//------------------------------// // Welcome Home // Story: Raising a Human Daughter // by unleashedtwilight //------------------------------// Crystal!!” Pinkie exclaimed shaking Rebecca’s passed out body. “Wake up!!” “I’m sure she’ll be okay…” Rachel said rubbing the back of her head. “She probably just needs time to process all this…” she said before turning to me. “By the way… Twilight?” “Huh?” I asked looking away from Rebecca. “You were the one who gave Rebecca the name Crystal… right?” Rachel asked. “Well… yeah. It's because at the time, she didn’t have her memory of anything… not her parents, not her friends… not even her own name.” I answered. “How did her memory get erased…?” Rachel asked. “Well…” Celestia spoke up. “After what happened between her and your husband, I felt that holding onto any memories like that might have been too painful for her to bear… and I thought that if I brought her to Equestria, I thought it would be appropriate to give her a clean start so that she wouldn’t worry about anyone she knew… so I…” Celestia stammered a bit rubbing the back of her head. “I think I get the picture…” Rachel said walking up to Celestia. “I really appreciate you looking out for her…” she said before turning to me. “And Twilight, I’m really thankful that you have been taking care of her… it really means a lot.” I just smiled. “Honestly… it’s been a pleasure having her around. She was always so positive around others. Always tried to make friends… she was the complete opposite of me from when I was a filly. I always focused more on my studies than anything else. Friendship wasn’t important to me at the time.” “Wait a second…” Rachel said looking at me closely. “I remember you, Twilight!” “Huh?” “When you were just a filly!” “When… I was a filly…?” I asked looking closely at Rachel. “Maybe this will help.” Rachel said before using her magic to make a pair of glasses appear on her face, as well as changing her mane into a ponytail. “Do you recognize me now?” … “AAAHHH!” I shouted. “I knew you looked familiar before! You were one of my teachers!” Rachel just chuckled before changing her mane back and removing the glasses.”My gosh… Just look at you!” she exclaimed. “I remember you were my best student… just not that social with others. I never imagined I’d see you as a princess!” “You… r-really were born in Equestria…” I stammered. “S-so… this whole time I’ve been taking care of my old teacher’s daughter!?” “We still don’t know where your twin came from though!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Twin?” Celestia asked tilting her head. “I thought you were an only child.” “Right… as soon as Rebecca wakes up, I’ll continue explaining what happened… for now let me tell you and Luna what I’ve explained so far.” ______________________________________ “Ugh…” I groaned slowly getting up. “I had the craziest dream…” … I just looked at everypony, including both my moms, staring at me. “It wasn’t a dream was it?” “I was just explaining everything I’ve mentioned so far to Celestia and Luna…” I just stared at her blankly for a moment. “Can we go back to the part when you said you were born in Equestria and that I’m half pony!?” “I have to admit… that is a bit peculiar.” Rarity answered. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.” “I’ve heard of animal hybrids before…” Fluttershy added. “But a human hybrid with a pony?” “She looks completely normal to me.” Rainbow said looking at me closely. “Not like she has a tail, horn or wings on her.” “But we at least did know that she was a unicorn…” Spike answered. “After all, Twilight and I saw that when we went to Canterlot High.” “Wait, excuse me?” Rachel asked looking at Spike. “Well, when we went into that world, I changed into a dog, Twilight changed into a human, and Crystal turned into a unicorn.” “You already saw yourself as a pony??” Rachel asked sounding a little upset. “And that’s not all!” Spike continued. “She even got her cutie mark there!” “W-wha…” Rachel stammered. “I missed my own daughter getting her cutie mark…?” Twilight just walked up to Rachel placing a hoof on her. “I’d be happy to tell you everything that happened with us later… but do you think you could continue from where you left off?” “I… guess that’s fair.” Rachel said before clearing her throat. ~~~~~~~ A few hours had past since the experiment was done… and like Jonathan said, Rachel started getting severe migraines. “Ugh…” Rachel groaned holding her head. “Damn it, next time I see him, I really am going to throw a bottle at him.” Rachel just sighed heading to the kitchen. She reached into one of the drawers for a bottle of Tylenol. Feeling a lot of pain, she just took two pills before going into the living room to lay down. “Mommy?” a voice called out from upstairs. Rebecca walked down the stairs slowly to see her mother lying on the couch. “Are you okay?” Rachel just patted Rebecca’s head and smiled. “I’m fine sweetie. Mommy just has a bit of a headache.” Rachel said before groaning out loud in pain. “Do you want me to stay with you…?” Rebecca asked looking worried for her mother. “I’ll be fine Rebecca… besides, you have school in the morning.” “Actually there’s no school tomorrow…” Rebecca said. “I think it’s something called teacher workshop… that’s happening tomorrow.” “Well… alright then…” Rachel said before lifting Rebecca up onto her. “You can spend some time with Mommy then… but still not too late, okay?” “Okay mommy.” Rebecca responded hugging Rachel. “Did you already take medicine?” “I did sweetie.” “What about for your eye?” “...Huh?” “It looks like you have a little scratch on your eye…” Rachel slowly put Rebecca down and got up off the couch. She went into the bathroom to see there was indeed a scratch on her left eyelid. “What the… where did this come from…? I don’t remember being scratched.” Rachel just reached into one of the drawers, taking out a tube. She just rubbed what was in the tube onto her eyelid. “Maybe I scratched myself by accident or something…” Rachel just shrugged and went back to the living room where Rebecca was… who was already starting up Rachel’s laptop at the table. “...Putting on RWBY again?” Rachel asked chuckling a bit. “It’s the last episode of season 3! I forgot to watch it today!” Rebecca exclaimed. “Oh… I kind of forgot about that too.” Rachel said. “Why don’t we watch it together?” “Okay!” Rebecca exclaimed with a smile before starting up the episode. The two of them just watched the episode together… however, Rachel wasn’t completely focused on the episode. Despite her taking Tylenol for her headache, she was still feeling a lot of pain… in fact it was only getting worse. “Ugh…” Rachel groaned holding her head. “What’s wrong, Mommy?” Rebecca asked. Rachel just closed the laptop in response. “Huh?” “I think both of us should really go to bed… we can watch the rest of it tomorrow.” “Oh… okay.” Rebecca said sounding a little upset. Kissing Rachel’s cheek, she just went back upstairs. “Goodnight Mommy.” With that, Rachel just went to lie back down on the couch trying her best to fall asleep. ______________________________________ Morning came and Rachel just yawned stretching her arms as she woke up. “Oh… guess that headache is gone…” “Do you know you snore when you sleep?” … “Huh…?” Rachel asked looking to her right… seeing another human being that looked exactly like her but with a scar on her right eye. … “WHAT IN THE--!!??” Rachel screamed before getting her mouth covered by the look-a-like. “Will you stop screaming, you idiot!?” She exclaimed. “God, I know you’re smarter than that, Rose.” Rachel just quickly pushed her hand away. “Don’t call me that here!” “Mommy?” Rebecca called out from upstairs. “What was that?” “N-nothing sweetie! I just saw a spider!” Rachel answered before dragging the look-a-like to the basement. “Who the hell are you??” She asked… before getting punched in the stomach by her look-a-like. But both of them looked like they were groaning in pain. “Never drag me like that again!” The look-a-like hissed. “Damn it… why did that hurt me too??” “How should I know!? You’re the one who punched me!” Rachel said before punching her look-a-like back… again with both of them feeling the pain. “What is going on here…??” “It should be obvious what happened!’ The look-a-like exclaimed. “It probably has something to do with the experiments we were doing.” “Wait. We??” “I thought that even you would realize that… especially considering the scar on your left eye.” “Wait wha--” I said about to look for a mirror only to be stopped by the twin. “Don’t even bother wasting your time to check. It looks exactly like the scar on my right eye.” “...Who are you?” “...I’m your other half.” ~~~~~~~ “Examining my look-a-like even closer, I could tell that she really was a part of me… albeit, a part of me who was a lot more negative than I was. I could tell what she said was true. Marks that I originally had on my body were on her as well… As the both of us got our bearings straight, we came to the conclusion that she was in fact caused by the first drug that I took… It probably had a different result from the other subjects because I took the second injection right after the first when it didn’t show any signs of working.” Rachel said. “You’re saying that she was another you!?” I exclaimed. “How long has this been going on for!?” “She was around for about a year before we went back to Equestria…” I just blinked before staring at her. “You’ve been hiding her for a year!?” “Well… more like hiding her in plain sight…” “Huh?” “You did see her… you just didn’t know it was her.” Rachel said rubbing the back of her head. “Sometimes she would be the one to make your breakfast and lunch for school in the morning… She would even tuck you in at night. I guess despite being my opposite, our love for you really was the same… but if you noticed me being a lot more serious at times, that’s probably why… because it wasn’t me me… it was her.” “But what about the scars on your eyes? How come this is the first time I’ve noticed them?” I asked. “A simple spell really… it was enough to keep how my face looked for the day.” Rachel responded… then sighed looking at everyone. “You can probably guess this by now, but the drug that Rebecca and I took didn’t give us magical abilities… it simply enhanced and strengthened our magic to the point where we could still use it even as humans… but even in a human state, it was more powerful than a normal unicorn.” “Yeah… I saw that first hoof.” Twilight added. “Especially when she gets angry.” “When she gets angry…?” “Well… I’ve seen her lose her temper only a few times. But when she does, her eyes go blank… similar to the way yours did when you were fighting your other half… It happened when she saved me from the vines in the Everfree Forest, and…” “And… what?” Rachel asked tilting her head… I just looked away and sighed knowing what she was about to say. “She saw it on the day I…” I stammered. “Dad…” Rachel just winced a bit getting the idea. “I see…” Suddenly my eyes widened and I shuddered in realization. “O-oh my god… all this time I…” “Crystal, what is it??” Twilight asked worriedly. “All this time I’ve been convinced that he was just a monster… that I killed him because he killed you… but you’re still alive-- I… I killed him for nothing…!!” I screamed starting to cry and freak out, surging a bit. “I’m a horrible person-- I.. I’m the real monster--!!” I exclaimed before Rachel put both hooves on me. “Rebecca, listen to me!!” She shouted. “None of this is your fault. If anypony is to blame, it’s me!” Rachel shouted with tears on her face as well. “I should have told you the truth from the start… I shouldn’t have just left you to think I was dead…” she said pulling me into a tight hug. “Don’t you dare think for a second that you are a horrible person or a monster because that’s a lie! It was my mistakes! Not yours!” I slowly started to calm down… I just wrapped my arms around her tightly still crying. “I’m so sorry, Rebecca…” I just looked into her crying eyes and sighed. “I think I need a break from these stories… this really is a lot to take in all at once…” Rachel sighed and nodded. “I agree… Why don’t we all go home and rest? It’s been a long day for the both of us… wait. Do I even still have a home in Canterlot?” Celestia just looked to the side before shaking her head. “I apologize, Rose. When I heard that you died, I couldn’t just leave the house vacant… you know how many ponies want to live in Canterlot; that hasn’t changed.” “I see…” Rachel sighed looking down. “You’re more than welcome to stay at the library…” Twilight added walking up to Rachel. “You are Crystal’s real mother after all… Plus I’m sure you two still have a lot of catching up to do.” Rachel just looked at my eyes still watering, before gently rubbing them to dry them off. “You’re right… um… Where is this library, Twilight?” “In Ponyville… it’s basically in the center of town.” Twilight responded. “I should be able to find space for you in my home.” “I’d really appreciate it… thank you.” Rachel responded before looking up at Celestia. “Do you think I could have some time alone with Princess Celestia, everypony? I have to talk to her about something important, privately.” She said before turning back to me. “You should go with them, sweetie.” “Oh… alright.” I said before exiting the room with everyone else. As soon as we did, the doors closed behind us. About ten minutes of silence passed until Rainbow was the first to speak. “Soooo… half pony.” she said turning to me. “I guess that would explain a few things.” I didn’t respond. I was still processing everything myself. Twilight just walked beside me before pulling me close to her. “You know what I still don’t get though?” Pinkie asked. “What is it…?” I responded. “If Rose is your mom, then how come your cutie mark looks like Twilight’s?” “I honestly have no idea about that either…” Twilight added. “It’s strange but… right now we don’t have time to get into it. Right now I need to think about where to put an extra bed for Rose to sleep in.” she said scratching her head a bit. “That’s not the only problem though, Mom…” I said. “That other side of my real mom is out there and we have no idea where she is or what she has planned… She erased my real mom’s memories so now she has no idea either.” “I guess all we can really do is wait for her to make a move then…” Twilight said looking at the door. “Also, you’re still okay calling me ‘Mom’? Even with your real mother here?” “Of course I am… You loved me like my real mom does. Why wouldn’t I?” Twilight just smiled slightly pulling me into a hug. “To be honest, I’m a little relieved to hear you say that… I was a little worried you’d stop looking at me the same way.” “Yeah well, that’s just normal paranoid you talking.” I said hugging her back. … “I wonder what they’re talking about in there…” I said as we all just waited. Before anypony else was able to respond, the doors opened. Rachel just walked out and smiled at us before the door closed behind her. “So, are we ready to get going then?” “What were you talking to Princess Celestia about?” I asked. “Something you’ll find out about in the morning.” Rachel responded before yawning. “...What is it with you and surprises?” I asked groaning a bit. “Oh I’m not even surprised.” Twilight cut in. “I still remember your pop quizzes from when I was a filly. I was always prepared.” “...Wait what?” I asked looking at Twilight. “Oh right. You were passed out when we said this… it turns out your mother is actually one of my old teachers.” “Huh!?” I whipped my head to Rachel. “Yup! Twilight was one of the best students I ever had here in Canterlot.” Rachel nodded. “Great, even more info to process…” I groaned holding my head. Rachel just looked at me before turning to Twilight. “Twilight… do you mind if I spend some more time with Rebecca here in Canterlot? You can go back to Ponyville with your friends and we’ll catch up to you later.” Twilight just nodded in response. “Take all the time you need Miss. Rose.” Rachel just giggled. “Just Rose is fine, Twilight.” ______________________________________ After Twilight left with everyone else, I was left alone with Rachel, walking down the streets of Canterlot. “So you’re real name is White Rose? And Rachel was your made up name?” I asked walking with her. “Yeah… I know that’s probably strange for you right now.” Rose responded. “Among other things…” I huffed holding my head. Rose just looked at me staring for a moment. “What…?” “Mind if I try something with you sweetie?” she asked. “Huh?” I asked and stopped moving. When I did, she immediately used a spell on me. When she was done, I felt shorter. “Wha-- huh?” I asked looking up at her. “Oh my gosh, you look so cute as a unicorn!” Rose squeed lifting me up. “Wait huh!?” I exclaimed looking at my own hooves. “You can change others too!?” Rose was about to respond until she got a look at my cutie mark. “Your cutie mark… it looks like Twilight’s…?” “I got it after helping Sunset Shimmer in Canterlot High find her way.” “Wait, you met Sunset Shimmer too??” “Wait you know--... Don’t tell me you were her teacher too.” “Eheh… On second thought, I’ll leave it to your imagination…” Rose said sheepishly. “We did agree to continue the stories later…” “So what else do you want to do in Canterlot?” “Well… Honestly I just wanted some time alone with my daughter in the city I was born in… that’s all…” Rose said in a soft tone. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to have you here with me. I know! How about I show you where I used to live?” “Wait.” “Hm? What’s wrong?” “Do you think we could go there as humans… while you hold my hand…?” Rose just smiled and nodded before changing us both into humans again. I quickly took her hand and held it tightly as we walked to her old home. However, as we were walking by, there were of course ponies that recognized me; saying things like ‘Good afternoon Princess Crystal.’ or anything similar to that. At the same time they all looked up and stared at Rose as they were the only other human being with me. Eventually we reached the house and stopped. “This is it…” Rose said before changing herself back into a pony. “Wait huh?” I asked looking at Rose. “Honestly sweetie, I was getting a lot of weird looks as a human and it was making me uncomfortable… I hope you don’t mind me just being a pony for now, ‘Princess Crystal’.” she winked giggling a bit. “Please don’t call me that…” I mused looking around the house. “I wonder who lives here now…” Rose said kind of looking through the window. “Mom, this is kind of weird…” I said looking around the area. “This technically isn’t your house anymore, so don’t you think ponies might consider looking into someone else’s house rude?” Rose just sighed looking at me. “You’re right… I just wish I was able to bring you here before everything that happened.” I just looked down and thought for a moment. “Honestly Mom… it wasn’t all your fault either.” “Huh?” “I mean from what you told us in Celestia’s castle, none of this would’ve happened if Dad didn’t try any of these experiments in the first place.” “Even so, I still should’ve done something else instead of just going ahead and volunteering for that experiment.” Rose said sadly. “I’m still partially to blame too.” “I guess all of us make mistakes… But I don’t think I’ll ever forget what I did to Dad…” I said walking the direction of the train station. Rose just levitated me onto her back, carrying me that direction. “In some cases, that can be a good thing.” “What…?” “Think about it… what do we do when we know we’ve made a mistake? Do we do it again or do we learn from that mistake to make us a better person in the future?” “I guess that’s true…” I sighed laying on her back. “Maybe we should just head to Ponyville now… both of us are pretty tired.” ______________________________________ A few hours later, In Ponyville… The whole train ride back was mostly in silence while the two of us napped. As we got off the train, we were met with Twilight at the station. “What the… how long were you waiting here, Mom?” I asked looking at Twilight. “Not too long…” Twilight answered sheepishly. Yeah, right. “I noticed that you didn’t just teleport back… so I got a little bit worried and waited for you two here.” “Well we probably would have teleported, but the two of us were just really exhausted…” Rose answered. “I’m just looking forward to getting some more sleep…” “Eheh… right…” Twilight said smiling sheepishly. “What?” “Oh it’s nothing… come on. I’ll lead the way.” Twilight said heading toward the library. Rose just followed close behind with me on her back. “Do you have any idea what that was about?” Rose whispered to me. “I have a few guesses…” I responded and yawned. “Let’s just say we might not be sleeping until later.” “What do you mean by that?” “You’ll just have to wait and see.” I smirked mockingly. “...Touche.” Rose chuckled carrying me. Eventually after a few minutes of walking, we stopped at the door to the library. “And here we are!” “Wow… it’s a literal tree.” Rose said looking up at the tree. “And this is a library? That’s giving the name ‘Book Worm’ a whole new meaning.” Twilight just giggled a bit at the joke before opening the door. When she did, it was dark inside. “Uh… I don’t really see much of anything in here.” Rose said walking inside. “Where’s the light switch?” “SURPRISE!!” exclaimed five ponies as the lights flipped on. Rose was a bit taken back by the surprise. She looked around at everypony with a shocked expression on her face. Her attention was then pulled to the banner hanging in the library that read ‘WELCOME HOME ROSE!’. “Wha… you did this just for me…?” Rose asked finding it hard to believe. “It was kinda last minute…” Pinkie said walking up to us. “And after everything you told us? I just had to do something for you! All of us wanted to!” “It might not be as glamorous as Canterlot was.” Rarity started. “But we do hope you’ll be able to make yourself home here in Ponyville…” “We’ll help you any way we can to get your life back together and normal again.” Twilight added. Rose was just silent looking around at everything: At the banner, at our friends, and finally at me.” ‘Welcome Home.’ I didn’t realize how much those words meant to her at the time. ‘Welcome Home.’ Looking up at the banner again, I could see that Rose had tears coming from her eyes. ‘Welcome Home.’ She looked into my eyes. Without warning, she put me down and wrapped her hooves around me tighter than she ever has in my life. I could hear her sobbing uncontrollably and feel her trembling. I couldn’t help but cry a little bit holding onto her as well. “I am home…” Rose said finally speaking. “Thank you so much everyone…!” After that, the party went on for a few hours. Not as long as a normal party of course. A lot of Pinkie Pie’s parties usually last all night. It’s funny… we were so tired on the way here, but after the party, we just had so much energy. I wonder if that's because of how happy we were or because of all the cupcakes we had. Ironically, after the party was done, Twilight and Spike were the first ones to fall asleep. Rose and I just wandered around the library… until we stumbled on a trap door in the room. “Huh?” Rose asked looking at the door. “What’s down there?” “That’s a portal. It leads back to our world… Well, I guess the world I was born in.” I answered. “You made an actual working portal??” “Me? No way! Twilight was the one who made it.” I just paused. “Actually… it leads to Lexi’s house. They have a portal that leads here too.” I said before opening the door, levitating myself down inside it. Rose just hopped in herself, looking at the portal closely. “How does it work…?” “Well…” I said picking up the book that was to the side. “When both of us put our books in the right place, the portal opens… it doesn’t work if one of the books is off.” I say before placing the book in the slot of the portal. However, as soon as I did, the portal actually came to life. “What the… I guess she forgot to take their book off… It should be morning for them I think.” Rose just stopped and stared at the portal. “What’s wrong, Mom…?” “Melissa knew too… about me.” “Wait, huh?” “She knew who I was. Where I came from… she was the first friend I ever made in that world. One of my best friends that helped me get used to life in that world.” She said before pausing again. “I have to tell her the truth as well, don’t I?” “It’s always better to tell the truth.” I said. “By the way, I thought you said you didn’t tell anybody about being from Equestria.” “No, I said I never told you or your father.” Rose responded. “I never said the word ‘anybody’.” “Well… when do you want to tell her?” “Not tonight… after all, like you said, it’s morning for her… and she’s most likely very busy.” She said before removing the book and levitated me back up to the floor of the library. “And you know what else? It’s a school night isn’t it?” “Eheh… w-what makes you think I have school here?...” Rose just raised an eyebrow with an unapproved look. “Don’t be a hypocrite, ‘Miss. Honesty.’ Get to sleep.” I just pouted heading to the… new bed. It was right next to Twilight’s bed. Though it looked like a tight squeeze for the area now. I just layed in bed, looking over at Twilight who was already sleeping. … This is the first time we’ve ever slept in separate beds… it feels strange. Eventually, Rose joined me in bed, wrapping her hooves around me. “Goodnight my little angel…” Rose said before closing her eyes. … “Goodnight… Mommy…”