All alone and glad to be...

[Silver Shadow]

((cont. from outside the castle as it crumbled/ late afternoon.))

After a long time of searching, the dark purple unicorn found a safe bit of forest with a clean shallow river which lead to nowhere, far far away from all the other ponies and Ponyville. He felt horribly weak, and started to regret leaving refusing the others offers of taking care of the wound, which were now very painful indeed. But he saw them as nothing compared to the pain he felt inside. What is wrong? he thought bitterly. I don't understand... He looked around for any particular healing herbs he remembered from his home. Once he finished gathering those, he went to the stream, cleaned them off and applied them to his wounds with the help of the elemental spirits which flocked around him. After letting the juices of the leaves heal the wounds, Silver Shadow when to the river and washed them off, along with all the dirt in his hair and coat until he was reasonably clean as well as his wounds. He applied a few different healing plants which were silver in colour to finish the job.

After all that, Silver Shadow could barely stay standing for a good long time. He layed himself down on the grass and closed his eyes. The elementals flocked around him, gnome, sylph and sprite. The undines watched from the river. Silver Shadow sighed and listened to his surroundings, picking up hints for why his strength was draining away... The earth whispered to him though the trees and the grass... finally he realised his mistake. I've forgotten that their world and my world aren't all the same... that there are differences... How can it be fixed?

[Silver Shadow]

((occ: this is going to be hard...))

After thinking it through carefully, Silver Shadow knew what he had to do, though he felt slightly worried because he had only performed it in his home land, not here. He didn't know what was quite wrong with him or if his idea would work, but he had a feeling that it was the only way to get rid of what ever spell backfired. Struggling to get up at first, he stood standing for a few seconds trying to get his balance. He moved over to the centre of the clearing slowly; he didn’t have the candles or the markings he usually set out to invoke the guardian spirits, but it had to do. He wasn’t even sure of it would work, but it was the best that he could think of at that moment, and time was running out. The herbs he had taken gave him a little more strength and it was enough to do the ritual.

Standing in the very centre of the clearing, Silver Shadow faced east, taking in deep breaths and running through what he had been taught. Elementals of all types gathered around him, watching. Once he was ready, he closed his eyes and focused on his deep breathing and feeling the earth below him, feeling the breeze around him, hearing the sound of the water nearby. He began to slowly chant in the musical ancient tongue he was taught many years ago by the Guardians of the elementals of his homeland. The words were very ancient; no other who had no or little connection to nature itself would understand them, but Silver Shadow knew what they meant and he was invoking the Light which would help him in the ritual. Still chanting the ancient language, he lifted his head so the tip of his horn pointed directly above him and at the sky above. In his mind, in the world which he pictured as silvery-blue all around him, he saw the Light coming to him from all directions and gathering around him and flowing into his horn. Once he felt he had gathered enough needed to continue, he slowly lowered his horn and slowly turned east to south to west to north and finally east again, drawing a circle of blue light in the other world with his horn as he chanted out the ancient words. Then he turned north and snapped his eyes open, the circle he had drawn glowing around him, but this time a faint silver colour. He felt the need to hurry, but tried to keep it steady. He lifted his horn high into the air and looked up at the sky.

“I call upon the Lady of the Element of the Earth!!!” Silver Shadow called out in the usual language ((what ever that is…)). “Come to me and show thyself for I am in need of thy aid!”

Then suddenly the open area Silver Shadow was standing in became larger and in front of him a pillar of blazing silver-white began to build up. Once the pillar was completed, Silver Shadow looked into the pillar hopefully; everything was going well. Within that pillar a slender female human figure slowly made an appearance, her long hair blowing around her in a gentle breeze; her body a silvery-green colour. She gently smiled at Silver Shadow.

“What do you wish to know, Apprentice of the Four of Us?” Her voice was musical and gentle, reminding him strongly of the sound of spring.

“I am honoured that you answered my call. I hope my request isn’t too great to ask.” Silver Shadow said out loudly. Before he could continue, the Lady of Earth held up her slender hand to stop him from continuing. She nodded, smiling.

“I know very well of what you ask of me, and I am willing to help you, little one.” She waved her hand as though she was shaking something off. Before he realised it, a silvery-green light washed over Silver Shadow’s body and soul with great force. He dug his hooves deep into the earth, feeling the sensation of the heavy weight and lack of strength lift with ease. The spirit that was draining Silver Shadow’s strength released itself and disappeared, but Silver Shadow never got the chance to see it. But that didn’t matter to him; he was finally free and his power and strength began to return to him in soul and body. But he felt a new strength also, a welcoming knowledge of the earth surrounding him. He looked at the Lady of Earth and she smiled.

“I have blessed you with more knowledge of this world, though you will still need to seek its secrets thyself, for a better understanding.” She said to him. Silver Shadow nodded.

“Thankyou, O Lady of the Earth. Can you tell me what truly went wrong?” The Lady of Earth laughed gently.

“You will find out soon enough. For now, I believe you are wanted elsewhere, Apprentice of the Four of Us. And don’t worry, little one, you will find your way home soon enough. Now fare thee well! Release me!”

Silver Shadow nodded. “I shall, Lady of the Earth. Thankyou for aiding me.” The Lady of Earth nodded delightfully and moved back into the pillar of Light.

Still with his horn pointing towards the sky, Silver Shadow began to chant in the ancient tongue in the same way like before. The pillar of Light slowly began to fade with each word spoken and once it was gone, Silver Shadow erased the magical circle of blue light. Once he had done that he turned to the east.

“May all spirits bound to this ceremony go free for it is over.” He called out loudly. He stamped his hoof three times and suddenly every thing surrounding him in the physical world was back to the way it was before he invoked the Lady of the Earth.

Silver Shadow suddenly felt tired and thirsty. He was dripping with sweat and only then did he realise that it had indeed been a while since he invoked a guardian spirit. He slowly made his way over to the river and took a long drink before slipping into the river, washing away all the tiredness. He felt completely clean, the first time in a while. The wounds have cleaned up effectively, and no scaring remained on his body. He rested his head on the bank of the river, his body still in the water and rested for the time being, thinking of all the other ponies back at Ponyville, though his mind was at peace for the time being.

((another long post by me. And not a very good one to me either, but dang it. I tried, I need practice. Nows the time to send any thoughts to Silver Shadow now that his minds at rest and ready to take in messages. I'll get him moving soon enough.))

[silverfall]

Razz's mind finally stumbled over Silver Shadow. He seemed surprised, as if he had only just noticed him right under his feet.

Silver Shadow...

The imagery of recent events swelled into his mind's view.

Then there was a pause. Razz's mind touched Silver Shadow over quite delicately, sniffing over his aura like a cat sniffing dinner. There was a sense of approval. Then he was gone again.

[Silver Shadow]

Silver Shadow felt Razz touch his mind and he bolted up right.

Razzaroo... the Indigo... He looked around and noticed Razzaroo's fan club dancing around him excitedly, their faces trying to express worry. Silver Shadow knew it that it was Razz they were referring to.

"Is he ok?" Silver Shadow asked him quickly. They nodded. Yes. "The Indigo?" They glanced at each other; they obviously weren't too sure about that. Actually, Silver Shadow had the feeling that they didn't give a d**n really. He turned to the pale gold sylph that appeared besides him and he nodded a yes. The two silvery ones were gone; Silver Shadow had a good idea where off to.

He got up and shook his mane. He felt a new power surging through him; his strength had returned to him and so did another. But now he had his thoughts set on finding Razz and the other champions and so he set out back to Razzaroo's curiosity shop, keeping that little part of the forest in his mind.

((cont. Razz's place))