//------------------------------//
// Call Home 
// Story: A Siren Rose 
// by Mystic Sunrise 
//------------------------------//

After a moment, Pearl had a thought. "We should probably call everypony and tell them we're alright. I know Princess Celestia gave you something so you could."

Twilight blinked. She had forgotten about that. "A good idea. I don't know how long we've been gone. They must be worried sick. And I know Sunset and my friends will be glad to hear they no longer need to worry about you."

Pearl smirked, poking her gem. "Hey. I always made sure to avoid them and Canterlot High when I was like that. The city has enough problems even without magic being involved. Other me just had to point me in the right direction. Sue me if I decided to go to the Sweet Shop once I was back to normal."

Twilight's ears fell. This had been something they'd avoided talking about for some time now. "And what does she think of you, and all of this? She has to know if you stayed with her as much as you have."

Pearl smiled. "She was fine with it actually. Her family seemed to know all about magic and Equestria. I'm not sure how, but they do. Hiding me from other you was a chore. That girl is a persistent pain when she wants to be. I still want to go back though. So much Equestria doesn't have."

Twilight giggled, kissing her wife's nose. "Trust me, I know that feeling. I know you've talked about some of the hobbies over there. And I thought I could lecture. One of these days, we'll make it a weekend trip or something. I know the Friendship Games are coming up."

Pearl rolled her eyes. Leave it to the Princess of Friendship to want to go over for something like that. But for the moment, they had other things to worry about.





Several minutes later, the pair watched as the broach projected a light upwards, forming into a mirror of sorts that showed the Throne Room of Canterlot Castle, and a very surprised Princess Celestia at the intrusion.

After a moment, the princess smiled, relieved at last. "Twilight, Pearl. You do not know how beyond happy I am to see you both are alright. We have been so worried."

The pair shared a confused look. "What do you mean, princess? We can't have been gone for that long?" Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head. "Twilight. The two of you have been gone for six months. I assume that Sky is with you as well, seeing as he has not returned? Rainbow is worried sick about him."

Pearl sighed coming into view. "Yeah, he's with us. Had to fight off a Gargoyle first though. He's off with our host at the moment."

Celestia sighed. "I was afraid of this. Luna was adamant you should not go through the Everfree, but there was no other way to get where you needed to. I am glad-" She paused as she finally saw what was on Pearl's forehead. "Pearl. May I ask why you are wearing a horn? It suits you, but this seems strange. Even for you."

Pearl smirked. "It's not a fake horn though." To prove her point, she lifted Twilight's now empty cup, her horn swirling in a rainbow of red, blue, green, black, and white. "Could I do that if it was?"

Celestia's jaw dropped. That had been real. Even from this distance, she had been able to feel a faint twinge of magic. "Then it's finally happened. The Dragon Soul has come home to the one always meant to bear it. I never fully believed the stories Tiamat told of it. Perhaps I was wrong."

Twilight wondered what her mentor meant by this, but it could wait for now. "If we've been gone for so long, what have we missed?"

Celestia shook her head, smiling a little. "Much. Quite a bit that involves you, Twilight. Both here, and with your friends at Canterlot High." She held up a hoof at Twilight's incoming question. "You have not missed the birth of your niece, Twilight. Cadance is not due for some time yet."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief but still had many questions. "What is going on in the Human World? Sunset wouldn't contact me unless it was something major. The Journal only has so many pages."

Celestia could only shrug. "I am not sure. Spike only said it was an emergency of some kind. It seems to have passed whatever it might have been." Her smile slipped, and she sighed. "And there is a unicorn waiting for you in Ponyville, Twilight. Starlight Glimmer I believe her name is."

Twilight was stunned by this. "Starlight? What is she doing in Ponyville? We haven't seen her since we helped her town."

Pearl nodded, her gem glowing at her growing anger. "Yeah. And I Pinkie Promised that I would rip her head off if she even thought of trying something after that mess in Our Town."

Celestia nodded sadly. "Our Town has been destroyed. From what we understand, Starlight did in fact go back after you ran her out. There was a Nightstalker incursion detected about the same time in that location. How she survived I am not sure. But whatever happened, it has broken her. So much so that she cannot sleep by herself, and is jumping at shadows. Fluttershy is doing her best to help her."

Twilight's heart dropped right out of her, and even Pearl's ears fell in horror. They both knew the horrors of a Nightstalker incursion. Very few ever lived through one, and even then, they carried scars that went beyond anything that might be physical.

Celestia wished she had better news for the pair, but it was not right to withhold this from them. Even her sister Luna was shocked at what she had seen in the unicorn's dreams, and they had seen much in their long lives. "You said you fought a Gargoyle? In the Everfree I take it?"

Pearl shook her head, nodding. "Sky fought one, but yeah."

Twilight nodded as well. "Normally, I would have questioned how that was possible. But now I know the truth. There are no portals in the Everfree Forest."

Celestia's brows came together. "Then how? I was always under the assumption that there was. Or multiple ones. Tsunami Rose never gave any indication there was anything but."

Twilight filed that away for later. So they did know each other. Interesting. "It is much worse than just an Abyssal Portal, Princess Celestia. Or even multiple ones. The Everfree Forest sits directly above the Abyss itself. From what I understand, Valandor created the forest to contain the Abyss. Ponyville is in Tragar itself, though I do not know why we have not seen worse than we have."

Celestia's fur paled, an impressive feat seeing as how white her coat already was. "Are you sure of this, Twilight? Do you realize what this means if you are correct?"

"It is beyond doubt, Princess Celestia," Summer said as she joined the pair. "My entire life has been spent keeping the worst of the Wicked Ones' forces at bay. I was always impressed that anypony would live in the Everfree as you and your sister did for a time."

Celestia frowned, bowing her head slightly as she saw the dead serious look in the dragon's eyes. "Summer. Why didn't you tell us? We should have known. We could have done something."

Summer shook her head. "Equestria was too young and still too new. Your tribes had only just stopped being at each other's throats for every stupid reason under the sun. This would have torn you apart. It will still tear you apart if this gets out. For now, the Everfree keeps the power of the Abyss at bay."

Celestia's expression darkened. None of this felt right to her. But there seemed little she could do for the moment as she looked again at Pearl's horn. "This will raise the ire of some in Canterlot. Some are still demanding I strip you of your title, Twilight, for marrying a Pegasus."

Twilight frowned. "I have said it before, princess, and I will say it again. I do not care what they think. They have no power over any of us. This is just them thinking they do. Again."

Celestia giggled. "I understand that, Twilight. Both of you know that you have Luna and I's full support. As does Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. That is all that matters in the end."

Pearl puffed out her chest at that. "So does this make me a princess or something? Tiamat called me the Dragon Princess, but I have no idea what that means."

Celestia could only shrug. "By right, you became a princess when you married Princess Twilight, Pearl. As Shining Armor became a prince when he married Cadance. Beyond that, I do not know."

At that moment, a scribe came to her side and whispered something in the alicorn's ears, earning an annoyed sigh from the mare. "I am sorry you two. Court is about to begin, and I cannot delay this it seems." She smiled. "I will be sure to tell all of your friends about this. We may speak again soon."

Pearl and Twilight giggled as the connection cut off. They could use some good right about now.