Chapter 1:Young life (In which a diagnosis is made and much learning happens)
Early one morning in the Canterlot Hospital, a newborn foal is brought outside into the busy city for the first time. Not twenty-four hours prior, the foal had been born, a beautiful unicorn colt. The little foal opened its gray eyes, wanting to see what was making so much noise. His eyes opened wide as he saw the grand city before him, a happy smile growing on his face.
"Now that is adorable," says the boy's father. White Knight was a burly stallion, and was adept at Magic. He had a light grey coat with a short white mane, and a cutie mark of a white shield in a black haze."We still haven't decided a name for him yet, Snow Drift.
Snow Drift, the foal's mother, was pure white in both coat and mane. She was averagely built for a mare, had graceful wings, and a cutie mark portraying snow falling from a cloud. "I still wish we could have named him Snow White," says the mare with a fake pout.
"Maybe if he was a filly, but I like the way you're thinking. Maybe something along the lines of...White Light?" Knight says with a hopeful smile.
Snow grins cheerfully."Really? That name rhymes with both you and your brother's names."
"What? Night Light and I agreed that that would be a perfect name."
Snow looks at him and then back to White Light. "It's perfect nonetheless. My little White Light."
Little White Light stared happily at Snow for a few moments when his gray eyes shut themselves, only to open a few moments later as yellow eyes.
Snow noticed this, and asked her husband what color their child's eyes were. Confirming that they had been gray, she asked why they were
currently yellow. Unable to think of a better solution, they brushed it off as being developing magic or something along those lines. A young unicorn can have unstable abilities start to form within days of birth, so it made some sense.
However, they also noticed that he seemed less enthusiastic about the city they were traveling through to their home. He seemed like he was trying to hide in his stroller when other ponies passed by. They also noticed that the eyes soon changed to a vivid red, eyeing the newfound parents as if judging them. The eyes seemed to have a certain look in them that seemed almost femenine. Almost.
Nearly at their small house at the edge of the city, they noticed that the foal seemed to looking at everything, trying to reach out and touch everything and everypony that came close to them. Not surprisingly, the eyes had changed again, this time to a deep blue.
After finally reaching their home, they brought the stroller inside only to hear a yawn. They turned to the baby--now with the same gray eyes he had been born with--and decided that he should be put down for a nap.
Little did they know exactly what this foal would hold for them in the future.
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One year has passed since White Light was born. In appearance, he was exactly as you would expect a 1-year old to look. He could say a few words, could run across the room, and loved his parents. Being as young as he is, his only friends are his parents. However, he seems to have rapid mood swings from time to time. Knight and Snow simply thought that he had a very "colorful" personality and his eyes were changing color to match. What they couldn't explain was how his magical aura was changing color to match his eyes.
White Knight was just getting home from work on White Light's birthday. He was exhausted from his work in the royal guard, but he couldn't wait to see his son turning 1-year old that day. He had barely walked into the living room when he was pounced upon by a very happy White Light. "Dada!"he shouts in excitement.
"Hey there, Little Light, where is your mother? I want to give her a kiss."
White Light ran off toward the kitchen with Knight following close behind. Snow was waiting for them with a smile on her face. Knight kissed her on the cheek and drew her in for a hug. White Light joined in on the hug, very happy to be 1-year old that day, and to get to eat cake.
Speaking of cake, the oven timer went off and a delicious looking chocolate cake was taken out and set on the table. Icing was added, and a candle was inserted right in the middle.
White Light quickly blew out the candle, eager for cake. A slice was cut out for the growing colt, who quickly started to gobble it down. Soon, he slowed down, savoring the cake. Snow noticed that his eyes had turned yellow.
Yellow. Snow and Knight had deduced that when his eyes turned yellow, he became more shy, and calm. He would play with toys, but not nearly as roughly as other times. He was generally much more peaceful at these times.
A few more bites of cake later, his attitude toward the cake seemed to be much more enthusiastic. He was trying to shovel the whole slice in his mouth and making a big mess of his plate. As expected by the parents, his eyes had turned blue.
Blue. Blue was apparently an excited mood. He would always be jumping around, trying to move every movable object in the room with magic, and would always make a mess of the room.
After the entire slice had been obliterated and spread across the entire plate, he just stopped, staring at what he had done disapprovingly. Unsurprisingly, his eyes had now turned red.
Red. When the eyes turned red, he seemed to be more judgmental about the world. While usually seeming to have a "good opinion" about most things, some things just didn't seem to please him when he had red eyes. Ironically, he especially dislikes messiness, causing him to clean up any mess he makes. This made Snow comment that he, somehow, added what she called a mare's touch. Knight just called it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Quickly scraping the bits of cake into a pile in the middle of the plate, White Light ate the few bites of cake that were left. He looked at Knight and Snow with a big smile on his face. He blinked a few times, and the parents found his eyes back to gray.
Gray. These were the eyes he was born with. He was exactly what you would expect from a foal; happy, playful, and brightens up the room. He is happy with his toys, happy with his parents, and happy with taking naps.
However, his parents were concerned with his rapid mood swings, or at least, that's what they thought they were. They had recently spoken to a doctor about it, and they had scheduled an appointment for the day after his 1st birthday. For all they knew, it was just his magic developing in its own way. Young unicorns can have very unpredictable magic, so they figured it was nothin to be too worried about.
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At the hospital, Snow and Knight wait for the appointment to be finished. Doctor Plaster had finished examining White Light, and left for his office with a very puzzled expression. The parents were still in the check-up room with their son, just waiting for the doctor to return so they could go to the front desk and leave.
Upon Plaster's arrival, they were greeted by yet another quizzical expression."Ma'am, I think we should take your son in for a few tests. It shouldn't take long, and our reasons are all hypotheses. It may just be nothing, but we should run a few tests to be sure. Again, it may just be nothing, so there isn't anything to worry about."
Upon hearing this, the parent's faces grew distressed, and White Light just tilted his head sideways in confusion."What do you mean by hypothesis," asks Knight,"and what do you mean by tests?"
"I can't explain our reasons until we are sure about them, but I will tell you that it has something to do with these 'rapid mood swings'."
The parents reluctantly agreed to the tests. They were worried by what Doctor Plaster had said, but were sure it was nothing.
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In the examination room, White Light is sitting in a chair with a strange metal helmet on his head. The helmet had lots of wires poking out of it, leading to a machine with paper running down it.
The doctor walked over to the machine and smiled at White Light. His eyes glanced down at the paper, then back to White Light, then back to the paper as his eyes widen extremely.
"That's...that's not normal," he says. "Nurse Tender, is this machine functional?"
"Yes Plaster, we tested it and it functions perfectly."
"Then how am I possibly getting these results? This machine is either broken, or...or this kid has a big problem going on in his head."
Nurse Tender glances at the results with a puzzled face. "What do you mean?" She realizes just what the results meant. "Oh. Ohhhhhh. That is not normal. Four brain waves?"
"Yes. The parents say that he has 'rapid mood swings'. More of a personality change by the descriptions they gave me. Another thing, he apparently changes between four different personalities. That can only mean one thing."
After hearing this, Nurse Tender turned to White Drift. "In that case, good luck having a normal childhood, all four of you."
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Snow and Knight had been waiting for ten minutes when Doctor Plaster arrived with their son. "How did it go?"asked Snow. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yes, we did,"replies Plaster, "and I have some...news about your son. We hooked him up to a brainwave machine, and the results were...shocking. How many shifts does he go through again?"
"Four,"Knight says.
"When I saw the results from the machine, I questioned its functionality. After being assured that the machine was working properly, I realized that the results were also correct. We found that he has 4 brain waves coming from his head. When we combined this with the fact that he goes through four 'rapid mood swings', we've come to the conclusion that they are not mood swings, but different personalities in his head."
Snow and Knight just stare for a few moments, then simultaneously say, "What?"
"Think of it as having 4 children, but they all share the same body. Lucky for you, the eyes change whenever they shift control, so you won't have trouble distinguishing when they switch."
"That explains quite a bit, actually," comments Knight. "At least we can expect some excitement from him. I just hope this won't affect his life negatively, especially when he starts school."
Pondering it over for a moments, Plaster dictated "you have plenty of time between then and now, and should get to know the different personalities. Maybe even name them individually."
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While on their way home, they managed to think of names for all three of the other personalities of their son. Considering That there were now four of them instead of just one, they decided to color code their names. It was just easier to remember that way.
First was yellow. While being shy, the yellow one loved to sing; always playing with a toy microphone or listening to music. They decided to name this one 'Golden Voice'.
Next was Blue. This one was extremely energetic, frantically running around and making a mess of everything in sight. This one was dubbed 'Azure Devil'.
"I can't wait till he can speak clearly," says Snow cheerfully. She follows sarcastically with "it's going to be fun having to listen to the opinions of 4 foals and trying to please them all."
"Not to worry," Knight assured her. "We managed to get this far completely oblivious to the 3 other foals in his head. We'll probably do even better with that knowledge." He pauses for a moment. "Didn't you say that one of them seemed to have a 'Mare's Touch'?"
"Yes," she replies with a hint of suspicion on her face. "Why are you getting at?"
"Is it possible that one of those personalities--the red one, to be precise--is a mare?"
Snow thinks for a moment, then a smile grows on her face. "That would mean we have a daughter! Kind of, anyway."
"That may be so, but we are not putting him in a dress, no matter how funny that would be."
"Awww," complains Snow. "That would be so adorable! Anyway, we still need a name for this little 'filly' of ours. She always seems to be in the kitchen when she isn't cleaning," she pauses a moment, realizing that she had just made a joke. "How about Red Velvet, after that cake we really like?"
Knight contemplated the name for a moment. "Perfect," he says. "We should probably get these colts and filly home and to bed.
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