Something Missing (Old/Cancelled)

Chapters

Chapter 1: The First Step...
Chapter 2: ... Into A Gigantic Mess.
Chapter 3: Observation
Chapter 4: Meetings
Chapter 5: Beginnings
Chapter 6: Things...
Chapter 7: ... Are...
Chapter 8: ... Happening!
Before The Beginning

Chapter 1: The First Step...

Several years later...

Crash!

"Silver Spark you get back here this instant!"

He turned the corner, leaping up and jumping of the wall so that he didn't lose speed, and he heard his mom do the same, picking up the pace so that she could catch him.

He giggled around the hair curler he had in his mouth, once more cursing his mother's foresight of using whatever was on hoof to block his magic first chance she got whenever he started causing trouble, the object of his ire being a juicy red apple, stuck securely on the tip of his horn.

Probably gonna eat it later. He thought, absently ducking under his father's legs, before he felt a large blanket settle on top of his everything, the world going black as he was captured.

He felt his dad's magic latch onto him before he rose up into the air, the chuckling of his parents filling the room as they exposed his doom-and-gloom expression to the light.

"You can try to delay it all you want, but your first day of school is already happening, now can you please let your father and I finish getting ready?" His Mother only half-jokingly said, and he giggled at her half-curled yellow mane, the limp half dangling in front of her face.

He really didn't want to go, but it was better than sitting in the house all day doing nothing, not that he would tell his parents that, he wanted them to have the real parenting experience, plus it was the day where he started on his goals. Not that they were very numerous right now, be better wasn't exactly the most concrete of goals.

Still, he had to get out of the house at some point, and oddly enough he'd found his experiences as a kid to be fun.

He shook his head, idly fiddling with his freaking neon yellow mane while his parents got ready to take him to his first day of school.

He munched on the apple that had been stuck on his horn, thinking about what he was planning to do with his life, what he was gonna have for a snack later, repeating the names that needed remembering (Never Forget), and just... letting his mind wander.

He most definitely did not scream when he felt two hooves grab him, and he couldn't have blushed in embarrassment when his parents laughed, it just wasn't possible.

He silently fumed at his parents while they ran a brush through his blue fur, before just rolling his eyes and going with it.

He was gently placed on his mother's back as she hovered along, and he giggled again, and speaking of, he really needed to get out of that habit now that he was going out in public.

He was utterly fascinated with flying-well, more of the falling aspect really, nothing but the wind as it roared past you, the ground getting closer and closer, it was just so liberating, so freeing, so-

"Silver..." He sheepishly retracted his head from where it was hanging off his mother's back, being firmly reminded that they hadn't forgotten the first time he'd done that and tilted right off, laughing so hard he was crying on the way down until his mom had caught him.

"Just looking." He saw his mom roll her eyes as she turned to look forward, and now that he payed attention he realized they were already nearly four times as far as he usually went into the city, that number rapidly growing as his mom flew.

Canterlot was big, and while not as big as some cities on earth it was a lot more densely packed, everything laid out just right instead of the casual expansion of most cities, it was odd.

He watched as ponies went about their usual business, everyone just walking about like little ants.

"Hey look, a bug!... think I'll squish it!" He said in his best gruff voice, and he felt his mother's flight wobble as she snorted, his smile widening at the sound.

It wasn't long before they were descending, and he vaguely made out the sign spelling out Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, rolling his eyes once more at this world's odd namings.

He hopped off his mom's back once they landed, glancing around at all of the other families that had gathered, all of the Colt and Filly unicorns, and he counted nearly forty families.

His mom placed a wing on him to make sure he didn't run off (Smart) and before long they were in the building, walking down halls that were eerily familiar, schools all having the same general feel from his experience.

He was really, really happy his parents had decided to homeschool him until this point, he was not the most social of creatures, sitting right there next to The Grinch on the antisocial behavior meter.

He hadn't really expected to ever see this place, but apparently he was 'Freakishly Good' at magic, his father looking proud whenever he used some of the spells he'd figured out, but utterly lost whenever he used some of the ones he'd made himself.

He'd been stuck in a house with nothing to do and a key to almightly power stuck on his forehead, and all he had to do to figure out how to use it was read some books and figure out how it worked.

The human mind was not built to be tempted on such a level.

Hey, it's not like he could exercise like he did in his downtime during his last life, he read enough to know that excessive exercise could seriously mess up a child's body.

He came out of his thoughts when he and his mom entered a large room that absolute screamed lecture hall, and while he'd never been in one himself he'd seen a few from videos and pictures.

There were four official-looking unicorns up at the top of the seats, and he startled when he realized his mom had walked over to the edge of the room, leaving him in the center of the room.

He turned when he heard the door open, seeing a light brown earth pony with dark brown hair wheeling in what looked like a mannequin, but studded with odd sensors.

He stared at it in confusion for a bit, wondering what happened to the dragon egg test that Twilight had used in the show, was he before when they got the egg or after she had hatched Spike? Questions for later.

"Now mister Spark, if you would kindly cast the most advanced spell of your repertoire?" Good god if everyone here talks like that he'd snap.

Not the most powerful but the most advanced... that would have to be one of the spells he'd made himself, and it would have been easy to cast the most powerful spell he had, but to pick out the most advanced...

The spells he'd made were all ripped off from video games or anime, but if he had to pick the most complicated one... it would have to be Haste, the most loved spell in the Final Fantasy series, and the single hardest spell he knew how to cast. Easily leagues and leagues above anything else he'd created.

He'd had to look through dozens of books on Time magic, which were really fucking complicated to even start on making the spell, the only reason he stuck on it was that it would be the most handy spell ever if he could get it right.

He lit up his horn, and his magic aura engulfed the dummy, before he narrowed his eyes and focused, and as he watched, his blue magic aura gradually turned purple as the light coming from the dummy was compressed from being sped up, before turning red, and he focused a bit of his attention to make that signature holographic clock appear in front of the dummy, an illusion of course, but it just wouldn't feel right without it.

Jesus fuck that spell made him tired, the only reason it was viable at all was that it both cost less to use on himself and would last a few minutes before wearing off, and he took a second to just collapse onto the floor and groan from the strain.

...

... Why is everything so quiet? He cracked open an eye to check on the entrance exam ponies, before blinking.

Two of them were frozen solid, just staring at the dummy in a way that he couldn't quite decipher, one of the others was scribbling something down furiously, while the last was opening and closing their mouth, making odd squeaking noises.

"That was quite the impressive spell." He turned, wondering who- WHAT IS CELESTIA DOING HERE!?!?

He was gone, bye bye, believe it or not Spark isn't at home, please leave a message at the beep.

She was looking over the dummy, and her horn lit up, presumably to cast a spell to scan it. He was too busy making dying squeaky toy noises to care though.

He saw her eyes widen a bit, before she turned to him and smiled and dying squeaky toy noises.

"What is this spell called? I've never seen something like this before." He wheezed, before pulling in a breath and closing his eyes for a second, doing his best to get his mind off the fact that the God-Queen herself was standing before him.

Blood for the blood god, Milk for the Khorne flakes. "It's called Haste." He saw her nod, taking a closer look at the mannequin.

"It's derived from the Aging spell, correct? Making them age quicker, and as a byproduct speeding up their movements?" He blinked, that was... almost what he'd done to create it, but not quite.

"Er, no your highness, I used the failed Time Stop spell, or at least what I could learn without the official research, and reversed the process, making the target... slipery when it comes to the fabric of time, but not quite invisible. Turns out slowing things down or speeding them up is a lot easier than stopping them." She was nodding along as he talked, before her horn's magic winked out and she turned towards him.

"I don't suppose I could see about giving you another test? It won't impact your exam here, it's simply for curiosity." A test from the God-Queen Celestia herself? Twilight would have flipped her shit.

"No, it's no problem at all!" Probably sounded a little too eager there, as evidenced by The Princess' amused smile and his sudden bout of existential terror at it.

He forcefully reminded himself that as nice as Celestia was, and how caring she seemed, she was still a God, and there are no good Gods, history and fiction had both taught him that much.

He heard his mother following behind him and The Princess, and soon enough they came upon and entered a room much different than the last one, something more reminiscent of the classrooms you'd see in middle school.

The desks and other furniture were covered in dust, so the room probably hadn't been used in a while.

He took a seat as The Princess went to dig around in that closet that every classroom has, returning shortly with what looked like a ball wrapped in a few towels.

She gently set it on the teacher's desk, before slowly unwrapping it, revealing- why the hell is Spike's egg sitting in front of him?!

Purple egg, darker purple dots, it was (from what he remembers) a mirror image of the one the show, and it was sitting right in front of him, looking like it hadn't been touched in forever.

Good thing his poker face was unbreakable, because he was FREAKING THE HELL OUT!

"Now, young Silver Spark, I would like to see if you can't use your magic to hatch this egg, don't worry about failing, this has been here for quite a while, and has laid untouched for nearly a year. It can go back in storage, dragon eggs last quite a long time you see." It... was probably him just making connections where there weren't any, it probably wasn't Spike's egg after all, but if it wasn't, then when exactly did Twilight hatch him?

He'd been looking out for the Sonic Rainboom for nearly his whole life, and nothing. Did he miss it? Was he just not paying attention at the time? He did read inside quite a lot, so he wouldn't exactly be in a position to hear ponies talking about it.

Yeah, he just missed the moment that made the main six, so he saw no problem with giving it his best shot, The Princess was probably just wondering if he could do it, Cutie Mark unrelated magic using unicorns were pretty rare after all, and he had used Haste, a pretty unique magic, without a Cutie Mark.

He narrowed his eyes at the egg, going through all the spells he knew that might work, and coming up with nothing, before delving into the spells that he'd never actually used, but thought up anyway, coming up with the same.

How did Twilight hatch Spike again? Some sort of massive magical surge, combined with gaining her Cutie Mark, which was a lot of power, he didn't have anything that could match that power, save for a spell he'd deemed way too risky for now due to how hard it would be to control at his age.

'Eh, fuck it. If it goes wrong then... not sure, but The Princess will stop it. Probably.' He'd thought this spell up due to both reading through some power-amplifying spells and remembering one of the most memorable moments from an anime he'd watched.

"Can you please step back for a bit? Need some room." He cracked his neck, as was habit, barely noticing his mother's flinch as he focused. This could go very wrong, very fast, but if he could pull it off...

He closed his eyes and focused, drowning out the world around him as he layered spell upon spell on top of eachother in his head, preparing to make the plunge, so to speak.

He inhaled, and started talking-it was only right to pay homage to the original. "You walk the path of magic, but to arrive at it's summit... there is something you still lack."

The two other occupants in the room looked at him in confusion (and worry in his mother's case), then their eyes widened as a silver glow appeared around his horn.

"Learn now what that is."

The glow surrounding his horn doubled in strength, becoming almost flame-like, then it doubled once more as it spread to the rest of his body, bringing with it an odd sort of ache that could only be described as 'too much everything', before it grew even more, beginning to reach up towards the top of the room and starting to blow some of the dust in the room around.

The magic aura seemed to double in strength once more as he grit his teeth, some of the magic around him becoming almost opaque, making it a bit hard to see.

As cool as it probably looked, the reason why it looked like that was because of the horrible efficiency of the spell. He was barely getting a tenth of the magic internalized, if that.

He turned his gaze towards the egg, briefly contemplating using a spell on it, before dismissing that idea as foolish, he could barely hold onto the magic as is, using it to power a spell would be impossible, the best he could do would just be to funnel it into the egg and hope for the best.

So he did, and his control wavered at just how much the egg was taking, his magic shuddering as his control slipped more and more, and he worried that it would all come crashing down.

Then there was a flash of light, and suddenly his grasp on the magic was ironclad, funneling the rest of it into the egg as the white pillar of magic surrounding him dissipated, leaving him groaning on the floor in pain, his horn aching like no other as his body echoed the notion.

C-Crack!

"Heh... I win..." He felt half delirious at this point, his emotions drained and his body aching for sleep, it had taken all that magic just to hatch the egg, and Twilight had managed to do that, age up the resulting child, turn her parents into inanimate objects, and still had enough left for a magic overload? Wow...

He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of his sudden case of cobwebs, immediately regretting the action when his headache got worse.

He did his best to drag himself out of his thoughts so that he could tell what was happening.

His mother was standing there staring at him, her jaw doing its level best to touch the floor, while The Princess had an expression he could only describe as pure joy on her face as she watched the egg.

He turned his attention to the focus of his efforts, the egg's shell cracking more and more, before eventually the top part-

It's Spike...

It didn't look like Spike, it was Spike. Same colors, same everything, and as he stared, suddenly everything made sense.

He was late to the story, that much was obvious, and by at least a year if what The Princess said was true.

He didn't miss the sonic rainboom, it never happened in the first place.

He turned his head, almost dreading what he would see printed there on his flank.

A magic looking symbol, some sort of rune made out of an eight-pointed star inside of another eight-point star, but the most important part was what it represented.

His special talent was Magic.

"Silver Spark... how would you like to become my own personal student?"

Fuck.

Author's Note

Never before have I felt sympathy for a character I've written, but...

I think a few of the smart ones in the comments will notice the lack of an 'Alt. Universe' tag at the top, and will figure out what it means.

Also, Silver's Cutie Mark.

Chapter 2: ... Into A Gigantic Mess.

Author's Note

Welp, this has grown incredibly large in next to no time, and riding on that emotional high I've written this.

Let's post the next chapter and ruin everyone's expectations shall we?

Chapter 2: ... Into A Gigantic Mess.

Fuck, what was he supposed to do now?

Spark paced around the room he'd been given, The Princess correctly assuming that he would be exhausted from hatching the-Spike's, egg.

Unfortunately how tired he was paled in comparison to his COMPLETE MENTAL BREAKDOWN!!!

He didn't even mind becoming part of the main cast, hell, while he would have been mad at it, replacing one of the main cast was still pretty okay, things could still have worked out! But there wasn't a main cast anymore! It was just him, filling in for an entire group who was infinitely better suited for the job of saving a world that he knew nothing about!

What was he supposed to do, say no? Refuse to attempt to be the hero of the story when he was, quite literally from the looks of it, the only one left to even try? This world needed the Elements of Harmony, if only so it didn't implode because of every villain his friend had talked his ear off about.

He needed to think up something for the Elements, those things had saved Equestria more times than he could count in the show, but they only worked for ones who suited their respective element.

'I'm obviously magic, but I could probably do Loyalty too if the Elements work like I think they do, Laughter as well, but that one's a gamble.' So he needed to find Kindness, Honesty, and Generosity, because he didn't really have a chance with those.

He was needlessly cruel to ponies he didn't like, his entire life was basically one big lie, and he was a greedy little thief when it came to stuff he wanted. Still, he loved to make people laugh and was loyal through hell and back, so at least he had those going for him.

Still, this was all based on the first two episodes and everything he remembered from his friend's ramblings, and for all he knew they ran on happy thoughts and pixie dust!

He tried to think back to all the info about the show his friend had shoved in his face, but it had been several years by now, and his memory was sketchy at best. Trying to remember the specifics on something? No way.

Still, something was nagging at him, the situation seemed almost eerily familiar, didn't his friend say something about an episode where the rainboom didn't happen? Something about a table, Cutie Marks, time travel, alternate universes, and a chick named Starlight... something. Shimmer maybe? Or was that the other one?

He grimaced. For once he regretted not listening to his friend drone on about the show, it would have saved him a lot of hassle in the long run.

God damnit what wasn't he remembering? There was something big he was forgetting, something important, something that changed the whole equation. Something about a map maybe? Star... something or other. A star map? But even before all that he had to deal with the dozens of villains that tried to wreck this world.

He paced, thinking. There was Nightmare Moon, Celestia's nutty sister who tried to shut off the sun. Discord, the Chaos god played by John de Lancie. Chrysalis, the... bug? Thing? He couldn't remember. And Tirek, the magic eating guy who basically wrecked house.

That- that was a lot, and he had to stop all of them? With nothing but a bunch of magical MacGuffins that weren't even garanteed to work? It- that-

Silver whined as he covered his head with his hooves, it just- it was too much, too fast, and he could feel a panic attack coming on as he sat there, hoping beyond anything that this was just some convoluted joke from some god, or that he was stuck in a hospital somewhere hallucinating all of this, because honestly that seemed like a good way out at this point.

A glint of blue at the top of his vision caught his eye, and he froze, his panic attack stopped dead as it sank in. Panicking and fearing the inevitable and dangerous was a human emotion, because humans couldn't to anything to stop it, except...

Except he wasn't a human anymore, was he? He wasn't subject to the whims of something greater than him. He had Magic! He didn't have to lay down and do nothing, all he had to do was use that glorious thing sticking out of his forehead to solve whatever problems came up, simple.

He felt a bit silly about panicking now.

Still, he'd looked, and there were next to no combat spells, which made sense considering that this world was pretty peaceful.

He could probably enchant something, but that was costly, in both time and resources, neither of which he had much of.

He yawned, stumbling, blinking his suddenly dry eyes, noting that he'd zoned out for a second.

He'd get started after he got some much needed sleep, any plan made now was likely to just be stupid and mess up at some point down the line.

Silver dragged himself over to his new bed, sliding up under the covers and closing his eyes, doing his best to put all of his questions and issues out of his mind. He'd think of something in the morning.

Celestia smiled as the magical window showing her Silver Spark's room winked shut. As much as she didn't like it, it was a good way to get a grasp of how her new student was dealing, and from the looks of things the young colt was doing fine.

He'd looked on the verge of a mental breakdown for a bit, (She had kind of rushed things in her exitement, so it was understandable) but that expression had eventually melted away to reveal a look of realization, before he stumbled, causing her to chuckle as he dragged himself over to his new bed.

Most colts would have been more hesitant to leave their parents house, or sleep in an unfamiliar place, but as she was hopefully coming to expect of her new student, he had a way with defying expectations.

She'd nearly given up hope before he came along, and like nothing he'd blown everything she'd expected out of the water. He had performed a spell that she'd never seen before, Haste truly was fascinating in how it was somehow both complicated and simple, and it had drawn her attention.

Then he goes and performs a power-amplification spell on a level she'd never seen successfully done before, succeeding, if just barely, at the test she'd known was next to impossible-forcing a dragon egg to hatch.

Heck, using magic on a dragon egg at all was incredibly difficult, let alone actually pumping full of enough magic to get it to hatch, and Silved had done it without complaint.

She'd finally, finally found what might be the key to getting her sister back, and regaining the Elements of Harmony for Equestria.

She smiled, closing her eyes and letting herself hope that maybe this time she would get it right, that her new student would never turn out like Sunset Shimmer, that she wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Silver Spark didn't seem to have the magical intuition that Sunset Shimmer had, and in truth no matter how she looked at it he just didn't fit the role of the Element of Magic as well as her old student had, but she supposed he might grow into it in time, 'Close Enough' was fine for now, there was still several years for him to grow.

She just hoped he didn't turn out like Sunset, but to truly know, to truly see how her new student thought...

Let's see if she couldn't remember what little her sister had taught her about dreamwalking.

He was here again, laying in the grass as he looked up at the stars that he rearranged with but a thought.

He had this dream every night, his friend had said something about it being somewhere along the lines of lucid dreaming, but not quite. It wasn't always this place, but it was always the same sky, always stars, and honestly SJialcvkeyr wouldn't change it for the world.

He payed no attention to when his pony parents laid down next to him to look up at the sky, that happened some days, mostly when he was missing them, but they always faded away eventually.

Celestia popping up was new, but he supposed it was to be expected, she had just become a suddenly major part of his future, but she would fade in time, everyone in the dream did except him.

Celestia blinked as she took in the scene around her, they were in some sort of field, but not one she'd ever seen, and laying on the ground between two trees was her student, her magic told her that much, but he was... changed, a bit older perhaps.

She watched as Silver's parents faded away, Silver staring at her curiously with his oddly piercing blue eyes, and her eyes softened.

Celestia walked over and sat down, draping a wing over her new student as she looked up at the stars, smiling at the little shapes she could see if she connected a few of them.

"I'm scared."

She blinked, looking down to see Silver with a frown plastered across his face, and she hummed lightly as she pulled him closer with her wing. "What of my little pony."

He hesitated, before sighing. "Lots of things, most of them minor, but there's just been a lot happening and it's- it's hard to ignore. Meeting Celestia- the real one, not you -becoming her student when I really shouldn't be, getting a little brother in the form of a dragon. It's just... it's a lot."

Celestia nodded. She got it, she really did, it was quite a bit of pressure to put a single colt under. "I understand, but why would you be afraid of me?"

"Afraid of Celestia? Well, i know that she's super nice, and that she's basically the entire pony race's mom, but I think... I think it's just cause I can't tell what she'll do next, or what she's thinking. She's... you know, sun moving and immortal and all powerful, and I'm..." He gestured to himself. "I'm just me. Big difference."

Celestia nodded, waiting a moment for anything else, before getting up and walking away when Silver stayed quiet. It was best to leave her student alone for now, she had a lot to think on.

Silver watched as Celestia faded away, smiling as he went through the conversation in his head, happy that he'd confronted a few of his issues and figured out the cause behind them, before shrugging and going back to looking at the stars.

He wondered why his mind had conjured her up, but he supposed it didn't matter, it was all in his head anyway.

Silver cracked his eyes open, rolling himself off his new bed and giving his head a good shake to wake himself up.

He stretched, groaning happily as his spine and neck gave out several loud pops, in that moment he could have sworn he was two inches longer, at least.

He jogged in place for a few minutes to get the blood flowing, using his magic to get a glass of water from his new bathroom sink.

'Everything is new.' He mused. It was a bright, clean room, with white and blue abundant, but no other colors. It was painfully obvious that despite being in immaculate shape, this room hadn't been lived in for quite a while. The pristine, well, everything kind of gave it away.

It honestly made him feel amazing, he hadn't had a room like this since before... well, everything, and it was nice to get a touch of that life back.

He jogged out of his room into the utterly massive hallways of Canterlot Castle, pausing to give a jaunty wave towards the guard outside his room, chuckling as he realized that not even the dude's eyes were moving, just blinking occasionally.

That could not be healthy.

Still, not like, they would actually have to do... anything...

"Dude, Tirek totally wrecked Equestria! Right along with every other villain. The guards are next to useless!".

... Okay, he'd see about training some of these guys up to human standards once he got the chance, but for now his goal was simply breakfast. Can't start a new day on an empty stomach!

After a few questions towards a passing maid to figure out where the kitchen was he set off, a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

It took him a minute to find it even with some instructions, but eventually he was standing before two wooden doors, both way too big to be to a kitchen in his opinion.

Still, he was hungry, so open go the doors and what the hell did he just walk in on.

"Ah! If it isn't my new student. Would you care to have breakfast with me?" Asked Celestia. She was sitting at a table absolutely filled to the brim with all types of breakfast food, muffins and pancakes and all sorts of things.

She was also without her usual royal ornaments, and had the cheeriest smile he'd ever seen on a living being.

He'd never been more terrified.

He took careful, measured steps towards the seat opposite Celestia, eyeing her warily as he sat down, using his magic to absently grab a few muffins and a pancake, though he did his best to sneak a few sniffs in to see if they had anything odd in them.

Celestia just sat there, a smile on her face as she ate her own breakfast, and Silver eyed the fork she was holding in her magic, absolutely sure that something was very wrong with this situation.

Still, he decided to ignore it for the most part. Even if he did figure something out he doubted he'd be able to do anything about it. The alicorn in front of him moved the freaking sun on a daily basis, it'd be years before he could probably even slow her down.

He bit into one of his muffins, determined to ignore Celestia as best he could and hope she went away, before freezing mid chew and looking down to stare at his muffin, splecifically the black splotch on the inside of his bite.

He promptly took another bite of the Cherry muffin in his magic and put all the other food he'd gotten away, digging through the basket of muffins to find those fruity masterpieces, slowly but steadily amassing a pile of cherry muffins nearly the size of his head, before digging in with gusto.

Celestia watched in veiled amusement as Silver scarfed down muffin after muffin, making a mental note that he liked cherries, quite a bit it seemed, and to get more cherry based recipes for the royal kitchens.

Silver on the other hoof was busy eating as he ran through a quick plan for his day, with his first stop being the library so that he could get more info on time spells, see if he couldn't develop a theory for a counter spell for time travel.

His eating stopped as he ran that sentence through his head one more time, before sighing as he resumed. He really had his work cut out for him didn't he? At least he was able to skip a bit due to already developing Haste.

As he swallowed his last bite of muffin he turned to Celestia, giving a quick bow and a quiet 'thank you' as he exited the room with a massive amount of relief, not spotting Celestia's smile all but shrivel up and die as she watched him go.

She looked over the mini banquet that was in front of her, perfectly pristine save for a few missing muffins and her small stack of pancakes, before snorting and gesturing over a nearby guard.

"Take this to the guard barracks. Might as well make use of all of this, I can't eat it all myself." The guard nodded, calling over some help from his fellows as Celestia got up and started to walk to the throne room, levitating her regalia onto her as she walked.

She sent one last look towards where Silver had disappeared to, before sighing and continuing on her way. She would see if she couldn't talk to him at some point when she had free time, she was already pushing it with that breakfast.

Best let him get used to the castle first, that way he'd feel more at home here and be more relaxed. Maybe then she could get him to stop being scared of her.

"'Time Dilation', already know it, 'Time Recursion', that sounds unpleasant, 'Utility spells', that's... let's put that one in the read later pile, 'Magic and it's affects on the physical world', that sound useful, 'The Repercussions of High Level Spell Misfires', here we go!" Silver flipped open to the first page, reading all of a few lines before his face fell, he couldn't understand half of what was being said, the entire thing was written in broken and outdated English.

Still, it was a good start on getting into some of the higher level magics, and he had a feeling that those books would be just as hard to understand.

He had a long, long way to go if he was gonna stop, or... prevent? Or... whatever he had to do when the time came. Point was, he really need to study if he wanted a chance to make a difference.

He brought his hooves up to rub at his eyes, feeling tired despite it only being the morning.

This was gonna take a while...

Chapter 3: Observation

Cobalt Breeze was normal.

She grew up in Los Pegasus, moved to Cloudsdale when she got older, before finally moving to Canterlot to visit her extended family, where she found her husband and got married and had Silver.

Cobalt Breeze was normal.

However, she was beginning to realize that her son was very much not.

It had started off small, almost unnoticeable, but when everything Silver ever learned had the same learning curve, it got pretty hard to ignore.

The second thing that rang warning bells after his... incident, was that he never cried, not once. Sure he wailed and pouted like other children, at least to a point, but there were never any tears, even when he got hurt.

The third thing, ironically enough, was just how... perfect a foal he was.

He never fought with her on anything, never played too rough with other foals, and always told her and Dawn just how much he loved them, every single day. Once he learned to talk at least.

Cobalt wouldn't have thought anything of it if she hadn't grown up with a little sister and seen just what normal foals were like. There was none of that fit throwing if he didn't get his way, no angry glares when she said he couldn't have a piece of candy, and no trying to play when she and Dawn had a rough day.

At first she didn't think it was too bad, but it started to get worse once he started getting older, breezing by some sections of school and struggling heavily in others, all the while having trouble playing with his peers, so she and Dawn decided to homeschool Silver up to a certain point.

Things sort of calmed down after that, but there were still little things that her and Dawn noticed, like how he always read more mature books, and how he never asked for any toys, just a deck of cards when he was six that even today she still saw him messing with occasionally.

Then came the day where they were going to see about enrolling him in Celestia's school for gifted Unicorns.

Cobalt figured that it would just be a normal day, with Silver getting into the school or not and everything turning out fine.

Now, as she watched her magical prodigy son, having become Princess Celestia's personal student, feed the baby purple dragon that he'd hatched and claimed as his little brother, Cobalt Breeze had a realization.

She really, really should have known better by now.

"Say 'Ah~'" Silver opened his mouth wide, smiling when Spike did the same, before the spoon of baby food floating in his magic found its way into the young drake's mouth, whereupon Silver made several 'Om Nom' noises, chuckling when Spike made them as well.

Silver hummed a tune from his old life as he fed Spike, mumbling half forgotten words through a pencil as he scanned a book he had sitting on a table next to him, tapping a few specific lines as he read, marking those down in a little notebook he was holding.

He'd been learning quite a bit about magic these past few weeks, the more technical bits anyway, and he'd be honest in saying that it had completely consumed his attention lately. It was like a smartphone, something you use every day with no hesitation or wonder before realizing that the thing you're holding like no big deal was made of little bits of earth and ran on lightning, letting you somehow talk with people on the other side of the planet.

He could sit there and boggle at magic for years, because it was wierd. For Unicorns, magic was like having fingers when everyone else just had stubs, the other races still had it, but they couldn't manipulate it like Unicorns could.

There was even an old type of magic that used chalk drawings, but it wasn't nearly as good as regular magic, though it did have some more unique spells.

For now though he was sticking to the basics of unicorn magic, that way he would be better equipped to deal with the more difficult magics later on. It didn't matter how much he knew about the teleportation spell if he didn't have the finesse to cast it.

Urp! Fwoosh!

Silver blinked, coughing as he brought a hoof up and rubbed at his suddenly soot-covered face, aiming a halfhearted glare at the giggling dragon who caused it and sticking out his tongue, making the drake's giggles explode into full blown laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you little gremlin." Silver grumbled. He floated a rag over and wiped his face, reaching out and booping Spike on the nose as he did, causing the baby dragon's face to scrunch up, before he sneezed out a burst of fire that Silver only just managed to block, sparing himself from the burns.

The book he used to block it, however, suffered a much worse fate.

Silver stared at the drake as his now burned and unrecognizable book fell to the ground, before he reached over and picked him up out of the chair with his magic, grumbling as he walked out of the room, giving his giggling mother a glare as he passed her by and using his magic to float Spike onto her back.

"Tag out, I gotta take this book back, see if I can't get it fixed." His mom nodded, using a wingtip to keep Spike's attention as Silver headed out of the house, ruined book floating beside him.

Silver hummed to himself as he walked down the streets of Canterlot, the city having become much more familiar in the months he'd had since he became Celestia's student.

He waved at a few familiar faces as he walked down the streets, absently using his magic to help lift a box nearly twice as big as the pony trying to carry it, smiling when they nodded back thankfully.

Soon enough he was coming up on the castle, the too big doors guarded on either side by the statuesque royal guards.

He nodded politely towards them as he walked by, grinning when he saw one of the guard's eyes twitch towards him, designating that one mentally as 'the rookie'.

Silver hummed to himself as he made his way around the castle, stopping for a moment to pop his head into Day Court and see what Celestia was up to, before blinking when he didn't spot her or any other ponies, before shrugging and continuing on his way.

He floated a muffin from the kitchen as he passed it by, much to the protest of the chefs working there and his blatant amusement. Just for fun he waited until a chef popped their head out of the door with a particularly angry expression on their face, whereupon he took a big bite out of the muffin and trotted away, giggling to himself as the chef yelled after him angrily.

He took another bite of his muffin as he turned a corner, holding it in his mouth as he hopped over a static guard and headed over towards a door that he had become very familiar with in his months as Celestia's student.

He nudged open the Archive door, stepping in and trotting over to one of the bookcases, reading the sign at the end of it, before shaking his head and moving onto the next, doing the same thing two more times before he stopped.

"Household Maintenance and Utility spells, right where it always is." He mumbled to himself. He headed into the aisle, scanning the shelves until his eyes locked onto the familiar spot and he let out a sound of triumph, before cutting himself off mid sound and frowning.

"That's... odd, this is always where the repair spells are, and I'm the only one that really uses- oh!" He brought a hoof up to his face, sighing. "I'm a dumbass, and it's in my room." He took a deep breath, holding for a moment, before breathing out.

He whirled around, trotting his way out the door and back down the halls, making his way through that castle towards his room, before he stopped with a vindictive look in his eyes, reaching out and poking a guard on the snout, causing the guard's eyes to fill with the most desperate panic Silver had seen in a long time as they tried not to react in any way.

The guard's eyes widened slightly as Silver shoved his face in theirs, a mad look in his narrowed eyes, before he slowly took in a breath, looking up and blowing sharply.

"Gah!" The guard yelped, their hoof shooting up to their ear, before they froze.

Silver nodded solemnly, patting the horror stricken guard on the shoulder, sighing in disappointment as he turned and started to walk away, keeping his solemn expression up until he turned another corner, where it cracked.

"Pff-PFFFFAHAHAHAHAHA!" Silver burst into laughter, reaching out and using a hoof to brace himself against the wall, the burnt book in his magic flopping to the floor as his concentration waned.

"That was priceless!" He managed to get out between laughs, bringing up a hoof to his mouth and coughing, his laughs dying off into chuckles as he floated his book back up in his magic and clearing his throat, taking a few breaths to stop the last of his giggles.

"Picking on the guards again?" "Ohgod!" Sliver yelped, whirling around and lowering he head to point his horn at whoever it was, before letting out another yelp and lowering it to the floor in a quick bow.

"Princess Celestia! Anything you need?" He asked. She smiled down at him, raising an eyebrow and leaning over to peak around the corner, her other eyebrow raising to meet the other one, before she chuckled and turned back to Silver.

"You do realize they're all going to get you back for all your pranks, right?" She said.

Silver let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I know, but it's fun for now, so I figured why not." He said with a shrug.

She hummed lightly. "I suppose that you aren't hurting anypony. Just make sure not to let it get out of hoof." Silver nodded, and they both started walking.

"I take it you're heading to your room? May I join you?" Celestia asked. Silver blinked at her, before shrugging.

"Sure, don't see why not." He said. She smiled happily, reaching over and laying a wing on his back, much to his confusion.

Silver made a noise of embarrassment and ducked out from under her wing, giving her a theatrical betrayed look, much to her amusement.

They turned a corner, and Silver stopped at his door, turning to say goodbye to Celestia, only to freeze, his mouth half open when he noticed she was gone. He looked left and right, before shaking his head and shrugging.

"Maybe she was late or something." He mumbled.

Didn't matter he supposed, she was always busy with things, so her vanishing wasn't too startling, it'd happened a few times before.

He rolled his eyes and opened his door, heading inside and using his back hoof to close the door, reaching up with a hoof to scratch at his ears.

"Now, where did I put the-" "SUPRISE!!!" "Gah!"

Silver flinched, flinging whatever he could at the first person he saw, the burnt book he threw banging against someone's forehead, causing them to let out a yelp, much to Silver's horror.

"Mom! Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" She waved at him, wincing as she held a hoof to the new bump on her head, the little purple drake on her back giggling as she did, Celestia's smile widening while Silver's dad nodded along like he'd expected it.

"It's fine, I should've expected a reaction like that anyway." She laughed, walking over and draping her wings around Silver, hiving him a hug and lowering her head to nuzzle at his mane.

"Mom, m-mom! Mooom! Your embarrassing me!" He ducked his head away from her nuzzling, much to her vocal disappointment, reaching up with his hooves and running them through his mane in an attempt to fix it.

"Aww," Cobalt pouted. "But how could I resist nuzzling my birthday boy?"

Silver froze, blinking. "Wait, it's my birthday already?" He asked, confused.

"Yes it is silly." Cobalt said. "How do you keep forgetting?"

Silver chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh... don't look at a lot of calendars." His dad snorted and Silver ducked his head, blushing as his mother giggled.

"Ah, don't worry buddy, I have the same problem." Dawn Bolt said, patting Silver on the head, much to his protests.

Celestia smiled to herself as she watched Silver interact with his family, before blinking when she felt something poke at her leg, looking down to see a tiny purple dragon sitting there a curious look on his face.

"Why hello there..." She lowered her head and smiled, at the little drake, before she blinked as he reached up and leatched onto her horn with a sound of triumph.

Celestia gave an amused smile as she brought her head back up, the drake latched on her horn letting out a sound of wonderment as he looked around from his new vantage point.

"S-sorry! He's-*Snrk!*-he's very adventurous!" Cobalt managed to say through the hooves dhe'd all but smashed into her face in an attempt to keep from laughing.

Silver meanwhile was too busy rolling on the floor choking on air and squeaking out a cackle every now and then.

Dawn Bolt rolled his eyes as his wife and son broke down into laughter, lighting up his horn and floating the tiny drake off the Princess's horn and onto his head, where he latched onto Dawn's horn and continued to look around.

"Thank you Dawn Bolt." Celestia sent the stallion a thankful nod, which he returned as he distracted the drake on his head by lighting up his horn every few moments, much to the drake's delight.

Silver rolled back up onto his feet, taking a minute to get his breath back as his mom went over to talk to the Princess, and he sat down as he took a second to just watch his family interact.

This was what it was like, every day, never a moment of quiet.

He loved it.

He let a small smile spread across his face, before his ears perked up as he got an idea, heading over to his trunk of stuff and throwing it open, digging through the clutter until he grinned, pulling out an old looking camera, twisting a knob on it's top.

"Alright, everypony come here!" Everyone in the room turned to him, before they smiled, Cobalt pushing everyone into position as Silver fiddled with the camera, his eyes widening when it started making a ticking noise, trotting over and squeezing in next to his parents.

Celestia watched this all happen with a smile, before letting out a yelp as a blue glow appeared around her, lifting her up and floating her over next to Silver, who promptly leaned into her, Cobalt doing the same on the other side of her.

Celestia felt happiness surge up in her chest as she smiled, reaching out with her wings and wrapping them around the family at her sides.

"Everybody say Cheese!"

*Flash!*

Chapter 4: Meetings

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5: Beginnings

Celestia paced nervously through her room, glancing at the calendar on the wall and only barely resisting the urge to bite her hooves like she did as a filly.

Three days, that was all she had left, three days until Nightmare Moon’s return, and hopefully three days until she got her sister back.

The only problem was that no matter how she looked at it, Silver just wasn't ready.

No matter how she looked at it, the likelyhood of Silver finding the bearers of the Elements of Harmony was... low, but she was running out of time, and there would be no second chances on this.

She sighed, tapping her hoof on the floor nervously as she knawed on her lip, before walking over to her room’s door, taking a moment to calm down and make herself presentable before leaving.

She nodded politely to the guards at her door as she passed them, heading through the hallways towards Silver’s room.

Celestia hummed to herself in an attempt to calm her nerves, filling the quiet of the castle with a catchy rhythm she’d heard one of her subjects hum at some point, and soon she was coming up on his door, blinking at the sign that was hung there.

“Warning: Trespassers will be Friendshipped. Ye have been warned.” She read aloud. She chuckled to herself and shook her head, reaching up with a hoof and gently tapping it on the door.

Tic. Tic. Tic.

“Silver? Are you awake? May I come in?” There was a muffled affirmative from the other side, and she opened the door with her magic, before blinking and letting an amused smile spread across her face.

“I’m beginning to think we have different definitions of the word ‘Awake’.” She said to the malformed lump of blanket and pony laying on the floor.

“I’m only awake in the morning...” The pile groaned miserably.

Celestia raised a brow. “It’s noon.”

“Morning isn’t a time, it’s a state of mind.” The blanket pile replied petulantly.

There was quiet for a moment, before a groan echoed through the room, the pile of blankets glowing blue and floating up off Silver to reveal his grumpy expression, bags darkening the fur under his eyes to nearly purple compared to his usual light blue.

He glanced at his bed and the purple dragon sleeping in it, Spike's chest rising and falling in incredibly rapid motions, before Silver cracked his neck and groaned. “Fall off the bed and the spell doesn’t work.” He said after a moment. “Already knew that, but it’s good to be sure.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, spells can sometimes stray outside expectations, so it’s good to test, but exactly what spell are you using while you sleep?”

Silver lit up horn and surrounded her with a blue glow, and Celestia blinked as everything around her started... slowing.

The effect didn’t last long, a few seconds at most, and once it ended Silver smiled at her expectantly.

Celestia hummed. “You used a time spell on the place that you sleep?”

Silver shrugged. “Let’s me get more sleep, which is always good, and Spike takes his naps on it, which means he can get more stuff done and has more energy.”

Celestia brought a hoof up and set it on the bed, raising a brow when she felt no change. “Interesting. I’m assuming you enchanted the bed so that you could apply safeties to the spell, along with making it so the effect was permanent?”

Silver blinked. “Yeah actually, though I need to supply it with magic every few days, and the effect breaks if the bed is moved. The stabilization effect is a bit unstable, so doing it on something moving and having the spell last more than a few seconds is impossible, though extending the time seems doable...”

Celestia smiled as she listened to Silver continue on about the specifics of improving the spell. “I take it this is something you’ve thought quite a bit about?” She asked once there was a moment of silence.

He nodded. “It’s a favored pastime of mine, tinkering with time.” He reared up on his back hooves, waving his front ones at Celestia and making science-y noises.

She chuckled, reaching out with a wing and pushing it against Silver, causing him to topple over with a yelp, much to her amusement.

Silver groaned in mock pain, weakly raising a hoof into the air. "Oh gods," He began in a mock Shakespeare voice. "Why have you forsaken me? Was it my hubris? My good looks? Is it perhaps due to my muffin stealing ways? Oh! Woah is me!"

Celestia's chuckles intensified, and soon she was doubled over, holding her sides with her wings as she laughed herself silly while Silver flopped around the floor.

Silver raised his head at the sound, a grin spreading across his face as he watched the immortal alicorn laugh, deeming one of his many self-imposed missions a success.

Task: Get Celestia happy. Complete.

He rolled onto his hooves, standing up and popping his neck as Celestia’s laughs petered out, a true smile spreading across her face.

Celestia couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like that, it had to have been a few years at least.

She used a wingtip up to wipe away a tear as she turned her attention back to Silver. “Okay, okay, you got me, now may we speak about what I came her for?” She asked.

Silver brought a hoof up to scratch at the base of his horn, before shrugging. “Sure, go ahead Princess.”

She smiled. “Alright, now, I wanted to speak to you about the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration at Ponyville." He blinked, before gesturing for her to continue.

Celestia lit up her horn, and in a flash of light she was holding a scroll, which she passed to Silver. "I was hoping you could check up on how the preparations are coming, to make sure everything is ready for when I arrive." She explained.

Silver took a second to open the scroll and scan the contents for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, sure, I don't have anything planned that day anyway." He rolled up the scroll and floated it over onto his desk.

Celestia nodded thankfully. "Well, I need to get back to my duties. Please inform Spike that I said hello." She turned and headed out the door, closing it behind her.

She sighed. "I do hope I'm not making a mistake here..." She said quietly. Only time would tell if she'd made the right decision.

She just hoped Silver didn't get hurt because of her mistakes.

Silver stared at the scroll sitting on his desk. The sheer weight of it nearly making his head spin.

Three days. He knew it was coming, but to have it confirmed... it was a bit nerve racking. Still, he’d been waiting for this for years, he wasn’t about to choke at the starting line.

He reached over and grabbed the scroll, reading through it one more time.

Food, Music, Decorations, Weather, all the normal things. He let out a quick chuckle, trotting over to the bed and reaching out with a hoof, before stopping himself, settling for just patting Spike on the head rather than waking him up.

“Gonna be an intense next few days, huh kid?” Silver whispered. He was only fifteen, and here he was off to go save the world from eternal night.

He only wished it could’ve come later, that way Spike would’ve had more time to be a normal kid. Sadly, Silver couldn’t stop Nightmare Moon himself, otherwise he’d be making damn sure to keep Spike away from Ponyville.

Still, it wasn’t like Spike was gonna be in any real danger. From what he remembered, it would just be a creepy forest between them and the elements, and aside from that he didn’t really see much that could happen.

He gave Spike one last pat before walking over to his door, quietly opening it and stepping out, silently clicking it shut behind him, turning to the guard at the door and narrowing his eyes.

“Look after my little brother.” Silver’s voice brokered no room for argument. The guard nodded slightly, shifting slightly closer to the door and swiveling his ears to point at it.

Silver nodded, quickly thanking the guard and heading on his way down the halls, stopping for a moment to stealthily stick his head into the kitchens.

“Get out!” *CRASH!*

Silver slammed the door closed, wincing when he heard a pan smash into it as the chef yelled angrily.

“Think... I might have annoyed him a bit too much.” Silver muttered. He would probably be avoiding the kitchens for a while, he’d make it up to the chef with a gift basket at some point.

He shrugged, continuing on his way down the halls as he headed towards the exit of the castle, nodding politely to a few nobles as he passed them by, rolling his eyes when they just turned up their noses at him.

He used his magic to discretely tear a few of the seams on their fancy clothes as he walked by, nothing that would be immediately noticeable, but give it a day or two and their expensive clothes would need some expensive repairs.

He let out a quick laugh, a new spring in his step as he made his way down the halls of Canterlot Castle, pausing only to say hi to a few of the more familiar guards.

He stopped once he came across an especially familiar pair of guard standing on either side of the exit of the castle, a smile breaking out across his face at the sight of the two Pegasi.

“Blitz! Minty! How have you guys been?” Silver asked excitedly. The two said nothing, the only sign of movement being their eyes quickly darting to each other.

Silver scratched his chin, nodding. “On duty, right. Just tell me how that date went when you get off, okay?” A blush spread across their cheeks despite their stoicism, and they both nodded slightly, causing Silver to let out a quick laugh.

“See you guys later!” He waved goodbye as he trotted out the doors, using his magic to close it behind him as he headed of into canterlot proper.

He absently caught a ball using his magic, throwing it back at a group of playing ponies as they came by, smiling when they waved at him and turning to get back to walking, but stopping when a familiar face caught his eye.

“Stitches!” The griffin twitched, turning and narrowing his eyes, his cracked beak pulling into a frown as he picked up a rock and threw it, not even blinking when Silver just caught it in his magic.

“Silver I swear to Celestia, if you call me Stitches one more time I will eat you. It’s. Terry.” Silver raised a brow, trotting over and reaching out with a hoof to pat the griffin on the head condescendingly.

“Whatever you say Stitches.” The griffin growled, before rolling his eyes, reaching out and smacking a wing against to back of Silver’s head, doing nothing to hide the smile spreading across his beak.

“So how’s being the big shot Princess’ student treating you?” Terry asked.

Silver shrugged. “It’s been okay. Pretty much the same as normal school but a lot more flexible hours. The tests are a bit more advanced, but the extra study time makes up for it.”

Terry nodded. “And how’s the Tyke doing?”

“Eh, Spike’s fine. Been getting a bit lazy, but he’s still jogging with me, so yeah.” Silver sent him a playful glare. “He’s still craving meat since you let him try some.”

Terry winced. “Ah... your mom still mad about that?” Silver nodded, and Terry grimaced. “Ah. Not good.”

Silver shrugged. "Eh, I don't really see what the problem was anyway, it was just fish, I figured it wouldn't do any harm. I liked it anyway."

Terry patted Silver on the shoulder. "That, my friend, is because you are what we griffins refer to as a freak."

Silver sent him a hurt look, before thinking better of it and nodding slowly. "Eh... fair enough. I'll get you back for that later though."

Terry just laughed. "Ooh~ I'm so scared, what are you gonna do, turn me purple?"

"Maybe."

Terry's laughter slowed when he saw the look in Silver's eye, before he held up his talons in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, just don't hurt the feathers man, I'm already gonna have enough trouble with the ladies cause of the beak."

Silver snorted. "Dude, your feathers are green, the most you'll ever get out of a relationship is pity sex."

Terry brought a talon up to his chest in mock hurt. "Dude, not cool, and your one to talk mister neon sign. Oh wait! That's just the two year old's drawing you call a mane."

Silver rolled his eyes. “Oh! Who was it again that decided to dunk his head in paint to, and I quote, ‘Get all those hens attention’?”

Terry actually winced at that. “Okay, so maybe you were right about that gourd stuff being alcoholic, but are you really gonna hold onto that forever? It’s in the past dude.”

Silver sent him a look. “It happened last week.” He deadpanned.

Terry waved a talon at him. “Like I said, in the past. Now, where were you headed?”

Silver shrugged. “Nowhere in particular. Just doing the usual rounds since I’m gonna he heading off to Ponyville in a few days.”

Terry nodded. “Ponyville huh? Think I might go with, been getting a bit boring around here.”

“You pissed off Lily again didn’t you?”

“Not my fault, that mare is evil, I swear it.”

Silver huffed. “That’s only cause you never do the chores. I mean really dude, she’s your roommate, how hard is it to take out the trash and do the dishes once and a while?”

"But I'm busy all the time with studying!"

"You're not in school."

"I've got a job!"

"Doing What?" Silver challenged.

Terry glanced around frantically, starting to sweat as he looked for a distraction, before blinking and pointing at a nearby restaurant. "Is that your parents?"

Silver snorted. "Do you really think I'm gonna- holy crap its my parents." He cut himself off as he turned to look, actually spotting his parents sitting at a table chatting with eachother.

The two friends blinked, before shrugging and moving on. Silver wasn't about to intrude on his parents time together, and Terry knew him well enough to do the same for fear of retribution.

Terry floated in front of Silver. "Hey, it's about time for me to get going. Lily's making me grab some groceries for dinner today." He gave quick wave before shooting into the air, heading off into the city.

Silver waved as Terry flew off, waiting a moment before chuckling and shaking his head as he turned and started making his way home.

"Whipped."

Author's Note

I want you all to know that I love you guys. The sheer support for this fic has been astounding, and every time I come on and read your comments fills me with the best feeling I've ever had.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You. Thank all of you, so much.

Chapter 6: Things...

"Oh! Did you grab your lunch?" Cobalt reached out, running a brush through Silver's mane as she used her wings to comb through his fur.

He let out a chuckle, using his magic to lift his mom into the air and float her away, much to her protests.

"Mom, I'll be fine, we've done this a hundred times by now." He said. "Besides, I'm just going to Ponyville, it's not even a full day away."

Cobalt huffed, reaching out and smacking her wing against Silver's horn, causing him to yelp and his magic to sputter out, trotting over and going back to fiddling with Silver's mane. "I know that! I just want you to make a good impression, I know you have trouble making friends in new places."

Silver groaned. "Mom please, my mane is fine, I have my lunch, can I please go now?"

Cobalt ran the brush through Silver's mane a few times, before taking a step back and sighing. "I know, I know... I guess I need to call it quits sometime, just... be okay?"

Silver smiled. "I'll be safe, Promise."

Cobalt stood there, looking at Silver. His slicked back mane, his smooth blue fur and shined hooves. She sniffed as tears built up in her eyes, before breaking into sobs, much to Silver's dismay.

"Mom!? What's wrong!?" She threw herself at Silver, wrapping him up in a hug as her cries intensified.

"My baby is all grown up!" She sobbed. "He's off to go woo the mares of the world!"

Oh. OH! Oh...

Silver groaned, only barely resisting the urge to facehoof. "Mom, can... can you just not? I'm not leaving forever, just a few days, a week at most."

Cobalt sniffed, bringing a hoof up to rub at her eyes. "I know, I know, it's just... You look just like you're father did when we first met, all spruced up and ready to take on the world. Just... be safe?"

Silver smiled softly, reaching out and wrapping a hoof around Cobalt in a hug. "I'll be fine, I promise."

Cobalt nodded, giving one last sniffle before stepping back. "Alright, I won't keep you any longer, just make sure to hurry back, you hear! Your mom gets lonely in this house by herself!"

Silver nodded, giving Cobalt one last hug before trotting out of the house, taking in a deep breath and letting out a happy exhale, beginning his walk towards the castle.

He made sure to take his time, stopping to say hello to every face he was even passingly familiar with, giving each of his friends one last hug before heading off.

He'd miss Canterlot, but there was a sense of anticipation about him. This was a moment he'd been waiting years for, and while he felt a bit of anxiety now that it was finally here, he was honestly pretty exited.

"Silver? Is that really you? Sweet Celestia you clean up nice!" A voice called out. Silver blinked, looking towards the source of the voice, before a grin broke out on his face.

"Minty!" Silver exclaimed happily. The green pegasus trotted over, wrapping his wings around Silver in a quick hug, before stepping back and giving the unicorn a once over, whistling.

"Wow, what are you all spruced up for? And how did you manage to get your mane and fur so smooth?" Minty asked.

"I'm heading off to Ponyville for a few days, my mom decided that I needed to look my best for it, as for the fur... Coconut oil. Lots of coconut oil."

Minty scratched the back of his head with a wing in thought. "Huh, I'll have to remember that for when me and Blitz go to the fancy restaurants."

Silver blinked. "Wait, I thought you hated fancy places."

Minty sighed. "I do, but Blitz is obsessed with them, and they aren't that bad. I just don't like the snooty ponies that we usually find there."

Silver sighed. "Yeah, I hear you, I run across ponies like that all the time at the castle, and unlike you, they actually try to talk to me."

Minty winced. "You poor, poor pony. Well anyway, I should be getting back, Blitz can't cook for the life of him, and I'd prefer non-burnt food today."

Silver nodded. "I need to be getting to the castle anyway. The carriage should be ready by now, and Spike is probably waiting for me."

They shared one last hug before they headed in different directions, Silver watching him go with a small smile.

"I'm gonna miss those two." He sighed, turning and starting to trot towards the castle at a steady pace.

Soon enough he was coming up on the castle doors, and he nodded to the two guards stationed there as he walked through, turning and beginning the long walk to his room through the maze that was canterlot castle.

"You go left, take a left, take another left, turn left again, go up the stairs, and then you're in the cellar, because logic is for the weak." He muttered in amusement. A nearby noble looked at him funny, but Silver just ignored them, making his way down the halls until he was standing in front of his room's door.

Wham! "Spike! Up and at em bro!" Silver glanced around the room, narrowing his eyes as he spotted the bed, along with the empty spot where a dragon was supposed to be sleeping.

"That's... odd, Spike is never up this early..." Silver scratched the back of his head in confusion, walking over and checking on either side of the bed to make sure Spike hadn't rolled off it while he slept, frowning when he didn't spot the drake there either.

"Must already be waiting for me." He shrugged, using his magic to float over his pouch of Bits, about to put it in his mane like usual, before thinking better of it and tying the string around his neck, with his mane slicked back it would just fall out anyway.

He walked out of the room, smiling and giving the guard standing outside his door a nod as he passed by, trotting down the halls as he made his way to Celestia's room.

Silver paused as a group of familiar ponies turned the corner, all of them wearing maid outfits, and he tilted his head as an idea popped into his head, smiling evilly, before putting on his best neutral expression as the group of maids neared.

He nodded politely to the maids, smiling as they nodded back, before slowing to a stop once he was behind them, taking in a deep breath and weighing the consequences in his mind.

He readied himself, his horn lighting up as he turned around and steeled himself for what he was about to do, a wind spell already forming.

Fwoosh!

Time stopped. Silver opened his eyes as wide as he could, searing the sight in front of him into his mind, before suddenly time caught up with him and he realized that there were four angry, blushing mares glaring at him.

"Silver..." The lead mare growled his name out through grit teeth, she and the other maids pawing the ground aggressively.

Silver grinned cheekily. "It was a nice show ladies, but I gotta GO!" He cut himself off with a yelp as the maids charged, whirling around and scrambling down the hallway before they reached him.

He turned the corner, jumping over a noble as they reared back in surprise and cackling as the maids shouted after him, his eyes quickly spotting the sun-emblazoned door near the end of the hall as he ran, using his magic to throw it open and all but leaping through, slamming it closed behind him.

He quickly took in the scene, spotting Spike sitting across a table from Celestia, both of them looking at him worriedly, and a grin broke out on his face as he spotted the chariot sitting on the balcony.

Silver grabbed spike in his magic, the young dragon yelping as he was tossed into the chariot, and Silver wrapped his hooves around Celestia in a quick hug, before booking it towards the chariot, wincing when Celestia's door was thrown open.

Silver quickly threw his head over the front of the chariot, shouting. "Gogogo!" The guards shrugged, before lifting off and starting to fly away moments before the first maid reached Silver.

Silver stuck his tongue out at the panting maids, silently thanking the fact that he'd decided to get in shape. "Better luck next time ladies!" The inarticulate scream of rage from the lead mare did little to muffle the laughter and farewells of the other three, and he waved goodbye to a bemused Celestia standing behind them.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Spike asked in irritation. Silver turned to see the drake doing his best to re-straighten his frills, most of them having been knocked around from the toss.

Silver chuckled. "Sorry buddy, here." He grabbed Spike's frills in his magic, putting them back into place before quickly smoothing them over.

Spike ran a claw over his head, nodding. "That's fine. Now, what was that whole thing about?"

Silver shrugged. "It was a... harmless prank on a few of the maids that I know. We were leaving anyway so I figured why not."

Spike stared at him for a moment, before shrugging. "Eh, makes sense, especially with how Glamour was acting."

Silver blinked, laying down on the floor of the chariot in an attempt to get comfy. "You know Glamour?"

Spike sat down against Silver, shrugging. "Hey, I need something to do when your off doing stuff, figured I might as well explore the castle, get to know a few people."

"Good of an excuse as any I suppose."

They sat there in silence for a bit, the wind whistling by as they waited, before Silver grabbed a Bit from the pouch around his neck, holding the coin out to Spike. "I call heads. Winner gets a massage when we get back."

Spike snorted, rolling his eyes as he took the Bit, flicking it up into the air and catching it, opening up his a claw and grinning, showing the results to Silver, who groaned.

"Looks like you owe me a massage, again." Silver stuck his tongue out at the drake, before the carriage fell into silence as they went back to laying there.

Spike shifted slightly, turning his head to look at Silver. "So what's Terry up to? Wasn't he gonna come with us?"

Silver shrugged. "Nothing much, he's finishing some stuff up, then he's gonna meet us at Ponyville."

Spike nodded. "He's pretty fast, so he'll probably get there before us."

"Nah, he'll probably take it slower than usual, it's a long fight."

Spike shrugged. "I guess. But hey, you think you could use that spell of yours to let me take a quick nap?"

Silver raised a brow. "Haste?" Spike nodded, and Silver hummed lightly as he thought about it.

"I guess so long as we don't move too much I can get the effect to last about an hour, though it'll be weaker than usual." He said after a moment.

Spike grinned. "Hey, that's still at least an hour and a half of sleep. It's better than nothing."

Silver blinked. "Fair enough I suppose." He lit up his horn, and after a few moments the world around them slowed, though not by much.

Spike leaned back against Silver, closing his eyes in an attempt to get a bit of sleep.

"Night Bro." "Goodnight Spike."

He stared.

Spike snorted, shifting in his sleep as he dreamed about... whatever it was dragons dreamed about.

Silver reached out with a hoof, doing his best to stifle his giggles as he gently covered Spike's nostrils, the dragon's face scrunching up after a few moments, before he started to wriggle around in his sleep, eventually lurching awake with a gasp, smacking Silver's hoof off his face in the process.

Silver burst out laughing as Spike sat there panting, before a look of righteous fury spread across the drake's face and he stood up all but throwing himself at Silver, beating his fists against the unicorn's side.

"I swear to Celestia Silver! I will make you suffer!" Silver just laughed harder, using his magic to pick up Spike and hold him in the air as he flailed about.

Silver's laughs eventually petered out, and he floated Spike over to the edge of the chariot, the dragon looking over the edge and blinking.

"Oh, we're almost there." He said calmly. Silver walked over to the edge as well, peering over it and grinning at the sight that greeted him in the distance.

It was, from this distance, nothing but a small gathering of houses, and that was pretty much what it was, but it was also where Nightmare Moon would show up, and hopefully where he would stop her and get Celestia her sister back.

"Pretty small compared to Canterlot, huh." Spike said from beside him. Silver nodded along, compared to the massive precisely laid out city, Ponyville seemed more patchwork, but that also had the effect of making the small town look more... pleasant.

Spike narrowed his eyes, leaning forward slightly. "Hey, I think I see Terry."

Silver blinked, leaning forwards and squinting, his eyes locking onto a form flying through the air. "Eh, green body, white head... could be anyone."

"It... looks like he's trying to... flirt with someone?"

"Okay it's probably Terry."

Silver leaned over the front of the chariot and grinned. "Alright you guys, start turning back, I'll take it from here."

The two guards looked back in confusion, but Silver had already turned back to Spike, his grin widening as he floated the dragon up onto his back. "So, buddy, you ready to go for a fall?" Spike smiled in response, wrapping his arms around Silver's neck in preparation.

The guards' eyes widened and they sent eachother a quick look, before looking back at the chariot, the left one speaking up. "Hang on back there, did you just say fall!?"

Silver sent the two guards a grin, using his magic to make sure his bits were secure, before walking over to the opening on the side of the chariot.

Silver started listing forward, and he blinked in fake astonishment as he and Spike neared the edge. "Oops! I appear to have slipped." Spike snorted, huddling closer to Silver in preparation.

And then they were falling.

There was a startled shout from the guards pulling the chariot, but Silver was too busy cackling to hear them, Spike's laughter next to his ear drowning out even the wind.

Before they could get too far down, Silver coated himself and Spike in his magic, focusing for a second, before there was a flash of light and he was suddenly standing on solid ground, his heart thundering in his ears as he tried to get rid of the crazed grin on his face.

Spike slid off Silver, throwing his claws in the air and laughing. "Woo! What a rush! Hey bro, did you see the looks on those guards faces?"

Silver chucked as his body started to calm down, reaching out and patting Spike on the head. "Yes I did Spike, yes I did, but that's not important right now, what's important is going around Ponyville and making sure everything is ready for tomorrow."

Spike lowered his arms, nodding. "Yeah, we need to meet up with Terry anyway." He turned towards the town, raising a brow. "Hey, you actually got it pretty close this time, it's only a few minutes away."

Silver puffed out his chest in feigned pride. "Of course good sir! Never once have I been more than slightly off target!"

"We ended up in a trashcan. On the other side of Canterlot."

Silver suddenly found a rock off to the side particularly interesting. "Never once did I claim I was good at teleporting, everyone just assumes it."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Of course, I mean, it's not like your special talent is magic or anything, wherever would they get that idea?"

"Hey! Teleportation is hard!"

"I've seen foals do it."

Silver grimaced. "Okay, okay, point gotten. Still, I make up for it in different areas. Like trivia! Did you know that-?"

Spike slapped a claw over Silver's mouth, giving the unicorn a look. "Bro, if you go into another 'Did you know?' rant, I will seriously consider setting you on fire."

Silver shrugged, pushing Spike's claw away. "Fair enough, I'll just talk with Terry once we catch up to him."

Spike winced. "Now I just feel bad for him."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "Hey! I'm not that bad!"

Spike nodded seriously. "Yes. Yes you are that bad. In fact you're probably worse."

Silver huffed, rolling his eyes and starting to walk towards Ponyville, Spike chuckling to himself as hopped up on Silver's back, reaching around the neck of his ride and shoving a claw into the pouch of Bits located there, grinning as he pulled out a ruby.

"If you get gem dust on me I'm throwing you in a river." Silver piped up from below him, and Spike shrugged, tossing the gem in his mouth and loudly crunching down on it, making Silver flinch and flatten his ears against his head.

"Do you really have to eat that, like, right next to my ears?" Silver asked, irritated. Spike bit down on a particularly large piece in response, causing Silver to flinch again, using his tail to smack Spike on the back of the head in retaliation.

Spike winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't have to hit me." He grumbled.

"You're covered in scales, you probably hardly even felt it."

Spike tilted his head, before shrugging. "True enough, but that isn't the point, the point is that you shouldn't beat up your little brother."

"My little brother is a dragon, who probably wouldn't be hurt if I tied him in a ball and threw him off a cliff."

Spike narrowed his eyes at the back of Silver's head. "You better not, I'll tell Celestia if you do."

Silver looked back, raising a brow. "Not mom?"

"Mom would just laugh with you." Spike huffed. Silver laughed from under him, forcing the young drake to grab onto Silver's neck to keep from falling, much to his annoyance.

"Hey, be careful down there!" Spike stomped his feet a few times out of annoyance, but Silver just chuckled, going back to steadily trotting towards Ponyville.

"This is gonna be great." Silver whispered happily, a smile rotted firmly on his face.

A grin slowly spread across Spike's as well. "Yeah..."

"This is gonna be awesome."

Author's Note

The next few chapters... Might be a bit slow, depending on Christmas shenanigans.

Also, under the urging of that thing inside my head, I made a discord channel where the several... hundred... Oh god... people who watch this story can hang out and... ask me questions I suppose.

https://discord.gg/VFCagpB

Chapter 7: ... Are...

Silver watched as Spike tossed a rock up and down, the young dragon staring at a particular cloud with a couple green feathers hanging over the edge.

"Think you can hit him?" Silver asked quietly.

Spike tilted his head, thinking. "Maybe, only one way to tell for sure though." He reared back, throwing the rock as hard as he could, nearly toppling over in the process.

Silver whistled. "Wow, its going, its going, and..."

Thunk! "Gah!"

"-Its good!" Spike threw his arms up in victory, laughing as a string of muffled curses came from the cloud, before a familiar cracked beak peered over the edge, his face twisted into a scowl.

"Alright, who threw- Silver? Hey!" Terry ducked as another rock flew by his head, this time surrounded in a blue glow, before jumping off his cloud, giving his wings a quick flap as he neared the ground to soften his landing, before trotting over to Silver and Spike, a grin planted firmly on his face.

"So! Who's the corpse who threw those at me?" Terry asked cheerfully. Silver looked off to the side, whistling and kicking the dirt in a poor attempt at looking nonchalant.

"I did." Spike raised an arm, an amused smile spreading across his face at the sight of Terry blinking in astonishment, not having expected him to just flat out say it, before an evil grin spread across the griffin's face, and suddenly Spike regretted all of his life choices.

Silver grabbed the two of them in his magic, rolling his eyes. "No fighting, Terry, we need you to show us around Ponyville, remember?"

Terry blinked. "Oh yeah, that." He nodded as Silver let him go, turning to point towards a building that reminded Silver of an old carnival ride.

"See that over there? That's Carousel Boutique. You need to patch up a bit of clothing? That's your place."

He turned and pointed towards an orchard in the distance. "That over there is Sweet Apple Acres, and a word of advice, if you don't like apples then steer clear." Silver nodded along. It was accurate to what he remembered at least.

"C'mon, most of the other notable places are in the town square." Terry turned to walk into Ponyville proper, reaching out and smacking Spike on the side of the head as he went, much to the young dragon's amusement.

Silver floated Spike up onto his back as he trotted after Terry, before stopping and sending one last look towards Carousel Boutique as he went, humming as something tickled at his memory.

He turned as he felt Spike poke the back of his head, the young dragon giving him a concerned look, but Silver just shook his head and went back to following Terry.

Whatever it was probably wasn't important anyway.

"Over there is the town hall, it's where Mayor Mare works, try not to get on her bad side, over next to that is the post office." Silver nodded along as Terry pointed towards different buildings, before a particular house caught his attention.

Silver pointed, questioning his sanity. "Is that a gingerbread house?"

Terry followed Silver's hoof, before snorting. "That? That's Sugercube Corner. Unless you've suddenly gained a sweet tooth while I wasn't looking then you won't be going there often."

Silver nodded. "Fair enough. Now, take Spike and go have fun, I have the feeling you guys don't want to go around checking on everything with me."

Spike hopped off, walking over to Terry and getting on the griffin's back, giving Silver a quick wave as they lifted off. "Bye bro! We'll catch up with you later!" Silver waved back as they flew off, before sighing once they were out of sight, a small smile breaking out across his face.

"Hope they make a few friends out there." He cracked his neck. "Now, to start on the list. First thing's first, Sweet Apple Acres to check on the food."

He broke into a brisk trot, heading towards where he'd seen the farm, eventually leaving the town square and heading down a dirt road, watching as orchards started to pop up over the hills, and before he knew it he was standing in front of a white gate, an entire farm sitting on the other side, complete with barn and farmhouse.

An odd sense of nostalgia came over him as he stood there, a different farm coming to mind as he stared, and for a moment he could see a small family playing on the porch, a jacketed figure jogging towards him, before he shook his head, dispelling the image.

Silver walked past the gate, knocking on the wood as he passed, before trotting over to the farmhouse, stopping on the front porch and reaching out to knock on the-

Thud!

He stopped, his ears twitching as he turned towards one of the nearby orchards, watching as an orange form reared up, before kicking both of their back hooves into a tree, causing the apples on it to fall into a couple carefully placed baskets.

Silver smiled, trotting towards them. "Hello over there! Have a minute?"

They stopped, turning to look at him, taking of their cowboy hat tooooooh wow...

Applejack wiped her forehead, setting her stetson back on her head and smiling at Silver. "Howdy! The name's Applejack, what can I do for ya?"

Silver watched as a bead of sweat trailed down her face, before shaking his head. "Uh, I was sent here to check on the food preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration?"

Applejack rubbed her chin with a hoof. "I'm thinkin' that everything is pretty much ready. We're about to eat if you want to stick around and taste some!"

Silver grinned, nodding. "That would be lovely actually! Some good old fashioned county food would do me some good, especially since I didn't have a very big breakfast."

"Well that just won't do!" Applejack trotted towards a bell that was hanging from a tree, reaching up and ringing it intensely enough that Silver winced and lowered his ears.

"SOUP'S ON EVERYPONY!"

What was that? Tinnitus? Nice to meet you. Hmm? Eardrums? Nah! Who needs em!

"-owowowowow." Silver's voice slowly started to come into focus, but he was a bit busy rubbing his ears to notice.

He cracked open an eye to see Applejack chuckling at him, an amused smile on the farmpony's face. Behind her was what could only be the entirety of the apple lineage, all of whom were staring at him with varying levels of amusement.

"You okay there partner?" Silver nodded, scratching at his ear with a hoof. Applejack grinned. "Good! Now you're free to meet the apples!"

Silver blinked, leaning to the side to peer past Applejack at the crowd of ponies behind her, all of whom, he noticed, were holding some sort of apple based dish.

He grinned.

"Challenge accepted."

Silver stumbled down the road, groaning, the ponies walking down the street giving him a wide berth as he made his way towards his next destination.

He gave his slightly distended stomach a quick pat, before trotting over towards the town hall, giving the clear blue sky a quick scan before checking the weather off his mental list.

He opened the town hall door, trotting through and looking around, grinning when he spotted a white unicorn sorting through and putting up different decorations.

"Hello there!" Silver called. She turned, before starting once she spotted him.

"Ah! Hello darling!" She smiled, walking over and giving him a once-over, her smile widening at the sight of his properly combed and slicked back mane.

"You are from Canterlot, yes? What is a refined individual such as yourself doing in Ponyville?" She asked politely.

Silver shrugged. "Not quite as refined as you think, and Celestia sent me to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration."

She raised a brow. "The Princess sent you? I apologize, but that seems a bit unlikely."

Silver furrowed his brow, before blinking. "Oh yeah." He stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and focused, lighting up his horn, before with a flash of light a scroll popped into existence in front of him, which he floated over to her.

She grabbed it in her own magic, opening it and giving the entire document a quick glance, her eyes widening, before she rolled it back up and floated it back to Silver, who magicked it away once more.

She coughed politely. "It seems I was incorrect before. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Rarity, I am the one in charge of the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Silver bowed. "Silver Spark, and the pleasure is mine."

Rarity giggled. "My, what a gentlecolt!" She returned his bow, standing back up, only to start.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry, but I really must get back to putting up these decorations. Perhaps we can talk later at my Boutique?" She asked sheepishly.

Silver nodded, smiling. "I'd be happy to! I need to get started on checking everything else anyway." Rarity shared one more smile with him, before she went back to sorting through the boxes of decorations.

Silver tilted his head as he trotted out of the Town Hall. "Alright, that's food, weather, decorations... the next thing on the list is... nothing." He blinked, before shrugging. "Fair enough. Less work for me I suppose. Now I just have to catch up with Spike and Terry."

He stopped, turning his head to spot a brown stallion happily trotting down the road, and he grinned.

"Or... I could mingle with the locals, which sounds like much more fun!"

He trotted after the brown stallion, waving. "Hey, wait up!"

The stallion turned, a smile already firmly on his face. "Hello! What can Time Turner do for you today?"

Silver raised a brow, glancing at Time Turner's cutie mark. An hourglass. "Huh. Bit on the nose, isn't it? Let me guess, you work with clocks?"

Time Turner grinned. "Ah, but not just clocks! All manner of technology really! Why, the things you can accomplish without magic... The possibilities are endless!"

Silver returned his grin with just as much enthusiasm. "I know right!? Do you have some kind of workshop where you work on this stuff?"

"Why, indeed I do! Follow me, I'll show you some!"

Silver stared, a look of childish glee on his face as he stared at a piece of a world he never thought he'd see again, reaching out and gently running a hoof across it's surface, his mane and fur only barely managing to stay in place due to the coconut oil covering them.

"You have a plasma ball..." He whispered reverently. Time Turner watched from next no him, a look of joy spreading across his face.

"Ah, you've seen one of these! I wonder how. They are quite rare after all, not much use for them so ponies tend not to like them." Time Turner explained, reaching out and pressing his hoof against the surface, grinning when all of his fur and mane stuck up into the air, tiny sparks dancing from one strand of hair to the other.

"Extraordinary." Time Turner breathed. "I'll never understand why the other ponies just passed this by, all you have to do is supply it with a bit of electricity! Quite the unique effect it has, very novel." Silver nodded along, focusing with lightning intensity on the tingly feeling going across his skin... er, pelt, tracing patterns that he quickly memorized.

Silver reluctantly pulled his hoof away from the plasma ball, turning to a frizzy haired Time Turner. "It's neat alright, never thought I'd see another one, but wasn't there a bunch of other stuff you wanted to show me?"

The brown stallion's head shot up. "Yes! There was quite a few more inventions that I wanted to-"

Knock Knock Knock.

Time Turner stopped, turning to look at the door. "That's odd, I don't get visitors much, or at all usually, would you please give me a moment Silver?"

Said pony shrugged. "Go ahead, I'm just gonna mess with the plasma ball."

Time Turner nodded, trotting over to the door and throwing it open, giving the two non-ponies on the other side a brilliant smile. "Hello! What can I do for you on this fine day?"

Silver peeked over Time Turner's shoulder, smiling. "Hey! Terry! Spike! What have you guys been up to?" The pair shrugged, and Silver noticed that Terry seemed a bit out of breath, but he just shook his head. What they got up to in their own time was their business.

Spike shrugged. "It's starting to get a bit late, so we figured we would find you and head over to library. Celestia sent a note saying that we were staying there while we're here."

Silver nodded. "Cool. Terry can crash with me." Said griffin raised one of his wings weakly, still panting from whatever he and Spike had gotten up to.

Silver turned to Time Turner, offering an apologetic smile. "Ah, sorry. Think we can put this on hold until tomorrow?"

The brown stallion grinned. "Why of course! Far be it from me to keep you from your friends!" Time Turner shooed them out, giving Silver one last smile, before closing the door, machine noises starting up shortly after, causing the two non-ponies to give Silver a confused look, to which he shrugged.

"Anyway, let's get over to the library, I want to check it out, see if the beds are okay." Spike and Terry nodded, both of them taking to the skies, and Silver rolled his eyes and he started trotting in the direction of the library.

"Honestly, you just have to fly, can't walk anywhere..."

Silver stood outside of the ponyville library, tilting his head this way and that as he tried to make sense of the sight in front of him.

"... It's a tree." Spike nodded from beside him, clearly taking joy in Silver's bewilderment.

"... and there are... books, in the tree." Spike trembled slightly as he did his best not to laugh, slapping his claws over his mouth.

"... Isn't that cannibalism?" Spike snapped, toppling over as his claws went to his sides, laughing as he watched Silver's brain short-circuit.

Silver absently floated the hysterical dragon onto his back, trotting over and staring at the door frame of the library, trying to make sense of how the still living tree functioned.

"I am going to science the shit out of this tree." He promised. Spike's laughter intensified from his back.

Silver opened the door, trotting through and using his magic to throw spike off his back, the tiny dragon landing on a couch in the middle of the library with a yelp.

Silver walked over to the steps, bounding up them and opening the door to what must be the bedroom, rolling his eyes as he spotted Terry curled up on the foot of the bed like a dog.

"And he always tells me he's cool. Why do I believe him again?" Silver muttered. He lit up his horn and floated Terry up under the covers of the bed, making sure that he was squarely off to one side.

He grabbed a large basket and threw a pillow in it, setting it next to what he'd deemed his side of the bed as he grabbed a small blanket from a pile of them sitting folded neatly on one of the shelves, throwing it in Spike's new makeshift bed.

Silver nodded at his creation. "There, that should hold him over until I make a proper one." he patted it just to make sure it was comfy, smiling as his hoof sunk into the pillow easily.

He turned and stuck his head out the door. "Spike! Beds are ready! I suggest you sleep now so that we're awake when Celestia raises the sun!"

Silver waited a moment, before he smiled at the sound of claws scrambling against the floor, a small purple blur dashing past him and diving into the little bed he'd made.

Silver rolled his eyes and trotted over to the bed, hopping in the unoccupied side and floating the blanket up over him, scooting over until he was next to Terry and wrapping his hooves around the griffin as he cuddled him.

"S'what you get for stealing my body pillow all the time." He muttered, Terry shuffled slightly in response, but stayed asleep, much to Silver's mild disappointment.

"Eh, he'll freak later, right now is sleep time." Silver closed his eyes, drifting off to dream the same dream as always. He was out in seconds.

...

Spike stifled his giggles as he slowly climbed out of his bed to grab the camera. One does not just waste perfect blackmail material after all.

The drake grinned.

"This is free gems for life right here."

Author's Note

Breakin' that big 20k!

Thank you to everyone who reads this crap, it's given my ego a... well not needed boost, but one that's kept my spirits high. And also inflated my ego, did I mention that part? Because wow is this thing getting to my head.

(Joking. But seriously, thank you all for reading, it makes me very happy to see you guys enjoy Something Missing.)

Oh, and before I forget, Merry Christmas!

Chapter 8: ... Happening!

"...ike I swear to Celestia, if you..."

Silver grumbled, digging his head deeper into his pillow in an attempt to drown out the noise, shifting his body pillow closer and humming contently when the noise died down.

"...et him off me! He's c..."

He groaned, cracking open an eye to figure out what was making the noise that was getting through the muffling spell on his bed.

He slowly looked up, spotting a frozen stiff Spike standing above his body pillow, pulling on it.

Silver traced the arms down to his body pillow, the feathered thing giving him a look of amusement.

Silver tightened his grip, making Terry wince, before he let the griffin go, placing his hooves between them and pushing Terry, causing the griffin and Spike to topple off the bed with two nearly identical yelps.

Silver rose out of the bed like the zombie he truly was, dragging himself off the bed and towards the bathroom, using his magic to turn on the sink and sticking his head under the flow, taking a few gulps as he did, sitting there for a few moments before pulling his head out from under the water, somewhat more alive than he had been a few moments ago.

He grabbed a towel from a nearby rack and wrapped his head in it, setting his forehead on the sink and wishing, not for the first time, that his continued existence didn't rely on sleep.

He raised his head, lighting up his horn and magically unwrapping the towel from his head, looking at himself in the mirror, the dead-eyed unicorn making him realize that yes, he did in fact look just as bad as he felt, which was impressive.

"I could be the greatest actor ever, all I have to do is get up early and only play characters who hate everything and everyone around them." He mused. He shook his head, trotting out of the bathroom and heading down the stairs, pointedly ignoring the sound of claws padding along behind him.

Silver entered the kitchen, lighting up his horn and all at once grabbing everything he needed to make scrambled eggs, using another quick spell to heat up the pan faster and make it so the eggs wouldn't stick.

He rolled his eyes when he heard a pair of chairs move over by the kitchen table, not even looking as he used his magic to poor three glasses on orange juice.

He only payed a little attention when he started the eggs, buttering six pieces of bread in preparation, before moving all the eggs to one side of the pan and pressing two of the pieces of bread onto the freed up area, waiting a moment before flipping them over, doing the same to the rest of the bread before grabbing three plates, laying a piece of toast on each before piling them high with eggs, then placing the remaining pieces of toast on top.

"Three scrambled egg sandwiches, enjoy." Spike grabbed his, tearing into it with gusto. Terry eyed it for a moment, before shrugging and biting into his, Silver joining them after downing half his orange juice in one gulp.

Silver floated the plates into the sink once they were done, grabbing Spike in his magic and floating the tiny drake onto his back before turning to Terry.

"C'mon. S'like super early, and we need to go watch Celestia raise the sun so I can go back to bed." Silver stated, trotting out the door. Terry rolled his eyes and followed after chugging the rest of his orange juice, flapping his wings to catch up quicker.

Silver waved halfheartedly to the other non-morning ponies he could see trudging along the streets, each of them looking like death had given them a good kick in the face, but smiling anyway, after all it wasn't often your home town held the Summer Sun Celebration, so you didn't miss it.

Silver frowned slightly as he noticed how few guards had been posted at the town hall, using his magic to make sure his pouch of bits was still secure around his neck, before he nodded firmly and continued walking, ignoring the confused looks Spike and Terry were giving him.

They walked into the town hall, grabbing as close a spot as they could to the balcony, waiting there as more and more ponies filtered into the building, and before long there was a sizable crowd gathered, all tired from waking up earlier than they were used to.

Silver was pretty sure that humans would all be strangling eachother by now. Luckily, Silver was pretty sure there weren't any in attendance.

Terry yawned beside him. "So, when's the Sun gonna wake up so I can go back to sleep?" The griffin mumbled.

Silver rolled his eyes. "It'll be over when it's over, now stop complaining." Terry grumbled a bit, but relented, sitting there silently as everyone waited for Celestia to be announced.

A few more ponies filtered in, before the doors closed and a grey-maned mare with glasses trotted onto the balcony from behind a curtain, smiling down at all of them.

"Welcome, Everypony! To the Summer Sun Celebration! And now, the moment you all have been waiting for, announcing her highness, Princess Celestia!" There were hoots and hollers all around Silver, but he just frowned, readying himself for what was about to come.

The curtain was pulled back, and Silver felt an odd sort of amusement as confused murmurs broke out when Celestia didn't show up.

"Where is she?..." Silver ignored Spike's whispered question, his eyes tracking an easily overlooked wisp of something drifting through the air towards the stage.

The wisp started to grow, ponies voices growing panicked as a miniature black whirlwind appeared on the stage, thickening until it was impossible to see through, before slowly dissipating.

'Her fur is darker than I thought it would be.' Silver noted grimly. It was like the light avoided her completely, her mane seeming more like chemical smoke rather than Celestia's flowing river, but whatever it was, it was too dark to be hair.

It was, much to Silver's reluctant respect, a thoroughly unnerving effect, and from the way every single pony in the hall fell completely silent and the minute twitch of her lips, Nightmare Moon knew it too.

When she spoke, her voice was like velvet, smoothly worming it's way into his ear, and Silver spotted a few of the ponies near him shiver at the sound.

"Ah, my beloved subjects! It's been too long since I've seen your precious... Sun loving, faces!" For an instant, the facade vanished, revealing sheer, unadulterated hatred, and Silver spotted more than just a few ponies take a step back.

"Where's the princess?!" Silver's eyes widened as he felt a weight vanish from his back, and he turned to see Spike glaring at the alicorn, naked fury playing its way across his face as Terry held the young drake back, but Silver noticed that he was giving Nightmare Moon a glare just the same.

Nightmare Moon's eyes locked onto Spike, and suddenly all plans of quietly waiting for her to leave went out the window as Silver put a hoof between Spike and the alicorn, lighting up his horn.

Nighmare Moon laughed, the jarring sound making nearly everyone present flinch, and she leaned forward, grinning at Spike with far too many teeth.

"What is it little one? Am I not Royal enough for you? Did spending a thousand years trapped in the moon somehow..." Silver stopped paying attention partway through as a sound caught his attention, and he felt Spike latch onto his leg, trembling.

His little brother was crying.

The glow on his horn slowly shifted from blue to silver, the effect slowly spreading to the rest of his body, and soon Nightmare Moon's attention shifted to him, the alicorn's eyes widening as the intensity of the glow doubled, becoming an aura around him, before it doubled again, the size of the aura growing ever so slightly but getting much brighter.

Silver kept it at that level, gently pushing Spike towards Terry, before he turned back to Nightmare Moon, the alicorn of the night merely giving him an amused look.

"Oh? What's this, a little pony trying to stand up to their betters? Well that just won't do!" She sent a blast towards him, and Silver quickly analyzed the projectile, before the glow around him dimmed heavily, a curved shield springing into life in front of him, the blast hitting it and dissipating harmlessly off into the air above everyone's heads.

Nightmare Moon frowned, before snorting. "Very well then, but know that whatever resistance you put up will be useless! Say goodbye to your precious sun! The night, will last, FOREVER" The whirlwind returned, kicking up dust everywhere as it grew, before suddenly vanishing, taking Nightmare Moon with it.

Silver scanned the room as best he could, but with all the dust in the air it would be pretty much impossible to spot any wisps of her magic, and he had more important things to deal with anyway.

He focused, and slowly the aura around him receded, until just his horn was glowing, and it turned back to blue as Silver let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding.

"You okay?" He felt Spike nod against his leg, and he clicked his tongue as he floated Spike onto his back, turning and trotting towards the door, inwardly grinning as he heard the sound of talons scrambling against tile, Terry walking right behind him.

"So. Where are we going?" Terry asked after a moment.

Silver smiled. "We're gonna go look something up, because I think I know a way to stop her, just don't really remember the specifics."

Terry nodded, before both of them started to slow as they heard the sound of hooves coming up behind him, and Silver turned his head, grinning at the sight that greeted him.

"Time Turner! Good of you to join the party!" The brown stallion bowed his head politely, before raising it, a serious expression on his face.

"Yes! Silver, I hope you don't particularly mind, but I'm assuming you're going after whoever that was?" Silver blinked (Oh yeah, he stopped her intro, didn't he?) before nodding. Time Turner straightened his back. "Then please allow me to accompany you!"

Silver shrugged. "That's fine, just be careful, alright?" Time Turner nodded, and they resumed trotting towards the library.

Soon enough the tree library came into view, and Silver put on a bit more speed in the hopes that he could end this sooner, Terry and Time Turner scrambling to keep up.

Silver all but flew through the door, trotting up to one of the book shelves and starting to scan through the titles, looking for any patterns that could lead him to the Elements of Harmony book he was looking for.

"History section. Easy History, after that. Evil in Equestria, before that. Elephants, near here. Ele... Elementary... Elements of Harmony! There we go!" Silver grinned and grabbed the book in his magic, chucking some other random book at a snickering pair of idiots a few steps away and sending a confused Time Turner an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Turner, I'll sort those two out in a bit." Silver took far to much pleasure in the way Spike and Terry paled, before he turned back to the book and flipped it open to the page he'd long since memorized. Not that he'd let anyone know that.

"Okay, the Elements of Harmony. It says here that they sealed Nightmare Moon away around a thousand years ago, trapping her in, well, the moon."

Time Turner blinked, before a megawatt smile spread across his face. "Great wickering stallions! So if we find the Elements, we can stop her once more!"

Silver matched his grin tooth for tooth. "That's the spirit! Now, it says that the Elements were stored in the Castle of the Two Sisters, anyone here know where that is?"

Terry scratched at his chest feathers. "The Two Sisters? I think I had a history class on that once. I think... the Everfree Forest?"

Spike blinked, sitting up from his spot on Terry's back. "Wait, isn't that the nightmare forest? The one that nobody is supposed to go into, with all the manticores and basilisks and hydras?" At some point he'd started bounding on Terry's back, an excited grin pulling across his face.

Silver sighed, raising a hoof and rubbing at his temples. "You're excited. Why are you excited? Have my crazy, danger-seeking habits rubbed off on you too much?" Spike just shrugged, and Silver groaned. "Okay, ignoring that for now. Turner, you're the native, you have any experience with the Everfree?"

Time Turner winced. "Ah, yes. Most of us don't really go in the Everfree, the most anypony in ponyville does is just skirt around the edges."

Silver clicked his tongue as he paced, two completely different problems at the forefront of his mind. "Okay, okay... Guess we'll just have to wing it. Now, Terry, think you can gather some bits of wood from outside?"

Terry nodded, heading out through the library door, and Silver let out a breath. "Okay, other than that, it'll probably be best if we keep the book nearby for reference, Time Turner, think you can hold it?" The brown stallion nodded, grabbing the book in his teeth and starting to look for something to carry it in.

Silver turned to spike, frowning. "Now, when we head off, I expect you not to run ahead of us or provoke anything, got that." Spike gave a serious nod, and Silver smiled. "Good, now, I think that's it, all we have to do now is wait."

Silver sat there with Spike, waiting, and soon enough Time Turner and Terry came back, one carrying a little satchel holding the Element book and the other with his arms full of sticks, to which Silver grinned, heading into the kitchen and coming back out with three soaked rags, which he wrapped around the ends of some sticks, handing one to Time Turner and Terry.

Said griffin turned his over in his claws for a bit, before huffing. "And how, exactly, are three sticks with wet rags at the end supposed to help us?"

Silver just grinned, holding his own stick in front of Spike. "Hey Spike, got a light?" Spike just rolled his eyes, but blew a tiny flame towards the stick.

FWOOSH!!!

Terry and Time Turner stumbled back as the end of the stick went up in flames, burning vigorously.

Time Turner's eyes lit up. "You soaked the rag in a flammable substance! I assume it was grease of some sort?"

Silver nodded. "Impressive, didn't think anyone her would know that. You guys good with holding the torches?"

Time Turner nodded eagerly, and Terry looked at his warily for a moment, before sticking it forward, wincing when Spike lit it and the flame burst to life.

Silver nodded, looking everyone over. "Alright, everyone ready?" There was a round of nods, and Silver grinned.

"Alright, let's get moving!"

"-and if you combine the two, it makes really neat looking fireworks, you just have to make sure they're mixed thoroughly, otherwise the flash will be lopsided."

Time Turner nodded as Silver talked, clearly showing interest in what he was saying, but Silver felt more than heard Spike's groan, the young dragon covering his ears and repeatedly thumping his head against Silver's back, Terry not far from doing the same considering the look of long-suffering on the griffin's face.

"Fascinating! Could the same be done with other materials that have similar properties?" Time Turner asked eagerly. Silver tapped his chin in thought, before shrugging.

"I guess, but the powder doesn't really like to be mixed with most things. I'd try it though, you never know unless you give it a shot." Time Turner nodded, before stilling as one of his ears twitched, Terry doing the same.

Spike scratched his frills. "What's wrong? You two hear something?" Silver frowned when the two shushed Spike, before closing his eyes and focusing.

C-crk!

Silver's frown deepened, and he levitated his torch closer to the trees surrounding them, grimacing as he hear the rest of the group take in shocked breaths.

"Creepy demonic tree face... Okay, that is... proper horror stuff right there." Silver muttered shakily.

Snrk!

Silver blinked, turning to find the sound, only to find Terry holding a claw to his face in an attempt to stifle his laughter.

"What's so funny?" Silver asked irritably. The griffin let out a breath, a grin planted firmly planted across his face.

Terry walked over to one of the Nightmare trees, extending his claw before slowly dragging it down the tree's face, carving a trench through it.

"It's a TREE! What are you all so scared of?" Silver blinked, before slamming his face into his hoof, groaning as he heard Time Turner start laughing and Spike's giggles.

"Can I blame the fact that these things are literally soaked in Nightmare magic?" Terry just raised a brow, and Silver's face fell. "Thought not."

Time Turner walked up to one of the trees, a smile spreading across his face as he examined one of the faces. "Fascinating! They are, in fact, not part of the tree at all! The closest comparison is that of a shadow projected onto the tree! The extremely accurate shading merely makes it look like the tree has formed that way!"

Spike giggled, hopping off Silver's back and walking up to one of the tree faces, blowing a bit of fire and grinning when the area the face was on stayed the same despite the area around it getting brighter, making the face seem more cartoonish than scary.

Terry snorted, turning in the direction they were originally heading and starting to walk, entering the shadows without a care in the world, his torch held haphazardly in front of him. "C'mon! We have an evil villain whose but is in desperate need of kicking!"

The three others grinned, exchanging quick looks, before hurrying to follow after Terry.

Time Turner noticed that Silver grinned particularly widely though.

Author's Note

Fanart of Silver Spark was drawn by the lovely Neofaria!

Isn't it awesome!?

Before The Beginning

It was quiet in Equestria, a calm night for most residents, but for those with children, well, no night was truly calm.

It was a specific family that drew our attention today though, a silver maned Unicorn and a yellow maned Pegasus.

"WHAAA-!"

Dawn Bolt cracked open a bloodshot eye, before groaning and pinching it shut, reaching over to shake his wife's shoulder. "Honey... baby it's your turn..."

His wife echoed his groan, halfheartedly kicking the blankets off before rolling over her wings to land on the ground, dragging them along the floor as she trudged on to little Silver Spark's room.

Soon enough Dawn was drifting back into sweet Luna's embrace, his son's cries getting quieter, before they stopped completely, and he sighed blissfully.

Then he heard his wife scream at the top of her lungs, and he was suddenly wide awake.

It took him less than a second to be out of their bedroom and halfway down the hall, his horn lit up like his namesake as he threw himself through the door.

One look at his panicking wife and twitching son covered in blood was all it took for him to have a teleportation spell ready and locked onto the hospital, all of them vanishing from the room a moment later.

They appeared right outside the hospital, and Celestia bless his wife, she was already through the door before he could even take the first few steps.

The nurse manning the counter, a young Unicorn with a bored look on her face, took one look at the insensate, twitching foal in his wife's hooves and was instantly on hers, horn lit up as she called out for assistance, taking Silver Spark and galloping farther into the hospital.

It was a long and fear filled fifteen minutes as he and his wife were forced to wait outside of the room the doctors had taken their son into, before an old unicorn walked out, sighing and turning to them. "The parents I presume? Would you mind if we talked in my office?"

Dawn shook his head, his wife parroting the motion as they followed the old stallion into a neat looking room with a desk at one side of the room and a couch at the other, which he gestured to. "Please, take a seat while we talk. Oh, and don't you worry, your son in going to be fine."

They did so, and the old doctor ran a hoof through his grey mane. "Have you noticed anything... off about how your son was acting these last few days?"

He and his wife shared a look, before shaking their heads. "No sir, he's been just like normal, this was so sudden, what happened? He's never had any health problems before."

"What happened miss, is that your son just had a severe full body seizure." He barely heard his wife's gasp over his panic. "Hey hey, calm down, he came out all right all things considered, the nosebleed that covered him in that blood was caused by his heart going into overload because of an excess of adrenaline, pumping as much blood as it could, raising his blood pressure. Hence the nosebleed."

"Is... is his heart alright?" His wife spoke up.

The doctor shook his head. "The colt's heart is fine, in perfect shape in fact, the problems, I'm afraid, start and end, with his brain."

Dawn's ears flattened against his head, and beside him he felt his wife's trembling increase a little, they both knew enough to realize that anything medical related involving the brain was never good.

The doctor continued. "The young colt's brain isn't damaged in any way, but, well... I've never run into this type of thing before, his brain has, for lack of a better term, seized."

That... didn't sound good at first, but the more he though about it the more confused he got, seizing is when muscles lock up, so how...

"Hey, I'm sure your confused, so let me explain. Your son's brain, well, in a very, very short amount of time, made a lot of connections, connections that would normally be used for memory storage, the thing is, there wouldn't be any memories for them to be associated with, so they'll just sit there and do nothing."

"This isn't so bad, in a few years the connections would fade and everything would go back to normal, except this has ruined his neural flexibility." That... didn't sound too bad, and Dawn told the doctor as much. "Let me put it this way..."

"Take an adult pony, and show them a tennis racket, they will see a tennis racket, and that's it, because that is what it is. But take a younger pony and, say, show them a broomstick? They'll see it as a sword, a spear, and a broom. To put it simply, he's lost both quite a bit of neural creativity, and he's going to be learning things at an abysmal rate compared to his peers. Don't worry though, he should be just fine."

It was both relief and a kick in the gut, his son would be fine, but he wouldn't have it nearly as easy as others.

"Do you have any idea why this happened doctor? Could it happen again?" He asked.

The old stallion shook his head. "The chances of it happening again are slim to none, as for why... well quite frankly I have no idea. I'd like to keep an eye on him for a month or two if that's okay with you, see if I can't figure out why this happened."

"That's fine doctor. Is... is he okay to come back home with us?" Cobalt Breeze asked.

The doctor nodded. "While he should be fine, we'd like to keep him here overnight to see if there's any long lasting damage from the seizure, but if everything turns out okay then he should be fine to take home tomorrow."

He and his wife nodded, getting up and trotting out of the hospital, both of them heading back home, unsure of what would happen next, and they both sat on their bed quietly once they were home.

"... Dawn?"

"Yes honey?"

"Being a parent is scary."

"Yes it is." They sat there for a while, before Dawn used his magic to pull the covers over them, and he felt his beautiful wife wrap her wings and hooves around him.

"Goodnight, love you." "G'night, love you too."

Click

They didn't sleep well.

Author's Note

People have brought the parents'... under reaction to my attention, but I figured hey, it's the middle of the night and they're tired and a big thing just happened.

Shock is a hell of a thing. I've seen it in action.