The Hearths Warming Journey

by DeadlyKDPonys

{3} The Path

Deadly slowly opened her eyes to see her plushie, still a pony looking down at her concerned. Foxy relaxed knowing his caretaker is okey.
"Deadly, You're Okey" He said, reached a hoof out to her. The Filly took his hoof slowly and carfully got up. She rubbed her head.
"I haven't expirenced that since before i came to HoofCliff" She said. She looked around and noticed she was still small. She frowned in concern and looked over at her plushie.
"What am i gonna do Foxy? I'm still small. How will i get big again?" She asked. Foxy sighed and went over to hug his caretaker. Deadly was suprised, she noticed that even if he looked like a pony, Foxy felt still like a plushie. On instinct she snuggled into him.
"I promise, Deadly, you will return to your normal size. However right now you have to remain this way, we have a very important mission ahead of us" Foxy explained, letting go of Deadly. The unicorn looked at him confused.

"Important Mission? What do you mean?" She asked. Foxy turned around, looking at the Portal that was still open.
"You wanna know why that mosnter was after you?" He asked, still not facing Deadly. The filly's eyes widden as she recalled what happened. A missmatched creature was after her, but why? She came over to Foxy's side.
"I want to know, why was he after me? Why did he want to take me?" She asked, Started to shake a little at the memory of being chased by that creature. Foxy looked over at Deadly and quickly pulled her in an embrace toc calm her down.

"The reason he was after you was because of that" He explained, Pointing at the neckalce around Deadly. The young Filly looked down at her necklace in confusion.
"Why would he want this? This was a gift from my mother" She said. Foxy shook his head.
"That was actually supposed to be a gift from the queen, maybe it somehow got to your mother's hooves" He said. He noticed that he shouldn't have said that as Deadly's eyes started to fill with tears.
"Are you saying this Neckalce isn't really from my mother?" She asked. Foxy's eyes widden. He didn't want to make his caretaker cry. The plushie held Deadly thighter.

"No, No, No, That's not what i'm saying. I'm saying that Your mother must have found the Necklace and found it to be a great gift to give to you. It was SUPPOSED to be the queen's gift to you, but it turned into your mother's gift for you" Foxy explained, letting go to look at Deadly's face. That explaination Made Deadly feel a little better.
"But what is so important about this necklace?" She asked. Foxy Let her go.
"Well, it is the amulet of Imaginy. It is The most powerful object in the land of Fantasies" He explained. Deadly looked at her plush confused.
"Land of Fantasies? Is that where that portal leads to?" She asked, pointing at the portal. Foxy nodded.

"That monster, Discord has currently taken over and is keeping the queen captive, his reign will last forever if we don't use the power of the amulet to stop him. The queen feels that you can carry such a task and has enchanted me to life to keep you safe" He explained. Deadly's eyes widden.
"What?! But i'm just a kid! I can't fight for an entire kingdom! I can't even decide if i wanna wake up in the morning!" She said. Foxy knew she was right, she's still a child and an unstable one too. She might have another Emotion Attack while being put under so much preasure.

This is no task for a child, but it was the queen's descision. Foxy sighed.
"I know, Deadly, You're still a child, but if the queen belives that you can pull through this, then so do i and so should you" He said. Deadly was unsure of what to do. She doesn't want to go thorugh with this, it will be dangerous. Then something click in her head.
'Wait, what would mommy say if she was here? She would say, That even if this path you take will be difficult and dangerous , everypony is counting on you and belives in you, and that will give you strength. That's what she would want, she would want me to prosceed' She thought.

Deadly may not have seen her mother since she came to Hoofcliff, but she has gotten letters from her. In her mother letters, she's so kind hearted and gentle, and she wrote once that she wanted to raise her to help other ponies in need. She wanted to raise her to not only think about herself, but of the other ponies around her.
Of course, that couldn't happen.
Though this is a time where ponies are in need, this is a time to not only think about herself, but the others around her. That's what her mother would want.

Deadly smiled at the thought. She looked over at Foxy
"Ok, Foxy, I will stop that beast once and for all" She said, now determined. Foxy smiled and started leading the way to the portal. Deadly followed with confidence, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't worried. Though she knew she was doing the right thing.
They reach the portal and Foxy was the first to step a hoof in. He looked over at Deadly.
"Do not worry, it doesn't hurt" He said and stepped through the portal. Deadly hesitantly stepped a hoof in. Foxy was right it didn't hurt. The filly took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.

Deadly looked around to see she was in a cave. She looked over to some light, it was where the entrance to the cave was apearently. There stood Foxy, gesturing to Deadly to come over. She walked over to him and looked outside. She was amazed. It was a beutiful forest, something that could have come from her dreams. They don't call it the land of Fantasies for nothing.
She then noticed a castly in the disntance that didn't seem to match with the rest of the envoirment. Even at that far distance. She could tell it was similiar to something she wished wasn't here.
"Foxy, is that..?" She trailed off, pointing at the castle in the distance. She din't need to finnish as Foxy nodded his head.
"Yes, That is Discord's castle. This place is the Land of Fantasies, but Discord's powers is the Ophisite. He's powers come from fear, nightmares, Things from your world you fear and twisted into something worse. That castle is based of exactly what you think it is" He explained. Deadly's irises shrink in fear.

"The Castle is of Hoofcliff Asylum"

Author's Note:

There we go! I'm not sure if i'll be able to finnsih this before christmas, but does it matter? Anyways, Yes the 'Land of Fantasies' is formed from Deadly's wishes, dreams and imagination. So the castle is formed from the Horrible place she Fears living in.
It's like, in the eyes and mind of a child, The Asylum is like a Torture facility.
Maybe i Should have added the 'Dark' Tag to this story. Probably should.

Anyways, If you guys are curious about Deadly's Illness, I will gladly explain, just comment! Ok, See ya next Chapter!