//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Prelude to a Storm // Story: Shadow and Silver // by silversoul //------------------------------// It was a school in Canterlot, I could tell by the tall, shining buildings in the close distance. I don’t know the name of it, mainly because I couldn’t see it anywhere on the side where I was standing. But then that’s the burden of amnesia; when your memories try to return, you still can’t remember everything. But of course the name wasn’t what I saw the younger me focusing on. It was the two other foals that were messing with me. They were both colts, bigger than me but still possibly around the same age. Both were unicorns, which was to be expected in the city, and they were both using them to shoot sparks at my hooves. Both were snickering as I hopped around until my back was against the wall, wings spread in obvious fear. “Why are you even in a public school anyway, huh?” one of them, a dark orange one, teased at my younger self. It was pretty much what you could expect from foals, but it had an effect on my younger self nonetheless. “Shouldn’t you be up in some fancy private school? After all, you got wings AND a horn! You should be some kind of princess, right!?” His companion, a gray-brown colt, cut in, “Heh, I bet the Princess gave her up! After all, she can’t do any magic good! Shadow here’s just a freak, that’s what she is.” “T-that’s not true! I’m not a freak!” my younger self cried, but the tears in my eyes gave away how upset I really was. The two stepped closer, flanking either of my sides and stopping any chance of escape; I was so young I didn’t even have my cutie mark yet, and my wings were still way too small to fly away. “Get away from me, you jerks! If you don’t I’ll, I’ll…” “Oh, you’ll what?” the orange one said in a mocking tone, “You’ll zap us with that nub you call a horn? You couldn’t do it earlier in class, so what makes you think you could now?” His own horn glowed, sending a small spark at me and making me jump and yelp in pain, making them both snicker. “I don’t know why they even let you stay in magic kindergarten anyway? Maybe the teacher just feels sorry for you, since you don’t have any parents,” the gray one said with a sneer. “You’re nothing but an orphan, you know that? Just a stupid, orphan freak that her parents didn’t want!” By this point the younger me was curled up in a ball, sobbing gently as the two colts kicked dirt at me. “What’s wrong, huh orphan? Aren’t you used to being in the dirt like this?” they kept teasing. I knew I couldn’t step in and save myself; this was only a dream of a memory, like viewing a film. And there was nopony else around to help me. Or so it looked at first. I saw a quick movement from some nearby bushes. Turning, I saw a bright gray blur rush over at the two colts over my younger, shaking form. There was a bright flash of light, and suddenly the two were staggering away from where I was, apparently forced back. When the light faded, I was honestly surprised by who was standing there. He was a lot smaller, flank just as bare as my own, but there was no mistaking that silver coat or that wild, black and white mane and tail. It was Silver, and his horn was glowing as he glared down the other two while I looked up at him in amazement. “You leave her alone, you big bullies!” he yelled, pointing his horn at the two bigger ponies. He reared down and spread his hooves, trying to make himself look intimidating. The gray one looked at him, “What’s your deal, kid? Why are you sticking up for the freak?” “Because, she needed help,” he said, not moving from where he stood. “And she’s not a freak; she just looks different. That’s no reason to be bullying her. How’d you feel if you were picked on, huh?” he asked. “You better shut up and get outta here if you know what’s good for you, kid,” the orange one said, his and his friend’s horns both flaring to life and pointing at Silver. But he didn’t move, instead keeping his horn bright. “You don’t even know her, so why stick up for her?” he asked. “I don’t need to know her; I was always told you should stick up for other ponies who are being picked on. It’s the right thing to do, now you get out of here!” “Fine, you asked for it, bub!” The two shot off a number of sparks at him, but Silver closed his eyes tight, and a few seconds later, a small, green shield had popped up in front of him, protecting us both from the sparks. The other two colts were definitely shocked by the display, stumbling even further back. “W-what, but… how can you make a shield!? Nopony in our class can do that!” the gray one said nervously. “I practice a lot,” Silver grunted, apparently straining to keep the small dome up. “Now, get out of here and just stop messing with other ponies!” he cried, stepping forward. In their shocked state, that was apparently all it took for the two bigger unicorns to turn and gallop away. When they had turned the corner, Silver finally dropped the small shield, taking a deep breath. It had clearly taken a lot of energy for him, being so young. Still, despite the tired look in his eyes, he turned and held a hoof out to the younger me, “Are you okay?” “Uh... y-yeah, I’ll be okay,” I said, taking his hoof and getting up. He helped to dust me off. “Thanks for helping me. Nopony really ever sticks up for me around here…” I said, not looking at him, my ears low. “Do… do you really think I’m not a freak?” I asked “Of course I don’t. That’s why I came and helped you when I heard you being picked on,” he said with a small smile. “I’ve seen you around here a lot at recess, but I never saw you playing with anypony. I didn’t realize you didn’t have any friends around here.” He held out a hoof again, this time in greeting, “I’m Silver Soul. Nice to meet you.” The younger me looked at the hoof for a few seconds, before reaching out and tapping it with her own. “I’m Shadow Heart. And thanks again, for standing up for me back there,” she said, smiling at him. “Well, everypony needs a friend,” he said with a smile. “Come on, I’ll walk you home if you want.” “Thanks, Silver,” I said, walking with him out of school yard. “Anytime, Shadow,” he said. “So, tell me about yourself. It must be really cool being an Alicorn...” I watched the two foals walking away, having already realized what I was watching. I’d been his friend since we’d started school. This had been the day I’d first met Silver. ********************************************************** “… And that’s everything she told me about her dream,” Silver finished. “Wow, that sounds pretty heavy,” Rainbow said. It was the morning after the rather large rainstorm, and so the weather patrol was busy cleaning up all the remaining clouds this morning. And it had struck Rainbow Dash as odd when Shadow hadn’t reported in, leading the Pegasus to go over to her place. After all, the Alicorn hadn’t once been late in the time she’d been working for Ponyville’s Weather Department. To her surprise, it was Silver who’d come to the door, explaining to her that Shadow had refused to get out of bed, in a very depressed tone of voice. All he’d been able to get out of her was a description of a dream she’d had last night; one similar to the one he’d had a few days ago, apparently. After hearing it, Dash was quick to put two and two together. And now, in constantly growing un-Rainbow-like fashion, she felt herself getting upset at the idea of Shadow being so upset. So here she was now, standing in Shadow and Silver’s flat with the Unicorn stallion. “I think heavy is an understatement here, Dash,” Silver said, leading her towards the door to Shadows bedroom. “I mean, I’ve never seen Shadow so depressed over something. I didn’t even think she could get this upset! And she’s not telling me anything other than to let her rest.” He looked her in the eye, stopping in front of Shadows door, “So please, I’m asking you as a friend; can you just talk to her, please, and try to snap her out of this? I mean, you’re her marefriend, so she’ll probably open up a bit more to you than just a normal friend on this.” “Um, well…” Rainbow faltered. She really wasn’t one for talking, of course. She was a more take action kind of mare, somepony who wanted to find the fastest solution to something. And usually, talking wasn’t the fastest way to solve anything. Instead, it was one of the slowest if her memories served her well. Still, this was Shadow they were talking about. The mare she’d snuggled with under the stars. The one she’d told some of her deepest secrets to! Her marefriend… And she at least owed her to try and talk. “… Okay, I’ll try and talk to her. But I can’t guarantee it’ll do any good.” “Thank you, so much,” he said, wrapping his front legs around Rainbow. The Pegasus was quick to try and nudge him off. “Okay, okay, you’re welcome,” she grunted, slipping out of his grasp. “Just, please no hugs. And, can you not listen in on this, please?” “Sure; I have to go to the library today, anyway. That should give you plenty of time to try and get her back to normal,” Silver told her as he started toward the door. “Really?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him, unable to stop a knowing smirk from crossing her lips “Any reason why you wanna get there so early? Or is it for something more than just books you’re going for?” Silver’s back was to her now, but she could tell he was blushing, and stifled a snicker. “Actually, there is; I’m expecting a letter from Canterlot, if Shadow didn’t tell you. One that could help us find out more about ourselves,” he said, not looking back as he opened the door. Shadow had told her about it, Rainbow suddenly remembered, realizing now what he meant. “Oh, right… that. Well, I hope you find something,” she said. “Oh, and don’t get cold hooves if you feel you wanna ask Twilight anything. You know she’ll always give you an honest answer,” she added before Silver had walked out. He finally looked back at her, his face clear of any red, “Thanks Rainbow, I’ll remember that. And please, really try with Shadow. She may be your marefriend, but she’s practically a sister to me by this point.” With that, he stepped out into the hall. “No problem,” she said simply before turning to face Shadows door. She reached out, giving a few quick knocks, “Shadow, you in there? It’s me, Rainbow Dash.” Silence, except for what sounded like the rustling of bed sheets. “Shade, come on, if you’re awake in there, let me come in. I wanna talk to you.” “Well, I don’t wanna talk right now, Rainbow. And don’t you have weather duty right now? Just leave me alone for now.” Rainbow chuckled, trying to not to get annoyed now, “Come on, when have you known me to do any of my work on time. Besides, I’m worried about you; Silver told me you won’t come out of your room because of a dream from last night.” “It wasn’t just a dream Rainbow! It was the past, now just shut up and go away and leave me alone!” Shadow practically shouted through the door. Her patience quickly drained, Rainbow yelled back, “Shadow Heart, you let me in your room right now or I’ll buck the door in! And you know that I can, and will!” Silence for a minute yet again. But then, she heard the gentle hum of magic and the turning of the door knob before the door slowly opened and Rainbow stepped inside. She’d never been in Shadows room before. Their nights spent together were usually in her mansion up in the sky near the edge of town, after all. But now that she was here, she could finally get a good look at it. The walls were bare, save for a few small pictures. There was a small bookshelf with only a few books on it, most of them either fictional stories or books on flight. But aside from that there was only a bed with a bedside table holding a lamp and picture frame. Shadow was curled up on the bed, watching as Rainbow sat next to her. She held her head down, but Rainbow could see her eyes were red, and both her cheeks had moist streaks going down them. Had she really been crying? Rainbow really didn’t have a good idea of what to say at this point, but settled for the first thing that came to mind, “Um… hey.” “Hey…” Shadow choked, her voice sounding tight. Definitely crying, then. “Sorry for yelling, just now,” she said quietly. “It’s just, I… I…” she started, apparently unable to finish her sentence. Rainbow went over, sitting next to her on the bed. “Shadow, what’s wrong with you? Come on, you know you can tell me anything, you know that.” Shadow looked back down at the mattress, “You heard what Silver told you. About that dream I had, everything that I saw happen. Everything that I found out…” “You mean that you lived in Canterlot? That you’ve known Silver since you started school?” Rainbow asked. She knew what the real reason was, though. Or rather, she was pretty sure she knew; she just had to hear it from shadow to know. So she went on, “Or maybe that…” “You know what it is…” Shadow said quietly. “I… I was… am, I’m an orphan. I don’t have anypony…” “Now you gotta know that’s a big fat lie.” The Alicorn looked up at the rainbow mare, “What do you mean that’s a lie? I heard it enough in my dream, Rainbow Dash! Orphan, Orphan… I don’t have a family…” Tears were welling up in her eyes despite her attempt to hold them back. “All this time, I’ve been wondering, what about my family? Where was I from? What was my family story? Were they worried about me, looking for me out there somewhere? Did I have any relatives, brothers or sisters? And now…” She gulped, her voice heavy, “And now, after all this time… I get some hint about who I was. And in the end, it turns out I don’t have anypony to worry about me. To go home to…” Suddenly, she broke, leaning over and wrapping her front legs around Rainbow Dash’s neck. Any attempt at keeping herself composed in front of her marefriend was lost as she put her head in Dash’s shoulder, muffled cries coming from it. “First I wind up with amnesia, and then I find out I haven’t got a family… how is that fair at all!?” Dash had to stop herself from pulling away. She reminded herself, help as much as you can, even if that just meant being a shoulder for Shadow to cry on. Slowly, she put her front legs around her, sitting there quietly as the Alicorn cried into her coat. ========================================================== Silver’s hoof tapped on the front door of Golden Oaks Library. It hadn’t taken long at all for him to get there, even with the morning chill of fall working through his coat. A few seconds later, the top of the door opened, Spikes head popping over the bottom half of the door. Silver smiled at him, “Morning Spike. Glad to see you made it back okay. Twilight up yet; she mentioned I’d be over today, right?” “Yeah, she’s been up for a while now. She told me when I got back last night, after having me send something off to Canterlot,” he said, opening the lower part of the door for the Unicorn so he could step inside. “So, Celestia’s School huh, seems kind of a long shot, don’t you think?” he asked as Silver walked in, “I mean if you were there, you’d have thought Twilight would at least know you by appearance. I mean, you’re around the same age, right?” Silver nodded, “That’s what all the doctors at the hospital said. But, we had to at least try; any possible lead is helpful at this point…” Spike could hear the worry clearly in Silvers voice, and gave him a concerned look, “You okay? You don’t sound pretty hopeful.” “I am, it’s just, well… Shadow had a real… vivid dream last night, is all, and she’s been really depressed about it all morning,” Silver told him. He took a look around the library, empty save for him and the baby dragon. “Where is Twilight, anyway?” “Up here, sorry,” cried the familiar voice of the lavender mare. Silver turned to see Twilight trotting down the stairs. “Good morning, Silver,” she greeted as she reached the bottom and came over to the pair, “Now, what was that about Shadow having a dream?” “Oh, that, well…” Silver sighed, sitting and explaining everything his friend had told him about the previous night. “… And now, she’s locked herself up in her bedroom and refuses to come out,” he finished. “Rainbow Dash came over a little while ago, so I asked her to talk to Shadow to see if she can help.” Twilight gave him a skeptical look, “Really, you sure about that? I mean, I know those two are together, but Rainbow isn’t exactly the best with situations like that…” “Only because she never had so much motivation, like she does with Shadow,” Silver told her. “It may sound hard to believe, but I know for a fact that Dash has a soft, romantic side to her. I see it all the time she and Shadow are together,” he explained. “She’d do just about anything for Shadow. She’s never said it before, but I’m pretty sure she’s fallen in love…” “You really think so?” Twilight asked, stepping a bit closer to him. “I’d never have thought Rainbow could meet somepony like that. I never really saw her as a romantic.” Silver shrugged, trying to ignore how close she was to him. “Yeah, me either. But you know, that’s the great thing about love…” he said, looking her in the eyes. “We can’t help it; it’s just something that… happens,” he leaned forward a bit, not even realizing what he was doing. “Yeah, I guess it is…” Twilight said, leaning in slowly as well. “Funny, how it can happen like that, and with who…” she started, her voice low. However, as the two were just inches apart, Spike decided to make himself known. “Um, hello!?” he cried, snapping his claws between their faces, making both Unicorns jump. “Jeeze, get a room you two,” he muttered, heading over to one of the bookshelves. As he worked on sorting the books, the other two sat there, avoiding each other’s gaze with bright red faces. Neither of them really knew what to say after something so spontaneous. Thankfully, the awkwardness was gone a minute later as there was another knock on the door. “Hello? Is the library open yet?” called a mares voice from outside. Happy to have a reason to do something, Twilight jumped to her hooves. “Yes, yes we’re open!” Twilight proclaimed, rather loudly as she opened the door, while Silver took the chance to head off for one of the shelves and start browsing the books. In front of the entrance was a thin, tan-coated unicorn with a pair of saddlebags on her back. Her mane and tail were pitch black, and she had a cutie mark of what looked to be a whip cracking in mid-air. “Good morning, can I help you find anything?” Twilight greeted, her smile a bit too big. The mare shook her head, walking inside, “No, I’m just here to browse at the moment, but thank you.” With that, she went off to a shelf and started browsing. “Of course. You need any help, please feel free to ask me or Spike,” Twilight said, motioning to her assistant at the end of her sentence. The tension from before mostly gone now, she wandered back over to Silver. “Anyway, Spike told you I sent the request yesterday, right?” she asked. Silver didn’t meet her eyes, but instead suddenly shifted them over to the mare, watching her intently for some reason. Still, he nodded, “Yeah, he told me. The response should be here any minute, right?” “Um, yeah,” Twilight said, a bit annoyed he didn’t seem to be paying her much mind, but was apparently ogling the new visitor. She had her back to them and was across the room, but he was eying her with a surprising amount of intensity. “If they’re lucky, they’ll find it before… um, Silver, not to sound rude, but you can please look at me while I’m talking to y-“ She was stopped suddenly, however, as the stallion next to her but a hoof around her mouth and brought her right up to his chest. Looking up at his, cheeks bright red, she saw that his eyes had somehow changed; instead of their usual warm feeling, they’d gone rather cold, and were looking over at the other mare with an analyzing glance. She could easily tell; it was the same look she got when she was focusing on some tough studying. He bent down slightly, whispering into her ear, “Something’s off about that mare over there. I can’t tell exactly what, but she seems… wrong, somehow. The dangerous kind of wrong. And she has a weapon in her saddlebag, probably a whip like her cutie mark.” Twilights eyes went wide at the dead seriousness in his voice. A kind of seriousness she’d never heard out of him before. Still, she kept quiet as he went on. “Now listen carefully; don’t kick her out, she’ll get suspicious. But stay close to Spike in case she makes some kind of move.” As he finally let go of her, Twilight stood back up and looked at him. She would have asked if he was certain about such a crazy accusation, but something about his voice just now told her he was. Instead, she opted to say, “That was… new, Silver. I never knew you had a side like this to you.” She looked back at the mare, who had kept her back to them this whole time as she browsed. Keeping her voice low, she asked, “You think you dealt with this kind of stuff in the past. He nodded, the serious look not leaving his face, “I think so, but we can talk about that when we know she’s gone. Just go over to Spike and keep him safe like I said; I can handle myself. And remember, don’t look or say anything conspicuous.” Twilight nodded, starting over to Spike, “Right.” ========================================================== Back at their home, Shadow had finally managed to stop crying, wrapped in Rainbow Dash’s forelegs as the Pegasus quietly held her. “I… I’m sorry, Rainbow,” Shadow choked, wiping her tears away with a hoof. “I know I must look so stupid right now…” “Don’t say that, Shadow,” Rainbow said, nuzzling her marefriends cheek gently. “Please don’t. You could never look stupid to me,” she said quietly. “And you are wrong about what you said, not having a family,” she added. “How do you figure that?” Shadow asked, looking at Rainbow with a foal-like innocence. Rainbow smiled slightly, reaching a forehoof over to Shadows bedside table and taking the picture that had been resting there. “Well, you tell me, what is this?” she asked, holding the picture in front of Shadow. It showed the Alicorn outside the building with Silver; it was from their first day in Ponyville, when they’d first moved in. Both of them were smiling, a foreleg wrapped around each other. “Me… and Silver,” she answered, “But, what’s that got to do with this?” “Why do you even have this picture, huh?” Rainbow asked back. “Well, because, we’re friends,” she answered simply, “We’ve been friends since we both woke up here, maybe even before then…” “Friends?” Rainbow shook her head, “Nah, I think you’re more than that.” Shadow looked at her, “Rainbow Dash, are you implying that I’ve been cheating on you? Because if you do, I’ll have you know that-“ She was cut off by Rainbows snickering, “No, no, it’s nothing like that. No, I think you two are a lot closer.” Her voice became more serious as it went on, “You’ve known him since you were both foals. He saved you from being bullied, but more important, he saved you from being alone if that dream is anything to go by. He was there for you when nopony else wanted to be. He feels like a lot more than a friend, he told me that himself; he said he feels like a brother to you. “He… he does?” Shadow said, taking the photograph now and looking down at it. She was quiet for a minute, “… It’s true, he did save me from being alone. I can remember now; he was the first friend I ever had. He even took me in when he found out I didn’t have a family. He was just like a brother to me…” Rainbow grinned, “See? You’re never gonna be alone again. Silver’s been there for you for years. And even if he wasn’t here now, you still got all the other girls as well as me.” She hugged Shadow again, bringing her in close and whispering into her ear, “I promise you here and now, I won’t let you be alone. And I’m saying that as the Element of Loyalty.” Shadow was crying again by now, but for a much different reason. Smiling, she leaned in and locked lips with Rainbow for a full minute, their eyes closed. When she finally broke off, she whispered back to Rainbow, “You really can have such a great serious, romantic side to you under that huge ego of yours sometimes… I’ll never know what I did to deserve such a great mare like you.” Rainbow chuckled, “Heh, ditto. Now come on, I know just the thing to get you pumped up again; some good old-fashioned cloud buck-“ BOOM!!! Out of nowhere, the sounds of a huge explosion erupted in their ear drums. The force was so strong it actually shook the building, and no doubtedly most of the buildings around town. Not only that, but the sound was accompanied by what looked like a large, but brief pillar of light. “What in the name of Tartarus…?” Rainbow started, looking out the window towards the source of the large disturbance. Shadow looked as well, before her eyes suddenly went wide as dinner plates. “That looks like it came from the library! Oh no, Silver, Twilight, Spike, they could all be in trouble!” “Well then what’re we waiting for!?” Rainbow asked, already in the air as she opened the window. “Come on, let’s get going!” she said, Shadow following her as the two sped out and towards the library. ========================================================== “Twilight, are you really sure about-“ “Spike, keep your voice down; this is a library, after all.” “Fine,” Spike grumbled, bringing his voice down to a whisper, “Are you really sure that pony’s dangerous? I mean, she’s just looking through a few books.” He motioned to the unicorn who had come in earlier, who hadn’t turned to look at them or Silver since she’d arrived. “You sure Silver knows what he’s saying? Maybe he’s just tired or something.” “I am sure. You didn’t hear Silver before. I’ve never heard him so dead serious about anything. He sounds pretty certain, too,” Twilight said. “Now just act normal; if we’re lucky, she may not find a reason to stay here and just leave.” Spike shrugged, “No problem there. I got plenty to do now that I’m back anyw-“ He stopped suddenly, his cheeks puffing out as his stomach growled. At that moment, several things happened at once. With a loud belch, he spit a stream of green flames out of his mouth, which quickly spin into a circle that materialized into a average-looking manila folder, which floated in the air. So the school did have a file then! Twilight thought, her magic reaching out to pick up the folder. However, before she could grab it, she heard the sound of a saddlebag opening. She then heard the sound of something slicing through the air before the folder was suddenly snagged by nothing other than a black whip. The mare, gripping the whip’s handle in a field of pale red magic, brought it over to herself. Twilight and Spike both looked at her, stunned in shock by the quickness of her actions. “I’m afraid I need that, thank you very much,” she said as the folder landed in her now-empty saddlebag. The tan mare’s eyes were shining in glee as she looked back at Silver, who had turned at the sound of her movement. “Sorry, but my orders are to make sure you don’t get your hands on this, Silver.” Silvers eyes went wide, “Orders? You mean, somepony hired you to come here!? But, how’d they know about any of this?” The mare shrugged, “Sorry, but I don’t question the orders of my Superior.” She started towards the front door, “Now, just be nice and don’t move, and I’m allowed to leave you in peace.” She got to the door, whip still in the air as her hoof reached out to grab the door knob… Suddenly, she jumped back as a jade-green beam of magic hit the spot she’d been standing in seconds ago. She whirled around, glaring at Silver, whose horn was pointed at her and still glowing. “I’ve gone almost five full months without knowing who I am,” he said slowly, eyes glaring daggers at her. “I am not about to let some mystery mare with a whip take my one chance of possibly finding out more about myself! Now I am not letting you leave with that file, and you’re going to answer all the questions I have for you…” His horns magic suddenly flared in strength, “One way, or another.” The mare smirked at him, “Oh really now? And how exactly do you plan on doing that? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the one with the weapon!” As she spoke, she reeled the whip back and cracked at him, making Silver jump back as she laughed. “But you know what, I’ll be nice; I’ll let you ask me one question, and if I can answer it, I will.” Silver stopped and lifted his head, looking behind the whip-cracking mare at Twilight, who had brought herself in front of Spike in a protective stance. Thinking quick, he whipped his tail up towards Twilight’s bedroom, hoping she’d get the idea. Her nod showed she did, her horn glowing as she prepared a teleport spell. Silver looked back to the mare, “Fine. Figuring you’re a typical kind of pony, no doubt you’ll lie if I ask something important. So in that case, how about a simple question? One not so important?” She shrugged again, “If you want.” “Okay then… your name, what is it?” Silver asked. “My name?” she laughed, “Well, that was a dumb waste of a free question!” She smirked, readying her weapon, “But, if you really must know, it’s Wylde Twister. Now, enough stalling; if you’re gonna make a move, make it now!” Silver smirked back at her, “I already did. Next time, pay attention to everypony around you instead of just the one who attacked you” “What are you going on about?” Wylde asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. However, a second later, a violet flash of light behind her went off, making her turn. Twilight was still standing there, but Spike was gone, safely upstairs in Twilights room. “Huh, sneaky, I’ll give you that…” she said, looking back at Silver. “But thanks for the tip!” she cried before suddenly turning and launching her weapon at Twilight. “No you don’t!” Silver cried, his horn glowing as a green bubble of magic appeared in front of Twilight, the whips tip bouncing harmlessly off its surface. “What the…?” Wylde turned back to Silver, a shocked look on her face, “But, the Superior said... He said you couldn’t possibly be able to do magic like that! Not after losing all your memories!” “I’ve been in practice,” he said simply, “Don’t underestimate a stallion with amnesia; I’ve been remembering things real slowly, but I’ve been remembering them sure enough. Like how to do protective spells.” He put up a wall of magic in front of himself as Wylde’s whip came lashing at him several times, each time meeting the wall with a loud snapping sound. But the most it did was make it tremble slightly. He smirked, “You seem pretty good with that whip, but what good is it if you can’t hit your target?” The mare growled, “I’ll show you how good it is!” Her horn flared briefly, the magic around the whips handle seeming to squeeze something. Moments later, the length of the whip popped outwards into dozens of short, jagged spikes! Silver could see magic leaking out of them all, leaving the whip surrounded by a rather hazy-looking fog. “Let’s see how your shield fares now!” she yelled, rearing her weapon back before lashing out, even faster than before. The edge of the whip struck Silvers shield before he could react in time, the whole thing breaking as a result of the weapons more powerful state. The force of the impact ended up sending him falling back. “Ha, not so tough now, are you!?” Wylde taunted as she smoothly went into another strike aimed for Twilight. Silvers shield had gone seconds before, leaving Twilight only a split second to duck out of the way of the swing. Silver got back up, unhurt but still surprised at how much more powerful the weapon seemed to be now. ‘This is not good, not good at all!’ he thought to himself as he dodged another lash from the whip. Wylde was grinning madly now, hopping on top of a table in the middle of the room. “You should have just let me leave earlier; at least then you wouldn’t have put your friend in danger,” the tan mare taunted, lashing back at Twilight who quickly teleported out of the way, reappearing next to Silver. “Why are you even doing this? You don’t think Silver deserves to learn about himself?” Twilight asked, glaring at Wylde. She aimed her horn, launching a beam of purple magic right at her. Wylde smirked, cracking the whip at the beam of magic and deflecting it into a wall. The result of the impact was a small explosion that blasted a small hole clean through the wood. “Like I said earlier; I don’t question my Superior’s orders,” was her only answer. “And just who is your Superior?” Silver asked. His only response was a sudden crack at him with the whip, making him cry out and fall to the floor in pain. She’d caught his shoulder, leaving a deep cut seeping with pale red magic. It was already bleeding, blood streaming down his leg. “Silver!” Twilight leaned down in front of him as he grabbed the wound with his good leg, blooding pouring out steadily. She glared back at Wylde, “How dare you!? Assaulting somepony with a magic weapon is illegal!” “ So, what are you gonna do about it, egghead?” Wylde tunted, deflecting several mare shots of magic shot at her by Twilight. They hit randomly around the room, blasting books off shelves and turning furniture into piles of ash and timber. “Look, you’re not the one I’m after, so why don’t you just run along? I promise, I’ll make this clean as I can for him if that makes you feel any better.” “No!” Twilight yelled, standing in front of Silver, bent down in a defensive position with her horn glowing brightly. “I’d never leave my friends alone when they need help, ever!” Silver looked up at her, in shock himself now. This wasn’t the Twilight he’d seen up to now. The cheerful, friendly, if somewhat log-winded and lecture-y librarian pony he’d taken a fancy for. No, she held herself different now, legs spread with a fire in her eyes and fierceness in her voice. She was ready to fight. “Twilight…” was all he said before suddenly getting to his hooves shakily. He staggered up next to her. “Silver, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, looking at him in surprise, “You shouldn’t be trying to stand; your leg’s been hurt, bad!” “Sorry Twilight, but I’m not sitting down and letting you keep me safe,” he said, his horn glowing as he glared at Wylde. “I won’t let another pony fight my battles,” he stated as he pawed the ground with his good leg. “Geeze, enough with the morals,” Wylde groaned. “I’m gonna end this now, if just to shut you both up!” She sneered, looking at Twilight, “And because you were stupid enough not to take my offer, I’ll start with you, egghead!” With that, she disappeared in a flash of red light, appearing behind the two. “Say your pares, mare!” she cried as the whip came for Twilights neck before she could react. “No, Twilight!” Silvers eyes went wide right before things seemed to move in slow motion. His horn glowed stronger than ever before as he pushed Twilight down, moving front of her as the jagged sides of the whip connected with his neck… BOOM!!! All of a sudden, the whole front of the library exploded outward into the streets. If the noises inside hadn’t attracted attention yet, the sheer, building-shaking force of the explosion just now did. Ponies all over town stopped whatever they were doing, eyes turning towards the source of the explosion. As they did so, however, they were met with a whole different sight than they expected. Instead of a large cloud of smoke and fire, everypony watched as a large collum of light stretched endlessly into the sky, rainbow-colored waves of light slowly slipping away and fading. As if that wasn’t enough, every unicorn in town could also feel something as well, though. The light was more than just light; it was pure, fully untainted magic, shooting down right on the Golden Oaks Library! Yet despite all this, there didn’t seem to be any real force to the explosion, leaving nothing and nopony on the ground, but simply shaken. Wylde Twister was no exception, either. Eyes closed from the blinding sight before her, she reeled back as she fell to the floor. Twilight had closed her eyes as well, curling up as the collum of light enveloped her and Silver. Finally, after almost a full minute, the light faded, leaving nothing but a few dwindling sparkles floating in the air. Twilight and Wylde both opened their eyes, looking at Silver. However, the magic had apparently been aimed for him, as he now looked much different. For one, he was now in a long, full-body cloak complete with a hood, the whole thing bright white with light purple edges. Holding it together was a clasp shaped just like his cutie mark. The cloak was billowing, despite there being no wind. However, Silver wasn’t paying attention to it, his horn glowing brightly with magic practically spilling out from it as he used it to grasp what looked to be a weapon in front of him. The handle was short and silver, completely round with a golden tip on the end. However, there was a thin, curved blade as well, but it was nothing but a thin strip; there was nothing underneath the strip of metal, and it was held on only at the top of the handle, just below the tip. The bottom half of the blade was dark gray but the top was silver, gleaming in the sunlight. The whole blade came about halfway down the grip of the weapon, ending in a pointed tip that was curved inward. Twilight looked up, Wide-eyed, “By Celestia’s beard… This can’t be possible…” She found herself unable to say anything else or even think straight at the sight before her. Seconds ago, Silver had been crouched over her with an injured leg and taking a death blow. But now here he was, with an outfit and weapon seemingly from nowhere and his wound apparently healed by the sheer amount of magic flowing through him. Wylde was just as shocked, her body trembling from the sheer amount of magic she felt spilling from him. His gaze turned to her and he glared. Just that felt like there was magic behind it, she thought as she took a step back. “W… what’s all this?” she asked slowly as she looked him and his new weapon over. “What… what in Tartarus are you!?” A smirk slowly worked its way over Silvers lips. “That is the question, isn’t it?” he asked back, looking at the weapon in front of him before pointing the tip towards her. Wylde readied her whip on instinct. “I have no clue how this happened, but I really don’t need to too fight you, do I?” he asked, getting into a fighting pose along with Wylder. “Now… bring it on!” he cried, jumping high into the air as he grabbed the weapon in his mouth now, his injury from before seemingly gone. As he came back down, his magic poured into his weapon, the blade glowing green as the magic took the shape of several long, curved spikes. He flipped once in the air, bringing the edge of the blade down as Wylde lashed at him. The two weapons clashed, the magic in each causing a large flash of light and creating a strong enough blast outward that twilight was tossed backwards from where she had been watching. Sitting back up after she finally stopped moving, Twilight saw Silver was back on the ground, his head low after bringing a slash down against Wylde. She watched as the tip of Wyldes whip flew through the air, separated from the rest of the weapon. It thudded dully on the ground, but she couldn’t hear it as Silver turned on his front legs, bucking Wylde square in the chest and knocking her clean out of the huge hole in front of the library. She landed outside in a cloud of dirt, her whip on the ground after the shock of the attack had made her lose her grip. Without any magic flowing through it, it looked normal once again. However, as she reached out her magic for it, she watched as Silvers weapon, floating once more, came down on it, scooping the weapon up inside the empty area under the blade and tossing it up in the air. Once it was falling, the ax-like blade became a blur as it sliced and cut through the other weapon, leaving it nothing but a useless pile of cut-up cords when it finally landed. And it did all this in less than ten seconds. Wylde gaped as she lay on the ground, looking up at Silver as he came up to her. “T… that can’t be possible,” she breathed, “You’re just supposed to be an amnesiac stallion. How are you this strong?” “Because, I have good motivation,” Silver said before bringing the handle of his weapon down across the back of Wylde’s head with a dull thud. A second later, her head feel to the ground and her eyes closed. She was out cold. Finally able to do so, Silver used his magic to undo her saddlebag, taking the file that had caused all the trouble out. He then looked up, only mildly surprised by what he saw. What looked like everypony in Ponyville had turned up, all of them looking at him with mixed faces of shock, fear, and awe. He even saw Shadow and Rainbow Dash, both hovering in the air with their jaws hanging. He looked behind him and Saw Twilight still on the ground in the library, her eyes wide. “Um… I can explain?” ========================================================== “Alright everypony, one more time, the library is officially closed for repairs. So please, kindly go away!” Twilight said, her magic pushing away the last of the bystanders from her home. Magically recreating the destroyed wall hadn’t really been much of a problem between her and Silvers magic combined. The real problem had been trying to turn all the curious bystanders away so that they and the rest of their friends could have a chance to speak. Now, Ponyville was used to the strange and bizarre. After all, it was home to six heroes of all Equestria. But still, the appearance of an apparent seventh, and one that really looked the part at that was sure to turn some eyes. Especially after he seemed to cause an explosion that shook half of the town. But finally, Twilight had gotten the last of them off on their way. Once she was sure nopony was hanging around outside, Twilight went back inside through the newly remade door. Sure, the wall was restored, but the inside still looked a mess, despite all her friends being there to help clean up. The main reason was because the place was covered in pages of destroyed books and piles of ash that had scattered everywhere. Silver sat at one of the few remaining tables, his weapon sitting in front of him with the others all around the table, all of them simply staring at it. The file, still unopened, was sitting under it. Silver had refused to open it until they could all be there to see what was in it. “… So, any clue to just what this is?” Applejack asked slowly. “Why not ask the guy who pulled it out of a huge explosion?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Silver. The Unicorn sighed, “Again Rainbow Dash, I have no idea how I ended up with this weapon, or this outfit,” he motioned down at the cloak, still wrapped around him. “I still stand by what I said earlier; that cloak fits you well, but the trimming really should be a darker shade,” Rarity pointed out, taking the edge in her hoof and looking it over. “Though I have to admit, this seam is perfect. Almost invisible, too…” “If you say so…” Silver said in a low voice, regretting having let Rarity sit next to him. The fashionista had been rather adamant about giving her opinion on his new outfit. It really wasn’t helping the situation. "But today’s only given a lot more questions, and not one answer.” “Silver’s right, we need to get some answers soon,” Shadow said on his other side, dragging the weapon in front of her, “Maybe this can give us some, though, if we can at least figure out what it is and where it came from.” She held it up to eye level, examining it closely. “Well, if you ask me, it almost looks some kind of ax.” “Tomahawk,” Twilight suddenly said, sliding up to the table and squeezing between Silver and Rarity, the former rather thankful for it. It felt more comfortable with Twilight next to him, if only because he knew she wouldn’t be eyeing him up and down, silently judging his appearance. At least, not obviously. “Um, what was that, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked from her side of the table. “It’s a tomahawk, if I’m correct,” Twilight said, floating one of the still-intact books over from a shelf. She flipped through the pages until coming to one with several illustrations showing different variations of a weapon much like Silvers own. Though none of them had the blade like his did, each of them being complete and attached lower down the grip. “It was a type of ax that ponies would use centuries ago, for everything to shopping wood to defending themselves in battle,” she explained, looking back at the weapon in Shadow’s hooves. “But I’ve never heard of one with such a unique design before. It’s clearly magical in its design, too.” “Really, how can you tell?” Pinkie Pie asked, leaning over and looking at it as well. “Well, first of all, there’s the fact that it could only be used if it was magically reinforced. The design of the blade would make it impossible otherwise. The blade’s so thin and barely connected that one hard swing would break it if it didn’t have magic to it,” Twilight went on. “But the real giveaway is how you channeled your magic through it, Silver. I saw your magic change form when it leaked out of the blade on the tomahawk. Only an enchanted weapon can do that, like that whip that Wylde was using.” “Oh yeah, speaking of which, what should we do with her?” Rainbow asked, motioning at the hog-tied unicorn struggling in a nearby corner. Her mouth was gagged and a magic-stopping ring had placed around the base of her horn. The group had decided not to ask why Twilight had one so readily available. “Do we give her over to the police or what?” “No; we need her,” Silver immediately protested, turning to look at Wylde, who glared back at him. “Or at least, we need her information. Whoever sent her here knows who me and Shadow really are. And we need to find out just who that is. But leave her be for now, we have something else to do.” His magic took the folder off the table, and he looked around the table, “Well, this the moment of truth, then; what’s in here must be able to give us some answers if somepony was so bent on making sure we couldn’t get this.” He looked at Shadow, who gave him a nod. The others all mirrored her. He nodded himself, “Okay than, let’s see what we have.” He opened the folder… To reveal a small stack of totally blank papers.