Silver breathed heavily. Since Rainbow had jumped at her, her wing wouldn’t stop hurting. No one ever came so close to her. No one ever stood up to her the way Rainbow had. No one ever even considered attacking her bracelet. She looked down at the glowing silver band. She didn’t know what happened when Rainbow hit it and still wasn’t sure if the shockwave was a reflex of herself or just an overflow of magic from the bracelet. Whichever it was, it had exhausted her. Maintaining control over her clouds was strain enough, even without anyone disturbing her.
“Maybe it would be better if she had broken it” she muttered to herself.
The glow around the bracelet pulsed a little, changing its color to a light blue tone. Silver was always fascinated how the colors changed whenever she looked at the bracelet. Though she knew it was impossible, she imagined it to react on her mood and feelings. As if the bracelet read her thoughts, the color changed again to light green. Silver sighed, focusing back on the clouds ahead.
“Who am I fooling? I could never let anything like that happen.”
‘Of course you could not! The bracelet is a part of who you are! Just think about how it would be without it!’
Silver shrugged by the sudden noise in her head, but relaxed after realizing that it was only one of the voices; the voices in her mind; the voices that were her only company for so long. She couldn’t remember when she first heard them, but ever since they appeared they were there for her. Some of them encouraged her, some of them scolded her, some of them acted as a conscience; though she couldn’t always tell which one is which.
Sometimes she dreamed about them too. These dreams were always the same. Surrounded by thick fog, she could see the shadows of ponies. But no matter how hard she tried, she never managed to see the faces that belonged to the voices. It weren’t the most pleasant dreams. Alone, trapped in fog and surrounded by shadows that argue with each other.
Sometimes the voices had a familiar sound, but she never could tell why. So she just gave in and listened to what they said.
‘You really overdid it this time!’ yelled one of the voices.
‘Don’t be too hard on her! You know she has a reason too!’ answered another.
‘No, no, no. Kidnapping pegasi and initiating a storm of this magnitude? What reason could there be to justify that?’
‘You know the reason! It’s always the same reason!”
‘Bah! That stupid oath of her, what good did it bring?’
‘That’s right. Silver, you really should think about yourself sometime. Do you want to leave this town, like you did so many before?’
Silver grit her teeth, knowing that the voice hit a wound spot. “No, I don’t want to leave again. But I’ve got no choice. You know that.” she angrily murmured to herself.
‘No choice? Don’t make me laugh! You always had a choice! You had a choice as you nearly killed that unicorn in the last town! You had a choice as you stole this food in the town before! You had a choice as you…‘ The voice raged on, listing everything choice she mad in the past. Judging and taunting her for every mistake. ‘…and don’t forget you biggest mistake! Don’t forget how your mother…’
‘That’s enough!’ rumbled a voice, louder than all the others before. The voices became silent, hushed in the presence of this specific one. Although it seemed to be the most powerful of them, it was also the most calm, the most familiar and the most kind. ‘She suffers enough from the memories, no need to rub in every time.’
Silver shivered from the sudden silence. Although she knew they were not real, these voices were the only thing that kept her company. They were what kept her from loosing herself. She needed them.
‘You know, you can always throw it away, if you want to!’ one voice whispered through the silence.
“Throw it away?”
‘Yes throw it all away! The bracelet… the power… the responsibility… the loneliness. everything!’
“Throw it away…” she whispered to herself. The first drops of rain poured from the sky. But Silver didn’t notice them. Her mind drifted away, picturing memories from long ago.
The sun fell through the window and bathed the room in a warm light. The room was small, but not uncomfortable. A few bookshelves were aligned on one wall and there was a big bed on the other end of it. A bench was aligned right before the window, allowing everyone who sat on it to enjoy the view to the outside. This day a pegasus filly with a dark blue coat sat on it.
Silver shrugged as the light fell on her eyes. She tried to protect them with one of her front hooves, letting out a frustrated grunt. Everyone would expect that a young pegasus like her would fly around and play on a day like this, yet she sat in her room, looking out of the window. The reason could be found outside.
There were five unicorn fillies on the street, playing some sort of ball game. Throwing around the ball using their magic, they laughed and cheered at each other. Though for an outside viewer this scene was peaceful, even filled with joy, for Silver things were different. They were taunting her. Every time she tried to join them, every time she tried to make friends with them, they always refused. They made fun of her, simply because she was one of only two pegasi in a town full of unicorns. She let out a long frustrated sigh.
“Why so glum my little pony?” asked a deep and warm voice behind her.
Silver hadn’t noticed that the door had opened. She turned around and looked at the unicorn stallion standing there. Smiling he walked over to her and sat down on the bench. He looked at the little filly, which just continued to look outside with a depressed expression on her face. He followed her gaze. “Ah I see. Did they make fun of you again?”
“They’re always making fun of me!” Silver threw up her hooves in frustration, turning to the unicorn besides her. She looked at his dark purple coat, followed the flow of his grey mane up to the horn on his forehead. She lowered her eyes, sighing again.
“I see.”
“What do you see? How could you understand?” she shouted at him, letting out all the frustration that had built up inside of her. “You don’t know how it feels to be different than everyone! How it feels to be the only pegasus in town! How it feels to have no friends!”
“You still have me and your mother.”
“It’s not the same! You are a unicorn! And mother cannot fly anymore. It’s not fair.” Tears filled her eyes and she leaned against his side. He patted her on the head gently.
“You know, you’re wrong on one point.” he said with a calm voice.
“Huh?” she looked up, trying to find the meaning of his words.
“They are not making fun of you because you’re not a unicorn, but because they’re jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yes, jealous.” he let out a warm laughter. “Jealous because you can do a thing they will never be able to.”
“And that is?”
He looked out of the window, laughing again. “They can never fly, of course.”
She flapped a few times with her wings before folding them to her side again. “Great. And what use is it if I can fly but do not have any magic like everyone else?”
“You’re wrong again. Every pony has magic inside of them.” Looking down he could see the confused look on her face. “I see. You do not believe me, right?” She nodded and he laughed again. “But it’s true! Everyone has magic inside, though it’s not always the type of magic a unicorn uses.” he stood up and walked to the bookshelves, searching through the titles while continuing his explanation. “Everything that makes a pony special can be counted as magic; magic that only this single pony has.”
“But when every pony has magic, how come that only unicorns can cast spells?”
“It’s simple; unicorns have more magic than earth ponies and pegasi. The magic running through them is what makes them unicorns at all. But that does not mean that there are no non-unicorns with high magic potential out there. They just lack a certain something to utilize it.”
“They lack a certain something?”
He turned away from the bookshelf, looking at Silver and using one of his front legs to point at his forehead. The horn glowed in a soft green light.
“Oh, right; the horn, how could I’ve forgotten that?” She let out a grunt and looked away. Why does it always end with a hint at the horn? The unicorn sat down beside her again, levitating a book in front of him. Curious she looked at it. “Theories Of Magical Foci? What a strange title.”
The stallion laughed again. “Yes it is a strange title, fitting for a book written by an earth pony magician.”
“Now you’re making fun of me! An earth pony magician? That’s not possible. You said it yourself.”
“No, I said that they lack a certain something, not that it’s impossible. You see, the author of this book spent his whole life trying to find away around this problem.” He opened the book and read the name. “Greymane the Hornless, do you want to know what made him want to be a magician?” Silver grunted and looked out of the window again. “Well, I’ll tell you anyway. He was the son of an earth pony and a unicorn. A half unicorn, if you want to say it that way.”
Silver looked at the book curious. This one sentence was enough to stir her attention. “But how did he manage to be a magician without a horn?”
“That’s what this book is about. Let me say it as easy as possible.” He stood up and walked up and down the room, thinking about how to phrase the words. “The question is: does the horn of a unicorn hold the magic or does it just utilize the magic inside of the body? The answer is the latter. The horn just acts as a focus, allowing its owner to concentrate and form the magic that resides within them.” He looked to Silver and judging by her puzzled look he could tell that she didn’t understand. “Okay, another try. Assuming a unicorn loses its horn. What does happen to its magic? Will it fade away or just not be usable anymore?” He walked out of the room, leaving a confused pegasus filly behind.
After a few minutes he returned, levitating a silver bracelet before him. “This bracelet is a gift for you.”
“Huh?” Silver tilted her head, overstrained by the situation.
The stallion levitated the bracelet to her right front leg. With a clicking sound it closed around her ankle, hanging loosely on top of her hoof. “Don’t worry; when you’re grown up it will fit perfectly.”
Silver looked at the bracelet. “But, why do you…”
“No complains! This bracelet is my gift to you. Always value it greatly, because only then it can act as your focus.”
“Act as my focus?”
“Yes, act as your focus or in easier words: it can act as your horn. But only if you value it the way a unicorn values its horn.” He turned around, walking towards the exit of the room.
“But, how can I use it?”
“It’s all described in the book. I’m sure you will be able to find out by yourself.” he answered without turning around.
Silver doubtful looked at the bracelet. “But, how can you be so sure that I can use it at all?”
He turned to her and laughed again. “Oh you silly filly, I’m sure because you’re my daughter. Never forget that.”
A rolling thunder behind her broke her out of her memories. The rain already poured down on Ponyville. Her mane and coat were soaked with water. She looked down to the glowing bracelet again, sighing in relief that it still glowed.
“Throw it away…” she repeated the suggestion of the voice again. “No, I could never throw it away.”
‘Why hold on to it? Have you forgotten that your father left the day after he gave it to you? He never came back! He never cared for you or your mother!’
She closed her eyes. She hated that one voice. It always spoke about the things that hurt her most. Why it did that she didn’t know, nor did she care. “I know he left.” she answered in a grumpy tone. “But no matter how bad you talk about him, he will always be my father and this bracelet is my only remembrance left of him.” and silently she added: “And it’s the only thing left of home.”
The voice faded. All she could hear was the sound of the falling rain. Though the silence was some kind of relief, she could not feel happy about it. She was alone again.
The cloud beneath her started to move down to the houses of Ponyville. It was time to see if her plan worked out the way she wanted. Slowly she flew from house to houses, looking through each window, trying to find the one that mattered.
She could see ponies lying in their beds or on the floor. In another house there were a group of ponies, embracing each other, probably in an attempt to wipe their fear away. She could even see some ponies playing some type of board game. But none of this was relevant to her. The cloud sped up as she finally spotted the one building she was searching for.
Nearing the window she took a look inside. The inside was dark, not even a candle burned inside. For a moment her heart sank. Had she failed? Was all her effort in vain? A thunder illuminated the sky, allowing her to peek inside. She could see the shadows of many beds, aligned on the wall. On one of them three shades were visible; a little one in the middle, with two bigger embracing it from each side.
Silver smiled and ordered her cloud to move back to her position high above Ponyville. She had found what she searched for, now all that mattered was that she could control the storm long enough.
“This will be tough.” she whispered to the raging clouds above.