//------------------------------// // Silver Lies and Twilight Cries // Story: The New Guy // by SilverWind102 //------------------------------// “It's so hot...” The sun beat down onto the grassy plains below, causing Silver to wipe a bead of sweat from his brow. He was in the back fields of the mountain of his home, instructing Ruppy and Onyx on their training. “Onyx,” He started as he pulled two large, metal bars out of a duffle bag he'd brought with him and held them under his arm, “You'll be learning to fight with dual swords. You can already dual wield, but you lack a style, so I'm gonna teach you one. First, I want you to swing a thousand times.” He dropped the bars in front of the mare, landing with a heavy thud and clank. The unicorn raised a brow, flicking her eyes between the wolf and the bars. “Seriously?” she questioned with a surprising amount of sass in her tone, “Don't you think that's a little much?” “It's the basics of sword training. If you can't swing a sword properly, then you don't deserve to hold one.” He kicked the bars closer to her. Onyx sighed and rolled her eyes before wrapping the bars in her magic. They were heavier than she expected, and by far the heaviest think she'd swung. “Oh wait! I almost forgot,” Silver stepped forward to the floating bars, “You can only levitate them from here down,” Silver used his paw to indicate a spot, about a sixth of the bars full length at the bottom. The mare shot him an even more confused look, but followed his instructions. She pulled her magic down to where he had pointed, and found it noticeably harder to control the bars. She moved off to an open spot and flung down. WHOOSH! The bars broke free of her hold and flew forward, almost hitting an emerging earth pony that came from behind a bush. “WHAT THE FU--!” the familiar light blue earth pony called as she ducked to avoid a deadly blow. “Aerial?” Ruppy questioned as she stepped forward for a closer look. “I think. If my head it still attached, that is.” She stepped out from the bush and walked closer over to Silver and Ruppy while Onyx retrieved her bars and went back to swinging. “What are you doing here?” the pegasus asked. “Silver said I should start training with you guys, so here I am!” She beamed brightly. Ruppy turned and gave Silver a questioning look, “I figured since you all already met, might as well have you all train together. I was going to do this eventually anyway, and besides, it was way too much work to keep running back and to for the three of you.” Ruppy honestly didn't mind. In fact, she welcomed it. Aerial was a nice pony to have around, and she seemed like they could be friends. Huh...friends. It was never really something Ruppy bothered with before, but it was mostly because the ponies she'd hung around with scared off most other ponies. Or at least, the normal ones. “Alright Aerial, I want you to continue your vortex training. You need to hold it for at least three hours. After that, move to the cutting exercises. ” Silver instructed. Aerial nodded and went off to her own space. She stood for a moment, took a deep breathe in, and back out. The winds began to whip around her and soon a small vortex formed around her body. It was weak, but strong enough to shake the leaves of the surrounding trees. “And what about me?” Ruppy asked. Silver smirked, then pulled out a large stack of papers from his duffle bag and a ball of string. He cut off a long piece of the string and moved over to one of the trees. He tied one end to a branch and the other to a piece of paper. “I want you to punch a hole through that paper. When you do it, I want you to pick up another and do it again, and again and again, until the whole stack is gone.” “....Really? That's it?” she questioned. “It's harder than you think.” Ruppy rolled her eyes and walked up to the hanging paper. She pulled her hoof back and swung. The paper crinkled and crunched against her hoof, but it was still intact. “The fuck?” She punched once more. The paper didn't change. She punched again, and again, and the paper simply swung with the force of the blow, but never ripped. “Keep trying!” Silver called over his shoulder as he trotted back towards the house, “I'll be back for you when dinner is ready!” “Dammit 'Tia, why'd you have to go and make it so hot today?” Silver stepped warily on to the porch, swaying a little as he became a slightly light headed. He blinked a few times and the feeling went away for the most part, though he could feel a migraine coming on. He slid the glass door open and stepped inside. It was cooler, but Silver still felt like he was standing in a fire pit. He moved across the living room and to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, then filled it with tea. “Ah-hem,” a voice cleared. Silver snapped his head up and noticed a lavender horn sticking up from the couch, accompanied by two ears and a purple mane. “Shit...” Silver sighed and set his glass down on the counter, then moved in front of the mare on the couch. Everything was silent for a minute, Silver refusing to look Twilight in the eyes and staring at the ground. He didn't see it, but he could feel her scowling at him. “So...” he hesitantly began, “Where do you want me to begin?” Twilight floated a book that rested on top of the couch and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. It's title read, “The Fallen Kings”. Silver stared at the words on the cover and the regret of loaning her the book filled him. Didn't really make much sense though. After all, how could he know that Daring Doo would show and start spilling secrets? “How...how much do you know?” Silver asked. Twilight tightened her glare, then used her magic to flip the book open. Twilight began, “The Houndlands Territory Wars; a time when the packs were fighting for control over the lands in the west. During that time, a group of four male wolves came into the light. They went by many names, such as the Mutts of Madness, the Dogs of the Damned, the Canines of Chaos, but they were mostly referred to as the Fallen Kings.” Silver gulped. “These four wolves held immense power, enough to rival the Royals of the Emperors, hence their name, and were known for their brutality in combat. The four of them alone slaughtered the packs, even those that weren't fighting. Thousands died at their paws. They put an end to the Territory Wars themselves, but at the cost of every pack in the western region of the country. One of the names of the Fallen Kings was Saber, or as he is more infamously known by his alias on the battlefield, 'The Shinning Fang'.” Twilight leaned forward and pierced Silvers soul with her dagger eyes, “Is it you?” Silver hung his head, “Yes...” Twilights eyes went wide, though Silver couldn't tell if it was from shock or anger. She sat and stared at the wolf for a while, then, dropped the book on the table and she slowly rose from the couch and began to walk to the door. “Twilight wait! Let me explain!” “Explain!?” she hissed at him, “Silver, you've killed over a thousand wolves! How can you expect to explain the reasoning behind that?! I don't care if you were in the middle of a war, you're a monster!” “Twilight please! It was different back then; I was different back then!” the wolf tried to defend. “Back then!? That's another thing!” Twilight levitated the book back up, “This war was a hundred years ago!” Silver winced at the comment, his mind overflowing with guilt. “Do I even want to know about your pack?! You know, the one Daring Doo mentioned? Are they all the same?! How is it that she even knows about this in the first place?! Tell me Silver, what else are you hiding from me!?” Twilight huffed and panted and Silver shrunk down under the mares angry glare. No one spoke for a while, then Silver lifted his head. “Twilight, I swear I didn't mean to hide this from you, I just didn't know how to tell you. It's true that I didn't want you to know about my life before, but if you asked I would have told you. I swear on my freedom that I will tell you everything you want to know, just ask me.” “Fine,” she huffed, “let's start with Saber. Who is he?” “He's me. It's the name I went by during the war. I don't really know where it came from, but wolves just kept referring to me by Saber, and I figured it was best to use that instead of my real name.” “And everything you did, why?” Silver pulled back for a moment, but Twilight only stepped forward, “I...I was bored.” Twilights eyes shot open again, this time clearly with shock. “You...you were what?” Silver didn't speak, but Twilight stepped closer once more, “Silver!” “I was bored, okay!” Silver hollered, “I know, it's sick and stupid and I massacred hundreds of lives for my own amusement, and I KNOW THAT MAKE ME A MONSTER!!” Silver clenched his teeth and bit his lip as fresh tears filled his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. He turned his head down and refused to look Twilight in the face. Silence filled the air once more for a long time, but instead of a voice to break the it, it was only the sound of hooves. They got further away from Silver, and he looked up to see the back of Twilights head walking away. “You're not a monster....you're something far worse.” she spat back to him, her voice filled disgust. Each step echoed through out the room. CLOP “No...” CLOP “Please...don't leave....” CLOP “Please...don't hate me...” THUD The sound caused Twilight to pause and turn her head. Silver laid on the ground behind her, unmoving. “Silver, if this is some stupid attempt to make me stay, it won't work.” The wolf still didn't move. Twilight sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes, “Silver stop it! Get up!” No response. She moved back to stand over him, “Silver?” she nudged him with a hoof. His body was incredibly hot and upon looking closer, she couldn't see his chest moving. “SILVER!” “SOME PONY!? ANY PONY?!” Twilight screamed down the halls of Canterlot castle as she raced through the interior, a unconscious wolf levitated behind her. “What is going on out here?” Celestia said as she stepped out of a door. She was met with a wide-eyed, panicking Twilight. “Celestia, you have to help! Silver passed out and he's not breathing and he has a really high temperature and I don't know what to do!” she rushed out. It took only and fraction of a second for the tall alicorn to react. She pushed the door open, “Bring him in and set him on the bed,” she stood aside as Twilight rushed in and placed Silver on a large bed, laying him out on his back. “Shouldn't we get a doctor?” Twilight asked. “It would take too long. Star Shine!” Celestia hollered. It took mere seconds for a wolf to drop down from the ceiling. “What wrong?” the wolf asked. Her fur had a mix of purples and black, and her hair was pulled back into pony tail that laid down her neck, with a lock in front of her eyes. Her wings went from the color of her fur to black at the tips of the feathers/ There was a large bag tied around her waist, with bottles and vials of different colored powders and liquids in the side pockets. “He's not breathing and has a high temperature,” Celestia informed. Just then, the doors to the room opened and Luna stepped in. “Sister, what is happening? The guards heard some pony shouting for help,” she asked as she stepped in. “It's Silver,” Celestia stated, “something's wrong with him.” “What?!” Luna quickly rushed to the bedside and looked him over. Star Shine pulled a bottle of blueish-green powder from her bag and sprinkled some down the wolfs throat. She waited a moment, then Silver coughed up the same powder and began to breath again, though it was raggedly and filled with coughs. Star Shine put the bottle down onto the dresser and placed her ear on Silver chest. His lungs were barely getting enough oxygen, and his body temperature wasn't only making matters worse. The wolf pulled yet another bottle from her bag, this one containing a pink liquid. She grabbed the blanket and ripped off a corner, then doused the fabric with the pink substance and threw it over his muzzle. Slowly, his breathing became less ragged and the coughing ceased. “Okay, now to bring down his temperature,” Star Shine said with a small sigh of relief. She looked across from her to the worried blue alicorn, “Princess Luna, do you know any spells that could help?” Luna snapped her attention away from the wolf, then thought for a moment. She then quickly used her magic to pull the blanket out entirely from under Silver, the placed her horn to it. A light blue archaic circle appeared on the blanket, then disappeared. “There, I've enchanted the blanket to remain cold.” The covers radiated a frosty air when she dropped it on Silvers body and wrapped him in it. Star Shine went back into her bag and pulled out a small flashlight. She pulled his eyes open and shined the light in. His eyes dilated, a good sign. She placed a paw on his neck and counted the heart beats per minute. His heart was racing, but not to the point where it would cause harm. Star Shine let out yet another sigh of relief, this one louder than the last, “Okay, he should be alright for now.” “What happened to him?” Twilight asked. “I don't know,” Star Shine answered, “There aren't any marks on his body, so he's not injured. The only thing I can think of is an ingested poison, it's the only thing Silver can't defend against. The one way to kill him. It's why he always sniffs his food before eating.” She went onto her bag again and switched the flashlight for a syringe. She pressed it into Silvers arm and drew blood, then put the syringe back into her bag. “I'm going to go run some test on his blood. Princess Twilight, I want you to come with me,” Star Shine instructed, “Princess Celestia, please call a doctor and have them come put I.V. Bags on Silver and monitor him while I'm gone.” “Of course,” Celestia answered and left the room. Luna sat and watched the wolf, her eyes never even blinking. “Hey,” Star Shine said in a comforting tone, “He'll be fine. I've seen him pull through worse.” Luna broke her gaze from Silver for a moment and looked to the wolf across from her. Her eyes were filled with dread and fear, then returned to Silver. Star Shine turned and left the room, Twilight following close behind. “Where are we going?” she questioned. “To my lab,” Star shine informed, “Now, I need you to tell me what happened when Silver passed out.” “Umm, we were arguing and I went to leave and then he just collapsed. I went to get him to get up, but he didn't move and then I saw he wasn't breathing, so I wrapped him in my magic and floated him out here to find help.” The female wolf seemed to know her way around the castle as she kept making swift turns and taking paths even Twilight didn't know existed. They eventually found themselves in the lower levels of the castle, in front of a large oak door. Star Shine pushed the door open and enter, revealing a huge lab with a large number of different machines and various sets through out it, and a few book cases tucked against the wall. On a normal day, Twilight would have geeked out, but right now she was too worried to care about the lab. Star Shine made her way over to what looked like a Mass-Spectrometer. She took out the syringe of blood and squeezed some into a vial, then placed it into the machine. She pressed a few buttons and the machine whirred on. She then walked across the room and grabbed a number of books off of a shelf then moved over to an empty table. “What are you doing? And, who are you?” Twilight asked as she followed the wolf. “I'm Star Shine, the wolf from Houndland that protects Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to identify the poison that is killing my pup hood friend four floors up.” Twilight slumped back and folded her ears against her head. Star Shine stopped flipping through the books and looked up, “Look, I'm sorry I snapped, but I don't have time to explain things right now,” she went back down to her book and began flipping rapidly through the pages. When she finished with one book, she tossed it aside and grabbed another, and another and another. Twilight, seeing that she was of no use at the moment, left the room. Her mind was in a daze and she found herself wondering the halls aimlessly. Her thoughts were plagued with the last moments of her argument with Silver. “You're not a monster...you're something far worse.” The words rang and echoed through her conscious, filled with spite and loathing “Why did I say that? I didn't mean it...did I? I knew he must have taken lives since he's a solider, but the sheer number alone is terrifying, and his reason...it's sick! To kill so many for fun, it's- it's just—UGH! ...but...why do I feel so betrayed? I know I'm angry at him, and I can never forgive what he's done. But...why does this hurt so much?” (Well Twilight, it's hard to love some pony and hate them at the same time...) A fresh stream of tears wet her eyes and cheeks as the thoughts continued to resound in her head. “Twilight?” a warm voice called from in front, causing the smaller mare to lift her head. She looked up and saw Celestia standing before her. The alicorn peered down at the mare, Twilight's eyes filled with what looked like guilt and regret, “Twilight, my dear, what's wrong?” “What's wrong?!” she said in a raised voice, “Silver is dying!” Celestia pulled herself back and shrunk a little. It was a bit of a dumb question, but she didn't expect Twilight to snap like that. Twilight quickly recoiled and corrected her voice level and tone, “Celestia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so upset. It's just, we were arguing before he passed out and I—I just...” Twilight struggled to choke back her weeps. Celestia wrapped a wing around the upset alicorn and brought her into a warm embrace, “There, there Twilight. Silver will be fine. I'm sure once he wakes up, you two will talk it out and everything will be okay again.” “But what if he's not?” Twilight looked up to Celestia, “What if he doesn't make it? He'll die and-and the l-last thing I had said to h-him is that he's worse than a m-monster.” Her tears streamed down her cheeks and dropped to the floor, “I'll never get a chance to say I'm sorry.” Celestia put her hoof under Twilights chin, “Twilight why would you say something like that?” “Because...because of his past.,” She sniffled, “You don't know the things he's done.” Celestia stiffened and hesitated before speaking, “But I do,” the white alicorn corrected, “I know what Silver did all those years ago. And you're right, his actions were horrible. But he is not who he was back then. He has changed, and he's not the demon you make him out to be.” “But he still--” “Twilight, if you believe that Silver is a monster, then you must believe Luna is still Nightmare Moon.” Twilight cocked her head, “What? No, I-I don't. I know Luna's changed! We used the Elements of Harmony to change her back!” “Then why can you not believe that Silver has changed? What he did happened a hundred years ago, and you mean to say that in all that time, you don't think Silver corrected himself?” “Luna didn't kill over a thousand ponies because she was bored!” “No, but she did try to plunge the world into eternal night out of jealousy. That, Twilight, would have had a far worse affect on the world than what Silver did. I'm not excusing his actions, but I'm asking you, please try to be a little more understanding. Let him explain everything with a clear mind.” Twilight couldn't believe it. Celestia, the most just and loving of all the ponies she'd met, was asking her to forgive an inexcusable and unprovoked act of mass murder. “But why? Celestia, why would you ask me to do something like this?” “Twilight, believe me, when I first heard of what Silver did during the Territory Wars, I was appalled. I sought out Silver and demanded he tell me everything. And when he did, I felt much of what you're feeling now; betrayal, but also heart-break. The Silver I knew was not capable of such things, and the fact that he admitted to do them broke my heart even more. And then he explained. I know you must be terribly confused at what that means, but I'm afraid it's not my place to tell you. So when Silver wakes up, I want you to ask him to explain what his life and the country was like when he killed those wolves. After that, if you still do not wish to accept him, then you can have him sent back to Houndland.” The thought of banishing Silver pierced Twilights heart. Would she be able to do it? To send back the wolf she'd come to know, the wolf she grew to love. But if she didn't, she'd have to accept who he is and what he did; to forgive his actions and move past it. It would seem this talk only furthered her internal turmoil. The smaller alicorn pulled out of the embrace, “Thank you Celestia. I need to get back to Star Shine.” she said wistfully. Her steps were slow and somber as she moved past the older alicorn. The white mare let Twilight go, her heart breaking as she saw the pained expression grow on her face as she walked away. She knew she had only caused further damage to Twilights heart, but if she could just talk with Silver, then maybe she would understand. Forgiveness was a bit of a long shot, but she desperately wanted for the two to make up. She couldn't bare to see her old students heart torn asunder between keeping her first love and accepting what she believed to be a monster. Twilight wondered through the halls once more, her mind in more of a frenzy than it was before. She slowly but surely made her way back to the lab. She pushed the door open and entered to see that Star Shine had not moved an inch, and the pile of books she'd finished reading had only grown larger. The wolf sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples, “Nothing!” Just then, the Mass-Spectrometer beeped and Star Shine shot up from her seat and ran over to it. She plucked the vial out from the machine and took a small bit of the blood in to a pipette, then placed that blood onto a glass slide and looked at it under a microscope. Star Shine didn't say anything for a while, causing Twilight to worry. “Did you find something?” the alicorn asked. “There's nothing,” she answered, “Silvers blood is fine.” “What? I thought you said he was poisoned.” “I said he might have been poisoned. There must be something else then...Princess, during the last few days with Silver, have you seen him come into contact with anything strange?” “Um..no, not that I can think of. Other than that valley, Silver hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, except for grab what he called Black crystals.” “The crystals are harmless. But what's this valley you're talking about?” “We went to a valley in the Galloping Gorge yesterday to look for a magic object. We found it, but it got stolen by some pony else.” “Hmmm,” the wolf hummed, “Some thing must have happened in there that put Silver in this state. You said you didn't see anything, and if Silver got afflicted then he clearly didn't know about it either, otherwise he would have come straight to me. We need to go back and look at where you all went.” “We can't. When we search the valley, we split up, so I don't think any pony knows where Silver was looking or what he may have come into contact with. And the cave where the book was got blown up.” Star Shine furrowed her brow, “Come on, think!” she said to herself, “I need to find away to see what Silver saw, to feel what he felt, to smell what he-- I got it!” Twilight only looked in confusion. “Princess Luna!” she exclaimed. She turned and bolted out of the lab, back up the floors and bust into the room, Twilight just a few moments behind her. It was now filled with more ponies; 9 more to be exact. Twilights friends had joined, along with two doctors that Star Shine had requested, and Celestia. “I told you're friends, Twilight,” the white alicorn informed, “They said they wanted to come too, so I teleported them here along with the doctors, ” “Good, you're all here too. I'm gonna need your help,” Star Shine said as when went over to Luna. “Princess Luna, I need you to do something. I want you to send me and three others into Silvers memories so we can find out what happened to him.” Luna pulled back, “No. Silver told me to never invade his memories again! I won't do it.” “Princess please,” the wolf begged, “If you don't, Silver may die. The only way I can figure out what put Silver in this state is if I was there, but I wasn't, so I need to experience what he did.” Luna eyes widened as she grasped the situation. She'd much rather break her promise than let him die, but he certainly wasn't going to be happy when he woke up. Oh well, maybe her surprise might keep him in a good mood, “Fine. But please, anything you find in there, you must keep to yourself.” Star Shine nodded, “I know. Now, who's coming with me?” She turned to face the six mares behind her, all of which were confused. “Okay, look we don't have a lot of time. I am going to go into Silvers mind and flip through his memories to find out what happened to him, but I can't do it by myself since it would take too long, so I need three others to come along to help look.” After hearing the explanation, the first pony to step forwards was Twilight, “I'll help you.” “Great!” The next two to step forward were Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Ah' don't much like the idea of invading some pony's privacy like this, but Ah' reckon we don't got much choice. Silver will get over it anyway if it'll help save his life.” “Let's just go!” Rainbow rushed, “The longer we wait, the less time we have!” Star Shine looked to Luna, who nodded to proceed, “Every pony, please clear the room. If you're in here when I cast the spell, you'll be pulled in too.” Luna spoke. The doctors and every pony else shuffled out of the room and closed the doors behind them. Twilight, Star Shine, Rainbow and Applejack all gathered around Luna. “Before we do this, I must warn you” she said in a grave tone, “The spell I'm going to use isn't going to allow you to observe Silvers memories, but instead experience them as he did. You'll see what he saw, smell what he smelt and feel what he felt. Both physically and emotionally. You will hear his thoughts, and know any memories he may have recalled at that time. You will become Silver.” Twilight swallowed hard, but nodded along with the rest. “Very well, then let's begin.” Luna lowered her head and white and blue aura wrapped her horn. White threads spread from it, connecting to each of their heads, and one to Silvers. They all felt a violent jolt run through their bodies and a head splitting pain in their minds as their consciousnesses were ripped then plunged into blackness.