The young Unicorn and her two friends set off through town, Spring Rain walking on one side of her and Glitter Drops walking on the other. She’d waited weeks, then months, for her horn to grow back, but nothing had happened. This was the first time she’d left her house since the day at the cave, but Spring Rain and Glitter Drops had told her it would be okay. She still couldn’t help but feel nervous, though. Every time she looked at her broken horn she started crying.
She’d pulled a hat down over her head, and nopony seemed to notice anything was different. She waved at everypony inside the market, and everypony waved back. They passed their friend Moonglow, who was planting tulips outside the art gallery.
“What a lovely hat!” Moonglow said. “The flowers on it are beautiful.”
“Thank you, Moonglow,” the young Unicorn called as she trotted past.
“See?” Glitter Drops asked. “Is it really that bad?”
The young Unicorn shook her head. “You were right. It feels good to be out and about.”
As they got to the clearing, Spring Rain looked around and took a ball out of her satchel. There weren’t many ponies near them. “Want to try it?” she asked. “It couldn’t hurt….”
At first the young Unicorn wasn’t sure what she was talking about. But then Spring Rain lifted the ball a few inches off the ground, levitating it in front of her.
“Oh, no… I shouldn’t,” the young Unicorn said. “I haven’t used my horn for magic since the accident. I don’t even know if it’ll work.”
“You’re the bravest Unicorn we know,” Glitter Drops said. “I always tell stories about my friend who isn’t afraid of anypony or anything. You can do whatever you put your mind to.”
The young Unicorn glanced back toward town. There wasn’t anypony around. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to just try. She hadn’t had the courage to since her horn broke.
“Ready?” Spring Rain said, dropping the ball back to the ground.
The young Unicorn nodded and took off her hat. Glitter Drops and Spring Rain both trotted out in front of her, farther into the clearing. She focused her magic on her horn, trying to lift the ball off the ground. Her horn sparked. She stood there, waiting for it to work as a few more sparks shot out toward the trees.
Her power was building—she could feel it—and suddenly her broken horn shot off an incredible show of light. It was burning hot, and turned everything it touched to ash and dust. A whole row of trees burned underneath it.
“Watch out!” Glitter Drops cried as the young Unicorn stepped forward, trying to control it. She stumbled, and as her head turned, she scorched a patch of grass.
When her horn finally stopped shooting sparks, she stood there, trying to catch her breath. Spring Rain was lying in the grass. She’d bumped her head. Glitter Drops was hiding behind a tree. The young Unicorn reached out her hoof to help Spring Rain stand, but her friend flinched. When she stared up at her, her eyes were full of fear.
“I didn’t mean it,” the young Unicorn tried to explain. “I don’t know what happened….”
Spring Rain stood on her own. She brushed herself off and offered her friend a small smile. “It’s okay. It was an accident.”
Glitter Drops came up next to them, but the young Unicorn noticed both her friends didn’t get too close. They kept glancing at her horn. They seemed afraid of her now. “Are you okay?” Glitter Drops asked Spring Rain. “That was a serious fall.”
“I think I’m all right…. It was just scary,” Spring Rain said.
“I’m so sorry,” the young Unicorn said. “It’s something about my horn…. It doesn’t work right anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Spring Rain said again, but she seemed sad. “Let’s just go back home.”
Glitter Drops and Spring Rain turned back toward town, and all the young Unicorn could do was follow. She knew Spring Rain was just frightened, but she couldn’t help feeling like everything was her fault. Her horn was broken, her magic was gone, and things would never be the same between them. Everything had gone so wrong after that day at the cave.
She walked beside her friends, her hat snug on her head again. Glitter Drops and Spring Rain didn’t say anything else. The young Unicorn’s mind was racing: Would she ever get her magic back? How would her friends be able to trust her? And how could she stay in her town when everything felt so wrong?