The drake sat on a small oak chair within the Town Hall. All around him sat rows upon rows of empty chairs set up to face a podium upon a small stage which had been set up in the center of the structure. From there, a pony stood speaking, her hollow voice echoing throughout the building like a mournful song as she spoke to the empty crowd of chairs before her. The dragon strained to make out the words she was saying, but could only decipher their sorrowful nature.
Standing up, the drake began to move towards the front of the mass of assembled chairs. The only light within the building came from the windows that lined the building which allowed for the dead gray light of the overcast sky outside to slowly drift into the very center of the structure. The normally bright cream walls were faded into a sickly granite color from the light and the normally cheerful sound of ponies talking and laughing had been replaced with a deafening silence which rang louder than any sound he had ever heard.
The young dragon slid into the second row and looked up at the lavender mare, whose tear stained face was partially hidden by a small, simple black veil which hung from her horn. The unicorn seemed not to notice the drake as she neither looked at him to acknowledge his presence nor skipped a beat in her dialogue. The mare’s words were faint, coming out as barely more than a whisper, forcing the drake to strain to hear what was being said.
“I’m so, so sorry, Spike. If only I had been there for you, if I had just known how fragile you were… It’s all my fault, Spike. And I won’t ever forgive myself for allowing this to happen. I should have seen the signs, and not been so hard on you. If only I had known how lonely you truly were, how alone you felt, I would have tried to find a way to help you…”
The lavender mare took a break in speaking to wipe a few tears from her eyes, and as she was paused, it was then that the drake saw the only other thing occupying the front of the stage: a small mahogany casket, with the front part of its lid fully open. A sense of dread began growing in the young dragon’s heart at the site of it. He tried to avoid thinking of what lay inside the casket, but he already knew quite well what lay within it.
The drake told himself that he would move no closer to the stage, for he dared not approach the horrors which lay inside. Yet, he felt his legs rise up from the chair, and begin to carry him towards the edge of the coffin. The drake tried to stop himself, begging its body to not look upon the contents. The word’s of the lavender mare were drowned out by the screams within his mind as he was forced to look down at the coffin’s contents.
Lying there, with a blissful, and relaxed expression upon his face, lay the drake. His chest lay unmoving and his arms were laid out upon either side of his body. Rather than horror at the sight of his own corpse however, the drake felt a small sense of relief. The drake that lay before him was finally free from his torment and torture… here he lay forever undisturbed by the cruel oppression of the king. No longer would that dragon be forced to undergo night after night of brutal torture. No longer would that drake be forced to lie to his friends… and that drake… he could be that drake.
He didn’t have to remain tormented… he could be free. He could be like the drake before him. One that didn’t have to lie to his friends… He could be the drake that didn’t have to experience night after night of brutal torture… It would be so easy too, one little move and it would all be over… he could be free from all of this pain. He would be that dragon…
The lavender mare’s words interrupted the drake’s thoughts however, as she pleaded with him: “I just don’t want you to give up Spike. I can be there for you, but you just have to hold on… you can’t give into the darkness…”
Hold on? How could he hold on when he was subjected nightly to an endless cycle of pain and misery? How was he supposed to hold on when he dreaded the beginning of each and every day?! He wanted to believe in the words of the mournful mare, but the truth lay before him in the coffin! The only true way for him to become free was to become the same as the drake that lay before him. His choice was made.
Every source of light in the gray room then went out and the young dragon found himself lying upon his back against a cold, hard substance. Was this it? Had he too been set free? The violet drake didn’t feel any sensation from his limbs. He was there, yes, but he certainly did not feel the way he had moments before… The air was stale, and mixed with a rich earthy scent which weighed heavily upon space in which the dragon lay. From far away, outside of his chamber, the drake could barely make out the mournful muffled tones of the mare from before. Why did she insist that he remain imprisoned in his life of torment? Could the young mare not see that he was going to be free? He tried to block out the sounds of the lavender pony, but it was not enough. Her cries would not be silenced.
Some small part of the young drake refused to accept his newly found freedom. This piece of him shouted above the rushing waters of freedom, refusing to be drowned out in the beautiful silence. It clawed its way to the surface no matter how many times the dragon forced it back into the peaceful depths, but it couldn’t continue these actions forever. Each time was slower than the last, each leap for the shoreline came ever closer to falling short as the heavy chains of silence weighed down upon it…
The freedom would belong to the drake. Yes, he would be free…
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The lavender mare lay next to the bed in which the young drake slept. The mare had long ago run out of tears to cry, and her hoarse voice had been reduced to little more than a raspy whisper. Yet, she refused to leave the poor baby dragon’s side. The mare’s friends had long ago given up on the possibility of pulling her away from his side. Their urging had only garnered a sharp response from the young unicorn. Thus, they let her be alone in the room with the sleeping dragon. Alone with silence.
The dragon had not moved for more than two days, not even in his sleep. The rise and fall of the young drake’s chest was barely discernible, even up close, and yet the mare waited. The mare whispered now softly to him. Her voice raw from endless hours of speaking to him and hoping in vain for some type of response. The unicorn gave out apologies for her lack of noticing the clear signs of what was wrong, recalled tales from the past of the joyful days of when they were young and had no worries, or she simply talked to him as though nothing was wrong, as if he wasn’t…
No. The lavender mare refused to entertain such a thought, but that still didn’t prevent it from entering her thoughts entirely. What would happen if the drake never woke again? Would she lay here, by his side forever? The unicorn blinked away the idea before it could root itself within her mind and returned her mind and eyes to the sleeping form of her friend.
Then, movement. A slight twitch came from the dragon’s claws. Then another, and another! He was awaking! Everything would be fine! She had worried herself over nothing. The pony opened her mouth wide to joyfully cry out for the doctors and for her friends. But then the movements didn’t stop.The small assistant, her friend, kept shaking and shaking… The creature’s entire body tensed up and then threw itself back against the bed. Again and again.
The mare cried out in horror. The friend screamed. Tears found their way to her eyes as she was pushed aside by ponies in white coats. The name of her dying friend caught itself in her throat as she was dragged away by her friends. Her friends, all of whom sobbed with her as they forced her out of the room shielding her eyes, and their own, from the image of the young dragon.
All she could think of was how this had been all her fault. If only she had paid closer attention to him, talked with him more, done… something, anything. She was to blame for the death of her friend. She had killed the young child.
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The Princess of the Night rose up in horror from where she been studying the shattered orb. All around her, the sea turned rough and violent as sphere after sphere darkened itself. A harsh wind tore itself across the seascape, throwing up towering waves which crashed themselves down upon her body. Lightning shot down from the heavens and a great gale threw to her body to and fro.
In the distance, a white shape made its way towards the alicorn. The fear on the elder sister’s face was clear as she informed her sibling of the events unfolding in the nearby town. As one, the sisters rose, leaving behind the tumultuous waves as they overtook the orbs. As the pair departed, a dark cloud of smoke descended upon the area, laughing as it reveled in the beautiful silence it had created for itself.