That Missing Element

Let me tell you now of a story most peculiar. A tale of the only pony to ever be born with her cutie mark. A most odd trait indeed you must be thinking. The mother and father were even more excited; after such a long time they had finally been granted the gift of a child. And such a unique one at that, but her uniqueness wasn’t important the fact that she was finally here was. To commemorate the event the mother and father had special bracelets made of their daughter’s cutie mark to be worn by each of them.

As the baby grew into a foal the mother began to grow ill. What started out as her getting winded while playing slowly turned into her hair falling out and eventually she wasn’t even able to get out of bed or speak. Even through all this she always wore the same gentle smile everytime she looked at her daughter. Eventually she had to go away for a long time. Their daughter was extremely sad. She watched as her father grew distant, he began to mutter to himself, he would spend days upon end without food or sleep in his office; slaving over his experiments. The daughter saw her father become a shell of his former self and decided to leave for Canterlot. Perhaps the princess could find the girl’s mother and end her father’s dark depression. She packed all her things and left that night.

The next day her father emerged from his lab. His eyes heavy from the lack of sleep, hair had begun to accumulate on his face from lack of grooming, and he was much thinner than he had been in previous weeks. His eyes squinted as the brightness of Celestia’s sun hit him for the first time in days. He called for his daughter. There was no answer. He called again and began to look for her. He entered her room and saw a note on the bed; it read, “Dad, went to find mom.” Panic struck the father and he ran out of the house calling her name. He pleaded the people passing by, “Please! Have you seen my daughter.” Finally somepony had seen and told him he saw her head north. Toward the Everfree forest. Time seemed to stand still as he raced towards the dark gloomy walls of the forest. Without worry or care he sprinted through the dense brush calling out for his daughter. Eventually he looked up and could no longer see the sun.

Elsewhere in the forest his daughter was walking along. Nervously she looked all around. Had she been this way before? Oh, this was a stupid idea maybe I should head back home she thought to herself. She meandered along the sparse paths. There was little light this deep in the forest and it seemed to be getting darker all the time. Strange noises assaulted her from all sides and her pace quickened as if to escape the unseen producer of the noises. Finally she could go no further and she fell upon the ground crying for her parents.

A serpent with long leathery wings slithered in the canopy above her. It had been following her for most of her time in these woods he surmised. He grinned devilishly to himself slowly gliding down lower to the foal. Ponies were a rare site this deep in the woods and they were quite the delicacy to some of the more dangerous inhabitants. The serpent’s head turned as he heard something yelling a short distance away.

Her father! The girl dragged herself to her feet and began to run towards the voice calling out. A shadowy figure floated effortlessly above and behind her; nearly unseen in the trees. “Father!” he heard a meek voice call out. He began to run towards the voice calling out himself. He entered into a clearing and could see her on the other side. Her gallop had turned into a slow walk and she smiled as she saw him. Then a terrible sight. From the trees behind her emerged a large snake like head; covered with warm colored feathers. An Amphiptere. The father began to run calling for her to flee but the clearing was large he wasn’t sure he would make it in time. The daughter’s smile widened as her father began to gallop towards her shouting something she couldn’t quite make out, “Honey… out… way!” With a confused look a shadow grew over her. She slowly turned around as her mouth grimaced in fear. The Amphiptere was hovering its upper body off the ground several feet above the foal. Smiling evilly as he opened his gaping maw revealing several sets of needle sharp teeth and plunged upon the girl as she shrieked.

The father closed his eyes as he raced forward. He thought of all the times with his lovely wife and their beautiful daughter. He opened them again looking down at the bracelet. He had spent so much time trying to get his wife back he had neglected the most important part of her she left behind. The bracelet began to shine. His pace seemed to quicken as his hooves began to rise off the ground. A magnificent pair of spectral wings materialized on his back. The same color as his wife’s coat. The immaterial wings carried the father with such speed he was able to snatch his daughter up just before the Amphiptere’s jaws snapped down where she had been. Pulling up through the forest canopy with his daughter in his arms they penetrated the top of the Everfree forest into the full glory of Celestia’s sunrise.

The Amphiptere looked baffled for a moment as he contemplated what happened. Then turned his attention upwards; letting out a grunt of annoyance. With a massive wingbeat he lifted his seemingly weightless body with magnificent speed upwards.

The father looked down at his sleeping daughter. She must have fainted out of fright, the poor thing. He looked around to get his bearings seeing Ponyville in the distance his ghostly wings began to flap him and his daughter towards home.

The Amphitere burst from the forest tops, hissing foul curses, beating his wings ever faster towards his prey. The father could not outrun the swift monster; perhaps his magic could do something to save him and his daughter. He turned towards the beast, shielding his daughter’s body in his arms. His horn began to glow light beige slowly turning a bright white as the magic began to flow and power spit forth from the growing aura. The Amphitere didn’t care; nothing was going to stop him from getting his meal. The light and heat from his horn began to wake his daughter. She opened her eyes to see the Amphitere getting closer, his mouth wide. The father and the daughter closed their eyes hoping for something miraculous to happen. And that is precisely what happened. The daughter’s cutie mark began to emanate a deep gold; the glow intensified, brighter, and brighter. The glow encompassed the father and daughter; then they disappeared. The Amphitere flew around madly cursing that he didn’t attack sooner.

The father woke up in his bed. Looking down at his daughter, who was also asleep on the bed, with her pale white coat and golden cutie mark he smiled to himself; glad to be home. Then he noticed the door to the bedroom creak open. His wife entered smiling. The father smiled with her and they both looked down over their daughter.