//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 | Being an Orphan Sucks 
// Story: When Worlds Collide 
// by ThunderVoltBlitz 
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Not knowing one’s own parents is something not many ponies worry about experiencing. Nearly everypony grows up with two or more parents looking out for them. However, this was not the case for a certain pegasus. The oddest part of it all was that the doctors and nurses couldn’t find any records that resembled his DNA sample. He simply appeared on the doorstep of two happily married pegasi in Fillydelphia.
Dashing Star and Fiery Rose were not planning on having foals anytime soon, but when the stallion returned home from work one night, he was surprised and confused to find a little pegasus foal on his porch. However, without any hesitation, Dashing Star took the infant colt inside. Talking it over with his wife, the couple decided to take care of him for the night, and then take him to the doctor’s the following morning.
Everypony involved that morning was completely baffled when the foal’s DNA brought up no results. After hours of search, examination, and discussion, the medical team assured the young couple that this foal was ordinary, despite the circumstances. This brought much relief to Fiery Rose, and, being the sweet mare that she was, she decided at that very moment that she and Star would raise the little colt as their own.
Probably the most interesting part about all of this was that the foal had not cried once in that entire incident. He was asleep for nearly the entire morning, and when he was awake, he was completely calm. As he did wake up, towards the end of testing, he was moderately content, and oddly playful, like a young wolf pup. They gave him some bottled milk to make sure he got something in his system.
The parents came up with his name rather easily. His primary name was “Astro,” as his appearance on their doorstep was a complete mystery. Just like the stars above in the dead of night, little to none was known about this stallion. His secondary name was “Wolf,” due to his calm and collected attitude in the office, as well as his playful mentality he seemed to have, which resembled that of young wolf pups.
The couple took Astro Wolf home, raising him as if they had actually conceived him. They were the happiest little family on the block, and while most ponies related to, or friends with, Fiery Rose and Dashing Star knew that the foal wasn’t really theirs, they accepted the little colt into their family as if he was.





Four years have gone by since Astro appeared on the doorstep in Fillydelphia. Four years since Dashing Star and Fiery Rose adopted this mysterious colt. And four years have passed since a lovely little family was born. Rose and Star decided that Astro’s birthday would be celebrated on the same day that they found him at their home, since they couldn’t pinpoint exactly how old the little pegasus was. This ended up being sometime in mid-spring, when the birds and animals began to become lively again, and the sun’s heat began to kick back in.
Right now, however, it is a cool autumn’s evening. Dashing Star was just leaving for his overnight security job after tucking his son in bed. However, before his mother could leave his room, Astro piped up: “Mommy, is daddy going to be home tomorrow morning? He promised to take me to the movies!”
Rose giggled. “Of course, honey, but he needs to get some rest when he gets home from work first. Just like you do right now. It will be morning before you know it!” With a soft kiss to his forehead once more, she left the room, and Astro quickly fell asleep.
Just as his mother had said, morning came quickly for the energetic volt. Checking the sun’s position to try and get an idea of the time, he smiled and hopped out of bed. Racing out of his room, he trotted down the stairs two at a time to get to the living room. Reaching a hallway, he slowed down. He slowly approached his parents’ door and extended a wing to the doorknob. Silently, he opens the door and peers inside.
Much to his disappointment, and confusion, his mother was sound asleep in her bed. Alone. Dashing Star was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed like he wasn’t even home, what with the lack of any sounds coming from within the house. That, and the living room had been void of any signs of life when Astro had passed through. With nothing better to do, Astro did a quick search through the entire house, checking the kitchen, bathrooms, and even the front and backyards. With no luck, Astro hadn’t seen any signs of his father anywhere.
Getting a little worried, the colt darted back inside, racing through the home towards his mother’s room. His heart was racing, and he was scared. His dad was never this late from work, and being as young as he was, Astro didn’t really have any idea how jobs worked. He just assumed that ponies got to work at a set time, and then went home a few hours later.
“Mommy! Mommy!” He cries out, bursting into his parents’ room.
Rose’s motherly instincts immediately kicked in, as she immediately sat up. “Astro, dear, what’s wrong? Bad dreams?”
Astro hopped into the bed, his wings buzzing and fluttering with anxiety at his sides. “No! Daddy isn’t home yet! Where is he??”
Fiery Rose’s eyes drifted over to where Dashing Star usually slept in the bed. Seeing that he was absent, she blinked a few times out of confusion, before turning back towards her son with a gentle smile.
“Honey, I’m sure something came up at work, and he was asked to stay a little longer,” she responded, pulling little Astro into her chest. Wrapping her hooves and wings around him, she squeezed and nuzzled him lovingly. Even eliciting a few giggles out of her son in the process.
When he was finally released from his mother’s torturous love, Astro sighed and said: “Oh, okay… I just got a little scared, I guess…” He then leaned against the mare, snuggling into her side.
“I  understand…. Say, let’s go get breakfast! I’ll make waffles!!” Rose smirked, knowing what his reaction would be.
Sure enough, his eyes widened like saucers, his ears perked up, and his wings started flapping. “With blueberries and strawberries, right??” He asked, looking like he was ready to explode out of excitement.
The mare simply giggled. “Of course, my little star,” she responded, rolling out of the bed.
As the two trotted to the kitchen, two stallions adorned in golden armor were approaching the front door, solemn expressions on their muzzles. One looked at the other and said: “Which one of us should be the one to break the news?”
“Relax,” came the response of the other stallion. “Just follow my lead. This is a rare occasion, but try to act natural, okay?”
Fiery Rose wasted no time in getting the waffle mix ready, using both hooves and wings to cook, chop, and mix. It wasn’t long until she had two plates of fruity waffles on the table for herself and her son. She had also prepared a bit extra for when her husband returned home from work.
Astro wasted no time diving into his favorite meal. Unfortunately, just as Rose was about to sit down to eat, three knocks at the front door drew her attention. With a reluctant sigh, she turned towards her colt. “Just a moment dear,” she said. “I’m going to go check on that.” With that, she began walking through the living room to the front door.
She was stunned when she opened the door and found two of the local royal guards standing before her. Both were baring saddened expressions. It took her a moment before she regained her composure.
“Oh, um, h-hello there. Is there… Something I can help you with, gentlecolts?” She asked, suddenly feeling very concerned.
The closest guard stepped forward, bowing his head while removing his helmet. “Good morning, ma’am. Unfortunately, there is no help that we can get from you. We simply bring you some news…”
The mare looked puzzled. First of all, she has never been visited by the local royal guard before, and with their expressions so down, it really began to worry her. As she watched, the second guard repeated the actions of the first one and asked if she was home alone.
Rose shook her head. “No, my son is home as well. Would you two like something to drink?”
The two guards exchanged concerned glances, before shaking their heads. The first guard responded by saying: “It would actually be better if he didn’t hear this news from us, ma’am. Could you… step outside for a moment?”
Once again confused, Rose nodded and stepped outside onto the porch, closing the door behind her. “So, what is this news that you two seem so solemn about?”
“Well, this information is about your husband… A Mr. Dashing Star?” The second asked, looking up to get a confirmation that this was, in fact, Dashing Star’s home. Once she seemed to confirm that this was correct, he looked away, knowing how bad this is going to sound.
“Um… Wait, where is he? Do you know where he is? Shouldn’t he be coming home right now??” Fear began to rise within her, and her breathing began to get heavier, as if dreading the worst.
“I’m…. I am afraid not, ma’am. He was… killed last night. Some machinery activated where he was working, and, as a part of his job, he went in to go check on it. If he could, he was to try and turn it off. For some reason, the cameras didn’t pick up exactly what happened, but we assume that he attempted to shut it down, and the machinery snagged him out of the air and crushed him.”
Rose went deathly silent, as if her mind stopped. Her wings were fluttering against her sides, her heart was racing within her chest, and tears were quickly welling up in her eyes. “Th-Thank you… Thank you f-for bringing me this information…” Without waiting for a response, Rose turned and went inside her home, closing the door behind her.
“You… have our condolences, Miss Rose.” Once the mare closed the door, the guards picked up their helmets and left.
As she returned to her colt, who had already finished his waffles, she was struggling to hide back her tears. She slowly sat down at the table, silently eating, all the while she was sniffling, and could feel a couple of tears run down the sides of her muzzle. Astro quickly noticed that something was wrong.
“Um, mommy? What’s wrong? Who was at the door?” He asked, a look of concern for his mother on his muzzle.
Looking at her son, the dam broke. Rose immediately started sobbing, getting up and walking around the table, she picked up her son and carried him into the living room. Sitting on the couch, she held him in her lap, sobbing still. Tears quickly stained her fur and Astro’s mane as the colt looked up and back at her in confusion.
“Sweetheart… That was… Some of the royal guards here in Fillydelphia,” she said. “They came to let us know that… Um… Your father… Will not be coming home. He is, um… He’s gone…”
Astro didn’t quite understand what she meant, what with how young he was, and that he had never experienced death in his life before. “Well, where did he go? We can go find him! Right?” There was a short pause. “R-Right, mommy…?”
The mare simply hugged him closer, sobbing harder than before. The sweet youthful innocence hit her hard, despite the situation. As she managed to catch her breath, she said, “No, dear, we can’t find him. He’s… He’s dead…”
Astro went quiet, looking up at her mother. Surely she must have been joking. But the tears, the crying, and the seriousness in her voice told him that the truth was that his father was, in fact, gone. “So… that means I d-don’t get to see him anymore? Ever?”
Fiery Rose shook her head, and Astro immediately started crying, hugging his mother tightly with every ounce of strength he had. Which, mind you, wasn’t much. This simply meant no more cloud games, no more movies, and no more bedtime stories with dad. Life just simply wasn’t going to be the same for this little colt.
The rest of the day was spent with the mare and the colt inseparable. Mourning and cuddling, and eating every now and then. As the news spread, family members that lived close by, as well as neighbors and friends, all came and visited Fiery Rose and Astro Wolf.
That night, Astro slept with his mother, who didn’t sleep well at all. If she wasn’t asleep, she was awake, silently sobbing. Constantly wondering why something like this happened to her and her family. She somehow managed to make it through the night, however, despite the sorrow and depression.
The next day was rather busy. Astro followed his mother around silently all day everywhere that she went. They had the funeral after lunch, and when Rose finally made it home, she took a quick shower before heading out once more. This time, she went to the company that employed her husband, swearing up and down that she was going to sue them, since it was their machinery that killed Dashing Star. The company’s board members were angry and annoyed, claiming that a mechanical failure wasn’t their fault. Having none of that, Rose got up and left, taking her son with you. As they were leaving, Astro noticed a purple unicorn stallion watching the mare, with an odd glare.
The rest of the day was spent the same as the day before, except there was a lot less crying. Fiery Rose sent a letter to her attorney, making sure the lawsuit was well underway. For the rest of the time, she spent time with her son. Eating pizza, watching movies at home, and just being mother and son. They went to bed shortly after sundown, huddling up to each other beneath the blankets in Rose’s bed.
When Astro woke up the following morning, he immediately felt that something was off. First of all, he woke up in his bed. Secondly, he didn’t smell any food cooking. What he did notice was the sound of his mother singing and whistling outside. Slowly making his way to his window, he spotted his mother working in the garden she kept in front of the home. She had her mane tied back, and was prancing around, acting so care-free.
Despite all of this happiness, Astro noticed slight motion down the road. Squinting his eyes, he notices a purple unicorn stallion, who kind of looked like the one he saw in the meeting the day before. The stallion was heading towards Astro’s house. It wasn’t long before the stallion was standing at the front of Astro’s home, staring down at his mother. And what happened next traumatized Astro for the rest of his life.
Unable to open his window, Astro couldn’t quite hear the stallion’s quiet voice as he talked with his mother. The conversation went on for a few minutes, and it almost looked like it had turned into an argument. What he did hear was the high-pitched screech his mother let out mere seconds after the unicorn’s magic pushed something shiny into his mother’s chest. It was when Astro saw blood that he screeched and raced down his stairs, using his wings to try and glide down, and then raced out of the front door.
“Mommy! Mommy!” He cried, rushing over to his wounded mother. The purple stallion was nowhere to be seen.
Rose slowly laid down on her side, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was oddly quiet as she looked up at her son. Her breathing had become ragged, and the blood was pooling in the grass beneath her. As Astro looked, he realized that the unicorn has stabbed his mom with a sharp knife.
Softly stroking her son’s cheek, Rose smiled weakly and said, “Astro, darling, you’re made me s-so proud… Mommy loves y-you…”
She was wincing, her breathing now turning into wheezing. Shouting, and the sounds of hoofsteps, could be heard behind Astro, but he was in too much of a shock to notice.
“Mommy! Don’t go, please!!” He was sobbing as well, not entirely sure as to what was happening, but could clearly tell that it wasn’t anything good.
The mare could only giggle faintly, wincing and groaning in the process. “Shhh… It’s going to be okay… Promise me that you’ll grow up big and strong, alright…?”
Astro let out a whine, not liking where this conversation was going at all. “Mommy! What do you mean? I’m not leaving!”
Tears were now streaming down the mare’s cheeks harder as she weakly pulled the colt closer, kissing his forehead one last time. Ponies were gathering, and medical teams were pushing through to get to her. Her final words were simply: “I know you’re not… But I am… I l-love you, my little Astro Wolf…”