Where Only Silver Shines

by Etyco Filly

S13 — The Punishment, Yours

I was flying through the sky, fresh currents caressing my primaries as the sun kissed my back.

Soon, a dark blue pegasus joined me, her long, light blue mane fluttering in the wind. When she noticed me staring, she offered a gentle smile.

She seemed familiar. Where had I seen her before? She was a friend, wasn’t she?

I flapped my wings twice, gaining some altitude. The mare followed, then flew ahead of me.

She’d hurt me as well, but I’d forgiven her.

No I hadn’t. She had hurt me. Why would I ever forgive her?

When she slowed down to fly along me, tears fell from her eyes, glistening in the evening sun.

“Why are you crying?”

She looked at me with a grimace, and opened her mouth. A moment later, she shook her head. “I will tell you tomorrow, all right? Let us enjoy our flight today.”

Why tomorrow? What would happen tomorrow? One look at her pleading face told me I was better off not thinking about it. Deep down, I knew she was right.

We flew on into the sunset.

---

I hobbled towards the throne room, down the cold white marble corridor, each step hurting like Hades. Two knights stood sentry near the door. Blacknight and Silverwing. I only remembered her name because of its similarity to mine. Silver was a pretty common name, after all.

The burning feeling in my missing wing returned. It made it impossible for me to stop thinking about my injury, constantly reminding me that I would never fly again. I needed a distraction.

But then, I was almost there anyway. A few dozen more steps, and I would have very different worries.

Arawn wanted to speak to me. News of her survival had been a huge relief, but I had a bad feeling about this. Why didn’t she come herself? She could have ordered a servant to inform her when I woke up.

Instead, she had me come by as soon as I could walk. I’d known she would change, but to think she wouldn’t even set aside the time to visit me while I recovered… It hurt.

Perhaps what worried me more was Aurora only calling her The Morrigan now. Then again, I refused to speak with Aurora, and only happened to overhear some of her conversations, so maybe I lacked context.

The knights nodded to me before pushing open the oversized door. I thanked them and finally stepped inside. Apart from a crate full of light crystals near the entrance, nothing had changed. Dim walls stretched dozens of paces upwards, bringing back awful memories.

In the centre stood Arawn on her throne, still as a statue; only her eyes, cold and sharp, moved to follow me.

“Arawn?” I knew the answer before I even opened my mouth.

The Morrigan shook her head.

Why?

She looked exactly like Arawn. “Greetings, Silverstring.” Even spoke in her voice. But her smile… Her polite, sympathetic smile drove a dagger through my heart. “Thou hast my sincerest condolences,” said the mare who so reminded me of my love. “As well as my apology for asking thee to make the trip with thy injuries.”

“Why aren’t you… you?”

Her smile twisted the dagger. “The belief that ponies change upon ascension is erroneous: they merely become the Morrigan.”

“Then Arawn…?”

“Is no longer among us. I am sorry for thy loss.” The words rang hollow. She didn’t care. She’d… she’d murdered Arawn, and she didn’t care!

She…

No. She really hadn’t. I had. I could have talked her out of ascension. I could have insisted on leaving.

I could have left without her, and never noticed she was gone.

“However, ’tis not the reason for thy summoning. Thy actions and words have saved The Tower, and for that, I must reward thee.”

I stared at her, unable to put together any sentence. Nothing meant anything. Arawn was gone. I should be sad. I should cry. I should scream. Yet nothing came. Not a thought, nor a feeling, came to fill the void in my heart.

“Thus, I offer thee a wish of sorts. A request thou canst make of me, which I shall fulfil to the best of my ability.”

I just wanted Arawn back.