Even finding a few crystals, growing their forms, and hugging them with all four legs didn’t bring me much comfort. They were shiny and all, but they weren’t alive. Feeling the soulless stones in my hooves just reminded me of the emptiness within my heart.
I walked over the former battlefield—a testimony to my past ambitions. The memories weighed on me even more than the scorching heat. There was grayness wherever I looked. The surroundings were covered by a layer of dust and dirt.
Something stood out on the edge of the crater. It was lavender. My heart skipped a beat. All my muscles twitched. There weren’t many things in the world with that color, and one of them was Twilight. I wasn’t ready to face her just yet. After I squinted my eyes at it, a sigh of relief took away my tension. What I saw on the small rocky rise was the other lavender thing in existence—the booklet. It was the one Twilight hat tried to force on me in her library. The one I’d failed to read past the first page.
The shade of the boulder attracted me more than the ominous Twilight’s artifact. I decided to cool down a little before pressing on to the battle of my life. The princess was immortal. Surely, she could wait for my surprise visit a little longer. After I sat down and leaned my back against the hard surface, I took the book in my hooves.
I hoofed through the pages. I didn’t even bother using my magic. Most of the things that the horn is used for can be done without resorting to the fleeing abilities. I didn’t want to become addicted to the arcane. There’s more to life than just that. There is!
I shuffled to the end of the book. What I saw next sent shivers down my spine. “Written by Twilight Sparkle!”
The book dropped off my hooves and a note fell from between the pages. When I turned it over, I saw the text written in pink, curly handwriting. There was just one sentence: Happy birthday, Sweetie Belle!
Even after everything I had done to her, she had remembered my birthday and left the book for me to find! I jumped on all fours and looked around. It could have been a trap.
Everything was tranquil.
The surroundings were calm, but I was still in turmoil. I sat back in the dust and hugged my tail. Being away from fellow ponies felt so lonely. Exile sucked!
I reached down and grabbed the book from the ground. Letting go of my tail, I hugged the book, instead. It was the only plain sign that I wasn’t alone in the world.
A tear slid down my muzzle. I knew what Twilight expected of me. She wanted to break me, but that wouldn’t come to pass. One cannot break what’s already broken. She’d have me give up my control, but I couldn’t let myself fade out into the background like that. After I had finally found my destiny, how could I just let them take it away from me? No! I would not let the world pin me down and trample over me. If pieces couldn’t stack together anymore, I’d force them to fit, even if that meant trimming a sharp edge off of one.
It was fully decided. Things would be different in my next meeting with Twilight. For a change, I would be the one in control, forging my destiny.
More than ever, I was determined to put things in order my way. There was one thing I was certain of beyond a shadow of a doubt. My next meeting with Twilight wouldn’t be pretty.
After forcefully wiping a tear from my eye, I jumped on all fours. There was no reason to cry. I had a plan to enter Ponyville and show everypony that I’m the one making decisions about my life. They couldn’t keep me out of my hometown. Nopony could stand in my way, even if they tried.
There was enough destruction around me. With one last act of violence, I would break the vicious cycle. The battle for power would finally come to an end. On that day I was going to assume the control of my destiny. After completing the plan, I would be a foalish Unicorn no more. The life I was living would take a bow before the better one. I stood on the sidelines for far too long. It was action time!
I put the book in my saddlebag beside my daddy’s knife and looked in the direction of Ponyville. My lips curved into a grin. The lost filly was coming home!