//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A New Mother // Story: "Could You Be My Mommy?" // by Dolphy Blue Drake //------------------------------// “He’ll probably grow up to be just like you, you know.” “I should hope he’d grow up to be better than me.” Two humans, one man and one woman, both in seven-colored royal garb, smiled down at a crib and the baby sleeping in it. The man leaned towards the crib, his eyes shining with adoration as he looked down at his infant son. “I still can’t believe we made it to four children, Millaina,” the man said with a sigh, adjusting his glasses.  “You know we’re going to have to raise him to be King-Chancellor one day.  He’s the fourth child, just like I was.  And my father before me, my grandfather before him, my great-grandmother before him, all the way back to Thaddamaeus the Great.” Millaina giggled.  “Oh, Jonnathan, we’ll raise him right, don’t worry.  The people will want him as the next King-Chancellor later; but for now, Junior is just our little bundle of joy. Not ‘King-Chancellor Jonnathan Thaddamaeus II.’ You have an entire world to lead, but you’ve done a good job with our first three children so far, so Junior should turn out just fine, as well.” “But still—” the man named Jonnathan began, looking back down at the crib. Suddenly, the force-field window of the nursery shattered like glass, the shards of magic disappearing into the aether before they could hurt anyone.  A dark figure strode into the room as if he owned it.  His smug grin was menacing, his eyes promising maliciousness to all who got in his way. “Hello, King-Chancellor Jonnathan Thaddamaeus Gheelia,” the newcomer said in a gravelly voice, emphasising the man’s title with a mocking drawl.  “And hello to you as well, Queen Millaina.” Jonnathan quickly snapped out of his state of shock, stepping forward with a glare aimed at the dark figure.  “Benjamin Horwith, you have no right to be here,” the King-Chancellor snapped, drawing a scepter from its place at his waist and holding it like a wand, pointed defensively towards Benjamin.  “You’ve been nothing but trouble for myself and the people of Draqstar for months now.  Leave now, and I won’t have to use force.” “Had you just let me conquer Terra, I wouldn’t be getting in your hair over and over, now would I?” The man sneered in disdain, waggling a finger indignantly at the monarch.  “But no, you had to interfere and make it where the self-proclaimed ‘Earthlings’ are still ignorant of how many people are in the Universe besides themselves.”  Horwith spat in the Monarch-Executive’s face, snarling like a rabid wolf.  “I could’ve made their planet equal to Draqstar if you’d just have let me invade and wipe out a few of their measly little armies—” Jonnathan wiped the spit from his face, before stepping closer towards the intruder.  “You know as well as I do that the Andromeda Compact forbids our entire galaxy from tampering with underdeveloped worlds except to make sure that they are defended from those who would tamper with their development,” the King-Chancellor shot back.  “The Terrans may not have magic like us Draqstarrans, but they don’t need it.  Their world isn’t as harsh as ours.  Our magic was originally for our survival, because our cleverness proved to not be enough.  Give the Terran humans a few centuries, and they’ll join the intergalactic stage.  I know they have it in them.”  This man was wrong about the Terrans.  They had great potential, and Jonnathan knew it.  Besides, Horwith certainly wasn’t planning to invade for benevolent reasons; there’s a reason it’s called an invasion. “Well, enough about that,” Benjamin huffed.  “I’m here for vengeance.  And I’m going to tear your personal world apart!”  The man drew an energy sword from a scabbard at his hip and pointed it at the leader, his teeth bared in fury.  “I’ll make you know sorrow like you’ve never felt before!  Take this!  Psyche Cannon!” A spell composed of purple magic threads started to form at the tip of the blade, but Jonnathan countered by raising his scepter and shouting “Dark Barrier!” The psychic-based magic attack was absorbed by the wall of black threads before the wall faded.  Benjamin growled at his opponent and tried another spell:  “Swirling Inferno!” Jonnathan grunted, being set aflame by red strands of magic, suffering from burns as an aftereffect from the attack, before casting his own spell:  “Aqua Pulse Cannon!” Blue strands formed around the tip of Jonnathan’s scepter before heavily pressurized water erupted from it with the intent to cleave the villain’s flesh from his bones. But suddenly, the man vanished, and the attack just shot through the broken window. Jonnathan turned around to see his wife grappling with the man as he tried to reach into the crib, tears of maternal rage streaming down her face. “No!  Not Junior!” Jonnathan roared, his scepter becoming engulfed in white threads, before he shouted “Divine Erasure!” But just at that same moment, the wicked mage cast a spell of his own on the child:  “Dimensional Banishment!” The three-week old heir to the Draqstarran throne woke up and gave a terrified telepathic scream of Mommy!  Daddy!  Help! before vanishing in a combination of copper and gold magic strands, leaving nothing behind except a slight distortion in space-time where the baby had been. The white threads summoned a pillar of solid holy light, which struck the wicked mage, sending him careening into a wall. “Where’d you send our son, you monster?” Millaina demanded after slapping the dazed man.  “And how come you can use all twenty-two magical Elements when only nobility and the prophetic line can use them all?  You’re from neither!” The villain chuckled darkly once he managed to focus once more.  “I have no idea where your little brat is now.  Just that he’s not in this universe anymore.”  The Queen gasped and slapped the man again, this time channeling orange magic threads into a magic glove to give her superhuman strength, breaking the man’s skin and drawing blood. “As for how I got my powers?” the man giggled insanely.  “I murdered a few nobles and infused their DNA with my own to obtain power over all magical Elements.  Of course, none of that matters now.  You may have beaten me, you may be able to execute me, but I doubt you’ll ever see your vile urchin again.”  After a few chuckles, the man passed out. Lyra Heartstrings was taking a walk through Ponyville when she noticed a sudden flash of gold and copper light from the direction of the Everfree Forest. Her first instinct was to just leave it alone, since the Everfree was far from safe, but something nagging at the back of her mind insisted that she take a look anyway, just for curiosity's sake. Maybe it’s an alien! she thought excitedly as she galloped towards where the light had come from.  Maybe even one with hands!  Probably not a human, but still, an alien of any kind would be so cool! She arrived at the edge of the Everfree and steeled herself before taking the path into the forest.  After a short walk, she noticed something off to the left and decided to take a look.  This looked like the right place. Hopefully nopony got here before me, Lyra hoped, which turned out to be the case.  There was an area of grass where reality seemed to be distorted, and in the middle of that strange field… …Was a living, breathing human infant!  Lyra’s heart melted at the sight of the adorable child and picked it up with her magic.  It had fair skin, a few strands of brown hair growing from its otherwise bald head, and absolutely adorable little hands!  It was wearing fancy golden pajamas with stripes in the seven colors of the rainbow on the shirt’s sleeves and the sides of the pants’ legs.  Also, the baby seemed to not just radiate an aura of irresistible cuteness, but one of power, as well.  It almost seemed like magic, but it felt somewhat… different. On a tag in the back of the baby’s nightshirt was a collection of symbols Lyra couldn’t understand.  Maybe it was the native tongue of where the child had come from?  Well, Lyra’s obsession with humans (and interstellar beings in general) had prepared her for something like this, so she cast a translation spell so she could read what the odd symbols said: Jonnathan Thaddamaeus Gheelia II Lyra knew some things about human names from her dreams and the old books she found, and though the first name sounded human enough, the other two just sounded incredibly exotic, even for humans.  At least the name easily gave away the baby’s gender; they were obviously a boy. Well, even if his name’s really odd, I can’t just leave him here, Lyra thought to herself as she rocked the sleeping child gently before levitating him close to her chest.  I might as well take him home with me for now.  Bonnie’s probably going to freak out, but this little kid needs a place to stay. Suddenly, she felt something probing her mind and noticed that the baby was suddenly awake, his hands and eyes glowing with purple energy. Luckily, the translation spell was still in effect, so the tiny voice that entered Lyra’s mind was possible for her to understand: Where’s my mommy and daddy? “What?” Lyra gasped in surprise. My mommy and daddy! the tiny voice insisted.  Where are they? “I don’t know,” Lyra whispered.  “And how are you doing that?” Some mean man attacked Daddy, and next thing I know, I’m in this forest.  I fell asleep, because that’s what babies do, right?  We eat, sleep, play, cry, try to learn language so we can speak, and cause trouble! “That still doesn’t answer my question,” Lyra sighed, still amazed that the infant human was speaking to her, if only telepathically.  “How are you able to speak to my mind?  Humans can’t use magic!” Of course we can! the innocent voice huffed as the baby made an attempt at an exasperated sigh.  This telepathy uses the Mind Element.  Daddy taught it to me a few days after I was born, so he and Mommy wouldn’t have to guess what I want or need when I cry!  With this, I can just tell them! “But the power I feel coming off of you… it doesn’t feel like the magic I know,” Lyra said. I might explain later.  After all, I’m only three weeks old.  In time, I’ll forget everything from my infant years, just like Mommy told me.  I might even forget about Mommy, Daddy, Bigger Sister, Big Brother, and Big Sister.  The baby’s eyes welled up with tears.  Since you have no idea where Mommy and Daddy are, could you… The baby suddenly started to sniff as if he was getting ready to cry.  Could you be my Mommy?  For now, at least? Lyra’s heart melted once again at those words.  “Of course I can be your mommy, Jonnathan,” she whispered, finally using the baby’s name.  “There’s no need to cry.  I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” The baby smiled at that and closed his eyes, soon falling asleep, the purple aura fading from his hands, as well. Humming a lullaby she’d heard in one of her many dreams about humans, Lyra held the baby close and started to return to Ponyville.  Amazingly, all the monsters nearby seemed to keep a safe distance away from her and the child on the way back out.  It was almost as if they could sense the baby’s power, too, and were afraid to challenge his power, even while he was sleeping and vulnerable.