//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Her First Birthday // Story: Promise Of Her Life // by Alcatraz //------------------------------// "What's there to be nervous about? We've talked about this plenty of times before, Lyra. Today we're actually going to do it. How fantastic would that be?" It took much thought, planning, and deliberation. The duo wouldn't get a newborn like they wanted for themselves as that wasn't biologically possible, sadly enough, even with the use of magic. Sure, if one knows the spell then they can cast a spell to give somepony of their choosing a faux phallic construct, but since it's not of genetic origin any subsequent relief spent won't yield any results. The doctors also mentioned a process where it was possible to create artificial sperm from the significant others bone marrow, but is largely a trial and error process. The end worry would also have been that because the sample is not genetically complete, that the end result would be, as the doctor put it, “abominable”. Feeling down in the dumps, Bon Bon had the idea to take Lyra to the local orphanage to discuss their child problems. The orphanage said if they wanted to adopt, they'd need to first make their home child-friendly. That took much more effort than they had thought. Keeping things like knives out of reach, making sure other items on higher shelves wouldn't fall on top of the kid, and making sure they couldn't swallow, chew on, or get into things they otherwise shouldn't. That also included making a bedroom for the little filly or colt. Confident the house currently met the high standards required, Bon Bon was currently trying to comfort a shocked or incredulous Lyra. "I just... Can't believe the day is finally here, you know? It's not that I'm scared, it's just... Part of me wonders if I'm going to be a fitting parent." "It'll be alright, you and me will be the best of parents to whoever we'll bring home." "Yeah..." Lyra sighed, blissfully content. Her concerns weren't entirely unwarranted though, everyone has doubts as to whether they would be good parents or not. "Besides, it wouldn't exactly be immediate. We're allowed to go back and forth to the orphanage to play with the kids and talk to the people running it about who grows on us and so on." Bon Bon playfully nudged Lyra. "So long as we don't wear out our welcome." Lyra's demeanour brightened somewhat, following a giggle from them both. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I'm so worried about." "That's the spirit!" Bon Bon exclaimed, adopting a more chipper attitude. That said, they finished getting ready with a final, mutual hug. The duo stepped outside into the warm mid-morning sunlight. They had to keep their initial appointment for eleven o'clock, and it had just gone ten-thirty. Their little talk cut into their planned time it would take to get there, so they fastened their pace down the town's dirt roads towards the other end of town. The orphanage itself was a rather large building. After all, it needed to accommodate a large amount of colts, fillies, and the odd foal occasionally. The front of the building and the yard that stretched from one end to the other was fenced off a couple metres out from the building with a picket fence to dissuade the kids from wandering off. The front yard had an assortment of toys for the kids to play with, including a swing set that was currently occupied by a unicorn and his little filly friend—whom was wearing a cute little vest. There was also a slide, balls, a little red wagon, blocks, and other toys strewn about the yard. Lyra noticed the unicorn was using his magic to push his friend as high as she could go, but his magic wasn’t quite strong enough to push somepony. Even though she wasn’t getting very high she had the utmost happiest look on her face. Lyra stalled walking, simply observing the sight before Bon Bon realised she had walked ahead without Lyra. “You looking at those two?” Lyra nodded. “When I see those two all happy, something about it makes me glad we’re going to be able to give one of these little guys all kinds of happiness.” Bon Bon returned the sentiment with an affectionate nuzzle. The yard only had half a dozen ponies playing in it, all paired up with a friend. Two fillies were playing with blocks and dolls just to the right of the main entrance on the grass while two pegasus colts were hitting each other with foam noodles, pretending to sword fight; sharing laughs when one or the other got hit. They stopped momentarily to glance over at the occupied swingset, then turned back to one another with an affirmative nod. The colts dropped the foam toys and and strode over to the swing. “We want to have a go now!” they declared. The unicorn colt spoke up. “I’m still pushing Sunny! You know she likes the swings because of her wing.” Lyra and Bon Bon had been watching the scene unfold up until they got to the front gate, stopping to observe after the mentioning of a wing, wondering why singular was used instead of plural. The duo opened the gate and began to walk slowly to the front door while they kept an eye on the situation at hoof. “You’ve been on it forever!” whined one of the pegasi. The swinging stopped, and the one now identified as ‘Sunny’ suddenly became more sombre from not swinging. Her friend spoke up. “Sunny likes swinging because she can’t fly like you two can, so you should be nicer to her,” the unicorn defended. “That’s not fair! Why should we not be allowed a turn because she only has one wing?” Lyra and Bon Bon ground to a halt, their curiosity piqued from the mention of the missing wing. Lyra looked at Sunny, seeing the sad look on her face from either the lack of swinging, or the lack of a wing being brought up, and decided to intervene. “I have an idea!” Lyra spoke up over everypony. All five pairs of eyes in the yard looked to Lyra. “Why don’t you two,” she gestured to the two pegasi, “push Sunny really high so she can swing extra high? If you do that, she might let you have a turn!” The two pegasi and unicorn all looked at Sunny while the two other fillies went back to their toys. “Pretty please!?” she squeed. “I’ll let you on if you push me really high! I want to go high, but Orion’s magic can’t push me too high. I want to swing higher than I have before!” The two colts shared a contemplative look. “OK, that’s fair.” The pegasi unfurled their wings and headed towards their respective positions. One went behind Sunny, and the other grabbed the seat from in front and pulled while the other pushed. With a look of pure glee on her face, Sunny held on tight to the swing chains and she rose higher and higher, pushed as high as the colts could manage to flap their wings. “Ready?” “Ready!” The colt holding the seat did so for a split second longer, giving his friend enough time to get out of the way. “Hold on!” he hollered, letting go. Sunny gave an overjoyed “WWWEEEEEEE!!!!!” as she flew through the air, back and forward aided by the magical push of Orin’s magic to try and keep her going high. Her mane and tail swayed listlessly back and forward, flicking her face and rear legs, almost as if she was actually flying through the air. At the peak of one of the high swings, Sunny leapt off the seat and landed on all four hooves in a practiced manner. “Yayyy!” she beamed. “Thank you so much Mickey, thank you too Harkness!” Orion hopped down off the swing and stood at Sunny’s side while Mickey and Harkness went to sit on the swings, beating their wings to achieve awesome height with each pump of their legs. Lyra and Bon Bon looked at the vest Sunny wore, noticing the slight bump on her right side where a wing was apparent, but not on the left side. “Hey there Sunny, how did you like that?” Bon Bon asked. “That was fun! I haven’t swung that high before. Usually Orion pushes me with his magic. If I had my wing then I could do what they’re doing right now,” she finished, looking back at the two pegasi. “What happened to your wing?” Sunny sheepishly looked down and pawed at the ground with a hoof. “Miss says I’m not allowed to talk about what happened with strange ponies…” Lyra chuckled and smiled warmly. “I understand. We need to see ‘Miss’, so why don’t you two play with the noodles since Mickey and Harkness aren’t using them?” Something about Lyra’s statement made the idea of using toys that others weren’t using more enticing, and Orion and Sunny ran over and picked them up to play with. The two mares smiled, gaining confidence that they could parent a foal properly and with much joy. They watched the two play with the noodles for a little while longer before moving towards the front entrance. Lyra opened the door with her magic, holding it open for Bon Bon and closing it after she had entered. They found themselves standing in a well lit foyer. The well-worn wood floor was cool to the touch and attributed to the comfortable temperature of the building. Lyra and Bon Bon finished admiring the room in time to hear the approaching hoofsteps of a pony. A somewhat heavy-set mare with a curly blonde mane as big as a mountain greeted them as she stepped into the foyer. Her coat was a sandy gold colour, and her mane was a darker shade of her coat. All her cutie mark consisted of was a blue question mark with an hourglass set over the top of it. “Hello! You must be my mid-morning visitors,” she beamed. “I’m River and I’m in charge here.” As if on queue, a white unicorn filly calmy, but shyly, strode into the room. Her coat was all white, as was her mane. The couple stole a precursory glance and noticed the off-grey cutie mark consisting of a painters palette and brush. Aside her reddish-pink eyes, there wasn’t any hint of colour about her. She shyly nudged River, giving her a “you-know-why-I’m-here-but-I’m-too-shy-to-speak-because-of-company”, look. “Yes, Prism, sweetie?” “Uhmm…” was all the filly managed. “Again?” River asked. Prism just nodded in response. “I just got you some last week, did you run out already?” The filly nodded some more and River just defeatedly sighed. “I’ll get some more tomorrow when I’m getting groceries.” The unicorn smiled, content with River’s statement and cantered back the way she came. Lyra and Bon Bon looked back to River. “That was Prism,” she explained. “She likes painting and ran out of her enchanted white paints. Again.” “Why does she need enchanted paints?” “Why not normal colours?” the two mares comedically said at the same time, intrigued. River smiled. “Her magic is rather… Unique. Instead of one colour like your marefriend there would have, hers is polychromatic.” Lyras brow furrowed in thought. “Polychro…” Her eyes widened in shock. “Wait, what? You’re joking!” “If only I was. Now, if you’ll follow me I can show you upstairs, and I’ll let you see what I mean with Prism’s magic.” Lyra and Bon Bon followed River down the hallway from the foyer towards the stairs at the end. “There’s only a couple bedrooms down here for the odd filly or foal that doesn’t like to be around others too much, and Prism is one such pony.” They walked past a few doors, one leading through to a kitchen, albeit having no door itself. Everyone stopped outside a door at the end, next to the staircase. River inched open the door so the couple could could get a peek at the scene behind it. Prism sat on her haunches with half a dozen globules of paint on a palette, and an empty, rolled-up tube of “White Enchanted Paint” in the rubbish bin with scraps of paper and half a dozen more empty tubes. The easel off to her left had a sheet of paper taped to a board (because canvas would be too expensive to afford for an orphanage) that leaned against the frame by the top and bottom, and the shelf at the bottom had three different paint brushes of varying sizes. Lyra and Bon Bon’s jaws hit the ground when Prism’s horn lit up. The spiral grooves of her horn flowed with glowing rivers of multi-coloured magic, coalescing at the tip of her horn to form an aura that danced with all the colours of the rainbow. Prism bent down to the paint globs on the palette, and one by one they turned; red, yellow, green, blue, orange, purple, and black. “How…” Lyra barely managed to get out. River quietly closed the door and started up the stairs with the duo in tow. “Prism is an albino. Usually ponies have an aura based off of the colour of their coat or mane to a degree. Since Prism has no colour, the lack of pigment in her coat, mane, and cutie mark—and this is guesswork—means that what colour she does have is in her aura. Some view it as unnatural, others think it’s beautiful. The tricky part is placing her in a home after the fact of the former. Prism uses enchanted paint because she’s able to mix and match the colours in her magic and put them into the white paint to get whatever shade of colour she so desires.” While River was explaining Prism’s magic, they had all gotten to the top floor. At the end of the hall, there looked to be a large common room. All that could be seen at the moment was a few cushions and a bookcase on the opposite wall. “Up here,” River began, “is the bedrooms. Prism’s is one of two on the ground floor, it gives her the peace of mind she needs, and not the yelling and screaming like the other, more outspoken colts and fillies running all over the place on a daily basis.” They went down the hall and past all the rooms, each with their doors wide open. Through each door, it could be noticed that rooms were in various stages of cleanliness or utter chaos. “Don’t mind the messes, one of the caretakers will come along when they’re napping and use their magic to put all their toys back in their proper places.” Following that statement, Bon Bon cheekily nudged Lyra. They got to the end of the hall and into what could be called the common room. At the end on the left in the right hand corner, a group of half a dozen colts and fillies were gathered around an older looking mare with a small little filly on her lap. She was reading to the group that sat on their haunches, on the floor, while the foal on her lap was staring at the pictures on the page. Every so often when she’d finish a page, she’d turn the book around to show the others the illustrations. Some “Oohhh”ed, and some were perturbingly indifferent. On the right were bookcases, each half filled with various kinds of books. Some cushions and bean bags had been placed in this area for the kids to sit or lay on while they read, and there was one even taking a nap on a cushion, cutely drooling onto the pillow. The whole area was big enough for the various kinds of age groups to romp and play with their toys without getting in the way of others, and that was certainly the case here. Some of the younger foals had older ponies playing with them so they wouldn’t stick their hooves into places they shouldn’t. They ranged from older, like the mare reading, to just out of their teens. Either those ponies hadn’t been adopted out, or they were just trying to help out. Why they were [somewhat] crowded into this room on a perfectly good day was beyond trying to figure out. The moment the trio stepped into the room, a filly sporting an off-white coloured coat with a two tone brown and tan shaded tail and mane came up to Lyra and started looking her up and down with intent. “Hi there, what’s your name?” Lyra asked while Bon Bon looked on in amusement. “This is Jenny,” River said. “She has a tendency to be rather inquisitive.” Assuming this tiny filly had someone looking after her, Lyra’s gaze travelled forward to see a colt that looked like he could be twenty-something looking back at them. They traded an understanding smirk, and Lyra’s focus went back to the filly. The filly began to weave through the legs of the trio standing in the entrance, as if she was on a mission to find something. Lyra’s grin grew wider. “I see what you mean.” “Forgive me,” Bon Bon said. “I haven’t exactly done my homework in regards to this. How does this adoption process work, exactly?” The question seemed to catch River off guard, and she shuffled with a hint of unease. “Well… That question doesn’t get asked too often, surprisingly enough. When ponies want to adopt, they just come and go as they please until they’ve made their choice. But to answer your question—and this is a questionable analogy, think of it like adopting a puppy.” Lyra’s expression became slightly confused. “The last time we wanted to do that, the puppy we wanted got taken before we could return a couple days later after we made sure the house was ready.” River’s expression said it all. She only stood there, the look on her face saying ‘that’s pretty much how it happens here, too’. Lyra became taken aback by the expression. “So… It’s pretty much first come first served?” “When you put it like that… Yeah. But we don’t say it like that, the parents or couples wanting to adopt usually play with the colt or filly that they best click with. Not entirely sure if that would be the one for them, they come visit again at a later time to see whether or not they still have that connection. It’s a bit harsh when you look at it like that, but when it becomes black and white the process itself in choosing is rather the same. The difference being is that the paperwork is more comprehensive.” By now, Jenny had sat down in front of Lyra and Bon Bon, looking up at them with an expression of intrigue and expectancy, cocking her head whenever they spoke. Bon Bon sat down on all fours to be somewhat level with Jenny, and the filly let loose the biggest smile and glomped Bon Bon, playfully nuzzling her. The resulting smile that crept onto Lyra’s face was just heartwarming to see the two of them like that. “Exactly how comprehensive is the paperwork?” Lyra asked. “It’s not as simple as signing a piece of paper like what can happen with a pet. Because some of the foals have unique circumstances like already having their own birth certificates, while some of them have more rare attributes and backgrounds. As an example, Jenny here was left on the doorstep some seven months ago. I’d have to check some papers to confirm dates of that though, but she didn’t look to be more than five months old. “When she was found, all that was on her was a key on a ball-chain and a note saying “Please, take care of Jenny.” We looked into her some more, and found that she was born to a Ditzy Doo and her husband.” Bon Bon’s face shot up to meet River’s. “Ditzy Doo!? Didn’t she go missing with her husband? Wait, when did you say you found her?” “Within the week that Ditzy went missing. We managed to get a copy of her birth certificate to try and place her back into the family the same week she arrived, but Ditzy’s parents passed away about five years ago. Her husband was also adopted, but he cut ties with his adoptive parents for some unknown reason,” River added. “So as far as paper work goes, there’s a copy of the birth certificate and the rest of the paperwork entails that you sign a piece of paper saying that she was adopted out from here. Normally, if colts and fillies don’t have one, that’s as close to a birth certificate as they get sadly.” Bon Bon looked to Lyra with the most adorable face at having played with Jenny. The filly’s gaze followed Bon Bon’s, and she sat on her haunches and reached her front hooves up at Lyra with a smile. Knowing what she wanted, Lyra lifted Jenny up with her aura to put her on her back. Almost like a kitten making a bed, Jenny used her hooves to pad down Lyra’s mane to make a cozy spot in the middle of Lyra’s back and proceeded to lay down and snuggle her face into Lyra’s mane. Lyra gave an audible “Awwww”, as Bon Bon stood back up. “Looks like she likes you,” River said. Lyra looked at the sleeping filly on her back, thinking of everypony’s favourite mailmare, then looked to Bon Bon with a heavy heart, thinking what could become of the foal otherwise. “For Ditzy?” Lyra asked. “For Ditzy,” Bon Bon confirmed. After a pregnant pause to let the couple admire the foal, River said, “Ditzy was a wonderful mailmare. Whenever she brought the mail around, she’d try to bring a basket of muffins too, giving the colts and fillies a treat we couldn’t afford. More often than not everypony managed to have at least one. It broke their heart to know that she went missing. It’s good to know that you two would take care of Jenny in Ditzy’s name and honour. Come, shall we do the paperwork?” With Jenny nestled on Lyra’s back, the trio made their way back down to the entrance and slightly in front of the front door was another door that they had seemed to gloss over. River opened it, letting in Lyra and Bon Bon first, then closing it behind her once everyone was in. A desk sat directly opposite the door with two cushions in front of it. The desk was flanked by two filing cabinets behind the desk on the left and right, the desk itself was dotted with the typical office paraphernalia. Assuming the two cushions were for the guests to sit on, Lyra put one of them aside and levitated the now sleeping Jenny off her back and onto the cushion, sitting on the floor while Bon Bon took the other cushion. River sat behind the desk and turned to the filing cabinet on her left and pulled out the middle drawer, rifling through it until she found the file she’d been looking for, placing it on the desk in a manner that it faced the couple. “This is Jenny’s file. With each of the children here, we keep as good of a record of them as we can. Medical history such as allergies, genetic dispositions to things like heart attacks or neurological disorders; but overall things pertaining to the general health that the new parents would need for further trips to the doctors. Then there’s what documentation we’ve turned up depending on their circumstances or arrival." Lyra picked up the file in her aura and opened it up to look at the contents. “Also, just to stay on top of things, we keep a full set of adoption forms inside each file so the staff and myself aren’t trying to hunt down the forms or making more copies,” River said with a chuckle, no doubt knowing it’s happened before. Lyra pulled out the papers in the folder, setting them down on the desk before her and Bon Bon. Sure enough there was her medical records, the copy of Jenny’s birth certificate, and the forms. However, when she took the last pieces of paper out of the folder, a clear pocket folder made itself known. Inside was the smaller note that River mentioned briefly before and the key and ball-chain. “As I said before; that’s what she was left here with. We don’t know what the key unlocks, and we never managed to find out who wrote the note. You’re welcome to them for when Jenny grows up.” Bon Bon took the key out of the folder to scrutinize it. “What’s Ya-lay? Yale? However you pronounce it.” “I can tell you it’s not from around here. It’s an ordinary key but it doesn’t fit any conventional locks,” River replied. “Maybe we’ll find out what it’s for, in time.” “The paperwork requires both names and signatures, address, and so on. On another note, because of Jenny’s age, upon first adoption you’ll get a visit every two to three months for the first year. The following year is every six months, then after that the visits stop because as she gets older the visits don’t become as necessary.” Bon Bon put the key back in with the written note and picked up the copy of Jenny’s birth certificate. “Wait, this says it’s her birthday in two days!” She looked to Lyra and the two beamed smiles at each other. “Best. Birthday present. EVER!” Lyra squeed. “New family and a new home!” The couple finished signing the necessary paperwork while River made copies of it. She made duplicates of the originals and gave the a copy of everything plus a secondary copy to the duo. It was for security above anything; if one set of papers gets lost there’s always the other set. River then took Lyra up to Jenny’s room to pack her stuff while Bon Bon watched the filly as she slept. With everything taken care of, the happy family could finally depart and head home with the filly nestled on Lyra’s back once more. “Did you want to stop at the market and get some extra food?” Bon Bon asked when they left the orphanage. “I thought we had enou— Oh. Yeah sure, lets get another few days worth.” The duo snickered at Lyra’s lapse of thought in why they’d need extra food. “Softer food too, for the little one.” Instead of taking the route they had come to go home, they took a detour in the direction of the market. Not half way there, in the side streets leading to the market on the main road and through all the other ponies, they passed one stallion in particular walking towards them slowly with his head hung low, sticking out to Lyra. Something about him seemed… off. Lyra lightly nudged Bon Bon and gestured with a nod in his general direction. “What?” Bon Bon asked. “Does something seem off about him?” They saw him stop, sit, and lean up against the side of a building. They figured he was tired from walking or something like that, but what caught them off guard was when he heaved a breath. A wisp of yellowish ethereal energy escaped from his mouth, floating away and dissipating into the air. “Come on, let’s see if he’s ok.” The duo dutifully walked over to the tan stallion. “Excuse me sir, are you alright?” Lyra asked. “Yes yes, quite alright. Just… tired is all. Had a bit of a rough patch with one of my friends and I’m just tying up a loose end on their behalf.” His gaze turned to the filly sleeping on Lyra’s back. “Oh isn’t that just adorable.” Lyra and Bon Bon beamed, craning their necks to look at the slumbering filly. “Yeah, we just adopted her today. She was the foal of Ditzy Doo, resident mailmare whom went missing six months ago. It behooves us to take care of Jenny for Ditzy’s sake.” The stallion stood up, sighing heavily and began to walk in the opposite direction. “Such a noble cause. Wish her a happy birthday from me in a couple days, will you?” “Of course we will,” Bon Bon replied. The couple resumed their walk towards the market before Bon Bon stopped dead in her tracks. “What’s wrong?” Lyra asked. “What just happened?” Bon Bon said with a look of abstract confusion on her face. “Uhm, we stopped to check if a stallion was alright because he looked like he was hurting?” “No, not that.” “He wished Jenny a happy birthday?” Bon Bon stared at Lyra for what could be construed as an eternity. She blinked several times before the gears began to grind in her head. “WAIT, WHAT!?” “There you go,” Bon Bon chuckled. “How did he know it was Jenny’s Birthday?” The couple turned to look back down the street, trying to locate the stranger, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Who… was that?”