160 Aftermath of Crystals...
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How did a weak went by so fast?! I barely felt any time passing! Well I guess it's time for a new chapter then! Oh you're going to love what I did today haha!
Hope you like it and like always EEEENJOY!!!
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"A-A Thousand years!..." Hope repeated in disbelief When Discord told her about how much time had passed since her imprisonment.
They had been talking for a while now, getting to know eachother through some lighter topics, but it was only now that they really got into talking about the past. Discord was a very pleasant company, even if slightly quirky. And his occasional remarks of ruling Equestria with Chaos...She could tell he wasn't really serious about it at all. His current petrified form notwithstanding.
Having spend years with...with Sombra...Hope knew how to tell when someone really had bad intentions even if she didn't want to admit it to herself at first.
But Discord...he...he seemed to be acting the bad guy, to the point that he was having a hard time differentiating between his real thoughts and the act...
She would be bringing that up later, but first she had to get over the realisation that it had been over a thousand years since the fall of the Crystal Empire...
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"The Princesses are still alive!?" Hope exclaimed in surprise after learning the news.
She vividly remembered their last discussion and her subsequent departure. It had been hard for her at that time but she only wanted to find her best friend back then. She should have known that it was a mistake but she didn't want to admit that Sombra was a lost cause. She couldn't bring herself to agree with that reality. At least that was the case until he showed her the truth himself by putting her under a thousand years of suffering...
Discord has been telling her something, probably in reply to her earlier surprise, but as her mind went back to those events, her breathing became shallow and quickened. She couldn't hear the Draconequus anymore as she recalled it...The cold...The Pain...the...the Emotions...
"...pe...H...ope...Hope! A-are you alright!?" Discord's voice finally reached her as she noticed him holding her by her shoulders and shaking her gently, with Fluffderick nuzzling her from the other side.
Hope shook her head slightly noticed wetness falling down her cheeks. She was crying...
Discord was quite perturbed. Did he say something wrong? They were having a good talk and she seemed fine...He was still unsure of what really happened to her but he knew that she was from the Crystal Empire era, as despite lacking the obvious transparency of a crystal, She had the natural features that made the Crystal Ponies distinguishable from the rest of Equestria's population.
He was thinking of something he could say, to at least get her to stop crying. For some reason he felt a tightness in his chest that he had never felt before the more he saw the tears marking her cheeks.
But he was not given a chance to act when said girl suddenly enveloped his elongated body in a tight hug and buried her face in his chests full of petrified feathers and fur.
The spell circle created by Starfall that granted them the ability to walk in their solid forms, actually made their bodies somewhat soft to anything but themselves, so despite being made of stone and ice, the hug between the two actually allowed them to feel the softness of eachother in a bizarre kind of way.
But what was even more bizarre for Discord was the myriad of emotions and his clear confusion at their current situation...She...She was hugging him? Should...should he hug her back? He's the Lord of Chaos...he doesn't do hugs, right?...But if it's to help her stop crying...
Discord awkwardly enveloped the mare in his mismatched arms, and stayed silent. The girl actually started to cry even more, but...He somehow knew that it was a bit different than before. He wasn't knowledgeable about psychology, but he was pretty sure at this moment, as the two of them hugged...it was something she needed more than anything in the world...
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Starfall stood beside Twilight, who leaned her head on his shoulder in exhaustion and happiness. It was an eventful day but at the same time it was just another adventure that ended in a success, thanks to their joint effort. And while she was thankful with Starfall stopping Sombra from getting to her and the Crystal heart at the last moment, she knew, and Starfall made it abundantly clear that she would have certainly managed even without his little assistance. After all, it was her who found it and she was the one who returned it, albeit she knew that nothing would have been possible without her friends. Her Family.
It was friendship that let them move forward, and it was friendship that made them all strong enough to fight whatever stood in their way.
So as the festivities continued for the next two days, Everypony was happy and the life was good...
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"M-My Queen! You're back!" Exclaimed a changeling general upon noticing Queen Chrysalis walking into the throne room-stylised cave, deep inside the shapeshifting Mountain known as the Changeling Kingdom.
Chrysalis looked around with a slight feeling of revulsion. Were they always living like this? It was so...gloomy...
Her thoughts became somewhat confused as she stretched her hole littered wings, causing a slight shimmer to pass over them thanks to the dimm light of the fluorescent flora lighting up the surroundings.
It had been a confusing few weeks for the Queen... ever since she met him...at that accursed wedding...and then with every day that she would leave to spy on that unicorn... Her curiosity, her feelings it was all encompassing her...
...
But...
...
There was one feeling that didn't encompass her...
One feeling that she had been incessantly feeling from the very day of her birth...
...She...she wasn't feeling hungry...
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They held eachother for a long time, neither of them talking, the only sound being the occasional sobs of the young mare, as she tried to burry her face in his slim snake-like chest.
Discord did not stay awkward for long, as his arms naturally tightened around her petite, delicate form while his paw went over to gently caress her mane.
Her ragged breath slowly calmed down but she didn't move away, still holding onto the Draconequus as if she was hanging onto the last piece of rock at the edge of a cliff, knowing that if she fell, she wouldn't be able to climb back up...
"I...I'm sorry..." She whispered, looking down in shame, but Discord just held her closer, the situation nothing like he had ever experienced, but he didn't shy away from helping Hope out. After all, he was the one to wake her up in the first place, and it was honestly the most interesting situation that had happened to him in a very long time.
"It's...uhh...It's fine... Fear not as it's not my first time holding a delicate mare when she's having a moment of vulnerability!... I totally know what to do..." He said in a false bravado, but it was clear as soon as he finished that she didn't buy his words for even a second as a small chuckle left her mouth before she nuzzled her face into his chest once more.
It's ok...I'm...I'm just happy you didn't leave...I...I..." She stuttered as her entire body trembled.
"You're...welcome...?"He said uncertain at her words but she just looked up at him with a sad smile.
"...I...Would...Would you like to...to listen to my story?..."She asked, partially hopeful and partially terrified of remembering everything that happened to her in the past. But some part of her felt like she could trust him, and she...she wanted to trust him...
And she felt warm upon finding Discord not bothered by her emotion-driven actions so far. He seemed to be genuinely trying to look after her wellbeing, even if it was clear that it was all far from being in his area of expertise...
Discord gave her a momentary glance, before exchanging looks with Fluffderick and giving him a firm nod, finally making a decision...He was going to do his best to help this mare to the best of his abilities.
Discord coughed lightly to clear his throat and took a haughty pose, his face splitting in a self assured grin.
"...By way of robust endorsement, replete with unyielding certainty, I do not hesitate to declare that your proposition meets with my complete approbation. I shall listen to your story with my full and undivided attention, that I promise as the all powerful Lord of Chaos that I am!"
His words and actions finally broke the somber atmosphere that had slowly gathered around Hope, and she couldn't help but giggle at how silly she found Discord's earlier declaration. She hugged him once again, her face now almost calm as she prepared herself to tell him everything.
Why she was so eager to tell this being that she met for the first time today everything about her life? She had no real idea...But it felt just right...and...She had that hope...that...'Radiant Hope' that everything was going to be alright.
After all, at some level, she felt like the two of them weren't really that different from eachother in the first place. She felt like...Like Discord would understand...Like he would just understand...
So she told him everything...
