> "Could You Be My Mommy?"
>  by Dolphy Blue Drake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1:  A New Mother
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“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.

> Chapter 2:  A Problem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyra navigated the alleyways of Ponyville to get back to her house unnoticed.  Especially to avoid the notice of a certain pink ball of excitement that she really didn’t want to run into right now.

Luckily, the tactic worked, and Lyra made it back home without drawing any attention to the human baby she was carrying.

After entering the house, Lyra used a spell to muffle the baby’s hearing and shouted, “Bon-Bon?  You home?”

“In the kitchen, as usual!” her roommate’s voice replied.  “Just making extra candy to help out with Nightmare NIght!  I’m sure to make a bundle on this batch!”

“Okay!  I’ll be in my room!” Lyra called back.  “I may be a bit busy for a little while, but if you need me for some reason, come up to my room and knock lightly, okay?  Don’t just call up to me!”  The last thing she wanted was for the infant human to wake up in the middle of a nap.  That often made babies cranky, regardless of race.

“Okay, Lyra!” Bonnie hollered.  “I’ll try that!”

Lyra sighed in relief before removing the muffling spell from Jonnathan’s ears and carefully levitating him up the stairs with her following close behind.

After a short walk, she reached her room and opened the door.  Her room was just how she’d left it:  A large, comfy bed near the window, two desks: one for composing sheet music and the other for documenting her dreams about humans and comparing them to the limited information she could find in books; a stand for holding her sheet music while she practiced her lyre, and the case for her lyre sitting on a dresser with pictures of her family also sitting on it.  Nothing had been moved, and everything was clean.

Now to find a place for him to sleep, Lyra thought to herself as she looked around the room.  Finding nothing suitable except her own bed, she sighed and levitated an old pet blanket out of her dresser and used it to tuck the human boy in, the baby sighing happily in response.



After about an hour of practicing her lyre (which was luckily a soothing instrument that would definitely not wake a sleeping infant), Lyra felt the same sensation from earlier probing her mind, but this time, the words were utter gibberish to her since the translation spell had worn off a while ago.

The voice got more and more upset as Lyra quickly lit up her horn to recast the spell, then turned to face the fuming baby whose eyes and hands were once again glowing purple.

—and if you don’t stop ignoring me Mommy, I’ll—

“It’s okay,” Lyra told Jonnathan.  “I just couldn’t understand you.”

What do you mean, you couldn’t understand me?  You’re speaking the same language as my birth parents!

“Well, I’m using a translation spell right now,” Lyra explained.  To prove her point, she cancelled the spell and said, “this is my actual language.  I don’t think you can understand me right now.”

Jonnathan’s very young eyes widened in shock as Lyra recast the spell.  That was complete gibberish! the infant’s telepathic voice exclaimed.  And everyone here talks like that?

“Well there’s a few other languages, but most of the world speaks Equestrian,” Lyra giggled.  “If you don’t want to have to rely on translation spells your whole life, I suggest you learn it.”

That’s three weeks of watching how my birth parents formed words down the drain… The young voice said sadly.

“Wait, why do you keep calling them your birth parents?” Lyra asked, puzzled.

Because you’re my Mommy now, remember? the voice replied. I can’t refer to both you and my birth mother as “Mommy”.  That’s too confusing.

Lyra was deeply moved that the child was willing to only refer to her as “Mommy”, but a question still nagged at her.  “Anyway, what was it you were trying to get my attention about?”  She inquired.  She was going to have to get used to raising an infant who could actually answer questions in words.

I’m hungry, Jonnathan’s voice replied.  And I don’t have my chompers yet, so I can’t eat solid stuff.  My birth mother breastfed me whenever I got hungry, but since you’re not human, I think it might be a bit weird for the both of us if you tried the same thing.

Lyra nodded in agreement.  Though she thought that trying to imitate that might be an interesting experience, the baby had a point.  It would feel odd.  Also, how was this baby so smart for a three week old?  Were human children naturally this intelligent, did it have to do with his strange magic, or was it something else?

“I doubt we have any foal formula, though…” Lyra sighed, shaking her head to help file the thought about the baby’s intellect for later.  “But I can’t just let you starve, either!”

Then what can we do, Mommy? the voice asked in fear.

“I can’t reveal you to everypony yet,” Lyra said with determination, “but I know a pony who could help, as well as a pony who knows more about humans than I do.  We’ll visit Fluttershy, first, and then I’ll show you to Princess Twilight.”

Well, I know absolutely nothing about this world, so I trust you, Mommy, the baby boy’s tiny voice said as the baby nodded.  I’m going to stop the telepathy for now, since the glow might draw attention.

True to his word, the infant’s hands lost their purple glow, as well as his eyes, finally revealing the color of his irises:  a brilliant electric blue.

“Well, Jonnathan,” Lyra said with a smile, “this is going to be tricky, but I snuck you to my place without notice, so I think I can do the reverse, too.  We’re going to see Fluttershy.  She should have something we can feed you.”

The baby giggled and smiled, showing his support.

“Now, remember to be quiet, okay?” Lyra pleaded  “I’m going to drop the translation spell so you can try to learn language like you said, but please try to not get noticed.”

Jonnathan nodded, and after taking a deep breath, Lyra put on her saddlebags and opened the left one.

“I’ll have to hide you in here,” she said without the translation spell, instead making motions so the baby would get her intentions.  “Hopefully, nopony notices the bulge you’ll make.”

Jonnathan sighed, but the infant didn’t struggle when Lyra levitated him into the left bag, only partially closing it so the baby could peek at their surroundings.

“Okay, let’s go,” Lyra said before leaving her bedroom and heading for the door.  She pulled the door open and gently shut it behind her before trotting towards the road to the east, trying her best to look inconspicuous.



Jonnathan looked at his surroundings in amazement.  Though he made sure to keep himself concealed enough so only his eyes would show, he was almost certain some of the ponies did a double-take when they saw the bulge in his Mommy’s bag.

Please let everything be alright, Jonnathan thought in his head, trying to invoke the aid of this person called “God” his birth parents mentioned a lot.  All he knew was that apparently, “God” was even more powerful than his birth father, and that “God” had a good heart.  Hopefully, “God” could hear him and would help.

As a pink pony with neither wings nor horn seemed to notice him and started to bounce towards his Mommy, he instinctively reached for the magic flowing through him and grasped the Mind Element (he seemed to be doing that a lot, lately) before constructing it into an invisible wave of mental static, which he sent at the pony, clouding her thoughts and making her forget what she’d just seen over the last few seconds.  If he knew the spell’s name, he could at least think it to make it stronger, but it’d have to do.  Mommy said she’d take care of him, and even though he was just three weeks old, he’d do his best to protect her, too.

The pony just stared blankly into space as he and his Mommy continued to get farther away.   But right before they started to pass a building that would obscure her view of them and guarantee their escape, the pony broke out of her stupor and took notice of them again.

God, I don’t know who or what you are, but please help us! the baby screamed in his head as he prepared to cast the spell again.



“Hey!  Lyra!” a voice Lyra really didn’t want to hear at the moment called out.

Lyra ignored Pinkie and started to pick up speed, not daring to look back as she broke into a full gallop.

“Lyra!  Wait!”

No way am I listening to that request!  Lyra thought grimly as she started to charge her horn for a teleportation spell.

“Lyra!  I—”

Pinkie cut off mid sentence, and Lyra chanced a look back.  What she saw was not at all what she was expecting:  Pinkie was standing still, scratching her head and staring off into space as if she’d forgotten something.  Next, Lyra looked at her saddlebag containing her new son, and saw a purple glow fade out.

Whatever he did, it stopped her, Lyra concluded.  Well, I shouldn’t waste this chance!  I’ll have to book it!”

Lyra finished charging her horn and cast the teleportation spell, taking her the rest of the way to Fluttershy’s cottage, and leaving Pinkie none the wiser.

> Chapter 3: A Solution
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyra took a deep breath and knocked on Fluttershy’s door.

“Coming!” Fluttershy’s voice called softly from inside.

After a few seconds, the door opened and Fluttershy looked at Lyra in surprise.

“Lyra?  What are you doing here?” the butter yellow pegasus asked.

“I need your help with something,” Lyra began slowly.  “I’ve encountered something, and I can’t show him to everypony yet.  It’s too soon.  But, I need your help in taking care of him.”  Lyra sighed, hoping to not have to pull Jonnathan out of her bag.  “Do you have any baby formula?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said with a smile.  “But could you please show this little guy to me?  I love meeting new animal friends.”

Lyra nodded reluctantly and opened her saddlebag before levitating her new son out of the bag.

“Jonnathan, meet Fluttershy,” Lyra said to the infant human, making sure to speak slowly and with gestures so her human son would have a better time understanding.

“What is he?” Fluttershy asked as Lyra set him down on a pillow.

“He’s an infant human boy,” Lyra explained.  “You remember the stories Princess Twilight told everypony about her time in that other world, right?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“Well, this is a human,” Lyra announced.  “A little different from the ones Twilight described, but human nonetheless.  I don’t know how he got here, and he doesn’t fully understand, either.  But whatever sent him here was apparently able to override whatever part of our universe turns humans into ponies.”

“How old is he?” Fluttershy asked before blinking in confusion.  “And what do you mean by he doesn’t understand, either?”

“Well, he’s three weeks old.  He told me so,” Lyra spoke as if explaining some seemingly impossible natural phenomenon to a pony who had just witnessed one.  “And he doesn’t understand how he got here because even though he was there when it happened, he only remembers a mean human attacking his birth father before he suddenly wound up in the Everfree Forest.”

“He…  Told you?” Fluttershy asked in shock.  “How?  He could possibly talk to me because I understand animals, but how did he speak to you when he’s just an infant?”

“Well, I looked at the tag inside the back of his jammie shirt,” Lyra explained patiently, “And the symbols on it weren’t anything I could read, so I cast a translation spell so I could read it.  That’s how I found out his name, too.  And it’s pretty weird, even for a human name.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked with great interest.

“Jonnathan Thaddamaeus Gheelia II,” Lyra recited from memory.  It also helped that she’d written the strange name down in her newest notes on humans.  “And going back to how I was able to understand him, apparently, there are humans with magic, and he’s one of them.  He used telepathy to speak with me, and since the translation spell was still in effect, we were able to understand each other very well.  I must admit, he’s incredibly smart for being only three weeks old.”

“Oh!  How smart is he?” Fluttershy asked next, growing more excited.  “And how could he possibly get so smart so quickly?  And how many spells does he know?  I know that’s more Twilight’s kind of question, but this is exciting!”

“Well, his magic is different than ours,” Lyra admitted.  “It seems that most ponies can’t sense it.  I think I can sense it because all the dreams I’ve had about humans has somehow made me somewhat able to feel it.  But nopony else felt it but me.  Not even other unicorns.  Anyway, he said that all the magic he’s used so far is of something he calls the ‘Mind Element’, and he didn’t tell me how many spells he knows because I didn’t ask.  I also haven’t asked how he got so smart so fast, but he’s very smart.  His telepathic communication sounds very intelligent.”

“May I try asking him?” Fluttershy requested.  “Because I can understand all sorts of animals, I might be able to understand him.”

“I could always just use a translation spell for it,” Lyra replied with a huff.  “However, I want him to properly learn our language so he can speak it, so go ahead, I guess.  It may make things a little easier for him to start out, if you can even talk to him at all.”

Fluttershy then turned to face the baby who had been snuggling up with a squirrel a few seconds ago and attempted to address him.  “Hello, Jonnathan,” she said quietly.  “I’m Fluttershy.  May I ask you a few questions?”



Jonnathan’s eyes went as wide as they could go when he heard the yellow mare speak.  Just like when his Mommy used the translator spell, the right words came out but with the wrong lip and tongue movements, but this time, there was no spell.  In response, he cast his telepathy spell again and directed it at the mare who introduced herself as Fluttershy.

How can I understand you without Mommy’s spell? he questioned the yellow pony.  And can you understand me?

“I have a special talent for caring for animals,” Fluttershy replied.  “I can understand many of them, too.”  Suddenly, her expression turned puzzled.  “Who’s ‘Mommy’?”

My new Mommy is Mommy, of course! Jonnathan replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.  I asked her if she could be my Mommy, and she said yes, so the green pony’s my new Mommy!

“Okay, now, I was wondering, how many spells do you know?” Fluttershy asked softly.  “Lyra—your new Mommy—said she never asked you much about your magic.  As a three week old, I’d expect your pool of spells to be small since a unicorn foal your age usually wouldn’t know almost any yet, but just how many do you know?  And how did you get so smart so quickly?”

Given the limitations Jonnathan had due to being only three weeks old, he couldn’t really smirk, but had he been able to, he would have.

I watched my birth father teach my brother and sisters how to use spells, Jonnathan telepathically bragged.  And even though I don’t know very many spells in any one Element, I know some for each one.  I know around seventy, since there are twenty-two Elements, and I know at least three from each.  And I could always figure out more spells on my own later, since I just have to reach inside myself and grab one of the Elements flowing in me.  And, I’m so smart because my birth father taught me telepathy shortly after I was born.  After I figured it out through imitation, my birth family started communicating with me directly, and I learned quite a bit before ending up here.  I’m more aware than the average baby all because of that!  That, and my birth family all talked to me constantly, so I learned quite a bit.  Humans, or, my people, at least, are capable of becoming super-intelligent before even becoming able to talk!

“Okay, Jonnathan, that’s all I wanted to know about your spells,” Fluttershy giggled because of the cuteness of the baby trying to portray himself as a badflank.  “But Twilight will probably want more information, so please be ready.”

Speaking of being ready, when am I gonna get my tummy filled? the infant telepathically pouted.  I’m hungry!  His stomach growled in agreement.

“We’ll get you some formula, Jonnathan,” Fluttershy assured the very hungry baby.  “Just let me prepare it first and get some for your Mommy to take home with her.”



Lyra was fascinated by the proceedings.  Her little bundle of joy was somehow able to communicate with Fluttershy, completely ignoring the language barrier!

After Fluttershy went to the kitchen to prepare some formula for the little human she’d adopted, Lyra curled up around her adopted son and nuzzled him while saying, “I love you, Jonnathan.  You may have just come into my life today, but I’ll always look out for you as if you were my own colt.”  She giggled before continuing.  “You probably don’t understand anything I’m saying, but Mommy loves you very much, and I’ll never let anything happen to you.  But given how you have all this untapped power I can sense in you, the day may come where you’re the one protecting me.”

Jonnathan hugged Lyra in reply, as if to say “I love you too, Mommy.”

“Okay, the formula’s ready!” Fluttershy announced.  “Let’s get something in that tummy of yours!”

Jonnathan giggled in delight as Fluttershy offered the bottle to Lyra, who in turn levitated it over to the human child, who tried to take the bottle in both hands, but it proved too much for him.  But just as Lyra was about to use her magic to aid him, the human baby’s eyes lit up in an orange color, as did his arms and hands, and he was suddenly able to hold the bottle with ease, drinking greedily from it without any help.

“That must be another one of his spells,” Fluttershy remarked.  “He said he has spells in twenty-two magical Elements, but he didn’t name the Elements for me.  Twilight will most likely want to know, though.  But it looks like this particular spell increases his arm strength.”  Fluttershy shook her head in amazement.  This new kind of magic Twilight had never heard of before was going to drive the purple Alicorn into a frenzy.

Lyra shared the same thoughts about how Twilight would react to the baby’s magic, and she suddenly felt fear for her son’s safety.  Turning to Fluttershy, she whispered, “I’m afraid Twilight might just see him as a potential test subject.  She’s going to want to know everything about his magic.  Also, please keep this a secret from your friends for now, okay?  Especially Pinkie.  Jonnathan used his magic to stop her from following us, but I’m not sure exactly what he did, so please don’t bring this up to her.  Jonnathan doesn’t need a party right now.  He needs to adjust first, and it’s too early to let very many ponies know about his existence.  I haven’t even told Bonnie yet!”

“Okay,” Fluttershy whispered back.  “I won’t tell anypony about him.  I promise, Lyra.”

“Thanks,” Lyra breathed a sigh of relief as Jonnathan finished his formula and gave a very satisfied burp to express his thanks.  Both mares giggled, and Fluttershy gave a can of baby formula and a baby bottle to Lyra, who placed them in her right saddlebag before motioning for her baby son to approach, which he did, dragging himself along the floor because he was too young to crawl yet.

“Jonnathan, we’ve got to see one more pony, okay?” Lyra said, once again using gestures to help her son understand.  “You only need to be in the bag for a little longer.  On the way for us to see this pony, and on the way home.  After that, no more bag for today.”

The gestures seemed to help the baby to understand, and he folded his arms and sighed before nodding.

Lyra carefully levitated the human child into her left saddlebag again, and bid Fluttershy goodbye before heading for Princess Twilight’s library.
> Chapter 4: Meeting a Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The journey to Twilight’s library was mostly uneventful with the exception of Jonnathan using the spell to stop Pinkie Pie again so Lyra could escape without being followed.

In short order, Lyra made it to the Golden Oaks Library and knocked on the door.  This was very risky, but Twilight knew more about humans than even Lyra did, all because Twilight had been one for a while.  If anypony would have answers, it’d be Twilight Sparkle.

The door opened to reveal Spike.

“Hey, Lyra!”  The baby dragon said, greeting her with a big smile.  “Here to check out more books?  We got some new books on your favorite subject from Canterlot just yesterday and—”

“Spike, is Princess Twilight here?” Lyra asked, cutting the dragon off.  “I need to see her about a matter where she’s the best pony to ask.”

“Lyra,” Spike sighed, “for the hundredth time, just call her Twilight!  She doesn’t like being called a Princess!  Anyway, she’s here.  We were just finishing cleaning up, actually.”

“She’s here?” Lyra exclaimed happily.  “Perfect!  Could you get her for me?”

“Just a second,” Spike replied before running back into the library.  “Hey, Twi!  Lyra’s here again!  She says it’s important!”

“Okay, okay,” Twilight’s voice could be heard saying from upstairs.

With a poof of purple magic, Twilight teleported to the front door and greeted Lyra with a somewhat strained smile.

“Oh!  Hi, Lyra!” Twilight began, sounding tired.  “If you’re here for another story about what happened on the other side of that mirror, I’m kind of busy now—”

Twilight cut off as her eyes were drawn to Lyra’s left saddlebag.  The one holding her infant human son.

“Lyra, I feel something from your saddlebag,” Twilight resumed, suddenly more cheerful and full of energy.  “If that’s what’s important, please get in here now!  I need to see it!”

Lyra sighed and followed Twilight inside while Twilight put up a “closed” sign, slammed the door behind Lyra, and locked it.

“Okay, Lyra, what’s in the bag?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“First, I’ll need you to promise to keep this a secret from everypony except for Fluttershy, since she already knows,” Lyra stated firmly.  This defensive mother attitude seemed to be coming naturally to her right then.  “Second, I need you to also promise to not treat what I’m about to show you as simply something for you to test endlessly.  What’s in this bag is special to me, and I don’t want what’s in it to be reduced to a simple test subject.”  Lyra got right in Twilight’s face before making her third and final demand:  “And finally, I want you to promise not to freak out when you first see what’s in this bag.  It’ll seem impossible, but I want you to keep your cool, Twilight.  Now, I want all three of those to be Pinkie Promises!”

Twilight gaped at Lyra for a few seconds before sighing.  “I don’t know what’s come over you to suddenly be so protective, but I’ll make the promise.  I promise to meet all of the demands you made.  Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”  Twilight made the proper motions as she made the promise, remembering to close her eye at the last part this time.

Once she was finished, Twilight gave Lyra an impatient glance.  “Well?” the Alicorn said tersely.  “I made the promise, so can’t you show me now?”

Lyra sighed and opened the flap on her left saddlebag and peered into it while saying, “Come on.  It’s okay.  Mommy’s right here.”

Much to Twilight’s surprise, a small hand reached out of the bag and petted Lyra on the nose.

“That’s right.  Mommy won’t let anything hurt you,” Lyra continued.  “Now, I’m going to lift you out of there, okay?”

Lyra lit up her horn, and something in the bag was enveloped by her magic.  As Lyra lifted the thing out of her bag, Twilight could only gape in shock.

After a few minutes of silent staring, Twilight shook herself to return to reality.  “Lyra,” she began slowly.  “How is there a human baby in Equestria?  It should be impossible for humans to come here and not turn into ponies!”

“I’m not sure, myself,” Lyra admitted.  “But apparently whatever sent him here was able to override the nature of our universe that turns humans into ponies.”

“Okay, I’ll try to figure that one out later,” Twilight sighed.  “But what about that energy he’s radiating?  It’s not like magic as we know it, but it feels similar.”

“Oh, that’s the kind of magic his kind uses,” Lyra replied.  “It’s different from pony magic, and I’m only able to sense it because I keep having these dreams about humans, which must have made me more in tune with the power he radiates, and since you’ve actually been one, I suspected you’d be able to sense it, too.”

“And how do you know that it’s actually magic?” Twilight inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Simple:” Lyra chuckled.  “Jonnathan told me.  Isn’t that right, Mommy’s widdle boy?”

The baby laughed and giggled while Lyra played with his tummy.

“Wait, this human’s name is ‘Jonnathan’, and he was able to talk to you?  How’d you come up with that name, and how’d he communicate with you?  Infants can’t talk!”

“Well, the name’s on a tag in the back of his jammies, and as for how he told me,” Lyra smirked before looking to her son and saying, “Jonnathan, show her your telepathy,” while pointing at her forehead, then at Twilight.

The baby responded by closing his eyes, then reopening them a second later with a purple glow to them while his hands glowed the same color.



Suddenly, Twilight heard a voice in her head.  it sounded young.  Very young.  Like the voice of a foal who was just learning to talk.  But the voice’s words were pure gibberish, and Twilight understood none of it.

“Oh, do you know how to cast translator spells, Twilight?” Lyra asked.  “I’m starting to feel a little tapped, so I’d prefer to not have to do it again.  It’s the only way you two will be able to understand each other until he learns proper Equestrian.  His thoughts are in some language from wherever his home world is.”

Twilight sighed and cast her own translation spell, and suddenly, the words came through in perfect Equestrian.

Finally!  Now you can understand me! the young voice said.  So, you’re the final pony Mommy wanted to see today?  I’ve explained things a few times already, and I can do it a few more if I must.  Also, I’m just three weeks old, for your information.  Isn’t my level of control impressive?  That last part sounded like an attempt to sound boastful, but with such a youthful voice, it just came off as cute, so Twilight giggled.

“Okay.  First, how are you doing that?” Twilight asked, exasperated.  “No three week old unicorn can control their magic that much, let alone cast a spell like that!”

In case you didn’t notice, I’m no pony, the baby’s voice said smugly.  And my birth father taught me how to use telepathy when I was four days old.  He used telepathy to speak to me, and then kept urging me until I could do it myself.  The first Mind Element spell I cast, as well as the first spell I cast, period.

“Well, how many Elements are in your kind of magic?” Twilight asked next, getting ready to take notes.

Twenty-two, the young voice replied simply.  There’s Light, Darkness, Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Spirit, Force, Power, Life, Stone, Death, Instinct, Freedom, Space, Ice, Lightning, Time, Strength, Steel, Mind, and Void.  Each one has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.  From what I’ve overheard from my birth father, most humans could only use one Element unless they had a very complicated mixed ancestry allowing multiple Elements.  But my birth family is special!  We can use every Element!  I just have to reach inside myself, find the right thread of magic flowing inside me, drag it to the surface, and channel it into a spell!  The final part was said with an air of superiority, but once again, the voice made it cute instead of impressive, so Twilight giggled again as she finished taking notes.

I also know at least three spells for each Element, the voice continued, sounding desperate to gain some kind of respect, but the voice was just too cute to accomplish anything but being cute.  I know four in a few of them, so I know somewhere around seventy spells right now.  I believe it’s possible for me to figure out some more spells on my own, and I plan to do that so that when I get big, I can protect Mommy!

“He sounds so adorable!” Twilight gushed, causing Jonnathan to give a huff of annoyance that only made him seem even cuter.  “By the way, did the tag give his full name?  Or just just his first?”

“It has his full name printed on it.” Lyra replied.  “If you’ve got the translation spell still up, you could always read it yourself.

Twilight nodded and did just that.

“‘Thaddamaeus’?  ‘Gheelia’?” Twilight exclaimed.  “What kind of names are those?”

“I have no idea, Twilight,” Lyra admitted.  “They’re probably proper names in his language, but we may never know.  He asked me to be his mother to replace the family he was torn from, and I’ve agreed to do that for him.  Twilight, if you need to conduct any tests on him, please remember that he’s my son.  Adopted, yes, but my son nonetheless.”

“Okay, Lyra,” Twilight sighed.  “But please don’t keep him a secret for too long.  I really want to let the Princess know about this.  With you raising him, he’s in good hooves.  But you can feel all that power radiating from him, right?”

Lyra nodded.

“Well, if he gets kidnapped and falls into the wrong hooves, he could become very dangerous,” Twilight cautioned.  “Don’t let that happen.”

“Of course, Twilight,” Lyra replied with a smile.  “I’ll let everypony know about him soon enough, but for now, I have to keep him away from Pinkie.  She can’t know he exists until I’ve gotten him settled and everything situated.  And what kind of mother would I be if I let my son get corrupted by bad ponies?”

“Well, goodbye, Jonnathan and Lyra,” Twilight said with a wave as Lyra opened the door and the two left after Twilight unlocked it.

Lyra carefully returned her son to her saddlebag and trotted home, giggling when Jonnathan used that spell to stop Pinkie again.

On the way home, Lyra bought some diapers, but wouldn’t say why.  She got some odd looks, but she ignored them and resumed the short trek home.



After the pair arrived home, Lyra decided to get things over with and showed Jonnathan to Bon-Bon.

Bon-Bon did freak out at first, but when Jonnathan used his telepathy combined with another translator spell from Lyra, his attempts to impress were once more met with just giggles and d’awwwws, and Bon-Bon calmed down and even took a liking to the little human.

After Lyra and Bon-Bon had dinner, Lyra changed Jonnathan’s diaper and found an old pet bed to use as a temporary bed for her little human son.  After she tucked him in, she quickly fell asleep herself.

> Chapter 5: A Vision & More Problems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Lyra slept, her dreams were once again about humans, but this time they were different.  Instead of seeing a world similar to the one Twilight described, she saw one that looked far more advanced.  She was able to fly in this dream in spite of not having wings, and she hovered over a highly advanced looking castle that easily dwarfed Canterlot Castle, and even all of Canterlot put together!  The sprawling city around it was filled with oddly-shaped buildings, where vehicles similar to the moving carriages Twilight had described moved without wheels, and could even fly.

As she explored the bizarre city, she heard a voice that tugged at her.  It was male, and though she couldn’t understand a single word, she followed it until she reached the castle from before.

One of the energy windows in the massive castle was open, so Lyra slipped in through it and gasped.

What she saw was a bedroom with a massive bed able to easily fit two adult humans and still have plenty of room left over.  Two humans, a man and a woman, both dressed in royal garb, were kneeling at the foot of the bed with their crowns set to the side.

They spoke in the same gibberish tongue Jonnathan used when not under the influence of a translation spell, but she could tell they were grieving.  The man’s glasses were splattered with tears, and the woman’s hair was a wreck.

Suddenly, they switched languages to perfect Equestrian, just as if a translator spell had been used, even though none had been cast.

“Father,” the man said, his voice shaking, “please, wherever our son is, please make sure that he is safe.”

“Even if we never see our poor Junior ever again, please keep him safe, dear Father,” the woman added.  “But if at all possible, please help us to someday reunite with our son, and let his heart remain pure.”

The man stopped for a second as if he was listening to something only he could hear before turning to his wife.

“Millaina, God says Junior is safe,” the man told his wife.  “Someone found him and is caring for him.  Someone with a good heart.”

“Was there more?  Did God say where Junior is?” the woman asked hopefully.

“No,” the man said with a shake of his head.  “God said if we are to reunite with Junior, we’ll have to do our part.  And even then, we might never find him in this life, because God is keeping the details of His will from me to keep the future open.”

“Oh, Jonnathan, I wish there was more we could do,” Millaina said sadly.  Lyra gasped again when she heard the man’s name.

“Well, we can at least ask God to send whoever found our Junior a message,” the man who was apparently Jonnathan’s father said.

“What kind of message?” the mother asked.

“I’ll start us off,” the elder Jonnathan said, holding his wife’s hand in his.  “Father, we ask Thee to send a message to whoever has found and is caring for our son.  Please tell them this:  We don’t know who you are, but please take good care of our son.  If we never get to see him in mortality again, please raise him into a fine man.”

Jonnathan’s birth mother joined in.  “If you have taken guardianship of our son, or even adopted him as your own, we’ll understand.  After all, he needs a family to care for him.  Even if you aren’t human, please raise him to never forget that he is human and to know that he is special.  If it comes to him having to fight to protect whatever friends he might make while in your care, or even to protect you, don’t fear for him.  He comes from a long line of powerful mages, his father being one himself.  As long as you raise him right, he’ll be able to protect those he loves.”

The elder Jonnathan decided to add some more to their message:  “No matter what, make sure he has a good home.  Here, he would’ve been trapped in the stuffy life of the heir to the throne.  Even if he never returns to claim his birthright, he may actually be better off with you than he would be here on Draqstar.  Raise him to love others, and to care for others before himself.  And, if necessary, try to help him train his magic.  He’s a prodigy: able to control his magic from birth, and his powers may someday be needed.  I hope they are not, but if you ever need to help him train, please just pray like we are doing now.  Ask the God of Junior’s parents to help guide you, and He will, even though whatever universe you are in isn’t His domain.  If all else fails, pray to our God to link you to me, and I’ll help you to train our son.  I know our God very well. and He has already agreed.  But, above all, please give our son a good life, wherever he is now.  If we ever meet you and Junior, we’ll gladly consider you a part of our family for raising our son right.”

“Again, Father, please send this message to whoever is now caring for our son.  Junior doesn’t need to know the responsibilities he was destined for unless it is Thy will to return him to us, so please make sure that he has the life of a normal child.”

The rest of the prayer returned to the gibberish language that was apparently the tongue of Jonnathan’s homeworld.

“I will,” Lyra said firmly.  “I’ll raise your son into a fine human being, I promise you, and I’ll keep my word, for he’s my son now, too.”



Lyra awoke slowly and looked at the bed on the floor.  Jonnathan was still sleeping.  Amazingly, he’d slept the whole night without making a fuss.  Since the infant was still sleeping, Lyra decided to let him be while she jotted down the details of her dream before making her way downstairs.

The smell of pancakes assaulted Lyra’s nose, and she made a beeline for the dining room, where Bonnie was waiting with two plates piled high with pancakes.

“Well?” Bon-Bon said as she set the two plates on the table.  “Let’s dig in!”

The two mares did just that, and the rest of the day passed by with nothing eventful happening.



Soon, a new routine took shape in Lyra’s life:  Wake up, check on Jonnathan, shower, eat breakfast, work on her music, feed Jonnathan some formula, try to help him learn Equestrian, eat lunch, change Jonnathan’s diaper, give him a bath, put Jonnathan to sleep for a nap, work some more on her music to bring in the bits to help support the family (and Bon-Bon), do a little studying of humans, help Jonnathan with language some more, feed him again, eat dinner, practice her music some more, then put the baby to sleep for the night before going to bed herself.

Many catastrophes struck Equestria over those months, including the return of Tirek, but they pulled through it all.  In fact, when Tirek returned, Jonnathan used some of his strange magic to hide all traces of Lyra, Bon-Bon and himself so the monster couldn’t find them to take their magic (though Lyra doubted Tirek would’ve been able to take Jonnathan’s magic.  It was completely different from any magic in their universe).  The spell left the baby incredibly exhausted afterward, but even so, he’d managed to pull off a miracle, so Lyra broke away from routine and let him nap for hours and skipped his language lessons that day, before resuming the normal routine once he’d rested off his magical exhaustion.

However, two months after Tirek returned and was defeated, they ran into a problem:  the jammies Jonnathan had come to Equestria in had been his only set of clothes the whole time, and they were starting to wear out.  They were made of some kind of fancy material that seemed incredibly durable, yet also amazingly soft.  As it turned out, Lyra could sense some of the ‘Draqstarran magic’ emanating from the clothes, so they were most likely enhanced with Jonnathan’s people’s magic, which would make them impossible to duplicate unless the infant boy could somehow imitate the spell, but he admitted that he didn’t know the first thing about imitating an enchantment that was already on something (in Equestrian, no less!  Broken Equestrian, but still, he was getting somewhere, even if his mouth still couldn’t form words.  In related news, his first teeth had started to grow in, and Bon-Bon was initially terrified when the first tooth that grew in was a canine, but Lyra helped calm her roommate down by explaining that humans were omnivorous.  And sure enough, the second tooth to grow in was a molar.)

The clothing problem meant one thing:  Lyra would have to reveal Jonnathan to another pony:  Rarity.



Jonnathan was once again stowed in Lyra’s saddlebags as she walked through Ponyville to Carousel Boutique.

Mommy?  Where we go? Jonnathan’s telepathic voice asked, the boy still struggling with the language.

“It’s ‘where are we going,’ Jonnathan,” Lyra sighed as she spoke quietly to the human in her bag.  “And I already told you:  we’re going to Carousel Boutique to get you some new clothes.”

But jammies still fit! Jonnathan protested.

“I know you haven’t grown out of them, son, but they’re starting to wear a little, and we can’t have you wearing the same outfit every day.  It’s not a very human thing to do.”

Okay, Mommy… the baby replied.

As Lyra entered the shop, she looked around.  She hadn’t been in this place in ages!  She used to buy clothes from Rarity very often to try to experience a little piece of human culture: wearing clothes all the time, but the baby human that came into her life changed all that.

“Lyra, Darling!” Rarity said as she trotted over to the green unicorn.  “It’s been forever since you last visited my shop!  You used to be my most frequent customer!  What happened?”

“Before I tell you, I have to swear you to secrecy,” Lyra replied in hushed tones.  “Twilight and Fluttershy already know, and they’ve been keeping quiet so far.  I need you to keep this a secret as well, for the time being.  Can you do that?  Can you Pinkie Promise that you’ll keep what I’m about to show you a secret?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Rarity replied, going through the whole motions of the promise.

“Now, what were you going to tell me, Lyra, Dear?” Rarity asked.

“Well, I’m actually going to show you, but please don’t freak out,” Lyra insisted.

“I give my word as a lady that I will remain calm,” Rarity declared.

“Very well,” Lyra said as she started to levitate her son out of her saddlebag.  “This little guy is why I stopped buying clothes here.  I needed to care for him, so I couldn’t put forward the money to try out clothes anymore.”

“He’s adorable!” Rarity gushed.  “And that fabric!  It’s a bit worn, but I’ve never seen anything like it!  It looks incredibly strong and soft at the same time!”

“Well, the reason I’m here is because my son here needs new clothes,” Lyra said. “He’s from another world.  One sort of like the one Twilight visited and told all those stories about, except the humans in his world have magic that’s different from our own.  He somehow wound up here when he was three weeks old, and he asked me to be his Mommy.  I said yes, so I’ve been his mother ever since.”

“How could he possibly ask you to be his mother?” Rarity scoffed.  “At such a young age, nothing is capable of speech!”

“Jonnathan, say hello to Rarity, please,” Lyra said with a smirk.

Suddenly, Jonnathan’s hands glowed purple, as did his eyes, and Rarity heard a very young voice in her head say Hello, Rarity, Mommy say need new clothes.  You help?

Rarity’s jaw dropped as the baby’s eyes and hands lost the purple glow.

“And he was able to do this when you first found him?” Rarity asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Lyra replied.  “He didn’t know Equestrian back then, so I had to use a translation spell, which I also used to get his full name.  But because I’ve adopted him, we tacked Heartstrings onto the end of it, making it a bit longer.”

“And this material, how is it made?” Rarity asked excitedly.

“I don’t really know,” Lyra admitted sadly.  “It’s from his world, so it uses his people’s magic, but he doesn’t know the spell.”

Wait! a youthful voice suddenly screamed in both mares’ heads as the baby’s hands and eyes glowed purple again.  Try think…  Birth mother make jammies.  She let watch.  Took silk and… denim!  Merged with Void and Force spell!  Can try!

“Silk and denim?” Rarity asked in surprise.  “How could those possibly merge at all?”

Spell merge stuff!  Let try! the telepathic voice said enthusiastically.

“Alright…” Rarity sighed as she pulled out a bolt of denim and a bolt of silk and laid them on the counter.  “I don’t know what you—”

Suddenly, the infant’s eyes started to glow, slowly flickering between the colors teal and sunset, as did his hands.  The two bolts of fabric started to meld together, changing on the molecular level into an incredibly strong, yet soft-feeling fabric that was white.  It was also a little stretchy.

“That’s incredible!” Rarity exclaimed after the spell finished and the baby slumped, sweating profusely.  “What’s its name?”

The baby resumed his telepathy spell, which was a lot easier than what he’d just done.

Birth mother call ‘mirac’, Jonnathan’s voice stated.  Require strong magic.  Expensive.  Work better if think spell name, even better if say it, but can’t talk, and forget spell name.

“Well, if you let me take your son’s measurements, Lyra, I’ll see what I can make with this ‘mirac’ for him,” Rarity told Lyra.  “The first set will be free, because I see a lot of potential here, and he worked so hard to make it!”

Mommy? Jonnathan’s voice asked with worry as Rarity picked him up so she could use him for modeling.

“It’s okay, honey,” Lyra assured him.  “Mommy’s going to be right here.  And Rarity won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Okay, Mommy, Jonnathan’s voice replied before he turned his head to meet Rarity’s eyes.  Mommy say you no hurt, so no hurt!

“Of course, Dear,” Rarity giggled.  “After I take your measurements, I’ll need you to turn that spell off so I can get your actual eye color.”

Jonnathan huffed and canceled his telepathy spell, revealing his electric blue eyes once again.  He was going to have to act like a normal baby for a while, using simple sounds and gestures to get his points across, and he really didn’t like doing that.

“Uh, Rarity?” Lyra piped up as Rarity started taking the infant human’s measurements.  “In one of my dreams about humans, I think I saw his homeworld.  And by combining what I saw there and the pajamas he came to Equestria with, I think he may be royalty on his homeworld.”

Rarity gasped.  “Royalty?  If that’s the case, shouldn’t you be trying to send him home?”

“I can’t think of any way to do it, though,” Lyra sighed.  “Just, since he’s at least a child of high-society given his pajamas, could you try to merge casual and noble styles for his outfits?  Just as a reminder of his home, but still casual enough so he can try to fit in.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Lyra,” Rarity replied with determination.  “Now, Jonnathan, please hold still.”

The baby complied and froze up, only moving when Rarity asked him to, and then holding each new position until she asked him to move again.  Of course, he was too young to stand, but Rarity only asked him to raise his arms or shift the position of a leg, and he could do that just fine since he was now about six months old.

After what felt like an eternity to Jonnathan, Rarity started taking notes on his appearance:  his eye color, the color of his hair which was starting to grow in more, his current build, and a few other things before saying, “okay, Jonnathan.  You’re done for now.  Please wait with your Mommy while I come up with some designs for you.  I’ll also have to separate that ‘mirac’ into sections so I can dye it into multiple colors, so this may take a little while.”

Jonnathan understood most of what Rarity said, so he started crawling back to his Mommy.  He made it halfway to her before she picked him up in her magic and levitated him the rest of the way to her.

If some other pony had done that, he’d most likely have become upset.  But she was his Mommy, so he complied and let her carry him over to her and then snuggled up to her, burying his face in her fur.



After napping for a little while, Jonnathan felt himself being gently shaken awake by his Mommy, who smiled gently at him.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” his Mommy giggled.  “Rarity needs you to try on some outfits she made.”

Jonnathan smiled tiredly at his Mommy and gave a yawn before nodding.  He didn’t understand all the words yet, but he understood most of them.  Equestrian was a tough language, but part of a baby’s job was to watch others speak to learn how to speak for themselves, so he was giving it all he had.

Jonnathan felt the familiar touch of his Mommy’s magic and let her levitate him over to Rarity without making a fuss.

“Okay, Dear, I’ll need you to hold still while I test each outfit on you,” the white unicorn said.  “Can you do that for me?”

He understood the holding still part, and a few other words in there, and Rarity hadn’t hurt him so far, so he simply nodded and sat up, waiting for whatever Rarity was going to do.

He almost cried out when the mare started to remove his jammies, but his Mommy gave him a smile and shook her head, letting him know that everything was going to be okay.

After his jammies were removed, Rarity started to dress him in different outfits, some absolutely stunning, others… passable.

Rarity tried to add accessories to some of the outfits, but each time, she shook her head and removed the accessories, returning each outfit to its original state.

After what felt like hours, Rarity had him try on the final outfit, and when he looked at himself in the mirror, he giggled in delight.  It had the rainbow stripes that symbolized his birth family, but instead of being gold, it was the same shade of green as his Mommy and had her lyre Cutie Mark emblazoned on the front of the shirt, with lettering matching the symbols from the tag on the shirt he arrived in, but with a little extra added to the end, with writing in what was probably Equestrian underneath it.

As he looked to Rarity and his Mommy in amazement, his Mommy giggled before trotting up to him and whispering in his ear, using the translation spell so that he could fully understand her:  “It says your full name, Jonnathan.  Both in our tongue and in yours:  Jonnathan Thaddamaeus Gheelia-Heartstrings.”

But, no tell you write people’s alphabet because no learn write! the baby replied telepathically, dumbfounded.

His Mommy giggled and whispered, “I asked someone your birth parents apparently know very well to help with that.  You know, that “God” person you told me a little bit about?  I asked them, and I suddenly knew your whole alphabet.  I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget it.  In fact, once we’re done with you learning our language, could you teach me yours?  I’d love to learn your people’s language.  We could even use it to communicate in secret in a way that no one but us would understand!”

Love teach you people's language, Mommy, Jonnathan thought to his Mommy while giggling in delight.  And love new outfit!  He extended the telepathy spell to Rarity and tried to use Equestrian for the last part:  Thank you, Mommy and Rarity!

“You’re welcome, Dear,” Rarity replied.  “Now, you and your Mommy should take those clothes home with you right away.  I’ve also fixed up your original clothes, so if you ever want to wear them while they still fit, they’ll still be available.”

“Thank you, Rarity,” Jonnathan’s Mommy said with pure gratitude.  “We’ll make sure to take good care of his new—”

Suddenly, the shop’s door burst open, revealing the very pony Jonnathan had been trying to repel over the course of five months and a week:  the pink one.

“Oh no,” his Mommy whispered.  “She caught up to us.”
> Chapter 6: Can't Hide Anymore
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Rarity!  Guess what?” Pinkie exclaimed.  “Something—”

Pinkie stopped and slowly turned her head.

Lyra held her son protectively, as if to shield him from Pinkie’s view, but it was too late.  The party pony had noticed the child she’d been trying to hide for a little over five months, now.

“Guuuuuhhh?” Pinkie gasped before approaching Lyra and her son.  “Lyra!  Who’s this?  He must be new to Ponyville, so that means…”

“Pinkie!  Please, stop!” Lyra pleaded, but Pinkie couldn’t hear her anymore.

“…A party!” Pinkie finished.  “How long has he been here, huh?”

“Jonnathan!  Use that spell to make her forget!  Now!” Lyra cried in a sudden burst of panic.

Okay, Mommy! the young but determined voice echoed in Lyra’s head.  We’ll get away, right?

“Yes, just hurry!” Lyra pleaded as Pinkie waited for the answer to her question.  “It only makes her forget the last few seconds, so hurry!”

Lyra could feel her son charging up his magic and channeling it to the surface.  His hands and eyes glowed with a purple aura, and she could feel him rapidly constructing the “mental static” spell he’d used so many times on this very mare.

Suddenly, the invisible wave shot towards the pink mare, but just at that moment, Pinkie tried to take another step forward, only to trip over Rarity’s cat, Opal, falling comically to the ground, causing the cat to screech in surprise and also causing the spell to sail right over her head.

Tears welled up in her son’s eyes as he telepathically cried, I’m sorry, Mommy!

“It’s okay, my son,” Lyra tried to assure him as Pinkie got back to her hooves.  “I guess we have no other choice but to finally admit defeat.”

Jonnathan whimpered and let go of his magic, the glow fading from his eyes and hands.

Lyra gulped as the mare who was about to decide her son’s fate approached.  It was too late for Jonnathan to try the spell again.  Too much time had passed.  Pinkie wouldn’t forget enough, now.

“Anyway, how long has the little guy been here?” Pinkie asked as if nothing had happened.  “Not too long, I hope, or I’ll have to make up for missing his arrival!”

“Pinkie, he’s been here for five months and a week,” Lyra explained, tears in her eyes as she held her son close.  “But he was only three weeks old when I found him!  And he’s from another world!  Had you found out and thrown a party for him right then, he would’ve been terrified!  And I wasn’t ready for too many ponies to find out about his existence, either.  I told a few ponies, but all of them promised to not talk about it to anypony who didn’t already know.  Furthermore, had you thrown that party and terrified him, he would’ve used his magic in fear, and even I don’t know all of what he can do, and I agreed to be his mother!  He’s my son, Pinkie!  I just wanted to protect him from being discovered too early!  Is that wrong?  Is a party really more important than a mother protecting her son?”

Lyra chanced a look back at her son and gasped.  His eyes and hands were glowing red, and heat was starting to generate from his right hand.  He’d shown her the color of each Element once, and she recognized this one right away:  he was preparing a Fire spell!

“Jonnathan!  NO!” Lyra gasped.  “Don’t do it!  Don’t use Fire, please!”

The infant blinked in surprise before switching to the familiar purple glow of the Mind Element.

You were crying, Mommy! he replied.  The pink pony was making you cry!  Lyra felt the telepathic field extend to add Pinkie to his link before he telepathically screamed, NO ONE HURTS MY MOMMY!

At that moment, Lyra realized that the entire exchange had been in perfect Equestrian.  Somehow, his drive to protect his mother had broken down the language barrier, and he’d suddenly gained a much better grasp of the language!

“I—I wasn’t trying to hurt your mommy, little guy,” Pinkie insisted, her frizzy mane deflating and going flat.  “I didn’t realize that maybe you two didn’t want a party.  I’m sorry.”  Pinkie’s eyes welled up with tears and she sniffled after her last statement.

If you really didn’t mean to hurt Mommy, I can forgive you.  But only if Mommy does, too.  Jonnathan turned to look at Lyra before telepathically asking, Do you forgive her, Mommy?

“Of course, Jonnathan,” Lyra said after drying her own tears.  “We forgive you, Pinkie Pie.”

Jonnathan nodded before telling Pinkie his name.   I’m Jonnathan Thaddamaeus Gheelia-Heartstrings, Miss Pinkie Pie.  And I forgive you, just like Mommy did.  If you really want to throw me a party, go ahead.  He opened his mouth to reveal that he only had a small handful of teeth before adding, But I don’t have all my chompers yet, so I won’t be able to eat almost anything you put out.  I haven’t even been weaned off of baby formula yet.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said cheerfully as her mane returned to its normal frizzy state.  “I’ll invite everypony in Ponyville, and I’ll make sure there’s some games even you can play.”

Well, I may not be able to walk yet, but I can still do this, the baby’s telepathic voice said as the purple glow of his right hand intensified.  LEVITATE!  Suddenly, the glow intensified further as he raised his hand and pointed at Rarity’s cat, who had taken to sleeping on top of Rarity’s sketchbook.

Opal meowed in fear as she was suddenly lifted into the air by a purple aura.  As Jonnathan moved his still-pointing hand, Opal moved along with it, until he set her down behind the counter and released the spell holding her captive.

Everypony present—and the one human—giggled as the cat scampered upstairs, giving cries of fear the whole way.

“Wait, I thought you didn’t know the names of any of your spells,” Lyra said.  “Have you been lying to me?  You’re just a baby!  How could you be telling lies already?”

Mommy, I only mentioned that if I knew the name of a spell and thought it upon casting it, it’d make it stronger, Jonnathan’s mental voice explained.  And that I didn’t know the name of the mental static spell.  I never mentioned not knowing the names of any of the spells I know.

“Okay, I’ll let that pass, then,” Lyra sighed.  “But have you noticed that you’ve been communicating in perfect Equestrian ever since Pinkie showed up?  I think you’ve finally got the language down!”

I… Have? Jonnathan’s voice asked in surprise. I didn’t even notice!

“Yes you have, son,” Lyra answered proudly.  “I knew from the first moment we communicated that you’re very smart.  We’ll probably have to enroll you at Ponyville Elementary as soon as you get speaking down pat, unless you get there before you turn four, since Ponyville Elementary won’t take special cases until they’re at least four years old.  The usual age is five, though.  Anyway, you’ll probably be enrolled there as soon as you turn four years old.”

“Well, looks like you two have a lot to prepare for,” Rarity said with a chuckle.  “And you have that party to plan, Pinkie.  You won’t get much done here.”

“Oh!  Of course!” Lyra exclaimed, carefully returning her son to her saddlebags.  “We’ve got to make sure you’ve got everything down, Jonnathan.”

The baby simply giggled because he’d canceled the telepathy spell, and Lyra began the trek home in peace.





When it was time for dinner, Lyra levitated Jonnathan out of his bed and sat him on her back before saying “I’m going to try to feed you while I eat, this time.”  She smiled before continuing.  “That way, we can have our first dinner as a family.”

The baby giggled in delight.  Lyra didn’t need his telepathy to know that he was happy about the prospect.  He understood about seventy percent of Equestrian, now, and he knew almost every common word in the language (she’d taken the time to test his grasp of the language right after they’d gotten home, and that’s how she came to those estimates).  With his grasp of the language, he most likely understood everything she said, so if he giggled in response to what she said, she could now be certain that he hadn’t misunderstood her.

“Okay, down the stairs we—”  Lyra paused.  “Why are all the lights off downstairs?  Oh no…”

But before Lyra could call out to Pinkie to remind her that Jonnathan was only half a year old, the lights all turned on and ponies leaped out of their hiding places and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

However, the baby human didn’t cry out in fear, but clapped his hands and squealed in delight, causing Lyra to sigh in relief.

The thing that happened next was something Lyra wasn’t expecting at all:  Jonnathan hugged her neck, nuzzled the back of her head and actually tried to speak:  “Mmma… mmma…”  The baby huffed in exasperation and tried one more time:  “Mama…”

Lyra gasped as the ponies in the room all d’awwed at the cute display.

“Did he just…” Lyra couldn’t believe what her ears had told her.

Bonnie trotted over to her and ruffled the small amount of hair on Jonnathan’s head, provoking a giggle from the baby.  “Congrats, Lyra!  His first word!  And he was referring to you!”

Lyra smiled, and then the party got underway.  Everything went off without a hitch.  Jonnathan made friends with the Cake twins quite easily, and even befriended some of the school age fillies and colts by talking to them with his telepathy.  Every once in a while, he’d try to use actual speech, but it almost always came out garbled, so he just kept causing ponies to react to how cute he was.

Though Pinkie thought Jonnathan would be too young for most party games, he proved her wrong in some of them by utilizing his telepathy and levitation spells to make up for only being able to crawl.  He won “Pin the Tail on the Pony” twice, for example, and he was able to outsmart the school bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon at a rigged game of their own making, somehow pulling off a win in a game that was meant to be unwinnable.  The two fillies were infuriated that their scheme had been foiled by a “half-year old bald ape”.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders took a liking to him as soon as he foiled the bullies’ scheme, and Lyra giggled as the two bullies stalked away angrily.

Eventually, everypony went home, and Lyra finally got her time to have dinner with Jonnathan.  After he finished his formula and Lyra finished her salad, the baby human hugged her tight and said, “I wuv you, Mama,” which was his first successful attempt at stringing words together, no doubt due to how brilliant he was.

“I love you, too, Jonnathan,” Lyra told her human son.  “Now, let’s get to bed.”

The human only nodded tiredly as Lyra picked him up with her magic and sat him on her back again to return to her room.  After tucking the little tyke in and giving him a goodnight kiss, Lyra got into bed herself, and the two soon fell asleep.
> Chapter 7: Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The years just flew by for a while.  Everything was as normal as it could be while raising an infant human mage prodigy:  in six months, Jonnathan started to get the hang of speaking (though he had trouble with some of the sounds), grew in the rest of his teeth, and moved on to solid food, just in time for Pinkie to throw him his first birthday party on July 25th.  This party actually had cake, since he was finally able to eat it.

Lyra soon had to start buying fish to add to her son’s diet, since he was omnivorous, after all, and for Jonnathan’s first Nightmare Night, Lyra had him go as a character she remembered from her dreams about humans:  someone called Indiana Jones, who was similar to Daring Do, but different enough that Lyra didn’t consider either one a ripoff of the other.  For his first Hearth’s Warming, Lyra and Bon-Bon got Jonnathan a proper crib to sleep in, replacing the old pet bed.

As Jonnathan grew and learned more about the world around him, he also started teaching Lyra the language he originally knew, asking her to make sure that he wouldn’t forget it when he forgot his infancy by occasionally speaking to him in that language.  Lyra agreed, so when she wanted to speak to just her son while in public, she’d whisper to him in his original tongue, which was actually quite fascinating.  Unlike Equestrian, with its twenty-six letter alphabet and letters that served all sorts of purposes, Draqstarran had a larger alphabet of forty-four letters, each one with pretty much just one sound all the time, but sounds that were almost exactly alike were all grouped under one letter for each group of extremely similar sounds.

By the time Jonnathan reached his third birthday, Princesses Celestia and Luna visited to see the human boy for themselves.  He showed off some of the spells he knew, and both princesses were surprised that they couldn’t sense his magic at all, but didn’t see her son as dangerous, so they didn’t take Jonnathan from Lyra, much to her relief.  The princesses even gave him a proper bed as a birthday gift before they left, so Lyra and Bon-Bon cleaned out the old guest room and furnished it for Lyra’s human son.

But, once Jonnathan was three and a half, ready to start school next fall because Cheerilee agreed that he was indeed a special case, and would be admitted a year early, Lyra got a nagging feeling that trouble was coming that could hurt her precious son.

Following the advice of the dream from so long ago, Lyra did as instructed by Jonnathan’s birth parents and asked their god to help her to train her son for whatever problem was coming.

Immediately, she passed out, only to awake seconds later in a white void, where the human she recognized as Jonnathan’s father was standing a few yards away, looking at her with a puzzled look.

So, you’re the one who’s been taking care of Junior? the man asked in Jonnathan’s native language.

“I have,” Lyra replied, forgetting for a little bit that Jonnathan had taught her his language.  Once she remembered, she squeaked and put her hooves to her mouth before switching to her son’s native tongue.  “I’m sorry, sir!  You probably didn’t understand any of that!”

“On the contrary,” the man said in perfect Equestrian while chuckling and adjusting the crown on his head.  “I understood every word.  I just used Draqstarran out of habit.  I can speak English perfectly fine.”

“We call it Equestrian,” Lyra replied.  “I take it you’re Jonnathan’s birth father?”

“Yes, and no,” the human replied.  “I’m more of a mental imprint of him.  And if you wish to call Junior ‘Jonnathan’, then I shall do so as well.  I take it you adopted him as your own son?”

“Yes,” Lyra replied with a nod.  “He asked me to be his Mommy, so I told him yes.”

“Ah, he always was good with telepathy,” the imprint of the elder Jonnathan chuckled.  “Anyway, I’ve been imprinted in your mind to help you to train Jonnathan.  The actual King-Chancellor’s god placed me in your mind.  I’ll only be available for helping you to train Jonnathan, giving advice in perilous situations where his life is at stake, and, if necessary, you can draw on me like a second magic source.  It will be just like Jonnathan’s powers, but not as strong, since I’m only his birth father’s imprint, not the actual man.”

“Wait, you mean that I can now use your human magic?” Lyra asked in shock.

“Yes,” the imprint replied.  “But be careful with it, as you’ll be drawing on me directly.  If there’s not enough of me left, spells will fail, and I won’t be able to offer advice in bad situations until I recuperate.  So, don’t think of our power as some kind of new toy.  it’s a sacred power passed down for generations, and it’s not to be taken lightly.”

“I understand,” Lyra replied with a courteous nod.

“Good,” the imprint replied.  “Now, I take it that you sensed trouble brewing that could involve Jonnathan, right?”

“That’s correct,” Lyra confirmed with a grimace.  “He’s my son, and I don’t want him to get hurt.  He’s forgotten his infancy, so he doesn’t remember his birth family anymore.  I let him know he’s adopted, but I love him as if he were my own flesh and blood.”

“Understood, Lyra Heartstrings,” the imprint replied.  “And I only know your name because I’m now part of you.  I’ll usually just be a voice in your head, if I speak at all.  It’ll only be in extremely dire circumstances where I’ll actually draw you into this mental void.”

“What should I call you?” Lyra asked, tilting her head to one side.

“Call me ‘Senior’,” the imprint replied.  “I’ll help you to demonstrate spells to Jonnathan by telling you what to do.  Now, it’s almost time for you to wake up, Lyra Heartstrings.  Take good care of your son, alright?”

Lyra nodded, and then her eyes snapped open, revealing Jonnathan sitting on her bed and giving her a worried look.  He was wearing a larger version of the favorite shirt Rarity made for him when he was just an infant:  it was the same color as her coat, had her Cutie Mark on the front, the prismatic stripes on the sleeves, and she knew it had his name in two languages on the back in gold lettering.  His pants were simple and blue, and he was wearing red socks, white sneakers, and an orange baseball cap.

“Mommy?” he asked worriedly.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes, Jonny,” Lyra said, using the nickname she’d given her son.  “It’s just, we’re going to have to train your magic now.”

“But nopony can use my magic!” he protested.  “I gotta teach myself, Mommy!”

“Something just came up,” Lyra told her son while drawing him into a hug.  “I don’t fully understand it myself, but I can train you myself, now.”

“Mommy, don’t be silly!” Jonnathan huffed before he cut off and seemed to try to sense the air around him.  “Mommy?  Why do you feel like me now?”

“I can’t explain right now,” Lyra sighed.  “But I have some knowledge of your powers now, and you’re going to need to hone them.  I don’t know how I know, but something big is coming, and you’ll need to be ready for it.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Jonnathan replied with a hug of his own.  “I want to protect my family and friends.  Especially you and Auntie Bonnie.”

“With training, you’ll have more control,” Lyra told him as they made their way to the backyard.  Then, in her mind, she called out, Senior?  Is there a spell that could create a safe training space?

*There is, Lyra,* the imprint’s voice replied.  *It’s called ‘Void Zone’.  Whoever casts it can will objects into existence for the training of themselves and others, including animate objects, if you want.  Just combine Space and Void magic.  I’ll guide you this first time.*

Lyra felt something urging her to feel for something inside herself, so she did so, finding twenty-two threads of energy.  Her mind was directed to grasp the gold and sunset colored ones and attempt to mentally pull on them.  Amazingly, they rose to the surface, and her mind started to stitch the threads together rapidly before she forced the energy onto the backyard and said, “Void Zone.”

The spell quickly took effect, and they were enveloped in a glowing white dome of light that was larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside due to it shrinking everything inside it.  The ground was protected by the base of the dome, and the entire area was empty.

“Mommy, what was that?” Jonnathan asked in awe, gazing at his surroundings.

“A spell you can learn yourself someday,” Lyra explained.  “It creates a safe training area where you can practice your spells on things that are only temporary, so you won’t have to hurt anything living to train, and your spells won’t get past the walls of the dome, so you won’t have to worry about harming anything outside it.”  All of the information was relayed to her by Senior, who started relaying information about the spells Jonnathan already knew.

“Son, let’s start with that mental static spell,” Lyra said gently while she willed a fake pony into existence, complete with fake thoughts that could be disrupted by Jonnathan’s spell.  “It’s actually called ‘Mindwipe’.  Now, try it with the actual name of the spell, which should make it able to last longer or hit multiple targets.  Either one.”

Jonnathan nodded before his eyes and hands took on that oh-so-familiar purple glow of the Mind Element.

“Now, try to make the pony forget the last minute instead of just a few seconds,” Lyra instructed.  “With enough practice and skill, you can make it even more effective, but we’ll start here.”

Jonnathan grit his teeth before raising his glowing hands and shouting, “Mindwipe!”

A wave of mental static leaped from the small boy’s hands and enveloped the fake pony, resulting in it scratching its head stupidly.

“Okay, let’s see how well you did,” Lyra said before willing a chalkboard-like display into existence, which floated in midair.  A piece of chalk suddenly started writing on the board all by itself.  When it finished, the results read:

Target wipe:  1 min 00 sec

Actual wipe:  0 min 50 sec

Success Rating:  83%

Jonnathan sighed and hung his head in shame for failing his Mommy, but she put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention before giving him a big smile.

“Jonny, you did well,” she assured him.  “You fell ten seconds short, but that’s still a large improvement over all your attempts in the past, which only wiped a few seconds.  If you keep practicing, you’ll reach that minute, but for now, let’s move on to another spell.”

“Let’s try one of the healing spells you know,” Lyra suggested, feeling Senior give his silent approval.

“Which one?” Jonnathan asked.  “I don’t even know which Element you want me to use.”

“The Water one,” Lyra replied patiently.  “You know:  that golden cloud that uses rain to heal cuts and bruises?”

Jonnathan nodded.

*Just so you know, Lyra,* Senior’s voice cut in, *the spell is named “Healing Rain”, and if enough power is put behind it, it can actually heal anything up to the severity of broken bones.*

Okay, I’ll tell him that, Senior, Lyra thought back before lowering her head to meet her son’s eye level, which was only about six inches lower than her own, now.

“It’s actually called ‘Healing Rain’,” Lyra explained, relaying Senior’s message to the little human.  “With enough power behind it, you can heal anything up to the severity of broken bones.”

“That’s cool, Mommy!” Jonnathan exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in excitement.  “Can you give me something to try it out on?”  The boy seemed incredibly eager to try out something that useful.

“Okay, just a second,” Lyra replied with a smile before concentrating for a few seconds.  Once she finished concentrating, she’d managed to will a fake pony covered in bandages into existence, complete with some broken ribs.  “Okay, honey,” she told her son.  “Try the spell on this pony, and then we’ll get your results again.”

Jonnathan’s eyes and hands glowed a brilliant blue as he raised his hands towards the ailing pony.

“Healing Rain!”

In an instant, a small golden raincloud erupted from his hands and moved to hover over the injured pony.  The glowing in her son’s hands and eyes intensified as he grit his teeth and started to try to pour more magic into the spell as shining drops of water started flowing from the cloud in a steady stream.

After the rain and cloud dissipated, the pony looked a lot better, but the bandages obscured where most of the cuts had been, so Lyra couldn’t be completely sure yet.

After she dismissed the false pony and summoned the chalkboard again, the chalk once again wrote of its own accord.  When it finished, the results read:

Starting ailments:  15 cuts, 20 bruises, 5 broken ribs

Healed ailments:  15 cuts, 20 bruises, 5 broken ribs

Success rating:  100%

Jonnathan was panting for breath after pouring so much energy into that spell, but when he saw the results, he gave a cheer and hugged Lyra.

“I did it, Mommy!  I did it!” her son cheered.

Lyra sighed happily at her son’s joy and returned his hug.  “Yes, you did it, Jonny.  And Mommy’s so proud of her little boy!”  She finished the statement with a kiss to the toddler’s forehead, causing him to giggle.

*Let him rest for now,* Senior’s voice suggested.  *Using that much magic at an early age is very taxing.  You can resume his training after he recuperates.*

“You did great, Jonny,” Lyra praised.  “Let’s get you some rest before we resume training.  I believe we have enough time before whatever problem is heading our way actually gets to us.”

Still, how did I get that feeling in the first place? Lyra wondered as she helped her tired son into the house before dispelling the dome.

She was not expecting an answer, but she got one anyway:  *Ever since you had that dream about Jonnathan’s birth parents, you’ve been somewhat linked to their universe.* Senior answered her. *Including the god governing it  Their god sent you that feeling of urgency so that Jonnathan will have time.  It will most likely strike some time after he begins school this fall, but I’m not exactly sure of any more details on the “when”.  Just make sure he’s combat ready before this foe rears its ugly head.*

Okay, I will, Lyra thought determinedly.  She really didn't want to see her little son have to fight, but if there was no other way, she could at least make sure he was ready, and she knew Senior would do his best to help out, too.
> Chapter 8: Chaining Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Training was hard, but Jonnathan gave it his all.  Over the next few weeks, Mommy helped him to practice the spells he knew, and she’d given him the names for all of them, excepting the Darkness ones.  He was very leery of that particular thread inside him because it seemed different from the others.  The Light one was different as well, but it felt soothing and comforting, while the Darkness thread always offered resistance when he tried to use it.  Pulling it to the surface was always a struggle, and during that struggle, it seemed as if it was trying to pull him!

“Okay, Jonny,” his Mommy said after they’d gone through all the spells he knew excepting the ones of the Element he was leery of.  “You’ll need to try those Darkness spells now.”

Jonnathan felt tears come to his eyes and hugged his Mommy.  “But it scares me, Mommy!” he sobbed.  “It tries to fight back when I try to use it!  I’m scared of it winning!”

His Mommy paused, as if thinking to herself for a little bit before giving him a reassuring smile and tousling his hair.  “It’ll be okay, Mommy’s right here,” she told him soothingly.  “Darkness is different from all the others.  It gives you the power to command evil power and force it to do your will, even if that will is to work good deeds.  Evil hates being chained to help the side of good, so it fights back, trying to take control of you.  You just have to show it that you’re the stronger one.  It will never stop trying to fight your will, but eventually, its attempts will seem feeble, and you’ll be able to control it with ease”

“Okay, Mommy,” Jonnathan replied with a grim nod.  “What do I do?”

“Reach for it like you would any other thread, but don’t simply try to pull it to the surface like the others,” his Mommy explained.  “Once you’ve grabbed it, pull hard and fast, don’t be gentle.  Pull with as much force as you can muster, and don’t give it any slack until you feel its power flowing through you.  Once you’ve reached that stage, the evil in that Element will have submitted to your will for the time being.  It won’t fight back until after you’ve released it and try to channel it again.”  His Mommy nodded encouragingly.  “Now, my son!  Give it all you’ve got!”

“Yes, Mommy!” he answered before reaching inside himself, quickly finding the black thread and yanking on it hard.  The thread writhed and squirmed, trying to reverse the hold and pull him instead, but he grit his teeth and pulled even harder.  The thread almost seemed to panic, no longer trying to pull him into corruption, but simply trying to escape.  Even with the thread’s change of tactics, Jonnathan put all the magical force he could into one last pull and brought it to the surface.  The thread seemed to almost give off a silent scream of rage as he channeled it through his body, and then the resistance stopped.

HIs Mommy floated a mirror over to him, and he saw that his eyes were radiating a field of blackness, and his hands were covered in the black aura as well.

“You did it, Jonny!” his Mommy exclaimed before drawing him into a hug.  “Now you can practice those spells!”

“Alright, Mommy,” Jonnathan said with determination.  “Which one first?”

“Let’s start with a simple defensive one,” his Mommy suggested.  “That blinding spell.  It’s actually called ‘Dark Fog’, and with enough power put into it, you can fog up an entire area with black fog, instead of simply covering the eyes of a single target.  Even better, the caster and anyone else the caster chooses will be able to still see, while others will be rendered blind by how thick the fog will appear to them.”

Jonnathan’s jaw dropped in amazement.  He could do that?  With that kind of spell, he could help his family and friends make a quick getaway if something was chasing them!

Giddy with excitement, Jonnathan closed his mouth and waited for his Mommy to give him something to practice on.  This time, it was a huge swarm of Changelings, glaring at him.

Though he was a little scared, Jonnathan ignored his fear of something that wasn’t really real and raised his darkness-shrouded hands and cried “Dark Fog!”

Incredibly thick black mist started to flow from his hands, rapidly engulfing the entire swarm, blinding them all.  He’d subconsciously excluded his Mommy from the spell, so she could probably see how confused the pseudo-Changelings were just as well as he could, and the result was very satisfying.  Soon, the whole dome had filled with mist, and then he forced the spell to cancel as his Mommy dispelled the fake swarm.

The familiar chalkboard materialized and the floating piece of chalk started to write on it.  Once it was finished, it displayed his results:

Targets: 50.  Allies:  1

Number blinded:  50 targets, 0 allies

Success rating:  100%

He turned to smile happily at his Mommy, who returned the smile before proceeding to continue the training.

“Okay, next we have that energy whip you mentioned in your infancy but never showed,” his Mommy told him.  “It’s apparently called ‘Negative Lash.’  Since you don’t remember your infant years, I’ll have to remind you of how to construct it.”  His Mommy grit her teeth and did what he’d done earlier and pulled the Darkness thread to the surface.  He still didn’t know how she was doing it, but at least she was able to serve as his teacher, which really helped.

Once her eyes and forehooves took on the same aura as his eyes and hands, his Mommy continued.  “Watch me first, son, then try to imitate it.”  He could faintly see a thread of Darkness magic being folded in half and then twisted into what resembled a rope.  Unlike him, she simply spoke the name of the spell instead of yelling it, raising her right foreleg and saying “Negative Lash”.

A whip of pitch-black energy cracked at the air in front of her, and then she let go of the Element entirely.

“Okay, son,” she encouraged, “your turn now.”

Jonnathan smiled and prepared the spell while his Mommy summoned a horde of fake ponies in black armor marching towards him, spears at the ready.

“Negative Lash!” he cried out while swinging his arm as he would if he were holding an actual whip.

In response, a huge black energy whip materialized in his hand and struck the enemy ranks as he swung his arm, hitting all of them.  Every single one fell over, nursing serious wounds and burns.

The ponies disappeared, once again being replaced by the chalkboard, which quickly wrote his results:

Targets:  4 ranks of 25 (total: 100)

Farthest reach of spell/minimum distance needed for possible 100%:  9 yards/7 yards

Targets beaten:

Rank 1:  25

Rank 2:  25

Rank 3:  25

Rank 4:  25

Total:  100

Success Rating:  101% (1% bonus for extra distance)

Jonnathan couldn’t believe his eyes.  More than one hundred percent?  How was that possible?

“Looks like Mommy’s little boy is becoming quite the fighter,” his Mommy remarked joyfully.  “Okay, onto the last Darkness spell you know.  After we get this one mastered like all the others, I’ll see if I can help you learn some new ones tomorrow.  Either that, or test your resourcefulness in actual battle training.”

Both sounded good to Jonnathan, so he didn’t try to make a decision yet and just said, “Okay, Mommy.  The last spell’s that rope-like one I kinda remember, right?”

“Yes,” his Mommy replied with a nod.  “It’s actually called ‘Dark Bind’.  Instead of just being used to summon a single rope that could be used for tripping others and such, you can use it to tie up an opponent or aggressor so you can either gain the advantage or get away.”  His Mommy finished with a sigh, almost as if she was worried he’d actually have to use this spell for either purpose.

It’ll be fine, Mommy, he thought.  You may not be hearing this, but I promise everything’s gonna be fine.

His Mommy summoned a really big and muscular Earth Pony in dark armor.  The pony lunged for him, but he rolled out of the way and started to stitch the spell together in the way he vaguely remembered.  He wasn’t entirely sure if he remembered the exact magical pattern, but he’d give it his best shot.  He raised his hands as the pony rushed him and shouted “Dark Bind!”

Pitch-black energy ropes shot from his hands, rapidly coiling around the huge pony’s legs and rendering it hogtied in a matter of seconds.  With another thought, Jonnathan willed the ropes to also anchor themselves to the ground, and the fake pony was suddenly powerless to move:  even though it tried its hardest to break free, the ropes still held.

The pony disappeared and was replaced by the chalkboard once more, which wrote his results out one last time for the day:

Force exerted by target:  500 lbf.

Initial maximum force tolerance of spell:  400 lbf.

Tolerance added by reinforcement:  150 lbf.

Final force tolerance:  550 lbf.

Success Rating:  110%

He’d done it again.  He’d exceeded one-hundred percent twice!  Jonnathan was speechless as his Mommy dispelled the training field and drew him into a hug, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.  Jonnathan finally let go of the Darkness Element he’d been holding onto, and the rebellious Element returned to its natural flow inside him.

“We’re done for today, Sweetie,” his Mommy whispered as she led him back inside.  With the dome gone, the cold weather was catching up with Jonnathan, since it was January, after all.

Once they’d gotten inside and away from the cold and snow, Jonnathan’s Mommy made a mug of cocoa for each of them, and Jonnathan savored his, just like his Mommy savored hers, each of them trying to make the warmth and flavor last as long as possible.

I love these moments with Mommy, Jonnathan thought happily.  I don’t want this to ever change!
> Chapter 9: Intensive Training and A New Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Jonnathan had breakfast together before Jonnathan left to play with some of his toys while waiting to train later in the day.

“Lyra,” Bonnie sighed.  “I know you want him to be able to fight if he has to, but I’ve seen some of what he’s now able to do after you’ve been helping him to learn.  I’m no unicorn like you are, but I can tell high-level magic when I see it.”  Bon-Bon’s expression changed to a worried frown before she continued:  “Prodigy or not, isn’t this too much for him right now?  What could possibly warrant such heavy training out of the blue?”

“Something’s going to happen,” Lyra confessed.  “I don’t know what, exactly, but I know it’s going to be big and dangerous.  Jonnathan needs to be ready for it, because I somehow know that this threat could very easily hurt him if he’s not prepared.”

“But he’s so young!” Bonnie protested.  “And you’re his mother, for Celestia’s sake!  Shouldn’t you be trying to keep him out of danger?  I know your gut feelings are almost never wrong, Lyra, so some new threat probably is coming, but training him to fight it when he’s only three and a half?  How can you consider yourself a good mother for doing this to him?”  Bon-Bon finished by pointing at Lyra accusingly.

*How can she not realize that Jonnathan may be forced to fight it because of its actions?* Senior’s voice sighed.  *You can’t always run from everything, and sometimes you have to protect others since you’re the only one available with the power to protect them.  Jonnathan may, at the very least need to fend off this threat until someone stronger is able to take it down.*

“What of his friends, Bon-Bon?” Lyra countered, taking Senior’s words into account.  “If they get cornered by whatever’s coming, he may be the only one able to protect them until more help arrives!” Lyra’s voice grew stronger as she pressed her advantage.  “And what about him?  What if this threat corners my son?  I don’t want to lose him!  And if training him is what it takes to ensure his survival, then by Celestia and Luna, I’ll do it!” Lyra accentuated her final statement by stomping her hoof on the floor, startling Bon-Bon.

“Okay,” Lyra’s roommate replied, backing up slightly.  “You’re his mother, not me.  I’ll trust your judgement on this.”  She sighed before giving Lyra a pleading look and continuing.  “But please don’t push him too hard!  He considers me his aunt, so I’m somewhat responsible for him, too!  By your accounts, he seems about as powerful as Twilight Sparkle was when she first got admitted to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.  That much power in such a young body isn’t a good combination.  He might lose control.  He might hurt himself by overusing whatever magical reserves he has.  He’s got power in spades, but little experience.”  Bon-Bon drew Lyra into a hug and begged her one last thing:  “Please, whatever you do, don’t let him hurt himself training, okay?”

Lyra nodded.  Senior had suggested that they try testing Jonnathan’s battle prowess before teaching him new spells, but Bon-Bon’s request was going to be a little tricky to follow while doing that.  Of course, she’d do her best to think of something.  Jonnathan needed to actually practice combat.



After he grew bored of his train set for the time being, Jonnathan left his room to check on his appearance in the bathroom mirror, since he’d forgotten to do so earlier.

As soon as he began to work on fixing his bedhead, he was startled by his reflection actually speaking, and in the language his Mommy said was his birth family’s no less!

“Hello there!” his reflection said cheerfully, as if nothing was wrong.  “Nice to meet you, Jonnathan!  Due to a special spell, I’m able to talk to you through your reflection!”

“Who cast it?” Jonnathan asked his reflection.  “And who are you?”

He’d finished brushing his hair by that time, so his reflection stopped mirroring his movements and pointed at it’s chest.  “First of all, I’m just a manifestation of your inner self.  After we decide on a name for me, just look at any mirror and say that name in our native language, and I’ll talk to you, so long as nobody’s around.  I mean, it’d look weird if you started speaking to your own reflection, right?” Jonnathan nodded in understanding and locked the bathroom door before returning to the mirror and gesturing for his inner self to continue. “As for who cast it, it’s a secret spell no one knows about.  Even I don’t know who cast it!  All I know is that it lets me speak to you, and it uses a very complicated form of your kind of magic.  I can help you out with both your magic and your personal and social lives.  Just ask for my help, and I’ll give my advice.  After all, who knows you more than your inner self?”

“But what can I call you?” Jonnathan wondered, unable to come up with anything.

“Well, in the language we’re using now, and Equestrian, as well, the special spelling of your name allows it to be split into two separate names,” his inner self explained.  “How about I’ll call you ‘Jon’, and you call me ‘Nathan’?” his reflection suggested.

Jonnathan nodded in response.  It made sense.  Suddenly, he broke into a huge grin, and Nathan looked puzzled.

”I can’t wait to tell Mommy about you!” he exclaimed in delight.  ”She’ll be really happy to know I have another friend!”

Nathan shook his head sadly.  ”I’m sorry, Jon.  I’d love for Mommy to know about me, and maybe even speak with her, but the spell making it possible for me to converse with you is fragile.  If any other sapient being finds out about our connection, it’ll break, and we’ll have a lot of trouble fixing it, since I don’t know the spell that made this possible.  It’d be best to not risk it.”

Jonnathan sighed dejectedly and nodded.  If the spell was so fragile that it had to be kept a secret, he’d keep it a secret from the whole world, including his Mommy, though he really didn’t want to.

”It’ll be okay, Jon,” Nathan tried to assure him.  “Once we’ve gotten enough magic down, we might be able to reinforce the spell.  So, you might not have to keep this a secret forever.”

“Okay,ˆ Jonnathan replied with another nod.  “I’ll talk to you later Nathan.  It’s going to be lunchtime soon.”

“Later,” Nathan said with a nod and a casual salute before Jonnathan’s reflection returned to normal.

After Jonnathan left the bathroom, he tried very hard to mask his excitement over meeting Nathan, but it didn’t work because both his Mommy and his surrogate Aunt chuckled as he tried to keep himself from grinning.

“What’re you so excited about, Jonny?” Auntie Bon-Bon asked with a giggle.  “Let me guess:  It’s today’s training, isn’t it?”

Jonnathan quickly latched onto that excuse, as did his internal excitement.  He’d forgotten that his Mommy had said that they were going to either teach him brand new spells or test his combat prowess with the ones he already knew, and both options sounded great to him, so he quickly nodded and said, “Yep!  I’m either going to learn some new spells or get to put my mettle to the test with some actual combat training!”

His Mommy smiled and set his lunch down in front of him before doing the same for herself and Aunt Bonnie.  “Okay, everyone, let’s dig in!” she announced.

Using his knife and fork, Jonnathan tore into his fish and started to eat it quickly, washing it down with milk when necessary. His salad disappeared quickly, as well, and the apple on his plate never stood a chance.

“He sure eats fast,” his Mommy remarked, making him blush.  She always made that comment every time he ate.  What could he do about it?  It took a lot of effort to slow down, and he usually didn’t want to put forth that kind of effort when eating, anyway.  That kind of energy and restraint could be saved for other things so he’d have more to exert when more important things required them.  Eating was eating.  All that mattered was that the food got from Point A to Point B, with Point A being his plate, and Point B being his tummy.

His Mommy sighed and returned to her own food, taking much longer to eat than Jonnathan did, forcing him to wait a few minutes.

Once his Mommy and Aunt Bonnie finished eating, his aunt gathered up the dishes while Lyra led Jonnathan into the backyard.  It was late February, now, so it was still winter.  Jonnathan would have dressed warmly if it weren’t for the knowledge that his Mommy was going to use the training spell again.

His Mommy drew on Void and Space magic for a brief period and said “Void Zone”, summoning the now-very-familiar white training dome where his Mommy could summon anything for him to train against.

“So, Mommy,” Jonnathan asked after they were both inside the dome.  “Which choice are we gonna do?”

“I’m going to give you some combat training, Jonny,” Jonnathan’s Mommy announced grimly.  “Remember:  just like how everything I create here is fake, any injuries you take here will be fake, as well.  Whether you win or lose, any pain, ailments or injuries caused by something from this place will instantly heal after the fight ends.  Even a normally mortal blow won’t actually kill you.  You’ll just instantly lose.”  His Mommy gave him an encouraging smile and nodded.  “Now, let’s see your spells in action!”

A number ten appeared in midair near the ceiling of the dome at its exact center.  Jonnathan gave it a puzzled look until it changed to a nine, then an eight.  It was counting down!

Jonnathan took a battle stance suited for agility and avoiding attacks and waited for the counter to reach zero.  When it did, hundreds of enemies of all sorts materialized all over the dome at the same time a voice announced:  “Objective:  Defeat three-hundred enemies.  No time limit.”  His Mommy gasped at the number “three-hundred”, and then monsters and all sorts of other foes started to move towards him.

The closest enemies were a swarm of Changelings, so Jonnathan instinctively pulled the gray thread of Stone magic to the surface and prepared a spell to launch at them.

With a cry of “Stone Barrage,” the magic spell caused rocks that were about a foot in diameter to fly from his fists in rapid succession.  He started breathing hard, trying to push as much Stone magic as he could into the spell, increasing its power.  The rocks grew larger and his firing frequency increased, as well.  In about half a minute, the Changelings were all pinned to the ground by the large rocks, some of them having broken limbs or tears in their exoskeletons.

Jonnathan released the Stone Element as the Changelings evaporated into thin air right before something bit his leg.  He cried out in pain and looked down to see a pack of timberwolves had surrounded him, and one of them had its jaws firmly clamped onto his now-bleeding leg.

Trying to fight down his cries of pain so he could concentrate, Jonnathan drew the red thread of Fire to the surface and prepared the best offensive Fire spell he knew.

Jonnathan screamed in pain as he called out the name of the spell he’d prepared:  “Pyro Ring!”

A swirling cone of fire formed around Jonnathan, bathing the flammable wolves in heat.  Some of them started to catch fire, and though instinct told Jonnathan to increase his magical output, his logical side took the helm of his mind in spite of the pain in his leg.  He’d need to take a moment to heal after this portion of the fight, and there were many more enemies left after these wolves.  If he just endured the pain and let the fire spread of its own accord, he’d conserve magical power in the long run, which would prove vital if he was to defeat all the enemies.

And so Jonnathan waited.  He looked to his Mommy, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, but she gave him an encouraging nod, and he steeled himself for the wait.

After about fifteen seconds, the fire had finally spread to every wolf, and the one that had been biting his leg finally let go, whimpering in pain.

Seizing the opening, Jonnathan canceled the Fire spell and prepared a different one.

With a grimace, he whispered “Healing Warmth,” which caused a wave of warm relief to flow through him, patching up his injuries somewhat and reducing the pain in his leg considerably.

As the wolves continued to writhe in pain on the ground from the fire they were unable to extinguish, Jonnathan looked up to see a gryphon flying towards him, sword already drawn, ready to run him through.  Said gryphon had several more behind it, and Jonnathan gulped before releasing the Fire Element and pulled the yellow Lightning thread to the surface.

Raising a hand and pointing straight up, Jonnathan stitched an offensive Lightning spell together and said, “Crying Heavens!”  He rapidly pointed his hand at every gryphon charging him, and a huge storm cloud appeared above them and started raining down lightning bolts, striking each gryphon in turn, dropping them to the ground, out cold.

Unfortunately, he missed a few of them, who continued to charge at him, and Jonnathan soon found himself dodging sword swipes from all directions.

He got nicked by the blades a few times, even getting a nasty gash across his chest that barely missed his heart and lungs.

Or so he thought.  Apparently, his heart was larger than any being his size was supposed to have, and a second swipe revealed portions of his lungs and heart, even though everything his Mommy had told him about being human clearly stated that his lungs and heart weren’t supposed to be that big.

Then came the pain.  He’d suffered mortal damage from those two powerful gashes, and blood poured from his wounds and he fought back tears as his strength started to fade.  The blackness was closing in.  He only had time for one last spell, and in a desperate cry, he said, “Strike of Life!”

The spell was normally meant for use on others for reviving the unconscious or—with a huge amount of power put behind it that Jonnathan couldn’t muster—reviving those who had died up to 15 hours before the spell was cast, but the spell shot straight into the air as Jonnathan fell on his back.  It was done.  He was beaten.

But as his vision continued to get blurrier, he could barely make out a large ball of electricity forming at the top of the dome, giving off a wondrous light that looked welcoming in spite of the occasional sparks it gave off.  Just as his eyes closed, he felt a jolt in his chest and felt something searing the gashes shut, reenergizing him and startling the false gryphons.  His magical reserves felt somewhat recharged, but more importantly, he had most of his strength back.  The strength he lost from bloodloss couldn’t be recovered like that, so he’d have to make do.

Releasing the Lightning Element and drawing the cyan-colored Ice thread to the surface, Jonnathan felt his body fill with the power of the wintry Element and prepared a spell to stop the gryphons and prevent more enemies from closing in before he was ready.

Jonnathan cried out “Arctic Chill!” and a blast of freezing cold shot from his hands at one of the gryphons, encasing it in ice.  Normally, the spell was for a small area, but Jonnathan forced more Ice energy into the spell and slowly spun around in a full circle, causing the blast to encase every enemy near him in an icy statue.

Next, Jonnathan prepared another spell for the frozen gryphons.  Weaving the cyan-colored magic into another shape, he launched it at them with a cry of “Icicle Shower!”

Icicles sharpened to pierce like spears rained down on the frozen gryphons, breaking the ice encasing them, but also puncturing them all over, even pinning their wings to the ground before they slumped in defeat.

Jonnathan turned to face the next wave of enemies, and what he saw made his heart stop for just a second:  white, ghostlike ponies that flew through the air without wings or magic and chilled the air around them.  Being filled with the Ice Element already, the chill had little effect on Jonnathan, but he knew enough to recognize these horrible creatures from the Hearth’s Warming plays.  These were Windigoes, and it seemed as if they were already fully charged from absorbing negativity.

His Fire reserves were a little low, so Jonnathan tried to think quickly.  What else would work on an ice spirit besides Fire?

Suddenly, Jonnathan’s instincts took over and he pulled both the periwinkle Spirit thread and the silver Steel thread to the surface at the same time, channeling both Elements into himself, which wasn’t easy.  Maintaining balance between the two Elements would prove vital in this.

First, Jonnathan stitched the Steel thread into the most complicated Steel spell he knew and cast it on himself with a cry of “Metallic Defender!”

Metal perfectly molded to fit his body and move with him flawlessly rapidly covered his whole form, excluding his eyes, making him resemble a metal ninja.

Still trying to maintain Elemental balance so neither Element would force the other out of his magical grasp, Jonnathan cast a Spirit spell next, crying out, “Ghostly Cannon!”

His right hand glowed a brilliant periwinkle as the Windigoes approached, and as the first one rushed him, he let go of the spell he was holding back, and a beam of spiritual energy plowed right through the Windigo and several more behind it.

However, there were too many for that one blast to take them all out, so Jonnathan waited for his Spirit magic to recover from the intense output and released it, switching to just Steel.  As another Windigo tried to get close, he swung his left fist in a desperate attempt at a punch, and the magical metal encasing his fist caused the punch to actually shatter part of the Windigo as if it were just made of ice.

The ice ghost screeched in surprise as Jonnathan took the advantage and delivered a series of punches and kicks to the creatures, felling them one after another, until none were left, just a floor coated in ice crystals which quickly evaporated like all the other defeated enemies.

The enemies Jonnathan had frozen earlier finally broke free of the ice encasing them, revealing some manticores and a group of massive Diamond Dogs in heavy armor wielding huge pickaxes that looked more like weapons than tools.

Jonnathan ran for the manticores first, pulling the purple Mind thread to the surface and channeling it through himself to join the Steel Element, and the clash for balance started again, making casting a tricky thing again.  Jonnathan’s Steel reserves were gradually depleting to maintain the armor spell, but the Mind Element had just been freshly added.

Desperately trying to keep the two Elements flowing through him equal, Jonnathan raised his hands and prepared a Mind spell, shouting, “Brainshock!” as a wave of mental pressure engulfed the manticores, causing them to howl in agony.

One of them lashed out with its tail in desperation, but Jonnathan held his position to keep pouring more magic into the Mind spell tormenting the manticores.  The barbed tail struck true, but the attempt to inject poison failed as the venom from the barb was repelled by the armor, which hadn’t been punctured, just dented a little.  The venom flowed uselessly to the ground, and Jonnathan increased the intensity of his Mind spell even further, pretty much wiping out all thought from the manticores until they slumped to the ground, drooling and braindead.

The amount of Mind magic required to power up that simple offensive spell to the level required to turn a large group of manticores into vegetables was simply too much for Jonnathan’s capacity for Mind magic, so he let go of the spent thread so it could recharge, like so many others.  He could feel that his Steel reserves were down to about half, so he released that one as well before looking over the pack of Diamond Dogs approaching him.

His instincts screamed for him to use either Water or Life magic, so he grabbed both the blue Water thread and the green Life thread simultaneously and pulled them both to the surface.  Once again, the two Elements fought for dominance, and Jonnathan felt his control almost slip a few times, but he held firm and started to stitch together a Life spell.

After rapidly stitching the green thread into the shape of a set of leaves as sharp as a freshly-forged sword, Jonnathan cried “Leaf Flurry!” and the sharp leaves started pelting the huge bipedal dogs as they tried to approach, leaving them covered in gashes and cuts after Jonnathan cancelled the first spell to conserve energy for later Life spells.

The dogs howled and started to run at him, so Jonnathan prepared his next spell:  a Water one, this time.  He stitched the thread of Water magic into a shape similar to a flattened paper fan, stretched his hand towards the dogs who were almost upon him and cried, “Torrent Wave!”

A powerful fan of water erupted from Jonnathan’s hand and pummeled the dogs with a torrent of water that spread out the farther it went, knocking the dogs back several feet before they reached the edge of the fan, panting hard.

Jonnathan prepared another Life spell, coiling the green thread of magic into the shape of a very thorny vine and prepared to swing the spell like a whip just as the first dog got to him and started to swing its pickaxe.

“Thorned Lash!” Jonnathan cried as the thread transformed into an actual whip fashioned from vines covered in thorns.  He struck each Diamond Dog in the face before using the whip to strike at their chests and sent them into the wall of the dome, the entire pack passing out from the impact.

Jonnathan released the two Elements he was holding and sized up his next set of foes:  A group of dragons.  Some on two legs, and some on four.  All of them towered over him.

Jonnathan tried to think of all the Elements he had left that hadn’t been spent too much.  He knew Ice would work, but he didn’t have enough remaining.

Time and Space don’t seem like they’d give me much of an advantage, he thought, and though some Death spells can poison, I don’t have time on my side to slowly wear them out!  Freedom revolves around flight and the sky, and Air revolves around wind, so neither of those would give me the upper hand, either!  Instinct wouldn’t help here, since it more deals with insects, arachnids and other similar creatures, anyway, and none of them would have an advantage against a dragon, either!

The dragons circled him, sizing up their prey as he continued to try to think of something.  Force is no good, here, either!  The control of matter on the atomic level would take too long unless I made an explosion with it, and that’d still take too long to charge up!  And Strength wouldn’t help much, either!  Their hides are too thick for me to penetrate, even with magic revolving around physical energy!  Darkness and Light are no-gos, as well!  All that’s left is Power!  He felt for the pink thread of Power and shook his head.  It’s a strong Element because it uses draconic power without being linked to fire, instead using emotions as a fuel source, but how could the power of dragons prove useful against dragons, themselves?  Suddenly, he noticed that the circling dragons were getting way too close for his liking and thought, No more time to think!  Now, it’s time to learn through the school of hard knocks!  Here goes nothing!  He quickly reached for the pink thread and drew it to the surface.  As the power of dragons and emotions flowed through him, Jonnathan started to build a spell as the first dragon prepared to lunge at him.  He forced the magic into himself and fed it some of the courage he had left as fuel before shouting, “Draco Blast!”  The next second, a powerful wave of pink fire leaped from his mouth and right down the throat of the dragon that was intending to crush him with its jaws.  Keeping up the momentum, he poured more magic into the stream of pink fire and did a slow three-sixty, striking every dragon in the large group, knocking the flying ones out of the air as the one that had tried to crush him with its jaws started to belch pink flames along with vomit, doubling over and seizing up before passing out.

Jonnathan ended the spell after all the dragons were grounded, and waited for them to make the next move.  However, none of them did, instead, they took to eyeing him warily after witnessing he had the same power they did, which somehow had penetrated their hides, leaving open flesh that gave off sparks instead of being burned.

So, Power also works on dragons, huh? Jonnathan thought, filing away the useful information.  So, now that I have their attention, what do I do now?

His next course of action was simple: use a spell that would increase his power, and he only had one of those among his Power spells.  He stitched the magic into an aura, fed it happiness from thoughts of his Mommy as fuel and cried, “Hyper Aura!”

The pink field seeped into him and made him more agile, as well as physically stronger.  Taking advantage again, Jonnathan used the third Power spell he knew by stitching the thread into a pair of claw-like gloves, feeding anger into the spell as fuel and shouted “Furious Frenzy!”

The glove-like threads transformed into claw-like energy gloves, and Jonnathan began his rampage on the dragons, tearing at them over and over until each one slumped to the ground and evaporated.

Jonnathan panted for breath when he let go of the Power Element and let it return to its place within him to recharge.

“All enemies defeated.” the voice from before announced.  “Now displaying results.”

The chalkboard materialized again, and the chalk wrote his results for all to see:

All enemies defeated.

Current maximum total magic reserves:  1 Gigaspark
Remaining total magic reserves:  700 Sparks

Current total vitality:  300,000 vp
Total damage taken:  700,000 vp
Amount healed:  527,803 vp
Remaining vitality:  127,803 vp

Success rating:
30%

“WHAT?” Jonnathan shrieked.  “All that hard work, almost getting killed, and all I get is a measly thirty?”

His Mommy trotted over to him and held him tight while whispering in his ear, “You did wonderful, Jonnathan. I meant for there to be only thirty, but something went wrong and it multiplied by ten.  You even making it through that was quite an achievement!  How about I make your favorite for dinner tonight?  Salad with blue cheese, red onions, carrots, red cabbage, croutons, and crab and salmon pieces for you!”

“Yay!” Jonnathan exclaimed as he hugged his Mommy back.  “My favorite salad!  You’re the best, Mommy!”

His Mommy dispelled the dome and the pair returned to the house to work on dinner together, since Jonnathan wanted to help out.