It was the afternoon, Cherry Treat a cherry red mare with a light blue and dark blue mane was in the kitchen, taking some red velvet cupcakes out of the oven. The sweet smell filling the air around as she took it in, she loved the smell of her own cooking, but not as much as she did with sharing it. She looked up at the clock as she put the cupcakes on a rack to cool down, her daughter, Fizzlepop would be home anytime soon, a large smile formed on her face as she eagerly awaited her daughter's smile, her excitement in decorating the cupcakes to her hearts content. It always made her smile. It also made her smile to do her job, making cakes and all sorts of treats and seeing other ponies enjoy them! Her husband, Crunchy had a more busy job, so he was often out late, bit he almost always made sure to spend his times off with family and friends to try and make up for it.

Soon enough she heard a knocking at her door, she gasped with slight excitement as she rushed towards it, expecting to see her daughter home and happy. Prepared to maybe have a bath, since sometimes she’d come home dirty, wet, or both! But at least she had fun, it wasn't a huge deal. She opened the door with a smile that dropped as soon as she saw the sight in front of her. Two fillies, Fizzlepop’s friends, crying as they held onto each other. Her heart started racing, expecting something bad had happened. What had happened, why were they crying and where was her daughter?

”P-please don’t be mad at us!” The green filly, Glitterdrops sniffled.

“F-Fizzlepop! S-she got hurt and-“ Spring rain, the blue one sniffled, she had shorter eyelashes than most fillies.

“Hurt!?” Exclaimed Cherry, her heart dropped, her ears drooped as she heard the news. Hoping she heard it wrong. Usually if Fizzlepop got a scrape or a bruise, she’d be just shrugging it off after a quick clean and bandaid if needed then back to play. But if she was hurt in a way where her friends were shaking and crying, in tears, then it must have been really bad. She was breathing heavily, hoping it wasn’t as bad as she feared, what happened? How’d she get hurt?

“W-where is she now?” She asked.

”Hospital.”

Cherry’s heart was raving, her poor child, she was hurt. How hurt? A broken bone? Fracture? Illness? The list of possibilities danced in her mind, she felt a little sick now just thinking about it. “Th-thank you, girls. I-I’ll be right there.” She said, hurrying to the hospital as fast as her legs allowed her. She tried to ignore the horrid thoughts of what could have happened to her daughter, but she couldn’t. Surely it was not something life threatening, surely! She dashed through the doors to the emergency, her heard beating as she looked around, concerned nurses and patients looking at her as she caught her breath.

“M-my daughter!” She gasped. “Fizzlepop! Is she here!? Is she okay!?” She cried out, on the verge of tears, ears flat as a nurse approached her, looking sad.

“Yes, I will lead the way to you, Mrs Treat, but I must warn you, this is not pretty.” The nurse said in a serious tone.

Cherry’s heart dropped, “I-I got it. Show me, please.”

The nurse sighed and nodded, not understanding how much pain Cherry was in, but she knew it was about to get worse at the sight of her own daughter, she had to hold in her own tears as she walked down the hall, hearing her heavy breathing as she followed. Of course she had to be the one to show her, she didn’t want to be, but she had to be, she had to stay strong. “Here we are.” She said softly in front of the door before slowly opening it, hearing Cherry’s cry as she ran into the room and to her daughter's bed, seeing her seemingly unconscious, blood drip attached to her as she laid there, a bandage around her eye, hiding it along with her horn. but she could tell it was broken, but how? Tears ran down her face as her breathing went rapid, seeing her horn was broken just added to the horror. How did this happen? The nurse approached her slowly, awaiting for any questions as the mother just stood there, looking in terror as she wondered who would break a horn, especially an innocent foal! In fact, what was even strong enough to break a unicorn horn in the first place, those were durable!

“Wha-what happened?” She gulped, stuttering as tears went down her face as she looked at her with a heartbroken feeling.

”I don’t know, her friends said she was attacked by a bear of some kind.” The nurse said, they were extremely traumatised when they carried her here…

Cherry gulped and sat in a chair near the bed, wondering what kind of bear it was, must have been pretty powerful, she hoped Spring and Glitterdrops were okay too, they were just foals, far too young to be carrying a bloodied injured friend to the hospital. None of them had even gotten their cutiemarks yet! She let out a sigh as she looked at her daughter, Hoping for her to wake up anytime soon, which did eventually happen, after what felt like hours…

”Mama?” Fizzlepop mumbled as she slowly opened her eye.

”Oh sweetie…” Cherry said sadly, petting her on the hoof as a few nurses headed in to check up on her, unplugging the drip and doing a few tests and checking the eye.

“What happened?” Asked Fizzlepop, watching as her mother paused.

”I-I don’t know…” She responded looking at the doctor and two nurses with concern as they spoke to each other, she spoke once they had stopped. “What is it, doctor? Will she be okay?” She asked, her heart racing as she feared for bad news as a nurse started to remove the bandage around the horn, wiping up some liquid of some sort around it.

“I’m sorry.” The doctor said, looking down at his notes and back at her. “I think she’ll have to stay another two nights… At least.”

”Oh…” Cherry sighed, “Okay, Doc.” She said and getting up, giving Fizzlepop a kiss on the forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Sweetheart…”

”A-are you sure?” Fizzlepop sniffled, shaking slightly as she winced, remembering the attack of that giant blue starry bear! She then noticed some sparking and crackling, letting out a gasp in horror as she nurses looked at each other and back at her. “Wh-what’s going on with my horn?” She asked, noticing the crackling and sparks stopping. The two nurses gave each other a nudge as their ears drooped, Cherry’s heart had dropped, knowing her own daughter was about to get the news of the horn. She never even thought what would happen if a unicorn horn was every broken or snapped, she never heard of such thing before. Finally one of the two reluctantly walked over looking glum.

”I’m sorry… Your horn is…” She paused, gulping. “Broken.”

The words seemed to shatter the small filly as she stared at the nurse, eyes starting wto water. “B-broken!?” She cried out, heart racing as she heard the news, she didn’t know unicorn horns could break, she thought they were unbreakable, that’s crazy! “Are you going to fix it!?” She exclaimed out loud, the doctors must know how to fix it, right? They knew how to fix everything!

”I’m sorry…” The doctor apologised, sounding like he was going to cry himself, “We don’t know how!” He said softly unprepared for the following scream.

”You have to fix this!” She cried, her horn beginning to spark, “You have to! You are the doctors, you fix anything!” She cried, tears running down her face and bright, dangerous looking light and sparks shot from her hoof, calming down slightly when her mother put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Surely there’s a way!” Cherry cried out. “Have you tried putting the remains-“

”We tried! Nothing happened.” The doctor sighed, crying a bit. “I’m sorry… This is our first broken horn we’ve seem, we don’t know…” He said, seeming a little ashamed.

“Well, you are useless!” Cried Fizzlepop, full of anger, tears running down her face, “You are unicorns, just like me! You should know how to fix it, you pathetic-“

”Fizzlepop!” Her mother scolded, feeling shocked and embarrassed, but also understanding her anger, but mow was not the time to be shouting at the doctors, was there? Surely they are doing all they can. “The doctors are doing what they can!” She said before looking at them, hoping for anything happy. “We’ll she be able to use magic again?”

“We don’t know that either.” He sighed, “We’ll just have to wait and see…” He said looking at Fizzlepop, heartbroken about her situation and that they cannot help her, how would this young filly grow up? Will she be able to go on like not much happened, how many unicorns out there lost their horns? He watched as Cherry and Fizzle hugged another, a mother comforting her child while tears were shed.

It was the afternoon, a week after the incident. Fizzlepop had grown cold and distant, Cherry hadn’t seen her play with her friends, since, or be willing to decorate cookies and cupcake. Cherry sadly looked at some cupcakes on the counter, yet to be decorated, she had a sad look on her face until a certain filly walked in. “Hey Fizzy, how was school?” She asked, ignoring that she was home earlier than usual, she usually hung out with her friends after school. Seeming like something happened between them, they were close, but what happened?

“Don’t call me that!” Fizzlepop spat, sparks coming out her horn, ignoring her mother’s concerned voice as she invited her to decorate cupcakes. Cherry only watched on, soon hearing the slam of a door, she gulped and walked up the steps.

“Fizz?” Cherry called out as she approached her daughter's door and gently knocked. “It’s been a week, do you want to talk about it?”

“No! Go away!” Her voice shouted, then the sound of sparks and a yelp followed. “My friends don’t even like me anymore! My life will never be the same again because of this stupid horn, my friends left me because of my broken horn!” She cried out, breaking into sobs.

“Fizzlepop?” Questioned Cherry, opening the door slowly. Her husband was going to be home soon, he had gotten permission to leave work a little earlier due to the incident so he could be there for her daughter often. But even he had a hard time getting her to talk, she’d often run to her room whenever her friends were mentioned. What happened?

“Leave me alone!” She cried.

“You can’t just stay cooped up in your room forever, it’s not healthy.” She said and paused. “Do you think your friends would like seeing you like this?’

“I don’t have- don’t need anypony.” Fizzlepop sniffled sparks coming from her horn as she wrapped her blanket around her, not looking back. “I don’t need friends! All they do is get your horn broken and abandon you!” She sobbed, Cherry stopping in her tracks.

“What?”

“I put all my trust in those friends!” She cried out, horn glowing. “But all they did to me back was send me in an ursa cave for a. Stinking ball! Guess how that turned out! I lost my horn to them, I lost any ability to do magic because of those freaks!”

“Fizzlepop!” Cherry exclaimed, horrified at the mention of an ursa as she watched her own daughter turn round, tears running down her face and horn sparking more than ever before. “You need to calm-“ She managed to say before she ducked behind the door at the incoming explosion, seeing both her and the door crashing into the wall just outside of the bedroom. There was ringing in her ears as she lifted her head, she looked around, body aching as she tried to process what had just happened. The Smell of burnt wood filled the air… She could hear her heavy breathing as silence followed. Did her duaghter just cause an explosion? She wondered as she thought about the words from before, did she and her friends wander out of bounds? Why? She had so many questions, but she couldn’t right now, her daughter just had a dangerous reaction. She should have stopped herself, this was her fault, she should have approached her more slowly. Tears came down her own eyes before a familiar voice exclaimed.

“Fizzlepop Berrytwist!” Crunchy shouted. “What have you done!?”

“Leave me alone!” Fizzy’s voice was heard. “I just want to be left alone! I don’t need you, I don’t need any of you!” She screamed then sighed, “I’ve finally opened up my eyes, friendship fails everypony.” Seemingly Crunchy didn’t want to risk anymore damage, likely arrived just as the explosion happened, he was quick to lift the door off Cherry and scan her for injured after helping her up.

“A-are you hurt?” He asked, Cherry didn’t respond as she looked at the bedroom and back at him, tears running down her face. She was speechless, her daughter wasn’t herself anymore. She needed help, a lot of it! She should have hired a therapist sooner! She found herself in her husband’s hooves sobbing as he comforted her, sounding like he was about to cry himself.

“I’m sure we’ll think of something…” He said, petting her. “C’mon, let’s leave her for a while.” He said softly, leafing her down the stairs.

“Fizzy! Breakfast’s ready!” Called out Cherry the next morning for her daughter. Neatly stacked and decorated pancakes on a plate waiting for her while Crunchy was getting ready for work. “Fizzy!? Sweetie!” She called out again, the last few days Fizzlepop simply came down grumpily and took her breakfast without a word, looking pretty sad as she ate, but this morning there was no sight of her, which made both of them worried. After the events from the afternoon before something terrible could have happened, they both had a gut feeling to hurry to her room, so they did, Cherry entering her room and looking at the giant lump under the blanket, she paused as she stood in the middle of the room. Her heart raving as a flashback from the explosion entered her mind, but she needed to check on her daughter. “F-Fizz?” She questioned, slightly remembering all the times she’d sleep in and she’d wake up up as a younger foal, “It’s time yo get up, sweetie.” She said, her face turning to horror as soon as she put her hoof on the blanket, it was softer and colder than she thought.

“Darling?” Crunchy said as he looked at her, looking concerned, gasping in terror as Cherry ripped tue blankets off, revealing pillows and plushies, but no filly.

“Fizzy?” She whispered, gulping a bit, wondering if she simply went to school early, but why would she feel the need to make it appear she was still in bed?

“H-hey, her school books are still here.” Said Crunchy with a concerned face. “Her bag is gone…” He said, she never left her school books behind on a school day.

“I hope she still went to school.” She asked, hoping she wasn’t running away from home, maybe she was just being rebellious.

“Me too…”

At about midday Cherry was walking home, trying to keep her mind off this whole situation? Fizzlepop could not have ran away, right? She wasn’t in that bad of a state, right, she loved her family and friends! She wouldn’t abandon everyone she left behind. She stopped in her tracks with a slight gasp and jump when her name was suddenly shouted out.

“Cherry Treat!”

“Oh, hello Daisy.” Cherry greeted before noticing her concerned expression.

“I think I saw your daughter exit the village, she was heading past the gate! She ignored me when I called out, only shouting at me that she was gonna go it alone.” She puased. “Not sure what she meant by *Go* it…”

Cherry’s heart dropped when she heard these words. “How long ago?” She said quietly, horrified that her reaction wasn’t an overreaction at all, her daughter was running away. She also felt a little bit angry, if Daisy saw her go out of town by herself, why didn’t she go after her!?

“A few hours. I tried to find you-“ Daisy didn’t get to finish her words before Cherry bolted towards the main exit, like a bull seeing red. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, almost bumping into a few ponies, but thankfully she didn’t. She was running towards the main exit, hoping she could catch her daughter! Or perhaps her daughter realised it was a bad idea and was already back, hopefully she wasn’t too far. It was a dangerous world out there, she could get hurt even worse, and she had no horn to defend herself. Neither was she the most experienced fighter when it came with hooves, so some crazy mare or stallion could easily snag her up and take her away!

Her heart was racing as the thought about the possibilities, tears running down her face as she galloped as hard as she could. Not a single pony noticing her current state. She suddenly stopped, panting heavily to catch her breath at the gate, noticing some fresh filly hoofprints in the dirt. “Fizzlepop!” She gasped as she looked out into the distance, where the dirt path was leading, out into the vast wilderness.

There were muggers, wild animals, monsters, thieves and other crazy stuff. She was far too young to venture out on her own. Cherry followed the hoofprints to the edge of the village until they were gone, she gasped as she looked around for more, heart racing as she begged for any sign of her daughter, she walked ahead, oping to see more hoofprints, a hair snagged on a branch or anything! “F-Fizzlepop!?” She cried out, hoping her daughter was simply hiding nearby, “Sweetie!” She called out, wanting to find her daughter, she walked ahead, feeling sweaty as she moved on, it wasn’t really hot today, bit it felt like it was warmer. “Fizzlepop!?” She cried out, hoping for a response of some kind, stopping in place, seeing no more sign of her daughter, she could be anywhere now. She looked out into the distance with terror, tears rolling down her cheeks as she processed what had just happened. Her daughter was… Gone! She was just a filly heading out into the wild unknown, she was too young for this. “Fizzlepop!” She cried in pain as tears ran down, wishing she was there for her more, she felt like a terrible mother. Now her daughter was gone…

Crunchy walked by her side and put a hoof on her, looking out, tears in his own eyes. “I’m sure she’ll come back later…” He said, trying to keep his hopes high, hoping she was simply hiding and would come crawling back in the afternoon, like last time she didn’t come home, she came crawling back in the morning… This should be the same, right? “She always has come back.”

Author's Note

“gonna go it alone“ Is a G1 reference, not a typo