Silver strode alone through the streets. Without his wives around, more of the crowd shied away from him. He paid them little mind, carrying a large basket in the air, hoisted by a silvery hand only he could see. He ascended the stairs to the academy that had briefly been his home. He moved to the office he had begun his journey to higher education in. The earth pony was still there. She seemed surprised to see him.
"Oh, hello. You withdrew, didn't you?" she asked, "What's the basket for?"
Silver shook his head, "I'm not here for class. I did withdraw. Is Professor Thetics in?"
She nodded softly, pushing some papers around with a hoof until she found something, "He has a class finishing up. He's in room 209. Ten minutes, give or take."
"I'll wait," said Silver as he trotted out into the hallway, "Thanks!"
Silver quickly found the room and parked himself beside the door. He pulled down the basket to himself and sifted through it, hoping he had chosen correctly. The class let out shortly, with many ponies leaving the room. Silver used the basket to conceal his face. Despite his cutie mark on full display, this was oddly effective. Ponies. Once the class was emptied, he rose to his hooves and stepped in.
Professor Thetics was seated behind a desk, scribbling something. Without looking up, he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."
Silver shook his head as he approached the desk, "I'm not a student."
Callis' eyes shot up to lock on Silver as a scowl rapidly formed, "You! What are you doing here? Are you here to mock me, or attack me? I stand by my original statement, you are an unprepared and dangerous colt!"
"And you are right," said Silver, moving the basket over and setting it gently on Professor Thetics desk, "I'm sorry."
Callis Thetics took the basket out of Silver's grip with his own magic, "Is this to get me to sponsor your re-entry? Don't bother. They still want you. Bunch of fools, their eyes full of nonsense and easy acclaim."
Silver sat in front of the desk, "I mean it. I was awful, just awful. I never should have reacted the way I did, both times. You didn't do anything more than be a jerk." The teacher frowned. "And that is subjective," added Silver quickly. "I want to make it up to you, somehow."
Professor Thetics snorted, "I imagine asking you to leave is not one of the options?"
Silver rose to his hooves, "If you really want me to, I will, but I mean it, so if there's something a bit more?"
Callis sighed and set the basket down in front of himself. Easily he peeled away the sparkly wrapping and revealed the gift basket of candies and writing implements hidden within. His magic waved over the basket, likely inspecting it for enchantments.
Silver raised a hoof, "The quills are enchanted to run twice as long without running out... I looked it up and did it myself."
Callis cracked a soft smile, "So you can use your magic in a civilized fashion." He drew one of the quills out, dipped it in ink, then began to scribble with it, "The enchantment is a little sloppy, but not bad for a first year."
Silver smiled hopefully, tail swaying, "I really am sorry. You're not a bad pony, and I was pretty mean. Can we put that behind us?"
Callis pointed the wet quill at Silver, "You are still a cheater."
Silver's ears went back, "I really didn't ask her to. She cheated for me and I didn't even know until it was all over. I want to earn my achievements, not have them thrown at me for free."
As Silver's mouth opened mid 'free', a small chocolate ball landed on his tongue. He reflexively closed his mouth. Mmm, it was delicious.
Callis took one himself and chewed it thoughtfully, "Which test was administered?"
Silver thought back, "The tester put their heart crystal inside of my shoulder by a teleportation magic without telling me what they had done, and I had to identify it. I was able to figure out where it was, and how large it was, but forgot how large their heart crystal was, so I couldn't say what it was exactly."
Callis raised a brow, "You might have been ready next year, and we could have avoided a lot of trouble."
Silver shook his head quickly, "But I met my wife, this year. Either way, I don't want to be a cheater."
Callis nodded, "Well, alright, tell me what changed."
Silver blinked, "What?"
Callis waved the still wet quill at Silver, ink splattering a little, "I have changed something in you, identify it."
Silver felt a thrill of excitement and apprehension as he let his magic flow powerfully as Nightwing had shown. He found the blockage and snorted, "Is this revenge for my prank?"
Callis looked at him evenly without a word.
Silver flopped over, "You've stuffed a quill where it has no business being. I don't suppose you could take it out?"
Callis shook his head, "Fair is fair. I'll take it out when you visit tomorrow."
Silver rolled back upright, "I was wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right. Don't become what you don't like."
Professor Thetics frowned, "What a tongue. Fine." The quill vanished from inside Silver, "You have passed, legitimately."
Silver clopped his hooves together, but Thetics continued, "You are still a danger to ponies around you. Your mind is a devious place."
Silver nodded slowly, "I'm... still learning to be a good pony." He half-turned to the door, "If you need any help, send word to the human embassy."
Professor Thetics returned to his writing, but nibbled on some candy while doing so. Silver decided to accept this exchange as a good one, and left with a smile.
When Silver arrived at the embassy wing, a messenger was waiting for him. The pegasus extended a letter held in her feathers by some pegasus magic he did not understand. He accepted the letter and nodded as she fled to other deliveries.
Silver curiously tore open the seal and opened it. The writing was precise, but foreign.
Dear human,
Your talents are very dangerous to our own. Come to the Badlands, alone. Or take those delicious wives with you if you prefer. I'm certain we can find a use for them in the hive. Before you consider running off to your little princesses about this, your precious parents are our guests already, and if you don't come, they never leave, at least until they are emotionless husks.
Fondest Regards,
Queen Chrysalis
XOXO
Silver dropped the letter in shock and anger. He grabbed it from where it fell and stormed to his room, where Night had been sleeping, but was quickly roused by his stomping.
"Huh, what's wrong?" she asked, reaching for the glasses on the nearby dresser and slipping them on. Silver offered her the letter and her eyes swept over it, "There's a hundred percent chance this is a trap."
Silver raised a brow, "I thought you leave off ten percent?"
Night tapped the paper with a wing, "Not this time. Come on. We should tell the princesses right away."
Silver looked less than certain, "What do you think they'll do? If we show up with a ton of guards they'll just hide, and maybe hurt Rough and Trixie."
Night frowned, "And if you go, they snatch you and we never see you again. How is that better?"
Silver tapped the ground as he thought, "What about... something smaller?"
Night raised a brow, "I'm listening."
Silver nodded, "The warlocks? They're smaller, less obvious, more stealthy. They could come with us without the changelings knowing at a glance."
Fast seemed to come around, "That makes sense enough, but you won't get them to move without Celestia's direct order. Even Luna can't unleash them on Equestria, a matter that does not please her one bit."
Silver considered approaching them directly, skipping Celestia entirely, but the thought crashed to a halt. No. He was done being a bad pony. "We will show her the letter, and explain, and hopefully she will understand."
Night softly rubbed her cheek against Silver's, "You have no idea how happy that makes me."
Silver looked... confused, "Huh? That's what you said."
Night set the paper aside, "Nothing. Let's go."
Silver could tell Night was hiding something, but he let it go, instead grabbing the letter and trotting with her through the castle to day court. Day court was held in the same place as night court, with Celestia presiding. There were many more ponies here, awake and doing business during the daylight hours. Celestia didn't even notice Silver coming in, not that he blamed her. He was just one pony among many.
He approached one of the more official-looking ponies, "Can you add me to the queue?"
She raised a brow, looking him over, "Ah, the Ambassador. Please, have a seat." She gestured to a row near the front, "The Princess is quite busy today but we'll see what we can do."
Silver and Night moved to settle and watch the ponies argue in front of Celestia about various things. Silver leaned in closer, "I hope you're not mad I'm breaking my promise."
Night perked a tufted ear, "What? Oh. It doesn't count if I'm next to you. If I hear you start going to court on your own, we'll both be on you."
Silver whispered, "Is this something we should parade in the open?"
Night shook her head, "We can ask for a private meeting, when it's our turn."
Silver dug through his pouch and pulled out his magic-color identifying spell. "I need to get an actual spell book," he said to himself as he played the magic faithfully. He put in a faint trickle of magic, so the light shafts that emerged were faint, even to his own eyes. Nopony else immediately turned to him, so he guessed it was working. Many colors reached from the crystal, but he only looked for one. Two of the ponies sitting there had a specific green hue going towards them and he frowned, leaning in towards Night.
"There are two possible changelings in here," he whispered.
Night wriggled her nose, "You were always perceptive. What do you want to do about it?"
Silver squirmed in place, considering possible actions. "We make it look innocent as possible, but we can't go accusing random ponies of being changelings or tackling them."
Night shook her head, peering at Silver through her glasses, "No, no we should not do that."
They waited impatiently, well, Silver was the more impatient of the two. Night's seeming calm only made him more agitated, though he struggled to keep it under control. When his name was called, he hopped to his hooves and trotted quickly up to the podium.