Daughter of Magic: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Taken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight paced back and forth in her living room that night. Aurora had gone upstairs to get ready for bed and Twilight was going over on how to tell her daughter the truth.

"Ok. 'Aurora, sweetie, there's something I have to tell you. I'm a Unicorn.' No. That's too obscure. How about, 'Aurora? Have you ever wondered where I came from?' No, that's not gonna work. She'll think I mean something else."

She then sat on the couch and sighed as she looked at her husband's urn.

"You were right, John. I should have told her when she was younger."

Hearing footsteps, Twilight stood up and headed up the stairs. With each step, her heart beat faster, dreading on what her own child would say. Compared with being Princess Celestia's protégé, being a mother was hard. But it was a worthy title to her.

She entered her daughter's room, where Aurora was already in bed but not asleep. She was wearing a pair of lilac pajamas that had a maroon collar. Seeing her mother, Aurora spoke.

"Everything ok, Mom?"

Twilight took in a deep breath before sitting down on her daughter's bed.

"Sort of, sweetie. I've just been thinking about something."

Now Aurora was alert. Whenever her mother said that she was thinking about something, she would have a different face. And Aurora grew to know that the face that Twilight was making was one of anxiety.

"Mom? You remember those deep breathing exercises Dad taught you, right?"

Twilight gave a chuckle as she blushed, remembering the time she originally thought she was supposed to send a Friendship report at least once a week and went crazy with her fears and worries. And unfortunately, that type of worry would plague her with different subjects.

"Don't worry. It's not that kind of thinking." "At least, not what you're thinking." Twilight thought.

She then took a breath and spoke.

"Aurora. Do you remember the stories I told you when you were little?"

Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"You mean the ones where there is a world of ponies that talked and acted like humans and the ponies were made up of normal ponies, pegasi, and unicorns? What about them?"

"Well, what would you think if those stories were true?"

Now Aurora was wondering if her mother finally gone off the deep end. Her mother made up those stories, right? To put her to sleep at bedtime?

"Well…it would be weird, but I guess it would be neat. I mean, I loved those stories when I was little. In fact, I used to wish very hard that those stories were real and I could learn magic."

That last bit made Twilight smile. If Aurora was truly like her mother, there was a possibility that she could have inherited her mother's magical abilities. It was Twilight's biggest dream to teach her daughter everything she knew about magic and to see her grow as an accomplished sorceress.

So maybe, just maybe, this would be easier than she originally thought.

"Well, what would you say that…" But Twilight failed to complete as she heard the sound of crashing downstairs. "What was that?" She managed to end her sentence.

Both mother and daughter felt that something wasn't right. No one would be dumb enough to sail to their island and Twilight knew her friends would be back tomorrow morning.

"Burglars?" Aurora asked, inching closer to her mother.

Twilight gulped at the possibility of it being so.

"Wait here." She told Aurora.

Quietly, she retreated to her room and got a baseball bat from her closet. Her house did have a security system, but why did it not go off? She had it checked every month despite the fact that the only big crimes on the islands were vandalism and shoplifting. As she made her way down the steps, Twilight pleaded internally that with the portal open, she would be able to perform magic again.

But as she reached the ground floor and flipped a light switch, she found nothing. Her husband's urn was safe, thankfully, but what of the invader? Carefully, Twilight, peered into the kitchen and bathroom, once again finding nothing. It was strange. She was sure she heard a crash. Aurora heard it too. So why did it sound like something did a few minutes ago?

Her answer came as she looked at the front door. The screen and glass door was shattered. How could she had not seen it before? And how is it that the intruder could smash her door, but not enter her home.

"MOM!"

Twilight's ears picked up a scream coming from the stairs and immediately, her maternal instincts went into overdrive. Aurora was a brave girl. She would never scream like that unless she was in trouble. And judging from the volume, something was defiantly scaring her.

Twilight dashed up the stair and burst through the door to find some sort of black sludge creeping into her daughter's room from the window at frightening speed. Aurora was already at the door when her mother came in as the sludge began to expand in the room.

"What is that!?" Aurora cried out.

Twilight said nothing but held her daughter in terror. There was nothing like this in any of the books she had read. It wasn't a disease or a form of animal.

But whatever it was, it was alive and was on the hunt.

"Twilight… Sparkle…" A voice came from the sludge. "Twilight…Sparkle…"

Twilight's eyes widened further as the sludge breathed in and out her name.

It was after her!

Without a second thought, she grabbed her daughter by the hand and ran out the room with her, slamming the door behind her. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Twilight grabbed John's urn and handed it to her daughter, knowing where to go.

Aurora looked up to her mother as they could hear the sludge perusing them. The two of them ran out the door to find their house was being overrun with the sludge, coming after them like a slimy serpent. Perhaps they could escape into the sea? They had her mother's sailboat, they could get off the island at least.

But Twilight took Aurora to a place different from the dock: the lone forest that was on the island. When she was little, the forest was the one place on the island she couldn't go into without one or both of her parents. It was a strange rule, since there were no predators on the island, so how could a forest be dangerous.

It was then that Aurora noticed something different about the forest: it was glowing.

"This way, Aurora! There's a place in there that will take us to safety!" Her mother told her.

They worked their way towards the center of the forest until they came across a glowing light. Unbeknownst to Aurora, the same light Twilight saw many years ago.

"Through there!" Twilight called.

But as they were about to jump through, the sludge caught up to them and seized Twilight with so much force that both mother and child flew through the portal. As they passed through the light, Aurora felt a strange sensation at her lower half. Too scared to open her eyes, she failed to notice an immediate change as they came out of the portal.

Opening her eyes, Aurora was met with shock as she looked at her mother. She was no longer human, but looked like a pony about three-quarter's her size. Her hair remained the same, but had a matching tail. Her fur was lavender with a magenta star and six white smaller stars on her flank. On her forehead was a horn. Aurora realized what her mother had become.

"Mom? Are you…"

But she couldn't finish her sentence as the sludge came forth and grabbed Twilight, ripping her from her daughter's grasp.

"MOM!" Aurora screamed, too focused on her mother to notice her surroundings.

As the sludge held Twilight, a wicked male laugh boomed as glowing red eyes came from the black sludge, glaring at both mother and child. The child was frozen in place as the sludge formed a sinister giant hand and slowly reached out to her. Seeing that the sludge was going after her daughter next, Twilight powered up her horn and sent an energy blast at the muck.

"Stay away from her!"

The blast splattered the mire hand but forced the eyes to focus on Twilight. Suddenly, it covered her in sludge like how two hands capture a fly. Seeing this, something in Aurora snapped.

"NO!"

Suddenly, a light appeared out of nowhere and shone brightly at the sludge, its howling indicating it was in pain because of this light. From what Aurora could see, it was coming from her forehead.

It was clear to the sludge that this light was very powerful and that if it stayed long enough, it would be destroyed. Seeing there was no choice, the sludge dove into itself and released a cloud of black smoke as the sound of an explosion was heard.

As the light faded, Aurora fell to her stomach, one arm protecting her father's urn, reached out to the origin point of the smoke as she uttered a word.

"Mom…"

With tears in her eyes, Aurora's world soon went black.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of the explosion did not go unheard of. Almost all of the castle residents heard it, but it was Princess Celestia who first awoke not at the sound, but by the emergence of a great power soon preceding the explosion. From where the princess could locate it, it came from the caverns below.

"The Gate…"

Immediately, Celestia left her bed and retreated down the corridors. She stopped at one room and knocked hastily. The door soon opened to reveal a tired Applejack, back in her pony form, and struggling to keep awake.

"Princess? What are ya doin' knockin' on doors in the middle of the night?"

"No time to explain. Just wake Fluttershy and meet me at the Gate of Sleipnir." Said the princess.

Upon hearing the location, Applejack fully woke up and headed down the hall to Fluttershy's room, leaving her hat behind. Upon answering the door, Fluttershy asked the same question Applejack asked the princess. And just like Applejack, she became alert once she heard that something was happening at the Gate.

The two Elements made their way down to the caverns, soon greeted by the princess.

"What's the problem, princess?" Applejack asked.

Celestia turned her gaze to a fallen form before the Gate. It was a strange creature, for it had a lavender pony body, but where the head should be was the upper body of another creature. Upon seeing the creature's mane, Applejack and Fluttershy became worried.

"Is that…?" Fluttershy asked as Applejack turned the head to get a good look at the face.

Thanks to the light of the portal, the farmpony could see who this creature was.

"I don't believe it. It's Aurora!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After placing Aurora in one of the guest chambers sometime later, Fluttershy waited for Applejack and the princess to return. Seeing Aurora alone made them worry and while Fluttershy was tasked with staying with Aurora, Applejack went through the Gate to see if she could find Twilight at her home while Princess Celestia searched the caverns with her guards.

Every fifteen minutes to an hour, Fluttershy came into Aurora's room and checked on the guest. From what she could see, the stress of whatever happened coupled with the power of the Gate took its toll on the child. The butter-colored Pegasus would dab a damp washcloth on the girl's forehead, hoping it would grant the child comfort.

After an hour had passed, Fluttershy came out of the chamber to find both Applejack and Celestia approaching, both with solemn looks on their faces.

"What…what's wrong?"

Looking at the Pegasus, Celestia spoke.

"I'm afraid something terrible has happened to Twilight. She is nowhere in the caverns and Applejack has just informed me that no one was home and that it looked like they were attacked."

"Attacked?" Fluttershy gasped quietly out of sheer habit.

Applejack nodded.

"The house was a mess and windows and doors were shattered. I saw a black trail of sorts make its way around the house and back to here. The trail ends just a couple feet from where we found Aurora."

Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hooves to silence another gasp as the princess spoke.

"I have just contacted my sister to peer into Aurora's memories to see what had happened. By far, the poor child is the only witness as to what happened."

"And how long will that take, princess?" Applejack asked, her gaze focused on the door and the child behind it. "And what are we gonna do about Aurora once she wakes up?"

Celestia became silent in thought. There was no way they could make the child return home after what she had heard. Looking to Applejack and Fluttershy, she had her answer.

"Applejack. Fluttershy. I must ask that you tend to Aurora both while she is sleeping and when she wakes. She knows you two and thus you have a better chance of talking with her without unintentionally instilling more fear in her. And while we wait for Luna's report, I'll send a letter to Spike and the rest of the Elements in Ponyville. She and I will send soldiers to the far reaches of Equestria if we have to if we are to find Twilight. I will send a chariot to Ponyville at once."

The Elements of Kindness and Honesty bowed to the princess as she left to perform her tasks. They then turned their attention towards each other.

"How about we take shifts. I'll watch her for two hours and you take the next two." Said Applejack.

Fluttershy nodded and returned to her room while Applejack wen inside the room to check on Aurora.

Applejack gazed sadly at the girl. She was going to be so heartbroken once she remembers what happened. This was, sadly, Applejack was familiar with. Although her parents were taken in a completely different fashion, the mare never felt so alone once she received the news. It took a while for her to recover after she and her siblings came into the care of her Granny Smith.

But for Aurora, it was going to be a worse feeling.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Ponyville….

It was peace and quiet in the small village of Ponyville. The ponies who call this place home were nestled in their beds dreaming away. Near the village square was a large oak tree that doubled as the town's library. It had a door and windows, even a couple of balconies here and there. Inside, the tree was hollow, shelves carved out from the wooden walls and were filled with books. A set of stairs lead to the second floor of the tree, which was home to the head librarian. But the librarian wasn't a pony, no. He was a dragon.

Spike was a long and nimble adolescent dragon, no longer the small purple and green baby dragon that he was when he moved to Ponyville. He was about the size of a normal human teenager and had already grown in his wings. He was still learning how to control them, though.

It seemed to be another lonely night for the purple dragon, having missed Twilight, the one who hatched him and raised him so many years ago. After she disappeared, the Mane 5 took on the task of taking care of him, although he stayed in the library with Twilight's pet owl, Owlicious. As he grew older, the responsibilities of the library soon became an everyday thing. Nothing was new, good or bad.

But suddenly, Spike awoke from his sleep at a familiar case of indigestion and burped some green flames. From the flames, a scroll appeared. Curious, Spike opened the scroll and read its contents. His eyes widened as he read.

"Twilight? Her daughter? Come to Canterlot at once?!"

He tossed the blankets off him and headed down the steps of the library. He had to find his friends immediately. He first stopped at the local boutique and knocked furiously on the door. He kept knocking until a greyish-white unicorn with a curled violet answered the door.

Yawning, she spoke. "Spike? What are you doing waking ponies up in the middle of the night?"

Despite his long-standing crush on the unicorn, Spike held up the not for her to see.

"Read this, Rarity, and see."

Hoping to humor the dragon so she could go back to sleep, Rarity read the scroll, only to have the same reaction as Spike.

Looking up from the scroll, Rarity spoke. "I'll get some supplies from my shop. Go and get Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash."

Without another word, Spike headed to the local catering company, Sugar Cube Corner, and flapped his wings with all his might to the room of a pink pony. Knocking on the window, he managed to wake her up and motioned her to open the window. She yawned.

"Spike, it's too late for a slumber party. You'll wake up the twins."

After the wedding, Pinkie was very slowly reverting to her "normal" self, forcing herself to put on a smile for the shop owners' twins, who were about Aurora's age at the moment. Like with Rarity, Spike held up the scroll for Pinkie to see. Once she read it, her straight mane has regained some of its former curls, but about a quarter of what it used to be.

"Twilight is missing and has a daughter in Canterlot? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Who knows how many birthdays I've missed!"

But Spike shushed the Earth Pony.

"Quiet, Pinkie. Remember?"

Remembering, Pinkie saluted and opened her armoire and pulled out her cobweb-and-dust-covered party cannon.

As Pinkie got ready, Spike headed to the last place on his list: Rainbow Dash's home. Unlike his friends, Spike had to fly to a home-shaped cloud that hung near Ponyville. Granted, it wasn't the only cloud home in Ponyville, but Spike could pick out Rainbow Dash's home in a thick fog on the first try.

Upon reaching the cloud, Spike went to Rainbow Dash's bedroom window and knocked hard. The rainbow-haired Pegasus was a heavy sleeper, so the dragon had to put some effort into waking her up. When she did, she did not look happy until Spike shoved the parchment into her face.

That changed her mood.

The two fliers met up with Rarity and Pinkie at the square, both with suitcases, although Pinkie had her party cannon and Rarity had a cartful of fabric and sewing supplies.

Landing, Rainbow Dash spoke.

"I take it you got the word about…"

"Of course we did, Rainbow Dash. After all these years, we finally have some word about Twilight. Although I wish it was better news." Rarity replied.

"Are you kidding? Did you forget about Twilight's daughter already? I missed a lot of birthday parties and I gotta catch up."

"I don't think a party is what's needed, Pinkie." Rainbow spoke.

"Quite right. From the look of things, something terrible has happened. We need to take things gently. Although I am quite curious about this 'Aurora' girl. I am still surprised that Twilight of all ponies is in fact the first of the six of us to become a mother. Not even Princess Cadence and Shining Armor have any foals yet." Rarity spoke.

"Well, we'll get to meet her soon. Here comes the chariot." Spike spoke up as the chariot approached Ponyville from the sky.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometime later, Spike and the remaining Elements were in Canterlot and were being lead though the castle to where Princess Celestia and their friends were. Seeing them, Celestia approached them.

"I am so glad that all of you have come. Luna is about done peering into Aurora's memories. In the meantime, Applejack can tell you about what has happened."

The ponies and the dragon looked on the farmpony anxiously.

It took nearly an hour in order for Applejack to properly relay the information she and Fluttershy had received earlier that day and what was happening now. By the time she was finished, Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, were coming out of the guestroom with grim looks on their faces.

"Well? What did ya find?" Applejack asked.

Luna took a few steps forward before giving her answer.

"I'm afraid that you're assumption was correct. Both mother and child were attacked by something. Something that clearly wanted Twilight. And sadly, it took her before the girl passed out."

Hearts became heavy at the news, but the Elements, save for Kindness, became alert.

"Just point us in the right direction and we'll show that thing whose boss!" Rainbow declared, ready for a fight. But Celestia shook her head.

"No, my little ponies. I cannot let you go and search."

The ponies and the dragon gaped.

"Huh? Why not?" Pinkie asked.

"Because while Luna and I will have our royal legions search Equestria for Twilight, you six are to be tasked with a very important mission." Celestia answered.

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "And what mission is that, Your Highness?"

Applejack turned her head to the doors as the answer came quickly.

"You want us to watch over Aurora, don't ya?"

Celestia nodded.

"Yes. While Twilight is missing, Aurora needs somepony to watch over her until her mother's return. With what's happened, I couldn't give her to her grandparents. I believe that the best course of action is for the six of you to help Aurora adjust to Equestria and to be there until she is deemed fit to travel."

"Travel? Where would she go?" Spike asked.

"We believe that once Aurora becomes well-adjusted to Equestria she should go and stay with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire. With our soldiers stretching so thin to find Twilight Sparkle, the two of them would be able to keep their niece safe until further notice." Luna replied.

"But what could we do?" Rainbow Dash asked, not sure about taking care of a strange creature, even if that creature was the child of her lost friend.

To everypony's surprise, Applejack answered with a certain authority in her voice.

"I'll give her a home on Sweet Apple Acres, give her some security. Rainbow Dash can help teach her how to walk."

"What?!"

"Rarity can make her some cloths and everything else in that department."

"Goodness!"

"Once she's a bit better, Pinkie can throw a small party to help her along."

"Okie-dokie-lokki."

"And Spike can help her with her education such as reading the Equestrian language."

"Me? A teacher?"

Luna then asked the farmpony, "What about Fluttershy?"

Applejack already had an answer.

"Since Aurora already knows me an' Fluttershy, I'd figure that it should be the two of us that breaks the news to Aurora. If she meets somepony familiar, it could be easier for her."

Celestia smiled and nodded in approval.

"Looks like you were well-prepared, Applejack. We are grateful to you."

Applejack tipped her hat as she blushed.

"Thank ya kindly, princess. But I was only thinking of Aurora."

As the ponies left for their designated rooms, Applejack walked inside the room and gazed sadly at Aurora. This was going to be a difficult journey for her, but the farmpony was going to do whatever it took to ease the burden. Placing a hoof on the sleeping girl's forehead, Applejack whispered.

"Don't worry, sugar cube. We'll take care of ya and we'll get your mother back. And that's a promise."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the ponies retreated for the night, Celestia and Luna gathered at the castle's observatory to hold a private meeting.

"So. Do you know who is behind this foalnapping?" Celestia asked.

Luna walked over to a window and gazed at the moon, letting Celestia know who was the culprit.

"I believe that it is him, sister. After all these millennia, he finally makes a new move."

"But why Twilight? What could she have that he wants?" Celestia asked.

Luna shook her head as she gazed out into her dark night.

"I do not know. But I have a strong feeling that Aurora is the key to our salvation."