Fall of Harmony

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.