The Trials of Queendom: The Gems of Eternal Peace

III. - The Taste of Passion

The water tasted overly salty as she swam through it. She was confused, had she knocked herself out? She didn't know what to do until she noticed a stone statue weighed down at the bottom. She swam over to it and looked carefully at its features. She swam back a little when she noticed who it was: Discord.

But before she could swim away the statue sunk through the sand, the water sucking herself into the hole. She cried in pain as the hole began to melt away, like blood, and eat her up.

***

"Ugh!" A voice called, pulling her and itself out of the water. Angels body was numb; and she shook herself when she noticed the pony pulling her out was Lance.

"W-what happened..?" She asked, looking around. The Forest of Lies was ahead of her, and she rubs her eyes to get a better view.

She turns around to see a dirt wall, and when she notices more clearly; the wall led up to where Lance had jumped. The sky seemed dark from her abandonment; but it was not that. It was because her parents were dead. She brushes her neck to find her locket is gone.

"M-my locket!" She cries, looking into the water. Deep in the pond it twinkled, and Lance sighs. He weighs himself up and rockets back into the water, and pushes deeply into it. He grabs the locket and begins to swim back up.

Suddenly, shouts were heard above and Angel peeks up. Her Uncle, Ressy screamed at the top of his lungs as he pointed down at her. She shudders and begins to flail for Lance.

The guards begin to glide down when Lance breaches the water and notices them. Lance ties the locket around her neck carefully and the puts her on his back again.

"What the buck did you do, Angel.." He says in a harsh tone. Angel sighs and feels the pressure on her as Ressy's shouts call louder and louder. Lance begins a gallop, slowly, but gaining speed. Angel hangs on and stares up at the fast flying pegasi guards.

"I didn't do anything.." She says in a soft, innocent tone. Lance shakes his head, his hoof beats pounding against the earth wildly in a beat. Angel moans as the speed begins to get to her but she continues to hold her breakfast where it belongs.

"You'll never escape! NEVER!" The lead guard yells, pressing in closer to Angel. His hooves grip out to try and grab her when Angel screams so loudly, he has to stop and cover his ears. He causes a collision with some of the other guards but some continue to fly on.

After a minute or two of painful galloping they begin to enter The Forest of Lies, which was said to corrupt the mind if the lies were believed. However, some ponies said it wasn't all lies. Angel cries softly as the voices fill her ears painfully.

You will never be queen...your brother is dead....your brother is a traitor...you will die...your parents are dead...Ressy will take over the kingdom forever...the future is lost, give up!

"NO! THE FUTURE IS NOT LOST!" She screams, which alerts the guards where they are. Lance and Angel begin to hear the calls of the guards and Lance sighs again, galloping at the fastest pace he can.

"We'll never out-run them, Angel...we better give up..." Lance says, slowing down. However, Angel kicks her back-hooves into Lance's sides which startles him again and he begins to gallop faster.

"We have to...or else we're dead.." She says, her mind spinning around like a wheel. Her vision begins to fog up and slowly take her away. Before she knows it, she has fainted.

***

"Hey, wake up Angel." A voice says. It seems familiar to her, but who could it be? She looks up to find Discord staring deeply into her eyes.

"Gah!" She cries, stumbling back up. He chuckles softly as he levitates her closer to him, and she shudders. His fangs glisten in the light, and she begins to cry.

"Huh? Whats wrong..?" He asks, pulling her closer to him. She stares at him with red eyes and sighs.

"Is it true my parents are dead and my brother is a traitor..?" She asks in a soft tone. He sighs and looks deeper into her green eyes. He bites his lip a couple of times and then with slow but nervous words he says,

"Yes...I'm deeply sorry." Angel's eyes begin to water even more as she bursts into tears, the room slowly filling up like a bucket. Discord panics and flinches, which makes her drop into it. She cries out for him but he can't reach her in time. So instead of reaching for her, he leans in and presses his lips against hers.

She stops crying and stares up at him, longing for more of him and longing for him to stop. However, the passion fills her mind with red and she begins to slowly fall asleep, and wake her up.

"I'll see you again." He says after breaking the kiss. She nods slowly, still scarred in the moment.

***

"Angel...Angel wake up please!" Says a soft and calming voice that alerts her slowly. Its Lance.

Her eyes flutter as she looks up at him and he hugs her tightly. She wonders if Discord really kissed her, or if it was Lance, trying to do some sort of medical treatment on her.

She thinks slowly to herself, He must have thought I was dead or something. He looks greatly into her eyes and breaks the hug.

The sky was a sort of pink-ish rose color, the color of her short-cut hair. She flicks her tail when she notices they were encamped in a cavern, to hide from the guards.

"I haven't much time to explain, but tomorrow I must wake you early. I know for sure Ressy is going to send his guards to find us again."

"But he's an Alicorn..doesn't he have magical powers and fancy flighty wings?" She asks. Lance stares at her with a confused look but then nods slowly.

"He can only see us through the Rainbow Crystal, and hopefully he doesn't know where it is."

"Whats that?"

"The Rainbow Crystal? Its a crystal that lets the King and Queen look over the area if they think hard enough." Angel nods slowly and Lance hands her some food. All it was was a mixture of herbs and grasses. She looks at him with a sad face but he angrily stares at her, as if to say, 'Its all you'll get, eat it.'

The sun begins to lower down behind the mountains and Lance is already fast asleep. Angel stares up into the sky and looks at the moon.

My wish was to find true love...is Discord my true love? No, he couldn't possibly...but he could.

Angel sighs and lays back down on the cave floor and stares into the fire. The fire dances and her eyes flicker around and around to trance her to sleep.

Slowly, but surely, she falls asleep.