“It’s… certainly very rare for something like this to happen, but… not exactly unheard of.”
They had come home quickly, after apologizing profusely to the waiter, to find Shining, alone and crying, with the window wide open and clothes strewn across the floor like somepony had been in a hurry. Slurred speech as he tried his best to explain what had happened left Twilight scared and confused, shivering between her mother’s hooves. Night Light hadn’t stayed behind much longer after that, and before Velvet could really react, he was out the door and galloping towards the nearest guard’s station.
“When a Pegasus… Hm. Well, you know how it feels to bottle up emotions, right? You feel angrier and angrier over time.”
Night Light had galloped the whole way to the station in complete silence and in a dream like state. He couldn’t feel his hooves burning, his lungs aching for air, and he couldn’t feel the wind against his face. All he knew was that Cadence was gone, and that she had left on her own volition. Of course, they had read in parenting books about the ‘fleeing the nest’ scenario, but they had all assumed Cadence had grown out of it.
“Bottling up anger makes it worse than if it was just released in the first place. Pegasi are the same way. They bottle up their instincts, and sometimes when it comes out, it’s much stronger than if they’d just let it happen in the first place.”
Night Light wasn’t even sure what he was hearing, and he was very certain he wasn’t absorbing anything the stallion was saying. His eyes felt glossy and unfocused as he put all of his mental effort into staring down at the wood grain of the desk in front of him. The guard, outside of personally leaving the station, had done everything in his power for Cadence. He had dispatched a small search team to search Canterlot, and in the morning, the search team would be expanded to most of the local guard force, outside of the royal guard themselves.He had put out notices to be shipped in the morning mail, alerting every city within Equestria of Cadence’s name and appearance, along with a copied photograph from Night Light’s wallet.
“Fleeing instincts. I think the egg-heads call it something else, but… psh. Out of all the tribes, Pegasi are the most primal. And that’s not in a bad way, of course. They need to be instinctual when they’re flying a hundred miles an hour. Can’t have that barrier that you or me have, horn and hooves. When a Pegasus has to act, they have to act. They can’t have indecision. They gotta just… go, you know?”
Night Light sighed, lowering his head closer to the table.
“They have nesting instincts. You know that, right?”
He nodded. He could remember when Twilight had learned what pillows were, and the very next day, her crib was stuffed and overflowing with every pillow she could find in the house. It was adorable, and had definitely earned a spot in their gallery.
“Flying instincts…”
Who could forget how chaotic the day was when Twilight had learned to fly?
“Pegasi tend to be really good parents. They have that care, you know?”
Cadence. Cadence was the best sister to Twilight, even if they weren’t related at all. More often that not, Night Light and Velvet found themselves consulting the filly for help. And Cadence was more than happy to help out whenever she could. Now, though… Cadence was gone. Out there, somewhere, due to the exact same instincts that told her to care for Twilight.
A missing foal was a rarity in Equestria. A missing foal wasn’t just a big deal- it was massive. There wasn’t a doubt that Cadence’s face would be plastered all across the national newspapers the moment the media caught wind of what was happening. If there ever was a missing foal, it was because somepony had gotten lost in the crowd and lost their mommy. Very rarely did a foal run away like this.
“Bottle up those instincts, and eventually, when they come out, they’re gonna come out with a bang. Your filly, Cadence, had a very specific set of circumstances, and I guess I can see how this could happen. Very rare, and very specific. She’s an orphan who never really thought of the orphanage as her home. Which is rare, for an orphan in Equestria. She found a home with you guys, and I assume that’s when her instincts made a comeback. I don’t think she was trying to hide her instincts, but it turned out this way, didn’t it? She must’ve had a trigger, or something to set her… are you even listening to me?”
Night Light cocked his head away from the desk, a glass of water held between his hooves as he shivered from fatigue, running for so long at his age. His head felt heavy as he blinked blearily, taking a sip of his water.
“I-I-” He cleared his throat, bringing the glass lower down. “I-I only got the main points, I-I think.”
“Right.” The guard rubbed his forehead, adjusting himself on his seat. His eyes narrowed, however, as he slid a manila folder forwards on the table. “Ya know, I’m just a little curious. I’ve gone through Mi Amore Cadenza’s file, here, and she doesn’t seem to be legally related to you guys. How’d that happen?”
“Adoption-” Night Light snorted, taking a deep breath. “Well- we were going to surprise her with adoption for her birthday.”
“Oh, really?” The guard itched his chin. “That’s real noble of you. Not a lot of ponies adopt now a days, especially as spells can fix anypony’s problem willy nilly.”
“Yeah- it was- um-” Night Light sipped his glass again as a way to break his own stuttering. “I-I forget what the orphanage called it. Temporary foster care, maybe? I don’t know. We had a hoof-shaking agreement with the director. They were being overrun with foals at the time, and if we took Cadence in, then there’d be at least one more free bed. Which was a no-brainer, because she really trusted us.” He scratched his mane, looking up at the walls, decorated with degrees and trophies. “I didn’t know- we didn’t know she was an orphan until we got a knock on the door. Her and the director wanted a talk with us. That was… scary, to say the least.”
“So… you were going through with this whole thing? Adoption?” He asked, a genuine curiosity taking over as he nodded his head.
“Yeah. I mean- at the time, it seemed like a tall order. I mean, we’d just had a new filly, Twilight, less than a year ago at the time. We were already struggling with a Pegasus in the family, but… I mean, Cadence was already over at our house almost every day for most the day. You don’t just turn somepony like that down, do you? We didn’t. And it worked out pretty well.” He sighed, suddenly remembering why he was here. “Yeah… We’re going to- or, were, for her birthday, give her the adoption papers. They would’ve been approved by Princess Celestia about a week before our trip to Manehattan. We would’ve gone to the fountain in Mane Square, and we would’ve-” Night Light suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that his eyes were damp. He lightly dabbed his eyes with his hoof, feeling as the tears prickled his fur. “Ah- I’m sorry, I’m just-”
“Worried?” The guard asked, finishing his sentence. Although Night Light wasn’t exactly going to divulge down that path, he found himself nodding in agreement anyways. “Don’t worry about it, okay? By tomorrow morning, that filly’s face is going to be on every newspaper across the country. We’re going to try our best to find her, okay?” Night Light sighed, dabbing his eyes once more.
“Please… promise me you’ll find her.”
The guard cringed, but still put on his best smile.
“We’ll try our best.”
She wasn’t exactly sure what had just happened.
She was probably too young to even understand what had just happened.
But, whatever had just transpired, Twilight suddenly felt her world expand and shift like it had never done before.
Night Light had booked it out of the house with sudden and quick words exchanged between him and Velvet. They were still in the dome room, as Velvet exchanged words of comfort with Shining on the ground. They were both hysterical.Which was strange. Shining was a colt. He wasn’t meant to cry. And something about those two facts made Twilight feel very uncomfortable. Like something was very, very wrong with the world.
Twilight could feel the entire world through her hooves. And she was scared. She could feel the vibrations and hear the sounds as Night Light rushed through the house, slamming the door violently shut behind him. She could feel the emptiness of the halls outside the room through her wings, and she could feel the lack of Cadence. Cadence was gone. She had left the restaurant in such a rush, so much so that it was scary.
And she had hurt Shining.
No… No, of course not. Cadence had hurt Shining in the past, of course, in play. So had Shining to Cadence. The difference, however, was the intent. Those times were accidents. This one didn’t seem like an accident. As a matter of fact, it seemed malicious. But… Cadence wouldn’t do that, right? This wasn’t Shining gritting his teeth as Velvet band-aided a scratch, this was emotional.
The hairs on Twilight’s neck were standing up. Slowly, as to not disturb the scene that was happening too much, Twilight crept out of the room. Her hooves felt numb as she pushed the door to close it, the knob clicking against the frame to shut it into place.
No… her hooves weren’t numb. She had… energy in them. Anxious, scared energy, like she was watching her parents leave for a dinner date without them, or getting ready to challenge Cadence to a race. Her wings felt electric as she stood out in the hallway, almost itching to take to the skies. Unfortunately, Twilight was inside, and having two fleeing Pegasi in the same night would almost certainly make her mother have an aneurysm. So, Twilight did the second best thing. She flapped her wings, and flew up and down the hallway outside her bedroom.
It wasn’t very fulfilling. She still felt anxious, and she wasn’t sure why. She moved her flying from the hallway, to the staircase leading down to the living room. She made a large, swooping motion, curving around the staircase and sliding into the kitchen. She would do this every morning, much to the amusement of everypony in the kitchen. But now, however, as she finished her slide, it was painfully desolate. The sky outside was dark, and there wasn’t a single light on in the bottom floor.
She clicked her tongue against her mouth, and begun idly wandering. She really had no idea what to do, other than simply waiting for Night Light to get back from whatever he had been doing. Was he chasing Cadence, perhaps? She hopped up onto the bay window overlooking the sidewalk in front of her home. There was a variety of objects scattered on the window sill, including a candle, a pillow, a few pencils, and a book. The light from the streetlamps were providing the bare minimum amount of light for Twilight to see in front of her. So, with all of the anxiousness and anxiety that was building in her chest, she focused it into picking up the book. She adjusted the pillow, placing it behind her, so she didn’t crease her back painfully, and flipped open the book.
Yes… this was… relaxing, right? It was certainly helping calm her down, although she wasn’t sure if it was just because enough time had passed between the event with Cadence, or because the book was actually helping. What definitely did help, however, was Twilight taking a few deep breaths.
“The Time Machine, by D. Hoof.” Twilight frowned, trying to read the words, but failing miserably. She tilted the book in a vain attempt at reading it better, but the improvement was only marginal. She squinted, pulling the book closer to her muzzle, and trying to read harder. “The Time Traveller, for so it… it will be… conveenint? Conivent? To speak of him, was an expound- expounding…” She grunted, adjusting the book again.
“Having fun?” A voice said from the darkness. Twilight lowered the book from her face, and looking out into the dark living room. Velvet was standing by one of the overturned couches from their war earlier in the night.
“It’s really hard to read.” Twilight complained, letting the book rest against her leg as she closed it.
“Word-wise, or because it’s pitch black?” Velvet asked. Her magic ignited purple, and a nearby lamp clicked on, dousing the entire room in a very warm shade of orange. Velvet, now in the light, looked like a mess. Her eyes were stained with anxiety-ridden tears, the mascara she had been wearing streaking down and creaking black paths.Twilight looked back down at the book quickly, now completely illuminated, and pulled the cover open to it’s first page once more.
“The fire burned brightly, and the soft radi- radius- radiance of the… in… incand…” Twilight grunted, frowning, closing the cover with more vigor than last time. “Word-wise.” Her frown soon vanished, however, and was replaced with once coming from a deep place of concern. “Is Shiny okay?”
“Shining’s just going to bed early tonight, Twilight.” She quickly said. Velvet looked down at the mess that was left behind from their play-fight, a few purple and pink feathers scattered around from Twilight and Cadence. Velvet’s eyes lingered longer on the pink ones, however.
“Do you want me to clean that up?” Twilight asked.
“Huh?”
“Before we left for dinner, you said we had to clean it up before we went to bed. Shiny’s already in bed, and Cadence is… Do you want me to clean it up?”
“Oh, no, dear.” Velvet shook her head lightly, tittering. “Of course not. Today’s been a little too exciting. I’ll do it.” Her horn lit up once more, and both of the couches were surrounded in her aura. A few seconds later, and with a little bit of strain on Velvet’s part, both had been righted up. Velvet was about to begin putting the cushions on, when she noticed a little Pegasus doing her part, book abandoned. “Twilight, you don’t have to help.”
“I feel weird.” She stated bluntly, using her wings to pluck a cushion from the ground. “I feel like I have to be doing something.” Velvet opened her mouth to retort, but only found herself raising an eyebrow at the suspiciously adult-like behavior being displayed by the usually purple daredevil, who didn’t give head or tail about her actions.
“Well… that’s very nice of you, Twilight.” She said. She almost ignited her horn once more to affix all of the other cushions back, but decided against it, watching as Twilight moved to her second cushion. A moment later, Velvet found herself on her knees, plucking a cushion with her hooves and placing it onto the couch manually instead of using her magic.
They had almost finished the second couch when Twilight spoke again.
“Is Cadence okay?” She asked. Velvet was in the middle of fluffing a pillow when she froze, her lip twitching. She looked down to the Pegasus, now no longer helping, but rather staring down at the ground.
Velvet, like before, opened her mouth to say something, but found her words dying. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. Then, with a hop, she jumped onto the sofa and laid down.
“Come, Twilight.” She patted. “Lay with me.” Twilight looked up at the couch, raising her eyebrow, but obliged anyways. She laid down onto the sofa with much more grace than Velvet, having wings to help her land softly compared to Velvet’s jump. Velvet wrapped a hoof around Twilight, so her wings were closed and pulled tight against Velvet’s side.
“Twilight… you know you’re a Pegasus, right?” She started. She expected a snort, or a retort, or a sarcastic comment from Twilight.
Instead, all she got was a solemn and slow nod.
“And you know how you can feel funny sometimes, right? Like when you feel claustrophobic, or when you’re flying fast and just know to turn a certain way?”
Once again, no retort. All she got was another silent nod, which was slightly aggravating for a lack of input.
“Cadence… didn’t. For a long time, she didn’t feel funny. And… earlier tonight, all at once, she felt very funny.” Velvet swallowed her spit, suddenly finding herself blinking quickly. Twilight, thankfully, wasn’t looking up and at her face. “She… had the urge to run away. And she did.” She sighed slowly. She had begun to feel a little bit irritated at Twilight's lack of response. Once more, Twilight stayed completely silent, her ears perked and listening.
“She ran away, and… she did a bad thing tonight. She yelled at you… she yelled at Shining… She didn’t…” Velvet sniffled, looking down at her filly. “Twilight, are you going to… say anything?” She tried her hardest to hide her frustration.
“Is that going to happen to me?” Twilight asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Velvet felt her blood run cold as she realization slowly dawned on her.
“W-What was that, dear?” Velvet asked, tightening her grip on Twilight.
“A-Am I going to run away one day?” Velvet hadn’t even realized it was happening, but Twilight was silently crying, just like her mother. “I don’t want to be like Cadence.”
“Honey…” She leaned down, nuzzling her daughter’s mane. “I… Mhm…” She contemplated. Twilight had urges in the past. Nesting in her own bed. Needing to run outside every hour or so for a burn. It was only logical that the next big urge would be Twilight’s need to run away, just like Cadence.
“I think…” Velvet started slowly. “That you’ll need to promise me you won’t.”
“B-But I can’t help it…” Twilight said quietly, resting her head onto her hooves. “When I get claustro- claustra-phobia, I get scared. I know I’m okay, but I get really scared, Mommy.” She sniffled, using her hoof to rub her muzzle. “A-Am I going to be okay?”
“You’ll be fine.” Velvet felt her own tear fall down her cheek, prickling her fur as it ran down. “Just… promise me you won’t run away.”
Twilight went silent for a few moments, listening to the complete lack of sound in the household. There wasn’t a single noise from anywhere.
“I… I promise.” She whispered. Velvet smiled, resting her head across Twilight’s neck in a snuggle.
But her own words did little to reassure the little Pegasus. Twilight kept her eyes wide open, her chin flinching as her thoughts became erratic.
I am a living, walking, and breathing time bomb.
Her sleep that night was not easy, within the grasp of Velvet.