Harmony’s Hate

Jewel looked outside the window. The tapestry of Equestrian landmarks passed by while he sat still waiting for the train to take him to his destination.

But he didn’t care for the view. He was bothered thinking about Twilights judgmental expression when he boarded the train a few hours ago. Of course he knew why.

Twilight knew something was wrong with him. And Jewel was consistently pushing her away, keeping his troubles as far from her and her friends as he could. It wasn’t a battle they could fight.

He looked through his bag taking out the most important things for the venture. Two letters and a book. One of the letters was from Twilight; she asked him to deliver it to her brother who apparently was the general of the Canterlotian guards, who were sent as back-up to the Empire. Apparently his task was to revive the Crystal Guard. He didn’t understand why Twilight had asked him to deliver it instead of giving it to the post. Did she want to save money? No, that didn’t fit Twilight.

She probably wanted them to meet. But for what purpose?

He stashed Twilight’s letter away, before he opened the second letter. That one was from his parents, delivered to him by Derpy the previous day. It did have the seal, notifying the delivery pony that they had paid extra for a special deal.

It was the third time he was reading it.

“Hi, Little Jewel!

We hope this letter finds you well.
The days have been quite busy for us. Yes, we are still looking for clues in Canterlot but the Saloon has been pretty full recently—not to mention your mothers weakened state.

She’s doing alright—she’d be offended if you thought otherwise. But between you and me, we know she isn’t as fit as she used to be. I’m doing my best to secretly keep her away from the more exhausting tasks.

We met your old therapist. She was wondering how you are holding up. We informed her that you are much better off than when you started. She seemed relieved to hear that.

Well, that’s all I have to say about our situation. We found the book that mentions Blackheart, which is the main reason we sent you this letter.

He was apparently a duke in Canterlot, before he was sent as a delegation to the Crystal Empire. Their goal was to welcome the new ruler of the Crystal Empire and to ensure lasting alliance with him.

Canterlot has lost contact with them for two years, which urged the princesses to travel to the empire for themselves. They found out about King Sombra’s tyranny, which urged them to rid him of his physical form and banish him below the ice.

It’s not really known what happened to the delegation, but the book says that the most accepted theory is that they died.

There is only this much I can say in the letter, but I bought the book for you so you can study it for yourself. I was never as good at those detective games as you are. We know, you will probably be fine on your own, but we are still worried.

You told us about this magician friend of yours in Ponyville. You should probably tell them about the curse, their insight will most likely be useful. I know you don’t want to bring outsiders to this issue but you can’t fight every war on your own, Jewel. You have to be ready to accept help.

We plan on visiting you in Ponyville before your mother gets too weak to travel. We need to spend some time together, it might make you feel better.

With love
Your parents Brighthoof and Merryhoof

P.S Be careful, my little Jewel.”

Jewel smiled. A warm feeling overcame his heart, before he stashed the letter safely back inside his bag. Then he took out the book his parents sent him together with the letter.

It was a big, red leather-bound book. Golden lines decorated the edges while also making up the title of One Thousand Years of History by P.V. Heart. Pretty generic title in Jewels opinion. He read it the night before right after he came back from Twilight’s library.

The author’s name made him a bit uneasy. It was not impossible for it to be written by one of his ancestors, but it also may have been a random pony who happened to share a name with his family. Lyra was a good example of that. Her surname was Hearstrings, but Jewel was sure Lyra was not related to his mother.

What if Lyra is related to Heartstrings?
That would explain how she managed to get her Anthropology books.

She probably got lucky with the buyer. There are a lot of ponies who sell old books without realizing their value.

It’s highly unlikely; these books are infamous.
Even more than Fillyta.

Fillyta is only controversial because not everyone has the literacy to read a story about abuse, from the perspective of the abuser. Noboclop was a genius who managed to write a compelling story about the mental gymnastics needed for the main character to try to justify his awful actions. This story was made to make you feel uncomfortable, and it succeeded.

You are oddly defensive about it.

It’s because I can see the intent behind the book.

He looked down at One Thousand Years of History. The book may not have been as controversial as Fillyta, but it was really close. From what he found out, Blackheart was a duke in Canterlot 1000 years ago. The book itself wasn’t very helpful in explaining what was happening in the Crystal Empire, but he knew it was impossible for Blackheart to have died while imprisoned by Sombra. The book explicitly stated he had no heirs when he was sent as a delegation.

But the book still intrigued Jewel. Not for the history, but for the author's own agenda. They definitely had some unhealthy obsession with dark magic. Almost a third of the entire book was him rambling on about the philosophy and techniques of those forbidden spells—not to mention his weird fascination with King Sombra.

This is why this book is banned from academic discussions. Celestia would never allow her subjects to learn this dangerous magic.

It corrupts. She was afraid of a second Sombra.

I wonder what happened to the author… having written something like this would really mess up his public image.

Not every mystery is yours to discover.

Jewel looked out the window. The northern mountains rose from the horizon. His train would arrive soon at the hoof of the Crystal Empire. It’s true not every mystery was meant to be discovered, but he hoped he would get sufficient answers from the Empire.

It had been stuck in time for thousands of years, which meant the information he would find there would be from that time.

“Any snacks, good sir?”

Jewel turned to the gray stallion tending to the snack cart. He bore a professional smile hiding his actual emotions, but his eyes seemed troubled. Jewel noticed an empty bag hung close to the pony to discourage anyone from stealing. Not that there was anything to steal.

“What do you have?” He decided to humor the salespony.

The pony sighed, relieved to make at least one sale that day. “Well, we have some daisy sandwiches, candy and our most popular item, Heartsies.”

“What are those?”

“Oh, they are little, heart-shaped choc—”

Little heart

Little heart

Little heart

Little heart.

Little heart!

.

A dark corridor of stone.

The sounds of hooves hitting the tunnel floor.

She is walking right behind you.

Watching. Smiling.

The cold, still air makes you shiver.

A waking nightmare.

Where neither the sun nor moon could reach.

You go up the labyrinth of horrors.

Up, up and up.

Before reaching the door.

This was an execution.

It opened, releasing a tsunami of blood.

Drowning you.

You can’t breathe.

She’s still watching!

She’s still smiling!

All while your lungs fill with blood.

You wish it was yours.

But the terror you feel, is the only thing you truly own.

Calling to you…

.
.

“Sir? Sir! Are you alright?” The salespony looked at Jewel, distraught.

Jewel gasped. His chest burned as if he had run a marathon. Cold sweat flowed down his cheeks and his heart beat irregularly. He looked around in panic.

He was still on the train. The visions were gone, at least for the time being. He looked at the salespony.

The poor guy didn’t know what to do with the situation. He watched Jewel confused and worried.

“E-excuse me?” Jewel asked.

“Are you alright, sir?” The pony repeated.

No, he was not. He could still taste the iron on his tongue. It had been such a long time since it had last happened. He had worked hard to suppress the demons inside and all he could do was forget.

“Y-yes, I’m alright. Thank you,” he lied while turning his gaze at the snack cart. “Say… how much for ten packs of chocolate?”