//------------------------------// // Home is Where the Heart is. // Story: Eris' game // by Java Joe //------------------------------// They arrived in the throne room of Canterlot castle and Rick had to admit he was impressed. He had never seen the throne room. last time he had been in Canterlot things had gotten a little dicey but part of him was glad that something else could now be crossed off his list. Luna returned to her throne and commanded her guards to go fetch her sister. She made it a point not to look at the two ponies, they had been through a lot and possibly would be put through a lot more before the night was done. Twlight Sparkle was feeling a little strange. Part of her was nervous at seeing Celestia again considering what it is they knew about her now but that whole sex business between her and Rick made her feel wrong. She knew it was a spell they were under, it couldn't have been anything else but she felt robbed somehow. The first time with her new husband as a pony would forever be tainted by the memory that somepony had caused them to rut like a couple of animals. Rick looked at his wife, nuzzled her a bit and asked in a low voice that didn't carry, "you okay babe?". Twilight just shook her head. "No. I'm not alright. Somepony perverted something that should only exist between me and you and we'll never have that moment back again." Tears formed in her eyes and she hid her face in Rick's shoulder. He hugged her as best he could and whispered encouragements that honestly sounded hollow in his own ears. He was supposed to be the strong one so that was how he was acting but deep down he also felt betrayed by what had happened. He prayed that when they found out who did this he would have the strength not to beat the pony within an inch of their life. But tears and thoughts of revenge would have to wait as Princess Celestia came in. Her face was a little puffy, having just woken up and there was a tightness around her eyes but she still radiated power and authority just the same. She was surprised to see it was Twilight Sparkle that in the throne room which meant the stallion beside her had to be her coltfriend Rick. This made things doubly difficult. Had it been just an ordinary couple she could have told them anything and sent them back. But these two would want to know the truth and she wasn't sure she really wanted to tell them this. But she was still the princess and the monarch of this land so if nothing else, decorum was called for. As she passed by, Twilight bowed her head, Rick just stared at her with more than just a little defiance. Celestia looked back at then nodded as if to say she understood his point. "I believe the two of you have some questions." "Yeah, we got a lot of those but how about we simply start with why you lied to us?" Rick said. If Celestia was surprised by his blunt manner, she didn't show it. "I believe that 'lied' is a little harsh. I simply didn't tell you the whole story because neither of you needed to hear it." "Didn't need to hear it? Wow, that's great. 1000 years ago humans were here and some were turned into ponies. This means I wasn't the first human you ever met and still because of this you tried to kill me. Had it not been for my wife I'd be dead now so you'll forgive me if I think you overreacted a bit." Stung by his words, Celestia started to answer but then looked at Twilight Sparkle and saw the pain and the betrayal in her eyes. Her entire demeanor softened as this was something this never wanted to have done to her favourite student. "You're right. I should have told you but we can't go back and change the past but what we can do?" Twilight and Rick then went on to describe what the legends had said and what they had been able to piece together. Celestia was impressed. While not completely accurate, it was close enough to what had happened many years ago. "But I'm curious, how did you find the portal?" "That was my doing, " Twilight answered. "We had gone on our honeymoon and were travelling when I sensed some Equestrian magic. I'm not as powerful on Earth but I still have some ability there. I found the cave, we saw some carvings and frescos that showed Equestria so we explored it. Eventually we found ourselves here." "I see. Yes, that was one of the ancient portals that existed between Equestria and Earth. Once it was sealed I never thought it would be used again. Your coming through must have re-activated it." "Now here's the biggie. If you knew that these portals still existed, then why tell Twilight that she was unable to come back to Equestria? She had gone through hell when our portal vanished. You said it would take three months to find the right conditions to link our two universes again but once that happened she could never set hoof in Equestria again. Seems to me that was another lie." "That was because, " Celestia paused, looked at Twilight once again and it was as if she just deflated and had no more strength left. "I'm sorry but I had hoped that within that time Twilight would have forgotten about you and would have moved on. I never once thought that she would want to leave Equestria and her friends or give up being a pony in order to become an ordinary human. And the reason I told her that she could never come back was to prevent her from trying. Humans caused so much trouble for Equestria that I didn't want the word to spread any further than it had. Ponies might have found out that humans existed here long ago and that some ponies have human ancestry. It was wrong of me and for that I ask your forgiveness." Rick was not pleased with this, but Twilight was absolutely livid. Her mentor, the one pony she always looked up to had not only lied to her but had almost ruined her life in the process. She needed to get away, if she stayed here much longer she would say something she'd regret. "I think we're done here, " Twilight said through clenched teeth. She turned to leave, Rick shot Celestia a look that said that was not over. He would have liked to stay but Twilight needed him right now. They were led down through the castle to the residential wing and given a suite for the night. Twilight didn't want to stay but she had no way to teleport herself and Rick out of there and it was for certain that Celestia or Luna were not going to offer so she reluctantly accepted. Once the door was closed and they were alone, the tears she had been holding back since all this was revealed sprang forth. Rick held her and rocked her gently, letting her release all the pain and anger of not only the recent news but of the months she waited when she didn't have to and how they could have come back to Equestria at any time. Eventually the tears faded, Rick continued to hold her until she said she was fine and he let her go. She knew she looked terrible, but the hardest part of this was that Rick didn't make a joke about it. Usually he was quick with the sarcasm or a dry observation but right now he had nothing. "So what do we do now?" Twilight asked. "Right now, we go to bed. Tomorrow morning we'll go see your brother and sister-in-law and see how they're doing. If you want we'll go see your parents as well. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you back. Then we head back to Ponyville and we pick up where we left off." "But... don't you want to get back home?" Rick sighed and looked off to the side before looking back at Twilight. "For all intents and purposes, I think I am home." Twilight looked at him oddly. "I've been thinking. Earlier today when we showed up here all I wanted to do was go back home with you to Earth. But then I saw you at the party talking with and enjoying the company of your friends and realised that maybe I was being selfish and this is where you belong." Twilight made as if to speak at that point but Rick held up a hoof and said, "let me finish first. Now where was I? Oh right maybe this is where you belong instead. You were never really given a choice as to whether or not you wanted to go to Earth full time or if you wanted to stay in Equestria or you wanted to hop back and forth between your world and mine. If there's a chance that we can never go back to Earth or we have the opportunity to go back I'm thinking that the best thing to do is to talk about our options and which one works best. I guess what I'm trying to say is that anywhere could be 'home' provided we were together." Twilight just looked at him as if she didn't believe what it was he had just said. "Yes Twlight. I'm saying that when it really comes down to it, nothing else in my life means as much to me as making you happy and if that means we stay here in Equestria in these forms for the rest of our lives then so be it. It might take some getting used to, but we will be together." Twilight looked like she was going to cry once more, she sniffled once then walked over to her husband and gave him the sweetest kiss she ever had before. No words needed to be said as the kiss said it all. Rick just hugged her close and whispered, "I love you too, " in her ear. Eventually they broke the embrace as both were feeling the effects of today finally wearing off and they made their way to the bed. Within moments, both ponies were asleep. The next morning Rick awoke to find Twilight sitting by the open window, just staring out at the royal gardens. He trotted over to her, gave her a short nuzzle and kiss good morning before sitting down next to her. She sighed, and leaned into him before starting to speak. "I used to love the Royal Gardens in Canterlot. I would spend hours walking through them, identifying all the plants and flowers. Or finding the perfect spot to just read and let the words carry me away but now..." her words were cut off by a knocking at the door. They turned in time to see Shining Armor walk in the room. Her earlier melancholia forgotten, Twilight squealed happily as she ran over to see her brother. They nuzzled each other for a moment before he swept her up in a big hug. Rick trotted over to greet his brother-in-law for the first time as family. "Rick." "Shining, " Rick responded with a bit of a playful grin. "Where's Cadance? Have you had your foal yet?" Twilight asked excitedly. Her brother laughed. "She's waiting for us at breakfast and we're expecting any day now, " he said with the fatuous look of a father to be. "I'm assuming Celestia will be there?" Rick asked. "Yes. Princess Celestia will be there. "She said I could just call her that so that's what I'm going to do. Anyway, let's go have a pleasant breakfast and hopefully after we can get on with our lives and put all this behind us." As Shining Armor led the way Twilight turned to Rick and said, "you were a little rude to Shining Armor. He is my brother and now he's your brother as well." "Sorry babe, I'm still not happy with the whole situation. I want nothing more than to get this meeting with Celestia over with and then never have to see her again. She messed around with our lives and could very well have ruined any future we had. I can't forgive that easily and I know neither can you." "Actually the Princess said that she had something to tell you both that you might probably like to hear. She didn't fill me in on the details but I'm sure she had her reasons for what she did, " Shining Armor said obviously having eavesdropped on their conversation. But there was no time to continue as they arrived at the dining hall. Celestia and Cadance were already at the table. Twilight ran forward to see her old foal sitter, just gushing about how great she looked and how Cadance was going to make a great mother. Shining Armor approached the table, bowed his head to Celestia, kissed his wife and sat down next to her. Twilight sat on the opposite side of the table and Rick took the seat next to her. "Now that we're all here, we can begin." Celestia took a silver bell in her mouth and rang it a few times. Servers appeared from the kitchens with silver platters loaded with baked goods, fresh fruits, flowers, hay and assorted teas and juices. Rick felt a little out of place. The rest of the table was unicorns and alicorns so they used their magic to move the food and drink around. Rick was only an earth pony so he had to use his hooves and he still hadn't quite gotten used to using them yet to manipulate objects. Twilight did come to his rescue by helping and while he thanked her, he couldn't help but feel that this was something that Celestia had set up specifically to mess with him. He knew that Celestia wouldn't be this petty but there are times that emotions speak louder than logic. "Rick?" Celestia asked. He turned to look at her as she held aloft a teapot. "I was hoping you might like to try this. It's a tea made from a fruit the locals of Buenos Mares call 'Eye of the Goddess'. It's known for its stimulating effects as I know you happen to like drinks of that nature." Celestia was obviously referring to coffee which reminded Rick that in all the confusion and everything it had been more than a day since his last cup. And if the mild discomfort in his head and slight drowsiness was any indication he was heading into full blown caffeine withdrawal which meant a massive headache. "Thank you, that would be nice, " Celestia poured him a cup. It had a sweet, fruity taste that he couldn't quite place but was sure he had had at some point in the past. Then it all made sense, the fruit that looked like an eye, Buenos Mares, caffeine. Obviously they had guarana here in Equestria and it wouldn't be a surprise that the reigning monarch happened to have a supply. Well, at least he now knew that should they stay here he could slowly wean himself off caffeine until he didn't need it anymore. That of course would mean having to deal with Celestia but sometimes you need to take the good with the bad. He looked at Twilight and said, "you might want to have some of this as well." She looked at him and politely asked Celestia for a cup. As breakfast proceeded, pleasant small talk was made but the tension in the room was pretty high. Princess Cadance attempted to fix this in a way that was at the same time both good and bad news. "Oh, both of you might be interested to know that your assailant responsible for all the trouble here last time vanished about a month ago, " Cadance said to both Twilight and Rick. "You mean Trixie somehow disappeared? But how? The doctors said her mind was gone, " Twilight asked. "They don't know. There were no guards and she wasn't strapped down after all it wasn't like she was going to just walk out of there. No, we think that somepony, possibly in the hospital but it could very well have come from outside picked her up and got rid of her. Good riddance I say." But neither Rick nor Twilight were thinking about that and went back to the night several days ago when Twilight had her nightmare. "Celestia, if I might be so bold, are you aware of any... problems somewhere in Equestria where suddenly ponies have started acting strangely, or fighting for no reason? Possibly something that started a few days or a week ago?" Rick asked trying to fish for information without giving too much away. "There was an incident down in Mareseilles a few days ago but nothing since then." "What can you tell us about this? Please it's very important, " Twilight pressed. Rick placed a hoof on hers and though he cursed not having fingers at this point it was better than nothing. "The exact reasons, nopony knows but there was an altercation at an outdoor showing of "A Pony's Tale". The entire audience seemed to go mad. There were no major injuries and no charges were filed. But nothing else since then, " Celestia said. Noticing that Twilight had gone ashen and was trembling slightly she asked, "whatever is the problem my little pony?" When Twilight didn't respond Rick looked her straight in the eye and said, "Discord is back." Those assembled around the table reacted in shock and there were many questions coming from more than one mouth. Rick held up his hooves and asked them to calm down and he'd explain everything as Twilight was in no condition to do so. He explained the visit to the museum, the statue of Eris and the nightmare Twilight had that night. He continued on with how he specifically thought it was simply a dream after all, as far as they knew Equestria was closed to them. Then after coming here they found themselves in pony form which of course led to other things but opened the possibility that the dream Twilight had was effectively what had happened. "Maybe Twilight was still attuned to Equestria or the Elements of Harmony and it's because of this that we were effectively drawn to the portal. I don't think it's a co-incidence that we're now here. And I don't think what happened to us last night in the library was a co-incidence either." "And what exactly happened last night in the library?" Celestia asked. Rick blushed a bit at the memory. He looked at Twilight for confirmation and she merely nodded. "Pinkie Pie had noticed me come through Ponyville and you know Pinkie Pie and her desire to party and welcome everypony to town. So she threw us a party not knowing that Twilight and I were back in Equestria nor that we were ponified assuming that that's an actual word and not something I just made up. After the party, we were all ready to go back to sleep and I don't actually remember much of what happened after that but I can imagine. We kissed goodnight and it was like a switch had been thrown, suddenly I couldn't think of anything other than Twilight and she was totally focused on me. The rest of it is a bit of a haze until Luna showed up and freed us from the spell. Suffice it to say we were, " Rick made vague gestures with his hooves trying desperately not to say exactly what they were doing in the presence of the princess. She looked at him a little confused as to what he meant. He was trying to come up with a polite way of saying what happened when Twilight simply blurted it out. "We were rutting like animals. There was no joy, no emotion, no tenderness, nothing. It was just pure animal instinct." "I see, " Celestia said. She picked up the silver bell and rang it again. She whispered something to the servant who promptly disappeared and returned a few minutes later with a sleepy, and slightly grumpy Luna. "Forgive me sister, but I needed to confirm something with you. Yesterday night when you found Twilight Sparkle and Rick in the library do you remember what you did?" Luna sighed deeply. "They were in the process of sleeping. We opened the door, they awoke and proceeded to mate quite loudly. We sensed a spell was in the air but it was nothing familiar. We thought nothing of it at the time and simply removed it. They came back to their senses almost right away." "You say it wasn't familiar?" "It wasn't pony magic, or at least it wasn't entirely pony in origin. It felt strange, almost greasy as it hung in the air. It almost had the feeling of chaos about it but chaos combined with something else." "Chaos? Like Discord's chaos?" Luna thought for a moment then a sickly realisation came to her face. She didn't even need to respond as everypony there knew it to be true. Discord had in fact come back to Equestria but he was now in Trixie's body. This was bad for all ponies involved. Any other news Celestia might have had was put on hold. They had to find Discord before it was too late. This meant heading back to Ponyville and getting the Elements of Harmony back together.