Hello everyone! Long time no see. I’m sorry for my absence.
 
This is a picture featuring Stygian and a pony I would like to adopt from : fuyusfox : Gilded Tome. I apologize for such the late entry and for the sloppiness. I only just found out about the contest.
 
Bio for Gilded Tome:
 
Parents: Twilight Sparkle and Sunburst  
Best friend: FlurryHeart  
Occupation: Student  
Loves: Studying Ancient History and Magic, and has a collection of ancient artifacts she has collected over the years. She is also a slight romantic at heart and has a small, but secret thing for cheesy romance novels and love songs, which is something she picked up from her Aunt Cadance and cousin, FlurryHeart.
 
“Short” Story:
 
Gilded Tome’s birth was quite the surprise for everyone, especially Twilight Sparkle and Sunburst. The two had been going steady for a time, having bonded over their love of learning, magic, ancient history, and antiques. They were not able to spend as much time with each other due to their royal duties and the two of them living in two different locations, but despite the distance Twilight and Sunburst made it work. Though the two were serious, the duo were no where near ready to have children at the moment, though all of that changed when Twilight found out she was pregnant, despite taking most of the necessary precautions to ensure that she would not become pregnant. Twilight was an absolute nervous wreck as she was already juggling a lot with her duties as the Princess of Friendship and trying to run her school, which although was successful, was still very much in its infancy stages. Twilight would also be the first of her friends to be having a child. Her friends, family, Sunburst, and even Princess Celestia herself tried to assure her that everything would be okay and that they would be with her throughout this entire learning process. Things were not easy though. Twilight’s stress level was very high during her pregnancy due to her hormones, being a perfectionist, the guilt she felt over “forcing” Sunburst to move from his home and duties in the Crystal Empire to Ponyville to help take care of her and the baby, and constantly worrying about things, which would cause her to end up in the hospital numerous times. She was even ordered to be bed ridden in the later part of her pregnancy. She tried to put on a brave face for her friends and subjects and would claim she was quite alright when asked if she was okay and would instead turn her attention to her next item on her long list of things to do. Her friends tried to run the school without her while she was in the hospital, but even then, Twilight still tried to run things from her hospital bed. Eventually, Twilight got quite the tongue lashing from Applejack and told her that she was being selfish and needed to think about the baby rather than everything else. After the scolding, Twilight broke down crying and revealed to Applejack just how stressed she was and how horrible of a mother she was. Applejack then calmed down and gave her friend a much needed hug.
 
A short time later, Gilded Tome was born. Both Twilight and Sunburst loved her the moment she laid eyes on her, but things started to go downhill from there. Twilight suffered from postpartum depression and her friends quickly noticed her change in demeanor. Twilight tried to balance her life for her daughter’s sake, but eventually, despite help from Sunburst and her family, Twilight realized that she was not in any condition to raise a child. One day, Shining Armor came for a much needed visit and he treated his sister to a “siblings only” day. They went to the bookstore, antique store, ate ice cream, and had a small slumber party like they used to as kids, including building a blanket fort and watching their favorite movies. At the end, Twilight thanked Shining for the wonderful day, but then after a long pause, she revealed to Shining that she was considering giving Gilded Tome up for adoption. Shining was very surprised by the whole thing, but then after some serious thinking of his own, offered to adopt Gilded Tome. Now it was Twilight’s turn to be surprised. She quickly asked Shining if it was okay and if Cadance would be okay with it, to which Shining replied “of course.” and that FlurryHeart would love to have a playmate. Twilight sobbed and thanked Shining wholeheartedly, embracing him with everything she had. Shining happily returned the hug and reassured her that everything would be okay.
 
Within the following days, the paperwork for Gilded Tome’s adoption was filled out and Tome officially became apart of her dear uncle’s family. She was sent to live with her newfound family in the Crystal Empire where she grew up in the lap of luxury with her cousin, Flurry Heart. Even Sunburst returned to The Crystal Empire to be with his daughter. Tome grew up knowing full well who her real parents were and saw Sunburst daily, but would only get to see Twilight from time to time. Twilight never really forgave herself for giving Tome away and so the two’s relationship was quite awkward and strained. Tome held a lot of anger for her mother, but secretly still wanted a relationship with her. Many years later, Tome returned to Ponyville and enrolled in her mother’s school in order to be able to spend more time with her mother. However, the school was definitely not the place she was used to and found herself alone quite often. She even made an attempt to join the popular kids’ clique in an attempt to find something familiar, but was quickly and very meanly shut down and so she retreated to the library to cry. While she was in the library, a stallion she had never seen before offered comforting words to her and asked her what was the matter. Tome reluctantly revealed her woes to this stranger and the stranger listened with the most patience she had ever seen in a pony. After finishing her story, the stallion gave her words of advice on what to do, especially on the fact of forgiving her mother for her past actions. Gilded Tome reluctantly, but eventually agreed and thanked the stallion for his advice. She then asked for the stallion’s name and the stallion revealed himself to be Stygian and quickly apologized for being so rude as to forgetting introductions. Gilded Tome smiled and then properly introduced herself. Gilded Tome then asked if it would be okay if she could visit Stygian from time to time whenever she needed advice on something and Stygian meekly replied yes.
 
Gilded Tome would seek out Stygian whenever she needed help or just to chat and she eventually learned that he was from the past, something that made her squeak with excitement as she loved ancient history and bombarded Stygian with questions. She also learned that Stygian was still struggling over his own past actions and that he came to the school in hopes that he could reform, help students with learning, and help them through their own issues. However, Stygian didn’t quite know how to at the time and so became the school’s librarian. Eventually, with Gilded Tome’s help, Stygian gained enough confidence to become the school’s guidance counselor, becoming an ear and even a shoulder to cry on for students who felt that they had no one else to talk to.
 
I was inspired by : eothnoguy : entry on Gilded Tome being friends with her cousin and I was inspired by :fuyusfox: speedpaint video of Gilded Tome for her love of love songs and romance novels. I wish the best of luck to everyone!