It was late at night. So late it was early, the wee hours of the morning. In the maternity ward, it was the usual, hectic flurry of action and movement. Ponies in the waiting room waited patiently for news about the new mothers and their foals. For some, they were their spouse, or very special somepony. There were also family members. Brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers waiting for their daughter. Among them was a very nervous Mr. Sparkle.

The doctor came out of the delivery theater. "Mr. Sparkle?"

Mr. Sparkle was shaken from his anxious thoughts at the call of his name. "Yes, that's me!" he called out, standing from his seat on the bench. He trotted over to the doctor. The doc took him aside quickly.

"Mr. Sparkle, I'm afraid there has been a complication with the delivery." he explained.

"Oh my gosh, oh no!" Sparkle began to break down.

"Don't worry, the mother is doing fine, but we're going to have to do a C section for the delivery. She's being prepped as we speak and is already under anesthesia. But since she is unconscious, I just need your consent to proceed." he said.

"Yes, of course! You have it!" Sparkle blurted, wishing the doctor luck. The doctor nodded before vanishing back behind the doors

"Scrubs!" Sparkle heard from behind the doors. With nothing more he could do, he resigned himself back to his seat in the waiting room. To wait. The waiting was the hardest part.
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An eternity later, a nurse called Mr. Sparkle back into the delivery ward. Inside, he saw the doctor just finishing getting out of his surgical wear. "Mr. Sparkle," he waved him over, "please, come here." he walked over. "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

"Oh no!"

"The mother is fine. She'll recover from the anesthesia soon. As for the foals-"

"Foals?"

"Yes she was pregnant with fraternal, that is, not identical, twins. Unfortunately... only one made it, I'm afraid... Had you decided on the name?" He and his wife could never agree on a name. She wanted to name their daughter Twilight. She was still unconscious. It would be unfair to choose otherwise without her.

"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." he answered.

"Very well." the doc said, filling in the birth certificate. "Now, there's just the matter of..." the doctors voice trailed off as he passed to Mr. Sparkle, a small box. The size of a baby foal. He placed it gently in his hooves. Sparkle clutched it tight and wept silently. "I'm so sorry for your loss sir. Please, do as you see fit." The doctor said, leaving Mr. Sparkle with the box in the recovery room.

He placed the box on the small hospital table, unable to bear to look inside yet. He moved to the side of his wife's bed. Baby Twilight was sleeping peacefully in the nearby bassinet. He knelt down and kissed each of them in their sleep. He counted his blessings to have them both with him still. He turned back to the small box on the bedside table. He looked inside now. The small, powder blue foal was wrapped in linen. She looked as though sleeping. It was only the lack of the rising and falling of her tiny chest that he could tell she was...

He set his jaw as his sorrow crystallized into resolve. There was still time.

He whispered into his wife's ear. "Please forgive me." before he vanished with the box in a flash of purple light.
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Mr. Sparkle reappeared in the basement of his Canterlot home. He tore the carpet from the floor, revealing the silver arcane circle inlaid into the floor. Its ring was adorned with magical gems and carved with runes and sigils. He threw open his old trunk, emptying it onto the floor, retrieving an ancient tome, his old mage cape and hat.

He was once a mage for the royal court. But it was a part of his life he put behind himself for the sake of his wife. That was no life for her to be married to. He resigned to become a librarian. But, being the head curator of the Canterlot Archives, he had access to all the ancient spell books and scrolls.

Even the restricted ones.

He opened the old black book to the correct page and set it on the nearby reading stand. He placed the foals still form in the center of the circle. Everything was in place. "Celestia take mercy on my soul." he whispered.

He called forth his power to his horn, focusing on the spell. The circle's ring acted as a magical focus. This would be no simple automation 'come to life' spell. He was retrieving a very specific soul for this body. The soul of a forsaken baby foal that never was.

The ring glowed with the same brilliance as his horn as he finished shaping the spell. It flashed in a blinding white as the spell released with a *snap*! Sparkle fought back the worst headache of his life, hearing nothing but the sound of his own pounding heart and labored breathing. But then...

Whaaaa, aahhha waaaaa!

The baby foal in the circle cried out! She was alive! But she was a product of black magic. An abomination against nature in the eyes of magic law.

And she was beautiful, Mr. Sparkle decided.

Beautiful little Trixie. He moved to levitate her over to him. Suddenly he felt a shooting pain stab him in the forehead. It was as he feared... Dark magic, especially dark magic of this caliber, usually requires a sacrifice for success. In this case, he had sacrificed his ability to use magic to save his daughter's life. He mourned his personal loss only briefly. Little Trixie was alive and that was enough for him.

Suddenly, all his lack of planning came crashing down on him. Trixie had already been officially declared dead. If she was discovered, he would be tried for crimes against nature. And Trixie... poor innocent Trixie... She would be destroyed as a product of dark magic. He wouldn't stand for it.

But what to do. He didn't have much time. He threw his hat and cape to the floor and began to work. Little Trixie crawled over and began to play with his hat. He paused his frantic plan and took in the adorable sight. He grabbed for his camera and took a picture. It would very well be the only evidence he would ever have to remember her by, for both their sake.

Everything he did took two to three times longer than normal. He felt lost without his magic, fumbling about with his blunt, clumsy hooves. He gathered together a bassinet with a handle. He lined it with soft, warm linen, and also his hat and cape. Finally, he placed little Trixie in the basket and covered her. She had fallen quietly back to sleep. Still under the cover of darkness, he ran out into the city streets, to the one place he knew she would be safe.

Safe. And secret.

He arrived at the Lulamoon monastery. He looked down at her a final time. Tears ran freely down his cheek. He mourned for the time they would never have together. He kissed her one last time on the cheek. He was so scared for her. He didn't know what would happen after tonight for her. He wouldn't know what she grows up to be. He would never get to see the look on her face the day she learns her special talent and gets her cutie mark. He didn't know anything.

Well, he did know one thing. He had given her his magical talent, which was considerable in its own right. He knew he would have to claim magical impotence after today. A condition that afflicted some stallion unicorns after a certain age. But she had his magic now. He was surrounded by so much uncertainty. His future and hers. But he knew one thing for certain. He wrote it on a note and left it with the basket before clopping on the door loudly. He ran off, vanishing into the dark night, back to the hospital, hopefully before his wife awoke. A monk opened the door, retrieving the basket, reading the note.

You'll be Great and Powerful one day, Trixie.
Love, your Dad.