//------------------------------//
// A5 — Smouldering Flame 
// Story: Where Only Silver Shines 
// by Etyco Filly 
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The sound of Silver’s steps made my lips curl into a smile; somehow, I had learned to recognise them. We had only parted an hour ago at the Duskbringer prison, but I was nonetheless excited to see him.

When he stepped around the corner, he wore neither his smug grin nor his usual content expression. Instead, his brow was furrowed in thought and a frown rested on his face.

“So, how did it go?” I did my best to avoid sounding too chipper.

His ears flattened against his skull, and he grimaced. “Not well. She doesn’t wanna help at all. Said some shit about the Duskbringer’s honour. Why’s honour so damn important that ponies need to die for it?”

Prisoners, I mentally corrected him, but kept it to myself. He would resent such a comment. “I was afraid of that. While keeping the public order is one of the Knights’ jobs, only the most dire of emergencies are handled by them.” When Silver raised an eyebrow, I shrugged. “At least that’s what I think she meant by honour. If you let a situation escalate to the point of needing to involve the Knights, you’ve screwed up. No one wants that label on them.”

He walked over to the cliff and sat down near the edge. I closed my book, stood up, and followed. I kept my distance from the edge.

When I sat down, Silver sighed. “Makes sense and all, but… I just don’t like it. Months ago, she said I might be able to help out on public order missions, but so far there hasn’t been a single one. I thought it meant that everything’s under control, but no, it’s just that everypony’s shoving everything under the rug…”

I had a bad feeling about this. “You are not implying you are planning to go after this monster all by yourself, are you?”

His eyes grew wide. When the shock melted away, he smiled a sheepish smile. “Kind of? I was gonna look for its lair. Depending on where it is, it might convince her to covertly take care of the issue. She wouldn’t even need that much ponypower to do it, and it would be a win-win.”

I gave him the flattest look I could muster. “That still sounds dangerous, Silver. The beast might still hurt you, you know?”

He rolled his eyes. “I promise I can take care of myself, princess.” His wording stopped my heart, but I calmed down when his ironic tone sank in. “It’s not too different from hunting, and tracking game you can’t take down by yourself is pretty common there too.” He gave me a cocky grin. “Besides, I can probably take this thing on anyway. I’m the fastest flyer in all of Trottingham, Coltchester, and Spurringham.”

“Coltchester? You’ve lived near Spurringham and Trottingham, so I can believe you’ve somehow raced everypony there, but what about Coltchester?” Good enough change of topic.

Oddly surprised, he raised his brow. “Didn’t I ever tell you about Gilda? Self-proclaimed fastest flyer of Coltchester?”

I shook my head. “You didn’t, actually.”

“Hmm… I coulda sworn I did.” He shrugged. “Probably just my mind playing tricks on me. Like a day-jar-view or something.”

I chuckled. “I think you mean a deja-vu. I see what you mean, though. You might have told somepony about it in a cramped room, and somehow the memory ended up associated with me.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Makes me think we should talk more about ourselves. You seem to avoid the topic whenever it comes up. We always have books to talk about, and I think we understand each other very well, so it’s not like we need it to get along.” Was he nervous? If anything, only I ought to worry; I was the one with all these secrets.

And nervous I was; my voice shook despite my best attempts to keep it steady. “Think it might be because we come from such different backgrounds? I will admit I am a little afraid of it. What if we realise we are too different to be friends?”

“I… That makes sense, and I guess I share the feelin’. Part of me’s scared you might judge me for those things. Like, I don’t actually think you would, but I don’t wanna bring them up until they’re actually relevant to the conversation. It’s not that I want to keep it secret, it’s that I don’t wanna bring it up.”

Oh thank The Tower, he felt the same as I. Though I optimistically believed my status would matter little to him, I nonetheless worried it might passively drive us apart. My secrets and lies, however, might tear us apart. Sweet Luna, I really needed to figure out how to reveal everything to him! But how? Anything—

“Keep, you okay?”

I swallowed. I could do this. Now or never. “It’s just… I have actually been keeping things secret. Things I do not want to talk about, things that I do not want you to know. Things you are not allowed to know.”

“I’m aware.” He shrugged with a sly smile. “You’re not exactly hard to read in that regard.”

“I… I do not know where to start.” Maybe by the fact that I was the heir of the most important family in The Tower? No, that would be too big of a shock. Maybe my real name? No, that would only lead to the first one. My magic? No, that would also lead down a line of questions. That I was a flightless sarosian? No, same issue as the others. I would need to reveal those details eventually, but should not start with them. What else was there, though?

Oh, this would do. “I was born with a rare disease without a known cure." Silver's eyes popped wide. "From birth, my tissue started turning into bone. There were spells to slow it down.” Why would somepony of Keeper’s birth have access to such a costly treatment? No idea. Hopefully Silver would overlook it. Thank the Stars, confusion had prevented him from catching on.

Oh no, I had stayed quiet for a few seconds! “But they also weakened me and stunted my growth. On my fifth birthday, a group of ponies tried a more complicated, stronger version of the spell. One that hopefully would only need to be cast once.” I was simplifying, but I had good reason to. I was not lying. “It was a moderate success, allowing me to start growing, but it was far from a cure. Plus, it was too expensive to be cast more than once.” Again, technically true.

Silver stared at me, silent. I continued, “So, I had to resume the main treatment. Its intensity was reduced, but it still stunted my growth. It is why I am so small, despite my parents’ heights.”

His muzzle bearing a pained mixture of a frown and a smile, Silver opened his mouth a few times before finally speaking up. “I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to need a spell just to survive.” He hesitated a moment. “Is there a chance that permanent spell could be cast again sometime?”

I shook my head. “Like I said, the resources to cast it are very rare. Instead, a doctor helped me with an experimental procedure. As far as we know, I am mostly cured, but the damage has been done. I am almost fifty-two; I have little time left to grow.”

“Oh… so that explains things.” Gears were turning in his head, and realisation dawned on his face, before concentration returned. The whole cycle repeated four or five times. “That actually explains everything, I think.”

A shiver ran down my spine. Did this mean I could keep the secret of my identity? No, I had to tell him the truth. Eventually. No, not eventually. Now. It would be unfathomably easier if I did it right now.

If I told him, he would learn to know me. He would like the real me, would he not? I was the same pony, only with more responsibilities. And a higher status. That would not affect our friendship, would it? However, if he learned of my nobility, he would never confess his deeper feelings.

Ah. Wishful thinking again. Well, not wishful thinking. A better word would be conjecture. I cared little for him as a potential partner. He was too removed from the type of stallion I liked. He was too strong, too capable, his body too toned, too rough. Stupid slip of the tongue. Slip of the mind? Whatever it was, I had absolutely no—

“Keep…?”

My wings tried to flare, awfully sore, but the shirt I wore underneath my sweater mostly kept them in place. I shook these thoughts out of my head, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, I was thinking about… stuff.” My tail flicked.

He looked at me with a gentle, understanding smile. “Tell me about it sometime, okay?”

I looked away before the blush appeared on my face, prompting a chuckle from him. In desperate need of another change of topic, I said, “What about you? Had any health issues?”

Silver nodded. “When I was little...” He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “I started pushin’ the limits of my… my magic—Stars, still feel weird callin’ it that.” He shook off the tangent. “If I overdid it, I would get sick for weeks, sometimes even months at a time.” He shrugged. “Didn’t even realise I was using magic when flying. Mum didn’t know, either, and she just thought it was normal for pegasi to get sick like that.”

His ears folded against his head. “Even when I figured out that flyin’ made me sick, I never told her. Was too scared she wouldn’t let me do it anymore if she knew. Think it was the loss of my father that had her reactin’ like that.”

“That’s horrible… I’m so sorry for your loss,” I whispered.

He shrugged. “I dunno, never really knew ’im. Hades, I don’t even know if I could talk by the time he died.” He shrugged again. “I did wonder what life would be like if he was still alive, but you can’t really miss what you never had, right?”

His smile was strained; barely reached his eyes.

I leaned in and wrapped both my forelegs around his upper barrel, pulling him against me and crossing our necks. “Don’t try to always be so tough, Silver.”

He sighed as he relaxed into the embrace. “Thanks, I needed that hug. Not really ’cause of my family, but due to this place.”

After that, we continued talking until late in the night, hours passing like minutes. The two of us would be exhausted come the morrow, yet neither of us would regret it.

Before we parted ways, I asked, “You know, I think we needn’t wait for our days off to align: we could meet in the evenings.” I shrugged. “We should not stay up quite as late, but we might not need to if we see each other more often.”

While his mood had lifted significantly over the course of our evening, it had started to darken when we had noticed the late hour. When he heard my proposal, though, his spirits shot back up, and he grinned. “That’s a great idea! What if we also started going down to the Duskbringer prison to spend time with Shade? She’s a good pony, and I hate to see her alone.”

Though my smile threatened to falter, I kept it up by force. “Well, it does take a rather long time to reach. I do believe we should only go there when we both have a day off. Otherwise, we would be spending most of our time walking.” I disliked the idea of sharing my time with Silver with a pony I barely knew, nevermind liked.





Why was he taking so long? He was over thirty minutes late. He had been a few minutes late before. Sometimes I ran a little late. But thirty minutes? Did something happen to him? Did the beast he was hunting hurt him? Oh, why was he late?

I took a deep breath. Aurora probably had him working longer than usual. He said it happened from time to time. It did, did it not? I had no reason to worry. Although working late on a minor birthday would surely tear down his mood.

I breathed out, turning my attention back to the book I had been reading. The heroine and her friend had fallen through a gazebo’s floor and into a vast network of old mining tunnels underneath the capital. As the story described their journey through the dark cave, images of The Tower’s own tunnels flooded my mind.

The tension rose as a pathetic whimper echoed throughout the cave. I flipped the page, my thoughts racing. Was it a pony, or a monster trying to trap the protagonist? Surely these ancient tunnels were crawling with monsters; after all, they were related to the series of disappearances that had led the heroine into them to begin with.

Did Silver have to go through something similar? On the hunt for a monster kidnapping ponies, exploring dark caves. Dark caves that would force him to wear a light and make himself a target.

Something had happened to him. No other explanation. What should I do? Talk to Aurora and reveal my cards, in hopes of saving his life? Or was it already too late? Should I go back on my own? No, I could not fly.

Calm down. I needed to calm down.

I worried over nothing. He was a hunter. He knew what he was doing. He was late because of Aurora. If not, it was too late to save him, anyway.

Oh, why did I let him do such a dangerous thing? I should have said something; insisted! He did it for the poor ponies in the prison, but I should have told him; throwing away his life to fix a short-term problem would solve nothing!

I shook my head. He was fine. He had to be. He was a competent fighter, and possibly the fastest flyer in all of Trotland. He was fine.

I forced myself to continue reading, but kept getting distracted, my thoughts derailed. Sometimes by the story itself, as it reminded me of Silver’s situation. Sometimes by a flyer far below; always for a few seconds, until reality convinced me it was not Silver. After the third time, I refused to raise my hopes by looking. It still distracted me. Minutes crawled by.

Yet again, a flyer above the town. Rather small, and more than fast. Though I knew better, I looked. Oh, she or he had a silver coat. That was him, no doubt about it. I let go of a breath I had held for far too long. The flyer disappeared into the dark, and I waited. My eyes unable to adapt fast enough, I lost track of him.

As the seconds ticked by, I found myself wondering: what could I talk to him about? I would ask him about his day, I would recommend him this book, and I would talk about our plans for our next day off. I certainly would not throw myself at his neck and sob like a filly.

After a dozen seconds, dread began building. He should be here already. He was fast. Perhaps he was tired from a long day. Yes, that had to be it. Yet the horrible feeling persisted. What if that flyer had merely been a lookalike?

Deep breaths, Arawn, deep breaths. Do not panic. Focus on your breathing. The nearby flap of wings snapped my string of thought, and a moment later, Silver landed next to me. I threw myself around his neck.

The fresh smell of sweat, coupled with his panting, sent my mind’s eye into a frenzy. I pushed myself away and thumped both hooves on his chest. “What took you so long?” Again, I thumped. “I was worried!” I shouted with a final thump.

He tilted his head, his ears flopping. “Worried? Why? Didn’t I tell you I was a hunter as a kid?”

“I know that! Try as I might, I could not keep the thoughts away! What-ifs and maybes piled up. Accidents happen. You are fast, and you are skilled, but The Tower is dangerous.” I sighed as I stared into his gorgeous, rueful eyes. “And you were so late…”

Silver gulped, folded his ears, and sighed. “I’m sorry, I shoulda paid more attention to the time.” He furrowed his brow, conflicted, then shook his head. “Actually, no, that ain’t no excuse. I knew it was gettin’ late and still chose to go down that tunnel. I’m sorry, I didn’t think about the impact it would have on you.”

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle, all the tension leaving my muscles over the span of a second. “You don’t do a lot of thinking, do you?”

He burst out laughing. A pure, carefree, and loud laugh that quickly had him gasping for air and clutching his stomach, while I chuckled along. “Guess I don’t, no,” he managed to say between fits of laughter.

Eventually, as his laughter died down, I shifted closer, and he leaned into my hug. I wrapped my hooves around his barrel; he rested his neck on my withers. Earlier thoughts came flooding back, but our position hid my heavy blush. His powerful muscles relaxed underneath my hooves as he breathed another content sigh.

I let myself relax, resting my own head on his withers. The embarrassing thoughts that had up until then filled my mind disappeared as I basked in the moment. Both of us would need to bathe afterwards. Perhaps I could convince him to sneak with me into the baths at Aurora’s manor? She rarely used them, though her maid kept them ready at all times.

When I was reasonably certain my blush had subsided, I pulled away. “Did you have anything in mind for tonight?”

His face lit up. “Oh! Right! I actually found the beast’s lair, and I was gonna go tell the Captain about it soon!”

“You did? That’s wonderful! What’s it like? Where is it?” Hiding disappointment with excitement proved harder than expected. However, this mattered to him; forcing him to prioritise our friendship over his sense of duty would be cruel.

“It’s in the old prison layer.” A shiver ran down my spine. He had been down there? I had been right to worry. “At least I think so, given that its lair is a dilapidated old prison.”

I kept that comment to myself; no sense in bringing the topic back up. “That means it is easy to reach from the main tunnel system, and bringing ponies there to fight it should be feasible.”

“It is? That’s even better!” His excitement bubbled over, washing away his exhaustion. With a flap of his wings, he jumped to his hooves and started prancing around me. I found myself smiling. “Means the Captain has no reason to say no! Shouldn’t take too many ponies or too long to do it, and it can be done all sneaky-like!”

My smile grew wider. “I’m really happy, that’s great!”

He nodded, then froze mid-prance and furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry to leave so quickly after arriving, but I think I have to get going. I still need to freshen up.”

I shook my head, clenching my jaw. “It is fine, we almost see each other every day.” Do not let your smile falter, Arawn. “Before you go, could you tell me about the monster?”

He frowned. “It’s… weird. That’s all I can say. There are tracks of four different animals. Normally, I’d think there are just four of them, but the spacing is off. I’m… I'm pretty sure this thing just has four mismatched hooves. Feet. Paws. Whatever.”

“That sounds horrifying, to be frank.” I had never heard of a creature like this, except maybe in ancient mythology. “It sounds like I was right to be worried.”

He rubbed his crest with a sheepish smile. “So was I, in all honesty.”

I gaped at him. “Did… didn’t you say you were confident in your skills?”

His smile grew uncertain, awkward. “That doesn’t stop me from gettin’ scared, you know? It’s one of the things that helps me push past it, but the fear is still there.” He shook his head. “But if I didn’t have a proper goal, I would not have been able to do so.”

“And for you, that goal is to save ponies. You really are a hero,” I said with genuine awe in my voice. “Risking one’s life for a stranger, let alone a prisoner, is something I can’t understand. Yet it is admirable.” Perhaps someday, I would be a good pony as well.

He chuckled. “Oh, please, you’re gonna make me blush. Besides, I have other reasons. I really want to impress the Captain.” He furrowed his brow. “Don’t… don’t tell her I said that.”

Some emotion spiked through my heart, unknown and foreign. I shoved it aside and giggled. “What, do you like mares twice your age? It is a rather common trope, but I did not think it applied to you.”

“What? No!” He vigorously shook his head, slight blush tinting his cheeks. “I just want her to put in a good word with the Hockney guard.” Relief washed over me—“Once I get out of here, that is. That way, my time here won’t be wasted.”—only to be replaced by a glacial shiver.

It ran down my spine, and I had to force out my chuckle.

He still believed he would be allowed to leave one day. How long until somepony would finally shatter that bubble? Should I do it? He trusted me and might believe me if I explained it to him. Would I even be able to do it? I lacked the courage to even admit to him who I really was. I needed to tell him, already.

I had good reason to worry. He was treating me like a friend, like somepony on his own level. Would that all fall apart once he found out that I was, in fact, not on his level? Would he pretend like it matters little, only for us to drift apart? Would—

“Hey, Keep, are you alright? You’re, uh, kinda starin’ off into space again.”

I flashed him the biggest smile I could fake, and let out an equally fictitious chuckle. Then, in the most sickly sweet tone, I practically sang, “Don’t worry, I just remembered some work I have to do in the library. Section seven-D badly needs reorganising.”

Coward. Weakling. Moron.

Silver narrowed his eyes. “You gonna be okay? Maybe it’s best if you go catch a good night’s sleep. You seem awfully tired.” I nodded, while he examined himself and added, “Look who’s talking. Still, sorry we couldn’t talk as long as normally, but at least we get to see each other tomorrow.”





I was waiting at our usual meeting spot, staring off the cliff that overlooked the servant town. The drop was dizzying; I never dared come close to the edge out of fear I would stumble off. Every once in a while, I fantasised of practising my flight here, but the mere idea terrified me.

In theory, gliding should be easy. In practice, my wings might give out. I had exercised them, but would that suffice? I ought to spend some time researching the anatomy of sarosian wings. Every time the opportunity presented itself, I found some excuse to avoid it.

Now that my body was no longer shackled by my disease, flight had wandered from a distant and impossible dream into the realm of achievability. Yet that was precisely why I feared answers.

My treatment had irreparably changed my body’s development. I was unlikely to reach even average height, let alone one comparable to my parents’. What if my wings had grown malformed? They were tiny, like the rest of my body, but what about the skeletal structure?

Enough letting my mind wander! Where was Silver? He was late again! If we had agreed to meet up earlier, I would have assumed he had merely slept in, but it was past lunch time already! He better have a good excuse.

I sighed. He likely did. He would not leave somepony hanging. Still, I was unhappy with waiting. Waiting without anything to occupy my mind led to my thoughts wandering, and they had a tendency to err in poor places. At least I had no reason to worry.

Since the beginning of my meetings with Silver, my daydreaming had grown especially bad. His presence in my life was an endless source of worry, hopes, and dreams. I liked him. I definitely did. Perhaps it was his attitude, perhaps it was his smile, or perhaps his gentle eyes. Perhaps it was the way he spoke so casually, with seemingly not a thought spared to his words.

Perhaps my feelings were only born from the novelty, and any commoner with decent looks would have caught my eye in the same fashion. Perhaps my emotions only originated of the deviation from the monotony of my life.

Despite my lack of romantic interest for him, I had to acknowledge the intensity of my feelings. Then again, some of the thoughts I had about him were a little more than friendly, were they not?

I shook my head. That was merely hormonal. Medical books said so, and books were never wrong.

 Friendship sure was complicated and difficult to figure out. Were there any books on that subject?

Despite all these uncertainties, questions, and worries, I knew one thing. I liked him. Was that not the sole detail that mattered?

Yet this one certainty hardly quenched my anxieties. He and I jelled, and our friendship was pleasant, but how much strain could it endure? He knew nothing, and any of my secrets had the potential to turn him away.

Why did I so deeply worry? Was this simply the nature of friendship?

Yes, of course, why would it be anything else? He was not my type.

Maybe I should stop lying to myself.

The thought hit me like a collapsing bookshelf.

I was not lying to myself. There was no way I would be. It did not even make sense. How could anypony lie to themselves? It would imply they can hide something from themselves, which logically does not work.

Satisfied with my rationale, I grunted.

Except I was not satisfied.

“Ponyfeathers,” I muttered.

Fine. I might have a crush on him. Might. After all, I knew too little about friendship to exclude the possibility.

Regardless, what difference did it make? Nothing beyond the scope of simple friendship could happen. Perhaps he would fall in love with Keeper, the ditzy librarian, and we might build a relationship on a lie. A love bound to fail.

Furthermore, if, by some twist of fate, Papa were to find out, Silver would not survive; not so much executed as murdered in blind fury.

Silverstring deserved to know; deserved to make his own decision: to willingly risk his life, or to content himself with my friendship.

Though I wished for the former, I had no right to push for it.

I furrowed my eyebrows. This was why I hated being bored! It always led to too much thinking! Perhaps I should return to spying on the sarosian families? It would keep the boredom at bay, and knowing more about the political landscape would only do good.

I shook my head. Silver might arrive at any moment.





Technically, Silver was only thirty minutes late when he arrived, but that stretched well into infinity for a pony desperate to keep her thoughts from wandering.

He sat down next to me. “Hey,” he mumbled. He was missing his usual garb, and had skipped over brushing his coat or mane. While his regular style may have been rather simple—a plume quite common on physically active stallions, where the mane was barely short enough to stand up tall—he still took the time to appear presentable. Dark rings bore into his eyes, and a pungent, sickly sweet odour hung off of him. Beyond old sweat. Alcohol, perhaps perfume? Something else was off about him, but what?

Watching the far side of the cave, he folded his ears and muttered, “Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t sleep and woke up too late. I got here as fast as I could, though.”

“Did… did she say no?” I knew the answer.

He nodded.

Silence draped over us. Minutes passed by with only the distant rush of water to break the silence. I held onto my courage and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… did something else happen?” Silver would usually bounce back, or at least pretend to.

He forced a shrug, then turned to me with a weak but genuine smile. “Yeah, but it’s nothing big. I’m just worried about the ponies in the prison.” His gaze was dull, distant. It lacked that clever sheen I had grown to love.

I could dig further, but that could come later. Whatever it was, Aurora’s refusal weighed on him heavier. “Did she tell you why?”

His expression fell, and his tail flicked. “Just the usual. Not enough ponypower, not enough time. Honour. Basically the same as last time, just with more bullshit and less valid excuses,” he said in a heart-wrenching, resigned tone.

I winced and worked my mouth, but failed to find anything that might lift his spirits. What would it cost her to save those lives? I cared little about the prisoners’ fates, but such a mission would hardly take a few hours for even a pair of Knights!

“This isn’t rational!” I shouted before I could stop myself. “Even if it’s not strictly worth it, she loses so little! Can’t she see how demoralised this makes you? Does she not realise how important it is to keep you in high spirits? From everything I’ve heard, you have made her life much easier, and she brushes aside your worries like this‽” As I panted, my voice echoed back to me.

Silver grimaced. “Keeper, please calm down. My head hurts.” His pathetic tone deflated my fury, and I slumped. “I don’t get it either. I mean, I get it. It’s not urgent—to her at least—but how can she just stand by when she knows ponies will die? Isn’t it a Knight’s job to prevent ponies from getting hurt?”

I wrapped a leg around his withers and pulled him towards me, ignoring the unpleasant tang. I had nothing to say; all I could do was show. Silver lay his head on my withers and started sniffling. Soon warm tears sunk into my fur while I caressed his side. Every time he breathed in, his coat brushed against mine. Underneath my touch, his barrel was as soft as it was warm, and I wished I could feel it against my own.

We stayed like this for some time, listening to each other's breathing, taking in the comfort.

The moment was broken by his chuckle, followed by, “I hope this ain’t creepy, but you smell really nice. Makes me feel real bad for not takin’ the time to shower.”

“Don’t worry about either of those. I understand,” I whispered as he drew back out of the embrace.

Silver wiped the tears from his cheeks, the sparkle in his eyes restored. He beamed at me, shaking his head. “What am I doing?” He rolled his eyes. “Why am I just takin’ this to the chin? There’s something else I can do. It’s dangerous, but I can’t believe I would let that stop me.” I blinked at him. Surely he wasn’t… “I’ll take this thing out by myself. I have the weapons, I’m fast, and I used to be a hunter.”

“What? It could tear you apart with a swipe of its claw, you said so yourself!” His smile hid something more. Something bad. Not sadness, nor malice. Not resignation, either.

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t be the first time I fight something like that. Sure, I’d be alone this time, but I know what I’m doing.”

“I cannot talk you out of this, can I?” I could not stop this drive of his, even if I tried. And why would I want to? It was part of what I liked about him. Although… something was off.

I donned a confident grin in an attempt to summon that same drive. “I am coming with you,” I stated.

“No you ain’t!” He hit the ground with a front hoof. “This is too dangerous for somepony without experience. Not to be rude, but you’d be in my way!”

“I am coming with you,” I repeated in the same calm and even tone. “I am not letting you take such a huge risk by yourself. Despite what you might think, I am very capable of defending myself.” I paused, waiting for him to take it in. When he opened his mouth, I cut him off, “I cannot go into details, but The Tower lends magic to ponies willing to learn to understand it.” Covering myself in a blanket of shadows, I stood up.

Silver jumped to his hooves, looking around frantically while I walked behind him.

I dropped the spell. “I move around The Tower like this.” He gasped, spinning to face me. I paused, letting his shock grow into confusion. “Well, I also occasionally take a secret passage, but that is beside the point.”

He blinked at me, understanding starting to dawn on him. I continued, “The way I change the colour of my coat is also not through an artefact, but through my own magic.” I whispered a single, incomprehensible word. A moment later, my coat was back to its natural light pink. The shape of my pupils remained disguised.

He stared at me for a few long moments. Then, he shook his head. “It’s still too dangerous.”

“And? If you go alone, it’ll only be more dangerous. I won’t let you.” He opened his mouth, but I silenced him with a raised eyebrow. “Imagine if I found out you were killed by this monster. Do you think I could forgive myself? You are my first real friend, Silverstring. I do not want to lose you.”

He gulped, breaking eye contact. After a moment, he muttered, “Fine. This wasn’t how I imagined my day off with you to go, though.”

I smiled. “Do you want to nap first?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “No, a bit of coffee, and I’ll be fine.  I should probably shower, though.”