//------------------------------//
// The Truth Hurts 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle's Anguish 
// by Trailblazer Rocker 
//------------------------------//

     After their stay in the hotel in Rautsong, the seven ponies made their way to Merlow's place to show them the next Sacred Star they collected from Mutait.
"A bit of a rough ending there, wasn't it?" he asked?
"What??" asked Rarity. "How do you know of our rough conclusion?"
The wizard laughed. "Mutait has the technology to broadcast their races to the entire region! I watched your progress from here!" He reached behind his curtain and pulled out a box with a screen on it.
"That's a television set, isn't it?" Trailblazer said.
"A television set?" a few of the others wondered.
"Right. Watch." He turned the power on on the T.V. After a brief delay, the screen showed some ponies racing on the same desert course that they all raced on in the Novice Cup. "This is how I observed your progress."
"Okay, that makes sense now."
"Anyways, do you have that Sacred Star with you?"
"Yeah." Twilight reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the green gem they got in Mutait.
"Good. Let's see where you'll be going to next."
He lifted the star above his crystal ball and peered at it. "Let's see here..." A moment later, a volcano appeared in the crystal ball. At it's base was a heavily guarded white building with square windows. Over the vent of the volcano was a blue Sacred Star.
"Ummm..." thought Rainbow Dash. "Is that thing telling us that our next Sacred Star is at a volcano?"
"Indeed, it is," answered Merlow.
"And what was that building there for?"
"This is Mt. Terabolt. And that building you're talking about is the Terabolt Research Facility. What they do there is create new products that use heat, such as thermal pads, heatproof items, and study the effects of intense heat on those products. Technically, it's a research center for producing and testing retail items.
"So, they live at the base of a volcano, use it's heat to test some inventions, and then make their money that way?" Pinkie Pie wondered.
"Pretty much," said Merlow.
"Well, knowing my luck, we'll have to end up going INTO that volcano in order to grab the next Sacred Star," said Trailblazer, rolling his eyes.
"Well, don't stress yourselves out. You can always..." Merlow began.
An earthquake interrupted him. A few small boxes fell to the floor from Merlow's shelves.
"Hang on!" Rarity shouted.
Trailblazer dove under the table that the crystal ball was on. Fluttershy dove after him, and saw that he was sitting upright with his front hooves holding the table's "ceiling". Several seconds later, the tremors subsided.
"Is everypony okay?" they heard AppleJack ask.
"I'm fine," said Rainbow Dash.
"No cuts or scratches on me!" Pinkie Pie called in a sing-song voice.
"What about the rest of the town?" wondered Twilight.
All of the ponies got out of the house to see if there was any damage. But what caught their attention was the Sario Hole.
"Did that thing get bigger??" Rarity thought out loud.
Many other ponies got out on the streets to see for themselves what the quake was about. Sure enough, their attention was drawn to the Sario Hole. Before the tremors, it doubled in it's own small size. Now, it took up nearly a third of the sky from their field of view.
"Yeah, it DID!" Rarity exclaimed, answering her own question.
"I was going to tell you that you should take it easy with your search, but I'm afraid that that's no longer an option..." said Merlow.
"Time is of the essence," Rarity said back. "There has to be a way to get to Mt. Terabolt quickly, right?"
"Like always, you can take the trains you've been riding and get there using that. But there's no railroad that you can take to go directly there in one trip."
"Well, what do we do about that?"
"Take the train to either Sagastrome or Mutait. From there, you have the option to go to Mt. Terabolt."
"Oh. Well, that shouldn't be much of a hassle."
Fluttershy looked at the others and saw their saddlebags. She then realized that she forgot it back in Merlow's house. "Wait, before we go, I need to go grab my saddlebag," she said softly.
" Well, go get it then," Rainbow Dash told her.
Fluttershy walked back into the house to grab her bag. On the floor next to it was a slip of paper. She gazed at it curiously to see that it was a reciept for the T.V. Merlow got.
She squinted at the finer print on it near the top. Along with the store name, the date of the purchase was on it too. Upon further inspection, it showed that the purchase for the T.V was only yesterday.
"Wait, if he said that he's been watching all of our races, then how can he if he didn't even..."
"What's taking you so long, Fluttershy??" Her train of though got cut off when an annoyed Trailblazer called out to her.
She darted out of the house with her saddlebag on her. "Sorry... It's just that..."
Trailblazer looked at her a bit skeptically. "It's just, what?"
"I saw something odd in there," she said. "I don't think..."
"It must not've been important," said Rainbow Dash. "The thing is, are we ready to go?"
"Ah'm ready, y'all ready?" AppleJack replied.
"Yes," came the reply from the others. Fluttershy did not answer.
"I don't think we can trust this pony," she whispered under her breath, unable to be heard by the other six. "We have been lied to."
All of them walked towards the train station that they've been taking throughout the journey. Right as they were walking past their hotel, Twilight grimaced and shut her eyes tight.
"You okay, Twi'?" asked Pinkie.
"It's Celestia," she answered. "She's trying to talk to me."
"Huh?"
"Can all of you hear me?" they heard.
"Are- Are you all hearing this too?" Pinkie asked again.
"I am," Rarity told her.
"Yeah," Trailblazer answered.
The others nodded.
"We're good, Princess," Twilight said.
"All right. I'll need your utmost attention, all of you." they heard Celestia say. "I was doing some research on the Sario Hole that you're trying to close, when we were hit with an earthquake."
"You had one too?" Twilight asked her.
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"We got one over here too."
Princess Celestia paused. "So, this quake could be felt from over here too... This situation is growing dire. How far are you in your quest to stop it?"
"We have three of them so far." Twilight looked at the other ones. "Right?"
"There's the one Merlow had..." Fluttershy said.
"And we got one in Sagastrome, and a third one in Mutait," Trailblazer added. "We're now on our way towards the fourth one."
"Ah, you are doing well then. Keep up the good work, you ponies."
"Wait, Princess?" Twilight spoke up again. "You said that you have something to tell us about the Sacred Stars?"
"Oh, right. Thank you for reminding me." Celestia cleared her throat. "There was this old tome that I found when I looked for anything on these jewels, and this book contained more information than a summarized statement of each and every cosmic body. It turns out that one cannot make a wish for evil intentions."
"Wait, evil intentions?" Trailblazer interrupted. "Look, I know that we've met and fought some selfish people before, but this whole 'destroying the world' thing is overkill!"
"Exactly. If this planet gets destroyed, then that's bad enough. That's why these Sacred Stars are meant to grant wishes that aren't directed towards bad outcomes."
"Okay, yeah, but... The world's going to be gone if we're too late."
"I should also mention that the ponies in ancient Inyomaid created these stars for emergency uses, such as protection from a natural disaster. But the Sinister Star became a product of those selfish thoughts. So, because of this, they made these stars scatter everytime the Sario Hole disappeared."
"I guess we now know some insight on these stars we're looking for, but was the history lesson necessary?"
"Maybe not, but the origin on why these things are around is what I just told you all. Maybe a few of you wanted to know anyways."
"Like Twilight Sparkle?"
The princess paused again. "Yes, like Twilight Sparkle. But anyways, if your adversary used a wish for any reason, it must've been a good wish. You might be stopping a good cause."
Rainbow Dash started to wonder what the wish was. The others started to do the same.
"Anyways, the wish or it's importance doesn't compare to the urgency we're facing with this Sario Hole. That pony obviously is not putting any effort into collecting the Sacred Stars themselves. Keep up the good work on gathering them. Best of luck... All of you." Celestia terminated the telepathy call.
"I guess we shouldn't be wasting any time here," Rarity said. "But if we weren't in such a situation, then I can think of plenty of reasons to dwaddle."
Trailblazer raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "What, are you afraid of breaking one drop of sweat?"
"Trailblazer, that's the exact thing that makes my coat look and smell bad, so, yes."
"Well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"Hey y'all. We could've been there and back by now," AppleJack said, right before Trailblazer finished his sentence.
Rarity turned to look away, blushing angrily. All of them walked back to the train station they all used before, paid for their tickets, and got on.

Their first stop of the two-way trip was at Sagastrome. The train that would take them to Mt. Terabolt wasn't far from where they were dropped off, and immediately got on that train. It was another hour long trip for them towards Mt. Terabolt. At their departure, they got off and headed right up the stairs from the loading/unloading dock. Upon getting out of the station itself, they saw a town amongst them.
"Is this Mt. Terabolt?" Twilight asked.
"I can see the volcano," said Rainbow Dash as she got airborn to get a better view.
In the distance, a volcano was way in the back of the town. At the foot of it was a building that matched the description of the one Merlow saw in the crystal ball. The town was made up of a lot of square or rectangular buildings, mostly single story ones.
"Let's go," said Trailblazer. "We've got quite a walk ahead of us."

It took the group at least a half hour until they reached the research center. Along the way, Rainbow Dash kept getting the urge to fly over to that lab. She got reminded by AppleJack that they had to stay together for this, to which the pegasus folded her forelegs and hovered grumpily low above the ground upon hearing the response.
"So, is there some sort of visitor enterance here?" wondered Twilight.
"There had better be," said Trailblazer sternly. "We didn't take any trains to waste any money; we came here for the Sacred Star, and some answers."
AppleJack shot a confused look at him. "Are you, okay, Trailblazer?"
"Mmm, I'm fine. But I don't want to have my leg pulled."
She looked at the other five, still a bit confused.
"Here we go!" He saw a sign on the front end of the building labeled "Visitors Enterance", with a thin arrow pointing to the right. The walked to the right side of the building to see a glass door with a sign over it with the same label.
They entered the building to see a faded blue circular desk in the middle of a white tile floored room. A couple ponies in lab coats walked around in the lobby too.
"Welcome to the Mt. Terabolt Product Testing Research Center," the female receptionist greeted them with. "Did you all come here for a tour?"
"Wait, a tour...?" Fluttershy asked.
The other six looked at each other for a second. Then, Trailblazer spoke up.
"Yeah, we did," he said.
"We did?" Fluttershy was still not understanding.
Trailblazer turned around, showing a small scowl. "Yes. We are. To learn where the 'jewel' is." He said this softly and winked.
Fluttershy looked out of the cornesr of her eyes, still not getting the hint. His scowl got bigger. He then put on a smile and turned to face the mare behind the desk. "Yes, we all came for the tour."
"All right, let me get a few volcanologists in here," she said. She pressed a button on the desk, which must've called for a few ponies to report.
"Trailblazer, what are you doing?" Twilight whispered at him.
"We came here for a Sacred Star. If we go through this place, then we might find some ponies who know about it," he whispered back.
Fluttershy's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, the 'JEWEL'!" she whispered at them.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Okay, now I get it."
"Pfft... Took ya long enough."
"Hey, I heard that."
"And...?"
Fluttershy groaned and gave him a dirty look.
"Can you two get along?" demanded Twilight.
"Are these the visitors?" somepony asked.
"Yes, they are."
The group turned around to see four ponies, two earth, and two unicorns, in white lab coats.
"Well, hell-O, there!" the tangerine-colored unicorn greeted them with.
"Hey, hi!" Trailblazer said.
The unicorn stopped. "I was TALKING to the little lady."
"Oh, darling..." said Rarity, smiling.
"No, not you."
Rarity immediately frowned. "Excuse me??"
"Her!"
The tangerine unicorn lifted his right hoof and pointed at Twilight Sparkle. She lifted her own hoof and pointed at herself, a bit confused. "Me?"
"Yeah!"
She chuckled. "Aww, it's nice of you to think of me that way."
"Well hold on, aren't we taking a tour?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"I thought so too..." said Trailblazer.
"So, how are you?" the unicorn asked Twilight.
She smiled. "Well, a lot better now. We came here to know and understand how you make all this stuff."
"Well, you came to the right place. We have a lab with all this materials we test."
"And do you study the sediments of rocks, and test it on your products?"
"Yeah, as well as test other stuff for heatproofing them against our products."
"And can they sustain temperatures over 3,000 degrees?"
"Right, with all the molecules striking the surfaces..."
"And it's all because of the heat that speeds them up."
The unicorns beamed. "Rock Solid," he said.
"Twilight Sparkle," came the reply.
"Anyways, how do you like..."
"Hey y'all. We came here for a tour of this fancy place," AppleJack said, interrupting Rock Solid.
"She's right, Rock," one of the earth ponies told him. She turned around and beckoned them all. "Let's go."
"Yes, let's," the other unicorn said.
The four researchers led them to the back of the room where a lot of merchandise was shelved. "This is where we keep our products for sale. As you can all see. These items also get shipped to other places around Inyomaid, and overseas."
They then got led to the research area where the products got made. "Over here, we have some research undergoing how we can use this heat-induced stuff and turn it into products that can help out ponies like yourselves." The tour guide went into one of the rooms, and then beckoned the seven to come inside. "These..." he said, "Are heat pads that can relieve aches and pains. How they work is that they emit heat onto, for example, your back. This can make the muscles in your back relax, relieving you of the pains. They are much easier to use rather than buying over-the-counter pain pills again and again.
They got led into another room with some rubber hoof covers. "These, are heat-resistant gloves that can keep you from getting burnt by nearly any heat source. Much like your small intestines, these gloves have a microscopic villi-like surface, therefore increasing the surface area of the glove. The surface area of these are quintuple the amount of regular rubber gloves. You could actually stick your hoof in lava for any amount of time, and you won't feel a thing!"
They were all led to several other rooms with products that they had manufactured, where they got led back to the lobby. "Do any of you have any questions?"
"I do," said Trailblazer. "Do any of you know of a star-shaped gemstone that is said to reside in this volcano?"
"Oh, I'm glad you asked! I forgot about the treasure we got one day." The ponies all followed him to a room on the second floor. "We found this blue star thing while testing some heatproof items while in the volcano one day..." He stopped to open the door and looked inside. Then, he panicked. "What, it's gone!"
"What??" Twilight Sparkle ran into the room, the other six followed suit. What they saw of a display case was cut away glass, with a small pedestal and two small spotlights.
"And no alarms got tripped either! How did this happen??"
"Oh, looking for this?" a cocky voice spoke up.
They all looked around at each other. "Who said that?" Rock Solid asked.
A buff red pony jumped in from the ceiling of the hallway, breaking off chunks of it. Trailblazer recognized him.
"Hey, I remember you!" he shouted. "I fought you on that ship!"
"And I remember you too!" the red pony replied. "You can call me Red Rover." He held up the shining blue Sacred Star. "See this Sacred Star? I can't let you guys have it."
"Like hell we can't!" Trailblazer ran towards him and jumped towards the broken ceiling. Rainbow Dash flew up towards him, but he disappeared in a quick flash.
"What??" Trailblazer pulled himself onto the roof and tried to figured out what happened.
"Where did he go?" Rainbow Dash wondered.
"Red Rover is right," a strange voice came from nowhere. "You cannot have those Sacred Stars."
All the ponies at the scene looked around and asked if it was any one of them, all without answers.
"Could somepony explain what's going on??" one of the researchers asked hastily.
One moment later, another flash appeared right before them. As soon as it appeared, it diminished, and a levitating unicorn floated above the roof of the research facility. He sported a dull gray coat and a faded light blue mane. The color of his eyes matched his mane. All eyes were on him.
"You are far too late to stop the Sario Hole!" he announced.
"You??" Twilight shouted at him. "Wait, YOU'RE the one who caused the Sario Hole to appear! Steel Sword!"
"I'm actually surprised! You DO know my name after all!" Steel Sword said back. "But the moment that I summoned the hole was the moment that decided the world's fate. And it's fate, is destruction."
"But you must not want us to get the Sacred Stars, and they are the only things that can close the Sario Hole!"
Steel Sword laughed at Twilight mockingly. "You honestly think that those rhinestones can save the world? I laugh at your foolishness!"
"But... Why?? Why do you want to destroy this world?"
The unicorn was puzzled at why she wanted to know his motive. "Considering that the world's destruction is imminent, I will share the reason with you." He hung his head, and his voice suddenly came from booming and valiant, to a more solemn tone. "The world we have holds no meaning, nor joy. Life doesn't matter in such a world. That realization came that way when I was seperated from that filly called Twilight..."
Twilight Sparkle rapidly shook her head, shocked at what Steel Sword just said. "Twilight...?"
"But that is all I have to reveal!" His mood came back as it was in his initial appearance. He gradually began to float higher in the air. "Go ahead and collect them if you dare! I will seal you all to your doom along with the planet!" Steel Sword laughed maniacally as he continued to levitate. At the end of his laughter, he dissapeared in his flash that was used for his enterance, leaving the ponies in awe and confusion.
"That gem he found... That was called a Sacred Star?" a researcher asked. "What was with that unicorn? We need answers!"
Twilight continued to look at the last place she saw Steel Sword. Her shock kept her paralyzed.
Could that have been... She thought. No... Impossible! Something just didn't add up!
But in the back of her mind, quiet nagging doubts flooded her head. Was it really the one she was friends with long ago, or some other pony that they never knew?