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Book 1 ---------- Chapter 1: A Few Unexpected Visitors
Chapter 1: A Few Unexpected Visitors
Silence.EXE stared at the videotapes he had found inside a box on the top shelf of his closet. They were dusty and old, seeming to have been there for several years. He picked one up, inspecting it to see if he could find any information about it. He sighed, realizing that there was nothing to describe them.
He placed the box on his desk, before turning on his television and VCR. He blew the dust gently off the videotapes, then chose one to place into the VCR. It was non-descript with no other features except for a red stripe, which wrapped around the whole tape, seeming to have no particular purpose.
Before he pressed play on his VCRs' remote, he heard the doorbell ring. Giving a sound of annoyance, he walked to his front door and opened it.
“Might I ask who you are?” Silence asked, giving the purple-coloured alicorn a look of confusion. He had not expected any guests this late, considering he had been tidying up his house for the whole day and had thought it would take well into the evening to finish.
“Oh... My name is Twilight Sparkle. I came here looking for somepony called Silence.EXE. Is he here?” the alicorn asked, with a mediocre tone in her voice.
"That would be me. What business do you have with me?" he asked, wishing that he hadn't moved so close to Ponyville.
'Too many ponies, Too much attention,' he thought, turning his attention back to the alicorn princess whom he now recognized.
"I was sent here to help you with some sort of research," replied Twilight, shifting from hoof to hoof.
"I knew I shouldn't have talked to Princess Celestia," he growled. When Twilight gave him a look of confusion, he realized he had spoken out loud. "Ah... I'm sorry. I've been very busy as of late, and today I just found something of dire importance."
Twilight looked at him curiously. "Dire importance? What do you mean by that?" she asked him.
"A box of..." he started, being cut off by somepony yelling.
"TWILIGHT! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE!" yelled the light blue pony whom had seemed to appeared out of nowhere.
"Dashie!" said Twilight, clearly perturbed about the interruption of her conversation with Silence. Silence glared at the light blue pony, his face looking menacing.
"Who in Equestria are YOU?" he said, attempting to speak in a calm tone and failing utterly.
"Oh, me? I'm Rainbow Dash, a friend of Twilights'," said the pony, seeming to have just noticed Silence was there. "So... why are you at some random stallions' house, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, giving Twilight an amused and mischievous look.
"R-Rainbow! You know quite well I'm not into that sort of thing!" said Twilight, shocked at the reference she had immediately assumed Rainbow had meant.
"What? It was a serious question. What did you think I meant?" said Rainbow, an innocent expression on her face. Silence.EXE sighed inwardly, unbelieving.
"Can somepony, for Celestia's sake, please explain what you both are here for? I am busy, might I remind you, trying to research VERY IMPORTANT, MOST LIKELY GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERIES!!!!!!" he snapped, his patience gone. Twilight and Rainbow both stared at him, a surprised look on their faces. Silence glared at them, not realizing he had lost control of himself for a moment and accidentally flickered into his EXE form.
Twilight calmed her emotions, then said very formally, "Both Rainbow Dash and I wish to help you research your discoveries. We were sent to do so by Princess Celestia herself."
Silence.EXE looked at them, confused because of their sudden change to total seriousness. He sighed out loud, stating, "You saw my EXE form, didn't you?"
Rainbow and Twilight nodded slowly, in unison. "Yes. Yes we did," Twilight said quietly.
Silence put a hoof to his face, shaking his head. After a moment, he looked at them and said "My greatest apologies for scaring you."
"Heyyy, I wasn't scared! Not at all!" said Rainbow Dash, shaking the obviously petrified expression off her face and replacing it with a confident smile. Twilight rolled her eyes at this, while Silence said nothing.
"What?" Rainbow said, continuing her confident smile. "I wasn't! Seriously!"
Silence facehoofed. "Just come in. If Princess Celestia sent you, it's for a good reason," he sighed, standing to the side of the door. Twilight and Rainbow entered, looking around, murmuring about how nice the house was for being so far away from Ponyville.
Silence watched them enter the study, a chill running up his spine.
"Why do I feel like this isn't going to end well?" he murmured to himself. Shaking off the feeling of dread that was threading through his body with a chill, he closed the door. Hearing laughter in the study, he murmured "There's nothing to worry about."
'But why do I feel like there is,' he thought , doubt creeping through his mind. He walked into the study, ready to describe what he had discovered thus far.
Somewhere in another world, somepony laughed.
Chapter 2: Silence.EXEs' Secret
"And that's how you found them?" asked Twilight, leaning forward. Silence had just finished explaining how he had found the cartridges that were in the box sitting on the floor at this very moment.
"Yes. Although I find it strange that I had no idea they were there," he commented.
"That must have been amazing to find," breathed Twilight, staring at nothing in particular.
"Indeed it was. I do believe it might be an enormous breakthrough to the secrets of the GrimDark reality, which is something I have currently been trying to find out more about," Silence replied, just as passionate about his research as Twilight was.
"Why don't you two just kiss and get it over wi - OW!" yelped Rainbow, her snarky comment being broken up by a sharp hoof on the flank from Twilight. Twilight now glared at Rainbow, who wilted under her glare.
"Never EVER say that in front of a stallion who we've known for maybe an HOUR," said Twilight, with an angry tone.
"What? You two would make the perfect - YOWCH!" yelped Rainbow again, receiving a harder blow on the other flank. Twilights' face warned Rainbow that if she didn't keep quiet, she'd teleport her out of the house. Rainbows' face grew sulky, as she muttered "Jeez, I was just trying to be funny."
Twilight gave Rainbow one last glare, then turned back to Silence, whom had been quite amused by the conversation.
"Where were we?" Twilight asked calmly, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Ah, yes, we were about to listen to the recording, I believe?" he replied.
"First, I'd like to know one thing," Rainbow said. Twilight attempted to stop Rainbow from speaking, with no success.
"No, this isn't about your possible crush on Silence, though I won't let you escape from that," said Rainbow, wincing as she received another furious blow from Twilight. "What is the 'GrimDark' reality?"
At this, Silence sighed. "The GrimDark reality is a place of deep and dark history. Not much is known about that world, other than the fact that anypony whom arrives there will never come back. The portal to that world was destroyed long ago, as the evil from it was leeching into Equestria," he replied.
"Evil?" interjected Twilight, clearly interested.
"Yes, evil beyond even Nightmare Moon. Evil of which nopony dare speak of in this world for fear that its' curse will affect Equestria," said Silence grimly. Twilight thought about this for a moment, unsure of what to say.
"It's also the place where I was born," added Silence, without even a shred of denial in his voice. Twilight and Rainbows' ears laid back on their heads, as their eyes grew wide.
"You... You were born there?" asked Twilight in a voice like a whisper.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... Wait a second. How did you get here?" said Rainbow, her head tilted in confusion.
"That is why I am researching the GrimDark. If I am to know how I got here - and I do not, mind you - I need to learn about the black magic of that world," said Silence, unaffected by their reaction to his history.
"Wouldn't that mean - " said Twilight, being cut off by Silences' reply.
"No. I know exactly what you are thinking, Twilight, and the answer is no. I am not an evil being. I do not kill, nor would I enjoy it. I do not attempt to be the most powerful being in the world, and I most CERTAINLY am not going to harm anyone," said Silence sharply, leaning forward.
"I hope not..." muttered Rainbow, looking worriedly at the tree next to the window, which was making creaking sounds due to the now-blowing wind outside.
"I WILL NOT," said Silence firmly, ending the conversation. "Now, we were going to watch the videotapes, were we not?"
Twilight, looking more calm now, breathed deeply.
"Rainbow, if you want to leave, you should now. There might be things in this videotape that could be very disturbing," said Twilight, looking at Rainbow.
"I'll be fine, Twilight, don't worry," chuckled Rainbow, turning her head to the screen.
"Very well. If you are prepared, we will begin," said Silence.
The play button was pushed, and the recording began.
Chapter 3: The First Recording
Darkness. A black screen. Some static. And finally, a factory comes into view.
It is a pristine and beautiful factory, with rainbows falling down its' sides. It appears to be deserted as of right now.
The camera swivels around the covered wagon before being turned towards a yellow-furred and golden-maned filly. The filly seems to be laughing along with all the other ponies on the wagon. They excitedly speak over one another, pointing at the factory that was drawing nearer. They seem to be enjoying the moment. The yellow filly waves at the camera before the screen goes black.
Another burst of static, as the camera focuses in on a joyful-looking stallion. The stallion smiles at the ponies who are trotting off the wagon, talking to one another. The camera swivels towards the mare who pulled the wagon to its' present location. The mare looks grim, unhappy. The camera turns towards the yellow filly. She shrugs, not knowing what to think about the mares' expression. The camera goes black.
A major burst of static occurs as the camera is reactivated. The room is silent, until a colts' agonized scream can be heard...
Silence paused the recording, looking alarmed. Twilight appeared to be petrified with fear, but Silence was less worried about her and more worried about Rainbow.
"Rainbow, this is a recording which was taken in the Rainbow Factory of the GrimDark world. It involves you, so you should leave immediately. The recording may have the power to drive you insane," he said to Rainbow.
"Insane? Pffft. This recording can't do anything to the bravest and coolest pony in all of Equestria." replied Rainbow with an eye roll.
"That was not a suggestion," said Silence calmly.
Silence teleported Rainbow out of the room, eliciting a muffled yell of surprise from her as she found herself on the outside of the house, with all the windows and doors completely blocked. He turned to Twilight.
"Are you quite alright, Twilight?" he asked, concerned for the alicorns' sake.
"I'm fine..." said Twilight, doing the exercise she often did when she felt negative emotions and stress.
"Are you well enough to continue? I must warn you, the rest of the contents - if they are about what I think they are - are quite disturbing. It could leave you mentally unstable and - " he continued, getting interrupted suddenly by Twilight.
"I'm fine, Silence, don't worry. I've dealt with worse," she replied, sighing.
"Are you absolutely - " he made to say, getting cut off again.
"Yes, Silence, I am absolutely, entirely, and TOTALLY sure I will be fine. Now please, continue the recordings," said Twilight curtly.
"Very well..." he said doubtfully, pressing play on the recording again.
...coming from some distance away. The camera immediately jerks around to the yellow filly, who now looks absolutely terrified. She speaks in a voice like a whisper.
" If anypony sees this, you need to listen to me. I made a mistake in coming here."
She looks around, seemingly looking for something or maybe somebody. She continues in a whisper.
" My name is Sunflower. I'm a filly from Cloudsdale. I thought that my friends and I were going to have a fun field trip to the Rainbow Factory, but I was wrong. So wrong."
Sunflower curls up in a ball, shaking with sobs she probably did not want anyone or anything to hear. After a few moments, she speaks again, still sobbing every so often.
" I thought... thought she was the Element of Loyalty. I thought she... she w-was one of the Elements of Harmony. B-But something is wrong with her, s-s-s-something is VERY wrong."
Sunflowers' head shoots up as wingbeats are heard. She stays absolutely still.
The wingbeats pass by, getting farther away, at which point she speaks again, even quieter.
" She took them. S-She cut off their wings, thr-throwing them into a furnace. Sh-She threw them into some sort of... Some sort of MACHINE."
Sunflower stares paranoidly around the room. She speaks again.
" They were just crushed... I could hear them screaming... I could hear them..."
Sunflower looks up, then lets out a yelp. She turns the camera towards Rainbow Dash...
Twilight let out a scream of shock as she backed against the wall, terrified.
"NO! NO, NO, NO! IT CAN'T BE! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" she cried, her eyes filled with tears.
Silence stared at the scene. He couldn't believe it.
'The Princess of Friendship... breaking down like this?' he thought to himself. 'But she was always so... So strong. Why has this video made a filly who has faced down chaos itself break down?'
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO AN INNOCENT FILLY, RAINBOW? HOW?" she cried again. She slumped against the wall, curled up and crying to herself.
Silence didn't know how to react as she cried. He had seen these things for himself as a foal. It was like a normal everyday occurrence to him. He awkwardly went over to Twilight to pat her shoulder.
"I warned you that you would see things that were horrible, Twilight. How I wished you had listened. If you would like, I will teleport you back to your friends," he said quietly.
Twilight finally regained control over herself, covering her face with a wing for a moment.
"I'm sorry I reacted like that, Silence. I just didn't think that Rainbow Dash would do this. I'll continue watching the recording," Twilight said quietly, standing up.
She walked back to where she had been seated, and stared at the screen. Silence looked at her in concern.
"Nopony is forcing you to stay here and suffer through this recording, Twilight. You can go, if you need to," he said.
"That's true. But I'm still going to suffer through it all the same," she said firmly.
Silence sighed, unbelieving.
'I admire her strength. But I don't know how much longer she'll be able to continue. I need to keep an eye on her,' he thought to himself, before pressing the play button.
...who stares at her menacingly.
" No! Please no! Rainbow, please!"
Sunflower cowers away from Rainbow, as she begs for her life. Rainbow walks forward, taking what seems to be a syringe filled with clear liquid out of a bag she carries.
" NO! NO! DON'T! PLEASE!"
Sunflower screams as Rainbow stabs the syringe into her neck. Eventually, Sunflower goes limp. Rainbow looks at the camera in amusement.
" So she was recording this, was she? Well, how about I finish the recording for her."
Rainbow laughs, grabbing the camera and Sunflower. She stares into the camera, her expression one of insanity.
" Welcome to your guided tour of what happens if you fail the flying test."
The camera goes black before focusing in on a room that has a large array of knives, saws, and other deadly weapons. Rainbow places the camera down on a table. She dons an apron and goggles.
" First step. Cut off the wings. It's usually preferred to hear the victim scream first. Sadly, I need to do this quickly, since the camera seems to be dying."
With a horrifying whirr, a mechanical sawblade starts up.
" Usually, the cutting is done by hoof, but since I'm in a hurry, I'll just use this."
With a wet crunch, the sawblade sinks into the bone of Sunflowers' wing. Blood spurts up, soaking Rainbow's apron.
" When the blood spurts like this, it's important to get a small blowtorch to cauterize the wound. We most certainly do not want to lose any of that lovely colour in blood that partially makes up the red in a rainbow."
Rainbow pulls the sawblade up, then takes a blowtorch from beside the camera. She shows it to the camera before going over to Sunflower and burning the wing stub that was left after Rainbow had cut her wing.
" Now we do the same process for the other wing."
Rainbow cuts the wing off and cauterizes it. She then picks up the wings.
" And finally, we throw the wings in the furnace. They aren't useful for much else, after all."
Rainbow laughs, tossing the wings into the furnace. She picks up Sunflower, placing her on a metal conveyor, which activates immediately. Sunflower disappears through a hole in the wall. Rainbow picks up the camera before it goes black.
The camera blinks on, with a burst of static. It shows Sunflower on the conveyor, chained down. She is obviously both terrified and agonized. She slowly moves towards some sort of large machine.
" Go on, Sunflower. Say your last words to the camera. Don't worry, everypony will see it. I plan on putting it outside Princess Celestia's palace."
Rainbow turns the camera towards her own face, smiling maniacally before turning it back to Sunflower.
" Go on. Make them good. I love dramatic deaths."
Sunflower speaks between sobs.
" Please... Please don't come here. N-Never come here."
Sunflower has tears streaming down her face as she weakly struggles.
" Pr-Princess Celestia, p-please destroy the factory! Destroy the Rainbow Factory! St-Stop her before she kills more..."
The chains are taken off, but a syringe is injected into her to exhaust her. She weakly turns on her belly, unable to stand or even crawl.
" I'm sorry M-Mom... You warned me but I didn't listen... I... I should have listened."
Her hooves go over the edge as Rainbow laughs insanely, flying above the centre of the machine. Sunflower can do nothing but flail weakly and cry as she falls.
With a gruesome explosion of blood, viscera and bone fragments, Sunflower is crushed into a pulp. The machine is filmed for a few more seconds. The camera turns toward Rainbow. She smiles evilly.
" Hope it was worth it to watch this... Twilight and Silence."
She laughs and shuts the camera off.
Twilight and Silence both jerked back in terror as the last words of the recording were said. Twilight vomited to the side, then curled up in a ball, unable to speak. Silence stared at the screen in shock, his jaw open, exposing the fangs he unfortunately had.
"How did she... How did she know?" asked Silence rhetorically. "She shouldn't have known our names..."
Silence and Twilight both sat in complete and utter quiet for a grand total of 10 minutes before Twilight - who had recovered a few moments before - spoke.
"These aren't any normal recordings," she said, her voice small.
Silence stared at the now-black screen for a moment before replying.
"These... These could be a portal. A portal into the GrimDark. But we don't know that for sure," he murmured.
"Yet," said Twilight, the one word ending the conversation.
And in a cavern in a different world, a torch lit up.
Princess Luna was nervous. For what reason, she could not comprehend. It had started off as a feeling that something wasn't right that morning and had developed into a feeling of wrongness.
"Hmmmmm..." she hummed, tapping a hoof on the ground.
She walked over to the window and stared out. The sky was sunny, with no sign of clouds. There was nothing wrong with Canterlot as of the moment. The city was entirely normal, the same ponies walking around doing the same activities. But the feeling of uneasiness kept eating at her.
"Gaaaaaaahhh, this is beginning to annoy me!" she said in exasperation.
"Princess?" a timid-looking herald asked, sticking his head through the door.
"Yes?" asked Luna, not bothering to turn around.
"Princess Celestia needs to see you. She stated it was a matter of immense importance," the herald said.
"Immense importance, you say. What could possibly be of importance at this time?" replied Luna, sighing.
"It had something to do with video recordings found by a stallion known as Silence.EXE," the herald said, his tone neutral.
Luna paused at this. Why did that name seem familiar to her? She shook off the feeling of Deja Vu and turned towards the herald.
"Video Recordings of what kind?" she asked.
The herald looked confused at the question.
"Of someplace called the GrimDark universe," he said. "I didn't understand it at the time."
Luna froze. The feeling of uneasiness turned to dread.
"Tell my sister that I will be there as soon as I possibly can," she said, urgently.
The herald looked at Luna, concerned.
"Yes, Princess," he said, bowing and excusing himself from the room.
Luna walked to the window again. She looked out at the streets of Canterlot. Her expression looked worried.
"If what I believe occurred has occurred, it could be disastrous for Equestria. Let us hope this is something minor," she said to herself reassuringly. However, the feeling of dread simply grew.
'But what if it isn't..." she thought gloomily.
She began to pack her saddlebags.
