in her life as an adventurer.

"W-well… if you really think they are going to be okay, I guess we can leave them here," Rarity murmured. Her view of Link as a noble hero was obviously tarnished by his willingness to kill.

So we waited. There wasn't really a lot we could do except making sure our prisoners wouldn't break free, or that the Lizalfos from outside wouldn't swarm in and overwhelm us. The three fillies hung around their sisters… in Scootaloo's case, it was Rainbow Dash. Apparently, I was right. She did look up to the multi-colored pegasus, and Rainbow herself was pretty fond of the kid as well. Sweetie Belle and Rarity also seemed to have a loving relationship as sisters, even though they teased each other every now and then. But I guess that's what's expected when looking at sisters.

As for Apple Bloom and Applejack, I was very proud to see that my teachings of the importance of family had stayed firm within their hearts. Again I realized just how glad I was to finally be a part of this family again.

All of this made me think of my own sister, though, and I started feeling a bit guilty. All these years I've been angry with Clementine, just because I was unable to cope with my past. At least now she and I would have the chance to start over. Our two daughters being bests of friends would certainly help a lot.

I looked over to Aloe and Lotus. Those two were sisters, too. Twins, even. Did that create some sort of strong bond between them? After all, Lotus seemed willing to agree on a truce, even after she was so eager to take her revenge on Link. But she only agreed after Aloe pleaded for it. So was staying with her sister more important to her than revenge? Still, I couldn't trust them yet, despite their new forms and despite their promises. I decided to keep a close eye on them.

The hours passed, and to be honest, I wasn't sure just how long we actually waited here, in this room. We ate the last of our rations, but didn't talk a lot. The most important things were already said, and the rest could be discussed once we were back in Ponyville, safe and sound. Link, Applejack and Rainbow Dash took turns guarding Ahuizotl while Rarity and I took care of the kids.

Then, my ears started twitching. Did I hear something? I looked upwards, to the ceiling.

Apple Bloom, who was about to doze off in my lap, raised her head and asked sleepily: "What's the matter, Mom?"

"I dunno…" I muttered. "I thought I heard something up there…"

There it was again, this time a lot louder. It sounded like something crashed into the ceiling. We all looked up, then Rarity and Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, it wasn't me!" she shouted and waved her hooves and wings defensively.

Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed. Or at least parts of it. We quickly jumped out of the way when several sandstone bricks came falling down, followed by a winged body I couldn't identify this quickly.

After the dust settled, we all saw a twitching mess of fur and feathers lying on the ground. "Owwww…" a familiar voice groaned. "That could have gone better."

A purple head looked down through the hole in the roof. "Oh my gosh! Are you all right?"

"I'll live…" the pony lying on the ground muttered as she stumbled to her feet and we got our first clean look at her. The purple pony from above came fluttering down and stood next to her. My eyes widened when I recognized the pink one, especially her cutie mark, an exact replica of the royal crest of Hyrule.

"Twilight!" Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity shouted.

"ZELDA!" Link and I gasped.

"Th-the princess?" Aloe and Lotus muttered. Zelda's appearance had obviously made both of them pretty nervous.

Zelda smiled at us. "Oh, hello Link, Epona. Good to see you're okay."

"Wh-what are you DOING here?" Link stuttered. "I mean, Saria told me you'd be here in Equestria, but why are you HERE?" He looked at her body more closely. "And why do you look like this?"

The princess of Hyrule being an alicorn wasn't really what surprised me the most. Neither were the light pink fur and the blonde mane and tail. But instead, it was the fact that her whole body was covered with water and sand at the same time. She looked like she flew through a waterspout, followed by a sandstorm.

"Oh, that," she muttered. "It's nothing, really… I just flew into a sand dune a couple of times… and landed in the water while we were crossing the ocean… once or twice…"

"Actually, it was eight times," Twilight frowned. "And I'm surprised it wasn't more. I told you it wasn't a good idea for you to come along if you've never flown before in your life."

"Say what?" Rainbow gasped. "You're telling me that you crossed the ocean, not just by yourself, but as a NEWBIE? Wow, I'm impressed! Twilight, this girl might be a much faster learner than you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Twilight glowered.

"Still, what were you thinking?" Link asked. "You never leave the castle!"

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself?" Zelda asked, looking as upset as Twilight.

"Well, excuuuse me, princess, but you are not exactly an adventurer. You are… well… a princess," Link said.

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Twilight snapped. She sounded like she was really getting angry.

"Hey, princesses are perfectly capable of taking things into their own hands… or hooves," Zelda grumbled.

"You'll get used to it, sugarcube," Applejack said to Link. "After all, we couldn't believe it ourselves that our egghead pal Twilight would win fifth place in the Running of the Leaves race."

"EXCUSE ME?" Twilight shouted.

By now, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were rolling around on the floor laughing, while Rarity and I couldn't resist a few giggles either.

"Um… I say we should get going now," I snickered. "Before the princesses have to strangle somepony. Do your Highnesses have a good idea how we can return back to Ponyville?"

Twilight took a few deep breaths until she was calm enough to respond. "Actually, yes, I have. It's a portal spell. A highly advanced spell I found in one of Starswirl the Bearded's old books."

"Of course," Applejack rolled her eyes.

"It opens a one-way gateway to any place the spellcaster has visited before. But it needs a lot of magical energy. Which means, a single unicorn would probably unable to cast this spell all by herself. That's why usually, this is a spell that is used in a group. Now, an ancient and experienced alicorn like Princess Celestia would probably be able to do this on her own, but I don't think I can do that just yet. But thankfully, I have another alicorn here that can help me."

"Me?" Zelda asked in a surprised voiced. "But I'm really not that good with magic yet… I'm still struggling with the ones Rauru is teaching me. Whenever I use Farore's Wind, I can only teleport short distances. And when I cast Din's Fire, I can make only a small fireball appear, instead of a destructive wall of flames."

"It's not that complicated," Twilight smiled reassuringly. "It just needs a lot of magic. At least give it a try."

"So wait a minute… that means from now on, we can always go to where we want, in the blink of an eye, provided we've been there before?" Rainbow asked. "And all we need are Twilight and one other alicorn?"

"Well… no," Twilight said. "Unfortunately, the spell can only be cast a limited amount of times."

"What? Why?"

"See, the spell's magical pattern is interwoven with arcane interferences which makes it impossible to extend its natural perpetuation period, which is common for spells out of the pre-unicornian proliferation era…"

My head started to spin upon listening to Twilight's speech. Half of the words didn't even make sense to me. Now I realized why her friends were calling her a bookworm or egghead all the time. Rainbow seemed to feel the same, as she pleaded: "Spare us, Twilight! Just give us the answer in good, clean Equestrian."

"Fine!" she huffed. "The details are actually very fascinating, but if none of you are interested in learning something about magic theory…"

"What she tried to tell you is, basically, that the spell can only be performed once a month," Lotus explained.

"THANK YOU!" Twilight shouted, relieved. "Finally, somepony who understands me. I didn't know you were interested in the theorems of magic, Lotus. How did you even get here, anyways?"

Lotus looked down at her feet. "W-well…" she stuttered.

"That's all it meant?" Rainbow interrupted her. "Come on, Twilight, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Her alicorn friend sighed. "I just wanted to clarify… never mind. Let's just get this started… Zelda, are you ready?"

The princess of Hyrule nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."