//------------------------------//
// A Harsh Lesson 
// Story: A Disparate Bond 
// by the7Saviors 
//------------------------------//

It took a minute for the two fillies to parse what the mare had said, and when they finally did, it was Starlight that spoke first as she fell to her haunches in shock.

"My parents...  mom and dad... that's what they were doing?" silent tears began streaming down Starlight's face as she slowly shook her head and turned her gaze from Aeon to the floor beneath her, "that's why they left me alone all the time?"

Twilight gave Starlight a sympathetic look. She wanted to say something to comfort the other filly, but she couldn't think of what to say that would make the situation any better. Even though Twilight and Starlight were more or less in the same boat, the circumstances were almost entirely different.

From the sound of it, Starlight's parents had chosen to defend the town rather than fully committing to the responsibility of taking care of their own daughter. 

Twilight couldn't even imagine what it felt like to hear something like this just after the death of her parents and close friend -- all deaths Starlight herself had caused no less.

"Seems that way, little lady," Aeon replied to Starlight with a shrug, "I'm rather surprised to be honest. They never even told me they had a foal to begin with, and I didn't find out until I looked into your memories."

"Wait, you... you looked into Starlight's memories? With Mind Magic?" Twilight asked, turning back to Aeon with an incredulous look, "Isn't that -- well it's not completely illegal, but--"

"I sorted through both your memories with Mind Magic," Aeon corrected, leaning forward in her chair and eyeing the lavender filly with interest, "you two have gone through some rather traumatizing experiences from what I've seen."

Twilight took a horrified step back from the mare, her eyes wide and glossy with unshed tears.

"Y-You... you saw..."

"Nothing is illegal out here, Twilight Sparkle -- not when it comes to Magic," Aeon interjected with a grim frown, "when Celestia put up that Barrier all those years ago, she all but abandoned this place, leaving those of us left behind to sort things out on our own."

Twilight merely stared at Aeon.

"I saw the memory of what happened to your family," Aeon replied, never taking her eyes off the lavender filly, "and let me tell you right now Twilight... that kind of thing happens all the time out here. 

"This place isn't drowning in Harmony like the rest of Equestria. You'll find that the world outside Celestia's 'perfect little kingdom' isn't so nice and forgiving." 

Aeon leaned back in her chair and turned to a still shocked Starlight as she spoke. 

"There are of course, exceptions to every rule," she explained, "some areas outside of Equestria's borders are a haven of peace and prosperity, and even within Equestria's borders, there is much darkness to be found, and it can easily manifest where you least expect it.

"Celestia bucked up, not making the Barrier completely impassible. The monsters and demons aren't the only dangerous things to come out of this hellhole. The ponies can be just as bad, and any one of them can just waltz right into Equestria proper -- given they survive the trip anyway."

Aeon's gaze drifted away from Starlight and towards a nearby window, her eyes losing their focus as she continued to speak.

"Harmony doesn't exist... not really," she muttered, speaking more to herself now than to the two fillies, "it might've existed at one point, but now..."

She closed her eyes and sighed before turning back to Twilight.

"Harmony is a lie," Aeon stated with absolute conviction, "it is an unnatural and fragile thing that will only ever succumb to Disharmony in the end. The both of you will learn that the hard way out here, and it's something I won't even have to teach you myself..."

She steepled her hooves atop the desk and gave the stunned lavender filly a dark smile.

"...life itself will beat that lesson into you, and -- judging by what happened to the both of you -- I can see that it's already started to."

Twilight sat on her haunches and stared at Aeon as she let what the mare had said sink in. The more she thought about it, the more sense Aeon's words seemed to make.

All her life she had been taught that it was Celestia and the will of Harmony that allowed ponies to live in peace and prosperity. She was told over and over again that no matter what may happen, the will of Harmony would protect her and everypony else from the cold and terrifying grip of Disharmony. 

Up until the night her family was murdered, she had absolutely no reason to believe otherwise. Up until that night, she had been living a quiet, peaceful life full of love, happiness, and magical study within the safety and comfort of Canterlot's noble district.

That night had completely changed everything.

Celestia hadn't come to save them from the monsters that had taken her family away. Harmony hadn't protected her parents and brother from the brutal deaths they had suffered at the hooves of two insane killers.

And then there was this desert.

If what Aeon had said about this place was true, then Harmony most certainly didn't exist here. Regardless of what Aeon or Starlight said, Twilight still didn't fully believe that Tartarus actually existed and she refused to until she saw it or these demons for herself.

That said, Harmony hadn't spared Starlight and her friend and family from their own horrible tragedy, and Celestia was nowhere to be found out here.

Twilight turned her contemplative gaze to Starlight, watching as the filly shook her head in disbelief and cried silent, bitter tears at what she had heard.

"They left me to go fight for some stupid town I've never even seen?" Starlight muttered, still staring at the floor in shock and not paying attention to the conversation at hoof in the slightest, "and what about Sunburst? Was he all part of this?"

"Ah yes," Aeon replied, raising a hoof to her chin and staring at the ceiling in thought, "orphaned during a really nasty tatzlwurm attack on the town a few years ago. Sunburst was a good kid, had a lot of potential as an Elementalist."

She lowered her head and looked back at Starlight with an unreadable expression.

"It's a shame he had to die the way he did," she continued in an even tone, "same goes for Firelight and Sky Diamond. Both of them were fine Hunters and most certainly didn't deserve the hoof they were dealt."

Starlight flinched at Aeon's words and her head sunk lower, her body heaving with the effort to contain the wail that threatened to escape. She sniffed and wiped her eyes furiously before glowering at the cobalt mare.

"I-It was... was an accident!" she shot back, stomping a hoof, "I... I didn't mean... I never wanted to--"

"It doesn't matter what you wanted, Starlight Glimmer!" Aeon shouted back as she rose from her chair, "it shouldn't have happened at all!"

She jabbed an accusing hoof in Starlight's direction, her yellow eyes blazing with indignation.

"Because you decided to mess around with things you didn't understand, two of my best Hunters and an innocent colt are dead! Your thoughtless stupid actions have left you alone and you only have yourself to blame!"

Starlight's own anger died out in the face of Aeon's furious tirade. Her face twisted into an anguished expression and she sank to the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

Without a word, Twilight rushed over to her side and pulled the wailing filly into a tight hug, one Starlight accepted without complaint. Aeon glared at the two of them for a moment longer before sinking back into her chair and pressing her hooves to her face with a sigh.

"Great, now I've gone and forgotten what the buck it was I was trying to say in the first place," she muttered in annoyance, "leave it to the foals to distract you from what's important."

"She's not alone."

Aeon looked up to see Twilight glaring in her direction, her hooves still wrapped around a sniffling, whimpering Starlight.

"Oh?" Aeon replied, raising an eyebrow and giving the filly a knowing smirk, "and I suppose you're going to be her rock? Her pillar of strength, is that it?"

Twilight's face flushed a bright red and she looked away with a grimace. After a moment. she managed to push past her embarrassment and spoke again, her expression resolute as she stared back at Aeon.

"She doesn't have a family anymore -- neither of us do," Twilight continued, before looking back to Starlight, "so... so I'll be her family," she turned back to Aeon, "that way neither of us will be alone."

Starlight sniffed again and looked back at Twilight with a shocked expression. Aeon leaned over her desk and planted her head in her hooves, her eyes half lidded and an amused smirk crossing her muzzle. 

"That... is so... precious!" she cooed, "no really, that is just the most adorable thing I've ever heard! I'm serious!" she chuckled at the half indignant, half embarrassed look both fillies gave her, "oh relax... I really am serious, you know."

Aeon's smirk fell away and she turned a somber gaze towards the window, staring out at the night sky outside as she spoke.

"This is a terrible place full of terrible monsters," she said quietly, "and sometimes the ponies can be just as terrible if not worse." 

She turned back to the two fillies who had separated and were now looking back with bemused looks. She gave both of them an approving nod and continued speaking.

"This place could use a bit more compassion and understanding," Aeon continued with a small smile, "and I'm the last pony to go to for that kind of thing. Harmony doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean we can't get along every once in a while. 

"Life is brutal and can be unforgiving, sure, but it has it's ups as well as its downs, and I think many of the citizens here have forgotten that. Maybe you two can show the rest that it's not all bad all the time, even if it is most of the time."

Twilight and Starlight turned from Aeon and looked at each other. After a moment, Twilight gave Starlight a hopeful smile and Starlight groaned and rolled her eyes in response.

"What do you expect us to do?" Starlight asked, grimacing at the mare in front of her, "I'm pretty sure we're no happier than anypony else here," she hung her head and her voice grew more melancholy, "even if Twilight sticks with me, neither of us have anything. No home, no bits, nothing to eat or drink--"

"All of that will be provided by me," Aeon interjected with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "well... except for the bits, those are needed elsewhere."

She yawned and leaned over to one side of the armchair, propping her head on a hoof. 

"I told you I'd be training you so, whether either of us likes it or not, you're my responsibility," Aeon said matter-of-factly, "all I ask is that you listen to me without fail and spread a little hope around here while you're at it."

"We can do that," Twilight said with a determined nod. Her face then fell into a troubled frown and she lowered her head, pawing at the ground nervously, "I... need to think about what you said... about Harmony, I mean," she raised her head again and gave a small smile, "but even if you're right, that doesn't mean we can't have hope, right?"

"Well, we can certainly try at any rate," Aeon replied with a shrug, "either way it's getting really late and I completely forgot what I was trying to... oh, that's right!" she suddenly exclaimed, pounding a hoof down on the arm of the chair, "the vision! You two still need to tell me what you saw."

The two fillies glanced at each other nervously, the both of them silently hoping the mare wouldn't bring it up again. They looked back to the cobalt mare who was now leaning back over the desk and eyeing the two with an eager grin.

"So... come on, out with it! Just what the buck did you two see?"