I do not own MLP
Chapter Twenty Eight: The Filly
When Twilight woke up the next day she didn't notice anything wrong. She got out of bed and was fixing her mane. That was when she heard a rustling in her sheets causing her to turn around and spot a periwinkle figure on her bed.
"SPIKE!" she screamed causing the figure to let out a startled yelp before falling of the bed entangled in her covers. Twilight flew over ready to defend herself when she spotted a unicorn filly lying in a heap. She had a periwinkle coat, with blue eyes like diamonds, and had a midnight blue and cream colored mane.
"How did you get in here?" the Princess asked as Spike ran into her room with a broom. The filly blinked up at her before replying. "I-I don't know! I... who... who are you?"
"How could you not know who Princess Twilight is?" questioned the purple dragon walking up to the filly who just scrambled under the bed. He looked under only to find her curled farthest away from a reachable distance.
"I don't know who any of you are! I don't even know... who..." the filly trailed off in a mumble and this caused Twilight to be very suspicious. This could be a trap set by Sombra, using her magic she moved her bed gently to the side. Then she tried to levitate the young pony only for her to let out a yelp as her horn glowed in a pale silver light. A barrier appeared around the filly dispersing the magic. Twilight blinked in surprised, the filly looked just as shocked as she and the barrier fell.
"How... how did I do that?" she asked looking at the alicorn her eyes filling with tears. "Why can't I remember?"
"Twilight, I think she's serious." Spike spoke up walking over to the young unicorn. "I don't think any minion of Sombra's can show that level of emotion without eye drops."
"Maybe your right but we have to check just to be sure." the Princess of Friendship replied before glancing at the small unicorn. "I guess we can't keep calling you, you forever though... should we give her a name later?"
"I wouldn't recommend it." advised the young dragon as the filly hid behind him. "Come on Twilight if she doesn't remember then a name right now would be a great gift."
"A name isn't something you should just give to someone on the spot." explained the alicorn before looking at the filly trying to at least give her something. "Uhhh... How about..."
Twilight had no idea what to call someone, she either named them based on physical characteristics or after famous unicorns. With this filly she had no clue, the assistant sighed before looking at her. Judging by how Twilight freaked out this morning it meant that the filly had appeared during the night. She was also on the bed closest to the window meaning she was in direct view of the moon. And since there was no sign of a teleportation spell or forced entry she must have gotten in another way.
"How about Moonlight Wisp?" he suggested and the filly looked at him curiously as did Twilight. "It's all we got so far."
"True enough." muttered the Alicorn before looking around. "But who can we take her to?"
"Um... Twilight?" gulped Spike as he looked towards the doorway were a small ball of pale silver light was. The princess turned around and gasped as the light led them away. She followed it and the light led her into the library where it took form. It was of an old stallion with bells on his cape and hat. He was beige, with a grey and white mane, and crystal blue eyes that sparkled.
"Star Swirl the Bearded!" squealed Twilight barely containing her excitement. "What are you doing here?"
"I sensed that you needed questions answered." he replied before looking at the filly that had followed them. "Oh dear, I warned the Other."
"You know who this is?" she asked and the old mage nodded his head before telling her. "Princess Twilight Sparkle listen to me very carefully, this little one is the physical form of the Other, the being that brought you here from the caves. It is a little difficult to explain what the Other is, however, the Other went to get Sombra out of the Crystal Empire. In being defeated beings like the Other are forced to retake their physical form with some problems. In this filly's case the Other lost her head and it was too soon so the child lost her memories and was placed into the body of a filly. Right now she is vulnerable until the memories are restored and the Other can take her form again."
"So what can we do?" questioned the Princess of Friendship and the old unicorn stroked his beard before looking at Spike. "You have too much to do Princess Twilight, I believe the best choice is to let your assistant there raise and take care of the filly. He has done a good job making sure your needs have been taken care of."
"How do you know if this isn't an agent of Sombra?" was the alicorn's final question, Star Swirl sighed before telling her. "I haven't seen that filly in a long time Twilight, once you grow old you cannot turn back the hands of time. Now, as for you young dragon I will use what powers I have right now to cast a binding spell on the both of you. Just so young Twilight here doesn't have to worry. You will be able to know where... Moonlight Wisp is at all times and her actions. The side effects may include sudden teleportation when she gets too far out of range."
"Uh, wait, what?" Spike was confused, he didn't know what this range was. Did he have to set the range? The two ponies and the young dragon watched as Star Swirl's horn glowed and light blue magic poured fourth surrounding the two. Looking closely Twilight noticed that stars were combined with the magic. Soon a pattern appeared on Spike's left arm and Moonlight's right foreleg. The alicorn princess went to go check it out not noticing the old stallion vanishing in a mist of stars.
"We should probably tell the others." the dragon suggested looking at his mother figure who just nodded her head. They headed off to go find their friends with Moonlight glancing behind for just a second. The old unicorn seemed familiar to her but she just couldn't remember. So she followed after the two doing her best to keep up. Spike had a bad feeling about what the girls would say about him raising a filly. They gathered the other's in the throne room and told them the news.
"Are you serious?" Rainbow Dash asked looking at the three, she could definitely tell that the kid was not working for Sombra. "Why didn't he choose you Twilight? I mean you did raise Spike!"
"Twilight does have a lot on her plate. But are you sure that Spike will be able to take on raising a filly?" Rarity inquired and she heard Spike think. 'I'm sitting right here you know.'
"It is a lot of work." she told him earning a surprised look on the young dragon's face. "Are you sure you can handle it?"
The purple assistant was about to reply when Applejack interrupted. "It ain't going to be easy. I mean I had help from Granny Smith and Big Mac to raise little Apple Bloom."
"I'll be fine. I did look after Peewee and Twilight." reassured Spike as the girl's talk amongst themselves. "Moonlight is going to need more than just someone to look after her. She needs a friend and a mentor figure. I mean I can't teach her magic but I can teach her what it means to be a pony. After all it is what you guys taught me."
"Aww." was the white unicorn's response but the other ponies ignored him. That was when Rarity got an idea.
"Spike, how about one of us helps you?" she suggested looking at the small dragon. He had been her anchor since she got her ability of telepathy. Whenever the thoughts of others became to loud she would just focus on the dragon's thoughts and block the others out. All the other ponies seemed to pay attention at that point.
"What do you mean Rarity?" asked Twilight looking a bit confused before the fashionista explained. "Well Spike is just one dragon, taking care of a filly isn't just a one pony job. But since Spike is the one chosen to take care of Moonlight he gets to choose who works with him. So I thought we could take today convincing him who should work with him."
"Sounds like a good idea." responded Applejack and Twilight shook her head saying. "I think I would prefer to teach her how to use magic. Star Swirl is right, I do have a lot on my plate."
"I'm in."
"Me too!"
"Whee! This sounds like fun!"
"If everyone else is in then I am as well."
"The rules are these: 1) No bribes, we are seeing who can raise a filly not who can get on Spike's or hers good side. 2) We must get along with both Spike and Moonlight. 3) Each of us in our own way must show Moonlight Wisp what it means to be a pony. And 4) We must spend at least three hours with them" explained the white mare and the ponies nodded. "Now we are going to draw lots to see who goes first. Spike will you be a dear and grab five sticks of all different sizes?"
"Alright!" the dragon replied before heading off. He returned a few minutes later with the sticks hidden behind his claw saying. "Alright, pick one!"
Pinkie Pie was the first to chose grabbing what looked like shortest stick. Next was Applejack who grabbed what seemed to be a decent sized stick out of the group. Rainbow got the second shortest. Fluttershy's was longer than AJ's. Rarity picked the shortest stick.
"Well Fluttershy, you go first." Spike said as he listed the order down on a sheet of paper. The yellow pony smiled before heading back to her cottage with the two. She spent most of the day taking care of the animals and chatting with both of them. For her being a pony meant having a kind and patient heart. Though the presentation was a bit lacking with how Moonlight seemed to shy away from the animals. The two enjoyed a cup of tea with the pink maned pegasus before heading out.
Applejack was next, she had some farm work for them to do. Courage was helping out as well having returned... from the opposite direction of the Crystal Empire. The work she had them do promoted teamwork amongst them. She believed that being a pony meant hard work and dedication. The periwinkle filly struggled with the workload and had to take many breaks. Applejack encouraged her and allowed her to take breaks. However Moonlight didn't feel like this was what it meant to be a pony.
Rainbow Dash just spent most of the time talking about herself, at first. When she saw how bored the two were getting she decided to get to know them a little better. Being a pony meant never giving up... even though she almost did on a few occasions.
Pinkie just threw a party, she just wanted somepony to play with for the day. For her being a pony meant having fun! Plus she knew that Moonlight was about to run out in 5. 4. 3. 2... and 1. The filly ran out of the party heading back towards the castle with Spike right behind her. The pink pony stopped dancing for a moment and smiled. Her visions were quite frequent but... at least she is having fun with how many times a pony would change their mind on a decision.
Moonlight Wisp ran back into the castle and headed up a set of stairs. She just wanted to be alone! She didn't want somepony or dragon trying to give vague hints about what it meant to be a pony.
"I just want to be told." she whispered as she opened a door, inside was a large telescope facing upwards. The filly just sat underneath it facing away from the door as Spike walked in deeply concerned. Rarity was right behind him having watched the two running from her shop. She was going to spend the day with them so she had to make sure her house was clean.
"Moonlight?" he asked quietly walking up next to the pony before sitting down. "Is everything alright?"
"I don't remember being a pony, so when I see everyone trying to show me... nothing. I feel nothing." mumbled the filly and the white pony sighed before walking up behind her.
"Well being a pony is hard to explain in words." Spike told her placing a claw on her shoulder. "For me it is being kind, honorable, and well... myself. It just means being you!"
"Being...me?" Moonlight was confused, she didn't even know what she was like. Rarity spoke up at this moment. "Precisely darling. Being a pony isn't just about copying another, you must be able to find your own personality! Now I am sorry for putting you through that. I didn't realize it would bother you so much."
"I shouldn't have run out on that... party." the midnight blue and cream colored maned unicorn said looking down. Rarity and Spike chuckled before giving the filly a hug. Moonlight just looked surprised and the dragon blushed. They relaxed after a while before a light shown in between them as the same pattern appeared around Rarity's neck. The three stared at it in confusion before the white mare spoke. "Did you just make that appear or was this all part of Star Swirl the Bearded's plan?"
"I'm not sure actually." answered the purple dragon before looking at Moonlight. "Well... I guess I can also teach you what it means to be a true dragon!"
"Spike." sighed the fashionista before laughing, Moonlight just looked confused for a bit. "I guess you will be staying in the castle then?"
"Well I do have to help Twilight." Spike reminded her. "And you can always visit."
"Yes, but I've been looking for a perfect spot in Canterlot to open a second boutique." the store owner explained tapping her chin with her hoof. "And yet that could be a while. Do you mind if I stay the night?"
"I don't mind one bit!" responded the smaller dragon as he watched Moonlight wander around the room ignoring the two. "Though what should we do about her schooling?"
"Twilight would probably want her in the castle to teach her about magic." mused Rarity watching the filly as well. "And with the school having mainly earth ponies she won't learn magic. Which is a problem for Sweetie Belle as well... that's odd."
"What is?" questioned the assistant looking a bit confused as the white mare headed over to the small unicorn.
"Sweetie Belle is this tall." explained the cerulean eyed unicorn as she used her magic to create a basic outline of Sweetie Belle. "Comparing her to Moonlight, she around the same height as the average filly. Moonlight is tall for her age."
Spike and Rarity looked at each other as the gears began to turn. Who was the Other?
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