//------------------------------//
// 13 - Healing//Begins 
// Story: Misplaced Wings 
// by FIygon 
//------------------------------//





"I don’t need another bath." I said with a bit of annoyance as I stared down at my fur, which was sopping wet.

Lovelight laughed and continued to put that ‘soap’ stuff into my hair, and she scrubbed deeply while doing it. "Honey, you know it’s normal to clean like this every day. Right?"

I looked up at her with my mouth wide in shock. "Every day?" I asked loudly.

She giggled, "Yes. You’ll get dirty."

I huffed and looked up at her with a bit of a sour face. "But why is it so… strong?"

"The smell?" She asked, "It’s to make you smell good!"

She said it with such confidence that I didn’t feel it would make sense to argue, "It’s certainly… something. At least the water feels nice."

I closed my eyes as she poured water over my head to wash the soap away. The warmth was soothing, even as my mind began to wander in the silence. It wandered back to when I would practice my water magic as a small child, and my mom would always get upset after I drenched myself. But she’d always be right there to help dry me off. My mom was great… 

I released a whimper as a sudden rush of emotions poured over me. I hadn’t meant to; it just came out. Lovelight’s face grew alarmed at the sound. "Was it too hot?" She asked worriedly.

I shook my head, and she analyzed me for a moment like she always did. "Are you okay?" She asked simply.

I nodded, but Lovelight quickly placed her hoof against my cheek and urged me to look at her. "You’ve been hiding your emotions since this morning. Is it something I can help with?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "Not unless you can change the past." I spoke in a defeated tone.

She leaned in with a towel and wrapped it around me, then she hugged me. "I wish I could, little one." She said as she nuzzled me.

A loud knocking was heard at the front door. I felt my breath hitch and my body freeze. Lovelight continued to dry me off, and must’ve noticed my reaction, "You’re okay." She reassured me quietly.

Haze called from the living room, "Miss Foster is here, dear."

Wait, Miss Foster was here? Was she going to take me back to Twilight? Was I in trouble?

"One moment!" Lovelight called back. She smiled warmly at me as she finished drying me off, saying, "Okay, sweetie, Miss Foster is just going to ask you some questions. I want you to answer honestly, okay?"

I slowly nodded as a bit of panic spread through me. "Is she going to take me?" I asked fearfully.

Lovelight nuzzled me, "Shh… Just be truthful with her."

"O-Okay." I said with a nod.

I was carried out of their bathroom, still comfortably wrapped in the towel, as Lovelight and Foster greeted each other. "Hi, Miss Foster." Lovelight said the words kindly, but I almost noticed a bit of worry in her tone.

Foster nodded. "Nurse Lovelight, it’s a pleasure." Foster was well rested now, and she was fully in business mode. She was almost a different person after sleeping.

Lovelight gestured to their living room as they both took seats on chairs that faced each other. I was placed next to Lovelight carefully, and Foster’s gaze drifted down to me. She gave a smile, "Hello Mellow. How are you doing, dear?"

I pulled the towel farther around me, "I-I’m okay, Miss Foster."

Foster nodded curiously as she tilted her head at Lovelight. "I understand that Twilight Sparkle was… mistreating Mellow?"

I looked down at my hooves as Lovelight released a long sigh. "When I went to visit Mellow, he was very upset; he was in nirik form, and he was saying he hated them and himself."

"Is that true?" Foster's question was clearly directed towards me.

I slowly nodded and leaned against Lovelight’s side. "She said I was dangerous." I said quietly.

Foster released a long and slightly upset sigh as she pushed up her glasses and wrote something down in her small book. I felt myself growing concerned as I pushed closer to Lovelight’s side, and she reciprocated by petting my head.

Foster looked up and watched us for a moment with a concerned face. "Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been in this predicament. Because what Twilight did was a breach of our policies on foster homes. I was still ordered to place Mellow with her by none other than Celestia herself."

Haze finally finished cleaning dishes as he came and sat on my left side on the couch. Haze hummed curiously, "Don’t you have more authority if you feel you may… use it?"

Foster slowly nodded. "If I were to deem Twilight’s house an unfit living space, I could waive the order, but…" 

She looked down at me, but I averted my gaze and buried my muzzle in Lovelight’s side. Foster sighed sadly. "And so what happened when you found him?" Foster asked.

Lovelight nodded, "Well, I got a bit angry with Twilight. Then I calmed Mellow down and decided to take him home with me. It seemed like the best option."

Foster hummed, "Technically, the best option is to contact me so that I can witness the situation myself."

Lovelight nodded and looked down at her hooves before looking back up with a steeled expression and saying, "I wasn’t just going to leave him there. They were so busy arguing they barely cared about Mellow."

Haze nodded in agreement, "I’ve only spent a few hours with this little one; he has to be one of the most well-behaved and friendly foals I’ve met. I have no clue how they messed up so hard."

Foster nodded as she continued to write things down. "Mellow, what did you think about Twilight?"

I grew nervous as I shrank a bit. "I think she’s a nice pony. B-But I… I don’t understand her. She scares me a little bit."

"She scares you?" Foster asked with a raised brow.

I nodded. "She apologized twice and then still called me dangerous. I felt like I was… back with my master." I could feel Lovelight tense up, and the other two probably did as well. I rushed to clarify myself: "My master would always… tell me that I was talented, that I was perfect, that I was more powerful than everyone else."

Foster was practically scribbling; she was writing so fast, but it felt good to finally talk about it, so I continued. "But then he would switch, and… a-and hurt me… He would tell me I was worthless if I didn’t do what he wanted fast enough."

Lovelight stroked the top of my head and said, "Mellow, you don’t have to talk if it hurts…"

I shook my head and looked up as anger filled my eyes. "He’d hurt me, then hurt others, then make me hurt others. He made me sick. But without him, I would’ve died long before then…"

Foster looked up at me worriedly, "This is less about Twilight’s personality. You’re saying that people with power scare you, if I were to make a guess?"

I nodded, "I guess. I mean, Twilight does the part where she is nice, then she turns around and hurts my feelings. That’s why I said that… I don’t know if I can trust her." I said as I hid my face again.

Lovelight leaned down and nuzzled me lovingly, "I’m here, little one; it’s okay." After she retracted her muzzle, I hugged her foreleg.

Foster continued. "Usually I’d have to do a full investigation, and Mellow would be placed back with Twilight with heavy observance."

I whimpered and hugged Lovelight tighter. "No! Please don’t take me." I pleaded as my eyes teared up, and I buried my face in Lovelight’s side.

"Shh… You didn’t let me finish! I’m not taking you away, sweetie." Foster said quickly.

I looked at her in disbelief, "You’re n-not?"

She shook her head with a smile, "You really love her, don’t you?"

I nodded quickly, and Foster chuckled. "Then who am I to take you from the people you love?" Foster glanced up at the two adults, "Of course, if that’s okay with you?"

"Yes!" Lovelight spoke quickly as she released a long breath of relief.

"Of course it is." Haze said with a large smile.

Foster nodded as she flipped through a few pages and wrote some things down: "Alright, it’ll be a bit of a paperwork nightmare, but it’s all done. You’re his temporary foster family. Until the princesses return, and then it’s back in their hooves."

My ears perked up in excitement as Lovelight swept me up into her arms with a giggle. "Lovelight, I can stay!" I said excitedly. She just giggled and rubbed her nose against mine.

Foster watched for a few moments as she lowered her book onto the desk. "I do wish to speak to Lovelight about some things in private."

Lovelight slowly lowered me to the couch. "Oh, of course."

Haze nudged me with his hoof: "Wanna go learn a little bit of magic?"

My eyes lit up in wonder as Haze made for the hallway. I quickly jumped down and ran after him. Lovelight called from behind us, "Honey, be careful; he’s brand new with magic."

Haze chuckled. "I will!"





Lovelight was still coming down from the growing panic she felt as she talked to Foster. She knew she was attached, but even she was surprised by her intense feeling of relief at being allowed to keep him. If only for a small amount of time.

She continued to wait for her heartbeat to slow as the two kirins left into the back garden. Foster chuckled a bit. "Sorry, Lovelight, I wasn’t trying to give you a heart attack, dear."

Lovelight breathed one more sigh and said, "It’s okay. I didn’t expect that I’d feel this way either."

Foster hummed pleasantly, "I understand; he practically clung to you like a newborn. I don’t blame you for the instinctual panic." Lovelight nodded with a smile.

Foster cleared her throat. "What I really wanted to talk about is a bit more serious, though."

Lovelight leaned forward. "Is this about what he said about his… ‘Master’?"

Foster rubbed a hoof under her chin, "It does involve that, yes. But I was going to suggest a therapist for the little one."

Lovelight widened her eyes. "You don’t think that’ll scare him?"

"It may scare him slightly, but with how he felt so openly talking while you were there… I think he’d be alright." Foster spoke confidently. "If the little one felt safe speaking about all of that, just because he could hold your hoof, then I’m sure we’d be able to help him."

Lovelight hummed worriedly: "He is very sweet, and he is actually rather open about things if you ask the right question… The problem is that he doesn’t like bothering others with things. So if I can’t guess exactly what’s bothering him, he stays quiet."

Foster nodded in understanding, "That’s exactly the sort of thing a therapist would help with a ton. He’ll learn that opening up with those who care for him is healthy and that he won’t be reprimanded or hurt when he says things."

Lovelight grimaced, "I don’t want to make him relive those memories," she said, her lips quivering for a moment. "I feel like my heart is being torn in two everytime he recalls things that he wasn’t given, or things he doesn’t understand but should. Like the time when he said I was his first ever friend and that he wasn’t allowed to make any before me."

Foster gazed sympathetically, "I won’t lie, speaking with the therapist will more than likely unearth far worse things. If the surface level of his abuse is as drastic as he speaks about it, I can only imagine what else happened."

Lovelight choked a bit as she teared up. "I just want him to be happy."

Foster smiled, "And getting him to open up is the first step towards healing. He may end up getting a lot sadder or feeling awful after sessions, but he needs to speak about them if you ever want to help him feel better. Plus, having somebody he loves as much as you around will help immensely."

"Okay… Just please make sure the therapist knows what they’re doing." Lovelight said worriedly.

Foster smiled with a dismissive wave, "Oh, don’t worry about that. I have the perfect one in mind. He’s great with foals and specializes in long-term abuse victims." Foster wrote a few things down on her paper and handed it to Lovelight, who looked at it curiously. "That’ll be his therapy schedule. He’ll come to your house; it’ll be a thirty minute open therapy, then a thirty-minute solo therapy."

"Wait, he’ll be by himself for thirty minutes?" Lovelight asked with intense worry.

Foster nodded. "Don’t worry, he knows what he’s doing. And if Mellow ends up uncomfortable, you’ll always be able to join."

Lovelight nodded slowly as she looked at the schedule—two weekly visits separated by a few days. She looked back up in curiosity and asked, "How’d you get a schedule and everything?"

Foster laughed, "I called and requested his services already before arriving today."

Lovelight raised her brows. "So you knew Mellow would be staying with us and knew that I’d say yes to putting him in therapy before you even got here?"

Foster nodded. "I’ve been doing this job for a long time. Also, I could always have just canceled on him if I was incorrect." Foster stood up and began gathering her things. "I think that covers everything today." She said professionally.

"Of course," Lovelight stood up, leading her out, "thank you so much, Miss Foster."

Foster smiled as she stopped at the doorway, "It’s my pleasure. I actually like seeing happy endings, not following rules, and causing more abuse. Unlike some people in my line of work."

Lovelight nodded. "Well, I can’t understate how much I appreciate you for bending the rules to keep Mellow happy."

Foster opened the door and gave a final nod. "Just be a good mother for Mellow. I have faith in you after today." She gave one last smile before she walked out the door.

Lovelight shut the door gently and sat on her flank before releasing a long sigh, which slowly turned into a small squeal of happiness. ‘I get to keep him!’ She hummed in her mind with a feeling of euphoria. She thought selfishly for a moment that if the princesses really were missing, she’d get to keep him longer. She knew it was wrong, but she almost wished they’d stay gone for as long as possible.

Lovelight slowly held the paper up, checking the date. ‘Tomorrow’s the first meeting?’ She thought surprisingly. Then she smiled and shook her head. He’d be just fine with her there to help him.





"What do you know about magic, Mellow?" Haze asked curiously as he juggled three rocks in a circle above his head.

I put a hoof below my chin, "Um… I know that the magic comes from deep inside of me, and I have to let it out, and it flows up my horn."

He hummed, "Yes, that is a pretty good description of active unicorn magic." He cleared his throat. "Passive magic is what most ponies have. Your hoof being able to grip things, the earth pony’s strength, the pegasus ability to make contact with clouds. But what do unicorns get?"

I tilted my head. "Um… they get… the ability to levitate things?"

He nodded with a large smile. "Very good! A unicorn’s ability to levitate or interact with objects from a distance is their passive magic. Which includes us, because kirin’s are just unicorns with a few extra quirks."

My nose scrunched up in confusion. "What makes it different from a unicorn’s active magic, though?"

He hummed, "Levitation is simply like using a completely new muscle. Active magic would be like casting a spell. For instance, if I was trying to turn these rocks into frogs or something." He cast a small spell that turned one into a frog, and it jumped a few times before poofing back into a rock.

"Casting spells is far more complicated and consists of learning the very intricate pieces of magic. Such as connecting leylines, imagining specific sigils, and a bunch of really tough stuff. But that’s not what you’ll be working on today."

Some of those were things I already did as a human. I make sigils in my mind, imagining complicated spells. But levitation sounded cooler: "So… how do you passively levitate something?" I asked with confusion.

He smiled, "I want you to look at this rock right here."

I stared intensely at the rock with every fiber of my being. "I want you to close your eyes for a moment. With your eyes closed, I want you to imagine the rock in your head and imagine yourself picking it up." I followed his instructions to the best of my ability; it was certainly an interesting magic theory for this world. It was sort of like how I learned water magic: by closing my eyes when near water and imagining the water crashing against the side of rocks.

"O-Okay, is it working?" I asked curiously.

He hummed, "Concentrate. I want you to imagine that rock being weightless. When you pick it up in your mind, imagine that it feels no different than having a hoof full of air."

The instructions were rather easy. Pick up a rock that looked to be there but, by all other laws of physics, wasn’t.

"Alright, now this is the tough part, Mellow. I want you to open your eyes while still imagining the same thing."

"Okay," I slowly opened my eyes, keeping my thoughts on a floating, weightless rock being held in my hoof.

"Without opening your magic reserves, I want you to flex the muscles in your horn."

Wait, I can do that? I had to think back to the first time I used magic. I remember there being a very distinct feeling up there on my head. ‘Oh! It was like following leylines!’ I thought eagerly. I followed the leyline up from my magic reserves deep inside and up to my horn, and I could feel the horn almost like its own appendage.

My horn began to glow, and a thin, wispy blue magic slowly snaked out of my horn and enveloped the rock in front of me.

Haze nodded with a small clap, "Good! Now, tell the rock to move."

"O-Okay… Move, rock!" I said with determination, but the rock only looked at me in mockery.

Haze chuckled with a wide smile, "No, silly, I meant in your head. Just like you were imagining it."

"Oh! I said with a sheepish grin as I imagined lifting something that was weightless.

Without missing a beat, the rock gave way to all limitations and lifted itself into the air at eye level. Haze’s eyes widened, and his jaw nearly fell to the floor. "G-Good job!" He said genuinely with a small laugh. "Though usually that would take a good few weeks of practicing… I guess you are an alicorn!"

I laughed as I twirled the rock in a circle in front of me, and then I began to grow curious as I looked down at the three rocks he’d been juggling. I imagined myself picking up two more rocks, and sure enough, my magic instantly shot out and brought them into the levitation field. I giggled wildly as I played with them. This was sort of similar to water, but I could do it with physical things!

I got a bit curious and began throwing the rocks a few feet away. It was easy enough; I only needed to stop imagining myself holding one. I looked over at Haze, "Haze, I’m doing it!" 

His pale face slowly turned into a proud smile as he puffed his chest out. "Of course you did, buddy! You’re a natural." He praised me.

I kept juggling the one rock in my magic, and I suddenly felt curious about what would happen if I tried to imagine an old spell from my world on the rock in front of me. So I closed my eyes and carefully remembered it before just barely opening my magic reserves. 

Nearly instantly, the rock in front of me seemed to disappear with a pop, and I looked all around me in wonder. Had I just used teleportation magic? What was that? I turned back around to look at Haze and asked, "Where’d it go?" I asked curiously.

Haze’s confused face was replaced with horror for only a single moment. I tilted my head at him as he ran forward and shot his hooves out, grabbing me as fast as possible and jumping backwards. I turned around myself just in time to see why, as a boulder three times the size of Haze crashed right in the spot I’d just been.



Haze breathed a large sigh of relief as my magic unattached from the rock and I lost my concentration. He slowly placed me back on the ground as he held a hoof to his chest, taking deep breaths. "I-I’m sorry." I said as I shrank against the ground.

He shook his head and reached a hoof down to rub my head. "No, no. It’s okay, Mellow. I’m just glad I moved you in time."

I looked back at the rock; if he’d been a second late, it probably would’ve turned me into fertilizer in an instant. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, "I got a little carried away."

Haze smirked and nuzzled me, "Your life flashed before my eyes!" He said with a chuckle.

"That’s not how that works!" I protested with a small giggle.

He whispered to me, "Let’s keep this between us, hmm?"

The door suddenly opened behind us as Lovelight stepped out. "What was that sound?" Her eyes landed on the super-large boulder, and she went slack-jawed.

I stepped to the left and pointed my hoof at Haze, "He did it!"

He looked down at me with his mouth agape and a look of betrayal. "I didn’t- I mean… yeah! My bad." 

Lovelight rolled her eyes. "I told you both to be careful." She walked over and picked me up in her hooves, "You didn’t get hurt, did you?" I shook my head, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 

I heard a loud whistle as a heavily accented voice hit my ears: "Well, that might well be the largest rock I ever seen."

All of us looked over to see an interesting sight: an orange pony with braided blond hair, green eyes, a cowboy hat, and apples for her cutie mark. And behind her was Fluttershy, nearly cowering behind the pony she’d come with.

Lovelight gripped me tighter, and Haze stepped in front of us a bit. Haze cleared his throat. "I don’t believe we’ve met."

Applejack took her hat off and did a small head nod. "My name’s Applejack; pleasure to meet ya, I live an’ work over on Sweet Apple Acres. And this here is Fluttershy."

Lovelight chimed in, "I know who you are. What do I owe the… pleasure?" Lovelight's words were a bit forced.

Applejack sighed and looked back at Fluttershy. Before practically forcing her in front. "I understand we ain’t exactly your favorite ponies right now. But Fluttershy wanted to say a few things."

Fluttershy was nervous and hiding in her mane, and when she looked at me, I could tell every little bit of guilt flooded through her. I tapped Lovelight and gestured to the ground, and she begrudgingly obliged.

I carefully took a few steps forward. "Fluttershy."

Her eyes widened, and she released an ‘eep’ which threw me off guard, but I continued approaching. I stopped right before her. "Fluttershy," I said sadly, "we’re still friends, right?" I asked curiously.

"Because I’ve only ever made… one friend before, and I’d be really sad if I lost you as a friend because-"

She shot her hooves out and brought me into a deep hug against her fluffy chest fur again. I smiled happily and wrapped my hooves around her neck. She nuzzled the back of my head as tears came out of her eyes, "Of course we’re still friends, Mellow. I’m so, so, sorry about what happened! I didn’t know what to do… and I-I-"

I hugged her tighter, "It’s okay; it’s not your fault. It was the ponies in the park that upset me."

She shook her head, "Still, I should’ve been able to be there for you. And I wasn’t a very good friend that day."

I felt a few tears in my own eyes. "You’d make a really great mom, Fluttershy."

She petted the top of my head as she held me tighter, "And you’re a really great colt. But it looks like you already found a home."

I looked back at Haze and Lovelight, who were watching with large smiles. I could even see a few tears in Lovelight’s eyes. I turned back around to meet Fluttershy’s gaze and whispered in her ear, "Lovelight’s really cool! And I love her a whole lot."

Fluttershy giggled and nuzzled me again. "That’s wonderful, Mellow." She finally released me from the hug, and I looked over at the Applejack pony. Who was watching with pride for her friend, I held my hoof up at her, "Hi, want to be friends? My name is Mellow Spark."

Applejack laughed heartily, "Well, aren’t you a little gentlecolt? I think we’d make mighty fine friends, I do." She grabbed my hoof gently and shook it, and afterwards she took her hat off and stuck it on me. But I’m pretty sure I could hide in that thing; it was so much bigger than me.

"That makes three friends!" I announced happily.

Haze walked over and pulled that hat off of me with a chuckle, then raised a brow at me and said, "What, am I not good enough to be number three?"

I tilted my head and hummed as I looked between him and Lovelight. "We’re friends. But you guys are more like…" Lovelight and Haze looked at me in anticipation. But I just smiled as a memory flashed in my mind before I shook my head, "Nothing." 

I smirked up at Haze, "You can be number three, but you and Applejack might have to argue who gets to be number four!"

Applejack looked up with a smirk of her own, "I do like comin’ in third place when possible."

Haze chuckled, "I don’t think I could take you on. But I could definitely do with making some new dishes out of your family’s famous apples."

Applejack nodded. "Well, why haven’t ya ever just said so? We have plenty of em-"

I zoned out of the proceeding conversation as I stared past Applejack and Fluttershy. For a single moment, I thought I caught sight of a dark cloak passing between two buildings farther away, but I wasn’t completely sure. I felt like somebody was watching us, but I didn’t think anything of it. I briefly wondered if there was some merit to those instincts, but as quickly as they appeared, they left again.

Lovelight picked me up out of nowhere and said, "Who else is hungry? Because I am." Lovelight said, giving me a small kiss on the forehead.

Haze nodded. "I’ll make something special!"

Lovelight turned to Applejack and Fluttershy. "And would you like to join us?"

The two mares looked at each other before nodding at Lovelight. Applejack hummed happily, "Sure thing, I always love trying somethin’ other than apples now an’ again."

"I’d be delighted! If you don’t mind." Fluttershy said quietly.

We all retreated into the house with large smiles. But as I looked over Lovelight’s shoulder into the trees, the last thing I saw was two cloaks sitting in the shadows of a tree in the distance. Watching me. Patiently. It felt much like the grim reaper himself—no rush, just watching the time of its victim slowly tick away.

Until nothing was left but ashes.