//------------------------------//
// The Homecoming 
// Story: Child of the Moon 
// by _Moonbeam 
//------------------------------//

Teleportation can feel like one of two different things. If it's a relatively short distance, like what Twilight does in the show, it feels like a really fast long jump without the leg motion. If it's a long distance, like, say, between dimensions, it feels like getting packaged into a tube and shot out of canon at breakneck pace. As I was being telekinetically thrown through the fabric of reality, the only thought that went through my mind was “how the fuck does Twilight do this and still come out standing?”

It felt way longer at the time, but I was only actively traveling for a few seconds. When I landed on solid ground, I fell on my face for the third time in as many minutes. Hopefully, that wasn't a sign of things to come. I was incredibly glad I skipped dinner, because I honestly don't think I could have kept anything down at that point. Slowly, I pulled myself to my feet. (Feet? Hooves? This is way more confusing than it should be. I'll go with hooves.) Luna, who was seemingly unaffected by the teleport, trotted over to me. “Here, have some peanuts,” she said with a concerned expression, waving a small bag in front of me with her telekinesis that I swear hadn't been in the room a second ago. “Between the transformation and the long distance teleport, you've probably lost some salt and protein. Eat up.” It looked like one of those tiny baggies they give you for free on airplanes, so I did the human thing, ignoring the reference. Somehow it was already opened, but I couldn't grab individual peanuts without fingers. I could, however, grab the whole bag, which I did. I didn't trust myself to try magic without something blowing up at that moment, so I just turned the bag upside down and dumped its entire contents down my throat. That got rid of most of the stomachache.

With my desire to throw up out of the way, I looked around the room I had ended up in. The room was almost pitch dark, having no sources of light other than Luna's horn. The heavy shades on the only window in the room were tightly drawn, making it impossible to tell what hour of the day or night it was. Looking around, almost everything was the same color: dark blue with purple accents. The only furniture in the room was a small table and chairs with a complete tea set sitting on top, along with an enormous bed in the middle of the room.Looking up, I didn't see a ceiling, but a huge, moving image of the night sky. Stars, galaxies, a full moon, it was indistinguishable from the real thing. There were two doors on either side of the bed: one ornate and encrusted with silver filling around the hinges; and another with more blackout shades drawn over it, presumably leading to some kind of terrace. There was only one place this could be: Luna’s bedchamber.

“Moonbeam?” Luna called out to me. I stopped for a moment. Of course she was talking to me. “There's… something I want to show you.” She opened the curtain-covered door, and a cool breeze filled the room. After glancing back at me, Luna stepped out onto the balcony, leaving the door wide open. I still didn't have the hang of walking on four legs, so I wound up sitting on my rump and pushing myself forward, more scooting than walking after her. It was about eight on a February evening when I… left, so it came as a surprise to see the moon high in the sky, surrounded by a blanket of stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies which seemed to vaguely resemble Luna’s… I don't think “hair” is the right word. I'll stick with “mane and tail.”

It was about then I made my second, even stranger observation: it was cool. It was probably thirty degrees at most most during the winter back on Earth, but it was probably fifty degrees that night, the kind of weather you get in June and July. Was it somehow later here than Earth?

A slightly stronger gust of wind came seemingly out of nowhere, rustling my fur and causing my mane to fall over my right eye. I wound up trying to push it out of the way with a hoof, but it was like trying to use chopsticks without thumbs. I succeeded only in hitting myself in the face. This could take some getting used to. As I tried to get my mane out of my eyes, I saw my hair suddenly start glowing blue as it lifted itself back over my head. Looking down, I saw Luna smiling at me, her horn still glowing. She gestured back toward the night sky wordlessly, closing her eyes in concentration. Before my eyes, the moon began to fall toward the horizon. Obviously, I'd seen the moon set on Earth, but that takes hours. With Luna's magic, this one went from near its zenith to the horizon line in under a minute. 

As soon as the moon was out of sight, a small ray of light appeared at the exact spot in the distance where the moon set. The tiny sunbeam traveled across the land, finally reaching its destination directly at the balcony Luna and I were in.

Luna squinted, trying to adjust her eyes. “I swear she does that on purpose,” she muttered, trying to get into the shade of her bedroom while technically still being outside. Ultimately, she wound up beside the inward-facing door, staring out like a mouse from a hole.

The sun rose more slowly, but still way, way faster than on Earth. While the moon was near it's highest point when I first saw it, the sun stopped just barely above the horizon. Luna motioned for me to come in, then shut the door, dropping the room back into near-darkness. The ceiling remained unchanged, except the moon was gone. Luna trotted to the other door, pushing it open to reveal an abandoned hallway only slightly better lit than the room.

“Come on,” Luna teased, her wings fluttering slightly. “I wouldn't want to keep your aunt waiting.”





Right front, back left, front left, back right. I kept going over it in my head, and I was clearly improving. I could now walk unaided, but every time I stopped concentrating on walking, I would trip. That being said, figuring out how to walk with twice as many legs was significantly easier than it probably should have been. Can't complain, it beats getting stuck on the floor of Luna’s bedroom.

Two flights of stairs and one small maze of dimly lit, near-identical hallways later, we came to a set of massive double doors, easily twenty feet tall. They were balanced perfectly, opening with only a light touch of Luna’s hoof. I'd heard about what was behind them plenty of times, but none of that prepared me for the real thing.

The walls of the throne room were all stained glass, letting a rainbow of colors appear when viewed directly, but not enough to make it seem like a rave. The window moldings were solid gold, complementing the floor, which seemed to be half gold on my left, and half silver on my right. Both halves had numerous gemstones embedded inside, any of which would have been worth a fortune on Earth. The edge of the golden half seemed slightly distended, as if it had been welded in. Or perhaps it was once entirely gold, and had the silver half added in later… like after the reformation of a certain princess.

None of that, however, compared to the pony sitting alone on the gem-encrusted throne. Celestia was several inches taller than her sister - huge by pony standards, but still not as big as a fully grown horse. Like Luna’s, her mane and tail shimmered in nonexistent wind. Instead of a starry sky, Celestia’s hairdo was more comparable to the northern lights. It rippled through a kaleidoscope of colors constantly, giving no indication as to its natural color. Her horn was almost an inch longer than Luna’s, and probably twice the size of mine, reflecting the slightly colored light like glass.

“So, you are finally here.” Celestia’s voice was flat, as if she'd rehearsed the line. She stood up, towering over me. “After two years of searching, my sister finally found you.” Her eyes were piercing, scanning me, as if looking for some indication of who I was. Apparently, she found it, because when I returned her gaze, she gave me a tiny smile, before turning to Luna.

“I'm sorry it took so long,” said Celestia, before embracing her sister. “Maybe now, we can be a family again.” That was the first display of emotion I'd seen from Celestia, which made me feel… weirdly left out.

“I'm here now,” I said after they separated. “Were you planning a family reunion or something?”

“No,” responded Luna. “It would be rather difficult to explain to the public that I somehow have a fully-grown daughter, despite the fact I'd been gone long enough most ponies had forgotten I even existed. The only ponies that know about you are in this room.”

Celestia turned back to me. Though she still tried to show no signs of emotion, her eyes were wet, like she was holding back tears. “Well… I did arrange for a mentor. Somepony to help you with fitting in,” she corrected. “She worked wonders with another pony who needed help fitting in in Equestria as well. She should be here in a moment.”

As if on cue, a flash of purplish light radiated out from the center of the throne room. The princesses, expecting the flash, had already turned away, but I was caught by surprise and nearly fell on my side. Another thing about hooves - good for slightly uneven ground, bad for trying to gain traction on a hard, flat surface. Fortunately, rather than having to introduce a character while laying on the ground, I felt something gently push me back to my hooves, defying gravity and leaving me with the same tingly feeling from my change. The world was a bit of a blurry mess, but when I turned my head around, I think I caught a tiny smile on Celestia's face.

As I blinked away the afterimage, a purple shape about the same size as me came into focus in the same place I was facing a moment earlier. Was that..?

“You wanted to see me, Celestia?” asked Twilight Sparkle. Then she noticed the other two ponies in the room, her eyes locking on me. “And who's this?”