//------------------------------// // Ch-2: Saviors and Surprises // Story: Hearts As Strong As Chaos // by JasminePosey //------------------------------// The number of times Maria had been blindfolded today had just gone up plus one. She didn't know what was worse, however; the throbbing pain in the back of her head, the roughness of the rope that bound her wrists behind her, or the creaky wooden chair that dug into her arms and shoulder blades. She groaned as the rest of her senses woke up. A damp and humid smell filled her nose, and her mouth felt dry and tasted like the air around her. She was sweating through her thin long sleeve shirt as well. Panic soon settled into her, making her skin prickle. She struggled against the bindings, a grunt of pain escaping her lips as the wooden chair bit into her muscles. She relaxed, taking a few deep breaths through her mouth as she mentally sorted through the situation. "Nice to see you're awake." a voice said. Maria looked up towards the source, although the blindfold prohibited her from seeing him. Her brain processed the familiarity of the voice, and she remembered her sudden realization before she was knocked unconscious, which then explained her painful headache. Maria felt herself bristle in her anger. "Silver." she growled. "Oh, you remembered me this time!" Silver chuckled in sarcastic glee. "What are you doing?" she demanded. 'Let me go!" "Patience, my dear." he said. She felt a hand gently caress the side of her face. She flinched away from it, clenching her teeth. Silver sighed. "So temperamental. However, I must say you are much lovelier as a human than when you were identical to that hideous beast." "Don't you dare insult Discord!" Maria shouted at him. He put a finger to her lips to calm her down. "Shhh." he said gently. "It's alright Maria. You won't have to worry about that monster anymore. He's still in Equestria." Maria growled and bit him, hard. SLAP! There was a smarting sensation to the left side of her face now. She bit back the whimper of pain that grew in her throat. Her closed eyes began to well up with tears. Silver, on the other hand, cursed and ripped the blindfold from Maria's head, tearing a few strands of auburn curls with it. Maria cowered slightly as the sting registered, blinking to take in her surroundings. The room they were in was dimly lit and small. The walls were a dark grey, and were dark and cracking in many places, especially towards the ceiling. There were larger portions of the wall that were water damaged. A single lamp hung from the ceiling directly above them. Silver brought her attention back to him by harshly grabbing her chin and forcing her head up to look at him. To Maria, he looked to be in his early to mid-twenties, with short blonde hair cropped military style, grey-blue eyes, and lightly toned skin. His eyebrows had curved downwards, and his mouth was twisted into a sneer, radiating his anger. His thin fingers dug into her jaw, making her wince. He released her then, standing fully upright. He closed his eyes a moment, taking in slow deep breaths. Maria watched him silently, half-curious as to what exactly he was doing. When he finally opened his eyes again, he was smiling, calm once again as if nothing had happened. "I understand that this must be so sudden for you, luv." Silver purred. "But look on the bright side. You can finally have your normal life back." "I don't want a normal life anymore!" she protested. "I want Discord! I want my children! I want my crazy, abnormal life back again!" Silver tisked, shaking his head. "I think you're failing to fully understand what's going on."He knelt down and leaned forward a bit to meet her stubborn glare. "They're not here, Maria. Everyone from Equestria is still back there. Discord and your children didn't go through the portal. They sent you back and didn't go with you. You know why?" Maria opened her mouth to answer, but stopped. She didn't know why they sent her back. Or why Discord hadn't come back with her. The portal was surely closed now, meaning that she wouldn't see them for almost another three years. Why would Discord do that to her? "Because," Silver continued, "They saw that you didn't belong. You've stirred up a lot of chaos during your time in Equestria, apparently. Their world didn't follow the storyline it was supposed to take, and Celestia came to realize it when you almost died. You know that fall you and your daughter took? It wasn't an accident. And Celestia finally took matters into her own hands, or hooves, and forced them to send you back. They can't follow you here either. Their magic wouldn't last long here, and when it goes out, so do they. Everything happened much too coincidentally, didn't they? But look at it now, everything is as it should be now." Maria shook her head. "You're lying." "Am I?" he looked surprise. "Then why isn't your dear husband here with you? Why are you even here in the first place? Somewhere deep down, you know this is true. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be away from Discord and your kids, would you? I know you're asking yourself. 'Why isn't my darling husband here? Why did I have to be sent back, when I was SO happy there? Doesn't he love me anymore?'" He mocked her in a high-pitched voice. She felt her eyes watering, her heart sinking. He was right. Discord wasn't here. Her children were growing up without her. She lowered her head, closing her eyes in defeat. The tears started to fall. Silver, on the other hand, smirked as he stood fully to his feet again. He crossed the short distance of the room, over to a short bench in one of the darker corners of the room. If Maria had been paying attention, she would've seen him pick up a small syringe, holding carefully as he hid it at his side, then approach her again. But tears blurred her vision, and her whole body shook a bit with her silent sobs. "There, there, Maria. I still love you." he said softly, rubbing her shoulder. She said nothing, but simply pulled away as best as she could away from his hand. He frowned and put his hand on her shoulder again, more firmly. This time, Maria's head jerked up as she glared at him through her tears, ready to shout at him again. Her eyes, however, caught a glimpse of the syringe in his hand, and the determined look in his face. There was a dark liquid bubbling inside the clear glass of the body of the needle. Her eyes widened and she let out a shriek and began to struggle tirelessly, almost tilting the chair over in her panic. Silver grunted and held the chair in place as best as he could. He held her shoulder tightly, pulling the cap off the needle with his teeth. Maria cried out as he tried to roll up the sleeve of her shirt to expose her skin. Instead, in his frustrations, he ripped a hole in the arm of the shirt and let it fall to her tied up wrist. Having her arm now exposed, he proceeded with prick her skin with the needle. The needle had been fully inserted underneath her skin when the baseball bat came into contact with the back of Silver's head, making him crumple to the ground in an unconscious heap. The needle, however, stayed in her arm. Maria's tear-filled eyes looked up in fear to the person holding the bat. It was the same stranger from the party. His cold blue eyes glistened with anger, and his breath was ragged. The man tossed the bat away and went to kneel in front of Maria. "Are you okay, Maria" he asked her as he undid her bindings. Her body slowly went numb, and she slumped forward a bit without the ropes to support her anymore. Her eyelids began to droop. The man pulled the needle from her arm, gasping quietly as he noticed the dark fluids. He flung the matter towards the wall, making the glass break and staining the wall with the syrup-like substance. He gathered Maria in his arms and kissed her forehead, cradling her body to him. "Don't worry Maria," he muttered. "I've got you now."