Celestia’s POV: First Person

I let out a breath of relief as the doors to the throne room close behind the last noble. I love my little ponies, I truly do. But in recent times, some of their concerns have become quite petty. Honestly, the nobles have plenty of funds at their disposal, what is a few more to them? It’s truly baffling to me how anypony can be so selfish.

Thankfully enough, I’m removed from my thoughts as a cloud of smoke billows forth and forms a scroll that floats in front of my face. Ah, Twilight. Always a pleasure to receive a letter from you. With a smile, I take the scroll and tear the seal and examine the contents of the letter.

Dear Princess Celestia

I would like to bring forth to your attention to something that has me quite troubled; an unknown creature has made itself known in recent days here in Ponyville. I assure you, there is no cause for alarm or to dispatch any guards as this creature appears friendly enough, and even on Pinkie Pie's word he is harmless; despite this, I still remain suspicious of him. His name is Tot's, which is a name that Pinkie Pie has given him due to his childish nature. He is roughly 5'8, bipedal, has little to no fur covering his body, a white mane, orange eyes, and opts to wear clothes. I'll attach a rough sketch at the bottom.

This is all harmless enough, but the cause for my concern is his innate ability to absorb magic. The exact rate of absorption is unknown, but it is not enough to be fatal, nor would it be noticeable by just being near him. The problem however, is that he doesn't even seem to be aware that he is doing it, as it just happens naturally around him; as such, determining the reason for why it is happening is difficult. As you known, the art of magic absorption is a forbidden type of magic, which is the cause of my suspicion.

This is a rather delicate situation, as he isn't aware of his actions, and his memories are gone; somepony or something erased them completely. Not much else is known about him, but he is trying to make friends which is a good sign. In fact, friendship seems to be all he wants luckily enough. I'll continue to update you as I discover more about him, and trust in your judgement; whatever it may be. I only ask on behalf of Pinkie Pie that you give him a chance.

My smile slowly fades and quickly morphs to one of concern as I read the letter. I look over it once more, and glance over the sketch; I’ve never seen such a creature in all my life.

“This Tot’s seems to be in a rather precarious situation, does he not?”

I nearly jump out of my skin as I hear my sister speak up from behind me. “Must you sneak up on me so much Luna?” I ask with a small pout.

She giggles to herself a little but quickly adopts a more somber expression. “I do not doubt Twilight Sparkle, but perhaps it would be best to see for ourselves if this situation truly is as delicate as she makes it out to be.” she says, completely ignoring my previous question.

With a sigh I turn back to the letter floating aloft in my magic. “Yes it would probably be best to do so. However, I trust in my students judgement enough to not cause this creature any trouble at the moment. If you could visit his dreams however, I’d really appreciate it.”

My sister nods and sits down in her throne next to mine, and stays there for a moment while I stare at the letter as if somehow the answers to the questions plaguing my mind was hidden within the words on the paper.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and look at the source of it, which is my sister. “Day court is over sister. You can retire for the night now.” she says with a bit of mirth.

I blush in embarrassment for a moment before quickly standing up and leaving the throne room. “Right.”

Tot’s POV: First Person

After leaving the music shop, things kinda slowed down a bit. I wandered around town for a while longer before noticing I was being followed. I turn around and look directly at them, hoping that if they are following me they aren’t scared. The three of them stand stock still as my sights turn to them, and look between each other and me.

They are smaller than normal ponies, and have no marks. The one on the left is a normal pony with yellow fur and red mane and tail. The one in the middle is a unicorn with white fur, and has a curled purple and pink mane and tail. The one to the right is a pegasus with orange fur, and has a purple mane and tail.

I give a small smile, wave at them, and sit down with my legs crossed; hoping that maybe somehow it’ll make me come as off less intimidating. A moment after I do this, they slowly start approaching me. They step up about two feet away from me, then to my confusion they also sit down.

I tilt my head, but don’t say anything. To my surprise, they mimic my movement, tilting their heads in kind. I tilt my head to the other side, and they do it as well. Deciding to test this, I put my hands on the ground with my arms crossed over each other. They do the same with a little giggle. I smile a little knowing that they’re getting a bit of fun out of this. I go cross-eyed and touch my nose with my tongue. This time they try to copy me but each fail in their own way.

I laugh a little as I win this little game of copycat with them. “What ARE you?” they ask me somehow all at the same time. I give off a shrug and they look at me in confusion again. “You don’t know what yah are?” the yellow one asks me. I shake my head.

“I don’t know what I am. But my name is Tots if that helps!” I pipe up.

They seem taken aback at my ability to talk. “You can talk?” the orange one asks.

I nod with a smile. “Sure I can! Now I told you my name; what are your names?”

“I’m Applebloom”
“I’m Sweetie Belle”
“I’m Scootaloo”

“And we’re…THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they all shout at the same time.

I use my pinky finger and rub the inside of my ear. “Alright you three; can we be friends?”

They all huddle up and start chatting amongst themselves, talking over each other yet somehow still managing to understand each other. They must really know each other to be this in sync.

After a moment, they all stop and turn back to me. “Sure Tots! We can be friends.” Applebloom says. At hearing this, I do my little happy dance.

“So Tots.” I hear Scootaloo say. “Do you have a cutie mark?”

I tilt my head in confusion. Cutie marks? What the hell are those… I recall most ponies having a mark on their flank. She probably means those. I start searching all over my body; glancing at my arms, legs, feet, under my shirt, and even in my pants at the off chance I might have one. To my disappointment, I don’t have one. I don’t even know why I feel disappointed, I don’t even know what they mean. I look back to the girls and shake my head with a slight frown.

However, they seem to smirk to each other. “You should join our club!” they all yell at me.

I smile a bit at their enthusiasm but still maintain a bit of a frown. “I’m not even sure I can get a cutie mark, girls. I don’t even know what they mean.”

Applebloom’s expression morphs to one of horror. “You don’t know what a cutie mark means!?” at my head shake she sighs. “A cutie mark is what a pony gets when they discover their special talent! It signifies what a pony is meant to do in life.” she explains.

“.......Oooooooohhhhhhhh…… now I get it… sort of. “

“You can still be an honorary member if you want.” Sweetie Belle tells me.

I smile a bit and nod.

They get up and approach me a bit more until they’re within reach. I’m honestly surprised when they all hug me at the same time. It takes me a moment, but I soon gain control of myself and hug them back. I pick them up in the hug and swing them around happily; they giggle in my arms.

I put them down and look at the sun which is likely to set soon. Where did the day go, eh? “I think you three should be heading home. Don’t wanna be outside when the sun sets, do ya?”

They also turn and look at the sun and groan. They each say their own goodbyes as they walk away, and I wave to them. Three new friends. The more the better. But...why do I still feel so lonely?

I stood around where my new friends left me for a while just lost in my thoughts. After contemplating to no avail, I decide to just call it quits for the night; the sun has set by now and the moon is about a quarter of a way through the sky.

I make it to my tree and sit down leaning against it. I look out towards the horizon where I can see the moon just below the leaves of the tree I sit under. I take off my guitar and backpack and lean them against the tree as well. I pull out my only bit from my pocket and examine it; it's fairly simple, just a gold coin. I smile as it gleams in the moonlight. Pocketing it again, I pull out my loaf of bread. Half tonight, half tomorrow morning. I think to myself as I break the bread in half and put half of it away.

I watch the moon as I eat my bread. It’s so pretty to look at; the stars accentuate it very well too. It’s almost enough to ignore the loneliness I feel inside. I don’t get why I feel so alone...I thought more friends would solve the problem. So why does it still hurt? I ponder as I finish my bread and let out a yawn. I shuffle a bit to lay in a more comfortable position, propping my head up on a root. I watch the moon for a bit longer until my eyes slowly fall closed with the moon being the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

Princess Luna’s POV: First Person

I let myself have a brief smile as I see the dream realm is peaceful tonight. It makes the task I set out to do that much easier. This “Tots” has interested me since the moment I heard about him. Absorbing magic is dangerous in and of itself, but if what Twilight Sparkle says is true, then he shouldn’t be very dangerous at all. Absorbing magic at a rate which she describes it to be is not much to worry about; but on the off chance that he’s doing it on purpose, something will have to be done.

I hear the telltale sound of a gateway appearing in the dream realm, and make my way to it. As I approach the gateway, I immediately notice several things about it. It's a double door made out of stone, which appears to be in a moderate state of disrepair. Chunks are missing, a handle is missing, and it is just overall decrepit. Getting closer to it, I feel a wave of sorrow wash over me. What kind of dream are you having Tots?

I open the door and enter the dream, and I’m met with black. Just pure blackness. It’s not darkness as I can still see myself perfectly fine; just an overwhelming void of nothingness.

what kind of dream is this? I’ve not seen a dream like it in quite some time… this is troubling…

I refuse to leave without having completed my goal, so I press onward. The wave of sorrow I felt before gets stronger the farther I travel into the void. After a certain point of walking,a new feeling washes over me; fear. Not to say I’m afraid, but that is what the atmosphere portrays. I can only imagine the turmoils this Tots must be going through right now. I pick up the pace a bit to try and get to wherever he may be. The feelings get stronger the longer I travel, and they stack together after some time. I’m about to give up and turn around to head back when I hear something. Around this same time, a feeling I know all too well washes over me; loneliness.

I follow the sound, which I soon distinguish as crying. I finally see something other than blackness; a form curled up on the ground somewhat similar to the sketch that Twilight provided. Odd. Of course the sketch didn’t do a good job of portraying him. It was a sketch.

I approach the form which I assume is Tots,sit down and observe him for a moment. Right here next to him is where these bad feelings are the strongest, and its overwhelming; suffocating almost. I catch a few things he mutters to himself; things like ‘why’, ‘friends’, and ‘alone’.

Deciding to make myself known, I reach out and tap him on the shoulder. The reaction, is almost instant. He stops his crying and turns to face me. What I see is pure sadness painted on his face.

“A-are you real?” he croaks out. I nod, and I’m surprised when he lunges at me. I have no time to react as he latches on me at unnatural speeds, but find I don’t have to as he is only hugging me. A bit tightly I’ll admit, but its still obvious he isn’t trying to harm me.

I’m snapped out of my stupor when he starts crying again. “Please…. Don’t leave… I don’t wanna be all alone again….” he says.

I’m at a loss for words at what’s in front of me. I find myself hugging him back, and wrapping my wings around him protectively. Twilight Sparkle is worried about this creature? Clearly her suspicions are groundless. There’s no way in tartarus that this creature could harbor any ill intent.

I find myself doing something Tia did for me when I cried as a young filly: rocking side to side, rubbing his back with a hoof, and quietly whispering sweet nothings into his ear. After a while, he calms down and appears much more peaceful and at ease. Even the atmosphere has lightened up drastically.

“Who are you?” he asks.

I smile and look down at him. “I am Princess Luna, I watch over the night and the dream realm. And you are Tots I presume?” he smiles a bit and nods.He seems to have completely forgotten about his troubles. I want to ask him why he was feeling the way he did, but doing so would cause more harm than good by reminding him; not exactly the best choice to make in the dream realm.

“Thank you Princess Luna. Can we be friends?” he asks.

he wants to be friends? We just met and he already is asking for friendship. I guess Twilight was right, he really just wants friends. I smile and nod. He lets out a happy little squeak and hugs me tighter. I feel him fading away, signaling that he is waking up.

“I do not know what has happened to you, or what will become of you. But know this: you are welcome here in equestria and shall receive no trouble from us.”

With that, he fades away and the dream falls apart around me. I find myself back in the dream realm. Tots… what an interesting creature… I feel truly bad for him.

Author's Note

Ha! only 13 days for this one! that's one day less than two weeks! this chapter is a bit lacking in content methinks but I'm slowly getting closer to more content per chapter. so. yay to that. lemme know what you think in the comments, I love seeing what you all have to say.

Cheers for reading and have a nice day~!