//------------------------------//
// 16 - Never//Alone 
// Story: Misplaced Wings 
// by FIygon 
//------------------------------//




"Tia I can’t handle this; it’s too much."

Celestia sighed as she stared out the window next to her once again. The far too familiar surroundings of the outside world were beginning to fall apart. Cracks were forming in the facade. Like glass, the environment outside fell away into a void of nothingness that seemed endless. Such impossible sights even included the sky overhead.

"Spells don’t work; we can’t contact the outside; they can’t contact us…" Celestia sighed and gave her sister a reassuring smile. "This is certainly a predicament."

Luna gaped in awe. "How can you be so calm? We’ve tried every spell imaginable! We’ve been so busy keeping the poor trapped ponies from having heart attacks, and one of them is likely an imposter!"

Luna growled and stamped her hoof, "Sister, I am done waiting around." Luna walked towards the doors, "I will interrogate until there is not a single pony aboard who hasn’t explained their life story."

"Please, Luna," Celestia said as she stood up, "If you’re going to interrogate, you need to be subtle about it." She smiled at her sister as she opened the cabin door ahead of them.

Luna quickly followed as they entered the main cabins of the train once again. The sight was concerning, as the multitude of families and ponies were in different states of disarray. Some trusted them to succeed and played board games. Others held their heads in terror and rocked back and forth. For the most part, the overall feeling aboard the cabins had become hopeless. Even the few who held on to their optimism couldn’t help but falter.

But as the princesses entered, every pony looked to them in hope. Assuming that they’d be able to save them or give them some sort of information on how to escape. Almost immediately, Luna furrowed her brow as she pointed at a quivering stallion in the corner, "You there! Hast thou seen any reasoning for our entrapment?"

The stallion looked up with wide eyes and whimpered, "I-I-"

Luna scowled, "Thou art acting mighty suspicious-"

"Please, Luna. Stop." Celestia said as she dragged her sister away from the stallion, who breathed a sigh of relief.

Celestia stepped forward and looked around the cabin, which had its full attention on her. "My little ponies," She began. "I understand how trying this situation is for all of you. Even my sister is not unaffected." Celestia glanced back as Luna huffed and crossed her arms.

She smiled brightly at them all, "But I assure you all, it will be over soon. We have figured out the complex structure of this trap and how to dismantle it. So rest easy and give us just a little more patience on breaking it."

An eruption of cheers and thank-yous was heard from most of the cabins. Luna stared wide-eyed in shock, but Celestia quickly elbowed her, which caused her to compose herself. Celestia was busy studying the ponies in the room; some had shown nearly no reaction, but they were the ones quivering in corners. Any pony that had seen lively had erupted in joy. With an affirmative nod, Celestia moved onto the next cabin.

As they were in the room between cabins, Luna threw up a noise suppression spell. "What on earth are you telling them? Have you lost it, Tia?"

Celestia smiled back at her, "I need you to help sell it next time, would you?"

Luna tilted her head as Celestia continued, "If whatever is trapping us here is disguised as a pony, they might be in these cabins. How would our captor react if we stated with such confidence that we’d figured out their spell?"

Luna stuttered, "That would… entirely depend on the captor’s personality."

Celestia shook her head. "Our real passengers have long since either retreated inwardly or held onto a small sliver of hope. In the event that I announce it in the room of the captor… There is a probable chance that he will either attempt to react with glee or pretend to be terrified still."

"And how on earth do we distinguish him from any other ponies?" Luna inquired.

Please, Luna," Celestia sighed, "do you remember any spells?"

Luna stuttered with a blush, "O-Of course! I’m well versed in many spells!" She declared proudly.

"In that moment of decision after we announce our plan, he will have to make a decision on how to react. Couple that with a spell to seek out intention and emotions, and we’ll have our culprit. Nobody is infallible."

Luna sighed. "You assume they haven’t thought of this scenario already."

Celestia smirked. "That’s why I have a fake letter from Twilight I intend on reading in front of the cabins."

Luna raised a brow and leaned towards her sister, who showed it to her. She studied it for a moment before humming, "Mind games? That’s dirty, Tia."

She turned around and glared at the doorway, "Good, then we’re playing their own game. Now, wear a smile, dear sister. We have some cabins to fool."





I woke up to the sound of steel clashing against the cage. I looked upward to see his face—our master. He wore his usual creepy smile as his eyes adjusted to the lighting in our dark, muddy dungeon. "Awake now, Arlen? Laila?"

I gave a firm nod, fearing what would happen if I said no. The small girl behind me rose from the bed of mud and hay with a whine. Master fixed her with a deep scowl and said, "If you are to be pure blood with the rest of us, you must rid yourself of those habits, dear Laila."

Laila moaned tiredly, "But I’m tired… and I want to see Mommy and Daddy. When can I see them again?"

Master hit the metal bars loudly once again as Laila yelped in fear, "You do not need them!" He barked, "Such insolence; it really is a shame that our lord had chosen you for power."

Laila cowered over towards where I was sitting and hid behind me. This caused Master to lock eyes with me once again, "You, filth. Pick yourself off this muddy floor and get ready for training."

I stood, ignoring the tugging from the small girl behind me, and stood as straight as an arrow at the cell door. With nothing but a steeled face and no emotion. Even if my body screamed at me for doing so.

Laila was still quivering on the floor, and Master got angry. He held his hand up and torched the ground at her feet with a blast of fire. Laila yelped again as it narrowly missed and ran to stand behind me.

"Good." He smirked as he looked to the left of our cell. "Soren, are you awake?"

Soren replied swiftly from his spot in front of his cell door, "Yes, Master!" Soren was older than me by about five years. He’d been locked in here much longer than either me or Laila, and during our first weeks of terror, he would sit at the edge of his cell door and whisper to us through the wall. He told us things got better and that we only needed to follow orders and show as little weakness as possible.

Master had his two guards, in their bulky armor, unlock our cells. Quickly, we were chained up in a line with interlocking handcuffs on our hands and chains on our legs. They slowly lifted the large metal collars that locked around our necks, and immediately I could feel my magic, which had been suppressed, slowly fill me once again. It was futile trying to fight back with the Master and his guards around. Especially since the kingdom we were in was large and we were deep within its roots.

I never knew what the many others did for training, but much could be left to the imagination. Laila, Soren, and I were considered "special". Which is why the Master has taken such an interest in us.

Soren was exceptionally gifted at manipulating matter. He could create or destroy anything within an instant, no matter what material or how strong. He had been trained to use this quite extensively; I’d seen him use it in training against entire fleets of their regular guards. He crumpled armor and turned buildings to rubble; it was a terrifying spectacle to watch. There wasn’t any shield or magic spell that he couldn’t destroy. He said that destroying the matter that made up spells was just as easy. He was essentially a walking anti-magic warrior who could destroy nations.

Why did he never fight back? I had no clue. I couldn’t quite say I disliked him, as his early comforting words had helped in our first days.

But I could see the grin on his face when he crushed soldiers under the weight of his power and the joy he got from seeing them scream before being snuffed out. I couldn’t tell if it was simply for revenge or something much worse.

My training was always cleaning up his mess. The many soldiers I’d healed and even revived, just for them to be fodder the next day. It made me sick.

Laila’s training was done under lock and key. She’d disappear with the Master, and we wouldn’t see her until the end of the day. But when she came back, she always had a horrified yet hollow look on her face.

The day I learned her power was the same day I earned my new name.





My eyes opened with a large yawn as I scanned the room around me. I was in the bed I fell asleep in last night, and more importantly, alone. My eyes opened in alarm as I looked around in panic. "Hello?" I asked no one in particular.

The door was cracked open, so I hopped down from the bed and quickly ran over to it, looking up and down the hallway. "Momma?" I asked with fresh tears in my eyes. She’d been taken; it was my fault; I had to find her.

Cadence happened to be walking by the hallway when I was searching frantically, with Flurry Heart on her back. She looked over at me worriedly and trotted over. I looked up as my breathing got quicker, "Momma and Daddy are gone!"

She shook her head, "No, no, they’re not sweetie." I looked at her hesitantly as she sighed, "Your momma was sick, so she’s in the bathroom."

My ears perked up, and I tilted my head. "Where?"

She levitated me onto her back and began walking somewhere. While I was up there, I couldn’t help but lock eyes with Flurry Heart, who gave me a large smile and babbled a bit of nonsense. She reached out with her hooves and locked her arms around my front legs.

I didn’t know what to do as I tilted my head. But I gave her a small smile and leaned down to her level. She wasted no time in giving me the most affectionate nuzzle she could. I couldn’t hold back from giggling.

After a minute of walking, I heard some distressing sounds. On a couch in a room near the back of the castle, Lovelight and Haze were sitting. He was rubbing her back gently as she held her head in her forearms.

I jumped off of Cadance’s back and ran over, "Momma!" I cried.

Her eyes opened in alarm as she held her forearms out. I didn’t want to make her feel worse, so I stopped running. "Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry!" Lovelight cooed worriedly as she brought me up towards her barrel. She nuzzled me over and over, "You must’ve been scared; momma’s sorry."

I felt Haze nuzzle the back of my head as I groaned sadly, "No, it’s not your fault you got sick." I told her.

She smiled and kissed my forehead. "It just came out of nowhere; I really wasn’t expecting it." She hummed as she looked up towards Cadance. "Thank you, Princess."

Cadence nodded. "Please, call me Cadance." Lovelight nodded as she smiled back. "And please, if you need anything, just let me know."

Haze fidgeted worriedly. "Honey, don't you think you should see a doctor?"

They locked eyes as Lovelight looked back down at me and shook her head. "We’re not safe, and neither is Mellow. I’m not leaving my colt just because of a bit of sickness."

I stood up and placed my hooves on her chest with a glare, "If you’re sick, you need help. Forget me, what about you?"

She smiled sadly and pulled me closer, "I refuse. I didn’t even want to leave you in the bedroom alone this morning."

I whined worriedly as Cadance stepped forward. "I could find a doctor for you to come here. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue." Cadence thought for a second: "And you needn’t worry about imposters. None would be able to enter."

Lovelight nodded. "If you could, I’d be very grateful." Lovelight sighed and lowered her head, closing her eyes. Then she opened them back up with just as much alarm: "Oh no… Mellow’s appointment today."

Haze huffed, "We’ve had a bit more important problems lately."

"Appointment?" I wondered confusedly.

She looked down at me with conflicted feelings and said, "Oh, sweetie, me and Miss Foster made an appointment for you. We wanted you to talk to someone who could help you."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a bit of worry.

She sighed nervously, "A therapist, someone that knows what’s going on in your mind and can help you overcome your fears." She gave me a short smile.

However, inside, my mind was screaming at me. I’d never heard of a thing called a therapist, and it sounded really scary. Were they going to use magic on my brain to see my past? But then they would find out that I was never a pony. And then Lovelight and Haze wouldn’t want me anymore! I didn’t want to see a therapist; they sounded scary!

I backed away from Lovelight until my back hit the cushion, and I whined with terror, "No! I don’t want to talk to a therapist!" I whined.

All of the adults looked at me with pity; Lovelight looked heartbroken. "Mellow…" She sighed sadly.

"No!" I reiterated. "Nobody needs to see in my head! It’s my head!" I announced bravely.

Cadence leaned down, "Mellow, they aren’t supposed to read your mind, sweetie. And they won't make you talk about things you don’t like."

Lovelight reached out for me as I stopped trying to become one with the cushion. "Really? They just talk?"

Lovelight nodded quickly as she wrapped her forearms around me lovingly, "Yes, nobody is going to read your mind." She nuzzled my face, "I’m sorry, baby, I need to understand when something like that could be misunderstood."

She leaned forward to lock eyes with me, "Please forgive me for making you upset."

I hugged her muzzle, "I’m not mad at you, momma."

Cadence stood up and smiled down at us. "Then I will find a doctor for Lovelight and inform your therapist of where to go."

Lovelight looked up at her wearily, "He was supposed to show up at our house… I’m not sure how you’d do it."

"Just leave it to me," Cadence began, "and let yourself relax." She gave a confident nod before walking off. Flurry’s eyes hadn’t left me the whole way out as she gave a cute little wave.

Haze nodded in agreement as he rubbed Lovelight’s back more. "Are you feeling any better after the medicine?"

She nodded, and Haze smiled. "Then why don’t you and Mellow go rest a bit more? I’ll bring you two breakfast in a bit."

Lovelight nodded with a smile, and they shared a short kiss. I ran over and hugged Haze’s barrel as he nuzzled me back. Then Lovelight picked me back up, and we returned to bed. She walked a bit slower than usual, but she reassured me she was okay.

I heard some odd shouting and loud commotion from outside, but it got drowned out the further into the castle we went. 





"Everypony, please calm down!" Twilight shouted desperately as she rubbed a hoof against her head in a soothing manner.

The large crowd of ponies who had gathered at the bottom of the castle’s steps only got even angrier as they shouted more once again. "It’s been three more days, and nobody will tell us what’s going on! My wife and son are missing!" One stallion shouted.

"I was supposed to meet my parents!"

"Where’s my husband!?"

"Give us answers!"

The crowd erupted into a frenzy of words that merged together as Twilight groaned loudly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were behind her, and Applejack stepped forward, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Ahm thinkin’ it’s best we tell ‘em all we know, Twilight."

Rainbow Dash leaned in from above, "Or we just slam the door in their faces? Isn’t this like a top-secret issue?"

Twilight groaned. "It’s hard to keep something top secret when family and friends go missing and neither Mayor Mare nor your resident Princess can tell you why."

Rainbow shrugged as Applejack nodded. "You have to give ‘em something, Twi. Or we’re gonna be wranglin’ upset ponies like cattle."

The front door opened, and Cadance stepped out by herself; her eyes widened as she approached Twilight. The crowd erupted with more questions at her appearance, but they were too jumbled to understand. "Twilight?" She asked.

Twilight stamped her hoof, "I know, I know! I need to tell them something!" She growled.

Cadence sighed. "I was going to say breakfast is ready. But yes, telling them something would probably benefit everypony."

Twilight sat down and brought a hoof up to her chest. "But how do I tell them that I failed them and don’t know where their family and friends are?" She huffed as she teared up a bit, "I can’t promise them anything or even give them hope. Because I don’t know!" She groaned angrily.

Cadence nuzzled her, Rainbow put her hoof on her back, and Applejack placed her hoof on Twilight’s other hoof. "We’re with you, Twilight." Rainbow said reassuringly.

Applejack smiled, "It might do you best to tell ‘em exactly what ya told us. They won’t be happy, but at least they’ll understand."

Twilight took a long and deep breath before stepping forward and looking over the crowd. Surprisingly, the crowd grew quiet as they waited for her to speak. One more deep breath and a nervous gulp, and Twilight opened her mouth. "I know this is hard on all of you, so I will be as honest as I possibly can." She fidgeted nervously as she announced, "I do not know where your family or friends are."

Murmurs in the crowd began, which grew angrier by the second as Twilight spoke loudly once again, "That’s not to say we aren’t trying our absolute best to figure things out!" She shouted. "And the best way to do so is if everyone here could help pitch in. We have two culprits so far that we believe are behind all of it."

The crowd grew quiet as they only whispered to each other. "The first is a unicorn mare named Astral. And the second, a brown pegasus. They wear cloaks and…" Twilight looked around nervously, then back at Cadance.

Cadence nodded and whispered, "They don’t have cutie marks. Or… Astral doesn’t at least."

Twilight’s eyes widened as she turned back around. "The mare, Astral, doesn’t have a cutiemark!" The crowd’s eyes widened as they looked at and talked to each other.

Twilight stamped her hoof for attention. "This is not all to say that I wish for you to hunt these ponies down; they are dangerous, and I do not want any of you to be harmed! I simply wish for you to keep an eye out and report any sightings if possible. Do not put yourself in danger!" Twilight reiterated.

Twilight turned around to head back inside and glanced over her shoulder. "And Astral, if you’re listening…" she began angrily as the crowd went silent. "If you come anywhere near my family and friends again, I will not hesitate in my actions." Some of the crowd backpedaled at her look of anger.

Her friends were surprised by those words, but they couldn’t help but agree as they slowly followed Twilight inside, and the crowd dispersed.





Comet grimaced as he hid himself behind the corner of the alleyway again, walking up to Astral with a glare, "Now you’ve done it." He groaned.

She had a hoof to her chin in thought: "I know I failed to grab the colt, but how did she know we don’t have those… cutiemarks?" 

"Who cares!" Comet grunted with anger as he brushed past her and kicked a trash can. "All of this would’ve been so much easier if I’d gone instead. Now who knows if we can get it out of him?"

Astral rolled her eyes, then sighed amicably, turning to smile at him. "It’s alright, we still have our next plan, remember?"

Comet took out the device from his satchel and stared at it with a glare. "And you’re sure it will work?"

Astral smirked and walked over, brushing her tail against his side. "I know it will; trust me."

Comet gave a small sigh and a definitive nod. "If the mission goes awry, I’m telling her it was your fault. So your little creature better work out. I’m not trying to get fired."

"Oh, it’ll work all right." Astral giggled.

"It’s not supposed to kill either, just a big harmless distraction, correct?" Comet asked with a raised brow.

Astral nodded with glee. "Oh yes, of course, we wouldn’t want to hurt anybody." She reiterated with worry.

Comet stayed silent for a moment. "This time, I’m getting the kid."

"And the alicorns?" She asked.

"One will have to respond to the distraction. The other can easily be frozen." Comet huffed.

She nodded back at her partner. "Tonight?"

He just huffed, "Of course tonight we don’t have another one."

Astral beamed, "Wonderful."





I crept closer and closer, trying to keep my breathing quiet and my movements still. Until I was absolutely sure that I was in the clear, further and further I went across the plush floor, lifting the heavy silk from above my head. I could hear the beast now, and I froze.

With ever-quieter precision, I reached a hoof out from under it and proceeded to poke the beast. She released a startled gasp as she looked in every direction. "Who goes there?" She asked menacingly. "Who dares enter my cave?"

I held in my giggles as I stayed as quiet as possible. Peeking out from under the covers, I saw the beast averting her eyes in confusion, wearing a curiously large smile. Once I was sure that the beast had stopped watching, I reached my hoof out again, closer and closer. Then I covered the last bit of distance with a quick jab.

But I was too slow in my escape as my hoof was grabbed by the beast, and she pulled me out from under my safety covers, "There you are, little intruder!" She said it in a deep, intimidating voice.

I trembled with laughter as I held my hooves over my face. "No! Please! I’m sorry, I’ll leave!"

"Oh? It’s too late for that little kirin." She thundered. "And you can cover that face all you want; that’s not what I’m after!"

Suddenly, I felt an indescribably high amount of laughter bubble up as she thrust her muzzle into my stomach, relentlessly nuzzling into it. "Haha, stop!" I begged.

She held my hooves away so that I couldn’t protect myself as she raised a brow and said, "Oh? More tickles?" She announced to my horror.

She opened her mouth, making a scene out of how hard she breathed as my eyes became pinpricks, and with the mighty power of a thousand storms, she blew the biggest raspberry ever into my stomach.

I absolutely collapsed into a fit of laughter. "Mommahaha!" I yelped, "Too much!"

She couldn’t keep up the raspberry as she let loose her own fit of laughter. Pulling me closer to her barrel protectively, "Oh? Suddenly the dangerous beast is your mother?"

"Well, are you?" I asked with a giggle.

For a second, Lovelight blushed and giggled, and she seemed to think to herself for a second, "Yes, I am."



She pulled the covers farther up onto us both as she cuddled me closer to herself. I absolutely melted in her warm and fluffy chest fur. "I never wanna leave you." I muttered happily.

She nuzzled my face lovingly and said, "I never want you to leave me either."

"Even a scary monster like me?" I asked.

Her smile faltered, but she brought it back all the same, rubbing her nose against mine, "Even non-scary monsters like my little colt Mellow."

I sighed happily as I rubbed into her embrace. Not much longer afterwards, the bedroom door opened, and the smell of food hit my nose. I perked up as Haze entered with a cart and breakfast items. He smiled at us with a raised brow, "I thought I told you both to rest? I could hear the big, scary monster from the kitchen!"

Lovelight chuckled, "No time to sleep; it was playtime."

Haze raised both eyebrows and said, "Fine, but next time, I'll be the big, scary monster." He said this before walking over and nuzzling me while making growling noises.

I laughed, "Okay, okay! Next time."

He retracted and smiled before wheeling the cart over. It was pancakes and a fruit salad to go with them. We all easily found ourselves digging into the meal, and as always with everything Haze cooked, it was great. "Why are you so good at cooking, Daddy?"

He smiled widely, "I cook each and every meal with my own kirin fire. That means there’s a little piece of me in every meal!" He winked at me as I stared in awe.

Lovelight groaned. "Please don’t go around parading that idea," she said with a small huff of laughter.

"Why not?" He asked sadly as his lip quivered, "It’s true!"

Lovelight leaned over the top of me and nuzzled him, "Set a responsible example with that fire of yours." She reminded him as she glanced down at me.

He made a large ‘oh’ gesture as he waved his hoof dismissively, "I’m just joking. The real secret is using an extra pinch of everything the recipe says to do."

He didn’t notice the both of us staring at us, and he slowly opened his eyes and muttered a small, "What? Is there something in my teeth?"

Both me and Lovelight laughed as I fell into her side after finishing my meal.

"Oh, that’s it," Haze mumbled, "Get over here you!" He threatened jokingly as I released a squeak of surprise and hid under the covers.

"Nobody’s home!" I called.

"Oh really?" He asked, "Must’ve been a mistake. Looks like I’ll just have to make out with this cute lady monster out here-"

"Ew, yuck!" I yelled while throwing the covers off.

Haze held his hoof out and bumped my chest, "Dead, I got you."

I huffed as he brought me into his front forearms. "Now I get a tasty meal," He announced. He pretended to nibble on me all over, causing another fit of laughter.

After plenty more, I’d finally collapsed over the side of one of his legs. "No… more…" I said while panting.

Lovelight laid her head on Haze’s shoulder, "Good, you tired him out. Now it’s nap time."

I didn’t have an argument as I laid myself down against Haze’s chest, which was just as warm and comforting as Lovelight’s. Haze slowly lowered his head down over me, giving me a soft, loving nuzzle before closing his eyes. "Good plan," he mumbled.

"I love you guys." I said again quietly.

"Love you too," they said unanimously, then they giggled afterward as we all fell back to sleep.