When I awoke the next day, I was lying in a large, fluffy bed. Much bigger than myself, for sure. I lifted my head up and scanned my surroundings. I didn’t see Lovelight or Haze, but I was clearly in their room. I could hear them in the kitchen and smell something delicious. The morning rays shone through the window, making the other half of the bed warm. I figured it couldn’t hurt to sleep in for once. So I yawned, rolled over into the sunlight, and closed my eyes again.
Not a few moments later did I hear a rather familiar popping sound, and my eyes shot open as I looked all around me. It took a few seconds to process the figure of discord floating right next to the bed. He had a decidedly unhappy face on him that made me shrink, and my eyes dilated in fear.
He crossed his arms and sighed, "Tsk tsk, you know… I had more faith in you than that."
I slightly hid behind the covers, "W-What do you mean?"
He flew a bit closer and came eye to eye with me. "About our deal. You didn’t even make it a day; I’m shocked!"
"About our… deal?" He was talking about our not hurting Fluttershy deal, but I suppose if my yelling had actually caused her to be hurt, then I guess I really did screw up.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, the one where you weren’t supposed to hurt her?" He groaned and facepalmed into his clawed hand. "I showed up last night, and she was entirely distraught. I couldn’t get a word out of her, except that it loops all the way back to you." He said pointing an accusatory finger.
I was entirely stricken with debilitating fear after he said that. He was going to send me to an even worse dimension? Was he actually that cruel? I hadn’t meant to hurt Fluttershy! She just got caught up in everything!
Tears started streaming out of both my eyes, "P-Please! No! I don’t want to leave!" I cried loudly. My entire body began to shake as my legs failed underneath me. "I don’t want to lose somebody again!"
He raised a brow at me, "Don’t make promises you can’t keep, kid."
I instantly began to panic, breathing harshly and rapidly. It wasn't fair, I finally felt safety and a miniscule amount of happiness for once in a long time. And all of it was about to be stripped away from me without a second thought.
I crawled over and bowed my head as I practically groveled at his feet. "No! I didn’t mean it! I wasn’t trying to hurt her!" I must’ve looked pathetic as I looked into his eyes with terror, "Please, she loves me!"
I saw Lovelight pass by the hallway into the living room. For a moment, she stopped and glanced down the hallway into the room. All she gave was a small smile before continuing on. Slowly, I muttered to myself with a feeling of betrayal, "Lovelight?"
Discord hummed, "They can’t see or hear anything." Discord said, turning to the doorway to prove his point, "Hey! How’s breakfast coming along?" He called, only to be met with silence. He turned to me and shrugged with a smirk.
I wailed in terror, "Please, at least let me say goodbye!" I grabbed onto one of his legs and hugged him tightly as I closed my eyes. "Please, I’ll do anything! You can torture me for eternity; just let me say goodbye!"
Discord groaned and rolled his eyes before shaking me off. "Kid, calm down. I’m not here to send you off."
I felt the lump in my throat clear, and I looked up in disbelief as I wiped tears out of my eyes. "Y-You’re not?"
"Who do you take me for? Some sort of chaotic lunatic?" He said with a small chuckle. "Don’t answer that."
"Then… what do you want?" I said as I struggled to get my breathing back to normal.
"Well, it seems your very presence in this realm is causing boundless amounts of chaos. Twilight, for once in her life, seems to be falling apart; the town is in utter confusion over you. And even the princesses have gone missing!" He said all of this with excitement that grew the more he talked.
He cleared his throat, "So no, you won’t be leaving this realm anytime soon. I’m enjoying the show."
"Then why did you wake me up with a heart attack inducing presence?" I asked with a bit of bitterness.
"No need for hostility!" Discord said dramatically, "In fact, I came to give you some advice!"
I tilted my head, and squinted at him with a large amount of scrutiny. "And that is?"
He leaned in closer, pretending to whisper, even though it made no difference. "While I do enjoy the chaos, there are others in this realm who decidedly do not like it. I would keep an eye out and watch your back at all times."
He backed away and puffed his chest out proudly, "Besides, if something happens to you, then all of this lovely chaos will mend itself! I can’t have that."
What he said reminded me of the two ponies from yesterday. They had a decidedly odd feeling about them. Like they felt wrong or out of place, and I really didn’t like that. If I was going to stay here, I’d have to keep out of sight and out of mind.
"Is that all you came here to say? Watch out because bad ponies might hurt you?" I said a bit sarcastically.
He huffed, "No, I’m saying that you are a target. And that if you aren’t careful, anything I would ever do to you would pale in comparison." How cryptic! I was beginning to really wish I could give this Discord guy a burn or two.
He leaned in and gave a sheepish look, "Also, please make up with Fluttershy. Don’t tell anybody, but she has wanted foals for a while now, and I’m sure after what happened she assumes herself to be an unfit parent."
I sighed and looked down at my hooves sadly. "She’d be a great parent for some normal pony. Not… me." I gritted my teeth at that, but it was the cold, hard truth.
Discord backed up jubilantly: "Great! If you could just tell her that, it’d be greatly appreciated!"
Behind Discord, I could see Lovelight walking down the hallway with a smile as she hummed a tune to herself. Discord glanced behind him, then turned to me and saluted, "Anyway, toodaloo!" Then he evaporated into thin air.
Lovelight came in right afterwards, humming a gentle tune with glee as she rested her eyes on me. Her tune stopped, and she became worried, walking over and nuzzling my still stunned expression.
"Mellow, are you alright, little one?"
Was I making a mistake? The panic I'd felt told me so. I shouldn't have been letting myself get attached to others like this. The likelihood of them abandoning me at some point or otherwise being separated from me in some way was the cold reality. I didn't have the luxury of pretending everything was normal and that I was suddenly some innocent being.
What if I hurt Lovelight? She always said I never would and that everything would be okay. But I'm not stupid; I know how the world works. If I hurt her at any point, I wouldn't be able to live with myself anymore. It would be best if I distanced myself; it always has been. The growing expression of concern on her face reminded me that reality wouldn't wait for me. I'd have to make decisions faster, even if I hated it.
I snapped myself back into reality, shaking my head wildly before looking at her with a tilted head. "Y-Yeah, good morning."
She hummed suspiciously, "Good morning." She parroted before reaching a hoof up and gently wiping tears out of my eyes. I had forgotten I broke down, pleading and crying, a minute ago. "Did you sleep well?" She asked with a hint of worry.
I nodded eagerly. "Really well!"
She forced a small smile as she leaned in and nuzzled me. "Well, let’s get you some breakfast to keep the tummy monster at bay."
But then again, did it really hurt to let myself enjoy it? Even if they were fleeting moments that would haunt my future dreams. I let my face decide for me as a small smile appeared.
I giggled, "Alright."
[1 Day Earlier]
Celestia huffed to herself. No amount of reading newspapers or going over events in her head again could quell the feeling deep down in her chest. She had been staring out the window for what felt like far too long now. Her guards had asked if she required entertainment, she’d just waved them off. Something wasn’t sitting right deep down.
Luna released a loud yawn, stretching her wings as the train car door opened for her. Two guards saluted before quickly shutting it again. Luna rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat down across from her sister. She looked to not have even fixed her fur yet, which was ruffled and wild. Celestia glanced at her with a smile, but there was a hint of doubt in her look. "Good afternoon, sister."
Luna hummed pleasantly, "Tis’ but a good morn’ for thou."
Celestia giggled to herself. Luna often had trouble scrambling her brain back to normal dialect upon waking up. Luna found it humiliating, while Celestia found it adorable. "Good dreams?" Celestia followed up with a sip of tea.
It took her a second to process, and Luna raised her head to smile at her. "Yep. I even helped thy student’s charge."
"Oh, did you now? What was tormenting poor Mellow?" Celestia asked with a head tilt.
Luna seemed to space out, as she cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes once again. "It… It wasn’t pretty. Some dark energy has taken root in his mind, disguising itself as screaming beasts. The colt kept trying to help them in some way, but they refused. It was certainly odd."
Celestia fell deep in thought at that, before looking at Luna curiously, "Did you see the whole dream?"
She shook her head, "It was only at its worst when he finally accepted help. Not that he could’ve known."
Celestia hummed with a short nod, "Did he say anything… odd?"
Luna tilted her head. "Uh?" She reached deep into her waking mind for another moment, "There was one thing… He acted as if he’d met me before. But the colt might’ve just confused me with the stories."
"No…" Celestia mumbled, "Something else is going on."
Luna perked her ears up and paid full attention to her sister. "Meaning?"
Celestia huffed and looked around herself. "Sister, we were supposed to make our last stop seven hours ago."
Luna hummed in confusion, "Seven hours ago? Did we stop for maintenance or something?"
Celestia shook her head and returned to looking out the window. On the offset, everything looked normal. Forests, plains, and rivers passed her view like any normal trip. Celestia stayed silent for a few minutes, making Luna grow more worried as she woke up. "Tia?"
"Look!" Celestia said, gesturing her hoof toward the window suddenly with an odd expression.
When Luna gazed out, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Other than the one beautiful old tree that had been around for possibly hundreds of years, it was certainly eye-catching. Celestia quickly grew concerned: "Luna, I’ve seen that tree three times already."
Luna's eyes widened. "A-Are you sure?"
Celestia nodded confidently as she stood up and began to pace a bit. "I distinctly remember seeing it the first time. Then the second time, I wondered if I was possibly just growing old. But now that I’ve seen it a third time..."
Luna watched out the window wearily for a moment, then turned to her sister and asked, "Where are we, then?"
Celestia stopped her pacing, "That… I do not know."
Dear Twilight,
I was just informed of the news of the disappearance of Celestia and Luna only moments ago, as I write this. I will not be sending this letter immediately, as the letter you sent me had been clearly tampered with. Right after being told of the disappearance of Princess and Luna, I scanned your message just to make sure. Whoever read your message first most definitely has ill intentions; my spell revealed that they tried to cover their tracks with a wipe of hoofprints. Due to that, I will be withholding this message until I am nearly there, and yes, I am currently about to take a train to Ponyville.
Don’t freak out; I know how you are, Twi! The truth is, the moment I learned about Mellow Spark, I intended to take a train to meet him. This disappearance of Celestia and Luna gave me much-needed motivation to finalize that decision. I think in times like these, there’s no wrong answer to my actions. Shiny seems to think this is all a trap to get every alicorn together and make us all disappear, but I disagreed.
Plus, you must need a lot of help with the poor alicorn colt if you were begging me for answers! I’m sure the little one and you are great friends already, but a motherly touch is never a bad idea! Haha, I get to say that now; it feels odd.
Anyway, the next train arriving in Ponyville from the Crystal Kingdom is the one I’m on. I’m traveling discreetly; if I’m not on the train, then something has also happened to me. Be careful, Twilight; see you soon!
Love, Cadence.
It was the morning directly after she’d gotten the message. Twilight finished reading the letter aloud to all her friends as they sat around the large crystal table. Having also told them the story and everything she knew, the table was mostly silent.
Rainbow Dash sighed and rubbed a hoof against her forehead, "So let me get this straight. That Mellow kid is an alicorn. Princess Celestia and Luna are both missing. You and Mellow are on completely negative terms. Someone tampered with the message you sent, which means there's a bad guy somewhere. And now Princess Cadence is coming to Ponyville as well?"
Twilight kept her head down and gave a loud sigh, "That’s… the gist of it."
Twilight glanced around at her friends, everyone including Starlight. A range of confused and slightly upset emotions. Especially for Fluttershy, who hadn’t talked or looked up from her hooves for the entire meeting.
Applejack cleared her throat and hummed, "Ahm glad you're finally lettin’ us know, sugarcube. But why ain’t we the first ponies you told?"
Rarity sighed, "Applejack has a point. If you had asked for our help sooner, maybe we’d have fewer problems to sort out, dear. I’m sure I could’ve helped with the colt."
Applejack nodded in agreement as she crossed her hooves, "Rarity and I both have experience with foals; ahm a little upset you didn’t think to tell us."
Twilight sighed and looked up with a nod of her head and a determined face. "I know. And that’s why I started today with this discussion. I’m… trying to fix my mistake."
Rainbow Dash groaned as she stood up. "Hey, am I the only one who’s a little put off by that kid being an alicorn? Like, where did he come from? And why, immediately after he showed up, did the princesses disappear?"
Pinkie tilted her head. "I didn’t know it was a secret! I told Gummy all about the new alicorn friend I made last night!"
They all shot her a surprised look. "You knew?" Rainbow asked incredulously.
Pinkie nodded happily. "The first time he saw me, I scared him by accident! He fell on his back, and well, that cape he wore didn’t hide his wings at all!" She tilted her head. "Was it supposed to be a secret?"
"Yes, Pinkie," Twilight groaned with a sigh. "You didn’t tell anybody else but Gummy. Right?"
She shook her head, "Nope! Can’t tell a secret you didn’t know was a secret!" She replied with a giggle.
"That’s…" Rainbow began, but Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head.
Applejack looked across the large crystal table at Fluttershy, who was still hiding in her mane. "Fluttershy, honey, you ain’t done anythin’ wrong. You know that, right?"
Fluttershy seemed shocked to hear her name for the first time, and she slightly glanced up at them. Rarity followed up on her point: "In fact, dear, you had all the right ideas. It’s not your fault that Mellow went nirik."
Rainbow huffed, "Yeah, I mean, if the kid could control his emotions a bit better, I’m sure he’d be begging to stay with you, Fluttershy."
"Stop." Fluttershy said suddenly, causing all her friends to look at her in worry. She looked back up with more tears in her eyes, "Stop blaming Mellow!"
All of them recoiled at her harsh reprimand as all their ears lowered to their head. Fluttershy shook her head. "He was confused and scared, and I was supposed to help him! He needed me at that moment, and I just froze up!" All of her friends looked downcast, as it was entirely rare for Fluttershy to speak like this.
Fluttershy seemed to lose some steam as she retracted a bit, crying more than speaking. "I was never good enough to be Mellow’s guardian. He’s better off with Lovelight or anybody else."
Applejack walked around the table to put a hoof around her and said, "That’s not true, sugarcube. You made ah mistake, but ah’d be surprised if me an’ Rarity ain’t had similar moments. The good thing about foals is they’re young an’ innocent. Ahm sure with just one conversation, you two could be friends again." Rarity walked over and gave Fluttershy a similar hug.
Twilight sighed as she suppressed tears from entering her own vision. "Also, Fluttershy, his hatred was directed at me. I’m sure he doesn’t blame you."
Pinkie Pie saddened and deflated a little. "Hate is such a meanie pony word!
Twilight spoke quietly, "Calling somepony dangerous is just as bad."
"So, what do you want us to do to help, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
The rest of the mares looked her way, and Twilight thought for a moment. "If someone tampered with my message, then they might be in town. And could still be suspicious. Pinkie, have you noticed anybody new in town?"
"Nuh-uh! I’d know too, because I’ve been dying to throw a party since Fluttershy made me cancel Mellow’s!" She said with a shrug.
Twilight nodded. "Well, that doesn’t completely rule out the option… Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie, I want all of you to search for information in Ponyville. Just act natural and try to find out if anybody new or suspicious is in town."
Rarity hummed, "Quite vague, but I imagine I could find out easily from a few of my less quiet clients."
Rainbow nodded. "I’ll pretend like I’m working on the weather today and keep my eye out."
Pinkie jumped up, "Okie-dokee. What do I do if I find them? Do we get to have a party then? Oh! It’s like a game!"
"I want you all back at the castle later; that way I know you haven’t gone missing too. If you find someone suspicious, do nothing until we speak together as a team. Got it?" Twilight asked as she looked around.
They all nodded, and Twilight turned to Applejack and Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, I want you to make up with Mellow. Applejack, please accompany her so that you can look after her."
"Ahm okay with that." Applejack said with a small smile.
Fluttershy perked her head up, "No, no. I need to give him time. There’s so much going on right now, it wouldn’t be a good idea."
Twilight shook her head, "Think of it as a way to keep Mellow safe. I’m sure Lovelight has no idea about everything going on; keeping an eye on Mellow is just as important as everything else. He is an alicorn after all."
"Who even is this Lovelight mare?" Rainbow asked with raised brows, "Is it even like… legal for her to take Mellow like that? What if she was the bad pony the whole time?"
Twilight immediately shook her head, "No. Lovelight is the only thing keeping Mellow from having a complete mental breakdown. Due to no fault of my own, of course. She’s highly qualified to take care of Mellow; I wish I knew how she did it so well."
Starlight spoke for the first time. Having sat in the corner with conflicting feelings. "He probably latched onto her as the first pony to show him overwhelming kindness. I saw how quickly she calmed him out of nirik form. Those two must have a bond, and it isn’t our business to break them apart."
Twilight gave a final nod as she stood from her chair and placed her front hooves on the crystal table. "I will wait until the train arrives later today. In the meantime, I’ll be researching… disappearing trains." It must’ve sounded crazy, Twilight thought.
"It’s for the best," Rarity replied. "They might have it out for you too, darling."
Applejack turned around, "Well, ya heard the mare. Let’s get our flanks a-movin’."
With the conversation over, they all made their way out, intending to fulfill their jobs. Fluttershy was slow to get up, but Applejack’s encouragement was definitely helping her overcome the fear.
As they all left, Starlight walked up to Twilight and stared after the entrance and the disappearing mares. "So… What’s the backup plan?"
Twilight shrugged. "I don’t have one yet." Starlight gave her a wide-eyed and fear-filled look.
Luna was pacing back and forth with nothing else to do. Her sister sat in the corner with an unreadable expression, but not a good one either. "What do we do?" Luna ranted worriedly. "You hopped off the train, and we continued going for two hours, only to pass right back by you again!"
Celestia, still deep in thought, muttered more to herself than Luna, "Any time I flew in any direction, I mysteriously ended up back at the train tracks as well."
"Sister, this is bad!" Luna began with a bit of panic. "The other passengers are growing restless; the guards told them the journey was slower than usual, but they’ll soon find out it’s more than that!"
"I understand that, Luna." Celestia said with a long sigh, "The conductor of the train is aware of what's going on as well; he said the train is moving on its own. And that it isn’t even burning fuel."
Luna groaned and stamped her hoof. "What sort of dark magic could be doing such a thing?"
Celestia looked out upon the newly risen moon; they hadn’t even been sure that raising or lowering celestial bodies translated over to the real Equestria. Celestia shook her head, "Something, or somepony, is trying to keep us away from Mellow."
Luna stopped in her tracks and looked at Celestia with wide eyes. "What makes you say that, Tia?"
"It was all arranged." She said slowly, "If they had something out for us two specifically, they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to make it appear as if everything was normal."
"That… is true." Luna began before shaking her head. "But they involved everyone on this train as well! And what would they have to gain by keeping us from Mellow?"
Luna thought for a moment before a chill went through her and she shook it off through her wings. "Are you saying it could be Mellow’s old captors?"
Celestia stayed silent for a long time before looking at her sister with a serious look. "It’s not unlikely. We have no idea what they were doing with Mellow all those years. Could they extract his power to use it against us, perhaps?"
Luna stayed silent this time, and Celestia spoke a few more words that were filled with a surprising amount of rage. "I will not let them torture him again."
"They captured us to take Mellow back?" Luna asked as she felt a wave of rage wash over her own body. She let loose a growl as she stomped towards the door to the cabins. "Those insolent little monsters!" She ranted.
"Luna, please." Celestia spoke quickly. "Doing something brash might be even worse. If there’s more than one working together, us making a drastic move might cause them to panic. If they panic, they might move ahead with their plans to capture Mellow even faster. We need to give Twilight time."
"Time?" Luna asked incredulously, her anger causing her to fall on old dialect, "We art losing thine precious time by the second! Who is to say they are not listening to our every word and abducting Mellow as we speak?"
The look her sister gave was not of defeat but of unwavering resolve. "I said not to be brash, not that we can’t act."