Author's Note

So sorry for the late update guys! It's my Mom's birthday today so I have been trying to work on this and spend time with her at the same time, and it took a lot longer than normal to piece this chapter together because it didn't want to come out.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Aftermath

Thunderlane looked around in amazement at the new world around him. For a moment, in his shock, he didn’t do anything. Then, he spoke.

“This mine?” He asked.

Mesma nodded. “This is all for you, my little colty. No pony else.”

Her words sank in, and his eyes lit up and he started jumping up and down for a moment or two, before he lunged at her and wrapped her in a bear hug.

“Tank you, Mommy!” He squealed. She grinned and hugged him back. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now, you go on and play.”

He nodded excitedly, and waddled in. She watched him make his way to the toy box and begin rummaging through. She kept a close eye on him. She didn’t want her little colty getting into trouble. She sat in the rocking chair and watched.

After an hour of playing with many toys and scattering them all over the floor, he went over to her. “Mommy, I firsty.”

“Do you want some milk?” She asked.

“Uh huh. Moo moo.”

“Come here.” She said, and he climbed into her lap. She leaned back and he nestled in, until he was face to face with one of her teats. His instinct took over, and he started trying to nurse. Mesma almost stopped him. She didn’t want to disappoint him. Her milk had dried up a long time ago. But then, she remembered reading somewhere in one of the many books she had picked up over the years that with enough stimulation, she could likely lactate again.

For now, it seemed that he was using her more as a pacifier, and he wasn’t fussing. So she figured it was fine. She felt the once frantic suckling slow to only an occasional one, and she knew he was asleep. It was time to put in the final command.

“Listen to me, my sweet little colt…”

She whispered it into his ear, and then put his pacifier in, set him in his crib, tucked him in, and went to bed herself.

When Spitfire woke up the next morning, a strange feeling played at her. A voice whispered unease into her mind, telling her that something wasn’t right. She tried to brush it off, but it persisted, as she got up, as she showered, as she dressed for work, as she ate. She assumed, perhaps naively, that this was just a result of what happened yesterday.

She flew to work, into her office. Yesterday’s investigation of hers had yielded no results. She showed the picture to other pegasi, the folks in Cloudsdale, residents of Ponyville, and got nothing. She figured that whoever was doing this wasn’t from the area. So she would have to take her search to the next level. But she didn’t know where to begin. She tried to push that from her mind, as it was almost time for practice.

She flew to the practice area, but when everyone lined up, she realized that Thunderlane wasn’t there.

Alarm bells went off in her head. This was what that feeling was. Something was seriously wrong here. She thought that maybe, there was a small chance that he had woken up in his foalish state, but even then, she had serious doubts. Thunderlane was a lot of things. He could joke, he could be lazy, he could be forgetful. But he never missed practice. Not one time in two years. And she knew he wasn’t sick. Because she had just seen him yesterday and he had been healthy.

She knew she had to act quickly. “Practice is cancelled for today, but all of you, come with me.” She said it so fast that it took the rest of them a second to catch up. But they didn’t have time to ask her any questions, because she took off almost right after. Rainbow was the first to follow, then Soarin, then Fleetfoot, and the rest.

They landed at Thunderlane’s house, and Spitfire didn’t bother with knocking. She busted the door down. If he got mad at her for it later, she would take it. She needed to know that he was okay.

“Thunderlane?” She called. The living room and kitchen were empty, but she had thought they would be at that point. There was only one place she thought he might be. His bedroom. She didn’t have to break down the door that time. It was unlocked. Her eyes scanned the room. The bed was unmade and empty. The room looked halfway decent, except for some toys scattered around. But the one detail that really made her anxiety skyrocket was that the bedroom window was wide open, and was big enough to fit a pony through.

She cursed very suddenly, loud enough to startle the rest of her teammates. “He’s gone.” She said afterward, and felt a colossal wave of guilt wash over her, so deep she thought that she might drown in it. It came entwined with a sense of failure.

Why did I leave him alone? I should have known better. I should have stayed. She lamented privately to herself for a few seconds before she quashed the feelings and thoughts under a tremendous amount of anger.

“Spread out. Search for clues.” She demanded. They didn’t hesitate to follow her orders. Not when she sounded like that. Very angry Spitfire had reared her head, spewing flames directed at whomever did this. All of them shared a cohesive thought that they did not want to be this pony when Spitfire got her hooves on them.

It was Rainbow who eventually found the hatch under his bed. Spitfire had been busy checking the toys for any indication of where they had come from at the time, because she knew they hadn’t come from here. No way Thunderlane would ever let some pony catch him with things this foalish, right in the head or not.

Rainbow Dash had gone through the supplies in the hatch, emptying it out. There was a pacifier, a bottle, and some extra diapers. But nothing to indicate where they had come from. The hatch was dark enough that she almost missed a tiny balled up piece of paper that was in one corner. She pulled it out, and unraveled it very carefully.

“Captain!” She called. Spitfire went over, and Rainbow Dash had handed her what she had found.

It was a receipt, from a store called Forever Foal in Las Pegasus, for the purchase of a onesie. Spitfire assumed he had kept it in hopes of returning it someday. But maybe this place could tell her a thing or two, and finally give her some answers.

“Wonderbolts, move out! We’re headed to Las Pegasus!”