Obiter Dictum

Cool mountain air permeated her lungs, cold morning dew drenched her hooves and the vast blue expanse of the sky loomed over her in the dim early light. Slowly but surely she made the trek from her small camp at the base of the mountain in the Everfree forest. Camping in the wilderness had proven to be a trying but overall refreshing experience for Twilight, not one to be done frequently but every once in a while when the time for a break from society was called for. She made her way up to the face of a cliff her back laden with the instruments of her trade, magic. Pulling a small metal device from the bag she held it up and fed a small magical current through it. The metal needle began to spin in small circles quickly, their was no doubt in her mind, this was the spot of the magical fluctuation she had detected. Originally she came into the mountains to take a break from her daily routine, but after picking up a strange signal from within the mountains she quickly hastened back to her home to retrieve her equipment. Ever the vigilant explorer she set out to locate the source of her magical phenomenon.

But now it seemed her search had come to an end, perhaps it was simply an uncharted lay line or a spell set up by a long dead magician whose purpose would never be discerned. Letting out an unsatisfied sigh she put the instrument away and looked around, staring up at the cliff face she noticed an inconspicuous ledge, nearly unnoticeable but still there, throwing caution to the wind she summoned her magical power and teleported herself to the small outcropping. Touching down on the cool stone the outcrop revealed itself to be the entrance to a cave. Bringing out the instrument again she noticed the needle was spinning at a now dizzying speed. "Incredible, the power given off by this thing rivals being within a few feet of a lay line. I haven't seen a spell of this magnitude before." And with that she entered the cave.

Normally she would have been apprehensive about entering a cave in the mountains but magic of this power tended to drive creatures away. Entering the cave Twilight quickly was hit with a wave of nausea as wave after wave of repulsion magic hit her, managing to throw up a defensive spell she quickly brought out a set of small strangely shaped objects, the magical equivalent of lock-picks and quickly set to work dismantling the spell matrices. Each line of the ethereal runes came apart under her work, like threads being unraveled. Soon the magical wards dissipated no longer linked to their spot. She did this several times but each time she did she made sure to carefully inscribe a replica of the spell in her notebook. After a few hours she had managed to disarm all the spell matrices in the cave that she deemed harmful. Satisfied with her work she ventured farther into the cave, at the end of the cave she came across a small rune inscribed into the very rock itself, its nature was benign and seemed to be inactive, above the small rune sat an inscription, it read as so. "What see's through the darkness, is fragile to light, is treasured by all yet cannot be held?"

Twilight was taken aback at this, all those defensive charms and spells to guard a riddle? Well she would be damned if she didn't figure this riddle out. Thoughts raced across her mind every variable being taken into equation, after a good half an hour she found that she was stumped. She could think of nothing that fit the bill, upset she began to pack up her bags. "I wonder if my friends have any ideas?"

Then like a freight train it hit her, "The heart!" She squealed in delight at having figured out the ancient riddle. Suddenly the small rune burst into life flooding the chamber with an array of lights, each part of the rune came to life spinning and contorting as magic coursed through it. Startled Twilight fell back quickly bringing up a defensive barrier as a bright flash of light blinded her. Suddenly as quickly as it came the light vanished, stunned Twilight opened her eyes. As she regained her vision she saw a small white mare come into focus. On her flank rest the red cross of a medical pony, and she carried in her arms a blood soaked rag. Wait blood! Twilight jumped to her hooves and ran to the mare as she fell to the side.

Catching her she quickly looked her over finding a large stab wound on her neck. The mare looked up with pleading eyes, "Please, keep him safe." She said in a near whisper before her head went limp, her eyes loosing focus and glazing over. Twilight stood there shocked, a pony had just died in her arms. A living being had just died right in font of her.

Her thoughts were shattered as a small cry pierced the cave, looking to the source of the noise she found herself looking at the rags in the dead mares arms, wrapped carefully in the rags was a small black foal. Her eyes widened as she took in the situation. Then her cold hard logical mind kicked into action, she quickly removed the foal from his bloody prison taking great care not to injure his wings she wrapped him in her spare blanket and tucked him under her arm. The mare was obviously dead and no good could be done for her so Twilight teleported her underneath the stone and erected a small grave marker overhead, it read nothing as she knew nothing about the mare and served only to mark her grave. And while no good could be done for her the small foal in her arms was a very immediate concern.

Quickly she exited the cave and made her way down the mountain, the foal quieted down and looked up at her with wide red eyes. It regarded her with a strange complexion that made the mare stop for a moment before resuming the journey down the mountain. Loading her gear and equipment onto her back she quickly exited the mountains and made haste for Ponyville. After an hour or two of walking she finally made it to the outskirts of town, however this was exactly where she wanted to be, dumping her equipment and camping gear on the ground she made her way up to a small cottage made in a tree. Knocking three times she waited at the door until a yellow pegasus answered the door. "H-hello Twilight how can I.." she said before Twilight interrupted.

Holding the foal forward she said, "Help." Upon seeing the blood covered foal Fluttershy gained a completely different attitude.

"Come in." she not so much said as ordered, taking the foal from Twilight she quickly walked into the kitchen. She pointed to a box on the wall with a red cross on the front, "Bring that here." she said as she quickly turned on the facet and began to clean the foal. A few minutes later she let out a sigh and wrapped the baby up in a towel. The foal began to cry almost immediately and Fluttershy was unable to calm him down. "I-I don't know whats wrong. Twilight hold him for a second." she said handing the foal to twilight who held the small child. Instantly the child stopped crying and began cooing at Twilight. Fluttershy stopped in her tracks and smiled, "Well I think he likes you."

"Yes," Twilight said, "But who is he?"

Fluttershy shrugged and smiled, "He's a lost foal, all I can say for sure at this point is that he needs you."