//------------------------------// // The Broken Unicorn // Story: Purity Corruption // by TheBlox //------------------------------// Throughout the remaining afternoon, the fillies continued with their crafts and played cards and board games. Altruise seemed to notice that the other fillies were using their magic less after acknowledging that she couldn’t use it. She could tell that they were trying to make her feel less out of place, though it still bothered her. “Altruise, you’ve been so quiet all afternoon.” Rarity pointed out, shuffling a deck of cards with her hooves. “Oh, I…” Altruise paused briefly, biting her lip. “It’s nothing. I guess I’m still a little jealous about all of your magic.” She exclaimed honestly, “But I shouldn’t let that get in the way of our afternoon. Don’t mind me. Just have fun!” She tried smiling to ease any concerns. Rarity began dealing cards to the individual fillies. “Well, we all want you to have fun too. I do wish there was something we could do to help.” “That’s awfully kind of you, Rarity.” Altruise smiled warmly at the Ponyvillian, “Really though, I’m fine. And you don’t need to avoid using spells to make me feel any better.” “Well, I don’t want to do something that bothers you.” Rarity said, momentarily stopping her dealing to look up at the filly of no magic. “It’s alright.” Altruise insisted calmly, “You should be grateful that you can do it.” Rarity shrugged briefly. “Well, okay, if it isn’t going to bother you.” With that, she used her magic to deal the rest of the cards all at once in a mere second. Altruise immediately felt a lump in her throat watching Rarity pull it off, and gulped hard. She picked up her cards that was set face down in front of her, and held them in her hoof in front of her. The rest of the unicorns did the same with their cards, except using levitation magic and no hooves. The more she watched her friends doing magic, the more she envied them. Thoughts began to stir in her mind with questions she’d often ask herself. Why is it that she got her cutie mark before her magic? Is it normal for some unicorns to have to wait this long to be able to use magic? Was it a defect in her horn? She shook her head, trying to scratch the questions from her mind. A quiet sigh and a fake smile, she carried on throughout the afternoon. * * * * * Altruise returned home, silently and slowly entering the front entrance. She took a few steps into the house before her father caught her sour expression entering from the living room. “Hey, why the long face?” He questioned, approaching his daughter. “Meh…” Altruise rolled her eyes and sat on her flank on the floor, looking to the side. “It’s nothing.” “This isn’t about the whole magic thing is it?” “Maybe.” Altruise murmured before looking up to her father in frustration, “Why is it taking me so long to learn?” “In time, you will.” The pegasus declared, “Every pony is different when it comes to discovering their talents and abilities. Some take longer than others.” “Dad, I already have my cutie mark.” Altruise took a glance down at her flank, then back up at her father. “Doesn’t that just seem a bit strange to you that I’d get that before I learn how to use magic? That never happens, at least not from what I’ve heard. What if my horn is defective or something and I never learn?” Her father sighed and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It’ll come.” “I should’ve learned magic at least when I was five.” The young unicorn continued ranting, “You know what the other ponies at school called me? A Fake Unicorn.” She lowered her ears and exhaled an annoyed grunt, “I don’t know if I want to go back this year.” “Ah, c’mon. Give it a chance. I’m sure you’ll find your place.” He smiled reassuringly. This didn’t seem to affect the filly however; she just glanced back at him with half-open depressed eyes. The father’s smile turned somewhat plastic, and he sighed, uncertain how he could make the filly feel better. “Dinner’s ready!” They heard a sudden voice call from the kitchen. “Alright. Let’s go eat.” Altruise’s father suggested, trotting toward the kitchen. “Perhaps food will help.” Altruise sighed and followed her father to the kitchen. “Yeah.” She murmured with a lack of enthusiasm. The kitchen table was already set, plates at each seat, and a vegetable pizza in the center. The three ponies all sat down at their seats and helped themselves from the plate of pizza, putting a piece in their plates. Altruise’s mother lifted her slice with her magic to her mouth and began eating, and her father lifted his own with his hoof like a pegasi. They took a few bites before they realized that Altruise wasn’t eating her piece, but simply staring at it with squinting eyes. “Altruise?” Her mother questioned the small unicorn, lowering her slice of pizza. “I’m concentrating.” Altruise grunted, staring even harder into the food in her plate. After a few moments, her face was beginning to turn red. “Honey, don’t try so hard.” Her mother suggested to the filly, “You’ll only hurt yourself—” “I can do it!” Altruise raised her head over the table above her plate, and placed her hooves on the table. She looked down at the pizza beneath her head with frustration as she made loud grunting sounds, trying with all her might to cast a spell. The unicorn and pegasus parents looked at each other in concern, then back to their filly in pity. They wanted their daughter to be happy and proud of who she was, but seeing her try so desperately to cast a spell like this was painful for them to watch. They didn’t want to admit it, but this was indeed abnormal for any unicorn her age to be struggling this bad with magic. It was becoming a concern even for them that perhaps her horn may even be defective in some way or another. “Altruise.” Her father sighed, putting his pizza back in his plate, and kept watching her struggle. Altruise was beginning to hiccup tiny sobs during her aggressive grunts to cast a simple levitation spell on her food in her plate. “Sweetie, please…” The mother leaned forward, speaking softly to her daughter. Tears began to drip from Altruise’s saddened eyes while maintaining full concentration on her attempts to cast a spell. Her mother continued, “You’re working yourself way too hard. You’ll tire yourself out… Please, don’t do this to yourself—” “AAAAHH!” Altruise screamed. Her sudden loud voice nearly raddled the room, startling her parents. With a quick, angry swipe of her front right hoof, she swatted her plate off the table, which shattered on the floor with a smear of tomato sauce. She collapsed into her seat, and folded her front limbs upon the table, sobbing hard into her arms with her head down. She hiccupped and she cried, loud, with her screaming cries being muffled by the pillow of her own hooves. “Altruise…” Her mother stood up and trotted around the table, leaning against her daughter gently, with her hoof against her shoulder. “Honey, please… It’s okay. You’ll get it…” “NEVER!…” Altruise spat, rolling her head in her folded hooves on the table, sobbing and gasping for air lost during her cries, “I’ll never get it! I’m broken I’m a Fake Unicorn!…” “Honey, no.” Her mother rubbed her hoof against her shoulder, “Don’t think like that.” She sighed, trying not to cry herself. “C-calm down, please.” “I can’t take it any more!!” Altruise yelled, quickly jumping out of her seat, and she ran out of the kitchen, through the living room, and up the stairs toward her bedroom where her parents heard a loud slam from the kitchen. They looked up to the ceiling in the direction to where they followed her hoofsteps on the upper floor, and then looked down at each other wide-eyed. “I’ve never seen her act like this.” The stallion blinked a few times, feeling sick to his stomach. “Ever.” The cyan unicorn was holding back tears that wanted to leak. With a fluttered breath, she sighed. “What ever can we do for her?” The white pegasus looked to the side in thought. “I just want the best for our daughter.” He humbly declared, looking back at his wife, “Maybe we need to think about holding her back from school for another year.” “Do you think she would want that?” The worried mother’s eyes squinted. A pause. The two looked at each other for a moment to think. With a sigh, the stallion stood up and slowly trotted out of the kitchen. “I’ll go talk to her.” * * * * * Altruise’s father went up the stairs and made his way to her room. Approaching her wooden door, he heard her sobbing to herself on the other side. Raising his right front hoof, he knocked on her door. “Altruise, can I come in?” The stallion asked politely. There was a long pause of silence. The filly’s cries went softer briefly, and she sniffled and panted, trying not to cry so loud in the presence of her father. Without a response, the father quietly pushed the door open and let himself in anyway. Peering into the room, he saw his daughter lying in her bed under the covers, facing the other way. With a sigh, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. The pegasus sauntered toward the young filly. “I know you’re upset about the whole magic thing.” He said to her, standing next to the bed. “Don’t give up though. I know you have so much potential waiting to be exposed to the world, that no pony could ever fathom.” “Dad, how could you know?” Altruise murmured, keeping her eyes on the wall beside her bed. “You’re a pegasus, and the best flyer in Trottingham.” She looked up at him, tears still rolling down her face. “You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to be broken.” “I wouldn’t?” The pegasus looked down at her, extending his right wing. “Feel my wing, on the joint where it meets my shoulder.” Altruise blinked briefly, and curious, she sat up. Extending out her hoof, she did as he requested and put her hoof on the joint where his wing met his shoulder. She felt a noticeable bump in the wing. “Dad? What is this?” “I didn’t start flying until I was nine.” The pegasus confessed, “When I was five, on my first day of flying school, I broke my wing at the shoulder there.” Altruise’s eyes widened, and she looked up into his serious face, “W-what happened to you?” “Well, I was being picked on, and during my first take-off, one of the colts in my class tripped me. I fell wrong, and landed on my wing.” The stallion looked back at his shoulder, “They took me to the hospital. The doctor claimed I would never fly.” Looking back down at his daughter, he gave her a reassuring smile that she could do anything if she really tried. “Being broken never stopped me.” “Wow, Dad…” Altruise sat on her flank on her mattress, keeping her eyes on her father, “No wonder so many ponies respect you so much around here. But… how did you manage to fly after an accident like that?” “I just never gave up. I always told myself I could do anything, even if doctors themselves told me it was impossible.” The pegasus shrugged, “They pulled me from flight school, but every day I still practiced on my own; sometimes for hours. It took me a few years, but eventually I was able to learn how to coop with my disfigured joint in my shoulder, and with dedication and a proper balance, I taught myself to fly.” “Wow…” The filly slumped and looked to the side; her father really had a way to pep talk. “Nothing spectacular happens over night.” Her father declared, “But the greatest things happen to those who give it time and faith.” With a smile, he pat his daughter on the shoulder. “I know you will come around soon enough, and when you do, you’ll be a powerful unicorn.” “You really think so?” Altruise looked back to her father. “Absolutely.” He nodded proudly. “Your horn is far from broken. You just need a little self confidence.” “Yeah, I know you’re right… It’s still hard to accept sometimes.” “Oh I know; I’ve been in that boat.” Altruise’s father chuckled, “You look rather sleepy. Been a long day?” “Yeah, you could say that.” Altruise murmured, opening her mouth wide to yawn. “I think I’m going to stay up here and sleep early tonight.” “I see. You haven’t eaten any of your pizza, you sure you don’t want supper first?” “Think I’ll pass.” Altruise exclaimed tiredly, “I’m not hungry.” The father nodded and shrugged, “Alright, you sleep well then.” He stood up and sauntered to the door, looking back at her, “I’ll leave you some leftovers for tomorrow, okay?” “Okay.” Altruise yawned, “Good night.” “Good night, Altruise.” The pegasus smiled and exit the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Altruise crawled back under her covers and looked up at the ceiling. Several moments passed, and she did feel sleepy, but she couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes. Even with her father’s pep talk, her lack of magic still bothered her. “You know, it’s like, ten times easier to tie a bow with magic.” Voices of the fillies at the party rang in her memories. “Any pony without love is like… A unicorn without its magic.” “You got your cutie mark already, but you don’t even know how to use magic yet?” She heard more voices that sunk her into deeper humiliation. “Usually unicorns learn magic first. And normally by the time they’re five.” Altruise grumbled, and threw her hooves over her eyes in self-pity. Further memories stirred in her mind, all the way back from Magic Kindergarten. “Hey, well if it isn’t the Fake Unicorn.” “What’s the matter, show me a magic trick.” “Can’t do it can she? She should go back a grade. Oh wait! There are no lower grades than this.” Altruise shot upright in her bed, sitting on her flank with her pillow being pressed over her ears atop her head by her hooves. “Uuugh shut uuup!” She growled, gritting her teeth. “She’ll never do it. She’s broken.” That memory did it. She couldn’t take it any longer. Slamming her pillow back into her bed, she stood to her hooves on her mattress and looked out her window. It was nearing dusk; the sun was setting in the background horizon. Frowning, she pushed the window open and stepped out onto the roof. She closed the window behind her, and from there, she leapt into the tree ahead of her off the roof, and carefully climbed across the branch into the window of her tree house in the backyard. Altruise exit her tree house at the main entrance of it, and climbed down the steps and made her way to the grass. From there, she ran south, away from the town through the grass field, and into the forest. She was beyond upset, and wanted to be alone. * * * * * Altruise wandered into the forest on her lonesome as the dusking sun slowly lowered over the horizon. She scampered deeper and deeper into the woods, without turning back. The small unicorn has never been this far into the forest before, let alone by herself. From every shadowy corner of the trees, she took a nervous glance as she moved onward. She heard mysterious hoots in the trees, and crickets in the long grass. It made her feel uneasy, but she was able to ignore the sounds in the fading light and pressed on deeper into the forest. Eventually, the forlorn filly found a clearing in the woods. There were fewer trees here, and more of a grass field. Altruise sauntered over to the center of this open grass field and looked up to the sky that was beginning to expose its stars beyond the darkening blue. “Why am I so different?” She questioned while looking to the stars, “Why can’t I do magic?” She sat on her flank, as if waiting for a response. As expected though, she didn’t hear any voices reply to her. A sudden gust of wind rippled passed her mane, and a single leaf from a tree in the distance plucked off its branch and fluttered through the air, and as if entirely intentional, it floated down at her hooves, right in front of her. The unicorn looked down at her hooves where the leaf rested motionlessly. She blinked, and looked back up at the sky frowning. “What is this all about?” She wondered aloud, “Some kind of joke? Yeah, that’s funny, Celestia!” Another gust of wind, and the leaf blew around in circles, and pelted her in the snout with its stem. “Ouch—Hey!” The leaf then floated back down into the grass, resting motionlessly in front of her once more. Rubbing her snout with a hoof, she looked curiously down at the leaf, then back up at the sky. She blinked, and stood on four hooves, perking her ears and glancing down at the leaf. Her eyes furrowed, but this time in a sense of determination rather than frustration. Standing with a sudden inspired posture, she lowered her head to point her horn at the leaf. “Move.” Altruise commanded in a voice of authority. “C’mon, horn. Do something!” Nothing was happening. She clenched her teeth and focused even harder on her resting target in the grass. Bending her knees, she focused harder. Her eyes clamped shut, and her head was trembling from her efforts. Still, nothing; not even a spark. So desperate for her magic to come, so determined to press on no matter how hopeless she knew it was for her, there was a voice in her head telling her otherwise; the voice of her father. “Being broken never stopped me.” Suddenly with a burst of strength in her limbs, her hooves were pressed into the grass to the point they clamped into the dirt, and she began growling. Minutes passed, and she continued the same posture, the same desperate attempts to move that leaf. She so badly wanted to see her own aura of magic surround it with brilliance. Exhausting herself, she remained in her determined state. It was almost painful already trying to force magic like this, but even the pain wouldn’t make her rest on it. She continued, pushing, pushing, pushing… Then all at once, she felt the upmost energetic feeling she has ever experienced, coming from her horn. It hurt; a lot. It felt as though all of the magic in Equestria had suddenly erupted inside of her horn, and suddenly from an enormous blast of light that came from her horn, an explosion of magical energy burst like lightning. It was loud, the sound crackled and echoed back to her from the sky like a storm. “AAAH!” The power escaping her horn was so great it pushed her off her hooves, it knocked her back; it hurt her. A sudden radius of lightning in all directions came from her horn in an instantaneous moment from nothing. She squinted, and slumped into the grass, holding her head in pain. The sky was suddenly forming black funneling clouds of thunder and lightning, all from the tremendous amount of magic escaping her, and the scariest thing about it to her, was she was in no control of it. And she realized that she couldn’t even turn off her horn’s magic. “HELP ME!” She screamed in pain, but she was far from civilization for anypony to hear her cries. “It hurts, Oh Celestia help me!! What’s happening to me?!!” She pressed her hooves against her aching skull, slumped into the ground in tears. “MOM! DAD!” Her cries were challenged by the loud intense magic, and everything around her started to explode from the lightning that was cast from her horn and the sky, blowing craters of rubble around her. It started to rain, hard. And moments after the loud shower of the rain, it began to hail. The hailstones were heard pattering across the land, and they pelted the filly with thousands of tiny shards of ice. Altruise squirmed backward, and shook her head immensely from the stinging of the pelting hail. Her horn still felt like a vice was trying to pry it off, and she could feel herself become weaker, and exhaustion was getting the best of her. She could hardly make herself scream any more, and eventually, her world around her vision went dark, and she collapsed onto her side, unconscious. Once she was out cold, her horn’s magic finally died off, and the lightning gradually slowed down, with a few sparks of electrical energy here and there from the sky to her horn like a lightning rod. Moments after, the rain and the lightning completely stopped, and the dark clouds in the sky faded away, exposing the stars once more. Altruise laid there in the center of a large smoking crater, and the sun in the distant horizon finally disappeared behind the hills, and everything went black. * * * * *