Dreams of Broken Promise

A large tower sat silently on the mountainside, its blackened windows revealing nothing but emptiness. Starswirl trotted towards the oaken doors, egg in hoof. He swung the brass dragon door knocker, letting the loud clang resonate in the still air. The sounds of haggard hoofsteps and muttered words sounded through the relatively thin wood. The door swung open with a creak, banging loudly against the metal framework. A disheveled young mare stood in the doorway, her long golden mane sat curled into a fuzzy ball. Her bloodshot emerald eyes stared ahead, focusing on the face of her master.

“Master Starswirl? Thou hath returned! We have been worried about thee… We foresaw a dark cavern filled with the unborn spawn of the changelings. Thou stood in the center, slowly being devoured by the emotional parasites!” The sound of worry seeping into her words.

“We had some minor setbacks but the hive was utterly destroyed. Many of the ponies we fought to save had already perished, thy lifeless corpses lying in eternal embrace.”

“And what pray tell, is inside that strange green orb? Is that… no… it cannot be… why in the name of all things magic do thou carry a changeling spawn?”

“We…accepted it in good faith from the dying queen. She offered her hand in sympathy, wanting only that her child be brought into the light of this world. “

“But why keep that thing alive? Better to end it now, no force on this world could turn it from the darkness.”

“No! We will keep him with us; teach him the truth of love, respect and friendship. Thou must not simply cast out those who are different. How are we any different from beasts if we destroy those who are born of a different race?”

“It is a changeling! That creature is not simply another pony, it is chaos incarnate!”

“Curb thou cruel tongue! An apprentice must be willing to accept others of differing cultures, religions and species. Under Rule #892 of the Mage Guidebook, it clearly states that an apprentice must be respectful at all times.”

“But sir-“

“Enough! Return to thou studies at once! Let Discord through, his egg is close to hatching!”

“Fine…” The young mare stomped off, clearly agitated at her masters proposal. A loud slam echoed through the tower, revealing a large broken door sitting awkwardly on its hinges.

“Apprentices…”

Setting the egg next to the fire, Starswirl sat patiently and waited for the hatchling to break his way out. A low pitched hum sounded within the shell. From within, the infant changeling began to claw and head butt his way out. A steady stream of cracks began to form on the surface, the membrane of the egg pulsing like a heartbeat. Slowly the shell began to fall away revealing the baby’s snout. It sniffed at the air seemingly searching for his mother. Starswirl stood up and trotted towards the infant, hoping it might recognize a new parent. The defenseless creature began mewling in hunger, staring hopefully up at the unicorn. Its tiny horn began to glow and a deep feeling of emptiness washed over Starswirl. A deep green light emanated from the changeling; slowly it rose out of the broken shell and began to trot forwards.

“Ugggh! St-stop little one! Thou must control thyself, lest thou drain your new father.”

The small changeling struggled to grasp the concept, continuing his pursuits of draining the powerful emotions. Slowly it began to take its toll on the unicorn; he collapsed to the ground consumed by sadness. As he wallowed in the pain brought forth from the infant, the sound of galloping rang out. From the top of the stairs a bolt of purple magic flew through the air, stunning the changeling instantly. The concerned apprentice ran forward, her mane now flowing out behind her.

“Master! Are thou injured?”

“No just… a bit faint, everything feels somewhat grey.”

“We told thou! It cannot be controlled, let me destroy it!”

“It was just doing what comes naturally, is that reason to kill a defenseless child?”

“We… guess not, but if it kills you…”

“Nonsense! Changelings cannot fully drain a victim; if they did they would destroy their food source, thus resulting in starvation and death. “

The purple colored unicorn stared at her master amazed at this sudden defensiveness. Why was he so focused on protecting such a disgusting thing?

“Is there some reason we are keeping this beast?”

“We destroyed thousands of eggs in hatred, we heard their screams and yet we did nothing! We are no mage, we are a monster!" A single tear rolled down his cheek, the images of his parents and Alistair haunting his waking mind.

“Master, many would have done the same thing, in times of war many forget the innocents. Children are always the victims; it is simply one of the regrets of warfare.”

“But we slaughtered them in cold blood!”

“They are creatures of chaos, how are thou meant to know that they wanted peace. It was a simple misunderstanding. If thou wish to atone for it by raising one under your hoof, then that is your choice. But please try not to feed it! At least not after such a strong emotional day.”

“We will follow your advice my dear Aurora.”

The changeling baby had fallen asleep during this conversation, its light snores adding some lightness to the situation.

“Guess the little guy had his fill…”

A light chuckle was heard behind her, it seemed her master had begun to overcome the symptoms of the feeding.

The next day a strange humming buzz drifted through the castle, awakening the young Aurora from her light sleep. "What in the name of King Starnova is making tha- Damn that really did happen, we adopted a changeling." *Sigh*

As she slowly trotted her way over to her cabinet, the buzzing became louder, gradually increasing in frequency.

“Grrrr! We are going to give Discord some discipline! This noise is ridiculous…”

She slammed the cabinet against the wall; a small dent appeared where it had struck. Having found her morning gown, Aurora proceeded to trot downstairs, stomping her hooves with every step. The door to the kitchen sat wide open, revealing a room that seemed to have been victim to an explosion. The walls were covered in a thick mixture of flour, sugar, and water. Pots and pans lay strewn across the room. A huge black streak ran with rivulets of molten stone, a small puddle of seared metal lay beneath. In the center of the mess hovered Discord, from head to hoof he was covered in ash and burnt flour. A harsh smell of burnt rubber pervaded the air; the culprit seemed to be a strange black ring covered with rubber. Where in Tartarus did that come from?

“Oh thy little shit! WE ARE NOT IMPRESSED, ONE NIGHT…ONE NIGHT! And already thou have destroyed my kitchen!”

The changeling continued to buzz, a small guilty smile formed on its lips.

“Sorry mistress, we simply wanted to make breakfast!”

“How? What? Thou can talk? But thou art only a day old!”

“Father gave us a head start, his powerful magic fed me quickly, I got big and smart, yes!”

“Oh joy!” The purple unicorn sighed deeply, regretting her decision to wake.

The now five year old Discord tried with some effort to clean up, but it seemed that his inherent chaos simply made things worse. Throwing his hoofs up in exaggerated anger, he slowly hovered to the ground and decided to watch the purple unicorn.

“So mistress, are thou my mother?”

A loud choking cough escaped Aurora, the question taking her off guard.

“N-no *cough* We are not, we are simply your adopted… sister, yes sister will do!”

“So if thou are not my mother, who is?” A fearful expression dawned on the young changelings face, his eyes swimming with tears.

“Oh do not cry, she is…,” she struggled to end the sentence, worried that the answer might frustrate the infant. “…dead, she died before you were born. I’m so sorry!”

“D-dead! But my mother… why is she gone? I feel empty.”

Discord burst into tears, his eyes brimming with sadness. The sound of crying rang out, filling the unicorn with guilt.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry about thou mother. We wish we didn’t need to do this too such a young child…”

She quickly embraced the crying child, wrapping him in her hooves. The two lied there together, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.

Starswirl stood on the alcove above, touched by the young apprentice’s strong empathy. Such a gentle heart… a great aspect for a powerful unicorn. Amazing that such a young infant could learn speech so quickly, we guess my powerful magic boosted his metabolic rate.

Far away in the royal court of Canterlot, the king and queen were expecting their second filly. The elder daughter waited outside the royal chamber, excited about becoming a big sister.

“I hope she’s real cute, then we can play dress up! Will she be white like me, or blue like mother? Ooh I can’t wait to see her!”

The agonizing sounds of labor rang through the chamber; King Starnova was very stressed, the baby having been expected three weeks earlier. After little Celestia was born, they struggled to make another child. After five miscarriages they became discouraged, on the verge of giving up they received a letter:

Her Majesty the Queen,

We have received word that thou continue to struggle with conceiving a child. A shame that Her Majesty struggles with the grip of painful reality. But we believe we have found a solution! Whilst on my travels we stumbled upon a strange brew, deep within the forests of Southern Equestria the zebra witchdoctors had been using this tonic for years. It is a simple potion that stimulates the life making process through ingestion. It only works for those who wish to make a baby, but we don’t think that should be a problem. Contained within is a vial filled with a golden liquid, simply squeeze five drops into a drink of thou choice and viola! An instant pregnancy!

Your close friend,

Starswirl the Bearded.

One week later a baby was conceived, a large feast was held that night in celebration. Starswirl was invited but had to decline, due to an urgent emergency with the changeling horde. Doctors were astounded at how well the brew worked, they even sent out parties of explorers to recover this extraordinary mixture.  But of course they could not find it. After a long 8 months of waiting the baby was due to be born. The day came and went but still no sign of the baby, the queen began to stress, believing that the potion had failed. All the doctors could do was tell them not to worry; late babies didn’t always result in deformities or disabilities. But alas that only seemed to stress her further.

Three weeks past and still the baby had not been born. But on the eve of what would later be called Nightmare Night, the queen’s water suddenly broke. The loyal guards ran down the halls of the castle, looking tirelessly for his majesty. Starnova was standing upon the royal terrace, his mind deep in thought. The loud shouting from behind broke him from his trance.

“Your Majesty! It is time, the baby is here!”

“Right! Thank you sergeant, take me to her at once!”

“Of course, Your Majesty!”

The doors to the royal chamber flew open, the king stood in the doorway watching his wife go into contractions. He stood stunned for several seconds, before finally rushing to his wife’s side.

“Moonlight, honey? Are thou alright?”

“We are fine, well not at the moment… it kind of hurts!”

“Ah yes, right…”

He grabbed hold of her hoof and gave a loving squeeze, a small smile pursed on his lips. Several agonizing minutes passed, time seemed to be standing still. Finally a head appeared; a small horn peeked out, glowing a light blue. Soon the rest came out, first a hoof, then a wing and eventually her back legs. The doctor caught her in a small towel, cleaning the blood and gunk from her sparkling mane. He then handed the small frail filly to her awaiting parents.

“Congratulations! It’s a baby girl!”

“Thank you Heartstreak, thou deserve a break! Here, take this sack of bits for thou trouble.”

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty!” The silver unicorn bowed, amazed at the generosity of his king. He turned and left, thinking they would prefer this tender moment alone.

The young princess bounded into the chamber, dying to meet her little sister.

“Oh wow! She’s absuloutly beautiful!”

“Absolutely dear. Come, meet your new sister.” She beckoned to her older daughter, holding the baby up where she could see.

“We have decided to name her, Luna.”

“Aww I love it! Hi, Luna!” Celestia gave a small wave, a giddy smile set into her face.

The little filly cried briefly then stared deeply into her sisters eyes. Her eyes were a deep blue; they seemed to glow within the moonlight. The navy blue coat was soft to the touch, it felt like the most expensive velvet one could buy. Her mane flowed behind her, moving ever so slightly despite the air being still. It sparkled within like the night sky far above. The little filly was the most beautiful baby ever seen in Equestria. Her beauty would be seen throughout the ages, a timeless wonder of the kingdom. For somepony in particular she would be everything he would ever want…