//------------------------------//
// 300 - I Read a Book 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Silver and Night prepared for the night ahead of them. As Silver tended to the foals, Night was attacking him, with a brush. "You are a horrible pony at keeping your fur managed."

Silver couldn't particularly argue that. His lack of self-care had come from his human side largely unedited. "Another reason to sing the praises of my lovely wife who I owe so much to." Pony fur reacted to a lack of care so much more strongly than human skin. Human skin mostly took care of itself. Pony fur became matted and clumped and turned into a miserable experience.

And that had not been enough to prompt him into action. It was a failing. For just a moment, he wondered what he would have looked like, had he still been human. Wild hair? A beard for miles?

"It doesn't even take that long," berated Night, stepping back to look at her work. "There you are. You are in a public facing position, so you could at least try to look decent."

"Ah, you're still here." Twilight trotted into the room as if it were her room. Technically, being part of the castle, it was... "Good. How much time do you have?"

Night scowled at her. "You've established that you two have plenty of time." She stormed past Twilight. "There's work to be done." And she was gone.

Twilight let her go, sliding in next to Silver. "Sorry."

Silver raised an ear at that. "Sorry?" He hadn't expected that.

"For scaring her off like that." Twilight shook her head with a slow breath. "I'm messing this up. I don't mean to cause either of you... problems..."

Silver turned to Twilight, watching her face, full of worry, fidgeting nervously. "It is unbecoming for a princess to look like that," he half-sang before leaning in, touching his forehead to hers, horns angled off to either side. "Why don't you make friends with her before chasing me? It would go so much more smoothly."

"Ugh." She danced back. "You are such a pride stallion, whipped by your mare."

Silver's ears danced at that and going dark in his cheeks. "I know how my family works." Mostly... He hadn't seen Fast just...

"I'm closer than ever to my family." Twilight raised a hoof with new thoughts. "Maybe I should invite my parents over..."

"Now you're deflecting." He looked Twilight up and down slowly. "Twilight, I'm pretty straight forward, I think... Just say what you want, and I probably won't be offended for asking."

"I was hoping for a morning hug." She sat on her haunches and awkwardly extended her fore hooves towards him. "If I may?"

Silver gently smiled at that. In that moment, he didn't see a princess. He saw a little filly who wanted company.

Then he realized he was being a jerk. He had been the person who wasn't being hugged before. It wasn't cute. It was kinda awful. "Thank you."

Twilight blinked softly at that. "For?"

"For trusting me." He stepped in, snout brushing hers. "That pain, of being alone. It can hurt, and you feel like... maybe, maybe that's just what you deserve." Twilight tensed, and he knew he wasn't far off. "But you don't." He wrapped his arms around her, hugging firmly. "Twilight, you're an amazing pony. I'm only bothered you think I'm good enough."

Twilight choked out an aborted laugh, returning the hug awkwardly. "Are you kidding me? You check... several boxes." Her horn began to glow, a white board appearing from nowhere. "Likes spells." The words appeared as she spoke, a big box next to them. "Check!" A big bright green check went through it. "Likes friendship." Another line, and another check. "Check. But! Does not want big parties and flashy shows... also check. Secret bonus, is trying to redefine how we even think about magic, check!" She thumped down a hoof before returning it to hugging him. "You hit a lot of buttons, Silver."

"But you don't know me."

"Yes I do." She huffed lightly, a smirk forming. "We were pen pals long before now, or did you forget? Now, I need to go to bed, but, thank you." She touched her nose to his. "I'll be back another time."

And Silver was left alone to resume his tasks.





Like scowling at a scroll. "This is far from the first time I saw this name." A source of once humans that wasn't The Text. Did the text know? It had to, right? It apparently didn't mind her meddling. Still, what she was doing was shady, at best... "Doctor Fetlock..."

He set the scroll down on his desk with so many others, all cluttering up the joint. "Actually..." He turned his head to a guard that stood there waiting. "Can you deliver a letter to Twilight?"

"Of course, sir!" He saluted sharply.

Silver got to drafting something nice and quickly and floated it over to the guard. "Please and thank you."

"No need, sir." He took it in his mouth and quickly moved to trot away.

Silver clopped his hooves with giddy expectation, but did not expect the answer to take the form of a teleportation sparkle. His monitor appeared, his computer below it, on the floor. "Thanks, Twilight." He nuzzled his computer, returned. "Now if I just had the printer..." But he did not. That was back in the human world, out of his reach entirely.

But it did mean he could keep track of things, by typing them! "First..." Poor computer hadn't been used in a while, and he didn't want to damage it. He drew over one of many books. "No." He put it back and grabbed another. "No..." Ah, the third one had it, in the fourth chapter. "A little repair magic to wipe away the age." He read the spell as he cast it, horn glowing, along with his computer.

The computer shined, nice and new, inside and out. Even the monitor glistened, cleaned from the top to the bottom. "I kinda love magic." With a firm nod, he pressed the power button.

Nothing happened.

"Did you plug it in?" he asked as if he were a bored tech support agent on a phone, laughing at himself as he slipped from his chair and began hunting for a plug to get the computer into.

"Looking for something?"

Silver thumped his head against the bottom of his desk, getting his horn stuck in the wood in a moment of frantic flailing before he popped free. There was Twilight, watching him with a barely restrained snicker at the unseemly sight he had provided. "Twilight, hi! Um, what's up?"

Twilight pointed at his computer. "I sent that over, and realized you probably want a plug."

But... "How did you know? And I figured you'd be asleep."

"I--" she paused to yawn. "Was, but..."

"Twilight, this could have waited." He trotted over to her and started to turn her right around, but she wasn't having it.

She nudged back against him. "I can make my own decisions. And it's right here." She lifted a tile that hid the power plug. "There. You're welcome."

"Huh..." He wasn't sure if he would have found that. "Thanks." He trotted over to the exposed plug and shoved the modified tines of the computer's power into it that he had lovingly carved into shape so long ago. The computer glowed faintly from inside, power! His horn glowed, pressing the power button. It turned on! He'd have a computer again. "Perfect!"

Twilight smiled at his joy. "Good. Now back to sleep."

"And stay asleep," he urged. "You don't have to get up for me. I'd be happy waking up to find it there the next day."

"But then I wouldn't get to see your face." She inclined her head faintly. "Good night." And off she went, off to get some well deserved rest.

He considered his computer, but he couldn't brush off Twilight's presence. "No..." He trotted away from the powered on computer. It could wait. He hunted down Twilight to her room, where Celestia once rested, now hers. "Twilight?" He clopped the door gently, the guards watching him.

"Mmmf?" came a sleepy noise. "Silver?"

Silver nudged at the door gently. "May I come in?"

"Yes!" she blurted, perhaps too eagerly. He came in to find her cheeks a dark red, and a book floating beside her head.

His eyes snapped to the book, trying to read it, but she was wrenching it away, hiding it behind her back. "Now is not the time for studying," he gently chastised. "I'm here about that."

"You are?!" Her blush grew worse. "I'm not sure I'm ready." She stood up tall. "But I want this. Let's proceed."

Silver inclined his head slowly at Twilight's behavior. "What are you doing? Twilight, I'm putting you to bed."

"Oh, yes, to bed." Her eyes darted to the book that crept up into her field of vision. "A natural place."

Silver blinked slowly. "Yes, beds are a good place to sleep."

"Sleep?!" she squeaked, her book falling from her numb magic grip.

Good enough of a chance for Silver to snatch it away from her. On the Mating Habits of Ponies, it read. He joined her with red cheeks, setting the book rather quickly down on her desk. "Yes, sleep. It's very late for you. Thank you for helping me, I appreciate it, and I'm going to show it by helping you get some nice sleep."

Twilight allowed herself to be led towards bed. "So you aren't interested in... that?"

"Twilight, it's super late." He nudged her up onto the bed. "I will not be the reason you're feeling horrible tomorrow. Because I am a friend, I won't accept that."

Twilight sat on the bed, peering at Silver critically. "Right... Right, of course." She put a hoof to her cheek, then flopped over, curling up on top of the blanket.

Silver's magic wrapped around the blanket, gently working it out from under her and instead to rest on her. "I'm not saying no, but I am saying, firmly, not now." He could see Twilight was tired, and confused. "Now is sleep time for princesses." He went in and touched his nose to hers, rubbing gently left and right, their eyes locked. "I'm going to send you to dream land now."

"Is it... too forward of me to want you to join me?" She bit at her bottom lip, looking so adorkably vulnerable.

"I have to get work done," noted Silver with a little smile. "You wouldn't want me walking into court and dragging you away." The way she was looking, perhaps she would be alight with that, even if she made a scene to look proper. "Goodnight." His horn glowed, weaving the spell of sleep. Her heart slowed, her brain fell into a gentle slow rhythm. He had accepted the role of dream watcher, and he was taking her there, watching her eyes slowly flutter shut.

Her breathing was gentle, her body relaxed. She had slipped off. "See you later." For just a moment, he wanted to kiss her cheek, but he didn't, turning away and trotting firmly back towards work. He passed the book she had been holding. A book like that couldn't teach what she wanted to learn. He knew that... from experience, which was the ultimate teacher when it came to that. He willed the book back onto a nearby bookshelf and left Twilight there, sleeping soundly.

"She's asleep," he announced, closing the door behind himself. "Don't let anyone wake her up until it's sun raising time or a real emergency comes up."

One of the guard inclined his head. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir." He pointed at Silver. "Are you going to... Sorry, sir. It's none of my business."

Silver quirked an ear. "Go on."

"I was..." The guard danced from hoof to hoof. "Are you two going to marry? We haven't had a prince and a princess together in... a long time."

Since before he even knew, and Silver knew a lot of Equestrian history. "I'm already married," he reminded. "And I love her."

"Good, sir..." He shuffled all the more. "But you've already been in one herd."