//------------------------------//
// Sweet Silence 
// Story: The Kingdom of Everfree 
// by HeartlessSpartan 
//------------------------------//

											Sweet Silence

The group had made their way down from the mountains and made camp in the forest for the night. They all sat around a campfire, the crystal they had gotten from the unicorns glowed from within a saddlebag, emitting a quiet hum as the light brightened and dimmed. The two earth ponies removed their horns and put them into their saddlebags.  Regina had decided not to ask what it was like inside the keep. She thought it better not to ask given that the group was silent since they came back. Though now it seems the mission had raised more questions that needed to be answered.

“Starswirl, the ponies that joined your patrol; they risked their lives to join you and speak against your king didn’t they?” Orion asked, gazing into the fire with sad eyes.

“They did. The show is over for the unicorns and it’s time the world knew the truth. Things between the keep and the castle are highly unstable,” Starswirl said.

“What castle?” Basil asked.

“My king had separated the village from his estate. His castle lies away from the rest of the unicorns. There, most of our military is stationed to guard him. He hides like a coward, full of greed, and ignorant to the suffering of his own kind,” Starswirl explained.

“Your king claims all for himself and leaves nothing for his subjects?” Regina questioned.

“Indeed, to the point he is afraid of us. He is scared of an uprising, a coup amongst his own. Even if we could manage to dethrone him, he has an heir, his daughter who is as selfish and ignorant as he is,” Starswirl said with hatred.

“The very reasons I had left long ago. It is unfortunate to see the same problems escalated amongst my own kind,” Sombra added with a sigh.

“Having your own kind to overthrow your king may be frowned upon, but what if we did it?” Basil asked, the flickering fire reflecting from his eyes under his hood.

“What you mean is if non-unicorns managed to assassinate him?” Satrswirl inquired.

“Yes, I’m sure that while your king gorges himself in his castle there has to be some guards you are acquainted with there. I’m sure they don’t find it amusing they must guard his selfishness while their families suffer,” Basil mentioned.

“That’s an interesting proposition Basil. Why would you want to help?” Starswirl asked.

Basil inhaled the cold night air and sighed before saying, “After this short time working within our small band here. I’ve come to realize that all I wish to seek now is what’s needed most, stability. There are no innocents amongst either sides, and we are all as guilty as the other. There must be a time we set things right.”

“Not likely in our lifetime,” Sombra said.

“Perhaps we won’t, but we could set things in the right direction,” Basil said.

“It seems like an intriguing plan, but we have to see what this guild has in store for us first. We must leave early in the morning, and we could all use the rest. I will take first watch,” Orion said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and laid their heads to rest. Orion sat and fed sticks to the fire. Thinking on Basil’s plan to stabilize as much of the world they live in appealed to him. That is what he must have meant by expecting more from this guild than he had thought. Everyone here seems to know what they want. Starswirl wants to save the world long frozen. Basil wants to save the ponies from self-destruction. Sombra wants to help a tribe build a home, and Regina just wants to live a life without the need of violent nature. Orion began to wonder, what does he want?

The next morning Orion swept snow over the smoldering ashes of their fire. The group picked up their saddlebags and made their way back to the guild castle. When they arrived inside the doors of the heated castle it once again felt incredibly alien to them. The guild made them ever more uneasy as more questions arose about its inner workings. Erik and Marcus soon greeted their return.

“So I see you’ve all made it back in one piece. Your first mission was a success, you can all clearly handle yourselves. I believe you are ready for your trials,” Marcus said with enthusiasm.

“I think they should meet Silence before we send them on their way, and perhaps a hot meal,” Erik added.

“Silence?” Basil wondered out loud.

“Follow me,” Marcus said as he lead them further into the castle.

“Every guild initiate for some time has met our eldest guild member as a tradition,” Erik said as they followed Marcus up a winding staircase.

“Silence Sweets is a remnant of the original guild back in its peak some years ago. She has a special clairvoyant ability to foresee objects of one’s destiny. Unfortunately she is both blind and mute, so do be respectful,” Marcus said as they reached a short hall at the top of the stairs.

In the hall was a single iron plated door that Marcus unlocked from the outside. As they entered a round room they saw that the walls were covered with strange drawings, there was a simple desk with ink, quill, and parchment. Along the wall was also a small bed, and on the opposing side of the room was an elderly gray haired mare with a white mane, wearing old white robes facing a pane glass window. Marcus walked over and touched Silence on the shoulder. She visibly shivered and turned around to reveal her pale white eyes and sad elderly face.

“We have new initiates Silence,” Marcus said.

Silence walked up to Starswirl and stopped face to face. Starswirl glanced over at Marcus with a puzzled expression.

“Silence sees what others cannot, sometimes I wonder if what she sees is more real than what we do,” Marcus said as Starswirl looked back to Silence.

Silence glared at Starswirl with blind eyes, she soon tugged twice on the hairs under his muzzle with her hoof. She moved on to Orion next. Silence placed her hoof on Orion’s shoulder, smiled, and moved on to Basil. She stood for a moment seemingly staring at Basil, but then she held her hoof along his cheek and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She opened her eyes, moved on, and stopped abruptly in front of Regina. Silence tapped Regina on the beak, nodded with approval, then proceeded over to Sombra.

Silence stood in front of Sombra, he wondered what seemingly irrelevant act she would use on him. He wasn’t ready however when she did. Silence cocked her head slightly to one side, then promptly pushed her hoof out to make Sombra stumble backwards. After Sombra recovered from his surprise Silence walked over to her desk and reached for small pieces of parchment, and picked up a quill.

“What’s she doing?” Sombra asked, still wondering how such an elderly mare could make him stumble.

“Drawing what we’ve come to call totems, something of significance in your future,” Erik explained.

After Silence had found five small cloth parchments, and made her drawings, she carried them over to Starswirl and handed him one. 

“It’s a picture of a tower,” Starswirl said.

Silence nodded and handed another to Orion.

“A heart,” Orion said, Silence shaking her head no in reply.

“Love?” Orion asked.

Silence smiled and handed the next to Basil.

“It’s a picture of a lake?” Basil asked, receiving a nod from Silence.

Regina sighed when Silence handed a picture to her before sarcastically saying, “A tree, fantastic.”

“A crown, interesting,” Sombra said after Silence handed him the last picture.

“Quite interesting, did you have anything more Silence?” Marcus asked.

Silence walked back to her table, felt for two more blank cloth parchments, handed them to Orion and stomped her hoof twice.

“Two more, why?” Orion asked, rather confused.

Silence simply smiled and quietly rested near the window. Marcus ushered everyone out of the room and Erik lead the group back down the winding stairs of the castle tower. Erik brought them back to the large dining room where more bread, fresh water, and hot food awaited them. Erik lit a fireplace built into the wall and made his leave.

“I’ll have to say, this guild is generous given we’re not even full members yet,” Regina said through a mouthful of soup and bread.

“Every time we converse about the guild it makes me uneasy. There are always stranger questions that are best not asked about this place and these ponies the longer we stay,” Orion said, sitting by the fire.

“Something was most unusual about Silence Sweets, she seemed unhappy,” Starswirl said, sitting next to Regina as she demolished a loaf of bread.

“Perhaps she’s afraid,” Basil said from near the great pane window.

“Why would she be afraid?”Sombra asked, knowing there was more to the blind, mute mare that knocked him back.

“I understand she cannot see, so why have her at the top of the tower stairs? I also understand she’s mute, so why lock her room from the outside?” Basil questioned.

“I think these things are best discussed at a later time, and place Basil,” Starswirl said with caution.

“I agree, the walls have eyes and the doors have ears. I want to know why she gave me two more blank sheets if we were given one for each of us,” Orion said.

“We can’t know for sure, but be wary of our new friends. We’ll go through their trial to become members. Maybe then we’ll get some answers,” Basil said.

“There may be a hierarchy in the guild ranks, we may still be left out in the cold,” Sombra added.

“Left in the cold, just like the guild villagers and every other living thing out there. Whatever happens from here on, we need to finish what we started together,” Basil said in all seriousness, and continued to look back out the window at the villagers below.

“I’m sorry, did I miss something? You’ve been talking like that since last night, what exactly did we start?” Sombra questioned, knowing he was the last to join their group.

“Enemies, we’re all enemies here, except maybe my-self and Orion. Even we have our risky disagreements. Not a single one of us should be alive right now. We all should have killed each other days ago! What I learned though, is that if you know you’re supposed to be dead, then you have a very good reason you’re still alive,” Basil said with sheer honesty.

“You say a pre-written destiny decides our fate. If you can give me proof, then I will join you on your oh so heroic quest to save a dying race from a dying land,” Sombra demanded rudely with sarcasm.

“Silence gave you your proof already. You wanted to save the construction of an entire clan of ponies, would they not crown you a hero for that? Starswirl researches magic, as any wizard should dwell in a tower. Griffons often make homes of great trees, and Regina seeks a place she can truly call home. Orion, his totem was love, what’s created by love is family, and who doesn’t want that? All I want is to die in peace, along a beautiful lake that I can’t walk over,” Basil explained.

“You truly wish to stop the winters, to end these wars?” Sombra asked.

“I do,” Basil replied.

“I never heard a pony put their life on the line so passionately for the welfare of any but their own kind. If you truly believe you can do it, then maybe earth pony, just maybe you’ll have my support,” Sombra said, he then sat down to eat at the table.

Orion sat by the fire thinking, everything that Basil had just said made perfect sense. Before he didn’t know what he wanted, perhaps family is what he’s searching for. Maybe the two extra parchments represent those he would come to meet later; even those whose destinies are not yet written. After all of this time however, what mare had he come to love?