"Vital signs... stable. Magic... stable. She's holding steady. Did you check the neuron signatures?" Asked a Cross Potion his wife, Love Potion. The mare in question was a pale blue earth pony with wavy grey and orange mane and tail. With her white lab coat, you would barely be able to see her Cutie Mark, which was two strands of DNA connected in the shape of a heart. Upon hearing his question, she trotted up to her partner and nuzzled his side.

"Yes, dear, her neuron signatures are holding steady, and before you ask, yes, development of her physical features are coming along smoothly." Her stallion could only smirk at that. He was also a pale blue earth pony, but his straight mane and tail were all grey. His lab coat wasn't long enough to cover his Cutie Mark which comprised of two chemistry flasks holding a red and blue liquid, respectively. "We may finally be close to a success," her small smile then turned to a glare, "and it only cost us our first daughter."

"But are we sure about that? Remember that Comet never did say he saw her body. He only said he saw her fall down the mountain's pit." She turned her glare toward him.

"It's been over a year, and still no news of her being alive. Do you honestly believe she could have survived a fall from inside that mountain?"

"It depends on how far she fell," he said with some small hope in his voice, "No one has ever really measured how far that fall actually is. For all we know, it could have only looked far." This brought back her smile.

"Do you really think she may be alive?"

"I don't know, but I have to believe she is. That little filly was always rather resourceful. Don't you remember all the times she nearly tricked us?"

"She was smarter than most ponies her age. Do you remember when she sneaked past us to the cookie jar?"

"That was the first time we became aware that she had an invisibility spell. Do you remember her trying to find the birthday presents?"

"We had to fake alone time just to keep her out of the house."

"Funny, I don't remember faking that," he said with a sly smile.

"I do hope I am not interrupting anything important," said a monotone voice from the entrance of the laboratory. Arch Mage Prometheus, the 'host' of the two scientists, was slowly moving through the low-lit laboratory. His steps echoed as each hoof met the solid black marble floor, and his coat made him almost invisible when combined with the walls that were also made of black marble. "I trust that all is going well, friends?"

"Friends? I don't remember being friends with the stallion who orders a small colt to murder our daughter," Cross Poison countered defiantly.

"Now, must we go over this again? Wasting such emotions on failed trash such as that is pointless."

"She wasn't trash! She was the best thing that ever happened to us! You're lucky we're still here! I wanted to leave the moment you broke your promise!" Love Potion shouted. Prometheus simply stared at them. Nary an emotion evident on his face. This didn't stop her from continuing on, however. "I don't even think you believe anything you say about this 'savior'. You just see her as a tool to get what you want. Well guess what. She's a pony! Just like me, and just like you!"

"Be that as it may," Prometheus begins, "she will still be required to perform her assignment. Eliminate the weak, the pointless, the lawless, anything and any pony not worthy of this world. We shall eliminate them, and in their place, we shall build perfection."

"Just what do you consider 'perfection'? Just what do you consider 'weak' or 'pointless'? 'Lawless'? Really? Should she start with you then? I'm pretty sure taking two ponies against their will and forcing them to work would count as lawless. Have you ever thought that maybe your- " her words were suddenly cut off by a magic aura suddenly lifting her and slamming her into the floor.

"I apologize," Prometheus said with a hint of annoyance, "but would kindly refrain from completing that statement?" He approached Love Potion only to be cut off by a furious Cross Potion. "Must you continue to pester me? I am trying to create a truly perfect world. It will be glorious and beautiful, but I require this specimen to survive. Yes, you are correct, it truly has little to no value to me as a pony." The scientists glare at him, but he continued without a care. "She is indeed a tool, and if you think she is anything more than that, then you are quite mistaken." He walked over to a tube where a small blue creature was growing.

"Get away from her! You heartless monster! Why don't you drag yourself to Tartarus where you belong!" Shouted Love Potion, currently in a frenzy in Cross Potion's arms.

He stopped, and turned back to the couple. After slowly making his way to them, he simply stood there for a moment or two. He then began to speak, "Listen, and listen well. The only reason you two are whole and alive is because you are the only ones who can complete this project in a timely manner. You are replaceable, and if I wanted to you would be dead where you stand. You will complete the project and then you will be expendable. If I choose to be merciful and keep you alive when that time comes, then it completely depends on my attitude toward you both from now on, but note that at this moment I could care less for worthless insects such as yourselves." He promptly left without another word.

"Cross Potion," she said as she turned to her husband with tears streaming down her eyes, "what are we going to do? He'll turn her into a monster. We can't let him do that to her."

"Love Potion, I know," Cross Potion says as he then lifts up his right forearm to reveal a small red band. With the same arm he points to a similar band on Love Potion's right forearm. "As long as we have these things on us, however, we're at his mercy. We need to plan and time our escape perfectly." He then held his wife in a tighter embrace, trying to comfort her from the monster that held them both captive. "We'll escape, and we're taking her with us. This time we won't take any chances. We'll go straight to Canterlot, and to the princesses. We'll make sure it happens. After all, if Cherry Blossom is alive, then she's going to want to meet her new little sister." He could feel her returning his embrace.

Love Potion nuzzled her husband. "Before any of that, she's going to need a name, you know. Our little shining star in this darkness."

"Shining Star... I like it."

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"And this is where you'll be staying from now on," said Starlight Glimmer. She was directing me to a rather spacious room inside the castle. Nearly everything inside, from the bed to the dressers and even the walls and ceiling, were made of a strange purple crystal. Thankfully, neither the mattress nor the sheets seemed to be made of said material. "Remember school isn't very early in the morning, but you don't want to oversleep for your first official day." She turns to Azurinne who was floating just above me. "I trust that you'll make sure she goes to bed early tonight?"

"I can try, but I can't guarantee anything," she said. I responded by blowing a raspberry at her. "See what I mean?" Starlight simply stared at Azurinne for a moment before reacting.

"Sorry, still not used to the whole 'talking cat' thing." She then turned to me with a frown. "Look, Cherry Blossom, I know I agreed that I would be your magic teacher. But, if we are going to make this work, then you have to agree to my terms." I made eye contact. "From what I understand, you have been away from your actual school for well over a year. That's over a year of education that you won't get back. So, I'll train you in magic in the afternoons and you go to school and get a proper education in the mornings. Agreed?"

"Agreed," I respond.

"Good, then I'll go over the other terms after you get back from school tomorrow. Good night, you two."

"Good Night, Starlight," Azurinne and myself say in unison. She proceeds to turn off the lights and close the door. I then proceed to jump on the bed, and bounce on it for a time.

"Today was rather interesting," said Azurinne as she began to float to my bed.

"I'll say," I reply back. "We not only met the princess's friends, spent the day at an actual spa, and Starlight agreed to be my magic teacher. I can't wait to tell Sugar Belle the great news tomorrow. Do you think we'll see Pinkie Pie tomorrow? I really want to meet her again." I raise my right arm up and point my hoof to the ceiling.

"I'm glad you had fun today. You know, we left that town over a year ago, but I never imagined that'd we would make it all the way to Ponyville." I turn to her only to be greeted by a warm grin. "By the way what do you think of Applejack?" I look back up at the ceiling but drop my arm to my side.

"She's... look Azurinne, don't tell Apple Bloom, but I don't like her sister," I say plainly. I can tell Azurinne dropped her grin by the silence in the room. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think she's a bad pony. Far from it. I feel like she puts family and friends at the top of what she finds important, but I also feel like she was acting condescending to me. I know she wasn't, I can tell she was just worried about me, but being worried doesn't excuse some pony from saying that what I'm doing is pointless because I'm 'just a growing foal'!"

"Maybe we should stop the conversation here. You said so yourself that you understand why she said what she said. Let's leave it at that, and get some sleep. No need for you to be exhausted for your first day." I nod and cover myself in the bed sheets.

"Good night, Azurinne."

"Good night, Cherry Blossom."

====================================================================================

"She's where!" Some pony shouting this is what wakes me up. Apparently, it was also loud enough to wake Azurinne.

"Oh... crab apples..." She says in a less than pleased tone.

====================================================================================

"Twilight, calm down," Starlight said while trying to console her friend and former mentor, "it's not that big of a deal." She had decided to greet Twilight at the entrance hall, or that would have been the case if she was even suspecting that Twilight was supposed to have returned by now. In truth, upon being surprised with her arrival, Starlight decided to announce that a certain pink filly was currently sleeping in one of the guest rooms.

"Not that big of a..." her eyes started to twitch, "Starlight, a filly with incredible power and her familiar are currently sleeping in the castle, and you say it's not that big of a deal!"

"Well, I doubt she's sleeping now," Starlight countered amusingly. "You said that you wanted to speak with her. Well, what better way to do that then to have her stay at the castle?" Twilight stopped to ponder that. "Besides, weren't you supposed to be back later? What happened? And where's Spike?" Twilight looked at her with a frown. "That bad?"

Twilight then let out a sigh. "No... far from it. Apparently, the information we have in Canterlot on familiars is rather extensive, however, the only pony with enough magical power recorded to supposedly have a familiar currently doesn't."

"And who may that be?"

"Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. We haven't been able to find any signs of one near or around her." Twilight stops and decides to press Starlight on their new guest. "Any particular reason why you decided to let her sleep in the castle?"

"Not really. It was really more of a spur of the moment kind of thing," Starlight responded back.

"Has she met the others yet?"

"Yes, actually. She's already met Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash didn't seem to have any issues with her, and Rarity seemed to want to use her as a model for a new line," Starlight stated. "She got along really well with Pinkie Pie, and I thing she might even idolize her. But then we get to Applejack..."

"Something happen with those two?"

"It looked like they were going to be getting along great, but then Applejack said something that just set Cherry Blossom off," Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Applejack commented that a filly as young as her should just return home and wait for her parents to come home. When she said that her parents won't be coming home, Applejack said, 'Parents that can't even care for their young correctly, clearly don't deserve 'em.' That was when everything escalated. I think, for now, it's best to keep those two apart. Oh, and we have a general idea of why she's out on her own." Twilight nodded her head.

"Anything else?" Starlight turned her head away and mumbled something incoherently. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

Starlight sighed, "I said that I also agreed to be her magic teacher."

Author's Note

So, I finally introduce Cherry Blossom's parents. Were they what you expected? Were they different from what you expected?