Guardian
Chapter 8: Greed
Silver groaned as he woke up on the stony ground. The body of the minotaur lay beside him, unmoving. Silver looked up to see nothing but darkness.
“It must be nighttime,” Silver mumbled to himself as he slowly stood up. He rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. It felt like a thousand needles were being driven in to every part of his body. Silver slowly flew up to the top of the ravine. He landed on the ledge and looked around. Trees had been smashed and the brush trampled. Evidence of what happened earlier. Silver sighed and made his way out of the forest.
Silver stumbled out of the forest. He fell to the ground panting. It was a longer way than he thought. His head felt like it was about to exploded. His vision was blurry and his muscles seemed to not respond. He then noticed the familiar surroundings. Silver looked back behind him. He couldn’t believe it. He had somehow gone into the Everfree forest and came back out again. This was the spot where Fluttershy found him when he first arrived in Ponyville. Silver decided to wait until Fluttershy came back this way again.
Darkness threatened to take hold of his vision multiple times. Each time, Silver fought it back. Dawn was not too far away. Silver doubted he could make it though. He must have taken a nasty hit to the head. Silver was just about to give up when the most extraordinary thing happened. A chicken tripped over his head.
“Come back, chicken!” came the voice of Applebloom. Silver was relieved. Finally, somepony might find him and get help. He heard hoof steps coming from behind him. The chicken stood on top of his body, trying to indicate the fallen pony. The hoof steps suddenly stopped and a gasp was heard. “Mr. Silver! Hold on, I’ll go get Fluttershy!” Applebloom exclaimed and ran back the way she came. Soon, more hoof steps were heard.
“Oh my gosh!” Fluttershy exclaimed in her usual quiet voice. “Help me get him back to my home, Applebloom,”
“Ok,” Applebloom said and grabbed hold of Silver’s tail. He was then dragged for a while until they finally stopped at Fluttershy’s house. Silver’s mind mercifully sent him into unconsciousness after hours of extreme pain.
Silver woke up in a bed. He slowly sat up and rubbed his neck. It was really sore. So was the rest of his body. He heard noises coming from downstairs, but he couldn’t get out of bed if he wanted to. Of course he knew where he was if memory served correctly. Fluttershy’s house seemed homely enough, even though she lived outside a little ways from Ponyville. Silver lay back in the bed and silently dozed off again.
Silver woke up to voices. Either that or he was half awake. He couldn’t see much but he could hear well enough.
“... emotional trauma,” finished an unfamiliar mare.
“What do you mean? He seemed fine on the train,” the voice mistakenly belonging to Onyx said, exasperated.
“The Gems are dangerous. I’m surprised he hasn’t broken down from the stress, not to mention hiding his discomfort,” The unfamiliar pony said.
“Emerald, you and I both know Silver well enough that he wants to protect his friends,” Onyx argued, “Maybe hiding his torment is some kind of way he protects us. At least that’s what he thinks,”
“It’s not doing him any good,” Emerald explained, “I love you, Onyx, but I have to disagree with you sometimes,”
“Silver is my best friend, I know him better than anypony else,” Onyx said.
“What about Sapphire?” Emerald asked in a low voice.
“She... she died protecting him,” Onyx faltered, “I’m just glad he doesn’t remember that. It nearly tore him apart. He could never love another pony ever sense,”
“What about that lavender unicorn?” Emerald asked.
“Twilight? Well... she’s a special case,” Onyx said, “Even I see the resemblance between her and Sapphire,”
“I just hope Silver isn’t hurt again,” Emerald said. She brushed his mane with her hoof, “Remember when we found him by the old pond?”
“Yea,” Onyx confirmed, “and those bullies. Only if they knew who they were messing with, they would bow down to him instead of push him into the water,”
“If they knew who Silver really was, they would’ve run away in fear,” Emerald said, “Silver wouldn’t have wanted that. At least we protected him and became his friends,” So many memories were stirring in Silver that he groaned. His two friends froze. When he didn’t open his eyes, they sighed a sigh of relief.
“We should go,” Onyx said, “I’ll be here later when he wakes up,”
“Ok,” Emerald agreed. She kissed Silver on his forehead and walked out of the room. Onyx followed her. Silver slipped back into sleep after that.
Silver stood on the very familiar cliff. The ocean churned violently below him. In front of him were four ponies. The first three he was already acquainted with. The other, a pink version of himself, sat looking at a picture and sighing. Silver could plainly see it was Twilight Sparkle. He blushed and snatched the picture up with his magic. Love cried out and lunged at Silver. Silver flinched at the unexpected violence and gave the picture back. Love took it unquestioningly and continued to gaze longingly at it. Silver shook his head and willed himself to wake up.
Silver woke up again just as Fluttershy entered the room with a steaming hot bowl of soup. He quickly sat up. It cause Fluttershy to squeak, but she didn’t drop the bowl.
“How long have I been out?” Silver asked, looking around frantically. Fluttershy set down the bowl.
“For about a day,” She quietly answered. Silver started to get out of bed, but she put a hoof on his chest and gently pushed him back down. “Sorry, but you need at least another day to recover,”
“But the Gems...” Silver said.
“Marshall as a special team working on it,” Fluttershy reassured. But it sounded like poison to Silver. He jumped out of bed.
“No!” Silver shouted as he tried to run out the door. Fluttershy blocked his way. She didn’t do anything forceful, but Silver stopped nonetheless. “I have to destroy the Gems!”
“They can do it without you,” Fluttershy quietly insisted.
“You don’t understand,” Silver pleaded. He didn’t either. A sudden impulse of urgency came over him. “I have to destroy those gems, no pony else,”
“Why?” Fluttershy asked.
“I don’t know,” Silver admitted, “I just need to do it,” Fluttershy gave him an inquiring glance. “I-I” Silver stuttered. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, “I haven’t told any pony this yet, but there is a price to destroy the gems,” He waited for Fluttershy to say something, but she just listened.
“The power, the waves of energy that the gems give off. They are emotions. The first was Rage. The others were Depression, Fear, and the latest one I destroyed was Love. Now these emotions are like a maelstrom the churns in my mind and heart. It takes most of my willpower to keep these emotions buried until the right time or when I’m alone. I don’t want any other pony to go through with this, so I must see that the last two altars are destroyed by me,” Silver explained.
“Oh, wow...” Fluttershy said. She thought for a second. “Ok, I will let you go today, but you have to finish this soup,” Silver groaned by complied.
A few minutes later he burst out of Fluttershy’s house. He was going so fast that he accidentally ran into Twilight. The rolled end over end down a small hill until Silver hit a tree and Twilight hit him. Silver slowly got up and shook his head. Twilight did the same as looked like she was about to tell him off. When she looked up at him her expression changed from anger to surprise.
“Silver!” she exclaimed.
“Uh, hey Twilight,” Silver said equally surprised.
“I heard you were hurt and Fluttershy was tending to you,” Twilight explained, “I was just coming by to visit. Wasn’t she going to keep you another day?”
“Something came up,” Silver simply said, “Where’s Marshall or Onyx. I need to speak to one of them,”
“Marshall is in the Everfree forest searching for that other Altar,” Twilight explained, “Onyx is currently at the HQ, why?”
“Thanks!” Silver said and took off, flying for the HQ. He didn’t want to do that, but he had to hurry. Silver was there in an instant. He pushed the door open and stomped into the command center. He found Onyx talking with an emerald colored pegasus. They were studying a map on the table. “Onyx!” Silver shouted. Onyx looked up surprised. The emerald colored pegasus looked up too, but didn’t seem surprised.
“Silver!” Onyx greeted, surprised, “I’m astonished that you’re out of bed this early. Don’t worry, Marshall is going to find the last two altars,”
“That’s what I’m here about,” Silver said as he walked around the table and stared Onyx down, “Where is the altar that Marshall went to?”
“Around the southern border of Everfree forest, why?” Onyx asked. Silver nodded and turned around. He ran out of the building and flew into the air again. Time was of the essence, he had time for explanation later. Silver flew quickly over Ponyville and over Everfree forest. He landed at what he judged was the southern border and ran around, trying to find a sign of Marshall. He soon came upon a knife. It was long and gold in color. Silver saw nearby a bush that was trampled on. He headed in that direction. The forest seemed to be watching his every move. Judging him, waiting for him to make a mistake. Soon, Silver ran down a large hill until he reached a clearing. Silver peaked around the tree and immediately wished he hadn’t. The scene in front of him would terrorize his dreams for the rest of his life. The altar stood proudly, with a green gem on top of it. Around it was a pool of blood and six dead ponies. Each had a knife in their throats or chest. Their faces were twisted with either anger or shock. Silver threw up the soup behind the tree and gagged a couple of times.
“Awful, isn’t it?” Marshall said as he appeared behind Silver. Silver wheeled around and back up a little bit. “Don’t worry, son, I ain’t gonna hurt you. I’m not under the effects of that Gem,”
“Which one is it?’ Silver asked.
“Greed,” Marshall said, “My companions ran ahead of me. I heard them shout they found the altar and sacks of gold. When I reached the clearing, I saw this horrible image. It seems they killed each other over the gold,”
“I don’t see any gold over there,” Silver said as he peeked at the clearing.
“Hurry up and destroy that Gem then,” Marshall said. Silver nodded and turned towards the Gem. Before he could fire off a bolt of magic, though, something hit him in the side and he slammed into the ground. When Silver looked up, he saw a brown earth pony standing wild eyed over him.
“No pony messes with my gold!” the pony shouted crazily. He started stamping his hooves on Silver’s exposed belly. He got a few good hit in before Silver rolled to the side. Silver sprang up and bucked at the pony. He flew end over end and crash into a tree. Silver went over and held him down.
“Marshall, I need some help!” Silver called.
“Alright!” Marshall said as he walked over and held the pony down. Silver charged up a bolt of magic.
“No!” The wild pony shouted. Silver heard a gargling sound. The wild pony had stabbed Marshall in the throat with a knife. Silver leaped to the side as the knife was thrown at him. “No!” The pony shouted again. Silver headbutted the pony and picked up the knife. He immediately drove it home into the pony’s chest. Silver panted. His heart and mind were racing. He stumbled over to Marshall, who was groaning on the ground.
“Marshall!” Silver cried, “Hold on, let me take care of this Gem and I’ll get help,”
“What is it like?” Marshall asked.
“What’s what like, sir?” Silver asked quietly.
“Having all those emotions run through you,” Marshall answered.
“It’s like contained chaos that could exploded at any moment,” Silver replied after a moment of thought. He knew Marshall didn’t have time.
“I knew you were the one to do this,” Marshall said, “I tried giving you a break, though,”
“No pony should go what I’m going through,” Silver said.
“No pony can go through what you’re going through,” Marshall said. His face was turning pale.
“Goodbye, Marshall,” Silver said. Marshall sighed and closed his eyes. Silver stood back up and faced the gem. He charged a bolt of magic and destroyed it. An invisible force slammed into him. Only one more to go.