Curses

by Kim Kimera Kimes

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 18886

The ponies of the mountain town of Rocky Slopes suddenly find themselves victims of a curse.

The mountain town of Rocky Slopes is generally a peaceful town. The mine provides decent jobs and the town flourishes because of it. But as a large storm brews, ponies are unsure of their lives as a curse starts to spread. Can they find the cause before it destroys the town?

Published 2012-09-20 11:24:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-29 11:30:40 UTC

Day 1 - SilkShine

Welcome to my first fanfiction of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. As you indubiatly will notice, I do not have English as my first language, so I probably will have several flaws in this work of mine. As such all constructive criticism, so I know what to change, or constructive compliments, so I know what to keep, are appreciated.

Rocky Slopes, a town located on the side of Mt. Silverhoof. Hardly a quiet place as it is a mining town, gathering ore from a natural cavern that runs deep, to bring it up and down to the refinery at the foot of the mountain. The town is over a century old and some of its inhabitants are accused of the same. During the day, there is a constant supply of miners and stone going in and out of the mine, by night it is mostly miners getting thrown out. Out of the bar to be precise. But always there is the wind, there is always a breeze blowing. But now it wasn’t a breeze anymore. There is a storm brewing.

“–and fold,” ends SilkShine her sentence as she folds the top part of the bedsheet. She tugs at the corner a little bit until she is aesthetically satisfied with the presentation of the bed, and the rest of the just cleaned room in general. She has a few guests staying with her at the moment, a couple of miners who come by every week. They are generally a clean bunch except for the dust, gravel and beer bottles they bring with them in. But those are the troubles of running an inn in a mining town.

SilkShine bought the old place about fifteen years ago. It needed a few planks of wood and some new paint, but she got herself an inn. Named High on the Top for obvious reasons, she often has a couple of miners staying, those who came from far to work in the mine to support their families. Less common is family from anypony who lives in this town, or a mining official from either the mining company or the Royal administration.

Those who stay for a long period of time, like the miners, get treated like family. The guests can decide if they have their meal in their rooms or in the living room, but she has noticed often that guests who stay for a short while tend to eat in their rooms, while the miners know her for a long time already and gladly join in at the dinner table.

She had spent the majority of the morning preparing breakfast for her guests and cleaning the rooms. Although she would like to have some time for herself, it was a Monday and groceries were in order. She put away her cleaning agents in the storage room and took off her apron. Placing her saddlebags on her back, she was ready to head out the front door when it was opened for her. On the other side stood a stallion looking at her surprised.

The stallion was a blue unicorn with a orange mane, with a grey streak of age going through it. He must have come from far away as he was carrying several bags and pieces of clothing on his person, each and every one worn down. Even the pony in question seems worn down, but as of now he has regained his liveliness as the two ponies stare at each other.

“Oh dear, uhmm…you first madam,” he uttered out.
SilkShine, being startled as well, intended to take the stallion’s suggestion, but after she stepped forth something dawned on her. “Pardon me, but could you be looking for a room here at the inn?” she asked.

“Yes!” he answered lively, “Somepony directed me to this place, so I was hoping to be able spend the night here.”

SilkShine stepped back through the door and made her way to the counter. “Please, come in! I am the proprietor, my name is SilkShine.”

The unicorn followed her inside, but had some trouble getting his bags through the door frame. After a good yank the doorframe released him from his awkward situation. “My name is Lapis Lazuli, pleased to make your acquaintance,” he replied while lighting his horn to fix the jumbled baggage and clothing on his person.

With such a name, he is probably here for the mine, SilkShine thought.
“Well Mr. Lazuli, I have a room for you. Will you be staying long?” she asked to her guest.

“Just a night, I am leaving town tomorrow.”

SilkShine frowned, what she would be saying now could cost her but it would not be done if she didn’t. “Mr. Lazuli, today until the day after tomorrow we are expecting a storm. The mountain path becomes quite dangerous during one.” Her chest felt heavy, she disliked fiercely to be the bearer of any bad news.

Lapis Lazuli was startled and abashed at this news. He muttered a few sentences, seemingly holding a troubled argument with himself. SilkShine had never seen a customer holding an argument with himself, but apparently he managed to reach a rapid decision with himself as Lapis straightened up. “Very well,” he started, “I will be staying until the day after tomorrow,” a small smile decorates his face as he ends his sentence.

SilkShine smiled in return. “Alright mister Lazuli, here is the key,” She took the little key from its hanger on the wall and hoofed it over to the blue unicorn. “I hope you have a pleasant stay here.” She smiled her classic smile, from a businessmare to a customer.
As Lapis Lazuli picked up the key, she added; “Shall I take you bags, Mr. Lazuli?” This might not be a big, fancy hotel, but SilkShine shall be damned if she doesn’t at least try to give the same level of service, not too mention those bags he is carrying look rather heavy.

“No, I shall carry them myself,” he responded quickly.

Lapis secured the backpack and turned the corner when SilkShine’s mind flashed to the groceries, and to the dinner she always makes for the whole inn. “Oh Mr. Lazuli, dinner is at six, will you be joining us tonight?”

Lapis halted in his tracks, lifted his eyes, staring at the ceiling to give the suggestion some thought. “I would gladly join, but first I must inquire, what do we eat?”

SilkShine walked from behind the counter and responded. “Once I have done the groceries, it is going to be vegetable stew, unless something else comes up.”

Lapis nodded in response, “That will do, thank you.” and made his way to his designated room, fumbling to get through the doorway again.

A few minutes later was SilkShine on her way with her saddlebags under her wings. Leaving her inn High on the Top behind her, she made way to the Rocky Slopes’ town centre. She felt a strong gust of wind blowing over her coat, through her mane. She made a note that this was probably the forebode of the oncoming storm. Looking at the sky, gray clouds were making place for darker ones, all while the shadow of the mountain was sliding over the village.

Despite the incoming bad weather, a young colt was playing outside with his brightly colored ball, with his mother holding a sprightly conversation with the neighbours. In a blur, two blue ponies speeded past her revealing two blue Pegasus fillies, Azure Bliss and Cerulean Gale, coming to play with the colt. SilkShine walked further into town as children’s laughter arose behind her.

She decided to go to the hospital first and to the grocery store as last, as she didn’t want for the products to get spoiled. Crossing the town’s centre she saw a group of miners going to the mountain’s cavern, where the mine was located. “Good afternoon, ma’am,” greeted one of them, upon she replied teasingly; “Good day, colts.” Even though she wasn’t the youngest anymore, she didn’t quite liked being called ma’am. She missed the days when she would still be called lil’ miss, the time when she got her cutie mark for liking to make herself and other ponies look clean and presentable.

Crossing a wooden bridge, she stood before the hospital. It was not a huge white stone block like in the big city, but a small humble building. It didn’t seem as much but it had everything Rocky Slopes needed; An apothecary, an operating room, a few hospital wards and of course the staff needed to run the place.

She opened the doors of the small hospital and almost collided with another pony. “Oh, miss SilkShine, didn’t see you there,” an old dark yellow stallion spoke to her surprised.
Her heart brightened up a bit by the use of that word. “Mr. Fact, what are you doing here?” She wondered her question out loud.
The dark yellow stallion raises his leg showing a white bandage. “I hurt myself when I was busy with my tools, so since I live nearby I thought to just get it treated professionally.”

She looks at the small bloodstains on the otherwise pristine white bandage, her stomach turning one-hundred and eighty degrees. “Is everything fine, Mr. Fact?” She asks while looking at the bandage.
“It hurts a bit and I need to put not much weight on it. Or not any at all. Put please, Miss SilkShine, call me Arty.”
“Okay, Arty. Let me make room for you to come through,” she says as he backs up.

“Oh, no miss SilkShine, allow me.” The stallion takes a few steps sideways and shows a painful expression when he accidently puts his weight on his wounded leg.
A bit worried, SilkShine mumbles a small goodbye as she walks past Arty Fact while he nods a goodbye and leaves through the hospital doors.

She turned around and made a beeline for the apothecary. A week ago one of her guest miners had been injured and thus the inn’s medicinal supplies were used when it was time to replace the old bandages for new ones. Some new herbal medicine and stomach tablets might be necessary as well.

A few minutes later, SilkShine left the hospital. The wind had grown stronger as darker clouds gathered. This started to prove to be difficult for SilkShine, as Pegasi are lighter then the other two races of ponies. As she made her way through town she got attacked by a strong gust of wind every now and then making her sway off her intended path. As she was going past the hardware shop a particularly strong gust blew her off her hooves.

“Hey there, girl!” A stallion yells as he catches SilkShine from tumbling. “Are you okay?”

SilkShine plants her hooves steady on the ground and looks up in the big brown eyes of the stallion. “I am fine, Honey, thank you. These gusts of wind have been pestering ever since I left the hospital,” she sighs.

Honey Rock leans in closer to SilkShine as he bellows; “Hospital?! You are not wounded are you? Or somepony you know?”

SilkShine snorted, quickly holding her hoof to mask the noise. “No no no Honey, nothing like that. I was just there to get some medical supplies I needed.”

“So… no illnesses or anything?”

“None of that, Honey Rock. Everyone is healthy. Well, except Arty Fact who has hurt himself, but the wound has been taken care of by the hospital,” SilkShine explains. Just then another gust of wind comes and strikes the unprepared mare causing her to fall against Honey Rock. “That blasted wind, does it have to be scheduled to be that strong?!” she yells irritated. Normally she would fly through this as she can withstand the wind better in flight, but due to her saddlebags inhibiting her wing flap she can’t fly as good as normal. “I hope the foals are alright in this storm.”

“Speaking of them…,” Honey exclaims.

As Honey Rock and SilkShine stare on, the two Pegasus sisters come crawling past them on their bellies, like commando ponies. Their mother, Sky Blue, hisses at her foals that they should behave normally while she passes by the two ponies. Swiftly she utters; “Stormy weather we are having, hé?”, before she goes back chasing the sisters.

After that scene, Honey Rock scraped his throat and started up the conversation again. “So…where are you heading too?”

“Uhm, I was on my way to the grocery store.” She nods in the general direction of the store.

“Alrighty, I need something from the hardware shop. Take care and keep steady!” he yells as he walks inside the store.

With a creepy sense of timing another gust of wind came, testing Honey Rock’s advice. Unfortunately, she had not taken it yet.

“Are you okay, SilkShine?” comes a call from an increasingly closer distance followed by a loud thud. A reddish Pegasus carrying a crate on a chariot behind him hovers in front of the fallen mare.

“Hello, Lofty, I would be wishing you a good day, but it is not,” she says when she lifts herself from the ground. She turns her head around and checks the contents of her saddlebags. “Luckily, nothing got broken.”

The pony known as Lofty Dreams stares up to the sky and frowns upon looking at it.
“The storm is picking up. This is the last package I gonna deliver, it is too much of a hassle to do any more today,” the young stallion says as he turns to SilkShine. “But I need to fly again, so take care, SilkShine,” he yells when flying back into the stormy winds.

Another gust of wind later and SilkShine manages again not to heed somepony’s advice.

A few minutes of conquering mother nature later, SilkShine finally arrived at the grocery shop. Looking around her, she saw ponies making hastily their last purchases and shopkeepers hauling the goods in front of their stores indoors. Not a bad idea to go home as soon as I can.

Looking through the store, only one other pony besides the store owner, Golden Greens, was present, namely the sheriff, Long legs. It was not often that one saw the sheriff on this hour of the day at his office. It was the quiet time of the day for the sheriff, as he was more active during the later hours when the miners stared to get drunk in the pub. As such he would spend time doing groceries and cleaning his house, office and occasionally on a boring day, the town as well.

Golden Greens was a very busy pony, he loves his business and being busy. He and SilkShine knew each other since foalhood and were actually quite competitive. The primary sport of the two would be racing to get their cutie marks. After a harsh and dirty race it was SilkShine who won after cleaning herself and Golden Greens up to be somewhat presentable, and thus gaining her mark. Immediately after, during the argument due to SilkShine’s newly gained cutie mark, Golden Greens got his cutie mark after he went on a rant about how hard he worked in trying to get his. A big Cute-ceañera party was held after, and the two shared their first kiss. Too bad it never became a lasting relationship.

“Good day Golden, hello sheriff, rough weather we are having, ain’t it?” SilkShine says. “You sure do look like it, filly,” the sheriff says, “Normally I see ponies like that after they went tussling with one another.”
SilkShine takes a close gander at herself, finding herself to be in a more terrible mess then she thought. Her curly brown mane is now a tangled mess, several feathers are crooked and her beige coat has dirt spots all over. “That will take a good bath to clean.”
“Let me help you on your way then, Silk,” Golden Greens speaks up to her. “What do you need?”

SilkShine started to search for her grocery list in her saddlebags while mumbling “Moment, moment,” until she found it. “Alright Golden, what I need is a onion, two garlic cloves, some celery, a bell pepper, a sizeable cabbage, two zucchinis, three carrots, cauliflower, portabella mushroom, spinach, a bit of broccoli, two rolls of biscuits, two apples, two bottles of milk, no make that three, a small amount of pepper and some lemons to make juice out of,” she ended her list.

Golden Greens stood behind the counter astounded after bagging half the items. “Eh, could you repeat that again?”
After repeating her list once more, SilkShine went out in the growing storm, her saddlebags filled to the brim and a third bag clenched between her teeth, ready to brave the storm once more. And this time she didn’t get blown over.

As she walked on her way back home, she saw ponies making the last preparations for the storm, bringing items inside that could be hurled away by the oncoming storm. Bzzzt. Even through the gushing winds she could hear a small buzz, but she could not directly place where it came from, until she looked down. Two blue Pegasus fillies crawling over the ground flapping their small wings rapidly trying to hold their own against the wind. She halted when she saw them, the fillies using her as a shield against the wind. They looked pitiful. “Come wiff me,” she mutters with the bag clenched between her teeth.

She imagined the two fillies escaping their mother’s watchful eye to get to play with the young colt some more, but now in the increasing strength of the wind, they were starting to regret their decision. It would be up to SilkShine to bring them back to their home again.

The three Pegasi were nearing High on a Top, with SilkShine wishing the sisters never had left their home, then she could have stayed inside for the rest of the day. Suddenly a scream pierced through the howling of the wind. SilkShine and the sisters hurried past the corner towards her inn and the direction where the sound came from. She thought the worst, that a stray piece of debris hit somepony or that the wind tore a piece of a building and that somepony lay bleeding on the ground.

She could have saved herself the worst case scenario images. Instead of some horrible accident instead she was hearing cries of joy. In front of her she saw the two Pegasus sisters joining the group of ponies, celebrating around the young colt with a shiny new cutie mark, while the mother is shrieking how happy she is. That will mean there will be a Cute-ceañera soon, but with this weather it is doubtful it will be today.

She wanted to congratulate the little foal but unfortunately that would mean removing the heavy bag from her mouth, and be sent tumbling over by the wind again due her reduced weight. So she pulled her grin into an actual smile and nodded to everypony who noticed her as she passed by. Suddenly she does hear a sickening crack, followed by a scream of a familiar voice. As SilkShine turns around, she sees the colt’s mother lying on the ground, grasping at her oddly bent leg.

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Day 2 - Honey Rock

A glimmer of steel shines in the faint light, a pony breathes heavily, his sweat rolls down his brow into his eyes, causing him to blink. He heaves his tool of destruction and brings it down with force. A satisfying crunch is heard and small objects roll at his hooves. He smiles as he sees a little shimmer from them. He heaves his tool again, when he hears somepony calling for him.

“Oooi~! Honey Rock!” A light cuts through the darkness of the tunnel, a couple of ponies following it. “Hey Honey, you are the last of your team to leave!”

The pony called Honey Rock, picks up one of the shimmering rocks at his hooves and turns to his co-workers. “There seems to be a vein here fellas, I just struck a bit of ore.” He says as he throws the stone in the mostly empty mine cart. He grabs the saddlebags that lay crumbled against the wall and shoves his pickaxe into it, noticing a small crack in its steel.

“Alright children, you may play now, I’m leaving,” he chuckles as he strides past the other ponies. Sounds of metal and stone echo around them, feeding his familiarity with the mine’s many tunnels in the cacophony that is forming around him. Sometimes a suspicious creak from the wooden supports can be heard, but not today. He walks up the slanting path, thinking little of it, his mind being in other places.

It was the second day of the storm and it would be at his fiercest. He already got materials from the hardware shop to strengthen his own beehive, but he can’t help it but worry about his little bees. Still, he himself has to brave the storm. He found out he is low on edibles, unless you count ketchup with crackers a meal worth to be called dinner.

Honey startles from his thoughts as his view turns from dark rock to metal. He looks up to the elevator, a large contraption designed to bring miners down and to bring the ore they harvest up. But now his shift is over, he will be taken upwards. It feels kind of odd, he thinks as he walks into the elevator. He pretty much lives for this mine, expanding it, chipping away at the rocks and his years. Rocks and bees, it runs in the family it seems.

Honey Rock has been raised on a bee farm which is a family trade a large part of his family runs all over Equestria. He and his little brother were taught all the little things about bees, mostly due to a lot of pai-…trial and error. Hay, he was stung so many times he has become completely immune to the bees poison. But unfortunately, as the two brothers grew older, only one became necessary, and the younger of the two ended up chosen. Thus Honey took up another family trade; mining. And he liked it. Even though he worked in a group, there was something about the mine that had a certain solitude, yet there was also a camaraderie with his fellow miners, if he at least stopped his tunnelvision mining every once in awhile. Heck, even his cutie mark, a honeycomb with a pickaxe, reflected this.

The elevator rattled as its gears pushed it upwards, from the darkness of the shaft back into the light as its metal screeched to a halt. The mine had been carved and dug out through several decades with ponies diving deeper and deeper into the mountain. It is already planned to make an exit in the side of the mountain once the mine reaches that point. But next to the crudeness of the mine there was also this place; the cavern. A cave carved out by Mother nature, by the elements and Father Time. An arduous process that probably took centuries to millennia to fulfil. And Honey Rock couldn’t give a damn about it.

He could care little that the cavern was older then his entire family history, nor that ancient caveponies had lived here. If he could he would take a rag and wipe out the drawings of cave ponies gathering food, fighting off behemoths far larger then they were and enjoying a game of rock, hoof and club-to-the-face.

But as he walked past a large mural of a celebration he heard a odd sound, then it dawned on him he recognized it. Trotting through the cavern the came to the source; an whistling, old, dark yellow-coated, gray-maned blowhard called Arty Fact.

It may be an understatement, but Arty Fact and Honey aren’t the best of friends. Arty is an archaeological hobbyist with a tendency of holding up the mining with his babble about preserving the graffiti! Though he calls it an important pre-modern society monument that describes how the cave ponies live. Phooey! All I wanna know is if there is ore behind that “monument”, Honey Rock thought.

Arty Fact just laid the last hoof on a large piece of glass in front of one of the cave paintings as Honey Rock came trotting in. “I see you are vandalizing the mine again,” Honey sneered.

Arty Fact looked away from his work towards Honey Rock. “I suppose you don’t have an artistic sense of any sort, Mr. Rock?” Arty replied calmly.
“Ha, like hell I do!” he replied back. “I don’t give a pebble about *cough* priceless artworks in their big fancy museums. A waste of space if you ask me. All I need to find beautiful is a nice big flank.”

Arty Fact gave Honey a blank stare in return. “The reason I am placing this is to protect the paintings from collateral damage and harmful gasses.”
The miner grinned and chuckled; “Oh, I got some harmful gasses right-”
“Oh, spare me,” the archaeological hobbyist was quick to interrupt. “I will not allow you buffoons-,” he stomps on the ground as he underlines “buffoons” but does that with his bandaged leg. He flinches and clenches his teeth as he makes little noises waiting for the pain to wear off.

Honey Rock sighs and trots past the old pony. The two often end up in an argument and once it had gotten to the point the sheriff had to step in to prevent worse between them. This time he would like to enjoy his day without it being ruined by the fool’s antics of Arty Fact.

A minute later, a large storm blew through his orange mane, small rain drops touching his face. Thunder rolled across the skies and its dark clouds, appearing just after lightning flashes, does it begin to roar. The towns buildings shield him from the full force of the tempest but still gales of wind can blow a pony over if he or she is not careful. Honey saw it happen through the hardware shop windows, a big gale toppled SilkShine over just after the mailpony left. It was that she scrambled back on her hooves immediately, that Honey Rock didn’t come out to help.

Trotting through the town, in the areas where the wind had lulled down, a pony could see some of the daily life still present. Several shops were open, for which Honey Rock would be grateful of as soon as he would get home. Yet something caught his ear, besides the blaring winds he could hear two mares chatting. As he trotted by he saw Sky Blue and Silent Song holding a grave conversation while their children laid on the ground looking very unenergetic. His eye spotted something, he halted in his trot.

He heard from the husband of Silent Song that his wife had dislocated her leg so it was just a bit weird to see her walking around with a bandaged leg. But what really struck him was that the two Pegasus sisters, Cerulean Gale and Azure Bliss, had their cutiemarks! Yet they didn’t seemed so enthusiastic about it. On closer inspection it looked like Cerulean was leering angrily at her sister Azure and the young colt whose name he didn’t know. In turn Azure Bliss seemed to actively avoid her sisters look, with fear plastered on her face. At the distance he was standing, the wind drowned out most of the conversation, making it unable to be followed. Not wishing to enter an atmosphere that grim, Honey Rock resumed his trot.

During his trot Honey noted that not only that situation, but the whole town seemed grim. Mostly due to the thick cloudlayer hanging above it, and the wind chasing everypony indoors. The fact that the town’s houses were made out of not-brilliant-colored stone and wood darkened by time didn’t help either. Too bad, when you see the town from a good point, its many elevations and various styles of houses are quite a sight to behold, especially with the mountain as background.

A few minutes later, he entered his little abode he called home. It was not one of the bigger houses, but for the bachelor he was, it was good enough. After emptying the mailbox, containing two letters, he unloaded his saddlebags of their contents and set off again. The hardware shop was just a few minutes away, with the shop’s bell ringing as he entered the door. Honey Rock came here often for mining supplies and sitting down with the owner, Tough Nails, to drink a beer at the bar. “Good day!” he heard from within the store followed by a groan and wood scraping.

Honey walked through the isles of various wares, big and small and found the earth pony at the back, shoving a couple of crates around. “Hey there Honey Rock, Lofty brought these crates in yesterday, but they are quite heavy. Would you mind lending a hoof?” Tough Nails asks strained. After a simple sound of approval, Honey helped out getting the various sized crates on their place. He let out a sigh of relief as he lifted a crate filled with nuts and bolts on top of another crate.

Tough Nails sits down, wiping the sweat of his brow. “Thanks Honey, this would have broken my back at some point.” He wiggles around a bit until a distinct crack can be heard. “Ah, that felt nice. So what can I help you with?”

“I need a new pickaxe,” says Honey Rock bluntly, “The old one has a crack in it that is sure to wreck it soon.”

“Alrighty then, I shall place an order for you. Anything else you need?” Asks Tough Nails as he gets a clipboard from behind the counter.

Honey Rock takes a moment to think, letting his mind wander through all of the shops wares, the nails, the hammers, the bolts and the Thingamadingies. “Nope, I got nothing else for ya, Tough.” After a goodbye to the owner, Honey left the store.

A flash of lightning lit the skies, startling the Yellow Earth pony. He thought the weather Pegasi would keep the storm contained. But it is possible that bolt slipped from them. He had no clue how the Pegasi did all that weather making stuff. A roar from his stomach brought him back from his contemplations.

After a swift trot he arrived at the grocery shop, which seemed to be closed. Honey was taken aback by this until he noticed that the sign still said “open”. After peeking through the glass, he could see the store’s owner Golden Greens talking with Lofty Dreams. With the weight of worry fallen from his heart, Honey Rock opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hello Honey,” replied Lofty Dreams upon his entry. The reddish Pegasus frowned a bit, glancing at the ground before continuing; “You know, no matter how often I say your name, it still feels weird.”

“Yes I know,” Honey responds. His name has often been a point of interest and jokes, with being the nickname wives call their husbands. He was told by his mother that she thought it was a sweet name. “I assume my father and his sense of humor had a hoof in choosing my name,” he grimaced.

“We all have or had some issue with our names. Isn’t that right, Mr. colorful?” Lofty stares at Golden Greens, waiting for a reaction.

“Har Har, Mr. head-in-the-clouds.” The green coated earth pony responded. “Here are your groceries, now scoot!” he jokes. With a grin Lofty puts his groceries into his saddlebags, mutters a goodbye and launches himself into the storm. “So Honey,…it sounds indeed strange to say. So Mr. Rock, where can I help you with?”

Five minutes later, Honey was back outside braving the storm with a saddlebag full of fruits, vegetables, bread and cheese.

The wind blasting seemingly worse then ever, several efforts had to be made to avoid falling on the muddy ground. Normally Honey wouldn’t have this much trouble keeping himself upright. But as a mighty roar from his rumbling stomach sounded, he only could think about the meal he would be preparing when he would come home. Then he heard a familiar voice chatting with two mares. As he looked in the alleyway, he saw the two mares, Sky Blue and Silent Song, talking with Arty Fact.

“…with the ancient history of the cave, there may still be spirits lingering, trying to protect their home. That is why your foals may have gotten such accursed Cutie Marks,” ends the old stallion his talk. Silent Song and Sky Blue look alarmed after what he had told them, and shift glances to their foals.

Honey groans silently. He absolutely dislikes Arty Fact for trying to close the mine for those stupid paintings. But now it seems he has mixed his desire for that with something severe. With great reluctance Honey walks towards the group. “What are you trying to blame the mine now for Arty?” the old stallion turns around to face the newcomer to the group, but for he speaks Honey cuts in; “I heard something about ‘accursed Cutie Marks’?” he asks while looking at every pony present.

Silent Song spoke up, her voice wrapped in fright and worry. “My son…ever since he got his cutiemark, things started to get broken, without reason! The cabinet doors, the floor tiles…although it wasn’t broken, my leg got dislocated ever since he got that mark!” she sniffs, glancing at her foal. The young colt lies shivering on the ground, trying to stay away from Azure Bliss to not hurt her, while evading the anger from Cerulean Gale as she starts shouting swears that would make a miner blush.

“Cerulean Gale! Watch that mouth of yours, or I will have to wash it out with soap if you keep that up!” The filly’s mother shouts to her foal. Cerulean looks angry at her mother, but after staring for a few seconds she decides to lay down quietly. But that doesn’t keep the blue filly from throwing angry looks around to her sister and friend.

Sky Blue sighs and turns around to face Honey again. “She is like that since last night when she got her Cutie mark, together with her sister.” Her head droops, a moment of silence before she talks again, her voice cracking. “She is angry at everypony and everything, she hates the things she loved before and hates the things she hated even more.” Sky starts to sob as she continues talking. “She has become selfish and refuses to listen to most of what we say, and if we start to argue she throws the nastiest of words around! …The things she called her father…and I,…a filly...shouldn’t do that,…she…she shouldn’t know those words…” Sky Blue fell on the ground and broke down in a stream of tears. Silent Song hugged her friend, to comfort her or to share their pain, it was hard to say.

The mood had turned from grave into outright depressing and sad. Honey Rock had no words to comfort these mares with and even if he had, he still would have no desire to speak such useless words. Those words, nor himself, simply couldn’t help them.

“And that’s why we should close the mine.” Arty Fact interrupted the mood.

Something snapped, it was not audible, yet it was loud. It was a tiny string, worn down and patched up through and over time, a string named “patience”. All the sadness that had been flooding in this conversation, was like fuel to the flames. Honey Rock turned to Arty Fact, the helplessness his eyes conveyed earlier were now replaced with anger. “BUCK YOU, ARTY!” His shout felt wrong and out of place, but he didn’t mind it for the moment. All he could think about was to verbally destroy Arty Fact. “You have always had it out for the mine, while many ponies make their livelihood because of it!” He steps forward designed to intimidate, it works as the sudden anger makes the old pony step back a pace. “To add insult to injury, you dare to distort these mares tales of woe into a perverted reason to close the mine!?” For a moment it was silent, the mares looking shocked at the unfolding scene.

Arty frowned at the last shout. “You think I am just making this up, youngster?” Arty Fact said with a hint of aggression. “I am serious here!” the old stallion took a step forward with his good leg. “There are spirits in that cave, long before you were born was that already established!” he walks right up to Honey Rock. “Now you may not believe in spirits, but don’t force your beliefs on to others, brat!”

“Still…,” Honey started.

“Now the foals of these mares have a serious problem and currently we have no clue what the source is of these cursed cutie marks, correct Honey?” Arty stares grimly at Honey until he hums an approving sound. “Well, one possible source of such things is the cavern. And for your information I am not saying that because I want it closed but because I know a lot about it. Hence, I say we close the cavern until we can rule it out being the source of these curses.” he ends his monologue with relaxing his stance and even producing a very slight smile towards Honey.

Honey was disturbed by this. He hated the guy with a passion, that it took all of his willpower not to hit him, and now he has to let the mine get closed as well!? He would had responded immediately if it wasn’t for the slight hesitation that the guy made sense, how unwillingly he was to admit that.

Then a small flash of light and a cold feeling emanated from his hindquarters. Suddenly, Honey’s legs gave out causing him to knock into Arty Fact and then on to the ground. Surprised, Honey looked at what caused it all. It was not something he could have expected. His cutie mark, a honeycomb and pickaxe, was gone. In its place was a cutiemark involving a number of small hoofprints placed in a chaotic fashion on his flank.

“What in Celestia’s name is going on here?” said Silent Song startled.

“I am wondering that too, Madame Song,” he brought his hoof to his snout to rub the aching away but is hoof wasn’t moving. Instead his hind leg was moving awkwardly. Not understanding what was going on, he stood up. Or he intended too but as he moved his legs they were sprawled all over the place. As he tried to lift one leg, an other leg obeyed, he tries to place one leg, the other goes in a frenzy. Arty Fact, Silent Song and Sky Blue look increasingly worried as this goes on. Honey grows desperate, he tries to stand, he flops around, he tries to jump, he sprawls out on the ground, he wants to lift himself up, he topples over. He realizes what his new cutie mark brought to him. He can’t stand, he can’t walk, he can’t run, he can’t mine, he can’t hug, he can’t do anything anymore!

Scared he calls out; “Arty, help me!”

Day 3.1 - Lofty Dreams

Swiftly flows the water in its glass container, the water tap being closed when the edge is half an inch away. Putting it on a plate, Lofty carries the glass casually away to its recipient, a panting Pegasus. “Here ya go, Full Wind. Looks like you need it.”

The green Pegasus takes the glass and gulps its content greedily down his throat. “Aaah~, just what I needed!” he calls out.

“You are lucky you came today, and not yesterday, my friend,” the red Pegasus says to his co-worker.

“How so, Lofty?”

The red Pegasus scoffs. “Yesterday I had to pick up a crate of mining stuffs. Totally do able under normal circumstances,” he pauses dramatically. “Yesterday’s winds were the worst. If you were not shielded by the buildings in the town, you would get blown away. And I had a delivery to make,” he ends with an intended grim tone, perking up immediately afterwards. “Oh well, I got it to Tough Nails and spent the rest of the day enjoying the howling winds in bed.”

Full Wind sighed loudly. “And here I sat, expecting an epic event for a moment, and you blow it away with a simple, “I got it done”.” Full Wind stared annoyed at Lofty Dreams. He merely shrugged in response. “Alright I got to go again, see you later Lofty.” With a quick goodbye chasing him, he left the storage room jumping into the stormy winds, not as powerful as they were but still dangerous.

Full Wind had brought in a large amount of small packages. Hardly worth Lofty’s time as he was used to carrying bigger stuff, but it was his job and thus it would be done. Rummaging through the packages, he was looking for anything labelled urgent. If he found such a package, it would mean immediate action, or there would be consequences. Luckily for him, there weren’t any, which was a great relief. Due to the storm these packages were already delayed, being urgent would just make it worse.

He started to sort them out depending on location, stacking them on top of each other, when he found a package for Honey Rock. Lofty was unsure of what to do. Even in the storm it didn’t take long for everypony to hear what happened to him. It has been said that he was cursed by the spirits in the mine. True or not, the mine was closed until further notice. Meanwhile Honey lies to be in the hospital for treatment. Lofty contemplates about leaving the package at the counter, giving it to him directly or try and get it in the mailbox at Honey’s house. Ultimately, he decides to just throw it in the bag and see what he does with it.

A quarter hour later, Lofty was flying above Rocky Slopes. The windstorm was not making it easy for him, but he could manage the gusts, especially after yesterday trying to get the crate to Tough Nails. His saddlebags were already a bit lighter then when he started, and currently he was on his way to Spirit-in-a-Bottle, the local bar owner. The sloshing in the package seemed to tell that he has found a nice spirit, probably from a far off place, or a new one he wanted to test before hauling it in his bar.

Coming close to the bar, Lofty sets in for the descend, adjusting himself as he lands on the mountain road. In front of him stands a big wooden building with a stone base. The windows are checkered with pieces of differently colored glass, each of them having slight mat finish to make it not easy to see inside. Above the door hanged a sign showing a brown silhouette of a minotaur, with the name of the place written in old equestrian under it, The Muddy Minotaur.

But Lofty didn’t even look at what the sign said, all he needed to know this was the place he needed to be. Entering the bar, he looks around the place. A few candles were lit to brighten up the place, the storm clouds above not helping with that, but besides the wooden furniture there wasn’t anything else there. “Spirit, are you here?” A sound of glass being hit came from behind the bar. As Lofty walked up to the bar, a green unicorn climbs from a hatch behind it.

“Hello Lofty,” Spirit-in-a-Bottle greets the Pegasus, “What do you have for me?”

“This.” He takes out the package from his saddlebags and places it front of the unicorn. “By the sound of it, it is another liquor, or something like that.” Lofty says.

Lighting his horn, Spirit-in-a-Bottle tore off the brown package paper and shredded the cardboard box in it. In a yellow glow he held a clear bottle with a yellow-brown liquid inside it. “Ah, the honey spirit I ordered. Honey Rock recommended this to me, too bad he is in the hospital, but I save a glass for him.”

“Sounds great Spirit, I want try it out later. But for now¬-”

“You need to fly, right?” Spirit-in-a-Bottle interrupted him.

“As always” - Lofty smiled - “¬see ya later!” he said as he went back outside. Bending through his legs, spreading his wings open and back he was in the air he belonged too. Tracing his memory, he remembered having a package for the inn. With a flap of his wings he was on his way.

It was a short flight as he was already nearing the place, when all of the sudden a burst of blue light shines from a window from the inn. Lofty halts midair, his wings keeping him in place as well as the stormy wind would allow. Obviously it would be magic that caused the light, but the amount of light was odd. What kind of spell needs that much mag- a scream piercing the sky abruptly took him away from his thoughts.

With a wingbeat, Lofty went flying to the source of the sound, a street nearby. Once there, he noticed a gathering around a loudly screaming Silent Song. Although at first it seems nothing is wrong, he feels that something is off with her voice. After a moment, he realizes it is constant, there is no change in tone or anything like that.

As ponies gather around Silent Song ¬ thinking she is shouting because she is in distress ¬ she screams; “I CANNOT STOP SHOUTING!” Trying to explain what is going on.

Remembering that Honey Rock’s cutiemark had changed, he glances a peek at the flank of the screaming pony. Upon her flank was a megaphone with crude soundwaves emanating from it, not quite the red lipstick mark he remembered when he asked about it a long time ago. While she was being slightly embarrassed about the shape of it, she had proudly stated that her cutiemark signified her great talking skills.

“Another cursed cutiemark,” he said to none but himself. As more ponies came looking for what was causing all the shouting, Lofty turned around and trotted away from the crowd of ponies. He had a package to deliver to the innkeeper.

He opened the door to High on the Top, eyeing upon entry an blue unicorn in a brown coat who walked towards the door. “I see you later, miss Shine,” he spoke to the mare behind the counter. She lifted her head from the papers she was writing in. “Have fun, Mr. Lazuli,” she answers cheerfully. “And hello, Lofty.”

Lofty approached the counter and put the package for SilkShine on it. “SilkShine, the room in the back on our right, who is in there?” he asked on a serious tone.

“That would be that stallion just now, Lapis Lazuli. How so Lofty?” she wonders.

“SilkShine, a few minutes ago I saw a bright blue burst of light coming from that room, it can’t be anything but magic. And right after that, Silent Song got a cursed Mark.”

SilkShine is shocked hearing this. “Oh Celestia, not Silent Song too!” she frets around, mumbling in herself what she should do.

“Hey…hey, SilkShine!” the red Pegasus yells at the beige Pegasus. She turns to Lofty, her eyes already moist in fear for her friend. “I believe that Lazuli guy has something to do with it.”

“What? How do you come up to such an ludicrous idea?”

Lofty Dreams scratches his head and sighs. “Well first of I saw a burst of magic coming from his room right before Silent Song got cursed, secondly, how long is he in this town?” He stares at SilkShine expectantly.

She lifts her head and frowns, lost in thought. “He is in town… since Monday, just past eleven,” she sighs, “But that doesn’t say he did it!” she says with a blush.

“But the evidence does point in his direction. That’s why I wanna take a peek in his room. To see if there is any concrete evidence.”

SilkShine looks horrified. “But…but the guests privacy would be invaded!”

“And you do that everyday when you go clean their rooms. We have a good reason for it Silk!” he yells, getting annoyed with SilkShine’s avoidance.

Lofty is staring harshly to SilkShine, she glances back and forth to Lofty. After half a minute, she ducks under the counter. Reluctantly she puts a shiny, labelled key in front of the red Pegasus. “Here, take it.”
Lofty Dreams takes the key and walks towards the door of Lapis’ room.

SilkShine slowly walks from behind the counter, with a slight blush on her cheeks. “I just hope you are wrong.”

The key slides in the lock, Lofty gives it a twist. The door opens and he walks carefully inside. The room looks used but still a bit tidy, several travel bags are put in a corner, the bed covers look disturbed and the desk has some items on it. Hoping to find something in the bags, he walks up to them.

He is surprised at the amount of travel material he sees, there are saddlebags, backpacks, a sleeping bag, climbing irons and several meters of rope. All of it seemed to be used to varying extents, the travel bags being worn the most. Lofty opens one of the bags and rummages through its contents. An orange beanie for unicorns, a scarf, some woolly socks, nothing out the ordinary, except it is winter equipment, but he may have been travelling for a long time.

Opening more bags, their contents were varied to say the least. Food that could be conserved for a long time, a raincoat, a photograph of two elderly ponies, some blank paper together with quill and ink, a first aid kit and something pink that will leave Lofty with disturbing mental images about Lapis Lazuli. After the somewhat abhorrent mental image, he decides to abandon his search through the bags and look further.

His attention drawn to the table, he spots several items as he makes his way over there. One in particular strikes his interest, an diary as it clearly states on the cover. Opening it, he starts where the last entry was made. As he reads the contents of the small book, his eyes widen, he flips through the pages to random points in the diary all the way back to the beginning. His heart races, a lump is stuck in his throat, fear and excitement run parallel through his mind.

He swallows the lump away. “SilkShine!” he calls out. The beige Pegasus mare stands in the doorframe, carrying a worried expression.

Lofty turns his head to her, his eyes looking grim. “Call the sheriff.”

Day 3.2 - Lapis Lazuli

*click*

Pulling a tiny key out of the lock of his room, the blue unicorn put it away in his saddlebags. He trotted down the stairs, spotting SilkShine at work. “I see you later, miss Shine,” Lapis Lazuli said to the beige mare working behind the counter.

SilkShine lifted her head from the papers to answer; “Have fun, Mr. Lazuli.”

She has a nice smile, he thought, as he passed by a red Pegasus.

The grey streaks in his orange mane waved in the wind. He could not leave the mountain yet, the wind was still too strong. He turned his head to check his cloak. The piece of clothing sticked to his coat just like the spell he had casted over it should do. He was worried that the spell would come undone during this storm but it seemed to hold as usual. Speaking about spells…

Through the sound of the wind, a lot of shouting could be heard from behind the inn. Lapis grinned as he heard it. It seemed his Cursemark spell did its work. This time he had the right pony with the target spell, instead of the one he cursed last night. Meh, he was an accident, a case of wrong place, wrong time.

The important thing was he got that chatterbox of a mare. He hated ponies like her, always talking, gossiping about other ponies,…about him. Sneaky behind their backs, making them look bad in the eyes of others, while smiling when facing them. Well, the Cursemark crafted a nice curse for her, now she can’t gossip silently anymore until her voice growed hoarse and you can’t hear her anymore. Which is truthfully told, a relief.

In his hometown of Hoovington, they were talking often about him, being a freak of nature, a failure. Embarrassing him because he was different, because he still had something they lost. Even still when he was just a colt, other ponies ridiculed him, growing in number and in strength as he got older. His family eventually shunned him, not wanting a pony like him leading the family business. I should one day get back at them.

He awoke from his thoughts. While submersed in them, he had somehow made his way to the town’s centre. Even though there was still a strong wind blowing, the town seemed to slowly come back alive. Well as far as he could imagine it, since he was never here before the storm caused everyone to stay indoors. Yesterday it was far too harsh to go outside, even though some other ponies did. But now the wind had lessened he could enjoy the wind blowing through his mane and across his coat, slightly leaning against the wind to maintain balance.

He stood still, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and enjoying the moment. A little bit of solitude, while the wind caressed him. He wondered what to call the feeling he experienced, powerful, a sense of speed or was it more like adventurous? He couldn’t decide.
A whiff of apples entered his nose, instilling a small appetite for fruit in the blue pony. Opening his eyes and following his nose, he tracked down the scent, eventually leading him to a grocery store.
In front of it stood two tables with fruits and vegetables. With a small light from his horn Lapis picked up two apples, then turned towards the shop, opened the door and entered it. A quick glance through the shop found him the owner of the shop, handling a payment from a tall white earth pony. As that pony turned he saw a silver star pinned on the jacket the pony was wearing; a sheriff’s star.

It reminded Lapis why he had come here. He had made a fake trail that leaded away from this mountain and prayed the investigators wouldn’t think that he would go up the mountain, to a potential dead-end. The storm has held him here for three days, but it also made it very dangerous for anypony else to climb the mountain.

“Uhm, sir?” said Golden Greens to the absentminded Lapis.

“Oh, sorry!” He replied. After buying the apples, he trotted out back on the street, an half eaten apple in his magical hold. Climbing up the mountain to the higher parts of town, he crossed a small stone bridge over a mountain creek, when he hears laughing. Looking at the source of the laughter, it were two foals, blank flanks and all, playing in the water of the creek.

He stopped, and stared at the foals. His heart increased in weight as old memories flooded his mind.

It has been about forty years now, was it? Forty years since I started become a pariah, forty long years I have been hiding myself, no, I have been hiding this blank flank of mine.
He remembered the times he tried various things to try and find his talent, trying to help his mother, his father, the maids but nothing helped, a mark did not appear. He was the oldest of his class, but slowly he had to witness as everypony he ever knew from childhood friends to foals not a month old, they all grew up one by one and attained a mark, leaving him behind.

As he became older, he started to worry increasingly about it. He thought he could find his mark in magic, even though he was not great at it. He studied a wide variety of magic, to no avail. The only thing it helped him with, was to become an expert at cutiemarks. Many times in his life it had been pointed out by himself and others, how ludicrously ironic that is, for a blank flank to be an expert on cutiemarks.

But he got them now, didn’t he? He found out how to produce Cursemarks, crafting a curse that hinders a ponies talent that their cutiemark represents. Although it is not so clear to those who have yet to attain a mark, it still gives them an interesting curse that will trouble them for the rest of their life.

Lapis suddenly thought of something. Would a Cursemark disappear on a ponies death and the real cutiemark appear if that pony was cursed ever since being a blank flank? He pondered the idea, but let it go soon afterwards. It would be of no use for him to study it, he was older then any of the ponies he cursed, he would die long before they would, given a ponies normal lifespan.

Yet, to life with a Cursemark for the rest of ones life. Would they regret wanting a cutiemark in the first place, since now it only gives them trouble? As he thought of it, he watched the two foals splashing around cheerfully.

Flying high above the blue unicorn was a certain red Pegasus, wildly waving to a group of ponies just within viewing distance. Swiftly they cantered to the spot Lofty Dreams was pointing too. The sheriff had brought his two earth pony deputies, Silverspeed and Headway to assist him, given the threat Lapis Lazuli poses to the town. Jumping over the creek, Silverspeed decided to corner the blue unicorn from the other side of the bridge.

In remembrance of his melancholic past, Lapis glazely looked at the playing ponies. A sudden crunching sound woke him from his memories. Dull he turned his head to the source of the sound, spotting the town’s sheriff and a brown pony eyeing him angrily. Fear spiked in his mind; have I been found out? A heavy hoofstep alerted him to the other side of the bridge, a silver colored pony stared at him fiercely. A gust of wind stroked his mane, but it did not caress but threaten as a red pegasus descended menacing in front of him.

Lapis shivered. He was found out. Not by the national investigators who were chasing him, but by the locals, before he even left the town! This was absolutely bad, he needed to escape, he needed to get away!

He lit his horn and turned around, jumping on the stone railing. The pegasus burst forth attempting to capture Lapis. The only thing he caught was remnants of magic, as Lapis reappeared past the two foals playing in the creek. He accelerated into gallop quickly, using the small lead that he had, as the pegasus yelled; “Come back here, Lapis!”

Swiftly he barrelled through the town, bumping into its inhabitants as he tried to get away from the four ponies following him. Their clops were getting louder. For a moment Lapis searched the sky. A quick glance found what he was looking for. Lapis lit his horn and barely sidestepped the red pegasus as he landed hard on the spot he just stood on. The Pegasus turned around as Lapis released his magic on him, sending him flying into a nearby house.

Lapis didn’t look back to see if the pegasus stood up again, he quickly dashed forward with full speed as he saw the sheriff and the two other ponies appear. He spotted a higher level of rock he could use to get away. Straining his mind, he found himself standing upon it in a flash. Confident in his distance, he allowed himself to take a good look at his pursuers. Straight after him was the sheriff and his brown pony assistant running towards him a level lower. But where was the silver colored pony?

His ears twitched as he heard a separate set of hoofbeats coming his way. Turning his head to the source, he spotted the silver pony being very near him. He hastily send out a bolt of magic before running away again. Going by the sound, the magic didn’t hinder the earth pony in the slightest and the other two were not far behind.
Suddenly a cold feeling grabbed his gut. Right in front of him was the mine. There were storage houses left and right, but there wasn’t any room to escape nor hide. All there was left to do was to head into the mine and try to lose them there.

Lighting his horn, Lapis Lazuli lifted the yellow tape covering the mouth of the cavern and plunged into the darkness of the mine. He lit his horn creating the smallest light possible for him to see in without making it easy for the sheriff to find him. From behind him at the mouth of the cavern he heard ponies shout to turn on the power in the mine. He smiled when he heard that. Yet as he was running through the cavern, he heard a second set of hoofbeats echoing through it. Somepony was following him.

He continued on, his ears fixed on the sound behind him, his eyes concentrating on the path and rail tracks barely visible in the glow from his horn. Leaving the powerless elevator for what it is, Lapis ran straight past it, going into one of the older halls of the mine and part of the original cavern.

Galloping through the corridor, the tiny light from his horn showed barely the way. Large rocks left and right of the path make it feel cramped, on one occasions it tore part of his cloak off, revealing his blank flank for all to see. Lapis regretted that it happened, but he was more afraid of the pony behind him. Trying out an idea, he started climbing the rocks attempting to find an hiding spot. With his muscles starting to burn from exertion he climbed up and jumped down, running further until he needed to climb again.

As he still heard the pursuing pony he grew afraid he wouldn’t be able to hide and escape, certainly not with the small light guiding the both of them. Turning his head, he searched for any sign of his pursuer in the darkness. Nothing moved in it, only the sound of hooves on the rocky floor were any indication of where the pursuing pony was.

Trying to create some distance, Lapis’ hooves hit the ground furiously trying to get away, until there was no more. His heart halted in fear as he turned his head forward, looking down on the ground. Except that there was no longer anything under his hooves but the pitch-black darkness. His stomach felt like a block of ice as he accelerated, his mind was numb with fear. Wind brushed his coat, as he fell down into the dark abyss.

Life flashed before him, his foalhood, being wasted by his rich parents training him to carry on his father’s legacy, his adolescence: when his father became rejective of him because he had no cutiemark. Years flashed by spending in the library, researching the mark. A painful memory came by, him fighting his soon to be ex-girlfriend for ridiculing his lack of a mark. It was a moment that still left him with a pang of guilt. Another reason to fear SilkShine’s warmth.

More memories came by. The old library, where he got permission to study the more occult tomes, and where he found a hidden gem among them. The first time he used the curse on a pony, and its result.

THAWMP! CRACK!

Darkness, darkness everywhere when Lapis opened his eyes again. His mind was fuzzy, he didn’t know if he had been out cold or- PAIN! A red hot blazing pain erupted it from his right foreleg, his senses blared that something had gone very wrong. Though they also told him he was still alive and had survived the drop. Clenching his teeth, he lit his horn with light again, but the small light flickered out as the next wave of pain broke Lapis’ concentration. He tried again, stronger, it was not that he had to worry about his pursuers for the moment, he had other problems.

The light remained lit at the tip of his horn, flickering as the pain came and went. As Lapis gazed at his leg, the sight of it was stomach churning. Blood flowed into a puddle around his leg, springing forth from a wound where white bone had broken through the skin. Looking at the wound, he somehow felt inspired, his mind cleared, the pain seemed to ebb away. He started channelling magic in his horn, aiming for the wound.

The white bone stirred, slowly retreating back into the flesh where it belonged, an odd sense of a click was felt, the bone merging with its other halve, becoming whole again. The wound followed there after but less precise. As Lapis looked on all there remained was a slight bulge of flesh and an ugly scar. He felt odd. He lifted his formerly broken leg, testing it out. The pain had mostly subsided, all there remained was a pulsating feeling. Lapis didn’t know he could do this, it just felt like he had always done it.

A warm feeling engulfed him, a strange sensation in this cold cavern. A flash lit the cavern, just a few meters away from him, stood an unicorn, looking at him fiercely. Fear returned in his mind. Another flash occurred right beside him. He twisted his head, looking at the next pony appearing. But there wasn’t any there. But still shining, though dimming fast, was a mark consisting of a red cross overlaid with two bones, one broken, one whole. His severely overdue cutiemark.

(this needs to be dramatized)
His mind was blank, so many thoughts shot through his head they eliminated each other. So he cried, years had been spent trying to find his mark, thousands of books had been consulted to no avail. Yet here it was, his personal holy grail. Ponies forget at times how significant this is. But Lapis knew. He adored his mark, the bright red of the cross, the pure white of the bones, he could help ponies with this! A sudden realization struck.

“I…could…have…helped?” he muttered.

The unicorn who had been watching the strange scene unfold, approached the muttering stallion. He took out a ring and shoved it over Lapis’ horn, the light emitting from it fading away. “You are under arrest,” he said to Lapis.

Lapis turned his head towards the unicorn, his eyes streaming with tears.

“I-I-I was supposed…to help ponies?”

Day 4 - Curses

On a sunny day with clear blue skies, the warmth of the spring sun shined down on Equestria. Animals enjoyed the sun, bathing in its rays ‘til their hearts content. The light invigorated plant life and strengthened them tot their pre-winter strength. The earth was green and all was good. Or it should be, thought Princess Luna

Her head was heavy, occupied by numerous thoughts. Her sister told her of disturbing events that happened across Equestria up until yesterday, when the perpetrator was caught in a town called Rocky Slopes. That pony cursed numerous ponies with something called a Cursemark, a cutiemark with negative attributes. She shudders as the thought of her own cutiemark cursed crossed her mind.

She brought her wings down, propelling her forward. It felt odd, having no guards with her while she normally always had two at her side. However she also felt they limited her at times, their presence keeping everything strictly formal. Also they couldn’t fly as fast as her, as she brought her wings down once more, as if to reinforce her point.

*

While the town of Rocky Slopes enjoyed the sun, a beige pegasus mare laid on a bench in the shadow of her inn. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, but they were gazing at nothing. Her thoughts had drawn her attention, washing over her, carrying her across the expanse of her mind as she kept thinking. A small sigh escaped her lips. “Lapis.”

This remained for awhile, the mare sitting in the shade while there was nothing around her happening. Ponies walked by, birds sang, a small breeze blew across her mane and a small dot in the sky kept getting bigger. And bigger. And bigger. Until a dark blue hoof touched down on the ground. SilkShine looked up from her brooding and with widened eyes stared upon who stood before her. Quickly her mind clicked, she checked her coat for blemishes; none to be found. She patted her curls praying that her mane looked decent.

Princess Luna spotted SilkShine sitting in the shade, who became quite nervous from the presence of the approaching royalty. What could she want from me? Is she going to ask me questions about Lapis? Arrest me for housing him in my inn? Make me into a statue for the Canterlot Gardens?! The princess stopped in front of her. Please make it quick.

“Pardon me madam—SilkShine’s ear twitched—We… uhm, I am looking for those who are unfortunate enough to have been cursed these last couple of days.”

SilkShine’s ears drooped.

“Does thy per chance know where they might reside?” Luna asked to her.

“Yes, I know some of them personally,” she responded meekly.

Luna smiled in return. “Excellent, could thy accompany me to them?”

SilkShine wasn’t quite in the mood to do anything. But she did say she knew where some of the victims of… Lapis were. With some reluctance SilkShine left her comfortable spot on the bench. “A friend of mine and her colt have been cursed. They live nearby,” She said as she started walking. Luna took this as her cue to come along.

Luna wondered what exactly is going on. She was used to her subjects revering, fearing or being strictly formal with her. One time a stallion even tried to flirt with her, but that was swiftly handled. However this mare seemed disinterested in her, quite like Celestia when she has something on her mind. That reminded her…

“Oh dear, my apologies,” the princess said as she noticed of her mistake.

SilkShine turned her head around. “Is something wrong, princess?”

“Yes, we… I have never asked thine name,” she said.

“My name is SilkShine, Your Majesty.”

The princess frowned. “Please don’t do that.”

SilkShine halted, unsure what she had done wrong. “Do what, princess?”

“Calling us titles, it makes everything feel so distant,” she explained, “Please, call me Luna.”

“Oh. My apologies, princess Luna.”

The dark mare let out a sigh ” Just lets continue on.”

After a minute or two walking in silence, the duo arrived at Silent Song’s home. SilkShine walked up to the door and knocked a few times in rapid succession. A moment later the door opened with Silent Song standing behind it. Going by her wide eyed look, she was amazed to see SilkShine together with Princess Luna.

“Hello Silent, are you doing better today?” she asked her friend. Silent Song lifted her hoof and shook it lightly, implying she did okay.

Luna stepped forward, drawing the attention towards her. “Miss Silent Song, if we may come in, I would like to have a word with you and your foal.” Silent Song looked curiously to Luna before she nodded and turned back into her house, with Luna and SilkShine following.

Silent Song, her husband and colt didn’t live large, but rather cosy. There were two couches in the small living room and several chairs stacked unto each other in a corner. Probably for big social visits. Luna and SilkShine took place on one of the couches. Silent Song took place on the other, a pang of pain ran across her face when she planted her bandaged hindleg on the couch.

“Does your leg still hurt much?” SilkShine asked her friend, who in response shook her hoof lightly again.

“Why does thee not speak, Silent Song?” Luna asked.

Silent Song sighed. “BECAUSE IT COMES OUT LIKE THIS,” she yelled with a sad look.

Luna didn’t expect the sudden rise in volume. “No need to shout!”

“I CAN’T HELP IT.” The mare responded.

“How so?” Luna wondered out loud.

“I AM CURSED WITH SHOUTING! She screamed.

Luna was taken aback by the shouting rivalling her own Royal Canterlot voice. “Oh, our apologies.”

SilkShine’s ears were still ringing as she massaged the aching feeling away. Looking at the pitiful look in the eyes of her friend prompted her to doubt their presence here. “Maybe we have talked enough, princess Luna.”

“Not quite SilkShine, but it is true this line of conversation cannot go on,” said Luna stern. Walking around the coffee table that separated the couches, Luna halted right in front of Silent Song. She charged her horn with magical energy and closed her eyes. Silent Song slowly shuffled away, fearing whatever trouble may brew from the princess’ horn.

A bright light emanated from Luna’s horn, nearly blinding SilkShine, who barely saw her friend being engulfed by the light. Then it stopped. Rubbing the bright spots from her eyes, she heard nopony talking, only the ragged breath from Silent Song. After a few moments, she could see clearly again.

Princess Luna now stood on the other side of the couch, wearing a quizzical look on her face as she was staring at Silent Song. “Hmmm, how odd,” muttered the princess.

With her eyes still half-¬blinded Silent Song looked puzzling at the princess. “What did you do?” she asked with a hint of fear. Then she realized she had stopped screaming.

“My intention was to relieve you from the Cursemark, but it seems that instead, it has changed in a different Cursemark, one in the form of kiss,” Luna responded, glazingly staring at the mark, wondering where her spell had gone wrong. “At least the shouting has halted.”

“Oh, but that is my cutiemark!” Silent Song yelled happily.

“It is?” Luna asked perplexed.

“That is her cutiemark, princess. She got it because she is a great talker,” SilkShine answered Luna’s look.

“Omygosh omygosh omygosh!” The green mare happily spun pirouettes until she stopped mid-spin. “No time to celebrate yet! My son needs to be cured as well!” Slowly, a plume of dust fell down from the ceiling. “Uh oh,” she whispered, looking at the cracked ceiling.

“What is wrong, Silent?” SilkShine asked.

“My son’s curse has become active aga-.”

Suddenly the ceiling broke open, a green coloured colt falling from the hole. He never hit the floor however as a blue aura surrounded him.

“So you are the other one in this household that has been cursed, correct?” The princess manoeuvred the colt in front of her with her magic.

“Yes, ma’am.” The colt answered as he looked up to the dark-blue alicorn.

“Good, close you eyes for a moment, little one.”

The colt looked questioning to his mother. She smiled in return. “It is alright Green Grove, the princess will help you remove the curse, just as she did with mine.” Silent Song turned, showing her restored cutiemark.

“The cursed cutiemark is gone!” Green Grove exclaimed. He looked up to the princess again, his eyes glittering with joy.

“Close your eyes,” she repeated. The colt anxiously obeyed, forcing his eyes shut. Luna lit her horn again, flaring with light. Silent Song and SilkShine turned their eyes away from the bright light. When they looked at the young colt again they saw Green Grove brimming with fading light, his Cursemark gone, rendering his flank blank again.

Green Grove happily hopped across the room, not afraid of randomly breaking furniture anymore. Luna lit her horn once more, levitating the debris from the ceiling upwards, inserting them in the hole and undoing the damage. “There,” Luna said, “now we should be able to talk proper.”

After a small conversation concerning the Cursemark, Luna and SilkShine left the house, having said their goodbyes to Silent Song and Green Grove, their next destination being the hospital.

“I didn’t know there was a way to remove Cursemarks, I thought they were permanent. A silly thought now I think about it.” SilkShine said, being reminded of Lapis Lazuli’s actions once more.

Luna stared at SilkShine, having witnessed her excitement drop to sadness in one sentence.
“SilkShine, may I inquire what is at hoof? You seem very distraught.”

SilkShine looked up to Luna, hesitating for a moment what to say. “It is… nothing.”

“That is the most cliché answer anypony can give, SilkShine. Seeing as it has left you without joy barring the celebratory moments.”

“There is nothing wrong, princess,” SilkShine replied defensively. Luna stared at her, questioning her statement. “It is nothing, really!” Luna continued to stare at her, slightly frowning. “It is noth…” The princess’ frown slightly creased.

“It is about a stallion, right?” Luna said suddenly.

SilkShine’s eyes grew large. “H-how did you know?”

Princess Luna smiled, raised her hoof into the air and yelled: “Huzzah!” Several ponies turned around looking at the source of the outcry. The princess blushed from the sudden attention and quickly put her hoof back on the ground. “My apologies for that, it is not often that I can help ponies with their personal problems.”

SilkShine, still a bit bewildered, noticed a slight change in Luna’s voice. It sounded more girlish, instead of the formal, mature voice she always carried. It reminded her of Silent Song, who was easily excited by these topics. Not too mention SilkShine began to notice as they were coming closer to the hospital, Luna was slowly inching towards her. Was she trying to get her to talk?

“So thine heart has been set aflame with passion, dear SilkShine?” Luna asked with glee. The beige mare wanted to give an answer, but hesitated long enough for Luna to take the initiative. “Once, I had a crush on a stallion who was employed in my Night Guard. What was his name again?”

SilkShine had a sneaky suspicion where the topic would be leading too.

“Ah, I remember! Brute Bone was my love’s name.”

SilkShine was right.

“He was a great pegasus, big and burly, both his height and his wingspan rivalled my own. He had a gruff beard that erupted from his square chin, his majestic body looked like it was chiselled from granite…”

SilkShine could not believe she was hearing this. The princess gushing over her crush like a schoolfilly, it made the whole situation just more awkward.

“…and his smile was like freshly polished steel,” Luna sung in a honeysweet voice.

And things weren’t improving on that either.

“He was kind, always asking if he could help me in some way. Even if he was about to fall over from exhaustion, he would stand ready for me.”

Normally SilkShine would love a good romance story. Every week or two she would have a new romance novel to snuggle in bed with. But this time, it is about her. She sighed, she was not going to like this.

“Princess Luna…” she started.

Luna stopped talking and turned to SilkShine. “Yes, SilkShine?”

“The stallion who has my heart…” she swallowed, her anxiety running thick. “His name is Lapis Lazuli, he rented a room in my inn and-“

“He was the one who cursed everypony,” Luna interrupted bluntly, her formal voice returning.

SilkShine was looking up to her, her eyes moist and her lip quivering.

“Hmmm, so you were the innkeeper of these town,” she said distantly. “I was meaning to come by to inquire about him, but I wanted to go to the cursed ponies first.” She stopped walking as she finished the sentence. There was moment of silence before she spoke again.

“But first, let’s talk about you,” she said with a soft voice, “It is a precious thing that you love somepony and normally I would say to mare up and go for it, however not in thine case.”

SilkShine’s ears drooped, she knew what would be coming.

“The pony you love is a felon who has ruined the lives of many ponies for a long time. The punishment he will receive will not be light and may cause him to be in prison till the end of his life if that is what the court deems fit for him. They may also banish him or sentence him to death.
But what also needs to be taken in account is for how long you know him. It is at most three days and two nights, hardly any time to get to know a pony.”

Luna’s eyes firmly looked into SilkShine’s. “So are you willing to forgive him for his wrongdoings and to bear with whatever sentence falls upon him, or does thy forget about him?”

SilkShine stopped in her tracks. She liked Lapis a lot, but he had done so many ponies wrong, including her friends. She really wanted this to be all a bad dream, that Lapis was just a mining official as she originally thought him to be, but he was not. Luna was right, whatever the outcome of his punishment would be, they would always be separated and couldn’t be happy together. If he even could be happy with her, could he love her or was he only being nice?

It reminded her of a novel she read, about a mare called Celebration, who went through similar hardships for her love. Although it was romantic, it ended in tragedy. The poor dear was all alone at the end as her love had succumbed to his trials. And it could end up being her if she would choose for it.

As the thoughts piled up, she started crying, the decision was difficult. Not because it was difficult to choose, but it was difficult to let go of her heart, that she had nourished on romance since she was a little filly. Tears rolled down her face, dropping down to the ground.

But it would be the right choice.

Luna sat down next to her, extending her wing in comfort of her subject. Softly she began to sing:

“Cry my little pony,
Thy sorrows are fair.
Cry my little pony,
Have no tears to spare.

Shake this world,
With your wail.
Shake the world,
Let it fail.

Cry my little pony,
But wipe that tear.
Cry my little pony,
The day is near.”

Her voice slowly faded marking the end of the lullaby. SilkShine let herself be embraced by Luna’s wing, recalling an old feeling of being held by her mother. She ran out of tears to shed as the warmth of the embrace heated her heart. There they sat for a couple of minutes until Luna broke the silence.

“Time to get moving again SilkShine, we still have ponies to visit.”

The beige mare stood up, turning her head to the princess. “My apologies, I am such a mess today.”

“It is okay, everypony needs a good crying every once in awhile. Now for our next pony, is she in the hospital?”

“Hé, Luna. Honey Rock is hospitalised due to his curse.”

*

One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Honey Rock had the rhythm going, his legs moving at a trotting pace. It had taken him a good part of his morning to stand up and walk around a bit. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Yesterday he was already happy if he could properly crawl to his destination, but now he was trotting, not walking but trotting! His curse had scrambled his control over his legs, rerouting movement of one leg to another. Even worse, he had noticed the last two days that around the afternoon his legs are scrambled again, making the process of relearning to use them properly again much harder. One, two, three, four, one, two, thre- Honey‘s foreleg hit the other one, knocking away his support, sending him crashing on the treadmill. To add insult to injury, the treadmill was still moving, throwing Honey Rock off the belt into the wall.

Seeing stars around his head, he grabbed for his aching head. Or at least he tries when he noticed his hindleg moves instead of the intended foreleg. He let out a sigh and let his body slump. A few moments later as the pain was drawing away, he heard somepony call for him.

“Mr. Rock, are you alright?”

He looked up seeing nurse Goodwill worriedly checking up on him. “Yes, I am fine, sweety. I tripped over my own legs, nothing more.” Clumsily he lifted himself up and stood on his own four hooves again. “But I believe that is enough rehabilitation for today, ain’t it?” he said with a big grin on his face. Hiding his crushed pride from the nurse, he inhaled deeply and put his legs forth one by one. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Keeping his pace in mind, he turned to nurse Goodwill. “Say, what do you think about a dinner, just you and me?”

“I have to say no to that, Mr. Rock. I already have a coltfriend and I want to marry him one day.” She says with a slight smile adoring her face.

“Ah, I see,” Honey responded. A lie or not, the nurse probably wouldn’t want a crippled stallion like him as her coltfriend. He could walk and run if he kept thinking about the correct order his legs should move in, but it became so much more work then when he wasn’t cursed. Mental fatigue set in rather easy while doing that, rendering him tired at something he could normally do for a full day. And then he needed to keep concentrated as well. One slip-up and a close-up of the ground is what he will get. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.

Walking back to his room, with the nurse keeping tabs on him most of the way, he climbed back into bed upon finding the divine comfort. After a few minutes he got restless, wanting to do something to keep himself busy. His eyes fell on a book that lay on his nightstand called Daring Doo & the sapphire stone. He pondered to take the book for a read but declined after some thinking; “I am not an egghead.”

“What are you talking about, Honey?”

Honey looked to the source of the question, spotting SilkShine. “Oh hey SilkShine, I was talking a bit to myself,” he replied.

“Okay, so, how are you doing, Honey?” SilkShine asked.

“I am doing pretty well all things considering.” He paused for a bit. “However, that is just for now. In truth, I fear for my future.”

“What do you mean Mr. Rock?” asked nurse Goodwill, who just entered his room.

He sighed. “It is already troublesome enough for me to be able to walk without ending up with my face on the ground. But to do daily tasks would be an undertaking, to work in the mine would be almost impossible! ”

SilkShine smiled, being almost excited. “Luckily for you Honey, I brought over somepony who can help you. I just witnessed her getting rid of Silent Song’s and Green Grove’s Cursemarks! She is just busy talking to the doctor currently.”

“That’s great!” Honey cried. “So how beautiful is my ladyknight? If she is gorgeous I’ll ask her to marry me, if she is not, I’ll take her out for a drink!” he said with a beaming face.

The nurse put her hoof to her face. “By Celestia, are you going to flirt with every mare in sight?”

“Yes.”

SilkShine eyes shone with a glimmer of venom. “Then why haven’t you ever flirted with me?”

“Well…, when I first came to the town and stayed at your inn, I wasn’t quite that comfortable with this town yet. Besides…” he trailed off.

“Besides what, Honey?” she asked.

“Well… you remind me of my mother.” He replied softly, avoiding eye contact.

SilkShine’s eye twitched. That was… an insult? A complement? About her age?

An audible squeak shifted the attention of the three ponies to the door. A dark foreleg was holding it open while the mare attached to it finished her conversation behind it.

“Is that the mare who will remove my Cursemark?” Honey Rock asks while staring at the door opening. He couldn’t wait to see who would rescue his future. Possibly in more ways then one.

“Thanks for the information doctor,” the mare says before entering the room.

Honey’s world stopped for a moment. The mare that would rescue him from his curse and the one he secretly daydreamed about, was none other then Princess Luna!?

The princess walked to the middle of the room, looking at the stallion who was staring at her.

“P-P-Princess Luna?!” he exclaimed.

“Greetings Honey Rock, how are you doing today?”

The yellow stallion’s mind drew a blank. Far from it would he have guessed one of the princesses to be here, healing ponies. “I-I am doing excellent, your highness!” he yelled while attempting to salute. It ended with him choosing the wrong leg to salute and falling down on the floor.

Nurse Goodwill stepped forward and helped Honey back upright. “You need to be more careful in your condition.”

Struggling to place his limbs correctly, the stallion climbs back into bed. “Yes, you are right, Goodwill.”

“I have heard that you have been cursed with the Cursemark. Could you tell me about it?”

Honey Rock audible gulped, leaving a space of silence thereafter. “Well… it all started two days ago while I was doing groceries. I overheard a couple of ponies talking and joined in the conversation. The topic was ironically the curse, since Sky Blue’s and Silent Song’s foals were cursed.” He said with a slight blush.

“Cerulean Gale and Azure Bliss were cursed as well?” SilkShine interjected.

“Yeah, as Sky Blue had said to me, it seemed that Cerulean was cursed to be constantly angry and hateful, driving her parents to despair. While I don’t know what exactly was wrong with Azure it seemed she was quit the opposite, being very timid and scared.”

“You are correct, Honey Rock,” an aged voice said.

Arty Fact entered the room as it was getting a little crowded with all the ponies. “Good day ladies,” he said to nurse Goodwill and SilkShine, “Greetings, Your Highness.” He made a small bow in front of the princess, “and hello,” he ends his greetings towards Honey Rock. “Those poor foals certainly made the impression that their curses are altering their personalities. But first and foremost, how are you doing?”

“I am doing fine as far as this curse lets me. However about that thingy that you would search for…” he said with energy, fading away as his sentence went on.

“Ah yes, the Ring of the Maiden, better known as Sircel Van Onsguld. I am hoping to remove the curse with it, if I can find it,” he explained to the other ponies present.

Princess Luna raised an eyebrow at the explanation. “Doesn’t that name hail from the old Wet Lands? Their civilization there had been wiped out by a flood long ago. What did remain there to warrant the existence of such an object?”

“Recently I acquired a couple of items from that area,” Arty Fact started to explain, continuing on a lecture-like tone, “A fellow researcher wishes for me to do my own separate investigation of the items, including the translation of a text on a clay tablet. That tablet makes mention of the Sircel Van Onsguld, it being used to dispel a curse and the demon who casted it.”

“I do not remember the Wet Lands having such abilities, however it has been a long time since I visited and I do remember a slow decline. But they did belong to Equestria since its foundation until they became their own country, so it may be a remnant from that time.” Luna remembered, memories of days gone by running through her head.

“Interesting notion, Your Highness.”

This conversation went back and forth between the two, growing deeper and more complex with every sentence spoken. Honey grew tired of it as the two had started to sidetrack on to other stuff that belonged to ancient history.

“Ahem,” he said as loud but subtle as possible. The two conversationalists stopped talking and turned to Honey Rock. “Arty Fact, Princess Luna. I don’t want to be rude but we were talking about the curse. And Arty Fact, the Princess is said to be able to remove the curse, so we wouldn’t need that thingy.”

The grey-maned stallion looked disappointed, though he tried to let nopony notice. “Oh well, as long as everypony gets healthy again, all is well, I suppose."

Honey stared at him for a moment, until he thought he was right to ask: “You wanted to be the hero, did you Arty Fact?”

Arty Fact took hastily a step back at that statement. “Me? The hero? I…” the old stallion took notice of all the eyes staring at him. SilkShine had raised an eyebrow, the princess showed a sly smile, Goodwill was chuckling softly, and Honey’s smile grew slowly. “That…that,” he sputtered. After a moment more of the tormenting stares he gave in.“…is true.” A fierce blush appeared on his face.

SilkShine chuckled. “Oh Arty, don’t be embarrassed.”

“SilkShine is right, Arty Fact,” said princess Luna, “You don’t need to experience shame for desiring a bit of glory. If you had found it, glory would surely be yours.”

Arty smiled at the comments of his friends and Luna. “Thanks everypony, I was indeed toying with the idea that I would receive praise from the town for finding the cure. But it is better this way, finding that ring would have taken months anyway.”

“Very well, but before we remove thine Cursemark Honey Rock, I would ask thee an demonstration of it.” She said on her formal tone.

Honey gulped. The princess wanted him to show his curse, it would take his utmost concentration to do it perfectly, but he could do it! …Wait wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of showing the curse? After a bit of hesitation, Honey climbed out of bed struggling to keep standing.

“You see my Curse switches the control of my legs.” He lifted up his left foreleg. “Although, it looks as I am lifting my left foreleg, I am actually lifting my right.” Honey flexed his legs, seemingly testing them. “Today, my right foreleg is actually my right hindleg, that leg is controlled by my left and my left hindleg is normal.”

“Wait,” SilkShine said, “What do you mean with ‘today’?”

Nurse Goodwill stepped forward. “Somewhere in the afternoon, everyday the control of his legs suddenly switches up again.”

“Yup, which would have meant for me to relearn how to do the most basic things, even walking from scratch beginning somewhere in the afternoon.” Honey stated grimly.

“I suppose that the time is linked to the time you got your Cursemark?” Arty Fact pondered.

Honey lifted his foreleg to place it differently, but the confusing control of his body parts messed up, causing him to knock away his other foreleg and end up with his face on the ground and flank up in the air.

Arty Fact walked over to Honey, helping him stand on his four legs again. “I think it is time to stop talking and relinquish this poor fellow out of the Cursemark’s grasp, isn’t it, Your Highness?”

“Yes, my apologies with the delay, but today is the first time I have observed a Cursemark. Let’s make it one of the last.” Luna lit her horn once again. Arty Fact distanced himself from Honey, as SilkShine shielded her eyes, while the others did the same or tried to look into the light for as long as possible. The light extended from Luna’s horn, wrapping around Honey Rock until he was a ball of light.

A moment later the it dimmed, revealing a glowing Honey Rock, both in fading radiance and mannerism. Honey started tapping his hooves against the ground one by one, until he formed a rhythmic pattern. “You are b-e-a-utiful, Princess!” he exclaimed as he danced.

*

It was a great day to be out and about, a soft wind was blowing and Celestia’s sun was beaming down and warming him up. The air was streaming under his wings and there weren’t many packages today, so his load was light. He inhaled some of that mountain air, relishing the moment… and sneezed. Spring had come and so did the pollen.

Lofty Dreams came near his target and set in for the landing, with little effort he landed his hooves on the ground having no trouble with the added weight and balance issues of the saddlebags. He opened the flap of one of the bags and pulled out a small rectangular package labelled ‘Hospital’. As he trotted inside, package in mouth, he thought of the new Daring Do book he was reading. He was looking forward to the next chapter with glee, where it seemed like Daring would face off against Ahuizotl.

He made his way to the apothecary, where he always delivered the packages for the hospital. It was usually something like a medicine and otherwise, it will end up in the right place anyway. He drew the attention of the pony working the apothecary, and left the parcel on the counter with him trotting back on his way to the remainder of his deliveries.

“Hello Lofty,” said a familiar voice.

He turned around to face SilkShine and a dark alicorn, walking towards him. “Hello SilkShine, how is it going?”

“I am fine, but we need your help.” The dark alicorn looked at SilkShine when she said that.

“With what, Silk?” he asked curiously. There couldn’t be much that SilkShine and an alicorn need help with. All three had wings, so it couldn’t be an flying problem. And with the magic capability of an alicorn, what couldn’t be done?

“Princess Luna and I need to go to the Blue family house, to cure the twins from their Cursemark.”

“You can fix that?” Lofty replied with one eyebrow raised.

Princess Luna stepped forward. “I have already undone the curses laid onto Silent Song, her foal and Honey Rock, only the twins remain in this town as the ones left cursed.”

“However, I do not know where they live. But you do, right?” SilkShine continued.

“Ah yes, I know where they live.” He said confidently. He walked out the doors and called back: “Come on, Princess, SilkShine, lets go!”

The two ladies followed him at a leisurely pace, which irritated Lofty somewhat until he got an idea. Although he managed to put it out of his head for a good part of the day, the diary he found yesterday had kept his mind occupied. At least the time he wasn’t knocked out yesterday.

He took a deep breath and gathered a bit of courage. “Princess, if I may ask, I read some of Lapis Lazuli’s diary and came across a few things. According to what I read the Cursemark is supposed to change fate or something?”

“That is not entirely what it does. But how does thou know the contents of that diary?” Luna asked him strict.

“I was the pony who found and exposed Lapis for what he did.” Lofty answered adamant.

“I see. Well, the truth is, I am not quite sure how the Cursemark works. It could neutralise a pony’s cutiemark and interject another, or the Cursemark could act as a parasite that latches on a cutiemark. But it is confirmed that the Cursemark does intervene in its victim’s fate, and that makes it very dangerous.”

Lofty frowned, pondering an issue with that statement. “So, if Lapis had the power to change fate, why do we have him behind lock and key?”

“He didn’t,” said Luna straight.

Lofty tilts his head upon that answer. “Then how did he devise a way to change a ponies fate, but not his own?”

“Tell me Lofty Dreams, during your reading of the diary, did you encounter the name Dim Desire by any chance?”

“I think I remember seeing that name, is he important?”

“He is the original creator of the Cursemark.”

“That sounds like an important fellow to remember.”

“Indeed. My sister was very happy to hear it was not him that caused the Cursemarks this time.” Luna sighs as she finishes the sentence.

Lofty jumps up in the air, using his legs to strengthen his words. “How so that? What does it mean if it was him or Lapis, they both throw Cursemarks around!”

“Lapis Lazuli’s Cursemarks are imperfect. He does not posses any fate related abilities and that is the key to undoing the Cursemarks. I unravel them at the seams until they fall apart, so to speak. The problem with Dim Desire’s Cursemarks is that I can’t do that.”

“What, do you mean that there was not counter spell developed for it?”

Luna didn’t answer, she just looked at lofty with cold eyes.

“Dim’s victims had to live with it?!” Lofty asked rhetorically, disturbed at the thought of being eternally cursed.

“That is awful,” SilkShine responded sadly.

“It was bad enough that several ponies took their own lives. If they weren’t killed beforehoof due to their curses.” Luna turned her head solemn to the other two ponies. “…some had to be killed in self-defence because their Cursemark drove them to murder.”

SilkShine hung her head, Lofty gulped loudly. He had no idea that the curses could have been this bad.

“I may think myself as lucky as I was… ‘away’ during that time, so my sister had to deal with that horrible situation. Nevertheless, I am now here to experience Cursemarks for myself now.”

Lofty’s thoughts roam around his mind, pondering the topic. His glazy stare caught something that woke him. He confirmed his suspicion as he looked behind him.

“Uhm, ladies?” he said as he halted.

“What is wrong, Lofty? asked SilkShine, her head slightly tilted.

“We, uhm, walked past the Blues’ house,” he said as he turned his head away in embarrassment.

A short walk back brought the group to the front of heir intended destination. Like many other houses in Rocky Slopes it was separated from the others. It had a small front garden made out of mostly grass and decorative rock. The standard garden for a mountain town like Rocky Slopes.

SilkShine walked down the path, Luna and Lofty Dreams following closely behind her. She shuddered a bit, shaking away the cold feeling of anxiety and the remnants of the conversation earlier. She heard some murmur behind the door, but nothing seemed to prove that the ponies in the house knew the group was there. With some reservation, SilkShine raised her hoof and knocked audible on the wooden door.

A moment later, the door opened with a blue pegasus mare behind it, Sky Blue. She had bags under her eyes, and her light-blue mane was frazzled. She looked rather confused at finding SilkShine at her door. But then her eyes wandered at the ponies behind her and her eyes widened in amazement. “P-princess Luna?!” she squeaked.

Lofty jumped in the air, hovering above SilkShine. “Hello Sky, we have come to lift the Cursemarks from the twins,” he nonchalantly says.

Sky Blue looked confused at Lofty, then Luna and at last, SilkShine.

“Yes, Sky Blue, that is what we have come for,” SilkShine confirmed.

Sky Blue stared for a moment until tears well up in her eyes. She lunged forward embracing SilkShine as she started crying. “T-Thank you!”

SilkShine accompanied the mare inside as Luna and Lofty followed. Upon entry, they saw the place was a total mess. For Lofty, this level of messiness would usually mean he would start contemplating to clean up. For SilkShine, if a guest left his room in this state, she would often silently curse him.

Seating the sobbing mare on the couch, the three others sat down as well or stayed standing. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Luna started to speak. “Normally I would ask questions to you about the curses, but from what I heard we can leave that behind us,” Luna said softly to Sky Blue. “Thus, could we get the children to come here, so I can explain and remove their Cursemarks?”

Sky nodded, and walked to the back. Suddenly a dark-blue filly dropped down on the spot where her mother sat, startling SilkShine in letting out a small scream. Following that, another higher pitched scream followed, and the group saw a light-blue filly fly away from behind the furniture and up the stairs.

“Oh no, Azure is going hide herself again! I will be back in a moment.” Sky Blue said as she walked up the stairs.

“I am going help her,” SilkShine said as she followed Sky.

Aside from some rummaging on the upper floor, the room itself was silent. In front of Lofty and Luna, was a filly, staring at them, sporting an angry scowl. “Hello little one, what is your name?” asked princess Luna.

“It is rude to ask for a name without giving your own first!” said the little filly loudly in an angry tone.

“That is true. My name is princess Luna, may I know yours?”

“My name is Cerulean gale, you piece of shit!” she yelled.

Lofty Dreams and Luna were utterly baffled as Cerulean Gale shouted one profanity after the other.

“You should go and [REDACTED], you [REDACTED]. All you are necessary for is to [REDACTED]! Celestia is a [REDACTED] too, but at least when she [REDACTED], she can [REDACTED]! But your little [REDACTED] can’t [REDACTED] does it!?”

“Enough!” Before Cerulean could say another sentence a bright light filled the room and enveloped the little filly. The sudden light blinded Lofty before he could shield his eyes from it.

“I am so sorry,” squeaked a small voice. “I am so, so very sorry!”

As his vision returned, he saw Cerulean lying on the couch with her forelegs covering her face. “It is okay,” Luna says, although irritation still lingered in her voice.

“Is everything okay, down there?”

Sky Blue and SilkShine came flying down the stairs, with a resisting little filly in their hooves. Azure Bliss was struggling up a storm, trying to get free and to hide again. Her mother was speaking kind words to her in an attempt to calm her down, not that it worked. When the mares landed on the ground, Luna used the spell once more.

As the bright light faded both fillies had made their way to their mothers embrace, all three crying out their grievances.

Lofty hovered over to the princess as he watched the scene. “It may have not gone as you meant princess, but still everything has come to a good ending it seems.”

“Indeed. We have no place here for now.” She turned around and walked to the front door. “May you and your foals fare well, Sky Blue,” she said before she left the house.

“Bye bye,” Lofty said as he left with Luna.

SilkShine followed but stopped at the door. “Are you going be alright for now, Sky Blue?”

“Yes, I will be alright—she rubbed her eyes—I think I will a good nap will do, right girls?” she asked her foals.

The two fillies nodded in agreement with their mother, already fishing out a blanket from beneath the clutter.

Smiling tired at her children, she turned back to SilkShine. “Very well then, I see you some time again.”

“Goodbye Sky Blue,” SilkShine said as she closed the door behind her. She spotted Luna and Lofty waiting for her. With the last two being freed from their curse, she wondered what there was left to do for her and the princess. “So Luna, what are you going to do now?”

“To the sheriff, I have one thing left to do here. Lofty Dreams, lead the way if you will.”

The small bit of time it took for the group to get to the sheriff’s office was marked by an almost eerie silence. Lofty had no more questions left to ask, SilkShine had laid her troubled heart bare and gotten over it. Now that Luna had cured everypony, there just didn’t seem much left.

“This is the place, princess.” Lofty said almost prideful.

In front of the trio, stood a rough stone building mostly build out of rocks from the mountain, concrete and thick wood. A sturdy but cold structure as can be confirmed by anypony who had to confined there for a night.

“From this point on, I do not have a need for your assistance, Lofty Dreams. Thanks for guiding us.”

“It was a pleasure,” he said as he made a bow.

Luna smiles at the little gesture and turns to SilkShine. “Dear SilkShine, my apologies for troubling you.”

“It is alright, Luna. I have gotten better out of it myself.”

Lofty tilts his head in question of SilkShine’s statement.

“I need to let go of the past and look to the future. And enjoy the present, I suppose.”

The princess giggled. “This reminds me of the letters my sister receives from her student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“In what way do they remind you, princess?”

“Twilight Sparkle has been sent on an assignment to study friendship. Every time she learns a lesson about friendship, she sends a report to my sister detailing her lesson and what brought her to learn about it. It is similar to what you have learned and told me so.”

SilkShine smiled amusingly. “Would you like a letter for that?”

The princess snickered at the notion. “That would nice, SilkShine. I only get formal letters, so something from a friend would be a nice change.”

“Alright, expect a letter soon.” She said with a smile. But now she realized, everything was said and everything was done. Except for one thing and she didn’t like doing it. Whenever there is a meeting, there is a parting. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to say the last thing. “Well then Luna, goodbye.”

“Goodbye SilkShine, Lofty Dreams.” Luna replied.

SilkShine turned around and flew off in the direction of her inn.

“Bye bye, princess.” Lofty said as he flew after SilkShine. As the distance between the sheriff’s office and the pair increased, Lofty decided to ask a question he had been waiting to ask. “Say SilkShine, what were you and the princess doing besides un-cursing ponies?”

“We had some girl to girl talk, nothing more,” she said, giving the hint she would not expand on the subject.

The red pegasus sighed, he had hoped on something juicy. It had been interesting being around the princess, but the saddlebags on his back reminded him he had work left undone. “Fine, I need to get back to work. See ya around, Silk.”

As he turns, SilkShine suddenly called him out. “Lofty, wait!”

He braked in midair, hovering in place. “What is it?” he asked.

SilkShine flew towards him. “Well, I was wondering if you have any good books to read. I am tired of romance novels.”

“Well, I do not have much, but I have some Daring Do novels you can read.”

The End

*

[author]
Well folks, this was Curses. My first fanfic completed. It gives a sense of liberation, yet also of distance since you cannot write and improve it as the story goes on. I learned a lot during this fic, the first one was formatting my story to distinguish who says what, if you can believe it. I have other story ideas so I will be writing some more, some day. Rocky Slopes will make a return, I have grown attached to it, and my little ponies who live inside it. They are precious to me.

My thanks go out to the Everfree chat members who helped me out on several occasions and who got me into writing in the first place. Also thanks to everypony who read this fic, whether they liked it or not. And another thank you to those who faved this fic. It means a lot to me.

Please leave a comment. I would love to hear what you guys think about this fanfiction.