Chapters Twilight signed, as she walked down the streets of Ponyville to her bright and warm castle, the Friendship Castle. Celestia had out of the blue called her to a princess summit that afternoon and she didn't even have the chance to tell her friends, who were probably worried sick about her by now.
She passed a alleyway, which had a rather rotten smelling dustbin inside. She wondered why she passed through this alley, but in the end did not care as it was the fastest way to get to her castle by hoof. She summoned a nose peg and levitated it onto her nose, to block out the smell. She would have continued but as the rain began crackling down, a sound was brought with it, a wheezing, crying sound which wasn't normal.
The sound in question was muffled, and very weak but Twilight could hear it. Her ears went in all direction in order to pinpoint where the sound came from, cause if it was a hurt animal, she wasn't gonna leave it alone. Her ears eventually pinpointed her to the dustbin, which caused her to raise a eyebrow in suspicion and concern of what she would find.
She trotted towards the bin, and with a light glow of her magic, she opened the bin. What she saw almost made her fall back from shock, but the gasp still escaped her mouth. Her mouth was on the floor, as she peered into the bin, with tears welling up instantly in her eyes. How could somepony be this cruel towards something this fragile, she did not care to know.
Inside was two foals, two infants to be precise, barely a year old each if she where to guess, and it brought more tears to her eyes. She couldn't tell if they were fillies or colts, or one of each but it was a shocking sight.
One of the foals, a unicorn with a light blue, almost white coat and light blonde mane which reminded Twilight of Applejack's mane, even though it was a true mess. All over the young foal body was cuts and bruises, and he/she clearly had a black eye, with a broken eyelid. And her horn had it's a small bit of it's tip cut off, and it was leaking blood which was surrounding the horn and had dyed it partially red.
The other foal wasn't much better off though, whoever did this to the poor little ones made sure that they would not survive another day, that is if Twilight had not found them.
The other foal was a earth pony at first glance, but then Twilight managed to see a small pink wing coming out of it's side. The foal was a mild pink with a black mane which was scurry much like the other foal. Twilight then took note of the foal's wings, they were poorly undeveloped and it scared her, plus the one she could see had a couple of missing feathers, and the base was covered in cuts, much like the foal's body. But all in all, the pegasus was more better off then the bleeding unicorn.
Either way, Twilight couldn't just leave them here alone, she had to help them no matter what. She decided to use magic to lift them out, in order to lessen the pain that the foals were receiving from the trash they were laying on. When she got them out, she carefully laid the unicorn foal on her back, holding him steadily in her magic to prevent him from falling, and used one hoof to hold the pegasus since it had less injuries.
She slowly, but steadily, began walking towards the hospital since it was the only establishment outfitted to deal with such case. Her heart was hammering in her ears as the blood rushed to her heads; what if she was already to late for them. No she had to believe that she could save them, it was her duty as princess to safe guard her little ponies, and this is what she was going to do; save them.
She didn't dare fly, in case of the unicorn falling off her back, which she didn't want but also because it could hurt the young foal even more. Thus, she walked to the hospital, at the quickest speed possible, which wasn't too quick, but it was necessary for their safety.
She was glad that the hospital wasn't miles away, so she didn't have to worry too badly about the time spent with the foal out of a safe haven. It was a simple 10 minute walk, but for Twilight it was still like she spent an hour walking to the hospital. The unicorn had curled up on her back during the walk, and was now partly covered by Twilight's dark blue-purple mane. But apart from that he was not moving, and it only increased her worry even more.
It was late during the night, so not many nurses or doctors were still around, but one of the nurses, one that she recognized as Redheart was still there. Nurse Redheart, who was working reception at the moment spotted Twilight, holding the young pegasus foal in her hooves She scramble to her feet and rushed to the princess side.
''Princess, why do you have a foal with you? And why does it look beat?'' Redheart asked, as she looked over the young within Twilight's grasp in worry.
''Nurse Redheart, please we do not have time to waste the little ones are badly injured, save them please!'' Twilight pleaded, her vision was getting blurry by this point, because of all the tears she had shed during the walk towards the hospital.
''Them? What do you mean?'' Redheart asked, at Twilight motion to look behind her she craned her neck to look behind Twilight, and what she saw tore a gasp out of her. On Twilight's back was another foal this one a unicorn by the look of it, and it saddened her further at the state the pour dear was in.
''Okay Twilight follow me! I'll lead towards the maternity ward.'' With that Redheart started leading Twilight towards the maternity ward as fast the foal could tolerate in their state.
''Put them gently in the maternity crib.'' said Redheart softly as to not agitate the foals with her voice.
Twilight nodded again, and with care she put the two foals into the crib so that Redheart could check them over. Redheart did so, and did a check on weight and length, which were both very low, with it being worse for the unicorn foal.
''Well, Twilight. They're both fillies, but they are pretty severely underweight with it being worse for the unicorn foal and I happened to notice that the pegasus foal's wings are undeveloped, have you heard of a wing surgery which can sort that out?'' Redheart once she came back to Twilight, all of this in quick succession since she knew that Twilight could understand her.
''No, but if you could I wouldn't want her to live without her abillity to fly.'' Twilight said as she looked over the little pegasus foal once more.
''Well, we need the parent's consent but since their probably orphans, I'll have to be forced to use your status to get them through the surgery. Lastly, the unicorn foal clearly has a cut horn but that is a pretty easy fix, it will heal itself as long as a bandage is put around it.''
''I see.'' said Twilight, staring down at the foals. Tears were welling up in her eyes once again, and she started crying now that she knew the extent of the damage done on them. ''Are, are they siblings?'' Twilight asked, her voice almost breaking in the process.
''Probably. Twilight, I am going have to keep them here, to run tests on them as the pegasus foal's eyesight is worrying me! She appears blind and I have noticed something about the unicorn foal, unlike her sister she isn't crying, despite looking like she is.''
''I see.'' Twilight replied in a heart broken tone.
''Twilight, I have to ask you one more thing. What are you gonna do about them?'' Redheart hoped that Twilight would know what to do about them, since her only other option was to put them in a orphanage, and it would not do any good for them since they needed love more than ever by this point.
''Well, there so young that I don't want to put them in a orphanage, I probably gonna adopt them.''
Redheart let a sigh of relief at this point, she looked up at Twilight with relief in her eyes ''Well alright, but I would like for them to have names just so the other doctors won't name them 'Mary Sue'?'' Redheart asked, ''and they don't seems to have anything on to identify them by so would you like to name them, seeing as you are the one to have found them?''
Twilight looked over the foals, and then found the names that would suit them from her point of view. ''Sure, well the unicorn.... she's like an aura....Yea, her name will be Aura. Whilst her sister's name can be....she's dazzling, isn't she? Yea, Dazzle will be her name.''
''Thank you, now it's late, and I would suppose you want to go home?'' Redheart asked as Twilight gave them their names.
''No, if it's not too much I would like to stay here and watch over them.'' Twilight said though it was more a statement.
''Very well! I won't argue against you, considering you are going to be their mother and all. So then, I bid you good night princess.'' Redheart said as she left the maternity ward to go search for a doctor for the little ones.
''Thanks you too, 'night.'' Twilight said before Redheart left.
With that, Twilight decided to go sit in the corner of the ward, ready to be there for the little ones. Minutes passed by and sleep overcame her as she felt asleep, still sitting in the corner.
As the sun was setting just below the glistering sunset, Nyx walked along the dusty streets of Ponyville with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had been out crusading, and she was now heading home, riding on the cart with her friends as they were being pulled by Scootaloo. She smiled, but then she noticed that the door was shut. Normally when her mother was in, the door was left open for anypony looking for a book.
She blinked as she walked towards the crystallized door. She became confused, before turning around to the group, smiling and waving goodbye to them. Scootaloo then scooted off, with Applebloom and Sweetie bell bracing themselves in the cart, awaiting for Scootaloo to do one of her stunt.
''Mommy? Spike? You home?'' Nyx called out, slightly intrigued by the opened door earlier.
She frowned with worry when no reply came. She trotted forward into the main room, which was actually throne room. The 6 crystal thrones gleamed as she walked in, next to her mother's throne was two much smaller thrones for Spike and Nyx. Nyx's throne, obviously, had her cutie mark sketched into it. She grew used to being called a princess, but it still irked her a little when pony like Diamond Tiara reminded her.
She signed, and walked to the side of the room, where a long table stood attached to the wall. She tapped her horn, ever since Princess Luna had taken the magic which was originally hers, Nyx's magic had gotten harder to use. Her dark horn eventually was wrapped in the turquoise light, along with the dark teal headband which was slowly removed from behind Nyx's horn, leaving the young alicorn's purple hair to flow down.
After the magic drifted the headband onto the table, Nyx focused her magic to slowly removing the vest; which now had personalized holes in the top for her pegasus wings to slot through. The vest took some doing to remove, but after one minute, the thing was finally off and onto the table. She knew that wearing her old vest and head band seemed silly for some reason, but for her it reminded her of the days before her reincarnation as Nightmare Moon.
The young filly signed, but before she walked into the third door to the left of the main door; which lead to the library, she took notice of a picture. It was of Twilight, her with her vest and headband on. Owlowiscious; who was on Twilight's back. Spike; who was glaring at the owl and Peewee; who was perched on Spike's ear. It draw a smile to her young face. She turned around, and walked into the library. She looked at the square shaped room, which had bookshelf on bookshelf going all around, there was even a bookshelf above the door frame and they were all crystallized. All those books brought a smile onto Nyx face, as it reminded her of when Twilight was reading her stories. Once again, all of this was before her resurrection as Nightmare Moon. She then took notice of Spike, who was putting various books in their right places, on his ladder.
She giggled a bit, and walked over to one of the shelf; which was marked 'N'. She smiled, and walked to the end of the shelf. She began pushing the books aside to look at the titles, until she saw a rather small, blueish book with a dark mare illustrated on to it. The books name was 'Nyx of the Night'; one of her favorites and where her name originated from. She smiled softly, and with a bit of effort; she forced her horn to glow to pick the small book up so she could carry it to her bedroom. Her room was up the long trail of stairs, and next to her mother's room. It was a dark violet door; one of her two favorite colors, the other being teal. And imprinted on a teal piece of wood, was her name in bold.
She used her small, black coated hoof to push open the door, to greet the sight before her. Her room had been painted teal, whilst her windows were a lighter teal, much like the 'whites' of her eyes. Her bed was circular and had a veil hanging down. The veil was turquoise like her eyes, just a couple of shades darker; while the blanket on the large, yet filly sized bed, were a light violet whilst the pillows were a dark violet. In all it was a beautiful, and peaceful sight; just what she needed to read.
She walked up to the bed, still carrying her book in her aura of magic. She had to have a small ladder at the base of the bed, just to be able to climb up, but being a princess involved this kind stuff, right? She climbed up the violet ladder, and across the soft bed until she reached her pillows. She laid her head on the pillows, and the book levitated next to her; just before the aura faded from it.
After a few hours of reading, someone knocked on Nyx's door. She looked at the door with a thoughtful expression, hoping to be Twilight, and told whoever it was to come in. To Nyx's surprise, it wasn't Twilight but Spike, and he looked worried, if his fidgeting was anything to go by.
''Spike! Why do you look worried?'' She asked, wondering what could worry Spike so much.
''Twilight isn't home, and it's past 10. Normally, she would be back by now, and she didn't tell me where she went? Normally she does, do you think somepony kidnapped her?'' Spike asked, remembering what happened the last time somepony kidnapped Twilight.
''You sure you don't have any clue about mom's where about?'' said Nyx, looking equally worried now, but totally dismissed Spike worry about being kidnapped.
''No, she left without a word earlier while you were at school,, but she never returned.'' Mumbled the baby dragon, as he looked to the floor, shaking from worry.
Nyx laid there, thinking for some time. How could they contact her mom, but not leave the safety of the castle. She then remembered about how Twilight used to send letters to Princess Celestia, and decided that it was worth a shot. ''Spike, why not send her a letter?''
Spike looked confused, before breaking into smile. He had totally forgotten about his letter-sending flames; after all he didn't have to use them anymore, considering Twilight was a princess and didn't need to send friendship letters to the princess. ''Yeah, we could. It's a good thing that my fire doesn't search for location but the being of who I'm sending it too.''
Nyx giggled, and hopped off her bed, and then walked over to her desk, which was as black as the night, it even had stars scattering around it. She grabbed a scroll and a quill, with a touch of magic; she began writing the letter.
Dear, mommy.
I'm writing to ask where are you; why are you so late coming home. Both me and Spike are pretty worried about where you are. I just hope you can come home soon; but if you can't then it's fine. I'm sure Spike can look after himself and me.
Your daughter, Nyx Sparkle.
She toss the letter to Spike; who scanned through the wording. He smile at Nyx's developing writing skill, before breathing fire over the letter. Instead of burning it like normal fire should have done, it turned to dust and flew out of the window; like it did back when Twilight was a unicorn. Nyx watched as the dust flew out, smiling at the prospect that she and Spike would soon know where Twilight is.
''Don't get your hopes up, Nyx. Twilight may take some time to reply.'' He said, as he went to sit on the couch in front of the bed, with a little spring in his step.
Nyx nodded, as spike walked towards the couch. Spike then gasped, as he was forced to jump into the air and breath out a cluster of green flames; which resulted in a scroll appearing. Nyx laughed, and the dragon frowned, he really hadn't expected Twilight to reply so quickly. But with no hesitation he picked up the letter, and began reading out loud.
To, Nyx and Spike.
I'm sorry, but I cannot come home yet. But if you would like to, you can come to the hospital...
Nyx gasped in shock, learning that Twilight was in the hospital! Spike signed, and walked up to the shocked filly, and put his claws on her shoulder and smiled. ''Calm down, I haven't finished yet.'' He said with a little smile on his face, in an attempt to reassure Nyx.
Nyx nodded, and with that, Spike continued reading out the letter from his sister/mother.
Now, Nyx. Do not get worried, for I'm not hurt or anything. But I have a surprise, if you could call that a surprise, to show you and Spike. So please, try and come to the hospital, even if you can't tonight, come tomorrow I will be waiting for you.
With love, Twilight.
Nyx blinked in confusion. Her mother had something to show her and Spike, what could it be?
''So, ya wanna go to the hospital now or wait till tomorrow, Nyx?''
''Can we go there now, please?'' Asked Nyx politely as she looked at Spike with big puppy eyes.
Spike sigh, he knew that she would use that on him, but none the less agreed with her. ''If that's what you want. I just wonder what Twilight wants to show us though.''
Nyx nodded, and the pair walked out the room; down the stairs and out of the crystal door at the front of the large crystallized castle. They then began walking down the road towards the hospital.
'What is it you wanna show us, mommy?' Thought Nyx to herself, as she walked along Spike's side.
Hospital
Nyx panted as she finally made it to the hospital, Spike running by her side. She almost collapsed as she wondered what the surprise that Twilight had mention was. What could it be? She slowly walked into the hospital, the darkness of the interior scaring her for a moment. She then realized that it was because it was late, most doctors and nurses had already left for the day and so the hospital wasn't very bright any more.
Spike looked at her for a moment then back at the blackness of the room. There wasn't a single trace of natural color, at least not at first, he was almost surprised to see a colored figure walked by them, red and white clashing against the black background. Upon realizing who it was, he decided to call out. ''Nurse Redheart!''
''Yes?'' mumbled Redheart, then she noticed and recognized Spike and Nyx. ''Oh. Hello, Nyx and Spike. I suppose your mother requested that you come. I do remember her saying something about you two coming. Oh, it doesn't matter. Come this way, please. Twilight is waiting for you two.''
Nyx glanced at Spike for a moment, before they both nodded. They followed Redheart through the dark corridor and towards a room, that only Spike recognized. He gasped a little and said, out-loud. ''The maternity ward. Why would Twilight be here?''
''..Um.....step back a sec, Spike. What's a 'maternity ward'?'' asked Nyx, causing Redheart and Spike to look at her strange.
''Nyx, a maternity ward is where pregnant mares have their foals. Sometimes, the foal is kept over night here too. That's why I'm confused, Twi isn't pregnant so it just doesn't make sense.''
''I see, that is strange.....''
Redheart smiled and said, in a calm voice. ''You'll find out soon enough why Twilight is in this ward.''
They walked into the maternity ward and sure enough, waiting there was Twilight. She wasn't on a bed, no she was resting on the floor next to a maternity crib. She looked at them, with a small smile that was clouded out by her tired and worry filled eyes. ''Hello, Nyx and Spike. I suppose you confused about all this.''
''We are, Twi. Can you tell us what's going on, and what the surprise is?'' asked Spike, as he walked forward. Nyx following shortly.
''Well....look in the crib, you'll see then.'' said Twilight, in a soft voice as she peered at the crib. ''Don't be loud, just quiet. You don't want to wake them.''
Nyx and Spike looked confused at that and glanced into the crib. They saw the two injured fillies, sleeping calmly despite being in obvious pain from their condition. The unicorn had a bandage around her horn, though blood still leaked through and the pegasus had bandages around her wings, which were from her wing surgery. Nyx and Spike were now shocked and stared at Twilight, but it was Spike who got the courage to speak first. ''Twilight, who are these foals?''
''Their a pair of foals that I found in a dustbin, half-dead. I've named them and I'm also planning on adopting them. As for their names, the unicorn is called Aura, the pegasus is called Dazzle. They both have disabilities, Dazzle, despite recently having wing surgery, may never fly nor will she ever see. Aura, she's physically mute and thanks to her horn injury, unless a spell is placed on her, she may never be able to use magic, properly. Same with her voice, though that one I'm already working on.''
''....So this is the surprise....'' mumbled Nyx, looking down at her two new sisters. ''...Mommy, are they twins?....They look like opposites of each other, Aura's pink eyes going to Dazzle's pink coat....and Dazzle's blue, blind eyes look like Aura's coat.......So I kinda thought they were related like that....''
''Well, Nyx. Without taking a DNA test, we are unable to recognize if their actually twins or simply left together, though I have paid the bits to find out. However, we're able to tell their ages. Both of them are 3 months of age. Unable to talk or walk and somepony was cruel enough to treat them like this.''
''Twilight, the DNA tester is ready. All I need now are blood samples, mind if I take them.'' asked Redheart, a doctor standing next to her.
''Sure, I would like to know if their related.....and who their parents are, because I will put them in jail for this. Mistreating foals to this level is just sick.'' said Twilight, with fury filling her eyes.
Redheart nodded and went to take the blood samples from the young foals. It was easy to get Aura's blood, because of the blood surrounding her wrapped up horn and it wasn't too much harder to get Dazzle's, because of the many scars that were still weeping blood. The conditions of the foals still got to her, as her eyes went misty.
Nyx looked up at Twilight, asking gently. ''Mommy, does the girls know about this yet?''
''No, they don't know. I'm planning on telling them as soon as the foals are released to me and we can't do that until we find out their parents, which should hopefully be soon.''
''...I see, so only me and Spike know so far.....When do you think they'll be released, once their parents are punished?''
''Hopefully, in two days time, Sweetie. It should be tomorrow when I can punish them so they should be released the day after. Though, that depends on how bad their condition gets.'' said Twilight, trying to be calm. She turned to Spike. ''Can you get some baby items for me, I'm going to need them. I already made a list for you.''
She handed him the stroll, containing the list of baby stuff that was necessary. Bottles, cribs and all that. Spike glanced at it and was surprised to not see baby formula or baby food on the list. ''Um, Twilight....where are the baby formula and baby food?''
Twilight blushed a little. ''Remember when I said they were only three months.....well, babies of that age can't hold down the baby formula and so they need....breast milk....''
Spike caught the word and blushed, before nodding. ''I see, I'll get the items. Be back soon.''
And with that, the embarrassed dragon was gone. Twilight and Nyx giggled a little, Nyx didn't know why as she didn't hear the words but it didn't matter to her. She looked at her sisters, hoping they would have a happy life when they were released to Twilight.
