Silence in Equestria

The Sector II: Episode XXIV

Tartarus: Day 2 - Whispers

"Feeling better now?" Silence asked as she looked behind from the window.

"Mhmm." nodded the ghost pony slowly standing up from her bed and walking to the pegasus.

"You should not get up yet." Silence told, making the girl turn away with a small squeak followed by an "Okay.". Now she not only sounded similar to Fluttershy but she also behaved like her, if not even more modestly.

"Did you want to ask something?" asked Silence suspiciously.

"No, nevermind." she replied getting back to her bed and sitting down.

"Then let me start it." Silence smiled following her "I'm Silence, what's your name?".

The ghost however just squeaked and turned her head away. It seemed like she'd end up crying in any moment.

"You can tell me, we're friends." the pegasus added as a sort of motivation, gently holding her new friend's hoof.

"I... don't know."

This sort of surprised Silence, but she got a solution. "Then how about making up one? Whisper maybe? I think it's really cute."

"Yes... cute." Whisper replied, taking a look at Silence, not exactly at her, but a bit above her head, only for a little moment before she turned away. The pegasus noticed that, that was the second time she did it now.

In a sudden, however Whisper put her other hoof on Silence's slowly forcing it in, through her skin.

"Au! Au! Aarrghh!!" Silence screamed from the bone-chilling pain, making the ghost take it out in an instant.

"S-s-sorry!" she apologized "It's... just...".

"Just?"

"You're not dead, are you?" whispered the white mare looking slightly over Silence's head again.

"No..." answered the pegasus slowly.

"You know, when somepony dies, the spirits give their soul a last task: to travel to Tartarus." Whisper said, standing up from her bed, walking towards the window.

"They receive their final judgment right before entering this world, if their soul is pure, I'll notice their arrival." she continued, looking into the abyss of the forest in front of her hut, taking her spear from the ground, then taking her way out, slowly walking on the old dock, all the way to its end.

The lake was all covered in mist, pure whiteness was the only thing seen, as it'd be the end of the world.

"If a soul is pure enough, it's my job to take her to the Castle of the Souls." Whisper continued.

"The Castle of Souls?"

Whisper nodded with one of those cute sounds she tends to make, then elegantly swung her blade at the fog, making a small way open in the mist, revealing its secret. The castle stood on a small island, it was huge, just like those old horror-tale castle's in the book.

"And what happens to the one's who aren't... pure?" Silence asked turning to her slowly. Whisper looked really depressed.

"The corrupted ones are all bound to the same fate, they'll keep looking for the castle for the end of time, with the corruption of their soul slowly taking over their body." she said, staring at a corrupted one slowly wandering around the riverbank meaninglessly, like a zombie.

"I see, you're a ferrymare of Tartarus then, protecting the pures and showing them the way." cleared up Silence, making her friend nod quietly.

Silence, seeing her new friend being so close to end up crying hugged Whisper "If something is wrong, don't hesitate to tell me."

"O-okay." Whisper replied backing away a little with intense rose blush on her cheek, looking over Silence again.

"I guess it's my turn then. I came here to Tartarus to practice my magic skills without being noticed by the royalty. I thought the evil spirits said to be here would make excellent practice targets." confessed Silence the truth, knowing that her friend will not cause trouble in real life anymore.

"Magic?" asked Whisper in confusion "But... you're a pegasus... or not?"

"Actually, it's quite complicated..." Silence replied scratching her head. "Better get into it, the sooner I become more powerful the better." she added walking out to hunt for spirits.

"Silence..." Whisper said "The corrupted can sense the presence of the pure and the living, once they know you're there, every single corrupted will target you, with time they'll devour your soul." she added. She stood completely still, her pupils shrunk a little, and her voice's melody became still and flat instead of shy and descending. She was quite... creepy.

Silence double checked her system as she headed out and everything seemed to be perfectly fine. She seemed to notice some sort of flies as she traveled further from the shack. They looked like small orbs with two red wings and two huge, red eyes. In a distance walked senselessly a character, a pegasus, black, stains covering his grayish-blue body that looked even more colorless in the environment. Silence began to charge her PPC, with completely normal magic at first. However, as soon as the first bits of magic flown into her horn the creature turned its head at her. Silence shot from the shock, hitting the pegasus in its wing that turned into dust as soon as the violet, searing-hot plasma cut through it, like knife through butter, with a huge whiplash sound. The creature began to ran towards her. Silence's heartbeats suddenly skyrocketed from the adrenaline. A few more shots and a defeated enemy later, unnerving sounds were heard from the forest.

"(Whisper wasn't joking about this. Darn, this give me chills. Anyway...)" she thought, charging her PPC now with black magic "(Bring it!)".

All the creatures, even those pesky parasites turned towards her to hunt her. The task was simple: kill everything that moves. They just kept coming and from almost every direction. Silence flew up, kept firing her canon tearing the increasing amount of demons apart. From a distance, though something kept flashing, irritating her eyes. It was Whisper, ready to jump in when things get out of control. This gave the pegasus a little more safety feeling, though she still desperately fought back. Seeing this won't last forever she tried something else, attaching the mana output to her fangs again, she infused them with black magic as well, releasing a huge, dark fume which the evil disappeared in completely.

Her body soaking from sweat, yet shivering from adrenaline as the demonic sprites and the corrupted souls kept chasing her and eventually reaching her, trying to capture the body with an icy pain. First just a small fly on her chest, then another on her back hoof, then a hoof on her back. As she desperately tried to shoot off the horde withholding her screams, white practices started to gather around her.

In all of a sudden, she found herself in the shack again. She ran to get to the window, seems like Whisper made them change place, as the pegasus saw her friend demolishing the foes as it'd be a plaything. Silence kept watching her in awe, the little ghost who was such a shy cutie turned into a ruthless warrior in combat. As she slain the very last demon, she throw her mane in the air, wiped the sweat from her forehead, then like if nothing would have happened, she proceeded back to her shack.

"This was amazing! Thank you so much, I almost left my tooth there." complimented Silence, bowing and shutting her eyes as sign of apologization.

Whisper just blushed and looked away, her smile brighter than the sun in the overworld, but her lips almost instantly curled downwards after.

"Do you... feel any stronger?" she asked silently with worry spicing her whispers.

"Yes, I feel my mana pool slowly extending." sounded the answer.

Whispser smiled back at the pegasus, just for a second, before a visible shiver went down her transparent back, as a cold hoof would touch it, her mouth releasing a sudden, slightly erotic gasp. The sudden move made her silky, white-gray mane fly up in the air.

"Everything's okay?" Silence asked.

"Somepony arrived." Whisper said, running out immediately.

"Wait, let me help!" the pegasus shouted running after her friend.

"NO!" screamed back Whisper "I mean... please don't." she corrected herself.

Silence didn't give it up that easily, though. She continued to persuade her "We can fight them back together, in a team, it'd be a perfect opportunity to visit the castle too."

"But... if they get us... I'll never forgive you." the ghost replied, shutting her eyes, making Silence get closer, making a promise as she took her front hoof once again.

"They'll never get to touch us, I promise." said Silence, the confidence in her eyes piercing through Whisper, who just gently took out her hoof from her friend's hold an ran to help the newcomer.

"Hello? Anypony there?" said the spirit of a mare in a distance. The demons didn't notice the escort, yet. The spirit was an unicorn, a light pink coat with a beautiful long, blonde mane and a fancy saddle adorning her. She looked like somepony from Canterlot.

"Quick, follow... us! We have no time." shouted Whisper.

The girl ran after them, but as soon as she stepped into a little puddle she grossed out and flinched back, shaking the water off her hooves. Sounds from a distance began to growl louder and louder, they were coming again.

"Silence!" shouted Whisper.

"On it!" replied the pegasus, grabbing the unicorn's hoof and running towards the dock. The demons extremely outnumbered them, but the tactics were simple: Whisper covers the back with her long tail and long spear, while Silence shots everything in front. Intense, echoing moanings rained upon them as they progressed through the forest. The safety seemed so far yet it was so close. Eventually, though they reached out of the woods.

"In the boat!" shouted the earth pony, pointing towards a small old boat, then continuing to drive away the corrupted.

The demons usually didn't follow the ponies towards Whisper's hut, probably because they knew what's there, but this was not the case. The unicorn barely could get any air as she jumped into the boat, but Whisper already ran there and hit it with her speed, letting it go onwards the lake. Silence flew up and like a mid-air defense line bombarded the enemy. Whisper pushed a boat another time, however as she tried to jump on it the spear held her back, she saw she can't make it with it anymore, she needed to sacrifice it without thinking or else the boat floats to far. Leaving the weapon behind she jumped on her boat, barely, but making it after all.

Silence, seeing that she's the last one was to just fly there when the shine reflected from the spear caught her eye. She flew on the wet sand and was to pick it up quickly with her mouth, but as soon as she bent over an awful pain struck her head. She began to scream, so like the other two, she could barely move from the icy paralyzation, but with a quick strike she stabbed the demon right in it's jaw, then cut its head in half, making the foe turn to dust with a painful echo. The pegasus shiftily took the spear to its owner and landed on the boat. Only a few demons tried to follow them there, but most of them disappeared under the all-white liquid. The ponies were safe... for now.

Whisper, shocked yet relieved about her friend's deed told her gratefully, with a rosy-red cheek "My spear! T-thank you."

"You're welcome." replied the pegasus, taking one more look back.

Whisper then grabbed her weapon, and used it as a rod of some gondola in order to control the movement of the boat. The water seemed all white from the neverending fog, the boat full with the lady lieing in the front, Silence sitting in the middle, and Whisper on its very back, standing on two hooves only.

There was no sound but the water's, until Whisper began to sing. Even though it was made of "Aah!"-s only, it was so good, no, so wonderful. Her voice somehow turned into honey that poured slowly in their ears, it was so mesmerizing... she sounded like an angel.

About thirty seconds later, though she stopped, she got to an end of her song.

"This was so enchanting...." the pegasus complimented with a look she only gave to her beloved Twilight so far.

"It... was?"

Silence nodded "Did nobody say that ever to your voice?"

"Well, when I ferry ponies from one side to other, they rarely speak..." she said, depressingly looking away into the emptiness "Even when they do, they cry and tell me about their regrets...." she added, her pupils slowly descending. This explains why she's sad all the time, death really is a traumatic event, Silence knew that. She almost got lost in her thoughts again when a sobbing sound hit her ears. The unicorn in the front, she was crying, even though she tried withholding her emotions she couldn't.

Whisper spoke up at the back with a gentle, caring voice "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. Tell me what hurts your heart, I'll listen.".

"No, it's alright." the mare said, rubbing the tears off her cheeks, taking a huge, deep breath.

Silence opened her log again, seeing it was pretty safe now and began to write.

"Day 2:Tartarus. I feel like I completely lost my sense of time. There is no day or night, no summer or winter here, that's pretty creepy. The demons in this place are no joke, hopefully I can find something out to. Currently I'm on my way to the Castle of Souls located at the other side of the river. Added that the demons can't find this place I can assume it's safe. I have to be quick though, a change can come at any time now. End of entry two." As she closed her control panel, Silence turned back "Could you sing that song again, please?"

"Of course, princess." chuckled back the ferrymare. That last word kind of surprised Silence, though.

"Thank you, but I'm no princess." she answered, making Whisper look over her again.

"Is it written above me that I'm a princess?" she raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

"Huh? No! I mean... you know, I can see the remaining lifespan of people who're alive..." she explained in quiet words.

"...and my numbers are?" continued the pegasus.

"Nothing.... just.... lines." replied the ferrymare, then shook her head an with another sweet smile she changed topic "So the song? That one I sung last time or some other song?".

"As long as it's your voice, any song is good for me." winked back the pegasus.

Whisper began to sing the first song that got into her mind, calming the passengers as they slowly advanced forwards, disappearing in the white fog.

Twilight shut the book, it has no name on its cover, not even its spine, and was pretty thin.

"(Okay, that was adorable at first, but now...)" she thought as she took a look at the desk, what's shelves contained all the drawings, all the little poems and music sheets about the little unicorn. Even if that wasn't enough, this small romantic story about them two was just the icing on the cake. She put the book back on Silence's shelf where she found it, exactly at the same spot on the other side, alone, like an anti-social rebel of literature. Another icy chill went down on Twilight's spine as she recalled that scene where Silence gently kissed her neck in that little story of carnal desires, not even realizing someone knocking at the door for first. It took her a second to return from her fantasies, breaking down in a blink of an eye.

"(Oh Celestia, it's her! What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?! Okay, just keep calm and do as you'd have read nothing. But what if she finds it out?! Did I put them back in the right order? I must-)"

But the knocks interrupted her, and they sounded angry. She ran to the door but was too afraid to open it, her hoof slowly progressing towards the knob, shaking from fear, sweating from despair, when another series of even louder knocks made her grab it an open the door instantly.

"Gah, finally." Rainbow said. "What on Equestria took you so long? Weren't you found the exit?" she shouted clearly lacking in patience.

"And why are the curtains drawn together?" asked Rarity right next to Dash with a much more worried tone. "Is everything fine, darling?"

"It's just...aaaah... horror story!" shouted up the purple pony with a giant grin in the end.

Rainbow smacked her face "You and your... ah, leave it, Princess Celestia would like to discuss with something."

"It must be really important if she came by herself instead of calling us to Canterlot." noted Rarity.

They headed to the library where Pinkie Pie and Applejack just arrived. The princess were waiting for them already, with a chest next to her. As she noticed everypony has gathered she began her speech.

"As you probably all know, we had terrifying events nowadays. The power of the black magic kept erupting in various locations, breaking the harmony of the mana flow." Her eyes were shut as she said those words, but as the sun she raised day by day raised her eyelids the alicorn "Most of the eruptions were coming from Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, but few days ago we noticed eruptions at the Gates of Tartarus as well."

"Are they fleeing? Pfft." laughed Dash.

"Not likely. Rather sounds like reconnaissance." suggested Twilight.

Celestia nodded gently, her eyebrows showing how serious the problems may be "If the dark magic was coming from mere scouts, there might be a much bigger threat than what we were expecting."

She released the seal and opened the chest with her powerful magic, taking out golden necklaces with polished gems in their middle, along with a fine tiara.

"Take the elements, if something happens, you'll be the first who can stop it. I'll visit the town again afternoon and assign a couple of units to guard the area. We must prepare for the worst." her highness said, walking towards the balcony, but before she went on her way, she turned back and raised her serious, steel-heavy tone to a more elegant one.

"Oh, and I'll assign Shining Armor as well, if that doesn't mean any problem." she added, her voice being so lovely and her smile being bright as the Sun.

With a few elegant flaps Princess Celestia flew away in the sunrise.