Sunburst's horn was bandaged up and he wore the same cloak he normally wore. He raised his hoof in greeting. "Hello, um…do I call you Your Majesty? Sir Jethro?"

I chuckled. "Jethro works for now," I said as I reached out my hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sunburst."

He looked at my hand a bit confused, but then extended the hoof he'd raised. I clasped it and shook it firmly but gently, wary of hurting him. "Um, yes, nice to meet you too," he said, a bit nervous.

I chuckled, then turned my attention to Starlight Glimmer. Her light purple eyes were filled with nervousness as she looked at me. She still had her bangs, or as I called it, her pre-reformation hairstyle. "So," I said, "I finally get to meet the famous Starlight Glimmer. It's nice to meet you, too." I extended my hand towards her.

She reached out and I clasped her hoof. I shook it firmly before letting go. She didn't speak for a while, clearly trying to get her thoughts in order. Finally, however, she inhaled deeply. "I owe you my thanks," she said. "Princess Luna explained to me that you were…aware of me from that show?"

I pulled out my phone, Googled Starlight Glimmer, and pulled up the typical photo of her. I turned it around and showed it to her. She looked at it carefully, then her eyes went wide. Sunburst looked as well, curiosity brimming in his own eyes. The two stared at it for a silent minute, and then Starlight's eyes went up to her mane. Her horn lit up, and her bangs vanished, replaced by her post-reformation hair style. "How…do I look now?" she asked, looking at Sunburst.

He smiled. "I can get used to it," he said with an approving nod.

"Darling, let me help," Rarity said suddenly, coming forward and looking at my phone's screen before nodding. "Got it." She lit up her own horn and gave Starlight's new hairstyle a bit of a tweak here and there before she stopped, then nodded. "Perfect."

I opened my camera and turned it towards Starlight. "Have a look," I said.

Starlight looked at the screen, turning her head back and forth as she checked herself out. She nodded. "I like it," she said.

"Good," I said as I put my phone away. "And I did tell the princesses about you because, in the show, you did become a part of the main cast."

Starlight nodded. "I see," she said.

I saw how uncomfortable she was by all of the talk about the show, so I cleared my throat. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I said, "but I have to ask, how are you doing lately? I was told that you were in Canterlot a couple months ago."

Starlight exhaled. "I'm…I'm doing alright," she admitted, looking over at Sunburst. "Sunburst here has been helping me, even after the surgery on his horn."

"I'm glad to hear it," I said, "and I did wonder about that bandage on your horn, Mr. Sunburst," I added, turning my attention to the taller Unicorn stallion. "I was told that there was something affecting your ability to cast magic?"

He nodded. "They undid whatever was blocking it," he said, "but I can't cast magic until I'm fully healed. Starlight's been by my side most of the time helping me." He gave his old friend a grateful smile.

I nodded. "Glad to hear it," I said. I turned back to Starlight. "So, I have to ask, how have you two been helping with this?" I gestured to the movie theater.

"I've been using magic with Twilight to help duplicate some things," Starlight admitted. "I'd already learned plenty of spells before, but Twilight knows much more and has been teaching me."

"She was helpful when we duplicated all of the theater seats!" Twilight exclaimed. "That was a…very hard day."

"Permanent duplication?" I asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Yep!" Twilight looked excitedly at me. "Starlight and I figured it out with Sunburst's expert knowledge! If you get enough materials together and cast the spell juuust right, the materials can be permanently transformed into whatever you want! It takes a lot of magic, though, and only a few Ponies can do it, but it was worth it!"

"And it saved a lot of money," Twyla said. She reached up and touched her own temporary horn. "I did my best to help, too."

"Your magic was very helpful!" Twilight said with a broad smile.

I could tell that Twilight was just about to begin on one of her magical rants, so I walked over and began scratching her behind her ear. Her eyes opened briefly in surprise before she relaxed. "Easy there, Purple Book Horse," I said.

"No…fair…" she muttered, eyelids fluttering before she leaned against me.

I chuckled, then looked over at Starlight and Sunburst. "Well, I want to thank you properly." I then turned to the town. "I want to thank all of you properly. How does a hefty monetary reward for everyone here sound?" I knew I was going to be busy for a long while, digging out plenty of bits from my immense stash, but I didn't care. I wanted to thank every single one of them.

"100,000 bits for each Pony?!" Scarlet exclaimed later that night in her hospital room.

I chuckled tiredly. I had given everyone who had helped the Earth equivalent of $12,500, and to me, it was worth every single coin. "I would have given them more, but they were all super insistent that I'd given them more than enough." I had, indeed, given each and everyone there who had helped that amount, except for the humans. I'd given the human equivalent of the Mane Six each a few precious gems that they could sell in the other world for a very hefty sum.

Scarlet shook her head sardonically. "You're insane," she chuckled softly.

"Nooo, I'm Jethro," I replied instantly.

As one, the two of us said, "KO-NO-SU-BA!" and laughed hard.

When we both calmed down, Scarlet's smile turned to a more serious expression. "Are you sure about offering for Starlight and Sunburst to live with us until they get a place of their own?" she asked.

"Of course," I said, "and besides, getting them out of that stuffy old castle would do them some good."

Scarlet shook her head, smirking slightly. "Or you just want to get to know someone from the show that you like," she said.

"Oy, just because I find Starlight to be one of the more relatable characters in the show doesn't mean I'm thinking about them living with us," I said, quirking an eyebrow at her. She crossed her arms and gave me a stern expression. I raised my hands in surrender. "Well, it's not the main reason."

"That's what I thought," she said before she winced and put a hand over her abdomen.

I rushed to her side, instantly worried. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"It's just a bit of pain," Scarlet said, "I'll be fine. The doctor and Mac said it would take a bit for the pain to subside, and they don't want me getting addicted to pain meds and pain nullification magic. Which I can actually cast myself." She raised her hand and it began glowing with her new signature cherry red color. "So crazy to believe that I can cast magic of all things, now," she said with awe.

"I bet Twilight's just itching to teach you, too," I said. "She actually seems to find a lot of fun in doing that with me and Zecora. Hell, Sunburst and Starlight could even join and be teachers and students. We could form a study group!"

"When did you start turning into a human version of Twilight?" Scarlet asked with a chuckle.

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "I mean, sure it was scary at first to know that I had so much raw power inside me, not to mention that dream magic that's now inside the Staff of Sarcanas, but having magic is something plenty of humans always dream of. We have so many fictional stories about humans wielding magic or of magic wielding species or magical worlds. I love learning about it. And I know I need to learn about it, especially after what I did to you and Zecora."

Scarlet looked down at her fuzzy dark gray hands. She smiled and looked up at me. "Let's be honest here, Jethro," she said, her mouth moving up into a half smirk, "ever since you tainted me, I've been more human than pony. I don't use those stupid words like anypony or somepony, I am a memlady like nobody's business, and I'm using my downtime to continue catching up on my human media." She patted her personal laptop. "It'll take some time to adjust to the new norm, and I won't pretend there aren't days where I miss having four legs, but I love who I am. Besides, you told me that it's not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside that counts." She leaned in and pulled me closer, whispering into my ear, "And when I'm out, what really matters better be inside me. All. Night. Long."

I felt my cheeks get hot and I gave her a playful glare. "Oh my God, how horny ARE you?!"

"So, a movie theater is just a bigger version of this?" Gemini asked later that night as we sat in my old Earth home, watching a disaster movie I enjoyed titled Dante's Peak.

I paused the movie. "Not quite," I said. "Those screens in the theaters we saw are just pieces of special fabric. A projector then projects the image onto the screen and a surround sound system plays the sound."

Gemini looked a bit confused, but Zecora, who was leaning against me, one hand over her slightly bulging stomach and the other intertwined with mine, just chuckled. "Don't fret, Gemini," she said, "a movie theater is very similar."

"Okay," the Lycan said as she leaned against my other free shoulder. "Continue." She gestured towards the screen.

I smirked and hit play again. As the movie continued, I let my mind wander. The day I'd had was insane. Exploring that cinema made me feel like I was back on my Earth. The Earth beyond the Stargate was extremely familiar with the exact same brands and nearly the same geopolitical environment, and I had plans to visit more and more often, but it wasn't quite the same.

I then began thinking about other things, such as life in Equestria. I had to think about many different things moving forward. Rebuilding the Aelyssian Empire was a big priority, and I had been visiting Virynth Atheos often. But I had another priority to think about.

It was time to make do on those promises I had made to go on dates with the four mares who'd confessed to me.

"So whatcha call us all over here fer, sugarcube?" Applejack asked a day later as she took a seat next to Pinkie Pie on the couch in the middle of the living room in the Victorian style mansion I owned. Beside the Earth Ponies, Zecora sat with a small smile on her face.

Across from them, Twilight sat next to Fluttershy, both looking a bit nervous. Scarlet, who had just been released from the hospital, sat next to them. Gemini stood behind me, arms behind her back. It was Twilight who spoke, however. "Does this have to do with what you promised us?" she asked, looking at me with a nervous and expectant look in her eyes.

"What promise?" Pinkie asked, looking over at me. "Did you make a Pinkie Promise I don't know about?"

"Somehow, I think that God Himself could make a Pinkie Promise and you'd know about it," I chuckled. "No, it wasn't a Pinkie Promise, but I don't take promises I make lightly. It's about those dates I promised all four of you."

"Oh…my…" Fluttershy said, hiding a bit behind her pink mane as she suddenly began to find the carpet extremely interesting.

"Dates with Jethy? Yay!" Pinkie was bouncing up and down on the couch with an excitement that I feared might break the reupholstered and refurbished piece of furniture.

"Pinkie, please calm down," I said firmly. She paused in the air for a brief moment, defying gravity before she nodded and landed on the couch softer. "And yes, I promised all four of you that I would take each of you out on a date."

Nobody spoke for a while. They all exchanged looks, ranging from an excited Pinkie to a clearly nervous Twilight and Fluttershy all the way to a stoic Applejack. The latter spoke up first. "What did ya have in mind?"

I smiled a bit. "Well, I want the dates to be something that you all enjoy but also something we can enjoy together. Now, I have an idea as to what we could do, but as for the doing, that might be a little harder. I have other ideas if you don't want to-"

"Hey! What's all the secret meeting stuff for in here?" a certain tomgirl's voice rang from the doorway, which had suddenly burst open to reveal Rainbow Dash standing there, glaring at the gathering.

Gemini moved to block her, but I reached out and wrapped a bit of magic around her wrist. She turned to me, teal eyes steely. I shook my head. Standing, I turned to face the daring Pegasus. "I was just talking about the four dates I have with your friends, here," I said.

"See, darling, there was no need to be so dramatic," a posh accented female voice said from outside. Rarity poked her head into the house and, seeing me, raised a hoof in greeting. "I'm sorry, Jethro," she said apologetically. "I tried to stop her, but she was insistent that you were excluding her from some big secret. I had a feeling that this was about what those four told you."

Rainbow Dash trotted past Gemini quickly and got into my face, dark pink eyes locking with mine with a fire that surprised me. "You think I'm gonna stand by and not be involved when you're discussing my friends and their futures?" she asked.

I reached over and put my hands on her sides, gently pushing her away. "Rainbow," I said gently but firmly, "I appreciate the loyalty you're showing for your friends, but this is a rather private and personal conversation. I swear, I'm not here to try and hurt them."

Rainbow pursed her lips, then she huffed, moving to sit next to Fluttershy regardless. "I'm staying," she said. "Besides, you told me you were taking me to that…that roller coaster," and with that, she shuddered a bit. "So I'm staying, at least for Fluttershy's sake." She patted the young butter colored Pegasus.

"I don't know if this is a very good idea," Rarity said, looking a bit unsure.

I exhaled slowly, then looked around the room. "Does anyone else have any objections to this?" I asked.

"I don't like it," Gemini said with a huff, "but if you're okay with her being here, then I'll keep my mouth shut."

"It's not like we'll be talking about anything super private," Scarlet said, "but I suspect that Rainbow here's just being nosy for the sake of being nosy."

"Hey!" Rainbow shouted with indignation.

"While being concerned for a friend is something I can understand," Zecora said with a sagely nod, "I don't know if having someone here who isn't involved in the discussion is right."

Rarity, seeming to have run out of patience, used her magic to lift Rainbow up. "I believe the court has spoken, Rainbow," she said with a huff.

"I'll be alright," Fluttershy called after the struggling prismatic Pegasus.

That seemed to calm Rainbow down considerably, but she gave me a narrowed eyed look. "Don't hurt her," she warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," I said.

"I'm so sorry for the interruption," Rarity said, looking apologetic as she pulled Rainbow out of the house.

"It's okay," I reassured her, "and don't worry, Rainbow. We'll be discussing our little adventure to Earth later."

Once the door was closed, and this time locked and bolted thanks to Gemini, Fluttershy actually spoke up. "That was…embarrassing," she said. "I'll talk to her later."

"Please do," Zecora said.

"Think she just feels left out?" Scarlet asked.

"That's not an excuse," I said, "and I'll talk with her later, too," I added, looking at Fluttershy.

"Please don't be too upset with her," Fluttershy pleaded. "She means well, for the most part."

Kindness, thy name is Fluttershy, I thought. "I won't be any sterner than I need to be with her," I said. "That's all I can promise."

Fluttershy nodded. "That's fair, I guess."

"Well, now that, uh, that's out of the way," Applejack said, "why don't we talk 'bout the topic at hoof?"

"Yes," I said, taking in a deep breath to settle my nervousness. "Now, I know that being in a herd is hard work, and that things may not work out, but what I want to make clear is that if things don't work out, I want to remain friends with all of you. I don't want things to sour between us, and I don't want to come between you all as friends. And before you say anything, Twilight," I said as Twilight began to raise her hoof, "I would do this even if your friendship bonds weren't connected to the Elements." She lowered her hoof and nodded. I looked at all four mares. "Now, I love you all," I continued, "and by that, I mean right now as friends, but going on a date with each of you means that we are considering each other as partners in a deeper way. These aren't going to be some casual dates. We're going out to see if we're compatible. We'll go out one on one at first, and my own herd members, Zecora, Scarlet and Gemini, have agreed to this. But like I said earlier, I want these dates to be fun for both of us. We will be given opportunities to enjoy ourselves but also a chance to sit down and talk to each other; get to know each other on another level. Does that make sense?"

The four nodded. Twilight then raised a hoof. I nodded at her to proceed and she asked, "You said we'll be doing one on one dates at first," she said, "what does that mean?"

"It means," I said, "that at some point we'll go out for a group date. You four, me, and my herd."

"To check on our compatibility?" she asked.

"Exactly," I said. I noticed that Fluttershy looked a bit uncomfortable for a bit, but then took a breath and seemed to steel herself. I looked at her. "Fluttershy? Everything okay?"

"Huh?" She looked at me with a bit of a jump, clearly not expecting it. "Oh!" She brushed her mane behind her ear quickly. "I was just…I hadn't even considered a group date before. I was just caught off guard."

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" I asked.

"A little," she admitted, "but it makes sense. If it was just you and me dating, we wouldn't know if we could be compatible with other members of the herd."

"Why do I feel like this has to do with me?" Gemini asked, and underneath her frustrated tone I heard the hurt underneath. I had gotten to know her much more since she'd joined the herd and I could now sense her emotions in a way I couldn't before.

I stood quickly, walked over, and hugged the clearly startled Gemini. She looked at me for a bit, clearly confused, before she leaned in and placed her head into my chest. I didn't say anything, because there wasn't anything to say. I rubbed her back as she, despite the eyewitnesses present, wrapped her own arms around me in a display of affection she had normally only shown to me and others in my herd after gaining their trust. I heard hoofsteps approaching and, looking down, I saw Pinkie Pie standing there, an unusually serious expression on her face as she put her hoof on Gemini's leg. The Lycan looked down, eyes wide in confusion. "Gemmy," Pinkie said, using a nickname for her for the first time, "I'm sorry that I made you so sad."

Gemini seemed to realize just where she was, or rather who she was in front of. She didn't push me away, thankfully, but stood up straighter, looking down at the bubble gum pink Earth Pony party planner. "It's fine," she said, clearly trying to make her tone sound dismissive. "I kind of deserve it for being a fool and not doing the right thing back in the Empire last year."

"Now that ain't fair of ya," Applejack said. "Sure, we were madder than a wet hen at ya way back when, but y'all prove to us that you've changed. Yer a loyal Lycan, and ah can see how much bein' with Jethro's made yah better."

"She's right," Twilight said, stepping forward. "I know you might not believe us, but we respect you. Even Rainbow Dash does, although she's 'too cool' to show it." She made air quotes with her hooves before she chuckled. "None of us want to steal him from anypony, or anywolf or anyzebra for that matter," she continued.

"All we want is to hopefully be a part of this family," Fluttershy said.

Gemini looked very uncomfortable and she squirmed a bit in my arms. I held her closer and she relaxed. "This is…it's very hard for me," she admitted through gritted teeth, which I suspected was mostly because she was so outside of her comfort zone she might as well be in a forest far from any building, "and I know I've kept you all at arms length, as this idiot says," she added, jabbing a thumb at me, "but…I want to be better. After seeing the lunacy that my former queen tried against him and seeing just how upset he and all of you got after Scarlet nearly died, I realized that Ponies…Ponies and Lycans aren't as different as I was told to believe." She exhaled a bit shakily. "I admit, it hurt in here seeing Jethro so worked," she said, jabbing her bosom where her heart was, "and yes, I'll admit I harbored some concerns of my own." Everyone chuckled slightly at her still proud words, and her cheeks turned a bit red. "Still, loyalty is a major factor for us Lycans, and you all showed that for your friend. I respect that. I will try my damndest to work through these emotions I feel."

I wasn't surprised when Pinkie glooped onto me and Gemini. She stiffened, more in embarrassment than anything, but that didn't stop Applejack, Twilight, and even Fluttershy from joining in. I wrapped my wings around all of them and made them warm up, the phoenix part of them glowing ever so slightly. I felt her relax at that and she shook her head with a half smile.

"Feel better now that you've talked about it?" I asked after we broke the hug.

"That was…really hard," she said, "but yes. I feel much better."

"Good." I took her hand, pulled her to the chair, and after sitting in it, plopped her right in my lap. I watched as her eyes widened, then she actually lay down on my lap, closed her eyes almost all the way, and relaxed. I began stroking her white and gray streaked hair before turning to the rest. "Well, now that we have that out of the way," I said, "let's hammer out some of the details."

"Where should we start?" Twilight asked, eyes glistening with excitement. "I can help with a schedule!"

I chuckled, as did everyone else. Zecora spoke bext. "My dear Twilight, perhaps that whiteboard that Jethro procured for your use would be most useful."

Twilight nodded, then raised her horn. A large classroom whiteboard appeared in front of us and she raised one of the black markers, ready to write. I smirked and pointed to the calendar. "It's almost the beginning of March," I said, "and since there aren't any major holidays in Equestria during that month, we can have dates during then."

Twilight quickly sketched out a display of the month of March on the blackboard. I snorted, but continued. "Okay, it's the 21st now," I said, "and I don't think we can do anything in the next few days."

"Because of Rainbow Dash's birthday coming up on the 27th!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And Applejack's on March 5th!"

I chucked and nodded. "Exactly," I said. "Happy early 26th birthday, by the way AJ."

"Aw, shucks," Applejack said with a small blush. "Thank you."

"But wouldn't that be the perfect time for a date?" Pinkie asked eagerly. "You could take AJ to Earth and enjoy stuff there while we-do some things here."

"You're gonna manage to do a birthday party for Rainbow and then for AJ six days later?" I asked, curious.

Pinkie grinned. "I'll have plenty of help! Just be back by four, got it?"

"Well, alright then," I looked at Applejack. "Now that we all know that Pinkie's gonna be giving you a fabulous birthday party and that she's okay with us going out on that day before a certain time, would you like to go to Earth for part of the day?"

Applejack's eyes lit up. "Ah'd like that," she said, then a questioning look appeared on her face. "Yah think that the other me has horses ah could try and ride?"

"You wanted to see me, Jethro?"

I looked up from some of the papers spread across the table in the mansion's sun room at my visitor. Sunset Shimmer. I smiled and motioned for her to come in. "Sit down, please," I said as I gestured to the chair across from me.

She nodded and sat down before looking out of the window. It was lightly snowing, but the next couple of weeks were promising somewhat warmer temperatures and rain before one last cold snap and snow before Winter Wrap-Up. "Nice weather," she commented.

I looked out of the window and nodded. "Agreed," I said, "but I didn't ask you here to talk about the weather."

"I figured," Sunset said with a chuckle. "What's up, boss?"

I rolled my eyes. Ever since she'd become the archiver for the Empire, she'd taken to calling me 'boss' whenever she and I spoke. She was a really intelligent mare and very eager to learn. She'd even attempted to learn some of the Dragon spells, although most had ended in failure. She'd asked me a couple times if she could borrow Spike to try and teach him the spells, but I told her that wasn't up to me, but Twilight and Spike themselves, and even if they said yes, I would enact harsh conditions. "I have a couple questions for you," I said.

"Sure thing, shoot," the mare said, leaning forward.

"It's about your time on Earth," I said.

She paused, a confused and concerned look appearing on her face. "Oh? What about it?" she asked.

I exhaled. The day before we had set up times when I could take the four out. I would be taking Applejack to Earth first on her birthday, while I would set aside the rest of March, which actually happened to have Twilight's and Fluttershy's own birthdays there as well. Late winter and early spring seemed to be a hot spot for birthdays thanks to estrus. However, if I wanted to do more, especially if we went to Earth, which the others seemed to be interested in doing, I would need credentials. That, and a car. "It's about how you survived on Earth without previous paperwork," I said. "You know, no ID, birth certificate, stuff like-"

"Let me stop you right there," Sunset said, a small smile forming on her face. "I think there's something about the Stargate you've not tried out, yet."

"'Tried out'?" I repeated, eyebrow quirked. "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Sunset?" I asked.

She stood. "Follow me," she said, "and grab the keys to the Stargate barn."

I raised an eyebrow even higher, but nodded and grabbed the keys from where they were stored in the necklace. I followed her out and unlocked the barn shaped shed. When I turned the light on, Sunset walked over to one side of the Stargate and lit up her horn. "I discovered this just recently when I was reading about it with Twilight while you were gone," she said, "and it came in handy quite well during some tests."

"What tests?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I'd left those keys to the shed behind just in case someone from Earth came through. I didn't want them being locked in the shed.

"Nothing too invasive," Sunset said, "but Celestia gave us some of Star Swirl's private notes about this thing. We learned a few things, like how his Unicorn assistant suggested the final design and a few other things. Like this." She illuminated a part of the side of the Stargate, and a panel appeared, opening. Inside were several stone levers, many of which were labeled in an older Equestrian dialect. Some were down, while others were up. She pointed to one that was down. "We've tested this out, and it will work if you take any official documents from our side through," she said.

I looked at the label she was pointing at. "DOCUMENT TRANSMOGRIFICATION?" I read. I looked at the others, and instantly knew why my bits had converted. There were other labels like MONEY TRANSMOGRIFICATION, SPECIES TRANSMOGRIFICATION, LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION, and more. I looked at Sunset, eyes wide. "You're telling me that if I flip this switch here," I said, pointing to the document one, "and step through with, say, my Equestrian citizen papers, I'll get an American ID, or a driver's license or even a birth certificate and Social Security card?"

"Imagine Twilight's surprise when she came back claiming she had some sort of plastic card with her name on it that read I.D. Card," Sunset smirked.

"I see," I said, looking at the levers again. "How come it wasn't flipped when you went through?"

Sunset shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Probably some sort of oversight before whoever used it last closed it."

"I wonder what would happen if I took my Earth stuff through?" I thought, looking out of the door back at my Earth home.

"Now that I can't tell you," Sunset said as she flipped the lever up. "Guess you'll just have to find out."

"No kidding," I said as I watched her reseal the panel, "but only after you teach me the spell that you just used to open that panel. I may need to use it in the future."

Sunset nodded. "Sure," she said, "it's a relatively easy spell, and you cast it like…"