Chapter 30: Every flower wilts

"Come on, Lilly! Keep your guard up!"

It had been a month since my transformation, and things had not gotten better in that month. My family hadn't made any attempt to keep in touch after they left, Luna barely spoke two words to me since then, and I had left the castle, knowing it would be best to give her some space.

Right now, Lilly and I were staying with Applejack on her farm, and she was more than eager to take us in. The time I had been staying there was, and as she put it, 'tha best buckin' time of mah life'. Applejack had quite a naughty mouth, and, needless to say, we could never do the do in the house at night. It became just us, out under the stars and the same apple tree where her and I did it when I got here.

But, as of right now, I had a responsibility to Lilly. She was still young, and she needed to learn how to properly defend herself against anything. I wasn't going to take any risks with her. Being a prodigy could paint a large target on your head to any enemy you think you might have. If things soured in the future, then goddamn was Lilly going to be the most capable unicorn this side of the planet.

Since I, in theory, could use magic, Twilight had taken it upon herself to train me, day and night, in the arts of magic. I was never a fast learner at home, but when it came to cool stuff like this, I took it all in pretty quick. It didn't help at times when Twilight would get a little flirty. Like the time she 'dropped' a book under the couch and began to wave her rump in my face to find it. She wasn't gifted in the art of subtlety, but her ability to arouse me with her nerdy librarian persona made up for it all the same.

But, back to the here and now. It was nearly sun down, and Lilly and I were engaged in a training duel out in an unused part of Sweet Apple Acres. Mine and Lilly's battles would draw in the girls, who would watch from a safe distance, cheering us both on. It was good to know that they still accepted me.

Anyway, during our duels, we would hold nothing back. All spells, no matter what their power. My pointer fingers were my source of magic, where Lilly only had one point; a weakness shared in all unicorn. I could send out double the spell, which could make me pretty formidable, but in my duels with the little tyke, I'd only use one finger, to simulate a unicorn attacking.

I sent another blast of magic towards Lilly, but the sneaky filly managed to teleport out of the way yet again. Letting out a powerful flap of my caramel wings, I took the sky, scanning for any trace of her. Unicorns couldn't teleport far, so she couldn't have gotten out of my sight. I spun around, still searching, but my efforts were futile.

"Hey! Up here!"

I looked up to the clouds above just in time to see Lilly dive from them, headbutting me straight in the chest. I let out a grunt of pain as she and I careened back to the earth, hitting the ground with a loud whump.

I could hear the girls frantically calling our names as I sat up with Lilly, who was panting heavily into my chest.. It took a lot for a cloud walking spell for someone her size, and I had to give her props for the wing disabling spell she put on me as we fell. There was no way anypony; Earth, Unicorn, or Pegasai, could match her.

"Prince Nathan?! Lilly?! Are you alright?!" I heard Twilight call out, as well as the other five calling our names. Soon, the bushes next to Lilly and I parted and I could see six multicolored heads staring down at us in relief.

"Consarnit!" Applejack huffed. "Y'all left another crater out here! If'n were ever thinkin' of usin' this land again, I'm gonna be the one who has ta fill em all back in ya know!"

Applejack trying to be angry was pretty damn cute. I sat up, smiling, then leaned in and kissed her tightly. The tension she was carrying instantly melted away as she let out a pleasant sigh of satisfaction. I could hear the giggles coming from Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, which they always did when I was being romantic with my heard mates.

"Whats a matter? Y'all jealous?" I asked, snaking in an unintentional southern drawl that I seemed to have picked up in my time on the farm. Pinkie simply giggled and planted a large smooch on my cheek.

"Tee hee! Of course not silly! I can kiss you anytime I want to! Silly goose!" She teased, ruffling my freshly cut hair. It still had it's ungodly coloring, but I learned to live with it, and learned that cutting it really helped. But, it grew back to it's full length every time I went to bed. Big freaking drawback, but I'm sure Celestia could tell me a spell to fix that when I got back to Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash let out a snort and shook her head. "Listen pal, I don't think you could ever keep up with me. I'm just not your type."

I snerked and stood up, placing Lilly on the ground next to me gently. "What type is that, Dashie? Loud and obnoxious? I bet I could fly circles around you with these beauties!" I said, stretching my wings to their fullest length, making Rainbow narrow her eyes.

"Oh, you think size means speed, mister? Ha! Alright, well then if you really want to prove it... First one to touch the tip of Town Hall and make it back here wins! Readysetgo!" And with that, Rainbow Dash was off. I just stood there, smiling as I did a couple little stretches.

"Um, darling? You know you're loosing right?" Rarity pointed out, gesturing to Rainbow Dash's shrinking figure against the sun. I just looked up, feigning knowledge of the situation.

"Oh dear, am I?! Well, maybe it's time to start racing then. Cover your ears." I instructed, bolting straight into the sky. I looked down to see everypony doing as instructed and, satisfied, launched myself forward with a loud boom. My wings propelled me faster and faster, and I could see Rainbow's ass quickly approaching. I held out my hand and smacked it as I rocketed by, just barely hearing the surprised yelp she emitted as I quickly left her in the dust.

But, it seemed she had been holding back on me as well. I looked to my left to see her rocketing at my speed, her smile one of determination to win. I smiled as well and propelled forward faster. The two of us were neck and neck as we flew over the town, drawing the stares of many curious ponies.

"Think you can still win?!" Rainbow Dash shouted over the roar of the wind. I just laughed and shook my head at the mare, trying with all my might to keep us even. Rainbow was right. Bigger wings doesn't mean more speed. It just means you get tired that much more quickly.

Rainbow and I used every ounce of strength to overtake the other as the town hall rapidly approached. I reached out my hand and grabbed hold of the flag poll just as Rainbow touched it and bolted off. I used the momentum I gained to swing around and keep all my speed, which Rainbow didn't think about. Her speed had gone down quite a bit when she turned about, and I was able to pass her, cheering the entire way.

Sweet Apple Acres was rapidly approaching, and I could hear Rainbow getting closer and closer until she and I were neck and neck again. The G's were tugging at us more and more; the speed ripping at our skin was increasing. I could feel a mighty build up of pressure around me, and then suddenly-

BOOM

It was as if an atomic bomb had gone off. I could see the trees at the acres bend practically in two as a Rainbow and a streak of green and blue washed over the land. The girls watching below tumbled and fell from the force as Rainbow and I slammed into the ground in front of them at the same time, both smiling wide.

Rainbow turned to me, her eyes shining with excitement. "Holy horse apples! I-I don't think anypony has given me a run for my bits like that! That was freaking awesome!"

I stood there, panting from exhaustion as I turned to our crowd. I expected them to be in awe by our performance, but each one of them looked a bit crestfallen. I could see that Twilight was holding a letter next to her in her magic, which worried me a bit with their reactions.

"Hey, what's wrong, girls? Is everything alright?" I asked, regaining my breath and slowly walking over. Rainbow Dash seemed just as lost as I was in the situation.

"Your highness, I-I think it would be best if you sit down for this..." Rarity instructed, guiding my over to a nearby stump. Now I was getting very tense. Something was wrong, and I was getting more and more tense by the second. Lilly ran over and hugged my legs as tightly as she could, sniffling as she buried her muzzle into my calf.

"What's going on? Someone, please tell me..." I commanded, not harshly, but with enough tone to get my point across. Twilight came forward, and I could see a few tears wetting the corners of her eyes. "Twilight? What is it? What the hell is wrong!?"

I was shouting now. Nothing good could be coming from this, and the way Twilight and the others looked, and the fact that they were looking at me with sympathy, remorse, guilt, pain... It was easy to read it all, but not at all with why it was expressed.

"Nathaniel, it's... It's about Luna." Twilight finally whispered. That was it, that was when I broke. If something had happened to her, anything at all- I snatched Twilight up quickly and stared her dead in the eyes.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I shouted as loud as possible, my voice carrying off into the distance, echoing the fear I felt deep inside.

"Yo! Calm down!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pulling Twilight from my grip, slamming my back down onto the stump. "I'm sure Princess Luna is just fine, but yelling at my friends isn't going to make anything better! Now, Twilight, what in the hay is this all about? What happened?"

Twilight took a deep breath and stared at the ground. "L-Luna is in the hospital." I could see Rainbow's ears wilt back with how wrong she previously was. "I-It's... Prince, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am! T-This shouldn't have happened! Not to you! Not to anypony! But, especially not to you..."

"What. Happened?" I said as calmly as possible. I felt like my top was going to blow off because of all the tension in the air. Couldn't they just tell me straight what had happened?! Why were they beating around the bush?!

"Prince, I'm sorry but... It's about the foal... It-" Twilight hiccuped as she started to cry. Pinkie Pie, who's mane and tail were now straight, ran over and comforted her. I could tell I wasn't going to get any answers from Twilight, and so could the others, so Applejack stepped forward.

"Sugar... Princess Luna was taken to the hospital this mornin' for severe pain. Her and Princess Celestia worried it was the foal, so they went to the hospital. When they did tests they- The foal didn't make it to term, hun."

And before anyone could say anything else, I was off like a bolt of lightning towards Canterlot Hospital.

Author's Note

Heart break city! Yeah, sorry I didn't keep up with my promise. It's been a depressing week for me. I just found out my Grandfather has only months to live, since his cancer has spread, so I'm going to be spending as much time with him as possible. Trying to do both isn't easy, since I'm depressed all the time now, but I'll try my best. Anyway, here's a chapter to reflect some depressingness. Enjoy the feels trip!