//------------------------------//
// Lesson One 
// Story: Guardian of Fire 
// by googolplex 
//------------------------------//

	Upon leaving the train station, Twilight and Spike were quickly greeted by the most excited pink pony in Equestria. "Twilight! Where've you been? You missed all the fun," Pinkie Pie tackled Twilight and pinned her to the ground. "Scariest. Nightmare Night. Ever!" Pinkie had a huge grin. "I can't believe you missed it!" She quickly scooted off into a huge pile of candy and began devouring it without so much as taking a wrapper off. Twilight cringed watching Pinkie Pie eat like she did. 
"Pinkie," Twilight started, "How did you bring all that candy this far without making several trips?" Pinkie popped out of her candy mountain. 
"Oh me and Applejack used one of her carriages to greet you when you got here because we didn't see you or Princess Luna so we thought that you guys might had needed to stay so I was going to bring you some of this candy when the wheel broke and we just piled the candy right here," Pinkie took a breath, but before she could start again, she was interrupted. 
"Hey pumpkin!" A familiar apple bucking voice called from behind. It was Applejack, wearing a pumpkin suit of all things.
"Look who's talking," Twilight and Applejack both laughed. "Wait, your eyes," Twilight looked at Applejack's now dilated eyes. "Are they alright?"
"More or less. Things are a bit fuzzy here and there, but nothin' to worry about," Applejack smiled and winked at Twilight. "So, how was that trip to the castle with your 'hot date?'" Applejack giggled trying not to laugh at her own pun. Twilight simply rolled her eyes at Applejack. 
"Actually I feel more in the dark now than when I took him to the castle." Applejack's eyebrows rose. "I need all of you here," Twilight started walking to the library. "I'll gather everyone tomorrow," Twilight announced as she continued walking. "I still need time to process this," and with that, Twilight walked and Pinkie and Applejack watched her until she disappeared behind a hill. 
Bright and early in the morning there is a knocking at Twilight's front door. Twilight groggily slips out of bed trips over Spike, not paying any attention. Spike merely shrugged it off and was not really even woken by it. Twilight then realized she was walking the wrong way to the stairs while the knocking becomes more frequent and obnoxious. "Hang on I'm coming!" she shouts as she nears the door. The knocking continued. She sighs and uses her magic to open the door, but as soon as a fleck of light had shown through the door, it burst open with Pinkie tackling Twilight, again. 
"Twilight! I know you said you'd gather everyone today but I couldn't wait so I got everypony up extra early so we could talk about the important things you wanted us to talk about like how that pony we met the other day looks old, but not, and hey did you notice he has an earth pony look to him?" Twilight, too tired to realize what had really happened just pushed Pinkie off he and shook herself awake.
"Pinkie Pie you said this was important," Rarity yawned. The other four also looked tired, and they should, the sun has barely risen. Morning's frost still on the leaves outside, and a cool breeze swept into the library, Twilight ushered them all to go inside. As the door closed, Twilight walked back upstairs and woke Spike. He sleepily followed downstairs and joined the crowd. Now all seven of them sat in the middle of the library, quiet and wordless. It was obvious that it was still too early. Applejack yawned, which broke the silence, but not for long because Rainbow Dash could no longer stand the silence. 
" How much longer are we gonna sit here?" Twilight looks up to Rainbow before sighing and walking back to the group.
"I honestly don't have a clue or an explanation of what's going on," Twilight said. After she finished speaking, she gave a yawn, and began again, "Burns is not his real name," they all stared at her, perplexed, "He forgot his name when we first met so he just gave me a name that seemed appropriate," she shook her head. "Anyway, his real name is Silver Radiance, and he is Celestia's son." All of them seemed to be fully awake enough to simultaneously scream WHAT?!. The news sparked up so many questions at once that Twilight couldn't make out who was asking what. Why haven't we heard of him? Who's his father? What's his story? So many questions echoing from pony to pony and into Twilight's head, not knowing any of the answers she yelled, "I don't know!" Everypony stopped, and quietly stared. 
"Since yesterday, I've had more questions than answers. My brother shows up out of the blue, and doesn't tell me because the security is tightening for some reason, " she began pacing, "I have a new mentor to teach me magic I already know, and he's the son of someone I look up to and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Twilight stopped and knocked her head against the center table. "I'm just so confused right now."
"Wait a second," Rarity interjected. "He's going to teach you, and it's magic you already know?" Twilight moved her head off the table and looked to Rarity and nodded. "What magic is it?" She asked. 
"Fire magic," Twilight gave a wincing face. 
"Well that should be easy considering that's  one of the first spells we unicorns learn. It's pretty simple I wonder why he feels he needs to teach you."
"That's just it," Twilight moved back to the group, "It was Princess Celestia's idea, and he even thought it was silly, but he says that we only used enhanced lighting spells, whatever that means."
"Well when are you supposed to start?" Applejack asked. 
"Two days from now, and I probably won't be seeing a lot of you guys in that time." Twilight looked down at the floor. It had been a long time since she had left the company of her friends and when she did, she missed them almost more than she could handle. They were rarely apart. She thought that maybe if she asked, he would let her visit them, or them visit her in her off time, but that would have to wait until she saw him in a couple of days time. "I have to leave the night before if I even want to make it there on time," she said rolling her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash asked. Everyone else nodded and looked to Twilight waiting for an answer.
"I have to be there at four 'o clock sharp." Twilight walked away from the group and began looking at the bookshelves. 
"Whatcha looking for Twilight?" Pinkie hopped over to inspect.
"Fire magic spells," she answered unsure. She wanted to know the reason she was being taught beginners' level magic. Pinkie shows her a book that read: Elemental Magic Book 1: Fire. "Pinkie where'd you find that?" Twilight snatched the book away from Pinkie Pie and began searching through its contents.
"Well you didn't have one of these in your library so I thought we should give you something for your going away party, but I guess now is a good time as any to give it to you since you wanted to look at fire magic." Twilight merely looked up at Pinkie Pie in disbelief. 	
"You knew I was going back to Canterlot before I did?"
"Nope," Pinkie replied with a smile. Twilight, eyebrows raised, almost speechless as she looked back down to the book. "But you're a princess now and some of us have to prepare for those times you have to leave a moment's notice, duh."
"You know," Twilight started, "One day I'm going to figure out how you do that." Then she dug her nose in her new book.
"No you won't," Pinkie Pie sang aloud and hopped away to let Twilight read. Twilight, eyes widened and read faster and faster, surprised by the knowledge she had just acquired. All of the magic in the book consisted of spells she had never seen before, which was not the surprise. The real surprise was that these spells were precursors to magic involving celestial bodies, or at least that's what the book said, then she turned to the beginning pages to find the author's name. She gasped when she found the name Starswirl with his signing marks on the front of the book. 
"Pinkie Pie, where did you say you got this book?" Twilight was now all ears. 	
"Well," Pinkie started, "remember the last time we all went to Canterlot?" Twilight nodded, "There was this old guy who was selling some really rare books and he said he'd only be here for a few days so I had to get one for you so I picked up the closest book and asked him how much and he said to just take it and then I said that I couldn't just take it then he said-" Applejack stopped Pinkie Pie before she exploded with words.
"Okay sugar," she said, "I think Twilight gets the idea," then she turns to Twilight, "So what's it say?"
"There are lots of spells here that I have never even heard of before," Twilight closed the book and looked set it down on the table. "These are all spells that Starswirl the Bearded had used at one time, and they aren't even in the Canterlot Archives." She looked back down to the book, staring at it, analyzing it, "Judging by its state it's probably a first edition, or the only copy, and it could have been one that Starswirl himself kept on hoof, which means that Princess Celstia herself may be the only other one that knows these spells, but there's something strange about the book and I can't make heads or tails of it at the moment. I should really study these to get as far ahead as I can while I can."
"But Twilight," Spike spoke up, holding the book. "It says that beginners should have somepony else looking over them while they attempt  these spells." Spike held the book up and showed Twilight the page.
"Relax, Spike," Twilight said with confidence. "I'm not a beginner you know."
"But what if these spells are dangerous?" He sounded concerned. 
"They won't be dangerous in the hooves of somepony with my experience," Twilight again answered with confidence. 
"Okay," Spike tried to sound supportive, "as long as you're sure you can do it."
"Well dear," Rarity walked up to Twilight, "As much as we would all love to stay and chat, I need to have an ensemble ready by tomorrow morning."  Rarity made a gesture toward the clock for the others and cleared her throat.
"I also need to get to the southern fields to get a couple of bug problems taken care of," Apple jack followed Rarity. Then the others followed.
"I have to move in the clouds for the rainstorm next week," Rainbow said as she walked out. 
"I need to feed my animals, Twilight. Sorry I can't stay," Fluttershy quietly said as she followed Rainbow. 
"And I gotta go get some streamers and balloons and then I need to ask the Cakes what kind of cakes I can get for-" Pinkie was stopped before she could finish by Applejack.
"Come on Pinkie," Applejack said elbowing Pinkie Pie. Then she grabbed Pinkie and drug her out. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes at her friends. She knew what they were really off to do, but she figured she'd let them keep it a surprise. She wanted to get started on the new book of spells she just received. 
"Now I can really see what this book is about," she said also walking for the door. "Come on, Spike."
"Wait Twilight!" Spike shouted.
"What is it?" she answered.
"can we at least have some breakfast?" Twilight nodded and Spike sped off to the kitchen. After they ate Twilight grabbed the book and headed to the door. Spike hopped on her back and Twilight closed the door. They walked through Ponyville and Spike waved to everyone they passed as Twilight walked barely paying attention to the path ahead of her, muzzle deep in her new book. Spike tugged on her main if she veered off course so she could keep walking without needing to look up. They walked to a secluded area, about a mile outside of Ponyville, since she was about to practice fire magic it was best to think about not accidentally setting a house fire. 
Twilight set Spike down from her back and gave him the book. "Keep it open to this page," she said as she read the spell on the page. The spell itself was very intricate, even for as high of a level in magic that Twilight was. She studied the spell very carefully then her horn lit up and glowed her normal purple glow, then the tip of her horn began emitting sparks and when they hit the ground, they ignited large, yellow and orange flames that formed a circle around her and Spike. 
"Twilight that's amazing!" Spike shouted excitedly. Twilight looked around her to see the flames dancing in the light breeze. She had a cocky smile and wore it with pride. 
"See Spike, I told you I can do this." Then Twilight began to hear whispers. "Did you hear that?" Spike looked around. 
"I don't hear anything abnormal if that's what you mean." He said, confused. Twilight was looking all around to see where the whispering voices were coming from. It was as if they were coming from all around her and closing in. 
"You don't hear those voices, Spike?" She looked around, "Hello? Who's there?"
"Okay," Spike laughed, "I see what you're doing Twilight. Just because you missed out on Nightmare Night doesn't mean you get to have a late scare on me." He smiled with confidence. Twilight was now panicking. The voices were getting louder, but they were still not making any sense. She could not make a single word out. "Twilight?" Spike tried to get her attention, but she was deaf to his voice. She screamed and buried her head in the grass, putting her hooves to her ears. The fire picked up, she was no longer keeping her thoughts on the fire, and it enlarged and began engulfing the surrounding area, burning brighter. "Twilight!" Spike tugged on her mane. "This isn't funny anymore! Stop the fire so we can go!" Twilight still did not hear him. She was crying, and the fire began to steady for a moment. 
"They're so loud, Spike," Twilight said sobbing. "It sounds like they're laughing at me." She looked up and her eyes were glowing, "Stop it!" She shouted, and the flames burst. There was a thundering sound to the fire as it completely engulfed the trees, bushes, grass, and anything around her. Spike was pushing on Twilight to get her to move.
"Come on Twilight we need to get out of here!" He said hopelessly tugging on her mane. She just laid down a cried. "Twilight we need to go!" He shouted to her again. Then he looked to the sky hoping for a miracle. Looking back to Twilight he picked her head up, her eyes still glowing and tears still flowing from them. "You're not gonna like this Twilight but it's for your own good!" Spike slapped Twilight on the side of her face. Her eyes quit glowing, and the tears stopped. "That actually worked?" Spike, surprised but happy, hugged Twilight. 
"What happened Spike?" She was looking all around at the fire devouring the landscape. "Did I do that?"
"Yes!" He shouted. "Now can we go?" 
"Hang on," Twilight took a second look. "We need to get this fire put out before anyone gets put into danger. Twilight's horn glowed and condensation began trickling from her horn. Then everything froze around them, including the fire, but for only just a moment. The flames soon broke from their icy shells and continued burning, and the whispering began again. Voices she could make out, but not understand the language. 
"Twilight we should go and warn everypony about this," Spike tugged on Twilight's mane. 
"No Spike we can't just leave this," Twilight said shaking her head.
"But we need to," Spike started pulling on her leg. "Look I have a bad feeling, okay?"  
"Spike, I've got a handle on this," Twilight said confidently, "I just need to find the right spell." 
"Twilight if you don't go you might get hurt!" Spike shouted. He looked serious. "Now don't make me actually drag you away from this," he said tugging on her leg again. 
"Spike you can't-" interrupted by a sudden fall to the ground, Spike was actually dragging Twilight. 
"Don't you doubt me Twilight," Spike shouted at her again. "This is something we shouldn't be messing with," he looked back to her. "You in particular," he said letting go of Twilight. "This is dragon magic. Real element magic," Spike looked to her, "This is how I can transport and receive messages from Princess Celestia, and it's also how I can accidentally burn your books in the library. This isn't something we can take lightly Twilight." He pointed to Ponyville, "Now I've let you ignore me before, but those ponies in that town matter more, so lets go warn them and get them to safety." Twilight looked at Spike in awe. Spike always had wisdom even for a young dragon, but he had never displayed his courage like that to Twilight before. Twilight nodded her head and they both began running for Ponyville. As they ran, the fire followed them like a pack of timber wolves, and before they could make it to town, a bright flash of light had nearly blinded them, and a shadow appeared, but then the shadow brightened up, and as it got brighter, a familiar figure stood where the shadow once was. It was a nearly shining Silver Radiance.
"Where's the dragon?" He said excitedly. They both stared, confused. "What? Did I come at a bad time?" 
"No actually you could help us get all the ponies to safety," Twilight looked down while saying that. And then the whispering turned into voices, still unable to understand the gibberish, Twilight turned around to see if the voices were actually somepony playing a joke. Then Silver took notice of her. 
"Oh," he said disappointed, "It was just you." The talking grew louder still. "Hey," he shouted to the air behind Twilight, "You mind? We are trying to have a conversation." More nonsense came after he spoke. "I know as well as you do, but a raging inferno is no way to get your point across." He smiled and looked back to Twilight, then back behind her. "You know, I think she did well to realize her mistakes and at least try to set things right."  The voices followed. "Oh he's? But how?" More voices. "So they did find a way," he said looking at Spike. "That's amazing. Alright," he looked back behind Twilight again, "I think you guys had your fun, go on now, dissipate and go somewhere you'll be less hurtful." Just like that, the fire was gone. Silver looked at Spike and smiled, "You know I thought there was something familiar about you, but I wrote my first guess off because I thought it was impossible."
"What do you mean?" Spike asked, 
"You're a dragon right?" Silver asked. Spike nodded. "See before I left, dragons were all but extinct," he turned around to look at the town, then back to Spike. "By the way, how come you didn't stop the fire from spreading?" 
"Can I actually do that?" Spike asked looking to Twilight for an answer.
"Well," Silver held the "l"  sound for a while, "probably not, but it would have been worth a try to talk to them."
"Them?" Twilight looked to them both, bewildered. 
"Where did you learn that spell, Princess?" Silver changed the subject. 
"From this book," Twilight said hesitantly. Silver took a look at the book and then made a few questionable faces then turned back to see the author. 
"Oh," he said unsurprised, "this guy." He gave the book back to Twilight. "Princess, I would advise you not to try and utilize this book until you have completed my training. It is clear you are unfit to use these spells," Twilight looked down, ashamed. Silver raised her head back up, "However, you have proven that you are anxious to begin," Twilight smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown as Silver continued,  "so anxious that you started a fire that could have burned down an entire town. Have you not learned from my previous mistake?" Twilight was at a loss for words. "Time for your first lesson," Silver's horn glowed, then he Twilight, and Spike all disappeared.
Twilight began looking around at her new surroundings. There were rocks buried in the sand that they were standing in. The sand itself expanded for miles through the horizon in every direction.  Silver was looking around at the rocks and kicked them, but they didn't sound like rocks. The chinking sound it made sounded like glass. 
"This is the place," Silver said still kicking the glassy-like rock. "Hold on." His horn glowed again, and the wind picked up, but they weren't being hit by sand. Silver had put up a shield to protect them from the sandblasting he was doing. They began to fall as the sand level decreased. Twilight looked around and watched the sand go over them like water waves crashing against a rock. They kept falling until they hit a solid surface and waited a while more for the sand to settle and the dust to clear. Only, there was hardly any sand around them. The ground was dark black and gleamed into Twilight's eyes. The rocks that she had seen when they first arrived were now looked liked misshaped columns all in a circular formation, though a few of them had seemed to be worn off. "Have you ever seen what happens to sand when it is super heated?" Silver asked Twilight. 
"Not really," Twilight answered, "but I assume this is what you mean." Silver nodded and kicked the ground. 
"It's glass, and there's a lot of it." He walked back to Twilight. "This used to be a forest."
"What happened?" She asked. 
"To put it simply, me." Silver looked around at the pillar looking rocks. 
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked curiously. 
"This is what happens when you truly lose control," Silver looked back to Twilight. "Something that could have happened today. Thankfully my mother saw the flames from afar and asked me to intervene. She and I thought that a dragon might be behind it considering that only she, I, and dragons are the only ones around with that kind of magical knowledge. Princess Twilight," He said gazing back to her, "I do not wish that you end up like me, and I hope that you exceed my expectations like my mother says you will. But please be careful when using this magic. Something easy to start, like a fire, is not always easy to keep under control. It takes vigilance. That is what I am going to teach you." His horn glowed and they all popped into the castle. Twilight looked around, amazed at his teleportation skill. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
"I did have a small breakfast," Twilight's stomach rumbled, "but I guess another breakfast won't hurt."
"It's the magic you used," Silver laughed. "It normally takes a great amount of energy."
"That explains the plateful you had last night," Twilight laughed with Silver. They both walked to the castle's cafeteria where Silver asked Twilight to get anything she wanted saying that she should not skimp on the account of being in public. She got a few things and went on while Silver piled his plate a few inches high. Twilight just rolled her eyes and laughed.  Spike asked the servers if they had any gems. They merely frowned at him and he walked away with Twilight and Silver empty-clawed. "Hey how come you can teleport so much and  not get worn out or dizzy?" Twilight asked as they sat down at a table.
"Years of practice malady," Silver smiled. "I liked to live in the castle, but I worked a good half day's journey away, if I remember the distance right." He held his hoof to his chin. "Anyway I figured I would simply learn to teleport long distances. So, after several dizzying attempts, I finally was experienced enough to where I could teleport just about anywhere in Equestria, and a few places outside of it, in a moment's notice." Twilight contemplated what he said, then she gave an approving nod while she took a bite of a muffin. Silver, however, was not as polite when eating. He stuffed half of his plate in his mouth. Then before even swallowing he said, "I must say it is my favorite spell." 	
"Not your fire?" She asked wondering if he was telling the truth. 
"Well, honestly, if you were on fire all the time, would you not also get tired of all the heat?" Twilight nodded her head, confused, but she nodded. "In truth, I first used the spell to warm myself in the mountains, especially when it was winter time, but when I was referred to as the Guardian of Fire, I figured I could use that to ward off Cerberus since he and fire did not exactly agree." Twilight's eyes widened. 
"Wait Cerberus?" She asked. Silver nodded and used his magic to lift a cup full of tea. "Cerberus guards the gates of Tartarus, what would he be doing outside of that area at all?" Silver looked at Twilight for a moment, puzzled, eyebrow raised. Then he spoke.
"Truth is he was trying to get outside of the gates."
"But he guards the gates," Twilight raised her voice. 
"Not before I guarded them first." 
"What?! " Twilight shouted and slammed her hooves down on the table, the entire cafeteria  quietly staring at her. Now she was embarrassed, and sat back down. Everypony else went back to doing what they were before. 
"Look if you are going to act this strange after every word I say, I might as well be quiet." Silver stated crossly.
"No. No," Twilight replied, "I'm fine. Just a little confused is all," she finished the last bit of hay on her plate. "Why hasn't Princess Celestia ever told anyone about you? For that matter, why hasn't she told me?"
"I asked her not to." Silver answered while picking up both their empty plates and set them with the dirty dishes at the back of the cafeteria. Twilight and Spike both stared at Silver, unsure of what to think of him as he walked back to them. "Come on I'll walk you back home now."  Twilight nodded and all three of them left the cafeteria.
As they left the front door, Twilight spoke up with a question, "So how long did you guard Tartarus?" Silver looked up to the sky, then at Twilight. 
"Not sure, Princess. I believe it was ten years or something like that. I began barely out of my colt years when I asked to do it after our previous guard had retired. I was much more headstrong then I am now, but much less experienced." He smiled at Twilight, "But that had no matter since I came up with a trick to keep most of them away from the gates."
"And what was that?" Twilight asked. 
"I mimicked the sun's brightness to make them think it was day," Silver had a confident smile while Twilight remained confused. "Creatures of the night are strongest in their element," he said hinting to Twilight.
"Oh okay," She said finally understanding. Then she stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide looking at Silver. 
"Is there something wrong, Princess Twilight?" He asked, concerned. He could see the look on her face, but he did his best not to laugh at how silly of a face it was.
"Silver," she started, she was breathing so heavily it almost sounded like she was panting, "how old are you?"
"Ah," he answered, "You took a little longer than I expected to notice." Twilight stared at him, waiting for an answer. "From my knowledge I am 1127 years of age."
"No way," she spat with disbelief. 
"It is entirely possible Princess," he answered. His horn glowed and they were back in Twilight's library.
"But how?" She asked, still trying to process the information.
"Another time, perhaps Princess," his horn glowed again. "I will return tomorrow evening to pick you up so you can settle back in before your curfew."
"Curfew?" She asked, but he had already disappeared. She looked to Spike as if he had an explanation, but he only shrugged. "Well that was interesting to say the least," Twilight said heading upstairs.
"Where you going Twilight?" Spike asked. 
"For a nap," she answered. "I'm feeling a little tired. Wake me up in a little while?" she asked. Spike nodded and with that, she went on to bed. 
A few hours later, she awoke on her own to notice that Spike had followed her hoofsteps and went to bed as well. She only smiled and gently woke him from his nap. "Time to get up Spike," she said. "I imagine our friends will be waiting on us soon." She and Spike both walked outside and into town. They noticed that the town was peculiarly empty. She stopped at the bakery, and nopony was there. Strange she thought as she and Spike both walked on. She began stopping at every store, with the same luck as the first store. No one was around. "Hello?" she spoke to the wind. Her voice echoed through the empty town. It was strange, scary even. She looked back to Spike. "Let's go to Zecora's. Maybe she knows what's up."
The Everfree Forest even had an eerie feeling to it. Maybe it was the fact that no pony was around in town that made the Everfree that much scarier. They reached Zecora's hut with no problem, but when they knocked, there was no answer. 
"Well, this is odd," came a voice from behind. Twilight and Spike both nearly jumped out of their skins. It was an older stallion, wearing a cloak that hid most of his face. He was blue and definitely a unicorn. Something was also very familiar about him. 
"Who are you?" Spike asked. 
"Lost at the moment," he answered. He looked at the hut. "Is this your place?" They shook their heads.
"It's a friend of ours," Twilight said cautiously. "We came to see if she knew why everypony had disappeared."
"Disappeared?" he asked.
"Yeah!" Spike shouted, "Back in Ponyville, it's like a ghost town."
"Oh really? Can you show me?" The stallion looked excited. 
"Do you know what's going on?" Twilight asked, hoping for an explanation. 
"Not a clue," he smiled. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"It's this way," She sighed, annoyed. They walked back to the seemingly deserted Ponyville, still no pony in sight. He headed straight for the town hall. "Where are you going," she huffed. 
"This place looks worth looking at, so there we go!" Twilight could not tell if he was excited or just plain nuts, but she followed him anyway. He stood at the front door an waited for them both to walk up the stairs. "Go on," he gestured, "see if I'm right." Twilight opened the door and was greeted by the entire town yelling Surprise! Again she and Spike nearly lost their skins. 
"That's not funny you," she turned to see that there was no pony there. "Where'd he go?" Before she could receive any sort of answer she was pulled inside by Rainbow Dash and greeted by the rest of her friends. That's right, there was a "surprise" going away party for Twilight. Predictable, but somehow still managed to take Twilight off guard. Pinkie Pie was good at doing that.
"Did we surprise you?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah you did, nearly scared Spike and I both to death," Twilight answered. 
"Oh I'm sorry," Fluttershy responded and quivered thinking Twilight might be angry.
"No it's a good kind of surprised," she reassured Fluttershy. "Just caught me off guard is all."
The party was fantastic. All of Twilight's favorite games, food, and music made the party so spectacular. Only, Twilight could not get the image of the cloaked pony out of her head, or Silver's surprising age. It all kept Twilight from really taking in all of the joys that Pinkie Pie had put together. 
"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled from across the room. "You need to stop worrying and start partying! WOO!" She screamed as she danced by Twilight in a conga line. Twilight laughed and decided that Pinkie Pie was right and she joined in. After the dance was over, Twilight went to the games, and lost herself in the sublime feeling of being with her friends who all were also thoroughly enjoying themselves. Applejack kept the snacks coming while Rainbow Dash showed off her enclosed aerial skills. Rarity danced with every colt in town and Fluttershy talked with Spike through nearly through the evening. Whatever it was, they were definitely enjoying themselves. Pinkie of course was leading every game, dance, and song with her own rendition that made everyone want to join in. 
"Oh wow what is this?" Twilight had about enough scares today after this one had made her jump a few feet in the air. She turned to see Silver standing, looking in awe of the ponies having a great time. He looked back over to her, "What is this lovely conjunction of ponies?" Twilight looked at him oddly for both the language he just used, and the fact that he had never heard of a party. But first, the language. 
"Could you run that by me again?" Twilight asked. Silver looked at her kind of funny then he realized what she meant and what he had said. 
"Oh, sorry Princess," he chuckled and put his hoof to his face, "Mother, has been trying to get me accustomed to the new lingo, but I still have my," he paused for a moment, thinking of a more modern word, "quirks?" he said as he thought he might be trying to finish the sentence. "What is this anyway?"
"It's a party," Twilight answered, "for me." Silver gave her that look again. "It's my going away party."
"Oh a farewell party?" Silver asked to make sure he was correct. Twilight nodded.  He looked back to the dancing ponies. "I suppose that is a waltz?" he asked. Twilight shook her head.
"Nope, just a dance," she smiled. "You want to try?" He backed quickly away.
"No thank you, Princess," he answered, eyes widening at the thought. "I have four left hooves, and I do not plan on showing that to these lovely folk."
"Oh come on," she nudged him. He backed away further and shook his head. She grabbed him, "Come on," she smiled as she drug him to the dance floor. He only teleported back where they were originally. She gave a cocky determined smile and said, "By the order of Princess Twilight Sparkle, I command you to come dance." She had never used her authority on anypony before, she just wanted to make him come dance, and judging by his respect for the princesses, she figured that would surely bring him. He only laughed at her. 
"Sorry, Princess Twilight Sparkle," he chuckled. "As your mentor, I say no." He sat down and smiled.  Twilight teleported to him and grabbed his front leg.	
"You're not officially my mentor until the day after tomorrow," she teleported them both to the dance floor. He sighed and gave in. He had no idea what he was doing, he practically trampled the ground every step. He reminded Twilight of a foal trying to learn to walk. it made her giggle. 
"My apologies, Princess," he began, "I have never been accustomed to dancing, and while I had learned while I lived in the castle, but it was hardly my favorite subject." His dancing began to smoothen and he relaxed a little more. 
"You know," Twilight looked up to Silver, "You are a prince, so a casual meeting would not require you to call me by my full name." Silver smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Princess Twilight, I am no prince." Twilight looked at Silver nearly disappointed in his lack of pride of being related to Princess Celestia. He continued. "I do not deserve the title, and I feel I may never."
"But Prince Blue Blood-" Twilight was stopped.
"Is a child with little to no understanding of the honor he has," He looked angry, but Twilight was not sure. "He will continue to call himself Prince, but will never earn the right to rule anything." He looked outside and noticed the darkness quickly consuming the sky. "I have arrangements to meet elsewhere, Princess," he backed away and smiled, "so enjoy yourself and have a splendid night's dream." He walked to the door, opened it, and walked away, the door quickly closing behind him.