Teneventus was surrounded by dark stone. Upon entry, Breeze looked around, stepping into the shadows. A few ponies spotted Steel Shield and Twilight; some scoffed, having no respect for Equestrian royalty or their guards, while others looked amazed that such ponies would visit the lands of Araiyah. Araiyah itself was mainly forest, and the capital city was the only city out in the open. There were many merchants in the middle of the city, the center circle. This circle was different from the rest of the ground, being slate instead of cobblestone. It had runes inscribed along the edge which seemed to glow a faint violet. Most ponies were either buying or selling goods, while a select few were either talking with the guards or, like Breeze, were ducking in and out of the shadows. These were the criminals, and the guards that weren't dealing with them were stationed around the marketplace, watching over the stalls. Breeze walked along a building's edge, carefully observing all ponies that were in the area. He reached out and grabbed a stallion as he passed by.

"Hey! What's your deal?" Breeze set his hoof down. "You wanna go? I'll knock you flat on your flank, buddy!" he threatened. Breeze slowly stepped out of the shadows, glaring at him. As he did, the pony lowered his guard, mouth dropping. "S-Silent... Breeze? You've returned?"

"Yeah. I've come to undo my curse. Now, tell me... who was it that put this curse on me, again? I can't seem to remember her name..." The pony laughed.

"You been gone a little too long, friend. I'd think if you remembered at least one pony from Araiyah, it'd be Dream Walker!"

"Where is she now?" he asked.

"She's at the castle," the pony directed. He checked his saddlebags, letting out a groan. "Hey, Silent Breeze, you wouldn't happen to have, you know..." Breeze stared at him, causing him to step back.

"I literally just returned..." he pointed out. The pony looked dazed, then shook his head, laughing again.

"Yeah, yeah! You're right! I guess I just, uh... I should be going." He then bolted across the circle, not looking back. Applejack stepped over to Breeze.

"Mighty nice fellow... Y'all heard him, we gotta get to the castle. Lead on, Breeze!" She and the others followed Breeze as he followed the stallion's directions, staying near the buildings, for Breeze would not leave the shade. Once they reached the castle, they ran into a couple of guards. Twilight stepped forward.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but we would like to enter." The guard on the left looked at her strangely.

"You Equestria's newest princess, huh? Just recently got your own castle?" he questioned.

"Um... Yes?" The guard smirked.

"Hey! Everypony, stop what you're doing! We've got an Equestrian princess here!" he announced, voice filled with malice. The guard on the right glanced at him. "You don't have power here. Why should I let you in?" He turned.

"Show some respect. I'm sorry, Princess Twilight. You may pass."

"Thank you, sir." Twilight entered, followed by Applejack. Steel Shield and Breeze stopped.

"Get moving, civilian," the guard on the left ordered Steel Shield. He narrowed his eyes.

"I'll have you know, I'm a sergeant of-" He was cut off by the guard hitting him in the chest.

"You aren't anything more than a foal here. Now move!" Steel Shield stumbled backwards. Breeze put a hoof on his back to help him regain his balance, then looked at the guard, who was smiling. "Ah, yes, the queen's lap dog has returned," he laughed. Breeze closed his eyes, bringing himself to the air.

"The wind speaks..." The guard on the right backed away. "... speaks of unity. It flows for all to enjoy..." Breeze went on.

"What are you droning on about?" The dust below his hooves began to move with the air, spiraling unnoticed.

"Those that threaten unity will be swept away, carried by the wings of judgement. Now, rise!" he cried, opening his eyes. "Rise and greet the clouds! Fear the sky!" Without warning, the guard began to rise into the air. The dust shot up with the wind, taking the now screaming guard with it. He soon came down in a pile of hay, disoriented.

"You... You no-good..." he sputtered. Steel Shield walked up and took his helmet. "H-Hey! That's property of the Araiyan Guard!"

"Not anymore, it isn't. Mine was broken on the way here; this should make a good replacement..." he chuckled, strolling past the second guard and into the castle's courtyard. Breeze was stopped by him.

"Wind Hoof, eh? Takes a minute to get the saying down, but it definitely seems to be worth it. I hope this little incident doesn't cause your friends to think negatively of Araiyah... E-Especially Princess Twilight." Breeze smiled.

"I'm sure she'll overlook it."

"Now, I should turn you in, but... You can go on ahead. If anypony asks, he tripped and fell." Breeze nodded once, rushing to catch up with his friends.

The group stood in the courtyard, looking at the few ponies that occupied the area.

"Over there!" Applejack pointed out a unicorn mare, who was reading a book on one of the benches. She fit the description perfectly. "Breeze, y'all wanna handle this?"

"Gotcha." Breeze approached her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She closed her book and turned around.

"May I help... Oh my..." She stood, reaching out to him. "Silent Breeze? You've returned?" He brushed her hoof away, remaining silent. "I... I understand that you're upset with me. I overreacted; I know that now, but you must understand that I've had several thieves break into my home before. I guess I was... fed up with all of the crime."

"Undo the curse," he ordered. She his behind her mane, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Uh, i-it's not that simple..." she squeaked. Twilight appeared next to him.

"What do you mean? We have an Araiyan spell book right here-" Using her magic, she took the book out of Breeze's saddlebags and flipped to the page containing information on the hex. "-That states that only the caster, which in this case is you, can return the afflicted, Silent Breeze, to normal!" Dream Walker, without taking the spell book, turned to the last page.

"Usually a spell's whole description appears with its name, princess, but there are a few exceptions. Crimson Butterfly Hex is one of them. The last page contains the extra details." She read through the extended descriptions of a few spells before reaching the one she was looking for.

"... can return the afflicted to normal. However, the afflicted never truly can become normal. The curse will be isolated to only show itself during the night?" Breeze took the book.

"Hold on a minute! What kind of were-pony mess is that?" he asked.

"I only just learned of the last page in that book recently! I swear, I hadn't known this when I initially cursed you!" He stepped forward, causing Dream Walker to jump back. "It's better than being stuck like this forever! Give it a chance!" she pleaded. Breeze leaned back slightly, only now beginning to listen.

"... I'm up for it if it can return me to as close to normal as possible," he told her. "Just hurry up." Dream Walker gave a sigh of relief, stepping closer.

"Alright, let me just see if I can remember the words..." Breeze stood straight, looking out of the castle gates. He looked up; the clouds encircled the sun. "May you be released from... Wait, that's not right."

"Try to remember," he urged, looking towards her. She flinched at his words. Why is she acting this way? he pondered. Is she afraid of me? Suddenly, he realized the truth behind that question. She is, isn't she? She thinks I've come for vengeance. That's what's clouding her mind... Breeze slowly shook his head, approaching her. He put his hoof on her shoulder again. "Hey."

"Uh... Y-Yes?" she timidly responded. To her surprise, he quickly embraced her, hovering slightly off the ground with her.

"I don't hate you. I did for some time, but I don't anymore. Stop worrying; I forgive you." He dropped her back to the ground, landing a few feet away. "Let's get this done." A tear fell from her eye.

"I... I..." Her joy turned to confidence as she smiled at him. "Gladly." She stepped forward, horn glowing. "Let the bindings of Tartarus be broken; may you spread your wings and soar free!" Applejack and Steel Shield covered their eyes from the flash; Twilight attempted to observe the magic at work. Breeze's appearance, once again, flickered between his normal and cursed figures as the magic lifted him up. He landed shortly after, the magic blasting outward, creating a shock-wave. The resulting dust spiraled around him before forming into the shape of a butterfly.

"Oh, that must be where the name comes from..." Steel Shield commented. Applejack shushed him and continued to watch. Breeze stepped out of the dust, his coat having already changed to its normal light-brown color.

His red streaks slowly faded out as the cyan diamond began to fade in. He opened his eyes, which remained red until the dust dissipated. His dreadlocks and braided tail were the last things to appear. Grinning, he looked at his hooves.

"It's done!" Dream Walker called out. Breeze laughed; even his voice sounded slightly clearer. "Remember, Silent Breeze, the curse will return every night. However, It should disappear with the sunrise."

"Hey, I don't really care about that. Thanks for this. All of this." She blushed.

"But... I'm the one who cursed you. I'm the reason for the curse," she reminded him.

"Oh, I know. If it wasn't for the curse, though, I wouldn't have met those three." He gestured towards the others. Steel Shield approached and put him in a playful headlock.

"Bro, you don't even know how different you look!" he exclaimed. "You ready to head back?" Dream Walker frowned.

"You aren't going to stay, Silent Breeze?" she asked. Steel Shield slowly released the headlock; he and Breeze stared at her.

"I... I can't leave my new friends. I'm sorry," he explained. She kicked her hoof.

"I get it... Well, I hope I see you again someday..." Steel Shield looked at him, frowning.

"Say something, Silent Breeze!" he quietly advised.

"Uh, would you like to come back to Equestria with us?" he asked. Dream Walker wiped the tears from her eyes and forced a smile.

"No, no. That's alright. I have work do to here... Thanks for the offer, though." Breeze reached his hoof out, but set it back down and turned around.

"You two ready to go?" Twilight and Applejack looked at each other.

"Actually..." Twilight began. Breeze walked up to her. "We have one more thing to take care of." She looked back at Applejack, who nodded. "It's about the diamond marking on your forehead." She pointed to it; he rose a hoof up and touched it. "When we first tried to undo the curse, we took care to remember your appearance. Or, at least, I did. When we ran into Queen Arcanis in the forest, I noticed that she has the same diamond mark on her forehead as well, only hers glows all different shades of blue, while yours is just one." He looked up, ignoring her observation. "Silent Breeze?" He pointed up.

"Look out for that," he warned. She looked up to see a large shadow speeding down to her position. She let out a small shout before diving out of the way as it crashed into the earth, leaving a tiny crater upon impact. The shadow faded to reveal Queen Arcanis, slightly dazed. The snake was on her head, swaying slowly.

"Queen Arcanis!" Twilight said, shocked by her sudden appearance.

"My apologies, Princess Twilight. I was thrown off-course a bit," she explained.

"A bit? You were headed straight for me!" Arcanis smirked.

"Oh, you wouldn't have been hurt that bad." Twilight pointed to the crater under her.

"You would have crushed me!" She sighed. "That's not important right now. I'm actually glad you arrived."

"I would be forgiven for believing otherwise." Twilight gave a fake laugh.

"Anyway! As you can see, Silent Breeze's curse has been undone for the time being." He waved to her. "However, I had a question about the marking on his forehead, which also happens to be virtually identical to the one on yours..."

"I'm afraid I'm not the one to ask for any details on that subject. However..." She looked at Breeze. "If I had to make a guess, I'd say that Silent Breeze and I have more in common than just this marking." Everypony in the courtyard looked at him.

"... Can't it just be a coincidence?" he asked.

"No." everypony responded in unison. He sighed, sitting on the bench.

"I was born with a mark pretty similar to this one. I don't really know what it meant, nor do I know what it means now, but I will tell you that Queen Arcanis helps me out a great deal when it comes to stealth and such. When I was a young colt, I would hide in her shadow, dreaming of being the best thief I could ever be. That dream came true, yeah..." He turned to reveal his cutie mark; a hoofprint hidden in darkness. "But I wanted more. I wanted to cast my own shadows, just like her. I began to study any spell I could find that mentioned her. There's a spell that I tried my absolute best to learn called Shaded Wings. Queen Arcanis cast that when she disappeared outside the gates. Now, a few Araiyan spells can be cast by anypony born here,but it's much harder if you aren't a unicorn. Because of this, I couldn't ever preform the spell. The more I tried, though, the brighter this mark grew. I stopped trying after a while..."

"Silent Breeze..." Arcanis began.

"Maybe that's it! The marking symbolizes my affinity to the shadows. It would make sense for it to be identical to the one on Queen Arcanis... Queen Arcanis..." He stood and bowed. "The greatest years of my life were spent here in Araiyah, under the greatest ruler I've ever known. I hope the rest of my life can be as good... I'm going to miss you." Arcanis thought for a moment, then materialized a dark band. Engraved in it was a pair of electric blue wings. She smiled and put the band on his front right leg. "... W-What's this?"

"Whenever you feel the need to see me again, just speak the words of unity, and I'll appear. I wish you nothing but the best... Goodbye." She levitated him up to her, then looked at everypony else. "...Oh, come here!" As she spoke these words, she levitated everypony and brought them all to her, embracing all of them at once. Darkness engulfed the group. When it faded, they were back at Araiyah's borders, on the same path they had came from. Dream Walker was standing behind Queen Arcanis, while the others were all together in front of her. "It has been a pleasure having you in my city. Farewell." Applejack had a grin on her face as the group walked down the path.

"Whew! Wasn't that just the funnest trip ever? Aside from the part where I thought you two were gonna get rid of us... But, hey! We all got something out of it! Right, y'all?"

"Yeah!" Breeze rose his right hoof. Steel Shield, wearing the guard's helmet, laughed. Twilight was too busy reading the spell book to respond. Steel Shield suddenly stopped laughing and turned to her.

"Hold on, what did you get out of this?" he asked. Applejack stepped close to Breeze.

"Why, Breeze is back to normal... Uh, kinda back to normal! That's all I need." Breeze smiled.

"You don't gotta hear me complain about it anymore, that's for sure."

"Yeah, that's a plus. But that ain't why I'm happy the curse is undone for the most part. I'm happy cause you're happy! It pains me to see you walkin' around all mopey and such. So, please, be happy... For me." She nuzzled his neck, causing him to blush. "On top of that, now I can tell when you're blushin', which means you can't lie to me about it!" Twilight looked up from the spell book.

"Silent Breeze, I'm really interested in these 'words of unity'. Care to share them with me?" Breeze chuckled, his dreads blowing in the wind.

"May the wings of Araiyah carry you to paradise."

Author's Note

Stick around for useless information about the story

So, there are a couple of things about Hex that I feel the need to share...

If any of you are wondering about the significance behind the words of unity, let me explain. Silent Breeze fled Araiyah due to the Crimson Butterfly Hex, an Araiyan hex. Having that knowledge, one can say that, in a way, Araiyah carried him off. He flew to Equestria, where he met the others. Now, check the words again.

"May the wings of Araiyah carry you to paradise."

Leaving Araiyah due to Dream Walker's hex is what allowed him to find Equestria, his paradise.

As for the significance behind this saying being referred to as the words of unity, well, he made friends. All of these friends banded together to help him undo the hex. United, if you will.

Apparently, Araiyah is a legitimate name, which I did not know while writing this.

Regarding the capital city, Teneventus, it combines the Latin words Tenebris, or "darkness," and Ventus, meaning "wind." Hence, "dark wind," or shadows. The capital city belongs to Queen Arcanis, who possesses an affinity to shadow magic.

Silent Breeze's line, "The marking symbolizes my affinity to the shadows..." is also a lie. The marking symbolizes a direct affinity to the queen herself.

Phoenix Flame, Silent Breeze's pseudonym, is actually a separate OC. He appears in many of my stories, such as Childhood and Guardian.

Steel Shield is a night guard that takes orders from Celestia, rather than Luna.

If it wasn't clear enough, Silent Breeze has trust issues.

Silent Breeze's way of talking changes occasionally in the story. See if you can find a pattern

In the original draft, Silent Breeze was the queen's student, the curse was supposed to be transferred to Steel Shield, and Steel Shield was supposed to talk to Twilight about becoming her personal guard.

In Secrets Unbound, the voice in Silent Breeze's head belongs to Dream Walker. His mind made her more malevolent than she really is; this is evident in Crimson Butterfly.

Swift Leaf, who first appears in Equinox, is the avatar of Autumn. His design is very, very similar to Silent Breeze's. Oops

A'ight, if you got any questions, just ask.