Chapter 5
Heart Wing was just now waking up as Applejack came in with breakfast for him. He had his cloak sitting at the foot of the bed. “Mornin Heart Wing, did ya sleep well?”
“I’ll admit that sleeping in a bed is a lot better than sleeping on the ground while it rains, or in a dark dank cave, so I can say that yes, I did have a good night’s sleep compared to all the other nights while I was searching for Equestria.”
Applejack smiled at Heart’s answer. “Glad ta hear it, here’s breakfast for ya, some nice apple flapjacks.” Applejack gave Heart Wing the plate so he could eat. “And once yer done with breakfast, we can finally take off yer bandages and cast. Bet yer glad about that.”
Heart Wing didn’t respond, he just went right to eating. Thanks to Applejack, Heart Wing was starting to finally put on a bit of weight so his ribs were no longer showing, he was really starting to look much healthier. Applejack just sat there and watched Heart Wing eat so she could take his plate from him and get his bandages off.
Once Heart Wing was done, Applejack placed his plate on the night stand. “All right then, let’s get them things off.” Heart Wing climbed out of bed and sat there while Applejack removed the bandages around his head. “There we go, and now yer cast.” Applejack then carefully removed the cast around his foreleg.
Once that was off, Heart Wing moved his leg around to test it to see if there was any residual pain. He was satisfied when he felt none as he moved it. “Well, that’s that then, um Applejack…..I just want to……..oh how do I do this.”
Applejack looked at Heart curiously. “Do what sugar cube?”
Heart looked very deep in thought as he seemed to be searching for something in his mind. “Well, you and your friends are the first ponies ever, besides my parents, to care about me and I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to say for what you all have done for me.”
Applejack smiled as she realized what he was trying to say. “I believe the word you’re looking for is thank you. That’s what you say to some pony that does somethin fer ya.”
“Oh, ok then, thank you Applejack for all you have done for me. And I suppose I should say that to the others as well.”
“Yer welcome darlin, now come on, we’ve got an appointment with the princesses ta get to.”
Heart Wing then grabbed his cloak and put it on with his hood up. He followed Applejack out to the living room where the rest of her family was. Granny Smith was the first to speak up. “Glad ta see ya finally up and about ther young fella.”
Heart Wing looked at Granny Smith as he responded back. “I want to thank you and your family for being so hospitable. I really appreciate it.”
“Think nothin of it youngin, ya’ll just take care of yer self, yer more than welcome ta stay here when ya get back from yer meetin with the princesses until ya’ll can find a place of yer own here in town.”
Apple Bloom then decided to speak up. “And once you get back, me and my friends will be ready ta make you an honorary member of the cutie mark crusaders.” She was grinning from ear to ear as she spoke.
Even Applejack chuckled a little. “All right now, we’ll be back later, you’ll be all right to take of things while I’m gone right Big Mac?”
“Eyup.” Was all he said.
Applejack and Heart Wing made their way out of the house, as soon as Heart Wing stepped out and into the sun, his eyes were assaulted with the brightness of the day, even with his cloak on, he could see how bright the day was. He had to put his hoof to his face to shield his eyes for a moment so they could adjust to being out in the sun after being cooped up indoors for so long. Applejack noticed Heart Wing stop. “You all right there sugar cube.”
“Yeah, I just need a moment for my eyes to adjust.” Even with his cloak on, Heart Wing could also feel the warmth of the morning sun, it felt so comforting in combination with his cloak, but, as usual, he showed no sign of pleasure at the warm sensation. Once his eyes finally adjusted, they continued on their way to the train station to head to Canterlot to meet the princesses.
As Applejack led the way, Heart Wing took in the sights of Ponyville, everywhere he looked, ponies were happily going about their business with smiles on their faces, chatting, or just enjoying each other’s company. The town seemed so much more cheery and happy compared to the towns and villages he had been to before. “Applejack, is this town always so…..cheerful?”
Applejack smiled as she answered. “Yep, and so is everywhere else here in Equestria, all thanks to our princesses, Celestia and Luna.”
“What about this princess Cadence, isn’t she one of your princesses too?”
“Well ya see, she’s actually the princess of a small kingdom that’s a part of Equestria called the Crystal Empire. She and her husband are here on a break from their duties to pay a visit to Celestia and Luna, she’s their cousin.”
They soon arrived at the train station and met up with the other ponies. Applejack gave her usual greeting. “Howdy ya’ll.”
Twilight then gave her greeting. “Hi Applejack, hey Heart Wing, feeling any better today?”
“Let’s just say that I’m relieved to finally be able to get up and walk around again, being stuck in a room for so long was so boring.”
Rainbow Dash then responded. “Tell me about it, I know what that’s like. I was laid up for a few days myself with a broken wing after a new trick I tried grounded me and landed me in the hospital. It was soooo boring.”
Pinkie then pointed something out. “But Rainbow Dash, didn’t you have a book to read to keep you occupied, if I recall, you even tried to sneak back in after you were let out to try and steal the book.”
Rainbow Dash facehoofed at the recollection of that memory. “I thought we agreed to never speak of that incident again.”
Rarity interjected. “Excuse me, but shouldn’t we get on the train before it leaves without us, the princesses are expecting us after all.”
Twilight agreed. “Right, let’s get on board and take a seat.” The group filed into the train and found a place to sit. They scattered about one of the cars in different places close to each other so they could chat on the ride to Canterlot. Heart Wing just took a seat in the back of the car away from the others and took a window seat.
Heart Wing just stared out the window at the passing scenery as the train sped on. It was an uneventful train ride as the girls just chatted amongst themselves until the train finally arrived at Canterlot station. The group filed out and began to make their way through Canterlot to the castle. Heart Wing was once again taking in the scenery as they walked, he noticed how the ponies here wore fancy clothes and seemed a bit more snobbish as they went about their business. The town itself also seemed nicer compared to Ponyville. The buildings were made with stones instead of wood for the building and straw on the roof.
With Twilight leading the way, they soon came upon the doors to the palace with two guards standing watch. They stood at attention upon seeing them approach. “Miss Sparkle, good to see you, the princesses are waiting for you in the throne room.” One of the guards said. They then opened the door to let them in.
The group entered the palace and was greeted by a unicorn stallion in front of a set of stairs. This unicorn had a white coat, three shades of blue were in his mane and tail, a light blue, blue and dark blue, his cutie mark was of a dark blue shield with a pink six pointed star. Twilight quickly ran up to him to greet him. “Shining Armor, It’s good to see you big brother.” She said as they hugged.
He responded back as they hugged. “It’s good to see you two Twili.” They broke their embrace. He then turned his attention to the others that came. “Hey girls, it’s nice to see you all as well.”
They each gave a greeting with Pinkie starting off. “Hey Shinning, how’s married life treating you?”
Shinning answered with a big grin. “It’s great, marrying a princess is certainly a great way to step up on the career ladder.” He chuckled at his little joke, the others shared in the laughter too.
Rarity then spoke up. “Anything new going on at the Crystal Empire?”
“Nope, things have been pretty quiet since we defeated King Sombre.”
Fluttershy then spoke up. “That’s good to hear.”
Shining Armor then turned his attention to Applejack. “What about you, is there anything new going on with you Applejack?”
She smirked as she answered. “Well, other than catching an apple thief, causing him to fall down a hill, bandaging him up and finding out that he’s an alicorn, not really.” The group shared a good laugh at that. All the while, Heart Wing just hung back while the group talked.
Twilight decided to finally introduce Heart Wing. “Shining Armor, this is Heart Wing, he’s the one the princesses are going to meet, Heart Wing, this is my big brother Shining Armor.”
Shining approached Heart Wing to say hello. “Hey there, it’s nice to meet you.”
Heart Wing hesitantly greeted back. “Um, h-hello.”
“So you’re an alicorn huh, gotta say that’s pretty surprising, would you mind if I saw for myself?”
“I-I’d really rather n-not right now.”
“That’s fine, come on, we’d better get to the throne room.” Shining Armor then led the group through the castle to a pair of large grey doors, one had a carving of the sun while the other had a carving of the moon. Two unicorn guards were on either side of the door and stood at attention at the groups approach. Their horns lit up and opened the doors so they could pass.
They entered the throne room which was massive, colorful stain glass windows lined the walls, all with different images of something going on. Heart Wing noticed one of six ponies shooting rays from them at a creature that looked like it was made up of different animal parts, another of what looked like a little dragon that had a striking resemblance to the little dragon he met earlier holding a heart shaped crystal.
Heart Wing noticed that each one seemed to tell a story in some way. His attention was drawn from the windows as he heard Twilight call out. “Cadence, it’s great to see you again.” He saw Twilight run up to one of the three new ponies in the room. He watched as they did a little song and dance together. “Sunshine sunshine lady bugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake.” They did it in perfect unison.
The one identified as Cadence spoke up. “It’s great to see you again Twilight, how are things going in Ponyville?”
Twilight answered. “Things are great, every pony is doing just fine as usual.”
“Glad to hear it, I understand you’ve made a new friend who just so happens to be an alicorn.”
Heart Wing’s mouth hung open as he realized that he was standing before three creatures with both a horn and wings like him. He just stood there as the girls all gave a bow to the other two and said their hello’s. He just couldn’t believe what he was seeing, real alicorns, real live alicorns before his very eyes. Heart Wing was just too stunned to do or say anything at all.
The girls finally made their way over to Heart Wing to introduce the princesses to him. Twilight began. “Celestia, Luna, Cadence, this is Heart Wing.”
The first to address him was the alicorn that did that little dance with Twilight. She had a pink coat, with a multi colored mane and tail with light purple, pink and yellow colors, her cutie mark was of a heart shaped crystal with gold looking swirls coming from behind it. “Hello there Heart Wing, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” This was Cadence.
The next was an alicorn with a dark blue coat and her mane and tail appeared ethereal and looked like it was made of the night sky as it sparkled. Her cutie mark was a black splotch with a crescent moon over it. “Yes, we were most eager upon hearing the news of another alicorn.” This was princess Luna.
Finally the tallest of all the ponies in the room, she had a white coat and her mane and tail also appeared to be ethereal as they moved and flowed on their own. They were colored with light green, light blue, another light green, and a light red streak. This was Princess Celestia. She spoke with the kindest voice he had ever heard, it almost reminded him of his mother. “Well met Heart Wing, would you be so kind as to show us what you look like under that cloak?”
Heart Wing just kept staring at them with his mouth hanging open. It took a jab from Rainbow Dash to get him to finally speak. “HUH, oh uh I…uh….that is….um.” He stammered, he still couldn’t speak straight. Almost every pony in the room laughed at Heart Wings inability to form words.
Even Celestia let out a little chuckle. “It’s all right, you won’t be judged, as I understand it, there is something wrong with you and we are here to help you.”
Heart finally found the strength to talk. “Oh…uh….yeah, just a second.” Heart Wing removed his hood to show his face and reveal his horn, then he unfolded his wings from underneath his cloak and pushed it up with his wings forcing the cloak onto his back revealing his wings.
The three princesses were very happy to see another alicorn like them. Luna just had to speak up. “It is true, he is an alicorn, this is incredible.”
Celestia then spoke up. “This is quite unexpected, but a good surprise. Tell me Heart Wing, where do you come from?”
“I….uh….I…I…that is………..uh.” Heart Wing still had trouble speaking.
Applejack came up beside him to try and comfort him. “It’s all right sugar cube, just tell them what they want to know, nothin bad will happen.”
Heart Wing seemed to find strength in Applejack’s words, he swallowed hard and found the courage to finally speak up. “I…uh…I come from a village very far away from here called Stableton. It’s not part of any country, it’s just a village in the middle of nowhere.”
Luna decided to ask a question next. “And why did you come here to our country?”
Heart Wing folded his wings back to his sides allowing his cloak to come back down before answering. “My mother, who was a unicorn, had a special talent for getting these visions of the future. She didn’t have any control over them, but one day, before she passed away, she had a vision telling me that I should go to a town called Ponyville in a country called Equestria. She told me that I would find happiness there. No pony in Stableton had ever heard of this country before, so I had no idea how I would get to it. It was sheer luck, I guess, that I stumbled into your country and Ponyville.”
“Ever since I got here, I haven’t really found any happiness, but these six ponies that brought me here before you have been very kind to me. Other than my parents, they’re the only ponies I’ve met who have been so nice to me. I am grateful to them for all the help they’ve given me, but I still can’t understand why they are going through so much trouble for some pony they barley even know.”
Celestia decided that she heard enough. “I see, well I think we’ve heard enough, why don’t we get started with this problem of yours that Twilight told me about. Cadence, Luna, I would like your assistance.”
Luna responded. “Of course sister.”
Cadence responded as well. “Of course.”
Celestia addressed Heart Wing. “Heart Wing, please step forward, we will need to see this door inside of you for ourselves.”
Heart Wing hesitantly took his steps toward the three princesses. Once he was directly in front of them, all three of them lit up their horns with magic and touched their horns to his. Soon, all three alicorns found themselves in a dark abyss, they were standing in the same area as Twilight was when she was there. The three spotted Heart Wing standing with his back turned to them in the same fashion as when Twilight was there as well. The three princesses walked up to him. Celestia was the first to try and get his attention. “Heart Wing, can you hear me?”
Luna made an observation. “Sister, I do believe he is struck with fear, his eyes seem fixated on something.
Cadence was the first to notice what Heart Wing was staring at as she turned away from him to see what he was looking at. She spoke with a bit of fear in her voice. “I think he’s afraid of….that.” Cadence pointed with her hoof to the same black door with carvings of ponies in pain and agony, wailing.
Celestia and Luna turned to face the door as well, needless to say, they were utterly shocked at what they were looking at. Luna was the first to speak in fear. “What in the name of the eternal heard is that?”
Even Celestia, who was older and wiser than Luna and Cadence, was a little afraid. “I….I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it.” It didn’t help the matter that they could hear faint wails that seemed to eminate from the thing.
Cadence then pointed something out. “What do you think those cracks are, I don’t think those are part of it.” Cadence noticed the cracks in the door that seemed to have light coming out of them.
Luna agreed. “I think your right, but what could have made them?”
Celestia started to have some suspicions. She needed Heart Wing to answer some questions. “Heart Wing, I need you to look at me, there is something very important I need to ask you.” Heart Wing’s gaze never left the door, it was like he was mesmerized by it. Celestia then used her royal Canterlot voice to try and get his attention. “HEART WING, I NEED YOU TO LOOK AT ME NOW!!”
It seemed to work as Heart Wing shook his head and finally tore his gaze away from the door and to Celestia. “HUH what?”
Celestia was glad to finally get Heart’s attention and began to ask the question she wanted. “Heart Wing, I need you to tell me exactly when you first started getting these pains. What was going on when you had your attacks in Ponyville?”
Heart Wing began to think. “Well, the first one I had in Ponyville began after Applejack took me in after my fall and said that she was going to do whatever she could to help me get better and be my friend after I told her about these beatings I got for stealing food.”
“Go on, what about the other times?”
“After that, the second pain attack came after Rarity gave me a bath and cleaned me up. The next one came when Fluttershy pretty much initiated a group hug after I told them my life story. The next one came after Twilight said she was going to make an appointment for me to see a doctor to give me a physical examination to try and find the source of my pain attacks. The next one was after Pinkie gave me a cupcake, then presented me with a basket full of them. Finally the last one I had came after Rainbow Dash said that she would teach me to fly after she found out that I never had the chance to learn.”
Celestia took on a contemplative look as she thought about each event and looked at the door. “Hmmm, six pain attacks in Ponyville, six cracks on the sides of the door. What about before then, did you have pains before coming to Ponyville?”
“Well, I did have three others when I was little.”
“What was going on at the times of those attacks?”
“The last two I had years ago was when my mother and father were trying to cheer me up after I was getting picked on by the other kids.”
“And what about the first one, what was happening then?”
“My father was taking me flying, I was riding on his back as he flew around to try and let me have some fun. I never felt any joy from it. He flew me so high up, it was like I could see forever, as he hovered there over the world, I saw something very strange. Off in the very distance, I saw a faint circle of colors explode out of nowhere, followed by a rainbow. It was really far away though so I couldn’t see it clearly, but it was after that that I first felt an intense pain in my chest. I almost fell off my father’s back from it. And that’s it.”
Celestia spoke up. “That’s it, nine pain attacks, nine cracks, each attack you’ve experienced was from ponies performing an act of kindness and caring for you. What you saw when you had your first attack occurred when you saw a sonic rainboom.”
Heart Wing looked at Celestia with confusion. “A sonic what now?”
Luna explained. “A sonic rainboom is an event that occurs when a Pegasus reaches speeds that breaks the sound barrier and light spectrum barrier, causing a sonic boom accompanied by a rainbow of colors. So far, only one Pegasus has ever pulled it off. That Pegasus is Rainbow Dash.”
Heart Wing was now even more confused. “Wait, so your telling me that it was because of me seeing this sonic rainboom that I started having these pains? How is that even possible?”
Cadence then began to explain. “Don’t you see Heart Wing, eight of the nine times you felt pain, it came after your mother, father, and the six ponies who helped you showed you an act of kindness, that very same sonic rainboom that you saw is how Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark and helped the other five earn theirs. You’ve felt pain erupt from your heart nine times, and there are nine cracks in the door.”
“So…..your telling me that whenever I had these attacks, a crack formed in that thing?”
Celestia answered. “Yes Heart Wing, whatever that is, it is the source of your misery, that is the reason why you can’t feel joy or sorrow like you should. That thing is what is keeping your heart locked up and keeping you from accessing your magic. If you wish to free your heart, you must concentrate on the friends you’ve made here and let their friendship help you to destroy that thing, we can help, but you must focus on your friends and all that they have done for you.”
“But…every time they did something nice for me, I felt so much pain, how is that going to help me?”
Luna began to explain. “That pain is your heart trying to break free of this curse your under, I know it hurts, but you must fight past it. While you focus on your friends, we will focus our magic on weakening and destroying it.”
“But…..I…..I.”
Before he could finish his thought, Cadence placed her hoof on his shoulder to comfort him. “It’s all right Heart Wing, we won’t let anything bad happen to you, were here for you.”
“All right, I’ll try. Let’s do this then.” Heart Wing then turned to face the source of his troubles as Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all took up a position just behind Heart Wing and readied their horns to blast the wretched door. Heart Wing closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the ponies that had been so kind to him the past few days. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all then fired a powerful stream of magic at the door. Heart Wing was filled with pain as the princesses blasted away at the door, but Heart Wing did his best to ignore it and keep his focus on the ponies who were so kind to him, the ponies who helped him, the ponies who were……his friends.
As he thought of the word friends upon realizing everything the six ponies had done for him are what friends do for each other, the cracks in the door began to grow bigger and more numerous. Heart Wing’s pain increased as the door weakened, but he didn’t falter as he continued to keep his thoughts on his new friends while the princesses continued their assault on the door.
Eventually, the door finally burst into pieces and a flood of white glowing water burst forth from where the door was, it swirled around like it had a mind of it’s own as it circled around Heart Wing and began to envelope his body. He was lifted up and his entire form was aglow, it was so bright, the princesses couldn’t look, suddenly, a surge of energy emitted from Heart Wing that forced the three alicorns out of the abyss and back to reality.
In the throne room, the princesses were thrown back and all the other ponies in the room had to keep their distance as Heart’s body let off the same glow of white magic, he lifted off the ground a few feet and a pillar of light shot forth to the heavens, punching a hole in the roof of the castle. After a moment, the light faded, Heart Wing slowly floated to the ground and fell unconscious.
The princesses, Shining Armor, Twilight and her friends all gathered around Heart Wing as he lay on the ground before them. Twilight addressed Celestia. “Princess Celestia, what happened, is he ok?”
Celestia began to explain. “It’s all right Twilight, Heart Wing will be just fine now, it seems he was under some sort of curse that locked away his heart and prevented him access to his own magic, we’ve managed to remove it, but his body will need time to adjust to his new found power.”
Rarity wanted to know how long he would be out. “How long is he going to be unconscious for?”
Luna answered. “He’ll be out for a day and night, he should wake up by tomorrow morning. It is best that he stay here until he wakes up so we can keep an eye on him.”
Applejack decided to voice her concerns. “Beggin your pardin yer majesties, but would it be all right if’n we stayed here too, I reckon we all wanna be there for him when he wakes up.” The girls all nodded in agreement.
Celestia smiled at the six ponies before her. “Very well, I’ll send word to your families that you’ll be staying here at the castle until tomorrow. Shining Armor, would you be so kind as to fetch one of my guards to take Heart Wing to one of the available rooms?”
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind doing that myself. I’ll take him to one of the guest rooms, you girls can follow me and I’ll show you to the rooms you’ll be staying in.”
Celestia gave here thanks. “Thank you Shining Armor, I appreciate it.”
Shining Armor then levitated Heart Wing onto his back and led the girls to the part of the castle where they would stay the night until Heart Wing woke up. Once they were gone, Luna noticed a worried expression appear on her big sister’s face. “Sister, what is wrong, why do you look so worried?”
“I can’t help but wonder where such a powerful curse came from, it took all three of us and Heart Wing’s thoughts to destroy it completely. Whatever placed that curse on Heart Wing, it must have been very powerful and dark. I only hope that whatever did this is no longer around. What also concerns me is how was an alicorn born of a Pegasus and a unicorn, such a thing should not be possible.”
One CAN only hope that whatever it was that cursed Heart Wing is long gone, but it still begs the question as to what did place that curse on Heart Wing, and why was it placed on him? These questions may very well go unanswered.