Bitter Victory, Bitter Defeat

[PRIVATE] Bitter Victory, Bitter Defeat

Psyche the DarkEmpress Posts: 380

Deceased

Mare :: Unicorn :: 15.3 hh :: 8 (ages in Orangemoon) Buff: ENDURE

RayoDeSoleil

#16

02-11-2014, 06:17 PM

The shadow-mare did not want to return to the Aurora Basin; of that, she was sure. Her body even seemed to reject the notion of the cold, having begun to shed the thick, dark pelt that had become a staple during her time in the northern herd. It was perhaps not as noticeable in the dark, murky swamp that she stood in now, conversing with a hornless brute that previously would have been just as happy to see her head on a platter, but it was happening all the same. Her auds flickered back and forth, a hind leg cocked in a relaxed manner as the shade allowed her guard to fall. If someone had told her a month ago that this was where she would end up, she would have laughed in their faces and challenges them for the blasphemy. But now, for whatever reason, she found that she could not think of any place she would rather be.

Is this who I really am? she wondered, a flicker of hope blooming in her breast as she realized that maybe, just maybe, she was not the monstrosity that those who knew her saw. Maybe she was not the dark, brooding Empress that she saw when she looked in the mirror. Maybe she was something more than what her father had shaped her to be. Somehow, this stallion - did she even know his name? - had brought her from the darkness that had clouded her mind in the days since the loss of her horn and her crown. Somehow, despite the fact that by her old standards, he was clearly lacking in the most important way (silently, she laughed at her own misguided hatred), she had come to enjoy his company, and perhaps deep down, she recognized that she owed him her sanity. Perhaps she owed him her life. He thanked her, and her ears pricked toward the sound. Had anyone ever thanked her for anything before? She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry.

It was an odd feeling for one who was generally emotionless, even if such a state had been by choice. Now she was free.

He tossed his head with a rather mischievous glint in his eye, and he reached out to tug playfully at her mane. Upon meeting him, she would have flinched away from the motion, expecting only anger and bloodlust to permeate those who came upon her; now, he managed to draw a reluctant, almost bashful smile from her lips. When he pulled his hooves free from the mud, the disgusting squelching noise shoved her auds backwards; she shifted her own weight, and as she freed her pistons from the muck, she was sure that her own expression mirrored his. To her surprise, he invited her to join him; even more surprisingly, a large part of her wanted to say yes. He had seen through the facade that she had shown the world for so long, talked her out of the depths of despair, and for the first time in her life, she felt that she had found who she truly was. But to go north... no. That, she could not do.

She swallowed, hard, wistfulness a shadow in her amber gaze. "I'm afraid that returning north would be uncomfortable," she admitted softly. "But..." She hesitated, her gaze dropping to the ground before flickering up to his face once more. "Perhaps we will meet again."

She would like that very much.

"Talk talk talk."