The Spark of Something New

by Pip232

1: Say What Now?

As the sun was beginning to set in Ponyville, Twilight’s friends were heading to her old castle.

“Y’all got the same letter, too?” Applejack asked, glancing at her friends.

“Yup! Whatever it is must be super duper ultra super important if it can’t wait until our next meeting!” Pinkie said as she bounced along beside her friends. “What do you think it could be?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but grin as she flew beside Applejack. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll need to save Equestria again! It’s been so long since we’ve been able to do that!” She paused for a moment. “You said super twice, you know.”

“That’s how important it probably is!” Pinkie stopped bouncing, walking slow enough to let her catch up. “But I think our days of saving Equestria are over, Dashie. We haven’t had to face anything in a really long time, but I’m not complaining.”

“Really? Don’t you miss our adventures at all?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow. “The heroics, the danger, the drama, the lavish parties to celebrate our victories?”

“Nah!” Pinkie told her. “Don’t get me wrong, I liked the adventure and all, but I’m glad Equestria doesn’t need us to save it every few months anymore!”

As they began going up the castle steps, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but agree. “Well, I guess you’re right about that, but wouldn’t it still be cool to do it just one more time? It’s been years since those three tried to conquer Equestria.”

“Ah think we’re a bit long in the tooth to be doing that again, hun.” Applejack told her, giving her a playful push. “But Pinkie’s right, Ah’m sure whatever she’s calling us for is pretty darn urgent.”

“What could be so important that Twilight called us for an emergency meeting?” Fluttershy asked.

“Only way we’ll find out is to ask her.” Applejack answered as she pushed open the door, making sure the others were inside before shutting it behind her.

When they neared the throne room, Rainbow Dash pushed the doors open, and five jaws dropped at once at what they saw.

Twilight was sitting on her throne. Her eyes were red and baggy, and her waving mane seemed duller than normal while a pile of paperwork sat in front of her.

She offered a weak smile when the door opened, lighting her horn and making the paperwork disappear. “Hi, girls. Thanks for coming so quickly. Sorry it was on such short notice.”

Rainbow Dash zoomed in, her eyes wide as she landed on the Cutie Map. “What happened?! Who did this to you?”

“Are you okay, Twi?” Applejack asked, her expression filled with concern.

“I’m fine, really, but there is something very important we need to discuss.” Everyone went to take their seats, but she held her hoof up and they stopped. “Don’t bother sitting down, we won’t be in here for long.”

“Why not?” Rarity asked, slightly confused. “And will Spike be joining us tonight?”

“No, Spike was gracious enough to cover my duties in Canterlot until I can get this all straightened out,” Twilight answered, glancing at the empty throne by her side. With how big Spike had grown she doubted he could still fit in his old seat.

“So what needs straightening out?” Pinkie asked, her curiosity piqued. She absentmindedly pulled a sucker off her tail and stuck it in her mouth, resisting the urge to just bite down and break the candy off the stick.

“Yeah, what Pinkie said, does Equestria need saving again?” Rainbow Dash sounded just a little too excited at the prospect of needing to save Equestria from an imminent threat.

“No, thankfully, Equestria is fine.” Twilight felt the tiniest bit of annoyance at the disappointment on Dash’s face before continuing. “As for my injuries, they’re incredibly minor, all things considered.”

Twilight took a deep breath, sighing as she leaned forward and rested her forelegs on the Cutie Map. “Two days ago, there was an attempt on my life.”

A series of gasps and other surprised noises responded to her statement. Looking at her friends’ reactions, Twilight saw what she expected to see. They were all stunned to hear this, and she didn’t blame them.

“Why would anypony do that?!” Fluttershy asked.

“And how could they do that?” Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash. “No, I mean how was it even possible? Don’t you have guards to stop exactly that?”

Applejack spoke up now. “She’s right, and on that note, who would do that?”

Twilight looked to each of her friends, her expression starting to fall. “The answer to all those questions is in another room. It’ll be easier just to show you.”

She stood up from her throne and began to walk towards one of the doors at the edge of the throne room, using her magic to open it.

She looked back to see her friends following her, sighing as she began to head down the hallway. She needed to show them, but it’d be hard to explain what they saw.

“Twilight, darling,” Rarity spoke up, hurrying a little to get beside her. “If you’re going to be in Ponyville for a while, why didn’t you bring any guards with you?”

“I don’t want anypony else to know what’s going on. I promise I’ll answer any questions you have, but this is a very delicate situation and it needs to be handled with the utmost care.” She answered, her eyes landing on a door towards the end of the hall.

“Hey, if whatever happened, happened two days ago, why are we just hearing about it now?” Applejack asked, catching her eye at the door they were approaching. Her imagination began to run away from her as she wondered what might be in that room.

“Sorry, I’ve been very busy dealing with the aftermath. I wish I could’ve told you sooner, but this is the earliest chance I’ve had.” They reached the door and Twilight grasped the handle, manually opening it.

The six ponies stepped into a dark room, but as their eyes began to adjust, five of the six present were surprised to see the furniture in it.

“This is a nursery.” Fluttershy noted, looking at what was set up. There was a nightstand, toy box, a rocking chair, but her gaze stopped and her eyes widened when she saw the crib. “Oh my!”

Inside the crib was a small colt dressed in a navy-blue hoofed sleeper. His coat was a pristine snow-white, save for a stripe of gray fur that ran along his muzzle from his snout up to his messy jet-black mane.

“Aw.” Pinkie couldn’t help but quietly coo at him. She pulled the teddy bear from her tail and gently put it up against him, her smile only widening as he held it close.

“Twilight, why is there a nursery and a foal in your castle?” Rainbow Dash stage-whispered.

Applejack tapped Twilight’s side, getting her attention. She sounded frustrated, but kept her voice down. “We got more important things to worry about. Who’s the one who tried to do you in?”

Twilight looked from her to the colt, seeing Pinkie and Fluttershy fawning over him. It seemed almost cruel what she was about to do. She lifted a foreleg, pointing right at the crib. “He did.” She said with a regretful tone.

Comments

[Mystic Sunrise]

Unless Twilight de aged him, this just went into the "This is so stupid, even the canon villains thought it was stupid" catagory.

Yeah. Child soldiers are a thing. I know that. But this is pushing it me thinks :/

Will stick around to see how you have this actually play out anyway.

[Matthais Unidostres]

10620481
there is no Random or Comedy tag, so this will definitely be very interesting.
Also, remember Cozy Glow?

[Thappect_515]

What an amazing story it is! I loved it. very wonderfully written and executed. Storyline is perfect and very smooth to hear it out. And the most important thing is that it doesn't have any random tags of genre which makes it more interesting to read.

Mypascoconnect login

[Fluttershylover3]

decent so far

[Pete100]

Twilight was sitting on her throne. Her eyes were red and baggy, and she had multiple bandages wrapped around her body. Even her waving mane seemed duller than normal. A pile of paperwork was in front of her.

Damn, that assassin messed her up. I need to see the attempt or something.

“No, thankfully, Equestria is fine.” Twilight felt the tiniest bit of annoyance at the disappointment on Dash’s face before continuing. “As for my injuries, they’re incredibly minor, all things considered.”

Naw, she hurting.

“This is a nursery.” Fluttershy noted, looking at what was set up. There was a nightstand, toy box, a rocking chair, but her gaze stopped and her eyes widened when she saw the crib. “Oh my!”

Don’t tell me.

Inside the crib was a small colt, dressed in a navy-blue hoofed sleeper. His coat was a pristine snow-white, save for a stripe of gray fur that ran along his muzzle from his snout up to his messy jet-black mane.

No way

Applejack tapped Twilight’s side, getting her attention. She sounded frustrated, but kept her voice down. “We got more important things to worry about. Who’s the one who tried to do you in?”

Twilight looked from her to the colt, seeing Pinkie and Fluttershy fawning over him. It seemed almost cruel what she was about to do. She lifted a foreleg, pointing right at the crib. “He did.” She said with a regretful tone.

I’m weak.

[Warrior of Virtue]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that this is a new form of reformation where the villian starts life over as a baby.

[Yosh-E-O]

Whoa! I did not expect this outcome for the end of this chapter! Definitely curious as to how the little colt, if that is his true form, managed to make an attempt on Princess Twilight's life.

***

Aside from less than a handful of typos, this came out quite clear, easy to follow, and achieved its goal in creating a desire to figure out what may be coming next. :)

[Notowa]

This an excellent opening, I can't wait for more!