Fall of Harmony

Chapters

Return of the Prince - Part 1
Return of the Prince - Part 2
Road to Recovery
Town of Hate - Part 1

Return of the Prince - Part 1

Princess Celestia walks down the path of the Canterlot Castle Garden, accompanied by her royal guards. The Princess arrives at the entrance of an arched pathway made from the surrounding hedge bush of flowers, “Stand guard here. I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Yes, your Highness,” one of the guards says as the two turn around and stand guard on each side of the arched pathway.

Celestia proceeds through the pathway, admiring the beautiful flowers that grow from the hedge that makes the hallway like path. The Princess comes up to an open area surrounded by hedge walls. In the center, stands the statue of Prince Terrenus, petrified in stone. The Princess stops, taking in the view with a heavy heart. She takes a deep breath before continuing, coming up to the statue. Celestia lays down on the grass and looks upon the statue. She curves a small smile, “Happy Birthday, dear. I’m sorry I haven’t visited you in a while. It’s been hard coming down here and…seeing you like this,” Celestia looks down to the grass as her smile fades, “Suppose you’ll want to know what’s been going on recently. You always did. For starters, Discord returned. You remember him, right? This time, he was stopped by that group of ponies who freed Luna. The Crystal Empire returned…and so did King Sombra. Once again, defeated by that same group of ponies. I suppose that’s all the interesting news. Unless you want to hear about Luna being crowned for the second time,” Celestia’s chuckles at this, “But knowing you, that probably doesn’t interest you.”

Celestia looks up at the statue, still frozen in the same position as always. Celestia slowly stands up and places her hoof on the statue, “I miss you every day. I just…” Celestia leans her head on the statue, “...I just wish you were here.” A tear streams down Celestia’s cheek, falling down onto the hoof of the petrified Prince. The tear absorbs into the stone and a crack forms. Celestia’s attention is brought to the crack, she crouches down and looks at it closely. The crack quickly grows larger. Celestia goes wide-eyed as she backs up. The cracks race throughout the entire statue until it’s completely covered. The statue bursts, sending Celestia flying to the ground from the force of it. The Princess grunts as she shakes her head and turns to the statue.

Celestia gasps as Prince Terrenus stands in the flesh where the statue once stood. As the smoke clears some more, his Dark Green hair becomes visible, flowing like that of the Two Sisters. The Alicorn Prince spreads his wings, giving presence to his Dark Gray coat and feathers. His Midnight Blue eyes stare daggers at Celestia as he smirks, “Good to see you again, Princess.”

“T-Terrenus,” Celestia utters, unable to get up from the shock.

“Suppose you forgot that one of the ways to free somepony from petrified stone caused by the Elements of Love is by showing them affection,” Terrenus says as he lowers his wings.

“I-I…I-I…” Celestia staggers, lost for words.

“Do you know what’s the worst fate to sentence somepony to?” Terrenus asks as he slowly approaches Celestia. The stallion quickly leans his head close to Celestia’s, “TRAPPING THEM IN STONE!!!”

Celestia carefully gets up and begins backing away, “Terrenus, y-you gave us no choice but to-”

“Us? No, those little ponies are the ones responsible,” Terrenus says as he looks at the ground in thought. Terrenus smiles and looks back to Celestia, “But they’ll get what’s coming to them. Just as soon as I’m finished with you.” Terrenus begins slowly approaching Celestia.

Celestia slowly backs away, barely able to react, “Terrenus…please don’t do this. This isn’t you.”

Terrenus continues approaching Celestia with a sinister scowl, “It’s always been me, Celestia. I ain’t the one who changed.”

“N-No, TERRENUS!!!” Celestia yells, her eyes wide in fear.

A rooster crows as the sun finally rises among Ponyville. Twilight is quick to wake up at first light, her eyes carefully opening and adjusting to the light. The window is closed but gives a small crack to the yellow-like color shining through. Twilight yawns as she turns over to the other side of the bed. Her eyes widen in surprise as she sees Aurora, sleeping on the other side of the bed. Twilight smiles passionately as she remembers that Aurora has chosen to live with her in the Golden Oak Library, giving her some company…..other than Spike, of course. Twilight leans forward and kisses the sleeping Aurora on her muzzle. The action of which causes Aurora to gently open her eyes, waking up to the blurry image of Twilight, “Twilight?”

“Good morning, sunshine.” Twilight says.

Aurora squints as she can hardly see without her glasses.

“Oh! Right!” Twilight says, snapping to the fact that Aurora is barely able to see. Twilight uses her magic to levitate Aurora’s glasses from the bedside table and put them on Aurora’s face.

Aurora smiles as she sees Twilight’s face clearly, “Good Morning, Twilight.”

“Did you sleep alright? This bed isn’t exactly the biggest,” Twilight says, darting her eyes up and down the small bed.

Aurora scoots closer to Twilight, leaning her head into the purple mare’s neck, “I like it. It forces us to sleep closer.”

Twilight blushes as she rests her head on top of Aurora’s.

The two mares lay in this position for a moment, embracing each other before Twilight gently pushes away to view Aurora, “Well, we should get up now. I’m a bit of a morning pony.”

“Awww, c’mon, let’s stay a little longer,” Aurora says as she gently presses her muzzle up against Twilight’s. Aurora opens her mouth and begins a kiss between the two, prompting Twilight to go wide-eyed.

Twilight carefully pulls out of the kiss, ending it, “Aurora! Not so early in the morning.” Twilight blushes.

“I thought you said you were a morning pony,” Aurora says, tilting her head.

“W-Well, yes…but…” Twilight says, blushing more.

Aurora chuckles, “Just for a bit.”

Twilight looks away, smiling, “Alright, but only 5 Minutes.”

“Perfect,” Aurora says as she quickly leans forward, giving a slightly forceful, yet intimate and passionate kiss. The two mares close their eyes as they embrace the kiss. The two mares end the kiss, opening their eyes and looking at each other. The two embrace the sight of each other before they reignite the kiss. After a while, the two mares begin giving quiet moans as they kiss.

Spike, who’s laying in his own bed, grunts loudly, “Ugh! Seriously! All night and all morning too?”

Aurora and Twilight stop in shock as they turn to Spike.

The little dragon gets out of his bed, grabbing his pillow and blanket and walking for the door, “Seriously, get a room, you two,” he stops and turns back to them, “Actually, better yet, get ME a room!” he turns back around and exits the room.

Aurora and Twilight blush and look at each other in embarrassment. “I uh…forgot he was there,” Twilight says.

“Me too,” Aurora says.

“That’s it for this morning. Let’s get up now,” Twilight says.

“Aww, alright.” Aurora says, smiling.

Aurora enters the kitchen and begins cooking breakfast. Twilight sits on the table, reading a book. Aurora turns to Twilight with a slightly worried expression, “Hey, listen Twilight. There’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about.”

Twilight looks up from her book, listening to Aurora, “Hm? What is it?”

“I know it’s been a few days, but better late than never. Next time you go on some dangerous adventure, warn me first.”

“I told you, Aurora. I thought Princess Celestia was giving me a test on what I’ve learned. I didn’t know she was sending me off to the Crystal Empire to defend it from some ancient evil Unicorn,” Twilight says.

“I know, I know,” Aurora says, lifting a hoof, “But you could have told me when you learned about it. I was worried.”

“I didn’t have time. We had to leave immediately,” Twilight says.

Aurora sighs as she finishes the breakfast and brings it to the table, “At least tell me next time you go on some dangerous quest like that. I was so worried. And I messaged Princess Celestia about it and when she told me, it frightened me even more. Just…take me with you next time.”

Twilight nods, “I will.”

“You promise?” Aurora asks.

Twilight smiles sincerely, “I promise.”

Aurora smiles, walks up to Twilight, and gives her a hug.

Just then, Spike runs into the kitchen holding a scroll, he holds it up, “Twilight! Urgent letter from Princess Celestia!”

Twilight goes wide-eyed as she uses her magic to grab, open, and read the letter. Aurora approaches Twilight with an interested expression, “What does it say?”

Twilight reads over it some more, “Princess Celestia is requesting the presence of me, you, and your five friends. Immediately,” Twilight turns to Aurora with a worried expression.

Twilight and Aurora wait at the train station for the group of ponies to arrive. Blossom Night, Hazel Bloom, and Ruby Frost all arrive quickly. Leaving only Star Dream and Amber absent. The 5 ponies wait for a while before Star Dream and Amber Gem finally arrive together. “Hey girls,” Star Dream says. Her mane has been cut. It’s now only muzzle length, and her spikeyness shows more now.

All the ponies go wide-eyed. “Oh, Star Dream. Did you get a mane cut?” Hazel asks.

“Oh!” Star Dream blushes, “Uh yeah. Since I’m flying again, I learned just how much a long mane weighs down flying.”

The ponies then turn to Amber Gem. Her mane is styled differently than usual. It’s styled in a bun with parted bangs, “Good Afternoon, girls!”

“Amber! Your mane too! It’s beautiful.” Blossom says enthusiastically.

“Isn’t it? I felt like it was more my style,” Amber says, flicking her mane.

“I wish I could style my mane. Curly mane doesn’t leave much room for it though,” Hazel says, feeling her own mane.

“Who would want to style that? It looks beautiful as it is,” Amber says.

Hazel blushes, “Thank you.”

“Alright, everypony,” Twilight announces as the train arrives, “Focus. Princess Celestia has requested our presence for an emergency.”

“What kind of emergency?” Blossom asks.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, we need to be focused for it,” Twilight says with a determined face.

The 6 Ponies nod with determination as they all quickly board the train after Twilight.

The 7 Ponies arrive in Canterlot and make their way to the Castle. As they enter, they go through the hallway showing the window panes of many important events in Equestrian history. “Hey look! We’re a window!” Blossom says.

The ponies turn to the window, which displays the 6 ponies, accompanied by Twilight, defeating Prince Terrenus. Twilight turns to the other side of the hall, at a window that shows her and Aurora defeating the changelings, “That one’s relatively new.”

The ponies come up to the main door leading into the throne room. The ponies stand and wait as the door slowly begins opening. It reveals the throne of Celestia and the 7 Ponies gasp. A statue of Celestia stands on the throne. She’s been petrified. The 7 Ponies run to the base of the ramp leading to the throne. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe I’m smelling stone,” Ruby Frost says.

“Princess Celestia! She’s been turned to stone!” Twilight says.

Star Dream turns to the right and sees Princess Luna, also petrified, “Look! Princess Luna too!”

The ponies watch in confusion. “Who could have done this?” Aurora says in worry.

The throne room door slams shut, prompting the 7 ponies to turn around. Prince Terrenus stands in front of the door with a smirk, “That would be, my little ponies.”

“Prince Terrenus!” Aurora says with a scowl, “What have you done to Princess Celestia?”

“I believe it’s quite obvious. I subjected her to the same thing YOU subjected me to! I’ve trapped her in stone,” Terrenus says as he approaches the ponies.

“How did you escape from stone?” Twilight asks, walking forward with an authoritative voice.

Terrenus stops and begins chuckling, “Let’s just say a certain Princess was a little careless with her feelings.”

Aurora goes wide-eyed, realizing what Terrenus means whereas the other ponies don’t, “Wait…you don’t mean-”

“However you got out, free the Princess right now, or else-” Blossom says.

“You’ll do what?” Terrenus chuckles, “You don’t have the holders of the Elements of Harmony. You don’t have the Elements of Love and even if you did, I’m not falling for the same trick twice. Discord might have, but unlike him…I’m not an idiot. Anyway, enough chatter. Let’s get down to business,” Terrenus’ horn glowls as vines burst from the ground, wrapping around the ponies’ legs.

The ponies gasp as they look down and try to escape. “What in tarnation?! Our legs!” Ruby Frost says, struggling to lift her legs.

“It’s time I get my revenge!” Terrenus says as he scowls. He commands the vines to throw the ponies across the room, smashing them into the walls, “Every second I spent in that stone, my anger for you 7 festered!”

Aurora looks up to see the other ponies. Hazel Bloom has been knocked out. The rest of the 5 Ponies are alright, but seem injured. Terrenus’ vines grab onto Blossom’s back legs and slap her back onto the ground. They proceed to Ruby Frost and do the same, knocking HER out. He proceeds to do the same for all 7 of the ponies, excluding Hazel Bloom. Terrenus takes a breath of relief, “Aaaaah, the sweet feeling of revenge. I should have beat your flanks long before you reached my castle last time.”

Star Dream and Blossom are quick to get up, not being strangers to being hurt. Terrenus turns to the ponies, “Looks like we got some fighters,” The vines rush towards the two. One grabs Blossom Night, smashing her into the wall. Star Dream, however, dodges, flying up to Terrenus quickly. The alicorn goes wide-eyed as Star Dream kicks him in the face before landing back on the ground with a scowl. Blood drips out of Terrenus’ as he turns to Star Dream with a smirk and licks it up, “Pack quite the buck, don’t ya?”

“There’s more where that came from!” Star Dream says, getting on guard and spreading her wings.

Terrenus tilts his head, “I like you. You’re Star Dream, right?”

Star Dream stays silent as she continues glaring at Terrenus.

“You’re different from these other ponies. You fight for somepony with a fire in your eyes.” Terenus says.

Star Dream goes wide-eyed.

Terrenus chuckles, “It gives you more strength. But it’s also a weakness. Maybe when I’m finished with you ponies, I’ll give Ponyville a visit, find that pony you love, and give her the same treatment.”

Star Dream growls in anger as she flies at Terrenus, “DON’T YOU DARE!!!”

Terrenus quickly side steps out of the way, “Heh, you fell for it,” he quickly bucks the pegasus mare, sending her into the wall. His eyes turn to Twilight and Aurora, who are next to each other, charging up their magic, “Awww, how cute, “ He quickly flies to them with the unparalleled speed of an alicorn, getting in between the mares and punching them away with his front hooves. He quickly turns to Twilight and blasts her with a magical beam, knocking her unconscious.

“TWILIGHT!” Aurora yells in worry as she gets up.

Terrenus turns to Aurora, “I see now. The spark. You fell in love with Twilight Sparkle, didn’t you?”

Aurora goes wide-eyed.

“Princess Celestia told me about this. About her two students who fell in love. Quite the smitten story. Never had a thing for that, but I must say, it’s quite cute. Reminds me of Celestia and I,” Terrenus says as he scowls in anger, “Which only makes me want to hurt you two even more.”

Aurora gasps as she realizes something, “That’s it! Terrenus! This won’t-”

“Get me Equestria? That’s where you’re wrong!” Terrenus yells as he flies at Aurora with incredible speed.

“No, I mean-!” Aurora tries to say before Terrenus crashes into her, grabbing her with vines and bringing her up to his face, “I HATE YOU MOST OF ALL, AURORA!” The vines swing back and forth, smashing Aurora into the walls, ceiling, and floor. Terrenus brings her back to his face, “YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CONDEMNED ME TO STONE!” Terrenus proceeds to swing the mare back and forth, smashing her into the walls over and over again with no end in sight.

“AURORA!!!” Star Dream yells as she gallops towards Terrenus and Aurora.

Terrenus quickly darts his eyes to Star Dream and pulls her away from them with a vine, trapping her in vines and squeezing tightly on her, “Do you mind? It’s Aurora’s turn.” Terrenus turns his attention back to Aurora and proceedingly brings the vine up and down to smash Aurora into the ground over and over again until finally, he stops.

Terrenus tries to catch his breath as he looks down at Aurora. Aurora’s glasses have been shattered and fallen off, Blood runs down her nose and mouth, and she has multiple lacerations covering her body. Terrenus growls one final time, lifting his hoof and stomping on Aurora’s horn, shattering it. Aurora screams in absolute agony as blood begins leaking out of her horn. Terrenus walks forward, turning to the petrified Celestia, “You see what I’ve done, Celestia? This is on you! These ponies have gone through this because of your failure to act! I’M THE ONE IN CONTROL NOW!!!”

“That’s…it…” Aurora utters.

Terrenus turns his attention back to Aurora, “What? You’re still conscious?”

Aurora lifts herself up a bit and looks at Terrenus, even with her eyes swollen and bruised, “You’re doing this…because of Celestia. I understand you now.”

Terrenus growls as he walks up to Aurora, grabbing her by her mane and bringing her up to his face, “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ME!!! YOU COULD NEVER!!!”

“You…love her…don’t you.” Aurora says, barely able to speak.

Terrenus is taken aback by this, his scowl fading.

“I don’t know…what Celestia did…to warrant this anger.” Aurora says before she coughs up some blood, “But…what you’re doing…it’s only…making things worse.”

Terrenus backs up as he hears this, contemplating his actions.

“She…was visiting you…because she…loved you too. She didn’t want…you to be alone.” Aurora says, her voice raspy.

Terrenus turns to Celestia in realization.

“What you’re doing…is only…making it harder…for her to love you. Don’t…make it…any worse.” Aurora says.

Terrenus turns back to Aurora. Tears begin forming in his eyes. He’s quick to wipe them, trying to hide any sense of weakness. The vine carefully lowers Aurora back to the ground. Terrenus looks at his surroundings, realizing what he’s done to the ponies. His ears go down in shame as he slowly walks to the doors of the throne room, opening them with magic and flying out, without a word.

The vines around Star Dream loosen. Star Dream quickly bursts out of them and looks at the door, debating chasing after Terrenus before turning to Aurora and flying to her. Star Dream crouches next to Aurora in worry, “Aurora! Aurora! Are you…oh shoot,” Star Dream puts her hooves over Aurora’s broken horn, which is leaking large amounts of blood.

Aurora’s eyes close as she falls unconscious. The petrified princesses glow as they’re turned back to normal. The two sisters are speechless as they look at the scene in front of them. Celestia walks up to Aurora, seeing the damage done to her. She tears up, “Terrenus…what have you done?”

To Be Continued…

Return of the Prince - Part 2

Blossom Night, Amber Gem, Star Dream, Ruby Frost, and Hazel Bloom surround a hospital bed, where Aurora Shimmer lays, unconscious. Amber Gem sighs, “She still hasn’t woken up?”

Star Dream looks down at her scarred chest, “When I punctured my lungs, I didn’t wake up for nearly a week. Her injuries are of similar severity. It’s not surprising she isn’t awake.”

Amber turns to Blossom, “What about you, Blossom? Don’t you have healing magic?”

“My healing magic only works for relatively fresh wounds. By the time I recovered from my own injuries, she was past the point of being able to be healed,” Blossom Night says, turning to Amber.

Amber looks down in disappointment. Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle bursts into the room and rushes to Aurora’s bedside, “AURORA!”

A nurse comes in after Twilight, “Lower your voice, ma’am!”

Twilight looks in horror at the unconscious Aurora. Tears begin forming in her eyes, “Aurora…what did he do to you?”

“Damn that Terrenus.” Star Dream says, stomping her hoof in anger before she walks to the exit of the room.

“Where are you going?” Blossom asks.

“Somewhere to think.” Star Dream says as she leaves, closing the door behind her.

The ponies turn back to Aurora, wishing to stay by her side until she recovers.

Star Dream walks down the hall, looking at the ground in thought. She quickly looks up to see Celestia, approaching her direction. She quickly gallops up to the princess, “Princess Celestia! Tell me you’ve sent a search party to find and capture Terrenus!”

Celestia closes her eyes and shakes her head, “No, I have not.”

Star Dream is surprised by this, “Well…then you should order for one immediately. In fact, forget the capture. He must be executed!”

Celestia shakes her head, “I will make no order for anypony to find Terrenus.”

“What?!” Star Dream says, her eyes widening in shock, “Why not?!”

“I don’t want Terrenus captured or killed.” Celestia says.

Star Dream scowls as she gets closer to the Princess, “So you’re just gonna let him go free?”

Celestia nods.

“After everything he’s done? After how he trapped you and Princess Luna in stone? After what he did to Aurora? She doesn’t have a horn because of him! And you’re just gonna let him roam free? Whatever for?” Star Dream shouts.

“He has spent 1000 Year trapped within the stars, only to come back and be trapped in stone. He has suffered enough,” Celestia says.

Star Dream scowls with fury as she gets up in Celestia’s face, “HIM?!?! SUFFERED ENOUGH?!?! What the hell is going through your mind? You got this backwards! Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, none of them did anything near as bad as Terrenus and we don’t let them go free? So what’s the big deal?”

Tears form in Celestia’s eyes as she starts crying. Star Dream goes wide-eyed as she backs away from the Princess. The Princess turns her head away as she cries more, “You think I don’t realize all the bad things he’s done? I know he’s done irredeemable acts. But Star Dream, you must understand…”

Star Dream listens closely, all hostility within her has drained out, leaving only the understanding pony that she is.

Celestia turns back to Star Dream, her face filled with tears, “I love Terrenus.”

Star Dream goes wide-eyed.

“I can’t bear to see him suffer anymore. I just can’t. Star Dream, you have a lover, you know the feeling.” Celestia says, tears continuing to stream down her face.

Star Dream looks at the ground, thinking of Fluttershy.

Celestia sniffles, “I know this is selfish of me. As a pony…and as a Princess. But…I would rather allow Equestria to fall. Then bring anymore harm to him.”

Star Dream goes wide-eyed at hearing this. She looks to the ground, understanding the Princess’ stance in all of this. Star Dream sighs, “I empathize with your feelings, Princess. As somepony who has someone I love, I understand why you don’t do anything.”

Celestia raises a hoof to wipe away her tears, “Thank you, Star Dream.”

Star Dream looks back up at the Princess with an understanding expression, “I won’t do anything.”

Celestia sniffs one last time, smiling and nodding at the pegasus pony.

But soon after, Star Dream finds herself sitting at a table with the rest of her friends. The meeting was called on by Blossom Night, who slams her front hooves on the table, “Listen, girls. We have to do something about Prince Terrenus!”

The 4 other ponies look at Blossom Night with confused expressions. “What do you mean?” Amber asks.

“I mean…after what Prince Terrenus did, we need to find and get rid of him! I say we gather the Elements of Love and seal that son of a yak in stone again,” Blossom says, scowling in determination.

“I’m sure the Princess has already sent a search team out to find Prince Terrenus. But even so, without Aurora, we can’t even use the Elements of Love, right?” Hazel says, curving her eyebrows.

Blossom looks down in disappointment, “Well…we gotta do something. I don’t wanna just sit here and do nothing about that monster. What about the Elements of Harmony?”

Star Dream looks down with a deadpan expression, “That’s out of the question too.”

Blossom turns to Star with a raised eyebrow, “Why’s that?”

“Princess Celestia has possession of the Elements of Harmony. She wouldn’t let them be used against Terrenus,” Star Dream says, looking at Blossom.

Blossom is taken aback by this, “Why is that?”

Star Dream looks back down, recalling her conversation with Celestia, “I talked to the Princess. She’s…in love with the evil Prince.”

The other 4 ponies gasp in utter shock. “In love…with Terrenus? You’re kiddin’, right?” Ruby Frost says.

“Oh my, that certainly wasn’t expected,” Amber says, holding her hoof to her mouth.

“She refuses to send anypony or make any effort to catch him because she doesn’t want to take action against the pony she loves,” Star Dream says, looking up at the others.

Blossom’s eyes stay wide for a while before she snaps out of it, “It doesn’t matter! C’mon, this is Prince Terrenus! You all saw what happened! What he did to Aurora! We have to do something anyway! Now who’s with me?” Blossom Night places her hoof in the center of the table.

The ponies stand in silence, keeping their hooves on the ground and looking at Blossom Night in guilt. Blossom’s expression fades to one of surprise, “Nopony?” The rest of the ponies look away from Blossom.

“If the Princess doesn’t want us to go after him, then I don’t think we should,” Hazel says, placing a hoof on her chest.

Amber nods in agreement, “Besides, you saw how he whooped our flanks. We don’t stand a chance to do anything against him.”

“It’s worth a try. This time, we’ll get the jump on him!” Blossom says, desperate.

The ponies stay silent. Star Dream turns to Blossom, “Sorry, Blossom.”

Blossom stands there in shock before scowling, “Fine, I’ll just go alone!”

Ruby Frost leans forward in objection, “Now don’t be foolish, you can’t do that on your own!”

“What else am I gonna do? I can at least scout the monster. Figure out what he’s planning next. And if my friends won’t come, then so be it.” Blossom says as she turns around, leaving.

Blossom, having caught a ride to Ponyville, readied her stuff and set out southwestward, deciding to go around the Everfree Forest, towards the Badlands, intent on making it to Prince Terrenus’ old castle, where she believes the evil Prince will be holed up. Just as she makes her way out of Ponyville, shouting is heard from behind her, “BLOSSOM! WAIT!”

Blossom turns around to see Ruby Frost galloping towards her, “Ruby Frost? What are you doing here? I thought you and the girls were gonna watch over Aurora.”

“I’m coming with you, sugarcube,” Ruby Frost says, stopping a bit in front of Blossom.

Blossom’s eyes widen before she curves a small smile, “Thanks, Ruby.”

“I’m only comin’ on one condition. So long as we don’t hurt Terrenus, I’m with ya,” Ruby Frost says.

Blossom Night scowls, “Fine by me.”

“I wanna talk to the Prince,” Ruby says, lifting her hoof.

“TALK TO HIM?!?! Are you crazy? Have the apples finally gotten to your head?” Blossom shouts.

“If what Star Dream says is true, then it’s possible that Terrenus loves the Princess back,” Ruby Frost shouts back.

“Are you kidding me? You saw what that monster did to her! He doesn’t love her!” Blossom says.

“Star Dream was the only pony conscious when Terrenus was hurting Aurora. I asked her about what happened, because it didn’t make sense. I thought that surely he would have killed her. But…he didn’t. She said she saw Terrenus slowly let his guard down as Aurora spoke to him. She must have made him realize something. And I think that that may have been his love for Princess Celestia,” Ruby Frost says, putting on a mellow voice.

Blossom Night looks down, lifting her hoof to rub her chin as she ponders Ruby’s words. She believes it could be true, but Blossom seldom likes to work on hunches, “Are you sure?”

“No, but I believe that could be the reason Terrenus didn’t kill us,” Ruby Frost says as she begins walking down the trail, “I think it’s worth the risk.”

Blossom watches as Ruby walks along. She herself is having doubts, but decides to trust her friend. The unicorn nods, “Alright, Ruby. Let’s go.”

The two ponies proceeded on the same course they took when they set off to find the Elements of Love, proceeding through the Latigoes Swamp and over the hills bordering the Badlands. As the two ponies reach the peak of the hill that descends into the badlands, Prince Terrenus’ castle comes into view. “We’re almost there,” Blossom says.

Ruby raises her muzzle into the air, sniffing. She stops and nods, “Yup, I know that dingy ol’ smell from anywhere.”

Blossom proceeds down, “Watch your step, if you can.”

“Trust me, I know better than anypony,” Ruby says as she carefully descends behind Blossom Night.

The two mares come up to the castle, still as disheveled as when they last visited the old structure. Blossom and Ruby carefully enter the castle and freeze as they see Prince Terrenus, looking upon his throne with his flank turned to the two ponies. Blossom places her front leg in front of Ruby to prevent her from going any further. “It’s alright, Blossom. He already knows we’re here,” Ruby Frost says.

“I knew you were approaching. The grounds surrounding my castle are rooted with my vines. Nothing moves without me knowing it’s there,” Terrenus says, turning his head to face the two mares, “Why are you two here? Unless you’re stupid enough to think you can hurt me, I doubt you’re here to settle the score.”

Ruby Frost walks forward, “We’ve come to talk to you, Terrenus.”

Prince Terrenus uses his wings to rush in front of Ruby Frost at unfathomable speeds. Though the action would typically cause somepony to flinch, Ruby Frost is completely unphased, continuing to stare blindly forward. “That’s Prince Terrenus to you, Earth Pony! And do you really think you can just TALK to me? You must be dumber than you look.” Terrenus rushes back to where he was standing.

“You love Princess Celestia, don’tchya?” Ruby Frost says, walking closer towards the Prince with nearly no inhibition.

“Ruby? What are you doing? Be careful!” Blossom says with a worried expression.

“What? Where did you get that?” Terrenus says, scowling and holding back the urge to blush.

“You didn’t kill us. You left without hurtin’ us or anypony else. Even freein’ the Princesses. Was it because of something Aurora said?” Ruby Frost asks, tilting her head.

Terrenus pauses, his aggressive demeanor fading to a more neutral, yet suspicious expression, “How did you figure this out?”

“Star Dream told me. And plus, I could smell your tears when you got close to me. You were crying earlier, weren’tcha? Is it because of Princess Celestia?” Ruby Frost says, walking closer to the Prince.

Terrenus looks down and nods, “It is. All of what you asked. It’s true.”

Blossom Night goes wide-eyed, in shock that Ruby Frost was able to get this out of Terrenus.

Ruby Frost approaches the Prince, coming up just in front of him, “Why’d you do it? Why’d you go on and trap her in stone and hurt her student like ya did?”

“Tch,” Terrenus turns away, “To show her that I’m still strong.”

Ruby Frost raises her ear, “Mind Elaboratin’, hun?”

“I was mad. After all she’d caused me…I was just…mad. I wanted to show her that I’m still strong. That after all she and her student had done to me, I was still strong.” Terrenus says, gritting his teeth.

“All that she’d done to you? What did she do to you? If you don’t mind my askin’,” Ruby Frost says.

“Nevermind it. The true history of Equestria isn’t as clear-cut as you were taught,” Terrenus says, shaking his head.

“Whaddya mean by that?” Ruby Frost asks.

Terrenus growls and turns to Ruby Frost, “Why do you care? Why do you care about any of this?”

Ruby Frost gives a passionate smile, “You were stuck in the stars for over 1000 years. And sealed within stone by me and my friends. Evil or not, more than anything, you need Communication with somepony.”

Terrenus turns away, closing his eyes and sighing, “It has been…a while since I’ve had a true conversation with somepony.”

“Y’know, you don’t have to do this stuff to prove anything to her. She loves ya nonetheless. She did what she had to in order to protect her subjects. It wasn’t anything against you,” Ruby Frost says.

Terrenus uses his magic to take his crown off his head and look at it, “I know. I love Princess Celestia with all of whatever is left of my heart. I was always a problem for her. Always causing trouble. But she always put up with me.”

Ruby Frost listens intently. Blossom Night listens cautiously, still standing at the entrance. Blossom is completely taken aback that Terrenus has more layers to him than his evil side.

“Even then…I kept going. I never gave her a break. She doesn’t deserve what I put her through,” Terrenus says as he uses his magic to throw his crown to Ruby Frost, the Silver object clinking as it bounced to her.

Ruby Frost looks down, knowing the crown to be right in front of her, even if she can’t see it. She looks back up, staring in the general direction of Terrenus.

Terrenus sighs, “I’ll leave Equestria alone for now. It’s about time I learn that everything isn’t about me.”

Ruby Frost nods, “Thank ya, Terrenus.”

“Don’t thank me. I don’t deserve it. Just take that crown away from here. I don’t ever want to see it again,” Terrenus says as he flaps his wings, flying up and out of the hole in the ceiling of the castle.

Ruby Frost crouches down and picks up the crown with her teeth, putting it in her saddlebag, “I reckon we better get back to Canterlot.” Ruby Frost turns around and starts to walk out the door.

Blossom Night nods, “Y-Yeah.”

Terrenus finally landed on a higher story of the castle. The former Prince looks around at what used to be a library. Terrenus takes a step forward before he hears a voice, “That was pathetic, Uncle Terrenus.”

Terrenus turns to the shadows, where an equine figure stands, “It’s just Terrenus now. Princess Celestia and I aren’t together anymore.”

The equine steps out of the shadow, revealing it to be Lunar Eclipse, “You’re the Prince of the Earth! You should have demanded respect from those pathetic ponies!”

“What are you doing here, Lunar? You should have been dead centuries ago. How are you alive?” Terrenus asks, approaching the unicorn Princess.

“My father cast a little spell on me. Kept me dormant until he released me not too long ago. Quite pathetic how Equestria has turned out. I remember you as the once tyrannical Prince of the Earth! Now look at you, you’re a joke.” Lunar Eclipse says, scowling at the alicorn.

“Why are you here?” Terrenus asks, getting to the point.

Lunar Eclipse begins slowly walking around Terrenus, “My Father, King Sombra, has been destroyed. Without him, my magic is beginning to fail. I’ve come to you seeking your guidance.”

“Why do you think I’d help you?” Terrenus asks.

“You taught my father everything he knew. You are why he became so powerful all those centuries ago. I was hoping you could teach me to be as powerful as he once was,” Lunar Eclipse says, getting closer to Terrenus.

Terrenus sighs and walks into the library, “Follow me.”

Lunar Eclipse eagerly follows Terrenus. They arrive at a blank stone wall. Terrenus’ eyes go green as he uses Dark Magic to open a secret passageway within the wall. The two ponies walk in to find the hidden library. “Here lies many old secrets of Equestria,” Terrenus says as he uses his horn to bring down a book from one of the shelves and passes it to Lunar Eclipse.

Lunar Eclipse blows the dust off the book to view the title, “Dark Artifacts?”

“Your father didn’t get so powerful due to Dark Magic alone. He took advantage of using magical artifacts. That book will provide you with the information on finding such artifacts,” Terrenus says.

Lunar gives an evil chuckle, “I thank you, Terrenus.”

“Just get out of here. And don’t come back,” Terrenus says.

“Of course,” Lunar Eclipse says as she vanishes into a black smoke.

Road to Recovery

Aurora’s eyes open to the blurry image of a color in front of her. She blinks gently as she attempts to discern the image in front of her. Glasses slide onto her face and the image clears. A nurse pony leans in front of Aurora. The nurse smiles, “Good morning, Aurora. How’re you feeling?”

Aurora looks around slowly, “Wh-Where am I?”

“Canterlot Hospital; you were admitted here several days ago,” The nurse says.

Aurora turns to the window, partially covered by the translucent curtains which allow a mild amount of light into the room. Not enough to completely light up the room, but enough that somepony could navigate if it wasn’t for the artificial lights in the ceiling. Aurora gasps as she quickly turns to the Nurse, “What happened to Prince Terrenus? And where are my friends? Are they okay?”

“Your friends are fine,” Princess Celestia says, walking into the room.

Aurora quickly darts her attention to the Princess, “Princess Celestia…”

“Don’t worry, Aurora. All will be revealed. For now, there are some ponies who want to see you,” Celestia says, smiling gently as she turns to the door, moving to the side as to get out of the way of the doorway.

Aurora’s attention lands on the door, where her friends and Twilight stand there, looking at her in shock, relief, and happiness. The 6 ponies rush into the room, flocking around her bed. Their voices are mixed as they express cries of relief and ask her how she feels. Twilight quickly embraces Aurora with a hug, “Oh! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Aurora lets out a pained yelp.

Twilight quickly pulls out of the hug and the nurse walks forward, “Careful, she’s still hurt.”

“Sorry,” Twilight says with a guilty face.

Aurora curves a small smile, “It’s alright. The pain just took me by surprise. It wasn’t bad.”

“What’s her condition?” Celestia asks, turning to the nurse.

“She has 3 broken ribs, her right scapula has been fractured, and the same with her right humerus. She’ll be unable to walk for a few days. At least not without help,” The nurse says, pausing for a moment of hesitation before revealing the next bit of news, “And of course, there’s her horn.”

Aurora looks at the nurse in shock and confusion. Heat rushes through her face in fear as she expects the worst, “What about my horn? What happened?”

The nurse looks to the ground, hesitant to tell her fully, “Your horn has been completely shattered.”

Aurora’s irises shrink as she hears this news. It’s almost impossible for her to process, “...what…?”

“The top 4 inches of your horn has broken off. We were…unable to fix it,” The nurse says.

Aurora looks up, noticing the large bandage wrapped on her head. She quickly lifts her front legs up, attempting to grasp at the bandage in order to pull it off, ignoring the pain from her fractured bones. The nurse quickly steps forward, “No, leave the bandage on. It isn’t ready to be taken off!”

Aurora ignores the nurse, quickly ripping the bandage off and feeling the severed horn. Her eyes widen in worry as she feels a spiky, moist, and barren horn. Aurora’s breathing quickens, “S-Somepony get me a mirror!”

The ponies in the room look at each other, unsure if they should allow Aurora to see it.

“GIVE ME A MIRROR!” Aurora shouts, desperate to see the damage.

The nurse, who is a unicorn herself, uses her magic to grab a mirror from a nearby table and gently float it to Aurora.

Aurora quickly grasps onto the mirror desperately with her hooves. She lets out an audible gasp as she sees the damage. Her horn, just as she was told, has been shattered. Leaving a protrusion of spiked shards pointing out. The horn, which was not to be unbandaged, begins leaking out a small stream of blood. Everypony ignores this, instead keeping their attention on the now devastated mare. Aurora gently leans her head, getting a better view at the crater within the horn. “I’m sorry, there was nothing we could do,”

Aurora slowly puts the mirror down. She looks down to her hooves, blank in her expression. Tears slowly begin forming in Aurora’s eyes. More and more tears flow out before Aurora finally collapses her face into her hooves, beginning to bawl.

Twilight attempts to step forward in order to comfort her special somepony, however, the nurse gets in the way, “I’m sorry. I’m gonna have to ask you all to step out for a while. We need to assess her.”

Everyone in the room nods as they all walk towards the exit. Twilight is the last to leave, giving a final look at Aurora, seeing that she’s still crying. Worry sets in Twilight as she leaves, the door closing behind her.

“Are you okay? Do you still need a minute?” The nurse asks.

Aurora shakes her head, “No, I’m fine.”

“Alright then. I’m gonna have you do a few tests for me, okay?” The nurse says, keeping a mellow and comforting voice.

Aurora nods in silence, keeping a disinterested expression.

The nurse brings up a small wooden cube and places it at the foot of the bed, “Try to use your magic to lift this cube.”

Aurora looks at the cube with hesitation. She turns to the nurse, who has a clipboard and pen. She turns back to the cube and with a determined expression, scrunches her face as she musters up the effort to conjure the magic to lift the small wooden cube. Small magical sparks burst from the shattered horn. Aurora stops, gasping in exhaustion. Her attention focuses on the wooden block, which hasn’t moved an inch. She turns to the nurse, who looks down and writes on the clipboard. Aurora turns back to the cube and scowls. Her face scrunches up even more than before as she musters all her energy to try and pick up the small cube that would before have been no problem.

A magical aura forms around the cube. A glimmer of hope shines through Aurora’s eyes as she smiles. The block slowly begins levitating. Aurora’s smile fades as she looks up to see sparks bursting from the horn. The cube starts shaking rapidly before it shoots to the other side of the room, hitting the wall. Aurora lets out an audible grunt as she collapses. “Take a deep breath,” The nurse says.

Aurora sits back up, slowly steadying her breathing.

The nurse sighs, “Unfortunately, you appear to have lost nearly all filtered control of your magic.”

“Wh-What does that mean?” Aurora asks, worried.

“The horn of a Unicorn allows the pony to channel and control magic unlike a Pegasi or Earth Pony. With the horn shattered, your magic is unable to be filtered into what you want it to do, causing bursts of pure magic.” The nurse says as she walks closer to Aurora, “I’m sorry, but you can no longer use magic. At least not in a safe way you were able to before.”

Aurora looks down in sorrow, “Right…”

“With your horn shattered in this way, you can expect to experience a few health issues,” The nurse says.

“Like what?” Aurora asks, looking back up at the nurse.

“Well, for starters, magic will slowly leak out of your horn. So you’ll most likely feel fatigued for many mornings. You may experience acute migraines and minor bleeding,” The nurse says.

Aurora sighs, looking down.

“You should get some rest. Your other bones do still need to heal,” The nurse says as she walks towards the door, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call for me using the button on your left,”

Aurora turns to her left, looking at the button that the nurse is referring to. She nods slowly with a deadpan expression.

The nurse, with a sad expression herself, leaves the room.

Aurora is left to ponder what she will do next. Without being able to conjure magic like before, she will be unable to do what she has always been passionate about, Magic. Aurora curses under her breath, frustrated that this could happen. Yet, no resentment or hatred is felt towards Terrenus. Aurora carefully, trying to avoid the pain, shifts to lay on her side. Tears escape her eyes as she begins to cry.

A few days later, Aurora was finally admitted out of the hospital. The group traveled back to Ponyville, finally returning to their homes for the first time in days. “I haven’t been home since we left. Oh, it’s so good to be back. I left Spike in charge, but knowing how he cleans. We’ll have to do a little extra dusting,” Twilight says with a smile as she and Aurora walk up to the Golden Oak Library. Twilight turns around to see Aurora, who’s following behind, “Are you up for cleaning-” Twilight’s smile fades as she sees Aurora.

Aurora looks at the ground with a blank expression, “Um…sorry, I just wanna rest if that’s okay.”

Twilight gives a worried look before she gives a nervous smile, “Of course, that’s fine.” Twilight opens the door, entering with Aurora. Twilight takes a deep breath, soaking in the feeling of home. She turns to Aurora and her expression of worry comes back as Aurora walks towards the door leading to the bedroom. She has a melancholy look on her as she slowly walks into the room. Twilight follows behind, entering the room to see Aurora slowly climbing up the stairs. Aurora walks up to the bed and collapses on it with a sigh. Twilight looks up at Aurora with sympathy.

Spike walks up behind Twilight with a concerned look, “What’s wrong with Aurora?”

Twilight shakes her head, “Nothing, Spike. I think she just needs some alone time,” Twilight walks out of the room, closing the door.

Tears fall down Aurora’s eyes as she cries. She feels like she’s going to go into another crying fit, but instead, a scowl washes over her face. She raises her hoof and smashes it down into the bed. She shouts in anger as she repeats this many times. She quickly gets up and huffs in frustration. She begins pacing rapidly, “It’s not fair. IT’S NOT FAIR!!!” Aurora quickly kicks Spike’s bed across the room with her hind leg. She walks over to the stairs and kicks the potted plant sitting near the top in anger. The pot goes flying down the stairs, shattering at the bottom. Aurora proceeds to go into a raging fit. She kicks down the books from the shelves, rips down the curtain with her teeth, she throws papers out of the cupboards, and kicks down the telescope, breaking it. Aurora stomps her hoof down on the ground multiple times before she collapses onto the floor in tears.

Twilight looks up at the ceiling, having heard all the commotion. She sighs and looks at the ground, “I wish I could do something, Spike.”

“I mean…you are her girlfriend. Maybe you should talk to her,” Spike suggests.

“I don’t know if she’s in the mood to talk. I could barely get a word out of her on our trip back to Ponyville,” Twilight says as she sits at her desk, laying her head on the table with a sigh.

Spike approaches Twilight in concern, “Cheer up, Twilight. I’m sure she’ll feel better in a few days. You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right, Spike. I hope you’re right,” Twilight says, keeping her head on the table.

As the days went by, Aurora only got worse. Constant Migraines and Fatigue kept her from leaving the house. What moments she wasn’t fatigued or in pain, she was angry. She constantly would break things or knock them over in fits of rage. Twilight would attempt to comfort Aurora, only to be met with yelling from Aurora. Unable to help Aurora, Twilight sought help from Aurora’s friends.

“It’s hard to stay at the library for very long. She’s at it every day. I wish I was there for her, but she won’t let me help her. Not that I’d even know what to do. What do you think?” Twilight says as she walks towards the Golden Oak Library with Star Dream.

“Well for starters, don’t give up on her. You gotta be patient. I know I was quite like her whenever my mother passed away,” Star Dream says as she walks alongside Twilight.

The two arrive at the Golden Oak Library. Twilight opens the door, “Maybe you can relate to her and help her,” Twilight looks into the library and gasps.

Books are scattered across the floor, having been taken from the shelves. Aurora sits on the floor, quickly flipping through one with her hoof, “Come on, come on! There’s gotta be a spell or some sort of herb or something.”

Twilight walks in with a state of shock, she looks at the books, many of which are torn. Twilight scowls angrily, “THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD IT!”

Aurora turns to Twilight in shock.

“You keep damaging my stuff. You won’t even allow me to help you. I’ve tried being patient with you, Aurora. But I can’t do this! Get out!” Twilight yells, pointing to the door.

“What?” Aurora says as she stands up.

“It’s just a stupid horn, Aurora!” Twilight yells as she uses magic to grab Aurora and throw her out of the Library.

Aurora lands on her hooves and looks at Twilight in shock. She slowly scowls, “JUST A HORN? MAGIC WAS MY LIFE, TWILIGHT! YOU OF ALL PONIES SHOULD KNOW THIS!”

“THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN JUST DESTROY MY STUFF LIKE THIS!” Twilight yells.

Aurora rolls her eyes and turns away, walking south.

Twilight catches her breath and sighs in relief.

Star Dream facehooves, “And you gave up on her.”

Twilight’s eyes widen, “Oh, what have I done?”

“Come on, Zecora! You’re my last chance. Surely you could mix up a brew or potion to help me get my horn back,” Aurora says desperately as she stands at the doorstep of Zecora’s hut.

Zecora stands in the doorway, “For your situation, I do mourn. However, I will be unable to get you back your horn.”

“Please, Zecora! There has to be something you can do,” Aurora says.

“I see that you are quite dissonant. Therefore, I believe I can show you something that may help with your predicament,” Zecora says as she walks into the hut.

“Oh, thank you, Zecora! You don’t know how much this would mean to me,” Aurora says, walking into the hut.

Zecora picks out a few bottles and begins pouring them in her cauldron, “Your gratitude you can hold, for the answer I have for you has yet to be told.”

“Um…come again? Sorry, I don’t speak rhymes,” Aurora says as she approaches Zecora.

Zecora tears a thread of Aurora’s mane off her head.

“Ow! Hey, what was that for?” Aurora asks.

Zecora throws the hair in the cauldron, “For the brew. I will need it for the spell to know that it is you.”

“Okay…so what are you making exactly?” Aurora asks, approaching the cauldron.

“The brew you lay your eyes on is a special recipe. Lay your eyes on it and tell me what you see,” Zecora says.

Aurora leans forward, seeing the bubbling brew create a layer of mist. Her eyes widen as she sees 6 Pony figures in the mist. “To get back your horn that you so wish to fix, you must first unite the six,” Zecora says.

“Unite the six? What does that mean?” Aurora asks.

“The brew’s mist you must not miss, or else the answer will seem amiss,” Zecora says.

Aurora quickly looks back down at the brew, “Right.”

“Seven ponies divided by hate, will come together to seal your fate,” Zecoora says as above the 6 pony figures, a singular unicorn rises above them. The mist disperses.

Aurora looks up in confusion, “Um…what did that have to do with my horn?”

“Did you not listen to the words I uttered? Within the brew, your problem was answered,” Zecora says.

“But I didn’t need anything answered! I wanted to get my horn back! But you just wasted my time with some obscure nonsense!” Aurora says, agitated.

Zecora shakes her head, “This is the problem with you pony folk. You ignore what I say and treat me like a joke.”

“WELL MAYBE IF YOU SPOKE NORMALLY FOR ONCE, WE COULD UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE SAYING!!!” Aurora yells, getting up in Zecora’s face. She turns and exits the hut, “Ugh! This has been a waste of time!”

Zecora approaches the exit and watches Aurora leave with a headshake.

Aurora leans against the counter in Galabella Apples. She sighs deeply as she chugs the apple cider within her mug. She slams the mug down, “Another.”

Ruby Frost sighs, “I get that our apple cider is really good. But that’s your fourth servin’. I think you’ve had enough.”

“Ruby, I just need to have some relief,” Aurora says looking up.

Ruby sighs and takes a bottle out from under the counter and pours it into Aurora’s mug.

“I thought Granny Smith didn’t allow apple cider to be bottled,” Aurora says.

“She doesn’t,” Ruby Frost says as she places the bottle back under the counter.

“Then how come you’re serving it from bottles?” Aurora asks.

“This is Galabella Apple cider. Our orchard is run independently of Sweet Apple Acres. My ma thought the idea of making apple cider exclusive to one time of the year was silly. Sure, it loses a bit of its flavor, but it’s not too much to make it undrinkable,” Ruby says.

Aurora nods and takes a drink of her cider.

“Talk to me, Aurora. I hate that you’re like this,” Ruby says, leaning onto the counter.

Aurora sighs, “Ruby, you know what’s wrong.”

“Yeah, but I want you to talk about it. Applejack told me what happened between you and Twilight. I think you just need to talk to somepony who’s…not Twilight,” Ruby says.

Aurora looks down, “Without my horn, I’ve lost something so integral to my life. Magic is my entire life. Ever since I was a filly, it’s all I ever focused on. Without it, I have nothing.”

Ruby Frost nods, “I understand how you feel, Aurora.”

Aurora scowls, “How could you understand how I feel?”

“Aurora, I wasn’t always blind,” Ruby Frost says.

Aurora’s scowl fades as she goes wide-eyed.

Ruby Frost smiles, “When I was a little filly, several weeks after my pa passed away, I was out bucking for apples. Just a typical day’s work, when suddenly, I encountered a beautiful Gala Apple Tree. Perfect apples all throughout. It was fairly large, so when I bucked it, nothing budged. So I kept at it. Bucking and bucking until finally, I heard rattling. I looked up to see a weakened branch snap off the tree. It was on the brink of falling and was huge. My bucking caused it to fall. I was unable to jump out of the way and it collapsed right on my face.”

“Oh…” Aurora utters.

“I was rushed to Ponyville Hospital as soon as my ma and brother found me. But…the damage left me permanently blind. So more than anypony you know, I understand what you’re going through. As hard as it is to accept, you’re just gonna have to move on,” Ruby says.

“That’s easy for you to say, Ruby. You still have apples. You didn’t lose a central part of yourself. Sure, it became harder. But at least you were still able to do it,” Aurora says.

“Actually, you’re wrong, Aurora. I did lose a central part of myself,” Ruby says.

Aurora raises an eyebrow.

“My life wasn’t just about apples. I also painted beautiful portraits. Things that I saw, I painted or drew them. Without my vision, I was unable to do that,” Ruby says.

Aurora looks down in sorrow.

“The fact is, Aurora. You just have to accept it and move on. It’ll be better for you and everypony else. It sucks, I know. But there’s nothing’ you can do about it,” Ruby Frost says.

Aurora sighs and nods, “You’re right, Ruby,” Aurora gets up and walks towards the door. Before she exits, she smiles and looks back, “Thanks, Ruby. You’re a great friend.”

Ruby smiles and tips her hat.

Twilight picks up the final book and places it on the shelf where it belongs. Twilight sighs deeply, thinking of Aurora and the things she said to her. Her ears spring up as she hears the front door open. She turns to see Aurora, who’s looking at the ground in guilt. Twilight puts on a neutral expression as she is unsure how to feel about seeing Aurora. Aurora slowly approaches Twilight, “Twilight, I’m sorry for what I did and how I acted over the past few days. It was wrong of me to damage your stuff. And I should have allowed you to help me. I realize now that my horn is gone and I just have to accept that and move on.”

Twilight gives a small smile, “Oh, Aurora, I should apologize too.”

Aurora is taken by surprise, “What? What for?”

“For what I said to you. It was wrong of me to say that it was just a stupid horn. I understand that magic was a huge part of your life. And I disrespected that all because I was angry,” Twilight says as she walks up to Aurora.

Aurora smiles, “I guess we can call ourselves even?”

Twilight smiles too, “Yeah.”

Aurora leans in and kisses Twilight on the lips.

The two end the kiss and Twilight gives a cheeky smile, “I have a feeling that the two of us learned a lesson that we should write to the Princess about.”

Aurora nods, “Good idea.”

Aurora sits on the bed and uses her hoof to open the bedside drawer. There, she takes out the book with her cutie mark on it. Twilight raises an eyebrow, “What’s that?”

Aurora looks up at Twilight, who sits next to her, “Huh? Princess Celestia never gave you one of these?”

“Not that I know of. What is it?” Twilight asks.

Aurora opens the book and flips to the next blank page, “If I write something in this book, it’ll appear on a book that the Princess has. It’s how I write letters to her.”

“Oh, guess that explains why I didn’t get one. I always had Spike to send letters for me,” Twilight says with a smile.

Aurora smiles before turning to the bedside table. She grabs a quill with her mouth and begins writing on the book.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned an important lesson in not just Love…but life. Sometimes in life, you’re dealt a bad hand. And though it is unfortunate, you should never take it out on those who love you.

When something bad happens in life, sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone around you is accept it and move on.

Signed,

Your Faithful Students, Aurora Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle

Town of Hate - Part 1

The moon shines brightly above the small town, illuminating what little area of land that the city, with its less than 100 populous, has. Thunder crackles in the air as distant clouds crawl slowly towards the sky above. Angry cries echo through the city, erupted by all the inhabitants of the small town. As all the inhabitants shout and scream at each other, on singular cloaked pony walks among them, unaffected by the apparent mass hysteria. The pony slowly turns to watch each individual. A grin forms across their face, followed by a chuckle.

“Twilight! Where are my quills?” Aurora calls out as she rustles through a drawer.

Twilight takes a package from the mailpony and closes the door, turning to Aurora as she takes the package to her desk, “I left them on the bedside table. Your side. Sorry, I thought you’d find them there.”

Aurora quickly dashes into the bedroom. She climbs up the stairs to the elevated position where the bed and tables sit. She quickly spots the quills and attempts to use magic to pick them up. Sparks burst from the unicorn’s shattered horn. She looks up in disappointment and sighs. With a heavy heart, she picks up the quills with her mouth. She carefully makes her way downstairs, “Thanks, Twilight,” Aurora packs the quills into a saddlebag resting next to Twilight’s desk.

“Why is Princess Celestia requesting your presence so late anyway?” Twilight asks, raising an eyebrow.

“She said it was an emergency. She also said to pack my things, as I’m probably going to be away for a couple days,” Aurora says as she looks up to Twilight. Her attention quickly turns to the package she received from the mailpony, “What’s that?”

Twilight smiles excitedly, “It’s a special delivery from the Princess.”

Aurora quickly becomes interested, “Oh, really? Open it.”

Twilight quickly rips open the package to find a letter and an old book. Twilight quickly brings the letter up to read it, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, the spell contained on the last page of this book is Star Swirl the Bearded’s secret unfinished masterpiece.”

“Woah! Really?” Aurora says, excitedly.

Twilight herself looks at the book with excitement before turning her attention back to the letter, “He was never able to get it right and thus abandoned it. I believe you are the only pony who can understand and rewrite it. Signed, Princess Celestia.”

“That’s amazing. Try to cast it,” Aurora says.

Twilight flips to the last page of the book, taking a gander at the spell, “I guess I could try. From one to another, another to one. A mark of one’s destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.”

Aurora and Twilight wait for a moment before Twilight breaks the silence, “That didn’t make any sense. It doesn’t even rhyme.”

“And it doesn’t appear to have done anything,” Aurora says.

“Hm, maybe I’ll try to finish it sometime. If I can even figure out what it was supposed to do,” Twilight says as she places the book on her desk.

Aurora walks to her saddlebag and quickly puts it on. She turns to Twilight and gives a little pose, “How do I look?”

Twilight turns to Aurora and eyes her from head to hoof. She gives a passionate smile and walks up to her, “As beautiful as always,” She plants a kiss on Aurora’s cheek, “Whatever you do, be safe, okay?”

Aurora smiles and plants a quick kiss on Twilight’s lips, “I will.” Aurora walks towards the door, “Bye!”

“Bye.” Twilight says with a smile as Aurora exits the Golden Oak Library. She yawns, “It’s about time I get some shut eye.”

Aurora Shimmer, with her friends; Blossom Night, Amber Gem, Star Dream, Hazel Bloom, and Ruby Frost, takes the train to Canterlot. The group quickly made their way to the Canterlot Castle. The door opens and the 6 Ponies walk in. Celestia stands up from her throne and quickly walks down to their level, along with Princess Luna. “I thank all of you for coming on such short notice,” Princess Celestia says.

“Hey, the Princess calls us to her presence; ‘course we’re gonna be there in a heartbeat,” Blossom Night says.

“What is it, Princess? Is it Terrenus?” Aurora asks.

Celestia shakes her head, “I wish I were able to tell you. But the problem is that I’m unsure of what it is,” Celestia turns to Luna, “Tell them, sister.”

Princess Luna steps forward, “While scouting through the ponies of Equestria’s dreams, I came to discover something terrible. A small town, home to less than 100 ponies, is in great turmoil.”

The 6 ponies look at Luna with concern. “What sort of turmoil?” Ruby Frost asks.

“The residents of this small town have grown incredibly bitter towards each other. Every single resident appears to be under some sort of hex,” Luna says.

“So? All the townsfolk are mad at each other. What’s so strange about that?” Blossom Night says.

“It is not normal for a level of disharmony between ponies to exist at this scale. Every one of the ponies is experiencing some kind of bitter resentment for one another,” Celestia says, stepping forward.

“Many of the ponies dreamed of the arguments they had on that day. When I asked them why they were troubled, each one was angry over some trivial matter involving some pony they had a close bond with,” Luna says.

“What could this mean?” Aurora asks, giving a worried expression.

“The townsfolk could be under some sort of hex that is making them act this way. That is why we have called upon you 6. We believe you all can get to the bottom of this,” Celestia says.

“Why us? You usually call upon Twilight and her group of friends for this stuff,” Blossom Night says, raising an eyebrow.

“You six have experience with this sort of thing, do you not? If I recall, it is you group of ponies who together defeated Prince Terrenus when he returned,” Luna says.

“Well yeah, but that’s because Twilight’s group and the Elements of Harmony were unavailable. Why choose us specifically for this mission?” Blossom says.

Celestia turns to Luna for a moment before turning back to the ponies, “I believe the problem within this town is something that you six will be better suited to handle. However, I will not assign this mission to you without your permission. So I ask, are you six up to the task?”

The 6 ponies look at each other with determination and nod. They all turn to the Princesses, displaying the same expressions of determination. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we won’t let you down!” Aurora says.

Celestia smiles, “Then you must go at once.”

“The town is located north of Canterlot, east of Galloping Gorge. We will have you all escorted to the outskirts of the town via a chariot in the morning. You should all get some rest now. You have a big day ahead of you,” Luna says.

The 6 Ponies had a good night’s rest, ready for the challenge they are about to receive. Morning came and the mares were put on 3 different chariots, 2 ponies per chariot, pulled by a pair of Royal Pegasus Guards. Star Dream sits beside Aurora Shimmer as the unicorn looks at the ground, deep in thought. “So what do you think?” Star Dream asks.

“Huh?” Aurora turns her attention to Star Dream, “What did you say?”

“I said: What do you think? A town full of ponies who suddenly started hating each other. What do you think it could be?” Star Dream asks.

Aurora places a hoof on her chin, “I don’t know. But I hypothesize that somepony is spreading misinformation.”

“You really think it could be a case of somepony just spreading gossip? I know some ponies are gullible, but that just doesn’t seem like it would have enough effect to cause the entire town to act this way,” Star Dream says.

“I’m not sure. But it is just a hypothesis. Perhaps it is what Princess Celestia suggested, a hex,” Aurora says.

“We’ll have to keep our eyes out, then. Once we’re there, we must leave no stone unturned. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this!” Star Dream says, smacking her hooves together.

“Right, of course!” Aurora says with a determined nod.

The 6 Ponies are dropped off not too far from the town, where it is visible. The chariots ride away and the mares begin their walk to the town. As the 6 enter the town, their mouths open agape. Ponies left and right shout at each other. “Oh my, it’s worse than I imagined,” Hazel Bloom says.

“Tell me about it. I’ve never seen such heated ponies,” Amber says.

“It’s like they all took on the personality of Blossom Night,” Ruby Frost says.

Blossom turns to Ruby Frost with an offended expression, “Hey!”

Ruby Frost chuckles, “I’m kiddin’. Mostly.”

“I only get angry over stuff that matters. These ponies are at each other’s throats for a bunch of petty nonsense,” Blossom says, turning to the ponies of the town.

The ponies stop and face forward as a Pegasus stallion walks towards them with a jolly expression. He has a lime green coat, he has chateau green curly hair with a white streak in it, his eyes are a bright orange, on his head sits a dark green top hat with a four leaf clover on it, and his cutie mark is a bit with a four leaf clover design on it. “Top of the mornin’ to ya, fillies. Welcome to the lovely town of Grazington. The name’s Clover Glow, I’m the mayor of this little town. Is there anything I can help ya with?” The stallion says.

Blossom Night leans into Hazel Bloom’s ear, “What the heck did he just say? He has a weird accent.”

Hazel bumps Blossom with a small scowl, “Don’t be rude.”

Star Dream walks forward, “Good morning. My name is Star Dream,” Star points to her friends sequentially, “This is Hazel Bloom, Blossom Night, Aurora Shimmer, Amber Gem, and Ruby Frost,” Aurora turns back to the mayor, “We’re here on Royal Duties of the Princess.”

Clover Glow goes wide-eyed in surprise, “Royal Duties of the Princess? Well whatever for?”

“It is our understanding that the town has had…tensions within the citizens,” Star Dream says.

Clover gives a concerned look as he turns to the townsfolk spread across the small area, “I see, so it's come to the attention of the Princesses?”

“We’ve come here to get to the bottom of what’s causing it. And maybe, put a stop to it,” Aurora says.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s a solvable problem. Things around the town have just been tense recently. It’s no biggie,” Clover says.

“You mean to say that you haven’t noticed anything strange recently? Something that could be related?” Aurora says.

Clover places a hoof on his chin, thinking deeply, “Well…a new pony has moved into the town. She lives in a small caravan in the northwest part of town.”

Aurora nods and turns to her friends, “Alright, girls. We have our first lead. I suggest we all split up. One group will investigate the rest of the town, and the other will investigate the caravan.”

Star Dream nods, “Good idea. I’ll look around for any other leads. Who’s with me?”

“I’ll go with you. I’d love to see a little more of the town,” Amber says, flicking her mane.

“If you’re gonna be lookin’ around town, you could use a good nose,” Ruby Frost says.

Aurora turns to Blossom Night and Hazel Bloom, “I guess that means you two will come with me to the caravan.”

“Sounds good to me,” Blossom says as she turns to Hazel.

“Mhm!” Hazel nods.

“We’ll meet here in the town square in 3 hours,” Star Dream says.

The 6 ponies all put their hooves together and harmoniously cheer, “RIGHT!”

Aurora Shimmer, Blossom Night, and Hazel Bloom all head to the northwest part of the town and find the caravan. As the ponies approach the caravan, Blossom Night raises her eyebrow, “Huh…anyone else getting a familiar feeling from this caravan?”

Aurora tilts her head, focusing on the caravan, “I don’t know. I guess it kinda does.”

The three ponies stop as they come up to the caravan. Hazel Bloom places her hoof on her chin, “Hmmmmm, it doesn’t ring a bell for me.”

Blossom Night places her hoof on the caravan, “Strange. I feel like I’ve seen this before. But I can’t put my hoof on where.”

“Well, anyway, we should knock on it to see if anypony is inside,” Aurora says, approaching the door.

Blossom Night nods, “Yeah.”

Aurora knocks on the door, prompting movement to be heard. “Who’s there?” the pony in the caravan says. They have a raspy female voice.

Blossom Night’s eyes widen as she hears her voice.

“We just want to ask you a few questions,” Aurora says.

Some shuffling is heard as the door opens, revealing the pony to be none other than Trixie Lulamoon. Aurora and Blossom gasp. “Trixie!” Blossom says aggressively.

Trixie rubs her eyes, “What is it? I was in the middle of a well deserved nap.”

Aurora scowls, “Trixie! Why am I not surprised?”

Trixie goes wide-eyed as she sees Aurora in full, “Aurora Shimmer?!”

“It seems we’ve got our culprit!” Blossom says, walking up to Trixie.

“Culprit?!” Trixie says, confused, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb, Trixie! You’re the one responsible for all the fighting going on in this town, aren’t you?” Blossom shouts.

Trixie looks at Blossom Night, offended, “I have done no such thing!”

“Um…who is this pony exactly?” Hazel Bloom asks with a confused expression.

Blossom and Aurora turn to Hazel in shock. “What? You don’t know who Trixie is?” Aurora asks.

Hazel Bloom shakes her head.

Blossom turns back to Trixie, “I guess you weren’t at Ponyville when it happened. This lunatic tried to take over the whole town with a gem that increased her magical abilities!”

Trixie sighs, “Yes, that is true. But I’ve since repented for my actions. And I am truly sorry for what I did.”

“You’re just saying that!” Blossom says angrily.

“I don’t know, she sounded sincere to me,” Hazel says with a smile.

Trixie gives a smile, “Hmph, thank you.”

“No offense, Hazel. But you don’t have the best judgment of character,” Blossom says, turning to Hazel.

“That may be true. But she at least deserves the chance to be heard out. We don’t have any proof that she’s the one causing the trouble in this town,” Hazel says.

Blossom contemplates Hazel’s words, knowing that she is indeed correct. Blossom gives an angered sigh as she steps away from Trixie.

Trixie gives another smile, “At least somepony here is reasonable. What’s your name?”

“I’m Hazel Bloom,” Hazel says, walking closer to Trixie.

“Pleasure to meet you, Hazel Bloom. You may call me the Great and Powerful Trixie! The greatest traveling magician in all of Equestria!” Trixie boasts.

“Yeah, if you ignore the hundreds of ponies that are way better,” Blossom scoffs, rolling her eyes.

“Still a grumpy ol’ mule I see, Blossom Night. You know, I know a few ponies who could help you get your attitude under control,” Trixie says.

“Shove it, Trixie,” Blossom says.

“Listen, Trixie. I’m sure you noticed. The entire town is in a state of disharmony. We’ve been sent by the Princesses to find out what it is and stop it. Do you have any clues as to what it could be?” Aurora says.

Trixie shakes her head, “Unfortunately, no.”

Aurora sighs and looks down, “Well, that’s okay.”

Trixie goes wide-eyed as she looks at Aurora, “Hey, wait a second. What happened to your horn?”

Aurora looks up at her horn, “Oh, yeah, it was shattered.”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,” Trixie says with a sympathetic tone.

“It’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it, mostly,” Aurora says with a chuckle.

Trixie puts on a determined face as she steps forward, “I would like to help you figure out what’s going on in this town.”

The ponies go wide-eyed. “Oh, no…that’s okay, Trixie,” Aurora says.

“Please, I insist. It’s the least I can do to make up for what I did in Ponyville,” Trixie says.

Aurora smiles and nods, “Alright then.”

Blossom is taken aback, “What? No way!”

“Afraid that I will outshine you, Blossom? I don’t blame you,” Trixie says.

“No, I just don’t trust you. How do we know you’re not just helping us to escape suspicion?” Blossom says, getting up in Trixie’s face.

“Please, if I were guilty of doing all this. I would have fled town long ago,” Trixie says, rolling her eyes.

Aurora’s eyes widen, “That’s it! Whoever caused this must have left before we came here.”

Blossom turns to Aurora in realization, “You’re right. So then that means…”

“The only thing we can do is piece it together and solve it. We won’t be able to catch who’s behind it. If it is anypony at all,” Aurora says.

To Be Continued…