Cheerilee hummed happily to herself as she added a few more notes to the assessment form before her. Though she already rang the bell, it would be a few more moments before all of her students returned. She could always count on somepony to put off racing to the washroom until the last minute, if only for those extra few seconds to play during the break.
At the moments, these last few moments were spend idling on the three new students in her class. They astounded her, to be honest, their results surpassing her expectations, based on the transcripts from their former school. If anything, it looked like they must have been held back by their previous environment. All three seemed brilliant.
“Just a minute, boys,” Cheerilee called, spotting the brothers in question as they trotted in with their new circle of friends. That observation made her smile grow even more. They seemed to be settling in rather nicely.
“Hi Miss Cheerilee,” Silver and Proud said together. Flare was out of sync with the pair and quickly spoke up as well. “Hello, Miss Cheerilee.”
“How was recess?” She asked, rather than going straight to the matter at hoof.
“It was fine,” Silver said in the typical tone of an evasive colt.
Flare was a bit more open. “I enjoyed it.”
“It was fun! They showed us where all the best stuff was, and Button showed me his stash of charges for his joyboy, oh, and I invited everypony to my Mark Mitvah!” Cheerilee smiled at Proud’s exuberance. She was looking forward to the shift in the class’ dynamics three new personalities would bring. Proud fumbled in his bag and pushed a card on her desk. “This one is yours.”
“Why thank you, Proud. I’ll do my best to be there,” Cheerilee said, taking the invitation and placing it in her drawer before actually bringing up what she called them for. “I’ve finished going over your tests, though I still have to finalize the report for your aunt, and I must say; I am quite impressed with your results.”
“Really?” Proud asked eagerly. Flare looked up with a bit of hope, Silver more on the smug side than hopeful. Proud propped himself up and tried to peer at the papers neatly stacked before their teacher. “How did we do?”
“The report will have the details, but I can easily say you rank higher than your records hinted. You must have been holding back at your last school,” she chuckled.
“Um, yeah, holding back,” Silver said nervously. He quickly tugged Proud back before his patented motor mouth might let slip things better left unsaid.
“Hey!” Proud protested.
“Don’t be rough with your brother, Silver,” Cheerilee warned. “But as I was saying, you are above your age. Proud, most of your work will be given at Level Eight. I can put you at Level 7, Flare. It might be a bit much for you, but you do have your brothers to help you. Silver, I was a bit shocked, but you should be able to do Levels 9 and 10 in most subjects, which puts you with some of the leaders in the class.”
“And don’t look so happy,” Cheerilee said, chuckling at the rather smug smile Silver couldn’t hold back. “I could tell the areas where you were making guesses. Admittedly; educated and rather good guesses, but still guesses. I will give you all another test after two weeks to see how you are managing the work.”
“Probationary period, got it,” Silver nodded, already thinking about what he could research in the library. “Would we need new books?”
“I’ll let your aunt know what you need,” Cheerilee said. “Now hurry to your seats, we need to start the lesson.”
They joined the press of foals moving back to their seats, Flare pausing long enough to say a quick ‘thank you, Miss Cheerilee’ before he hurried after the others. She smiled as she took her place at the front of the class, mentally remapping the distribution and grouping of her students. She tapped her hoof on the ground a few times to get her students’ attentions. “Okay, everypony! Settle down. We’ll be doing our Language and Writing now. First we’ll continue our lessons on sentence structure and compositions. After that, your Scripting assignment will be to prepare a letter to Princess Luna!”
----------
The room was filled with noise as foals packed up for the day and raced outside to find their friends or get home. There had been a light drizzle scheduled for the early afternoon, so some parts of town were bound to be mucky. The brothers were doing their best to pack up as well, though Silver was having a slight bit more trouble since his bags were already a bit packed with his two books. Still, he was pretty happy, considering he had just gone through a day of middle school.
Magic was an amazing thing, especially when you were a unicorn and it was under your more direct control. Unfortunately for him; while his levitation was impressive, he was still a child, and casual writing with his horn was still outside his skill. Careful, yes, but casually? He still had to resort to mouth writing. To be fair; pony mouths and lips were far more versatile and effective manipulators than he expected, but the real issue was the taste. He glared at the pencils in question as he packed them away in his bags. Wood Chip and Granite brand pencils left a bad taste in his mouth.
He was a bit more pleased with the lesson though. Silver’s love for reading meant he had long since familiarized himself with the three common forms of written Equestrian, so he was planning to make his letter a mix of all three. He wasn’t entirely sure how he would do it yet, but he wanted to try. He had a week to finish the letter, so he could plan.
“Heya, Silver!” Snips said as he and Snails hurried over. Not for the first time, Silver wondered if there was another unicorn named Puppy Dog or Tails that was destined to turn up. Or maybe a filly? Their destined partner? But that would lead to two best friends fighting over one filly. Not a pretty picture. Or course, that would depend on if herding was a thing or not. He gently rubbed between his eyes.
“Okay… I really need to find out if herding is real or not,” Silver muttered to himself.
“Eh, what’s that?” Snails asked.
“Er, nothing,” Silver sighed. He quickly gave them a smile. “Sup?”
“Well… we were wonder if… since you’re…” Snips shuffled his hooves awkwardly.
“We were wondering if you wanted to hang out or something, since you’re the only other unicorn colt in class and all,” Snails drawled with an open and honest smile. He turned and smiled at Flare and Proud. “Not that anything’s wrong with you guys.”
“No offense taken,” Proud said, grinning back.
Flare just shrugged, but then added his own bit. “You did say you wanted to hang out with some other colts, Silver.”
“Um…” Silver said, wavering a bit. “I… was planning on going to the library… but… sure…”
“Sweet!” Snips practically squeaked.
“Just wait right here, me and Snips can go get our stuff, eh?” Snails said before the two trotted off.
“You know, there are other places in town aside from the library,” Flare said, rolling his eyes, his own saddlebags already strapped on. “You’ve literally spent every day there so far.”
“Really? I thought it was just a coincidence that Sparkler and I found him there,” Dinky added as she and Coronet joined their little group. It was mostly just them left in the room. The newly formed, and possibly still unnamed Crusaders had already left, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had taken their leave as well, Archer going with them.
Actually, wasn’t Twist supposed to be in Miss Cheerilee’s class? Silver was pretty sure she was. He put that thought under ‘Something that might be investigated. Maybe.’
“No, he’s been going their pretty much every day since we got here,” Proud said remarked to Dinky. “Library, bookstore, town hall, um…. Time Turner’s place or just wandering around town.”
“I like reading,” Silver muttered, ducking into his saddle bags. “And I like knowing my way around town.”
“Why Time Turner’s place?” Coronet asked. Time Turner’s Timepieces and Trinkets was just another one of the eccentric stores in town. While he was primarily a clockworker, a master at clockwork and all around tinkerer, and possibly because of it, he happened on many unusual items, and sold them alongside his broad selection of timepieces when he wasn’t out working on problems for ponies. Apparently he normally had assistants, but hadn’t had any for a while.
“I like watches,” Silver muttered. “I just can’t afford one right now. But I like to look at them. The ticking of a clock is nice.”
“Your brother is weird,” Dinky giggled, making Silver blush as Proud laughed.
“You don’t know the half of it!” Proud responded. “Me, Button, Flare and Green are going to the arcade. What are you doing?”
“Spa day,” Coronet started, before being interrupted.
“All ready,” Snails announced as he came back. “Me and Snips are gonna show you our favourite places in town. Like Zonko’s joke shop, and, and the pet park, and the rock me and Snips practice our magic at!”
“This is gonna be awesome!” Snips declared. “Come one, Silver! We’ll be the three unicorns! SSSU!”
“Hurrah,” Silver said, his eye twitching a bit.
“You have fun!” Proud called as Silver was dragged away.
----------
Surprisingly, Silver had more fun than he thought he would. True, Snails was a bit slow and Snips was excitable, both being on the, well, simple side, they were decent enough company. And Silver learned more about them than just them being minions to minor antagonists. Snips was pretty artistic when it came to crafts and decorating, and was considering being a pet groomer to complement Snails, who actually had a rapport with animals, though not as pronounced as Fluttershy’s. He just had a natural calming effect on them, and could get the most skittish critter to relax. He actually had a squirrel come and sit on his head when they stopped by the park.
And he was amazing at chess. They ended up playing a few games with some of the older ponies in the park. Snails was apparently a regular among them. Silver wasn’t really a chess person. He was a planner, yes, but his type of planning didn’t work well in a systematic game like chess, it was for a more dynamic, unpredictable setting. Like dealing with ponies. Or card games.
On the other hoof, Silver knew what he was getting Proud for his Mark Mitzvah. Chess sets were cheap enough for his allowance, even with the missing bits from his swearing. He was getting better at that, though. After two or so hours on the town, Snips and Snails let Silver take them to the library. He still hadn’t returned that book, and did want a new one.
It was getting late and the sun the day was beginning to turn into night, but Silver wanted to get the book issue out of the way. Honestly, it might have ended up being the first book in his personal collection if it wasn’t returned soon. The town was pretty empty on the way, a lot of stalls and stores seeming to be void of their owners and tenders, but the three didn’t really notice, since their discussion had circled back to school and they were chatting about the assignments.
“I’m gonna ask her if she likes animals,” Snails announced, not for the first time, as they avoided the worst of the mud puddles . “And which kind.”
“I want to ask her if she has a favourite hairstyle!” Snips said in his high pitched voice. Silver honestly found it a bit grating, but he was trying his best not to judge. He didn’t sound much better himself, having a distinctly prepubescent colt’s tone. He was easily in the soprano range.
“What about you Silver. Have anything you want to ask Princess Luna?” Snails pushed.
Slightly distracted, Silver said the first thing that came to mind. “Probably ask her what the major changes between the current societal structures and the one she remembers are and what her initial thoughts on the diaspora is.”
“Wow… I didn’t understand half of that,” Snips said, wonder in his eyes.
“Um… well,” Silver said, realizing he was going out of character again. Fortunately, timing was on his side. “Look! The library!” He ran ahead of the two, leading them to chase him as he opened the door and went in without knocking.
“Hello! Spike; you around?” Silver called. He’d been in the library so often he’d made a fast friend in the young dragon. And Spike in turn appreciated Silver since he actually put the books away when he was finished with them. And Spike’s long history with Twilight meant he also knew the most interesting books to read.
The only problem; there was no Spike. Instead, the library was populated with mares. Five of them. Very noteworthy ones at that.
“Hi Silver!” Pinkie called out cheerfully, the other four bearers drawn by his initial call now further interested. Well, excluding Fluttershy, who somehow managed to vanish behind Applejack.
“You know this colt?” Rarity asked Pinkie curiously.
“Que?” Silver managed. To be honest, he’d been trying to avoid the Bearers of the Elements. Especially Applejack. Aside from Twilight and Pinkie, he’d been mostly successful; the former because the library was the best place to go for information, and the latter because of Sugarcube Corner. Aside from that, Twilight and Aunt Rain had had a rather heated clash when Princess Celestia mentioned that their family was to have access to Spike’s dragonfire.
It was also pretty hilarious, but that was another matter.
“Yepperoni! He and his brother’s moved into town just before the Summer Sun Celebration,” Pinkie said, scooping up Silver in a tight hug that made him squeak.
“Well sucks, you should know better than that, Rarity,” Applejack chuckled. “Pinkie knows just about every pony in Ponyville. And if ain’t, it’s cause they just walked in.”
“Gahk! Air, Pinkie Pie! Air!” Silver protested.
“Sorry, Silvy!” she said, chipper as ever as she loosened her grip to wave at Snails and Snips as they came in. “Hi guys!”
“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?” Snips asked.
“I bet I know!” Snails said. “She’s looking up a new super duper recipe to make cupcakes with!”
“I only wish there were new super duper recipes in here!” Pinkie said with a pout. “I’ve already made every cake, cupcake, muffin, snap, cookie and other assorted pastries in this library! Maybe I should get Twilight to-”
Whatever Pinkie was saying was lost to Silver as Rainbow darted over and invaded his personal space. “Ah-ha! I thought I recognized you!”
“Hey!” Silver said, pushing her hoof away.
“You’re that colt that pranked the window washer!” Rainbow accused. “What are you doing here!”
“Pranked the…” Silver drew a blank for a moment, an ear half twitching towards Pinkie’s conversation, glimpsing Snails and Fluttershy talking in the corner of his eye, before he remembered his mess up with his levitation spell when he tripped back on his third day in Ponyville.
No, wait, that was his first day, wasn’t it?
He shook his head to clear it. “Look, I told you that was an accident. And it’s a library. A public one that’s open until six. I have a couple minutes left to read. What are you? You hate reading!”
“I… well… don’t change the subject!” Rainbow said, flapping higher and glaring at him.
“Um… we came to apologize to Twilight,” Fluttershy’s voice said behind him, making him jump a little. It seemed Snails had moved on to talking with Pinkie. “You see, she got some tickets to the gala…”
“T-t-t-tickets? To the ga-ga-gala?” Silver stammered.
“That she did,” Applejack nodded. She looked down and shuffled a hoof, embarrassed. “And we all went mighty overboard trying to get her to pick just one of us to take with her. Made foals of ourselves, we did. So we’all got together so we could apologize to her.”
“Our behaviour was most unbecoming,” Rarity agreed.
“I… just remembered that Aunt Rain wanted me home… for the thing…” Silver said, chuckling nervously. He did not want to get tangled up in canon events. He made his decision a bit too late though. There was a loud pop and fizzle, accompanied by a flash of light back in the main area.
“Well… you reckon that’s her?” Applejack remarked.
“Spike!” Twilight’s voice yelled. “Shut the doors and the windows!”
“Yeah, that’s her,” Rainbow huffed, still a bit put out with Silver. There was a clatter of hooves and patter of scaled feet as the two, fresh from being chased all across town by somewhat crazed mares, and more than a few stallions, turned off all the lights and shut all the major windows and doors in the building. So caught up in their efforts they were that neither Spike nor Twilight noticed them despite running past them twice, though, in defense of the pair Twilight had turned out the lights on the first pass with a quick burst of telekinesis.
“Wow… they must have had some day!” Snips said. Silver was too busy trying to slip away. His plan was to use the back window in their kitchen area. Aunt Rain wasn’t the only pony in town teaching him how to cook.
So of course he bumped into Spike.
“That should be all of- AAAH!” Spike cried out when Silver’s bum hit him. Rarity quickly hit the lights. Twilight screamed next.
“Noooo! I can’t decide!” she wailed.
“Um… sorry Spike, I can come back tomorrow,” Silver said, making away quickly as the mares descended on Twilight to console her.
“Hold up, dude,” Spike weezed, holding out a claw, the other pressed to his chest as he fought to catch his breath. “Yeesh… don’t scare me like that! What are you guys even doing in here?”
“Well… Silver came to get a new book or something, and we found all the others here,” Snails said helpfully.
“Snips? Snails? You guys are here too? How did we miss you?” Spike asked in disbelief. “We ran all over the library!”
“Er, I dunno,” Snips shrugged. He continued with the question Silver honestly wanted to ask. “How did ya?”
“Whatever,” Spike grumbled. “Look, before you leave, I got mail for you today, Silver.”
Silver paused mid step, his retreat halted. “You got mail for me? From who?”
“Well, for your family. And it’s from the princess.” Spike fumbled in the fold of scales and skin around his waist that he used as a pocket. Snails and Snips stared at Silver with awe.
“You got mail?” Snips started.
“From the Princess?” Snails finished.
“Awesome!” Both exclaimed. They were loud enough that Silver’s eyes flicked back.
“Why don’t you yell a little louder… I’m sure there’s somepony who didn’t hear you.” Silver rubbed at his ears irritably as Spike pulled a sealed scroll out. Silver wondered if there was a book on dragon biology around. Was that pouch an actual feature of draconic biology? His eyes widened in panic as he noticed both Snails and Snips inhaling. “Sarcasm!” he quickly amended. “I was being sarcastic! Don’t yell!”
Spike snickered and hoofed the scroll over. It was sealed with a moon, rather than a sun, which meant it was from Princess Luna, but addressed to all four members of his household. He took it set it down carefully and broke it without damaging the moon symbol. While he might not have Proud’s love affair with Luna, he still respected her and like her a lot. Both from the show and now from meeting her in pony.
To our Loyal Subjects of the Sky-Shine Family; Pure Rain and her Wards Blue Flare, Proud Defender and Silver Prose
We, the monarch of the Moon and Night Sky, the Guardian of the Night and Dreams, The Stewar-
There was more, about three lines more, but those were all he could make out from beneath the lines that crossed then out. Actually, he was curious about that ‘Sky-Shine’ thing. Was that their family name? Silver sighed. It took becoming a kid with the mind of an adult to realize just how much stuff adults don’t tell kids…
Apologies, our sister has advised us that the old forms of the formal address are no longer in common use. To that end, we shall forgo the pleasantries and note the true subject of which we desire to address thee.
In these past days, we have been ministered to by those most highly rated amidst the schools of magic, health and vitally, and we are pleased to have found a probably pace for the return of much of our power.
It is to our joy that, whilst our true strength will likely remain elusive for many months more, we wilst have amassed enough to address thine dilemma within a more manageable passage of time.
Past the winter season, when mine most precious moon is closest, my strength wilt blossom enough to attempt to find thine solution, and mine control shall return within a pittance of fortnights following.
My dearest sister hast, during mine absence, established the tradition of a great celebration around the time we have projected best to attempt. She hast also seen fit to invite her student. To such end, and in emulation of her actions, I have indeed included tickets to grant all of thee access and audience with me at this ‘Grand Gala.’
Princess Luna
Sure enough, there were four golden tickets to the gala attached. “Seriously? Tickets to the gala?” Silver made a face. “Not sure if that’s my thing…”
A land of magic, there were a lot of quirks to Equestria that straddled the line between honest coincidence and honest magical occurrences. The sense of foreboding situations and dread was one of them. Silver looked up when that shiver ran down his spine and tingled his tail, and paled.
Spike was staring at the golden tickets in his grasp with shock. Snips and Snails were staring at the golden tickets with shock. The main six were staring in various states of shock. Rainbow’s jaw hung down and rested on Pinkie’s mane, the party pony grinning broadly and her eyes sparkling. Beside her, Rarity choose that moment to swoon, for maximum dramatic impact, of course. Applejack’s eyebrows raised high and Fluttershy was covering her mouth with a hoof.
Twilight was the one that terrified him though. Panic mingled with anger, a few strands of her mane popping up. He’d seen that happen three times, he could remember off the top of his head. The Smarty Pants Incident, The Time Travel Incident, and most recently, facing off with Aunt Rain about what would possess Princess Celestia to allow mere foals to send both her and her sister letters through Spike.
“ThanksforthemailSpike, seeyoutommorowmaybe, kaylaterSnipSnailsbye!” Silver said, cramming the letter in his saddlebags before he high tailed it out of there. It took him a moment to unlock the door, but that moment passed and he was charging down the street at a full gallop when Twilight’s screech rose in the night air, setting off a flock of birds that had took roost in the library’s branches for the night.
“WWWWWHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT?”
‘Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!’ Silver mentally yelled to himself as he put all his youthful energy to work, pumping his legs like he never did before. There were more than a few startled ponies he charged past or barely missed crashing into, but he was too focused on one; getting away from Twilight and two; reaching the safety of his home.
On the bright side, they didn’t live too far from the library, only a few blocks, so he did manage to make it through before his admittedly low endurance, even bolstered with adrenaline as it was, was completely frayed. On the downside, Twilight had the fastest mare in equestrian on her side.
A prismatic streak cut across his path only a dozen or so hooves from his safe haven, quickly resolving itself into Rainbow Dash. “I knew there was something up with you, colt! What’s the deal? Why are you getting mail from the Princess? And why the buck are you getting invited to the Gala and not me!?”
“Language, Dash!” Rarity’s refined voice drifted over. Silver looked back. Yep. The others had caught up with him. Twilight was at the head, Rarity and Applejack beside her, Fluttershy hovering nervously. That accounted for everypony excepting…
“Wow! You’re pretty fast for a colt,” Pinkie said as she bounced lightly in place beside him. “I almost lost sight of you!”
Never mind. Pinkie Pie found. Silver tried for innocence. “Um, Twilight, if this is about that overdue book...”
“No! It’s about you! Sending mail to the princess!” Twilight panted.
“Only twice,” Silver said. That stupid letter Proud said promising to let them know when an episode passed and the differences between what they expected and what happened was the first one, and he and Flare had to send another one trying to explain that after. That had been an annoying day.
“Getting mail from the princess!” Twilight continued as if Silver hadn’t said anything. “Getting tickets to the Gala!”
“We got tickets to the gala?” Proud’s voice suddenly piped up. Silver covered his eyes with a hoof as Proud galloped the rest of the way down their street, leaving Green Daze, Flare and Button behind as he tackled Silver, ignoring the Bearers as he did. Silver was beginning to hate the Magic of Timing. “We got Tickets? How? Where? When?”
“Apparently Princess Luna sent you some,” Pinkie supplied as she joined the huddle, not one to miss a hug. “I’m sooooo jealous! It’s the biggest party of... well... EVER!”
“And I want to know why!” Twilight half yelled. Rarity nodded, though her look clearly didn’t approve of Twilight’s... enthusiasm on the topic.
“Simmer down, sally,” Applejack said, tugging Twilight back. “No need for you to make a scene about it.”
“Um... what’s going on?” Button asked, confused by the gang of older mares surrounding Silver, hanging back a couple hooves away from the center of the commotion.
“Oh! You colts are in class with my sister,” Rarity remarked. “No need for you to be worried. Twilight is just having a bit of an exciting day and got a bit carried away.”
“Can’t say I approve of her chasing a young colt part way across town,” Applejack muttered. “You neither, Rainbow.”
“The librarian chased Silver across town? You weren’t kidding about that book, were you?” Green asked Flare softly.
“Hey! He has tickets for the Gala! The Wonderbolts are gonna be there!” Rainbow defended herself.
“Letter! Tickets! Where?” Proud insisted, rattling Silver.
“Seriously!” Silver snapped, pushing Proud away. “”Stop! Saddlebags. Left side!” Proud tackled him again in his enthusiasm to get them.
A door slammed against a wall sharply, making everypony flinch. Aunt Rain loomed in the rectangle of light, a frown on her face. “Have you quite finished making a scene? If so, it would be best if we put some order to this chaos rather than whatever this is,” she motioned to the disorderly group of eleven ponies, counting the foals, gathered before the house, “and sort it out like civilized ponies. Agreed?”
----------
Green Daze and Button were sent home and Silver helped make some tea for the rest. The tea went a long way towards calming Twilight. It took maybe twenty minutes to spread the tale of the days activities, most of that time spent on explaining why Twilight was such a nervous wreck that she would become unhinged at the mail Silver received. Through it all, Aunt Rain listened impassively. She had been working at the dam that day, and missed the minor riots that erupted around town. Ponyville was still a small rural town. A free ticket to major event like a gala would fuel the gossip mills for weeks.
The colts listened without remarking either, noting the points where it diverged from the show in silence with little more than traded looks. Apparently somepony had actually caused their patio to collapse in his attempts to impress Twilight. And she also got hit on by nine different stallions. And seven mares.
“So... you chased my nephew yelling and screaming all the way home because you found out we also got invited to the Gala?” Aunt Rain asked.
“Well... it sounds bad when you put it that way...” Twilight admitted.
“It sounds bad whatever way you put it, dear,” Rarity remarked. “I do hope you’ll forgive her, Pure Rain. She did have a rather stressful day, and we admittedly did nothing to help ease it.”
“Ease it? More like make it super worse,” Pinkie said with a sheepish smile.
“Scared the horrrrrrrrrr....n... on my head... it did...” Silver said, lamely aborting his swear. Aunt Rain raised an eyebrow at him. He chewed on his lip slightly and met it with a pleading expression. “Please don’t take another bit...”
“I can lend you some of my allowance if you run out,” Proud whispered to him.
Aunt Rain sighed and shook her head slowly. She looked once more at the scroll Princess Luna sent. “Twilight, while I agree your day was filled with it’s difficulties, your actions towards Silver were less than what I expected from a mare your age.”
“Sorry,” Twilight murmured. Rainbow snickered, but swallowed it when Aunt Rain glared at her.
“And Silver, the next time mail is addressed to all of us, wait to open it until we are all there,” Aunt Rain continued.
“My bad?” Silver tried.
“And as for the letter itself,” Aunt Rain continued. Twilight looked up hopefully. Aunt Rain didn’t meet them. “The subject of the message is for my family, regardless of who sent it, Twilight. Princess Celestia asked if you would allow us use of Spike’s dragonfire and you agreed. I do not think she did it expecting this manner of reaction from you.”
“But... but...” Twilight started.
“She got a point, Twilight,” Applejack commented, speaking up for the first time since the discussion started. “I don’t think Princess Celestia expected you to be snooping around other ponies mails like that. She wanted you to be nice and all.”
“It wouldn’t be very nice to read other ponies mail,” Fluttershy said softly
“It wasn’t nice to chase me down either... I’m an indoor colt...” Silver muttered. He actually impressed with how fast Twilight could run. She was supposed to be a bigger book worm than he was.
“He really is,” Proud pointed out. “He’s been in the library pretty much every day since we got here.”
“But that was mail from Princess Luna...” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, they were softer and she gave Silver a slight, hesitant smile. “Still, I’m sorry for my behaviour, Silver. Please don’t hold it against me.”
“Are you gonna harass me if I go back to the library?” Silver asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
“No, not even if you mail a three hundred page paper to the Princesses,” she vowed.
“Okay, good,” Silver nodded. “Apology accepted.”
“Lovely! Now that this ghastly mess is behind us, you have to tell me about this tea!” Rarity gushed. “It’s absolutely marvelous!”
“Apple blossom,” Applejack supplied. “From the north orchards, if I’m right...”
The colts took that as their cue to leave and slipped off to their room. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie took it as their cue as well, though the former still cast suspicious looks after them before flying off. Twilight left as well, mentioning something about having a Friendship Report to write.
Up in their room, Silver collapsed wearily on his bed while Proud cuddled the seal, murmuring something like ‘Luna touched this.’ So they met the mane6 as a whole and left mostly on good terms. Mostly. Rarity was still downstairs chatting, though it sounded as if Applejack left as well, judging from the voices, and Twilight seemed contrite when she left, and apparently planned to turn the whole thing into one of her ‘Dear Princess Celestia’ letters.
Silver groaned and buried his face in his pillow. That meant they were going to be loosely tied up with the Discord thing, even after they left. On the other hand, Rainbow gave either them or Silver in particular the stink eye before leaving. Still, five out of six was still a passing grade.
“So, the gala,” Flare mused, climbing up beside Silver.
“Yep... I guess we have a deadline now,” Silver sighed.
“Still enough time to have some fun with this before we go back home,” Flare said, stretching his wings. He didn’t notice Silver stiffen slightly beside him at his word. “It’s only a few months. We can manage.”
“Oh! I have to write to the princesses about Ticket Master!” Proud declared suddenly.
Silver and Flare both jerked upright at that. “NO!”