Making Hearts Melt

Chapters

The Drop into Oblivion
My Reflection
The Shadows are my Cover
There's a Super Star in Town
One Unique Pony
My First Flight
The Challenger
Live Like Rainbow
A Hunk of Burning Love

The Drop into Oblivion

You may all know the story of how Rainbow Dash cared for my friends and I. You all may know about her final flight and how she gave up her life to save her friends. Applejack and I search for the body every afternoon, slowly walking besides each other and sharing the sound of silence. After the sun went down, we would exchange a hug and then both of us return home.

My story starts before Rainbow Dash’s ended. This is about me and how I struggled with not having my wings either. But there is a strange connection between the two of them. One that I would never have figured out until it was too late.

I don’t remember much of my fillyhood, but every so often a few images flash into my mind. I can see my mother, holding me in her arms and silently looking down at me. I smile up at her and reach my hooves out to touch her face, but she refuses to bring me closer. And instead of returning my innocent smile, all she does is scowl. I see her yelling at the doctor in the room and trying to shove me into his arms, but he won’t accept me. He tries to keep his tone calm, but she is still screaming. Why is she screaming? My mind flashes to another memory only days after the doctor incident occurred and I can see my mother wrapping me in a rough, wool blanket and placing me quietly into a basket. The winter wind of Cloudsdale is whipping violently against the sides of our make-shift house, making me cower inside the safety of my basket. She opens the door and a huge gust of wind hits me squarely in the face, making me cry out in shock. She shushes me and we then leave the partial warmness of our home. Walking down the frozen streets of Cloudsdale, she stops at every home, knocking loudly upon the doors. The doors open, my mother talks to somepony inside, they look into the basket, exclaim in disgust, and then slam the door in our faces. I was getting awfully cold as the snow continued to blow harder and harder. Every house she tried was a failure, all of them slamming the doors in our faces until finally she had had enough. She growled in frustration, scooped up my basket, and began to trot towards the edge of Cloudsdale. When we arrived, I looked over the edge of my basket and saw the city of Ponyville lying very far beneath me. My mother held my precious basket over the edge of oblivion, huffing and puffing in the coldness of the air and out of her rage.

“I can’t take this anymore,” she says, with a little difficulty since she was holding my basket high into the air. “I didn’t want you! I never wanted you!” A single tear of pity slides down her cheek, but quickly freezes in the chill of the air and of her heart. I give a small whimper as my basket begins to slip from the hold of her teeth and I give a small cry as the cold wind blasts me again. Then I heard the last word that my mother would ever speak to me, “Goodbye”. She lets go.

I remember every second of that fall to this day. The sharp wind biting me as the basket flipped over and over again. I tried to cry, but the wind swallowed up my shrieks of terror and the tears on my face only served to make me colder. I didn’t know why she had dropped me. I could still see her hazel eyes gazing harshly into mine and I could feel the coldness in her heart. Why didn’t she want me? Why didn’t she love me? I didn't know the answers, but I knew that this was the end of my short life. Cloudsdale became further and further away until it disappeared behind the howling snow. I couldn't see anything or hear anything except for the wind blowing into my ears.

Suddenly, I heard somepony scream loudly in horror and seconds later I felt somepony’s hooves beneath the basket, catching me from my certain death. I refused to open my eyes and look at my rescuer, afraid that they would see me and drop me again, completing my mother’s mission. I tried to bury myself under the coarse blanket, until I felt a hoof softly touch my chest. I gazed at it. A pale yellow color against my periwinkle coat. Then I looked up and I saw her. Her light pink mane was blowing wildly in the wind and her yellow coat was covered by a thick, white and purple bathrobe, and her eyes… her turquoise eyes looked down into my light green ones. I felt… warm. I timidly brought my hoof up to touch hers and I gave a soft little sigh. Then she smiled. She actually smiled!

“Don’t worry, little one,” she cooed. “Fluttershy’s going to take good care of you,” With those words, she took me and my basket and hovered back to her cottage. Surrounding her home were countless numbers of holes and burrows and a few abandoned nests scattered her trees. A curious bear cub poked his head out of his hole until his mother growled at him to come back inside. The pony who called herself ‘Fluttershy’ giggled at the innocence of the cub and then opened the door to her home and hovered inside. A warm fire glowed inside the small living room and a record player softly sang music in the corner. Fluttershy picked me up from the basket and removed the wool blanket from me. Suddenly, she gasped and dropped the blanket to the floor. She stared at me in shock and confusion. I giggled at her funny face and reached out my hoof to touch her face. It took a few seconds for her to come back to me, but she eventually smiled, her eyes filling to the brim with tears.

“Welcome home…” she began, wrapping me in a different and softer blanket no doubt made out of cotton. “Perfect.” That’s what she called me. Then she placed me softly on her bright green couch and kissed my forehead. I don’t know why she loved me, and I still don’t know to this very day, but all that mattered was that she did love me and that I was finally… home.

My Reflection

“Come on, Fluttershy! I’m gonna be late for school!” I quickly tied my saddlebag around my waist and threw my school books inside. It had been 7 years since I had been abandoned by my mother, but I tried not to think about that now. Fluttershy was my new mother, but I still felt awkward at actually calling her that. I wanted to fix up my mane in order to look better for my teacher, Ms. Cheerilee, but unfortunately Fluttershy didn’t own any mirrors. In fact, I’ve never seen what I look like all together. I know that I wear glasses, that my coat is the color periwinkle, that I am a Pegasus, and that my mane and tail are a mix of pink and green, but all in all I’ve never seen all of me. Strange, but I wasn’t concerned.

Then Fluttershy came trotting down the stairs.

“Now remember, you are no different than any other pony in that class,” she fixed up my mane and straightened up my glasses. “You are perfect,”

“Yes, Fluttershy,” I replied. I had heard this lecture so often that it was kind of getting old. Then she opened the door and we both trotted silently to the school house. As it came into view, I saw the school bell sound and a couple of fillies and colts trotted into the building. Outside of the door, Fluttershy blocked my path.

“Don’t let anypony pick on you, OK?”

“OK, Fluttershy,” I said, becoming annoyed at her hesitancy to let me go to school. Fluttershy then gave me a slight kiss on the head and flew off. I walked inside.

“Alright, settle down, my little ponies,” I heard Ms. Cheerliee announce as I silently trotted in. Then I heard somepony gasp.

“Who let the trash walk in?” I heard them ask. I turned my head to see a light pink earth pony wearing a tiara on her head staring at me and looking disgusted. I looked behind me to see what she was talking about, but I soon realized that it was me.

“Diamond Tiara!” another pony shouted. This time is was a yellow one with a red mane and a large pink bow in it. “That’s not very nice!”

“I’m just observing what I’m seeing,” the one called ‘Diamond Tiara’ responded. I was too confused to care, so I just walked over to my desk that happened to be behind an orange Pegasus with wings that were a little too small for her. She turned around and smiled at me.

“Don’t you listen to Diamond Tiara. She’s just a big bully!” I returned her smile and then Cheerilee continued.

“May I ask your name, young filly?” she asked me.

“Perfect, ma’am.” I responded. Diamond Tiara burst out laughing. I glanced over at her and happened to notice a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane rolling her green eyes in disgust.

“Perfect?” She asked. The orange Pegasus threw Diamond Tiara a dirty look as if she wanted her to shut up or something. I kept glancing nervously around the room, unsure of how to answer Diamond Tiara’s question.

“Y-yes…?” I could feel my face turning bright red as the eyes of everypony in the room were squarely on me. I felt a single drop of sweat slide down my face and I gritted my teeth in humiliation.

“You’re far from perfect, cripple!” She chuckled at her own insult. I gasped. Cripple? What did she mean by that? The orange Pegasus buried her face in her hooves and groaned at the cruelty of Diamond Tiara.

“What does she mean ‘cripple’?” I asked the orange pony, leaning forward in my seat so that I could whisper my question.

“Well… um…” I waited for her to answer my question, but she looked over to the yellow pony as if asking for help. I started to freak out. I raised my hoof in desperation.

“Yes, Perfect?”

“Do you have a mirror?” Ms. Cheerliee looked confused at my question and a couple of foals in the room murmured in confusion.

“If we did, then you would break it!” Diamond Tiara laughed again, but was then silenced by the hard stare from Cheerilee.

“It’s over there, sweetie,” I followed her pointing hoof until I saw the bathroom near the far back corner of the school house. I quickly cantered over there, much to Diamond Tiara’s pleasure. I gazed inside of the dark room and at first hesitated to turn the lights on, but I did. Then I gasped at what I saw before me. I. Was. Hideous.

“OH!” I exclaimed, stumbling backwards and tripping over my own hooves. I landed on my back and I could feel the vacant spot where my left wing should be. How could I not have noticed that before? My other wing was lying uselessly at my side, quivering every time I so much as took in a deep breath. My mane was a tattered mess even though Fluttershy had done her best to make it look better. Both of my cheeks were covered with three pale freckles and my glasses made my eyes bulge out of their sockets. I heard Diamond Tiara and another filly, who I learned later, was Silver Spoon, laughing and pointing their hooves at me. I stood up and turned around to see all of the foals staring in shock at my misshapen form.

“How could you not have known how hideous you look?” Silver Spoon ridiculed. “Any smart pony would have figured it out years ago!” My eyes were starting to become wet as I saw every other foal whispering into each-others ears while looking at me. Even the yellow earth pony and orange Pegasus were whispering! I felt my face get hot with humiliation and I looked towards Cheerilee for help, but all that she did was look at me in shock as well. So I ran. I ran out the door, down the street, past Fluttershy’s cottage, and into the Everfree forest.

“How could Fluttershy lie to me?!” I screamed into the woods. “How could she have kept this a secret from me?!” Then before I knew it, the ground opened up beneath me and I tumbled down the side of the cliff. I rolled over and over again, sharp sticks puncturing my skin. I tried to open my one wing to slow down my fall, but a sharp sting of pain jolted through my body as I tried to extend it. Then suddenly, my head hit a large boulder at the base of the hill and then I lost consciousness.

The Shadows are my Cover

When I came to, I saw a strange pony with stripes covering every inch of her body. I thought about screaming and running, but once I tried to move I immediately went rigid with pain. The striped pony came over to me and placed another ice pack on my swollen forehead.

“I saw you fall down with much speed and figured that soon you would be in need.” She chanted. I looked at her, confused at her strange way of speaking, but I thought it better not to question her, so I merely kept my mouth sealed. She walked over to a large cauldron in the middle of the room and threw a few spices into the green mix. She’s going to eat me! I tried to get up again and again, but to no avail. The pain was just too great to take on. The striped pony seemed to smile at my struggles which merely strengthened my fear.

“You needn’t worry about me, dear, for Fluttershy knows that you are here,” The striped pony placed a gentle hoof on my shoulder and handed me a small wooden bowl filled with the green mix.

“Is this poison?” I asked, still intimidated by the strange pony before me. She smiled and laughed, shaking her head.

“Why would I ever give to you, a very nasty poisonous brew?”

“Because I don’t know you,” she seemed to understand my hesitancy now, but then she gave me a soft smile.

“Ah, but your dear mother, Fluttershy, is coming soon and very nigh,” At that exact moment, Fluttershy dashed into the room, nearly knocking over the striped pony’s cauldron.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, coming over to hug me. “You’re alright!” She reached out her hooves to embrace me, but I shoved them away and turned my head away from her. I was not going to talk to the pony that was almost as bad as my mother. An awkward silence followed my refusal, but then I heard Fluttershy talking to the striped pony.

“Thank you, Zecora,” Fluttershy said in a calm, yet disappointed tone. She then trotted over to me and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, but I still did not look at her. “I have a wagon ready to take you home,” she tried talking to me. I ignored her. “Big Macintosh is going to give you a little ride so that you don’t have to walk,” I could tell that she was trying to make me feel better, but nothing could right now. Without a word, I gently stood, pushing aside the jolts of pain riveting through my body. I walked to the door and then walked outside where I saw Big Macintosh standing. He had a big goofy smile on his face, as always, and then he helped me into the wagon. I wouldn’t smile back at him. He had known about my deformity too since he and Fluttershy were seeing each other and neither one of them had told me.

The trip home was a long and awkward one. Fluttershy kept trying to start up a friendly conversation with me as did Big Mac, but I didn’t respond to either of them. I simply kept my head turned the other way and I didn’t even spare them a passing glance. Then we arrived home. Big Mac helped Fluttershy and me out of the wagon, he gave Fluttershy a little kiss on the check, galloped off, and then we were alone in our silence. Fluttershy looked at me and I finally looked at Fluttershy. Then she finally said, “I’m sorry,”

“You’re ‘sorry’…” I repeated, tasting the dreadful words in my mouth before spitting them back out. “Why didn’t you tell me that I was deformed?” I shouted at her. She was taken aback by my tone, but then her gaze softened as she took in my insults. “That’s why my mother abandoned me and tried to kill me wasn’t it? I knew that there was always something wrong with me! Now I know!” Tears were already streaming down my face. “Now I know…” I murmured. Fluttershy was starting to cry too and she reached out to embrace me once more, but this time I let her. We just sat outside, whimpering in each other’s arms and rocking back and forth. Diamond Tiara’s mocking still rung in my bruised head, the murmurs of the other foals echoed there as well until I had to cover my ears and scream for them to go away. Fluttershy cradled me closer until she was almost squeezing the air out of me. I screamed and screamed as Diamond Tiara faded in and out of my vision. Cripple! You would break it! Ha! Ha! Ha!

“Stop it!” I shouted. “Stop doing that!” Fluttershy then scooped me up and carried me into the house as I was still screaming and trying to block the sounds from entering my head. There was no doubt about it: I was a cripple and that’s all I would ever be. From that day on, I remained hidden in Fluttershy’s cottage, covered by my own shadows of the past, until one fateful day when somepony dragged me out.

There's a Super Star in Town

I never knew that she had even existed. Another alicorn was rumored to be coming to Ponyville and it wasn’t Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. The town was all a buzz when they heard about it and went to see Twilight Sparkle to see if it was true. She being a princess, she should know all of the members of the royal family.

“I have no idea whether or not an alicorn is coming to Ponyville,” she claimed as dozens of ponies swamped her home. “I was not notified of any other alicorns who would make a special appearance… unless… SPIKE!” Everypony flinched as she yelled for her assistant. “Check the schedule! NOW!” With that, she slammed her door in everypony’s faces so that she could go away to think. The crowd murmured their disapproval and slowly trotted away. I was aware of all of this thanks to Apple Bloom (remember the yellow earth pony with the bow that I mentioned earlier?). She and I had become quite good friends. In fact, I was even a part of her club: the Cutie Mark Crusaders (although, I never really went on any missions with them because I never wanted to come outside).
Oh, yeah, that reminds me; I got my cutie mark a few days ago when Fluttershy was teaching me some calculus and trigonometry. I had aced my homework and my quiz which finally made me realize that my talent was… well… being smart. A big red apple with the bold symbol “A+” was stamped onto my flank. Fluttershy, Big Mac, and I celebrated the occasion with a small party consisting of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, myself, Big Mac, and Fluttershy.

Suddenly, somepony knocking on the door threw me out of my daydream and I stood up to answer it. Sweetie Belle was on the other side, still showing off her new cutie mark which consisted of a few notes and a microphone. She was a very amazing singer.

“Did you hear the news?” She asked me, becoming excited.

“Yeah, an alicorn is coming to town,” I responded, trying to copy her enthusiasm.

“No! That’s old news! She’s already here! Come on!” she started to gallop off before I could stop her. I hadn’t been outside in more than 10 years now, except when I went out to play with Fluttershy on few occasions. And I also came out to attend Rainbow Dash’s class for disabled pegasi. Rainbow Dash had been my biggest inspiration all throughout my years of being known as a ‘cripple’ as was Twister Clap and Floral Whisper (my two other friends who have recently moved to Cloudsdale). But Rainbow Dash had fallen with Lightning Dust over the cliff at the Wonderbolts Academy. Rainbow Dash saved Applejack’s life and each afternoon we search for her, unfortunately never finding her.

I snapped out of my painful memories and I looked around in fear that somepony would see me, scream, and then run off. I definitely didn’t want to be spotted by Diamond Tiara again, but Sweetie Belle was getting farther and farther away and I did want to see this new stranger. So I timidly placed a hoof outside the door, held my breath, and galloped after her.

Once we arrived near town square, I gasped at the marvel I saw before me. A young alicorn, no doubt much older than I was, stood on top of a makeshift stage, holding a bedazzled microphone with her unicorn magic. She smiled proudly as many of the stallions in the town fawned over her hooves, making me roll my eyes in disgust.

“What’s gotten into them?” I asked Sweetie Belle, pointing towards the adoring colts.

“I don’t know,” she replied, scratching her head. “But some of those stallions are married!” She pointed towards a light brown stallion with a dark brown mane and an hourglass cutie mark that was drooling all over the ground and gazing up at the alicorn. “That’s Mr. Whooves! He’s supposed to be engaged to Ditzy Doo!” I glared at the incompetence of the stallion and removed my gaze from the awful sight. But I saw many other married, or otherwise ‘taken’, stallions that were fawning over her as well. Something about all of this just didn’t seem right. Suddenly, all of the mares in the audience squealed with pleasure and I looked over to see what the commotion was about. What I saw made me almost squeal.

“He’s gorgeous!” I heard Sweetie Belle exclaim, galloping off to join the rest of the herd. She was right. He was gorgeous! A white Pegasus had trotted onto the stage and had posed with the alicorn before us. He smiled to the mares and they all fell to the ground in a heap, sighing and laying their hooves on their foreheads. His spiked red and black mane seemed to hover in the low lighting of the morning and his dark blue eyes sparkled with pride. I sat on the ground in awe and admiration… wait… something… isn’t… right! I shook myself out of the spell and looked away from him, immediately I was back to my normal self and I could think straight again. I looked back at his face and instantly I sat back down again and sighed romantically.

“Stop it!” I told myself and I slapped my hoof across my face, wrenching myself from the powerful spell. I willed myself to look at them again and this time not to become a love-struck school filly again. I noticed that almost every mare in Ponyville was reaching out to try and touch the handsome stallion and every stallion in Ponyville was reaching out to try and touch the alicorn. Both ponies on stage smiled at one another and then looked back out towards the crowd. Then I heard the voice that I had dreaded to hear for 10 years.

“So, you’ve finally come out of hiding,” I turned around to see Diamond Tiara, ten years older, sneering down at me. “You’re still as ugly as ever, I see!” she announced loudly. It diverted the attention of the few ponies that were just now coming to see the alicorn, but then they saw the wonders on stage and squealed in delight. I cowered on the ground as Diamond Tiara stood over me, casting her shadow upon my body. “I also see that you got your cutie mark!” I glanced down at my flank. “An apple and an ‘A+’, huh? Well, at least you got something to cover up that blank flank of yours!” She then trotted away and immediately spotted the stallion on stage. She squeaked with pleasure and then went to join the crowd. I stood up from where I was laying and shook some of the dust off of my coat. Then I finally heard the alicorn on stage speak.

“Greetings, Ponyville!” the stallions roared with pleasure, but she held up a hoof to silence them. “I am Super Star and this,” she gestured to the stallion on stage with her. “Is Heartburn.” The mares cheered with admiration and one determined mare even leaped onto the stage to try and kiss him.

“Marry me! Marry me!” she screamed insanely. I then noticed that it was Lyra Heartstrings who had caused the commotion, but what the stallion did was much unexpected. He leaned over to her and gave her a slight kiss on the cheek. Lyra did not say a word, but her body did happen to become rigid and still until she lost her balance and fell off the stage. More and more mares tried to make their way onto the stage until the alicorn forced them back down with her magic and continued. I listened to the entire conversation that the alicorn named Super Star had with the city of Ponyville, but I also watched the crowd. None of the ponies were even paying attention to what she was saying, but they kept their eyes fixed on both ponies and repeatedly sighed. Something wasn’t right.

One Unique Pony

When the alicorn was finished speaking, she and the Pegasus named Heartburn left the stage, much to the disappointment of the crowd.

“Heartburn, come back! I love you!” one mare shouted.

“Super Star, my soul aches for you!” a stallion screamed. Fights erupted among the males as to who would marry Super Star… there never really was a victor who was properly announced.

As the crowd started to break away, I remained where I was, staring skeptically at the makeshift stage and waiting. Waiting for what, I had no idea, but something told me to remain where I was for just a little while longer. And for good reason. The stallion trotted back onto the stage to retrieve the microphone that Super Star had left, but then he spotted me and he stopped. We just stared at each other for the longest time. I had, by now, become immune to his attractiveness… OK, that is a TOTAL lie, but I was able to control the overwhelming emotions flooding through my veins. He dropped the microphone and smiled at me. I nearly dropped to the floor, but I forced my legs to lock tightly so that I wouldn’t. I returned his smile with a small little grin. Suddenly, his countenance dropped. His smile faded into a frown and his brow began to furrow. He cocked his head and looked like he was about to speak, but then he quickly galloped back behind stage, leaving the microphone that he had come back for. I continued to stand, unsure of what just happened, until I heard Fluttershy’s voice calling for me and she sounded awfully worried. I galloped off with one final glance over my shoulder and another little smile.

“It didn’t work!” He cried as he fumbled backstage. Super Star turned around from admiring herself in the mirror and saw the poor Pegasus mumbling to himself. “Why didn’t it work? It works on everypony!” Super Star rolled her golden eyes and stood to talk to him.

“What are you talking about, Heartburn dear?” she asked him calmly.

“There’s a young Pegasus out there!” he shouted insanely.

“And?”

“She didn’t fall to the ground at my hooves! She just stood there and gave me a little smile! Just a little smile! There was no adoring look on her face, Super Star! The spell didn’t work on her!” Super Star froze in place, a look of shock came upon her face. She glanced from Heartburn to the entrance to the stage.

“The spell… didn’t work?” Super Star repeated in confusion. Then she immediately stood and trotted onto the stage. Perfect had left the audience. “I don’t see anypony, Heartburn!” She trotted back to him. “Scorched Shoe gave me a perfect spell to use on everypony! Nothing could have gone wrong! You must’ve seen a shadow or something. That’s all,” she smiled at her brilliant conclusion and trotted back over to her mirror. She sat down on her bedazzled chair and levitated a brush to straighten out her flowing golden mane.

“She wasn’t just a shadow, Super Star! She was… unique!” he immediately slapped his mouth shut as Super Star whipped around in her chair, dropped her brush, and glared at him.

“Unique?!” she screamed. “UNIQUE?! Then what am I?” Heartburn took several steps away from the pony until his flank hit the back wall of their dressing room. Super Star advanced on him, unfolding her wings to make herself look even larger. Heartburn cowered under her shadow and placed his hooves over his eyes. “Scorched Shoe also gave me another spell to perform if needed,” she stated, making her horn glow with a charging magic spell. “Would you like for me to perform it on you?”

“No!” Heartburn shouted, throwing his hooves out in front of him as if to stop her words. “No, please don’t! You are unique! You are very unique!” Super Star ceased her spell and gave a malicious smile.

“Don’t ever let me catch you calling anypony unique again! Unless it’s me!” Heartburn nodded which seemed to satisfy her for the moment. She then returned to her mirror and sighed deeply. “You may leave me now, darling,” she said calmly. Heartburn hesitated at the door until Super Star charged up her horn and shouted: “GET OUT!” A golden laser burst from the tip of her horn and burned the wall that was just inches from Heartburn’s muzzle. He gasped in fright and then galloped out of the room.

Silence followed. Super Star stared into her mirror and sighed once more.

“A unique pony, hmm? Well, two can be unique in this town!” she cackled to herself. “I must find this pony and see just how unique she really is.” Then Super Star stood from her chair and looked into the mirror once more before levitating her brush and smashing it to pieces.

My First Flight

“I told you!” Heartburn whooped as we zipped around a heavy cloud. I was flapping my wing along with his and he had gotten a bit ahead of himself. “You can do anything!” He suddenly aimed himself for a cloud and dragged me along with him. We crashed into it and came out the other side, both of us sneezing from bits of cloud coming into our nose. I looked around nervously and continued to beat my wing as fast as I could.

“Don’t you think we should slow down?” I was panting heavily and my wing was beginning to lose energy. Heartburn didn’t seem to hear me. He had a dangerously happy smile on his face as he continued to loop around and slam through clouds. I coughed as I inhaled one, then I gasped in pain. My wing had snapped and was now bent backwards, making me incapable of moving it at all! Heartburn and I both screamed as we began to feel ourselves losing altitude. Faster. Faster. Faster! We continued to gain momentum as we turned over and over again in the air. I closed my eyes and I sighed peacefully. I’ve felt this sensation before.

“I didn’t want you! I never wanted you… Goodbye.”

“Perfect! Perfect!” I opened my eyes to find myself still hovering in the sky, but Heartburn was trying his best to hold me in his front hooves as his wings flapped vigorously. I shook my head, trying to get out of the blur of my daydream as Heartburn gently set me on the ground. We both looked at my wing which looked like a piece of crumpled paper.

“I’m… so sorry, Perfect. This was all my fault,” His eyes started to tear up, so he turned away from me, hiding his face in his wings. I looked at my wing, but then back at him.

“Heartburn, you have no need to be sorry,” He removed his face which was now soaked in tears and his chest still heaved with sobs. “You gave me something that I thought I could never have!” I placed my hoof on his shoulder and he glanced once more at my wing, but then I put my other hoof under his chin and brought his eyes back to mine. “Thank you,” Then I kissed him. Not on the lips, of course! But I kissed him. I don’t know what came into me, but I felt… warm when my lips brushed his cheek. I pulled myself away from him and saw that he was blushing. I quickly moved away from him. “Sorry!”

“That’s OK,” he let his hoof slide over his cheek where I had kissed him and he looked like he was in a daze of some sort. Suddenly, I saw his blue eyes turn red and his body cringed for only a slight second. Then he returned to normal, panting heavily and looking towards me.

“Are you OK?” I started to come close to him again, but stopped when he nodded.

“I’m fine… now,” Then he started to come close to me. I flattened my ears against my head, intimidated by his approach. He placed his hoof on my shoulder and stroked the other one across my cheek and gazed into my eyes. Then he kissed me. On the lips. I didn’t know what to do! I was too stunned to move! But then I felt my entire body warm up and I melted into his arms, kissing him back.

Super Star saw the whole thing. The takeoff, the flight, the fall, the catch… the kiss. She saw everything and she was not pleased.

“It didn’t work!” She muttered as she watched Heartburn and Perfect kissing. She snarled under her breath and slammed her hoof into the ground. “Scorched Shoe told me that it would work on anypony, including the one that I love!” Her eyes welled up with tears as she watched Heartburn actually enjoying the pony that he was kissing! They were both enjoying it!

With one final glance, she galloped away, furious yet determined.

“This time, it will work,” She galloped past Ponyville and ran towards the outskirts of town where Scorched Shoe lived in a little makeshift home. It wasn’t anything impressive since he made it himself and since he wasn’t much of a carpenter, but it was perfect for his business. Super Star threw herself into the front door, making it break off of its hinges at the impact. The door then slammed to the floor, making Scorched Shoe jump in surprise and drop a hot metal rod on his hoof.

“YEOW!” He hollered, quickly lifting up his hoof and blowing air onto it. “Ya ever hear ah knockin’?” He said with a slight southern drawl.

“You ever hear of customer satisfaction?” Super Star shot back. Scorched Shoe froze where he was and stared back at her. “The spell didn’t work on Heartburn! This stupid horn doesn’t work!” She reached her hoof up to her forehead and ripped the horn off of it, tossing it uselessly to the side. The horn shattered into a thousand pieces on the ground and a small noise sounded as if something was shutting down. Scorched Shoe scooped up the pieces and sighed.

“I told ya! This is just a prototype, darlin’,” He glared over at Super Star and made a gesture to her wings. “And don’t ya be thinkin’ ah rippin’ those off either!” Super Star looked down on her wings and smiled with pride.

“At least these wings haven’t let me down yet,” She tossed her mane to the side of her head and sighed with passion. Scorched Shoe rolled his eyes and growled.
“Empty-headed mare,” He muttered under his breath. “That’s all ya care about!” Super Star was frightened at his sudden change of tone and took a few steps back. “You’re lookin’ at the small picture, darlin’, think ‘bout the future!” He started pacing the room.

Oh, my gosh, he’s been planning his whole speech. Super Star rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, save your speech for another time. Right now, I need a new horn. More powerful than the last one!” Super Star interrupted. She approached Scorched Shoe and snarled at him.
“Please, honey,” He said sarcastically. “Nopony can intimidate me,”
“You will do it,” She demanded
“Why should I? Just to make you and your colt-friend live happily ever after?”
Then, Super Star pulled a large sack out from under her wing and threw it at Scorched Shoe. When it hit the ground, hundreds of bits poured out around his hooves and he stared at them wide-eyed. Then he cleared his throat and looked back at Super Star.
“Very well, darlin’. I’ll see what ah can do,” Super Star smiled maliciously and then left his cottage. Scorched Shoe rummaged his hooves through the bits, acting like a money-crazed lunatic, but then he smiled mysteriously and raced for his desk. “You want a powerful one, eh?” He chuckled to himself. “One that’ll make lover boy fall for ya, eh?” He opened up the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a synthetic horn coated with silver. “This one’ll do the trick.” He took a rag to it and shined it up to look more presentable for the prissy mare. With a whir, it came to life, glowing ominously in his hoof. He smiled and placed it back down on his desk.
“If this works,” He said to himself. “Then I’ll no longer need ‘er assistance,” He chuckled and then returned to his normal work.
All around the room, one could see numerous designs plastered onto thin paper. Most of them consisted of unicorn horns and the equations that can be used to replicate unicorn magic. All of the designs were signed with two large “S”s and a horse shoe stamp.
“There!” Scorched Shoe yelled triumphantly. “Good as new!” He pulled a crooked piece of metal out from the water bucket that was now steaming and he placed the cooling metal on the ground. Scorched Shoe stared at it with pride as he stroked the long curve near the top. “You’ve brought me so far, kid,” He whispered to it. Then he continued his work.
Not many ponies knew about Scorched Shoe’s clients or who exactly he made the horns and wings for, but what lay on the ground that night was too horrific to talk about. What can be said is that it looked like a horse shoe. An iron horseshoe.

The Challenger

It was the next morning. After my kiss with Heartburn. I had walked home last night in a haze and had great difficulty falling to sleep. I couldn’t get my mind off of him! I continued to see his face and hear his voice in my head. In fact, I feared that I was beginning to hallucinate when I thought that I saw him outside my bedroom window. Eventually, though, I did manage to fall asleep. But I should have just stayed in bed this morning.

“Is it true?!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she ran into my room, waking me up. I yawned and stretched before acknowledging her.

“Is what true, Sweetie?”

“Did you… kiss Heartburn?!” My heart stopped and I started breathing rapidly.

“Who the hay told you that, Sweetie Belle?!” I leaped out of bed and approached her. Tears were already falling down her face.

“I loved him, Perfect! And you took him away!” She collapsed onto the floor in a pile of matted pink and purple mane and sobbed. I didn’t know what to do. Then Apple Bloom came cantering into the room.

“Did y’all hear? Super Star and Heartburn are gone!”

“Gone?” I repeated. “Where?”

“Nopony knows!” I didn’t even allow her to finish her response before I galloped out of my room and towards the center of town. Unfortunately, Apple Bloom was right. There was no sign of Super Star or Heartburn! Their makeshift stage was lying on the ground in pieces and a few of the town’s stallions rummaged through them, balling their eyes out.

“Super Star, NO!” One shrieked.

I continued searching all over town looking for them… OK, I was only looking for Heartburn, but still. I looked in Sugar Cube Corner where I found Pinkie Pie crying over the disappearance of Heartburn as well as every other mare in town. I continued on, not finding any clue as to where they were. But then, I noticed something on the ground.

"What the hay?" I mumbled as I picked it up off the ground. It looked like a feather and weighed about the same as a feather, but it was hard. I felt my own feathers and then stroked the smooth, almost metal-like, surface of the item in my hoof. "A synthetic feather? I didn't know that was possible!" I glanced around for more, but failed to find any. "Who knows about these?" I asked aloud.

"Where did ya find that?!" Somepony shouted at me. I quickly turned around to see a large stallion glaring at me from across the street. His mane was in a tangled mess and a small scar protruded from his front leg, most likely from a recent burn. "I said, where did ya find that?!" He then approached me and snatched the feather from my grasp.

"Do you know what this is?" I asked. He didn't respond, but he cautiously observed the strange phenomenon in his hoof. Then he sneered at me.

"It's mine," Then he muttered to himself. "Incompetent mare! She doesn't care about who's really in charge here!" I cocked my head to the side in confusion, but he didn't seem to notice.

"If you please," I began. "I'm looking for somepony named Heartburn. He went missing this morning and nopony's seen him," The strange stallion seemed to freeze in place.

"Heartburn, you say?" He echoed eerily.

"Yes," I replied. He continued to stare at me, but then suddenly started to trot off. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Follow me," He said, rather too happily and since he was going off in such a hurry, I decided to do what he told me. Stupid, I know, but maybe he knew something about what was going on.

As we both trotted along side each other, we came upon a small house. The workmanship was a little off in some places, but otherwise it looked like a rather comfortable place to live.

"Come inside," He told me, opening the door to let me in. I timidly entered, but then he pushed past me and made a break for a large mahogany desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a large piece of thin paper containing a design of some kind. He swore under his breath after looking at it for a moment and then placed it back in the desk.

"I only have one?" He questioned himself, stroking his mane with his hoof.

"One what, sir?" I slowly walked towards him, ears pinned back and head down. He sighed once more and then looked at me.

"I only have one synthetic pegasus wing left,"

"You make synthetic pegasus wings?" I gazed at him in awe. Nopony was ever capable of making something that advanced! He smiled briefly with pride, but then his face turned serious again.

"You'll have to use it to get up to Cloudsdale," He then began to work furiously.

"CLOUDSDALE!" I shouted. "What's in Cloudsdale?"

"Super Star and Heartburn," He answered simply.

"Really? How do you know that?"

"Because Super Star got her wings and horn from me,"

"You mean..."

"That's right! Super Star is no alicorn. She's an earth pony just like me!" This information was all too much for me and I slunk down to the ground.

"Then how was she able to woo all of those stallions?" I questioned.

"When I make synthetic unicorn horns, I add a pinch of magic to them. Of course, only one spell can go on each horn for now, so I gave her one that makes everypony fall in love with somepony in particular,"

"Why?" He paused at my question and stared into oblivion, as if he was wondering whether he should tell me or not.

"Irrelevant," Was his only response. I began to protest, but then thought better.

"Turns out, she didn't stick to the plan and she herself fell in love with Heartburn,"

I gasped.

"But, unfortunately, the spell didn't work on Heartburn for some reason,"

"But if she's the one with the powers, then how come all of the mares fell in love with Heartburn?" I had so many questions, but he waved his hoof in front of my face and silenced me. Then, without warning, he slapped a synthetic pegasi wing to the left side of my body and tightened it to fit me perfectly. When he was done, he stared at me as if he was waiting for me to take off.

"You want me to go after them?" I stared at the fake wing and then at my real one. "I can't even fly!"

"You've got a better chance than I have!" He shouted, pointing at my other wing.

"But this wing is crippled and I can barely move it!"

"Then I guess Heartburn is dead,"

"Dead?! What is she planning to do to him?" He didn't answer me. He didn't need to. I took off. Galloping down the street, past Fluttershy's cottage, and up the hill to where I had been dropped. I gazed up at the city of Cloudsdale which looked treacherously far away and gazed at my real wing. I didn't know if I could do it, but I had to try.

"Heh, heh, now that that's taken care of," Scorched Shoe muttered to himself. "Time to get back to work!" He fumbled around his desk for a while until he found a spare key hidden inside a manila envelope. Super Star is no longer of any help to us. He thought as he stumbled over to the far corner of his house. She's a weak link. Hopefully her new challenger will take care of her. But if not, I can always come up there myself and finish the job. He slid the key into a small crevice in the wall and turned it until he could hear a small clanking noise. Now that I know my wings work, I can finally put them to real use. Suddenly, the wall shuddered and slid to the side, revealing dozens of pairs of synthetic wings and horns.

"My debt will be repaid!" He shouted triumphantly to the sky. "And I will no longer live in fear!"

Live Like Rainbow

I gazed up once more at the gloomy city. I could feel the cold air of its winter whipping against my coat and I could hear my screams as I fell from the sky.

"NO!" I shouted to the world. "I WILL HEAR YOU NO MORE!" Then I opened up both of my wings. Pain struck me as my real wing stretched out to its maximum, but I held it high and confidently. Then I flapped them.

At first, nothing happened, but then I flapped again and felt the lifting sensation like I had with Heartburn. I grinned and flapped again. Again. Again. Again! I was beginning to rise! My heart soared with the clouds as I gained momentum and I laughed aloud to myself and cheered.

"Disabled Pegasi, you DO have a purpose!" I remembered.

"I know, Rainbow Dash! I know!" I cheered. The wind in my mane was not comparable to anything I had ever experienced! I even managed to do a flip in the air, but then immediately stopped what I was doing and smacked myself. "I NEED to get to Heartburn!" With that, I raced towards the haunted city looming in front of me and took in a final gulp of fear before facing my biggest challenge.

"What are you doing, Super Star?" Heartburn asked as he tugged on the chains connected to his front legs. Super Star slowly walked towards him and caressed his chin with her hoof. He tried to slap it away, but couldn't manage to.

"I thought you loved me, Heartburn," She whispered in his ear.

"Super Star, you're starting to sound like the mares in Ponyville," Heartburn sounded nervous, Super Star observed.

"I don't know why the spell didn't work on you, too," Heartburn looked confused, but then his faced melted into an expression of shock as Super Star passionately kissed him. He struggled to get away, but Super Star held him their with her unicorn magic until she was satisfied with the amount of time that had passed. He gagged and spat on the floor when she had finished which made her burn with rage.

"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?!" She screamed insanely.

"Is that what you did this for?" He accused. "Is that why you accepted the job? Is that why you risked your life for this lunatic that we're working for?" He paused to take a breath. "I accepted my position to be able to care for myself, and you accept it to get to me?" Super Star gazed at him with hazy eyes. He didn't know if his words were even getting through to her. Then he noticed that the horn on top of her head was glowing, but not in the usual manner of unicorn magic. A single drop of drool protruded from her mouth and dropped to the floor, yet she didn't seem to notice. The glowing intensified.

"Heartburn!" He turned to see Perfect standing just meters away from the two of them. Super Star quickly whipped around and spotted her as well, but she reacted quite strangely. She roared like a lion and lunged for Perfect.

"WHOA!" I yelled as Super Star charged at me. Her eyes were looking in two different directions and the horn on top of her head seemed to grow brighter every second. I dodged her easily and she fell uselessly to my side, panting and growling like a rabid dog. She got back up and charged a second time.

"KILL PONY!" She hollered. "KILL PONY!" I stepped out of her charge path and let her run harmlessly past me. Noticing that she made a mistake, she turned around once more and shrieked in agony. The horn continued to intensify as she grabbed for it, trying to take it off.

"MAKE IT STOP!" She cried out. Pity made me help her. I rushed to her side and tried to forcibly remove the horn from her head, but it wouldn't budge! She shrieked again and her coat began to crack open around her skull, sending streams of blood flowing into her eyes. Her body was thrown into convulsions and she continued to holler.

"What's going on?!" Heartburn shouted.

"I don't know!" I gazed at the horn and tried to find some way to remove it, but all that I saw was a signature. That was all that I needed. A small imprint near the base of the horn showed a gray horseshoe surrounded by small flames. Then I heard a small beeping noise.

"What's that?" Heartburn asked, trying to see what was going on. The chains rattled, but remained in place. I wasn't going to wait around to find out what the beeping noise meant, so I quickly rushed over to Heartburn and attacked the chains.

"NO!" Heartburn said, shoving me away. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

"NOT WITHOUT YOU!" I continued to bite, tug, pull, anything! The beeping began to speed up and Super Star lay still on the ground, but was breathing shallowly.

"GO!"

"NO!"

Faster beeping.

"THE CHAINS WON'T BUDGE!"

"THEY WON'T BREAK!"

"SHUT UP!"

Faster beeping.

"LEAVE!"

"GOT IT!"

The beeping stopped. The synthetic horn exploded and turned everything within a half a mile to ashes. The rumbling from the event was so loud, that everypony in Ponyville could hear it.

"What the hay?!" Fluttershy screamed. She glanced up into the sky and saw a large mushroom cloud protruding from the surface of Cloudsdale. "Oh, no! PERFECT!" For some reason, Fluttershy knew. Call it a motherly instinct to suspect the worst, but Fluttershy knew that Perfect was up in Cloudsdale. She could feel it.

When she arrived, there was nothing left to find. Just ashes, a few pieces of melted metal, a singed piece of golden mane, and something that Fluttershy recognized all to clearly. What she saw, lying in the debris, was a smoldering iron horseshoe.

They would never find the bodies for their were no bodies to be found. That's right, fillies and gentlecolts, Perfect and Heartburn didn't die. I didn't want them to. They're with me, for the moment, until I can use them again. Oh, don't worry, I won't hurt them or anything, but they might be able to serve a greater purpose for the next step of my plan. Scorched Shoe did the right thing when he set the horn to self-destruct. Super Star had gotten out of hoof and needed to be eliminated.

As for me, my time is almost here. Time to take over. Time to set things my way. But for now, I wait. Until Scorched Shoe fulfills his debt to me and paves the way to victory.

END OF PART 2

A Hunk of Burning Love

“You SAW him?!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed when I told her about my encounter with Heartburn.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle, every mare in Ponyville saw him!” I chuckled to myself and poured myself a glass of apple juice that Apple Bloom had so generously given to me the day before.

“But he SAW you! He NEVER looked at any of the other mares in the audience! He just looked above us and at Super Star! You are a lucky pony!” Sweetie Belle sat on the ground, exhausted from her rant. She levitated a nearby piece of paper and fanned herself off. I took a sip of the juice, but then quickly spat it back out when Scootaloo burst into the room.

“Whoa! Oh, no!” I heard her shout as she and her scooter flew through the air above my head. With a loud crash, I turned around to see her pulling herself up from a pile of wood that had recently been split by her scooter’s impact with my living room wall. She glanced around her and gave a sheepish smile. “Oops, sorry, Perfect,” I trotted over to her and helped her get out of the wood pile.

“That’s OK, Scoots. What are you here for?” I shouldn’t have asked that question.

“Did you see that stallion yesterday?!” She pranced around the room like a love-struck filly. I gaped in shock at her rambunctious behavior. Why, of all ponies in Ponyville, would Scootaloo like this new stallion? She never took any notice of any colt, much like that of Rainbow Dash. The painful memories of her presumed death returned to me, but I quickly shook them aside as Scootaloo pressed herself into my face. “Wasn’t he a dream?” Her pupils went dilated as she gazed up at the ceiling with awe.

“I guess he was OK,” I replied. Both mares in the room stared at me with horror.

“OK?!” I had to cover my ears as they both screamed in different ones. Suddenly, Apple Bloom galloped into the room, panting and sweating beyond control.

“Heartburn is back on stage!” She whinnied with pleasure. All three of the girls squealed with joy and stampeded out of the room, leaving me stumped and unable to move. How could my three friends who have never shown an interest in boys… suddenly like one? Something wasn’t right. I know that I keep repeating that, but something truly wasn’t right! And I was going to find out what it was!

I followed the girls until I saw all of Ponyville, once again, fawning over the two ponies on stage. Super Star had started to sing a song with Heartburn singing the harmony which turned the adoring crowd into an uproar. I looked around at all of the ponies and gasped in horror when I saw Twilight Sparkle among them, reaching out her hooves to touch Heartburn. Her princess crown was nowhere in sight and she attempted to fly onto the stage, but was pushed down by Super Star’s magic.

“Twilight?” I called out to her, but she didn’t respond. Heartburn did, however. He turned from Super Star and made eye contact with me. He suddenly stopped singing and just stood there, staring. I stared back, now unaffected by his charming nature. He started to perspire after twenty seconds of looking at me and stumbled back stage much to Super Star’s disdain. The mares of the town complained loudly until Super Star gave them an embarrassed grin and also disappeared behind stage. Now the stallions were furious.

“Super Star, come back!”

“Heartburn, don’t go!”

I slowly trotted away from the scene, breathing heavily and frightened beyond all imagining. My pace started to quicken as all of the events I have seen flashed through my mind. Before I knew it, I was galloping towards the top of the hill where Fluttershy had caught me and I sat down heavily on the ground. I panted and wheezed, trying to get the air back in my lungs. I smoothed back my mane (to the best of my ability, anyway) and tried to remain calm.

“Super Star and Heartburn obviously have some sort of spell that they use to make the ponies in the town fall in love with them,” I pondered this. “I remember when Apple Bloom and her friends made a love poison for Big Mac and Cheerilee, but this is something different,” I remembered how Twilight had taken the book that taught them how to make the love potion away and had hidden it somewhere in the Everfree Forest where nopony could ever find it again! How could somepony, other than Twilight, know how to make a spell like this?

“Hey,” I quickly turned around when I heard somepony behind me. I sustained a gasp of shock when I saw that it was Heartburn. His wings were folded in and his ears pinned behind his head as if he was scared of me. “What’s your name?”

“Perfect,” I responded.

“That’s a nice name,” He replied.

“Someponies say that it doesn’t fit me very well,”

“Why not?”

“Just look at me!” He was silent for a moment as he looked at me. He tucked his tail between his legs and started to walk towards me as if I was a wild animal that could attack him. “What do you want?” I asked, a little too forcefully.

“I don’t know,”

“Is that all you can say?” I was becoming angry. “How are you and Super Star doing this to the ponies here? Do you have a spell or something? Who taught it to you?” His face turned red with embarrassment at all of my questions, but he still did not reply. “How are you able to do this without anyone finding out?”

“But somepony did find out,” He was looking at me.

“Yes, I did find out, didn’t I?” I approached him threateningly even though I knew that he could totally take me on! He didn’t budge, but I could tell that he was slightly intimidated by me. “Who exactly are you, Heartburn?”

“Just a guy who’s trying to make a living,” He said.

“Make a living on what?”

“Well, some of the mares throw bits at me here and there and Super Star pays me to stand on stage and sing with her,”

“That’s no excuse to hypnotize ponies and turn them into robots!” My nostrils were flaring in anger and my pulse was starting to climb.

“I don’t really have a choice, Perfect!” His tone shocked me and I sat on the ground at his volume. He took in a deep breath to calm himself and continue. “My talent is being charming!” He pointed to his cutie mark of a heart on fire. “You can’t really make a living on just being charming, so I panicked. I took the first job that was offered to me and haven’t questioned him- er- her since.” I was still confused as to why they were doing this, but I thought best not to ask him. I turned away from him and sighed. The night sky had already come out and Luna had made a special starry sky that illuminated the meadow that we were in. I gazed up at the stars and allowed a single tear to slide down my cheek. Heartburn walked up to me and sat down in the grass by my side. He gazed up at the stars too. Then he glanced down at my wings, but then quickly diverted his gaze when I looked over at him.

“I was born this way,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. All he did was nod.

“Did you ever wish that you could be up there?”

“Every day of my life,” He was surprised by my answer.

“Why can’t you be?” He asked. I looked over at him with an obvious look on my face and I gestured down to my wings.

“Because I’m crippled,” I stated bluntly.

“You sure it’s not because everypony else says you can’t?” He stood up and stretched out his wings which I then noticed were abnormally large for a pegasus. “Everypony where I came from told me that I would never get off the ground, but I kept trying,”

“But you have two wings! I only have one and it’s beyond repair,” He folded his wings back down and approached me silently.

“Who told you that?” I paused and thought.

“Everypony,” I answered. He then wrapped his right wing around my waist and pulled me to my hooves. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I could tell that I was in no danger. His grip tightened and he stretched out his other wing, preparing to take off.

“I can’t fly with only one wing either,” He said, glancing over to my crippled wing. I looked over at it and grimaced.

“I can’t move it, Heartburn,”

“Yes, you can, Perfect. Just do what I do,” He began to slowly flap his wing to a steady beat and he waited for me to do the same. I gingerly lifted it up and slowly brought it down, feeling a slight lifting sensation as I did so. I looked over at Heartburn and saw him give me an encouraging smile. I did it again, with more force this time and we slightly lifted off the ground. I flapped again and we gained even more air. I heard Heartburn laugh triumphantly as we slowly, but surely, were flying into the air!