Chapter 11

Warmth. It was something that Twilight deeply enjoyed. Especially this particular type of warmth that she had grown accustomed to feeling in her bed. It was bizarre really, she had never really cared too much for this in the past. Now however, after having experienced it for the very first time, she sang a very different tune. As she began to stir on this particular morning, she could feel that the warmth she had come to enjoy had vanished. While she did still have the warmth of her blankets, it wasn’t the kind she desired. No by all means, the kind she desired came from another body. One that she had grown relatively attached to over the course of the past couple of weeks. It only took her a moment after turning over before she realized that the other side of the bed was empty.

‘Where’s the warmth...?’ she inquired to herself as she patted the space Silver had once occupied. It took Twilight’s mind a few minutes to actually begin registering everything as it happened though. Once she finally realized it, her eyes flew open in shock and horror. “Silver?!” she cried out, lifting body up in a panic. “Where are you!?” She could feel her heart pounding, pumping adrenaline all throughout her body as she glanced around the room. It hadn’t even been five minutes into the morning, but already she was in a panic. The mare couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t even think clearly as she flung the covers off with a combination of her magic and hooves. All she could actually think about was the stallion that had occupied the left side of her bed. Where had he gone? Had he left for Canterlot? Was he even fully recovered? Why had he gone without telling her? These were just some of the questions that ran through her mind within just a fraction of a second. Twilight’s hoof shot out to her right, quickly grasping ahold of the small clock on the nightstand. Maybe this could shed light onto the situation before she flew into a complete panic. The moment her eyes saw what the clock read however only made her jaw drop even more.

“Nine o’clock!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Twilight was screaming internally by this moment. She hadn’t ever slept this late in her life before. In fact, often times she was up even before the sun had risen just to get ahead on her daily schedule. That wasn’t the case today however, as she was left just quietly sitting in the bed, dumbfounded and awestruck that she had even slept in today. It was such an uncommon occurrence that she even began to go over possible scenarios as to why she slept in within seconds. It even caused her to develop a very mild eye twitch as she released the clock, allowing it to fall onto the bed. ‘H-how...could...this...happen?’ she questioned, ‘I-I’m always so...’ It was unfortunate for the mare though as she wouldn’t ever be able to finish that particular thought. As right at that very moment a certain purple dragon walked quietly into the room.

“Morning Twilight!” he greeted, which broke her concentration instantly. Shifting her thoughts once again back over to Silver. Perhaps now she might be able to find out where he was and why no one had woken her up.

“Where’s Silver, Spike!?” Twilight interrogated, her face showing off to Spike just how frantic she actually was. This was actually something he had seen coming as he stood in the doorway. He expected Twilight to be this frantic upon noticing his disappearance. He even figured that it would only get worse the moment she found out the time. With a single glance he even figured that she learned of both before he even entered.

‘Silver is right...she really DOES need to relax,’ he noted, laughing inwardly at the remark. “Silver left sometime around six,” Spike explained, “He said he was going for a walk and that he’d be back around ten.”

“Th-then why didn’t you wake me!?” she screamed at the dragon, which caused him to flinch. “W-why didn’t HE wake me!?” The answer she had received only seemed to make her panic more. Which in turn caused Spike to facepalm.

‘Every week...’ he thought, ‘First it was the Pinkie Sense...now its Silver...its only going to be a matter of time before she loses it completely...’ Spike couldn’t even find the appropriate words in his vocabulary to best describe the situation he had been put in. He wanted to be angry at Silver for doing this to him, but the stallion had promised compensation for his efforts in the form of really nice gems. Which is what prevented him from just walking out of the room right then and there. “He said you deserved to sleep in after last night,” he pointed out, although not fully understanding it. “He said you’d know what that would mean.”

‘I would?’ she asked herself, as if not recalling what it meant. It actually took Twilight a good five minutes of thought, recalling all that happened the night before, before she actually realized what it meant. When she did remember though, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

“All I remember from last night were your very strange sounds,” Spike added, “What were you two doing last night anyhow?” This seemed to intensify the mare’s blushing. Had she really been that loud last night? It was only as she thought about it that all of the details finally came flooding back to her. It wasn’t a wonder why she slept so well last night as she possibly had the most incredible night of her life. She didn’t remember a time when she felt so at ease before.

“O-oh...uhm...” Twilight stammered, it wasn’t so much what they had done that embarrassed her, but the simple fact she hadn’t been quieter. “S-Silver gave me a massage...” because of her stammering however, this made Spike very suspicious on whether she was being honest. That, coupled with her blushing only made it even worse.

“Twilight...” he began, “You promised you wouldn’t ever lie to me again...”

“B-but I’m not lying!” Twilight argued, the tone of her voice said otherwise to Spike though.

“Are you sure?” Spike asked, “Because after you gave me...”

“I hardly know the guy!” she snapped, “He’s sweet, he’s charming...but I hardly know him! Why would I ever do something like that with a pony I hardly know!?” The mare’s voice became more firm here, although her blushing just seemed to intensify the further the conversation went.

“But you’ve been...” he tried to add, only to earn a glare from Twilight. This one didn’t seem too pleased with him either.

“I know I’ve been sharing a bed with him for the past two weeks,” she pointed out, “But...nothing is going on! I swear! I just enjoy his warmth and company!” While Spike felt a bit skeptical about it, he just simply let it go this time. Actually beginning to take notice of the honesty in her eyes. The strangest part of this however, was the actual look in her eyes. While he didn’t quite understand it, it was the look of infatuation. Almost as if she had really developed a thing for him over the course of the past two weeks. Was it something more? He couldn’t really tell, but there was just something in her eyes that for some reason just made him relatively happy to see.

“Oh and he also said he’d bring back brunch for us!” Spike added with a grin. This news made the mare smile a tiny bit, she hadn’t ever met a stallion like this before in her life really. It made her rather happy to know that there were actually half decent stallions out there that were attractive and enjoyed talking instead of giving single word responses. Twilight just sat quietly for a moment longer, a smile on her face before finally climbing from the bed. That was Spike’s cue to walk quietly from the room to begin preparing the mare’s morning tea.

‘He is such a sweetheart,’ she thought, slowly crossing the room to make her way to the vanity. As Twilight lifted her hairbrush, she couldn’t help but gaze into the eyes of her own reflection. When she did, it was like she was looking into her own heart for just a moment. This is where an image of her desire flashed right through her mind. The image was just a relatively simple desire, but it made her pose a very important question to herself. ‘Do I have feelings for him?’

With a bright and cheerful smile spread wide across his face, Silver trotted through the streets of Ponyville. At first, he always thought that Ponyville didn’t have very much. Now though he thought a bit different, even for a small town it did in fact have quite a bit. This was something that gave it quite a charm to him, it wasn’t like Canterlot in the least. In fact it felt more homely as he glanced into the shops. When he did, it only made his smile even more genuine as there was just one more thing for him to actually like about the town. What seemed to make it all the better was when he took his first step into the market area. It was where his jaw dropped in awe before his smile returned.

The market was large, especially large even for a Thursday. It was strange really, while he had seen market stalls before in his life, he had never seen this many before. Was it small towns that drew in merchants? He didn’t know. What he did know though was the simple fact that he couldn’t find things like this in Canterlot or any other city for that matter. This town was very unique in its marketplace as everything just seemed unique.

‘Incredible...’ he noted as he passed by a small jewelry stall. Silver even paused as he passed by the stall, glancing over horn rings, necklaces, even bracelets. He even swore he saw a nose ring with a ruby on it before he began to walk away. ‘The quality of the items isn’t comparable to Canterlot’s...but the selection is far better! How is that possible?’ It wasn’t until he reached the apple stall at the end of the line that his jaw just completely fell to the floor.

In an assortment of colors and kinds, he saw apples. They weren’t just any apples however, as he easily recognized them from the sheer amount of quality they had. These apples, even if they had yellow or green skin, were all fairly reflective. Not once in his life had he seen fruit in such pristine condition either. They were absolutely magnificent even after the first few seconds, so much so that he could even smell them from a few feet away. He knew these apples, given he had heard rumors about them before. Particularly from his little brother who had become a chef. These were Apple Family apples and they were among some of the highest quality apples to ever be in Equestria.

‘I must have some...’ he thought as he approached the stall, just eyeballing the quality. The question then came, exactly what kind of apples did he want? Did he want red? Yellow? Green? Or did he want a few Zap Apples? Upon a second glance however, he found himself a bit disappointed. Which in turn caused his ears to drop a little. ‘Damn...I don’t see any Zap Apples...’

“Howdy! How may Ah help you?” a voice asked just in front of him. The accent was fairly thick too, but it was one he recognized as one of Twilight’s friends. While he hadn’t met her directly, Silver had heard her voice at least once or twice throughout his stay in the library. It wasn’t a voice he could easily forget either as it was a voice of honesty. Silver’s eyes slowly moved up to meet with the sap green eyes of a rather prominent orange mare wearing a somewhat tattered western hat. With just a single glance he knew she was an earth pony, as is with a majority of the Apple family.

“Yes...I’d like to purchase five apples please,” Silver smiled without even thinking of a number. He figured that might be a start to gathering up some brunch for him, Spike and Twilight. Not much of one, but when he considered all the other possible places he could go in town; there were at least a few more options.

“That’ll be ten bits!” the mare exclaimed as she tossed five apples into a bag. It was at which point Silver dug into a small bag, pulling out the asking price. He didn’t even bother to haggle either, which was a bit surprising to the mare. While most ponies actually attempted to haggle with her, this stallion didn’t. Even if the price did seem a couple bits higher than it normally should. Yet, he didn’t even seem to care as he just trotted off carrying the bag without a single care in the world. It wasn’t until she titled her head just slightly to the left that she finally took notice of the pure and simple fact that he was an alicorn. Did she just have royalty purchase something at her stall? Were there even alicorn stallions? If so, why hadn’t she heard about them until now? She figured it might be big news if there was an alicorn prince. Eventually though she was forced to shrug this line of thought off as a few customers began to line up.

The streets began to fill rather quickly as the clock struck nine. It was around that time that shops and other places of business began to open up. This is where things became quite interesting as Silver made the attempt to enjoy some of the sights of Ponyville. It did create a bit of a problem though as he found himself walking against a seemingly endless horde of ponies. Dodging the few that actually rushed by him. Before long, the difficulty of his situation only grew as he sidestepped past another pony that blazed right past him. The worst part of that particular moment was, instead of trotting, the pegasus just flew right past him. It happened too quickly for him to react in time. There had maybe been less than half a second between when he was standing normal to when the whole world began to spin. It spun fast too, so quickly in fact that he found himself twirling out of control right through the door of a nearby shop. One he was lucky that was actually unlocked before he finally came to a halt with his stomach to the floor.

“Somepony get the number of that chariot?” Silver inquired before planting his face firmly on the floor. He could still feel his head spinning even though his body had stopped. It was only when he closed his eyes and shook his head that he regained his focus. After which he slowly began to climb to his feet.

“I’m so sorry darling! What happened?” another voice asked as he felt a hoof gently help him up to his own hooves.

“I...got railed by a blue blur!” he replied, placing his hoof to his forehead before opening his eyes. The very moment he opened them however was a different story as what stood to his right side was possibly one of the most beautiful ponies he could ever imagine. She had an elegant and beautifully curled purple mane coupled with azure eyes. Adding on, she even had a marshmallow white coat. It only seemed to compliment her overall appearance. It was in that moment that his frustration seemed to vanish, only to be replaced with a very gentle smile. “But...it looks like it wasn’t that bad really...considering there’s a very beautiful mare standing before me.”

“Rai--” she started, only to be cut off by his compliment. Its response was to have her cheeks light up a little. “My...aren’t you the sweetheart.” she cooed in response, now taking a second to look him over as well. By her eyes, Silver was quite the good looking stallion. Not only did he have a fabulous blue coat coupled with a luxurious silver mane, but he even had a horn and a pair of wings. Wait...he had both? This required the mare to glance him over a second time in her confusion before she began to quiver with a combination of excitement and fear.

“A-An alicorn!” she announced, “Y-you’re an alicorn!” She was startled and amazed at the fact. So much so in fact that she had absolutely no clue what to do. So much ran through her mind at this particular moment, but the first of which was the question that she asked next. “Are you...a prince?” Silver blinked once when he heard the question. He gazed at the mare next and blinked again before he broke out into a fit of laughter.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” he laughed, “You think I’m a prince?” This left the mare scratching her own head for a moment as she just listened to him laugh. She hadn’t ever heard of an alicorn not being royalty, it was profound. Granted the only three known at this point beside this particular stallion were the princesses. So it was a reasonable assumption. “While I appreciate the compliment...I’m not a prince. I’m just...very lucky.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, “I thought all alicorns were royalty!”

“Its untrue actually,” Silver pointed out, “Princess Celestia told me herself...an alicorn being born is just very uncommon. However, it can happen.”

“So, you’re just one of those...’uncommon’ alicorns?” she inquired, growing a bit more curious. As she grew more curious, she couldn’t help but be transfixed by the combination of colors between his coat and mane. They just seemed to match so well together. It even seemed to flow a little bit as he nodded in response. It was only when the sunlight hit his hair at just the right angle did it finally begin to shimmer and once that happened everything clicked in her mind. “IIIIIIDDDEEEAAA!” she sang, before galloping off. It was only at this point that Silver found himself standing alone in the mare’s boutique, completely confused.

‘Ponies in this town are...crazy...’ was his only thought at this point. “It was nice meeting you miss...uhm...” he paused, only to see her head poke around the corner with a smile.

“Its Rarity darling,” she replied, “And how could I ever thank you for giving me that idea?”

“No need for repayment,” he smiled, only to receive a small frown from the mare.

“Oh, but I must! Its only fair!” Rarity insisted, looking as if she wasn’t going to let him walk away from this one. It actually required a bit more thought for him and considering his stomach was rather empty right now it only made it a bit more difficult to get a clear picture as to what he could ask for. But lo and behold, after a couple moments of silence it struck him.

“Two things!” Silver stated, this made the mare a bit nervous. After all she did say she wanted to repay him. She now wished she could take a little bit of it back at this point. Although it was far too late for her to do that. “First....can you give me directions to a place to get some food? Preferably for a decent brunch, I’m treating a couple friends.” That was simple enough for her, knowing that Sugarcube Corner wasn’t that far from the place. The second favor came up next and it worried her just a tiny bit as she recalled the gaze she had received when he first entered. “Second....” she bit her lip in the tension, in attempts to keep herself under control. “Could you make a new Tuxedo for me? Nothing too fancy, just enough to blend in at formal affairs.” This came as a sigh of relief for Rarity as she somewhat expected him to ask her out on a date.

“I’d love to darling!” she smiled, “There’s a small bakery just down the street, its called Sugarcube corner. But...I don’t think I caught your name though.” She was relieved that he hadn’t asked for a date at all. Instead he had been rather reasonable with what he had asked. Even going as far as to ask for a nice tuxedo. This helped her business too, as it was basically free advertising.

“Its Silver Crescent,” Silver answered, “And thank you again Rarity.”

“Its my pleasure, Silver,” she paused, “Can you come by a little later in the day for your measurements? Say...three?” Silver only nodded in response to her request before walking right out of the door. ‘What’s a stallion like that doing in Ponyville?’ she asked herself as she watched him leave. Once he had vanished from sight Rarity sighed softly before going right to work.

Five minutes. That’s all it had taken before he found himself entering Sugarcube Corner. To Silver, the place seemed even more inviting than the other bakeries he had been to in the past. It actually felt relatively nice to be in such a place. Unlike the other places though, the simple smell of the sweets was very overpowering to him. The aroma of the sweets blasting him the very moment he entered the building. He could tell right off the bat that he was in the right place to find a good brunch for three individuals. It didn’t even take him very long either, in fact it had to be some of the fastest service he had ever received. Even with how busy it was, they had gotten his orders and he was able to pay without a single bit of trouble.

About the only thing that seemed to bug him was the very bright pink pony who seemed to be brimming with energy. He could only attribute her hyperactivity to the fact that she worked in the bakery itself. Which probably meant to him that she ate quite a few sweets in her time. This was all he needed now. He couldn’t handle a pony like that right now, not after everything else. So quietly and swiftly he left after paying for his orders. Being very careful not to drop the two bags with the food in them.

While that had gone off without much trouble, his morning wasn’t quite over yet as on his way back to the library a chill ran up his spine. It was the type of chill that he recognized all too well. It was one he often felt on missions when he knew something just wasn’t quite right around him. As if somepony nearby was watching him. It was so bad in fact that he actually turned his head back down the still active streets of Ponyville.

‘I swear somepony is watching me...’ he contemplated, as his eyes darted throughout the crowd. Yet, as he did, he saw nothing that actually stood out against the crowd itself. So, he just kept on walking. Although this time he moved a bit faster. Even as he did this it still didn’t help his situation, the sensation on the back of his neck still didn’t seem to fade. However he did make the attempt to conceal just how nervous he really was, even as he looked back over his shoulder a second time upon reaching the bridge before Golden Oaks Library. ‘Who’s there...?’ he inquired to himself, ‘Is anypony there...?’At that point, he slowed his pace a tiny bit, moving back to a casual trot as he was no longer worried about whomever was watching him; that is, if anypony was watching him.

He was right too that somepony was watching him, following him in fact as this particular mare had done a good job of spotting him as she had just been leaving the market herself. Clad in a thick grey cloak, she weaved in and out of alleyways. Finding them far faster than just taking the normal streets to keep up with him. Even though they were only made faster by the single fact that she had been utilizing her wings to speed herself up.

‘Should I...?’ she asked herself, ‘Should I tell him?’ A bit of nervousness filling her body. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach. That could also be attributed to the nausea she had been experiencing on a daily basis too, but she tried her hardest not to think about that. The only thing on her mind now was the fact that the cause for her physical anguish was still nearby. She could take full advantage of this situation and actually pull him away from the town. It made her smile to think that one thought. The thought of hearing his screams as he was dragged back into the Everfree Forest excited her even more. Those happy thoughts for her though were sadly ruined by the other factor she was now facing. That one little factor that kept her from doing anything more than just stalking Silver. The fact that he was the cause of her pregnancy.

As much as Nightmare wanted to, she found herself completely unable to do anything against the stallion. Even before finding out she was pregnant, she had felt completely different. Now that she was though, she knew she had to start being more cautious whether she wanted to or not. The reason for that once again went right back to her pregnancy. She couldn’t harm the father of the foal she carried within her. Simply thinking about it made her feel terrible. Or was that the half-eaten nachos she had eaten fifteen minutes ago? She didn’t know either way. One thing though that she did know as she watched the stallion enter the library.

She couldn’t remain in Ponyville for very much longer. If she did, she knew it would put not only her life in danger, but it would also put the life of the foal she carried as well. Which is why as she watched the door close, she fully extended her wings and took off in the direction of Canterlot.

Author's Note

And, as I've officially finished writing the story by the time I post this....I should let you know. I'll be posting daily. Also, expect a special surprise when I post the final chapter.