Chapters The city looked so beautiful when it was covered by a blanket of clouds. Seaddle just wasn’t a place that seemed to need the light of the sun to survive. Ponies had gallons and gallons of coffee for that. Young Hex Breaker was only pleased with the clouds parting themselves if the sun was setting and the gorgeous moon was rising high in the night sky. Oh how he adored to climb onto the roof and stare up to the stars and have the glimmering moonlight shining down upon him. This night was no different. The moon made the colt feel more comfort than he could even think to put into words.
“There you are,” a soft voice called from the window beside him.
The pale yellow stallion reached out for his lavender son, hesitating before he managed to clumsily join him on the roof. Puer Leaf was no athlete by any means. Seeing his son climbing up onto the roof at times made him feel much like his heart feel like it was going to burst out of his chest with worry. However, a little one had to have the room to explore and grow and Hex was no different. As he settled in beside the tiny pony, Puer reached to brush some of the minty colored mane from his son’s face. It made his insides swell with happiness as the colt snuggled up to his side. He was happy both of his children seemed to have inherited their mother’s hair. Puer himself had already been balding for years, and it wasn’t something he would wish on either one of them. Especially not with locks as beautiful as Hex’s. It looked especially pretty in the moonlight.
“There’s a mare in the moon, you know,” the stallion started.
“A mare?”
Teal eyes widened and looked up at the older pony with intrigue. He hadn’t started school all that long ago, and they were only just beginning with the history of Equestria. It seemed as though Princess Celestia ruled all and not many ponies seemed to think much else mattered. It was quite ironic considering just how little sunlight anypony in Seaddle seemed to see on a daily basis.
“Oh yes. She was once known as Nightmare Moon, to most. Before that, though? Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna.”
Hex pulled himself closer as his father told the tale of the two sisters and their feud. The story of Nightmare Moon being banished away from Equestria didn’t gain the kind of reaction from Hex as it did from most other ponies. Confusion filled him to the brim and his brows knit together in concern. How was Celestia’s reaction fair? Wouldn’t it have been better to talk and work things out before they had escalated to that point? It felt like too much for his little brain to handle.
“What’s the matter?” Puer asked, raising a brow.
“I don’t like that story,” Hex admitted. “It’s too sad.”
“Sad?”
“Doesn’t she get lonely up there?”
Pulling himself away from his father enough to look back into the sky, Hex felt a new coldness washing over him as he stared up at the night sky. Now that his father had mentioned it, he could see her clear as day. That beautiful mare was there, alright, and she looked so very sad to him. What was it like on the moon? Was it cold? Was it dark? Did she have anything to eat there? The more he thought about it, the more he worried about her.
“Well I suppose she might,” his father said, interrupting his thoughts. “To be honest, I’ve never really thought about it.”
Seeing the way his son seemed to care so much for a pony so removed from all of them probably should have concerned him. It wasn’t exactly a good thing to sympathize with Nightmare Moon, of all ponies. Even still, it made him feel a sense of pride to know that Hex Breaker could show that kind of compassion. He could see it in the gleam in the colt’s eyes; that little bit of him that truly was his mother. Oh how he missed her .
Raising two little ones on his own was hard enough, but for an Earth pony to raise a Unicorn with no proper knowledge of how magic developed was quite the challenge. Mystic Marsh would have known what to do when Hex had his magic spurts. She always did when he was tiny. Thankfully the only issue Puer had ever had was when the lovely mare had gone off on a short trip to gather plants from the far away swamps. The poor little one had gotten the hiccups and each time he gave one of those awkward little gasps, he re-appeared somewhere else in the house. The magic wasn’t strong enough to send him somewhere far away or dangerous, of course. That didn’t mean that Puer had an easy time running from room to room trying to figure out where Hex Breaker had popped up next.
It was the last hiccup that scared him the most. Suddenly his precious little colt was just… gone . Pure terror surged through him as he ran around the house calling out for him. There was no noise whatsoever. There were no hiccups, no babbles, no crying, no cooing, and most certainly no sounds of magical commotion. The poor stallion was so sure that something terrible had happened to his son until he checked the very last room: Mystic’s work room. Soft breathing reached his ears as he passed by his wife’s cedar chest and relief flooded through him when he opened it to find his son curled up inside among the silks and herbs there. His wife’s spider-web cloak was draped around the baby like a blanket and he was snoozing away peacefully as though nothing strange had happened.
The mere memory alone made Puer chuckle to himself as he turned his attention back to Hex. At the very least, his son was patient and calm. Well, as calm as a tiny growing colt could be. Bittersweet on the other hand, was quite the handful. She had been a fussy little baby from day 1. Then again, her fussiness was a blessing in disguise. She required so much attention that the stallion really didn’t have any time to feel sorry for himself while mourning the loss of his wife. The last word she uttered before she left them was Bitter’s name. The situation truly was bittersweet. Here was this beautiful baby girl who almost didn’t make it, and a mare that gave her all to make sure that her little one survived. Mystic wanted nothing more for her children to be happy and healthy, and with her final breath of life she could only wish that she could have held her little filly for just a moment longer.
Even being as young as he was, Hex Breaker still tried to jump in and help his father with his sister. He was always happy to feed her, learned how to change her, told her stories he’d made up every night until he could read to help put her to bed. It was more than Puer ever could have asked for out of the young one. He could only hope the spirit of his wife would live on in her children. Even now, Hex was proving to be just as caring and patient. Yes, he could see that spark right there in those teal eyes that stared so intently at the moon. Puer had to clear his throat to try and fight away the tight feeling growing there and the tears threatening to spill.
“I want to be her friend,” Hex spoke up, pulling the stallion back to the real world.
“Her friend?” He asked in intrigue.
“Princess Luna,” the colt said with a determined nod. “I want to be her friend.”
The lavender colt gave a little wiggle in place as he looked back to his dad. He’d never had such a strong urge to do anything in his short life. If poor Luna was going to be stuck up there all by herself, then he was going to do everything he could to make sure she didn’t feel lonely.
“I’m going to talk to her every single night. I want to her her Hearth’s Warming presents so she can celebrate too! Maybe I can write her letters so that she has something to read when I have to sleep. I’ll read her books and--and--!”
Puer reached quickly to grasp his son. Hex had been trotting in place with so much excitement that he’d nearly slid right off of the roof. Despite the momentary worry, the stallion felt himself full of pride for his son’s sweet intentions.
“You do that, Hex,” he replied, giving a nod of approval. “I’m sure you’ll be the best friend she’s ever had.”
“You really mean it?”
“I do. But now it’s time for you to go to bed.”
Puer leaned down to press a kiss to his son’s forehead before he stood and tried to make his way back into the window. Had the roof always been this steep, or was he just getting older? Probably both.
“Say goodnight to Luna and then come inside and brush your teeth.”
“Yes, papa.”
Once his father was safely inside of their home, Hex once more turned his gaze to the moon. Now it made so much more sense to him as to why he’d always found it so hauntingly beautiful. For nearly 1,000 years there was a poor soul trapped there with no one to spend time with.
“I’ll talk to you, Princess Luna,” the pony said with a nod. “I’ll make sure you never feel forgotten. I promise .”
Author's Note
* Puer is a type of aged black tea from China. It is known for it's medicinal purposes and has an Earthy flavor.
“Sorry I’m late, Princess Luna. Bitter really wanted to talk to me about a weird dream she had.”
Hex Breaker, now 2 years older than when he’d made his promise, sat in his window seat to gaze up at the moon. Not long after making his promise to keep talking to her, his father had a window seat installed so that the colt could have his conversations from the safety of his room rather than sitting up on the roof every night. Something told him that was just an accident waiting to happen. While Puer was more than willing to support his son, he didn’t think a broken neck was what either of them needed.
“I think my sister sees things a lot of the rest of us don’t. She said that some weird things from past the stars came to see her and stayed with her for a while. She tried to draw them, but I couldn’t really make much out. They had these big green heads and huge black eyes! I wonder...do you ever see things like that from where you are?”
She didn’t answer. She never did. But Hex didn’t hold anything against her. Maybe for all he knew, Luna was answering him and he simply couldn’t hear her. It wasn’t all that hard for the colt to picture the Alicorn there on the moon. Thanks to the library and bookstores, he’d been able to find old text that had painted portraits of her. They were all heavily stylized, but it was still nice to have a little bit of an idea as to what the Princess looked like. In the small pony’s eyes, she was the epitome of beauty. She was the night sky all wrapped up into one perfect package.
“Oh! I almost forgot,” he started with a wiggle. “My dad wanted to add some special foods to the cafe today. You know, the tea cafe that he runs? I said I wanted to make something that would remind ponies of the moon. He looked kinda sad at first. But then he smiled and he pulled out a recipe that my mom made!”
Slipping off of his seat, Hex moved to grab the plate from his desk. Said plate was carefully set on the windowsill as an offering to Luna.
“I brought one for you. They’re called moon cakes . He tried to show me how to make it, but I’m not sure I’ll remember how to without the instructions,” the young one explained. “They’ve got lavender in them. So they’re really soothing and nice.”
He looked down at the little pastry with pride. It was more of a cookie than a cake for sure, but nevertheless, he was still proud. Silently, he wondered if Luna was proud too.
“I wish you could have met my mom,” Hex continued. “She was really great, from what I can remember. I mean, I don’t remember much. We lost her when I was 3. Bitter never got to know her at all. So I guess I’m pretty lucky.”
His ears drooped and the colt nudged his hooves together. His mother was more of a feeling at this point than a full memory. He new she smelled like warm earth and herbs and he would still feel the warmth of his embrace if he tried hard enough. A soft, lingering melody would float through his head from time to time. He was sure it was a song, but all he could recall was humming. The memory always comforted him whenever he was sad. Even now, the tune came from his own lips as he hummed along with the memory.
“I wish…”
His own words startled him at first, and Hex had to paise to get his bearings.
“I wish I could have known more about her.”
No sooner did that whisper leave his lips did the light in the colt’s room flicker. A soft whisper met his ears, making him jump as he perked up.
“H-Hello?”
Silence.
“Please… if you’re there, tell me what you want?”
Again the whisper reached him and oh so slowly his door began to creak open. Hex Breaker had no idea what was there, but whatever it was seemed to want him to follow it. There was the whisper a third time, this time from the hallway. He swallowed heavily, took a deep breath, and made his way forward. Bittersweet had already gone to bed, and his father was downstairs making sure the shop was ready for the next day. Yet the whisper still called to him. It brought him further down the hall to what Hex thought was a dead end.
“Hello? Why would you bri--”
His words were interrupted with a squeak as a ladder clattered down before him. The attic. Somehow he’d forgotten they’d even had one. It wasn’t a very large space, and Hex was sure his father just used it as storage, but it was there. On one hoof, the young one knew that he probably shouldn’t be following whatever this was. This was how ghost stories tended to start, wasn’t it? On the other hoof, something seemed to be answering his wishes. There was only one way to find out if this would end in disaster or in answers.
Despite the fact that he knew he shouldn’t go, Hex made his way to the top of the ladder. A single circular window shed light from the moon down into the tiny room. There were a few boxes here and there, but what really called the lavender pony’s attention were two large containers off to the side of the window. One was a wooden trunk while the other was a chest that looked very familiar. The closer he grew, the more he could smell the cedar and the memories came rushing back. This belonged to his mother . The pony had assumed the wooden chest had been lost forever despite it being one of his mother’s favorite possessions. She kept all of her best clothes inside of it, and more often than not, Hex would hide away inside of it. The warmth that filled him as he nudged his forehead against it quickly turned cold when he realized the chest that was normally never locked now had a lock on it.
The trunk, however, didn’t have a lock.
The exhilaration Hex Breaker felt as he ran his hooves over the trunk was almost too much to bear. He’d asked to know more about his mother, and someone had listened . At this point, the colt hardly cared who had been listening. All that mattered was that his wish had been answered. He was practically vibrating as he finally moved to push up on the lid of the trunk. So many books and bottles filled the trunk almost to the brim. There were little boxes here and there with hidden treasures inside, herbs that still somehow smelled so good despite being locked away for 5 years, parchment, quills, and strange little bottles of what looked like ink. The eager pony didn’t know what to look at first. There were so many books waiting to be read and trinkets waiting to be looked at.
Finally he settled on one of the books. It was one of the oldest in the trunk for sure, judging by how well-loved it looked. Nothing could have prepared Hex for the elation he felt bursting through him when he opened the cover to find that this very book was his mother’s Grimoire. Now it made so much sense as to why it had been kept all this time. The book was filled to the brim with all of his mother’s magical knowledge. Or well, most of it. Hex was sure that all of her experiments and things of the sort were contained in the other books, which looked much more like journals than a Book of Shadows. This was more the “finished products” of her work. There were spells, potion recipes, a full list of the herbs she tended to use on a regular basis and what each of them did medicinally and represented magically.
The lavender pony quickly found himself on the floor, pouring over each and every page. His mother’s prized possession was now his own, and he would read it by the light of the moon until he couldn’t read anymore. So there he sat for hours, reading a good half-way through the book of magic. At this point, he wasn’t sure if he could even remember half of what he’d seen. It would take a lot of time and devotion to get it all down, and that was something he was more than willing to do. For now, Hex reluctantly closed his precious book and turned his attention back to the open trunk. There was just so much to look at! Just when he thought he’d seen everything, more came tumbling out. Crystals of all kinds were kept in pretty pouches and there were more candles here than he knew what to do with.
“Mom did a lot more candle magic than I thought,” he mumbled to himself as he pulled out a pure black candle to look over.
This one looked much like it was being prepped for a spell. There were carvings all over it and it smelled sweet from the herbs rubbed into its grooves. Perhaps this was something she’d been working on before Bitter was born. The sad thought wasn’t given time to settle in before Hex was once more digging around. Suddenly, something jingled when he nudged it; the sound of metal hitting metal completely called his attention. The colt’s horn glowed a pale pink as he pulled it up from the trunk. The little box was quite heavy, and when he opened it he could feel himself grow pale. It was full of keys. Once glance at the cedar chest had him both excited and terrified. The key to the chest had to be in there, but which one was it? There had to be at least 40 keys.
“Hex!”
The poor pony nearly jumped out of his skin when his name was called. Glancing around quickly, he was relieved to see his father hadn’t come up into the attic yet. The box was hidden away, the trunk was closed, and Hex found himself clambering down the ladder as fast as his little legs could take him. With a noise of discomfort, he all but flopped down onto the carpet below. The sudden bounce was enough to slam the folding ladder right back up into its hiding place.
“C-coming, Papa,” Hex called out.
Deep down, the pony knew he should talk to his father. Maybe if he just asked, the stallion would be willing to share stories of his mother and allow him to go through both trunks without worry. Even still, Hex couldn’t bring himself to say anything, even as his father came into sight. The trunk would just have to wait.
“Tonight’s the night, Princess Luna,” the colt whispered in excitement. “I’m gonna wait till Papa’s asleep and then I’m gonna sneak upstairs and finally open that chest!”
A week had passed since Hex had discovered where all of his mother’s secrets were kept. One long, torturous, grueling week. He simply couldn’t stand it any longer! The poor colt felt like he was going to pop. The tea shop had grown quite busy over the weekend, and it seemed it just never stopped. More ponies had been coming for special occasions and as such, the lavender pony tried his best to help. Whether it was watching his little sister or trying to brew teas for his father, he was always willing to lend a helping hoof. Sneaking into the attic during the day just wasn’t plausible. Now that all was quiet and there were no ponies downstairs that needed tending to, he was finally free to explore.
The young one waited beside his door, listening closely for the sound of Puer’s door closing. The stallion made his way slowly upstairs, giving out a loud yawn. Bittersweet had fallen asleep in the living room after being told a story and Hex could hear the older pony carrying the tiny one up to her room. Once the filly had been put in bed, Puer trudged into his own room. There was the sound Hex was waiting for, and before he knew it, the young pony was sneaking out of his own room and towards the hidden passage. Thankfully he could use his unicorn magic to pull the ladder back down. The string attached to the ceiling door was so high up that he honestly wondered how any pony that didn’t have a horn or wings could even reach it. Perhaps that was why he’d never seen his father go up into the hidden room. Things had been put up there when they’d moved and hadn’t seen the light of day since.
The ladder was a bit of an adventure to get up, but the colt managed just as he had the night before. There they were! The trunks he’d been all but dreaming about for the past seven days. As much as he wanted to dash over to them, he was sure to keep his steps light in fear of gaining Puer Leaf’s attention. The box of keys was right where he’d left it. However, now the task of searching through them all to find the right one seemed all too daunting. Putting keys into a lock till he found the right one wouldn’t be too hard, would it? Perhaps somepony had just tossed all of her keys into this box once she was gone and didn’t realize one belonged to the cedar chest. At the very least, that’s what he was going to hope.
The first key did nothing. The second wouldn’t even fit into the lock. The third looked far too old to open anything at all. The cycle went on, key after key, until finally Hex had gotten down to the very last one. Surely this had to be it! There was no way none of them worked in the lock, right? Hex hesitated as he looked down at the very last key. There was nothing he could do now but try . So he said a silent prayer, put the key into the lock and… It didn’t work. The disappointment was almost crushing. There had to be some hope of opening this stupid chest! The colt wasn’t sure why, but he knew he needed to get into it one way or another. A bright idea suddenly struck him.
“I wonder if Mama where she put the key,” he muttered to himself.
There was only one way to find out! Carefully he pulled out the book he’d been reading the last time he’d been up there, flipping through the pages until he came to one simply labeled: Keys.
‘Keys represent that whom holds the keys to the Universe. Keeping a metal key on one at all times will both deflect negativity and pull in positive energies. The older the key is, the more powerful it becomes. It has opened many doors in the past and will open many doors in the future. A key will open opportunities yet to come, and helps those who hold it find their full potential.’
So in other words… His mother simply collected keys. Poor Hex could already feel his spirits dim. The answer to the mystery was dangling so close in front of his face. He could almost taste it! With a stubborn huff, he plopped down in front of the book and began searching through its pages. Potion after potion, spell after spell passed by his eyes until finally something appeared before him that made him light up with excitement.
“Use this spell to unlock any door standing in the way of your destiny,” Hex read out loud.
Sure, that sounded close enough. The words looked funny for sure, but that was probably how most spells worked. At least, that was how they worked in stories. Magic was a language all its own, usually. After the unicorn had stared at the spell for a good few minutes to try and memorize the strange phrase, he took a deep breath, stared at the lock, and tried to focus all of his thoughts on it.
“ Crebro ianua aperta mundi!”
At first, nothing happened. Hex wiggled slightly, trying to get himself into a better position, and said the words once more. The pony was focusing so hard that his head actually hurt. Whether it was his sheer determination or the spell itself, he wasn’t sure, but the lock began to glow a pale white before it suddenly popped open. It took all he had not to give a noise of delight and dance in place. The urge was so overwhelming simply because of how happy he was, but he knew that if he did it would surely wake his father, his sister, or both. With a giddy wiggle of his blank flank, the pony stepped forward to pull the lock away and finally crack open the large chest.
Oh there was that smell again! The smell that filled him with such fond feelings, even if he couldn’t recall the memories, was well worth the effort. Inside were his mother’s cloaks, her travel pouches and bags, and so many other items. However the one that caught his eye more than any other was the spider web cape-let. Hex’s eyes went wide with wonder as he pulled the pretty fabric out. The webbing sparkled in the moonlight, and the rest of the fabric was smooth as silk. Or was it velvet? Honestly, he didn’t know the difference yet. Really, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he absolutely loved it . His pale pink magic surrounded the cape as the unicorn pulled it around himself. It was surely too big, but the bright-eyed colt didn’t care. This was his now, and no one was about to take it away from him. Wearing the cape-let just felt right . It was like this moment was meant to be.
Hex, now filled with a new sense of determination, spent the better half of an hour sneaking things from the original trunk from the attic into his room. Up and down the stairs he went, trying to be careful not to trip on his new precious piece of clothing until finally all that was left was the trunk itself. For that, the cape-let came off. There was no way he would risk ripping something so precious to him. Twice he almost dropped his magical hold on the heavy hunk of wood. The only thing that kept him from giving up or dropping it was his fear of being found out. The journey was slow, but well worth the effort when he could tuck the trunk into his closet and once more place all of his mother’s magical items inside.
There was no way he would be able to get the cedar chest downstairs. Not today. On the bright side, half of the work was done. Satisfied with himself, the colt made his way back to close up the attic door before finally settling into his own room; once more draped in the safety of the cool spider-webbed fabric.
“Princess Luna, I think I finally found what I want to be!” He said in excitement as he gazed up at the moon. “So it turns out, my Mama was a witch. She had a real spell book and everything! I think I kind of mentioned it to you the other day, but I didn’t want to say anything until I was really sure, but now I am. I want to be a witch too. Maybe if I practice real hard, I can be just as good as my Mama was.”
He honestly had no idea just how great she really was, but that didn’t stop him from having an expectation set for himself. He was going to be the best darn witch there was out there, and nothing was going to stop him!
A few weeks had passed since the lavender pony had discovered all of his new treasures. He kept his cape-let in his room, only wearing it whenever he was sitting and reading all of the information his mother had left him. The urge to practice the magic laid out before him was far too tempting to stay away from. His father always tried to make sure Hex’s magical abilities weren’t stunted by the fact that he was being raised by somepony who had no magic of his own, but sometimes it was hard. Now the colt felt like there was a path laid out for him. There was quite literally a manual that he could follow with so many resources inside of it that sometimes he felt as though it would be impossible to memorize them all.
There were two sections that interested him the most: The ones about all things spooky like ghosts and monsters, and the section on potion making. As much as he wanted to explore and find all of these monsters, he was only 8 and there was no way his father would allow him to go out on his own to do something quite so dangerous. Potions, on the other hand, were incredibly easy. Thanks to the fact that his father ran a tea shop with loose herbs in jars downstairs, finding most of the ingredients for them would be all too simple. Not setting anything in his room on fire would be a bit of a hassle, but it was all worth it for the pursuit of knowledge. Luckily, there was a spell in his mother’s book for that as well. It took a few tries before he eventually managed to light the fire and keep the containment spell around it. He kept a large glass of water handy beside his mother’s old cauldron just to be on the safe side.
Hex didn’t even have to worry about whatever smells the potion would make or his father asking him about why he was taking the herbs in the first place. He would simply assume that the colt was making his own new type of tea, which he’d done many times before. The colt set off on his little adventure, hurrying down the stairs to gather the ingredients he needed. It was a relatively simple potion. All he needed was fresh water, some particular herbs, and the magic from his own horn. Once he’d gotten the water boiling the excited pony added each of the herbs, not thinking about the fact that he had completely forgotten to cast a protective circle around his workplace. The room smelled sweet and earthy as the potion bubbled away. He happily trotted in place as he watched the color of the water change to a deep, brown-color. Now all that was left was to say the spell and see if the potion worked! Peeking at the book once or twice, Hex centered himself in front of the little cauldron before him and took a deep breath.
“Grow hearty, grow strong, grow without strife,
Bring my thoughts this day to life,
May this plant be fast to grow,
It is my wish, I will it so!”
The unicorn’s horn began to glow softly as he spoke, his spell gaining more and more power the further he got into it. The potion before him stopped bubbling despite the fire below it. As he finished his spell, a puff of pink smoke burst forth from the liquid as his horn gave a flash; both of which startled the colt and made him jump back a step or two. Even the fire had gone out at this point. What was left was a strange, clear, pink liquid that smelled faintly of strawberries. While he was curious to see if it tasted as good as smelled, this was not a potion for drinking. Hex took one of the tiny bottles from his mother’s trunk and used it to scoop up some of the plant-growth potion before he ran outside with such gusto that he nearly knocked over his poor father on his way out.
In his haste, he completely forgot to close his door . Bittersweet, now at the ripe age of 5, watched her brother rush down the stairs before her attention turned to the still open door. The tiny yellow Earth pony made her way inside, looking around at all of her brother’s things laid out on the floor. Potion-making wasn’t exactly something that was normally kept a secret. Her own preschool teacher had talked about it here and there when talking about her grandmother. Thus, she recognized the cauldron and the fact that there was liquid inside. Maybe Hex was playing a game!
Bitter wanted to play too.
Her brother had been spending more time by himself lately and the filly missed him. Maybe if she played potions too, he’d let her join in on his game. But what could she add to it? Sadly, her first idea was not the herbs her father kept downstairs. Rather, it was the cleaning products in the bathroom beside her brother’s room. With a happy little giggle, she made her way into said bathroom. Oh, Hex was going to be so pleased! She could play big-pony games too! Gathering up a bottle of liquid, and a container of the smelly green powder that her dad and sometimes big brother used to clean out the bathtub, she made her way back into Hex’s room.
Bitter was so exhilarated that she could hardly contain herself. The bottle toppled to the floor as she stopped before the cauldron, and she began to shake the powder into the sweet smelling liquid. A strange froth began to form on the top of the potion, and the smell shifted to something that made her nose wrinkle. That was probably normal. At least, she assumed it was. She remembered her teacher talking about how stinky some potions could be. Opening the bottle was no easy task for her tiny hooves. Somehow she managed it, and as she leaned the bottle onto the side of the cauldron, she could hear hoovesteps heading up the stairs. As her brother stepped into his room, he froze. The bottle dropped from the grasp of his magic onto the floor, and the triumphant smile melted away from his face to form a look of pure horror.
“B-Bitter! What are you doing?!” He exclaimed.
“I’m playing potions too,” the tiny pony said proudly, turning to glance at her beloved brother. “I’m--”
The events that unfolded before him felt much like they were going in slow motion. As the yellow filly turned to look at him, the bottle tilted down. Hex ran forward with all of his might, grasping Bitter in an effort to yank her away from the now toxic concoction. Despite his best efforts, the liquid from the bottle fell into the cauldron, and a deafening BOOM rang through the building with such intensity that everything shook . Blinding pain seared the unicorn’s right eye. A scream was ripped from his throat as he was thrown back against the nearest wall, falling to the floor with his sister still in his grasp.
He couldn’t hear her calling his name and asking if he was okay. He couldn’t hear his father rushing upstairs and calling out for both. All the colt could do was curl into himself and reach to hold his own eye. His ears were ringing so loudly that they made his head hurt even more. Whenever he opened his left eye, his vision was swimming. His father was there, trying to pull his son’s hooves away from his eye to look at it, but Hex wouldn’t comply. At this point, Bitter was in tears. Guilt welled up inside of her tiny body with such an intensity that she felt like she was going to throw up. All she wanted to do was play. All she wanted to do was spend time with her favorite pony. Not this . Never this .
Her own ears were ringing, her head hurt, her heart hurt, and all she could do was stand there and watch her brother writhe in pain. A soft hissing noise somehow cut through all of the commotion around them, and the yellow filly found herself turning towards the cauldron once more. A strange red ooze was starting to bubble up, glopping over the side of the cast iron container. Large bubbles popped, and the more it seemed to grow and twist, the more dread gripped at her heart and squeezed like a vice.
“P-Papa,” she called, stepping back from what seemed to be a creature forming out of the disgusting ooze.
“Not now, sweetie, I’m trying to check on your brother,” Puer said, trying his best to sound calm.
What looked like some kind of arm made out of ooze slapped down against the ground, tilting the cauldron slightly as whatever it was seemed to be trying to get out of the container. Dripping jaws formed into a twisted grin as it let out a louder hiss.
“Papa!” Bitter shrieked out.
As Puer turned to scold the filly, he instead found his daughter trembling like a leaf and staring at something he had never in his life seen before. With a noise of fright, he reached to grasp her, pulling her close to his chest. The half-formed creature smelled like rotting flesh. Puer could see teeth starting to show themselves from under the glop. They looked like cracked and twisted bones just waiting to tear into the ponies before it. Another arm came out of the cauldron, hitting the floor with another wet smack ! Between the creature’s strange, garbled noises and his own daughter’s shrieks and sobs of terror, Puer didn’t notice that his son had stopped screaming. It pulled itself closer, the cast iron scraping across the floor as it reached that long, spindly arm towards the trio.
Puer’s legs wouldn't move. He couldn’t breathe . He wanted so desperately to grab his children run out the door to beg somepony else for help, but he was frozen in place. All he could do was squeeze his eyes shut and hold his crying daughter tightly against himself. And yet, the grasp never came. The claws never reached his face. There was no pain. Slowly, he peeked an eye open to find the creature surrounded by a faint pink glow of magic. Hex stepped up, his legs shaking as he glared at the beast. With each step forward, he pushed it further and further back into the cauldron from whence it came.
“You leave them alone!” He commanded.
The beast let out it’s own shriek as it wriggled and writhed in the colt’s magical grasp. Hex Breaker’s horn glowed brightly with all of the energy he had left, not only pushing the monster in, but pulling a vial from the trunk towards the thing. The holy water inside of it had been taken from the salty ocean and blessed by the light of the moon. He showed no hesitation in ripping the cork out of the bottle and beginning to douse the rotten being down with it, making it scream out in pain.
“Get out of my house!” Hex screamed, shoving it the rest of the way into the cauldron. “Get out! You’re not welcome here. GET OUT! ”
The last of the water was poured over its head, and with that, Hex grasped the lid of the container and slammed it down to trap it inside. The colt kept shouting for it to leave over and over again, willing it with every bit of his might to go back to wherever it came from. The fire re-lit under the cauldron, and all Puer could do was sit there in shock and watch his son battle the shaking lid. The more Hex yelled, the less energy the beast seemed to have. A mist surrounded the lavender unicorn as he chanted his cry, completely covering Hex and the cauldron from his father’s sight.
There was another flash, and as suddenly as the commotion had started, it stopped. Puer could see his son standing there still as ever. The cauldron had stopped moving. The fire was gone. A new mark was on his son’s formerly blank flank: a pentacle with three burning candles atop it, dripping wax down the sides. Yet, Hex wasn’t moving. The pony stared blankly off into space before his body finally fell limp to the floor.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*
“Please don’t be mad, Princess Luna. I didn’t mean to be away for so long.”
Finally home again, Hex had settled into his window seat once more to chat with his dearest friend. A bandage covered his right eye, but otherwise he looked no worse for the wear. His father had cleaned up the mess and, other than a slight stain on his floor, it looked like nothing at all had even happened.
“I was in the hospital for a few days. I guess I exhausted all of my magic trying to chase away… whatever that thing was. I got my cutie mark!”
With a half-hearted smile, he turned to try and show the moon the mark on his flank. Hex knew he should be proud, but the whole event had been quite bittersweet. Normally ponies enjoyed telling others how they got their cutie marks. It was a moment to be celebrated. The unicorn, on the other hand, didn’t want to bring it up for fear of making his sister feel guilty.
“But I… also can’t see out of my eye anymore,” he continued. “The doctor said there was nothing he could do. They managed to heal the scarring around it, but…”
He hesitated, running his hoof back and forth along the windowsill. From now on, he would be sure to hide the affected eye with his hair. However, if there was anypony he was going to show it to, it was going to be Princess Luna. Using his magic, he pulled the wrappings away from his eye, moving his hair out of the way to show her. Where there had once been a pretty teal, it was now milky white, and where there had once been a black pupil, there was only a dull grey.
“The nurse said it kind of reminded her of the moon… But I think she was just being nice. There’s no way this ugly thing could ever be as pretty as you are.”
As usual, the moon gave no answer.
The End
Author's Note
*While this is the end of the story, there is a part 2 coming shortly that will have some elements that might make others uncomfortable. So I wanted to have the story be in two chunks. This one can be read as a stand-alone story, or it can be connected to part 2 for those that enjoy Hex and want to see more of him as an adult pony.
