Chapters Chapter I: The little one
Princess Celestia walked slowly through her castle. Her eyes were drawn to the scars of the changeling attack that occurred two days ago. Battle scars, broken stone, and even some of that goo still clung to the walls were all reminders of event. Celestia sighed. Twilight had been right all along. She wondered if perhaps this could have been avoided if they had listened to her.
A small whimper caught her attention. The noise came from a basket that laid against the wall in a tilted position. Celestia walked over to it and looked inside. A small white colt looked up at her, terrified.
"Why hello, little one. What are you doing here?" She asked as her magic lifted the child into the air, bringing him closer to her. The colt just stared in fear. No words came from his mouth, only the faint sounds of his breath, and once in awhile a whimper. "Oh you poor thing, I bet you're horrified being all here alone...How did you get in here anyway?"
"I...I can't re...remember." The colt said softly. His voice struck at her like dragon's fire. It was sultry and calming for some reason, and his emerald green eyes made it all the more innocent.
"What's your name, dear?" The colt pondered this for a second.
"I th...think it might be Ob...obsid...obsidian." Again her heart sunk slightly. He sounded so scared, but what could she do?
"What a unique name. Do you know where your parents are, Obsidian?" The colt started to cry.
"N...no! I can't find them and I'm lost and sc...scared." Celestia pulled the colt close to her and tried to shush him.
"Fret not small one, I know of a place where you may live until we find your parents. How did you get in here anyway?" Before remembering that she had already asked that.
"Mommy was a guest at the wedding...when those monsters attacked, I...I lost her." The colt began to sob again.
"Shhhhhh sweetie, it's going to be okay. I'm going to take you some place safe." She set him on her back and flew towards Ponyville not wanting the guards to question her intentions with the child. Though she didn't think that they would think she was a molester of any kind, but having a child that isn't yours and not having a good excuse could cause for some problem.
Twilight left her library and made her way to Sugarcube Corner. She smiled, thinking of all the tasty home-made treats they made there. Definitely the best in all of Ponyville. Well, except maybe for Sweet Apple Acres. That begged the question: which was better, and how would she know?
"Twilight!" A bubbly pink mare yelled from her window, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hey Pinkie!” Twilight greeted her friend. “Can you grab me some food to go? Spike needs breakfast before he gets to work and we all know I'm not the best cook." Twilight chuckled slightly and Pinkie nodded, quickly disappearing from the window. A few moments later Pinkie burst from a vase beside Twilight, causing the lavender mare to shriek and fall on her plot.
"Ow! Pinkie..."
"Oops. Sorry, Twi." Pinkie picked up her friend and smiled, handing her the food. "That will be five bits."
Twilight nodded and gave her friend the money.
"Thanks Pinkie!" she yelled as she made her way home. She had expected to return home, and have a normal day. Instead as she walked in the door to her home a strange feeling came over her. There she was the Princess of the Sun herself and Twilights own teacher.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight yelled as she ran towards her mentor embracing her in a hug. Then she saw him. A small white colt with a black mane and emerald eyes. "Princess, I didn't know you were pregnant!" The alicorn blushed and let out a small giggle.
"No, Twilight, I am not pregnant, nor was I, but I do have an important task for you my faithful student."
"A task, Princess?" Twilight looked at the foal and a had a feeling she knew where this was going.
"Yes my student, I need you to watch over thi..." She was cut of by the lavender mare.
"I'm sorry Princess, I can't. I wish I could, but I just can't"
"May I ask to as why not?"
"I am far too busy and even though Spike mostly takes care of himself, he can still be quite a hooffull sometimes...maybe you should ask Fluttershy. She might be your best and only option."
"I see. Well, thank you Twilight. I hope to see a new letter from you or one of your friends very soon." The Princess then picked up the colt and left the house. Twilight sighed and went to her study felling a little ashamed that she couldn't help.
"Ready, dear?" Celestia asked as she put Obsidian on her back. He wrapped his hooves around her neck and nodded snuggling into her. "Alright, here we go." With that, she was off into the air flying towards Flutershy's cottage.
Fluttershy was busy attending to her animals when a sudden gust of wind caused her to shriek and run inside. She hid behind her bed when a small knock came to her door. "G...go away please." she whispered.
"Fluttershy, it is I, Princess Celestia." this news caused Fluttershy to sigh happily and open the door. Celestia walked in with Obsidian trailing after her. "What can I do for you Princess?"
"Well, Miss Shy, I have an important task for you."
"M...me? Why, Princess! I'm honored. What would you have me do?"
"I need you to watch over this young one until we can find his parents." Celestia looked at Fluttershy with a serious look in her eyes. "Can you do that for me?"
"Of course Princess but, how long will I have to watch him?"
"That I do not know...when I return home I shall send a scouting party to look for his parents."
"I see... Well, I'm happy to be of help." Shy smiled and looked at the colt. "What's your name anyway, cutie?" Obsidian blushed slightly and then shielded himself behind Celestia's wing.
"I...I'm Obsidian." Fluttershy's heart nearly exploded when she heard him speak. It was so calming and beautiful...
"Such a beautiful name for such a handsome colt." She looked at Celestia and smiled. "I think I'll be fine from here."
"Very well." Celestia looked at Obsidian and smiled. "You'll be good okay?" The colt nodded and ran over to Fluttershy. Celestia left the cottage and the two were alone.
"So, how about we get you something to eat, and then maybe we could play a game until your bed time?" Fluttershy asked. Obsidian nodded happily and followed her to the kitchen.
Meanwhile in a small cave far off...
The changeling walked up to his injured queen with a small cup of water. "How are you feeling, your majesty?"
"Weak but alive... I realize the mistake I made, and next time I won't make it again."
"My queen, are we going to hit Canterlot again?" Chrysalis laughed and looked at the servant.
"Not right away. No first we must grow and then we attack Ponyville. Killing those insolent fools who call themselves 'The Elements of Harmony'. Celestia and Luna will be so heartbroken that taking over Canterlot will be easy." She started to laugh and soon she was joined by the thousands of changeling that were by her side.
Obsidian looked at Fluttershy with determination. Fluttetshy stared back as well. Then, she blinked.
"Oh, you beat me!" Fluttershy smiled and grabbed the colt hugging him and tickled him. Obsidian couldn't help but laugh and soon he let out a long yawn. "I think its someone's bedtime." He tried to shake his head but couldn't as he closed his eyes and slowly started to fall asleep against her. Fluttershy smiled and carried him to his bed. There she laid him down and tucked him in.
"Goodnight, Obsidian," she whispered and gave him a small kiss on his forehead.
Obsidian was almost asleep when a terrible image came into his head, causing him to scream and cry. "Mommy!" he wailed. Fluttershy ran into the room and picked him up.
"Shhhhh, it's okay, I'm here... I'm here..." She looked at him and held him close. "What happened?"
"I...I saw some...something scary."
"What was it?"
"I can't remember, but I don't wanna go to bed." She smiled and kissed his nose.
"You can sleep in my bed. I'll do my best to protect you but I must warn you: I'm a bit of a scaredy-mare myself. Okay?" He nodded and she carried him to her bed. There they laid, and he tried to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes the same image kept appearing. An area of pure darkness with two huge green eyes and a wicked smile...
Soon he gave up and tried to deal with it. Hours later, he finally fell asleep
Chapter II: The first day
Obsidian awoke in a strange place. He found himself on a small chair in the middle of a dark room.
Nervously, he called out, "Fluttershy, are you in here?"
Silence was his only answer.
The colt started to grow scared. He wanted his caretaker, even though he hadn't known her for very long. It had only been two days since he had arrived, but he already trusted her and would rather be next to her than alone in this awful place. "Is anypony here?" the colt asked, still trying to not feel alone.
"I'm here, child," a mysterious voice called out. Obsidian instantly felt relief, which swiftly turned to terror, for he did not know who this was and whether they would hurt him or not.
The voice continued, "Come, child. I mean you no harm."
This caused the colt to freak out more. Was it reading his mind?
"W...where are you?" he asked. Suddenly, the same green eyes and grin that had been haunting his dreams since he had arrived appeared in front of him, gleaming brightly in the darkness.
"I'm here, and I will always stay." The image suddenly burst into maniacal laughter.
Obsidian screamed as he quickly sat up. It had all been a nightmare. Wasn't Princess Luna supposed to invade the dreams of ponies in need? Maybe she thought he didn't need her help?
But help he surely needed, and it came in the form of Fluttershy bursting in and pulling him into her warm embrace. "What happened, Obsidian?” she asked in a small whisper, obviously scared for him.
"An- another ni- ni- nightmare," he said, still gasping for breath.
The yellow pegasus sighed and gave a soft smile. "Oh dear, I thought we had helped your nightmares. Maybe you just aren't ready to sleep in your own bedroom."
The colt looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry I disappointed you, Fluttershy."
"Oh no, sweetie, you didn't disappoint me. I want you to be able to sleep, so you're gonna sleep in my room again. That's perfectly all right." Suddenly, Fluttershy felt a small paw pull on her tail. She looked back and saw her small little bunny. "Angel, what's the matter?" she asked.
Angel pulled out his food bowl and stomped his foot rapidly.
"Oh, okay. I guess a midnight snack would be okay. In fact..." She turned to look at the small colt. "We could make cookies."
"Cookies!" The colt dashed into the kitchen, causing Fluttershy to laugh a little.
It had been one week since that fateful night. Obsidian hadn't had a nightmare that traumatic since then, but that didn't matter. The image still attacked his mind. Today was special, though. Today was the first day of school, and Obsidian couldn't be more excited. "Come on, Fluttershy!” he shouted, bouncing around the living room. “I'm gonna be late!”
"Okay, now, Obsidian, do you have all of your stuff?"
The colt nodded.
"Oh really?” Fluttershy asked playfully. “What about your books?"
"Uhhhh... I get my books at school, don't I?"
"Yup. Trick question." She smiled and tussled his mane. "Now, you go have fun at school."
Obsidian giggled then ran off to school, and had almost arrived when he was stopped by two fillies. They circled Obsidian, looking just like two predators surrounding their prey.
The pink one spoke first. "Well, well, well. What do we have here, Silver Spoon?" she asked the other.
"Seems to be a new student,” the gray filly replied, “and, oh! It looks like he's a blank flank, Diamond Tiara."
"You know what that means, don't you, Silver?"
The gray filly nodded. Both girls sucked in a large breath of air, ready to shout, when suddenly a pair of yellow hooves covered their mouths.
"Hey, leave him alone, you two! Gosh, can't y'all do somethin' better'n this?"
The two fillies sighed angrily and stormed into the school. The filly looked at Obsidian and smiled a cute little smile. She held out a hoof in greeting. "Name's Apple Bloom."
"I'm Ob- Obsidian," he said shakily, returning the proffered hoof.
"Don't worry about those two, Obsidian. They don't have a lot of friends." The school bell rang, prompting the filly to jump. "Gosh darnit! We're late!" She turned and galloped inside, and he quickly followed. She dove into her desk, which was between a white unicorn and an orange pegasus. Obsidian had no such desk, and so he stood awkwardly in the front until the teacher turned and smiled.
"Settle down class," Miss Cheerilee said. At least, that's what the name on the desk said. "Now, I'd like to introduce a new student." She gestured to him to come closer, and Obsidian obeyed nervously. "Now, dear, please tell the class your name," she said.
"I'm Obsi... Obsidian," he managed to say.
Cheerilee smiled. While she might have had a more talkative student share more, for some their name was sufficient. "Good! Welcome, Obsidian. Now, have a seat. There's an open desk by Apple Bloom."
Happy that that had worked out, Obsidian quickly took his seat.
Cheerilee turned back to her board. "Today, class, we are going to talk about cutie marks.”
Obsidian leaned forward, very interested.
"Fluttershy!" Obsidian yelled as he ran down the dirt path to the cottage. "Fluttershy! Guess what?”
Fluttershy stepped outside of her cottage and looked around for the little colt. She found him easily, but that was because he had tackled her in happiness.
"Wh- what, Obsidian?" she asked, trying hard not to burst into laughter.
"Oh, um, well, school was awesome! And I met some really cool ponies,” he smiled
Fluttershy brightened. "Oh good! What are their names?"
"Wellll... I only really talked to three of them. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."
"Ah, I see. Well, they are nice fillies. In fact, two of them are some of my friends' sisters."
"Really?" he asked.
Fluttershy nodded.
"Whoa... Oh! Guess what I learned today?"
Fluttershy giggled and looked at him. "What did you learn?"
'Nuh uh!” Obsidan said, shaking his head no. “You gotta guess."
Fluttershy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm... Cutie marks," she said.
The colt's jaw dropped. "Are you psychic?" he asked in all seriousness.
Fluttershy couldn't help but burst into a giggle fit at his expression; and when she laughed, Obsidian couldn't help but join in.
"So..." Fluttershy tried to catch her breath. "Wanna help me make dinner?"
"But I don't know how."
Fluttershy shrugged. "That's not a problem. I'll teach you."
Obsidian nodded. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Okay, first I need you to get the ingredients."
"And those are?"
"I need some mushrooms, basil, mozzarella, flour, lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and parmesan cheese. Oh and lots of fruit" Obsidian tilted his head.
"Um what's pico de gallo?"
"it's in a red container on the top shelf of the fridge. Okay sweetie?.
"Okay!" Obsidian ran off to find the ingredients
Angel Bunny looked at Fluttershy, and she sighed. "Now, Angel Bunny, I know Sid isn't my child or anything, but I promised Celestia I would care for him, and I am going to keep my promise."
It didn't take long for Obsidian to return. "I found the stuff!" he yelled, running back with everything, including about ten different types of fruit.
"Very good!”
"So what are we making?"
"Well it's called The Don Quesadilla."
"Why is it called that?"
Fluttershy giggled and tussled his hair "It's from a old pony tale."
"Oh I wanna hear it!"
"Maybe after we eat okay sugar?"
"Okay."
With Fluttershy handling the knife and Obsidian being the a great helper, dinner was soon ready.
"Fluttershy?" Sid asked as they finished eating.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I know I should've asked earlier, but Apple Bloom invited me to go on something called crusading, and I was wondering if I could go?"
"Well, you are right in that you should have asked earlier, and I know that their crusading can get pretty dangerous, but I do want you to make friends... Oh my, it's so tough to decide." She pondered this for a second, and then smiled. "Maybe. We will decide after school tomorrow, but now it's time for bed."
He nodded and ran into her bed, waiting for her. She crawled in beside him and closed her eyes "'Night, Obsidian."
"Night, Fluttershy." He nuzzled against her, and in the smallest whisper she had ever heard, "I love you" drifted from his mouth.
"I love you too, Obsidian," she whispered back as her eyes filled with tears of joy.
suddenly his eyes opened up and he jumped up. "Oh wait you need to tell me that story." He started to jump up and down
"Okay okay but first calm down and cover up." Sid nodded and covered up.
"Okay so long ago there was a group called the manehatten moofia and their leader was know as the Don, so one day the Don got the best cooks from all around to make a meal that his little filly would love and if they couldn't make it he...well he uh made them go away... One day a unheard of chef came in and asked to make something. The Don had no other options since the best cooks were um gone. Well it turns out this chef made the best thing ever and the filly loved it, so the Don gave the chef his own mansion and one million bits and um they all lived happily ever after. Obsidian gave her a weird look.
"That's a weird tale but oh well...wait a minute how do you know the recipe?"
She chuckled. "Well like I said its a old mares tale. Now go to sle." Obsidian was already out. "Silly little thing."
The school bell rang, and was almost instantly drowned out by the pitter-patter of little hooves running outside.
Obsidian scanned the playground for Apple Bloom, and found her when he was tackled from behind by the yellow filly.
"Hey there, Obsidian! So, you ready to go play?" Apple Bloom asked, hopping off and helping him up.
"Well, um, I have to go tell Fluttershy that I have no homework, but then I can,” he said as he dusted himself off.
"Aw, but that will take too long... couldn't you just play now and tell her you had no homework when you get home?" She smiled and little punched his shoulder. "I mean, it's not like you would be lying."
Obsidian pondered this for a second, then smiled. "Yeah! You're right, Apple Bloom. I'm sure she won't mind."
Apple Bloom smiled and ran off and Obsidian followed, quickly catching up to the other two crusaders.
"Took you long enough!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle yelled in unison.
"Sorry girls, I had to speak with Obsidian, but we're ready now."
Scootaloo jumped up and giggled. "Awesome! Now, let's see what we should do first." She pulled out a list and looked through it. A large grin came across the filly's face. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Wrestlers!" she screamed, and tackled Sweetie Belle. Obsidian chuckled. 'It's going to be a good day,' he thought to himself, but that's all he had time to think before Apple Bloom tackled him.
"Agh! Scootaloo, what were you thinking!?" Sweetie yelled as she shook some of the mud off of her coat.
"I thought maybe we would get our cutie mark from it," Scootaloo defended herself.
"Why would you think that? I mean, if we didn't get our mark for wrestling, then why would we get our mark for mud wrestling?"
"My mommy told me only naughty mares mud wrestle, and they get paid for it at pubs," Obsidian said, causing the three fillies to blush and look at each other.
"We have to get clean, now!" Sweetie exclaimed.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded. "Agreed," they said in unison.
"We could ask your sister, Sweetie," Obsidian said.
"No!” Sweetie Belle squealed. “Do you have any idea what my sister will do to me if she sees me like this?"
"Um, okay... but then who will we see?"
"We can go to my place,” Apple Bloom suggested. “I know Apple Jack won't care"
"Then it's settled. To Sweet Apple Acres!" And with that, all four took off towards the orchard.
"Ah don't know why y'all are this messy, and Ah don't really want to. Now, you fillies get in the tub," Apple Jack looked at Obsidian and shook her head. "Guess you have to take a bath with them." Obsidian's face flushed bright red, causing the girls to giggle. "Now get your flanks upstairs!"
It was just as bad as Obsidian thought it would be. Interestingly enough, he was the only one who seemed to think so.
"Well, this is nice," Sweetie said, relaxing in the tub. Obsidian gulped and nodded.
"So what crusading are we going to do later?" Scoots asked, rubbing the soap out of her eyes.
"No idea, but I hear there's a rock pile near the Everfree Forest," Sweetie said as she started to wash her mane. "Maybe we can climb them and get a mountain climbing cutie mark."
"How would we get a cutie mark for that by climbing rocks?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, it is a mountain of rocks, technically."
"Ah guess you're right."
"Then it's settled! We'll go after our bath."
"So, this should be easy to climb." Scoots smiled and started to climb the mound of rocks when her body froze as she heard a loud snarl. "Um... guys? We have a problem."
That problem multiplied quickly. The rocks started to move as timber wolves emerged from the mound, growling and snarling. Soon the the crusaders were trapped and they didn't know what to do.
There was only one thing Obsidian could think of to do.
"Mommy!" he screamed as loud as his little voice would go.
Nothing happened.
Tears slowly trailed down his face as he realized that he would soon be dead. "Mommy," he slowly whispered. His head jerked up when he heard a loud snap.
"Twilight, are you sure you need us with you?" Fluttershy said softly "I... don't mean to sound rude, but I have to worry about Obsidian, remember?"
"Oh! Oh! Oh!” Pinkie started to jump up and down. "You can see if the Cakes will take care of him! I mean, he is old enough to help around the house."
"Well, I mean... if it's okay with them, then maybe I could ask them... I, um, guess."
"Good. Now, back to business," Twilight smiled. "Now, we know that the Crystal empire is very far away... I suspect that it will take about a week to get there, another week to fix everything and enjoy ourselves, and finally one more week to get home. So about three weeks-”
“Eep!”
“-in total." Twilight looked at Fluttershy. "Everyhing ok?"
"Oh, um, yes. Everyth-" she stopped as the smallest scream entered her ears.
"Did yall hear that?" Apple Jack asked. “Sounded like a little colt screaming." Suddenly, Fluttershy's wings unfurled, and she burst out the window. Rainbow Dash stood there with her mouth wide open in awe, and the only word that escaped from anypony's mouth came from Apple Jack. "Whoa nelly."
"You stay away from my little one," Fluttershy growled as she stood there, glaring at the timber wolves. Her expression would have made Iron Will cry. Obsidian waited for her to use the Stare on the wolves, but his eyes widened in surprise as she instead beat the living tartarus out of them. Like a yellow harbinger of doom, she was everywhere; slamming forehooves down and kicking hard enough to snap the sticks. Soon the timberwolves that could still move were crawling away, whimpering.
"Flu..." Apple Bloom tried to speak, but was stopped when Fluttershy glared at her angrily
"You three, go home. Now." She turned her gaze towards Obsidian. "You have no idea how much trouble you are in, mister."
"Fluttershy, I'm sorry I didn't come home." Tears poured down his face as he spoke.
Fluttershy landed next to him and pulled him into a hug. "Shhhhh... It's okay, honey, you're safe now. I won't let anything hurt you."
He looked up at her and nuzzled against her.
“Let's get you home,” Fluttershy eventually said. “This place is kind of scary.”
"Obsidian, I need to talk with you," Fluttershy said as she lay him in his bed and tucked him in that night. "I have to leave for a few weeks tomorrow."
"What!? Why?"
"Well, Twilight's brother needs her help, and we are going to accompany her." She smiled slightly. "That means you are going to spend your time with the Cakes while I'm gone."
Obsidian jumped up and hugged her tightly. "I love you, Fluttershy," he said as tears rolled down his face.
"I love you too, little one. Now go to sleep." She laid him back down, and soon he was fast asleep. She kissed his forehead and smiled. He wasn't her son, but if they couldn't find his parents then she would make damn sure he became it.