Strawberry: Birth

by Moria

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Dark, Tragedy
Length: 14803

Follow one mare's life as she fights not only for the fate of Equestria, but fights her own destiny

Follow a young filly's struggle to fight destiny as the events unfold and shape her into the mare that fate wants her to become. Alicorns of pure blood have near limitless power and are considered to be godlike, how strong does a normal pony's motivations need to be to break an ancient curse cast by one of these powerful ponies? Born under a curse, Strawberry will find herself thrust into the chaos and horror of an ancient world. Living with misfortune, Strawberry will witness dreams shattered and possibly even the end of Equestria itself. When you watch your dreams shatter, and you grow up without a cutie-mark, cursed to nothing but misfortune, how long can you fight fate? How long can a pony continue to pursue the chance of a happy ending?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-14 19:58:53 UTC

Test

My life wasn't supposed to be like this, I wasn't supposed to end up here, so why am I here? Why am I falling to Equestria from Celestia only knows how high up?

To understand my story, we'll have to visit the place where stories begin, where anypony's life story would begin... My birth.

"So Doctor, what's the news?" The subtle pink mare asked, gently rubbing her slightly enlarged stomach which had been giving her trouble lately, hoping that the news would be good...

"I'm very happy to say that the results came back positive." The doctor said with a cheerful expression.

Rosedrop sat there on the table with a somewhat horrified and confused look, earlier this morning she had come in to have some tests done because she was afraid that she was seriously ill. How could a doctor be so cheerful to deliver this kind of news like it was a good thing? That's when she finally was hit with the full force of what she believed the news to mean... What in Equestria could she have done to deserve to die so young? Rosedrop began to sob, "How long do I have, Doctor?" She asked, bracing for further bad news.

"Oh, I can't say for certain, but I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to plan the celebrations... The usual length is eleven... So eleven, maybe ten months? More or less, depending on how far along you are, it's a little too soon for me to say, and unfortunately our ultrasound equipment is being replaced. I'll expect you both here in... Oh, I don't know, is next week good for you two?" The light tan stallion asked, checking his calendar for dates to schedule the appointment with his patient whom he had assumed was sobbing in joy from the news.

"T-two? What do you mean?" Rosedrop's confusion became deeper, she came in expecting to be told whether or not she was sick... Could the doctor possibly be saying..? "Doctor... Am I... Are you saying that these symptoms...? Am I going to have a foal?" Everything would start to make sense if that were the case! The doctor wasn't smiling from some sick pleasure of delivering painful news; he was smiling from having good news! But why didn't he mention the tests that were done to check if she needed treatment?

"That's why you came, isn't it? You were experiencing the symptoms, and you came for a pregnancy test, which our nurse, young miss Gentle Breeze gave you, right?" The Doctor pondered over what could have happened when it came to him, the nurse must have mixed up patients and he sighed. "Well, we're going to have a bit of explaining to do, how about you go home, relax, tell everypony the good news, and come make an appointment for an ultrasound next week?" he asked while trying to figure out how to deal with the puzzle he was soon going to face.

Rosedrop smiled and already had an idea of when she would return for the next appointment. "I wish you luck with fixing whatever needs fixing." She went home humming lightly, although she knew in the back of her mind that her stroke of luck with the tests meant that another pony was probably going to be upset with having to deal with being on the negative side of the nurse's mix-up..

Rosedrop arrived home and locked the door behind her, a crushing sense of dread hung over her as she finally dropped the façade that she wears in public. “H-h-how?” she looked at herself in the mirror, her light green eyes staring into the eyes of her reflection, her mind reeled at the possibilities, she couldn’t bear to bring herself to think that she could have engaged in such a filthy act such as fornication. But she would have remembered it, wouldn’t she? That ruled out that possibility. The only remaining possibility was that… It was too crushing for her to think of, it made her feel unclean. Rosedrop ran her hoof over her flank, the rose shape crossing a bag of bits made her think of the day she discovered her ability to start her business of taking something ugly and make it grow into something beautiful, just like a rose. “Perhaps this is my new venture, I haven’t had any clients since that foal, and that house is still in progress.. Maybe it’s time for this mare to take on a personal situation and turn it into something beautiful.” She still didn’t like the idea that it was going to be a child of an unknown father, especially since it was more than likely in her mind that it happened without her consent. “Mother and father won’t let me hear the end of it if I keep this foal, but they’ll make my life hell if I keep them out of the loop.” She shuddered at the thought of how cruel and manipulative her parents could be if given the opportunity to take control of a situation.

It was a week later when Rosedrop found herself in the hospital again, this time for an ultrasound to check on the foal to find out how far along her pregnancy was. "Miss Rosedrop, I'm afraid to say this, but there aren't any signs of movement, your foal may be.." the doctor paused, looking at the screen "No, there's signs of life within the foal. It just doesn't seem capable of mov-" It was then that the foal had decided to make its first movement, "Judging from the time during which you said you had your symptoms, and this foal's size.. We may have witnessed one of, if not the very first of her movements."

Rosedrop had her eyes on the screen from the very second it had turned on, of course she was worried when the doctor said her foal didn't seem to move, a little relieved when he assured her that the foal was definitely alive. She even giggled when her stubborn little troublemaker decided to prove the yellow stallion wrong by stretching her hoof out, not unlike that of a pony who had been incapable of walking for a long time stretching their hoof for the first time all over again. "It seems she's quite the little surprise...” She chuckled and gazed proudly at the image on the screen.

It had been a few months, all the while Rosedrop fussed over how to explain the pregnancy when she announced it to her family, she couldn't help but laugh, a fully grown pony afraid to tell her family that she was pregnant? What, was she still a filly, incapable of making adult decisions? No, it wasn't that. It was the fact that she didn't know anything about the father, she had never actually BEEN with a stallion romantically, much less physically. At least… Not that she could remember. The possibilities ran through her head when she decided that the most likely one was probably the most believable, and she decided that it would be easiest to just tell her parents that, and so she picked up the phone. "Hello mother...”

It was a week later when Rosedrop had been waiting for her parents at the restaurant, at her side was a pony, a grey mare in a stunning business suit, Cherry Mist. Her best friend, and lawyer, "Remember; you might be here for morale support, but if anypony asks I just need you here to validate the papers." Rosedrop was thankful that the way the corner table was available; it would make it easier for her to hide her pregnancy from her parents until she was able to break the news.

It wasn't long before a pale red stallion and a white mare; Ruby Ticker and Seraphine Charm; Rosedrop's parents were escorted to the table by a waiter, who then offered to take the order. Before anypony could speak an objection, Cherry spoke "Yes, I'll have the tomato soup with the salad and a bottle of scotch, trust me. We'll need it. These two always pretend to be indecisive, however they always order whatever's most expensive on the menu." The grey lawyer spoke in a very serious tone, she had to take and maintain control over the situation, or they would sniff out a sign of weakness and try to force her client into a position she wouldn't enjoy.

Rosedrop was surprised at how quickly her fri- no, this was a business lunch... Surprised at how quickly her lawyer seized control of the situation, however knowing how those two can be, she knew it was needed. "I'll have the soup and salad as well." Rosedrop nodded at her lawyer to signal to her that she was ready.  "Mother, Father... Before I say why we've gathered today, I must insist that you sign these papers stating that you are going to let me deal with this information my own way." Rosedrop slid the clipboards and quills across the table quietly, and watched her parents examine the paper.

"And what pray tell could this news be that you would need our signatures?" Her father eyed her suspiciously, her mother holding a worried expression; they had probably assumed she was in financial trouble or something.

"It's nothing big, it's not going to require money be spent, it's information regarding a personal matter of mine which I felt should be shared with you both, but only under the condition that you two sign these papers." Rosedrop maintained an expressionless face, behind the curtains of reality she could just see it, her parents desperately scratching at the wall, trying to take her down and assume control. Every conversation with them ever since she left had been like a military power struggle, they resumed forcing her to avoid anything they didn't agree with even after she got out.

After twenty or so long minutes of agonizing silence and staring, Rosedrop heard the sound of a quill scratching on paper. "Thank you, now please hand them over to Ms. Mist, so that she can review them." It was almost time to pull the curtains up and tell her parents, Rosedrop opened her mouth but the floating tray blocked her view as the food and drinks were levitated onto the table by the waiter.

Rosedrop silently thanked Celestia for the extra time she would be able to take to plan out how she would deliver the news, "How has life been treating you both, are the clients still coming for your exquisite skills, Mother?" she tried to start a bit of polite meal conversation.

"Very much so, and your father's had many wonderful new clients sending him commissions so large that he's seen entire stocks bought out almost entirely by his clients." Seraphine smiled as she went on about her and her husband's success, for her and her family it was almost an unspoken law that during a lunch such as this, the business at hoof be put off until after the meal and she hopes that this would be an opportunity to catch some way to bring her daughter back home. "And you, my dear?" The white mare asked patting her lips gently with a napkin.

"I've been alright, got quite a pleasant surprise when I visited the market the other day, seems I spent the millionth bit that the shop owner had ever received, and so I'm supposed to get some sort of promotional trinket or something of the sort, next time I visit." The meal continued with the usual sort of banter, stories were exchanged, and there were moments where laughter showed on the expressions of the ponies. However, it wasn't very loud if at all audible, considering the high-class background of the family, not to mention this WAS Canterlot after all, the most refined ponies are usually found here.

Rosedrop placed her spoon down gently and uncorked the Scotch, the meal was over and it was time to get to business. She gently poured a generous amount into her glass and downed her drink in a quick but dignified manner. "Have some." She said firmly while holding the bottle out towards her parents.

Ruby Ticker and Seraphine Charm exchanged glances and took a small amount of the alcohol and drank it almost nervously, they began to dread what the news may be. "Please tell us why you brought us here already, these shenanigans and stall tactics must be put to an end." Ruby just wanted the curiosity to end, if there was one thing he hated, it was being kept on a razors edge with suspense like this.

Rosedrop sighed, "Mother... Father... I'm carrying a foal." she rehearsed the moment in her head hundreds of times but it was still hard to get the words out past her lips, knowing that harsh judgment would probably be raining down upon her she braced herself for whatever words would come next.

Seraphine Charm looked at her daughter with wide eyes, "Rosedrop! But you're not...” she paused; Seraphine could not bear to think that her daughter could have mated with a colt she was not married to. "Please tell me that you weren't...” The white mare's head became full of horrible images, both of what might have happened, and what might still happen.

Rosedrop shook her head, "No, I don't know how to explain this, it just... Happened...”

Seraphine looked to her husband, “You don’t think that SHE’S going to be…” an ancient family tale came to be front of everypony's mind and the table fell silent.

"Let's hope not..."

Chapter 2

It was a dreamy day and the kingdom was abundant with life, ponies going about their daily routines blissfully unaware of the events that would come to pass over this land so very far away from where the lands of Equestria would one day stand. These ancient ponies lived among each other in peace, eons before the great cold would descend upon the land and force the tribes from this land for good, long before the founding of Equestria.

Emerald Strawberry was tending to the queen's garden, the armor-clad mare had been keeping the garden proper and as healthy as it was when the queen took to her bed to ensure the safety of her expected foal. "Don't forget little ones, the queen will be sad if anything were to happen to you, so be sure to keep each other safe and healthy, okay?" she knew the flowers wouldn't respond, but they were used to being spoken to. The queen often spoke to the flowers and sang to them, and it was Emerald's job to care for them in the same manner in the absence of the queen.

It had been eleven months since the queen took rest, Emerald spent most of her time stationed inside of the room, only leaving to tend to the garden at the queen's demand, during which she would place her most trusted soldier to watch over the queen in her stead. Emerald was briskly walking down the corridor to the queen’s chambers when a scream sounded throughout the castle, prompting every stationed soldier to rush into the room, ready to attack any potential threat to the safety of the queen.

"Out of my way!" Emerald kicked the door open to announce her presence, "All of you back to your posts or face charges of post abandonment!" the dark green mare barked her orders, "Nopony is supposed to be in here except for the doctor, your second-in-commanding officer, and me!" Emerald knew how tense everypony was, but she couldn't afford to relax, she closed the doors as the ponies returned to their stations so she could dismiss her stand-in and they could both resume guarding their posts.

"I took care of the garden; the flowers really seem to miss you... They seemed to have perked up a little when I mentioned that you should be expecting your foal soon." Emerald tried to keep her calm, and hoped she could distract the laboring queen from the pain she would be feeling soon.

"That's... Very kind of you to let them know I should be back with them soon." The queen groaned as the second wave of pain hit, she held a smile and tried to hide behind a facade of cheerfulness, but it was obvious that her trusted guard knew the agony she would be facing.

Emerald felt a wave of angst; this was going to be the first alicorn born in millennia, would the doctor know how to safely deliver the foal? Unbeknownst to all, this coming foal would play an important role in the future. "Congratulations, my queen. It's a colt!" Emerald heard the doctor exclaim. She had been comforting the queen and so focused on keeping her mind off the pain that it only felt like seconds had passed, but when she looked out the window, she caught glimpses of the last bits of sunlight for the day, the moon was being raised for the night to begin.

The queen began to rest when a dark and foreboding feeling descended upon her, she felt something evil stirring upon the wind. As consciousness began to flee her and she began to succumb to the sweet siren call of slumber, she prayed that it was only her maternal instincts causing her to become a little more paranoid about the safety of her foal. Her prayers would unfortunately go unanswered, deep within the jungle to the south an energy flow began; slowly the microscopic amounts of energy began to converge.

That night as Emerald found it was the end of her shift she yawned “Keep alert and don’t let anything pass. Thankfully this will be the last night we will have to work as hard as we have been for this past year.” She positioned herself so that she would be ready to spring into action should she need to wake up in the event of an attack on the queen. As her eye slowly became heavier she let out one last yawn and the real world faded away, giving room to the world of dreams to take its place. As Emerald descended deeper and deeper into sleep she suddenly found herself in a strange place, at first she didn’t recognize it, but she looked around and gasped in horror. The charred wasteland standing before her was once the lush and vibrant green southern jungle, a single pony stood among the wastelands. she called out hoping that she could get some answers but instead she was further horrified to find that the pony standing before her had no face, this creature bore the appearance of a pony, but its head was featureless, with the exception of shape. It appeared as if to be nothing more than the shadow of a pony that had come to life. Emerald stared at its face where its eyes would be, her eyes could not part with the creature’s eyes as if it held her in some sort of trance. The world around Emerald began to spin, slowly at first but it became faster and faster until eventually everything was just a blur of white and the creature vanished.

Horrible and disturbing images began to flash through Emerald’s vision, she began to see piles of dead ponies rotting everywhere, foals being devoured by ponies who are starving so badly that they would resort to cannibalism in order to satisfy the ravenous and horrific growls within their stomachs, the images continued, voices began to whisper in her ear, “Nevermore.” Again and again whispers sounded, faster and louder each time until they were just a constant ringing in her ear. She tried to force herself to wake up but she couldn’t, she struggled to wake up as the maddening images and sounds continued until eventually she began to believe that she was awake.

The last image that Emerald saw was a foal being born, this foal was an alicorn, but its wings were almost nothing but bone, whatever tissue covered the wings barely held it together. A thick black substance covered the little alicorn, almost to the point of suffocating it, Emerald couldn’t take it anymore, she opened her mouth to scream but all that came out was a darkness that surrounded her. Emerald could feel the weight of the darkness and for a moment she feared it would eventually crush her, but suddenly the darkness vanished and she found herself standing in front of the creature again.

“What in the hell are you?!” Emerald demanded, almost not noticing that the creature moved the same way she did at the same time. “What?” Emerald tried reaching out to investigate, the creature’s hoof formed cracks around it… Then suddenly the true horror gripped Emerald, she was looking at a mirror, and she had become the horrifying creature.

The guards rushed into the room at the sound of Emerald’s scream as she woke up, her crimson eyes wide with terror, her face drenched with sweat, Emerald looked around at the ponies who serve under her standing around her with confused looks. “Must’ve been one hell of a dream…” One of the ponies stated after realizing there was no attack. Emerald blinked, “A dream horrible enough to cause me to feel this way.” She pondered for a while; her mind was in such a haze she couldn’t remember her dream. “What are you waiting for, back to your stations, you impudent foals!” Emerald barked quietly hoping not to wake the queen, who giggled at Emerald being unaware that she was already awake.

Several decades after the birth of Prince Mars, the trouble began. The lands had known peace for a long time, knowledge of this era and of this particular trouble would have been lost many, many generations before the great cold settled upon the lands and would lead to the events celebrated upon Hearth's Warming Eve.

The first sign came when the queen had suddenly become ill with an unknown affliction; she had taken to her bed and left her children to take care of the matters at hoof. Prince Mars would oversee the militaristic and legal matters, while his younger sister Princess Venus took to keeping the more compassionate side of the kingdom such as weddings and ceremonies for celebrating new born foals, the acquisition of cutie marks, milestones of life, and yes, sadly, even the passing of elderly ponies.

It was by no stretch both prince and princess had favorite parts to their jobs that were done, the prince enjoyed going into battle to protect his home and being sure that his guards were in top physical and mental condition, so they would be ready to defend as well. The prince was an excellent and well-respected military leader, as his sister was an excellent and very well loved figure, often her image was used to represent compassion and love. It was a thrill for her to see new couples joined as one at the altar, and her heart raced with joy when a foal was born, or finally achieved the goal of earning their cutie mark. Her heart was always heavy with tears when she held the ceremonies to bid farewell to the recently departed loved ones, even if she barely knew the departed outside of the ceremonies she held, she always knew what to say to both console the grieving and justly honor the memory.

The trouble that would arise out of this particular day would be one that nopony would have expected. there were cries of animals coming from the south, the sky nearly blackened with the shadows of birds, clouds of dust arising from animals fleeing in all directions, the fearful wails of unknown creatures filled the air, the lush jungle to the south turning a decayed and sickly brown in a trail that started small, but began to widen in the back as if a disease were spreading and heading towards the kingdom. The birds were seen finally passing over the kingdom, light returned long enough for soldiers to spot massive dark clouds forming. Thunder arched and raced so ferociously from the clouds that fires began to break out within the jungle, the sky was a mix of a blazing red from the engulfing inferno below, a dark and ominous black coming from the ever-expanding thunderclouds above with streaks of purple electricity bolting everywhere. The sudden storm and odd behavior of the animals disturbed the soldiers, who raced to report the odd phenomenon to the prince.

A lone pony stood in the flaming jungle; it looked around admiring the havoc that it had caused. A flaming branch fell, a bird still ensnared in the branch, screeching in pain. Its flesh and feathers searing off, muscle exposed, the bird flapped its wings in vain, it was firmly trapped within the branch, which seemed to be clutching the bird tightly. One final screech escaped the bird’s mouth as the branch clutched harder, preventing it from being capable of breathing, the bird was closing on the point of beginning to lose consciousness when a large black hoof struck its chest, crushing its heart and killing it.

"My lord, there is a disturbance to the south; something dark and sinister seems to be headed towards our kingdom." Emerald heard a purple unicorn stallion report; the entire unit seemed shaken by whatever they had seen.

A wave of horror descended upon Emerald, this unit, that stallion in particular were known for being extremely hard to frighten, the green mare opened her mouth to ask the question of what they could have seen when a clap of thunder exploded and shook the throne room like an earth quake.

"I assume that was caused by the disturbance." she heard the prince chuckle as he spoke. "You seem to forget the strength of our army. I'm sure whatever it is will be dead before it gets near enough to the castle." The black alicorn stallion straightened himself in the throne and fixed his mane with a quick burst of black magical energy. Prince Mars prided himself on keeping his army sharper than any blade could ever hope to be while at the same time keeping them ready for battle at a moment's notice. "Listen to my words and listen well. My soldiers are not expected to be cowards who come running in fear every time a storm brews. You are expected to be ready for battle and fearless! If you cannot meet my expectations you should reconsider your positions in my army and go back home and join your mothers in the kitchen for baking lessons! DO I MAKE MYSELF UNDERSTOOD, YOU SPINELESS LOT OF NEWBORN FILLIES?!" Prince Mars found himself for once losing his cool, but he could not afford to allow his soldiers know how much the news of the potential threat troubled him. He could feel a dark aura seeping into the air from the south; the thunderclap wasn't just a result of the storm. He knew that whatever caused the storm was going to be trouble.

Mars looked around the room, and it seemed that only the dark green mare that held so much of his mother's trust was able to sense the dark aura on the rolling thunder, whatever caused the storm wanted the whole kingdom to know it was coming. The prince ordered everyone out of the room except for Emerald Strawberry, "You seem to have noticed it as well...” Prince Mars remarked, "We cannot allow the soldiers to panic or come to fear this threat, no matter how horrifying this creature may seem, don't let anypony for even a second wonder if it frightens you."

Emerald nodded, "Yes my lord."

Chapter 3

Several months later the soldiers spotted it on the edge of where the jungle once was, the creature, whatever it was wasn't a pony, even though it had the shape of one. "My lord, it appears that the creature is at the edge of the wastelands of the old jungle. I know it’s been hard with the imminent coming of the queen's passing, but I believe it's time to get the soldiers ready for the coming battle." a red pegasus reported to the prince who was grieving for his ailing mother who could pass through the gates of death any day now.

"Alright, gather the soldiers and guards." Mars looked over to his trusted guard Emerald; he nodded, signaling for her to go prepare his gear. The minutes grew longer as everypony stood ready, soon they would be marching to meet the approaching adversary and the battle would begin. "Today we march, not only do we march towards battle, but we march for victory, for our loved ones, and for the kingdom!" the soldiers roared with a thunderous cheer, eager for the order to move forward. The last lights of day fell behind the castle when the order to move forward sounded, the castle map readers estimated that at the rate the creature moved it would be daylight the following day when their paths met.

The soldiers marched at a pace which would allow them to confront the creature at the expected time, but they would arrive at the area chosen for the battlefield with enough time to recover from the long march. The soldiers chattered about plans for celebration after victory, "None of you should be discussing celebration plans. It's neither the time nor the place." Prince Mars paused, then smirked "Besides, nopony who survives will want to, or have the time to carry out their celebration plans." the prince paused again, this time waiting a few seconds for what he said to sink in and for the soldiers to begin wondering. "Because if we survive, the celebrations I've heard my sister speak of shall be grand and glorious! They will be extravagant and we will be praised as heroes, the entire kingdom is preparing for our victorious return as I speak." the prince painted images of a grand celebration that would become legendary, one that would make all others, past and future, pale in comparison.

The prince kept morale up by sharing tales of his previous experiences in battle, especially for the newer soldiers who've not had much experience in battle. He then told about the soldiers who've become legendary under the command of his mother. The subject he wished to avoid though, was the final battle of his father King Jupiter, who was taken by surprise by a duo consisting of an ogre and a basilisk, from what Mars was told the ogre held his father defenseless against the basilisk. The statue upon his father's tomb was the real remains, not the ghosted double his mother created with her magic.

Prince Mars stopped suddenly, “HALT YOUR MARCHING! We rest here and wait for the target.” The army stopped marching and set down the few supplies that were carried, everypony had been marching for almost a day and needed to be fed and rested before sunrise when the creature would be making its last steps out of the area of densely placed charred trees. The soldiers began resting and mentally preparing themselves for the coming battle.

The sun rose quietly over the castle behind the soldiers, the sky bleeding red and the dark clouds were an omen to many of the soldiers. “SOON WE FACE THE ENEMY, SOON WE SHALL BEGIN OUR STRUGGLE TO PROTECT OUR HOMES, AND FOR SOME OF US, WE SHALL DINE IN TARTARUS!” The prince’s words and tone of voice began to reflect the growing bloodlust on his face, if there was one thing that was more frightening than the thought of the gates of Tartarus falling was when Prince Mars was about to enter the battle field. In battle, this stallion would lose his Royal demeanor and he would find himself in the mindset of a demon, his sanity would appear to dissolve and he would laugh maniacally when his dark coat would be dripping with the scarlet blood of whatever foe dared stand against the Prince of War. It was during these battles that the eyes of the owl in the mark on his flank would seem to glow with an eerie red, even ponies who claimed that it was only an exaggeration of a war story feared meeting this vicious warrior on the field of battle.

Prince Mars saw the silhouette of his next victim appear just beyond the last few rows of trees, he could hear the pounding of his own heart, only one thing dominated his thoughts at this point, all he cared for was seeing what color that thing bled. The closer it came the more his senses began to twinge with anticipation, he wanted to impale the creature’s neck with his horn and feel the spray of blood as it erupts from the neck of his adversary. This excitement and addiction to violence began subtle, but the prince never noticed how his thoughts were starting to become, “Another monster, another bloodbath, and another day of fun. More blood, I don’t think my hunger can be satiated until I join the eternal battle, an infinite supply of targets, unlimited bloodshed, no end to my playtime.” The loud clatter of armor being tossed onto the ground took everypony by surprise, the prince had kicked his armor aside without realizing. It was starting again, the final stages of the prince’s transformation from a dignified royal to a bloodthirsty violent savage with only the thought of being covered in the blood of the enemy acting as a driving force. The eyes of prince’s mark began to glow red as usual, the newer soldiers hadn’t had the time that those with more experience had to get used to it.

“It’s happening again, isn’t it? How long do you say before we see charge?” Emerald asked carefully stepping up behind the Prince, in her time as a guard and soldier of the kingdom she remembered how amazing it was to discover a young colt with such natural skills like the prince, however it was also a very frightening realization as well.

The look on the face of the prince was truly frightening, he laughed and giggled almost psychotically “Blooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood” The prince’s horn began to glow once again, and his armor became surrounded and levitated in front of him, “Blooooooood…” The prince looked gleefully at his armor, increasing the pressure on the armor and causing it to change shape. When he was happy with the modifications made to his weapons he put the armor on and turned to his army and let out a loud sound so frightening that it was said to leave ice in the blood of ponies who were unfit for battle. The soldiers had come to take this as the new command to charge, in response they all let out a cry and began to charge forward behind the prince in his modified armor. The prince must have been hoping to intimidate the creature that they would soon be facing by causing it to resemble some sort of twisted and horrible creature which some soldiers could only hope did not exist beyond the gates of Tartarus.

Wastelands, disease, festering corpses, it doesn’t matter; it shall be gone soon enough. The creature noticed more fragile toys waiting to be broken. It could hear a strange pounding, almost like when it stepped on the head of one of those winged toys on the hard ground, but different.. It could smell something on the wind that excited it, something in that group of toys had something that it wanted, and it was going to have it. The creature began to dissolve and found itself quite a long way from where it was in it’s beautiful wasteland that it had created from such a revolting green place, the grass on the field had already began to die rapidly around it, and with each step another patch of grass withered and died before it even lifted its hoof. The creature looked at the toys ahead and noticed that they looked similar to it, but they were of different colors, they had things on them that it didn’t, which brought it to decide that it would find out what these things were and how they worked before erasing them and everything else.

A dark grin formed on the prince’s face surrounded by a dark black aura, his teeth began to become sharp and fearsome, he wanted a piece of that creature and he intended to make sure that he would get one. The pounding of his heart became faster and faster, the voice in the back of his head howled for blood, he knew this would be his greatest battle yet and one that would leave him more satisfied than ever. “Bloodbloodbloodbloodblooooooooood!” The only thoughts residing in the prince’s mind were of the many ways he wanted to make this thing bleed before killing it. He lowered his head, his horn and eyes began to glow, he was not only casting a protective spell to keep himself from being blinded, but using magic to improve the accuracy of his horn to compensate for his field of vision being affected by the angle of his head.

The armies began to take their positions based upon skill sets, the earth ponies and unicorns specializing in short ranged magic continued to charge as the pegasi took to the skies and the long ranged magic unicorns lined up and got ready to fire under the command of the experienced mare who’s eyes began to gleam with pride. This was her specialty, the emerald green mare took one last look at her crimson helmet before placing it on her head and lowering her visor. “PREPARE YOUR HORNS, READY YOUR MAGICS, AND PREPARE TO FIRE ON MY COMMAND!”

The pegasi had always had a gift for moving and using clouds for leisurely purposes, but it wasn’t until a clumsy stallion kicked a cloud for being uncooperative that it was discovered they could be used to fire lightning. Though slightly visually impaired and accident prone, this pegasus was nowhere near the simpleton that his superiors had taken him for when he showed them an oddly shaped cloud. This shape and design had become the prototype for what the pegasi now referred to as the thunder cannons. These weapons were capable of being used for electrocuting the enemy or stunning it by focusing the thunder waves from several cannons on the enemy. These weapons were crafted and being deployed by the pegasi and aimed closely at the creature. “Ready your cannons and await the signal to fire!” A white stallion in sapphire blue armor shouted, his wings adorned with light pieces of armor to protect them from being broken in flight. Suddenly and without warning an explosion was heard, and a large bolt of lightning struck the ground violently. “I SAID WAIT FOR MY COMMAND, NOW HOLD YOUR FIRE!” A grey colt hastily readied his weapon again, hoping that he wouldn’t be facing consequences for that accidental discharge when he lost his grip and the cannon fired once again, this time starting a small fire which quickly began to cause the fields to burn. “I SAID HOLD YOUR FIRE, WHAT PART DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!” The commanding officer was fighting his hoof’s strong desire to bury itself in this stallion’s skull, but he knew that he would have to face a court martial if he attacked an allied soldier. The grey stallion looked at his weapon, “I-I’m sorry sir... I just don’t know what went wrong...”

The multiple explosions had caused an excitement in the prince, his jaws opened wide as he ran, once his horn sank into the neck of the creature he intended to take a bite out of anything he could reach after lifting it off the ground. He came within a few feet of the creature when bolts of magic began to fill the skies behind him in many different colors, he felt the earth shake as many of them began to strike the ground near him. Suddenly he found himself striking the creature, an ominous black fluid began to spray from its neck as the prince lifted it into the air and sank his teeth into the back leg of the creature, ripping a large chunk and tearing it with a jet of the black fluid following, swallowing the chunk of flesh. He threw his head back and howled, allowing the creature to become stabbed by many of the sharp edges of his armor before hurling it to the ground. Wave after wave of magic, lightning, and thunder began to approach the prince stood over his victim giggling and ready to take another bite when he noticed that the gaping hole in the creature's neck was now smaller than the diameter of his horn at its thickest, the prince stabbed the creature several more times and watched the holes shrink.

Hundreds upon hundreds of bolts of magic came crashing down around the prince and the creature, the enchantments of his armor caused the magics of his allies to cause an aura of magic to appear around his armor and replenish his magic reserves. The design of his armor would cause electricity to pass over his body to the ground, the rubber under the armor would act as insulation and protection. The magic bolts seemed to strike the creature, but if they had any effects it didn’t seem to show, the creature got up and struck the prince with its back hooves, this signified to the other soldiers it was time for them to join the fight. They had stood back to allow the prince his chance to have his fun first. Dozens of armor-clad ponies swarmed the battlefield and began to attack the creature with horns and hooves, their only instincts were those gained through their training and experience on the battlefield.

The prince may have been consumed by his lust for blood but he still knew the difference between his allies and his target, the red world was moving in slow motion, his mind racing, images of flesh tearing and blood spraying, and the feel of warm fresh blood on his coat. The creature before him almost seemed as if nothing that his soldiers were doing were causing any real harm to it. The prince got back up and started to charge at the creature that had knocked him back quite a ways back, he let out a yell and spread his wings before taking to the air, jaws wide open and ready to tear a big chunk of flesh from the creature’s neck.  Suddenly an explosion of black magical energy hurled ponies in every direction the creature standing above the prince forced on his back laughing maniacally, this time his sanity finally appearing dissolved, his horn glowing with green and black magic, his smile was wide. it was tough for the soldiers who were struggling to get back on their hooves to decide if it was because he believed he was about to join the eternal fight in Tartarus or if he was certain that a gory victory was at hand.

The creature stood over its prey, its victim staring up at it with wild eyes, snapping his jaws at it hoping to take another bite. The creature felt a distaste for this thing under its feet, it decided that with so many other toys like the one snapping at it, it could afford to break one before it learned how these things worked. The bottom of its head started to separate from the upper half, almost as if it had jaws, but rather than a mouth the creature’s ‘flesh’ seemed to stretch opening up to reveal a blue and green light, its gaping jaws coming closer and closer to consuming the prince. One final spell was cast and ponies stood in awe as the dust began to settle and only two words echoed into the darkness that tainted the air “Forgive me.”

Chapter 4

The embers from the fires that were scorching the plains were beginning to die down as the skies started to become gray, two silhouettes were visible in the dust when the rain began to fall, a familiar voice cried out in anguish and a mournful tune seemed to be carried upon the wind. Everypony hung their heads in disbelief as a crimson helmet stood upon a spike of the prince’s armor, their second in command sat next to the lifeless body of the stallion, the rain on her face masked the tears running down her face. “Hush now, dear prince, quiet now, brave soldier, soon you will find your war, know that even though you won’t be near us, we shall join you one day in Tartarus. Drift, my prince, drift away from this place full of peace. Good night sweet prince.” Emerald whispered before she began to sing a mournful and depressing song to bid farewell to her fallen prince, wind began to blow and the soldiers stood in a moment of silence mourning the loss of a great inspiration and leader, and the loss of a prince who had defended the kingdom many times before.

Emerald got up on her hooves and put her helmet back on, “THE WARRIORS FROM TARTARUS HAVE COME TO ESCOURT OUR VALIANT PRINCE TO THE ETERNAL BATTLE, THE TIME FOR OUR MOMENT OF SILENCE HAS COME TO AN END!” The fields erupted in a roaring yell, it would be better that the prince’s last memories of his soldiers as he ran with his new comrades were those of him being cheered onwards to battle. Emerald took one last look over at the prince and she could’ve sworn that she saw the silhouette of a warrior charging into battle, “May your new hunt never end, and know that the monsters of Tartarus shall cower before your might, O mighty Prince of War.”

It had been a few hours since Emerald arrived from the battle field after giving the orders to carry the prince to the royal burial grounds; it was her duty to inform the queen and princess. It was going to be a hard time ahead for not only her and the royal family, but for the whole kingdom. Emerald would have thought it strange that the rain lightened and got heavier at random intervals, but her mind was just as clouded as the weeping skies, “My dear, he’s gone..” she tried to rehearse the moment in her head, but she couldn’t find a way to avoid causing heartache for her beloved queen. “It would probably be best that she hear it from me, but how can I tell her?” Emerald opened the gates to the castle and walked into the throne room, her first sight was Princess Venus.

“I’m sorry Captain Emerald, the festivities aren’t ready. This sudden rain threatened to wash everything away, so we had to save what we could.”

Emerald chuckled “He never did care for much other than the chance to feast and show his softer side to the regular population when it came to those things anyways.” She recalled images of the prince spending time with his subjects, especially the way he asserted his beliefs that a true leader needed to be strict with his soldiers, a demon in battle, and a beloved figure among the subjects who he protected.

“He’s… No, you’re not saying that… My brother.. He’s finally joined that battle of his, hasn’t he?” the princess sighed, she knew her brother had always wanted to join the battle of Tartarus, but part of her had hoped he would have retired from the warrior life before then, “Damn it all! DAMN IT ALL!” The princess cursed and threw her glass at the wall. The belief system of these ponies was somewhat complex; the prison for monsters guarded by Cerberus, Tartarus was home to a gory, never-ending battle between the spirits of fallen warriors who loved battle and a hellish world of nightmares that acted as a punishment for a civilian pony that lived a bad life.

Aether was a heavenly and peaceful world in which ponies, both civilian and retired warriors would find their reward for living a moral life, but it was a hellish place of stillness and nothing but peace as a punishment for a corrupt warrior who died with a love of battle. Princess Venus had hoped that her brother would be able to retire and find peace in Aether, this fact added to her sorrows, she sighed, “At least he’s happy, that’s what’s most important.” Her thoughts flowed past her lips and into the ears of the mare who brought the message. She turned to the throne, “I guess it’s up to me to take over his duties.” Venus sighed, such a brutal task for a mare who preferred to do things gently and with love and care, “No, your highness. When I report to the queen, I’ll be making a note of it to her of your brother’s wishes.” Emerald paused before taking her steps into the hallway along the route to the queen’s chambers, “This isn’t going to be easy.”

The queen was lying in her bed when she heard the door open; she could already tell by the scent of blood and flowers that it was the captain of her guards, probably just returning with news about a recent battle. “Tell me, what happened?” the queen was notified that the soldiers had gone to deal with the approaching creature, but she was expecting her son to tell her the story of what went on.

“I’m afraid that the Prince of War has moved on to more favorable hunting grounds.”  Emerald’s tone was distant and it seemed as if something else was plaguing her mind.

The queen nodded and closed her eyes, “Even we so-called immortals will die, it’s tragic that my foal had to leave before my time, but he died honorably, he was following his passion and I wouldn’t doubt that he’s already become feared by the creatures of Tartarus.” In her many years, the queen had experienced loss of friends and loved ones enough to know that if he earned his place among the ranks of the fallen who get to enjoy the thrill of battle until the end of time, he would be happy.

“My queen, I haven’t let anyone else see this yet, but I found it near his body when that… Thing was defeated.” Emerald produced an object from her helmet, “My best guess is that the creature is locked within.”

The queen took it into her hooves and rested her horn on it, “The gate must never be opened.” Emerald nodded in understanding of the queen’s thoughts on the matter.

“Let’s hope it stays closed.”

It had been almost a year since the prince had joined the warriors of Tartarus in their legendary war in the life beyond, when the queen had become strong enough to leave her bed and resume her duties when the preparations for the funeral were nearing completion. She had made the order for the prince’s body to be preserved with the strongest of preservation magics known in the kingdom; his body was placed within a book, where all time stood still for his body. The queen had wanted to put a hold on the funeral until she was strong enough to at least attend, however, with her sudden recovery she had decided to take over the job for her poor daughter who was having a hard time coping with the loss of her older brother and planning the funeral arrangements.

A lone pony stood far off in the distance, covered in a black hooded robe the pony walked at an eerily slow pace. Her face masked by magic to make her appear as the prince to those who dared to try to look under the hood, Emerald carried the coffin behind her, low enough to the ground that it wouldn’t be visible to anypony until she walked through the crowd as she made her way into the tomb. It was customary for a fallen warrior to be carried to their tombs by the highest ranked soldier in the military, with Prince Mars gone. That was Emerald now. The soldier would don the black robe and use magic to look like an undead version of the fallen as they walked down into the tomb and in doing so, give one final performance in memory of her slain ally. As Emerald neared the crowd, she halted and prayed that no foals would dare to be curious enough to attempt to look at her masked face. Hardened soldier that she was, she still understood how haunting it could be for a young pony to gaze up at the hooded figure to see an undead pony with battle wounds and scars that would never heal. The crowd parted and made way for the passing figure who walked slowly down the path and into the tomb as the queen began to speak the words of the final rite for a slain member of the royal family who’s passed on to Tartarus.

Emerald’s task the previous few months had been very tedious, from memorizing the layout of the tomb, sitting up multiple nights in vigil guarding the body, and making sure that nopony got their hands on the books had taken their toll on the green mare, but soon her task would be over and she would be allowed to rest. The tired soldier navigated the elaborate passages with a scarlet flame floating above Emerald’s head; she had lowered the hood and released the spell masking her face shortly after closing the entrance to the tomb to prevent any young ponies from wandering in because of their curiosity.  “Hold yourself together soldier, you’re almost there.” She told herself to keep herself awake as she opened the secret passage and opened up a book, “Lebro, lebro tenas ek deposinah ti, dizarik pru oso oni-raiz te revart en corpus principaz.” Emerald raised her hoof as the book gave a purple glow and drove it deep into the page, pulling out the perfectly preserved corpse of Prince Mars, she used magic to help herself lift and protect the body from being harmed as she placed it in the real casket. Princess Venus had gone ahead the previous night and placed it in this hidden room so that tomb robbers would be unable to find the real casket. As Emerald closed the passage and sealed it behind her, she whispered one last time “Goodnight young prince, may your prey never elude you.” She placed the book into a hidden pouch in her robe and carried the decoy casket to the room where all the paths converged and placed it where it belonged before putting her hood up and magical mask back on. “Almost done.”

Emerald made her way through the secret passageways and out the secret entrance, which she sealed permanently behind her, everypony in the crowd gasped as a figure appeared on the top of the tomb, it leapt down and a breeze caused the hooded figure’s head to become exposed. Foals shrieked in horror as the undead prince darted off through the crowd and out into the wastelands still ruined by the curse of the terrible creature that caused his death and vanished over the horizon.

Soon after arriving home Emerald staggered into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed, she knew that sleep wouldn’t wait much longer to take hold of her and drag her deep into the world of dreams after so long. It seemed to Emerald as if she had blinked, however after looking around to find herself back in the royal burial grounds she realized she must have fallen asleep faster than she thought she would. She followed the ponies back to the castle and watched as they comforted each other and tried to console the queen and princess, “I’m always here if you need me.” She thought wishing she could tell that to the queen in the waking world, she gasped as the two royal mares turned their heads and looked directly at her before looking back to the other ponies. It had been weeks in Emerald’s dream, she had seen soldiers training harder than they ever had, citizens gathering in groups and trying to entertain each other, even the queen and princess leaving the castle, all to help themselves distract themselves from their grief and to make it easier to go about their daily lives until the sadness passes. There was a loud cracking noise followed by the sound of shattering glass being heard throughout the kingdom, suddenly plants began to die, come back to life, shrink, grow, even revert to being seeds and bloom into fully grown plants. The sky and ground began to shake with a horrible vigor, and the sun and moon sailed wildly through the skies without guidance or any real course, the weather began to wildly fluctuate at random and chaotic intervals.

The queen put up a magical shield above the entire city and called everypony to hear an important announcement, “The time has come my beloved subjects, until we ponies can keep a reign over these new problems, we must divide ourselves.” Emerald listened as the queen explained that it would become easier for the ponies to get everything under control if they separated into three different groups, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns. They would all be living apart from each other until these lands are once again tamed and the dangers have passed. The queen had decided to go with the unicorns while her daughter chose to live with the pegasi and it was decided that they would depart from the kingdom within a few days.

Emerald awoke with a shock from seeing that she had been asleep for weeks, and rushed into the throne room and told the queen of what she saw in her dream hoping that it wasn’t true. “Please my queen… It didn’t happen.”

“I’m sorry, I cannot. Please, Emerald… Forgive me.”

Chapter 5

Rosedrop woke up in the middle of the night screaming, something was causing an intense pain that she’d never felt before and her sheets were wet with what she could only assume was blood. She called out for her friend Cherry who had been staying with her recently to take care of the things she wasn’t capable of doing without putting her foal at risk. The grey mare burst into the room and immediately began trying to get her friend to settle down and understand what was going on, Cherry had witnessed her siblings being born and she knew that it could be a frightening thing to experience such a pain for the first time. “Calm down Rosedrop, it’s not something to worry about, but you’ll need to start thinking of names while we move.” Cherry knew that with unicorn teleporting magic they could be at the hospital within moments, however it was not their best option, they needed to carry her gently with magic and move quickly.

Within moments of receiving the call from what sounded like a distressed mare the emergency medical unicorns appeared outside and rushed in to set their patient in a carriage supported so that she would remain still while six of the eight unicorns pulled it to the hospital, and the other two could keep her calm and safe along the way. “How long ago did she start going into labor?” The red stallion began questioning Cherry to gather information that they could determine if they needed to pick up the pace. The phoenix on top the carriage shrieking to alert any passing ponies to get out of the way, the hospital was only a few minutes away when the next wave of pain hit Rosedrop and she let out an agonized yell, “Is it this bad for earth ponies, or is this just a curse that we have to deal with?” Her thoughts rolled off her tongue, her only thought was that perhaps the foal’s horn was making things more miserable for her. The yellow nurse chuckled when she caught on to what her patient meant by that question, “No my dear, I’m afraid that we unicorns have an internal protection designed to prevent harm or pain from the horns. What you’re feeling now is normal for a first time mother.” The nurse had lost count how many times she had a patient or young pony ask about unicorns and pregnancy. “We’ll be stopping soon, be ready.”

Within seconds Rosedrop found herself being wheeled out of the carriage, into a room, and hoisted onto a bed, a fifth wave crashed over her, by this time her throat had begun to hurt and she was too exhausted to scream, and just let out a groan. “I need something to drink damnit!” she kicked her hoof at the nurse, her pain was making her irritable and less capable of finding her ability to be reasoned wit. Her head was filled with fears of what might go wrong while she was being assisted by the doctors and nurses, “AND KEEP THAT WORTHLESS SCREW-UP GENTLE BREEZE OUT OF HERE! I DON’T WANT HER MIXING UP THE DOCTOR’S TOOLS LIKE SHE MIXED UP THE TESTS!”

The nurse Gentle Breeze had been sent to fetch water and was walking into the room when she heard Rosedrop’s shouting, and chuckled to herself, “Wouldn’t be the first case of irritable mare rage while giving birth, and I can’t expect it to be the last.” The nurse had a lot of experience with the maternity ward and remembered the day that she met with Rosedrop. The truth is Gentle Breeze suspected that Rosedrop had mistaken the symptoms of being pregnant and with a pinch of the power of suggestion came to believe they were due to an illness that foals had been regularly immunized against for generations. Gentle Breeze did try to reason with the distraught mare that day and even tried to get her to understand that she wanted her to take a pregnancy test first. “It seems you don’t remember ignoring me trying to explain that I was going to have a pregnancy test done first, because your records showed that you were immunized against ECD.” The sea blue nurse placed the glass of water in the hoof of her patient and smiled, “Though it does seem I should get you a few lumps of sugar to calm that IMR before something bad happens, promise you’ll try to calm down, please?”

“IMR? I’m not bucking angry! But sugar does sound great, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try ca-“ Her thoughts were interrupted when the pain returned, she would have lost her drink if it weren’t for the nurses quick timing and their magic.

It wasn’t long before the doctor walked in, “It’s been a while Rosedrop, tell me, have you been keeping your little troublemaker safe?” Rosedrop blushed slightly, remembering the ultrasound, and the nurses giggled a bit, they had only just recently heard the news of how this foal had deceived the ultrasound nurse and caused a bit of worry before proving to be perfectly fine.

“Yes, I’ve been very careful to be sure that nothing bad happens to her.”  Rosedrop picked up one of the lumps of sugar and placed it in her mouth, letting the sugar melt and soothe her throat.

After what seemed like forever, Rosedrop noticed that all of the doctors were huddled around a table instead of paying attention to her and the foal, she was about to call out for their attention when she noticed that her foal was on the table, and a state of heavy exhaustion had replaced her pain. “I suppose they’re taking care of her, guess it wouldn’t hurt to finally rest.” The last thing that Rosedrop remembered hearing from the waking world before she slipped completely into her sleep was the doctors talking about amputations and alicorns. She closed her eyes and found herself reliving the story of the ancient Prince of War and her ancestor who commanded an entire army under him.

I still remember the story Miss Gentle Breeze told me, it seems I was quite the horror for the doctors. It wasn’t a surprise to me that on even the first day of my life something bad was about to happen to me But I’m afraid that I still find myself wishing that it was the worst thing to happen.

The doctors had delivered the foal nearly half an hour ago and were shocked enough by what was going on to notice that the mother hadn’t realized she was finished. “This is highly unusual, I’m afraid I don’t know what I can do.” A cyan earth pony stallion looked down at the terrifying sight of this poor red foal on the table. The red foal looked up at the doctors around her and giggled at the sight of so many funny looking ponies paying so much attention to her; she let out a big yawn and closed her eyes with a smile, blissfully unaware of what was going on. The foal was covered in a thick black substance, which left the doctors worrying, but the most troubling fact was that this foal not only had wings, but those wings had only enough tissue to hold the bones together, there was no way that she could live a normal life with them.

“We’re going to need a specialist to remove her wings, it’s unfortunate, but there’s no choice.” A green stallion in a nurse’s outfit nodded at the doctor’s order to make the call, “Doctor Feather Whirl, your skills are needed up here. Second floor, maternity wing, room 3A.” The stallion nodded and confirmed that the information was correct. It was five minutes after the call that a white pegasus with a neatly held brown mane charged into the room and skid to a halt a few inches away from the table in the center of the room, “What’s the problem here?” he said pointing his wing towards the unicorn mother in the bed. “I thought I was needed in this room here.” The green stallion that made the call stepped forward, “You are, and you’re going to want to see this.” He pointed with his hoof to the foal on the table. “Mother of Celestia... What… How did this… Get me some HFPD7! AND WHERE ARE MY TOOLS?!” The pegasus was confused for an instant but immediately took command of the situation; there wasn’t time to worry about how it was possible, those wings needed to come off now.

The foal was rushed into a room with blinding lights, there weren’t even any shadows in the room, but that didn’t bother her, she wasn’t old enough to understand what shadows were anyways, what concerned her was why everypony was looking at her like something was wrong, she didn’t like it. The ponies surrounding her didn’t look happy or funny anymore, and it was a bit unsettling, she frowned and tried to hide behind her hooves hoping that it would make the situation change. Gentle Breeze placed a gentle hoof next to the foal, “Don’t be frightened, I’m Gentle Breeze, and your mother said your name was Strawberry Surprise, isn’t that a pretty name for such a pretty young filly?” She knew that the foal probably wouldn’t understand the words, but her tone of voice was gentle and soothing and it should help her ease the mind of young Strawberry, and get her to relax. Strawberry squeaked and looked up at the sea blue mare in front of her and giggled, the smile on her face made Strawberry feel better, “Hold still little one, it’s going to feel like a little shock, but you’ll be just fine. Can you trust me?” Gentle Breeze had a knack for soothing her patients and getting them to relax under almost any circumstances; she quietly picked up the needle as she spoke and held Strawberry’s attention with some odd facial expressions, slipping the IV needle into Strawberry’s leg with the young foal barely noticing. “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head, hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.” The nurse sang the classic lullaby and smiled as Strawberry yawned and fell asleep with a smile.

“Alright Doctor, she’s almost ready.” Gentle Breeze said adjusting the special anesthetics designed specifically for foals, “Very good, turn on the lights when she’s deep enough.” Feather Whirl nodded to his unicorn assistant to cast her vision enhancing spell, with this enchantment on his eyes the surgeon’s vision is precise, clear, and he can see even the smallest of details. His assistant pressed her ear to Strawberry’s flank, “Her heart rate is slowing, she’s deep enough.” She turned on the lights and placed the scalpel in her boss’ hoof.

Feather Whirl carefully brought the scalpel to the first deformed wing on his patient’s left shoulder and made an incision, cutting down to the joint socket bone and clearing the way for the wing to be separated from the body. He placed the scalpel in the tray and requested his surgical scissors, which he then used to cut away the bloody wing from the bone connecting to the joint. The nurse collected the mass of bone and tissue that she could barely find reason to refer to as a wing; after all, it was barely held together by any cartilage or flesh, no feathers, it was just bio-waste now. She placed the discarded body part into a bag with a biohazard mark placed the bag on the table, it was supposed to remain unsealed until the rest of it was removed and placed within. Feather Whirl was using an oddly shaped tool to separate and pry the bone from the socket, “Get me a pair of pliers!” He said taking the tool into his mouth and using it to pull on the bone as the tool in his hooves pushed up when finally the bone popped out with a cracking sound, the removal had done two jobs for the determined pegasus. The next step after removing the joint would have been to gently crack the joint open so that he could remove the excess bone from the shoulder without causing too much damage to the bones that would be left behind. Strawberry’s body twitched in response to the removal of the limb, however the doctor knew that she was far too deep in her sleep for it to have been a conscious movement, it was no more than the ligaments that came with what little muscle the wings had pulling on another muscle.

Strawberry remembered closing her eyes as the nice blue mare had sung her to sleep, she found herself in a wonderland of amazing sights and thrills, so many things to look at and see, so much color! Strawberry giggled wildly and ran in whatever direction she so pleased, she placed whatever object she found interesting enough in her mouth and even threw things wherever she wanted. It wasn’t until she came across a giant silvery thing that she found herself so intrigued that she put everything down and hurried over towards it to find that there was another foal in her wonderland! How dare this intruder enter her playground! Strawberry walked up to the now angry looking intruder with an angry expression on her face and let out an angry shout, the other foal seemed to be doing exactly the same thing as she was doing at the very same time she did it. This only served to further Strawberry’s frustrations with this strange pony, but then she had an idea! Maybe she could trick the other pony into going away if she chased it! Strawberry giggled and took a few steps closer towards the foal when her head had met something flat and cold, Strawberry walked around the big silvery thing and the foal vanished. She sat back down in front of the other foal, both of them wearing a puzzled look on their faces; Strawberry began to attempt solving the puzzle that sat before her. There was a tree behind Strawberry, but not a tree behind the silver thing, there was a foal in front of Strawberry, there was a Strawberry in front of the tree, but there wasn’t a Strawberry or a foal behind the silver thing. Strawberry stared deeply into the eyes of the foal when suddenly the idea came to her, this silver thing must be making it possible for Strawberry to see herself! Strawberry giggled and waved at the Strawberry in the silver thing, who was waving back.

Feather Whirl took the bottle of chilled water in his hoof and took a large gulp; the sockets always took the longest, because they were the most important and took more care than the other two sections of the wing. “Almost there.” He looked to his assistant who was holding the tool for removing the first half of the socket and shaving off any fragments of bone that might not come off the first time. The first half of the socket came off without a problem; the second half left a few pieces of bone that were easily removed. “This is going to be a long night.” Feather’s assistant thought to herself, just soft enough to avoid her boss hearing her comment.

Rosedrop opened her eyes, she saw a Gentle Breeze walking in with her foal being held by the mare’s magic, “I’m sorry Miss Rosedrop, I can allow you to see Strawberry, but I must strongly advise against holding her at the moment, we shall be keeping her under observation for a few days before we are able to release her.” Gentle Breeze never liked being the one to deliver bad news, nopony in the hospital did, but there always had to be somepony to do so, but unfortunately, Gentle Breeze’s number came up this time.

Rosedrop’s eyes opened as wide as they could when she noticed the slightly bloody bandages on her foal, “What… Happened?” she expected that the answer she would receive wasn’t going to be good.

“Strawberry is such a brave little trooper,” Gentle Breeze smiled, “She went through a few hours of surgery, when she woke up the first thing she did when she woke up was look up at the doctor taking her wings away and let out an angry yell at him.” Gentle Breeze chuckled remembering the sight of the angry foal looking at the surgeon, Strawberry seemed to know that those wings were hers, but she wasn’t old enough to understand that it needed to happen for her to live a normal life.

“W-wings?!?” Rosedrop exclaimed, it certainly wasn’t something that she had expected to hear, but then she frowned, if the nurse was telling the truth, it would confirm the suspicions that her mother had held so many months ago.

Gentle Breeze sighed, “I’m not even sure if they can be called wings.” She produced an array of photos taken for documentation of the unusual case, “Doctor Feather Whirl would like your permission to keep these and the wings for his research and study.”

Rosedrop felt a fear for the safety of her foal, “Will they be altered to protect her identity?”

Gentle Breeze nodded, “The pictures will have a spell cast upon them to make anypony who is not allowed to know see a green stallion.”

Rosedrop nodded in thankfulness, “I understand, take care of my dear Strawberry.” She yawned and nodded back off to sleep, the medications she was given making her too drowsy to stay awake much longer.

Strawberry had felt amazing as she flew down the hallways and into the room where her mother rested, she zipped around in circles giggling cheerfully, she couldn’t understand why she could only go so far from the blue mare but she didn’t pay too much attention to it, flying was so exhilarating for her, she didn’t want to stop. Strawberry hovered over her mother and brought her face as close as she could without waking Rosedrop and smiled mischievously. “BAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWAAAAAAA!” Strawberry shouted bopping Rosedrop’s snout softly with her hoof and flailing her other limbs wildly, she watched as her mother’s eyes opened with a startled look, which caused Strawberry to giggle and smile. She looked down at her mother and licked her snout with a sort of apologetic look on her face after noticing how upset she looked about being woken up so rudely.

Gentle Breeze smiled to herself watching the little foal enjoying herself in the air, it must be a natural instinct for a pony born with the ability to fly to enjoy it so much, which led to a realization that brought a frown to her face. The spell she used to hold Strawberry allowed the foal to move in the air at will to a certain extent, if there was somewhere that Strawberry shouldn’t be or that Gentle Breeze didn’t want her, Strawberry wasn’t able to go there. Gentle Breeze felt a sort of warmth in her heart when she watched the foal stare down at her mother who had just started to go back to sleep, and gasped when she woke her mother in such a comedic fashion, “Strawberry!” she was about to say something when she saw the foal apologize in the only way she could. “It seems she likes to joke…” Gentle Breeze laughed along with Rosedrop, only causing Strawberry to laugh even more than she already was.

“Indeed she does…” Rosedrop sighed, she had an idea of what was in store for the poor little foal, she could only hope that it wouldn’t be too much.

“That only makes it that much harder to know the truth, Strawberry, please… Forgive me…”

Chapter 6

Strawberry could hardly contain herself, her second birthday was coming and her mother bought her tickets to see a talented duo of magicians at the Mareakech Theater in San Fransiscolt. She had an urge to bounce in her seat but she resisted because she wanted to show off what she had been learning about proper behavior. When the train started moving, she reached into her bag and pulled out an activity book, which she had purchased with part of the amount of money that she was given by her mother to purchase things to keep herself busy along the way. “Two bits a book, four for the pens and pencils, crayons and markers, twelve for snacks, and nine for the drinks.”  Strawberry felt pleased with herself having, placing the pouch full of leftover bits in her bag. “Mother, I did pretty well, didn’t I?” Strawberry looked to her mother for approval.

“Yes, but I’d still like to hear the story.” Rosedrop had been suspicious when her daughter first told her how much she paid compared to the amount of items in her bags, but was glad to discover that it was smart shopping rather than shoplifting.

Halfway to San Fransiscolt, the train had entered a mountain pass tunnel and Strawberry became excited, her horn began to glow and much like the unpredictable magic of young unicorns often does, an unexpected thing happened. Strawberry blinked and smiled in amazement as the entire tunnel began to glow with different colors like a prism spraying its rainbow light in different directions. Everypony on the train had become fascinated with this surprising display of colored lights, and wondered who the talented unicorn was that could illuminate an entire tunnel in such a spectacular way. Strawberry saw the pleased looks upon everypony’s faces and noticed her horn glowing in the window, “Mother, mother! Look at what my horn did!” Strawberry had become used to the unpredictable magic, though she was disappointed when it became obvious that the spontaneous magic was occurring more and more infrequently as she got older. One thing that made accidents such as the one, which caused these beautiful lights, was that though temporary, they could be made permanent by a more experienced unicorn or replicated later if the unicorn had enough knowledge and strength.

The conductor smiled softly when he was informed that this display was caused by a young filly’s magical outbursts and picked up the phone, it would be another forty minutes to leave the tunnel, plenty enough time to call in a favor and obtain clearance to have the beautiful display made a permanent part of the tunnel. “Yes, I need the station master, STAT!” he tried to sound as urgent as possible, though he chuckled slightly after the pony on the other end of the line put the phone down on the counter and rushed the station master to the phone. “Why hello Station Master, I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got an urgent decision that needs to be made. We’ve got a filly aboard who’s had a bit of a magical outburst, and I need a favor.”

The conductor did his best to explain the situation, and was pleased when he heard the station master’s response “Amazing, you say? Alright then. I’ll be there to decide if it needs to be removed, but you have my permission to make it permanent for now.”

The conductor trusted that the back-up conductor would be able to handle things for a few minutes as he stepped out to deliver the announcement. He walked down the aisles looking for the filly who he was told about, when he approached he cleared his throat, “Ahem, I was just informed of your actions young miss.” The conductor sounded a bit sterner than he had wanted to but that was just due to the way his voice naturally was.

Strawberry’s eyes widened, she must’ve done something wrong and now she was in trouble, “Please mister train pony, my horn doesn’t always listen to me, it does these things at times, please don’t be mad!” she begged, hoping that she would be forgiven for whatever offense she was guilty of. Strawberry frowned, she had caused something that made many ponies happy by accident, but now she had to face being in trouble for something beyond her control, which didn’t really seem fair to her.

“Settle down young one.” His horn started to glow a bright yellow, “I just got off the phone with my boss and he said that he wants this to stay at least long enough that he can see it, and then he will decide if it will stay forever or not.” He smiled and winked, “I have a good feeling that he’s going to want to meet you after seeing what you’ve done here.”

Strawberry held a puzzled look, “This stallion sounds mad… But he’s just as happy as everypony else!” she pondered over it for a moment, “Just like my horn…” She pointed to the stallion’s neck.

The conductor laughed, “I do believe that you could say that!” he was somewhat amused by the filly’s line of thought, “But the thing is, your horn is the way it is because you’re still growing up, my voice got this way after a long time of doing my job.”

Strawberry laughed, “Yes, but what I meant is, it’s something that neither of us can help. It’s beyond our control.” Strawberry had begun her education in the normal subjects a bit earlier than most little ponies; however, she was still too young to begin to learn magic.

There she was, just a few hoofsteps from entering the Marekesh theatre and all she had to do was conquer the angry monster that stood in her way. Strawberry knew that this foul monster’s sole purpose in life was to keep her from entering, it stood before her, its horrible sense of fashion caused it to be a striped pattern of red and white. The creature had a terrible and grotesque looking defense on its head that could act as a shield if only it were smart enough to lower its head. “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Strawberry shouted angrily, mocking the creature that demanded her most prized possession, the creature shrieked and reached out to take a swipe at her when she ducked and swooped over to the left. If only she could defend her most precious ticket from this foul thieving monster and make it into the theatre.

Rosedrop sighed, “Too much excitement over too long can overpower any training in proper behavior, I suppose…” Strawberry had run ahead once the sign for the theatre became visible, and she probably didn’t understand that she needed to give her ticket to the ponies in front, not just show it to them. A crowd had seemed to gather around the ticket box; some ponies were whispering while others were laughing, others were cheering on a ‘little red freedom filly’. Rosedrop rolled her eyes and sighed, “Strawberry, what’d you get yourself into now?” it was just then that she could hear Strawberry’s voice shouting at the ticket mare, Rosedrop made her way through the crowd and apologized to everyone for her daughter’s unusual behavior, “This is the first time she’s seen a show. Strawberry, she’s not trying to steal your ticket, you’re supposed to give it to her so that she can let you in.” she demonstrated by giving her own ticket to the mare who seemed more amused by the filly’s antics than upset.

Strawberry mumbled and hoofed her ticket over and started to trot towards the entrance when a very firm “HOLD IT!” stopped her in her tracks. Strawberry froze, not wanting to get into any more trouble today, “We would have a problem here if I just let you walk in right now.” The ticket mare reached into her bag, “You have a very special ticket here miss, and I’m supposed to give you this.” She produced a necklace with a card on it and returned the ticket with a chuckle, “Have the security guard help you after the show; he’ll know what to do.”

What I saw that day changed my life, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It was the most amazing thing that ANYPONY had ever seen. However, looking back on it now, I guess it would be expected for one to say that the show never really happened, or it was all a hoax. But those of us who were there, those of us who bore witness, we know the truth. But I know more than the rest.

Marelinda and Mcbridle, at least that’s what their stage names were. A subtle blue mare and a midnight blue stallion, Marelinda didn’t understand why she and her partner had to search for potential students in such a way, much less in such a foreign land, but orders were orders. She got up on her hooves and pulled her cape on, and cycled through her book to make sure she still had the proper page numbers memorized so that she wouldn’t flounder through the book and mess up the performance. “Welcome, ladies and gentle colts, to the dark side. We cannot guarantee your safety along this journey,” Mcbridle started her first part to the introduction and gave her partner the cue to begin. “Ancient and mysterious magic may have disastrous consequences and sometimes the effects can go beyond anypony’s ability to predict.” Marelinda noticed a small red filly in the audience who was watching closely and intently, almost as if she were transfixed by the performance already.

Strawberry was bored while waiting for the show to begin, she noticed the lights go off and frowned, “How can anypony see the stage without any light?” then two voices came out of nowhere and began to speak. Strawberry felt mesmerized as she watched the two showmares step out of the shadows and start their introductions, something inside of her didn’t want her to blink or look away for even a second. Strawberry felt herself consumed by the sights and sounds as each segment of the performance got progressively more impressive and amazing, the one trick that stood out the most was somehow, some way… These mares would charge into a mirror and rather than the mirror breaking, the mare disappeared into the mirror, only to show up out of nowhere somewhere else. Pyrotechnics mixed with magical imitations, there was nothing Strawberry could do to resist wanting to go back stage to meet the two lovely mares that put on such an amazing and inspiring display of magic.