The dream began as most dreams do, without a beginning at all. There was no start, no inception, no evidence of the creation of the dream, it simply was. He found himself looking downward from some point above himself, and yet looking through his own eyes as well. He was walking along a cave, lit by a lantern that cast dancing shadows along the walls with each step. Two mares walked with him, Snowfall and her sister. Snowfall stayed close to him, holding his hand as they walked along. Her sister walked a little way off ahead, holding the lantern before her. Her face still couldn't be seen, and though she could be heard talking about something the words were muffled and incoherent, as if being spoken through a wall. Her voice began to resound as they entered a large open area, still incomprehensible. The walls, floors and ceiling of the cave cut straight and smooth, no sign of natural feature or flow within. In the centre was set a slab of rock, pitch black and glass-like in texture. It faced the entrance to the cave, stood on it's end like a tombstone. Even in the dream he felt its gravity, its pull. A low hum that seemed to resonate in their bones, without being heard or felt in any other way.
Snowfall's sister turned to face the two of them, taking a shaky breath. Her words were no longer muffled, almost unnaturally crisp with no echo bouncing from the walls of the cave.
"This is it, this is really it... "
She walked up to the stone slowly, extending a hand to touch its surface. Patterns began to appear, glowing white within the black of the rock, seemingly underneath its surface. Her hand traced gently along it, almost caressing the smooth surface.
"It's perfect. No cracks, no breaks, it's all still here. This-"
She cleared her throat, taking another deep breath as she lost her composure for a moment.
"This may be the last. Or at the very least the only one we can still reach."
Snowfall walked closer, taking Silver with her as she went. Her voice was soft, almost scared, though the sense of awe she felt kept the fear at bay.
"Does it still work..? Even if it does, what now?
Her sister closed her eyes, her horn glowing the same soft white as the slab. The patterns and markings grew to cover the whole of the surface, concentric rings and lines crossed in a dizzying array of shapes that shifted over and underneath one another. After a moment she held her head with her free hand, grimacing as she fell to her knees, then slumped forward onto the slab with her eyes closed. Snowfall immediately ran over to her, calling out.
"Snowdrift!"
That was her name, it rung like a bell in his head. Silver blinked out of his shock, moving to hurry over to them. Snowfall turned quickly with a terrified expression.
"No! You can't! Stay there, don't come any closer, alright? Promise me."
Silver blinked in surprise and confusion, reaching out but stopping where he was.
"Why? What's going on? You said this was safe!" He cried out, though no echo returned his cry.
"Just stay there, you can't-"
Her sentence was cut off as she touched her sister, the patterns glowing brighter as her horn lit up. She fell to the floor as well, both propped up against the slab with their horns still glowing brightly. He put his hands to his head in frustration and panic, looking around as if he could find help there. He spent a few more moments in terrified confusion, watching and waiting, hoping with everything he was capable of that they'd just wake, smile, tell him it was all fine. 'It was nothing to worry about, just an accident' his racing mind began to tell him, 'something magic he wouldn't understand, they'd tell him all about it wh-' his thoughts halted and exploded into waves of terror as they both began to glow a soft white, matching their horns. He rushed over, pulling them both away from the slab as the glowing ceased abruptly. Their breathing returning to normal.
He sighed in relief, panting and shaking as he looked back over to the slab with a morbid curiosity. It was still glowing, that faint hum he felt in his bones becoming stronger. It pulled at him, like the current of a river, a thick and heavy feeling that began to spread through him. He found himself moving toward it, though his mind screamed over and over for him to stop, his legs carrying themselves forward. He reached the slab, stopping with the cold, smooth surface inches from his face. Again his mind screamed, begging his body to stop, to listen, but it denied him again. His hand raised, touching the surface of the rock. For a moment, nothing happened but the hum, the vibration that pulsed through him, now more than in his bones, it was everywhere. In his chest, his arms, his head. He felt it in his mind, the intensity of it. The lamp that Snowfall had been holding began to flicker and fade, before going out completely.
As the complete darkness surrounded him, the humming ceased as well. He suddenly found himself surrounded by a complete nothingness, no sound or light reached him but the rasp of his breath, no echo or shadow, no scent but the damp of the air. All he felt was the cool of the rock, and... A presence. Not his, not the other two, something else. He felt it skirt at the edges of his mind, teasing and poking at his thoughts with its own curiosity. His breath quickened, his mind a broiling mess of terror and confusion as he wept without expression. He heard a voice, the words meaning nothing to him. It only terrified him further as the presence pushed deeper into his head, finding the right words to use as the language changed to his own. It was the voice of a mare, soft and soothing.
"Hush now, still your thoughts, I mean you no harm"
Silver tried to control his breathing, attempting to calm himself while still shaking. The voice spoke again as the slab lit up with those lines and patterns, his wings glowing a soft white behind him. He felt a hand rests against his chest, and another against his cheek.
"Don't fear me, I've been waiting. The two who came before you, I'm too much for them. You aren't made from the same clay, your magic is subtle but present. Yours is of the sky, not the earth or mind"
Silver felt a hand explore his forehead and wings as the voice spoke, a soothing feeling spreading through him. He felt the hand press against his chest again, a warmth spreading there as the voice seemed to speak closer to him.
"I sense that you don't know what I am. It will make what comes next more difficult, especially considering that the ones who came before you are too fragile to finish what they started. You will have to do."
Silver tensed up again, his heart still racing. He spoke, his voice shaky and unsure.
"What..? What do I have to do? I don't understand, who are you?"
"Someone long gone from this world, this is the only place I can be, but even this place is beginning to fade. My mind will survive in here for only a few years more, and even now I lack the strength to overcome the mind of another. Do not let that worry you, I would not have, even if I could have. I am sorry however, for what I must do. I was entrusted with knowledge, and I keep it here, safe with me until I could be found. I must give myself to you now along with that knowledge. It will change you, Silver Lining, it will make you more than you are, much more, but for what this knowledge will give, it will also take from you."
Silver felt the hand against his chest push a little more firmly, before suddenly passing through the threshold of his body, the sensation of the hand pushing further still, into his chest as another intense wave of warmth and soothing spread through him. He gasped as he felt the presence invade him, though it did so submissively, working it's way into his memories and thoughts as he felt a great pressure push in from all directions. He felt the presence leave the slab entirely and enter him, the patterns fading as his wings glowed a blinding white. He felt the other mind settle behind his, nestling into the embrace of his own being as new memories blossomed into his head, blackness taking him.
He opened his eyes, looking up at a clear blue sky. Stars still shone brightly and clearly above, regardless of the light of the sky. He blinked once in confusion, this no longer felt like a dream, and yet... It didn't feel like reality either. He sat up, rubbing his forehead with a hand as he looked around. He was sat on the top of a huge cliff face, waves crashing loudly against their base. The land behind him consisted of rolling green hills dotted with trees, a cool breeze blowing off the sea. Two mares were stood beside him, though this time only one of the sisters was among them. Snowdrift. The other was of similar height and age, though her coat was a soft buttercup yellow, her mane full of curly white locks. Her eyes were gentle, kind, but there was a deep intelligence behind them. He knew her name without asking it, the word echoing through his head. 'Harmony'. He didn't know how yet, or why, but he knew that they were really here. Not a dream or an illusion, or even a memory, they were here, wherever here was. He stood, looking at her with some confusion. Memories flew through his head, filling his thoughts, flying so fast that he found it difficult to pick information from the flow. He spoke after another moment of hesitation.
"Where are we? What... What is this. What happened?"
Harmony looked to Snowdrift, who nodded slightly before taking his hand.
"This is your mind, or rather, a place that your mind has made for us to speak in. It's a memory of mine, my home. It's where I was born."
Silver nodded slowly, the flow of memories beginning to settle into place. He spoke again with more certainty to his voice.
"You were never from Anchor, you... I remember you telling me once, the Green Isles."
Snowdrift smiled softly at the recollection, speaking with a fondness in her voice.
"You asked me when you were carrying me and my sister through the snow, when you were trying to keep me awake. I remember how cold I was, and how warm your coat was. Our stupid expedition to the top of the world, searching for... For what did this to you. Maybe it was just luck, just chance that you found us when you did, but you still saved the both of us. Do you remember that?"
Silver listened intently, slowly smiling as he did.
"I do, and I remember the first time you both woke. Snowfall was convinced I was some pervert when she woke in my bed, seeing me tending to her frostbite. I had that black eye for weeks."
Snowdrift laughed, a light and melodic sound, continuing a moment after.
"She wouldn't stop apologising for weeks either. Maybe that's why the two of you got so close. She needed someone like you to love, I think you did too. That black eye was worth it, don't you think?"
Silver hesitated, more memories sinking into place, this time with quite an impact. He blinked, raising a hand to his forehead.
"We... I can't believe I didn't remember, that's why she seemed so important to me. She found me in the mountains just now, she brought me home. It must have been so hard for her to see me like that, for me not to remember her. I have a lot of making up to do when I wake up. What about you? What happened, why are you here with her? Why do I know her name..?"
Snowdrift went to speak again, though Harmony raised a hand to stop her. Her voice was the same as the one from the slab, just as soothing and reassuring.
"You know who I am, the memories just haven't settled yet. I caused you quite a mischief, I'm afraid. The rejection of my magic was too much to take for Snowdrift, she was the first to touch my prison. The magic had only just begun its work when she fell under the pressure, her soul unchained from her body, but not with purpose. I was the keeper of this magic, one that worked to push and pull at the forces of life, rather than the more tangible things of the earth. We had discovered the magic for only a few tens of years before we were punished for it. In the hands of those who meant well, it was a beautiful thing. For those who were selfish however, and greedy, it became something else. Some began to look for the aversion of death, immortality above all else. Many tried, many failed. I was one of those trials, taken from my home and set in that stone. Without a mortal body, my mind was bound far beyond my natural years. They used me as a library, a place for them to come and store their knowledge, their findings. All this knowledge I retained, this magic, in the end it was only I that had the skill to finally perform what they had been looking for. They gathered, all of them, no written word or text of their discoveries out of selfishness, fear that others might accomplish the same. They sat in that cave you found me in, circled around as if praying to some god. I waited until they had almost passed the threshold, and I refused them. They faded like shadows at dusk, the coming of the night giving them the death they feared for so long. I remained there for hundreds of lifetimes, waiting, and then you. I've been keeping this knowledge for so long, I mustn't let it die with me. I feel that you know not to be selfish with it, I have no choice but to trust you in that."
Silver listened intently, absorbing the information as she spoke, though it felt very strange to do so. He felt himself finding those memories already within his own head, rather than hearing them for the first time. After she finished he looked down, thinking on it all before speaking up again.
"I still don't understand, what happened to me? To Snowdrift? What does this mean for me?"
Harmony sighed softly, looking a mixture of guilty and apologetic as she began to speak again, quietly this time.
"You will never be able to die. Your soul is fixed to this world now, you'll never find peace in death. My soul was trapped within that stone by magic, the same magic that they fed to me, taught me. Your soul is a vessel now, one of magic itself. I gave myself to you rather than let this legacy of magic fade into nothing. We're all born of the world, a collection of its energies, focused and concentrated into what we are. When we die, we return to that, spread out and accepted again by the world that birthed us. Our soul is the collection of memories, feelings, emotions and thoughts, the person that grows out of the dust. Nobody knows what happens to it when the rest returns to the earth. The soul may do the same, fading and spreading back into the dust, but you... The way to escape death is to be an alternative. Your soul is an afterlife of its own, a place for other souls to remain in this world, even when the dust of their bodies is blown away. You're an ark, a life beyond death that can be certain, rather than guessed. For yourself, it means you can never experience it. Only others can, through you. We are the first two. The process failed with Snowdrift... I had only but touched her mind, disjointing her soul. She had a while to wake, and explain things to her sister, but she would not hold for very long. She gave herself to you in the same way I did."
Silver begins to look distraught, falling to his knees and looking down at the grass, the sea breeze rippling through it. He spoke shakily after a while trying to collect himself.
"I'm so sorry... Snow, I... I don't know what to do. What happens now? I... What am I supposed to do with all this? Why? You can't just, throw all of this on me, I... Am I supposed to just, go around pretending to be some sort of reaper? Some collector of souls? People won't want this, will they? What..."
Snowdrift knelt in front of him as he trailed off, nuzzling his brow softly before wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Shh... Come now, you've no need to worry. I'm happy here, with you. I'm not really gone, I'll be closer than we ever were before. You have Snowfall in your life now, outside this afterlife you hold inside. She loves you, and she understands. I know that she'll want the same afterlife that we've chosen. It's a good thing, Silver. There's no uncertainty to this, there's no fear. Maybe there is a real afterlife, a heaven where all our days are perfect and beautiful, but... It isn't this. I won't ever know how beautiful this possible heaven is, but I don't need to, there's enough beauty in the world already for me to enjoy, and now I'll get to see it in its entirety alongside you. I know that it will be hard, I know you're going to be facing so much grief without the finality of death while it surrounds you regardless, but we'll be here. You can do good with this magic, you can bring more happiness to people than we ever could separately."
Silver leaned into her, still shaking slightly as he nodded, tears flowing down his cheeks. Harmony moved over to stand beside him, giving him a few moments to rest in Snowdrift's embrace before she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, speaking in a soft but firm tone.
"When you woke, your mind was still settling from the change. You would have gone mad trying to separate our memories from your own. You ran straight, and continued on until you couldn't any longer. Remember not to be afraid, we'll always be here with you. Now go, go to Snowfall, she's still waiting for you. It's time to wake up, and this time, remember not to run."
Silver looked up to Harmony, giving her a slight nod as he wiped his eyes, still feeling very vulnerable and afraid. She reached out with her hands, resting them either side of his head as she leaned down, closing his eyes with her thumbs, kissing his forehead lightly as the world returned to the black, and the silence.