Mlp:FiM World of Light Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Meeting Evil

"And Silver Light said: 'stand fast, my children, for I sent you as lambs between wolfs. Go through the four corners of the world and say what is correct and just. Some will love you, but many more will hate you. If they want to hear the word, stand with them and share the bread. If they refuse, don't lose time: leave the place kicking dust as you leave, for the dust will be witness that your job is done'."

It has starting to get late and Saint Whisper was still going. He was tired, but he couldn't bring himself to stop: his mission kept brothering him. He feared that if he stopped for a single second something terrible could happen. He kept going through the roads, time or other seeing a small village.

Whisper went as far as his legs let him, before inevitable succumbing to the strain. Whisper only walked to near a tree shadow before finally letting himself fall on the grass. Now having time to think, he concluded that was a pretty foolish and reckless thing to do. He would never be able to find Twilight and the others if his body refused.

Now thinking better, Whisper finally realized something: perhaps this is his worst flaw. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, he always tries to help, but he never stops to think how he should do it. He was too reckless.

Whisper left out a small smile. A reckless saint. Saints were supposed to be an example of patience. He really was too young. As Whisper pondered, suddenly a stallion approached him. He was dark yellow and had a brown mane. He was using a dirty, old cloak. He approached Whisper and asked:

"Can you spare some food?"

Saint immediately opened his pouch, ready to give it all, when he remembered: if he gave everything, what would remain for him to complete his quest? Saint decided then to divide his bread in half, handing him the left piece.

"Thanks a lot, colt." said the stallion.

"No problem. I always like to help." Whisper said with a smile.

"So, kiddo, what are you doing outside at this hour?" asked the stallion, intrigued.

"Ah. I am trying to find some friends. They were lost with the Sacred Capital lockdown." Whisper frowned.

"Hum. So you are from the Sacred Capital, correct? What is your faction?" asked the stallion.

"Yes. I am a Saint. At least I try my best to be. It's just… so hard." Whisper said with a big sigh.

"He he. A Saint, you say? Those nice fellas who go from town to town healing people and spreading words like love, duty and a coming of a messiah? Ah I am familiar with you guys. Tell me, then: if he is so nice, then why was I starving?" the stallion asked, a bit of venom in his voice.

Whisper stopped to think, then answered: "Well, he did send me right me." Whisper said, pointing to the bread. "Silver Light doesn't do what his children can do by themselves."

"Uh. I see then. That is kind of cute." The stallion answered, truly touched. "I… uh… I will be going. Be safe, kiddo. Ponies on the next town are all bad news. If I were you I would avoid that place."

"I see." Whisper said with a smile, when suddenly a question appeared on his mind. "Wait… did you see a purple unicorn for any chance?"

"An unicorn? They are pretty rare. But I think I saw one at town of Odi. It may be my imagination, perhaps." The stallion said, scratching his head.

"How do I find Odi?" Whisper asked.
"The quickest way is through the town of Mallum." answered the stallion. "But that place is streaming with bandits. You can take the other, safer route, but it will take at least three days."

"Hum." Whisper had two choices. For one, it looked like foolishness to go through such a town. For other, he was in a rush to see them safe and sound. Saint decided to gather some more info. "How was that unicorn, by the way?"

"They were… hum… they were going to burn her." The stallion said shyly, a bit of afraid of Whisper reaction.

"Ah, alright…" said Whisper, when the words sank into him. "WHAT?"

"The ponies of Odi are quite nuts. She probably said something that she shouldn't." the stallion said. "She probably already became barbecue and…"

The stallion notice the saint was nowhere to be found. He looked and saw Whisper running with all his strength through the road.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!" screamed the stallion, only to fall into nothing.



Saint, previously tired, felt a surge of determination and energy through his body. The thought of someone going to die was just too much for him to bear. He saw a sign alongside the path, stopping to read it (and also because the exhaustion caught up with him).

'Welcome to Mallum' was written on the sign. There was graffiti on the back of it, but the words were too obscene to read. Whisper rested for a minute or two, before entering the village.

The village was old and poor. The night made the buildings look even more horrifying. There was dirt and trash through the streets, like nobody never bothered to clean up before. The air was heavy, the smell of burning plastic filling the air. Whisper thought: 'If there is a place that really needs light, its right here.'

Whisper didn't want to admit, but he was afraid. Never in his entire life had he seen a place like this. He wondered what kind of ponies would live in a place like this. Like answering his question, Saint suddenly noticed a group of stallions making a circle. They were shouting obscene words, and there was commotion on the middle. Saint approached trying to see what was happening. He would regret what he would see.

In the middle of the circle was a stallion on the ground, badly hurt. He was gray and had white hair. The stallions were taking turns, stomping and kicking him. There was another stallion: a pretty big one. He was red and had brown hair. He was holding a mare with his strong hooves, not letting her run. She was gray and had white hair too. Whisper quickly concluded they must be brother and sister.

Whisper looked shocked. He never had seen so much violence in his life. A smart pony would probably walk away. But Whisper's duty talked louder.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Whisper. Whisper never felt such a burning sensation before. Was it anger? Or hate? He didn't know. The only thing he knew was that he wanted to hurt them. He couldn't accept such a blatant injustice.

The circle stopped. All the stallions looked at him, confused. They looked Whisper for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. The red stallion, the one who looked like the leader approached:

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Ah, if it isn't mister hero? Who in the *censored* you think you are?!"

"Call me Saint. My real name will not be shared with the likes of you!" Whisper said, angry.

"Saint? You mean… a nice good do *censored*?! Ah, give me a break. Scram from here before I break you, chump!" said him, also getting very angry.

"You think you can abuse others just because you can?!" Whisper shouted, his face getting red.

"As a matter of fact, I do. What are you going to do about it, *censored*?!" shouted the red stallion.

Whisper was so angry. Silver Light told his followers to always avoid conflict, but would Silver Light stand and do nothing? Whisper remembered about Shining Justice. Justice… was this what he was feeling? Or was it revenge? Whisper didn't had time to put his feelings in order, because the first two stallions started approaching him.

Whisper would have lost his last battle if it weren't for that miracle. This time, however, he had an advantage and he knew it: Whisper looked straight at the stallion on the ground, hurt. Whisper shouted: "TENERE!" (HOLD!) at his attackers, then Whisper rushed next to him.

He approached the gray colt. His wounds were pretty severe, but nothing that a Saint couldn't take care for. He was breathing heavy, his mouth showing his immense pain. Whisper got down near him, putting his right hoof on top of his head.

"Do not worry, your pain is over. SANITATEM!" (HEALING!) As Whisper said this word, light left his hoof, resting upon his body. His wounds started to regenerate fast, recovering his energy. Soon the pain was just a memory. The gray colt got up, feeling restored. The other stallions and her sister could only look in awe.

"You… you healed me. Thank you so much." said the gray stallion, a bit shamed.

"What is your name?" asked Whisper, curious.

"It's Gray. Gray Rock." said the stallion with a look of impotence in his eyes.

"Tell me, why they were beating you?" asked Whisper, looking at all the bullies around him.

"Red Eyes wanted to date my sister, against her will. I stood by her and we ended fighting. I had the upper hoof when he brought his whole gang against me." Gray said. "I don't regret it, I wouldn't let a *censored* like him get his best with her!"

Gray then looked down, and admitted: "I wish I were strong enough to do it. I feel so little right now."

"I hate violence. But this needs to end… right at this moment! Grab my hoof." Whisper commanded.

Gray looked confused, but accepted. Whisper held his hoof with force, before shouting: "TALEM!" (EMPOWER!). Gray suddenly felt a huge of power wash his body. He felt stronger, quicker and mostly of all, confident.

"I feel so amazing! What did you do?!" Gray said with a huge smile in his face. His body was releasing a small light, bright in the darkness of the night.

"I gave you the tools. Now we need to defeat them!" Whisper pointed at them. The stallions of the gang just looked confused, unsure of what was going on. Whisper then said: "Why don't you grab that huge pipe? It looks like a wonderful weapon."

Gray looked confused. He looked where Whisper pointed: there really was a huge pipe there. But it was impossible for a pony to be strong enough to get it. Still, he decided to try. He never felt so confident before! He approached the pipe and bucked it. The huge pipe flew with great speed, doing a loop in the air before falling, impaling himself on the ground. The stallions who were watching just panicked!

"Um. Perhaps it's wasn't the best idea. It wouldn't be fun enough. You know, with such strength, imagine what you could do with something as soft as a pony?" said Whisper with a sarcastic smile. "Why, I better that a single punch for yours would hurt until tomorrow. So…" Whisper finally turned to the group of stallions. "Which of you want some?"

Whisper plan succeeded. The truth was that Whisper could never bring himself to hurt another pony, no matter how horrible they were. By using Gray, he managed to accomplish a similar effect without violence: the group of ponies started to run to all directions, fearful of what would happen with them. 'And another time a good plan surpassed brute force.' Whisper smiled to himself.

Gray prepared to give chase, when Whisper said: "Wait. Where are you going?"

"After them. I can't let them escape after what they did to me and my sister!" Gray announced.

"Uh. I didn't grant you that power so you can get revenge. It was for self protection." Whisper said, pretty calm now. "Besides, empowering is pretty temporary. You will return to normal in a few seconds."

"I… I see." Gray said, feeling ashamed. "Sorry. I hope you don't think less of me. I just can't forgive him for what he would do to my sister."

"I understand." said Whisper. "But the important is that you and she are fine."

"Yes. You are right." Gray said with a smile. "Hey, wait. Where is she?"

Whisper looked around. They were all alone.

"That stallion must have taken her with him!" shouted Whisper.

"Red Eyes! When I get you, you are going down!" said Gray. Gray started to run down the road, being followed by Whisper.

"WAIT! Where are you going?" Whisper shouted, running with him.

"To save her! I know where his hideout is! Do not try to stop me!" Gray said, pretty angry.

"I won't. I want to go with you." Whisper said, softly.

"What… but why?" Gray stopped in his rush, truly taken by surprise.

"Because… I know that justice is on your side. My heart tells me so." Whisper answered, putting a hoof at his heart.

"Your heart…?" Gray said confused. He stopped, thought a bit and then said: "Okay. To tell you the truth I don't think I would stand much chance alone. But I really think there will be no other solution than violence."

"If it's come to that, just promise me that you won't overdo it. And that it will be only in self defense." Whisper pleaded. In fact Whisper never accepted violence as the only solution, but he didn't want to waste precious time discussing with him.

"I will do what I can." Gray promised.

"That's decided, then. Lead the way." Whisper said.

Together, Whisper and Gray moved towards Red Eyes, the gang leader hideout. Whisper remembered that Twilight could be in trouble. But he couldn't stop in the middle of a rescue in order to do another. Perhaps he could convince him to come with him help. If there was something that Whisper truly wanted for his journey that would be a companion.