Diamond Heart

by Wayofthepen

Unxpected Visit

When I woke up the next morning, I still couldn’t move without causing pain to myself. Silver wasn’t beside me anymore. What we had seen last night was...Disturbing. I was quickly pulled out of my thoughts by Silver’s voice.

“Rest easy?” She said, leaning against the bedrooms doorway. I shook my head at her. “I can’t see how to prevent it...Should we tell them?” She slowly made her way to my bed and sat next to me.

“No...I spent most of the night planning on how to prevent it, but all outcomes are the same.” I managed to painfully put myself in a upright position. “We should train nonetheless. Grim will be out of harms way, and it will be down to us to aid our people.” That was the first time I had really called the dogs ‘our’, as in of my own.

She rested her head upon my shoulder. “Maybe we should keep Grim back. He has the strength of ten thousand dogs.” I pictured him fighting the massive numbers of dogs that swarmed the cave. Not even he would withstand all of that unscathed. Silver must have read my mind because she nodded agreement.

She was about to speak when we heard another set of paws coming into the room. “Leaders, company.” He said to us in a rather angry tone.

“Friend or foe?” Silver said almost instantly. She got up from the bed and moved over to the dog. The two had a hushed conversation, making me feel a little left out. “I see. Bring them to the throne room in a few minutes. I will take Zin with me.” The dog nodded and left us. Silver hurriedly came over to me and forced me to my feet. “I will explain when we get there.” Was all she said before rushing me out of my home.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

There was a group of fifteen dogs standing in front of us. “Explain yourselves. How did you find us?” Silvers voice rang in a harsh tone. One of the dogs stepped forward, head held lowly.

“Three month past, pony kill leader. No leader, no order. Chaos bad, we no want.” He said scared, keeping from eye contact with each of us. I raised a paw in the air.

“This pony...Moved silently and swiftly? Killing your people within a matter of seconds?” The dog nodded hesitantly towards me. “Give me a straight answer.” I demanded. He nodded hastily. I let out a heavy sigh and motioned them to wait outside. Grim and Silver looked towards me questioningly. “My old friend has been busy.” I made a weak laugh. Silver nodded while Grim kept his confused look.

“We should open our cave to them. We will need all the help we can get for the upcoming event.” Grim and I hastily agreed with her. Grim got up and left the two of us alone, likely informing the new members of our clan. Silver shut her eyes and looked deep in thought. It was another five minutes before she spoke to me. “Our clan still falls...Is there anything we can do, Zin?”

I closed my eyes and shifted my head upwards. ‘All of this is just chaos...Wait...The most unlikely of allies aligned together for no apparent reason, doing nothing but bringing destruction to the land. Well played, Discord. Well played.’ I opened my eyes to see Silver staring straight at me, nodding approval.

“Take me to my room, please. I will explain once we are there.” Silver got up from her throne and moved to my front. She grabbed my right arm and put it around her neck. As we exited the room, we overhead the group of dogs thanking Grim. Sounded like they were way too happy to be accepted into our clan.

Once inside, I told Silver to let me walk on my own. I slowly and painfully made my way to my weapon rack and pulled a knife, still in it’s sheathe, and put it on my robes belt. “A friend gave me this. We are going to the same friend and asking for help.” I turned back to Silver, who just gave me a blank stare.

“You sure he would help?” She asked as she came closer to me. She put my arm back around her again.

I took a deep breath and paused before speaking. “I don’t know. I pray that he will, or else our entire clan shall suffer.” Suddenly an image of a house near the edge of the Everfree Forest appeared in my mind. “Thanks. Now here...We...Go!” I said as I cast the spell, aiming to appear right at the front door. The flames consumed us once more, taking us to our destination.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

We reappeared right at the front door, just as planned. Silver and I limped towards the door and knocked on it. There was the sound of the knob turning and the door opened, leaving a partial crack big enough to see out of. “May we come in, please?” Silver asked. A minute later the door swung open, revealing a shocked looking pegasus.

I looked into Spades eyes, which happened to be full of anger. “So you were there...” I said in a hoarse tone. Spade motioned us inside. Silver brought me in and set me down in a chair. I closed my eyes, no longer paying attention to the world around me.

“You’re lucky you didn’t kill anypony, or else we might have done the same to you.” His voice as full of anger as his eyes were.

I let out a heavy sigh before speaking. “My friend, you won’t believe any word I say. Go talk to Luna about it, I told her everything.” I opened my eyes and scanned over the group in the room. Silver stood at my side, Spade close to the front door, and a very angry looking Shadow next to him. “Regardless, we came here with... Saddening news....” The feelings from before coursed through my veins as I spoke, making my voice sound more shaky.

“Spit it out.” Spade said, still having anger in his voice.

I closed my eyes once more, picturing the gruesome scene. “One month prior to the war, our clan is going to be...Massacred, to say the least. We are trying to prepare the clan, but no matter what, the outcome is the same. I know I am not your favorite dog right now, but other lives are at stake.” I paused for a moment. I felt tears coming to my eyes, and I let them flow. I don’t care who sees me right now, my mind is on trying to save my clan.

Silver put a paw on my shoulder. “We don’t expect you to agree to anything at this moment, but please think it over.” She said in a calm voice, but I could tell she felt as I did. I don’t need telepathy to know when she is hurting.

Shadow moved to Spade’s side. “How did you get like that?” She said in a calm tone.

“Magic takes a toll on it’s user when they go beyond their limits. To me, I stopped caring. I am going to do everything I can to keep my clan and friends from meeting a bitter end.” Silver proceeded to put my arm around her neck and helped me towards the door. I turned back to Spade and Shadow. “Hasta luego.” I turned and we stepped outside.

“We are going to have to walk. Good thing it’s a nice day out.” I said smiling at the warmth of the sun on my fur. We slowly made our way to the cave, enjoying every moment of being topside.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

We right halfway to the cave when we couldn’t walk anymore. She set me down gently and sat next to me. I fell back completely, too tired to bother sitting upright. Silver just sat there with her eyes closed. I took in a deep breath, enjoying every aspect of these fields. “Silver... I don’t feel too good...” Was all I could say before drifting into a peaceful sleep. I assume Silver carried me back, but I couldn’t think aymore. I will need my rest for training.