Silver Scribe: Equestrian Historian, At your service!by Silver ScribeChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Trottingham; A city famous for its Lacemaking, famous writers, and for the myth of the famous pony archer: Robin Hoof. Located on relatively large island landmass, located on the eastern side of the Equestrian boarder, this quaint little town is where our story begins. It is here, in a small cottage we meet a gray unicorn colt with a short, spiked brown main and short shaggy tail. He also sported a decent sized chin goatee that matched his main. His hooves were covered by longer fur. On his flank lied a cutie mark of an open book with a magnifying glass and quill within it. His left eye was currently closed while a long scar going over it and down his muzzle. Currently he was scurrying around what looked like a large study filled with many items of knowledge from history books to dusty tomes to other historical artifacts from multiple eras of Equestrian history were scattered in piles all around the room in a form of managed chaos. “MUM! Have you seen my first edition copy of Canterlot history!? I can’t find it anywhere!” there was a slight tinge of panic in his voice, as if finding this book was more important than anything else at the moment. “Calm down sweetie. I was giving it a light read in the other room that’s all.” his mother Morning Star calmly said while walking into her son’s messy room holding the book with her light golden aura. Morning Star was a white mare with a golden mane with streaks of red-orange and red violet in it tied up into a bun, while letting a single lock fall to the side of her face. She gave her son’s room a quick once over with her golden eyes, letting out a disapproving sigh as to the horrible condition that her son’s room was in. For somepony as dedicated to studying and preserving Equestrian history and lore as her oldest child was, he sure had a hard time cleaning up after himself. “Silver Scribe,” she said in a manner that all mothers used when trying to get their point across to their children, “I wish you’d clean this room of yours. No wonder you can’t find anything in this mess.” “Ugh! Mum I told you, I have a system.” He groaned at his mother. “Uh-huh, riiiiight.” she sarcastically said while rolling her eyes and started to put some of the books back on their shelves. “Did you remember to pack everything? I don’t want you to forget anything when you go to Ponyville to meet Princess Twilight on your little “study quest”.” giggling at the cute name she gave her sons expeditions to learn and acquire more material back home. For you see their cottage home also served as one of the largest history museums in Trottingham . With her son’s passion and raw talent for acquiring historical tomes and stories, business was definitely good. The down side was that she had to more often than not, stay home alone and hold down the fort while her only son traveled all over Equestria. It often left Morning Star lonely and worried for his well being. It wasn’t easy, but she supported her son in his life decisions and if this was the price she had to pay to see her little Silver Scribe be happy, it was enough for her. “Mum!” he groaned. “I told you to stop calling it that. It’s a historical expedition not a…. “study quest”. He blushed while at the same time face hoofed for saying those words. “I know, I know. And I think what you’re doing is incredible. Your father would be so proud of you.” Mentioning her late husband brought tears to her eyes. While the museum was their main source of income, it was also their home and it was her husband’s dream to share Equestria's history with the world. Unfortunately there was an accident 3 years ago while he was off on an expedition. The loss was devastating for Morning Star, and having a son who dreamed of becoming a historian like him made it even more hard on her. It got to the point where she wouldn't let him leave her sight, in fear that he might go off and get hurt. Seeing his mother tearing up remembering his father, Silver Scribe tightly hugged his mother, trying to comfort her as much as he could. He hated seeing her sad, and even though she told him that she was fine staying behind in Trottingham while he went off to live his dream of collecting lore filled items through out Equestria, he knew deep down that she was lonely being home alone, especially since his younger sister Ink Song had moved out and went off to find her place in the world not too long ago. Brushing away her tears and brushing her lock of mane out of her face. She let go of her son and continued with her motherly check list for her son. “Ok, enough ‘mopey mum’, you have a trip to pack for.” “You have your blank scrolls?” she asked. “Check.” he responded. “Quills?” “Check.” “Toiletries? I don’t want you forgetting to brush your teeth while you’re gone.” she said with a slight smirk. “Yes I have all of them packed.” he replied with a slight grown. “Ok then, let’s go put your eye on then. Can’t exactly leave without it can you?” “Not unless I want to wear an eye patch the whole time.” he let out a small chuckle. They proceeded to the next room over where a mechanical prosthetic left eye laid on a towel next to a rectangular, black box. When Silver was a little foal he tripped and fell on some broken glass in their basement. This left a long scar going from the tip of his nose over his left eye and around his head. It was a scary day for everyone in their family. Silver was in excruciating pain from the incident and his mother was having a small panic attack thinking that her baby foal was going to be permanently blind in his left eye. Sadly that was the case, due to his small stature and the size of the glass shard, the damage was a lot more severe than if he was older. With a gash that big going across his face and muzzle, the doctors had to make a quick decision. His left eye was rendered pretty much useless due to the injury. The doctors were left with only one option, remove the eye completely. At first it was hard to get used to, having to keep the wound clean to prevent infection, getting a prosthetic and adjusting to life with only one normal eye. Due to the delicate mechanisms in the prosthetic, it usually took 20 minutes for somepony to properly put it in, but Morning Star's case, having done this for years, it only took her a few minutes. Silver Scribe lied down and slowly tried to open his left eye. Due to the incident, it left the muscles in his eyelid extremely weak and was often difficult for him to use them anymore. But that was nothing compared to having the prosthetic actually placed in his eye socket, it wasn’t a simple eyeball sized ball that was placed in, it was more of a rounded cone shape with the smaller half covered in soft padding to fit easily, the larger end encased a series of lenses that, when infused with magic, could actually provided a form of vision that Silver Scribe could use. The lenses could extend like a microscope to help Silver see small details. Morning Star readied the prosthetic and held it above her son’s eye socket in her aura. Seeing him instinctively flinch while waiting for the stinging pain that putting it in would cause. It always made her feel bad for seeing her son in pain but they both knew it was just something that Silver would have to live with. To take her mind off of it she tended to make small talk to pass the time. In this case, complain about his facial hair. “Sweetie I know you really like your beard but I really wish you would get rid of it. I remember how cute you looked before you grew it.” she always detested her son’s facial hair. More often than not he would get so invested in his studies that it would just grow longer and more wild. “Mum I looked stupid without it. I look way better with it.” he annoyingly responded. She giggled at is response and proceeded to insert the prosthetic into his eye socket. Silver Scribe flinched and kicked his legs due to the pain. Once the prosthetic was fully inserted she put the final touches to make sure it was in there straight. “Ok all done.” she happily told him. Silver slowly got back on his hooves and lightly shook his head to shake off some of the pain. “Ugh, I don’t think I’ll ever truly get used to that.” This led to Morning Star to plant a loving kiss on his forehead. She knew it wouldn't actually do anything but she liked to believe that it would ease his pain, even a little. Silver of course blushed out of embarrassment due to the gesture. “Ok, your ferry leaves in an hour. Make sure to get all your bags and I’ll walk you to the docks.” she reminded him. “Alright. Look out Ponyville! Here come’s Silver Scribe!” Chapter 2As the sun rose, signifying the beginning of a new day, a lavender alicorn slowly stirred from her slumber. “Spike, you up yet?” Twilight asked with a small yawn. Her draconic assistant/little brother gave an angry grown from being awoken from his dream. Most likely it was another one involving Rarity. “Ugh…I am now. What time is it?” Spike asked sitting up in his bed. It had been about 6 months since Twilight went through the portal for a second time, and in that time, Spike had finally had a small growth spurt. While he hadn’t acquired wings like other dragons, he had finally grown a few inches. Now he was roughly the hight of Twilight and her friends. It wasn’t a huge growth spurt but Spike didn’t really mind. He was finally growing again and he would take whatever he got. Along with the hight growth, Spike’s round belly had also thinned out a bit. “About 5:30 am.” She answered. “C’mon Spike we have to get the castle ready. The historian from Trottingham will be arriving this afternoon and I want this place presentable.” Twilight told him. Spike gave a slightly annoyed sigh. “Twilight, I know you’re happy that Princess Celestia’s sending another pony that’s as invested in books as you, but do we really have to be up this early? Nopony else in town is even up yet.” Spike had recently received a new, large, and much more comfy bed to sleep in at the other end of Twilight’s bed chamber. Because of this, Spike wanted to enjoy his slumber, but of course, living with Twilight Sparkle, that was a rare thing. “This isn’t just any historian Spike.” Twilight retorted as she began brushing her mane. “From what Celestia said in her letter, he’s been to almost studied over 7 different Equestrian settlements’ histories in their entirety. Somepony of this caliber deserves our best and I won’t let him have a bad first impression of the Princess of Friendship.” “Well you sure do sound excited, almost as excited as you get when Flash Sentry get’s time off to come and visit.” Spike said with a small smirk “Spike this meeting with the historian is completely professional. He’s coming to Ponyville to update how much has changed since the last time he visited. According to Celestia, he hasn’t visited Ponyville in 7 years. I just want to make sure he has a good time.” Twilight quickly responded with a slight blush on her cheeks. “So what’s this history buff’s name?” Spike asked. “Celestia’s letter didn’t give a name. She only stated that he’s a very successful Equestrian historian from Trottingham and a brief physical description so we know what he’ll look like.” Twilight replied. When she received the letter last night from her mentor, the fact that she didn’t include his name was confusing. “Okaaaaay,” Spike said with a slight confused expression, “then what does he look like?” “According to Celestia, he’s a a gray unicorn with a short brown mane and a distinct form of facial hair. He’ll be arriving by train around 1 o’ clock. So we need to get the guest room he’ll be staying in cleaned up and ready for him.” Twilight explained. “Alright, but I’m getting some breakfast first. I have a feeling this’l take a while.” Spike said as he exited the room with Twilight and then walked towards the kitchen for some pancakes. After breakfast Twilight and Spike were finishing cleaning up their dishes when there was a knock at the door. “Who could that be at this hour?” Spike asked. Usually nopony but the mail pony would be up at this early. Another series of knocks was then followed by an all to familiar voice. One that had Spike out of his seat almost immediately. “Twilight! Spike! I’m terribly sorry to disturb you this early but I simply must speak with you.” The voice in question belonged to Ponyville’s own fashionista Rarity. Being a pony who insists on getting plenty of beauty sleep, it must be something serious. Spike ran towards the large castle doors and quickly opened them to let his crush inside. While Spike’s crush on Rarity was pretty much common knowledge to all of the mane 6, Spike had gotten better at not being as easily manipulated by Rarity’s flirting. In fact Spike had been working on not being the punching bag of the group that he had been before. He stood up for himself a lot more and the girls were proud of him for stallion-ing up as it were. “Hey Rarity!” Spike happy said to the beautiful alabaster mare. “Good morning Spike, is Twilight up yet? I need her help with something really important.” Rarity said sweetly to her dragon friend. Spike’s growth spurt and more confident attitude had made Rarity start to see Spike in a new way. Sure she knew about his crush on her and maybe there was a small form of love in return but there was the ever present truth of them being different ages and ,more importantly, different species. So even if her feelings were anything more it wouldn't work out. “Yeah she’s inside, we’re getting the castle ready for Twilight’s meeting with a historian from Trottingham.” Spike answered with a smile on his face. “Trottingham? My word, that’s an awfully trip just to study some old books in the castle’s library.” Rarity replied amazed that somepony would venture so far just to read books. “Yeah but Twilight’s sure excited, between you and me I don’t think I’ve seen her this happy since Flash asked her out.” Spike whispered into Rarity’s ear to make sure Twilight didn’t hear him. “My my, this must be an important visit for her then.” Rarity chuckled as she was lead inside by her dragon friend. “Oh Rarity Hi! Boy this must be urgent for you to be up this early. What can I do for you?” Twilight asked entering the main entrance hall from the kitchen. “Well I seem to have hit a small creative block in my work and I was wondering if you could help. My latest clients are looking for something different from my usual garments. They’re looking for something ‘old school’ as it were. So I figured borrowing some of your older books that contain garments from around the era that they desire would help.” Rarity explained. “Oh sure Rarity, but why do you need them this early in the morning?” Twilight asked. Everyone knew of Rarity’s skills when it came to clothes making and fashion, and she had done more intricate and detailed older styled designs before without needing references this early. “Well darling, I simply figured that with all the details in the designs that my client is asking for and the fact they take an awfully long time to do properly, I’de get a early start on them incase something else comes up. I know you have your own things to do, what with being a princess and all, and from what Spikey here has told me, someone very important is coming for a visit. So as soon as I get the reference material that I need I’ll be out of your mane.” Rarity told the violet princess as they and Spike made their way to the castle’s massive study where all the remnants of the Golden Oaks Library’s books and others were kept. “Well I’m sure Spike will be more than happy to help you, won’t you Spike?” Twilight asked turning to her assistant. “On it!” Spike stated with a quick salute. Leading Twilight and Rarity to happily role their eyes at his bravado. “Just be sure to come and find me when you’re done. We still have a lot to do today.” Twilight reminded Spike. Spike gave a quick nod to the purple mare he lead Rarity into the other sections of the book shelves. Once Rarity had gotten the books that she needed, Spike lead her to the door and they made their good byes. “Thank you again Spikey. I know you don’t exactly like being up this early.” Rarity told her favorite dragon. “It’s fine Rarity, living with Twilight for this long, you get used to getting up early. And I always like helping you out.” Spike responded. “Well thank you anyway Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity then leaned in and gave Spike a quick kiss on his cheek. Spike of course blushed due to the loving gesture, making Rarity let out a cute giggle in response to his reaction. She then left for her boutique to begin her work. Closing the door, Spike then made his way to the guest room where Twilight was currently hovering in the air, using her magic to move un needed clutter out of the room. “Hey there lover boy, Rarity get the books she need?” Twilight jokingly asked seeing Spikes red face. “Yeah she did.” Spike mindlessly replied, still enjoying the feeling of his crush’s affection. “Focus Spike we have a lot more work to do.” Twilight told him, snapping him out of his love daze. Hours went by and the castle was cleaned to be presentable to even Princess Celestia herself. Twilight and Spike were currently waiting for the historian to arrive in one of the castle’s sitting rooms. Twilight quietly read one of her favorite books while Spike was reading one of his comics. Suddenly a knock came from the main doors and Twilight’s ear’s pricked up. “THE HISTORIAN’S HERE!” Twilight yelled excitedly. Spike made his way to the door to let them in while Twilight took her place on her thrown, adjusting her crown. A minute or 2 passed and Spike entered the thrown room with a gray Stallion with a brown mane and tail currently wearing a black fedora. Spike then cleared his throat to give him his introduction. “Presenting, the historian from Trottingham….uh….what’s your name again?” Spike nervously asked. “Silver Scribe my draconic companion, Silver Scribe.” he answered walking towards Twilight’s thrown, bowing to her and tipping his fedora. “Princess Twilight Sparkle; renowned expert in Equestrian history Silver Scribe at your service. Shall we get down to business?” Chapter 3After proper introductions were exchanged, Twilight and Silver Scribe made their way to the castle library. On the way Silver Scribe gave a questioning look as he took in the crystal architecture. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the aesthetic but Ponyville was a small town, why have a giant purple crystal castle built here? “I beg your pardon Princess Twilight, I’m not one to judge on anypony’s design choices but may I ask why you went with the crystal theme for your castle?” “Oh right. Well uh….you see there is a reason for that…um…” Twilight nervously replied. “What do I say? I don’t want to scare him off by telling him how many dangers have happened, but at the same time I don’t want to lie to an important figure like him.” Twilight unfortunately didn’t realize she was making a slight scene with the worried face she was making. “Princess Twilight? Are you alright?” Silver asked hoping he didn’t accidentally cross a line with the lavender princess. “Oh, huh yeah sorry. I’m alright. I’ll tell you but you have to promise to not freak out when I tell you.” She said putting a hoof on his chest. “U-Uh ok Princess, I give you my word as a historian that I won’t freak out. I mean all I asked was why you chose this theme for a castle. I’m not sure what the big fuss is about.” Silver replied giving a nervous smile, confused on why a somewhat simple question would be this hard to answer. Twilight then informed Silver on the battle with Tirek, the destruction of her old home and the box from Tree of Harmony creating the castle. When she finished she shut her eyes not wanting to look at this important figure look at her in disapproval of not being able to, in her mind, care of her new “kingdom”. Silver’s eye was wide open and his mouth was slightly ajar. He had heard of the demon Tirek’s attack, the plus side of living on an island country, no one tended to bother you so Tirek’s devastation never reached their shores. “Oh, so that’s it is it? Fascinating. I’ll have to make a note of that in my report.” he said as he casually walked past the distraught princess, as if she had told him something simple. “I just, w-wait WHAT!? I tell you that and you act like it’s nothing? We fought a giant centaur demon and you act like it’s an everyday thing?” Twilight replied with a combination of anger and surprise as she trotted to catch up to him. “Doesn’t that bother you at all?” “Not as much as you would think actually. When you’re in my line of work, you tend to see a lot of surprising things from the past. Visiting old tombs in the Northern Mountains, dig sights of ancient Pony ancestors in the desert. I’ve seen plenty of amazing things from this world. A Princess having to fight a battle to protect the kingdom of Equestria doesn’t really have the grandness it once had when you’ve seen plenty of other events like that. Sorry if my reaction wasn’t what you were expecting.” Silver replied with a smile on his face. “Anyway, let’s see this Library Wing of yours.”he said as he continued down the hallway. Twilight was beside herself, here was a pony who took the news of a battle for Equestria like it happened on a daily bases. This was going to be an interesting meeting after all. At the end of the hall they reached a large set of doors which led them to the Grand Library. The room was enormous, almost the size of the main waiting room. It was full of books ranging from novels to multi edition history tomes. The rumors of the newest princess being quite the book enthusiast was an understatement. “My word. I must say Princess, your collection is quite impressive. How did you acquire these?” He asked as he let his eye wander and bask in the sight of it all. “It was actually thanks to the other princesses. They donated them from their private collections after my old library was destroyed. I have to say it is nice to have somepony else who enjoys books as much as I do enjoy them.” she said with a smile. “Well, let’s get this meeting under way shall we?” Silver said to the princess with a slight smirk. About and hour passed and the meeting was going well. Twilight recalled tales of her and the rest of the mane 6s’ adventures: Discord, the Canterlot Wedding, Discord’s reformation, etc. Silver made numerous notes on each of them. The fact that Twilight was not only a princess but the sister in law of Princess Cadence was also interesting. “My my Princess, you seem to have had quite adventurous life.” Silver glanced at his notes, happy with what he had so far for the time being, one more page of notes and they could take a break. “I’d say one more page of notes and then we can take a break.” “Alright, I’ll go get the next one.” Twilight made her way over to the shelf where the book she wanted lied. Picking it up in her aura only to reveal a large pink head. “WHAT’CHA DOIN’!” “AHHH!” Twilight yelled, slightly scared by the sudden high pitched voice popping out of the book case. “Pinkie Pie what are you doing hiding in the book case?” She asked the pink party pony. “I wanted to see what you were up too silly *giggle*, you’ve been inside the castle all day.” Pinkie happily answered, oblivious to Twilight’s frown. “Pinkie Pie, I’m a little busy right now.” Twilight said through her teeth. Things were going so well with Silver Scribe, she didn’t need Pinkie Pie ruining things. “Princess? Who’s this?” Silver asked, still wondering how somepony could fit inside a bookcase. Twilight cleared her throat and responded to her guest. “Silver Scribe, this is one of my friends, Pinkie Pie. She works at the local bakery. Pinkie Pie, this is Silver Scribe. He’s an Equestrian Historian from Trottingham. He and I are in the middle of a meeting. So if you don’t mind I'd aprecia….” Pinkie cut Twilight off with a loud scream. She quickly grabbed Twilight and hid in a pile of books. She put her face close to Twilight’s and lowered her voice. “Twilight are you crazy!? What are you doing with a robot!? It’ll take over and it’s robot friends will take over the world and everypony will become slaves in their robot mines! ROBOT MINES TWILIGHT!!” Pinkie frantically explained to an agitated Twilight. Twilight got up and brushed herself off, “Pinkie Pie, Silver Scribe isn’t a robot, he’s an incredibly respected historian and he made a special trip to Ponyville for the first time in years! So I don’t have time for your crazy antics today!” Twilight was practically steaming at this point, “how embarrassing.” Twilight thought. Without warning, the sound of laughter came from behind them. “A robot? Well that’s one I haven’t heard in a while. But in all honestly I’m not a robot. I simply have a specialized prosthetic eye.” Silver explained. “I was actually wondering about your eye Silver. I didn’t know if you were comfortable or not so I didn’t ask.” Twilight nervously admitted. “Oh it’s fine, the accident was years ago when I was a colt. I don’t mind telling you if you want to hear it.” he offered. “Ooh Ooh story time!” Pinkie happily popped out of the pile of books and hopped towards the silver unicorn. “Tell me! tell me!” “Well aren’t you the energetic one. Alright I’ll tell you the story behind my eye.” “It all happened when I was around 4 years old. I was helping my father in our home in Trottingham.” (FLASH BACK) “Silver. I have some supplies I’ll need for my next trip, you mind getting it from the basement son?” Silver’s father asked. “Ok Dad!” a young Silver Scribe happily as he made his way down the stairs past his pregnant mother and towards the basement door. Silver slowly made his way down into the dark room, using his horn to create a small glow to light his way. Unfortunately he made one slip up on a scrap piece of cloth on the stairs and fell down the the hard wood. The small tumble would’ve been fine, unfortunately when he stopped rolling, he bumped into a supply shelf and something came crashing down. “Oh no!” Silver quietly gasped to himself. “Silver? Honey is everything alright down there!?” Silver’s mother, Morning Star, called from upstairs. “Uh..y-yeah I’m ok.” Silver replied. Silver Scribe quickly turned around only to bump into a table and fell onto the sharp glass shards. A pain filled shriek quickly escaped from the basement. A sound that no parent wants to hear and Morning Star quickly reacted to it. “SILVER!” Morning Star franticly ran down to the basement where her son’s prone body was, a puddle of blood pooling around his head. “Oh Celestia no…HONEY! SILVERS HURT, CALL AN AMBULANCE!” she screamed to make sure her husband heard her. Silver was crying from the incredible pain that his face was in. More specifically his left eye felt like it was on fire, the pain was unbearable. “Mum, it hurts so bad!” The colt whimpered with blood and tears flowing down his face. His mother tried everything in her power to try and calm him down, even though she knew it wouldn’t do much. “Shhhh….shhhh it’s ok Silver, we’ll get you to the hospital and you’ll be ok.” She said calmly while lovingly cradling her son’s head. She was terrified, there was a large shard of broken glass embedded in his left eye along with a long cut down his face. It almost made her want to vomit, but she had to be strong for her baby Silver. (FLASHBACK OVER) “After the ambulance took me to the hospital I was taken into surgery for 5 hours, the damage to my left eye was so extensive that it had to be completely removed. Thankfully I was going to be ok, and the doctor gave me this specialized prosthetic to replace it. My mother still shivers a little when she sees it.” Silver finished with his head down and eyes closed. Twilight and Pinkie were silent, their eyes were wide, and Pinkie was even tearing up. Twilight had no idea how a colt at that age could go through something like that. Pinkie immediately ran up to him to give him a Pinkie Pie special bear hug. “Whoa…what’s goin’ on in here?” Another voice came from the window above the west most book shelf. A rainbow maned pegasus was listening through the window. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. “I was just flying around and I heard Pinkie Pie scream so I came right here. So what’s this I hear about a prosthetic eye?” she asked flying down to the 3 ponies. “Yes Rainbow. My guest Silver Scribe, a historian from Trottingham, was just telling us a personal story behind his prosthetic eye.” Twilight explained. “Really?” Rainbow asked as she got a good look at the red lensed left eye of the silver stallion. “Wow! That’s cool.” she told him. “Well as fun as you two have been Silver Scribe and I were in the middle of a meeting so if you don’t mind.” Twilight somewhat angrily said. She was tired that her meeting with Silver was getting interrupted. “Actually Princess, I think a change in scenery could be helpful to my visit. I was already planning on doing a tour of the town. Might as well do it now.” Silver said with a slight smile on his face. “Well…..ok. Let me just tell Spike we’re leaving.” she replied. “SPIKE!” “Yeah Twilight?” Spike answered running into the Library. “Silver Scribe and I will be doing a tour around Ponyville, you can have the rest of the day off, if you leave just make sure you lock up the castle before you head out, ok?” she told the little dragon. “Awesome! I’ll go see if Rarity needs help with her dresses.” he said excitedly. Twilight responded with a small giggle. “Ok just don’t stay there too late lover boy.” Twilight told him like a big sister would. “Well, let’s get goin’ shall we?” Silver said as he put his notebooks in his saddle bags. “YAY! I’ll have to throw a “Welcome to Ponyville!” party for you!” Pinkie said excitedly running off to start planning it. “Well if you’re gonna do a tour around Ponyville, I better get my place ready for ya. Later!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew out. “Well Silver, let me show you all that Ponyville has to offer.” Twilight said with a smile. “Lead the way Princess Twilight.” Silver replied with a small bow. Chapter 4After packing the last of his equipment for the day, Silver made his way to the main corridor where Princess Twilight was waiting for him. “Sorry to make you wait Princess. Just wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anything important.” Silver apologized. “That’s alright Silver, and you don’t have to use the “Princess” title when you talk to me. I’m alright with you just calling me Twilight.” she replied with slight smile. She had gotten used to the title but it still sounded weird to be called a princess. “Sorry, my parents just raised me to be professional when I’m on the job and as such I plan on calling you by your rightful title Princess.” Silver answered back with a smirk on his face while he opened the door. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at the comment and followed the stallion out of her castle. “Excuse me, comin’ through!” Spike said excitedly as he ran into the castle, Silver and Twilight quickly getting out of little dragon’s way. “Whoa, hey hey Spike where’s the fire? What happened to hanging out with Rarity?” Twilight shouted back into the castle. “Everything alright?” Silver asked, wondering what the young dragon could be up to. Just as Twilight tried to answer back Spike had returned with a bag stuffed full of things, seeing this Twilight stuck her hoof out blocking his path. “Spike, what is that? What did I say earlier? Get back home before it gets too late, and here you are with a bag full of…” Twilight stopped her big sister rant for a second to actually look at what Spike had with him, “…what exactly do you have there?” “You done?” Spike said with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. “Rarity needed some gems for her designs but she was so busy that she couldn’t go and dig some up. So I offered to let her use some from my personal stash.” he explained. “Now if I’m done being interrogated, Rarity needs me.” With his explanation finished, Spike quickly made his way back to Rarity’s home. He even started to sprint on all fours. Twilight let out a tired sigh. “What am I going to do with him? I know he’s getting older but there’s no need to be that sassy with me.” Twilight said watching her little step-brother/assistant run off. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be fine Princess. In any case we should be going, you have a town to show me.” Silver stated with a smile on his face. “O-oh right, right, sorry… *clears throat*…Silver Scribe, let me show you what Ponyville has to offer. Through the day Princess Twilight showed many of the important areas of the town: the town hall, the local vineyard run by Berry Punch, and many others. Eventually they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, home to Ponyville’s own Apple family. “And here we are, Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville’s personal apple orchard and home to the Apple family.” Twilight presented. “My friend Applejack runs things around here and she’ll probably be able to give you any info you need on this place.” Twilight added. “Blimey, this place sure hasn't changed much since I was last here with my father.” Silver said as he gazed at the scenery. They made their way to the farmhouse where the orange mare was currently relaxing with her hat over her eyes. With a pony as hardworking as Applejack, no doubt she had been doing a plethora of chores already. “Hi Applejack!” Twilight called out. “Hmm? Oh howdy Twilight. What brings our favorite purple princess to Sweet Apple Acres?” the farm mare asked straightening out her hat. “I’m actually here on business. Apple Jack let me introduce you to Trottingham’s top historian Silver Scribe.” Twilight announced. “So you’re this Apple Jack that the princess has been telling me about. Silver Scribe, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” the silver unicorn politely commented while offering his hoof for a shake. “*whistle*…Trottin’ham huh? Ain’t that fancy. That accent of yours sure does make ya sound sophisticated huh?” the blonde farm pony jokingly commented shaking his hoof. “I don’t mean to sound rude or nothin’ but what’s with the fancy eye piece of yours?” Applejack asked wondering what exactly was on his face. “That would be my prosthetic eye, I had an accident as a child and now I have this.” Silver answered calmly. “Wow, so what’s that fancy eye of yours do exactly?” Applejack asked. “Yeah I was actually wondering about that myself.” Twilight asked. She was actually wondering why she didn’t ask that earlier. “Well, for one it’s meant to keep my left eye socket from getting infected, but….” as Silver explained, his horn started glowing with an amethyst purple aura. As his horn glowed, his prosthetic lens started to light up red. “.... when I use magic with it, it allows me to actually use it as a functioning eye. After that it can zoom in and out like a microscope. Very handy for my work.” Silver’s horn stopped glowing and his eye dimmed down once again. “Boy howdy! That sure is one fancy gadget you got there. So what brings ya to my farm?” AJ said, trying to get them all back on track. “Yes, right then. Let’s get down to business. Ms. Applejack, my job as an Equestrian historian requires me to travel to multiple locations in Equestrian lands and record historical events that I take back with me and use to educate other ponies with my findings.” using his magic, Silver took out a book to use as a visual example. “My family also runs a history museum where we display historical artifacts that my family has been discovering for decades. That being said I am here to record any and all important historical events that have happened in Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres is next on my list and I would be grateful if you could provide any information I can use from the past 7 years.” he explained. Applejack put her hoof to her chin and gave it a good amount of thought. True she was pretty much the head of day to day operations of the farm, Apple family history wasn’t her strong suit. “Well I’m not really the mare y’all wanna be asking about stuff like that. But Granny Smith’ll probably help ya out there. Follow me.” Applejack answered, leading the two into her home. “GRANNY! We got company!” Applejack hollered. “Company ya say!? Well come in, come in.” the elderly green mare came slowly into the mane room. “Granny Smith I presume?” Silver asked offering his hoof. The elder pony shaking his hoof in return. “Woo doggy! Why I haven’t heard that fancy Trottin’ham accent in over 100 moons. What brings one of y’all over to my farm?” Granny asked. “Granny Smith, I’ve been informed by your granddaughter that you could be beneficial to my work. I’m here to gather any important historical info from the Apple family from the last 7 years.” he explained. “Well why didn’t ya say so? Only other Apple with more Apple family history than me is Cousin Golden Delicious. C’mon sonny, lemme show ya.” Granny replied full of energy. She then proceeded to almost drag Silver into the other room.
Chapter 1Trottingham; A city famous for its Lacemaking, famous writers, and for the myth of the famous pony archer: Robin Hoof. Located on relatively large island landmass, located on the eastern side of the Equestrian boarder, this quaint little town is where our story begins. It is here, in a small cottage we meet a gray unicorn colt with a short, spiked brown main and short shaggy tail. He also sported a decent sized chin goatee that matched his main. His hooves were covered by longer fur. On his flank lied a cutie mark of an open book with a magnifying glass and quill within it. His left eye was currently closed while a long scar going over it and down his muzzle. Currently he was scurrying around what looked like a large study filled with many items of knowledge from history books to dusty tomes to other historical artifacts from multiple eras of Equestrian history were scattered in piles all around the room in a form of managed chaos. “MUM! Have you seen my first edition copy of Canterlot history!? I can’t find it anywhere!” there was a slight tinge of panic in his voice, as if finding this book was more important than anything else at the moment. “Calm down sweetie. I was giving it a light read in the other room that’s all.” his mother Morning Star calmly said while walking into her son’s messy room holding the book with her light golden aura. Morning Star was a white mare with a golden mane with streaks of red-orange and red violet in it tied up into a bun, while letting a single lock fall to the side of her face. She gave her son’s room a quick once over with her golden eyes, letting out a disapproving sigh as to the horrible condition that her son’s room was in. For somepony as dedicated to studying and preserving Equestrian history and lore as her oldest child was, he sure had a hard time cleaning up after himself. “Silver Scribe,” she said in a manner that all mothers used when trying to get their point across to their children, “I wish you’d clean this room of yours. No wonder you can’t find anything in this mess.” “Ugh! Mum I told you, I have a system.” He groaned at his mother. “Uh-huh, riiiiight.” she sarcastically said while rolling her eyes and started to put some of the books back on their shelves. “Did you remember to pack everything? I don’t want you to forget anything when you go to Ponyville to meet Princess Twilight on your little “study quest”.” giggling at the cute name she gave her sons expeditions to learn and acquire more material back home. For you see their cottage home also served as one of the largest history museums in Trottingham . With her son’s passion and raw talent for acquiring historical tomes and stories, business was definitely good. The down side was that she had to more often than not, stay home alone and hold down the fort while her only son traveled all over Equestria. It often left Morning Star lonely and worried for his well being. It wasn’t easy, but she supported her son in his life decisions and if this was the price she had to pay to see her little Silver Scribe be happy, it was enough for her. “Mum!” he groaned. “I told you to stop calling it that. It’s a historical expedition not a…. “study quest”. He blushed while at the same time face hoofed for saying those words. “I know, I know. And I think what you’re doing is incredible. Your father would be so proud of you.” Mentioning her late husband brought tears to her eyes. While the museum was their main source of income, it was also their home and it was her husband’s dream to share Equestria's history with the world. Unfortunately there was an accident 3 years ago while he was off on an expedition. The loss was devastating for Morning Star, and having a son who dreamed of becoming a historian like him made it even more hard on her. It got to the point where she wouldn't let him leave her sight, in fear that he might go off and get hurt. Seeing his mother tearing up remembering his father, Silver Scribe tightly hugged his mother, trying to comfort her as much as he could. He hated seeing her sad, and even though she told him that she was fine staying behind in Trottingham while he went off to live his dream of collecting lore filled items through out Equestria, he knew deep down that she was lonely being home alone, especially since his younger sister Ink Song had moved out and went off to find her place in the world not too long ago. Brushing away her tears and brushing her lock of mane out of her face. She let go of her son and continued with her motherly check list for her son. “Ok, enough ‘mopey mum’, you have a trip to pack for.” “You have your blank scrolls?” she asked. “Check.” he responded. “Quills?” “Check.” “Toiletries? I don’t want you forgetting to brush your teeth while you’re gone.” she said with a slight smirk. “Yes I have all of them packed.” he replied with a slight grown. “Ok then, let’s go put your eye on then. Can’t exactly leave without it can you?” “Not unless I want to wear an eye patch the whole time.” he let out a small chuckle. They proceeded to the next room over where a mechanical prosthetic left eye laid on a towel next to a rectangular, black box. When Silver was a little foal he tripped and fell on some broken glass in their basement. This left a long scar going from the tip of his nose over his left eye and around his head. It was a scary day for everyone in their family. Silver was in excruciating pain from the incident and his mother was having a small panic attack thinking that her baby foal was going to be permanently blind in his left eye. Sadly that was the case, due to his small stature and the size of the glass shard, the damage was a lot more severe than if he was older. With a gash that big going across his face and muzzle, the doctors had to make a quick decision. His left eye was rendered pretty much useless due to the injury. The doctors were left with only one option, remove the eye completely. At first it was hard to get used to, having to keep the wound clean to prevent infection, getting a prosthetic and adjusting to life with only one normal eye. Due to the delicate mechanisms in the prosthetic, it usually took 20 minutes for somepony to properly put it in, but Morning Star's case, having done this for years, it only took her a few minutes. Silver Scribe lied down and slowly tried to open his left eye. Due to the incident, it left the muscles in his eyelid extremely weak and was often difficult for him to use them anymore. But that was nothing compared to having the prosthetic actually placed in his eye socket, it wasn’t a simple eyeball sized ball that was placed in, it was more of a rounded cone shape with the smaller half covered in soft padding to fit easily, the larger end encased a series of lenses that, when infused with magic, could actually provided a form of vision that Silver Scribe could use. The lenses could extend like a microscope to help Silver see small details. Morning Star readied the prosthetic and held it above her son’s eye socket in her aura. Seeing him instinctively flinch while waiting for the stinging pain that putting it in would cause. It always made her feel bad for seeing her son in pain but they both knew it was just something that Silver would have to live with. To take her mind off of it she tended to make small talk to pass the time. In this case, complain about his facial hair. “Sweetie I know you really like your beard but I really wish you would get rid of it. I remember how cute you looked before you grew it.” she always detested her son’s facial hair. More often than not he would get so invested in his studies that it would just grow longer and more wild. “Mum I looked stupid without it. I look way better with it.” he annoyingly responded. She giggled at is response and proceeded to insert the prosthetic into his eye socket. Silver Scribe flinched and kicked his legs due to the pain. Once the prosthetic was fully inserted she put the final touches to make sure it was in there straight. “Ok all done.” she happily told him. Silver slowly got back on his hooves and lightly shook his head to shake off some of the pain. “Ugh, I don’t think I’ll ever truly get used to that.” This led to Morning Star to plant a loving kiss on his forehead. She knew it wouldn't actually do anything but she liked to believe that it would ease his pain, even a little. Silver of course blushed out of embarrassment due to the gesture. “Ok, your ferry leaves in an hour. Make sure to get all your bags and I’ll walk you to the docks.” she reminded him. “Alright. Look out Ponyville! Here come’s Silver Scribe!”
Chapter 2As the sun rose, signifying the beginning of a new day, a lavender alicorn slowly stirred from her slumber. “Spike, you up yet?” Twilight asked with a small yawn. Her draconic assistant/little brother gave an angry grown from being awoken from his dream. Most likely it was another one involving Rarity. “Ugh…I am now. What time is it?” Spike asked sitting up in his bed. It had been about 6 months since Twilight went through the portal for a second time, and in that time, Spike had finally had a small growth spurt. While he hadn’t acquired wings like other dragons, he had finally grown a few inches. Now he was roughly the hight of Twilight and her friends. It wasn’t a huge growth spurt but Spike didn’t really mind. He was finally growing again and he would take whatever he got. Along with the hight growth, Spike’s round belly had also thinned out a bit. “About 5:30 am.” She answered. “C’mon Spike we have to get the castle ready. The historian from Trottingham will be arriving this afternoon and I want this place presentable.” Twilight told him. Spike gave a slightly annoyed sigh. “Twilight, I know you’re happy that Princess Celestia’s sending another pony that’s as invested in books as you, but do we really have to be up this early? Nopony else in town is even up yet.” Spike had recently received a new, large, and much more comfy bed to sleep in at the other end of Twilight’s bed chamber. Because of this, Spike wanted to enjoy his slumber, but of course, living with Twilight Sparkle, that was a rare thing. “This isn’t just any historian Spike.” Twilight retorted as she began brushing her mane. “From what Celestia said in her letter, he’s been to almost studied over 7 different Equestrian settlements’ histories in their entirety. Somepony of this caliber deserves our best and I won’t let him have a bad first impression of the Princess of Friendship.” “Well you sure do sound excited, almost as excited as you get when Flash Sentry get’s time off to come and visit.” Spike said with a small smirk “Spike this meeting with the historian is completely professional. He’s coming to Ponyville to update how much has changed since the last time he visited. According to Celestia, he hasn’t visited Ponyville in 7 years. I just want to make sure he has a good time.” Twilight quickly responded with a slight blush on her cheeks. “So what’s this history buff’s name?” Spike asked. “Celestia’s letter didn’t give a name. She only stated that he’s a very successful Equestrian historian from Trottingham and a brief physical description so we know what he’ll look like.” Twilight replied. When she received the letter last night from her mentor, the fact that she didn’t include his name was confusing. “Okaaaaay,” Spike said with a slight confused expression, “then what does he look like?” “According to Celestia, he’s a a gray unicorn with a short brown mane and a distinct form of facial hair. He’ll be arriving by train around 1 o’ clock. So we need to get the guest room he’ll be staying in cleaned up and ready for him.” Twilight explained. “Alright, but I’m getting some breakfast first. I have a feeling this’l take a while.” Spike said as he exited the room with Twilight and then walked towards the kitchen for some pancakes. After breakfast Twilight and Spike were finishing cleaning up their dishes when there was a knock at the door. “Who could that be at this hour?” Spike asked. Usually nopony but the mail pony would be up at this early. Another series of knocks was then followed by an all to familiar voice. One that had Spike out of his seat almost immediately. “Twilight! Spike! I’m terribly sorry to disturb you this early but I simply must speak with you.” The voice in question belonged to Ponyville’s own fashionista Rarity. Being a pony who insists on getting plenty of beauty sleep, it must be something serious. Spike ran towards the large castle doors and quickly opened them to let his crush inside. While Spike’s crush on Rarity was pretty much common knowledge to all of the mane 6, Spike had gotten better at not being as easily manipulated by Rarity’s flirting. In fact Spike had been working on not being the punching bag of the group that he had been before. He stood up for himself a lot more and the girls were proud of him for stallion-ing up as it were. “Hey Rarity!” Spike happy said to the beautiful alabaster mare. “Good morning Spike, is Twilight up yet? I need her help with something really important.” Rarity said sweetly to her dragon friend. Spike’s growth spurt and more confident attitude had made Rarity start to see Spike in a new way. Sure she knew about his crush on her and maybe there was a small form of love in return but there was the ever present truth of them being different ages and ,more importantly, different species. So even if her feelings were anything more it wouldn't work out. “Yeah she’s inside, we’re getting the castle ready for Twilight’s meeting with a historian from Trottingham.” Spike answered with a smile on his face. “Trottingham? My word, that’s an awfully trip just to study some old books in the castle’s library.” Rarity replied amazed that somepony would venture so far just to read books. “Yeah but Twilight’s sure excited, between you and me I don’t think I’ve seen her this happy since Flash asked her out.” Spike whispered into Rarity’s ear to make sure Twilight didn’t hear him. “My my, this must be an important visit for her then.” Rarity chuckled as she was lead inside by her dragon friend. “Oh Rarity Hi! Boy this must be urgent for you to be up this early. What can I do for you?” Twilight asked entering the main entrance hall from the kitchen. “Well I seem to have hit a small creative block in my work and I was wondering if you could help. My latest clients are looking for something different from my usual garments. They’re looking for something ‘old school’ as it were. So I figured borrowing some of your older books that contain garments from around the era that they desire would help.” Rarity explained. “Oh sure Rarity, but why do you need them this early in the morning?” Twilight asked. Everyone knew of Rarity’s skills when it came to clothes making and fashion, and she had done more intricate and detailed older styled designs before without needing references this early. “Well darling, I simply figured that with all the details in the designs that my client is asking for and the fact they take an awfully long time to do properly, I’de get a early start on them incase something else comes up. I know you have your own things to do, what with being a princess and all, and from what Spikey here has told me, someone very important is coming for a visit. So as soon as I get the reference material that I need I’ll be out of your mane.” Rarity told the violet princess as they and Spike made their way to the castle’s massive study where all the remnants of the Golden Oaks Library’s books and others were kept. “Well I’m sure Spike will be more than happy to help you, won’t you Spike?” Twilight asked turning to her assistant. “On it!” Spike stated with a quick salute. Leading Twilight and Rarity to happily role their eyes at his bravado. “Just be sure to come and find me when you’re done. We still have a lot to do today.” Twilight reminded Spike. Spike gave a quick nod to the purple mare he lead Rarity into the other sections of the book shelves. Once Rarity had gotten the books that she needed, Spike lead her to the door and they made their good byes. “Thank you again Spikey. I know you don’t exactly like being up this early.” Rarity told her favorite dragon. “It’s fine Rarity, living with Twilight for this long, you get used to getting up early. And I always like helping you out.” Spike responded. “Well thank you anyway Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity then leaned in and gave Spike a quick kiss on his cheek. Spike of course blushed due to the loving gesture, making Rarity let out a cute giggle in response to his reaction. She then left for her boutique to begin her work. Closing the door, Spike then made his way to the guest room where Twilight was currently hovering in the air, using her magic to move un needed clutter out of the room. “Hey there lover boy, Rarity get the books she need?” Twilight jokingly asked seeing Spikes red face. “Yeah she did.” Spike mindlessly replied, still enjoying the feeling of his crush’s affection. “Focus Spike we have a lot more work to do.” Twilight told him, snapping him out of his love daze. Hours went by and the castle was cleaned to be presentable to even Princess Celestia herself. Twilight and Spike were currently waiting for the historian to arrive in one of the castle’s sitting rooms. Twilight quietly read one of her favorite books while Spike was reading one of his comics. Suddenly a knock came from the main doors and Twilight’s ear’s pricked up. “THE HISTORIAN’S HERE!” Twilight yelled excitedly. Spike made his way to the door to let them in while Twilight took her place on her thrown, adjusting her crown. A minute or 2 passed and Spike entered the thrown room with a gray Stallion with a brown mane and tail currently wearing a black fedora. Spike then cleared his throat to give him his introduction. “Presenting, the historian from Trottingham….uh….what’s your name again?” Spike nervously asked. “Silver Scribe my draconic companion, Silver Scribe.” he answered walking towards Twilight’s thrown, bowing to her and tipping his fedora. “Princess Twilight Sparkle; renowned expert in Equestrian history Silver Scribe at your service. Shall we get down to business?”
Chapter 3After proper introductions were exchanged, Twilight and Silver Scribe made their way to the castle library. On the way Silver Scribe gave a questioning look as he took in the crystal architecture. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the aesthetic but Ponyville was a small town, why have a giant purple crystal castle built here? “I beg your pardon Princess Twilight, I’m not one to judge on anypony’s design choices but may I ask why you went with the crystal theme for your castle?” “Oh right. Well uh….you see there is a reason for that…um…” Twilight nervously replied. “What do I say? I don’t want to scare him off by telling him how many dangers have happened, but at the same time I don’t want to lie to an important figure like him.” Twilight unfortunately didn’t realize she was making a slight scene with the worried face she was making. “Princess Twilight? Are you alright?” Silver asked hoping he didn’t accidentally cross a line with the lavender princess. “Oh, huh yeah sorry. I’m alright. I’ll tell you but you have to promise to not freak out when I tell you.” She said putting a hoof on his chest. “U-Uh ok Princess, I give you my word as a historian that I won’t freak out. I mean all I asked was why you chose this theme for a castle. I’m not sure what the big fuss is about.” Silver replied giving a nervous smile, confused on why a somewhat simple question would be this hard to answer. Twilight then informed Silver on the battle with Tirek, the destruction of her old home and the box from Tree of Harmony creating the castle. When she finished she shut her eyes not wanting to look at this important figure look at her in disapproval of not being able to, in her mind, care of her new “kingdom”. Silver’s eye was wide open and his mouth was slightly ajar. He had heard of the demon Tirek’s attack, the plus side of living on an island country, no one tended to bother you so Tirek’s devastation never reached their shores. “Oh, so that’s it is it? Fascinating. I’ll have to make a note of that in my report.” he said as he casually walked past the distraught princess, as if she had told him something simple. “I just, w-wait WHAT!? I tell you that and you act like it’s nothing? We fought a giant centaur demon and you act like it’s an everyday thing?” Twilight replied with a combination of anger and surprise as she trotted to catch up to him. “Doesn’t that bother you at all?” “Not as much as you would think actually. When you’re in my line of work, you tend to see a lot of surprising things from the past. Visiting old tombs in the Northern Mountains, dig sights of ancient Pony ancestors in the desert. I’ve seen plenty of amazing things from this world. A Princess having to fight a battle to protect the kingdom of Equestria doesn’t really have the grandness it once had when you’ve seen plenty of other events like that. Sorry if my reaction wasn’t what you were expecting.” Silver replied with a smile on his face. “Anyway, let’s see this Library Wing of yours.”he said as he continued down the hallway. Twilight was beside herself, here was a pony who took the news of a battle for Equestria like it happened on a daily bases. This was going to be an interesting meeting after all. At the end of the hall they reached a large set of doors which led them to the Grand Library. The room was enormous, almost the size of the main waiting room. It was full of books ranging from novels to multi edition history tomes. The rumors of the newest princess being quite the book enthusiast was an understatement. “My word. I must say Princess, your collection is quite impressive. How did you acquire these?” He asked as he let his eye wander and bask in the sight of it all. “It was actually thanks to the other princesses. They donated them from their private collections after my old library was destroyed. I have to say it is nice to have somepony else who enjoys books as much as I do enjoy them.” she said with a smile. “Well, let’s get this meeting under way shall we?” Silver said to the princess with a slight smirk. About and hour passed and the meeting was going well. Twilight recalled tales of her and the rest of the mane 6s’ adventures: Discord, the Canterlot Wedding, Discord’s reformation, etc. Silver made numerous notes on each of them. The fact that Twilight was not only a princess but the sister in law of Princess Cadence was also interesting. “My my Princess, you seem to have had quite adventurous life.” Silver glanced at his notes, happy with what he had so far for the time being, one more page of notes and they could take a break. “I’d say one more page of notes and then we can take a break.” “Alright, I’ll go get the next one.” Twilight made her way over to the shelf where the book she wanted lied. Picking it up in her aura only to reveal a large pink head. “WHAT’CHA DOIN’!” “AHHH!” Twilight yelled, slightly scared by the sudden high pitched voice popping out of the book case. “Pinkie Pie what are you doing hiding in the book case?” She asked the pink party pony. “I wanted to see what you were up too silly *giggle*, you’ve been inside the castle all day.” Pinkie happily answered, oblivious to Twilight’s frown. “Pinkie Pie, I’m a little busy right now.” Twilight said through her teeth. Things were going so well with Silver Scribe, she didn’t need Pinkie Pie ruining things. “Princess? Who’s this?” Silver asked, still wondering how somepony could fit inside a bookcase. Twilight cleared her throat and responded to her guest. “Silver Scribe, this is one of my friends, Pinkie Pie. She works at the local bakery. Pinkie Pie, this is Silver Scribe. He’s an Equestrian Historian from Trottingham. He and I are in the middle of a meeting. So if you don’t mind I'd aprecia….” Pinkie cut Twilight off with a loud scream. She quickly grabbed Twilight and hid in a pile of books. She put her face close to Twilight’s and lowered her voice. “Twilight are you crazy!? What are you doing with a robot!? It’ll take over and it’s robot friends will take over the world and everypony will become slaves in their robot mines! ROBOT MINES TWILIGHT!!” Pinkie frantically explained to an agitated Twilight. Twilight got up and brushed herself off, “Pinkie Pie, Silver Scribe isn’t a robot, he’s an incredibly respected historian and he made a special trip to Ponyville for the first time in years! So I don’t have time for your crazy antics today!” Twilight was practically steaming at this point, “how embarrassing.” Twilight thought. Without warning, the sound of laughter came from behind them. “A robot? Well that’s one I haven’t heard in a while. But in all honestly I’m not a robot. I simply have a specialized prosthetic eye.” Silver explained. “I was actually wondering about your eye Silver. I didn’t know if you were comfortable or not so I didn’t ask.” Twilight nervously admitted. “Oh it’s fine, the accident was years ago when I was a colt. I don’t mind telling you if you want to hear it.” he offered. “Ooh Ooh story time!” Pinkie happily popped out of the pile of books and hopped towards the silver unicorn. “Tell me! tell me!” “Well aren’t you the energetic one. Alright I’ll tell you the story behind my eye.” “It all happened when I was around 4 years old. I was helping my father in our home in Trottingham.” (FLASH BACK) “Silver. I have some supplies I’ll need for my next trip, you mind getting it from the basement son?” Silver’s father asked. “Ok Dad!” a young Silver Scribe happily as he made his way down the stairs past his pregnant mother and towards the basement door. Silver slowly made his way down into the dark room, using his horn to create a small glow to light his way. Unfortunately he made one slip up on a scrap piece of cloth on the stairs and fell down the the hard wood. The small tumble would’ve been fine, unfortunately when he stopped rolling, he bumped into a supply shelf and something came crashing down. “Oh no!” Silver quietly gasped to himself. “Silver? Honey is everything alright down there!?” Silver’s mother, Morning Star, called from upstairs. “Uh..y-yeah I’m ok.” Silver replied. Silver Scribe quickly turned around only to bump into a table and fell onto the sharp glass shards. A pain filled shriek quickly escaped from the basement. A sound that no parent wants to hear and Morning Star quickly reacted to it. “SILVER!” Morning Star franticly ran down to the basement where her son’s prone body was, a puddle of blood pooling around his head. “Oh Celestia no…HONEY! SILVERS HURT, CALL AN AMBULANCE!” she screamed to make sure her husband heard her. Silver was crying from the incredible pain that his face was in. More specifically his left eye felt like it was on fire, the pain was unbearable. “Mum, it hurts so bad!” The colt whimpered with blood and tears flowing down his face. His mother tried everything in her power to try and calm him down, even though she knew it wouldn’t do much. “Shhhh….shhhh it’s ok Silver, we’ll get you to the hospital and you’ll be ok.” She said calmly while lovingly cradling her son’s head. She was terrified, there was a large shard of broken glass embedded in his left eye along with a long cut down his face. It almost made her want to vomit, but she had to be strong for her baby Silver. (FLASHBACK OVER) “After the ambulance took me to the hospital I was taken into surgery for 5 hours, the damage to my left eye was so extensive that it had to be completely removed. Thankfully I was going to be ok, and the doctor gave me this specialized prosthetic to replace it. My mother still shivers a little when she sees it.” Silver finished with his head down and eyes closed. Twilight and Pinkie were silent, their eyes were wide, and Pinkie was even tearing up. Twilight had no idea how a colt at that age could go through something like that. Pinkie immediately ran up to him to give him a Pinkie Pie special bear hug. “Whoa…what’s goin’ on in here?” Another voice came from the window above the west most book shelf. A rainbow maned pegasus was listening through the window. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. “I was just flying around and I heard Pinkie Pie scream so I came right here. So what’s this I hear about a prosthetic eye?” she asked flying down to the 3 ponies. “Yes Rainbow. My guest Silver Scribe, a historian from Trottingham, was just telling us a personal story behind his prosthetic eye.” Twilight explained. “Really?” Rainbow asked as she got a good look at the red lensed left eye of the silver stallion. “Wow! That’s cool.” she told him. “Well as fun as you two have been Silver Scribe and I were in the middle of a meeting so if you don’t mind.” Twilight somewhat angrily said. She was tired that her meeting with Silver was getting interrupted. “Actually Princess, I think a change in scenery could be helpful to my visit. I was already planning on doing a tour of the town. Might as well do it now.” Silver said with a slight smile on his face. “Well…..ok. Let me just tell Spike we’re leaving.” she replied. “SPIKE!” “Yeah Twilight?” Spike answered running into the Library. “Silver Scribe and I will be doing a tour around Ponyville, you can have the rest of the day off, if you leave just make sure you lock up the castle before you head out, ok?” she told the little dragon. “Awesome! I’ll go see if Rarity needs help with her dresses.” he said excitedly. Twilight responded with a small giggle. “Ok just don’t stay there too late lover boy.” Twilight told him like a big sister would. “Well, let’s get goin’ shall we?” Silver said as he put his notebooks in his saddle bags. “YAY! I’ll have to throw a “Welcome to Ponyville!” party for you!” Pinkie said excitedly running off to start planning it. “Well if you’re gonna do a tour around Ponyville, I better get my place ready for ya. Later!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew out. “Well Silver, let me show you all that Ponyville has to offer.” Twilight said with a smile. “Lead the way Princess Twilight.” Silver replied with a small bow.
Chapter 4After packing the last of his equipment for the day, Silver made his way to the main corridor where Princess Twilight was waiting for him. “Sorry to make you wait Princess. Just wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anything important.” Silver apologized. “That’s alright Silver, and you don’t have to use the “Princess” title when you talk to me. I’m alright with you just calling me Twilight.” she replied with slight smile. She had gotten used to the title but it still sounded weird to be called a princess. “Sorry, my parents just raised me to be professional when I’m on the job and as such I plan on calling you by your rightful title Princess.” Silver answered back with a smirk on his face while he opened the door. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at the comment and followed the stallion out of her castle. “Excuse me, comin’ through!” Spike said excitedly as he ran into the castle, Silver and Twilight quickly getting out of little dragon’s way. “Whoa, hey hey Spike where’s the fire? What happened to hanging out with Rarity?” Twilight shouted back into the castle. “Everything alright?” Silver asked, wondering what the young dragon could be up to. Just as Twilight tried to answer back Spike had returned with a bag stuffed full of things, seeing this Twilight stuck her hoof out blocking his path. “Spike, what is that? What did I say earlier? Get back home before it gets too late, and here you are with a bag full of…” Twilight stopped her big sister rant for a second to actually look at what Spike had with him, “…what exactly do you have there?” “You done?” Spike said with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. “Rarity needed some gems for her designs but she was so busy that she couldn’t go and dig some up. So I offered to let her use some from my personal stash.” he explained. “Now if I’m done being interrogated, Rarity needs me.” With his explanation finished, Spike quickly made his way back to Rarity’s home. He even started to sprint on all fours. Twilight let out a tired sigh. “What am I going to do with him? I know he’s getting older but there’s no need to be that sassy with me.” Twilight said watching her little step-brother/assistant run off. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be fine Princess. In any case we should be going, you have a town to show me.” Silver stated with a smile on his face. “O-oh right, right, sorry… *clears throat*…Silver Scribe, let me show you what Ponyville has to offer. Through the day Princess Twilight showed many of the important areas of the town: the town hall, the local vineyard run by Berry Punch, and many others. Eventually they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, home to Ponyville’s own Apple family. “And here we are, Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville’s personal apple orchard and home to the Apple family.” Twilight presented. “My friend Applejack runs things around here and she’ll probably be able to give you any info you need on this place.” Twilight added. “Blimey, this place sure hasn't changed much since I was last here with my father.” Silver said as he gazed at the scenery. They made their way to the farmhouse where the orange mare was currently relaxing with her hat over her eyes. With a pony as hardworking as Applejack, no doubt she had been doing a plethora of chores already. “Hi Applejack!” Twilight called out. “Hmm? Oh howdy Twilight. What brings our favorite purple princess to Sweet Apple Acres?” the farm mare asked straightening out her hat. “I’m actually here on business. Apple Jack let me introduce you to Trottingham’s top historian Silver Scribe.” Twilight announced. “So you’re this Apple Jack that the princess has been telling me about. Silver Scribe, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” the silver unicorn politely commented while offering his hoof for a shake. “*whistle*…Trottin’ham huh? Ain’t that fancy. That accent of yours sure does make ya sound sophisticated huh?” the blonde farm pony jokingly commented shaking his hoof. “I don’t mean to sound rude or nothin’ but what’s with the fancy eye piece of yours?” Applejack asked wondering what exactly was on his face. “That would be my prosthetic eye, I had an accident as a child and now I have this.” Silver answered calmly. “Wow, so what’s that fancy eye of yours do exactly?” Applejack asked. “Yeah I was actually wondering about that myself.” Twilight asked. She was actually wondering why she didn’t ask that earlier. “Well, for one it’s meant to keep my left eye socket from getting infected, but….” as Silver explained, his horn started glowing with an amethyst purple aura. As his horn glowed, his prosthetic lens started to light up red. “.... when I use magic with it, it allows me to actually use it as a functioning eye. After that it can zoom in and out like a microscope. Very handy for my work.” Silver’s horn stopped glowing and his eye dimmed down once again. “Boy howdy! That sure is one fancy gadget you got there. So what brings ya to my farm?” AJ said, trying to get them all back on track. “Yes, right then. Let’s get down to business. Ms. Applejack, my job as an Equestrian historian requires me to travel to multiple locations in Equestrian lands and record historical events that I take back with me and use to educate other ponies with my findings.” using his magic, Silver took out a book to use as a visual example. “My family also runs a history museum where we display historical artifacts that my family has been discovering for decades. That being said I am here to record any and all important historical events that have happened in Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres is next on my list and I would be grateful if you could provide any information I can use from the past 7 years.” he explained. Applejack put her hoof to her chin and gave it a good amount of thought. True she was pretty much the head of day to day operations of the farm, Apple family history wasn’t her strong suit. “Well I’m not really the mare y’all wanna be asking about stuff like that. But Granny Smith’ll probably help ya out there. Follow me.” Applejack answered, leading the two into her home. “GRANNY! We got company!” Applejack hollered. “Company ya say!? Well come in, come in.” the elderly green mare came slowly into the mane room. “Granny Smith I presume?” Silver asked offering his hoof. The elder pony shaking his hoof in return. “Woo doggy! Why I haven’t heard that fancy Trottin’ham accent in over 100 moons. What brings one of y’all over to my farm?” Granny asked. “Granny Smith, I’ve been informed by your granddaughter that you could be beneficial to my work. I’m here to gather any important historical info from the Apple family from the last 7 years.” he explained. “Well why didn’t ya say so? Only other Apple with more Apple family history than me is Cousin Golden Delicious. C’mon sonny, lemme show ya.” Granny replied full of energy. She then proceeded to almost drag Silver into the other room.
