MLP: The Portal 2

Chapter 6: Catching Up

"Fluttershy!" Evan exclaimed happily, scooping up Fluttershy in a tight hug. Fluttershy hugged him back joyously and kissed him. Alex smiled at seeing them happily reunited.

"I've missed you so much." Fluttershy said, getting teary-eyed as she held him.

"I've missed you too. Like god, when did you get back?" He asked.

"Yesterday," Alex answered, standing up. "She spent the night here just to wait for you to show up. Took you long enough." He teased his friend.

"Sorry. I didn't get your message until after work, and it was almost midnight by then." Evan explained. Alex smiled and shook his head.

"I'm just teasing you man, I know all that. We're heading back to Ponyville this afternoon. You coming?" He offered.

"You better believe it."

Alex and Evan stepped out of the Tree of Harmony, looking out upon Ponyville once again. Everything looked roughly the same. It was odd to see it again. It was odd to be ponies again. Alex looked over at Evan and chuckled a bit.

"Been awhile, huh?"

"Yeah man. Is it me, or does the castle feel bigger than how I remembered it?" Evan asked.

"It's probably just you… It is big though."

"I don't even know where to begin! Where should we go?" Rainbow Dash asked, wrapping an arm around Alex. He chuckled a bit and hummed.

"I don't know. For now, I'll settle with visiting Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack again. You know, say hello again." Alex said.

"That sounds good." Twilight said with a smile.

They headed over to the Sugarcube Corner first to see Pinkie Pie, and caught up on little things along the way.

"So, what's new? What's been going on in the land of magic and friendship and rainbows lately?" Alex asked with a humorous chuckle.

"Well, let's see… We saved the world again." Rainbow Dash answered with a grin.

"Really? What from?" Evan asked.

"An ancient evil called the Pony of Shadows." Starlight said.

"Haha! The Pony of Shadows. Sounds like something out of one of your role-playing games." Alex said, nudging Evan. He chuckled.

"Oh yeah. 'The Pony of Shadows, consumer of all that is good. He is an ancient evil formed in the heart of the volcano Vesuvius. He is master of darkness, ruthless and cunning.'" Evan said in a deep tone, speaking with an accent dramatically.

"Well, I don't know about any volcano, but the Pony of Shadows was very dangerous. It took all of us, and the Pillars of Equestria, to stop it and save the pony it had trapped." Fluttershy explained.

"Pillars of Equestria?" Alex repeated.

"They were the protectors of Equestria before us. They're the ones that created the seed that became the Tree of Harmony." Twilight explained.

"Ohh okay." Alex said sarcastically, as if that explained everything.

"This whole world is just like one big LARP session." Evan commented with a chuckle as they entered the Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie was working.

Upon entering, Pinkie immediately caught sight of them. Without hesitation, she left her post at the counter and sped over to them, hugging Alex and Evan tightly with a wide grin.

"You guys are back! I'm so happy to see you both!" She giggled and bounced a bit.

"It's good to see you too, Pinkie. Keeping the mane up I see. It looks good." Alex complimented.

"Thanks! This is actually how it looks natural, but I was thinking about doing swirls, you know?" Pinkie said with a chuckle as she tugged her mane down in a circle over her eyes.

"Swirls are cool." Evan commented.

"Hey, uh, Pinkie, it looks like you might have a customer that you might be neglecting over there." Starlight pointed to the counter with a giggle. There stood a mare with blue and pink hair waiting.

"Woops! Sorry! BRB BNF's!" She said before rushing back and taking care of her order.

"What?" Fluttershy asked.

"Be Right Back, Best…New Friends." Evan translated.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Alex agreed.

"Oh, Pinkie." Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Looks like you've got a little reunion going on over here," The mare chuckled as she walked to them with her order of cupcakes. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Bon Bon." She introduced herself, shaking hooves with Alex and Evan.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Alex, this is my friend Evan."

"Nice to meet you both. Alex and Evan, huh? Interesting names. Are they, like, foreign?" Bon Bon asked curiously. He chuckled a bit.

"Something like that. We're heading around visiting our friends right now, but maybe we'll see you around?" Alex said with a smile. She smiled and nodded.

"You just might." She chuckled a bit before exiting.

"You just got back man, hold your horses a little." Evan teased him after she had left.

"Sorry." Alex said, putting his hooves on RD's back. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What're you doing?"

"Holding my horse." Alex chuckled.

"I must say, Alex, Evan, I'm very excited to see you both back here. I hope that, with this new arrangement, we can resume our former plans of that Pony Tones show?" Rarity said hopefully, talking to them as she sewed clothes.

"Never forgot about, did you?" Alex chuckled, observing her work closely as Evan wandered around and looked at the outfits on the mannequins.

"Of course not, darling, I was very much looking forward, and I think you were too? What do you say? We'd still be very happy to have you both." Rarity said, turning away from her station and smiling at him.

"Eh, I guess I don't see why not. I had a feeling you were going to ask." Alex chuckled.

"I still got sick beats to lay down if you need them." Evan said with a chuckle.

"Oh yes, we'll be happy to have the inclusion of your 'sick beats', Evan." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Ayyy." Evan said with a grin.

"Count us back in, Rarity. Just let me know when the next Pony Tones meeting is, and I'll do my best to make sure we're both there." Alex said with a nod.

"Wonderful! I'll have your outfits ready in about two weeks or so, should everything remain on schedule." Rarity promised.

"Wow. I don't think I ever got to see what your cottage looks like, Fluttershy. It's cozy. Quiet. I don't think I could live here, but it's certainly a nice little retreat." Alex gave his opinion as he wandered around her living room. Fluttershy laughed a bit.

"That's almost exactly what Evan said when he came here." She said.

"Hey, little man. What's up?" Alex said to Angel Bunny as he hopped up. Angel Bunny looked up at him curiously.

"That's Angel Bunny, the one I told you about. Remember?"

"Ahh, so you're the famous Angel Bunny. Fluttershy's told me a lot about you. You like carrots?" He asked. Angel Bunny nodded.

"Yeah, same. High five, or whatever this is called." Alex said, offering his hoof up. Angel Bunny hopped up and hit his paw against it.

"Ayyy, that's training right there man." Evan said with a chuckle, putting an arm around Fluttershy.

"Well well well, city colt, about time you two came back around. It's good to see ya." Applejack said happily, hugging Alex and Evan.

"It's good to see you too, Applejack. You got a lot of trees. Are there more now than there were then?" Alex asked, looking around from the barn.

"I don't know. You tell me." She said teasingly with a chuckle.

"Man, are these apples fresh?" Evan asked.

"Always. That's kind of our thing 'round here." Applejack answered with another chuckle.

"Hey, you're back!" Apple Bloom said, rushing over to them. She and Alex hoof-bumped.

"Hey hey, Apple Bloom. I remember you. We went to pick out a bow. How's it holding up for you?" He asked. She smiled.

"It's great! I usually wear it to school." She answered.

"Nice, nice. This is my friend, Evan. Evan, this is Apple Bloom, one of the coolest farm girls I know." He introduced them. Apple Bloom grinned as she shook hooves with Evan.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"Same, Apple Bloom." Evan nodded and chuckled.

"We'll be coming in to visit and hang out from time to time." Alex said to Applejack.

"Well, feel free to drop by. We'll be sure to treat you like a member of the Apple family while you're here. Next time, I'll fix ya up some apple cider." Applejack promised.

"Looking forward to it." Alex nodded happily.