Rad

As morning rose in the kingdom of Rad, Queen Jeanne was in the dining hall enjoying a nice, warm breakfast when a guard walked in. He bowed his head. "Your majesty, a letter has arrived for you." He held the letter in his hand and handed over to the royal. "It is from Princess Alicia Arcturus."

"Thank you my good Sir." Jeanne gave a nod toward the guard, which he returned before turning to walk back out of the dining hall. Jeanne looked curiously at the letter. Then she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Jeanne took out a letter opener over to the envelop and opened it. "I hope that Alicia and her friends aren't in trouble." A look of worry etched across the Queen's face as she unfolded the letter and began reading it.

Dear Queen Jeanne,

How are you doing? One day, we should plan a day out together, just the two of us so we can enjoy each other's company. However, that isn't the reasoning for me writing you this letter.

Two nights ago, my dear cousin Prim discovered something very unusual in a small basket at Sunny's front door. It was a young child! His name is Toby Mason and he is such a young gentleman, but when myself and the other Warriors took him to meet Celestine and King Charles, we discovered that there is something deeply bother the poor dear.

We decided not to bother pushing the matter though, because we believe it would be best for him to tell us when he is ready. For now, I would like to invite you to a party that we are having at New Rad to welcome Toby to East Liverpool. If you decide to attend, you may bring any food or party supplies if you would like to, but if not, that is okay. We hope to see you there!

Your loyal princess,

Princess Alicia Arcturus

"Oh my, this sounds like it would be fun! I never been to East Liverpool before, but Toby sounds like such a cute little thing!" Jeanne giggled.

Great Clothes

"Claudia, I'm here!" Sunny arrived at the boutique noticing that it was quiet. "Hmm.. that's weird, Claudia should already be up." The girl placed her bag near the door as she could hear the distant sound of snoring, causing her to giggle. "Oh, she must have been working late last night. She only snores if she had a long night." She walked toward the stairs and sneaked up step by step.

Sunny opened the door to peek in and saw her friend sleeping, on her working desk. She giggled at the sight, but quietly walked in until she was up near her desk. "CLAUDIA!"

"AH!" Claudia leaped up from the desk. "Wh-who's there?" She looked around to see Sunny grinning from ear to ear. "Sunny, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" She let out an exaggerated yawn. "What time is it anyway?" She rubbed at her eyes with her hands.

"It's eight o'clock, but it's the weekend so..." Sunny was immediately cut off with a shriek.

"EIGHT O'CLOCK?!" Claudia quickly jumped off of her seat with a panic as she quickly ran over to her workstation. "Oh dear, oh dear, I'm going to be late!" She breathed at a heavy, worried pace.

Sunny walked up to her friend, looking worried. "Claudia, calm down?" She nudged at her friend's shoulder with a hand. "What has gotten you all worked up?"

Claudia placed a hand to her chest as she calmed her breathing. She looked toward her friend. "Sunny, it is a new special piece of clothing for a new arrival that I met at the catacombs." A smile of warmth crept across the knight's face.

"Oh, who is it Claudia? Will I get to meet him or her?" Sunny clapped her hands excitedly with a wide grin.

"Easy young dragon rider, of course you will meet him." Claudia chuckled softly at her friend's eagerness. "In fact you can come with me to the catacombs, because Prim has taken care the little dear into our home." Claudia patted Sunny on the head. She took out a tailored suit over to her." This is a special gift I made for the little dear, but Sunny, I need you to tell you something, alright?" She gave the filly a firm look.

"What is it Claudia?" Sunny looked at her friend curiously, but a little bit worried at the tone which Claudia spoke with.

"This new arrival to East Liverpool is a little boy, but Sunny dear, he has a heart of gold, and his name is Toby." Claudia felt her heart flutter by just talking about the little boy. "However, there is something myself and the others believe deeply bothering the child, but we have decided to not force the issue. We are going to wait until he is ready to talk." She rubbed at Sunny's shoulder.

A frown formed on Sunny's face. "Oh gosh Claudia! That sounds do sad, but I promise I won't say a word to the girls about Toby. I can't wait to see the little guy though, he sounds like such a cutie." Sunny goggled with a blush.

Catacombs

As the sun peeked through the cracks of the sewers to Prim's room, the princess slowly started to stir in her sleep as she let out a soft yawn. Her eyes fluttered open. 'Mm.. what a peaceful sleep I had last night.' She turned to look at the sleeping child underneath her arm and a warm, maternal smile crept across her face. 'I sure do hate to wake him up, but the little one does need to eat.' She leaned her head close to Toby and nuzzled at his sleeping form. "Toby sweetheart, it's time to wake up." She rubbed at him tenderly with her hand.

Slowly, the young boy started to awaken as he yawned gently, blinking his eyes open to look up into the warm, beautiful eyes of the princess. "Good morning Prim." He greeted her with a soft smile.

"Did you sleep alright last night Toby? Are you hungry, I will make you whatever you would like?" She nuzzled his forehead, continuing to rub at his form with her hand, but the sound of rumbling of his little tummy caused her to giggle. "I would say that is a yes." She booped her nose against his as she carefully lifted her arm off the child and climbed off the bed.

Toby sat on his knees on the bed, stretching out his little arms as he looked through the cracks in awe. "Oh it looks very pretty outside Prim." He let out another yawn as he climbed out of the bed to stand next to Prim. "Prim, could you make some oatmeal like you did the first morning we met?" A hopeful smile formed across his face.

"Of course dear. Would you like for me to add the milk and honey into it as well like I did last time?" She stroked his hair with a hand, as she received a simple nod from the child. "Would you like to carry you Toby, or would you like to walk down the stairs by yourself?" She looked down at the child with a warm smile.

"I think I'll walk down by myself Prim, but thank you." He returned the warm smile up at her as he saw her start to walk toward the staircase. He followed behind as he saw her easily walk down the steps, but he carefully stepped down on step at a time. As they reached the bottom, they were greeted by all of the dragons under the Warriors' care. "Good morning everyone, how are you all?" Toby greeted them with a soft smile as they chittered in return.

Prim smiled at the interacting between her dragon friends and the child, until a thought came to her. She looked down at Toby curiously. "Um... Toby sweetheart, while I fix your breakfast, how would you like to feed them?" She stroked at his shoulder with a hand.

"Oh, I would like that Prim!" He looked up elated at the request as he watched Prim walked over to a few buckets set up against the tv.

Prim smiled warmly at the boy at his excitement, waving him over with a hand. "Come over here dear so I can show you how to divide the food among them all." Toby nodded as he walked over to her as she motioned at the buckets. "Um... now as you can see Toby, I have written the dragon on which bucket they eat. Just use each of the fishes that I specifically measured for each one and I'll call you when I am done with your oatmeal." She kissed his forehead before walking into the kitchen.

Toby smiled as Prim went into the kitchen and turned towards the dragons. "Alright, who's hungry?" He asked as excited chitter among them erupted, earning a chuckle from the child. He looked at the fish buckets, took a deep breath. 'I hope I'll be able to do a good job.' He started to measure each of the fishes before starting to feed the dragons.

Meanwhile, as Prim was fixing the boy's oatmeal, there was a knock at the door. 'Oh, I wonder who that could be this time of morning.' She placed the bowl on the counter so she could walk into the living room. "I'll get it." She walked in to see Toby feeding the dragons with joy not only on his face, but also the dragons. She walked toward the door. "Um.. yes, who is it?"

"Good morning Prim dear, it's Claudia and Sunny." Claudia smiled warmly as she looked at her friend. "Now Sunny, when you meet Toby, don't become all hyper or excited, you don't want to scare the precious dear." She gave Sunny a firm nod. "Understood?"

"I won't scare him Claudia, I promise." She rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh.

The door opened to reveal Prim with a warm smile on her face. "Um... good morning Claudia and Sunny, please come in." She stepped aside to let the two women in. "I was just fixing us a little breakfast, would you both like some?"

"Oh no dear, but thank you." Claudia nodded softly as she looked over to see Toby feeding the dragons. "Well good morning Toby dear, how are you feeling today?" She walked over to the child, placing a hand over his shoulder and nuzzled the top of his head.

The child let out a giggle as he looked up at her. "Good morning Claudia, I am feeling great today, how are you?" He smiled warmly as he was feeding the last few dragons. "I am just helping Prim feed the dragons while she fixes me some oatmeal."

"Well, you are doing a mighty fine job feeding them dear." She then suddenly heard her friend clear her throat. "Oh right. Toby, I would like for you to meet someone special to me." She waved Sunny which the girl obliged. "This is my dear friend, Sunny Flare." She then looked at Sunny. "Sunny, this dear child is Toby Mason."

"Aww.. aren't you a cutie!" Sunny gushed as she carefully walked closer to him, and wrapped an arm around him in a warm hug. "It is nice to meet you Toby!" She nuzzled his cheek.

Toby was taken aback by the sudden embrace by the girl, but returned the hug as he blushed at the cutie comment. "Thank you Sunny Flare. It is nice to meet you too." He giggled as they released the hug.

Claudia smiled at the two. "Toby dear, I have brought you something new to wear." She took out the new design over to the child. "Now I have to covered, because I didn't want it to get it dirty while we were on our way over here." She stroked the top of his head. "Oh, I know dear, how about we start you a bath while Prim fixes your breakfast, and after you're done, then you can try on your new outfit?" She gave the child a gentle wink.

"I would like that Claudia." He looked up into her beautiful, blue eyes with a warm smile, and then looked over to Prim. "Would that be okay Prim?"

"Um.. of course it will be okay sweetheart. I'll be making your oatmeal while you are taking a bath, and it will be nice and warm when you get out." Prim stroked the top of his head.

Claudia gently laid a hand around the boy's shoulders. "Come dear, I'll help you get your bath ready." She allowed the child to lead the way as Toby climbed the steps, with the knight right behind him to make sure he is careful.

As they arrived at the bathroom, Claudia turned the water on, and walked over to the tub to put her hand in it to check the temperature. With a satisfied smile, she allowed the water to run a little as she hung the new clothes on the hangar on the wall. "Now dear, I'll be downstairs with Prim and Sunny when you are done." She turned to rub at his shoulder. "I can't wait to see you in your new outfit!" She beamed as she turned to walk out of the bathroom to allow the child to take his bath.

Claudia walked back downstairs to see Prim giggling. "Well, well, well, what did I miss that quite is funny dears?" She bashed her eyebrows.

"Oh, I was telling Prim about the time me, and the girls tried out as candy makers when we visited Maia at Sugar Snacks." Sunny blushed. "I told her how all of us ended up in the taffy machine." The girl started to giggle as well.

"Oh gosh, not that story again." Claudia facepalmed. "Prim dear, you don't understand how hard it was to get that sticky gunk out of Sunny's hair." She couldn't help but let out a chuckle herself. "It took over two hours to finally get it all out." She sighed heavily.

"Um... I'm sorry Claudia, but um... haha... I couldn't help but laugh at the story." Prim placed a hand to her lips to try to stifle her laughing.

"It's okay dear, Sunny learned to never try her hand at candy making again. Isn't that right Sunny?" Claudia raised an eyebrow at her young friend.

"Yes Claudia, I promise I will never mess with making candy unless Maia or Pinkie are watching over me." She rolled her eyes with a sigh of her own.

Moments later, Toby came downstairs wearing his new outfit, but there were tears in his eyes. "Claudia?" He spoke in a soft, gentle tone.

Claudia looked toward the stairs. "Yes Toby dear?" She then gasped as she saw him in tears. "Toby dear, what's the...oof!" She suddenly felt the child run into her, burying her face into her warm stomach. She felt his little form shaking, but gently wrapped her arm around him in a tender hug, and lightly rubbed his back.

Prim looked on concerned for the child, along with Sunny. A frown crept across Prim's face. 'Oh no, I hope he is okay.'

Claudia continued to rub along his back tenderly for a few more minutes until she felt his crying started to calm down. She leaned down and nuzzled the top of his head, lightly cooing to him. "Shh... it's okay dear." She unwrapped her arm from around him as he slowly pulled away. She looked down at him concerned. "Now Toby dear, what's the matter? Is there something with wrong with your new outfit?" She reached up to rub at his shoulder gently.

"N-no Claudia, I love my new clothes." He sniffled as his breathing came to a steady, calmed pace. "Thank you so much Claudia for this!" He placed his hand over his heart where his locket was sewn into the outfit.

It consisted of a royal blue hoodie, the locket sewn on the left side of his chest, and a pair of matching blue jogging pants. Toby looked down at the locket. "My mommy made this for me to give me on my fourth birthday." He carefully opened the front of the locket to show the three women. "She took this picture of me when I was a baby." He sniffled as a shallowed swallow traveled down his throat. "She told me that she will always be in my heart and will always be there for me if I just hold this near me."

'Oh my, I wonder if...' Prim felt tears in her eyes after listening to Toby telling about his locket, but tried to calm herself to quiet her thoughts. "Well, that was a very beautiful gift that your Mommy gave you Toby." The princess sniffled, wiping away her own tears.

He nodded in agreement to Prim. "I always make sure to keep it close to me, but thanks to you Claudia, I always will." He hugged at her chest. "Thank you Claudia so much!" A smile of warmth crept upon the child's face.

"Aww... don't mention it dear, it was my pleasure to make it for you." She tenderly kissed the top of his head. "Your Mommy done a marvelous job with such a wonderful gem as that, but I think she has done an even more wonderful job on such a precious dear like you." She smiled and hugged him close to her.

Prim cleared her throat. "Um... Toby sweetheart, how about you go eat your oatmeal while I talk with Claudia for a little bit?" She gave him a warm smile.

"Okay Prim." Toby walked to the kitchen, and climbed up into the chair at the table.

"Sunny, how about you go join him?" Claudia looked at her friend who walked into the kitchen to sit by the boy. Claudia then looked over at Prim. "Prim dear, what would you like to discuss?" A curious look etched across the knight's face.

Prim walked over to the sofa, motioning Claudia to follow. "Um... well Claudia, I was thinking of how we can maybe find out what is truly bothering Toby." She bit her lower lip nervously.

"Hmm... what could that be dear?" Claudia placed a hand on the princesses' shoulder to keep her calm as she spoke.

"Um... well I was thinking when we get to New Rad and finish the welcoming party for Toby, I would ask Kin if maybe we could.. um... Well." Prim turned her head to the side shyly.

Claudia rubbed at her shoulder carefully. "What is it dear? Wait... are you thinking about asking Kin to allow us to venture into Toby's dreams?" Her eyes grew wide at the thought, but was met with a slow nod from her friend. "Now Prim dear, I am deeply bothered by what is bothering the poor little boy as much as you, but going into his dreams is well, kind of intrusive." She gave a small frown.

"Um... I know Claudia, but I think maybe if we go inside his dreams, maybe we can slowly get him to talk to us about what is bothering him." Prim sighed heavily as she looked over to the kitchen at the child. "Um... will you support me on this Claudia when I tell the others?" She looked at the knight with a hopeful smile.

"Of course dear, I'll support you." Claudia rubbed at her shoulder some more. "And you should know that the others will fully support you as well." She gave Prim a wink.

"Alright cutie, just hold on okay?" Sunny giggled as she came walking back into the living room with Toby riding on her back. "Wow Toby! You are light as a feather!" The girl giggled as she turned her gaze at the child on her back.

"This is fun Sunny, but are you sure you don't mind carrying me on your back?" He giggled, but also had a concerned tone in his voice.

"Of course not cutie, it is fun for me too. If I start to go too fast, let me know and I'll slow down, okay?" She turned her head to nuzzle at him.

"Oh my, well aren't you two having a fun time." Claudia chuckled. "Are you both ready to go to New Rad Station?" She walked up to her friend to nuzzle at the child. "We are going to take you to see someone special? We believe you will enjoy it." She winked at Toby.

"That is right sweetheart, Claudia, Sunny, and her friends, and our friends will all be coming with you." Prim then turned to Flame and Smoke was standing right by her side. "Now sweeties, you two are in charge of the catacombs while we are gone, okay?" Flame and Smoke gave a firm nod and salute. Prim leaned up to kiss between the Zippleback's horns. "That's my boys!" She leaned her head to look at the three. "Um... I'm ready to go if you all are."

"Next stop New Rad Station! Hold on cutie, I'm going to show you a real fun time!" She giggled as she felt the boy hold onto her neck, and with a starting step, she started to run at a light pace.

"Sunny Flare! Don't scare the poor dear!" Claudia sighed heavily as she rolled her eyes, following after them.

Prim exited the catacombs last, shutting the door behind her. She took in a deep breath and exhaled. 'Toby tonight is for you, but I hope you won't be too upset with us when we go into your dreams. We just want to find out what is bothering you.' Prim sighed heavily as she followed the three on the trek to New Rad Station.

'I know he isn't from East Liverpool, but after the time I have come to get to know him and take care of him, I grown to love him each day more and more.'