Author's Note

Made some edits. A lot of spelling and grammar edits

Chapter 4

The void once more, where the mare floats, but this time, its embrace is more inviting.

"I can get used to this..."

Warmth can be felt, the touch soft.

The smell of flowers entices her nose.

"Hmmm... Wait."

The dark abyss is slowly being eaten away by a red fluff of fur, slowly creeping towards her. Putting her back into a corner, trapping her, making her wait for the inevitable.

As it got near, fear and cringe began crawling through her skin, making her quiver and jolt away from the encroaching red fluff of menace. Fear skyrocketed as it made its first contact with her skin. "!!?... Oh, it's not so bad after all." Until it began engulfing her leg and quickly came up to her body, with the aim to consume her

"Wait. No. No no no no!!!"

And before the red fur completely engulfed her, a mirror would present itself, showing not her but Bluebell on the mirror, completely replacing her.
" eeehhh...aaaaaahhh .....AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

She woke up from her dream.

https://www.deviantart.com/kujamih09/art/Kesu-and-Bluebell-first-contact-1129428773

Her eyes wide open and her body ready to jump, but something was holding her down. She noticed that she was in bed and someone was embracing her.

The smell of flowers and the soft red fur were very familiar to her.

"AAAAA!!! GET OFF ME!"

She fought and struggled, but this time Bluebell had a good grip on her.

"Hehehehe." She laughed creepily.

"AAAAAAAA!" She struggled.

She just continued to laugh. "Heeeeheheehhe- ukh! AAAUUUUGH! HEY! I CAN'T... breathe! Urgh." Kesu was able to grab Bluebell from the waist and begin crushing her.

"Uuuuuurgggh! I give, I GIVE! dont kill—urp... me!!!"

Kesu, fuming with rage, began to grin. "I thought you wanted this pervert? And now that I'm giving it to you, you don't want it, now that I'm enjoying seeing your lights going out?"

Bluebell began to go pail. " No more, no more! I saved your life!"

This was Kesu's chance to get rid of this pest, but she wasn't that heartless of a pony to kill off her rescuer.

"Tsk. Fine!" She lets go and got off her bed, leaving the red pony panting for breath.

"Gasp! Ugh... Uhh daddy, that was wild, cough." She jests, even in her situation.

Kesu stared menacingly at her.

"Op op op op! I was just kidding, hehe!" She tried to calm the furious pony. "Sheesh, for a unicorn, you're as strong as an Earthpony, yauch!" she said as she stretched her back from the painful hug she had received.

"!!?" Kesu began touching her head, and her obsidian Tiara was missing. She began covering her broken horn and looked at Bluebell. "Where!" She panicked.

Bluebell was taken aback and quickly pointed at a table, where she placed the tiara.

She rushed in a panic to grab her tiara and quickly placed it back on her forehead. She breathed heavily as she tried to calm herself down.

"Hey, there... Are you okay, sweet cheeks?" she worriedly asked.

She took a deep breath and confronted the meddlesome pony. "I'd like it if you'd leave me alone and mind your own business." She glared.

"Rrrr..." She flirted.

"Tsk, you have a death wish?" She warned her.

"Ohohoho, you know how to push my buttons, do you?"

It was no use talking to a pony like her, so she decided to double down on the threat. Luckily her dagger (her horn) was just beside the table where her tiara was placed; she grabbed it and was about to point it at her, but as soon as she left her out of her sights, she was already in front of her, pinning her chest towards Kesu and her hoof holding down her dagger.

Both looked into each other's eyes, the one intending to kill the troublesome unicorn and the other to trouble the hornless pony.

Kesu, at her breaking point, asked the pony why she insists herself to meddle with her life before she ends hers. "What is it that you want from me?"

"Curiosity perhaps? It's been boring here in this Alicorn-forsaken dump of a wasteland village. And seeing you? Is like a diamond in the rough; I'd be stupid not to grab and fiddle you." She grinned as she looked indecently at her eyes.

"You make my skin crawl." Her voice trembling in anger and her hoof gaining strength as she tried to force her dagger out of Bluebell's grip.

"That's not the only thing I'm good at, if you know what I mean hehe."

Snap.

The last straw broke, and Kesu was determined to end the meddlesome pony's life. Her dagger broke free, and she aimed at her neck. But she'd end up hitting air.

Her body felt different and started to turn, making her dizzy and vomit. "Uwwwweeeehhhk... Wh- what did you!?" As she tried to find her, she noticed that she was not in the inn anymore. They were outside the desert. "Teleportation magic!?" she questioned in her head as she analyzed the situation she was in.

"Correct little pony." She appeared from her back, grinning widely.

" You?..."

"Oops? I guess that's out of the bag, huh, princess? Oops." She smiled.

"... Why?"

"Well you and I, well we're special, correct? Dawh, you don't need to answer that; I already know tihee."

This time, Kesu feared the red unicorn as the red menace began revealing who she was. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? You, silly!" She pointed at her. "Let's play together!"

She began casting her fireballs, but this was larger than the usual fireball she makes and more intense in heat, that the fire started to turn blue.

"I am Bluebell, the exiled prodigy!" Five more fireballs appeared before it started zooming towards Kesu.

She was able to dodge the first one, but the four incoming fireballs were impossible to dodge. She used the tip of her horn to block the incoming projectiles and was quickly snuffed out.

Poof.

"Marvelous! Finally a worthy opponent, someone, someone to scratch the itch inside of me!" The mad unicorn began casting more fireballs without a care in the world. "YES!!!"

The sky was littered with thousands of blue fireballs, aiming towards Kesu.

"Are you mad!" She screamed at her.

"Mad? MAD!? I AM MAD!" She then commanded her spell to drop down from the sky. "You too are mad, right!? You should know this feeling that's eating inside of us! Don't hold back, sweet cheeks! You don't need to hold back! BE FREE!!!"

SLAM! Silence erupted as the fireballs collided to the ground, causing a wider explosion, setting the whole sky in marvelous white that erases all.

As the explosion settled and cleared out
The mad mage began to pant heavily.
"Ahahaha. You're the only one who can satisfy my itch."

And at the opposite side, where the fireballs crashed and collided, there stands Kesu, with her blade at the ready. She wasn't completely unharmed; some of her clothes and coat were singed.

"Mad?" she calmly asked Bluebell.

" Hmm?"

"Why do you insist that we are both mad?"

"Oh, are we not?"

"How would I know? I'm not like you, who can read other pony's thoughts." Her dagger was already near her face as it swiftly darted towards it. This took Bluebell by surprise, as she did not see it coming; no thoughts or intent came out of Kesu as she struck Bluebell. But again, it was all air; a miss.

" Tsk."

Bluebell managed to teleport out of the way and made distance to her.

"She has teleportation magic as well? No. I felt movement. She approached me, not appeared. Then acceleration magic? That's the only reason why she got close without me noticing." But before she could finish analyzing, Kesu would appear from behind, ready to strike. But Bluebell teleported again.

"Ahahaha! Look who's making someone's skin crawl!"

"You don't like it, do you?" She said as she appeared right in front of her face.

"Son ofa!?" Kesu's dagger was inches away from Bluebell's stomach and was about to hit her, but suddenly.

BOOM!

They both exploded and were sent flying off of each other.

"Cough, cough, urg!" Kesu was badly injured at that explosion; half of her body was singed and battered.

Weirdly enough, this worried Bluebell. She began biting one of her hooves. "Hrmmm, not good, not good at all. Was I expecting too much of you? Was I wrong? Hmm!!!"

But Kesu stood up and continued to glare at Bluebell.

"Hmm... Hm? I see. Don't make me worry so much, sweet cheeks, and here I thought I was wrong about you, hehehehehe."

Kesu's injury vanished with a flick of her dagger. "So, you're telling me that we are the same, correct?"

"... Yes?"

"That's why you're acting like a foal, playing around with the likes of me, since you think we're the same?" she asked.

Bluebell raised an eyebrow. "Oho? So we aren't? You think you're better than me? I can read your thoughts! You should be grateful I considered you to be like me!"

"No, because if I let loose like you, you wouldn't be standing right there, while I can easily handle your pitiful tantrums."

Bluebell would grin, but she worries deep inside. She's having a hard time reading her thoughts; her attacks would be nothing if she blocked them; if she managed to land a blow, her injuries would just vanish. To top it all off, she can accelerate; no, it's not acceleration. She pondered. If it were, she could've easily avoided her explosion just now. A fluke? No, rather, she removed her presence. "Hmmm.. hihhiihi... You! You you you you... Eraser... Ahaa! I see the theme now." She shivered as her thoughts of her ran wild.

"You think you know everything, do you?" Kesu prepared herself.

"Hmm... Yes, but... Except you though, well, not exactly; its so nice to swim around your dreams, the trauma, the pain, the disappointment this world has to offer! You and I aren't so different!"

"Shut up, you pervert of a mare! We are not the same." She prepared her dagger and vanished from Bluebells sight.

"Ahahaha, I already know how it woorrkkkks!" She then made a giant fireball engulfing her. "Tell me, Eraser! How're you going to get close now?" The flame did not bother her, as it seems she was resistant to her own spell, but.

Fwoop.

Her fireball just died and vanished, and behind her was Kesu. The two locked eyes and rushed their hooves at each other, but Bluebell was able to touch her first and teleported her up into the sky, where Kesu saw herself, falling to her doom.

"Haaaaahahahaha! How're you going to survive that! Sweet cheeks!? Beg for your life!!!" The crazed pony laughed.

Meanwhile, Kesu remained calm and remained vigilant.

"This crazy pony won't admit defeat; rather, she'd choose death than admit it, hahaha!" She then shouted. "Beg for your life, and I will spare you!"

She did not reply.

"Tsk, suit yourself."

Kesu continued to fall but remained calm, while Bluebell was not sure of Kesu's plans. She could not read her mind even up to this point, making her doubt that this pony still has a few tricks up her sleeves. She remained vigilant and distanced herself.

"What are you up to, hornless?"

"You want me to get serious? Fine." Just before she crashed to the ground, she removed her presence and vanished right before her eyes.

But before Bluebell could react, Kesu struck her dagger at her horn.

Slash!

Her blood spurts out of her now-cut horn. "GYAAAAAHHHH!!! AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Her blood would drip from her eyes to her face; she'd constantly wipe it off and panic.

"M-my horn! My horn!!!" She frantically tried to find it, but it was at Kesu's hooves.

"A-aaaa... S-stay away from me!" She tripped and began crawling away from her while she slowly approached the panicked pony.

"You said we're the same, right?" Kesu asked. But Bluebell could only cry and crawl away from her, fearing her every approach.

"What's wrong? Don't you like me anymore? We're equals now." She then grabbed her cheeks and pulled her up and smacked her forehead against her. "We're both hornless now, sister." She then began reading Bluebell's thoughts as if she had her abilities as well.

"Now its my turn to mess your head."

She then entered Bluebell's mind.

There, a filly sitting on a corner, alone, crying.

"For someone who's perverted and old as you, you're as fragile and young on the inside, huh?" She said disappointedly, to the state Bluebell's mind was in.

The young Bluebell looked at her and began shying away from her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disappoint you. Please don't be mad." The filly continued to sob as she apologized. "I promise I'll do better! Please don't leave me!" She pleaded.

"This is not what I expected." She regretted going in her brain, "Tsk, what kind of—shit, I hate myself!"

A puddle of her memories would leak out showing Bluebell, studying at the school of friendship, beside a tall purple alicorn, happy and proud.

"Hmm? I see..." She looked at her with a pissed-off face. "I bet they replaced you with someone else huh?"

"Why are you mean to me?" the filly cried.

https://www.deviantart.com/kujamih09/art/Young-Bluebell-1138783319

"Gadang it! Why don't you act like your age and grow up... From the inside, I mean! Dawww... I guess it's impossible for you." She sighed.

"Like you're one to talk, you big meanie." The young Bluebell flicked her tongue towards the young Kesu.

"!?" She looked at a stagnant puddle, and there reflected a young Kesu, wearing the most fancy clothes in Neighpony.

The two filly's would lock eyes, seeing the things that they had not seen from each other.

A prodigy and a princess were replaced and forgotten because they were misunderstood, feared, and hated.

She does not want to remember anymore of this pain.

"Let me out. Let us out!"

A vacuum would soon collapse the insides of her mind before spitting out Kesu.

It took a bit out of her before fully releasing herself from Bluebell's mind.

Bluebell, shocked and afraid, experienced for the first time her mind being violated, while Kesu understood a bit what's inside Bluebell's mind.

Bluebell fearfully waited for Kesu's judgment while she glared at her.

Her eyes were wide, full of tears, swelling up from fear and anxiety.

And Kesu's final call? She raised her hoof with Bluebell's bloody horn, ready to strike her.

In return, Bluebell would cower in fear, trying to avoid getting beaten up.

Plop.

Her horn dropped beside her as she saw Kesu walking away from her.

She stares in bewilderment before fainting on the ground.

The lone pony walks alone in the middle of the desert.