//-------------------------------------------------------// Glimmers of Hope -by LosticshyPam- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue The moon of the Crystal Empire has always been bright and clear ---just like her princess. Although the control of the moon was handed over to Princess Luna of Equestria a few years ago, the denizens of the Empire stuck to the idea that "our princess is in charge of everything". After all, which country can compare with the old Crystal Empire? Crystal ponies was possibly born in a longer time ago than the three major pony tribes. Their crystal magic was more powerful magic than the whirling snow. Their fur made the most beautiful mare jealous. Especially when the sparkling crystal heart ignited their love and light, the whole empire would shine everywhere. The top of the Empire Castle would light the fireworks, bursting out into the colorful aurora with the ponies' sincere emotions,which spread to the whole continent. "So, this is where I go to live?" "Yes, I'm sorry, but I can only accompany you here, Hope. My guards have arranged everything for you. You'll find your home in Crystal Heart." "... Thank you, Princess." As a matter of fact, hoped that Radiant was still murky. She could only vaguely remember that one second ago when she sat in a warm carriage with her parents and had a happy family trip, playing hide-and-seek with the little snowwolves and Ursa bears. The next second, she was stuffed by a sudden snowfall, which blocked her nostrils and eyes. After a random scratch, she only caught a clump. The warm pink curls, the fragrant mane, and the strange glass smell, a bit like the mother's taste, just like where she was now, shining in every corner like glass, even the ponies and bushes on the street. But at least now she knew these things are called as crystals. "Yes, her name is Radiant Hope. She's about four or five years old... No ponies can survive in the whirling snow for a few day. Besides, her parents also put all protective magic on her, or she will... Fortunately, they are closed to the border... It's true that there are more and more troubles going on these days." What did the guard say to the handover pony? Hopefully, she didn't pay much attention. She only saw the pink curly hair getting farther and farther away from her and wanted to cry lonely. "Hope, Hope, Hope, don't whine..." The little dark purple filly howled sadly against her messy mane. Seeing this, the yellow crystal pony who was listening absently to the guard's endless complaints raised her ears,to throw down the pen and paper used to record and rushed towards her. "Don't cry, don't cry. It's all right. Mom's here. Come in and warm up." The yellow mare ignored the guard aside, pulling the little Hope into the house. "That's true." The guard lit a floating magic on the paper and pen that landed on the ground with dissatisfaction. "I will get out of this job one day. All day long, I only knows that there is not even a chatting fellow standing like a log!" Although he said so, he carefully smoothed the feathers on the feather pen and put the orphan information list in front of the door. With the light of the crystal streetlight on both sides of the road, the guards suddenly found themselves going to the night patrol again, so they cursed and slammed the door of the Crystal Heart Youth Center, picked up his spear and walked to the Crystal Square. The day of the Crystal Empire was coming to an end, but unlike other nights, today there was a unique young filly. Princess Luna's rising moon, with her unique mysterious flatus, drifted into the ponies' dream. Author's Note If the writing is not good enough, please give me some advice. Thank you! //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Hope //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: Hope "Walk eastward along the Crystal Mountains, through the coldest Snowland, and you will come to the place where the sun rises, climbing up the highest and steepest peaks , and you will see the bright sun shining in the sky, like a crystal of neon light. And in the endless stretches of the higher and farther sky, where your parents are to watch you grow up." "But they always said that grandparents crossed the Lunar Bay in the west far away from the place of extreme night, and looked at me every moon rising night. Why are parents and grandparents no longer in the same place?" Little Hope blinked and asked her new mother curiously. At this time, Sorrel was depressed and wanted to hit herself on the mouth. Although she had to deal with these silly foals all day, she had never met such a clever and difficult filly. But the blue-haired pony was so lovely and cute that she had no choice but to complain secretly about why the fairy tales told by the Equestria and Crystal Empire to the young foals were so different. She hastened to add, " Every day when the sun rises, the stars will use their magic to follow the steps of the sun and bring your parents from the east to the west, finally, they will be reunited at dusk ." "That's it ......"Hope, of course, did not notice the obvious logical loopholes in Sorrel's discourse, but silently lowered his eyelids, "I will be obedient, waiting for them to come back." Sorrel's eyes were moist. Although she had to face these fatherless and motherless children every day, she had no resistance to the painful tears of the bereaved children. "Tomorrow you will go to school." She forcibly shifted the topic. "With the money donated by Princess Amore, you have the chance to obtain the best education. Well, tomorrow you can play with other children. Then we just need to go to the hospital for a check-up." "........." Hope looked out of the window and didn't say something. Although these crystals had the motherly taste, they smelt by several times and the feeling would as if she was once locked in her mother's wardrobe breathlessly. Moreover, the room was full of crystal, even the beds were made of crystal. Her back still ached after sleeping last night. "We need some new crystal mattresses, crystal basins, crystal bookshelves and crystal cushions!" Sorrel was counting what needs to be purchased. "Why is everything here named after crystals?" Hope couldn't help asking. "Without crystal, there will be no Crystal Empire; without crystal, there will be no crystal magic; without crystal, there will be no crystal pony." The teacher laughed and said, ( Actually, she was trying to say"Didn't your mother tell you about the Crystal Empire? She must be a crystal pony, too." Fortunately, she stopped her mouth in time. )"Crystal......bring us wealth and strength, you are also a noble crystal pony, Hope, do you feel the call of crystal?"Sorrel made a joke. "......I can not feel that, "Hope tilted his head."But there's a fairy calling me! She's hiding under the bed. I'll find her out." Then she crawled on the crystal floor and moved towards the crystal bed step by step, which was no sadness at all. Sorrel looked at the young filly in some surprise,she seemed to imagine some interesting games to divert her sadness. If only she had a little fun, the children would be happy. Although she only experienced the disaster of losing her loved one yesterday, after experiencing, the sadness seemed to be absorbed by her. Maybe this pony, like her name, was born to bring hope and happiness to other ponies. And no matter what the facts were, she won't disturb herself all the time, which made everyone happy. So she picked up the crystal pencil and made a list on the crystal sheepskin scroll. In fact,Sorrel was right to think that Radiant was not a simple pony......at least that was what her parents thought. She was kind and lovely. If you stay with her for a long time, you will find that she is like a small sun,radiating the power of love and hope everywhere. Unfortunately, there was no pony to tell her what was special about her. The pony of Crystal Empire was so arrogant, and she was a little shy with them. So she had to pretend to be brave and play with her imaginary friends and dared not approach other ponies any more. Therefore, they used the term "freak" as a salute to her. This is what Hope experienced this afternoon. While she was waiting outside the store for Sorrel, she saw several young foals running by, so she shyly walked over. "Well, can I play with you, please?" An older-looking young stallioncame out of the queue. "I haven't seen you before." He tilted his head.”You're new here, aren't you?” Just as Hope was trying to answer "Yes", the little male colt suddenly laughed wickedly, " Or how could you be so untidy? Is your tail muddy?" Hope then turned to look at her tail. Indeed, the long blue mane was now covered with red stains. So she remembered how her mother used to keep her beautiful mane crystal shiny. "You're right." So she said, while the colt opposite was still stunned, she turned and ran away. "You're right, Rabia, I already have friends with me." Then she ran away quickly, hiding her mane from the right side of the line of sight so that no pony could see her tears. "...... She's a real freak." A pony said. Author's Note I hope the story will last longer this time! //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 : Fairy //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 : Fairy "... Once you get the cutie mark, you will be assigned to other classes to learn the skills you will use. Did I make it clear enough?"Hope shivered a little before she noticed that the teacher was staring at her through her hard crystal glasses. Obviously, she still could't concentrate on these things very well. Who would have thought that yesterday she was still arguing with her mother about whether candy could be eaten on the ground, but today she had to sit alone in a cold classroom with a group of ponies she didn't know. Oh no, it seems like last week, or last month? Hope found sadly that her sense of time had suddenly become strange. One day passed as soon as it looked up. In the Crystal Empire, where the whole day was shining, the difference in light was even smaller. After a few days Hope even felt that her eyes were going to be blind.Fortunately, she survived. The things of the Crystal Empire seemed strange and unknown to her, so she began to miss her hometown town -- a beautiful village nearby the sea. She heard that Dad said that it was the place where he met his mother. At that time, they were so young that they would never have expected to marry and have a child named Radiant Hope. "Tomorrow we will begin our class formally. All ponies remember to be ready and take your crystal textbooks with them." The teacher's words once again interrupted the thinking of Hope. She hated it, so she turned her head out of the window -- her seat had a unique geographical advantage. If she turned her head to the left, she could see the Crystal Square and the faint light of crystal heart. She always liked to sit there when she was free. The warmth of crystal heart was always pleasant to everypony. If it weren't for Ms. Sorrel to say that her eyes hadn't developed well and could't get too close, she might take crystal heart home. "What are you thinking about?" She heard her fairy friend Rabia asking, so she looked back and whispered, "Home." "Isn't this your home? You are a pure-blooded crystal pony. There is no doubt that this place is the best for you.“ "It's too cold." Hope huddled herself, she really did't like the climate here. "You'll get used to it in a few days. Now think about what you can do tomorrow. There's a lot of things you can play with, crystal cornflakes and new beds. Aren't you happy?" "Well, I... I'm really happy!" Hope sat down on her seat and it would be much more interesting if she could find some playmates tomorrow. It just hoped it won't be as hard as last week. In fact, the last colt scared her that she was afraid to talk to other ponies for nearly a week. Fortunately, Rabia was willing to talk to her all the time. She had a red fluffy mane and butterfly wings, and Hope remembered that she had vaguely seen the legends about the fairy pony in her father's album. It was unexpectedly true! This red fairy always loved to hide in her mane, not to be seen by others, and sometimes blames other ponies for their impatience. But she had always been very kind to Hope, and Hope liked her mini-friend. "Hope, you're still here. Are you okay? The teacher said you are always distracted in class.Are you bullied by other ponies, Hope?” "I just want to know, teacher, why are all the ponies so angry? It's like somepony makes them angry. They're all angry." As a child, Hope even could feel other ponies' emotions more than the ordinary pony in the street, which made her a little timid and cautious. "Eh,what should I tell you? "Sorrel sighed solemnly and looked around as if she was afraid that somepony might overhear their conversation. "Since Princess Amore handed over the power of the sun and moon to two young Alicorn Sisters of Equestria, everyone has been a little ……irritable, maybe... It's because the weather is getting a little colder, but after a few crystal fairs it will be back to normal. Crystal heart can wash away all the anxiety and anger.“ "Great, I thought it was always so cold here!" Finding out the reason, Hope was exciting. She took up her saddle and jumped out of the classroom, leaving Sorrel helplessly watching the little mare run around with her dirty tail. "You've got your tail dirty again."