Luminous was falling, falling through clouds and down through the rushing winds towards a rapidly approaching landscape of trees. She tried to flap her little limbs, but to no avail, the wind and the sky seemed to scoff at her. She was too panicked to use her magic either, every attempt fizzling before she could get it off, with a little snicker from the snapping breeze, as if the universe itself were taunting her. The trees got closer, and closer, until suddenly everything stopped, and a soft, familiar voice rang through the world, “No.” The strength of the command seemed to dissolve the edges of the world with purple fire, softening the details with a gentle violet glow until all was consumed by a quiet, purple inferno. Far from concerned, Luminous felt softly comforted as they licked around her, not burning, but warm, and gently guiding her back to consciousness with quiet whispers.
Luminous woke slowly to find Twilight hovering over her, her mentor's horn touching the little filly's temple. She was laying down on one of the reading couches in Twilight's room, she realized, and had been out long enough for somepony to start a fire in the fireplace, which gave the room a rather lovely glow in the early evening light. As she woke, Twilight pulled away and shook her head, “Well, that was interesting.” Twilight turned to Princess Luna beside her and nodded, “She's alright, it was just the shock of the news I expect.”
“News?” Luminous asked, confused for a moment until Pinkie's words came back to her. Her eyes widened, but this time she was able to stubbornly suppress the urge to faint. “I... My parents...”
Pinkie poked her head into Luminous's field of view like a teleporting pink hot air balloon, “Yep! And they're gonna be here in three days, just in time for your birthday! Isn't that exciting? I know I'm excited, aren't yo-”
Once again, Twilight silenced her friend with a hoof plugging the pink pony's mouth. “Yes Pinkie, it's very exciting, but it's rather a lot for Luminous right now. Do you think you could... Give us a few moments?”
Luminous startled at that, but Pinkie nodded eagerly, as if she'd just been asked to join a kitten-cuddling contest, and pulled her mouth free of Twilight's hoof to respond, “Okey-dokey-lokey! I've got a lot of planning to do anyway! Gotta get streamers and banners and ooh! Maybe some of those big, twinkly...” Pinkie bounced away, singing what she needed to get as she exited the room and passing out invitations to whatever puzzled changeling or pony happened to cross her path.
Princess Luna followed, chuckling at the pink pony's excess of good spirits, pausing at the door long enough to say, “If you have need of me, I shall be overseeing the construction of the Astronomy Tower, Twilight. Luminous,” the Princess smiled as Luminous tried to sit up and salute on reflex, “Have a happy birthday.” Luminous blinked as Luna threw Twilight a wink, making, to Luminous's mild surprise, the normally unflappable knight blush like a sunset.
Twilight recovered her composure after a moment and sat down next to Luminous, who scooted over for her politely. “Luminous,” Twilight said gently, “Do you want to talk about your parents?” The little filly tensed, but nodded tightly. Luminous's whole body went rigid at the question, but she slowly forced herself to relax and took several deep breaths.
“I don't... I don't remember much, just...” Luminous took another deep breath, and found Twilight's scent of burning paper oddly comforting at that moment, comforting enough to let her continue, “Falling... Falling is all I remember, from dreams.”
Twilight nodded and waited for a beat before saying softly, “Sometimes dreams are all we have left, Lumi,” The unconscious use of the nickname made Luminous relax a little more, while the heat and sound of the fire eased her mind some as Twilight continued softly, “Pegasi sometimes have unicorns in their families, and that can make some things difficult...”
Luminous nodded a little, tensing up again, “I know... I... I wonder if they just couldn't support me, or... What if they didn't want me or-”
Twilight cut her off by gently nudging her mouth shut with telekinesis, “Luminous, my squire,” Twilight released the light telekinesis and smiled down at the filly sitting beside her, “You are a strong, intelligent, capable young mare. Anypony would be happy to have you as their daughter.” She chuckled softly as Luminous blushed, “They probably couldn't support a new foal is all. You'll see, I bet they're really sorry they missed out on raising you.”
For the next two days, Luminous spent her time making sure all the party preparations were being finished, performing her duties as Twilight's squire, practicing magic with Twilight, and fretting. She worried about what her parents would think of her, how they would act around the changelings, who could be odd company sometimes, and most of all she worried about what would happen when they met Twilight. Luminous knew that many ponies were still afraid of the purple unicorn, and worried endlessly about how Twilight and her parents would interact.
Twilight, for her part, was making preparations of her own, with the help of Princess Luna. She knew Applebloom and Applejack would want to meet Luminous's parents, and Pinkie would always be glad of a party. She decided to invite all her friends, including Spike, and pass a general invitation to all the changelings. She knew that many of the changelings were somewhat confused and depressed by the sheer amount of work waiting to be done on the Citadel, and felt a party would be just the thing. She collaborated with Luna, who had some experience with organizing very large events, and personally set about making sure the Citadel, while still under construction, looked mostly presentable.
The changelings and ponies of the Citadel worked nonstop for two days, mostly, to Twilight's surprise, out of a desire to impress Luminous's parents. Luminous was tremendously popular in the Citadel after her defense of the wounded, and many of the changelings and ponies were competing to see who could clean up the nicest, while cleaning up as much of the visible parts of the Citadel as possible. Twilight saw then for the first time what driven, determined changelings can accomplish when they had a mind to.
The courtyards gleamed and were strung with banners and streamers, while decorations discreetly covered up the parts of construction that couldn't be completed in time. The Courtyard of the Moon, which faced south and directly connected with the path leading from Ponyville, was converted into a sort of welcoming pavilion, while gardens around the whole Citadel sprang up literally overnight under the furious attention of hundreds of changelings. Twilight barely had to direct anypony to do anything, in fact, as almost all the changelings and ponies in the Citadel were prettying up the place so fervently that she found herself having to restrain somepony from trying to single-hoofedly re-paint the walls in Luminous's colors.
Twilight wondered if Luminous knew just how popular she was, really, while she and the Princess worked together to get all the catering worked out, the guest list, since this was rapidly changing from a birthday party to a large event, and sending out invitations. Twilight set about with groups of changelings she had pried from their prettying of themselves and the Citadel to make the road to Ponyville clear, while Twilight herself set out enchanted light-globes along the path that would deter predators and ill-wishers. Everything got finished just in time for the beginning of the party, which started at noon precisely.
The party was magnificent, even if all the food orders had been rushed and nopony had had time to get proper gifts, Luminous was very obviously ecstatic with the results. Twilight chatted with her friends, who had all taken time off from their responsibilities to attend, while Luminous played party games with Applebloom and the other foals her age. “Ah hope that filly's parents are as keen as she is,” Applejack said to Twilight as they sipped some of Pinkie's rather marvelous punch at a table with the rest of their friends, “That's one brave young mare right there, an' ah'd hate to see her all disappointed.”
Rarity nodded, “Oh yes, she's such a darling, I have no idea why they'd simply abandon her,”
Twilight snorted, sipping her punch, “Well, like I told her, I bet they just couldn't afford a new foal. It can be hard, after all, having to move when your child can't walk on clouds. Some families just can't afford it.”
Fluttershy nodded as well, sitting next to Rainbow Dash, who was trying to keep up with Pinkie's rapid-fire conversation. “Oh yes,” Fluttershy said softly, “It can be terribly difficult raising a unicorn up in the clouds, um...” Fluttershy sipped some more punch delicately, “Why I knew a couple who supposedly, well... Um...” Fluttershy lowered her voice and leaned in, prompting the others to do the same, “I heard they just dropped their foal, when they heard it wasn't a pegasus.”
The gasps around the table alerted Rainbow Dash, who rapidly caught up to the conversation, “Yeah I heard about that! Wasn't it some couple that just didn't want to bother raising the kid? There was a real big stink about it. I didn't know you knew them Flutters,” Rainbow nudged her mate, who blushed, smiling, “Heh, were they neighbors or something? 'Cause I still wanna give them a piece of my mind for that!”
“Oh, um,” Fluttershy said softly, still blushing, “I know the midwife, you know... Flitter?”
Rainbow Dash blinked, “Flitter's midwifing now? Since when?”
“Oh, years now I think,” Fluttershy said, “She needed the money when she left the weather patrol, remember?”
Rainbow Dash nodded, taking a swig of her punch in a way that Rarity clearly disapproved of, “Oh yeah, that was after Discord-” Rainbow was cut off by a sudden shift in the attention of the crowd as all the ponies and changelings hushed. She and the others looked over to see two pegasi standing uncertainly in a widening circle, faced by a frozen Luminous standing before them. The pegasus stallion was orange, with a wild yellow mane that was nevertheless expertly styled, fiery orange eyes and a lantern cutie mark, while the mare was grey, with bright green eyes and a white mane that was curled and styled rather expensively to resemble the clouds of her cutie mark. Both pegasi were rather tall, with long, graceful legs, and wide wingspans, and were clothed in rather expensive fashions, while their expressions were hovering between awkwardness and fear.
Twilight and Princess Luna rose to greet the pair, who bowed, not to Twilight, but to the Princess, with an entirely unnecessary amount of trembling. Twilight wasn't slighted, but Princess Luna looked a little affronted for a moment until her usual regal calm covered her reaction. “Welcome, Bright Watch and Cloudy Skies,” Luna said kindly as she and Twilight descended, flanked by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who popped out from behind Applejack to join the group, to the apple farmer's mild surprise. “We wish to welcome you to your daughter's birthday party,” Princess Luna said warmly, her voice slowly falling into an archaic cadence, “She has been a boon to our efforts here, and an honored companion to many, but has never known her parents. It is an honor to meet thee.”
“We're honored to be here,” Bright Watch, the orange stallion, said smoothly, “We're very proud of our daughter and how far she's come.” Despite his words, he and Cloudy Skies had no looks for Luminous, and Twilight caught the slight scent of a lie in his tone. Cloudy Skies said nothing, but she didn't so much as look over in Luminous's direction until the Princess had waved for the party to continue and the crowd began to mingle once more, and even then it was as if she was making sure the filly was nowhere close. Pinkie Pie bounced over to Luminous, who was getting punch while trembling with excitement, and the two of them whispered closely for several long moments until Twilight lost sight of them in the general hubbub of the crowd.
After a while, Twilight discreetly tried to walk over to listen to what the newly reunited family was talking about, only to find that the parents had moved off to a corner of the garden. She assumed Luminous had gone with, and forced herself to relax. She talked with some of the other members of the party, and was chatting easily with one of the Apple family relations when something felt slightly wrong. Twilight tasted blood, and the strength seemed to leave her limbs for a moment as a searing pain shot through her head that was gone in an instant, only to be replaced by a sort of overwhelming despair. “Are you alright?” Apple Fritter asked with some concern, “you don't look so well, Twilight, yer nose is bleeding,” Twilight reassured the earth pony and excused herself, then set off looking for Luminous, some deep part of her sure that the filly was in trouble.
“Why are we even here, Bright Watch?” Cloudy Skies hissed at her husband as they walked nervously through the elegant gardens, “This forest is wretched and who knows how long it'll be until somepony figures out we-”
“Shh!” Bright Watch whispered harshly, looking around nervously. They had ditched Luminous shortly after introducing themselves and enduring her embraces, and walked through the garden under the pretense of letting Cloudy 'recover from the shock of finding her filly.' “You don't know who's listening out here, the wretched trees could have a dozen of those freaks in it,” Bright Watch sighed as he saw how that alarmed Cloudy, then leaned in closer and nuzzled his wife to comfort her a little, “We couldn't say no though, my sweet, one of the Elements themselves sent us the invitation, and the little brat ingratiated herself to Nightmare-... I mean Princess Luna somehow.”
“I know,” Cloudy said softly, biting her lip, “I mean, what would we have done with a unicorn? Move to the ground, lose everything? Oh,” the grey mare groaned softly, leaning against her husband in a way that wouldn't upset her manestyle, “I just wish she'd hit the ground when you dropped her, it would have been so much simpler. I don't think I can take much more of this sober.” She and Bright Watch walked steadily towards the welcoming pavilion in the Courtyard of the Moon, unwittingly trampling a card which glowed from inside, as it fell from behind a hedge. It gave a little spark and spat out a little sad confetti as Bright Watch's hoof crushed the tiny mechanism inside. They entirely missed the sounds of somepony running off into the forest, and were too intent on finding a drink not intended for children to notice the sobbing disappearing into the dark woods.
Twilight knew something was wrong when she spotted Luminous's parents returning to the party, rather inebriated, without Luminous. Twilight discreetly asked around, and found that no one, pony or changeling, knew where the white filly had gone. This, along with her earlier premonition of danger, was sufficient for Twilight. Rather than make a scene, Twilight simply passed the word to Pinkie Pie that cake and presents should be delayed a little, though it was already sunset, on the pretense that Luminous was still dealing with having parents suddenly. She then told Luna she was going for a walk and would return shortly, and set out looking for Luminous.
She found the card after searching around the grounds for a while, following her gut instinct, and the sad little sounds it made as she opened the card emphasized the aura of despair that surrounded the crushed piece of paper and machinery. She had written a poem, in a rather foalish script, that, Twilight couldn't help but notice, had a rather predictable pattern, but she felt tears rise to her eyes all the same as she closed the card, unwilling to intrude on something so personal. At the same time, her resolve hardened, and Twilight made a rather sharp note to herself to have a few words with Cloudy Skies and Bright Watch, and she set off into the forest, her nerves taut with anxiety for the filly.
Twilight walked through the underbrush silently, her deals with the darkness and the foliage enabling her to move with more stealth than a hunting cat. Her hooves snapped no twigs and rustled no leaves, even when she walked through dense undergrowth and bushes, following the tracking spell that pulled her steadily towards her squire.
The changelings had done wonders at taming the forest around the Citadel, after the Beast's attacks, but now she was well past what had been tamed and made safe and into the wilds near where a cockatrice had made her into a temporary statue. Wary of such a fate, Twilight moved with more caution, and almost ran into a sleeping manticore. She very carefully avoided the dangerous creature, and started moving towards Luminous's magical signature once more.
She moved towards a mountain cave, which bulged out of the earth like some large eye staring out towards the forest, and had to hide as a cockatrice came screaming towards her. It hadn't seen her, Twilight realized after a moment and, judging by the way it was running into trees and things, had been blinded. It thrashed and pecked and screamed its chicken-like scream as it writhed in blind agony. Twilight made a note to approach Luminous carefully as she walked quietly towards the cave entrance, which flashed with light now and again and reeked of ozone even at a significant distance.
The cave had once belonged to an Ursa Major and her cub, but, following a mishap with Ponyville, they had been persuaded to leave for less inhabited areas. Now it hosted an extremely furious unicorn filly who had been blasting any and all unfortunate rock formations to cross her path with beams of light. Twilight, who stood in the entrance to the cave, was rather impressed actually, some of the rocks had holes in them where the stone had been vaporized, and there were deep furrows in the walls and floor that still glowed with residual heat. Luminous was curled up, probably exhausted, but Twilight took care to announce her presence, “Luminous,” Twilight called softly, causing the white unicorn to look up in surprise, “Luminous, it's me.”
Once again Twilight felt pain shoot through her head as Luminous's expression grew cool, “Go away, Twilight, I don't want to see you.” Twilight pushed the pain aside mentally and approached anyway, causing Luminous to push herself upright, glowing once more as the emotions inside her started pushing the magic through her small body, “I said go away!”
Twilight just gave her squire a neutral look and lay down, though she had to swallow blood before she could speak, and the pain was beginning to edge her vision with red, “Talk to me. Please? What happened, Luminous?”
Luminous glowered at Twilight for a moment longer, then said, “I... They...” Luminous started to shake, and the pain in Twilight's head slowly receded as the white filly's mismatched eyes began to fill, “Th-They said...” Luminous broke down crying, and Twilight had to teleport to catch her before she fell.
Twilight held Luminous until her squire had stopped sobbing, and her breathing slowly quieted while Twilight whispered to her sadness and eased it away, until at last, in the silence that was only broken by the sound of cooling stone, Twilight stroked Luminous's mane softly, and asked in a gentle tone, “What did they say, Luminous?”