A Little Hope

by DougtheLoremaster

Chapter 1- Flurry Heart: They want me to do what!?

My name is Flurry Heart, and I am an Alicorn. As ruler of the Crystal Empire, I shoulder the hopes and dreams for my kingdom’s future. I guess that’s why they call me the Princess of Hope. When the populace thinks of Alicorns, they think of tall, imposing beings of might and magic. The all-knowing, all-powerful guardians of what is right and just. Alicorns tower above all, so they say. And in a way, I can see that being true.

I’m the niece of Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship. For many decades now, she has been the guiding light of Harmony uniting the whole of Equus; from the Dragons of the Dragonlands, to the Yaks of Yakyakistan, the barriers between cultures and languages have fallen, under her guidance. That is of course, with the help of her friends, the Elements of Harmony, as all lavishly hail them as such.

My mother is Princess Cadance; the Princess of Love, and though she has stepped down her active role as ruler, she still advises me from the shadows. In her heyday, she actively...well truth be told, I’ve never understood what exactly she did. She didn’t force ponies to be in love, nor did she watch such love as it occurred. Maybe...hmm...I suppose she encouraged love to be true and real between all beings; she encouraged all forms of love, for ponies to be who they were.

Meanwhile, my Grandmares are none other than the legendary Celestia and Luna; the Princesses of the Golden Sun and the Silver Moon, respectively. Heralded as literal deities at one time, the two have long since stepped down. Raising and lowering the sun and moon since time immemorial, the two sisters gave purpose to their loyal subjects encouraging them to live life, to toil, and partake in the fruits of those labors.

The accomplishments of my family are the stuff of legends. And then, there’s me. Little Flurry Heart; the Princess of Hope. That’s right, little. Unlike my accomplished family, even fully mature, I stand no taller than a crystal pony. I barely just earned my cutie mark, not one moon ago, when this yoke of responsibility was thrust onto me. The shadows of their accomplishments envelope me daily. How could I possibly compare to beings who have literally stood against the forces of Tartarus without blinking?

I’m sitting here on the throne now, and below me is a certain stone statue. Apparently Aunt Twilight has developed Grandmare Celestia’s gift for clairvoyance; according to this letter in my hooves, I’m the only right choice for this. The only right choice to redeem that which none of the Alicorns had been able to. The one who can give them hope.

I can’t believe this. I’m supposed to rehabilitate three legendary foes of the crown? Criminals of magic, of the land and its creatures. I’m supposed to give them hope, when I barely grasp the concept myself? For that matter, what even is hope? An abstract desire for a better future? How is that a talent, much less a magical gift? I barely got this crown and this is my first task?

My subjects think of Alicorns as the all-knowing, all-powerful beings that keep the world turning. Staring at this concrete prison before my throne, I can’t help but feel they couldn’t be more wrong. My horn glowing with magic, the statue begins to crack, revealing the preserved forms of the fiends within. With powers I barely understand and with shaky determination, could I actually do this? The concrete is crumbling to the ground and I am terrified. Can I reform Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek? Something nopony in my family, with their many hundreds upon hundreds of accolades and accomplishments, could do? I can only hope.

Comments

[asdtroi8895]

Great start!

I like how this shows Flurry's insecurities, although one has to wonder why Twilight didn't give this task to her shortly before her crowning rather then after it. She will be quite busy balancing her job as ruler and taking care of the trio. Hopefully she'll get all the help she needs with this task.

[DougtheLoremaster]

"get all the help she needs"
> The only one who can do it
>none of the others were able to accomplish the task
I'm sorry but how exactly is she supposed to get help in this scenario? The short answer is she is on her own. Why ask help from creatures who have no idea themselves? The only help she could receive would be from Chrysi, Cozy and Tirek.

[MarlonCalpe4000]

I'm curious to ask why are are the chapters so short? With stories having an interesting concept like this, Shouldn't it be 3000 to 4000 words per chapter. You could really do so much more but that's just a suggestion my friend.

[DougtheLoremaster]

10936265
I felt more bite-sized pieces were needed for this particular story. Especially as each covers one perspective of one of four characters on the same scenario. Normally I go 1k-4k as a guideline per chapter...but I feel this is in line with the title...after all...it is just a little hope.

[Jura18511861]

Well, based on my knowledge of the series, the behavior of the villains should be something like this:
Chrysalis: thirsts for revenge, hates friendship and the whole family of ponies. She will fight to the last drop of blood cursing everything that exists in this world and in general will be extremely aggressive.
Tirek: He will just chill (relax) enjoying every moment outside the stone prison and make fun of Flurry Heart.
Causey Glow: there will be heartbreaking tears, remorse and pleas for forgiveness, and the main problem will be that it will be impossible to understand where she is sincere and where she is not. It will be impossible to distinguish truth from lies and as a result it will be impossible to understand whether there is at least some success in her "re-education" or not.