Enchanting Toys

As a young filly from Canterlot there was a lot of things to be afraid of. Growing up in one of the richest cities in the world put a lot of pressure on you. I had many fears when I was young, I was afraid of the dark, afraid of loud noises, but the one thing I was afraid of most was monsters. I had heard a lot of stories about monsters from old books that told about them but I'd never actually seen one– even though– it didn't stop me from being afraid of them. Monsters could hide anywhere and I had to be constantly vigilant, under the bed, in the closet, on the way to the bathroom, that one shadowy corner of my room.

My fears wouldn't go away, year after year they continuously got worse. Eventually it grew into night terrors, I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare. I knew my parents were getting tired of it because by now they stopped coming to my room. I felt alone, I felt like I needed something to comfort me. Fear was one thing that kept me awake at night, I was afraid to sleep because I was afraid of the dreams. After Cadence started foal-sitting me the nightmares stopped for a while. She was the one pony I could confide my fears of monsters in without hearing a sigh of annoyance, or get mocked for my ridiculous phobia.

After a few months the nightmares returned, it was a night that my parents were out on the town and I was being watched by Cadence. I still can't remember what the dream was but she came rushing into my room looking as terrified as I felt.

"What's the matter?" She gasped through her heavy breathing.

"I had a nightmare." I whimpered, feeling foolish.

"Awww, come here little one." She held me in a tight hug, I felt better immediately.

I told her about my constant fears of monsters, I told her that I couldn't sleep because of it. How the fears of the beasts I'd read about kept me up at night for years.

"How about this, tomorrow I'll bring you something special. It's a magical toy that can keep monsters away." She explained.

I sniffled a little. "Really?"

"Really." She assured.

"Thank you, Cadence. You're the best." I gave her a hug, and smiled.

"You're welcome little one, now get some rest. You have to train for your test that's coming up in a few weeks." She nudged me into bed.

I curled up and fell back to sleep.

Cadence gently shut the door behind her, of course she didn't have enough money to buy her a toy. She decided to make one out of whatever she could. Twilight's parents came home and relived her of her foal-sitting duties. She made her way to her room in the castle she shared with Princess Celestia.

She pulled together a few old grey blankets and cut up a simple pattern, and sewed them together. It wasn't the best stuffed toy she'd ever seen but it was a present from her so it would have sentimental value to the sweet little filly. She threaded through some brown yarn for hair and two mismatched buttons for eyes. Now she just had to stuff it. She walked over to the table where she used to study her magical spells and grabbed some old dusty cloths. As she did a dusty book fell off the table, spine down, on an open page.

Cadence trotted over to the book and peered at the open page. The title of the spell read "Animated Enchantment". It looked simple enough, the book said that it could make inanimate objects come to a life of there own. She thought it might help little Twilight love the toy more if she could actually talk to it. She looked at the spell for a minute and began casting it on the cloths. They glowed with magic and there was a puff of grey smoke as the spell finished.

Cadence stuffed the doll and sewed it up and looked at it. Yes it was absolutely hideous, but she wasn't exactly a seamstress. Besides Twilight would love it simply because it was a gift from her favorite foal-sitter. She finished patching it up and put it on her night stand for tomorrow. Then she climbed into bed to get some well deserved rest.

Cadence asleep, she had not noticed the moonlight shining directly on the doll she had made as it glowed under the shine. There was a low growl, as if from an animals stomach. The toy let out a heaved breath and stopped glowing.