Shattered Hope

by Rocky The Unicorn

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, Tragedy, Discord, Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 2296

If you had to choose between friendship and power, what would you choose?

If you had to choose between friendship and power, what would you choose? It's been 3000 years since the original bearers of the elements passed on. The original elements were shattered, and new ones appeared. Twilight must find the new bearers. When one pony receives the element of aspiration, how can she spread hope, when she has none herself?

This story will have a few references to ships, but only for certain scenes. It is not a romance fic so I did not mark it as romance.

Amazing art by a good friend of mine, DJ Melody Medely! Thank you so much for the art! :yay:

Published 2017-09-30 06:00:05 UTC
Last updated 2017-10-01 07:50:24 UTC

Chapter 1: Three Thousand Years Later

She remembered it perfectly. Every single memory, and every single detail. It rushed over her, tears spilling out like an overflowing bathtub. She remembered Pinkie Pie’s delicious treats, each one so uniquely inspiring. Her snort when she laughed, and her pink bouncy hair, that moved side to side with every laugh.

She remembered Rainbow Dash’s amazing speed, and the trail of rainbow colors she left behind where she flew. The day she did the sonic rainboom was an incredible experience, and the day she joined the Wonderbolts was amazing too.

Rarity’s precise dresses, so fashionable and gorgeous were always such a delight to look at and wear. The display cases in Manehatten were magnificent. As you walked by the shop, all of the glistening wonders awaiting inside drew so many customers inside.

Applejack’s Zap Apple Jam and her apple treats were very memorable. She would always give her honest opinion when needed and looked out for her friends and family. She was a great friend to have.

Fluttershy’s melodic voice that drew in so many animals. Somehow, she was able to show kindness to everypony, even to Discord. She loved animals so much, and it was always so sweet watching her sit outside with them, tending to their every need.

It was incredible watching Starlight Glimmer's growth into becoming her own meticulous mare, stepping into the light. How she eventually grew to be forgiving and willing to learn. Starlight was an amazing pupil, and Twilight was so happy she was able to help her so much.

She could almost still hear their laughter and feel their presence. Pinkie’s snorts and Rarity’s meltdowns. They were faint but present.

She could still see it all. Her friends living their lives, while she couldn’t. She watched them grow old, and she stayed the same. The curse of being an immortal alicorn. You would have thought it was every ponies' dream. Twilight was alone, with no friends. She had Celestia and Luna, but that was it. Cadence had disappeared years ago in a war against Chrysalis, which had destroyed the empire. Even her brother had passed on during the war, which left her heart wrenched. The rest of Twilight's family was long gone and dead. Everypony she knew was gone it seemed. Even the sweet little cutie mark crusaders had moved on. Their determination no longer in this time period. It broke her heart.

The elements perished after the bearers all died off. Everyone was so sad to see them go, but only a few truly felt the agonizing distress she did. One pony in particular almost had worse if not just as much pain. Balance in Equestria was fading, and it was a time for new elements. What these elements were, no pony knew. Twilight knew she couldn't wait around waiting for a new age of harmony. She had to find the elements.

She knew the Tree of Harmony was sprouting new blossoms, which most likely meant new elements. She would have to visit the tree right away.

Twilight decided rather than have a fancy royal carriage take her, that she would fly there herself. her majestic wings sparkled as she soared over the Everfree forest. The castle of the Two Sisters was demolished, and barely anything remained. After 3000 years, it had deteriorated due to the erosion the structure was exposed to.

Twilight sat underneath the Tree of Harmony, it's rays of light glistening against her coat. Beautiful flowers were blooming, each one glistened with golden dust. They sprouted as six gems; orange, white, yellow, coral, green, and one magenta star. Twilight knew she was still the bearer of magic, but new elements had grown. They were in no shape, so she wasn’t quite sure how she would be able to find these ponies. All she knew, was that Equestria would depend on them. It could take a few days, or even years to find these bearers. She needed to get to it, but, maybe it was best for these bearers to seek the elements themselves. Patience was the key to success, and in this case, it was very mandatory for the sake of Equestria.
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The lavender unicorn trotted along the roads of Canterlot. It was the first day of exams to get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Rocky had one shot to get this right. She wasn't as old or skilled as the other ponies. In fact, she was rather young. She had only gotten her cutie mark a few moons ago. A green star with the silhouettes of a microphone and music note. She was a star. She knew she had a purpose, and she wanted to show the world she could change it, and bring hope and happiness to all of the ponies of Equestria. Her one entrance exam determined her future. If she passed, she could live her dream. If not, she would be cast out and rejected. Her worst fear was rejection, and having those you love to turn against you.

Finally, Rocky arrived at the castle. her exam started in an hour, but she wanted to get there extra early, so that she would have plenty of time, and not be late, in case she got lost. The lavender unicorn accidentally stumbled upon a great hallway. Curious, she thought she would investigate. She did have a lot of extra time.

Rocky marveled at what she saw. All along the walls stood beautiful stain-glass masterpieces. The odd thing was, she only recognized some of the ponies. She saw Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and Princess Twilight, but there were other figures too. Ponies she had to hear of but were not commonly mentioned. They had something to do with balance in Equestria, she thought.

"What are you doing in here?" A voice questioned.

Rocky turned around, frightened. There behind her stood
Princess Twilight.

"Sorry, Princess! I got lost on the way to the exam room. Would you kindly point the way?" Rocky casually said.

"They are down in the left wing of the castle."

"Thank you!" Rocky exclaimed, right before trotting off.

Twilight stood there a few moments. She looked up at the stain-glass. A spark glistened in her eye. She felt some sort of magical sense. That unicorn, there was something different about her. Something, special. Twilight knew she was getting closer to solving the problem with lack of harmony but was it possible that the answer had just found her? Twilight knew she shouldn't get her hopes up, but that was just it. When the unicorn cantered by, she seemed to give her hope that everything would be ok and that in the end, everything would turn out fine. What was she thinking? She needed to rid this nonsense from her head.

Author's Note

I decided to write a new story with Twilight all alone. I have many ideas and sad moments planned! I hope you enjoy this story! These Original Characters are based on my OC and my friends', so please do not copy them or steal them. :twilightsheepish: :raritywink:

Chapter 2: Letting Go

Rocky trotted down the hallways in the Canterlot castle. Eventually, she stumbled upon the exams room. A decent sized line waited outside the door. All of these unicorns, hoping to have their time to shine. They wanted a chance to change the world, just like she did. The lavender unicorn eagerly waited, as the line started moving again. She was so distracted, that she didn't realize the pony in front of her had stopped. The two bumped into each other and fell onto the floor. Rocky's blue and purple mane was on her face. She carefully moved some of the strands to the side, tucked behind her ear. She stood up and reached out a helping hoof to the mare she had bumped into.

"Sorry about that. I didn't realize the line had stopped moving!" Rocky said with embarrassment.

"It's ok! This line for the library sure is long!" The beige earth pony replied.

"Oh, I hope you know this isn't the line to the Canterlot library. This is for exams to get into Celestia's School for gifted unicorns!"

"Silly me! The library never gets this busy!"

The earth pony turned when Rocky stopped her.

"Wait, what's your name? I'm Rocky."

"The name's Rosefilm! Now I best be off. It was nice meeting you!" And with that, the pony walked out.

"Rocky, you are up for entrance exams," Princess Luna said. The alicorn escorted the lavender unicorn into the room where Celestia and the judges watched, awaiting her act.

Rocky wanted to perform a time-freezing spell. She knew it was risky and very complex, but she needed to do something clever to get her into Celestia's school.

Her horn lets off a vibrant green glow. For a moment, everything seemed to stop. It was like no pony else in the world mattered. Everything was still and peaceful. Then, the spell backfired. Green magic bursts zapped all around the room until the blast hit the Princess. Instead of freezing everything in time, it literally froze Princess Celestia. The judges began to panic and ordered Rocky to turn her back. Rocky could feel the sweat drip down her face. She concentrated as a ton of shots of magic flew everywhere, everypony started to panic. Celestia managed to break through with her own magic. Rather than stay and watch, the lavender unicorn ran out of the room, tears in her eyes.
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Discord sulked, lying on the branch of a tree. He had never been quite as chaotic as he used to after she left. That's what he kept telling himself. She only left, but he knew it wasn't true. She was never coming back. Almost every day, tears would fill his eyes at the thought of her.

Up in the tree, he would watch her old cottage. It had been 3000 years, and after the years would go by, Discord watched as different ponies would move into her cottage. In the past decade, a family had moved in. A little orange pegasus with a black and magenta swirly mane lived there with her parents currently.

And to think, they had no idea about all of the tea parties he had there, and all of the memorable moments with her.

One day, he sat there on the branch, tears in his eyes, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Discord..." The voice said with concern.

"Leave me alone!" Discord yelled at the voice.

He turned to see Princess Twilight, who had sat down on the branch slightly above him, overlooking him with a bird's eye view. She had a satchel bag with her. Using her magic, she took out 6 stones of various colors.

"I think I may be getting closer finding the new elements."

Discord's eyes lit up for a second, the yellowing glowing under the red menacing slits. He looked so upset and offended by the harmless remark.

"Does it look like I care, Princess?" Discord snarkily remarked.

"I know it's hard to let go of the past, and I don't want to move on either," Twilight assured him.

"You don't understand!" Discord growled. "Do you think you know how much despair I've gone through these past 3000 years? Well, I can assure you you're wrong!"

"Well, they were my friends you know!" She angrily shot back.

"SHE MEANT SO MUCH MORE TO ME!" Discord screeched. Tears surfaced in his eyes. He tried to fight them back, but it was no use. "She was my wife..."

Twilight sat on the branch above him, dumbfounded. Her face was as pale as a ghost. Twilight slipped the new elements into her bag again.

"Discord, I just thought that maybe if you feel a magical unbalance, you could let me know. We need harmony in Equestria again, and we are so close to finding it," Twilight told him.

Discord slightly nodded, as he rested his head on top of his folded eagle claw and lion paw. Tears soaked his cheeks. He looked away from Twilight, and down at the cottage. Twilight casually got up and flew off, not looking back at the lonely draconequus.

Discord let out a groan of despair as he sat there, silently sobbing on the tree branch.
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Twilight was flying back to Canterlot. She felt horrible as she flew over the menacing forest. She never realized how torn apart Discord had been, ever since Fluttershy's passing. She never even stood by him or offered to help him through his struggles. Instead, she had felt sorry for herself. In retrospect, he was very good at hiding his emotions, but still. She could have done something, anything. Twilight felt like a horrible friend. She was the Princess of Friendship for crying out loud, yet she wasn't even there for one of her oldest friends in his time of need.

The alicorn princess eventually arrived in Canterlot. The mare gracefully landed by the Castle in the left wing, where exams were being held. She saw the unicorn she had met earlier, running out of the castle. Instead of feeling a hopeful and joyful feeling, this time, Twilight began feeling saddened. She started to think about how much she had messed up earlier. Then, she felt a movement coming from her satchel bag. She opened, and saw the green stone glowing. It flew up out of the bag, and started chasing the unicorn who was rushing out of the castle. Twilight frantically began chasing after the runaway element.

Author's Note

Suspense is rising! I added a little bit of a shipping moment in here, just to add some feels. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! :yay::twilightsmile: