I circled the tiny foal with intrigue and a tilted head, "She’s so tiny." I said with a giggle.
Haze and Cadance both smiled and laughed. Haze replied with a raised brow, "You are too, buddy."
I looked up at him with a smirk and stuck my tongue out. Then I looked towards a room in the castle a bit farther away, "When is Momma coming back?" I asked worriedly.
Cadence hummed, "Anytime now, little one. Be patient; the doctor will help your momma feel better."
I sighed and turned back to them. We were waiting in the main area of the castle again, and I didn’t trust some random doctor either. Flurry nudged me from below: "Mewo!" She said cheerily with a little squeak and a giggle.
I giggled and laid down, nuzzling the tiny foal, "Flurry!" I replied happily.
"Awww." Cadence chimed, "I think she likes you, Mellow."
I heard walking behind me and turned to see Twilight and her group of friends walking in along with Spike. Most of them looked our way but decided to keep their distance, except, surprisingly, Twilight. She approached carefully, even as Haze gave her a warning glare. I backed away a bit as Flurry lunged forward at her muzzle for a hug.
Cadence picked up Flurry as Twilight stopped; she lowered her head and closed her eyes with a sigh. "I… have something for you."
I eyed her wearily as she brought out what looked to be a necklace. With a sparkling blue and purple crystal. Twilight set it in front of me: "If you place your hoof on this necklace and hold it, a distress signal will be sent out."
"Twilight!" Cadence admonished.
She looked up swiftly, "It’s merely a precaution!" She defended.
Haze growled behind me, "What, so you’re expecting my foal to be kidnapped?" He asked with a huff.
"I just want him to be safe, like the rest of you! This is my one way of ensuring that." Twilight finished with a sigh.
I tuned them out as I looked down at it, slowly grabbing it with my hooves. "I’ve never been given a gift before…" I said in complete wonder.
All of the arguing stopped instantly, and silence reigned around me. I looked up at Twilight with a sigh, "I like it. It means I can always find my way back to momma and daddy." I said with a smile.
The adults seemed relieved at that, and Twilight smiled as she helped me put it around my neck with her magic. "Yes, it will. And someone will be there to bring you home to them. I promise."
I gave her a nod, and looked down at the necklace with a smile. Twilight returned to her friends again, and Spike popped up next to me. "Hey, Mellow." He greeted me nervously.
I smiled, "Hi Spike."
Flurry jumped down from Cadance’s grasp and tackled the dragon’s face, "Spee!" She mumbled.
We all laughed as he wrenched the filly from his face, and she relented. She smiled and looked between me and Spike. "Fwens!" She chirped gleefully.
Me and Spike looked at each other and giggled, "Yep, all friends." Spike replied.
I heard the door opening and turned to see Lovelight walking out with the doctor. She looked at us with an odd smile before walking over. First she leaned down and nuzzled me, kissing my cheek, "It’s your turn now, honey." She told me.
I looked at the doctor, a light brown unicorn stallion with a dark brown mane. "This is Doctor Horse, sweetie. He’s also a therapist." Lovelight introduced him as I looked at him in confusion and weariness.
The doctor bowed his head and said, "It’s nice to meet you, little one. Your mommy told me a lot about you."
I tilted my head, "H-Hello…" I said nervously.
He smiled and laid down at eye level with me, "I have a bunch of fun toys in the room over there. I just want to talk to you alone for a little bit, but your mommy and daddy will be right outside. Is that okay?"
I whimpered and looked over at them both. They both gave me encouraging smiles and nods, and Lovelight leaned in close. "It'll be alright, honey; I trust him, so you should too. He’ll make you feel better, I promise."
"Really?" I said this with wonder as I tilted my head.
Lovelight chuckled and nuzzled me. "Really."
"I love you, momma," I whispered.
"I love you too, honey." She gave me a kiss on the forehead.
I smiled and slowly nodded my head before looking back at the doctor, "Okay…"
He smiled and nodded, before standing up and lighting his horn. I suddenly began levitating next to him. I giggled as it was quite fun. We disappeared into the room as Lovelight gave me one last smile.
"...So worry not, my little ponies! You will be home very soon. I promise you!" Celestia said definitively with her wings flared. Cheers erupted in the cabin promptly, and Celestia scanned the crowd with intrigue. However, there was nothing of note, and she moved forward farther into the train.
In the room between carts, Luna grunted in annoyance. "Tia, it’s not working."
"Patience, dear sister." Celestia admonished, "We haven’t even gone through all the cabins yet."
"Yes but…" Luna trailed off with a sigh, "This seems nonsensical. Looking for a needle in a haystack. Any one of these ponies could be the culprit, and we’d never know!"
"Smile back on, sister, next cabin." Celestia said.
"Wha… Are you just ignoring me now?" Luna asked with ruffled wings.
Celestia opened up the next cart door and stepped in as Luna scrambled to look normal. Luna held onto her fake smile for Celestia’s entire fake speech. But she couldn’t help but inwardly groan at the entire idea in itself. Luna didn’t particularly like lying to a bunch of poor citizens who’d gotten wrapped up in something beyond themselves.
But nonetheless, she scanned the crowd of ponies while her sister was deep in her fake speech. Reading from a scroll that contained not a single word, she’d gotten quite good at repeating herself.
As always, the crowd didn’t stand out. Disheveled families, crying foals, and business ponies that never made it to their next destination. But her gaze stopped on one particular pony, and not for any reason that she could immediately discern. They were rather unassuming in their own right, but something was pricking at her mind.
Was it the fact that he wasn’t paying Celestia any attention and was currently stuck staring down at his hooves, which firmly held a book? Was it the yellow cloak he wore with his hood up? Or the odd way he seemed unbothered by his current situation?
No, Luna decided. None of those were why. She'd seen plenty of ponies so far that had yet to jump for joy, choosing to wait and see for themselves. It was more of a feeling she had that she couldn’t pinpoint or discern why.
Celestia finished her speech with a wide smile, and everypony returned to their seats. Celestia turned her head to her sister and could see her deep in thought. "Notice something?" She whispered questionably.
Luna hummed but never took her eye off the pony. Celestia followed her gaze up and studied him for a second. The unicorn suddenly levitated his book away from his vision, closed it, and left it on the bench behind himself as he stood up. He took a long stretch of his limbs before he gazed over at the two princesses.
It was a white-colored stallion with white hair and lightly colored yellow streaks. He wore a yellow cloak with an image of the sun emblazoned on its flank, and on his chest sat a crest holding a yellow gem. He raised his brows and froze for a second at the two princesses gazes, who gave him smiles.
Celestia’s gaze locked onto the gem on his crest, which was currently glowing with a strange energy. "Tia…" Luna began.
"Yes…" Celestia agreed silently as the stallion turned and headed for the door of the cart.
Celestia moved forward, passing by a few passengers who were questioning her. "Excuse me, my little ponies; I must inform the rest of the train." She said rather absentmindedly. The retreating stallion seemed to pick up speed with his trot.
Luna followed closely behind, and the stallion exited through the doors swiftly. Celestia and Luna picked up the pace as well and swung open the door between the carts. "Hey, stop-" Celestia began, only to find that the stallion was nowhere to be found. Not even in the next cabin over was there a single sign of him.
The two princesses sat in confusion between carts, "Where’d he… go?" Celestia said in asontishment.
"That’s him; he’s got to be behind it," Luna said with a short growl and a stamp of her hooves. "I say we split up and inform the guards."
Celestia sighed, "Who knows Luna? He may be able to change his physical form. If this really is his doing, then we are stuck in his trap. We must tread carefully."
Luna grunted again. "I’m tired of treading carefully! Our friends are more than likely in trouble, and we’ve been stuck on this train for ages! Not to mention all of these poor ponies who’ve been caught up with this charade!"
"Luna, calm down. We must not fight each other over this." Celestia said amicably.
Luna closed her eyes, took a long breath, and sighed, "We are on the same side, Tia." She said this as she began fiddling with the door on the outside of the train. "You can do it however you like. But I won’t just sit around while ponies are in danger." She remarked with a huff as she jumped out of the door and flew onto the roof of the train.
"Luna!" Celestia called after her worriedly. She watched the doorway with a sigh before closing it and continuing her investigation alone.
"How are you today, Mellow?" Doctor Horse asked me curiously.
I stared at him from the other couch, fiddling with my hooves under myself. "Um… okay, sir." I replied with a bow of my head. The sound of him writing something down afterwards caught me off guard, and my body froze a bit at that.
"Please, don’t be scared of this." He said with a chuckle, "I’m just writing things down to help me understand you more. Is that okay?"
"Um, I guess so." I mumbled wearily as I averted my gaze.
He nodded; his demeanor and smile were quite friendly, but I didn’t want to get too comfortable. "Let me start by saying that you do not need to answer any of my questions if they make you uncomfortable. Does that sound okay, Mellow?"
I nodded shortly, "Okay."
He smiled widely and said, "And don’t feel shy to play with the toys; they’re in here for a reason."
I eyed them, but for the moment, I only gave him another small nod in response. The doctor cleared his throat. "So, what do you think of Ponyville? Do you like it here?"
I tilted my head, "There are lots of nice ponies, and it’s pretty in some places. But there are a lot of ponies."
"Have you never been anywhere with so many ponies?"
I shook my head, "It’s a big town. I’m from a small town." A thought poked into my mind right then: ‘Don’t give anything away. He’ll take you away from momma if he knows where you’re from.’
"Oh really?" He said curiously, "Do you remember the town you grew up in, Mellow?"
I shook my head rapidly, "No, it’s gone now."
"Do you know anypony else from there?"
I shook my head again. "Nobody is left I-" I closed my mouth, ‘No, too much.’
He smiled to ease me, "Let’s talk about something fun. What do you like to do for fun, Mellow?"
I rubbed my hooves nervously, "Oh well, I like playing with momma and daddy. That’s fun."
"Do you like to do anything for fun by yourself? Do you like to draw? Maybe collect bugs?" He asked.
"Collect… bugs?" I said in confusion. I sat in silence for a minute, "Magic, I used to like playing with magic."
He hummed, "Used to? Do you not like it anymore?"
"No," I said quickly, "magic is dangerous. I don’t use it anymore."
The doctor wrote a few things down and looked at me with an empathetic face, "Did your magic hurt you before? Did you accidentally hurt yourself with it?"
I shook my head and looked downward, and the doctor hummed curiously again. "Did somebody… hurt you with magic?"
I let the silence sit for a while. "I hurt people with magic." I said quietly.
He looked saddened. "Is this about the fire in the Everfree?"
I didn’t respond for a long while, so he asked, "Is this from something… before?"
I sighed and lowered myself. ‘Don’t tell him what you’ve done. Be quiet.’ I told myself.
"It’s okay," He said understandingly. "You don’t have to answer."
We sat in silence for a moment as the doctor relaxed in his seat some more. "Is there anything you want to ask me?"
I tilted my head. "Me ask you?"
He chuckled. "It wouldn’t be very nice of me to only ask you things, would it?"
I hummed in unsureness as I thought. The bubbling sense of unease in my body was urging me to ask questions that I didn’t know if I wanted the answer to. I looked up at his awaiting yet calm expression and quickly looked away again. "You won’t take me from momma if you don’t like my answers?" I asked worriedly.
He shook his head rapidly and said, "I would never dare to, Mellow. Everything you say is safe with me; nobody else will hear it." He gave me a warm smile, "I’m just here to help your momma figure out new things."
"About me?"
"Only if you’d like to tell me." He reiterated. "I won’t force you to tell me anything, Mellow."
I hummed and sat there for a long pause. "What do you think happened to me?" I asked.
The doctor tilted his head back at me, "I’m sorry, Mellow, could you explain that question a bit more?"
"Before I… found Ponyville, what happened to me?" I sighed at his surprised expression. "I know you won’t know, but…" I mumbled.
He continued to look at me in surprise and composed himself a few moments later, "Well, I don’t like to assume things…" He paused with a sigh, "But if I were to guess, you were held captive beyond your knowledge by changelings. With one particularly abusive one…"
‘Oh, good. They still think it’s those changeling things.’ I thought with an inward sigh of relief. "What’s abuse?" I asked with a tilted head.
The stallion grimaced, lowering himself to be at eye level with me. "Abuse is when someone does things to you that hurt you. On the outside, or maybe in your head. They make you feel bad about yourself a lot."
"Master wasn’t abusive." I said defensively.
I could see he disagreed, but he slowly responded with curiosity, "How so?"
"Master kept me away from others… so that I wouldn’t hurt them by accident. He cared about them." I said with a shrug.
The doctor furrowed his brow. "But was he nice to you, Mellow?"
I shuffled awkwardly with my hooves. "He… He told me I had a lot of potential. He said I was very useful." I felt a sinking feeling in my gut: "But… he wasn’t nice like momma and daddy."
Doctor Horse looked uncomfortable as he stared at me empathetically. "It’s okay, Mellow. Sometimes mean ponies are really good at making you think they’re nice to you. Even when they’re still really mean, they might act like they care. Does that sound familiar?"
I couldn’t stop rubbing one hoof behind the other, and my mind began to flood with past memories that made me feel really bad. Eventually, I released a small whine: "I don’t want to talk about this anymore…"
He was instantly supportive of that idea, as he set his notes aside for now. "Of course, Mellow, we’ll just stop right there." He slid off the couch and pointed at toys on the ground, "Want to play something with me?" He invited me with a smile.
Lovelight walked in to see her foal leisurely playing with an assortment of toys on the ground. But when she walked in, he immediately jumped to his hooves and ran headfirst into her leg, "Mommy!" He cried happily.
Hearing him call her that was so fulfilling and made her boundlessly happy each time. She quickly embraced the little kirin with as much love as possible. "There’s my little campfire," she cooed as she soothed him by stroking his mane.
She looked up and met Doctor Horse’s gaze, who gave her a wide smile and a nod. Lovelight made her way over and took her position on the opposite couch as the foal nestled close to her side. She nuzzled him before resting a hoof on his back and rubbing. Mellow almost immediately began to doze off once again in her presence.
The doctor eyed the foal for a moment and chose to speak quieter: "You’re a very good mother; are you sure you’ve only known him for such a short time?"
Lovelight giggled: "I’m the oldest of three, and not by a small margin. I used to mother my siblings well enough. Though having my own now is so much more sweet than that duo."
He laughed and nodded in agreement. "I understand that feeling." He paused for a minute as Lovelight nuzzled the foal again, but the foal was happily napping away against her side. Horse smiled, "He’s a very kind little one. Which made some of the things he told me… heartbreaking."
Lovelight’s eyes widened, and a worried expression overtook her. "Did he tell you a lot?"
He pursed his lips, "He didn’t say a terrible amount, but I can infer a lot from what he did say." He sighed. "It’s very easy to ask him questions; he doesn’t shy away from the subject like most foals. Which is both bad and good."
"Really? What did he say?" She asked hesitantly.
Haze opened the door at that moment carefully, then gave a sheepish look. "Sorry…" He said.
"Perfect timing." The doctor said, waving him over. Haze hummed curiously but didn’t question it as he carefully took a seat, with Mellow nestled between them both.
"Anyway," Horse continued, "firstly he told me that he came from a "small" town. And that he wasn’t used to so many ponies. But curiously, he described this town as simply "gone" but didn’t have an exact explanation as to why. I assume this is from when he was very young."
They both looked at him concerned, "That’s odd…" Lovelight said curiously, "One of the first things he ever said to me at the hospital was that he’d never seen another pony before then."
Horse looked equally confused. "Maybe he got kirin and ponies mixed up?"
Haze chimed in, "I’ve never heard of any such stories of a kirin town going missing. Though most other tribes are rather reclusive, even to each other."
Horse thought about it for a moment before moving on. "When I asked him what he liked to do for fun, he said he liked playing with his mommy and daddy." Lovelight and Haze smiled as the doctor continued, "And his only idea of personal fun was practicing magic. Though, in addition, he told me he refused to use magic anymore."
Haze and Lovelight shared a look of sadness. And Haze questioned him, "Did he give a reason?"
Horse grimaced: "He refused to tell me exactly why. But I narrowed it down, and he seems to think he hurt somebody terribly with it. From even before the Everfree incident."
Lovelight and Haze looked shocked, and Lovelight eyed her foal sadly, "Was he made to hurt people?" Her thoughts ran rampant with horrifying implications of what it could all possibly mean. And she began to understand his actions over the past week and why he’d hated his magic so much.
The doctor sighed, "It’s impossible to know." He replied to her before looking at the foal curiously. "After that, I prompted him to ask me questions. Usually this allows us to understand them more and where their main fears lie."
The two parents listened intently as Horse smiled again. "He asked me if I’d take him away from you two. So from what I can see, you’re both doing a great job so far."
They both smiled appreciatively at that and shared a nuzzle with each other. Horse’s smile faded. "But his second question was asking me what I thought had happened to him before the Everfree."
They both looked at him with curious expressions, as the doctor was similarly interested. "I can say that’s certainly a first. But my first thought was that he wanted to know our presumed story of him so that he could change his answers accordingly." Horse sighed and put a hoof to his forehead, "I was put in a rather surprising predicament by that. But decided that telling him the truth was worth it."
"About the changelings and kidnapping?" Lovelight inquired.
He nodded. "But I can deduce that most of our ideas are wrong, as when I told him this, he showed a relieved look. And he immediately moved on and questioned what abuse is."
Both parents were listening intently as the doctor seemed angrier than before. "That conversation led to him bringing up this "master" of his. He defended his master, saying that he only wished to keep others safe by keeping Mellow away from everypony. I asked him if they were nice to him, and he froze up and didn’t wish to speak anymore. Likely because he couldn’t process the idea of it all efficiently. I could see that he was going through his memories with a less than happy look."
Haze scoffed and crossed his hooves over themselves. "From the way everything sounds to me, someone just wanted to have an exotic pet alicorn. One that would stay quiet and follow orders. And maybe those orders led to Mellow hurting others. Maybe even from his previous home."
Lovelight clutched the foal more possessively, as if he were in direct danger. Her chest tightened with rage, but she didn’t have anyone to release it on, so she redirected it into conviction as best she could. Conviction that she would be the best mother Mellow could ask for, even after such a harrowing upbringing.
Doctor Horse nodded as each of them thought about it. "Let’s not get too consumed by our thoughts. It could always be better or worse; it won’t become clear unless we are patient. Another few sessions, and I believe we could have a convincing answer."
Both parents nodded; Lovelight sighed, "Do we… pry?"
Horse immediately shook his head, "You don’t want to ruin the trust he has for you. He’d become virtually irreparable if so. Just listen attentively to what words he chooses to use and keep being good parents. That’s all I ask of you."
They both nodded as Doctor Horse stood up from his spot and gathered his notes into a saddlebag. He turned to them with a smile and a short nod, but his look suddenly shifted to concern. "Whatever is going on around Ponyville, I hope things turn out well."
Haze agreed, "Far too many things; we’ll try our best."
He bid them farewell and exited the room with a definitive click of the door. They both sat in silence for a long time; eventually, they turned to each other. Haze leaned in and nuzzled her, "Hey, it’ll be okay. No matter what happens, we’re a family."
Lovelight blushed and nodded with a short giggle, "Everything will be fine." She replied with a confident smile.
Luna didn’t immediately find anypony above the train. Nor did she find any unwanted passengers clinging to the outside. The world outside of the train was practically unrecognizable now. Just a fractured mess of broken pieces of something that resembled their world. Other than that, it was all a black void. The train continued on without care through the dark void, the tracks unobstructed by its carelessness.
‘If I were a unicorn… with some sort of time bubble interdimensional power thingy… where would I hide?’ Luna questioned herself mentally.
Her sister would no doubt continue to proceed to the back of the train, so a quick deduction would tell her she needed to start from the front again. But that sinking unease of facing a power she’d never interacted with before was throwing her off. She did not know the extent of his powers or the way in which he could use them.
Gritting her teeth, she took one last scan of the surrounding train above and made her way towards the front cabins. Jumping down into them, she first searched her and Celestia’s cabins without much luck. As well as the engine and every other place. It was then that she felt an odd feeling coming from her horn, and choosing to follow the first sign of something abnormal seemed perfectly reasonable. Then she felt the train shake as multiple explosions went off.
‘Magic? No… that felt like… Celestia? But had she really fou-’ Her thoughts were cut off as she reached the first cabin, only to see absolute and utter chaos. It looked like some sort of natural disaster had occurred in the cabin as others helped each other out of their stupor. Every item and pony was in a state of disarray, completely beside themselves. "What happened?" Luna said out loud in disbelief.
A stallion guard rose to his feet with a groan from next to her: "I don’t know… But Celestia suddenly teleported in here while following after some white pony in a cloak. He blocked one of Celestia’s attacks, and it dispersed into the whole cabin."
Luna sighed, ‘Sister…’ she groaned audibly. "Where’d they go?" She asked irrately.
The guard shrugged, "They teleported out; I’m not sure."
Luna sighed again as she lit her horn, helped a bunch of ponies up, and removed the broken things from the cabin. She quickly ran through the cabin door, following after the wake of destruction her sister had left. Each cabin was in some similar state of disarray.
By the time she was nearing the end of the train, she caught up with Celestia, who was staring down the white unicorn with a dangerous look. The white unicorn looked uneasy as he held up a barrier around himself. "Lower it now! Or I will be forced to use my magic to break through!" Celestia yelled at him.
"Tia!" Luna said while approaching. "You can’t keep doing that! You’re going to hurt somepony!"
The unicorn across the room chimed in, "Thank you! I’ve been trying to tell her this as well!"
"Quiet fiend!" Celestia demanded angrily from the unicorn, who took a few careful steps back.
Celestia threw a blast, which again was immediately reflected by the shield and shook the whole cabin. Thankfully, most of the ponies had fled to previous cabins for safety. "Can we talk it out?!" The unicorn yelled fearfully.
Celestia growled and lowered her horn as she stomped forward. "You’re the one who put us in this position. You have nobody to blame but yourself!" She began charging with another blast.
The door next to the unicorn opened up, and a guard ran in with intent to help. Luna’s eyes widened, and she shouted at her sister, "Tia! Don’t-" but it was too late as the blast shot out of her horn with immense force.
The guard stared death in the face for what felt like ages, then closed his eyes. Only for the blast to rock the cabin again, and surprisingly, he hadn’t died. When he opened his eyes, the barrier from the unicorn was now covering both of them. Celestia stared in shock at what just happened as the white unicorn released the barrier with heavy breathing. Luna stood in front of Celestia, blocking her from potentially attacking. "What are you really here for?" Luna asked him in disbelief after he had just saved the guard.
He sighed, "I’ll tell you the same thing I told her…" He waited for a moment to catch his breath. Even as Celestia glared at him with intense scrutiny.
Luna awaited his answer questioningly, with pure confusion. Once the unicorn had finally recovered from the fatigue of blocking the attack, he looked up, gave them a nervous smile, and declared his intent.
"I am not your enemy!"