"I.Q." whispered his mother in the darkness,
"Mom where are you?" called I.Q. into the darkness,
"I'm here, and I will always be with you."
"What, I..I don't understand." I.Q. started to worry Whats going on where am I? thought I.Q. He suddenly was pulled at by an unknown force and lurched upwards out of the darkness to reveal an unknown figure with twisted horns, yellow eyes with red pupils, and a donkey's head,
"My my what an interesting little child you are much different from your mother much more." the creature paused as it came up with the word,
"Who are you, what have you done with my mother!?" shouted I.Q. in question,
"Well you don't need to know that now do you." stated the creature with glee as it levitated him towards a creature more terrifying than the last, "You have done well my friend." the beast stated with a menacing voice. I.Q. felt the first creature release his grip and was given to the second one by a grip not of magic but by physical force and he felt the magic in his body be sucked dry as he woke up covered in pools of sweat screaming, "ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" he looked to his left to check on the baby phoenix sleeping next to him. Good he's still asleep poor little guy thought I.Q.
~~~
After that ruckus of a nightmare I.Q. tried his best to push through the day until his teacher, Ms. Night, pulled him over out of class and gently spoke to him, "I.Q. are you okay you aren't usually this out of it."
"Oh yeah I'm okay Ms. Night I..I'm just a little tired I had a really bad nightmare that kept me up after I woke up." muttered I.Q.
"I.Q. you shouldn't let small things like this get to you. remember my motto 'live in the present not the past'"
"of course I do, but there was something odd about this dream it felt too real to just be a dream." I.Q. said dazed,
"Well considering you are my best pupil and possibly the most entertained with all that we do I suppose I could let you go for today's homework." Whispered Ms. Night, I.Q. was surprised by his teacher's generosity,
"No I...I can't it isn't right." I.Q. would never take shortcuts to get his way he never thought he needed it,
"Always the most determined to go your own path, that is why you are my best student. Okay just be sure you don't overwork yourself, go at your own pace even if it means not completing certain assignments." assured Ms. Night just as the bell rang to go home.
I.Q. went home without any protest and took the quickest all the while thinking about the dream what were those creatures I saw, what was going on, why was it so dark these were only a few questions that ran through his mind on the way home
Once he got home and said hello to his mom and dad before he left he went straight to his bedroom to feed Scorch and get started on his homework, but something felt off. He felt an unknown force at his house's door, How can I be feeling this this has happened before at Princess Twilight's coronation seeing this is the second time he must have a gift for tracking large quantities of magic. he started towards the door to his bedroom and peeked outside. What he saw unsettled him even more, the creatures from his dream right in front of him how are these things real thought I.Q. He watched as the large red beast sucked every bit of magic and strength from both of his parents, "Is that it, are there any other ponies here." asked the red one. a few moments after the creature with the donkey head flew in with one wing of a Pegasus and the other of a bat-pony,
"I believe so Tirek." so that's the red ones name thought I.Q. maybe a little too loud because the donkey head one said, "but I might be wrong" I.Q.'s heart nearly stopped I need to find out how to figure out how to hide myself and fast thought I.Q. then he remembered a spell he learned in school he tried as hard as he could to cast it and succeeded, now he needs to hide Scorch's magical trace which was an easier task considering the baby phoenix has less magic, now to hide myself he managed to fit himself and Scorch into his closet keeping quiet as he heard screaming coming from his parents, "I believe that is the last of it" exclaimed a voice that I.Q. presumed to be the donkey headed creature. "you better not be wrong this time Discord" scolded Tirek,
"I'm absolutely positive." Discord exclaimed with glee. with that they left and I.Q released his breath that he didn't know he was holding and went to check on his parents.
What I.Q. found was beyond his magical knowledge. He saw the lifeless corpses of his parents, the magic strength and life drained from their very core. And he just broke down sobbing as he clutched the pendant his mother gave him just that morning, he will never forget what she said to him before he left for school, "no matter what happens I will always be with you."