A Place to Call Home

by starshine_dash


Research & Revelations

I felt myself being lightly shaken awake as my mind slowly began to work towards something resembling a waking state, "Tara? Wake up."

"I'm awake, Twilight..." I muttered as I stretched and hefted a still sleeping Pinkie Pie off of my chest so I could I sit up, "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you had recovered. I'm just glad you gave Pinkie your energy that night otherwise I wouldn't have been able to reverse engineer the process and get your spiritual stores back up. It's a lot different than unicorn magic..."

I nodded and thought about it. If Merlin had indeed become Starswirl, surely he had written something about converting the magical energy, or even if he knew there was a difference, "Twi, I'd like to ask a favor... Can you take me to the Royal Library? I need to do some research, and I think there might be something there."

"Well, sure, I can have Spike watch the library. Let me just send a note ahead to the Princesses..."

"No, I'd rather leave them out of this for now, until I'm sure I can't find out what I need on my own."

"Oh, well, I guess that's okay... I still need to talk to Spike."

I felt Pinkie start to stir next to me, "You go ahead, I'll meet you at the train in an hour?" she nodded, "Rarity already left, I guess?"

"Yes, a little before you woke up. She needed to fix her mane," the unicorn said with a roll of her eyes.

I nodded and shook my pink companion to help wake her up, "I'll see you at the train then," I said, and Twilight departed.

Pinkie finally woke up and smiled, hugging me tightly. I returned the gesture, "C'mon, Pinks, let's get some breakfast, then I'm heading for Canterlot."

"Canterlot? Why?"

"I need to do some research into this whole mess. These things that nopony else can see bug me, and my 'magic' is so different from a unicorn's..."

"Oh, okay! I can cover for you at the shop, I'm sure the Cakes won't mind at all. What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes. I crave them."

She grinned, and we cooked, and we ate. It was an easy morning. Despite her confession, our relationship hadn't changed all that much. At least now I wouldn't feel that awkward moment whenever she leaned against me during movie night. I just hoped to avoid the estrus issue for as long as possible. I didn't want to have to deal with... that... if I didn't have to . There were multiple reasons, none of which I felt like discussing this early. After a pot of coffee and a few dozen (for her) pancakes, we left, myself dressed as nicely as I could manage, wearing my new Luna-inspired winter wear and we made our way to the train station. Twilight was there with packed saddlebags and a nervous pace.

I waved as we walked up, Pinkie bouncing up to my height and giving me a quick peck on the cheek before bouncing off into town, presumably to head back to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight gaped at the kiss before I shrugged, "I'll explain on the train," I said quietly before she allowed us to board. I admit I was quite looking forward to this trip. I'd be in Equestria for months and had never bothered to visit the Capitol, despite seeing it on an almost daily basis jutting out of the side of the mountain. It was exciting. I had no delusions of a grand meeting with the Princess, so it would be all research. Sitting down in the cabin, Twilight joined me and stared at me, apparently waiting for my explanation of what had happened with Pinkie.

"So, what was that about?" she asked, pulling a notebook and quill out of her saddlebags, starting to write.

"Well, last night, while you and Rarity were asleep, we woke up. She kissed me and ran off, so I had to chase her down in the park where she confessed and we had a little talk. Then we went back to my house and back to sleep."

"Well, I don't see the attraction, but Pinkie has always been more open to other kinds of relationships, so, I won't fault her," the unicorn said with a slight shrug as she continued taking notes, "Though that does mean I have to add mating rituals and such to the list of things I need to learn while we're at the library."

"Twi... please, I care about Pinkie but... that kind of thing is just not in the cards. If I were a pony, maybe, but..."

"Well, I guess, but are you sure she won't be... disappointed?"

"If she is, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. I do care for her, Twilight, and I want her to be happy, but that's just something I can't do."

"Why not? You still have all the requisite parts, don't you?"

I sighed and rubbed a hand through my hair, trying to decide how to phrase my response, "If you suddenly woke up one day, with the name Dusk Shine, and a stallionhood, and found out that, say, Rainbow Dash was your marefriend, would you be willing to mate with her?"

"I'd feel wrong, and out of place, so probably not..."

"So, just because I have the right parts, doesn't mean I want to put them to their intended use. Even if I did, I'd want to be able to satisfy her... You may not have noticed, but humans are a bit undersized compared to the average stallion."

She blushed, "I wouldn't know anything about that..."

I giggled, "I'm sorry, Twi. I just wanted to clear the air about that. How long until we get to Canterlot?"

"A few hours. I usually bring a few books to read on the way," she said, nodding toward her saddlebags.

"Ah, good thing I brought my DS then..." I muttered, pulling the aforementioned small blue device out of my pocket and flipping it open. I booted it up and was in the middle of debating which of the games currently slotted I wanted to play when I spied Twilight looking at it curiously.

"Oh, it's like a small computer, but primarily for playing video games. I have two with me right now, one called Pokemon: Black which is about collecting small creatures to do battle with other trainers and Metroid: Fusion, about a future bounty hunter who has to deal with something that can take over and mimic any other creature, like The Thing."

"I'm still sorry about what I did to your couch."

"I should have expected that something that horrifying would make you lose your lunch, I'm sorry."

Twilight put her book down and came over to sit next to me and watch me play over my shoulder. Technology was one of the few things we could discuss without it going completely over my head. Even my simplistic explanations of how something worked was enough for her to start developing theories and prototypes. I did manage to catch her before she completely vivisected my computer one day though, "So, aliens or small cute battle monsters?"

"Pokemon seems to be something Fluttershy would like."

"Oh, she'd love collecting all the little creatures, but not having to pit them against other trainers, I'm sure."

"You're probably right, let's see it..." she said. I pushed the icon and started up my save file, checking my team and mentally facepalming over the names of the beasties that made up my team. My Oshawott named Revolver simply topped the list of references I would have to explain, so I just moved on until Twilight started asking questions.

After two hours of explaining type advantage, STAB moves, EVs, IVs, Eevees, and half the references in the names of my monsters, I finally got tired of playing and let her start up a new file on the grounds that she wouldn't be able to save. She smiled and nodded, starting up a new game while muttering something about a cloning spell so she could have her own copy. She spent the rest of the trip progressing through the game and rapidly discovering that her mental acuity served her quite well for strategy and planning. Her team was well rounded and she learned quickly how to prepare for each gym that was coming up by talking to the people in town. The plot suckered her in pretty good and she told me that if their methods weren't so abhorrent, she'd be siding with Team Plasma.

I dozed off shortly after that and woke up to her nudging me in the shoulder as we pulled into Canterlot. I folded up the DS, leaving it powered on in safe mode just in case Twilight wanted to play later, and followed her off the train. I got a few odd looks from Canterlot's residents as we made our way through town, but most of them just went back about their business once they spotted Twilight conversing with me.

"Now, you'll be able to access most of the library except for the rare wing and the Dark Archives. I'm not even allowed there. If you're looking for magic information, I'd suggest the Starswirl the Bearded wing. It has pretty much everything he ever wrote. What's not there is in the rare wing and I can get you access if you need it and the Princess isn't busy."

"Thanks, Twilight. I'm doubting what I need is just out in the open to find, but I might get lucky," I said as we finally found our way up the steps to the Canterlot Royal Library. It was definitely huge. We entered and I found my way over to the card catalogue to start with some rough idea of what I was looking for. Having found a few titles I thought might be interesting, I began my journey through Equestria's library filing system. While roughly similar to the Dewey Decimal system, it was a little more obtuse. After wandering for about half an hour, I finally found the wing I was looking for. I was a little shocked by how much information Starswirl had put on paper if indeed all of these works were his. I hoped they just lumped all the "magic" books in with his works, but, I'd have to find out.

Several hours later, I found myself leaning back against a shelf of dusty scrolls and dozing off. I blinked and looked around, finding myself in an unfamiliar chamber. Shrugging and moving forward in one of the rare instances I realize I was in a dream, I stepped into the air and began to float around, flying awkwardly like a low-powered Iron Man trying to find his balance. I always preferred to fly in my dreams, since it was likely the only opportunity I would have. I explored the chamber a little and marveled at the intricacy of the carvings in the walls and the items held under glass cases or suspended from the walls. Magnificent tapestries chronicling ancient battles or important events, none of which I recognized. I turned a corner and saw a curious sight. Staring straight at me, eyes twinkling with mischief, was a slate-gray fox. It was sitting in the middle of the aisle just staring at me.

I tilted my head at it and it mirrored me. "Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to survive being pulled across dimensions, little miss?" it said in a deep feminine voice carrying old wisdom and yet youthful playfulness, "You're lucky I'm back so soon!"

"Wait... Kes? Is that you?"

"Of course it is! When we got yanked through worlds, we got separated, but I've got my form back and I intend to have words with that old nag that pulled us so far from home."

"Any idea who it was?"

She facepawed and sighed, "You know who it was! I'm not going to tell you something you already know. I wouldn't be a very good spirit guide if I did, now would I?"

I looked down at the fox in confusion. I had no idea who brought me to this world but if she wasn't going to tell me, that meant I was going to have to find out myself. "So where are we anyway? A dream, I know that much."

"We're in your vault. Or, what it looks like now, more of a museum."

"A museum?"

"Yeah, all the old things that you should know about and deal with, sitting here ignored and collecting dust." Noting my blank expression, she continued after hopping up onto a display of an old helmet and shield in a vaguely Norse design, "Every object in here represents something from your soul's past. Either a power, a story, a memory, or a nightmare. Your friends and I always told you that you had an old soul. Now you can see that literally before you."

"So, what, I had Norse ancestors?" I asked, looking at the display. The writing on it was gibberish, as it always was in my dreams.

She bobbed her head back and forth and made a face, "In a manner of speaking, after the fact, as it were. It's extremely complicated and I don't have the time or energy to explain. You're only catching a light nap, not hibernating for a year, after all. You keep looking outside for answers, like a human, when you're so much more. I kept telling you, before we merged, that all your answers are in here," she said, tapping a paw against my forehead, "and here!" she put the paw over my chest, "Now, Twilight's trying to wake you up so I'll have to talk to you again later, but for now, take this with you."

She put a small locket in my hand and closed my fist around it before the world faded to black and I slowly opened my eyes, yawning as a small purple unicorn prodded me with a hoof, "Sorry, Twilight, I must have dozed off."

"You were pretty out of it. How did your search go?"

"Well, I didn't find anything useful," I said, with a stretch as I stood up, clenching my fist and feeling something pressing into my palm, "What the..."

I opened my hand to reveal the same locket that Kes had pushed into my hand before I woke up, "Twilight... Do you know anyone skilled in dream magic?"

"Only Princess Luna, or at least she used to be, according to research, why?"

I held out my hand, showing her the trinket. It was silver and oblong with intricate runic engravings covering the surface and a loop meant for a chain from the top. I could find no means to open it and Twilight's magic didn't seem to either as she levitated it up and began to examine it in detail, "Where'd you find this? It's beautiful! The craftsponyship is incredibly detailed..."

"My spirit guide is back, apparently, and gave it to me in my dream just now."

"Dream to reality? That's... I hate to admit it, but that is way beyond anything I know. I came to get you because we have to get to the train back to Ponyville. I can send Princess Celestia a letter when we get back, but beyond that, it would be impossible to see the Princess," my friend said as we wandered back to the front desk. I pocketed the locket as I waited for Twilight to check out. She had brought a stack of about twenty tomes with her, and the librarian was forcing her to weed it down to just two, since she no longer lived in the castle. As I waited, I was approached by two unicorns clad in royal guard armor who stared at me sternly for several moments before I finally noticed their presence.

"May I help you, gentlecolts?" I asked, admittedly nervous. My first trip to Canterlot and here I was being accosted by the guards.

"We were sent to deliver a message," the one on the right said simply, levitating a scroll to me. Instead of the golden seal of Princess Celestia, this one was a deep blue with a crescent moon on it, "By your leave," they said in unison before bowing and leaving the way they came.

Twilight walked up to me as I opened the missive, "What was that all about?"

I shrugged as I read the letter.


To Our Subject,

We hath sensed that thine companion in spirit has returned as we hoped she would. Thus, we request a meeting between thyself, thy companion, and ourselves upon thine rest this eve. Thou need simply return to Ponyville and we shall visit thee in thy dreams as your companion does. The trinket thou hath been given contains an old magic that thee may find useful in the coming months.

We appreciate thine discretion in this matter.


Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna of Equestria, caretaker of the Moon and Stars


I rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it in a pocket, "Just an official greeting from Princess Luna. I guess she's still catching up with matters."

Twilight nodded and I thanked Faust that Applejack weren't here. I had never been very good at lying to someone's face.

Our journey to the train was uneventful though I was stopped by a small filly who was wondering what exactly I was. It was kind of cute to watch her eyes go wide as I treated her like a big filly instead of a little foal. She'd actually met a gryphon once but since I was the only human in Equestria, she had a great story to tell all her friends. One of these days I'll remember to actually bring my camera. I could have taken a photo and printed it out back home and sent it via post for proof. At the very least her mother would vouch for the validity of her tale. I just made sure no embellishments were given. I was definitely not twenty hooves tall and capable of breathing fire.

The train ride was much the same as the ride into Canterlot had been. I managed to avoid dozing off by reading one of the tomes Twilight brought with her while she played more Pokemon. I learned a little more about the history of Equestria and Starswirl the Bearded in particular.

Rapidly setting as we pulled into the station in Ponyville, the sun spoke that we had spent all day in Canterlot. My stomach growled its displeasure as we left the car and I sighed, "We forgot lunch, didn't we?"

Twilight blushed, "I guess so," she said as her own gut answered mine.

"Should we stop by a restaurant or something? I don't really want to walk all the way home and then cook..."

"Well, the library is on the way to a very nice little cafe, so let me drop off these bags and grab Spike."

"Alright, sounds like a plan."

We walked mostly in silence, my mind going over the conversation with Kesina and the letter from the princess. My spirit guide had become an actual part of my being a few years ago due to some particular nastiness back home, but had apparently been separated from me during my journey here. Princess Luna seemed to know about her, and my situation, but how? I hadn't spoken to her, and while I'm sure Celestia had told her about me, I don't know how she could have found out about Kesina, given the fact that she only just reappeared. Hopefully the dream tonight would bring some answers.

Dinner was a relatively quiet affair, myself absorbed in thought and Twilight seemingly willing to let me be alone with them. We parted ways after we ate and I made my way slowly home. I debated stopping in on Pinkie, but I decided against it for now. I knew she'd want to hang out but at this point I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, not to mention the meeting awaiting me.

Finally climbing between my sheets I placed my head against the pillow and quickly fell away into a dream. Pushing off the ground and flying down the unfamiliar tunnel I had found myself in, I soon emerged into a dimly lit chamber. The air was scented with a soft incense and the furniture was obviously lunar-themed. I smiled to myself and floated in place as I felt a familiar presence enter behind me.

"Well, she certainly has good taste," the voice said.

I nodded in agreement. "Leave it to royalty to keep you waiting."

A soft chuckle approached from the shadows, "Not too long, we hope," said the lunar princess as she strode into the light.

I lowered myself to the floor and bowed deeply, "Princess Luna, it is an honor."

"Well met again at last, Miss Watson. It has been so long since we took tea together."

"I don't actually like tea..." I said, standing back up straight, "Wait... again? What?"

"Do you not recall? We visited thee in thy dream many months ago. We saw in thy heart the greatest need to escape thine situation we had encountered in over a millenia!"

"I, uh... Wait, that dream? That was an actual sit down with the princess and have tea dream!?"

My spirit guide pounced onto my shoulder and swatted the back of my head, "Didn't I always say, be careful what you wish for?!"

Not knowing exactly what else to do, I fell over. I've never felt a panic attack in a dream but they were just as bad as one in the real world. The lightheaded feeling, tunnel vision, sweating, it was all there.

Luna looked at me with concern and levitated over a glass of water. I took it and sipped at until I had managed to recover my faculties, "Forgive me, Princess. So, you brought me here?"

"Indeed. Thy suffering was great, even we could see that. Your spiritual strength was sufficient to survive the journey, though we do apologize for separating thee from thy companion. We had hoped that thine arrival in Equestria would go smoothly. Unfortunately, we neglected to recall thine medical conditions."

"It's alright, Princess. I survived, obviously. Though I'm surprised you didn't just make me into a pony to cover it up."

"A human appearing in Ponyville would arouse my sister's suspicions less than a new pony with advanced technology and no idea how they arrived. We are also afraid that Starswirl's spell was never designed to be used on another being, only oneself."

I nodded and thought about it for a moment as Kesina came over and curled up in my lap, "I'm glad you brought me here, though, I'm afraid I may have unleashed something on your world that was never intended to be here."

She frowned and sat down across from me, "Indeed, the vault in thine mind contained a great many things, some of which were quite angry at being sealed away for so long. Luckily, they are confined to the Everfree and the surrounding area. We must ask that thee regain control over these entities before they do more harm."

"I will do whatever I can, Princess. It may take some time..."

She smiled and levitated an ancient tome over to me. I opened it and saw nothing but dreamese.

"I'm not skilled enough at dreams to read this, your highness."

"Worry not, my dear subject. It will follow thee into the waking world, which thou must return to shortly."

"Thank you for the help, and the information. I just wish I knew how to use my powers."

"They are in thine vault. Visit it, learn about your past. Knowledge is power, as they say. Be wary it dost not corrupt thee."

"I think Twilight and the girls can handle me if I go off the ranch."

She chuckled, "Quite true. Enjoy thine day, Miss Watson."

I smiled as the dream faded slowly, "Thank you, your highness."