*Start Seasons of Peace – Trevor DeMaere*

Day: Unknown

How could I have been an idiot? Why did I do this to myself? I was meant to save her and all I did was leave her scared and alone. I had everything within my power to do so, why wasn’t I there when she needed me most? I feel so empty now, the death of my love Ash, my father Light, my brother Sash and now another death by my own doing. What is it that makes everyone that I love die? Everyone that I care about is always taken from me. I feel like Death watches over me continuously, ready to reap the souls of the ones I love and stay by my side as a curse even.

Silver stopped scrawling across the black book as the quill waved in the wind, as if waiting for the writer’s hand to start again but Silver was deep in thought. Thinking on what to write next, the ink dried into the black book under the arid air. It was nearing dawn and Silver was perched, on one of the observatory towers that had not been destroyed during the battle between Luna and Celestia. The deep sunken eyes of regret and the pain of bloodshot eyes writing about his realisation of the disappearance of Fizzlepop, a filly that he wanted to save, wanted to make something right in the new world he was in, but he ruined it. It was heart wrenching for him, the sudden realisation of Fizzlepop’s disappearance and then what’s worse was that evidence all pointed to an attack and even death.

Silver had been staying up all night reading the vast broken library, hoping to find a way to vanquish Nightmare Moon from his mind and forever from Luna’s body but heard the cries of the filly. Determined to save her, he sprinted with all his might towards the sounds of despair down the dark menacing hallways of the old castle but collided into Nightmare Moon. The ghost like image of Nightmare Moon swayed towards Silver, and then she turned into Ash’s dying body. “No, it can’t be her!” Silver thought, the anger seeping through his head, “Am I hallucinating, what is wrong with me, she’s not here,” The body then turned into something that he did not expect, the dead body of Fizzlepop Berrytwist, the blood seeping from a wound on the neck, the bones at an awkward angle and the tear that was hanging on the eyes slowly dripping towards the floor as it glistened in the moonlight. Silver exploded, something inside of him snapped,

“Nightmare Moon STOP!” Silver shouted, as he grabbed his own head to shake away the bad feelings, the hallucinations, banging his head onto the wall but the image did not dissipate. He couldn’t take it anymore as he brought out the sword towards the apparition, the blood of the Timber wolf still fresh, clinging on to the blade. It connected but nothing made the illusion disappear, every time Silver swiped towards the ghostly image, it never faltered. The anger in him rose as he continued attacking with every hit nothing happening. Anger blinded him and blocked his hearing and his process of thinking, his main purpose to purge Nightmare Moon but to no avail as he brought his sword one more time downwards into the ground. The sword driven into the ground became stuck and Silver closed his eyes feeling the exhaustion and he started crying. The once proud assassin was now crying at the sword, a harsh reality of what his life would be. Opening his eyes, there was nothing there except for the gashes across the wall and an empty hallway, filled with nothing but leading to the downstairs courtyard where the camp was set up. He quickly realised that Fizzlepop was in danger and charged towards the stairs with hope that he wasn’t too late. But he was.

The memories of the past event haunted Silver deeply now as he looked at the now broken observatory tower that he was perched on, where he could still see the moon slowly setting, only for the sun to rise. The moon is something of beauty, the lights of the stars illuminated the backdrop of the moon but still it still it felt like something was missing, the night sky’s beauty lacking in detail like a signature, Luna’s signature. He sighed looking at the now empty courtyard with nothing to land on safely. Jumping was all it would take, something that would be easy to do. Something that would make life much easier, but before he decided he dipped the quill into the ink bottle and scrawled across the black book.

I did have feelings for you, Luna. It’s something I have been meaning to say to you but now you are gone, I only pushed you away. I am just so lost in my thoughts, conflicted in a way. I only wished I could have expressed it better, but I couldn’t, you were beautiful, your eyes dazzled me when I first looked at them and I was attracted to you, my mind my body told me that you were the one that Ash said I would meet, but I was not ready, I don’t know if I will ever be. I have no clue anymore what I am, an Assassin I once was but I stripped my own title away, my own heritage that I can no longer forget, a saviour to those of the Crystal Empire, a thief, a liar, what am I? I just wished that I could understand myself better. I deeply regret what I did Fizzlepop Berrytwist, you will hate me forever for not being there for you and you must have gone through so much, you are only a young filly, no child should ever experience that pain. I hope you are happier in the place you are now. You have my condolences.

Silver pulled out a tuft of Fizzlepop’s fur, the rose colour stabbing him in the heart as he untied the string attached to a crystal. The light blue hue of the crystal shined under the bright moon, as the moon’s beam reflected off the shard with precision and accuracy. Shards’s the dragon, had not returned, and Silver felt like he had only Nightmare Moon to blame but he still felt guilty for his actions. Two things of utmost importance to Silver now and one more, the crescent moon pendant. “I will get that back one day,” Silver thought, staring at the night sky, the many stars illuminating the faint pavement.

What only remains of Fizzlepop is just blood and a tuft of the rose-coloured fur which I now hold close to me in a pocket where Shards use to sleep in as a reminder of what I failed to do. The orange fur, and a destroyed campsite is what remains of the attack, with the orange fur alluding to most probably a Chimera according to the library notes on creatures. I am deeply sorry Fizzlepop, I wish there was more I could say but all I can think about is what I could have done to save you, it reminds me of Ash and the many ways that could have played out.

Silver stood up, placing the diary back in his coat, the dry air still blistered in his face as the morning sun hit his face. A perfect moment, a time that would change everything, but then the dark foreboding clouds came. The rain poured heavily onto the coat of the lone assassin, the campfire finally doused by the rain as the burning charcoal aroma rose through the air. Silver looked closely towards the now cracked pavement thinking about it. However, a promise Silver intended to keep as he stepped away from the beam and made his ways indoors. Only for the beam of wood to slightly crack from the rain, the rotting wood that Silver stood on was precariously groaning under the weight. Silver looked towards the window and leapt. The beam of wood couldn’t take his weight as he fell. Looking up to the sky one last time he fired his rope launcher blindly into the air hoping to latch onto something. Then the sudden force of pain went through his right arm before landing onto the floor with a heavy thud.

*End Song*

Waking up was a nightmare in a literal sense for Silver as the rain was pattering across the hard cobble floor of the castle, the crows however on the castle towers squawked in surprise that their meal had woken up. Silver sat up straight using his arms and took in deep breaths as he saw shadows going over him. However, he screamed in pain as the feeling of a dislocated shoulder echoed throughout his entire body. The hot searing sensation of agony spasmed making him convulse and fall back down onto the floor. “Why can’t Nightmare Moon leave me alone?” Silver thought, as another appearance of Nightmare Moon branded in his mind. Through the deep thoughts the burning sensation turned into a heavy throb. As the pain subsided to a heavy throb, he realised he was in the empty courtyard, except he wasn’t, someone had saved him, more specifically dragged him across into a covered area away from the cold rain but who? His right shoulder was dislocated, and he grabbed it with his left as the sharp pain travelled through his shoulder with the slightest touch, but he knew he needed to do it. He took in deeper breaths and popped it back in place. The sickening crunch echoed and later a groan of denial of the pain that was there reverberated throughout the forest scaring the crows hanging in the castle interiors. He knew he needed a sling and a doctor to look at it or it might not heal properly. Silver thought of several plans in his head but several led to something he wished he did not want to meet. His mind was playing games with him again as he tried to stand, the image of Luna’s tied up body while Nightmare Moon looked over her sadistically was right next to him there to taunt him.

“I need a drink” Silver thought desperately trying not to fall for the hallucinations as helooked through the open doorway. The rainwater was dripping into the gutter which led into a bucket. His parched throat was like a desert, cracked with desperation for water as the mirage of Luna continued to follow him. It was the hardest 10 minutes of Silver’s life as he struggled to a castle wall to lean on. The dragging and the cursing could be heard throughout the forest as the chills and strain caused discomfort with every jolt another swear leaked from his mouth, swearing like a Phoenician sailor. Silver had not felt this kind of pain since he fell off a horse learning how to ride one when he was younger, a distant memory that Silver did not plan on forgetting, the tender moments of his father.

By the time he reached the wall, Silver was drenched in sweat, the first obstacle was overcome but now the next arised. The struggle against the wall was tiring but through the sheer force of determination he stood and started already staggering to the broken campsite where the bucket was. Bringing out his left-hand Silver reached for the bucket and brought it to his face, the cold shivered down his spine as he drank. Except he felt like he was being watched, the stalking eyes of a predator of some sort or a pony. Concentrating, the eagle vision was meant to flow into him, but something was wrong, the sides of the vision was corroded with black edges like a nightmare. He shook his head trying to make sense of the weird visions but came up with blanks. He staggered onwards to the supplies and reached for a silk cloth and tied a sling across his arm. The pain was excruciating but slowly died down, but he needed a doctor, or the wound could worsen. He thought of the plans from before and prepared to head to Canterlot. Ponyville was out of the question as there was no doctor that he knew of and it would take forever to find one, he had to confront Celestia. It was something he did not want to do, it was something that he had delayed until he was absolutely certain he had to, but it was now time.

Silver staggered to find the railways, listening intently for the train’s whistle but nothing was heard as he trudged along the forest hiding him from the views of the ponies. Luckily for the assassin that there were two rope launchers, one for each hand which made climbing easier but still hard to manoeuvre properly without his other arm to balance. The rustling of the wind and the thundering of the train meant that it was close. Climbing a small section of an abandoned bridge he spotted the tracks of the train; the train however was not going as fast as it should have been. “Perfect a carriage train,” Silver thought “Easier to get caught but at least it is going slow due to the rain.” Looking towards the sky, the dark ominous grey clouds started clearing up but what astounded him was that pegasi by the looks of it were moving clouds away from Canterlot. “What sorcery do pegasi possess?” Realising that he had been staring at the clouds for too long, the train almost went past him as he was hidden behind the bridge. Waiting till the last carriage passed by, he leapt at the edge, just managing to pull himself up. Something was up though as he tried his eagle vision, it wasn’t working it would just falter. Shaking his head, he decided to use sounds putting his head towards the door of the carriage he was on. The rickety sound of the train along the tracks confused him but if he concentrated he could here the snoring of a pony.

Silently he took out his lockpicks and started picking the lock only for the door to open. He was faced with a guard, an E.U.P guard to be exact, something that Celestia had created to ensure that there would be peace within the land, a police force. The guard was about to shout but time slowed down for Silver, the unicorns horn getting brighter every second. Silver saw this and did not want to deal with conflicts, he was tired, hungry and even worse, injured. He wanted nothing more than a peaceful journey and grabbed the horn unexpected to the unicorn and pulled it outside closing the door all in one motion and pushed the unicorn off the train. The unicorn tumbled across the floor, across the tracks, and laid lifelessly. Silver couldn’t care less knowing that if it had survived, he just wanted to sleep but his moral sense kicked him in the head making him turn towards the body.

The mare had other ideas and stood back up and used the unicorn magic to alert the other unicorns. It was special magic which was useful for communications in which there was a frequency that unicorns could talk to each other from far away, the E.U.P guards had a special frequency that was continuously used so that no other ponies could access the information being spread out. However, it did have limitations on the range and you had to have specific training to pick up the magic frequency. Silver did not know any of this as he looked towards the now standing mare who was concentrating hard.

Silver on the other hand saw that there was a train behind speeding towards the unsuspecting mare who had closed her eyes to convey that she had been attacked and warned about the intruders. Taking out the rifle on his back which had not been used in a long time, poured gunpowder into the barrel and aimed at the mare. He fired causing the mare’s eyes to widen at the sudden loud bang noise as felt a whizzing by her right ear. She turned to look at what almost hit her but saw the train that had been blaring its whistle the whole entire time. She jumped to the right of the train and it thundered past before taking the track to the right of the one that the carriage train. She looked towards the black cloaked figure and its stance as it turned its back towards her and headed inside, now a small figure as the train continued on its journey towards Canterlot.

“It saved my life!” the mare thought, “I could have died by the freight train but the strange bipedal figure shot something towards me and let me live, I hope it doesn’t hurt whoever I was meant to protect on the train, I hope my husband will be alright,” The mare removed her helmet to let her mane fall free, thewhite and purplestripes flowed freely in the wind as she continued cantering along the tracks to Canterlot. “Night Light stay safe!”

Silver continued walking through the train and found a grey E.U.P Guard sleeping on the job, it was a regular pony and based on what Silver had read was they were not just called normal ponies, but specifically Earth Ponies. He continued along listening intently to the surroundings, his eagle vision still playing up which was annoying and his arm, since dislocated, couldn’t fight properly. He was walking through a storage like train carriage where they kept the food for the train and the other various items which Silver was confused about. But he continued along looking for somewhere to sleep without getting noticed. The next carriages had crates with two guards in the front, one named Night Light and one named Blue Shine from the conversation. However, he looked at the contents of the crates finding that two of them were being shipped to Canterlot, more specifically to Celestia. Grabbing the lid, he pried them open with the hidden blade driving the blade into wood. Inside he found some books and other various equipment, seemingly school based in hay. The other crate had books with hay, but he had no time to admire them as the train took a sharp turn causing Silver to lose his balance, and a shove to the wall of the carriage right into his right arm causing him to groan in pain. Outside Night Light and Blue Shine heard the groan and whispered to each other.

“That must be the intruder,” Night Light responded, “I am gonna shove my spear up its…”

“Dude remember we are guards, we aren’t here to kill that’s an assassin or mercenary job, we aren’t judges, it's up to the Princess to make that decision,” Blue Shine retorted.

“You do know what it did to my wife!” Night Light snapped.

“Yes, I did and now with all that yapping about it's probably gone by now,” Blue Shine face-hoof, “Doesn’t matter now, I placed a spell that would alert us of anything moving between this carriage and the next carriage, so it won’t be able to go anywhere, we can go check still if you want,” Blue Shine said.

“With pleasure,” already unlocking the door with his magic, with a simple tap of his horn to the lock it unlocked. The mechanism turning the deadbolt, but Silver was already gone.

Author's Note

Hey Guys and Girls, I hoped you like it, bet you didn’t see the twist :D and I will see you in the next chapter :D