//------------------------------// // No Meat // Story: The Silver Prince // by Silver Mane //------------------------------// "I'm going to Ponyville." "One-way or round trip?" One-way or round trip? Do you plan on returning soon, my liege? No. One-way, my liege. "One-way." The red pegasus stallion ripped a small piece of paper in half and handed the larger part to me. "That'll be forty bits." I dropped the small coin purse filled with coins on the counter, pushed it over to the teller, then picked up my ticket and walked away. The stallion opened the bag and started counting out the bits. "You might wanna hurry, trains leavin' in just a few minu-" he looked up and realized I was gone. "EH! Mister, uh, silver maned unicorn!" he called as best he could through the small hole in the window. "You forgot your change!" He moved to open the small door in the back and chase after me, but glanced up before he did so at the impatient mare tapping her hoof in front of the window. "Heh, uhm, I'm sure he'll be back for it in a little bit, awful lot of money he left here... Where you headed?" I didn't go back. I levitated the small paper in front of me and read its contents. "Platform 2. Ponyville 8 a.m. Departure. One-way." I lowered the ticket and scanned the station. I located "Platform 2" after a moment and headed over to the train resting there. The doors were open, so I entered into a small room lined with brown, faded leather seats. I found the only empty one and sat in it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAALL ABOOOOOOARD!" a pale blue pony with a rather nice looking brown mustache called before hopping onto the train. "WAIT! Hold up!" an orange earth pony mare galloped up to the platform. "Applejack!" the pale blue one called much to loudly for a civil conversation. "You're not one to be late! Hop in, we're about to leave!" "Phew, I thought I was gonna miss it!" 'Applejack' yelled back as she boarded the train. She looked around the car until her gaze rested on me, or more specifically, my seat. She trotted over and smiled. "Howdy, partner! You mind?" She gestured to the space left on the seat next to me. "Are you insinuating that you plan on sitting next to me?" I asked dryly. "Well, uhm, that's a, big, word. But, anyways, yes?" "Ha, that is quite amusing." "Yeah, haha, real funny," her expression changed from one of friendliness to deadpan. "You gonna let me sit there or what?" "Or what." She sighed. "Now you're just being plain silly, there are no other open seats, the train is starting to move, and here you are, taking up a whole seat to yourself. Would you please scoot over a bit?!" Several pairs of eyes turned towards the scene Applejack was causing. Damn this thing to Tartarus, in order to avoid drawing unwanted attention to myself it appears I must have to share a seat with this, this, this earthen pony. "If you must have a place to sit, I will 'scoot over a bit'," I did so, and Applejack seated herself next to me. I turned away from her and leaned on my leg, staring out the window as the train accelerated. I could see a faint reflection of myself in he window. After a bit of deliberation, I had decided to disguise as a unicorn so I had access to my magic, but I didn't copy a pony this time around. Instead, I had a purple coat that matched the color of my carapace, and a silver tail and mane, which, besides for the lack of holes, matched my usual hair. My eyes still sparkled silver, and as I stared at my reflection, I imagined burning Bluewind again. Luckily, the changeling that gotten me caught was not the healing specialist in the outpost, and while I was sleeping, I granted the healer access to my mana reserves. He managed to seal up the cracks, leaving only a faint crisscrossing of scars, and repair my shoulder. Of course, my leg was still in immense pain, he was only able to make it functional again, but pain was nothing foreign to me. Applejack started whistling to herself. I grimaced. "It would be... most appreciated, if you would quit making that incessant noise." She stopped whistling. How long is this going to take...? I glanced over at the young mare. She was awkwardly tapping her hooves together. She must have felt my gaze, for she looked over at me and attempted to smile. "Look, I know we got off on the wrong hoof," she started, "An' I'm sorry if I hurt your feelin's or somethin', but we're sittin' next to each other-" "That was entirely your choice." She opened her mouth to shoot back an insult, but probably decided it better to not anger such a strong, powerful looking stallion, and instead continued with her apology. "An' I would rather not spend the first leg of the trip sitting here twiddlin' my hooves. So whaddaya say?" She lifted a hoof towards me. "Think we can just, retry that?" "No." I turned back toward the window and continued to stare at the passing landscape. "I'm sorry, did I hear you wrong?" she continued to bother me. "You didn't just say no, right...?" "Incorrect," I stated, "You heard what you thought you heard." "So, your sayin' your just gonna stare outside that window for eighteen hours an-" I whipped around. "Eighteen. Hours?" Oh Mother don't let that be true. "Uh, yeah. The train takes eighteen hours to get from here to Ponyville. Why? How long didja' think it was gonna take?" she asked. "I don't know!" I threw up my legs, then regretted it as pain shot down my right foreleg. "A couple hours maybe?! Not seventy-five percent of a day! Why in the Hive does it take so long?!" "Why in the what now?" I realized my slip. Oh Mother don't let me be discovered by this hillbilly! "The... Heck!" I smirked as my ever quickening wit allowed me to evade discovery. "I said why in the heck does it take so long." "Oh, okay then..." she narrowed her eyes. "Well, back on track-" Hah, I get it. "You don't even wanna try and at least be aquaintated?" "Aquaintated...?" "Like, not friends, but not enemies," she explained. "Like, well heck if I know, Twilight used it before, said it was like a sortafriendbutnotquiteafriendyet or somethin'." "Acquaintances?" "Yeah! That was it!" she nodded over-enthusiastically, like Mother would when encouraging my primal instincts to mate with my sister without her permission. "So, come on partner." I grimaced at the title. "Let's just be acquaintances." She raised her dirty hoof again. "Oh, if I must, I shall." I put my own 'hoof' out and lightly shook hers. "That's the spirit!" she gripped my hoof tightly and shook it up and down violently, causing my whole being to vibrate and my shoulder to scream in agony. "Now, where you from?" ...ponies and their damned curiosity. "Uhm... Ponyville!" I pleaded that she would be fooled. Her eyes grew narrow once more. "Okay, sure, well, I've never seen you around, but I'm from Ponyville too. My family owns the farm Sweet Apple Acres, you've heard of it, right?" "I can't say I have..." Her jaw dropped. Honestly, it quite literally fell agape as if there were no muscles or joints holding it in place. "You're on your way to Ponyville, the place you claim to live, and have lived, and you've not ever heard of Sweet Apple Acres, the farm that, every year, sells the Zap Apple jam and Apple Cider, that hundreds of ponies line up to buy, and caters nearly every major festival in town?" I nervously laughed. "Heh, well, I live on the edge of town, and I uh.. I don't go into town, or outside, much at all." Her gaze suddenly softened, and she looked almost, sympathetic? "Aw, now lemme guess. I'm not tryin' to be rude, but, Mr. uh.. I didn't catch your name." Damned curiosity! I haven't come up with a name yet! "It's... uh..." Something original, something normal, something that will allow me to completely blend in and never be suspected as the Changeling Prince Silver... "Silver!" ...damned curiosity. "Well, Mr. Silver, I know it can be hard to make friends, especially when your all grown up and livin' on your own! But you don't have to be alone just cuz you live alone." She rested her hoof on mine and smiled at me. "How 'bout when we get to Ponyville, I take you to meet my brother, Big Mac! He's a real nice stallion, quiet, but good at heart, and a loyal friend. And I'm sure Spike would love to have a guy friend to get away from us girls and all our 'gross girly stuff'." "No, that's fine, really, you don't need to, and I don't want to bother you," I stammered. "Aw stop being so shy! You two'll get along great! And, I bet the girls would love to meetcha' too, sugar-cube!" ...sugar-cube...? "Heck, maybe you'll even take a likin' to one of 'em, if you know what I'm gettin' at." She jabbed me lightly with her elbow and winked at me. Pain shot up my leg and I ground my teeth together. "I don't believe I do know what you are 'gettin' at'," I responded through my clenched teeth. "Oh come on, sugar-cube, you know what I mean," she smiled coyly. "Rarity is quite the gem to behold." I furrowed my brow. " Your friend is a gemstone...?" "Oh cut it out Silver," she said as she giggled. "I meant she's pretty!" I pulled my hoof away. "Are you suggesting that I will find your 'friends' attractive?!" "Oh, I'm not suggestin' it, I'm straight up sayin' it. Even I can tell that Rarity is beautiful, an' Twilight may not be too outgoin', but she's quite the pretty little thing too. An' Fluttershy's cute as a button. An' Rainbow Dash is in great shape. An' Pinke Pie is a ton of fun. Come to think of it, why don't any of 'em have coltfriends...?" I blocked access to my ears a sentence into her speech, but as she stopped and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, I once again opened them to my mind. "Well, that's very fascinating Miss Applejack, but I had a long night, and I'm tired. I'm assuming since this takes eighteen hours a coc- I mean, a bed is available for resting?" "Oh, well o' course sugar-cube!" she exclaimed. "Just go back three cars and pick whichever bed you want!" As she got out of the seat and I followed into the aisle, she added, "But don't sleep too long, you'll miss lunch!" Lunch...? "Yes, of course, I shan't miss such a momentous occasion." I turned tail and headed towards the door. "Uhh... Sugar-cube?" I turned my head and cocked an ear. "The other back." "Right. Of course, just, got turned around there." I walked back through three cars and entered one lined with beds stacked on top of each other. All identical red wraps and pillows, I chose on in the far corner and wrapped myself up in it. Eighteen hours... I didn't feed nearly enough from the reserves in Appleplace to last that long. If only there was another way to get it out of that earthen fool without having to listen to her babble on about her lowlife brother and friends... I pulled the curtain that separated my bed from the others, rolled over, and placed a pillow over my head. Why are ponies so damned infuriating...? I closed my eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Whaddaya mean, he's gone!?" Breaburn shouted at the young officer. "How did he manage to slip past the entire gaurd?! Were they not warned that a changelin' was being kept in the second cell block!?" "They were warned though!" the officer shouted back indignantly. "And half of them were burnt to ashes trying to stop his escape!" Breaburn was silent for a moment. "You mean, he killed some of the gaurds...?" The officer nodded, very obviously doing his best to not lose his cool in front of the deputy. "I'm sorry, officer. I didn't realize, I'm sorry I yelled atcha', I just... Damn that bastard to Tartarus." "It was my fault, I should have prepared them better for, well, for a changeling, and a big grey one at that." "Don't blame yourself. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I knew I shoulda kept the bastard under tighter security, or at least had someone make sure he didn't try no funny business... And I got too emotional. I should have just killed him then and there, but when he started talkin' about Bluewind, and burnin' him alive... I just, I couldn't stay anywhere near that monster..." It was the officer's turn to to comfort Breaburn. "Hey, Deputy, come on now, you can't blame yourself. Anypony would've done the same thing in your position," the officer smiled a sad smile. "Now, we gotta give these brave ponies a proper burial, then we can catch that bastard and end him for good." Breaburn smiled back at the young officer. "You're right. Let's go, the longer it takes the further away from us that murderous varmint gets." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I awoke with a start as a bolt tore through my thoughts. I cried for half a second, before the pain knocked me out again. "Come on, it's just over this ridge." I looked up, wait, no, I didn't look up. Well, at least I didn't try to look up, but for some reason I did just that. The figure in front of me, a human, smiled down at me and offered a 'hand'. She was absolutely stunning. Her flat face was golden, and the sunlight that pierced through the leaves illuminated it, she was practically glowing. Her lips were a pale red, and her teeth, white as the snow. Her eyes held the sea within them, churning with blues and greens. Then her hair, her hair was black as the night. It fell in curls, wrapping around themselves as they stretched past her neck and rested lightly on her shoulders. She was tall and slender yet muscular, standing above me like a goddess. She held herself upright pridefully, yet her eyes, swirling with the ocean, were gentle and kind. My 'hand' reached up, and the thin protrusions on it wrapped around hers. With a small grunt, she pulled me up onto the ledge she was standing upon. My lips curved into a smile as I lost myself in the seas of her eyes. She smiled back, but turned away, tearing my oceans along with her, and swept a foreleg through the air at the most beautiful place I had ever seen. A white river cut it's way through a valley. A valley whose slopes were a mixture of yellows and browns and reds, dotted with green trees, standing defiantly upon the slanted ground. At the far end of the valley, a large waterfall spilled over a ridge, feeding the river a steady flow of white foamy water. "It's... It's amazing." The words softly floated out of my mouth. "I knew you'd like it. The Lower Falls, said to be one of the best views in all of Yellowstone!" "I mean, this is inspiring," I continued. "It has to be the second most beautiful thing I've seen in my entire life!" The human smiled coyly and asked innocently, "Oh, and what would be the first most beautiful thing?" "JAAAAAAMES!" A harsh female voice called from the woods behind me. "AMAAAAAANDA?!" My head shook, and I looked down and said under my breath, "Oh all the times..." The one I assumed to be named Amanda grabbed my hand and started walking towards the voice. "COMING!" she called in her angelic voice. My leg pulled her back towards me before she dropped down the ridge. My other arm wrapped around her and pulled her to me, forehead against forehead. My lips met hers, a light kiss, but one that felt incredibly, special. "You." I awoke again with a throbbing in my head and sat up. I glanced out the window, it was sundown, I had slept through most of the day, and at least a good ten hours. That leaves but eight more to go. I hadn't absorbed any love in those ten hours of rest, so I decided to try and prompt some feelings out of Applejack. I walked over to the door, opened it with a silver glow, and walked straight into Applejack. "Oh! Sorry sugar-cube," she apologized as she stood herself up. "I was just comin' to getcha'. You slept straight through lunch, an' I figured I'd just let you sleep, you lookin' so peaceful an' all." "Your choice was the right one," I tell her. "I prefer to wake of my own accord." "Oh, well then I guess I did make the right choice!" And I literally just said, your choice was the right one. "But they've got dinner in the dinin' car, want a bite to eat?" "Lead on." We walked to the 'dinin' car' and were seated at a small table next to a window. I sat opposite of Applejack and a pony in a black garment brought us each a glass of water and a 'menu'. Applejack licked her lips as she opened the 'menu' and read it's contents. "This here, this is the good stuff," she started. "They got hay fries and flower sandwiches and well, you name it, they got it. And it's all fresh, they don't use none of that frozen stuff." I too opened my 'menu' and skimmed it's contents. 'Appetizers', 'Fruit Salads', 'Vegetable Plates', 'Side Dishes', 'Cakes and Pies'. "Where's the meat?" I looked up at Applejack. She tilted her head and looked up at me from her menu. "Haha, I'm sorry sugarcube, it sounded like you said, 'where's the meat'." Oh, yeah. Ponies aren't carnivores. "Haha, what? Meat?!" I pretended to be amused and laughed. "Nononono, I said, uhm... What will you eat!" "Oh, well, I was gonna get the apple fries with an apple an' rose sandwich with apple cider, What is it with ponies and apples...? you havin' trouble deciding?" "No, well, yes, but not anymore, I shall eat what you are going to planning to." "Well, I promise you, you will not be dissapointed!" Needless to say, I wasn't. If there was one thing ponies could do right, it was prepare food. However, I still hungered for love. "So, Applejack, I wish to hear more of your family and friends back in Ponyville." Applejack took another swig of apple cider. "Well, alright, I suppose if you're gonna meet them, why not? Let's head over to the bar though, some other ponies might want a table to sit at." "This is my table though, we sat here first, why would we leave? What did those ponies ever do for us?" I questioned. Applejack sighed, "I got a lot to teach you about makin' friends... It's called being polite. Now come on, the bar's waitin'." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mother, the brutes have left the connection radius. Finally! I thought they would never leave! What shall we do with their families? Hmm... I think I know just the thing. I have a new hybrid I wish to try. To the pit, then? Yes, if the hybrid doesn't commit suicide, then we'll have ourselves a new sub-class. If it does, well, I guess I wouldn't mind having a little fun with the young ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So-so then I says to 'im... I says, hey man! Dis here stew, iss-isss the nectrr, of the gods!" I laughed and took another gulp of hard cider. "'an he says, he says to me, he says "hey, ahm not even a goo cook!" Applejack burst into another fit of laughter and doubled over the counter. "Haha-urp-youz a reaaaal funny guy Silber, anypoie evar to-told yoo dat?" "I tell yoo wut, Appelsnacks, no!" she opened her mouth in mock surprise and raised her eyebrows. "Well, ah gotta tell yoo, Mr. Silber, ah fink... ah fink... no... dats not rite, I fought! I fought yoo was a weiirdoooo, bu-bu, yoo a real fun poni, yoo a..." She cut herself off by passing out and slumping onto the counter. "I a wut?" I poked her leg. "Wut ahm I?" She didn't respond, so I grabbed her mane and lifted her head. "Appelsnacks!" I said into her ear. "Appelsnacks, wut ahm I...?" She didn't answer, so I let her head fall back on the counter and stood up. I turned and started to walk away when I suddenly remembered the mare I was about to leave passed out at the bar. "OH NOH APPELSNACKS!" I shouted and rushed to her side. "Yoo cann sleep ou ere! Yoo gots ta yews a bed! Appelsnacks!" When she didn't respond, I lifted her foreleg and placed it upon my neck, hoisting her up. I slowly dragged her through the car filled with drunk ponies, then through the passenger cars, and finally to the car lined with beds. "Awright, Appelsnacks, ahm gonna finju, the bes darn bed in awl of erywher!" I dragged her to the first bed I saw, and with quite a bit of willpower, managed to lift the limp body with my magic and place her on top of the bed. Exhausted by my efforts, I pulled myself onto the same bed as her and collapsed across her body. "Goonite, Appelsnacks," I murmured before falling into a deep slumber.