» what this palace wants is release ; open

the chocolate mare stood at the top of the falls, her tiara craned slightly over the edge of the rocky cliff, watching the mass of aqua flow over the side. She stood a few feet away from the edge, letting her hooves find the grooves in the solid rock to keep her steady even as the tremendous height made her head spin. She wasn't a fan of cliffs. There was no prior traumatic experience to accompany the bubble of panic that raised in her throat by being so close to death other than common sense. If she were to go over the edge she would die, that was a fact. It troubled her lightly, but the panicking sense that lit the cells in her body with a soft burning sensation was enough to make her feel more alive than ever. The roar of the gallons of water plummeting in complete free fall gave her mind the emptiness she needed to feel at peace with the happenings of the past few weeks. She had left the only home she had ever known in search of a new life. She had deserted her family, the few friends she had, her kingdom. But what was left of her kingdom anyway? Nothing. The darks had conquered her land, and she was the only one to win her freedom. It came at a terrible cost. The right side of her face was ruined, the deep bite ripping through the thin skin and leaving her with a large patch of flesh exposed to the elements. Even after the weeks of traveling it had refused to heal fully, leaving her with a red and pink mass that looked more like hamburger meat than a healing scar.

She sighed softly, glancing down at herself to assess the rest of her body. There was another long scar along her right foreleg beneath her knee. Her ankle was no longer swollen, but the ugly black and pink scar would remain. Other than that she was rather unmarred. She had a few scrapes and scratches along her frame, but they were minor and would heal with more time. Part of her mourned for the pristine beauty she had once displayed - a place in her heart withheld the conceited demeanor of a princess and queen - but the other felt proud of the damage done. She had become a warrior through her first fight and the fire that had placed itself within her heart would blaze for a long time to come.

All of this was frozen for the moment though, she could not bring about happiness in her victory while she had departed from the land where it was won. Her children still remained in the lands she had left. Thanatos had been killed as a traitor to the dark kingdom, and her fondness for the brute produced a stinging sensation where her heart lay at the thought of him in his final moments upon the earth. She did not know where or when his demise had taken place but knew it had happened and was very sorry for it. She could not save him, and it was a great regret that lay upon her soul. What she could have done to save her children, to save her friends was looping repetitively through her mind as her violet eyes stared over the cliff's edge. The feeling of vertigo and the loud roar of the water could no longer make her forget, but it could make her feel alive.