Dead Silence

Chapters

Hope
A Trade
Rebirth
Reactions
Royal Ties
Warrior Within'
Truth
Clarity
A Battle Begins
Return
Dead Silence
Signs
Lies
Restoration

Hope

Silence gazed blankly at the words that the doctor had written upon the board. A way to speak? Those words sunk into her mind for a mind. Her heart welled up at the thought of being able to communicate with other ponies again. To feel herself partially relinquished from having to seclude herself from the rest of the ponies would make her dreams come true. Then she felt it. All of the teasing, abandonment, avoiding, bullying she had received finally hit her. She fell down onto her knees and began to cry. Sky blue tears cascaded out of her amethyst purple eyes. They rolled down her cheeks and crashed onto the ground, exploding into watery shrapnel. The feelings she had pushed aside for two years had all rushed back and were escaping throughout her eyes. Her mother calmly bent down and held the pony, bringing her into a loving embrace and stroking her mane softly. She cried for a few more minutes before wiping her eyes and hoisting herself to her unsteady hooves. She walked over to the board and wrote," When do I start learning?"

Doctor Mute replied," Right now. Put down the pencil and we can start learning." With that, Silence rested the pencil along the metal railing in front of the board and looked at Mute patiently. He wrote," The first things we will be learning are vowels." Then he proceeded to writing each vowel on the board. He pulled out a pointing stick from a bag that he had set outside the door and pointed to the first letter, A. He then lifted up his front hooves and slid them together, making a "shhht" sound. He then pointed at "A" and did it again. He then pointed at Silence and gave her a nod to show that it was her turn. Simple enough she assumed, she slid her hooves together, replicating the motion that Mute had made. This, she remembered, was her first letter. This, was "A". As boring or uneventful as that seemed, Silence felt a whole new light start to flicker inside of her. It was a light and warmth she had not felt in two years. It was a little flicker of hope.

A Trade

The world was unaware of how she had lost her hearing. They were under the impression that it was just by chance, something that can happen randomly to anypony. They did not know of how it had been traded. They did not know of the dream she had been in the night of the "accident". They were clueless when it came to knowing about the woman in her dreams. The pegasus pony who inhabited her every dream and whose voice only she could hear. The only sound that was ever permitted through the gates that her ears had heard so carefully, so willingly locked to any-body else. There was a reason she was deaf, whether it seemed that way or not, there was. She couldn't tell them even if she had wanted to. They pegasus had made her swear that night to not speak to anypony of the deal that she had made, the deal for the eyes of a goddess

The dream was still vivid in her mind. It felt almost as if it were not a dream at all, but rather a very odd meeting in an unfamiliar place with a very familiar stranger. The dream was like any other, it was confusing to start with and made no sense. It sped by quickly as in any other dream she had ever had. Then, suddenly, it stopped. Everything stopped. She could even almost swear that it felt like all life that manifested itself within her and the world had ceased their movement. The dream turned dark and silent. Then, she saw her; the stranger with the eyes of a rainbow and the mane of a goddess. Then, as if it were staged, the darkness in the room began to fill with stars and planets. Silence felt as if she were walking outside of space itself, as if she were outside of time and reality. She had then walked to the only thing that made sense to walk towards, the thing anyone would walk towards, the other pony. She spoke in a soft, gentle voice that soothed her. The pony said," Silence, come here and listen to me speak. Listen to the deal I have to offer you. Come to me and let us talk of things that others have only wished to talk of.". Silence need-ed no other incentive to move. She trotted over to the pony and sat in front of her, staring intently at her as if silently invoking her to speak on.

"Silence, I come to you within a dream to speak to you of a deal that has occurred for many gen-erations and has been passed through your family line since the creation of ponies. I, with the eyes of a goddess, have a power that others only dream to have. I am the eyes of the universe and can see all that happens. I wish to trade these eyes with you for your hearing, for the goddess who listens to the sounds of the world has become ill and is soon to perish. So what say you to this?" asked the mysterious pony. Silence sat for a minute and pondered the deal. She thoroughly enjoyed hearing and had always loved listening to the birds sing and the wind whistle but if a goddess had lost her ability to hear, then who would answer the prayers and wishes of all the other ponies? She came to a conclusion.

"Okay, I will trade you my ears for your eyes." spoke Silence. With that, she was yanked back down to earth and awoke in her bed, looking through partially closed eyes at her parents and the doctor talking. She realized that it wasn't just a dream when she noticed that the voices she was so used to hearing had not graced her ears. She was unaware of how long she had been talking to the goddess or what her body had done in that time but whatever had happened, the doctor seemed very calm about it. This calmed Silence, as she realized that she was only in the hospital because she had been sleep to long and not because she was deaf. Nobody knew that she was deaf until later on. Nobody truly knew the reason and merely blamed it on an accidental mal-function in her brain's operating pattern. Nobody had learned of the trade.

Rebirth

After a weekend full of learning and preparing to go back to school, Silence awoke to the sound-less world. But something was wrong. Something was off. There was a piece missing. It was something that had made her every morning that much easier to awake to. She quickly dismissed the odd feeling that something was wrong and ran to her closet to put on her gym clothes. Today was her favorite day of the month, today was Dodge ball. She threw on the shorts and shirt and dashed down the stairs, snatching her toast off the plate sitting at the table and ate the whole thing. She continued running and made it to school just in time to feel the vibrations of the old, bronze, odd bell that rested atop the building's roof. She bolted to the gym and smiled when she saw all the other ponies lining up against the wall to pick teams. For a brief moment, while she was running, she changed. She felt her body stop and then everything stopped. The world was consumed by a black veil and then everything flashed. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light, but when they did, she stared in amazement at what she was watching. She watched as she saw herself weaving back and forth, dodging the onslaught of bright red, unrelenting balls. They came in torrents, but she seemed to know their every move. She ducked and jump, she even caught a ball in her hooves and pegged Silverwing, a particularly unkind, brawny pony. Then the world became black and she heard a voice, very faint, but distinguishable. It spoke in a very mocking tone," The filly will get what she's earned soon enough. For now, she can enjoy the power of the eyes. That's if she has yet to trigger them.".

With that, she was thrust back into life to see everypony on her team lining up along the wall next to her. She placed a hoof against the cold, unforgiving wall of brick behind her. Then she felt a sudden feeling surge into her body. She almost dropped down to her knees when it hit. She stood straight up and looked at the dodge balls in the middle. Then she heard it; the sounds of the whistle, the scurrying of hooves, and the voices of ponies yelling as they charged towards the line of dodge balls. She heard the sweet noises that she had only dreamed that she could ever hear. Then, as if embraced by a new forced, she sprinted faster than anypony to the line, knock-ing most of the dodge balls back to her teammates and keeping two for herself. She felt a new power well within her, one that she loved. She felt like a whole new pony. She felt as if she had been reborn. Then everything became as she had seen it before, and onslaught of dodge balls coming at her as she hooked left and right, ducking and leaping over them. Then it happened, she jumped and felt her weight shift backwards as she found herself staring at the ground while being carried by the air, the feel of a ball in her hooves, then her target stepped right into her line of sight as she set up the shot. A wave of what feel like revenge darted into her. She felt her mane and fur changed but she paid no attention to it, however, it seemed as if everyone else was. She then beamed the ball dead at Silverwing, nailing the expression of amazement off of his ugly, annoying face. Then she felt it, a surge of power erupt from her head. She had no idea what was happening. She wasn't a pegasus pony, or at least, the last time she checked she hadn't been. She couldn't look at herself anymore, she couldn't even move. Another force was controlling her, a force that drained all the feelings of happiness straight from her heart. Then she felt everything surge back, her feelings of sadness, her wishes to hear, her deafness, everything. She stood in one spot for a moment then turned and looked at herself.

The sight shocked her into a state of paralysis. Her beautiful, braided, purple mane had now be-come a sleek, straightened, blood red mane. What scared her most were her eyes. The beautiful purple that her eyes usually were, had disappeared completely. The loving, tender look that her eyes had once had was now completely abolished and replaced by a cool, evil, hateful stare as her brick red eyes looked admired herself. It took her a while to realize what everybody was star-ing at. She was too traumatized by her mane now becoming red, her eyes doing the same, and her fur becoming an onyx black. She had sprouted a horn. It, like her eyes and mane, was a sickening red color. She, a normal, deaf, unnoticed pony, was now an evil, lost, allicorn. She regained control of her muscles and flew straight upwards and through the window. She had no idea where she was going, but where ever it was, it was going to be away from her current location. She flew straight for what had felt like hours, until the feeling of the sunshine on her coat had ceased. She turned and found herself in a black, unkempt, unforgiving environment. She felt a strange connection to this place, as if she had been there, when she clearly knew she hadn't. She felt herself fall to the ground and collapse into a deep, dark slumber.

Reactions

She awoke to the feeling of something warm nestled against her. She turned to see another pony who had curled up by her, holding as if in a protective state. The pony seemed so familiar, then, her sight fully kicked in and she saw who it was. She smiled and a tear was almost shed from her eyes as she saw her friend Comet lying next to her, holding her as if she had fallen asleep cor-recting her. Silence shook Comet ever so lightly and the pegasus ponies eyes cracked open and she looked into Silence's now gentle, red eyes. Comet could only smile and stand up, shaking the feelings of sleep from her bones. Silence did the same then turned to Comet, a question digging through her mind. It was on the tip of her tongue and was about to escape her mouth when Com-et, whose back had been turned to the allicorn, said in a sleepy tone, “I couldn't just let one of my friends run away.". Silence had her hearing back again, of course, like everything else; it had come with the price of this odd transformation into an allicorn. She couldn't help but smile and turn Comet around and hug her, glad to see that no matter what had happened to her, Comet had still been her friend through it all. She then turned to Comet and spoke. Only a tiny sound came out then she cut herself off, hearing the change in her voice scared her.

The new voice that had come with the odd transformation was phenomenally different from her usually gentle, sweet voice. Her voice was now cold, and full of a feeling that she could not de-scribe. She then swallowed the spit that was building up in her mouth and spoke to Comet as lov-ingly as she could," Comet, thank you so much for coming to protect me. It was overwhelming to see that no matter what I go through, you are always there to try to help. I'm not sure where to go from here, but I don't think it'd be wise for us to travel together. Somepony might get the wrong idea and think that you are some kind of evil or harsh pony. I don't want your loving, friendly personality to be trashed because of me.". Comet could only help but smile at the words that passed from Silence's lips.

She looked at Silence and spoke," Si, I'm not here just to leave now that you are awake. I'm here to tell you that you've been requested to go see Princess Celestia. She has not yet received word of your transformation, so I'm anxious to see her reaction to seeing another allicorn. Besides, I'm taking you there and I'll be your guard. I've never given up on our friendship, the least you could do here is allow me to take you to the Princess, after all, I brought you a disguise so the other ponies can't see that you are an allicorn, although you might still get odd looks from other po-nies.". Comet pulled a cloak out from a satchel that she had been wearing. The cloak was black and was embroidered with a gold trim. It was marvelous, the craftsmanship was purely astonish-ing. She looked at her friend who had never been that great with sewing and smiled, only imag-ining how much care was put into the cloak. She put it on the two took off, flying towards the only place they could really go from this point, Canterlot.

They arrived in Canterlot and were greeted ever so kindly by a spear to their throats by the guards at the gate. Looking at the mysteriously cloaked pony, they had thought she might want to harm the princess; Comet merely pushed the spear aside from her neck and pulled out a scroll bearing the seal of the might Celestia. The guards apologized and let them both through, com-menting on how elegant Silence's cloak looked. They both trotted to the castle of Celestia. They ran into very few problems from that point until they reached her throne room. Celestia got up out of the royal seat and walked over to Comet and Silence. She looked inquisitively at the pony wearing the cloak and asked why she hadn't taken off the hood. Comet only responded to the princess in a tone devoid of her normally fun and joking tone," My beautiful princess, I'm going to have to ask to you to not respond in a negative tone to when Silence removes her hood. In the past few days, there has been a... change in her appearance that neither of us can really explain." Celestia nodded, acknowledging the statement. Silence lifted the hood from her head and Celes-tia leapt back, staring at the allicorn. Her eyes were in shock as she gazed upon the allicorn that stood within her castle.

Royal Ties

Celestia shuttered for a minute, then gained a very stern tone as she spoke to Comet," This is the pony that resides within Ponyville? The pony who they say has lost her hearing?" Comet could only stare blankly for a minute, pondering how to answer the question. The whole time this was happening, Silence had stood quietly, looking at Celestia and hoping that she had an explanation for her transformation. She could see a look in her eyes, a look that she had known all too well; a look of deceit, a secretive look. She was beating around the bush, she was keeping something to herself and this angered Silence. If she had known something about Silence's transformation, why wouldn't she say it?

Silence, trying to hide the sheer anger in her voice asked the princess," What am I? Don't lie to me or beat around the bush like you have been doing with Comet. You know good and well what I am and I want to know!" Celestia reared back at the power in the voice of the allicorn that spoke to her. She immediately realized the sad truth; the truth that she had been longing had not been true since she felt the presence of the allicorn step into Canterlot. She cleared her throat, trying to from the words in her head to tell the pony that stood in front of her.

"Silence, I know this may be hard to understand, but you are not you anymore. You are the evil allicorn that dwelled within' Equestria when Luna and I were but fillies. You have been pos-sessed by an allicorn that had been only known as Revenge. The pony had ruled over Equestria, conquering any and all that stood in her way. She laid siege upon any of the kingdoms and towns that had once shunned her, seeking revenge upon them. She ruled with Discord and Chaos in those days. She was so misguided, she believed herself to be the "eyes" of Equestria. She had thought of herself as a goddess and believed that she had to watch over all the world and lay judgment upon those who wronged her. It was only when a new pony, an allicorn which nobody knows to this day arrived in Canterlot bearing the only item stronger then the Elements of Har-mony, the Tiara of the Goddess, banished her from this world. She has since then, never been seen or heard of, until this day. You, my dear, are Revenge, or at least a part of you is."

Silence stared at Celestia, trying to get a hold of the situation that had just been revealed to her. She could not believe that she was some evil, harsh ruler, or that part of her was. But then she remembered the deal she had made, the trade for the eyes, the pony who has addressed herself as "The Goddess of Sight." Then she felt it, the sudden emptiness, the others could see it. She was being thrown from her own body, yanked out of it completely. Any control that she had once had over any part of her body was stripped away from her as she watched in horror at her own body being controlled by the very one who had given her the eyes. She watched as the lovely cloud was changed, the gold leaf transformed into a red trim and a mark emblazoned on the back, a symbol she had drawn once as a filly, one she was punished for. It was the symbol of a burning diamond, as if symbolizing the corruption of power. Then she felt herself being exiled to a dark land that she had never known. She was herself again, with her cow like fur, and her deafness back. Her eyes felt like they had before the deal, gentle and loving. But the place she was in was much different than that, it was dark and gloomy, and also filled with an evil feel. She had no idea where she was, but she needed to escape. She needed to reclaim herself and severe the bond between her and Revenge. She had to severe her royal ties.

Warrior Within'

Slowly, an environment began to materialize around her. It was not her sight tricking her; a forest was actually recreating itself in front of her. She wiped her eyes to make sure what she saw was real. Sure enough, the trees and forest floor was still there. Silence wandered timidly into the woods, being careful to watch out for anything. She started out at a slow walk, examining every-thing around her, and then she saw the glint of something in the distance. There was a bright flash and she felt a wave of vibrations underneath her. She progressively picked up her walking pace until she was at a full out sprint, running towards the gleaming object that was now moving. Then she saw what was happening before her. A pony was wielding what appeared to be a sword. The pony had a cloak and was fighting off shadow like creatures. The hooded figure moved with such precision, such skill, parrying blows and attacks from all sides. The battle gave her a feeling she hadn't experienced before. Her eyes began to glow as the ground around her began to come into color. She looked down at her hooves to see them being coated in metallic plates, a suit of armor. She felt all of the pieces stop at the mane and form around it, letting her hair fly loose. The cloaked figure stopped fighting when it noticed all of the shadowy figures staring in one direction. He turned a jumped back in shock at seeing the new pony, in a sterling silver set of armor. Shortly after, as if by magic, a sword began to rise up from the very ground in front of her. Her eyes glowed with an assortment of colors, resembling a rainbow.

Silence heard a voice speaking from within her, a voice that she had never heard but one that was so heart-warming, one that filled her with strength. It spoke to her and said,” Silence, my dear, you have finally arrived. Brandish the blade in front of you and help the pony fend against the monster surrounding him. I shall give you the strength and knowledge to use the weapon, you must merely believe in me and lend to me your heart so that I may transfer the raw power into you. Once your battle is over, rest and I shall speak to you again." With that, a burst of light ex-ploded from Silence's armor, outlining her in a rainbow colored aura. The new Silence grabbed the blade and jumped in next to the pony that had been fighting. The battle resumed. The hooded figure danced left and right striking the monsters but seemingly doing nothing. Then, Silence's blade sparked and filled with a bright light, cause the ground around it to become full of life. The monsters shied away from the land, as if trying to avoid it. Silence sprinted in a circle; surrounding the beasts in a circle of beautiful, lush, emerald green grass. She then ran at them, forcing them onto the land. They screamed and began to transform and they touched the ground. They themselves began to fill with color and become ponies. Silence and the robed figure watched in awe as the shadow figures now became warrior ponies, pledging their allegiance to the Queen, looking at Silence. Queen? Silence was no queen, or at least, not one that she knew of. Then again, she hadn't been an allicorn until recently. She bowed to them group of five or so of them and instructed them to build a town by gathering wood from the trees. She also told them to follow any orders given to them by the mysterious pony. Then she lay down in the grass and began to sleep.

Truth

She awoke within her dreams and the sight before her shocked her body. The pure elegance of the armor that the unicorn in front of her war was simply astounding. The rainbow plating made from a material that Silence did not know and the white trim looked purely amazing. The figure spoke to her in the voice from earlier,"Hello Silence. I shall have to ask you so take a seat seeing as this will be a rather long talk. Much will have to be revealed to you in order for you to follow you destiny and to protect the land of Equestria from falling into Revenge's hooves again.". With that, Silence sat down on a little blanket that hat been laid out in front of her. There was a basket of food and a little box with an assortment of drink lest she become filled with hunger or thirst. Then, they armored pony in front of her shed her armor. It all began to retract, starting from the top of the helmet and all the way down to the hooves, sinking into the ground. Silence stared in amazement at the pony before her. It was her, or well, sort of. It was an allicorn with a purple mane and purple eyes, just like hers, and the fur was white with black splotches just like her. The pony smiled at Silence and sat, preparing herself for the story that she was about to unfold to the story to her.

The allicorn spoke,"Our story begins in the land of Equestria, thousands of years before our time, back to the times before even your great Princess Celestia was born. There was a pony named Vengance. This pony was evil and had tried to take over Equestria. He had failed and was imprisoned, but not before having a daught who he had named Revenge. Right after she was born, Vengance had placed a spell upon her, poisoning her mind granting her power unlike anthing anypony had ever seen. She followed in the footsteps of her father, trying time and time again to claim the throne. Finally, after years of working so hard to gain the throne, so gained control of the royal seat, ruling over Canterlot. She then began to take her armies throughout Equestria, slaughtering all of those that stood between her and her goal of dominating Equestria completely. It was during this time that Celestia and Luna were born. They had thought that they were the only to children that were ever delivered into their family, but they were wrong. There was another child that was born into their family, years before they were. That child was named Peace. Peace was a quiet and calm pony. Although she had been trained to be a warrior and excelled at it, she did not like to fight. She merely spent most of her time reading books and drawing pictures. Then, the day came when the evil of Revenge spread into her land. It polluted and corrupted the land, destroying the life of the entire town. Peace did not like this and prayed to the Goddess for a pony to arrise and overthrow Revenge and bring back peace and light to Equestria. In a dream that night, the goddess spoke to her and told her that it was her job to rid Equestria of Revenge and to cleanse the land using her tiara. Peace, seeing that the deed must be done, took the tiara and traveled to Canterlot. There she summoned the power of the Goddess and was enveloped in a special armor and fought with Revenge. They battle for an hour until finally Peace defeated vengence and banished her from the world. With that, Celestia and her sister gained the throne and ruled over Equestria, bringing peace and light back to the land until Nightmare Moon came. Then, after she was banished, peace returned to the land. However, before Celestia reclaimed the throne, Peace had a daughter who she sealed outside of time. This daughter was to be sealed outside of time until a dark force rose from the land again. Then, with that, Peace vanished and was never seen again.".

Silence stared at the figure and asked one question, one that had entered her mind after listening to the story and thinking deeply about it. She asked,"What is the name of your daughter, Peace?".

Peace smiled and looked into Silence's eyes and spoke ever so weetly," Her name is Silence.".

Clarity

Silence could only help but stare into the eyes of the allicorn as she spoke those words. The words that she had so desparately been hoping to hear her entire life. She had not needed her parents to tell her that she was adopted, she could tell just by the look of herself compared to them. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she looked and Peace and began to see the realization that the legendary allicorn was her mother. She stood up and rushed over to her, embracing her and reliquishing the tears from their hold in her eyes. Peace could only help but smile and hold the filly in her arms, finally feeling the loving, heart-warming feel of her daughter's arms. They stayed locked in each others arms for what seemed to Silence as an eternity. She then looked into her mother's eyes and was struck with a question. A peculiar question that she hadn't really pondered untiol just now. She broke the embrace and asked while wiping the tears from her face,"If you are my mother, then where is my father?".

Peace smiled at her daughter and replied,"That is a question for another time my dear. Right now you have some adventuring to get done and a throne to save. I know you can do it Silence, even with your disability. The abilities you've gained by having one stripped from you are what will help you fend against the monsters of the lands that plague you. I shall tell you one thing, the strongest power that anybody is ever graced with is not magic, it is their thoughts. Now, return to the people eagerly awaiting your word. I shall be watching over you.". With those last words, the allicorn started to dissapate into nothingness. Silence watched as her mother vanished into rays of light and warm her face. Then the color from the ground started to ebb away as Silence felt herself returning to the world she had been thrust into by Revenge. Her eyes fluttered slightly as she awoke to the hooded-pony standing at the doorway of the room she had been placed in. She sat up slowly and looked at the robed figure standing in the door way.

After hearing the prolonged creaking of the bed frame from Silence's direction, the figure turned around and looked at her. She stared intriguingly at at the flap of cloth that always seemed to cover one of his eyes. The pony pulled out a note from a pocket in his cloak and threw it to her. She caught it and fumbled around with the seal on it for a minute. When she finally managed to peel the seal away from the letter, she looked up and noticed that the garbed pony was nowhere to be seen. She then unfolded the note that he had thrown and looked at the only line written upon it. The minute that the writing graced her eyes, she could tell it was not the man's writing. The script had been to feminine for him, she knew it was her mothers. It resembled hers so closely that it almost scared Silence. The note read,"The strongest power anypony ever has is their thoughts.". Seeing this line, Silence smiled and tucked the noteaway into her bow. She stood up and walked outside, looking in amazement at the town that the ponies had created while she had been in a slumber. She felt something change within her as she saw the town, almost as if a new spot in her mind had been created. Like a piece of her mind that had been clouded by the darkness and chaos of Revenge was cleared up and purified again. She felt refreshed and ready. For the first time in this whole series of events, she felt prepared.

A Battle Begins

Feeling fresh and ready to start adventuring she grouped up the five ponies that she had converted and instructed them to stay here and fortify the land. She wrote to them on a pad that she had grown accustomed to carrying with her, to kill any creatures and to bring them into the town if they needed food and that if they can find any mud, to bring it to the town to be purified into water. They saluted to the filly and ran off to their posts to protect the town. She walked over to the hooded-pony and tapped him gently. He turned and saw the paper in-front of his face. He staggered backwards, shocked by the sudden sight of the paper directly in-front of him. He then focused and read the sheet. He nodded to show that he was ready and had understood the pony. Silence smiled and stood just at the edge of the town. Then, just before stepping out, she remembered what her mother had told her. She stood still for a minute and thought of the armor and the sword she had been equipped with when the robed man was in danger. Sure enough, the armor began to materialize around her, but it seemed different. It was not the shining silver that she had thought she was wearing last time, but now seemed to be a pearlescent coat of dim, but visible colors. She smiled and brandished her also dim, pearlescent rainbow blade and sheathed it on the right side of her flank. With that, the two set off, each step she took illuminating the ground in a light before restoring life to it.
The walk seemed odd, not in a bad way, but in a way she couldn't describe. Each step seemed to clear her mind a tiny bit from the darkness of Revenge. She felt almost as though the adventure through the woods was ridding her of the impurities and curses that had plagued her mind. She loved the feeling and enjoyed it thoroughly, loving that each step she took towards returning to Canterlot was step towards banishing Revenge from her mind. The walk was relaxing and quite slow for what seemed like hours. There was no time change in the strange land that she walked through. Everything was always illuminated by the same amount of dim light that shone through the thick, dark clouds in this oddly familiar landscape. It was only when Silence saw a clearing that everything seemed to have a purpose. She did not have any recollection of this place that they were nearing, but it made her almost fall to her knees and cry seeing it. The meadow was so forlorn, as if it was once a bustling and lively place, but then had mysteriously been abandoned and undiscovered.
She increased her space as she saw what was surrounding the clearing. The robed figure brandished his blade and prepared for battle as he saw the army of darkness that controlled and severed this area from any pathways leading into it. Silence took out her blade and charged at the wall of enemies, a spark igniting from her eyes. She felt stronger, more powerful, she felt like she alone could take on this onslaught of evil. She took her blade and ran it through a being of darkness, piercing right through him and shattering him into sparkling bits of light. As soon as the first monster had been struck down, the others pulled out their weapons. With that, the battle begun.

Return

She stood in awe and listened to the peaceful sounds of her mind. All of the previously armored figure were now gone. She was left with nothing more than the slight breeze that whistled through the soft, carefree, emerald blades of grass. The rustling of the trees rooted into her mind was the most calming sound she had heard. The warm breath of the sun only helped to amplify this magical feeling of pure relaxation. It seemed to be the first time in days that she had truly felt something other than pure thought or despair. Silence looked up into the heavens above and marveled as the clouds above formed into the shape she was thinking of. The sheer power that she felt being able to control the weather within’ her head felt great. She closed her eyes, which were full of exhaustion, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

A soft shuffling awoke her from her mystical sleep. She drowsily opened her eyes and was greeted by a shadow hanging over her face. She leaned her head backwards and looked to see who or what was blocking the sunlight. She was immediately greeted by a large smile and a loving face. Peace stood above her, staring into Silence’s eyes. The flames or her mother’s love and care warmed the cool heart of Silence’s. She lazily climbed to her hooves and yawned, feeling slightly more awake. Her mother spoke to her in a sweet but stern voice,” Silence, I can see that you have regained you ability to hear and have discovered where you are. You have every right to be rejoicing and relaxing right now but sadly those luxuries must be tucked away. Revenge is still roaming around in your world and has overthrown Princesses Celestia and Luna. You need to return to Canterlot and fend for your home. Now that you have regained control of your mind and heart, you will make a worthy advisory for Revenge. She may have magic and look intimidating, but there is one thing you have that she doesn’t. You have a heart that harbors love for others, while she has no love for any being besides her own. You must use what you have learned here to help fight against her. I know you can do it Silence.”

Silence stared into her mother’s eyes, piecing together everything that she had just said. She knew that things would be different went she traveled back to her world, but only one thing would really matter to her. Of all the things she had gained within the confines of her mind, she would lose the one person that had helped her conquer the darkness in her mind. She would have to give up her mother to save the lives of countless others. Even being as selfless as she was, Silence still did not want to leave. She felt the familiar feeling of tears welling in her eyes, making them turn into a more fierce shade of amethyst. Large, dark, saddening clouds blocked out the son and began to rain as the tears were released from their dam in her eyes. She trotted towards her mom and hugged her, knowing this would probably be the last time that she would ever see her. Peace smiled and returned the embrace, stroking her daughters head and comforting her. Silence let go and Peace looked at her and spoke once more,” To leave your mind, just make a small hole in the ground and picture Canterlot. Then step into the hole to be sent back. I know you can defeat her Silence, I believe in you.”

Silence followed her mother’s instructions and dug a small hole in the ground. She pictured the front gate to Canterlot and saw it appear before her. It was frail and dark with vines weaving in-between the breaks in the bars. She was ready to fight against Revenge and reclaim Equestria. She, was ready to return to her place, to her home.

Dead Silence

Silence stepped through the portal. The mysterious matter made her feel like she was submerging into a pool of warm water. She felt her hooves touch the rough, dusty dirt ground as she slipped her legs all the way through. She pushed down onto the ground, yanking the rest of her body through the exit of her mind. She pulled through it with ease and looked back up to try to catch one last glimpse of her mom. Much to her dismay, the portal had vanished, leaving no traces that she had ever been there. She focused her attention now to the environment around her and was momentarily stunned. The normal bright, cheery, playful nature of Equestria was completely stripped from the desolate land around her. It was now replaced by a dark, lifeless, arid feeling. She refocused once again on the task she had to complete. As dark as this place was, it was still her home and she was willing to fight to reclaim and return it to its full glory. She walked up to the usually open and guarded gates. The gates that she saw were nothing like this. They were rusted and dark with vines creeping up on them and intertwining. She placed a hoof on it and pushed slightly. A large creaking sound was heard and a shell of rust separated itself from the large entryway. The doors were slightly ajar and she slipped in between them. She was greeted by a horrible sight. The once illustrious, magnificent, popular city was now nothing more than ruined piles of stone, charred wooden remains, and seemingly lifeless. A feeling of emptiness started to creep into her heart as she took in the sight before her. How long had it been since she had disappeared from this world? Things were aesthetically different but the passages and alleyways between the buildings were still the same. She could see the castle in front of her. It looked like the average evil, corrupted castle that you would picture from a fairy tale or legend. The once white and gold stones were now a smoke grey and faded, sickly green vines rose and dived between the cracks in the stones. The aura that was emitted from the large structure was vile and dark. She could almost feel as if the hatred and power that Revenge harbored was trying to seep into her and pollute her. She shuddered at the thought, then proceeded up the pathway to the castle.

She approached the courtyard in the middle of the castle. Much to her disbelief, this part was left unscathed by the evil, unlike the rest of Canterlot. The soft, bright, lively green grass stile stood, looking as if it had been kept care of this entire time. The large, old, wise oak tree still stood where it had, knowledge lurking within’ its crevices and leaves. She stared into its hole, the swirling bark acting as a hypnotic pendulum, attracting her gaze and controlling her thoughts. She snapped her sight from it and proceeded along the mossy cobblestone ground towards the Grand Throne room. The doors to the room looked different the usual polish, gold trimmed, mahogany doors the previously stood there. Instead, the doors were a sleek, onyx black, ebony color stone with a silver lining. Silence controlled her breathing and tried to keep her heart from pulsating so violently, for she feared that with how loud it seemed, Revenge might be wary of her presence. She nudged the door open ever so slowly, making her entry almost completely silent. She then slipped in and crept over to one of the suits of armor lining the walls. She slowly and stealthily took a sword belt and placed it upon herself, fitting it to her size. She then proceeded towards Revenge, trying to get close enough to incapacitate her without having to fight.

“I was wondering how long it’d take you to escape from your mind. It’s been a few years here and look, with you out of the picture, I have once again reclaimed Equestria for myself. Beautiful what I’ve done with the place don’t you think? It has this sort of, dismal, vengeful feel to it. I personally think it reveals the truthful side to this place. It will show everypony that deep down within’ each of your sweet, harmless, loving hearts there lurks an evil. It just needs to be played with and egged on in order to reveal itself. Ponies everywhere will finally be able to achieve their full potential! We can create more havoc and destruction with the unbridled power of all of the pegasi and unicorns in this infernal place!” spoke Revenge with a maniacal twinge of happiness. She seemed to have this feeling like she was the villain in all of this. The air around her and thoughts in her mind seemed to have figured that by some twisted logic, she was in the right. Silence glared at her and watched as Revenge lifted herself off her throne and grabbed her blade from the side of the large, onyx, ruby encrusted throne. Her blade was a piece of master craftsmanship. The hilt was a dark grey that was almost completely covered by the red velvet the wrapped around it. The hand-guard was fashioned completely out of gold and resembled a spider web. The blade was a slim, shiny, smooth silver piece of work. A lot better than the steel blade the Silence had grabbed but she would have to make do with what she had. “Come on child! Attack me! I wish to end this engagement hastily so that I may continue ruling over what is rightfully mine!” spoke Revenge in a loud voice, almost as if yelling it at Silence.
With that, Silence spread her wings and propelled herself towards Revenge. Silence held the blade across her body at a diagonal angle, the brilliant colors from the stained glass artwork above reflecting off her blade. Revenge sidestepped to the left and jabbed the hilt of her sword into Silence’s stomach. Silence was sent over the hilt, her limbs flailing frantically as she twirled through the sky and slammed into the ground. She struggled to get back up to her feet when she suddenly felt a hoof smash directly into her ribs. She felt a sharp pain surge through them and shock her body and she flew across the large room and slid into the wall like a ragdoll tossed across a wet floor. She began to rise to her feet when she realized how much more difficult breathing had become. Revenge must have broken or fracture one or two of her ribs. Shakily and with much difficulty, she rose to her feet and brandished her sword again. Revenge scoffed at the pegasus’ determination and stupidity. Revenge then lifted herself off the ground with one large beat of her wings, shooting her upwards like a cannonball from a cannon. She then peaked at the top and pointed herself towards Silence and shot down upon her like an arrow, her sword held in front of her body. Silence strafed to the left and pushed Revenge’s blade downwards, using her momentum to slam her face first into the hard granite floor. Revenge pushed herself up from the floor and landed back onto her hooves, regaining her posture. She then lunged at Silence, their swords clashing together. A set of bright orange sparks shot out from between the swords and a large clash like the sound of pots smashed together echoed throughout the palace. Revenge smirked as she knew that she had the upper-hand in this position. She was clearly stronger then her smaller adversary. She then used her magic and launched Silence backwards, throwing her towards the wall across the room. Silence spread her wings out, using them like a parachute, catching the wind and stopping her flight towards the wall. She placed her back hooves on the wall and shot herself off of it, gliding into the air and diving down towards Revenge with her back hooves forward. She landed directly on Revenge’s chest, slamming into it and ramming her straight into the ground. She then pushed her weight down and prepared to spring off of Revenge’s chest. She leapt but felt her back hooves being grabbed and she slammed face down onto the floor. She was then suspended in midair by Revenge’s magic. She stared defenselessly into the allicorn’s eyes. She knew this was it. She had come all this way just to lose. Revenge smirked as she began to see the desperation leaking into her heart. Then, a note fell out her bow and landed in the bottom of the magic aura that Silence was suspended in. On it was the beautiful script of her mother’s and it read,” The strongest power anypony ever has is their thoughts.” Then it clicked and Silence closed her eyes and thought of the happiness that she had gained from overcoming the fears and challenges of her mind. She heard a laugh come from Revenge. It was then followed by a quiet pinging sound. Silence opened her eyes to see that she was now on the ground and she was covered in the suit of armor that her mother had given her when she needed it in her mind. Revenged jumped backwards at the sight of the armor.
“No! This is impossible! The last time I saw that suit of armor, it was upon… Wait, no, this can’t be. You, this tiny, weak, pathetic pegasus, are the daughter or the only pony to ever defeat me? You are the daughter of Peace?” said Revenge in a genuinely perplexed manner. She then wiped the shocked look from her face and spoke,” No matter! I will conquer you all the same! No matter how many items your mother may lend you to aid in fighting me, I am still much stronger then you will ever be!” With that, Revenge lunged forward at Silence. With her new sword, Silence deflecting the onslaught of attacks that Revenge was putting out. Each block was greeted by a satisfying “ping”. Silence could feel that Revenge was becoming wary and heard her mother’s voice in the back of her mind.
“Strike now! Aim for the amethyst gem in the amulet that she wears around her neck. Once you have struck that, she will be banished forever and all the evil that has infected Equestria will be destroyed with along with her.” With that, Silence parried the next attack, knocking Revenge off of her feet and slammed the point of her blade directly into the amethyst within’ her amulet. Revenge shrieked as a loud, high-pitched screeching sound resonated from the gem. A large cloud of darkness engulfed the two ponies as Silence drove the blade deeper into the gem, watching as it split into more and more pieces. Then, with one final push, the gem shattered and pieces of it flew everywhere. Revenge’s eyes grew wide as she stared directly into the eyes of Silence. The dark cloud expanded and covered all Equestria in a midnight black veil. Then, it all imploded into a small colorful ball. The ball hovered in midair for a few seconds, increasing in luminosity and size. Then it exploded, releasing a large assortment of colors all of Equestria. The explosion was a mystical sight to see. Life was being restored to the trees and entire buildings were being rebuilt by the energy of the blast. The green color of the forests was breathtaking. It looked as if the Goddess herself was painting the trees with an emerald green paint. The life and color returned to the land, returning Silence to a place that she was now so thankful to have. She was finally returned back to her home after all that she had gone through on this strenuous, yet amazing adventure. She was greeted by something that had once seemed to mock her but now calmed her and filled her with an exceptional feeling of joy. She was engulfed by the ever familiar yet still sweet, dead silence.

Signs

"Are you positive this is right? She could have just been dozing off or something? It could be a fluke."
"Ma'am, we are positive. We are afraid your daughter isn't like the other ponies. This isn't something new to us, but is definitely a rare occurrence. We can start teaching her as soon as she wakes up though. We can try to make her life as normal as possible, but she just won't be the same as the other ponies."

"Alright, let's let her have her rest, we can start teaching her in the morning."

She awoke to a bright, sunny, silent morning. The birds flew outside and the sun seemed to smile upon her as she lifted her head from the pillow. This morning was the same as the others though. Every day she hoped for it, she dreamed of it, she longed so bad to have it back. She knew, deep down inside, that she could never have it back. However she had lost it, it was irreplaceable and couldn't be fixed. The never-ending silence pained her. The thought of knowing what things sounded like but could no longer hear them killed her. She felt the vibrations of her mother's hooves through the floor. Not all had been bad since the accident happened. Her senses of sight, smell, and feeling seemed to have increased significantly. Although she would never be the same as the other ponies, she knew that she would at least be able to make up for her lack of hearing, for her deafness.

The door opened and her mother trotted in. She walked over to the board and wrote "Good Morning, Silence!" upon it, with a heart dotting the eye and finishing off the exclamation mark. Silence smiled at her mother and got out of bed, then proceeded over to the board and hugged her mother. While she was hugging her mother, she felt something through the floor boards. It was an unfamiliar vibration, unlike her father's or mother's. This one seemed more muffled, as if there was some sort of padding or material on the being's feet. Silence quickly let go of her mother and moved in front of her, into a protective position. Then, she saw the man behind the vibrations. She read his tag and looked at him with a curious and unwary look. The tag read," Dr. Mute, Specialist in Deaf and Mute Ponies.". The man walked up closer and Silence stood with her back straighter, trying to make herself seem more intimidating. Then the doctor arrived at the board and began to write. She admired the handwriting. It was beautiful, especially for a male pony. The writing read," Good Morning, Silence. My name is Doctor Mute and I am a specialist in teaching mute and deaf ponies. I will be teaching you a way to talk and listen, however, it will be different from that of a normal pony because you are hearing impaired. I will be teaching you a way to talk to other ponies using signs."

Lies

Her face lit up with happiness as she felt the burdens of her ability to not talk being partially relinquished from herself. She then looked back at Dr. Mute and he was smiling. He could see that within' her was a free to learn and a dim light of hope. He then raised his hooves and clicked them to get, making a sound like rocks clashing together. She then raised her hooves and repeated his motions. He then wrote the letter "E" on the board and pointed to her. She did the hoof click and realized that she had just made the letter "E". Her and Mute sat in her room for about an hour practicing the vowels and making sure that she had remembered them and could do them understandably. She had been catching on faster than any of Mute's previous patients. There seemed to be something different with this pony, a part of her that functioned differently than the other ponies. He then dismissed her for breakfast and wrote that they should resume their teaching after she had eaten breakfast and used the restroom if necessary. With that, he noticed something about the pony.

It was so subtle, so slight; you had to be looking for something different in her to notice it. Her eyes gleamed for a second and they...changed. Something about them was different. The color of them had changed since they started learning. The eyes that were once a dark, gloomy, dreary purple were now a violet, lilac kind of color. She immediately dashed over to a drawer in her room and put on shades when she had noticed the doctor looking at her odd. She didn't want people to know of the magic her eyes possessed. She herself wasn't even fully aware of their potential and did not want to injure anybody because she didn't know her own potential. Her eyes had inherited this magical trait after the accident. Her parents hadn't noticed, they didn't really look too much at her, but rather left her to lie in her room and read the mounds of books that lined her shelves. She had not told them of the power of her eyes. Nor did they truly know what had happened the night she had lost her hearing. What they knew, and everyone else that had been told the story, was a lie.

Restoration

The two ponies began to fight against the onslaught of monsters that stood before them. The blades of the shadows clashed with those of the two ponies, causing sparks to burst from the blades. Silence quickly found herself engulfed in a group of enemies, fending off blows left and right. It seemed as if for every enemy she slayed, two more would take their place. The battle was beginning to seem close to impossible and Silence began to lose hope in the fact that she would make it through the battle intact. Then, a light shone inside of her helmet, emanating from her bow. The note that her mother had written for her, the words that she had told her bounced around in her mind as they finally became clear. She closed her eyes and focused, blocking the attacks from every direction without opening them. She felt as though even if they were her enemies, she still had a small version of control over them. She then thought of the one thing she could use right at this moment and felt a light from her chest start to pulse. The light grew brighter and brighter, filling up more space around her, bringing life to the area around her and transforming the shadowy figures into armored warrior ponies. But that was not the only thing that happened when this specific ground was restored to life. She heard the faintest bit of noise. She could hear almost like a whisper, but it was still a sound. Her light engulfed her and expanded, consuming all of the darkness as she slowly began to recognize her surroundings. In that moment, the moment where it all clicked, she felt the ball of light hit its peak. Then, it imploded for a second, removing all of the light from every inch of the land. Everything became dark, then a wave of color exploded from her heart, consuming not only the terrain, but the entire area in light. She finally realized where she was. She now realized why the area around her was so familiar. She realized that the land was not an odd, shape shifting forest, but was the confines of her mind that Revenge had polluted. She was not banished to some exiled piece of Equestria; she was banished to her mind.
In that moment that the land became engulfed with light and everything was restored to its correct ways, the trees teeming with fruit, the land filled with grass, animals scurrying through the land, bird gracefully drifting through the air, all of the shadows that had now become ponies, it all was restored to how it had been. For the first time in years, Silence truly understood herself, she understood her purpose, where she was, everything was so clear. She had not become deaf because she had made the deal with Revenge; she had become deaf because her mind thought it to be so. The darkness and deception of Revenge had made her believe that she was deaf; it had polluted her mind and tricked her thoughts. It had made everything seem so unclear. But now that she was purified, she could finally have she had longed to have those last two years of her life. She could finally have what had only been given to her in her dreams, she had obtained what she had once deemed impossible to reclaim. She had restored her hearing.