Silence, that was what surrounded the stirring Pegasus. It couldn't be described as anything more or anything less, there wasn't a world around her nor was there a distance to be viewed. As her Magenta eyes opened, the Pegasus immediately panicked, she thought she was blind, that was until she saw her cyan hooves as she failed to backpedal. The mare just floated lissly in a circle, unable to gain any directional momentum, even when she unfurled her large wings and gave a few test flaps. That's when it hit her, she was dead, she had to have been.
The cyan Pegasus could see nothing, feel nothing, even her body felt foreign to her. She could tell that it wasn't even a dreamscape, there was absolutely nothing but silence, she couldn't even signal for help, not that she would. She knew that she wouldn't have made it out of that situation alive. It was just the sight of her old friend Fluttershy that renewed a fire in her to fight, and fight she did. Now she had nothing to fight for anymore, nothing to worry about, it was strange but she had learned to appreciate silence over the course of her life. Only ever being able to communicate through boorish writing never appealed to her, it was action that defined her till the end. The cyan mare then closed her eyes, trying again to at least feel her own body.
She didn't know how long it took, but she finally found sensation within her. Focusing deeper, she was disappointed to find that the sensations seemed to not be of her own. There was one that was dark, maybe even malevolent, she always had those feelings, yet never that dark or evil as the one festering in her now. The second sensation was faint compared to the first, and she had no way to describe it. It was far too weak for her to even dig up a simple term for it, maybe she was just making up the sensation at that point. She didn't need to cling onto anything anymore, she was alone, she had lost.
Or so the troubled Pegasus thought.
A dark blue cloud of what she assumed to be shimmering magic formed right before her very eyes.
All the Pegasus could do was watch, as she was unable to navigate the dark abyss. However the cloud of magic zipped from left, then to the right. There was zero fluidity to its motion, it seemed just as lost as the Pegasus was. Maybe it was another lost soul doomed to whatever purgatory that they resided in, and she was fine with that, it acted as something to steal her pitiful thoughts off herself.
The blue cloud continued to move erratically, its movement became more frequent and faster. The cyan mare could see the thing take on multiple shapes and sizes, she could tell it was becoming something more than just a cloud of magic. It began to compress itself and it tried to shine brighter, the cyan mare looked awe struck by the display. Being that her entire backdrop was black, seeing any color outside of her own gave her hope. Hope for what, she didn't know, but the little puff of magic was amusing her to a degree. She even wondered if she’d become something like that if she just floated around long enough. Then at least she’d be able to move freely again, being stuck on the ground or anywhere for that matter was her worst nightmare. All she wanted to do was fly, fly freely amongst the clouds, but she knew that was nothing more than a dream. Still it was a nice dream, a dream that she always held close.
Nightingale Eight Years Ago
“What was the Speaker thinking?”
“She's a half breed, they say she's unstable.”
“I know she's mute, but is she deaf as well, little runt listens to nopony!”
“I feel sorry for her.”
She heard the noise all the time behind her back. The distrust, pity, and general contempt for her simple presence was enough to drive the filly to darker thoughts. All she had was Star, the old bat was all she could claim in the dark forest. Black Star housed her and chose to train her for reasons that was beyond the little filly. All she knew was that nopony liked it one bit, and those ponies always made sure that she knew it. Especially when she was alone like today, she sat outside of the Underground markets entrance, attempting to ignore all the talk and stares. She hated it when the old bat would order her to wait somewhere in public when he did business in town, all she wanted to do was Fly, and fly far. The Everfree forest restricted her, stole her from her friends and family. She could still remember clearly the day she opted out, the day she took her teachers blood.
“Hey!” a young country-ish voice called out in a language she was only just now learning to fully understand.
The filly did her best to ignore it, even turning from the direction of the voice.
“Colors, I know ya hear me!” The voice was unrelenting, and even sounded like it was getting closer.
That wasn't her name, yet she never tried to right them. They’d probably still call her that if they knew that she hated it, and then it would probably get worse from there. The filly could hear hoofsteps near her, whoever was approaching clearly wasn't going to give up. So the filly rolled her magenta eyes and blew her mane out of her face before she turned around to see who was going to mess with her now. She was surprised however by the large orange filly that helped her brother with their merchant stall below ground. She wore a brown hat that seemed a size too big for her and was hitched to a large cart covered by a tarp.
“Ya been sittin’ that same spot since I left, aren't yer hungry? '' The large orange filly questioned.
The Pegasus expertly responded with a growl of her stomach.
“Ha, that's what I thought, yer always look a little thin. If my granny saw ya, she would feed ya day in and day out.” The orange filly chuckled, before turning her head back to the saddlebags that were strapped to her back.
Popping the strap on one of the covers, she rummaged around till she pulled her head out with a little brown bag. She then immediately tossed it to the mute filly, who caught it without even blinking.
“Ma name is Applejack by the way.”
Colors just looked at the bag cautiously, maybe it was a trap. Well if it was, she’d just fight the other filly and that would be that. Opening the bag up, she discovered a large red apple and a small cut of grilled fish. Colors blanched at the sight of the fish, yet she knew she would have to eat it. Meat was a basic part of her diet now, despite the fact she’ll never find a taste for it. Still she was hungry, and the snack didn't look like it was tailored for some cruel prank. So Colors picked up the apple first and took a huge bite out of it, after the first bite, Colors almost jumped from the flavor hitting her tongue. The Apple was extremely sweet and juicy, that might've been the best apple she had ever bitten into.
“That's Apple family produce right there!” Filly Applejack proudly proclaimed. “So ya enjoy it, I gotta get this stuff to ma brother before he gets into a tizzy.”
Just before Applejack was going to wave bye to the strange filly, two ponies slowly walked out from the market.
“I told you that was a fool's errand Star, what alchemist would sell Hydra extract down there.” A brown Everfree stallion with a free flowing tattoo stretching across his eyes commented.
“Well I didn't even see you glance at his wares, I thought honesty was all about your visual acuity?” Black Star chuckled.
“You know it doesn't work like that, besides…” The brown stallion stopped mid sentence when he saw the large cart, and looked down to see the filly it was attached to. Then he saw Star's apprentice going to town on an apple that was obviously gifted to her.
Applejack nodded to the two before making her way past them and down into the market. Black Star then trotted over to his young apprentice with an amused look on his face.
“Like that Apple?”
Colors jumped at his sudden appearance, she hadn’t even been paying any attention. But she still nodded when the question was clearer in her head.
“Good, finish up your little snack and then we're off for some training.” Star said, almost as if he was glad that she interacted with somepony.
“Star...” The Brown stallion said critically.
“Don't want to hear it Sugarcane, besides I don't see you with a student that I can criticize?” Star bemused.
Colors kept to her apple, even though she knew full well what they were talking about. All she wanted to do was fly freely, and that old bat promised that he would teach her how to fly further and higher than she could ever dream. Yet nothing was free, her young mind fully comprehended that. Star asked a lot from her; body, mind, and her loyalty was his to train. He was teaching her of the trials and tribulations associated with his job, and all she had to do was not give up. Then and only then the old bat said that the freedom she wanted, the freedom she deserved would be earned. The in-between all meant little to her if the end result was her freedom to fly, finishing her apple she looked down at the grilled fish.
“You don't have to eat that here if you don't want too young one, pack it up and report to the field of elders.” Star said, recognizing fully what she was going through in her head still.
Colors saluted playfully before packing up and clasping the brown bag shut with her mouth. She looked left to right before quickly opening her wings to take off away from the noise of the market. The filly knew that her mentor would spend more time there just to argue with that other stallion, they always did that. Sugarcane was an element to, if Colors was correct, he was honestly. An element she didn't like all too much, he tended to say things she never really wanted to hear. Colors began to flap harder, it has always been like that for her, she always has something to prove to somepony.
The Abyss
The Pegasus rapidly blinked, she had no idea where that memory came from all of the sudden. It made her feel strange, a lot of things didn't make sense to her. Like why would that old bat break his promise, or was there something that she was missing. There was always something that she was missing, looking back towards the condensed cloud of magic, she was astonished to see it take shape. It was still nothing more than magic, but now it looked like a little filly, a Alicorn filly at that. It pranced around like a little filly as well, the Pegasus smiled at the sight of the thing. That made her strange feeling stronger, the feeling that was suppressed beneath the darkness that consumed her. She knew what it was now, it was the very thing that gave her hope, it was what Star promised would bring her feelings back to the surface.
“Loyalty.”
The Pegasus was spooked by the sudden sound of the voice that surrounded her. She had no clue where it came from, and then she saw the little magic filly things sitting very still. Could the low and demure voice belong to it, she couldn't be for sure. But what she was sure of was that the magical filly was growing, and it was approaching her.
The Pegasus just looked at the thing with a cocky grin, maybe, just maybe it would help her either understand her situation or just put her out of her misery.