Chapter 12: A Place Called Home

Flitter's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to make way for the frantic bleat of terror. However no sound passed her lips as a large sine wave rippled through the red tendril and cast her into the air. She landed with a solid 'thump' on her back as a second prehensile tentacle shot from the dark void and ensnared her other leg.

The young mare, originally winded by the fall had now found her voice - and she was howling with terror. She needn't call out for help since both Cantor and Faith were doing everything in their power to pull her back to relative safety.

"What the Hell are these things!?" Cried Faith angrily.

"Don't know," Cantor replied, his teeth barred as he struggled to find his own footing, meaning he and Faith were slowly but surely being pulled along with the distraught Flitter. "But they sure ain't getting another one of us." He finished with renewed force, using the new strain of determination to get more power behind him.

With a laboured grunt, Cantor managed to cup a forehoof around the corner of the hallway, forming an organic rope between the solid metal wall and the horrified mare. Gradually, Flitter began to stop moving backwards until she had halted movement completely - being suspended in the air by pure tension, which was putting the durability of her joints to the test with all four legs being pulled with great force.

By this point, Flitter had stopped screaming, yet her breath still came out in sharp, panicked gasps. "It hurts!" She cried, screwing her eyes shut as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Please don't let me go!" The horrified unicorn sobbed.

"It's alright." Cantor said with a forced smile. Flitter managed to open her dismayed emerald eyes and stare up at Cantor. She could see he was struggling to hold on, but she managed to find some comfort in his steadfast eyes. "Don't worry," The alicorn continued with a growl. "I won't let go." He tried to smile, however it merely seemed like an awkward grimace. Nevertheless, Flitter seemed to feel a mild encouragement from the stallion's reassuring words.

The lilac mare tried to wriggle her stretching legs, but aside from making it more uncomfortable to the extent where it was painful, she made little difference in her two aids' struggle. Regardless, it was better than doing nothing. She continued to twist her body, wriggle her hind legs and pull herself up on Cantor and Faith's hooves, and slowly - very slowly, but surely, the distance between herself and the ominous opening increased.

With a triumphant laugh at the fact that the equine team was winning, Flitter was spurred to amp up her game, and she begun to thrash against the ensnaring tentacles.

"That's it, Flit!" Yelled Faith with encouragement, her voice seeming stout as she held her breath for an unofficial burst of strength. "You just keep kickin'! We'll get you out of there!"

Despite her less than comfortable position, Flitter seemed rather cheerful: pleased with the notion that she and her friends were winning this fight, and that soon, she would be safe. "Who knows...?" She thought with hopefull glee. "If we keep searching, maybe we will find a way back home." This notion caused the young girls face to light up with a confident smile.

But then, her gain on freedom took a drastic leap away from her - if not for the halted progress, then for the sensation of her rear legs being spread apart.

Once again, Flitter began to panic: the drop from her pseudo - elated state so drastic, that she couldn't help but yelp out in chilled and embarrassed shock as she felt another prehensile entity lightly probe her most delicate areas.

With startled eyes, Flitter attempted to twist her body around to see what the new tentacle was doing to her adolescent marehood. "What's going on!?" She cried in her panic. "What's it doing to me!?"

"Huh?" Cantor asked, unaware that their party had suddenly lost a considerable amount ground in the battle. He nosed over the trapped mare's flank, and saw one of the deep red tentacles slithering between her legs. Clocking Flitter's sickly expression, it took Cantor only a second to realise what was going on. "Kinky..." He stated admittedly, trying to shrug some of the calamity with a laugh. "But not today."

Cantor let go of the wall he was holding with his right hoof, Dragging Faith forward with Flitter and colliding with the overgrown door, jamming his gun somewhere near the entrance of the squirming opening in the wall. He fired a shot he had collected from Red's body into the hole, and the smaller of the three protruding tentacles: the ones holding onto Flitter's legs, were peppered with an assortment of high-velocity pellets, and snapped.

Still holding onto Cantor and Faith with her front hooves, Flitter wasted no time in scrambling to her hooves. But she only had one foreleg planted firmly on the ground when another, much thicker tentacle thundered from the hole and instantly found its target directly between the unicorn's legs. The sheer force of the organic spire mercilessly puncturing Flitter's virginity knocked the young mare to the ground once again, and this time, her screams rang more blood-curdling than before.

Cantor grasped both of Flitter's hooves and slid himself under her, placing his one good hind-leg slightly off-centre to the bloodied opening to avoid the same horrible fate.

Flitter was chocking on her own morbid wails as she viciously lashed out with her rear hooves, trying to knock the relentless organ from inside of her.

"It's okay! It's okay!" Cantor called out, unable to hear even himself over the screaming. Not that it would matter - he knew full well he was telling a lie, though maybe he could do something to spare the poor girl's life.

Firing several more shots downward, the thick tentacle broke as well, releasing the unicorn as she fell screaming to the floor. Cantor slid her along some way, into the reviving hooves of Faith, who continued to pull Flitter from further harm as Cantor reached behind the shrieking unicorn and pulled the terrible muscle from her privates, releasing a gush of blood as it flopped, still twitching, to the floor.

Without warning; without even being given a moment for the pain to die down, another pair of tentacles drove from their lair. One dove straight back into Flitter, somehow making her cry even louder than previously. The other deep red muscle wrapped itself tightly around the unicorn's middle, forcing the contents of her stomach out through her mouth as it squeezed her.

Once again, Cantor caught her, yet this time, Faith had a hold on Cantor, and was also tugging with all her might to pry him and Flitter free.

Though it was little use. Even with two ponies tugging at the animated vines, Faith could tell there was only a matter of seconds before it was all over. Yet what she was unsure of, was who was going to die this time...

Flitter couldn't see anything: she knew no world outside the unbearable pain, and could do nothing to stifle her screams even slightly.

But then, she felt a whole new realm of unease. The agony in her nethers paused for a moment and her screams halted abruptly while she affirmed herself with what she knew was unavoidable. Like a rehearsed torture, Flitter felt the growing pressure build slightly above her flowing entrance. She attempted to clench her hindquaters together to block the intrusion, however it only took a second for her to realise anything she did now was futile.

The pressure against her taught hole released quickly, but during the same time, her pain rocketed to a whole new level, and there was nothing she could do to quell it. This new realm of agony was completely unknown. She could feel the tentacle's proud girth eviscerating her insides as it forced itself through her colon and into her guts. She was coughing, choking and heaving up dribbles of vomit - that is, of course, when she was not thrashing her throat by screaming.

"Please, no!" Cantor cried out, sealing his eyes closed as he violently yanked the unicorn to try and free her. Once again, he reached behind the bleeding mare and fired two powerful shots into the squirming tentacles before his gun made a hollow 'click' the third time he pulled the trigger.

Flitter's piercing howls gradually began to soften - and this was the most cryptic of the sounds she was making. Her screams were now little more than dark gargles and groans. Her eyes began to droop as blood from her ravaged anatomy continued to saturate Cantor's chest.

Flitter's body began to convulse violently befor she gave one final, full-bodied wretch and gallons of internal blood cascaded from her mouth and covered the face of the alicorn below. Only one of Flitter's eyes was barely open, and her gargles of pain were now just weak groans.

Dark, sticky matter soon began to fall from the unicorn's hanging mouth, closely followed by many of her churned internal organs, including a hauntingly vast length of small intestine. The tentacle that had dealt the damage followed suit, evacuating the mare's gaping mouth and flailing about in the air.

Flitter gave one final rattling wheeze before her body abruptly fell limp, and she died with the thick tentacle running the full length of her body like a soft, murderous spine.

The dead girl's blood had entered Cantor's eyes, and was now stinging him as they mixed with his regrettable tears. "No... No..." He sobbed, cringing, refusing to let Flitter's limp forelegs go.

Faith was horrified, disgusted, and mortified. But above all, she was in control, and refused to stop tugging at Cantor's shoulders. "Cantor, we need to go." She stated firmly. "Now!"

"NO!" Cantor screamed in response, his eyes screwed tight in denial. "I wont let her go!"

"Cantor-!" Faith started, wrapping her foreleg around the stallion's neck, trying to choke his grasp looser. "She's dead! There's nothing we can do for her now!" She continued, the loss clear in her teary eyes, yet her voice showed no emotion other than desperation.

There was a degrading moment of hush while the steady trickle of blood expanded the pool of life fluid gathering beneath Cantor. With a defeated sob, the alicorn slowly loosened his grip on Flitter's hooves. She quickly began to disappear into the dark opening, and Faith wasted no time in dragging the blinded and exhausted stallion away to their destination.

The slate-grey pegasus knew for certain that she had enough time to drag the heavy pony with her to safety - and she tried very hard not to think about why: that the hole was far too small for a pony to fit through in one piece.

And she was unaided in trying to block the image of Flitter's mangled corpse when the sharp, haunting sound of bones snapping from behind started to echo through the desolate and bloody halls.

Cantor was gagging and baying with half-hearted cries of anguish as he scrambled with his hooves in whatever direction Faith was pulling him. After being blinded under a torrent of the decimated unicorn's blood, Cantor had pushed himself into a state of horrific shock. All that was playing in his mind when Faith was dragging him was the fact that his face and chest were saturated in life fluids. As he murmured incoherently to himself, he started to notice the slightly viscous texture and warmth from the liquid as it soaked through the layer of hair - which only made things ten times worse.

All of a sudden, Cantor felt a harsh tug on his scruff as he was hurled along the floor, and only a moment later, felt the back of his head strike something hard. The blow made his ears ring slightly, but not so much as to drown out the sound of the hydraulic door closing neatly behind Faith as she hobbled into the room.

Having hit his head - or rather, having somepony throw him into something, Cantor ceased his senseless jittering and begun another long climb to recuperate his breath, only able to listen to Faith curse loudly and ferociously buck repeatedly at what sounded like hollow pipes, their haunting hum echoing through the alicorn's ears like ghostly wails.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Faith screamed in a helpless release, bucking the space around her until her hooves throbbed. Though Cantor could not see as he rubbed the blood from around his eyes, it was clear the distraught pegasus had quickly lost her edge. "Why'd she have to die like that?" Faith asked with a hollow and fragile tone, almost sounding as if she were addressing her question to fate itself. "I knew she wasn't going to make it from the start! Why didn't I just-... n-no, I... I... but it would have been the right thing to do: she wouldn't have suffered..." The depleted mare continued, adopting an element of fearful nausea in her voice.

"I swear..." She continued, her voice sour and trembling. "We're getting out of here. And when we do, we're gonna have a memorial for everyone who died here today..." She quietly plodded across the room and planted herself beside Cantor, yet the alicorn didn't notice since he was pre-occupied with clearing his vision and regaining his breath.

Cantor cleared enough of the blood to be able to take a look at his surroundings. His eyes still stung, but he could quite clearly see that he was back in the boiler-type room they had passed earlier on. He grew fearful when he could not locate the pegasus, but was filled with an out of place sense of relief when he noticed that she was sitting to his left. Rubbing vigorously at his eyes with the back of his hoof, and at a great loss for words, Cantor allowed Faith to continue to speak - though he couldn't possibly begin to anticipate where the conversation would go.

"I hate it here, Cantor..." Faith stated, as if it were something new. "I've never been homesick; I don't have time for that, but... I just..." Suddenly, she just broke down - seemingly out of nowhere, curling up into a ball and shivering in the wake of her own powerful sobs.

Hesitant at first, Cantor decided to gently wrap his foreleg over Faith's back, feeling her misshapen, bristly feathers prick at his skin as he pulled her in close. Whenever she cried like this, it was really the only time Cantor could relate to Faith as a mare. Usually quite brash, headstrong, and sometimes a little rude, Cantor looked upon the pegasus as little more than a stallion with different body parts. Faith wanted to adopt the strong, often carefree nature of a colt, and did so in her attitude towards life and the challenges it presented. In effect, this made ponies see the girl as impenetrable, rock hard to her core. And that was just the way she liked it. Regardless of whether she wore the face of the pony she wanted to be, Faith felt comfortable with being housed, fed and treated like a stallion, which made moments like these terribly mortifying and humiliating for her...

"Damn it..." She sobbed quietly as she began to feel the stallion's warmth against her. "I hate crying." She affirmed with frustration. "It's so useless and degrading..." Said the mare, shaking her head slightly. She suddenly became aware of the fair pink bracelet fastened tightly around her upper foreleg. Turning to the leathery band, she caught the glint of the metal buckle reflecting what little light it could find in the murky room. It made her smile: reminded her of home; and how the princess would maybe give her a long holiday to somewhere she was never able to go: anywhere...

Growing up in Canterlot's famous castle, then being moved in to the underground barracks at the age of twelve when she knew just enough about right from wrong to survive had taken its toll on the pegasus. The day where her castle room was cleared of its contents and all but a few of her toys were taken away and put into storage was the day her fillyhood ended. From a very young age, Faith called herself a mare. She was able to lift weights as well as a small number of stallions who also lived in the bunker after a few years, and by her late teens, she was able to perform areal acrobatics to the highest tier.

All these memories: good and bad were roused by simply staring at the thick pink strap, and the glossy silver buckle that was shaped like a heart...

A little over twenty one years ago...

A bright young pegasus filly trotted happily through the long corridors which made up the majority of her home. Her inquisitive golden eyes flitted across the faces of famous ponies she couldn't immediately recall the names of in the extravagant oil paintings hung neatly on the stone walls as her small, yet powerful wings buzzed quietly on her back, making her carefree strides high and exaggerated as she sprung along.

She passed several guards as she made her way to her large bedroom, who, as they usually did, gave a friendly wink and a smile as they patrolled by.

Only a few minutes after her tutor had dismissed her from the Friday afternoon class, the grey filly had almost reached her destination. But upon rounding the corner to find herself in the corridor her room fed out from, she noticed something was off... There were a large number of cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another in the hallway just off to the side of the bedroom door. As well as this, princess Celestia, who the blonde girl had become rather dependant on, could also be seen staring into the room with a sterile expression.

"Uhh, Sunnie...?" The filly asked in her rough and underdeveloped voice, alerting the solar princess to the new, but not at all unexpected arrival. She turned to the approaching pegasus with a welcoming smile, folding her legs slightly to forge a more intimate contact as the filly drew nearer. "What are these boxes?" Enquired the slate coloured filly, staring through her guardian's slender white legs at the lumpy paper boxes with a concerned intrigue.

"Hello, Faith." The regal mare greeted with her practised smile. "How was school?" She added with genuine, motherly interest.

The small girl took several steps back in order to look the tall mare more properly in the eye. She failed to express much emotion other than a light grin as she spoke, but regardless, she answered the question as any other filly of her age would. "It was alright..." She said with a shrug. "I didn't learn much, but me and my teacher were learning about cutie marks and special talents." Continued the young pegasus with slowly developing enthusiasm.

"Is that so?" Celestia asked warmly.

The grey filly nodded her head firmly and carried on. "Yep. She said that usually, ponies' special talents are down to fate, but that sometimes, a pony's talent depends on how she grew up and the ponies she's around..." She trailed off with a sense of detachment, and she found herself to be staring out into space. "Sunnie...?" She asked again, re-affixing her contact with the slender white princess. Celestia raised her eyebrows openly in response. "How come I can't go to a school where there are other fillies and colts? Miss Diamond Crest sometimes talks about when she was at school. She says about her 'old friends.'" Once again, the little pony found herself to be staring up into her guardian's deep indigo eyes.

Catching her sudden change in composure, the princess took on a sympathetic frown, and sunk to her knees to bring herself closer to the depleted mare. "What's the matter, Sweetie?" Celestia asked softy.

The young Faith let out a burdensome sigh. "I don't have any friends..." She said sourly, dropping her blank-flank to the floor with a huff.

Princess Celestia just smiled. "What about me?" She asked. "Am I not your friend?"

Faith suddenly came across overly-dismissive. "Oh, no! I- I didn't mean it like that!" She quickly replied with a nervous laugh. "I just meant... Well, I- I don't have anypony... my own age to play with..." She finished damply with a disgruntled sigh.

Celestia, though unsure and somewhat hesitant in her own mind, managed to broaden the smile on her face and stand up. "Well that might be about to change." She stated with definition, arousing the filly's attention once more.

"Huh?" Faith queried as she rose to her hooves. Celestia didn't repeat herself as she took a few steps back and ushered Faith toward her bedroom with a sharp nod.

The young pegasus poked her head around a box standing inside the door frame and took in an eyeful of the unfamiliar room where she used to sleep and play. The walls, though having hardly any posters upon them to begin with, seemed particularly bare: just a screen of stone painted a pale purple. The white chest of drawers against the wall opposite to the abundant poster bed held none of the ornaments or nick-nacks the filly had collected over the years, and the similarly coloured bedside cabinet wrote the same story...

The stuffed toys which used to perch at the head of her bed were all gone, and all which remained atop the carved wooden furniture was a bare feather mattress: no navy quilts baring the night sky - nor the soft, comforting pillows...

Faith spent a good while staring at the empty room, unsure as to what was going on. She always liked to have half a clue about the situation before asking the first question, and today was no exception.

"Umm... M... Mom?" Faith asked, turning slowly to the princess. Being addressed in such a way caught the celestial mare off-guard, and she had her words stolen for a second. Celestia had always treated Faith as her adopted daughter, and whenever she thought about it, that was truly the case. Regardless, in her youth, Faith had often referred to her guardian as 'Mom'. However, this was the first time she had solely meant to say it, and the princess picked up on this in a heartbeat.

"...Yes, Faith?" Princess Celestia responded after an uncomfortable pause.

The filly turned from Celestia to her baron room, then back up to the alicorn's understanding eyes. "...Where's..." She began with hesitance. "Where's all my stuff...?" Queried the young girl with a plainly fearful expression, finding it difficult to pre-determine the situation and assuming the worst. "Are you... Getting rid of me?"

Noticing the petite well of tears form in Faith's large gold eyes, and becoming moved when she tried to cover up her embarrassment by turning away and pretending to hold a spontaneous interest in the oil paintings in the hall, princess Celestia dropped to the ground and held out a foreleg in the pegasus' direction. "Come here..." She cooed softly as Faith's tears burst into floods and she threw herself into the compassionate mare's shoulder, gripping the upper proportion of her foreleg as tight as ever, never wanting to let go.

Before Celestia could offer any words of comfort, however, Faith was already pleading over her assumptions. "Pease, Mom!" She cried, her words understandable, yet muffled by the princess' shoulder and her full-bodied sobbing. "Please don't throw me away! I know I'm not smart and th- that I d- don't always behave. And th- that I can't f- f- fly yet, but... but ple- ease don't make me go away!" She continued to violently sob for a minute or so, always increasing her grip around Celestia's neck before she pulled back and stared deeply into the princess' mystifying eyes, becoming lost in the indigo aura. Yet she found the sight too painful to stare at for long, and once again, she turned away and sealed her eyes closed, feeling more cool tears trickle down her reddened cheeks and drip from her chin.

"Please..." Faith sighed with grief. "You're like...the only family I have..."

With haste, Celestia interjected before the distraught filly could work herself up once again. "Faith, it's okay!" She said with a soothing tone. The small girl hushed and gingerly turned to face the princess. "I'm not going to move you out!" She continued with a laugh. "I could never do that to you. I... Well, I love you. You're like a daughter to me."

To this notion, Faith seemed to perk up a little. She wasn't crying, but was still rather apprehensive as to what was going on, and she loosened her grip around the princess' neck only slightly. "Then why have you packed up all my things into boxes?" She asked with unease.

"Well..." Princess Celestia started light-heartedly, doing well in dispersing some of the unpleasant air with her dulcet tone. "You're going to be moving to a different bedroom, that's all." She explained, reassuring the filly enough to make her release her grip on Celestia's neck. The princess returned to her tall and proud stance, all the while, Faith merely continued to stare up at her with examinate golden eyes.

"Will I still be in the castle?" Queried Faith.

Celestia took a moment to reply, but the pause hardly seemed to matter. "In a sense, yes." She answered with a smile.

Faith frowned thoughtfully at the carpeted floor for a second before looking up once more. "What about school?" She questioned with uncertainty. "Will I still be able to go to school?"

"Do you enjoy school?" Celestia responded with placid care and an inquisitive eyebrow.

Faith nodded slowly at first, then took on a more enthusiastic motion. "Yup." She replied, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks as she began to feel more relaxed. "I do like school: I like it a lot."

Once again, Celestia took a moment or so to affirm with her mind. "We will see." She finally answered. Despite her words, she effortlessly appeared as affectionate as always. "If you are heart-set on continuing to attend school, then I will try to make arrangements for your continued education." Though inspired by the filly's cheerful grin in response to her statement, the princess felt she needed to make the minor downside clear. "However, I can't promise you'll be going to school five days a week like you usually do..."

"That's okay..." Faith replied, sounding a little disheartened, despite. She gave a large sigh of relief before continuing. "Besides, you said I'm gonna meet other fillies and colts." She stated with interest. "Am I going to some kind of boarding school?"

"Something along those lines, yes." Replied Celestia with a grin. "However, the other ponies may be... justa little older than you." Added the white mare with just a smidgen of anxiety. "You are allowed to pack a suitcase and two saddlebags worth of luggage to bring along with you to your new home." At this, Faith suddenly became wide-eyed, and it appeared to Celestia that she had frightened the filly. "Not that the items you don't bring along will be thrown away: but merely placed into storage - for when you're all grown up and maybe have a house of your own." She finished with a demure and prosperous smile, which Faith promptly returned after hearing the assuring words about her future.

The young blonde mare turned to search through the boxes, when a soft pressure on her unmarked flank stopped her. She turned to see the princess offering a thick pink leather strap. It looked like a short belt - with the shiny silver buckle taking the shape of a heart.

"...W- what's this?" Faith asked, her deep yellow eyes fixated on the simple jewellery.

Upholding her enthused smile, Celestia answered. "I was planning to give you this when you were much older." She stated, moving her golden-shoe'd hoof in a way to entice the filly to take the band. "But, after much consideration, I've decided that now would be a better day than any to give it to you."

Faith carefully reached out and took the bracelet-type leg band from her, rolling it around slowly in her hoof until the silver buckle was facing her. She focused on the metallic heart before turning quizzically to Celestia once again.

"That was left with you when you were... found..." The princess explained, feeling remorse as Faith's head dropped. "I am sorry." She affirmed softly. "This must be difficult for you... By my understanding, this strap was your mother's."

Once more, Faith fixed her eyes upon Celestia, like she was watching a vertical game of tennis. She nodded her head strongly, peering up at the princess who was taken back somewhat by the sudden change in the intensity of the young one's eyes. It was as if she had matured many years in that split second, and princess Celestia could sense the filly's determination.

"Thank you." Was all she said with those unfaltering golden eyes, a slight furrow to her brow. The pair were held in a mental confide, trying hard to seek out the other's inner motives for life. But then the mature and headstrong image lifted, and the bright young filly pulled open the cardboard flaps of the nearest storage box.

"Where are my saddlebags, Sunnie?" She asked with sprite.

Having recovered from the slight, yet unexpected calm and composure the filly expressed despite what she was presented with, princess Celestia was quick to reply. "They're in this box, here." She answered, guiding faith towards a trio of boxes stacked on top of one another, opening the box atop the pile and drawing out the simplistic black fabric bags with her arcane magic and placing them over the girl's back. "You realise it's perfectly fine to view me and address me as 'Mother', don't you, Faith?" The soft-spoken princess added demurely.

"I know." Faith chirped cheerfully as she found her favourite stuffed wolf toy and gave it an affectionate squeeze before setting him aside against the wall. "But I really like the name 'Sunnie': it sounds bright and happy."

Princess Celestia gave a light chortle towards the remark. "Well, whatever you wish to call me, please know that I'll always be there for you." She stated with her placid as-ever smile. "...I love you, Faith. I would be proud to call you my daughter."

Faith stopped her encouraged rummaging to look with admiration towards the tall white mare, a sentimental smile growing on her lips. "I love you too." She softly spoke. "Mom."

Princess Celestia noted immediate tears pool in her eyes as a slim shiver of goose bumps rolled down her back. She couldn't help but laugh gently at her own performance. "Thank you, Faith." She replied; far more grateful to hear the young girl say that than her young mind could probably comprehend. "Please, continue packing. I'll be right here when you're finished." Added the princess with closure, watching Faith scour slowly through the boxes for a while until she became aware of one of the palace guards rounding the far corner and approaching with a brisk pace, a sense of pleasant urgency in his pale hazel eyes.

"Your majesty," He began as he neared the princess, pausing to bow respectfully when he drew close enough to be held in earshot.

"What is it?" Celestia responded, failing to appear troubled by his presence in the slightest: she could tell that, from his capital, yet calm voice that there was nothing to worry about.

"I bring word from the Canterlot hospital: as you predicted, a unicorn filly has just been born minutes ago." He was looking the princess right in the eye, and although made anxious at first by the obscurity of the solar alicorn's reaction, he felt as though he could ease up on his act a little as he saw her eyes brighten. "I have been notified that this foal was of the greatest interest to you." He said with a thoughtful smile. "But... why is this filly of importance? If you don't mind me asking."

Avoiding a cynical persona, princess Celestia just closed her eyes and wore a knowing smile. "I have my reasoning..." She delicately responded.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." The Dark-coated unicorn guard apologised, taking a small step backwards. "I did not mean to pry."

Celestia held up a dismissive hoof. "It's not a problem." She said with a refined face of delight. "Thank you for being the bearer of good news. I shall make my way to the hospital when I have finished with this business; could you please prepare a pegasus chariot?"

The guard nodded. "Certainly. At once, your majesty." He spoke with confidence.

"Thank you." The princess replied with a gentle nod of her own. "You may go."

With a parting bow, the silvery-blue maned pony began to trot back down the hallway with haste once again, his motions unfaltering until he heard the princess call out after him as he neared the far corner.

"Hold on: one other thing." The princess called loudly, but by no means mislaying any of her opulent tone. She waited for the guard to turn around before continuing.

"Anything, your majesty." The armoured unicorn replied patiently, taking several steps back towards the royal mare.

"Do you know of the newborn's name?" She proposed inquisitively.

The guard appeared to dabble in thought for a moment: staring with a gently upward gradient before he nodded knowingly and replied. "Yes your majesty." He answered with a private smile. "Her name is 'Twilight Sparkle'."