One-Horse Town: A My Little Pony Story

Chorus’s hooves skidded to a halt in front of Twilight’s palace. He gazed up at the balcony at the Dollkeeper. The Dollkeeper’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as he fumed with anger.

“YOU!” he shouted down at the pink unicorn. “You’ve ruined EVERYTHING!”

Chorus struggled to stay standing. That spell had really taken everything he had.

“Why?...” Chorus breathed. “Why did you do it? Why go through all of this?”

“WHY?!? You ponies think you’ve created some sort of utopia here, don’t you? You think Twilight Sparkle and her friends have made this place some sort of haven of friendship? You know nothing about Ponyville. You have no idea what it’s like to be isolated beyond hope, to be laughed at like your entire existence is some sort of joke.” The Dollkeeper began to glow with red magic. He levitated from the balcony and into the air. “Don’t think you’ve stopped me. You’ve just hindered my progress. I’ll just have to start over. I’ll put everypony back to sleep… starting with you.”

The Dollkeeper pointed his horn towards Chorus, charging it with energy. Chorus braced for impact, unable to run any longer.

“Wait! Stop!” a purplish pony appeared behind Chorus, running towards the castle.

The Dollkeeper stopped his magic, sizing up his new opponent.

“Have you come to stop me too? It didn’t work out too well for the pink one,” he motioned to Chorus.

Prose stopped next to Chorus and caught her breath. “The ponies of Ponyville are innocent! Nopony is perfect, but they deserve to live their lives! Think about the futures you’re taking away!”

The Dollkeeper looked away from the ponies, a tinge of guilt hiding behind his eyes. The guilt was quickly replaced with a vengeful rage.

“NONE of these ponies seemed to care about my future when I was the one that needed help. I’m simply showing them how it feels,” The Dollkeeper justified.

His red magic aura grew around him as he levitated higher into the air. His eyes began to glow and spark with a sinister red light.

“How what feels?” Prose desperately shouted. “Why are you doing this!?”

“I am SICK and TIRED of all of these questions. You better say goodbye to your pink little friend there. You two are going to sleep for a long, long time,” he threatened. “And to think, all I’ve ever wanted was the approval of ponies just like you. And now, you all hate me more than ever. I created an entire army of friends just to feel seen, and here I am again. Once again, I’m all alone. And once again, NOPONY LIKES ME!”
“I like you,” a voice called out from somewhere nearby.

“I’M GOING TO- wh-what?” The Dollkeeper stuttered. “Who said that? Show yourself!”

Ginger Blush walked out from behind a building and stepped into visibility.

“I like you, Shining Star,” she repeated.

Chorus and Prose looked at each other in confusion. Who is Shining Star?
The magic around Shining Star grew around him until he was nearly consumed by its haunting glow.

“LIAR! YOU’RE LYING!” he screamed.

“I’m not lying,” Ginger confirmed. She stepped closer to him, standing beside Chorus and Prose. She was terrified, but she knew she couldn’t let it show. “Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re putting yourself back in the same trap you were in all of those years ago.”

Shining Star fumed. “NO, I’M NOT. MY PLAN WAS WORKING! I HAD FRIENDS! EVERYPONY LIKED ME!”

Ginger met Star’s eyes from the ground. “You actually don’t see it, do you? You put yourself exactly back where you started. You created clones, Star. Not friends. You’ve chased companionship this entire time, but after all you’ve done, the only companionship you got was your own. You’ve stayed at the starting line this whole race, and you haven’t even realized it.”

“I-... I-” Star stammered. “AT LEAST I-... at least I finally had somepony on my side.”

“I’m on your side, Shining Star. I want to be your friend,” Ginger started. “I think it’s horrible how those ponies treated you. You never deserved that. What you’re doing right now, though, is not right. I think you know that. Call this off now, Star. Let Ponyville return to the way it was, and I’ll be your friend. We all will.” Ginger looked over at Chorus and Prose, who looked back at her with intense confusion. Shining Star’s glowing eyes began to fade back to normalcy. His magic partially dimmed around him.

“Y-you’re lying. Those two don’t like me. They were yelling at me just a few seconds ago. They- they hate me,” he protested.

Ginger sternly glanced over at her friends. “You don’t hate him,” she strongly hinted. She looked back up to Shining Star. “In fact, they’d probably love to see one of your shows sometime! I’m sure you’ve got some killer material after all these years you’ve had to practice.”

Star scoffed and tried to hide his blushing. The magic around him slowly dimmed some more.

“I guess I… I guess I do have some tricks I could show you guys, if you really want to see,” he shyly offered.

“I- I- uh…” Prose stuttered. Ginger stared straight into her eyes and nodded slowly, urging her to continue. “I would love to see them,” Prose finished.

Chorus hoarsely joined in. “Me too. I always love a good-” he paused to catch his breath. “show.”

Shining Star’s hooves touched the floor of Twilight’s balcony. The swirling magic around him slowed around him, until it completely faded away. A vision of his mother appeared in his mind. He remembered her calming touch and her grounding words. All he’d ever needed was more love like hers. He collapsed to the balcony floor and began a slew of heaving sobs. Ginger quickly ran into Twilight’s castle, heading for the balcony. Prose followed after her with an exhausted Chorus in tow. The three of them eventually arrived on the balcony, right behind a crying Shining Star.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” Ginger placed a hoof on his back. “You put an end to it all. It’s all over now. You never have to stoop to that level again.”

Star spoke into the floor, ashamed to look up. “I’ve been evil. I’ve been a villain.”

Ginger winced, not wanting to hide the truth. “To be honest, yea. You have done evil things. But that doesn’t have to define you forever.”

Prose joined the conversation, offering her support. “It’ll take a while to earn back the trust of everypony. It’ll be hard, but it’s not impossible.”

Chorus chimed in. “And trust us, we know a thing or two about impossible.”

Shining Star looked up from his position, revealing his red, puffy eyes.

“I really appreciate you guys, and I’ll never forget what you did for me, but I can’t stay here. I can’t face these ponies. Not after all I’ve put them through. I have to move somewhere new; I have to start over. I hear Maretania is beautiful this time of year,” he weakly chuckled. “Maybe this time I can make some friends without becoming an evil overlord.”

The ponies suddenly heard the sound of hooves clamoring about downstairs, followed by the emergence of Princess Twilight Sparkle up the stairs. She rushed towards the ponies, surprised to see they were completely unharmed. Prose stepped in front of Twilight, blocking her from the balcony.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ve got everything under control,” Prose clarified.

“Are you sure you’re not clones that are being told to tell me everything’s under control?” Twilight warily asked.

“Yes, Twilight. It’s me, Prose. And my-” she looked back at the ponies on the balcony and smiled. “My friends,” she finished.