The Red Horn

The Crystal Empire gleamed whenever the sun rays hit it. The crystal ponies also gleamed with warmth and power. Their love kept this town moving. Princess Cadence, the princess of love, knew this empire needed a protector. She vowed to protect this empire and its ponies with all of her love. With Shining Armor by her side, they would not fail.

Of course everything looked perfect on the outside. On the inside, pure evil was waiting. Deep within the ground, a single red light glowed. A red horn huddled itself amongst the dirt and worms in the ground. It tunneled its way deeper within the ground and moved as far as could away from the castle. The power of love made it weak. Love made it lose its host body. The horn longed for a host.

It wanted Shining Armor to be its host. However, Princess Cadence blocked its view. Her power of love lingered around her husband. The horn knew of Princess Luna. She had darkness in her soul. But, Luna changed over the years. She became her sister. The horn found her useless. But, it sensed something else. An Alicorn with her guard down. Tears clung to her eyelashes. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger. She argued with her friends again this week.

Earlier, after a long meeting with other important ponies, Twilight exploded out of the room. She had a big grin on her face and her eyes shimmered. When she caught up to her friends, she told them the great news.

Queen Chrysalis was allowed to bring a small army with her to collect love for her subjects. Twilight and other leaders visited Queen Chrysalis’s land. It was dry and hot. Mounds of dry dirt piled up on the streets. Malnourished insect like ponies littered the streets and alleys. The smell of rotting corpses lingered in the air. Dust rolled into the air and made every pony cough and sneeze. The dust was red and thick. It could blind any pony if they trotted into it.

The queen was in no good conditions either. She looked even more malnourished than her subjects. Her face was paper thin. There were so many holes on her body, a pony could get tryophobia from just glancing at her. Queen Chrysalis had tiny trembling insect foals suckling from her various amounts of teats. The insect foals shoved one another to get to the view drops of milk.

The leaders felt awful. They knew the controversy of the swarms’ feeding, but they couldn’t overlook this.

Once Twilight was done sharing her news, her friends were dumbstruck.

“Twilight, I know its yer duty to befriend any pony. But, Queen Chrysalis is out of the question.” Applejack said boldly.

“Yeah, don’t you remember what happened at your brother’s wedding” Rainbowdash chimed in.

“I remember their feeding. They sucked out the “love” of ponies by piercing into ponies’ necks with their fangs!” Fluttershy squealed. She hid her face under her wings.

Pinkie pie and Rarity nodded in agreement.

Twilight stood there with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes grew glassy and she lowered her head. Her ears flattened.

“Ever since we saved Equestria from Terik’s wrath, we’ve been having a lot of disagreements. First, I wanted to move into the princesses’ old castle. But you girls said no. Second, Discord wanted to run the entertainment at the Moon Festival. But you girls said no, with the exception of Fluttershy. Third, Spike wanted to bring in dragons to share his friendship. He even wanted to change their hearts. Still you all said no. I am the princess of friendship, harmony. What kind of subjects are you? It’s like you girls don’t like anything that’s different. You didn’t see what kind of conditions Queen Chrysalis was living in. Her land is bare of nurturance. Her subjects were dropping dead in the streets. Those poor foals will die if they have nothing to eat.”

The girls glowered at Twilight with stunned looks. They rubbed their front legs and the back of their heads. They remained silent. Twilight looked up and glared at them with a hot stare. She groaned and stormed out of the crystal castle. Her friends called out to her, but she ignored them. She took flight and flew out of a nearby window.

She found herself seated behind an abandoned crystal mine. Tears dangled off her muzzle and fell to the ground.

“I wish my friends were more opened minded. But what do they know? Before, they were just simple ponies with normal lives.” Twilight buried her face in her hooves and wept. She wanted to love her friends, but that became hard to do.

50 feet below her, the red horn glowed brighter. It felt the pain and innocence of Twilight. The horn trembled in the dirt. Its temperature went up so high, it disintegrated worms and other insects around it. With all its strength, it shot up like a rocket. It bore holes through roots and fossils. It even scattered a colony of naked mole rats.

Twilight didn’t hear the horn bust throw the ground. The red horn floated through the air. Once it caught sent of Twilight, it darted towards her. The horn landed on top of Twilight. The Alicorn landed on her back and shrieked in terror. The red horn drilled into her chest. Bits of pale mulberry coat and blood splattered over the walls and ground. Some even splattered on Twilight. The poor Alicorn squirmed on the ground. Her legs flailed around and her wings twitched. The pain was unbearable. Twilight let out tiny gasps of air as the horn drilled through her tender flesh.

When it was deep enough, it seeped through into her heart. Blood squirted out of Twilight. She choked up blood and tried to gasp for more air. She was so hot, everything seemed to melt around her. Then, a shock went through Twilight. She couldn’t even think. All she saw were bright lights flashing before her eyes. The red horn coursed through her body with a burning sensation. She let out a wail of pain.

A black magic aura appeared on the Alicorn’s body. It swarmed over Twilight’s chest, closing up the wound. Pus and blood fell to the ground. She felt numb. Her eyelids felt heavy. She collapsed on her side. Her legs and wings twitched as the black magic aura hovered over her.

The black aura transformed into black flames. Twilight had a black flame flicker on her chest. Suddenly, her head trembled uncontrollably. It shook her so hard, her brain bounced in her head. Tears poured out of her eyes. Her moderate violet irises rolled to the back of her head. The whites in her eyes glowed sap green. Her irises rolled back. This time they were a brilliant scarlet. The black flame hovered around her horn like a tornado. Inside the flaming funnel, her horn glowed red. Her flat teeth morphed into sharp canine fangs.

Everything around Twilight stood still. The only thing moving was a vivid violet smoke snapping around the corners of her eyes. The red horn felt the dark magic within Twilight. It was stronger than any dark magic that it felt before. It let the dark magic slither through her soul. Her body jolted as the dark magic coursed through her.

The flames relaxed themselves and seeped into the young Alicorn’s body. The vivid red horn faded into a pale mulberry horn. Twilight’s body relaxed and grew still. Her breathing grew softer. Once she closed her eyes, the violet smoke around her eyes vanished into thin air.

Crows squawked in the distance. A cold breeze swept around Twilight’s body. Her mane was frizzed and her coat was mangled. Her head lolled slightly. She laid on the cold hard ground for about 30 minutes.

A group of crystal guards found her finally. They laid her body on a stretcher and carried her to the Crystal hospital.