Twilight Sparkle had hated her parents for a long time. As an alicorn and a princess, it was only natural that they would do everything to protect her. That they would do too much.
Twilight Sparkle was cursed. She was trapped in a castle, surrounded by traps and threats meant to keep anyone away from her. Her curse was simple; she couldn’t leave until her true love came to her rescue, fought through all the challenges, and killed the dragon guarding her. Only then she would be free to explore the world once again.
Only a knight strong enough to kill a dragon was fit to marry her was what her parents said before trapping her in this big and empty castle. Twilight hated them for it. As long as she was cursed, she couldn’t leave. She couldn’t even die. Waiting was all she could do in this empty castle.
The dragon, known as Fear Thunder by her kingdom, was cursed. The dragon’s curse was simple; it had to guard the castle and keep everyone away from Princess Twilight. Only by dying, it would be free of its curse. Only when Princess Twilight was freed, the dragon would be too. Only when the Princess’ true love would kill it, its curse would be broken.
Old age couldn’t kill Fear Thunder. Old age couldn’t break its curse. No matter where the dragon was, it would be forced to return to the castle after a few hours, making it its prison. Fear Thunder also hated Twilight Sparkle’s parents.
Two souls. Two curses. But only one needed to be broken for both to be freed.
Both of them waited, but both of them waited for two different reasons. Twilight waited for her true love. Fear Thunder waited for its enemies.
Against all odds, Twilight Sparkle was keenly aware of the identity of her true love. She held unwavering certainty that they would ultimately arrive. She waited patiently for her lover to come as it was the only thing she could do when trapped in this castle.
Of course, she wasn’t waiting so the curse would be broken. She didn’t need the curse to be broken as long as she could still be with the one she loved. The parents she hated for so long certainly didn’t expect something like this. What they wanted was a great prince or knight in shining armor to kill Fear Thunder and make the princess come back to the kingdom with a husband under her wing. However, Twilight had long abandoned reclaiming her freedom. The allure of freedom had simply ceased to captivate her.
Fear Thunder was the last of its kind. The last storm dragon to ever live. Yet, it was bound to a castle, to a single alicorn princess, cursed to protect her until the end of its days… Which would never come as long as every suitor was destroyed. It hated Twilight Sparkle’s parents for trapping it in this endless cycle. A part of it wished to be killed and be done with it at some point. But the will to live remained strong as it found solace in something else. Something that would make eternity a little more enjoyable. Strangely, the princess’ parents did not expect that.
Occasionally, Fear Thunder would leave to search for food before being forcibly called back. Not that it could even die of starvation. One would think that this would be the ideal opportunity for the Princess to escape or for a suitor to rescue her. They could not be more wrong.
Both curses would only end at Fear Thunder’s death. Once its blood was spilled, both of the prisoners would be freed.
Princess Twilight could only wait for her lover to come as they promised her they will. She didn’t want them to free her, and she didn’t want them to try. She was fine with living like this. After a while, you got used to it. After a while, you wouldn’t hate your parents as much.
In that boring castle, waiting was all she had left because she got tired of everything else after the first two decades. She read every book and counted every stone making up the castle and every blade of grass in the garden. She sew every dress possible and studied every magic tome. As expected, none of them told her how to break curses. Not that it mattered. These particular curses could only be broken by one thing only: the dragon’s death. Twilight didn’t care much about freedom anymore, but she couldn’t deny that there was still hate for her parents within her heart.
It was as if she waited for an eternity to end; however, a sound she hadn’t heard in years resonated through her room. It was the sound of someone galloping outside the castle and near her tower. By the sound, it was obvious that this pony was not Twilight’s true love. Believe her, she would recognize the sound her lover would make when they would finally arrive.
Nonetheless, she was intrigued by this newcomer. So she walked to her window and peeked her head out of it.
“My Lady! My Dear Princess! My Twilight Sparkle!” The presumptuous knight declared as he stepped forward. The alicorn’s tower wasn’t as tall as you would expect. Mostly because it was only a tiny part of a gigantic castle. Yet that pony managed to find where she stayed, and it could be commanded. Narrowing her eyes, she was able to see and inspect the knight’s appearance. He wore heavy armor, yet she could recognize that it was a bulky stallion with a white coat and a long blonde mane. It was also a unicorn. How rare for a unicorn to be a knight…”I am Prince Blueblood! Nephew of Queen Celestia of the Daybreak Kingdom!” He announced proudly.
Huh. So it was a prince. She remembered Queen Celestia’s name. She was also an alicorn and once ruled with her sister over the Equestrian Kingdom before they split off into two nations. Daybreak and Moona.
“Welcome, Prince Blueblood. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Velvet Kingdom!” Twilight introduced herself as the prince smiled, showing all his white shiny teeth. “May I know the reason for your visit, my Prince?” She addressed him politely, making him puff up his chest.
“To rescue you, of course! What other reason could there be? I will break the curse and take you to my kingdom to make you my bride!” He declared confidently while the alicorn looked uncertain.
“I expected that answer, but know that many have tried and failed. To break the curse, you must kill…” She began only for Blueblood to laugh and rub his chin.
“I am wondering what would be the perfect date for our wedding… I already know one thing! You shall be my 8th and most prized wife! I am coming, Princess!” He shouted before dropping his shield and sword, then grabbed a rope with his magic. Twilight stepped back from the window as the rope attached itself to the ledge thanks to the prince’s magic.
“8th wife? This…” Twilight wanted to argue, outraged but calmed herself. “This is not how it works, my Prince!” She said through her gritted teeth while the princes were beginning to get into position to climb. “I cannot be freed until the mighty dragon is killed! Moreover, it can only be done by my True Love! Do you think you are the chosen one?”
“Well, of course, I am! I believe you are a gem that was born only so she could marry me!” Blueblood replied arrogantly. “First, I shall get you out of here, then I will slay Fear Thunder!” The stallion promised as Twilight sighed.
“If you’re truly willing to put your life on the line to save me, my Prince, then…” Twilight began while trying her best to stay polite and show she had manners, only to be cut off.
“Now, now! Silence! This shall be immortalized as my moment of glory! Only I may talk so that my first words after I have delivered you will be written in history books!” Blueblood interrupted the princess, who simply shook her head. As the prince finally placed his hooves on the rope, ready to ride it up with his magic, a monstrous roar interrupted him.
“It seems your challenger has arrived,” Twilight commented while looking at the sky. “You shouldn’t worry too much about him,” She added as the prince’s blood froze the second the beast landed.
What did she mean “You shouldn’t worry too much about him”? How was he not supposed to worry when the beast was gigantic! Did she actually believe he could defeat the dragon? It had four legs, one of which was placed atop the princess’ tower while two others were on the castle’s walls. Fear Thunder easily towered over any creature Blueblood had seen until now, a single one of his claws was nearly the size of a pony! More fascinatingly, it had vibrant blue scales and its underbelly was rainbow-colored. Its mighty tail wrapped around Twilight’s tower as Fear Thunder’s red eyes glared at the prince.
That stare alone nearly made Blueblood puke as shivers went down his spine. He was almost frozen in pure terror before his eyes landed on Princess Twilight again. He could not give up, now! He clenched his teeth, grabbed his shield and sword, and got into a combat stance.
“I am Prince Blueblood! And I have come to rescue Princess Twilight Sparkle! Face me, beast! And meet your doom!” Blueblood screamed as Fear Thunder released a low growl, which sounded annoyed more than anything.
Yet as the stallion was approaching his enemy, with his sword raised, the dragon felt burning anger deep inside its belly. And it was time to release it! It took a deep breath, kept it in for a second, then breathed everything out. A stream of fire escaped from his throat and completely engulfed the unicorn that came to rescue the princess. No scream could even be heard as the dragon’s flames burned him to ashes nearly instantly and only left dust behind.
After the flames had subsided, the landscape revealed naught but a sprawling path of scorched earth and charred grass. With a contented snort, the dragon descended the castle walls and alighted gracefully on the ground below, fixing its gaze upon the alicorn princess. Gradually, it lifted its head, extending its snout partially through Twilight's window.
The alicorn smiled affectionately as she ran up to it and hugged its snout.
“Thank you… For protecting me,” She thanked it, pressing her forehead against the dragon’s snout. No further words were exchanged, yet Twilight was able to decipher what it wanted to say. Their bond was deeper than you would think and communicating with each other had become as easy as breathing.
In days long past, Fear Thunder was a ferocious dragon who burned cities and forests. To anyone, it was a heartless monster. A killing machine. But to Twilight, the dragon was not an “it”, but a “she”.
To Twilight, her name was not Fear Thunder, but Rainbow Dash because of her underbelly and her incredible speed when flying. She hadn’t considered her a jailor for a long time. At some point, the princess understood that Rainbow was as much of a prisoner as she was.
I love you
A single thought, yet Twilight Sparkle could hear it as if it was spoken. Her true love came back.
Two curses. One was cursed to be imprisoned forever unless delivered by her true love. The other was cursed to be killed.
At some point, their curses became blessings. They were destined to spend an eternity intertwined, for they had discovered their true love within one another.
At some point, their prison became their home.
And at some point, they forgave Twilight Sparkle’s parents.
