Chapter 1: Fear and comfort (edited)

On a calm, autumn night in the Crystal Empire, two ponies, an alicorn an a unicorn, who were Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, were walking home to their palace where they lived peacefully. "That was an excellent night Shining," Cadence said, looking up at her husband.

"Anything for you, my love," Shining replied, smiling at his wife.

Cadence was about to say something, but then she and Shining Armor heard something that shouldn't be there on a lovely night like this, the sound of a young filly, they could tell it was a filly by how the crying sounded, crying her eyes out. Walking over to where the crying was coming from, they decided to try and find the filly. But as soon as they were trotting into the ally, they could hear the crying stop immediately. "Hello? There's no reason to be scared of us, we won't here you," Cadence called, but no reply.

"I think we should look around for whoever was crying. She must still be in this ally," Shining Armor suggested, to which Cadence nodded. And so they split up to try and find the filly who was crying. "I haven't found anyone, how about you?" Shining asked his princess wife.

"No, I haven't found anything either," Cadence said with a sad shake of her head. Just then, she could hear some of the boxes moving, and turned to see one of them moving. "Now why would any pony leave a filly all alone in a box?" Cadence asked, trotting over to find the source, with Shining Armor following in close pursuit. As they got closer, they could see something in the box that wasn't a pony trying to keep hidden away, out of fear. This made Cadence and Shining Armors heart break. "Shh, don't be afraid little one, there's no reason to be scared," Cadence said, trying to keep the filly calm, which was only slightly effective, since the filly wouldn't show look at the royal couple, since she was still scared. "Would you please come out? You don't have to worry, we won't hurt you," Cadence asked, still in a motherly voice to try and keep the filly from being scared.

But as the filly who was crying crawled out, the crystal couple were shocked to see a little human girl, no older than four, with black hair, and brown eyes, which were red from crying too much, and a green dress. When the little girl saw the couple, she squeaked, and crawled back into the box, trying to hide from the new faces. This made the couple look on in sadness at how scared she was. "Hey, its ok, we won't hurt you little one," Cadence said, trying to coax the timid girl to come out, who hesitantly complied. "That's right, there's no need to be afraid of us," she said, extending her forelegs out to her in the motion of a hug. Looking up, still with fear but less than when they found her, she slowly walked over to Cadence, who hugged her comfortingly. "That's it, no one will ever hurt you, I can promise you," Cadence said, trying to keep the girl from crying again. "Why don't we introduce our selves? My name is Princess MI Amore Cadenza, or Cadence as how I prefer to be called, and this is my husband, Shining Armor," Cadence said, introducing herself and her husband, "Can you tell us your name? There's no reason to be shy," Cadence said soothingly.

Looking up at the pink alicorn, the little girl quietly spoke, "m-my n-name is M-Mavis Princess C-cadence," the little girl said hesitantly, with a bow.

"Well, its lovely to meet you Mavis, but you don't have to call me princess, or bow to us," Cadence said softly, rubbing her back gently. "If I may ask, why are you all alone? Your parents must be worried sick," Cadence asked. At the mention of her parents, Mavis started crying harder than ever. Oh dear, she must be an orphan! Cadence thought to herself, she then rubbed Mavis' back more soothingly, "Shh, its ok, would you like to come with me and Shining Armor? We have plenty of guest rooms that might be more comfortable than the cold ground, and a darling little son named Nathan, who's a human just like you," Cadence asked, inviting the young child to stay with her.

"A-are you sure I-it won't be any t-trouble? I-I mean, I can still stay here if you don't want me in your castle," Mavis said, not wanting to impose.

"We insist you be our guest," Shining Armor said, smiling at the girl who needed a warm bed.

"W-w-well, if you say I can, t-t-then I-I-I'll go," Mavis said, smiling a little at the couple.

"Then lets go!" Cadence said, levitating the small child on her back. When Mavis felt the magic around her, she started shaking after Cadence set her on her back, "Shh, its ok, there's no need to be scared," Cadence said, trying to calm the small child down, after feeling the shaking on her back. With a nod, Mavis stop shaking, and the crystal couple made their way to the palace.

Mavis  hesitantly spoke up with a small, broken tone, "C-cadence, if I can ask, w-where am I?" she asked the alicorn princess, while trying not to anger the royal mare.

"Well, you're in the Crystal Empire, which is in the farthest northern region of Equestria," Cadence explained.

"S-so, I-I'm in another w-world?" Mavis asked, starting to get scared of being alone.

"I'm afraid so, but don't worry, me and Shining Armor will make sure you're never alone, ever again," Cadence reassured the little girl, who only slightly calmed down. "And Nathan is also very friendly, so you won't have to worry about being lonely," Cadence added on. After some walking, the three made it back to the castle. Approaching the front door, Cadence unlocked the door, and the three went inside. Just as they entered, they saw a pair of guards walking towards them. When Mavis saw them, she quickly cocooned herself in Cadences mane, hiding from the stoic faces.

"Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor, I take it your evening out went alright?" asked one of the guards. Just then, they noticed Mavis. "Princess, who is this little one?" the guard said, looking at the new child.

"This is Mavis, and she is a guest until further notice," Shining Armor said with his expression turning serious, "Now then, I need you two to go and help prepare a guest bedroom, for her," Shining Armor instructed.

"Yes sir!" the two guards said, before going to get the bedroom ready.

"Alright Mavis, lets go and get you something warm to eat, before, we put you to bed," Cadence said, looking back to the young girl.

"O-ok C-c-cadence, that s-sounds n-nice," Mavis said, hesitantly. And with that, Cadence took Mavis to the kitchen to make her something warm. "C-cadence, w-would it b-be ok if I j-just had some t-toast?" Mavis asked, hoping the pink alicorn wouldn't be mad at her for asking.

"Ok, but how many slices would you like?" Cadence asked.

"I-I think two w-would b-be n-nice," Mavis replied, feeling guilty for asking a princess for food.

"Ok, and would you like any butter or cinnamon on your toast?" Cadence asked, which resulted in a head shake from Mavis. "Ok, then would you like something to drink as well? I think we have some milk," Cadence asked.

"B-but you're a-already d-doing t-too much f-for m-me, I'll j-just stick with toast, u-unless y-you want m-me to have a d-drink, then I w-will have m-milk," Mavis said, taking the offer for milk as if she was being ordered to have something to drink.

"Shh, I'm not forcing you to have anything you don't want, and its our honor to help you," Cadence said, reassuring the young girl.

"O-ok, but I can s-still h-have m-milk?" Mavis asked nervously.

"If you want milk, then I'll get you some," Cadence said, smiling at the little girl, who nodded solemnly. Once in the kitchen, Cadence saw her son Nathan, who was making a sandwich for dinner. "Oh Nathan, I have a special guest for you to meet," Cadence said to the young boy, who looked over to his mother.

"And where is the new guest?" Nathan asked in his usual southern accent.

"She's on my back," Cadence said, motioning to her back. "Nathan, this is Mavis, our newest guest," Cadence said, introducing the new girl, "Mavis, its ok, this is Nathan, the sweet boy I told you about. There's no reason for worry, he won't hurt you, right Nathan?" Cadence asked her human son with batwings, who nodded.

Peeking from her hiding place in Cadences soft mane, Mavis looked at the young boy in front of her, "Hello n-Nathan, its nice to meet you," Mavis said, still a bit shaky with meeting new people or ponies.

"Why howdy there, and its just like mommy said, ah would never dream of hurtin' ya, so no need to worry," Nathan said with a soothing voice, just like his mother.

"Now, why don't you two get to know each other, while I make Mavis her toast?" Cadence asked, as she grabbed some bread, and put it in the toaster and let it start on the toast. After that, Cadence proceeded to getting Mavis her milk, and poured it into a cup she got down. Just as she put the milk away, the toast got done cooking. Putting the slices of toast on a plate, Cadence carefully levitated the milk and the toast over to Mavis, who was just playing with her hair. "Here you go sweetie, two slices of toast, and a glass of milk, just as you requested," Cadence said with a smile.

"O-ok, thank y-you Cadence," Mavis said, still feeling guilty for having a princess serve food to her. Taking a few bites and sips of the toast and milk, Mavis finished all the toast and milk.

"My, you were hungry, weren't you?" Cadence asked with a giggle. "Ok, lets go and put you up for bed," Cadence said, levitating the plate and cup over to the sink so they can be taken care of later, and then levitating Mavis onto her back, Cadence proceeded to take her to the guest room, where she would be staying for now. Once Cadence tucked Mavis in, she then gave the small child a gentle kiss on the head. "Good night sweetheart," Cadence said, before walking to go tuck Nathan into bed.

"Mommy, what are we gonna do about Mavis?" Nathan asked, feeling concerned for the young girl.

"I'll talk it over with your father, and we'll go from there, ok?" Cadence asked, which Nathan nodded in response. "Good, now sweet dreams Nathan," Cadence said, giving her bat winged son a kiss for the night, before trotting to hers and Shining Armors room.

"What should we do about Mavis?" Shining asked his wife.

"I think we should introduce her to Aunt Celestia and Twilight and see where we go from there. Mavis needs to know that there are ponies out there who wouldn't want her to be sad," Cadence replied, "Once we introduce Mavis, we should probably ask Aunt Luna to see why Mavis is so scared," Cadence added on, which Shining Armor nodded in understanding. "Well, good night," Cadence said, turning off her lamp.

"Good night," Shining said, turning off his lamp and falling asleep.