Chapter five: A narrow escape
As it turned out, there were more pressing matters to attend to in Canterlot. Half of the castle guards were dead, and about a quater of the remaining injured. Nightmare Moon had escaped from Canterlot about five minutes previously.
'I want all of you to stay with me,' Celestia told the four ponies.
The clean air had sobered Golden up a bit, and Celestia explained the situation to him.
'Rightio, princess. If ever there's a pony you can count on, that'd be me!'
'Loyalty,' Shadow Laughter muttered with disgust.
Silver assisted Golden with walking, and they made their way into the castle. It was gory. Assorted limbs and organs were strewn about the ground, in pools of blood.
Celestia, Silver, and Golden did their best to not throw up. Shadow stared nonchalantly at the mess, and Dragonsilver was oddly calm for a pony who had feinted at the insane asylum.
The group of ponies skirted pools of blood. All except for Shadow, who sloshed through it like it wasn't even there. Nopony could see it very well on her black coat, however her tail dragged through it, the dirty pink staining with deep red. Her tuquoise eyes revealed nothing when Silver Buckle cast her a questioning glance.
Dragonsilver quietly explained to her.
'She's, um, a little unhinged.' Silver's nose was screwed up, and she looked like she was about to throw up. Then a flash of anger entered her eyes. She leapt over to Shadow, planted her forehoofs onto Shadow's shoulders, and shoved her to the ground.
'Care, dammit! That blood belongs to ponies who have died for us, and y'all are just walkin' through it like it's nuthin'!' she yelled. Celestia, who was walking at the front, stopped, looked back and frowned, but said nothing.
'Aww, now look,' said Shadow, 'You got brains all over me.' She grinned evilly, infuriating Silver even more.
'Why don't you care?! That there blood on your hooves belonged to somepony, and you're treatin' it like dirt!' Silver's accent became even more pronounced as she grew angrier.
'What are you trying to say?' asked Shadow.
'Ah'm sayin' that y'all should give the dead a little respect, is all!' Shadow's smile grew wider.
'And who's gonna make me?'
'Oh yeah? You reckon y'all are so tough, you just wait till ah'm through with you!'
'Enough,' Celestia said softly, but it made Silver look up.
Dragonsilver, care to explain further? We need to get on,' she told them. They walked to the dining hall, and as they walked Dragonsilver spoke to Silver Buckle. Behind them, Shadow took every oppourtunity to roll around in the gore, and after a minute she was as striking red as Dragonsilver himself.
'Shadow Laughter wants to die. She's goading you into killing her. I know it's hard, but you have to resist. Do what's right. Don't let her get to you,' he told Silver.
'But look at her! She's rolling around in somepony's blood like it's nuthin'. Please tell me you understand how sick that is,' she looked at him pleadingly.
'I understand,' he said smoothly. 'Perhaps not as well as you, but I can see what she's doing. I've never really connected with anypony the way you all have, but I know it's wrong. She does too, deep down, but she wants her death so badly that she's placed it above anything else. That's not important,' he said.
'It's not?'
'No. What I'm intrigued by is what's wrong with you, Silver?'
'Huh?'
'What's wrong? There is something eating away at you, I can tell. What is it?' Dragonsilver asked.
'There ain't nuthin' wrong with me,' she said, but Dragonsilver was certain she was lying.
'Wow. Your first act of dishonesty, spent on me. I'm honored.' They arrived at the dining hall. What was left of the royal guard had gathered there, and tables were set up in a hospital-like fashion, being used to treat the wounded. Celestia left the four ponies, for she had royal business to attend to.
Dragonsilver took Silver Buckle into a separate room, for she was clearly on the verge of a breakdown. She shuddered, her eyes glistening with tears that were ready to break loose. Dragonsilver sat her down on a stool, and held her as she sobbed. It went on for ten minutes, maybe more, and when Silver was done she slumped into his forelegs. Dragonsilver gave her a long and comforting hug.
'Ah thought he loved me,' Silver said. Dragonsilver waited patiently, knowing the rest would come.
'He was so nice to me when we were just lil' ponies. And when we got our cutie marks we were even closer. And then when we grew up, he just slipped away.'
She started crying again. After a minute she calmed down.
'He came to mah bar all the time, but when he looked at me, it was like ah was a complete stranger to him,' she said. 'Ah sent him a gift for hearts and hooves day this year, but he didn't reply! Ah thought he liked me,' she said.
'Who?'
'Golden Sheild, she whispered, her voice full of longing and passion.
'Oh, Silver, I'm so sorry.'
'How could you tell?' she asked.
'About what?'
'That somethin' was eatin' me up. How'd y'all know?' Dragonsilver thought for a minute.
'Well, I guess it's about time I confided in somepony. Will you keep it secret?'
'Ah promise, sugarcube.'
'Okay. I have this... Thing that I do. And by Celestia, don't you think that I enjoy it, because I don't!'
'Mm?' It was amazing how quickly Silver became the comforting one in the situation. 'What is it?'
'I can sometimes see what ponies are thinking,' he told her. 'Sometimes I hear it, or see an image, sometimes it's just a feeling. It can be very detailed or just a hazy half-remembered shadow, but it's always right. I felt that there was something getting at you. It's most of the reason I don't sociallise,' he said miserably.
'Aw, ponyfeathers. Don't you think that's anything to be ashamed of, Dragonsilver! It's a part of who you are, and if you changed it, you wouldn't be you anymore!'
'I don't think I want to be me,' he said.
'Don't you talk like that,' Silver said sternly. 'Y'all are a good pony, and who knows? This mind thing o' yours may just come in handy!'
Epic Foreshadowing
'Thanks, Silver,' he said.
They walked back to Golden and Shadow. Golden was getting some detoxicating pills, (AN: It's Equestria, they have those, okay?) and Shadow was refusing to be cleaned up. Silver tackled Shadow, this time armed with a soapy sponge. She pinned the black pony to the ground and scrubbed away. After fifteen minutes, Silver stood back. Dragonsilver whistled.
'Nice job.'
And it was a nice job. Shadow Laughter's black coat now had a sleek shine to it, making it look even darker, if that were possible. Her mane was now bright, and had acquired a fairy floss shape to it. The face, however, remained scowly.
'Don't mind her,' said Silver. 'Let's get ourselves cleaned up.'
Two large buckets of warm, soapy water were waiting for Silver Buckle and Dragonsilver. Chatting rather cheerily despite the situation, the two ponies cleansed themselves, looking brighter than they had all journey. Now that there was no layer of dirt coating Silver, Dragonsilver reflected at what a beautiful mare she was.
With her hair ties undone, and stetson off, she looked impossibly natural. Her coat also appeared more orangey, a nice colour, like autumn leaves.
'You know,' said Dragonsilver, 'I may have to start hitting on you after all.'
'Woah there,' she said, 'Ah'm flattered and all, but we really should get to know each other first,' she told him.
'Sorry. You're right, of course.' After they had finished cleaning themselves, Celestia came over.
'How are they?' asked Dragonsilver.
'Fine. They're a tough lot, those guards. They weren't hired for nothing.' Dragonsilver inclined his head.
'Of course. What are we going to do next?'
'Golden needs twelve hours rest, and while we could use that time productively, I'd rather have you all within my reach,' Celestia said.
'We're not children,' Shadow said with disgust.
'You are compared to Nightmare Moon,' Dragonsilver said.
'I have some political issues to sit in to. Feel free to explore, but stay in the castle and stay together,' she said sternly, eyeing Shadow with visciousness.
'Yes, your Almighty Holiness,' Shadow said, bowing low to the ground.
'Please do not start that right now.'
'Oh, I'm so going to start that right now.'
'Please don't kill each other,' Celestia said, and left.
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The three ponies walked to the castle gardens, and, much to Shadow's displeasure, decided to stop there.
'But there are butterflies. Pink ones. Did I ever mention how much I hate the colour pink? It's just my luck that I get stuck with a mane like this one. It looks like freaking cotton candy, for gods sake. Pink is just so cheerful,' Shadow scowled.
'Ah thought y'all were supposed to be the element o' laughter.'
'You're underestimating how mad she is,' said Dragonsilver. 'Bearing in mind the very fine line between cheerfullness and absolute insanity.' Shadow walked away.
'Now, hold it! Just where do you think y'all are goin? Didn't you hear the Princess?' Silver shouted.
'Calm down. I'm sure her Absolute Powerfullness won't mind if I plant my flank fifty metres away,' Shadow said, and smiled, as if she knew Celestia was listening in.
True to her word, Shadow Laughter sat on the ground no more than fifty metres away. A pale pink butterfly fluttered it's way around her. Shadow tried to squish it, but the erratic flight pattern caused her to miss whenever she took a swipe. Silver sighed.
'That pony sure is on a road to trouble,' she told Dragonsilver.
'Yeah.'
'She told me that the first time y'all saw her, you fainted dead away!'
'I guess that's true,' he said. 'It wasn't just her. Have you ever been in an insane asylum?'
'Can't say ah have, Sugarcube. But ah'm sure it'd have the same effect on anypony.' Dragonsilver murmered something, but Silver didn't quite catch it.
'Pardon?' she said.
'I said "No, it wouldn't"'.'
'And why not?'
'Cause it wasn't just the outward appearance of them, or the behaviour. I could see parts of their minds. I had to cast a spell to stop it, but the reason I fainted was exhaustion, it takes so much energy to block out thoughts. That's why I lived alone before all of this happened.'
'How about now? What are you getting?' she asked him softly. He looked over to Shadow, but she was still out of earshot, swiping at a large cloud of butterflies that had accumulated around her head.
'Lots of greif and loss, but that's okay, I can handle it. A little further off is confusion, I guess from the rest of Canterlot, they probably don't know much of what's going on. The nurses are tired, and so's everyone else, but mostly the nurses, because they have so much work to do. The guards are trying to keep strong, even though their friends are dead. They really do feel a lot of loyalty to the princess, even after what's happened.
Closer to here, um, Shadow's hard to understand, but she's annoyed at the butterflies, which I think is a simplified manifestation of her anger at the princess. A lot of longing, for her death I guess, or maybe just some peaceful oblivion. She wants to just let everything go, but I think Celestia's put a spell on her to stop her killing herself or something, I don't really understand it.'
Silver moved closer, wanting to comfort the burdened pony.
'And what can y'all get from me?' A slight smile crossed Dragonsilver's face.
'You're glad you told someone about Golden. It was a large burden, even if you didn't realise it. You're feeling a lot more free, and beginning to wonder how big the problem was in the first place. It seems kind of silly. As for your feelings towards me, you're happy to let me have a go.' He smiled wider.
'You like stallions who are confident, but not conceited. They have to be kind, very honest, loyal and funny. That very special somepony has to value you, but not be a hooflicker. Challenging, but not infuriating. How'd I do?'
She simply stared at him for a moment.
'Th-that's just- that's just cheatin' Dragonsilver grinned.
'It helps when I'm touching them,' he said, and Silver realised his tail had been brushing her foreleg. She tackled him into a bush, and they wrestled for a minute or so. Silver giggled a bit, and even Dragonsilver found himself chuckling despite the circumstances. Shadow walked over to them and eyed the scene with distaste.
'When you two are done making out, I'd like some help with these butterflies,' she said, for they were still swarming about her.
Dragonsilver looked up and frowned. 'I don't know what they are,' he said, 'But those aren't butterflies.'
AN: Dundundun. LOL.