Chapters View Online
Prologue: The Thought War + Silence Freesoul
The Thought War
33 years ago…
Twenty years after 'The Mane Six' defeated the once feared Nightmare Moon, peace ruled in a seemingly perfect Equestria. However, darkness arose as the inhabitants of this great empire turned to the mysterious cult searching for a new world order, the New Lunar Republic. The Terrorist faction of the Republic began to plot against Celestia, unbeknownst to Luna herself.
Soon, the Thought War had already won itself.
The NLR had successfully overthrown and then proceeded to obliterate the Celestial Princess. This upset the balance in Equestria. And Luna’s advisors had fed her so much hatred towards the rest of the world that she, without any intention, let herself go. She had, again, become Nightmare Moon.
Soon, The NLR manifested itself as its dreamed form, a New World Government. It burned a hole into the spirits of everypony the world over, and its tendrils spread themselves out into the world. The Republic soon erected a colony, Isla Nova, to support its dwindling workforce.
It had cursed itself from the beginning.
Silence Freesoul
13 years ago…
Silence watched as the ghostly image of his father gently hoofed him on the shoulder. He was only five years old.
“Go be a good colt. Daddy’s got some business to attend to.”
A large and intimidating pony wearing pure white, iron Keeper’s armor followed his father through the door and into the room directly across from the small bedroom that Silence had been kept in for safety. His father had always done this when there were visitors. But why was there a Keeper in the house this time? The Keepers were just supposed to watch the streets of Isla Nova for Terrorists, they say. Not go inside a person’s private residence. But Silence knew better. His father had worked for the NLR, after all.
A loud bang from behind the door that the two ponies had entered interrupted Silence’s thoughts. He jumped. What could have happened? He looked around his empty, white-walled room, as if looking for some answer. Suddenly, he heard the door to the other room creak open. Very calmly did the hoofsteps emerge from the room; they proceeded to his front door and disappeared.
Silence approached a small button next to his door and pressed it, the panel quickly slid open, (overpowered, as were all Magic-Mechanical devices) to reveal that the other room had not been sealed off. On the floor there lay his father. Silence rushed to his side only to see a large, bloodied hole in the center of his skull. A puddle of blood leaked from it, and Silence noticed a small, round, metallic object was embedded in the center of the hole.
Silence sat there, wondering if his father would simply sit up and tell him that everything was alright. But it wasn’t alright. Silence gently hoofed his father in the way he always did to wake him up, especially after the terrible nightmares he endured after his own mother’s death. Silence’s father didn’t get up. He didn’t even move. He was dead.
Silence vowed to remember this day for eternity. He vowed to think about it when he was killing Luna for her crimes against Ponykind. And he thought about it now, suddenly Eighteen years old and with mark (Which was a black paci-fist surrounded by a red circle), wearing a black cloak to cover his grey skin and white mane which so easily were seen in the dark, as he knocked on the door ahead of him.
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Solar and Lunar Blitz + Complicated Improvisions
Solar and Lunar Blitz
Now…
In the town of New Ponyville, located only 2 miles north of the Capitol Palace of Isla Nova, twin Unicorns were practicing their respected spell types, Fire and Dark. The fire mage, a rebellious pony named Solar Blitz, had heard of P.A.T.H., and convinced his brother, Lunar, to join the cause with him.
“It’s simple really, we join P.A.T.H., overthrow Luna and Artemis, and get a new ruler, a new start for Equestria, and the root of disaster gets banished in the process.” Solar stated, casting a fire spell towards a target. The Unicorn had gotten his mark only 4 years ago, similar to a fireball, and his brother only a day after, a similar mark, only black and purple instead of red and orange.
“What if they fail? The Wielders of The Elements have all taken different sides, y’know.” Lunar replied.
“Yes, but it’s likely they won’t fight much. They’re basically gods, not warlords.” Solar replied.
“Sol, look, I know you-” Lunar was cut off by a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it.” Solar said. “Hello, may I help…”
Solar glanced at the cloaked pony standing before him, out in the dark and the rain.
“Silence Freesoul?”
“Shh. You want the whole town to know I’m here!?” Silence said quietly. “I’ve heard that two twins here are looking for a ‘Job’. I’m guessing that’s you?”
“Yes sir, I followed the symbols exactly as they read.”
“So, you speak ancient, interesting.”
Sol, you applied for P.A.T.H. already!? Lunar said in a thought spell.
Yeah, problem? I said I was going to join. The Unicorn replied.
Silence glanced at Lunar.
“You might want to control your thoughts around here, little one. The Keepers know more than you think.”
Solar gave Silence a confused stare.
“How did you?” He began.
“It’s easy to tell when you Unicorns cast those fancy thought spells. Plus…I have my ways.” Silence said. “So, you wanna join us. Well then, you’re gonna have to pass some training.”
“Actually, sir, we’ve been training for a few days now.” Lunar spoke up.
“Hah. You have combat skills, kid, but all that’ll do is get you killed.” Silence replied. “Plus, I don’t just mean fighting. You gotta use your mind, kid.”
“Trust me-”, Solar interjected, but his sentence was finished by Lunar.
“We have.”
“Not that kind of mind power. I mean that you need to make sure they can’t break you. They can’t control your mind. You gotta stay free… or die trying.”
Complicated Improvisations
In the Business District of New Ponyville the three ponies walked through the rat-infested alleyways of the great city. As they approached the main road Silence stopped abruptly and looked around through the rain. Solar and Lunar followed suit, the two stood there for a moment, their jackets catching the pouring rain from the storm.
“Something wrong, sir?” Solar asked, his body steaming slightly through his jacket.
“Look around you foal; these streets were bustling when I entered the city, now they’re empty.”
Solar glanced at the streets, empty of everything, even Keepers, the only shop open was the Clothing store left of the main entrance.
“The Keepers are supposed to patrol these streets all the time, but where are they?” Solar pondered.
“Look, the main gate is closed.” Lunar pointed out.
“It looks like we’ll be breaking and exiting this forsaken plot hole.” Silence said, looking for a control room. “There, that building next to the gate.”
“It’s locked tight, impossible to enter.” Solar said.
“Oh, my young friend…” Silence said taking off his saddlebags. “Nothing is impossible, just simply…Improbable.”
“W-what’s in there, Silence?” Lunar asked.
“A parting gift, from us to them.” Silence said.
Silence opened the bag and pulled out a small device that Solar and Lunar couldn't identify, and slowly walked towards the building. The Pegasus suddenly stopped in his tracks and rolled back towards the alley.
“Roadblock, we gotta hide out till it’s gone.” Silence said angrily. “Know anypony who won’t rat us out?”
“Elusive and Rarity, they wouldn't dare.” Lunar replied.
“Neutralists, well I've been through worse. Come on, we need to get to the other side.” Silence stated.
“Allow me to handle that.” Lunar said stepping towards Silence. “A cloaking spell should work.”
Silence nodded as Lunar lowered his head and aimed at him. Lunar’s horn began to glow with a black aura, which spread to Silence and covered his body; soon the Pegasus had vanished from sight.
“We can teleport over there, but you’ll have to fly, the light will give away your position and null the spell.” Lunar informed.
With that Lunar vanished in a whiff of black smoke, and Solar in a small plume of flame. Silence flew to the other side, careful to stay away from the streetlights, and landed at the back of the shop.
“We’ll need to be careful, getting in there’s the hard part.” Silence said.
The three stepped to the front of the shop and walked to the door, the nearby streetlight uncloaking Silence. Solar looked around as he approached the door and gasped; the armored, white-clad Keepers had finished the roadblock, and were preparing to begin patrolling the streets again.
“Silence, we need to get inside, now.” Solar said.
“Those Keepers probably have a good idea who we are.” Silence said blankly.
Silence pushed the door open and slowly shut it behind them; he then turned to the counter and flipped a switch, moments later a white stallion with a curly dark violet mane emerged from the basement.
“Welcome to Elusive and Rarity’s clothing shop, how may I…” The pony, Elusive, stopped in the middle of his accented sentence. He looked closely at Silence. “Silence Freesoul?”
“Quiet, do you want the whole town to find me?” Silence whispered harshly. “Look, The Keepers may know we’re here, and if you hide us until they’re gone I won’t mention you if they capture us.”
“Hmm… Fine, but I’m not part of your cause, and I won’t save you if you’re caught.” Elusive replied.
“Yes, yes, we all know the story.” Silence stated. “You and Rarity chose Neutrality.”
Elusive began to talk again, but before he could a loud banging was heard at the shop door.
“They’re here, quickly now, downstairs.” Elusive stated. “Let me handle them.”
As Silence lead Solar and Lunar downstairs Elusive approached the door.
“Hello, Sergeant, may I help you?” Elusive asked the Keeper.
“Cut the chatter, Elusive, we've reason to believe a fugitive- Silence Freesoul- has entered New Ponyville on a terroristic threat, have you seen him or any signs of him?” The Keeper asked in a deep voice.
“No Sergeant, I've been checking stock all day, I've only just finished.” Elusive said casually. “If I do find anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Would you mind if I checked your cellar?”
Elusive shuttered quietly, but then he confirmed the Keeper’s request with a “No, sir. You’re welcome to take a peek around.” The Sergeant turned on a flashlight atop his helm and proceeded to move around the counter to the back of the shop, and opened a wooden latch in the floor. “Quite a place you've got here!” he yelled from the underwater, glass walled cellar.
Silence and the Blitz Twins backed around a corner as the keeper moved towards them. Looking around quickly, Lunar spotted another less notable latch in the floor. He desperately pointed his hoof at it and the other two understood immediately. Silence opened the latch, allowing the other two in first, and closing it behind him. Just then, the keeper’s shadow passed over the latch.
Silence looked around the lower cellar. It looked more like a mineshaft than anything else. It smelled so musty and it was so humid, but at least he got away from the officer upstairs. After a few seconds he heard the creak of a ladder and the latch on the upper floor closing.
The Keeper shook his head, walked out the front door and walked towards the roadblock, signaling for it to be taken down. Elusive closed the door and walked back to the basement.
“They’re gone, for now,” Elusive told Silence through the lower latch. “You’d better be happy I don’t wield Honesty, otherwise you’d be on your way to the Rainbow Factory, all of you.”
“That’s why they sent Applejack and AJ to Eden. Neither of them can keep their mouths shut about anything, Maggie’s Farm is the perfect place for them.” Silence said.
Elusive grunted.
“Just, get out of my shop before you cause any more trouble.” He said.
As the three left the shop they approached the main gates to find they were opened and unguarded.
“The Keepers must be preparing for their nightly rounds again.” Silence said. “Let’s hurry.”
They began to run through the gates, Silence leading them on the lone road that ran over the water the city stood on. As they passed the Checkpoint a guard glanced out the window and saw them, alerting him to their escape.
“Hear that? Alarms, we’ve been spotted!” Silence said. “Solar, Lunar split off.”
Lunar took his chances and jumped into the water where his dark body couldn't be seen. He swam furiously for the swamp ahead of them. Solar began to cast a spell that Silence couldn't identify- until the stone bricks on the bridge began to rise into pillars that Solar hopped on, giving him an excellent vantage point. But Silence... Silence walked calmly and coolly over the bridge and towards the swamp. Just as he set hoof off the bridge, one of the keepers ran up behind him, stopping at about ten feet away.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” he demanded.
Silence just kept walking along. Solar looked back to see what was going on. Right as he turned his head, he saw the Keeper fire a suppression beam into Silence’s back from the tip of his unicorn-horned helmet.
Silence popped his neck and turned around very slowly.
“You really are starting to piss. Me. Off.” Silence said angrily. He raised his right hoof, to the keeper’s amazement, and blocked the beam streaming from the keeper’s helm. The keeper stared at Silence with a look of shock, completely oblivious of the other two escapees. Silence raised his other hoof, right up to the keeper’s face. In an instant, the keeper’s own weapon turned against him and his helmet exploded, sending him flying into the water.
Silence turned back around to face the swamp and began to walk towards it again. Solar and Lunar watched him in amazement. The other keepers stood on their side of the bridge and didn't dare pursue him. Just as he stepped across the border of the keeper’s jurisdiction and into the swamp, Solar and Lunar almost immediately swooped to his side.
“Whoa, whoa, what the buck was that?” Solar and Lunar said simultaneously.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know when we get to my home.” Silence replied quietly. In a few minutes, the trio came up to see a small cabin in the middle of the swamp. They walked off the path to its door. Silence opened it and beckoned the others inside.
“Small place isn't it?” remarked Lunar.
“Oh, there’s more to it than you think.” The Pegasus replied.
P.A.T.H.
Solar and Lunar looked around confused.
“There’s nothing here…” Lunar stated. “Maybe that Suppression Beam actually did something to you, Silence.”
Silence smirked as he approached the fireplace and a small plank in the floor slid open as the last rays of sunlight slipped under the horizon. Solar and Lunar Blitz gasped; they hadn’t expected such a small hovel to have any form of Tech. New Ponyville’s denizens had little more than torches to light their homes, much less piston mechanisms to allow access to usually closed areas.
Silence walked to the hole in the floor and jumped down into the corridor below, where he yelled for the others to join him. They saw an iron door down the dimly lit hallway, a few beams of light shining through its cracks, making visible the dust that hovered in the air of the old hidden space. Silence pushed it open and held it for the twins to go inside. Then he slinked right on into the large brightly lit room. Solar and Lunar almost seemed relieved; the floor of the room was carpeted in crimson red and the ceiling was dotted in lights. Three doors covered the wall opposite to the entrance, which had signs labeling their apparent uses: The far left was used as a bedroom, which was proven tenfold as Lunar stepped into it and spotted nine large beds inside of a completely black carpeted room. The ceiling of it was dotted with a few fake clouds and a single light intended to look like a moon. There were paintings of familiar faces on the walls (which neither of the two Blitz brothers could identify) that surrounded the dark room.
Solar proceeded to the next room which was identified as a Storage room. It was filled with Crates and Chests that lined the walls and several anvils and furnaces that were to be used in crafting what could only be assumed as weapons. It was completely covered in glass lights on its walls. Solar called Lunar out of the bedroom to see the next room: the library. The walls were a beautifully tinged blue and a faint noise emitted from flowing water could be heard inside. A few bookcases were lined up and stacked in the middle of the room, with a table in between all of them that had a book on it. It opened as Solar approached it. He read a few lines from it and recognized it as Ancient.
“This table is for Enchantment, isn’t it?” He asked. Silence only nodded in response. Lunar walked over to one of the two tables that held brewing stands and picked a random vial and poured it into another. The resulting fume knocked him flat out. Silence left the room, carrying the unconscious unicorn on his back and placed him into one of the beds. When he got back, Solar literally had his face in a book.
“What could you have possibly found that’s so interesting as to cause you to indent your muzzle into my book?” Silence asked annoyed.
“It’s an old copy of TIME Magazine, what do you think?” Solar said sarcastically holding up the book; its cover read ‘History of Old Equestria’. Silence walked away shaking his head and muttering something about ‘Twilight Sparkle’.
“What?” Solar asked only to have the door slammed in front of him.
Silence plodded upstairs into the cabin, watching out the window until he fell asleep and awoke the next morning.
Revelations
Silence dropped down into the basement for the second time in the last thirty minutes and tried to wake the unicorns who, ironically, would not rise when the sun did. Silence cracked the library door open, only to find Solar Blitz with his face STILL in the book, except this time his eyes were CLOSED.
Silence hoofed Solar in the shoulder blade until he woke up. Apparently, the vision of a dark Pegasus silhouette terrified Solar into throwing his book into Silence. Silence ignored this stupidity on Solar’s part and took him into the main room, after having awoken the stubborn Dark Mage from his bed.
“OKAY, everypony, get ready for a bit of… a revelation.”
“A revelation?” Solar replied, questioning Silence. Silence again ignored this stupidity on Solar’s part.
Silence started his story off.
“Thirty-three years, two months, seventeen days, four hours, twelve minutes and thirty…SEVEN… seconds ago, the menace Nightmare Moon successfully took over the once great Equestria and banished the spirits of Solaris and Celestia from their bodies.”
“Yeah, yeah, we know the story…” Lunar interrupted.
“Speaking of which, unless the birth records I obtained are wrong, before me stand the hated children of gods...” Silence stated.
“So you know… Yes, we are the children of Solaris AND Luna.” Solar responded, spitting 'Luna' like it was poison.
“Indeed… Well, welcome to the party.”
Silence continued his story.
“Soon, Nightmare Moon built what is known today as The Four Cities. New Ponyville: the trading capital, Polis Nefili: the Weather city, Argatha: The mining establishment and Nesseriok: Our personal weapons supply, speaking of which…” Silence walked over to the far wall, and pulled a lever hidden in the floor. Suddenly two sections of the wall pulled down to reveal a container. Silence opened the unit and revealed several bows, quivers of arrows, and body armor.
“We have the weapons, the resources and the knowledge, now we just need ponies brave enough to use them.”
Silence continued again.
“I… I ran away from my home when I was five years old, a mere colt at the time. I’ve vowed to kill Nightmare Moon and restore Equestria to its former glory, no matter the cost. Because of all of the injustice that she forced upon her followers and her victims she must die.”
He lied, then stared off into the open room, his subconscious slipping into the air.
Checkered Past
Silence ran through the swamplands, not caring where he was going, only why. As he dashed over the bridges his mind rang with the sound of the gunshot, and his father’s last words. When it seemed he could go no further he stumbled upon a peculiar looking home, it was in a state of disrepair, windows busted out, roof in disarray, but the inside was slightly furnished. Silence decided to hide in the shack until it was safe to move on. As he entered the unfamiliar hovel his mind began to process the events of the night, his father was dead, assassinated by a Keeper, which was another crime the evil Princess of the night would pay for. As he trotted over to the wall, he lit a nearby torch using a tinder box on the table and crawled into the bed.
When Silence awoke the next morning, he had two things on his mind, food and murder. He decided food was more important, and trotted outside and toward New Ponyville, but stopped when he realized his mistake; the Keepers weren’t going to let him trot his plot into town and do as he pleases, he was a witness and they knew it. He looked around him, the only landmarks nearby were the town, the Tram and a small island out in the middle of a lake just south of the bridge. He looked out onto it; a few plants growing on it, what looked like wheat… WHEAT! That meant FOOD! Silence held his hoof to his grumbling stomach, and he immediately dropped into the water of the lake.
He propelled himself through the water using his wings and swam for what seemed to be hours toward the small island. As he approached it with finality, a few buildings popped up. The short, stout buildings were made of bricks and there was a glass pavilion between them. Leaning over the garden were several earth ponies, slaving and sweating the skin right off their bones. Some of them were shaded by the shadow of the buildings, others… not so much. As Freesoul marched up on the shore of the Island, which was near a small wooded area, he approached the garden area with relative silence, living up to his name. He slipped past any workers, who were either to weary to notice him or just didn’t care.
However, just as he finally reached a patch of watermelons and he was just about to pluck one, somepony’s shadow was cast upon him and he heard a loud “STAWP RAT THAYER!”
Silence turned around to see a large, silhouetted Earth mare wearing a cowboy hat. She trotted toward him slowly, and with each step she emitted a word, forming the sentence “AH DON’T LAK LAHERS AND AH SHER DON’T LAK THEIVES!”
Her large green eyes glistened with rage as she approached him, and she raised her hoof as if she was about to strike him. Other ponies began to gather to see the commotion, and just as Silence flinched and didn’t dare look, a cream-colored stallion with a curly pink mane appeared next to the usurper.
The stallion stepped right in front of Silence. Silence wasn’t paying any attention to what anypony was saying and he was still debating with himself about whether he was dead or not, and he really didn’t know anypony there anyway, so he was just fine with grabbing his loot and FLYING back to the old hut.
Soon, he found himself with a loaf of bread and not one, but TWO small watermelons shoved in his new saddlebags, which were so kindly provided by individuals he didn’t even know, and he was flying back to his secret hideout.
He wondered who those two ponies were: The mare that nearly knocked him unconscious, and the Stallion who protected him. Looking back Silence realized both of them had been wearing necklaces of pure gold, each reflecting the wearers Mark. He decided that he would visit the island more often, only at night unless the yellow stallion one was around during the day. He landed in the yard and dropped his bag of food on the floor of the cabin. He approached the far wall and looked into the empty fireplace, expecting to see animals had made their homes within, he found the chimney was completely closed off from the outside except for one small section. Assuming it was for decoration Silence turned to the clock behind him, broken but not beyond repair, he decided to leave it as it was.
The next morning Silence approached the shoreline to the island, but was stopped by the sounds of yelling coming from the bridge. He turned to see two Keepers and a shop owner, a white stallion with a curly violet mane chasing a masked pony carrying a bag down the bridge. Silence flew towards the masked pony and tackled him, sending the bag flying and hitting the bridge side. The Keepers quickly pinned the pony down as the shopkeeper angrily ripped off the mask.
“Wait, please don’t hurt me!” The stallion underneath pleaded.
“Stealing my entire stock of jewels; then pleading for mercy. You thieves are all the same. Gentlemen, he’s yours.” The shopkeeper said then turned to Silence. “As for you, thank you. I am Elusive; what is your name?” Silence paused for a moment, reluctant to reveal his identity.
“I’m Silence Freesoul.” He finally said.
“Pleasure to meet you Silence, if you ever need anything my store is right near the entrance to town.” Elusive informed. Silence pondered his needs for a moment, sorting through the most important things he would need for the rest of his life alone. Hours later Silence walked into the shop and purchased a black cloak and carpeting, Elusive asked no questions about why, but simply gave Silence the items for free.
As Silence once again entered his new home his mind began to ponder who could have lived here before, and for what purpose they left. As he spread the carpet he began to notice some details of the house he’d never noticed. The cabin was only one room, a bedroom, and extended around the corner with nothing else anywhere in the house.
For the next four years Silence kept up his process of taking food from Eden, doing small deeds and plotting his vengeance against the Lunar Republic. On a cold winter night Silence visited New Ponyville in hopes of finding a job; he strolled through the Residential District, hoping to talk to a shop owner on the way home. As Silence passed an alleyway he heard a scream ring out. He ran into the narrow split to find the source of the call. As he approached the dead end, Silence saw a large purple Alicorn mare with a long flowing mane being held up against the wall by thugs. Silence started to jump in to save the Princess, but was stopped when her eyes became white and the thugs disappeared in a flash of light.
“Ignorant fools, daring to hold a goddess at knifepoint.” The mare remarked. “Oh, hello sorry if I frightened you, it’s just that wretched thief Al Capony attacking more than he can handle again.”
“You’re not Nightmare or Celestia, so then how are you an Alicorn?” Silence questioned. The mare levitated a nearby crown onto her head; it flashed bright white as it settled on top of her.
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn Princess of Harmony and Magic, pleasure to meet you, umm…” Twilight trailed off.
“Silence Freesoul, so what’s with your crown, why did it glow?” Silence questioned intrigued.
“Not many ponies ask me that question; this crown is my Element of Harmony, Magic. It will give its wielder power, and only responds to me.” Twilight replied. “Do you live around here?” Silence lived up to his name again, refusing to answer the question.
“Well, come with me. You can stay at my house until we find your parents.” Twilight stated. Silence cringed at the word ‘parents’ but decided spending a night away from his glorified trash bin of a home would be good for him.
Twilight lead Silence through the cold night, using magic to light the way. As they approached a library Twilight stopped and began glow.
“Whoa, what’s with you and the lightshows tonight Princess!?” Silence exclaimed. Twilight didn’t answer; instead her body began to shrink down. Before long she was the size of a seventeen year old mare instead of a thirty-seven year old.
“Sorry, but I usually switch back when not in public.” Twilight said calmly, her voice now a bit softer. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends, they’re all here tonight.”
Silence nodded and followed the Princess inside. As he entered the room, three of the eleven other ponies inside stood out, the two from Eden and Elusive. The orange mare looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of Silence.
“Ye come tah steel moar stuff from us, varmint?” She asked in her accent. The yellow stallion looked up from talking with what seemed like his twin.
“Now Applejack, we agreed the colt needed food, I even paid you the difference.” He corrected her. The yellow mare stood up and mumbled something that couldn’t be heard.
“Everypony calm down now.” Another one interrupted from upstairs. A purple Alicorn Prince made his way downstairs, the argument ceasing with his arrival.
“Good then. Just because we are under rule of a monster doesn’t give us right to become monsters ourselves.” The Alicorn spoke. “Hello there, I’m Dusk Shine.” Silence had a look of confusion on his face; he looked around to find there were six ponies in the room, each with a stallion lookalike.
“I’m Silence Freesoul… are you all twins or something?” Silence asked.
“In a way, yes Dusk and the other stallions are from another version of Equestria, but they live in this one now with the help of The Doctor and The Professor.” Twilight said. “Their realm fell into turmoil around the time Nightmare Moon took over here.”
“Speaking of Nightmare Moon, shall discussions go underway?” Dusk questioned.
“Yes, will we fight for the Republic, against it, or stay Neutral in our lives.” Twilight replied. “To eliminate any conflict each pair will decide for themselves, we are our own individuals, and your choices are your own, introduce yourselves to Silence as you speak please.” Two rainbow colored Pegasi stood up.
“Hey, wassup, Silence, I’m Rainbow Blitz.” Rainbow Blitz looked back at the crowd. “Dash and I have decided to remain loyal to Equestria’s rulers, even though it is Nightmare Moon; she hasn’t done any true harm to Equestria itself.”
The room was quiet, some ponies were wide eyed; others nodded.
“Ah’m Applejack and dis ‘ere mah friend AJ. I reckon we’re stickin’ tah this Republic business tew y’all. We git gud business from this here deal we got with the Princess. We pick an’ sell dem apples o’er in Eden. Not tah say dat we agree wid Maggie and ‘er family none, but dere’s no real gud an’ bad no moe, just business.” The orange mare said.
“Personally, Dusk and I have decided to rebel. Magic is Freedom, and freedom doesn’t work well with capitalism.” Twilight pointed out. Silence looked in Twilight’s direction, surprised to hear this.
“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU PONIES TALKING ABOUT!?” A pink mare exclaimed.
“YEA YOU TOLD US YOU WERE HAVING A PARTY!” A similar stallion joined in. The room was filled with the sound of ten facehoofs.
“Pinkie, Bubble, tonight’s the night we choose our alliance; I never said anything about a party.” Twilight explained.
“Aw… Well, we’re rebelling; Ponyville is tiring with all these laws about ‘Disturbing the Peace’.” Pinkie replied.
“Okay, so we know four of our positions, Fluttershy and Butterscotch are next.”
“We’re neutral!” They both said quickly and shyly.
“We are neutral as well.” Elusive stated.
“So it’s settled then, two pairs to each side… Don’t fight each other, if it comes down to that point we join our own side.” Twilight ordered. “The Elements are not tools of War, but if we must use them as such then we will.” Everypony nodded in agreement.
“So then, meeting dismissed?” Elusive asked. Twilight nodded and the ponies began to leave the library.
“Dusk, I found Silence on the way here, Al Capony’s gang attacked and he came down the alley.” Twilight informed.
“Al Capony again, can’t that stallion take a break!?” Dusk exclaimed angrily.
“Apparently not, I offered Silence a home for now, he has nowhere to live.” Twilight replied. Dusk nodded and gestured for Silence to follow him; Silence did so and was lead to a room that branched off from the library. The room was a bit bigger than Silences normal accommodations, and had a small desk in the corner with books on it. Silence made his way into the room and inspected it. The room was lit by candles and a chandelier in the center, the floor was carpeted, and the walls were beautifully decorated, the window frames and floor frames were decorated with odd symbols Silence could not read; as he approached one it began to glow. He looked up at the dark brown hardwood walls, decorated with paintings of the ponies from before and various others he could not identify.
“It’s nice, but what’s with you Alicorns and glowing objects?” Silence remarked. Dusk shrugged.
“The symbols are protection enchantments against Nightmare Moon should she invade, they also project the thoughts and voices of nearby Keepers to anypony who concentrates.” The Alicorn explained. “Why don’t you try it?”
Silence nodded and closed his eyes, the symbols began to glow around the windowsill and a small beam struck Silences head and vanished.
“Man I gotta go take a piss!” Silence heard a voice say. Dusk suddenly burst out laughing.
“By Solaris’ beard that’s funny!” He exclaimed. Twilight walked into the room with a look of annoyance.
“I really need to re-enchant these to project only relevant thoughts.” She stated. “Well, goodnight Silence, we’ll see what we can do tomorrow morning.” Both of the Alicorns walked out of the room. Silence, unable to sleep because of the recent turn of events, began reading through the books in the room. The first book he found was titled ‘Electrical Wiring for Morons’ which he tossed onto a shelf in annoyance. The next book did not have a title; instead the front was a golden Alicorn head. Curiously Silence opened the book and read its contents.
First Hunt
Silence was awoken from his daydream by a hoof lying on his shoulder, which was Solar's. Solar quietly whispered something to Silence, which unnerved him: "Hear that? It's coming from up on ground level."
Silence turned his head to the corridor leading to the top floor. Ever so slowly, he walked through the corridor with the company of the two twins and climbed out of the hole in the floor. He immediately recognized, to his horror, the white uniform standard to Keepers, which enveloped a gray stallion who was rummaging the upper floor for equipment or evidence or something. Luckily he hadn't noticed the hole in the floorboard. Silence snuck up behind him, trying to grab his neck, when he glimpsed more Keepers surrounding the house. Knowing that stealth was completely useless, he grabbed the Keeper by his shoulders and slammed his head through one of the nearby windows.
"WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED, GET YOUR PLOTS UP HERE!" he shouted at his allies. The two brothers swarmed into the room, Lunar with one of the hidden bows and a quiver of arrows. Silence grabbed the Keeper that he'd attacked and pinned him up on the wall next to the window, when Lunar sent an arrow flying straight into the officer’s skull, nailing him to the wall.
"Buck, kid, nice shot!" Silence stated. Lunar glanced out the window and dropped his bow, wide eyed. Keepers surrounded the house on all sides. Suddenly, the sound of two clicks came from right behind the door. Silence knew this all too well.
"GET DOWN!" he yelled, and he dove behind the bed in the corner of the room. The unicorns both fell to the ground for cover. After a few seconds, there was a small explosion from the hinges of the door and it fell inward. Keepers flooded the room before anypony could react. They dashed at all three of the rebels, flailing their stunsticks. Lunar let loose three arrows at some of the Keepers, but his rushed aim was too poor and the heads didn't pierce any armor. He went down in a small amount of time. Solar had cast a spell to protect Silence and himself, and dove into a group of Keepers. They fell backward, but one of them brought her baton down upon his skull and knocked him almost flat out.
The Keepers then targeted the Pegasus. They had all ran towards him, attempting to incapacitate him. Some of them had tried to grab him and hold him down to bind him, while one of them did his best to strike him in the head. Silence flailed his wings and forced his captors off of him, but the Keeper who had tried to hit him had done its job. Silence had fallen backward, and the other Keepers recovered and tried to bind him again. Silence bucked and flailed but he was nowhere near as strong as an earth pony, even though his physical abilities were far beyond that of normal Pegasi. As Silence braced for the strike that would knock him out and send him to the Factory, he set his mind back on one fateful day.
"Run Silence! You have to make it out! They're counting on it!"
"I'm not going without you! ASTRA! COME ON!"
And then he saw a vision... of a bullet ripping through his best friend's body as she ran for her life from the same ponies who were pursuing him now.
UNLEASHED
Silence slowly looked down at the ground, his face full of despair and suffering.
"Astra..." He whispered. In that instant Silence's head flew up, his cold, black eyes staring directly into the eyes of the Keeper trying to tie him up, who promptly burst into flames. Silence proceeded to break the magic binding him and slam another’s face into the wall, smashing his helmet in with his hoof. Silence turned to another awed Keeper. He picked the stallion up with both his hooves and choked him for several seconds, while another Keeper readied his baton and jumped at Silence. The Pegasus reacted by turning and throwing the Keeper he'd been holding into the one that tried to attack him, sending them both through the doorway. Another Keeper readied a suppression blast at Silence, but the enraged stallion quickly rushed and threw the Keeper head first into another's chest, impaling the latter with the beam-emitting horn atop the helmet.
Only one Keeper remained... the one who had struck him. He dropped the baton and fell to his knees, begging for mercy. Silence had none of it. Silence picked up the terrified Keeper and carried him over to the hole in the floor that led to the corridor. It was about a twenty foot drop. Silence was absolutely enraged at this... foal. He stared deeply at the Keeper.
"Look into my eyes." He spoke, his voice accompanied by a deeper, more menacing one.
The keeper died in Silence's hooves. Silence released his iron grip on the pony's throat, letting him fall backwards into the secret corridor.
Silence stood above the mutilated bodies of those who had dared to attack him and his friends. He would never allow any of his allies to come to any harm again. And even if it meant losing control of himself, it was worth the effort in the end. Soon after the Keeper fell into the hole, Silence fell to the floor instantly, his eyes flashing back from their black emptiness to their normal form. The secret door closed, encasing the dead body under the floorboards until nightfall.
"B-BY CELESTIA'S BEARD, how the BUCK did you do that!?" Solar said, obviously in shock and confusion.
Silence looked away as if ashamed.
"You... could never understand..." He said silently, almost depressed. Solar and Lunar backed away towards the door and dashed away to the town. Silence sighed.
They’ll be back. He thought.
As Silence turned to his fireplace and fumbled with a lone wire a scream filled the air around him, Silence turned as his roof collapsed under the force of a gray mare crashing into it.
“Ouch...I just don’t know what went wrong...?” she questioned herself. The gray Pegasus looked around the house until her eyes, at least one of them, fell on Silence’s stare.
“Oh, sorry about the roof, I was flying overhead when my wings got caught in something.” The mare explained. “I have a letter for a pony named Silence Freesoul.”
“Really now, well you crashed into the right house.” Silence said, taking the letter:
Dear Silence,
Please meet at my library tonight at 21:00 hours. It is of the utmost importance you attend. Bring any employees you have.
Love,
“Aunt” Twilight
P.S. Please give Derpy a 1 Jangle tip, the poor mare won’t run for any less in this economy.
As Silence read the note over he instantly recognized the lettering to be Ancient, though his mind had translated it rather quickly, confirming this letter was not a trap, seeing as how the language could only be learned by reading one of the three existing copies of its translation guide. Silence opened his bedside drawer and pulled out a small bar of gold; then gave it to “Derpy” who immediately hugged him.
“Umm, you’re welcome?” Silence spoke. Derpy released the hug, laughing nervously and flew out through the roof towards New Ponyville, then swooped downwards quickly.
A Red Letter Day
Silence waited outside his cabin, it was only twenty minutes until the set time of the meeting. As Silence paced near the gate to the city a merchants cart passed by, slowing down as it passed him, but not stopping. Seeing this as an opportunity Silence jumped into the cart. As the cart neared the heavily guarded main entrance a Keeper stood out in its path.
“Halt! We must inspect this cart before you can enter the city.” The armored guard ordered. Silence’s heart skipped a beat as he searched for a way to sneak out.
“You fool, hell hath no fury like a mares scorn; Rarity will use your ass as a mop if this cart is late!” Another Keeper yelled.
Rarity, well it seems all these neutral nuts are helping lately. Silence thought calming down. The cart pulled behind Rarity’s shop and Silence jumped out and made a mad dash towards the library, avoiding any Keepers along the way. Silence walked down the street to the library, but was stopped when he noticed a Keeper at the door; Silence pulled his hood over his head and readied a dagger from his saddlebag.
“You there, halt!” The keeper said as Silence approached the door. In response Silence thrust his dagger through the Keepers neck, opened the door and threw him inside the library, sliding into the chair of Dusk Shine.
“May I come in?” Silence asked from the doorway. Dusk turned around to see the Pegasus at his door.
“You know, you never very subtle for a Pegasus.” Dusk replied.
“I know, now can I come in?” Silence asked again.
“I thought that was rhetorical, alright come in.” Dusk said gesturing towards a chair. A large table was set out, at the end Dusk and Twilight sat across from each other; Silence took a seat at the end of the table between the Alicorns and looked around at his old home: Dark hardwood walls covered top to bottom with bookcases many of which Silence had read top to bottom. A single light hung over the table dimly lighting the interior.
“Silence, meet your new allies.” Twilight said getting up and walking around the table, she stopped at two chestnut colored Earth ponies “Meet the Doctor and the Professor.”
“Are they here to take my temperature?” Silence said sarcastically. The Doctor stood up.
“We are time travelers from the planet Gallifrey, and we have chosen to ally ourselves with your cause.” He stated.
“I’ve seen demonic overlords, gods and their children, and now time traveling aliens from the planet giraffe, what next, the Apocalypse? “ Silence questioned. As Silence finished his sentence Solar and Lunar walked through the door and stopped to stare at the body, frowning greatly.
“Why the long faces?” Silence commented. Bubble Berry and Pinkie Pie began to laugh hysterically. Solar and Lunar walked over to a pair of empty seats on the side of the table far from Silence and sat. Twilight continued over to another part of the table, where a small purple Pegasus with a red mane sat.
“Meet Ember Blaze, I found him being attacked by Al Capony’s gang. They nearly killed him over money he didn’t have.” She informed.
“Ember Blaze… you mean like the richest family in the city?” Silence asked.
“Not anymore. Some of the servants torched the mansion for insurance money. 20,000 Jangles. That’s the price the government placed on their lives.” Ember replied. Silence nodded as Twilight approached three mares looking barely older than twenty. The one which Silence assumed was the oldest had a yellow coat with a red mane and a pink bow and a heart shaped apple cutie mark. Another had an orange coat and pink hair and leaned casually on a scooter, she had a butterfly mark. The last one had a white coat with a purple and pink mane with a musical heart cutie mark.
“Meet Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They’ve worked as vigilantes for the last few years.” Twilight explained.
“Howdy.” “Hello.” “Hey, wassup?” They each said at once.
“Twilight, you brought me a hobo, two loons, and three wannabe superheroes… I like it.” Silence stated. “Alright, who’s ready to disturb the peace!?”
“I am, MEMEMEMEME!” Pinkie screamed out. Silence shook his head disapprovingly and looked around the table, forming a plan in his head.
“Doc, you’re a genius. Where’s a good place to start our attack?” Silence questioned.
“Well, there’s a series of options: Precincts, Prisons, and Industrial Complexes.” The Doctor replied.
“Forget choosing, let’s strike all three.” Silence said quickly. “Its past curfew so the gates are closed, we’ll need to get past those first, and it’ll shut down the gate system for the next few weeks in the process. Then we’ll need to access Luna’s PassCode System so we can get inside the prison without alerting every mare and their brother, there we’ll find a few more rebels; as for the industrial complex, well who here feels like blowing up a Rainbow Factory?” Ember and Scootaloo gasped at the mention of the Pegasus Slaughter House. Silence approached the far wall and pulled at the book titled “Electrical Wiring for Dummies” which opened a hidden compartment behind the bookcase. Reaching in’ Silence produced two saddlebags stuffed with supplies and threw one on Ember’s back.
“No what-for’s, my friends, only a victory screech after this is over. Ember, get ready for a little electrical work, because that door’s going to be in our way. You three,” Silence gestured to the three mares. “Which of you is which and what can you do?” The yellowish Earth pony stepped forward.
“Ah’m Applebloom, founder of the Cutie Mark Crusader’s an’ mah talent is in mah fam’ly business.” The mare said.
“I assume you’re with Applejack with that accent.” Silence stated.
“Hi, I’m Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s sister. I’m a singer.” The white mare said.
“Name’s Scootaloo, don’t let the butterfly throw you off. I’m a daredevil.” The last mare stated casually.
“Good, you’re the bait.” Silence replied non-hesitantly.
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo asked.
“I didn't stutter, nag,” Silence said to Scootaloo, much to her dismay. He turned back to the crowd who kindly averted his gaze. “OKAY, ponies, we’re gonna have a really big day tomorrow. Everypony meet by the tailor at 23:59 tomorrow night. The plan is going into action, and the only ones that should know about it are us.”
“Isn't that closer to the next morning?” asked Scootaloo.
“Buck you say?” Silence replied. The crowd dispersed from the library, luckily unnoticed by the keepers who were on patrol nearby. Silence approached his adopted aunt.
“I gave that mail mare the Jangle, and she hugged me. What are you up to?” He questioned.
“I was just trying to cheer you up a little; Derpy gives away hugs for a Jangle.” Twilight replied smiling innocently.
Silence nodded grinning slightly at his friend’s thoughtfulness and flew off towards his cabin, hoping his two would follow.
To Be Continued...
Reunion
The next morning Silence was awoken by a jumping feel on his bed. He looked upward to find his Alicorn friend beaming excitedly.
“Silence wake up! Shining Armor is almost here, Derpy spotted him on her morning route!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Silence rolled over and pulled the covers over his head.
“Dang it mare, ghosts are nocturnal.” He said tiredly. Twilight stopped leaping and backed off the bed slowly, then proceeded to fly up and dive bomb onto the mattress, sending Silence flying through the ceiling.
“How many times must I fix this roof anyway!?” Silence yelled, his voice muffled by the hardwood. Twilight bit him on his tail and dragged him down. She flung open the door to see a shocked Lunar in mid-knock.
“Umm… We’ll come back later…” The dark mage said nervously. Before Lunar could close the door Silence found an opening and backflipped out of Twilights hold, leaving the Alicorn upside down.
“No, that’s alright. Twilight here just informed me an old friend or something of the sorts is coming to visit. I don’t know why HERE, but you know.”
Solar looked over Lunar’s shoulder with a quizzical expression at the sight of the purple Alicorn dragging Silence out of his own house. Silence picked himself up off of the ground and looked about for any signs of this character, Shining Armor, which Twilight had spoken of.
“He should be coming down the road now.” Twilight stated, as if reading his thoughts. “We could go to the head of the path and meet him.”
“So, who is this Shining Armor anyway?” Silence asked. Twilight gave Silence a puzzled look.
“I never told you about him? He’s my brother, and the King of the Crystal Empire.” Twilight informed him.
“Ten years… I practically live in your storage room for ten years and you never once mention you have a brother. That’s really thoughtful, Princess.” Silence stated. “I suppose this means Dusk has a sister too.”
Twilight began to reply when she spotted a tall, white stallion wearing a brown trenchcoat and tie pulling a medium sized covered wagon down the road.
“There he is!” She shouted. “C’mon let’s go!” She called as she began to gallop down the road. Silence began to follow her, along with Solar and Lunar. Silence turned around as he approached Shining and looked into the distance. As Twilight approached her brother with glee he put a hoof up.
“Now’s not the time. Spike’s been hit.” Shining stated.
Suddenly Twilights face fell from happiness to disbelief.
“Silence, I’m borrowing your house.” She shouted as she hitched herself to the cart and helped her brother pull it. “How bad is he?”
Shining Armor began to gallop forward as Twilight helped him.
“Three shots, one of them potentially fatal.” He stated. “The other two aren’t as bad but if he doesn’t get help soon, we may lose him.”
“That’s exactly why we’re here.” Twilight said as she stopped at the old cabin and unhitched herself. “I’ll get Spike, go inside and remove the board in the far left corner.”
Shining Armor nodded and ran inside; Twilight ran to the back of the cart and tore open the back curtain, with Silence following. In the middle of the cart laid on a stretcher was Spike. As Twilight climbed inside she was able to observe Spike’s bullet wounds, one on the back another near the hip and one beside his stomach. Laid next to the stretcher was a bullet riddled and bloodstained green vest. Silence peeked over at the dragon to examine his features. He was rather tall and muscular, perhaps six feet tall. His scales looked hardened, making Silence question as to how he could’ve been penetrated with bullets. He was purple, with several green prickles jutting from the top of his head in one line down the center. His tail was maybe three feet long at most. His legs were armored with green pants covered in metal pads, and his feet were encased in iron. His claws jutted out threateningly. Silence could see suffering in the dragon’s slit eyes as he was about to be rushed inside the cabin. As Twi levitated the stretcher through Silence’s doorway, Silence heard something stir from inside the cart, but quickly dismissed it as a passenger, and entered his own house to assist the other two ponies in treating the injured dragon. As he entered his home Silence found the entrance to his base inexplicably opened. As he examined closer he saw that the panel had been ripped out of the floor.
“Somepony better fix that.” He mumbled as he entered in and proceeded to the bedroom. Twilight had already begun flipping through page after page of spellbooks looking for a cure. Silence turned and left to the library, returning with a brown book with a green leaf engraved on it and gave it to Twilight, who immediately opened it and flipped to the first spell. She quickly folded down the corner of the page to mark it, moved to Spike’s side, and her horn started to glow its standard aura. She then pulled out three crushed bullets from the wounds in the dragon’s body, dropping each of them onto the nearby metal tray. Her larger brother, who Silence now recognized as a Unicorn looked over at the bullets and made a very precise observation:
“Fifty Caliber, armor piercing. Keeper Elite issue, it must take a lot to pierce a dragon’s hide.”
Twilight nodded grimly, looking over her fallen friend.
“It does, even one of Rarity’s sharpest needles could barely hurt Spike. But my question is, will he be okay?” She implored. Silence nodded.
“If he can take a few bullets and make it this far, he’s got nothing to worry about.” The Pegasus assured, quietly overlooking the bullets lying in front of him.
“I know this is a bit sudden… But it might be smart to cut tonight’s mission.” He picked up a bullet. “That is of course, unless you feel like getting real friendly with hot lead.”
Twilight nodded as she began a restoration spell.
“No use throwing ourselves out for target practice… We’d be like ducks in a frozen lake, worse than sitting.” She said slowly as a yellow aura began to surround Spike. As Silence redirected his focus, he saw the true nature of the magic. Spike was floating slightly, engulfed in a golden light, concentrated swirls of which entered the wounds, filling them with new muscle and skin, covering them with new, shiny scaling. A sigh of relief filled the air as the ponies became assured of their friends condition. He would need to rest, as evident by his light snoring, but he would be fine nonetheless. Silence thought the situation to be a fair time to begin... repairs on his house.