“Hey, Spike!”  Applejack waved at the little dragon from across the market.  “Long time, no see.”

“Just a minute!”  Spike finished his discussion with the flower seller, putting his purchase onto the tall stack of groceries he had already bought today before strolling over to Applejack’s cart.  “Whew, it’s been busy since we got back.  You wouldn’t believe where we’ve been.”

“Shore ‘nuff would.”  Applejack produced a sheet of parchment which had been tucked in the top of the cart, then read from it in a loud voice.

Dear friends,
Spike and I will be exploring alternate dimensions for the next several days using Starswirls Dimensional Unfolding spell, so do not worry about our absence.  In fact, there is a distinct possibility that alternate dimensional copies of ourselves will also be using the spell, so if you see somepony who looks like us but is acting strange, please make them feel at home until they return to their dimensional point of origin.

Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh,” said Spike, looking slightly embarrassed.  “Yeah, I forgot I sent that out before we left.  Did you see any of… well, us around over the last few days?”

“Nope.  Just you.”  Applejack lowered her voice.  “You is you, right?”

“Is Rarity still beautiful?” asked Spike.

“Yep.”  Applejack nodded once, then began to snicker into one hoof.  “You’s you, alright.  Anything interestin’ happen in all them other dimensions?  Like becoming a dog?”

“Once!” huffed Spike.  “There’s one dimension where I turn into a dog while visiting, and that’s it.  Of course it’s the one Twilight likes to visit all the time, but it’s not all bad.”  He paused, looking contemplative.  “The Rarity there really likes scratching behind my ears.”

“Ooooo.”  Rarity’s voice from right behind the little dragon made him stand up on the tips of his toes.  “I didn’t know my Spikie-Wikie liked ear scratches.  Should I scratch here?  Or here?”

Applejack tried to hide her smile behind a foreleg while the little dragon thumped one leg against the ground and leaned his head into the scratching hoof.  “Rares, ah know you ain’t seen Spike for a couple of days, but I figger we all can go on up to the castle this evening and visit with Twi.  Somethin’ like this, she’ll wana talk about for hours.”

Spike rolled his eyes when Rarity quit scratching, but he kept his groan of regret short.  “That’s a great idea, Applejack.  Having a meeting at the castle, that is.  I can make nachos.”  He smacked his lips.  “Delicious.” 

“All righty then.  We’ll pass the word around to everypony and be there this evening.  We can call it the Welcome Back To Ponyville party.”

“Party!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, bouncing across the market with a pair of pop-poms and vanishing just as quickly as she appeared.

“Yep.”  Spike shook his head.  “We’re back.”

“I shall see you this evening, then.”  Rarity gave the back of Spike’s head one last scratch before sauntering off in the direction of her boutique.

“And I need to buy…”  Spike put five bits up on the counter of the cart while still looking over his shoulder at the departing unicorn.

“I’ll just bag those up for you.”  Applejack snickered as she got out a brown paper sack.  “Spikie.”

Once he had his purchase, Spike said his goodbyes and headed off to the castle with a brisk stride.  He had a lot of work to do this evening before the rest of the girls showed up, but he was still hungry, so he unrolled the paper sack and ate while he walked.

“It’s nice to be home again.  These are good pears.”