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// First Canto: Hope 
// Story: Devotion's End 
// by Undome Tinwe 
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I.



Once upon a day of rest
A filly stepped into a cage
On crystal bars were carved the crest
Of Love herself who played the sage

Council gave she to the Stars
That mercy, kindness, and reform
Must balanced be with all the scars
She could inflict if freed from stone

Prudence won their hearts that day
And so the traitor was condemned
Within a statue, so to stay
'Til safely she could be redeemed

Endless darkness stoked the flames
Of vengeance, hate, and enmity
Encased in rock, she doled out blame
To those who brought this tragedy

All these thoughts and more were plain
To she who braved her family
The Child of Love did see her pain
And seized the opportunity

"Who amongst you has not erred?
Nor given clemency to sin
But justice was for her deferred
Now let at last her trial begin"

Such was posed to four wise mares
The Sun, the Moon, the Stars conferred
Until a Mother did speak fair
To daughter now she did refer

"Danger lurks along this path
This mare knows naught but treachery
I can't protect you from her wrath
Her silver tongue speaks sorcery"

"History I've studied well,"
The snowy mare did give reply
"But love is strong enough to quell
The greatest storm to lullaby."

"Faith I give you, child of mine
And pride enough to fill my heart
For now I see how bright you shine"
With trust the four then did depart.



II.



Thus she stands before a mare
Returned to stone, then left to rot
And now condemned into her care
Until she has all that she sought

Magic from her horn unfurls
To shatter chains of arcane light
The stone unravels, colours swirl
And with a flash, a mare gains sight

Fall from grace, into her arms!
The atrophy within her bones
Is mirrored not by mind alarmed 
At sight of alicorn unknown

"Who are you, accursèd beast?
I see the wings and horn you sport
The price you seek for my release
Do not attempt from me extort"

"Flurry Heart, my name from birth
But name alone tells not my tale
For long ago was my rebirth
From my domain Devotion hails"

Scoffs the mortal at reply
So plainly given yet unwise
"Devotion is the greatest lie
That traps the fool within your vise"

"Loyalty you've yet to learn
For faith is succour to the soul"
A hoof is offered in concern
"So I shall feed you, tired foal"

"Foal!" she cries, the hoof denied
"In Tartarus my soul was forged
And now I see my toil decried
By one whom mother's milk hath gorged?"

"Suffering is all you've known
And loneliness that's drunk in kind
I know the ways that you have grown
Another life you could not find"

Flurry speaks upon release
Of prisoner to leave at last
"If you should wish this all to cease
Then step outside, towards your past

"But I offer you a cause
A life to live, a seed to sow
For I can see beyond your flaws
To your potential, Cozy Glow"



III.



Freedom beckons, yet gives pause
"A chain you offer, nothing more
And why should I support your cause?
There must be something else in store"

"Cunning suits you well indeed"
The alicorn a smile affords
"Should you accept my righteous creed
A kingdom come be your reward"

Scornful frown she does return
"A kingdom come, beneath your rule?
The thought of it makes stomach churn
Deny I shall to be your tool"

"Tool of mine, yet also Queen
For I have no desire to rule
From alicorns we must be weaned
An end to infancy so cruel"

"Cruelty?" she whispers soft
"You dare to speak against your kind?
The ones who hold your world aloft
You would not leave all that behind"

"Time moves onwards," she replies
A cloud of wrath within her tone
"But they would see us ossify
So vow I will to break their throne"

"Trickery, your words must be,"
Accuses traitor of the god
"Deception that I clearly see
For I have walked the path you trod"

"Risked you once the world's demise
And now you've nothing to your name
So much to gain, if you reprise
Your role in this upcoming game."

Long she stands there, pondering
Refuse she can and trot away
But Flurry speaks the truth that stings
That she has no one left to sway

"Very well," does Cozy say
Acidic tone to match her heart
"But when I'm Queen, without delay
Your head I'll place on pike to start"

Hoof extended, pact is made
And though one enters two return
Angelic countenance displayed
To those who one day they will spurn



IV.



Celebration, bring the feast!
For feted daughter has emerged
Victorious, she tamed the beast
And proved that Love could evil purge

But the four were not yet fooled
For they had heard this filly’s screed
Time again they sought to prove
That she was nothing but a weed

Cloaked in shadows, in her dreams
A mare of night takes on the form
Of one familiar to glean
The purpose true of her reform

On an altar she does lay
In front of Cozy, whilst a blade
Of ice most pure, does then display
While alicorn is bound and splayed

"Cozy Glow, 'tis Flurry Heart
Defenseless, scared, and vuln'rable
Will vengeance take you and depart?"
Is asked to filly damnable

"Princess Luna." Cozy bows
"You honour me with your misdeed
But I was taught to pierce the shroud
That you have donned to test my creed"

Smiling still, she speaks at length
"I could have falsely answered you
But now I see in truth is strength
So I will give you answers true

"Vengeance did I seek at dawn
When stone was rendered into flesh
But Flurry offered me a crown
If I could heal these wounds so fresh

"Now I'll learn her ways of Love
And earn the role I'm meant to play
For cause was given from above
To prove you wrong, and make you say

"'It is right to give her praise!'"
Triumphantly her case is made
With righteous flame does Cozy blaze
The sword discarded, unafraid

Laughter echoes through the skies
Surprising she who pled her case
Then Luna doffs her failed disguise
And speaks reply with royal grace

"Honesty I hear you crow
Yet cunning too within your words
Immortal wisdom I’ll bestow
Beware of love, the subtle sword

"Lest it rend your heart in twain"
With this she vanishes to mist
Awakening from sleep arcane
A filly whom deception graced



V.



Seeking out their spellbound cove
Where secrecy is paramount
She shares the visit from above
By one who sought a case to mount

“Bold are you for speaking true”
Is Flurry’s answer to her tale
“But bolder still, to carry through
There’s time enough to yet turn tail”

“Kingdom mine I still await
Now teach me how Devotion sings
That I might quench my thirst for hate
Until the time of reckoning"

“Know you well the strength of Friends
For many overcome the one
And those who'd die to friends defend
Will give up more than those who'd run"

Here is Flurry radiant
As cutie mark with purpose glows
"But Faith is coin that Friendship spent
And with belief do mountains grow"

Unperturbed, the mortal says
"So you have said, and it is so,
That I know of the price to pay
By fools whose lives away they throw"

"Fools, yet wiser than thee still,
For souls of theirs are satisfied
The emptiness you try to fill
The faithful never did abide"

"Save your breath for one who cares,"
Demands the mare to princess fair.
"I'll learn of faith, so to ensnare
My future servants, to the mare"

"Acquiesce for now I shall."
Says princess bowing, taking flight
"But one day you shall find your call
And happiness will be your blight"



VI.



Seasons changing, Winter, Spring
Routine established, morning, night
Complacency is just the thing
To soothe the worries and the fright

Daytime sees the palace guest
Engaged in lessons on the law
And politics, she aced the test
On statecraft, using sword and plough

Nightfalls lands and she retreats
To sanctuary does she fly
With open arms does Flurry greet
And two defy their destiny

"Artifacts to sap the soul,
And spells to fell the strongest mare
Though both we must have knowledge full
Support of ponies can't compare

"Both are vital to our goals"
Does Flurry say, and Cozy frowns
"Do not assume me as the fool
For I have studied for the Crown

"Lessons that shall help me claim
The hearts and minds of ev'ryone
For when I climb that throne acclaimed 
They shall reject the lies you've spun"

"Only you have spun a lie
Continue to apply your mind
As I too learn of magic's might
And what we seek we both shall find"