The sound of glass breaking and the cries of frightened foals woke even the heaviest sleepers among the adults. They leapt out of their beds and raced into the hallway.
“What was that?” Twilight asked, as the sound of wails pierced the air.
“That was Apex!” Thorax cried
“Flurry!” Cadence whirled around
“Where’s it coming from?” Shining asked
“I can’t tell, the sounds are echoing in these giant hallways.” Pharynx replied, ears flicking.
Tempest galloped up to them, and Twilight turned to her.
“Tempest, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know Princess, but I just checked on the foals and they’re not in the library.” Tempest replied, then looked to Thorax. “Weren’t you heading for the kitchen?”
Thorax blinked “What?”
“I saw you a few minutes ago… or at least, I thought it was you.” Tempest replied, looking around at them. “I heard voices and when I went to check, Thorax said he was getting water, and Pharynx had been asking him where he was going.”
“I’ve been asleep the whole time.” Thorax told her. “But then who would you have see-” he broke off and looked at Pharynx.
“Apex.” Pharynx spat “We’ve told the grub a million times not to transform into others, but does he listen? No.”
“But why would he have transformed into you, Thorax?” Cadence asked
“I don’t know.” Thorax sighed, shaking his head. “That’s not important, we need to find him and the other foals.”
“Right, come on Pharynx.” Tempest’s ears twitched and she turned, leading the way down the hall with Pharynx on her tail, also listening to judge their distance from the cries.
They followed the sounds until they reached a room with a door open. Thorax and Cadence ran past the two guards, and gasped at the scene before them.
Amidst the piles of notes on a table and desk, lay a mirror with wires attached to it. And huddled in a corner by the desk, surrounded by a yellow forcefield, were the foals. Apex and Pumpkin were crying, Pound was hugging his sister, and Flurry was huddled in the center of the group, sobbing and horn charging the protective shield.
“Apex!” Thorax raced to them, Cadence following him.
“Flurry! Sweetie, what’s wrong, what happened-”
“My mirror portal!” Twilight raced to it, stepping cautiously around the broken glass.
“Your what?” Pharynx asked as he flew over to Thorax, hovering to avoid the shards.
“I’ve been experimenting with mirror portals, I managed to get my own up and running, I was about ready to enter it, now I’ll have to start all over!” Twilight exclaimed, turning to the foals. “What did they do to it?!”
Cadence tapped on the forcefield and Flurry looked up, seeing her.
“Mommy!” Flurry whimpered, dropping the shield, and Cadence picked her up.
“P-Papa Thorax…” Apex cried, standing shakily and whimpering. “U-Uncle Pharynx…”
Thorax reached for Apex, who shifted, revealing a cut on his cheek. Thorax gasped and lifted him up, nuzzling the whimpering nymph.
“It’s okay my little hyper sprite, we’ll get that taken care of.” he soothed him
“Are you two hurt?” Tempest asked Pound and Pumpkin.
“I-I’m not, b-but a wire was on Pumpkin’s leg, and when Flurry pulled her outta the way she got scraped.” Pound said, Pumpkin showing the cut on her leg.
“What did you four do to my mirror?!” Twilight yelled, and everyone fell silent. “I’ve been working on it for months and it was finally ready! Now I have to start my work all over! All the untold secrets of other worlds wasted because of a few foals!”
The foals were silent for a minute, then began whimpering and crying again. Thorax and Cadence cradled their foals and attempted to soothe them, while Shining Armor did his best to console the twins. Tempest and Pharynx glared at Twilight, who was frozen in shock at her own words. Finally, she took a breath to calm herself and spoke.
“I… kids, I’m sorry…” Twilight said. “I’ve been very stressed about this and… I know that’s no excuse… I’m sorry, this is my fault, I left the door open a bit and that was sure to catch your attention…”
“Why did you four sneak out anyway?” Pharynx asked, looking at Apex.
“I-I’ was Pound’s idea, he sai’ we should go ‘xploring…” Apex whimpered “We were looking for cookies when we saw the glowing thing… ‘m sorry I ‘tended to be you, Papa Thorax…” he nuzzled up against Thorax, who smiled softly and kissed his forehead.
“We’re sorry…” Pound added
“It’s okay little ones.” Tempest said, joining Pharynx, the shoes she wore as part of her armor protecting her hooves from the glass. “No one got seriously hurt, and the Princess clearly has an abundance of notes. She can rebuild the mirror.”
“And I’ll get started on that right away.” Twilight agreed. “Tempest is right, no one got seriously hurt and that’s what matters. Now, how about we clean off Apex and Pumpkin’s cuts and get you four back to bed.”
“O-Okay…” Pumpkin said
“Uh-huh.” Flurry agreed, wiping her eyes.
Pound and Apex nodded quietly, and they carried the foals out of the room. Thorax and Cadence took care of Apex and Pumpkin’s cuts, then they took the foals back to the library.
“I think we’ve had quite enough excitement for one night.” Cadence remarked as she laid Flurry down in her sleeping bag.
“Agreed.” Thorax kissed Apex gently on the forehead, and he giggled quietly. “You four go straight to bed, alright?”
“Okay.” Apex burrowed into his sleeping bag.
“We promise.” Pound agreed
“It’s what I wanted to do an’way…” Pumpkin mumbled, already falling asleep.
Flurry nodded, then closed her eyes and settled down. The adults waited for a bit longer to make sure the foals were really asleep, then headed out of the library.
“I think they’ll stay asleep this time, that was probably very scary for them.” Cadence murmured
“It was scary for me too.” Thorax whispered “Apex could have been badly hurt.”
“Hate to admit it but I was a bit worried too.” Pharynx grumbled, and Thorax beamed.
“Of course you were, you care about him Pharynx.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Come on, let’s let them sleep.” Twilight said
“You’re right Twily, we need to get back to bed too.” Shining agreed.
The adults headed back to their bedrooms, Tempest breaking off to return to her patrol. In the library, the foals sat up once the adults had gone.
“Never do that again, right?” Flurry asked, and they all nodded
“I’m sorry I suggested it…” Pound mumbled
“It’s okay Pound.” Flurry put a hoof on his, smiling. “We know you didn’t mean that to happen.”
“Yeah. Bu’ tha’ doesn’ mean we can’ s’ill a‘ven’ure.” Apex agreed
“Yeah. Just not with Twilight’s stuff.” Pumpkin added
“Ponyville Crew…” Apex reached out his hoof to place it in the center of the circle.
The others smiled and laid their hooves on his.
“Stick together, friends forever.” they chorused, keeping their voices low.
Pumpkin yawned and withdrew her hoof, snuggling down into her sleeping bag and closing her eyes. The others followed her lead.
“Night guys.” Pumpkin whispered
“Night.” Pound mumbled
“G’nigh’.” Apex said
“Night.” Flurry said
Those were the last words spoken, before the sound of soft snoring echoed through the library.